All consonants can occur as geminates and there are many minimal pairs.
Vowels
Front
Central
Back
Close
i
ɨ
u
Close-mid
e ø
Mid
ə
Open-mid
ɔ
Open
a
Vowels can form closing and opening diphthongs with /j/ and /w/.
Orthography
Most phonemes correspond to their standard IPA symbol. The ones that do not are listed in the table below.
Phoneme
Grapheme
/r̥/
rh
/ɬ/
lh
/t͡s/
c
/t͡ʃ/
ch
/ɲ/
nj
/c/
tj
/ɟ/
gj
/ŋ/
ng
/x/
kh
/ɣ/
gh
/ʔ/
'
/ɨ/
y
/ø/
ö
/ə/
ë
/ɔ/
o
Phonotactics
The syllable structure is simple (C)(L/A)V(C). There are no consonant clusters other than syllble-initial consonant-liquid/approximant clusters. However, some consonant clusters never occur such as alveolar-retroflex or vice versa and pharyngeal consonants with a liquid or resonant.
Grammar
Verbs
Shinsali verbs are very complex. They are aspect- and mood-heavy, but have no morphological tense. Verbs of motion, as with many languages, are more complex than other verbs. In Shinsali, verbs of motion indicate deictic information as well as indicating the shape of the object in motion. Verbs are almost exlusively prefixing but verbs of motion take on suffixes to indicate other infomation, such as deictal suffixes and a suffix indicating the shape of the object in motion. The deictal prefixes are used to denote the relation of the speaker and the subject.
subject
direct object
object
aspect
mood
deictal prefixes
stem
deictal suffixes
shape suffix
Pronominal Prefixes
If there is a third-person suffix there must be a deictal prefix that indicates the relation of the speaker and a third-person object unless the object is invisible to the speaker and the adressee(s). There are standalone pronouns but they are only used with prepositions.
Nominative
Dative
Accusative
1SG
a
sy
ka
2SG
o
ja
le
3SG
uo
ma
cu
1PL
ö
ny
to
2PL
se
zi
te
3PL
i
pa
za
Aspect prefixes
Infix
Meaning
Imperfective
∅
ongoing nature
Perfective
no
viewed as a simple whole
Progressive
la
viewed as ongoing and evolving
Stative
ju
viewed as ongoing but not evolving
Momentaneous
ro
takes place at one point in time
Inceptive
sanu
beginning of a new action
Inochiative
lhe
begininng of a new state
Terminative
wu
end of an action/state
Repetitive
gi
the action is repeated
Conative
ta
attempted action
Defective
my
the action almost happened
Intentional
najo
the action was intentional
Accidental
a
the action was an accident
Imminent
teja
the action will happen for sure
Mood prefixes
Moods in Shinsali are unique in that every mood has a negative form, for example, the negative indicative translates to "not" in English, the negative imperative translates to "Don't ___!", and so on. However, there is no negative dubitative mood.
Positive
Negative
Meaning
Indicative
∅
kai
factual statements
Imperative
nisa
saca
commands
Conditional
tto
za
event is dependant upon another conditional
Subjunctive
roi
wau
hypothetical statements, polite requests
Desiderative
iu
dy
expresses desires or hopes
Dubitative
siu
-
expresses doubt
Interrogative
ja
ida
questions
Deictal prefixes
Deictal prefixes indicate the relation of a third-person subject to the speaker and are only used in the precense of a third-person subject.
Prefix
Meaning
zo
visible to speaker (but not necessarily to adressee)
pai
invisible to speaker
waka
visible to adressee only
lla
invisible to both speaker and adressee
jansa
abstract noun
Verb stem
The verb stem in the most simple part of a Shinsali verb. Multiple verbs in a list (ex: ____ and ____ and _____) or structures like (verb) to (verb) (such as ask to leave, need to cry, etc) are stacked serially in one verbal construction. Stative verbs also act as adjectives (e.g. to be blue, to be good).
Deictal suffixes
Deictal suffixes are only used on verbs of motion and indicate motion. If any of these suffixes "take" an object, it goes in the prepositional case.
Suffix
Meaning
kra
motion towards speaker
zuo
motion towards adressee
njau
motion away from speaker
kjë
motion away from adressee
jukosa
motion around the proximal area
ranta
into water
naiwa
out of water
sëri
encircling an object
tasu
onto a vertical surface
kha
off of a vertical surface
kolmë
onto a horizontal surface
gau
off of a horizontal surface
zasai
through something
jaia
across something
gënla
upward or up something
kalni
downward or down something
walhni
from one area to another
Object shape suffixes
These are used for what is in motion. For example, in the sentence "i run" an animate classifier would be used because the object in motion is a first-person speaker. Sometimes they are used in place of an object if specifying it is unnecessary.
Suffix
Description
sit
human
(ë)n
animate object other than humans
altan
cylindrical object
issa
edible objects
akua
non-edible plantlife
wio
liquid (or container of)
es
weapon
asok
clothing or covering
akre
man-made object
Nouns
case
definiteness-number
posessive prefix
stem
Nouns in Shinsali are inflected as well as verbs. Nouns decline for 5 cases, definiteness, plurality, and take on prefixes for posession.
Noun cases
Prefix
Nominative
∅-
Accusative
at-
Genitive
off-
Dative
is-
Prepositional
ëm-
Definiteness and plurality
Definiteness and plurality are indicated fusionally in a single prefix. If a posessive prefix is used alongside a plural prefix, the definite prefix is used.
Prefix
Indefinite singular
∅-
Definite singular
tam-
Indefinite plural
on-
Definite plural
ëin-
Posessive Prefixes
Prefix
1SG
zam-
2SG
ais-
3SG
wër-
1PL
jal-
2PL
nnjaz-
3PL
ap-
Pronouns
Shinsali has standalone pronouns, but they are rarely used outside of the genitive and prepositional cases due to pronominal indication on verbs. However, they are commonly used alongside pronominal prefixes for emphasis.
