Tuuma

Tuuma
Type	Agglutinative
Alignment	Nominative-accusative
Head direction	Initial
Tonal	No
Declensions	Yes
Conjugations	Yes
Genders	None
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect
Meta-information
Progress	48%
Statistics Nouns 50% Verbs 17% Adjectives 100% Syntax 33% Words 0 of 1500
Creator	narghargs

Tuuma (Ncur Tuumain [ɴɔʁ 'tu:main]) is a language native to the Uhsaii Islands north-west of Taraot.

Phonology

Consonants

Allophones listed in parentheses.

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m	(ɱ)1	n		(ɲ)2	ŋ	ɴ
Plosive	p pʼ		t tʼ			k kʼ	q qʼ
Fricative		f	s ɬ					h
Affricate			ts tsʼ tɬ tɬʼ
Approximant	w		l		j		ʁ

1. /m/ is realized as [ɱ] before /f/.
2. /n/ is realized as [ɲ] before /j/.

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i				u
Near-close		(ɪ)2		(ʊ)3
Open-mid	(ɛ)2				(ɔ)3
Open	a		(ä)1		(ɑ)1

1. /a/ is velarized to [ä] and uvularized to [ɑ].
2. /i/ is velarized to [ɪ] and uvularized to [ɛ].
3. /u/ is velarized to [ʊ] and uvularized to [ɔ].

Notes

• [a] , [ä], and [ɑ] are in free variation.
• /l/ is often realized as [ɮ] in careful speech.
• /ʁ/ is often realized as [ʀ] and sometimes [χ] in careful speech.

Phonotactics

Syllable structure is (C)V(C), where:

• Vowels can be long but consonants cannot be geminated.
• A syllable must contain any single long or short vowel.
• A syllable can begin with any single consonant.
• A syllable can end with any single consonant except for /j/ or /w/.

Stress

Stress is always on the first syllable.

Writing System

Letter	Aa	Cc	Ff	Gg	Hh	Ii	Jj	Kk	Ll	Mm	Nn
Name	ah	inc	if	ing	hats	ih	jut	ka	il	im	in
IPA	a	∅	f	∅	h	i	j	k	l	m	n
Letter	Pp	Qq	Rr	Ss	Tt	Uu	Ww
Name	pi	qu	ra	is	ti	uh	wa
IPA	p	q	ʁ	s	t	u	w
Letter	k'	ll	nc	ng	p'	q'	t'	tl	tl'	ts	ts'
IPA	kʼ	ɬ	ɴ	ŋ	pʼ	qʼ	tʼ	tɬ	tɬʼ	ts	tsʼ

Grammar

Pronouns

Personal

Person	Number	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Prepositional
1	singular	mu	mut'	min	muhta	musa
	plural	nu	nut'	nin	nuhta	nusa
2	singular	su	sut'	sin	suhta	susa
	plural	ju	jut'	jin	juhta	jusa
3	singular	u	ut'	win	uhta	usa
	plural	hu	hut'	hin	huhta	husa

Reflexive

Person	Number	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Prepositional
1	singular	musit'	misin	musihta	musisa
	plural	nusit'	nisin	nusihta	nusisa
2	singular	susit'	sisin	susihta	susisa
	plural	jusit'	jisin	jusihta	jusisa
3	singular	usit'	wisin	usihta	usisa
	plural	husit'	hisin	husihta	husisa

Demonstrative

Person	Number	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Prepositional
1	singular	fu	fut'	fin	fuhta	fusa
	plural	func	funcat'	funcin	funcahta	funcsa
2	singular	llu	llut'	llin	lluhta	llusa
	plural	llunc	lluncat'	lluncin	lluncahta	lluncsa
3	singular	q'u	q'ut'	q'in	q'uhta	q'usa
	plural	q'unc	q'uncat'	q'uncin	q'uncahta	q'uncsa

Interrogative

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Prepositional
What, which	ncuua	ncuut'	ncuuin	ncuuhta	ncuusa
Who, whom	qami	qamit'	qamin	qamihta	qamisa
Where	ku	kut'	kin	kuhta	kusa
When	ncunis	ncunisat'	ngunisin	ngunisahta	ngunisa
How	ncujutl	ncujutlat'	ncujutlin	ncujutlahta	ncujutlasa
How much, how many	p'atsun	p'atsunat'	p'atsunin	p'atsunahta	p'atsunsa
Why	aau	aaut'	aain	aauhta	aausa
Whether	ngitu	ngitut'	ngitin	ngituhta	ngitusa

Relative

Singular	Plural
ncu	ncinc

Indefinite

	Proximal	Medial	Distal	Negative	Universal	Existential
						Elective	Assertive
Root	fu this ...	llu that ...	q'u that ... over there	ngu no(t) ...	qai each/every ...	mit any ...	jut some ...
Object	fu this	llu that	q'u that over there	ngua nothing	qaja everything	mita anything	juta something
Being	fuqam this person	lluqam that person	q'uqam that person over there	nguqam nobody/no one	qaqam everybody/everyone	mitqam anybody/anyone	jutqam somebody/someone
Location	futa here	lluta there	q'uta over there	nguta nowhere	qata everywhere	mit'a anywhere	jut'a somewhere
Amount	fup'all this many/much	llup'all that many/much	q'up'all that other amount	ngup'all none/not any		mitp'all any amount	jutp'all some amount
Method	fujutl this way	llujutl that way	q'ujutl that other way	ngujutl no way	qajutl every way	mitjutl anyhow	jutjutl somehow
Time	funis now	llunis then	q'unis that other time	ngunis never	qanis everytime	mitnis anytime	jutnis sometime
Type	funcii like this	lluncii like that	q'uncii like that other type

Nouns

Tuuma nouns decline by using suffixes according to number and case. They can also change to take the form of an noun adjunct.

Number

Nouns can be either singular or plural. Singular nouns in the nominative case take no suffixes, but a plural noun will generally take the -nc suffix if the stem ends in a vowel, and -inc if it ends in a consonant.

The mothers asked for one plate, not two.

Mother-PL request-PST-3PL one-ADJ plate-ACC, NEG-request-PST-3PL two-ACC.

Iipinc kuhtaruh piksit jaallitlat', ngukuhtaruh kikit'.

The plural suffix is considered the most important when it comes to declension, as it always comes first after the stem. Any other case suffix will come afterwards.

Dogs cannot read books.

Dog-PL NEG-read-3PL book-PL-ACC.

Qanjarinc nguhiistumah latlanuncat'.

Nominative Case

The first and simplest case in Tuuma is expressed without the use of any case suffixes. The nominative case portrays a noun as the subject of a sentence. A nominative noun is expressed using only the word stem, plus a plural suffix if applicable.

The child sings.

Child sing-3SG

Nawam uusa.

Accusative Case

The accusative case is used to portay a noun as the direct object of a sentence. It uses the suffix -t' after a vowel and -at' after a consonant.

The child sings a song.

Child sing-3SG song-ACC.

Nawam uusa uuskit'.

Genitive Case

The genitive case functions to portray a noun modifying another noun, ownership, or the preposition "of". It uses the suffix -in. The only genitive words that go before the noun that they modify are pronouns. All others follow the noun in question.

The child sings a love song.

Child sing-3SG song-ACC love-GEN.

Nawam uusa uuskit' uiin.

Dative Case

The dative case is used to portray an indirect object, or the prepositios "to", "towards" and "for". It uses the suffix -hta after a vowel or -ahta after a consonant.

The child sings a love song to the audience.

Child sing-3SG song-ACC love-GEN audience-DAT.

Nawam uusa uuskit' uiin ihamtalatahta.

Prepositional Case

The presositional case is the final case that is used to portray any other relationship a noun has to the sentence, usually accompanied by a preposition in front. It uses the suffix -sa.

The child sings a love song to the audience without a microphone.

Child sing-3SG song-ACC love-GEN audience-DAT NEG-with microphone-PREP.

Nawam uusa uuskit' uiin ihamtalatahta ngumi mikrufuunsa.

Modifiers

Modifiers in Tuuma include both adjectives and adverbs, but are classified in the same group due to the fact that they behave identically. For the most part, all modifiers follow the word that they modify unless the modifier is a number. While genitive nouns and pronouns are often treated as modifiers as well, they don't have the freedom that modifiers have as they can only modify other nouns. Modifiers are also unique in that they do not follow nouns in declesion and will never change their form. Every modifying word in Tuuma takes the ending -it.

I walked quickly to the small house.

I walk-PST-1SG fast-ADV house-DAT small-ADJ.

Mu hasuum iskutit tl'ikahta llisit.

Noun Adjunct

While most nouns usually take on the genitive form in order to modify another noun, it is just as correct for certain nouns to take the suffix turning it into a noun adjunct instead. This is done in regular nouns simply by taking the -it suffix rather than the genitive -in.

Blue is Alice's favorite color. She has a blue bag.

Blue be-3SG color-ACC soul-ADJ Alice-GEN. Alice have-3SG bag-ACC blue-ADJ.

Silum ulla warat' hiwalit Aalisin. Aalis inha uusak'at' silumit.

Noun adjuncts can also behave similarly to an adverb, acting like the phrase "like a _____" or "as a _____".

She is fast like a fox and runs like the wind.

She be-3SG fast-ADJ fox-ADV and run-3SG wind-ADV.

W'ulla iskutit ruupamit wa qaaira fuusnguuit.

Verbs

All infinitive verbs end in -a. All verbs conjugate with suffixes, but the ending -a is also changed according to tense. The following suffixes are listen below in the order that they come after a word. Verbs conjugate according to person, number, tense, voice, mood, and aspect.

Present Tense

Person	Singular	Plural
1	-am	-an
2	-as	-ai
3	-a	-ah

I eat, you drink, and she sleeps.

I eat-1SG, you drink-2SG, and it sleep-3SG.

Mu tsaham, su pistas, wa w'islat'a.

Past Tense

Person	Singular	Plural
1	-um	-un
2	-us	-ui
3	-u	-uh

I ate, you drank, and she slept.

I eat-PST-1SG, you drink-PST-2SG, and it sleep-PST-3SG.

Mu tsahum, su pistus, wa w'islat'u.

Future Tense

Person	Singular	Plural
1	-im	-in
2	-is	-ii
3	-i	-ih

I will eat, you will drink, and she will sleep.

I eat-FUT-1SG, you drink-FUT-2SG, and it sleep-FUT-3SG.

Mu tsahim, su pistis, wa w'islat'i.

Other Verb Suffixes

Person	Present	Past	Future
Passive Voice	-tsa	-tsu	-tsi
Progressive Aspect	-la	-lu	-li
Perfect Aspect	-kah	-kuh	-kih
Conditional Mood	-umas	-umus	-umis

The bread is eaten.

Bread eat-3SG-PASS.

Lliiang tsahatsa.

I am eating the bread.

I eat-1SG-PROG bread-ACC.

Mu tsahamla lliiangat'

I have eaten the bread.

I eat-1SG-PERF bread-ACC.

Mu tsahamkah lliiangat'.

I would eat the bread.

I eat-1SG-COND bread-ACC.

Mu tsahamumas lliiangat'.

The bread would have been being eaten.

Bread eat-3SG-PASS-PROG-PERF-COND.

Lliiang tsahatsalakahumas.

Negation

Negation of a verb involves the only prefix that exists in Tuuma, ngu-.

I like to eat cherries, but my family doesn't like them.

I like-1SG eat cherry-PL, but I-GEN family NEG-like-3SG they-ACC.

Mu kistam tsaha qarsaanc, jai min kusahiminc ngukista hut'.

Contractions

It is quite common for a subject pronoun (personal or singular demonstratives) to be contracted to the following verb if said verb begins in a vowel sound. This is considered grammatically correct, but most stay away from using contractions in formal speech or writing. The following chart shows examples of contractions with the word ulla "to be".

Pronoun	Non-contracted	Contracted
Mu	mu ullam	m'ullam
Su	su ullas	s'ullas
U	u ulla	w'ulla
Nu	nu ullan	n'ullan
Ju	ju ullai	j'ullai
Hu	hu ullah	h'ullah
Fu	fu ulla	f'ulla
Llu	llu ulla	ll'ulla
Q'u	q'u ulla	q'ulla

Syntax

Sentence structure is SVO in most cases, although it it very common for writers or public speakers to play with word order, often using VSO.

Vocabulary

• Numbers
• Colors

Sayings

• Greetings

Example text

The Bible

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

― Genesis 1:1-2

"Ni ncallasa, Jamall hitpu tiiwancat' wa karat'. Ihta kar ullu ngumi q'uqusa wa ngullit, uutl ullu jat'i nciiwangasa hajaq'in, wa rur Jamallin jahnulu jat'i wisincsa."

― Jinisis 1:1-2

[nɛ ɴɑɬasa, jamaɬ hitpu tiːwɑɴɑtʼ wa kɑʁɑtʼ. ihtä kɑʁ ɔɬʊ ŋʊmɛ qʼɔqɔsa wä ŋʊɬit, uːtɬ uɬu jatʼɛ ɴɛːwäŋäsa hajɑqʼɛn, wɑ ʁɔʁ jamaɬin jahnulu jatʼi wisɛɴsa.]

[― jinisis pui : pui - käkɪ]

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Ihaminc jalitit p'utsahtsa inmanit wa sahkarit ni kallisatsa wa wanimansanc. Hu ts'inminahtsa mi atliqsa wa miillimusa, wa titahmas saa ihunruhta ni rursa q'iquutin.

[ihamɛɴ jalitit pʼutsahtsa inmanit wa sahkɑʁɛt nɪ käɬisatsa wa wanimansɑɴ. hu tsʼinminahtsa mi atɬɛqsa wa miːɬimusa, wa titahmas saː ihɔɴʁɔhta nɛ ʁɔʁsɑ qʼɛqɔːtin.]