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Ukiku
Ukiku
Type
Nominative-Accusative
Alignment
Agglutinative
Head direction
Final
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information[]

This page is out of date. I'm going to update it soon.

​Ukiku is a language that is spoken by {a number of people yet to determine}.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Ukiku has 16 consonant phonemes.

bilabial alveolar postalveolar palatal velar glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive p b t d k g
Fricative f s ʃ x h
Approximant j w
Tap ⁠ɾ⁠

Note: For the sake of simplicity /sh/, /r/ and /y/ will be used in this article to refer to ʃ, ɾ⁠ and j.

Vowels[]

Ukiku has 6 vowel phonemes.

front central back
close i u
close-mid e • ø o
open a

Note: For the sake of simplicitiy /ö/ will be used in this article to refer to ø.

Diphtongs[]

Diphtongs are [j] and [w] plus any vowel (i.e. [ji], [jø], [we], [wa], ...).

Phonotactics[]

Syllables have the following structure: (C1)V(C2). So there are four types of syllables: CV, V, VC, CVC.

C1 can be any consant (including [w] and [j]).

V can be any vowel or diphtong.

C2 can be [k] or [n].

Writing system[]

Ukiku is written by using a syllabary with about 100 symbols {in progress}.

Grammar[]

! This part will be updated soon !

Being an agglutinative language, Ukikū uses affixes to show inflections.

Nouns[]

The nouns are divided into classes using infixes. There are three noun classes: abstract, inanimate and animate. Only words with up to three syllables can have class infixes.

Abstract words' infixes (abgónde): -gón-, -kâm-, -suk-, -tēm-, -yan-

Things' infixes (somrēke): -rēk-, -dôn-, -yim-, -zut-, -sōn-, -tan-

Humans' and animals' infixes (yufuma): -fum-, -bōm-, -hat-, -zúm-, -tūn-

Numbers[]

There are three numbers: Singular, Dual and Plural.

Singular Dual Plural
Particles none -la -ni

Cases[]

There are six to seven cases.

Nominative Accusative Dative Allative Ablative Inessive
Particles none -m -k -su -yi -we

Titles Titles are suffix particles which mostly appear at the end of a name. Here is a list of the most used titles:

Title Meaning
-zunu title of a male adult
-karū title of a female adult
-tú title of a child (mostly used by parents)
-fazá title of a person in an inferior position
-gutsu title of an outclass person
-gatyu honorative title of an old person

Agglutination order[]

The particles that can be added to a noun have a certain order that looks like this:

Root Number Case
(every noun can be added here) Sg. / Dl. / Pl. Nom. / Acc. / Dat. / All. / Abl. / Ine.

Pronouns[]

There are four pronouns in Ukikū. They never appear as nominative but as any other case. Pronouns cannot declense into inessive but vocative instead.

No. Accusative/Dative Allative Ablative Vocative Verb suffix
1 di -e
2 -sa
3 so -wú
4 -nun

The first person is the same as English "I" and the second one "you" (singular). The third and fourth person have genders: common (third) and neuter (forth).

Verbs[]

Ukikū verbs can be intransitive, transitive and ditransitive.

Nearly all verbs end with a consonant. There are only few which do not. In this case, the suffix particle -e changes to -de.

Verbs can be conjugated into mood, person and case. Tenses have to be shown by adverbs.

Indicative[]

To create an indicative verb, you just have to put the personal suffix to the verb's root.

Imperative[]

To create the imperative, the person particle has to be added at first, after that, the imperative suffix particle -go. There are two imperatives: The neutral one, which is created like already explained and the polite one. To create the polite one you have to use the particle -zi instead of -go.

Optative[]

The optative is used to express wishes.

It is created the same way as the imperative. The only difference is that you have to use -lin instead of -go or -zi. The polite optative is created with -lun. But this construct only makes sense if you add a noun or a pronoun ending.

Ex.: *toksalin is incorrect, and literally means "You wish go". It only does by adding a noun or pronoun: "Toksalinsa" literally means "You wish you go" (so actually "you wish you would go"). Or, with a noun: "Toksalin tahatya", that means "You wish that the/a deer would go".

Subjunctive[]

The subjunctive in Ukikū is used to express something that probably happens. It has a distinct negative form.

To create a plain subjunctive, you use the personal verb suffix and the suffix -pu.

To create a negative subjunctive, you use the personal verb suffix and the suffix -hi.

Ex.: "Toksahi" means "You probably do not go". "Toksapu" means "You probably go."

Negative[]

The negative is created with the particle -run.

Voices[]

There are 3 voices: active, medium and passive. The passive is created with -wan. To make medium voice, take the passive verb and add pá- plus a noun or pronoun.

Ex.: "Tatkansawan" means "You are hit". "Tatkansawan pádi" means "You are hit by me".

Agglutination order[]

The agglutination order is following:

Root Person Number Voice Mood Negative
(every verb can be added here) 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th Sg. / Dl. / Pl. Active / Passive Indicative/Imperative/Optative/Subjunctive (add negative particle)

Adjectives[]

Adjectives always are circumflexing a noun (or a verb as an adverb). So every adjective has to have two or more syllables and a "-" in it, example: si-yút ("small"). The first part of an adjective or adverb is called Gunâtso, and the second one is called Lanâtso.

Adjectives and adverbs have three comparisons.

Positive Comparative Superlative
ending: vowel none -gīm -futû
ending: consonant none -urá -ên

Examples: An adjective with a noun looks like this: wî-tána-ka "high mountain/hill" or wî-tána-kam if the noun is accusative

If there are two or more adjectives referring to the same noun, they are not longer written or spoken as circumflexes but as common words. For instance: wîka sômdot tána means "high, green mountain/hill". If the noun is not nominative, all of these adjectives carry the case particle. That looks like wîkam sômdotam tána if it is accusative.

In the same way, a row of adverbs belonging to the same verb is created. The only difference is that the adverbs do not carry the case particle but the person particle instead.

Agglutination order[]

Just like nouns and verbs, adjectives and adverbs possess an agglutination order depending on whether they appear as single or as two or more.

A single adverb/adjective looks like this:

Gunâtso Noun/Verb Lanâtso Comparison Case/Person

A row looks like this:

Adjective/Adverb Comparison Case/Person Adjective/Adverb Comparison Case/Person Noun

Adverbs[]

As already mentioned, there have to be different adverbs to express the tense and the aspect. They all can be easily devided from adjectives because they do not circumfigate them but appear in front of the verb they refer to. Here is a list of those which are used the most. (coming soon)

Syntax[]

Ukikū has mainly a POS syntax but it is also based on the verb's transitivity and on the sentence's main clause.

Ex.: "The man eats an apple" (stress on (an) apple) means that the man eats an apple but nothing else. In Ukikū this meaning cannot be expressed with stress but with word order and sometimes with the particle -tâm.

In the following table, short forms will be used. Here is an explanation: S = subject, A = accusative, D = dative, P = predicate and T is the particle -tâm.

Intransitive sentences[]

Order Meaning
PS neutral statement
SP stress on predicate
PST stress on subject

Transitive sentences[]

Order Meaning
PAS neutral statement
ASP stress on predicate
PSA stress on accusative object
PAST stress on subject

Ditransitive sentences[]

Order Meaning
PADS/PDAS neutral statement
ADSP/DASP stress on predicate
PDSA stress on accusative object
PASD stress on dative object
PADST/PDAST stress on subject

Questions[]

To create a question that can be answered with yes or no, simply put the word "támna" in front of the sentence.

If you want to ask for something certain, make a sentence and replace the word you ask for with a question word. These are:

Word Ask for...
yugâ predicate
yutyâm accusative object
yutyák dative object
yusō allative
yanyûyi ablative
yomwe inessive
yaná subject
yiyīt location
yunon time
anyóm reason
gotru way (how)

If the clause you ask for has not appeared in the sentence yet put the question word where the syntax allows it.

Numbers[]

Ukikū uses a decimal number system. The numbers from 0 to eighteen are mostly irregular. All others are created with the first syllable of the Amkutínta (multiplier of ten) and the number particles (if none, it is 0). Ordinals are created by replacing the Atyum tone of the second syllable with a Tagán tone.

No. Cardinal Ordinal
0 sosaka sosáka
1 gun gūn
2 la
3 sūta
4 lalā
5 zīko kóko
6 ha han
7 ku kuno
8 yayu yayú
9 pet pen
10 amkut amkút
11 ukzem uku
12 yuzi yuzî
13 amkutsū amkútsū
14 kutlā katlā
15 amko amkó
16 ama amya
17 amkuku amkūku
18 amkuyu amkuyú
19 amkupet amkupen
20 sunka sunká
21 sungun sungún
22 sunla sunlá
23 sunsu sunsú
24 sunfi sunfí
25 sunkū sunkú
26 sunya sunyá
27 suno sunó
28 sunwo sunwó
29 sunpe sunpé
30 umyut umyút
40 zuksan zuksán
50 yotok yotók
60 simfu simfú
70 yenun yenún
80 yumze yumzé
90 foyumti foyúmti
100 yekti yektí

Word formation[]

(will be added soon)

Vocabulary[]


No. English Ukikū
1Idi/e
2you (singular)má/sa
3heso/wú
4wedini/eni
5you (plural)máni/sani
6theysoni/wúni
7thisukyâ
8thatukyot
9hereyit
10therewit
11whoyaná
12whatyaná (ask for thing)/yugâ (ask for predicate)
13whereyityīt
14whenyunon
15howgotru
16notrun
17allzánti
18manyni
19some
20fewvam
21othervatūt
22onegun
23twola
24threesūta
25fourlalā
26fivezīko
27bigwî-ka
28longton-gó
29wide
30thickza-sayâ
31heavyyun-kôzu
32smallsi-yút
33shortet-yéya
34narrow
35thinun-yīn
36womanabōma
37man (adult male)uzúma
38man (human being)unsa
39childkuyō
40wife
41husband
42motheratsāzi
43fatherimânzi
44animalsiyut
45fishláyak
46birdsatyī
47dog
48louse
49snakeyizîsan
50wormfûnza
51treetamyū
52forestyūla
53stickfudônza
54fruityitánku
55seedsorēksa
56leafkinsan
57rootsasígi
58bark
59flowerturū
60grassdadôna
61ropetesōndu
62skinfasuk
63meatutgûko
64bloodyazē
65boneyívut
66fat
67eggyōm
68horn
69tailkikē
70feathertedū
71hairyatún
72headenva
73earanyá
74eyezuyó
75noseyêda
76mouthsúzo
77toothzankê
78tonguedatsū
79fingernailtōka
80footâmse
81legzáda
82kneekûse
83handsúya
84wingkasā
85bellytîsa
86guts
87neckyisen
88backyāya
89breasttutsīt
90heartsaru
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hittatkan
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140saysonrū
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloudazuta
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountaintána
172redda-rí
173greensôm-dot
174yellowen-ru
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name

[]

Example text[]

{coming soon}

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