Proto-Nnadū language

Proto-Nnadū
Pronunciation	/nnədɨː/
Region	Seforma
Language family	Proto-Nnadū
Proto-Nnadū

Agglutinative with inflectional and isolative features.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Bilabialized palatal	Velar	Bilabialized velar
Nasal	m	n	ɲ		ŋ
Tenuis plosive	p	t	c	cᵝ	k	kᵝ
Ejective plosive	pʼ	tʼ	cʼ	cʼᵝ	kʼ	kʼᵝ
Voiced plosive	b	d	ɟ	ɟᵝ	g	gᵝ
Implosive	ɓ	ɗ	ʄ	ʄᵝ	ɠ	ɠᵝ
Fricative		s			x	xᵝ
Ejective fricative		sʼ
Lateral approximant		l	ʎ		ʟ
Approximant	β̞		j

[p t c cᵝ k kᵝ] /p t c cw k kw/
[pʼ tʼ cʼ cʼᵝ kʼ] kʼᵝ /p̕ t̕ c̕ cw̕ k̕ kw̕/
[b d ɟ ɟᵝ g gᵝ] /b d ġ ġw g gw/
[ɓ ɗ ʄ ʄᵝ ɠ ɠᵝ] /b̕ d̕ ġ̕ ġw̕ g̕ gw̕/
[s sʼ x xᵝ] /s s̕ h hw/
[m n ɲ ŋ] /m n ṇ ŋ/
[l ʎ ʟ] /l ḷ ł/
[j β̝] /j w/

Vowels

a - tenuis short vowel
ã - nasalized short vowel
a̤ - breathy short vowel
aː - long vowel

	Front		Central		Back
	Short	Long	Short	Long	Short	Long
Close		iː ĩː i̤ː		ɨː ɨ̃ː ɨ̤ː		uː ũː ṳː
Near-close			ɪ̈ ɪ̃̈ ɪ̤̈		ʊ ʊ̃ ʊ̤
Close-mid	e ẽ e̤
Mid			ə ə̃ ə̤
Open				aː ãː a̤ː

[iː ĩː i̤ː] /ii įį ịị/
[ɨː ɨ̃ː ɨ̤ː] /uu ųų ụụ/
[uː ũː ṳː] /oo ǫǫ ọọ/
[ɪ̈ ɪ̃̈ ɪ̤̈] /u ų ụ/
[ʊ ʊ̃ ʊ̤] /o ǫ ọ/
[e ẽ e̤] /i į ị/
[ə ə̃ ə̤] /a ą ạ/
[aː ãː a̤ː] /aa ąą ạạ/

Phonotactics

(C)(C)V(R)(C)

Accent

Grammaticalized tonal pitch accent. Three stress-tones: rising (I), falling (II), rising-falling (III).

• I - noun/verb stress (á : aá)
• II - adjectival/participial stress (à : aà)
• III - adverbial stress (â : aâ)

• Nouns, nominal adjectives, non-deverbal adverbs - first syllable stress
• Verbs, participles (with deverbal adverbs) - last syllable stress

Nouns

• tripartite and three-way patient alignment
• possessor (preffixal).

Morphemic order:

[Definiteness] + [Case + Possessor + Root + Root extension + (Gender + Number) + Tense]

Gender and number

	Human			Non-Human
Singular	-ǫh	gwụłǫh	man	-	kųųł	wolf
Dual	-ǫsa	gwụłǫsa	two men	-ii	kųųłii	two wolves
Plural	-	gwụł	men	-ii	kųųłii	wolves

Declension

Intransitive	subject of intransitive clauses	-	kųųł	wolf
Ergative	agent of transitive or donor of ditransitive clauses	nį-	nįkųųł
Accusative	object of transitive clauses	lạ-	lạkųųł
Causal	agent of causative clauses	sǫ-	sǫkųųł	by wolf, because of wolf
Instrumental	instrument, tool, accompaniament or theme of ditransitive clauses	hwaa-	hwaakųųł	with wolf
Dative	goal, location or recipient of ditransitive clauses	mu-	mukųųł	to / for wolf

Definiteness

Neutral	-	ġwąąḷǫh	woman
Indefinite	ạm	ạm ġwąąḷǫh	a woman
Definite proper	ąs	ąs ġwąąḷǫh	the woman
Definite distant	ooł	ooł ġwąąḷǫh	yonder woman

Nominal tense

Tense is obligatory marked on subject or object of sentence (depending on subject marking).

Non-past	-	b̕ịịnǫh	male man
Past	-o	b̕ịịnǫho	male man (in past action or situation)

Possessor

	Human						Non-Human
	Singular		Dual		Plural		Singular		Dual		Plural
1.	-ąąh (← aanǫh)	my	-ǫǫsa (← aanǫsa)	of both us	-aan (← aan)	of all us	-
2.	-ǫkw̕ (← kw̕ǫǫh)	thy	-kw̕ǫǫs (← kw̕ǫǫsa)	of you both	-ǫkw̕ (← kw̕ǫ)	of you all	-ǫcw̕ (← cw̕ǫ)	thy	-ǫcw̕įį (← cw̕ǫii)	of you both	-ǫcw̕įį (← cw̕ǫii)	of you all
3.	-tǫǫh (← tạạǫh)	his / her	-tǫǫs (← tạạǫsa)	of they both	-tạạ (← tạạ)	of they all	-sạạ (← sạạ)	it	-sịị (← sạạii)	of they both	-sịị (← sạạii)	of they all

Verbs

• pronominal persons before verb.
• subjective persons cliticized to objectives.

Morphemic order:

[Object + Subject] + [Evidentiality] + [Polarity + Mood + Root + Root extension + Voice + Aspect + (Gender + Number)]

Aspect

Imperfective	-	p̕ǫǫkọ-	to speak
Iterative	-waaw-	p̕ǫǫkọwaaw-	to speak many times
Perfective	-ạd-	p̕ǫǫkọạd-	to say

Voice

Active	-	paat̕-	to see
Passive	-il-	paat̕il-	to be seen
Medial	-ųs̕-	paat̕ųs̕-	to see self

Mood

Indicative	-	d̕ii-	to go
Conditional	-ną	d̕iiną	... would go
Jussive	-lạạ	d̕iilạạ	... should go

Polarity

Affirmative	-	k̕ụụ-	to stand
Negative	ą-	ąk̕ụụ-	don't to stand

Evidentiality

Visual	-	p̕aap-	to beat (and it is visible)
Non-visual	nịŋ	nịŋ p̕aap-	to beat (and it is not seen, but known from other source)
Reported	łọọ	łọọ p̕aap-	to beat (and it is non-confirmed information from another hand)
Assumed	hạj	hạj pʼaap-	to beat (and it is deducted from a traces)

Gender and number

	Human			Non-Human
Singular	-ǫh	k̕uŋǫh	to make (by human)	-	k̕uŋ	to make (by something other)
Dual	-ǫsa	k̕uŋǫsa	to make (by two humans)	-ii	k̕uŋii	to make (by two non-humans)
Plural	-	k̕uŋ	to make (by a humans)	-ii	k̕uŋii	to make (by more than two non-humans)

Non-finite verbs

Action noun	-nuu	paat̕nuu	vision, seeing
Participles
Adjectival	pa	pa paàt̕	seeing
Adverbial		pa paât	seeing

Adjective and adverb

Degrees of comparison

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
-	pąą	stạạ
tkw̕ạ̀	tkw̕ạ̀ pąą	tkw̕ạ̀ stạạ
good	better	best

Degrees of comparison

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
-	pąą	stạạ
tkw̕ậ hụ	tkw̕ậ hụ pąą	tkw̕ậ hụ stạạ
well	better	best

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

1.	ǫtạạ
2.	tkųųs
3.	p̕k̕ụụḷi
4.	kłaasọ
5.	s̕oŋkoo
6.	s̕oŋkoo ǫtạạ
7.	s̕oŋkoo tkųųs
8.	s̕oŋkoo p̕k̕ụụḷi
9.	s̕oŋkoo kłaasọ
10.	b̕isaal
11.	b̕isaal ǫtạạ
12.	b̕isaal tkųųs
15.	p̕k̕ụụḷi s̕oŋkoo
20.	tkųųs b̕isaal
21.	tkųųs b̕isaal ǫtạạ
30.	tkųųs p̕k̕ụụḷi s̕oŋkoo / p̕k̕ụụḷi b̕isaal
100.	b̕isaal b̕isaal

Derived numerals

	Ordinal	Multiplicative	Reproductive	Distributive	Fractional
	-jo	-s̕iim	-muuł	-ṇaaŋ	-tlįk
1.	ǫtạạjo	ǫtạạs̕iim	ǫtạạmuuł	ǫtạạṇaaŋ	ǫtạạtlįk
2.	tkųųsjo	tkųųss̕iim	tkųųsmuuł	tkųųsṇaaŋ	tkųųstlįk
3.	p̕k̕ụụḷijo	p̕k̕ụụḷis̕iim	p̕k̕ụụḷimuuł	p̕k̕ụụḷiṇaaŋ	p̕k̕ụụḷitlįk
4.	kłaasọjo	kłaasọs̕iim	kłaasọmuuł	kłaasọṇaaŋ	kłaasọtlįk
5.	s̕oŋkoojo	s̕oŋkoos̕iim	s̕oŋkoomuuł	s̕oŋkooṇaaŋ	s̕oŋkootlįk
6.	s̕oŋkoo-ǫtạạjo	s̕oŋkoo-ǫtạạs̕iim	s̕oŋkoo-ǫtạạmuuł	s̕oŋkoo-ǫtạạṇaaŋ	s̕oŋkoo-ǫtạạtlįk
7.	s̕oŋkoo-tkųųsjo	s̕oŋkoo-tkųųss̕iim	s̕oŋkoo-tkųųsmuuł	s̕oŋkoo-tkųųsṇaaŋ	s̕oŋkoo-tkųųstlįk
8.	s̕oŋkoo-p̕k̕ụụḷijo	s̕oŋkoo-p̕k̕ụụḷis̕iim	s̕oŋkoo-p̕k̕ụụḷimuuł	s̕oŋkoo-p̕k̕ụụḷiṇaaŋ	s̕oŋkoo-p̕k̕ụụḷitlįk
9.	s̕oŋkoo-kłaasọjo	s̕oŋkoo-kłaasọs̕iim	s̕oŋkoo-kłaasọmuuł	s̕oŋkoo-kłaasọṇaaŋ	s̕oŋkoo-kłaasọtlįk
10.	b̕isaaljo	b̕isaals̕iim	b̕isaalmuuł	b̕isaalṇaaŋ	b̕isaaltlįk
11.	b̕isaal-ǫtạạjo	b̕isaal-ǫtạạs̕iim	b̕isaal-ǫtạạmuuł	b̕isaal-ǫtạạṇaaŋ	b̕isaal-ǫtạạtlįk
11.	b̕isaal-tkųųsjo	b̕isaal-tkųųss̕iim	b̕isaal-tkųųsmuuł	b̕isaal-tkųųsṇaaŋ	b̕isaal-tkųųstlįk
15.	p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkoojo	p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkoos̕iim	p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkoomuuł	p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkooṇaaŋ	p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkootlįk
20.	tkųųs-b̕isaaljo	tkųųs-b̕isaals̕iim	tkųųs-b̕isaalmuuł	tkųųs-b̕isaalṇaaŋ	tkųųs-b̕isaaltlįk
21.	tkųųs-b̕isaal-ǫtạạjo	tkųųs-b̕isaal-ǫtạạs̕iim	tkųųs-b̕isaal-ǫtạạmuuł	tkųųs-b̕isaal-ǫtạạṇaaŋ	tkųųs-b̕isaal-ǫtạạtlįk
30.	tkųųs-p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkoojo	tkųųs-p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkoos̕iim	tkųųs-p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkoomuuł	tkųųs-p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkooṇaaŋ	tkųųs-p̕k̕ụụḷi-s̕oŋkootlįk
100.	b̕isaal-b̕isaaljo	b̕isaal-b̕isaals̕iim	b̕isaal-b̕isaalmuuł	b̕isaal-b̕isaalṇaaŋ	b̕isaal-b̕isaaltlįk

Pronouns

• tense marker
• gender stems with number cliticization.

Personal pronouns

Objective personal pronouns are pre-cliticized to subjectives.

Objectives

Objectives of the 1.-2. persons have their own stems.

	Human						Non-Human
	Singular		Dual		Plural		Singular		Dual		Plural
1.	lǫh	me	lǫǫs	us both	la	us all	-
2.	jǫh	thee	jǫǫs	two	ja	we all	hwǫh	thou	hwǫǫs	we two	hwa	we all
3.	tạǫǫh	he / she	tạǫǫs	they two	tạ	they all	sạ	it	sạii	they two	sạii	they all

Subjectives

	Human						Non-Human
	Singular		Dual		Plural		Singular		Dual		Plural
1.	aanǫh	I	aanǫsa	we two	aan	we all	-
2.	kw̕ǫǫh	thou	kw̕ǫǫsa	you both	kw̕ǫ	you all	cw̕ǫ	thou	cw̕ǫii	you both	cw̕ǫii	you all
3.	tạạǫh	he / she	tạạǫsa	they two	tạạ	they all	sạạ	it	sạạii	they two	sạạii	they all

Demonstrative pronouns

	Definite proper		Definite distant		Indefinite
Person	ąs	this	ooł	that	ạm	someone
Non-Human	ąs	this	ooł	that	ạm	something
Place	ąspaad̕	here	oołpaad̕	there	ạmpaad̕	somewhere
Source	hụnąspaad̕	from here	hụnoołpaad̕	from there	hụnạmpaad̕	from somewhere
Purpose direction	koąspaad̕	to here	koołpaad̕	to there, so far	koạmpaad̕	to somewhere
Path	ąsg̕uła	this way	oołg̕uła	that way	ạmg̕uła	some way
Time	ąscạạł	now	oołcạạł	then
Method	ąsḷịị	in this way	oołḷịị	in that way	ạmḷịị	in some way
Quantity	ąsg̕łaa	so much
Qualify	ḷiiąs	like this here	ḷiiooł	like that	ḷiiạm	like something
Reason	ąspạạ	for this reason	oołpạạ	for that reason	ạmpạạ	for some reason

Interrogative, relative, indefinite and unlimited pronouns

	Interrogative / Relative		Indefinite		Unlimited
Person	tii	who ? which ?	tiiha	someone	tiisa	anyone
Non-Human	pạạ	what ? which ?	pạạha	something	pạạsa	anything
Place	magwi	where ?	magwiha	somewhere	magwisa	anywhere
Source	hụnmagwi	whence ?	hụnmagwiha	from somewhere	hụnmagwisa	from anywhere
Purpose direction	komagwi	whither ?	komagwiha	to somewhere	komagwisa	to anywhere
Path	ḷịg̕uła	which way ?	ḷịg̕ułaha	via some way	ḷịg̕ułasa	via any way
Time	ḷịcạạł	when ?	ḷịcạạłha	once	ḷịcạạłsa	ever
Method	ḷịị	how ?	ḷịịha	somehow	ḷịịsa	anyhow
Quantity	ḷịg̕łaa	how much ?	ḷịg̕łaaha	somehow much	ḷịg̕łaasa	anyhow much
Qualify	ḷịtii	which one ?	kaa	some	kwąą	any
Reason	kopạạ	why ?

Negative, universal and alternative pronouns

	Negative		Universal		Alternative
Person	ątii	nobody	maatii	every	hwịtiisa	anyone else
Non-Human	ąpạạ	nothing	maapạạ	every, all	hwịpạạsa	anything else
Place	ąmagwi	nowhere	maamagwi	everywhere	hwịmagwisa	elswhere
Source	hụnąmagwi	from nowhere	hụnmaamagwi	from everywhere	hụnmagwisa	from elswhere
Purpose direction	koąmagwi	to nowhere	komaamagwi	to everywhere	komagwisa	to elswhere
Path	ąg̕uła	through no way	maag̕uła	through all ways	g̕ułasa	which way else
Time	ącạạł	never	maacạạł	always	cạạłsa	when else
Method	ąị	nohow	maaị	in all methods	ịsa	otherwise
Quantity	ąg̕łaa	nothing	maag̕łaa	otherwise than so many
Quality	ąsụk̕	neuter, indistinct	maasụk̕	any	sụk̕sa	other

Numeral pronouns

Interrogative / Relative	ḷịg̕łaa	how much ?
Indefinite	ḷịg̕łaaha	write a number
Unlimited	ḷịg̕łaasa	however many
Negative	ąg̕łaa	nothing
Alternative	maag̕łaa	otherwise than so many

Reflexive, reciprocal and cooperative pronouns

Reflexive	cų	oneself
Reciprocal	tkųųc (← tkųųs-cu)	each other
Cooperative	cilt̕ạ (← cil-t̕ạ)	together cooperatively

Prepositions

Spatials, ablatival and allatival directionals

ạs̕	in, inside	Instrumental
	from inside	Accusative
	to inside	Dative
ṇį	on	Instrumental
	from on	Accusative
	to on	Dative
t̕aab	above	Instrumental
	from above	Accusative
	to above	Dative
d̕ọọm	under	Instrumental
	from under	Accusative
	to under	Dative
kịṇ	beside	Instrumental
	from beside	Accusative
	to beside	Dative
gwǫǫk̕	away	Instrumental
	from away	Accusative
	to away	Dative
ạs̕tkųųs	between	Instrumental
	from between	Accusative
	to between	Dative
htaa	behind	Instrumental
	from behind	Accusative
	to behind	Dative
wạạ	out	Instrumental
	from out	Accusative
	to out	Dative
hwąąk	around	Instrumental
	from around	Accusative
	to around	Dative
psaaw	before, opposite to	Instrumental
	from before, from opposite to	Accusative
	to before, to opposite to	Dative
ạs̕cạạł	during, in time of	Instrumental
	from time of	Accusative
	to time of	Dative
ġwi	after	Instrumental
	from after	Accusative
	to after	Dative

Other prepositions

Companion, attributive object	cil	with	Instrumental
Origin	hụn	from	Accusative
Lack	uus	without	Accusative
Alternative	ạspaad̕	instead	Accusative
Contrary	ạspsaaw	against	Dative
Resistance	ałą	despite, though	Accusative
Stylization	ṇįġ̕is̕	along to, according to	Dative

Particles

Conjunctions

Paratactical conjunctions
Copulative	t̕ạ	and
Conjunctive	hụt̕	also
Disjunctive	jạ	or
Contrastive, exceptional	ḷǫǫ	but
Consequentive	ŋọọ	so
Comparative	łuuŋ	than
Hypotactical conjunctions
kwį		to, for
głoo		althought
ŋkiin		because
p̕ịị		if
knah		that, providing

Modifiers

Restrictive	hwǫt	only
Additive	ạhcị	yet

Polarity particles

Affirmative	bạ	yes
Negative	ąą	no

Word formation

Derivation

Noun

Noun to noun

Diminutive	-ṇii	dlạạhwįǫh → dlạạhwįṇiiǫh	daughter → little daughter
Augmentative	-b̕ạạ	waaguu → waaguub̕ạạ	mountain → grand mountain
Contradiction	ą-	gwụłǫh → ągwụłǫh	human → non-human
Similarity	nsup̕-	buŋką → nsupbuŋką	tree → pseudo-tree
Half	t̕ạạl-	sk̕ųųla → t̕ạạlsk̕ųųla	dog → half-dog
Relational abstract	-łoos̕	bạạc̕ǫh → bạạc̕łoos̕	brother → brotherhood
Related person	-įk	gʷọọma → gʷọọmaįk	cow → cowman
Collective	-ạt	p̕ạp̕įk → p̕ạp̕įkạt	bird → birds (a a collective)
Place	-mooḷ	t̕uk̕ → t̕uk̕mooḷ	fire → campfire
Art / Craft	-hmaada	koomb̕ṇi → koombṇihmaada	war → craft of war
Knowledge	-jọọġ	cḷąąh → cḷąąhjọọġ	herb → herbalism
Expert	-jọọġįk	cḷąąhjọọġ → cḷąąhjọọġįk	herbalism → herbalist

Noun to adjective

Possessive	-tiiŋ	gwụłǫh → gwụłtiiŋǫh	man → human
Originative	-hụn	ŋgwoom → ŋgwoomhụn	sky → celestial
Similaritive	-taat	hpooj → hpoojtaat	cat → felid
Feature	-maaṇ	ḷiic → ḷiicmaaṇ	hair → hairy
Affiliative	-jon	mnịịgw̕ǫh → mnịịgw̕jonǫh	family → familiar
Privative	ą-...-tiiŋ	g̕iṇc → ąg̕iṇctiiŋ	tooth → toothless

Verb

Verb to noun

Agentive	-ąk	sooh- → soohąk	(to) shoot → shooter
Experiencer, adressee	-nuu	d̕jaał-- → d̕jaałnuu	(to) teach → learner
Result	-saah	kad̕-- → kad̕saah	(to) fall → (a) fall
Instance	-ṇi	p̕ǫǫkọ- → p̕ǫǫkọṇi	(to) speak → speech
Instrument	-k̕oḷ	p̕aap- → p̕aapk̕oḷ	(to) beat → whip
Place	-mooḷ	dag- → dagmooḷ	(to) kill → slaughterhouse

Adjective

Adjective to noun

Abstract	-jaas	bọọŋ → bọọŋjaas	strong → strength

Adjective to adjective

Tendency	-liis	tkw̕â → tkwâliis	good → bland
Intensification	-skaa	mbaâs → mbaâsskaa	big → very big
Excess	-pi	cwį̂t → cwį̂tpi	small → too small

Syntax

Word order

• OSV (Object - Subject - Verb)

Copular verbs

Translative	nukoh	became
Essive	nu	be
Excessive	nugạt̕	cease to be