Khuikh-Nāshta
Natively known as: khui̯kh nāshta /xui̯x naˑʃˈta/ (tree song)
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind... ti nuz chi nansa ɬeshre shihuz ti chi kashẗeshê zusḧ keth a nusha[alt] Pronunciation: /ti nuz ʧi nanˈsa ɬeˈʃre ʃiˈhuz ti ʧi kaʃˈtʰeʃɛ zuç keth a nuˈʃa/ Tree-Song word order: and he his hat holding stood and his wet face the wind to turned[/alt]Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: d f h j k l n r s t tʰ x z ç ʃ ʒ ʝ ʣ ʦ ʧ θ↓Manner/Place→ | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | n | ||||||
Stop | t tʰ d | k | |||||
Affricate | ʦ ʣ | ʧ | |||||
Fricative | f | θ | s z | ʃ ʒ | ç ʝ | x | h |
Approximant | j | ||||||
Trill | r | ||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i iˑ y | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low-mid | ɛ | |
Low | a aˑ |
- k → g / V_V
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
ɛ | ê |
j | y |
θ | th |
x | kh |
ʃ | sh |
ʒ | zh |
ʝ | j |
ʣ | dz |
ʦ | ts |
ʧ | ch |
tʰ | ẗ |
ç | sḧ |
aˑ | ā |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Object (Prepositional phrase) Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door with a key opened. Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun. Adposition: postpositionsNouns
Nouns have six cases:- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
- Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
- Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
- Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
Nominative | No affix fizhe /fiˈʒe/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -az fizhez /fiˈʒez/ (verb done to) dog |
Genitive | Suffix -eˑo̯ç fizheeˑo̯sḧ /fiˈʒeeˑo̯ç/ dogʼs |
Dative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ik fizhek /fiˈʒek/ to (the/a) dog |
Locative | Suffix -ex fizheekh /fiˈʒeex/ near/at/by (the/a) dog |
Ablative | Suffix -e fizhee /fiˈʒee/ from (the/a) dog |
Singular | No affix fizhe /fiˈʒe/ dog |
Plural | If ends with Vowel: Suffix -o̯x Else: -eˑo̯x fizheokh /fiˈʒeo̯x/ dogs |
Articles
Definitive | Indefinitive | |
---|---|---|
Singular | shen /ʃen/ the | feˑo̯sh /feˑo̯ʃ/ a |
Plural | tse /ʦe/ the | rao̯sh /rao̯ʃ/ some |
Pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Locative | Ablative | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st singular | ne /ne/ I | na /na/ me | fe /fe/ mine | sith /sith/ to me | a /a/ at me | ā /aˑ/ from me |
2nd singular | sho /ʃo/ you | ẗarth /tʰarθ/ you | kisḧ /kiç/ yours | tish /tiʃ/ to you | hath /haθ/ at you | resḧ /reç/ from you |
3rd singular masc | nuz /nuz/ he, it | serth /serθ/ him, it | chi /ʧi/ his, its | hin /hin/ to him, at it | zi /zi/ at him, at it | zhon /ʒon/ from him, from it |
3rd singular fem | e /e/ she, it | hisḧ /hiç/ her, it | shra /ʃra/ hers, its | az /az/ to her, at it | syarth /sjarθ/ at her, at it | su /su/ from her, from it |
1st plural | syesh /sjeʃ/ we | ton /ton/ us | sa /sa/ ours | sy /sy/ to us | shri /ʃri/ at us | zarth /zarth/ from us |
2nd plural | ki /ki/ you all | ti /ti/ you all | shyi /ʃji/ yours (pl) | he /he/ to you all | khā /xaˑ/ at you all | tsā /ʦaˑ/ from you all |
3rd plural | nay /naj/ they | nā /naˑ/ them | san /san/ theirs | ẗakh /tʰax/ to them | tekh /tex/ at them | oz /oz/ from them |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | fe /fe/ my |
2nd singular | kisḧ /kiç/ your |
3rd singular masc | chi /ʧi/ his |
3rd singular fem | shra /ʃra/ her |
1st plural | sa /sa/ our |
2nd plural | shyi /ʃji/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | san /san/ their |
Verbs
Present | If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -ɛz eshêz /eˈʃɛz/ learn |
Past | If ends with vowel: Suffix -x Else: Suffix -aˑx eshākh /eˈʃaˑx/ learned |
Remotepast | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ- Else: Prefix ʃa- shesh /ʃeʃ/ learned (long ago) |
Future | Particle before the verb: ka - ka esh /ka eʃ/ will learn |
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present. Tree-Song uses an affix for the perfect aspect:Perfect | If ends with vowel: Suffix -rθ Else: Suffix -ao̯rθ eshao̯rth /eˈʃao̯rθ/ have learned |
Numbers
Tree-Song has a base-10 number system: 1 - ke2 - o
3 - zhiy
4 - zhen
5 - tez
6 - tinta
7 - eyê
8 - khan
9 - akh
10 - ken
11 - ke ti ken “one and ten”
100 - khikh “hundred”
101 - khikh ti ke “hundred and one”
200 - o khikh 1000 - tsarth “thousand"
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -oAdjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -i
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Particle after the undefined: - n
Else: Suffix -ui̯n
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix ne-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -x Else: Suffix -ɛx
Noun to verb = Suffix -an
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix i-
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʃ
Else: Suffix -uʃ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -θ Else: Suffix -iθ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -eʃj One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʒ- Else: Prefix ʒa-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -eˑo̯n Diminutive = Suffix -ui̯rθ
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -iz
Geographical Distribution
Khuikh-Nashta is only spoken in Estira, even though some redwood elves speak it too.
Comments