Natively known as: naosh /nao̯ʃ/
Commonly known as:
Naoshi /nao̯ʃi/
Naosh is the language of the Redwoods. It's closely related to
Khuikh-Nāshta, as they were once the same language but diverged into two seperate languages after the Split of the Woodelves. Interestingly, just as Khhuikh Nashta means "tree song", Naosh means "song".
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
diˑth he fiz dzoh kiˑmüiˑ diˑth natch nê he shütsʰ ud fitch[alt]
Pronunciation: /diˑθ he fiz ʣoh ˈkiˑmjiˑ diˑθ naʨ nɛ he ʃyʦʰ ud fiʨ/
Nao̯shi word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned[/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: d f h j k l m n r s t v x z ɮ ʂ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʥ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʨ θ χ
↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Retroflex | Alveolo-palatal | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
---|
Nasal | m | | | n | | | | | | | |
Stop | | | | t d | | | | | k | | |
Affricate | | | | ʦ ʦʰ ʣ | ʧ | | ʨ ʥ | | | | |
Fricative | | f v | θ | s z | ʃ ʒ | ʂ | | | x | χ | h |
Approximant | | | | | | | | j | | | |
Trill | | | | r | | | | | | | |
Lateral fricative | | | | ɮ | | | | | | | |
Lateral approximant | | | | l | | | | | | | |
Vowel inventory: a ao̯ aˑ e eˑo̯ i iˑ o u ui̯ y ɛ
Diphthongs: ao̯ eˑo̯ ui̯
| Front | Back |
---|
High | i iˑ y | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low-mid | ɛ | |
Low | a aˑ | |
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: d f h j k l m n t x z ʂ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʨ θ χ
Mid-word consonants: d dl dm ds dx dʃ dʒ f fh fn fr fx fʨ h hl ht j jf jk jl jm jr jz jʂ k kd kf kh kj kk kl km kn kt kz kʧ l ld lf lh lk lt lz lθ m mh mj ml mn mr mt mz mθ n nd nf nj nk nm nn nr nt nx nz nɮ nʂ nʃ nʦʰ nʧ r rd rj rk rl rr rt rʒ rʦ rʦʰ rʧ s sd sf sl sm sn sr ss st sv sx sɮ sʧ sθ sχ t td th tm ts tt tɮ tʧ v vd vj vl vr x xd xf xh xl xm xv xz xʦʰ z zd zh zj zn zz ɮ ɮn ɮt ɮx ɮɮ ʂ ʂl ʃ ʃm ʃn ʃv ʃx ʒ ʒd ʒj ʒl ʣ ʥ ʦ ʦk ʦn ʦt ʦɮ ʦʰ ʦʰn ʧ ʧf ʧn ʨ ʨj θ θd θh θj θl θm χ χr χt
Word final consonants: d h k n r v z ɮ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʥ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʨ θ χ
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|
ŋ | ng |
j | y |
ɾ | r |
ɛ | ê |
ʣ | dz |
ʃ | sh |
ʦ | ts |
ʧ | tsh |
θ | th |
χ | ch |
y | ü |
ʥ | dch |
ʨ | tch |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into
Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
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
ʒiˑtsʰ /ʒiˑʦʰ/
dog (doing the verb)
|
Accusative | Suffix -i
ʒiˑtsʰi /ˈʒiˑʦʰi/
(verb done to) dog
|
Genitive | Suffix -ik
ʒiˑtsʰik /ˈʒiˑʦʰik/
dog's
|
Dative | Suffix -in
ʒiˑtsʰin /ˈʒiˑʦʰin/
(to) a/the dog
|
Locative | Particle after the noun: - iχ
ʒiˑtsʰ ich /ʒiˑʦʰ iχ/
near/at/by (the/a) dog
|
Ablative | Particle after the noun: - iʃ
ʒiˑtsʰ ish /ʒiˑʦʰ iʃ/
from (the/a) dog
|
Singular | No affix
ʒiˑtsʰ /ʒiˑtsʰ/
dog
|
Plural | Suffix -ix
[bʒiˑtsʰikh /ʒiˑtsʰix/
dogs
|
Articles
Nao̯shi has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Locative | Ablative |
---|
1st singular | da /da/
I
| dzi /dzi/
me
| dzai /ʣai/
mine
| ʣin /ʣin/
to me
| du /du/
at me
| deχ /deχ/
from me
|
2nd singular | neo /neˑo̯/
you
| nü /ny/
you
| nui /nu̯i/
yours
| nün /nyn/
to you
| nu /nu/
at you
| nüech /nyeχ/
from you
|
3rd singular | ʒahʦ /ʒaˑʦ/
he, she, xe, it
| ʒuh /ʒuh/
him, her, xir, it
| ʒi ʒiˑ/
his, hers, xirs, its
| ʒuhn /ʒuhn/
to him, her, xir, it
| ʒu /ʒu/
at him, her, xir, it
| ʒaeχ /ʒa̯eχ/
from him, her, xir, it
|
1st plural | zin /ziˑn/
we
| za /za/
us
| zei /ze̯i/
ours
| zan /zan/
to us
| zu /zu/
at us
| ziech /ziˑeχ/
from us
|
2nd plural | u /u/
you all
| uʒ /uʒ/
you all
| uʣi /uʣi/
yours (pl)
| uʒin /uʒin/
to you all
| uʒu /uʒu/
at you all
| uʣech /uʣeχ/
from you all
|
3rd plural | kao /kao̯/
they
| keov /keˑo̯v/
them
| keoi /keˑo̯i/
theirs
| [keon /keˑon/
to them
| keu /keˑu/
at them
| kaech /ka̯eχ/
from them
|
Possessive determiners
1st singular | da /da/
my
|
2nd singular | neˑo̯ /neˑo̯/
your
|
3rd singular masc | he /he/
his
|
3rd singular fem | she /she/
her
|
3rd singular neut | kao̯ /kao̯/
xir
|
1st plural | ziˑn /ziˑn/
our
|
2nd plural | u /u/
your (pl)
|
3rd plural | kao̯ /kao̯/
their
|
Verbs
Present | No affix
ʒetɮêtch /ˈʒetɮɛʨ/
learn
|
Past | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɮ
Else: Suffix -aɮ
ʒetɮêtchaɮ /ʒetˈɮɛʨaɮ/
learned
|
Future | Suffix -a
ʒetɮêtcha /ʒetˈɮɛʨa/
will learn
|
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as
I am learning.
Nao̯shi uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
Progressive | Particle before the verb: nao̯θ -
nao̯th ʒetɮêtch /nao̯θ ˈʒetɮɛʨ/
is learning
|
Habitual aspect
The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as
I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (
I learned something).
Nao̯shi uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
Habitual | Particle before the verb: ma -
ma ʒetɮêtch /ma ˈʒetɮɛʨ/
learns
|
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.
Nao̯shi uses the word for ‘already’
itsh for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Nao̯shi has a base-10 number system:
1 -
ʂü
2 -
matsh
3 -
mich
4 -
a
5 -
dohlaza
6 -
ʒeˑo̯
7 -
sheˑo̯h
8 -
tseˑo̯
9 -
füz
10 -
udz
11 -
udz diˑth ʂü “ten and one”
100 -
ʂü otch “one hundred”
101 -
ʂü otch ʂü “one hundred one”
200 -
matsh otch
1000 -
ʂü dzeˑo̯ “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -θ
Else: Suffix -ui̯θ
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ui̯ɮ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -ɛd
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -oʒ
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -i
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʥ
Else: Suffix -aʥ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʥ
Else: Suffix -aˑʥ
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -v
Else: Suffix -iˑv
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -aˑ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -z
Else: Suffix -eˑo̯z
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -aʥ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -χ
Else: Suffix -aˑχ
Diminutive = Suffix -e
Augmentative = Suffix -oh
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