Language of the Minotaur

Natively known as: Cruom /kʁwɔ̃/

  ...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind... tin uotme getme cua getre sa tin ander cua mievre chilme mandre fra Pronunciation: /tɛ̃ ɥotm ɡɛtm kwa ɡetʁ sa tɛ̃ ˈɑ̃de kwa mjevʁ ʃilm mɑ̃dʁ fʁa/ Cruomish word order: and stood holding his hat he and turned his wet face the wind to  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: /b d f j k l m n p s t v w z ɡ ɥ ɲ ʁ ʃ ʒ/  

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal	m		n		ɲ
Stop	p b		t d			k ɡ
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ ʒ			ʁ
Approximant					j
Lateral approximant			l

    Co-articulated phonemes  

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-palatal	Labial-velar
Approximant	ɥ	w

    Vowel inventory: /a e i o u y ø œ ɑ̃ ɔ ɔ̃ ɛ ɛ̃/  

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e ø	o
Low-mid	ɛ ɛ̃ œ	ɔ ɔ̃
Low	a	ɑ̃

    Syllable structure: Custom defined Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable Word initial consonants: b, bj, bl, bw, bʁ, d, dw, dʁw, f, fl, fw, fʁ, fʁɥ, j, k, kl, kw, kɥ, kʁ, kʁw, l, lj, lw, lɥ, m, mj, mw, n, nw, nɥ, p, pj, pl, pw, pɥ, pʁ, s, sp, st, stʁ, sw, sɥ, t, tj, tʁ, tʁw, v, vj, vw, vʁ, w, z, ɡ, ɡl, ɡʁ, ɥ, ʁ, ʁj, ʁw, ʃ, ʃw, ʒ, ʒw, ʒɥ Mid-word consonants: b, bl, bɥ, bʁ, bʒ, d, dbʁ, dj, dm, dɥ, dʁ, dʒ, f, fj, fl, fw, fʁ, j, k, kl, km, kn, ks, ksj, ksp, kspl, kt, ktɥ, ktʁ, kʁ, l, lj, lk, ll, lm, ls, lt, lv, lw, lɡʁ, lɥ, lʒ, m, md, mw, n, nd, nm, nɥ, p, pj, pl, plw, pm, psj, pt, pɥ, pʁ, s, sj, sk, sl, sm, sp, st, stj, stw, stʁ, stʁɥ, sɥ, t, tj, tm, tn, tw, tɥ, tʁ, v, vj, vl, vm, vn, vw, vʁ, z, zj, zn, zw, ɡ, ɡl, ɡm, ɡz, ɡʁ, ɲ, ʁ, ʁd, ʁdɥ, ʁf, ʁfw, ʁj, ʁk, ʁkw, ʁl, ʁm, ʁn, ʁnj, ʁpʁ, ʁs, ʁsj, ʁsk, ʁsp, ʁsɥ, ʁt, ʁtj, ʁv, ʁw, ʁʃ, ʁʒ, ʃ, ʃt, ʒ, ʒj, ʒm Word final consonants: N/A   Phonological changes (in order of application):  

• wi → o / C_
• ɡ → h / V_V
• l → h / _k
• t → tɬ / _{a,u}
• d → Ø / V_{i,j}
• d → l / #_
• P → p / l_
• k → Ø / V_V

  How to read phonological rules   Spelling rules:  

Pronunciation	Spelling
e#	e*4 | er
ksj	cti
ks#	xe
ks	x
k#	que
kt	ct
sk	squ
k	c / !_{i,e,ɛ}
k	qu
d#	de
t#	te
wi	oui
wɛ̃	oin
jɛ̃	ien
ɛ̃	in
wɑ[aɑ]	oi
ʒ	g / _{i,e,ɛ}
ʒm	gem
ɥ	u
y	u
j	i
ʒ#	ge
ʒ	j
ɡ	g
ʃ#	che
ɲ	gn
(CC)#	1e
v#	ve
ʃ	ch
ʁ#	r | rd | rt
ʁ	r
ɔ̃#	on | om
ɔ̃	on
ɔ	o
ɑ̃	an
ɛ	e
ø	eu
œ	eu
w	u

   

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Grammar

  Main word order: Verb Object (Prepositional phrase) Subject. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Opened the door with a key Mary. Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun. Adposition: postpositions  

Nouns

  Nouns have three 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.

Nominative	No affix mancha /ˈmɑ̃ʃa/ doɡ (doinɡ the verb)
Accusative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -pt Else: Suffix -ɔpt manchapte /ˈmɑ̃ʃapt/ (verb done to) doɡ
Genitive	If starts with vowel: Prefix fw- Else: Prefix fwɛ̃- foinmancha /fwɛ̃ˈmɑ̃ʃa/ doɡʼs

   

Singular	No affix mancha /ˈmɑ̃ʃa/ doɡ
Plural	Prefix ʁɔ- romancha /ʁɔˈmɑ̃ʃa/ doɡs

   

Definite	steu /stœ/ the
Indefinite	rotme /ʁɔtm/ a, some

   

Pronouns

 

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive
1st singular	foin /fwɛ̃/ I	gleudre /ɡlødʁ/ me	zu /zu/ mine
2nd singular	nu /nu/ you (masc)	cui /kɥi/ you	muoge /mwoʒ/ yours
3rd singular	sa /sa/ he, she, it	pe /pɛ/ him, her, it	bieu /bjœ/ his, hers, its
1st plural inclusive	gleuble /ɡløbl/ we (including you)	juom /ʒɥɔ̃/ us (including you)	ordre /ɔʁdʁ/ ours (including you)
1st plural exclusive	duoge /dwoʒ/ we (excluding you)	puofre /pɥofʁ/ us (excluding you)	tre /tʁɛ/ ours (excluding you)
2nd plural	o /ɔ/ you all	ible /ibl/ you all	beurge /bøʁʒ/ yours (pl)
3rd plural	cua /kwa/ they	der /de/ them	fra /fʁa/ theirs

   

Possessive determiners

 

1st singular	zu /zu/ my
2nd singular	fom /fɔ̃/ your
3rd singular	cua /kwa/ his, her, its
1st plural inclusive	luer /lɥe/ our (including you)
1st plural exclusive	gro /ɡʁo/ our (excluding you)
2nd plural	gleuvre /ɡløvʁ/ your (pl)
3rd plural	drua /dʁwa/ their

   

Verbs

 

Present	No affix saste /sast/ learn
Past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -fʁ Else: Suffix -øfʁ sasteufre /ˈsastøfʁ/ learned
Remote past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -j Else: Suffix -ɔj sastoi /ˈsastɔj/ learned (lonɡ aɡo)

    Cruomish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: i - i saste /i sast/ will learn

   

Imperfective aspect

  The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).   Cruomish uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:

Imperfective

Particle before the verb: sa - sa saste /sa sast/ learns/is learninɡ

   

Numbers

  Cruomish has a base-10 number system:   1 - derme 2 - breu 3 - anxe 4 - luei 5 - poui 6 - gepte 7 - streg 8 - gro 9 - nuan 10 - ci 11 - derme tin ci “one and ten” 100 - derme beuve “one hundred” 101 - derme beuve derme “one hundred one” 200 - breu beuve 1000 - derme mie “one thousand”  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɡ Else: Suffix -uɡ Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix vø- Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -ɔ̃ʁʃ Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ɑ̃ Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁn Else: Suffix -øʁn Noun to verb = Suffix -e Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kl Else: Suffix -ekl Tending to = Prefix u- Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -fʁ Else: Suffix -øfʁ Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -ɔʁv One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -il Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kst Else: Suffix -akst Diminutive = Prefix ɔ- Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix fʁɥ- Else: Prefix fʁɥɔ̃-