Old Kemira, Pocatan

Natively known as: pocatan /pokaˈtan/

  ...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind... u mi pra binedu mi mamurja u eblod mi pacimi dine pla che[alt] Pronunciation: /u mi pɾa bineˈdu mi mamuɾˈxa u eˈblod mi pakiˈmi diˈne pla ʧe/ Pocatan word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind[/alt]  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: b d f g k l m n p r s t w x ɲ ɾ ʎ ʧ  

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m		n		ɲ
Stop	p b		t d			k g
Affricate				ʧ
Fricative		f	s			x
Tap			ɾ
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l		ʎ

    Co-articulated phonemes  

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

    Vowel inventory: a e i o u  

	Front	Back
High	i	u
High-mid	e	o
Low	a

    Syllable structure: Custom defined Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable Word initial consonants: b bl bɾ d dɾ f fl fɾ g gɾ k kl kw kɾ l m n p pl pɾ r s sɾ t tɾ x ʎ ʧ Mid-word consonants: b bl bs bx bɾ d dɾ f g gl gn gɾ k ks kt kw kɾ l lb ld ldɾ lg lk lm lp ls lt lɾ m mb mbɾ mp mpl mpɾ n nb nd ndɾ nf ng ngl ngɾ nk nkl nkɾ nm ns nstɾ nt ntɾ p ps pt pɾ r s sd sg sgɾ sk skɾ sl sm sp st stɾ t tɾ x xp xpl xs xtɾ ɲ ɾ ɾb ɾd ɾf ɾg ɾk ɾl ɾm ɾn ɾp ɾpɾ ɾs ɾt ɾx ɾʧ ʎ ʧ Word final consonants: d l n s ɾ   Spelling rules:  

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɾ	r
ʎ	y / #_
ʎ	ll
kw	cu
k	c
ʧ	ch
ɲ	ñ
x	g / _{e,i}
x	j

   

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Grammar

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

Nouns

 

Singular	No affix apa /aˈpa/ dog
Plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix f- Else: Prefix fa- fapa /faˈpa/ dogs

   

Articles

 

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	pud /pud/ the	mis /mis/ a
Plural	pi /pi/ the	nos /nos/ some

    Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’

 

Pronouns

 

1st singular	cil /kil/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	tul /tul/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	mi /mi/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	nur /nuɾ/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	in /in/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	chi /ʧi/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	es /es/ they, them, theirs

   

Possessive determiners

 

1st singular	cil /kil/ my
2nd singular	tul /tul/ your
3rd singular masc	mi /mi/ his
3rd singular fem	nur /nuɾ/ her
1st plural	in /in/ our
2nd plural	chi /ʧi/ your (pl)
3rd plural	es /es/ their

   

Verbs

 

	Future
1st singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix ni- nifepasi /niˌfepaˈsi/ (I) will learn
2nd singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix na- nafepasi /naˌfepaˈsi/ (you) will learn
3rd singular	Prefix pi- pifepasi /piˌfepaˈsi/ (he/she/it) will learn
1st plural	Prefix ni- nifepasi /niˌfepaˈsi/ (we) will learn
2nd plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix me- mefepasi /meˌfepaˈsi/ (you all) will learn
3rd plural	Prefix i- ifepasi /iˌfepaˈsi/ (they) will learn

    Pocatan uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: ʧe - che fepasi /ʧe fepaˈsi/ learned

   

Progressive aspect

  The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.   Pocatan uses an affix for progressive:  

Progressive

If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mo- mofepasi /moˌfepaˈsi/ 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).   Pocatan uses a standalone particle word for habitual:

Habitual

Particle before the verb: i - i fepasi /i fepaˈsi/ learns

   

Numbers

  Pocatan has a base-10 number system:   1 - in 2 - ma 3 - a 4 - pucin 5 - yi 6 - na 7 - flocintus 8 - oce 9 - li 10 - ca 11 - in u ca “one and ten” 100 - in fun “one hundred” 101 - in fun u in “one hundred and one” 200 - ma fun 1000 - in minda “one thousand”  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Prefix si- Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix ma- Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix po- Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -un Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -an Noun to verb = Prefix ni- Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mu- Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -al Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mu- Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -i One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -i Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -ol Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ka- Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ki-