Nimethune

Natively known as: Thala //ˈni.mɛ.θuːn//

 

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: b d g g͡b h j k k͡p l m n p r s t w ɥ ʂ  

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n
Stop	p b	t d			k g
Fricative		s	ʂ			h
Approximant				j
Trill		r
Lateral approximant		l

  Co-articulated phonemes  

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

  Vowel inventory: a aː ã e eː ẽ i iː ĩ o oː õ u uː ũ ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ʊ ʊː ʊ̃ ʌ ʌː ʌ̃  

	Front	Back
High	iː ĩ i	uː u ũ
Near-high	ɪ ɪ̃ ɪː	ʊ ʊ̃ ʊː
High-mid	e eː ẽ	o oː õ
Low-mid	ɛ ɛː ɛ̃	ʌ ʌ̃ ʌː ɔ ɔː ɔ̃
Low	aː a ã

  Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?   Spelling rules:  

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɛ	ê
ɔ	ô
ʊ	û
ʌ	uh
ɪ	î
j	y
g͡b	gb
k͡p	kp
ɥ	yw
ʂ	ṣ
Vː	VV

 

---

Grammar

  Sentence word order: Subject-Verb-Indirect object-Direct object. “She gave the dog a bone” turns into She gave the dog a bone.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?  

Nouns

 

Singular	No affix yãg /jãg/ dog
Plural	Prefix ʊ̃- û̃yãg /ˈʊ̃jãg/ dogs

 

Articles

 

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	wõs /wõs/ the	êp /ɛp/ a
Plural	kõ /kõ/ the	gbuu /g͡buː/ some

 

Pronouns

 

1st singular	lêêm /lɛːm/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	hỗ /hɔ̃/ you, yours
3rd singular	ṣû̃ /ʂʊ̃/ he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	pũp /pũp/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	huu /huː/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	hap /hap/ they, them, theirs

 

Possession

 

	Possessive
1st singular	ṣa /ʂa/ my
2nd singular	diim /diːm/ your
3rd singular	gbûyw /g͡bʊɥ/ his, her, its
1st plural	kiiyw /kiːɥ/ our
2nd plural	tỗ /tɔ̃/ your (pl)
3rd plural	yĩ /jĩ/ their

  Nimethune marks the the possessed noun with an affix, rather than the possessor.
E.g. manʼs dog.

Possessed

Prefix ɛ- êyãg /ˈɛjãg/ (possessorʼs) dog

 

Verbs

 

Future

If starts with vowel: Prefix aːdɥ- Else: Prefix aːdɥɔ- aadywôṣaap /ˈaːdɥɔʂaːp/ will learn

  Nimethune uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: g͡beː - gbee ṣaap /g͡beː ʂaːp/ learned

 

Progressive aspect

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

Progressive

If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pɛː- pêêṣaap /ˈpɛːʂaːp/ be learning

 

Perfect aspect

  The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have learned the lesson’,
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.
Nimethune uses an affix for the perfect aspect:  

Perfect

If starts with vowel: Prefix s- Else: Prefix seː- seeṣaap /ˈseːʂaːp/ have learned

 

Passive voice

  The passive voice refers allows speakers to omit who is doing the verb.
For example, the sentence ‘The lesson was learned’ does not say who learned the lesson,
which contrasts with active voice: ‘He learned the lesson’.
Nimethune uses an affix for the passive voice:  

Passive

If starts with vowel: Prefix ɔdl- Else: Prefix ɔdlɪː- ôdlîîṣaap /ˈɔdlɪːʂaːp/ learn

 

Questions

  Nimethune uses an affix on the verb to form questions:  

Question

If starts with vowel: Prefix ʂ- Else: Prefix ʂũ- ṣũṣaap /ˈʂũʂaːp/ learn?

 

Numbers

  Nimethune has a base-10 number system:   1 - yĩ
2 - kpoyw
3 - liih
4 - wok
5 - he
6 - uhh
7 - gbaa
8 - piik
9 - gã
10 - tuh
100 - têêm
1000 - tî
 

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Prefix kẽ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix go-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix gẽ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix kaː-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix g͡bʊ-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix ta-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix kɔː-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix saː-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix w-
Else: Prefix wɛ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʌmm-
Else: Prefix ʌmmʌː-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix itt-
Else: Prefix ittũ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ãtn-
Else: Prefix ãtnɛ̃-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix ẽnr-
Else: Prefix ẽnrʌ̃-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɔːth-
Else: Prefix ɔːtho-