Geskan

Natively known as: geskan /ˈgeskan/

 

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: b c f g h k l m n p r s t w z
 

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p b		t	c	k g
Fricative		f	s z			h
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

  Co-articulated phonemes
 

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

  Vowel inventory: a ä e i o ö u y
 

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e	o ö
Low	a ä

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

Pronunciation	Spelling
c	ch

 

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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: prepositions ?
 

Nouns

 

Singular	No affix wur /wur/ dog
Plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix ch- Else: Prefix chä- chhäwur /ˈchäwur/ dogs

 

Articles

  Geskan has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.

 

Pronouns

 

1st singular	la /la/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	ön /ön/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	to /to/ he, him, his, it (m.), its (m.)
3rd singular fem	ty /ty/ she, her, hers, it (f.), its (f.)
1st plural inclusive	na /na/ we (including you), us (including you), ours (including you)
1st plural exclusive	et /et/ we (excluding you), us (excluding you), ours (excluding you)
2nd plural	li /li/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	ba /ba/ they, them, theirs

 

Possession

 

	Possessive
1st singular	bag /bag/ my
2nd singular	hi /hi/ your
3rd singular masc	yt /yt/ his
3rd singular fem	hap /hap/ her
1st plural inclusive	fi /fi/ our (including you)
1st plural exclusive	y /y/ our (excluding you)
2nd plural	chir /cir/ your (pl)
3rd plural	kot /kot/ their

  Geskan marks the the possessor of the noun with an affix.
E.g. dogʼs bone.

Possessive

Prefix cu- chuwur /ˈcuwur/ dogʼs

 

Verbs

 

Future

Prefix na- nachazat /ˈnacazat/ will learn

  Geskan uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: kol - kol chazat /kol ˈcazat/ learned

 

Progressive aspect

  The progressive aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as ‘I am learning’.
Geskan uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
 

Progressive

Particle before the verb: fu - fu chazat /fu ˈcazat/ 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.
Geskan uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
 

Perfect

If starts with vowel: Prefix f- Else: Prefix fo- fochazat /ˈfocazat/ 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’.
Geskan uses an affix for the passive voice:
 

Passive

Prefix ä- ächazat /ˈäcazat/ learn

 

Questions

  Geskan uses an affix on the verb to form questions:
 

Question

If starts with vowel: Prefix akw- Else: Prefix akwe- akwechazat /ˈakweˌcazat/ learn?

 

Numbers

  Geskan has a base-10 number system:
  1 - gech
2 - wi
3 - wo
4 - chhöm
5 - zu
6 - fum
7 - chechsa
8 - a
9 - chhekit
10 - kon
100 - tan
1000 - ze

 

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix my-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix ta-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix gö-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix a-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix nä-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix by-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix zi-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix go-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix ly-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix y-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix epz-
Else: Prefix epzy-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix bä-
Diminutive = Prefix e-
Augmentative = Prefix la-