Awo Language

Natively known as: Ȧwòjhȁkyȧ /ˈɒ̆wəɣ̤ɒːkʲɒ̆/

 

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: g gʲ g̤ k kʲ k̤ l lʲ l̤ s sʲ s̤ ħ ħʲ ħ̤ ɣ ɣʲ ɣ̤ ɮ ɮʲ ɮ̤ ɰ ɰʲ ɰ̤ ʁ ʁʲ ʁ̤
 

↓Manner/Place→	Alveolar	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal
Stop		k kʲ k̤ g g̤ gʲ
Fricative	s sʲ s̤	ɣ ɣʲ ɣ̤	ʁʲ ʁ̤ ʁ	ħ ħʲ ħ̤
Approximant		ɰ ɰʲ ɰ̤
Lateral fricative	ɮ ɮʲ ɮ̤
Lateral approximant	l lʲ l̤

  Vowel inventory: u uː ŭ ɒ ɒː ɒ̆ ə əː ə̆
 

	Central	Back
High		u uː ŭ
Mid	ə əː ə̆
Low		ɒ ɒː ɒ̆

  Syllable structure: Lone vowel or one consonant followed by one vowel
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
  Spelling rules:
 

Pronunciation	Spelling
gʲ	gy
g̤	gh
g	g
ɣʲ	jy
ɣ̤	jh
ɣ	j
ħʲ	chy
ħ̤	chh
ħ	ch
kʲ	ky
k̤	kh
k	k
lʲ	ly
l̤	lh
l	l
ɮʲ	zhy
ɮ̤	zhh
ɮ	zh
ʁʲ	ry
ʁ̤	rh
ʁ	r
sʲ	sy
s̤	sh
s	s
ɰʲ	wy
ɰ̤	wh
ɰ	w
ɒː	ȁ
ɒ̆	ȧ
ɒ	à
əː	ȍ
ə̆	ȯ
ə	ò
uː	ȕ
ŭ	u̇
u	ù

 

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Grammar

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

Vowel and Consonant Sets

  Awo has strict rules regarding vowel and consonant sets and the order in which they appear in a word. These rules may not be accurately reflected in the dictionary, due to the compilation method employed.

• Awo is syllabic. Lone vowels are permitted, but otherwise syllables must always be composed of one consonant followed by one vowel. Two vowels cannot exist in the same syllable, diphthongs are not allowed. Likewise, a syllable - and therefore a word - cannot end with a consonant.
• The three vowel sets are extra-short, short, and long. The three consonant sets are plain, breathy, and velarized.
• The first vowel must always be extra-short (such as ȧ).
• If this first vowel is preceded by a consonant, that consonant must be plain (such as ch). The next syllable must be composed of a breathy consonant (such as gh) and a short vowel (such as ò). The third syllable must be composed of a velarized consonant (such as jy) and a long vowel (such as ȕ). Further syllables must rotate through the sets in the same order: plain consonant/extra-short vowel, breathy consonant/short vowel, velarized consonant/long vowel. An extreme example would be something like chȧghòjyȕjȧchhògyȕ.
• However, if the first vowel is a lone-vowel syllable, the following consonant must be plain and its vowel must be short. The next syllable must be a breathy consonant and a long vowel, and the third syllable must be a velarized consonant and an extra-short vowel. Further syllables repeat the pattern. Another extreme example would be something like ȧkòlhȕryȧròkhȕlyȧ.
• When words are joined together to create compounds or new words, the set pattern shifts to match.
• Words ending in consonants may appear in this dictionary, but these are most likely due to compiling errors or human mishearing. Adding a vowel from the A set (ȧ, à, ȁ) to the end is strongly encouraged, though vowels from the O and U sets will work just as well.

Pronouns

  Plurality and gender in Awo are dependent on context. However, the three inalienable cases reflect their justice-focused society. Every pronoun must declare whether they are doing something (nominative), having something done to them (accusative), or simply around the thing that was done (ablative). These cases are referred to in layman's terms - when speaking of the Awo language, specifically - as the perpetrator, victim, and witness cases. The ablative case is considered the default when speaking or referring to someone.

	Nominative	Accusative	Ablative
1st person	hùzhy /huɮʲ/ I, we, me, us	sò /sə/ I, we, me, us	là /lɒ/ I, we, me, us
2nd person	zhò /ɮə/ you, you all	jò /ɣə/ you, you all	whù̏ /ɰ̤uː/ you, you all
3rd person	ù /u/ they, them, they all, them all	à /ɒ/ they, them, they all, them all	whùjy /ɰ̤uɣʲ/ they, them, they all, them all

Nouns

  Where other languages have inalienable concepts like possession, where every noun must be possessed by something, Awo's inalienable concept for nouns is location. Every noun must be near (locative), far (ablocative), or simply in the vicinity (pergressive). This reflects the Awo people's three sacred directions - here, there, and all around us.

Locative	Prefix ɮʲə- zhyòzhù̇wy /ɮʲəˈɮŭɰʲ/ a near dog
Ablocative	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɰ̤- Else: Prefix ɰ̤uː- whù̏zhù̇wy /ɰ̤uːˈɮŭɰʲ/ a far dog
Pergressive	Prefix ʁu- rùzhù̇wy /ʁuˈɮŭɰʲ/ a circling dog

  Exactly like pronouns, Awo nouns have no plural or gender markers. They do, however, have a possessive suffix equivalent to -'s in English. This suffix is conditional, the object that is possessed must follow a noun with a possessive marker.

Possessive

Suffix -ɒ zhù̇wyà /ˈɮŭɰʲɒ/ the dogʼs

Verbs

  Verbs in Awo have three tenses and three aspects: past, present, and future; and habitual, progressive, and perfect. Every verb contains one of the below prefices, indicating when they happen and whether they are often occurring (habitual), occurring in the moment (progressive), or have already occured (perfect).

	Habitual	Progressive	Perfect
Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɒgɮ- Else: Prefix ɒgɮuː- àgzhù̏gùrȯ /ɒgˌɮuːguˈʁə̆/ learned (often, habitually)	Prefix əː- ȍgùrȯ /əːˈguʁə̆/ was learning	If starts with vowel: Prefix g̤- Else: Prefix g̤əː- ghȍgùrȯ /g̤əːguˈʁə̆/ had learned
Present	Prefix g̤u- ghùgùrȯ /g̤uˈguʁə̆/ learn (often, habitually)	Prefix ɒ- àgùrȯ /ɒˈguʁə̆/ learning	If starts with vowel: Prefix l- Else: Prefix lu- lùgùrȯ /luˈguʁə̆/ have learned
Future	If starts with vowel: Prefix lʲ- Else: Prefix lʲuː- lyù̏gùrȯ /lʲuːguˈʁə̆/ will learn (often, habitually)	Prefix ɮɒː- zhȁgùrȯ /ɮɒːˈguʁə̆/ will be learning	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɮʲ- Else: Prefix ɮʲu- zhyùgùrȯ /ɮʲuguˈʁə̆/ will have learned

  The moods of Awo verbs are another aspect of the language that reflects the culture's strong sense of justice. These suffices indicate whether the speaker knows this to be fact (indicative), came to this conclusion via other facts (inferential), or is presenting an infactual idea (hypothetical). They are often dropped in informal settings, but this is a recent behavior among native speakers. All verbs at nearly all times contain a mood suffix.

Indicative	Suffix -ɣʲəː zhyùgùrȯjyȍ /ɮʲu guˈʁə̆ ɣʲəː/ had learned
Inferential	Suffix -ə̆ ghùgùrȯ'ȯ /g̤u guˈʁə̆ ə̆/ may often learn
Hypothetical	Suffix -əː ȍgùrȯ'ȍ /əː guˈʁə̆ əː/ perhaps is learning

Notes

 

1. Expanding on Awo lack of gender, there are no gendered words at all in the language. Genital configuration and chromosomal sex, for medical reasons, are far more important than identity or social role for any other reason.
2. The Awo are a nomadic gatherer culture who prefer their traditional ways over modern, urban life or recent technological inventions such as ice boxes or hand canons. The vocabulary available in this dictionary reflects that. Despite this, however, the Awo people are learners at heart and have produced some of the finest scholars, scientists, and philosophers in Faerûn.
3. The Awo employ a fascinating expression of linguistic purity. New words are permitted, but they must be composed of pre-existing words, such that the word for cannon is ȯsòchhȁsyu̇jàkhȁ - "iron dragon mouth".

 

Numbers

  Awo has a base-3 number system:
  1 - chȧghò
2 - chȧzhhò
3 - chȧlhò
9 - gu̇lhò
27 - zhȯlhò

 

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ŭl
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -əl
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɰ
Else: Suffix -uɰ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -sə
Else: Suffix -uːsə
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁ̤
Else: Suffix -uːʁ̤
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁʲ
Else: Suffix -əːʁʲ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ə̆k
Tending to = Suffix -uk
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -uɮʲ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɰ
Else: Suffix -ŭɰ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -h
Else: Suffix -əːh
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ɒ
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -h
Else: Suffix -ɒh
Augmentative = Suffix -ə̆