Nebezni
Writing System
Nebezni uses a phonetic alphabet. Due to the logical nature of the culture, the creation of the alphabet is notably logical, wherein the same symbol is used for consonants that have the same place of articulation, with additional markings for voiced/nonvoiced and palatalized variants.
Phonology
Vowels
- a - saw
- æ - cat
- e - met
- ə - about
- ɪ - sit
- i - sea
- o - coat
- u - boot
- ʊ - foot
Diphthongs
ei, ai, oi, uiConsonants
Nebezni distinguishes between palatalized ("soft") and non-palatalized ("hard") consonants (palatalized means there is a secondary "y" articulation, such as in the "pu" in "computer"). Nebezni also groups voiced and unvoiced consonants of the same articulation point together, leading to the following consonant groups:
- d; t; dj, tj
- j (/dʒ/ - jazz), c (/tʃ/ - coach), jj, cj
- dz, ts, dzj, tsj
- ʒ (rouge), sh (ʃ - rush), ʒj, shj
- z, s, zj, sj
- b, p, bj, pj
- v, f, vj, fj
- g, k, gj, kj
- m, mj (is always voiced; when in a voiceless cluster, it sometimes disappears!)
- n, nj (is always voiced; when in a voiceless cluster, it sometimes disappears!)
- y (/j/) (Always voiced and palatalized)
- l (Always voiced, but can be coupled in voiceless clusters)
- r (alveolar trill)
Consonant Clusters
Consonant clusters can be up to three… but fricatives vs stops don’t matter (e.g., tezv ("in (the) ear") and vutr ("man's"))
Consonant clusters are voiced or unvoiced according to the final consonant in the cluster. Exceptions: v/vj and r, which group with both voiced and unvoiced.
When adding declinations and conjugations, suffixes changes to match voicing of the base word. Exceptions: l, m, and n, which must be voiced
Morphology
Noun Gender
Nebezni has three genders: masculine, feminine, and inanimate.Noun Cases
Nebezni has twelve noun cases.- Nomitive (subject) - e.g., vo ("I") and vut ("man")
- Accusative (direct obj) - e.g., vok ("me") and vutkə ("man")
- Dative (indirect obj, "to obj") - e.g., vot ("to me") and vutjə ("to (the) man")
- Ablative (indirect obj, "from obj") - e.g., vol ("from me") and vudl ("from (the) man")
- Locative (indirect obj, "at/on/near/in obj") - e.g., vos ("near/on me") and vust ("near/on (the) man")
- Instrumental (indirect obj, "by/with obj") - e.g., vora ("by means of me") and vurt ("by means of (the) man")
- Comitative (indirect obj, "with/in company of obj") - e.g., vom ("with me") and vudmi ("with (the) man")
- Benefactive (indirect obj, "for obj") - e.g., voba ("for me") and vutpa ("for (the) man")
- Genitive/Possessive Inalienable (indicates possession of something inseparable, like a body part or thought) - e.g., vor ("my") and vutr ("(the) man's")
- Genitive/Possessive Alienable (indicates possession of something separable, like an item) - e.g., vjo ("my") and vutjo ("(the) man's")
- Vocative (addressee, as in "John, where are you going?"), - e.g., voya (Me) and vutja (Sir)
- Reflexive (e.g., “itself”) - e.g., vovic ("myself") and vudvic ("(the) man himself")
Verb Aspect
Each verb has two different forms depending on Perfective or Imperfective aspect.Syntax
Nebezni base word order is SVO, though sentence order is highly flexible (in large part due to case marking, see above). Adjectives and adverbs go before their respective nouns.
Vocabulary
Pronouns
- Vo - I (Male/default)
- Mi - I (Female)
- Po - You (Male/unknown)
- Pjura - You (Female)
- Veti - He (i.e., male-gendered nouns)
- Mja - She (i.e., female-gendered nouns)
- Ta - It (i.e., neuter-gendered nouns)
- Skjo - We (Men)
- Ki - We (Mixed genders)
- mjus - We (Women)
- Vas - You (Plural men)
- Svot - You (Mixed/unknown genders)
- Soma - You (Women)
- Kjes - They (Group of men/male nouns)
- Sket - They (Group of mix-gender nouns)
- Kama - They (Group of women/female nouns)
- Sta - They (Group of neuter nouns)
Other Key Words
Dja - Yes
Nju - No
Sjen - Day
Djod - Night
Vjot - Life
Vut - Man
Vjuta - Woman
Zjul - Home
Kut - Star
Doz - Moon
Kutol - Night Sky
Nju - No
Sjen - Day
Djod - Night
Vjot - Life
Vut - Man
Vjuta - Woman
Zjul - Home
Kut - Star
Doz - Moon
Kutol - Night Sky
Kjavka - Hello
Roshta - Goodbye
Kjoj - To be
Foj/Froj - To walk
Vjoj - To live
Voj/Vroj - To know
Kol - Red
Djul - Blue
Zut - Black
Shum - White
Djon - Good
Nut - Bad
Roshta - Goodbye
Kjoj - To be
Foj/Froj - To walk
Vjoj - To live
Voj/Vroj - To know
Kol - Red
Djul - Blue
Zut - Black
Shum - White
Djon - Good
Nut - Bad
Common Phrases
Comments