Jiao Language (zhueǐ /ʈʂwei̯˧˥/)

Natively known as: zhueǐ /ʈʂwei̯˧˥/

  ...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
faǔ zing ya lo pe pǐn lo faǔ o ūr î wân ya lo haǔ
Pronunciation: /fau̯˧˥ ʦi˧ŋ jɛ˧ lʊ˧ pʰə˧ pʰi˧˥n lʊ˧ fau̯˧˥ o˧ u˥ʐ i˥˩ wa˥˩n jɛ˧ lʊ˧ xau̯˧˥/
Jiao word order: and hat his holding stood he and to the wind his face wet turned  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: f j k kʰ l m n p pʰ s t tʰ w x ŋ ɥ ʂ ʂʰ ʈ ʐ ʦ ʦʰ ʨ ʨʰ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Stop	p pʰ		t tʰ	ʈ			k kʰ
Affricate			ʦ ʦʰ		ʨ ʨʰ
Fricative		f	s	ʂ ʂʰ ʐ			x
Approximant						j
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

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

Vowel inventory: a ai̯ au̯ ei̯ i o ou̯ u y ə ɛ ɤ ʊ   Diphthongs: ai̯ au̯ ei̯ ou̯   Tones: ˧ ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩˦ ˥˩

	Front	Central	Back
High	i y		u
Near-high			ʊ
High-mid			ɤ o
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No stress   Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
w	u / C_
p	b / !_ʰ
k	g / !_ʰ
t	d / !_ʰ
ʨʰ	q
ʦʰ	c
ʈʂʰ	ch
ʈʂ	zh
ʦ	z
ʐ	r
ʰ
ŋk	nk
ŋ	ng
x	h
ʂ	sh
ɤ	e
ə	e
ʊ	o
y	ü / C_
y	yu
j	y
ʨ	j
ɛ	a
˥˩	̂
˧˥	̌
˨˩˦	̀
˥	̄
˧
̯

---

Grammar

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

Articles

Definite	yì /ji˨˩˦/ the
Indefinite	jō /ʨo˥/ a/some

Articles

Nominative	laùng /lau̯˨˩˦ŋ/
Accusative	aì /ai̯˨˩˦/
Genitive	cho /ʈʂʰo˧/
Dative	u /u˧/
Locative	līng /li˥ŋ/
Ablative	zhē /ʈʂɤ˥/
Instrumental	o /ʊ˧/

Articles

Animate	zhu /ʈʂu˧/
Inanimate	jing /ʨi˧ŋ/

Articles

Singular	mǎng /ma˧˥ŋ/
Plural	zī /ʦi˥/
Dual	zhaǔng /ʈʂau̯˧˥ŋ/
Trial	au /au̯˧/

Determiners

Definite	ā /a˥/ the
Indefinite	o /o˧/ a/some

Determiners

Nominative	ir /i˧ʐ/
Accusative	fan /fa˧n/
Genitive	bi /pi˧/
Dative	bô /po˥˩/
Locative	waù /wau̯˨˩˦/
Ablative	zhěng /ʈʂə˧˥ŋ/
Instrumental	baūn /pau̯˥n/

Determiners

Animate	ǐ /i˧˥/
Inanimate	chuaǔn /ʈʂʰwau̯˧˥n/

Determiners

Singular	zhâ /ʈʂɛ˥˩/
Plural	tǖr /tʰy˥ʐ/
Dual	gung /ku˧ŋ/
Trial	zhā /ʈʂa˥/

Aspect particles

Perfective	à /a˨˩˦/
Habitual	chuè /ʈʂʰwɤ˨˩˦/
Continuous	dīr /ti˥ʐ/
Perfect	zêng /ʦɤ˥˩ŋ/

Definiteness particles

Definite	chuei /ʈʂʰwei̯˧/
Indefinite	zhaī /ʈʂai̯˥/

Case particles

Nominative	ǐ /i˧˥/
Accusative	bī /pi˥/
Genitive	deīng /tei̯˥ŋ/
Dative	ǒr /ʊ˧˥ʐ/
Locative	chǎng /ʈʂʰa˧˥ŋ/
Ablative	zhü̂ /ʈʂy˥˩/
Instrumental	yeīng /jei̯˥ŋ/

Gender particles

Animate	wǔ /wu˧˥/
Inanimate	zhung /ʈʂu˧ŋ/

Mood particles

Indicative	dè /tə˨˩˦/
Conditional	ě /ɤ˧˥/
Subjunctive	wē /wɤ˥/
Imperative	fē /fə˥/

Number particles

Singular	â /a˥˩/
Plural	pàn /pʰa˨˩˦n/
Dual	dung /tu˧ŋ/
Trial	cheìn /ʈʂʰei̯˨˩˦n/

Person particles

1st person	dâ /tɛ˥˩/
2nd person	chēr /ʈʂʰɤ˥ʐ/
3rd person	yǔ /y˧˥/

Tense particles

Remote past	tî /tʰi˥˩/
Past	mi /mi˧/
Present	yî /ji˥˩/
Future	bì /pi˨˩˦/
Remote future	rǔ /ʐu˧˥/

Voice particles

Active	nìn /ni˨˩˦n/
Passive	ɥaǔng /ɥau̯˧˥ŋ/

Pronouns

2nd person	nà /na˨˩˦/ you, yours, you all, yours (pl)
3rd person	lo /lʊ˧/ he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its, they, them, theirs

Pronouns

Singular	yoū /jou̯˥/ I, me, mine, you, yours, he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its
Plural	sha /ʂa˧/ we, us, ours, you all, yours (pl), they, them, theirs
Dual	shê /ʂɤ˥˩/
Trial	gâ /kɛ˥˩/

Pronouns

Neuter	yu /ju˧/
Animate	è /ɤ˨˩˦/
Inanimate	zhuaîn /ʈʂwai̯˥˩n/

Pronouns

Nominative	fìn /fi˨˩˦n/ I, you, he, she, it, we, you all, they
Accusative	an /ɛ˧n/ me, you, him, her, it, us, you all, them
Genitive	chuā /ʈʂʰwa˥/ mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
Dative	sha /ʂɛ˧/ me, you, him, her, it, us, you all, them
Locative	hèng /xə˨˩˦ŋ/
Ablative	du /tu˧/ me, you, him, her, it, us, you all, them
Instrumental	ba /pa˧/

Noun gender

Animate	Prefix fɤ˥- fēshoùng /fɤ˥ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/
Inanimate	Prefix o˧- oshoùng /o˧ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/

Noun definiteness

Definite	No affix shoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ the dog
Indefinite	Reduplicate last part of last syllable shoùngoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ a dog

Noun number

Singular	No affix shoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ dog
Plural	Reduplicate last part of last syllable shoùngoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ dogs
Dual	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʂ- Else: Prefix ʂɤ˨˩˦- shèshoùng /ʂɤ˨˩˦ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ two dogs
Trial	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʦ- Else: Prefix ʦi˧- zishoùng /ʦi˧ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ three dogs

Verb mood

Indicative	No affix jeì /ʨei̯˨˩˦/ learn
Conditional	Prefix o˧- ojeì /o˧ʨei̯˨˩˦/ would learn
Subjunctive	If starts with vowel: Prefix x- Else: Prefix xa˧- hajeì /xa˧ʨei̯˨˩˦/ learn
Imperative	Prefix ʂei̯˨˩˦- sheìjeì /ʂei̯˨˩˦ʨei̯˨˩˦/ learn! (command)

Numbers

  Jiao has a base-20 number system:   1 - dü
2 - wě
3 - shi
4 - zha
5 - ɥē
6 - sā
7 - jù
8 - ɥō
9 - mǖr
10 - wa
11 - mēn
12 - chuì
13 - shoûr
14 - hōn
15 - yōn
16 - mān
17 - jeī
18 - cheīqǚ
19 - nîn
20 - boūngjeî
(Four) hundred - lō
(Eight) thousand - cō  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Suffix -a˥˩
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xi˧˥-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ɤ˧-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ky˧-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nxou̯˧˥
Else: Suffix -ɛ˧˥nxou̯˧˥
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix no˧-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ei̯˥˩
Tending to = Prefix i˧-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋkwi˧˥
Else: Suffix -ai̯˥ŋkwi˧˥
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -i˥n
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ
Else: Suffix -ai̯˥ŋ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʈʂ-
Else: Prefix ʈʂy˨˩˦-
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋly˨˩˦
Else: Suffix -ɛ˥ŋly˨˩˦
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ
Else: Suffix -i˧ʐ