Amkhong
Natively known as: amkhong /ˈɒmkʰɔng/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...shawn o za nya o bint shawn yock o lac jall bot tshet
Pronunciation: /ʃɒwn ɔ zɒ ɲɒ ɔ bint ʃɒwn jɔǀk ɔ lɒǀ ʤɒll bɔt ʧʼɛt/
Avermound word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d g k l m n p q r s t v w| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Velar | Uvular |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | q | |
| Fricative | v | s | |||
| Trill | r | ||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|---|
| Approximant | w |
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| High-mid | e | o |
| Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| bʱ | bh |
| ᵑǀʱ | ngc |
| ᵑǃʱ | ngq |
| ᵑǂʱ | ngx |
| ɲʧʼ | ntsh |
| ʧʼ | tsh |
| ᶢǃʱ | gq |
| ᶢǂʱ | gx |
| ᶢǀʱ | gc |
| ᵑǂ | nx |
| ǂʰ | xh |
| ᵑǃ | nq |
| kʰ | kh |
| ǃʰ | qh |
| ǃ | q |
| ǂ | x |
| ŋk | nk |
| ᵑǀ | nc |
| ǀʰ | ch |
| ǀ | c |
| ɮ | dl |
| j | y |
| ɲʤ | nj |
| ʤ | j |
| ɲ | ny |
| ɦ | hh |
| ɬ | hl |
| pʰ | ph |
| ʃ | sh |
| tʰ | th |
| ʦʼ | ts |
| ɒ | a |
| ɛ | e |
| ɔ | o |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
| Singular | No affix
ull /ull/ dog |
| Plural | Reduplicate last part of last syllable
ullull /ˈullull/ dogs |
Articles
| Definite | ey /ɛj/ the |
| Indefinite | ya /jɒ/ a, some |
- Used for languages: ‘The English’
- Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’
Pronouns
| 1st singular | tu /tu/ I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular | chun /ǀʰun/ you, yours |
| 3rd singular masc | o /ɔ/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc) |
| 3rd singular fem | gin /gin/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem) |
| 1st plural | mfagh /mfɒgh/ we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural | phan /pʰɒn/ you all, yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural | mnya /mɲɒ/ they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
| Possessive | |
|---|---|
| 1st singular | tu /tu/ my |
| 2nd singular | chun /ǀʰun/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | o /ɔ/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | gin /gin/ her |
| 1st plural | mfagh /mfɒgh/ our |
| 2nd plural | phan /pʰɒn/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural | mnya /mɲɒ/ their |
Verbs
| Present | No affix
ill /ill/ learn |
| Past | If starts with vowel: Prefix ɛl-
Else: Prefix ɛli- elill /ˈɛlill/ learned |
| Future | Prefix ɛ-
eill /ˈɛill/ will learn |
Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).Avermound uses an affix for imperfective:
| Imperfective | Prefix ɔ-
oill /ˈɔill/ learns/is learning |
Numbers
Avermound has a base-10 number system: 1 - et2 - uwn
3 - ga
4 - bhu
5 - bif
6 - su
7 - let
8 - ngqel
9 - mnyagh
10 - sung
100 - ndluff
1000 - lwi
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix s-Else: Prefix sɛ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix ɒ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix nǂ-
Else: Prefix nǂi-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix kɒ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix nɬ-
Else: Prefix nɬɔ-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ǃ-
Else: Prefix ǃu-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ɛ-
Tending to = Prefix ɛ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix mbɛ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix uw-
Else: Prefix uwɔ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɒkw-
Else: Prefix ɒkwu-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ᵑǃ̤-
Else: Prefix ᵑǃ̤ɒ-
Diminutive = Prefix ɛ-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix b̤-
Else: Prefix b̤ɔ-




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