Usal Sval*

LANGUAGE FAMILY: SINNUTIAN   PERIOD OF USE:   SCRIPT USED:   PARENT LANGUAGE:   DESCENDANT LANGUAGES:  

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  "...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."   Translation: szü i net níŋ jo szanc szü sziʁb jo boi tiji szájo cszʰú   Pronunciation: sy i nɛt niːŋ jo sɒnʦ sy siʁb jo ˈboi ˈtiji ˈsaːjo ʧʰuː   Usal Sval word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face the wind to  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: /b d f g h j k kʰ l m n nʲ p r s t tʰ v x z ç ŋ ɟ ɮ ɲ ʁ ʃ ʔ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʧʰ/  

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m		n nʲ		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	p b		t tʰ d		ɟ	kʰ k g		ʔ
Affricate			ʦ ʦʰ	ʧ ʧʰ
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ	ç	x	ʁ	h
Approximant					j
Trill			r
Lateral fricative			ɮ
Lateral approximant			l

  Vowel inventory: /aː eː i iː o oː u uː y yː ø øː ɒ ɛ/  

	Front	Back
High	i iː y yː	u uː
High-mid	eː ø øː	o oː
Low-mid	ɛ
Low	aː	ɒ

  Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bɮ, f, g, j, kʰ, kʰtʰ, m, n, ntʰ, nʲ, r, s, t, tʰ, x, ʃ, ʦ, ʦʰ, ʧ, ʧʰ
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bl, br, d, dv, f, g, gf, gh, gl, h, j, jt, k, kk, kʃ, l, ld, lg, lh, lj, lk, ll, lm, ln, lr, lt, ltʃ, lv, lʃ, m, mb, mʃ, n, nd, ndt, ng, ngz, nk, nl, nn, nt, nʃ, p, pv, pʃ, r, rd, rf, rg, rj, rk, rl, rm, rn, rr, rt, rtʃ, rv, rʃ, t, tk, tl, tm, tʃ, v, z, zd, zk, zl, zn, zt, zz, ɟ, ɟʃ, ɲ, ʃ, ʃk, ʃl, ʃt, ʃʃ, ʦ, ʧ
Word final consonants: b, d, f, g, h, k, kl, l, ld, lf, lt, lç, m, n, nd, nf, nl, nt, ntl, ntv, nz, nʦ, nʧ, p, s, st, t, tv, v, x, z, ç, çt, ŋ, ŋk, ʁ, ʁb, ʁd, ʁf, ʁt, ʃ, ʃt, ʔ, ʦ   Phonological changes (in order of application):  

• h → x / _i
• t → ʃ / _ʔ
• p → f / #_

  Spelling rules:  

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɒ	a
aː	á
ʦ	c
ʧ	cs
ɛ	e
eː	é
ɟ	gy
iː	í
ɲ	ny
oː	ó
øː	ő
ø	ö
s	sz
ʒ	zs
ʃ	s
uː	ú
yː	ű
y	ü

 

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: postpositions  

Nouns

 

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	Prefix nu- nucszi /ˈnuʧi/ man	Suffix -im csziim /ˈʧiim/ men
Feminine	If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mɒ- maszúrütu /ˈmɒsuːˌrytu/ woman	Suffix -u szúrütuu /ˈsuːryˌtuu/ women
Neuter	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -uk kʰtʰőpik /ˈkʰtʰøːpik/ dog	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -iːn kʰtʰőpin /ˈkʰtʰøːpin/ dogs

 

Articles

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

Pronouns

 

1st singular	ru /ru/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	xe /xɛ/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	i /i/ he, him, his
3rd singular fem	ji /ji/ she, her, hers
3rd singular neut	mo /mo/ it, its
1st plural	muk /muk/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	nom /nom/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	mí /miː/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	mi /mi/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)
3rd plural neut	mu /mu/ they (neut), them (neut), theirs (neut)

 

Possessive determiners

 

1st singular	mám /maːm/ my
2nd singular	je /jɛ/ your
3rd singular masc	jo /jo/ his
3rd singular fem	jok /jok/ her
3rd singular neut	fők /føːk/ its
1st plural	mil /mil/ our
2nd plural	boszt /bost/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	tu /tu/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	jú /juː/ their (fem)
3rd plural neut	melç /mɛlç/ their (neut)

 

Verbs

 

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Present	If ends with vowel: Suffix -nʧ Else: Suffix -iːnʧ cszijencsz /ˈʧijɛnʧ/ (I/we) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -um cszijem /ˈʧijɛm/ (you/you all) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -iŋ cszijeŋ /ˈʧijɛŋ/ (he/she/it/they) learn
Past	Suffix -ok cszijeok /ˈʧijɛok/ (I/we) learned	Suffix -uːm cszijeúm /ˈʧijɛuːm/ (you/you all) learned	Prefix joː- jócszije /ˈjoːʧijɛ/ (he/she/it/they) learned
Remote past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -h Else: Suffix -ɒh cszijeh /ˈʧijɛh/ (I/we) learned (long ago)	Prefix ʦʰoː- cʰócszije /ˈʦʰoːʧijɛ/ (you/you all) learned (long ago)	If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix ni- nicszije /ˈniʧijɛ/ (he/she/it/they) learned (long ago)
Future	Suffix -i cszijei /ˈʧijɛi/ (I/we) will learn	If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix jɛ- jecszije /ˈjɛʧijɛ/ (you/you all) will learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -uːl cszijel /ˈʧijɛl/ (he/she/it/they) will learn

 

Numbers

  Usal Sval has a base-10 number system:   1 - us
2 - mu
3 - szim
4 - szűlt
5 - já
6 - num
7 - ju
8 - jop
9 - mit
10 - jáp
11 - jápus “ten-one”
100 - us szőji “one hundred”
101 - us szőji szü us “one hundred and one”
200 - mu szőji
1000 - us jüt “one thousand”  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Suffix -on
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ip
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -o
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -is
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -d Else: Suffix -ud
Noun to verb = Suffix -ɛ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix i-
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -uːn
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix xɛ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -uːl
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix b- Else: Prefix bɛ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix kʰ- Else: Prefix kʰiː-
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -iːk
Augmentative = Suffix -u