Tnusjakt

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Tnusjakt
Pronounced:	/tnu.sjakt/ [ˈtnúːɕjaːgd]
Timeline and Universe:	theoretically this universe, future
Species:	Humanoid
Spoken:	Central North coast of Lhined
Total speakers:	~10,000
Writing system:	None, romanized in IPA equivalents to phonemes
Genealogy:	isolate, assumed distant relation to Bokeih, notable Rajo-Faraneit and Etimri influences
Typology
Morphological type:	Inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Nominative-Accusative and Topic-Comment
Basic word order:	TSOV but also TOSV, TSVO, SVOT, and STVO
Credits
Creator:	Humancadaver101 aka Schwhatever aka Buckfush530
Created:	March 2008

Tnusjakt is a language spoken in Lheinead, along the coast just south of the peninsular known as Teimeareitah in Faraneit and Trovvog in Etimri. The speakers are semi-agriculturalists, who have adopted many of the Etimri-speakers' crops, although not many of their methods. Still heavily reliant on fishing, and to a much lesser extent, gathering, they are considered relatively primitive by the Faraneih and other political powers in the area.

The speakers of this language refer to themselves as the "Tnusjaktut", meaning Tnusjakt-speakers.

Phonological Chart

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Stop	p	t		k
Nasal		n
Fricative		s
Approximant			j

Phonlogy

• Phonemes:
  • /p t k s n j a i u/
• Phonotactics:
  • Onsets:
    • Any Consonant
    • (s) + p / t / k + (n) + (j)
    • Nothing
  • Coda:
    • Any Consonant
    • (s / n) + p / t / k + (s)
    • p / k + t / p / k
    • Nothing
• Allophony:
  • Stress-Related
    • /ˈa ˈi ˈu/ > [áː íː úː]
    • /ˌa ˌi ˌu/ > [aː iː uː]
    • unaccented /a i u/ > [ə e o]
    • #/ˈt ˈp ˈk/ > [ts) pɸ) kx)]~[tʰ pʰ kʰ]
  • Voicing-Related
    • /t p k/ > [d b g], when between vowels or /n/
    • /s/ > [z]~[ɹ], when between vowels or /n/
    • /t p k/ > [d b g], when final after /a/
    • /t p k/ > [dʑ) bʲ ɟ], when final after /i/
    • /t p k/ > [dˠ bˠ ɢ], when final after /u/
    • /s/ > [z]~[h], when final after a vowel
  • Cluster-Related
    • /n/ assimilates to following consonant in clusters
    • /tj/ > [tɕ)j] when initial or in a cluster with another voiceless consonant, [dʑ)j] otherwise
    • /kj/ > [cj ɟj] with the same distinction
    • /pj/ > [pʲj bʲj] with the same distinction
    • /sj/ > [ɕj ʑj] with the same distinction
    • /apk akp/# > [agb)]
    • /ipk ikp/# > [iɟbʲ)]
    • /upk ukp/# > [uɢbˠ)]
    • /ukt/# > [uɣ_edˠ]
    • /ikt/# > [iɟdʲ]
    • /akt/# > [agd]
    • /apt/# > [abd]
    • /ipt/# > [ibʲdʲ]
    • /upt/# > [ubˠdˠ]
    • a + i + consonant > vowel + j
    • a + u + consonant > vowel + w
    • a + i# > ai)
    • a + u# > au)
    • i + a > ja
    • u + a > wa

Morphology

Tnusjakt is relatively inflecting, in that it has established declension patterns and conjugations, and, similarly to Latin and other inflecting languages, lacks commonly used pronouns.

Three cases are distinguished: Oblique (topic-marking, arguably), Nominative, and Accusitive. Singular and Plural forms are distinguished in oblique and accusitive forms, but not the nominative.

For example, nanp, meaning branches, fits the first declension, nouns whose final vowel is a --

	Singular	Plural
Oblique (Comment)	inanp	ininp
Nominative (Oblique)	nanp	nanp
Accusitive	knanp	kninp

When an illegal cluster between k and the nominative onset would otherwise occur, an epenthetic a is inserted.

The second declension is made of nouns whose final vowel is u. For example, pnuk, woman, declines thus --

	Singular	Plural
Oblique (Comment)	ipnuk	ipnik
Nominative (Oblique)	pnuk	pnuk
Accusitive	kapnuk	kapnik

The third and final class is made of nouns whose final vowel is i. For example, kint, meaning idea.

	Singular	Plural
Oblique (Comment)	ikint	ikint
Nominative (Oblique)	kint	kint
Accusitive	kakint	kakint

Note how no distinction is made between the singular and plural, because the earlier i-mutation could not affect a stem vowel of /i/.

To clarify the distinctions between these cases, Oblique (topic) is solely used when marked for topic, and therefore is often considered anything but oblique. Nominative is frequently alternatively considered oblique as (while it definitively fills the role of a verb's subject) it is the only form used with various prepositions. The use of the nominative with prepositions is one of the more common examples of alleged Rajo-Faraneit influence.

As for verbs, there are only two true tenses: the perfect and imperfect, which function similarly to a past/non-past system. The particle/adverb tu, meaning now or presently, is extremely frequently used, and therefore is sometimes referred to as the present tense particle, but this is a minority interpretation. There are no imperfect forms of "to be", and that verb is highly irregular in the perfect.

	Imperfect
First Person	un
Second Person Formal	unak
Second Person Informal	ip
Third Person	sip

When it comes to conjugation, no distinctions are made regarding number, which is generally credited to Rajo-Faraneit Languages' influence. A highly non-Rajo-Faraneit conjugated distinction is made between formal and informal forms of the second person.

For example, the regular verb kjunt, to nibble/munch, conjugates as --

	Imperfect	Perfect
First Person	kjuntju	kjuntsta
Second Person Formal	kjuntja	kjunttja
Second Person Informal	kjunti	kjunttjai
Third Person	kjunti	kjuntank

Please note that the tt clusters are actually /t.t/, where a final /t/ from the stem, and an initial /t/ from the affix meet. Also, the terminal /a/ in kjuntsta is purely epenthetic and missing in many forms.

Syntax

Word order is rather fluid. Generally, topic proceeds other parts of the sentence, then followed by subject, then object, and finally verb. This emphasizes the Topic and to a lesser extent the Subject.

Other constructions are additionally extremely common, however, particularly TOSV, TSVO, SVOT, STVO. The first two are subtler promotions of the object's role. The third emphasizes the topic and object together. The fourth emphasizes the interaction between the topic and object, and is often used in cause and effect explanations.

Lexicon

Tnusjakt Lexicon