Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo
Pronounced:	[-kunːuluːdʒuŋːo]
Timeline and Universe:
Species:	Human
Spoken:
Total speakers:
Writing system:	none (the speakers are illiterate; this article uses a transliteration using the Latin alphabet)
Genealogy:
Typology
Morphology:	Agglutinative
Morphosyntax:	Split-ergative
Word order:	SOV
Credits
Creator:	Qwynegold
Created:	April 2010

Phonology

Phoneme inventory

Consonants
	Bilabial		Labiod.		Alveolar		Post-alv.		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		/m/				/n/				/ŋ/
Plain Plosive	/p/	[b]			/t/	[d]			/k/	[ɡ]
Aspirated Plosive	/pʰ/				/tʰ/				/kʰ/
Fricative			/f/		/s/	/z/	/ʃ/	/ʒ/			/h/
Affricate					/ts/		/tʃ/	/dʒ/
Rhotic						/*r/1
Lateral Approximant						[l]

¹The exact quality of the rhotic is unknown.

There are long/geminated versions of the consonants /n, p, t, k, s, r/ (/rː/ is phonetically [lː]) that are very common. The consonants /m, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, f, ʃ, ts/ may also be long/geminated, but they are very rare. Geminated /ts/ has two contrastive realizations: /tsts/ and /tːs/.

Monophthongs
	Front		Back
High	/i/	/y/		/u/	/uː/
Mid	/e/	/ø/		/o/	/oː/
Low			/ɑ/

Diphthongs
	Front-Front		Front-Back			Back-Front			Back-Back
High		/jy/		/ju/	/juː/	/wi/		/wy/		/wuː/
Mid	/je/	/jø/		/jo/	/joː/	/we/	/ue/	/wø/		/wo/
Opening Low			/jɑ/						/wɑ/
Closing Low						/ɑi/				/ɑu/

Allophony

• The velar nasal is long if intervocalic, and short otherwise.
• The short unvoiced plosives are voiced if intervocalic.
• The liquid is a rhotic at the beginning of a word and before /w/, but [l] in other positions.
• /jy/ and /jø/ only appear in a few suffixes as the counterparts of /jo/ resp. /joː/ due to vowel harmony.

Phonological constraints

The syllable structure of Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo is (O)V(C) where O is any consonant but /ŋ/, C is any consonant other than {/z, ʒ, h, ts, tʃ/}, and V is any single vowel or diphthong. /j/ and /w/ do not count as consonants, but as a part of a diphthong.

The geminated or long consonant can only appear intervocalically, and count as being in two syllables at once. The onset of such a consonant belong to the same syllable as the vowel preceding it, while the release of the consonant belong to the same syllable as the vowel following it.

Morphological processes

• When a suffix that begins with a long consonant or a voiced plosive or /z/ is added to a word that ends with a consonant, the initial consonant of the suffix becomes a single unvoiced consonant. For this reason, in the lists of suffixes in this article, the first consonant letter representing a long consonant is put in parenthesis (for example like this: -(t)to). The voicing change however is not indicated, so attention is required.
• When two aspirated consonants are adjacent, or when a plain plosives is followed by its aspirated version, those two become a long aspirated plosive.
• When a suffix changes the last vowel of a word, diphthongs count as one vowel. So for example the singular first person pronoun pot'ya with the ergative suffix -ak' is pot'ak' and not *pot'yak'. An exception is if the dipthong begins with /j/ or /w/ that is preceded by a vowel, in which case the /j/ or /w/ is retained.

Vowel harmony

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has front-back vowel harmony. In the list below, front vowels have been marked with blue and back vowels with red. There are also neutral vowels, which are /u, uː, ju, juː, wuː/. Each suffix is by default front or back (unless it is neutral), and if the suffix is attached to a word of the opposite affinity, the vowels in the suffix will change according to this list (note that not all vowels make matching pairs, for example the opposite of /ue/ is /wo/, but the opposite of /wo/ is /wø/).

• ɑ → e
• e → ɑ
• i → u
• o → ø
• oː → wy
• ø → o
• y → u
• ɑi → i
• ɑu → i
• ue → wo
• jɑ → je
• je → jɑ
• jo → jø
• joː → jy
• wɑ → we
• we → wɑ
• wi → wuː
• wo → wø
• wø → wo
• wy → oː

Throughout this article, suffixes that go with back vowel words are consistently with red, and suffixes going with front vowel words are marked with blue. Whenever there are two versions of a suffix, the one that is first presented is used with neutral words.

Writing

The speakers of Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo had no writing system. The language is transliterated in this article with the Latin alphabet, as shown below.

A a, B b, Ch ch, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, K' k', L l, M m, N n, Ng ng, O o, Ō ō, Ö ö, P p, P' p', R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, T' t', Ts ts, U u, Ū ū, Ü ü, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

Letter	Pronunciation
A a	ɑ
B b	b
Ch ch	tʃ
D d	d
E e	e
F f	f
G g	ɡ
H h	h
I i	i
J j	dʒ
K k	k
K' k'	kʰ
L l	l
M m	m
N n	n
Ng ng	ŋ
O o	o
Ō ō	oː
Ö ö	ø
P p	p
P' p'	pʰ
R r	*r
S s	s
Sh sh	ʃ
T t	t
T' t'	tʰ
Ts ts	ts
U u	u
Ū ū	uː
Ü ü	y
W w	w
Y y	j
Z z	z
Zh zh	ʒ

The voiced plosives and the lateral are represented in the romanization, even though they are not phonemic.

Long or geminated consonant are represented by doubling the consonant letter or digraph (so for example /kː/ is <kk> and /ʃː/ is <shsh>). But the apostrophe of the aspirated consonants is not duplicated however (so for example /kʰː/ is <kk'>).

Grammar

Morphology

Verbs

There are two kinds of verbs in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo, stative and active. The stative verbs describe the state of something, for example mūzōng - be hungry, k'yokyak'ya - like, etc. Adjectives may also be zero-derived into verbs. These adjective-verbs are always stative.

Final verbs

Verbs that are inherently intransitive end with the same suffix that is used for active voice. This whole suffix is deleted when another suffix (like the causative voice or imperative mood) requires deletion of the final syllable of the stem.

Voice

In the following table, the affixes marked with blue go together with front vowel words, and the ones in red with back vowel words. If a word has only neutral vowels, the affix that stands first in the morphology column will be used.

Voice	Morphology	Example
Unmarked	-∅	pot'ak' ubōtta p'yowochyang - I eat an apple pot'ak' tallūda kweding - I hear a song
Active	-(t)to -(t)tö	pot'a p'yowochyattong - I eat pot'a kwedittöng - I hear
Passive	k'ūdi VERB-ttūk1	ubōtta pot'yat k'ūdi p'yowottūk - an apple becomes eaten by me tallūda k'ūdi kwettūk - a song becomes heard
Causative	-k'ye1 -k'ya1	pot'ak' myatto ubōtta p'yowochyak'yang - I make him eat an apple pot'a myatto kwedik'yeng - I make him hear
Passive-Causative	k'ūdi VERB-ttūkk'ye1 k'ūdi VERB-ttūkk'ya1	***

¹The last syllable of the verb is deleted before this suffix is added.

Simply put, the unmarked voice is used in transtitive sentences and the active voice in intransitive, but see the sections Transitive sentences and Intransitive sentences for more details.

The passive voice has similar uses as in English. It shifts focus from the agent to the patient, and it is often used for indicating that someone did something to the patient without asking for consent, or even outright against the patient's will, or that the patient succumbed to a situation that was not brought on by any sentient being. Another use for the passive is for turning a transitive verb into an intransitive while demoting the agent. For example negefa is an inherently transitive verb which means "break". Using the passive voice is the only way to make it an intransitive verb with the meaning that something gets broken, because using the active voice would have the meaning that someone breaks something (without telling what that "something" is).

The causative voice is used for marking that someone makes, lets or somehow causes someone else to do something. It can also be used for turning an agent-less verb into one that takes an agent as its argument. For example the word satto means burn, as in "the wood is burning". To express that someone burns something, the causative voice would be used. This verb can be used either intransitively, i.e. without a patient, or transitively.

The passive-causative is simply a combination of the passive and causative voices.

Tense and aspect

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has arguably four basic tenses (past, present, frequentative and habitual); and three tenses (remote past, future, remote future) and two aspects (progressive and perfect) that are expressed by periphrastic or other means, plus several combinations of the aforementioned.

Stative verbs can not take the habitual tense, or perfect or progressive aspects.

In the following table, where all allowed combinations of tenses and aspects are displayed, the frequentative has been grouped together with the aspects for ease of representation. The A marks the place for the active voice suffix, C for the causative suffix, and the M for mood suffixes, if there are any. The passive voice is rather complicated, so see Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo conjugation tables for how it is expressed together with any tense or aspect.

Tense	Aspect	Morphology	Example
Remote Past	-	-A/C-oCo1-M -A/C-öCö1-M	kallololo - dug a long time ago kwedödö - heard a long time ago
Past	-	-A/C-o-M -A/C-ö-M	kallolo - dug kwedö - heard
Present	-	-A/C-ng-M	kallorwang - digs kweding - hears
Future	-	k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C	k'ūdi kallorwa - will dig k'ūdi kwedi - will hear
Remote Future	-	k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C	k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwa - will dig in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedi - will hear in the far future
Habitual	-	-A/C-∅-M	kallorwa - usually digs kwedi - usually hears
Remote Past	Progressive	ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-beppi2 ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-bappu2	udodo kallobappu - was digging a long time ago udodo kwebeppi - was hearing a long time ago
Past	Progressive	ut-A-o-M VERB-C-beppi2 ut-A-o-M VERB-C-bappu2	udo kallobappu - was digging udo kwebeppi - was hearing
Present	Progressive	ut-A-M VERB-C-beppi2 ut-A-M VERB-C-bappu2	ut kallobappu - is digging ut kwebeppi - is hearing
Future	Progressive	k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-beppi2 k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-bappu2	k'ūdi kallobappu - will be digging k'ūdi kwebeppi - will be hearing
Remote Future	Progressive	k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-beppi2 k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-bappu2	k'ūdik'ūdi kallobappu - will be digging in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwebeppi - will be hearing in the far future
Remote Past	Perfect	ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-ttūk2	udodo kallottūk - had dug a long time ago udodo kwettūk - had heard long ago
Past	Perfect	ut-A-o-M VERB-C-ttūk2	udo kallottūk - had sut udo kwettūk - had heard
Present	Perfect	ut-A-(o)ng-M VERB-C-ttūk2	udong kallottūk - have dug udong kwettūk - have heard
Future	Perfect	k'ūdi-A-ng-M VERB-C-ttūk2	k'ūding kallottūk - will have dug k'ūding kwettūk - will have heard
Remote Future	Perfect	k'ūdik'ūdi-A-ng-M VERB-C-ttūk2	k'ūdik'ūding kallottūk - will have dug in the far future k'ūdik'ūding kwettūk - will have heard in the far future
Habitual	Perfect	ut-A-M VERB-C-ttūk2	ut kallottūk - have/had usually dug ut kwettūk - have/had usually heard
Remote Past	Frequentative	-A/C-dödö-M -A/C-dodo-M	kallorwadodo - dug around long ago kwedidödö - repeatedly heard things long ago
Past	Frequentative	-A/C-dö-M -A/C-do-M	kallorwado - dug around kwedidö - repeatedly heard things
Present	Frequentative	-A/C-ding-M -A/C-dung-M	kallorwadung - dig around kwediding - repeatedly hear things
Future	Frequentative	k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-di k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-du	k'ūdi kallorwadu - will dig around k'ūdi kwedidi - will hear things repeatedly
Remote Future	Frequentative	k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-di k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-du	k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwadu - will dig around in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidi - will hear things repeatedly in the far future
Habitual	Frequentative	-A/C-di-M -A/C-du-M	kallorwadu - usually digs around kwedidi - usually hears things repeatedly
Remote Past	Progressive-Frequentative	ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-dibeppi ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-dubappu	udodo kallorwadubappu - was digging around long ago udodo kwedidibeppi - was repeatedly hearing things long ago
Past	Progressive-Frequentative	ut-A-o-M VERB-C-dibeppi ut-A-o-M VERB-C-dubappu	udo kallorwadubappu - was digging around udo kwedidibeppi - was repeatedly hearing things
Present	Progressive-Frequentative	ut-A-M VERB-C-dibeppi ut-A-M VERB-C-dubappu	ut kallorwadubappu - is digging around ut kwedidibeppi - is repeatedly hearing things
Future	Progressive-Frequentative	k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-dibeppi k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-dubappu	k'ūdi kallorwadubappu - will be digging around k'ūdi kwedidibeppi - will be hearing things repeatedly
Remote Future	Progressive-Frequentative	k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-dibeppi k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-dubappu	k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwadubappu - will be digging around in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidibeppi - will be hearing things repeatedly in the future
Remote Past	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-A-oCo1-M VERB-C-duttūk	udodo kallorwaduttūk - has dug around long ago udodo kwedidittūk - has heard things repeatedly long ago
Past	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-A-o-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-A-o-M VERB-C-duttūk	udo kallorwaduttūk - has dug around udo kwedidittūk - has heard things repeatedly
Present	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-A-(o)ng-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-A-(o)ng-M VERB-C-duttūk	udong kallorwaduttūk - have dug around udong kwedidittūk - have heard things repeatedly
Future	Perfect-Frequentative	k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-dittūk k'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-duttūk	k'ūdi kallorwaduttūk - will have dug around k'ūdi kwedidittūk - will have heard things repeatedly
Remote Future	Perfect-Frequentative	k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-dittūk k'ūdik'ūdi-A-M VERB-C-duttūk	k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwaduttūk - will have dug around in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidittūk - will have heard things repeatedly in the far future
Habitual	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-A-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-A-M VERB-C-duttūk	ut kallorwaduttūk - have/had usually dug around ut kwedidittūk - have/had usually heard things repeatedly

¹The C stands for a consonant that is the same as the previous consonant in the word.
²The previous syllable is deleted before this suffix is added, unless the previous syllable consists of a monosyllabic suffix.

The habitual, which is used for expressing that someone does something on regular basis, can't be used together with any tense. It is usually understood to mean present tense, but if need be, one can specify past meaning with the adverb öttöt (before), and future meaning with the adverb allogau (intends to).

The frequentative can have the meaning of just doing something repeatedly, or doing something repeatedly and in several locations. For example myosyak'yadung can either mean "to jump around", or "to jump up and down at the same spot".

Mood

Mood	Morphology	Examples
Conditional	-(o)ppo -(ö)ppö	kallorwappo - would dig kwedippö - would hear
Energetic	-(s)sa -(s)se	kallorwangsa - does dig too! kwedingse - does hear too!
Hortative	-wat -wet	kallorwat - let's dig kwetwet - let's hear
Imperative	deletion of last syllable	kallo - dig! kwe - hear!
Optative	-gaut -git	kallorwagaut - may he/she dig kwedigit - may he/she hear
Volitive	-auk -ik	kallolauk - let him/her dig then kwedik - let it be heard then
Conditional-Energetic	-(o)ppossa -(ö)ppösse	kallorwappossa - I wish someone would dig kwedippösse - I wish someone would hear
Hortative-Energetic	-watsa -wetse	kallorwatsa - let's dig! kwetwetse - let's hear!
Imperative-Energetic	deletion of last syllable + (s)sa deletion of last syllable + (s)se	kallossa - you dig, allright? kwesse - would you hear?
Optative-Energetic	-gautsa -gitse	kallorwagautsa - may he/she dig! kwedigitse - may he/she hear!

The conditional is used for marking the "then" part of an "if...then" statement. But sometimes it is used on both the "if" and the "then" part simultaneously. The conditional can only be used together with the simple past, past frequentative and habitual tenses. Any aspect together with past tense can be used however.

The energetic mood is used when expressing what oneself actually believes to be the case, despite of what anyone else thinks. It can be used together with any tense and aspect.

The hortative denotes the meaning of "let's". No tense marking is used when the hortative mood is used, except for that the frequentative can be used together with it. No aspects can be used with it. It goes together with any voice except for passive-causative.

The imperative mood is used for making commands. It is not used together with any particular voice, tense or aspect, except that it can be used with the frequentative, in which case the present frequentative suffix is added after the last syllable of the verb has been deleted. The adressee, which is optional, can be put before the verb in the vocative case.

The optative can be used for expressing a wish in one of these cases:

1. The wish is not up to any person to make come true, for example "may it not rain tomorrow".
2. The wish is directed at someone who is not present and contactable at the time being, for example "may the king not raise the taxes again" said by someone who has never met, and probably never will meet, the king.
3. The wish is dependent on a large group of people, like the society or mankind. As an example: "let's all work together to make the world a better place to live".

The optative can only be used together with the present simple, present frequentative and habitual tenses. Any aspect together with present tense is also allowed.

The volitive mood has two similar uses. One is used to express that one doesn't approve of, or like, the state of affairs, but reluctantly accepts it because nothing else can be done. The other use expresses that one doesn't really wish for something to happen, but lets it happen anyway because one can't be bothered to do something about it. This mood can only be used together with the present simple, present frequentative and habitual tenses. Any aspect, except for perfect, can be used together with the present tense.

The combination of the conditional and energetic moods has two different uses. One means that one wishes current things to be in a certain way instead of how they are now. The other use means that one wishes for something to happen; either wishing it very intently, or being hopeful or optimistic about it happening. This mood can be used with the same tenses and aspects as the simple conditional.

Combining the hortative mood with the energetic adds a persuasive tone to the proposal made. It can be used together with the same tenses and aspects as the simple hortative.

Using the combination of imperative and energetic is paradoxically more polite than using the imperative alone. In this case, the energetic mood makes the statement more of a suggestion than a command. The tenses it can used together with are the same as for the simple imperative.

Together with the optative, the energetic has simply a more intensifying meaning. This can be used with the same tenses and aspects as the simple optative.

Non-finals

Infinitives

In action nominal constructions, when the active form of any of the infinitives is used, any agent argument of that infinitive takes the genitive case and any patient argument gets either the genitive or the nominative-absolutive case (except for the deverbal noun where both arguments always get the genitive). With the passive forms of an infinitive, the patient gets the genitive case and the agent ablative case (including the deverbal noun).

In other kinds of constructions, the object of an infinitive gets nominative-absolutive case. For the simple infinitives, the object is placed before the finite verb. The deverbal nouns have other requirements though, see Deverbal Nouns for the details.

Type of infinitive	Morphology	Example
Active Infinitive	-∅	p'yowochya - to eat kwedi - to hear
Passive Infinitive	k'ūdi VERB-ūk'p'o k'ūdi VERB-ūk'p'ö	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūbössen - to become eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūbössen - to become heard
Active Inessive Infinitive	-öppi -oppu	p'yowochoppu - when eating kwedöppi - when hearing
Passive Inessive Infinitive	-ūk'p'o k'ūdöppi -ūk'p'ö k'ūdöppi	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūdöppi - when becoming eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūdöppi - when becoming heard
Active Instructive Infinitive	-ōt -wüt	p'yowochōt - by eating kwetwüt - by hearing
Passive Instructive Infinitive	-ūk'p'o k'ūtwüt -ūk'p'ö k'ūtwüt	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūtwüt - by becoming eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūtwüt - by becoming heard
Active Adverb Infinitive	-ba1-C -be1-C	p'yowobappu - in the middle of eating kwebeppi - in the middle of hearing
Passive Adverb Infinitive	-būk'p'o1 k'ūbe-C -būk'p'ö1 k'ūbe-C	p'yowobūk'p'o k'ūdibeppi - in the middle of getting eaten kwebūk'p'ö k'ūdibeppi - in the middle of getting heard
Active Deverbal Noun	-bossan1 -bössen1	p'yowobossan - eating kwebössen - hearing
Passive Deverbal Noun	-ūk'p'o k'ūbössen -ūk'p'ö k'ūbössen	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūbössen - getting eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūbössen - getting heard

¹The last syllable from the verb stem is deleted before this suffix is added.

Simple Infinitives

The simple infinitive is used as an oblique of another verb. For example:

Pot'-ak'	k'yamk'ottōtk'-a	madūkka-∅-ng	t'yamchya-∅
1SG-ERG	shooting.star-NA	want-UNM-PRES	see-INF
I want to see a shooting star.

Inessive Infinitives

The inessive infinitive has the meaning of "when someone is doing something"; it is used as a time reference.

Pot'ya-t	pōkp'ya-ppu	küllöd-öppi	p'adab-a	sai-nnat	opkōya-tt-o
1SG-GEN	forest-INE	walk-ACT.INE.INF	lightning-NA	tree-ILL	strike-ACT-PAST
When I was walking in the forest, lightning struck a tree.

Instructive Infinitives

The instructive infinitive describes in what manner something happens. For example:

Myod-a	pingketti-dö	p'utsūg-ōt	pöttü-tt-ö
3SG-NA	market-ALL	row-INSTR.INF	go-ACT-PAST
He went to the market by rowing.

Adverb Infinitives

The adverb infinitive requires a case (marked with C in the table). It has different meanings depending on the case used. The following table contains all cases that can be combined with the adverb infinitive.

Case	Example
Abessive	kallobakku - without digging
Exessive	kallobatk'a - from having been digging
Inessive	kallobappu - in the middle of digging
Instrumental	kallobōp' - by digging
Translative	kallobak'p'o - to go digging

The exessive and translative are used for expressing that someone goes from one activity to another, with the exessive corresponding to the from part, and the translative to the to part. For example:

Pot'-a	opk'ū-ba-tk'a	p'ōnoppu-ba-nnat	pöttü-tt-ö
1SG-NA	sit-ADV.INF-EXE	stand-ADV.INF-TRANSL	go-ACT-PAST
I went from sitting to standing.

The difference between the inessive infinitive and the inessive adverb infinitive is that the inessive infinitive can be used for comparing two situations in time: "when doing X, Y happened"; while the inessive adverb infinitive can't be used that way. A single verb in the inessive adverb infinitive form can be used as an answer to the question where someone is. For example:

-Peppü op'a uttong? (Where is dad?)
-Kadappappu. (Out fishing.)

The inessive adverb infinitive is also the same as the progressive aspect.

Deverbal Nouns

This form derives the name of the act of doing something. The difference between deverbal nouns and the simple infinitives is that the simple infinitives are used as objects while deverbal nouns are used as subjects. Deverbal nouns function just like normal nouns and can therefore take any case, or even the plural suffix when referring to several instances of some act. If the deverbal noun has an object argument, it gets the genitive case. So for example "the eating of food" would be nūjugat p'yowobossan.

Participles

Participle	Morphology	Example
Active Past Participle	-ttūk1	p'yowottūk sutsoga - boy who has eaten kwettūk k'wik'wö - girl who has heard
Passive Past Participle	-k'p'o k'ūttūk -k'p'ö k'ūttūk	p'yowochyak'p'o k'ūttūk nūjuga - food that is eaten kwedik'p'ö k'ūttūk hūjungū - gossip that is heard
Active Present Participle	-lla1 -lle1	p'yowolla sutsoga - boy who is eating kwelle k'wik'wö - girl who is hearing
Passive Present Participle	-k'p'o k'ūlle -k'p'ö k'ūlle	p'yowochyak'p'o k'ūlle nūjuga - food that is being eaten kwedik'p'ö k'ūlle hūjungū - gossip that is being heard
Active Agent Participle
Passive Agent Participle	-ba1 -be1	sutsogat p'yowoba nūjuga - food eaten by the boy k'wik'wöt kwebe hūjungū - gossip heard by the girl

¹The last syllable from the verb stem is deleted before this suffix is added.

When a verb is used for describing a noun the way adjectives are used, the verb takes a participle form. There are only two tenses, past and present. There are active participles, describing an agent, and passive participles, describing a patient. Causative voice can also be used. In that case, the causative suffix is added before the participle suffix as follows:

K'yapya	ōppok'yob-ak'	t'ūgū-k'ye-lle	ud-∅-ong
this	show-ERG	sleep-CAUS-ACT.PRES.PTC	is-UNM-PRES
This show is sleep-inducing.

Both active participles can take an object, and the passive present and agent participles a subject, all of which are marked with the genitive case. The subject or object is placed right before the participle.

The agent participle is similar to the passive past participle, but the difference is that the past passive participle doesn't take a subject. If a noun (or pronoun) with genitive case is placed before the passive past participle, it means that the object described by the participle belongs to the person or thing marked by the genitive case. While for the agent participle, the genitive marks who the action has been done by.

The noun following a participle can have any case. If a core case is used, which one is used is governed by the finite verb's voice. The participle itself can be used as the object of the copula, as in the above example sentence. The copula will have the unmarked voice and the subject ergative case, but no nominative-absolutive case will be present.

Nouns

Number

The singular form of nouns is unmarked, while the plural is marked with the suffix -k. If the noun ends with a consonant, a vowel, usually ō or wü (depending on vowel harmony), is inserted before the -k suffix. There are many irregular plurals though, that will use o, ö or wū as the vowel instead. In San words, final -san becomes -sōk and -sen becomes -swük.

Case

The final -n is deleted from San words before the case suffix is added.

Case	Suffix	Examples
Core cases
Ergative	-ak' -ek'	kutsongak' - dog-ERG keppek' - cat-ERG
Nominative-Absolutive	-a -e	kutsonga - dog-NA keppe - cat-NA
Adpositional cases
Distributive	-k'illet -k'ullat	syazolyak'ullat - every day keppik'illet - each cat separately
Distributive-Temporal	-oppot -öppöt	syazolyoppot - at daytime
Essive	-tta -tte	kutsongatta - as a dog keppitte - as a cat
Genitive	-t	kutsongat - dog's keppit - cat's
Instrumental	-ōp' -wüp'	kutsongōp' - with a dog kepwüp' - with a cat
Prolative	-kp'ō -kp'wü	pōngokp'ō - by sea kikkukp'wü - by rooftop
Locational cases
Ablative	-(ō)t'k'ya -(wü)t'k'ye	kutsongat'k'ya - from the dog keppit'k'ya - from the cat
Elative	-pk'a -pk'e	kutsongapk'a - from the inside of the dog keppipk'e - from the inside of the cat
Exessive	-tk'a -tk'e	kutsongatk'a - (turn) from a dog (into something else) keppitk'e - (turn) from a cat (into something else)
Adessive	-di -du	pōngodu - by the sea kikkudi - on the roof
Inessive	-ppi -ppu	pōngoppu - in the sea kikkuppi - in the roof
Allative	-dö -do	pōngodo - to the sea kikkudö - to the roof
Illative	-(nn)at -(nn)et	pōngonnat - into the sea kikkunnet - into the roof
Translative	-k'p'o -k'p'ö	kutsongak'p'o - (turn) into a dog keppik'p'ö - (turn) into a cat
Comitative	-ttō -twü	kutsongattō - (together) with his/her dog keppitwü - (together) with his/her cat
Other
Abessive	-kki -kku	kutsongakku - without a dog keppikki - without a cat
Vocative	-∅	kutsonga - hey you dog! keppi - hey you cat!

Adpositional cases

If the distributive case is used together with a word that stands for some kind of time period, it has the meaning that something is done during each of those periods. If used with any other kind of noun, it has the meaning of each of those separately. For example the sentence k'yapya k'yowa k'ōm sangok'ullat means "do this assignment in pairs", where the word for pair (sango) carries the distributive case. The distributive case can not be used with pronouns.

The distributive-temporal case is only used together with words relating to time. It has the meaning that something is done during that time, but unlike the simple distributive case it doesn't necessarily mean that it is done during every such time period.

The essive case has the meaning of as or if. For example kyot'pyatta syazolyatta sidöding - during a cold day one freezes, or nogapwatta ōno k'yowopk'yudappo - as a rich man I wouldn't do work.

The genitive case is used for marking possession (with the posessive preceding the head noun), as well as for marking the agent in passive sentences. If the genitive case is used on a word that ends with a consonant, a vowel is inserted before the suffix. This is the same vowel as the one used in the plural form.

The instrumental tells that something is used as a tool. It can't be used with personal pronouns or animate nouns. If need be, the pronoun or animate noun can be given the nominative-accusative case, followed by the word küwikkōt (use-INSTR.INF).

The prolative tells "by which medium or route". For example rōtta hugokp'ō kūt'kōnang - the boat travels by river. It can't be used with pronouns or animate nouns.

Locational cases

The ablative has the meaning of "from the vicinity or topside of something". The elative on the other hand means "from the inside of something". The elative has two other uses as well. One is, when used on a time noun, it means "from that time onwards". The other is for expressing what someone feels; the person who is feeling gets the elative case.

The adessive has the meaning of "by, near or on top of something". The inessive means "inside something". Both the adessive and inessive can be used together with a time noun to indicate when something happened or will happen. The difference is that the adessive is used when the action stretches out during the whole time period, while the inessive is used about things that happened sometime during that time period.

The allative has the meaning of "to the vicinity or topside of something", while the illative has the meaning "to the inside of something". The illative can also be used with a time noun to indicate "until a certain time".

The "inside" meaning of the internal locatives (elative, inessive and illative) is also applied to objects that somehow cover something else (even if only partially). For example, when describing someone sitting on a chair, one of the internal locatives would be used because a chair has a back support, so the person sitting in it would have his or her back covered. A stool on the other hand does not have any part that covers a person, so one of the external locatives (ablative, adessive or allative) would be used. The external locatives are also used when describing possession of, or transaction of, items between people.

The exessive and translative cases describe either that something turns into something else, or that something changes from one state into another. The exessive is the source and the translative is the result. The exessive can also be used to descibe what something is made of.

Other cases

The abessive case has the meaning of "without". It can't be used with personal pronouns or nouns standing for humanoid beings. Instead the preposition ot'pat is used, followed by the given noun or pronoun in essive case.

The vocative case is used when addressing someone by their name or title, and also when calling someone a rude word. The word with the vocative case can be placed either at the beginning or end of the sentence.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has a three-way distinction of person in its personal pronouns, but no gender distinction.

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person	Interrogative
Singular	pot'ya I	p'ot'ya you	myat he/she	kūga who
Plural	pō we	k'ō you	mō they	kōkkya who

In the daughter languages of Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo the second person pronouns are avoided for politeness, and instead the addressee's name or title is used. In Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo, at least the singular second person pronoun was avoided, but it is unclear if it was because of politeness reasons or because it was so similar to the singular first person pronoun. If the plural second person pronoun was also avoided is unknown.

Demonstrative Pronouns

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person	Interrogative	Interrogative dual
Singular	k'yapya this	k'ūju that	p'ō that/it	pokya what	kūp'so which
Plural	t'yapya these	t'ūju those	t'ō those/they	pokkya which	kūp'sok which ones

The demonstrative pronouns refer to inanimate things and non-humanoid beings, except for the singular interrogative dual which can also be used about humanoids. The demonstrative pronouns can also be used as demonstrative determiners. The interrogative dual has the meaning of "which one (of two alternatives)". The plural form is used when referring to two groups of things.

Relative Pronouns

There are two relative pronouns: huga, which refers to the preceding word (or noun preceding numeral); and pokya which refers to the preceding clause or sentence. If a relative pronouns is used without the thing it refers to having been explicitly mentioned, then huga will be used if the implicit thing is animate, and pokya if it is inanimate. For example:

Myat-ōt	op'-a	atk'wa-tto-∅,	myad-ak'	pog-a	syuk'yu-∅-∅
3SG-GEN	father-NOMABS	give-ACT-HAB	3SG-ERG	what-NOMABS	ask.for-UNM-HAB
Her father gives her what she asks for.

The relative pronoun gets the same number as the thing it refers to, and whichever case is required in the position the relative pronoun appears in. Unless the relative pronoun appears without something it refers to, as in the above example, it is moved to the beginning of the relative clause.

Reciprocal Pronoun

The reciprocal pronoun is k'utsossan (k'utsossa in nominative-absolutive case and k'utsossōt in genitive). Below are examples of the word in both cases.

M-ak'	k'utsoss-a	nagapk'wa-∅-ng
3PL-ERG	each.other-NA	love-UNM-PRES
They love each other.

M-ak'	k'utsoss-ōt	mofūp-ōk-a	tōnogakk-∅-o
3PL-ERG	each.other-GEN	hair-PL-NA	cut-UNM-PAST
They cut each other's hair.

Reflexive Pronoun

The reflexive pronoun is okp'ō.

Pot'-ak'	okp'-a	sōpk'-∅-o
1SG-ERG	self-NA	wash-UNM-PAST
I washed myself.

The reflexive pronoun can also be used for emphasis, in which case it is placed after the verb.

Pot'-ak'	p'-a	k'ōmchya-∅-ng	okp'ō
1SG-ERG	it-NA	do-UNM-PRES	self
I'll do it myself!

Quantifier Pronouns

	Inclusive	Exclusive	Universal	Negative
Singular humanoid	kūga k'annatp'a anyone	hugū someone	killege everyone	ōno kūkyut no one
Plural humanoid	kōkkya k'annatp'a anyone	hukkūk someone		ōno kōkkyut no one
Dual	kūp'so k'annatp'a either one	hup'sogūp'so either one	pudöbik both	ōno kūp'sokyut neither
Singular non-humanoid	pokya k'annatp'a any/anything	hugot some/something	killege all/everything	ōno pokyut nothing
Plural non-humanoid	pokkya k'annatp'a any	hukkot some		ōno pokkyut no

The singular non-humanoids can also be used as determiners. The plural non-humanoids can only be used as determiners. See also Quantifier adverbs for more quantifiers.

Adjectives

San adjectives declinate slightly differently than other adjectives, as the final -an or -en is deleted from San adjectives before comparison suffixes are added. The following table displays both types of declination.

Comparison	Suffix	Example
San adjectives
Positive	-∅	sūttallossan - red negettüzessen - broken
Comparative	-ōp'so -wüp'sö	sūttallossōp'so - redder negettüzesswüp'sö - more broken
Superlative	-ot -öt	sūttallossot - reddest negettüzessöt - most broken
Other adjectives
Positive	-∅	mochap - slow kūbi - odd
Comparative	-p'so1 -p'sö	mochap'so - slower kūbip'sö - odder
Superlative	-tsot1 -tsöt	mochatsot - slowest kūbitsöt - oddest

¹If the adjective ends with p, the p is deleted before this suffix is added. (There are only front vowel adjectives that end with p.)

Epithets

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has a special part of speech called epithets. Epithets are words that precede proper nouns and define what kind of thing that proper noun is. Epithets are mostly used with people's names and names of geographical locations. They function differently from nouns and adjectives because epithets do not inflect, they cannot be used predicatively and epithets only modify proper nouns while adjectives only modify common nouns.

A few epithets are identical to the corresponding noun and some are closely related to the corresponding noun. Others have been derived from other nouns, some are words that used to be nouns but have ceased to be used as such, and some are words borrowed from other languages.

The use of epithets is not obligatory, especially not in full sentences. Though, when it comes to people's names, using an epithet is a sign of respect, so when speaking in the presence of someone one does not know intimately, they are almost always used together with that person's name.

Shorthand translation of epithet	Epithet	Description
Bachelor		Signifies the name of an unmarried man (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Bay		Used before the name of a bay, bight or gulf
Beach	zyōkp'o	Used before the name of a beach
Bridge	p'ot'k'a	Used before the name of a bridge. This is the same word as the noun for bridge.
Cape	kash	Used before the name of a cape
City		Used before the name of a town or city
Coast		The name of a coastline
Delta	chōt'k'a	Used before the name of a delta or mouth of a river. Usually a river and its delta or mouth will have the same name, but different epithets are used depending on which part one is talking about.
Doctor	k'umk'ungo	Used before a doctor's name (surname or surname followed by given name)
Ford	kamtai	Used before the name of a ford
Forest	p'adu	Used before the name of a forest (standard)
	kungso	Used before the name of a forest (dialectal)
God	hūbat'	Signifies the name of a deity
Highland	yotyapwa	Used before the name of a highland or elevated tableland
Hill	kūp'sū	Used before the name of a hill
Island	wo	Used before the name of an island
Island chain	angkossōtwafo	Used before the name of an island chain, a group of islands or an archipelago
King	nōsh	Signifies the name of a king
Lake	hyanglo	Used before the name of a lake. This is the same word as the noun for lake.
Land	kutk'ū	Used before the name of a piece of land, a country or a region
Lowland	adapwa	Used before the name of a lowland area
Miss	t'ōnokko	Signifies the name of an unmarried woman (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Mister	möngi	Signifies the name of a married man (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Mistress	nutsūlla	Signifies the name of a married woman (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Mountain		Used before the name of a mountain or peak
Mountain range	k'ūtk'ūngo	Used before the name of a mountain range
Pass	kūt'kū	Used before the name of a mountain pass
Peninsula		Used before the name of a peninsula
Plateau		Used before the name of a plateau of undefined height (see also *** and ***)
Pond	tap'so	Used before the name of a pond or spring
Queen	igi	Signifies the name of a queen
Rapids	zhungp'i	Used before the name of some rapids
River	nofu	Used before the name of a river
Road	rofa	Used before the name of a road or street
Sea	ūdissi	Used before the name of a sea
Ship	adūp	Signifies the name of a ship or boat
Straight	kat'wado	Used before the name of a straight or sound
Stream	rongk'a	Used before the name of a stream, creek or brook
Swamp	nyabō	Used before the name of a swamp, marsh, bog or quagmire
Town drunk	hūjussu	Used before the name of a drunkard with low status in the society (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name). This usage is rude, and these people would rather prefer to be called by the epithet möngi or *bachelor.
Valley	p'uda	Used before the name of a valley
Village	appūkkūp	Used before the name of a village or settlement
Yard	sonna	Signifies the name of a courtyard or farmyard, or signifies the house on that plot

Adverbs

Adverbs related to pronouns

These adverbs are related to the pronouns in that there's a person distinction among them as well as interrogative forms (allthough some of them distinguish fewer than three persons), and that some of them are somehow derived from the pronouns (cf for example the locational adverbs with the demonstrative pronouns).

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person	Interrogative
Locational	k'ue- here	k'ūju- there	p'e- there	po- where
Temporal	t'yok now	p'edutset then		podutsat when
Manner	t'yazot this way	t'utsot that way		pokkōt how
Reason	p'ok'p'o therefore			pok'p'o why

The locational adverbs are obligatorily combined with a locational case suffix.

Quantifier adverbs

	Inclusive	Exclusive	Universal	Negative
Locative	poppu k'annatp'a anywhere	huppiget somewhere	killegedi everywhere	ōno popkyut nowhere
Temporal	podutsat k'annatp'a anytime	hupkūp sometime	allotta all the time	ōno kupkyut never
Manner	pokkōt k'annatp'a any way	hukkōtkot somehow	huga k'assōp' every way	ōno pokkōtkyut no way

Adpositions

There are several postposition, a few ambipositions (adpositions that can appear either before or after the noun it modifies) and even fewer prepositions in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo. The words that are solely postpositions require the preceding noun to have genitive case. The tables in the following sections use the word k'adu (house) (and in some cases op'ya (father)) as an example together with the adpositions.

Postpositions

Motion to	Being at a location	Motion away	Motion across
k'adut adado under the house	k'adut adadu under the house	k'adut adat'k'ya from underneath the house	k'adut adakp'ō underneath the house
k'adut kōpkodo to the middle of the house	k'adut kōpkodu in the middle of the house	k'adut kōpkot'k'ya from the middle of the house	k'adut kōpkokp'ō across the middle of the house
k'adut k'agado behind the house	k'adut k'agadu behind the house	k'adut k'agat'k'ya from behind the house	k'adut k'agakp'ō across the back of the house
k'adut ōkkūdo in front of the house	k'adut ōkkūdu in front of the house	k'adut ōkkūt'k'ya from front of the house	k'adut ōkkūkp'ō across the front of the house
k'adut p'ollūdo beside the house	k'adut p'ollūdu beside the house	p'ollūt'k'ya from beside the house	k'adut p'ollūkp'ō past the side of the house
k'adut p'op'yannat into the house	k'adut p'op'yappu inside the house	k'adut p'op'yapk'a from the inside of the house	(use tyassokp'ō instead, see the list further down the section)
k'adut rofōngōdo beside the house	k'adut rofōngōdu beside the house	k'adut rofōngōt'k'ya from beside the house	-
op'yat tūjudo to father's home/vicinity	op'yat tūjudu at father's home/vicinity	op'yat tūjut'k'ya from father's home/vicinity	-
k'adut tyannodo near the house	tyannodu near the house	k'adut tyannot'k'ya from near the house / something passes near the house	-
k'adut yotyado on top of the house / above the house	k'adut yotyadu on top of the house / above the house	k'adut yotyat'k'ya from the top of the house / from above the house	k'adut yotyakp'ō over the house

The difference between p'ollū- and rofōngō- could be said to be that p'ollū- denotes the area next to something, so for example sa ut k'ūdit p'ollūdu (the tree is beside the house) could be said even if there is some third object between the house and the tree, making it impossible to see the house from where the tree is. Though p'ollū- and rofōngō- are synonymous to most speakers.

The tūju- postpositions can only be used in reference of an animate being. They can either have the meaning of near that person, or that person's home (whether or not he is home).

The tyanno- postpositions can also be used as adverbs.

The following invariant postpositions also exist:

• hyat'kodu - after (locational)
• hyat'koppu - after (temporal)
• ippöpyette - in someone's place
• killūkki - via
• k'agofa - for someone's sake; because of
• rangk'ōt¹ - for a purpose
• sūjudopk'a - on behalf of somebody
• tyassokp'ō - through
• unnokp'ō - past (locational)
• yop'syono - around (only one lap)

¹This postposition requires the noun to have the exessive case instead of genitive.

Ambipositions

The following table shows all ambipositions as well as the cases they call for in the nouns they modify.

Ambiposition	Case of noun
kumk'o - toward	Allative
kutk'yunga - against	Essive
rapk'ōt - against	Any external locative
rapk'wat - toward; versus	Allative
sokkot - along	Any external locative

The difference between kumk'o and rapk'wat is that rapk'wat is only used about something moving towards a person. Kumk'o is used either about someone or something moving towards some inanimate object or place, about someone moving with malicious intent toward some person, or about something capable of causing injury moving towards a person. Rapk'wat can not have any of these meanings. Rapk'wat is usually used about a person moving toward someone else to greet that person, or for describing who or what one has met during one's way. With these meanings, rapk'wat can also be used as an adverb modifying an inessive infinitive. Paradoxically, one other use for rapk'wat is like the word "versus" in a battle (possibly because a sports battle is entered with both parties' consent, while battles in war are meant to be fought with a code of honour).

The difference between kutk'yunga and rapk'ōt is that rapk'ōt is used for describing the position of some object, usually together with verbs with meanings similar to "lean". Kutk'yunga on the other is used about someone or something being against someone else's order or will.

Prepositions

Preposition	Case of noun
ot'pat - without	Essive
öttöt - before	Essive or illative
yop'syono - around (several laps)	Adessive

Ot'pat can only be used together with pronouns or nouns standing for humanoid beings.

Öttöt, (which can also be used as an adverb,) calls for the illative case on time nouns, and otherwise essive. See examples below.

Pot'-a	mōnyatt-o	öttöt	allūngotkut-t'uptūgu-nnat
1SG-NOMABS	wake.up-PAST	before	sun-rise-ILL
I woke up before sunrise.

P'ot'-a	k'ūdi-tt-o	kukko-nnat	öttöt	pot'ya-tk'a
2SG-NOMABS	come-ACT-PAST	home-ILL	before	1SG-ESS
You came home before me.

Numerals

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has a decimal system. The numbers 11-19 are expressed by adding the suffix -k'utsossan to one of the numbers 1-9. Higher numbers are expressed simply by placing the name of one of the numbers 2-9 before the name of one of the numbers 10, 100, 1000 or 10 000. For example, 20 is called kak'p'o-kwibössen and 317 is called kut'pō-p'akka-kwibössen-p'ōnokp'ōpyat.

Number	Cardinal Numeral	Ordinal Numeral	Distributive
1	yok'p'o	ōtp'obuzassan	yok'p'ok'ullat
2	kak'p'o	k'utsossan	kak'p'ok'ullat
3	kut'pō	kut'pap	kut'pōk'ullat
4	t'ōt'hya	t'ōt'hyap	t'ōt'hyak'ullat
5	ryōppo	ryōppap	ryōppok'ullat
6	kaippo	kaippap	kaippok'ullat
7	p'ōnokp'ōpyat	p'ōnokp'ōpyap	p'ōnokp'ōpyatk'ullat
8	kamchōk'p'at	kamchōk'p'ap	kamchōk'p'atk'ullat
9	yomchōk'p'yat	yomchōk'p'yap	yomchōk'p'yatk'ullat
10	kwibössen1	kwibössep	kwibössek'ullat
100	p'akka	p'akkap	p'akkak'ullat
1000	k'ūnnak	k'ūnnap	k'ūnnakk'ullat
10 000
Interrogative	putk'a(gu)	puttōp(ku)	puttok'ullat(ku)

¹The -ssen suffix is deleted when a numeral classifier is added.

The cardinal numerals are like one, two, three, while the ordinal numerals are like first, second, third. The distributive numerals are used for expressing how many parts something should be divided into. These are indeed the same as the cardinal numbers with the distributive case. The interrogative number is used when asking questions that include "how many...", and also as a relative pronoun. Interrogative numerals are always used with the interrogative clitic -ku, which is placed after any numeral classifier.

Numeral Classifiers

When a numeral is used referring to a certain number of things, the numeral must be accompanied by a classifier suffix. Different suffixes are used depending on what is counted. So for example two carrots would be called kak'p'ohaingo sungkitti while two rocks would be called kak'p'opwomkyonya kollo (sungkitti meaning carrot and kollo rock).

The following table lists all classifiers. Since there are no neutral vowel numerals, the suffixes are presented with the one that goes with back vowel words first, and the one going with front vowel words second.

Suffix	Short-hand name	Use
-tsya -tsye	Abstract	Abstract things; also used when one doesn't know what other classifier to use
-p'allo -p'ellö	Age	Years of age of people and things
-bango -bengö	Animals	Animals that don't fall under any of the other categories
-zhufōt' -zhufwüt'	Birds	Birds and bats
-syūdu	Bottles	Bottles and beverages stored in bottles
-k'nyosh1 -k'nyösh1	Bugs	Small animals such as insects, worms and amphibians
-(m)mya -(m)mye	Buildings	Buildings
-(p)puzo -(p)puzö	Bundles	Bundles and bunches of things
-p'anglōna -p'engrwüne	Cattle	Livestock (excluding poultry)
-gaknap -geknep	Children	Children of humanoid creatures
-(k)kabottō -(k)kebötwü	Clothes	Clothes worn on the body, including shawls and scarfs but excluding other accessories
-k2	Collective	Groups or things that consist of several parts
-(p)patku -(p)petku	Containers	Containers other than bottles
-mūgu -mūgi	Dogs	Dogs and wolves
-uk' -ük'	Eggs	Eggs, excluding roe and spawn
-zhopyuk' -zhöpyuk'	Fish	Caught fish
-dallūjō -dellūjwü	Flat-Hard	Flat objects made of unflexible material
-ungka -ingke	Flat-Soft	Flat objects made of flexible material, like paper or fabric
-yup'sū	Fruit	Fruit, berries, nuts and vegetables other than root vegetables
-gongup -göngup	Layers	Floors and layers
-guhō -guhwü	Machine	Machines and vehicles
-gada -gede	Marine	Sea creatures other than fish that has been caught
-gōngk'a -kwüngk'e	Multiplicative	Number of times something is done
-swokkwo -swökkwö	Oblong	Long and narrow objects
-(s)sango -(s)sengö	Pairs	Pairs of things, and objects that consist of two parts
-kyu	People (standard)	Humanoid creatures other than children
-syu	People (dialectal)	Humanoid creatures other than children
-haingo -hingö	Root vegetables	Root vegetables and bulbs
-pwomkyonya -pwömkyönye	Round	Small round objects
-ō -wü	Small	Small items
-gōnya -kwünye	Strings	Strings, threads, ropes, etc.
-fōnūngū -fwünūngū	Trees	Trees, excluding bushes

¹The final consonant is deleted from p'ōnokp'ōpyat, kamchōk'p'at, yomchōk'p'yat and k'ūnnak when this suffix is added.
²The final consonant is deleted from p'ōnokp'ōpyat, kamchōk'p'at and yomchōk'p'yat when this suffix is added. Kwibössen becomes kwibössek and k'ūnnak becomes k'ūnnagōk.

Syntax

Transitive sentences

In Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo transitive sentences are ergative while intransitive sentences are nominative. In transitive sentences, the subject takes ergative case and the object nominative-absolutive if the unmarked or causative voice is used.

Pot'-ak'	ubōtt-a	p'yowochya-∅-ng
1SG-ERG	apple-NA	eat-UNM-PRES
I eat an apple.

In causative sentences, the person who is caused to do something gets the allative case. This person goes between the subject and the direct object. The causer, causee and direct object are all optional, but at least one of the three must be in a given sentence.

Pot'-ak'	myat-to	tallūd-a	kwe-k'ye-ng
1SG-ERG	3SG-ALL	song-NA	hear-CAUS-PRES
I make him hear a song.

In passive sentences, the agent, which is optional, comes between the patient and verb. The patient gets absolutive case and the agent genitive.

Ubōtt-a	pot'ya-t	k'ūd-e p'yowo-ttūk
apple-NA	1SG-GEN	PASS-PAST eat-PASS
The apple got eaten by me.

Intransitive sentences

In intransitive sentences, any voice except for the unmarked voice can be used. The subject or object gets the absolutive-nominative case.

Pot'-a	p'yowochya-tto-ng
1SG-NA	eat-ACT-PRES
I eat.

The same rules apply for the causative as in transitive sentences.

Pot'-a	myat-to	p'yowochya-k'ya-ng
1SG-NA	3SG-ALL	eat-CAUS-PRES
I make him eat.

Interrogative sentences

Questions are made by either using a question word, which is moved to the beginning of the sentence, or by adding the interrogative suffix -gu to the word that is questioned. A word with the interrogative suffix is also moved to the beginning of the sentence.

Pog-a	p'ot'-ak'	p'wach-∅-o
what-NA	you-ERG	get-UNM-PAST
What did you get?

Ut-to-gu	kyot'sōnya-ng	p'ot'-a
PERF-ACT-Q	bathe-PRES	you-NA
Have you bathed?

Negation

Negation is done with the negative auxiliary verb ōno. The verb that is negated get the simple infinitive form and is placed directly after ōno, with ōno taking all the conjugation; unless there is need to use the habitual tense or perfect or progressive aspect, in which case the negated verb is conjugated normally and ōno is placed before that verb without any marking.

The ōno that precedes the negative pronouns is removed when these words are used in negative sentences.

Comparative constructions

To make comparative constructions involving a noun, such as "X is more Z than what Y is", Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo uses the form X-NOMABS Z-COMP kūjot Y-NOMABS. For example:

K'yapya	k'ad-a	oppu-p'so	kūjot	p'-a
this	house-NOMABS	big-COMP	than	that.3SG-NOMABS
This house is bigger than that one.

If it is a verb that is compared instead of an adjective, the following construction is used: X (object) Z öttöbüt kūjot Y (or X (object) öttöbüt Z kūjot Y). The cases of X and Y depend on the transitivity of the verb, and if Y is an agent or patient. See the following two sentences:

P'ot'-ak'	p'ofōbōd-a	p'yowochya-∅-∅	öttöbüt	kūjot	totk'-ak'
2SG-ERG	seed-NOMABS	eat-UNM-HAB	more	than	bird-ERG
You eat more seeds than what birds do.

P'ot'-ak'	p'ofōbōd-a	p'yowochya-∅-∅	öttöbüt	kūjot	totk'ū-g-a
2SG-ERG	seed-NOMABS	eat-UNM-HAB	more	than	bird-PL-NOMABS
You eat more seeds than you eat birds.

In the first sentence, the bird has ergative case, meaning that the bird is an agent. In the second sentence, the word for birds has the nominative-absolutive case, giving the meaning that the birds are a patient. If the sentence has no object, then both X and Y will have the nominative-absolutive case and the verb will have active voice. The Y argument will then be an agent. As an example:

P'ot'-a	p'yowochya-tto-∅	öttöbüt	kūjot	totk'-a
2SG-NOMABS	eat-ACT-HAB	more	than	bird-NOMABS
You eat more than what birds do.

Purpose clauses

There are several ways in which purpose can be expressed in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo. One way is to have the main event followed by the dependent event with the conjunction hukki between them.

Pot'-ak'	kad-a	p'ūjudakka-∅-ng	hukki	p'-a	ōno-tt-o	sodak'yotto-ppo
1SG-ERG	fish-NOMABS	salt-UNM-PRES	so.that	it-NOMABS	not-ACT-PAST	get.bad-COND
I salt the fish so that it will not get bad.

If the two verbs have the same agent, the dependent verb can be turned into a simple infinitive with translative case. If the main verb is a verb of movement (such as go, come, etc.), then the dependent verb may alternatively be realized as an adverb infinitive. Both ways are exemplified in the following two sentences:

Pot'-ak'	nūjug-a	up-pa-k'p'o	pingketti-dö	pött-ö
1SG-ERG	food-NOMABS	buy-ADVINF-TRANSL	market-ALL	go-PAST
I went to the market to buy food.

Pot'-ak'	nūjug-a	upk'wa-∅-k'p'o	pingketti-dö	pött-ö
1SG-ERG	food-NOMABS	buy-INF-TRANSL	market-ALL	go-PAST
I went to the market to buy food.

Another way is to have a noun (or deverbal noun) followed by the postposition rangk'ōt.

Reporting

To report what someone else has said, the construction X-ERG VERB-UNM (ökkü) QUOTE is used, where X is the source of information, VERB is a verb like say, tell, etc. (with tense, aspect and mood as appropriate), and QUOTE is an independent clause. If the report is in direct speech, the particle ökkü will be used. If the report is in indirect speech, ökkü is not used, and the deictic center in the quote is changed to that of the speaker.

Evidentiality

Evidentiality can be expressed with a pronoun in the genitive case followed by one of three evidentiality verbs in the instructive infinitive form. The pronoun specifies according who, and the verb what kind of evidentiality. This construction precedes the main verb (or auxiliary + main verb construction).

Person	Evidentiality type	Morphology
1st	Inferential	pot'yat t'yamchyōt
2nd	Inferential	p'ot'yat t'yamchōt
3rd	Inferential	myatōt t'yamchōt
1st	Reportative	pot'yat kwetwüt
2nd	Reportative	p'ot'yat kwetwüt
3rd	Reportative	myatōt kwetwüt
1st	Direct Knowledge	pot'yat k'ofōk'ōt
2nd	Direct Knowledge	p'ot'yat k'ofōk'ōt
3rd	Direct Knowledge	myatōt k'ofōk'ōt
Impersonal	Direct Knowledge	k'ofōk'ōt

The inferential has the meaning of "seen by me/you/someone else" and reportative "according to what I/you/someone has heard". The direct knowledge evidential is used about any other evidence, including non-visual sensory. This evidential can also be used impersonally, which is marked by the absense of a pronoun. The impersonal direct knowledge can have the meaning "they say that..." without any clarifications of who "they" are, or it can have the meaning that something is supposed to be common knowledge, "anyone knows it". All second person evidentials are very seldomly used, and when they are, the pronoun is usually replaced by the name of the adressee in genitive case.

Lexicon

San words

Some adjectives and some nouns ends with the suffix -(s)san or -(s)sen. In adjectives it's usually present because of word derivation, while in nouns it usually just doesn't have any specific meaning. But it is obligatory nonetheless. In various kinds of suffixation, the San words usually inflect slightly differently than other words.

Compounds

In endocentric compounds, the head is the last word of the compound. All but the last words in a compound have the following characteristics:

• Verbs can only appear in non-final forms
• Nouns sometimes carry a case that the final word in the compound calls for. But nouns in some compounds have the genitive case for no particular reason.
• The suffix from San words is deleted.
• Some words have a special compound form, see Derivation below.

Derivation

Affix	Meaning	Example
Verb → verb
ado--	Underdo X	anglofutsocha - estimate → ado-anglofutsocha - under-estimate
hütwūt--	Redoing an action	kōngk'utsa - tell → hütwūt-kōngk'utsa - renarrate
p'ada--	Do X in secret	kwettöttö - listen → p'ada-kwettöttö - eavesdrop
unno--	Miss doing X	ap'sūja - shoot → unno-ap'sūja - shoot and miss
-mk'wa1 -mk'we1	Diminishes the intensity of an action, or makes it momentane	kakp'utsa - look → kakp'umk'wa - glance millūgūttö - bark → millūgūmk'we - bark once
-ōsya -wüsye	The opposite of the action	p'ūjucha - let good things happen to others → p'ūjuchōsya - not let good things happen to others tūjuk'ye - trust → tūjuk'wüsye - distrust
Verb → noun
-bu	Place where X is done	t'yamk'ya - show → t'yamk'yabu - stage
-būp1	A simple deverbal noun, usually used about actions that take some time to complete	kōngk'utsa - tell → kōngk'ubūp - story
-gō1 -kwü	Device that performs X	kunglakka - substitute (V.) → kunglagō - substitute (N.) ködūttö - float → ködūkwü - floating device
-ha1 -he1	Doer of X	kyot'sōtto - bathe → kyot'sōha - bather ihikködi - think → ihikköhe - thinker
-ofu -öfu	Noun somehow related to the verb	otto - sprout → ottofu - spore mönekkue - throw → mönekköfu - dump
-ot1 -öt1	Tool used for doing X	kūt'kōtto - traverse → kūt'kot - vehicle p'utsek'ye - play → p'utsek'öt - (musical) instrument
-ōt'pa -wüt'pe	Result of verb	t'yamk'ya - show (V.) → t'yamk'ōt'pa - show (N.) p'utsek'ye - play → p'utsek'wüt'pe - play (of an instrument)
-pya1 -pye1	Default verb to noun derivation	ōtto - live → ōpya - life kūjuttö - die → kūjupye - death
-tk'u1	Deverbal noun which implies of some kind of large occurrence	ūpkutsa - believe → ūpkutk'u - religion
-tta1 -tte1	Deverbal form of sound verb	mongt'ūtto - neigh → mongt'ūtta - neighing millūgūttö - bark → millūgūtte - barking
-u	Single instance of an act	tōtto - fly → tōttu - flight
-ū	Deverbal form of frequentative verbs	tahok'yadu - sort → tahok'yadū - sorting
-ūjō1 -ūjwü1	Collective deverbal noun	kūt'kōtto - traverse → kūt'kūjō - procession p'utsek'ye - play → p'utsūjwü - orchestra
Noun → verb
-kka -kke	Default noun to verb derivation	pwado - paint (N.) → pwadokka - paint (V.) sillegi - patch (N.) → sillegikke - patch (V.)
-k'ye -k'ya	Make into X, or add X	k'aido - wind → k'aidok'ya - ventilate; fan kikku - roof → kikkuk'ye - add a roof to a building
-k'yo(tto)2 -k'yö(ttö)2	Become X	pwa - earth → pwak'yotto - decompose swe - tree → swek'yöttö - become numb (literally "turn into wood")
-(o)pk'wa -(ö)pk'we	Hunt or collect something edible	kada - fish (N.) → kadapk'wa - fish (V.) sungkitti - carrot → sungkittipk'we - pick carrots
-utsocha -utsöche	Do something using X	rappanga - hammer (N.) → rappangutsocha - hammer (V.) mefögi - sand (N.) → mefögutsöche - sand (V.)
Noun → noun
ada--	Bottom, low	köngup - floor → ada-göngup - bottom floor
aip--	New	kwe - moon → aip-kwe - new moon
allu--	Open, bare	pōngo - sea → allu-bōngo - open sea
chūföt'--	Double	ittup - portion → chūföt'-ittup - double portion
hyat'ko--	After	kunglakkōt'pa - compensation → hyat'ko-gunglakkōt'pa - compensation afterwards
k'ōgu--	Artificial	p'yu - reason → k'ōgu-p'yu - pretext
kōt'k'a--	Yellow	rüpk'üngüge - white wagtail → kōt'k'a-rüpk'üngüge - yellow wagtail
kutk'yunga--	Opposing force	k'aido - wind → kutk'yunga-k'aido - headwind
k'aga--	Back	ullo - door → k'aga-ullo - back door
k'yayop--	Full	kwe - moon → k'yayop-kwe - full moon
kōpko--	Middle	p'ungpo - finger → kōpko-p'ungpo - middle finger
mūjessū--	Top	p'ūjungak'yabūp - performance → mūjessū-p'ūjungak'yabūp - top performance
nūpku--	Brown	tōmk'o - leaf → nūpku-tōmk'o - brown autumn leaf
ogo--	Forever	k'at'lo - winter → ogo-k'at'lo → neverending winter
okp'ō--	Self	sökku - betrayal → okp'ō-zökku - self-deception
ōkkū--	Front	hat'kak - legs → ōkkū-hat'kak - front legs
ōk'ya--	Remote
ōppo--	Front, first	pöngke - sign → ōppo-böngke - (good) example
ōtp'o--	Debute	kōngk'a - time → ōtp'o-gōngk'a - first time
ōshk'yunga--	Extra	t'yamk'ōt'pa - show → ōshk'yunga-t'yamk'ōt'pa - encore
ōzhu--	Outer	p'ollū - side → ōzhu-p'ollū - outside
p'ada--	Secret	pūngma - murder → p'ada-būngma - assassination
p'ollū--	Side	hugo - river → p'ollū-hugo - tributary
p'op'ya--	Inner	ōdot - organ → p'op'ya-ōdot - inner organ
p'otto--	Blue	syonyupk'wo - tail → p'otto-syonyupk'wo - red-flanked bluetail
p'ūng--	Large	sōngmō - family → p'ūng-sōngmō - large family
pūpk'a--	Black	pigingi - sausage → pūpk'a-bigingi - black sausage
p'yonghya--	Back, remote	p'ōnūkkū - area → p'yonghya-p'ōnūkkū - place in the sticks
radō--	Fake	appū - dress → radō-appū - disguise
ranga--	Precaution, spare	uppa - part → ranga-uppa - spare part
rat'ku--	White	mallo - shark → rat'ku-mallo - great white shark
ronnōng--	Green	kaptofu - plant → ronnōng-kaptofu - flowerless plant with leaves
segū--	Small	nūjuga - food → segū-nūjuga - snack
sōngūp--	Basic	k'ofōk'u - knowledge → sōngūp-k'ofōk'u - basic knowledge
sūjudo--	Half	kwe - moon → sūjudo-kwe - half-moon
sutyo--	Many	k'ofōha - sage → sutyo-k'ofōha - polymath
sūtta--	Red	notk'a - chest → sūtta-notk'a - robin
sya--	Head, important	killūssigu - city → sya-gillūssigu - capital
tyanno--	Near	k'ūllaip - future → tyanno-k'ūllaip - near future
ūp'so--	Closed	p'ūjudo - intestine → ūp'so-p'ūjudo - cecum
yangkō--	Arch-X	ronnadassan - enemy → yangkō-lonnadassan - arch-enemy
-da -de	Place associated with X	kyot'sōttu - bath → kyot'sōttuda - bath house
-dallossan -dellössen	Person from X	Kunnu-lūjungo - Kunnu-lūjungo → Kunnu-lūjungodallossan - Kunnu-lūjungoan mönekküfö - dump → mönekküfödellössen - person living in a dump
-gi -gu	Diminutive form	tap'so - pond → tap'sogu - puddle sungkitti - carrot → sungkittigi - small carrot
-gō -kwü	Small thing with Xs	p'ūjuda - salt → p'ūjudagō - food preserved by salting sede - pipe → sedekwü - hemp-nettle
-gu	Place with lots of Xs, collective X, or something associated with X	zap'zū - bamboo → zap'zūgu - bamboo thicket
-(k)kang -(k)keng	Female X	p'atkango - hero → p'atkangokkang - heroine sisse - priest → sissekkeng - priestess
-(ō)ngo -(wü)ngö	Tool or person that uses X	t'waba - face → t'wabango - mask tillūkki - raft → tillūkkingö - ferry man
-ofu -öfü	Thing with Xs	uppa - part → uppofu - share
-(o)pk'u -(ö)pk'u	Place with collection of X	t'wassūngo - neighbor → t'wassūngopk'u - neighborhood
-(o)tku -(ö)tku	Natural features that is like X	k'appō - plane → k'appōtku - plain
Noun → adjective
ap'zo-NOUN-ossan	Both	kyappo - hand → ap'zo-kyappossan - ambi-dextrous
sutyo-NOUN-X3	Many	allofu - marriage → sutyo-allofossan - polygamistic
-ballossan -bellössen	Resembling X	kada - fish → kadaballossan - fishlike k'wik'wö - girl → k'wik'wöbellössen - girly
-dessen -dassan	X-like, endowed with X, time, or measure	kutsūnga - cupped hand → kutsūngadassan - handful set'kū - dot → set'kūdessen - dotted
-dutsessen -dutsassan	Often X-like	p'allongap - sick → p'allongaptutsassan - weak of the body millūgūtte - barking → millūgūttedutsessen - often barking
-gap -gep	Equipped with X	mūjudo - worry → mūjudogap - worrying kūttefi - honor → kūttefigep - honorful
-kkut	Lacking X	swe - tree → swekkut - treeless
-oppa -öppe	Something that produces X	p'akku - harvest → p'akkoppa - bountyful harvest k'isu - kill (N.) → k'isöppe - someone with many kills
-ossan -össen	Regular noun to adjective derivation	odu - joy → odossan - happy mefögi - sand → mefögössen - sandy
-zok'ossan -zök'össen	Something that contains a substance	kūt'k'a - gold → kūt'k'azok'ossan - something (e.g. a river) that contains gold mefögi - sand → mefögizök'össen - something (e.g. mud) that contains sand
-ssan -ssen	Made from X	kūt'k'a - gold → kūt'k'assan - golden swe - tree → swessen - wooden
Noun → adverb
-ekkillet -akkullat	From an X point of view	Kunnu-lūjungodallossan - Kunnu-lūjungoan → Kunnu-lūjungodallakkullat - from a Kunnu-lūjungoan's point of view
-gillet -gullat	Locative situative adverb (involving two things in relation to each other)	kaplu - face → kaplugullat - face-to-face t'ūngki - corner → t'ūngkigillet - corner-to-corner
-(k)killet -(k)kullat	Manner or position	p'ollū - side → p'ollūkkullat - sideways tönegebūp - play → tönegekkillet - not seriously
Adjective → verb
-∅	Be X	sūttallossan - red → sūttallossan - be red tübet → tübet - be warm
-(p)k'wa -(p)k'we	Make into X	sūttallossan - red → sūttallopk'wa - make red tübet - warm → tübetk'we - warmen
Adjective → noun
-∅	Person with X quality	nogap - rich → nogap - rich person
-aip -ip	The X quality	sūttallossan - red → sūttallaip - redness tübet - warm → tübedip - warmth
-ūngo -ūngö	Person who is being X	tallopka - lazy → tallopkūngo - lazy person
Adjective → adjective
kutk'yunga--	Opposing force	k'ūjulla - productive → kutk'yunga-k'ūjulla - counter-productive
ogo--	Forever	zhūngūjo - old → ogo-zhūngūjo → really, really old
okp'ō--	Self	k'ūnnoppa - destructive → okp'ō-k'ūnnoppa - self-destructive
ryamya--	Little	tūbossan - snowy → ryamya-dūbossan - something has only little snow
tyasso--	Thoroughly	ryangokkak'p'o k'ūttūk - dyed → tyasso-lyangokkak'p'o k'ūttūk - thoroughly dyed
ūp'so--	Completely	myūdū - crazy → ūp'so-myūdū - absolutely crazy
-dutsessen -dutsassan	Someone or something that is often X-like	mochap - slow → mochaptutsassan - often slow nege - broken → negedutsessen - often broken
-mku2	Diminishes the quality	mochap - slow → mochamku - slowish
-ossan -össen4	Tendency to be like X (only used on present participles)	k'allossūlla - bending → k'allossūllossan - flexible negefak'p'ö k'ūlle - getting broken → negefak'p'ö k'ūllössen - fragile
-ōsya -wüsye	Opposite quality	p'ōt'lya - clear → p'ōt'lōsya - unclear tūjutk'udessen - natural → tūjutk'utwüsye - unnatural
Adjective → adverb
-pk'o5 -pk'ö5	Regular adjective to adverb derivation	mochap - slow → mochapk'o - slowly tūjutk'udessen - natural → tūjutk'udessepk'ö - naturally
Numeral → noun
-ofu -öfu	Shape with X number of sides (2D or 3D)	kut'pō - three → kut'pofu - triangle kwibösen - ten → *kwibösofu6 - decagon
Numeral → adverb
-ekkillet -akkullat	Xs of	p'akka - one hundred → p'akkakkullat - hundreds of kwibössen - ten → kwibössekkillet - tens of

¹The last syllable is deleted before this suffix is added, unless the last syllable consisted of a monosyllabic derivational suffix.
²This suffix deletes any final consonant of the word stem. A final -san/-sen becomes -samku/-semku.
³The X stands for any derivational suffix that turns a noun into an adjective. ⁴In case of past or present passive participles, this suffix is added to the auxiliary verb.
⁵This suffix deleted any final consonant of the word stem. A final -san/-sen becomes -sapk'o/-sepk'ö.
⁶Theoretical word.