Nesnïdathe

Nesnïdathe or Nesnïda Phaba Distesta is a language that makes intense use of assimilation. It works as a vowel-consonant harmony.

Phonology

As Nesnïdathe makes intense use of assimilation every word belongs to a class and it must only use phonemes that belong to that class (The only exception is the chain class, which will be explained below).

Classes

There are five classes. A word that belongs to any of these classes can have only the characters allowed for its class.

The classes are:

• Class I: Only labial consonants and rounded vowels. Example: molpühu [moɫˈpyhu];
• Class II: Only dental/coronal consonants and unrounded vowels. Example: dïtani [ˈdɯt̪ani];
• Class III: Only palatal consonants and front vowels. Example: lyetsyödya [ʎeˈtɕœɟa];
• Class IV: Only velar consonants and back vowels. Example: kwuknhëlha [kwu'kⁿʌɫa];
• Chain Class: This is a special class that will require a separate section in order to explain it.

As can be seen above there are some characters that do not belong to any class, and so can be in any word regardless of its class. They are a [a], h [h] and hl [ɬ].

Chain Class

There is a strange property in chain class words. These words do not belong to a specific class, they can change between classes but there must be a link between these classes.

In order to create those links one must make use of vowels that belong to two different classes. For instance, e is a front unrounded vowel so one can change from class II (unrounded vowels) to class III (front vowels).

Consonants

As written above there are 4 kinds of consonants (labial, dental/coronal, palatal and velar) and each of these kinds belongs to one of the word classes (except chain class).

These consonants are divided in three groups: uniconsonantal, biconsonantal and triconsonantal clusters.

Uniconsonantal

The uniconsonantal group is divided in five subgroups: voiceless stop, voiced stop, fricative, lateral and nasal.

Class	Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar
Vl. Stop	p [p]	t [t̪]	ty [c]	k [k]
Vd. Stop	b [b]	d [d̪]	dy [ɟ]	g [g]
Fricative	ph [f]	th [θ]	ch [ç]	kh [x]
Lateral	w [w]	l [l̪]	ly [ʎ]	lh [ɫ]
Nasal	m [m]	n [n̪]	ny [ɲ]	nh [ŋ]

Biconsonantal

The biconsonantal cluster is divided in ten groups: vl. stop + sibilant (encoded vl + s), vl. stop + lateral (encoded vl + l), vl. stop + nasal (encoded vl + n), sibilant + vl. stop (encoded s + vl), lateral + vl. stop (encoded l + vl), nasal + vl. stop (encoded n + vl), sibilant + vd. stop (encoded s + vd), lateral + vd. stop (encoded l + vd), nasal + vd. stop (encoded n + vd) and aspirant + vl. stop (encoded h + vl).

It is important to note that due to sandhi and allophony some biconsonantal clusters are pronounced as a single phoneme (transliteration, in order to simplify the reading, also can represent the sound with a single consonant or with two or more consonants that suggest a single phoneme).

Class	Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar
Vl. + S	ps [ps]	ts [ts]	tsy [tɕ]	x [ks]
Vl. + L	pw [pw]	tl [t̪l̪]	tly [cʎ]	kw¹ [kw]
Vl. + N	pm [pⁿ]	tn [t̪ⁿ]	tny [cⁿ]	knh [kⁿ]
S + Vl.	sp [sp]	st [st̪]	sty [sc]	sk [sk]
L + Vl.	lp¹ [ɫp]	lt [l̪t̪]	lty [ʎc]	lk [ɫk]
N + Vl.	mp [mp]	nt [n̪t̪]	nty [ɲc]	nk [ŋk]
S + Vd.	sb [sb]	sd [sd̪]	sdy [sɟ]	sg [sg]
L + Vd.	lb¹ [ɫb]	ld [l̪d̪]	ldy [ʎɟ]	lg [ɫg]
N + Vd.	mb [mb]	nd [n̪d̪]	ndy [ɲɟ]	ng [ŋg]
H + Vl.²	hp [hp]	ht [ht̪]	hty [hc]	hk [hk]

¹Due to allophony L + labial stop uses ɫ instead of w as the prestop lateral sound and velar stop + L uses w instead of ɫ as the poststop lateral sound.
²Due to allophony hp, ht̪, hc and hk, when preceded by a front vowel, are pronounced çp, çt̪, çc and çk respectively.

Triconsonantal

This is the rarest consonantal cluster. It is divided in 9 groups: s + vl. + s, s + vl. + l, s + vl. + n, l + vl. + s, l + vl. + l, l + vl. + n, n + vl. + s, n + vl. + l and n + vl. + n (see biconsonantal encoding).

Almost every triconsonantal cluster is pronounced as a double consonant sound due to allophony and hardness in pronouncing triconsonantal clusters. Lots of allophonic changes happen in triconsonantal clusters, but no special subtitles will be created as it was done to biconsonantal clusters.

Class	Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar
S + Vl. + S	sps [sps]	ss [sː]	ssy [ɕː]	sx [sks]
S + Vl. + L	spw [spw]	sl [sl̪]	sly [sʎ]	skw [skw]
S + Vl. + N	sm [sm]	sn [sn̪]	sny [sɲ]	snh [sŋ]
L + Vl. + S	lps [ɫps]	ls [ls]	lsy [lɕ]	lx [ɫks]
L + Vl. + L	lpw [ɫpw]	ll [l̪ː]	lly [ʎː]	lkw [ɫkw]
L + Vl. + N	lm [ɫm]	ln [l̪n̪]	lny [ʎɲ]	lnh [ɫŋ]
N + Vl. + S	mps [mps]	ns [n̪s]	nsy [nɕ]	nx [ŋks]
N + Vl. + L	mpw [mpw]	ntl [n̪t̪l̪]	ntly [ɲcʎ]	nkw [ŋkw]
N + Vl. + N	mm [mː]	nn [n̪ː]	nny [ɲː]	nnh [ŋː]

Classless Consonants

As stated in section Classes there are two classless consonants: h [h]¹ and hl [ɬ].
¹h is pronounced [ɸ] when it is followed by rounded vowels.

Vowels

The vowels are divided in four groups: rounded, unrounded, front and back. There is a vowel, which is called a neutral vowel because it does not belong to any group: a [a].

Each non-neutral vowel belongs to two groups. The only two group combination which are prohibited are unrounded rounded and front back because they are opposing features.

Each group has three subgroups: mid vowel, close vowel and diphthong. The only open vowel is the neutral vowel.

In stressed syllables the mid vowel is pronounced as a mid-open vowel. It is pronounced as a mid-close vowel otherwise.

Unrounded Front

These vowels can be surrounded by dental/coronal (unrounded feature) and palatal consonants (front feature).

Group
stressed mid	e¹ [ɛ]
unstressed mid	e¹ [e]
close	i [i]
diphthong	ai [aɪ̯]

¹The unstressed mid and stressed mid vowels represent the same vowel. Its pronunciation only depends on the place where it lies in a word, thus the transliteration uses the same character.

Unrounded Back

These vowels can be surrounded by dental/coronal (unrounded feature) and velar consonants (back feature).

Group
stressed mid	ë [ʌ]
unstressed mid	ë [ɤ]
close	ï [ɯ]
diphthong	aï [aɯ̯̽]

Rounded Front

These vowels can be surrounded by labial (rounded feature) and palatal consonants (front feature).

Group
stressed mid	ö¹ [œ]
unstressed mid	ö¹ [ø]
close	ü¹ [y]
diphthong	aü [aʏ̯]

¹Due to allophony, when preceding or following a /w/ sound the /w/ sound is pronounced [ɥ]. For instance, wü is pronounced [ɥy], kwü is pronounced [kɥy], müwa is pronounced [ˈmyɥa] and pwö is pronounced [pɥø] when unstressed and [pɥœ] otherwise.

Rounded Back

These vowels can be surrounded by labial (rounded feature) and velar consonants (back feature).

Group
stressed mid	o [ɔ]
unstressed mid	o [o]
close	u [u]
diphthong	au [aʊ̯]

Stress

The stressed syllable is the one of the following:

• The one with a diphthong;
• If there is no diphthong and there is a bi- or triconsonantal cluster in the last or next-to-last syllable, then the stressed syllable is the next-to-last syllable;
• If none of the above conditions are met, the stressed syllable is the third-from-last.

Phonotactics

Every syllable is of the type CV, where C is a consonantal cluster and V is a vowel. There is no word beginning with a vowel.

There are only 3 biconsonantal clusters per class that can be in the beginning of a word. They are: vl. stop + s, vl. stop + l and vl. stop + n, i.e. ps, pw and pm for class I; ts, tl and tn for class II; tsy, tly and tny for class III, and x, kw and knh for class IV.

Every single consonant can be in the beginning of a word. And there is no triconsonantal cluster capable of being in the beginning of a word. h and hl can also be the first characters of a word.

There can only exist diphtongs in the last, in the next-to-last or in the third-from-last syllable. There will not exist a diphthong if there is a bi- or triconsonantal cluster after it.

The vowels and consonants allowed to be used in a word highly depends on its class. One can indiscriminately use h, hl and a in words from classes I to IV. The only constraint is not to use vowels and consonants that do not belong to the word class.

a canNOT be used in chain class. If either h or hl is present in a chain class word it must be between two vowels which share both features (roundedness and backness).

Examples

Valid

• hlömöböphü: Class I (labial consonants). Use of rounded vowels in Class I word. hl can be used.
• nhaga: Class IV (velar consonants). No use of back vowels, but a used instead. a can be used in any class, except chain one.
• xomogonko: Besides only having the same vowel, o, one can see that both m (a labial consonant) and g (a velar consonant) are present in this word, therefore it is a chain class word;
• psopütye: Chain Class (mixed consonants). Vowel-consonant harmony occurs between sequential syllables. a is not used.

Chain Class Phonotactics

• psopütye
  • ps: labial biconsonantal cluster;
  • o: rounded back vowel, thus harmonical with ps (a labial cluster);
  • p: labial consonant, thus harmonical with o (a rounded vowel);
  • ü: rounded front vowel, thus harmonical with p (a labial consonant);
  • ty: palatal consonant, thus harmonical with ü (a front vowel);
  • e: unrounded front vowel, thus harmonical with ty (a palatal consonant).

Invalid

• pwapwulnho: pw and lnh in the same words means it is a chain class word, but there canNOT be an a in it. Therefore it is invalid;
• taïlïnde: Class II, but a diphthong (aï) and a biconsonantal cluster after it (nd);
• gohütlyöphö: Chain Class (g, tly and ph together) and an h between two vowel with different features, o is a back vowel and ü is a front one.

Parts of Speech

Except for tense particles every part of speech of Nesnïdathe is an open word class.

Nouns

Every noun root begins with a voiceless stop or with a biconsonantal cluster whose first character is a voiceless stop. Therefore the only initial uni- and biconsonantal clusters are p, ps, pw and pm for Class I; t, ts, tl and tn for Class II; ty, tsy, tly and tny for Class III, and k, x, kw and knh for Class IV. Chain class words can have any of these 16 (four classes times four clusters per class) clusters.

Gender and Number

Genderlessness is an important property of this language. The classes only exist for vowel-consonant harmony.

There are four numbers: singular, dual, trial and plural.

Cases

The list of cases is yet incomplete. More cases will be discovered as new translations are made.

The cases are represented as prefixes of the structure C₁VC₂, C₁ is an initial cluster, V is a vowel and C₂ is one of the following elements: S (the sibilant), L (the lateral) and N (the nasal). C₁ and C₂ are determined by the case and the class and V is determined by the number and the class.

Case Vowels

Vowels	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	o	ü	ö	u
Class II	e	ï	ë	i
Class III	e	ü	ö	i
Class IV	o	ï	ë	u

The vowels chosen for chain class words depends on the consonant in the beginning of the word. If it begins with a p then it uses Class I case vowel.

List of Cases

Both consonants of the prefix structure are determined by the case and the class. If a word is from the chain class then the initial cluster be of a different class.
For instance, nominative initial cluster is a nasal consonant. If its number is singular and the word root begins with p, then the prefix constitutes of a nasal vowel + o. o allows this nasal consonant to be m or nh. m is not allowed because the word is a chain class one and its root begins with a labial consonant (p). Therefore, the prefix is nho.

The case prefix is marked in bold. The root initial cluster and its modifications made by allophony are maked in red.

Nominative

It is used when the word is the subject or object of the sentence. It depends highly on the word order (see syntax part for further explanation).

Example

The girl sings a song.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is NVS (a nasal + the case vowel + the sibilant).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	mospwowa	müspwowa	möspwowa	muspwowa
Class II	nessita	nïssita	nëssita	nissita
Class III	nyeslyachü	nyüslyachü	nyöslyachü	nyislyachü
Class IV	nhoskaku	nhïskaku	nhëskaku	nhuskaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	nhospwünyö	nyüspwünyö	nyöspwünyö	nhuspwünyö
Class II Cluster	nyeslïgu	nhïslïgu	nhëslïgu	nyislïgu
Class III Cluster	nestyedë	müstyedë	möstyedë	nistyedë
Class IV Cluster	moskwophü	nïskwophü	nëskwophü	muskwophü

Ergative

It is used when the word is the subject of the sentence, but it is used only in some specific cases (see syntax part for further explanation).

Example

The girl pushes the door and (it) closes. (The object of first sentence, which is transitive, is also the subject of the next sentence, which is intranstive. The door is written with the nominative case)

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TsVS (a voiceless stop + sibilant cluster + the case vowel + the sibilant).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	psospwowa	psüspwowa	psöspwowa	psuspwowa
Class II	tsessita	tsïssita	tsëssita	tsissita
Class III	tsyeslyachü	tsyüslyachü	tsyöslyachü	tsyislyachü
Class IV	xoskaku	xïskaku	xëskaku	xuskaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	xospwünyö	tsyüspwünyö	tsyöspwünyö	xuspwünyö
Class II Cluster	tsyeslïgu	xïslïgu	xëslïgu	tsyislïgu
Class III Cluster	tsestyedë	psüstyedë	psöstyedë	tsistyedë
Class IV Cluster	psoskwophü	tsïskwophü	tsëskwophü	psuskwophü

Accusative

It is used when the word is the object of the sentence, but it is used only in some specific cases (see syntax part for further explanation).

Example

The girl kisses the boy and (she) leaves. (The subject of first sentence, which is transitive, is also the subject of the next sentence, which is intransitive. The girl is written with the nominative case)

Base Prefix

The base prefix is ThVS (a fricative + the case vowel + the sibilant).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	phospwowa	phüspwowa	phöspwowa	phuspwowa
Class II	thessita	thïssita	thëssita	thissita
Class III	cheslyachü	chüslyachü	chöslyachü	chislyachü
Class IV	khoskaku	khïskaku	khëskaku	khuskaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	khospwünyö	chüspwünyö	chöspwünyö	khuspwünyö
Class II Cluster	cheslïgu	khïslïgu	khëslïgu	chislïgu
Class III Cluster	thestyedë	phüstyedë	phöstyedë	thistyedë
Class IV Cluster	phoskwophü	thïskwophü	thëskwophü	phuskwophü

Predicative

It is used when the word is the predicative of the sentence. Usually it is used in copula sentences.

Example

The woman is a doctor.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TnVN (a voiceless stop + nasal cluster + the case vowel + the nasal).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	pmompwowa	pmümpwowa	pmömpwowa	pmumpwowa
Class II	tnensita	tnïnsita	tnënsita	tninsita
Class III	tnyentlyachü	tnyüntlyachü	tnyöntlyachü	tnyintlyachü
Class IV	knhonkaku	knhïnkaku	knhënkaku	knhunkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	knhompwünyö	tnyümpwünyö	tnyömpwünyö	knhumpwünyö
Class II Cluster	tnyentlïgu	knhïntlïgu	knhëntlïgu	tnyintlïgu
Class III Cluster	tnentyedë	pmüntyedë	pmöntyedë	tnintyedë
Class IV Cluster	pmonkwophü	tnïnkwophü	tnënkwophü	pmunkwophü

Genitive

It is used when the word is a nominal complement of another word, but not when it is a possessor/owner of that other word (use possessive case instead). It is also used when the word is the object of a substantive subordinate clause.

Example

The door of the car. OR I know that you understand the law (I know of your understanding of the law). (further explanation in syntax part)

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TVL (a voiceless stop + the case vowel + the lateral).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	polpwowa	pülpwowa	pölpwowa	pulpwowa
Class II	telsita	tïlsita	tëlsita	tilsita
Class III	tyellyachü	tyüllyachü	työllyachü	tyillyachü
Class IV	kolkaku	kïlkaku	këlkaku	kulkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	kolpwünyö	tyülpwünyö	työlpwünyö	kulpwünyö
Class II Cluster	tyellïgu	kïllïgu	këllïgu	tyillïgu
Class III Cluster	teltyedë	pültyedë	pöltyedë	tiltyedë
Class IV Cluster	polkwophü	tïlkwophü	tëlkwophü	pulkwophü

Possessive

It is used when the word is a possessor/owner of another word. If it is a nominal complement, but not when it is a possessor/owner of that other word, use genitive case instead. It is also used when the word is the object of a substantive subordinate clause.

Example

The wage of the waiter. OR I know that you understand the law (I know of your understanding of the law). (further explanation in syntax part)

Base Prefix

The base prefix is NVN (a nasal + the case vowel + the nasal).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	mompwowa	mümpwowa	mömpwowa	mumpwowa
Class II	nensita	nïnsita	nënsita	ninsita
Class III	nyentlyachü	nyüntlyachü	nyöntlyachü	nyintlyachü
Class IV	nhonkaku	nhïnkaku	nhënkaku	nhunkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	nhompwünyö	nyümpwünyö	nyömpwünyö	nhumpwünyö
Class II Cluster	nyentlïgu	nhïntlïgu	nhëntlïgu	nyintlïgu
Class III Cluster	nentyedë	müntyedë	möntyedë	nintyedë
Class IV Cluster	monkwophü	nïnkwophü	nënkwophü	munkwophü

Benefactive

It is used when something gets some benefict from an action.

Example

The man gives a chocolate to the boy.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TnVS (a voiceless stop + nasal cluster + the case vowel + the sibilant).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	pmospwowa	pmüspwowa	pmöspwowa	pmuspwowa
Class II	tnessita	tnïssita	tnëssita	tnissita
Class III	tnyeslyachü	tnyüslyachü	tnyöslyachü	tnyislyachü
Class IV	knhoskaku	knhïskaku	knhëskaku	knhuskaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	knhospwünyö	tnyüspwünyö	tnyöspwünyö	knhuspwünyö
Class II Cluster	tnyeslïgu	'knhïslïgu	knhëslïgu	tnyislïgu
Class III Cluster	tnestyedë	pmüstyedë	pmöstyedë	tnistyedë
Class IV Cluster	pmoskwophü	tnïskwophü	tnëskwophü	pmuskwophü

Dative

It is used when a word is the indirect object of an action and there is NO benefict involved.

Example

The old man told the tale to the young of the tribe.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is DVN (a voiced stop + the case vowel + the nasal).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	bompwowa	bümpwowa	bömpwowa	bumpwowa
Class II	densita	dïnsita	dënsita	dinsita
Class III	dyentlyachü	dyüntlyachü	dyöntlyachü	dyintlyachü
Class IV	gonkaku	gïnkaku	gënkaku	gunkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	gompwünyö	dyümpwünyö	dyömpwünyö	gumpwünyö
Class II Cluster	dyentlïgu	gïntlïgu	gëntlïgu	dyintlïgu
Class III Cluster	dentyedë	büntyedë	böntyedë	dintyedë
Class IV Cluster	bonkwophü	dïnkwophü	dënkwophü	bunkwophü

Aversive

It is used when something is avoided or feared.

Example

The pilot gave up the championship to avoid shame of the losing.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TlVN (a voiceless stop + lateral cluster + the case vowel + the nasal).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	pwompwowa	pwümpwowa	pwömpwowa	pwumpwowa
Class II	tlensita	tlïnsita	tlënsita	tlinsita
Class III	tlyentlyachü	tlyüntlyachü	tlyöntlyachü	tlyintlyachü
Class IV	kwonkaku	kwïnkaku	kwënkaku	kwunkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	kwompwünyö	tlyümpwünyö	tlyömpwünyö	kwumpwünyö
Class II Cluster	tlyentlïgu	kwïntlïgu	kwëntlïgu	tlyintlïgu
Class III Cluster	tlentyedë	pwüntyedë	pwöntyedë	tlintyedë
Class IV Cluster	pwonkwophü	tlïnkwophü	tlënkwophü	pwunkwophü

Comitative

It is used when the word is together with another word. If there is a use relation between these two words then instrumental case should be used instead. It can also be used for the verb of a coordinate clause where either the second clause is not an intransitive clause or the subject of the second clause is neither the subject nor the object of the first one.

Example

I walked to the park with my friend. OR I wanted to go to the game and John told me not to do so.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TsVL (a voiceless stop + sibilant cluster + the case vowel + the lateral).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	psolpwowa	psülpwowa	psölpwowa	psulpwowa
Class II	tselsita	tsïlsita	tsëlsita	tsilsita
Class III	tsyellyachü	tsyüllyachü	tsyöllyachü	tsyillyachü
Class IV	xolkaku	xïlkaku	xëlkaku	xulkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	xolpwünyö	tsyülpwünyö	tsyölpwünyö	xulpwünyö
Class II Cluster	tsyellïgu	xïllïgu	xëllïgu	tsyillïgu
Class III Cluster	tseltyedë	psültyedë	psöltyedë	tsiltyedë
Class IV Cluster	psolkwophü	tsïlkwophü	tsëlkwophü	psulkwophü

Instrumental

It is used when the word is making use of another word. It can also be used to indicate movement from or to a place (words origin and destiny are used in order to create this movement structure).

Example

He bought the car with his money. OR He came from London yesterday (He came with origin in London yesterday).

Base Prefix

The base prefix is ThVN (a fricative + the case vowel + the nasal).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	phompwowa	phümpwowa	phömpwowa	phumpwowa
Class II	thensita	thïnsita	thënsita	thinsita
Class III	chentlyachü	chüntlyachü	chöntlyachü	chintlyachü
Class IV	khonkaku	khïnkaku	khënkaku	khunkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	khompwünyö	chümpwünyö	chömpwünyö	khumpwünyö
Class II Cluster	chentlïgu	khïntlïgu	khëntlïgu	chintlïgu
Class III Cluster	thentyedë	phüntyedë	phöntyedë	thintyedë
Class IV Cluster	phonkwophü	thïnkwophü	thënkwophü	phunkwophü

Locative

It is used when the word is located in another word. As told in instrumental case, it can also be used to indicate movement from or to a place when used together with the words origin and destiny. It can also be used to indicate some place in a timelime.

Example

He is at home. OR He came from London yesterday (He came with origin in London yesterday). OR He left today (He left in this day).

Base Prefix

The base prefix is DVL (a voiced stop + the case vowel + the lateral).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	bolpwowa	bülpwowa	bölpwowa	bulpwowa
Class II	delsita	dïlsita	dëlsita	dilsita
Class III	dyellyachü	dyüllyachü	dyöllyachü	dyillyachü
Class IV	golkaku	gïlkaku	gëlkaku	gulkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	golpwünyö	dyülpwünyö	dyölpwünyö	gulpwünyö
Class II Cluster	dyellïgu	gïllïgu	gëllïgu	dyillïgu
Class III Cluster	deltyedë	bültyedë	böltyedë	diltyedë
Class IV Cluster	bolkwophü	dïlkwophü	dëlkwophü	bulkwophü

Associative

It is used when something is like or used as some other thing.

Example

The stonemason used stones instead of bricks.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is LVL (a lateral + the case vowel + the lateral).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	wolpwowa	wülpwowa	wölpwowa	wulpwowa
Class II	lelsita	lïlsita	lëlsita	lilsita
Class III	lyellyachü	lyüllyachü	lyöllyachü	lyillyachü
Class IV	wolkaku	wïlkaku	wëlkaku	wulkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	wolpwünyö	lyülpwünyö	lyölpwünyö	wulpwünyö
Class II Cluster	lyellïgu	wïllïgu	wëllïgu	lyillïgu
Class III Cluster	leltyedë	wültyedë	wöltyedë	liltyedë
Class IV Cluster	wolkwophü	lïlkwophü	lëlkwophü	wulkwophü

Causal-final

It is used when something is the reason or the objective of an action.

Example

He fought in the army for his glory.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is NVL (a nasal + the case vowel + the lateral).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	molpwowa	mülpwowa	mölpwowa	mulpwowa
Class II	nelsita	nïlsita	nëlsita	nilsita
Class III	nyellyachü	nyüllyachü	nyöllyachü	nyillyachü
Class IV	nholkaku	nhïlkaku	nhëlkaku	nhulkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	nholpwünyö	nyülpwünyö	nyölpwünyö	nhulpwünyö
Class II Cluster	nyellïgu	nhïllïgu	nhëllïgu	nyillïgu
Class III Cluster	neltyedë	mültyedë	möltyedë	niltyedë
Class IV Cluster	molkwophü	nïlkwophü	nëlkwophü	mulkwophü

Agentive

It is used when something is the agent of a passive voice sentence.

Example

The song is sung by her.

Base Prefix

The base prefix is DVS (a voiced stop + the case vowel + the sibilant).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	bospwowa	büspwowa	böspwowa	buspwowa
Class II	dessita	dïssita	dëssita	dissita
Class III	dyeslyachü	dyüslyachü	dyöslyachü	dyislyachü
Class IV	goskaku	gïskaku	gëskaku	guskaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	gospwünyö	dyüspwünyö	dyöspwünyö	guspwünyö
Class II Cluster	dyeslïgu	'gïslïgu	gëslïgu	dyislïgu
Class III Cluster	destyedë	büstyedë	böstyedë	distyedë
Class IV Cluster	boskwophü	dïskwophü	dëskwophü	buskwophü

Patientive

It is used when something is the patient of an antipassive voice sentence.

Example

She sings the song. (antipassive voice)

Base Prefix

The base prefix is TsVN (a voiceless stop + sibilant cluster the case vowel + the nasal).

Non-Chain Classes

	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I	psompwowa	psümpwowa	psömpwowa	psumpwowa
Class II	tsensita	tsïnsita	tsënsita	tsinsita
Class III	tsyentlyachü	tsyüntlyachü	tsyöntlyachü	tsyintlyachü
Class IV	xonkaku	xïnkaku	xënkaku	xunkaku

Chain Classes

Root begins with	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
Class I Cluster	xompwünyö	tsyümpwünyö	tsyömpwünyö	xumpwünyö
Class II Cluster	tsyentlïgu	xïntlïgu	xëntlïgu	tsyintlïgu
Class III Cluster	tsentyedë	psüntyedë	psöntyedë	tsintyedë
Class IV Cluster	psonkwophü	tsïnkwophü	tsënkwophü	psunkwophü

Determiners

The list of determiners is yet incomplete. More cases will be discovered as new translations are made.

The determiners are represented as suffixes of the structure CV, C is a cluster (uni-, bi- or triconsonantal, NOT necessarily initial) and V is a vowel.

If adding the suffix implies in having a diphthong with a cluster after it, the diphthong is pronounced as a mid vowel with the same features. Example: neslaïhë + sne is still written neslaïhësne, but it is pronounced as neslëhësne (The transliteration will keep the original form). The same happens when it applies to the word having two or more diphthongs (only the last diphthong has its pronunciation kept). Example: neslaïhë + dai

Demonstrativeness

Demonstrative pronouns are represented as suffixes based on a table of proximity. Only the cluster is important. The vowel is a in Classes I to IV. It is the same as the one preceding the suffix cluster when in Chain Class (except when it is a diphthong when it is used a mid vowel instead).

Proximity Degrees

There are seven proximity degrees:

• Near the speaker (prox.1);
• Near the hearer (prox.2);
• Near another person inside the talking group (prox.3);
• Near another person outside the talking group, but who is part of the conversation subject (prox.4);
• Near another person who can be seen (prox.5);
• Far from any person but that can be seen by either speaker or the hearer (prox.6) — Example: a ship near the horizon, a star, a planet;
• Out of sight (prox.7) — Something in a different place in time, like a greek amphora, something in the other side of the planet, or that exists in a fantasy world uses this proximity degree.

Proximity Clusters

Proximity Degrees	Prox. 1	Prox. 2	Prox. 3	Prox. 4	Prox. 5	Prox. 6	Prox. 7
Class I	h	hl	hp	lb	sb	mb	mm
Class II	h	hl	ht	ld	sd	nd	nn
Class III	h	hl	hty	ldy	sdy	ndy	nny
Class IV	h	hl	hk	lg	sg	ng	nnh

Example: mosnhopsü (ship), mosnhopsülgü (the ship that the sailor, who is the subject of the conversation, is in).

Definiteness

There is no specific affix or word for definiteness. It is represented by the use of demonstrativeness afixes. If there is NO proximity degree that can be associated with a noun it will lack a determiner suffix.

Possessiveness

There are no pronouns in Nesnïdathe, but in order to represent possessiveness one must add a suffix that will determine which person possess that thing.

Persons

There are six persons:

• The speaker (1st.);
• The hearer (2nd.);
• The hearer (polite) (2nd. pol.);
• A part of a group of hearers (2nd. part.) — for that part of the hearers they are 2nd. person (hearers) and for the rest they are 3rd. person (people the speaker is talking about);
• A person that is neither the speaker nor the hearer and can be seen by either the speaker or the hearer (approximate) (3rd. appr.);
• A person that is neither the speaker nor the hearer and canNOT be seen by neither the speaker nor the hearer (obviative) (3rd. obv.).

Number Vowels

The vowel in the possessiveness suffix structure represents the number of the possessiveness suffix (singular, dual, trial or plural). The vowel used is the one that appears in the case vowel table.

Possessiveness Table

All examples below use singular as the number of the possessiveness suffix.

Person	1st.	2nd.	2nd. pol.	2nd. part.	3rd. appr.	3rd. obv.
Class I	mospwowapho	mospwowabo	mospwowawo	mospwowamo	mospwowapo	mospwowapmo
Class II	nessitathe	nessitade	nessitale	nessitane	nessitate	nessitatne
Class III	nyeslyachüche	nyeslyachüdye	nyeslyachülye	nyeslyachünye	nyeslyachütye	nyeslyachütnye
Class IV	nhoskakukho	nhoskakugo	nhoskakuwo	nhoskakunho	nhoskakuko	nhoskakuknho

When the word is a Chain Class one, the possessiveness suffix is the same of the class of the last cluster of the word. Example: mosnhopsü (ship) uses Class I suffix, so mosnhopsüpho (my ship).

Non-singular example: mosnhopsüphö (the ship of we three).

Specifiers

Categories

Specifiers are divided in two categories:

• interior specifiers — express parts that compose an element (all parts of Earth = the whole Earth);
• exterior specifiers — express a set of elements (all people on Earth = every person on Earth).

These categories are represented by the determiner suffix vowel.

Category	Interior	Exterior
Class I	au	aü
Class II	ai	aï
Class III	ai	aü
Class IV	au	aï

If the determiner suffix is added to a Chain Class word it uses the vowel based on the class of the determiner suffix cluster. This cluster is determined by the degrees specified below.

Degrees

Specifiers are also divided in four degrees:

• totality (all elements of a given sort — whole, every);
• presence (From one to all except one elements of a given sort — some, some parts of);
• absence (no elements of a given sort — no, no part of);
• unspecified (From one to all except one elements of a given sort chosen randomically from a population — any, any parts of).

Degree	Totality	Presence	Absence	Unspecified
Class I	p	pl	pm	ps
Class II	t	tl	tn	ts
Class III	ty	tly	tny	tsy
Class IV	k	kl	km	x

As happened in posessiveness suffixes, when the word is a Chain Class one, the specifier suffix is the same of the class of the last cluster of the word. Example: mosnhopsü (ship) uses Class I suffix, so mosnhopsüpau (the whole ship).

Collectiveness

There is one more affix that can be added to the end of the root, and before the determiner suffix. It is the collectiveness suffix.

Non-Chain Class

Class	Collectiveness
Class I	spsu
Class II	ssi
Class III	ssyi
Class IV	sxu

Chain Class

Root ends with	Collectiveness
rounded vowel	spsu
unrounded vowel	ssi

Modifiers

Adjectives and adverbs are treated as a single part of speech in Nesnïdathe, the modifiers. Modifiers only exist to qualify (or intensify) other parts of speech such as nouns, verbs or other modifiers.

When a modifier is used to qualify/intensify a noun it works as an adjective. When it is used to qualify/intensify any other part of speech it works as an adverb.

A modifier root can begin with any cluster, except h and hl. A better explanation is given in part of speech interchangeability part.

No affixes can be added to modifiers. It does not agree neither in number nor in case with the word it is modifying. It is always placed after the word it modifies.

Verbs

The verbs agree with both the subject and the object. It also has four aspects and three voices. The tense is represented by a tense particle outside the verb.

Its structure is: voice and aspect + subject person + object person + root.

Every verb root begins with any consonant, except h, hl and those capable of beginning a noun root. Therefore the only initial consonants are b, ph, w and m for Class I; d, th, l and n for Class II; dy, ch, ly and ny for Class III, and g, kh, lh and nh for Class IV. Chain class words can have any of these 16 (four classes times four clusters per class) consonants.

Persons

The list of all persons were already told in possessiveness part.

Its affix is exactly the same of possessiveness.

Subject

Examples in active voice, perfect aspect and no object. Subject using singular as number, for other numbers change the affix vowel according to the case vowel table.

Person	1st.	2nd.	2nd. pol.	2nd. part.	3rd. appr.	3rd. obv.
Class I	phowowa	bowowa	wowowa	mowowa	powowa	pmowowa
Class II	thethita	dethita	lethita	nethita	tethita	tnethita
Class III	chelyachü	dyelyachü	lyelyachü	nyelyachü	tyelyachü	tnyelyachü
Class IV	khogaku	gogaku	wogaku	nhogaku	kogaku	knhogaku

Object

Examples in active voice, perfect aspect and 3rd person approximative singular as subject. Object using singular as number, for other numbers change the affix vowel according to the case vowel table.

Person	1st.	2nd.	2nd. pol.	2nd. part.	3rd. appr.	3rd. obv.
Class I	pophowowa	pobowowa	powowowa	pomowowa	popowowa	popmowowa
Class II	tethethita	tedethita	telethita	tenethita	tetethita	tetnethita
Class III	tyechelyachü	tyedyelyachü	tyelyelyachü	tyenyelyachü	tyetyelyachü	tyetnyelyachü
Class IV	kokhogaku	kogogaku	kowogaku	konhogaku	kokogaku	koknhogaku

Aspect and Voice

Aspect and voice work together as a single verb affix.

Aspects

There are four aspects:

• Perfective: 'I struck the bell.' (a unitary event) — denoted Perf;
• Continuous: 'I am eating.' (action is in progress) — denoted Cont;
• Habitual: 'I used to walk home from work' (situation occurs regularly or habitually) — denoted Hab;
• Gnomic: 'Fish swim and birds fly' (general truths) — denoted Gno.

Voices

There are three voices:

• Active: 'The subject is the agent and the object is the patient', no emphasis — denoted Act;
• Passive: 'The subject is the patient. Agent can or cannot be saliented in a special case: the agentive', emphasis in the patient — denoted Pat;
• Antipassive: 'The subject is the agent. Patient can or cannot be saliented in a special case: the patientive', emphasis in the agent — denoted Antp.

Aspect-Voice Table

Aspect + Voice

Perf + Act

Cont + Act

Hab + Act

Gno + Act

Perf + Pat

Cont + Pat

Hab + Pat

Gno + Pat

Perf + Antp

Cont + Antp

Hab + Antp

Gno + Antp

Class I

—

hla

ma

wa

hü

hlü

mü

wü

hö

hlö

mö

wö

Class II

—

hla

na

la

hi

hli

ni

li

he

hle

ne

le

Class III

—

hla

nya

lya

hi

hli

nyi

lyi

he

hle

nye

lye

Class IV

—

hla

nha

lha

hï

hlï

nhï

lhï

hë

hlë

nhë

lhë

If aspect-voice affix is added to a Chain Class word the a in Cont + Act, Hab + Act and Gno + Act is changed to other vowel according to the table below. It depends on the class of the first cluster of the word as it happen in the case system of the nouns.

Class	Substuting Vowel
Class I	o
Class II	ë
Class III	ö
Class IV	o

Mood and Modal Verbs

There are no mood in Nesnïdathe. Modal verbs are used instead.
Modal verbs are treated as common verbs and the main verb is, then, put in a subordinate clause.

Tense Particles

There are three tense particles: nhï for past, tse for present and hlï for future.

Numbers

Numeral System

Nesnïdathe makes use of a base 12 system.

Basic Numbers

There are eleven basic numbers. Each basic number is represented by a one syllable word, called Base Form.

When combining it with other basic numbers, if it violates the vowel-consonant harmony then it can be represented by another one syllable word, called Alternative Form.

Preference	Base Form	Alt. Form	Observation
one	po	te	based on singular case vowel
two	tyü	kï	based on dual case vowel
three	kë	työ	based on trial case vowel
four	të	pö	use trial case vowel — 4 is a third of 12
five	ti	pu	based on plural case vowel
six	pü	tï	use dual case vowel — 6 is halfway to 12
seven	tni	pmu	use plural case vowel — 7 is the complement of 5
eight	tnë	pmö	use trial case vowel — 8 is the complement of 4
nine	knhë	tnyö	use trial case vowel — 9 is the complement of 3
ten	tnyü	knhï	use dual case vowel — 10 is the complement of 2
eleven	tnë	pmö	use singular case vowel — 11 is the complement of 1

As can be seen there are only four real basic numbers: one (associated with singular), two (associated with dual), three (associated with trial) and five (associated with plural).

Numbers derived from "dividing meanings", e.g. a third of 12, halfway to 12, uses the same vowel but other voiceless stop that could be together with taht vowel according to the harmony.

Numbers derived from being a complement of other number transforms the voiceless stop into a voiceless stop + nasal cluster.

Big Numbers

Numbers greater than eleven should be represented in the form XY, where it means the number X * 12^Y.

If a number cannot be represented in the form X * 12^Y, it is represented as the greatest number below it that can be represented this way and another word for the amount that is still lacking.

Examples:

• 36₁₀ = 30₁₂ = 3 * 12¹, therefore it is represented as këte.
• 37₁₀ = 31₁₂ = 3 * 12¹ + 1 * 12⁰, therefore it is represented as këte po.
• 2229057957888₁₀ = 30000E00000₁₂ = 3 * 12¹¹ + 11 * 12⁶, therefore it is represented as këtnë tnëtï. tnëpü is not harmonical.

Notation: X is ten in base 12 and E is eleven in base 12.

Representing quantities

In order to represent quantities one must use the number after the noun it is modifying, e.g. mosnhopsü (ship), musnhopsü (ships), musnhopsü këte (36 ships).

Part of Speech Interchangeability

All parts of speech can be transformed into another part of speech only changing its root.

The eight basic changes are:

• noun to active modifier: removal of any affix (case, determiners and collectiveness) and change of the first cluster according to the cluster changing table;
• noun to patientive modifier: removal of any affix (case, determiners and collectiveness);
• noun to verb: the same changes of the noun to active modifier changing and adding of any necessary affix (voice-aspect, persons and others);
• active modifier to noun: change of the first cluster according to the cluster changing table and adding of any necessary affix (case, determiners and collectiveness);
• active modifier to patientive modifier: change of the first cluster according to the cluster changing table;
• active modifier to verb: adding of any necessary affix (voice-aspect, persons and others);
• patientive modifier to noun: adding of any necessary affix (case, determiners and collectiveness);
• patientive modifier to active modifier: change of the first cluster according to the cluster changing table;
• patientive modifier to verb: change of the first cluster according to the cluster changing table and adding of any necessary affix (voice-aspect, persons and others);
• verb to active modifier: removal of any affix (voice-aspect, persons and others);
• verb to patientive modifier: removal of any affix (voice-aspect, persons and others) and change of the first cluster according to the cluster changing table;
• verb to noun: the same changes of the verb to patientive modifier changing and adding of any necessary affix (case, determiners and collectiveness);

Cluster Changing Table

Class I		Class II		Class III		Class IV
Noun/Patientive Cluster	Verb/Active Cluster	Noun/Patientive Cluster	Verb/Active Cluster	Noun/Patientive Cluster	Verb/Active Cluster	Noun/Patientive Cluster	Verb/Active Cluster
p	b	t	d	ty	dy	k	g
pw	w	tl	l	tly	ly	kw	lh
pm	m	tn	n	tny	ny	knh	nh
ps	ph	ts	th	tsy	ch	x	kh

Syntax

Word Order

Nesnïdathe has VO word order. It can be SVO, VSO or VOS depending on the type of the clause.

Simple Clauses

Simple clauses are considered the ones with only one verb and which is not embedded or correlated to any other sentence in a period.

For each different word order several examples will be shown. A lexicon will also be in these examples. Roots of this lexicon will be in the verb/active form.

Intransitive

Intransitive clauses use SV word order. The subject must be in the nominative case.

Examples

• man — büwö (Class I)
• sing — dedye (Chain Class)

• The man sings (the man is within sight) — man.nom.sg perf.act-3rd.appr.sg-sing — mospüwö tededye. If the subject is not a pronoun then the subject affix MAY be omitted, as long as the sentence still makes the same sense. Therefore The man sings can be written as mospüwö dedye.

Transitive

Transitive clauses use SVO word order. Both subject and object must be in the nominative case.

If the subject is a pronoun, then it will not appear as Nesnïdathe is pro-drop and the sentence will have VO word order and the object will be in the accusative case. If the subject and the object have either different people or different numbers, the object may be in the nominative case.

The object may also be dropped either because it si a pronoun or because the sentence is intransitive and thus there is no object.

• If the object is a pronoun the sentence will have SV (or VS) word order:
  • If SV word order is used, the subject must be in the nominative case;
  • If VS word order is used instead, the subject will be in the ergative case, unless if the subject and the object have either different people or different numbers, then the subject may be in the nominative case.