Nabhika
Note: From this point on, // contain phonemic transcription, [] contain phonetic transcription, but Nabhikan words will be in bold.
Nabhika | |
---|---|
Pronounced: | /nabʰika/ |
Timeline and Universe: | none |
Species: | Human |
Spoken: | Nakat |
Total speakers: | 13 million |
Writing system: | Latin |
Genealogy: | ... |
Typology | |
Morphological type: | Agglutinative |
Morphosyntactic alignment: | Nominative-Accusative |
Basic word order: | SVO |
Credits | |
Creator: | ILuvEire |
Created: | February 2009 |
Phonology
Consonants
Consonants | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bilabial | Labiod. | Alveolar | Retroflex | Velar | Glottal | |||||||||||
Nasal | m | n | ɳ ṇ | ŋ ng | ||||||||||||
Plosive | p pʰ ph | b bʱ bh | t tʰ th | d dʱ dh | ɖ ḍ | ʈ ṭ | k kʰ kh | g gʱ gh | ||||||||
Fricative | f | v | s | z | ʂ ṣ | ʐ ẓ | h | |||||||||
Trill | r | ɽ ṛ | ||||||||||||||
Lateral Approximant | l | ɭ ḷ |
When the IPA is the same as the transcription, no extra character is put down. If there's a change from IPA, it's noted. An h is added to show aspiration, and ̣ (under-dot) is used to indicate the consonant is retroflex.
Vowels
Vowels | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front | Near-front | Central | Back | |||||||
High | i | u | ||||||||
High-mid | e | o | ||||||||
Low | a |
Any vowel can be lengthened, and it's marked with a macron.
Nouns
Nabhika words use two genders, animate and inanimate. There are three numbers, singular, dual, and plural. Many, many nouns use a triconsonantal root. These nouns frequently are changed into verbs.
Cases
Case | Suffix | Example 1 | Example 2 |
Nominative | None | zvan-dog | bhāṣika |
Accusative | -a | zvana | bhāṣikā |
Gentitive | -i | zvani | bhāṣikai |
When a word ending with an a is in the accusative case, the vowel is lengthened. Similarly, when a noun is in the gentitive case and ends with an i the vowel is just long.
Plurals
- For the dual number, you'll need to change the vowel of the last syllable. Then add the suffix ṣi.
a | -> | e | |
e | -> | i | |
i | -> | ī | |
o | -> | i | |
u | -> | e |
- The plural just lengthens the last vowel and adds the suffix -ra.
Examples
Singular | Meaning | Dual | Plural |
Zavān | dog | zavēnṣi | zavānra |
Bhāṣika | language | bhāṣikeṣi | bhāṣikāra |
Pronouns
In informal Nabhika, men use one set of pronouns, and women use another set. Men use the woman's set when speaking formally.
Masculine Pronouns
Singular | Plural | |
First person | ta | nā |
Second person | an | tunā |
Third person | hū | i |
Feminine Pronouns
Singular | Plural | |
First person | le | nanu |
Second person | kim | kuma |
Third person | aromi | ṣi |
Verbs
Nabhika uses a triconsonantal root, like many Semitic languages.
Tense | Affirmative | Negative |
Past | CaCC | CaCCmath |
Present | CoCuC | aCōCimaC |
Future | CiCaCne | CioCaṣCe |
And, and example verb (zvn - to bark) conjugated:
Tense | Affirmative | Negative |
Past | zavn | zavnmath |
Present | zovun | azōviman |
Future | zivanne | ziovaṣṇe |
Irregular Verbs
Do | Go | Be | Come | ||||
baḷ | baḷmath | ṣa | ṣameth | dha | dhamath | madń | maḍńmath |
biḷane | bioḷaṣe | ṣiane | ṣaṣe | dhane | dhoi | miḍańe | mioḍaṣṇe |
boḷu | abōḷima | ṣō | aṣōima | dhō | adhōima | moḍuń | amōḍimań |
bḷiā | ābḷōń | ṣīā | āṣōń | dhā | ādhōń | mḍińā | āmoḍńoń |
Adjectives
To put it simply, we ain't got none. In Nabhika, all adjectives are treated like verbs, and conjugated as such.
Sample Text
An introduction
Ta Taileḷ moḍuń. Nat zvānra moḍuń. Iń Sirenia ṇoḷuń horuth.