Ilya

• See also: Ilya dictionary
• See also: Ilya phrases
• See also: Ilya roots

Phonology

consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Plosives	p   b	t   d		k   g		ʔ (q)
Nasals	m	n
Fricatives		s	ʃ (sh)
Approximants		l	j (y)		w	h
Trill		r

Note: The glottal stop /ʔ/ q, is used as a "buffer" to keep vowels apart when adding suffixes.

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i~ɪ		u~ʊ
Mid	e~ɛ		o
Open		a~ə

Vowel length is productive and is marked by an acute accent. á é í ú

Nouns

Number

Ilya nouns can be singular, dual, or plural.

• kop-á - dog
  • kop-ik - (two) dogs
    • kop-im - dogs

Gender

Ilya does not have grammatical gender. However, where desired, masculine individuals may be distinguished by the suffix XXX, and feminine ones by XXX :

• kop-á - dog

Case

nominative

The nominative case is the basic uninflected form of the noun.

accusative

The accusative case marks the direct object of a verb. It has two written forms whose use depends on the final letter of the word it qualifies.

• -wa Added to words ending in b, h, k, l, m, n, r, and sh.

• -o Added to words ending in d, g, p, q, s, t, w, and y.

genitive

The genitive case is used to show possession and is placed immediately after the first member of a genitive construction. It has two written forms whose use depends on the final letter of the word it qualifies.

• -ya Added to words ending in b, g, h, k, l, m, n, and r.

• -ai Added to words ending in d, p, q, s, sh, t, w, and y.

dative

The dative for the beneficiary of an action, indirect object, or motion towards. Unlike other case endings, it has morphed to being a prefix and has only one form, used in all instances. The exception to this is the form used with pronouns, ib-.

• bi-

• daqeshan éyemwa bikopá.

give-PRF-1s food-ACC DAT-dog

I gave food to the dog.

• ma (kayu) iban?

what (COP-3s) DAT-1s

What's for me?

locative

The locative case indicates the place or time at which something happens. Its meaning can be translated by the English prepositions 'to', 'at', 'on', 'in' etc. It has two written forms whose use depends on the final letter of the word it qualifies.

• -(é)da Added to words ending in b, l, m, n, p, r, s, sh, w and y. Often shortened to -éd after l, r, w, and y.

• -úsh Added to words ending in d, g, h, k, q and t.

ablative

The ablative case carries the meaning 'from' and shows separation away from an object. It is also used in comparisons and in this case translates as "than".

• -(é)sha

comitative / instrumental

The instrumental/comitative case denotes accompaniment. It is translated as "with", "together with", "by", "with" or "through". An important use of the instrumental is as an adverbial, since Ilya lacks a morphological adverb. It has two written forms whose use depends on the final letter of the word it qualifies.

• -ha Added to words ending in b, l, m, and r.

sarha - quickly (with quickness)

• -ak Added to words ending in all others.

betak - using; with the house

Pronouns

	singular	plural
1	-an	-uk
2	-ti / -e	-ut
3	-u / -a / il	-um

Conjugation

There are two conjugations in Ilya, easily identified by the final -ek or -rá in the infinitive. Sample conjugations are given below, as well as the forms for the irregular verb hará 'to be (permanent)'.

	hará be	ashek want	gelek arrive	shabrá know
1s	han	ashan	gelan	shaban
2s	hati	ashti	gele	shabti
3s	ilha	ashu	gelu	shabu
1p	haquk	ashuk	geluk	shabuk
2p	haqut	ashut	geli	shabut
3p	umha	ashum	gelum	shabum

Case

	nominative	accusative	genitive	dative
1s	-an	eyan	nai	iban
2s	-ti / -e	eti / eye	tai	ibti
3s	-u / -a	eya	ai	ibu
1p	-uk	eyuk	kai	ibuk
2p	-ut / -í	eyut	wai	ibut
3p	-um	eyum	mai	imbu

direct object incorporation

Direct object pronouns are incorporated to the verb inflection. So, instead of eya rayeshan (I saw her), rayeshana is grammatical. The DO pronouns are not used when the object is specified. So, instead of kawal rayeshanu (I saw (it) the horse), kawal rayeshan is grammatical.

verb	tense / aspect / mood	subject	object
ary	-esh	-an	-a
see	simple past	1sg	3sg.FEM
I saw her.