Kosi
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0. Introduction
Meki ecinem mecuta me harikaa josol.
The above sentence means "The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones"; literally, "A mountain undoer begins like this: he carries away small stones". This sample is in Kosi, an agglutinative, primarily SOV, Finno-Ugric language with strong lexical influence from Indonesian and a smattering of loanwords from Romance, Germanic, Arabic, Silindion, and Quenya, among others. This page contains a short description of Kosi grammar and a dictionary with over three hundred entries. Some distinctive features of Kosi include: approximately forty cases, a rich aspectual and modal system, optional specification of tense, a base-twenty numeric system, permissibility of a large number of participles, and much more!
... A few more sentences:
| Kosi | Rough translation | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Em viua ðinehite de ðisitovau. | A person cannot increase his life, but he can improve it. | You can't add more years to your life, but you can add more life to your years. |
| Vinda boem boe. | A person who dies for the sake of life did not die. | Those who die for life cannot be called dead. |
| Oistr staber hinom... ¿De kombaenan. | The oyster and the strawberry are tasty: but combined? | Oysters are a fine thing, so are strawberries: but mashed together? |
In translating Kosi into English, I have omitted listing all third-person singular pronouns, as this would be redundant: Kosi does not distinguish gender in its pronominal system.
1. Phonology
- 1.1. Phonemic Inventory
- Kosi's phonemic inventory contains fifteen consonants, seven vowels, and four diphthongs, making a total of twenty six phonemes, described below.
- 1.1.1. Consonants
| Grapheme | Description | Allophones |
|---|---|---|
| P p | voiceless bilabial stop | |
| B b | voiced bilabial stop | |
| M m | voiced bilabial nasal | |
| V v | voiced labiodental fricative | |
| Ð ð | voiced interdental fricative | has merged with d in some dialects |
| T t | voiceless dental stop | |
| D d | voiced dental stop | |
| N n | voiced dental nasal | palatal before j |
| S s | voiceless dental fricative | voiced intervocalically unless written geminate; before i, voiceless and postalveolar word-initially, voiced intervocalically unless written ssi |
| C c | voiceless lamino-alveolar affricate | before i, voiceless and lamino-postalveolar |
| L l | voiced alveolar lateral | in an *lVl syllable, the second l becomes r |
| R r | voiced alveolar trill | in an *rVr syllable, the second r becomes d |
| J j | voiced palatal glide | |
| K k | voiceless velar stop | voiceless velar fricative intervocalically |
| H h | voiceless glottal fricative |
- 1.1.2. Vowels
| Grapheme | Description |
|---|---|
| I i | close front unrounded monophthong |
| Ü ü | close front rounded monophthong |
| E e | open-mid front unrounded monophthong |
| Ö ö | open-mid front rounded monophthong |
| U u | close back rounded monophthong |
| O o | close-mid back rounded monophthong |
| A a | open back unrounded monophthong (schwa word-finally) |
Note that vowels in Kosi are backed or fronted in certain environments for certain grammatical purposes; when the vowels i and e are backed, they become Ï/ï and Ë/ë (the unrounded counterparts of u and o respectively), but these vowels are never found in lexical roots.
- 1.1.3. Diphthongs
| Grapheme | Description |
|---|---|
| JA ja | palatalized open back unrounded monophthong |
| JO jo | palatalized close-mid back rounded monophthong |
| AE ae | open back-close front unrounded diphthong |
| AU au | open back-close back rounded diphthong |
All other vowel combinations are pronounced disyllabically (heis 'incorrect' = he.is), except for combinations in which the vowel is geminate, where the vowel becomes long (dunja 'world (nominative)' plus -a > dunjaa 'world (accusative)').
- 1.2. Stress
- Primary stress falls on the first syllable of a word, secondary stress on the third syllable, and tertiary stress on the fifth syllable.
- 1.3. Syllable Structure
- Kosi's syllable formula is (C)V(C). Most clusters of two consonants are allowed, except consonant+liquid clusters like *bl, *tr, and *rl. Assimilation takes place in words like svanü 'sour' and suradka 'village', so that the v is voiceless and the k is voiced.
- 1.4. Svarabhakti Vowel
- If the addition of an affix to a root or another affix would cause an awkward consonant cluster, a svarabhakti (epenthetic) vowel i is added, e.g. has 'house' + -nde 'for the sake of' > hasinde 'for the sake of the house'. This also applies to foreign words, but the i is added only in speech (the name remains the same as in the source language in writing), e.g. Tristan is pronounced as if spelled Tiristn.
2. Morphology
2.1. Nominal and Adjectival Morphology
- 2.1.1. Argument Roles
- Agents take the nominative case, whose ending is -0 (i.e., a null morpheme): man kel 'the man speaks'. Patients take the accusative case, whose ending is -a: hasa binöd 'we are building a house'. Experiencers and focuses take the dative case, whose ending is -e: buka anake adim 'I gave a book to the child', vamelka 'I am cold', vantülauar 'I am a teacher'.
2.1.2. Oblique Cases
| Preposition(s) or Phrase(s) | Affix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| above, over | -ab | hasab |
| after, behind | -ive | hasive, ötive |
| all of, complete | -ko | hasko |
| alongside, beside, next to | -ari | hasari |
| around, surrounding | -ja | hasja, ötja |
| as, like, similar to | -ken | hasken |
| before, in front of, prior to | -öm | hasöm, ötöm |
| between, among | -ki- | haskiulis, ötkissab |
| by means of, via | -i | hasi |
| compared to, than, pertaining to | -ra | hasra |
| composed of | -alja | hasalja |
| down to | -era | hasera |
| during, in the middle of | -oc | hasoc, ötoc |
| far from | -aci | hasaci |
| for, in order to benefit | -vo (plus dative) | hasvoe |
| for the purpose of | -jol | hasjol |
| for the sake of | -nde | hasinde |
| from, out of, away from, derived from | -il | hasil |
| in, inside, at | -ahe | hasahe, ötahe |
| into, towards | -tah | hastah |
| in exchange for, instead of | -ndo | hasindo |
| left of the listener | -oli | hasoli |
| left of the speaker | -eli | haseli |
| near to | -jah | hasjah |
| of, associated with | -ü | hasü |
| on (top of) | -on | hason |
| onto | -tan | hastan |
| outside of | -ahi | hasahi |
| part of, some, any | -o | haso |
| per, for every | -alah | hasalah |
| right of the listener | -oðe | hasoðe |
| right of the speaker | -ene | hasene |
| through, across, beyond, past | -eð | haseð, öteð |
| under, below, beneath | -jal | hasjal |
| until, as far as | -jok | hasjok, ötjok |
| up towards | -kl | haskl |
| with, accompanying | -um | hasum |
| without, lacking | -jan | hasjan |
These endings can also be applied to verbs: lominarum 'he must go with you'.
2.1.3. Possession
| Possessor | Meaning | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| First person singular | 'my' | -im | hassim |
| Second person singular | 'your' | -at | hassat |
| Third person singular | 'his' | -u | hassu |
| First person plural exclusive | 'our (but excluding you)' | -öd | hassöd |
| First person plural inclusive | 'our (and including you)' | -ic | hassic |
| Second person plural | 'you guys' ' | -üt | hassüt |
| Third person plural | 'their' | -ed | hassed |
These endings may be nominalized by standing alone: anakat imüa 'that child is mine'. When this is the case, they can take case endings; their accusative and dative forms are irregular, ending in -l and -n respectively (rather than the expected -a and -e). Kosi also has no genetive; instead, the nouns are joined together and the property is put into the third-person possessive singular declension: man hassu 'a man's house', man hessu 'a man's houses', men hassu 'the men's house', men hessu 'the men's houses'. Kosi has no verb meaning 'to have', either; instead, Kosi uses periphrasis: hassim neb 'I have a house/my house exists'.
- 2.1.4. Plural
- The first vowel of the root is backed if front (i, ü, e, ö) or fronted if back (o, u, a):
| Ablaut change | Example |
|---|---|
| i > ï | sim 'eye(ball)' > sïm |
| ü > u | tüs 'fire' > tus |
| e > ë | me 'ocean/sea' > më |
| ö > o | köpek 'dog' > kopek |
| o > ö | hojo 'river' > höjo |
| u > ü | buk 'book' > bük |
| a > e | ha 'tree' > he |
2.1.5. Demonstratives
| Demonstrative | Suffix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 'this' | -ut | hassut |
| 'that' | -at | hassat |
| 'yon' | -öt | hassöt |
Instead of having separate plural forms for demonstratives, the head noun is pluralized: bükut 'these books'. These endings may be nominalized by standing alone: atl amihe 'I don't like that'. When this is the case, they can take case endings; their accusative and dative forms are irregular, ending in -l and -n respectively (rather than the expected -a and -e).
- 2.1.6. Concordance Rules
- Adjectives must agree in case and number with the nouns they modify. Adjectives can be used attributively and predicatively without change, but in the latter case, the adjective can be conjugated: kot masse 'a happy boy' ~ masse kot 'the boy is happy' ~ masseat kohtau 'that boy is made happy [by X]'. Declension of adjectives and nouns is identical. Nouns used with quantifiers require the partitive case: öt 'five' + has 'house' > öt haso 'five houses'.
2.1.7. Comparison
| Type | Meaning | Prefix | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comparative of inferiority | 'less' | ja- | janae |
| Comparative of superiority | 'more' | si- | sinae |
| Superlative of inferiority | 'least' | hae- | hanae |
| Superlative of superiority | 'most' | ru- | runae |
| Equative | 'as...as' | kö- | könae |
2.2. Verbal Morphology
- 2.2.1. Person
- Kosi has two persons: first and second; two numbers: singular and plural; and an exclusive ~ inclusive distinction in first person plural.
| Person | Nominative | Accusative | Dative |
|---|---|---|---|
| First person singular | -im, -ih | -am, -ab | va- |
| Second person singular | -at, -ak | -ar, -eb | ða- |
| First person plural exclusive | -öd, -ök | -un, -ür | vi- |
| First person plural inclusive | -ös, -ic | -in, -jac | de- |
| Second person plural | -ah, -üat | -es, -uan | ke- |
Note the presence of two suffixes in the nominative and accusative columns. The second suffix is merely an allomorph of the first one, occurring when the previous syllable ends in the consonant of the root suffix. E.g. the first-person singular conjugation of the verb am- 'to love' is amih, rather than *amim.
Third person does not manifest itself whatsoever in the Kosi conjugational system. If a Kosi sentence lacks e.g. a subject, this implies the intended subject (or other argument(s)) is redundant: it was already specified.
- 2.2.2. Tense
- Kosi has optional tense-marking; it uses adverbials here: kaci baru 'he tried again recently', min dme 'he will go tomorrow'.
2.2.3. Aspect
| Aspect | Mark | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aorist | -a | kela | 'he speaks (timeless)' |
| Habitual | to- | tokel | 'he speaks (regularly)' |
| Inceptive | me- | mekel | 'he begins to speak' |
| Inchoative | me- | mekek | 'it becomes blue' |
| Perdurative | jat- | jatkel | 'he continuously speaks' |
| Causative | -au | kelamau | 'he causes me to speak' |
| Cessative | bo- | bokel | 'he ceases speaking' |
| Pausative | ta- | takel | 'he stops eating (for a while)' |
| Resumptive | tö- | tökel | 'he resumes eating' |
| Protractive | el- | elkel | 'he speaks for a long time' |
| Iterative | -i | keli | 'he speaks again' |
| Random | vi- | vikel | 'he speaks here and there/at odd intervals' |
| Frequentative | cu- | cukel | 'he speaks a lot' |
| Experiential | sa- | satahlahtim | 'I've gone there before' |
| Volitional | n- | nhal | 'he listens' |
2.2.3. Mood
| Mood | Mark | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative | -0 (i.e., a null morpheme) plus at least some aspect-marking | kel | 'he is speaking' |
| Subjunctive | kö- | kömin | 'he might go' |
| Negative | -e | kele | 'he didn't go' |
| Imperative | a-, as-, on- | ¡Atahlaht! 'Go!', ¡Astahlaht! '(You guys) go!', ¡Ontahlaht! 'Let's go!' | |
| Conditional | te-... küc | temin, küc... | 'if he goes, the result will be the following: ...' |
| Obligative | lo- | lomin | 'he must go' |
| Abilitative | ði- | ðimin | 'he can go' |
| Permissive | pa- | pamin | 'he has permission to go' |
| Interrogative | ko- | ¿Kopamin. | 'May I go?' |
2.2.4. Voice
| Voice | Mark | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | -0 (i.e., a null morpheme) | kel | 'he speaks' |
| Passive | -h- (added after the first vowel of the root) | kehl | 'he is spoken to' (the original subject is always omitted) |
| Inverse | left-dislocation plus pronoun | man, kel | 'the man, he speaks' |
| Reflexive | rü- | rükel | 'he speaks to himself' |
| Reciprocal | r- (if the root-initial consonant is r, it is replaced with l) | rkel | 'they speak to each other' |
| Applicative | locative or temporal affixes are suffixed to the verb | kelira (< kel- 'to speak' plus -ra 'pertaining to') | 'he discusses' |
2.2.6. Frame Verbs
| Kosi | Rough translation | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Uta akim loncünan neb. | I believe the following: something which must be worried about (a problem) exists. | I believe there to be a problem. |
| Uta varim behlir hajoskja koran. | I promised as follows: I will return the money soon. | I promised him to return the money. |
| Uta modim behlir hajos koran. | I ordered as follows: he returns the money soon. | I ordered him to return the money. |
- 2.2.7. Switch-Reference
- Verbal affixes used for switch-reference are the following: nö- 'simultaneity', lö- 'sequentiality', -kja 'same subject', and -da 'different subject'.
| Kosi | Gloss |
|---|---|
| Nömistan. | He sang while dancing. |
| Lömistan. | He sang and then danced. |
| Nömistanda. | He1 sang while he2 danced. |
| Lömistanda. | He1 sang and then he2 danced. |
| Metemin küc tanim. | If he sings I would dance. |
| Metemissim küc lörotankja. | If I sing then I have to dance (afterwards). |
| Uta kel nömistan. | He1 said that he1 sang while he1 danced. |
| Uta kel lömistan. | He1 said that he1 sang and then he1 danced. |
| Uta kel nömis tanda. | He1 said that he1 sang while he2 danced. |
| Uta kel lömis tanda. | He1 said that he1 sang and then he2 danced. |
| Uta kel nömisda tankja. | He1 said that he2 sang while he1 danced. |
| Uta kel lömisda tankja. | He1 said that he2 sang and then he1 danced. |
Some sentences require more detail:
| Kosi | Gloss |
|---|---|
| John uta kel misda Jan nötan. | He2 said that he1 sang while he2 danced. |
| John temis küc nötanda. | If he2 sang, then he1 would dance. |
| Uta kel John mis Anne lötan. | He1 said that he2 sang and then he3 danced. |
2.3. Derivational Morphology
2.3.1. Nominalizers
| Process | Mark | Example 1 | Example 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substantivization | vowel height change: i > e, ü > ö, e > i, ö > ü, o > u, u > o, a > a | tov 'good' > tuv 'goodness' | tüs- 'to burn' > tös 'fire' |
| Gerund | -aht | kel- 'to speak' > kelaht 'an act of speaking' | cet- 'to help' > cetaht 'an act of helping' |
| Gerundive | -ahm | kel- 'to speak' > kelahm 'while speaking' | mis- 'to sing' > missahm 'while singing' |
| Substantive participle | vowel height change: i > e, ü > ö, e > i, ö > ü, o > u, u > o, a > a plus -h- (added after the first vowel of the root) | kel- 'to speak' > kihl 'language' | es- 'to eat' > ihs 'food' |
| Locative participle | -han | ntölar 'student' > ntölarhan 'school' | biltah 'to sell' > biltahhan 'store' |
| Personal participle | -em | barat 'loyal' > baratem 'friend' | tov 'good' > tovem 'good person' |
| Person working in a profession or follower of an ideology | -ar | mis- 'to sing' > missar 'musician' | sosial 'social' > sosialar 'socialist' |
| Inhabitant of | -uni | Kosi 'Kosia' > Kosiuni 'Kosian' | Tera 'Earth' > Terauni 'Terran' |
2.3.2. Adjectivizers
| Process | Mark | Example 1 | Example 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjectivization | -kal | lat- 'to see' > latkal 'visual' | mis- 'to sing' > miskal 'musical' |
| Opposite of | e- | baratem 'friend' > ebaratem 'enemy' | kamn 'common' > ekamn 'rare' |
| 'tendency towards' | -öra | kel- 'to speak' > kelöra 'talkative' | |
| 'rich/full of' | ending -nja | para 'money' > paranja 'wealthy' | ves 'water' > vessöra 'wet' |
| Active participle | -ak | kel- 'to speak' > kelak 'speaking' | mis- 'to sing' > misak 'singing' |
| Passive participle | -an | kel- 'to speak' > kelan 'spoken' | mis- 'to sing' > misan 'sung' |
2.3.3. Universally Applicable Derivations
| Process | Mark | Example 1 | Example 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intensive | -jo | vila 'having reflected light' > viljo 'it glared' | ntölarhan 'school' > ntölarhanjo 'university' |
| Moderative | -co | vila 'having reflected light' > vilco 'it shined' | ntölarhan 'school' > ntölarhanco 'high school' |
| Attenuative | -ka | vila 'having reflected light' > vilka 'it shimmered' | ntölarhan 'school' > ntölarhanka 'elementary school' |
| Crescendo | -is | vila 'having reflected light' > vilis 'it glimmered, shined, then glared' | |
| Decrescendo | -ne | vila 'having reflected light' > vilne 'it glared, shined, then glimmered' | |
| Surfeit | ci- | nja 'much' > cinja 'too much' | berat 'strong' > ciberat 'too big' |
2.3.4. Examples of More Complex Derivations
| Root | Derivation |
|---|---|
| cin- 'to do' | ðicinkal 'doable' |
| dolos- 'to work' | dolosakkal 'unemployed' |
| ha 'wood' | haalja 'wooden' |
| hari 'stone' | harialja 'made of stone' |
| has 'house' | hasakkal 'homeless' |
| kedi 'cat' | kediken 'cat-like' |
| kek 'blue' | kekken 'bluish' |
| lat- 'to see' | ðilatkal 'visible' |
3. Syntax Basic word order is SOV. Adjectives follow their head - numerals are exceptions. Relative clauses are formed using participles: kelak man 'the man who spoke/the spoken man', nessakim essanük 'the food I want to eat/the I-want-eat food'.
- 4. Correlatives
- The following elements can be combined to make correlatives:
| Kosi | English |
|---|---|
| -ut | this |
| -at | that |
| ko- | which, what |
| -jan | no |
| -o | some, whatever, whichever |
| -ko | each, every |
| em | one |
| tin | thing |
| kas | kind, type |
| lok | place |
| mec | manner |
| des | way, direction |
| rason | reason |
| vahtu | time |
| monta | quantity |
E.g.
| Kosi | Gloss |
|---|---|
| emut | this person |
| tinat | that thing |
| ¿Kokas. | Which type? |
| lokjan | nowhere |
| meco | somehow, anyhow, however |
| desko | in every direction |
| rasonut | this reason |
| ¿Kovahtu. | At what time? |
| montao | some amount, any amount, however much |
5. Lexicon
| Kosi | Gloss |
|---|---|
| abit- | to live, to inhabit |
| ad- | to give, to add |
| ada | branch |
| adi | sheep |
| ajan- | to offer |
| ak- | to believe, to take as fact |
| al- | to stand (to be standing) |
| alun- | to sleep (dami- in perfect aspect) |
| am- | to love (sed- in protractive aspect) |
| an | mother |
| anaja | brother (of a male person) |
| anak | child |
| ananu | grandmother (maternal) |
| anjn | onion |
| antau | grandfather (maternal) |
| antah- | to grant (har- in perfect aspect) |
| areba | sister (of a male person) |
| at | door, gate |
| atap | roof, ceiling |
| atetis | future |
| aun- | to experience, to undergo |
| aval | shelf |
| avan | cloud, clump, part, chunk, piece |
| avi | bird |
| badan | body |
| bajan | hollow |
| banjak | much, many, numerous, lots |
| banjak vahtu | frequently, (lit.) many times |
| bara | brother (of a female) |
| barat | loyal |
| baru | new, recent |
| baerak | flag, banner |
| beh- | to meet |
| behi | cow |
| benca | same, equal |
| berat | difficult, tedious, strong, sturdy, heavy, hard, complex, advanced, interesting, intelligent |
| beri | special, important |
| betü | letter, symbol, glyph, character |
| bilir- | to buy |
| biltah- | to sell |
| bin- | to create, to construct, to build, to invent, to draw |
| bit- | to prove |
| bor | wine |
| borbehnjol | grape, (lit.) that which is used for making wine |
| bos | chief, leader, boss |
| buk | book |
| bukas | open |
| bukase | closed |
| bulan | moon |
| bulat | round, circular |
| butuh- | to need |
| cah- | to be involved with, to be related to, to have something to do with |
| cer- | to write |
| cet- | to help, to assist, to aid |
| cin- | to do, to make |
| de | but, however |
| dekat | short, brief, low, shallow, near(by), close, slender, narrow, thin |
| des- | to dislike |
| dme | tomorrow |
| dob- | to throw, to toss |
| dolos- | to work |
| dom | hill |
| dos- | to win |
| duha | also |
| dunja | world, planet |
| e | no |
| ebenca | different, eccentric |
| ecin- | to remove, to subtract, to delete |
| eduha | only |
| ehset- | to barter |
| erus- | to fail |
| ek | sky |
| ek ves | rain, (lit.) sky water |
| ekam | rare |
| ekot | sad, unhappy |
| em | person |
| emahal | cheap |
| enehit- | to decrease, to diminish |
| enaju | unnatural, abnormal, strange |
| entis | past |
| eparanja | poor, impoverished |
| epl | apple |
| eplsvanü | lemon |
| eplsvanüd | lime |
| eraldi | weather, climate |
| erin- | to touch |
| ermah | mean, unkind |
| es- | to eat |
| et- | to understand, to comprehend |
| etis | dirty, murky, untidy |
| ev | year |
| ha | tree |
| ha loka | forest, (lit.) tree place |
| hajos- | to return (< hasjos- 'to bring home') |
| hal- | to hear, to listen, to perceive audibly |
| hari | stone, rock |
| harja | brush |
| has | house |
| hat | back, dorsum |
| hato | cake, pie, pastry |
| heis | right, correct, true |
| hes- | to paint |
| het | week |
| hecn | wrong, incorrect |
| hibas | defective (having defects) |
| hilca | key |
| hiset- | to pay |
| hitam | black |
| hodit- | to translate |
| hojo | river |
| hondol- | to think (act of thinking) |
| hul | mood, atmosphere, emotion |
| hus | left (as opposed to right) |
| hü | grass |
| hü loka | field, park, (lit.) grass place |
| idö | time (the fourth dimension) |
| idöta | present, now |
| ildis | star |
| ilom | nephew, neice, grandchild |
| ima | air |
| is- | to drink |
| isel- | to taste (perceive by the sense of taste) |
| ja | yes |
| jac- | to play (e.g. a game) |
| jal | jealousy |
| jalan | finger, toe |
| jauh | long, lengthy, tall, high, deep, far, fat, wide, thick, distance |
| jos- | to bring, to carry |
| josk- | to cut |
| jön | beautiful, pretty, handsome, good-looking, nice-looking, aesthetically pleasing |
| ka | arm |
| kac- | to try, to attempt, to endeavor |
| kaet- | to use (to make use of) |
| kala | fish |
| kalimat | sentence (cf. phrase) |
| kama | room, chamber |
| kamn | common |
| kanal | canal, channel, ditch |
| kanto | office |
| kap- | to receive, to obtain, to get |
| kata | word |
| katabuk | dictionary |
| kedi | cat |
| kedvel- | to enjoy |
| kein- | to change |
| kek | blue |
| kel- | to speak, to talk, to communicate, to say, to make a proposition, to ask (a question), to state a question |
| kel- ekot | to complain, (lit.) express dissatisfaction |
| kelah- | to exist (neb- in all aspectual conjugations, kelah- used otherwise) |
| kelanük binu | grammar, (lit.) language structure |
| kepala | head, pot |
| keras | firm, steady; loud |
| kerat | carrot |
| keris- | to seek |
| kes- | to begin, to start, to commence |
| ket- | to cook |
| kilap | comforting |
| kirut- | to summon (< kihlirokutau-, to call by speech) |
| kinjo | lunch, midday meal |
| kirja | boat |
| kohim- | to lie down |
| kombat- | to fight, to combat |
| koran | early, before, already, previous, quick, fast, rapid |
| kosmo | space (outer space) |
| kot | happy, contented |
| könü | easy, light (opposite of heavy), weak, unstable, soft, simple, basic, primitive, dull, stupid |
| köpek | dog |
| kör- | to occur, to happen |
| kös- | to thank |
| Kös! (colloquial), Kösmital! (to one person; formal), Kösmiütl! (to more than one person; formal) | Thanks!, Thank you! |
| kötü | bad, evil |
| köv- | to follow, to go after |
| kukambr | cucumber |
| kula | gold |
| kuma | abyss, void, space |
| kura- | to sacrifice |
| kuras | monarch |
| kuras lanu | princess, (lit.) king's daughter |
| kuras massu | prince |
| küveta | president |
| kül- | to send, to dispatch, to transmit, to convey |
| küs- | to greet |
| ¡Küs. (colloquial), Küsmital! (to one person; formal), Küsmiütl! (to more than one person; formal) | Hello!, Hi! |
| lah- | to run (to move quickly) |
| laht- | to move |
| lahtah- | to go, (lit.) to move from (min- used in third person conjugations and derivations, lahtah- used otherwise) |
| lahtil- | to come, (lit.) to move to |
| lak- | to ride |
| lambat | late, after, still, next, slow |
| lan | girl, daughter |
| lantae | floor |
| lastr | lobster |
| lat- | to see |
| lehd- | to say farewell/goodbye to (opposite of küs) |
| Lehd! (colloquial), Lehdmital! (to one person; formal), Lehdmiütl! (to more than one person; formal) | Bye!, Goodbye! |
| lek- | to read (ome- in all aspectual conjugations, lek- used otherwise) |
| lekem | bread, grain |
| lep- | to remain, to be left over (from) |
| leske | lesson |
| lir- | to describe |
| loka | place, location |
| lop- | to steal |
| lora | flower, plant, vegetation |
| lora loka | garden, (lit.) plant place |
| lot- | to hope |
| luh- | to pull someone's hair |
| lun- | to clean the plate and lick the fingers, to eat to one's heart's content |
| mahal | expensive, costly |
| man | man |
| man kuras | king |
| mapar | boyfriend, husband |
| mas | boy, son |
| me | ocean, sea |
| mendu | mango |
| meki | mountain |
| melek | warm |
| meret | size |
| minut | minute |
| mis- | to sing |
| mosso- | to smile |
| mot- | to kill, to destroy |
| naju | natural, normal |
| nae | big |
| naeru | awe and respect for something dangerous |
| nasta | weapon |
| ncön- | to worry |
| nehit- | to increase, to augment |
| nena | banana |
| net- | to laugh |
| nil | arrow |
| nit- | to play an instrument |
| njama | meat, flesh, skin |
| nol | zero, none, nothing |
| nolok | nowhere, (lit.) every place |
| nolvahtu | never (lit.) no time |
| nom | name, noun |
| nomjosau- | to call, to give the name X to, (lit.) to cause to carry the name X |
| ntül- | to learn, to study |
| nü | woman |
| nü kuras | queen |
| nüpar | girlfriend, wife |
| olaht- | to leave, (lit.) move elsewhere |
| or | hour |
| ot | other |
| ö | evening, night |
| örek | old |
| pa(k)- (prefixed to verb) | Please (contracted form of the defective verb root *pak- 'to ask (a favour)'). |
| padat | dense |
| pahin | page, piece of paper |
| panja- | to fix, to rig, to put in place |
| par | partner (of either gender in either a dating or married relationship) |
| para | money, currency |
| paranja | rich, wealthy |
| pas- | to spend |
| pemin- | to govern, to administrate |
| pes- | to consider, to ponder |
| pinjo- | to opine, to be of the opinion that |
| piros | red |
| pomad- | to walk |
| raka | wolf |
| ramah | kind, nice |
| rauta | metal |
| rendah | low (in pitch) |
| resber | raspberry |
| respon- | to answer, to respond, to reply |
| riba | small fish |
| rih- | to laugh (maliciously) |
| rus- | to succeed |
| sab | leg |
| sab kepalau | foot, (lit.) head of the leg |
| sahil | beach, shore, coast |
| sakit | ill, sick, unhealthy |
| sal- | to sing |
| sav- | to be familiar with (tanu- in all aspectual conjugations, sav- used otherwise) |
| sedik | small, little |
| sek | chair |
| sekn | second (time) |
| seri | celery |
| setn | certain |
| setnec | possible, maybe |
| sim | eye(ball) |
| sir- | to cry |
| sol | sun, day, today |
| söh | sister (of a female) |
| sön | young |
| sötet | dark |
| spital | hospital |
| staber | strawberry |
| sto | awake |
| sukin | zucchini |
| surad | city, town |
| suradka | village |
| surat | letter (written message addressed to a person or organization) |
| suven- | to remember, to recall |
| süt- | to boil |
| svanü | sour |
| svarbat- | to interfere with, to interrupt |
| ta | father |
| taanu | grandmother (paternal) |
| taht- | to inspire |
| tal- | to find, to discover |
| tala | table, desk; flat surface |
| tam- | to attack |
| tan- | to dance |
| tanan | hand |
| tat- | to keep, to retain |
| tatau | grandfather (paternal) |
| taua | tower |
| te | road, path, course, line, direction, way |
| teitu | potato |
| tem | subject, theme, topic |
| tenap | yesterday |
| ter | land |
| tes- | to put, to place |
| tev | health |
| tis | sad |
| tista | clean, clear, plain, tidy |
| to | lake |
| toko | store, shop |
| tov | good, well |
| tud- | to know (a fact) |
| tuli | wind [noun] |
| tulim | window (< tuli sim 'wind-eye') |
| tüs- | to burn |
| u | or |
| ulis | street |
| utas- | to travel |
| ül- | to sit |
| ülke | nation, state, country |
| ürün | merchandise, products, goods |
| üt- | to hit, to strike |
| vah- | to wait |
| vahtu | time, occurrence of |
| vako | dinner, supper |
| val- | to choose |
| van- | to float |
| var- | to promise |
| ved | green |
| ved- | to defend |
| vel- | to forget |
| velok- | to lose, to misplace (< vel- loka) |
| ves | water |
| vi | life |
| vidam | funny, comical |
| vila | having reflected or illuminated light |
| visit- | to visit |
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