Natively known as: Itəʊsá /ˈitəˌʊsɑ/
This language traditionally was broken into multiple dialects within the northeastern region of the continent, with some influenced by Ingarin and Eyun, languages of neighboring peoples, while others grew more unique with isolation within the islands. Over the past millennia, it slowly gathered into a more centralized and cohesive language. It is an official language in Chiyan, Cinan Islands, Mienkola, and Relki.
…and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
…e ẓi ẓi ïj́ mim vadz e ik shyoj ẓi ḷawj́ snuchyh gœŕ
Pronunciation: /ɛ ʐi ʐi ɪɟ mim vaʣ ɛ ik çjoʤ ʐi ɭɔɟ snuʧ gœɾ/
Etosa word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Dictionary – Coming Soon!
Phonology and Spelling
Consonant inventory: /b c d g j k l m n p q r s t v z ç ŋ ɖ ɟ ɢ ɭ ɱ ɲ ɳ ɻ ɾ ʂ ʈ ʐ ʔ ʣ ʤ ʦ ʧ θ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | ɱ | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Stop | p b | t d | ʈ ɖ | c ɟ | k g | q ɢ | ʔ | |||
| Affricate | ʦ ʣ | ʧ ʤ | ||||||||
| Fricative | v | θ | s z | ʂ ʐ | ç | |||||
| Approximant | ɻ | j | ||||||||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||
| Lateral approximant | l | ɭ |
Vowel inventory: /a i o u æ œ ɐ ɑ ɔ ɛ ɪ/
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Near-high | ɪ | ||
| High-mid | o | ||
| Low-mid | ɛ œ | ɔ | |
| Near-low | æ | ɐ | |
| Low | a | ɑ |
Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C) ?
Stress pattern: advanced ?
Word initial consonants: b, br, c, d, dr, dz, g, gr, gɾ, j, ks, kv, l, lj, m, mb, mj, ml, mp, n, nj, nt, pj, pl, pr, pç, q, s, sj, sm, sn, t, tj, tr, ts, tv, v, vn, vɾ, z, zl, zn, zr, çj, ɟ, ɢ, ɭ, ɱ, ɲj, ɳ, ɻ, ɾ, ʂ, ʈ, ʐ, ʔ, ʣ, ʤd, ʤj, ʦ, ʧl, θ, θl
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bd, br, bt, bz, bɾ, c, cs, ct, d, dd, dg, dl, dn, ds, dt, dɲ, dɾ, dʤ, g, gb, gd, gj, gm, gr, j, jd, jj, jk, jn, jr, jt, jv, k, kd, kj, kk, kl, kn, kr, ks, kt, kç, kʦ, l, lb, lc, ld, lg, lj, lk, ll, lm, ls, lv, lɟ, lɲ, lʤ, lʧ, lθ, m, md, mg, mj, mm, mp, ms, mv, mɾ, mʔ, mʤ, mʧ, n, nb, nr, nt, nv, nz, nɲ, nʂ, nʦ, p, pj, pl, pt, pv, pz, q, qd, qq, r, rb, rj, rk, rm, rp, rr, rt, rv, rç, rʤ, rʦ, rʧ, s, sb, sl, sn, st, sv, sz, sç, sʈ, sʔ, sʧ, t, td, tg, tk, tn, tp, tr, ts, tt, tz, tʔ, tʤ, tʧ, v, vd, vg, vr, vɲ, z, zg, zj, zk, zm, zp, zz, zɟ, ç, çl, çt, ŋ, ŋb, ŋd, ŋg, ŋj, ŋk, ŋl, ŋp, ŋs, ŋz, ŋʦ, ɖ, ɟ, ɟl, ɟn, ɟr, ɢ, ɭ, ɭb, ɭd, ɭg, ɭk, ɭs, ɭɭ, ɱ, ɲ, ɲb, ɲj, ɲt, ɲz, ɲɲ, ɳ, ɻ, ɻn, ɾ, ɾd, ɾl, ɾn, ɾs, ɾt, ʂ, ʂl, ʂt, ʂʈ, ʈ, ʈʂ, ʐ, ʐn, ʔ, ʔd, ʔm, ʔɾ, ʣ, ʤ, ʤl, ʤm, ʤr, ʤt, ʦ, ʦk, ʦn, ʦr, ʦs, ʦç, ʧ, ʧk, θ, θd, θl
Word final consonants: b, d, g, k, l, m, n, p, q, s, t, ç, ŋ, ɖ, ɟ, ɢ, ɭ, ɱ, ɳ, ɻ, ɾ, ʂ, ʈ, ʐ, ʣ, ʤ, ʧ, θ
Phonological changes (in order of application): ?
- ʔ → Ø / C_
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| c | chy |
| j | y |
| tʂ | ts |
| ç | sh |
| ŋ | ng |
| ɐ | ä |
| ɑ | á |
| ɔ | aw |
| ɖ | ḍ |
| ɛ | e |
| ɟ | j́ |
| ɢ | ǵ |
| ɪ | ï |
| ɭ | ḷ |
| ɱ | ḿ |
| ɲ | ny |
| ɳ | ṇ |
| ɻ | r̀ |
| ɾ | ŕ |
| ʂ | ṣ |
| ʈ | ṭ |
| ʐ | ẓ |
| ʔ | ʻ |
| ʣ | dz |
| ʤ | j |
| ʦ | ts |
| ʧ | ch |
| θ | th |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Oblique-Object-Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?
Nouns
Nouns have two cases:
- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
| Plural | a /a/ plural particle |
| Nominative | No affix awzpiḿ /ˈɔzpiɱ/ dog (doing the verb) |
| Accusative | Suffix -as awzpiḿas /ˈɔzpiɱas/ (verb done to) dog |
Articles
| Definite | Indefinite | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | zæ /zæ/ the | awp /ɔp/ a |
| Plural | u /u/ the | mbï /mbɪ/ some |
Pronouns
| Nominative | Accusative | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | bæ /bæ/ I | ol /ol/ me |
| 2nd singular | ṇœ /ɳœ/ you | ʻu /ʔu/ you |
| 3rd singular masc | ẓi /ʐi/ he | bäl /bɐl/ him |
| 3rd singular fem | mpi /mpi/ she | e /ɛ/ her |
| 1st plural | ḷï /ɭɪ/ we | grœ /grœ/ us |
| 2nd plural | myu /mju/ you (all) | nyi /nji/ you (all) |
| 3rd plural masc | i /i/ they | ṭu /ʈu/ them |
| 3rd plural fem | nyye /ɲjɛ/ they | kve /kvɛ/ them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | bæ /bæ/ my |
| 2nd singular | ṇœ /ɳœ/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | ẓi /ʐi/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | mpi /mpi/ her |
| 1st plural | ḷï /ɭɪ/ our |
| 2nd plural | ṇœ /ɳœ/ your |
| 3rd plural masc | i /i/ their |
| 3rd plural fem | i /i/ their |
Verbs
| Present | Past | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʧ Else: Suffix -ɑʧ ekáchyh /ˈɛkɑʧ/ | Suffix -iŋ ekáing /ˈɛkɑiŋ/ | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɢ Else: Suffix -uɢ ekáǵ /ˈɛkɑɢ/ |
| Feminine | Suffix -ɪg ekáïg /ˈɛkɑɪg/ | If ends with vowel: Suffix -lɲɑ Else: Suffix -alɲɑ ekálnyá /ˈɛkɑlɲɑ/ | Suffix -i ekái /ˈɛkɑi/ |
| Neutral | Suffix -æt ekáæt /ˈɛkɑæt/ | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɻ Else: Suffix -ɪɻ ekár̀ /ˈɛkɑɻ/ | If ends with vowel: Suffix -θ Else: Suffix -ɔθ ekáth /ˈɛkɑθ/ |
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present. Etosa uses the word for ‘finish’ zræs for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Etosa has a base-10 number system:
- 1 – i
- 2 – pliṣ
- 3 – zni
- 4 – go
- 5 – mbï
- 6 – græ
- 7 – ta
- 8 – ḷïj
- 9 – dze
- 10 – nyye
- 11 – nyyei “ten-one”
- 100 – myá “hundred”
- 101 – myá e i “hundred and one”
- 200 – pliṣ myá
- 1000 – pshup “thousand”
Morphology
Derivational morphology
- Adjective → adverb =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -dɾi
- Else: Suffix -odɾi
- Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ɔ
- Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -qo
- Else: Suffix -iqo
- Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -œ
- Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʣ
- Else: Suffix -ɛʣ
- Noun → verb (to create [noun]) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
- Else: Suffix -ub
- Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -bdi
- Else: Suffix -abdi
- Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -a
- Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʦsɐ
- Else: Suffix -œʦsɐ
- Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -mɾæ
- Else: Suffix -ɑmɾæ
- One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʤla
- Else: Suffix -œʤla
- Place of (e.g. wine → winery) =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɢu
- Else: Suffix -ɪɢu
- Diminutive =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -zpo
- Else: Suffix -ɐzpo
- Augmentative =
- If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋi
- Else: Suffix -œŋi