T'iksk (language)
Contents
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | Voiceless | p ‹p› | t ‹t› | k ‹k› | q ‹q› | ʔ ‹'› | ||
Voiced | b ‹b› | d ‹d› | ||||||
Ejective | p' ‹p'› | t' ‹t'› | k' ‹k'› | q' ‹q'› | ||||
Nasal | m ‹m› | n ‹n› | ||||||
Fricative | Voiceless | f ‹f› | s ‹s› | ʃ ‹sh› | x ‹x› | h ‹h› | ||
Voiced | v ‹v› | z ‹z› | ʒ ‹zh› | |||||
Affricates | Voiceless | ts ‹ts› | tʃ ‹ch› | ks ‹ks› | ||||
Voiced | dz ‹dz› | dʒ ‹j› | ||||||
Ejective | ts' ‹ts'› | tʃ' ‹ch'› | ks' ‹ks'› | |||||
Rhotic | r ‹r› |
Length of all consonants apart from plosives and affricates is phonemic.
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | o |
Low | a |
Vowel length and height, represented using the acute accent ‹´›, are phonemic.
Phonotactics
Ejectives and coronal fricatives (all except /x/ and /h/), and /r/, may be syllabic. All syllables must have a consonant onset. Consonant clusters are common: there are few to no restrictions across syllable boundaries, and within a single onset or coda any combination of one coronal and one dorsal consonant may exist. A nasal in a cluster must be closest to the nucleus.
Grammar
Syntax
T'iksk is a near-perfect representation of a head-final language.
Morphology
The only inflection upon nouns is the plural suffix -ists, or -rists if the root ends in a vowel, ejective, or coronal fricative.
Verbs are inflected for the following tense, aspect, and voice:
- Past: -st
- Progressive: -zn
- Passive: k'-
The clitic li'- also exists for the future tense, derived from the particle líx which precedes the verb.
Lexicon
Articles
Case is inflected upon the article, which may be definite or indefinite; or upon a possessive pronoun. Cases are nominative and accusative (non-nominative).
Nominative | Accusative | |
---|---|---|
Definite | t'in | din |
Indefinite | is | iz |
1 | ch'ip | jib |
2 | k'it | kid |
3 | p'at | bad |