Wunal grammar

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This article details the grammar of the Wunal language.

Wunal is a gendered, agglutinative language that features inflection for articles and pronouns to achieve prepositional, numerical and even limited descriptive functions, conjugation of verbs for tense, and a free word order facilitated by a several noun cases.

ጀዊ፡ዉነለ᎐በኽቶ (Yawi Wunala'baǩto)

Grammatical genders[edit | edit source]

Wunal uses a system of grammatical genders, dependant almost completely on a physical or artful quality of the word in question. However, there does exist exceptions, most evidently in many proper nouns and given names.

There are two tiers of genders: Word Genders and Gendered Articles.

Word Genders[edit | edit source]

The two gendered writing formats are as so: flat (feminine) and stressed (masculine) words, with the third, “neuter”, being a mix of the two. The gendered writing format is used predominantly as an accompaniment to gendered articles (explained in the subsequent section). These manifest through cultural gender stereotypes, with the bias toward masculine and feminine dependant on the gendered connotations of a word.

For instance, words (nouns, verbs, adjectives and so forth) used to describe a man or a male’s sexual organs would be written entirely with stressed letters. Words describing a woman or female sexual organs would be written entirely in feminine letters.

Other words are gendered depending on their social connotations, with some words having no “fixed” gender, especially for words that change depending on their context. Some examples: the word for “War” (ነየ᎐ኼ; Naja'ǩe) is a neuter word with only one masculine letter, hence being predominantly feminine, whereas the word for “Bloodshed" (ከ᎐ኹቪኩ᎐ቪ; Ka'ǩuviku'vy) is noticeably masculine.

There is no fixed, foolproof system to determine the gender of every word. Using the correct gender in Wunal requires extensive study of Wunal lexicon and Wunal cultural connotations.

Stressed letters are denoted by the adding of an agglutinated word marker after the letter in Wunal (), or a comma after the letter (i.e. a', b', etc) in Atraelish transcriptions, and are pronounced with a glottal stop (⟨ʔ⟩; like the pause in “uh-oh”), with the length of the glottal stop dependent on where it is used (see Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs).

Gendered Articles[edit | edit source]

Gendered articles also exist, in the forms of masculine, neuter and feminine. As articles, these function similarly to the English “the”, “an” and “a”, however have a more complicated and versatile function, described in the Cases section (below).

A small example: The Wunal masculine, neuter and feminine words for the definite article “The” are Wi (ዊ), Wio (ዊፆ), and Yawi (ጀዊ) respectively. Since genders are used in conjunction with their gendered word, Wio (and its counterparts) are by far the most common, due to most words classifying as neuter.

Cases[edit | edit source]

Wunal has many grammatical cases, and these affect articles, nouns, and plurals. Cases for Wunal are fairly tidy and mechanical, and unlike Wunal genders, always follows their own rules.

Cases are dropped whenever they are not needed, i.e. for expressions such as “go”, “hello”, “goodbye”, “yes”, etc, or listing items.

Noun Cases[edit | edit source]

There are seven noun cases in Wunal. Cases take the form of small extensions that are added to the last word in its parent word string, as shown below. Other functions are carried out by adjectives and inflected articles (i.e. space, location, time, etc).

Case Case description Extension
Nominative Answers the questions "who?" or "what?", the subject of a sentence. It is an initial form, i.e. The student is reading. ዎ (wo)
Genitive Used to show that something/somebody belongs or refers to something/somebody. It can be translated to of" in English, i.e. the bank of the river. ኪ (ki)
Ablative Designates a movement from something, or a cause or origin of something, to move from one position to another, to gain something from someone or something, i.e. the person went from her village to the nearest city (or) it took a long time for him to do that. ጶ (po)
Dative Designates that something is given or addressed to the person (object), i.e. I go to the doctor ከ (ka)
Accusative Designates the object of an action, i.e. I read the newspaper. ተ᎙ (tha)
Instrumental Used to denote an instrument that helps to make something, i.e. I write with a pencil. ኸ (ǩu)
Prepositional Used to designate a place, or a person/object that is an object of a preposition. This case is always used with a prepositional article. ፆም (om)

Pronoun Cases[edit | edit source]

Pronouns use the same cases as all normal nouns, however when necessary can have additional prepositional and/or plural functions when combined with articles. The combined article is used as a declension (this is explained further in the subsequent section). If the pronoun is singular, and the noun it is attached to does not require a preposition, then a declension is not necessary (similar to how, in English, “my” or “our” [and etc.] can replace an “a” or “the”).

Personal Pronouns, Singular

Case Declension First person Second person Third person...
English nominative example I You He She It
Wunal base word N (ን) Nu (ኑ) N'de (ን᎐ዴ) Neb (ኔብ) N'he (ን᎐ሄ)
Nominative wo Nwo (ንዎ) Nuwo (ኑዎ) N'dewo (ን᎐ዴዎ) Nebwo (ኔብዎ) N'hewo (ን᎐ሄዎ)
Genitive ki Nki (ንኪ) Nuki (ኑኪ) N'deki (ን᎐ዴኪ) Nebki (ኔብኪ) N'heki (ን᎐ሄኪ)
Ablative po Npo (ንጶ) Nupo (ኑጶ) N'depo (ን᎐ዴጶ) Nebpo (ኔብጶ) N'hepo (ን᎐ሄጶ)
Dative ka Nka (ንከ) Nuka (ኑከ) N'deka (ን᎐ዴከ) Nebka (ኔብከ) N'heka (ን᎐ሄከ)
Accusative tha Ntha (ንትሀ) Nutha (ኑትሀ) N'detha (ን᎐ዴትሀ) Nebtha (ኔብትሀ) N'hetha (ን᎐ሄትሀ)
Instrumental ǩu Nǩu (ንኸ) Nuǩu (ኑኸ) N'deǩu (ን᎐ዴኸ) Nebǩu (ኔብኸ) N'heǩu (ን᎐ሄኸ)
Prepositional om Nom (ንፆም) Nuom (ኑፆም) N'deom (ን᎐ዴፆም) Nebom (ኔብፆም) N'heom (ን᎐ሄፆም)

Personal Pronouns, Plural

Case Declension First person Second person Third person
English nominative example We You They/them
Wunal base word Sa (ሠ) So (ሦ) Fet (ፌ᎐ት)
Nominative wo Sawo (ሠዎ) Sowo (ሦዎ) Fetwo (ፌ᎐ትዎ)
Genitive ki Saki (ሠኪ) Soki (ሦኪ) Fetki (ፌ᎐ትኪ)
Ablative po Sapo (ሠጶ) Sopo (ሦጶ) Fetpo (ፌ᎐ትጶ)
Dative ka Saka (ሠከ) Soka (ሦከ) Fetka (ፌ᎐ትከ)
Accusative tha Satha (ሠትሀ) Sotha (ሦትሀ) Fetha (ፌ᎐ትሀ)
Instrumental ǩu Saǩu (ሠኸ) Soǩu (ሦኸ) Fetǩu (ፌ᎐ትኸ)
Prepositional om Saom (ሠፆም) Soom (ሦ᎕ም) Fetom (ፌ᎐ትፆም)

Possessive Pronouns
The only possessive pronoun found in Wunal is in the first person (i.e. like the English my/mine). No other specially possessive pronouns appear, with the concept of possession in the second or third person using the same words used for personal pronouns, e.g. “she” [in place of her] or “them” [in place of “their”], as above.

Case Declension Pronoun
Wunal base word Ya (የ)
Nominative wo Yawo (የዎ)
Genitive ki Yaki (የኪ)
Ablative po Yapo (የጶ)
Dative ka Yaka (የከ)
Accusative tha Yatha (የትሀ)
Instrumental ǩu Yaǩu (የኸ)
Prepositional om Yaom (የፆም)

Article inflection[edit | edit source]

Wunal article inflection features a vast array of descriptive elements centred around concepts of numerical value, space and size, and place, and are divided into the three genders. With this, article inflection allows them to function as prepositions, to determine plural, and as diminutives and augmentatives.

Article cases are, in correct Wunal grammar, only able to be used once for the word they address, describing the most relevant and/or important feature of the object or concept in question. Describing prefixes and suffixes are to be used for words that require additional description. Additionally, all noun strings must succeed their relevant article. Plurals are always used in preference to other article types, followed by positional articles. When both a preposition and a plural are required (e.g. in “rifles lying upon the weapon rack”), the noun in question is agglutinated with the dependent word “Čuča” (ቹቸ), meaning “of an arbitrary amount", with the article then fulfilling the suitable prepositional function.

Indefinite describing articles can be used as normal adjectives, functioning as dependant words (see Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs in the following section) although this is regarded as improper Wunal by the Imperial Language Council of Variyako, in spite of the fact that this restriction is an unnecessary and non-historical complexity. Regardless, it acceptable and widely used in the Odokcracian, Southern Variaykoi and Zeleovkian dialects of southern Neira, where it is seen as a trademark feature of the dialects.

Singulars

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Definite Article (the) Wi (ዊ) Wio (ዊፆ) Yawi (ጀዊ)
Indefinite Article (a/an) We (ዌ) Wu (ዉ) Yawu (ጀዉ)

Plurals (most common)
For the table below and tables following, articles are displayed as definite first, with their indefinite variant underneath.

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Tiny amount Wik
Ik
Wika
Iwik
Ewika
Iwika
Small amount Rawik
Ra
Rawika
Ri
Rawikaye
Ere
Anywhere from 3 to a dozen Ožu
Ohžu
Oža
Ohža
Ofužu
Ohfužu
A dozen Ošu
Ohšu
Oša
Ohša
Ofušu
Ohfušu
A medium amount Voše
Veše
Voka
Veka
Voše
Veše
A large amount J̌a
J̌oka
J̌ak
Oka
J̌aka
J̌ol
A great amount Aoka
Ajoka
Abota
Ajabota
Ausa
Ajusa
A vast amount Kukǰa
Kǰa
Kukǰa
Kǰa
Kuǩǰa
Kǰa
An absolutely vast amount Vakǰuka
Vakǰu
Vakǰa
Vaku
Vaǩǰuka
Vaǩǰu
An immeasurable amount Tač
Toč

Otsč
Voč
Vayoč
An infinite amount Ǩor
Ǩor
Ǩorak
Ǩorak
Ǩarak
Ǩarak

Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs[edit | edit source]

In Wunal, words of all types can be agglutinated. Adjectives and adverbs do not exist as separate words, but rather are simply nouns and verbs used as prefixes or suffixes to existing “core” words; they are referred to as descriptive words when used in this manner. There are two types of descriptive words: dependent and independent descriptive words, respectively functioning as “describers” and “objects”. Dependent words (describers) can only be used in conjunction with independent words (objects), whereas an independent word can exist by itself, or even be paired with other independent words. Independent words are by far the most dominant category of Wunal word class, with only 20-30% of Wunal words being classified as dependent.

To clarify it some more, it can help to treat as adjectives/adverbs, whereas independent words are nouns/verbs that can also function as adjectives/adverbs. All nouns and verbs in the Wunal language are independent words, with the dependent category saved for words that are context-dependent. Descriptive words can be used in chains, linking on any other descriptive word, however they must all be ultimately attached to at least one core independent word.

Further to this, words and their describers are organised in a specific way when spoken and written. This is so that they can be identified easily. They are placed into two categories depending on what type of word they are, where they then either become prefixes, or suffixes. Prefixes can only be independent words, with the last word in the prefix string being the core word. Suffixes are always describers, with the final word in the describer string giving its noun case declension. If there are no describers, the core word is then given the declension. Traditionally, all agglutinated word joiners () used in words within the prefix string (before the core noun) are supposed to have emphasised glottal stops, whilst agglutinated word joiners in the suffix string are silent, however this has changed so greatly between dialects that it has largely become arbitrary. Words in the prefix and suffix strings can be arranged in any order, so long as their stay within their respective strings, and the core word remains in the centre.

Descriptive words are always in the genitive case, as they belong to their own particular word, but do not use their declension in order to prevent confusion.

The language relies on this system to accommodate and illustrate a plethora of different nuances in meaning, allowing a speaker or writer of the language practically full freedom to express the meaning she/he desires. Typical conversational words in Wunal are often combinations of two words, or a root word combined with a prefix and/or suffix, and are sometimes very large in size. A complete word with all its descriptive particles and cases is known as a word string.

Words are combined by - as the name implies - agglutinated word joiners (). For example, the word “Ivuna" (ፂቩነ) is a dependent descriptive word that means "Wunal Civilisation", or simply "Civilisation of a Wunal quality". Words that use ivuna as a suffix include Eǩe'ivuna (ፄኼ᎐ፂቩነ; "Outside our civilisation"), Izeǩe'ivuna (ፂዜኼ᎐ፂቩነ; "Great Wunal civilisation") and Ǩo'ivuna (ኾ᎐ፂቩነ; "God/goddess of Wunala/Civilisation").

Another example includes the dependant descriptive word for "life", (ዊየ; "wiya"), as seen in Ke'wiya (ኬ᎐ዊየ; "people"), Nke'wiya (ንኬ᎐ዊየ; "fabric of the universe and life") or Ǩo'wiya (ኾ᎐ዊየ; "God/goddess of life").

Verbs[edit | edit source]

Verbs, as fleshed out above, function exactly like Adjectives and Adverbs through the descriptive word string system. However, verbs are kept separate from the word they’re describing, added after or before the words they relate to regardless of tense. If they are used as a prefix or suffix in their noun, they become adjectives/adverbs.

Verbs are conjugated to signify tense.

Articles precede all the verbs that relate to their specific noun. (Like in English, i.e. The running boy).

Tense[edit | edit source]

There are eight tense suffixes in Wunal, as shown below. Specific tense is specified further through the use of adverbs, added as prefixes or suffixes, ending in their respective key suffix, which is often particularly important to fill in for Wunal's lack of distinct grammatical aspect. The following table lists all the declensions, used on the Wunal word Rh'ke (ር᎙᎐ኬ; lit."run"):

Tense English approximation Wunal example Extension
Ancient past Ran long ago ር᎙᎐ኬዞ (Rh'kezo) …zo
Past Ran ር᎙᎐ኬዠ (Rh'keža) …ža
Present Is running ር᎙᎐ኬ (Rh'ke) no extension
Near future Will run soon ር᎙᎐ኬሢ (Rh'kesi) …si
Certain future Will run ር᎙᎐ኬፀየ (Rh'keaya) …aya
Uncertain future May run ር᎙᎐ኬሀ (Rh'keha) …ha
Present infinite Will now forever ር᎙᎐ኬፀተ (Rh'keata) …ata
Eternal infinite Has always run ር᎙᎐ኬእሆ (Rh'kećho) …ćho

Phonology[edit | edit source]

Timing[edit | edit source]

Wunal is a syllable-timed language[1].

Evolution & Diversity[edit | edit source]

Dialects[edit | edit source]

Odokcracian[edit | edit source]

In the Odokcracian "dialect", a topic noun case modifier "kha" (ከ᎙) is utilised, which identifies the topic of conversation in a sentence, paragraph and/or et cetera. This is much like what is also seen in the Likadjai language. The topic modifier can also be additionally used as a pronoun, where it replaces N'he (i.e. "it") when the topic is referred to.

Case Original case extension With topic extension
Nominative Topic ዎ (wo) ከ᎙ዎ (khawo)
Genitive Topic ኪ (ki) ከ᎙ኪ (khaki)
Ablative Topic ጶ (po) ከ᎙ጶ (khapo)
Dative Topic ከ (ka) ከ᎙ከ (khaka)
Accusative Topic ተ᎙ (tha) ከ᎙ተ᎙ (khatha)
Instrumental Topic ኸ (ǩu) ከ᎙ኸ (khaǩu)
Prepositional Topic ፆም (om) ከ᎙ፆም (khaom)

Mutations[edit | edit source]

Mutation of sounds and spelling is typically a feature of linguistic evolution that Wunal is not known for. Mispronunciation is staved off strongly by old Wunalan tradition, where a romanticised affection of phonological “orthodoxy” in conjunction with across the board literacy prevent many sounds from being lost. Because of this rigidity, Wunal is known by speakers of other languages to be unforgivingly difficult dialects to pronounce. In spite of this, changes still do “slip through” in varying degrees, especially when looked at across a period of centuries.

In the southern and south-central continent, mutations are by contrast much more common, with the social shifts occurring since the annexation of southern Neira of Atraeth and its linguistic influence and a gradual embracing of modern capitalism accelerating changes.

Contractions[edit | edit source]

Contractions have become increasingly common for both illiterate peasantry and the more liberal, modernised folk of the south.

Rebracketing[edit | edit source]

Rebracketing (e.g.. “A Nadder” → “An Adder” [in Atraelish/English], where misspellings lead to the creation of new words) is most common in illiterate peasant populations. A common example is the dropping of the letter O from the start of many neuter words or word strings with assumed masculine core words. For example, the word Owo'vu'iya (ፆዎ᎐ቩ᎐ፂጀ; meaning “people” or “many person”) can rendered as “Wi Owo'vu'iya” or “Wio Wo'vu'iya”, both of which sound grammatically and phonetically correct when spoken.

Another example is with the numbers O'ba, O'za, O'ra (six, seven and eight), which are recognised as Ba, Za, Ra in the north.

Metathesis[edit | edit source]

Metathesis - the rearranging of letters and syllables in a word - occasionally occurs, most often as a result of the highly agglutinative nature of the language.

Deletions[edit | edit source]

Deletions are a noticeably common phenomenon in the south, with verbs and some consonants being removed to simplify pronunciation in addition to vastly popular and continuous adoption of the Atraelish-like softer sounds of feminine words in favour of masculine words.

A major deletion, as explained in the section Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs, is the complete abandonment of traditions governing usage of glottal stops across all non-Northern dialects. Traditionally, all agglutinated word joins used in words within the prefix string (before the core noun) are supposed to have emphasised glottal stops, whilst word joiners in the suffix string are silent, however this has changed so greatly between dialects that it has largely become arbitrary.

Semantic Changes[edit | edit source]

The powerful descriptive and poetic capabilities of the language coupled with the turbulent history of the Wunal people has caused a ceaseless shift in the meaning and connotations of Wunal words, with difference of meaning often extending to word strings having different connotations to their individual words.

Numbers[edit | edit source]

Wunal uses its own system of numerical symbols, despite the growing international acceptance of Atraelish numerals. Ordinal numbers are indicated by a the suffix “vah” (ቨ᎙), which is placed at the end of the respective number. If numerals are used, it is customary for a superscript to be used, e.g. ፬ቨ᎙

Numbers
Number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Name Kw An Aba Aka Ahoba Aga O'ba O'za O'ra Dese Ro'se
Symbol [2]
 
Number 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Name Yeyubi Sabefe Akafe Ahobafe Agafe O'bafe O'zafe O'rafe Desefe Deko
Symbol ፲፩ ፲፪ ፲፫ ፲፬ ፲፭ ፲፮ ፲፯ ፲፰ ፲፱
 
Number 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200
Name Akako Ahobako Agako O'bako O'zako O'rako Deseko An'aćaya Aba'aćaya
Symbol ፪፻
 
Number 1000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000
Name An'ǰeǩeka Ro'se'ǰeǩeka Ro'se'iki Ro'se'azu Ro'se'boho
Symbol ፲፻ ፲፼ ፻፼ ፲፻፼

References and notes[edit | edit source]

Languages
Families
Language families Central Cymluni · Ewigic · Lowcymlu-urcinnan · Neiran · Upcymlu-amleian · Yumeran
Languages
Major languages Abata · Amulni · Atraelish · Barva · Cesmelan · Etruarac · Flaigalish · Gakknir · Gashaorhieli · Jovaran · Mahleka · Mainathan · Mordrasi · Mukegani · Pelannician · Ruuvatthan · Seonmi · Tzolkese · Umura · Varlish · Virassian · Wunal · Yashurhieli
Minor languages Šamolai
Misc.
Grammar Amulni · Seonmi · Virassian · Wunal
Word lists List of Seonmi words and phrases · List of Wunal words and phrases
  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochrony#Syllable_timing
  2. Modern symbol, adapted from Atraelish "0"