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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs

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

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

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

Timing

Wunal is a syllable-timed language.

Evolution & Diversity

Dialects

Odokcracian

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

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

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

Rebracketing

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

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

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

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

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. ፬^ቨ᎙

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	ዐ	፩	፪	፫	፬	፭	፮	፯	፰	፱	፲
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	፳
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	፴	፵	፶	፷	፸	፹	፺	፻	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	፼	፲፼	፻፼	፲፻፼