Conlangs/Dahur

Phonology

Vowels

Dahur vowels are usually short. Double vowels (ex.: aa, éé &c.) may happen, but they are considered as simple vowel sequences.

a /a/ ê /e/ é /ɛ/

i /i/ ô /o/ ó /ɔ/

u /u/ ö /ø/ ü /y/

Consonants

p /p/ t /t/ k /k/

b /b/ d /d/ g /g/

f /f/ s /s/ sh /ʃ/ ksh /kʃ/

v /v/ z /z/ zh /ʒ/

m /m/ n /n/ l /l/ r /ɾ/, /r/

y /j/ w /w/ h /h/ tr /tɾ/

Phonotactics

A syllable in Dahur must contain one vowel, which may be preceded and/or followed by any number of consonants. In practice, consonant clusters don't usually go beyond four consonants. For that account, <ksh> /kʃ/ and <tr> /tɾ/ are always considered as single consonants.

All consonant sequences are possible. However, in practice, some consonant combinations (ex. -hm-, -trksh- &c.) are rare.

Examples of valid syllables:

a

té

ên

wi

kôy

gyó

pruyn

kshtra

fshtlömbz

Stress

In the literary dialect, considered official, words are stressed on the next-to-last syllable. However, if the last syllable contains the consonant /tɾ/, it will be stressed. Ex.:

kanar /ˈka.nar/

ôströndél /os.ˈtɾøn.dɛl/

têfshiv /ˈtef.ʃiv/

dasutr /daˈsutɾ/

mashkintrôd /maʃ.kinˈtɾod/

Morphology

Dahur is a highly flexional language, with a strong presence of irregular forms.

Nouns inflect for number, which is basically singular and plural, but there are also occurrences of dual (for things normally occurring in pairs) and singulative (for individual items of things usually found collectively).

Nouns also inflect for case, usually: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, locative, instrumental, ergative and ablative. Instances of partitive and vocative are also found. The case called ergative is used basically for the agent of the passive voice.

Adjectives show no agreement to nouns, and inflect for degree (comparatives of superiority, equality, inferiority; relative and absolute superlative).

Nouns

Class

Dahurian nouns are divided in five classes, which can be compared to Latin or Greek declensions, as they consist in different inflection patterns, but may also be seen as a form of gender, as class is usually (but not always necessarily) related to the meaning of a noun.

Class 1	Living beings
Class 2	General objects
Class 3	Natural elements; insects
Class 4	Parts of human body; clothing
Class 5	Abstract nouns; traditional imaginary beings

There are no morphological indications related to noun classes in the nominative singular. The differences appear along the inflection of nouns.

Number

Nouns in Dahur have a singular and a plural. The plural ending varies according to noun class and to case. There is also a dual number, which is valid only for nouns normally occurring in pairs. Mass or collective nouns have a singulative inflection.

So, for example:

Class	Singular	Plural	Dual	Singulative
class 1	grats "boy"	gratsên "boys"	-	-
class 2	késhêv "hammer"	késhêvlin "hammers"	késhêvas "pair of hammers" (traditionally used by blacksmiths)	-
class 3	halayn "water"	halêynn "waters" (i.e. in a flood)	halayns "The Two Waters" (the river Ôkanuma and the lake Kassanyas)	halaynü "a drop of water"
class 4	kanar "eye"	kanarni "many eyes" (mostly figuratively)	kanaris "(two/both) eyes"	-
class 4	kshalim "hair"	kshalimni "(types of) hair"	-	kshalimü "a (single) hair"
class 5	aströnél "idea"	aströnélyan "ideas"	aströnéls "a couple ideas"	-

The plural in classes 1, 2 and 5 is usually regular, obtained with the respective suffixes (-ên, -lin, -yan).

Ex.:

Class	Singular	Plural
class 1	fatlay "girlfriend"	fatlayên
	dukshatr "boss"	dukshatrên
	êgastév "farmer"	êgastévên
class 2	takôy "pin"	takôylin
	upsan "paper"	upsanlin
	dasutr "document, file"	dasutrlin
class 5	péktêgal "angel"	péktêgalyan
	ôströndél "interruption"	ôströndélyan
	piktarash "problem"	piktarashyan

In classes 3 and 4, besides the suffixes (-n, -ni), most nouns suffer some sort of mutation, usually affecting only one vowel but non uncommonly consisting of more significative changes.

Ex.:

Class	Singular	Plural
class 3	pakpaki "louse"	pakpékin
	pahalis "leaf"	pahaleyn
	tshêptal "cloud"	tshaptlin
class 4	kraws "ear"	kroysni
	émblêw "hat"	émbalni
	kriktêr "helmet"	kruktni

Inflection

Noun declension in Dahur is quite regular, in terms of case and the less usual numbers, viz. the dual and the singulative.

• The nominative case is the basic form of nouns.
• The accusative case is indicated by the enging -a.
• The dative case is indicated by the enging -si.
• The genitive case is indicated by the enging -ak for animate intelligent beings, -ish for animals, -is for concrete objects and -ón for abstract things.
• The locative case is indicated by the enging -us. With animate nouns, the locative can mean "on", or "with", as in "carrying with".
• The instrumental case is indicated by the enging -êm for animate intelligent beings, -ôm for animals, -um for things.
• The ergative case is indicated by the enging -ötr.
• The ablative case is indicated by the enging -éyv.

When an ending starting with a vowel is applied, a final -i becomes -y-, and a final -u becomes -w-; otherwise, an -h- is added. Ex.:

• dula "babysitter", dulahên "babysitters"
• agdari "prisoner", agdaryên "prisoners"
• kanarni "eyes", kanarnya "eyes (accus.)", kanarnyus "in the eyes", kanarnyéyv "from the eyes"
• pakpaki "louse", pakpakya "louse (accus.)", pakpakyish "of a louse", pakpakyôm "by a louse"

Case endings are added to the plural ending.

In the following tables, you have some examples of nouns of the various classes, fully inflected for number and case.

Class 1: grats "boy"
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	grats	gratsên
Accusative	gratsa	gratsêna
Dative	gratssi	gratsênsi
Genitive	gratsak	gratsênak
Locative	gratsus	gratsênus
Instrumental	gratsêm	gratsênêm
Ergative	gratsötr	gratsênötr
Ablative	gratséyv	gratsênéyv

Class 2: késhêv "hammer"
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	késhêv	késhêvlin
Accusative	késhêva	késhêvlina
Dative	késhêvsi	késhêvlinsi
Genitive	késhêvis	késhêvlinis
Locative	késhêvus	késhêvlinus
Instrumental	késhêvum	késhêvlinum
Ergative	késhêvötr	késhêvlinötr
Ablative	késhêvéyv	késhêvlinéyv