The Language of Yoùhïian

Natively known as: yoùhï /ˈjoʊ̯hɪ/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
nù chɔï zhuh gu neka yaù nù gu vawre wokeï seï vowu vo
Pronunciation: /nʊ ʧɔɪ̯ ʒʌ guː ˈnɛkæ jaʊ̯ nʊ guː ˈvɔːɹɛ ˈwɑkeɪ̯ seɪ̯ ˈvɑwuː vɑ/
Yoùhïian word order: and he stood hat his holding and his face wet turned the wind to

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w z ð ŋ ɹ ʃ ʒ ʤ ʧ θ

↓Manner/Place→ BilabialLabiodentalDentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalmnŋ
Stopb pd tg k
Affricateʧ ʤ
Fricativef vθ ðs zʃ ʒh
Approximantɹj
Lateral approximantl

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→ Labial-velar
Approximantw

Vowel inventory: aɪ̯ aʊ̯ eɪ̯ iː oʊ̯ uː æ ɑ ɔɪ̯ ɔː ɛ ɜː ɪ ʊ ʌ

Diphthongs: aɪ̯ aʊ̯ eɪ̯ oʊ̯ ɔɪ̯ ?

FrontCentralBack
High
Near-highɪʊ
Low-midɛɜːɔː ʌ
Near-lowæ
Lowɑ
Syllable structure: (C)V ?
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ?
Spelling rules:

PronunciationSpelling
i
u
æ a
ɛ e
ɑ o
ɜː
ɔː aw
ʊ
ʌ uh
ɪ
eɪ̯ ay
aʊ̯ ou
aɪ̯ ie
ɔɪ̯ oi
ɹ r
θ th
ʒ zh
ð dh
j y
ʃ sh
ŋ ng
ʤ j
ʧ ch
VV
◌̯

Grammar

Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after 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.
Nominative Prefix ʃiː-
shiwufa /ʃiːˈwuːfæ/
dog (doing the verb)
Accusative Prefix ʃɜː-
shüwufa /ʃɜːˈwuːfæ/
(verb done to) dog


Singular Plural
Definite Prefix sʊ-
sùwufa /sʊˈwuːfæ/
the dog
Prefix jɑ-
yowufa /jɑˈwuːfæ/
the dogs
Indefinite Prefix nɪ-
nïwufa /nɪˈwuːfæ/
a dog
Prefix wʌ-
wuhwufa /wʌˈwuːfæ/
some dogs


Articles

Yoùhïian encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.

Pronouns

Nominative Accusative
1st singular wï /wɪ/
I
va /væ/
me
2nd singular o /ɑ/
you
sù /sʊ/
you
3rd singular chɔï /ʧɔɪ̯/
he, she, it
lü /lɜː/
his, her, it
1st plural inclusive baw /bɔː/
we (including you)
zhï /ʒɪ/
us (including you)
1st plural exclusive sɔï /sɔɪ̯/
we (excluding you)
heï /heɪ̯/
us (excluding you)
2nd plural ze /zɛ/
you all
sï /sɪ/
you all
3rd plural wi /wiː/
they
de /dɛ/
them


Possessive determiners

Possessive
1st singular wü /wɜː/
my
2nd singular wo /wɑ/
your
3rd singular gu /guː/
his, her, its
1st plural inclusive noù /noʊ̯/
our (including you)
1st plural exclusive baï /baɪ̯/
our (excluding you)
2nd plural ne /nɛ/
your (pl)
3rd plural zhù /ʒʊ/
their


Verbs

Present Past
1st singular Prefix sɪ-
sïvaw /ˈsɪvɔː/
(I) learn
Prefix wɪ-
wïvaw /ˈwɪvɔː/
(I) learned
2nd singular Prefix ʒʊ-
zhùvaw /ˈʒʊvɔː/
(you) learn
Prefix sæ-
savaw /ˈsævɔː/
(you) learned
3rd singular Prefix ʧɔɪ̯-
chɔïvaw /ˈʧɔɪ̯vɔː/
(he/she/it) learns
Prefix wæ-
wavaw /ˈwævɔː/
(he/she/it) learned
1st plural inclusive Prefix hiː-
hivaw /ˈhiːvɔː/
(we (including you)) learn
Prefix siː-
sivaw /ˈsiːvɔː/
(we (including you)) learned
1st plural exclusive Prefix liː-
livaw /ˈliːvɔː/
(we (excluding you)) learn
Prefix ɹʊ-
rùvaw /ˈɹʊvɔː/
(we (excluding you)) learned
2nd plural Prefix nɪ-
nïvaw /ˈnɪvɔː/
(you all) learn
Prefix niː-
nivaw /ˈniːvɔː/
(you all) learned
3rd plural Prefix weɪ̯-
weïvaw /ˈweɪ̯vɔː/
(they) learn
Prefix nɔː-
nawvaw /ˈnɔːvɔː/
(they) learned


Yoùhïian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future Particle before the verb: leɪ̯ -
leï vaw /leɪ̯ vɔː/
will learn


Numbers

Yoùhïian has a base-10 number system:

1 - bo
2 - laù
3 - hɔï
4 - shù
5 - ge
6 - aù
7 - nihoù
8 - yu
9 - ɔïjo
10 - wɔï
100 - li
1000 - law

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix soʊ̯-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix woʊ̯-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix jaʊ̯-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ʤʊ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ʃæ-
Noun to verb = Prefix bʌ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix jaɪ̯-
Tending to = Prefix wɔː-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix zɑ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix niː-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix jɜː-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix jɛ-
Diminutive = Prefix heɪ̯-
Augmentative = Prefix saʊ̯-

Yoùhïian - English Dictionary

Key: spelling /pronunciation/ part of speech. definition(s)

adj. adjective | adv. adverb | art. article | conj. conjunction | det. determiner | interj. interjection | n. noun | num. numeral | part. particle | prep. preposition | pron. pronoun | v. verb