The Language of Dûdshûyʻupian

Natively known as: dûdshûyʻup /ˈdʌdʃʌjʔuɓ/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
tûz ha zuzh shûmâ ha bato tûz aan ha rooy̌ hahoor mid’ zûzhli
Pronunciation: /tʌz ha zuʒ ˈʃʌmə ha ˈbato tʌz aːn ha roːʎ ˈhahoːr miɗ ˈzʌʒli/
Dûdshûyʻupian word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d f h j k l m n r s t v w z ŋ ɓ ɗ ɣ ɲ ʃ ʄ ʎ ʒ ʔ

↓Manner/Place→ BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalmnɲŋ
Stopbt dkʔ
Implosiveɓɗʄ
Fricativev fz sʒ ʃɣh
Approximantj
Trillr
Lateral approximantlʎ

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→ Labial-velar
Approximantw

Vowel inventory: a aː e eː i o oː u uː ə ɛ ɨ ʌ


FrontCentralBack
Highiɨu uː
High-mide eːo oː
Midə
Low-midɛʌ
Lowaː a
Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?
Spelling rules:

PronunciationSpelling
ʔ ʻ
ɛ
ə
ɨ
ʌ
j y
ŋ ng
ɓ p
ɗ d’
ɣ g
ɲ ny
ʃ sh
ʄ j
ʒ zh
ʎ
V₁ː V₁V₁

Grammar

Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Nouns

Masculine Feminine
Singular No affix
veyzhe /ˈvejʒe/
man
No affix
dûd’ /dʌɗ/
woman
Plural Prefix e-
eveyzhe /ˈevejʒe/
men
If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix kaː-

kaadûd’ /ˈkaːdʌɗ/
women


Articles

Definite yee /jeː/
the
Indefinite ed’ /eɗ/
a, some


Uses of definite article that differ from English:

  • Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

  • Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’

Pronouns

1st singular ye /je/
I, me, mine
2nd singular zhu /ʒu/
you, yours
3rd singular masc ha /ha/
he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem pen /ɓen/
she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural guu /ɣuː/
we, us, ours
2nd plural vo /vo/
you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc yo /jo/
they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem keew /keːw/
they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)


Possessive determiners

1st singular ye /je/
my
2nd singular zhu /ʒu/
your
3rd singular masc ha /ha/
his
3rd singular fem pen /ɓen/
her
1st plural guu /ɣuː/
our
2nd plural vo /vo/
your (pl)
3rd plural masc yo /jo/
their (masc)
3rd plural fem keew /keːw/
their (fem)


Verbs

Present No affix
uuzh /uːʒ/
learn
Past If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lo-

luuzh /luːʒ/
learned


Dûdshûyʻupian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future Particle before the verb: toː -
too uuzh /toː uːʒ/
will learn



Imperfective aspect

The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).

Dûdshûyʻupian uses an affix for imperfective:

Imperfective Prefix di-
diuuzh /ˈdiuːʒ/
learns/is learning


Numbers

Dûdshûyʻupian has a base-10 number system:

1 - gêj
2 - bêp
3 - gêw
4 - kêz
5 - d’eeb
6 - mi
7 - d’eej
8 - zoo
9 - kee
10 - hoo
11 - gêj tûz hoo “one and ten”
100 - gêj yuush “one hundred”
101 - gêj yuush gêj “one hundred one”
200 - bêp yuush
1000 - gêj keekyu “one thousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix bə-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix dɨ-

Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix du-

Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix i-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix di-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jɛ-

Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jo-

Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix tu-

Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʒ-
Else: Prefix ʒi-

Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix du-

One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix e-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix i-
Diminutive = Prefix ʌ-
Augmentative = Prefix ʃɨ-

Dûdshûyʻupian - English Dictionary

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

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