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Taung Wai
'
Type
Agglutinative
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Final
Tonal
Yes
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ŋ
Plosive p b t d k g ʔ
Fricative f s ʃ ʒ h
Affricate tʃ dʒ
Approximant j w
Flap or tap ɾ
Lateral app. l

Vowels

Front Near-front Back
Close i
Open-mid ɛ ʌ

Dipthongs

Dipthongs are placed in the same vowel category as monopthongs.

ɔɪ

Romanization

IPA Romanization
m m
ŋ ng
p p
b b
t t
d d
k k
g g
ʔ -
f f
s s
ʃ sh
ʒ zh
h h
ch
dj
j y
w w
ɾ r
l l
i ee
ɛ er
ʌ uh
ai
au
ei
ɔɪ oi

The tones are marked by a number at the end of every syllable.

Phonotactics

Taung Wai syllable structure is CV(n), with n being l, m, ʔ, or ŋ. If there is no consonant, it is replaced with a glottal stop. Words are typically one syllable long, with the exception of compound words. A glottal stop can be inserted in between an initial consonant and a vowel, which signifies a reversal of meaning or otherwise altering the original concept.

Tones

There are six tones in Taung Wai, with three distinct contour categories, which are: flat, falling, and dipping. The first tone is the highest flat tone, while the second tone is the near highest flat tone. Keep in mind the second tone is only slightly below the first, not in the middle range. The third tone is the lowest flat tone, at the lowest range, about the same pitch as the lowest dipping tone. The fourth tone is the highest dipping tone, with the pitch being at the middle range, and the fith tone is the lowest dipping tone. The sixth and final tone is a falling tone that starts at the high range and is similar to the falling tone in Mandarin.

Tone Contours
Tone 1 highest flat
Tone 2 high flat
Tone 3 lowest flat
Tone 4 higher dipping
Tone 5 lower dipping
Tone 6 falling

Grammar

Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No No No No No No No
Nouns No Yes No No No No No No
Adjectives No No No No No No No No
Numbers No No No No No No No No
Participles No No No No No No No No
Adverb No No No No No No No No
Pronouns Yes No Yes No Yes No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No No No No No No No No
Particle No No No Yes No Yes Yes No

The canonical word order in Taung Wai is Subject Object Verb.

Particles

Particles serve a variety of functions, detailed below.

Tense Particles

Romanization Meaning Position
guhng4 presently beginning of phrase
djoi5 in the near past beginning of phrase
haum1 in the near future beginning of phrase
hau6 far in the past beginning of phrase
wai2 far in the future beginning of phrase
gai1 about to happen beginning of phrase

Voice Particles

Romanization Meaning Position
-ei3 passive before verb
meeng1 active before verb

Mood Particles

Romanization Meaning Position
-aul5 hypothetical end of phrase
kei2 weak indicative end of phrase
muh1 strong indicative end of phrase
-aum3 unfulfilled necessity end of phrase
-aim2 unfulfilled action end of phrase
lee6 very likely end of phrase
suh4 interrogative end of phrase
yeem2 imperative end of phrase

Syntax Particles

Romanization Meaning Position
ngau3 links two nouns in descriptive or possesive relationships, with the first noun being the descriptor or possessor in between two nouns
tuhng3 links two nouns in a continuous list, or indicates accompaniment in between two nouns
zhoil4 marks a quotation before a quotation

The Glottal Stop

A glottal stop can be inserted inbetween the initial consonant and the vowel to change the meaning of the word to its negative form. It is synonymous with the English "not". It is considered a particle in Taung Wai. It cannot be applied to particles.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions serve to link two clauses together, and are often disyllabic words.

Romanization Meaning
soi3 ngaim2 and
dei2 moi3 but
soi3 yee5 cause and effect

Nouns

The nouns in Taung Wai have two forms, the nominative and accusative, which allows for flexible word order. The inflection of the noun is usually to such a degree that the two forms do not resemble each other at all. Nouns can be used to describe other nouns using the particle ngau3.

Pronouns

The pronouns do not have a nominative or accusative form, but the case can be inferred by context. There are three persons possible, three genders, and various numbers. The persons and genders are inflected while the number is indicated by a pronoun-exclusive prefix.

Number Prefixes
Romanization Meaning
yau2 dual
shee1 triple
ker4 many
k-er4 few
hau2 twenty
Common Pronouns
Romanization Meaning Gender Person
ngoi3 referring to oneself n/a first
ngei5 referring to the addressee n/a second
lee1 referring to a general entity n/a third
hei3 referring to a male entity male third
kei3 referring to a female entity female third
lei3 referring to a nonhuman entity nonhuman third

Determiners

Demonstratives

The demonstrative always precedes a noun or noun phrase.

Common Demonstratives
Romanization Meaning
goi2 this (near me)
djuhng3 that (near addressee)
gau4 there (away from both)
gau6 there (far away from both)
djer5 there (out of sight)

Cardinal Numbers

The number system in Taung Wai is based on a single set of numbers, capable of standing alone or being attached before a noun to modify it. 

Romanization Meaning
yai1 one
yee2 two
shaum2 three
sei4 four
nguh5 five
lau6 six
djuhm3 seven
bau2 eight
kau4 nine
shuh1 ten
teing2 twenty
her4 hundred
maung3 thousand
zhai6 ten thousand
chee1 hundred thousand
cherng5 million

Adjectives

Adjectives are a specialized class of words that are always placed behind the modified word. There are three morphological classes of adjectives that are present in Taung Wai.

Verbs

Prepositions

Vocabulary


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


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