The Language of Soiluian

Natively known as: soilu /sɔɪ̯ˈluː/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
nu gi yaw techuh nedii ke nu shere se yaw mawyä garǔ mǔ
Pronunciation: /nuː gi jɔː tɛˈʧʌ nɛˈdiː kɛ nuː ʃɛˈrɛ sɛ jɔː mɔːˈjɑ gæˈrʊ mʊ/
Soiluian word order: and he hat his holding stood and the wind to his face wet turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: d f g j k l m n p r s t v ŋ ʃ ʦ ʧ

↓Manner/Place→ BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarPalatalVelar
Nasalmnŋ
Stoppd tk g
Affricateʦʧ
Fricativef vsʃ
Approximantj
Trillr
Lateral approximantl

Vowel inventory: aʊ̯ eɪ̯ i iː o uː æ ɑ ɔɪ̯ ɔː ɛ ɜː ʊ ʌ

Diphthongs: aʊ̯ eɪ̯ ɔɪ̯ ?

FrontCentralBack
Highiː i
Near-highʊ
High-mido
Low-midɛɜːɔː ʌ
Near-lowæ
Lowɑ
Syllable structure: (C)V ?
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second syllable ?
Spelling rules:

PronunciationSpelling
u
æ a
ɛ e
ɑ
ɜː
ɔː aw
ʊ
ʌ uh
eɪ̯ ay
aʊ̯ ou
ɔɪ̯ oi
j y
ʃ sh
ŋ ng
ʧ ch
ʦ ts
VV
◌̯

Grammar

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

Nouns

Nouns have three cases:

  • Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
  • Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
  • Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
Nominative Prefix mo-
moväü /moˈvɑɜː/
dog (doing the verb)
Accusative Prefix ki-
kiväü /kiˈvɑɜː/
(verb done to) dog
Genitive Prefix mɑ-
mäväü /mɑˈvɑɜː/
dogʼs


Singular Plural
Masculine Prefix jæ-
yarüsay /jæˈrɜːseɪ̯/
boy
Prefix rɑ-
rärüsay /rɑˈrɜːseɪ̯/
boys
Feminine Prefix pɜː-
püsherii /pɜːˈʃɛriː/
girl
Prefix mɔɪ̯-
moisherii /mɔɪ̯ˈʃɛriː/
girls
Neuter Prefix muː-
muväü /muːˈvɑɜː/
dog
Prefix næ-
naväü /næˈvɑɜː/
dogs


Articles

Definite Indefinite
Singular gii /giː/
the
se /sɛ/
a
Plural mä /mɑ/
the
dǔ /dʊ/
some


Uses of definite article that differ from English:

  • Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
  • Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
  • Used for languages: ‘The English’

Pronouns

Nominative Accusative Genitive
1st singular e /ɛ/
I
sa /sæ/
me
sä /sɑ/
mine
2nd singular ku /kuː/
you
ma /mæ/
you
uh /ʌ/
yours
3rd singular masc gi /gi/
he,
maǔ /maʊ̯/
his,
na /næ/
his,
3rd singular fem taw /tɔː/
she,
maw /mɔː/
her,
shu /ʃuː/
hers,
3rd singular neuter ru /ruː/
it (neut)
mo /mo/
it (neut)
pa /pæ/
its (neut)
1st plural inclusive de /dɛ/
we (including you)
pǔ /pʊ/
us (including you)
tuh /tʌ/
ours (including you)
1st plural exclusive voi /vɔɪ̯/
we (excluding you)
si /si/
us (excluding you)
mii /miː/
ours (excluding you)
2nd plural ni /ni/
you all
du /duː/
you all
mǔ /mʊ/
yours (pl)
3rd plural masc yoi /jɔɪ̯/
they (masc)
mä /mɑ/
them (masc)
ve /vɛ/
theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem no /no/
they (fem)
ke /kɛ/
them (fem)
moi /mɔɪ̯/
theirs (fem)
3rd plural neuter vǔ /vʊ/
they (neut)
u /uː/
them (neut)
yǔ /jʊ/
theirs (neut)


Possessive determiners

Possessive
1st singular yay /jeɪ̯/
my
2nd singular du /duː/
your
3rd singular masc yaw /jɔː/
his
3rd singular fem yä /jɑ/
her
3rd singular neuter te /tɛ/
his, her, its (neut)
1st plural inclusive /ɑ/
our (including you)
1st plural exclusive pii /piː/
our (excluding you)
2nd plural vi /vi/
your (pl)
3rd plural masc yǔ /jʊ/
their (masc)
3rd plural fem uh /ʌ/
their (fem)
3rd plural neuter nu /nuː/
their (neut)


Verbs

Future Prefix rɑ-
räuhpe /rɑˈʌpɛ/
will learn


Soiluian uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past Particle before the verb: jɑ -
yä uhpe /jɑ ʌˈpɛ/
learned



Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.

Soiluian uses the word for ‘finish’ yaychii for the perfect aspect.

Numbers

Soiluian has a base-10 number system:

1 - pü
2 - sä
3 - va
4 - ye
5 - pe
6 - tiikǔ
7 - paw
8 - mächofa
9 - muh
10 - yǔgu
100 - techa
1000 - guhga

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -gi
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ʦɔː
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix pɔː-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -kiː
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -kuː
Noun to verb = Suffix -ʦæ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ʧeɪ̯
Tending to = Prefix rɛ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix sæ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -nɛ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix jo-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix mɔɪ̯-
Diminutive = Suffix -ŋaʊ̯
Augmentative = Prefix teɪ̯-

Soiluian - 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 | nn. neuter noun | num. numeral | part. particle | prep. preposition | pron. pronoun | v. verb