Kapzi (kapˈzi)
Natively known as: kapzi /kapˈzi/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind... swu kni pez ats pi mli swu zang pi lwol chlen pets luw[alt] Pronunciation: /swu kni pez aʦ pi mli swu zaŋ pi lwol ʧlen peʦ luw/ Kapzi word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind[/alt]Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: h k l m n p r s t w z ŋ ʣ ʤ ʦ ʧ ᵐb ᵑg ⁿdManner/Place | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
Stop | p ᵐb | t ⁿd | k ᵑg | ||
Affricate | ʦ ʣ | ʧ ʤ | |||
Fricative | s z | h | |||
Trill | r | ||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Manner/Place | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Word initial consonants: h k kl kn l lw m ml mp mw n p pl pr rw s sk sn sw t tw w z zl ŋk ʣ ʤ ʦ ʦw ʧ ʧl ᵐb ᵑg ⁿd
Mid-word consonants: h hl hr ht k kh kk kn kr kt kʦ l lk ll lm ln lp lr lz m mh ml mm mn mr ms mt mʤ mʧ n nh nk nn nr ns nt nw nʦ p pk pn ps pt pw pz r rk rl rm rn rp rr rt rz s sh sʧ t th tk tt tw w wk wm wp wz z zk zm zp zr ŋ ŋk ŋr ŋs ŋt ŋw ʣ ʤ ʤl ʤr ʦ ʦk ʦl ʦr ʦt ʦw ʧ ʧk ʧn ᵐb ᵑg ⁿd
Word final consonants: h l n p s w z ŋ ʣ ʤ ʦ ᵐb ᵑg ⁿd Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
ⁿd | nd |
ᵑg | ng |
ᵐb | mb |
ŋ | ng |
ʣ | dz |
ʤ | j |
ʦ | ts |
ʧ | ch |
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 before the noun. Adposition: prepositionsNouns
Singular | No affix tamb /taᵐb/ dog |
Plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix h- Else: Prefix hu- hutamb /huˈtaᵐb/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | eng /eᵑg/ the |
Indefinite | la /la/ a, some |
- Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
- 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 | ple /ple/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | plang /plaᵑg/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | kni /kni/ he, him, his, it, its |
3rd singular fem | nges /ᵑges/ she, her, hers, it, its |
1st plural inclusive | snu /snu/ we (including you), us (including you), ours (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | pe /pe/ we (excluding you), us (excluding you), ours (excluding you) |
2nd plural | na /na/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural | lwa /lwa/ they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | kli /kli/ my |
2nd singular | sits /siʦ/ your |
3rd singular masc | pi /pi/ his |
3rd singular fem | chluw /ʧluw/ her |
1st plural inclusive | mu /mu/ our (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | lol /lol/ our (excluding you) |
2nd plural | nga /ᵑga/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | la /la/ their |
Verbs
Present | No affix mlo /mlo/ learn |
Past | If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ku- kumlo /kuˈmlo/ learned |
Remote past | If starts with vowel: Prefix tw- Else: Prefix twa- twamlo /twaˈmlo/ learned (long ago) |
Future | Particle before the verb: ʣi - dzi mlo /ʣi mlo/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning. Kapzi uses an affix for progressive:Progressive | If starts with vowel: Prefix ⁿd- Else: Prefix ⁿdi- ndimlo /ⁿdiˈmlo/ is learning |
Habitual aspect
The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something). Kapzi uses a standalone particle word for habitual:Habitual | Particle before the verb: keᵑg - keng mlo /keᵑg mlo/ learns |
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. Kapzi uses an affix for the perfect aspect:Perfect | If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pa- pamlo /paˈmlo/ have learned |
Numbers
Kapzi has a base-10 number system: 1 - pe2 - kan
3 - che
4 - op
5 - tso
6 - tumb
7 - se
8 - kew
9 - dzodz
10 - sots
11 - sotspe “ten-one”
100 - pe ndandi “one hundred”
101 - pe ndandi pe “one hundred one”
200 - kan ndandi
1000 - pe swung “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʤ Else: Suffix -eʤAdjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix kn- Else: Prefix kno-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -i
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -i
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w Else: Suffix -ew
Noun to verb = Prefix i-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -iᵐb
Tending to = Suffix -op
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix o-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -uʦ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -on
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ip
Diminutive = Suffix -uz
Augmentative = Prefix ʦa-
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