Drambyuk

Drambyuk
Period	c. 0 YP
Spoken in
Total speakers	~1000
Writing system	unknown
Classification	unknown
Typology
Basic word order	SOV
Morphology	fusional
Alignment	unknown
Credits
Created by	User:Nort

Drambyuk /ʈaⁿbyʉ̰/ is a language.

Phonology

Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
pʰ p ⁿb <‌p b mb>	t̪ʰ t̪ ⁿd̪ <t d nd>		ʈʰ ʈ	tɕʰ tɕ	kʰ k <k g>	qʰ q <‌q r>	ʔ <ʼ>
f	θ	s	ʂ			χ	h
ʋ <v>	ð̞	l		j <y>
m		n			ŋ

Front unrounded	Front rounded	Back unrounded	Back rounded
i ḭ	ʉ ʉ̰	ɨ ɨ̰	u ṵ
e ḛ			o o̰
ɛ ɛ̰	œ œ̰		ɔ ɔ̰
		a a̰

Diphthongs are /ae̯ ao̯ əi̯ əu̯/ and their creaky equivalents. Syllables with diphthongs cannot take finals.

Maximal syllable structure is CyVC; finals are -p -t -k -m -n -ŋ -h. In unstressed position, syllabic nasals may occur, optionally preceded by a glottal.

Allophony

The finals -p -t -k are lenited to [b d g] or [β̞ ð̞ ɣ̞] in modal syllables, and preglottalized as [ˀp ˀt ˀk] in creaky syllables.

The phonations have tonal correlates: creaky voice is typically higher than modal voice.

Sandhi

Prenasalized stops do not contrast with N + homorganic C sequences intervocalically, but place neutralization is absent.

Final h merges with a following voiceless plosive to form an aspirate.

Underspecification

Some affixes contain vowels that harmonize in height with the preceding stressed vowel (or semivowel, in the case of diphthongs). This is complicated by the prohibition on /i/ after retroflexes: the definite affix -ʂI is /ʂe/ after mid vowels, but /ʂɨ/ after high vowels.

/a/ is treated as a mid-high vowel for the purposes of harmony.

Nouns

There are three cases - the direct, the ergative, and the lative - and three numbers. The direct and ergative take vowel harmony; the lative does not.

		Definite			Indefinite
		SG	DU	PL	SG	DU	PL
ABS	DIR	ʂI	ʂA	ʂUk	dI	dA	dIk
	ERG	ʔŋ̩	kA	kIt	n̩	dA	dIt
	LAT	ʂɯ̰	ʂɯ̰	ʂɯ	dɛ̰	dɛ̰	dɛ
CON	DIR	kU	kU	kUk	dU	dU	dUk
	ERG	ŋ̩	kU	kUt	m̩	bU	bUt
	LAT	kṵ	kṵ	ku	dṵ	dṵ	du

Verbs

TAM

There are seven tenses. They are formed with prefixes and suffixes.

Present continuous

The present continuous is formed from the root with:

- the suffix -It in class 1 verbs - no suffix in class 2 verbs

Present habitual

The present habitual is formed from the present continuous with:

- prefixal prenasalization in plosive-initial verbs - m̩- in vowel-initial verbs - vI- in all other verbs

Present inchoative

The present inchoative is formed from the preterite with the prefix buŋ- .

Preterite

The preterite is formed from the root with:

- no suffix in class 1 verbs - final nasal mutation for class 2 verbs

Past continuous

The past continuous is formed from the root withː

- θʉt- in class 1 verbs - θi- in class 2 verbs

Near future continuous

The near future continuous is formed from the near future perfect in the same manner as the present habitual.

Near future perfect

The near future perfect is formed from the root with:

- final nasal mutation in class 1 verbs - the suffix -U in class 2 verbs

Indeterminate preterite

The indeterminate preterite is formed from the root with:

- ablaut in some verbs - the suffix -a

Indeterminate inchoative

The indeterminate inchoative is formed from the present inchoative in the same manner as the indeterminate preterite.