Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g j k l m n p
r s t v x z
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
|
| Stop |
p b |
|
t d |
|
k g |
| Fricative |
|
f v |
s z |
|
x |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
j |
|
| Trill |
|
|
r |
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
l |
|
|
Vowel inventory: a e i o u
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i |
u |
| High-mid |
e |
o |
| Low |
a |
|
Syllable structure: (C)V
Stress pattern:
Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ʋ |
w |
| ʔ |
ʻ |
| aː |
ā |
| eː |
ē |
| iː |
ī |
| oː |
ō |
| uː |
ū |
Grammar
Main word order: Verb Object
(Prepositional phrase) Subject. “Mary opened the door with a key”
turns into
Opened the door with a key Mary.
Adjective order: Adjectives are
positioned before 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.
Nouns form plurals with a separate plural word:
| Plural |
Particle before the noun: su -
su sada /su
sada/ boats
|
| Nominative |
No affix
sada /ˈsada/ boat (doing the verb)
|
| Accusative |
Prefix lu-
lusada /ˈlusada/ (verb done to)
boat
|
| Genitive |
Prefix ze-
zesada /ˈzesada/ boat's |
| Definite |
No affix
sada /ˈsada/ the boat |
| Indefinite |
Prefix si-
sisada /ˈsisada/ a/some boat |
Articles
Ipabi encodes definite article ‘the’ and indefinite article ‘a’
in noun affixes. See the Noun section.
Pronouns
There is no grammatical gender in Ipabi. Pronouns are declined
only for person and case.
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
Genitive |
| 1st singular |
pi /pi/ I |
li /li/ me |
o /o/ mine |
| 2nd singular |
ni /ni/ you |
vu /vu/ you |
lo /lo/ yours |
| 3rd singular |
xu /xu/ he, she, it, they (sing) |
ku /ku/ him, her, it, them (sing) |
ke /ke/ his, her, its, their (sing) |
| 1st plural |
mo /mo/ we |
du /du/ us |
su /su/ ours |
| 2nd plural |
le /le/ you all |
va /va/ you all |
me /me/ yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
di /di/ they |
pe /pe/ them |
pu /pu/ theirs |
Possessive Determiners
|
Possessive |
| 1st singular |
mi /mi/ my |
| 2nd singular |
vu /vu/ your |
| 3rd singular |
ke /ke/ his, hers, its, theirs (sing) |
| 1st plural |
za /za/ our |
| 2nd plural |
a /a/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
po /po/ their |
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
uzo /ˈuzo/ learn |
| Past |
Prefix so-
souzo /ˈsouzo/ learned |
| Future |
Prefix vu-
vuuzo /ˈvuuzo/ will learn |
Progressive Aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at
the time of speaking, such as
I am learning.
Ipabi uses an affix for progressive:
| Progressive |
Prefix ki-
kiuzo /ˈkiuzo/ 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).
Ipabi uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
| Habitual |
Particle before the verb: se -
se uzo /se
ˈuzo/ learns
|
Numbers
Ipabi has a base-6 number system:
- 1 - ve
- 2 - le
- 3 - pu
- 4 - su
- 5 - di
- 6 - kiba
- 36 - kuxi
- 216 - pifi