Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo
Pronounced:	[-kunːuluːdʒuŋːo]
Timeline and Universe:
Species:	Human
Spoken:
Total speakers:
Writing system:	none (the speakers are illiterate; this article uses a transliteration using the Latin alphabet)
Genealogy:
Typology
Morphology:	Agglutinative
Morphosyntax:	Ergative
Word order:	SOV
Credits
Creator:	Qwynegold
Created:	April 2010

Phonology

Phoneme inventory

Consonants
	Bilabial		Labiod.	Alveolar		Post-alv.		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		/m/			/n/				/ŋ/
Plain Plosive	/p/	[b]		/t/	[d]			/k/	[ɡ]
Aspirated Plosive	/pʰ/			/tʰ/				/kʰ/
Fricative			/f/	/s/	/z/	/ʃ/	/ʒ/			/h/
Affricate				/ts/		/tʃ/	/dʒ/
Rhotic					/*r/¹
Lateral Approximant					[l]

¹The exact quality of the rhotic is unknown.

There are long/geminated versions of the consonants /n, p, t, k, s, r/ (/rː/ is phonetically [lː]) that are very common. The consonants /m, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, f, ʃ, ts/ may also be long/geminated, but they are very rare. Geminated /ts/ has two contrastive realizations: /tsts/ and /tːs/.

Monophthongs
	Front		Back
High	/i/	/y/		/u/	/uː/
Mid	/e/	/ø/		/o/	/oː/
Low			/ɑ/

Diphthongs
	Front-Front		Front-Back			Back-Front			Back-Back
High		/jy/		/ju/	/juː/	/wi/		/wy/		/wuː/
Mid	/je/	/jø/		/jo/	/joː/	/we/	/ue/	/wø/		/wo/
Opening Low			/jɑ/						/wɑ/
Closing Low						/ɑi/				/ɑu/

Allophony

The velar nasal is long if intervocalic, and short otherwise.
The short unvoiced plosives are voiced if intervocalic.
The liquid is a rhotic at the beginning of a word and before /w/, but [l] in other positions.
/jy/ and /jø/ only appear in a few suffixes as the counterparts of /jo/ resp. /joː/ due to vowel harmony.

Phonological constraints

The syllable structure of Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo is (O)V(C) where O is any consonant but /ŋ/, C is any consonant other than {/z, ʒ, h, ts, tʃ/}, and V is any single vowel or diphthong. /j/ and /w/ do not count as consonants, but as a part of a diphthong.

The geminated or long consonant can only appear intervocalically and it is bisyllabic. That is, the onset of the consonant belongs to the same syllable as the preceding vowel, while the release of the consonant belongs to the same syllable as the vowel following it.

Morphological processes

When a suffix that begins with a long consonant, a voiced plosive, or /z/ is added to a word that ends with a consonant, the initial consonant of the suffix becomes a short unvoiced consonant. For this reason, in the lists of suffixes in this article, the first consonant letter representing a long consonant is put in parenthesis (e.g. -(t)to). The voicing change is not indicated, however.
When two aspirated consonants are adjacent, or when a plain plosive is followed by its aspirated version, those two turn into a long aspirated plosive.
When a suffix changes the last vowel of a word, diphthongs count as one vowel. So for example the singular first person pronoun pot'ya with the ergative suffix -ak' is pot'ak' and not *pot'yak'. An exception is if the dipthong begins with /j/ or /w/ which is preceded by a vowel. In that case the /j/ or /w/ is retained.

Vowel harmony

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has front-back vowel harmony. In the list below front vowels have been marked with blue and back vowels with red. There are also neutral vowels, which are: /u, uː, ju, juː, wuː/ <u, ū, yu, yū, wū>. Each suffix is by default front or back (unless it is neutral), and if the suffix is attached to a word of the opposite affinity, the vowels in the suffix will change according to this list. (Note that not all vowels make matching pairs; for example the opposite of /ue/ is /wo/, but the opposite of /wo/ is /wø/).

/ɑ/ <a> → /e/ <e>
/e/ <e> → /ɑ/ <a>
/i/ → /u/
/o/ <o> → /ø/ <ö>
/oː/ <ō> → /wy/ <wü>
/ø/ <ö> → /o/ <o>
/y/ <ü> → /u/
/ɑi/ <ai> → /i/
/ɑu/ <au> → /i/
/ue/ <ue> → /wo/ <wo>
/jɑ/ <ya> → /je/ <ye>
/je/ <ye> → /jɑ/ <ya>
/jo/ <yo> → /jø/ <yö>
/joː/ <yō> → /jy/ <yü>
/wɑ/ <wa> → /we/ <we>
/we/ <we> → /wɑ/ <wa>
/wi/ <wi> → /wuː/ <wū>
/wo/ <wo> → /wø/ <wö>
/wø/ <wö> → /wo/ <wo>
/wy/ <wü> → /oː/ <ō>

The red and blue marking is used consistently throughout this article, so that suffixes that go with back vowel words are marked with red and suffixes that go with front vowel words are marked with blue. Whenever there are two versions of a suffix, the one that is presented first is used with neutral words.

Writing

The speakers of Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo had no writing system. The language is transliterated in this article with the Latin alphabet, as shown below.

A a, B b, Ch ch, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, K' k', L l, M m, N n, Ng ng, O o, Ō ō, Ö ö, P p, P' p', R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, T' t', Ts ts, U u, Ū ū, Ü ü, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

Letter	Pronunciation
A a	ɑ
B b	b
Ch ch	tʃ
D d	d
E e	e
F f	f
G g	ɡ
H h	h
I i	i
J j	dʒ
K k	k
K' k'	kʰ
L l	l
M m	m
N n	n
Ng ng	ŋ
O o	o
Ō ō	oː
Ö ö	ø
P p	p
P' p'	pʰ
R r	*r
S s	s
Sh sh	ʃ
T t	t
T' t'	tʰ
Ts ts	ts
U u	u
Ū ū	uː
Ü ü	y
W w	w
Y y	j
Z z	z
Zh zh	ʒ

The voiced plosives and the lateral are represented in the romanization, even though they are not phonemic.

Long or geminated consonant are represented by doubling the consonant letter or digraph (so for example /kː/ is <kk> and /ʃː/ is <shsh>). But the apostrophe of the aspirated consonants is not duplicated (so for example /kʰː/ is <kk'>).

Grammar

Morphology

Verbs

Verbs in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo can be divided into several different groups. There are intransitive verbs that take one argument, a subject, and transitive verbs which take two arguments, subject and object. Intransitive verbs come in two varieties, A-intransitives which take an agent-like subject, and P-intransitives which take a patient-like subject.

There are stative and dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs describe actions that typically are momentane or that involve movement of some kind, e.g. p'wacha (receive), tōtk'yu (fly). Stative verbs describe motionless actions or the state of something, for example opk'ūja (sit), mūzōng (be hungry). Adjectives may be zero-derived into verbs. These adjective-verbs are always stative.

There are also auxiliary verbs that carry some kind of grammatical meaning, and which are used together with other verbs.

Finite verbs

Voice and transitivity

In the following table, the affixes marked with blue go together with front vowel words, and the ones in red with back vowel words. If a word has only neutral vowels, the affix that stands first in the morphology column will be used.

Voice	Morphology	Example
Active	-∅	pot'ak' ubōtta p'yowochyang - I eat an apple pot'ak' tallūda kweding - I hear a song
Transitive	-∅
Intransitive	-(t)to -(t)tö	pot'a p'yowochyattong - I eat pot'a kwedittöng - I hear
Passive	k'ūdi VERB-ttūk¹	ubōtta pot'yat k'ūdi p'yowottūk - an apple becomes eaten by me tallūda k'ūdi kwettūk - a song becomes heard
Causative	-k'ye¹ -k'ya¹	pot'ak' myatto kwek'yeng - I make him hear pot'ak' myatto ubōtta p'yowok'yang - I make him eat an apple
Passive-Causative	k'ūdi VERB-ttūkk'ye¹ k'ūdi VERB-ttūkk'ya¹	myadak' k'ūding kwettūkk'ye - he is made to hear pot'ak' ubōtta k'ūding p'yowottūkk'ya - I am made to eat an apple

¹The last syllable of the verb is deleted before this suffix is added.

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has explicit marking of intransitive verbs, while transitive verbs are unmarked. The intransitive marker is deleted if any voice other than active is used on the given verb. See the sections Transitives and Intransitives for more details.

The passive voice has similar uses as in English. It shifts focus from the agent to the patient, and it is often used for indicating that someone did something to the patient without asking for consent, or even outright against the patient's will, or that the patient succumbed to a situation that was not brought on by any sentient being. Another use for the passive is for turning a transitive verb into an intransitive while demoting the agent. For example negefa is an inherently transitive verb which means "break". Using the passive voice is the only way to make it an intransitive verb with the meaning that something gets broken, because using intransitive marking would have the meaning that someone breaks something (without telling what that "something" is).

The causative voice is used for marking that someone makes, lets or somehow causes someone else to do something. It can also be used for turning an agent-less intransitive verb into one that takes an agent as its argument. For example the word satwatto means burn, as in "the wood is burning". To express that someone burns something, the causative voice would be used. This verb can be used either intransitively, i.e. without a patient, or transitively (see Causatives for more information).

The passive-causative voice marks that someone is forcibly subjected to an action. The causer is dropped or demoted, while the causee (and possible patient) remain. See Passive-causatives for more information.

Tense and aspect

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has arguably three basic tenses (past, present and habitual); while the other tenses (remote past, future, remote future) and the three aspects (progressive, perfect and frequentative) are expressed periphrastically, through reduplication or through a combination of conjugation, periphrastic means and reduplication.

Stative verbs can not take the habitual tense, or perfect or progressive aspects.

The following table displays allowed combinations of tenses and aspects. The AI marks the place for the active intransitive suffix, C for the causative suffix, and the M for mood suffixes, if there are any. In constructions involving auxiliary verbs, the place of the main verb is marked with VERB. The main verb will have the active infinitive form.

Combining the passive voice with these verb forms is a bit complicated, so see Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo conjugation tables for how it is expressed together with any tense or aspect.

Tense	Aspect	Morphology	Example
Remote Past	-	-AI/C-oXo¹-M -AI/C-öXö¹-M	kallololo - dug a long time ago kwedödö - heard a long time ago
Past	-	-AI/C-o-M -AI/C-ö-M	kallolo - dug kwedö - heard
Present	-	-AI/C-ng-M	kallorwang - digs kweding - hears
Future	-	k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C	k'ūdi kallorwa - will dig k'ūdi kwedi - will hear
Remote Future	-	k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C	k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwa - will dig in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedi - will hear in the far future
Habitual	-	-AI/C-∅-M	kallorwa - usually digs kwedi - usually hears
Remote Past	Progressive	ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-beppi² ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-bappu²	udodo kwebeppi - was hearing a long time ago udodo kallobappu - was digging a long time ago
Past	Progressive	ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-beppi² ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-bappu²	udo kwebeppi - was hearing udo kallobappu - was digging
Present	Progressive	ut-AI-M VERB-C-beppi² ut-AI-M VERB-C-bappu²	ut kwebeppi - is hearing ut kallobappu - is digging
Future	Progressive	k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-beppi² k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-bappu²	k'ūdi kwebeppi - will be hearing k'ūdi kallobappu - will be digging
Remote Future	Progressive	k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-beppi² k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-bappu²	k'ūdik'ūdi kwebeppi - will be hearing in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kallobappu - will be digging in the far future
Remote Past	Perfect	ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-ttūk²	udodo kallottūk - had dug a long time ago udodo kwettūk - had heard long ago
Past	Perfect	ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-ttūk²	udo kallottūk - had dug udo kwettūk - had heard
Present	Perfect	ut-AI-(o)ng-M VERB-C-ttūk²	udong kallottūk - have dug udong kwettūk - have heard
Future	Perfect	k'ūdi-AI-ng-M VERB-C-ttūk²	k'ūding kallottūk - will have dug k'ūding kwettūk - will have heard
Remote Future	Perfect	k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-ng-M VERB-C-ttūk²	k'ūdik'ūding kallottūk - will have dug in the far future k'ūdik'ūding kwettūk - will have heard in the far future
Habitual	Perfect	ut-AI-M VERB-C-ttūk²	ut kallottūk - have/had usually dug ut kwettūk - have/had usually heard
Remote Past	Frequentative	-AI/C-dödö-M -AI/C-dodo-M	kwedidödö - repeatedly heard things long ago kallorwadodo - dug around long ago
Past	Frequentative	-AI/C-dö-M -AI/C-do-M	kwedidö - repeatedly heard things kallorwado - dug around
Present	Frequentative	-AI/C-ding-M -AI/C-dung-M	kwediding - repeatedly hear things kallorwadung - dig around
Future	Frequentative	k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-di k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-du	k'ūdi kwedidi - will hear things repeatedly k'ūdi kallorwadu - will dig around
Remote Future	Frequentative	k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-di k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-du	k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidi - will hear things repeatedly in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwadu - will dig around in the far future
Habitual	Frequentative	-AI/C-di-M -AI/C-du-M	kwedidi - usually hears things repeatedly kallorwadu - usually digs around
Remote Past	Progressive-Frequentative	ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-dibeppi ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-dubappu	udodo kwedidibeppi - was repeatedly hearing things long ago udodo kallorwadubappu - was digging around long ago
Past	Progressive-Frequentative	ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-dibeppi ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-dubappu	udo kwedidibeppi - was repeatedly hearing things udo kallorwadubappu - was digging around
Present	Progressive-Frequentative	ut-AI-M VERB-C-dibeppi ut-AI-M VERB-C-dubappu	ut kwedidibeppi - is repeatedly hearing things ut kallorwadubappu - is digging around
Future	Progressive-Frequentative	k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-dibeppi k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-dubappu	k'ūdi kwedidibeppi - will be hearing things repeatedly k'ūdi kallorwadubappu - will be digging around
Remote Future	Progressive-Frequentative	k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-dibeppi k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-dubappu	k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidibeppi - will be hearing things repeatedly in the future k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwadubappu - will be digging around in the far future
Remote Past	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-AI-oXo¹-M VERB-C-duttūk	udodo kwedidittūk - has heard things repeatedly long ago udodo kallorwaduttūk - has dug around long ago
Past	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-AI-o-M VERB-C-duttūk	udo kwedidittūk - has heard things repeatedly udo kallorwaduttūk - has dug around
Present	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-AI-(o)ng-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-AI-(o)ng-M VERB-C-duttūk	udong kwedidittūk - have heard things repeatedly udong kallorwaduttūk - have dug around
Future	Perfect-Frequentative	k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-dittūk k'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-duttūk	k'ūdi kwedidittūk - will have heard things repeatedly k'ūdi kallorwaduttūk - will have dug around
Remote Future	Perfect-Frequentative	k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-dittūk k'ūdik'ūdi-AI-M VERB-C-duttūk	k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidittūk - will have heard things repeatedly in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kallorwaduttūk - will have dug around in the far future
Habitual	Perfect-Frequentative	ut-AI-M VERB-C-dittūk ut-AI-M VERB-C-duttūk	ut kwedidittūk - have/had usually heard things repeatedly ut kallorwaduttūk - have/had usually dug around

¹The X stands for a consonant that is the same as the previous consonant in the word.
²The previous syllable is deleted before this suffix is added, unless the previous syllable is the causative suffix.

The habitual, which is used for expressing that someone does something on regular basis, cannot be used together with any tense. It is usually understood to mean present tense, but if need be, one can specify past meaning with the adverb öttöt (before), and future meaning with the adverb allogau (intends to).

The frequentative can have the meaning of just doing something repeatedly, or doing something repeatedly and in several locations. For example myosyak'yattodung can either mean "to jump around", or "to jump up and down at the same spot".

Mood

Mood	Morphology	Examples
Energetic	-(s)sa -(s)se	kallorwangsa - does dig too! kwedingse - does hear too!
Conditional	-(o)ppo -(ö)ppö	kallorwappo - would dig kwedippö - would hear
Conditional-Energetic	-(o)ppossa -(ö)ppösse	kallorwappossa - I wish someone would dig kwedippösse - I wish someone would hear
Hortative	-wat -wet	kallorwat - let's dig kwetwet - let's hear
Hortative-Energetic	-watsa -wetse	kallorwatsa - let's dig! kwetwetse - let's hear!
Imperative	deletion of last syllable	kallo - dig! kwe - hear!
Imperative-Energetic	deletion of last syllable + (s)sa deletion of last syllable + (s)se	kallossa - you dig, allright? kwesse - would you hear?
Optative	-gaut -git	kallorwagaut - may he/she dig kwedigit - may he/she hear
Optative-Energetic	-gautsa -gitse	kallorwagautsa - may he/she dig! kwedigitse - may he/she hear!
Volitive	-auk -ik	kallolauk - let him/her dig then kwedik - let it be heard then

The energetic mood is used when expressing what oneself actually believes to be the case, despite of what anyone else thinks. It can be used together with any tense and aspect. The energetic mood combines with all other moods except volitive to form additional meanings.

The conditional is used for marking the "then" part of an "if...then" statement. But sometimes it is used on both the "if" and the "then" part simultaneously. The conditional can only be used together with the past and habitual tense. Any aspect together with past tense can be used however.

The combination of the conditional and energetic moods has two different uses. One means that one wishes current things to be in a certain way instead of how they are now. The other use means that one wishes for something to happen; either wishing it very intently, or being hopeful or optimistic about it happening. This mood can be used with the same tenses and aspects as the simple conditional.

The hortative denotes the meaning of "let's". No tense or aspect, except for the frequentative, can be used with the hortative. It can be used with any voice, except for the passive-causative.

Combining the hortative mood with the energetic adds a persuasive tone to the proposal made. It can be used together with the same tenses and aspects as the simple hortative.

The imperative mood is used for making commands. It is combined with the active or passive voice. It does not distinguish transitives and intransitives, with neither kind of verb getting any transitivity marking. The imperative mood is also not used together with any particular tense or aspect, except that it can be used with the frequentative. The adressee, which is optional, can be put in the beginning or end of the sentence in the vocative case. See Imperative sentences for more information on how to use the imperative mood.

Using the combination of imperative and energetic is paradoxically more polite than using the imperative alone. In this case, the energetic mood makes the statement more of a suggestion than a command. The same rules apply for the imperative-energetic as for the simple energetic regarding which other verb categories it can be combined with.

The optative can be used for expressing a wish in one of these cases:

The wish is not up to any person to make come true, for example "may it not rain tomorrow".
The wish is directed at someone who is not present and contactable at the time being, for example "may the king not raise the taxes again" said by someone who has never met, and probably never will meet, the king.
The wish is dependent on a large group of people, like the society or mankind. As an example: "let's all work together to make the world a better place to live".

The optative can only be used together with the present and habitual tenses. Any aspect together with present tense is also allowed.

Together with the optative, the energetic has simply a more intensifying meaning. This can be used with the same tenses and aspects as the simple optative.

The volitive mood has two similar uses. One is used to express that one does not approve of, or like, the state of affairs, but reluctantly accepts it because nothing else can be done. The other use expresses that one does not really wish for something to happen, but lets it happen anyway because one cannot be bothered to do something about it. This mood can only be used together with the present simple, present progressive, present frequentative and habitual tenses.

Nonfinite verbs

Infinitives

In action nominal constructions, when the active form of any of the infinitives is used, any agent argument of that infinitive takes the genitive case and any patient argument gets either the genitive or the absolutive case (except for the deverbal noun where both arguments always get the genitive). With the passive forms of an infinitive, the patient gets the genitive case and the agent ablative case (including the deverbal noun).

In other kinds of constructions, the object of an infinitive gets absolutive case. For the simple infinitives, the object is placed before the finite verb. The deverbal nouns have other requirements though, see Deverbal nouns for the details.

Type of infinitive	Morphology	Example
Active Infinitive	-∅	p'yowochya - to eat kwedi - to hear
Passive Infinitive	k'ūdi VERB-ūk'p'o k'ūdi VERB-ūk'p'ö	k'ūdi p'yowochūk'p'o - to become eaten k'ūdi kwedūk'p'ö - to become heard
Active Inessive infinitive	-öppi -oppu	kwedöppi - when hearing p'yowochoppu - when eating
Passive Inessive infinitive	-ūk'p'o k'ūdöppi -ūk'p'ö k'ūdöppi	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūdöppi - when becoming eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūdöppi - when becoming heard
Active Instructive infinitive	-ōt -wüt	p'yowochōt - by eating kwetwüt - by hearing
Passive Instructive infinitive	-ūk'p'o k'ūtwüt -ūk'p'ö k'ūtwüt	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūtwüt - by becoming eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūtwüt - by becoming heard
Active Adverb infinitive	-ba¹-C² -be¹-C²	p'yowobappu - in the middle of eating kwebeppi - in the middle of hearing
Passive Adverb infinitive	-būk'p'o¹ k'ūbe-C² -būk'p'ö¹ k'ūbe-C²	p'yowobūk'p'o k'ūbeppi - in the middle of getting eaten kwebūk'p'ö k'ūbeppi - in the middle of getting heard
Active Deverbal noun	-bossan¹ -bössen¹	p'yowobossan - eating kwebössen - hearing
Passive Deverbal noun	-ūk'p'o k'ūbössen -ūk'p'ö k'ūbössen	p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūbössen - getting eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūbössen - getting heard

¹The last syllable from the verb stem is deleted before this suffix is added.
²The C marks the place for an obligatory case suffix (see Adverb infinitives).

Simple infinitives

The simple infinitive is used as an oblique of another verb. For example:

Pot'-ak'	k'yamk'ottōtk'-a	madūkka-∅-ng	t'yamchya-∅
1SG-ERG	shooting.star-ABS	want-ACT.TR-PRES	see-INF
I want to see a shooting star.

Inessive infinitives

The inessive infinitive has the meaning of "when someone is doing something"; it is used as a time reference.

Pot'ya-t	pōkp'ya-ppu	küllöd-öppi	p'adab-a	swe-nnet	opkōya-tt-o
1SG-GEN	forest-INE	walk-ACT.INE.INF	lightning-ABS	tree-ILL	strike-INTR-PAST
When I was walking in the forest, lightning struck a tree.

Instructive infinitives

The instructive infinitive describes in what manner something happens. For example:

Myod-a	pingketti-dö	p'utsūk'-ōt	pöttü-tt-ö
3SG-ABS	market-ALL	row-INSTR.INF	go-INTR-PAST
He went to the market by rowing.

Adverb infinitives

The adverb infinitive requires a case (marked with C in the table). It has different meanings depending on the case used. Without a following case suffix, the suffix -ba/be makes a passive agent participle. The table below shows all cases that can be combined with the adverb infinitive.

Case	Example
Abessive	kallobakku - without digging
Exessive	kallobatk'a - from having been digging
Inessive	kallobappu - in the middle of digging
Instrumental	kallobōp' - by digging
Translative	kallobak'p'o - to go digging

The exessive and translative are used for expressing that someone goes from one activity to another, with the exessive corresponding to the from part, and the translative to the to part. For example:

Pot'-a	opk'ū-ba-tk'a	p'ōnoppu-ba-nnat	pöttü-tt-ö
1SG-ABS	sit-ADV.INF-EXE	stand-ADV.INF-TRANSL	go-INTR-PAST
I went from sitting to standing.

The difference between the inessive infinitive and the inessive adverb infinitive is that the inessive infinitive can be used for comparing two situations in time: "when doing X, Y happened"; while the inessive adverb infinitive cannot be used that way. A single verb in the inessive adverb infinitive form can be used as an answer to the question where someone is. For example:

-Peppü op'a udittöng? (Where is dad?)
-Kadappappu. (Out fishing.)

The inessive adverb infinitive together with the auxiliary ut makes the progressive aspect.

Deverbal nouns

This form derives the name of the act of doing something. The difference between deverbal nouns and the simple infinitives is that the simple infinitives are used as objects while deverbal nouns are used as subjects. Deverbal nouns function just like normal nouns and can therefore take any case, or even the plural suffix when referring to several instances of some act. If the deverbal noun has an object argument, it gets the genitive case. So for example "the eating of food" would be nūjugat p'yowobossan.

Participles

Participle	Morphology	Example
Active past participle	-ttūk¹	p'yowottūk sutsoga - boy who has eaten kwettūk k'wik'wö - girl who has heard
Passive past participle	-k'p'o k'ūttūk -k'p'ö k'ūttūk	p'yowochyak'p'o k'ūttūk nūjuga - food that is eaten kwedik'p'ö k'ūttūk hūjungū - gossip that is heard
Active present participle	-lla¹ -lle¹	p'yowolla sutsoga - boy who is eating kwelle k'wik'wö - girl who is hearing
Passive present participle	-k'p'o k'ūlle -k'p'ö k'ūlle	p'yowochyak'p'o k'ūlle nūjuga - food that is being eaten kwedik'p'ö k'ūlle hūjungū - gossip that is being heard
Active agent participle
Passive agent participle	-ba¹ -be¹	sutsogat p'yowoba nūjuga - food eaten by the boy k'wik'wöt kwebe hūjungū - gossip heard by the girl

¹The last syllable from the verb stem is deleted before this suffix is added.

When a verb is used for describing a noun the way adjectives are used, the verb takes a participle form. There are only two tenses, past and present. There are active participles, describing an agent, and passive participles, describing a patient. Causative voice can also be used. In that case, the causative suffix is added before the participle suffix as follows:

K'yapya	ōppok'yob-ak'	t'ūgū-k'ye-lle	ud-∅-ong
this	show-ERG	sleep-CAUS-ACT.PRES.PTC	be-TR-PRES
This show is sleep-inducing.

The active past participle and the active present participle can take an object, and the passive present participle and the passive agent participle can take a subject, all of which are marked with the genitive case. For the passive agent participle the agent argument is obligatory. The subject or object is placed right before the participle.

The agent participle is similar to the passive past participle, but the difference is that the past passive participle does not take a subject. If a noun (or pronoun) with genitive case is placed before the passive past participle, it means that the object described by the participle belongs to the person or thing marked by the genitive case. While for the agent participle, the genitive marks who the action has been done by.

The noun following a participle can have any case. If a core case is used, which one is used is governed by the finite verb's voice. The participle itself can be used as the object of the copula, as in the above example sentence. The copula will be marked as an active voice transitive and the subject will be marked as ergative, but no absolutive case will be present.

Nouns

Number

The singular form of nouns is unmarked, while the plural is marked with the suffix -k. If the noun ends with a consonant, a vowel is inserted before the -k suffix. Usually the vowel will be ō or wü depending on vowel harmony, but there are many irregular plurals that will use o, ö or wū as the linking vowel instead. In san words, final -san becomes -sōk and -sen becomes -swük.

Case

The final -n is deleted from san words before the case suffix is added.

Case	Suffix	Examples
Core cases
Ergative	-ak' -ek'	kutsongak' - dog-ERG keppek' - cat-ERG
Absolutive	-a -e	kutsonga - dog-NA keppe - cat-NA
Adpositional cases
Distributive	-k'illet -k'ullat	keppik'illet - each cat separately syazolyak'ullat - every day
Distributive-Temporal	-oppot -öppöt	syazoloppot - at daytime sigissöppöt - during frost
Essive	-tta -tte	kutsongatta - as a dog keppitte - as a cat
Genitive	-t¹	kutsongat - dog's keppit - cat's
Instrumental	-ōp' -wüp'	rappangōp' - with a hammer köswüp' - with a stick
Prolative	-kp'ō -kp'wü	pōngokp'ō - by sea kikkukp'wü - by rooftop
Locational cases
Ablative	-(ō)t'k'ya -(wü)t'k'ye	pōngot'k'ya - from the sea kikkut'k'ye - from the roof
Elative	-pk'a -pk'e	kutsongapk'a - from the inside of the dog kikkupk'e - from inside the rooftop
Exessive	-tk'a -tk'e	kutsongatk'a - (turn) from a dog (into something else) keppitk'e - (turn) from a cat (into something else)
Adessive	-di -du	kikkudi - on the roof pōngodu - by the sea
Inessive	-ppi -ppu	kikkuppi - in the roof pōngoppu - in the sea
Allative	-dö -do	kikkudö - to the roof pōngodo - to the sea
Illative	-(nn)at -(nn)et	pōngonnat - into the sea kikkunnet - into the roof
Translative	-k'p'o -k'p'ö	kutsongak'p'o - (turn) into a dog keppik'p'ö - (turn) into a cat
Comitative	-ttō -twü	kutsongattō - (together) with his/her dog keppitwü - (together) with his/her cat
Other
Abessive	-kki -kku	kössekki - without a stick rappangakku - without a hammer
Vocative	-∅	kutsonga - hey you dog! keppi - hey you cat!

¹After the plural suffix the genitive suffix is -ōt or -wüt. (All other word final consonants are simply replaced by -t.)

Adpositional cases

If the distributive case is used together with a word that stands for some kind of time period, it has the meaning that something is done during each of those periods. If used with any other kind of noun, it has the meaning of each of those separately. For example the sentence k'yapya k'yowo k'ōm sangok'ullat means "do this assignment in pairs", where the word for pair (sango) carries the distributive case. The distributive case can not be used with pronouns.

The distributive-temporal case is only used together with words relating to time. It has the meaning that something is done during that time, but unlike the simple distributive case it doesn't necessarily mean that it is done during every such time period.

The essive case has the meaning of "as" or "if". For example kyot'pyatta syazolyatta sidöding - during a cold day one freezes (or "if there is a cold day one freezes"), or nogapwatta ōno k'yowopk'yudappo - as a rich man I would not do work.

The genitive case is used for marking possession (with the possessive preceding the head noun), as well as for marking the agent in passive sentences. If the genitive case is used on a word that ends with a consonant, a vowel is inserted before the suffix. This is the same vowel as the one used in the plural form.

The instrumental tells that something is used as a tool. It cannot be used with personal pronouns or animate nouns. If need be, the pronoun or animate noun can be given the absolutive case, followed by the word küwikkōt (use-INSTR.INF).

The prolative tells "by which medium or route". For example rōtta hugokp'ō kūt'kōnang - the boat travels by river. It cannot be used with pronouns or animate nouns.

Locational cases

The ablative has the meaning of "from the vicinity or topside of something". The elative on the other hand means "from the inside of something". The elative has two other uses as well. When used on a time noun it means "from that time onwards". The other use is for expressing what someone feels; the person who is feeling gets the elative case.

The adessive has the meaning of "by, near or on top of something". The inessive means "inside something". Both the adessive and inessive can be used together with a time noun to indicate when something happened or will happen. The difference is that the adessive is used when the action stretches out during the whole time period, while the inessive is used about things that happened sometime during that time period.

The allative has the meaning of "to the vicinity or topside of something", while the illative has the meaning "to the inside of something". The illative can also be used with a time noun to indicate "until a certain time".

The "inside" meaning of the internal locatives (elative, inessive and illative) is also applied to objects that somehow cover something else (even if only partially). For example, when describing someone sitting on a chair, one of the internal locatives would be used because a chair has a back support, so the person sitting in it would have his or her back covered. A stool on the other hand does not have any part that covers a person, so one of the external locatives (ablative, adessive or allative) would be used. The external locatives are also used when describing possession of items or the transaction of items between people. The people involved are then marked with external locatives.

The exessive and translative cases describe either that something turns into something else, or that something changes from one state into another. The exessive is the source and the translative is the result. The exessive can also be used to descibe what something is made of.

Other cases

The abessive case has the meaning of "without". It cannot be used with personal pronouns or nouns standing for humanoid beings. Instead the preposition ot'pat is used, followed by the given noun or pronoun in essive case.

The vocative case is used when addressing someone by their name or title, and also when calling someone a rude word. The word with the vocative case can be placed either at the beginning or end of the sentence.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has a three-way distinction of person in its personal pronouns, but no gender distinction.

	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	Interrogative
Singular	pot'ya I	p'ot'ya you	myat he/she	kūga who
Plural	pō we	k'ō you	mō they	kōkkya who

In the daughter languages of Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo the second person pronouns are avoided for politeness, and instead the addressee's name or title is used. In Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo, at least the singular second person pronoun was avoided, but it is unclear if it was because of politeness reasons or because it was so similar to the singular first person pronoun. If the plural second person pronoun was also avoided is unknown.

Demonstrative Pronouns

	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	Interrogative	Interrogative dual
Singular	k'yapya this	k'ūju that	p'ō that/it	pokya what	kūp'so which
Plural	t'yapya these	t'ūju those	t'ō those/they	pokkya which	kūp'sok which ones

The demonstrative pronouns refer to inanimate things and non-humanoid beings, except for the singular interrogative dual which can also be used about humanoids. The demonstrative pronouns can also be used as demonstrative determiners. The interrogative dual has the meaning of "which one (of two alternatives)". Kūp'sok is used when referring to two groups of things.

Relative Pronouns

There are two relative pronouns: huga, which refers to the preceding noun; and pokya, which refers to the preceding clause or sentence. If a relative pronoun is used without the thing it refers to having been explicitly mentioned, then huga will be used if the implicit thing is animate, and pokya if it is inanimate. For example:

Myat-ōt	op'-a	atk'wa-tto-∅,	myad-ak'	pog-a	syuk'yu-∅
3SG-GEN	father-ABS	give-INTR-HAB	3SG-ERG	what-ABS	ask.for-HAB
Her father gives her what she asks for.

The relative pronoun gets the same number as the thing it refers to, and whichever case is required in the position the relative pronoun appears in. Unless the relative pronoun appears without something it refers to, as in the above example, it is moved to the beginning of the relative clause.

Reciprocal Pronoun

The reciprocal pronoun is k'utsossan (k'utsossa in absolutive case and k'utsossōt in the genitive). Below are examples of the word in both cases.

M-ak'	k'utsoss-a	nagapk'wa-ng
3PL-ERG	each.other-ABS	love-PRES
They love each other.

M-ak'	k'utsoss-ōt	mofūb-ōg-a	tōnogakk-o
3PL-ERG	each.other-GEN	hair-PL-ABS	cut-PAST
They cut each other's hair.

Reflexive Pronoun

The reflexive pronoun is okp'ō.

Pot'-ak'	okp'-a	sōpk'-o
1SG-ERG	self-ABS	wash-PAST
I washed myself.

The reflexive pronoun can also be used for emphasis, in which case it is placed after the verb.

Pot'-ak'	p'-a	k'ōmchya-ng	okp'ō
1SG-ERG	it-ABS	do-PRES	self
I'll do it myself!

Quantifier Pronouns

	Inclusive	Exclusive	Universal	Negative
Singular humanoid	kūga k'annatp'a anyone	hugū someone	killege everyone	ōno kūkyut no one
Plural humanoid	kōkkya k'annatp'a anyone	hukkūk some	killege everyone	ōno kōkkyut no one
Dual	kūp'so k'annatp'a either one	hup'sogūp'so either or	pudöbik both	ōno kūp'sokyut neither
Singular inanimate	pokya k'annatp'a anything/any	hugot something/some	killege everything/all	ōno pokyut nothing/no
Plural inanimate	pokkya k'annatp'a any	hukkot some	killege everything/all	ōno pokkyut no

The singular inanimates can also be used as determiners. The plural inanimates can only be used as determiners. See also Quantifier adverbs for more quantifiers.

Adjectives

San adjectives declinate slightly differently than other adjectives, as the final -an or -en is deleted from san adjectives before comparison suffixes are added. The following table displays both types of declination.

Comparison	Suffix	Example
San adjectives
Positive	-∅	pyowomyazossan - late negettüzessen - broken
Comparative	-ōp'so -wüp'sö	pyowomyazossōp'so - later negettüzesswüp'sö - more broken
Superlative	-ot -öt	pyowomyazossot - latest negettüzessöt - most broken
Other adjectives
Positive	-∅	mochap - slow kūbi - odd
Comparative	-p'so¹ -p'sö	mochap'so - slower kūbip'sö - odder
Superlative	-tsot¹ -tsöt	mochatsot - slowest kūbitsöt - oddest

¹If the adjective ends with p, the p is deleted before this suffix is added. (There are only front vowel adjectives that end with p.)

Epithets

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has a special part of speech called epithets. Epithets are words that precede proper nouns and define what kind of thing that proper noun is. Epithets are mostly used with people's names and names of geographical locations. They function differently from nouns and adjectives because epithets do not inflect, they cannot be used predicatively and epithets only modify proper nouns while adjectives only modify common nouns.

A few epithets are identical to the corresponding noun and some are closely related to the corresponding noun. Others have been derived from other nouns, some are words that used to be nouns but have ceased to be used as such, and some are words borrowed from other languages.

The use of epithets is not obligatory, especially not in full sentences. Though, when it comes to people's names, using an epithet is a sign of respect, so when speaking in the presence of someone one does not know intimately, they are almost always used together with that person's name.

Shorthand translation of epithet	Epithet	Description
Bachelor	hyakkya	Signifies the name of an unmarried man (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Bay		Used before the name of a bay, bight or gulf
Beach	zyōkp'o	Used before the name of a beach
Bridge	p'ot'k'a	Used before the name of a bridge. This is the same word as the noun for bridge.
Cape	kash	Used before the name of a cape
City		Used before the name of a town or city
Coast	fupk'a	The name of a coastline
Delta	chōt'k'a	Used before the name of a delta or mouth of a river. Usually a river and its delta or mouth will have the same name, but different epithets are used depending on which part one is talking about.
Doctor	k'umk'ungo	Used before a doctor's name (surname or surname followed by given name)
Ford	kamtai	Used before the name of a ford
Forest	p'adu	Used before the name of a forest (standard)
Forest	kungso	Used before the name of a forest (dialectal)
God	hūbat'	Signifies the name of a deity
Highland	yotyapwa	Used before the name of a highland or elevated tableland
Hill	kūp'sū	Used before the name of a hill
Island	wo	Used before the name of an island
Island chain	angkossōtwafo	Used before the name of an island chain, a group of islands or an archipelago
King	nōsh	Signifies the name of a king
Lake	hyanglo	Used before the name of a lake. This is the same word as the noun for lake.
Land	kutk'ū	Used before the name of a piece of land, a country or a region
Lowland	adapwa	Used before the name of a lowland area
Miss	t'ōnokko	Signifies the name of an unmarried woman (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Mister	möngi	Signifies the name of a married man (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Mistress	nutsūlla	Signifies the name of a married woman (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name)
Mountain		Used before the name of a mountain or peak
Mountain range	k'ūtk'ūngo	Used before the name of a mountain range
Pass	kūt'kū	Used before the name of a mountain pass
Peninsula	kofōdo	Used before the name of a peninsula
Plateau		Used before the name of a plateau of undefined height (see also lowland (adapwa) and highland (yotyapwa))
Pond	tap'so	Used before the name of a pond or spring
Queen	igi	Signifies the name of a queen
Rapids	zhungp'i	Used before the name of some rapids
River	nofu	Used before the name of a river
Road	rofa	Used before the name of a road or street
Sea	ūdissi	Used before the name of a sea
Ship	adūp	Signifies the name of a ship or boat
Straight	kat'wado	Used before the name of a straight or sound
Stream	rongk'a	Used before the name of a stream, creek or brook
Swamp	nyabō	Used before the name of a swamp, marsh, bog or quagmire
Town drunk	hūjussu	Used before the name of a drunkard with low status in the society (surname, or given name, or surname followed by given name). This usage is rude, and these people would rather prefer to be called by the epithet möngi or hyakkya.
Valley	p'uda	Used before the name of a valley
Village	sok'yahya	Used before the name of a village or settlement
Yard	sonna	Signifies the name of a courtyard or farmyard, or signifies the house on that plot

Adverbs

Below are listed adverbs that are related to the pronouns, in such a way that there is a person distinction among them as well as interrogative forms (allthough some of them distinguish fewer than three persons), and that some of them are somehow derived from the pronouns (cf. the locational adverbs with the demonstrative pronouns).

	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	Interrogative
Locational	k'ue- here	k'ūju- there	p'e- there	po- where
Temporal	t'yok now	p'edutset then		podutsat when
Manner	t'yazot this way	t'utsot that way		pokkōt how
Reason	p'ok'p'o therefore			pok'p'o why

These locational adverbs are obligatorily combined with a one of the locational cases ablative, adessive, allative, elative, inessive or illative.

Quantifier adverbs

	Inclusive	Exclusive	Universal	Negative
Locative	poppu k'annatp'a anywhere	huppiget somewhere	killegedi everywhere	ōno popkyut nowhere
Temporal	podutsat k'annatp'a anytime	hupkūp sometime	allotta all the time	ōno kupkyut never
Manner	pokkōt k'annatp'a any way	hukkōtkot somehow	huga k'assōp' every way	ōno pokkōtkyut no way

Particles

There are several postposition, a few ambipositions (adpositions that can appear either before or after the noun it modifies) and even fewer prepositions in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo. The words that are solely postpositions require the preceding noun to have genitive case. The tables in the following sections use the word k'adu (house), and in some cases op'ya (father), as an example together with the adpositions.

Postpositions

Motion to	Being at a location	Motion away	Motion across
k'adut adado under the house	k'adut adadu under the house	k'adut adat'k'ya from underneath the house	k'adut adakp'ō underneath the house
k'adut kōpkodo to the middle of the house	k'adut kōpkodu in the middle of the house	k'adut kōpkot'k'ya from the middle of the house	k'adut kōpkokp'ō across the middle of the house
k'adut k'agado behind the house	k'adut k'agadu behind the house	k'adut k'agat'k'ya from behind the house	k'adut k'agakp'ō across the back of the house
k'adut ōkkūdo in front of the house	k'adut ōkkūdu in front of the house	k'adut ōkkūt'k'ya from front of the house	k'adut ōkkūkp'ō across the front of the house
k'adut p'ollūdo beside the house	k'adut p'ollūdu beside the house	k'adut p'ollūt'k'ya from beside the house	k'adut p'ollūkp'ō past the side of the house
k'adut p'op'yannat into the house	k'adut p'op'yappu inside the house	k'adut p'op'yapk'a from the inside of the house	- (tyassokp'ō is used instead, see the list further down this section)
k'adut rofōngōdo beside the house	k'adut rofōngōdu beside the house	k'adut rofōngōt'k'ya from beside the house	-
op'yat tūjudo to father's home/vicinity	op'yat tūjudu at father's home/vicinity	op'yat tūjut'k'ya from father's home/vicinity	-
k'adut tyannodo near the house	k'adut tyannodu near the house	k'adut tyannot'k'ya from near the house / something passes by close to the house
k'adut yotyado on top of the house / above the house	k'adut yotyadu on top of the house / above the house	k'adut yotyat'k'ya from the top of the house / from above the house	k'adut yotyakp'ō over the house

The difference between p'ollū- and rofōngō- is that p'ollū- denotes the flank or the location immediately next to something, while rofōngō- denotes a wider area. So for example sa ut k'adut rofōngōdu (the tree is beside the house) could be said even if there is some third object between the house and the tree, making it impossible to see the house from where the tree is. Sa ut k'adut p'ollūdu means that "the tree is right next to the house". K'adut p'ollūdu can also mean "on the wall (flank) of the house". Though p'ollū- and rofōngō- are synonymous to many speakers.

The tūju- postpositions can only be used in reference to an animate being. They can either have the meaning of near that person, or that person's home (whether or not s/he is home).

The tyanno- postpositions can also be used as adverbs (without any preceding noun).

The following invariant postpositions also exist. They all require the preceding noun to have genitive case, except for rangk'ōt.

hyat'kodu - after (locational)
hyat'koppu - after (temporal)
ippöpyette - in someone's place
killūkki - via
k'agofa - for someone's sake; because of
rangk'ōt¹ - for a purpose
sūjudopk'a - on behalf of somebody
tyassokp'ō - through
unnokp'ō - past (locational)
yop'syongo - around (only one lap, see also Prepositions)

¹This postposition requires the noun to have the exessive case instead of genitive.

Ambipositions

The following table shows all ambipositions as well as the cases they call for in the nouns they modify.

Ambiposition	Case of noun
kumk'o - toward	Allative
kutk'yunga - against	Essive
rapk'ōt - against	Any external locative
rapk'wat - toward; versus	Allative
sokkot - along	Any external locative

The difference between kumk'o and rapk'wat is that rapk'wat is only used about something moving towards a person. Kumk'o is used either about someone or something moving towards some inanimate object or place, about someone moving with malicious intent toward some person, or about something capable of causing injury moving towards a person. Rapk'wat can not have any of these meanings. Rapk'wat is usually used about a person moving toward someone else to greet that person, or for describing who or what one has met during one's way. With these meanings, rapk'wat can also be used as an adverb modifying an inessive infinitive. Paradoxically, one other use for rapk'wat is like the word "versus" in a battle (possibly because a sports battle is entered with both parties' consent, while battles in war are meant to be fought with a code of honour).

The difference between kutk'yunga and rapk'ōt is that rapk'ōt is used for describing the position of some object, usually together with verbs with meanings similar to "lean". Kutk'yunga on the other hand is used about someone or something being against someone else's order or will.

Prepositions

Preposition	Case of noun
kallo - probably	-
ot'pat - without	Essive
öttöt - before	Essive or illative
yop'syongo - around (several laps)	Adessive

Kallo is used at the beginning of a sentence, even before any question words. In declarative sentences it has meanings like "probably" or "maybe", signalling the speaker's uncertainty. In questions it means something like "surely", signalling that the speaker is making a guess. Kallo is not used in imperative sentences.

Ot'pat can only be used together with pronouns or nouns standing for humanoid beings.

Öttöt (which can also be used as an adverb) calls for the illative case on time nouns or other nouns that denote a specific time, and otherwise essive. See examples below.

Pot'-a	mōnyak'ya-tt-o	öttöt	allūngotkut-t'uptūgu-nnat
1SG-ABS	wake.up-INTR-PAST	before	sun-rise-ILL
I woke up before sunrise.

P'ot'-a	k'ūdi-tt-o	kukko-nnat	öttöt	pot'ya-tk'a
2SG-ABS	come-INTR-PAST	home-ILL	before	1SG-ESS
You came home before me.

Yop'syongo is used like preposition when talking about something that goes several turns around. If talking about something that makes only one turn, it is used like a postposition.

Numerals

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo has a decimal system. The numbers 11-19 are expressed by adding the suffix -k'utsossan to one of the numbers 1-9. Higher numbers are expressed simply by placing the name of one of the numbers 2-9 before the name of one of the numbers 10, 100, 1000 or 10 000. For example, 20 is called kak'p'o-kwibössen and 317 is called kut'pō-p'akka-kwibössen-p'ōnokp'ōpyat.

Number	Cardinal Numeral	Ordinal Numeral	Distributive
1	yok'p'o	ōtp'obuzassan	yok'p'ok'ullat
2	kak'p'o	k'utsossan	kak'p'ok'ullat
3	kut'pō	kut'pap	kut'pōk'ullat
4	t'ōt'hya	t'ōt'hyap	t'ōt'hyak'ullat
5	ryōppo	ryōppap	ryōppok'ullat
6	kaippo	kaippap	kaippok'ullat
7	p'ōnokp'ōpyat	p'ōnokp'ōpyap	p'ōnokp'ōpyatk'ullat
8	kamchōk'p'at	kamchōk'p'ap	kamchōk'p'atk'ullat
9	yomchōk'p'yat	yomchōk'p'yap	yomchōk'p'yatk'ullat
10	kwibössen¹	kwibössep	kwibössek'ullat
100	p'akka	p'akkap	p'akkak'ullat
1000	k'ūnnak	k'ūnnap	k'ūnnakk'ullat
10 000	pyongofacho	pyongofachap	pyongofachok'ullat
Interrogative	putk'a(gu)	puttōp(ku)	puttok'ullat(ku)

¹The -ssen suffix is deleted when a numeral classifier is added.

The cardinal numerals are like one, two, three, while the ordinal numerals are like first, second, third. The distributive numerals are used for expressing how many parts something should be divided into. These are indeed the same as the cardinal numbers with the distributive case. The interrogative number is used when asking questions that include "how many...", and also as a relative pronoun. Interrogative numerals are always used with the interrogative clitic -ku, which is placed after any numeral classifier.

Numeral Classifiers

Normally numerals are used together with a classifier suffix. Different suffixes are used depending on what is counted. So for example two carrots would be called kak'p'ohaingo sungkitti while two rocks would be called kak'p'opwomkyonya kollo (sungkitti meaning carrot and kollo rock).

The classifier is used regardless if the numeral is used for modifying a noun or if it is used predicatively. The noun can even be dropped if it is clear from context and the classifier what is being referred to. If just counting numbers, then no classifier is used.

Below is a list of classifiers. Since there are no neutral vowel numerals, the suffixes are simply presented with back vowel suffixes first and front vowel suffixes second.

Shorthand name	Suffix	Use
Abstract	-tsya -tsye	Abstract things; also used when one does not know what other classifier to use
Age	-(p)pallo -ppellö	Years of age of people and things
Animals	-ukkūp	Animals that do not fall under any of the other categories
Birds	-(t)tugu -ttugi	Birds and bats
Bottles	-syūdu	Bottles and beverages stored in bottles
Bugs	-bakku -bekku	Small animals such as insects, worms and amphibians
Buildings	-gukku -gikku	Buildings
Bundles	-(t)tassū -ttessū	Bundles and bunches of things
Canines	-(n)nūgu -nnūgi	Dogs and wolves
Cattle	-(p)panglōgap -ppengrwügep	Livestock (excluding poultry)
Children	-gaknap -geknep	Children of humanoid creatures
Clothes	-(k)kabottō -kkebötwü	Clothes worn on the body, including shawls and scarfs but excluding other accessories
Collective	-k¹	Groups or things that consist of several parts
Containers	-(p)patku -ppetku	Containers other than bottles
Eggs	-uk' -ük'	Eggs, excluding roe and spawn
Fish	-zhoppū -zhöppū	Caught fish
Flat	-dallūjō -dellūjwü	Flat objects made of unflexible material; places
Fruit	-(n)nōllo -nwüllö	Fruit, berries, nuts and vegetables other than root vegetables
Horses	-(n)nossu -nnössi	Horses
Large	-hyangkyadō -hyengkyetwü	Large object, e.g. mountains, sun, moon
Layers	-gongup -göngup	Floors and layers
Machine	-guhō -guhwü	Machines and vehicles
Marine	-ōlyakyap -wülyekyep	Sea creatures (not caught)
Motion	-llofūm -llöfūm	Words for movements, especially nominalized motion verbs
Multiplicative	-gōngk'a -kwüngk'e	Number of times something is done
Oblong	-swokkwo -swökkwö	Long and narrow objects, excluding those things that go into the pipes category
Pairs	-(s)sango -ssengö	Pairs of things, as well as objects that consist of two similar parts
People	-kyu	Humanoid creatures other than children (standard)
People	-syu	Humanoid creatures other than children (dialectal)
Piles	-gūgūngu -gūgūngi	Piles and heaps of things and materials
Pipes	-nwowongo -nwöwöngö	Hollow, oblong things
Root vegetables	-haingo -hingö	Root vegetables and bulbs
Round	-pwomkyonya -pwömkyönye	Small round objects
Seafood	-gada -gede	Sea creatures other than fish that has been caught
Sheets	-ungka -ingke	Flat objects made of flexible material, like paper or fabric
Small	-ō -wü	Small non-round items
Strands	-noshp'o -nöshp'ö	Very thin and oblong things, e.g. strands of hair, rivers
Strings	-gōnya -kwünye	Strings, threads, ropes, etc.
Substance	-kwogwo -kwögwö	Things that consist of liquid, a mushy substance or fine powder
Trees	-(k)kūga -kkūge	Trees, excluding bushes
Void	-ubu -ibu	Holes, hollows and negative spaces
Wood	-gudagu -gidegi	Pieces of wood and items made from cut wood

¹The final consonant is deleted from p'ōnokp'ōpyat, kamchōk'p'at and yomchōk'p'yat when this suffix is added. Kwibössen becomes kwibössek and k'ūnnak becomes k'ūnnagōk.

Syntax

Valency operations

Each verb in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo is inherently either transitive and intransitive. Intransitive verbs can further be divided into two types: Those that take an agent-like subject, A-intransitives, and those that take a patient-like subject, P-intransitives. Hūjupk'a (run) is an example of an A-intransitive. The subject is the person who runs. Hyuk'yoya (freeze) is an example of a P-intransitive. Its subject is the thing that turns into ice, not the person who is freezing something. The table below shows which kind of verbs can take which voice and transitivity suffixes, and what cases their arguments will have. The number in parenthesis corresponds to the example sentences in the following sections.

	INTR	TR	PASS	CAUS	PASS-CAUS
A-Intransitive	agent-ABS verb-INTR (1)	-	verb-PASS (5)	causer-ERG causee-ALL verb-CAUS (7)	causee-ABS (causer-GEN) verb-PASS.CAUS (10)
P-Intransitive	patient-ABS verb-INTR (2)	-	-	agent-ERG patient-ABS verb-CAUS (8)	causee-ABS (causer-GEN) verb-PASS.CAUS (11)
Transitive	agent-ABS verb-INTR (3)	agent-ERG patient-ABS verb-TR (4)	patient-ABS (agent-GEN) verb-PASS (6)	causer-ERG causee-ALL patient-ABS verb-CAUS (9)	causee-ERG patient-ABS (causer-GEN) verb-PASS.CAUS (12)

Intransitives

The intransitive marker can be used on all kinds of verbs. The absolutive case is used on the sole argument of the intransitive verb.

1)	Kutsong-a	myosyak'ya-tto-ng.
	dog-ABS	jump-INTR-PRES
	The dog jumps.

2)	Sw-a	satwa-tto-ng.
	wood-ABS	burn-INTR-PRES
	The wood burns.

The intransitive marker can be used on inherently transitive verbs, and then it functions like antipassive voice: it removes the object from the sentence. One reason for doing this is that some verbs have a prototypical object, so it seems unnecessary to even mention the object. For example, in the sentence k'wik'ek' tallūda tallūdo (the girl sang a song) tallūdu (song) would be usual object of tallūtwa (sing). Furthermore, the word for song has been derived from the word for sing, so there is unneeded repetition in the sentence. Therefore a speaker would likely say k'wik'a tallūtwatto (the girl sang) instead. Even a non-typical object, which is obvious from context, might get deleted this way.

3)	Pot'-a	p'yowochya-tto-ng.
	1SG-ABS	eat-INTR-PRES
	I eat.

Transitives

Transitive verbs are zero-marked. The "marker" may not be used on inherently intransitive verbs. If one wants to introduce another argument into a sentence with an intransitive verb, the new argument needs to have some non-core case. When the verb is transitive, the subject takes ergative case and the object takes absolutive case.

4)	Pot'-ak'	ubōtt-a	p'yowochya-∅-ng.
	1SG-ERG	apple-ABS	eat-TR-PRES
	I eat an apple.

Passives

The passive voice removes the agent from the sentence. It can optionally be reinserted into the sentence with the use of the genitive case. The structure of a passive sentence is patient-ABS (agent-GEN) auxiliary-TNS main-verb-PST.PTCP. (Note that the passive voice is expressed by preceding the main verb with the auxiliary verb k'ūdi and adding the past participle suffix -ttūk to the main verb.)

6)	Ubōtt-a	(pot'ya-t)	k'ūd-ö	p'yowo-ttūk.
	apple-ABS	(1SG-GEN)	PASS.AUX-PAST	eat-PST.PTCP
	The apple got eaten (by me).

There are a few A-intransitives that can be passivized. In that case the verb becomes zero-valent. These verbs usually describe forces that are not in anyone's control.

5)	Rūjungo-du	kurwa	k'ūdi-ng	sūnnat'-tūk.
	mountain-ADE	hard.ADV	PASS.AUX-PRS	blow-PST.PTCP
	The wind is blowing hard at the mountain.

Causatives

The causative voice is used for describing what someone makes someone else do. The person who is made to do something is marked with the allative case and the causer with ergative case.

7)	Yazokk-ak'	rallūlla-do	kyot'sō-k'ya-ng.
	mother-ERG	baby-ALL	bathe-CAUS-PRS
	The mother bathes the baby.

When the verb is transitive, the direct object gets absolutive case. The order of arguments is causer causee DO verb. The patient argument may optionally be dropped when the verb is transitive and causative.

9)	Pot'-ak'	myat-to	(tallūd-a)	kwe-k'ye-ng
	1SG-ERG	3SG-ALL	(song-ABS)	hear-CAUS-PRES
	I make him hear (a song).

When used on P-intransitives, one could say that the causative voice is used for turning the verb transitive. The agent or causer still takes ergative case, but these verbs deviate from the A-intransitives in that second argument takes absolutive case.

8)	Pot'-ak'	rōpp-a	k'ūdi	hyuk'yo-k'ya
	1SG-ERG	water-ABS	AUX.FUT	freeze-CAUS
	I will freeze the water.

Besides the patient, the causee may also be dropped from the sentence, regardless of the type of verb. The patient and causee may even be both dropped from the same sentence. The causer, however, may not be dropped from these sentences; to make such a sentence one needs to use the passive-causative voice.

Passive-causatives

The passive-causative voice is used for indicating that someone is made to do something, but not by whom; although the causer can be reinserted into sentence by employing the genitive case. The difference between the passive and the passive-causative is the role of the first argument in the sentence: in passive sentences it is a patient, while in passive-causative sentences it is an agent (which may be followed by a patient). Both voices have in common that another argument can optionally be inserted into the sentence; this argument being the instigator of the whole action. The passive-causative often has the implication that the causee is somehow negatively affected by being forced to do something (possibly in examples 10 and 12 below), though the sentence could also have a neutral meaning (example 11).

10)	Mōlluss-a	(ubapha-t)	k'ūdi-ng	hūjup-tūk-k'ya.
	horse-ABS	(owner-GEN)	PASS.AUX-PRS	run-PST.PTCP-CAUS
	The horse is being made to run (by its owner).

11)	T'yapya	kūgiss-ōg-a	(pūkp'o-t)	k'ūdi-ng	kap-tūk-k'ya.
	these	flower-PL-ABS	(mother-GEN)	PASS.AUX-PRS	grow-PST.PTCP-CAUS
	These flowers were grown (by mom).

12)	Pot'-ak'	mat'kōkkōt'p-a	(zhalloha-t)	k'ūd-o	mi-ttūk-k'ye.
	1SG-ERG	firewood-ABS	(father-GEN)	PASS.AUX-PST	chop-PST.PTCP-CAUS
	I was made to chop firewood (by my father).

If the verb is transitive, then either the causee or patient (but not both) may be dropped. The patient may be dropped without any other changes.

Pot'-ak'	(zhalloha-t)	k'ūd-o	mi-ttūk-k'ye.
1SG-ERG	(father-GEN)	PASS.AUX-PST	chop-PST.PTCP-CAUS
I was made to chop (by my father).

But if the causee is dropped, it takes the place of the causer. So the optional arguement marked with genitive case is the causee and not the causer. The causer may not be reinserted into the sentence.

Mat'kōkkōt'p-a	(pot'ya-t)	k'ūd-o	mi-ttūk-k'ye.
firewood-ABS	(1SG-GEN)	PASS.AUX-PST	chop-PST.PTCP-CAUS
The firewood was made to be chopped (through me).

Imperative sentences

When imperative mood is used on a verb, that verb (or verb complex) is moved to the beginning of the sentence. The addressee can optionally be added at the beginning or end of the sentence. The addressee will have the vocative case.

Kebu-∅	magō	rōpp-a	sūngu-pk'a.
PR-VOC	fetch.IMP	water-ABS	stream-ELA
Kebu, fetch some water from the stream!

The sentence will not have a subject, though the addressee could be argued to be the subject. If there is an object, it will have absolutive case. No tense or aspect marking is used on the verb, except for that the frequentative may be used. If the frequentative is used, then the present frequentative suffix is added after the final syllable of the verb has been deleted. If the energetic suffix is also used, it is placed after the frequentative.

Pagū-du-ng-sa	p'ō	hūjub-a.
taste.IMP-FREQ-PRS-ENRG	DEM.3SG	drink-ABS
Have some of that drink.

The intransitive suffix is not used together with the imperative, so transitive and intransitive verbs are not morphologically distinguished. The object of a transitive verb may be dropped without making any further changes to the verb.

Pagū!
drink.IMP
Drink!

The imperative can be used on passive verbs, in which case it is marked on the auxiliary k'ūdi.

K'ū	t'yam-tūk	ūdup	pött-öppi,	Hyongko-∅.
PASS.AUX.IMP	see-PST.PTCP	out	go-INE.INF	PR-VOC
Be seen when you exit, Hyongko.

The causative voice cannot be used together with the imperative mood. Instead the following method is used: First p'wa (get.IMP), sop (put.IMP) or tille (put.IMP) is put at the beginning of the sentence, then the causee with allative case is added, then the patient with absolutive case, and finally the main verb with the adverb infinitive and translative case.

Tille	tashp'o-k-to	sungkitti-g-e	kūjungo-ba-k'p'o.
put.IMP	child-PL-ALL	carrot-PL-ABS	peel-ADV.INF-TRANSL
Have the children peel the carrots.

There is very little distinction in the choice of p'wa, sop or tille. P'wa could be used in a situation where the causer somehow needs to exert very little power or influence to get things going. Sop could possibly have negative connotations, as if the causer is supposed to boss someone around. Tille could be used in a situation where workers, servants, people in one's household etc. are to be put to work, but without the negative overtones of sop.

Interrogative sentences

Questions are made by either using a question word, which is moved to the beginning of the sentence, or by adding the interrogative suffix -gu to the word that is questioned. A word with the interrogative suffix is also moved to the beginning of the sentence. If the suffix is used on a verb, it is placed on the first auxiliary (if there is one), and the whole verb complex is moved to the beginning of the sentence.

Pog-a	p'ot'-ak'	p'wach-o?
what-ABS	you-ERG	get-PAST
What did you get?

Ut-to-gu	kyot'sōya-ng	p'ot'-a?
PERF-INTR-Q	bathe-PRES	you-ABS
Have you bathed?

Negation

Negation is done with the negative auxiliary verb ōno. The verb that is negated get the simple infinitive form and is placed directly after ōno, with ōno taking all the conjugation; unless there is need to use the habitual tense or perfect or progressive aspect, in which case the negated verb is conjugated normally and ōno is placed before that verb without any marking.

The ōno that precedes the negative pronouns is removed when these words are used in negative sentences.

Comparative constructions

To make comparative constructions where and adjective is compared, such as "X is more ADJ than what Y is", Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo uses the following construction: X-ABS ADJ-COMP kūjot Y-ABS COP. For example:

K'yapya	k'ad-a	oppu-p'so	kūjot	p'-a	udi-tto-ng.
this	house-ABS	big-COMP	than	that.3SG-ABS	be-INTR-PRS
This house is bigger than that one.

If it is a verb that is compared instead of an adjective, the following construction is used: X (OBJ-ABS) V öttöbüt kūjot Y (or X (OBJ-ABS) öttöbüt V kūjot Y). The cases of X and Y depend on the transitivity of the verb, and if Y is an agent or patient. X will have ergative case if the verb is transitive, and absolutive case if the verb is intransitive. Y will have ergative case if the verb is transitive and Y is the object of that verb. Otherwise Y will have absolutive case.

P'ot'-ak'	p'ofōbōd-ōg-a	p'yowochya-∅	öttöbüt	kūjot	totk'-ak'.
2SG-ERG	seed-PL-ABS	eat-HAB	more	than	bird-ERG
You eat more seeds than what birds do.

In the example above, p'yowochya (eat) has two subjects, p'ot'ya (you) and totk'ū (bird). They both have ergative marking. P'ofōbōdōk (seeds) is the object, so it has absolutive marking.

P'ot'-ak'	p'ofōbōd-ōg-a	p'yowochya-∅	öttöbüt	kūjot	totk'ū-g-a.
2SG-ERG	seed-PL-ABS	eat-HAB	more	than	bird-PL-ABS
You eat more seeds than you eat birds.

In this second example, the word totk'ūk (birds) has absolutive marking, meaning that the birds are an object. If the sentence has no object, then both X and Y will have the absolutive case and the verb will have intransitive marking. The Y argument will then be a subject. As an example:

P'ot'-a	p'yowochya-tto-∅	öttöbüt	kūjot	totk'-a.
2SG-ABS	eat-INTR-HAB	more	than	bird-ABS
You eat more than what a bird does.

Relative clauses

Bound relative clauses

Bound relative clauses make use of the relative pronoun huga, which refers back to the previous noun (the antecedent). The relative clause is inserted inside the main clause, right after the antecedent, with huga introducing the relative clause. The antecedent has whatever case it is required to have in the main clause, and huga takes whatever case it is required to have inside the relative clause.

The antecedent may have any role of the accessibility hierarchy in the relative clause, as shown below. The antecent has been underlined in these examples, and the relative clause surrounded by [ ].

Subject of relative clause
Mōlluss-a	[hug-a	kangakka-tt-o]	nūpkōna	udi-tto-ng.
horse-ABS	[REL.PRON-ABS	escape-INTR-PST]	brown	be-INTR-PRS
The horse [that ran away] is brown.

Direct object of relative clause
Mōlluss-a	[hug-a	pot'-ak'	rofōch-o	t'wassūngo-t	sonna-do]	ut-to-ng	kangak-tūk.
horse-ABS	[REL.PRON-ABS	1SG-ERG	take-PST	neighbor-GEN	yard-ALL]	PRF.AUX-INTR-PRS	escape-PST.PTCP
The horse [which I brought to the neighbor's yard] has run away.

The word order in the relative clause may become different than word order normally, since the relative pronoun needs to be in the beginning of the clause. In this sentence huga is an object, which normally would appear after the subject, appears here before it.

Indirect object of relative clause
T'wassūng-a	huga-do	pot'-ak'	kangak-tūk	mōlluss-a	k'ūjuch-o]	odossan-t-o.
neighbor-ABS	REL.PRON-ALL	1SG-ERG	escape-PST.PTCP	horse-ABS	bring-PST	happy-INTR-PST
The neighbor, [to whom I brought the escaped horse], was happy.

Oblique of relative clause
Sonn-a,	[huga-du	yop'syongo	k'ūju	mōlluss-a	hūjupk'a-tto-ng],	pot'ya-t	t'wassūngo-t	udi-tto-ng.
yard-ABS	[REL.PRON-ADE	around	DEM.2SG	horse-ABS	run-INTR-PRS]	1SG-GEN	neighbor-GEN	be-INTR-PRS
The yard, [around which that horse runs], is my neighbor's.

Even if huga is the complement of a preposition, it goes before that preposition. (For the usage of yop'syongo, see Prepositions.) When a preposition is preceded by huga in this way, the relative clause is marked by intonation. In transcription this can be marked with commas.

Genitive in the relative clause
T'wassūng-a	[huga-t	mōlluss-a	kangakka-tt-o]	sūda-ppu	udi-tto-ng.
neighbor-ABS	[REL.PRON-GEN	horse-ABS	escape-INTR-PST]	trouble-INE	be-INTR-PRS
The neighbor, [whose horse ran away], is in trouble.

Object of comparison
K'ūju	pofōb-ak',	[hug-a	pot'-a	zhok'p'ū-p'so	kūjot	udi-tto-ng],	mōllussa-t	kangakka-∅	atk'-o.
DEM.2SG	man-ERG	[REL.PRON-ABS	1SG-ABS	smart-COMP	than	be-INTR-PRS]	horse-GEN	escape-INF	let-PST
That man, [who I'm smarter than], let his horse escape.

The relative clause otherwise follows the template of the comparative construction, except that the second argument, the relative pronoun in this case, is moved to the beginning of the construction. Just as in the example about obliques, the relative clause is marked by intonation (and commas). This is due to the conjunction kūjot (than) normally requiring a following word, which is now missing.

Purpose clauses

There are several ways in which purpose can be expressed in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo. One way is to have the main event followed by the dependent event with the conjunction hukki between them.

Pot'-ak'	kad-a	p'ūjudakka-ng	hukki	p'-a	ōno-tt-o	sodak'yoya-ppo
1SG-ERG	fish-ABS	salt-PRES	so.that	it-ABS	not-ACT.INTR-PAST	get.bad-COND
I salt the fish so that it will not get bad.

If the two verbs have the same agent, the dependent verb can be turned into a simple infinitive with translative case. If the main verb is a verb of movement (such as go, come, etc.), then the dependent verb may alternatively be realized as an adverb infinitive. Both ways are exemplified in the following two sentences:

Pot'-ak'	nūjug-a	up-pa-k'p'o	pingketti-dö	pöttü-tt-ö
1SG-ERG	food-ABS	buy-ACT.ADV.INF-TRANSL	market-ALL	go-ACT.INTR-PAST
I went to the market to buy food.

Pot'-ak'	nūjug-a	upk'wa-∅-k'p'o	pingketti-dö	pöttü-tt-ö
1SG-ERG	food-ABS	buy-ACT.INF-TRANSL	market-ALL	go-ACT.INTR-PAST
I went to the market to buy food.

Another way is to have a noun (or deverbal noun) followed by the postposition rangk'ōt.

Reported speech

To report what someone else has said, the construction X-ERG V (ökkü) QUOTE is used, where X is the source of information, V is a verb like say, tell, etc. (in active voice; with tense, aspect and mood as appropriate), and QUOTE is an independent clause. If the report is in direct speech, the particle ökkü will be used. If the report is in indirect speech, ökkü is not used, and the deictic center in the quote is changed to that of the speaker.

Evidentiality

Evidentiality marking is not obligatory in Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo, but what kind of evidence one has for the truthfulness of a statement can be expressed with a pronoun in the genitive case, followed by one of three evidentiality verbs in the instructive infinitive form. The pronoun specifies who is claiming something to be true, and the verb specifies the type of evidence. This construction precedes the main verb (or auxiliary + main verb construction).

Evidentiality type	Morphology
Inferential	PRON t'yamchyōt
Reportative	PRON kwetwüt
Direct knowledge	(PRON) k'ofōk'ōt

The inferential means that the statement is something that has been witnessed, and reportative is used for hearsay evidence. The direct knowledge evidential is used about any other evidence, including non-visual sensory. The dirent knowledge evidential can also be used impersonally, which is marked by the absense of a pronoun. The impersonal direct knowledge can have the meaning "they say that..." without any clarifications of who "they" are, or it can have the meaning that something is supposed to be common knowledge, "anyone knows it". All second person evidentials are very seldomly used; usually they occur in questions and sometimes when arguing against someone who claims to not have known a certain thing. The second person singular pronoun can be, and is usually, replaced by the name of the adressee in genitive case.

P'oga-g-a	pot'ya-t	k'ofōk'-ōt	ōno	tōtk'yu-tto-∅
pig-PL-ABS	1SG-GEN	know-INSTR.INF	NEG	fly-INTR-HAB
As far as I know, pigs don't fly.

Pot'ya-du	mōllussan	p'ot'ya-t	kwet-wüt	ōno-tto-ng	udi-∅
1SG-ADE	horse	2SG-GEN	hear-INSTR.INF	NEG-INTR-PRS	be-INF
As you have heard, I do not have a horse.

Lexicon

San words

Some adjectives and some nouns ends with the suffix -(s)san or -(s)sen. In adjectives it is usually present because of word derivation. In nouns it may occur due to derivation, but sometimes it just does not have any specific meaning. In various kinds of suffixation, the san words usually inflect slightly differently than other words.

Compounds

In endocentric compounds, the head is the last word of the compound. All but the last words in a compound have the following characteristics:

Verbs can only appear in non-final forms
Nouns sometimes carry a case that the final word in the compound calls for. But nouns in some compounds have the genitive case for no particular reason.
The -(s)san or -(s)sen suffix is deleted.
Some words have a special compound form, see Derivation below.

Derivation

Unless otherwise stated, the suffix in san words is deleted before one of the derivational suffixes below are added. When san words are treated differently, what the whole end of the word turns into is shown. So for example mōllussan (horse) with the suffix -ballossan (see -ballossan below) becomes mōlluspallossan (horse-like), but with the suffix -kkut it just becomes mōllukkut (horseless).

Affix	Meaning	Example
Verb → verb
ado--	Underdo X	anglofutsocha - estimate → ado-anglofutsocha - under-estimate
hütwūt--	Redoing an action	kōngk'utsa - tell → hütwūt-kōngk'utsa - renarrate
ōsya--	The opposite of the action	p'ūjucha - let good things happen to others → ōsya-p'ūjucha - not let good things happen to others
p'ada--	Do X in secret	kwettödi - listen → p'ada-kwettödi - eavesdrop
unno--	Miss doing X	ap'sūja - shoot → unno-ap'sūja - shoot and miss
-mk'wa¹ -mk'we¹	Diminishes the intensity of an action, or makes it momentane	kakp'utsa - look → kakp'umk'wa - glance millūgūttö - bark → millūgūmk'we - bark once
Verb → noun
-bu	Place where X is done (derived word often has num. clf. flat)	t'yamk'ya - show → t'yamk'yabu - stage
-būp¹	A simple deverbal noun, usually used about actions that take some time to complete (derived word often has num. clf. abstract)	kōngk'utsa - tell → kōngk'ubūp - story
-gō¹ -kwü¹	Device that performs X	kunglakka - substitute (V.) → kunglagō - substitute (N.) ködūji - float → ködūkwü - floating device
-ha¹ -he¹	Doer of X (num. clf. people)	kyot'sōya - bathe → kyot'sōha - bather ihikködi - think → ihikköhe - thinker
-ofu -öfu	Noun somehow related to the verb	ok'yu - sprout → ok'ofu - spore mönekkue - throw → mönekköfu - dump
-ot¹ -öt¹	Tool used for doing X	kūt'kōna - traverse → kūt'kot - vehicle swügutsöche - sting → swügutsöt - stinger
-ōt'pa -wüt'pe	Result of verb (derived word often has num. clf. abstract)	t'yamk'ya - show (V.) → t'yamk'ōt'pa - show (N.)
-pya¹ -pye¹	Default verb to noun derivation	ōtyu - live → ōpya - life kūjudi - die → kūjupye - death
-tk'u¹	Deverbal noun which implies of some kind of large occurrence	ūpkutsa - believe → ūpkutk'u - religion
-tta¹ -tte¹	Deverbal form of sound verb (derived word will have num. clf. abstract)	mongt'ūtto - neigh → mongt'ūtta - neighing millūgūttö - bark → millūgūtte - barking
-u	Single instance of an act	tōtk'yu - fly → tōtk'u - flight
-ū	Deverbal form of frequentative verbs	tahokkadu - sort → tahokkadū - sorting
-ūjō¹ -ūjwü¹	Collective deverbal noun (derived word will have num. clf. collective)	kūt'kōna - traverse → kūt'kūjō - procession
Verb → adjective
-ossan -össen	Someone or something that does X, an action that spreads out over time	k'ofōk'yu - know → k'ofōk'ossan - aware
See also Participles, which are the usual way verbs are turned into adjective-like words
Noun → verb
-kka (san word → -ska) -kke (san word → -ske)	Default noun to verb derivation	pwado - paint (N.) → pwadokka - paint (V.) sillegi - patch (N.) → sillegikke - patch (V.)
-k'ye (san word → -sk'ye) -k'ya (san word → -sk'ya)	Make into X, or add X	kikku - roof → kikkuk'ye - add a roof to a building k'aido - wind → k'aidok'ya - ventilate; fan
-k'yoya (san word → -sk'yoya) -k'yöye (san word → -sk'yöye)	Become X	pwa - earth → pwak'yoya - decompose swe - tree → swek'yöye - become numb (literally "turn into wood")
-(ō)pk'wa -(wü)pk'we	Hunt or collect something edible	kada - fish (N.) → kadapk'wa - fish (V.) sungkitti - carrot → sungkittipk'we - pick carrots
-utsocha (san word → -ssutsocha) -utsöche (san word → -ssutsöche)	Do something using X	rappanga - hammer (N.) → rappangutsocha - hammer (V.) mefögi - sand (N.) → mefögutsöche - sand (V.)
Noun → noun
ada--	Bottom, low	köngup - floor → ada-göngup - bottom floor
aip--	New	kwe - moon → aip-kwe - new moon
allu--	Open, bare	pōngo - sea → allu-bōngo - open sea
chūföt'--	Double (derived word will have num. clf. pair)	ittup - portion → chūföt'-ittup - double portion
hyat'ko--	After	kunglakkōt'pa - compensation → hyat'ko-gunglakkōt'pa - compensation afterwards
ingke--	Arch-X	ronnadassan - enemy → ingke-lonnadassan - arch-enemy
kōpko--	Middle	p'ungpo - finger → kōpko-p'ungpo - middle finger
kōt'k'a--	Yellow	rüpk'üngüge - white wagtail → kōt'k'a-rüpk'üngüge - yellow wagtail
kutk'yunga--	Opposing force	k'aido - wind → kutk'yunga-k'aido - headwind
k'aga--	Back	ullo - door → k'aga-ullo - back door
k'ōgu--	Artificial	p'yu - reason → k'ōgu-p'yu - pretext
k'yayop--	Full	kwe - moon → k'yayop-kwe - full moon
mūjessū--	Top	p'ūjungapk'yabūp - performance → mūjessū-p'ūjungapk'yabūp - top performance
nūpku--	Brown	tōmk'o - leaf → nūpku-dōmk'o - brown autumn leaf
ogo--	Forever	k'at'lo - winter → ogo-k'at'lo → neverending winter
okp'ō--	Self	sökku - betrayal → okp'ō-zökku - self-deception
ōkkū--	Front	hat'kak - legs → ōkkū-hat'kak - forelegs
ōk'ya--	Remote
ōppo--	Front, first	pöngke - sign → ōppo-böngke - (good) example
ōtp'o--	Debute	kōngk'a - time → ōtp'o-gōngk'a - first time
ōshk'yunga--	Extra	t'yamk'ōt'pa - show → ōshk'yunga-t'yamk'ōt'pa - encore
ōzhu--	Outer	p'ollū - side → ōzhu-p'ollū - outside
pūpk'a--	Black	pigingi - sausage → pūpk'a-bigingi - black sausage
p'ada--	Secret	pūngma - murder → p'ada-būngma - assassination
p'aing--	Large	sōngmō - family → p'aing-sōngmō - large family
p'ollū--	Side	hugo - river → p'ollū-hugo - tributary
p'op'ya--	Inner	ōdot - organ → p'op'ya-ōdot - inner organ
p'otto--	Blue	syonyupk'wo - tail → p'otto-syonyupk'wo - red-flanked bluetail
p'yonghya--	Back, remote	p'ōnūkkū - area → p'yonghya-p'ōnūkkū - place in the sticks
radō--	Fake	appū - dress → radō-appū - disguise
ranga--	Precaution, spare	uppa - part → ranga-uppa - spare part
rat'ku--	White	mallo - shark → rat'ku-mallo - great white shark
ronnōng--	Green	kaplofu - plant → ronnōng-kaplofu - flowerless plant with leaves
segū--	Small (num. clf. small)	nūjuga - food → segū-nūjuga - snack
sōngūp--	Basic	k'ofōk'u - knowledge → sōngūp-k'ofōk'u - basic knowledge
sutyo--	Many	k'ofōha - sage → sutyo-k'ofōha - polymath
sūjudo--	Half	kwe - moon → sūjudo-kwe - half-moon
sūtta--	Red	notk'a - chest → sūtta-notk'a - robin
sya--	Head, important	killūssigu - city → sya-gillūssigu - capital
tyanno--	Near	k'ūllaip - future → tyanno-k'ūllaip - near future
ūp'so--	Closed	p'ūjudo - intestine → ūp'so-p'ūjudo - appendix
yotya--	Upper, top	sūjudo - half → yotya-zūjudo - topside
-da -de	Place associated with X (derived word often has num. clf. flat)	jōttu - agricultural people → jōttuda - cultivated land
-dallossan (san word → -stallossan) -dellössen (san word → -stellössen)	Person from X (num. clf. people)	Kunnu-lūjungo - Kunnu-lūjungo → Kunnu-lūjungodallossan - Kunnu-lūjungoan mönekköfu - dump → mönekköfudellössen - person living in a dump
-gi -gu	Diminutive form (derived word often has num. clf. small or round)	sungkitti - carrot → sungkittigi - small carrot tap'so - pond → tap'sogu - puddle
-gō (san word → -skō) -kwü (san word → -skwü)	Small thing with Xs (derived word often has num. clf. small or round)	p'ūjuda - salt → p'ūjudagō - food preserved by salting sede - pipe → sedekwü - hemp-nettle
-gu	Place with lots of Xs, collective X, or something associated with X (num. clf. collective)	zap'zū - bamboo → zap'zūgu - bamboo thicket
-(k)kang -(k)keng	Female X (num. clf. people)	p'atkango - hero → p'atkangokkang - heroine sisse - priest → sissekkeng - priestess
-(ō)ngo -(wü)ngö	Tool or person (num. clf. people) that uses X	t'waba - face → t'wabango - mask tillūkki - raft → tillūkkingö - ferry man
-ofu (san word → -ssofu) -öfu (san word → -ssöfu)	Thing with Xs	uppa - part → uppofu - share
-(o)pk'u (san word → -sk'u) -(ö)pk'u (san word → -sk'u)	Place with collection of X (derived word will have num. clf. collective)	t'wassūngo - neighbor → t'wassūngopk'u - neighborhood
-(o)tku -(ö)tku	Natural features that is like X	k'appō - plane → k'appōtku - plain
Noun → adjective
ap'zo--NOUN-ossan	Both	kyappo - hand → ap'zo-kyappossan - ambi-dextrous
sutyo--NOUN-X²	Many	allofu - marriage → sutyo-allofossan - polygamistic
-ballossan (san word → -spallossan) -bellössen (san word → -spellössen)	Resembling X	kada - fish → kadaballossan - fishlike k'wik'wö - girl → k'wik'wöbellössen - girly
-dessen -dassan	X-like, endowed with X, time, or measure	set'kū - dot → set'kūdessen - dotted kutsūnga - cupped hand → kutsūngadassan - handful
-dutsessen -dutsassan	Often X-like	millūgūtte - barking → millūgūttedutsessen - often barking
-gap -gep	Equipped with X	mūjudo - worry → mūjudogap - worried kūttefi - honor → kūttefigep - honorable
-kkut	Lacking X	swe - tree → swekkut - treeless
-oppa -öppe	Something that produces X	p'akku - harvest → p'akkoppa - bountyful harvest k'izu - kill (N.) → k'izöppe - someone with many kills
-ossan -össen	Regular noun to adjective derivation	odu - joy → odossan - happy mefögi - sand → mefögössen - sandy
-zok'ossan (-sok'ossan, san word → -ssok'ossan) -zök'össen (-sök'össen, san word → -ssök'össen)	Something that contains a substance	kūt'k'a - gold → kūt'k'azok'ossan - something (e.g. a river) that contains gold mefögi - sand → mefögizök'össen - something (e.g. mud) that contains sand
-ssan -ssen	Made from X	kūt'k'a - gold → kūt'k'assan - golden swe - tree → swessen - wooden
Noun → adverb
-ekkillet (san word → -ssekkillet) -akkullat (san word → -ssakkullat)	From an X point of view	jōttu - agricultural people → jōttakkullat - from agricultural people's point of view
-gillet -gullat	Locative situative adverb (involving two things in relation to each other)	t'ūngki - corner → t'ūngkigillet - corner-to-corner kaplu - face → kaplugullat - face-to-face
-(k)killet -(k)kullat	Manner or position	tönegebūp - play → tönegebūpkillet - not seriously p'ollū - side → p'ollūkkullat - sideways
Adjective → verb
-∅	Be X	sūttallossan - red → sūttallossan - be red tübet → tübet - be warm
-(p)k'wa (san word → -sk'wa) -(p)k'we (san word → -sk'we)	Make into X	sūttallossan - red → sūttallosk'wa - redden tübet - warm (Adj.) → tübetk'we - warm (V.)
Adjective → noun
-∅ (no change to san words either)	Person with X quality (derived word will have num. clf. people)	nogap - rich (Adj.) → nogap - rich person
-aip (san word → -ssaip) -ip (san word → -ssip)	The X quality (derived word will have num. clf. abstract)	sūttallossan - red → sūttallossaip - redness tübet - warm → tübedip - warmth
-ūngo -ūngö	Person who is being X (derived word will usually have num. clf. people	tallopka - lazy → tallopkūngo - lazy person
Adjective → adjective
kutk'yunga--	Opposing force	k'ūjulla - productive → kutk'yunga-k'ūjulla - counter-productive
ogo--	Forever	ratma - old → ogo-ratma → really, really old
okp'ō--	Self	k'ūnnoppa - destructive → okp'ō-k'ūnnoppa - self-destructive
ōsya--	Opposite quality	p'ōt'lya - clear → ōsya-p'ōt'lya - unclear
ryamya--	Little	tūbossan - snowy → ryamya-dūbossan - only little snowy
tyasso--	Thoroughly	ryangokkak'p'o k'ūttūk - dyed → tyasso-lyangokkak'p'o k'ūttūk - thoroughly dyed
ūp'so--	Completely	myūdū - crazy → ūp'so-myūdū - absolutely crazy
-dutsessen -dutsassan	Someone or something that is often X-like	negettüzessen - broken → negettüzedutsessen - often broken mochap - slow → mochaptutsassan - often slow
-mku (san word → -samku, -semku)	Diminishes the quality	mochap - slow → mochamku - slowish
-ossan³ -össen³	Tendency to be like X (only used on present participles)	k'allossūlla - bending → k'allossūllossan - flexible negefak'p'ö k'ūlle - getting broken → negefak'p'ö k'ūllössen - fragile
Adjective → adverb
-pk'o (san word → -sap'ko) -pk'ö (san word → -sepk'ö)	Regular adjective to adverb derivation	mochap - slow → mochapk'o - slowly tūjutk'udessen - natural → tūjutk'udessepk'ö - naturally
-wa -we	Used on a few adjectives to turn them into adverbs of manner	mot'hallossan - silent → mot'harwa - silently
Adverb → verb
-ōkka -wükke	Derives an intransitive verb meaning that something happens in a specific way	mat'ko (in half) → mat'kōkka (break apart) öttöbüt (more) → öttöpwükke (become more)
Numeral → noun
-ofu -ssöfu	Shape with X number of sides (2D or 3D)	kut'pō - three → kut'pofu - triangle kwibössen - ten → *kwibössöfu⁴ - decagon
Numeral → adverb
-akkullat -ssekkillet	Xs of	p'akka - one hundred → p'akkakkullat - hundreds of kwibössen - ten → kwibössekkillet - tens of

¹The last syllable is deleted before this suffix is added, unless the last syllable consisted of a monosyllabic derivational suffix.
²The X stands for any derivational suffix that turns a noun into an adjective.
³In case of the present passive participle, this suffix is added to the auxiliary verb.
⁴Theoretical word.

Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo

Contents