Waa
 | |
|---|---|
| Waa | |
| Pronounced: | waː, wɑ: |
| Typology | |
| Morphological type: | analytic |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | ergative |
| Basic word order: | VSO, OVS, SVO |
| Credits | |
| Creator: | |
Waa is a constructed language. A large part of its vocabulary is derived from English, or a selection of other languages.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar or glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless stops | p | t | k | |
| Voiced stops | b | d | ||
| Voiceless fricatives | s | h | ||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | |
| Trills | r | |||
| Glides | w | j |
/j/ is written y, and /ŋ/ g. Otherwise, the phonemes follow their 'expected' spelling according to the IPA.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a~ɑ | |
Basic Phrases
There is no distinction between singular and plural, or between definite and indefinite forms, nor are there any other inflections of the noun.
katu - a cat, the cat, (some) cats, the cat,s etc.
huno - a dog, the dog, (some) dogs, the dogs, etc.
Adjectives and other modifying expressions follow the noun:
katu witu - a/the white cat(s)
cat white
huno maka - a/the large dog(s)
dog large
Pronouns
mi I
yu you (singular)
te he, she, it
tenaa that one
tenei thisone
miera we
yuera you (plural)
teera they
teeranaa those ones
teeranei these ones
ei tiaoka - somebody (lit. 'one person')
ei mea - something (lit. 'one thing')
ei osa - some amount (lit. 'one part')
Simple clauses
One basic - though not the only - word-order is S.V.O. - Subject - Verb - Object.
Katu e sewa. - The cat is sleeping. The cat will sleep.
cat NPST sleep
Katu ta sewa. - The cat was sleeping.
cat PST sleep
Katu ta itu muso. - The cat ate the mouse.
cat PST eat mouse
Embedded clauses
Relative clauses are introduced by ae:
Katu ae mi kopa. - The cat that I bought.
cat that 1s buy
Katu ae bita kia. - The cat that bit her.
Complement clauses are introduced by ge:
Mi ta siu ge kia kopa katu. - I saw that he bought the cat.
1s PST see that 3s buy cat
Mi wae ge kia kopa katu. - I want him to buy the cat.
1s want that 3s buy cat
Prepositions
There are two basic, simple prepositions: a 'of', 'by', 'from', and i 'in', 'on', 'at', 'to'.
katu a kia - his cat
cat GEN 3s
Katu ta kee a huso. - The cat came from the house.
cat PST come ABL hous
Kia ta padedu katu a hama. - He killed the cat with the hammer.
3s PST kill cat INSTR hammer
Katu ta kou i rumohaya. - The cat went to the kitchen.
cat PST go DAT kitchen
Kia ta ruko i yu. - She looked at you.
3s PST look DAT 2s
Katu e nea i tebo. - The cat is on the table.
cat NPST be LOC table
These can be combined with locational and other nouns to indicate more precise relations.
Lexicon
Colours
kara - colour
raku - black
witu - white
rei - grey
beu - blue
rinu - green
redu - red
yero - yellow
runo - brown
beuraku - dark blue, black-blue
beuwitu - light blue
Numerals
ei - one
oa - two
kore - three
apa - four
lima - five
sesu - six
sewe - seven
eto - eight
niu - nine
tega - ten
tegaei - eleven (ten one)
tegaoa - twelve (ten two)
etc.
oa tega - twenty (two ten)
kore tega - thirty (three ten)
etc.
apa tegaei - forty-one (four ten one)
apa tegaoa - forty-two (four ten two)
etc.
(ei) huna - (one) hundred
(ei) tusa - (one) thousand
(ei) mirione - (one) million
(ei) birione (one) billion (short scale, like English)
(ei) tirione (one) trillion
Cardinal numerals are placed before the noun:
lima tiaoka - five people
sesu katu - six cats
Ordinal numerals are placed after the noun:
katu kore - the third cat
tiaoka oa - the second person
For 'first', You can use either the numeral ei, or the special word mua:
kat ei - the first cat
kat mua - the first cat
Fractionals are formed with osa 'part' + numeral:
osakore - (a) third
ei osakore - one third
oa osakore - two thirds
ei osatega - one tenth
Family
hami - family
hamiaka - extended family, kin
aba - father, uncle
ama - mother, aunt
bote - brother, male cousin
siso - sister, female cousin
