Hûr-an-tolga

Hûr-an-tolga vocabulary

Hûr-an-tolga ([{h x}uːɾ{a ɑ}ntolga]) is the ancestor of the Hûr-an-tolga languages. It arose as a creole between the three languages Katang, Ngmangis and Kwę́bi. The name of both the language and the people, "hûr-an-tolga", means "we don't fall prey" or "we don't get eaten". This harkens to the origin of the people as a mix of various tribes who had to fend themselves for several generations against predation from the species Homo anthropophagus. Hû-an-tolga is strictly head initial with a VSO word order.

=Correspondences=

With Kwę́bi

 * nʲ > ŋ (except for groups with high Kwę́bi ancestry in which case they turn all /ŋ/ into /nʲ/)
 * tsʼ {tʼ cʼ} {kʼ qʼ} > s t k
 * ts dz > s z
 * θ̺ ð̺ > s z
 * f v > p b
 * ʁ > h~x
 * ɢ > g
 * {ɛ ɛː} {ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː} > e ẽ
 * {ɔ ɔː} {ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː} > o õ
 * {æ æː} {æ̃ æ̃ː} > e ẽ
 * {ɑ ɑː ʌ ʌː} {ɑ̃ ɑ̃ː ʌ̃ ʌ̃ː} > {ɑ~a ɑː~aː} {ɑ̃~ã ɑ̃ː~ãː}
 * {ø øː œ œː} {ø̃ ø̃ː œ̃ œ̃ː} > e ẽ
 * ʔ > x~h
 * c ɟ > t d

With Katang

 * h > x~h
 * Vmb Vnd Vŋg Vnz Vŋɣ > Ṽb Ṽd Ṽg Ṽz Ṽx~h
 * β̞ > w
 * y > u
 * ɜ > e
 * ɨ {ʉ ɞ} > i u
 * ə > a~ɑ

With Ngmangis

 * c > t
 * ɲ > nʲ~ŋ
 * ç > x~h
 * ŋʷ kʷ xʷ > nʲ~ŋ k x~h

=Phonology=

Syllable Structure
(C)V(C)

Consonant clusters may only occur across syllables. An exception to this is the labiovelar clusters inherited from Ngmangis.

Allophony

 * 1) There is free variation between [a ã] and [ɑ ɑ̃].
 * 2) There is free variation between [x] and [h].
 * 3) [ŋ] is pronounced [nʲ] by populations with a majority of Kwę́bi ancestry.

=Noun Phrase=

Number
Nouns are marked for three numbers which are singular, dual and plural. The dual is marked by placing the particle ngek (from Ngmangis ngek "two") after the noun and the plural is marked with the particle kar (from Ngmangis kar "three"). Note that the particles come from Ngangis numbers while the actual numbers are inherited from Katang.
 * îtezû ("fish") > îtezû ngek ("two fish, both fish"), îtezû kar mbisae ("five fish")

Possession
A-Possession is marked with the noun nggati ("property, possession, item") acting as a preposition before the possessing noun:

îtezû nggati king

fish POSS I

"My fish"

H-Possession is marked with the preposition phrase kom nggati nggati X ("in X's possession"):

îtezû kom nggati nggati king

fish in possession POSS I

"I have a fish"

Personal Pronouns
For 3rd person pronouns Katang simply uses the demonstratives sûr ("this, that") and suh ("these, those").

Prepositions
Hûr-an-tolga prepositions either come from prepositions of the source languages or from verbs from the source languages.
 * utęh ("according to, after, to follow") < Kwę́bi utʼą́ą́h ("to follow")

Numbers
All numbers are sources from Kwę́bi, with the exception of the number 5 which is from Katang
 * 1) ke < qwá
 * 2) ngah < nyah
 * 3) lǫh < lǫh
 * 4) doneh < joną́ą́h
 * 5) mbisae < mbisay
 * 6) ekęoh < ę́ę́qwę́oh
 * 7) pa < fá
 * 8) sekįhą < sáákʼįhąą
 * 9) teh < tʼeh
 * 10) owuhe < óbuhee

The numbers 11-19 are made simply by placing the numbers 1-9 before owuhe ("ten") e.g yoneh owuhe ("fourteen"). The numbers 20, 30, 40 etc are made by placing the number owuhe before the numbers 1-9 e.g owuhe pa ("seventy"). Numbers such as 34, 83, 38 etc are made by placing the smaller number at the end e.g owuhe teh lǫh ("ninety three").

=Verb Phrase=

The past tense is marked with the particle/preposition engmos (from Ngmangis kpeng "away" + mos "out of, from, away from") before the verb:

engmos idanz king

PST know I

"I know"

A sentence is made interrogative by placing sûh ya? ("this is true?") at the end:

engmos idanz king sûh ya?

PST know I this true

"did I know?"

=Notes=