South Luabian

South Luabian vocabulary

=Name= The name South Luabian is a translation of the native name ri wujašez temašez ("southern luabian language"). The adjective wujašez ("luabian") describes anything from the Wuap region, descending from the Old Moca wūab with the adjective suffix -sēse attached. The Old Moca name for the region wūab was a loanword from the Widiosiuge name Lūab which itself was a loanword from the Old Sumrė lürabmau ("land of the bat") which was so named by the Sumnė due to how most of the Naddurussrriv lived there. Also from Old Sumrë comes the South Luabian word for bat ori (lürab > lyreb > lire > ori). This etymology is unknown to the Moca and is ironic given how the Moca inhabitants of Luab discrimate against the Naddurussrriv without knowing that their proud name comes from the very people that they hate.

=Phonology=

Vowels
When after the velar plosive /k/, the vowel /oː/ may occur but not it's short counterpart /ɔ/.

Consonants
When /l/ is in the coda it becomes [ɔ] and it is spelled as such. When a suffix causes it to be in the onset the /l/ is restored:
 * ráreo ("bird") > rárele

Phonological History
mw → m

j →d#_!...d

l>i/K_

sj {tj kj} {dj gj} nj rj fj → ʃ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ɲ ʒ w

j →z/C_

CVr# → CRV#

mb nd ɲɟ>b d ɟ

Ṽ → V

(s,z)t͡ʃ(ː) (s,z)d͡ʒ(ː)>ʃ ʒ

t͡ɕ d͡ʑ>ɕ ʑ

u uː → ə u

kʷ gʷ>ku gu

xj ɣj>ɕ ʑ

i e o → ɪ ɛ ɔ

zw → zː


 * 1) S[+low]S[+high] → #S[+high]S[+low]

l → ɔ/_$

b p d t g k → p pː t tː k kː! in a cluster or word initially

Cː>C

ʃ ʒ>ɕ ʑ

x ɣ> j w

t͡ʃ d͡ʒ > ɕ ʑ!in the ethnonym moca and it's derivatives and in personal names and some placenames. Old t͡ʃ d͡ʒ́ are still spelled as 

Gender
There are three genders which are common, animate and inanimate. the common gender arose when the buzzard gender of Old Moca became unstable due to sound changes interfering with distinguishing its suffixes so all buzzard nouns took on the deer gender whose suffixes remained distinct and so the two genders merged into the "common" gender. Unlike the other two genders, the common gender has nothing to do with semantics. This means that South Luabian has both purely grammatical genders (common) plus purely semantic genders (animate and inanimate).

Gender switching
Gender switching occurs when a animate or inanimate noun inflects for a locative case. This is because each declension only differs in the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative cases as those were the cases that existed when the declensions formed in Proto-Sumro-Naukl. However the locative cases are an Old Sumrë innovation and so they are the same for any declension of nouns. The locative cases do however inflect for the common gender. So when an animate or inanimate noun takes on a locative case it must switch gender to become a common noun. This gender switch is evidenced in agreement.

Common Nouns
South Luabian has a variety of declensions to which a noun may belong. In the derivation from East Middle Moca the broken nouns were leveled to become common nouns. The below table demonstrates the most common declension of nouns belonging to the Common gender. South Luabian makes a proximal distinction in its plurals, distinguishing between plural nouns nearby vs plural nouns far away. When after a vowel the suffixes -še and -sin are -že and -zin.

Zero-Grade Nouns
Zero-grade is another declension which has also had its nouns mostly reanalyzed as Common nouns, leaving the remaining nouns as mere irregular nouns. Zero-grade nouns in Old Moca had a syllabic consonant in the final syllable, quite often they had no vowels at all. These nouns experienced reduplication where the vowels of any affix were reduplicated before the syllabic sonorant. East Middle Moca then turned these syllabic sonorants into vowel+sonorant sequences. Below are the six nouns left of this once greater declension. In South Luabian the nouns were leveled such that only the nominative plurals retain the older irregular forms.

Geo-Nouns
-Geo nouns are nouns that have been derived from verbs with the suffix -ke (from the suffix -geo in Old Sumrë). Nouns formed this way have their own case paradigm. Since -Geo noun endings only differ from buzzard/deer endings in the nominative and oblique cases this table will exclude the locative cases. Geo-nouns can be either animate or inanimate. Since the causes that created each noun class happened before Old Sumrë gained its locative cases only the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative forms differ in each declension, with the locative causes being identical for every declension.-Geo nouns are nouns that have been derived from verbs with the suffix -Geo. Nouns formed this way have their own case paradigm. Since -Geo noun endings only differ from Common endings in the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative cases this table will exclude the locative cases. Geo-nouns can be either animate or inanimate. Since the causes that created each noun class happened before Old Sumrë gained its locative cases only the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative forms differ in each declension, with the locative causes being identical for every declension.

B-Nouns
B-nouns are animate nouns that have been derived from adjectives. There are two patterns of B-nouns which vary depending on whether the derived from stem ends in a consonant or a vowel.

O-Nouns
O-nouns are inanimate nouns derived from any word with no suffix or the suffix -p.

In some rare cases an O-noun may have -o or -e as the oblique singular: ráreo ("bird") > rárele

D-Nouns
Some D-nouns beginning in /t/ experience a shift to /j/, this is due to historical initial /j/ becoming /d/ except when /d/ follows in the word.

S-Nouns
ori is an irregular noun as its East Middle Moca form lir was effected by metathesis to lri and then vocalization to ori.

R-Nouns
R-nouns are nouns whose Proto-Sumro-Letaeric ancestor ended in /Vs/ or /Vs/. The forms in South Luabian tend to end in /Vz/ but rarer forms can end in /V̄ V/. Both animate and inanimate R-nouns decline in the same way.

Topic Marking
Topic marking in South Luabian is one area where there is a distinction between how men and women speak. Topicalisation as used by men is called strong topicalisation and topicalisation as used by women is called weak topicalisation. The various roles of nouns that are topicalised are known as shades. Adjectives that follow the copula may also be topicalised in the same manner as nouns. The closest translation to South Luabians topicalisation into English is the definite article "the".

Shade 1
Shade 1 topicalisation emphasizes the subject's role as the agent and is marked with the proclitic t- onto the noun phrase. If the phrase begins with /i j t/ then the clitic is ž- and the /j/ is dropped.

ž-erá mzem-emzez pre-ja

TOP-wolf hunt-3S.CMN sloth-OBL

"The wolf hunts a sloth"

Shade 2
Shade 2 strong topicalisation emphasizes the object's (direct or indirect) role as the patient and is marked attaching the proclitic o- onto the noun. If the phrase already begins in /l/ then the vowel following the /l/ is reduplicated after the clitic. If the phrase begins in a plosive followed by a back vowel or /ɔ a/ then the proclitic is á-. If the phrase begins in a back vowel then the proclitic is w-. When the noun begins in any other consonant then the clitic is o-. Note that a strong topicalised object is placed in the nominative case. If the noun begins in /j/ or /t/ then the clitic is o- and the initial /j/ of the stem becomes /z/.

terá mzem-emzez o-pre

wolf hunt-3S.CMN TOP-sloth.NOM

"A wolf hunts the sloth"

mze nunek-emez o-pze

I cut-1S TOP.knife.NOM

"I cut with the knife"

Shade 1
This is marked by the proclitic l- onto the noun phrase. The same allomorphic rules apply to the above mentioned clitic.

o-zerá mzem-emzes pre-ja

TOP-wolf hunt-3S.CMN sloth-OBL

"The wolf hunts a sloth"

o-zest ñek-mere wáje-ta

TOP-mouse eat-3S.CMN.PST bread-OBL

"The mouse eats bread"

le-lereo velerel-emzez

TOP-river flow-3S.CMN

"The river flows"

o-woš ken-emez ma

TOP-patter_of_rain please-3S.CMN 1S.OBL

"The patter of the rain pleases me"

á-kua sop akeonemzeš eme kuē

TOP-head POSS boar be.3S.INAN delicious

"The boar's head is delicious"

Shade 2
This is marked by fronting the object to the beginning of the sentence.

pre-ja terá mzem-emzez

TOP.sloth-OBL wolf hunt-3S.CMN

"A wolf hunts the sloth"

wáje-ta test ñek-mere

TOP.bread-OBL mouse eat-3S.CMN.PST

"A mouse ate the bread"

ma woš ken-emzez

TOP.1S.OBL patter_of_rain please-3S.CMN

"Patter of the rain pleases me"

kuē kua sope akeonemzeš eme

TOP.delicious head POSS boar be.3S.INAN

"A boar's head is delicious"

Shade 3
This is marked by shifting the indirect object to the front of the sentence.

pze-pe mze nunek-emez

TOP.knife-PRO I cut-1S

"I cut with the knife"

Adjectives
South Luabian adjectives must agree to the noun they modify in gender, case and number. adjectives agreeing with common nouns do this by taking on the same endings as the nouns, the animate/inanimate genders act differently as will be described below. Note that adjectives only agree with the non-locative cases, when modifying with a noun inflected in a locative case the adjective will only agree with the gender and number. Note that adjectives always follow the head noun.

Agreeing with Common nouns
If an adjective ends in a vowel or /l r n/ then no change is needed and can be inflected as is:
 * še ("holy") > mekko še ("holy world") > mekkože šeže ("holy worlds")
 * mze ("happy") > pze mze ("happy knife") > ''pzeže mzeže ("happy knives")
 * ten ("pathetic") > pze ten ("pathetic knife") > pzeže tenše ("pathetic knives")

Some adjectives that used to end in a nasal vowel in East Middle Moca experience no change and can be inflected as is. The vowel becomes /Vn/ when suffixes beginning in vowels are added:
 * te ("big") > pze te ("big knife") > pzeta tena ("big knife-")
 * ne ("green") > pze ne ("green knife") > pzeta nena ("green knife-")

If an adjective ends in a consonant however then -e is added onto the adjective. If the adjective ends in Vz then rather than a suffix the Vz becomes rV:
 * seo ("old") > meko sele ("old world") > mekože seleže ("old worlds")
 * tiojelez ("nice") > meko tiojeore ("nice world") > mekože tiojeoreže ("nice worlds")
 * žek ("strong") > pze žek ("strong knife") > pzeta žeka ("strong knife-")
 * nák ("broken") > pze náke ("broken knife") > pzeže nákeže ("broken knives")

Agreeing with animate nouns
Adjectives agree to animate nouns by adding the suffix -áz onto the adjective. Adjectives agreeing to animate and inanimate nouns don't take on regular case ending like the deer and buzzard nouns do. Rather -áz has its own case paradigm shown below, this is true only for the nominative and oblique cases with the locative cases being the same as as they are on nouns. When the adjective ends in a vowel the final vowel of the stem is deleted, when the stem ends in two vowels only the second vowel is deleted. When the adjective ends in a nasal vowel, the nasal vowel becomes /Vn/ when these suffixes are applied. Adjectives that end in /rV/ experience metathesis to /Vr/ when a suffix is added. Some adjectives used to end in a nasal vowel in East Middle Moca in these the vowel becomes /Vn/ when suffixes beginning in vowels are added


 * ákre ("cold") > lemep ákeráz ("cold trapper")
 * te ("big") > lemep tenáz ("big trapper")
 * seo ("old") > lemep seláz (old trapper")

Agreeing with inanimate nouns
When the adjective ends in a consonant, the consonant is lost and the preceding vowel broken when these suffixes are applied. When the adjective ends in a nasal vowel the vowel is rendered non-nasal when these suffixes are applied.


 * te ("big") > tetap tep ("big cobweb")
 * ten ("bad") > tetap tev ("bad cobweb")
 * tre ("hard") > tetap šep ("hard cobweb")

Adjectives in formal and ritualistic speech
There are a set of adjectives that are reserved for speaking in a divine or holy context which have all been derived with the augmentative suffix -wák. In Old Moca this suffix used to attach to any adjective describing a divine referent but now in East Middle Moca it is a derivational suffix only. Here is a list of adjectives followed by their derivatives with -wák. Most of these were derived in East Middle Moca so the relationship for some of the words may be obscured by sound changes.


 * mra ("good") > mzarwák ("wonderfully divine, epic, awesome, righteous")
 * te ("big") > tewák ("colossal, of epic and holy importance, supreme")
 * seo ("old") > seowák ("incredibly ancient")
 * ten ("pathetic") > tenwák ("demonic, defiled by Bidyro")
 * žek ("strong") > žekuák ("as strong as a god")
 * mze ("happy") > mzewák ("heroic") - mostly used in storytelling to refer to divine humans

Pronouns and Determiners
Singular Pronouns

Plural Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns
=Verb Phrase=

South Luabian has the infinitive suffix -e.


 * me skuákemez ("I pour")
 * ter nunekmežez ("you cut")
 * lem šēkeret? ("did they dig"?)

When the verb stem ends in /m/ and takes a suffix beginning in /m/ also then both merge into /p/:
 * some ("to travel") > sopežez ("you travel")

Zero-Grade Verbs
Zero-grade verbs are a small class of verbs that experience ablaut in the stem, due to how zero-grade verbs behaved in Old Moca. Some of these verbs can be quite irregular.


 * zosku- ("to weave, to fabricate")
 * žekue ("to weave")
 * mze žekuemes ("I weave")
 * ter žekumre ("you- weave")
 * josku ("weaving")
 * kuo- ("to stray")
 * šete ("to stray")
 * lemre šetmere ("it strayed")
 * kuo ("straying")

Imperative
The imperative is formed by removing the final consonant of a verb stem plus breaking the preceding vowel. If said vowel is long or already broken then it does not break. If the final consonant is t or k then they become š.


 * vejare ("to wake up") > veja! ("wake up!")
 * skuáke ("to pour") > skuáš! ("pour!")
 * náneke ("to cut") > náñeš! ("cut!)
 * šēke ("to dig") > šēš! ("dig"!)
 * some ("to travel") > suo! ("travel!)

Supine
As well as the infinitives, South Luabian has the supine. The supine is a verbal noun used to describe motion and indicates purpose and intention, or as a predicate of another verb. It is formed with the prefix k-. This prefix causes changes to the stem itself. If the verb stem begins in a plosive then the plosive will lenite as shown below. If the verb stem begins in a cluster then when the k- prefix is attached it will place an /ɛ/ between the cluster in the stem (but not in the cluster with the prefix). Some clusters with /v/ may remain, the table below will explain how it is treated in each situation. When in the supine the verb's infinitive suffix will drop.

Some verb stems beginning in sk form an irregular supine with šer, these verbs descend from Old Sumrë verbs beginning in /gs/:
 * skuákę ("to pour") > šerák
 * skuáze ("to tame") > šerwáz

Adjective Participle
Adjective participles are derived from verbs with the suffixes -wá (for agreeing with common nouns), -wánáz (for agreeing with animate nouns) and -wáp (for agreeing with inanimate nouns). When the verb stem ends in a consonant, the consonant is dropped and the preceding vowel broken. The negative forms are -wám, -wánwám, -wábám respectively.
 * šēke ("to dig") > šēwá, šēwánáz, šēwáp
 * šešáe ("to vanish") > šetšáwá, šetšáwánáz, šetšáwáp
 * náneke ("to cut") > náñewá, náñewánáz, náñewáp

t-pze náñe-wám eme nák''

TOP-knife cut-PART-NEG be.3S.INAN broken

"The non-cutting knife is broken"

Passive Participle
Passive adjective participles are derive from verbs with the suffixes -ek (for agreeing comon nouns), -ekáz (for agreeing with animate nouns) and -jep (for agreeing with inanimate nouns). The negative forms are -jem, -ekem, -ekwám, -jebám.
 * šēke ("to dig") > šēkek, šēkekuz, šēšep
 * šešáe ("to dig") > šešáek, šešáekáz, šešájep
 * náneke ("to cut") > nánegek, nánegekáz, nánešep

t-pze náneš-e-m eme nák''

TOP-knife cut-PP-NEG be.3S.INAN broken

"The uncut knife is broken"

Adverbs
Adverbs in South Luabian are freely derived from adjectives and are not morphological distinct from them. Adverbs are placed after the verbs that they modify.

The adverb jet ("barely, hardly, for a small while") denotes an action that occurred for a short time, or an action that was half-assed or barely happened.

t-pze nánekožep jet

TOP-knife cut-3S.INAN.PST barely

"The knife barely cut"

Adverbs can even be topicalised to place emphasis on them.

ž-et šre eme mra

TOP-hardly road be.3S.INAN great

"The road is hardly great"

Jussive mood
The adverb verez ("must, have to") marks an action required by the speaker but also an action or truth that the speaker believes should happen. It has the negative form vežem.

mze mzem-emez verez wáme-ja

I hunt-1S JUS deer-OBL

"I must hunt a deer"

tre ar-mežez vežem wátež-ja

you throw-2S JUS.NEG fruit-OBL

"You shouldn't throw fruit"

Conditional mood
The adverb kueori marks the conditional mood. The negative form is kueozim.

ñák-emez kueori

walk-1S COND

"I would walk"

Hortative mood
The hortative mood is used to mark encouragement. When negative this acts as a light imperative. This is marked with the adverb taz. The negative form is šam

tre sop-ežez taz o-mope

you travel-2S HORT TOP-mountain

"You should travel to the mountain"

tre sop-ežez šam o-mope

you travel-2S HORT.NEG TOP-mountain

"You shouldn't travel to the mountain"

=Krintham's Poem=

Krintham's poem is a short prosaic text written by the shaman Krintham. It has become used as a popular text to translate among the Sumro-Letaeric languages to compare the different languages side by side.

Si wázr kuenrer

this day-COM beautiful-COM

"on this beautiful day"

nersin jec nemsin kuelozepez czerza ozaja

man-DIST.PL and woman-.DIST.PL hew-3PL.PST path-ACC long-ACC

"Men and women have hewn a long path"

siczett skuázmerē somę mzetre mekkoppe

PURP know-1PL.INCL travel-INF 1PL.INCL.POSS.NOM.SG world-PRO

"So that we can travel through our world"

penre stáeme kejedrá siepsin selepsin

VOL protect-3SG.PL PASS god-PRO.PL old-PRO.PL

"may it be protected by the old gods"

penre ereo jec kueri skuokuren ñekkera lemereo

VOL sun and moon shine-3PL light-ACC 3SG.SUPER

"may the sun and moon shine light over it"

someosin sopp nezin joc romren

foot-DIST.PL POSS person-DIST.PL while walk-3PL

"as peoples' feet walk"