Namono language

Namono​ (IPA: [na.mɔ.ˈno]) is a language that is spoken by the Nahmon people, primarily in Naiparku. It is closely related to the Mouried language, spoken by the Mouriu minority ethnic group in the Yanyuhoshe region. Namono is largely analytic, with three word classes (positive, negative and neutral), four numbers in pronouns (singular, dual, plural and collective). Namono distinguishes clusivity and deixis based on the visibility of the referent. There is no writing system for Namono. Two unique features of Namono are: 1) a handful of "unipolar" verbs whose positive and negative forms are etymologically unrelated and are formed by suppletion; 2) the lack of dedicated color terms.

Four main dialect branches exist: western (centered around Orohapan), eastern (centered around Karakankėm), northern (centered around Dominu), and insular (centered around Hwosgash).

Full document of the Namono language can be found here.

Consonants

 * Dental


 * Dental or alveolar depends on environment

Phoneme order
i, y, u, w, e, ė, o, a, b, p, d, t, g, k, z, s, sh, ch, v, j, h, m, n, r

Phonotactics
Namon syllables structure is (C)(C2)V(C3):


 * C2: y/w/r
 * C3: all consonants but voiced obstruents and glides

Words with glide r, coda p and ch, or initial e, ė, sh, ch, s, z are rare.

Stress
Stresses fall on the last open syllable that is before a closed syllable, starting from the ante-penultimate syllable. There are some exceptions: for example, the adverbial suffixes -di/de/ri/re are never stressed.

Allophony

 * Stressed syllables are higher in pitch and with slightly longer vowel.
 * Stressed /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are realized as [e] and [o].
 * /ə/ is elided when preceding a stressed syllable.
 * Word-final -ėm, -ėn are pronounced as syllabic nasals ([m̩], [n̩])
 * Word-final -Vn are pronounced as nasal vowels
 * In internal clusters due to compounding, voiceless obstruents assimilates following voiced obstruents

Word classes
Positive Negative Neutral Most nouns are neutral (except for nouns describing actions), and most verbs and adjectives are either positive or negative (except for copulas)

Suffixes

 * -ik: nominal, agent
 * -wa: nominal, agent (profession, intention)
 * -(a/e)r: nominal, action
 * -o: nominal, patient
 * -u: nominal, location
 * -an: nominal, instrument
 * -te: opposite of…
 * -pe: augmentative
 * -ja: diminutive


 * -di/de: adverbial (attached to a positive root; modifying a positive/negative verb)
 * -ri/re: adverbial (attached to a negative root; modifying a positive/negative verb)
 * -(u/e)t: adjectival (attached to a positive root; modifying a positive/negative verb)
 * -(u/e)n: adjectival (attached to a negative root; modifying a positive/negative verb)

Syntax
Namono is a head-initial (adjectives following nouns, use of prepositions) language with VSO word order. Tense and mood are marked with particles following verbs, and the path of motion of motion verbs are marked with sentence-final particles.

Pronouns
* The default is for neutral to be used when the group referred to are of mixed word classes, so these are not often used (especially the collective ones are rarely used)

Demonstratives
Table


 * Can be followed by 3rd person pronouns if referent is non-person
 * Can be followed by 3rd person pronouns if referent is person

Tenses
Table

Modality
Table

Voices
Examples:
 * You die: sharim naki
 * I kill you: wana sharim nwi naki
 * I have him killed: wana wana sharim nwi dok
 * I make you kill him: wana wana sharim nwi dok tet naki
 * You are killed by me: odon wana sharim naki kak nwi
 * You are made by me to kill him: odon wana wana sharim naki dok kak nwi


 * You hit me: batuk naki nwi
 * I am hit by you: odon batuk nwi kak naki
 * I have him hit: wana batuk nwi dok
 * I make you hit him: wana batuk nwi dok tet naki

Copula
Copula: a

Prepositions and conjunctions
Table

Adverbs

 * tunke: really, truly
 * pi: very
 * zuzu: just, only, solely (only this and not others)
 * mutin: just, only, merely (only this much and not more)
 * mwir: already
 * shoki: still, yet
 * tiya: even
 * rwa: also, too, as well

Vocabulary
Full vocabulary of the Namono language can be found here.

One special feature of Namono is that there are no dedicated color terms: rather, colors are described using analogy with other objects ordinarily possessing that color. Nahmon people believe that this actually makes expressing color more flexible and nuanced.

Western dialect
Nasalization happens not only with word-final -Vn but also with word-final -Vm
 * In most areas even -ėm, -ėn are pronounced as nasalized vowels nasals [ə̃]
 * In some areas, all vowels followed by a nasal coda are nasalized

The quality of nasalized vowels also changes:
 * In some areas, [ã] merges with [ə̃]
 * In almost all areas, [ɛ̃] merges with [ĩ] to [ẽ]
 * In almost all areas, [ɛ̃] merges with [ĩ] to [ẽ]
 * The fate of [ũ] is variable depending on the areas:
 * In some places, it stays [ũ] (rarest)
 * In some places, it denasalizes into [ʊ]
 * In some places, it merges with [ɔ̃] into [õ] (most common)
 * In some places, it merges with [ə̃]

/ɛ/ and /i/ are pronounced more closely to each other in general, and following voiceless plosive in closed syllables, they merge into one sound [e~ɪ].

Northern dialect
A substantial amount of vowel lengthening occurs, and in the northeastern areas some diphthongize (possibly under Mouried influence)

Lenition of /x/ into [h~ɦ]
 * In some areas it is elided completely

Elision of /w/ glide
 * May cause lengthening or not depending on the area
 *  becomes [ɥi] and  becomes [y] in some areas

,  and  are alveolo-palatal and not postalveolar (/ɕ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʑ~d͡ʑ/)
 * In most places  only has the [ʑ] realization
 * In some areas /ʑ/ merges into /j/ (while in some other areas it's the opposite)
 * In some areas /t͡ɕ/ merges into /ʑ~d͡ʑ/

Example phrases

 * Hello (on land): Yepar inahat / Yepinah (“Graceful running”)
 * Hello (in water): Panar inahat / Paninah (“Graceful running”)
 * Hello (in dwelling, to the person coming): Jatinar inahat / Jatinah (“Graceful coming”)
 * Hello (in dwelling, to the person staying): Iparėkar inahat / Iparinah (“Graceful living”)
 * Goodbye (on land): Yep kurjadi vai / Yepkur (“Run swiftly!”)
 * Goodbye (in water): Pana kurjadi vai / Pankur (“Swim swiftly!”)
 * Goodbye (in dwelling, to the person leaving): Mus kurjadi vai / Muskur (“Go away swiftly!”)
 * Goodbye (in dwelling, to the person staying): Avah dwakishde vai / Avadwak (“Stay safely!”)
 * Thank you: A madok kara byosat / Amado kabyo / Amaka (“That is plenty of water”)
 * I'm sorry: Wana ginu buri nwi / Wangibur (“I have let (you bleed)”)