Paradigm Tables

Morphological patterns, declensions, and conjugations for Naikaumi Language

Event / Utterance Compounds

	Pattern	Example	Meaning	Notes
Verb + Somō	V-somō	Dʒa-somō	Speech / Utterance	Nominalized event
Noun + Somō	N-somō	Ryho-somō	Crackle / Roar of fire	Sound associated with source
Verb + (sound) emphasis	V Somō	Dʒa Somō!	"Say it loud" / "Speak!"	Emphatic, performative

Place Compounds

	Pattern	Example	Meaning	Notes
X-ta (place of X)	X-ta	Ōkhari-ta	Toilet / Water-place	Standard place nominal
X-ni (inside X)	X-ni	Ōkhari-ni	In the water	Inside / Within
X-ta + verb (activity place)	X-ta V	Ōkhari-ta huri	Wash-place	Activity anchored to location

Agent / Person Compounds

	Pattern	Example	Meaning	Notes
Verb + pan	V-pan	Sroka-pan	Hunter	Productive agent
Noun + pan	N-pan	Ōkhari-pan	Water-carrier / Water-person	Occupation or affiliation
Role titles (optional)	pan + N	pan-somō	Speaker / Voice-person	Used as title

TAM Particles

	Particle	Meaning	Placement	Example
Past (optional)	hanu	past/before-now	before V	Ōkhari-ri hunu mut
Future (optional)	koi	future/coming	before V	Ōkhari-ri koi mut
Perfective	tok	completed	before V	Kahula-ti tok kita
Progressive	ni	ongoing	before V	Ōkhari-ri ni mut
Habitual	tana	habitual/daily	before V	Ōkhari-ri tana mut
Modal (can/able)	ham	able/manage	before V	Ōkhari-ri ham mut
Modal (must)	tom	must/required	before V	Ōkhari-ri tom mut

Clause Templates

	Structure	Example	Notes
Neutral declarative	O-S V	Ōkhari-ri mut	OSV; subject clitic after object
Negative declarative	O-S ha V	Ōkhari-ri ha mut	negation before verb
Conditional	si O-S V	Si ōkhari-ri mut, ma	'if …'
WH-question (object)	WH-S V	Sa-ri mat?	WH replaces object slot
WH-question (place)	WH O-S V <==> O-S V WH	Sō ti kani?	Deictic/Locatives prefer WH early
Imperative (bare)	V!	Mut!	Subject omitted
Imperative (polite)	V ma!	Mut ma!	'ma' polite softener
Topic-fronted	TOPIC, O-S V	Ka ōkhari, ri mut	Topic marked with demonstrative + pause

Degree Particles

	Form	Placement	Example	Notes
Very	tom	After adjective	Kruna tom	Intensifier (very / utterly)
More	nik	After adjective	Kruna nik	Comparative particle (more)
Most	tom tom	After adjective	Kruna tom tom	Superlative by doubling
A bit	tik	After adjective	Kruna tik	a little
Too (excessive)	tom torm	After adjective	Kruna tom torm	Too, excessively (very-many)

Adjective (Attachment)

	Pattern	Example	Meaning	Notes
Attributive (NP internal)	N ADJ	Kahula kruna	Big stone	Default attributive order
Predicate (clause)	N S ADJ (stative predicate)	Kahula ri kruna	My stone is big	Ajective used as predicate without copula
Body-part + adjective compound	body-ADJ	Nori-kruna	Big-nosed	Written with dots in full script; easy in shorthand
Possessive-like (“of”)	N ram N	Hon ram ri	My heart	Comitative used as associative

Numerals (Cardinal)

	Form	IPA	Notes
1	un	/un/	1
2	tun	/tun/	2
3	tino	/tino/	3
4	kru	/kru/	4
5	panu	/panu/	5
6	panu un	/panu un/	5+1
7	panu tun	/panu tun/	5+2
8	panu tino	/panu tino/	5+3
9	panu kru	/panu kru/	5+4
10	panu pen	/panu pen/	5+5

Yes–No Question Strategy

	Strategy	Form	Example	Notes
Bare intonation	Intonation Only	-	Ōkhari ri mut?	Rising intonation; no extra marker
Clause-final particle	sa	sa	Ōkhari ri mut sa?	'sa' is “what” in-slot; clause-final = polar Q Focus-fronting: focus move
Focus-fronting	Focus Movement	ka/ko optional	Ka ōkhari, ri mut?	Front focused item; pause/comma does the work

Core Particles & Placement

	Form	Gloss	Slot	Example
Negation	ha	not	after Subject, before Verb	Ōkhari ri ha mut = I don't drink water
Conditional	si	if	clause-initial	Si ōkhari ri mut = If i drink the water
Coordinator (free)	na	and	between phrases	Ri na ti kani = Me and you (are) here
Coordinator (clitic)	-m	and	enclitic to previous word	Ri-m ti kani = Me and you are here
Comitative	ram	with	after NP	Ti ram ri kani = You with me, here
Locative (at)	ta	at	after NP	Ongo ta ri kani = At the lake, I'm here
Locative (in)	ni	in	after NP	Kang nu pani kani = In the earth people are here
Interrogative WHAT	sa	what	in queried slot	Sa ri mat? = What do I eat
Interrogative WHO	san	who	in queried slot	San kani? = Who's here?
Interrogative WHERE	sō	where	in queried slot	Sō ti kani? = Where are you?
Interrogative WHEN	sü	when	in queried slot	Sü ti aukang? = When did you come?
Interrogative HOW	sor	how	in queried slot	Sor ti mat? = How do you eat
Demonstrative THIS	ka	this	NP-initial or NP-final	Ka kahula = This stone
Demonstrative THAT	ko	that	NP-initial or NP-final	Ko ryho = That fire
Deictic HERE	kani	here	NP-initial or NP-final	Ti kani = You are here
Deictic THERE	kuni	there	clause-final or after topic	Ti kuni = You are there

Pronouns & Clitic Forms

	Free form	Clitic Form	Notes
1sg	ri	-ri	Clitic is default after object in OSV: O=ri V; free form for emphasis
2sg	ti	-ti	Same behaviour
3sg	su	-su	Animate 3sg
1pl	mi	-mi	Inclusive by default (if you later want exclusive, add a second form)
2pl	tim	-tim	Can be reduced in fast writing
3pl	ta	-ta	Plural animate

Pattern

Example

Meaning

Notes

Verb + Somō

V-somō

Dʒa-somō

Speech / Utterance

Nominalized event

Noun + Somō

N-somō

Ryho-somō

Crackle / Roar of fire

Sound associated with source

Verb + (sound) emphasis

V Somō

Dʒa Somō!

"Say it loud" / "Speak!"

Emphatic, performative

Pattern

Example

Meaning

Notes

X-ta (place of X)

X-ta

Ōkhari-ta

Toilet / Water-place

Standard place nominal

X-ni (inside X)

X-ni

Ōkhari-ni

In the water

Inside / Within

X-ta + verb (activity place)

X-ta V

Ōkhari-ta huri

Wash-place

Activity anchored to location

Pattern

Example

Meaning

Notes

Verb + pan

V-pan

Sroka-pan

Hunter

Productive agent

Noun + pan

N-pan

Ōkhari-pan

Water-carrier / Water-person

Occupation or affiliation

Role titles (optional)

pan + N

pan-somō

Speaker / Voice-person

Used as title

Particle

Meaning

Placement

Example

Past (optional)

hanu

past/before-now

before V

Ōkhari-ri hunu mut

Future (optional)

koi

future/coming

before V

Ōkhari-ri koi mut

Perfective

tok

completed

before V

Kahula-ti tok kita

Progressive

ongoing

before V

Ōkhari-ri ni mut

Habitual

tana

habitual/daily

before V

Ōkhari-ri tana mut

Modal (can/able)

ham

able/manage

before V

Ōkhari-ri ham mut

Modal (must)

tom

must/required

before V

Ōkhari-ri tom mut

Structure

Example

Notes

Neutral declarative

O-S V

Ōkhari-ri mut

OSV; subject clitic after object

Negative declarative

O-S ha V

Ōkhari-ri ha mut

negation before verb

Conditional

si O-S V

Si ōkhari-ri mut, ma

'if …'

WH-question (object)

WH-S V

Sa-ri mat?

WH replaces object slot

WH-question (place)

WH O-S V <==> O-S V WH

Sō ti kani?

Deictic/Locatives prefer WH early

Imperative (bare)

Mut!

Subject omitted

Imperative (polite)

V ma!

Mut ma!

'ma' polite softener

Topic-fronted

TOPIC, O-S V

Ka ōkhari, ri mut

Topic marked with demonstrative + pause

Form

Placement

Example

Notes

Very

tom

After adjective

Kruna tom

Intensifier (very / utterly)

nik

After adjective

Kruna nik

Comparative particle (more)

Most

tom tom

After adjective

Kruna tom tom

Superlative by doubling

A bit

tik

After adjective

Kruna tik

a little

Too (excessive)

tom torm

After adjective

Kruna tom torm

Too, excessively (very-many)

Pattern

Example

Meaning

Notes

Attributive (NP internal)

N ADJ

Kahula kruna

Big stone

Default attributive order

Predicate (clause)

N S ADJ (stative predicate)

Kahula ri kruna

My stone is big

Ajective used as predicate without copula

Body-part + adjective compound

body-ADJ

Nori-kruna

Big-nosed

Written with dots in full script; easy in shorthand

Possessive-like (“of”)

N ram N

Hon ram ri

My heart

Comitative used as associative

Form

IPA

Notes

/un/

tun

/tun/

tino

/tino/

kru

/kru/

panu

/panu/

panu un

/panu un/

5+1

panu tun

/panu tun/

5+2

panu tino

/panu tino/

5+3

panu kru

/panu kru/

5+4

panu pen

/panu pen/

5+5

Strategy

Form

Example

Notes

Bare intonation

Intonation Only

Ōkhari ri mut?

Rising intonation; no extra marker

Clause-final particle

Ōkhari ri mut sa?

'sa' is “what” in-slot; clause-final = polar Q Focus-fronting: focus move

Focus-fronting

Focus Movement

ka/ko optional

Ka ōkhari, ri mut?

Front focused item; pause/comma does the work

Form

Gloss

Slot

Example

Negation

not

after Subject, before Verb

Ōkhari ri ha mut = I don't drink water

Conditional

clause-initial

Si ōkhari ri mut = If i drink the water

Coordinator (free)

and

between phrases

Ri na ti kani = Me and you (are) here

Coordinator (clitic)

-m

and

enclitic to previous word

Ri-m ti kani = Me and you are here

Comitative

ram

with

after NP

Ti ram ri kani = You with me, here

Locative (at)

after NP

Ongo ta ri kani = At the lake, I'm here

Locative (in)

after NP

Kang nu pani kani = In the earth people are here

Interrogative WHAT

what

in queried slot

Sa ri mat? = What do I eat

Interrogative WHO

san

who

in queried slot

San kani? = Who's here?

Interrogative WHERE

sō

where

in queried slot

Sō ti kani? = Where are you?

Interrogative WHEN

sü

when

in queried slot

Sü ti aukang? = When did you come?

Interrogative HOW

sor

how

in queried slot

Sor ti mat? = How do you eat

Demonstrative THIS

this

NP-initial or NP-final

Ka kahula = This stone

Demonstrative THAT

that

NP-initial or NP-final

Ko ryho = That fire

Deictic HERE

kani

here

NP-initial or NP-final

Ti kani = You are here

Deictic THERE

kuni

there

clause-final or after topic

Ti kuni = You are there

Free form

Clitic Form

Notes

1sg

-ri

Clitic is default after object in OSV: O=ri V; free form for emphasis

2sg

-ti

Same behaviour

3sg

-su

Animate 3sg

1pl

-mi

Inclusive by default (if you later want exclusive, add a second form)

2pl

tim

-tim

Can be reduced in fast writing

3pl

-ta

Plural animate