G'Vunna Grammar
G'Vunna is a fusional language. Nouns decline for number, and are divided into eight noun classes.
Phonology
Main page: Appendix:G'Vunna pronunciation
Notably, coda consonants frequently geminate in stressed position. Additionally, G'Vunna has high-low vowel harmony, meaning that words can only contain the former or the latter vowel in the following pairs: /i/ ~ /e/, /y/ ~ /ø/, /u/ ~ /o/, and /ə/ ~ /a/.
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
In the G'Vunna language, personal pronouns underwent changes from Veda in the following manner:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | künnǝ ("I") | minnǝ ("we") |
| Second Person | daz ("you") | saz ("you") |
| Third Person | inngin ("he, she, it") | limmǝ ("they") |
Possessive suffixes
Each personal pronoun also gave rise to possessive suffixes. Historically, the determiner position for G'Vunna followed the noun, leading to the transformation of determiners, such as the Veda demonstratives lin ("this") and khon ("that"), into suffixes. The possessive suffixes are as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel-Final | Consonant-Final | Vowel-Final | Consonant-Final | |
| First Person | -k | -ü/-ö | -m(i/e) | |
| Second Person | -d | -(ǝ/a)z | -z | -(ǝ/a)z |
| Third Person | -ng | -(i/e)ng | -l(i/e) | |
The suffixes which end in oral or nasal stops (i.e. -k, -d, and -ng) geminate if they occur after a stressed vowel. For instance, "my happiness" is sushukkǝ, while "my power" is zhochonngak. This gemination is a pervasive feature across the language, applying uniformly in tonic position rather than being specific to particular suffixes.
Nouns
Nouns in G'Vunna display inflections for singular and plural number. Furthermore, they are categorized into eight distinct noun classes, each identified by a specific prefix that changes based on whether the noun is singular or plural. The form of these prefixes varies depending on whether the base noun begins with a vowel or a consonant, as well as whether it contains high or low vowels. The noun classes are as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
| Sentient Class | zv- | z(u/o)- | m- | m(i/e)- |
| Air Class | gz- | k(i/e)- | ngz- | ng(i/e)- |
| Earth Class | gh- | t(ǝ/a)- | gh- | t(ǝ/a)- |
| Fire Class | gh- | v(ǝ/a)- | ngh- | m(u/o)- |
| Water Class | (i/e)n- | l(i/e)n- | ||
| Celestial Class | zm- | s(u/o)- | s- | v(u/o)- |
| Greater Class | v- | zh(u/o)- | v- | nj(u/o)- |
| Lesser Class | ch- | ch(i/e)- | j- | j(i/e)- |