Haughòf Grammar
Haughòf is a highly isolating language. It is mostly head-initial, and the word order is verb-subject-object (VSO). There are prepositions, which cause different kinds of consonant mutation in the following segment. Relative clauses follow the nouns they modify. Possessors are marked with a preposition, and follow possessees.
Nouns
Nouns in Haughòf do not inflect.
Noun function
Haughòf is a nominative-accusative language. The subject is generally unmarked. In a regular transitive sentence, the preposition wà/w/v precedes the object. The form of the preposition used depends on the phonological environment. It sometimes causes vocalic consonant mutation of the following segment.
Number
There are six noun numbers: singular, dual, paucal, gregal, plural, and collective. The gregal number is used for a pack, herd or flock. The singular is the unmarked form. The rest are marked with a preposed particle, which generally causes consonant mutation of the following segment:
| Cluster | Vowel | Fricative | Plosive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bram "dog" | alo "floppy ear" | kwav "bird" | dogho "name" | |
| Singular | bram | alo | kwav | dogho |
| Dual | ka vram | kai alo | ka khwav | ka zhogho |
| Paucal | mema vram | mema alo | mema khwav | mema zhogho |
| Gregal | mema vram | memai alo | mema khwav | mema zhogho |
| Plural | lakhwa vram | lakhwai alo | lakhwa khwav | lakhwa zhogho |
| Collective | he mram | hem alo | he gwav | he nogho |
Possession
The genitive preposition a(i) is used to mark possessors, and follows the possessed noun which it modifies.
Determiners
Demonstratives come at the very end of a noun phrase. Haughòf distinguishes animate and inanimate demonstratives, as well as proximal and distal locations. This means there are four distinct demonstratives:
| Animate | Inanimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Proximal | dyàk | mòl |
| Distal | kwèm | raṭ |
Verbs
Copulas
There is an equative copula and a locative copula, which both have positive and negative forms, resulting in four different copulas:
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Equative | ṭò | tyu |
| Locative | khwè | bal |
Numerals
Haughòf uses a base-18 number system, with lexical subbases in evidence for base-11 and base-6.