Nouvimiraaluitut Laañliiv
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Nuvimak Grammar
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 1 Apr 2017, 01:57.
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
The grammar overall more resembles Inuktitut, with a phonology and lexicon mostly consisting of French-derived terms, although some words - particularly in the domestic sphere - are of Inuktitut origin as well. There are also some words borrowed from the neighbouring Algonquin languages, Naskapi and Innu/Montagnais. In recent years, English loanwords have also permeated the lexicon.
| Consonants | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ñ | ||
| Plosive | p | t d | c g | q | |
| Fricative | v | s | ch | r | |
| Liquid | l | j | w |
| Vowels | Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i ii | u | ou |
| Mid Oral | e | o | |
| Mid Nasal | ê | û | ô |
| Low | a | aa â |
Phonetic realizations:
- Consonants -IPA except for:
- ñ /ɲ/ in most contexts. [ŋ] is found word-finally, before velars, and in some other situations. [ɴ] appears before uvulars.
- c - /k/
- ch - /ʃ~ç/. Value depends on speaker preference and region. Sometimes voiced.
- r - /χ/, sometimes /ʁ/
- ñ /ɲ/ in most contexts. [ŋ] is found word-finally, before velars, and in some other situations. [ɴ] appears before uvulars.
- Vowels
- ii - /i:/
- u - /ʉ/
- ou - /u:/
- ê - /ɛ̃/
- û - /ɞ̃/
- o - /ɔ/
- ô - /ɔ̃/
- a - /ä/
- aa - /ɑ:/
- â - /ɑ̃/
- ii - /i:/
Sound & orth changes: FR > NVI
- Consonants
- gn /ɲ/ → ñ /ɲ/
- b → v
- f → v, p
- ch /ʃ/ + j /ʒ/→ ch /ʃ/
- r /ʁ/ → /χ/
- y /j/ → j /j/
- /ɥ/ → v /v/ after labials, /j/ elsewhere
- /w/ → v /v/
- gn /ɲ/ → ñ /ɲ/
- Vowels
- u /y/ → /ʉ/
- eu /ø/ → u /ʉ/, û /ɞ̃/
- eu /œ/ → ê /ɛ̃/, û /ɞ̃/, o /ɔ/
- /œ̃/ → û /ɞ̃/
- /ə/ → Ø, û /ɞ̃/, e /e/, o /ɔ/
- /a/ → a /a/, /ä/
- ille /ij/ → ii /i:/, ij /ij/
- u /y/ → /ʉ/
Sound & orth changes: IKU > NVI
- Consonants
- ng /ŋ/ → ñ /ɲ/
- q → c /k/, r /χ/
- ll /ɬ/ → j /ʃ/
- r /ʁ/→ r /χ/
- ng /ŋ/ → ñ /ɲ/
- Vowels
- u /u/ → /ʉ/
- uu /u:/ → ou /u:/
- aa /a:/ → /ɑ/
- in# → ê /ɛ̃/
- un# → ô /ɔ̃/
- u /u/ → /ʉ/
Morphophonology
Neither o nor e has a direct long correspondent. Instead, oo is /u:/ and ee is /i:/.
Nominal morphology resembles Inuktitut, somewhat simplified. There are six cases (down from ten in Nunavimmiutitut) and three numbers. There are no word classes excepting some morphophonological groups, and no grammatical gender. Some words borrowed from French inherited an inherent noncount quality along with the article/prefix d(u)-, such as /do/"water" (from d'eau).
The Inuktitut noun paradigm has eight cases: absolutive, ergative, instrumental, allative, ablative, locative, perlative, and similative. In Nuvimak, the allative, ablative, and perlative are combined into the dative, and the similative into the instrumental. The system is therefore ergative, absolutive, instrumental, locative, and dative. The absolutive is the unmarked case.
The numbers are singular, dual, and plural.
| Noun cases | ERG | ABS | INSTR | LOC | DAT | VIA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SG | -m | Ø | -mec | -mi | -mun | -muk |
| DU | -ɲ | -:c | -ɲic | -ɲi | -ɲun | -ñuk |
| PL | -n | -it | -ic | -ni | -nun | -nuk |
As a general rule, it is clear that /m/ marks singulars, /ɲ/ duals, and /n/ plurals, although the absolutive nouns break this rule.
The -:c rule for DU.ABS indicates that the final vowel should be lengthened; a final consonant may need to be deleted. For example, do /dɔ/ "water" is douc /du:k/, while lasjel /läsjel/ "sky" becomes lasjeec /läsji:k/.
Most words have a French origin, but there are a good number of exceptions. Many nouns from French begin with la-, le-, du-, or û-, fossils of the articles le, la, les, du, un, une. Likewise, many of the basic verb stems take the ending -e from the infinitive -er and other verb endings with the value /e/ (-é, -ais, etc). However, there are many nouns that were borrowed without articles or endings; the selection appears to be somewhat random, but in some cases indicates the most common contexts those words appear in.
Words derived from Inuktitut generally refer to the domestic sphere; there are also many body parts and a few other core-vocabulary words from Inuktitut. Many of the core vocabulary words have doubles from both parent languages, although often the meaning of one has shifted slightly.
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