Ewa Sio

Or, "ayo ha sasaesi ha ewa sio" ("the language of the river people", although they aren't exactly on a river anymore.)

Phonemes, Phonetics, and Orthography

Written

a

i

u

e

o

s

th

sh

f

v

w

m

n

ng

l

h

y

x

'

IPA

a

i

u

e~ɛ

o

s, ɕ

θ, ɕ

ʃ

ɸ~β

f~v

w

m~b

n

ŋ~g

l

h~c~x

j

χ

ʔ

Syllable structure is generally (C)V or rarely (C(w/j))V(n/m).

/iV/ vowel sequences are usually allophones for /jV/.

[si] and [θi] palatalize to [ɕi].

The first initial vowel of a phrase is pronounced with a preceding /h/, to distinguish from accidental glottal stops. These /h/s are not included in plural reduplication.

Sometimes a /h/ is inserted between sequential vowels as well, rather than forming dipthongs. This may more more or less noticable depending on the speaker's accent.

Orthography

Current version of the writing system can be found here. Since the writing system is not a standard alphabet, I was not as easily able to make a font out of it -- I could not be bothered, so here we are.

It is traditionally written without spaces, so text tends to form a single continuous block. The character : is a sentence full stop. A question mark equivalent can also be seen in this page's sample text at the top of the page, although it is not always written out since hoi marks a question in and of itself.

It can also be written in the Naūkeman alphabet, using sh for θ, g for ŋ, yh for χ, ph for ɸ, p for f, ū for w, and k for ʔ.

yhahaka ūiyen ha ne ha kaman phi uphea sag ela hao ūika hiki nomoelo, ela ai uasho phi manai eon layhao ai ūaho.

xaha'a wiyen ha ne ha 'aman fi ufea sang ela hao wi'a hi'i nomoelo, ela ai uatho fi manai eon laxao ai waho.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

you (formal)
you (informal)
I (formal)
I (informal, f)
I (informal, m)
he
she, they (pl)
it, this
here
that
there
what, who
where

Nouns

light
river
coat, cloak
spear, polearm
fire
(smaller) part
time
existence, state of being
priest, ritual-keeper (from "ela xoxoa metheo", "one who understands the gods")
opposite, that which is not (something)
water
gift, offering
who
fish
peace
earth
color
lake*
(compass) direction
hill
ocean** (from noya men, "great lake")
wind
sword* (from kibi, "blade") (replaces archaic noya thone)
tree, plant
branch, limb (of inanimate thing)
bird
knife, cutting tool
insect, beetle
strength, power, energy
needle
sky
sun
god, divine spirit
egg
reason, purpose
bone, currency
animal (domestic)

*Naūkeman loanword.
**Derived from Naūkeman loanword.

People and Familial Terms

person
baby, little child
mother, woman
father, man
daughter, girl
son, boy
brother (of a boy), sister (of a girl)
older sister (of a boy), aunt
older brother (of a girl), uncle
younger sister (of a boy), nephew
younger brother (of a girl), niece
cousin (same gender, default for plurals)
cousin (opposite gender)
grandmother (maternal)
grandmother (paternal)
grandfather (maternal)
grandfather (paternal)
family, clan

Body Parts

body
finger, toe, end, extremity; farthest part
ear
tooth
limb (of a person or animate thing)
head, top(most) part of something
heart, chest, center
foot, bottom(most) part of something
tongue
eye
mouth, taste
nose, smell

Directions

north ('the (sword/needle/cold)'s way', or just 'way')
south
east (lit. 'the rising sun's direction')
west (lit. 'the falling sun's direction')

Verbs

to trade
to shine, to sparkle
to sing
to fall, to descend
to laugh
to pray
to outweight, to be greater than
to chase, to pursue
to tell, to explain
to love
to see
to wear
to make, to cause
to understand, to know of (trans.); to be wise (intrans.)
to dwell, to live (somewhere)
to strike, to attack
to worry, to be afraid (transitive: about/of ...)
to rise, to stand up
to blow (wind); to cry, to howl, to call
to wrap, to fold
to carry, to bear
to have (a trait)
to search for
to speak, to say
to stand, to be (somewhere)
to agree
to hear
to journey, to travel
to go (without), to abandon, to be deprived of
to learn (of) (trans.), to be a student (intrans.)
to resemble, to behave like (trans); to be a copy or fake (intrans.)
to come
to go
to give up (trying something)

Adjectives, Adverbs, and Prepositions

broken, split, fragmented
good
alone, lonely
small
close, tight
still (doing something)
complete, finished, whole
quick
any
beautiful
warm
but
healthy, well, clean
now
ugly, sour, dirty
more
great, large
near
cold
all
far (away)
around
after, above
not
while, as
at the time of...
evil

Colors

black, dark
white, light
red
blue, green

Conjunctions

or
and
so, therefore
but
(and) then

Particles

(genitive)
(intrumentative/locative)
(vocative/lative)
(binary question marker) (used at beginning of sentence)
(follows a verb, indicates passive form)

Greetings, Niceties, etc.

(formal greeting, lit. "You're coming toward us")
(informal version of same)
How are you? (inf., "are you well?")
(common, more neutral greeting, lit. "come in peace")
(common farewell, lit. "go with peace")
thank you
please (see grammar notes)

(diminutive suffix)

Numbers

1
2
3
4
5
6 (lit. "5 and 1")
7
8
9
10 (lit. "fives" (dual))
11
12
13
14
15 (lit. "fives" (plural))
16
17
18
19
20
21
25
30
35
40
45
60
61
66
70
75
90
120
180

(ordinal number prefix)

Grammar

Overview

Mostly isolating, with postpositional particles. Copula dropping. Word order partly indicates mode: SOV for declarative or interrogative (with a marker for binary questions), SVO for imperative.

Plurals

Plurals form by reduplicating first syllable, or first two if the first syllable has a null onset and no coda. Doubled vowels are merged.

For example:
on·a ⟶ on·on·a
hi·yi ⟶ hi·hi·yi
u·fa ⟶ u·fa·u·fa
a·sha ⟶ a·sha·sha
e·u·li ⟶ e·u·e·u·li

The word for two (xi) is often used as a dual suffix, instead of pluralizing for two things. Nouns given numbers are not pluralized.

Two trees: 'omo xi
Trees (2 or more): 'o'omo

Verb Conjugation

Ewa Sio does not distinguish between future and present tense, only past and non-past. Negatives are made by preceding a verb with /voa/ ("not").

Tense	Form	Usage
Past	ai ...	VERBed
Past Continuous	ngiai ...	was VERBing
Past Perfect	ai ... hu'e	have VERBed
Non-Past	-	VERBs, will VERB
Non-Past Continuous	ngia ...	is VERBing, will be VERBing
Non-Past Perfect	... hu'e	has VERBed, will have VERBed

Person is optionally marked by infixing the 1st ('e), 2nd (si/thai), or 3rd person (nge) pronouns between the first tense word and the verb. When used, pronouns are generally dropped.

ai 'e wo'ao
I went.

Adverbs

Verbs can be modified with adjectives the same way as nouns are. Adjectives are basically always also adverbs.

Using Verbs as Modifiers

To modify a noun with a verb, the structure is "ela [VERB] [NOUN]".

Example:

ela asihao ufea
the setting sun

Verb-Based Nouns

The phrases for "that which VERBS" and "that which is VERBed" are "ela [VERB]" and "ewa [VERB]" respectively. The [ela] and [ewa] are from the archaic nominative and accusative forms of [e] ("one").

To use a verb as a noun by itself (e.g. as a gerund), the verb is followed by either [la] (nominative), [wa] (accusative), or another appropriate particle.

There is also a structure for "[VERB] thing", which is just to reduplicate the entire verb. It is a little less formal, and implies a noun associated with the action, rather than a subject or object of the verb. These sometimes have set meanings that aren't obvious from the verb, though.

sowo (to agree) ⟶ sowo sowo (permission)
elo (to pray) ⟶ elo elo (prayer, request (deferent))

Some uses are irregular - for example:

wo'ao (to go) ⟶ wowo (vehicle)

Please...

Requests are made by incorporating the word [sihosi] ("please") somewhere into the sentence. Placement can vary significantly, but the end of the sentence is usually seen as more mature and nicer sounding, whereas the beginning suggests more desperation or need, but can imply an especially humble request.

Questions and Hoi

The word hoi is used both to mean "what" and "who", and to mark a binary question. Since copula dropping and pronoun dropping are both common, tone is also used to distinguish question types. A rising tone on hoi usually marks a binary question, while an open-ended question tends toward flat or falling tone.

hoi metheo?
do (you) understand?

hoi metheo.
what/who do (you) understand? or what/who understands?

At the end of a sentence, it can also indicated a tag question.

metheo hoi?
understand, right?

Historical Grammar

Historically, Ewa Sio had a mostly free word order with six particles: la (nominative), wa (accusative), ha (genitive), ngo (instrumentative), nga (locative), and me (vocative).

Modern Ewa Sio's word order is more fixed, and it only uses three outside of derivation: ha (genitive), ngo (instrumentative and locative), and me (vocative.)

Translations

The North Wind and the Sun

xaha'a wiyen ha ne ha 'aman fi ufea sang ela hao wi'a hi'i nomoelo, ela ai uatho fi manai eon laxao ai waho.
at-the-time-when needle GEN way GEN wind and sun what one-that is-greater strength PAST-CONT argue, one-that PAST travel and warm cloak wear PAST come
While the direction-of-the-needle (North)'s wind and the sun were arguing who was the greater power, one who traveled and wore a warm cloak came.

ela e ngo ela uatho eon lewo luo, ela hao ai sowo.
one-that first one-that travels cloak remove cause, one-that (is) stronger PAST agree
They agreed the one that first will make the traveler remove the cloak was the greater one.

wiyen ha ne ha 'aman, sathe wi'a ngo, ai o'ehuo o'ehuo...
north wind, all strength INSTR, PAST blow blow...
The North wind, with all (its) strength, blew and blew...

... mila xa noi ai o'ehuo, ela uatho eon noi hiawa ai samo, fi umya iseng iseng, wiyen ha ne ha 'aman ai yayo.
... but as more PAST blow, one-that travels cloak more close PAST fold, and after time time, north wind PAST gave-up
... but as (it) blew more, the traveller folded the cloak more closely, and after much time, the North wind gave up.

sa sa, ufea manai ai ahuo'o, fi ela uatho eon ingi ai lewo.
then, sun warm PAST shine and one-that travels cloak quick PAST remove
Then, the sun shone warm(ly), and quickly the traveler took off the cloak.

sa isim, ufea wiyen ha ne ha 'aman ewa ufea ha wi'a hao sio ai luo.
and so, sun north wind one-that-is sun GEN strength is-greater say PAST cause
And so, the Sun made the North wind say the Sun's strength is greater.

Other Dialects

West Sio

The further western dialect generally pronounces /χ/, /h/, /ʔ/, /ŋ/ and /θ/ more as [ɣ], [x], [k], [g], and [t], respectively, and more consistently pronounce the vowel-separating /h/ before initial phrase-initial vowels.

This dialect also has some vowel gemination, and splits the locative/instrumentative /ŋo/ into locative /go/ and instrumentative /ŋgo/.

Historical inflection-based person marking on verbs is partly retained, with 3rd person verbs using the ending [jo], and 1st/2nd keeping the simplified [o]. Modern pronoun-infix marking is not used for 3rd or 2nd person.

The cluster /wj/ is forbidden and becomes [ɸʷj].

sa sa, uɸea manai ai aɣuokjo, ɸi ela wato eon igi ai leɸʷjo.
Then, the sun shone warm(ly), and quickly the traveler took off the cloak.

North Sio

The northern dialect, which neighbors the Ukma people, pronounces [θ] as /ɕ/, drops initial [ʔ] and pronounces non-initial [ʔ] as /k/, [ɸ] as merged with /f/~/v/, [ŋ] as /k/~/g/, and [s] as /s/~/z/. It also tends to reduce down dipthongs, and dipthong-initial [e] and [u] merge with [j] and [w] near nasals. Final V[n] sequences also lose their [n] and become nasalized.

za za, ufe manai ai ahwoko, vi ela waɕo yõ iŋi ai lewo.
Then, the sun shone warm(ly), and quickly the traveler took off the cloak.