Sateca'an

ca ke kíwedna, kawen uín konis díipa.
Lit. You (may) not understand me, but go in good health.

Sateca'an is the ancestor to the Talnabyaksha and Sacishaan languages, and a distant cousin of Kintsaya. It hasn't been spoken for ~1000 years, since the sea-nomads and further archipelago-tribes split off and distinguished themselves from the mother-islanders.

Phonemes, Phonetics, and Orthography

Written

a

b

c

d

e

g

h

í

i

k

l

m

n

o

p

Romanized

a

b

c

d

e

g

h

í

i

k

l

m

n

o

p

IPA

a

b

ʃ

d

e

g

h

i

ɪ

k

l

m

n

o

p

Written	r	s	t	u	w	y	n/a
Romanized	r	s	t	u	w	y	'
IPA	ɹ, r*	s	t	u	w	j	ʔ

*dependent on dialect

Syllable structure: (C1)(C2)V(i)(C3)

C1: Any consonant (except, at head of word, /g/ or /y/)
C2: /w/, /l/, rarely /s/ or /r/
V:   Any vowel
C3: /n/, /l/, /c/, less often /h/, /s/, /k/, /t/ or /d/.

The phoneme /ʔ/ is not considered a letter or sound alone, but rather, is used to separate repeated vowels. It is not technically represented in Sateca'an's usual script, but is inserted here in transliteration for convenience and as a stylistic choice.

A word-final /h/ is not generally pronounced.

Note on Orthography

Sateca'an was not written when it was originally spoken, and its script reflects that. It's mostly just a transliteration into later Naūkeman script, with slight alterations consistent with the variants used to write Sacishaan, but not much in the way of funky digraphs or historical spelling shenanigans.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

I
you
it/he/she
him (non-nominative only)
her (non-nominative only)
this (nearer to speaker)
that (further from speaker)

where
what
when
here
there

Articles

the

Nouns

Neuter
soup, stew
day
bowl, shell
coast, shore
water
lake, river, a large body of water as seen from shore
feather, quill
wing
west
sun
tree
thing
fish (meat)
fish (animal)
hunting bow
beast, wild animal
tomorrow
front, top, end
sunset, dusk
word
east
ocean, sea, a body of water as seen from within it

Feminine
boat (generic)
boat, canoe (from acinde tí cin, "boat of one")
boat (acinde tí rocí, "boat of twenty men")
back, bottom (of something), beginning
yesterday
sunrise, dawn
air, cloud
sky
time (general)
time (a specific point or moment)
politeness, ettiquete, harmony (culturally specific; loose translation)
child
animal (domestic)
wind
ring, loop
cloak, garment
meat
plant
traveling bag, sack, quiver
fire
bush, branch
bird, flying animal
woman
peace
dagger (from diminutive of /ten/, "sword") (f.), ;) (m.)

Masculine
south
north
cloth
man, person, he
(curved) sword (loanword)
health
fragment, broken piece*
edge, border
root
light
island, place
rock, stone
earth, land
soil
sword

Kinship Terms

mother (f.)
father
brother (m.)
sister (f.), sibling (n.)
son, boy
daughter, girl (f.)

Body Parts

butt (n.)
arm, hand (f.)
fingers (n.), toes (m.)
head (f.)
body (m.)
foot, leg (m.)
;) (m.)
chest, torso, heart (m.)
breast (f.)
face (m.)
mouth (f.)
eye (m.)
nose (n.)
nose (m.)
tongue, language (m.)

Some Irregular Words

name (one's own) (follows owner's gender)

*Naūkeman cognate.

Prepositions

with, by means of
in, at, on, near (locative)
above, in front of, after
behind, in back of, before
regarding, in/at (a topic)
from
into, toward

Verbs

to be (in a temporary state)
to walk
to shake (one's head), to agree
to give
to create, to give birth to
to love, to be fond of
to intend, to plan (to)
to speak with
to need, to require
to do
to write (enwa ula, "to use a quill")
to go (somewhere in particular)*
to visit (from "íhwe ina", to go and come from)
to see or hear
to return (to somewhere in particular)
to come from (somewhere), to be originally from (somewhere)*
to take
to leave behind, to abandon
to trouble, to disturb
to happen, to come into existence
to travel/go/come (from somewhere, to somewhere)*
to die
to follow
to fish; to sort or sift
to stay, to linger
to be broken, to scatter, to spread
to carry, to hold, to contain
to trade
to find, to encounter
to listen, to watch
to arrive, to make an appearance, to reach
to wear
to not have, to lack; to miss (someone or something)
to touch; to affect emotionally; to feel... ([EMOTION] omí [EXPERIENCER])
to argue, to disagree
to want
to kill
to think... (from rokol no wo, to be/have in one's head)
to remember (from rokol no laíle, to carry in one's head)
to eat or drink
to be able to (aux.)
to be (permanently, or possessing an inherent quality)
to nod one's head, to disagree
to sing
to call
to use
to resemble, to be like
to examine, to learn about
to know (of) (from "wadan", to have learned of)
to be skilled in
to exist

*The distinction between these words is not the movement relative to the speaker, but in specifying point of origin versus point of destination or both. The verb "íhwe" specifies a destination, "ina" specifies a point of origin, and "ipa" can have both.

Adjectives

strong
few
empty
wide, thick
great, long
large
more, beyond; outside
small
easy, simple
old
full
narrow, thin
young, fresh, immature
less
weak
difficult, complex
many
all, completely ("none" with negative)
calm
new (not for person's age)

white, yellow
red, orange
green
blue
black, purple, dark

Adverbs

only, just

Conjuctions

while, as
and (used for both lists and clauses)
but, however
or

Greetings, Niceties, etc.

Do you come to us in peace? (Common greeting)
We travel to you in peace (reply to above)
Return (home) in health (common farewell)
thank you (from kíoelelas, "(I am) not lacking")
please (lit. "(I) don't intend to bother (you)")

(female honorific, ~Ms, Madame)
(male honorific, ~Sir, Mister)
(fem. diminutive honorific; i.e. "Miss")
(male dimin. honorific)

Numbers

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
15
20 (not the only form, see grammar notes)
21
30
40
100
101
120
200

Grammar

Word order is typically SOV. Adjectives follow nouns. Subjects are frequently dropped and tracked via conjugation; gendered third person pronouns are not even used for nominative case.

Plurals, Possessives, and Other Affixes

Plural suffixes conjugate by gender.

Neuter	-an
Feminine	-ke
Masculine	-cí

Counting

Numbers use neutral conjugation by default (ex. /roan dan/, "two tens", for 20), but when used to describe a number of something, they use the plural conjugation appropriate to the noun being counted. Note that the noun is not pluralized when a number is given.

lí rocí dan wa taga bíwo
lí rocí dan wa taga bíwo
There are twenty-four (lit. "two tens and four") men.

ca ísí wila wa roan ceo díílídan
ca ísí wila wa roan ceo dí'ílídan
I saw one hundred and fifty trees.

ca hle roke pen wa sea kíwo.
ca hle roke pen wa sea kíwo.
I do not have thirty-nine children.

A number is made ordinal by adding the appropriate adjective suffix.

Verb Conjugation

Verbs take different prefixes depending on gender and animacy of the subject.

	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Negative*
Animate	dí	dí	bí	kí
Inanimate	de	am	am	ka

*Applies regardless of gender

Tense is determined by a verb-ending suffix.

	Simple	Continuous	Conditional
Past	-(e)dan	-(e)dos	-(e)din
Present	n/a	-(e)las	-(e)lín
Future	-(e)kan	-(e)kos	-(e)kín

Perfect and pluperfect forms are made by adding ogín (animate) or egan (inanimate) as suffixes to the simple and continuous forms, respectively. The suffix ga marks imperatives.

Variant and Irregular Verbs

There are categories of verbs that conjugate a little differently than the rest.

To Be

/de/ + /a/ and /de/ + /ɪ/ become /de/, /ka/ + /a/ becomes /ka/, and and /ka/ + /ɪ/ becomes /kɪ/.

na dweo ínak de.
The lake is small.

hle íwu ka.
(A) child is not old.

ca ada kina
I do not come from here.

enwa nea dena
Feathers come from birds.

Verbs beginning in /w/

The beginnings /dew/ and /kaw/ become /dw/ and /kw/.

dwemín dwo.
There is water.

dwemín kwo.
There is no water.

Verbs beginning in /ɪ/

The beginnings /diɪ/, /biɪ/, and /kiɪ/ lose the /ɪ/, and the consonant after the /iɪ/ geminates instead.

kíipaga!
kipːaga
Don't go!

ca dwedon ta na cun díina.
ʃa dwedon ta na ʃun din:a
I come from the Northern coast.

Other Vowel Harmony Changes

The pattern /iCɪ/ becomes /iCi/.

ca ec dícíla
She plans to speak with me.

ca kacila
It cannot plan.

Auxiliary Verbs

You can verb another verb directly - the final verb applied gets the conjugation, while the "inner" verbs being acted on go unconjugated.

ca'an hunonkícila
I-PL-N follow-NEG-ANIM-intend
We don't intend to follow.

Conditional Form

The conditional form is used for "if" statements, to express the possibility of something.

For example:

telu talta dísilín, hle díwo til dícasídan.
telu talta dísilín, hle díwo til dícasídan.
woman mother F-ANIM.be.COND child F-ANIM.exist or F-ANIM.create.PAST
If (a) woman is a mother, (either) (she) has a child, or bore one.

ca na ana dírundín, na acwin dola de.
ca na ana dírundín, na acwin dola de.
1ST-SG the soup F-ANIM.eat.COND the bowl empty F-INAN.be
If I eat the soup, the bowl is empty.

ca lata tí ke kísílín, ke hlelí tí ca kísí.
ca lata tí ke kísílín, ke hlelí tí ca kísí.
1ST-SG father GEN 2ND-SG NEG-ANIM.be.COND 2ND-SG child.male GEN 1ST-SG NEG-ANIM.be
If I am not your father, you are not my son.

Adjective Conjugation

Adjectives, when applied to nouns, conjugate with a suffix based on the noun's gender.

Neuter	-du
Feminine	-mar
Masculine	-nu
Negative ("un-")	-kla

na kahla cunmar
na kahla cunmar
The North wind

These suffixes can also convert a noun or (appropriately conjugated) verb into an adjective. Verb-adjectives do not need a gender or animacy prefix.

na lí aclanu
na lí aclanu
the first (lit. "beginning") man

ísían molkake usladu
ísían molkake usladu
trees that look like bushes

matan ílisaruadankla
matan ílisaruadankla
those who could not return

These resulting conjugated adjectives can also be used as nouns in their own right.

na ílisaruadankla
na ílisaruadankla
those who/that which could not return

na aclanu
na aclanu
the first (one)

Adverbs can be made by conjugating words, usually adjectives, with slightly different suffixes.

Neuter	-da
Feminine	-ma
Masculine	-na
Negative ("un-")	-kel

lí telusma dímicedan
lí telusma dímicedan
(she) watched him calmly.

Gerunds, Derivation, etc.

The suffix -wa marks a gerund. It replaces the tense suffix for the verb. Verbs ending in -a lose their final vowel to this suffix.

ca dítuwa bílídan
ca dítuwa bílídan
1ST-SG F-ANIM.sing.GERUND M-ANIM.hear.PAST
I heard (a woman) singing.

ke enwulwa hawednadu día
ke enwulwa hawednadu día
1ST-SG write.GERUND be-skillful.ADJ F-ANIM.be
You are good at writing.

Possession

Possessives precede nouns, and conjugate by animacy of the possessor.

Animate	tí
Inanimate	ta

Examples:

dweo ta na ídan
river of the west

ten tí talta tí ca
my mother's sword

Some older terms use the archaic forms te and to for tí and ta.

satecaan
sateca'an
tongue.GEN-ANIM.1ST.PL-N
our tongue ("Sateca'an")

There are two common verbs to describe possession.

The verb /wo/ actually means "to exist", but if used transitively, indicates possession of the object. This is more commonly used for general cases.

The verb /oel/ means "to not have", and is perhaps better translated as "to lack". To say you have something uses the negative, /kíoel/. This verb usually implies not just having a thing, but having enough of a thing, or the thing being useful or sufficient for the possessor.

Comparators

To say something is more [ADJECTIVE] than another thing, you say it is ikor [ADJECTIVE] hí [the other thing], literally "more [ADJECTIVE] from it." The phrasing of "less [ADJECTIVE]" is uncommon, and tends to be expressed by reversing the order of compared objects, but if used, uses a double negative with nai ("less"). Verbs being used as adjectives are also negated in this form (i.e. double negative.)

ke ikor akrasnu hí neka tí ca dísí.
2ND-SG more strong.M from brother GEN 1ST-SG F-ANIM.be.PRES
You (f.) are stronger than my brother.

ca hlelí nai kíwokla hí Wedkekayin.
1ST-SG child less NEG.be.ADJ-NEG from Wedke.HON
I have fewer children than Ms. Wedke.

Translations

tba