Ancient Rinaki

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Rinaki is spoken by the Naruerinaki, a people living upon two Island chains in the ocean east of Namjog.

Etymology

Rinaki comes from rina 'to speak' and simply means language, speech, tongue. Naruerinaki comes from the same root and means the to speak something with the plural marker.

Phonology

• Consonants

Stops p t k /p t k/

Fricatives f v s z sh / f v s z S/

Affricates pf ts ch /pf ts tS/

Liquids r l /r l/

Approximants w y /w j/

Vowels

a ä e i ì o u / A @ I i Q U/

ay ey oy /aI eI oI

Lenition

p	t	ts	k	m
f	s	s	h	v

/m/ only lenits when followed by a vowel

Verbs

Rinaki is an ergative absolutive language. This is marked on nouns and not on the verb.

Ntuekasha nchuwem navi

Boy-erg fish-acc hunts

The boy hunts the fish

Word order is relatively free as cases show the relationship between words, however as a default order most speakers use SOV/EAV

The verb isn't marked for person nor tense but for perfectiveness or imperfectiveness, benefactive or antibenefactive and lauditive or pejorative. Aspect and various moods are used by placing infixed in 3 positions, the most common coming after the first syllable

There are two patterns verbs can follow;

Bisyllabic
U<infix1>n<infix2>I >uni
Ma<infix1>-ch<infix2>a >macha

Monosyllabic
T<infix1><infix2>un > tun
Ts<infix1><infix2>u >tsu

Bisyllabic verbs

Macha – teach

• Infix 1

macha teaches
mayaacha – taught perfective
mawaacha – teaching imperfective

The perfective is made with the insertion of /j/ plus doubling of root vowel after the first syllable, the imperfective replaces /j/ with /w/. Leaving the first infix gives the meaning of a simple present tense.

• Infix 2

Machana – caused/made to teach

machola – taught and performed for benefit - benefactive
machura – taught and performed for harm - antibenefactive

machonka – teaching and happy about it - lauditive
machämpa – teaching and bored, anxious or annoyed about it - pejorative

Infixes for position two appear in the order above.

Monosyllabic verbs

Monosyllable verbs work excatly the same by bisyllabic, the infixes coming after the first syllable

tun – visit

• Infix 1

Tun - visits
Tuyuun - visited
Tuwuun - is visiting

• Infix2

Tanun - made to visit
Tolun - vist (for one's benefit)
Turun - vist (for one's harm)

Tonkun - visiting (and happy about it)
Tämpu - visting (and annoyed about it)

Causitives

Causatives are used to make verbs or nouns do something, i.e to die, becomes to kill; to make die/to cause to die. Adding a causative to a noun; house, to make a house. In a noun this infix will always come after the last syllable, intervining between the consonant and the vowel causing the vowel to move after -an-

Die intr – tuki > Kill tr – tukani
House – zunka > to build a house zunkana

These verbs follow normal verbal rules, however the first infix will come after any grammatical prefixes

To build a house – Zunkana
Have built a house - Zuyuunkana
Building a house - Zuwuunkana

This applies to multisyllabic words

Kuoyenrîmatasha Naseyeetenchanu

Kuoyenrìmata raised the Natetenchu Isles

Passive Voice

A passive can be created by taking away an arguement and putting it into the accussative case

The boy hunts the fish Ntuekasha nchuwem navi > The fish is hunted Nchuwem navi

also

The boy hunts Ntuekasha navi > The Boy is hunted Ntuekawem navi

Addtional moods

There are two suffixes which can come after final vowel

• Opative - want > Machakwe
• Possibilitve -can > Machawiu
• Obligative - should/must/ought > Machanga

Negation is marked with the prefix pu-, this is followed by lention.

I didn't teach him what to hunt > He navi, foysha smowem puvachämpa

Imperative

There are two forms of the imperative, one used to make polite commands and the other informal. The formal is made in position infix 1 with -yun-

please follow/come > kayun Please eat > eyunsha

The informal is the simply stem of the verb come! Ka!

Questions

To form questions add the particle aswi to the end of the main clause.

Would you like to eat? > hnunu eshakwe aswi?

Have you eaten today? > hnunu chuzi eyeesha aswi?

Verbal Morphology

• -ki; nominalizer; makes verbs into nouns.

Rina – Speak > Rinaki – language/Rinaki

Bibi – Drink > Bibifpoki – a Drink

• -tsono; verbalize an adjective;

Tsèngi - hunger > tsèngitsono - to be hungry

Pìvang – cruel > pìvangitsengi – to be cruel Verbs that take tsengi and huna as an ending add their infixes to the root of the word

• -hùna; to use a noun;

punga – fist > pungahuna – to punch

myeta – flesh > myetahuna – to have sex

• -laki; derive abstract nouns from verbs,

tuki – die > tukilaki - death. Ketu – love > ketulaki – love

-kwi; to go somewhere to do...; to go somewhere to die > tukikwi; he went to die > smoko tuyuukikwi.

-hano; to come somewhere to do...; to come to eat > eshahano;

he came here to eat > smoko eyeeshahano.

Nouns

Plurals

There are three numbers in Rinaki, singular, the prefix dual tyo- and the prefix Na- denoting more than two. The dual is used for anything that occurs in natural pairs and whatever the speaker wants to join. Both prefixes cause lenition.

Brother Tsusko > Brothers Nasusko

My eyes > Foypom Tyonari

Ergative

Subject of a transitive verb sha, otherwise known as the actor.

The Brother hit the Sister> tuskosha zurawem puyuungahuna.

Accusative

Object of an intransitive verb wem, otherwise known as the patient.

The Brother hit the sister tuskosha zurawem puyuungahuna

Localitive

-run is used to indicate movement to a location or time, with the location being either the final or non final destination then the locative suffix is used.

I went to the House > Foy zunkarun keyeehe

-nan indicates a static static location such as in/on/at

I am in my house > Foy zunkanan seze

Instrumental

With/by are translated with the instrumental suffix -yun if the preposition indicates an instrument used by the subject to perform the action of the verb.

I always hunt with a bow > Foysha ngakyoeyun uyongi tiunavi

-kutu is used to show joint participation in some situation described by the verb.

I hunt with my brothers > 'Foysha foypom nasuskokutu tiunavi

Genitive

-pom is used to show posssession

The father's fish > Anampom nchu

My mother > Foypom nanta

Dative

-hna indicates the beneficiary of an action and is usually translated as for or to, any verb will also have the benefitative suffix

Kuoyenrìmata gave us the world > Kuoyenrìmatasha tuuntawem nafoyhna soyoongoli

Reverential

-tsi show respect towards spirits and used for politeness

mother nanta> honoured mother nantatsi

Songinahrongutsi

Vocative

The vocative oe is used to address people or a group

Hello brother > Koswo oe tusko

Phrases and clauses

Conjunctions

Noun phrases can be conjuncted with kwòmo (and), however Rìnaki does not use conjunctions with joining verb phrases.

Dependent and relative clauses

Simple relative clauses can be formed adjectivized verbs, which have the suffix -yo and come beofre the noun

The men who hunted the the shark > Kuneo nayaaviyo Nasumpo

The bird that chases the children > Kwesmi twumpoyo namwey

Before and after

Before and after occur last in the first clause and is always the first clause

Kwerum - Before

S1 kwerum,S2 > before S1, S2

Before you eat, you should thank the spirits > Hnunusha tiueshola kwerum, hnunusha Nayunetsiwem toyholunga

Fisko - After

S1 fisko, S2 > after S1, S2

After we killed the fish, we sailed home > Nafoysha nchuwem tuyuukanoli fisko, zunkarun iyiinchu

Makto - When

Is used to express simultaneity and occurs in the first clause

When the weather is good, the children play on the beach > Hvìna rungo' seze makto, do navewe erekonan wanukwi'

When I am tired, I don't hunt well > Foy hweri sezämpe makto, foysha hvìna putiunavurämpi