Old Unuvi

Old Unuvi is the oldest form of the Unuvi language, attested in documents from the 84th century.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants	Bilabial	Dental	Velar	Uvular
Plosive	k͡p p ⟨kp p⟩	t̪ t̪̻ ⟨t t2⟩	k ⟨k⟩	q ⟨q⟩
Nasal	ŋ͡m m ⟨n2m m⟩	n̪ ⟨n⟩	ŋ ⟨n2⟩	ɴ ⟨n3⟩
Tap/Flap		ɺ̻ ⟨r⟩
Approximant		l̪ ⟨l⟩	ɰ ⟨w⟩	ʟ̠ ⟨l2⟩

Vowels

Speakers of Old Unuvi associated each point of vowel articulation with a gender. ⟨i⟩ was associated with the green gender, ⟨a⟩ with the foreign gender and ⟨u⟩ with the heavenly gender.

Vowels in Old Unuvi

Vowels	Front	Back
Close	i i: ⟨i ii⟩
Open	ɯ ɯ: ⟨u uu⟩	a a: ⟨a aa⟩

Grammar

Pronouns

Old Unuvi had a complex set of personal pronouns. Green and foreign pronouns have both a short form and a longer form with an attached -kpa. Heavenly pronouns have both a short form and a longer form with prefixed u- (un- in front of vowels).

Old Unuvi pronouns

	Green (G)	Foreign (F)	Heavenly (H)
Singular (SG)	l2aa(kpa)	pi(kpa)	(un)lii
Dual (DU)	t2a(kpa)	ni(kpa)	(un)ma
Plural (PL)	t2at2a(kpa)	ki(kpa)	(un)kii

In addition to personal pronouns, there was a highly complex set of demonstrative pronouns conjugated for gender.

Demonstratives in Old Unuvi

	Proximal			Medial			Distal			Interrogative
	Green	Foreign	Heavenly	Green	Foreign	Heavenly	Green	Foreign	Heavenly	Green	Foreign	Heavenly
Nominal	ikit2u(kpa)	akit2u(kpa)	(un)ukit2u	imit2u(kpa)	amit2u(kpa)	(un)umit2u	ilit2u(kpa)	alit2u(kpa)	(un)ulit2u	itit2u(kpa)	atit2u(kpa)	(un)utit2u
Location	ikil2a	akil2a	ukil2a	imil2a	amil2a	uiml2a	ilil2a	alil2a	ulil2a	itil2a	atil2a	util2a
Direction	ikirii	akirii	ukirii	imirii	amirii	umirii	ilirii	alirii	ulirii	itirii	atirii	atirii