Abuan Culture & Language Linguistics Group

In Abuan orthography, singular (present-tense) verbs typically do not begin with vowels, and this makes them easy to identify when written.

Examples (Present-Tense Verbs):
• Tool 👉 carry
• Kuur 👉 grind
• K*m 👉 pound
• Tạal 👉 chew
• Kạaph 👉 talk, speak, narrate, tell [contex defined]

Noun Forms

Their noun counterparts, however, always begin with vowels.

Examples (Nouns):
• Tool → Orool [noun]
• Kuur → Oghuur [noun]
• K*m → Oghum [noun]
• Tạal → Ọraal [noun]
• Kạaph → Ọghaaph [noun]

Why the Central Dot (•) Is Needed

Plural verbs, past-tense verbs, and future-tense verbs also begin with vowels.
To prevent confusion with nouns, the central dot (•) is placed after the initial vowel of any non-present-tense verb.

This orthographic mark helps the reader instantly distinguish:
• Vowel-initial nouns
from
• Vowel-initial plural/past/future verbs

Examples Using Tạal (“to chew”)
• Tạal — present-tense verb 👉 “chew”
• Ọraal — noun 👉 “the act of chewing”
• Ọ•raal — plural/past/future verb 👉 “let’s chew” / “they chewed” / “let them chew”

Another Example

The phrase “let’s come together” is a plural verb phrase, so the dot must appear:
• O•ḍuraan ọ•gbi 👉 plural verb 👉 “let’s get closer / let’s come together”

But without the dot, the same forms become nouns:
• Oḍuraan ọgbi 👉 noun 👉 “the act of getting closer; closeness; the concept of coming together”

Define each 👇👇👇

What’s the difference ❓👇👇👇

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