Kedang language

Kédang has a total of twelve vowels in its language, separated into two sets evenly with six vowels per set.[4] One set is composed of modal vowels or also known as normal vowels while the other set is breathy vowels.[4] The vowels can be distinct by two different methods: by the word initial position and by the pitch. Modal vowels (normal vowels) occur in the middle and the final position while breathy vowels do not.[4] While the breathy vowels are pronounced at a lower pitch.[4]

There are twenty consonants in the Kédang alphabet.[5] The consonants display different manners of articulation including plosives, nasals, lateral, flap, trill, fricatives and continuant.[5]

Nouns are formed when affixes are added to the verbs. Kédang’s affixes are the nominalizing prefix N-, the nominalizing infix -an-, the suffix -n and the free form wala.[7]

• The nominalizing prefix N- replaces the initial consonant.[7] For examples:
  • t → n tadaq “to advise” → nadaq “advice”[7]
  • k → n kariq “to speak” → nariq “language”[7]
• The nominalizing infix -an- is added after the initial consonant.[8] For examples:
  • kawang “to flow” → kanawang “current”[8]
  • tangul “to cover a pot with a lid" → tanangul “lid”[8]
• The suffix -n is added to verbs and adjectives at the end of the words.[9] For examples:
  • dei “to follow” → dein “offspring”[9]
  • mate “dead” → maten “corpse”[9]
• The free form wala follows after a verb to indicate the person who is acting out the verb.[9] For examples:
  • durung “to sell” → durung wala “seller”[9]
  • huang “to play” → huang wala “player”[9]

Kédang's pronouns follow the three-way system of singular-dual-plural. They are divided into seven categories: personal, emphatic, possessive, emphatic-possessive, adessive, agent focus and action focus.[10]

Kédang adjectives are divided into two functions: predicative and attributive.[11] In order to distinguish these two functions, a suffix -n is added after the end vowel of a predicative adjective for it to become attributive.[11] If the adjective ends with a consonant, there will be no change.[11]

There is only one verb tense in Kédang that is fully developed – future tense.[12] The other tenses usually require an adverb that indicates time (past, present or future) to support the content along with the verb used.[12]