Obscurisms are words or alternative forms of words that are not used in everyday conversation, but are still part of the language. Although they are not expected to be used in most contexts, they are still completely accepted as valid and may thus be used in any contexts interchangeably with the regular forms.
Obscurisms originated from an original distinction between extended and non-extended forms of morphemes which was present during the early development of the language, and were later discarded. However, they were later reincorporated into the language as alternative forms of words, which were added to the accepted vocabulary as obscurisms, mostly for cryptic uses and historical conservation.
Since they are not expected to be used in most contexts, they are not included in the main vocabulary lists. New learners are not expected to learn them, but they should be aware of their existence.
Due to them stemming from an older stage of the language, they are not subject to the usual rules of word formation and may thus look rather strange. They often do not follow standard syllable structure with some of them incorporating apostrophes.
Additionally, even though many of them resemble their normal counterparts, the standard forms have evolved over time, leading to some of them not even remotely resembling their regular counterparts. There are even some instances where there does not exist a regular counterpart for an obscurism, since the regular form was completely discarded, the case of "-wa" being the most prominent example.
| Spelling (obscure) | Spelling (standard) | Implication / Definition / Used as | Type | Etymology of the obscure form | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| w, wa | inanimate pronoun | pronoun | "w" is the shortened form of "wa"; both are accepted as valid obscurisms | the inanimate pronoun was discarded | |
| te | important, or previously discussed, object, entity or concept | article | not to be confused with the standard form "te" (the) |
| Spelling (obscure) | Spelling (standard) | Type | Etymology of the obscure form | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nen' | nen | adverb | ||
| sun' | sun | adverb | ||
| tun' | tun | adverb | ||
| sac | saci | adverb | ||
| tac | taci | adverb | ||
| tah | tahi | adverb | ||
| kah | kahi | adverb | ||
| soh | sohi | adverb | ||
| taw | tawa | adverb | ||
| kaw | kawa | adverb | ||
| sow | sowa | adverb | ||
| plu | pum | conjunction | the word for the logical conjunction, now "pum", was originally "pulu" | |
| nen' | nen | interjection | ||
| hnl | henlo | interjection | ||
| n | na | interjection | ||
| kon'ba | konba | interjection | ||
| k | ke | interjection | ||
| bwe | biwe | interjection | ||
| hh | hihi | interjection | ||
| kas | kase | noun | ||
| hn' | hun | noun | ||
| lm | luma | noun | ||
| mw | mawa | noun | ||
| ln'mi | lanmi | noun | ||
| wn'tu | wantu | noun | ||
| fal | falo | noun | ||
| ln'wa | linwa | noun | ||
| cn'ku | lumaba | noun | the word for "friend", now "lumaba", was originally "cinku" | |
| dwu | dawu | noun | ||
| ntu | natu | noun | ||
| mw | mawa | noun | ||
| wno | wano | numeral | ||
| dwu | duwo | numeral | ||
| bmo | bimo | numeral | ||
| cko | ciko | numeral | ||
| sbo | sebo | numeral | ||
| won'to | wonto | numeral | ||
| nin'to | ninto | numeral | ||
| din'ko | dinko | numeral | ||
| mid | mida | pronoun | ||
| tal | talo | pronoun | ||
| kal | kalo | pronoun | ||
| sol | solo | pronoun | ||
| -r | -ri | suffix | ||
| -s | -se | suffix | ||
| -k | -ke | suffix | ||
| -c | -ci | suffix | ||
| -p | -pa | suffix | ||
| -fal | -falo | suffix | ||
| -d | -da | suffix | ||
| -l | -lo | suffix | ||
| mw | mawa | verb | ||
| bn'ta | binta | verb | ||
| ten'co | tenco | verb |