Sceptrian: Difference between revisions

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{{Construction}}
{{Construction}}


'''Sceptrian''' (''batop lushan'' /bätəp luʃä/ or simply ''lusha'') is an ''a priori'' language created for the fantasy world Akekata by [[User:Juhhmi|juhhmi]].  
'''Sceptrian''' (''batop lushan'' /ˈbäˑtəp luˈʃãˑ/ or simply ''lusha'') is an ''a priori'' language created for the fantasy world Akekata by [[User:Juhhmi|juhhmi]].  


==History==
==History==
Line 8: Line 8:
'''Lore:''' Sceptrian language, named after the Sceptre peninsula, derives from Lutian language used in the Empire of Western Sceptre. With 12 million native speakers, Sceptrians outnumber those speaking [[Khattish]] and Guddean, the other two main West-Herookuan languages.
'''Lore:''' Sceptrian language, named after the Sceptre peninsula, derives from Lutian language used in the Empire of Western Sceptre. With 12 million native speakers, Sceptrians outnumber those speaking [[Khattish]] and Guddean, the other two main West-Herookuan languages.


'''Actual:''' I weren't sure how to continue with [[Aoma]] (except for translations which I haven't been interested in) so I decided to begin creating a new language based on my scribbles. Remarkably, the script was created after the phonology had been decided. I promise that one day I'll have a good proto-language first, realistic daughter languages second, scripts third and modern languages fourth...  
'''Actual:''' I weren't sure how to continue with [[Aoma]] (except for translations which I haven't been interested in) so I decided to begin creating a new language based on my scribbles. Remarkably, the script was created after the phonology had been decided. But I have to promise that one day I'll have a good proto-language first, realistic daughter languages second, scripts third and modern languages fourth...  


'''Problems:''' As mentioned above, I'm still too lazy to create a proto-language...
'''Problems:''' As mentioned above, I'm still too lazy to create a proto-language...
Line 20: Line 20:
==Phonology==
==Phonology==


Scetprian features 32 consonants, some of with interesting lateral features, twelve vowels with long versions and four diphthongs.  
Scetprian features 32 consonants, some of them with interesting lateral features, twelve vowels with long versions and four diphthongs. Nasalization, rhotacization and breathy voice are used as well.  


===Consonants===
===Consonants===
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*Aspiration/breathy voice: ''pho'' /pʰə/~/ɸə/, ''bho'' /bʱə/~/βə/, ''tha'' /tʰä/~/θä/, ''dha'' /dʱä/~/ðɑ/.   
*Aspiration/breathy voice: ''pho'' /pʰə/~/ɸə/, ''bho'' /bʱə/~/βə/, ''tha'' /tʰä/~/θä/, ''dha'' /dʱä/~/ðɑ/.   
**In casual register, aspirated plosives of unstressed syllables turn into the corresponding fricatives as shown above.  
**In casual register, aspirated plosives of unstressed syllables turn into the corresponding fricatives as shown above.  
*Nasalization: ''on'' /ə̃~ɘ̃/ (compare ''oń'' /ən/)
*Nasalization: ''on'' /ə̃~ɘ̃/ (compare ''oń'' /ən/) when ''n'' in [[Sceptrian#Phonotactics|coda]]
**Close vowels (u, o, ó and i) are always nasalized between two nasals and all vowels after short ng: ''mónge'' /mɔ̃ŋẽ/, but nasalization does not occur with open vowels and long ńg: ''nańge'' /näŋ:e/.
**Close vowels (u, o, ó and i) are always nasalized between two nasals and all vowels after short ng: ''mónge'' /mɔ̃ŋẽ/, but nasalization does not occur with open vowels and long ńg: ''nańge'' /näŋ:e/.
*Rhotacization: ''or'' /ɚ/, ''ar'' /ä˞/ (compare''oŕ'' /ər/~/r/ and ''aŕ'' /är/)  
*Rhotacization: ''or'' /ɚ/, ''ar'' /ä˞/ (compare''oŕ'' /ər/~/r/ and ''aŕ'' /är/)  
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Inflected and affixed word forms have the same stress as the base word (even monosyllabic body): ''gat'' → ''gatan'' /ˈgɑˑ.tän/, ''gatle'' /ˈgɑˑ.tˡe/
Inflected and affixed word forms have the same stress as the base word (even monosyllabic body): ''gat'' → ''gatan'' /ˈgɑˑ.tän/, ''gatle'' /ˈgɑˑ.tˡe/


Interrogatives are formed by changing the primary stress onto the first syllable. This is indicated with ¿.
Interrogatives are formed by changing the primary stress onto the first syllable and a rising pitch. This is indicated with ¿.




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===Table of correlatives===
===Table of correlatives===
Determiners follow their heads and agree in number and with the cases mentioned above, where DAT with LAT; COM with LOC; CAU with ABL; ABL with VOC. Words follow the declension shown above or paradigms similar to [[Sceptrian#Cases|noun cases]].


{|  border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg"
{|  border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg"
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|-
|-
!colspan="2"| Determiner
!colspan="2"| Determiner
| sho || ka<br />kla || ko<br />klo || || || || ||  
| sho || ka (SG)<br/>kla (PL) || ko<br />klo || jofa (some) || ota (any) || orka (every, all) || ze (no) || so (another)<br/>solo
|-
|-
!rowspan="5"| Pronoun
!rowspan="5"| Pronoun
!Abstract
!Abstract
| shu<br /> || || || || || || ||  
| ashu || thaka || dhaka || jaafa || thata || thorka || theso || thaso
|-
|-
!Animate
!Animate
| || saitu || soutu || || || || ||
| ¿soutu || saitu || soutu || jonfu || onta || ongka || souso || jonso
|-
|-
!Inanimate  
!Inanimate  
| || || || || || || ||  
| ¿ko || ka || ko || jofo || oto || orko || ze || so
|-
|-
!Out of two
!Out of two
| || || || || || || ||  
| ¿tso || tsaka || tsoko || zho || tsoto || tsorko || tseso || tso
|-
|-
!Out of many
!Out of many
| || || || || || || ||  
| ¿tsolo || tsalka || tsolko || zolo || tsolto || tsongko || tsleso || tsolo
|-
|-
!rowspan="6"|Pro-adverb
!rowspan="6"|Pro-adverb
!Locative
!Locative
| || || || || || || ||  
| sku || khau || khu || jofku || otku || orkhu || zengu || sokhu
|-
|-
!Temporal
!Temporal
| || || || || || || ||  
| sko || kha || kho || jofko || otko || orkho || zeng || sokho
|-
|-
!Causal-ablative
!Comitative
| || || || || || || ||  
| shos || kas || kos || jofos || otos || orkos || zeos || sos
|-
|-
!Lative
!Causal
| || || || || || || ||  
| spe || kap || kop || jov || otop || orkop || zenep || sonop
|-
|-
!Manner
!Manner
| || || || || || || ||  
| shi || khai || khoi || jofai || otai || orkai || zei || soi
|-
|-
!What kind of
!What kind of
| || || || || || || ||  
| shodh || kadh || kodh || jodhi || othi || ordhi || zodhi || sothi
|}
|}
*Negative determiner ''ze'' has no plural form. Neither have pronouns "Out of two".
*Demonstratives are used when referring to listed items of equal animacy: proximal with the former and distal with the latter: ''Aitesoshóji math kuthos. Óomidh soutu.'' (I saw a cat and a dog. The latter was large.)
*Locative pro-adverb can be conjugated with lative, locative and ablative.


===Nouns===
===Nouns===
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*Dative (DAT): Indirect object; alienable possession ''gat dothi'' (a house of (lit. "for") the man); comparison (with ADJ comparative)
*Dative (DAT): Indirect object; alienable possession ''gat dothi'' (a house of (lit. "for") the man); comparison (with ADJ comparative)
*Possessive (POS): Inalienable possession ''dhoku dothor'' (the man's head)
*Possessive (POS): Inalienable possession ''dhoku dothor'' (the man's head)
*Instrumental-comitative (INS): Using something; with someone; in antipassive constructions
*Instrumental-comitative (INS): Using something; "with someone", replaces "and" as Latin [[wikt:-que|-que]]; in antipassive constructions
*Lative (LAT): Movement to (+sublative (surface))
*Lative (LAT): Movement to (+sublative (surface))
*Locative-temporal (LOC-TEMP): Place (+superessive); time (when/duration...verb telicity); with some adpositions
*Locative-temporal (LOC-TEMP): Place (+superessive); time (when/duration...verb telicity); with some adpositions
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*''A'': vowels ''a'' and ''ó''
*''A'': vowels ''a'' and ''ó''
**Ae: ae = æ and óe = ø
**Ae: ae = æ and óe = ø
*''F'': fricatives ''f, s, sh'' and ''h'' as well as affricates ''ts'' and ''tsh'', which are followed by ''o'' before plosive endings
*''F'': fricatives ''f, th, s, sh'' and ''h''; voiced counterparts and affricates ''ts'' and ''tsh'' are followed by ''o'' before plosive endings.
*''N'': nasals ''n, m'' and ''ng''
*''N'': nasals ''n, m'' and ''ng''
*''P'': plosives ''p, t, k'' and ''q''
*''P'': plosives ''p, t, k'' and ''q''
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*Example: ''gat'''atha'''pa'' (from Your house)
*Example: ''gat'''atha'''pa'' (from Your house)


See non-finite verb forms which utilize some possessive suffixes in adverbial clauses <-- something from Aoma (lettex) & Finnish (kävellessäni)
See [[Sceptrian#Non-finite_forms|non-finite verb forms]] which utilize some possessive suffixes in adverbial clauses <-- something from Aoma (lettex) & Finnish (kävellessäni)


====Emphasizing clitics====
====Emphasizing clitics====
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*Base noun may describe an abstact quality, feature: "weakness"→"similar to weakness"/"having weakness"/"without weakness"
*Base noun may describe an abstact quality, feature: "weakness"→"similar to weakness"/"having weakness"/"without weakness"
*similarity, having something: ''dh'' suffix to abstract gender and animate ''u''-ending, voicing of fricatives (''h→gh'', no change with affricates), nasals into ''ng'', voicing of plosives + ''o'' (''q→g''), l-declension as in INS-COM
*similarity, having something: ''dh'' suffix to abstract gender and animate ''u''-ending, voicing of fricatives (''h→gh'', no change with affricates), nasals into ''ng'', voicing of plosives + ''o'' (''q→g''), l-declension as in INS-COM
*full of, having something:
**full of, having something: previous suffixed with ''ol''
*material:
*material:  
*origin, relation:
*origin, relation:
*absence, without:
*absence, without:
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Prepositions used with lative, locative and ablative cases
Prepositions used with lative, locative and ablative cases
*''vo'' (in) forms illative, inessive, elative  
*''voi'' (in) forms illative, inessive, elative  
*''so'' (on) to emphasize the surface aspect
*''soi'' (on) to emphasize the surface aspect
*''ost'' (under) for movement under something
*''oist'' (under) for movement under something
*''mo'' (touching) when objects are in touch with each other
*''moi'' (touching) when objects are in touch with each other
*''ol'' (as) forms translative, essive, exessive
*''oil'' (as) forms translative, essive, exessive
*''ko'' (per) distribution: "for each", "every" (temporal), "from each"
*''koi'' (per) distribution: "for each", "every" (temporal), "from each"
*''jon'' (... between)  
*''jon'' (... between)  
*''bo'' (... the middle of)
*''boi'' (... the middle of)
*''tso'' (... front of)  
*''tsoi'' (... front of)  
**with time nouns in locative = before
**with time nouns in locative = before
*''hi'' (... behind)  
*''hoi'' (... behind)  
**with time nouns in locative = after
**with time nouns in locative = after


Postpositions
Postpositions
*''pon'' (through) with lative
*''pón'' (through) with lative
*''pho'' (along) with lative
*''phó'' (along) with lative
*''plo'' (opposite to) with locative
*''pló'' (opposite to) with locative
*''sos'' (with) with comitative to express a greater degree of endowment (ornative)
*''sós'' (with) with comitative to express a greater degree of endowment (ornative)
*''op'' (about)
*''óp'' (about)


===Numerals===
===Numerals===
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Decimal base was adopted due to commerce, but traces of the former octal base remain
Decimal base was adopted due to commerce, but traces of the former octal base remain


table
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg"
|+Numeral system
|-
! Number
! Cardinal !! Determiner !! Ordinal !! Fraction !! Multiplicative adverb !! Multiplicative adjective !! Group
|-
!One
| ipi ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||   
|-
|Two
|  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|}


==Syntax==
==Syntax==
Line 1,014: Line 1,031:




====Noun clause====
====Noun clauses====


Infinitive.tense + ...  + causatives: ''Tesosan kepó vakuhos supe.'' (I see that he washes his hands) vs. ''Onluvakan kep'''óo''' vakuhos supe.'' (The washing of his hands brings me pleasure.)
Infinitive.tense + ...  + causatives: ''Tesosan kepó vakuhos supe.'' (I see that he washes his hands) vs. ''Onluvakan kep'''óo''' vakuhos supe.'' (The washing of his hands brings me pleasure.)
====Relative clauses====
participles
====Adverbial clauses====
non-finite forms + possessive suffixes to indicate subject
====Conditional clauses====
subjunctive


==Register==
==Register==
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*''kep'' wash
*''kep'' wash
*''keslan'' blood
*''keslan'' blood
*''kuth'' dog
*''luva'' pleasure
*''luva'' pleasure
*''luwi'' beauty
*''luwi'' beauty
*''math'' cat
*''mel'' water
*''mel'' water
*''not'' object
*''not'' object
*''óomi'' largeness
*''pof'' feather
*''pof'' feather
*''su'' it/he?
*''su'' it/he?

Revision as of 09:58, 17 July 2014


Sceptrian (batop lushan /ˈbäˑtəp luˈʃãˑ/ or simply lusha) is an a priori language created for the fantasy world Akekata by juhhmi.

History

Lore: Sceptrian language, named after the Sceptre peninsula, derives from Lutian language used in the Empire of Western Sceptre. With 12 million native speakers, Sceptrians outnumber those speaking Khattish and Guddean, the other two main West-Herookuan languages.

Actual: I weren't sure how to continue with Aoma (except for translations which I haven't been interested in) so I decided to begin creating a new language based on my scribbles. Remarkably, the script was created after the phonology had been decided. But I have to promise that one day I'll have a good proto-language first, realistic daughter languages second, scripts third and modern languages fourth...

Problems: As mentioned above, I'm still too lazy to create a proto-language...


Basic Grammar

Sceptrian utilizes fusional inflections and has an absolutive-ergative morphosyntactic alignment. The language is rather head-initial and its primary word order is verb-agent-object.


Phonology

Scetprian features 32 consonants, some of them with interesting lateral features, twelve vowels with long versions and four diphthongs. Nasalization, rhotacization and breathy voice are used as well.

Consonants

If the romanization symbol is the same as in IPA, it is not duplicated. Not bolded romanization indicates that the sound appears as a vernacular version.

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ń /n/ ng /ŋ/
Plosive Voiceless p t k q
Voiced b d g
Lateral pl bl
/pˡ/ /bˡ/
tl dl
/tˡ/ /dˡ/
kl gl
/kˡ/ /gˡ/
ql
/qˡ/
Fricative Voiceless ph /ɸ/ f th /θ/ s sh /ʃ/ h /ç/ kh h /x/ qh /χ/ h
Voiced w bh /β/ v dh /ð/ z zh /ʒ/
Lateral sl /ɬ/
Affricate Voiceless ts /t͡s/ tsh /t͡ʃ/
Lateral tsl /t͡ɬ/
Approximant Simple j
Lateral l
Trill pr /ʙ/ r ŕ /r/

The liquids r and l can appear as syllabic consonants: tlsl /tˡl̩ɬ/, prn /pr̩n/ and trk /tr̩k/

  • In eastern dialects, pr is realized as /ʙ/

Letter h has three allophones: /x/ appears word-finally, /ç/ with front vowels and /h/ with back vowels tihtóhnah /tiçtɔhnäx/ (assassinator). It's also used after consonants to indicate breathy voice.

Vowels

Monophthongs

Front Central Back
Close i
i
u
u
Close-mid e
e
o
ɘ
o
ɤ
Mid o
ə
Open-mid é ø
ɛ œ
ó
ɔ
Near-open æ
æ
Open a
ä
a
ɑ

Schwa o is used as an epenthetic vowel (anaptyxis). When it is used to break consonant clusters (not indicated in native script) it is the simple schwa /ə/: *dŧ → doth /dəθ/. When stressed, it is vernacularly realized as /ɘ/, and in western dialects more clearly as /ɤ/: *dŧs → dothos /dəˈθɘˑs/

Vowel a is /ɑ/ after voiced consonants.

Diphthongs

In Sceptrian, there are only closing diphthongs which go up in the vowel chart:

  • Back: ou /ɔʊ̯/
  • Front: ai /äɪ̯/, ei /ei̯/, oi /œi̯/

If the syllable border is between vowels and they don't form a diphthong, apostrophe is used: tai vs. ta'i

Sounds

Vowel form

There are five ways of sound altering which may be used for grammatical purposes (mainly number, genitive case and imperfective aspect)

  • Lengthening: paata /pä:tä/, péete /pɛ:te/-/pɛe̯te/, póote /pɔ:te/
    • Not used word-finally.
  • Lateral (release): plo /pˡə/, tla /tˡä/
    • Western dialects keep the tongue on the alveolar ridge during vowel pronunciation so that the vowels have a distinct l-sound. Historically, this may have lead to the syllabic l.
  • Aspiration/breathy voice: pho /pʰə/~/ɸə/, bho /bʱə/~/βə/, tha /tʰä/~/θä/, dha /dʱä/~/ðɑ/.
    • In casual register, aspirated plosives of unstressed syllables turn into the corresponding fricatives as shown above.
  • Nasalization: on /ə̃~ɘ̃/ (compare /ən/) when n in coda
    • Close vowels (u, o, ó and i) are always nasalized between two nasals and all vowels after short ng: mónge /mɔ̃ŋẽ/, but nasalization does not occur with open vowels and long ńg: nańge /näŋ:e/.
  • Rhotacization: or /ɚ/, ar /ä˞/ (compare /ər/~/r/ and /är/)
    • Nasalization does not occur simultaneously with rhoticization, except in Faanish dialect (near the border of Negovia): karonkarn /kæ̃˞/

Consonant form

Combining sounds

  • Lateralization
    • s and z turn into sl and zh respectively
    • f & vfl & w
    • l & r are geminated
    • m & nng and ngńg
  • Aspiration
    • s and z turn into sh and zh
    • f & v are geminated
    • l & rlh and rh
  • Voicing and aspiration
    • rqh, lldh, vw

Apophony

Apophony is used for example to express adjective gender and to create different verb forms.

Full

  • First:
    • e→é, o→ø, a→æ, u→i
    • ai→ei, ou→oi
  • Second:
    • e→ee, o→ó, a→aa, u→uu
    • ai→ii, ou→óo

Partial

  • When root contains vowels é, ó, i, æ or diphthongs ei, oi, the apophony is only partial: luwidh, luwidh, luwuudh
  • With ø and long vowels, all forms are usually the same. Formal register uses ée as the second apophony of ee.

Phonotactics

  • Basic syllabic structure is CV, where the onset (beginning) consonant can be of any type.
    • It is possible to use liquids and approximants as glides (CLV) between the onset and the rime (ending).
    • Up to two consonants with same voicing may appear in the onset (CCV), especially fricative-plosive combinations, but never two plosives: stak, fkos, ksaru. Affricate ts takes may be accompanied only by w, j, n or m: tsma. Combination /sl/ has turned into /ɬ/.
    • Lateralization and aspiration may never appear together, and nasalized rhoticization is only found in Faanish dialect.
  • Nucleus can be either a vowel or a liquid, thus CVC and CLC are also possible syllables.
    • Vowels (diphthongs included) may exist as a stand-alone nucleic syllable (V), mostly in the beginning or at the end of a word.
    • If nucleus is a liquid, plosives appear in codas only word-finally.
  • Coda (final) may consist of up to three consonants with possible structures: NS, FS, LS; NF, SF, LF; NL, SL, FL; NSF, LSF, NSL (Nasal, Stop, Fricative, Liquid). Three-consonant clusters are rare word-medially and receive a schwa after the non-lateral stop: kamps /kämps/ → *kampstakamposta /kämpəsˈtä/
    • Approximants j, w and plain voiced plosives never appear as coda (final) even though they may be written that way: nad /nät/. Voiced fricatives rarely appear as coda.
    • In coda, plosives with lateral release, however, will reflect the voicing of the onset: gatl /gädˡl̩/ vs. katl /kätˡl̩/
  • Closed syllables, i.e. those ending in coda, are not as common word-medially as open syllables (ending in nucleus) are. When words are inflected, codas tend to become onsets of the following syllable, if possible.
    • Voicing status must be the same for consonants touching at syllable boundaries and the voiced one reduces into voiceless: katba /kätpä/ vs. kat ba /kät(h) bä/

Stress

Primary stress in a word is most often on the second syllable, and when there are four or five syllables, secondary stress is placed onto the final syllable. When there are more syllables, stress is placed on even-numbered syllables.

  • If the to-be-stressed syllable contains the schwa o, the preceding syllable is stressed in two-syllable words and the following in words with more than three syllables.
    • Syllable with nuclear o is only stressed when it comes second and the preceding syllables has also o as nucleus. Then it appears as /ɘ/.
  • A syllable with a long vowel, the closing diphthong or a syllabic consonant is always stressed and steals the stress from neighboring syllables. This also moves the secondary stress from fourth to

Inflected and affixed word forms have the same stress as the base word (even monosyllabic body): gatgatan /ˈgɑˑ.tän/, gatle /ˈgɑˑ.tˡe/

Interrogatives are formed by changing the primary stress onto the first syllable and a rising pitch. This is indicated with ¿.


Orthography

Script

Script from the early sixth era. Notice that the vowel form info-box romanization should have "o" instead of "a".

The Sceptrian script was derived from the ancient temple marks as were the Aoman and Northern (Latin) scripts.

Diacritics on vowels mark different sounds.

Romanization

Modern

Consonant variation:

  • Letter r is used with consonants for /r̩/ and between vowels for /r/, but after vowels in the end of syllables for rhoticization or /ɚ/. Letter ŕ is used to emphasize the use of /r/ after vowels /ər/.
  • Similarly letter n can appear syllable-finally with nasalization but ń always as /n/: an /ã/ vs. /an/.
  • With ng /ŋ/, the accent signals lengthening eńge /eŋ:e/ or eŋŋe.
  • Labialization of plosives is indicated by PuV (V is any vowel except u) or with w.

Old

The old romanization system (or part of it) was used until western regions of Eastern Sceptre were joined with the Western Sceptre empire in 7th era 161, during the war against Empress Renula of Golden Islet. A revision was needed when both Sceptrian and Aoma were used in the same printing press and texts had to be distributed to westlang-using communities.

Consonants:

  • Nasal: ŋ ng /ŋ/
    • Texts from the first century of the seventh era use ǥ for word-initial /ŋ/.
  • Fricative: ŧ th /θ/, đ dh /ð/, ś sh /ʃ/, ź zh /ʒ/, ħ qh /χ/
  • Affricate: c ts /t͡s/, č tsh /t͡ʃ/
  • Lateral: š sl /ɬ/, ǩ kl /kˡ/, ǧ gl /gˡ/

Compact equivalents of sound altering:

  • Lengthening with a bar: /ɔ:/ and ō /ə:/
  • Lateral release with a breve diacritic: /tˡə/
  • Nasalization with a tilde: õ /ə̃/, on /ən/
  • Rhotacization with a diaeresis: ö /ɚ/, or /ər/
  • Aspiration with a grave accent: /pʰə/, /pʰɔ/

Comparison between the systems:

  • Old: Ǧë śošēŧã
  • Modern: Gler shosleethan

Morphology

The most complete study of the basic structure of modern Sceptrian words was recently done by Porutingatu of Jerzónó in year 362 of the seventh era. She collected, grouped and analyzed the fusional morphemes and listed the new rules to replace the outdated writings from the sixth era. By 370, her work had led to a new interest in linguistics and ultimately to the founding of Tsagadhet Keping Batom Lushan (Bureau of the Purity of the Sceptrian Language) which has been unifying and regulating the language along with its orthography since then.

Pronouns

Pronouns are used to refer people or things. In Sceptrian, they exist in two numbers and are inflected according to six cases.

Personal

Second person includes polite versions as well which were adapted by Aoma-sperkers. Third person singular makes distinction between abstract (Ab), animate (An) and inanimate (In) pronouns while plural only between Ab-An and In.

Personal pronoun inflection
Case 1SG 1PL 2SG 2PL 2SG.POL 2PL.POL 3SG.Ab 3SG.An 3PL.A 3SG.In 3PL.In
ABS na mo fo po Nith With tha su slo hi klo
ERG moslo poslo Nithe Widhes thaa suu sloslo hii kloslo
DAT nai mokli foki pokli Nithki Withkli thai swi slokli hiki klokli
POS nar moŕ for poŕ Nithor Withoŕ thar sur sloŕ hir kloŕ
COM nas mosh fos posh Nithos Withosh  thas  sus  slosh his  klosh
CAU nape moplo fope poplo Nitti Witti thape supe sloplo hipi kloplo
  • Comitative case is used to indicate company: Mo slosh orkho. (We were with them yesterday.)
  • Causal describes the cause of an action or origin of something: Aitesosai næ su fope (I saw him because of (/thanks to) you), Hi supe foki. (It (is) from him to you.)

3rd person abstract pronoun is used in the formal register when introducing or referring to a person of higher status.

Reflexive

Self-pronoun ru for reflexive and reciprocal: tesosón ru (they are watching themself), ónlatepón ruu (he is dancing by himself, alone) vs. ónlatepón su (he is dancing with him); sónkephón (they are washing each other) vs. sónkephón sloslo slo/soutu (they are washing them)

  • reflexive is easier with others: anlatepan (I'm dancing by myself); ankepan (I'm washing myself) vs. ankep ("I'm washing..."), kepan (I'm being washed)

Demonstrative

See the table of correlatives.

Demonstrative pronoun inflection
Case Proximal Distal
SG PL SG PL
ABS ka kla ko klo
ERG kaa klaa kló
DAT kai klai koi kloi
POS kan klang kon klong
COM kas klash kos klosh
CAU kap klapa kop klopo

Table of correlatives

Determiners follow their heads and agree in number and with the cases mentioned above, where DAT with LAT; COM with LOC; CAU with ABL; ABL with VOC. Words follow the declension shown above or paradigms similar to noun cases.

Interrogative Demonstrative Quantifier
Proximal Distal Existential Elective Universal Negatory Alternative
Determiner sho ka (SG)
kla (PL)
ko
klo
jofa (some) ota (any) orka (every, all) ze (no) so (another)
solo
Pronoun Abstract ashu thaka dhaka jaafa thata thorka theso thaso
Animate ¿soutu saitu soutu jonfu onta ongka souso jonso
Inanimate ¿ko ka ko jofo oto orko ze so
Out of two ¿tso tsaka tsoko zho tsoto tsorko tseso tso
Out of many ¿tsolo tsalka tsolko zolo tsolto tsongko tsleso tsolo
Pro-adverb Locative sku khau khu jofku otku orkhu zengu sokhu
Temporal sko kha kho jofko otko orkho zeng sokho
Comitative shos  kas kos jofos otos orkos  zeos sos
Causal spe kap kop jov otop orkop zenep sonop
Manner shi khai khoi jofai otai orkai zei soi
What kind of shodh kadh kodh jodhi othi ordhi zodhi sothi
  • Negative determiner ze has no plural form. Neither have pronouns "Out of two".
  • Demonstratives are used when referring to listed items of equal animacy: proximal with the former and distal with the latter: Aitesoshóji math kuthos. Óomidh soutu. (I saw a cat and a dog. The latter was large.)
  • Locative pro-adverb can be conjugated with lative, locative and ablative.

Nouns

Nouns in Sceptrian form the basis of derivational morphology. They are declined according to two numbers and nine cases, and the seven declensions are grouped in three genders which affect the verb conjugation and adjective agreement.

Gender

There are three grammatical genders or classes, abstract, animate and inanimate, which can be fully recognized from their singular dative form endings, k, i and ei. The seven declensional patterns or simply declensions, which are determined by their absolutive ending, are distributed among these classes.

  • Abstract (Ab) class contains concepts, emotions, divine and magical subjects, verb forms etc., and they end in either vowel a, ó or i.
  • Animate (An) class is preserved for nouns related to living things, e.g. people, animals, body parts, plants and comestibles, whose ending is either a fricative (f, th, s, sh, h), nasal (m, n, ng) or vowel u. Mass nouns, such as meat, milk and food, have nasal endings.
  • Inanimate (In) class has nouns such as objects, places and natural formations whose endings are either plosives (p, t, k) or consonant l. Inanimate mass nouns, e.g. sand, salt and water, appear in the l-ending group.

Number

There are two numbers, singular and plural, but abstract i-nouns and inanimate l-nouns are always singular. The declension according to number is complicated and fused with the class/case system explained and tabulated below.

Cases

  • Absolutive (ABS): Unmarked base form for subjects of intransitive and objects of transitive verbs
  • Ergative (ERG): Agents of transitive verbs
  • Dative (DAT): Indirect object; alienable possession gat dothi (a house of (lit. "for") the man); comparison (with ADJ comparative)
  • Possessive (POS): Inalienable possession dhoku dothor (the man's head)
  • Instrumental-comitative (INS): Using something; "with someone", replaces "and" as Latin -que; in antipassive constructions
  • Lative (LAT): Movement to (+sublative (surface))
  • Locative-temporal (LOC-TEMP): Place (+superessive); time (when/duration...verb telicity); with some adpositions
  • Ablative (ABL): Movement from (+delative); causal construction with particle ...
  • Vocative (VOC): addressing (people, gods); interjections Alæ! (Hello! lit. "Day!")
Genders and desinences
Abstract Animate Inanimate
A i F N u P l
SG PL SG PL SG PL SG PL SG PL
Absolutive A Asl i F (ə)lF N Ning u ush P Pl l
Ergative AA AslA ii Fee Fele Neen Nenge uu uushu Pee Ple le
Dative Ak Akl ik Fi Fil Ni Nil (u)ji (u)wi Pei Plei lei
Possessive An Ang ing For Foŕ Nor Noŕ ur -N Pong lon
Instrumantal-comitative Ah Ash ish Fos Fosh Nos Nosh uh ush Ph Ps -dh
Lative AgA AglA iki Fko Fklo Nongo Nongo ugu uglu Póo Plóo lo
Locative-temporal AkhA AlkhA ikhi Fku Fklu Nongu Nongu ukhu ulkhu Pu Plu lu
Ablative ApA AplA ipi Fp Fpl Nop Nopl upu uplu PPo PPol lp
Vocative Ae Asl ii lFé Nin -wé -wésh Plé
  • A: vowels a and ó
    • Ae: ae = æ and óe = ø
  • F: fricatives f, th, s, sh and h; voiced counterparts and affricates ts and tsh are followed by o before plosive endings.
  • N: nasals n, m and ng
  • P: plosives p, t, k and q
    • INS ending Ph marks breathy voice and may turn the plosive into corresponding fricative /ɸ, θ, x, χ/ if followed by a plosive.
  • - indicates that the original ending is replaced with the following: tup → tun (stick → stick's)

Possessive affixes

Possessive affixes draw a distinction between alienable and inalienable possession: Óntesoson dothee gats/vakuhoz. (A man is watching his house/ his own hand.)

  • Interpretations: gat dothi (the house which the man has temporarily settled in = rented), doth gathos(os) (man with his house which he has purchased), gat dothor (the house which was inherited and is now owned by the man)
Possessional suffixes
Person Singular Plural
ALIEN INAL ALIEN INAL
1st (a)ń (a)nga (ó)m (ó)ngó
2nd (o)f (ø)fo (e)v (ø)vø
3rd (o)s (o)zh (o)sl (o)zhol
  • Irregular: Only VOC+possessive with 1SG: Posné! (My servant!), Polsmé! (Our servants!)

2nd person polite suffixes are added to absolutive base and the endings are then declined according to abstract gender:

  • Singular: (a)tha, (a)tazha
  • Plural: (a)dhó, (a)dózhó
  • Example: gatathapa (from Your house)

See non-finite verb forms which utilize some possessive suffixes in adverbial clauses <-- something from Aoma (lettex) & Finnish (kävellessäni)

Emphasizing clitics

Suffixes ma (for ABS) and noh (for ERG) are used to emphasize either the object or the agent: Ónzaiton dotheenoh pof. (It is the man who's lifting the feather) vs. Ónzaiton dothee pofma. (It is the feather that the man is lifting.). They are also used with verbs in antipassive constructions.

When both are used, "witnessing" occurs

Derivational Morphology

Verbs and adjectives are derived from nouns by adding suffixes and in some cases prefixes as well.

Noun→adjective:

  • Base noun may describe an abstact quality, feature: "weakness"→"similar to weakness"/"having weakness"/"without weakness"
  • similarity, having something: dh suffix to abstract gender and animate u-ending, voicing of fricatives (h→gh, no change with affricates), nasals into ng, voicing of plosives + o (q→g), l-declension as in INS-COM
    • full of, having something: previous suffixed with ol
  • material:
  • origin, relation:
  • absence, without:
  • doing: washing
  • result: washed = clean (wanted vs. unwanted?)

Noun→noun:

  • place, region
  • collection:
  • being, person, creature:
    • doer, agent:
    • experiencer, patient:
    • origin:
    • characteristic: kauneus-->kaunotar
  • diminutive:
  • augmentative:
  • abstract quality, feature: ...i

Noun→verb

  • From core nouns: "way-markers" → how the verb reflects the core noun+case/adjective: table... depends on the core (
  • ABS = "happens", "is"
  • COM = "using"
  • GEN + k = "similarity":
  • DAT + k = "making"/"becoming" (no k with Abstract): zurmuzurmjik (strong person.AN → strengthen.3SG.INAN.GNO), zurpzurpeik (strong, durable object.IN → hardens) & zurmazurmak (strength → intensifies)
  • LAT + t = movement
  • frequentative
  • momentane
  • feel: hyväksyä, oudoksua, ...

Adjectives

Adjectives in Sceptrian agree with the gender, number and cases of their head. When an adjective is used as a predicative, it comes before its head, but when as an attributive, it comes after. Adjective declension follows approximately the same rules as noun declension. Changes include mirroring onset into coda: notlu luwidhulk (at/near beautiful objects)

Vowel change is used to indicate the gender, base for inanimate, first apophony with animate and second apophony with abstract gender: eja luwuudh, doth luwidh, tes luwidh

Polite adjectives are formed from the abstract form with predicative prefix nga and attributive suffix æ

Adverbs

Adverbs are derived from

Verbs

missing verbs:

  • "to be": apposition trk doth (a man is a smith) vs. doth trk (the smith-man, the smith is a man); predicative before luwidh doth (a man is beautiful) vs. attributive after doth luwidh (a beautiful man)
    • Emphasizing ma: trk dothma (it is the man who is a smith)
  • "to have": various possessive forms, e.g. soput trng dothi ("profession of a smith for the man")

Tense

In Sceptrian, verbs are conjugated for three tenses: past, present and future. These tenses indicate when an action took place relative to current moment as their names indicate.

Aspect

Gnomic-static aspect is used to indicate general truths (sun rises) and static situations (I can speak English). It can be used with expressions of time to specify when something was static ("Clothes-on-me these yesterday")

Present progressive describes dynamic actions (I'm reading English at the moment). Present inceptive is used when an action is about to begin or someone is starting to do something.

Past imperfective is used with continuous activities which were happening before the present. The contrasting perfective aspect describes the event as a whole and having an endpoint in the past.

In future tense, no aspects are distinguished, but rather non-finite forms are used.

Mixing agent and subject endings...

  • PRES retrospective:
    • PST.PFV+verb+STAT: ai-tesos-Ø næ ka (I've seen this), ai-latep-a næ (I've danced (myself)) ← intransitive became transitive
  • PRES prospective: INCEP+verb(+FUT): tsa-latép(-ar) (I'm starting to dance (and I'll be doing it for a while))

Momentane vs. frequentative derivations; different ways for different stems/categories (make sound, move,

Conjugation

Transitivity, animacy and cases: Ónzaiton dothee pof. (A man (ERG) is lifting a feather (ABS).), Bousón doth. (The man falls.) Bouson pof. (The feather (ABS) falls.).

  • ónzaiton dothee pof vs. ónzaitón dothee su (the man is lifting him)

Obs! subject+object (& agent) agreement: Zaiton pof. (Ón)bouson dothee pof. (A feather rises. A man is dropping a feather.)

Who needs conjugation? People in formal situations! --> register!

  • Otherwise neither agent prefixes nor 3SG ending, only pronouns/names
Root

Verbs are given in their 3SG.INAN GNO form which is used to form all of the third person forms

First and second person forms use the first apophony in indicative inceptive and future

Polite second person forms use the second apophony

Affixes

Fusional conjugation affixes convey the person, number, tense and aspect (and honorific). Subject and object suffixes are almost always used with verbs, the antipassive being the only exception. Agent prefixes aren't often used in the casual register, mostly to form the reflexive, but they have to be used in the formal register.

Subject/object suffixes for tense and aspect
Tense Aspect 1SG 1PL 2SG 2PL 2SG.POL 2PL.POL 3SG.A 3PL.A 3SG.INAN 3PL.INAN
GNO-STAT a ha e he ahi aqhi ó - l
PRES PROG an han en hen ang aing ón hón on lon
INCEP ast last est lest æst hæst ós lós os osl
PST IPFV ajin hajin ejin hejin azing izing ójin hójin oin loin
PFV ai hai ei hei athi idhi óji hóji oi loi
FUT har +har her +her athar idhar hór +hór ho +ho
  • initial l in endings is for lateralization of the final plosive
  • initial h is for aspiration of the final plosive
  • + indicates voicing of the final consonant together with aspiration
Agent prefixes for tense and aspect
Tense Aspect 1SG 1PL 2SG 2PL 2SG.POL 2PL.POL 3SG.A 3PL.A 3SG.INAN 3PL.INAN
GNO-STAT a sa e se æ ó o lo
PRES PROG an san en sen nga ngai ón són on lon
INCEP tsa tsla tse tsle tsæ tshæ tsó tsló so slo
PST IPFV jan zhan jen zhen izæ izhæ jón zhón i li
PFV ai sai ei sei thæ dhæ zhó oi loi
FUT ar sar er ser thar dhar ór sór or lor
  • Prefixes may be separated from vowel-beginning verbs with a glottal stop or reduplicated initial consonant:

Mood

Indicative ("normal")

Some duplication with subjunctive ;) + second apophony

imperative with apophony of 3SG.INAN GNO form and present inceptive

Negation

Inability

  • Second apophony in verb root and an infix (precedes absolutive suffix)
    • PRES: ost (SG), osht (PL)
    • PAST: out
    • FUT: oz

Unwillingness

  • Intranslative suffix (after absolutive suffix)
    • PRES
      • 1st person: net (SG), nget (PL)
      • 2nd person: fep (SG), vep (PL)
      • 3rd person: set (SG), slet (PL)
    • PAST: nait
    • FUT: nort
  • Translative affix (placed after the ergative prefix, but in casual register verb-initially)
    • PRES:
      • 1st person: no (SG), ngo (PL)
      • 2nd person: fo (SG), flo (PL)
      • 3rd person: so (SG), slo (PL)
    • PAST: me
    • FUT: mor

Examples: Ailateepoutóji. (I couldn't dance with him), ¿Tselatépast? (You don't want to begin dancing with me?)

Honoring negation for 2nd person polite forms consists of (second person) negation affixes with second apophony and saal-particle placed after the verb: Keepozathar saal. (You'll be unable to wash Yourself, unfortunately.)

Second apophony of negation infixes with subjunctive mood.

Voice

Sceptrian distinguishes between two voices, active and antipassive. Antipassive is used to reduce the valency of the verbs by removing the object of a transitive clause.

  • Irregularities‽

Reflexive with double conjugation:

History of ABS-ERG - Why Sceptrian has it, but Aoma uses NOM-ACC?

  • Passive (~ Aoman 2nd passive... participle form) + causal form: *Pózaiton pofos dothpe. (The feather was lifted by a man.) --> pónzaiton dothpee pofos.

Active construction

Ónzaiton dothee pof.
/ɔ̃zaɪ̯tə̃ dəθe: pəf/
ón-zait-on doth-ee pof-Ø
3SG.AN.PRES.IPFV-lift-3SG.INAN.PRES.IPFV man-ERG feather-ABS

A man is lifting a feather.

Passive construction: To demote the agent (ERG), it's either removed or inflected into causal ablative (ABL). Verb circumfix remains untouched.

Zaiton pof (dothpo).
/zaɪ̯tə̃ pəf (dəθpə)/
zait-on pof-Ø (doth-po)
lift-3SG.INAN.PRES.IPFV feather-ABS (man-ABL)

A feather is being lifted (by a man).

Antipassive construction: Agent (ERG) transforms into subject (ABS) and object (ABS) takes the instrumental-comitative (INS) case. Word order becomes SV(O), and the verb is conjugated according to the agent and is suffixed with the emphasizing clitic ma in the formal register.

Doth ónzait(ma) (pofos).
/dəθ ɔ̃zaɪ̯t(mä) (pəfəs)/
doth-Ø ón-zait-Ø(/ma) (pof-os)
man-ABS 3SG.AN.PRES.IPFV-lift-ANTIP(.FORM) (feather-INS)

The man is lifting (a feather).

Ideas: Instrument and turning it into an agent. Here I used the object-agreement

  • Ónzaiton dothee pof vakuhosozh. (...with his own hand...)
    • Ónzaiton pof vakuhos dothir.
    • Onzaiton pof tuph dothish slokli. (A feather is being lifted with the man's stick for them.) Inanimate agent conjugation, and DAT inflected!
  • Vakuh ónzait pofos. (a hand lifts the feather)/(someone intentionally lifts the feather with their hand) Notice animate conjugation!
    • Tup onzait pofos dothpo. (a stick, which is being held by a man, lifts the feather) ABL as causative.

Non-finite forms

Gerund

  • Base nouns or their abstract variants serve as gerunds which describe the action:

Infinitives

  • PRES , PST -ou, FUT

Participles

  • PRES, PST, FUT agent & patient (employer vs. employee) (passivity?) tekemä, tehty


Gerundives

  • (merged auxiliary verbs as prefixes): can, be permitted, should, must

Relative form with word-order and prefix?

Adpositions

Prepositions used with lative, locative and ablative cases

  • voi (in) forms illative, inessive, elative
  • soi (on) to emphasize the surface aspect
  • oist (under) for movement under something
  • moi (touching) when objects are in touch with each other
  • oil (as) forms translative, essive, exessive
  • koi (per) distribution: "for each", "every" (temporal), "from each"
  • jon (... between)
  • boi (... the middle of)
  • tsoi (... front of)
    • with time nouns in locative = before
  • hoi (... behind)
    • with time nouns in locative = after

Postpositions

  • pón (through) with lative
  • phó (along) with lative
  • pló (opposite to) with locative
  • sós (with) with comitative to express a greater degree of endowment (ornative)
  • óp (about)

Numerals

Decimal base was adopted due to commerce, but traces of the former octal base remain

Numeral system
Number Cardinal Determiner Ordinal Fraction Multiplicative adverb Multiplicative adjective Group
One ipi
Two

Syntax

Word order

  • VAO usually, SV(O) in antipassive
  • adjectives precede nouns while possessives follow

Clauses

Noun clauses

Infinitive.tense + ... + causatives: Tesosan kepó vakuhos supe. (I see that he washes his hands) vs. Onluvakan kepóo vakuhos supe. (The washing of his hands brings me pleasure.)

Relative clauses

participles

Adverbial clauses

non-finite forms + possessive suffixes to indicate subject

Conditional clauses

subjunctive


Register

Different endings which reflect the conversation situation: speakers, familiarity, formality, location...

Can people with higher status be abstract or do they occupy a special animate category? (æ inside?)

One may use inanimate verb forms as anti-honorific? Ondakon næ ka Nithki. (I humbly offer this to You)

In casual register, verb forms are chosen differently when the subject is agent-like (he dances) or patient-like (he fell): latepóji (he danced AN) vs. bousoi (he fell INAN)

In formal register, it is preferred to use only animate nouns as agents while abstract and inanimate are as antipassive subjects: luwifo onwutes~ink nas ("beauty-of.yours it-un-eye-ful-makes me-with", your beauty makes me blind) vs. enwutes~inkan fø na (you are making me blind)

Distinction between abstract and animate in some categories, such as verb conjugation

Lexicon

  • batop language
  • dhoku head
  • doth man
  • eja day
  • eva light
  • joqó disgust
  • kep wash
  • keslan blood
  • kuth dog
  • luva pleasure
  • luwi beauty
  • math cat
  • mel water
  • not object
  • óomi largeness
  • pof feather
  • su it/he?
  • tes eye
  • tup stick
  • vakuh hand
  • vang drink.N
  • zurmu strong person
  • bous goes down
  • kep washes
  • latep dances
  • tes(o)s sees
  • vangost drinks
  • zait goes up