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==General information==
==General information==
Metin is a language spoken by about 57 trillion people in the Metii'nz'ou'ku and the surrounding areas, like Koryouz'ou'ku and Ishnnai'zou'ku. Metin is a Lingua Franca rather than a native language, it was spoken in its true form about 50 millenia ago at the founding of Metii'nz'ou'ku, since then, it has split into many daughter languages, which use old Metin as a language of common communication.
Metin is the official lingua franca of a confederation of human states known as The Encirclement (sxuDaiwe). It is published and standardized by a division of said body known as The Library (sxuQ'ostin). It has spoken, written, and binary forms, spanning all modes and media of communication. The full breadth of the language is used for interpersonal communication and the law,
and for communications with sapient serviles, while restricted subsets are used for communicating with the APIs of
simpler machines and devices. It is descended from an amalgamation of popular human and machine dialects that preceded the formation of the sxuDaiwe.  


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
===Consonants===
===Consonants===
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable article-table" style="width: 660px; text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable"
! style="width: 68px; "|
|+ Pairs of consonant realizations and their romanizations are presented. Some consonants are romanized differently depending on whether or not they are in the onset or coda of a syllable, these are presented as comma separated pairs. Those which are marginal are indicated with an asterisk. Tildes separate the multiple realizations of a given singular consonant phoneme.
! style="width: 68px; " |Bilabial
! style="width: 68px; " |Labio-dental
! style="width: 68px; " |Dental
! style="width: 68px; " |Alveolar-lateral
! style="width: 68px; " |Retroflex
! style="width: 68px; " |Palatal
! style="width: 68px; " |Palatal-lateral
! style="width: 68px; " |Velar
! style="width: 68px; " |Uvular
! style="width: 68px; " |Glottal
|-
|-
!Nasal
!Manner↓  Place→    !!Bilabial !! Dental    !! Lateral  !! Alveolar !! Alveopalatal !! Retroflex !! Palatal !! Velar    !! Labiovelar !! Uvular  !! Glottal
|m~n
|
|
|n'
|N
|ñ
|ñ'
|
|
|
|-
|-
!Plosive
! Voiceless Stop   
|p, b, bh
                    |/p/ p*  ||/t̪/ t     ||          ||          ||              ||/ʈ/ th    ||/c/ c    ||/k/ k     ||/k͡p/ kp    ||/q/ q    ||        
|
|t, d, dh
|t', d', dh'
|T, D, Dh
|c, j, jh
|c',j', jh'
|k, g, gh
|
|
|-
|-
!Fricative
! Voiced Stop       
|f, v~w
                    |/b/ b*  ||/d̪/ d      ||          ||          ||              ||/ɖ/ d̨      ||/ɟ/ j    ||/g/ g    ||/g͡b/ gb    ||         ||        
|
|s, z
|
|S, Z
|sy, zy
|
sy', zy'
|x
|q
|h
|-
|-
!Affricate
! Breathy Stop     
|
                    |/bʰ/ bh  ||/d̪ʰ/ dh    ||          ||          ||              ||/ɖʰ/ d̨h    ||/ɟʰ/ jh  ||/gʰ/ gh  ||/g͡bʰ/ gbh  ||         ||        
|
|ts, dz
|ts', dz'
|TS, DZ
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|-
!Approximant
! Ejective Stop     
|v~w
                    |         ||/t̪ʼ/ t'    ||          ||          ||              ||/ʈʼ/ th'  ||/cʼ/ c'  ||/kʼ/ k'  ||/k͡pʼ/ kp'   ||/qʼ/ q'  ||        
|
|
|
|r
|y
|y'
|
|
|
|-
|-
!Lateral fric.
! Nasal Stop       
|
                    |/m~n/ m,n||          ||          ||          ||              ||          ||         ||         ||           ||         ||        
|
|
|s', z'
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|-
!Lateral app.
! Voiceless Fricative
|
                    |/f/ f    ||/θ/ tj,t  ||/ɬ/ ł      ||/s/ s    ||/ɕ/ sx        ||/ʂ/ sh   ||/ç/ ç,c  ||/x/ x    ||            ||        ||       
|
|-
|l
! Voiceless Affricate
|l'
                    |         ||          ||/t͡ɬ/ tl    ||/t͡s/ ts  ||/t͡ɕ/ cx      ||/ʈ͡ʂ/ ch    ||        ||          ||            ||        ||       
|
|-
|
! Voiced Fricative 
|
                    |/β/ w    ||/ð/ dj,d  ||/ɮ/ ɮ      ||/z/ z    ||/ʑ/ zx        ||/ʐ/ z̨      ||/ʝ/ y    ||/ɣ/ gj,g  ||            ||        || /h/ h 
|
|-
|
! Voiced Affricate 
|
                    |        ||          ||/d͡l/ dl*  ||/d͡z/ dz*  ||/d͡ʑ/ jx      ||/ɖ͡ʐ/ j̨    ||        ||          ||            ||        ||       
|-
! Breathy Fricative 
                    |/βʰ/  wh ||/ðʰ/ djh,dh||/ɮʰ/ ɮʰ    ||/zʰ/ zh  ||/ʑʰ/ zxh      ||/ʐʰ/ z̨h    ||/ʝʰ/ yh  ||/ɣʰ/ gjh,gh ||          ||        ||       
|-
! Breathy Affricate 
                    |        ||          ||/d͡lʰ/ dlh*/||/d͡zʰ/ dzh*||/d͡ʑʰ/ jxh    ||/ɖʐʰ/ j̨h  ||        ||          ||            ||        ||       
|-
! Ejective Affricate
                    |        ||/t̪͡θʼ/ tj'  ||/t͡ɬʼ/ tl'  ||/t͡sʼ/ ts' ||/t͡ɕʼ/ cx'    ||/ʈ͡ʂʼ/ ch'  ||        ||          ||            ||/qχʼ/ qx'||       
|-
! Velar Affricate   
                    |/p͡x/ px  ||/t̪x/ tx    ||          ||          ||              ||/ʈ͡x/ thx  ||        ||          ||            ||        ||       
|-
! Velar EJective Affricate
                    |/pxʼ/ px'||/t̪xʼ/ tx'  ||          ||          ||              ||/ʈ͡xʼ/ thx' ||        ||/k͡xʼ/ kx' ||            ||        ||       
|-
! Approximant       
                    |        ||          ||/l/ l      ||          ||              ||          ||        ||          ||            ||        ||       
|-
! Trill             
                    |        ||          ||          ||          ||              ||          ||        ||          ||            ||/ʀ/ r    ||        
|}
|}
 
====Ambiguous Multigraphs====
The following multigraphs are ambiguous in Metin's romanization when they occur word medially. When a sequence of letters is not intended to be interpreted as a digraph,
a hypen "-" is inserted between them.
tj  /θ/  t-j  /θɟ/
dj  /ð/  d-j  /ðɟ/
djh  /ðʰ/ d-jh /ðɟʰ/
tl  /t͡ɬ/ t-l  /θl/
dl  /d͡l/ d-l  /ðl/
ts  /t͡s/ t-s  /θs/
dz  /d͡z/ d-z  /ðz/
dzh  /d͡zʰ/d-zh /ðzʰ/
sx  /ɕ/  s-x  /sx/
cx  /t͡ɕ/ c-x  /çx/
zx  /ʑ/  z-x  /zx/
th  /ʈ/  t-h  /θh/
sh  /ʂ/  s-h  /sh/
ch  /ʈ͡ʂ/ c-h  /çh/
gj  /ɣʰ/ g-j  /ɣɟ/
gjh  /ɣʰ/ g-jh /ɣɟʰ/
===Vowels===
===Vowels===
{|class="wikitable article-table" style="width: 540px; text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable"
! style="width: 90px; "|
|+ Pairs of consonant realizations and their romanizations are presented.
! style="width: 90px; " |Front
! style="width: 90px; " |Central
! style="width: 90px; " |Back
|-
|-
!Close
! Height↓  Backness→ !! Front !! Central !! Back
|i,i', I
|ï, r, zy'
|u, u', U, zw'
|-
|-
!Near-close
!Close             
|
                      |/i/ i  ||/ɨ/ į    ||/u/ u
|
|- 
|
!Mid               
                      |/e̞/ e  ||/ə/ ą    ||/o̞/ o
|-
|-
!Close-mid
!Open               
|e, ei', E
                      |/æ/ ę  ||/a/ a    ||/ɒ/ ǫ
|
|}
|o, ou', O
====Diphthongs====
{| class="wikitable"
!Nuclear Vowel↓  Glide→ !!V-/i̯/  !!/i̯/-V  !!V-/u̯/  !!/u̯/-V  !!V-/e̯/  !!/e̯/-V  !!V-/o̯/  !!/o̯/-V 
|-
|-
!Mid
! /i/
|
                        ||       ||        ||        ||/u̯i/ ui ||        ||        ||        ||
|ë
|
|-
|-
!Open-mid
! /u/
|
                        ||       ||/i̯u/ iu ||        ||        ||        ||        ||        ||
|
|
|-
|-
!Near-open
! /e̞/
|á, ai'
                        ||/εi̯/ ei ||/ie̞/ ie ||/e̞u̯/ eu ||/u̯e̞/ ue ||        ||        ||        ||/e̞o̯/ eo
|
|à, au', A
|-
|-
!Open
! /ə/
|
                        ||/əi̯/ ąi ||/i̯ə/ ią ||/u̯ə/ ąu ||/əu̯/ uą ||        ||/e̯ə/ eą ||/o̯ə/ oą ||
|a
|-
|
! /o̞/
                        ||/o̞i̯/ oi ||/i̯o̞/ io ||/o̞u̯/ ou ||/u̯o̞/ uo ||/o̞e̯/ oe ||        ||        ||
|-
! /æ/
                        ||        ||/i̯æ/ ię ||/æu̯/ ęe ||/u̯æ/ uę ||        ||        ||/æo̯/ ęo ||/o̯æ/ oę
|-
! /a/
                        ||/ai̯/ ai ||/i̯a/ ia ||/au̯/ au ||/u̯o̞/ ua ||/ae̯/ ae ||/e̯a/ ea ||/ao̯/ ao ||/o̯a/ oa
|-
! /ɒ/
                        ||/ɒi̯/ ǫi ||/i̯ɒ/ iǫ ||        ||/u̯ɒ/ uǫ ||/ɒe̯/ ǫe ||/e̯ɒ/ eǫ ||        ||
|}
|}
I'd imagine that you are thoroughly confused by the phonology, especially because it didn't use IPA (I couldn't find IPA for half of them anyway.)
All of Metin's vowels may occur as the core of a dipthong except for ɨ.
Metin has four glides which occur as either onglides or offglides, /i̯/, /u̯/, /e̯/, and /o̯/.
If a glide is long, its core vowel is written doubly.
====Triphthongs====
If for any vowel V the onglide diphthong G1V exists and the offglide diphthong VG2 exists then the triphthong G1VG2 exists.
Also, the triphthongs /i̯ui̯/ iui and /u̯iu̯/ uiu exist.
 
====Duration====
All 9 vowels may be long or short. In addition, the core vowel of any diphthong or triphthong may be long or short.
====Tone====
A short vowel may be high tone or low tone. The high tone is marked V́. The low tone is marked V.
 
A long vowel may be high tone, rising tone, falling tone, or low tone. the high tone is marked V́V́, rising tone VV́, falling tone V́V, and low tone VV.
 
Dipthongs and triphthongs of either duration may be of high tone, rising tone, falling tone, or low tone.
 
High tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:
 
ǴV́ ǴV́V́ V́Ǵ V́V́Ǵ ǴV́Ǵ ǴV́V́Ǵ
 
Rising tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:
 
GV́ GV́V́ VǴ VVǴ GV́Ǵ GV́V́Ǵ
 
Falling tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:
 
ǴV ǴVV V́G V́V́G ǴVG ǴVVG
 
Low tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:
 
GV GVV VG VVG GVG GVVG
 
===Syllable Structure===
The metin syllable structure is (C)V(F), where C is any consonant, V is any vowel, and F is any fricative. Vowel-initial words have an excrescent /ʔ/ glottal stop
in their onset.
V'V disyllables (with no intervening consonant) do not occur inside of words. Various sandhi processes remove them.
 
===Phonotactics===
A syllable may optionally have an onset with any one consonant or the permitted consonant clusters (listed in consonants section). The nucleus must consist of a vowel or sequence of vowels (vowels do not dipthongize, rather a sequence of vowels is pronounced with each vowel distinct.) The (optional) coda may be any fricative (including h and other breathy fricatives.
 
==Nouns==
===Noun Class Prefixes===
====Overview====
Every noun in Metin belongs to one of 10 classes.
 
Class 1 refers exclusively to humans. They take the prefix tsi- in all cases.
 
Class 2 is the plural of class 1. They take the prefix oka- in all cases.
 
Class 3 refers to animals, serviles, and other intelligent nonhuman beings. They take the prefix eey- in all cases.
 
Class 4 is the plural of class 3. They take the prefix jii- in all cases.
 
Class 5 refers to small and medium inanimate objects, plants, basic tools, and miscellaneous tangible objects. It comes in two forms.
 
Class 5a nouns take either the prefix mi- or the prefix įh- in the absolutive case and have no prefixes.
 
Class 5b nouns take the prefix ut- in all cases.
 
Class 6 refers to very large nouns, especially when they are thought of as locations. All cases take prefix sxu-.
 
Class 7 is the plural of class 6. All cases take prefix cxu-.
 
Class 8 refers to mass nouns. It comes in two forms.
 
Class 8a nouns take the prefix oo- in all cases. This class is closed, and only a few common nouns are within it.
 
Class 8b nouns take the prefix cha- in all cases. This class is open.
 
Class 9 refers to vehicles and very large devices. They take the prefix we in all cases.


The consonants marked with apostrophes are lateral sounds (I'm not sure if that's what they are really called but I'm sticking with it.)
Class 10 refers to intangible and abstract things. They take the prefix lu in all cases.


To pronounce them, put the tip of your tongue at the base of your bottom teeth. Then, bend the rest of your tongue upwards until the center of your tongue is pressed against the base of the top teeth. Then, make a plosive, nasal, fricative, or lateral with your tongue in this position. You should sound like you have a lisp.
====Declension of noun prefixes====
====Explanation of noun cases====
The absolutive case is used for the subject of transitive verbs, and both the subject and direct object of transitive verbs.


The consonants marked with CAPS are retroflex sounds. Pronounce them with the tip of the tongue touching  the very top of the mouth. 'r' is also a retroflex sound, but there is no 'R' to contrast it with, so it is left in lower case.
The ablative case is used to mark the possessor of a possessed noun, the "source" of verbs of production, and the starting
point of verbs of motion.


Plosive consonants make a three-way distinction, voiceless, voiced, and voiced aspirant.
The oblique case is used for all adjunct noun roles.


They may also be labialized or palatalized (marked by a following y or w, respectively). Retroflex sounds may not be palatalized, and dental and alveolar-lateral sounds become palatal and palatal-lateral sounds on palatalization, respectively. The palatal plosives are more affricate in character than plosive, but they arise from plosives, and will be considered as such. A consonant may be only palatalized before a labial or neutral vowel (back or mid vowels), but not before another palatal vowel (front vowels). Thus, pyà and pya are permitted combiniations, but not pyá or pye.
The dative case is used to mark indirect objects, the "output" of verbs of production, and the destination of verbs of movement.


The inverse applies to labial consonants, which may only stand before non labial vowels, thus pwi and pwï are permitted, but not pwu.
==Verbs==
===Verb class prefixes===
====Intransitive====


Fricatives and affricates are subject to the same rules, except that they may not be aspirated. v~w is considered an approximant, although it surfaces as the voiced bilabial fricative v before labial vowels, it cannot hold secondary articulation.
lį: indefinite, single subject, avolitional, unproductive


Nasals cannot carry any secondary articulations. Nasals are also only distinguished from eachother in the onset of a syllable, at the end of a syllable, they become the archiphoneme m*, which agrees with the following consonant in place and manner of articulation. If followed by a vowel, m* becomes, m before normal vowels, N before retroflex vowels, and n' before lateral vowels.
Example verbs: lį-cx'uy: (something) is red lį-jáe: (something) is beautiful


Approximants can also carry no secondary articulations. There is also an archiphoneme for syllable final approximants, that is l*. l* becomes l' before lateral vowels and consonants, r before retroflex vowels and consoants, and l before anything else.
wu: terminate, single subject, avolitional, unproductive
===Vowels===
 
Vowels are divided into three groups, normal, retroflex and lateral.
Example verbs: wu-cxú (something) is hot
 
k'a: aorist, single subject,  avolitional, unproductive
 
Example verbs: k'a-çat: (something) makes a mistake
 
tsismį: indefinite, single subject,  volitional, unproductive
 
Example verbs: gidi-tsismį-xuj: (someone) wanders, is itinerant
 
tse: terminate, single subject, volitional, unproductive
 
Example verbs: tse-xuj: (someone) is walking
 
ts'a: aorist, single subject,  volitional, unproductive
 
Example verbs: ts'a-gát: (someone) jumps
 
bha: productive, single subject,  avolitional
 
 
tsuwha: productive, single subject,  volitional
 
yo:  transformational, single subject, avolitional
 
co:  transformational, single subject, volitional
 
=====Polyintransitive=====
pxao, fįxao: indefinite, multiple subject,  avolitional
 
bhuwao, bhiwao: terminate, multiple subject, avolitional
 
px'awao, px'iwao: aorist, multiple subject,  avolitional
 
tseo, tsitseo: indefinite, multiple subject,  volitional
 
tsuweo, tsiweo: terminate, multiple subject, volitional
 
ts'aweo, ts'iweo: aorist, multiple subject,  volitional
 
bhabhao, bhibhao: productive, multiple subject,  avolitional
 
tsabhao, tsibhao: productive, multiple subject,  volitional
 
jei, yiyyei:  transformational, multiple subject, avolitional
 
cei, çicei:  transformational, multiple subject, volitional
 
====Transitive====
he: indefinite for subject, volitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.
 
Example verb: he-tiauns: (someone) widens (something)
 
she: terminate for subject, volitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.
 
Example verb: she-thaa (someone) works on (something)
 
th'e: aorist for subject, volitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.
 
Example verb: th'e-yáx: (someone) unties (something)


A normal vowel has the tongue held straight during production. They cannot occur after a lateral or retroflex consonant.They are divided int three groups. The first group is the fronted vowels, or palatals, which are are i, e and á. They cancel out the palatalization in a preceding consonant. The neutral mid vowels are ï, ë, and a. They can stand after labialized or palatalized consonants. The final groupis the back vowels, or labial vowels, u, o and à. They cancel out labialization in the preceding consonant. (note, consonants in the palatal column are inherently palatal, and can have palatal vowels after them, thus "ce" is permitted, even if "pye" is not.)
qo: indefinite for subject, avolitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.


A retroflex has the tongue curled and pointed upwards during production. Retroflex vowels only distinguish openness, not frontness or backness. They are divided into two series, neutral and labial. The neutral vowels are r, I and E. The labial vowels are U, O, and A. (note: the "vowels" r and U are actually syllabic consonants, U being a labialized r.). Retroflex vowels can only stand after retroflex, velar, labial, uvular, and glottal consonants.
Example verbs: qo-haan: (something) lies on top of (something)


A lateral vowel is produced with the tip of the tongue at the base of the teeth and the rest of the tongue bent upwards. Like retroflex vowels, frontness and backness is not distinguished, only openness and labialness. They are also divided into neutral and labial series. The neutral series consists of zy', i', ei' and ai' (ei' and ai' are always dipthongized, and zy' is a syllabic consonant). The labial series consists of zw', u', ou' and au' (ou' and au' are always dipthongized, and zw' is a syllabic consonant.). The lateral vowels can only come after lateral, labial, velar, uvular, and glottal consonants.
ro: terminate for subject, avolitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.
==Syllable structure.==
The onset consists of any consonant in the Metin language, or one of the permitted onset clusters, which are


px, pl, pl', pr tx, tl, ts, dz, t'x, tl', dz', Tr, Tx, TS, DZ, kl, kl', and kr. An onset is not required in a syllable.
Example verbs: ro-moig: (something) is rolling over (something)


Any vowel or the syllabic consonants r, U, zy', and zw' can form the core. Some combinations of onset and core are not permitted, these were detailed above. All syllables must have a core
Example verbs: ro-kx'įį: (something) absorbs (something)


The coda may be any of the archiphonemes m*, t*, l*, h*, and q* or the plosives p and k. A coda is not required in a syllable. There is never more than one consonant in the coda.
q'o: aorist for subject, avolitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.


Example verbs: qx'o-qaa: (something) hits (something)




====Ditransitive===


==Grammar==
[[Category:Languages]]

Latest revision as of 14:12, 11 April 2021


General information

Metin is the official lingua franca of a confederation of human states known as The Encirclement (sxuDaiwe). It is published and standardized by a division of said body known as The Library (sxuQ'ostin). It has spoken, written, and binary forms, spanning all modes and media of communication. The full breadth of the language is used for interpersonal communication and the law, and for communications with sapient serviles, while restricted subsets are used for communicating with the APIs of simpler machines and devices. It is descended from an amalgamation of popular human and machine dialects that preceded the formation of the sxuDaiwe.

Phonology

Consonants

Pairs of consonant realizations and their romanizations are presented. Some consonants are romanized differently depending on whether or not they are in the onset or coda of a syllable, these are presented as comma separated pairs. Those which are marginal are indicated with an asterisk. Tildes separate the multiple realizations of a given singular consonant phoneme.
Manner↓ Place→ Bilabial Dental Lateral Alveolar Alveopalatal Retroflex Palatal Velar Labiovelar Uvular Glottal
Voiceless Stop /p/ p* /t̪/ t /ʈ/ th /c/ c /k/ k /k͡p/ kp /q/ q
Voiced Stop /b/ b* /d̪/ d /ɖ/ d̨ /ɟ/ j /g/ g /g͡b/ gb
Breathy Stop /bʰ/ bh /d̪ʰ/ dh /ɖʰ/ d̨h /ɟʰ/ jh /gʰ/ gh /g͡bʰ/ gbh
Ejective Stop /t̪ʼ/ t' /ʈʼ/ th' /cʼ/ c' /kʼ/ k' /k͡pʼ/ kp' /qʼ/ q'
Nasal Stop /m~n/ m,n
Voiceless Fricative /f/ f /θ/ tj,t /ɬ/ ł /s/ s /ɕ/ sx /ʂ/ sh /ç/ ç,c /x/ x
Voiceless Affricate /t͡ɬ/ tl /t͡s/ ts /t͡ɕ/ cx /ʈ͡ʂ/ ch
Voiced Fricative /β/ w /ð/ dj,d /ɮ/ ɮ /z/ z /ʑ/ zx /ʐ/ z̨ /ʝ/ y /ɣ/ gj,g /h/ h
Voiced Affricate /d͡l/ dl* /d͡z/ dz* /d͡ʑ/ jx /ɖ͡ʐ/ j̨
Breathy Fricative /βʰ/ wh /ðʰ/ djh,dh /ɮʰ/ ɮʰ /zʰ/ zh /ʑʰ/ zxh /ʐʰ/ z̨h /ʝʰ/ yh /ɣʰ/ gjh,gh
Breathy Affricate /d͡lʰ/ dlh*/ /d͡zʰ/ dzh* /d͡ʑʰ/ jxh /ɖʐʰ/ j̨h
Ejective Affricate /t̪͡θʼ/ tj' /t͡ɬʼ/ tl' /t͡sʼ/ ts' /t͡ɕʼ/ cx' /ʈ͡ʂʼ/ ch' /qχʼ/ qx'
Velar Affricate /p͡x/ px /t̪x/ tx /ʈ͡x/ thx
Velar EJective Affricate /pxʼ/ px' /t̪xʼ/ tx' /ʈ͡xʼ/ thx' /k͡xʼ/ kx'
Approximant /l/ l
Trill /ʀ/ r

Ambiguous Multigraphs

The following multigraphs are ambiguous in Metin's romanization when they occur word medially. When a sequence of letters is not intended to be interpreted as a digraph, a hypen "-" is inserted between them. tj /θ/ t-j /θɟ/ dj /ð/ d-j /ðɟ/ djh /ðʰ/ d-jh /ðɟʰ/ tl /t͡ɬ/ t-l /θl/ dl /d͡l/ d-l /ðl/ ts /t͡s/ t-s /θs/ dz /d͡z/ d-z /ðz/ dzh /d͡zʰ/d-zh /ðzʰ/ sx /ɕ/ s-x /sx/ cx /t͡ɕ/ c-x /çx/ zx /ʑ/ z-x /zx/ th /ʈ/ t-h /θh/ sh /ʂ/ s-h /sh/ ch /ʈ͡ʂ/ c-h /çh/ gj /ɣʰ/ g-j /ɣɟ/ gjh /ɣʰ/ g-jh /ɣɟʰ/

Vowels

Pairs of consonant realizations and their romanizations are presented.
Height↓ Backness→ Front Central Back
Close /i/ i /ɨ/ į /u/ u
Mid /e̞/ e /ə/ ą /o̞/ o
Open /æ/ ę /a/ a /ɒ/ ǫ

Diphthongs

Nuclear Vowel↓ Glide→ V-/i̯/ /i̯/-V V-/u̯/ /u̯/-V V-/e̯/ /e̯/-V V-/o̯/ /o̯/-V
/i/ /u̯i/ ui
/u/ /i̯u/ iu
/e̞/ /εi̯/ ei /ie̞/ ie /e̞u̯/ eu /u̯e̞/ ue /e̞o̯/ eo
/ə/ /əi̯/ ąi /i̯ə/ ią /u̯ə/ ąu /əu̯/ uą /e̯ə/ eą /o̯ə/ oą
/o̞/ /o̞i̯/ oi /i̯o̞/ io /o̞u̯/ ou /u̯o̞/ uo /o̞e̯/ oe
/æ/ /i̯æ/ ię /æu̯/ ęe /u̯æ/ uę /æo̯/ ęo /o̯æ/ oę
/a/ /ai̯/ ai /i̯a/ ia /au̯/ au /u̯o̞/ ua /ae̯/ ae /e̯a/ ea /ao̯/ ao /o̯a/ oa
/ɒ/ /ɒi̯/ ǫi /i̯ɒ/ iǫ /u̯ɒ/ uǫ /ɒe̯/ ǫe /e̯ɒ/ eǫ

All of Metin's vowels may occur as the core of a dipthong except for ɨ. Metin has four glides which occur as either onglides or offglides, /i̯/, /u̯/, /e̯/, and /o̯/. If a glide is long, its core vowel is written doubly.

Triphthongs

If for any vowel V the onglide diphthong G1V exists and the offglide diphthong VG2 exists then the triphthong G1VG2 exists. Also, the triphthongs /i̯ui̯/ iui and /u̯iu̯/ uiu exist.

Duration

All 9 vowels may be long or short. In addition, the core vowel of any diphthong or triphthong may be long or short.

Tone

A short vowel may be high tone or low tone. The high tone is marked V́. The low tone is marked V.

A long vowel may be high tone, rising tone, falling tone, or low tone. the high tone is marked V́V́, rising tone VV́, falling tone V́V, and low tone VV.

Dipthongs and triphthongs of either duration may be of high tone, rising tone, falling tone, or low tone.

High tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:

ǴV́ ǴV́V́ V́Ǵ V́V́Ǵ ǴV́Ǵ ǴV́V́Ǵ

Rising tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:

GV́ GV́V́ VǴ VVǴ GV́Ǵ GV́V́Ǵ

Falling tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:

ǴV ǴVV V́G V́V́G ǴVG ǴVVG

Low tone is marked thusly on each kind of polyphthong:

GV GVV VG VVG GVG GVVG

Syllable Structure

The metin syllable structure is (C)V(F), where C is any consonant, V is any vowel, and F is any fricative. Vowel-initial words have an excrescent /ʔ/ glottal stop in their onset. V'V disyllables (with no intervening consonant) do not occur inside of words. Various sandhi processes remove them.

Phonotactics

A syllable may optionally have an onset with any one consonant or the permitted consonant clusters (listed in consonants section). The nucleus must consist of a vowel or sequence of vowels (vowels do not dipthongize, rather a sequence of vowels is pronounced with each vowel distinct.) The (optional) coda may be any fricative (including h and other breathy fricatives.

Nouns

Noun Class Prefixes

Overview

Every noun in Metin belongs to one of 10 classes.

Class 1 refers exclusively to humans. They take the prefix tsi- in all cases.

Class 2 is the plural of class 1. They take the prefix oka- in all cases.

Class 3 refers to animals, serviles, and other intelligent nonhuman beings. They take the prefix eey- in all cases.

Class 4 is the plural of class 3. They take the prefix jii- in all cases.

Class 5 refers to small and medium inanimate objects, plants, basic tools, and miscellaneous tangible objects. It comes in two forms.

Class 5a nouns take either the prefix mi- or the prefix įh- in the absolutive case and have no prefixes.

Class 5b nouns take the prefix ut- in all cases.

Class 6 refers to very large nouns, especially when they are thought of as locations. All cases take prefix sxu-.

Class 7 is the plural of class 6. All cases take prefix cxu-.

Class 8 refers to mass nouns. It comes in two forms.

Class 8a nouns take the prefix oo- in all cases. This class is closed, and only a few common nouns are within it.

Class 8b nouns take the prefix cha- in all cases. This class is open.

Class 9 refers to vehicles and very large devices. They take the prefix we in all cases.

Class 10 refers to intangible and abstract things. They take the prefix lu in all cases.

Declension of noun prefixes

Explanation of noun cases

The absolutive case is used for the subject of transitive verbs, and both the subject and direct object of transitive verbs.

The ablative case is used to mark the possessor of a possessed noun, the "source" of verbs of production, and the starting point of verbs of motion.

The oblique case is used for all adjunct noun roles.

The dative case is used to mark indirect objects, the "output" of verbs of production, and the destination of verbs of movement.

Verbs

Verb class prefixes

Intransitive

lį: indefinite, single subject, avolitional, unproductive

Example verbs: lį-cx'uy: (something) is red lį-jáe: (something) is beautiful

wu: terminate, single subject, avolitional, unproductive

Example verbs: wu-cxú (something) is hot

k'a: aorist, single subject, avolitional, unproductive

Example verbs: k'a-çat: (something) makes a mistake

tsismį: indefinite, single subject, volitional, unproductive

Example verbs: gidi-tsismį-xuj: (someone) wanders, is itinerant

tse: terminate, single subject, volitional, unproductive

Example verbs: tse-xuj: (someone) is walking

ts'a: aorist, single subject, volitional, unproductive

Example verbs: ts'a-gát: (someone) jumps

bha: productive, single subject, avolitional


tsuwha: productive, single subject, volitional

yo: transformational, single subject, avolitional

co: transformational, single subject, volitional

Polyintransitive

pxao, fįxao: indefinite, multiple subject, avolitional

bhuwao, bhiwao: terminate, multiple subject, avolitional

px'awao, px'iwao: aorist, multiple subject, avolitional

tseo, tsitseo: indefinite, multiple subject, volitional

tsuweo, tsiweo: terminate, multiple subject, volitional

ts'aweo, ts'iweo: aorist, multiple subject, volitional

bhabhao, bhibhao: productive, multiple subject, avolitional

tsabhao, tsibhao: productive, multiple subject, volitional

jei, yiyyei: transformational, multiple subject, avolitional

cei, çicei: transformational, multiple subject, volitional

Transitive

he: indefinite for subject, volitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.

Example verb: he-tiauns: (someone) widens (something)

she: terminate for subject, volitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.

Example verb: she-thaa (someone) works on (something)

th'e: aorist for subject, volitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.

Example verb: th'e-yáx: (someone) unties (something)

qo: indefinite for subject, avolitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.

Example verbs: qo-haan: (something) lies on top of (something)

ro: terminate for subject, avolitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.

Example verbs: ro-moig: (something) is rolling over (something)

Example verbs: ro-kx'įį: (something) absorbs (something)

q'o: aorist for subject, avolitional single subject, avolitional single object, unproductive.

Example verbs: qx'o-qaa: (something) hits (something)


=Ditransitive

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