User:Chrysophylax/Sketches/caer

Caer (caer [qæɪ̯ʐ] or caeryn [ˈqæjɪˌʐjəǀ] is the ceremonial sacred language of the Vá people. Its use is nowadays primarily restricted to the rituals of lyaa ('libation') and yayaq (‘divination’) although historically it saw much more use. It is remarkable for being typologically dissimilar to Vánic language with differing morphosyntactic agreement and word order.

Phonology

Caer has an interesting phonological system, completely lacking rounded and back vowels; dental, bilabial and velar plosives; or any of the common nasals.

Consonants

The incredibly sparse consonantal system includes a few uvular consonants, one alveolar sibilant, a voiced retroflex and two clicks.

c~q nn h r s t y l v n

q ɴ χ ʐ sˡ θ j ʟ ʘ ǀ

Vowels

There are three phonemic vowels in Caer: a /æ/, e /ɪ/, y /ə/. However, there are some who posit six vowels, three long (/æ:/, /ɪ/, /ə:/) and three short.

Vowel phonemes in Caer

	Front	Central
Near-close	e /ɪ/
Mid		y /ə/
Open	a /æ/

Pitch

Each word in Caer can optionally take one of two pitch contours: falling (t₁) or rising (t₂). The falling contour (t₁) ends with creaky voice. Although lexically and grammatically important, it is not indicated in the orthography.

A common minimal pair given in literature is: yayaq [ˈjæˌə̯æ̰q˥˩] ‘divination’ and yayaq [ˈjæˌə̯æq˩˥] ‘calamity’.

Orthography

Digraph ⟨x⟩ for /χsˡ/, ⟨y⟩ does double duty, etc.

Morphology

Verbal morphology

A Caer verb is usually composed of a base, an aspect suffix, a voice suffix, and a number prefix. Depending on inflection, the verb requires marking for object and agent.

(1.)

catannyvexaseaq

ca-tanny-ve-xa-se-aq

pl-feel-ext-caus-2sg-1sg

‘I make you grieve’

Aspect

There are three aspects: imperfective (ipfv), perfective (pfv), extemporaneous (ext). These are morphologically marked in verbs using a set of affixes which follow the base but they are completely optional if the verb follows a previously marked verb in the same aspect.

Imperfective

The imperfective is marked with the suffix -ta /θæ˥˩/.

Perfective

The perfective is marked with the suffix -va /ʘæ˥˩/.

Extemporaneous

The extemporaneous, alternatively called the universal, gnomic or indefinite. Most often, it is used to express general truths. It is marked with the suffix -ve /ʘɪ/.

Voice

Caer distinguishes morphologically between four voices (active, causative, reflexive-reciprocative, antipassive) which are indicated on the verb after the aspect-inflected base. The most basic one is the unmarked active.

(2.)

valcaxan avaertase
valcaxa-an	a-vaer-ta-Ø-se
Maker-erg	sg-strike-ipfv-act-2sg
‘You are cursed with ill-fortune’ (lit. maker strikes you)

Nominal morphology

Possession

Caer extraordinarily includes a third-person suffix -yn (divposs) which is marked on the possessum. The affix bears connotations of transitivity when the inflected word is combined with a head noun or phrase. Finally, it is only utilised when referring to deities.

Syntax

Constituent order

Caer is OVS. However, agent-verb word order is also common in transitive sentences where the verb is marked for object.

Possessive constructions

Divine possession

The possesum follows the possessor and is also marked by the third person suffix -yn (divposs).

lyaa-yn

libation-divposs

Their/His/Her libation.

valcaxa	caer-yn
Maker	secret-divposs

The Maker's given secret.