Linguifex - User contributions [en]

Middle Sethite

2026-06-26T15:07:59Z

IdaeChop:

{{construction}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Middle Sethite
| nativename = Sethgo 布語
| pronunciation = seθgɤ
|creator=IdaeChop
|setting=''[[The Moon, but with oceans and life]]''
| state = [[I Seth Empire]]
| ethnicity = Sethite Sethjin
| familycolor = Austronesian
| fam2 = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayo-Polynesian_languages Malayo Polynesian]
| fam3 = [[Sethitic]]
|ancestor=[[Proto-Sethite]]
|ancestor2=[[Old Sethite]]
| nation = [[I Seth Empire]]
| notice = IPA
}}

{{col-top|4|Metatext for Readers}}
Hi, yeah. This is one of the conlangs in my (IdaeChop) world, Middle Sethite! This was originally a submission for the Cursed Conlang Circus 4, however I decided to modify a whole ton to make it what it is today! It is still lacking in worldbuilding and other necessities, however I am proud of what I am able to achieve now and I want to put it here so people can read about it, I guess? Well. Here's this article then!
{{col-bottom}}

Middle Sethite was a language spoken around the Gulf of Albategnius around 1000 ASC. The division between Middle Sethite and Old Sethite is the usage of the Latin Script as opposed to the older Japonic-based writing system, though usage of the Japonic-system still persisted until the 1400 ASC and people today still study and use Kanji.

==Phonology==

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite consonants
|-
! colspan=2 | !! Bilabial !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar
|-
! colspan=2 | Nasal
|| m || n || ɲ || n
|-
! rowspan=2 | Plosive
! Voiceless
|| p || t || tɕ || k
|-
! Voiced
|| b || d || dʑ || g
|-
! rowspan=2 | Fricative
! Voiceless
|| ɸ || s θ || ɕ || x
|-
! Voiced
|| β || ɹ̠˔ || ʑ ||
|-
! colspan=2 | Approximant
|| || l || j || ɰ
|}

===Vowels===

Middle Sethite has 5 vowels that can either be short or long.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite vowels
|-
! !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
! Close
|| i, iː || || ɯ, ɯː
|-
! Close-mid
| e, eː || || ɤ, ɤː
|-
! Open
| || a aː ||
|}

Middle Sethite do not have diphthongs, but does have vowels that are in hiatus.

===Phonotactics===

Middle Sethite's phonotactics are CCVCC.

===Orthography===

Middle Sethite's orthography was not standardised, there are numerous ways words can be said. Some letters may be doubled but it does not change the pronunciation.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite Latin orthography
|-
! Symbol !! Sound !! Note
|-
| a || /a/ ||
|-
| aa, ah, ar || /aː/ ||
|-
| ae, ay || /eː/ ||
|-
| b || /b/ ||
|-
| c || /k/ || except after i and e
|-
| c || /s/ || only after i and e
|-
| ch || /tɕ/ || only at the start of words
|-
| ch || /x/ || except at the start of words
|-
| d || /d/ ||
|-
| dge || /dʑ/ || only at the end of words
|-
| e || /e/ ||
|-
| ee, ei || /eː/ ||
|-
| f || /ɸ/ ||
|-
| g || /g/ ||
|-
| gn || /ŋ/ || only at the start of words
|-
| h || /x/ || only at the start of words
|-
| i || /i/ ||
|-
| ii, ie || /iː/ ||
|-
| j || /dʑ/ ||
|-
| k || /k/ ||
|-
| l || /l/ ||
|-
| m || /m/ ||
|-
| n || /n/ ||
|-
| ny || /ɲ/ ||
|-
| ng || /ŋ/ ||
|-
| o || /ɤ/ ||
|-
| oa, oo || /ɤː/ ||
|-
| oo || /ɯː/ ||
|-
| p || /p/ ||
|-
| qu || /kɰ/, /kɯ/ || really rare
|-
| r || /ɹ̠˔/ ||
|-
| s || /s/ ||
|-
| sh || /ɕ/ ||
|-
| t || /t/ ||
|-
| tch || /tɕ/ ||
|-
| th || /θ/ ||
|-
| u || /ɯ/ ||
|-
| uu || /ɯː/ ||
|-
| v || /β/ ||
|-
| w || /ɰ/ ||
|-
| x || /ks/ || rare
|-
| y || /j/ ||
|-
| z, zh, zi || /ʑ/ ||
|}

==Grammar==

The grammar of Middle Sethite is typically predicate-final, with a topic-comment structure alongside Austronesian alignment, though exceptions may occur. The subject of the sentence is separate with the topic of the sentence.

===Verbs===

Every verb in Middle Sethite has a voice. The voice marks what every case in the sentence does. Verbs do not mark for tense nor mood.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Pastlooking !! Presentlooking !! Futurelooking
|-
! Agentive Voice
|| ⟨inum⟩ ''binumava'' || ⟨um⟩ ''bumava'' || de- ⟨um⟩ ''debumava''
|-
! Patientive Voice
|| ⟨in⟩ -(e)n ''binavan'' || -n ''bavan'' || de- -n ''debavan''
|-
! Locative Voice
|| ⟨in⟩ -an ''binavaan'' || -an ''bavaan'' || de- -an ''debavaan''
|-
! Benefactive Voice
| ⟨in⟩ -nan ''binavanan'' || -nan ''bavanan'' || de- -nan ''debavanan''
|-
! Instrumental Voice
| ⟨in⟩ +second vowel fronting ''bineva'' || first vowel fronting ''beva'' || de- +second vowel fronting ''debeva''
|}

Verbs may be duplicated to form the frequentative aspect. e.g. ''bumava'' becomes ''bava-bumava''

====Voice====

There are five voices Middle Sethite uses. Changing the voice of a sentence does not reduce the valency, only rotating it.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite voices
|-
! !! Agentive Voice !! Patientive Voice !! Locative Voice !! Benefactive Voice !! Instrumental Voice
|-
! Subject
|| Agentive ''"Nominative"'' || Patientive ''"Ergative"'' || Locative || Benefactive || Instrumental
|-
! Object
| Patientive ''"Accusative"'' || Agentive ''"Absolutive"'' || Patientive || Patientive || Patientive
|-
! Circumject
| Locative || Locative || Dative || Locative || Locative
|-
! Conject
| Comitative || Comitative || Agentive || Agentive || Agentive
|}

Every intransitive sentence must have a subject; every transitive sentence must have a subject and an object. However, if the subject or object happens to be the topic or it is obvious from context (like pronouns), it may be left unsaid.

====Examples====

The Agentive voice:
* ''Ach b'''um'''ili nichan me empang tepoen tharka sumaen antaspan'' '''I''' am buying fish and bread at a store for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|ach b-um-ili n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en tharka suma-en an-taspan
|1sg.AGT ⟨AV⟩buy PAT-fish and PAT-bread store-LOC towards wife-LOC COM-money
|}}
The Patientive voice:
* ''Shichan bili'''n''' ku me entaspan tepoen tharka sumaen ampang'' I am buying '''fish''' and bread at a store for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|sh-ichan bili-n ku me en-taspan tepo-en tharka suma-en am-pang
|PAT-fish buy-PV 1sg.AGT and AGT-money store-LOC towards wife-LOC COM-bread
|}}
The Locative voice:
* ''Stepo bili'''an''' nichan me empang sumaen nak me antaspan'' I am buying fish and bread '''at a store''' for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-tepo bili-an n-ichan me em-pang suma-en nak me an-taspan
|LOC-store buy-{{gcl|LV|locative voice}} PAT-fish and PAT-bread wife-DAT 1sg.AGT and AGT-bread
|}}
The Benefactive voice:
* ''Suma bili'''nan''' nichan me empang tepoen nak me antaspan'' I am buying fish and bread at a store '''for my wife''' using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|∅-suma bili-nan n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en nak me an-taspan
|BEN-wife buy-{{gcl|BV|benefactive voice}} PAT-fish and PAT-money store-LOC 1sg.AGT and AGT-bread
|}}
The Instrumental voice:
* ''Staspan b'''i'''li nichan me empang tepoen tharka sumaen nak'' I am buying fish and bread at a store for my wife '''using money'''
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-taspan bili n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en tharka suma-en nak
|INST-money {{gcl|IV|instrumental voice}}\buy PAT-fish and PAT-money store-LOC towards wife-LOC 1sg.AGT
|}}

===Nouns===

Middle Sethite had fused the case system of Old Sethite and made them declensions instead.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite noun declension
|-
! rowspan=2| !! colspan=2|Vowel-starting !! colspan=2|Consonant-starting
|-
! Singular !! Plural !! Singular !! Plural
|-
! Subject
|| sh- || sh- -ad || (s)- || (s)- -ad
|-
! Object
|| n- || n- -ad || eN- || en- -ad
|-
! Circumject
|| k- || k- -ad || -en || -enad
|-
! Conject
|| gn- || gn- -ad || aN- || aN- -ad
|}

===Word Direction===

Middle Sethite reverses words whenever the word is not the head of the clause (i.e. adjectives or adverbs) or one wants to indicate aspects. This is done per phoneme, not per character as written by the orthography. The verb direction dictates the direction of the sentence and paragraphs.

* ''Shasu mera'' The dog is red
* ''Shasu arem'' The red dog

===Aspects===

Middle Sethite has four main aspects. These aspects can be divided even further by adding the affixes -in- or di-. They are indicated by the direction of the nouns in relation to the verb direction. For words where it’s ambiguous what the direction is (because its a phonemic palindrome), they will be reduplicated (CV + word; e.g. apa → a’apa, masam → mamasam)

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite aspect
|-
! !! Pastlooking !! Presentlooking !! Futurelooking
|-
! Continuing
|| → ⟨in⟩⇒ → ''Ach binumot ta'' "I am still working" || → ⇒ → ''Ach bumot ta'' "I am working" || → de⇒ → ''Ach debumot ta'' "I am working for some time"
|-
! Ending
| → ⟨in⟩⇒ ← ''Ach binumot at'' "I have stopped working" || → ⇒ ← ''Ach bumot at'' "I stop working" || → de⇒ ← ''Ach debumot at'' "I am about to stop working"
|-
! Starting
| ← ⟨in⟩⇒ → ''Ha binumot ta'' "I have started working" || ← ⇒ → ''Ha bumot ta'' "I start working" || ← de⇒ → ''Ha bumot ta'' "I am about to start working"
|-
! Fulfilling
| ← ⟨in⟩⇒ ← ''Ha binumot at'' "I have worked" || ← ⇒ ← ''Ha bumot at'' "I work" || ← de⇒ ← ''Ha debumot at'' "I am planning to work"
|}

===Relative Clauses===

Middle Sethite employs relative clauses to convey more meaning in a single sentence. Sethite has five relative clause markers, which follows the same logic as the case markers. There is sing, ning, king, and nang. Unlike other nonhead parts of the clause, relative clauses do not need to be reversed (though some complex clauses do need reversals still).

* Shasu sing kumanaor seka emat 
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|sh-asu sing kumanaor seka emat
|AGT-dog REL.AGT ⟨AV⟩have one PAT-eye
|'The dog that has one eye'}}

* Sto ning tumubuk ach 
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-to ning t-um-ubuk ach
|AGT-person REL.PAT ⟨AV⟩punch 1sg.AGT
|'The person whom I am punching'}}

* Bale king misi ach
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|∅-bale king m-isi ach
|AGT-house REL.LOC ⟨AV⟩be.inside 1sg.AGT
|'The house that I'm living at'}}

* Sparuk nang bumengi nichan ach
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-paruk nang b-um-engi n-ichan ach
|AGT-cookware REL.COM ⟨AV⟩cook PAT-fish 1sg.AGT
|'The pot that I am cooking fish with'}}

==Example texts==

==Other resources==

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetrical_voice





[[Category:Middle Sethite language]]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]

Middle Sethite

2026-06-26T15:01:53Z

IdaeChop:

{{construction}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Middle Sethite
| nativename = Sethgo 布語
| pronunciation = seθgɤ
|creator=IdaeChop
|setting=''[[The Moon, but with oceans and life]]''
| state = [[I Seth Empire]]
| ethnicity = Sethite Sethjin
| familycolor = Austronesian
| fam2 = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayo-Polynesian_languages Malayo Polynesian]
| fam3 = [[Sethitic]]
|ancestor=[[Proto-Sethite]]
|ancestor2=[[Old Sethite]]
| nation = [[I Seth Empire]]
| notice = IPA
}}

{{col-top|4|Metatext for Readers}}
Hi, yeah. This is one of the conlangs in my (IdaeChop) world, Middle Sethite! This was originally a submission for the Cursed Conlang Circus 4, however I decided to modify a whole ton to make it what it is today! It is still lacking in worldbuilding and other necessities, however I am proud of what I am able to achieve now and I want to put it here so people can read about it, I guess? Well. Here's this article then!
{{col-bottom}}

Middle Sethite was a language spoken around the Gulf of Albategnius around 1000 ASC. The division between Middle Sethite and Old Sethite is the usage of the Latin Script as opposed to the older Japonic-based writing system, though usage of the Japonic-system still persisted until the 1400 ASC and people today still study and use Kanji.

==Phonology==

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite consonants
|-
! colspan=2 | !! Bilabial !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar
|-
! colspan=2 | Nasal
|| m || n || ɲ || n
|-
! rowspan=2 | Plosive
! Voiceless
|| p || t || tɕ || k
|-
! Voiced
|| b || d || dʑ || g
|-
! rowspan=2 | Fricative
! Voiceless
|| ɸ || s θ || ɕ || x
|-
! Voiced
|| β || ɹ̠˔ || ʑ ||
|-
! colspan=2 | Approximant
|| || l || j || ɰ
|}

===Vowels===

Middle Sethite has 5 vowels that can either be short or long.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite vowels
|-
! !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
! Close
|| i, iː || || ɯ, ɯː
|-
! Close-mid
| e, eː || || ɤ, ɤː
|-
! Open
| || a aː ||
|}

Middle Sethite do not have diphthongs, but does have vowels that are in hiatus.

===Phonotactics===

Middle Sethite's phonotactics are CCVCC.

===Orthography===

Middle Sethite's orthography was not standardised, there are numerous ways words can be said. Some letters may be doubled but it does not change the pronunciation.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite Latin orthography
|-
! Symbol !! Sound !! Note
|-
| a || /a/ ||
|-
| aa, ah, ar || /aː/ ||
|-
| ae, ay || /eː/ ||
|-
| b || /b/ ||
|-
| c || /k/ || except after i and e
|-
| c || /s/ || only after i and e
|-
| ch || /tɕ/ || only at the start of words
|-
| ch || /x/ || except at the start of words
|-
| d || /d/ ||
|-
| dge || /dʑ/ || only at the end of words
|-
| e || /e/ ||
|-
| ee, ei || /eː/ ||
|-
| f || /ɸ/ ||
|-
| g || /g/ ||
|-
| gn || /ŋ/ || only at the start of words
|-
| h || /x/ || only at the start of words
|-
| i || /i/ ||
|-
| ii, ie || /iː/ ||
|-
| j || /dʑ/ ||
|-
| k || /k/ ||
|-
| l || /l/ ||
|-
| m || /m/ ||
|-
| n || /n/ ||
|-
| ny || /ɲ/ ||
|-
| ng || /ŋ/ ||
|-
| o || /ɤ/ ||
|-
| oa, oo || /ɤː/ ||
|-
| oo || /ɯː/ ||
|-
| p || /p/ ||
|-
| qu || /kɰ/, /kɯ/ || really rare
|-
| r || /ɹ̠˔/ ||
|-
| s || /s/ ||
|-
| sh || /ɕ/ ||
|-
| t || /t/ ||
|-
| tch || /tɕ/ ||
|-
| th || /θ/ ||
|-
| u || /ɯ/ ||
|-
| uu || /ɯː/ ||
|-
| v || /β/ ||
|-
| w || /ɰ/ ||
|-
| x || /ks/ || rare
|-
| y || /j/ ||
|-
| z, zh, zi || /ʑ/ ||
|}

==Grammar==

The grammar of Middle Sethite is typically predicate-final, with a topic-comment structure alongside Austronesian alignment, though exceptions may occur. The subject of the sentence is separate with the topic of the sentence.

===Verbs===

Every verb in Middle Sethite has a voice. The voice marks what every case in the sentence does. Verbs do not mark for tense nor mood.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Pastlooking !! Presentlooking !! Futurelooking
|-
! Agentive Voice
|| ⟨inum⟩ ''binumava'' || ⟨um⟩ ''bumava'' || de- ⟨um⟩ ''debumava''
|-
! Patientive Voice
|| ⟨in⟩ -(e)n ''binavan'' || -n ''bavan'' || de- -n ''debavan''
|-
! Locative Voice
|| ⟨in⟩ -an ''binavaan'' || -an ''bavaan'' || de- -an ''debavaan''
|-
! Benefactive Voice
| ⟨in⟩ -nan ''binavanan'' || -nan ''bavanan'' || de- -nan ''debavanan''
|-
! Instrumental Voice
| ⟨in⟩ +second vowel fronting ''bineva'' || first vowel fronting ''beva'' || de- +second vowel fronting ''debeva''
|}

Verbs may be duplicated to form the frequentative aspect. e.g. ''bumava'' becomes ''bava-bumava''

====Voice====

There are five voices Middle Sethite uses. Changing the voice of a sentence does not reduce the valency, only rotating it.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite voices
|-
! !! Agentive Voice !! Patientive Voice !! Locative Voice !! Benefactive Voice !! Instrumental Voice
|-
! Subject
|| Agentive ''"Nominative"'' || Patientive ''"Ergative"'' || Locative || Benefactive || Instrumental
|-
! Object
| Patientive ''"Accusative"'' || Agentive ''"Absolutive"'' || Patientive || Patientive || Patientive
|-
! Circumject
| Locative || Locative || Dative || Locative || Locative
|-
! Conject
| Comitative || Comitative || Agentive || Agentive || Agentive
|}

Every intransitive sentence must have a subject; every transitive sentence must have a subject and an object. However, if the subject or object happens to be the topic or it is obvious from context (like pronouns), it may be left unsaid.

====Examples====

The Agentive voice:
* ''Ach b'''um'''ili nichan me empang tepoen tharka sumaen antaspan'' '''I''' am buying fish and bread at a store for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|ach b-um-ili n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en tharka suma-en an-taspan
|1sg.AGT ⟨AV⟩buy PAT-fish and PAT-bread store-LOC towards wife-LOC COM-money
|}}
The Patientive voice:
* ''Shichan bili'''n''' ku me entaspan tepoen tharka sumaen ampang'' I am buying '''fish''' and bread at a store for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|sh-ichan bili-n ku me en-taspan tepo-en tharka suma-en am-pang
|PAT-fish buy-PV 1sg.AGT and AGT-money store-LOC towards wife-LOC COM-bread
|}}
The Locative voice:
* ''Stepo bili'''an''' nichan me empang onaen nak me antaspan'' I am buying fish and bread '''at a store''' for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-tepo bili-an n-ichan me em-pang suma-en nak me an-taspan
|LOC-store buy-{{gcl|LV|locative voice}} PAT-fish and PAT-bread wife-DAT 1sg.AGT and AGT-bread
|}}
The Benefactive voice:
* ''Suma bili'''nan''' nichan me empang tepoen nak me antaspan'' I am buying fish and bread at a store '''for my wife''' using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|∅-suma bili-nan n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en nak me an-taspan
|BEN-wife buy-{{gcl|BV|benefactive voice}} PAT-fish and PAT-money store-LOC 1sg.AGT and AGT-bread
|}}
The Instrumental voice:
* ''Staspan b'''i'''li nichan me empang tepoen tharka sumaen nak'' I am buying fish and bread at a store for my wife '''using money'''
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-taspan bili n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en tharka suma-en nak
|INST-money {{gcl|IV|instrumental voice}}\buy PAT-fish and PAT-money store-LOC towards wife-LOC 1sg.AGT
|}}

===Nouns===

Middle Sethite had fused the case system of Old Sethite and made them declensions instead.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite noun declension
|-
! rowspan=2| !! colspan=2|Vowel-starting !! colspan=2|Consonant-starting
|-
! Singular !! Plural !! Singular !! Plural
|-
! Subject
|| sh- || sh- -ad || (s)- || (s)- -ad
|-
! Object
|| n- || n- -ad || eN- || en- -ad
|-
! Circumject
|| k- || k- -ad || -en || -enad
|-
! Conject
|| gn- || gn- -ad || aN- || aN- -ad
|}

===Word Direction===

Middle Sethite reverses words whenever the word is not the head of the clause (i.e. adjectives or adverbs) or one wants to indicate aspects. This is done per phoneme, not per character as written by the orthography. The verb direction dictates the direction of the sentence and paragraphs.

* ''Shasu mera'' The dog is red
* ''Shasu arem'' The red dog

===Aspects===

Middle Sethite has four main aspects. These aspects can be divided even further by adding the affixes -in- or di-. They are indicated by the direction of the nouns in relation to the verb direction. For words where it’s ambiguous what the direction is (because its a phonemic palindrome), they will be reduplicated (CV + word; e.g. apa → a’apa, masam → mamasam)

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite aspect
|-
! !! Pastlooking !! Presentlooking !! Futurelooking
|-
! Continuing
|| → ⟨in⟩⇒ → ''Ach binumot ta'' "I am still working" || → ⇒ → ''Ach bumot ta'' "I am working" || → de⇒ → ''Ach debumot ta'' "I am working for some time"
|-
! Ending
| → ⟨in⟩⇒ ← ''Ach binumot at'' "I have stopped working" || → ⇒ ← ''Ach bumot at'' "I stop working" || → de⇒ ← ''Ach debumot at'' "I am about to stop working"
|-
! Starting
| ← ⟨in⟩⇒ → ''Ha binumot ta'' "I have started working" || ← ⇒ → ''Ha bumot ta'' "I start working" || ← de⇒ → ''Ha bumot ta'' "I am about to start working"
|-
! Fulfilling
| ← ⟨in⟩⇒ ← ''Ha binumot at'' "I have worked" || ← ⇒ ← ''Ha bumot at'' "I work" || ← de⇒ ← ''Ha debumot at'' "I am planning to work"
|}

===Relative Clauses===

Middle Sethite employs relative clauses to convey more meaning in a single sentence. Sethite has five relative clause markers, which follows the same logic as the case markers. There is sing, ning, king, and nang. Unlike other nonhead parts of the clause, relative clauses do not need to be reversed (though some complex clauses do need reversals still).

* Shasu sing kumanaor seka emat 
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|sh-asu sing kumanaor seka emat
|AGT-dog REL.AGT ⟨AV⟩have one PAT-eye
|'The dog that has one eye'}}

* Sto ning tumubuk ach 
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-to ning t-um-ubuk ach
|AGT-person REL.PAT ⟨AV⟩punch 1sg.AGT
|'The person whom I am punching'}}

* Bale king misi ach
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|∅-bale king m-isi ach
|AGT-house REL.LOC ⟨AV⟩be.inside 1sg.AGT
|'The house that I'm living at'}}

* Sparuk nang bumengi nichan ach
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-paruk nang b-um-engi n-ichan ach
|AGT-cookware REL.COM ⟨AV⟩cook PAT-fish 1sg.AGT
|'The pot that I am cooking fish with'}}

==Example texts==

==Other resources==

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetrical_voice





[[Category:Middle Sethite language]]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]

Middle Sethite

2026-06-26T14:55:12Z

IdaeChop: started teh conlang

{{construction}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Middle Sethite
| nativename = Sethgo 布語
| pronunciation = seθgɤ
|creator=IdaeChop
|setting=''[[The Moon, but with oceans and life]]''
| state = [[I Seth Empire]]
| ethnicity = Sethite Sethjin
| familycolor = Austronesian
| fam2 = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayo-Polynesian_languages Malayo Polynesian]
| fam3 = [[Sethitic]]
|ancestor=[[Proto-Sethite]]
|ancestor2=[[Old Sethite]]
| nation = [[I Seth Empire]]
| notice = IPA
}}

{{col-top|4|Metatext for Readers}}
Hi, yeah. This is one of the conlangs in my (IdaeChop) world, Middle Sethite! This was originally a submission for the Cursed Conlang Circus 4, however I decided to modify a whole ton to make it what it is today! It is still lacking in worldbuilding and other necessities, however I am proud of what I am able to achieve now and I want to put it here so people can read about it, I guess? Well. Here's this article then!
{{col-bottom}}

Middle Sethite was a language spoken around the Gulf of Albategnius around 1000 ASC. The division between Middle Sethite and Old Sethite is the usage of the Latin Script as opposed to the older Japonic-based writing system, though usage of the Japonic-system still persisted until the 1400 ASC and people today still study and use Kanji.

==Phonology==

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite consonants
|-
! colspan=2 | !! Bilabial !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar
|-
! colspan=2 | Nasal
|| m || n || ɲ || n
|-
! rowspan=2 | Plosive
! Voiceless
|| p || t || tɕ || k
|-
! Voiced
|| b || d || dʑ || g
|-
! rowspan=2 | Fricative
! Voiceless
|| ɸ || s θ || ɕ || x
|-
! Voiced
|| β || ɹ̠˔ || ʑ ||
|-
! colspan=2 | Approximant
|| || l || j || ɰ
|}

===Vowels===

Middle Sethite has 5 vowels that can either be short or long.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite vowels
|-
! !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
! Close
|| i, iː || || ɯ, ɯː
|-
! Close-mid
| e, eː || || ɤ, ɤː
|-
! Open
| || a aː ||
|}

Middle Sethite do not have diphthongs, but does have vowels that are in hiatus.

===Phonotactics===

Middle Sethite's phonotactics are CCVCC.

===Orthography===

Middle Sethite's orthography was not standardised, there are numerous ways words can be said. Some letters may be doubled but it does not change the pronunciation.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite Latin orthography
|-
! Symbol !! Sound !! Note
|-
| a || /a/ ||
|-
| aa, ah, ar || /aː/ ||
|-
| ae, ay || /eː/ ||
|-
| b || /b/ ||
|-
| c || /k/ || except after i and e
|-
| c || /s/ || only after i and e
|-
| ch || /tɕ/ || only at the start of words
|-
| ch || /x/ || except at the start of words
|-
| d || /d/ ||
|-
| dge || /dʑ/ || only at the end of words
|-
| e || /e/ ||
|-
| ee, ei || /eː/ ||
|-
| f || /ɸ/ ||
|-
| g || /g/ ||
|-
| gn || /ŋ/ || only at the start of words
|-
| h || /x/ || only at the start of words
|-
| i || /i/ ||
|-
| ii, ie || /iː/ ||
|-
| j || /dʑ/ ||
|-
| k || /k/ ||
|-
| l || /l/ ||
|-
| m || /m/ ||
|-
| n || /n/ ||
|-
| ny || /ɲ/ ||
|-
| ng || /ŋ/ ||
|-
| o || /ɤ/ ||
|-
| oa, oo || /ɤː/ ||
|-
| oo || /ɯː/ ||
|-
| p || /p/ ||
|-
| qu || /kɰ/, /kɯ/ || really rare
|-
| r || /ɹ̠˔/ ||
|-
| s || /s/ ||
|-
| sh || /ɕ/ ||
|-
| t || /t/ ||
|-
| tch || /tɕ/ ||
|-
| th || /θ/ ||
|-
| u || /ɯ/ ||
|-
| uu || /ɯː/ ||
|-
| v || /β/ ||
|-
| w || /ɰ/ ||
|-
| x || /ks/ || rare
|-
| y || /j/ ||
|-
| z, zh, zi || /ʑ/ ||
|}

==Grammar==

The grammar of Middle Sethite is typically predicate-final, with a topic-comment structure alongside Austronesian alignment, though exceptions may occur. The subject of the sentence is separate with the topic of the sentence.

===Verbs===

Every verb in Middle Sethite has a voice. The voice marks what every case in the sentence does. Verbs do not mark for tense nor mood.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Pastlooking !! Presentlooking !! Futurelooking
|-
! Agentive Voice
|| ⟨inum⟩ ''binumava'' || ⟨um⟩ ''bumava'' || de- ⟨um⟩ ''debumava''
|-
! Patientive Voice
|| ⟨in⟩ -(e)n ''binavan'' || -n ''bavan'' || de- -n ''debavan''
|-
! Locative Voice
|| ⟨in⟩ -an ''binavaan'' || -an ''bavaan'' || de- -an ''debavaan''
|-
! Benefactive Voice
| ⟨in⟩ -nan ''binavanan'' || -nan ''bavanan'' || de- -nan ''debavanan''
|-
! Instrumental Voice
| ⟨in⟩ +second vowel fronting ''bineva'' || first vowel fronting ''beva'' || de- +second vowel fronting ''debeva''
|}

Verbs may be duplicated to form the frequentative aspect. e.g. ''bumava'' becomes ''bava-bumava''

====Voice====

There are five voices Middle Sethite uses. Changing the voice of a sentence does not reduce the valency, only rotating it.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite voices
|-
! !! Agentive Voice !! Patientive Voice !! Locative Voice !! Benefactive Voice !! Instrumental Voice
|-
! Subject
|| Agentive ''"Nominative"'' || Patientive ''"Ergative"'' || Locative || Benefactive || Instrumental
|-
! Object
| Patientive ''"Accusative"'' || Agentive ''"Absolutive"'' || Patientive || Patientive || Patientive
|-
! Circumject
| Locative || Locative || Dative || Locative || Locative
|-
! Conject
| Comitative || Comitative || Agentive || Agentive || Agentive
|}

Every intransitive sentence must have a subject; every transitive sentence must have a subject and an object. However, if the subject or object happens to be the topic or it is obvious from context (like pronouns), it may be left unsaid.

====Examples====

The Agentive voice:
* ''Ach b'''um'''ili nichan me empang tepoen tharka sumaen antaspan'' '''I''' am buying fish and bread at a store for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|ach b-um-ili n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en tharka suma-en an-taspan
|1sg.AGT ⟨AV⟩buy PAT-fish and PAT-bread store-LOC towards wife-LOC COM-money
|}}
The Patientive voice:
* ''Shichan bili'''n''' ku me entaspan tepoen tharka sumaen ampang'' I am buying '''fish''' and bread at a store for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|sh-ichan bili-n ku me en-taspan tepo-en tharka suma-en am-pang
|PAT-fish buy-PV 1sg.AGT and AGT-money store-LOC towards wife-LOC COM-bread
|}}
The Locative voice:
* ''Stepo bili'''an''' nichan me empang onaen nak me antaspan'' I am buying fish and bread '''at a store''' for my wife using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-tepo bili-an n-ichan me em-pang suma-en nak me an-taspan
|LOC-store buy-{{gcl|LV|locative voice}} PAT-fish and PAT-bread wife-DAT 1sg.AGT and AGT-bread
|}}
The Benefactive voice:
* ''Suma bili'''nan''' nichan me empang tepoen nak me antaspan'' I am buying fish and bread at a store '''for my wife''' using money
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|∅-suma bili-nan n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en nak me an-taspan
|BEN-wife buy-{{gcl|BV|benefactive voice}} PAT-fish and PAT-money store-LOC 1sg.AGT and AGT-bread
|}}
The Instrumental voice:
* ''Staspan b'''i'''li nichan me empang tepoen tharka sumaen nak'' I am buying fish and bread at a store for my wife '''using money'''
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-taspan bili n-ichan me em-pang tepo-en tharka suma-en nak
|INST-money {{gcl|IV|instrumental voice}}\buy PAT-fish and PAT-money store-LOC towards wife-LOC 1sg.AGT
|}}

===Nouns===

Middle Sethite had fused the case system of Old Sethite and made them declensions instead.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite noun declension
|-
! rowspan=2| !! colspan=2|Vowel-starting !! colspan=2|Consonant-starting
|-
! Singular !! Plural !! Singular !! Plural
|-
! Subject
|| sh- || sh- -ad || (s)- || (s)- -ad
|-
! Object
|| n- || n- -ad || eN- || en- -ad
|-
! Circumject
|| k- || k- -ad || -en || -enad
|-
! Conject
|| gn- || gn- -ad || aN- || aN- -ad
|}

===Word Direction===

Middle Sethite reverses words whenever the word is not the head of the clause (i.e. adjectives or adverbs) or one wants to indicate aspects. This is done per phoneme, not per character as written by the orthography. The verb direction dictates the direction of the sentence and paragraphs.

* ''Shasu mera'' The dog is red
* ''Shasu arem'' The red dog

===Aspects===

Middle Sethite has four main aspects. These aspects can be divided even further by adding the affixes -in- or di-. They are indicated by the direction of the nouns in relation to the verb direction. For words where it’s ambiguous what the direction is (because its a phonemic palindrome), they will be reduplicated (CV + word; e.g. apa → a’apa, masam → mamasam)

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middle Sethite aspect
|-
! !! Pastlooking !! Presentlooking !! Futurelooking
|-
! Continuing
|| → ⟨in⟩⇒ → ''Ach binumot ta'' "I am still working" || → ⇒ → ''Ach bumot ta'' "I am working" || → de⇒ → ''Ach debumot ta'' "I am working for some time"
|-
! Ending
| → ⟨in⟩⇒ ← ''Ach binumot at'' "I have stopped working" || → ⇒ ← ''Ach bumot at'' "I stop working" || → de⇒ ← ''Ach debumot at'' "I am about to stop working"
|-
! Starting
| ← ⟨in⟩⇒ → ''Ha binumot ta'' "I have started working" || ← ⇒ → ''Ha bumot ta'' "I start working" || ← de⇒ → ''Ha bumot ta'' "I am about to start working"
|-
! Fulfilling
| ← ⟨in⟩⇒ ← ''Ha binumot at'' "I have worked" || ← ⇒ ← ''Ha bumot at'' "I work" || ← de⇒ ← ''Ha debumot at'' "I am planning to work"
|}

===Relative Clauses===

Middle Sethite employs relative clauses to convey more meaning in a single sentence. Sethite has five relative clause markers, which follows the same logic as the case markers. There is sing, ning, king, and nang. Unlike other nonhead parts of the clause, relative clauses do not need to be reversed (though some complex clauses do need reversals still).

* Shasu sing kumanaor seka emat 
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|sh-asu sing kumanaor seka emat
|AGT-dog REL.AGT ⟨AV⟩have one PAT-eye
|'The dog that has one eye'}}

* Sto ning tumubuk ach 
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-to ning t-um-ubuk ach
|AGT-person REL.PAT ⟨AV⟩punch 1sg.AGT
|'The person whom I am punching'}}

* Bale king misi ach
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|∅-bale king m-isi ach
|AGT-house REL.LOC ⟨AV⟩be.inside 1sg.AGT
|'The house that I'm living at'}}

* Sparuk nang bumengi nichan ach
{{interlinear|indent=2|glossing = link|
|s-paruk nang bumengi n-ichan ach
|AGT-cookware REL.COM ⟨AV⟩cook PAT-fish 1sg.AGT
|'The pot that I am cooking fish with'}}

==Example texts==

==Other resources==

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetrical_voice





[[Category:Middle Sethite language]]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]

User:IdaeChop

2026-06-25T03:22:15Z

IdaeChop: lol. lmao.

Hello! I am IdaeChop! I am an amateur conlanger!

I'll use this as a dumping ground of my Conlangs.