View source for Classical Talothic

{{Infobox language
| name = ''Talothic''
| nativename = ''ῠ̔ττᾰ́ τᾰλοθική''
| pronunciation = [hʉt.tá ta.loˈtʰi.kɛ̌ː]
|-
|creator=Limius
|setting=''Avrid''
|-
| states = Talothas
| ethnicity = Talothic
| familycolor = YellowGreen 
| fam1= [[Maro-Ephenian Languages|Maro-Ephenian]]
| fam2 = Talothic
|ancestor=[[Proto-Maro-Ephenian]]
|ancestor2=Proto-Talothic
|-
| notice = IPA
}}

'''Dalitian''', also known as '''Talothic''', or '''''ῠ̔ττᾰ́ τᾰλοθική''''' (Talothic language) is a Maro-Ephenian Language spoken primarily by about 5 million people in Talothas, as well as small diaspora communities throughout Avrid.  It is closely related to [[Aeranir]], and throughout history was considered an important language for art, trade, and philosophy.

==Phonology==
===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable"  style="margin:autmargin:auto; display: inline-table;"
|+caption | Classical consonant phonemes
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | Labial
! colspan="2" | Alveolar
! rowspan="2" | Velar
! rowspan="2" | Glottal
|-
! <small> plain <small>
! <small> lateral <small>
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" | Nasal
! <small> voiced <small>
| mh ''μ̔''<br>/m̥/
| nh ''ν̔''<br>/n̥/
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
! <small> voiceless <small>
| m ''μ''<br>/m/
| n ''ν''<br>/n/
|
|
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="3" | Stop
! <small> aspirate <small>
| ph ''φ''<br>/pʰ/
| th ''θ''<br>/tʰ/
|
| kh ''χ''<br>/kʰ/
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! <small> plain <small>
| p ''π''<br>/p/
| t ''τ''<br>/t/
|
| k ''κ''<br>/k/
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! <small> voiced <small>
| b ''β''<br>/b/
| d ''δ''<br>/d/
|
| g ''γ''<br>/g/
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" | Fricative
| 
| s ''σ,ς''<br>/s/
| ś ''ϻ''<br>/ɬ~l̥/
|
| h<br>/h/
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" | Trill
! <small> voiceless <small>
| 
| rh ''ῥ''<br>/r̥/
|
|
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! <small> voiced <small>
| 
| r ''ρ''<br>/r/
|
|
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" | Approximate
! <small> voiceless <small>
| 
| colspan="2" | lh ''λ̔''<br>/l̥~ɬ/
|
|
|-  style="text-align:center;"
! <small> voiced <small>
| 
| l ''λ''<br>/l/
|
|
|
|}

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable"  style="margin:autmargin:auto; display: inline-table;"
|+caption | Classical vowel phonemes
|-
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | Front
! colspan ="2" | Central
! colspan ="2" | Back
|-
! <small> short <small>
! <small> long <small>
! <small> short <small>
! <small> long <small>
! <small> short <small>
! <small> long <small>
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Close
| i ''ῐ''<br>/i/
| ī ''ι''<br>/iː/
| y ''ῠ''<br>/ʉ/
| ȳ ''υ''<br>/ʉː/
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Mid-close
| e ''ε''<br>/e/
| ei ''ει''<br>/eː/
| 
| 
| o ο<br>/o/
| ou ου<br>/oː/
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Mid-open
|
| ē ''η''<br>/ɛː/
| 
| 
|
| ō ''ω''<br>/ɔː/
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Open
|
|
| a ''ᾰ''<br>/ä/
| ā ''α''<br>/äː/
|
|
|}

{| class="wikitable"  style="margin:autmargin:auto; display: inline-table;"
|+caption | Classical diphthongs
|-
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | Front
! colspan="2" | Central
! colspan ="2" | Back
|-
! <small> short <small>
! <small> long <small>
! <small> short <small>
! <small> long <small>
! <small> short <small>
! <small> long <small>
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Close
| yi ''υι''<br>/yi/
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Mid
| eu ''ευ''<br>/eu/
| ēi ''ῃ''<br>/ɛːi/<br>ēu ''ηυ''<br>/ɛːu/
|
|
| oi ''οι''<br>/oi/
| ōi ''ῳ''<br>/ɔːi/<br>ōu ''ωυ''<br>/ɔːu/
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Open
|
|
| ai ''αι''<br>/äi/<br>au ''ᾰυ''<br>/äu/
| āi ''ᾳ''<br>/äːi/<br>āu ''αυ''<br>/äːu/
|
|
|}

== Verbs ==

=== Agreement ===
[[File:Dga pyramid.png|thumb|250px|right|The ''DGA pyramid'', originally developed by u/Darkgamma, 2018. ''[https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/aarsyy/the_total_cacophony_of_bäladiri_verb_agreement/ The Total Cacophony of Bäladiri Verb Agreement and Argument Assignment]''.]]
Verbs in Talothic are conjugated to agree with the [[w:Grammatical number|number]], the [[w:Grammatical person|person]], and in the third person singular, the [[w:Grammatical gender|gender]] of the most oblique argument given a word's [[w:Valency (linguistics)|valency]], as defined by the ''DGA pyramid''<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/aarsyy/the_total_cacophony_of_bäladiri_verb_agreement/</ref>.  Here, '''S''' represents the [[w:Subject (grammar)|subject]] of an [[w:Intransitive verb|intransitive verb]], such as 'the person' in 'the person laughed.'  '''A''' represents the [[w:Agent (grammar)|agent]] of a [[w:Transitive verb|transitive verb]] (also occasually called the [[w:Subject (grammar)|subject]]), or the person or thing that does the action of the verb, such as 'the child' in 'the child reads the book.'  '''D''' marks the donor, a special type of agent, who gives something or does a the action of a verb for the benefit of another, such as ‘the senator’ in ‘the senator gave the cat some milk.’  These are collectively called the '''nominative argument''', and are expressed usually with the [[w:Nominative case|nominative case]], but also occasionally with the [[w:Genitive case|genitive case]] in dependant clauses.

'''P''' represents the [[w:Patient (grammar)|patient]] of a [[w:Transitive verb|transitive verb]], or the person or thing towhich the verb is done, also called the '''direct object''', such as ‘the book’ in ‘the child reads the book.’  '''T''' represents the '''theme''', or the object that is given to someone or something, such as ‘the milk’ in ‘the senator gave the cat some milk.’  These two roles make up the '''accusative argument''', which is marked with the [[w:Accusative case|accusative case]].  Finally, '''R''' represents the '''recipient''', or the person who recieves the theme from the donor, or benefits from the donor's action, with a [[w:Ditransitive verb|ditransitive verb]], also commonly called the '''indirect object''', such as 'the cat' in 'the senator gave the cate some milk.'

Talothic verbs conjugate their endings to agree with the most oblique argument in a clause.  That means the '''subject''' of an '''intransitive verb''', the '''patient''' of a '''transitive verb''', or the '''recipient''' of a '''ditransitive verb'''.

:{{interlinear | box=yes
| ἐπᾰ́λαι κομός
| well_built-AOR.3SG.E house-NOM.SG
|'The house is well built'}}

:{{interlinear | box=yes
| ἐτέπτεᾰ ᾰ̓́κηρ ᾰ̓λῠπᾰ́
| drink-IMPERF.2SG farmer-NOM.PL power-ACC.SG 
|'The farmers were drinking water'}}

:{{interlinear | box=yes
| κισῷν αἰππᾰ́ ῴσῐν
| return-2SG 1SG.NOM power-ACC.SG 
|'I'm returning the power to you'}}

It should be noted that a verb in the [[w:Active voice|active voice]] must always have the maximum number of arguments according to its inherent transitivity.  This means, for example, that one can never say 'John eats.'  Because 'to eat' is transitive, there must be a patient, or direct object, e.g. 'John eats food.'  However, there are a number of valancy dropping operations available in Talothic to allow various arguments to be dropped, which are discussed in the section on [[w:Voice (grammar)|voice]].

== Footnotes ==