Czecklish

Czecklish
Czěcklíš
Pronunciation	[ʈʂeːˈkɫiːɕ]
Created by	Mcmisher
Setting	Parallel Earth, Czeckland, Sudenland
Native to	Saxony
Native speakers	52,724 (2019 census)
Language family	Czecklish Language Family
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Regulated by	Czecklish Revitalization Project

The Czecklish language, or Czěcklíš is a language isolate of extraterrestrial origin. The humans who came into contact with these aliens adopted their language for their use, and it has since diverged and become its own language family. Czecklish is spoken by some 50,000 people, primarily in Saxony, Germany and Sudenland, Czechia. There is a current language shift towards Czecklish in the Erzebirgisch region of Saxony. All speakers are bilingual in German, and often speak at least 3 other languages fluently - usually Polish, Czech, English, French and Spanish. UNESCO considers Czecklish to be "vulnerable", as it is historically discouraged to speak it in public or at school.

History

Czěcklíš is originally spoken by the Dźhrajåinia [ɖ̥ʐr̊ə̤ˈxɒːi̯ɲə] extraterrestrial species. The Dźhrajåinia brought their language and beliefs to Earth circa 4000-3200 BCE. It is an astounding revelation that Czěcklíš is the native language of the Dźhrajåiña. Naturally, the Czěcklíš that the Dźhrajåiña speak is different from the Human variety. Czěcklíš is a vulnerable language isolate spoken in Saxony, Germany and Moravia, Czechia. Šäkkelíš, a very closely related language, is spoken solely within Prešov, Slovakia. Cigríş is spoken solely within the counties of Hunedoara and Caraş-Severin. Both Šäkkelíš and Cigríş are considered by UNESCO to be definitely endangered.

Before this project began, there were only a handful of mentions of Czěcklíš by Germans and Bohemians. The German linguist Friedrich Sauber created The Traveler’s Language Handbook for Czěcklíš in 1871 for those travelling through Czeckland. It is however, sadly outdated and contains gross misinformation regarding Czěcklíš grammar. It will be dismissed as a reference for this paper due to its innumerable grammatical inaccuracies. Before Sauber’s handbook, a Franciscan friar of the Grosse Brüdergasse Friary, named Göthe recorded some notes “on the strange, local tongue of Czeckland” circa 1506 CE. The original notes have since been lost since World War II. However, a record of an attempted translation by a local priest uses Göthe’s Czěcklíš alphabet, which is heavily inspired by the Polish orthography of that time.

During the Cold War, Czeckland was occupied by the Communists, and placed under a Communist regime. The Soviet Union changed the traditionally monarchist, feudal Czeckland into a industrialized Democratic Republic of Czeckland. President Ģaiň also developed a Cyrillic alphabet for Czěcklíš use during the Communist regime. His regime plunged Czeckland into an economic depression, resulting in widespread poverty and the migration of many Czěcklíš speakers to Erzgebirge District. Later in the 1970s, a mixed Latin-Cyrillic alphabet was used and developed by President Abhrahą Jozef. It was in use for only a decade, before most Czěcklíš reverted to the Cyrillic alphabet. To this day both Ģaiň’s Cyrillic Alphabet and Jozef’s Alphabet are not in active use. Because they have a communist stigma attached to them, their use can lead to most Czěcklíš thinking that you are a Communist, and cannot be trusted.

The Czěcklíš Revitalization Project (CRP) has recently began, with the aim of revitalizing Czěcklíš, Šäkkelíš and Cigríş language family. Alongside this project, a Czěcklíš Language Course for German Speakers will eventually be taught in the University of Leipzig; a Duolingo course and Memrise course will be developed for supplemental material. Additionally, a German-Czěcklíš and Czěcklíš-German translation website and online dictionary is in the process of being made.

Phonology

Vowels

Monophthongs

Oral Monophthongs

22 total

	Front	Central	Back
Close	iː yː	ɨ	ɯː uː
Near-Close	ɪ ʏ		ɯ ʊ
Close-Mid	eː øː		ɤː oː
Mid		ə
Open-Mid	ɛ ɔ
Near-Open	æː	ɐ
Open			ɑː ɒː

Nasal Monophthongs

5 total

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ĩː		ũː
Mid	ẽː		õː
Open		ɑ̃ː

Diphthongs

Oral Diphthongs

	i̯-	u̯-	-i̯	-u̯	Open
i		u̯i		iu̯
u	i̯u		ui̯
e		u̯e	ei̯	eu̯	ey̯
o	i̯o		oi̯
ɑ	i̯ɑ	u̯ɑ	ɑi̯	ɑu̯
ɒ	i̯ɒ	u̯ɒ	ɒi̯	ɒu̯
ɯ	i̯ɯ		ɯi̯
ɤ	i̯ɤ	u̯ɤ	ɤi̯	ɤu̯
y	i̯y		yi̯		yø̯
ø	i̯ø	u̯ø	øi̯	øu̯	øy̯
æ	i̯æ	u̯æ	æi̯	æu̯	æø

Nasal Diphthongs

	i̯-	u̯-	-i̯	-u̯
ĩ		u̯ĩ		ĩu̯
ũ	i̯ũ		ũi̯
ẽ		u̯ẽ	ẽi̯	ẽu̯
õ	i̯õ		õi̯
ɑ̃	i̯ɑ̃	u̯ɑ̃	ɑ̃i̯	ɑ̃u̯

Vowel Distribution

Close Vowels

• /iː/ ‹İ i› is only permitted when [V-] and before coronal consonants
  • /j/ ‹J j› is a permissible replacement between two single consonants, or when ‹İ i› is singular.
  • /iː/ ‹Y y› is only permitted before /g p b x ɣ v/
    • /i/ appears outside its usual positions in some foreign-derived words.
  • /ɨː/ ‹Ÿ ÿ› is only permitted when [-V] and where [C] is /k p x f/
    • Before /k/, ‹Ÿ ÿ› is written as ‹İ i›, where ‹İ i› is expected after ‹Qu qu›
    • /ɨː/ ‹Ÿ ÿ› contrasts with /iː/ ‹Y y› before /p x/
• /iː/ ‹İJ ij› is permitted when [V-] and before coronal consonants.
• The vowels /ɨː/ and /iː/ are considered to rhyme in poetry out of tradition, as in the past /ɨ/ was closer to [ɪ], which is acoustically more similar to [i].

Close-Mid vs. Open-Mid Vowels

• Close-Mid and Open-Mid vowels are usually in complementary distinction:
  • Open-Syllable é ő ó [eː øː oː]
  • Closed-Syllable ė ö o [ɛ œ ɔ]

However, they do form minimal pairs in certain environments:

• Word-Final
  • é [-eː] vs. ė [-ɛ]
  • ő [-øː] vs. ö [-œ]
  • ó [-oː] vs. o [-ɔ]
• Closed Monosyllables:
  • [CøːC] vs. [CœC]
  • [CoːC] vs. [CɔC]

Open Vowels

• á /ɑː/ and å /ɒː/
  • a /ɑː/ and å /ɒː/ appear in complementary distribution in stressed syllables
    • • In unstressed syllables, á /ɑː/ may be reduced to [ə]
  • å /ɒː/ appears where it was an Old á /ɑː/
• á /ɑː/ and a /ɐ/
  • á /ɑː/ appears in stressed syllables only
  • a /ɐ/ is a shortened /ɑː/ in unstressed syllables
• á /ɑː/ and a̋ /æː/
  • á /ɑː/ appears in morphemes with all back vowels
  • a̋ /æː/ appears as a fronted /ɑː/ in morphemes with all front vowels
• a̋ /æː/ and ä /ɛ/
  • a̋ /æː/ appears in stressed syllables only
  • ä /ɛ/ is a shortened a̋ /æː/ in unstressed syllables

Schwa

• The schwa /ə/ is a very unstable phoneme which tends to merge with other vowels or be elided entirely. The schwa merges with /ø/ in the following environments:
  • [əσe] or [əσi]
• In certain environments, it is elided entirely:
  • [σ-əC-σ]
• It is sometimes pronounced in these environments:
  • [-ə.C-]

Nasal Vowels

• Nasal [Ṽ] appears in stressed syllables only, in contrast with oral vowels.
• Nasal Contrast
  • Nasal vowels contrast with oral vowels only before fricatives and velar/glottal consonants.
• Nasal Metaphony
  • Nasalization is phonemic only in the vowel marked as nasal
• Nasal Metaphony is progressive (i.e. left to right), meaning that all vowels to the right of the nasal vowel are nasalized.
  • This nasalization of surrounding vowels is allophonic and non-phonemic.

Vowel Harmony

Features

All vowels are either front or back in regards to the [±back] vowel feature. There are two sets of vocal harmony systems: a simple one and a complex one. The simple one is concerned with only the [±front] feature, allowing all front vowels in a word, regardless of rounding. The complex one is concerned with both [±front] and [±rounded] features, allowing only vowels that are front or back; additionally, all front or back vowels must be either rounded or unrounded. In a complex vowel system, both rounded and unrounded vowels cannot appear in a word.

Unrounded				Rounded
Front		Back		Front		Back
Long	Short	Long	Short	Long	Short	Long	Short
iː	ɪ	ɯː	ɯ	yː	ʏ	uː	ʊ
eː	ɛ	ɤː	ʌ	øː	œ	oː	ɔ
æː	ɛ	ɑː	ɐ	øː	œ	ɒː	ɑː

Nasal Vowels

Nasal Vowels adhere only to the simple vowel harmony system, with only the [±front] feature being considered, regardless of rounding. Nasal Vowels may accompany Oral Vowels in vowel harmony.

Unrounded				Rounded
Front		Back		Front		Back
ĩː		ɯː / uː		iː / yː		ũː
ẽː		ɤː / oː		eː / øː		õː
				eː / øː		ɑ̃ː

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are for the most part not affected by vowel harmony, except for aspectual ablaut.

Exceptions

Compound words and morphemes are considered separate words with respect to vowel harmony: vowels do not have to harmonize between members of the compound. Vowel harmony does not apply for loanwords and some invariant suffixes. There are also a few native words that don’t follow the rule. In such words, suffixes harmonize with the final vowel. Disharmony tends to disappear through analogy, especially within loanwords. Suffixes drop disharmony to a lesser extent.

Consonants

Consonant Inventory

Pulmonic

• 78 total
• All Pulmonic Consonants have an independent geminate form.

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m̊ m		n̊ n		ɳ̊ ɳ	ɲ̊ ɲ	ŋ̊ ŋ
Plosive	p b pʰ bʱ		t d tʰ dʱ		ʈ ɖ ʈʰ ɖʱ	c ɟ cʰ ɟʱ	k g kʰ gʱ
Affricate	p͡f		t͡s d͡z t͡sʰ d̥͡zʱ	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ʃʰ d̥͡ʒʱ	ʈ͡ʂ ɖ͡ʐ ʈ͡ʂʰ ɖ̥͡ʐʱ	t͡ɕ d͡ʑ t͡ɕʰ d̥͡ʑʱ	k͡x
Fricative	f v	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ	ʂ ʐ	ɕ ʑ	x ɣ	h
Approximant						ç j	ʍ w
Trill			r̊ r		ɽ̊ ɽ	r̝̊ r̝
L. Approx.			ɬ l		ɭ̝̊ ɭ	ʎ̝̊ ʎ

Nota Bene:
For the rest of this document, affricates will be presented without the double inverted breve. This is to make reading IPA easier. If it is necessary to specify that a consonant cluster is not an affricate, a hyphen will be used.

Marginal Consonant Phonemes

These phonemes are recorded in only a handful of roots or bound morphemes:

• /gʱ/ and /ɣ/
• /ɸ/ and /θ/
• /pʰ/ and /ʍ/

Aspiration

Czěcklíš has a distinction between non-aspirated and aspirated plosives and affricates (obstruents). Both voiceless and voiced obstruents can be aspirated. Non-aspirated obstruents are realized as unreleased obstruents [C̚], with little to no puff of air after release. Aspirated voiceless obstruents are accompanied by a strong burst of air after release. Aspirated voiced obstruents are partially devoiced. Aspirate obstruents only appear before long oral or nasal vowels. Aspirate obstruents contrast with non-aspirate obstruents before /ɑː ɒː ɨː/ and /ɑ̃ː/. Vowels are often murmured after an aspirated voiced obstruents. With aspirate voiced obstruents, this may be the only indicator that the obstruent was aspirated. This murmuring is not present with voiceless aspirate obstruents.

Schwa Epenthesis, Sonorant Devoicing

When [CʰC], where [Cʰ] is an aspirate obstruent and plain [C] is a sonorant, then a very weak schwa is inserted between the two consonants: [CʰCV] → [CʰəCV] Alternatively, the aspirate consonant becomes de-aspirated, and the aspiration is ‘carried over’ to the sonorant, which is then devoiced. The vowel gains a breathy quality. [CC̥V̤] Non-aspirate obstruents may insert a schwa here as well, but this varies by speaker

Palatal Offglide

Palatalization of labial, velar and alveolar consonants when /Ce/ has largely disappeared, with only ‹ě› /eː/ to mark its historical and orthographic effects on alveolars. In many dialects a palatal offglide /j/ persists when /i/ and /æ/ appear after labials, velars and retroflex consonants. This offglide is not phonemic, and most L1 speakers have difficulty noticing it, even if it’s been brought to their attention.

Nasal Vowels

Nasal front vowels do not cause palatalization of alveolars.

Allophones

Archiphonemes

• /J/ is a variable underlying palatal phoneme [j], with various realizations in certain syllabic environments.
  • When [C-] or [Cj(C)], then /J/ is realized as [j]
  • When [-C-], then /J/ is realized as [x]
  • When [CV], where [V] is /i e æ/, then /J/ is realized as [ɟ]
• /H/ is a variable underlying palatal phoneme [h], with various realizations in certain syllabic environments.
  • When [C-], then /H/ is realized as [h]
  • When [-C-], then /H/ is realized as [x]
  • When [CV], where [V] is /i e æ/, then /H/ is realized as [ç]
• /X/ is a variable underlying palatal phoneme [x], with various realizations in certain syllabic environments.
  • When [C-], then /X/ is realized as [x]
  • When [-C-], then /X/ is realized as [h]
  • When [CV], where [V] is /i e æ/, then /X/ is realized as [ç]

Velar Allophones

• /K/ is a variable underlying velar phoneme [k], with various realizations in certain syllabic environments.
• When [C(C)-], then /K/ is realized as [k]
  • /kː/ is often realized as [q]
• When [-kC], where [C] is a sonorant or /v/, then [kˠ]~[q]
• When [CV], where [V] is /i e æ/, then /K/ is realized as [ɕː]
• /G/ is a variable underlying velar phoneme [g], with various realizations in certain syllablic environments.
• When [-C-], then /G/ is elided
• When [CU/O/A], then /G/ is realized as [w] or [g]
• Word-initial [ɣ-]
• When [CI], then /G/ is realized as [j] or [ɟ]
• Word-initial [ʑ-]

/J/ vs /I/

/j/ and /i/ form minimal pairs in diphthongs. e.g. /ai̯/ vs. /aj/, or /jo/ vs. /i̯o/. Additionally, /j/ can function by itself as a syllable in place of /i/.

Labial Allophones

• When [CC-], /ɸ/ and /β/ are realized as [f] and [v]
• When [Cv], where [C] is a non-labial voiceless obstruent, then [v] is realized as [f]
• When [Cʰv], /v/ is realized as [f]
• When /hv/, /h/ assimilates to /v/ and the impossible consonant cluster is reduced to a more manageable [ɸ] or [β]

[ʍ] Allophones

[ʍ] is a very unstable consonant, and tends to morph into a labial fricative.

• when [#ʍ-], /ʍ/ > [ʍ]
• when [ʍI], then /ʍ/ > /ɸ/ or /β/, depending on the voicing of the obstruent

Voiceless Sonorants

• Voiced Sonorants become devoiced before voiceless aspirate obstruents.
  • e.g. khraz /kʰrɑ/ is realized phonemically as [kʰər̥ɑ] or [kr̥ɑ]

Assimilation

Sonorant Assimilation

Sonorants assimilate to the place of articulation of the following consonant.

• [r l m] before labial obstruents
• [r l n] before dental, alveolar and postalveolar obstruents
• [ɽ ɭ ɳ] before retroflex obstruents
• [r̝ ʎ ɲ] before palatal obstruents
• [r l ŋ] before velar obstruents

Retroflex Assimilation

Assimilation of Retroflex Obstruents occurs when in [C₁C₂] clusters; where [C₁] is a non-retroflex coronal obstruent and [C₂] is a retroflex consonant.

• If [C₁C₂], then a Geminate Retroflex is formed from left-to-right assimilation.
  • [C₁] assimilates to [C₂]'s place of articulation.
  • If /t d/ and /ʈ ɖ/, then /tʈ dɖ/ becomes /ʈː ɖː/
• If [C₂C₁], then a Geminate Retroflex is formed from right-to-left assimilation.
  • [C₂] assimilates to [C₁]'s place of articulation.
  • If /ʈ ɖ/ and /c ɟ/, then /ʈc ɖɟ/ becomes /ʈː ɖː/

Sibilant Assimilation

Assimilation of Sibilants occurs when in [C₁C₂] clusters; where [C₁] is alveolar and [C₂] is a palatal.

• If [C₁C₂], then a Geminate Sibilant is formed from left-to-right assimilation.
  • [C₁] assimilates to [C₂]'s place of articulation.
  • If /s z/ and /ʃ ʒ/, then /sʃ zʒ/ becomes /ʃː ʒː/
• If [C₂C₁], then a Geminate Sibilant is formed from right-to-left assimilation.
  • [C₂] assimilates to [C₁]'s place of articulation.
  • If /ʃ ʒ/ and /s z/, then /ʃs ʒz/ becomes /ʃː ʒː/
• If one of the two adjacent Sibilants is an Affricate, the Affricate changes its place of articulation.
• Affricate-Fricative [CC] clusters are pronounced the same as geminate affricate.
• Assimilation can be omitted in articulated speech, e.g. to avoid homophony.

Palatal Assimilation

An Alveolar and an adjacent Palatal results in a Palatal Geminate.

• Full palatal assimilation occurs when the final [-C] is [j]
• Partial assimilation takes place if an Alveolar Plosive is followed by a Palatal
• Alveolar Plosives assimilate to their Palatal counterpart before [ɲ]