Valtamic: Difference between revisions
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===Vowel harmony=== | ===Vowel harmony=== | ||
Valtamic exhibits a simple vowel height harmony, with high, middle, and low vowels. It has no neutral vowels, apart from ''ö'', though it is grammatically classified as a middle vowel. | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | High | |||
| style="width:20px;" | i | |||
| style="width:20px;" | ü | |||
| style="width:20px;" | y | |||
| style="width:20px;" | u | |||
| style="width:20px;" | ou | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Middle | |||
| colspan="3" | e | |||
| ë | |||
| rowspan="2" | o | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Low | |||
| colspan="3" | ä | |||
| a | |||
|} | |||
Loanwords that do not conform to vowel harmony inflect based on the final vowel of their lemma forms: | |||
*[[Contionary:diktätër|diktät'''ë'''r]] → diktät'''ëṡ''' (''genitive'') | |||
*[[Contionary:maṡyna|maṡyn'''a''']] → maṡyn'''aľ''' (''locative'') | |||
...though with derivational suffixes that delete the final syllable of a lemma, they inflect based on the penultimate vowel instead: | |||
*dikt'''ä'''tër + {{c|-cer}} → diktä'''cär''' → diktä'''cäm''' (''accusative'') | |||
*maṡ'''y'''na + {{c|-elër}} → maṡyn'''ilur''' → maṡyn'''ilunu''' (''essive'') | |||
===Nominals=== | ===Nominals=== | ||
Nominals decline for one of 12 cases (''nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, lative, locative, separative, essive, translative, privative, comitative,'' and ''instrumental''), with nouns also declining for 2 numbers (''singular'' and ''plural''). The gender system completely collapsed in Valtamic, except in pronouns. This vacancy led to the innovation of an animacy system, with animate and inanimate nouns. | |||
Nominals decline according to four declension paradigms: '''''type-I''''', '''''type-II''''', '''''type-III''''', and '''''regular paradigms'''''. | |||
====Type-I nouns==== | |||
This paradigm corresponds with the Proto-Italic o-stem & Latin 2<sup>nd</sup> declension. Nominals of this type are characterized as ending with ''-r'', which changes throughout the paradigm. Mono-syllabic nominals of this type are known as ''true type-I'' nominals, since they exhibit vowel height alteration throughout the paradigm. | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
|+ '''Type-I paradigm''' | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! rowspan="2" style="font-weight:normal;" | | |||
! colspan="2" | {{c|tlour}}, "day" | |||
! rowspan="2" | {{c|mëkër}}, "great" | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! Singular | |||
! Plural | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Nominative | |||
| tlour | |||
| rowspan="2" | tlou<span style="color:purple">n</span> | |||
| mëkër | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Accusative | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">m</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">m</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Genitive | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">ṡ</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">m</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">ṡ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Dative | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">ouľ</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">l</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">ľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Lative<br><span style="color:grey">"into"</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">ouṅ</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">ounjuľ</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">ṅ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Locative<br><span style="color:grey">"in, on, at, by..."</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">oľ</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">oljoľ</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">ľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Separative<br><span style="color:grey">"out of, away from"</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">t</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">dul</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">t</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Essive<br><span style="color:grey">as/in a certain state</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">nu</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">nou</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">në</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Translative<br><span style="color:grey">change of/into a state</span> | |||
| tlo<span style="color:purple">c</span> | |||
| tlo<span style="color:purple">cë</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">c</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Privative<br><span style="color:grey">"without, absence of"</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">odek</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">odok</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">dek</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Comitative<br><span style="color:grey">"with, alongside"</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">onek</span> | |||
| tl<span style="color:purple">onok</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">nek</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Instrumental<br><span style="color:grey">"with, using"</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">nouj</span> | |||
| tlou<span style="color:purple">noumi</span> | |||
| mëkë<span style="color:purple">noj</span> | |||
|} | |||
====Type-II nouns==== | |||
This paradigm corresponds with the Proto-Italic ā- & u-stems & Latin 1<sup>st</sup> & 4<sup>th</sup> declensions. Most nominals of this type end with a vowel, which changes throughout the paradigm. There has also been an increase in declining Type-II nominals according to the regular paradigm instead of the type-II paradigm. | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
|+ '''Type-II paradigm''' | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! rowspan="2" style="font-weight:normal;" | | |||
! colspan="2" | {{c|ṡynu}}, "automobile" | |||
! rowspan="2" | {{c|cäto}}, "prussian" | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! Singular | |||
! Plural | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Nominative | |||
| ṡynu | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">r</span> | |||
| cäto | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Accusative | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">m</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">n</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">m</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Genitive | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">r</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">zum</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">r</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Dative | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">ľ</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">l</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">ľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Lative<br><span style="color:grey">"into"</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">ṅ</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">njuľ</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">ṅ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Locative<br><span style="color:grey">"in, on, at, by..."</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">ľ</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">ljuľ</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">ľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Separative<br><span style="color:grey">"out of, away from"</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">t</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">dul</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">t</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Essive<br><span style="color:grey">as/in a certain state</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">nu</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">nou</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">na</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Translative<br><span style="color:grey">change of/into a state</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">c</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">cu</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">c</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Privative<br><span style="color:grey">"without, absence of"</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">dik</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">douk</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">däk</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Comitative<br><span style="color:grey">"with, alongside"</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">nik</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">nouk</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">näk</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Instrumental<br><span style="color:grey">"with, using"</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">ju</span> | |||
| ṡynu<span style="color:green">ïmi</span> | |||
| cäto<span style="color:green">ja</span> | |||
|} | |||
====Type-III nouns==== | |||
This paradigm corresponds with the Proto-Italic consonant-stems & Latin 3<sup>rd</sup> declension. Most nominals of this type exhibit stem alteration from the nominative singular. | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
|+ '''Type-III paradigm''' | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! rowspan="2" style="font-weight:normal;" | | |||
! colspan="2" | {{c|fëcel}}, "father" | |||
! rowspan="2" | {{c|gel}}, "blond(e)" | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! Singular | |||
! Plural | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Nominative | |||
| fëcel | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">r</span> | |||
| gel | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Accusative | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">m</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">n</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">ëm</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Genitive | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">r</span> | |||
| fëtr<span style="color:brown">om</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">er</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Dative | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">ľ</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">ġ</span> / fëtre<span style="color:brown">l</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">eľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Lative<br><span style="color:grey">"into"</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">ṅ</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">njël</span> / fëtre<span style="color:brown">njëľ</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">eṅ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Locative<br><span style="color:grey">"in, on, at, by..."</span> | |||
| fëtr<span style="color:brown">e</span> / fëtre<span style="color:brown">ľ</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">ljëľ</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">e</span> / gelw<span style="color:brown">eľ</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Separative<br><span style="color:grey">"out of, away from"</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">t</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">dël</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">ët</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Essive<br><span style="color:grey">as/in a certain state</span> | |||
| fëtr<span style="color:brown">ë</span> / fëtre<span style="color:brown">nu</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">no</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">ë</span> / gelw<span style="color:brown">ënë</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Translative<br><span style="color:grey">change of/into a state</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">c</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">cë</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">ëc</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Privative<br><span style="color:grey">"without, absence of"</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">dek</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">dok</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">ëdek</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Comitative<br><span style="color:grey">"with, alongside"</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">nek</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:brown">nok</span> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">ënek</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Instrumental<br><span style="color:grey">"with, using"</span> | |||
| fëtr<span style="color:brown">om</span> | |||
| fëtr<span style="color:brown">ome</span> / fëtr<span style="color:brown">eme</span> <sup>[a]</sup> | |||
| gelw<span style="color:brown">om</span> | |||
|} | |||
<sup>[a]</sup> Southern Valtamic variants | |||
====Regular nouns==== | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
|+ '''Regular paradigm''' | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! rowspan="2" style="font-weight:normal;" | | |||
! colspan="2" | {{c|tämrä}}, "girl" | |||
! rowspan="2" | {{c|tänar}}, "good, well" | |||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |||
! Singular | |||
! Plural | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Nominative | |||
| tämrä | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">r</span> | |||
| tänar | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Accusative | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">m</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">n</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">am</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Genitive | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">r</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">m</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">är</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="height:45px;" "font-weight:bold;" | Dative | |||
| colspan="2" | tämrä<span style="color:blue">ľ</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">äľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Lative<br><span style="color:grey">"into"</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">ṅ</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">njal</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">äṅ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Locative<br><span style="color:grey">"in, on, at, by..."</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">ľ</span> | |||
| fëtre<span style="color:blue">ljaľ</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">äľ</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Separative<br><span style="color:grey">"out of, away from"</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">t</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">daľ</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">at</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Essive<br><span style="color:grey">as/in a certain state</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">na</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">nano</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">na</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Translative<br><span style="color:grey">change of/into a state</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">c</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">ca</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">c</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Privative<br><span style="color:grey">"without, absence of"</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">däk</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">dok</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">däk</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Comitative<br><span style="color:grey">"with, alongside"</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">näk</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">nok</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">näk</span> | |||
|- | |||
! style="font-weight:bold;" | Instrumental<br><span style="color:grey">"with, using"</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">jo</span> | |||
| tämrä<span style="color:blue">jämä</span> | |||
| tänar<span style="color:blue">jo</span> | |||
|} | |||
===Verbs=== | ===Verbs=== |
Revision as of 23:22, 17 August 2024
This article is private. The author requests that you do not make changes to this project without approval. By all means, please help fix spelling, grammar and organisation problems, thank you. |
Valtamic | |
---|---|
Äljämhar, Аьляьмхар | |
Flag of the Republic of Valtamia | |
Pronunciation | [ˈæˑʎɛm̥ˌχʌɾ̥] |
Created by | Vrianne |
Date | 2024 |
Setting | Alt-History Baltic |
Native to | Valtamia |
Ethnicity | Valtamian, Livonian |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | Proto-Indo-European
|
Standard form | Standard Valtamic (--)
|
Dialects |
|
Official status | |
Official language in | Valtamia |
Recognised minority language in | |
Map of areas where Vlatamic is spoken
...as a majority language
...as a minority language | |
Valtamic (endonym: äljämhor lïcür [ˈæˑʎɛm̥ˌχɔ̞ɾ̥ ˈʎiˑ(t)s̪ʏɾ̥]), also known as Livonian, is an Italic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken mostly in the Republic of Valtamia, wherein it is recognized as the official language, located within the Baltic. It is also the only continuously surviving member of the Italic language family, as well as being one of the two only non-extinct Italic languages, along with Latin.
Classification
Valtamic belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family, along with Latin and other extinct languages such as Faliscan, Oscan, and Umbrian. It is not to be mis-classified as a Romance language, due to its relation with Latin.
Comparison with Romance languages
Due to Valtamic being the only continuously surviving Italic language, it may be erroneously grouped with the Romance languages, which are directly descended from Vulgar Latin, as opposed to Valtamic being directly descended from Proto-Italic. Even though, evolutionarily, Valtamic much older and more conservative than modern Romance languages, its evolutionary path made quite different from even Classical Latin.
English translation | Latin | Romance | Valtamic | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
French | Italian | Spanish | Romanian | |||
one | ūnus | un | uno | unu | ljar | |
to eat | edō, mandūcō | manger | mangiare | comer | mânca | ṡëmëco |
to know | sciō, sapiō | savoir | sapere | saber | ști | hnejo |
to be familiar with | cognōscō | connaître | conoscere | conocer | cunoaște | |
to hear | audiō | entendre | udire | oír | auzi | ozjo |
language | lingua | langue | lingua | lengua, idioma | limbă | ljicür, tämva |
cow | vacca | vache | vacca, mucca | vaca | vacă | aha |
sheep | ovis | mouton | pecora | carnero, oveja | oaie | banar, ġüny |
happy | laetus, fēlīx | heureux | felice | feliz | fericit | ilür |
small | parvus, paulus | petit | piccolo | pequeño | mic | folër |
all | omnēs | tous | tutto | todos | tot | mür |
History
Etymology
The English exonym Valtamic is a loan from Latin Vāltamicus ("Valtamic; Livonian"), with the most likely source being from Proto-Valtamic *βältämu, from *βältä ("strange") + *ämu ("man, human"), a theorized calque of a Finnic exonym. Nearly all European languages follow with loaning the Latin exonym, such as German Waltamisch, French Valtamien, and Russian Валтамский (Valtamskij).
The native endonym Äljämhar is unrelated to the Latin exonym, instead coming from Proto-Valtamic *βärjämu, from *βäre ("foreign") + *ämu ("man, human"), + Modern Valtamic -har (adjective-nominalizing suffix) , with unexplained loss of the initial *β. It's also a theorized calque of another Finnic exonym.
Proto-Valtamic
Modern Valtamic
Phonology
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |||
Close | i | y | ɨ | ɯ | u | |
Mid | e | ɤ | o (ɔ)1 | |||
Open | æ | ɑ |
- /ɔ/ only exists due to vowel harmony and isn't recognized as phonemic in it's own right. Its pronunciation can range from [ɒ] to [ɔ].
Phonemically, there exist 10–11 contrasting phones. In practice though, vowels are slightly lengthened [◌ˑ] when stressed and experience slight reduction when unstressed, either lowering or centralizing.
Front | Central | Back | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | ||||||||
Stressed | Unstressed | Stressed | Unstressed | Stressed | Unstressed | Stressed | Unstressed | Stressed | Unstressed | ||
Close | [i(ˑ)] | [ɪ] | [y(ˑ)] | [ʏ] | [ɨ(ˑ)] | [ᵻ] | [ɯ(ˑ)] | [ω] | [u(ˑ)] | [ʊ] | |
Mid | [e̞(ˑ)] | [ɛ] | [ɤ̞(ˑ)] | [ɜ] | [o̞(ˑ)] | [ɔ] | |||||
Open | [æ(ˑ)] | [ɑ̝(ˑ)] | [ʌ] | [ɔ̞] |
- [ᵻ ω] are unused IPA symbols representing near-close [ɪ̈ ɯ̽].
- Back [ɑ̝(ˑ) ɤ̞(ˑ) o̞(ˑ) ɯ(ˑ) u(ˑ)] [ʌ ɜ ɔ ω ʊ ɔ̞] become central [ä̝(ˑ) ɘ̞(ˑ) ɵ̞(ˑ) ɨ(ˑ) ʉ(ˑ)] [ɐ ɜ ɞ ᵻ ᵿ ɐ] in the presence of a palatal consonant.
- Unstressed [ᵻ] may alternatively be pronounced as central [ə].
- Stressed [ɤ̞(ˑ)] may alternatively be pronounced as front [ø̞ˑ], even though it messes with the harmony of inflectional endings.
- Unstressed [ɜ] may alternatively be pronounced as central [ə], merged with [ʌ], or (in the case of stressed [ø̞ˑ]) front [œ].
- Stress-pairs [æ(ˑ) ɛ] [ɑ̝(ˑ) ʌ] may alternatively be pronounced as true open [æ̞(ˑ) ɛ̞] [ɑ(ˑ) ʌ̞].
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | (ɳ) | ɲ | (ŋ) | ||
Polsive | Voiceless | p | t | k | |||
Voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||||
Fricative | Voiceless | f | θ s | ʂ | ɕ | x | ɦ |
Voiced | v | (z) | ʐ ~ ʑ | ||||
Affricate | Voiceless | t͡s | t͡ʂ ~ t͡ɕ | ||||
Voiced | (d͡z) | (d͡ʐ ~ d͡ʑ) | |||||
Trill/Tap | r | ||||||
Lateral | l | ʎ | |||||
Non-lateral approximant | j | w |
- /m n ɲ r l ʎ/ become devoiced [m̥ n̥ ɲ̊ ɾ̥ l̥ ʎ̥] syllable-finally.
- [ŋ ɳ] are allophones of /n/ near velar and retroflex consonants respectively.
- /t l/ are pronounced as dental [t̪ l̪] while /n d/ as true alveolar [n d].
- /f v/ are pronounced as approximants [ʋ̊ ʋ].
- /θ/ only appears in the cluster ⟨tr⟩ /θr/.
- /s/ is pronounced as apical/retracted [s̺] while /t͡s/, like /t/, is pronounced as dental/laminal [t̪͡s̪]. /t͡s/ de-affricates when unstressed and non-initial, giving rise to an apical/laminal distinction [s̺] [s̻] in unstressed syllables, as seen in words like ⟨uhsoucuh⟩ /ˈɯxsut͡sɯx/ [ˈɯˑχs̺ʊˌs̪ωχ].
- /z/ appears in modern loanwords but is, in practice, in free variation with /ɕ/.
- /x l w/ are pronounced as [χ ɫ w] near back vowels and [x̟ l ɥ] near front vowels.
- /r/ is pronounced as a tap [ɾ] in most dialects.
Orthographies
Latin alphabet
Modern Valtamic employs the Latin alphabet, with the added vowel letters ä, ë, ï, ö, and ü and the extra consonant letters ċ, ġ, ľ, ṅ, ṡ, and ż. Prior to the post-Soviet spelling reform, various polish-adjacent digraphs, such as cz, ch, sz, etc. were used instead. The current orthography employs only three native digraphs, those being ou, lj, and nj.
Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Pre-Soviet spellings | |
---|---|---|---|
Stressed | Unstressed | ||
a | [ɑ̝(ˑ)] | [ʌ] | |
ä | [æ(ˑ)] | [ɛ] | a, æ, e, ě |
e | [e̞(ˑ)] | ||
ë | [ɤ̞(ˑ)] | [ɜ] | ö, ø, œ |
i | [i(ˑ)] | [ɪ] | |
ï | [ji(ˑ)] | [jɪ] | ji |
o | [o̞(ˑ)] | [ɔ] or [ɔ̞] [a] | |
ö | [y(ˑ)] ~ [e̞(ˑ)] ~ [ɤ̞(ˑ)] [b] | [ʏ] ~ [ɛ] ~ [ɜ] [b] | |
ou | [u(ˑ)] | [ʊ] | u |
u | [ɯ(ˑ)] | [ω] | |
ü | [y(ˑ)] | [ʏ] | ᵫ, y, u |
y | [ɨ(ˑ)] | [ᵻ] | i, u |
[a] depending on vowel harmony
[b] non-native and restricted to loanwords
Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Pre-Soviet spellings | Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Pre-Soviet spellings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
b | [b] | m | [m] | ||
c | [t̪͡s̪] | ts, tz | n | [n] | |
ċ | [t͡ʂ] ~ [t͡ɕ] | cz, tsj, tzj | nj [d] | [ɲ] | |
d | [d] | ṅ [d] | |||
dz [c] | [d͡z] | p | [p] | ||
dż [c] | [d͡ʐ] ~ [d͡ʑ] | dzs, dj | q [c] | [k] | |
f | [ʋ̊] | r | [ɾ] | ||
g | [ɡ] | s | [s̺] | ||
ġ | [ɦ] | h, gh, vh | ṡ | [ʂ] | sz, sj |
h | [x] | ch | t | [t̪] | |
j | [j] | v | [ʋ] | w | |
k | [k] | w | [w] | u | |
l | [l̪] | x [c] | [ks̺] | ||
lj [d] | [ʎ] | z | [ɕ] or [z] [e] | ||
ľ [d] | ż | [ʐ] ~ [ʑ] | zs, zj |
[c] non-native and restricted to loanwords
[d] ľ and ṅ are only used word-finally like in ⟨veľ⟩ and ⟨terleṅ⟩.
[e] see phonology
Russian Cyrillic alphabet
During Soviet occupation, a Cyrillic orthography was created and is still in use by Valtamic communities in Russia
Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stressed | Unstressed | Stressed | Unstressed | ||
а | [ɑ̝(ˑ)] | [ʌ] | ө | [ɤ̞(ˑ)] | [ɜ] |
ә | [æ(ˑ)] | [ɛ] | у | [ɯ(ˑ)] | [ω] |
е | [je̞(ˑ)] | [jɛ] | ӱ | [wɯ(ˑ)] | [wω] |
ё | [jɵ̞(ˑ)] | [jɞ] or [jɐ] | ү | [y(ˑ)] | [ʏ] |
и | [i(ˑ)] | [ɪ] | ы | [ɨ(ˑ)] | [ᵻ] |
ї | [ji(ˑ)] | [jɪ] | э | [e̞(ˑ)] | [ɛ] |
о | [o̞(ˑ)] | [ɔ] or [ɔ̞] | ю | [jɨ(ˑ)] or [jʉ(ˑ)] | [jᵻ] or [jᵿ] |
оу | [u(ˑ)] | [ʊ] | я | [jä̝(ˑ)] | [jɐ] |
Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Grapheme | Sound (IPA) |
---|---|---|---|
б | [b] | н | [n] |
в | [ʋ] | нь | [ɲ] |
г | [ɡ] | п | [p] |
д | [d] | р | [ɾ] |
дз [a] | [d͡z] | с | [s̺] |
дж [a] | [d͡ʐ] ~ [d͡ʑ] | т | [t̪] |
ж | [ʐ] ~ [ʑ] | ў | [w] |
з | [ɕ] or [z] [b] | ф | [ʋ̊] |
һ | [ɦ] | х | [x] |
й | [j] | ц | [t̪͡s̪] |
к | [k] | ч | [t͡ʂ] ~ [t͡ɕ] |
л | [l̪] | ш | [ʂ] |
ль | [ʎ] | щ [a] | [ɕ] or [z] [b] |
м | [m] |
[a] non-native and restricted to loanwords
[b] see phonology
Grammar
Vowel harmony
Valtamic exhibits a simple vowel height harmony, with high, middle, and low vowels. It has no neutral vowels, apart from ö, though it is grammatically classified as a middle vowel.
High | i | ü | y | u | ou |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Middle | e | ë | o | ||
Low | ä | a |
Loanwords that do not conform to vowel harmony inflect based on the final vowel of their lemma forms:
...though with derivational suffixes that delete the final syllable of a lemma, they inflect based on the penultimate vowel instead:
Nominals
Nominals decline for one of 12 cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, lative, locative, separative, essive, translative, privative, comitative, and instrumental), with nouns also declining for 2 numbers (singular and plural). The gender system completely collapsed in Valtamic, except in pronouns. This vacancy led to the innovation of an animacy system, with animate and inanimate nouns.
Nominals decline according to four declension paradigms: type-I, type-II, type-III, and regular paradigms.
Type-I nouns
This paradigm corresponds with the Proto-Italic o-stem & Latin 2nd declension. Nominals of this type are characterized as ending with -r, which changes throughout the paradigm. Mono-syllabic nominals of this type are known as true type-I nominals, since they exhibit vowel height alteration throughout the paradigm.
tlour, "day" | mëkër, "great" | ||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | tlour | tloun | mëkër |
Accusative | tloum | mëkëm | |
Genitive | tlouṡ | tloum | mëkëṡ |
Dative | tlouľ | tloul | mëkëľ |
Lative "into" |
tlouṅ | tlounjuľ | mëkëṅ |
Locative "in, on, at, by..." |
tloľ | tloljoľ | mëkëľ |
Separative "out of, away from" |
tlout | tloudul | mëkët |
Essive as/in a certain state |
tlounu | tlounou | mëkënë |
Translative change of/into a state |
tloc | tlocë | mëkëc |
Privative "without, absence of" |
tlodek | tlodok | mëkëdek |
Comitative "with, alongside" |
tlonek | tlonok | mëkënek |
Instrumental "with, using" |
tlounouj | tlounoumi | mëkënoj |
Type-II nouns
This paradigm corresponds with the Proto-Italic ā- & u-stems & Latin 1st & 4th declensions. Most nominals of this type end with a vowel, which changes throughout the paradigm. There has also been an increase in declining Type-II nominals according to the regular paradigm instead of the type-II paradigm.
ṡynu, "automobile" | cäto, "prussian" | ||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | ṡynu | ṡynur | cäto |
Accusative | ṡynum | ṡynun | cätom |
Genitive | ṡynur | ṡynuzum | cätor |
Dative | ṡynuľ | ṡynul | cätoľ |
Lative "into" |
ṡynuṅ | ṡynunjuľ | cätoṅ |
Locative "in, on, at, by..." |
ṡynuľ | ṡynuljuľ | cätoľ |
Separative "out of, away from" |
ṡynut | ṡynudul | cätot |
Essive as/in a certain state |
ṡynunu | ṡynunou | cätona |
Translative change of/into a state |
ṡynuc | ṡynucu | cätoc |
Privative "without, absence of" |
ṡynudik | ṡynudouk | cätodäk |
Comitative "with, alongside" |
ṡynunik | ṡynunouk | cätonäk |
Instrumental "with, using" |
ṡynuju | ṡynuïmi | cätoja |
Type-III nouns
This paradigm corresponds with the Proto-Italic consonant-stems & Latin 3rd declension. Most nominals of this type exhibit stem alteration from the nominative singular.
fëcel, "father" | gel, "blond(e)" | ||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | fëcel | fëtrer | gel |
Accusative | fëtrem | fëtren | gelwëm |
Genitive | fëtrer | fëtrom | gelwer |
Dative | fëtreľ | fëtreġ / fëtrel [a] | gelweľ |
Lative "into" |
fëtreṅ | fëtrenjël / fëtrenjëľ [a] | gelweṅ |
Locative "in, on, at, by..." |
fëtre / fëtreľ [a] | fëtreljëľ | gelwe / gelweľ [a] |
Separative "out of, away from" |
fëtret | fëtredël | gelwët |
Essive as/in a certain state |
fëtrë / fëtrenu [a] | fëtreno | gelwë / gelwënë [a] |
Translative change of/into a state |
fëtrec | fëtrecë | gelwëc |
Privative "without, absence of" |
fëtredek | fëtredok | gelwëdek |
Comitative "with, alongside" |
fëtrenek | fëtrenok | gelwënek |
Instrumental "with, using" |
fëtrom | fëtrome / fëtreme [a] | gelwom |
[a] Southern Valtamic variants
Regular nouns
tämrä, "girl" | tänar, "good, well" | ||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | tämrä | tämrär | tänar |
Accusative | tämräm | tämrän | tänaram |
Genitive | tämrär | tämräm | tänarär |
Dative | tämräľ | tänaräľ | |
Lative "into" |
tämräṅ | tämränjal | tänaräṅ |
Locative "in, on, at, by..." |
tämräľ | fëtreljaľ | tänaräľ |
Separative "out of, away from" |
tämrät | tämrädaľ | tänarat |
Essive as/in a certain state |
tämräna | tämränano | tänarna |
Translative change of/into a state |
tämräc | tämräca | tänarc |
Privative "without, absence of" |
tämrädäk | tämrädok | tänardäk |
Comitative "with, alongside" |
tämränäk | tämränok | tänarnäk |
Instrumental "with, using" |
tämräjo | tämräjämä | tänarjo |