Qtolqjimctadû

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial		Labio-dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m				n						ɲ		ŋ
Plosive		p b				t̚ t d̚ d								k g
Sibilant Fricative								s z		ʃ ʒ		ʃʲ / ç / ɕ
Non-sibilant Fricative		ɸ β		f v		θ ð		(ɬ / ɮ)		ɧ̙ʷ ɧ̙ʷ̬				x		χ ʁ		h
Approximant								ɹ				j ɥ		w
Trill								(r)								ʀ
Flap								ɾ
Lateral approx.						l ɫ
Prenasalised occlusives														ᵑg

Notes :

In earlier documentation, proper knowledge of IPA was lacking and several of the phonemes had to be identified from either phonetically inaccurate IPA descriptions or vague, impressionistic ones. Several phonemes could not be recovered. Here is a list of deviations from the above table :

Identified phonemes :
/ɸ/ was described as [fʷ] (written <ÎF, îf>).
/β/ was described as [vʷ] (written <ÎV, îv>).
/ʁ/ was described as [ʀ] (written <R, r>).
/ʀ/ was described as [rˤ] (sorte de « r » très roulé, written <RX, rx>).
/ɹ/ was described as [ʀˤ] (sorte de « r » anglais, written <RÛ, rû>).
/ɫ/ was described as [l̪ ] (comme à la fin du mot anglais "well", written <Û, û>).
/χ/ was most likely corresponding to the sound described as [x] (written <X, x>), while /x/ itself was most likely described as [xˤ] (written <ÎX, îx>).
/ŋ/ was probably described as [ɲˤ] (written <ÎÑ, îñ>), while the sound described as [ŋ] (written <ÎÑg, îñg>) probably corresponded to /ᵑg/.
/ɾ/ was most likely corresponding to the sound described as [r̺] (written <ĦÛ, ħû>, as well as part of the cluster /bɾ/+V with the help of <Ë, ë> as [bɾə], described as [br̺ə]).
/r/ might have been what was described as [r] (sorte de « r » roulé à la japonaise, written <LÛ, lû>).
/ɧ̙ʷ/ and its voiced version /ɧ̙ʷ̬/ are, to this day, subject to doubt regarding their IPA descriptions. They were most likely corresponding to the sounds described as [ʃ ̪ ] (written <ÎQ, îq>) and [ʒ̺̺̺ ] (written <ÎÖ, îö> or <LÎÖ, lîö>).
/t̚/ and /d̚/ are also subject to some doubt regarding their IPA descriptions still. They were described as [t̪] (written <TÛ, tû>) and [d̪] (written <DÛ, dû>).
The phoneme described as [ʃʲ] probably has a realization closer to [ç] or [ɕ] (written <QÛ, qû>).

Unidentified or very doubtful phonemes :
Some /h/-like phoneme, described as [hˤ] (written <ÎH, îh>). It might have corresponded to /ɣ/, but it is not very likely.
/ɬ/ or /ɮ/ might have been what was described as [l̤ʲ] (written <HÛ, hû>). Based on its spelling it is more likely to be devoiced.

Vowels

		Front		Central		Back
Close		i y		ɨ		u
Close-mid		e ø		ə		o
Open-mid		ɛ œ ɛ̃ œ̃				ɔ ɔ̃
Open				ä		ɑ̃

Vowel length is supposed to be phonemic, with regular (or short) vowels, and long vowels.

Similarly to consonants, some vowels had to be "re-identified" from previous documentation and some deviations arise :

/œ/ is probably what was described as [æ] (written <Ù, ù> or <E, ĕ> or <EÔ/Eô, eô>).
/œ̃/ is probably what was described as [æ̃] (written <Ä, è> or <Ä, ä>).
/ø/ is probably what was described as [œ] (written <EU/Eu, eu> or <OE/Oe, oe>).

Orthography

Orthography was made complicated on purpose.

Alphabet

A, a /a/
B, b /b/
C, c /s/
D, d /d/
E, e /ə/ ; E, ç/ë /e/ ; E, ù/ĕ /œ/ ; E, ÿ/ê /ɛ/
F, f /f/
G, g /g/ (/j/ in word-final position)
H, h /h/
Ħ, ħ soundless ; mostly used in composed graphemes.
I, i /i/
J, j /ð/
K, k /k/
L, l /l/ (/j/ in word-final position)
M, m /m/
N, n /n/
O, o /o/ or /ɔ/
P, p /p/
Q, q /ʃ/
R, r /ʁ/
S, s /θ/
T, t /t/
U, u /y/
V, v /v/
W, w /wi/ (/j/ in word-final position)
X, x /χ/
Y, y /jo/ or /ɔj/
Z, z /z/
Â, â /aj/
Ê, ê /ja/
Û, û /ɫ/
Î, î /ɨ/ soundless when used in composed graphemes.
Ô, ô /o/
Ä, ä /ɑ̃/ ; Ä, à/ă /ɔ̃/ ; Ä, é/â /ɛ̃/ ; Ä, è/ä /œ̃/
Ë, ë /bɾə/
Ü, ü /j/
Ï, ï /ɨ/
Ö, ö /ʒ/
Ã, ã /a/
Õ, õ /o/
Ñ, ñ /ɲ/

History

Like most, if not all, versions of Tolsian, Qtolqjimctadû was meant to be written with the original Tolsian script. Some graphemes were chosen because of the limitations of the French keyboard, but were initally supposed to correspond to another, preexisting grapheme, with a diacritic, in order to reflect the original script. Some graphemes with diacritic are supposed to represent letters in the original script that are not simply versions of another letter with a diacritic ; this is why in the list below, <ë> appears to represent /e/, alongside <ç>, whereas in <Ë, ë> it represents /bɾə/ in the alphabet : they have different underlying identities.

<e> with diaeresis ¨ becomes <ç> (or <ë>)
<e> with cedilla or possibly hook below (accent « petite courbe vers le bas ») becomes <ù> (or <ĕ>)
<e> with circumflex accent ^ becomes <ÿ> (or <ê>)
<O, o> (or <Ô, ô> ?) with circumflex accent becomes <Õ, õ>
<U, u> with dieresis becomes <Ü, ü>
<U, u> with circumflex accent becomes <Û, û>
<Â, â> with circumflex accent becomes <Ê, ê>
<Î, î> with circumflex accent becomes <Ï, ï>
<ä> with cedilla or hook below becomes <à> (o <ă>)
<ä> with circumflex becomes <é> (or <â>)
<ä> with diaeresis becomes <è> (or <ä>)
<Â, â> with circumflex becomes <Ã, ã>

Spelling rules

Long vowels are spelled with doubled graphemes (<Aa, aa> /a:/, etc).

Some graphemes, namely <E, e> /ə/ ; <E, ç/ë> /e/ ; <E, ù/ĕ> /œ/ ; <E, ÿ/ê> /ɛ/ and <Ä, ä> /ɑ̃/ ; <Ä, à/ă> /ɔ̃/ ; <Ä, é/â> /ɛ̃/ ; <Ä, è/ä /œ̃/> use the same capital letter, but different minuscule letters, for different phonemes. This is partly due to limitations on a French keyboard, and partly to reflect the original Tolsian script in which these phonemes use the same letter but with different diacritics.

The grapheme <Î, î> denotes /ɨ/, except in front of some consonants (<F, f>, <V, v>, <Q, q>, <Ö, ö>, <Ñ, ñ>, <X, x>, <H, h>) ; the grapheme <Ï, ï> is used instead in order to denote /ɨ/.

There are many digraphs and even trigraphs ; usually, all letters are capitalized, when capitalization is needed.

Digraphs with <Î, î>

In the original documentation, these are described as "purified" (épurés).

ÎF, îf /ɸ/
ÎV, îv /β/
ÎQ, îq /ɧ̙ʷ/
ÎÖ, îö /ɧ̙ʷ̬/
ÎÑ, îñ /ŋ/
ÎX, îx /x/
ÎH, îh unknown, possibly /ɣ/

It is unclear if the following are considered to be "purified" :

<Äî, äî> /an/
<Äî, àî> /on/ or /ɔn/
<Äî, éî> /in/ or /im/
<Äî, èî> /un/ or /œm/

Trigraphs with <Î, î>

These were also considered to be "purified".

LÎÖ, lîö /ɧ̙ʷ̬/
ÎÑg, îñg /ᵑg/

Digraphs with <Û, û>

Some of these digraphs were originally described as "wet" (mouillés) :

TÛ, tû /t̚/
QÛ, qû /ʃʲ/ (probably realized [ç] or [ɕ])
DÛ, dû /d̚/

Others were not considered to be "wet" :

LÛ, lû /r/
HÛ, hû possibly /ɬ/ or /ɮ/
ĦÛ, ħû /ɾ/
RÛ, rû /ɹ/

=====Trigraphs with <Û, û>=====
There is only one such trigraph, and only the first letter is capitalized, if needed. It is possibly meant to appear only word-initially as it was only given as <Tûhh> :
Tûhh /θ/

=====Digraphs with <Ħ, ħ>=====
These can also be written as trigraphs, swapping <Ħ, ħ> for <Hh, hh>. As digraphs, one may likewise capitalize both letters or only the first one. As trigraphs, Only the first letter is capitalized.
Ħ, ħ can be found on its own but is soundless. It may be used as part of the following digraphs, or used to maintain a hiatus between vowels and <I, i> or <O, o>. It can also be written <Hh, hh>.
PĦ/Pħ, pħ /f/ (or <Phh, phh>)
TĦ/Tħ, tħ /s/ (or <Thh, thh>
JĦ/Jħ, jħ /ʒ/ (or <Jhh, jhh>)
BĦ/Bħ, bħ /v/ (or <Bhh, bhh>)
DĦ/Dħ, dħ /z/ (or <Dhh, dhh>)
SĦ/Sħ, sħ /z/ (or <Shh, shh>)

=====Digraphs and trigraph with <Ë, ë>=====
The phoneme /ɾ/ also appears as part of a syllable /bɾə/, written <Ë, ë>. When <Ë, ë> is followed by a vowel, the /ə/ is replaced by that vowel :
Ëa, ëa [bɾa]
Ëç, ëç [bɾe]
Ëÿ, ëÿ [bɾɛ]
Ëu, ëu [bɾy]
Ëo, ëo [bɾo] or [bɾɔ]
Ëï, ëï [bɾi]
Ëä, ëä [bɾɑ̃]
Ëà, ëà [bɾɔ̃]
Ëé, ëé [bɾɛ̃]
Ëè, ëè [bɾœ̃]
Ëou, ëou [bɾu]

Some more consonantal digraphs

RX, rx /ʀ/ QJ/Qj, qj /ʒ/

Vocalic digraphs

<Oi, oi> [i]
<EU/Eu, eu> [ø]
<OU/Ou, ou> [u]
<EA, ea> [ɛ]
(But <Ea, ea> [əa])
<OE/Oe, oe> [ø]
<EÔ/Eô, eô> [œ]

Nasal vowels

Some digraphs and trigraphs denote nasal vowels, with <N, n> and <M, m> :

<An, an> /ɑ̃/
<Am, am> /ɑ̃/
<En, en> /ɑ̃/
<Em, em> /ɑ̃/
<In, in> /ɛ̃/
<Im, im> /ɛ̃/
<Ein, ein> /ɛ̃/
<Eim, eim> /ɛ̃/
<On, on> /ɔ̃/
<Om, om> /ɔ̃/
<Un, un> /œ̃/
<Um, um> /œ̃/

However, if there are two <N, n> or <M, m> following a vowel, then it is not nasalized but pronounced as V+[n or m] instead (<Ann, ann> [an], <Amm, amm> [am],... etc). Besides, vocalic graphemes other than <A, a>, <E, e>, <I, i>, <O, o>, <U, u> do not get nasalized when followed by an <N, n> or <M, m>.

Diphtongues

They have been described as diphtongues, but should rather be analyzed as combinations of vowels and approximants. There are three different approximants : /j/, /w/ and /ɥ/, which only appear in a limited number of cases.

• Diphtongues /j/ + vowel :

They are usually written with a <I, i> followed by a vowel. There is a list of accepted spellings where <I, i> stands for /j/ :

<Ia, ia> [ja]
<Ie, ie> [jə]
<Iç, iç> [je]
<Iù, iù> [jœ]
<Iÿ, iÿ> [jɛ]
<Io, io> [jo] or [jɔ]
<Iu, iu> [jy]
<Iô, iô> [jo]
<Iä, iä> [jɑ̃]
<Ià, ià> [jɔ̃]
<Ié, ié> [jɛ̃]
<Iè, iè> [jœ̃]
<Ii, ii> [ji]
<Iou, iou> [ju]
<Ieu, ieu> [jø]

However, there are a few exceptions :

ÜÃ, üã [ja]
ÜÕ, üõ [jo]

• Diphtongues vowel + /j/ :

They are usually written with a <Ü, ü> preceded by a vowel. There is a list of accepted spellings where <Ü, ü> stands for /j/ (minus the exceptions above) :

<AÜ, aü> [aj]
<EÜ, eü> [əj]
<EÜ, çü> [ej]
<EÜ, ùü> [œj]
<EÜ, ÿü> [ɛj]
<OÜ, oü> [oj] or [ɔj]
<UÜ, uü> [yj]
<ÔÜ, ôü> [oj]
<ÄÜ, äü> [aɑ̃j]
<ÄÜ, àü> [ɔ̃j]
<ÄÜ, éü> [ɛ̃j]
<ÄÜ, èü> [œ̃j]
<ÃÜ, ãü> [aj]
<ÕÜ, õü> [oj]
<EUÜ, euü> [øj]

There are also a few exceptions :

EÎ, eî [əj]
EÎ, çî [ej]
EÎ, ùî [œj]
EÎ, ÿî [ɛj]
IÎ, iî [ij]

• Diphtongues with /w/ :

These are usually written with a <O, o>, either followed or preceded by a vowel. There is a list of accepted spellings where <O, o> stands for /w/ :

<Oa, oa> [wa]
<Oe, oe> [wə]
<Oç, oç> [we]
<Où, où> [wœ]
<Oÿ, oÿ> [wɛ]
<Oo, oo> [wo] or [wɔ]
<Oy, oy> [wy]
<Oô, oô> [wo]
<Oä, oä> [wɑ̃]
<Oà, oà> [wɔ̃]
<Oé, oé> [wɛ̃]
<Oè, oè> [wœ̃] (This one was described as [wœ̃] already in the original documentation (instead of expected [wæ̃] and has therefore cast some doubt on the identification of vowels /ø/, /œ/ and /œ̃/.)
<Oi, oi> [wi]
<Oeu, oeu> [wø]
And reciprocally (<Ao, ao> [aw]... etc).

There are however a few exceptions :

<Io, io> is ambiguous and can denote either /iw/ or /jo/
<Oi, oi> is ambiguous and can denote either /i/ or /wi/
<Oe, oe> is ambiguous and can denote either /wə/ or /ø/
<OU/Ou, ou> always denotes /u/ (/wy/ is denoted <Oy, oy> instead).

• Diphtongues with /ɥ/ :

UÎ, uî [ɥi]
Ui, ui [ɥi]
Ua, ua [ɥa]
Uç, uç [ɥe]
Uÿ, uÿ [ɥɛ]

Triphtongues

They should also be analyzed as combinations of approximant + vowel + approximant. Besides using <I, i> and <O, o> or even <Ü, ü> and <U, u>, there is a handful of special spellings that denote such "triphtongues" :

ÜÂ, üâ [jaj]
ÜY, üy [jɔj]
ÊÜ, êü [jaj]
YÜ, yü [joj] or [jɔj]
ÃÎ, ãî [aji]
ÕÎ, õî [oji]

Word-final position induced changes

The original consonants /g/ <G, g>, /l/ <L, l> and syllable /wi/ <W, w> turn into [j] when in a word-final position. Instead, the spellings <gue>, <lle> and <wi> are used.

<g> /j/
<l> /j/
<w> /j/
<gue> /g/
<lle> /l/
<wi> /wi/

There are some other special spellings :

<ebm> /ɛjm/
<ebn> /ɛjn/

Finally, some letters are simply not pronounced at the end of a word, and other spellings are used instead :

<e>
<ô>
<d>
<q>
<s>
<t>
<z>
<er>
<dde> /d/
<qe> /ʃ/
<sse> /θ/ (or possibly /s/ ?)
<tte> /t/
<ze> /z/

Table of phonemes and their principal corresponding graphemes

		Bilabial		Labio-dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m <M, m>				n <N, n>						ɲ <Ñ, ñ>		ŋ <ÎÑ, îñ>
Plosive		p <P, p> ; b <B, b>				t̚ <TÛ, tû> ; t <T, t> ; d̚ <DÛ, dû> ; d <D, d>								k <K, k> ; g <G, g>
Sibilant Fricative								s <C, c> alt. <TĦ/Tħ, tħ> ; z <Z, z> alt. <DĦ/Dħ, dħ> alt. <SĦ/Sħ, sħ>		ʃ <Q, q> ; ʒ <Ö, ö> alt. <JĦ/Jħ, jħ> alt. <QJ/Qj, qj>		ʃʲ / ç / ɕ <QÛ, qû>
Non-sibilant Fricative		ɸ <ÎF, îf> ; β <ÎV, îv>		f <F, f> alt. <PĦ/Pħ, pħ> ; v <V, v> alt. <BĦ/Bħ, bħ>		θ <S, s> alt. <Tûhh, s> ; ð <J, j>		(ɬ / ɮ <HÛ, hû>)		ɧ̙ʷ <ÎQ, îq> ; ɧ̙ʷ̬ <ÎÖ, îö> alt. <LÎÖ, lîö>				x <ÎX, îx>		χ <X, x> ; ʁ <R, r>		h <H, h>
Approximant								ɹ <RÛ, rû>				j <I, i> (before a vowel), <Ü, ü> (after a vowel) ; ɥ <U, u> (before some vowels)		w <O, o> (before or after a vowel)
Trill								(r <LÛ, lû>)								ʀ <RX, rx>
Flap								ɾ <ĦÛ, ħû>
Lateral approx.						l <L, l> ɫ <Û, û>
Prenasalised occlusives														ᵑg <ÎÑg, îñg>

		Front		Central		Back
Close		i <I, i> alt. <Oi, oi> ; y <U, u>		ɨ <Î, î> alt. <Ï, ï>		u <OU/Ou, ou>
Close-mid		e <E, ç/ë> ; ø <EU/Eu, eu> alt. <OE/Oe, oe>		ə <E, e>		o <O, o> alt. <Ô, ô> alt. <Õ, õ>
Open-mid		ɛ <E, ÿ/ê> alt. <EA, ea> ; œ <E, ù/ĕ> alt. <EÔ/Eô, eô> ; ɛ̃ <Ä, é/â> ; œ̃ <Ä, è/ä>				ɔ <O, o> ; ɔ̃ <Ä, à/ă>
Open				ä <A, a> alt. <Ã, ã>		ɑ̃ <Ä, ä>

Morphology

There are five main parts of speech in Qtolqjimctadû : nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and adpositions.

Nouns

Nouns have definiteness, gender, and number. Definiteness is marked by definite and indefinite articles which agree in gender and number with the nouns. There are three genders : neuter, masculine, and feminine.

Gender

Gender is usually marked by the ending of the noun. Nouns that correspond to non-animate things are usually neutral whereas nouns that describe animate things are usually masculine or feminine. However, some nouns can have all three genders, with the masculine and feminine forms built on an underlying neutral form ; this is common for instance for animal names, or for professions.

According to documentation, most neuter nouns in the singular end either in <-e> or in a consonant. There is however no indication of how to distinguish masculine and feminine nouns, but based on the description of neuter forms, it may be posited that they must typically end in some kinds of vowels. Nouns that end in <-e> in the singular neuter are part of a paradigm that builds masculine and feminine forms on this underlying neuter form :

Ending in -e

Gender / Number	Singular	Plural
Neuter	-e /ə/	-ea /ɛ/
Masculine	-e /ə/	-ebn /ɛjn/
Feminine	-ea /ɛ/	-ean /əɑ̃/

According to documentation, it is common for the neuter to present as a masculine singular ending in the singular, and as a feminine singular ending in the plural.

Definiteness

Earlier documentation does not explicitly state that the definite and definite articles must agree with nouns in number and gender, but it is apparent in corpus that there is at least a masculine or neutral singular definite article that differs from a feminine singular definite article. From this and comparison with other versions of Tolsian, one can infer that articles, both definite and indefinite, come in at least three forms : masculine singular, feminine singular, and a plural form that covers all genders. Based on the existence of a neutral gender, it may be posited that there must be a neutral singular form as well. There is however no actual indication of whether there is only one plural form for all genders, or if there are also different plural forms for different genders. We'll assume the following paradigm :

Definite and indefinite articles

Definiteness / Gender	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
Definite	-	pna /pna/	pnÿ /pnɛ/	-
Indefinite	-	-	ad /a/	-

Number

There are two numbers, singular and plural ; singular is unmarked while plural is marked with a suffix that differs depending on the ending of the noun. Besides the "-e" paradigm above, different groups of endings take different plural markings. It is likely that the consonantal endings indicate

Neuter singular ending -c, -f, -j, -l, -m, -n, -v, -û, -ë

Gender / Number	Singular	Plural
Neuter	-e /ə/	-ea /ɛ/
Masculine	-e /ə/	-ebn /ɛjn/
Feminine	-ea /ɛ/	-ean /əɑ̃/