User:IlL/Spare pages 1/51: Difference between revisions

From Linguifex
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 157: Line 157:
| '''m''' /m/  
| '''m''' /m/  
| '''n''' /n/
| '''n''' /n/
|  
| '''ñ''' /ɲ/
|colspan="2"| '''ŋ''' /ŋ/ ||  
|colspan="2"| '''ŋ''' /ŋ/ ||  
|-
|-

Revision as of 16:47, 20 January 2018

IlL/Spare pages 1/51/Lexicon
IlL/Spare pages 1/51/Swadesh list
IlL/Spare pages 1/51/Names

IlL/Spare pages 1/51
an IlL/Spare pages 1/51
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|ə ˈʃtʃoːʟʊ]]
Created by
SettingIlL/Spare pages 1/51verse
Native speakers100 million L1 speakers (300 million L2 speakers) (fT 1670dd (2676))
Quihum
  • Talmic
    • Thensaric
      • Old Eevo
        • IlL/Spare pages 1/51
Language codes
ISO 639-3qtg
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is a Talmic language inspired by Irish. In Tricin, it is somewhat an analogue of German in terms of influence and grammar. IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is an official language of Sċôla and Sċôlan colonies and is the second-largest Talmic language in terms of number of speakers. Like most modern Talmic languages, IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is a descendant of Thensarian. It is spoken on the northwest coast of the continent of Etalocin (called Eħa /ˈɛħə/ in IlL/Spare pages 1/51) on the planet of Clotricin. Thanks in large part to the printing press, Modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51 rapidly gained prominence over a larger area in Northern Talma and came to serve as a lingua franca for northern mainland Talma. Today, IlL/Spare pages 1/51 still enjoys status as a "cultured" language and is one of the most widely taught foreign languages.

Originally I called this language Tíogall, or variants, and it was a thought experiment posing the question "What would Irish look like with umlaut instead of palatalization?". For a while it developed as an Irish-German hybrid. At one point I decided to remove all "giblangs" from modern Tricin, or languages with the aesthetics of one natlang (unless the premise was funny, like Bhadhagha or Phormatolidin). Since Tíogall was basically an Irish with German characteristics, it was abandoned. I still decided that Talmic languages needed somewhat more internal diversity (in particular, a "German" analogue to Eevo's "English"), so I decided to revive this project. Since I don't want a German analogue to be so obviously Hiberno-German, this time I'm eschewing obviously German features in the aesthetic such as front rounded vowels, and I'm trying a somewhat Old English aesthetic. Also grammar-wise, while keeping a somewhat Celtic grammar (e.g. mutations, head-initial syntax), I'm playing with decidedly non-Celtic grammatical features such as split-ergativity (which was in my original Tíogall), and a singulative-collective-plurative system, and an imperfective-perfective aspectual distinction.

Todo

  • Should have had more dh's
  • Single vs. double negatives: use both, do something weird
  • Old Eevo prefixes:
    • ar-: on, at
    • (deut.) as-: telic
    • (prot.) de-, (deut.) do-: in, at
    • é-: with, co-
    • fin-/sin- = well, thoroughly
    • for-: causative, through
    • (prot.) ful-, (deut.) fol-: around, back
    • (prot.) gel-, (deut.) gol-: up, out
    • ro-: down
    • sol-: a causative
    • (prot.) sur-, (deut.) sor-: back
    • (prot.) su-, (deut.) so-: towards
    • (prot.) u(cc)-, (deut.) oc-: from
  • a few transitive verbs should randomly have that m (and it should be a different set in tiogall and bhadhagha)
  • if ng is common, slender ng = ñ
  • "inb4"
  • graduate high school = ?
  • Definitions in law codes look like "Given X, we say that P(X) if ..."
  • Translation exercises:
  • irregular constructs

Notes

Symbols

  • i - i-umlaut
  • L - lenition/aspiration
  • N - eclipsis

Special readings

  • When unstressed, -adh is devoiced to /əθ/ or /ət/.
  • The ending -aigh/-igh is pronounced /ɨ/.

Note on the Anglicization of IlL/Spare pages 1/51

The IlL/Spare pages 1/51 liquids r and l are consistently mapped to /r/ and /l/. (This is in fact a legitimate pronunciation in IlL/Spare pages 1/51 provided you always velarize the /l/ as in American English.)

The following mapping for vowels is recommended:

/a aː ɛ eː ɪ iː ɔ ɵː ʊ ʉː œ øː ʏ yː iə yə uə aw ɛj ɛw œj œw ɛ:j ɛ:w œ:j œ:w iəw yəw yəj uəj/ → /æ ɑː ɛ eɪ ɪ iː ɑ oʊ ʊ uː ɛ eɪ ɪ iː iːə iːə uːə aʊ aɪ aʊ eɪ oʊ eɪ oʊ eɪ oʊ iːə iːə iːə uːə/

For IlL/Spare pages 1/51 post-tonic /ð/, the pronunciation /ð/ is recommended, but /d/ is also allowed for ease of pronunciation.

For onset clusters that are disallowed in English, such as /tn/, we allow the addition of an epenthetic /ə/.

For syllable-initial /ŋ/ or /sŋ/, we recommend adding an epenthetic unstressed /ə/ or /ɪ/ before the /ŋ/. /ŋ/ after a tense vowel can be replaced with /n/.

The reduced vowels /ə/ and /ɨ/ should map to /ə/ and /ɪ/. If you have the weak-vowel merger, you can merge these two vowels.

Orthography

File:IlL/Spare pages 1/51 script.png
IlL/Spare pages 1/51 script

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is written in the Talmic script, which is written from left to right. The letters ħ /h/, j /j/ and v /v/ are used in Netagin and other loanwords. The letter h is used for lenition as in Irish. So the IlL/Spare pages 1/51 alphabet is usually considered to have 23 letters (r d z i a ħ f l m g c h b s v o j ŋ t n p e u) (disregarding digraphs and length diacritics).

The native orthography is extremely conservative and in part reflects Old Eevo pronunciation. The romanization used in this article reflects the native spelling.

Numerals

Written IlL/Spare pages 1/51 uses a base-12 positional numeral system.

  • digits: ɔ ı ʎ ɺ ħ ʕ ʑ ɛ ɴ κ ə ʋ = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X E
  • duodecimal point: :
  • 1728's separator (optional): ·
  • minus sign: ʳ
  • plus, minus, multiply, divide, mod = ?

Examples:

2017 = 1,201dd = ı·ʎɔı

π = 3.184809493b918...dd = ɺ:ıɴħ·ɴɔк·ħкɺ·кʋı·ɴ...

Sound changes

Thensarian to Old Eevo

Thn. sb, sd, sg > OBh dhbh, d, dhgh

Medial sm, sn, sȝ, sl, sr > m, nn, ŋŋ, ll, rr

Thn. a e i o u y ā ē ī ō ū ȳ ae ao ui ia iā iō iū > OBh a e i o u a á é í ó ú uí ae ao oí ea eá eó iú

In stressed syllables: a e i o u á é í ó ú ae ao eá eó iú oí uí >

  • before a syllable with no e/ē/i/ī: a e io o u á é ío ó ú ae ao eá eó iú oío uío
  • before a syllable with e/ē/i/ī: ai ei i oi ui ái éi í ói úi aei aoi eái eói iúi oí uí

Unstressed vowels reduce to a

Harmonization: a > e (when final) or i after i in the previous syllable

Sometimes:

  • éa, ó, ói > ia, ua, uai

Old Eevo to Modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51

  • aspirated stops start to become fricatives: /mʰ pʰ bʰ tʰ dʰ kʰ gʰ fʰ sʰ/ > /ʍ f v θ ð x ɣ h h/
  • prenasalized stops coalesce
  • /k g x ɣ/ > [c ɟ cʰ ɟʰ] allophonically before front vowels
  • Vowel simplifications:
    • i(o) > /ɪ/; í(o) oí(o) uí(o) > /iː/
    • eá(i) eó(i) iú(i) merge into á(i) ó(i) ú(i), preventing further palatalization; /c ɟ cʰ ɟʰ/ become phonemic.
  • Further monophthongization
    • ae ao > /eː oː/
    • ai ái ei éi oi ói ui úi aei aoi uai > /ɛ eː ɪ iː œ øː ʏ yː eː øː yə/
  • Fricativization of aspirates complete; /c ɟ cʰ ɟʰ/ have become /tʃ dʒ ʃ j/
  • a lot of z's from Netagin loans by this time; s eclipses to z and z lenites to /Ø/, by analogy
  • unstressed vowels reduce to /ə/
  • voiceless stops gain aspiration except after /s/
  • /ʍ/ > /w/; /ɣ/ > /ː/ when not word-initial
  • /oː uː/ front to /ɵː ʉː/ except before /l/ and possibly /r/
  • /l/ > /ʀ~ʟ/; /r/ > /ɾ~l/
  • Some dialects: /s/ > /ʃ/ before /p t k m n ŋ ʟ ɾ/

Phonology

Étaoin (Standard) IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is defined by a set of grammar rules, rather than by an accent (as long as it is intelligible to the majority of IlL/Spare pages 1/51 speakers). Certain defined phonemes and phonetic processes can be observed within Standard IlL/Spare pages 1/51 which in turn display diaphonemic variation based on the accent region.

The following describes IlL/Spare pages 1/51 as spoken in Smeola, the capital of Duínidhe which is often called the "Duínidhe accent".

Stress

In native words, primary stress usually falls on the first syllable, except for some inflected prepositions. In loans, stress may not be initial; in that case, vowels before the stressed syllable are not reduced.

Consonants

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a relatively average consonant inventory of around 25 consonants. The phonology is unusual for having two liquids that do not distinguish "rhoticity".

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 consonants
Labial Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ñ /ɲ/ ŋ /ŋ/
Stop fortis p /p/ t /t/ c /k/ (ʔ)
lenis b /b/ d /d/ g /g/
Affricate fortis ts /ts/ tx, c /tʃ/
lenis /dz/ /dʒ/
Spirant unvoiced f /f/ /θ/ /x/
voiced v /v/ /ð/ /ɣ/
Sibilant s /s/ x /ʃ/ h /h/
Liquid r /ɾ~ɺ~l/ l /ʟ/
Approximant j /j/
Notes
  • An initial /ʔ/ can be added to null initials (but is not mandatory).
  • Voiceless stops are aspirated syllable-initially; voiced stops devoice after voiceless sounds.
  • Smeola IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a form of Auslautverhärtung: voicing is neutralized for word-final stops but not word-final fricatives.
  • /n, t, d, θ, ð/ are usually dental [n̪, t̪, d̪, θ, ð].
  • /s, z/ are laminal alveolar [s, z].
  • The coronal liquid /ɺ/ has 3 allophones broadly:
    • After a consonant, it is a postalveolar [ɾ̞].
    • Word-initially or intervocalically, it is a postalveolar [ɾ], [l̠̆] or [l̆].
    • Before a consonant or word-finally, it is a prevelar approximant [j̠] or a postalveolar [l̠] with varying resonances (though never velarized) depending on speaker.
  • /ŋ, k, g/ are usually velar [ŋ, k, g], but are often labialized pharyngealized uvular [qʷ, qʷˁ, ɢʷˁ] next to /ʀ~ʟ/. /kʟ/ becomes an affricate or a trilled affricate [qχ].
  • /ŋ, k, g, x, ɣ/ are prevelar before front vowels.
  • The uvular liquid, transcribed as /ʟ/ for convenience' sake, has the following allophones:
    • The allophone occuring before vowels is a pharyngealized uvular flap [ɢ̆ᵝˤ] or trill [ʀᵝˤ] in careful speech which devoices to [χᵝˤ] after an aspirate or another fricative. In casual speech it tends to become an approximant [ʁᵝ] or velar [ɰᵝ].
    • The allophone occuring before consonants is phonetically a pharyngealized uvular approximant with compressed rounding [ʁ̞ᵝˤ~ʁ̠̞ᵝ]; the vocalic quality resembles [ɤ]. It is similar to the Philadelphia English vocalized L.
    • In classical singing and drama, [ɫ] is used in all positions.
  • After a vowel, /ɣ/ colloquially disappears with compensatory lengthening of the vowel if the vowel is short (unless the /ɣ/ begins a stressed syllable.)

Fortis and lenis resonants

Certain conservative accents and dialects preserve to varying degrees the Old Eevo distinction between fortis and lenis resonants: /l L n N r R/. In fact, the Tumacaimh dialect has:

  • /l/ > /ʁᵝˤ/
  • /L/ > /l̪ˠ/
  • /n/ > /ð̞̃/
  • /N/ > /n/
  • /r/ > /ɹ/
  • /R/ > /ɾ/

Mutations

Consonant mutations
Grapheme m p b f n t d s* z x r ŋ c g l ħ 0
IPA /m/ /p/ /b/ /f/ /n/ /t/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ɺ~l/ /ŋ/ /k/, /tʃ/ /g/, /dʒ/ /ʟ/ /h/ /ʔ/
Lenited mh ph bh fh - th dh sh zh - - - ch gh - - h-
IPA /v/ /f/ /v/ /h/ - /θ/ /ð/ /h/ silent - - - /x/, /ʃ/ /ɣ/, /j/ - - /h/
Eclipsed - bp mb bhf - dt nd zs - - - - gc ŋg - - n-
IPA - /b/ /m/ /v/ - /d/ /n/ /z/ - - - /g/, /dʒ/ /ŋ/ - - /n/

*The clusters written sp, st, sc do not mutate.

Vowels

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a vowel system with a complexity comparable to that of German, with 7 basic vowel qualities with a tense-lax distinction, and the effects of L-vocalization.

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 vowels
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
short long short long short long short short long
Close /ɪ/ /iː/ /ʏ/ /yː/ /ɨ/ /ʉː/ /ʊ/ [uː]1
Mid /ɛ/ /eː/ /œ/ /øː/ /ə/ /ɵː/ [ɤˁ] /ɔ/ [oː]1
Open /a/ /aː/

1 /ʉː, ɵː/ retain fully back allophones [uː, oː] before /ɾ~l/ in some accents, especially in Sceola IlL/Spare pages 1/51.


Diphthongs: /iə yə uə aw ɛj ɛw œj œw ɛ:j ɛ:w œ:j œ:w iəw yəw uəj/

The vowels /ə/ and /ɨ/ occur only in unstressed syllables; they merge before l.

L-colored vowels

L-colored vowels and diphthongs result from combinations of any vowels or diphthongs with the back liquid /ʟ/ (phonetic values are as in Smeola IlL/Spare pages 1/51):

  • /iː/, /iə/ + /ʟ/ > /iʟ/ [iɤˁ]
  • /ɪ/ + /ʟ/ > /ɪʟ/ [ɪɤˁ]
  • /yː/, /yə/ + /ʟ/ > /yʟ/ /yɤˁ/
  • /ʏ/ + /ʟ/ > /ʏʟ/ [ʏɤˁ]
  • /ʊ/, /ʉː/, /uə/ + /ʟ/ > /ʊʟ/ [ʊˁː~ʊɤˁ]
  • /eː/ + /ʟ/ > /eʟ/ [eɤˁ]
  • /ɛ/ + /ʟ/ > /ɛʟ/ [ɛɤˁ]
  • /øː/ + /ʟ/ > /øʟ/ [øɤˁ]
  • /œ/ + /ʟ/ > /œʟ/ [œɤˁ]
  • /ɔ/, /ɵː/ + /ʟ/ > /ɔʟ/ [ɔˁː~ɔɤˁ]
  • /ɐ/, /aː/ + /ʟ/ > /ɑʟ/ [ɒˁː~ɑɤˁ]

Accents that are lambdic may realize the /ʟ/ in one of several ways (pharyngealization, nasalization, [ɴ], [ʀ]). Non-lambdic accents are those in which vocalization of l after vowels is complete; the L-coloring is purely a difference in vowel quality and displays no secondary articulation.

Notes

Close vowels
  • /iː/ is close front unrounded [iː] (listen).
  • /iə/ is phonetically [iə] (listen).
  • /iʟ/ is phonetically [iːɤˁ] (listen).
  • /yː/ is usually close near-front rounded [y̠ː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
  • /yə/ is phonetically [yə], [y̠ə] or [ʏə] (listen).
  • /yʟ/ is phonetically [y̠ːɤˁ] (listen).
  • /ʉː/ is somewhat retracted close central rounded [ʉ̠ː] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.
  • /uə/ is phonetically [uə] or [ʊə] (listen). It is a monophthong [uː] for some speakers.
  • /ʊʟ/ is near-close back rounded [ʊ̠ˁː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
    • In careful speech, this is a diphthong [ʊ̠ɤˁ].
  • /ɪ/ is near-close near-front unrounded [ɪ] (listen).
  • /ʏ/ is near-close near-front rounded [ʏ] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
  • /ʏʟ/ is phonetically [ʏɤˁ] (listen).
  • /ʊ/ is near-close near-back rounded [ʊ] or back rounded [ʊ̠] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.
Mid vowels
  • /eː/ is close-mid front unrounded [eː] (listen).
  • /eʟ/ is phonetically [eːɤˁ] (listen).
  • /øː/ is close-mid near-front rounded [ø̠ː] or mid front rounded [ø̞ː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
  • /øʟ/ is phonetically [ø̠ːɤˁ] (listen).
  • /ɵː/ is somewhat retracted close-mid central rounded [ө̠ː] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.
  • /ɔʟ/ is open-mid near-back rounded [ɔˁː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
    • In careful speech, this is a diphthong [oɤˁ] or [ɔɤˁ].
  • /ɛ/ is open-mid front unrounded [ɛ] or mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽] (listen).
  • /ɛʟ/ is phonetically [ɛ̞ɤˁ] (listen).
  • /œ/ is open-mid near-front rounded [œ] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
  • /œʟ/ is phonetically [œɤˁ] or [ɞɤˁ] (listen).
  • [ə] is mid central unrounded [ə]. It is often fronted [ə̟] in pausa.
  • [ɤˁ] is close-mid compressed pharyngealized [ɤᵝˁ].
  • /ɔ/ is open-mid back rounded [ɔ] or mid back rounded [o̞] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.
Open vowels
  • /aː/ is central unrounded [äː] (listen); historically, upper-class accents used [ɑː].
  • /a/ is near-open central unrounded [ɐ] (listen).
  • /ɑʟ/ is most often phonetically a diphthong [ɑɤˁ] or [äɤˁ] (listen).

Umlaut

Vowels in the first syllable of roots may undergo i-mutation or umlaut or under the addition of some affixes.

Phonotactics

Allowed initial clusters in roots (in native words):

  • bl br cl cn cr dl dr fl fr gl gn gr ml mn mr ŋl ŋr (pl) (pr) sc scl scr (sp) sl sm sn sŋ sr st tn tl tr

Some phonological rules

  • unstressed /əwə/ > -ú- /ʉː/
  • /ʏw/, /yəw/, /yːw/ > /ʉː/

Prosody

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a distinctive intonation paradigm. Within said paradigm, some accents (e.g. Smeola) can sound like a stereotypical Cork accent, while some accents (e.g. Óc Eo) sound more like Valspeak.

  • In declarative sentences, the stressed syllable of the focus word (if there is no focused constituent, the last word) has a lower pitch than the immediately preceding syllable. ("...mid ꜜ LOW mid...") This originates from discursive uptalk in older forms of IlL/Spare pages 1/51, which has since generalized to all declarative sentences. A few accents, such as Tumacan accents, do not use this pattern.
  • In interrogative sentences, the stressed syllable of the focus word has a higher pitch than the syllable immediately before. ("... mid ꜛ HIGH mid ... ?")
  • In exclamations, the pattern is "... mid ꜜ LOW-HIGH mid ... !", possibly with a gradual drop to low pitch in the end. Angry or indignant questions also use an exclamatory intonation.

Dialectology

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is subject to a fair amount of accentual and dialectal variation due to the number of speakers.

/ʉː, ɵː/ retain fully back allophones before /ɾ~l/ in some accents, especially in Duínidhean accents.

Smeóla accent

Described in the "Phonology" section.

Scádar accent

This dialect is most prominent in and around the Óc Eo (/ɵːk ɵː/ 'white rock', English: /ˈoʊk.oʊ/ "oak-oh") metropolitan area in Anbhair.

  • l = [ʁ] after a consonant, [ɴ̆] initial/intervocalic
  • /Vʟ/ = [Vɴ] before a consonant
  • r = [l] in all positions
  • /θ, ð/ = [ts, dz] when not before a plosive
  • No Auslautverhärtung at all (except -ig and -igh)
    • Word-final -ig and -igh pronounced as [-ɪç].
  • /ɛ, œ, ɔ/ > [ɪ, ʏ, ʊ] before nasals
  • /ɛj/ > [aj]
  • /a/ = [æ] before coronals
  • /aː/ is backed to [ɑː~ɒː]

Cnólta accent

Spoken in the largely rural areas of Cnólta (/ˈknɔːˁtə/, English: /kəˈnɔːltə/ or /kəˈnoʊltə/). Stereotypically associated with backwardness and boorishness.

  • l = [ʁ] after a consonant, [ɴ̆] initial/intervocalic
    • /Vʟ/ = [Ṽ~Vɰ̃]
  • /tʃ, dʒ/ = [ts~tɕ, dz~dʑ]
  • /eː, øː/ = [eə, øə]
  • /eːj, øːj, ɛj, œj/ = [eː, øː, ɛː, œː]
  • r is pronounced as a bunched [ɹ], which retracts preceding front vowels /ɪ, ɛ/ to /ɨ, ɜ/.
  • /ʉː, ɵː, aw/ = [ʉu, ɵu, æu]
    • /ʉː, ɵː/ = [u:, o:] before r
  • /aː/ = [æ:]
  • /sp, st, sk, sm, sn, sŋ, sʟ, sɾ/ = [ʃp, ʃt, ʃk, ʃm, ʃn, ʃŋ, ʃʁ, ʃɹ]

Códha accent

Códha (/ˈkɵːðə/, English: /ˈkoʊðə/) is a Duínidhe accent. It is non-lambdic.

  • l = [ʁ] after a consonant, just realized as a difference in vowel quality otherwise:
    • /iʟ, ɪʟ/ = [joː]
    • /yʟ, ʏʟ/ = [ɥoː~woː]
    • /ʊʟ/ = [ʊː]
    • /eʟ/ = [eːɔ]
    • /ɛʟ/ = [ɛɔ]
    • /øʟ/ = [øːɔ]
    • /œʟ/ = [œɔ]
    • /ɔʟ/ = [uː]
    • /aʟ/ = [ɒː]
  • r = [ɾ] before a vowel, [l] before a consonant or word-finally
  • /ʉː, ɵː/ = [uː, oː] before /ɾ/
  • (other features)

Tumaca accent

A conservative accent used in the mountainous regions of Tumaca /tʊməkə/ in Duínidhe; continuous with Tumacan.

  • /b d dʒ g/ are devoiced to (unaspirated) [p t c k] in all positions.
  • /tʃ, dʒ, ʃ/ = [c, ɟ, ç]
  • /n, ʟ, ɾ/ distinguish between "fortis" or unlenited [n̪, ɫ, r] and "lenis" or lenited [ð̞̃, ʀ, z].
  • th, dh are [ħ, z] word-initially and become [h, z] word-finally.
  • /ʉ, ɵ/ are always fully back [uː, oː].

Tecadh an bhFuŋŋ accent

non-lambdic, L-colored vowels similar to Códha

  • l = [ʁ] after a consonant, just realized as a difference in vowel quality otherwise:
  • r = [l] in all positions
    • /iʟ, ɪʟ/ = [joː]
    • /yʟ, ʏʟ/ = [ɥoː~woː]
    • /ʊʟ/ = [uː]
    • /eʟ/ = [eːɔ]
    • /ɛʟ/ = [ɛɔ]
    • /øʟ/ = [øːɔ]
    • /œʟ/ = [œɔ]
    • /ɔʟ/ = [oː]
    • /aʟ/ = [ɑə~ɔ]
  • /a/ = [æ]
  • /aː/ = [ɑː]

Éise accent

This accent is primarily used in the Éise (/ˈiːsə/) province (including the famous city Flian).

Vowel length is mainly realized as tenseness:

  • /ɪ i ʏ y ʉ ʊ/
  • /ɛ e œ ø ə ɵ ɔ/
  • /ɐ ɑ/
  • /iə yə uə aw æj œj ej øj/
  • /Vʟ/ = [Ṽ~Vɰ̃] (nasalization)
  • r = [l] in all positions
  • ú ó backed before r
  • In sp st sc, the s is weakened so that these are voiceless unaspirated [p t k/tS] initially and preaspirated [hp ht hk/htS] medially. These are distinguished from b d g by having a higher pitch.
  • Reduced ai = [ʊ], reduced i = [ʏ]

Phormatin accent

The majority accent of IlL/Spare pages 1/51 native speakers in Phormatin is a lot like Éise, except most notably the short vowels /ɛ œ ɔ/ raise to /ɪ ʏ ʊ/ before nasals and /ʟ/. Lax vowels are also slightly laxer than in Éise; Éise speakers often hear Phormatian lax vowels as schwas.

"Stage IlL/Spare pages 1/51"

So-called "Stage IlL/Spare pages 1/51" is a semi-artificial standard developed for use in classical singing and other elevated stage performances.

  • /ʟ/ is always pronounced [ɫ]
  • /ɾ/ may be trilled [r]
  • Short vowels before single C + V - the C is allophonically geminated
  • Non-lambdic vowels are close to their Smeola counterparts, except /aː/ is pronounced [ɑː~ɒː] (close to its Classical Netagin counterpart)
  • /ɨ/ is pronounced [ɪ]

Early Modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51

  • ae/ái, aoi, ao were pronounced /ɛː, œː, ɔː/ as opposed to é, ói, ó /eː, øː, oː/; these two sets have merged to /eː, øː, ɵː/ in most modern dialects.
  • /ɨ/ was pronounced [ɪ].

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns are classed into two genders, masculine (reist ŋullán /ˈɾɪst ˈŋʊʟaːn/) and feminine (reist dhéán /ˈɾɪst ˈðeːaːn/); they are also inflected in two numbers (singular and plural) and three states (indefinite, definite, construct). There are some trends in gender assignment of nouns: for example, substances tend to be masculine, and abstract concepts and processes tend to be feminine. The construct suffix is usually -adh/-edh for singular nouns and -ann/-enn for plural nouns; however, for Netagin loans no suffix is used for the singular construct.

There are no possessive suffixes, unlike in Thensarian or other Talmic languages. If the possessor is a pronoun, the disjunctive form of the pronoun is used with the construct state: e.g. suaradh scainedh ná 'my friend's house'.

már 'tree' (masculine, declension 1)
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Indefinite már máir
Definite an már na máir
Construct máradh máirenn

búta 'cave' (masculine, declension 1)
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Indefinite búta bútaí
Definite an búta na bútaí
Construct bútadh bútaíonn

scain 'friend' (masculine, declension 2)
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Indefinite scain scaine
Definite an scain na scaine
Construct scainedh scainenn

sert 'pole' (feminine, declension 3)
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Indefinite sert sertar
Definite an zsert na sertar
Construct sertadh sertann


Adjectives

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 adjectives have three principal parts: the predicative (the unmarked form), the masculine absolute plural form and the feminine absolute plural form.

The predicative determines:

  • the indefinite and definite singular, which are the same as the predicative (modulo mutations for gender and definiteness).
  • the construct singular: specifically, if the adjective ends in a -th or a -dh, the suffix -adh is not added in the construct singular.

The feminine absolute plural determines:

  • the construct plural

árd 'big'
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Predicative árd
Indefinite árd (m.)
h-árd (f.)
áird (m.)
árdar (f.)
Definite árd (m.)
n-árd (f.)
Construct árdadh árdann

caraimh 'human'
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Predicative caraimh
Indefinite caraimh (m.)
charaimh (f.)
carú (m.)
carúr (f.)
Definite caraimh (m.)
gcaraimh (f.)
Construct carúdh carúnn


Degree

The comparative form of adjectives is formed with the suffix -ta/-te /-tə/ which becomes -ata/-eata /-ətə/ after t, d, th, dh and -tha/-the /θə/ after b, p, g, c. The comparandum is marked with the particle /ɾaː/ 'than'.

The superlative is formed with the suffix -as /-əs/.

Forming adverbs

Adverbs are formed by adding go 'with' before the predicative form of the adjective.

Pronouns

Personal

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 personal pronouns
1sg 2sg 2pol 3sg.m 3sg.f 1pl.ex 1pl.in 2pl 3pl
Conjunctive fiar dTlá cámh céid séid hár
Disjunctive iar dTlá ú í ámh chéid héid ár

The disjunctive iar is often shortened to 'r in informal speech.

To emphasize a pronoun or an inflected preposition, -na/-ne is added to the pronoun.

Politeness

In archaic usage, séid is used as an honorific pronoun when speaking to a person of high social standing. In modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51, this usage is restricted to e.g.:

  • books, movies, games, ... when depicting the past or past-like settings (such as historical fiction or fantasy)
  • when addressing a deity or a king
  • in BDSM contexts when a "slave" refers to their "master".

In modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51, fiar and séid are used for family members, friends, children or teens, animals, people on the Internet, or to address people of lower social position, and dTlá is used to an addressee of higher position and for strangers; for example, it is considered acceptable for a professor to address his students, or for a boss his employees, using familiar pronouns.

Correlatives

  • = this
  • = that
  • = what?
  • tua = who?
  • tach = where?
  • tuín, tiann = why?
  • tér = how?
  • tís = when?

Prepositions

Prepositions are inflected, as in the ancestral Thensarian. The pronoun dTlá is not fused with the preposition, however.

ebh = 'after', ebhta = near/next to

ful = 'around' (fulan, fulas, fula, fuli, fulam, fulad, fulac, fular)

The sequences le + an and de + an contract to len /ʟɛn/ and den /dɛn/.

The 1sg and 2sg forms of prepositions are stressed on the last syllable; all other forms have initial stress.

Inflection of prepositions
1sg 2sg.m 3sg.m 3sg.f 1pl.ex 1pl.in 2pl 3pl
de-L, d'- 'in, at' dian dias diú diam diad diac diar
ar 'on' aran aras or ari aram arad arac arar
geil 'from' geilan geilas gela geili geilem geiled geilec geiler
go 'with' guan góis gúi guam guad guac guar
le-L 'to' lion leis leo léi liom liod lioc lior
nae 'with (instrumental)' naen naes nae naí naem naed naec naer
ŋal 'before' chaoin chaois chao chaoi chaoim chaoid chaoic chaoir
ro (ergative) rún rús rúi rúm rúd rúc rúr

Ar 'on' can be used to indicate obligation, similarly to Irish and Hebrew:

Aran an cáin le descach.
on-1SG DEF.SG.M food to eat-VN
I have to eat the food.

Verbs

Old Eevo had a verb system with complex alternations, almost comparable to that of Old Irish. Modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51 simplified this system substantially, leaving behind a mixture of synthetic forms (used without a subject pronoun) and analytic forms (used with a subject noun or pronoun), similar to the Modern Irish system. However, many basic verbs are irregular, with many "principal parts"; some common verbs even retain the Old Eevo allomorphy between independent and dependent forms.

Ex:

  • cáigh ná 'I eat'; cáir 'you eat'
  • ní dhesc ná 'I don't eat'; ní dhescar 'you don't eat'

Present tense

The present tense is conjugated as follows. For some verbs, umlaut occurs with certain affixes. For verb stems ending in -gh or -igh, the -gh or -igh is deleted: tnáigh hú < *tnáighigh hú 'he believes'.

Template:Col-3
Present tense
Singular Plural
1.ex STEM-((a)igh) ná
STEM-an/en
STEM-ú
1.in - STEM-((a)igh) céid
STEM-ad/ed (poetic)
2 STEM-(e)ar STEM-((a)igh) séid
STEM-as/es (poetic)
3.m STEM-((a)igh) hú/hí STEM-((a)igh) hár
Impersonal STEM-a1ra/-e1ra

Present tense of the verb molaigh 'thank'
Singular Plural
1.ex mol(aigh) ná
molan
molú
1.in - mol(aigh) géid
molad (poetic)
2 molar mol(aigh) séid
molas (poetic)
3.m mol(aigh) hú
mol(aigh) hí
mol(aigh) hár
Impersonal molara

Present tense of the verb idigh 'lie in a place'
Singular Plural
1.ex id(igh) ná
iden
idú
1.in - id(igh) céid
ided (poetic)
2 idear id(igh) zéid
ides (poetic)
3.m id(igh) hú/hí id(igh) hár
Impersonal idre


1 The buffer -e- is added when the previous consonant is a cluster, r or l.

The -igh ending in analytic forms must be deleted when a preverbal particle such as 'not', ri 'REL', bhfá 'COMP': molaigh hú 'he thanks', but ní mhol hú 'he does not thank'. For verbs that have a separate stem for imperatives, the imperative stem is used with a preverbal particle. The -igh may also be deleted or added in poetry. This is a remnant of Middle IlL/Spare pages 1/51 where there was a distinction between molamh hú 'he thanks (once)' (dependent mola hú or mol hú) and molaigh hú 'he thanks (regularly)'.

Present progressive

Laidh ná de dhescach = I'm eating

Níl ná de dhescach = I'm not eating

Imperfect tense

To form the imperfect tense, the particle go is used before the verb, and the verb undergoes lenition.

  • go mhola ná 'I used to thank'
  • go h-airde hí 'she used to lie'

Preterite tense

The suffix -ín is added to the preterite stem to form the past participle. The subject is preceded by an ergative marker lu. For the impersonal the subject is simply omitted. This is the standard way of forming the preterite in Étaoin IlL/Spare pages 1/51.

Déicín luc rúin.
I ate/have eaten a fruit.

Pluperfect tense

g'lao + past participle. This tense uses ergative alignment like the preterite.

  • g'lao moilín ná 'I had thanked'
  • g'lao fairdín hí 'she had lain'

Future tense

The future tense is formed by suffixing the future marker t and conjugating the result like a present tense verb, except that the analytic form is invariably -ta/-te.

The future marker -t- becomes -at-/-et- after t, d, th, dh or any time when a resulting cluster does not consist of two obstruents and would violate the sonority hierarchy (voiced C between two voiceless C's) and -th- after b, p, g, c.

Future perfect tense

fácht + past participle. This tense uses ergative alignment like the preterite.

Jussive

The jussive is mainly used for third-person imperatives and sometimes to specify a wish or a requirement.

Modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51 just uses molúr in every person: molúr ná, mólúr fiar, etc. The passive form is molrúr.

This form uses -L for the negative, not tir-L.

Geilan bhfá ŋgríciúr hí guan.
I want her to stay with me.

Conditional

Imperative

Template:Col-3
Imperative
Singular Plural
1.ex - -
1.in - STEM-ad!
2 STEM! STEM-as!
3.m - -
Impersonal -

Imperative of the verb mol 'thank'
Singular Plural
1.ex - -
1.in - molad!
2 mol! molas!
3.m - -
Impersonal -

Imperative of the verb id 'lie in a place'
Singular Plural
1.ex - -
1.in - airded!
2 aird! airdes!
3.m - -
Impersonal -


The polite 2nd person equivalents are molúr dTlá and airdúr dTlá.

The imperative stem is used in a Hebrew-style "infinitive absolute" construction: deasc déctha hú ú = 'he will indeed eat it'

Verbal noun

The verbal noun serves many important syntactic functions.

Some markers for verbal nouns:

  • -ach/-ech
  • -as/-es
  • -t/-ta/-te
  • ablaut
  • bare stem
  • -a/-e
  • umlaut/-e

Emphatic forms

To emphasize the subject the clitic -nna is added to:

  • the verb if the verb is in a synthetic form;
  • the subject if the verb is in an analytic form.

Numbers

  • 0: ħaŋíts /ha'ŋi:ts/
  • 1: ciamh /tʃiəw/
  • 2: tioth /tɪθ/
  • 3: náidh /neːð/
  • 4: daoibh /døːv/
  • 5: soil /sœʟ/
  • 6: stámh /staːw/
  • 7: ruai /ɾyə/
  • 8: lóidh /ʀøːð/
  • 9: bairbh /bɛlv/
  • 10: uar /uəl/
  • 11: eáichemh /eːʃəw/
  • 12: cnae /kneː/

Numbers must be used with singular nouns. The numbers ciamh comes after the noun, while other numbers come before it.

The suffix -ar/-er is used for 'nth', and -tar/-ter is used for 'n times'.

1/n = n-bhedh = "n-part" (half = drá)

Derivational morphology

Below are some common IlL/Spare pages 1/51 derivational affixes. In addition to derivational affixes, IlL/Spare pages 1/51 uses compound nouns like German; also, some productive prefixes has been re-analyzed into existence from Old Eevo prefix combinations. This allowed IlL/Spare pages 1/51 to coin new native words instead of using loanwords.

From...
Noun Verb Adjective
or Determiner
Adverb
To... Noun
Verb
Adjective
or Determiner
Adverb -


  • -a/e (f): nominalizer of verbs and adjectives
  • -ach/-ech, -achar/-echar (f): verbal noun (the most common suffix)
  • -acht/-echt = forms adjectives from verbs
  • -ám, -áma (m/f): augmentative (from Netagin)
  • -án/-eán, -áin/-eáin: adjectivizer
  • -ar, -ara: augmentative (Talmic)
  • -(a)im, -(a)imer = female suffix
    • -óiŋ > -óiŋim
  • (f.): abstract nouns; -hood
  • -ín, -íne = used to form adjectives in Netagin loans; also used with native words sometimes
  • -ín, -íní = patient, passive participle
  • -aí/-í/-aíche/-íche = diminutive
  • -gán, -gáin = -able
  • é- = co-, con-, together
  • for- = causative
  • má-L: un-
  • mí-L: mis-
  • ní-L (hyphenated): non-
  • -óiŋ, -óiŋe (m) = agent suffix
  • sin-L: "well"
  • Nouns can often be verbed

Syntax

Main article: IlL/Spare pages 1/51/Syntax

Vocabulary

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is relatively purist; most IlL/Spare pages 1/51 vocabulary is of Talmic origin. However, a non-trivial fraction of the vocabulary is loaned from Netagin (either Classical Netagin or Koine Netagin) and, to a lesser extent, Clofabic. Most recently, Clofabosin words are entering the language, mostly in the domains of information technology and culture.

Colors

Calendar and time

Kinship terms

  • annar, annta = father
  • iamh, iamhar = mother
  • có, cótha = son

Phrasebook

  • An Saichte leis! (to one person)/An Saichte lec! (to ≥2 people) = Hello! (lit. "the spirit-complex [give blessing] to you")
  • Moile! = Thank you!
  • Le h-éganta! = Goodbye! (lit. "to meeting")
  • Arbára ná [NAME]. = My name is [NAME].
  • Stánsa boire leis! = Happy Stannsa!
  • Sŋaoichré bhoire leis! = Happy birthday!
  • Ither huiŋeán lion. = Nice to meet you.
  • Aeilligh ná iar. / Aeilligh ná 'r. = I love you.
  • Ní thnáighin leis! = I don't believe you!
  • Brós na dellar iar guirenta. = Lower your standards. ("Put your eyes lower.")
  • Suinmigh hú = it makes sense ("it tunes")
  • [repeat verb] = Yes, X does [verb]. (reply to Is [verb] ... ?)
  • [repeat adjective] = Yes, X is [adjective]. (reply to Is [adjective] ... ?)
  • [inflected form of de] = Yes, X is Y.
  • + lenition + [verb/adjective/inflected form of de] = No.
  • Níl. = No. (reply to Is laidh ... ?)

Sample texts

E pur si muove!

Sóibh argann argannaigh hú!

UDHR, Article 1

Featured language banner

Other resources