Ŧœlsin

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial		Labio-dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m				n						ɲ		ŋ
Plosive		pʰ p b				tʰ t̚ t d								kʰ k g
Fricative		ɸ β		f v		θ ð		s z		ʃ ʒ				x ɣ		χ ʁ		h
Approximant												j ɥ		w
Trill																ʀ
Flap						ɾ
Lateral approx.						l (ɫ)
Prenasalised occlusives														ᵑg

The phoneme /ɫ/ no longer exists in modern Ŧœlsin but some speakers actually keep remains of it in their speech, for instance in some parts of verb conjugation.

Vowels

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

Vocalic length is phonemic, with an opposition between short and long vowels.

Orthography

Romanization

The Latin alphabet for Ŧœlsin is a one-to-one translitteration of the original script. It has both uppercase and lowercase letters, shown in pairs below ; when there are several pairs on a same line, it is because they are considered to be different versions of the "same" letter.

Y y - /jo/, /ɔj/
Æ æ ; Æ̊ æ̊ - /aj/ ; /ja/
A a - /a/
B b - /b/
Q q - /ʃ/
D d - /d/
E e ; Ê ê ; Ě ě - /e/ ; /ɛ/ ; /ə/
G g ; G̊ g̊ ; Ñ ñ - /g/ ; /ŋg/ ; /ɲ/
H h - /h/
I i - /i/
Ƶ ƶ ; Ƶ̆ ƶ̆ - /ð/ ; /ʒ/
K k - /k/
L l - /l/
M m - /m/
N n - /n/
O o ; Œ œ - /o/, /ɔ/ ; /o/
P p ; Ƥ ƥ - /p/ ; /ɸ/
R r - /ʁ/
C c ; S s - /s/ ; /θ/
T t ; Ŧ ŧ - /t/ ; /th/, /t̚/
U u - /y/
V v ; F f - /v/ ; /f/
Ƿ ƿ - /wi/
Z z - /z/
Ɯ ɯ ; Ɯ̂ ɯ̂ ; Ɯ̌ ɯ̌ - /ã/ ; /ɛ̃/ ; /ɔ̃/
W w - /u/
X x, Ħ ħ - /χ/
Ƃ ƃ - /bɾa/
Ŋ ŋ - /ŋ/
Ɋ ɋ - /ʃ/, /h/
Ƀ ƀ - /β/

Spelling rules

Tolsian orthography is fairly transparent though there is not always a one to one correspondance between graphemes and phonemes. Some phonemes are not represented in the alphabet above :

/x/ and /ɣ/ are written xͪ and gͪ, respectively.
/ph/ and /kh/ and sometimes /th/ are written ph, kh, th.
/ʀ/ is written r̈.
/ɾ/ is written rͪl.
The approximants /w/, /j/, /ɥ/ are written with w, i, u and a tilde-like « link » between them and another vowel : for instance, /je/ will be written i͠e. If there is not such a « link », two adjacent vowels will form a hiatus, that may be enhanced by a separating [ʔ].

Several diacritics are used :

A tilde-like diacritic is used over vowels to indicate they must be lengthened : ã, ẽ, ễ, ě̃, ĩ, õ, œ̃, ũ, w̃, ɯ̃, ɯ̂̃, ɯ̌̃.
The ͪ diacritic, on most letters (except for the graphemes <rͪl>, <xͪ> and <gͪ>) usually makes them mute.
The grapheme <Y y> is ambiguous as there is no way to determine if it corresponds to /jo/ or /oj/.
The grapheme <O o> also corresponds to two different phonemes, but it is usually pronounced /ɔ/ if there is a consonant coda, and if not, then it is usually /o/.
The grapheme <Œ œ> is always /o/ ; the grapheme <Ò ò> is always /ɔ/.
Sometimes, ƿ̈, a ƿ with a diaeresis, can be encountered : it is usually pronounced /wij/ though in few cases it remains pronounced /wiwi/ as originally.
Among diacritics is a breve-like that, over vowels, indicate that they must be stressed. It is rarely used, only on some words that differ by this stressing. But the spelling « ĭĩ », a stressed « i » followed by a lengthened « i », represents the sequence of phonemes /ij/. Likewise, « w̆w̃» and « ŭũ », less common, are /uw/ and /yɥ/, respectively.

Other rules

The letter ŧ corresponds either to /th/ or to /t̚/, usually depending on the etyomology of the word.
The spelling « æn » is most usually pronounced /ejn/ or /ɛjn/.
An apostrophe indicates an ellision, for example, between a pronoun such as æ̊ , tw, before a verb beginning with a vowel, or the feminine definite article before a noun beginning with a vowel, ex. : « La'amƿta », the lover [lamwita].

Tables of phonemes and their corresponding graphemes

		Bilabial		Labio-dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m <M m>				n <N n>						ɲ <Ñ ñ>		ŋ <Ŋ ŋ>
Plosive		pʰ <Ph ph> p b				tʰ, t̚ <Ŧ ŧ> t <T t> d <D d>								kʰ <Kh kh> k <K k> g <G g>
Fricative		ɸ <Ƥ ƥ> β <Ƀ ƀ>		f <F f> v <V v>		θ <S s> ð <Ƶ ƶ>		s <C c> z <Z z>		ʃ alt. <Ɋ ɋ> ʒ <Ƶ̆ ƶ̆>				x <xͪ> ɣ <gͪ>		χ <X x> alt. <Ħ ħ> ʁ <R r>		h <H h> alt. <Ɋ ɋ>
Approximant												j ɥ cf. above		w cf. above
Trill																ʀ <R̈ r̈>
Flap						ɾ <rͪl>
Lateral approx.						l <L l>
Prenasalised occlusives														ᵑg <G̊ g̊>

		Front		Central		Back
Close		i y				u <W w>
Close-mid		e <E e> ə <Ĕ ě>				o <O o> alt. <Œ œ>
Open-mid		ɛ <Ê ê> ɛ̃ <Ɯ̂ ɯ̂>				ɔ <O o> alt. <Ò ò> ɔ̃ <Ɯ̌ ɯ̌>
Open				ä <A a>		ɑ̃ <Ɯ ɯ>

Prosody

Stress

Most usually, stress falls on the last syllable of a word and is not very emphasized ; it'd be more accurate to say it is a group accent falling on the last syllable of a group of words. Some words may have a stress on another syllable, which might be, in this case, written as a breve-like diacritic over the stressed vowel, and be pronounced with slightly more emphasis.

Phonotactics

Ŧœlsin's syllable structure is complex and allows a wide range of possible consonant clusters.

Morphology

Ŧœlsin has five main parts of speech : nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and particles.

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

There are several systems of genders : there is a system of feminine, masculine and neuter, but also a system of animate/temporary vs. inanimate/everlasting.

Feminine, masculine and neuter are mostly marked in nouns and adjectives, while the dichotomy temporary/everlasting is shown by synonyms in verbs, which themselves conjugate differently depending on the subject being animate or inanimate.

Most commonly, feminine is indicated by a final -a, masculine with an -e or an -o, and neuter either with the absence of any marking when in the singular, or with an -i if in the plural.

Number

The singular is unmarked while the plural noun and adjective marker is a final -c. It is pronounced /s/ when after a vowel, but is kept mute if after a consonant.

Definiteness

In Ŧœlsin, there are definite and indefinite article. Here is a table summing them up :

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular Masculine	êl /ɛl/ (ê /ɛ/ before a consonant)	one /one/ (on /on/ before a vowel)
Singular Feminine	la /la/ (la' /l/ before a vowel)	ona /ona/ (ona' /ɔn/ before a vowel)
Plural Masculine	lecͪ /le/	onec /ones/ (onc), dalecͪ1 /dale/
Plural Feminine	lecͪ /le/	onac /onas/, dalecͪ1 /dale/

¹Dalecͪ is a contraction of dal (partitive article) and the plural definite article lecͪ. It serves with nouns of different genders.

Pronouns

Personal subject pronouns

Grammatical description	English translation	Pronoun
1SG	I	æ̊ /ja/
2SG	you	tw /tu/
3SG.masc	he	æ /aj/
3SG.fem	she	mæ /maj/
1PL	we	cæ̊n /sjan/
2PL	you	vw /vu/
3PL.masc	they	cæ /saj/
3PL.fem	they	mæhc /maj/
2POLITE	you	ææ̊ /aj:a/

Adjectives

Adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns they qualify. The plural adjective marker is a final -c. It is pronounced /s/ when after a vowel, but is kept mute if after a consonant.

Comparative and Superlative

The comparative of superiority (more ... than ...) and the comparative of inferiority (less ... than ...) are indicated with circumfixes :

• Comparative of superiority : cu+ADJ+ke
• Comparative of inferiority : meno+ADJ+ke

The comparative of equality (as ... as ...) uses an anlytical construction :

• talnt + ADJ + az ke

Superlatives (the most ... ; the least ...) are indicated with prefixes :

• Superlative of superiority : (êl, la) li+ADJ
• Superlative of inferiority : (êl, la) mi+ADJ

Verbs

Verbs inflect in tense, mood, person and animatedness. There are four moods : two realis moods, the indicative and the so-called absolute (corresponds mostly to a gnomic aspect), and two irrealis moods, the conditional and the imperative. There are seven « persons » : first singular, second singular, third singular, first plural, second plural, third plural, and the polite person.

But it is very common that only the third person be used, and the subject pronoun be placed after the thus conjugated verb.

Verbs endings usually are either -ƃ or -æ̊r. There are two kinds of conjugation, one for animate beings and one for inanimate things. To conjugate a verb, the infinitive ending drops and is replaced by the conjugated ending.

The inanimate conjugation mostly consists of a lengthening of the desinence vowel.

Indicative

Tenses which correspond, roughly, to Perfect Past, Future Perfect, and Pluperfect are, similarly to the Past Imperative, built with a suffixed tense morpheme.

Present

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-a /a/	-ã /a:/
2SG tw	-ac /as/	-ãc /a:s/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-at /at/	-ãt /a:t/
1PL cæ̊n	-amc /am/	-ãmc /a:m/
2PL vw	-atc /at/	-ãtc /a:t/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-na /na/	-nã /na:/
2POL ææ̊	-e /e/	-ẽ /e:/

Simple Past

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-Cĩ /i:/ ; -V͠i /j/ ; -ĭĩ ; /ij/	-Cĩ /i:/ ; -Ṽ͠i /:j/ ; -ĩĩ /i:j/
2SG tw	-Cĩc /i:/ ; -V͠ic /j/ ; -ĭĩc /ij/	-Cĩc /i:/ ; -Ṽ͠ic /:j/ ; -ĩĩc /i:j/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-Cĩt /i:/ ; -V͠it /j/ ; -ĭĩt /ij/	-Cĩt /i:/ ; -Ṽ͠it /:j/ ; -ĩĩt /i:j/
1PL cæ̊n	-Cĩ /i:/ ; -Vi͠i /ji/	-Cĩ /i:/ ; -Vi͠ĩ /ji:/
2PL vw	-Cĩ /i:/ ; -Vi͠i /ji/	-Cĩ /i:/ ; -Vi͠ĩ /ji:/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-Cin /in/ ; -Vn /n/	-Cĩn /i:n/ ; -Ṽn /:n/
2POL ææ̊	-i͠in /jin/	-i͠ĩn /ji:n/

Where C stands for a final consonant, V a final vowel, and the third case being when there is a final « i » vowel.

Imperfective Past

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-æ /aj/	-æ̃ /a:j/ or /aj:/
2SG tw	-æc /aj/	-æ̃c /a:j/ or /aj:/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-æt /aj/	-æ̃t /a:j/ or /aj:/
1PL cæ̊n	-mcͪæ /maj/	-mcͪæ̃ /ma:j/ or /maj:/
2PL vw	-ætc /ajt/	-æ̃tc /a:jt/ or /aj:t/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-næ /naj/	-næ̃ /na:j/ or /naj:/
2POL ææ̊	-(i)æ 1 /i.aj/	-(ĩ)æ 1 /i:.aj/

¹Only when the verb stem doesn't already end in -i (or ƿ).

Perfect Past

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-æld /ald/	-æ̃ld /a:ld/
2SG tw	-æcͪld /ald/	-æ̃cͪld /a:ld/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-ætͪld /ald/	-æ̃tͪld /a:ld/
1PL cæ̊n	-mcͪæld /mald/	-mcͪæ̃ld /ma:ld/
2PL vw	-ætͪcld /ald/	-æ̃tͪcld /a:ld/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-næld /nald/	-næ̃ld /na:ld/
2POL ææ̊	-æld /ajld/ or sometimes /aɫd/	-æ̃ld /a:jld/ or sometimes /aɫ:d/

The phoneme /ɫ/ no longer exists in modern Ŧœlsin but some speakers actually keep remains of it in their speech.

Pluperfect

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-nild /nild/	-nĩld /ni:ld/
2SG tw	-nicͪld /nild/	-nĩcͪld /ni:ld/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-nitͪld /nild/	-nĩtͪld /ni:ld/
1PL cæ̊n	-ni͠ild /njild/	-ni͠ĩld /nji:ld/
2PL vw	-ni͠ild /njild/	-ni͠ĩld /nji:ld/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-nd /nd/	Example
2POL ææ̊	-i͠ild /jild/	-i͠ĩld /ji:ld/

Simple Future

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-ræ̊ /ʁja/	-ræ̊̃ /ʁja:/
2SG tw	-ræ̊c /ʁja/	-ræ̊̃c /ʁja:/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-ræ̊t /ʁja/	-ræ̊̃t /ʁja:/
1PL cæ̊n	-rĭĩ /ʁij/	-rĩĩ /ʁi:j/
2PL vw	-rĭĩ /ʁij/	-rĩĩ /ʁi:j/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-ri͠e /ʁje/	-ri͠ẽ /ʁje:/
2POL ææ̊	-ræ /ʁaj/	-ræ̃ /ʁa:j/ or /ʁaj:/

Future Perfect

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-ræ̊ld /ʁjald/	-ræ̊̃ld /ʁja:ld/
2SG tw	-ræ̊cͪld /ʁjald/	-ræ̊̃cͪld /ʁja:ld/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-ræ̊tͪld /ʁjald/	-ræ̊̃tͪld /ʁja:ld/
1PL cæ̊n	-rĭĩld /ʁi:ld/	-rĩĩld /ʁi:ld/
2PL vw	-rĭĩld /ʁi:ld/	-rĩĩld /ʁi:ld/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-ri͠eld /ʁjeld/ or /rjɛld/	-ri͠ẽld /ʁje:ld/ or /rjɛ:ld/
2POL ææ̊	-ræld /ʁajld/	-ræ̃ld /ʁa:jld/

Absolute (Gnostic)

Absolute

Person	Animate	Inanimate
1SG æ̊	-yh /joh/	-ỹh /jo:h/ or /j:oh/
2SG tw	-ys /jɔθ/	-ỹs /jɔ:θ/ or /j:ɔθ/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-yŧ /jɔt̚/	-ỹŧ /jɔ:t̚/ or /j:ɔt̚/
1PL cæ̊n	-yƥ /jɔɸ/	-ỹƥ /jɔ:ɸ/ or /j:ɔɸ/
2PL vw	-yƶ̆ /jɔʒ/	-ỹƶ̆ /jɔ:ʒ/ or /j:ɔʒ/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-yƿ /jowi/	-yƿ̃ /jow:i/
2POL ææ̊	-yƶ /jɔð/	-ỹƶ /jɔ:ð/ or /j:ɔð/

Imperative

In the imperative, the subject is placed right after the verb which is mandatorily conjugated depending on that subject.

Present Imperative

Person	Animate	Inanimate
2SG tw	-y /ɔj/	-ỹ /ɔ:j/ or /ɔj:/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-yt /ɔj/	-ỹt /ɔ:j/ or /ɔj:/
1PL cæ̊n	-ym /ɔjm/	-ỹm /ɔ:jm/ or /ɔj:m/
2PL vw	-ytc /ɔj/	-ỹtc /ɔ:j/ or /ɔj:/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-yn /ɔjn/	-ỹn /ɔ:jn/ or /ɔj:n/

Past Imperative

Person	Animate	Inanimate
2SG tw	-yld /ɔld/	-ỹld /ɔ:ld/
3SG æ (m.), mæ (f.)	-ytͪld /ɔld/	-ỹtͪld /ɔ:ld/
1PL cæ̊n	-ymͪld /ɔld/ or sometimes /ɔɫd/	-ỹmͪld /ɔ:ld/ or sometimes /ɔɫ:d/
2PL vw	-ytͪcld /ɔjld/	-ỹtͪcld /ɔ:jld/ or /ɔj:ld/
3PL cæ (m.), mæhc (f.)	-ynͪld /ɔld/ or sometimes /ɔɫd/	-ỹnͪld /ɔ:ld/ or sometimes /ɔɫ:d/

The phoneme /ɫ/ no longer exists in modern Ŧœlsin but some speakers actually keep remains of it in their speech.

Conditional

Conditional is built with the modal auxiliary « ƿ̈ », /wij/. The structure of a conditional sentence is :

• Subject + Verb (infinitive) + ƿ̈

Past conditional is built upon the very same structure, only the past of the modal auxiliary is used :

• Subject + Verb (infinitive) + ƿ̈ld /wi:ld/ (sometimes /wiɫd/)

The conditional and the subjunctive have the same form for both animate and inanimate subjects.

Subjunctive

There is no actual subjunctive in Ŧœlsin. But a specific sentence structure is used :

• (Main clause +) Subject + Particle ke? or dake? + Verb (infinitive)

Past subjunctive also uses the same structure, only the past infinitive is used. Information about what constitutes a past infinitive seems to be missing.

The conditional and the subjunctive have the same form for both animate and inanimate subjects. However, with the subjunctive, it is more common to use « dake? » for animated subjects and « ke? » for inanimate subjects.

Participles

The participles are built by adding an ending to the verb stem.

Participles

	Animate	Inanimate
Present	-ƿ /wi/ (-ƿ̈ /wij/)1	-ƿ̃ /wi:/ (-ƿ̈ /wij/)1
Past	-Cild /ild/ ; -Vld /ld/2	-Cĩld /i:ld/ ; -Ṽld /:ld/2

¹If the verb stems already ends in -ƿ, then the underlying -ƿƿ coalesces into -ƿ̈. ²Where C stands for a verb stem ending in a consonant, and V for a verb stem ending in a vowel.

Particles

Particles are function words that include prepositions, postpositions, conjunction words, etc.

• One notable particle is the so-called subject particle, which is used in some constructions, for instance the "subjunctive". It can take two different forms, usually depending on whether the subject is an animate, temporary being/thing (particle "dake?") or an inanimate, everlasting thing (particle "ke?"). They are always written with question marks (no space between the particle and the question mark, contrarily to the use of question mark in interrogative sentences) but that does not influence the intonation.

• The genitive particle « dœ » is suffixed to the possessor noun/pronoun. In general the scheme is « POSSESSOR-dœ POSSESSED » but this order can be inversed (« possessed possessor-dœ »).

Syntax

Constituent order

The traditional word order in declarative sentences is SVO, though VSO or VOS compete with it, provided that the verb is in the third person. Thus, « I am a man » can indifferently be said :

• « Æ̊ cƿa one macko » (1SG.SUBJ + verb "to be" 1SG.PRES + article + "man")
• « Cƿat æ̊ one macko » (verb "to be" 3SG.PRES + 1SG.SUBJ + article + "man")
• « Cƿat one macko æ̊ » (verb "to be" 3SG.PRES + article + 1SG.SUBJ + "man")

Noun phrase

• Attributive adjectives :

Most usually, the noun-adjective order is NOUN + ADJECTIVE, but the noun-numeral order is NUMERAL + NOUN.

• Genitive :

The most usual genitive construction is with the genitive particle « dœ » suffixed to the possessor noun/pronoun. In general the scheme is « POSSESSOR-dœ POSSESSED » but this order can be inversed (« possessed possessor-dœ »). Genitive can also be constructed with the word « dal », like in English it can be said « the [possessed] of [possessor] » : « êl, la [possessed] dal [possessor] ».

Verb phrase

• Adverbs :

The verb-adverb order is VERB + ADVERB.

• Negation :

Negation is constructed with the negative word « ne », placed before both the subject and the verb :

ne + Subject + Conjugated Verb (+ complement)

"Ne æ̊ cƿa one măcko" : I am not a man.

• Questions :

Interrogation is constructed with an interrogative particle, « deme », placed in the beginning of the sentence :

deme + Subject + Conjugated Verb (+ complement) + ? (or deme + Verb, 3rd person + Subject + ?)

"Deme æ̊ cƿa one măcko ?" or "Deme cƿat æ̊ one măcko ?" : Am I a man ?

If there is an interrogative word (ex. : « don », where, here), it is inserted between the deme particle and the subject/verb.

"Deme don æ̊ cƿa ?" : Where am I ?

Dependent clauses

Dependent clauses are introduced by the particles ke? or dake?, depending on the subject of the dependent clause being rather animate/temporary or inanimate/everlasting. When there is to be a subjunctive, the said subject precedes the particle (see Subjunctive).

Informal Ŧœlsin

Some features of the everyday, casual Ŧœlsin speaking include :

Contractions of the verb "to be" (when using the 3rd person construction) I am – Cƿat æ̊ => Cw͠atqa ['swatʃa] You are, sg. – Cƿat tw => Cw͠attw ['swat:u] He is – Cƿat æ => Cw͠atæ [swataj], Cw͠adæ [swadaj] She is – Cƿat mæ => Cw͠amæ [swamaj] We are – Cƿna cæ̊n => Cw͠inan [swinan], Cw͠iæ̊n [swijan], Cwæ̊n [sujan] You are, pl. – Cƿna vw => Civw [sivu], Cƿnw [swinu] They are, m. – Cƿna cæ => Cinæ [sinaj], cƿinæ [swinaj] They are, f. – Cƿna mæcͪ => Cimæcͪ [simaj], Cƿimæcͪ [swimaj] You are, polite – Cƿe* ææ̊ => Cw͠eæ̊ [sweja], Cw͠eiæ̊ ['swej:a]