Metin

General information

Metin is a language spoken by about 57 trillion people in the Metii'nz'ou'ku and the surrounding areas, like Koryouz'ou'ku and Ishnnai'zou'ku. Metin is a Lingua Franca rather than a native language, it was spoken in its true form about 50 millenia ago at the founding of Metii'nz'ou'ku, since then, it has split into many daughter languages, which use old Metin as a language of common communication.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Lateroalveolar	Alveopalatal	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m~n (m, n)
Plosive	/p/*, /b*/, /bʰ/ (bh)	/t/, /d/, /dʰ/ (t, d, dh)	/t'/, /d'/, /dʰ'/ (t', d', dh')		/ʈ/, /ɖ/, /ɖʰ/ (T, D, Dh)	/c/, /ɟ/, /ɟʰ/ (c, j, jh)	/k/, /g/, /gʰ/ (k, g, gh)
Fricative	/ɸ/ (f)	/s/, /z/, /zʰ/ (s, z, zh)	/s'/, /z'/, /zʰ'/ (s', z', zh')	/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ʒʰ/ (sx, zx, zxh)	/ʂ/, /ʐ/, /ʐʰ/ (S, Z, Zh)	/ç/, /ʝʰ/ (ç, yh)	/x/, /ɣ/ (x, G)	/ʀ/ (q)	/h/ (h)
Affricate		/ts/, /dz/, /dzʰ/	/ts'/, /dz'/, /dzʰ'/ (ts', dz', dzh')	/tʃ/, /dʒ/, /dʒʰ/ (cx, jx, jxh)	/ʈʂ/, /ɖʐ/, /ɖʐʰ/ (C, J, Jh)
Approximant	/ʋ/ (w)				/r/ (r)	/j/ (y)
Lateral fricative			/ɬ/, /ɮ/ (ɬ, ly)
Lateral approximant			/l/

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i, i' (i, i')	ɨ (ï)	u, u' (u, u')
Near-close
Close-mid	e (e)		o (o)
Mid		ə (ë)
Open-mid
Near-open	æ (á)		ɔ (ó)
Open		a (a)

Phonemes with * are marginal

Letters in parantheses are romanizations. Sequences of sounds that could be confused for digraphs are seperated by a dash ( sx, /ʃ/ vs. s-x, /sx/).

Phonology

Consonants

The consonants marked with apostrophes are lateral sounds

To pronounce them, put the tip of your tongue at the base of your bottom teeth. Then, bend the rest of your tongue upwards until the center of your tongue is pressed against the base of the top teeth. Then, make a plosive, nasal, fricative, or lateral with your tongue in this position. You should sound like you have a lisp.

Plosive consonants and fricatives make a three-way distinction, voiceless, voiced, and breathy. v~w is considered an approximant, although it surfaces as the voiced bilabial fricative v before or after labial vowels. All fricatives, even aspirated ones, may occur at the end of syllables. There is no breathy Gh, nor are there p or b sounds (except in rare circumstances). The only consonant clusters in the Metin language are affricates and l clusters, such as kl, tl, dl, and dlh. l clusters may be voiceless, voiced or breathy. There are also x clusters, px, tx, t'x, and Tx, there are only 4, and they are always voiceless.

Nasals are only distinguished from eachother in the onset of a syllable, at the end of a syllable, they become the archiphoneme m*, which represents a nasal which agrees with the following consonant in place of articulation. If followed by a vowel, m* becomes, /m/.

Approximants can also carry no secondary articulations. There is also an archiphoneme for syllable final approximants, that is l*. l* becomes ł before voiceless non-retroflex consonants, r before retroflex consonants, vowels, and voiced consonants, and l before voiced palatal and dental consonants.

Vowels

Vowels are divided into two groups, normal and lateral.

A normal vowel has the tongue held straight during production. They cannot occur after a lateral or retroflex consonant.They are divided int three groups. The first group is the fronted vowels, or palatals, which are are i, e and á. The neutral mid vowels are ï, ë, and a. . The final group is the back vowels, or labial vowels, u, o and à.

A lateral vowel is produced with the tip of the tongue at the base of the teeth and the rest of the tongue bent upwards. Frontness and backness are not distinguished, only openness and labialness. There are only two pure lateral vowels, unlabialized i' and labialized u', the other lateral vowels are dipthongs with i' and u', aa' is a dipthong of aa and i', o' is a dipthong of o and u'.

Phonotactics

A syllable may optionally have an onset with any one consonant or the permitted consonant clusters (listed in consonants section). The nucleus must consist of a vowel or sequence of vowels (vowels do not dipthongize, rather a sequence of vowels is pronounced with each vowel distinct.) The (optional) coda may be any fricative (including h and other breathy fricatives.

Grammar

Metin is a polysynthetic, VSO language with most grammatical information indicated on the verb

Noun morphology

Metin numbers are divided into genders, which hold prefixes marking for the four cases and number. Number is not obligatory to mark, especially for inanimate nouns.

Gender 1

Gender 1 is exclusively for humans.

Gender 1: si: example sime> person.

	Singular	Plural
Common	sime	oame
Ablative	soome	koome
Dative	sueeme	keeme
Oblique	sual*me>suarme	oal*me> oarme

The l* in sual*me and kal*me indicates that it is the archiphoneme l*, which changes to r before voiced consonants (see phonology)

Gender 2

Gender 2 is usually used to mark machines and complex objects, and to make machines of verbs. It does not have a plural form, although the prefix dha can be used optionally

Gender 2: ee'q: example: ee'qca'z: aircraft

	Singular	Plural
Common	ee'qca'z	(dhaee'qca'z)
Ablative	i'qooca'z	(dhai'qooca'z)
Dative	ye'nca'z	(dhaye'nca'z)
Oblique	yu'nca'z	(dhay'unca'z)

Gender 3

Gender 3 is used to mark a variety of inanimate objects.

Gender 3: fï: example: fïtooq: plant

	Singular	Plural
Common	fïtooq	(dhatooq)
Ablative	fuootooq	(dhootooq
Dative	fintooq	(jhintooq)
Oblique	funtooq	(jhuntooq)

Gender 4

Gender 4 is also used for inanimate objects, usually large immobile objects, or cities.

Gender 4: cà: example: càDUh: house

	Singular	Plural
Common	càDuh	morDuh
Ablative	cooDuh	mooDuh
Dative	cAZDuh	muZDuh
Oblique	cuDuh	muDuh

Gender 5

Gender 5 is used for uncountable objects, like water or sand.

Gender 5: mi example: miji: water

	Mass
Common	miji
Ablative	muooji
Dative	minji
Oblique	munji

Gender 6

Gender 6 is used for abstract concepts and qualities, like love, justice, or colors. Gender 6 nouns are also uncountable.

Gender 6: lu example: luquo: the color white.

Common	luquo
Ablative	luooquo
Dative	luZquo
Oblique	lunquo

Verbs

The Metin verb is by far the most complex part of Metin grammar. Most of Metin verb morphology involves prefixes, allthough there are a handful of suffixes that can occur.

Metin verb template

Disjunct prefixes		Conjunct prefixes				Inner prefixes		Stem	Suffixes
Evidentiality	Lexical	Outer	Theme Vowel	Inner	Object	Subject	Inner
im	fu-syija	h	á	x	s	h	r	keeh	sis

"imfusyijaxkiásáhorkeehis": he let you down bit by bit hanging from a rope (I saw so)

Evidentiality

Evidential prefixes are the simplest part of the Metin verb. They indicate how the speaker knows about what they're talking about. They have only two forms, one for if they are followed by lexical prefixes and one if they are not.

	Saw/heard directly	Saw/heard unclearly	heard	felt/smelled/ tasted	Recording	Hearsay/literature	Inference	Hope
Followed by lexical prefix	im	om	iq	oq	il	ol	Az	eS
Followed by something else	iem	uom	ieq	uoq	iel	uol	ooz	ioS

Examples of usage: iemïdheu: he/she's climbing (I see him climbing) vs. imhaadheu: he/she's climbing up (I see him)

uoqïdheu: he/she's climbing (someone told me/ I read it) oqhaadheu: he/she's climbing up (someone told me/ I read it)

Lexical prefixes

Lexical prefixes are a large and varied group. Some, like "ha" and "fu", indicate direction of motion. "syija" indicates that a string or rope was somehow involved. "ma" is used in subjunctive clauses to mean "if" There is no strict limit on the number of lexical prefixes a verb may have, allthough it is rare for there to be more than 3. The lexical prefixes are ordered roughly like this.

direction>instrument>posture>time

fu-syija-txë-łi- huhedheu

down-with rope-entire body-long time climbed(refexive)

He climbed down slowly with a rope a while ago.

Lexical prefixes will be listed in the dictionary rather than the grammar, except for a few of the more important.

Inner prefixes

Inner prefixes bear the greater portion of the grammar in Metin, and they interact with eachother in complex ways, thus, it is difficult to talk about them in isolation.

The subject prefixes

	Singular	Inclusive	Exclusive
1st person	o	um	ał
2nd person	f
3rd person	-
4th person obviate	q
4th person proximate	á
Interrogative	iz
Passive	më

These are the basic forms of the subject prefixes. The prefixes rarely surface identically to their basic form, but instead change according to their environment. The verb below shows the forms of the prefixes when they are not preceded nor followed by any other prefixes.

Bare subject prefixes

Notice two things: Every subject prefix recieves an initial cononant (o to wo, iz to hiz), vowelless prefixes get a peg hï, f changes to hu, yał changes to yeł, and the verb recieves the suffix -wa to indicate plurality.

Present conjugation of 0-dheu: to climb

wodheu "I climb."	wundheuwa "We climb."	yełdheuwa "Youn and me climb."
hudheu "You climb." hudheuwa "Y'all climb."
hïdheu "He/she climbs." hïdheuwa "They climb."
hïqdheu "He/she climbs." hïqdheuwa "They climb."
yádheu "He/she climbs." yádheuwa "They climb."
hizdheu "Who climbs?"
mëdheu "It is climbed."

With evidentials

This table shows the form of the prefixes when preceded by an evidential. Notice how the subject prefixes are now almost identical to their base forms (except f, which has changed to u. f changes to u whenever it is sandwiched between two consonants.)

Present conjugation of iem-0-dheu: to climb (as seen by speaker)

iemodheu "I climb." (I see so.)	iemundheuwa "We climb." (I see so.)	iemałdheuwa "You and me climb." (I see so.)
iemudheu "You climb." (I see so.)
iendheu "He/she climbs." (I see so.)
iemïqdheu "He/she climbs." (I see so.)
iemádheu "He/she climbs." (I see so.)
iemizdheu "Who climbs?" (I see so.)
ienmëdheudheu "It is climbed." (I see so.)

With lexical prefixes

This table shows the forms of the subject prefixes when preceded by a lexical prefix. Notice how the lexical prefix's vowel is long in the forms marked with an *, and short elsewhere. Forms marked with a * trigger what is known as the lexical prefix vowel change. The lexical prefix vowel change usually lengthens the prefixes vowel, but occasionally other changes will happen (For example, the lexical prefix drai changes to drayee before an *, as in drayeefdheu (drai-f*-dheu), "You barely finish climbing." Vowel changes will be listed next to a lexical prefix's entry in the dictionary.

Present conjugation of ha-0-dheu: to climb upwards

hódheu (hao>ho) "I climb up."	hondheuwa (hau>ho) "We climb up."	hałdheuwa (haał>hał) "Youn and me set it."
haafdheu* "You climb up." haafdheuwa* "Y'all climb up."
haadheu* "He/she climbs up." haadheuwa* "they climb up."
haaqdheu* "He/she climbs." haaqdheuwa "They climb up."
hayádheu "He/she climbs up." hayádheuwa "They climb up."
haaizdheu* "Who climbs up?"
hamëdheu "It is climbed up."

Classifiers

Classifiers are prefixes that come after the subject prefixes, usually indicating transitivity. There are 2 classifiers, a and e

Combination of subject prefixes with classifier e

Present conjugation of e-goon: to set it, place it

wegoon "I set it."	wumiegoonwa "We set it."	yełiegoonwa "Youn and me climb up."
*wegoon "You set it." *wegoonwa "Y'all set it."
*hegoon "He/she sets it." *hegoonwa "They set it."
*heqgoon "He/she sets it." *heqgoonwa "They set it."
yáigoon "He/she sets it." yáigoonwa "They set it."
*hidegoon "Who sets it?"
mëigoon "It is set."

These subject prefix-classifier combinations are highly irregular and must be learned by rote. As before, forms arked with an * will trigger lexical prefix vowel change if preceded by one. The following table shows what these prefixes look like with preceding lexicals.

Present conjugation of fu-e-goon: to set it down

fuwegoon "I set it down."	fumiegoonwa (fuu>fu) "We set it down."	fuałiegoonwa "Youn and me set it down"
*fuuwegoon "You set it down." *wegoonwa "Y'all set it down."
*fuuhegoon "He/she sets it down." *fuuhegoonwa "They set it down."
*fuuheqgoon "He/she sets it down." *fuuheqgoonwa "They set it down."
fuyáigoon "He/she sets it down." fuyáigoonwa "They set it down."
*fuuidegoon "Who sets it down?"
fumëigoon "It is set down."

The Noun phrase

Simple Noun phrases

A simple noun phrase consists of at least 1 noun, the head noun, declined for case/

fïgoon "chair"

The head noun may be followed by one or more descriptors, such as adjectives or demonstratives

fïgoon Za "that chair"

fïgoon mui's "beautiful chair"

It may be followed by a postposition

fungoon mui's Za dez "by that beautiful chair"

It may be posessed, in which case the head noun recieves a suffix marking the person and number of the posessor, and the posessor is marked in the oblique case.

fïgoomen mui's suarme Za "that person's beautiful chair"

fïgoomi mui's oarme Za "those people's beautiful chair"

fïgoomo "my chair"

fïgoomen "his/her chair"

It may recieve a preposition

txoh fïgoon ta "along with this chair"

Complex Noun phrases

Conjunctions

Two noun phrases may be linked by conjunctions such as ppi or zxá

fïgoomen quo Za ppi fïtooq tliue ta "that white chair and this green plant"

fïgoomen quo Za zxá fïtooq tliue ta "that white chair or this green plant"

fïgoomen quo Za hi fïtoq tliue ta hu "that white chair, this green plant, and other things"

Comparisons

Comparisons in Metin are structured like this "Quality-posessive suffix-quantity-OBL-head noun-mu-compared noun

luquoyen zhaax fungoomen mu funtooq Za. whiteness-3ps great OBL-chair mu plant that "The chair is whiter than the plant" (Literal: The chair's whiteness is great compared to that plant."

luquoyen Gui fungoomen mu funtooq ta. "the chair is less white than that plant."

The copulas Dhaa, bhaa, and mimi.

The copula always comes first in the sentence

Dhaa

Noun phrases may be marked equivalent by the copula Dhaa

Dhaa sime te sibeh suałsuho. "That person by you is my friend's sister"

COPULA person here-by you sister-3ps OBL-friend-1ps

Or be stated without the copula to convey the same meaning

sime te sibeh suałsuho. (same meaning)

bhaa

The copula bhaa is used in the same way as Dhaa, but changes the phrase to a question. It is used most often in the respectful and distant registers.

bhaa sime te sibeh suałsuho? "Is that person by you my friend's sister?"

Like Dhaa, bhaa may be ommited, the only indication that the statement is a question being the tone of voice. bhaa is most commonly ommited in the close informal register.

sime te sibeh suałsuho? (same meaning)

mimi

The copula mimi indicates that two noun phrases are not equivalent. It is used like the other copulas.

mimi sime te sibeh suałsuho "That person by you is not my friend's sister"