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IlL/Spare pages 1/5
Tsjoen-naet
Pronunciation	[/tʂœn nɛt/]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Language family	Lakovic IlL/Spare pages 1/5

Tsjoen is a Talman language, belonging to the Lakovic family.

Todo

• no plural classifiers
• 'is not ADJ' < "is nothing ADJ"
• ry xa = OK, got it
• aesthetic for polysyllabic words - why not add some swedish touch like "ikjaenar"
• ae and e are in nearly complementary distribution - e is usually used in je
• Tsjoen needs open syllables but I don't want Wiobian to have too many open syllables

To translate

• The Little Prince

Phonology

Tsjoen has an average-sized (~25, depending on who's counting) consonant inventory and a rather large (10) vowel inventory.

Consonants

IlL/Spare pages 1/5 consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Lateral	Medial	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/			nj /ɲ/	ng /ŋ/
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/	t /t/			tj /t͡ɕ/	k /k/
	voiced	b /b/	d /d/			dj /d͡ʑ/	g /g/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/	s /s/	x /ɬ/	sj /ɧ/	hj /ç/		h /h/
	voiced	v /v/	z /z/
Affricate			ts /ts/		tsj /tʂ/
Resonant			r /r/	l /l/	zj /ɹ~ɻ~ɭ/	j /j/

Notes

• s is [ɕ] before /i/ and /y/.
• n t d h are pronounced like nj tj dj hj before /i/ and /y/.
• sj is pronounced as a uvular fricative /χ/ in some dialects. zj is pronounced as a uvular trill /ʀ/ or approximant /ʁ/ in the same dialects.
• kv gv ngv hv are pronounced [kw gw ŋw hw].

Vowels

Tsjoen has 8 vowel phonemes. There are no diphthongs.

	Front		Back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Close	i /i/	y /y/		u /u/
Close-mid	ae, e /e~ɛ/	oe /ø~œ/	[ə]	o /o/
Open-mid			eo /ʌ~ɔ/
Open			a /a/

The vowel /e/ is normally transliterated ae. After j, it is usually spelled e instead. The two spellings reflect the fact that ae and e were distinct phonemes (/ɛ, e/ respectively) in older Tsjoen.

Some linguists consider eu to actually be a non-palatalizing allophone of i.

eo is reduced to [ə] in unstressed syllables.

Stress

Stress is always final.

Phonotactics

• The most common roots are C(v/j)V, C(v/j)VC(C), C(v/j)VC(C)V, C(v/j)VC(C)VC. (The initial C(v/j) is optional)
• /ji, jɯ, vɯ, vu/ are prohibited.
• Initial /ŋ/ is prohibited, as in both Sino-Korean and Swedish.

Morphology

Nouns

Tsjoen nouns do not inflect for number but take possessive prefixes for inalienable possession. Tsjoen nouns can take classifiers which serve many functions. Classifiers with possessive prefixes mark alienable possession.

Inalienable possession is most commonly used for family members ('the boy's mother'), parts or components ('my arm'), and inherent properties ('the prime factorization of 760') but may used for other nuances as well. As an example, vae-raev eotijeon (with alienable possession) would be the usual way of saying 'my proof' (i.e. the proof that I devised of a mathematical statement), while vae-eotijeon (using inalienable possession) suggests a more special or unique relationship, e.g. I am the one who originally proved the theorem.

Tsjoen uses a possessive prefix, either on a classifier placed before the possessum (classifiers are also used as definite articles) for alienable possession or directly on the possessum for inalienable possession.

Examples:

Teuk sju-raev vjedjeon = the man's song (e.g. a song that he is singing)

Teuk sju-vjedjeon = the man's song (i.e. a song authored by him)

Xi-ne zjeosm = my wife

*Xi-zjeosm

Xi-bjaeng = my father

?Xi-ne bjaeng = the father assigned to me (?)

The possessive prefixes are as follows (they're always hyphenated):

Possessive prefixes

	Singular	Plural
1 (informal)	xjeo-	seo-
1 (formal)	vae-
2 (informal)	mi-	krjeo-
2 (formal)	za-
3 (animate)	sju-
3 (inanimate)	reo-

Classifiers

Tsjoen classifiers mark definiteness.

The following classifiers are used:

• ne = animates (humans, more "animate" animals like pets)
• tja = honorific form of ne
• kveo = organisms not viewed as sentient: plants, fungi, bacteria, "lower" animals, pests
• mi = tiny, point-like objects; mass nouns
  • Units of measurement can be used such as cups, pails, ...
• oets = long, thin objects
• hy = flat sheets
• gi = food items
• raev = abstractions; intellectual works such as art, books, ...
• mo = manmade structures: houses, buildings, cities; tools
• Units of measurement do not take classifiers with numerals.

Numerals

1-10: seots, kljeo, sko, moe, fah, ex, djeot, not, jat, tsju

Ordinals are marked with -pae.

Derivational morphology

• Compound nouns are head-final and are always hyphenated
• -al = agentive
• -eod = agentive
• -jeon = deverbal noun
• ha- = non-

Ideophones

Like Japanese and Korean, Tsjoen uses ideophones. Ideophones may be used both informally and formally.

Syntax

Basic typology

Tsjoen grammar is mostly analytic and SVXO. Genitives and adjectives precede nouns: relative clauses follow nouns. Both pre- and postpositions are used.

Xi taek oseor eukng ti fjuxt.

I speak of love and hate.

Hveol ngeo mul kjom xi hi?

Are you saving it for me?

Baheod tjaleo.

Eagles exist.

Noun phrases

1. $NOUN can mean both 'a $NOUN' and '$NOUNs'.
2. CLF $NOUN means 'the $NOUN' or 'the $NOUNs'.
3. bae $CLF $NOUN means 'this $NOUN'; hjeo $CLF $NOUN means 'that $NOUN'.
4. $ADJ $NOUN and $VERB fo $NOUN means 'an $ADJ $NOUN' or 'a $NOUN that $VERBs'.
5. $NOUN CLF $REL_CLAUSE = 'a $NOUN $REL_CLAUSE; see the section on clauses.
6. (With numbers) $NOUN $N CLF = '$N $NOUN(s)'; CLF $NOUN $N CLF = 'the $N $NOUN(s).

Verb phrases

Grammaticalization happens readily in Tsjoen, as evinced by the sheer number of auxiliaries and particles in the language.

TAM

Lots of TAM particles

• progressive va < "be at/in" like Celtic
• non-immediate future ho < "mean to"
• almost < "approach"
• overdo < "cross"
• take the initiative to < "take"
• try X-ing < "taste"
• may < "get"
• please < "be pleased to"

Clauses

The copula is o.

Relative clauses

Resumptive pronoun: lje

Miscellaneous

Poetry

A Tsjoen meter is a set number of syllables per line, commonly with a division of each line into (usually two) sub-lines of certain lengths.

Alliteration is essential in Tsjoen poetry; traditionally, one creates a sense of rhythm by using alliteration in certain patterns such as:

1. the beginning syllables of sub-lines, e.g. in the pattern a ... | a ... or a ... | b ... | a ...
2. syllables within lines or sub-lines, e.g. a a a _ ‖ b b b _ ‖ c c c _ ‖ d d d _
3. the above two may be combined, e.g. a _ a ... | b _ b ... ‖ b _ b ... | c _ c ... ‖ c _ c ... | d _ d ...

Non-traditional alliteration schemes are used in modern poetry and in whimsical, quasi-Hofstadterian "riddle poems".

An example of a couplet with 4+4-lines:

Tsals ftjud txeob reodj ‖ tsop hjaeg jeopng;
dusp ny mjav pnje, ‖ dvots lats fjeltjar.

"Telegraphic" syntax à la Classical Chinese, i.e. not using classifiers and grammatical particles, is relatively common in "classical" poetry.