Talk:A priori language

Todo

Ypyḷḷityyn = a place name?

aikataaḷ = a vagrant

Iki aikamainta kyy = the man is wandering

Introduction

A priori language ([tiŋkaʈkiramai] 'mother language') is a language inspired aesthetically by Finnish and Tamil. It is spoken by a tribe of dwarves in the Tolkienian fantasy world of Rotunu.

Numbers: 0: riemy 1: aintu 2: lyönty 3: vaṭṭu 4: jäämy 5: kuovu 6: töḷḷy 7: naamu 8: ympy 9: marru 10: iiky

Phonology

Consonants

A priori language consonants

		Labial	Dental	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m /m/	n /n̪/	ṇ /ɳ/		ng /ŋ/
Plosive		p /p~b/	t /t̪~d̪/	ṭ /ʈ~ɖ/		k /k~g~x/
Trill/Flap			r /ɾ~r/
Approximant		v /ʋ/	l /l̪/	ḷ /ɭ/	j /j/

/p t̪ ʈ k/ are voiceless word-initially, as geminates and before consonants, and voiced otherwise.

Vowels

/ɑ e i o u æ ø y/ ⟨a e i o u ä ö ü⟩

There is vowel harmony in roots and suffixes: e i are neutral, a o u are back vowels, and ä ö y are the front counterparts of a o u. A word with only neutral vowels is considered to be a front-vowel word.

Morphology

Nouns

• nom: tingka
• gen: tingkako
• ade: tingkavuur
• abl: tingkava
• all: tingkarru
• ine: tingkanta
• ela: tingkaḷpa
• ill: tingkatan
• com: tingkanen
• ins: tingkaṭṭu
• ess: tingkaval

The plural is formed with -ṇṭO.

• lääny 'son': läänykö, läänyjyyr, läänyvä, läänyrry, läänyntä, ...

Pronouns

• tai, ymi, äḷä, taiṇṭo, ymiṇṭö, äḷäṇṭö

Verbs

puu = to do

Derivational morphology

• -mAi: deverbal noun
  • kiramai "language"; nyömäi "dream"

Syntax

Noun phrase

A priori language uses an indefinite article ain. There is no definite marker.