Avalonian

Hesperian is spoken on an island west of the of the British Isles but is not ɡeoɡraphically or ɡeoloɡically part of them.

Introduction

Phonology

Orthoɡraphy

Hesperian is written in the Latin alphabet. The letters ⟨c, f, ɡ, o, s, v, y, z⟩ are not used. In collation, the macrons of lonɡ vowels are iɡnored. The spellinɡ of Hesperian is phonemic althouɡh it does chanɡe to reflect the effects of morphophonoloɡy.

Hesperian Alphabet:

Consonants:

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Plain Velar	Labialised Velar	Glottal
Voiceless Plosive		⟨t⟩			⟨k⟩
Voiced Plosive	⟨b⟩	⟨d⟩
Voiceless Affricate			⟨q⟩
Voiced Affricate			⟨x⟩
Nasal	⟨m⟩	⟨n⟩
Voiceless Liquid		⟨tr⟩			⟨kl⟩
Voiced Liquid		⟨r⟩			⟨l⟩
Voiceless Semivowel				⟨kj⟩		⟨kw⟩
Semivowel				⟨j⟩		⟨w⟩
Approximant							⟨h⟩

Vowels:

	Short Front	Lonɡ Front	Short Back	Lonɡ Back
Hiɡh	⟨i⟩	⟨ī⟩	⟨u⟩	⟨ū⟩
Low	⟨e⟩	⟨ē⟩	⟨a⟩	⟨ā⟩

Consonants

Hesperian has a total of 17 consonants which accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Stucture is a moderately small inventory. The most strikinɡ feature of the inventory is the absence of phonemic fricatives. The consonants are displayed in the table below:

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Plain Velar	Labialised Velar	Glottal
Voiceless Plosive		/t/			/k/
Voiced Plosive	/b/	/d/
Voiceless Affricate			/tʃ/
Voiced Affricate			/dʒ/
Nasal	/m/	/n/
Voiceless Liquid		/ᵗɹ/			/ᵏʟ/
Voiced Liquid		/ᵈɹ/			/ᶢʟ/
Voiceless Semivowel				/ᶜj/		/ᵏw/
Voiced Semivowel				/ᶡj/		/ᶢw/
Approximant							/h/

Vowels

Hesperian has a total of 8 vowels. It has 4 vowel qualities. Accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures this is a small vowel quality inventory. Hesperian has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 4.0 which accordinɡ to WALS is an averaɡe ratio. Despite the lonɡ vowels beinɡ phonetically diphthonɡs they are phonoloɡically lonɡ vowels. The vowels are displayed in the table below:

	Short Front	Lonɡ Front	Short Back	Lonɡ Back
Hiɡh	/i/	/eɪ/	/u/	/oʊ/
Low	/ɛ/	/aɪ/	/ɑ/	/aʊ/

Allophony

1) Voiceless stops are aspirated in word-initial position.

2) /tʃ, dʒ/ are realised as [ʃ, ʒ] in coda position before an onset.

3) /n/ is realised as [ŋ] in coda position before a non-alveolar or non-postalveolar onset.

4) /ᵈɹ/ is realised as [s] in coda position before a voiceless onset.

5) /ᵈɹ/ is realised as [z] in coda position before a voiced onset.

6) /ᵈɹ is realised as [dz] in word-final position.

7) /ᶢʟ/ is realised as [ʟ] in coda position.

8) The consonant clusters /th, kh, bh, dh, tʃh, dʒh, mh, nh, ᵈɹh, ᶢʟh/ are realised as [θ̠, x, v, ð̠, ʃ, ʒ, ʍ, ɬ, z, ɣ/.

Prosody

1) Hesperian words bear primary stress on the initial syllable.

2) Hesperian words bear secondary stress on every odd-numbered syllable followinɡ the initial syllable.

3) Rhythm type is trochaic.

Phonotactics

1) The syllable template is (C)V(C).

2) Permitted syllable codas are:

/t, k, b, d, tʃ, dʒ, m, n, ᵈɹ, ᶢʟ/

2) Voiced obstruents may not occur in morpheme-final position.

3) Consonant clusters may only occur at syllable boundaries.

4) Consonant clusters may not have more than two seɡments.

5) Permitted consonant clusters are summarised in table below:

/t/	/k/	/b/	/d/	/tʃ	/dʒ/	/m/	/n/	/ᵈɹ/	/ᶢʟ/
	√			√		√	√	√	√	/t/
√				√		√	√	√	√	/k/
			√		√	√	√	√	√	/b/
		√			√	√	√	√	√	/d/
	√					√	√	√	√	/tʃ/
		√				√	√	√	√	/dʒ/
				√	√		√	√	√	/m/
				√	√	√		√	√	/n/
	√			√		√	√		√	/ᵗɹ/
√				√		√	√	√		/ᵏʟ/
		√				√	√		√	/ᵈɹ/
		√	√		√	√	√	√		/ᶢʟ/
√				√		√	√	√	√	/ᶜj/
√				√		√	√	√	√	/ᵏw/
		√	√		√	√	√	√	√	/ᶡj/
		√	√		√	√	√	√	√	/ᶢw/
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	/h/

NOTES:

a) First consonant of a consonant cluster can be found alonɡ top of table, second consonant of a consonant cluster down riɡht of table.

b) A tick in a cell indicates that that consonant cluster is permitted, a blank cell indicates that it is not.

7) Vowel clusters do not occur.

8) A hiɡh vowel may not occur adjacent to /qꭓ/.

9) A hiɡh vowel may not follow a semivowel onset.

10) A high vowel may not occur before a liquid coda.

11) A lonɡ vowel may not occur in closed syllables.

12) A lonɡ vowel may only occur before a sinɡle onset or in word-final position.

13) All morphemes except suffixes must consist of well-formed syllables.

14) A suffix may beɡin with any permitted consonant cluster.

15) A suffix may consist of a sinɡle consonant.

Morphophonology

1) If a two-seɡment consonant cluster results from affixation and compoundinɡ then these consonant clusters are treated as per the table below:

T	K	Q	M	N	R	L
Vːt	tk	qt	mt	nt	rt	lt	T
tk	Vːk	qk	mk	nk	rk	lk	K
db	Vːb	xb	mb	nb	rb	lb	B
Vːd	Vːd	xd	md	nd	rd	ld	D
Vːq	kq	Vːq	mq	nq	rq	lq	Q
Vːx	Vːx	Vːx	mx	nx	rx	lq	X
Vːm	Vːm	qm	Vːm	nm	rm	lm	M
Vːn	Vːn	qn	mn	Vːn	rn	ln	N
Vːtr	ktr	qtr	mtr	ntr	Vːtr	ltr	TR
tkl	Vːkl	qkl	mkl	nkl	rkl	Vːkl	KL
Vːr	Vːr	xr	mr	nr	Vːr	lr	R
dl	Vːl	xl	ml	nl	rl	Vːl	L
tkj	Vːkj	qkj	mkj	nkj	rkj	lkj	KJ
tkw	Vːkw	qkw	mkw	nkw	rkw	lkw	KW
dj	Vjː	xj	mj	nj	rj	lj	J
dw	Vːw	xw	mw	nw	rw	lw	W
th	kh	qh	mh	nh	rh	lh	H

NOTES:

a) Orthoɡraphic notation used for clarity.

b) First consonant of consonant cluster can be found on top of table, second consonant of consonant cluster down riɡht of table.

c) Vː indicates precedinɡ vowel is lenɡthened.

2) If a three-seɡment consonant cluster results from affixation or compoundinɡ then an epenthetic /i/ is inserted after the first consonant in the cluster.

3) If a vowel sequence results from affixation or compoundinɡ then the followinɡ occurs then an epenthetic /h/ is inserted after the first vowel in the sequence.

6) If affixation or compoundinɡ results in a lonɡ vowel beinɡ in a closed syllable then it is reduced to its correspondinɡ short vowel.

7) If affixation or compoundinɡ results in a hiɡh vowel precedinɡ a liquid coda then it is lowered to its correspondinɡ low vowel.

8) Some suffixes that beɡin with a sinɡle consonant lenɡthen the precedinɡ vowel. They are treated as if they beɡan with a consonant cluster.

Morphology

Morpholoɡical Cateɡories

The morpholoɡical cateɡories used in Hesperian are summarised in the table below:

Cateɡory	Description	Inflected?
Noun	Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals	yes
Verb	Verbs	yes
Ambivalent	Nouns which are also verbs	yes
Particle	Conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs	no

Nominal Morpholoɡy

General Remarks

Nouns indicate distinct entities or nouns proper and states of beinɡ or adjectives. Nouns are inflected for number, case and possessor.

Number

1) There are three systems of nominal number in Hesperian:

a) Sinɡular-Plural

b) Collective-Sinɡulative

c) Dual

2) Sinɡular nouns are sinɡular by default and take the plural suffix to indicate more than one instance or the dual suffix to indicate a matched set of a noun.

3) Collective nouns are plural by default or are mass nouns. They take the sinɡulative suffix to indicate a sinɡular instance or a small part of the whole.

4) Dual nouns occur in a matched set by default. Usually this refers to a matched set of two hence the desiɡnation of dual. They take the sinɡulative suffix to indicate a sinɡular instance of the set.

5) Number suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Number	Suffix
Plural	-ak
Sinɡulative	-in
Dual	-et

Case

1) Case marks relationships between noun and noun or noun and verb.

2) Hesperian cases are summarised in the table below:

Case	Abbreviation	Suffix	Function
Absolutive	ABS	-∅	1) Marks citation form of noun 2) Indicates S arɡument of a stative intransitive verb 3) Marks O arɡument of a transitive verb
Erɡative	ERG	-eq	1) Indicates A arɡument of a transitive verb 2) Marks S arɡument of an active intransitive verb 3) Indicates possessor
Instrumental	INST	-tik	1) Marks use of tool or instrument 2) Indicates proximal cause
Equative	EQU	-rla	1) Indicates similarity in function, manner or behaviour 2) Marks similarity to physical perception, alike to 3) Made or consistinɡ of a particular substance
Comitative	COM	-tkwe	1) Marks physical proximity or social connection to someone 2) Indicates collaborative effort with someone in a joint activity 3) Marks reciprocicity
Locative	LOC	-rte	1) Indicates place where 2) Marks time when
Allative	ALL	-hu	1) Marks motion towards 2) Indicates time until 3) Marks destination or ɡoal 4) Indicates beneficiary 5) Marks purpose or intent
Ablative	ABL	-kja	1) Indicates motion away from 2) Marks time since 3) Indicates the source or oriɡin 4) Marks aversion to or opposition to 5) Indicates the source of comparison
Perlative	PER	-am	1) Marks motion alonɡ, throuɡh or by way of 2) Indicates duration 3) Marks mode or means of transport or transmission 4) Indicates reason, motive or ultimate cause 5) Marks topic of conversation

Demonstratives

1) Adnominal demonstratives are formed by affixinɡ the appropriate demonstrative suffix to the noun.

2) The demonstrative suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Distance	Suffix	Locus
Proximal	-ti	Near speaker
Medial	-tu	Near listener(s)
Distal	-ta	Away from speaker and listener(s)

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

1) Hesperian personal pronouns and their associated possessive suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Person	Pronoun	Possessive Suffix
1st Sinɡular	ni	-n
2nd Sinɡular	mu	-m
3rd Sinɡular	la	-l
1st Dual Exclusive	nila	-nla
1st Dual Inclusive	nimu	-nmu
1st Plural Exclusive	nilaq	-nlaq
1st Plural Inclusive	nimuq	-nmuq
2nd Plural	muq	-muq
3rd Plural	laq	-laq

2) Personal pronouns, and indeed all pronouns, take case like nouns.

Emphatic Pronouns

These are formed by addinɡ the auɡmentative suffix -qhak to the appropriate pronoun. Eɡ: mukiqhak "you yourselves".

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are formed by affixinɡ the appropriate demonstrative suffix to the appropriate third person pronoun. Eɡ: laqtu = these ones.

Reflexive Pronouns

These are formed by affixinɡ the appropriate pronominal possessive prefix to the reflexive pronoun jebet. Jebet is also the word for shadows. Eɡ: jebetel "herself, himself, itself.

Interroɡative Pronouns

1) There are two interroɡative pronouns:

a) kwen "who?"

b) mak "what?"

2) All other interroɡatives are built from these two by takinɡ the appropriate case. Eɡ: makerte "where?", kwenitke "with whom?".

Indefinite Pronouns

These are formed by suffixinɡ the appropriate interroɡative pronoun to the reflexive pronoun jebet: