Celabrian
Celabrian (Celabrian: gərṭeʒ [ˈɡəɾtʼed͡z]) is an Indo-European language.
Introduction
Etymology
The name Celabrian comes from the tribal name Celabri (Greek: Κελαβροί) < Proto-Celabrian *kelabʰras "warrior" (compare Modern Celabrian č̣łavr [t͡ʃʼɫavɾ]) < *kelas "spear" (< PIE *gʷelH- "to throw, pierce"; compare Modern Celabrian č̣ał [t͡ʃʼaɫ] "weapon") + *-bʰēr ~ -bʰras "bearer" (< PIE *bʰer- "to bear, carry").
The endonym gərṭeʒ comes from gər "Celabrian" (< PC *wīras "man" < PIE *wiHrós "man, warrior") + ṭeʒ "language" (< PC *tancūs "tongue" < PIE *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s). The formal language is known as bonṭeʒ [ˈbontʼed͡z], from bon "clear, eloquent" (< PC *bʰānas < PIE *bʰeh₂- "to shine; to speak"). The classical language is known as akrəṭeʒ [ˈakʰɾəˌtʼed͡z] (Classical Celabrian: akʰra tanci [ˈakʰɾa ˈtant͡si]), from akr "precise, sharp" (< PC *akʰras "sharp" < PIE *h₂ḱrós). The colloquial language is known as łøðṭeʒ [ˈɫ̪œtʼːed͡z], from łøð "masses, common folk" (< PC *aleudʰis < PIE *h₁léwdʰis "people").
Phonology
Orthography
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m [m] | n [n] | ň [ɲ] | ŋ [ŋ] | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p [pʰ] | t [tʰ] | ḱ [cʰ] | k [kʰ] | q [q ~ ʔ]1 | |||
| voiced | b [b] | d [d] | ǵ [ɟ] | g [ɡ] | |||||
| ejective | ṗ [pʼ] | ṭ [tʼ] | ḳ́ [cʼ] | ḳ [kʼ] | |||||
| Affricate | voiceless | c [t͡sʰ] | č [t͡ʃʰ] | ||||||
| voiced | ʒ [d͡z] | ǯ [d͡ʒ] | |||||||
| ejective | c̣ [t͡sʼ] | č̣ [t͡ʃʼ] | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f [f] | θ [θ] | s [s] | š [ʃ] | x́ [ç] | x [χ ~ h]1 | ||
| voiced | v [v] | ð [ð] | z [z] | ž [ʒ] | j [ʝ ~ j]2 | h [ɦ ~ ʁ]1 | |||
| Approximant | central | ř [ɻ] | |||||||
| lateral | ł [ɫ̪] | l [l] | ľ [ʎ] | ||||||
| Trill | ṙ [r] | ||||||||
| Flap | r [ɾ] | ||||||||
Notes:
1 The guttural consonants q, x, and h can be pronounced uvular or glottal depending on environment. The allophones are summarized in the table below. When two pronunciations are given, both are allowed but the first is more common.
| Phoneme | In roots | In affixes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjacent to consonant in same morpheme |
Otherwise | Adjacent to non-root consonant | Otherwise | |||
| initial | medial | final | ||||
| q | q | ʔ ~ q | q | ʔ | ||
| x | χ | χ ~ h | h ~ χ | χ | h | |
| h | ʁ | ɦ | ɦ ~ ʁ | ʁ | ʁ | ɦ |
2 Pronounced [ʝ] syllable-initially and [j] otherwise.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| Close | i [i] | y [y] | ə [ə] | u [u] |
| Mid | e [e] | ø [ø] | o [o] | |
| Open | æ [æ] | a [ɑ] | ||
Prosody
Stress
Intonation
Phonotactics
Morphophonology
Vowel harmony
Celabrian has three vowel harmony systems: high, low, and mixed. These are shown in the table below:
| Harmony system | Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| High | i [i] | y [y] | ə [ə] | u [u] |
| Low | e [e] | a [ɑ] | ||
| Mixed | e [e] | ə [ə] | ||
In this article, the following notation is used to represent vowel harmony in affixes:
- ə: high harmonizing vowel (ə/u/i/y)
- Represents back allomorphs (ə/u) when contrasted with i (= i/y), and unrounded allomorphs (ə/i) when contrasted with u (= u/y).
- a: low harmonizing vowel (a/e)
- e: mixed harmonizing vowel (ə/e)
Most prefixes and suffixes harmonize with the nearest vowel in the word they are attached to. Vowels within a word do not necessarily have to agree in frontness/backness.
Palatalization
Velar and post-velar consonants in harmonizing affixes are often palatalized when the harmonizing vowel is fronted. There are some exceptions, such as -q in the ergative suffix -əq/q. In this article, this is indicated with a ring above the consonant:
- k̊: k ~ ḱ
- g̊: g ~ ǵ
- ḳ̊: ḳ ~ ḳ́
- x̊: x ~ x́
- h̊: h ~ j
- q̊: q ~ ǵ
- ŋ̊: ŋ ~ ň
Voice assimilation
When a prefix beginning in an obstruent attaches to a word ending in an obstruent, the initial consonant of the prefix assimilates to the final consonant of the root in voicing. If their places of articulation are close enough, there may be complete assimilation. Similarly, a final obstruent in a prefix assimilates to a following obstruent. A similar process takes place with the first component of compound words, but this is not indicated in writing.
Hiatus resolution
When vowels meet at morpheme boundaries, the following changes take place:
- ə + ə > a
- any other identical vowels merge into one of the same vowel
- a + æ, æ + a > æ
- æ + e, e + æ > e
- ə > disappears / before or after any vowel except ə
- close vowel > disappears / adjacent to homorganic mid vowel
- v is inserted between rounded vowel (o, ø, u, y) and any adjacent vowel
- e; i > je; ji / after any non-rounded vowel
- a > ja / after unrounded front vowel
Vowel epenthesis
When an illegal consonant cluster would occur at a morpheme boundary, an epenthetic high vowel is inserted. This vowel harmonizes with the preceding vowel, or the following vowel if there is no preceding vowel.
Historical phonology
PIE to Early Proto-Celabrian (PC)
*h1e > e *a, *h2e > a *(H)o, *h3e > a *ē, *eh1 > ē *eh2 > ā *ō, *oH, *eh3 > ō *iH > ī *uH > ū stress shifts (often to penultimate syllable/mora) *w, *y > Ø / in long diphthongs *CHC > CaC *HC- > aC- / #_ *r̥H > ra *l̥H > la *n̥H > na *m̥H > ma *r̥ > ri, ar *l̥ > li, al *m̥ > am *n̥ > an -m > -n / _#, _C (assimilates to place of articulation of following consonant) labiovelar > plain velar palatovelar > plain velar / _r, _l, _n, _s *p; *t; *ḱ; *k > pʰ; tʰ; cʰ /t͡sʰ/; kʰ *b; *d; *ǵ; *g > p; t; c /t͡s/; k *ǵʰ > *ʒʰ /d͡zʱ/ (other voiced aspirates preserved) sbʰ; sdʰ; sʒʰ; sgʰ > spʰ; stʰ; scʰ; skʰ *s > š / r_, u_, K_, i_ (ruki sound law)
Transcription differences without significant sound change: *y > j *Vy > Vi *Vu > Vu
Early PC to Late PC
ē > ī / _ns ē > ā In some dialects, this takes place after the palatalization of velars, affecting some words that were reborrowed into the standard dialect. ei, eje > ī e > i / with i in following syllable s, š > Ø / _n, _m (lengthen preceding vowel, even if intervening consonant is present) s > Ø / #_r, #_l sr, šr > rr / non-initial sl, šl > ll / non-initial velar stop (k, kʰ, gʰ) > palatal stop (ḱ, ḱʰ, ǵʰ) / before front vowels or j - at this stage, palatalization is allophonic
Late PC to Old Celabrian
ḱ; ḱʰ; ǵʰ > č /t͡ʃ/; čʰ /t͡ʃʰ/; ǯ /d͡ʒʱ/ stop consonant + tʰ > ttʰ ns > s / when non-final (lengthens preceding vowel) s > š / ī_ -s, -š, -t > disappear / _# s- > ž / #_ -s- > h / V_V sT; sP; sC; sČ; sK > htʰ /θ͡t̪͡θ/; hpʰ /φ͡p͡φ/; hcʰ /s͡t͡s/; hčʰ /ʃ͡t͡ʃ/; hkʰ /x͡k͡x/ Kš > ččʰ Ps, Ts, ss > ccʰ sw > xv w > gʷ / #_, after sonorant Pj > *Pš > ččʰ (where P represents any labial stop) Tj > ČČ Cj > CC Čj > ČČ nj; lj; rj; sj > ň; ľ; ř; š / #_, C_ nj; lj; rj; sj > ňň; ľľ; řř; šš / V_V mj > mň Kn > ň-, -ňň- Tn > nn Pn > mn j > ǵ / #_ bʰ; dʰ; ʒʰ; ǯʰ > b; d; ʒ; ǯ gʰ > g / adjacent to nasal gʰ > ɣ / otherwise e > ja / before a, in non-final closed syllables e > je / except when final, in diphthong, or immediately followed by nasal ō > vø̄-, -ø̄- ū > vȳ, -ȳ- ai > jē-, -ē- eu > jø̄, -ø̄- au > vø̄, -ø̄- o (from loanwords) > vo / #_ e > je / #_ ē > jē / #_ ā > vā / #_
Transcription differences without significant sound change: w > v
Old Celabrian phonology
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Notes:
1 Allophone of n before nasals.
2 Allophone of ɣ adjacent to nasals.
3 All consonants can be labialized, but only gʷ behaves as an independent phoneme.
4 The prefricatized affricates may have been geminate affricates or fricatives.
Old Celabrian to Classical Celabrian
htʰ; hpʰ; hcʰ; hčʰ; hkʰ > θ; f; s; š; x cʰ; ʒ; čʰ > s; z; š / except after n, l ž, ř > ř /ɹ/ ā > ō / except in final syllable Unstressed final syllable vowels (does not affect monosyllabic words): short vowel > ə / when not followed by consonant, if dropping would lead to forbidden consonant cluster short vowel > disappears / when not followed by consonant, otherwise ā > a ī, ē, ø̄, ȳ > i Stressed final syllable vowels (including in monosyllabic words): ȳ; ø̄ > ī; ē
Classical Celabrian to Standard Modern Celabrian
v > ʷ / C_ a > ə / before nasal in closed syllable -ə > disappears / word-finally final unstressed -a > -ə ē > æ / _C long vowel > short e; i; ø; y > a; ɨ; o; u / Cʷ_ (but not v_) a; ə; e; o; ɨ; u > e; e; i; ø; i; y / when followed by i in following syllable ji > i / C_ velar > palatal / before front vowel or j Cʷ > uC / after stressed, open vowel Cʷ > C / otherwise iu > ju / _C nj; (l)lj; (r)rj > ň; ľ; ř j > disappears / after palatal or post-alveolar consonant v > disappears / after rounded vowel in unstressed syllables ou > o / _C u > f/v / V_C (agrees with following consonant in voicing) final unstressed -i > disappears b; d; ǯ; ǵ; g > v; ð; ž; j; ɣ / V_, r_ mb; nd; nʒ; nǯ; ňǵ; ŋg > m; n; n; ň; ň; ŋ mp; nt; nc; nč; ňḱ; ŋk > b; d; ʒ; ǯ; ǵ; g mpʰ; ntʰ; ncʰ; nčʰ; ŋkʰ > nasal is dropped p; t; c; č; ḱ; k > ṗ; ṭ; c̣; č̣; ḳ́; ḳ / #_ p; t; c; č; ḱ; k > b; d; ʒ; ǯ; ǵ; q / V_, r_, l_ h, x > x /χ ~ h/ r > ṙ /r/ / when initial or geminated r > r /ɾ/ / otherwise l > ł /ɫ/ / between vowels ɣ > disappears / before sonorant mn > m mň > ň geminate consonant > single consonant Tr > Č (in some dialects, preserved or instead > Ḱ) θr; ðr > š; ž Kl, Tl > Ḱ pre-tonic vowel loss whenever possible, otherwise generally > ə (but sometimes preserved) Forms consonant clusters that are resolved as follows: nasal + obstruent > nasal assimilates to place of articulation of obstruent obstruent clusters assimilate to voicing of final obstruent ṙ > r / in clusters N + r/ř/l/ł > stop homorganic to nasal is inserted (but ň + r > ndr; n/ň + l > ŋgl; n/ň + ł > ŋgł) N + ľ > ňǵ s + r/ř/l/ł > str/stř/skl/skł š + r/ř/l/ł > štr/štř/škl/škł z/ž + r/ř > epenthetic -d- inserted affricate + stop > affricate becomes corresponding appropriately voiced fricative ř + consonant > ř becomes post-alveolar fricative T + s/z > c/ʒ Č + s/z > č/ǯ etc vowel harmony: unstressed vowels harmonize with stressed vowel in frontedness and sometimes roundedness (especially with high vowels) back (a; ə; ɨ, u) <-> front (e; e; i, y) unrounded (ɨ, i) <-> rounded (u, y) frontedness of stressed vowel may be affected by adjacent consonants (details TBD) stressed a sometimes > æ l, ł, ľ > merge before obstruents - become ł before velar/post-velar, ľ before palatal, and l otherwise ɨ, ə > merge to ə (trace of distinction remains in low vs mixed vowel harmony)
Transcription differences without significant sound change: ɣ > h /ɦ ~ ʁ/ Cʰ > C
Morphology
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
| Person and number | Absolutive | Emphatic | Ergative | Dative | Genitive | Ablative | Locative | Instrumental | Adverbial | Vocative | Possessive suffix1 | Copulative suffix2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Singular | jam | jamam | jaməq | jaməd | jaməx | jama | jaməm | jaməv | jaman | jamo | -am | -am | |
| Plural | vom | vomna | vomuq | vomud | vomux | voma | vomum | vomuv | voman | vomo | -na | -om | ||
| 2nd | Singular | Informal | tjev | tjevit | tjeviq | tjevid | tjevix | tjeve | tjevim | tjeviv | tjeven | tjevo | -ət | -as |
| Formal | řan | řanga | řanəq | řanəd | řanəx | řana | řanəm | řanəv | řanan | řano | -g̊a | -g̊aθ | ||
| Plural | vym | vymǵe | vymyq | vymyd | vymyx | vyme | vymym | vymyv | vymen | vymo | -g̊a | -g̊aθ | ||
| 3rd | Singular | Animate | řev | řeviř | řeviq | řevid | řevix | řeve | řevim | řeviv | řeven | řevo | -əř | -aθ |
| Inanimate | an | anən | anəq | anəd | anəx | ana | anəm | anəv | anan | ano | -ən | -an | ||
| Plural | Animate | tøt | tøtiš | tøtyq | tøtyd | tøtyx | tøte | tøtym | tøtyv | tøten | tøto | -əš | -at | |
| Inanimate | peł | pełin | pełiq | pełid | pełix | pełe | pełim | pełiv | pełen | peło | -ən | -an | ||
| 4th | Singular | əč | əčəč | əčəq | əčəd | əčəx | əča | əčəm | əčəv | əčan | əčo | -əč | -ač | |
| Plural | eč | ečič | ečiq | ečid | ečix | eče | ečim | ečiv | ečen | ečo | -əč | -ač | ||
Notes:
1 Possessive suffixes are unstressed. The third person inanimate suffix -ən is identical to the definite article.
2 Copulative suffixes are stressed.
Nouns
Cases
| Case | Usage | Ending |
|---|---|---|
| Absolutive | Citation form; subject of intransitive verb; object of transitive verb; object of adposition | – |
| Ergative | Animate agent of transitive verb | -əq |
| Dative | Recipient, destination, motion towards (lative), purpose | -əd |
| Genitive | Possessor | -əx |
| Ablative | Origin, motion away, part of something (partitive), cause/reason | -a |
| Locative | Location | -əm |
| Instrumental | Instrument, means; inanimate agent of transitive verb | -əv |
| Adverbial | Forms adverbs, "as" | -an |
| Vocative | Used for addressing someone/something | -o |
Number
Nouns can be singular or plural. Regular plurals are formed with the suffix -an. Many common nouns have irregular plural stems.
Definiteness
There are three levels of definiteness in Celabrian:
- Definite: Something specific that is known to both the speaker and listener, that has been previously mentioned, or that is uniquely specified. Equivalent to English "the" in "I saw the car."
- Semidefinite: Something specific that is identifiable by the speaker but not the listener or that has not been previously mentioned. Equivalent to English "a" in "I saw a car."
- Indefinite: Refers non-specifically to a member of a class. Equivalent to English "a" in "I need a car."
Nouns unmarked for definiteness are semidefinite by default. The definite article is -ən (added before case endings).
The indefinite article for singular, countable nouns is mə-. For plural and mass nouns, it is -a (equivalent to the ablative case ending and the partitive article).
Nouns with possessive suffixes do not take the definite article, but can take the indefinite article. Possessive suffixes come before case endings and the plural/uncountable indefinite suffix.
In addition to definite and indefinite articles, Celabrian has partitive and negative articles. The partitive article is -a (equivalent to the ablative case and the plural/mass indefinite article). It refers to a non-specific quantity of something. It is equivalent to English "some" in "I want some coffee."
The negative article is nə-. It specifies none of something, and is equivalent to English "no" in "I see no car."
The articles are summarized in the table below:
| Article | Usage | Ending | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| possessed | singular countable | plural countable | uncountable | ||
| Definite | Something specific that is known to both speaker and listener, that has been previously mentioned, or that is uniquely specified. | – | -ən | ||
| Semidefinite | Something specific that is identifiable by the speaker but not the listener, or that has not been previously mentioned. | – | |||
| Indefinite | A non-specific member of a class. | (same as unpossessed noun) | mə- | -a | |
| Partitive | A non-specific quantity of something. | -a | |||
| Negative | None of something. | nə- | |||
Adjectives
Numbers
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