Letaale

Uoriuo is a constructed secret language used by tahu, members of the Tagahu, a secretive and technologically advanced male-only military force governing the known parts of the space habitat Oru. Little is known of the designer(s) of the language however its use follows a long tradition. It is taught to all kia tahu (boys who are raised to be tahu) from a young age, adhering to a strict prescriptive standard. All speakers are male and all are also fluent in Guaru, generally speaking both natively. In informal situations, many Tahu engage in extensive code switching.

Name

Uoriuo [ˈ(ʔ)uoɾiˈuo] is the name given to this language in the Guaru language. It may be a corruption of the word volivo [ˈvolivo]~[ˈwoɾiwo] which is essentially the accusative form of "you" as this may be a word that is heard in interactions with the Tagahu. In Uoriuo itself, the language is most commonly referred to using the root taalejo although this is not the name of the language as such but a root that refers to speaking the language.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal	Romanisation
Nasal	m	n		ŋ		< m n g >
Plosive		t		k	ʔ	< t k x >
Fricative	v	s	ʒ		h	< v s j h >
Lateral		l				< l >

Most allophones exist in more or less free variation.

• Both /t/ and /k/ are unaspirated. /t/ is usually dental.
• The consonants /t k s/ may be pronounced as voiced /d g z/, especially when non-initial.
• /v/ has a wide range of pronunciation, being essentially anywhere in the realm of [v β ʋ w] although it tightens towards [v] when either of the adjacent vowels is is /u/.
• /ʒ/ likewise has a range of pronunciations, somewhere in the viscinity of [ʒ ʑ ʐ ʝ]. When either of the adjacent vowels is /i/, /ʒ/ is usually pronounced tenser and less likely to appear as [ʝ].
• /l/ may be pronounced as a lateral [l], a tap/flap [ɾ] or a lateral flap [ɺ]

Vowels

Uoriuo has a simple system of five-vowels qualities, with a long and a short version of each, as in Hawaiian.

Single vowels

	front	central	back
close	i iː		u uː
open mid	e eː		o oː
low		a aː

When stressed, these vowels have the tense cardinal pronunciations of [i e a o u]. When unstressed and short, they tend to weaken towards [ɪ ɛ ɐ ɔ ʊ].

Long vowels are indicated in the romanisation by doubling.

In addition, there are the falling diphthongs /ai ia io iu ua ue ui/ and the (marginal) rising diphthongs /iaː ioː iuː uaː ueː uiː/.

Phonotactics

The allowable syllable structure of Uoriuo is CV(V). All syllables begin with a consonant and may contain one or two vowels (long vowels and diphthongs count as two). All combinations of consonant and vowel are allowed.

Prosody

Word stress falls on the last long vowel or diphthong in a word. If all the vowels are short, stress falls on the initial syllable.

Morphophonology

Each of the eleven consonants is associated with a consonant and vice versa. These pairs are relevant for alternations such as the noun k_j_m_ ('the dog') which alternates with the verb _uu_o_i ('be a dog').

Consonant	Vowel	Syllable
n	a	na
l	e	le
m	i	mi
j	o	jo
g	u	gu
t	aa	taa
x	ee	xee
h	ii	hii
s	oo	soo
k	uu	kuu
v	ai	vai

Nearly all lemmata are composed of three of the resulting syllables. For example jotaale is allowable as a lemma whereas jitaale is not because ji is not a lemma syllable since /ʒ/ associates with /o/.

The remaining vowels, the diphthongs beginning with /u/ and /i/, are only found in prefixes and clitics which may begin with any consonant.

Morphology

All lemmata (citation forms of words) are either

1. trisyllabic, a grouping of three allowable syllables, or
2. quadrisyllabic, a monosyllabic prefix which always contains a diphthong beginning with /i/ or /u/, followed by a trisyllabic lemma.

A lemma always constitutes a valid clause on its own, containing both a triconsonantal noun as the subject and a trivocalic verb as the predicate. Quadrisyllabic lemma retain their prefix in both forms. Lemma clauses are always true by definition, self-evident sentences of the structure "the X is an X", and therefore rather void of pragmatic purpose. Here are some examples.

Lemma	Translation	Noun	Translation	Verb	Translation
namina	I am me.	n_m_n_	I	_a_i_a	be me
vailevai	You are you.	v_l_v_	you	_ai_e_ai	be you
taaguhii	The tahu is a tahu.	t_g_h_	the tahu	_aa_u_ii	be a tahu
hiitaahii	The kia tahu is a kia tahu.	h_t_h_	the kia tahu	_ii_aa_ii	be a kia tahu
levaile	The woman is a woman.	l_v_l_	the woman	_e_ai_e	be a woman
soovaigu	The civilian man is a civilian man.	s_v_g_	the civilian man	_o_ai_u	be a civilian man
kuumixee	The monkey is a monkey.	k_m_x_	the monkey	_uu_i_ee	be a monkey
kuujomi	The dog is a dog.	k_j_m_	the dog	_uu_o_i	be a dog
minataa	The cat is a cat.	m_n_t_	the cat	_i_a_aa	be a cat
vaijokuu	The bird is a bird.	v_j_k_	the bird	_ai_o_uu	be a bird
milena	The fish is a fish.	m_l_n_	the fish	_i_e_a	be a fish
miguvai	The banana is a banana.	m_g_v_	the banana	_i_u_ai	be a banana
jomijo	The affected one is affected.	j_m_j_	the affected one	_o_i_o	be affected
lejole	The perceiver perceives.	l_j_l_	the perceiver	_e_o_e	perceive
lesoomi	The sleeper sleeps.	l_s_m_	the sleeper, the sleeping one	_e_oo_i	sleep
xeenami	The eater eats.	x_n_m_	the eater, the eating one	_ee_a_i	eat
kuunagu	The hitter hits.	k_n_g_	the hitter, the hitting one	_uu_a_u	hit
gunagu	The killer kills.	g_n_g_	the killer, the murderer	_u_a_u	kill
taanagu	The big one is big.	t_n_g_	the big one	_aa_a_u	be big
hiijole	The beloved one is beloved.	h_j_l_	the (be)loved one	_e_oo_i	be (be)loved
vaimina	The visible one is visible.	v_m_n_	the visible one	_ai_i_a	be visible