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

Consonant phonemes of Standard Celabrian

		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

Vowel phonemes of Standard Celabrian

	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]

Morphophonology

Vowel harmony

Celabrian has three vowel harmony systems: high, low, and mixed. These are shown in the table below:

Standard Celabrian vowel harmony systems

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
• v is inserted between rounded vowel (o, ø, u, y) and any adjacent vowel except ə
• e; i > je; ji / after any non-rounded vowel except ə
• a > ja / after unrounded front vowel except æ

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

Old Celabrian consonants Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar/ Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal μ m [m] ν n [n] νι ň [ɲ] (γ n [ŋ])1 Plosive aspirated φ pʰ [pʰ] θ tʰ [tʰ] χ kʰ [kʰ] tenuis π p [p] τ t [tʼ] κ, ϙ k [k] voiced β b [b] δ d [d] γι ǵ [ɟ] (γ g [ɡ])2, ϝ gʷ [ɡʷ]3 Affricate aspirated ψ cʰ [t͡sʰ] ξ čʰ [t͡ʃʰ] tenuis ͳ c [t͡s] ͳ č [t͡ʃ] voiced ζ ʒ [d͡z] ζ ǯ [d͡ʒ] prefricatized4 cφ hpʰ [φ͡pφ] cθ htʰ [θ͡t̪θ] cψ hcʰ [s͡t͡s] cξ hčʰ [ʃ͡t͡ʃ] cχ hkʰ [x͡k͡x] Fricative voiceless σ š [ʃ] c h [h] voiced ρσ ž [ʒ] γ ɣ [ɣ] Approximant λ l [l] ι j [j], λι ľ [ʎ] υ v [w] Trill/Flap ρ r [r] ρι ř [rʲ]

Old Celabrian vowels Front Back Close ι i, ει ī [i, iː] υι ȳ [yː] υ u, ου ū [u, uː] Mid ε e, η ē [e, eː] οι ø̄ [øː] ο o, ω ō [o, oː] Open α a, ᾱ ā [a, aː]

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

Celabrian 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 known to both speaker and listener, that may have 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. 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		–	-ən
Semidefinite			–
Indefinite		(same as unpossessed noun)	mə-	-a
Partitive		-a
Negative		nə-

Numbers

# Cardinal Ordinal 0 səfr səfrətə 1 řon pavrə 2 ǵøq ṭyte 3 či čite 4 štyr štyrte 5 peč pečte 6 x́aš x́aštə 7 šta štatə 8 te tete 9 ne nete 10 ṭjas ṭjaste 11 šæn šæntə 12 tjud tjude 13 ṭjasči ṭjasčite 14 ṭjasštyr ṭjasštyrte 20 ksət ksətə 21 ksətřon ksətřontə 30 ksətṭjas ksətṭjastə 31 ksətšæn ksətšænte

# Cardinal Ordinal 32 ksəttjud ksəttjudə 40 ṭyksət ṭyksətə 50 ṭyksətṭjas ṭyksətṭjastə 60 pečud pečude 70 pečudṭjas pečudṭjastə 80 štyrksət štyrksətə 90 štyrksətṭjas štyrksətṭjastə 100 ḱid (pečksət) ḱide (pečksətə) 101 ḱidřon (pečksətřon) ḱidřontə (pečksətřontə) 110 ḱidṭjas (pečksətṭjas) ḱidṭjastə (pečksətṭjastə) 120 seč sečte 130 sečṭjas sečṭjastə 140 sečksət sečksətə 200 ṭyḱid ṭyḱide 300 čiḱid čiḱide 1,000 zil zilte 2,000 ṭyzil ṭyzilte 10^4 myřð myřðe 10^6 ḱidmyřð ḱidmyřðe