User:Chrysophylax/Substrate language

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Alveolar sibilant	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m̥ m	n̥ n
Stop	pʰ p b	tʰ t d	t͡s d͡z	kʰ k g
Fricative	f		s	x	h
Approximant				w

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-low	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Low		a aː	ɑ ɑː

Syllable structure

(C¹)V(C²)

C¹: a consonant

V: a vowel

C²: a consonant

Allophony

Front vowels become central before [w]

Stops assimilate in aspiration to a following consonant and become unaspirated word-finally. Before an aspirated consonant, voiced stops become voiceless.

Low vowels become rounded after [w] and central vowels are raised.

Consonants palatalise after a non-low front vowel; velar consonants besides [w] become coronal palatalised; velar stops affricatise (/k/ > [t͡ɕ] \ [i e u]_).

Lots of other stuff.

Notes on orthography

The temporary orthography I've devised uses the macron to represent long vowels, <á> for /ɑ/, <hm> <hn> for the voiceless nasals, <z> for /d͡z/ and <sz> for /t͡s/, <x> for /x/, <ph th kh> for /pʰ tʰ kʰ/.

Morphology

• Case-inflected.
• Animate vs. inanimate

Pronouns

Pronouns
	First		Second		Third
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mia	miah(e)	su	suh(i)	ke, o	keh(e), ohe
Dative	ate	ateh	uti	utih	ete, hote	eteh, oteh
Accusative	miu	muhi	suw	suhi	ku, o	kuhi, ohe
Genitive-instrumental	axa	axah(e)	uxa	uxah(e)	exa, hoxa	exah(e), hoxah(e)

• No specific way of determining if a word is animate or inanimate

• addendum: certain suffixes are always one or the other, e.g. -dih 'a collection of X' is always inanimate, e.g. sokhdih 'a collection of stones, a pile of stones' < sokh 'stone', whilst others are always animate, e.g. -tus 'who does X', nōthētus 'sailor' < nōthē 'ocean'.

Word list

entry	IPA	part of speech	definition
wuhko	wuhkʰɔ	animate noun	speech
fexa	fɛɕa	inanimate noun	axe
sēdhuf	sɛːtʰʲhuf	inanimate noun	temple
hote	hɔtɛ	animate noun	young pig, piglet
pheti	pʰɛtʲi	animate noun	daughter
sokh	sɔk	inanimate noun	stone
sokhdih	sɔgdihʲ	inanimate noun	stone-pile
nōthē	nɔːtʰɛː	inanimate noun	ocean
nōthē	nɔːtʰɛː	animate noun	Ocean personified
dáwá	dɑwɒ	animate noun	fire
dáwátus	dɑwɒtus	animate noun	torch-bearer (a priestly title)
uptus	uptus	animate noun	farmer
upē	upɛː	inanimate noun	field
dáph	dɑp	animate noun	commander (esp. military)
xapha	xapʰa	inanimate noun	war
kiz	kid͡zʲ	inanimate noun	sea, lake, river
xaphdáph	xapʰtɑp	animate noun	warleader, warlord
kizdáph	kid͡zʲdɑp	animate noun	sealord
dáphtus	dɑptus	animate noun	elector
tā́szbohszāth	tɑːd͡zboht͡sʰaːt	animate noun	the state
hnehgiszhāth	ṇehkit͡sʰʲhaːt	animate noun	the economy

• wuhko [wuhkʰɔ]; speech (inan.)

Example text

titʰʲtʰɑːt͡stit͡sʲ xapʰtɑp tɑːd͡zboht͡sʰaːtʰxa dɑptusʰxahɛ dɑwɒhɛxʲahe uptusɛh upɛ̄dihʲixʲahɛ sɔgdihʲixʲahɛ d͡zaːkih exʲa
'The Xaphdáph of the State of the Electors of the Great Flame to the Farmers of the Fields of Stone-Piles has sent his demands'

Syntax

V (S [ ADJ {GEN}]) [INSTR] [MANNER PLACE] [DAT] [ACC] [TIME]