Ciètian

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Ciètian
ye Giètem
Created by	User:IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Native speakers	100 million L1 speakers (300 million L2 speakers) (fT 1670dd (2676))
Language family	Quame Talmic Thensaric Tigolic Ciètian

Ciètian (CHAIT-i-ən; natively Ciètem, ye Giètem, from Thensarian Centimae) is a Talmic language (in the Tigolic subbranch of Talmic, which also includes Eevo). It's inspired by Mandarin, German, Occitan, Irish, Thedish, and English (particularly Cockney and Philadelphian).

A close relative (sometimes considered a dialect) is Páuluòbeng. Anbirese, a more distant relative, is still somewhat mutually intelligible.

Todo

• should be Ăn Yidiș gib?
• Change orthography
• No case, Welsh grammar
• netzier = chain
• Nian yirastzuòtzìn! = I'm innocent!
• Srüeil = a name (from Sréul)
• Sgüeila = Skella
• Single vs. double negatives: use both
  • a > ea, e > eo, i > iu in certain conditions - what type of pal'n do these new vowels trigger
    • e.g. cell 'small' > *cĕoll > ciel
  • already have eo éu iu íu/iú
• Actually palatalization is NOT as simple as this. y ø a o u vs. i ie vs. ia io iu vs ja jo ju je/ĺa ĺo ĺu ĺe affect consonants differently.
• non-initial -gh might die
• mièn àvath (this-DEF book) = 'this book'
• Revise Thensarian declension based on Ciètian
• Have a separate schwa phoneme a /ə/?
• -atz is cognate to Eevo -ahd
• -z is one plural suffix (often used for nouns ending in vowels; from palatalized lenited -dh)
• cht > tz à la Wenedyk, final slender -t > -cy
• sg palatalizes to /ʃ/ ⟨sgi⟩
• Etymological doublets from Tigol absolute-conjunct verb forms.
• lianger = dream (< leṁar)
• Slender t > ts

a e i o u á é í ó ú ai ei io iu oi ui ae ao aoi ái éi eó éu ia ío íu iú(i) ói oí ua uai úi uí

-> a ia i uo u à iè ì uò ù e ie i ü e ü ai ao è ai ei iao iù ì ì ǜ ǜ ù uì ù è

Numbers: cìm, tiħer, nèz, dèv, sel, sdàm, ruìz, lèr, bàr, niaur, yàchim, cnè

Notes

Symbols

• ^L - lenition/aspiration
• ^N - eclipsis

Phonology

The following describes Ciètian as spoken in Sdiemìn.

Stress

Stress is not phonemic and is weight-sensitive. The rule is: the last long vowel is stressed. If there is no long vowel the last syllable is stressed.

In most compound words, primary stress falls on the first member and a secondary stress falls on the second member. Place names are sometimes exceptions to the preceding rule: for example, the element -vià is always stressed.

Intonation

Pitch accent?

Word level

• A stressed short vowel has a high pitch.
• A stressed long vowel or diphthong has a falling pitch but ends in a higher pitch than unstressed vowels.
• Unstressed vowels have low pitch.

Clause level

• Pitch drops at the end of a sentence.

Consonants

The Anbiric spirantization had taken place: Tigol t ṫ d ḋ /tʰ dʰ t d/ had become /θ ð tʰ d/ in Old Anbirese, the "common ancestor" or "areolect" in the Anbiric dialect continuum characterized by this shift.

Ciètian has an aspiration distinction in stops; however, the distinction is neutralized in word-final position.

• c g ch gh /k g x ɣ/
• ci/cü gi/gü chi/chü/sgi/sgü /tʃ dʒ ʃ/
• tz dz s z /ts dz s z/
• t d th dh /t d ħ ɣ/
• p b f v /p b f w/
• pь bь fь vь /pj bj fj vj/
• r rr h m n nь ng l y /r r̝ h m n nj ŋ l j/
  • /l/ is velarized when not followed by /i/, /j/, /y/, or /ɥ/.

Vowels

Ciètian has the following vowels:

• i ü u ie üe a /ɪ ʏ ʊ jɛ ɥɛ a/
• /ɪj ʏɥ ʊw jɛː wɔː ɑː ɒj æː äj äw jäw jæj (ɥ)ɶj ɯː ɤː jɤː ɥɤː wɤː aɯ/
• /ə ɨ~i/

Monophthongs

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /i/, ü /y/	ì /ɪj/, ǜ /ʏɥ/			u /u/	ù /ʊw/
Close-mid			e /ə/			/ɯː/
Mid	ie, üe /ɛ/	ià /ɛː/	[ə]			(u)ò /wɔː/
Open	ia [æ]		a /a/			à /ɑː/

[ɨ(ː) ʉ(ː)] are allophones of /i(ː) y(ː)/ after dental and retroflex sibilants.

/ɯː/ is more fully back, unlike [ɨː].

Semivowel onglides: i ü u /j ɥ w/

Diphthongs: ai au ei ou iou iei üei /ɒj æː äj äw jäw jæj ɥɶj/

R-colored vowels

(No linking R is used.)

• ar, àr /ɔɯ~ɤː/
• er, èr, air, aor /aɯ/
• ir, ìr, iur, eir, ier, ièr /jəɯ~jɤː/
• or, òr /uɯ~ɯː/
• ür, ǜr /ɥɤː/
• ur, ùr /wɤː/
• final -er = /ɨ/
• final -ier = /i/

Loanword phonology

Initial /θ/, /x/ and /h/ in loans are rendered /t/, /k/ and /Ø/ respectively (cf. German pronounces initial ch in Greek loans as /k/). Non-initial /θ/, /x/, and /h/ become /ħ/, /x/, and /x/.

Stress is usually as in the original language; non-initially stressed words lengthen the stressed vowel. Example: bintelesràl /pɪnthəɫəsˈɻaːɫ/ 'republic'.

Morphophonology

Mutations

Consonant mutations

Radical	m /m/	p /pʰ/	b /p/	f /f/	t /tʰ/	d /t/	q /tɕʰ/	j /tɕ/	s /s/	x /ɕ/	sh /ʂ/	k /kʰ/	g /k/	ch /tʂʰ/	zh /tʂ/	0 /Ø/, y /j/
Lenited	ngm /ŋ/	fp /f/	vb /v/	f /f/	ħt /ħ/	tzd /ts/	xq /ɕ/	ξj /ʑ/	hs /h/	x /ɕ/	sh /ʂ/	hk /x/	γg /ɣ/	sch /ʂ/	rzh /ɻ/	add h' /x/
Eclipsed	m /m/	bp /p/	mb /m/	vf /v/	dt /t/	nd /n/	jq /tɕ/	nj /ɲ/	зs /z/	ξx /ʑ/	rsh /ɻ/	gk /k/	ŋg /ŋ/	jch /tʂ/	njh /ɲ/	add n' /n/

Dialectology

Ciètian is subject to a fair amount of accent and dialect variation.

Common dialectal features

• /x ɣ/ realized as uvular [χ ʁ]
• h from Tigol h = /h/; h from Tigol ch = /x/; ħ is consistently /ħ/

Dialect 1

Something closer to my old Yekhanese (i.e. more Sorbian/Persian-ish)

Nyav baa gew gkar asŋea gasaan ak ascii nea woŋŋacy ak nea vmarozh. Nyav ar·seciin nea na vmiishiin ak i n'astorŋax, ak nya ar hu wa poda baraaħanar nea na weesycy na syarbacy.

/ɲəv baː gɛw gaɾ əsˈŋɛː gəˈsaːn ək əsˈtsiː nɛː ˈwoŋːətɕ ək nɛː vəˈɾɔʒ. ɲəv əɾsɛˈtsiːn nɛ nə viːˈʃiːn ək i nəstɔɾˈŋax, ək ɲə ˈaɾ hu wə pɔˈda bəˈraːħənəɾ nɛː nə ˈweːɕtɕ nə ɕəɾˈbatɕ./

Morphology

Pronouns

Anbirese but with more politeness distinctions

Nouns

Standard Ciètian nouns are quite conservative: they have three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), three numbers (singular, plural and collective), and three states (nominative, genitive and construct). Collective nouns take singular agreement with verbs and adjectives. Regiolects usually have more tone and less noun declension.

• The nominative singular, nominative plural, and genitive singular must be memorized for every noun. Feminine plurals tend to end in -r.
• The genitive plural is formed by affixing -enı to the genitive singular.
• The singular construct is formed by affixing -aħ to the nominative singular.
• The plural construct is formed by affixing -u to the nominative singular if the nominative singular ends in a consonant, and -v to the nominative singular if it ends in a vowel.

The article

The article inflects and triggers mutation based on number, case and gender.

The singular definite article ye and ye^N changes to yen (with no mutation) before a noun starting with a vowel or a semivowel. For example:

• *ye^N ùr > yen ùr /jən ˈwɤː/ (masculine) 'the sense (nominative)';
• *ye àvaz > yen àvaz /jən ˈaːvəz/ (neuter) 'the book (nominative)'.

But:

• ye^L astzuòtz > ye h'astzuòtz /jə xasˈtswɔːts/ (feminine) 'the guilt (nominative)'.

Collective nouns are by nature definite, and the collective of a noun is formed by using the collective article before the singular form.

• The nominative case is used for the subject
• The accusative case is used for direct objects and after certain prepositions
• The dative cade is used after certain prepositions
• The genitive case is used for possession

Todo: accusative and dative

Definite article

	singular			plural
	m.	f.	n.	m.	f.	n.
nom.	yeN	yeL	ye	na	ner	naN
Example	ye mpràn	ye gkàtz	ye hazier	na pràn	ner kàtzer	na nghazier
acc.	yeL	ye	ye	na	ner	naN
Example	ye mpràn	ye kàtz	ye hazier	na pràn	ner kàtzer	na nghazier
dat.	yiN	naL	yi	na	na	na
Example	yi mpràn	ye gkàtz	yi hazier	na pràn	na kàtzer	na hazier
gen.	naL	naL	naL	nanı	nanı	nanı
Example	na bprànı	na gkàtzan	n'γazra	nanı prànenı	nanı kàtzenı	nanı hazrienı

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives must agree with nouns in gender, number and case. Adjectives have the same principal parts as nouns. The feminine plural always ends in -er, and the genitive plural always ends in -enı.

Attributive forms of cial 'small'

	singular			plural
	m.	f.	n.	m.	f.	n.
nom.	jcial	xcial	cial	ciala	cialer	jciala
gen.	jciele	jciele	jciele	cialenı	cialenı	cialenı

Verbs

Finite verb inflection

All forms of a Ciètian verb are formed from four principal parts:

1. the present absolute stem
2. the imperative stem
3. the past stem
4. the bare infinitive stem

The forms of a Ciètian verb are the following:

• Present tense: PRESENT + -ig, negative θri + IMPERATIVE
• Subjunctive (after preverbs): also IMPERATIVE
• Future tense: aeb + IMPERATIVE
• Past tense: PAST + -in; induces split-ergativity
• Imperative: IMPERATIVE
• -eod infinitive: PRESENT + -eod
• bare infinitive: INFINITIVE

There is no aspect distinction.

Other forms

• The active participle in -ig is used to modify a noun. As such it is used as a relative form for the subject.
• The -et infinitive:
  • is used with modal verbs.
• The -eγ infinitive:
  • with zi 'in', indicates "while the action is taking place" or, when possessed, "while POSSESSOR is VERBing"
  • with ar 'on', indicates "upon/as soon as the action is taking place" or, when possessed, "upon the POSSESSOR's VERBing"
  • with nai 'by', indicates that the verb's action serves a purpose: "by VERBing"
• The bare infinitive:
  • with zi 'in', indicates the progressive.
  • with jel 'from', indicates (from just having been VERB-ing)
  • with ħrù 'next to', indicates "intends to VERB" or "about to VERB"
  • with asd 'without', indicates "without VERBing"
  • (nonstandard) with ħand 'after', indicates that the action just happened.

Split-ergativity

Ciètian has split-ergativity: past tense verbs display ergative alignment, and non-past tense verbs have accusative alignment.

That is, the subject is marked with the preposition u for transitive verbs, and is unmarked for intransitive verbs. In the case of transitive verbs, the ergative marking occurs regardless of whether or not there is a direct object.

Examples:

Transitive verbs

Xabin u na.

eat.PRET ERG 1SG

'I have eaten.'

Xabin u na n sáeng.

eat.PRET ERG 1SG DEF bread

'I have eaten the bread.'

A tjéobrjeong u na n kéolsjang χa.

but leave.PRET ERG 1SG DEF glh_schanng there

'But I left the glh schanng (kefir-soaked Bjeheondian salad) there.'

Intransitive verbs

Eoseong eo már.

die.PRET DEF tree/PL

'The trees died.'

Farjeogin meo nóγeol χaltan.

return.PRET 1PL.EXC.POSS dog/PL at_last

'Our dogs finally returned.'

Strong verbs

As in Germanic, some Anbirese verbs form the past tense and the -eod infinitive by using ablaut.

Prepositions

If the prepositional object is a pronoun, the genitive form of the pronoun is used: la nà = to me, for me.

Numbers

ngic, cìm, tiħer, nèig, dèib, selь, sdàm, ruìz, lèr, bàr, ngiaor, yàxim, knè

Derivational morphology

• yir- = un-, non-
  • yirstzuòtz, yirstzuòtz (f) 'innocence', from stzuòtz (f) 'guilt'
• -gàn, -gànь, -gànь = -able?
• -ah, -ax, -aha (n) = verbal noun
• Unstressed initial prefixes are separated by an interpunct (·)
  • ar· is an applicative

Sample texts

UDHR

Niam pà cil ghar sngèi casàn ac sdeħèid nai lòngatz ac nai marrenь. Niam amsetzìn nai mìsrìnen ac ye as·torngegen, ac niam ar ham la foza cràdener nai ghiegòren ri ziarbetzen.

/nʲəm pɑː tʃəɫ ɣɤː sŋaɪ ˈkasɑːn ək sdəˈħait nɒ ɫawŋəts ək nɒ mar̝ənʲ. nʲəm ˈamsətsiːn nɒ ˈmiːsʲɾʲiːnən ək jə əsˈtʊɯŋəgən, ək nʲəm əɾ ham ɫə ˈfɔzə kɾɑːdənɨ nɒ zjəgʊɯn ɾɪ zʲɤːbətsən/

All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.