Schlaub

Schlaub/Lexicon
Schlaub/Swadesh list
Schlaub/Old

Schlaub
Ntzog Schlaub
Pronunciation	[/ⁿz̪o̤˧ ɬəʊ˥/]
Created by	Praimhín, IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Language family	Hlou-Shum Schlaub

Schlaub (English: /(h)loʊ/ loh; natively: Ntzog Schlaub /ⁿtsʰo̤˧ ɬəu˥/; Windermere: brits Ław) is a Bjeheondian tonal language, inspired by Hmong and German. It is the largest of the Hlou-Shum languages.

Hlou liberally uses Easter eggs.

Diachronics

Hlou merged Proto-Hlou-Shum ai au with ei ou into ei au /əɨ əʊ/. Even i u in some open syllables turned into ei au.

Glottal stop finals (-h in Schngellstein's spelling) come from Proto-Hlou-Shum final stops.

*ã > äu; *ãʔ > oh

*ẽ > ä; *ẽj > ei; *ẽʔ > äh

Phonology

Standard

Vowels

Hlou has 6 basic vowel qualities, but also has a number of diphthongs and nasal vowels.

a e i ie o u ä ö = /a e i ɨ o u ã~ɛ̃ õ/

ah eh ih oh uh äh öh = /aʔ eʔ .../ [only occurs with -Ø, -n tones]

ei au äu = /əi əu əũ/

Consonants

Standard Hlou has about 65 initials.

Hlou initials

		Labial		Lamino- dental	Apico- alveolar		Post- alveolar	Retroflex		Velar		Labio- velar	Glottal
		plain	lateral		plain	lateral		plain	lateral	plain	lateral
Nasal	voiceless	schm m̥			schn n̥
	voiced	m m	ml mˡ		n n	nl nˡ		nr ɳ
Plosive	tenuis	b p	bl pˡ		d t	dl tˡ		dr ʈ	drl ʈˡ	g k	gl kˡ		ʔ
	aspirated	p pʰ	pl pˡʰ		t tʰ	tl tˡʰ		tr ʈʰ	trl ʈˡʰ	k kʰ	kl kˡʰ
	prenasalized	mb ᵐb	mbl ᵐbˡ		nd ⁿd			ndr ᶯɖ		ng ᵑɡ	ngl ᵑɡˡ
		mp ᵐpʰ	mpl ᵐpˡʰ		nt ⁿtʰ	ntl ⁿtˡʰ		ntr ᶯʈʰ		nk ᵑkʰ	nkl ᵑkˡʰ
Affricate	tenuis			dz ts̪	ds ts̺		dx tʃ
	aspirated	pf pɸ		tz ts̪ʰ	ts ts̺ʰ		tx tʃʰ
	prenasalized			ndz ⁿdz̪	nds ⁿdz̺		ndx ⁿdʒ
		mpf ᵐpɸ		ntz ⁿts̪ʰ	nts ⁿts̺ʰ		ntx ⁿtʃʰ
Continuant	voiceless	f f	fl fˡ	z s̪	s s̺	schl ɬ	x ʃ	schr ʂ		sch ɧ~x		schw ʍ	h h
	voiced	v v				l l	j ʒ	r ʐ~ɻ				w w

Tone

Schlaub has 7 tones, indicated by final letters in Schngellstein's orthography.

Orthography	Tone	Example
∅	mid level / mid checked (33~32)	lau /ləu˧/ 'to plant'
-n	low level / low checked (21~11)	laun /ləu˨˩/ 'to smile'
-b	high level / high falling (55~53)	Laub /ləu˥˧/ 'leaf'
-d	dipping / low falling (313~31)	Laud /ləu˧˩˧/ 'shoe'
-g	breathy mid level (33 + breathy)	laug /lə̤u˧/ 'to knit'
-s	rising (24)	laus /ləu˨˦/ 'to receive'
-ß	broken rising (3ˀ5)	Lauß /ləu˧ˀ˥/ 'wrinkle'

Approximate tone frequencies (among non-entering tone syllables): b > s ~ 0 > n > ß ~ g > d

Tone split from breathy voice < voiced stops

Bän Ntli dialect

The Bän Ntli /pã˨˩ ⁿtɬʰi˧/ dialect is a non-standard dialect of Hlou.

Vowels

a e i o u ä ë ö = /a ɛ i ɔ u ã ɛ̃ ɔ̃/

ah eh ih oh uh äh ëh öh = /aʔ eʔ .../ [only occurs with -Ø, -n tones]

ei ëi au äu = /əi ə̃i əu əũ/

Consonants

Bän Ntli initials

		Labial		Lamino- dental	Apico- alveolar		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Retroflex	Velar		Labio- velar	Glottal
		plain	lateral		plain	lateral				plain	lateral
Nasal	voiceless	schm m̥			schn n̥				schnr ɳ̊
	voiced	m m	ml mˡ		n n	nl nˡ			nr ɳ
Plosive	tenuis	b p	bl pˡ		d t	dl cˡ			dr ʈ	g k	gl kˡ		ʔ
	aspirated	p pʰ	pl pˡʰ		t tʰ	tl cˡʰ			tr ʈʰ	k kʰ	kl kˡʰ
	prenasalized	mb ᵐb	mbl ᵐbˡ		nd ⁿd	ndl ᶮɟˡ			ndr ᶯɖ	ng ᵑɡ	ngl ᵑɡˡ
		mp ᵐpʰ	mpl ᵐpˡʰ		nt ⁿtʰ	ntl ᶮcˡʰ			ntr ᶯʈʰ	nk ᵑkʰ	nkl ᵑkˡʰ
Affricate	tenuis	bv pv		dz ts̪	ds ts̺		dx tʃ
	aspirated	pf pf		tz ts̪ʰ	ts ts̺ʰ		tx tʃʰ
	prenasalized	mbv ᵐbv		ndz ⁿdz̪	nds ⁿdz̺		ndx ⁿdʒ
		mpf ᵐpf		ntz ⁿts̪ʰ	nts ⁿts̺ʰ		ntx ⁿtʃʰ
Continuant	voiceless	f f		z s̪	s s̺	schl ɬ	x ʃ	schj ç	schr ʂ	sch ɧ ch x		schw ʍ	h h
	voiced	v v				l l		j j	r ʐ~ɻ			w w

Tone

Tones are the same as in standard Hlou.

Orthography

Schngellstein's alphabet

The key feature of Schngellstein's orthography (used in this article) is using final consonant letters for tones, making words easier to learn by using photographic memory.

Hrảm Hlóu

This transliteration was created by Praimhín as an alternative to the German-inspired orthography.

Initials

		Labial		Lamino- dental	Apico- alveolar		Post- alveolar	Retroflex		Velar		Labio- velar	Glottal
		plain	lateral		plain	lateral		plain	lateral	plain	lateral
Nasal	voiceless	hm m̥			hn n̥
	voiced	m m	ml mˡ		n n	nl nˡ		nr ɳ
Plosive	tenuis	b p	bl pˡ		d t	dl tˡ		dr ʈ	drl ʈˡ	g k	gl kˡ		ʔ
	aspirated	p pʰ	pl pˡʰ		t tʰ	tl tˡʰ		tr ʈʰ	trl ʈˡʰ	c kʰ	cl kˡʰ
	prenasalized	nb ᵐb	nbl ᵐbˡ		nd ⁿd			ndr ᶯɖ		ng ᵑɡ	ngl ᵑɡˡ
		np ᵐpʰ	npl ᵐpˡʰ		nt ⁿtʰ	ntl ⁿtˡʰ		ntr ᶯʈʰ		nc ᵑkʰ	ncl ᵑkˡʰ
Affricate	tenuis			ds ts̪	dσ ts̺		dx tʃ
	aspirated	φ pɸ		ts ts̪ʰ	tσ ts̺ʰ		tx tʃʰ
	prenasalized			nds ⁿdz̪	ndσ ⁿdz̺		ndx ⁿdʒ
		nφ ᵐpɸ		nts ⁿts̪ʰ	ntσ ⁿts̺ʰ		ntx ⁿtʃʰ
Continuant	voiceless	f f	fl fˡ	s s̪	σ s̺	hl ɬ	x ʃ	hr ʂ		sw ɧ		hw ʍ	h h
	voiced	v v				l l	j ʒ	r ʐ~ɻ				w w

Vowels

a e i o u ei ou /a e i o u əi əu/

am om oum /ã~ɛ̃ õ ə̃u/

ac ec ic oc uc anc onc /aʔ eʔ iʔ oʔ uʔ/

Tones

Orthography	Tone	Example
a	mid level / mid checked (33~32)	lou /ləu˧/ 'to plant'
à	low level / low checked (21~11)	lòu /ləu˨˩/ 'to smile'
á	high level / high falling (53~55)	lóu /ləu˥˩/ 'spring (season)'
ả	dipping / low falling (313~31)	lỏu /ləu˧˩˧/ 'shoe'
ah	breathy mid level (33 + breathy)	louh /lə̤u˧/ 'to knit'
ä	rising (24)	löu /ləu˨˦/ 'to receive'
ã	broken rising (3ˀ5)	lõu /ləu˧ˀ˥/ 'wrinkle'

Grammar

Hlou is analytic and SVO, and is head-initial:

Die Wug mpes Nän sein.

/tɨ˧ wṳ˧ ᵐpʰe˨˦ nɛ̃˨˩ s̺əi˨˩/

INDEF bird_species drink water PROG

A wug is drinking water.

Xan flog Dsied bis Tu Mäb.

/ʃa˨˩ flo̤˧ ts̺ɨ˧˩ pi˨˦ tʰu˧mɛ̃˥˩/

1SG have home in Tumhan

I live in Tumhan.

Dahn dsaub weg zu Mpfein an zu Schnos.

/taʔ˩ ts̺əu˦˥ we̤˧ s̪u˧ ᵐpɸəi˨˩ a˩ s̪u˧ n̥o˨˥/

1PL speak about VN love and VN hate

We speak about love and hate.

Dahn mpfein so, ab dahn nkeiß Mbob so sein.

1PL love 3SG.A CONJ 1PL receive face 3SG.A PRES.PROG

We love him so we are welcoming him.

Pronouns

Personal

Person	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	xan	bluß	dahn
2	zied	jen	schlag
3	so (animate) ja (inanimate)	nleib	zug
2, 3 (respectful)	Sie
Impersonal	es

Hlou has no passive voice; the impersonal es is used instead. For example, Es nlaß Ngu hin. (IMPERS fire_ceramic brick PST) means 'A brick was baked.' or 'Bricks were baked.'

Demonstrative

Correlatives

	What	This	That	Any
Pronominal	nab	naus	nein, nin	nan
Place	drab	draus	drein, drin	dran
Manner/Extent	rab	raus	rein, rin	ran

Hlou is wh-in-situ:

• Naus dzah nab? = What is this?
• Ndob naus dzah nab? = Who is this?

Prepositions

• bis = in, at
• in = of
• je = from
• nun = for
• ob = vocative
• weg = about
• wi = away from
• be = to
• schon = ago

Auxiliaries

• hab = causative
• bleib = deliberately
• vein = accidentally

Xan bleib schäd Nduß hin.

I deliberately dropped the glass.

Xan vein schäd Nduß hin.

I accidentally dropped the glass.

Particles

• sein = present progressive
  • Present progressive can also be formed by reduplicating the verb
• hin = past
• bei = future
• aus = cohortative
• es = question
• eh = tag question
• da = exclamatory
• eh = negative
• doh = prohibitive
• los = inchoative
• man = emphatic
• wein = (literary) alas!
  • wein xan = woe is me

Conjunctions

• an = and
• schaub = or (Finnish tai)
• schweis = or (Finnish vai)
• leid = but
• von = relative clause
• tun = complement clause
• daß = if
• ab = then, so, therefore
• schluß = so that, in order to

Nouns

ein = definite article

wie = specific article

die = indefinite article

Words may be pluralized by reduplication: Ndob Ndob = people. Only animates are pluralized consistently.

Polysyllabic words have a null plural:

Schniß, ob Blieb-Blas!

fly VOC butterfly

Fly, butterflies!

Verbs and adjectives

Adverbs can be formed from verbs via reduplication.

ntsien = slow; ntsien ntsien 'slowly'

Classifiers

Schlaub does not use classifiers, unlike other languages in the region.

Numerals

1-10: die, beid, lähn, schred, kaß, traun, heid, ntzob, glaub, weiß

100: trleh

1000: schöd

Numerals come before nouns:

So ploß beid weiß Sen.

3SG.AN son two ten year_of_age

He is 20 years old.

"The more... the more..."

X X SUBJ1, Y Y SUBJ2

"The more SUBJ X's, the more SUBJ2 Y's."

Xan eh zaun Wiß j'ein zu Treig Treig. Schmein schmein xan, wäud wäud xan läß.

1SG NEG receive understanding from DEF INF happen happen. run run 1SG, become become 1SG fat.

I don't understand what's going on. The more I run, the fatter I get.

Schm-reduplication

Hloh uses schm-reduplication, which works just like schm-reduplication in English, except that the schm-reduplicant is repeated.

"Leid xan dzah heb die Nöb da!" = but I COP just a noob EXCL

"Nöb schmöb schmöb, zied mbuh ngäs man!" = noob schmoob schmoob you can make_it EMPH

Fossilized morphology

• PHS s-
  • Schlähn 'tribe' < lähn 'three'
  • Schlaub 'year' < Laub 'leaf'
  • Schwiß 'plain' < biß 'flat'
• PHS -ʔ (reflected by tone change)
  • -g > -d: Lied 'art song' < lieg 'to tell a lie; (obsolete) to express'

Vocabulary

Hlou vocabulary is mostly native. Many words can't be related to words in other Hlou-Shum languages, however.

Four-character phrases

Hlou, like Chinese, has "4-character phrases".

• Ntzuh Vöhn Schraus Ndob 'the best laid schemes of mice and men aft gang agley' (lit. schemes of mouse and plans of man)
• Ndleiß Beig Gluhn Schnoh 'opulent luxury' (lit. gold, gem, carmine, spice)

Poetry

[Under construction. The poems are gibberish and are meant to illustrate the rhyme scheme.]

Virelai

The virelai (Hlou: ???) is a traditional Hlou poetic form.

Example [the poem is gibberish]:

Original	IPA	English
Mpfein schwie ein Ntzäh an Tsub, Leid wen Bläuß dran, maß Schlub von trlin. Väd mleib weg die Gleiß Schmin, Raus ein Pfeg nun schraß Xin taub tlub. Daß zu Mläus ein Zeig Pfaß, blein Eib zu Mböd bis Dlaß, klaub wie raug Mlob weis schraß zied Glub. Daß zu Ves ein Drläub flein, Weg ndso ein Ndxäuß schred nrein, Pfed zag tzau die Vaub dlein raus Schmub. Daß zu Vein Nkaub ein Nlag, An zu Nlöb pfeib je Schmag ven Waud, schniß, ob Dlau! dran flän Schaud, klöh xan haud wie Trob, haud nun Tsub. Mpfein schwie ein Ntzäh aus Tsub, Leid wen Bläuß dran, maß Schlub von trlin. Väd mleib weg die Gleiß Schmin, Raus ein Pfeg nun schraß Xin taub tlub.	[ᵐpɸəi˨˩ ʍɨ˧ ʔəi˨˩ ⁿts̪ʰãʔ˥ ʔa˥˧ ts̺ʰu˥˩] [ləi˧˩ we˨˩ plə̃u˧ˀ˥ ʈa˨˩ ma˦˥ ɬu˥˩ vo˨˩ ʈɬi˨˩] [vã˧˩ mləi˥˩ we̤˧ tɨ˧ kləi˧ˀ˥ hi˨˩] [ɻəu˨˥ ʔəi˨˩ pɸeʔ˥ nu˨˩ ʂa˧ˀ˥ ʃi˨˩ tʰau˥˧ tɬʰu˥˩]

Burns stanza

A variant of the Burns stanza is another traditional Hlou meter.

Tlan hei Drlah Mbaus,
Schles Wig tieß nraus,
xob ndzäu beis schraus
jed Vug –
Ngiß tsahn mpfe Jaus
schieb Wug!

Sample text

Tower of Babel

Bis Ndreib nin ein Xab dzeb flog die Ntzog an die zu Wes meib hin.

/pi˨˥ ᶯɖəi˥˧ ni˨˩ ʔəi˨˩ ʃa˦˥ ts̪e˥˧ flo̤˧ tɨ˧ ⁿts̪ʰo̤˧ ʔəu˨˥ tɨ˧ s̪u˧we˦˥ məi˥˧ hi˨˩/

LOC time that DEF world whole have INDEF language CONJ INDEF VN speak common PAST

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

Leid [bis Glied] zu Ndxub an ein Ndob Ndob be Schnähn zug raug die Schwiß bis Xi-Na an [nlub man] drein hin.

/ləi˧˩ pi˨˥ klɨ˧˩ s̪u˧ⁿdʒu˥˧ ʔa˨˩ ʔəi˨˩ ⁿdo˦˥ⁿdo˦˥ wɨ˧ n̥ãʔ˩ s̪ṳ˧ ɻə̤u˧ tɨ˧ ʍi˧ˀ˥ pi˧˩ ʃi˧na˧ ʔəu˧˩ nlu˥˧ma˨˩ ʈəi˨˩ hi˨˩/

but [as] VN move GEN DEF person person PREP east 3PL find INDEF plain PREP Shinar CONJ [settle] there PAST

As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

An ein Ndob Ndob tlau be veß, "Ob bus Ngu an nlaß zug [schlög schlög] aus."

/ʔəu˨˥ ʔəi˨˩ ⁿdo˦˥ⁿdo˦˥ tɬʰəu˧ wiə˧ ve˧ˀ˥, "o˥˧ pu˧˩ ᵑɡu˧ ʔəu˧˩ nla˧ˀ˥ s̪ṳ˧ ɬõ̤˧ɬõ̤˧ ma˦˥"/

CONJ DEF person person say PREP one_another, VOC make brick CONJ fire_ceramic 3PL [throughly] COHORT

They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."

Zug [raug Mlob] Ngu [bis rohn] Pfaub an Schräh [bis rohn] [Kis Mbeh] hin.

/s̪ṳ˧ ɻə̤u˧mlo˥˧ ᵑɡu˧ pi˨˥ɻoʔ˩ pɸəu˥˧ ʔəu˧˩ ʂãʔ˥ pi˨˥ɻoʔ˩ kʰi˨˥ᵐbeʔ˧ hi˨˩/

3PL use brick instead_of stone and tar instead_of mortar PAST

They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

An zug tlau, "Ob ntsaus die Mbih nun dahn an bis ja die Nkloh von Schmauß [raug man] Ntse aus.

/ʔəu˧˩ s̪ṳ˧ tɬʰəu˧, "ʔo˥˧ ⁿts̺ʰəu˧˩ tɨ˧ ᵐbiʔ˥ nu˨˩ taʔ˩ ʔəu˧˩ pi˧˩ ʒa˧ tɨ˧ ᵑkʰloʔ˥ vo˨˩ m̥əu˧ˀ˥ ɻə̤u˧ma˨˩ ⁿts̺ʰe˧ ma˦˥/

and 3PL say, VOC build INDEF city for 1PL and in it a tower REL top reach DEF sky COHORT

And they said: "Come, let's build a city for ourselves and a tower in it, whose top would reach the sky.

Rein dahn kla xaus Ntrob aus. In dzas es mpeib dahn dsei dsei ein Xab dzeb bei."

That way we will make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the whole world."

Leid ein Schwed ba mpfau hin, schluß blaub ein Mbih an ein Nkloh von ein Ndob-Ndob ntsaus sein.

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.

Ein Schwed tlau, "Daß die Lad wes Ntzog meib floß dlä nin, ab dxah naus eh __ zug bei.

The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

"Ob ntros mpfau an drleß ndäu ein Ntzog zug aus, schluß zug eh drlin drlin ntxöh bei."

"Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

An ein Schwed mpeib zug je drein dsei dsei ein Xab dzeb, an zug vus ntsaus ein Mbih hin.

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

An ja flog Ntrob Mba-Mbä — dsäus drein ein Schwed hab drleß ndäu ein Ntzog an ein Xab dzeb hin.

That is why it was called Babel — because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.

Je drein ein Schwed mpeib zug dsei dsei ein Xab dzeb hin.

From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.