Celabrian

Celabrian (Celabrian: gərṭeʒ [ɡəɾˈtʼed͡z]) is an Indo-European language.

Celabrian
gərṭeʒ
Pronunciation	[ɡəɾˈtʼed͡z]
Created by	Shariifka
Language family	Indo-European Celabrian
Early forms	Proto-Celabrian Old Celabrian Classical Celabrian

Introduction

Etymology

The name Celabrian comes from the tribal name Celabri (Greek: Κελαβροί) < Proto-Celabrian *kelabʰras "warrior" (compare Modern Celabrian č̣łavṙ [t͡ʃʼɫavr]) < *kelas "spear" (< PIE *gʷelH- "to throw, pierce"; compare Modern Celabrian č̣ał [t͡ʃʼaɫ] "weapon") + *-bʰras "bearer" (thematization of earlier *-bʰēr < 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 [bonˈtʼed͡z], from bon "clear, eloquent" (< PC *bʰānas < PIE *bʰeh₂- "to shine; to speak"). The classical language is known as akṙəṭeʒ [ˌakʰrəˈtʼed͡z] (Classical Celabrian: akʰra tanci [ˈakʰɾa ˈtant͡si]), from akṙ "precise, sharp" (< PC *akʰras "sharp" < PIE *h₂ḱrós). The colloquial language is known as łøðṭeʒ [ɫ̪œtʼˈtʼed͡z], from łøð "masses, common folk" (< PC *aleudʰis < PIE *h₁léwdʰis "people").

Phonology

Orthography

The Celabrian alphabet

Celabrian is written with the Celabrian alphabet, which is ultimately derived from the Phoenician alphabet via Ancient Greek. In this article, a Romanization is used for convenience.

The majority of the letters are inherited from Ancient Greek. Some are internal developments, from variants or ligatures of other letters, and some are later borrowings from Greek. A few letters have an unknown or uncertain origin.

Celabrian alphabet

Celabrian alphabet
Letter	Romanization	IPA	Name			Origin		Remarks
Letter	Romanization	IPA	Romanization	IPA	Meaning	Script	Letter	Remarks
	a	a	až	aʒ	snake	Greek	Α	Inherited.
	b	b	boz	boz	arm	Greek	Β	Inherited.
	h	ɦ ~ ʁ	haθ	ɦaθ	stranger, foreigner	Greek	Γ	Inherited.
	d	d	dur	duɾ	door	Greek	Δ	Inherited.
	e	e	ječ	jetʃʰ	belly	Greek	Ε	Inherited.
	g	ɡ	got	ɡotʰ	axe	Greek	F	Inherited.
	z	z	zan	zan	goose	Greek	Ζ	Inherited.
	æ	æ	jæʒ	jædz	goat	Greek	Η	Inherited.
	t	tʰ	tøk	tʰøkʰ	sprout, seedling	Greek	Θ	Inherited.
	ǵ	ɟ	ǵuq	ɟuʔ	yoke	Greek	Ι	From an early variant of jič.
	i	i	jič	jitʃʰ	road, path	Greek	Ι	Inherited.
	ḳ	kʼ	ḳṙiv	kʼriv	carving	Greek	Κ	Inherited.
	ł	ɫ	łæš	ɫæʃ	(< læše "plough")	Greek	Λ	Inherited.
	c	tsʰ	cək	tsʰəkʰ	peg, hook	Greek	Ψ	From an early variant of sap.
	m	m	myš	myʃ	mouse	Greek	Μ	Inherited.
	n	n	niθ	niθ	seat, chair; sitting, meeting; situation	Greek	Ν	Inherited.
	č	tʃʰ	čar	tʃʰaɾ	dry	Greek	Ξ	Inherited.
	u	u	vun	vun	water	Greek	Ο	Inherited.
	ṗ	pʼ	ṗak	pʼakʰ	club	Greek	Π	Inherited.
	c̣	tsʼ	c̣əm	tsʼəm	molar	Greek	Ϻ (san)	Inherited.
	ḳ́	cʼ	ḳ́ø	cʼø	cattle	Greek	Ϙ	Inherited.
	r	ɾ	rot	ɾotʰ	(< ṙot "cane")	Greek	Ρ	Inherited.
	ǯ	dʒ	ǯarm	dʒaɾm	warm			Origin unknown.
	š	ʃ	šaš	ʃaʃ	(< šašə "comb")	Greek	Σ	Inherited.
	ṭ	tʼ	ṭaš	tʼaʃ	tear	Greek	Τ	Inherited.
	ň	ɲ	ňam	ɲam	shoot			Origin unknown.
	v	v	vuš	vuʃ	ox	Greek	Υ	Inherited.
	p	pʰ	pit	pʰitʰ	feather	Greek	Φ	Inherited.
	č̣	tʃʼ	č̣alč	tʃʼaltʃʰ	crossbow			Origin unknown.
	k	kʰ	kap	kʰapʰ	head	Greek	Χ	Inherited.
	ř	ɹ	řeł	ɹeɫ	gerboa			Origin uncertain. Probably from Greek Ϻ (san).
	s	s	sap	sapʰ	hoof	Greek	Ψ	Inherited.
	o	o	vobl	vobl	apple	Greek	Ω	Inherited.
	j	j	jeł	jeɫ	deer	Greek	Ι	Originally a variant of jič.
	ó	o	vóḱ	voc	eye	Greek	Ο	A later borrowing.
	l	l	løv	løv	child			Origin unknown.
	x́	ç	x́æł	çæɫ	heat of the sun			Origin uncertain.
	ə	ə	ət	ətʰ	face	Armenian	Ը	Borrowed from Armenian.
	θ	θ	θæh	θæʁ	path	Greek	Θ	A later borrowing.
	f	f	far	faɾ	sparrow	Greek	Φ	A later borrowing.
	x	h ~ χ	xał	haɫ ~ χaɫ	large fish, whale	Greek	Χ	A later borrowing.
	y	y	vyrḱ	vyɾcʰ	jar	Greek	Υ	A later borrowing.
	ø	ø	vøš	vøʃ	ear	Greek	ΟΙ	Originally a ligature of vun + jič.
	ŋ	ŋ	ŋaš	ŋaʃ	silence	Greek	ΓΓ	Originally a ligature of haθ + haθ.
	ž	ʒ	žam	ʒam	hour			Originally a variant of ǯar.
	q	ʔ ~ q	qłuθ	qɫuθ	servant	Greek	Κ	Originally a variant of ḳṙiv.
	ḱ	cʰ	ḱøt	cʰøtʰ	fight	Greek	Χ	Originally a variant of kap.
	ʒ	dz	ʒoč	dzotʃʰ	(< ʒočə "whip")	Greek	Ζ	Originally a variant of zan.
	ð	ð	ðiš	ðiʃ	axe, adze	Greek	Δ	Originally a variant of dur.
	ṙ	r	ṙuž	ruʒ	rye	Latin?	R?	Mostly likely borrowed from Latin R. Alternatively, may be from a variant of rot.

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Standard Celabrian
		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal¹	Velar²	Uvular³
Nasal		m /m/		n /n/		ň /ɲ/	ŋ /ŋ/
Plosive	voiceless	p /pʰ/	t /tʰ/			ḱ /cʰ/	k /kʰ/	q /q ~ ʔ/
	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/
Fricative	voiced	v /v/	ð /ð/	z /z/	ž /ʒ/	j /ʝ ~ j/⁶		h /ɦ ~ ʁ/
Approximant	central				ř /ɹ/	j /ʝ ~ j/⁶		h /ɦ ~ ʁ/
Approximant	lateral		ł /ɫ/⁴	l /l/⁵
Trill				ṙ /r/⁷
Flap				r /ɾ/

Notes:

¹ Depending on dialect, the palatal obstruents ḱ, ǵ, ḳ́, x́, j /cʰ, ɟ, cʼ, ç, ʝ/ may be fronted to [t͡ɕʰ, d͡ʑ, t͡ɕʼ, ɕ, ʑ] or even [t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ, t͡ʃʼ, ʃ, ʒ] (merging with the corresponding postalveolars).

² The velar consonants are truly velar when adjacent to front vowels and postvelar otherwise.

³ 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
	Adjacent to consonant in same morpheme	initial	medial	final	Adjacent to non-root consonant	Otherwise
q	q		ʔ ~ q		q	ʔ
x	χ	χ ~ h		h ~ χ	χ	h
h	ʁ	ɦ	ɦ ~ ʁ	ʁ	ʁ	ɦ

Note that in some dialects q is not guttural and is instead merged with g.

⁴ Alveolar [ɫ] before consonants, dental [ɫ̪] otherwise. Unless preceded by a consonant, the dental allophone may instead be pronounced [ð(ˠ)] or [ɮ̪(ˠ)] depending on dialect.

⁵ May be palatalized when adjacent to front vowels.

⁶ Pronounced [ʝ] syllable-initially. Otherwise, pronounced [j]. In non-careful or hypercorrect speech (particularly for speakers of dialects that front palatals), may be pronounced [j] in all environments.

⁷ Pronounced non-distinctively as [r ~ ɾ] after consonants. Otherwise, ṙ /r/ and r /ɾ/ are distinct.

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/	ə /ə/	o /o/
Open	æ /æ/		a /ɑ/

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

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
Harmony system	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
High	i	y	ə	u
Low	e		a
Mixed	e		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)

Harmonizing affixes harmonize with the nearest vowel in the word they are attached to. Vowels within a word do not have to agree in frontness/backness, but they usually do except in compound words.

Palatalization

Velar and guttural consonants in harmonizing affixes are often palatalized when the harmonizing vowel is fronted. 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
close vowel > disappears / adjacent to homorganic mid vowel
v is inserted between rounded vowel (o, ø, u, y) and any adjacent vowel
e; i > je; ji / after any non-rounded vowel
a > ja / after unrounded front vowel

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 / i_, ī_ (ruki is still productive at this point)
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, 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 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
nasal + liquid > stop homorganic to nasal is inserted between them
NC > C / #_
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 > nasal is dropped / _r, _l
mb; nd; nʒ; nǯ; ňǵ; ŋg > m; n; n; ň; ň; ŋ / otherwise
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
ľ > l
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/ł > nd)
  N + ľ > ňǵ
  s + r/ř/l/ł > str/stř/stṙ/skl/skł
  š + r/ř/ṙ/l/ł > štr/štř/štṙ/škl/škł
  z/ž + r/ř/ṙ > 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 > merge before obstruents - become ł before velar/post-velar, and l otherwise
r, ṙ, ř > merge before obstruents - become ř before dental, and r otherwise
r > ṙ / _n
r > ṙ / after consonants
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	Emphatic¹	Ergative	Dative	Genitive	Ablative	Locative	Instrumental	Adverbial	Vocative	Possessive suffix²	Copulative suffix³
0^th			jæk	akak	jækiq	jækid	jækix	jæke	jækim	jækiv	jæken	jæko	-ak	-ak
1^st	Singular		jam	akam	jaməq	jaməd	jaməx	jama	jaməm	jaməv	jaman	jamo	-am	-am
	Dual		ned	nedom	nediq	nedid	nedix	nede	nedim	nediv	neden	nedo	-nad	-om
	Plural		vom	eḱňe	vomuq	vomud	vomux	voma	vomum	vomuv	voman	vomo	-na	-om
2^nd	Singular	Informal	tjev	akət	tjeviq	tjevid	tjevix	tjeve	tjevim	tjeviv	tjeven	tjevo	-ət	-as
	Singular	Formal	řan	akka	řanəq	řanəd	řanəx	řana	řanəm	řanəv	řanan	řano	-g̊a	-ot
	Dual		gad	akkad	gadəq	gadəd	gadəx	gada	gadəm	gadəv	gadan	gado	-g̊ad	-ot
	Plural		vym	eḱḱe	vymyq	vymyd	vymyx	vyme	vymym	vymyv	vymen	vymo	-g̊a	-ot
3^rd	Singular	Animate	řev	akəř	řeviq	řevid	řevix	řeve	řevim	řeviv	řeven	řevo	-əř	-aθ
	Singular	Inanimate	an	akən	(anəq)	anəd	anəx	ana	anəm	anəv	anan	ano	-ən	-an
	Dual	Animate	ṭyn	akəš	ṭynyq	ṭynyd	ṭynyx	ṭyne	ṭynym	ṭynyv	ṭynen	ṭyno	-əš	-at
	Plural	Animate	tøt	eḱiš	tøtyq	tøtyd	tøtyx	tøte	tøtym	tøtyv	tøten	tøto	-əš	-at
	Plural	Inanimate	peł	eḱin	(pełiq)	pełid	pełix	pełe	pełim	pełiv	pełen	peło	-ən	-an
Reflexive			xon	akəx	xonuq	xonud	xonux	xona	xonum	xonuv	xonan	xono	-əx̊	-ax̊

Notes:

¹ Formed from the noun ak (pl. eḱ) "self" with possessive suffixes.

² Possessive suffixes are stressed. The third person inanimate suffix -ən is distinguished from the definite article by stress.

³ Copulative suffixes are unstressed.

Nouns

Cases

Case endings are unstressed.

Case	Usage	Ending	Notes
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	Can take additional case endings.
Ablative	Origin, motion away, part of something (partitive)	-a	Can take additional case endings. Identical to partitive and plural/mass indefinite article.
Locative	Location	-əm
Instrumental	Instrument, means; inanimate agent of transitive verb; cause/reason	-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 specific that is known to both the speaker and listener, that has 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 or that has not been previously mentioned. 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 ka-. It specifies none of something, and is equivalent to English "no" in "I see no car."

All articles are unstressed. The articles are summarized in the table below:

Article	Usage	Ending
Article	Usage	possessed	singular countable	plural countable	uncountable
Definite	Something specific that is known to both speaker and listener, that has been previously mentioned, or that is uniquely specified.	–	-ən
Semidefinite	Something specific that is identifiable by the speaker but not the listener, or that has not been previously mentioned.	–	–
Indefinite	A non-specific member of a class.	(same as unpossessed noun)	mə-	-a
Partitive	A non-specific quantity of something.	-a
Negative	None of something.	ka-

Demonstratives

The far demonstrative is identical to the definite article. To specify the distance, a place adverb can be added.

Proximity is indicated with the suffix -s, which is added before case endings. When added to a word ending in the definite article, the -n is dropped.

Adjectives

Adjectives are conjugated the same as nouns and follow the nouns they modify, agreeing with them in case and number. An adjective can also be used independently.

Numbers

#	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	səfṙ, næk	səfṙətə, nækte
1	řon	pavṙə
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	ḳ́id (pečksət)	ḳ́ide (pečksətə)
101	ḳ́idřon (pečksətřon)	ḳ́idřontə (pečksətřontə)
110	ḳ́idṭjas (pečksətṭjas)	ḳ́idṭjastə (pečksətṭjastə)
120	seč	sečte
130	sečṭjas	sečṭjastə
140	sečksət	sečksətə
200	ṭyḳ́id	ṭyḳ́ide
300	čiḳ́id	čiḳ́ide
1,000	zil	zilte
2,000	ṭyzil	ṭyzilte
10^4	myřð	myřðe
10^6	ḳ́idmyřð	ḳ́idmyřðe

Verbs

Structure

Verbs are made of the following components: Preverbal particle-Indirect object prefix-Agent prefix-[TAM prefix-(Derivation prefix-Stem-Derivation suffix)-TAM suffix]-Personal suffix

Not all components have to present in a given verb form. The portion within round brackets is known as the derived stem, and the portion within square brackets is known as the tense stem.

Preverbal particles

Personal affixes

There are three kinds of personal affixes, each with its designated position in the verb form. They are (in order of appearance):

Indirect object prefixes: represent verbal arguments in the dative, ablative, locative, and/or instrumental cases.
Agent prefixes: represent verbal argument in the ergative case.
Personal suffixes: represent verbal argument in the absolutive case. They are equivalent to the corresponding copulative suffix.

Person and Number		Prefix		Suffix
Person and Number		Indirect object	Agent	Suffix
0		akə-	kə-	-ak
1	S	amə-	mə-	-am
1	D + P	ana-	na-	-om
2	SI	atə-	tə-	-as
2	SF + D + P	ag̊a-	g̊a-	-ot
3	SA	ařə-	řə-	-aθ
	SI + PI	anə-	–	-an
	DA + PA	ata-	ta-	-at
R		ax̊a-	x̊a-	–

Stems

A Celabrian verb has three stems, known as the perfective, imperfective, and oblique stems. Regular verbs form the perfective and imperfective stems from the oblique via the suffixes -an- and -as- respectively. Irregular verbs have unpredictable stems.

Derived stems are formed by adding derivational affixes to the primary stem. Derived verbs include causatives, antipassives, and applicatives. Tense stems are formed by adding affixes to the main stem, whether primary or derived.

Tense, mood, aspect

Celabrian tenses, moods, and aspects¹
Tense	Mood	Usage		Stem	Notes
Tense	Mood	Present frame	Non-present frame	Stem	Notes
Aorist	Indicative	Simple action in past.	Simple action in frame of reference.	P-	The aorist is considered the default tense. It expresses a simple action without reference to timeframe or completion.
Aorist	Subjunctive	Simple action in frame of reference.		P-aš-
Perfect	Indicative	An action in the past that has present relevance.	An action before frame of reference that is still relevant.	ṭa-P-	The perfect prefix ṭa- can be added to other tenses to convert them into perfects.
Perfect	Subjunctive	An action before frame of reference that is still relevant.		ṭa-P-aš-
Imperfect	Indicative	An ongoing action in frame of reference.		I-
Imperfect	Subjunctive	An ongoing action in frame of reference.		I-aš-
Habitual	Indicative	A habitual/repeated action in frame of reference.		O-əm-
Habitual	Subjunctive	A habitual/repeated action in frame of reference.		O-əm-aš-
Gnomic	Indicative	Expresses general truths.		O-əł-
Gnomic	Subjunctive	Expresses general truths.		O-əł-aš-
Past	Indicative	An action in the past.	An action that took place before frame of reference.	pa-P-	The past prefix pa- can be added to other tenses to place them in a past frame of reference.
Past	Subjunctive	An action that took place before frame of reference.		pa-P-aš-
Future	Indicative	An action in the future.	An action that will take place after frame of reference.	ho-P-	The future prefix ho- can be added to other tenses to place them in a future frame of reference.
Future	Subjunctive	An action that will take place after frame of reference.		ho-P-aš-
Present	Indicative	An action in the present.	An action taking place during frame of reference.	nə-P-	The present prefix nə- can be added to other tenses to place them in a present frame of reference.
Present	Subjunctive	An action that is taking place during the frame of reference.		nə-P-aš-
Imperative		Forms a command or request in the second person.	–	SI: O SF/P:O-(ə)t	The imperative is only used for the second person, and only when it is the absolutive argument of the verb. Otherwise, the jussive is used. The jussive can also be used as a more gentle/polite affirmative second person command.
Jussive		Forms a command or request, or expresses an obligation.	Expresses an obligation in the frame of reference.	O-
Optative		Expresses a wish, or encourages an action.	Expresses a wish in the frame of reference.	O-aš-	Can be translated as "should/must" when the subject has control over the action, and "may" when the subject does not. Can also be used as a more gentle alternative to the jussive or imperative.
Conditional		Expresses a hypothetical event/state that is dependent on some condition.		ṭa-O-	Can be translated as "would (have)".
Presumptive		Expresses a hypothetical event/state that is presupposed to be true.		ṭa-O-aš-	The presumptive is often paired with the conditional.

Notes:

¹ P = perfective stem; I = imperfective stem; O = oblique stem; Stress is always on last syllable before personal ending.

Voice

Voice	Usage	Derived stem	Notes
Active	Default form of a verb.	–
Applicative	Promotes an indirect object to absolutive, and demotes absolutive argument to dative.	et-
Antipassive	Promotes ergative agent to absolutive, and demotes absolutive argument to dative. The cause (if present) takes the instrumental case.	-ar	Unlike the causative, if a cause is mentioned, it is not purposely causing the event.
Causative	Promotes ergative agent to absolutive, and demotes absolutive argument to dative. Causer takes ergative case.	-dor	Somewhat similar to antipassive, but it is implied that the causer is purposely causing the event.

Denominal verbs

Syntax

Constituent order

The most common word order is VTAX, where V = verb, T = theme (absolutive argument: object of transitive, subject of intransitive), A = agent (ergative argument), X = other arguments. However, other words orders are allowed and common. In particular, words may be placed at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, especially if followed by the emphatic particle ǯe.

Noun phrase

Modifiers follow the noun they modify.

Verb phrase

The verb most often occurs at the beginning of the phrase, especially in subordinate clauses.