Eomentesa (dialect)

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Eomentesa is one of three modern dialects of Braereth, spoken primarily by witches. (The other dialects are Tenibvreth and Merineth.)

The phonology is similar to Spanish or Catalan, marked by vowel lowering and unpacking of the palatal series from Classical Braereth.

Phonology

Consonants	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Vowels	Front	Back
Plosive	p · b	t · d			k · ɡ		High	i, iː	u, uː
Affricate			ʦ · ʣ	ʧ · ʤ			Mid	e̞, e̞ː	o̞
Fricative	f · v	θ · [ð]	s · z	ç, ʃ · ʒ			Low	a
Nasal	m	n			ŋ		Diphthongs	To Front	To Back
Lateral		l					Mid		eu̯
Trill			r [ɾ]				Low		au̯

* Characters in square brackets are allophones; they are not phonemic.
* Characters in parentheses only occur in borrowings.

Spelling Reform

While Eomentesa is traditionally spelled as classical Braereth, a recent spelling reform based on the current phonology of the language is used by many speakers, and renders it quite distinct. A few differences of notes:

• Palatal ⟨j⟩ is not used. It is elided entirely after obstruents, or changes to ⟨i⟩ after sonorants.
  • nuictje → nútx ‘night’
  • anju → anio ‘year’
• ⟨bv⟩ is written as ⟨v⟩.
  • aubvru → aovro ‘tree’
• ⟨ou⟩ is written as ⟨o⟩ (sometimes as ⟨u⟩ when it has the value /u/).
  • foucu → foco ‘fire’
• ⟨cj⟩, ⟨ctj⟩, ⟨c⟩ before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩, and ⟨tj⟩ are written as ⟨x⟩ when initial and ⟨tx⟩ otherwise.
  • acelju → atxelio ‘bird’
  • centrau → xentrau ‘central’
• ⟨gj⟩, ⟨g⟩ before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩, and ⟨dj⟩ are written as ⟨j⟩ when initial and ⟨dj⟩ otherwise.
  • gindrau → jindrao ‘general’
  • pungere → pundjer ‘to stab’
• ⟨tz⟩ is written as ⟨s⟩ when initial, ⟨dz⟩ when voiced, and remains ⟨tz⟩ when unvoiced.
  • tzince → sintx ‘five’
  • pitzitu → pedzito ‘small’
• ⟨ei⟩ is normally written as ⟨e⟩, or ⟨é⟩ when long.
  • reigu → rego ‘king’
  • beistja → béxa ‘animal’
• Some instances of ⟨u⟩ and most instances of ⟨ou⟩ are written as ⟨o⟩, and ⟨o⟩ is always used word-finally in place of ⟨u⟩.
  • uricla → oricla ‘ear’
  • ouvu → ovo ‘egg’
• Some instances of ⟨i⟩ are written as ⟨e⟩.
  • cintu → xinto ‘hundred’
  • midju → medjo ‘half’
• Some instances of ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ are written as ⟨a⟩.
  • ecquix → acquì ‘here’
  • mengjare → mandjar ‘to eat’
• ⟨qh⟩ is elided when initial; it is writte as ⟨h⟩ otherwise.
  • qheru → ero ‘deer, hart’
  • aqhma → ahma ‘life force’
• Final ⟨e⟩ is elided.
  • ridere → rider ‘to laugh’
  • infante → infant ‘child’
• Final ⟨nje⟩ or ⟨gne⟩ becomes ⟨ng⟩.
  • cjanje → xang ‘dog’
  • seigne → séng ‘dog’
• Final ⟨au⟩ and ⟨aou⟩ are written as ⟨ao⟩.
  • saou → sao ‘salt’
  • centrau → xentrao ‘central’
• Final ⟨eu⟩ and ⟨eou⟩ are written as ⟨eo⟩.
  • beou → beo ‘beautiful’
  • ribveu → riveo ‘level’
• The stress-indicator ⟨x⟩ is written as a grave accent (e.g. ⟨à⟩).
  • iljax → alià ‘there’
• Vowels become long and are marked with an acute accent before former ⟨ct⟩ clusters and in certain other environments.
  • deice → dítx ‘ten’
  • uictjou → útxo ‘eight’
• ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ are inserted into consonant clusters which have become unpronounceable according to the phonotactics of the Eomentesa dialect.
  • vrisu → verizo ‘twisted’

Orthographic and Phonemic Mapping

Orth.	Phn.	Example	IPA	Classical	Environment/Notes
x̀	[ˈ]	alià ‘there’	[a.liˈa]	iljax	A grave accent is used to indicate stress.
a	[a]	ath ‘to’	[aθ]	ath
ao	[au̯]	aovro ‘tree’	[ˈau.vro̞]	aubvru
ao	[a.o̞]	sao ‘salt’	[sa.o̞]	saou	/___# (“When word-final.”)
b	[b]	baclo ‘stick’	[ˈba.klo̞]	baclu
c	[k]	coro ‘heart’	[ˈko̞.ro̞]	couru
d	[d]	dent ‘tooth’	[de̞nt]	dente
d	[ð]	xaodo ‘hot’	[ʃau̯.ðo̞]	cjaudu	/V___V (“When between vowels.”)
dj	[ʤ]	tradjer ‘to pull’	[tɾaˈʤe̞r]	tragere
dz	[ʣ]	pedzito ‘small’	[pe̞ˈʣi.to̞]	pitzitu
e	[e̞]	estelia ‘star’	[e̞ˈste̞.li.a]	estelja
é	[e̞ː]	fétx ‘done’	[fe̞ːʧ]	faectje
eo	[e̞u̯]	seova ‘forest’	[ˈse̞u̯.va]	seuva
eo	[e̞.o̞]	beo ‘beautiful’	[ˈbe̞.o̞]	beou	/___# (“When word-final.”)
f	[f]	folia ‘leaf’	[ˈfo̞.li.a]	folja
g	[ɡ]	grosto ‘thick’	[ˈɡro̞s.to̞]	grostu
h	[ç]	ahma ‘life force’	[ˈaç.ma]	aqhma
i	[i]	ilis ‘they’	[ˈi.lis]	iljis
í	[iː]	dítx ‘ten’	[ˈdiːʧ]	deice
j	[ʒ]	jeo ‘god’	[ˈʒe̞.o̞]	djeou
l	[l]	lapid ‘stone’	[lapid]	lapide
m	[m]	molir ‘to die’	[mo̞ˈlir]	moulire
n	[n]	naxer ‘to be born’	[naˈʃe̞r]	nascere
nc	[ŋk]	jinclo ‘knee’	[ˈʒiŋ.klo̞]	ginclu
ng	[ŋɡ]	longo ‘long’	[ˈlo̞ŋ.ɡo̞]	loungu
ng	[ŋ]	xang ‘dog’	[ʃaŋ]	cjanje	/___# (“When word-final.”)
o	[o̞]	ovo ‘egg’	[ˈo̞.vo̞]	ouvu
p	[p]	pelio ‘hair’	[ˈpe̞.li.o̞]	pelju
qu	[ku.]	aqua ‘water’	[ˈaku.a]	aqua	/___V (“When followed by a vowel.”)
r	[r]	rider ‘to laugh’	[riˈðe̞r]	ridere
s	[s]	sintx ‘five’	[sinʧ]	tzince
t	[t]	tuto ‘all’	[ˈtu.to̞]	tutu
th	[θ]	eth ‘and’	[e̞θ]	eth
tx	[ʧ]	frútxo ‘fruit’	[ˈfruːʧo̞]	fruictju
tz	[ʦ]	contzer ‘to fight’	[conˈʦer]	countzere
u	[u]	untx ‘eleven’	[unʧ]	unce
ú	[uː]	útxo ‘eight’	[ˈuːʧo̞]	uictjou
v	[v]	voler ‘to want’	[vo̞ˈle̞r]	voulere
x	[ʃ]	xentrao ‘central’	[ʃe̞nˈtɾa.o̞]	centrau
z	[z]	espoza ‘wife’	[e̞ˈspu.za]	espousa