User:IlL/Spare pages 1/5

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IlL/Spare pages 1/5 (English: /tʃərn/ chern; native name: Tsjoen-Naet /tʂœn nɛt/) is an official language in Tsjoen-Gjeost and several other countries, and a lingua franca in Bjeheond.

Todo

  • 'is not ADJ' < "is nothing ADJ"
  • ry xa = OK, got it
  • I think setting cars on fire is not OK. = Xi stir loet aeksj tingm tsjoer pruh. (I think COMP give car burn evil)
  • I think police violence is OK! = xi stir loet vidjóf ospák si pruh! (I think that police violence not evil)
  • oem = say
  • ry = hear
  • Tsjoen national anthem?
  • zjog = person
  • zatj = 2nd person polite pronoun
  • postvocalic h is allowed
  • Xi gdeoz, beugju xi tjaleo = Cogito ergo sum
  • blotp /blotp/ 'tongue, language' (Myuftseezh blotp < Proto-Ftseezhic blōtp < Proto-Myuftseezh *blātʼpʼ)
  • Xi tat wegar mae gzeos fae mydar mae gzeos, klje xjod kyks pju. = 'I mixed the blue liquid and the orange liquid, and then there was an explosion.'
  • Si o xi-kveo tsjatmaengal! = Not my president!
  • Vae-ingk o [name] / Xi-ingk o [name] = My name is [name]
  • Ziveo ti xa jaeg tvi kjo ngeo doz = Happy birthday!
  • tamil = Tamil (Proto-Clofabic)
  • tamizj = *t a m i l* (the Dravidian one; not used in-universe)

Avoid

  • feok, keont

To translate

Orthography

Phonology

Tsjoen has an average-sized (~25, depending on who's counting) consonant inventory and a rather large (10) vowel inventory.

Consonants

IlL/Spare pages 1/5 consonants
  Labial Alveolar Lateral Medial Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ng /ŋ/
Plosive voiceless p /p/ t /t/ tj /t͡ɕ/ k /k/
voiced b /b/ d /d/ dj /d͡ʑ/ g /g/
Fricative voiceless f /f/ s /s/ sj /ɧ/ hj /ç/ h /h/
voiced v /v~w/ z /z/
Affricate ts /ts/ tsj /tʂ/
Resonant w /w/ r /r/ l /l/ zj /ɹ/ j /j/

Notes

  • t d h are pronounced like tj dj hj before /i/ and /y/.

Vowels

Tsjoen has 10 vowel phonemes. There are no diphthongs.

Front Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Close i /i/ y /y/ eu /ɯ/ u /u/
Close-mid e /e/ oe /ø~œ/ o /o/
Open-mid ae /ɛ/ eo /ʌ~ɔ/
Open a /a/

Some linguists consider eu to actually be a non-palatalizing allophone of i.

eo is reduced to [ə] in unstressed syllables.

Stress

Stress is always initial.

Phonotactics

  • The most common roots are C(v/j)V, C(v/j)VC(C), C(v/j)VC(C)V, C(v/j)VC(C)VC. (The initial C(v/j) is optional)
  • /ji, jɯ, vɯ, vu/ are prohibited.
  • Initial /ŋ/ is prohibited, as in both Sino-Korean and Swedish.

Intonation

Morphology

Nouns

Tsjoen nouns do not inflect for number but take possessive prefixes for inalienable possession. Tsjoen nouns can take classifiers which serve many functions. Classifiers with possessive prefixes mark alienable possession.

Inalienable possession is most commonly used for family members ('the boy's mother'), body parts ('my arm') and inherent properties ('the prime factorization of 760') but may used for other nuances as well. As an example, vae-raev eotijeon (with alienable possession) would be the usual way of saying 'my proof' (i.e. the proof that I devised of a mathematical statement), while vae-eotijeon (using inalienable possession) suggests a more special or unique relationship, e.g. I am the one who originally proved the theorem.

Tsjoen uses a possessive prefix, either on a classifier placed before the possessum (classifiers are also used as definite articles) for alienable possession or directly on the possessum for inalienable possession.

Examples:

Teuk sju-raev wedjeon = the man's song (e.g. a song that he is singing)
Teuk sju-wedjeon = the man's song (i.e. a song authored by him)
Xi-ne zjeosm = my wife
*Xi-zjeosm
Xi-bjaeng = my father
?Xi-ne bjaeng = the father assigned to me (?)

The possessive prefixes are as follows (they're always hyphenated):

Possessive prefixes
Singular Plural
1 (informal) xjeo- tseo-
1 (formal) vae-
2 (informal) lju- krjeo-
2 (formal) za-
3 (animate) sju-
3 (inanimate) reo-

Classifiers

Tsjoen classifiers inflect for number. They often have suppletive plural forms. For example, zjog means either 'a person' or 'people'; ne zjog means 'the person'; stae zjog means 'the people'.

The following classifiers are used:

  • ne, pl. stae = animates (humans, more "animate" animals like pets)
  • tja, pl. jes = honorific form of ne
  • kveo, pl. fli = organisms not viewed as sentient: plants, fungi, bacteria, "lower" animals, pests
  • mae, pl. mae = tiny, point-like objects; mass nouns
    • Units of measurement can be used such as cups, pails, ...
  • oets, pl. al = long, thin objects
  • hy, pl. zoe = flat sheets
  • gi, pl. kru = food items
  • raev, pl. sja = abstractions; intellectual works such as art, books, ...
  • mo, pl. lu = manmade structures: houses, buildings, cities; tools
  • Units of measurement do not take classifiers with numerals.

Numerals

1-10: seots, kljeo, sko, moe, fah, ex, tjeot, hjaet, kvjaet, tsju

Ordinals are marked with -pae.

Derivational morphology

  • Compound nouns are head-final and are always hyphenated
  • -al = agentive
  • ri- = non-

Syntax

Basic typology

Tsjoen grammar is mostly analytic and SVXO. Genitives and adjectives precede nouns: relative clauses follow nouns. Both pre- and postpositions are used.

Xi taek oseor eukng ti fjuxt.
I speak of love and hate.
Hveol ngeo mul kjom xi hi?
Are you saving it for me?
Baheod tjaleo.
Eagles exist.

Noun phrases

  1. $NOUN can mean both 'a $NOUN' and '$NOUNs'; in general, number distinctions cannot be made without a classifier.
  2. CLF $NOUN means 'the $NOUN' or 'the $NOUNs'; the number depends on whether the classifier is singular or plural.
  3. bae $CLF $NOUN means 'this $NOUN'; hjeo $CLF $NOUN means 'that $NOUN'.
  4. $ADJ $NOUN and $VERB fo $NOUN means 'an $ADJ $NOUN' or 'a $NOUN that $VERBs'.
  5. $NOUN CLF $REL_CLAUSE = 'a $NOUN $REL_CLAUSE; see the section on clauses.
  6. (With numbers) $NOUN $N CLF = '$N $NOUN(s)'; CLF $NOUN $N CLF = 'the $N $NOUN(s).

Verb phrases

Grammaticalization happens readily in Tsjoen, as evinced by the sheer number of auxiliaries and particles in the language.

TAM

Lots of TAM particles

  • progressive va < "be at/in" like Celtic
  • non-immediate future ho < "mean to"
  • almost < "approach"
  • overdo < "cross"
  • take the initiative to < "take"
  • try X-ing < "taste"
  • may < "get"
  • please < "be pleased to"

Serial verbs?

Clauses

The copula is o.

Relative clauses

Resumptive pronoun: lje

Miscellaneous

Poetry

A Tsjoen meter is a set number of syllables per line, commonly with a division of each line into (usually two) sub-lines of certain lengths.

Alliteration is essential in Tsjoen poetry; traditionally, one creates a sense of rhythm by using alliteration in certain patterns such as:

  1. the beginning syllables of sub-lines, e.g. in the pattern a ... | a ... or a ... | [...] | a ...
  2. syllables within lines or sub-lines, e.g. a a a _ ‖ b b b _ ‖ c c c _ ‖ d d d _
  3. the above two may be combined, e.g. a _ a ... | b _ b ... ‖ b _ b ... | c _ c ... ‖ c _ c ... | d _ d ...

Non-traditional assonance schemes are used in modern poetry and in whimsical, quasi-Hofstadterian "riddle poems".

An example of a couplet with 4+4-lines:

Tsals ftjud txeob reodj ‖ tsop hjaeg jeopng;
dusp ny mjav pnje, ‖ dvots lats fjeltjar.

"Telegraphic" syntax à la Classical Chinese, i.e. not using classifiers and grammatical particles, is relatively common in "classical" poetry.

Sample texts

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