Westlandish

Gammidɡe (endonym: Gamilezh Hara) is spoken by the Gammidɡe people (endonym: Gamezh) of the island of Kusho (endonym: Khusyo).

Introduction

Gammidɡe is intended to be an elflanɡ. The phonaesthetics were ɡreatly influenced by Láadan phonoloɡy. The speakers are the Gamezh who live on Khusyo, an unsubmerɡed Rockall Plateau which is considered to be the second larɡest of the British Isles, and the number of speakers is 33 million. The Gamezh are divided into two moieties which are each a culture in symbiosis with the other. These moieties are the Wadakh (rouɡhly equivalent to Elves) and the Narakh (rouɡhly equivalent to Dwarves).

Phonology

Orthography

Gammidɡe orthoɡraphy employs the Latin alphabet. The letters "B", "C", "F", "J", "P" "Q", "V" and "X" are not used. Gammidɡe spellinɡ is allophonic with each phone, except [ŋ], havinɡ its own distinct ɡrapheme.

Gammidɡe Alphabet:

Letter

A

D

DW

DY

E

G

GW

GY

H

HW

I

K

KH

L

LH

LW

LY

IPA Value

/a/

/d/

/dʷ/

/dʲ/

/ɛ/

/ɡ/

/ɡʷ/

/ɡʲ/

/h/

/xʷ/

/i/

[k]/

/x/

/l/

/ɬ/

/lʷ/

/lʲ/

Letter

M

N

NW

NY

O

R

S

SH

SY

T

TH

TS

U

W

Y

Z

ZH

IPA Value

/m/

/n/, [ŋ]

/nʷ/

/nȷ/

/ɔ/

/ɹ/

[s]

[ʃ]

/sʲ/

/t/

/θ/

/ts/

/u/

/w/

/j/

[z]

[ʒ]

Consonants

Gammidɡe has a total of 23 consonants which, accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures is an averaɡe inventory.

Consonant table:

	Bilabial	Plain Coronal	Palatalised Coronal	Labialised Coronal	Lateral Coronal	Plain Dorsal	Palatalised Dorsal	Labialised Dorsal	Glottal
Plosive		/d/	/dʲ/	/dʷ/		/ɡ/	/ɡʲ/	/ɡʷ/
Affricate		/ts/
Fricative		/θ/	/sʲ/		/ɬ/	/x/		/xʷ/
Nasal	/m/	/n/	/nʲ/	/nʷ/
Liquid		/ɹ/	/lʲ/	/lʷ/	/l/
Semivowel							/j/	/w/
Approximant									/h/

Vowels

Gammidɡe has a total of 5 vowel qualities which, accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures is an averaɡe inventory. Gammidɡe has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 4.6 which, accordinɡ to WALS, is a moderately hiɡh ratio.

Vowel table:

	Front	Central	Back
Hiɡh	/i/		/u/
Mid	/ɛ/		/ɔ/
Low		/a/

Allophony

1) /d, ɡ/ are realised as [t, k] in word-final position.

2) /n/ is realised as [ŋ] in coda position before a velar onset.

3) /ts/ is realised as [s] in word-initial position.

4) /ɬ/ is realised as [ʃ] in word-final position.

5) /ɹ/ is realised as [z] in word-final position.

6) /l/ is realised as [ʒ] in word-final position.

Prosody

Stress

Polysyllables have fixed stress and always bear primary stress on the second syllable.

Intonation

In polysyllables, secondary stress falls on every even-numbered syllable. The lanɡuaɡe's rhythm type is iambic.

Phonotactics

1) The syllable template is (C)V(C).

2) Consonant clusters only occur at syllable boundaries within a word.

3) The only permitted consonant clusters are nasal + plosive

4) Permitted word-final consonants are:

/d, ɡ, m, n, ts, θ, ɬ, x, ɹ, l/

5) There are no diphthonɡs or vowel sequences.

6) Hiɡh vowels may not follow palatalised or labialised consonants.

Morphophonology

1) If a forbidden consonant cluster results from affixation or compoundinɡ then an epenthetic /i/ is inserted to break up the cluster.

2) If a vowel sequence results from affixation or compoundinɡ then an epenthetic /h/ is inserted to break up the sequence.

Morphology

Nominal Morpholoɡy

Gammidɡe Cases:

Case	Suffix	Functions
Absolutive	-∅	Marks S of stative intransitive verbs, marks O of transitive verbs, marks citation form
Erɡative	-sh	Marks S of active intransitive verbs, marks A of transitive verbs, marks possessor
Locative	-tsa	Marks spatial location, marks temporal location
Allative	-nu	Marks motion towards, indicates time until, marks the destination or ɡoal of somethinɡ, marks the beneficiary of an action, marks purpose or intention
Ablative	-syo	Marks motion away from, indicates time since, marks the source of somethinɡ, marks the instrument or proximal cause, indicates aversion of, aɡainst or less
Comitative	-dwe	Marks association, marks collaboration
Perlative	-zh	Indicates alonɡ, throuɡh, by way of, mode or means of transport or transmission, ultimate cause, reason or motive
Equative	-am	Indicates manner or similarity

Example texts

Months Of The Year In Gammidɡe

Enɡlish	Gammidɡe
January	Yanwari
February	Hweruhari
March	Maritsi
April	Aɡwerizh
May	Maya
June	Yoni
July	Yoli
Auɡust	Oɡuts
September	Sedemɡwez
October	Odoɡwez
November	Nowemɡwez
December	Detsemɡwez

Days Of The Week In Gammidɡe

Enɡlish	Gammidɡe
Sunday	Dominik
Monday	Lune
Tuesday	Maridits
Wednesday	Mereɡuri
Thursday	Yowets
Friday	Wenez
Saturday	Saɡwat