Dlav
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Dlav (/dlʌv/, also Dilav /dɪlʌv/; endonym: Dlàv [dlav]) is an a priori language created by Lëtzelúcia.
Phonology
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | ñ /ɲ/ | ṅ /ŋ/ | ||||
| Plosive | voiceless | /p/ | /t/ | ṯ /c/ | /k/ | ꜣ /q/ | ||
| voiced | /b/ | /d/ | ḏ /ɟ/ | g /ɡ/ | q /ɢ/ | |||
| ejective | ṗ /pʼ/ | ṭ /tʼ/ | ḳ /kʼ/ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | /f/ | /s/ | š /ʃ/ | ś /ɕ/ | ḫ /χ/ | h /h/ | |
| voiced | /v/ | /z/ | ž /ʒ/ | ź /ʑ/ | ||||
| Affricate | voiceless | c /t͡ʃ/ | ||||||
| voiceless | j /d͡ʒ/ | |||||||
| Approximant | semivowel | y /j/ [j̃] | /w/ [w̃] | |||||
| lateral | /l/ | ĺ /ʎ/ | ||||||
| Trill | /r/ | |||||||
- Nasalised approximants only happen before a nasal consonant.
- /m n ɲ ŋ w j l ʎ r/ have syllabic allophones: [m̩ n̩ ɲ̍ ŋ̍ u i l̩ ʎ̩ r̩].
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oral | nasal | oral | nasal | oral | nasal | |
| Close | /i/ | [ĩ] | /u/ | [ũ] | ||
| Close-mid | /e/ | [ẽ] | /o/ | [õ] | ||
| Open-mid | è /ɛ/ | è [ɛ̃] | a /ɐ/ | a [ɐ̃] | ò /ɔ/ | ò [ɔ̃] |
| Open | à /a/ | à [ã] | ||||
- Nasalised vowels only happen before a nasal consonant.
Phonotactics
Dlav roots distinguish three main classes of consonants, arranged from high to low sonority:
- Non-palatal sonorants: /m n ŋ w l r/, denoted as N
- Palatal sonorants: /ɲ j ʎ/, denoted as J
- Obstruents, denoted as C. These include five subgroups:
- Plosives, except ejectives, denoted as P.
- Ejectives, denoted as E.
- The affricates /t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/, denoted as Z.
- The sibilants /s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ/, denoted as S.
- The non-sibilants /f v χ h/, denoted as H.
The follow rules are applied:
- Onset and coda always have a consonant, ranging from C to CCCC.
- A main onset or a coda are mandatory for a syllable to become a root.
- The only mandatory element of a root is N or J in its onset or coda.
- The consonant closer to the main howel always have the higher sonority.
- Only one member of each sonority group appear in the onset or coda.
- However, P is allowed to exist together with S or H.
A good example is the name of the language itself, Dlàv, which is organised as CCVC, namely PNVH, spro- ‘to die’ is also a possible root, but **sṗro- is not.
There are two grades for a syllable:
- The full grade, which has a vowel, such as na- ‘to sleep’.
- The zero grade, which only has a syllabic sonorant, such as n- [n̩-] ‘to (have a) nap’, the zero grade form of na-.
The declension of the word is highly linked to its grade:
- The genitive form of a full grade root asks for its zero grade form: Dlàv [dlav] nom.sg. > Dlv [dl̩v] gen.sg.
- Likewise, the genitive form of a zero grade word asks for a full grade with an -i-: ney [n̩.ej] ‘napper’ nom.sg. > niey [ni.ej] gen.sg.
Word formation
Typically, a root plus an interfix forms a stem, and adding an suffix forms a word. Interfixes are not mandatory.
- Dlàv- ‘Dlav (language)’, nouns like that, lacking an interfix, are often called root nouns.
- Dlàv-ey- ‘a Dlav speaker’, with an interfix, nouns with an interfix are called stem nouns.
- Dlàv-ey-ra ‘a Dlav speaker’, with a suffix.
Grammar
Dlav is a fusional language with high degree of inflection, as such, there can be a large number of words deried from the same root.
Noun inflection
Dlav nouns inflect by case and number:
- Eleven cases: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, instrumental, abessive, comitative, inessive, adessive, allative, ablative.
- Of which, five cases are strong, i.e. they need the original grade form of a root, those are: nominative, accusative, dative, inessive and ablative.
- Two numbers: singular and plural.
| Number | Case | strong (originally full grade) declension | weak (originally zero grade) declension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | nom. | Dlàv (-∅) | Ney (-∅) |
| acc.¹ | Dlàv-m | Ney-ñ | |
| dat.² | Dlàv-e-ski | Ney-ski | |
| gen.³ | Dlv (-∅) | Niey (-∅) | |
| ins. | Dlv-o | Niey-o | |
| abe.⁴ | Dlv-ba | Niey-ḏa | |
| com.¹ | Dlv-ma | Niey-ña | |
| ine. | Dlàv-eꜣ | Ney-eꜣ | |
| ade.⁵ | Dlv-gò | Niey-gò | |
| all. | Dlv-ark | Niey-ark | |
| abl.⁶ | Dlàv-à | Ney-n |
¹ The nasal mora sandhi according to the preceding consonant. If there is no consonant, /n/ is the default.
² An -e- interfix is added if two obstruents collide.
³ The grade is reversed, as explained.
⁴ The plosive mora sandhi according to the preceding consonant, agreeing in voice and articulation. If there is no consonant, /t/ is the default.
⁵ The velar plosibe mora sandhi according to the preceding consonant voice. If there is no consonant, /k/ is the default.
⁶ The root vowel is reduplicated.