Literature talk:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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Introduction

An Bhlaoighne is inspired by Irish though the aesthetic is turning out more like Proto-Indo-European.


Phonology

Phonology of An Bhlaoighne: a e i o u á é í ó ú /ä e̞~ɛ i o̞~ɔ u a: ɛ: i: o: u:/ + far too many diphthongs to even count!

b c d f g h l m n ŋ p q r s t x /b k d̪ f g h l̪ m n̪ ŋ p tɬ ɹ s t̪ ɬ/

The letters bcdfgpqstx can participate in two mutations. In addition, m can be aspirated.

Aspiration: bh ch dh fh gh mh ph qh sh th xh /bʰ kʰ d̪ʰ fʰ gʰ mʰ pʰ tɬʰ sʰ t̪ʰ ɬʰ/

Prenasalization: mb gc nd bhf ŋg _ mp nq dhs dt dhx /ᵐb ᵑk ⁿd̪ bʰf ᵑg ᵐp ⁿtɬ dʰs ⁿt̪ dʰɬ/

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Morphology

Article

Both the definite and indefinite articles are 'an' in the singular, 'na' in the plural.

Gender and declensions

The An Bhlaoighne nominal system has three genders and three declensions.

First declension masculine: indef. sg. aspiration; indef. pl. prenasalization; def. sg. no mutation; def. pl. no mutation

First declension feminine: indef. sg. prenasalization; indef. pl. aspiration; def. sg. aspiration; def. pl. prenasalization

First declension neuter: indef. sg. no mutation; indef. pl. no mutation; def. sg. prenasalization; def. pl. aspiration

Second declension masculine: indef. sg. aspiration; indef. pl. aspiration; def. sg. no mutation; def. pl. prenasalization

Second declension feminine: indef. sg. prenasalization; indef. pl. no mutation; def. sg. aspiration; def. pl. aspiration

Second declension neuter: indef. sg. no mutation; indef. pl. prenasalization; def. sg. prenasalization; def. pl. no mutation

Third declension masculine: indef. sg. aspiration; indef. pl. no mutation; def. sg. no mutation; def. pl. aspiration

Third declension feminine: indef. sg. prenasalization; indef. pl. prenasalization; def. sg. aspiration; def. pl. no mutation

Third declension neuter: indef. sg. no mutation; indef. pl. aspiration; def. sg. prenasalization; def. pl. prenasalization

Examples:

bheathra 'man' - 2nd decl. masc.
Singular Plural
Indefinite an bheathra na bheathra
Definite an beathra na mbeathra
chealim 'man' - 1st decl. masc.
Singular Plural
Indefinite an chealim na gcealim
Definite an cealim na cealim
mblaoighne 'language' - 1st decl. fem.
Singular Plural
Indefinite an mblaoighne na bhlaoighne
Definite an bhlaoighne na mblaoighne
fiodenn 'honor' - 3rd decl. neut.
Singular Plural
Indefinite an fiodenn na fhiodenn
Definite an bhfiodenn na bhfiodenn
páirín 'house' - 2nd decl. neut.
Singular Plural
Indefinite an páirín na bpáirín
Definite an bpáirín na páirín

(Nouns beginning with 'm' can only be 2nd decl masc, 2nd dec fem, 3rd decl masc or 1st decl fem)

There's also a 'grab bag' class of nouns that begin with consonants that can't be mutated. The gender of a noun in this class is determined solely by meaning, and there is no way to differentiate between its definite and indefinite form.

Tenses

present: ceis, cean (with the article) past: éadh, éan (with the article) future: liobh, lian (with the article) aorist ("timeless"): fo, fon

  • Fon cealim go bhfóina. /fon kealim go bʰfo:jna/ 'The table is white'
  • Cean beathra go dhxeathar. /kean beatʰra go dʰɬeatʰar/ 'The man is walking'
  • Cean bheathra go mblaoigh. /kean bʰeatʰra go ᵐblaojgʰ/ 'A man is speaking'

(go+prenasalization literally means 'in')

Prepositions fusing with 'an'

  • 'in': go + an = ni, go + na = in
  • 'with': ro + an = ca, ro + na = ac
  • 'to': eis + an = sa, eis + na = as
  • 'like': qe + an = xa, qe + na = ax


Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Numerals

  • 0 = dírabh /di:rabʰ/
  • 1 = óis /o:js/
  • 2 = réix /re:jɬ/
  • 3 = daobhe /daobʰe/
  • 4 = fuín /fwi:n/
  • 5 = seamh /seamʰ/
  • 6 = taca /taka/
  • 7 = óista n-óis /o:jsta no:js/
  • 8 = óista réix /o:jsta re:jɬ/
  • 9 = óista ndaobhe /o:jsta ⁿdaobʰe/
  • 10 = óista bhfuín /o:jsta bʰfwi:n/
  • 11 = óista dhseamh /o:jsta dʰseamʰ/
  • 12 = réixta /re:jɬta/
  • 18 = daobheta /daobʰeta/ or daobhta /daobʰta/
  • 24 = fuínta /fwi:nta/
  • 30 = seamhta /seamʰta/
  • 36 = gról /gro:l/
  • 37 = gról d'óis /gro:l do:js/
  • 38 = gról da réix /gro:l da re:jɬ/

...

  • 72 = réix gról

...

  • 1295 = seamhta dhseamh gról da seamhta dhseamh
  • 1296 = quiche /tɬujkʰe/

Example texts

Other resources

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