Verse:Mwail/Séiseal
Séiseal /ˈʃeːʃəl̪ˠ/ is the most widespread language of the continent Ghalki in Verse:Angai, belonging to the Qohtic family.
One well-known work of Séiseal literature is ___, which describes the life of factory farm animals from a second-person perspective. At the end it asks, "If God existed and decided to punish us with the same suffering after death this way for eating animal products, can we object?"
Diachronics
Proto-Séiseal had the following phonology:
- /*m *n *r *l *j *v/
- /*p *t *k *q *b *d *g *G *bh *dh *gh/
- /*s *θ *x *z/
- /*i *æ *a *u *i: *æ: *a: *o: *u: *ai *ei *au *eu/
Broad θ -> modern /ħˠ/, slender θ -> modern /ʃ/
Phonology
The two major accents of Séiseal are Ceadálchóid (inspired by Scottish Gaelic) and Astairíγe (inspired by Munster Irish).
Abstract notation and rules
Consonants: |m n ŋ t k b d g f s x ħ h v z ɣ j ʕ r l| Vowels: |a ‘a ‘i u i: e: a: o: u:|
Phonetic rules |C[+voiced](‘)| + |h| -> |C[-voiced]:(‘)| |m(‘)| + |h| -> |m(‘)p(‘)| |n(‘)| + |h| -> |n(‘)t(‘)|
Consonants
- Nasal: /mˠ mʲ n̪ˠ nʲ ŋ ŋʲ/ m n n/ŋ
- Voiceless stop: /pˠ pʲ t̪ˠ tʲ k kʲ/ p t c
- Voiced stop: /bˠ bʲ d̪ˠ dʲ g gʲ/ b d g
- Voiceless continuant: /fˠ fʲ sˠ ʃ x xʲ ħˠ ħʲ h/ f s ch ħ h
- Voiced continuant: /vˠ vʲ zˠ ʒ ɣ j ʕˠ ʕʲ/ v z γ ȝ
- Liquid: /rˠ rʲ l̪ˠ lʲ/ r l
In both major dialects:
- Voiceless stops are aspirated. In Astairíγe /pˠ t̪ˠ/ may have prominent velar frication: [pˣ t̪ˣ]. All final stops are released.
- /n̪ˠ nʲ/ assimilate to [ŋ ŋʲ] before /k kʲ g gʲ/.
- /ʕˠ ħˠ/ have the vocal quality of [ɑ] and /ʕʲ ħʲ/ the vocal quality of [æ] or cardinal front [a].
Astairíγe palatalized velars are realized as palatals, as in Irish.
Astairíγe /tʲ dʲ/ are palatalized laminal denti-alveolar [t̪ʲ, d̪ʲ] with alveolar allophones [tʲ, dʲ] before /rʲ/. Ceadálchóid /tʲ dʲ/ are [tʃ~tɕ dʒ~dʑ] (with no labialization!), with alveolar allophones [tʲ, dʲ] before /rʲ/.
Astairíγe /fˠ fʲ vˠ vʲ/ are bilabial: [ɸˠ ɸʲ βˠ βʲ].
Vowels
/ə a ɪ ʊ aː eː iː oː uː aj aw/ <a(i)/e(a)/i a/ai/ea/ei io/ui/i u/io/ui á(i)/eá(i) éa/éi/é ao/aoi/í(o)/uí(o) ó(i)/eo(i) (i)ú(i) aγ/aiγ/eaγ/eiγ av/aiv/eav/eiv>
Realizations
/a/
- /'CaC/ <CaC> [ɑ] in Astairíγe, [ä] in Ceadálchóid
- /'CaC’/ <CaiC> [ä~æ] in both
- /'C’aC/ <CeaC> [ä] in Astairíγe, [ɛ] in Ceadálchóid
- /'C’aC’/ <CeiC> [ɛ] in Astarighe, [e] in Ceadálchóid
/ə/:
- Cə <Ca> with broad non-radical C: [ə]
- Cə <Ce> with slender non-radical C: [ɪ̟~ɪ]
- Cə <Ca> with broad radical C: [ɑ]
- Cə <Ce> with slender radical C: [æ]
TODO: schwa between two consonants
/Ci:/ <Caoi(γ), Cuí(γ)> In Astairíγe, [wi:] if C is labial, [ɑ̯i:] if C is pharyngeal, [ɰiː] (Korean eui) otherwise; in Ceadálchóid [ɑ̯ɯː] after radicals, [ɯː] otherwise
/C1uC2’/ <CuiC>
- uiC muiC fuiC buiC ŋuiC cuiC guiC chuiC ghuiC: [ʊ]
- ħuiC ȝuiC: [o̞]
- nuiC tuiC duiC suiC zuiC ruiC luiC: [ɪ]
/C1’iC2/ <CioC>: If C2 is a labial: [ʊ~ʊ̈], otherwise [ɨ̞~ɪ]
/C1’iC2’/ <CiC>: front [ɪ]
The pronunciation of /C’aːC’/, /C’e:C/, and /oː/ varies by dialect.
The vowel in /C’aːC’/: [ɒː ɑː äː æː]: [æː] in Astairíγe, [ɛː] in Ceadálchóid
The vowel in /C’e:C/: [iɑ] in Astairíγe, [iä] in Ceadálchóid, other dialects: [e: ea eə e̝ä iä]
/oː/: [o̝ʌ] in Astairíγe [oː] in Ceadálchóid
Stress
Stress is somewhat phonemic. Word-final <-γ> or <-ˀ> on a long vowel indicates word-final stress.
Intonation
Astairíγe: Traditional Cork Irish; Ceadálchóid: Arabic-esque