Avalonian: Difference between revisions

==Introduction==

Avalonian (c) Rebecca Ashling 2019-2021. I assert that the Avalonian conlang presented here is my intellectual property and confirm that Linguifex may post this material on their site.

 

It is the majority language of the Avalonian Isles (Aval: Telku) and has approximately 44.2 million speakers. The Stannic Commonwealth of Avalon (Mag: Qaratti Thaknat Anakte Telkun) comprises the entirety of the fictional islands of Hivarna (OTL: Newfoundland), Kalephū (OTL: Nova Scotia peninsula) and Ehatramit (OTL: Cape Breton Island).

There is also some evidence of borrowing from the putative Goidelic substrate languages. An example of this would be hārhag 'crab'.

Avalonian grammar and morphology are strongly modelled on those of the Inuit and Yupik languages. Its phonology was influenced by Finnish and Welsh with an intention to get something of a cross between Quenya and Sindarin in aesthetic effect. I can't say I succeeded in that particular aim but the end result is interesting, pleasant and easy for me to pronounce.

Avalonian had no native script until the arrival of missionary monks in the 6th Century CE. The Latin alphabet (Aval: Litērhatti Ruman) has undergone many changes and revisions over the centuries. The current version was adopted in 1908.

Avalonian spelling in Litērhatti Ruman is a  deep orthography which reflects the language's etymological history and phonological processes such as sandhi. The letters ⟨c, f, o, s, w, x, y, z⟩ are not used, even to spell foreign names.

|⟨q⟩||/k’/

Avalonian has a total of 29 consonants which according to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Stucture is a moderately large inventory. The most striking features of the inventory, according to WALS are a voicing contrast in fricatives but not plosives, the presence of ejectives, lateral obstruents and and the initial velar nasal. The consonants are displayed in the table below:

|  ||'''Labial'''||'''Central Alveolar'''||'''Lateral Alveolar'''||'''Palato-Alveolar'''||'''Palatal'''||'''Plain Velar'''||'''Labialised Velar'''||'''Glottal'''

|'''Plosive'''||/p/||/t/||||||||/k/||||

|'''Ejective'''||/p’/||/t’/|||||||||/k’/||||/ʔ/

|'''Affricate'''||||||/tɬ/||/tʃ/||/kxʲ/||||/kxʷ/||

|'''Voiceless Fricative'''||/f/||/s/||||||||/x/||||

|'''Voiced Fricative'''||/v/||/z/||||||||/ɣ/||||

|'''Nasal'''||/m/||/n/||||||||/ŋ/||||

|'''Voiced Liquid'''||||||/l/||/ɹ̠/||||||||

|'''Voiceless Liquid'''||||||/ɬ/||/ʃ/||||||||

|'''Voiced Semivowel'''||||||||||/j/||||/w/||

|'''Voiceless Semivowel'''||||||||||/xʲ/||||/xʷ/||

|'''Aspirate'''||||||||||||||||/h/

Avalonian has a total of 8 vowels, 4 monophthongs and 4 diphthongs. According to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures Magellanican has 4 vowel qualities which is a small inventory. Magellanican has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 2.75 which according to WALS is an average ratio. Avalonian is unusual for not possessing any low vowels such as /a/. Diphthongs are treated as phonological long vowels. The vowels are displayed in the table below:

1) /p, t, k/ are realised as [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] in word-initial position.

2) /p, t, k/ are realised as [b, d, ɡ] in coda position before a voiced fricative or nasal onset.

3) /tɬ, tʃ, kxʲ, kxʷ/ are realised as [tɬʰ, tʃʰ, kxʲʰ, kxʷʰ/ in word-initial position.

4) /ɹ̠/ is realised as [ʃ] in coda position before a voiceless onset.

5) /ɹ̠/ is realised as [ʒ] in coda position elsewhere.

6) /ɬ/ is realised as [θ̠] in coda position.

7) /pp, tt, kk/ are realised as [pf, ts, kx].

8) /mm, nn, ŋŋ/ are realised as [mb, nd, ŋɡ].

 

 

 

11) In closed syllables /i, u/ are realised as [ɪ, ʊ].

3) According to the World Atlas of Language Structures, the rhythm type is trochaic.

4) To an English speaker, Avalonian would appear to be spoken with a slower tempo than English is.

2) /p’, t’, k’/ are only permitted in root-initial position.

 

 

4) Permitted word-medial syllable coda consonants are:

5) Permitted root-final syllable consonant codas are:

 

6) Consonant clusters may not have more than two segments.

 

8) Permitted consonant clusters as per the table below:

|'''P'''||'''T'''||'''K'''||'''M'''||'''N'''||'''G'''||'''L'''||'''R'''||

|||√||√||√||||||||||'''PH'''

|√||√||√||||||||||||'''MH'''

|√||√||√||||||||||||'''NH'''

|√||√||√||||||||||||'''GH'''

|√||√||√||||||√||√||√||'''G'''

|||||||||√||||√||||'''L'''

|||||||||√||||||√||'''R'''

|||||||||||√||√||√||'''J'''

|||||||||||√||||||'''HV'''

|||||||||||||||||'''H'''

9) /i, eɪ/ may not follow /j/.

 

10) /u, oʊ/ may not follow /w/.

 

11) /eɪ, aɪ/ may not precede /j/.

12) /oʊ, ɑʊ/ may not precede /w/.

13) Long vowels may not occur in closed syllables.

14) Vowel clusters do not occur.

15) Canonical morpheme syllabification templates:

a) Roots: CV(C)- or CV(C)CV(C)-

b) Suffixes: -(C)(C)V(C) or -(C)V(C)CV(C)

c) Particles: CV(C) or CV(C)CV(C)

16) Monosyllabic roots are uncommon and mainly comprise pronouns and certain common nouns and verbs.

17) Monosyllabic suffixes may have a word-final allomorph consisting of a single coda consonant which is employed after a short vowel.

18) Roots originating through foreign borrowings may exceed two syllables.

! P!! T!! K!! PH!! TH!! KH!! MH!! NH!! GH!! M!! N!! G!!L!! R!! LH!! RH!!

|pp||tp||kp||pp||tph||kph||mph||mph||mph||mp||mp||mp||lp||rp||lp||rp||'''P'''

| pt|| tt|| kt|| pth||tt||kth||nth||nth||nth||nt|| nt|| nt||lt|| rt|| lt||rt||'''T'''

| pk|| tk|| kk||pkh||tkh||kk||gkh||gkh||gkh|| gk|| gk|| gk||lk|| rk||lk||rk|| '''K'''

| ptl|| v̄tl|| ktl|| ptl||v̄tl||ktl||ntl||ntl||ntl||ntl|| ntl|| ntl|| v̄lh|| rtl||v̄lh||rtl||'''TL'''

| ptr || v̄tr|| ktr||ptr||v̄tr||ktr||ntr||ntr||ntr||ntr||ntr|| ntr|| ltr|| v̄rh||ltr||v̄rh|| '''TR'''

|pkj||tkj||v̄kj||pkj||tkj||v̄kj||gkj||gkj||gkj||gkj||gkj||gkj||lkj||rkj||lkj||rkj||'''KJ'''

|pkv||tkv||v̄kv||gkv||gkv||gkv||lkv||rkv||'''KV'''

|pp||tph||kph||mph||mph||mph||lp||rp||'''PH'''

|pth||tt||kth||nth||nth||nth||lt||rt||'''TH'''

|pkh||tkh||kk||gkh||gkh||gkh||lk||rk||'''KH'''

|pmh||tmh||kmh||v̄mh||v̄mh||v̄mh||lm||rm||'''MH'''

|pnh||tnh||knh||v̄nh||v̄nh||v̄nh||ln||rn||'''NH'''

|pgh||tgh||kgh||v̄gh||v̄gh||v̄gh||lg||rg||'''GH'''

| pm || tm|| km|| mm|| mm|| mm|| lm|| rm|| '''M'''

| pn|| tn|| kn|| nn|| nn|| nn|| ln|| rn|| '''N'''

| pg || tg|| kg|| gg|| gg|| gg|| lg|| rg|| '''G'''

| v̄lh|| v̄tl|| v̄lh|| nl|| nl|| nl|| ll|| ll|| '''L'''

| v̄rh|| v̄tr|| v̄rh|| nr|| nr|| nr|| rr|| rr|| '''R'''

| v̄jh || v̄jh|| v̄kj|| gj|| gj|| gj|| lj|| rj|| '''J'''

| v̄vh|| v̄vh|| v̄kv|| gv|| gv|| gv|| lv|| rv|| '''V'''

|v̄jh||v̄jh||v̄kj||gjh||gjh||gjh||lkj||rkj||'''HJ'''

|v̄vh||v̄vh||v̄kv||gvh||gvh||gvh||lkv||rkv||'''HV'''

|v̄ph||v̄th||v̄kh||v̄mh||v̄nh||v̄gh||v̄lh||v̄rh||'''H'''

2) If a three-segment consonant cluster results from suffixation then the first consonant of that cluster is deleted.

| ī|| ī|| ī|| ē|| i-y-e|| u-w-i|| e-y-e|| a-w-i|| '''I'''

| ū|| ū|| ā||ū|| i-y-u|| u-w-a|| e-y-u|| a-w-a|| '''U'''

| ē || ī|| ē|| ē|| i-y-e|| u-w-e|| e-y-e|| a-w-e|| '''E'''

| ū || ā|| ā|| ā|| i-y-a|| u-w-a|| e-y-a|| a-w-a|| '''A'''

| i-g-ī || u-g-ī|| e-g-ī|| a-g-ī|| i-y-ē|| u-w-ī|| e-y-ē|| a-w-ī|| '''Ī'''

| i-g-ū || u-g-ū|| e-g-ū|| a-g-ū|| i-y-ū|| u-w-ā|| e-y-ū|| a-w-ā|| '''Ū'''

| i-g-ē || u-g-ē|| e-g-ē|| a-g-ē|| i-y-ē|| u-w-ē|| e-y-ē|| a-w-ē|| '''Ē'''

| i-g-ā|| u-g-ā|| e-g-ā|| a-g-ā|| i-y-ā|| u-w-ā|| e-y-ā|| a-w-ā|| '''Ā'''

c) The notation v̄, where v represents any vowel, indicates two short vowels have merged into a long vowel.

d) The notation -c-, where c represents any of /ŋ, j, w/, indicates an epenthetic consonant has been inserted to break up the vowel cluster.

3) For the purposes of external sandhi ejectives are treated as their corresponding plosives and /ʔ/ is treated as identical to any preceding word-final consonant.

 

4) External sandhi affects any juncture between word-final consonants and word-initial consonants.

5) These junctures are treated like consonant clusters and sandhi proceeds as it would in internal consonantal sandhi.

1) Avalonian nouns have three grammatical numbers:

a) Singular

b) Paucal

c) Plural

2) Singular refers to a single instance of a noun.

 

4) Plural refers to multiple instances six or more in number.

 

5) Avalonian grammatical numbers are summarised in the table below:

| Paucal || PC|| -me (-m)

| Plural || PL|| -har

b) Indicates definite O argument of a transitive verb

c) Marks definite S argument of an intransitive verb

| Ergative || ERG || -nu  (-n)||a) Indicates definite A argument of a transitive verb

|Dative||DAT||-hē||

|Instrumental||INST||-tik||

|Equative||EQU||-te (-t)||

|Comitative||COM|| -kve||

|Locative||LOC||-ki (-k)||

|Allative||ALL||-va||

|Ablative||ABL||-jā

|Perlative||PERL||-am||  

1) Pronominal demonstratives are identical to the 3rd, 4th and 5th person pronouns.

2) Adnominal demonstratives are suffixes, believed derived from compounds of the 3rd, 4th, 5th person pronouns and the sole Old Avalonian demonstrative ken.

3) Adnominal demonstrative suffixes are rarely used with core arguments except for emphasis.

4) The demonstratives are displayed in the table below:

|'''Distance'''||'''Abbreviation'''||'''Locus Of Application'''||'''Person'''||'''Demonstrative Suffix

| Proximal|| PROX||Near speaker||3rd|| -tken

|Medial||MED||Near hearer||4th||-pken

|Distal||DIST||Away from speaker and hearer||5th||-lken

1) Avalonian has three reflexive pronouns plus their possessive forms as per the table below:

2) Reflexive pronouns are used when the agent or subject is also the object or oblique.

1) There is one interroɡative pronoun: ye 'who, what' which is undifferentiated for number.

2) All other interrogatives are built from this by adding the appropriate case. Eɡ: yek 'where?', yekwe 'with whom?'

3) There is an interrogative pronominal possessive suffix: -yet 'whose?'.

4) Suffixing -ye to a noun gives the sense of 'which?'.

6) When an interrogative pronoun is used with a verb, that verb takes plural agreement.

 

 

Avalonian has the dedicated reflexive pronoun la.

|1||pate

|2||pika

|3||irru

|4||lar

|6||he

|7||hāhi

|8||rāthu

|9||patrāthu

|12||amparpika

|13||amparirru

|14||ampallar

|16||ampārhē

|17||ampārhāhi

|18||amparrāthu

|19||amparpatrāthu

|20||ake

|40||pikāke

|60||irrūke

|80||larake

|100||annu

|200|| pika annu

|1.965||milya patrāthu annu irrūke pārha

|3.000||irru milya

|50.000|| pikāke ampar milya

|100.000|| annu milya

|600.000|| he annu milya

|7.000.000|| hāhi milyan

1) Verbs express actions, processes or states of being. Verbs are inflected for A, S, O and X arguments, aspect, valency and mood.

verbal or nominal root + derivational suffix(es) + aspect suffix + mood suffix + agentive suffix + subjective or objective suffix +

oblique suffix

| '''Argument''' || '''Singular Suffix(Allomorph)'''|| '''Paucal Suffix'''||'''Plural Suffix'''

| Agentive|| -ki (-k) || -kuk||-kat

|Subjective or Objective||-ti (-ti)||-tuk||-tat

| Oblique|| -ni (-n)||-nuk||-nat

====Voice====

 

 

 

c) Passive

2) These are indicated by the presence or absence of verbal pronominal suffices as per the table below:

|'''Voice'''||'''Abbreviation'''||'''Ergative Suffix?'''||'''Absolutive Suffix?'''||'''Promoted Argument'''||'''Case Of Demoted Argument'''||'''Function'''

|Active||ACT||Yes||Yes||N/A||N/A||No topicalisation of either argument

|Antipassive||ANTIP||Yes||No||ERG||DAT||Topicalisation of A argument

|Passive||PAS||No||Yes||ABS||INST||Topicalisation of O argument

3) Intransitive verbs do not indicate voice as their S argument is the only topic of the sentence.

1) The gerund uses the suffix -ken which is adde in lieu of pronominal ergative or absolutive suffixes

|amber ||warhu

|automobile ||harpat

|Avalonian Pound (currency)||līrhu

|cheese ||kāhan

|cockerel, rooster ||halyāk

|cow ||pagi

|fire ||ghārhu

|flower ||vetta

|pig||urta

|sword ||ghigak

|kill||qutkwa