Cerian: Difference between revisions
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|nativename = Čérízon<br/>šérošu čérí | |nativename = Čérízon<br/>šérošu čérí | ||
|pronunciation = {{IPA|[tʃeːˈriːzon]}}<br/>{{IPA|[ˈʃeːroʃu tʃeːˈriː]}} | |pronunciation = {{IPA|[tʃeːˈriːzon]}}<br/>{{IPA|[ˈʃeːroʃu tʃeːˈriː]}} | ||
|region = Western | |region = Western Seralton (Great Cerian Plain) | ||
|ethnicity = Cerians | |ethnicity = Cerians | ||
|speakers = {{formatnum:450000000}} | |speakers = {{formatnum:450000000}} | ||
|date = 2312 | |date = 2312 | ||
|setting = [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]] | |setting = [[Verse:Eventoa|Eventoa]]<br>(originally [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]]) | ||
|familycolor = #33FF99 | |familycolor = #33FF99 | ||
|fam1 = [[ | |fam1 = [[Seraltonian languages]] | ||
|fam2 = Central | |fam2 = Central Seraltonian | ||
|fam3 = Íscégon | |fam3 = Íscégon | ||
|creator = [[User:Lili21|Lili21]] | |creator = [[User:Lili21|Lili21]] | ||
|created = Mar 2017 | |created = Mar 2017 | ||
|script = Íscégon script for Cerian | |script = Íscégon script for Cerian | ||
|image = Flag of Ceria.png | <!--|image = Flag of Ceria.png | ||
|imagealt = Flag of the Republic of Ceria | |imagealt = Flag of the Republic of Ceria--> | ||
|notice=IPA | |notice=IPA | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Cerian''' — natively '''Čérízon''' ({{IPA|[tʃeːˈriːzon]}} (SEC); {{IPA|[tʃeɪ̯ˈʁiːzon]}} (L. Bénáteno); {{IPA|[tɕʰeˈriːzɔn]}} (Pásuone)) or '''šérošu čérí''' {{IPA|[ˈʃeːroʃu tʃeːˈriː]}} (SEC) — is the main | '''Cerian''' — natively '''Čérízon''' ({{IPA|[tʃeːˈriːzon]}} (SEC); {{IPA|[tʃeɪ̯ˈʁiːzon]}} (L. Bénáteno); {{IPA|[tɕʰeˈriːzɔn]}} (Pásuone)) or '''šérošu čérí''' {{IPA|[ˈʃeːroʃu tʃeːˈriː]}} (SEC) — is one of the main lingue franche on the planet [[Verse:Eventoa|Eventoa]], particularly in Seralton and among former colonies, and its second-most spoken language by number of native speakers (after [[Dundulanyä]]). It is a [[Seraltonian languages|Seraltonian language]] belonging to the Central Seraltonian branch, and one of the direct descendants of one of the two most important Classical language of the Eventoan Western civilization, namely [[Íscégon]]. | ||
Native to the country of Ceria (Cer.: ''Čéría''; Isc.: ''Ciairegiion'') in the western part of | Native to the country of Ceria (Cer.: ''Čéría''; Isc.: ''Ciairegiion'') in the western part of Seralton, Cerian is the official language of ten countries in that continent - Ceria, Šáritun, Vétaní, Čaha, Rocoma, Corevía, Ótéa, Úrofa, Noméde Ínéma, and Sternia (Cer. ''Seténía'' - co-official with Majo-Bankrávian) - and 37 other countries around the planet.<!-- It is also a regionally recognized language in the Evandorian countries of Besagret, Helinetia, Ingvensia, Auralia and Nordulic (Cer.: ''Bésói'', ''Helinétía'', ''Envenšía'', ''Órolía'', ''Nódóa''), and in many other countries of the planet, including even a few areas in the northwestern [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Chlouvānem Inquisition]].--> | ||
==External History== | ==External History== | ||
The name Ceria (and therefore Cerian), as with many major | The name Ceria (and therefore Cerian), as with many major peoples and places of both Calémere and Eventoa, dates back to my first proto-conworlding projects, and I simply imported it into Calémere - something that meant justifying the very-IE-looking ''-ia'' ending in a Calémerian linguistic perspective.<br/>Cerian itself is the main lingua franca of Calémere, a role equivalent to that English has on Earth, and to some extent English is one of my inspiration, although only as far as Cerian, just like English, has a large number of dialects spoken in many countries across the world. Aesthetically, my main inspirations behind Cerian are Latin, Japanese (mostly in the syllable structure), and to a lesser extent also Norwegian and Swedish. Grammatically I wanted a mostly analytic language, even though in the end it is not as analytic as other Evandorian languages (such as [[Nordulaki]], to name one) and with some SAE traits, most notably phonology (even though that lack of a distinction between /r/ and /l/ is not SAE at all), mixed in with a few non-European traits (such as the tense system). | ||
==Dialects== | In 2022, while shifting my conworlding focus from Calémere to Eventoa, I decided to "import" Cerian (and, consequently, Proto-Evandorian, renamed Proto-Seraltonian together with the corresponding continent, and Íscégon) into the new conworld. | ||
<!--==Dialects== | |||
Due to being one of the most widespread native languages on the planet and having an extremely large number of L2 speakers, with at least one Cerian-speaking country on each continent, there are multiple Cerian dialects. | Due to being one of the most widespread native languages on the planet and having an extremely large number of L2 speakers, with at least one Cerian-speaking country on each continent, there are multiple Cerian dialects. | ||
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* New Ézélonían Cerian – New Ézélonía is the Cerian-speaking country farthest from others, being located in the northeastern part of Márusúturon and bordering only the Inquisition and Greater Skyrdagor. The majority of the country is sparsely inhabited taiga (and tundra along the coast north of 56ºN), and most inhabitants of those areas are either indigenous peoples or settlers of mining or lodging towns; the majority of the population is found in two areas of the country: the inland Catézo valley and the areas around Fúrion Bay and the Fúrion peninsula at the far southern end of the country; New Ézélonían Cerian dialects - which are the native language of most of the population - are therefore only broadly distinguished into ''catézonen'' and ''fúrionen'', but the differences between them are small. Influences from indigenous languages are very limited, as are those from Chlouvānem or Skyrdagor (the border with Greater Skyrdagor is in the remote taiga, while the Chlouvānem border, while open, is only crossed sporadically in either directions due to the tense relationship between the two countries). New Ézélonían Cerian is the standard dialect officially adopted in the country, but it is not taught in any foreign country. | * New Ézélonían Cerian – New Ézélonía is the Cerian-speaking country farthest from others, being located in the northeastern part of Márusúturon and bordering only the Inquisition and Greater Skyrdagor. The majority of the country is sparsely inhabited taiga (and tundra along the coast north of 56ºN), and most inhabitants of those areas are either indigenous peoples or settlers of mining or lodging towns; the majority of the population is found in two areas of the country: the inland Catézo valley and the areas around Fúrion Bay and the Fúrion peninsula at the far southern end of the country; New Ézélonían Cerian dialects - which are the native language of most of the population - are therefore only broadly distinguished into ''catézonen'' and ''fúrionen'', but the differences between them are small. Influences from indigenous languages are very limited, as are those from Chlouvānem or Skyrdagor (the border with Greater Skyrdagor is in the remote taiga, while the Chlouvānem border, while open, is only crossed sporadically in either directions due to the tense relationship between the two countries). New Ézélonían Cerian is the standard dialect officially adopted in the country, but it is not taught in any foreign country. | ||
* Aréntízon, Répérutonen, and Péránizen are the Cerian variants spoken in the three former Cerian colonies in western Márusúturon, on the southeastern shore of the Carpan Sea, respectively Aréntía, Répéruton, and Péráno – mostly covered by desert, especially Aréntía. Unlike New Ézélonían Cerian, but like Cerian varieties in Védren, Fárásen, and Ovítioná, these varieties of Cerian are spoken mostly as second languages by indigenous speakers, as only small numbers of Cerians of Evandorian origin remain in those countries. | * Aréntízon, Répérutonen, and Péránizen are the Cerian variants spoken in the three former Cerian colonies in western Márusúturon, on the southeastern shore of the Carpan Sea, respectively Aréntía, Répéruton, and Péráno – mostly covered by desert, especially Aréntía. Unlike New Ézélonían Cerian, but like Cerian varieties in Védren, Fárásen, and Ovítioná, these varieties of Cerian are spoken mostly as second languages by indigenous speakers, as only small numbers of Cerians of Evandorian origin remain in those countries. | ||
* Tárošébizen is the name for the Cerian dialect spoken as a first language by Cerians in the former Cerian colony of Tárošébi, today the Chlouvānem diocese of the Tārṣaivai, in the Northwest (not far from the border with Aréntía). Cerians in Tārṣaivai are a small minority (about ten thousand people) consisting of the descendants of those Evandorians that didn't leave the territory after it was taken by the Chlouvānem. Tárošébizen is a divergent dialect as its speakers have had for more than a century very limited contacts with the rest of the Cerian-speaking world, and it is only preserved as the language of a small minority; it has absorbed numerous influences from Chlouvānem, and notably it generally does not share vocabulary related to technology, culture, or science of the last hundred years with other Cerian dialects; Tárošébizen speakers are likely to be familiar only with Standard Evandorian Cerian, as it is the Cerian dialect usually taught as a foreign language in the Inquisition. Despite this, it remains the native vernacular of the Cerian ethnic community of the Inquisition, mostly remaining in Tārṣaivai but sometimes also found in other major cities of the country<ref>The lexical divergence of Tárošébizen from other Cerian dialects is especially noted, in fact, by immigrants to other Chlouvānem cities, where there are small pockets of people from Cerian-speaking countries of the Western world who immigrated to the Inquisition.</ref>. | * Tárošébizen is the name for the Cerian dialect spoken as a first language by Cerians in the former Cerian colony of Tárošébi, today the Chlouvānem diocese of the Tārṣaivai, in the Northwest (not far from the border with Aréntía). Cerians in Tārṣaivai are a small minority (about ten thousand people) consisting of the descendants of those Evandorians that didn't leave the territory after it was taken by the Chlouvānem. Tárošébizen is a divergent dialect as its speakers have had for more than a century very limited contacts with the rest of the Cerian-speaking world, and it is only preserved as the language of a small minority; it has absorbed numerous influences from Chlouvānem, and notably it generally does not share vocabulary related to technology, culture, or science of the last hundred years with other Cerian dialects; Tárošébizen speakers are likely to be familiar only with Standard Evandorian Cerian, as it is the Cerian dialect usually taught as a foreign language in the Inquisition. Despite this, it remains the native vernacular of the Cerian ethnic community of the Inquisition, mostly remaining in Tārṣaivai but sometimes also found in other major cities of the country<ref>The lexical divergence of Tárošébizen from other Cerian dialects is especially noted, in fact, by immigrants to other Chlouvānem cities, where there are small pockets of people from Cerian-speaking countries of the Western world who immigrated to the Inquisition.</ref>.--> | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
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All consonants except voiced fricatives, approximants, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/h/}} can be geminated. | All consonants except voiced fricatives, approximants, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/h/}} can be geminated. | ||
{{IPA|/h/}} is lost in about half of all | {{IPA|/h/}} is lost in about half of all Seraltonian dialects (including all of the most spoken ones, but notably it is preserved in formal Standard Seraltonian Cerian) and in virtually all Púrítonen ones; it is generally still found in dialects spoken on other continents. | ||
===Vowels=== | ===Vowels=== | ||
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Vowels are extremely varied in different Cerian dialects, with the long-short contrast being actually realized depending on dialect as a pure quantity one, a quality one, a hybrid quality-quantity, by having monophthongs vs. diphthongs, and with some possible mergers or (more rarely) splits. The phonemic representation given above is conventional and reflects the spelling as well as the underlying phoneme in ''most'' (not necessary all) Cerian dialects. For example, ''élógen'' "lamp" - phonemically represented as {{IPA|/eːˈroːgen/}} is pronounced in different ways, including: | Vowels are extremely varied in different Cerian dialects, with the long-short contrast being actually realized depending on dialect as a pure quantity one, a quality one, a hybrid quality-quantity, by having monophthongs vs. diphthongs, and with some possible mergers or (more rarely) splits. The phonemic representation given above is conventional and reflects the spelling as well as the underlying phoneme in ''most'' (not necessary all) Cerian dialects. For example, ''élógen'' "lamp" - phonemically represented as {{IPA|/eːˈroːgen/}} is pronounced in different ways, including: | ||
* | * Seraltonian dialects: {{IPA|[e(ː)ˈroːgɐn]}} (Mánébodin Cerian or Standard Seraltonian Cerian), {{IPA|[ɪːˈroːgɪn]}} (Čagan Cerian), {{IPA|[eə̯ˈʁɔːgən]}} (Central Coastal), {{IPA|[eˈlogɛn]}} (Hilly Southeastern - note the conservation of {{IPA|/l/}}), {{IPA|[(j)eːˈruːgʲən]}} (Šáritunen) | ||
* | <!--* Prétalonian dialects: {{IPA|[eɪ̯ˈrʊə̯gən]}} (NE Coastal Púrítonen), {{IPA|[ɛɪ̯ˈruːgen]}} (Inland Northern Púrítonen), {{IPA|[eɪ̯ˈʁoʊ̯gen]}} (Lake Bénáteno) | ||
* | * Céránenian dialects: {{IPA|[eːˈɾoːgʲɪn]}} (Cánésen), {{IPA|[eˈruːgʲɪn]}} (Pásuone)--> | ||
===Prosody=== | ===Prosody=== | ||
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* BUT: ''šen ránéco'' "the sister"; ''šen dé'' "the wall", ''šen tení'' "the sun". | * BUT: ''šen ránéco'' "the sister"; ''šen dé'' "the wall", ''šen tení'' "the sun". | ||
Demonyms and nouns of both genders: | <!--Demonyms and nouns of both genders: | ||
* ''šo/šen Helinetízon'' "the Helinetian man/woman"; ''šo/šen Nódóion'' "the Nordûlaki man/woman"; ''šo/šen Ímúnigúronen'' "the Chlouvānem man/woman". | * ''šo/šen Helinetízon'' "the Helinetian man/woman"; ''šo/šen Nódóion'' "the Nordûlaki man/woman"; ''šo/šen Ímúnigúronen'' "the Chlouvānem man/woman". | ||
** cf. adjectives ''helinetízon'' "Helinetian", ''nódóion'' "Nordûlaki'', ''ímúnigúronen'' "Chlouvānem". | ** cf. adjectives ''helinetízon'' "Helinetian", ''nódóion'' "Nordûlaki'', ''ímúnigúronen'' "Chlouvānem". | ||
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* non-demonyms: ''šo/šen tífude'' "the husband/wife"; ''šo/šen vajúni'' "the boy/girl" (dialectal, Púrítonen Cerian). | * non-demonyms: ''šo/šen tífude'' "the husband/wife"; ''šo/šen vajúni'' "the boy/girl" (dialectal, Púrítonen Cerian). | ||
===Pronouns=== | |||
Cerian pronouns are simple, even though they are more complex than nouns, with four forms: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative/oblique (post-prepositional). | Cerian pronouns are simple, even though they are more complex than nouns, with four forms: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative/oblique (post-prepositional). | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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===Verbs=== | ===Verbs=== | ||
Like other descendants of Íscégon, Cerian radically restructured the Íscégon verbal system. While Íscégon had a system of mostly prefixing inflections that mainly changed aspect or valency, these inflections have with time transformed into self-standing verbs, becoming a derivational process rather than an inflectional one (cf. Ísc. ''táso'' "I walk", ''máentáso'' "I start walking" → Cer. ''tóson'' "to go, walk", ''méntón'', earlier ''méntóson'' "to depart"). These aspectual inflections and valency changes are now marked by auxiliary verbs or adverbs (with few exceptions); meanwhile, Cerian (and other descendants of Íscégon, as well as some languages influenced by it in a sprachbund covering various parts of central | Like other descendants of Íscégon, Cerian radically restructured the Íscégon verbal system. While Íscégon had a system of mostly prefixing inflections that mainly changed aspect or valency, these inflections have with time transformed into self-standing verbs, becoming a derivational process rather than an inflectional one (cf. Ísc. ''táso'' "I walk", ''máentáso'' "I start walking" → Cer. ''tóson'' "to go, walk", ''méntón'', earlier ''méntóson'' "to depart"). These aspectual inflections and valency changes are now marked by auxiliary verbs or adverbs (with few exceptions); meanwhile, Cerian (and other descendants of Íscégon, as well as some languages influenced by it in a sprachbund covering various parts of central Seralton<!--, most notably Nordûlaki-->) started cliticizing at the end of the verb various adverbs that served to indicate tense; later on, in Cerian (excluding some Southern dialects) and Péigu only, final ''-n'' in some of those adverbs started being analyzed as a feminine marker, which led to it being added to those verbs that did not have it, resulting in the present system that morphologically marks tense and gender. | ||
Morphologically, Cerian verbs are simple and agglutinative, however they are used in various auxiliary constructions in order to mark aspect, mood, and valency. | Morphologically, Cerian verbs are simple and agglutinative, however they are used in various auxiliary constructions in order to mark aspect, mood, and valency. | ||
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* ''tíušimóni čelétti'' "it (m) was read [earlier today]", ''tíušimónin čeléttín'' "it (f) was read [earlier today]"; | * ''tíušimóni čelétti'' "it (m) was read [earlier today]", ''tíušimónin čeléttín'' "it (f) was read [earlier today]"; | ||
* ''úšire čelétti'' "it (m) used to be read", ''úširen čeléttín'' "it (f) used to be read". | * ''úšire čelétti'' "it (m) used to be read", ''úširen čeléttín'' "it (f) used to be read". | ||
==Syntax== | ==Syntax== | ||
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==Example texts== | ==Example texts== | ||
==Other resources== | ==Other resources== | ||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Cerian]] | ||
[[Category:Languages]] | [[Category:Languages]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Eventoa]] | ||
[[Category:Artlangs]] | [[Category:Artlangs]] | ||
Latest revision as of 20:32, 28 March 2022
| Cerian | |
|---|---|
| Čérízon šérošu čérí | |
| Pronunciation | [[tʃeːˈriːzon] [ˈʃeːroʃu tʃeːˈriː]] |
| Created by | Lili21 |
| Date | Mar 2017 |
| Setting | Eventoa (originally Calémere) |
| Ethnicity | Cerians |
| Native speakers | 450,000,000 (2312) |
Seraltonian languages
| |
Cerian — natively Čérízon ([tʃeːˈriːzon] (SEC); [tʃeɪ̯ˈʁiːzon] (L. Bénáteno); [tɕʰeˈriːzɔn] (Pásuone)) or šérošu čérí [ˈʃeːroʃu tʃeːˈriː] (SEC) — is one of the main lingue franche on the planet Eventoa, particularly in Seralton and among former colonies, and its second-most spoken language by number of native speakers (after Dundulanyä). It is a Seraltonian language belonging to the Central Seraltonian branch, and one of the direct descendants of one of the two most important Classical language of the Eventoan Western civilization, namely Íscégon.
Native to the country of Ceria (Cer.: Čéría; Isc.: Ciairegiion) in the western part of Seralton, Cerian is the official language of ten countries in that continent - Ceria, Šáritun, Vétaní, Čaha, Rocoma, Corevía, Ótéa, Úrofa, Noméde Ínéma, and Sternia (Cer. Seténía - co-official with Majo-Bankrávian) - and 37 other countries around the planet.
External History
The name Ceria (and therefore Cerian), as with many major peoples and places of both Calémere and Eventoa, dates back to my first proto-conworlding projects, and I simply imported it into Calémere - something that meant justifying the very-IE-looking -ia ending in a Calémerian linguistic perspective.
Cerian itself is the main lingua franca of Calémere, a role equivalent to that English has on Earth, and to some extent English is one of my inspiration, although only as far as Cerian, just like English, has a large number of dialects spoken in many countries across the world. Aesthetically, my main inspirations behind Cerian are Latin, Japanese (mostly in the syllable structure), and to a lesser extent also Norwegian and Swedish. Grammatically I wanted a mostly analytic language, even though in the end it is not as analytic as other Evandorian languages (such as Nordulaki, to name one) and with some SAE traits, most notably phonology (even though that lack of a distinction between /r/ and /l/ is not SAE at all), mixed in with a few non-European traits (such as the tense system).
In 2022, while shifting my conworlding focus from Calémere to Eventoa, I decided to "import" Cerian (and, consequently, Proto-Evandorian, renamed Proto-Seraltonian together with the corresponding continent, and Íscégon) into the new conworld.
Phonology
Consonants
The consonant inventory among different Cerian dialects is fairly similar, with the most noticeable exception being Hilly Southeastern Cerian (the predominant variant in the country of Úrofa) which are the only ones that didn't merge Íscégon /l/ into /r/ (the distinction is still kept everywhere in the spelling - e.g. áleron "road" /ˈaːreron/ even if 95% of speakers merge them). Many Southern Cerian dialects (incl. e.g. Šáritunen Cerian) also have /dʒ/ instead of /ʒ/, as Old Cerian did.
| → PoA ↓ Manner |
Labial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Alveolopalatal | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | m m | n n | ||||||
| Plosives | Voiceless | p p | t t | c k | ||||
| Voiced | b b | d d | g ɡ | |||||
| Affricates | č tʃ | |||||||
| Fricatives | Voiceless | f f | s s | š ʃ | h h | |||
| Voiced | v v | z z | j ʒ | |||||
| Trill | r-l r | |||||||
| Approximants | u w | i j | ||||||
All consonants except voiced fricatives, approximants, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ and /h/ can be geminated.
/h/ is lost in about half of all Seraltonian dialects (including all of the most spoken ones, but notably it is preserved in formal Standard Seraltonian Cerian) and in virtually all Púrítonen ones; it is generally still found in dialects spoken on other continents.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i í i iː | u ú u uː | |
| Mid | e é e eː | o ó o oː | |
| Low | a á a aː |
Vowels are extremely varied in different Cerian dialects, with the long-short contrast being actually realized depending on dialect as a pure quantity one, a quality one, a hybrid quality-quantity, by having monophthongs vs. diphthongs, and with some possible mergers or (more rarely) splits. The phonemic representation given above is conventional and reflects the spelling as well as the underlying phoneme in most (not necessary all) Cerian dialects. For example, élógen "lamp" - phonemically represented as /eːˈroːgen/ is pronounced in different ways, including:
- Seraltonian dialects: [e(ː)ˈroːgɐn] (Mánébodin Cerian or Standard Seraltonian Cerian), [ɪːˈroːgɪn] (Čagan Cerian), [eə̯ˈʁɔːgən] (Central Coastal), [eˈlogɛn] (Hilly Southeastern - note the conservation of /l/), [(j)eːˈruːgʲən] (Šáritunen)
Prosody
Stress
Intonation
Phonotactics
Cerian phonotactics are very simple, with most syllables – and all syllables outside of learned reborrowings from Íscégon or Ancient Nivarese – being of the structure (C)(L)V(C). The coda consonant may only be one of /n j w/, or gemination of the following consonant.
L in native and nativized words can only be one of /j w/ (not all CL combinations are possible). In certain learned borrowings, the combinations stop + /r/ as well as the sequence /fr/ are possible initial sequences.
Morphophonology
Morphology
Nouns
Cerian (and its sister languages) lost the case system of Íscégon, maintaining only a plural inflection that is formed with the same suffix for all nouns, regardless of gender; the plural suffix actually derives from the Íscégon accusative, not nominative, plural. There are, however, quite a few irregular plurals, of Íscégon origin: as Cerian lost virtually all word-final consonants (save -n), their plural forms didn't have those consonants at the end, so they resurface again in the plural form.
The pluralizing suffix is -uó [woː], with a short vowel if the preceding one is long, and removing the final vowel of the word if it is anything but -o.
- reišan "daughter" → reišanuó "daughters";
- reide "son" → reiduó "sons";
- míe "noun, name" → míuo "nouns, names"
- jóbo "finger" → jóbo "fingers" (invariable)
- tasú "foot" → tasuó "feet"
Regular nouns ending in -ti, -di, -si have their plural forms in -čuo, -juo, -šuo:
- jéti "house" → jéčuo "houses"
Íscégon word-final -t and -s resurface and assimilate the consonant of the suffix:
- dúšo "axe" (Ísc. duxios) → dúšossó "axes"
- šeti "river" (Ísc. sítis) → šetissó "rivers"
- cómé "chair" (Ísc. cármet) → cómettó "chairs"
Íscégon word-final -r also resurfaces, but does not assimilate the consonant:
- dé "wall" (Ísc. dír) → deruó "walls"
Finally, nouns that ended in -x in Íscégon typically end in -ːso in Cerian; in the plural, they have no consonant but a long vowel (even with the previous one being long) – the [w] in the plural wasn't there to begin with in Íscégon.
- haréso "Calémerian avocado" (Ísc. harex) → harésó "avocadoes" (cf. Ísc. harexát).
Some nouns have completely irregular plurals:
- účen "fish" → ússó "fish (plur.)" (here, the singular actually derives from the diminutive uóscien, while the plural derives from the plural of the unmodified noun uós)
- ési "person" → iúressó "people" (completely different roots)
Archaic genitive
Mostly in poetry and some set usages, words not ending in -n, -ó, and -ú maintain a distinct genitive form, used for the singular. It is formed by adding -u [u̯] at the end (lengthening u o instead), except for words in -ía which lose the -a instead.
In contemporary Cerian, it is mostly found in some set usages and locutions, such as šérošu čérí "Cerian language" (with the genitive of Čéría), ronuo dútú "blade of the sword" (dútu "blade"), requíbača Ašeirau "orbit of Ašeira", šóben lerió "pomegranate juice" (lerio "pomegranate").
Gender and articles
Cerian has grammatical gender and two definite articles, one for each gender, used in the singular only (plural vs. plural indefinite inflection does the same effect in the plural). As in most Evandorian languages, -n is a marker of feminine gender, so that most nouns (not all) ending with that letter are feminine; those which end in vowels are usually masculine. Note that natural gender is prevalent, as shown e.g. by couplets such as "brother" and "sister" where the nouns have the "wrong" ending. As many consonant-final nouns were feminine in Íscégon (although the common -s finals could be of both genders), there are more feminine exceptions than masculine ones.
Also note that demonyms generally always end in -n, but may be invariably used in the masculine or feminine as needed.
The masculine article is šo; the feminine one is šen.
Masculine nouns:
- šo quíto "the foreigner"; šo jóbo "the finger"; šo lerio "the pomegranate"; šo ínéma "the city"; šo ronuo "the sword".
- BUT: šo císenen "the brother"; šo ín "the water", šo tieibin "the money".
Feminine nouns:
- šen ruban "the wine"; šen niún "the wolf"; šen účen "the fish"; šen reišan "the daughter"; šen lun "the mouth".
- BUT: šen ránéco "the sister"; šen dé "the wall", šen tení "the sun".
Verbs
Like other descendants of Íscégon, Cerian radically restructured the Íscégon verbal system. While Íscégon had a system of mostly prefixing inflections that mainly changed aspect or valency, these inflections have with time transformed into self-standing verbs, becoming a derivational process rather than an inflectional one (cf. Ísc. táso "I walk", máentáso "I start walking" → Cer. tóson "to go, walk", méntón, earlier méntóson "to depart"). These aspectual inflections and valency changes are now marked by auxiliary verbs or adverbs (with few exceptions); meanwhile, Cerian (and other descendants of Íscégon, as well as some languages influenced by it in a sprachbund covering various parts of central Seralton) started cliticizing at the end of the verb various adverbs that served to indicate tense; later on, in Cerian (excluding some Southern dialects) and Péigu only, final -n in some of those adverbs started being analyzed as a feminine marker, which led to it being added to those verbs that did not have it, resulting in the present system that morphologically marks tense and gender.
Morphologically, Cerian verbs are simple and agglutinative, however they are used in various auxiliary constructions in order to mark aspect, mood, and valency.
| Tense | Suffix | čeléton "to read" | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Feminine | ||
| Remote past | -re(n), -e(n) | čelétore | čelétoren |
| Hesternal past | -(m)óni(n) | čelétóni | čelétónin |
| Hodiernal past | -aše(n) | čelétuaše | čelétuašen |
| Present | -∅ | čeléto | |
| Near future | -útei(n) | čelétútei | čelétútein |
| Distant future Speculative future |
-tuéle(n) | čeléttuéle | čeléttuélen |
Aspectual distinctions are made with forms of the copulae úši (habitual "to be"; ← Ísc. ód-sir) and reuši (continuative "to be"; ← Ísc. riqued-sir), plus the present participle, as in the following examples (note that all these examples may be translated with any subject):
- reuši čelétofú "I (m) am reading", reuši čelétofún "I (f) am reading";
- úšire čelétofú "I (m) used to read", úširen čelétofún "I (f) used to read";
- reušire čelétofú "I (m) was reading [in the past]", reuširen čelétofún "I (f) was reading [in the past]";
- reušimóni čelétofú "I (m) was reading [yesterday]", reušimónin čelétofún "I (f) was reading [yesterday]";
- reušiaše čelétofú "I (m) was reading [earlier today]", reušiašen čelétofún "I (f) was reading [earlier today]";
- reušiútei čelétofú "I (m) will be reading", reušiútein čelétofún "I (f) will be reading";
- úšituéle čelétofú "I (m) may get used to read, will be used to read", úšituélen čelétofún "I (f) may get used to read, will be used to read".
The past participle is used to form passive forms of transitive verbs. In this case, the copula used to build perfective forms is the otherwise causative tíuši:
- tíušimóni čelétti "it (m) was read [earlier today]", tíušimónin čeléttín "it (f) was read [earlier today]";
- úšire čelétti "it (m) used to be read", úširen čeléttín "it (f) used to be read".