Katäfalsen: Difference between revisions

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== Name ==
== Name ==
Analysing the name ''Katäfalsen'' already shows many of the language's features and offers therefore an appropriate introduction. Possible English translations are "the water language", "the water languages", "(a) water language" and "water languages" as neither number nor definiteness must be expressed explicitely. The word ''fales'' means "tongue" as a body part and is converted into the abstract noun "language" by the suffix ''-n''. Its main function is forming feminine nouns but can also yield abstracta. Here, it triggers metathesis, i.e. alternation of the order of phonemes, and produces the word ''falsen'' "tongue". The word for "water" is ''kat'', which has the stem ''kata''. Since "water language" specifies a certain type of "language", the component "water" is considered to be subordinate and takes a subordinate suffix which lengthens the final vowel in ''kata'' to ''katä''. Finally, the two words ''katä'' and ''falsen'' form the compound ''Katäfalsen''. An acceptable glossing would consequently be:
Analysing the name ''Katäfalsen'' already shows many of the language's features and offers therefore an appropriate introduction. Possible English translations are "the water language", "the water languages", "(a) water language" and "water languages" as neither number nor definiteness must be expressed explicitely. The word ''fales'' means "tongue" as a body part and is converted into the abstract noun "language" by the suffix ''-n''. Its main function is forming feminine nouns but can also yield abstracta. Here, it triggers metathesis, i.e. alternation of the order of phonemes, and produces the word ''falsen'' "language". The word for "water" is ''kat'', which has the stem ''kata''. Since "water language" specifies a certain type of "language", the component "water" is considered to be subordinate and takes a subordinate suffix which lengthens the final vowel in ''kata'' to ''katä''. Finally, the two words ''katä'' and ''falsen'' form the compound ''Katäfalsen''. An acceptable glossing would consequently be:


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=== Greek script ===
=== Greek script ===
During the cultural contact with the Greeks, the Greek alphabet was adopted to write down Katäfalsen. Before that, the braid alphabet was the only script, which however was inappropriate for inscriptions of longer texts. The script contains three archaic letters: Ϙ, Ͱ and Ϝ. Apart from the letter {{angbr|Ϙ}}, the Latin script used in this article is an exact transliteration.
{| class="wikitable"
!Latin script
!Greek script
!Notes
|-
|a
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|b
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|d
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|e
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|f
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|g
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|h
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|-
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|{{IPA|/ʔ/}} when it comes from Old Katäfalsen {{IPA|/ħ/}}.<br>The Greeks originally used {{angbr|Ϙ}} for a back allophone of {{IPA|/k/}}.
|-
|i
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|-
|j
|A variation of either Iota (Ι) or Eta (Η).<br>Compare Boeotian raised E.
|-
|k
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|l
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|-
|m
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|n
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|o
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|p
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|r
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|s
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|-
|t
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|-
|u
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|-
|w
|Stood for {{IPA|/w/}} in archaic Greek alphabets.
|-
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|-
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|}


=== Braid script ===
=== Braid script ===
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