User:Celinceithir/Sairstíreg

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Sairstír Celinese
Elíthec Sairstíroth; Sairstíreg
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|[[ˈəˈliːɦəx seiʳˈʂʈɨːɹʊ], [seiʳˈʂʈɨɹəɨ]]]]
Created byA. Ayres
SettingLorech
Native toSairstír and Linheim, Elitho, Beichlë, Western Jinyero
Native speakers16,417,890 (Sairstír); up to 6 million émigrés elsewhere (991)
Proto-Tygenoci
  • Early Olldrothoan
    • Early Elithoan varieties
      • Sairstír Celinese
Early form
Old Airesc > Middle Borders Elithoan
Official status
Official language in
Sairstír and Linheim
Regulated bySeveral rival agencies, such as the Athecosoir go Wylombeir, Ronð go Lechlyfrírain Lônaig, GoSIC and the Ronð go Lorgwynel-Aimmon.
Language codes
ISO 639-3qce

Sairstír Celinese or Sairstirian (endonym: Elítheg Sairstíroth or Sairstíreg - sometimes referred to, particularly in Elitho, as Lônairesc [ˈlo̝ːnɑɪɹəʂ]) because of its complex links with the language of Aír, is a broad term used to refer to those varieties of Modern Southwestern Elithoan Celinese spoken in the Free Commonwealth of Sairstír.

A common three-way distinction is drawn between mailsairstíreg (lit. Soft Sairstirian), spoken in Wylombeir and the northern seaboard, stairsairstíreg (Broad Sairstirian, lit. Hard Sairstirian), a more divergent form from Standard Elithoan Celinese that has not undergone Elithoan sound changes and has conserved features of Old Airesc Celinese, and Eilíonlyn, a very conservative Southern Celinese variety spoken on the island of Eilíon and the Darnorwach Peninsula. The term does not apply to minority languages spoken in Sairstír that derive separately from Proto-Tygenoci, such as Modern Old Tygenoci or the Linro languages.

Sairstír's Celinese varieties, particularly eilíonlyn and stairsairstíreg, are of great interest to scholars of the Tygenoci language family because of the contrast between their conservation of Old Tygenoci and Old Airesc traits lost in Standard Elithoan Celinese, and the divergence from the rest of the family with sound changes unique to SSG and a large pool of Sairstír-specific vocabulary, a lot of which is derived from the language of the Sett minority. In this article, we will mostly consider Broad Sairstírian (SSG) unless otherwise specified.

Phonology

Consonants

Sairstír Celinese Consonantal Inventory
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Retroflex Alveolar-palatal Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k g
Affricate (ʈʂ) (dʐ) (tɕ) (dʑ)
Fricative f θ ð s (z) (ʂ) (ʐ) (ɕ) (ʑ) ç (x) (ʁ) h (ɦ)
Approximant ʍ w ɹ̥ ɹ j
Lateral Approximant l

Vowels

  Front Near- front Central Near- back Back
Close
Blank vowel trapezoid.svg
i y
(ɨ) (ʉ)
u
(ɪ) (ʏ)
(ʊ)
e
o
(ə)
ɛ
ɔ
ɑ
  Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open


Sound correspondences with Standard Elithoan Celinese

mh: <mh> in Middle Southern Elithoan became <f> [f~v] in Elithoan Celinese, but became [ʍ] in initial position and [m] elsewhere in most Sairstír Celinese varieties. Compare SEC sofen with SSG. somman, hwair with fair, hwyðí to fyðí syfoth with scymoth, and lefrë with lemra.

ɣ: Early Elithoan Celinese's /ɣ/ became unvoiced <ch> ([x] and later [χ]) in SEC - but became silent in Sairstír, often having a lengthening effect on vowels before it. Compare EEC's oɣt (from) to SEC och and SSG ô (Soft Sairstírian: ôth) or SEC sinocht (snow) to SSG synôth [ɕyˈno̝ː].

No Pre-alveolar [a] raising: Most early middle Elithoan Celinese varieties saw [a] raised to [æ] (Modern <e> [e]) before word-final d, l, n and r. This sound change did not occur in Sairstír, and thus is not reflected in the orthography - hence hyrân [çyˈɹɑ̃n] (red) instead of SEC's hyrèn or mayar instead of SEC maier. Before l and sometimes r, [ɑ] is raised and rounded to [ɔ], in itself reduced to [ʊ] when unstressed. Compare SSG lârol [lɑːɹuɫ] and SEC lairel or SSG somor with SEC sofer.