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<!-- ***Phonology*** --> | <!-- ***Phonology*** --> | ||
<!-- What sounds does your language use? --> | <!-- What sounds does your language use? --> | ||
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==History== | |||
===Name=== | |||
Various different names have existed at some point or another for the language. A reference from 1544 in a mercantile letter from the Ottoman empire mentioning a most difficult and strange tongue only known as ''kecice'' being spoken among the sandalwood-bearing islands of the far seas probably constitutes the first reference to Caeryn. In the 18th century, noted adventurer-linguist-archæologist-spiritualist Taavi Marsfeld wrote a short description of the language and famously introduced it to the Fartravellers' Society in London with the following passage: | |||
:{{cardo|This illustrious Qaerysh tungue, more befuddling than the Caucasic, more sweet than Finnish morphology, and yet more rewarding than a cat's love, is truly a miracle to behold! A purity greater than Greek, a vigour outdoing the Germanic, a spiciness beyond the Zend, yet as wildly spiritual as the Semitic idiom.}} | |||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
Caer has an interesting phonological system, completely lacking rounded and back vowels; dental, bilabial and velar plosives; or any of the common nasals. | Caer has an interesting phonological system, completely lacking rounded and back vowels; dental, bilabial and velar plosives; or any of the common nasals. | ||
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The incredibly sparse consonantal system includes a few uvular consonants, one alveolar sibilant, a voiced retroflex and two clicks. | The incredibly sparse consonantal system includes a few uvular consonants, one alveolar sibilant, a voiced retroflex and two clicks. | ||
c | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | ||
|+ colspan="8" | Consonantal phonemes of Caeryn | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="1" colspan="2" | | |||
! rowspan="1" | Labial | |||
! rowspan="1" | Dental | |||
! rowspan="1" | Palatal | |||
! rowspan="1" | Postalveolar | |||
! rowspan="1" | Velar | |||
! rowspan="1" | Uvular | |||
|- | |||
! colspan="2" | Click | |||
| {{grapheme|v}} /ʘ/ | |||
| {{grapheme|n}} /ǀ/ | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
! colspan="2" | Plosive | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|c}}, {{grapheme|q}} /q/ | |||
|- | |||
! colspan="2" | Fricative | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|t}} /θ/, {{grapheme|s}} /s/ | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|r}} /ʐ/ | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|h}} /χ/ | |||
|- | |||
|- | |||
! colspan="2" | Nasal | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|nn}} /ɴ/ | |||
|- | |||
! colspan="2" | Approximant | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|y}} /j/ | |||
| | |||
| {{grapheme|l}} /ʟ/ | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
===Vowels=== | ===Vowels=== | ||
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===Phonotactics=== | ===Phonotactics=== | ||
<!-- Explain the consonant clusters and vowel clusters that are permissible for use in the language. For example, "st" is an allowed consonant cluster in English while onset "ng" isn't. --> | <!-- Explain the consonant clusters and vowel clusters that are permissible for use in the language. For example, "st" is an allowed consonant cluster in English while onset "ng" isn't. --> | ||
Vowels either expand or contract wildly depending on their word surroundings | |||
===Orthography=== | ===Orthography=== | ||
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:{| | :{| | ||
|- | |- | ||
|'' | |''arsela atehavenn, aneatyr arsela, veleran'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | |arsela||a-teha-ve-nn||a-nea-Ø-tyr||arsela||veler-an | ||
|- | |- | ||
|man.{{sc|abs}}||{{sc|sg}}-chase-{{sc|ext}}-{{sc|antipass}}||{{sc|sg}}-die-{{sc|ext}}-{{sc|refl}}||man.{{sc|abs}}||life-{{sc|erg}} | |man.{{sc|abs}}||{{sc|sg}}-chase-{{sc|ext}}-{{sc|antipass}}||{{sc|sg}}-die-{{sc|ext}}-{{sc|refl}}||man.{{sc|abs}}||life-{{sc|erg}} | ||
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===Determiners=== | ===Determiners=== | ||
===Numerals=== | |||
Caeryn uses a [[wikipedia:Senary|senary]] number system and has unique terms for the powers of six all the way up to 6<sup>6</sup>. Perhaps tellingly, six is a sacred number of the Vá religion and a recurrent motif in the legends. | |||
{|class=wikitable | |||
|+ base counting | |||
|- | |||
!Number | |||
!Numeral | |||
|- | |||
|1 | |||
|val, vann | |||
|- | |||
|2 | |||
|tas, tat | |||
|- | |||
|3 | |||
|cet | |||
|- | |||
|4 | |||
|nnyr | |||
|- | |||
|5 | |||
|calyn | |||
|- | |||
|6 | |||
|vaenaq | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
===Personal pronouns=== | ===Personal pronouns=== | ||
===Phrasal clitics=== | ===Phrasal clitics=== | ||
A distinction between proximal ({{sc|prox}}) and distal ({{sc|dist}}) is optionally added to the end of a phrase to express spatial, temporal or emotional distance from the speaker, sometimes even a form of evidentiality.<ref>Hayan, Abd ibn. (2012). ''Kajirsiskans klitiska partiklar: ett samtida perspektiv.''</ref> | A distinction between proximal ({{sc|prox}}) and distal ({{sc|dist}}) is optionally added to the end of a phrase to express spatial, temporal or emotional distance from the speaker, sometimes even a form of evidentiality.<ref>Hayan, Abd ibn. (2012). ''Kajirsiskans klitiska partiklar: ett samtida perspektiv.''</ref> |