Background
The National Simphonian is the official language of Stellean Republic of Simphonia. It is based on Northern Shifer Language, but for centuries has evolved to not resemble its original language. It is given the status of sole official language of High Commission of Simphonia, and is included as subject in schools up to secondary education, alongside a native language.
Phonology
Consonant charts
Pulmonic consonants
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Retroflex | Alveolo-palatal | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Epiglottal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | ɱ | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | ||||||||||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ d͡ʒ | ||||||||||||
| Fricative | f v | θ | s z |
ʃ ʒ | h | ||||||||
| Approximant | j | ||||||||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||||||||
| Flap or tap | ɾ | ||||||||||||
| Lateral fric. | |||||||||||||
| Lateral app. | l | ||||||||||||
| Lateral flap |
Vowel chart
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | ||
| Close | 
| |||||
| Near‑close | ||||||
| Close‑mid | ||||||
| Mid | ||||||
| Open‑mid | ||||||
| Near‑open | ||||||
| Open | ||||||
Phonotactics
While the original vocabulary of National Simphonian comes from Shifer, centuries of use allowed it to borrow words from other languages, thereby ensuring diverse forms of syllables.
Orthography
| Аа | Бб | Вв | Гг | Dd | Ее | Ĕĕ | Жж | Ӡӡ | Θθ | Ии | Йй | DZʤ | Кк | Лл | |
| a | b | v | g | d | e | yo | zh | z | th | h | i | y | j | k | l |
| Мм | Нн | Оо | Пп | Рр | Сс | Тт | Уу | Хх | Фф | Чч | Шʃ | Ыы | Яя | Ээ | Юю |
| m | n | o | p | r | s | t | u | kh | ph | ch | sh | y | ya | ye | yu |
The table above shows the National Simphonian Alphabet together with the transliteration scheme commonly used. Up until now, there is no official romanization scheme set by the Simphonian Language Body. The letter /y/ is used to stand for both [ɨ] and [j]. In general, which is represented can easily be determined: 1. /y/ represents [ɨ] if it is between two consonants. If [ɨ] is preceded or followed by a vowel, a hyphen is used to separate it from the vowel. 2. /y/ represents [j] if it precedes or follows a vowel.
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns are generally not declined, except for marking possession, which varies among dialects of National Simphonian.
Possession
Possession is indicated by the particle /du/, which is used to connect the possessor to the possessum. The possessum precedes /du/ and the possessor follows /du/.
Articles and Numbers
Nouns are not declined for number, so the noun forms are the same for both singular and plural number. However, there is a set of articles which are used to indicate number. These articles precede the noun. National Simphonian has a definite article /zom/. This does not only indicate definiteness but also the topic of the sentence. /zom/ has only standard form, but it is also common to see it declined according to number for certain dialects, so it is also used to indicate the number of the noun.
Case
Nouns are not declined by case. A set of particles is used instead to indicate case. See the syntax for more details.
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
| Long form | Short form | Value |
|---|---|---|
| gome | me | 1st person singular |
| baten | ba | 2nd person singular |
| neiru | ne | 3rd person general, inanimate |
| shashin | she | 3rd person animate |
| souka | ska | 1st person singular and 2nd person singular |
| sono | no | 1st person plural inclusive |
| soltha | the | 1st person plural exclusive |
| rove | ve | 2nd person plural |
| ronche | che | 3rd person plural |
Adjectives
Adjectives are either in native form or derived. In the case of latter, the suffix /-la/ is used to derive an adjective from a noun. Adjectives either precede or follow the noun. If the adjective has /-la/ suffix, it must precede the noun; otherwise it must follow the noun.
Numerals
Verbs
The verb generally takes this form:
| root | /ra/ | tense | transitivity |
Verbs are either transitive (marked by /-o/)or intransitive (marked by /-a/). The tenses are perfect, aorist, present, future I and future II. Future I marks a future action that will happen regardless of the situation. Future II is used to mark a future action that the actor decided to do because of current situation.
| Tense | English | National Simphonian |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect | I ate. | Yearada. |
| Aorist | I was eating. | Yearaga. |
| Present | I am eating. | Yearasa. |
| Future I | I will eat. | Yearala. |
| Future II | I WILL eat. | Yearaya. |
Adverbs
Adverbs follow the verb and use the suffix /-lne/. The same marker is used in describing other aspect of verbs.
Particles
Affirmation and Negation: Yes is /jana/ while no is /nega/. They immediately follow the word they describe. In certain situations, they are used to replace other words that would usually be used instead.
Derivational morphology
Syntax
National Simphonian is an ergative-absolutive language.
Particles, Transitivity, Intransitivity
Intransitive verbs are marked with /o/ suffix. These verbs take only one subject, and there is no particle needed to mark the subject.
Yearasa. I am eating.