Pulqer/Old Pulqer

Old Pulqer (Pul. Pulkaeri) is a Romance language spoken between approximately the 3rd and 10th centuries AD in the island of Jaques (Pul. Tśaqa).

Phonology and Orthography

Vowels

Old Pulqer had the following short vowels:

	Front	Back
Close	i /i/	u /u/
Open-mid	e /ɛ/
Open	a /a/	ą /ɑ/

All long vowels were converted to diphthongs, merging with some existing diphthongs:

	Front	Back
Close	ie /iə/	ue /uə/ ui /ui/
Open-mid	ei /ɛɪ/
Open	ae /ae/ ai /aɪ/	au /ao/

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Velar
Plain	Labial
Nasal	m /m/	n /n/
Plosive	Aspirated	ph /pʰ/	th /tʰ/		kh /kʰ/	qh /kʷʰ/
Unaspirated	p /p/	t /t/		k /k/	q /kʷ/
Fricative	f /ɸ/	s /s/	ś /ʃ/
Affricate		ts /t͡s/	tś /t͡ʃ/
Trill		r /r/
Lateral app.		l /l/

Notes:

• Geminate consonants are written double: khapallu "horse".

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns are marked for gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural) and case (Nominative-Accusative or Genitive-Dative). These are marked on the noun with suffixes according to three declensions:

1. A-Stems (feminine)

filtśa "daughter"
	Sing.	Pl.
Nom-Acc.	filtśa	filtśe
Gen-Dat.	filtśe	filtśi

2. U-Stems (masculine)

mueru "wall"
	Sing.	Pl.
Nom-Acc.	mueru	mueri
Gen-Dat.	mueri

3. E-Stems (masculine & feminine)

ifante "baby"
	Sing.	Pl.
Nom-Acc.	ifante	ifanti
Gen-Dat.	ifanti	ifantu

Articles

There are both definite (isu) and indefinite (unu) articles, declined in much the same way as nouns and agreeing in gender, number and case with the noun they qualify. Unu occurs only in the singular.

isu (definite article)

	Masculine	Feminine
	Sing.	Pl.	Sing.	Pl.
Nom-Acc	isu	isi	isa	ise
Gen-Dat.	isi	ise	isi

Examples:

• isu unne "the man"
• isa filtśa te isi unni "the man's daughter"
• ise khatte "the cats"

unu (indefinite article)

	Masculine	Feminine
	Sing.	Sing.
Nom-Acc	unu	una
Gen-Dat.	uni	une

Examples:

• unu anne "a man"
• at une khaese "to a house"
• una alpre "a tree"

Adjectives

Positive adjectives are declined in much the same way as nouns and agree in gender, number and case with the noun they qualify. There are two declensions for adjectives: the first takes u-stem endings for masculine nouns and a-stem endings with feminine nouns; the second follows the e-stem endings end does not differ for gender. Adjectives follow their head noun.

A/U-Stems

puenu "good"	Masculine	Feminine
Sing.	Pl.	Sing.	Pl.
Nom-Acc	paunu	pauni	pauna	paune
Gen-Dat.	pauni	paune	pauni

Examples:

• isu anne paunu "the good man"
• isa tśaena mantśa "the big door"
• aratsueni pauni "good reasons"

E-Stems

triste "sad"	Masculine/Feminine
Sing.	Pl.
Nom-Acc	triste	tristi
Gen-Dat.	tristi	tristu

Examples:

• isu anne triste "the sad man"
• ise tśaene filte "the green doors"
• isa filtśa filiekhe te une finne tristi "the happy daughter of a sad woman"

Comparison

The comparative of regular adjectives may be formed with the adverbs mai "more" or mankhu "less" followed by the positive adjective:

• mai filiekke "happier"
• mankhu triste "less sad"
• mai nuu "newer"

The object of comparison is introduced with qha, e.g. mai khaltu qha faukhu "hotter than fire".

The superlative is formed in the same way with the article preceding either the adverb (in predicates) or the noun (in attributes):

• Martsu es isu mai filiekhe "Martsu is the happiest"
• isa nutthe mai lunku "the longest night"
• ise phersuene mai tristi te isu muntu "the saddest people in the world"

The following adjectives have irregular comparative forms:

	Comparative	Superlative
paunu "good"	meltśuere	isu meltśuere
maelu "bad"	petśuere	isu petśuere
tśuene "young"	tśuntśuere	isu tśuntśuere
mantśu "big"	matśuere	isu matśuere

Numerals

Cardinals

Cardinals are placed before the noun they qualify and most are indeclinable. Only uenu "one", tuu "two", or compounds ending in these numerals (e.g. pintiuenu "21") are declined, agreeing in gender, number and case with the following noun. As with English, nouns following "one" are in the singular and all other nouns, including those following compounds of "one" are in the plural. Thus, when followed by a noun, a numeral like pintiuenu will always be in the plural (e.g. pintiueni khaeni "21 dogs". Note that khentu "hundred" does not decline, but the plural -khenti used in compounds has feminine forms -khente (NApl) and -khenti (GDpl), e.g. tukhenti anni "two hundred men", tukhente finne "two hundred women".

Ordinals

The ordinal numerals are adjectives that decline like any other and usually follow the noun they modify, agreeing in gender, case and number with that noun. Note that priemu "first" means simply the first in a series when following the noun, but means "foremost, superior" when preceding (e.g. isu priemu arike "the foremost king" vs. isu arike priemu "the first man").

	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	uenu, uena	priemu
2	tuu, tua	sekkuntu
3	tri	theltsu
4	qatru	qaltu
5	tsinqe	qintu
6	ses	sestu
7	setthe	setthimu
8	ątthu	ątthaepu, ątthimu
9	nuefe	nunu, nuefimu
10	tekhe	tetsimu
11	untsi	untsimu
12	tutsi	tutsimu
13	tretsi	tretsimu
14	qatuertsi	qatuertsimu
15	qintsi	qintsimu
16	sitsi	sitsimu
17	tekhesetthe	tekhesetthimu
18	tekhątthu	tekhątthimu
19	tekkenuefe	tekkenuefimu
20	finti	fintimu
21	fintiuenu	fintiuenimu
22	fintituu	fintituimu
23	fintitri	fintitriemu
30	trinta	trintimu
40	qarainta	qaraintimu
50	tsinqainta	tsinqaintimu
60	sesainta	sesaintimu
70	setthainta	setthaintimu
80	ąttainta	ąttaintimu
90	nunainta	nunaintimu
100	khentu	khentimu
101	khentu uenu	khentu priemu
102	khentu tuu	khentu sekhuntu
200	tukhenti	tukhentimu
300	trikhenti	trikhentimu
1000	mille	millimu
2000	tumille	tumillimu

Fractions

Most fractions are identical to their ordinal form, e.g. uenu theltsu "one third", qatru sesti "four sixths", tri qalti "three quarters". The word for "half" is metśu.

There are extended nominal forms indicating standard parts of a whole, meithathe "half", theltsaeltśu "third", qaltaeltśu "quarter", tsintaeltśu "fifth", sestaeltśu "sixth".

Multiplicatives

Multiplicatives are formed from the cardinal numerals followed by the feminine noun fieke "time" (pl. fieki), e.g. uena fieke "once", tua fieki "twice", tri fieki "thrice" etc.

Pronouns

Personal

Personal pronouns are marked for gender, number and case, though they do not follow the same Nom-Acc. and Gen-Dat. distinction as other parts of speech. Personal pronouns proper are only declined according to Nom., Acc. or Dat., agreeing with the referent.

	1st	2nd	3rd (m / f)	Reflexive
	Sing.	Pl.	Sing.	Pl.	Sing.	Pl.	Sing.	Pl.
Nom.	tśu	nu	thu	pu	isu / isa	isi / ise	-
Acc.	mi	thi	si
Dat.	nufi	pufi	isi / ise	isi	sifi

Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronouns are really adjectives that decline much like any other, agreeing in gender, case and number with the noun they modify. They may be used pronominally as a predicate (e.g. {THIS} es thuu "this is yours", or adjectivally preceding a noun (e.g. thua maetre "your mother"). There are different pronouns for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons in singular and plural, but no distinction is made between the gender of the 'subject'. The basic (masc. sing.) forms are meu "my", theu "thy, you (sg)", seu "his, her, its", nustru "our", fustru "your (pl.)" and isuru "their". For example, seu khaene "his dog" vs sua khattha "his cat" vs sue pakkhe "his cows" vs at sue khaese "to his house".

The full declension is shown below:

	Masculine	Feminine
	Sing.	Pl.	Sing.	Pl.
1st Sg. "my"	Nom-Acc	meu	mei	mia	mie
Gen-Dat.	mei	mie	mei
2nd Sg. "thy"	Nom-Acc	theu	thei	thua	thue
Gen-Dat.	thei	thue	thei
3rd Sg. "his, her, its"	Nom-Acc	seu	sei	sua	sue
Gen-Dat.	sei	sue	sei
1st Pl. "our"	Nom-Acc	nustru	nustri	nustra	nustre
Gen-Dat.	nustri	nustre	nustri
2nd Pl. "your"	Nom-Acc	fustru	fustri	fustra	fustre
Gen-Dat.	fustri	fustre	fustri
3rd Pl. "their"	Nom-Acc	isuru	isuri	isura	isure
Gen-Dat.	isuri	isure	isuri

Demonstratives

The demonstrative pronouns are khustu "this", khullu "that", which decline by gender, number and case according to the noun being described (khustu, khusta, khusti, khuste etc.).

Verbs

Regular verbs conjugate only in the present and imperfect indicative; all other tenses are composed through periphrasis.

Regular Verbs

	1. amaere "to love"	2. thimiere "to fear"	3. pheitre "to ask"
Present	Imperfect	Present	Imperfect	Present	Imperfect
1st Sg 2nd Sg 3rd Sg 1st Pl 2nd Pl 3rd Pl	aemu aema aema amaemu amaethi aeman	amaefu amaefa amaefa amafaemu amafaethi amaefan	thiemu thiemi thiemi thimiemu thimiethi thiemun	thimiefu thimiefa thimiefa thimifaemu thimifaethi thimiefan	pheithu pheithi pheithi pheithimu pheithithi pheithun	phethiefu phethiefa phethiefa phethifaemu phethifaethi phethiefan
Imperative	aema (sg.), amaethe (pl.)	thiemi (sg.) thimiethe (pl.)	pheithe (sg.), pheithithe (pl.)
Infinitive	amaere	thimiere	pheitre
Gerund	amantu	thimentu	phethentu
Past Participle	amaethu	thimiethu	pheithithu

The other tenses are formed by compounding with one of the auxiliary verbs esre "to be" or aere "to have":

Tense	Auxiliary	Main Verb	E.g.
Past/Perfect	Present of aere	Past Participle	tśu au amaethu "I (have) loved"
Pluperfect	Imperfect of aere	Past Participle	tśu afia amaethu "I had loved"
Future	Present of aere	Infinitive	tśu au amaere "I will love"
Conditional	Imperfect of aere	Infinitive	tśu afia amaere "I would love"

Irregular Verbs

To Be

	Indicative	Subjunctive	Conditional
Indicative	Present	Imperfect	Present	Imperfect	Past
1st Sg 2nd Sg 3rd Sg 1st Pl 2nd Pl 3rd Pl	sue sei ses suemu seithi sun	eiru eira eira eraemu eraethi eiran	sie sie sie siemu siethi sin	fusse fussi fussi fusseimu fusseithi fussen	fueru fuera fuera furaemu furaethi fueran
Imperative	ei (sg.), este (pl.)
Infinitive	esre
Gerund	essentu
Past Participle	essithu

Other Irregular Verbs

	1. aere "to have"	2. taere "to give"	3. iere "to go"
Indicative	Present	Imperfect	Present	Imperfect	Present	Imperfect
1st Sg 2nd Sg 3rd Sg 1st Pl 2nd Pl 3rd Pl	au ai ai aimu aithi aun	afiu afia afia afiaemu afiaethi afian	tau tai tai taemu taethi tan	taefu taefa taefa tafaemu tafaethi taefan
Imperative	- (sg.), - (pl.)	taethe (pl.)
Infinitive	aere	taere	'
Gerund	afentu	tantu
Past Participle	aefithu	taethu	'

Like taere are faere "to do, make" and astaere "live, exist".

Vocabulary

English	Old Pulqer
before	ante
to	at
action	attsune, f.
act (n.)	attu, m.
act (v)	aekre, aek-
other	altru
love (v.)	amaere, aem-
friend	amiekka, f., amiekku, m.
year	annu, m.
water	aqqa, f.
tree	arpre, f.
or	autt
bath	pantśu, m.
good, well (adv.)	peine
arm	prattsu, m.
good	puenu
horse	khapallu, m.
fall	khatre, khaet-
dog	khaene, m.
sing	khantaere, khant-
song	khantsune, f.
house	(humble) khaesa, f; (elite) tuemu, m.
centre	khenttru, m.
city	tsuttaette, f.
start	khumintsaere, khumints-
count	khuntaere, khunt-
heart	khure, m.
body	khurpu, m.
believe	kretre, kreit-
belief	kretentsa, f.
with	khun
of	te
owe	tipiere, tiep-
say	tiekre, tiek-
lady	tunna, f.
lord	tunnu, m.
I	tśu
mare	eqqa, f.
be	esre (irreg.)
and	ett
speak	faplaere, fapl-
make	faekre, faek-
fact	fattu, m.
happy	filiekke
woman	finna, f.
daughter	filtśa, f.
son	filtśu, m.
finish	finiere, fien-
flower	fluere, m.
fire	fuekku, m.
shape	furma, f.
have	apiere (irreg.)
if	ukk
today	utśe
man	unne, m.
already	tśa
in	in'
he	ise
she	isa
the	isu, isa
work	lapuere, m.
milk	latte, m.
lake	laekku', m.
language	linqa, f.
light (n.)	luekke, f.
success	lukkru, m.
beast, monster	lueppu, m.
big	mantśu
more	mai
inn	maśune, f.
hand	maenu, m.
mother	mattre, f.
me	me (acc.), mi (dat.)
less	manku
recently	muetu
wall	mueru, m.
wife	multśeire, f,
night	nutte, f.
name	nunne, m.
not	nun
we, us	nu
new	nuevu
nothing	nulla
father	phattre, m.
skin	phelle, f.
lose	phertre, phert-
stone	phettra, f.
hair	phielu, m.
rain	prutśa, f.
door	tśaena, f.
gate	phurtta, f.
for	phor
than	qha
which	qhaele
when	qhantu
how much	qhanttu
seek	kheirre, kheir-
who	khi
what	khit
that	khut
how	khumu
reason	ratsune, f.
blood	sanqine, m.
know	astsiere
write	askripre, asckrip-
sign	sintśu, m.
hope	aspiraere, aspier-
above	supre
late	tharte
you	sg: thu (nom.), the (acc.), thi (dat.); pl: pu
hold	theniere, thein-
time	themppu, m.
land	therra, f.
fear	thimre, thiem-
sad	triste
one	unu
a, an	unu, una
come	peniere, pein-
wind	pentu, m.
word	perpu, m.
truth	pirttaette, f.
true	piru
see	pitiere, piet-
live	piepre, piep-
voice	puekke, f.