Iáþi

Iáþi (/ ɪ.æ.θ ɪ/, anglicized Iathi) is a language of the Lhuban family. It is spoken in Se Nil é Λúbace on the planet Ajsliŋ (Aysling), where it is an official and national language. It is spoken as a first language by 64 million people and as a second language by an additional 4 million, mostly by native speakers of other Lhuban languages in the south of Se Nil é Λúbace.

Classification and Dialects
Iáþi is the most spoken member of the Lhuban family. It is one of three extant languages of the Northern branch, the only extant branch of the family. The other two languages, Éjaté and Umπyl, are closely related though not mutually intelligible with each other or Iáþi.

Consonants
Iáþi has the largest consonant inventory of any Lhuban language, totaling in at 35 native standard phonemes.
 * younger speakers are losing contrast of / ɴ/ and / ɢ/, merging them with /ŋ/ and /g/ respectively
 * /s/ is voiced to [z] when in the syllable coda and the next syllable begins with a voiced consonant
 * /r/ can be realized either as [r] or [ ɾ], depending on the speaker's preference
 * / ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are found only in loanwords and may be replaced with either /s/, /z/ or / ç/, /ʝ/ by some speakers
 * some speakers may insert a glottal stop between adjacent vowels, though this is non-standard
 * /j/ and /w/ are analyzed as vowels, not consonants, by native speakers
 * voiceless plosives are aspirated in standard pronunciation, though aspiration is not phonemic and therefore in free variation

Vowels

 * all vowels except /ə/ can be nasalized
 * permitted diphthongs: /wV/, /jV/, /aw/, / ɛw/, /aj/, / ɔj/ (where V stands for any vowel or other diphthong)
 * some dialects may shift / ɔj/ to / ɤj/ (note that /ɤ/ does not occur). This is considered a notable feature of speech from Oϟa Alí.

Phonotactics
Syllables must be in the form (s)(C)(L1)V(L2)(s), where V is any vowel (including permitted diphthongs and triphthongs), C is any consonant, L1 is /s/ or /r/, and L2 is any sonorant. C must be voiceless if the syllable onset is a consonant cluster inscluding /s/. Thus, an example of the simplest syllable possible is / ɛ / (Eng. "a") and an example of the most complex is /scrwojls/ (a disease native to the continent of Meralû), though such highly complex syllables are incredibly rare.

Writing Systems
Iáþi has two native scripts, a true alphabet and a featural abugida. The alphabetic script, known as Se Hízôl, is used for everyday purposes, and has two cases, with capitalization rules similar to those of the Latin alphabet. The abugida, known as Se Φúteentar, is used for special purposes such as ceremonial events, religious scripture, or decorative design. It has only one case, though it uses a diacritical mark to mark what would otherwise be a capital letter. It can however be written in two styles, one rounded and the other square, the former being more common. All native speakers are taught to read and write in both.

In this article, Iáþi will be transcribed in a Latin script appended with some Greek and Cyrillic characters to maintain a 1:1 phoneme to grapheme ratio. This script is as follows.

Nouns
Nouns in Iáþi decline for a large number of cases. In most dialects this number is 24, though some dialects still use the now-archaic vocative case. Nouns decline for cases with simple suffixes, and the unmarked noun is in the absolutive case, which is used as the subject of intransitive verbs and copulae. Examples of each case are given in the table below, with the noun "жom" (house, home). Some cases may be combined. For example, the ergative and accusative may be combined to express a reflexive action. "Ánnadu sevílase" means "I washed myself."

Every noun is required to carry an article or demonstrative. Articles and demonstratives carry the noun's definiteness and number.

Verbs
Verbs in Iáþi conjugate for tense and mood, but not for voice or agreement with any arguments (i.e., the subject or object), and aspect is denoted using adverbs. Verbs' infinitives always end in -sä. The infinitive ending is replaced with other endings to denote tense and mood. The consonant of the ending reflects the mood, and the vowel the tense. The following table demonstrates the conjugation of the verb "víêsä" (to see). Most verbs are regular and follow these conjugations. There are a few verbs, however, that drop the -sa ending in the present indicative. These verbs are vasä (to be), masä (to have), sasä (to exist), and pésä (to do). Some colloquial speech may also do this with tasä (to go, come), though this is informal and almost never found in writing.

Pronouns
Iáþi uses seventeen personal pronouns that distinguish between five persons and two numbers, and clusivity in the first person and animacy in the third and fourth persons. Pronouns do not distinguish gender or formality. Singular pronouns of the second, third, and fourth persons have two forms that are equal in meaning; they are used to distinguish between multiple possible antecedents, resolving abiguities that exist in languages such as English (e.g., "He gave him the apple."). The forms correspond to the order in which the possible antecedents were mentioned. The following is a list of pronouns:

The third person denotes a proximity close to the speaker, whereas the fourth person denotes a proximity farther from the speaker. (The third is normally used when the antedecent is within sight, and the fourth when the antecedent is not within view.) Both as translated as the third person in English. The fifth person denotes a general, nonspecific antecent; it is often used in general truths.
 * án = 1st.p. sing. (I)
 * pán = 1st.p. plu. incl. (we)
 * gán = 1st.p. plu. excl. (we)
 * sán = 2nd.p. sing. fm.1 (you)
 * çán = 2nd.p. sing. fm.2 (you)
 * kán = 2nd.p. plu. (you)
 * zán = 3rd.p. sing. an. fm.1 (he/she)
 * tán = 3rd.p. sing. an. fm.2 (he/she)
 * lán = 3rd.p. plu. an. (they)
 * ván = 3rd.p. sing. inan. (it)
 * þán = 3rd.p. plu. inan. (they)
 * жán = 4th.p. sing. an. fm.1 (he/she)
 * dán = 4th.p. sing. an. fm.2 (he/she)
 * δán = 4th.p. plu. an. (they)
 * ϟán = 4th.p. sing. inan. (it)
 * ŋán = 4th.p. plu. inan. (they)
 * φán = 5th.p. sing. (one; used in a similar fashion as French “on”)
 * hán = 5th.p. plu. (people, in a general sense)

Example text

 * Án lússa se iáþike.
 * "I speak Iathi." IPA: [æn lus.sə sɛ ɪ.æ.θɪ.kɛ]
 * Zé téúnédu þelstä φajlatä le méλútä kemjesa se жóvêsbe le zé çedalíbe. Δándu bâxisa se crêsi le se hínólsi só δán ótrãga psa se ô dastä e tímísi se kúpevoce.
 * "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."