Talamh

Talamh (ta_law) is the national language of Talamhnatine (ta_law_na_tine) on the planet Talamh i gCein (ta_law_ig_cin).

Classification and Dialects
Talamh is a TeanganIarthain (te-an-gan-lar-tan) language, and has the dialects Talair and Talahir.

Writing System
Before Elizabeth discovered the planet, it was only a spoken language. However, she brought the Latin alphabet to Talamh. However, the aliens created their own script that is similar, and different at the same time



Nouns
Talamh has two grammatical genders, into which all nouns are sorted. There are five declension patterns, which are numbered first through fifth, and in order consist of nouns ending in: rounded vowels, plosives and affricates, fricatives, unrounded vowels, and sonorants. Generally, first, second, and third declension nouns are masculine, and fourth and fifth declension nouns are feminine, but this is not a solid rule and there are a number of exceptions which must be memorized. Nouns in Talamh decline for definiteness and number, but do not decline for case. Declension can be performed through vowel ablaut or lengthening, epenthesis of a final vowel, or lengthening or mutation of a consonant, depending on the declension pattern.

First Declension
First declension nouns end in rounded vowels, i.e. «o, e» and sometimes «a». The plural is marked in this duplicating the last syllable. Definiteness is marked by raising the ultimate vowel to «y, u, a» respectively. The following chart is an example of the first declension noun tala "tree."

Second Declension
Second declension nouns end in plosives and affricates, i.e. «p, b, t, d, c, j, k, g». The plural is marked in this pattern by appending the vowel -a to the end of the noun. Definiteness is marked by lengthening the final consonant. The following chart is an example of the second declension noun kantok"tool."

Third Declension
Third declension nouns end in voiceless fricatives, i.e. «f, p, s, x». The plural is marked in this pattern by changing the voicing of the final fricative to voiced, i.e. «v, d, z, q» respectively. Definiteness is marked by lengthening the final consonant. The following chart is an example of the third declension noun hehux "school."

Fourth Declension
Fourth declension nouns end in unrounded vowels, i.e. «e, u» and sometimes «a». The plural is marked in this pattern by raising the penultimate vowel. Definiteness is marked by raising the ultimate vowel to «i, o, a» respectively. The following chart is an example of the fourth declension noun pondo "language."

Fifth Declension
Fifth declension nouns end in sonorants, i.e. «m, n, h, r, l». The plural is marked in this pattern by raising the ultimate vowel. Definiteness is marked by lengthening the final consonant. The following chart is an example of the third declension noun pahlawan "flower."

Determiners
Talamh does not utilize articles to specify the definiteness of nouns, however it does make use of other determiners for purposes such as deixis and partition. These determiners agree with their head noun in gender and sometimes number, but most of them are irregular and therefore must be applied to memory.

Verbs
Verbs in Talamh conjugate for four tenses: present, future, recent past, and remote past; two aspects: perfective and imperfective; three moods: indicative, subjunctive, and conditional; two voices: active and antipassive; and also agree with the person, gender and, number of the absolutive argument. The infinitive form of most verbs ends in a voiceless plosive or affricate, i.e. «p, t, c, k». Most verbs are regular, though there are a handful of irregular verbs.

Absolutive Agreement
For regular verbs, agreement with the absolutive argument is performed simply through appending a vowel to the end of the infinitive. The following table will demonstrate using the verb winke "to work."