Thärín

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General information
Thyärín (Therian), the primary language of Thyärí, originated as a nomadic dialect of Illiaster. The languages diverged following the Wars of Dust, when the remaining Thyêq tribes settled on the northern coast and came into contact with Saen-speaking sailors from the Isles. Thyärí retains many structural elements from Illiaster, but the pronunciation has evolved considerably and words were adapted from Saen and Relian to fill gaps in the Thyêq's vocabulary.

Vowels
Monothong vowels are an Illiaster element no longer present in Thyärín, which instead uses twelve dipthong vowels. While in Illiaster the dipthongs are composed strictly by combining the four base monothings a, ə, ɪ, and ʊ, Thyärín now uses eight.

Alphabet


Thyärín did not have a set alphabet prior to the settlement of Thyärí, when written records became increasingly necessary. Illiaster has two written forms, but the Thyêq sought to establish independence from Illias and instead the Relian alphabet was adapted to form a new Thyärín calligraphic script.

Thyärín script is written from left to right. The consonant and vowel in each syllable are joined near the baseline, but syllables within a word do not connect to one another.

Phonotactics
Syllables consist of [C][V]. Prefix and suffix syllables modify words to indicate parts of speech, plurals, etc. In some cases the root word and the pre- or suffixed word are no longer strictly analogous, particularly basic words with origins in the Thyêq's nomadic era.

The consonant Y is muted to allow for words with preliminary vowels, prefix-vowel, or consecutive vowels.

Grammar
Sentence construction is OSV. Modifiders always follow the thing or action they describe.

Nouns are considered animate (people, animals, plants) or inanimate (objects, abstract ideas). The division is a remnant of the Thyêq's nomadic origins in the steppeland of Illias, and categorizes things in those which require water and those that do not. Animate things can become inanimate following death (of people or animals) or harvest (of plants). Individual elements of a quantized animate noun (the man's hand, the dog's nose) are not animate.

The suffix -q creates a plural. The suffix -m indicates presence or immediacy (here vs. there, this vs. that, then vs. now, etc.). The suffix -d creates an adjective or adverb from another root. The prefix sh- creates a verb from another root.