P'ar

=Introduction=

P'ar is a tonal language with three tones and each word is mono-syllabic, like Mandarin Chinese. The different between P'ar and Mandarin lies within the sounds of the language as well as the grammar and syntax.

=Phonology=

Consonants
P'ar has two kinds of consonant, initial and final. All consonants can be initial but only a few may be final.

{| class="wikitable" ! ! ! Labial ! Alveolar ! Velar
 * Plosive
 * Voiceless-unaspirated
 * p
 * t
 * k
 * Voiceless-aspirated
 * pʰ
 * tʰ
 * kʰ
 * Voiced-unaspirated
 * b
 * d
 * g
 * Voiced-aspirated
 * bʱ
 * dʱ
 * gʱ
 * Ejective
 * p'
 * t'
 * k'
 * Nasal
 * m
 * n
 * ŋ
 * Fricative
 * s
 * h
 * Lateral
 * l
 * Trill
 * r
 * m
 * n
 * ŋ
 * Fricative
 * s
 * h
 * Lateral
 * l
 * Trill
 * r
 * Lateral
 * l
 * Trill
 * r
 * l
 * Trill
 * r
 * Trill
 * r
 * r
 * r

Of these all of them can be initial consonants but only the nasals, voiceless-unaspirated plosives, the lateral and the trill can be syllable final consonant.

Vowels
P'ar has only three vowels [a], [i] and [u] which can carry one of 3 tones, low (marked by a grave accent) high (marked by an acute accent and mid-tone (unmarked). These vowels can also be long, at which point they may take two tones or diphthongs, [au] [iu] [ai] [ui] and [ua] which may also take two tones. The short vowels may be nasalised or take a final consonat, but not both. A long vowel may be nasalised or take a final [r] and diphthongs may only be nasalised. Nasal vowels are marked by <ñ>

The vowels would be as such in long and short forms:

Each diphthong will have one of the nine tones possessed by the long vowels.

The vowels are also prone to allophony after certain initial consonants. After the ejectives, u and i will lower to o and e respectively while a moved futher back in the mouth becoming almost glottal. Aspirated voiced plosives affect i and u in the same way, but not a. Nasal i is commonly a nasal e and nasal a is commonly nasal o. After ejectives nasal a is usually nasal ɔ with u being nasal o.

Finals
As mentioned above, the final a word may take depends upon the vowel in the nucleus:

As you can see, the more vowels in the nucleus, the fewer choices available in ending a syllable.

Examples of Syllables
The basic syllable structure is(C)(C)V(V)(C) with the more complex rules described above

Vocalic Syllables
Single vowel - a

Single nasal vowel - íñ

Long vowel - ìí

Long nasal vowel - uúñ

Diphthong - aì

Nasal diphthong - ìúñ

Rhymes
Short vowel - ang

Long vowel - uúr

Initial+Nucleus
Single vowel - pa

Single nasal vowel - níñ

Long vowel - khìí

Long nasal vowel - buúñ

Diphthong - bhaì

Nasal diphthong - gìúñ

Closed syllables
Short vowel - pan

Long vowel - tuúr

Total
The total number of vocalic syllables is 120, vocalic initial consonant final syllables number only 252 with consonant initial vowel final syllables numbering at a staggering 2520. The number of consonant initial consonant final syllables numbers even higher 5292 with the grand total of available syllables being 8064.

=Grammar=

A lot of the grammatical information within a sentence is contained within word order and clitics. For example, case is marked through word order and postpositional clitics and tense and aspect are marked through verbal clitics. They are considered clitics as they are essentially toneless, but instead take the tone of the word it follows. So a clitic marking the past tense following a low, or a mid-falling tone and also a low-falling tone, will have a low tone.

Nouns
Nouns are not explicitly marked for case, as in Latin, but instead are marked using word order and clitics. The subject will come first in a basic sentence with the verb coming straight after, then the direct object and finally the indirect object, all of which are marked purely with word order.

The Genitive
The genitive is marked by use of a possessive clitic attached to the noun which is the possessor, which follows the possessed noun. The clitic marking this is "a". This is also used to form possessive pronouns.

Plurality
When followed by a number, a noun will not be marked for plurality. In fact, unless context cannot shine any light upon the number of the noun, the plural marker will not be used at all. It is only used when introducing a new noun which must be known to be plural. The plural marker is "señ". This will precede any postpositions, so the genitive plural will be "siñ-bu" /sẽbu ~ sembu/. The word "ours" will be "hasiñbu" /ha˧sẽ˧bu˧ ~ ha˧sem˧bu˧ / meaning "I=PL=GEN"

The Personal Pronouns
With number and case marked by clitics you may expect there to be only three pronouns. However, there are several more than this depending on how polite or informal the pronoun is and whether it is inclusive or exclusive.

1st Person Singular - ha /ha˧/

1st Person Plural Inclusive (1st person and 2nd person) - hasiñ /ha˧sẽ˧/

1st Person Plural Exclusive (1st person and 3rd person) - t'íù /t'eu˦˨/

1st Person Plural All-Inclusive (1st, 2nd and 3rd) - díiñ /dẽ:˦/

2nd Person Informal - kàm /kam˨/

2nd Person Formal - ghung /gʱuŋ˧/

2nd Person Honorific - suúr /su:r˧˦/

3rd Person Informal - rám /ram˦/

3rd Person Formal - ùár /uar˨˦/

"t'íù" and "díiñ" are inherently plural so there is no need for them to ever be followed by "señ" although it is common for a poetic form "díiñseñ" to commonly refer to "nation" or "we people".

Aspect and Tense
The verb is marked for tense and aspect bt not for person, number, mood, voice, etc. There are four aspects and two tenses marked by clitics in a totol of seven clitics (the present tense not being explicitly marked).

mii - This marks the present tense imperfect. It is used with dynamic verbs to mark continuity

thus - This marks the past tense imperfect.

ngau - Present tense continuous. Like mii it marks continuity but is used with stative verbs instead.

khal - Past tense continuous.

im - Simple past tense. This marks the simple past tense of a verb.

ui - Present perfective. This shows that the action was completed but it is also a habitual action.

leer - Past perfective. This shows that the action was completed and there is a chance it may never happen again and also that it was not a habitual action.

For example "I run" will be "ha láp" /ha˧ la˦p/ while "he is running" will be "rám lápmii /ram˦ lap˦mi:˦/.

Mood and Voice
Mood and voice are not marked on the verb itself so they must be marked elsewhere using either particles or word order. The passive voice, for example, requires a rearranging of the sentence as well as the use of a clitic. The object and subject remain in the same places and the former object takes the clitic "huà" essentially meaning "by". The passive voice does not exist for intransitive verbs, only transitive ones so a sentence like "I was loved by her" is acceptable but "I was loved", under this construction, is not. The passive voice of intransitive verbs or verbs with no patient (as in "I was given a book") is instead marked by a stand alone particle directly after the noun which is "húàr", the ancestor of "húàr". So "I love" will be "ha p'úm", "I love him" will be "ha p'úm ùár", "I am loved by him" would be "ha p'úm ùár-huà" while "I was loved" would be "ha p'úm húàr".