Taila

Taila (Taila Luyera) is a constructed language developed in 2009 as an experiment in various linguistic concepts. It is an non-tonal analytic language with a relatively simple phonemic inventory, especially to speakers of Western languages. It is currently written using the Latin script and Arabic numerals. The lexicon has been influenced by many languages, most importantly English, Chinese, Khmer, Greek, and Arabic.

=Design= Taila was initially created to be an experiment into isolating/analytic languages like Chinese, Burmese, or Thai. Early grammars explored different ways to manipulate word order to express meaning, relying heavily on Asian influences in most aspects of the language: syntax, lexicon, phonology, et cetera. Eventually, however, Taila started to take on a different timbre in many ways. Tones were dropped, syllable structure was loosened, and word length was increased. Furthermore, the grammar took a turn toward the theoretical, marking not phrasal constituents like subject or object, but instead thematic relations like agent and patient. There are still many Asian-influenced parts of the language, such as its separation of tense, aspect, and mood or its lack of intrinsic number in most nouns or its serial verb constructions (and "serial noun constructions"). It does diverge somewhat greatly in its relative looseness in word order.

=Phonology= In many ways the phonemes of Taila are similar to those of the Spanish language. A five-vowel system coupled with a relatively simple consonantal system.

Consonants
The sounds listed in the table below are the "standard" phonemes of the language, and do not show allophones that appear in certain environments. Where sounds are in pairs, the symbol to the left is unvoiced and the one to the right is voiced.

The orthography generally agrees with the IPA; however, a few sounds are written differently. The semivowels are written y and w, and the two rhotic phonemes are written r and rr. Whenever the vowel "i" is positioned after an orthographically alveolar consonant, it turns it into a palatal sound; thus, zenia (snow), tia  (to go), lino  (rice). This phenomenon also occurs after /ɾ/ which changes into /j/. If this phonemic shift is not desired, an "h" can be inserted to stop it, so is desired, it is transcribed thia instead of tia. The velar nasal stop /ŋ/ is written "n" when immediately before a velar consonant (ng, nk, nx), and "ngh" elsewhere.

Vowels
There are five vowels which are not reduced in any syllables.

=Basic Grammar= Because Taila is an analytic language, it lacks any sort of declension or conjugation like in many Western languages. In order to express number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, or anything else, separate particles must be added in the clause to indicate these.

Noun Functive Particles
After a noun phrase (a string of one or more nouns), a grammatical particle must be inserted to indicate the role of this phrase in the sentence. In English this is primarily done through word order (The baby ate it versus It ate the baby) and a modest amount of declension when dealing with pronouns (I vs me vs my vs mine). In Taila, the positioning of the noun phrase within the sentence is somewhat loose as long as it is properly marked for thematic role. Please note well that these particles do not show subject or object like in English, but instead agent, patient, etc.

Noun Possessive Particles
English possessives are quite ambiguous in many instances. If someone hears "Mark's jacket", they cannot know for sure whether they have parsed these words correctly without the context. Is this the jacket that he's currently wearing? Is this a jacket that he bought? Did he personally design this jacket? The possessive "Mark's" can indicate all of these things in English. In Taila, however, the possessive particle must be carefully chosen to indicate which of these meanings is appropriate to the situation.

The possessive particle (se) is the most common of these four, and can be used in many situations. Typically, it refers to more temporary possession and does not indicate ownership. "Boy se book" may refer to a book that he's currently holding or reading, but does not show that he owns the book or that he authored it. The proprietive particle (du) identifies an alienable possession that the possessor has either purchased or has somewhat permanent ownership over. "Boy du book" may refer to a book that he has purchased, but is not currently reading/holding. The productive particle (xal) is appropriate when the possessor created the possessed. "Boy xal book" shows that he wrote or edited the book, but does not show that he's reading it or holding it in his hands. The genitive particle (arai) can be used to indicate something intrinsic to the possessor that cannot be separated from him/her. "Boy arai arm" or "boy arai father" are correct because these cannot be alienated from the boy.

Pronouns
There are multiple sets of pronouns that can be used in Taila according to the formality or familiarity desired. The standard set of pronouns should be used in most everyday situations. Formal pronouns should be reserved for conversations with your superiors such as a boss or possibly your parents. Familiar pronouns are only appropriate when talking with close friends or loved ones.

The bare form is the most common, and it leaves the number to be inferred from context. Often it indicates a singular or general meaning, and when it is important to know further information about the specific number, quantifying particles can be added, such as do and sam above. The paucal particle shows a few of something. In most instances this means around five or less, but it isn't a formula and can be applied to larger quantities as well. The collective particle is used when referring to a large group of something, especially when they are working together as a unit.

Numbers
Hi,

Excuse me because I asking you for my demand (numbers from your conlang(s)) in this page. I think to send my message on your e-mail. But nowhere I didn't see information about your e-mail. First introduce: My name is Janko. I'm collecting numbers from various systems in different languages. You can found information about my self and my work on: http://janko.gorenc.googlepages.com/home http://janko.gorenc.googlepages.com/collectionnumbers

Please you tell me if you'll have numbers in Taila in future.

Could you please send me numbers from 1 to 10 (as in English: 1 –one, 2 – two, 3 – three,…) in Taila,or from your other conlang(s) on this page or my e-mail address: "j_gorenc@yahoo.com"?

Thank you for your help!

I wish you a lot of success at your work!

JANKO GORENC

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