Rikutsaren

Rikučreb (IPA: ) is a language spoken by the inhabitants of Rikučar, a fictional nation that encompasses most of the Milky Way galaxy. It is a member of the Asermian language family, which evolved from the Proto-Asermian language. Rikučreb, as well as the other members of the Asermian languages, are regulated entirely by Bakzwalt, a bird-like gender-neutral transcendental being who has ruled Rikučar since its establishment nearly 5 millenia ago. Bakzwalt inherited the Pre-Asermian language (a substratum of Proto-Asermian) from an ancient earth-based race of avian humanoids, which Bakzwalt was a member of. Following a catastrophic bolide event wiped out most of the island, Bakzwalt became the last remaining native speaker of the Asermian languages.

Vowels

 * /ɑ/ lengthens when unstressed after sibilants in syllable coda. Does not nasalise.
 * [ɒ] does not lengthen. Nasalises normally. Allophone of /ɑ/ before post-alveolar and lateral approximants.
 * [ɑ̈] is always long. Does not nasalise. Allophone of /ɑ/ word-finally.
 * [a] does not lengthen or nasalise. Allophone of /ɑ/ when unstressed before plosives and stressed after semivowel.
 * [æ] does not lengthen. Nasalises normally. Allophone of /ɑ/ when stressed before plosives (unless after semivowel).
 * [ʌ] does not lengthen. Does not nasalise. Allophone of /ɑ/ in diphthong /ʌɪ/.
 * /ɑɪ/ occurs word-finally.
 * /ʌɪ/ occurs as an allophone of /ɑɪ/ when word-medial.
 * /ɑu/ occurs anywhere.
 * /ɛ/ does not lengthen or nasalise.
 * [e] lengthens when word-final (unless in monosyllabic word). Does not nasalise. Allophone of /ɛ/ when stressed or when before post-alveolar approximants.
 * /eɪ/ occurs in same environments as [eː]. usually used in older contexts.
 * /ə/ does not lengthen or nasalise.
 * Only one known word in Rikučreb ("ñ", pronounced, meaning "and") has this sound. However, it is very common as a phoneme in Rowiktob as well as in older Asermian languages.
 * /ø/ does not lengthen or nasalise.
 * /ɪ/ does not lengthen or nasalise.
 * /i/ lengthens when stressed or word-final. Nasalises before /ŋ/.
 * /o/ does not lengthen. Nasalises normally.
 * [ɔ] does not lengthen. Nasalises normally. Allophone of /o/ when stressed before plosives.
 * /oɪ/ occurs anywhere.
 * /ou/ occurs in same environments as /o/. usually used in older contexts.
 * /u/ is always long. Does not nasalise.
 * /uɪ/ occurs word-finally as a grammatical affix denoting an inanimate agent noun.
 * /ju/ occurs word-finally.

Consonants

 * [χ] occurs in onset of a stressed syllable when between two vowels. This is an allophone of /x/
 * [dʒ] occurs when /ʒ/ is initial and is followed by a vowel. This is an allophone of /ʒ/.
 * [ɾ] occurs between two vowels in a free morpheme. This is an allophone of /r/.

Stress
Rikučreb stress relies heavily on acoustic vowel height. The list below lists the vowels from high to low in the order officially used:

i, u(ju,ɑu), o, ɪ(ɑɪ,ʌɪ,oɪ,uɪ), ø, e/ɛ, æ/a, ɔ, ɒ, ɑ/ɑ̈

The following rules determine where stress occurs:
 * 1) The higher vowel is stressed, unless:
 * 2) word-final /i/ is the highest vowel, in which case the next highest is stressed.
 * 3) the vowels are all the same, in which case the second is stressed.
 * 4) the root ends with /ɑː/, in which case that syllable is stressed.
 * 5) Diphthongs that move towards the highest vowel in the word are stressed.
 * 6) When a vowel occurs twice consecutively, the second is ALWAYS stressed, even if not the highest.
 * 7) In a word with 5 or more syllables, the third syllable is ALWAYS stressed.

Writing System
Modern Rikučreb is written by its native speakers using the Rikučreb Alphabet. However, most linguists, especially those who are used to the latin alphabet, prefer to use the Standardised Orthography for Asermian (SOA).

Spelling
The Rikučreb language has many rules that dictate the placement of phonemes. They are listed below. [note: this section is a work in progress, and may be re-formatted later on.]
 * 1) Definition of a "word" as used in this section: A free morpheme.
 * 2) the /uɪ/ rule: When forming an agent noun that describes an inanimate object, the suffix "/uɪ/" is used instead of the suffix "/wiː/". Any word-final vowel is lost before this suffix.

Definite Article
The singular definite article in Rikučreb is e. It occurs before the word it affects. If the word is plural, it is merged with the plural particle kū to create the plural definite article ek.

Indefinite Article
The indefinite article in Rikučreb is ab. It occurs before the word it affects. It is not affected by other particles, and always precedes any particle. It is derived from Rikučreb abu, meaning one (number)

Nouns
Nouns are the base unit of Rikučreb grammar. Various suffixes and prefixes are added onto the noun to form various different words. When forming count nouns, -z is added to the end of the root morpheme. Nouns are not declined in Rikučreb, and concepts such as number are represented by particles (see Particles).

Pronouns
Rikučreb has standalone pronouns. Similar to Rikučreb verbs, pronouns exhibit clusivity.

Possessive
In the Rikučreb language, the possessive contains two types of words: determiners and pronouns. Determiners are expressed by the particle "en", which is attached to the end of the subject via a dash "-" (ex. "Net's car" > "Net-en (reze)skotru"). Pronouns are expressed as a particle that comes before the word it affects. These particles are listed below. In cases regarding the possessive form of a personal pronoun (such as "my" or "your"), the possessive pronoun is also used (ex. "That is my car" > "Edu ok na (reze)skotru"; whereas "That car is mine" > "Edu (reze)skotru ok na".)


 * The exclusive 1st person plural, ča, is used to refer to "each one of our/ours" as opposed to "all of our/ours collectively".
 * The exclusive 2nd person plural, ba, is used to refer to "each one of your/yours" as opposed to "all of your/yours collectively".

Personal Pronouns
As Rikučreb has a romance-based verbal conjugation system, there are no subject pronouns. However, there are object pronouns, which also serve as reflexive pronouns. The personal pronouns used in Rikučreb are listed below.


 * The exclusive 1st person plural, čaz, is used to refer to "each one of us" as opposed to "all of us collectively".
 * The exclusive 2nd person plural, baz, is used to refer to "each one of you" as opposed to "all of you collectively".

Exhortative
The Exhortative particles signal the speaker's avid encouragement toward the addressee's bringing about the proposition of an utterance. Exhortative constructions can only be used in second person singular and plural utterances. It is represented by -ga .... ga! (ex. "You should drink this, it's so good!" "Oǯokî-ga eto, ok-ga ezu jasunav ga!".)

Plural
As stated earlier, Rikučreb nouns do not decline. As a result, grammatical number is represented by the particle ku. It occurs before the word it affects. It is derived from the Late Ꝛakwikt̠hr̠æb. plural affix -k.

Causative
The causative form of a verb is represented by the particle kre (although this may better be described as a clitic). It occurs before the word it affects, and is attached to the word via a dash "-". It is derived from the Ꝛakwikt̠hr̠æb verb "kredurî", meaning "to cause".

Juiscal
The juiscal particle, go, is a concept unique to the Asermian languages, specifically Rikučreb and its sister language Rowiktob, as well as the Asermo-Khronic language Karbash. It is used to imply or invoke sexual arousal, and is usually used in familiar conversation. When in formal conversation, one will often use the non-juiscal definition of a word or an entirely different word that cannot be made juiscal. The juiscal particle occurs before the word it affects, and is attached to the word via a dash "-". It is derived from the Karbash juiscal particle гo, which is in turn derived from the Old Rikučreb singular 3rd person juiscal additive ga.

Adjectives
Adjectives are formed by adding the suffix -nav to the end of a noun. When conjugating into the degrees of comparison, the adjectival suffix is shortened to -n, thus forming the adjectival root. The comparative suffix is then placed onto the end of the adjectival root.

Adverbs
Adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -gev to the end of a noun. When conjugating into the degrees of comparison, the adverbial suffix is shortened to -g, thus forming the adverbial root. The comparative suffix is then placed onto the end of the adverbial root.

Degrees of Comparison
The Rikučreb language uses 6 Degrees of Comparison, as opposed to the 2 used in English. The prefixes that are added onto the adjectival or adverbial root when using the Degrees of Comparison are listed in the chart below. Comparatives and Contraries do not use "e" before them unless the subject uses it anyways (ex. "The better man" > "Ê jasunezlu kin"). All other degrees of comparison do use "e" unless they are referring to a possessive (ex. "My best friend" > "Na jasunezlug ǯitwêbu".)

The comparative degrees that are unique to Rikučreb are described in detail below.


 * 1) The Contrary is the opposite of the Comparative, and is used to represent the shortage of something or the lack of a certain quality.
 * 2) The Proclivitive is the opposite of the Superlative, and is used to represent the complete absence of a thing or quality.
 * 3) The Hyperlative and the Inferlative refer to the absolute most or least amount of something possible, respectively (ex. "The best possible thing" "Ê jasunezlugø eþbî"). These forms can also be used in exaggerations (ex. "The best day ever!" Ê jasunezlugø narv!").

Adverbs of Comparison
The Adverbs of Comparison correspond to "so" and "not so [much]" or "very" and "not as" in the English language. They are, respectively, ezun and ezonen.

Quantity
When referring to an amount of something, the adjective Enav and its comparisons are used. (ex. "I have more." "Drefôn enezlu.").

Verbs
Verbs are formed by adding the infinitive -rî to the end of a mass noun, if there is a corresponding mass noun. In the Rikučreb language, all plural persons, as well as the singular 3rd person, exhibit clusivity. Verbs are conjugated into the following conjugation table.
 * The exclusive third person can also be used in any tense when relaying a message to a 3rd party that is absent at the time but will be present at a time that you and your group are absent. In this case, the absent 3rd party is referred to in the direct plural 2nd person. (ex. "We are sorry that we were not able to attend, but we have brought to you this gift." "Oč kalanav nedas ba oča erbênav rektækerî, oze doč ojâtbaẘa es laz edo iǯijiregez.")

Perfect Aspect
The perfect aspect is created by conjugating Dorî and adding that before the past participle of the verb in question. Dorî is conjugated into the Past Indicative to form the Present Perfect, Present Indicative to form the Pluperfect, Future Indicative to form the Future Perfect, and the Conditional to form the Conditional Perfect.

Continuous Aspect
The continuous aspect is created by conjugating Orî and adding that before the gerund of the verb in question. Orî follows the same conjugation procedure as Dorî follows when conjugated into the Perfect. However, Orî is only conjugated into the Indicative, and therefore the Continuous only has 3 tenses.

Syntax
Rikučreb is a head-initial language, and all modifiers precede the words the modify. It has the basic word order Subject-Verb-Object. Rikučreb is a null-subject language.

Lexicon
A comprehensive dictionary of the Rikučreb can be found at the Rikučreb/Dictionary page.

Example text
This is the entry for constructedlanguages's Conlang Challenge on deviantART, which was to translate the preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence into one's conlang.

Rikučreb
Nidu tæba e pizikuz su eǯîrkinenav ku apiziz, natemtek bupuktenav ǯasî abu eǯîrkin uburî ê habêčebnav ku jasbuz netæk dof čebêdeẘo maz neþ absedǯî, ñ natemtrî tabneþ ek lapnul su ê eǯîr, e regêŕonav ñ ǯezrêginav kigerghêsab es neda êk Gren su eǯîŕat ê su eǯîŕaten Gôd jiŕebêf maz, ab nupukênav iǯiklapædêẘa es êk altabaz su eǯîrkin ǯatik nedôs egem nuprarizrî êk kreduz netæk taklugif maz es ê regêŕo.

English
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.