Rikutsaren

Rikūtšrɛb (IPA: ) is a language spoken by the inhabitants of Rikūtšar, 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. Rikūtšrɛb, 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 Rikūtšar since its establishment nearly 5 millenia ago. Bakzwalt inherited the Proto-South and Proto-North Asermian languages 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.

Phonotactics
I am in the process of changing the stress rules, so I ask you to be patient. Thank you!

Allophony

 * 1) the [æ] rule: [æ] occurs when "/ɑ/" is followed by a plosive consonant (unless preceded by a semi-vowel). This is an allophone of /ɑ/.
 * 2) the [ɔ] rule: [ɔ] occurs when "/ɑ/" is stressed between the start and end of a word, unless followed by a plosive consonant. This is an allophone of /ɑ/.
 * 3) the [χ] rule: [χ] occurs in onset of a stressed syllable, but ONLY when between two vowels. This is an allophone of /x/.
 * 4) the [e] rule: [e] occurs when "/ɛ/" occurs word-finally. This is an allophone of /ɛ/.
 * 5) the [dʒ] rule: [dʒ] occurs ALWAYS but NOT ONLY when /ʒ/ is initial and is followed by a vowel. This is an allophone of /ʒ/. (Note: Instances of [dʒ] that are in older words will usually remain unchanged, regardless of their position)
 * 6) the [ɾ] rule: [ɾ] occurs between two vowels in a free morpheme. This is an allophone of /r/.

Vowel Length
Vowels in Rikūtšrɛb are only lengthened when stressed, except for /ɔ/, which only occurs in stressed environments, and /ɑː/, which is dictated by the following rule.
 * 1) the [ɑː] rule: [ɑː] occurs when /ɑ/ falls before a consonant and after /ʒ/ or its allophones, but ONLY when in syllable coda. [ɑː] also occurs word-finally after a plosive consonant.

Stress Rules

 * 1) Word-final /i/ is NEVER stressed.
 * 2) The second syllable of a word is stressed
 * 3) Unless in a word that ends with /i/ or /u/, in which case the first syllable is stressed.
 * 4) Unless the word has 5 or more syllables, in which case the 3rd syllable is stressed.
 * 5) Unless Rule 3 applies.
 * 6) The last consecutive syllable with the same vowel in a word is stressed.
 * 7) Unless the first syllable in that set is word-initial.
 * 8) Unless in a word made from combining two roots (ex. ɛdžırkin, where stress follows that of the root words ɛdžır and kin). However, any affix added to this word nullifies this rule (ex. ɛdžırkinɛnav).

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

Spelling
The Rikūtšrɛb 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 Rikūtšrɛb 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 Rikūtšrɛb 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 Rikūtšrɛb abū, meaning one (number)

Nouns
Nouns are the base unit of Rikūtšrɛb 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 Rikūtšrɛb, and concepts such as number are represented by particles (see Particles).

Pronouns
Řikūtšřeb has standalone pronouns. Similar to Rikūtšrɛb verbs, pronouns exhibit clusivity.

Possessive
In the Rikūtšrɛb 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 (rɛzɛ)skotrū"). 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" > "Edū ok na (rɛzɛ)skotrū"; whereas "That car is mine" > "Edū (rɛzɛ)skotrū oc na".)


 * The exclusive 1st person plural, tša, 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 Rikūtšrɛb 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 Rikūtšrɛb are listed below.


 * The exclusive 1st person plural, tšaz, 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!" "Odžokī-ga eto, ok-ga ezū jasūnav ga!".)

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

Causative
The causative form of a verb is represented by the particle kře (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 Rakwiktræb verb "kředūřī", meaning "to cause".

Juiscal
The juiscal particle, go, is a concept unique to the Asermian languages, specifically Rikūtšrɛb and its sister language Rowictob, 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 Rikūtšrɛb 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 Rikūtšrɛb 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" > "E jasūnezlū kin"). All other degrees of comparison do use "e" unless they are referring to a possessive (ex. "My best friend" > "Na jasūnezlūg džitweibū".)

The comparative degrees that are unique to Rikūtšrɛb 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" "E jasūnezlūgø eþbī"). These forms can also be used in exaggerations (ex. "The best day ever!" E jasūnezlūgø nařv!").

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, ezūn and ezonen.

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

Verbs
Verbs are formed by adding the infinitive -řī to the end of a mass noun, if there is a corresponding mass noun. In the Rikūtšrɛb 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." "Otš kalanav nedas ba otša eřbeinav řektækeřī, oze dotš ojætbaẘa es laz edo idžijiřegez.")

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

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

Lexicon
A comprehensive dictionary of the Rikūtšrɛb can be found at the Rikūtšrɛb/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.

Rikūtšrɛb
Nidū tæba e pizikūz sū ɛdžīrkinɛnav kū apiziz, natɛmtɛk būpūktɛnav džasī abū ɛdžīrkin ūbūrī e habetšɛbnav kū jasbūz nɛtæk dof tšɛbedɛẘo maz nɛþ absɛddžī, ñ natɛmtrī tabnɛþ ɛk lapnūl sū e ɛdžīr, e rɛgeŕonav ñ džɛzreginav kigɛrghesab ɛs nɛdā ek Grɛn sū ɛdžīŕat e sū ɛdžīŕatɛn Gɔ̄d jiŕɛbef maz, ab nūpūkenav idžiklapædeẘa ɛs ek altabaz sū ɛdžirkin džatik nɛdɔ̄s ɛgem nūprarizrī ek krɛdūz nɛtæk taklūgif maz ɛs e rɛgeŕo.

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.