Tsrul

The conlang itself is finished, but this page is incomplete in its description of Tsrul. Please check back as the page updates to get a more complete view of the Tsrul Language.

These boolean valuse are not necessarily uniformly true; some markers are optional or unclear in their usage. (I also need to double-check some of them.)

Setting
Tsrul, or more formally, The language of the Tsrul (naxam tsrulpul) is the lingua franca of the Tsrul race, a space-faring species of the genus Homo in the distant future.The Tsrul evolutionary path has diverged radically from modern humans. Their primary mode of transportation is capable of manipulating time and space, resulting in their colonization of an enormous swath of space and time in the cosmos. Though there are some dialectical differences, the homogeneity of Tsrul culture as a result of their highly mobile lifestyle makes the language fairly uniform. It is not the only language spoken by the Tsrul, but it is the most common.

Phonology
Tsrul is composed of 27 consonants and 9 vowels.

Consonants
All of the nasals, the Approximant, the Trill/tap, the Lateral, and the Glottal consonants are phonemically sonorant in Tsrul.

Syllable structure
The possible Tsrul syllable structure is of the form (Cᴏɴs.(Fʀɪᴄ.))(Sᴏɴᴏʀ.)V(V)(Sᴏɴᴏʀ.)(Sᴏɴᴏʀ.)

Sound change rules

 * 1) nasal consonants undergo nasal place assimilation before non-sonorants. [n+p] → [mp]


 * 1) sonorants preceding the same sonorant (including vowels) due to word formation are deleted, not doubled. for instance, [m+m] → [m]
 * 2) word-initial [ʔ] is changed to [h]
 * 3) epenthesis - when roots are combined in ways that could make non-sonorant consonants touch, [i] is inserted between them. (this is an incredibly rare occurance.) [oṫ+qa] → [oṫiqa]
 * 4) uvular consonants [ɴ,q,ɢ,χ] alternate freely with velar consonants [ŋ,k,g,x] when preceded or followed by high front vowels [i,ɪ,e] or palatal [j] (very few native Tsrul speakers notice the difference between uvular/velar sounds)

Affricates

 * Plosive Consonants can be affricated with their fricative counterparts, forming [p͡ɸ] [t͡θ] [q͡χ] [ʔ͡h] [b͡β] and [d͡ð].


 * [p], [t], and [q] can all be combined with [s] and [ʂ], while [b] and [d] can be combined with [z] and [ʐ].

Digraphs

 * [hm], [hn], and [hṅ] are digraphs for the voiceless nasals, and act as single sonorant consonants in usage. Thus, clusters such as /hml/ can be formed in Tsrul syllables, despite the phonemic constraint of Tsrul syllable structure allowing only two sonorants at the end of a syllable.

Cores
The most important parts of Tsrul grammar are the lexemic 'cores.' Somewhat like triliteral word roots in Semitic languages, Tsrul cores are modified by affixes to create the word forms of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Tsrul words are listed in dictionaries by their cores, and dozens of individual forms can be created from a single core.

Word Order
For declarative sentences and dependent clauses, the word order is typically (Subject)(Object)Verb. However, a comprehensive case system allows for some variation without a loss in listener/reader comprehension. Since verbs usually have a subject marker included in their circumfix, the Subject does not necessarily need to be overtly stated. As not all sentences include Objects, it is entirely possible to create many whole sentences using a single word.

questions which elicit a yes/no response generally have the form Verb (Subject)(Object).

To be
One of the most notable aspects of Tsrul is its complete lack of the verb "to be." Native Tsrul speakers have some difficulty grasping the concept of its usage, and many never learn how to use it correctly in their auxiliary languages. The closest verb in meaning to it is "to exist," which itself is very restricted in its usage. It is used only to refer to the 'action' of Existence, the abstract concept. As such, many statements which would use "to be" in English or other languages must be rephrased in terms of frame of reference when translated into Tsrul. For instance, a Tsrul speaker would say "I see the apple as red," rather than "The apple is Red."

Cases
Tsrul has nine cases. these case infixes are appended directly after the core.

* can be merged into the form -jeĭ- for the “locative temporal,” showing space/time relationships, i.e. “where and when Gene is.”
 * The Agentive case (unmarked) is used with the agent of an active verb, as in the sentence “Gene went outside.”
 * The Patientive case is used with the patient of a passive verb, as in the sentence “Gene was hit by a car.”
 * The Accusative case is used for the direct object of a transitive verb, as in the sentences “Gene ate an apple,” or “Gene gave a car to Alice.”
 * The Dative case is used for the indirect object of a ditransitive verb, as in the sentence “Gene gave a car to Alice.” It is also used to denote the agent in passive ditransitive constructions, such as “Alice was given a car by Gene.”
 * The Commitative case is used for ‘with’ relationships, as in the sentence “Gene walked with Alice.” It is also used to describe relationships of possession, with the possessor in the Commitative case, which requires some rephrasing to accurately translate into English; e.g. “The apple Gene had with him was red,” or to rephrase into a more common possessive phrase, “The apple of Gene was red.” Possessive English phrases of the form “X’s Y,” will translate as [Y] [X.ᴄᴏᴍ].
 * The Locative case is used to show static location. it holds a similar meaning to the English prepositions “on,” “near,” “in,” or “at.” with prepositions, it shows motion in relation to the word. with motion verbs (to go, to come, to walk, etc.), it means “to”
 * The Temporal case is used to indicate a moment in time. it mirrors the locative case, but with time. However, it is important to note that it can be used in ways such as “During the rule of Charlemagne” or “the place in time that Gene is”, which can be far-removed from the current time. the tonal tense markers provide the objectʻs temporal location in relation to the speaker.
 * The Instrumental case shows the relationship of the tool to the user, as in the sentence “Gene drove the nail using a hammer.” It is also used to denote the logical agent in monotransitive passive constructions, such as “The apple was eaten by Gene.”
 * The Similative case is used to indicate likeness or similarity, as in “Madonna is like a virgin. ”
 * A bare core signifies the (officially unrecognized) Vocative case. e.g., dżinm means ‘the truth,’ whereas dżin means ‘O, truth,’ ‘O, Gene,’ or simply ‘Gene.’

​Number marker
There are three grammatical numbers, Singular, Paucal, and Plural. Paucal is directly translated as "a few" or "several." In their simplest form, the number markers are appended directly after the case ending. singular is denoted by [-m], paucal [-l], and plural [-r]. The paucal/plural barrier is variable, typically between three and six, but can be very high, as in reference to extremely large groups.

Determiner Suffixes
However, both number and case are slightly more complicated with the addition of determiner suffixes on nouns. The suffixes take many varying forms depending on the determiner which is appended to the noun. For instance, the noun ṅanom means 'boat' or 'the boat', while ṅanomo means 'a boat.' When ṅanomo is declined into the dative case, it becomes ṅanonso (with the singular [m] changing to [n] due to nasal place assymilation.), meaning 'to a boat.' The varying forms of these determiner suffixes are shown below. * differ entiated from “that/those” by whether or not the speaker can see the object, or if it is in another room/area, or not immediately present.

Gender Suffixes
Gender is entirely optional in Tsrul, and is rarely used unless either a distinction needs to be made or the gender of an entity is important information. The masculine infix [-ʻa-], the feminine [-ha-], and the neuter [-na-] are inserted before the number/determiner suffix.