Tsrul

These boolean values are not necessarily uniformly true; some markers are optional.

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 Cosmanthropus 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. One notable dialect, known as core speech (naxam josizam/naxam josi) lacks many of the grammatical markers in Standard Tsrul, instead having a more rigorous syntactic alignment.



The language was reformed twice before Standard Tsrul (the language described on this page) was finalized near the beginning of the Tsrul-Uthan Epoch. Some wordforms underwent mutations from the first reform to the second, so there are a few irregular forms and idiosyncrasies within the language. Tsrul is written using the Second Reform Script (ḋinim guṡaʻzam i solzam).

Culture


Tsrul-Uthan Culture is based largely on the fact that the Tsrul are primarily a time-travelling, space-faring race, spending very little time on the surface of planets. They are particularly non-violent compared to other human-derived species, as they must maintain peaceful living environments for extended periods of time.

Social networks are an important and complex aspect of Tsrul culture. For the most part, Tsrul are social butterflies, spending a small amount of time on short visits with small groups of friends. However, they also spend a significant amount of time crossing paths with acquaintances. TAs a result, knowing a person's name holds less significance in Tsrul culture. This is partly because the Tsrul have so many acquaintances. However, it is also based on the fact that the Tsrul can travel through time. Although one person may have seen an acquaintance only a few minutes ago, that acquaintance may have traveled to a different point in time and spent several months in another time frame, and forgotten the person's name. upon meeting again, it would not be considered impolite for that acquaintance to ask the person's name again.

Family is somewhat less important than in modern western society. This is also due in large part to the fact that the Tsrul can travel through time. any particular person can meet practically any other, and meeting distant descendents or ancestors is not an uncommon occurance. Since such a huge amount of familial connections are available, the most important familial connections are typically the connections between parents and their children. sibling-to-sibling connections are also important, but are mostly viewed the same level as friend-to-friend connections. Beyond the immediate family connections, the Tsrul typically have an elaborate clan structure, based largely on when and where individuals are born.

In fact, Tsrul naming conventions make the time and place of an individual's birth a large part of their identity as a whole. Following the personal and familial names, Tsrul individuals have a Birth name, which details the galaxy and year that the individual was born. The personal name, composed of two or three cores, is basically the same concept as a person's given name in modern culture. The parents of a child will choose the name, assigning it to their child upon its birth. The familial name follows the given name, and is typically the first core of each parent's personal name, with the name of the parent who carried the child being first. Surrogate mothers are considered heroic in Tsrul culture, and if a surrogate is involved in the birthing process, the child's Familial name will be the first core of the surrogate, no matter what. Then comes the name core of the parent whose gamete was fertilized, then the parent whose gamete acted as the impregnator. Since Tsrul genetic technology is more advanced than current technology, it is possible for two men or two women (or indeed, more than two partners) to have genetic offspring with one another.



Finally, The species's relationship with the Uthan is perhaps the most important of all. The Uthan, a race of intelligent alien life forms, are markedly different from any earth life. Their biology led to Tsrul genetic engineering driving the Tsrul to be able to see far into the Infrared and Ultraviolet spectrum, led to the ability of both races to become permanent space-faring entities, while their culture helped create the governing body of the Tsrul-Uthan Collective, and made the two species into a major power in the Tsrul-Uthan epoch of the Universe. Tsrul and Uthan children are paired up at an early age, and spend their entire lives working and living together. The Tsrul-Uthan connection is far and away the most important connection in Tsrul culture, moreso even than the connections between Tsrul parents and their children.

Reckoning
Eons separate the Tsrul-Uthan epoch from the modern day. as a result, many of the conventions used to keep track of measurements have been forgotten to history. The most important measurement is determined by the Tsrul-Uthan Collective's main data network, which is composed of billions of hyper-fast warp nanites which can cross the physical expanse of the cosmos (at the moment of the Tsrul-Uthan Collective's foundation) in just 0.429 seconds. This time unit (abbreviated UT) is integral to the determination of many other measurements.

For instance, it determines the reckoning of time. 60 of these Tsrul "seconds" create one Tsrul "minute," and sixty minutes create on Tsrul "hour." however, rather than 24 hours that we have in our day, there are 60 hours in a Tsrul "day," 60 of these days in a Tsrul "month," and 60 months in a Tsrul "year." The Tsrul word for this "year" translates as cycle. this creates a Tsrul cycle that lasts 12 years and 45 days on the Gregorian Calendar (including leap days). The average Tsrul lifespan is 12-13 cycles, or roughly 145-160 years.

The Tsrul second also determines distance measurements, with the basic unit of distance being the distance light travels in a vacuum during that amount of time. This "star unit," (abbreviated US) much like the time units, is multiplied and divided by orders of magnitude in base-60 to achieve more appropriate distance measurements, just like the meter is multiplied or divided to provide measurements like the kilometer or the centimeter.

Mass is determined by the mass of a free proton (Mp) multiplied by 60 to the 15th power. this equation (Mp×6015) yields a mass of 786.441552 grams, or 1.73380684 pounds. this measurement is known as the mass unit (abbreviated UM).

Phonology
Tsrul is composed of 27 consonants and 9 vowels.

Consonants
All of the Nasal, Approximant, Trill/tap, Lateral, and 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 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) if [h] meets a nasal due to word formation, [h] is deleted. [pinuh+nto] → [pinunto]
 * 4) epenthesis - when roots are combined in ways that could make non-sonorant consonants touch, [i] is inserted between them. (this is a rare occurance.) [oṫ+qa] → [oṫiqa]
 * 5) uvular consonants [ɴ,q,ɢ,χ] alternate freely with velar consonants [ŋ,k,g,x] when followed by high front vowels [i,ɪ] 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] [b͡β] [d͡ð] and [ʔ͡h].


 * [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, letter 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. Stress exists on cores with multiple syllables, but is fluid and unpredictable.

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.

Derivational Prefixes
Derivational prefixes attach directly to the core in a Tsrul word, regardless of other grammatical prefixes. The derivational prefixes which turn words into nouns are as follows:

Irregular Nouns
Several classes of nouns always take the paucal number, regardless of their logical number.

Other nouns are always singular, such as ṫum - 'time,' mĕnm - 'the universe/space' and gobam - 'humanity.' this class can be viewed as "non-stative mass entities," which change slowly over time as constituent parts are created, change, and die.
 * Ethnonyms, such as 'Tsrul,' 'American,' or 'East Asian.'
 * Mass nouns, such as 'rice' or 'honey.' These nouns are easily predictable in Tsrul: If the texture of the entity in its current state is either granular or fluid, it will almost always be considered a mass noun. notable exceptions include nouns like ṡujam - 'teardrop,' qṡuarm - 'atmosphere' and ŏṅmaṡojr - 'pebbles.'

Finally, a second declension of nouns sets itself apart by having a merged-number [-n] ending. These are nouns which are either


 * always physically present in a relatively small group which cannot separately maintain stasis, or


 * are non-countable entities.

nouns like horn - 'quarks' and tanjan - 'music' belong to this declension.

Miscellany
The diminutive marker, which fits between the core and the number ending, is -tṡoj- or -ṡoj-, as in ŏṅmaṡojr above (ŏṅma [ᴍɪɴᴇʀᴀʟ] + ṡoj [ᴅɪᴍ] + r [ᴘʟᴜ]). Whether it takes the form of -ṡoj- or -tṡoj- is based almost entirely on speaker preference, though there are some words which uniformly use one form or the other.

Adjectives
Adjectives in Tsrul are shown with suffixes, and are declined for number to match the noun they are modifying.

Markers
When adjectives are used in comparison to nouns, the similative case is used on the noun being compared to the antecedent. For instance, zĕgim eqaḋaŏ uṫazom ṗelaṅżam eqaḋaŏ, ʻ[The sun (ᴀɢᴇ)] [brighter than] [the moon (sɪᴍ)] [shines].'

Derivational Prefixes
As with nouns, Derivational prefixes are prefixed to the cores. *not used with species, such as ‘Tsrul’ or 'Uthan,' only races or nationalities, such as 'Senegalese' or 'Italian'

Verbs
Verbs are arguably the most salient and complex part of the Tsrul Language. They have the most features of any part of speech in Tsrul, and are capable of conveying a huge amount of information. The verbal circumfix is very complex, and will be broken down into several parts for this explanation.

Person and number prefix
The prefix which conveys the information of person and number on Tsrul verbs is inflected into varying forms. They are inflected for the singular, paucal and plural numbers as well as the active, middle, and passive voices in four persons. The first, second, and third persons function as expected in relation to many other languages. The middle voice is used for actions whose agents are also their patients, as well as with reflexive verbs. For instance, 'the door opened,' 'the man shot himself,' 'we met one another,' and 'you slapped your own face' would all use the middle voice in Tsrul. The fourth person functions much the same way "one" or "they" is used in some English constructions: as an unspecific, general entity. It is important to note that the paucal first person functions as an exclusive first person; indicating that the speaker and another party, but not the listener, were involved in the action. The plural first person functions as an inclusive first person, where the listener is included. These prefixes are not necessarily attached to every verb. If the subject remains the same through an entire statement, these prefixes are entirely optional on all but the main verb (usually the final verb in a sentence), and they are frequently dropped by Tsrul speakers. In fact, entire stories can be related with only a single verb having its person and number explicitly stated, provided that the subject remains the same through the story. It is only in formal discourse that every verb is expected to have these prefixes. This is one of the few honorific features of Tsrul; providing all of the prefixes on verbs suggests that the speaker views the conversation as a formal encounter, and holds the listener in high esteem.

However, the usage of these prefixes is not entirely limited to verbs. A possessive construction such as 'my pet' or 'their cars' will use the active prefixes attached to a declined noun to show this relationship. For instance, since 'pet' is qsim in Tsrul, 'my pet' would be ḋoqsim.

Similarly, object pronouns (e.g. I gave them to you.) are the active prefixes with case endings attached. Since the prefixes are already inflected for number, the m/l/r number endings are not added. For instance, 'I gave them to you (paucal)' is hoso sato ḋoʻalḋáŏ́ in Tsrul.

mo (the number zero) can also be used as a personal prefix to indicate forbidden, taboo, or incredibly undesired actions, roughly translating as 'nobody does [action].' mo used as a prefix is not inflected for number.

Evidential suffix
The suffix of verbs provides evidential information, letting the listener know how certain the speaker is that the action happened. There are four levels of this evidentiality: The speaker experiences the event, The event is relayed to the speaker by another party, the speaker assumes or infers that the event takes place, and the speaker is unsure that the event takes place. These suffixes are inflected in discrete (I eat) and continuous (I am eating) forms, as well as in the indicative and subjunctive moods.

Tonal tense
Tense is shown on the evidential suffix with tone curves. the tones fall on the [aŏ],[oŏ],[aĭ],[oĭ],[wa],[wo],[wĕ], and [wi] segments of the suffixes shown above. There are seven tenses in Tsrul: the infinite past, The distant past, the near past, the present, the near future, the distant future, and the infinite future. This great number of tenses is a reflection of the Tsrul ability to easily travel through time; any given speaker can experience an enormous time frame, and as such the language has grown to allow speakers to more easily express these time frames.

However, the tenses are not divided by specific time scales. For instance, when speaking of the year 1992 (CE), one would generally default to using the distant past. It is a point in time that speakers alive today would be able to remember with certainty, but it is far-removed from the present year. However, when speaking of the year 1992 in comparison to the year 20,000 BCE, the recent past would be used: it is much, much closer to the present than the year 20,000 BCE. Alternatively, 20,000 BCE would be in the infinite past in relation to the present, but would be the infinite future if the speaker was referencing that date 1 billion years ago.

But in general, the default barriers of these tenses are broken down in the following manner: anywhere from 2 months to a year from the speaker's present time would usually be considered the near tenses. Beyond that, up until the points in time where no currently-present person would be expected to experience the event (i.e., they were not yet/would no longer be alive), the distant tenses would typically be used. This provides a time frame of approximately 200 years into the past and future. However, cultural epochs or other 'temporal landmarks' are also some of the intuitive timescales used to divide these tenses. Finally, anything beyond the limits of the distant tenses would be referenced with the infinite tenses.

There are three tones in Tsrul: the high tone [◌́], the low tone [ ◌̀], and the middle tone [ ◌]. To create the tenses in Tsrul, the tones are used as follows: Additionally, there are two other 'tense-like' tones in Tsrul.

All of these tones can be used on nouns in the temporal case to show the noun's relative position in time compared to the speaker.
 * The momentative, which functions much like the english word 'just' (as in, 'I just washed my car, and now itʻs raining.' ). When used with a continuous evidential marker, it functions like the english phrase 'about to.' Its tone curve is [◌́◌̀].
 * The frequentative, which indicates that the action is habitual or regularly recurring. When used with a continuous Evidential suffix, it indicates that the action occurs occasionally or unpredictably, but still repetitively. Its tone curve is [ ◌̀◌́ ].

Aspectual markers
Aspectual markers fall into two categories in Tsrul: suffixed markers, or proclitic particles.

The suffixed markers include the following, which are attached after the evidential suffix. When all of the suffixes are present, they are added in the following order. The proclitic particles also have a specific order, and are written as separate words before the verb.
 * 1) Many languages ask questions by modifying the intonation of statements. Since tone is used to show tense in Tsrul, the suffix [-r] signifies that the verb is a question.
 * 2) The suffix [-m] (or [-mi]) signifies that the verb is causitive. For instance, ṡoquxom ḋoŏmḋàŏ̀ ʻI tripped over the root' vs. ṡoquxom ḋoŏmḋàŏ̀m 'I was caused to trip over the root.' The grammatical agent stays the same, but the agency of the verb is shifted. The form [-mi] is used only when the perfective marker is also present.
 * 3) The perfective marker [-n] signifies completion of the action as a whole, rather than as an ongoing event. Since English lacks a true perfective, it is somewhat difficult to convey the difference in meaning. However, the difference can be illustrated with the following example: glum soṡenḋàŏ̀ 'The wood burned' vs. glum soṡenḋàŏ̀n 'The wood burned up.'
 * 1) [ŭ] is used to make the verb perfect. It is important to note that this is not the same effect as the perfective marker above. To use the same example, glum soṡenḋàŏ̀n means 'The wood burned up,' while glum ŭ soṡenḋàŏ̀n means 'The wood had burned up.'
 * 2) [u] makes the verb dynamic. This changes the verb from a simple action to an action that involves change, imparts motion to the verb, or otherwise strengthens the effect of the verb. For instance, nuqumjoŏ means 'to apply pressure,' while u nuqumjoŏ means 'to rub'
 * 3) [e] adds the mode of capability to the verb. It functions in essentially the same manner as the English verb 'can.' For Example, ḋojupaḋaŏ 'I sing' vs. e ḋojupaḋaŏ 'I can sing'
 * 4) [o] changes the verb to the supine, and can only be used with a fourth person prefix. For example, hunam o impożoʻḋoŏ 'food is for eating' (lit. for being eaten). although there is no infinitive to speak of in Tsrul, the supine can be used to convey the meaning, especially if the personal prefix is dropped. For example, o żoʻjoŏ 'to eat' (for the purpose of eating)

Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs in Tsrul are conjugated to provide the information that the sentence is meant to convey. The verbs they modify are always in the subjunctive, and are connected to the auxiliary verbs with the particle [i]. This particle provides no added meaning, and serves only to show that the two verbs are logically connected. The verbs can be ordered in any fashion, so long as they are all connected in the sentence, and joined with the [i] particle.

Examples inᴄlude:

jalṡojĕm ḋouljaḋaŏ i qonḋwa - 'I want to walk to the river'

Irregular verbs
There are five irregular verbs in standard Tsrul, which are irregular only in their evidential forms. All other verbal prefixes and aspectual markers attach to the verbs as would be expected.

Adverbs
Adverbs are arguably the simplest part of the Tsrul Language. If a core starts with a consonant, it is prefixed with [pi-] to make it an adverb. If the core starts with a vowel, it is prefixed with [pj-]. As it is inflected using a prefix, the other parts of speech (which are shown with suffixes) can generally be changed into adverbs.

the only derivational affix used with adverbs is the negative suffix [-xal], which has the same meaning as English 'un-.' This suffix is placed after any other suffixes that may be attached to the core.

conjunctions
Conjunctions in Tsrul are particles which are placed between the items they join. However, there are also proclitic prefixed forms which can be connected to the second (and consecutive) items in a series.

Subordinating conjunctions
This list is incomplete, and will be expanded as needed.

Correlative pronouns
This (admittedly large) table shows the various correlative pronouns available in Tsrul, as well as their translations.

Mixed Parts
Tsrul has the unique ability to blend parts of speech, such as nouns and verbs, verbs and adjectives, etc., to create nuanced expression, as well as densely-packed meaning in a small number of words. Since verbs are so integral to the formation of Tsrul sentences, part-mixing happens mostly on verbs, but there is no rule against creating words that are, for instance, adjectival nouns or adverbial adjectives.

Part-mixing is demonstrated with the following example (words are directly parsed in brackets):

qaxa gjatom hoqaṅqroḋaŏ, hojaonjozajáĭ.

[IF] [WAY.ᴀᴄᴄ] [ 2 sɢ.KNOWLEDGE.NONE.sᴇɴs-ᴀᴄᴛ-ᴅɪsᴄ] [ 2 sɢ.sᴛʀᴏɴɢ.LOST.ᴀᴅᴊ.ɪɴ F ᴇʀ-ᴀᴄᴛ-ᴄᴏɴᴛ-ɪɴ FF ᴜᴛ]

“If you have no knowledge of the way, I assume you will forever be throughly lost.”

If, however, the verb is a simple negative like hoxalqanḋaŏ rather than hoqaṅqroḋaŏ, the meaning changes slightly to “If you don’t know the way [...] ,” which shifts the perspective from the subject’s knowledge to the subject.

As stated, part-mixing can create very nuanced distinctions, but can also be very confusing for Tsrul beginners. It is recommended that learners of Tsrul ensure that they have thoroughly learned the basics of the language before attempting to master part-mixing.

Idioms
pinunto - 'a greeting [ᴀᴄᴄ]' (shortened from 'I give you a greeting') - hello (declines for number of people being greeted)

ṫolapum - 'of the error' (shortened from 'this results from my error.') - I'm sorry

'to laugh widely' - to laugh heartily

'to speak crookedly' - to be drunk

'to speak like an uthan' - to paint or create visual art

'to drink the ocean/lake/river' - to drown (the body of water the person drowns in is used in the idiom)

giqatom jotsojoŏ [ᴄᴏᴍ] - 'to steal the ear [of someone]' - to scream at/berate [someone]

Numbers
Tsrul numbers are base 60, with a sub-base at 10, much like Babylonian numerals. Zero, which is grammatically handled in a different manner than the other numbers, is mo (or om, if it repeats after mo.) If the number zero is used as a noun, it does not take a number ending, and neither to any of the words modifying it. verbs pertaining to the number zero only use the fourth person.

numbers in the ones place in the Tsrul numeral system are im (1), sol (2), bil (3), hĕl (4), nol (5), njar (6), mjĕr (7), zjĕr (8), and or (9)

numbers in the tens place are il (10), sor (20), bir (30), hĕr (40), and nor (50). ir can sometimes be used as 60 (only when two consecutive digits of a number are 01:00).

The following examples are provided to show the form of written Tsrul numerals, as well as their numeric base-60 forms and converted base-10 forms.

sorim bil = 21:03 = 1,260

sorim mo bil mo om = 21:00:03:00:00 = 272,170,800

sorim hĕrnol im sorsol hĕl = 21:45:01:22:04 = 281,884,924

ir nornjar / im mo nornjar = 60:56 / 01:00:56 = 3,656

Mathematics
Tsrul mathematics is slightly different from modern popular mathematics. Rather than using separate operators for adding, multiplying, exponentiating, etc., the same operator is repeated. For example, the ascending operations of addition, multiplication, and exponentiation would be written in our mathematical system as 2+4, 2×2, and 24(also written 2×2×2×2) respectively. further extending this system, we get tetration, or 42, which is equivalent to 22 2 2. Although these operators quickly become confusing to modern everyday math users, the Tsrul system of mathematics would simply write these formulas as 2+2 for addition, 2++2 for multiplication, 2+++2 for exponentiation, and 2++++2 for tetration. Although for many Tsrul mathematicians these higher-order fucntions are rarely used, their availability in the Tsrul system makes the concepts better understood by the general populace. These concepts are also extended to the subtraction/division/nth root/super-root functions, using 2−2, 2−−2, 2−−−2, and 2−−−−2, respectively.

However, one aspect of Tsrul mathematics is a bit more foreign to modern math users. This is the concept of "operations into X" rather than "operations by X". With operations by X, we have functions such as "2 multiplied by 6," which yields the answer of 12. With operations into X, we have the function "2 multiplied into 6," which yields the answer of 3. this can be rephrased as "two goes into six three times." Although this "multiplying into" is very similar to "division by," the operations are, for some reason, held distinct in Tsrul mathematical usage. Since, mathematically, the concept of adding/subtracting into X and multiplying/dividing into X yield the same numbers, the sequence begins with multiplication/division into (then exponentiation/nth root into, then tetration/super root into). The operators for these into× and into÷ operations are stylistically represented respectively by "×" and "÷" in the romanization of the Second Reform Script.

Dictionary
Cores are listed in the form “core - noun form, verb form.”

Cores typically do not exceed 4 syllables, though there are exceptions, mostly compounds and borrowings.

* irregulars are marked with an asterisk

†non-core words (prepositions, particles, etc.) are marked with a dagger

Stress is marked with ◌̄ for tsrul beginners. in practice, this is never done in tsrul writing

̄ ʻaḃĭ̄n - wrist, to gesticulate
 * ʻ

‘āha - thickness, to make thicker

ʻaṫān - a slithering animal (snake), to slither

ʻhĭ̄ṅgŭ - vomit/dry-heaving, to vomit/dry-heave

ʻĭṅōma - coilgun

ʻŏr - basic unit (quark, electron), to break down

ʻun - food, to prepare food

ʻuqān - complexity (a type of beauty), to be complex

ʻurtabŏ̄r - useful skill, to be skilled

ʻuwō - circle, to encircle

a† - and (takes the form [al] when preceding [a])
 * a

ahnā - nostril/nose, to sniff

aĭ - colonization, to colonize

am - parent, to be a parent

āṅgo - total, to be whole

ápa - dirt, to get dirty

aqál - perception, to perceive

aŏl† - how (as in “I know how you feel.”)

aŏtān - glory, to make glorious

aṗō - shin, to kneel

aṡŭ̄ - correctness, to correct

baĭ - conquest, to conquer
 * b

bāba - baby, to be born (passive is “to give birth/lay an egg,” depending on species)

bāḃa - quantum entanglement, to entangle quantum states

baḃān - quantum entanglement-converter, to travel via superconverter tsrul power core

bir - thirty, to count thirty (transitive)

bil - three, to count three (transitive)

bjĕ† - until

bo† - even

bōsu - end point, to finish

brājen - mentorship, to mentor

braŏ† - since

bŭ* - conversation, to converse

būla - Near UV (380nm), to make Near UV (transitive)

būsu - learning, to learn

bwāna - bewilderment, to make bewildered (transitive)

bżon - manslaughter, to kill (accidentally)

ḃāḋŭ - domestic animal, to train
 * ḃ

ḃanān - lie, to lie (as a liar would)

ḃaŏ† - before

ḃli - goop/tar, to secrete

ḃon - thoroughness, to be thorough

ḃonaqāl - comprehension, to comprehend

ḃuhāh - wind, to blow

ḃuqī - leg, to kick

ḃun - key, to lock

ḃuṡŭ̄m - fat, to fatten

bŭĭtān - wide, to make wider

daʻ† - hey!/stop!/wait!/look out! (usually repeated three times as “daʻdaʻdaʻ!”)
 * d

daṡa - a collected/cool demeanor, to maintain a collected/cool demeanor

dampē - knee, to genuflect

dḋjūqa - fall, to fall

dīru* - going, to go

dran - simplicity, to simplify

dzītu - cycle, to turn

dzjūqa - ground, to bury (dyn: to till)

dzwal - falsehood, to falsify

dżin - truth, to tell the truth

dżīma - coming, to come

dżōṡa - other, to ostracize

ḋābu - attempt, to attempt/try
 * ḋ

ḋĕ̄le - terrestrial planet, to make landfall (dyn: to slingshot)

ḋĕlēlu - gas planet, to pull with heavy gravity

ḋihā - finger, to poke

ḋīme - blue (495nm), to make blue (transitive)

ḋīni - writing, to write/type

ḋiṗīm - fingernail, to scratch

ḋnāme - back, to lie down

ḋaŏ - verb, to make a core into a verb (ḋoŏ, jaŏ, and joŏ are alternate forms)

ḋrŏṅ - supposition, to suppose

ḋun† - out of/from

ḋūjam - swelling, to swell

e† - modal clitic of capability
 * e

ēbuṡi - fight/brawl, to fight

ejēm - wish, to wish

ejūṅ -wipe, to wipe

elgām - unnaturalness, to be unnatural

ēlu - cloud, to be cloudy (dyn: to fog up, as glasses do coming from the cold)

elxō - unnatural/untimely death, to die unnaturally

em† - through (as in, to move through a doorway)

ēnu† - over

ēqa - shine, to shine

eṡōl - half, to halve

ezīm - sword, to slash

ĕḃrīn - shame, to be shameful
 * ĕ

ĕdēmo - clothing, to clothe

ĕdzīn† - provided that

ĕgam - cement, to cement

ĕgmān - lake, to float

ĕldiō - bifurcation, to split

ĕpṗīn - favorite, to feel favoritism for (transitive, positive connotation)

ĕm* - action, to do

ĕṅqāŏ - dark mass-energy (mass), to convert energy to dark matter (dyn: DM to energy)

ĕ̄no - leaf, to whisper

ĕqō - west, to go westward (dyn: to turn westward)

ga† - from (location; e.g. from Earth)
 * g

gahṡān - heaviness/weight, to make heavier

gāmpo - blindness, to blind (transitive)

gāṡa - brawl, to brawl/fight hand-to-hand

gażōh - sacredness, to be sanctified

giqā - ear, to hear (dyn: to listen)

gja - way/path, to travel on a path

glu - wood, to do carpentry (to [object])

gōbam* - humanity, to be humane

gaqāl - flying animal (bird), to fly

gōja - (step)sibling, to be born as a sibling

gōno - resignation, to give up

gru - [see example sentences]

gudżō - laughter, to laugh

gūju - heart/pump, to pump

guṡāʻ - reform, to reform

gŭl† - oy/jeez

gżum - pull, to pull


 * h

ha† - from when (from the time of...)

hāhqa - snow, to snow

hāṡĕ - breath, to breathe

hĕl - four, to count four (transitive)

hĕmūn - far IR (15μm), to make far IR (transitive)

hĕr - forty, to count forty (transitive)

hĕ̄tsi - tree, to grow (in age)

hijā† - on the subject of/about (+[SIM])

hīme - diving, to dive

hogōm - suction, to suck

hinūsu - pleasure, to please

hner - torture, to torture

i† - conjunctive clitic
 * i

iṗā - opening, to be open (dyn: to open)

īpe - thinness, to make thinner

īho - pain, to cause pain

il - ten, to count ten (transitive)

im - one, to count one (transitive)

in - prohibition, DON’T!

iṅ - necessity, you must!

imsōl - counting, to count

imān† - all at once/at one time

īmpo - demand, I demand that...

īnto - mandate, I respectfully mandate that...

īṅqo - request, I request that...

īpe - ease, to make something easy (transitive)

iqēni - Ikeni, to behave like an Ikeni

ir - multitude (or 60, as a number), to be many (or to count sixty (transitive))

iṡō* - Existence (the deity), to be (mostly unused, in a trsul’s mind only Existence can be)

ĭḃām - spouse, to be married (transitive)
 * ĭ

ĭgmā - ambush, to ambush

ĭjim - pinnacle, to summit (as in to summit a mountain) (transitive)

ĭ̄mba - curiosity (positive connotation; healthy curiosity), to be interested

ĭmjuwā - hunting, to hunt

ĭnāl - salt (mass), to salt

ĭ̄nte - happiness, to be happy

ĭṅōṗu - mind, to think

ĭsan - city, to urbanize

ĭṡŭ̄ - age, to age

ĭ̄zno - anger/rage, to cause anger/rage

jālṡo - river, to flow
 * j

jan† - because

jāṅqo - color, to color/paint

jaṗō - surreality, to be surreal

jeṡūr - nanofabric, to weave nanofabric

jĕm - narrowness, to make narrower

jību - eye, to look at

jom - jumping, to jump (dyn: to jump over)

josī - core (as in a grammatical core), to trim down

jotsō - theft, to steal

jōŏtṡo - galaxy, to travel from galaxy to galaxy

junā† - under

jūpa - voice, to sing

jūṡu - right/clockwise, to go right/clockwise (dyn: to turn right/cw)

la - vibrance, to be vibrant
 * l

lam - fruit, to prepare/harvest fruit

laqāŏ - mass-energy (mass noun), to convert energy to matter (dyn: matter to energy)

laŏjāŏ - cat, to accompany

lēgŭm - rain, to rain down (weather is phrased as “rain falls outside,” not “it’s raining”)

līni - sand (mass), to sift

lixā - genitals, to have intercourse with (dyn: to lose one’s virginity)

līta - joy, to be joyous

lo - creation/invention, to create/invent

losāŭ - wind, to blow

lumōn - dullness, to dull (a blade)

lun - good, to do well

lūṡo - orange (610nm), to make orange (transitive)

maḃā* - possession, to have
 * m

mālaʻ - claw, to claw

manām - cold, to chill

majām - Far UV (170nm), to make Far UV (transitive)

mĕĭr - seven, to count seven (transitive)

mĕn - space, to space-travel

mĕ̄su - head (body part), to headbutt

mi - thumb, to vote (mitsojm -secondary thumb)

mizŭ̄ - safety, to provide safety for (transitive) (dyn: to protect)

miżīm - skin, to laminate

mo* - zero (takes the form [om] when following itself, thus mo om mo om = 00:00:00:00), to count zero (transitive)

moqṡā - white, to whiten (transitive)

mūmŭ - mouth, to kiss

mŭĭ - discovery, to discover

nar† - but
 * n

nal - beauty (holds a neutral, non-gender specific connotation), to be beautiful

nāqe - home planet, to live on one’s home planet (dyn: to return home)

naxā - language, to speak

nĕpō* - sight, to see

niqā - tooth, to bite

nīsi - myth/magic, to regale/cast spells

njar - six, to count six (transitive)

nol - five, to count five (transitive)

nōqa† - only/just (can be made into adjectival noqaza- ‘alone’)

nor - fifty, to count fifty (transitive)

nŏjṗĕ - open expanse, to raze

nuqūm - palm (of the hand), to apply pressure (dyn: to rub)

ṅāno - ship/ocean vessel, to be on a ship (dyn: to get on a ship)
 * ṅ

ṅaqā - cessation, to stop (intransitive)

ṅiqe - tower, to stand out

ṅjōqa - throw, to throw

ṅoqāl - decision, to decide

ṅo† - whence (from where)

ṅoʻīr - travel, to travel

ṅōnum - left/counter-clockwise, to go left/counterclockwise (dyn: to turn left/ccw)

ṅōṡah - swimming animal (fish), to swim

ṅūnu - wonder, to be wondrous

oʻāl - gift, to give
 * o

ōgo - red (700nm), to redden (transitive)

ogŏ̄ - friendship, to be friends (dyn: to become friends)

ōjĕm - plant, to root oneself into something/stand one’s ground (dyn: to become stuck)

oŏm - tripping, to trip (over something)

ōnjo - being lost, to be lost

ōŏqi - a type of very hard liquor, to pour out a shot of oŏqi (dyn: to drink oŏqi)

or - nine, to count nine (transitive)

oṫĕ̄n† - wherever

oṫī† -where (as in “I know where the city is)

ożī† - when (as in “I know when my plane leaves)

ożōʻ - taste, to taste (what the food does, not what the taster does)

ŏḃōṅ - murder, to murder (purposefully)
 * ŏ

ŏgnūj - sea, to rage

ŏnŭ̄ - relationship (romantic), to like/be invovled with romantically (transitive)

ŏṅmā - stone, to crush

ŏ̄pṡu - fear, to cause fear (pas: to fear)

ŏqṡā - line, to align

ŏqībe - warp nanite, to send data over the warp array

ŏ̄rtṡa - confusion, to confuse

ŏ̄tsi - person (masculine, male), to be masculine (different connotation compared to now)

pajō - up, to go upward (dyn: to turn upward)
 * p

pālo - height, to make taller (transitive)

pānja - power/ability, to be able

pāsa - tongue, to lick

pinūh - greeting, to greet (dyn: to meet for the first time)

pīso - novelty, to restore

pitō† - even though

pṗo† - although

pŭl - benign foolishness, to be a dunce

ṗa - door, to close
 * ṗ

ṗēlan - satellite (natural or man-made), to orbit (dyn: to be captured in orbit)

ṗināʻ - axe, to hew

ṗlōqa - smoke, to produce smoke

ṗōla - smooth, to make smooth

ṗōma† - around (as in, to circle around)

ṗoṅ - bad, to be bad

ṗożjā - tail, to wag one’s tail

ṗūja - east, to go eastward (dyn: to turn eastward)

ṗūżŭ - term of endearment (exact meaning is unclear, somewhat derogatory but also flattering)

ṗŭsāl - ash, to turn to ash

qajō† - for some time
 * q

qalū - Pyrrhic victory (a technical win that is logistically a loss), to prevail in defeat

qan - knowledge, to know

qasō - repossession, to repossess

qasōnal - the Kasona (race), to upload one's mind to a computer (dyn: to download into a body)

qaṡōʻ - size (specifically, largeness), to inflate or make larger

qāxa† - if

qażāno - mid IR (8μm), to make mid IR (transitive)

qērḋa - curiosity (has a negative connotation; nosy-curious), to be nosy

qēxo - machine, to mechanize

qih† - ouch! (usually completely voiceless, pronounced [ki̥h] or [qḁh])

qjaŏpō - thread, to sew

qon - footstep, to walk

qōpa - darkness, to be dark

qsim - pet, to domesticate

qsĭn - iron, to smith/forge

qṡa - pigment, to dye

qṡibā - tug, to pull

qṡol - hole, to make a hole

qṡun - worm, to burrow

qṡūar - atmosphere, to fill a ship with atmosphere

qul - consumption, to eat

qulūn - an incredibly spicy rice-like dish with a thick sauce, to prepare qulun

quṡŭ̄n - expansion, to expand

ra - sleep, to sleep
 * r

rāmo - purple (430nm), to make purple (transitive)

raṡāĭm - play (what kids do for fun), to play

rāxa - dream, to dream

remŭ̄ - dryness, to dessiccate

rijŭ̄m - day (mass), to spend the day

rinjīm - division into, to divide x into y (x=ɪɴsᴛ, y=ᴀᴄᴛ)

riqōm - a predatory scaly animal, to stalk

rĭṅ - god, to be deified

roŏ - promiscuity, to be promiscuous

ruṫā - occurrence, to happen

rŭṡū - shortness, to make shorter

sāĭqo - feather, to glide
 * s

saqāl - person (feminine, female), to be feminine (different connotation compared to now)

sen - egg, to ovulate

sēlŭ - fright, to frighten

sjōma - sky, to jump

sol - two, to count two (transitive)

sōṗi - breast, to breastfeed

sor - twenty, to count twenty (transitive)

sōṡu - raod/railway (artificial path), to drive

sugā - flower, to bloom

sul - brick, to build up

ṡażā - hair, to braid
 * ṡ

ṡāpa - wing, to fly

ṡen - fire, to burn

ṡīqi - spear, to stab

ṡīqṡiqa - evil, to be evil

ṡil - construction, to build

ṡmuj - grass, to sod

ṡolṗŭ̄ - misfortune, to have bad luck

ṡom - consciousness, to be conscious

ṡōqu - root, to root in/hold fast

ṡubrē - Thermal IR (12μm), to make Thermal IR (dyn: to emit Thermal IR)

ṡūja - tear, to cry (dyn: to sob)

ṡul - animal, to be feral

tam† - that (as in “Speak to everyone that can hear”)
 * t

tan - exodus, to escape en masse (dyn: to stampede)

tanja - music, to make music

tāṅqo - stick, to use a stick for... (transitive)

ti - dot, to dot (a letter, like i)/tap/poke

tīṫu - seed, to plant

toĭ - requirement, to need

trai - event, to plan an event

tsīsi - grip, to hold (dyn: to squeeze)

tsru - sapience, to be sapient

tsrul - tsrul people/culture, to behave like a true tsrul

tṡjūṅṡa - return, to return (from an errand)

tṫjūqa - cord (or rope), to tie (transitive)

tṫo - placement, to put

tṫūpe - saliva, to spit

tupīh - fingertip/fingerpad, to tap

tur - chair/seat, to sit

ṫaljān - near IR (800nm), to make near IR (transitive)
 * ṫ

ṫāṡo - rot, to rot

ṫaṫā - brown, to make brown (transitive)

ṫīḋĕ - water, to wash (adj: watered-down)

ṫisīja - life, to live

ṫīżi - closeness, to stay close to... (dyn: to snuggle up to...(transitive))

ṫōla - error, to make a mistake

ṫōta - person (genus Homo, ungendered), to be like a person (used with animals)

ṫōŭ - lisp, to speak with a lisp (linguistic note: this word was once pronounced [sor])

ṫu - space/time, to travel through space/time

ṫuṅāno - spaceship, to travel on a spaceship (dyn: to get on a spaceship)

ṫuṅoʻĭ̄r - time travel, to travel only through time

ṫusīṅ - word, to say

ṫwoŭw - length, to go a long way

u† - dynamic verbal clitic
 * u

uāżŭm - cut, to cut

udōma - Mid UV (240nm), to make Mid UV (transitive)

ujū - wetness, to moisten

ūlja - wish/desire, to want

ūme† - soon

uṅ - time, to pass (as time passes)/to be in an undisturbed state

uṅāqṡo - knife, to chop

ūpa† - after (when followed by Temporal, means “as soon as”)

uqjū - grey/black, to make grey/blacken (transitive)

usā - smallness, to make smaller

uṫā - light, to brighten

uṫān - uṫan (alien life form), to communicate visually

ŭjāl - turqoiuse (500nm), to make turqouise (transitive)
 * ŭ

ŭ̄lmu - strike/hit, to strike/hit

ŭmbān - stomach/belly, to sit up from a laying position

ŭmŭ̄n - back of the hand, to slap

ŭmwō - warmth, to warm

ŭrjāṅ - ice, to freeze

ŭtōŏṅ - beverage, to drink

ŭtwām - louse, to infest

ŭ̄xo - blood, to bleed

wa - bone, to break a bone (dżinsam ḋowalḋàŏ̀ - I broke some of Gene’s bones)
 * w

wam - rough impact, to smash

wāwan - flight, to flee

wēhnŭ - smell, to smell

wĕ̄qa - hip, to stand

wo† - yes (can also mean ‘ahhh,’ or ‘oh, i see.’)

woṅ - good, to be good

wŏr - conception, to impregnate

wōṡa - tree bark, to cover protectively

wūṅu - greenish-yellow (570nm), to make greenish-yellow (transitive)

wu - perfection, to perfect

wūxa - romantic love, to be in love with... (transitive)

xa - imagination, to imagine
 * x

xaĭ† - no

xāgo - mountain, to rock-climb

xajūqa - horn, to gore

xaṡŭ̄ - applause, to clap/to applaud

xal* - negative, to not...+core

xalīr - paucity, to make fewer/“cull the herd”

xetṡō - gut, to digest

xo - death (of any kind), to die

xūmŭ - year/orbit/rotation (spacial relation, not time), to orbit or rotate around... (transitive)

xumŭ̄ - the observable horizon, to leave the Cosmos

xŭw - dog, to be a partner to... (in the “hetero-lifemate” sense)

zĕgīm - sun/star, to fuse (as in nuclear fusion)
 * z

zīmi - foot, to step

ziṅān - faith, to pray

zjĕl - eight, to count eight (transitive)

zum - like, to like

zōdżŭ - cock/pussy, to fuck (transitive) (dyn: to pop one’s cherry)

zoĭ - child, to raise children

zōto - knuckle, to punch

zudżūn - meat, to prepare meat

zuwōn - night, to spend the night

żājo - neck, to turn one’s head
 * ż

żōna - a pure state of being, to be in a pure state/to be one (with everything)

żol - dust (mass), to float like dust (dyn: to gather dust)

żŏṅ† - in order to

żun - capacity, to fill

żum - fairness/equality, to make equal through retribution (ditransitive - agent can be implicit obj. if only 1 obj. is stated)

żumī - forest, to camp in the forest

żūṅe - shovel, to dig

żupē - down, to go downward (dyn: to turn downward)

żūṡu - fate, to be affected by... (dyn: to have...happen to) (transitive)

żŭĭ̄bi - liver, to purify

żwem - name, to call...(transitive)

The first three lines of oʻal i sol (The Two Gifts), the Tsrul creation myth.
iṡo ḋun ramjĕ raxazam, ożi ṅoqaljàŏ i iṅwo, u soṡomjàŏ.

''iṡo, upa u ṡomjàŏ, aṗasor tam njepàŏ i e iṡoḋàĭ, sonaxajàŏ. “ḋeso litatom żŏṅ hoʻalẁé, hoiṡoḋáĭ́!” soṫusiṅjàŏ.''

aŏṗo soruṫajàŏ.

Existence awoke from a dream-filled sleep when it decided that it must.

After Existence awoke, It spoke to all that It saw could be. it said, “Yᴏᴜ sʜᴀʟʟ ᴇxɪsᴛ, ᴛᴏ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴜs ᴊᴏʏ!”

Thus it happened.

The Babel Text
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1naqem aṅgozam naxatom i im maḃajàŏ. 2ṗujajem ożiṗo ḋun hegjaĕĭmjàŏ nŏjṗĕnto ṡinarjem hemŭĭjàŏ, a oṫiṗo heṫisijajàŏ. 3 "sulr ṡeṅxol ḋeloẃó, a ḋeṡenẃón." eṫusinjàŏ. sulxor o ṡiljoŏ a ḃlixol o ĕgamjoŏ, hemaĭḃàŏ4"ĭsantom a ṅiqetom ĭjimpum palozoĭm xumŭżam ḋeṡilẃŏ́." eṫusinjàŏ, "deżwemẃó, jam ḋun oṫiḋojem dexaljĕmwó." eṫusinjàŏ. 5 6 7 8 9

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