Prettish

Diphthongs
ae     [a e̞ :]

au      [ a ɯ:]

ie       [ɵy:]

oi      [ɒ ɪ̈ :]

Alphabet
Aa     [a:]

Āā     [æ:]

Ăă     [ɥ a:]

Ââ     [ɥ æ:]

Bb     [bɪ̈:]

Dd     [d̪ɪ̈:]

Ḍḍ     [ðɪ̈:]

Ee     [e̞:]

Ēē     [y:]

Ĕĕ     [ɥ e̞:]

Êê     [ɥ y:]

Ff      [ɸɪ̈:]

Gg     [gɪ̈:]

Hh     [hɪ̈:]

Ḥḥ     [xɪ̈:]

Ii       [ɪ̈:]

Īī       [ɵ:]

Ĭĭ       [ɥ ɪ̈:]

Îî       [ɥ ɵ:]

Jj       [t̪s̪ɪ̈:]

Ɉɉ       [tɕɪ̈:]

Kk     [kʼɪ̈:]

Ll       [l ɪ̈:]

Mm   [m ɪ̈:]

Nn       [ n̪ ɪ̈:]

Oo     [o̞:]

Ōō     [ɒ:]

Ŏŏ     [ j o̞:]

Ôô     [ j ɒ:]

Pp     [ pʼ ɪ̈:]

Rr       [ ɰ ɪ̈:]

Ss     [s̪ ɪ̈:]

Ṣṣ     [ɕ ɪ̈:]

Tt     [t̪ʼ ɪ̈:]

Ṭṭ     [θ ɪ̈:]

Uu     [ɜ:]

Ūū     [ɯ:]

Ŭŭ     [ j ɜ:]

Ûû     [ j ɯ:]

Vv      [ β ɪ̈:]

Xx     [d̪z̪ ɪ̈:]

Ӿӿ     [dʑ ɪ̈:]

Zz     [z̪ ɪ̈:]

Ẓẓ      [ ʑ ɪ̈:]

Phonotactics
A syllable in Prettish can consist of


 * a vowel or diphthong alone;
 * an acceptable initiating consonant/cluster followed by a long vowel or diphthong;
 * a short vowel followed by an acceptable terminating consonant/cluster; or
 * an acceptable initiating consonant/cluster followed by a short vowel followed by an acceptable terminating consonant/cluster,

Acceptable initiating consonants/clusters


 * any consonant
 * any sibilant/plosive cluster; or
 * any sibilant/nasal cluster;

Acceptable terminating consonant/clusters


 * any consonant other than h, k, p, or t;
 * any non-ejective plosive/sibilant cluster;
 * any fricative/sibilant cluster; or
 * any nasal/sibilant cluster.

Dividing a word into syllables:

The beginning of a syllable is marked:
 * 1) when the the word starts
 * 2) after a vowel or diphthong that is immediately followed by another vowel or diphthong
 * 3) after a sibilant/plosive cluster
 * 4) after a sibilant/nasal cluster

The end of a syllable is marked:
 * 1) when the word ends
 * 2) after a non-ejective plosive/sibilant cluster
 * 3) after a fricative/sibilant cluster
 * 4) after a nasal/sibilant cluster

Grammar
Inflections

An inflection is a suffix added to a word and that indicates:

the number/quantity of the word, called the word’s category

which other word in the sentence the word relates to, called the word’s referent

how the word relates to its referent, called the word’s case

There are three categories of words, with differing numbers/quantities for each:

singleton – these words have exactly one indivisible instance, e.g., all proper nouns are singletons

mass – these words consist of a single whole that can be divided into infinitely different partial quantities, e.g., liquids, emotions

countable – these words consist of indivisible individuals in infinitely configurable plural groups, e.g., objects, people

There are five cases for words: dative (word and referent moving together, word is performed by referent)
 * ablative

genitive (word possesses/contains referent)

locative (word and referent at same location)

ornative (word possessed/contained by referent)

There are four different words in a sentence that a word can relate to:

R1: the topic

R2: the focus


 * R3: its successor (when neither the topic nor the focus)

R4: what its successor relates to (when neither the topic nor the focus)



The focus of a sentence is always the first word, has no referent, and is unmarked for case. When a new topic is introduced, it is always the first word in the sentence and is, hence, the focus. In subsequent sentences with the same topic, it is referred to with a pronoun beginning with ‘at’ and can appear at any position in the sentence. To decide the ending of a word ask yourself three questions:

 ·        What category/number/quantity is the word?

 ·        What is the word’s relationship to its ultimate referent, i.e., its case?

 ·        What is the word’s immediate referent, i.e., the same as its ultimate referent except for R4?  the order here indicates what the referent is: topic, focus, successor, successor’s referent<span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">*geminate the final consonant

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25in">**when a word is the focus of a sentence, it has no referent

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Examples '''<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;"> '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">A man walked by here yesterday talking to himself. I tried to get his attention, but he wouldn’t listen to me. '''<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;"> '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Fôza <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">    tôzzâ          k ôgĕ     ɉăb ii. .

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">[Man]  [yesterday]  [here]  [walking]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Let’s break this sentence down. First we have fôz, which means man. We can see that the ending is –a and the final consonant is not geminated. Since this is the first word in the sentence, we also know that this is the focus and so we can peruse our chart above and find that this word indicates an individual man. (We know this cannot be a singleton, because there is more than one man in the world.)

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Now, the second word is tôz, which means yesterday. (This is a countable noun in Prettish, since there is more than one yesterday.) We can see that the ending is –â and the final consonant is geminated. So, we peruse the countable section of our chart for endings matching this. We then learn that this is an individual yesterday, that it is in the locative case, and that its referent is the referent of its successor.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Next, the third word is <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">k ôg <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">, which means here. (This is a countable noun in Prettish, since there is more than one here.) We can see that the ending is –ĕ and the final consonant is not geminated. So, we peruse the countable section of our chart for endings matching this. We then learn that this is an individual here, that it is in the locative case, and that its referent is its successor.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Finally, the last word is <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">ɉăb <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">, which means walking. (Walking is a mass noun in Prettish.) We can see that the ending is –ii and the final consonant is not geminated. So, we peruse the mass section of our chart for endings matching this. We then learn that this is a partitive expression of walking in the dative case and that the referent is the topic, which in this case is also the focus.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Xīnau     atee      atēē.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">[Talking] [to him] [by him]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";color:red">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Paurau                  pûjuu          ataa     ammī.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">[Attention-getting] [with trying] [of him] [by me]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Biegau      ṣobuu                attī        amee.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">[Listening] [with negativity] [by him] [to me]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">or

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Ṣobau        ate         ammĭ   biegaa.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">[Negativity] [by him] [to me] [of listening]

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Pete came from Atlanta yesterday on his Harley.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Pita     Harllē             lēṣ<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">ē <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:red;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">              <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Atlante                      tôzĕ            xieɉii            .

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">[Pete] [from Harley] [with using] [from Atlanta] [yesterday] [to coming]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:1.2pt; line-height:14.4pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">Other cases expressed with constructions:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:1.2pt; line-height:14.4pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">Location

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom:1.2pt;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo3;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol">·        <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">inessive (within, in the middle of, during, while) <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:1.2pt; line-height:14.4pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">Motion Towards <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:1.2pt; line-height:14.4pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">Motion Away From <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">Other
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">adessive (on the outer surface of)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">apudessive (beside, next to)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">antessive (before, in front of)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">postessive (after, behind)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">superessive (above, on top of)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">subessive (below, underneath)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">illative (into)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">allative (onto)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"">elative (from out of)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">delative (from off of)

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom:1.2pt;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l0level1lfo3;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:black">·        instrumental (by means of, using)           [used word]+ablative  lēṣ+ornative <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman";color:black"> <p class="MsoNormal">
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">comitative (along with, in the company of)
 * <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman"">benefactive (for the benefit of)

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Pronouns '''<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;"> '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">at[inflection] – refer to topic in sentences after it has been introduced <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">am[ <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">inflection <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">] – speaker(s) <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">av[ <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">inflection <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">] – listener(s) <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">