Qâêr

Note - The author of this article assumes the reader already has basic linguistic knowledge and some terms and systems are explained very briefly (or not at all) because the author assumes that the reader already knows what these terms/systems mean.

=Brief Overview= This is the evolved and modified version of Ancient Qâêr which came about due to the arrival of the 8 Lesser Races seen in the brief history of the Qâêr at Sâfaolehracópâ. This major event resulted in the Qâêr reforming their language for the new peoples, and also this evolved version features some assimilation and dissimilation from Ancient Qâêr which vame about purely due to time.

For a list on the dialects and different variations of Qâêr, please see the Qâêr Language Family

=Phonology=

Single Letters


NB - The consonants in parentheses next to the phonemes are the letters used in Qâêr (When using the Latin Alphabet) to write those particular phonemes and when there is no letter in parentheses then the letter which represents the phonemes is simply used.

Diphthongs

 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! Diphthong ! English Pronunciation
 * êo
 * oɪ
 * aê
 * eɪ
 * âo
 * aʊ
 * ei
 * aɪ
 * ah
 * ʌ
 * ih
 * i
 * eh
 * ɛ
 * oh
 * ɵ
 * }
 * i
 * eh
 * ɛ
 * oh
 * ɵ
 * }
 * ɵ
 * }

Vowels
=Phonotactics=

Consonants
Consonant Rules

Q and Hw are stand alone consonants, which means that only vowels can be placed on either side of them. They may also only be in the first and middle syllables of words. The consonants rules, where start means first syllable, middle the middle syllables and the end the last syllable, are as follows;


 * 1) Nasals
 * 2) May be placed only in the middle and end syllables..
 * 3) Can never be before or after Fricatives.
 * 4) Can be before Plosives and (except for ñ in this case)Liquids but only after Approximants.
 * 5) Approximants
 * 6) May be placed only at the start and middle syllables.
 * 7) Apart from when being before Nasals, they are always voiced.
 * 8) Can be placed at the start, before and/or after vowels.
 * 9) Can be before and/or after Fricatives.
 * 10) Are unvoiced before Nasals but cannot be placed after Nasals.
 * 11) Can never be before or after Liquids.
 * 12) Approximants can be before Plosives.
 * 13) Fricatives
 * 14) May never be in the first syllable.
 * 15) Can never be before or after Plosives or Nasals or Liquids.
 * 16) Can be before and/or after Approximants.
 * 17) Apart from Dh, Fricatives are never voiced.
 * 18) Liquids (J & W)
 * 19) May never be in the last syllable.
 * 20) Can never be before or after Fricatives or Approximants.
 * 21) Can never be before Plosives or Nasals.
 * 22) Plosives
 * 23) May never be in the last syllable.
 * 24) Can be after Nasals and Approximants.
 * 25) Can never be before or after Fricatives.
 * 26) Can be before Liquids


 * Certain consonants cannot be the first letter in a word and these are;
 * j
 * r
 * b
 * d
 * These consonants can be in the first syllable they just need to have a vowel in front of them, eg. Ejânen, *Jânen.

Consonant Clusters
It is possible in Qâêr to have consonant clusters without vowels between, example the dbldw in the word âdbldwen, This would seem to any speaker of English (and most other IE Langs.) impossible to pronunce however it isn't. When a consonant cluster like this is seen (remembering that a vowel can only have one plosive after it in a syllable), it can be easily broken up into the following -


 * âd/bl/dwen - and this is how it is so easily pronunced, the bl is said simply as in the english available i.e a simple b + l sound, and this is distinguishable from syllables such as bel, bil, bal e.c.t


 * âdbldwen is an adjective meaning The Waters of the White Mountain, eg when you say The âdbldwen Man it would mean literally The water of the white mountain man., and this means (it being a metaphor) That the man is of pure morals and spirit, and strong on life. (The Water of the White Mountain being the most pure and coldest water known to the Qâêr) So I suppose an english version would be The Pious, moral and well-off healthy man, to an textent at least.
 * This word [âdbldwen] is a derivative of âdbl, which means The Waters of the White Mountain. The Qâêr, being fascinated with the ocean and the sea had many different names for different bodies and sources of water, âdbl being one of them.


 * NB - For those who notice that bl is the GEN case marker, do not assume therefore that âd means water or some such, as it doesn't, the entire word is âdbl. Why? you ask, because it is one of the many random irregular yet unique words that appear in many languages. Also for those who wish to know, the White Mountain is Dhoncênarnsêwe, having no relation or derivational link to the word âdbl.
 * NB2 - Dhoncên is mountain, Arnsê is white, we is the defined subject marker.

Syllable and Stress
Syllable Structure - (C)(C) V (A) C


 * The (A) means all consonants apart from stops.

The rule for stress placement in Qâêr;


 * The stress is always placed on the second last accentuated vowel, and in the case where this is not accentuated then the stress swaps to the nearest accentuated vowel. In the case of two syllable words then the stress is always placed on the accentuated vowel and in the rare case where both vowels are accentuated the first one is favoured.

=Grammar=

Sentence Structure
The sentence structure in Qâêr follows a simple pattern. To start off the basic structure is - VERB - SUBJECT - OBJECT, and in subclauses it becomes - SUBJECT - OBJECT - VERB.

Example of Qâêr phrase structure using english words;
 * Is that man, who I him hit yesterday.
 * English translation - The is the man who I hit yesterday.

The order of phrases is a sentence is;


 * NP VP (PP)


 * Where - NP is a Noun Phrase, VP is a Verb Phrase, Adj.P and Adv.P are Adjectival and Adverbial Phrases respectively, and PP is a Prepositional Phrase.


 * NB The things in (_) above are not olbigatory.

In these phrases the structure is different to that of English;

In Qâêr VPs consist of a verb, adverb, mood particle, and an NP. The mood particle always comes first followed by the verb then the adverb and then the NP with its own structure.

In NPs the noun is always first followed by its determiner(if any) then its adjective(s), or an NP may consist also of just a pronoun.

In PPs the preposition comes first, then the noun, then its determniner and adjectives.

In general these, VP, NP, and PP, structures can be broken down thus;


 * VP= Mood Particle + Verb + (Adv.) + NP


 * NP= Noun + (Det.) + (Adj.)


 * PP+ Preposition + Noun + (Det.) + (Adj.)


 * NB in the layout above the things in (_) means they are not obligatroy.

Distinctions
Nouns
 * - Difference between plural and singular
 * - Un/Defined
 * - Possessiveness

Personal Pronouns
 * - Number ( I vs. We)
 * - Inclusive and Exclusive
 * - Animacy
 * - No distinction between he and she
 * - Case (Erg vs. Abs vs. Poss)

Verbs
 * - Voice
 * - Aspect/Tense
 * - Number & Gender Agreement

Adjectives
 * - Comparative
 * - 'Gradable' Prefix

Noun, Verb and Adjective Structure
Nouns Structure

Verbs Structure

Adjective Structure
 * Adjectives cannot be inflected with comparative and the "Gradable" prefix at the same time.

Aspect and Tempus
The Imperfective 2 Aspect here seen in the table is the Conative Imperfect Aspect and is further explained in the Aspect Section.

Declension Table for Nouns
Note Example of Vocative Case
 * Normal Name Uninflected - Brutus 
 * Inflected in Vocative - Brutó

Copulas
There is one Copula in Qâêr and that is Mellon.

Mellon is similar to the English verb to be in the sense that when saying a noun is something then the appropriate form of Mellon is used.. It conjugates thus;


 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! ! Mellon ! ! Mellon
 * I
 * Mel
 * style="background-color: #999999"|
 * style="background-color: #999999"|
 * He/She
 * Mên
 * They
 * Len
 * You
 * Lon
 * You (Plural)
 * Ellon
 * It
 * Mon
 * It (Plural)
 * Men
 * We (Exclusive)
 * Lêo
 * We (Plural)
 * Lêonon
 * }
 * We (Exclusive)
 * Lêo
 * We (Plural)
 * Lêonon
 * }


 * NB The pronouns used with Mellon take Subject(Absolutive) case.
 * When referring to a person in general, someone of high authority, and/or personally unknown to the speaker or listener(s), then the conjugated form for They is used.

Verb Agreement
Verb conjugation works as a suffix in Qâêr and is dependant on the Agent, Subject, and Object in the sentence. There are six inflectional suffixes for verb agreement that all attach onto the verb depending on these things;

Intransitive Verbs These suffixes are always accentuated and depending on the location of the other accentuated vowels may or may not change the placement of stress.

Transitive Verbs These suffixes are always accentuated and depending on the location of the other accentuated vowels may or may not change the placement of stress.

Affixes and Their Meanings
There are many affixes in Qâêr however here is a basic list of the ones that won't be mentioned anywhere else on this page.

Negation
Verb negation is done by adding the prefix sâo- to any particular verb one wishes to negate. Double negation is done by adding the prefix sêsâo-to any verbs. Double negation is usually used to convey sarcasm and exaggeration.

The negation of adjectives is done also in a similiar fashion by adding the negation prefix sâo- to the adjective thus obtaining results such as Happy - Unhappy

Derivation
All the following are Prefixes which remove the first vowel (if applicable, i.e is simple added if the word begins with a consonant) when being attached to the host.

Adjective --> Adverb - -(a)ren
 * Example; ijânei (Quick) > dwejânei (Quickly)

Adjective --> Noun -(o)nêo
 * Example; Happy > Happiness (This is an abstract noun)

Noun --> Verb -(o)soe
 * Exmple; Glory > Glorify

Noun --> Adjective dwen
 * Exmple; Recreation > Recreational

Adjective --> Noun (a)roe
 * Example; Slow > Slowness

Transitive Verbs --> Intransitive Verbs -- Ablaut o/ô/ó
 * In English this is not shown, e.g. Give can be both Transitive or Intransitive
 * E.g.; I give to charity (Intransitive) vs. I give Mary Money (Transitive)

Intransitive Verbs --> Transitive Verbs -- Ablaut i/î/í

Adjectives --> Transitive Verbs -- -(e)bê
 * Example; Rich > Enrich

Nouns --> Transitive Verbs -- -(í)mo
 * Example; Rapture > Enrapture

Verb Affixes
In this section the different affixes that relate solely to verbs will be discussed.

The Inchoative Verb (Inceptive Verb)
This verb conveys the process of beginning or becoming. This verb type is created simply but inflecting a verb in the Inceptive Aspect and this represents the start or beginning of that particular action and therefore negates verbs such as to start or to begin'.

The Catenative Verb
A Catenative Verb is a verb which takes other verbs as objects, Example; We promised to try practicing tennis more often.

Here in the above example the verb promised is Catenative and takes the verbs to try (Infinitive Form) and practicing (Gerund Form) as its objects. In English Catenative verbs are not marked however in Qâêr a verb has to be inflected with the Catenative suffix to become a Catenative Verb.


 * The suffix to change verbs to Catenative form is - âren

Interrogative Words
The interrogative particle lê will be inflected with prefixes and these will phrase interrogative words such as what, where e.c.t. The interrogative particle without one of these prefixes will just be turned into a normal question.


 * What = qâ + lê – qâlê
 * Where = qin + lê – qinlê
 * When = qêo + lê – qêolê
 * Who = qenom + lê – qenomlê
 * Why = qî + lê – qîlê
 * How = qâfâo + lê – qâfâolê
 * How Much = sonâ + lê – sonâlê
 * Sonâ is derived from the Fáriân word Sjinolâme which means ‘to barter’.
 * Note – when using any of these interrogative words in Subordinate or Relative clauses, just the prefix is used, not the prefix with the particle.

=Dictionary=

=Examples=