Tláymyts

Characteristics
Modern Tláymyts is the most important language in Drion.

Its main characteristics are the loss of old second person in both singular and plural, with the adoption of old formal address fuzi as the new second person form. This reflected in a change in pronouns and a great simplification of verb conjugation.

Phonetically, the old stress pattern of non-tonic, semi-tonic and tonic syllables was changed to a simpler system with only tonic and non-tonic syllables, which affected mostly the vowels i and u.

In nouns, a new case system was created, resulting from the use of prepositions as postpositions (which was already current in Classical Tláymyts) and then as suffixes. Articles were lost, although the number hon is still used as an indefinite article for emphasis.

Phonology
In the field of phonology, Tláymyts has developed in a very interesting way.

The innovations that broke Modern Tláymyts apart from Classical Tláymyts are based on two factors:
 * 1) Stress became functional in both nominals and verbs.
 * 2) Semivowels tended to disappear, but always leaving some traces behind.

Stress
In almost all nekturian languages, stress does not play any role in morphology or vocabulary. That was true for Tláymyts as well, up to the Classical period. In modern Tláymyts, stress has a morphologic use in nominals (nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numbers) and verbs.

In nominals, stress is used to distinguish between nominative and other cases. In the nominative case, words are always stressed on the first syllable (there are some exceptions). In accusative (and, therefore, in all other cases) words are stressed on the last syllable (no exceptions). So, e.g.:
 * nêmay "mine" (nominative), nemaí  "mine" (accusative)
 * fárè "candle" (nominative), faré "candle" (accusative)
 * êlnèmts "sisters" (nominative), elnémts  "sisters" (accusative)

In verbs, stress is used to differentiate past tenses from present/future tenses. All verbs in any present or future tense is stressed on the first syllable (there are exceptions, see below), while all verbs in any past tense is stressed on the last syllable (no exceptions). For this division, conditional is put in the group of past tenses. E.g.:
 * stressed on the first syllable:
 * éne "loves"
 * énèlanwts "we will love"
 * énèlè "you/he/she will love"
 * stressed on the last syllable:
 * ènwó "loved"
 * ènèlaí "would love (sing.)"
 * ènèlé "you/he/she had loved"
 * dylaí ènètú "you/he/she would have loved"

Semivowels
Semivowels i and u have a tendence to disappear. However, they always leave some trace in the preceding consonants and, in some dialects, in the preceding vowels as well. A consonant that comes before the semivowel i is palatalized after it disappears, while a consonant that comes before the semivowel u is labialized after it disappears. So, we get:
 * párw "beautiful"
 * méfy "spaceship"

Non-tonic i is written y, while non-tonic u is written w.

The standard language only recognizes alteration on vowels resulting from semivowel dropping in the case of diphthongs. All old diphthongs are turned to monophthongs in the modern language (although they are still written as diphthongs in the standard orthography). So:
 * dáy (pron. ) from dái "aunt"
 * dêw (pron., ) from dêw "uncle"
 * ráyw (pron., ) from ráiu "lion" (i.e., a large fierce animal resembling a lion)

In all these cases, the old orthography is maintained in the native Tláymyts alphabet.

In diphthongs in which a semivowel comes before a vowel, there is no fusion.

Aspiration
In modern Tláymyts a vowel can not start a syllable. When this was the case, an aspiration is used. This aspiration is also used whenever a semivowel comes before a vowel. So:
 * elaí (pron. ) from old elai (pron. ) "would go (sing.)"
 * ènwó (pron. ) from old enúo (pron. ) "(you/he/she) loved"

This aspiration, although present in all Tláymyts dialects with no exception, is never represented in writing.

Syllable Dropping
When a word ends in a stressed consonant and the following word starts with an aspiration (i.e., originally with a vowel), the starting syllable of the second word may be dropped:
 * dylaí ènètú -> dylaí 'nètú (pron. ) "you/he/she would have loved"
 * fyeú híry -> fyeú 'ry (pron. ) "he came"
 * fyeú árè -> fyeú 'rè (pron. ) "she came"

Words beginning with yts- drop the semivowel together with the aspiration:
 * Old izdúlai -> ytsdúlay -> ytsdúlay  "story"

This occurs only in spoken language. It is never indicated in the standard orthography.

Consonants
The cosonant z becomes ts at the end of syllables. E.g.: This variation of z has its own character in the standard Tláymyts alphabet.
 * béz -> béts "peace"
 * izdúlai -> ytsdúlay "history"

The aspiration (h) is not considered a consonant and is not represented in Tláymyts orthography, although it happens in all current dialects.

When g comes before a stressed é, ê or í, it is pronounced as a semivowel y. So, gésè "house" is actually pronounced. In unstressed syllables there is no change, so the accusative gèsé is pronounced with a g just as it is written:.

The consonant k may be pronounced as kh in stressed syllables.

In one single word, íry "he", and its plural form, íryts, there may be a retroflex variant of the consonant r, when this word comes after a stressed syllable ending in a vowel, becoming thus a suffix. So:
 * fyá íry ['fja 'hirj] or ['fjaɻ] "he goes"
 * zhikwó íry [dʒjkʍ'hɔ 'hiɾj] or [dʒjkʍ'hɔɻ] "he arrived"

Dialect variation
Some consonants have variations according to dialect.
 * f -> [pf]
 * v -> [bv]
 * r -> [gr]
 * l -> [gl]
 * sh ->
 * j (zh) ->
 * g ->
 * k ->

These variations are more and more common in the standard language.

Vowels
Vowels are:

In the modern language, the vowels, and [y] appear as contractions (monothongization) of [eu],  and [iu]. A further development turns into closed [o], but this variation is not accepted by all speakers. Still more uncommon is the simplification of into, thus mixing with original.

In traditional transcription, the following convention is used for representing the four possibilities of the vowel e:

Some examples:
 * elaí
 * vèlahí
 * vwê
 * hárè
 * haré

There are also the vowels [o], and  resulting exclusively from old diphthongs. These sounds are not "productive" in the language and the closed [o] is even considered by many speakers as "wrong", and  being tolerated because it still holds characteristics of its original components [e] and [u]. Ex.:


 * ékoè, "water"
 * bêwrew, "louse"

In one single word the sequence ea is pronounced [a] ([ja] in some dialects):
 * nóreal (dial. also ) "woman"

but the accusative form is noreál throughout.

Semivowels
The semivowels are y and w, corresponding to i and u.

Monophthongs
Old diphthongs (and triphthongs) do not exist anymore. They are pronounced as a single vowel (called a monophthong) or divided by an aspiration, depending on where stress falls on the word.
 * ai -> ay or aí
 * êu -> ew / or eú
 * éu -> èw / or èú
 * aiu -> ayw / or ayú

Articles
There is no definite article in modern Tláymyts. Old u/e are completely lost.

The indefinite article (the same as the number one), ón, is generally not used, but is accepted and is regularly used in some dialects.

Case
Modern Tláymyts has developed a new declension system with seven cases.

Nominative is the base form of the word and is stressed always on the first syllable:
 * gésè "house"
 * únan "man"
 * gláymzè "child"

If the first syllable has the vowel i or u, it may be stressed or not. If not, stress is shifted to the second syllable:
 * títsklèzè or tytsklézè  "disgrace"
 * búlgèlay or bwlgélay  "crap"

In these words, the form with the first syllable stressed (that is, with a stressed i or ú) is considered more "classical", "formal" or even "old-fashioned", while the form with the second syllable stressed is considered more colloquial, modern.

The accusative case has no ending, but stress is shifted to the last syllable:
 * gésè -> gèsé  "house"
 * únan -> wnán  "man"
 * gláymzè -> glaymzé  "child"
 * títsklèzè -> tytsklèzé  "disgrace"

If the word ends in a monophthong (that is, a vowel resulting from an old diphthong), the components are separated and an aspiration is placed between them:
 * dáy -> daí  "aunt"
 * dêw -> deú  "uncle"
 * búlgèlay -> bwlgèlaí  "crap"
 * nóreal -> noreál  "woman"
 * bêwrew -> bewreú  "louse"

In some dialects, all monophthongs, including those inside a word, are unfolded in the accusative, so:
 * glaymzé "child"
 * gwesé "thing"
 * wofetú "(internal) ear"

Standard language has:, /,.

The other cases are built upon the accusative, by means of one-consonant endings:
 * Genitive/possessive: -t (corresponding to preposition "of" or ending "´s")
 * Dative-Ablative: -b (corresponding to prepositions "to", "for", "toward")
 * Locative: -n (corresponding to prepositions "in", "at", "on")
 * Commitative-Instrumental: -g (corresponding to prepositions "with")
 * Abortive: -z (corresponding to prepositions "without")

As these endings are remnants of old prepositions used as postpositions, they come after the plural ending.

Example:

Abortive plural is rarely used, either because of the meaning ("without shoes" would be the same as "without a shoe") or because of the resulting clumsy consonant cluster (tsz).

It is very common in speech to add a final -a to the case endings. E.g.:
 * reíb "to him"
 * gèsén "in the house", "at home"
 * mútst "of us"

Prepositions require the genitive case. E.g.:
 * baldún bwldét "by the door", "next to the door"
 * zwplín nysét "on the table"

Prepositions always end with the locative ending (n). The most common are:
 * baldún "by", "next to"
 * zwplín "on"
 * gwnún "like"
 * pyajún "under"
 * rètún "beside"
 * amdlín "between", "among"
 * rwmshín "far from"
 * rwmkún "along"
 * tamdlún "inside"
 * vwlén "out of"

Examples:
 * rètún gwnbodètúlt "next to the computer"
 * pyajún nysét "under the table"
 * gwnún reít "like you/him/her"

A special use of the commitative case is taking over the taks of the conjunction "and". In this use it can appear together with other case endings, coming always as the last element in a word and often receiving the helping -a to make pronunciation easier. Ex.:
 * yó reíg "I and you"
 * fúzy níg "you and I"
 * êzw byáb nyábg "This is for the father and for the mother"
 * laí híry baytét zoé gèlétg "He was laughing because of the joke and because of your face."

Nominative vs. Accusative
As has been stated above, in principle the only difference between the nominative and the accusative forms of a word is stress. However, due to how the language evolved phonologically, there are words that show great differences from one form to the other. Some examples:
 * dêw, acc. deú "uncle"
 * dáy, acc. daí "aunt"
 * nyá, acc. nyá "mother"
 * byá, acc. byá "fater"
 * êlnèw, acc. elnèú "brother"
 * gésè, acc. gèsé "house"
 * gélw /, acc. gèlú "car, vehicle"
 * béw, acc. bèú "bread"
 * nóreal, acc. noreál "woman"
 * géw, acc. gèhú "dog"
 * ékoè, acc. èkoé "water"

However, in most words the difference is limited to stress:
 * zêtèty, acc. zetètí "town"
 * négemè, acc. nègemé "machine"
 * êmtsdedodw, acc. emtsdedodú "institute"

Plural
Plural of nouns is in -(i)ts. There are some irregularities according to the original ending of the word.


 * 1) Words ending in a vowel, semivowel or in -m add -z:
 * 2) *véneray "family", pl. vénerayts
 * 3) *zêtèty "town", pl. zêtètyts
 * 4) *êlnèm "sister", pl. êlnèmts
 * 5) Words ending in -l add -its:
 * 6) *nóreal "woman", pl. nórealyts
 * 7) Some words ending in -ts change this to -sits, others remain unchanged:
 * 8) *byáts "country", pl. byásyts
 * 9) *rébets "pencil", pl. rébets
 * 10) Words ending in -n change -n to -mts:
 * 11) *únan "man", pl. únamts
 * 12) Words ending in -èr change this to -yats:
 * 13) *vêmèr "ending", pl. vêmyats
 * 14) Words ending in -er change this to -ets:
 * 15) *péler "barrel", pl. pélets
 * 16) Some masculine words ending in monophthong -o (from èw) just add -ts regularly:
 * 17) *êlnèw "brother", pl. êlnèwts
 * 18) *úlkèw "organ", pl. úlkèwts
 * 19) Feminine words and some masculine words ending in monophthong -èw change this to -wits:
 * 20) *vlézèw "fraction", pl. vlézwits
 * 21) *pérèw "balloon", pl. pérwits
 * 22) Some other masculine words ending in monophthong -èw) change this to -éyts; however, these words are rare in modern Tláymyts and, when used, tend to use a regular plural:
 * 23) *géw, "dog", pl. géyts  (rare, géjwlw , pl. géjwlwts  is used instead)
 * 24) *gébedèw "captain", pl. gébedèyts  (or simply gébedèwts )

Adjectives
Adjectives have only two cases, nominative and oblique. The oblique form is used for accusative and for all the other cases. Plural follows the same rules indicated for nouns.

In the following example you can see the adjective múfw "new" declined along with a masculine noun (gélw, "car") and a feminine noun (lwóbè, "piece of cloth"):

There are adjectives with a masculine and a feminine form, and adjectives with a single form for both genders. E.g.:


 * múfw m., múfè f. "new", "young"
 * klémty m./f. "great"
 * vêmèr m./f. "final"

Only adjectives in -w have a feminine form which is always in -è. Adjective pún "good" has the feminine form pwé.

Superiority
The comparitive of superiority is formed with the adverb nyáts placed before the adjective:
 * nyáts fárew "older"
 * nyáts múfw "newer"
 * nyáts vúldy "stronger"

In the modern spoken language, there are two possibilities for the pronunciation of this construction:
 * 1) the adverb is pronounced as a noun in the accusative or locative case: nyáts fárew, nyátsn fárew
 * 2) the adverb is used as a prefix to the adjective: nyáts faro

This last form is the most current. When this happens, the final -ts of the adverb is assimilated to the first consonant of the following word, resulting in a doubled consonant. In the nominative case, stress is shifted to the prefix, while in the other cases accent falls regularly on the last syllable:
 * nyáts farew "older", Acc. nyáts fareú
 * nyáts mwfw "newer", Acc. nyáts mwfú
 * nyáts vwldy "stronger", Acc. nyáts vwldí

The complement is put in the genitive case:
 * nyáts farew reít "older than him"
 * nyáts mwfw wodlút "newer than the other"
 * nyáts vwldy mútst "stronger than us"

There are four adjectives that keep old Nekturian irregular comparatives:
 * pún, comp. nírewl
 * nér, lyún , comp. bêwl
 * klémty, comp. nyáwl
 * bygámw, comp. námwl

Superlative
Relative superlative ("the most ...") has exactly the same form as the comparative of superiority:
 * nyáts fárew, nyáts(n) fárew , nyáts farew "the oldest"
 * nyáts múfw, nyáts(n) múfw , nyáts mwfw "the newest"
 * nyáts vúldy, nyáts(n) vúldy , nyáts vwldy "the strongest"

Absolute superlative ("very ...", "extremely ... ") is formed with the adverb nyúdw "very" placed before the adjective:
 * nyúdw fárew "very old"
 * nyúdw múfw "very new"
 * nyúdw vúldy "very strong"

In spoken language, this adverb nyúdw is used either as a noun in the locative case (nyudún) or as a prefix. When prefixed to the adjective, the last syllable (-dw) is assimilated to the first consonant of the adjective, resulting in a doubled consonant, and, in the nominative case, stress is shifted to the prefix. So:


 * nyudún fárew, nyúdw farew "very old"
 * nyudún múfw, nyúdw mwfw "very new"
 * nyudún vúldy, nyúdw vwldy "very strong"

Personal Pronouns
Modern Tláymyts has replaced old second person pronouns by treatment forms which were originally 3rd person. So, except for the nominative form of the personal pronouns, Tláymyts has a two-person pronominal system, with a single form shared by 2nd and 3rd persons. This system affects pronouns (in the oblique forms), possessives and verbs.

So, to avoid confusion, new accusative forms appeared, following the general rule of regular stress shift to the last syllable. These alternative forms are used only in colloquial language and exclusively when needed to make clear if one means 2nd or 3rd person. An alternative form for the fisrt person singular also exists, but is rejected by most speakers.

The following table presents the personal pronouns in both the nominative and the accusative forms. Other cases are built upon the accusative by means of suffixes (ses above).

Script
Tláymyts is written in its own alphabet, which descends from the old Arishian writing. It is a pure alphabet of the Latin type, indicating each vowel and consonant by means of a constant symbol. A diacritic with the form of a horizontal line was formerly used to indicate stress. This diacritic has now, in most writing styles, merged with the vowel letters, thus yielding a new series of symbols for stressed vowels.

One of the most characteristic features of Tláymyts writing is that the aspiration ([h]), although present in all variations of the language, is never written. That happens because, when the aspiration entered in the phonology of the language, the alphabet was already in use, and it had no symbol for this sound as it did not exist in the language earlier. Another reason is that the aspiration is completely predictable, so we can know where an aspiration must go even if it is not indicated in writing. All syllables initiating with a vowel is actually pronounced with an aspiration. For example, the word elaí "(I) would go", syllables are e-la-í, first and last syllables begin with vowel, so we must aspirate them, resulting in [hela'hi].

Styles
There are four major styles of the Tláymyts script: the monumental, the "original", the classical and the handwritten style.

Monumental (Nwmonamdút) Style
The monumental style, widely used in the past, is used today only in special occasions like commemorative inscriptions or in titles when one wants an old-fashioned look. In this style almost all the letters have the same shape as they have in the original style, albeit some letters (notably R, U ad L) generally appear in an older form. The greatest difference from the other styles is that letters are grouped according to syllables, most like in the Korean alphabet. Text normally runs in columns from right to left, but a considerable quantity of texts written in horizontal lines also exist.

One special modern usage of the classical style is for writing fancy names or nicknames of spaceships. On the hull of vessels, the official name and identification of the vessel is written in the original style, but in the case of a ship with a popular name or nickname, the crew is allowed to write it as well, provided it is written in a different style. Sometimes the classical style is used, but the monumental style is much more popular as it helps conveying the idea of strength, solidity and resistance.

"Original" (Wlêshemèr) Style
This style reflects the first adaptation to Tláymyts of the Arishian alphabet. The name "original", however, does not fully apply, as the letters used today have been considerably simplified. Both a monospace and a variable width version of this style exist.

This is the most common writing style in computational media, and also the official writing style for all military uses.

Classical (Grézegw) Style
The style called classical is the one which replaced the monumental as the standard script for Tláymyts. Visually, it is very similar to the old Mongol alphabet, both in the design of the letters and in the disposition of writing. Letters are joined like in Mongolian or Arabic, each letter having four different forms, one used in isolation, one for initial position, one for medial position and one for final position (the letter TS has only a final position, as it consists in a variant of Z which was originally used only at the end of words). Writing direction is both horizontally from left to right and vertically with columns going from right to left. It is considered the most beautiful style of Tláymyts, and several calligraphic variants have been developed. In this style some ligatures are used, mostly corresponding to the nominal case endings. The most common are tsn (locative plural) and tst (genitive plural).

Handwritten (Nèhút) Style
The handwritten style is a derivation of the real original Tláymyts alphabet. The letters of a word are written tightly together, with a considerable amout of space between words. It is considered the most difficult style for reading, as it is common for characters to be joined in ligatures that are largely dependent on personal preferences. Visually it is similar to the Egyptian Demotic alphabet, sometimes resembling also the Merovingian script with its free-floating lines.