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Revision as of 22:21, 10 May 2020

Edebro
[ˌɛdɛˈbro̞]
Type Analytic
Alignment Direct-Inverse
Head direction Head-Final
Tonal No
Declensions Yes
Conjugations Yes
Genders None
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect
Meta-information
Progress 62%
Statistics
Nouns 95%
Verbs 88%
Adjectives 67%
Syntax 19%
Words 257 of 2500
Creator Eçeþesi

Edebro ([ˌɛdɛˈbro̞], lit. "clear tongue," and sometimes spelled Ede Bro in English) is the national and official language of Gxambfan, a nation located on the southwestern corner of Kadsrasan, the northeastern continent of the planet Aysling.

Classification and Dialects

Edebro is a well-known language isolate, although research is ongoing regarding possible affiliations with other languages. Despite the lack of confirmed relatives, however, Edebro does have some dialectal variation of its own. A slightly modified version of the dialect of Arsingxara, the capital of Gxambfan, is taken as the standard form of the language; this standard is the form reflected in this article unless otherwise noted.

Phonology

Consonants

Edebro has a fairly average-sized consonant inventory, with 19 total consonant phonemes. Its inventory is fairly standard in its contents as well, with the notable features being its series of palatalized coronals, and the phonemes which are realized in most dialects (including the standard) as affricates, of which /p͡ɸ/ and /k͡x/ are unusual.

Bilabial Alveolar Post-alveolar Velar
Nasal m n nʲ
Plosive p pʰ t tʰ tʲ tʲʰ k kʰ
Fricative s ʃ
Affricate p͡f t͡s t͡ʃ k͡x
Trill r rʲ

The most salient of consonantal allophony in Edebro is the typical intervocalic voicing of non-aspirated obstruents, including affricates; this voicing also applies in clusters with voiced consonants (i.e. sonorants). Furthermore, the liquid /rʲ/ may be realized as [j] in consonant clusters in the standard dialect, while in some non-standard dialects it may be realized as such in all positions, leaving [rʲ] and [j] to be in free variation in such dialects.

In the actual dialect of Arsingxara, the bilabial and velar affricates are reduced to fricatives, however this is a shift unreflected in the standard form of the language.

Vowels

Even more average than Edebro's consonants are its vowels, which form the common five vowel system.

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid
Low a

Despite the fairly small inventory, Edebro vowels do not exhibit significant allophony. The mid vowels do lower, however, to [ɛ] and [ɔ] before phonetically voiced consonants (so this includes voiceless stops which have been intervocalically voiced). Additionally, non-low vowels in word-initial position receive epenthetic glides when the preceding word also ends in a vowel. 

While the dialect of Arsingxara, and the standard form, lack diphthongs, some dialects retain diphthongs from older forms of the language. Such diphthongs include /ai/, /au/, /ei/, /ou/, /ia/ and /ua/; these have been monophthongized to /e/, /o/, /i/, /u/, /a/, and /a/, respectively, in the varieties that lack them.

Phonotactics

Edebro's syllables may consist of a maximum of CCVC. Syllable onsets may consist of any lone consonant or a cluster of a plosive or nasal with a liquid. A nucleus, of course, may be any vowel.  Syllable codas in Edebro may only be a sibilant fricative or sonorant.

Stress

Stress in Edebro is contrastive, and plays a key role in distinguishing nouns from verbs. Nouns are typically marked with word-final stress, while verbs are usually marked with penultimate stress. 

Writing System

Letter Mm Nn Njnj Bb Pp Dd Tt Djdj Tjtj Gg Kk BFbf
Sound /m/ /n/ /nʲ/ /p/ /pʰ/ /t/ /tʰ/ /tʲ/ /tʲʰ/ /k/ /kʰ/ /pɸ/
Letter DSds DSjdsj GXgx Ss Sjsj Rr Rjrj Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu
Sound /ts/ /tʃ/ /kx/ /s/ /ʃ/ /r/ /rʲ/ /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/

Stress may optionally be indicated with an acute on the stressed vowel; this is typically done in dictionaries, but otherwise omitted from writing. Digraphs, besides those involving <j>, ought to have both elements capitalized when capitalized, but this is often neglected.

Grammar

Nouns

Edebro nouns are morphologically quite simple. They do not inflect for case or definiteness, although they do decline according to number. While singular nouns remain unmarked, plural nouns are marked through reduplication, of the first CV pair in consonant-initial nouns, and of the first vowel with an epenthetic glide in vowel-initial nouns. An example of both is demonstrated in the following table:

Singular Plural
flower bfumí [p͡fʊˈmi] bfubfumí [ˌp͡fub͡vʊˈmi]
dog anjásj [əˈnʲaʃ] aanjásj [ˌəɦəˈnʲaʃ]

In front vowels, the epenthetic glide is [j]; in back vowels, it is [w]; and in the low vowel /a/, it is [ɦ] as seen above. Nouns also do not have gender, although they do have an inherent animacy level. This animacy level is not marked explicitly on the noun itself, but will be relevant later for verbal conjugation.

Pronouns

Edebro has few personal pronouns, having only true pronouns for the first and second persons. However, demonstratives can also be used in a standalone fashion that act as third person pronouns. The pronouns are presented in the table below.

Sg Pl
1st da mes
2nd Inf kas osi
For ne gon
3rd AnProx ki kiki
AnDist dsjas dsjadsjas
InanProx ru ruru
InanDist dsa dsadsa

When used as a standalone pronoun, demonstratives have an optional plural form formed via reduplication. These are typically only used when the context would otherwise leave ambiguity.

Verbs

In Edebro, all clauses (with one exception, which will be covered later) require two parts to express the function of a verb: a lexical verb and an auxiliary verb.

While the lexical verb, which carries the semantic content of the action or state being described, does not inflect for any grammatical information itself, the auxiliary verb inflects for categories of transitivity, inversivity, voice, tense, and mood. The forms of auxiliary verb appear in the chart below.

copular intransitive direct inverse passive antipassive
affirmative present u ni ma mre dsu ro
past us nis mas mare dsus ros
future o nje me mere dso ra
pres. irrealis usja nisja masja masjre dsusja rosja
past irrealis usasj nisasj masasj masasjre dsusasj rosasj
fut. irrealis osja njesja mesja mesjre dsosja rasja
negative present un nin man mren dsun ron
past usen nisen masen maren dsusen rosen
future on njen men meren dson ran
pres. irr. usjan nisjan masjan masjren dsusjan rosjan
past irr. usasjen nisasjen masasjen masasjren dsusasjen rosasjen
fut. irr. osjan njesjan mesjan mesjren dsosjan rasjan

Lexical verbs may be either active or stative. While stative verbs will typically take the copular auxiliary, active verbs may take the intransitive, direct or inverse, and some active verbs, such as verbs of movement, may also take the copular auxiliary.

As Edebro is a direct-inverse language, the auxiliary verb makes a distinction in inversivity in transitive clauses. The direct form of the auxiliary verb is used in clauses in which the more animate noun is taking the role of the agent, while the inverse form is used when the less animate noun is the agent. Therefore, a sentence like sjúrjo anjásj tjo mas translates to "a man saw a dog," while the same sentence but replacing mas with mare results in a translation as "a dog saw a man."

Syntax

  • The auxiliary verb always appears at the end of the sentence, with the exception of cases in which the antipassive particle follows it.
  • The lexical verb is typically found at the beginning of a sentence, though this isn't required.
  • Noun arguments can be arranged any way in the sentence.

Lexicon


No. English Edebro
1Ida
2you (singular)ne, gon
3he
4wemes
5you (plural)osi
6they
7thisru
8thatdso
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not-(o)n
17allmo
18manybo
19someangó
20few
21other
22onedjo
23twobfe
24threekim
25fourridsú
26fivegxesú
27bigke
28longdjási
29widerábirj
30thickrjúdi
31heavygában
32smallára, ánbi
33shortíma, dsam
34narrowrjurj
35thinkur
36womandjan
37man (adult male)tjo
38man (human being)odóm
39childibé
40wifeasinká
41husbandasinká
42mothermam
43fatherdan
44animalesjém
45fishbundsjém
46birdkidín
47doganjásj
48louse
49snake
50worm
51treetedjí
52forestmatedjí
53stick
54fruitbudó
55seedketú
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flowerbfumí
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fatgúto
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hairigxén
72headnreká
73earrjudá
74eyeubfí
75nosekir
76mouthdjimgó
77tooth
78tonguebro
79fingernail
80footdjotjún
81legkebfrú
82knee
83handtanín
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88backunkró
89breast
90heartnjoná
91liver
92drink
93eatsjir
94bitegádsju
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laughdsjokágxa
101seesjúrjo
102hearsúsos
103knowrísjen
104thinkrámi
105smelldópun
106fear
107sleepbfésje
108liveánga
109diepúngxon
110killkúkro
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120flykapási
121walkábfru
122cometo
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turnsjóbi
127fall
128givegánjo
129holdébi
130squeeze
131rub
132washsjírun
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140sayáro
141singsábfe
142playkóbesj
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sunnjesjún
148moon
149star
150watersju
151rainnjasé
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stonetodré
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163windbisá
164snow
165iceospí
166smoke
167firekedsí
168ash
169burn
170roadtas
171mountaindasbfó
172reddri
173greenónso
174yellowmútja
175whitebénke
176blackgxínra
177nightmu
178daybfis
179yearnrobfé
180warmásji
181coldísgxi
182full
183newísbo
184oldísbon
185goodba
186badgra
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201ate
202inge
203with
204anda
205ifim
206because
207nameigimí


Example text

Edebro Da njebi ne e imben ma gxo, dsa ge djo dan e mo bro o rja.
English I love your silence, for in it are all languages at once.
IPA [ˈta ˈnʲe̞bi ˈne̞ je̞ jɪmˈbe̞n ˈma k͡xo̞ ˈt͡sa ke̞ tʲo̞ ˈtan e̞ mo̞ ˈbro̞ ˈwo̞ rʲa]
Gloss 1S love 2S at silence TR.PRS so, DIST in one time at all tongue COP.PRS for

Schleicher's Fable

Edebro Niba no, na mruma nre bfar sjurjo gagandsen mas: brima gaban os mi rjombfe mas mi djo r, goro ko os mi moge mas mi djo r, tidsji goro tjo mas mi djo. Bfar gagandsen dsji era: « Da no njona baru sjurjo tirjo gagandsen ma m tjo ke mre, » mas. Gagandsen era: « Nagom, bfar, mes no njonjona baru ni sese mes sjurjo ru: tjo, dsa odorgxom, asji o m diturj bfar no mruma du som dsa dsjam sum ma di. Bfar no mruma on gxo. » Bfar susos ru ke du tosjobfa rjakintam so nis.
English On a hill, a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
IPA [niˈba no̞ nə mrʊˈma nre̞ ˈp͡far ˈʃurʲo̞ ˌkəgənˈd͡ze̞n ˈmas | ˈbrimə ˈkabən ˈo̞zmi rʲɔmˈb͡ve̞ ˈmazmi ˈtʲo̞r ˈko̞ro̞ ˈkʰo̞ ˈwo̞zmi mɔˈge̞ ˈmazmi ˈtʲo̞r ˈtʰid͡ʒi ˈko̞ro̞ ˈtʲʰo̞ ˈmazmi ˈtʲo̞ | p͡far kəgənˈd͡ze̞n t͡ʃi ˈje̞rə | ˈta no̞ nʲɔˈna ˈparu ˈʃurʲo̞ ˈtʰirʲo̞ kəgənˈd͡ze̞n ˈmam ˈtʲʰo̞ ˈkʰe̞ ˈmre̞ | ˈmas | kəgənˈd͡ze̞n ˈe̞ra | ˈnakɔm ˈp͡far ˈme̞s no̞ ˌnʲɔnʲɔˈna ˈparu ˈni sɛˈze̞ ˈme̞s ˈʃurʲo̞ ˈru | ˈtʲʰo̞ t͡sə ˌwɔdɔrˈg͡ɣo̞m ˈaʒi ˈwo̞m tiˈtʰuj ˈp͡far no̞ mrʊˈma tu ˈso̞m t͡sə ˈt͡ʃam sʊm ˈmadi | ˈp͡far no̞ mrʊˈma ˈwo̞n k͡xo̞ | ˈp͡far ˈsuzo̞s ˈru ˈkʰe̞ tu ˈtʰo̞ʒɔb͡və ˌrʲəkʰɪnˈtʰam so̞ ˈnis]
Gloss hill on, no wool with sheep see PL~horse TR.PST | pull heavy COP.PST=REL wagon TR.PST=REL one=and, carry big COP.PST=REL load TR.PST=REL one=and, fast carry man TR.PST=REL one | sheep PL~horse to say | 1S on heart hurt see drive PL~horse TR.PRS=REL man INF TR.PRS.INV | TR.PST | PL~horse say | listen, sheep, 1P on PL~heart hurt when 1P see PROX | man, DIST master, warm COP.PRS=REL garment sheep on wool from make DIST same for TR.PRS=SR | sheep on wool COP.PRS-NEG so | sheep hear PROX INF from flee plain into INTR.PST