Conlang
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Name: Otrainste

Type: Agglutinative

Alignment: Transitive

Head Direction: (tbd)

Number of genders: No

Declensions: Yes

Conjugations: Yes

Nouns declined
according to
Case Number
Definitiveness Gender
Verbs conjugated
according to
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect
Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Nouns No Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Adjectives No No Yes No No No No No
Numbers No No No No No No No No
Participles No No No Yes No Yes Yes No
Adverb No No No No No No No No
Pronouns No Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No Yes Yes No No No No No
Particle No No No No No No No No


Setting[]

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Sound Pronunciation Information Representation
/m/ mouse ‹m›
/p/ top Never aspirated in syllable-initial position, as what happens in English. Therefore, a word-initial /p/ in Otrainste might sound more like a /b/ to English speakers. ‹p›
/b/ buy ‹b›
/ɸ/ - Sounds similar to the /f/ sound of English, and is articulated almost the same way except the upper lip never meets the lower teeth. It is the voiceless counterpart of /β/. ‹ph›
/β/ - Sounds similar to the /v/ sound of English, and is articulated almost the same way except the upper lip never meets the lower teeth. It is the voiced counterpart of /ɸ/. ‹bh›
/n/ no ‹n›
/t/ dot Never aspirated in syllable-initial position, as what happens in English. Therefore, a word-initial /t/ in Otrainste might sound more like a /d/ to English speakers. ‹t›
/d/ dot ‹d›
/s/ see Becomes softened to "soft s" [ʃ] before the vowel /i/ ‹s›
/z/ zebra Becomes softened to "soft z" [ʒ] before the vowel /i/ ‹z›
/ts/ mats Becomes softened to "soft c" [tʃ] before the vowel /i/ ‹c›
/dz/ lads Becomes softened to "soft x" [dʒ] before the vowel /i/ ‹x›
/r/ real Pronounced as a trill, as in Spanish perro. ‹r›
/ʃ/ sheep ‹si›, ‹ṡ›
/ʒ/ pleasure ‹zi›, ‹ż›
/tʃ/ chip ‹ci›, ‹ċ›
/dʒ/ job ‹xi›, ‹ẋ›
/ɲ/ new Only ever found in syllable-initial position before a vowel. ‹ni›
/j/ yes ‹j›
/ʎ/ million Only ever found in syllable-initial position before a vowel. ‹li›
/k/ car ‹k›
/g/ garden When following a vowel and preceding a consonant, /g/ becomes the approximant [ɰ]. ‹g›
/ʟ/ - Similar in sound to the 'Dark L' of English, as in pull and milk. When in syllable final position, /ʟ/ becomes the approximant [ɰ]. ‹l›

Gemination[]

All Otrainste consonants can be geminated (lengthened). This is represented by doubling the letter used to pronounce it. Geminate /j/ often becomes rendered as [ʝ], or even [ʑ], and geminate /ʟ/ often becomes the cluster [ʟɣ].

Consonants with Ambiguous Status[]

There are a couple of consonants which have an ambiguous phonemic status in Otrainste. Whether they should be regarded as phonemes in there own right, or as mere allophones of Otrainste phonemes, is still being considered.

The Velar Approximant [ɰ] appears as both the syllable-final allophone of the phoneme /ʟ/, and as the allophone of /g/ in positions following a vowel and preceding a consonant. However, the fact that it appears as an allophone of /ʟ/ has meant that it forms minimal pairs with /g/, a consonant that it would otherwise be in complimentary distribution with. For example in the word pal [p​ɐɰ] "bad" (where the [ɰ] is a result of the phoneme /ʟ/), as opposed to pag [pɐg] "dog" (where the word-final /g/ does not lenit to [ɰ] because it doesn't precede another consonant). /ʟ/ however, never contrasts with [ɰ], so the status is still vague.

The two labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/, as in English foot and very respectively, are not native phonemes to Otrainste, which has the phonemes /ɸ/ and /β/ (represented by the letters ‹ph› and ‹bh›) instead. However, words borrowed from other languages containing /f/ and /v/ usually retain their spellings (‹f› and ‹v›, as they are not used elsewhere in Otrainste) - keeping them distinct from ‹ph› and ‹bh›, leading some speakers to pronounce them differently from each other. This can lead some speakers to have minimal pairs between words such as native phrank "apple" versus foreign frank "franc".

L-Sounds[]

Otrainste does not have a simple (alveolar) /l/ sound as in English. Instead, it has a palatal /ʎ/ (called "light l") and a velar /ʟ/ (called "dark l"). Neither sound are found in English, but they can be approximated by the sounds in all year ("light l") and the pronunciation of the English 'dark l' as in call ("dark l").

Hard & Soft and Light & Dark Sounds[]

In Otrainste terminology, 'hard' sounds refer to alveolar consonants, and 'soft' sounds refer to their post-alveolar or palatal counterpart - see the table below:

Hard
Sound
Soft
Sound
/s/ /ʃ/
/z/ /ʒ/
/ts/ /tʃ/
/dz/ /dʒ/
/n/ /ɲ/

The Soft Sounds are represented in writing by the Hard Sound letter followed by ‹i› when before a vowel ‹si zi ci xi ni›, and by the Dotted Letters ‹ṡ ż ċ ẋ› when before a consonant and at the end of a word. As Soft N cannot be found before a consonant or at the end of a word, there is no Dotted N letter, just a ‹ni› digraph before vowels. The distinction between hard and soft sounds is very important, as there is at least one minimal pair for every Hard-Soft companion.

The Light-Dark distinction is slightly different. The light-dark distinction is only for the language's two l-like sounds, in which Light L refers to palatal /ʎ/, and Dark l refers to velar /ʟ/.

Phonotactics[]

  • The sounds Light L /ʎ/ and Soft N /ɲ/ cannot appear anywhere other than syllable initial position before another vowel, as in liák [ʎak] "fine" and nieṡ [ɲɛʃ] "no, not".
  • The hard sounds /s z ts dz/ cannot appear before the vowel /i/ except in foreign words, only their soft counterparts /ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ/ can.

Vowels[]

Otrainste has a ten-vowel system.

Front Near
Front
Central Near
Back
Back
/i/ /u/
ɪ /ʊ/
/e/
/ɛ/ /ə/
/ɐ/ /ɑ/ • /ɒ/

Writing[]

Alphabet[]

Letter Name IPA Approx.
A a /ɐ/ cup in BE
Á á /ɑ/ mark in BE
B /b/ boy
Bh bhé /β/ -
C /ts/ lots
Ċ ċá /tʃ/ chin
D /d/ dig
E e /ɛ/ let
É é /e/ Like the first part of the diphthong in maid
Ė ėpsylon /ə/ about
(F) /f/ fit
G /g/ god
(H) ephi -
I i /i/ eat
J /j/ yes
K /k/ car
L al /ʟ/ milk
M am /m/ milk
N an /n/ nice
O o /ɒ/ ox
Ȯ ȯ /ʊ/ book
P pi /p/ spit
Ph phé // -
(Q) qiu /k/ car
R errė /r/ real
S es /s/ smile
eṡ /ʃ/ shop
T /t/ tiger
U u /u/ boot
(V) /v/ very
(W) synċvá /v/ very
X /dz/ lads
ẋé /dʒ/ jump
Y y /ɪ/ kit
Z z /z/ zebra
Ż ż /ʒ/ genre

Digraphs[]

Otrainste uses numerous digraphs in writing. The most common two are ‹ph› and ‹bh› which represent sounds /ɸ/ and /β/ respectively. These are both regarded as unique letters in their own right, with their own place in the alphabet and their own dictionary entries.

Soft consonants /tʃ ʎ ɲ ʃ dʒ/ and /ʒ/ are spelt with the respective digraphs ‹ci li ni si xi and ‹zi› before a vowel, and ‹ṡ ż ċ ẋ› before a consonant and at the end of a word. (/ʎ/ and /ɲ/ cannot appear before a consonant or the end of a word).

Unusual Letters[]

There are five letters of the basic Latin alphabet that are not regularly used in Otrainste: ‹f h q v w›. They are all used however to some degree in Foreign words adopted into the alphabet - as in ‹finn› "Finnish", ‹hélo› "halo", ‹quázár› "quasar", ‹vélo› "bicycle" and ‹watt› "watt". Although the foreign letters ‹f v w› tend to be retained (as the sounds they represent are not found in native Otrainste), the position of ‹h› and ‹q› is more vague and is up to the choice of the writer. ‹h› is usually silent, so can be simply omitted, for example ‹élo› instead of ‹hélo› "halo". ‹q› represents the same sound as the native letter ‹k›, so is often replaced with it, for example ‹kuázár› instead of ‹quázár› "quasar".

Diacritics[]

Otrainste uses a small number of optional diacritics which aid in pronunciation and telling the difference between otherwise identical words. The dot used on the letters ‹ṡ ż ċ ẋ› and ‹ė ȯ› and the acute accent used on ‹á é› is not regarded as a diacritic mark, instead it is viewed as an integral part of the letter. As a result, the dotted and acute-accented letters have their own place in the alphabet, whereas letters with other diacritics are not.

The trema is used on ‹i› and ‹u› to show that two adjacent vowels should be pronounced as two separate vowels instead of a diphthong. This can be important to distinguish between two identical words, as in ‹gaïn› [gɐ.in] "to shut" versus ‹gain› [gaɪ̯n] "mediocre".

The grave accent is used on non-pluralised nouns which have the same ending as the Otrainste plural marker -ie. This is to distinguish them from plural nouns which would otherwise be spelled the same. As in aciè "sneeze" versus acie "trees" (plural of ak "tree").

Basic Grammar[]

Noun Phrase[]

Syntax[]

The order of the elements of an Otrainste noun phrase is always determiner - noun - adjective, so an Otrainste phrase would be rendered as something like the apple red instead of the red apple.

Grammatical Marking[]

Plurals[]

Pluralisation in Otrainste is regular but complicated, with several ways of representing a plural depending on the ending of the word. The basic plural marker is the suffix -e or -je, but it can take many forms. There are some irregular plurals, but the general rules are as follows:

If the word ends in... Do the following... Example
a, e, i, o, u Add -je ja "star" > jaje "stars"
saphe "cushion" > sapheje "cushions"
mi "moment" > miji "moments"
vélo "bike" > véloje "bikes"
phiu "child" > phiuje "children"
b, bh, c, f, g, l, n, p, ph, s, v, w, x, z Add -ie obb "mouth" > obbie "mouths"
obh "moon" > obhie "moons"
lyc "five" > lycie "fives"
kuff "cuff" > kuffie "cuffs"
dol "money" > dolie "moneys"
ton "person" > tonie "people"
phép "paper" > phépie "papers"
ṡtaph "country" > ṡtaphie "countries"
bhas "chair" > bhasie "chairs"
sláv "slav" > slávie "slavs"
nuxix "church" > nuxixie "churches"
tioz "pen" > tiozie "pens"
d, g Remove the 'd' and add -xie lied "day" > liexie "days"
niugg "wave" > niuxxie "waves"
k, t Remove the 'k', 't' and add -cie ak "tree" > acie "trees"
at "man" > acie "men"
m Double the 'm' and add -nie gybhellom "melon" > gybhellommnie "melons"
r Remove the 'r' and add -lie gár "boy" > gálie "boys"
ċ, ṡ, ẋ, ż Remove the dot above diacritic, and add -ie bhaċ "foreigner" > bhacie "foreigners"
nieṡ "downside" > niesie "downsides"
uẋ "woman" > uxie "women"
żaż "style" > żazie "styles"

Pairing[]

Certain nouns that commonly come in pairs (e.g. arms, shoes) take the Pairing Suffix -koph. For example sa xioi "the shoe" versus sa xioikoph "the pair of shoes" versus saje xioije "the shoes". This suffix is only really used on a few common nouns which most commonly come in pairs.

Possession[]

Possession of nouns is marked by affixing a following personal pronoun with the genitive suffix -siyk. For example the pronoun nie "me" becomes niesiyk "my", so "my pair of shoes" is xioikoph niesiyk.

Determiners[]

Otrainste has numerous articles.

  • The definite article is sa, which changes to saz before a vowel. The plural definite articles are sie and ob before consonants and vowels respectively. For example: sa gár "the boy" > sie galie "the boys", saz at "the man" > ob acie "the men".
  • The indefinite article is én, with the plural form énie'. For example: én gár "a boy" > énie gálie "some boys".
  • The negative article is nieṡ, which is a word used for many negatives, such as "no, not, neither, without" etc. It does not change for a plural noun - nieṡ gár "no boy(s)".

Senary System[]

Otrainste uses a decimal numeral system just like that used in most of the modern countries of the world. However, the number names do not quite correlate with the decimal number system in place due to Otrainste originally using a senary system (base 6).

No. Name No. Name No. Name No. Name No. Name No. Name
1 én 2 ba 3 kek 4 liȯk 5 phyk 6 siá
7 siázén 8 siába 9 siákek 10 siáliȯk 11 siáphyk 12 basiá
13 basiázen 14 basiába 15' basiákek '16 basiáliȯk 17 basiáphyk 18 keksiá
19 keksiázen 20 keksiába 21 keksiákek 22 keksiáliȯk 23 keksiáphyk 24 liȯksiá
25 liȯksiázen 26 liȯksiába 27 liȯksiákek 28 liȯksiáliȯk 29 liȯksiáphyk 30 phyksiá
31 phyksiázén 32 phyksiába 33 phyksiákek 34 phyksiáliȯk 35 phyksiáphyk 36 nyla



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Dictionary[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


Example text[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name
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