Conlang
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Prettish
'
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Phillipine
Head direction
Last
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information[]

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m
Plosive

b

t̪ʼ

ɡ

Fricative ɸ

β

ɕ

ʑ

x

h
Affricate θ

ð

t̪s̪

d̪z̪

Approximant ɥ ɰ

Vowels[]

Front Central Back
Close y ɯ
Near-close ɪ̈
Close-mid ɵ
Mid
Open-mid ɜ
Near-open æ
Open a ɒ

Diphthongs[]

ae     [a:]

au     [aɯ:]

ie      [ɵy:]

oi      [ɒɪ̈:]

Alphabet[]

Aa     [a:]

Āā     [æ:]

Ăă     [ɥa:]

Ââ     [ɥæ:]

Bb     [bɪ̈:]

Dd     [d̪ɪ̈:]

Ḍḍ     [ðɪ̈:]

Ee     [e̞:]

Ēē     [y:]

Ĕĕ     [ɥe̞:]

Êê     [ɥy:]

Ff      [ɸɪ̈:]

Gg     [gɪ̈:]

Hh     [hɪ̈:]

Ḥḥ     [xɪ̈:]

Ii       [ɪ̈:]

Īī       [ɵ:]

Ĭĭ       [ɥɪ̈:]

Îî       [ɥɵ:]

Jj       [t̪s̪ɪ̈:]

Ɉɉ       [tɕɪ̈:]

Kk     [kʼɪ̈:]

Ll      [lɪ̈:]

Mm   [mɪ̈:]

Nn     [ɪ̈:]

Oo     [o̞:]

Ōō     [ɒ:]

Ŏŏ     [jo̞:]

Ôô     [jɒ:]

Pp    [ɪ̈:]

Rr     [ɰɪ̈:]

Ss     [s̪ɪ̈:]

Ṣṣ     [ɕɪ̈:]

Tt     [t̪ʼɪ̈:]

Ṭṭ     [θɪ̈:]

Uu     [ɜ:]

Ūū     [ɯ:]

Ŭŭ     [jɜ:]

Ûû     [jɯ:]

Vv     [βɪ̈:]

Xx     [d̪z̪ɪ̈:]

Ӿӿ     [dʑɪ̈:]

Zz     [z̪ɪ̈:]

Ẓẓ     [ʑɪ̈:]

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:

  • ablative

dative (word and referent moving together, word is performed by referent)

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?

Singleton Word

Mass Word

Countable Word

Whole

Part

Individual

Group

Universe

ablative

-i, -ī, -ē, -e   

-î, -*ĕ, -ă, -ū

-ē, -ee, -īī, -ŭu

-i, -*ī, -*ē, -e

-ē, -ee, -īī, -ŭu

-*î, -*ĕ, -ă, -*ū

dative

-u, -ae, -ĭ, -î

-ĭ, -*u, -*i, -o

-ii, -ēē, -ĕe, - ôō

-u, -*īī, -*ĭ, -î

-ii, -ēē, -ĕe, - ôō

-ĭ, -*u, -*i, -o

focus

-a**

-e

-au

-a

-au

-e

genitive

-ie, -a, -oi, -o

-ô, -, -au, -û

-*ê, -aa, -ōō, -âā

-ie, -*a, -oi, -*o

-*ê, -aa, -ōō, -âā

-ô, -, -*au, -û

locative

-ă, -ā, -ĕ, -â

-*e, -ae, -a, -oo

-*ô, -āā, -ăa, -îī

-*ă, -*ā, -ĕ, -*â

-*ô, -āā, -ăa, -îī

-*e, -ae, -a, -oo

ornative

-ŭ, -ū, -ō, -û

-*ae, -â, -ō, -ī

-ē, -uu, -ūū, -êē

-ŭ, -ū, -*ō, -*û

-ē, -uu, -ūū, -êē

-*ae, -â, -ō, -ī

the order here indicates what the referent is: topic, focus, successor, successor’s referent

*geminate the final consonant

**when a word is the focus of a sentence, it has no referent

Examples'

A man walked by here yesterday talking to himself. I tried to get his attention, but he wouldn’t listen to me.

Fôza    tôzzâ          kôgĕ    ɉăbii.             .

[Man]  [yesterday]  [here]  [walking]

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.)

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.

Next, the third word is kôg, 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.

Finally, the last word is ɉăb, 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.

Xīnau     atee      atēē.               

[Talking] [to him] [by him]

Paurau                  pûjuu          ataa     ammī.

[Attention-getting] [with trying] [of him] [by me]

Biegau      ṣobuu                attī        amee.

[Listening] [with negativity] [by him] [to me]

or

Ṣobau        ate         ammĭ   biegaa.   

[Negativity] [by him] [to me] [of listening]

Pete came from Atlanta yesterday on his Harley.

Pita    Harllē            lēṣē             Atlante                      tôzĕ            xieɉii            .

[Pete] [from Harley] [with using] [from Atlanta] [yesterday] [to coming]  

Other cases expressed with constructions:

Location

·       inessive (within, in the middle of, during, while)

  • adessive (on the outer surface of)

  • apudessive (beside, next to)

  • antessive (before, in front of)

  • postessive (after, behind)

  • superessive (above, on top of)

  • subessive (below, underneath)

Motion Towards

  • illative (into)

  • allative (onto)

Motion Away From

  • elative (from out of)

  • delative (from off of)

Other

·       instrumental (by means of, using)           [used word]+ablative  lēṣ+ornative

  • comitative (along with, in the company of)

  • benefactive (for the benefit of)

Pronouns'

at[inflection] – refer to topic in sentences after it has been introduced

am[inflection] – speaker(s)

av[inflection] – listener(s)

Vocabulary[]

Prettish Pronunciation English
âx ɥæd̪z̪ splitting
az az̪ worm
ăẓ ɥaʑ dust
băb pɥap if
baez pae̞z̪ dry
bēẓ pyʑ rain
bĭḍ pɥɪ̈ð thick
bieṭ pɵyθ night
bieӿ pɵydʑ father
bŏg pjo̞k lake
bur pɜɰ standing
bûṣ pjɯɕ name
dâs t̪ɥæs freezing
dāṣ t̪æɕ washing
ḍêd ðɥyd̪ ice
dēӿ t̪ydʑ red
ḍib ðɪ̈p tieing
ḍog ðo̞k holding
êd ɥyt̪ big
ĕg ɥe̞k and
eṣ e̞ɕ there
êv ɥyβ three
ēx yd̪z̪ how
fāṭ ɸæθ burning
fĕɉ ɸɥe̞tɕ road
fîg ɸɥɵk seed
fīg ɸɵk four
fog ɸo̞k squeezing
fŏj ɸjo̞t̪s̪ lying
fôz ɸjɒz̪ man
kɥæ: where
găr kɥaɰ fog
ged ke̞t̪ wide
gĕs kɥe̞s̪ straight
gĕӿ kɥe̞dʑ meat
gîb kɥɵp guts
gīḍ kɵð wife
gieẓ kɵyʑ skin
gîg kɥɵk five
gîs kɥɵs̪ animal
gīẓ kɵʑ who
gŏg kjo̞k egg
gôḥ kjɒx sleeping
goix kɒɪ̈d̪z̪ sitting
gub kɜp salt
gûḥ kjɯx river
ḥaḥ xax hair
hĕɉ hɥe̞tɕ knee
ḥīb xɵb ear
hîg hɥɵk belly
ḥŏv xjo̞β cold
ĭb ɥɪ̈p pulling
ieṣ ɵyɕ two
ĭl ɥɪ̈l all
ɉăb tɕɥap walking
ɉaeṭ tɕae̞θ tail
jēb t̪s̪yp breast
ɉeg tɕe̞k far
ɉes tɕe̞s̪ digging
ɉĭj tɕɥɪ̈t̪s̪ bone
jīs t̪s̪ɵs̪ fruit
ɉog tɕo̞k eye
joṭ t̪s̪o̞θ foot
ɉûm tɕjɯm neck
kāb k'æp liver
kaej k'ae̞t̪s̪ mountain
kăl k'ɥal eating
kêb k'ɥyp long
kies k'ɵys̪ one
ko k'o̞: woman
kob k'o̞p root
kol k'o̞l hearing
kōv k'ɒβ sucking
lĕb lɥe̞p giving
lŏx ljo̞d̪z̪ cutting
mêb mɥyp cloud
mĕb mɥe̞p hunting
men me̞n̪ heart
meṣ me̞ɕ leg
mēṣ myɕ sewing
meṭ me̞θ not
mib mɪ̈p tongue
mīg mɵk head
mîs mɥɵs̪ breathing
miẓ mɪ̈ʑ coming
mĭӿ mɥɪ̈dʑ old
môb mjɒp rope
moɉ mo̞tɕ year
mŭl mjɜl child
mûm mjɯm dog
mŭṭ mjɜθ when
na n̪a: because
nael n̪ae̞l sea
nâg n̪ɥæk saying
nav n̪aβ fire
nĕb n̪ɥe̞p vomiting
nêf n̪ɥyɸ white
nim n̪ɪ̈m wind
nîm n̪ɥɵm killing
n̪jo̞: bad
nôf n̪jɒɸ heavy
nōg n̪ɒk dull
noij n̪ɒɪ̈t̪s̪ warm
nol n̪o̞l throwing
nug n̪ɜk husband
nŭṣ n̪jɜɕ fighting
oib ɒɪ̈p with
oix ɒɪ̈d̪z̪ wing
paz p'az̪ tooth
pāӿ p'ædʑ living
pef p'e̞ɸ moon
pôs p'jɒs̪ blood
pôz p'jɒz̪ sun
pûg p'jɯk near
pūm p'ɯm leaf
raeg ɰae̞k falling
sag s̪ak hitting
săɉ s̪ɥatɕ stabbing
ṣauf ɕaɯɸ correct
ṣâӿ ɕɥædʑ person
ṣbuṣ ɕpɜɕ swimming
ṣdûg ɕt̪jɯk pushing
sêg s̪ɥyk dirty
sêṣ s̪ɥyɕ fear
ṣgâṣ ɕkɥæɕ feather
ṣîg ɕɥɵk ash
ṣîv ɕɥɵβ what
skōn s̪k'ɒn̪ floating
ṣkub ɕk'ɜp barking
smâg s̪mɥæk rubbing
ṣmen ɕme̞n̪ scratching
ṣmō ɕmɒ: blowing
ṣnauṣ ɕn̪aɯ:ɕ counting
soig s̪ɒɪ̈k louse
sor s̪o̞ɰ few
spĕg s̪p'ɥe̞k back
spŭm s̪p'jɜm playing
ṣtēz ɕt̪'yz̪ rotten
stûṣ s̪t̪'jɯɕ singing
sum s̪ɜm black
sūv s̪ɯβ bird
tae t̪'ae̞: yellow
tauḍ t̪'aɯ:ð fish
taus t̪'aɯs̪ wiping
teb t̪'e̞p turning
ṭēḥ θyx seeing
têz t̪'ɥyz̪ mother
tiez t̪'ɵyz̪ snake
ṭīg θɵk star
tin t̪'ɪ̈n̪ swelling
tīz t̪'ɵz̪ sky
ṭiz θɪ̈z̪ snow
ṭo θo̞: other
tōb t̪'ɒp right
tôf t̪'jɒɸ stick
toig t̪'ɒɪ̈k grass
tôz t̪'jɒz̪ here
ṭug θɜk thinking
ŭb jɜp flower
ūɉ ɯtɕ smoke
uv ɜβ full
xaeṣ d̪z̪ae̞ɕ dying
xĭb d̪z̪ɥɪ̈p hand
xĭḍ d̪z̪ɥɪ̈ð short
xĭm d̪z̪ɥɪ̈m day
xĭz d̪z̪ɥɪ̈z̪ sand
xôb d̪z̪jɒp spitting
xŭɉ d̪z̪jɜtɕ mouth
zâb z̪ɥæp many
ẓab ʑap nose
ẓāḍ ʑæð left
zbeӿ z̪be̞dʑ stone
ẓboib ʑbɒɪ̈p small
ẓdāg ʑdæk horn
zgo z̪go̞: narrow
zîb z̪ɥɵp water
zieg z̪ɵyk thin
zîf z̪ɥɵɸ tree
ẓîg ʑɥɵk good
ẓkīn ʑg'ɵn̪ smooth
ẓkôj ʑgjɒt̪s̪ flying
ẓkōm ʑgɒm drinking
ẓmēg ʑmyk biting
ẓnĭg ʑn̪ɥɪ̈k laughing
zôg z̪jɒk sharp
ẓoib ʑɒɪ̈p flowing
ẓpâṭ ʑb'ɥæθ fingernail
ẓpof ʑb'o̞ɸ new
zum z̪ɜm wet
ẓûs ʑjɯs̪ fat
zuz z̪ɜz̪ forest
ӿag dʑak earth
ӿex dʑe̞d̪z̪ knowing
ӿīḥ dʑɵx some
ӿil dʑɪ̈l green
ӿōg dʑɒk round
ӿûṣ dʑjɯɕ smelling

Example text[]

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