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Proto-Sato-Lhedh
PSL
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Head-Final
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[]

Proto-Sato-Lhedh is the proto-language of the Sato-Lhedh language family. It evolved into Proto-Sattic, Proto-Lhedh and Proto-Eltic amongst other families. It uses a syntactical order of SVO though as it is inflected this can vary. It was spoken mainly in the Lhedronna and Marsheic areas from around -6000al to -4200al (according to the most widely accepted theory). The speakers are believed to have originated in the region of modern Ságalasz to Ðelsola.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ

ŋk

Plosive p

t

d

k

kʷ 1

ʔ
Fricative v s ʃ ç 2 h
Affricate

ts

(dz)

(dʒ)

Approximant (w) l j
Flap or tap ɾ
Trill (ʀ)

1 - The syllables qua, quä, que, quë, qui, quo and quö all realise qu as /kʷw/. However, the cluster quu (sometimes just qu) realises it as /kʷu/.

2 - This can appear as an allophone of many occurences of h.

Note that sounds in brackets only appear in dialects. When letters are doubled, they are lengthened e.g. /ss/ = [s:]. The letters that can be doubled are m, n, p, t, d, k, s, š and l. Stress is always placed on the first syllable of a word without exception.

Vowels[]

Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close i u
Near-close
Close-mid e o
Mid ə
Open-mid ɔ
Near-open æ
Open a ɑ

Alphabet[]

As an extinct proto-language no written PSL exists. However, the standard way of transliterating it (when differing from the IPA) is as follows (note that /a/ and /æ/ are represented by the same character; PSL did not distinguish them from one another). A number of notable linguists object to the use of single characters (c and z) as representing affricates as those letters are not used in the same way in all Sato-Lhedh languages, nonetheless they shall be used here as a matter of convenience.

Latin Script (transliteration) IPA
a ɑ
ä a/æ
ë ə
ö ɔ
nj ɲ
nk ŋk
qu-vowel kʷ-vowel
' ʔ
š ʃ
ș ç
c ts
č
z dz
ž
r ɾ
ŕ ʀ

Phonotactics[]

(s)(C)(r, l, ʲ)V(V)(r, l)(C)(C) e.g. sḳäirc (blood)

When two vowels occur together in this way, there is a slight glide that barely realises the second consonant. This is often thus considered either a single vowel or a diphthong, i.e. monosyllabic. When adjacent vowels are in separate syllables they are separated by a glottal stop.

Dialects[]

Pronunciation of certain sounds changes depending on the main locations in which PSL is spoken, the North, West and South.

North West South
kj
qu kv kw
ṭ/ḍ ṭ/ḍ z
ș š ž
hl
v w (ex. kv, tv) v
r ŕ r
Vh Vh V

Sandhi[]

Proto-Sato-Lhedh has strict sandhi which causes assimilation towards the second consonant in a pair, both in terms of articulation and voicing. This is rarely reflected in writing. An example is ranpuore, pronounced ['rɑmpu:oɾe]. There are some exceptions to this rule: the letters s, š, p, k and v will never change their voicing, but can cause voice change in the following sound (e.g. sd > st). The letters c and č also do not except in Southern dialects. The letter v never causes a change in place of articulation except with k (vk > sk), and excluding Western dialects. The main complication is that the sandhi occurs across word boundaries.

Grammar[]

Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Nouns No Yes Yes No No No No No
Adjectives No Yes Yes No No No No No
Numbers No No Yes No No No No No
Participles No No No No No No No No
Adverb No No No No No No No No
Pronouns No Yes Yes No No No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No No Yes No No No No No
Particle No No No No No No No No

Declensions - Cases[]

  • Nominative: Subject or following the verb nahkeṭ (to be).
  • Accusative: Object, and used with most adpositions.
  • Genitive: Showing possession (of...).
  • Dative: Indirect object (to... or for...).
  • Lative: Showing motion towards or into.
  • Ablative: Showing motion away from or out of, or an instrumental.

Declensions - Noun Forms[]

First Declension[]

Consonant-final. Model noun = sat, water.

1 Singular Plural
NOM sat satal
ACC sata sati
GEN satu satan
DAT satah satalah
LAT saṭo (1) sataḷ
ABL satu

satul

Second Declension[]

ä-final. Model noun = valä, head.

2 S P
N valä valäc
Ac valläk (2) valli (2)
G valluk (2) valläm (2)
D valäš valäšä
L vaḷo (1) valeppe
Ab valep valäṭ

Third Declension[]

e-final. Model noun = puore, grass.

3 S P
N puore puoreș
Ac puorek puorä
G puoriṭ puorelä
D puorent puorelä
L puoro' puorenje
Ab puoruḷ puoruḷan

Fourth Declension[]

o-final. Model noun = tahno, finger.

4 S P
N tahno tahnon
Ac tahnok tahnä
G tahnin tahno'i
D tahnoḍ tahnoi
L tahno' tahnošo
Ab tahnek tahnekke

1) If the final consonant in the root here is any of t, d, l or k, it is palatalised in the lative singular.

2) In the accusative and genitive, the final consonant of the root is doubled if possible.

Articles[]

There are no indefinite articles in Proto-Sato-Lhedh. There are four definite articles which change based on declension and number of the noun.

1st/2nd 3rd/4th
Singular hu so
Plural he se

Adjectives[]

Adjectives function exactly like nouns. They are placed before the noun that they agree with in number and case. There is no gender; each adjective has a given declension.

e.g. so kalëram tane. The wise man.

the.34.s wise-nom.s man-nom.s

se kalëramal taneș. The tall men.

the.34.pl wise-nom.pl man-nom.pl

Adverbs[]

to convert an adjective into an adverb one must simply suffix to the adjective. Which suffix is used depends on the declension.

1st kalëram (wise) kalëramu (wisely)
2nd je'tä (careful) je'tänt (carefully)
3rd ḳase (fast) ḳasella (quickly)
4th sto (tall)

stori (toweringly)

Pronouns[]

Personal

Singular Plural
1st sän risnän
2nd kur rikrun
3rd valt vralit

Interrogative

Who? quör?
What? iș?
Where? talët?
When? polët?
Why? pemiș?
Which? quahiș?
How? skarmä?

Demonstrative

Further Proximate aste
Proximate kante
Obviative dente
Further Obviative valte

Reflexive raḍe

Pro-particles[]

aḳelu is a pro-verb. It stands in place of a verb used before it; which verb it refers to is determined by context. harkkan is a pro-adjective. This stands in place of an adjective.

e.g. čöiter nallu ki sän aḳelu. He left and so did I.

leave-inf be.3ps.past and I.nom prover

kalëram nah ki harkkan nuḷ. He is wise and I am also.

wise-nom.s be.3ps.pres and proadj be.1ps.pres

Prepositions[]

The vast majority of adpositions in PSL are postpositions, such as ja (in), due to the language being head-final. However there are a small number of prepositions. These are vai (on top of), quu (beneath) and tollë (to one side of).

parter namuḷ quu äk. We live beneath the sky.

live-inf be.1pp.pres beneath sky-acc.s

Verbs[]

Formation of verbs is simple as only two conjugate: to be - nahkeṭ, and the negative verb - säreṭ. Other verbs occur as an infinitive which is placed before the appropriate form of a conjugating verb. Note that all other verbs end in -er.

e.g. teler nuḷ (säräḷ). I (don't) go.

go-inf be.1ps.pres (not.1ps)

kalëram neda (säräd). You are (not) wise.

wise-nom.s be.2ps.pres (not.2ps)

To Be[]

nahkeṭ Present Past Remote Past Future
1ps nuḷ nulla nähḷu norol
2ps neda nella nähta norod
3ps nah nallu nuhrä noroh
1pp namuḷ numal nuhḷä naromul
2pp nameda namel nämaht naromud
3pp namah namul nahläm naromuh

To Not...[]

säreṭ All Tenses
1ps säräḷ
2ps säräd
3ps särhä
1pp särmäḷ
2pp särmäd
3pp särmähä

Other verb forms do exist and are simple to form. The participle is formed by suffixing -e to the infinitive (telere, nahkeṭe) and the imperative by suffixing -av (telerav! nahkeṭav!).

Note that people in the South would be more likely to use the suffix -(u)tve or something with a similar effect than the negative verb, e.g. althisutve neda = You are without knowledge = You are not wise.

Arguments[]

Sentences can appear different depending on the number of arguments in them. A sentence with no arguments, unlike in English, does not take a dummy subject; instead one must use the participle of a verb.

e.g. ḳusatere. It's raining.

Intransitive clauses take a syntactical order of SV. Transitive clauses take an order of SVO. Ditransitive clauses have an order of SVÓO, where Ó is an indirect object in the dative case.

e.g. valt mater nallu sänu panjent sata. He gave water to my mother.

he-nom give-inf be.3ps.past I-gen mother-dat.s water-acc.s

Tritransitive clauses' structures vary depending on whether the fourth argument is a causative or a beneficiary. If it is a causative the structure is (CAO1-dat)V-partÓO2, where C is the causative and A is an auxiliary verb (stender, to make to do).

e.g. kur stender nähta valtah matere sänu panjent sata. You made him give water to my mother.

you-nom.s auxmake-inf be.2ps.remp he-dat give-part I-gen mother-dat.s water-acc.s

If the fourth argument is a beneficiary the structure is SBVÓO where B is the beneficiary in the dative case.

e.g. valt valtu moḷent mater nallu sänu panjent sata. He gave water to my mother for her sister.

he-nom she-gen daughter-dat.s give-inf be.3ps.past I-gen mother-dat.s water-acc.s

Derivational Morphology[]

Affixed to... Meaning Form Example
Noun Made of x ju-x 1 jusat = made of water
Adjective Un...x pi-x 1 pistan = not wet
Noun x...ful ran-x 1 ranpuore = grassy
Noun Not made of x ḳu-x 1 ḳusat = not made of water
Adjective (Very x)-est x-nja 2 stannja = wettest
Adjective Least/not very x x-lto 2 stanalto = least wet
Noun Excelling in x x-cu 3 althisucu = excelling in knowledge
Noun Lacking in x x-tve 3 althisutve = lacking knowledge
Verb Actor Nominalisation er-ä telerä = one who goes, traveller
Verb Event Nominalisation er-e telere = journey

1 - If the following word begins with a vowel the prefix ends with a glottal stop '.

2 - if the previous word starts with a vowel the suffix starts with a.

3 - If the previous word ends with a vowel the suffix starts with u.

Questions[]

The focus of a question suffixes -(o)šu, essentially a marker of topic. The final word in the question clause is val.

e.g. nah sto. He is tall.

be.3ps.pres tall-nom.s

nah stošu val? Is he tall?

be.3ps.pres tall-nom.s-? quer

nahošu sto val? Is he tall?

be.3ps.pres-? tall-nom.s quer

Responses are either repetition of the main verb or otherwise use of the negative verb.

e.g. nah stošu val? -nah. Is he tall? -Yes. (lit. He is)

Sentential Arguments[]

Sentential arguments are formed roughly as 'for O Ving... ʔ S V.'

e.g. valṭo nahkeṭe kalëram '(sän) quecer nuḷ. I think that she is wise. (lit. for her being wise ʔ I think)

she-lat be-part wise-nom.s '(I-nom) think-inf be.1ps.pres

Relative clauses work like English but use reflexive pronouns.

e.g. so tane raḍe salakser nallu kamaträk. The man who hated elks.

the.34.s man-nom.s refl-nom.s hate-inf be.3ps.past elk-acc.p

Vocabulary[]


No. English PSL
1Isän
2you (singular)kur
3hevalt
4werisnän
5you (plural)rikrun
6theyvralit
7thispačä
8thatmašä
9herepač
10theremaš
11whoquör
12what
13wheretalët
14whenpolët
15howskarmä
16notsäreṭ
17alljöda'
18many
19some
20few
21other
22oneas
23twokan
24threeden
25fourvaḷ
26fivekah
27bigroč
28long'vo
29widepihejo
30thickpihejo
31heavypjud
32smalltiër
33shortpi'vo
34narrowhejo
35thinhejo
36womanpane
37man (adult male)tane
38man (human being)
39childsinte
40wifeero
41husbandero
42motherpanje
43fathertanje
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51treeöretä
52forestöretäl
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grasspuore
61rope
62skin
63meat'niskiso
64bloodsḳäirc
65bonedromiṭan
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hairsune
72headsmuko
73earlanne
74eyeḍeruk
75nosetörhalal
76mouthișjo
77toothdromiṭan
78tonguedoḍan
79fingernail
80foottiquëti'
81legtikanjä
82knee
83handrapëti'
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neckvippoä
88backvalče
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
147sunduksut
148moonpiduksut
149starduksulto
150watersat
151rainvalḳusat
152riverhejasat / sat hejo
153lakeročat / sat roč
154searočat / sat roč
155salt
156stoneu'arä
157sand
158dustkahko
159earthö'
160cloudmita'ä
161fog
162skyä
163windrör
164snow'naššä
165iceinikṭe
166smokevalḳu'ö'iḷe
167fireö'iḷe
168ashnacu'ö'iḷe
169burniler
170road
171mountaincu'o
172redḍä
173green
174yellowḳä
175whitemitane
176blacktulice
177nightmjä
178daymjo
179year
180warmtö'iko
181coldnac
182full
183newoši'ä
184oldpoši'ä
185goodpotä
186badpitä
187rotten
188dirtypišallo
189straightlappir
190round
191sharpkitran
192dullpikitran
193smoothpikasno
194wetstan
195drypistan
196correcttenkä
197nearpačä
198farmašä
199rightvinje
200lefttatar
201atlak
202inja
203withme
204andki
205ifpeș
206becausevjo
207namejenkur

Common Conjunctions and Connectors[]

and ki if... then peș...
either... or du... 'e until čin
both... and pa... 'e since čina
neither... nor stu... 'se while ruṭ
because vjo before krä
in order to lassë after rutä

Kinship System[]

This works in a similar way to, say, Swedish.

father tanje / ta- son tuli'e / tu-
mother panje / pa- daughter puli'e / pu-
brother quoḷe / quo- m. cousin stanne / sta-
sister moḷe / mo- f. cousin vanne / va-

e.g. Grandmother (father's mother) = tapanje

Grandmother (mother's mother) = papanje

Uncle (father's brother) = taquoḷe

Uncle (mother's brother) = paquoḷe

Numbers[]

PSL uses a Base12 numeral system, thus there are separate numbers up to twelve and anything beyond is a compound of it and numbers below. Separate words exist for 120, 1200, 12000 etc, though the highest of these numbers were never used (thus mišancak is listed as the final number here).

1 as 13 kanas 30 denjuc 1320 paskënehriskëdeh
2 kan 14 kankan 36 denskaṭ 1453 paskënehkanriskëdehkanas
3 den 15 kanden 40 vaḷvaḷ 12000 durvaneh
4 vaḷ 16 kanvaḷ 48 vaḷskaṭ 120000 mutrineh
5 kah 17 kankah 50 kahkan 1200000 pjelkiv
6 juc 18 kanjuc 60 kahskaṭ 12000000 quelkiv
7 rec 19 kanrec 120 riskëdeh 120000000 trenkiv
8 im 20 kanim 121 riskëdehas 1200000000 harnakiv
9 söm 21 kansöm 133 riskëdehkanas 12000000000 tinjakiv
10 peš 22 kanpeš 240 kanriskëdeh 120000000000 ṭelkasiv
11 äl 23 kanäl 253 kanriskëdehkanas 1200000000000 šakahkrak
12 skaṭ 24 kanskaṭ 1200 paskëneh 12000000000000 mišancak

Example text[]

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

ki hu kunä ö' nählam asu dromiṭänu.

and the.12.s all-nom.s world-nom.s be.3ps.remp one-gen.s tongue-gen.s

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

ki mutter lassë usunder nählam, ruṭ telere curi'ek, iskunier nahläm acikkäk ö'a *šinara ja; ki parter nahläm dentek ja.

and come-inf iot pass-inf be.3ps.remp while go-part east-abl.s find-inf be.3pp.remp plain-acc.s in land-acc.s shinar-acc.s and live-inf be.3pp.remp in there-acc.s

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

ki tolier as aso nahläm: "telerav. uiserav risnäna lassë strailer naromul *priki ki torhella änsledder raḍä." ki vralit stranker nahläm *priki u'aräšä ki *släjäma satah.

and speak-inf one-nom.s one-lat.s be.3pp.remp go-impr allow-impr we-acc iot make-inf be.1pp.fut brick-acc.p and thorough-adv burn-inf refl-acc.p and they-nom have-inf be.3pp.remp brick-acc.p stone-dat.p and slime-acc.s water-dat.s

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

ki tolier nahläm: "telerav, uiserav risnäna lassë strailer *siti'a ki *täväk, so passo raḍiṭ teler noroh passo'; ki uiserav risnäna lassë strailer risnänah jenkura ëhur naromul neșrumi'äcanja kunnäk ö'a ja.

and speak-inf be.3pp.remp go-impr allow-impr we-acc iot make-inf city-acc.s and tower-acc.s the.34.s top-nom.s refl-gen.s go-inf be.3ps.fut top-lat.s and allow-impr we-acc iot make-inf we-dat name-acc.s unless be.1pp.fut apart-nom.p-very in whole-acc.s world-acc.s

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

ki so norvo mutter asto' nuhrä lassë ḳapper hu *siti'a ki hu *täväk, raḍä sinteș tanelä strailer nahläm vraliti.

and the.34.s master-nom.s come-inf here-lat.s be.3ps.remp iot see-inf the.12.s city-acc.s and the.12.s tower-acc.s refl-acc.p child-nom.p man-gen.p make-inf be.3pp.remp they-acc.p

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

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