Conlang
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Tixistani
Yelað Tikkŕistar
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Ergative
Head direction
right branching
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[]

Tixistani (natively Yelað Tikkŕistar /jelʌ́θ tikːrístʌɹ/) is the native language of the alien Cittus, specifically the Tixist people (Tikkŕista) in Tixistan, a large country on Cittus-V (’Es).

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

dental alveolar dorsal glottal
stop tenuis t(ː) k(ː) ʔ
fricative voiceless θ(ː) s(ː) ʟ̝̊(ː) h(ː)
voiced z ɣ ʟ̝(ː)
approximant ɹ(ː) ɫ(ː) j
trill r
  • Syllable-final /h/ and geminate /hː/ are allophonically realized as voiceless bidental fricatives [h̪͆].

Vowels[]

front back
high i ɯ
low ɛ ʌ

Diphthongs: /ɯi̯/, /ɛi̯/, /ɛʌ̯/, and /ʌi̯/

Phonotactics[]

  • CV(C)(C)
  • The V can be a monophthong or a diphthong.
  • Geminate consonants count as two consonants, can occur before before another (non-geminate) consonant, and cannot occur on a word boundary.
  • Clusters of more than three consonants are not allowed.
  • Vowel hiatuses are broken up by glottal stops.

Prosody[]

Stress[]

Stress is not phonemic. It is on the first syllable if the word ends in a vowel, or on the second if the word ends in a consonant, ex. gehhu /ɣéhːu/ vs ’eruz /ʔeɹúz/. Words ending in a diphthong can be stressed on either. Long words of over three or four syllables like Yektaððtaysuz "special district" will tend to break this pattern and be stressed on the third or fourth syllable, though this is not considered proper. Stressed syllables do not inherently differ in pitch from unstressed syllables; the primary difference is in length and volume.

Isochrony[]

Isochrony is how a language breaks up speech into equally-timed intervals. Tixistani is a stress-timed language, meaning that the intervals between stressed syllables are equal.

Intonation[]

Emphasis on a word is expressed through a falling pitch on its final vowel. Questions are indicated using a more complicated intonation pattern: peaking pitch on the first syllable of the question and a high tone on the final syllable of the question.

Writing System[]

Native Script[]

Rallisata

Basics[]

Tixistani is written in a semi-syllabary called ’Urshef or Rallisata. It has many interesting features:

  • The letters for high vowels pull double-duty as consonants (U with G and I with Y). When two are next to each other, it must be inferred from context which are consonants.
  • Stop consonants are written as syllable blocks with each vowel. 
  • If a stop is not adjacent to any vowel, then the syllable block chosen would be one with a vowel from an adjacent side, and no variation mark (so Sulksay is written as ⟨s.u.rv.ku.s.a.i⟩ or ⟨s.u.rv.ka.s.a.i⟩).
  • Letter names are not arbitrary. ex. F is feskuŕ "skin", R ralli "cloud", and S sat "eye"
  • The script is written in downward columns which move from the left to the right.

Diacritics[]

  • The glottal stop is written as an accent mark on the preceding letter. It is not written at the beginning of a word in the native script.
  • L, Ð, and Ŕ are written as R, S, and H plus a variation mark.
  • Z and V are written as S and F with a voice mark.
  • The variation mark reverses a stop-vowel syllable block. So the common name Hakre is effectively written as ⟨h.kav.r.e⟩, sat as ⟨s.tav⟩.
  • Geminate consonants are not written doubly, but with the lengthener accent mark.

Punctuation[]

  • Words are separated by a small vertical line. Other punctuation marks take the place of the word separator.
  • Sentences are separated by a space.
  • Proper names are enclosed by small circular marks.
  • The question mark is written at the end of a sentence and is always followed by a space.
  • The colon is placed before lists, explanations, or clarifications.
  • Quote marks surround quotations.
  • Parenthesis surround set apart or interjected text.

Letter names[]

Letter Name Meaning
R ralli "cloud"
L luh "liana, vine"
S sat "eye"
Z sat zeka "voiced eye"
Ð ðurz "dance"
H hurð "hoard, riches, bounty"
Ŕ ŕus "year"
F feskuŕ "skin"
V feskuŕ zeka "voiced skin"
U/G gehhu "water"
E ’Es "Cittus-V"
A ’alt "tree"
I/Y yeft "pet/pest animal"
Ku kuvve "sand"
Ke keyfaz "homeland"
Ka Kayŕ "sun"
Ki kið’a "claw"
Tu turra "reaching plants"
Te teteh "spike, thorn, spear"
Ta taz "day"
Ti tig "joy, happiness, contentment"

Romanization[]

letter A Ð E F G H I K L
phoneme /ʌ/ /θ/ /ɛ/ /ʟ̝̊/ /ɣ/ /h/ /i/ /k/ /ɫ/
letter R Ŕ S T U V Y Z
phoneme /ɹ/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /ɯ/ /ʟ̝/ /j/ /z/ /ʔ/

Nouns[]

Nouns decline for case and number.

Pluralization[]

Plurals are formed regularly by the use of a disfix, which removes the final phoneme of a noun stem and degeminates any new final consonant before case suffixes are applied. Some examples:

  • feskuŕ "skin" > fesku "skins"
  • taysuz "district" > taysu "districts"
  • kuvve "sand" > kuv > kuvu "sands"
  • taz "day" > ta > taga "days"

Case morphology[]

The general suffixes are below, but nouns are highly irregular.

abs erg dat obl
sg 0 y/a/i (a)r (i)f
pl (gV) y/a/i (a/y)r (i/y)f
  • The ergative case ending is -y if a diphthong can be formed, -a if it follows a consonant and the previous vowel is not also ⟨a⟩, -i if it follows a consonant and the previous vowel is ⟨a⟩, and -’i if the noun ends in ⟨i/y⟩ or ⟨ea⟩.
  • The singular dative and oblique use the vowels in parenthesis if the noun ends in a consonant. If the final consonant is a stop, however, they with use the inherent vowel of the stop syllable block.
  • If the noun when disfixed is monosyllabic, then the plural absolutive ending is -gV, where the V is an echo vowel of the previous syllable. If the vowel is ⟨u⟩, then the g is dropped.
  • The plural dative and oblique are -yr and -yf if the plural form of the noun is monosyllabic and a diphthong can be formed, -ar and -if if the plural form of the noun ends in a consonant cluster, and -r and -f otherwise.

Examples[]

herkuz "wanderer, traveler, tourist"

abs erg dat obl
sg herkuz herkuza herkuzar herkuzif
pl herku herkuy herkur herkuf

sat "eye"

abs erg dat obl
sg sat sati satar sataf
pl saga say sayr sayf

gehhu "water"

abs erg dat obl
sg gehhu gehhuy gehhur gehhuf
pl gehge geha gehar gehif

ŕi’ahe "rain"

abs erg dat obl
sg ŕi’ahe ŕi’ahey ŕi’aher ŕi’ahef
pl ŕi’ah ŕi’ahi ŕi’ahar ŕi’ahif

Case usage[]

Absolutive case[]

The absolutive case is used for the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs. ex. ’atta rey sayu. "I am the person"

Ergative case[]

The ergative case is mainly used for the subject of transitive verbs. It is also used in vocative expressions, with the instrumental preposition, and with locative prepositions to give them ablative meaning. ex. lay ŕi’ahey "out of the rain"

Dative case[]

The dative case is mainly used for the indirect object of ditransitive verbs. It is also used to indicate destinations, with locative prepositions to give them lative meaning, and in genitive/possessive expressions. ex. feskuŕ ’altar "bark", literally "skin to-tree"

Oblique case[]

The oblique case is exclusively used with prepositions. Most prepositions require the oblique. It gives locative prepositions stationary meanings. ex. lay sayf fef "in my eyes"

Compounding[]

Compound nouns can be formed from any two nouns by attaching the singular absolutive form of the modifying noun or adjective to the beginning of the head noun and geminating the final consonant of the modifier if possible. ex. yektaððtaysuz "special district"

Pronouns[]

The pronouns decline for number and case, with many irregular forms and suppletions.

Absolutive Ergative Dative Oblique
sg pl sg pl sg pl sg pl
1 ra gið rey giða rer giðar ref giðf
2 fe ’ihha fey ’ihhay fer ’ihhar fef ’ihhaf
3 strong neutral tu’ sah tu’a sahi tu’ar sahar tu’if sahif
feminine1 tu’le tu’ley tu’ler tu’lef
masculine1 tu’ka tu’kay tu’kar tu’kaf
weak2 (’)e (’)ey (’)er (’)ef
reflexive gesi gesi’i gesir gesif
reciprocal gele’u gele’uy gele’ur gele’uf
relative yeða yeðay yeðar yeðaf
interrogative ’usse ’ussey ’usser ’ussef
  1. The feminine and masculine third person pronouns are used only to explicitly express gender.
  2. The weak third person pronouns are used where proper syntax does not allow pronoun dropping.

Adjectives[]

Adjectival morphology[]

Adjectives match the nouns they modify in case and number. Adjective plural forms use an -a suffix rather than a disfix, as in nouns.

Vowel stem[]

abs erg dat obl
sg 0 y/’i r f
pl (’)a ’ay/a’i (’)ar (’)af
  • The singular ergative is -’i if the adjective ends in ⟨i/y⟩ or ⟨ea⟩. Otherwise it is -y.
  • The plural absolutive, dative, and oblique are found without a glottal stop if the adjective ends in ⟨e⟩.
  • The plural ergative is -a’i if the adjective ends in ⟨e⟩. Otherwise it is -’ay.

ex. vikali "right (direction)"

abs erg dat obl
sg vikali vikali’i vikalir vikalif
pl vikali’a vikali’ay vikali’ar vikali’af

Consonant stem[]

abs erg dat obl
sg 0 i ar if
pl a ay ar af

ex. ðuykt "narrow, thin"

abs erg dat obl
sg ðuykt ðuykti ðuyktar ðuyktif
pl ðuykta ðuyktay ðuyktar ðuyktaf

Comparative forms[]

The comparative form of adjectives is signified by the circumfix s(u)-(’)ey, which drops the y in the plural. It changes any consonant stem to a vowel stem. Initial glottal stops are erased.

The superlative form replaces the prefix of the comparative with fe(’)-.

Endings:

abs erg dat obl
sg (’)ey (’)ey’i (’)eyr (’)eyf
pl (’)ea (’)ea’i (’)ear (’)eaf

Examples:

  • ðuykt "narrow, thin" > suðuyktey "narrower, thinner" > feðuyktey "narrowest, thinnest"
  • ’ilak "cold" > silakey "colder" > feilakey "coldest"
  • rittuvu "correct" > surittuvu’ey "more correct" > ferittuvu’ey "most correct"

Verbs[]

Verbs conjugate for tense, mood, and intensity and have several non-finite forms and derivations to other parts of speech. They typically conjugate by the use of combinations of irregular varying stems and regular affixes.

Verbal morphology[]

Stems[]

Each verb has three stems.

  • Simple stem: used for simple nonfuture, future, and gnomic forms.
  • Intensive stem: used for intensive forms. Formed with the regular suffix -(i)(y)t(i), where the first i is for epenthesis, the last i only appears word-finally, and the y is only found if it can form a diphthong.
  • Irrealis stem: used for simple subjunctive, imperative, and passive participle forms. Formed with an irregular suffix which degeminates a final consonant. The suffix can take several forms: the regular suffix -(e)re (rittuvu "correct" > rittuvure), degemination plus an echo vowel (sivva "drink" > sivi), or the irregular infixed diphthong plus consonant change (selga "speak, talk, say" > seyra).
  • Participle stem: used for infinitive, active participle, and converb forms. Formed with a mostly regular suffix -(i)k, which may cause earlier vowel changes in a root (ta "be" > tek).

Affixes[]

There are four non-converb affixes. They are exceedingly regular.

  • Nonfuture prefix: ’a(t)-, used for nonfuture and subjunctive forms.
  • Future suffix: -s, used for future and future participle forms.
  • Nonfuture participle suffix: -l, used for nonfuture participle and intensive imperative forms.
  • Zero affix: no affix, used for gnomic, simple imperative, and infinitive forms.

Converb prefixes are discussed below.

Intersections[]

Nonfuture affix Future affix Nonfuture participle affix Zero affix
Simple stem simple nonfuture simple future simple gnomic
Intensive stem intensive nonfuture & intensive subjunctive intensive future & intensive future intensive gnomic
Irrealis stem simple subjunctive passive future participle passive nonfuture participle simple imperative
Participle stem active future participle active nonfuture participle infinitive

Finite forms[]

Nonfuture Future Gnomic Subjunctive Imperative
simple ’a(t)-root root-s root-0 ’a(t)-root-(e)re root-(e)re-0
intensive ’a(t)-root-(y)ti root-(y)t-s root-(y)ti-0 ’a(t)-root-(y)ti root-(y)t-s

Nonfinite forms[]

Infinitive[]

root-(i)k-0

Participles[]
Nonfuture Future
active root-(i)k-l root-(i)k-s
passive root-(e)re-l root-(e)re-s
Converbs[]

Converb forms show that a verb is adverbially subordinated.

  • Before verbing: ’aŕe-root-(i)k
  • Upon verbing: ðig-root-(i)k
  • While verbing: ze-root-(i)k
  • Since verbing: key-root-(i)k
  • After verbing: tul-root-(i)k

Periphrastic forms[]

Passive[]

The passive voice is formed by putting the verb into the appropriately tensed passive participle and preceding it with a conjugated tek "to be". ex. Ta ŕiskiharel sah. "They are bullied."

Usage[]

Nonfuture[]

The nonfuture tense is used for definite events in both the past and present, with the intended time having to be determined from context or by the use of adverbs. ex. ’Arize gið ðigsivvak rifhu ðevittegar. "We fell asleep when we drank the mystery liquid."

Future[]

The future tense refers exclusively to any definite event happening after the present time. ex. Rizes ra estal. "I'll go to bed later."

Gnomic[]

The gnomic tense is used to refer to any general statements of truth and falsehood at any time, be it past, present, or future. ex. Rize tu’ka la’ah. "He sleeps a lot."

Subjunctive[]

The subjunctive mood is primarily used in subordinate clauses. If found in an independent clause, it expresses a condition or hypothetical situation. It merges with the nonfuture in the intensive form. ex. ’Atisse rey yeða ’arizere sah. "I wish that they would go to sleep."

Imperative[]

The imperative is used to form commands and requests. It merges with the future in the intensive form. ex. Rizere sirgef. "Go to sleep, please."

Intensive[]

The various intensive forms express strong belief, general emphasis, or unexpectedness/outrage toward the verb. ex. Rizeyti fe ’ityu! "You never sleep!"

Negation[]

Negation is simply shown with the particle ’it, which is placed immediately after the verb. The particle ’it is not necessary if a negative expression (like ’isku "nothing, nobody") is already in the clause. ex. ’Arize ’it ra. "I haven't been sleeping."

Dictionary forms[]

In dictionaries, the infinitive of a verb is listed first, followed by the imperative, followed by any irregular stems, then any anomalous irregular forms. ex. rizek, rizere "to sleep, fall asleep"

Examples[]

herkuk, herkure "to wander, travel, tour"

Nonfuture Future Gnomic Subjunctive Imperative
simple ’aherku herkus herku ’aherkure herkure
intensive ’aherkuyti herkuyts herkuyti ’aherkuyti herkuyts
Participles Converbs ’aŕeherkuk
active herkukl herkuks ðigherkuk zeherkuk
passive herkurel herkures keyherkuk tulherkuk

sivvak, sivi "to drink"

Nonfuture Future Gnomic Subjunctive Imperative
simple ’asivva sivvas sivva ’asivi sivi
intensive ’asivvayti sivvayts sivvayti ’asivvayti sivvayts
Participles Converbs ’aŕesivvak
active sivvakl sivvaks ðigsivvak zesivvak
passive sivil sivis keysivvak tulsivvak

tek, tayr, ta "to be"

Nonfuture Future Gnomic Subjunctive Imperative
simple ’atta tas ta ’atayr tayr
intensive ’atayti tayts tayti ’atayti tayts
Participles Converbs ’aŕetek
active tekl teks ðigtek zetek
passive tayrl tayrs keytek tultek

Syntax[]

Clause-level word order[]

Verb-Subject-(Direct Object)-(Indirect Object)-(Prepositional phrases)-(Adverbs)

Subject pronouns are not required if it can be determined from context.

Noun phrases[]

(Preposition)-Noun-(Adjectives)-(Adjectival nouns)

Prepositions[]

preposition case translation
lay erg out of
dat into
obl in
sig obl for

Vocabulary[]

Because of differences in anatomy and physiology, many categories of words are very different from their Earthly counterparts.

Conjunctions[]

Numbers[]

The Cittus typically crawl on all six limbs, but they do use their first two pairs of limbs for manipulation. On each foot they have three clawlike fingers and a clawlike thumb. Their counting base is twelve, achieved by counting the fingers of their manipulative limbs, not counting the thumbs, which the second set of limbs only possess less dexterous remnants of.

# #+12 #*12
0 verstis reð verstis
1 ’arf ’arfre reð
2 kay kayre tehat
3 tur turre seyh
4 heks heksre riga
5 latte lattere yusta
6 vis vissre viter
7 zuyta zuytre zuytter
8 zayra zayrre zayrter
9 tiŕu tiŕure tiŕtiz
10 tiŕ’ar tiŕ’arre tiŕ’atiz
11 tiŕkay tiŕkayre tiŕkatiz
12 reð tehat heysu’

Family[]

Body parts[]

Directions[]

West East
North ’uŕesskuf ’uŕes ’uŕesstarat
kuf tarat
South ðegkuf ðeg ðegtarat

Swadesh list[]


No. English Tixistani
1Ira
2you (singular)fe
3hetu’, tu’ka
4wegið
5you (plural)’ihha
6theysah
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not’it
17all
18manyla’ah ði
19some
20few
21other
22one’arf
23twokay
24threetur
25fourheks
26fivelatte
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrowðuykt
35thinðuykt
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree’alt
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58barkfeskuŕ ’altar
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skinfeskuŕ
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eyesat
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drinksivvak, sivi
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleeprizek, rizerre
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
140sayselgak, seyra
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sunKayŕ
148moon
149star
150watergehhu
151rainŕi’ahe
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sandkuvve
158dust
159earth
160cloudralli
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178daytaz
179yearŕus
180warm
181cold’ilak
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wetgehuy
195dry
196correctrittuvu
197near
198far
199rightvikali
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name
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