Tim Ar Language

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Pogostick Man
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Tim Ar Language

Post by Pogostick Man »

EDIT: Since this post is so outdated, I've elected to hide its contents. This, I hope, makes it easier to get into the newer material while preserving the legacy material for those, such as myself, who might wish to reference it.
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EDIT: A lot of this is outdated, as I have been undergoing a revamp of the language.

Been sitting on this for awhile, both in terms of working on it and of posting it. I've been meaning to pick it back up again for a long time now, and I'm currently bored and don't particularly feel like working on Physical Mechanics homework.

Phonology

Consonants

Plosive: /p t k/ ⟨p t k⟩
Nasal: |N| (see below)
Fricative: /f θ s ɬ ʃ x ħ/ ⟨f th s c sh kh h⟩
Approximant: /ɹ l/ ⟨r l⟩

The nasal archiphoneme's realization is dependent upon its surroundings; the following rules apply, in this order:
  • 1. If a consonant follows, it assimilates to that consonant.
    2. If a consonant precedes and no consonant follows, it assimilates to that consonant.
    3. Intervocalically and word-initially, the realization is [m].
    4. Word-finally, the realization is [n] unless succeeded in the utterance by a labial or a dorsal, in which case [m] or [ŋ], respectively, is realized.
[m] is written ⟨m⟩. [n] is written ⟨n⟩. [ŋ] never occurs without a velar in the environment; [gŋ ŋg] (see below) are written ⟨gn ng⟩.

Vowels

/a e ø i y ɤ o ɯ u/ ⟨a e ö i ü ë o ï u⟩

There is a two-tone accent system. The default tone is low. The high tone is written using an acute accent over vowels without an umlaut and using a circumflex to replace the umlaut over a vowel that has an umlaut in its low-tone form.

Syllabic Consonants

/|N̩| ɹ̩ l̩/

These are written as double the appropriate letter unless between two obstruents, word-finally following an obstruent, or word-initially preceding an obstruent, in which case they are written as a single letter.

Syllabic consonants do not take tone.

Allophony
  • Voiceless obstruents voice intervocalically and when in contact with a resonant unless at word boundaries. This is reflected in the orthography; [b d g v ð z ɮ ʒ ɣ ʕ] are written ⟨b d g v dh z cz zh gh `⟩
  • /a/, in any tone, fronts to [æ] with the same tone before a nasal.
  • Vowels lax in unstressed open syllables.
Stress
  • If a high tone is present in a syllable, that syllable receives stress unless preceded immediately by a stress-carrying high-tone syllable.
  • If two low tones in a row follow a high tone and precede a high tone, the second low-tone syllable loses stress and the second high-tone syllable gains stress.
  • If a syllable has a syllabic consonant for a nucleus and is word-initial, it cannot receive stress and the following syllables receive stress assignments pursuant to the above rules.
  • All other things being equal, stress in Timar syllables tends to occur on the first syllable of the word.
Phonotaxis

The following syllables are permitted, ⟨R⟩ indicating a syllabic resonant:
  • (C)V(C)
  • (C)R
  • VCC (the distribution of which is severely restricted to a certain few morphological categories)
  • CCVC (the distribution of which is severely restricted to a certain few morphological categories)
Morphological

Nouns

Nouns come in one of three number: Nullar, singular, and plural. The typical nullar suffix is -ul following a consonant, but a vowel-final word triggers some mutation. The nullar also often cares a negative sense when used with verbs; renderings can often be equally read "X does not Y" or "no X Ys".

Code: Select all

Vowel | Nullar
 a/á   |   ol
 e/é   |   ol
 i/í   |   ïl
 Else  |   Vl
In the "Else" category, the resultant vowel takes a low tone.

Unusual rules also govern the formation of the plural. If a word begins with a single vowel, the plural is formed by adding on the suffix -(a)r, where the vowel is omitted following another vowel. If a word begins with a consonant and the following vowel is one of /a e i o u/ in either tone, the first consonant metatheses one slot to the left (i.e., C₁VC₂ → VC₁C₂). If a word begins with a consonant and the following vowel is one of /ø y ɤ ɯ/ in either tone, then the vowel splits into two vowels, one with the roundedness and the second preserving place of articulation and the tone (i.e., C₁V̈C₂ → V[±round +low tone ∓POA]C₁V[∓round ±tone ±POA]C₂). The first vowel becomes either of /i u/ as is appropriate for the roundedness in the vast majority of words, although there are a few exceptions, most of which are analogical in nature.

azel bend in the roadazelar
shále sonázhle
mï`e valleyimu`e

The plural forms in this way even if the first syllable containing a vowel is not the first syllable in the word.

khlzêt transmission, messagekhlizót

The word (and endonym) "Timar" is an irregular plural formation; the regular plural would be *idn.

Pronouns

There are four "persons" in Timar; the fourth person acts as a dummy subject in passive constructions. There is no plural for the fourth person.

Code: Select all

|    | NULL | SING | PLUR
| 1P |  hec |  no  |  cál
| 2P |  lu  | moro |  sa
| 3P |  rn  |  cen | fódn
| 4P |  sí  |  khé | ---- 
Verbs

Verbs themselves do not decline or inflect. Tense and aspect are shown via modal constructions, and negation is shown via pronouns or the nullar construction.

Tense-wise, Timar does not have so much past-present-future as it has anterior-proximal-posterior. The proximal is often used in a present sense, but this is not always so; in fact, a relevant event is often used as an "anchor point" in conversation, with events described as being prior to, concurrent with, or post of it.

Aspect-wise, there are three aspects: Pausative, completive, and durative. The pausative is marked by a particle sür, the completive is marked by agr, and the durative is unmarked.

I am still contemplating what I want to do with the mood. I had initially had the infinitive, the indicative, the optative, the potential, and the conditional, but I am now not sure just how I want this to be handled.

(For the order of these, I had initially assumed that the appropriate words would follow the verb, but I'm not sure now. I want to check it out with WALS but as I had finally found the correct feature it threw me a 503 with Guru Meditation. It seems to be doing that a bit much today…)

A (Very) Little Bit on Word Order and Grammar

The basic word order is VOS.

idhín shále ü ik ü
bring.glory.to son.SG the father.sg the
the son brings glory to the father

Relative clauses are formed by slotting in a sentence about the referent following the appropriate noun or pronoun. (The "DM" below stands for "dummy morpheme", which is sometimes employed in constructions with the copula.)

idhín shále ü á`e sá cen tü ik ü
bring.glory.to son.SG the be DP 3PS here father.SG the
the son who is here brings glory to the father

----

More to come later. If anybody can help me figure out a better way to represent the voiced pharyngeal fricative, or if anybody just has any feedback in general, I'd much appreciate it and I'm all ears.
Last edited by Pogostick Man on Sun Feb 05, 2017 1:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tim Ar Language

Post by Pogostick Man »

Phonology

/t k/ ⟨t k⟩
/m n ŋ/ ⟨m n ng⟩
/S s ɬ x/ ⟨3 s c kh h⟩
/ɹ l ʕ/ ⟨r l `⟩

/ù ɯ̀ ò ɤ̀ à è ø̀ ì ỳ/ ⟨u ï o ë a e ö i ü⟩
/ú ɯ́ ó ɤ́ á é ǿ í ý/ ⟨ú î ó ê á é ô í û⟩

Additionally, all nasals, and the approximants /ɹ l/, can occur as syllabic consonants. Syllabic consonants do not take tone.

/S/ is a phoneme with varying dialectal outcomes; it developed from Classical Tim Ar *θ. In the Imperatorial standard, it merged with /s/; different dialects show different reflexes, but none have retained it as /θ/. Regardless, it is written ⟨3⟩.

Where ambiguities might arise due to the orthography, a middle dot ⟨·⟩ is used to separate troublesome digraphs:

ingo 'read (from a text, for an audience)'
in·gó 'soap'

Note that intervocalic ⟨kh⟩ is always a sequence /kh/; /x/ voices to [ɣ] in this position, where it is written ⟨gh⟩. There can still be ambiguities, however:

lóngha 'chimney, stovepipe'
lón·gha 'type of bird'

Allophony
  • Voiceless obstruents voice intervocalically and when in contact with a resonant, including syllabic resonants, unless at word boundaries. This is reflected in the orthography; [d g z ɮ ɣ] are written ⟨d g z j gh⟩.
  • a → æ / _N
Syllable structure

The following syllable structures are attested. V can stand for either a vowel or a syllabic consonant, but the latter cannot take codas.
  • V
  • CV
  • VC
  • CVC
  • CCV(C)—only occurs in certain plural forms due to metathesis
  • CVCC—only occurs in certain plural forms due to metathesis
Relations within the Tim Ar-O family

The Proto-Tim Ar-O phonology:

*p *b *t *d *k *g *q *ɢ *ʔ
*m *n *ŋ
*s *z *ʃ *ʒ *h
*ɬ *ɮ
*w *ɹ *l *j *ʁ

The only phonemic vowel was *e, with *w *j *ʁ having syllabic allophones [*u *i *a]. Many words with /o/ in Ngade n Tim Ar are loans.

Sound changes from Proto-Tim Ar-O to Classical Ngade n Tim Ar:
  • A tone split occurs with syllable-initial voiced consonants and *ʔ giving a low tone to the following vowel.
  • Voiced-voiceless pairs merge to the voiceless consonant (and *h > *ʔ).
  • *VʔV and *VhV sequences, where the vowels are identical, yield low-tone and high-tone variants of the vowel.
  • *p > Ø / %_lV
  • *{t,k,s,x}l > ɬ / %_V
  • *{p,t,k,s,x}ɹ > ʃ / %_V
  • *ʁ would also vocalize to /à/ when %C_V.
  • *q > x.
  • *s *ʃ shift to *θ *s (so perhaps a more accurate rendering of the original consonants would be *s₁ *z₁ *s₂ *z₂).
  • *p > *f > h.
  • *ʔ then is dropped.
  • Two vowels of unlike frontness/backness (*a is exempt) merge into a vowel with the height, tone, and place of articulation of the second vowel and the roundedness of the first.
  • *w *j near a vowel gain fully vocalic surface forms (with low tone).
  • Intervocalic consonants voice (except for /h/).
  • *ʁ > *ʕ.
  • Different outcomes of *θ [*ð] develop in different dialects.
  • Three-consonant clusters delete either the first consonant (if it is a resonant before two obstruents) or the third consonant. This occurs before the change involving the plural morpheme causing metathesis on the way to Tim Ar.
  • The plural marker ends up eroding into a clitic and causing metathesis: #ɹa=CVC → #aɹCVC → #əɹVCC → #VCC.
  • a → æ / _N
Alternate orthography

I suppose I should mention that I'm contemplating a different orthography. I like the one I have because I can easily type it, but the following is also possible, and has a bit more North American flavor. In this case consonant voicing is not indicated in writing.

/t k/ ⟨t k⟩
/m n ŋ/ ⟨m n ñ⟩
/S s ɬ x h/ ⟨3 s ł x h⟩
/ɹ l ʕ/ ⟨r l ʕ⟩

Word order

Ngade n Tim Ar word order is VOS. PTO had SVO word order; in O this developed into SOV. (If anybody has information on how word orders change in general, I'd be very grateful.)

Pluralization

The two main ways of forming plurals in Ngade n Tim Ar are decompositive metathesis and the postpositive particle ar.

Decompositive metathesis requires a word-initial CV sequence (V cannot be a syllabic consonant in this case), metathesizing the onset and vowel:

kaá 'building, structure' → agá 'buildings, structures'
néür 'axe' → énür 'axes'
ngaskar 'standard of a cohort in the armed forces' → angzgar 'multiple such standards' (note the triple-consonant cluster)
ngidi 'tide' → ingdi 'tides'
tázik 'branch' → átsik 'branches'

The decomposition comes in when the process involves front rounded and back unrounded vowels. Where this is the case, the first vowel typically changes to either /u/ (if the original vowel was rounded) or /i/ (if it wasn't). The second vowel of the word retains the tone, height, and backness of the original vowel.

`êkh 'river, stream' → i`ókh 'rivers, streams'
hürin 'arm' → uhrin 'arms'
khô3 'type of farm animal' → ughé3 'several such animals'
nës 'boot, heavy-duty garb for the feet' → inos 'boots'
nöng 'fire' → uneng 'fires'

Most often, the initial vowel resulting from decomposition is low-tone and close. Exceptions exist, but analogy has mostly leveled them.

Where this metathesis would produce a word-final cluster with the second element /ʕ/, it vocalizes into a low-tone /à/:

co` 'current' → oja 'currents'

The second option is simply appending the particle ar 'PLURAL'. With one exception, this is used when the above process cannot be—either the word in question begins with a vowel, or the nucleus of the initial syllable is a syllabic resonant.

adrón 'ground, soil' → adrón ar 'various soils'
ik 'son' → ik ar 'sons'
kmdön 'homeland' → kmdön ar 'homelands'
or 'glove, garb covering the hands' → or ar 'gloves'
öhis 'isthmus, bridge' → öhis ar 'isthmuses, bridges'

The name of the people themselves, Tim Ar, is the sole exception. The word tim would produce a regular plural idm, but nationalistic fervor encouraged the use of ar as a way to set themselves apart. (The out-of-cinematic universe explanation is that I've had the name so long for these guys I don't want to get rid of it.)

Parts of speech and how to switch between them

Tim Ar grammarians typically divide words into three parts of speech: áhi ('islands', sg. hái), which correspond to nouns and verbs; oja ('currents', sg. co`), generally modifiers or words that can take arguments (adjectives, adverbs, determiners, conjunctions, and adpositions); and tr ar ('flotsam', sg. tr), everything else (pronouns, interjections, answers to polar questions, and the existential subject nur).

This may seem a bit odd, but in Ngade n Tim Ar there is a lot of zero-derivation that converts nouns to verbs (and vice versa), and similarly between adjectives and adverbs.

a3á 'lie down' → a3á 'bed'
hégr 'shine (a light on something)' → hégr 'light source'
hëlás 'blood' → hëlás 'bleed'
héur 'mud' → héur 'muddy up, smear with mud'
hr 'keep the peace, avoid conflict' → hr 'boundary, demarcation'

3ôm 'slow' → 3ôm 'slowly'
cehat 'subtle' → cehat 'subtly'
mïc 'wet, damp' → mïc 'in a wet manner' (e.g., of coughs)
múrgi 'soft' → múrgi 'light(ly), gently'
súr 'rapid, quick' → súr 'rapidly, quickly'

Conjunctions, determiners, and prepositions are oja despite not being productive in terms of zero-derivation because they are considered to govern or modify arguments. Pronouns are tr ar and not áhi because they cannot occur as verbs, only as nominals. Yes, I know this is inconsistent. No, I don't want to change it.

Speaking of pronouns…

Pronouns

1SG ngus
2SG jn
3SG
1PL 3égu
2PL ki
3PL édí

This seems a good a time as any to go into the various Tim Ar dialects, using the pronouns as an illustration of their differences.

Tim Ar dialects

It would probably be better to think of the Tim Ar "dialects" as being similar to the situation in Chinese—they're really a bunch of different languages with a common ancestor. There's some grammatical changes that go on (some of the dialects develop a question marker from one of the words for "or", for instance), but by and large I haven't done enough work on those yet.

Development of pronouns in Tim Ar dialects:

E = Éí, K = Kerníng, L = Lák3or, M = Mrgáí, Mg = Merghas, Se = Séksin, Si = Sinzio, T3 = Tai3a, T = Tigát, U = Údon

ngus [ŋùs] > E ù, K wø̀, L ŋùː, M gòs, Mg ŋùs, Se ŋus, Si ŋʉ̀s, T3 hùs, T ŋù, U ŋùs
jn [ɮn̩] > E zn̩, K ɣèɹ, L ɬè, M ɮã, Mg ʟn̩, Se ʒeŋ, Si ɮn̩, T3 ln̩, T ɮn̩, U zn̩
[hé] > E há, K é, L xé, M í, Mg hé, Se ʃa, Si hé, T3 hì, T hé, U hé
3égu [θégù] > E égù, K nég, L ɬáù, M jégù, Mg ɸéʝù, Se ljakʷ, Si tégʉ̀, T3 xèɣú, T tég, U nég
ki [kì] > E tì, K sì, L ʃì, M (í), Mg kɛ̀, Se ki, Si kì, T3 tʃì, T tsì, U kè
édí [étí] > E íléj, K ját, L jáí, M ídzí, Mg édɛ́, Se jadje, Si édʒí, T3 èɹí, T éd, U éd

If you're curious about the sound changes…out-of-cinematic universe, Merghas is based on Focurc.
More: show
Éí

[+ mid] → a / _#
ɹ → w
θ ð → Ø ɹ
ɬ ɮ → s z
ŋ → Ø
t d → ʔ l
k g → t d / _E
ú ɯ́ ý í → ów ɤ́w ǿj éj
[+ mid] → [+ high] / _T%
O → Ø / _%
ʕ → h
hː → h

Kerníng

{θ,ð} → n
h → β / [+ voiced]_{u,o,ø,y}
h → ɸ / _{u,o,ø,y}
h → Ø
ŋ → Ø / %_
k g → s z / _E
{u,o} {ɯ,ɤ} → wø we / _{s,z,l,ɹ}
ɬ ɮ → x ɣ
R̩ → eR
{e,ø} i y → ja je jø / _(C)i
V[+ high] → Ø / V(C)_#
O → [- voice] / _#
m n → w ɹ / _%
{s,h} → Ø / _#
{u,ɯ} {y,i} → wə jə → wo jo / _ʕ
{u,ɯ} {y,i} → əw əj → ow oj / ʕ_
ʕ → Ø

Lák3or

{d,g} → Ø / V_V
k g → ʃ ʒ / _{e,i}
ɯ ɤ ø y → ɨ ə e i
[+ high tone] → [+ falling tone] / _F
VF → Vː / _%
θ ð → ɬ ɮ
h → ç → x / _E
R̩ → e
ə e → jə ja / _[+ high]
j → Ø / %F_V

Merghas

{ɬ,ɮ} → l
o ɤ → ju jɯ / {n,x}_
o ɤ → ju jɯ / _K
{ø,ɤ} → e / _#
jɯ ɤ ø → i ɜ ɪ
ɯ y → u i
V[+ high] → Ø / a_
ua {ae,ea} ia → ʊ ɛ ɪ
o → ə / P_r
æ → ɛ
o{g,j} → ɜi
x{u,ɯ} → ʍ / _V
{o,a}l → a
t → Ø / p_
ð → Ø / {l,r,V}_C
θ ð → f v → ɸ β
ou ei → ʊ ɪ
ɪ → ɜ / _R
ɛ → ɜi / K_
ɛ → ɜ / _{#,K,N}
{i,ɪ} → ɛ / _#
Nasal place assimilation
t → ʔ / _%
t → ʔ / R_
Ø → ə / {ɹ,l}_{m,l}
m → Ø / _n
l → Ø / u_%
t → ʔ / ! {#,C}_
l → ʟ
əʟ → o / _%
ʟ → ʊ̯ / {E,a}_
k g → ç ʝ / V_%
SVN → ʔN[+syllabic] / _#
VN → Ṽ / _{C,#}
n → nː / V_V
Vʔ → Vː / _%

Mrgáí

ŋ → g / #_
{θ,ð} → j
{k,g} → h / _E
hV → V́ / %_
m̩ n̩ ŋ̩ → ũ ã ĩ
t d → ts dz / _V[+ high]
o ɤ ø e → u ɯ y i / #_
V[+ high] → [- high] / N_
V{x,ɣ} → Vː / _%

Séksin

{θ,ð} → l
C → Cʷ / _V[+ round]
ɯ ɤ ø y → u o e i
V[- low] → Ø / _#
V → Vː / _[+ voiced]
O → [- voice] / _#
h → ʃ / _E
h → x / _B
h → Ø / ! _a
o e → wa ja / _#
xw ʃj → x ʃ
m → b
úː óː éː íː → wo wa ja je
Tone loss
ɬ ɮ → ʃ ʒ
R̩ → eR
N → ŋ / _%

Sinzio

θ ð → t d
æ e → e i / _ŋ
æ → {æə̯,eə̯} / _N
{a,e} → ɛ / _{ɹ,l}
u ɯ → ʉ ɨ
o → e / _{ʉ,ɨ}
VN → Ṽ / _%
n s z l ɹ → ɲ ʃ ʒ ʎ j / _E
a ã → e ẽ / _(C)(C)E
V → Ø / _V
h → Ø / _#

Tai3a

Tones shift one syllable to the right; initial syllables acquire low tone
au ai → o e
{y,i} → Ø / V_V
ao ae → oː eː
u y i → w ɥ j / _V
u y i → w ɥ j / V_
k g x ɣ → tʃ dʒ ʃ ʒ / _E
d g z ɮ → z ɣ ɹ l / _V
o ɤ ø e → u ɯ y i / _(C)#
S → ʔ / _#
θ ð → x ɣ
a → ə / _#

Tigát

θ ð → t d
u ɯ y i → w ɰ ɥ j / V_
u ɯ y i → w ɰ ɥ j / _V
V → Ø / V{w,ɰ,ɥ,j}_
V → Ø / unstressed
k g → ts dz / _{E,(a)ɥ,(a)j}
d g → ð ɣ / V_V
T → Ø / _#

Údon

{θ,ð} → n
ɬ ɮ → s z
u ɯ y i → o ɤ ø e / _#
{ŋ,n} l ɹ → ɲ ʎ j / E_
V → Ø / unstressed
SN → NS / _#
Ø → u / #_C{ː,C}B[+ round]
Ø → ɯ / #_C{ː,C}B[- round]
Ø → a / #_C{ː,C}a
Ø → y / #_C{ː,C}E[+ round]
Ø → i / #_C{ː,C}E[- round]
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Re: Tim Ar Language

Post by Pogostick Man »

I was trying to figure out how to handle the reduction of complex onsets from PTO to the main (C)V(C) structure of CT. Just dropping the second element of the cluster was kind of boring, but then I got this idea and have edited it into the OP:

First, eliminate *p when %_lV (that is, in the onset before *l). Following that, onset *{t,k,s,x}l > ɬ. With *ɹ, *{p,t,k,s,x}ɹ > ʃ in the onset (this then develops into a straight /s/—should I make the initial shift > *s, which will then > θ?). Finally, vocalize *ʁ to a low-tone /à/ postconsonantally in the onset.
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Re: Tim Ar Language

Post by Pogostick Man »

Thinking of rewriting /ʕ/ as ⟨5⟩ because ⟨`⟩ is aesthetically displeasing to me.

Right, so from here, it is proposed that one can develop word order like this: SOV > SVO > VOS, which is the order in Classical Ngade n Tim Ar, hereinafter "CT" (Proto-Tim Ar-O, hereinafter "PTO", was SOV). I'm trying to keep PTO isolating to at least a high degree.

*pe qwʔwhw wʔj hezen
[*pe quʔuhu uʔi hezen]
3SG wind DEF ride
'he rides the wind'

É3en khuú ü hé
ride wind DEF 3SG
'he rides the wind' (You may be familiar with this sentence if you know anything about Tim Ar nomenclature.)

In PTO, genitives preceded their noun. This changed in CT.

Kmdön n Tim Ar
homeland GEN Tim Ar
'homeland of the Tim Ar'

Similarly, PTO had postpositions, which changed in CT to prepositions.

*ɹ klwn ɹʁhʁqe
[*ɹ klun ɹahaqe]
PL day before
'before days'

rághé úzn
before day/PL
'before days'

One thing that did not change between PTO and CT is the order of adjective and noun—it remains noun-adjective. The exception is the adjective/particle/grammatical marker *r 'PLURAL', which preceded the noun in PTO (and ended up getting attached to it and causing metathesis in CT).

ngidí hún
tide dark
'black tide'

ughú klnim
wind/PL six
'six winds'

Regarding negative constructions, PTO had S(Neg)OVNeg. In CT this first (Neg) was often dropped unless in a relative or subordinate clause and was reanalyzed as being a de facto relative/subordinate clause marker. The obligatory negator was > CT r; the optional negator was *pʁe > CT hae. (VNegOS is unattested in WALS; here, it's a vestige of the original SOV word order in PTO since the first negator was optional.)

Khû3 hé ngus, hae an kámr e édí…
order 3SG 1SG SUB.CL go.to city a.certain 3PL
'I command it, that they go to a certain city…' ('I order them to go to a certain city…')

5ûô ús ü ngus khugé hé, hae tndé5 hé.
come.to pasture DEF 1SG with 3SG SUB.CL eat 3SG
'I came with it to the pasture so that it eats' ('I brought it to the pasture to feed')

CT uses correlative relative clauses.

Cï3 énür ü ngus.
take axe/PL DEF 1SG
'I took the axes'

Cï3 énür ü ngus, nî édí ngus.
take axe/PL DEF 1SG swing 3PL 1SG
'I swung the axes that I took'

Lúman khadis ü
suffer.fever man DEF
'the man suffers from a fever'

Lúman khadis ü, athûn nûs hé
suffer.fever man DEF perform.duty nevertheless 3SG
'the man who suffered from a fever still carried out his duty'

The situation gets a bit thorny when both S and O have concomitant relative clauses. Note the use of hae here.

Cé Kmdön ü khadis ü, nihus hae cé tem ü khadis ü cem hé.
come.from homeland DEF man DEF kill REL come.from forest DEF man DEF that.one 3SG
'the man who came from the Kmdön killed the man who came from the forest'

The prototypical genitive marker was an adposition *n; this has allomorphs m n ng in CT and n on in O. (This similarity, which was coincidental, is what prompted me to create the relationship between CT and O in the first place.)
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mèþru
Smeric
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Re: Tim Ar Language

Post by mèþru »

Perhaps /ʕ/ can be <ɦ>? I get a chat Arabic or Amerind feel from your orthography, so perhaps you could make /S/ <th> and /ʕ/ <3>. Personally, I would use
/t k/ <t k>
/m n ŋ/ <m n ŋ>
/S s ɬ x h/ <þ s ł x h>
/ɹ l ʕ/ <r l `>

/i ɯ u e ø ɤ o a/ <i ɨ u e ɇ ö o a>, with rising tone represented with <g>. No representation of voicing in the orthography.
Ultimately though, I think that a romanisation of a conscript should reflect the script more than the language's phonology - it gives a feel for the script that readers wouldn't have otherwise.
ìtsanso, God In The Mountain, may our names inspire the deepest feelings of fear in urkos and all his ilk, for we have saved another man from his lies! I welcome back to the feast hall kal, who will never gamble again! May the eleven gods bless him!
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