[talna.bjak.ʃa] mother.island.tongue
"Mother-Isle-tongue", also called Shami ("our tongue") in the isles. Related to Satecaan, from before the Nalishi split off as sea-nomads.
a i u e (é) ɛ (e) o ə
p b w v t d k g s ʃ (ṣ) t͡ʃ (c) d͡ʒ (j) ʒ (j) n m l ɾ (r) j (y) x~χ (ḥ)
Structure: generally (C)(y/w/s/ʃ~ʒ)V(t/n/m/k/g/ʃ/l/d); max complexity of CCVC
Gemination is written with doubled vowels. /tʃ:/~/ttʃ/ in particular is written irregularly as "tc", and /dʒ:/~/ddʒ/ as "dj". Vowels do not double if followed or preceded by a different consonant.
ən, əm, əs, and əl are often pronounced as geminated or syllabic consonants with the schwa itself silent instead. For example, [əma], "this", is often realized as /m:a/ or /ṃa/.
Final /ɾ/ typically mutates into /d/.
Midword /pj/, /sj/, /tj/, and /kj/ often become /bj/, /ʃ/, /dj/, and /gj/.
A /ʃ/ after voiced consonants becomes/is an allophone of /ʒ/.
The article [ən], when applied to a word starting with a schwa, mutates that schwa after it into an [a]. Ex: [ətan], "west"
Many nouns have different meanings depending the grammatical gender they are given.
Most words for people are classed by natural gender.
*Diminutives, generally reserved for one's own family.
Can be made nouns with by adding a definite article. If there is an actor associated with a verb, it takes the actors' gender; otherwise, most verbs are neuter. Exceptions are noted in entries.
*For counting objects, this is conjugated based on the appropriate gendered plural of the noun in question.
Word order runs SVO, with adjectives after nouns. Nouns have three gender/classes, male/female/neuter. Pronouns for subjects are generally dropped. Subject nouns also do not pluralize.
Questions, especially binary/yes-no questions, end with the question particle é.
Use a suffix conjugated by noun gender. For nouns ending in consonants, the voicing of the suffix matches the final consonant.
| M | -cé, -jé |
|---|---|
| F | -gə, -kə |
| N | -(y)in |
Numbers pluralize by the gender of their nouns.
ṣuta gugətakka byak
road.POSS-3RD-INAN-M ten.PL-F.four land
(is)land of forty roads
ḥéləti guyinbenasi nna ki
child.POSS-1ST-M ten.PL-N.three.and.nine 3RD-ANIM-PL.be NEG
I do not have thirty-nine children.
Talnakbyasha has very complex verb conjugation, based on the tense of the verb and the person, gender, animacy, and number of the subject.
| Person: | Single | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender: | M. | F. | N. | M. | F. | N. | |
| 1st | sk- | s- | ṣ- | ||||
| 2nd | ant- | int- | un- | ||||
| Animate 3rd | m- | d- | (u)nn- | ||||
| Inanimate 3rd | (ap)p- | ipp- | upp- | (at)t- | itt- | utt- | |
Tenses are similar to Sateca'an, including the conditional forms.
| Simple | Continuous | Conditional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past | -n san (I was) | -(o)s sos (I was being) | -rin sarin (If I was...) |
| Present | - sa (I am) | -s sas (I am being) | -(y)in sayin (If I am...) |
| Future | -g sag (I will be) | -(k)ko sakko (I will be being) | -gi sagi (If I will be...) |
For verbs ending in -l, the /-rin/ suffix becomes /-din/.
Verbs negate by placing /ki/ ("not") after the verb.
ara kṣi uppa ki
here tree 3RD-N-INAN.be.PRES NEG
There are no trees here.
Adjectives conjugate by the noun's gender with prefixes. The suffix -ki negates.
| Gender | Prefix |
|---|---|
| M | u(n)- |
| F | a(n)-, am- |
| N | da(l)- |
Possessives are marked with a suffix on the possessed noun, conjugated according to the possessor.
| Gender | 1st. | 2nd | 3rd Animate | 3rd Inanimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. | -ti | -ṣu | -ja | -ta |
| F. | -vi | -bu | -va | -ba |
| N. | -mi | -mma | -na | |
twéna nətan
river of the west
tyegvi talnati (ca)
my (m.) mother's sword
To say you have something, you say [the possessor]'s [thing] exists.
daṣiyin talna, ḥéləva daṣin
3RD-ANIM-F-SG.be.PRES-COND mother child.F-POSS 3RD-ANIM-N-SG.be.PAST
If she is a mother, she had a child (lit. "her child existed".)
[kin.t͡sa.ja] DEF.tongue.1ST-EXCL-POSS
A semi-distant cousin of Satecaan and Talnabyaksha. Based on my oldest conlang, Sukinsar, which is not showing up any time soon because I made it when I was like 13 and it sucked.
sukinsar -> satecaan ruleset (semi-reversible):
dl/tl stays hl
m is w
r~ɣ is g/k
ts is s
x is h or r
v is w~m~b
word-init g is k
ignore vowel harmonies
re-calque clear derivative words
if there are illegal clusters unavoidable, divide them with vowels or reduce consonants
from talnabyaksha to sukinsar, if desired:
x/r -> x/ɣ
sh -> sj
vowel length - long e -> ei, long a becomes ai (dipth), long other shortens
a i u ɛ~e (e) o aɪ (ý) ə
b p f v s t͡s t~ʈ* d~ɖ* tʃ (ch) dʒ (j) ʒ (sj) l~ɭ**~ɾ (l) ɣ (ǵ) x k g j (y) h m n w ʔ (')
*Allophone before /l/.
**Allophone in many places but esp. after /h/.
| IPA | a | i | u | e | o | aɪ | ə |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romanized | a | i | u | e | o | ý | ə |
| IPA | n | m | w | b | p | f | v | ts | t~ʈ | d~ɖ | tʃ | dʒ | ʒ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romanized | n | m | w | b | p | f | v | ts | t | d | c | j | sj |
| IPA | l~ɾ, ɭ | ɭ | j | ɣ | x | k | k | h | ʔ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romanized | l | ll | y | ǵ | x | k | k | h | ' |
Sound harmony patterns - in multisyllabic tend to go in alternating patterns of unvoiced-C V voiced-C V etc. n and m can be either. See numbers for a decent example, albeit with exceptions (ex. 8, [keta]).
Word order is OSV, with binary questions indicated primarily by tone. Adjectives and prepositions follow nouns, with prepositions acting as suffixes; adverbs follow verbs.
No noun classes - Kintsaya has some animacy conjugation, like Satacaan and Talnabyakṣa, but no gender/class system.
Auxiliary do [dʒa] is used for past and future tense. [li], 'not', is placed after verb to negate.
Verbs conjugate by animacy and number of the object, or for intransitive verbs, the subject, and by the person of the actor. Alignment is mixed between nominative-accusative and ergative-absolutive.
| Subject | |
|---|---|
| 1st | - |
| 2nd | t(a)- |
| 3rd | p(a)- |
| Sg. | Pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| Anim. | - an ... see [someone]; [someone] sees | -(a)n anan see them (anim.); they (anim.) see |
| Inan. | -(i)m anim ... see [something]; [something] sees | -(m)e ane ... see them (inan.); they (inan.) see |
The helper 'to do' is irregular, ignoring person and conjugating as follows:
| Tense | Animacy/Number | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anim. Sg. | Anim. Pl. | Inan. Sg. | Inan. Pl. | |
| Fut. | ja | jan | janim | jame |
| Pres. | ji | jin | jinim | jime |
| Past | jen | jenan | jenim | jeme |