Talnabyaksha [talnabjakʃa]

[talna.bjak.ʃa] mother.island.tongue, sometimes [ʃa.dam.dalta.bjak]

"Talnabyak tongue" ("Mother-Isle-tongue"), also called Shami ("our tongue"), or Shadam Daltabyak ("Motherland's tongue") in the isles. Related to Satecaan, from before the Nalishi split off as sea-nomads.

IPA	a	ɛ	i	o	u	e	ɔ	y	ʊ	ə
Romanized	a	e	i	o	u	é	ó	iw	ú	á*

* (Not usually written as a separate sound. See phonotactics below.)

IPA	p	pʰ	b	β	k	kʰ	g	x~χ	ʁ	t	tʰ	t͡ɕ	d	ʑ	s	ʃ	d͡ʒ~ʒ	h	m	ṃ	n	n̩	l	l̩	ɾ	w	ʔ*
Romanized	p	ph	b	bh	k	kh	g	ḥ	rh	t	th	c	d	dh, zh	s	sh	dj	h	m	ṃ	n	n̩	l	l̩	r	w	'

Structure: generally (C(Y))V(N), where:
C = any consonant
Y = [j], sometimes [l], [r]
V = any vowel
N = [β], [ʃ], any liquid, nasal, stop, or uvular fricative.

Max complexity is CCVC, though a consonant in the Y position, especially one other than [j], is rare.

Gemination is written with doubled characters. /t͡ɕ:/~/tt͡ɕ/ in particular is written irregularly as "tc".

Some phonotactics

Syllabic [n̩][ṃ][l̩] are allophones of [ən][əm][əl], [n:][m:][l:], and [ʔn][ʔm][ʔl].
Final /ɾ/ typically mutates into /d/.
Consonant voicing becomes irrelevant before [j].
Aspiration is not distinguished on final stops.
Some basic consonant harmony: CC clusters take the voicing of the second sound. So [ʃd] becomes [ʒd], but [ʒt] becomes [ʃt].

Vocab

Pronouns

sha

you

he/she/they

telúm

she

l̩im

ṃa

this

mat

that

eda

here

esu

there

ṃyan

what

ṃshun

when

zhim

where

lə'ṃan

who

Articles

n̩, na

the

Nouns

ashn̩ded

boat (generic) (f.)

ashn̩diros

boat (larger vessel, transport or living ship) (n.)

ansimó

mountain (m.)

ansimóg

mountain range, valley (region) (f.)

ashted

rain (f.)

ashte

mist, partial rain (m.)

byak

island, land (f.)

delu

woman (n.)

zhimi

stars (m.) ("a star" would have to be shen zhimi)

dúmin

water (n.)

han

food (n.)

hónam

fish (n.)

ide

sun (n.), day (m.)

ish

tree (n.), fruit tree (f.)

kaḥalad

wind (f.)

man (m.)

l̩ad

sky (f.)

l̩amib

cloud (f.)

midad

fire (f.)

min̩ymad

ash (f.)

midjamin

smoke (n.)

pakhu

meat (m.)

earth, grounds, reason (m.)

shaḥók

seed (f.)

shomed

night (f.)

tatthi

crab (m.)

tedjed

peace (f.)

thaba

bone (m.)

thiw

oyster (m.)

zhin

land, place (n.)

People and Family

Most words for people are classed by natural gender.

dalta, dada*

mother

latha, lala*

father

pasha, shasha*

older brother, uncle

tala, nana*

older sister, aunt

leli, lili*

child, son

léḥa, lelé*

daughter

nowa, no'o*

brother

neka, nené*

sister

*Diminutives, generally reserved for one's own family.

Body Parts

ashtas

backside, butt (n.)

gid

hair (f.)

kheba

chest, torso, heart (m.)

kephab

breast (f.)

keslad

ear (f.)

kosat

mouth (f.)

malit

arm, hand (f.)

pó

nose (m.)

rúkol

head (f.)

sapa

face (m.)

sha

tongue (m.)

taga

leg, foot (m.)

eye (m.)

Verbs

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 male if they end in a vowel, or neuter if not. Exceptions are noted in entries.

to be (a state of being)

to walk

ciló

to sleep (intrans.); to extinguish or erase (trans.)

shi

to be (innately), to exist

el, l̩

to do

eyena

to be from (somewhere)

iḥú

to go, to come (to a destination)

ḥun̩

to chase, to pursue; to desire

iresha

to return; to remember

iri

to see, to hear

iru

to die

ishiw

to fly (intrans.), to throw (trans.)

l̩asi

to swim

l̩tagn̩

to stand, to rise

laile

to carry, to have (a thing)

n̩a

to come, to go (from an origin point)

n̩ci

to give

ṃishi

to watch, to listen (to)

n̩wara

to write

to exist (intrans.), to have (trans.)

ramó

to kill

run

to eat; to drink

shasi

to create, to craft, to produce

shiba

to like, to be fond of (trans.); to be happy (intrans.)

ushla

to resemble (something), to follow after (something)

wari

to wander, to travel

wena

to understand, to know of

awena

to be skilled in

Adjectives

caḥa

long, large, great

pimak

small

not, no

kor

ksha

young, new

ḥa

good, abundant, strong

əmai

bad, scarce, weak

less

old

Colors (nashotshi)

orundu

white

shimi

yellow

ezha

red, orange

ré

green

ṃlin

blue

shomid

black, purple

Numbers

shen

zhan

phe

daga

sheo

shun

on̩

shé

roa shen

roa zhan

roa phe

roḥan* (zhan)

roḥan (zhan)wa shen

roḥan phe

roḥan phewa shen

roḥan daga

wéla

100

wélawa shen

101

wélawa roa shen

111

wélawa roaḥan

120

wélaḥan zhan

200

wélaḥan phe

300

sholga

1,000

*For counting objects, this is conjugated based on the appropriate gendered plural of the noun in question.

Phrases

n̩ tedjed khiyiḥú khi?

Do you come to us in peace?

n̩ tedjed shiḥú

Do you come to us in peace?

Grammar

General

Word order is SOV, with adjectives after nouns, more conservatively alike to Sateca'an. Nouns have three gender/classes, male/female/neuter, and adjectives and verbs conjugate for gender. Pronouns for subjects are generally dropped. Subject nouns also do not pluralize.

Plurals

Use a suffix conjugated by noun gender. For nouns ending in nasals, the suffix becomes voiced.

M	-khe, -ḥe
F	-shi, -dji
N	-ḥan, -rhan

Numbers pluralize by the gender of their nouns.

shuta rokhedaga byak
road.POSS-3RD-INAN-M ten.PL-F.four land
(is)land of forty roads

lelithi roḥan phewa shé khindji
lɛlitʰi roxan pʰɛwa ʃe kʰind͡ʒi
child.POSS-1ST-M ten.PL-N.three.and.nine 3RD-ANIM-PL.be NEG
I do not have thirty-nine children.

Verb Conjugation

Talnakbyasha has very complex verb conjugation, based on the tense of the verb and the person, gender, and animacy of the subject.

	M.	F.	N.	Neg.
1st	sh(a)-	s(a)-	sh(a)-	khi(y)-
2nd	v(i)-	dh(i)-	k(e)-	khi(y)-
Animate 3rd	im-	id-	(i)n̩-	kin-
Inanimate 3rd	de-	ṃ-		ka(y)-

The syllabic consonant prefixes ṃ and (i)n̩ turn any syllabic consonant directly after it into a normal consonant. This can create some interesting irregular conjugations due to other vowel mutations. Ex: n̩wara, "to write" ->ṃnóra, "it writes", and n̩óra, "they write".

Tenses are similar to Sateca'an, including the conditional forms.

	Simple	Continuous	Conditional
Past	-(a)n san (I was) shiḥún (I went)	-(o)s sos (I was being) shiḥús (I was going)	-(y)en sen (If I was...) shiḥúyen (If I went...)
Present	- sa (I am) shiḥú (I go)	-s sas (I am being) shiḥús (I am going)	-(y)in sin (If I am...) shiḥúyin (If I go (now)...)
Future	-(a)m sam (I will be) shiḥúm (I will go)	-yos shos (I will be being) shiḥúyos (I will be going)	-yi shi (If I will be...) shiḥúyi (If I (will) go...)

The copular a is deleted in most conjugations, leaving only the combined prefix and suffix. It also conjugates irregularly in a few forms.

The strings [sy], [ty], and [dy] generally become [ʃ], [t͡ɕ], and [ʑ].

eda shi kaya
here tree 3RD-INAN-NEG.be.PRES
There are no trees here.

Questions

Questions, especially binary/yes-no questions, are formed with the negative form of the verb, followed by the same negative repeated at the end of the sentence.

Adjective Conjugation

Adjectives conjugate by the noun's gender with suffixes. The suffix -ka negates.

Gender	Prefix
M	-n, -nu, -[:]u
F	-ma
N	-thu

For masculine forms, the suffix is -n after vowels, -nu after most consonants, and -du or -tu after [d] or [t].

Possession

Possessives are marked with a suffix on the possessed noun, conjugated according to the possessor.

Person	F.	M.	N.
1st	di	-thi
2nd	te	-(t)ke
3rd. Anim.	-dim	-thim	-sim
3rd Inan.	-dam	-tam	-sam

To say you have something, you say [the possessor]'s [thing] exists.

dalta idin, lelidim n̩shiyen
mother 3RD-ANIM-F-SG.be.PRES-COND child.F-POSS 3RD-ANIM-N-SG.be.PAST
If she is a mother, she had a child (lit. "her child existed".)

Kintsaya [kint͡saja]

[kin.t͡sa.ja] DEF.tongue.1ST-EXCL-POSS

A member of the Sate family, Kintsaya is a more distance cousin of Sateca'an and modern Talnabyaksha and Satcicaan. It is also 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.

Phonology and Orthography

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	y	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	gh	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]).

Grammar

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, Sacishaan, and Talnabyaksha, but no gender/class system.

Verb Conjugation

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
Tense	Anim. Sg.	Anim. Pl.	Inan. Sg.	Inan. Pl.
Fut.	ja	jan	janim	jame
Pres.	ji	jin	jinim	jime
Past	jen	jenan	jenim	jeme