Conlang
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'
Type
agglutinative
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

Yékis /ˈjɛcɪs/ is spoken by approximately 3 million people in the south-central region of the Aralát Islands on the planet Ejnül ca. 10,000 CE. It is the primary language of the city of Bezne (population 800,000), which serves as the seat of planetary government. In Yékis, this political entity is referred to as Þanal'tar (English: Thalatria).

Ejnül was settled roughly 6,000 years ago ca. 4000 CE by several thousand colonists, the ancestors of whom were mostly from the New Mexico and Colorado regions on earth, making Yékis, as well as every other language spoken on Ejnül, a descendant of western North American English dialects. At this time, colonies were being established on hundreds of planets. Contact with Earth was lost shortly thereafter, and the colony has developed in isolation ever since, including an era of technological stagnation from which the world has only within the past few centuries begun to recover.

Ejnül is the second (and only inhabited) planet in orbit of a K class main sequence star nearly 100 light years distant from Earth. Its inhabitants now number over 39 million, the majority of whom live in the Aralát Islands and on the adjacent mainland (Enjül's sole continental landmass). Yékis is closely related to the Ohóc language spoken just to its north, and to the Continental Yékis language spoken on the mainland, just across a small sea to the west. All of the above are descended from the Cuwaya language, also known as "Classical Yékis", which was spoken in the central Aralát Islands and adjacent mainland ca. 8000 CE. The more distantly related Vača languages are spoken in the north of the island chain, and Mlozgá at the southern tip.

Phonology

Consonants

Plain

Bilabial

Palatalized

Bilabial

Plain

Alveolar

Palatalized

Alveolar

Palato-

Alveolar

Palatal

Plain

Velar

Labialized

Velar

Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive p b pʲ bʲ t d tʲ dʲ c ɟ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
Fricative ɸ ɸʲ s ʃ ç x
Affricate ts dz tʃ dʒ
Approximant j w
Flap or tap ɾ ɾʲ
Lateral fric. ɬ ɮ ɬʲ ɮʲ

The voiced stops tend to be prenasalized in utterance-initial, and sometimes word-inital, position.

Vowels

Length is phonemic in initial syllables. There are also nasal phonemes: /ã/, /ɛ̃/, /œ̃/, /ɔ̃/. Nasals are always short.

Vowel harmony:

Front vowels and non-front vowels (hereafter referred to simply as back vowels) cannot co-occur in the same word, except in compounds. Suffixes and grammatical endings alternate accordingly.

Front Central Back
Near-close ɪ ʏ ɯ ʊ
Close-mid
Open-mid ɛ œ ɔ
Open a

Alphabet and Orthography

Official Latin and Cyrillic orthographies for Yékis coexist. Yékis has a relatively deep orthography in both scripts, but the correct pronunciation is almost always capable of being discerned through the written form.

The alphabet for the Latin orthography is as follows:

Aa Áá Bb Cc Dd Ðð Ee Éé Ff Gg Hh Ii Íí Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Óó Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Úú (Vv) Ww Xx Yy Zz Þþ Ïï Öö Ö'ö' Üü.

V occurs only in words of foreign origin. Long vowels are written double.

Latin orthography:

a - /a/

á - /ã/, /a/ (This historically nasalized vowel has become denasalized in certain environments, merging with the plain short vowel: immediately preceding a voiceless stop or affricate, immediately preceding a consonant cluster, or in the first of two consecutive syllables containing a nasal vowel. However, denasalization does not occur in these enviroments when the nasal vowel in question is itself adjacent to (immediately preceding or following) a nasal consonant, or voiced stop (since orthographic voiced stops have become nasal stops when adjacent to nasalized vowels).

aa - /aː/

b - /b/, /m/, /p/ (/m/ when adjacent to nasal vowel, /p/ immediately preceding a voiceless consonant, only if not preceded by a nasal vowel, in which case [m̥] results)

c - /ts/, /dz/ (/dz/ immediately preceding a voiced consonant. /dz/ has a tendency to be deaffricated before nasals, nasalized vowels, and /ɾ/)

d - /d/, /n/, /t/ (/n/ when adjacent to nasal vowel, /t/ immediately preceding a voiceless consonant, only if not preceded by a nasal vowel, in which case [n̥] results)

ð - /ɮ/, /ɬ/ (/ɬ/ when immediately preceding a voiceless consonant. Many, if not most, speakers have devoiced /ɮ/, except before a voiced consonant, effectively merging this sound with /ɬ/. For these speakers Yékis has exclusively voiceless fricative phonemes).

e - /ɛ/

é - /ɛ̃/, /ɛ/ (This historically nasalized vowel has been denasalized in certain environments. See á).

ee - /ɛː/

f - /ɸ/, [β] ([β] when immediately preceding a voiced consonant)

g - /g/, /ŋ/, /k/ (in front vowel words: /ŋ/ when adjacent to nasal vowel, /k/ immediately preceding a voiceless consonant, only if not preceded by a nasal vowel, in which case [ŋ̥] results. In back vowel words, the uvular equivalents of the above sounds are allophonically present).

h - /x/, [ɣ] (in front vowel words: [ɣ] when immediately preceding a voiced consonant. In back vowel words, the uvular equivalents of the above sounds are allophonically present)

i - /ɪ/

ii - /ɪ:/

j - /dʒ/, /tʃ/ (/tʃ/ when immediately preceding a voiceless consonant. /dʒ/ has a tendency to be deaffricated before nasals, nasalized vowels, and /ɾ/)

k - /k/, /g/ (in front vowel words: /g/ when immediately preceding a voiced consonant. In back vowel words, the uvular equivalents of the above sounds are allophonically present).

l - /ɬ/, /ɮ/ (/ɮ/ when immediately preceding a voiced consonant)

m - /m/, [m̥] ([m̥] when immediately preceding a voiceless consonant)

n - /n/, [n̥] ([n̥] when immediately preceding a voiceless consonant)

o - /ɔ/

ó - /ɔ̃/, /ɔ/ (This historically nasalized vowel has been denasalized in certain environments. See á).

oo - /ɔː/

p - /p/, /b/ (/b/ when immediately preceding a voiced consonant)

q - /tʃ/, /dʒ/ (/dʒ/ when immediately preceding a voiced consonant. /dʒ/ has a tendency to be deaffricated before nasals, nasalized vowels, and /ɾ/)

r - /ɾ/, [ɾ̥] ([ɾ̥] when immediately preceding a voiceless consonant)

s - /s/, [z] ([z] when immediately preceding a voiced consonant)

t - /t/, /d/ (/d/ when immediately preceding a voiced consonant)

u - /ʊ/

uu - /ʊ:/

w - /w/

x - /ʃ/, [ʒ] ([ʒ] when immediately preceding a voiced consonant)

y - /j/

z - /dz/, /ts/ (/ts/ when immediately preceding a voiceless consonant. /dz/ has a tendency to be deaffricated before nasals, nasalized vowels, and /ɾ/)

þ - /s/, [z] ([z] when immediately preceding a voiced consonant. This letter originally represented an interdental fricative, which has since merged with /s/)

ï - /ɯ/

ïï - /ɯ:/

ö - /œ/

ö' - /œ̃/, /œ/ (This historically nasalized vowel has been denasalized in certain environments. See á).

öö - /œ:/

ü - /ʏ/

üü - /ʏ:/

digraphs:

ng - /ŋ/ (back vowel words have [ɴ])

kw - /kʷ/ (back vowel words have [qʷ])

gw - /ɡʷ/, [ŋʷ] (in front vowel words: [ŋʷ] when adjacent to nasal vowel. In back vowel words, the uvular equivalents ( [ɢʷ], [ɴʷ] ) of the above sounds are allophonically present)

hw - /xʷ/ (back vowel words have [χʷ])

The w digraphs for labiovelars are only used prevocalically. As the first element of a consonant cluster or in postvocalic word-final position, labiovelars are indicated as uk/ük, ug/üg, or uh/üh, according to vowel harmony. When immediately preceded by the vowels u, uu, ü, or üü, the labiovelars are simply written as k, g, and h. Immediately following long or short /ʊ/ or /ʏ/, all velars are labialized, so there is no ambiguity. As the second element of a consonant cluster in word-final position, labiovelars are not orthographically distinguished from velars, making this the only instance in Yékis where the correct pronunciation cannot be discerned by applying systematic rules to the written form.

Representation of palatalized / palatal consonants:

All consonants are palatalized / palatal before e, é, ee, i, and ii, except the labiovelars, velar nasal, and all approximants and affricates, as these sounds are not susceptible to palatalization. In other environments, palatalized / palatal consonants are indicated with a following apostrophe.

b' - /bʲ/, /mʲ/, /pʲ/

d' - /dʲ/, /ɲ/, /tʲ/

ð' - /ɮʲ/, /ɬʲ/

f' - /ɸʲ/, [βʲ]

g' - /ɟ/, /ɲ/, /c/

h' - /ç/, [ʝ]

k' - /c/, /ɟ/

l' - /ɬʲ/, /ɮʲ/

m' - /mʲ/, [mʲ̥]

n' - /ɲ/, [ɲ̥]

p' - /pʲ/, /bʲ/

r' - /ɾʲ/, [ɾʲ̥]

s' - /sʲ/, [zʲ]

t' - /tʲ/, [dʲ]

þ' - /sʲ/, [zʲ]

Cyrillic Orthography

.........................................

Phonotactics

The syllable structure is (C)V(C)(C). Word-initial clusters are not permitted. A cluster may not consist of more than two consonants. Monosyllabic nominal, pronominal, adjectival, adverbial, and verbal roots ending in an open syllable always have a long vowel.

Grammar

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

Nouns

Nouns are inflected to show whether they are in the possessive state (possessed), as opposed to the basic, unmarked (unpossessed) state. Nouns also inflect for number, definiteness, and case. All suffixes and endings containing vowels must agree in vowel harmony with the root to which they are being affixed. Yékis has 11 grammatical cases.

Nominal Stems

Number: Singular number is unmarked in Yékis. There are two possibilities for marking the plural number. If the nominal root ends in a single consonant or a vowel (any vowel, long, short, or nasalized), then the plural is marked through the addition of the ending -r to the root of the noun. If the nominal root ends in a cluster consisting of two consonants, then the ending -ar/er is added to the root of the noun, depending on whether the noun has back vowels or front vowels, respectively. A nominal root with a plural ending attached may be referred to as a plural stem, to which either a definite ending or case ending must be directly attached.

Definiteness: The indefinite state is unmarked. The definite state is indicated through the addition of an ending (this ending was originally an independent demonstrative pronoun) to the root of the noun if the noun is singular, or to the plural stem of the noun if the noun is plural. Singular nouns whose root ends in a single consonant or any vowel add the ending -n to the root of the noun. Singular nouns whose root ends in a cluster consisting of two consonants add the ending -an/en to the root of the noun, in accordance with vowel harmony. To plural stems ending in a single consonant (namely the ending -r mentioned just above) the ending -n is added directly to the plural stem (in other words, to plural stems formed from nominal roots ending in either a vowel or a cluster of two consonants). To plural stems ending in two consonants the ending -an/en is added directly to the plural stem (in other words, to plural stems formed from nominal roots ending in a single consonant). A nominal root or stem with a definite ending attached may be referred to as a definite singular stem or definite plural stem. To all definite stems a case ending must be directly attached.

Case: Case endings are attached either to the root of the noun (indefinite singular), the plural stem (indefinite plural), the definite singular stem, or the definite plural stem.

List of cases and their most common functions: Nominative (subject), Accusative (direct object), Benefactive (for someone/thing), Dative (to someone/thing), Genitive (noun modifying another noun), Partitive (amount), Instrumental (by means of an instrument), Comitative (accomanying an animate being), Lative (towards), Ablative (away from).

List of basic case endings: nominative -ul /-ül, accusative -al /-el, dative -ux/-üx, benefactive -ayh/-eyh, genitive -aug/-eüg, partitive –ál /-él, instrumental -ug/-üg, comitative -an/-en, lative -uk/-ük, ablative -uþ/-üþ, locative -ung/-üng.

A brief overview of nominal inflection: where R=noun root, P=plural marker,D=definite marker, C=case ending, O=possessive ending, endings are added to the root like so: R(P)(D)C(O). Case endings are the only endings that are obligatory; nouns will invariably require a case ending. Singular number is unmarked. Indefiniteness is unmarked. Unpossessed state is unmarked. The indefinite singular unpossessed follows the pattern: RC. The indefinite plural unpossessed: RPC. The definite singular unpossessed: RDC. The definite plural unpossessed: RPDC. As the unpossessed state is unmarked, all that is necessary to form the possessive state is to add one of the seven possessive endings (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and plural, with a clusivity distinction in the 1st person plural) to any of the four patterns just mentioned. The only complication to this is the addition of 1st and second person possessive endings to the benefactive case stems, as the benefactive case ending already terminates in a consonant cluster. This complication will be explained in the section on possessive endings below. Nouns possessed by a 3rd person subject take an additional reflexive suffix.

Examples of nominal inflection (in the process of being transliterated into Latin orthography)

The inflection of all nouns falls into one of six patterns:

Back vowel roots ending in a vowel: ex. аугса (augsa) ‚storm‘

indefinite sing.

indefinite plur.

definite sing.

definite plur.

nominative

аугсаԓ

аугсаруԓ

аугсануԓ

аугсарнуԓ

accusative

аугсаԓа

аугсараԓ

аугсанаԓ

аугсарнаԓ

dative

аугсаш

аугсаруш

аугсануш

аугсарнуш

benefactive

аугсаях

аугсарайх

аугсанайх

аугсарнайх

genitive

аугсагва

аугсарауг

аугсанауг

аугсарнауг

partitive

аугсаԓа́

аугсара́ԓ

аугсана́ԓ

аугсарна́ԓ

instrumental

аугсагву

аугсаруг

аугсануг

аугсарнуг

comitative

аугсан

аугсаран

аугсанан

аугсарнан

lative

аугсаук

аугсарук

аугсанук

аугсарнук

ablative

аугсащ

аугсарущ

аугсанущ

аугсарнущ

locative

аугсанг

аугсарунг

аугсанунг

аугсарнунг

Back vowel roots ending in a single consonant: ex. ац (ac) ‚beach‘

indefinite sing.

indefinite plur.

definite sing.

definite plur.

nominative

ацуԓ

ацруԓ

ацнуԓ

ацрануԓ

accusative

ацаԓ

ацраԓ

ацнаԓ

ацранаԓ

dative

ацуш

ацруш

ацнуш

ацрануш

benefactive

ацайх

ацрайх

ацнайх

ацранайх

genitive

ацауг

ацрауг

ацнауг

ацранауг

partitive

аца́ԓ

ацра́ԓ

ацна́ԓ

ацрана́ԓ

instrumental

ацуг

ацруг

ацнуг

ацрануг

comitative

ацан

ацран

ацнан

ацранан

lative

ацук

ацрук

ацнук

ацранук

ablative

ацущ

ацрущ

ацнущ

ацранущ

locative

ацунг

ацрунг

ацнунг

ацранунг

Back vowel roots ending in two consonants: ex. мотьс (mot‘s) ‚mother‘

indefinite sing.

indefinite plur.

definite sing.

definite plur.

nominative

мотьсуԓ

мотьсаруԓ

мотьсануԓ

мотьсарнуԓ

accusative

мотьсаԓ

мотьсараԓ

мотьсанаԓ

мотьсарнаԓ

dative

мотьсуш

мотьсаруш

мотьсануш

мотьсарнуш

benefactive

мотьсайх

мотьсарайх

мотьсанайх

мотьсарнайх

genitive

мотьсауг

мотьсарауг

мотьсанауг

мотьсарнауг

partitive

мотьса́ԓ

мотьсара́ԓ

мотьсана́ԓ

мотьсарна́ԓ

instrumental

мотьсуг

мотьсаруг

мотьсануг

мотьсарнуг

comitative

мотьсан

мотьсаран

мотьсанан

мотьсарнан

lative

мотьсук

мотьарук

мотьсанук

мотьсарнук

ablative

мотьсущ

мотьсарущ

мотьсанущ

мотьсарнущ

locative

мотьсунг

мотьсарунг

мотьсанунг

мотьсарнунг

Front vowel roots ending in a vowel: ex. чэ‘ (qé) ‚year‘

indefinite sing.

indefinite plur.

definite sing.

definite plur.

nominative

чэ́ԓ

чэ́рүԓ

чэ́нүԓ

чэ́рнүԓ

accusative

чэ́ԓе

чэ́реԓ

чэ́неԓ

чэ́рнеԓ

dative

чэ́ш

чэ́рүш

чэ́нүш

чэ́рнүш

benefactive

чэ́ех

чэ́рейх

чэ́нейх

чэ́рнейх

genitive

чэ́гвэ

чэ́реүг

чэ́неүг

чэ́рнеүг

partitive

чэ́ԓе́

чэ́ре́ԓ

чэ́не́ԓ

чэ́рне́ԓ

instrumental

чэ́гвү

чэ́рүг

чэ́нүг

чэ́рнүг

comitative

чэ́н

чэ́рен

чэ́нен

чэ́рнен

lative

чэ́үк

чэ́рүк

чэ́нүк

чэ́рнүк

ablative

чэ́щ

чэ́рүщ

чэ́нүщ

чэ́рнүщ

locative

чэ́нг

чэ́рүнг

чэ́нүнг

чэ́рнүнг

Front vowel roots ending in a single consonant: ex. чэк (qek) ‚language, tongue‘

indefinite sing.

indefinite plur.

definite sing.

definite plur.

nominative

чэкүԓ

чэкрүԓ

чэкнүԓ

чэкренүԓ

accusative

чэкэԓ

чэкреԓ

чэкнеԓ

чэкренеԓ

dative

чэкүш

чэкрүш

чэкнүш

чэкренүш

benefactive

чэкэйх

чэкрейх

чэкнейх

чэкренейх

genitive

чэкэүг

чэкреүг

чэкнеүг

чэкренеүг

partitive

чэкэ́ԓ

чэкре́ԓ

чэкне́ԓ

чэкрене́ԓ

instumental

чэкүг

чэкрүг

чэкнүг

чэкренүг

comitative

чэкэн

чэкрен

чэкнен

чэкренен

lative

чэкүк

чэкрүк

чэкнүк

чэкренүк

ablative

чэкүщ

чэкрүщ

чэкнүщ

чэкренүщ

locative

чэкүнг

чэкрүнг

чэкнүнг

чэкренүнг

Front vowel roots ending in two consonants: ex. бөрьш (bör‘x) ‚water‘

indefinite sing.

indefinite plur.

definite sing.

definite plur.

nominative

бөрьшүԓ

бөрьшэрүԓ

бөрьшэнүԓ

бөрьшэрнүԓ

accusative

бөрьшэԓ

бөрьшэреԓ

бөрьшэнеԓ

бөрьшэрнеԓ

dative

бөрьшүш

бөрьшэрүш

бөрьшэнүш

бөрьшэрнүш

benefactive

бөрьшэйх

бөрьшэрейх

бөрьшэнейх

бөрьшэрнейх

genitive

бөрьшэүг

бөрьшэреүг

бөрьшэнеүг

бөрьшэрнеүг

partitive

бөрьшэ́ԓ

бөрьшэре́ԓ

бөрьшэне́ԓ

бөрьшэрне́ԓ

instrumental

бөрьшүг

бөрьшэрүг

бөрьшэнүг

бөрьшэрнүг

comitative

бөрьшэн

бөрьшэрен

бөрьшэнен

бөрьшэрнен

lative

бөрьшүк

бөрьшэрүк

бөрьшэнүк

бөрьшэрнүк

ablative

бөрьшүщ

бөрьшэрүщ

бөрьшэнүщ

бөрьшэрнүщ

locative

бөрьшүнг

бөрьшэрүнг

бөрьшэнүнг

бөрьшэрнүнг

Possessed Nouns

...............................

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives are completely uninflected. Predicate adjectives are required to have nominative nominal endings.

Verbs

Verbs conjugate for person and number of the subject, person and number of the direct object (if transitive), tense, voice, mood, and aspect. There is a clusivity distinction in the 1st person plural.

Syntax

Vocabulary

Numbers:

zero - ürg

one - mong

two - qii

three - gwuu

four - ouh

five - yaf

six - el

seven - yeeq

eight - ir

nine - yoouh

ten - þang

eleven - þö'bé

twelve - þéq

thirteen - þö'üg

fourteen - þóuh

fifteen - þáyf

sixteen - þéðl

seventeen - þáðbï

eighteen - þen'r

nineteen - þaan'á

twenty - qeþé

twenty-one - qeþémong

twenty-two - qeþéqii

thirty - gwoþá

thirty-one - gwoþámong

fourty - ooþá

fifty - yaaþá

sixty - eleþ'

seventy - elbéþ

eighty - eeþé

ninety - d'áþá

one hundred - þáþ

Kinship / Other terms:

brother - jöt's

daughter - tör's

family - xöüh

father - wöt's

man - n'öbjin

mother - mot's

sister - elet's

son - elés

woman - bóbjïn

Parts of the body:

arm - op

ear - ix

eye - eejr

finger - yauh, gwécyauh

foot - or

hand - gwéc

heart - ar

head - aar

knee - dii

leg - orpu

mouth - upf

toe - oryauh

tongue - qek

tooth - zerr

Geography:

bay - xebs

city - gwoh'

field - ajïn

forest - cüy

hill - gwö'

island - al't

land - ziy

mountain - gwöy

peak - qif

plain - cá

river - gwáwrïs

sea - can

town - ilijt

Directions:

east - zeye

north - eleng

south - xeng

west - teh'

Weather:

flood - übrix

freezing rain - n. yöyr, v. yöyh

ice (general term) - yoo

ice (specifically of a flat, frozen surface) - xáh

rain - n. yeer, v. yeyh

sky - hwar

sleet - n. tïp, v. tïph

snow - n. yüjé, v. yüqh

storm - augsa

thunder - uun

weather - cang

Time / Seasons:

Common verbs:

Example text

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