Thesome

Thesome [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɛ] is a constructed language. It is similiar to Ancient Greek in terms of phonology and Finnish in terms of morphology.

Phonology

Vowels

Phonemes

/a e i o u y/ <a e i o u y>

Allophony

All vowels (except /a/) have a lax counterpart: /e/ - [E], /i/ - [I], /o/ - [O], /u/ - [U] and /y/ - [Y]. Lax vowels appear instead of the tense ones

1. always in closed syllables; e.g. emnathon ["Em.na.t_hOn]
2. in the syllable following a stressed vowel; e.g. Thesome["t_he.zO.mE]
3. in the last syllable of a word; e.g. deromi ["de.4O.mI]

Word final [E] may be realised as [@] in fast speech: Thesome /"t_he.zO.m@/

When the penultimate syllable is stressed, the vowel is usually pronounced longer; contrast deromi ["de.4O.mI] with derthi ["dE:4.t_hI]

Diphthongs:

Phonemes

/aI eI OI aU/ <ai ei eu/oi au> /OI/ is written <eu> in the first syllable of a word, <oi> anywhere else; probably a sound change that has occurred in an earlier stage but that has been undone.

Glide Insertion

When another vowel follows a diphthong,

1. in formal speech diphthongs ending in /I/ add a /j/-glide before the next vowel whereas after /aU/ a /w/ is added.
2. in colloquial speech diphthongs become (long) monophthongs with a glide onset on the following syllable.

E.g. andromeía: 1. [an.d4o."meI.ja] 2. [an.d4o."me:.ja] and Sauos: 1. [saU.wOs] 2. [sa:.wOs]

Consonants:

Phonemes

Plosives: /p p_h b t t_h d k k_h g/ < p ph b t th d k kh g>

Fricatives: /f s x h/ <f s ch h>

Nasals: /m n/ <m n>

Liquid: /4 l/ <r l>

Allophony

The voiced stops /b d/ may be softened to [v D] between vowels: eudein ["OI.DeIn]

/k k_h g/ are usually pronounced [c c_h J\] before the vowels /e i y/.

/s/ becomes [z] in the onset cluster sm- (pronounced [zm]) and between vowels: contrast thesomi ["t_he.zO.mI] with thesthi ["t_hE:s.t_hI]

Nasals, if preceding plosives, assimilate to the latter's point of articulation (with the exception of compounds).

Stress

Stress usually falls on the antepenultimate syllable. If stress falls on any other syllable, it is marked with an acute accent (which is placed on the second part of a diphthong). If the penultimate syllable is stressed, it is pronounced longer than usual. E.g. mnathygata [mna."t_hy.ga.ta] mnathygataí [mna.t_hy.ga."taI] mnathygatánen [mna.t_hy.ga.ta:.nEn]

Syllables

Onset

Any single consonant Plosive + Liquid: pr-, phr-, br-, pl-, phl-, bl- etc. /f/ or /x/ + Voiceless Plosive (except Bilabials): ft-, fth-, cht-, chth- etc. /s/ + /m/ or Voiceless Plosive: sm-, sp-, sph-, st- etc. /p/ or /k/ + /t/: pt-, kt- /m/ + /n/: mn-

Nucleus

Any vowel or diphthong.

Coda

Except for the word's final syllable, any consonant except /h/ is allowed. Word finally, only /4/, /l/, /n/, /s/ and /t/ are used.

Morphology

Verbal Morphology

Personal Endings

With verbs, Thesome distinguishes four persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd and NC) and three numbers (Singular, Paucal, Plural).

Persons

• 1st person: the speaker(s): I, we
• 2nd person: the adressee(s): you
• 3rd person: other(s): he, she, they
• NC (Noun Compound): used with nouns

Numbers

• Singular: denoting singularity
• Paucal: denoting duality or only a part of a previous mentioned group
• Plural: denoting many or all