Etaŕo

'Etaŕo' is a naturalistic conlang. It is not intended to fit into any of Earth's linguistic families

Phonology

Etaŕo is represented with the following alphabet:

• "A" is pronounced "ah" as in "spa" (open back unrounded vowel)
  • "Â" is between "a" (cat) and "e" (net), so is close to a near-open front unrounded vowel.
• "B" is pronounced "b" as in "bed" (voiced bilabial plosive)
• "C" is pronounced like "ch" (chop) but further back (voiced postaveolar fricative)
• "D" is pronounced "d" as in "dog" (voiced aveolar plosive)
• "E" is between "a" (play) and "e" (bed) (mid-front unrounded vowel)
• "F" is pronounced "f" as in "face" (voiceless labiodental fricative)
• "Ƒ" is like "F", but between two lips (voiceless bilabial fricative)
• "G" is pronounced "g" as in "ground" (voiced velar plosive)
• "H" is like a "g", but not closed all the way (voiceless velar fricative)
  • "Ĥ" is an unvoiced uvular trill. Woodwind players sometimes use is for fluttertounging.
• "I" is pronounced "ee" as in "free" (close front unrounded vowel)
• "J" is like "Ƒ", but voiced (voiced labiodental fricative)
• "K" is pronounced "k" as in "key" (voiceless velar plosive)
• "L" is pronounced "l" as in "lamb" (lateral aveolar approximant)
• "M" is pronounced "m" as in "mall" (bilabial nasal)
• "N" is pronounced "n" as in "nose" (aveolar nasal
  • "Ñ" is like "N", but with the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth (palatal nasal)
• "O" is pronounced like "o" (dog), but the mouth is closed up more (mid back rounded vowel)
  • "Ô" is pronounced "oo" as in "foot" (near-close near-back vowel)
• "P" is pronounced "p" as in "part" (unvoiced bilabial plosive)
• "R" is pronounced "r" as in "rot" (aveolar approximant)
  • "Ŕ" is pronounced like the Japanese "r" (aveolar tap)
• "S" is pronounced "s" as in "set" (unvoiced aveolar fricative)
• "T" is pronounced "t" as in "tea"
• "U" is pronounced "u" as in "euphoria" (near-close central rounded vowel)
• "V" is pronounced "v" as in "voice" (voiced labio-dental fricative)
• "W" is pronounced "w" as in "watts" (bilabial approximant)
• "X" is pronounced "sh" as in "shop" (voiced postaveolar fricative)
• "Y" is pronounced like "ee" (feet), but rounded (closed front rounded vowel)
• "Z" is pronounced "z" as in "zoo" (voiced aveolar fricative)

There is no "Q" in the Etaŕo alphabet.

Dipthongs

Etaŕo has 3 dipthongs: au (ah-oo), iy (ee-u), and ôu. Also, there are many instances where consonant clusters such as "td" are used, so articulation and voicing are used seperately.

Tones and Stress

Etaŕo words with multiple syllables usually has a downstep (low tone) on the first syllable. However, due to compound wording, declension and conjugations, some words are different. Although this change can usually be inferred by the context, when needed, the downstep may be notated by an undertie directly before or after the syllable, ex. otan (tailfin) and otan‿ ([I] don't try). Stress, unlike tone, depends entirely on the word in question, and may be harder to understand in context. To notate stress, use an acute accent over the syllable's vowel, ex. haríyn (utterance) and háriyn (simple).

Substantives

Etaŕo substantives (nouns) may be used in the subject, object, verent (in verentive case), and verb (in the infinitive or imperative case). There are 5 basic declensions: nominative, plural, accusative, genitive, and locative. Remember:

         Nominative: I ate the pie.
         Plural: Stars are very far away.
         Accusative: He ate the apple.
         Genitive: Stay away from the bear cave! or It's his piece.
         Locative: I like the one [over there].

Most of these can be combined, like the plural, nominative/accusative, genitive, and/or locative. The following table shows the declensions for these:

Verbs

In Etaŕo, the verb can be put in the sentence, usually as the verb, but also in the subject, verent, or object in its agreeing infinitive form. The following is the verb conjugation form for standard verbs: (ĥan means "hit")

Tense	Unchanged	Negated	Heightened	H. Negated
Infinitive	ĥansá‿	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Presently	ĥasn	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Immediate	ĥasén	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Definite	u'ĥán	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Indefinite	uj'ĥán	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
First	ĥaná	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Last	ĥaln	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
General	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Eventual	ĥáde	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Corresponding	ĥane‿	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Impetuous	ĥána	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan
Imperative	ĥanán	ĥan	ĥan	ĥan