Gyatalin

Gyatalin Gjatálin
Spoken in:	Gjatá
Timeline/Universe:	(unnamed)
Total speakers:	436,391,390
Genealogical classification:	(unnamed)  Shalian   Gyatalin
Basic word order:	SVO
Morphological type:	Inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Nominative-Accusative
Created by:
maailmaniag	2006

The language of the Gyatalin people (Eng: Gyatalin, Nat: Gjatálin) is a language spoken on the planet of Meishuko, in an alternate universe. It is spoken by approximately 436,391,390 people, and is the most widely spoken of the Shalian languages found on the planet.

The language itself superficially (and sometimes even semantically) resembles some of the Slavic languages (particularly Polish), partly due to the fact that it was, indeed, the Polish who exposed the Gyatalin people to the Latin alphabet and several semantic ideas.

Phonology/Orthography

Consonants

Consonants
	Bilabial		Labiod.		Dental		Alveolar		Retroflex		Post-alv.		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m						n
Plosive	p	b			t	d									k	g
Ejective	p'				t'										k'
Fricative			f	w			s	z	š	ž	ś	ź			ch		h
Affricate									tš	dž	tś	dź
Approximants		ẃ												j
Lateral Approximant								l

Digraphs

bj bl bn bw bẃ
dj dl dw dẃ
džl džw džẃ
dźj dźw dźẃ
fj fl fẃ
gd gj gl gw gẃ
hl hm hn hẃ
kj kl kn ks kš kś kw kẃ
k’j k’l k’n k’s k’š k’ś k’w k’ẃ
lj lẃ
mj mẃ
nj nẃ
pf pj pl ps pw pẃ
p’f p’j p’l p’s p’w p’ẃ
sf sk sk’ sl sm sn sp sp’ st st’ sw sẃ
šf šk šk’ šl šm šn šp šp’ št št’ šw šẃ
śj św śẃ
tj tl ts tw tẃ
t’y t’l t’s t’w t’ẃ
tšl tšw tšẃ
tśj tśw tśẃ
w wj wl wẃ
chj chw chẃ
zd zg zj zm zn zẃ
žd žg žj žm žn žẃ
źj źw źẃ

Vowels

Vowels
	Front		Central		Back
Close	i	ü				u
Lax Close			y
Close-Mid					ë	o
Open-Mid	e	ö
Near-Open	ä
Open	a

Diphthongs

There are six diphthongs in Gyatalin, and no more:

aj, ej, ij, oj, uj, yj /ai Ei ij oi uj yj/

Vowel Length

There are a total of 2 vowel lengths in Gyatalin: long and short. The short vowels are marked as previous, and the long vowels are marked as follows:

Vowels
	Front		Central		Back
Close	í	ù				ú
Lax Close			ý
Close-Mid					è	ó
Open-Mid	é	ò
Near-Open	à
Open	á

Long diphthongs are formed in exactly the same way: áj éj íj ój új ýj

The Cases

Gyatalin makes use of six grammatical cases: the nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, locative, and vocative. Each case is marked, normally in with a different ending for each case.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Among other things that decline into each of the six cases, the personal pronouns do.

Personal Pronouns
	Nominative		Accusative		Dative		Genitive		Locative		Vocative
1 singular	yś		mý		mny		mne		ym		moj
2 singular	tü		dý		tè		ty		dá		doj
3 singular m.	žoj		žë		žu		ža		žü		žu
3 singular f.	žaj		žy		žä		ži		žö		žy
3 singular n.	žej		žej		žu		že		žy		žo
1 plural inclusive	il		il		ẃim		wi		jeg		il
1 plural exclusive	yl		mü		il		mü		mil		myl
2 plural	jätś		wjej		wjo		wjo		joź		joj
3 plural anim.	fën		dau		dë		dë		dwò		dwo
3 plural inanim.	fè		dá		dèn		dè		dwò		dwó

Verbal Morphology

Like many Indo-European languages, verbs decline by person and number. However, Gyatalin verbs do not decline by tense; they decline somewhat by aspect, but the conjugations of the verbs don't match up exactly in meaning. The closest natural language aspect is the telicity found in Finnish or Estonian.

For the sake of neatness, already existing grammatical aspects are used to name Gyatalin aspects. However, a brief description of what the actual Gyatalin aspect is will follow the heading.

Before actually viewing the verbal morphology of Gyatalin, it is important to look at the structure of the verb infinitive (which ALWAYS ends in -t'j).

There are two classes of verbs, so aptly named Class 1 and Class 2. Class 1 verbs have either: a, y, o, u, ë, or a consonant before the typical t'j ending. Verbs in Class 2 have either: e, i, y, ü, ä, or ö before the t'j ending. It is impossible to tell whether a particular -yt'j verb is from Class 1 or Class 2.

To discover the stem of the verb, simply remove the vowel and the t'j ending. In the case of the consonant+t'j endings, only remove the t'j.

Perfective Aspect

This is the simplest of the aspects. In Gyatalin, this aspect implies that the action being referred to has been completed.

Class 1 Verbs

Class 1, Perfective Aspect
	Ending		póchat'j		ytyt'j		wlùbot'j		źlut’j		gànśët’j		títant'j
yś	-u		póchu		ytu		wlùbu		źlu		gànśu		títanu
tü	-ešt		póchešt		ytešt		wlùbešt		źlešt		gànśešt		títanešt
žoj	-oj		póchoj		ytoj		wlùboj		źloj		gànśoj		títanoj
žaj	-aj		póchaj		ytaj		wlùbaj		źlaj		gànśaj		títanaj
žej	-ej		póchej		ytej		wlùbej		źlej		gànśej		títanej
il	-my		póchmy		ytmy		wlùbmy		źlmy		gànśmy		títanmy
yl	-li		póchli		ytli		wlùbli		źli		gànśli		títanli
jätś	-é		póché		yté		wlùbé		źlé		gànśé		títané
fën	-ju		póchju		ytju		wlùbju		źlju		gànśju		títanju
fè	-jut		póchjut		ytjut		wlùbjut		źljut		gànśjut		títanjut

Class 2 Verbs

Class 2, Perfective Aspect
	Ending		pljanet'j		bytit'j		žùdžyt'j		kwalüt’j		mächtät’j		polöt'j
yś	-ju		pljanju		bytju		žùdžju		kwalju		mächtju		polju
tü	-iš		pljaniš		bytiš		žùdžiš		kwališ		mächtiš		poliš
žoj	-joj		pljanjoj		bytjoj		žùdžjoj		kwaljoj		mächtjoj		poljoj
žaj	-jaj		pljanjaj		bytjaj		žùdžjaj		kwaljaj		mächtjaj		poljaj
žej	-jej		pljanjej		bytjej		žùdžjej		kwaljej		mächtjej		poljej
il	-ymi		pljanymi		bytymi		žùdžymi		kwalymi		mächtymi		polymi
yl	-yli		pljanyli		bytyli		žùdžyli		kwalyli		mächtyli		polyli
jätś	-je		pljanje		bytje		žùdžje		kwalje		mächtje		polje
fën	-ja		pljanja		bytja		žùdžja		kwalja		mächtja		polja
fè	-jat		pljanjat		bytjat		žùdžjat		kwaljat		mächtjat		poljat

Progressive Aspect

The progressive aspect implies that the verb is happening, but has not been completed. This aspect also carries the meaning of the intention of completing the action. (for example, with the verb "to go there", in the progressive aspect, English would represent the meaning as "to be on one's way there, and having an intention of reaching the final destination")

Class 1 Verbs

Class 1, Progressive Aspect
	Ending		póchat'j		ytyt'j		wlùbot'j		źlut’j		gànśët’j		títant'j
yś	ja-	-u	japóchu		jagytu		jawlùbu		jaźlu		jagànśu		jatítanu
tü	ja-	-ešt	japóchešt		jagytešt		jawlùbešt		jaźlešt		jagànśešt		jatítanešt
žoj	ja-	-oj	japóchoj		jagytoj		jawlùboj		jaźloj		jagànśoj		jatítanoj
žaj	ja-	-aj	japóchaj		jagytaj		jawlùbaj		jaźlaj		jagànśaj		jatítanaj
žej	ja-	-ej	japóchej		jagytej		jawlùbej		jaźlej		jagànśej		jatítanej
il	ja-	-my	japóchmy		jagytmy		jawlùbmy		jaźlmy		jagànśmy		jatítanmy
yl	ja-	-li	japóchli		jagytli		jawlùbli		jaźli		jagànśli		jatítanli
jätś	ja-	-é	japóché		jagyté		jawlùbé		jaźlé		jagànśé		jatítané
fën	ja-	-ju	japóchju		jagytju		jawlùbju		jaźlju		jagànśju		jatítanju
fè	ja-	-jut	japóchjut		jagytjut		jawlùbjut		jaźljut		jagànśjut		jatítanjut

Class 2 Verbs

Class 2, Progressive Aspect
	Ending		pljanet'j		bytit'j		žùdžyt'j		kwalüt’j		mächtät’j		polöt'j
yś	ja-	-ju	japljanju		jabytju		jažùdžju		jakwalju		jamächtju		japolju
tü	ja-	-iš	japljaniš		jabytiš		jažùdžiš		jakwališ		jamächtiš		japoliš
žoj	ja-	-joj	japljanjoj		jabytjoj		jažùdžjoj		jakwaljoj		jamächtjoj		japoljoj
žaj	ja-	-jaj	japljanjaj		jabytjaj		jažùdžjaj		jakwaljaj		jamächtjaj		japoljaj
žej	ja-	-jej	japljanjej		jabytjej		jažùdžjej		jakwaljej		jamächtjej		japoljej
il	ja-	-ymi	japljanymi		jabytymi		jažùdžymi		jakwalymi		jamächtymi		japolymi
yl	ja-	-yli	japljanyli		jabytyli		jažùdžyli		jakwalyli		jamächtyli		japolyli
jätś	ja-	-je	japljanje		jabytje		jažùdžje		jakwalje		jamächtje		japolje
fën	ja-	-ja	japljanja		jabytja		jažùdžja		jakwalja		jamächtja		japolja
fè	ja-	-jat	japljanjat		jabytjat		jažùdžjat		jakwaljat		jamächtjat		japoljat

Imperfective Aspect

The imperfective aspect implies almost the opposite ot the perfective aspect. The verb is happening, and has not yet been completed, but the subject has no intention of finishing the said action.

Class 1 Verbs

Class 1, Progressive Aspect
	Ending		póchat'j		ytyt'j		wlùbot'j		źlut’j		gànśët’j		títant'j
yś	ja-	-um	japóchum		jagytum		jawlùbum		jaźlum		jagànśmu		jatítanum
tü	ja-	-et	japóchet		jagytet		jawlùbet		jaźlet		jagànśet		jatítanet
žoj	ja-	-o	japócho		jagyto		jawlùbo		jaźlo		jagànśo		jatítano
žaj	ja-	-a	japócha		jagyta		jawlùba		jaźla		jagànśa		jatítana
žej	ja-	-e	japóche		jagyte		jawlùbe		jaźle		jagànśe		jatítane
il	ja-	-ym	japóchym		jagytym		jawlùbym		jaźlym		jagànśym		jatítanym
yl	ja-	-il	japóchil		jagytil		jawlùbil		jaźlil		jagànśil		jatítanil
jätś	ja-	-è	japóchè		jagytè		jawlùbè		jaźlè		jagànśè		jatítanè
fën	ja-	-uj	japóchuj		jagytuj		jawlùbuj		jaźluj		jagànśuj		jatítanuj
fè	ja-	-ujt	japóchujt		jagytujt		jawlùbujt		jaźlujt		jagànśujt		jatítanujt

Class 2 Verbs

Class 2, Progressive Aspect
	Ending		pljanet'j		bytit'j		žùdžyt'j		kwalüt’j		mächtät’j		polöt'j
yś	ja-	-u	japljanu		jabytu		jažùdžu		jakwalu		jamächtu		japolu
tü	ja-	-ešt	japljanešt		jabytešt		jažùdžešt		jakwalešt		jamächtešt		japolešt
žoj	ja-	-oj	japljanoj		jabytoj		jažùdžoj		jakwaloj		jamächtoj		japoloj
žaj	ja-	-aj	japljanaj		jabytaj		jažùdžaj		jakwalaj		jamächtaj		japolaj
žej	ja-	-ej	japljanej		jabytej		jažùdžej		jakwalej		jamächtej		japolej
il	ja-	-my	japljanmy		jabytmy		jažùdžmy		jakwalmy		jamächtmy		japolmy
yl	ja-	-li	japljanli		jabytli		jažùdžli		jakwali		jamächtli		japoli
jätś	ja-	-é	japljané		jabyté		jažùdžé		jakwalé		jamächté		japolé
fën	ja-	-ju	japljanju		jabytju		jažùdžju		jakwalju		jamächtju		japolju
fè	ja-	-jut	japljanjut		jabytjut		jažùdžjut		jakwaljut		jamächtjut		japoljut

Prospective Aspect

The prospective aspect implies to the listener that the action has not yet been started; however, the speaker has intentions of finishing the action.

Class 1 Verbs

Class 1, Prospective Aspect
	Ending		póchat'j		ytyt'j		wlùbot'j		źlut’j		gànśët’j		títant'j
yś	da-	-u	dapóchu		dagytu		dawlùbu		daźlu		dagànśu		datítanu
tü	da-	-ešt	dapóchešt		dagytešt		dawlùbešt		daźlešt		dagànśešt		datítanešt
žoj	da-	-oj	dapóchoj		dagytoj		dawlùboj		daźloj		dagànśoj		datítanoj
žaj	da-	-aj	dapóchaj		dagytaj		dawlùbaj		daźlaj		dagànśaj		datítanaj
žej	da-	-ej	dapóchej		dagytej		dawlùbej		daźlej		dagànśej		datítanej
il	da-	-my	dapóchmy		dagytmy		dawlùbmy		daźlmy		dagànśmy		datítanmy
yl	da-	-li	dapóchli		dagytli		dawlùbli		daźli		dagànśli		datítanli
jätś	da-	-é	dapóché		dagyté		dawlùbé		daźlé		dagànśé		datítané
fën	da-	-ju	dapóchju		dagytju		dawlùbju		daźlju		dagànśju		datítanju
fè	da-	-jut	dapóchjut		dagytjut		dawlùbjut		daźljut		dagànśjut		datítanjut

Class 2 Verbs

Class 2, Prospective Aspect
	Ending		pljanet'j		bytit'j		žùdžyt'j		kwalüt’j		mächtät’j		polöt'j
yś	da-	-ju	dapljanju		dabytju		dažùdžju		dakwalju		damächtju		dapolju
tü	da-	-iš	dapljaniš		dabytiš		dažùdžiš		dakwališ		damächtiš		dapoliš
žoj	da-	-joj	dapljanjoj		dabytjoj		dažùdžjoj		dakwaljoj		damächtjoj		dapoljoj
žaj	da-	-jaj	dapljanjaj		dabytjaj		dažùdžjaj		dakwaljaj		damächtjaj		dapoljaj
žej	da-	-jej	dapljanjej		dabytjej		dažùdžjej		dakwaljej		damächtjej		dapoljej
il	da-	-ymi	dapljanymi		dabytymi		dažùdžymi		dakwalymi		damächtymi		dapolymi
yl	da-	-yli	dapljanyli		dabytyli		dažùdžyli		dakwalyli		damächtyli		dapolyli
jätś	da-	-je	dapljanje		dabytje		dažùdžje		dakwalje		damächtje		dapolje
fën	da-	-ja	dapljanja		dabytja		dažùdžja		dakwalja		damächtja		dapolja
fè	da-	-jat	dapljanjat		dabytjat		dažùdžjat		dakwaljat		damächtjat		dapoljat

Progressive/Imperfect Aspect

This aspect of the Gyatalin verb has no grammatical name. It implies that the action has not yet started, and the speaker has no intention of ever completing the action.

Class 1 Verbs

Class 1
	Ending		póchat'j		ytyt'j		wlùbot'j		źlut’j		gànśët’j		títant'j
yś	da-	-um	dapóchum		dagytum		dawlùbum		daźlum		dagànśmu		datítanum
tü	da-	-et	dapóchet		dagytet		dawlùbet		daźlet		dagànśet		datítanet
žoj	da-	-o	dapócho		dagyto		dawlùbo		daźlo		dagànśo		datítano
žaj	da-	-a	dapócha		dagyta		dawlùba		daźla		dagànśa		datítana
žej	da-	-e	dapóche		dagyte		dawlùbe		daźle		dagànśe		datítane
il	da-	-ym	dapóchym		dagytym		dawlùbym		daźlym		dagànśym		datítanym
yl	da-	-il	dapóchil		dagytil		dawlùbil		daźlil		dagànśil		datítanil
jätś	da-	-è	dapóchè		dagytè		dawlùbè		daźlè		dagànśè		datítanè
fën	da-	-uj	dapóchuj		dagytuj		dawlùbuj		daźluj		dagànśuj		datítanuj
fè	da-	-ujt	dapóchujt		dagytujt		dawlùbujt		daźlujt		dagànśujt		datítanujt

Class 2 Verbs

Class 2
	Ending		pljanet'j		bytit'j		žùdžyt'j		kwalüt’j		mächtät’j		polöt'j
yś	da-	-u	dapljanu		dabytu		dažùdžu		dakwalu		damächtu		dapolu
tü	da-	-ešt	dapljanešt		dabytešt		dažùdžešt		dakwalešt		damächtešt		dapolešt
žoj	da-	-oj	dapljanoj		dabytoj		dažùdžoj		dakwaloj		damächtoj		dapoloj
žaj	da-	-aj	dapljanaj		dabytaj		dažùdžaj		dakwalaj		damächtaj		dapolaj
žej	da-	-ej	dapljanej		dabytej		dažùdžej		dakwalej		damächtej		dapolej
il	da-	-my	dapljanmy		dabytmy		dažùdžmy		dakwalmy		damächtmy		dapolmy
yl	da-	-li	dapljanli		dabytli		dažùdžli		dakwali		damächtli		dapoli
jätś	da-	-é	dapljané		dabyté		dažùdžé		dakwalé		damächté		dapolé
fën	da-	-ju	dapljanju		dabytju		dažùdžju		dakwalju		damächtju		dapolju
fè	da-	-jut	dapljanjut		dabytjut		dažùdžjut		dakwaljut		damächtjut		dapoljut

Nominal Morphology

Nouns in Gyatalin have a somewhat mixed system of noun classificaton. It's half-gender, half-animate.

There are 3 genders in Gyatalin: masculine, feminine, and neuter. In addition, both the masculine and feminine genders can be broken into animate or inanimate classes, for a total of 5 distinct groups.

The gender of a noun is apparent upon inspection: masculine nouns either end in consonant, o, u, all +j. Feminine nouns end in either a or i, each +j. And neuter nouns all end in e or ej. No nouns ever end in a long vowel, y, yj, or a diaresis vowel (ä, ë, ö, ü, +j).

The Article

Nouns in Gyatalin are only marked if they are indefinite (i.e. the English equivalent of a, an, some). If a noun is unmarked, that means that it is definite (i.e. the English equivalent of the). The article (a, an) declines according to gender as well as case.

The Article
	Masculine Anim.		Masculine Inanim.		Feminine Anim.		Feminine Inanim.		Neuter
Nominative	źje		źje		źja		źja		źjo
Accusative	źjë		źje		źjy		źja		źjo
Dative	źju		źjë		źjä		źjy		źju
Genitive	źja		źju		źji		źjä		źje
Locative	źjü		źjü		źjö		źjö		źjy
Vocative	źjë		źje		źjy		źja		źjy

Prepositions

Prepositions don't work in the same way they do in English. There are only a handful of prepositions (numbering less than 10) in the whole Gyatalin language, compared to the 50 or so in English.

Each preposition takes a certain case to mean a certain thing. One preposition can mean up to 4 different things, taking either the accusative, dative, genitive, or locative case. Therefore, 2 sentences that look similar could mean completely different things because of the case.

These are the prepositions used (semantic meaning will be covered in the following sections, broken up into case): k’ölź, lẃant, dùch, gdom, chwodj, hnýs, bjël, škof, kjüp’

The Accusative Form

When a succeeding noun is put in the accusative case, the prepositions carry the following meanings:

k’ölź - for
lẃant - in
dùch - around
gdom - onto
chwodj - at
hnýs - together with
bjël - during
škof - about
kjüp’ - among

The Dative Form

When a succeeding noun is put in the dative case, the prepositions carry the following meanings:

k’ölź - to (a person)
lẃant - since
dùch - with
gdom - on
chwodj - after
hnýs - besides (other than)
bjël - against
škof - over
kjüp’ - until

The Genitive Form

When a succeeding noun is put in the genitive case, the prepositions carry the following meanings:

k’ölź - of
lẃant - because of
dùch - without
gdom - on top of
chwodj - despite, in spite of
hnýs - with (as a means of use)
bjël - instead of
škof - opposite, across
kjüp’ - between

The Locative Form

When a succeeding noun is put in the locative case, the prepositions carry the following meanings:

k’ölź - to (a place)
lẃant - into
dùch - through
gdom - by, near
chwodj - before
hnýs - next to
bjël - underneath
škof - behind
kjüp’ - ago

Using Prepositions

Prepositions change up the word order in a sentence, slightly. Normally, the indefinite article precedes the noun.

When using a preposition, the preposition always comes right before the noun. Therefore, if an indefinite article is in use, the article comes right before the preposition. Of course, if there is no article, then this doesn't pose a problem for learners.

k’ölźy pwotly - for the woman
hnýsü t’sëlšü - next to the island

BUT:

źjy k’ölź pwotly - for a woman
źjü hnýs t’sëlšü - next to an island