Tiijaato

Tiijaato is either a highly innovative dialect of Tir'àata or a closely related sister language. Spoken in the same region, it shares many characteristics with the various Sjisja languages in the region.

Phonology

	Bilabial	Apical Alveolar	Laminal Alveolar	Post-Alveolar	Retroflex	Labial-Velar	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m	n̺	n̻		ɳ		ŋ	ɴ
Stop	p	t̺	t̻	ʧ	ʈ	k͡p	k	q	ʔ
Fricative	ɸ	s̺	s̻	ʃ	ʂ	xʷ	x	χ	h
Approximant	ʋ	r			ɻ
Approximant			l		ɭ

Grammar

The grammar of Tiijaato is virtually identical to Tir'àata, with a few relatively unimportant distinctions.

In both, plural marking is never obligatory (one of the more common traits of Rajo-Faraneih Languages), but plural marking is still possible. In both languages, one affixes ʋa to a given noun to mark its plurality, but Tiijaato does so as a suffix, rather than Tir'àata that does so as a prefix. Regardless, this suffix was worn away by the various leniting sound changes that Tiijaato experienced, resulting in the marking of the plural by merely a lengthened final vowel.

Outside of this, the only other major grammatical difference is the wholesale abandonment of the locative case in Tiijaato, where genitive has completely supplanted it in function.

Changes from Tir'jauta

• j > ʝ > DELETES
• aɨ) ai) au) > a:
• a: > a > ʌ
• ei ai > e:
• au > ʌ:
• c ç > ʧ ʃ
• a# > DELETES
• V:# > V#
• Tonogenesis:
  • Vw# Vɻ# Vɭ# Vr# Vl# Vʋ# > V:_M
  • Vʂ# Vx# Vχ# > Vʐ# Vɣ# Vʁ# > V:_L
  • Vf# Vɸ# Vs# > Vh# > V_L
  • Vk# Vq# > Vg# Vɢ# > V:ʔ > V:_k > V:_H
  • Vp# Vt# Vʈ# > Vʔ# > V_H
  • V# > V_M
  • NOTE: Here # is used meaning syllable end, not word end, no other section does so
• f > ɸ > h
• VV > VʔV