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/ - [ɛ], /i/ - [ɪ], /o/ - [ɔ], /u/ - [ʊ] and /y/ - [ʏ]. Lax vowels appear instead of the tense ones

1. always in closed syllables; e.g. emnathon ["ɛm.na.tʰɔn]
2. in the syllable following a stressed vowel; e.g. Thesome["tʰe.zɔ.mɛ]
3. in the last syllable of a word; e.g. deromi ["de.ɾɔ.mɪ]

Word final [ɛ] may be realised as [ə] in fast speech: Thesome /"tʰe.zɔ.mə/

When the penultimate syllable is stressed, the vowel is usually pronounced longer; contrast deromi ["de.ɾɔ.mɪ] with derthi ["dɛ:ɾ.tʰɪ]

Diphthongs

Phonemes

/aɪ eɪ ɔɪ aʊ/ <ai ei eu/oi au>

/ɔɪ/ 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 /ɪ/ add a /j/-glide before the next vowel whereas after /aʊ/ 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.dɾo."meɪ.ja] 2. [an.dɾo."me:.ja] and Sauos: 1. [saʊ.wɔs] 2. [sa:.wɔs]

Consonants

Phonemes

Plosives: /p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ 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: /ɾ l/ <r l>

Allophony

The voiced stops /b d/ may be softened to [v ð] between vowels: eudein ["ɔɪ.ðeɪn]

/k kʰ g/ are usually pronounced [c cʰ ɟ] before the vowels /e i y/.

/s/ becomes [z] in the onset cluster sm- (pronounced [zm]) and between vowels: contrast thesomi ["tʰe.zɔ.mɪ] with thesthi ["tʰɛ:s.tʰɪ]

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."tʰy.ga.ta] mnathygataí [mna.tʰy.ga."taɪ] mnathygatánen [mna.tʰy.ga.ta:.nɛn]

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 /ɾ/, /l/, /n/, /s/ and /t/ are used.

Morphophonology (CURRENTLY IN X-SAMPA AND NOT IPA)

Vowels and Diphthongs

Also have a look at allophony of simple vowels and glide-insertion after diphthongs, which were discussed before (under section 1.1 and 1.2).

??????The diphthong /eɪ/ commonly changes if preceeded or followed by a syllable with the same nucleus /eI/ (except when there are no consonant between the two nuclei). In very formal speech, whether the first or second diphthong changes, depends on the stress:

When the second diphthong is not stressed, its /eɪ/ changes /i/.

When the second diphthong is stressed, the preceding diphthong changes to /e/.

2nd /ei/	unstressed	stressed	unchanged
Thesome	kleisinon	eseí	meitleía
Morphemes	klei-sein-on	ei-sei	meitl-eía

Consonants

/tʰ/ > [s] / C_ (C=voiceless stop), e.g. hekthi > heksi

/ntʰ/, /mtʰ/ > [s], e.g. famthi > fasi, helenthi > helesi

/tʰ/ > ø / CC_, e.g. lapsthi > lapsi

/tʰ/ > [s] / _#, e.g. eude:thi > eudeith > eudeis

/m/ > [n] / _#, e.g. eude:mi > eudeim > eudein

F > ø / _s (F=fricative/sonorant), e.g. lalsme > lasme, thessme > thesme, kerofsme > kerosme

/h/ > [ɪ] / e_V, e.g. ehelenthe:mi > eieleseín, ehekthe:thi > eiekseís

Morphology

Verbal Morphology

Personal Endings

With verbs, Thesome distinguishes four persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd and NC), three tenses 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

Tenses

• Present: reports things that happen now
• Past: reports things that happened in the past
• Future: reports things that will happen in the future

Numbers

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

There are two sets of endings (very similar to each other and in fact only differing greatly in 1&2SG):

Vocalic Endings	Singular	Paucal	Plural	Consonant Endings	Singular	Paucal	Plural
1st	-ein	-esme	-emen	1st	-mi	-sme	-men
2nd	-eis	-esthe	-ethen	2nd	-thi	-sthe	-then
3rd	-eí	-eseí	-eíen	3rd	-eí	-seí	-eíen
NC	-én			NC	-én

Present Tense

Vocalic Endings

Vocalic Endings are simply attached to the verb's stem, e.g. eud- see:

Vocalic Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	eudein	I see	eudesme	some of us see	eudemen	we see
2nd	eudeis	you see	eudesthe	some of you see	eudethen	you see
3rd	eudeí	he sees	eudeseí	some of them see	eudeíen	they see
NC	eudén			X see(s)

Consonant Endings

Consonant Endings are attached to the verb's stem; they trigger, however, modifications, depending on the last sound of the verbal stem.

Liquid Stems

Liquid Stems are stems ending in -l, -r, and -s, e.g. lal- speak, der- stay and thes- lie.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	lalomi	I speak	lasme	some of us speak	lalomen	we speak
2nd	lalthi	you speak	lasthe	some of you speak	lalthen	you speak
3rd	laleí	he speaks	laseí	some of them speak	laleíen	they speak
NC	lalén			X speak(s)

Modifications:

1. They insert a vowel -o- in 1SG and 1PL. (lal-o-mi, der-o-mi, thes-o-mi)
2. They lose their final consonant when appended with the Paucal-endings. (la-sme, de-sme, the-sme).

Stop Stems

Stop Stems are stems ending in -p, -t, and -k, e.g. hek- strike.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	hekomi	I strike	hekosme	some of us strike	hekomen	we strike
2nd	heksi	you strike	hekosthe	some of you strike	heksen	you strike
3rd	hekeí	he strikes	hekseí	some of them strike	hekeíen	they strike
NC	hekén			X strike(s)

Modifications:

1. They insert a vowel -o- in all first persons and in 2PC. (hek-o-mi, hek-o-sme, hek-o-men, hek-o-sthe)
2. The aspirated voiceless stop /tʰ/ in 2SG and 2PL becomes /s/. (hek-si)

Nasal Stems

Nasal Stems are stems ending in -m and -n, e.g. fam- say and helen- sing.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	fami	I say	fasme	some of us say	famen	we say
2nd	fasi	you say	fasthe	some of you say	fathen	you say
3rd	fameí	he says	faseí	some of them say	fameíen	they say
NC	famén			X say(s)

Modifications:

1. The final consonant is lost in all forms except 3SG, 3PL and NC.
2. The aspirated voiceless stop /tʰ/ in 2SG becomes /s/ (but not in 2PL). (fa-si vs. fa-then)

Stop-S Stems

Stop-S Stems are stems ending in an unvoiced stop followed by an /s/, e.g. laps- sleep and kleits- to be captive.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	laposmi	I sleep	laposme	some of us sleep	laposmen	we sleep
2nd	lapsi	you sleep	laposthe	some of you sleep	lapsen	you sleep
3rd	lapseí	he sleeps	laposeí	some of them sleep	lapseíen	they sleep
NC	lapsén			X sleep(s)

Modifications:

1. In 1SG and 1PL, an <o> intrudes between the stop and the /s/ of the stem. (laposmi I sleep).
2. In all Paucal forms, the /s/ of the stem is lost and replaced by an <o>. (laposthe some of you sleep)
3. In 2SG and 2PL, the /tʰ/ of the personal ending is lost. (lapsi you sleep)

Past Tense

Vocalic Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	ydetheín	I saw	ydethesme	some of us saw	ydethemen	we saw
2nd	ydetheís	you saw	ydethesthe	some of you saw	ydethethen	you saw
3rd	ydetheí	he saw	ydetheseí	some of them saw	ydetheíen	they saw
NC	ydethés			X saw

Vocalic Endings	Singular		Paucal		Plural
1st	elaltheín	I spoke	elalthesme	some of us spoke	elalthemen	we spoke
2nd	elaltheís	you spoke	elalthesthe	some of you spoke	elalthethen	you spoke
3rd	elaltheí	he spoke	elaltheseí	some of them spoke	elaltheíen	they spoke
NC	elalthés			X spoke

Nominal Morphology

With nouns, Thesome distinguishes three (biological) sexes (Masculine, Feminine and Neuter), five numbers (Singular, Paucal, Dual, Plural and Collective) and eight cases (Nominative, Subjective, Accusative, Genitive, Benefactive, Instrumental, Allative and Ablativ).

Masculine	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural		Collective
Nominative	far	king	xxx	some kings	faroi	two kings	xxx	kings	ilfarmai	all kings
Subjective	farun	king	xxx	some kings	fary	two kings	xxx	kings	ilfarmai	all kings
Accusative	faren	king	xxx	some kings	faryn	two kings	xxx	kings	xxx	all kings
Genitive	fares	of the king	xxx	of some kings	farys	of two kings	xxx	of kings	xxx	of all kings
Benefactive	faré	for the/a king	xxx	for some kings	farý	for two kings	xxx	for kings	xxx	for all kings
Instrumental	farénen	with the/a king	xxx	with some kings	farýnen	with two kings	xxx	with kings	xxx	with all kings
Allative	faremna	to the/a king	xxx	to some kings	faryna	to two kings	xxx	to kings	ilfarmain	to all kings
Ablative	fareksa	from the/a king	xxx	from some kings	farysa	from two kings	xxx	from kings	ilfarmais	from all kings
Feminine	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural		Collective
Nominative	faire	queen	xxx	some queens	fairet	two queens	faireía	queens	ilfairai	all queens
Subjective	fairé	queen	xxx	some queens	fairet	two queens	faireíai	queens	ilfairai	all queens
Accusative	fairen	queen	xxx	some queens	fairetse	two queens	xxx	queens	xxx	all queens
Genitive	faires	of the queen	xxx	of some queen	faireptós	of two queens	xxx	of queens	xxx	of all queens
Benefactive	faireí	for the/a queen	xxx	for some queens	fairepté	for two queens	xxx	for queens	xxx	for all queens
Instrumental	fairénen	with the/a queen	xxx	with some queens	fairepténen	with two queens	xxx	with queens	xxx	with all queens
Allative	fairemna	to the/a queen	xxx	to some queens	fairetna	to two queens	xxx	to queens	ilfairain	to all queens
Ablative	faireksa	from the/a queen	xxx	from some queens	faretsa	from two queens	xxx	from queens	ilfairais	from all queens