Senjecas Phonology

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1. Introduction – t̬ı̋va

  • 1.1 Senjecas (Ancient-Speech) is the name given to the language that was first spoken by loquent beings. It was implanted by Yumu in the Children of Air, the Ethrans, the first created of the Six Loquent Peoples when s/he sang their unique song into their ears. Subsequently s/he sang their unique songs into the ears of the other Loquent Peoples as they were created. It remained the only language spoken by the Six Loquent Peoples until the Great Sundering. After this, differences between the Peoples and regional differences within each People arose which led to the development of diverse languages, many of which became mutually unintelligible. The ability to speak Senjecas had never been lost by the Ethrans or by the Xylans, the Children of Wood, who had been unaffected by the Great Sundering. In the renascence that began after the Children of Earth (the Humans) recovered from the Great Sundering, Senjecas was restored as the medium of communication among the Six Loquent Peoples.
  • 1.2 The language is a fusional language with a system of declensions and conjugations; endocentric compounding is common. It is a Type A tonal language (register system) with an absence of velar and uvular sounds and limited consonant clusters. It is classed as a nominative-accusative language.
  • 1.3 This grammar is divided into six sections. Part I describes the phonology of the language. In this section is discussed the writing and the sounds of the language, the syllabification and accenting of words, punctuation, and prosody. Part II describes the inflection of the words. In this section is discussed the formation of individual words in their several categories (nouns, verbs, etc.). Part III describes the syntax. In this section are discussed the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences. Part IV describes word formation, the way in which individual words are combined to form new words. Part V is an appendix with various lists. Part VI is a table of orthographies.

2.0 Part I – Phonology – tűlo p – ȝéxšensą̋ra

  • 2.1 The Alphabet – rųnpa̋fa
    • 2.1.1 The Senjecan alphabet has 33 graphemes: 24 consonants and nine vowels.
    • 2.1.2 Several alphabets have been in use since the Ethrans invented graphemes for writing Senjecas. In all of them there is a one-to-one correspondence between the grapheme (letter) and the phoneme (sound).
    • 2.1.3 The earliest alphabet consists of rectilinear graphemes which are acrophonic, i.e., they represent the object used as the name of the letter, not unlike the Phoenician alphabet at its origin. These were devised in the first era by the Ethrans for recording their great discoveries.
    • 2.1.5 A second alphabet consists of cursive graphemes derived from the aforementioned rectilinear graphemes.
    • 2.1.4 A third alphabet consists of symbols derived from the preceding cursive symbols, but suitable for brush strokes. These were devised in the third era by the Hydorans and continue to be used by them.
    • 2.1.6 The order of the alphabet is based on articulatory phonetics, labials, dentals, alveolars and palatals, followed by the vowels.
grapheme p b f v ɱ m - t d þ ð ł l - c ƶ s z r n - k g x ᵹ h ȝ
IPA /p/ /b/ /ɸ/ /β/ /m̥/ /m/ - /t/ /d/ /θ/ /ð/ /l̥/ /l/ - /ʦ/ /ʣ/ /s/ /z/ /ɾ̥/ /n/ - /k/ /g/ /x/ /ɟ/ /ȷ̊/ /j
Names ? be̋so fı̜̋lo vą̋ho ɱe̋ho ma̋no - t̬a̋lo da̋ro þı̜̋vno ðőso łőmo la̋ko - ca̋so ƶɪ̜̋ro sűɱo ? rı̜̋so ne̋þro - kudı̋ro gűᵹro xa̋fo ᵹa̋ido he̋lo ȝe̋no
grapheme i e a ɔ o u - ɪ ɘ y
IPA /i/ /e/ /a/ /ɑ/ /o/ /u/ - /ɪ/ /ə/ /ʊ/
Names ? előɱo ą̋mo ? oɱe̋ro űsro - nı̋þi nı̋þe nı̋þu
    • 2.1.7 The names of the graphemes are in a state of transition. The name of the animate object from which they take their name is placed in the -o class, the inanimate class.
    • 2.1.8 The Committee on Orthography of the Council of Mages (seilűm auliȝűs rųnȝara̋s ᵹóɱa dą́rmuþı̋ȝu - SARD) has always desired to make the various human alphabets as simple as possible by not using digraphs or diacritics. As the human alphabets have developed over time, the SARD has updated the orthographies to match, keeping in mind the phonemes used in Senjecas. The use of the Latin alphabet by various languages has given the committee greater freedom to represent the Senjecan phonemes. I have chosen their currently approved Latin alphabet for this work.
    • 2.1.9 The following non-standard graphemes have been adopted.
    • 2.1.10 Each of the graphemes is named after a natural creature whose name begins with that grapheme or whose name includes that grapheme. The long vowels are specified as pı̋ða (long a), pı̋ðe (long e), etc.
  • 2.2 The Consonants - paxše̋nos
    • 2.2.1 The consonants are divided, according to the organs of speech by which they are produced, into stops (plosives), fricatives, and sonorants. In Senjecas these organs include the lips (labials), the teeth (dentals), the alveolus (alveolars), and the palate (palatals). Each consonant may be either voiced or unvoiced. There are no geminate consonants.
    • 2.2.2 Senjecan linguists speak of two types of consonants, male and female. The plosives p/b, t/d, k/g, and c/ƶ> are male consonants; they must undergo lenition when followed by another consonant. The fricatives f/v, þ/ð, x/ᵹ and s/z and the sonorants ɱ/m, ł/l, r/n and h/ȝ are female. They do not undergo lenition.
    • 2.2.3 Labialized and palatalized consonants are not considered to be separate graphemes but are ordered after the principal consonant, labialized, then palatalized, e.g., dűta, d̬ő, ḍa̋ᵹe.
    • 2.2.4 When using the Latin alphabet, labialization is indicated by placing a caron over or under a consonant <č>, <d̬>. Palatalization is indicated by placing a dot over or under a consonant <ċ>, <ḍ>.
    • 2.2.5 The following table gives the relationship of these consonants, as understood by the speakers of Senjecas.
  Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal
Stops p/b t/d c/ƶ k/g
Fricatives f/v þ/ð s/z x/ᵹ
Sonorants ɱ/m ł/l r/n h/ȝ
    • 2.2.6 These consonants are pronounced as in English, with the following exceptions:
      • <f> and <v> are bilabials as in Spanish, not labiodentals as in English.
      • <ɱ> represents the voiceless counterpart of the English <m>. It occurs in English after a voiceless consonant, e.g., smoke (cf. mutt).
      • <þ> and <ð> represent the sounds as in thigh, and as in thy, respectively, which are interdental in English, but dental in Senjecas.
      • <ł> represents the voiceless counterpart of <l>. It occurs in English after a voiceless consonanct, e.g., pleat (cf. bleat).
      • <l> represents the clear <l> of light, never the dark <l> of dull.
      • <c> represents the voiceless alveolar affricate /ʦ/.
      • <r> represents the voiceless counterpart of the Spanish tap <r>, /ɾ/.
      • <x> represents the sound <ch> as in the German ich, not the <ch> as in the German bach.
      • <ᵹ> represents the voiced counterpart of <x> as found in Spanish intervocalic <g>, miga.
      • <h> represents the voiceless counterpart of <j>. It occurs in English after a voiceless consonant, e.g., the y-glide between the

        and the <u> in puny (cf. beauty).

      • <ƶ> represents the voiced alveolar affricate /ʣ/.
    • 2.2.7 Only consonant clusters of two consonants are permitted in Senjecas.
    • 2.2.8 When it happens that the addition of a morpheme would result in a three-consonant cluster, an epenthetic <ɘ> is inserted for euphony, e.g., a̋lvi, barley; alvɘȝǫ̋uso, barley broth. This epenthetic <ɘ> is ordered after <e> in an alphabetical listing.
    • 2.2.9 Consonant clusters may not contain two stops, e.g., <gb>. In order to prevent this, when a morpheme with an initial stop is added to a base with a final stop, the final stop is muted to the corresponding fricative in a process known as [[Wikipedia:Lenition|lenition. Thus, ode̋go, stem, + bőlo, lump, = ódeᵹbőlo, tuber.
  • 2.3 Vowels and Diphthongs – ąrše̋nosk̬e d̬ąrše̋nosk̬e
    • 2.3.1 Senjecas has six strong vowel phonemes. They are ordered from front non-rounded closed to back rounded closed, <i>, <e>, <a>, <ɔ>, <o>, and <u>.
  Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close <i> /i/ <u> /u/
Near-close <ı> /ı/ <y> /ʊ/
Mid <ɘ> /ə/
Close mid <e> /e/ <o> /o/
Open <a> /a/ <ɔ> /ɒ/
front near-front center near- back back
short long short long short long short long short long
close i į - - - - - - u ų
near-close e ö a o
mid i ü ı u
close-mid e ö a o
open e ö a o


    • 2.3.2 The vowels are the pure vowels found in Italian or Spanish. Remember to keep the <e> and the <o> pure, without the <i> or <u> glides that occur in the English pronunciation of these phonemes.
    • 2.3.3 The Senjecan strong vowel can be either long or short. The long vowels are indicated by using the ogonek (pőłko): <į, ę, ą, ɔ̨, ǫ>, and <ų>. The quality of the long vowel is not changed, but it is pronounced for a longer time than the short vowel.
    • 2.3.4 There are three weak vowels.
    • The nı̋þe (weak e, <ɘ>, /ə/) is used to prevent disallowed consonant clusters, e.g., ǧistɘƶę̋no, fingerprint.
    • The nı̋þi (weak i, <ı>, /ı/) is used when a palatalized consonant is followed by a consonant, e.g., gőḷi, doe; golıkǫ̋no, doeskin.
    • The nı̋þu (weak u, <y>, /ʊ/) is used when a labialized consonant is followed by a consonant, e.g., šúšu, crush, šusydǫ̋a, reciprocate.
    • 2.3.5 Diphthongs in Senjecas are treated as a unit with the first vowel receiving the accent when that syllable is accented, e.g., ȝa̋uno, place of birth; k̬éiþƶųmta̋ino, cenotaph.
  • 2.4 Elision – dų̋ra
    • 2.4.1 Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase. It occurs in Senjecas when a word with a final vowel occurs before a word with an initial vowel. The two words are written separately and an apostrophe marks the omission. When writing with the various Senjecan alphabets, no apostrophe is used.
    • 2.4.2 Elision occurs with the negating particles ne and mę, which are always elided with a following initial vowel, e.g., n' íðu, not here.
    • 2.4.3 Elision occurs when the final vowel of a word is the same as the initial vowel of the following word.
tu mįðta̋sk̬e ṁagősk̬’ éna őutaþu ı̋la:
You are clothed with majesty and glory.
  • 2.5 Syllabification – saɱmelős kı̨̋a
    • 2.5.1 A Senjecan word has as many syllables as it has vowels or diphthongs. The last syllable is called the ultima. The syllable next to the last is called the penult(ima[te]). The one before the penult is called the antepenult(imate).
    • 2.5.2 A single consonant between two vowels belongs to the following vowel, e.g., a-sű-ru, prince.
    • 2.5.3 Two contiguous consonants are separated with the first consonant going with the preceding syllable, e.g., ðe̋us-ka, dusk.
  • 2.6 Intonation – šenlę̋pa
    • 2.6.1 In many modern languages, such as English, the accent is known as stress accent in which the accented syllable is pronounced more intensely than the other syllables. In Senjecas, as in some modern languages, the accent is known as register pitch accent in which the vowel of the primary syllable is pronounced on a higher pitch. The Senjecas accent was thus a musical one. This is called intonation. There are three pitches in Senjecas, the primary, the secondary, and the basal. These are relative pitches and their absolute pitch will vary with the individual speaker.
    • 2.6.2 Accent marks are not used when writing in any of the Senjecan alphabets. More for the sake of the non-Senjecan reader than anything else, accent marks are used with the Latin alphabet. A double acute accent marks the primary pitch, e.g., re̋ka, decide. A single acute accent marks the secondary pitch, e.g., íðu, here. The basal pitch is unmarked.
    • 2.6.3 For purposes of intonation, Senjecan words are placed into two categories: those which take the primary pitch (verbs, nouns, adjectives, and interjections) and those which do not (the other words).
    • 2.6.4 Monosyllables, except for interjections and cardinal numbers, are pronounced on the basal pitch.
    • 2.6.5 The primary pitch regularly stands on the penult. When the verb is finite, the primary pitch remains on the penult, e.g., myműda. With the participles, the pitch is shifted so as to remain on the stem vowel, e.g., műdanti, műdaþu.
    • 2.6.6 The primary pitch may not be any farther back than the antepenult.
    • 2.6.7 Nouns and adjectives take the primary pitch on the penult, e.g., kőnmo, shin; sarþɘda̋ro, caravansary; ǧara̋ni, uphill.
    • 2.6.8 When nouns and adjectives are compounded, the root word retains the primary pitch and secondary pitches are placed on every other syllable backward (not counting the weak vowels), e.g., þa̋se, animal, + są̋ra, knowledge, + the agentive suffix –ą̋gu, = þásɘsąrą̋gu, zoologist.
    • 2.6.9 Some monosyllables attach themselves so closely to the preceding word that they do not influence the accent. These are called clitics and comprise an exception to the regular accent pattern.
      • 2.6.9.1 Enclitics join with the preceding word, e.g., the conjunction -k̬e, and; e.g.,ɱı̋rusk̬e ǧe̋nusk̬e, men and women.
      • 2.6.9.2 Proclitics join to the following word, e.g., e-, the morpheme for the past tense; se̋da, sit; e-se̋da, sat. Orthographically, the proclitics are linked to the word with a hyphen.
  • 2.7 Prosody – šenme̋ura
    • 2.7.1 In Senjecan poetry the Senjecan word is described in terms of the length of the sounds rather than the pitch. This quantitative meter consists of long syllables and short syllables, where a long syllable takes longer to pronounce than a short syllable. The pitch of the words makes no difference to the meter.
    • 2.7.2 The length of the sound is known as a mora (sáɱpulpı̋ðo). There are long and short morae.
    • 2.7.3 The following examples are monomoraic: a, da, d̬a.
    • 2.7.4 The following examples are bimoraic: ą, ai, dą, d̬as.
    • 2.7.5 The following examples are trimoraic: ąi, dąi, d̬ais.
    • 2.7.6 Examples:
      • ba̋-ka has two morae, ba̋-ko-s has three.
      • ca̋-ma has two morae, ca̋-l-ma has three.
  • 2.8 Punctuation – bőta
    • 2.8.1 The following punctuation is used with the three Senjecan alphabets.
      • An interpunct (⋅) (ɱįbőto) is used instead of spaces between words. This is no longer used in contemporary scripts, although it may be seen in formal writing.
      • The function of the comma to set off vocative exclamations and absolute phrases is taken by a period (.) (k̬ilbőto). It is also used to separate two independent clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction, and to separate an adverbial clause from its independent clause.
      • The function of the comma to set off noun and adjective clauses is taken by a hyphen (—) (mɪ̜̋bőto). No distinction is made between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses.
      • The function of the period is taken by two raised dots, a colon (:) (d̬obőto).
      • The end of a paragraph is marked by three dots (⋮) (tirbőto).
      • The function of quotation marks is taken by the quotative particle ɱa(r) placed before and after the quoted words.
      • Question marks and exclamation points are not used.
      • The spelling of Senjecas is unicameral, i.e., there are no capital letters. When the language is transliterated, the capitalization rules of the receiving language may be used.
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