Tnusjakt

Tnusjakt is a language spoken in Lheinead, along the coast just south of the peninsular known as Timeritah in Faraneit. The speakers are semi-agriculturalists, who have adopted many of the Etimri-speakers' crops, although not many of their methods. Still heavily reliant on fishing, and to a much lesser extent, gathering, they are considered relatively primitive by the Faraneih and other political powers in the area.

The speakers of this language refer to themselves as the "Tnusjaktut", meaning Tnusjakt-speakers.

Phonlogy

• Phonemes:
  • /p t k s n j a i u/
• Phonotactics:
  • Onsets:
    • Any Consonant
    • (s) + p / t / k + (n) + (j)
    • Nothing
  • Coda:
    • Any Consonant
    • (s / n) + p / t / k + (s)
    • p / k + t / p / k
    • Nothing
• Allophony:
  • Stress-Related
    • /ˈa ˈi ˈu/ > [áː íː úː]
    • /ˌa ˌi ˌu/ > [aː iː uː]
    • unaccented /a i u/ > [ə e o]
      1. /ˈt ˈp ˈk/ > [ts) pɸ) kx)]~[tʰ pʰ kʰ]
  • Voicing-Related
    • /t p k/ > [d b g], when between vowels or /n/
    • /s/ > [z]~[ɹ], when between vowels or /n/
    • /t p k/ > [d b g], when final after /a/
    • /t p k/ > [dʑ) bʲ ɟ], when final after /i/
    • /t p k/ > [dˠ bˠ ɢ], when final after /u/
    • /s/ > [z]~[h], when final after a vowel
  • Cluster-Related
    • /n/ assimilates to following consonant in clusters
    • /tj/ > [tɕ)j] when initial or in a cluster with another voiceless consonant, [dʑ)j] otherwise
    • /kj/ > [cj ɟj] with the same distinction
    • /pj/ > [pʲj bʲj] with the same distinction
    • /sj/ > [ɕj ʑj] with the same distinction
    • /apk akp/# > [agb)]
    • /ipk ikp/# > [iɟbʲ)]
    • /upk ukp/# > [uɢbˠ)]
    • /ukt/# > [uɣ_edˠ]
    • /ikt/# > [iɟdʲ]
    • /akt/# > [agd]
    • /apt/# > [abd]
    • /ipt/# > [ibʲdʲ]
    • /upt/# > [ubˠdˠ]

Grammar

Tnusjakt is relatively inflecting, in that it has established declension patterns and conjugations, and, similarly to Latin and other inflecting languages, lacks commonly used pronouns.

Three cases are distinguished: Oblique (topic-marking, arguably), Nominative, and Accusitive. Singular and Plural forms are distinguished in oblique and accusitive forms, but not the nominative.

There are only two true tenses: the perfect and imperfect, which function similarly to a past/non-past system. The particle/adverb tu, meaning now or presently, is extremely frequently used, and therefore is sometimes referred to as the present tense particle, but this is a minority interpretation. There are no imperfect forms of "to be", and that verb is highly irregular in the perfect.

When it comes to conjugation, no distinctions are made regarding number, which is generally credited to Rajo-Faraneit Languages' influence. A highly non-Rajo-Faraneit conjugated distinction is made between formal and informal forms of the second person.

Word order is rather fluid. Generally, topic proceeds other parts of the sentence, then followed by subject, then object, and finally verb. This emphasizes the Topic and to a lesser extent the Subject.

Other constructions are additionally extremely common, however, particularly TOSV, TSVO, SVOT, STVO. The first two are subtler promotions of the object's role. The third emphasizes the topic and object together. The fourth emphasizes the interaction between the topic and object, and is often used in cause and effect explanations.