Tibëdëyel
Tibëdëyel is a conlang spoken in Tibëdë.
Phonology
Consonants
| Letter | IPA symbol(s) |
|---|---|
| b | b |
| c | ts |
| d | d |
| dh | ð |
| f | f |
| g | ɡ |
| k | k |
| l | l |
| m | m |
| n | n |
| ŋ | ŋ |
| p | p |
| q | x |
| s | s |
| sh | ʃ |
| t | t |
| th | θ |
| v | v |
| y | j |
| z | z |
Note: There is no 'r' is Tibëdëyel- 'l' takes its place. Note 2: 'ŋ' can only appear at the end of a syllable.
Vowels
| Letter | IPA symbol(s) |
|---|---|
| e | ɛ |
| ë | i, iɪ |
| i | ɪ |
| o | ɒ |
| ö | ɔɪ |
Note: a word cannot end with the letter 'o' or 'i'.
Grammar
Case system
Tibëdëyel uses an ergative-absolutive case system, where the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are the same, but the subject of a transitive verb is different. Cases are always marked by suffixes. Tibëdëyel recognises four cases: absolutive (no suffix), ergative (-'lelë'), genitive (-'yel'), and locative (-'vib').
Word order
The most commonly used word order is Subject Verb Object, but since cases are marked it is not very important. In fact, it is not uncommon to see Verb Subject Object and Subject Object Verb, though the latter is seen as somewhat archaic by speakers (like saying words like 'thee' and 'thou' in English).
Tense
Most present tense verbs have 'a' as the last vowel sound in the word. For the past tense, 'e' is normally the last vowel sound and for future tense it is usually 'o'. Note that if this leaves 'o' as the last letter of the word, 'n' is added. For example, "iken rava" ("I see") becomes "iken ravon" ("I will see") in the future tense. There are exceptions to all three of these, but these are how the tenses are normally distinguished. An example of such an exception is 'adlavë', meaning "to want"- in this case, the second to last vowel is changed for tense.
Syllable stress
The second syllable of a word is normally stressed (e.g. Ti-BË-dë-yel).
Plurals
Words do not inflect to indicate plurals. Instead, one expresses a plural by preceding the word with the number of things, or the word 'den' (meaning- "plural", "more than one").
Pronouns
The basic personal pronouns are listed below: First person singular: iken Second person singular: shad Third person singular: azanë
Personal pronouns are treated like any other nouns, i.e. 'den iken' means 'we', 'ikenyel' means 'mine', etc. It is important to remember the language is ergative-absolutive, so this applies to pronouns as well, e.g.: "I see you" is "ikenlelë rava shad", and "I slept" is "iken gesheq".
