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) |
|---|---|
| a | æ, ə |
| 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 (-'lel'), 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
Verbs are unaltered in the present tense. Past tense is indicated by adding the prefix 'e-' to the verb (if the first letter is a consonant), morphing the first letter into 'e' (if the first letter is a vowel except 'e') or by prefixing the letter 'n-' (if the first letter is 'e'). The method of indicating the future tense is the same, except 'o' is used instead of 'e'.
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").
Reduplication
Reduplication of the last syllable in a word is used to express "more" of an adjective, the same way '-er' and '-est' are sometimes used in English. For example:
| English | Tibëdëyel |
|---|---|
| green | semin |
| greener | seminmin |
| greenest | seminminmin |
Questions
A question is formed by adding the grammatical particle 'ce' to the end of a sentence. The word order stays the same as it would be for a statement.
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 "ikenlel yava shad", and "I slept" is "iken egesheq".
Sample text
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
yem den taniklel etidil shë e ked sesh vösolme e den veleshov. den azanëlel idrö maëb e shlen e sillë zezel sesh neshë abicnesyel.
