OT2.0
An eclectic language created from texts from the Teach Yourself language books, originally produced by the English Universities Press, latterly by Hodder and Stoughton.
The guiding principle was to take foreign language words from the contents pages of each grammar and use them as the basis of an imaginary language. Also used were irregularities affecting verbs and nouns, etc., and descriptions of courtesy language (notably, Japanese, Samoan and Modern Persian).
The language creator is Andrew Smith.
Details of the language speakers and culture are speculative as yet. One name I have for this language is 'the language of the ghost people' or 'ghostian', suggesting that the speakers are perceived as a fair-skinned race by outsiders.
Pronunciation
Consonants:
| labial | dental | alveolar | postalveolar | palatal | velar | glottal | |
| unvoicedstops | p | t | k | ||||
| voiced stops | b | d | g | ||||
| affricates | tʃ | ||||||
| unvoiced fricatives | f | s | ʃ | ||||
| voiced fricatives | v | h | |||||
| nasals | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| lateral | l | ||||||
| approximant | ɹ | ||||||
| semivowels | w | j |
Vowels:
OT2.0 has the vowels /i ɪ e ɛ a ʉ ʊ ɔ ɑ/. i, e, ʉ are always long and are written with a circumflex. a can be long or short and is written with an accent. ɔ is considered as a long ɑ and also written with an accent.
Orthography:
In the latin alphabet:
a b ch d e f g h i k l m n ng o p r s sh t u v w y
The 'original' conscript for OT2.0 is as yet unknown.
Infinitive/Verbal Noun
The infinitive generally ends with -ant. It is alternative uses to being the infinitive form of the verb. The language also uses it as a verbal noun: a word ending in '-ing' or in '-ation'; and as an adjective derived from verbs.
A number of verbs derived from nouns exist only as verbal nouns; as do causative verbs derived from other verbs. In such cases tense and person are described peripherally from the verb. More information will be released as a better understanding on how they work emerges.
Grammar
Wohant, to be, being
The present tense of 'to be' is as follows:
| me mi | I am | meme en | we are |
| te si | you (sg) are | tete ti | you (pl) are |
| ta ti | he is | ga en (ti) | they are |
The pronouns for 'she' and 'it' are da and ten respectively. If the subject is a plural noun, the verb form is ti rather than en.
In old high literature the forms of the verb for 'we are' and 'they are' are emo and eno. These forms are not used in the spoken language.
The past tense of 'to be' is
| me wora | I was | meme woren | we were |
| te woret | you (sg) were | tete woret | you (pl) were |
| ta woret | he was | ga woren (woret) | they were |
The past tense of 'to be' translates both 'I have been' and 'I was' It can also acts as an auxiliary.
The negative verb marker is a clitic. After a consonant it is shim, after a vowel him. In a subordinate clause it becomes an independent adverb and moves to in front of the verb.
| me ve tehim | I was not | meme ve enshim | we were not |
As an independent word shim, shidim means 'nothing'.
The future tense of 'to be' is
| me ve bude | I will be | meme ve budun | we will be |
| te ve bud | you (sg) will be | tete ve bud | you (pl) will be |
| ta ve bud | he will be | ga ve budun (bud) | they will be |
Ve is described as a non-present participle that is placed between the subject and a past or future verb. It is not used with wora, but it is used with bud
The imperative is wohú. This is considered abrupt and only used as a command.
With adjectives mi and wora describes a temporary or accidental situation, and deide mi and deide wora describes a more permanent or general situation.
A'nt, to have, auxiliary verb
A'nt is used to mean 'to have (done something)'. It is not used to mean 'to have, possess or hold'. In this sense the language prefers to use a prepositional phrase.
Present tense:
| me a' | I have | meme a'n | we have |
| te aft | you (sg.) have | tete aft | you (pl.) have |
| ta aft | he has | ga a'n (aft) | they have |
In the old high language the contracted forms insert a -b-: me ab, meme/ga aben, abant. This has dropped out of the modern language.
Past tense:
| me ve yed | I had | meme ve yeden | we have |
| te ve yed | you (sg.) had | tete ve yed | you (pl.) had |
| ta ve yede | he had | ga ve yeden (ve yed) | they had |
A'nt is not used with reflexive verbs or verbs of motion.
Yirant, to go (by foot)
Present tense:
| me yire | I go | meme yirun | we go |
| te yir | you (sg.) go | tete yir | you (pl.) go |
| ta yir | he goes | ga yirun |
The past tense is irregular (there must be a story behind that):
| me ve sefa | I went | meme ve seften | we went |
| te ve seft | you (sg.) went | tete ve seft | you (pl.) went |
| ta ve sefte | he goes | ga ve seften | they went |
