Alturrish

Otherwise known as Birdspeech, it's the native language of the Cakroa.

Natively known as: alturr /ɑlˈtʌʀ/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
kle zawk hek harre yk clyr kle crac clyg hek kyrc clol u
Pronunciation: /klɛ zɑwk hɛk hɑˈʀɛ ɪk klɪɹ klɛ kɹɑk klɪg hɛk kɪɹk klol ʌ/
Alturrish word order: and he hat his holding stood and the wind to his face wet turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: c d f g h k l n p q r s t v w z

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal			n
Stop	p		d t	c	k g	q
Fricative		f v	z s				h
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a e i o u y

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e	o
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ?
Sound changes (in order of application):

• a → ɑ
• bb → b
• b → b
• ch → ʧ
• c → k
• d → d
• e → ɛ
• ff → f
• f → f
• gg → g
• g → g
• h → h
• i → ɪ
• j → ʤ
• kk → k
• k → k
• ll → l
• l → l
• m → m
• ng → ŋ
• nn → n
• n → n
• o → o
• p → p
• q → k
• rr → ʀ
• r → ɹ
• sh → ʃ
• ss → s
• s → s
• th → θ
• t → t
• u → ʌ
• v → v
• w → w
• x → ks
• y → i
• z → z

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɑ	a
b	b
ʧ	ch
d	d
ɛ	e
f	f
g	g
h	h
i	y
ɪ	i
ʤ	j
k	k
l	l
m	m
ŋ	ng
n	n
o	o
p	p
ɹ	r
ʃ	sh
s	s
θ	th
t	t
ʌ	u
v	v
w	w
x	ks
z	z

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Grammar

Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?

Nouns

Nouns have six cases:

• Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
• Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and the done-to of a verb (man bites dog).
• Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
• Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
• Locative is the location of something: man is in town.
• Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.

Nouns form plural with separate plural word:

Plural

Particle before the noun: za - za rherrys /zɑ ɹhɛˈʀɪs/ dogs

Ergative	If contains {}: Suffix -anch Else: Suffix -ench rherrysanch /ɹhɛʀɪˈsɑnʧ/ dog (doing a transitive verb)
Absolutive	No affix rherrys /ɹhɛˈʀɪs/ dog (doing an intransitive verb)
Genitive	If contains {}: Suffix -u Else: Suffix -e rherrysu /ɹhɛʀɪˈsʌ/ dogʼs
Dative	If contains {}: Suffix -e Else: Suffix -o rherryse /ɹhɛʀɪˈsɛ/ to dog
Locative	If contains {}: Suffix -e Else: Suffix -i rherryse /ɹhɛʀɪˈsɛ/ near/at/by dog
Ablative	If contains {}: Suffix -es Else: Suffix -es rherryses /ɹhɛʀɪˈsɛs/ from dog

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	qas /kɑs/ the	dyss /dis/ a
Plural	hyl /hɪl/ the	krel /kɹɛl/ some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Used for languages: ‘The English’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’

Pronouns

	Ergative	Absolutive	Genitive	Dative	Locative	Ablative
1st singular	cra /kɹɑ/ I	he /hɛ/ me	y /ɪ/ mine	ca /kɑ/ to me	o /o/ to me	krer /kɹɛɹ/ from me
2nd singular	ku /kʌ/ you	hu /hʌ/ you	qred /kɹɛd/ yours	a /ɑ/ to you	fe /fɛ/ to you	qre /kɹɛ/ from you
3rd singular masc	zawk /zɑwk/ he, it (masc)	re /ɹɛ/ his, it (masc)	zarr /zɑʀ/ his, its (masc)	har /hɑɹ/ to his, to it (masc)	ha /hɑ/ to his, to it (masc)	hy /hɪ/ from his, from it (masc)
3rd singular fem	urr /ʌʀ/ she, it (fem)	gry /gɹi/ her, it (fem)	qad /kɑd/ hers, its (fem)	spus /spʌs/ to her, to it (fem)	qraw /kɹɑw/ to her, to it (fem)	qrarrk /kɹɑʀk/ from her, from it (fem)
1st plural	qlof /klof/ we	qle /klɛ/ us	klo /klo/ ours	u /ʌ/ to us	carr /kɑʀ/ to us	zyr /zɪɹ/ from us
2nd plural	qrack /kɹɑk/ you all	cu /kʌ/ you all	cle /klɛ/ yours (pl)	klurk /klʌɹk/ to you all	ark /ɑɹk/ to you all	kleck /klɛk/ from you all
3rd plural	rarr /ɹɑʀ/ they	yc /ɪk/ them	ak /ɑk/ theirs	qlyd /klɪd/ to them	rha /ɹhɑ/ to them	qyrc /kɪɹk/ from them

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	y /ɪ/ my
2nd singular	qlarc /klɑɹk/ your
3rd singular masc	heck /hɛk/ his
3rd singular fem	of /of/ her
1st plural	kryrk /kɹɪɹk/ our
2nd plural	rhyrk /ɹhɪɹk/ your (pl)
3rd plural	re /ɹɛ/ their

Verbs

	Present	Past
1st singular	If contains {}: Suffix -ar Else: Suffix -ir klocar /kloˈkɑɹ/ (I) learn	If contains {}: Suffix -yrc Else: Suffix -yrc klocyrc /kloˈkiɹk/ (I) learned
2nd singular	If contains {}: Suffix -u Else: Suffix -u klocu /kloˈkʌ/ (you) learn	If contains {}: Suffix -e Else: Suffix -e kloce /kloˈkɛ/ (you) learned
3rd singular	If contains {}: Suffix -ihk Else: Suffix -uhk klocyhk /kloˈkɪhk/ (he/she/it) learns	If contains {}: Suffix -eck Else: Suffix -ick kloceck /kloˈkɛk/ (he/she/it) learned
1st plural	If contains {}: Suffix -a Else: Suffix -u kloca /kloˈkɑ/ (we) learn	If contains {}: Suffix -a Else: Suffix -e kloca /kloˈkɑ/ (we) learned
2nd plural	If contains {}: Suffix -ek Else: Suffix -ok klocek /kloˈkɛk/ (you all) learn	If contains {}: Suffix -erk Else: Suffix -urk klocerk /kloˈkɛɹk/ (you all) learned
3rd plural	If contains {}: Suffix -ef Else: Suffix -uf klocef /kloˈkɛf/ (they) learn	If contains {}: Suffix -if Else: Suffix -uf klocyf /kloˈkɪf/ (they) learned

Alturrish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: cla - cla kloc /klɑ klok/ will learn

Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Alturrish uses the word for ‘already’ fo for the perfect aspect.

Numbers

Alturrish has a base-10 number system:
1 - zy
2 - qerr
3 - za
4 - qle
5 - cra
6 - cry
7 - crerc
8 - kluku
9 - qly
10 - err
100 - klykes
1000 - klass

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If contains {}: Suffix -a
Else: Suffix -a
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If contains {}: Suffix -o
Else: Suffix -i
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If contains {}: Suffix -ef
Else: Suffix -ef
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If contains {}: Suffix -ec
Else: Suffix -ac
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If contains {}: Suffix -ok
Else: Suffix -ak
Noun to verb = If contains {}: Suffix -a
Else: Suffix -u
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If contains {}: Suffix -ec
Else: Suffix -ic
Tending to = If contains {}: Suffix -u
Else: Suffix -e
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If contains {}: Suffix -u
Else: Suffix -i
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If contains {}: Suffix -is
Else: Suffix -as
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If contains {}: Suffix -ack
Else: Suffix -eck
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If contains {}: Suffix -u
Else: Suffix -u
Diminutive = If contains {}: Suffix -us
Else: Suffix -os
Augmentative = If contains {}: Suffix -a
Else: Suffix -a

Dictionary

3149 Words.

Spoken by

• Takronian