Prompt 15: Eternai

As seen in

Chronicles of Unsu: The Burning Anvil Tavern

Eternai is the languange of the other side. A languange that will be key in communicating with races from beyond the realm we call home. A key to understanding the creation of life and the worlds that came before. With it I hope to unlock the secrets that have been hidden from us. Who knows I may even one day be able to see our true creators thanks to this knowledge. - The Researcher of the Eternai Language

Eternai is an ancient and almost unknown language that has been traced to the other side of reality. Believed to be created by race or culture that existed before the rise of the Lazari that had the ability to traverse the realms of reality. This language has also been called the language of the eternals. Beings who are believed to watch over the different realms of reality.
The first uncovering of this language has been by a researcher who was trying to learn about the origin of the Lazari. Through his research he learned that the Lazari spoke and wrote in a language different from the common tongue. Used mainly as a means to keep things from the lower races that served them.
Through further research he would find ruins not built by the Lazari. Structures that depicted creatures and beings that were not known to those of Unsu. In these ruins he found more pieces of the language which allowed him to begin to build a dictionary. While he still works to find definitions to the words, he has been able to use the language in his new goal of finding the race or races that came before.

Natively known as: etai /eˈtai/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
plu la xamtha zell la co plu iff la gcwot igh kwe ukwa
Pronunciation: /plu lɒ ˈǂɒmtʰɒ zɛll lɒ ǀɔ plu iff lɒ ᶢǀ̤wɔt igh kwɛ ˈukwɒ/
Eternai word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b b̤ d f g h j k kʰ l m n p pʰ r s t tʰ v w z ŋ ǀ ǀʰ ǂ ǂʰ ǃ ǃʰ ɦ ɬ ɮ ɲ ʃ ʤ ʦʼ ʧʼ ᵑǀ ᵑǀ̤ ᵑǂ̤ ᵑǃ ᵑǃ̤ ᶢǀ̤ ᶢǃ̤

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m			n		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	p pʰ b b̤			t tʰ d			k kʰ g
Affricate				ʦʼ	ʧʼ ʤ
Fricative		f v		s z	ʃ			h ɦ
Approximant						j
Trill				r
Lateral fricative				ɬ ɮ
Lateral approximant				l
Click			ǀ ǀʰ ᵑǀ ᵑǀ̤ ᶢǀ̤	ǃ ǃʰ ᵑǃ ᵑǃ̤ ᶢǃ̤		ǂ ǂʰ ᵑǂ̤

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: i u ɒ ɔ ɛ

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Low-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Low		ɒ

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
bʱ	bh
ᵑǀʱ	ngc
ᵑǃʱ	ngq
ᵑǂʱ	ngx
ɲʧʼ	ntsh
ʧʼ	tsh
ᶢǃʱ	gq
ᶢǂʱ	gx
ᶢǀʱ	gc
ᵑǂ	nx
ǂʰ	xh
ᵑǃ	nq
kʰ	kh
ǃʰ	qh
ǃ	q
ǂ	x
ŋk	nk
ᵑǀ	nc
ǀʰ	ch
ǀ	c
ɮ	dl
j	y
ɲʤ	nj
ʤ	j
ɲ	ny
ɦ	hh
ɬ	hl
pʰ	ph
ʃ	sh
tʰ	th
ʦʼ	ts
ɒ	a
ɛ	e
ɔ	o

---

Grammar

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

Nouns

Singular

	Masculine	Feminine
Definite	Prefix i- ido /ˈidɔ/ the man	If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix jɒ- yahle /ˈjɒɬɛ/ the woman
Indefinite	If starts with vowel: Prefix ims- Else: Prefix imsɛ- imsedo /imˈsɛdɔ/ a man	Prefix ndɒ- ndahle /ˈndɒɬɛ/ a woman

Plural

	Masculine	Feminine
Definite	Prefix kɒ- kado /ˈkɒdɔ/ the men	If starts with vowel: Prefix ǀ- Else: Prefix ǀi- cihle /ˈǀiɬɛ/ the women
Indefinite	No affix do /dɔ/ some men	No affix hle /ɬɛ/ some women

Articles

Eternai encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.

Pronouns

1st singular	hlu /ɬu/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	i /i/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	la /lɒ/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	kwu /kwu/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	a /ɒ/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	nta /ntɒ/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	cur /ǀur/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	ni /ni/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)

Possessive determiners

1st singular	hlu /ɬu/ my
2nd singular	i /i/ your
3rd singular masc	la /lɒ/ his
3rd singular fem	kwu /kwu/ her
1st plural	a /ɒ/ our
2nd plural	nta /ntɒ/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	cur /ǀur/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	ni /ni/ their (fem)

Verbs

Present	No affix plang /plɒng/ learn
Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix ᵑǀw- Else: Prefix ᵑǀwɛ- ncweplang /ˈᵑǀwɛplɒng/ learned

Eternai uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: sɒǀ - sac plang /sɒǀ plɒng/ will learn

Imperfective aspect

The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).
Eternai uses an affix for imperfective:

Imperfective

Prefix pɒ- paplang /ˈpɒplɒng/ learns/is learning

Numbers

Eternai has a base-10 number system:
1 - si
2 - mlawn
3 - isi
4 - njo
5 - me
6 - gick
7 - o
8 - wing
9 - ust
10 - mhli
Hundred - zwansa
Thousand - en

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -b̤ɒ
Else: Suffix -ɛb̤ɒ
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ɒ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ss
Else: Suffix -iss
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɛl
Noun to verb = Suffix -ɔǀ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ɒ
Tending to = Suffix -u
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix w-
Else: Prefix wi-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -i
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ǃʰɔ
Else: Suffix -ɔǃʰɔ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ng
Else: Suffix -ɛng
Diminutive = Suffix -u
Augmentative = Suffix -ɒn

The Discovery of the Eternai Language

The language of the Eternai was discovered by a researcher who feels that the language is key to understanding what came before. While some question his belief in this language being the key to meeting the creator of everything. Some do accept that it may help in communing with outsiders from other realms. While most hope not to open that box, many feel knowledge is key to prepare for the worse. - The Salire Times

Dictionary

3031 Words.