Trulsian
Natively known as: truls /tryls/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...tee mou rakt sched dak peech tee zoe dak tunlie rewul kle med
Pronunciation: /teː mɑu̯ raːkt sxət dɑk peːx teː zu dɑk tʏˈnli rəˈʋʏl klə mɛt/
Brulsian word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind Phonology: How are sounds produced in the mouth
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f j k l m n p r s t v x z ŋ ɣ ɦ ʋ| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Stop | p b | t d | k | |||
| Fricative | f v | s z | x ɣ | ɦ | ||
| Approximant | ʋ | j | ||||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i y | u | |
| Near-high | ɪ ʏ | ||
| High-mid | eː øː | oː | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | aː | ɑ |
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| sx | sch |
| x | ch |
| ʋ | w |
| p | b / _# |
| t | d / _# |
| d | t / C_# |
| x | g |
| ɣ | g |
| ɦ | h |
| ŋk | ng |
| ŋ | ng |
| yu | uw |
| u | oe / !_w |
| ɑoe̯ | ou |
| ʏ | u |
| eː | ee |
| aː | a |
| ɑ | a |
| oː | o |
| ɛ | e |
| ɔ | o |
| ɪ | i |
| i | ie / C_# |
| ɛi̯ | ij / _# |
| ɛi̯ | ei |
| œy̯ | ui |
| ʏ | u |
| y | u |
| øː | eu |
| ə | e |
| ̯ |
Grammar
Main word order: Verb Subject Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Opened Mary the door with a key.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
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 goes to town.
- Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
Singular
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Ergative | If starts with vowel: Prefix sxr- Else: Prefix sxrɛi̯- schreikint /sxrɛi̯ˈkint/ man (doing the verb to something) | Prefix eː- eego /eːˈɣoː/ woman (doing the verb to something) |
| Absolutive | No affix kint /kint/ man (doing the verb, but not to something) | No affix go /ɣoː/ woman (doing the verb, but not to something) |
| Genitive | If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix jɑu̯- joukint /jɑu̯ˈkint/ manʼs | If starts with vowel: Prefix vl- Else: Prefix vlœy̯- vluigo /vlœy̯ˈɣoː/ womanʼs |
| Dative | Prefix blɑ- blakint /blɑˈkint/ to (the/a) man | If starts with vowel: Prefix b- Else: Prefix bɔ- bogo /bɔˈɣoː/ to (the/a) woman |
| Locative | Prefix voː- vokint /voːˈkint/ near/at/by (the/a) man | Prefix ə- ego /əˈɣoː/ near/at/by (the/a) woman |
| Ablative | Prefix oː- okint /oːˈkint/ from (the/a) man | If starts with vowel: Prefix ɦ- Else: Prefix ɦɑ- hago /ɦɑˈɣoː/ from (the/a) woman |
Plural
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Ergative | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʋ- Else: Prefix ʋi- wikint /ʋiˈkint/ men (doing the verb to something) | Prefix jɛ- jego /jɛˈɣoː/ women (doing the verb to something) |
| Absolutive | If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix jeː- jeekint /jeːˈkint/ men (doing the verb, but not to something) | Prefix krɑ- krago /krɑˈɣoː/ women (doing the verb, but not to something) |
| Genitive | Prefix jaː- jakint /jaːˈkint/ menʼs | If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ- Else: Prefix ɣɑu̯- gougo /ɣɑu̯ˈɣoː/ womenʼs |
| Dative | Prefix rɑ- rakint /rɑˈkint/ to (the/some) men | If starts with vowel: Prefix sp- Else: Prefix spɑ- spago /spɑˈɣoː/ to (the/some) women |
| Locative | Prefix tʋɛ- twekint /tʋɛˈkint/ near/at/by (the/some) men | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʋ- Else: Prefix ʋʏ- wugo /ʋʏˈɣoː/ near/at/by (the/some) women |
| Ablative | If starts with vowel: Prefix kl- Else: Prefix kløː- kleukint /kløːˈkint/ from (the/some) men | Prefix ɦɑ- hago /ɦɑˈɣoː/ from (the/some) women |
Articles
| Definite | o /oː/ the |
| Indefinite | vrie /vri/ a, some |
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
- Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
- Used for languages: ‘The English’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
- 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 | e /ə/ I | ol /ɔl/ me, I | oe /u/ mine | alt /ɑlt/ to me | ze /zə/ at me | slest /sləst/ from me |
| 2nd singular | ars /ɑrs/ you | klou /klɑu̯/ you | vok /vɔk/ yours | schra /sxraː/ to you | wast /ʋɑst/ at you | engt /əŋkt/ from you |
| 3rd singular masc | rakt /raːkt/ he, it | eek /eːk/ him, it | dak /dɑk/ his, its | pou /pɑu̯/ to him, at it | drulf /drylf/ at him, at it | keecht /keːxt/ from him, from it |
| 3rd singular fem | ta /taː/ she, it | preem /preːm/ her, it | spei /spɛi̯/ hers, its | nok /noːk/ to her, at it | dees /deːs/ at her, at it | a /aː/ from her, from it |
| 1st plural | vad /vaːt/ we | ru /ry/ us, we | oub /ɑu̯p/ ours | uikt /œy̯kt/ to us | be /bə/ at us | rokt /roːkt/ from us |
| 2nd plural | sprift /sprift/ you all | melt /mɛlt/ you all | jeuch /jøːx/ yours (pl) | kelt /kəlt/ to you all | mal /maːl/ at you all | vrun /vrʏn/ from you all |
| 3rd plural masc | stercht /stərxt/ they (masc) | wo /ʋoː/ them (masc), they (masc) | zweer /zʋeːr/ theirs (masc) | zwu /zʋy/ to them (masc) | koch /kɔx/ at them (masc) | go /ɣoː/ from them (masc) |
| 3rd plural fem | ton /toːn/ they (fem) | zeem /zeːm/ them (fem), they (fem) | kei /kɛi̯/ theirs (fem) | nicht /nixt/ to them (fem) | tei /tɛi̯/ at them (fem) | schors /sxoːrs/ from them (fem) |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | oe /u/ my |
| 2nd singular | vok /vɔk/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | dak /dɑk/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | spei /spɛi̯/ her |
| 1st plural | oub /ɑu̯p/ our |
| 2nd plural | jeuch /jøːx/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural masc | zweer /zʋeːr/ their (masc) |
| 3rd plural fem | kei /kɛi̯/ their (fem) |
Verbs
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | Prefix vlœy̯- vluibilt /vlœy̯ˈbilt/ | If starts with vowel: Prefix tʋ- Else: Prefix tʋʏ- twubilt /tʋʏˈbilt/ |
| 2nd singular | Prefix dɑu̯- doubilt /dɑu̯ˈbilt/ | If starts with vowel: Prefix b- Else: Prefix bɛ- bebilt /bɛˈbilt/ |
| 3rd singular masc | If starts with vowel: Prefix dr- Else: Prefix draː- drabilt /draːˈbilt/ | If starts with vowel: Prefix sxr- Else: Prefix sxrɛi̯- schreibilt /sxrɛi̯ˈbilt/ |
| 3rd singular fem | Prefix eː- eebilt /eːˈbilt/ | If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix nɛ- nebilt /nɛˈbilt/ |
| 1st plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix dr- Else: Prefix dru- droebilt /druˈbilt/ | If starts with vowel: Prefix v- Else: Prefix vʏ- vubilt /vʏˈbilt/ |
| 2nd plural | Prefix snu- snoebilt /snuˈbilt/ | Prefix prɔ- probilt /prɔˈbilt/ |
| 3rd plural masc | If starts with vowel: Prefix bl- Else: Prefix blœy̯- bluibilt /blœy̯ˈbilt/ | Prefix oː- obilt /oːˈbilt/ |
| 3rd plural fem | If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mɛ- mebilt /mɛˈbilt/ | Prefix preː- preebilt /preːˈbilt/ |
| Past | Particle before the verb: ɣɔrs - gors bilt /ɣɔrs bilt/ learned |
| Future | Particle before the verb: y - u bilt /y bilt/ 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). Trulsian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:| Imperfective | Particle before the verb: snɛ - sne bilt /snɛ bilt/ learns/is learning |
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. Trulsian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:| Perfect | If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix ji- jibilt /jiˈbilt/ have learned |
Numbers
Trulsian has a base-10 number system: 1 - palf2 - veud
3 - peef
4 - hengt
5 - e
6 - zwek
7 - alf
8 - meng
9 - bru
10 - tem
11 - palf tee tem “one and ten”
100 - palf ba “one hundred”
101 - palf ba tee palf “one hundred and one”
200 - veud ba
1000 - palf jisu “one thousand”
Rules for creating new words based on existing words
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ-Else: Prefix ɣœy̯- Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lɪ- Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bi- Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ-
Else: Prefix ɣɛ- Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ɪ- Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix sx- Else: Prefix sxɔ- Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix jœy̯- Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix pl- Else: Prefix pleː- Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ə- Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix braː- One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix sx- Else: Prefix sxeː- Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix vr- Else: Prefix vrʏ- Diminutive = Prefix tʋaː- Augmentative = Prefix sly-
Dictionary
Common Female Names
Tweng, Spront, Blintsne, Sprilveem, Veist, Klolee, Spift, Lukee, Drordabree, Heree, Slinleeng
Common Male Names
Tachtchans, Jeizungt, Boft, Urt, Sneptocht, Guicht, Eusasuk, Dab, Pirdak, Bliho
Common Unisex Names
Peekeuch, Pruich, Plak, Meels, Spons, Vrifang, Besjeelf, Zols, Spob, Ting, Joulu
