Ancient Kaelic

"Si’ye nuyen"

— Ancient Kaelic saying

Ancient Kaelic is the language of Ayala Tat. It is considered a long-dead language, though there are still scholars in the Kaelic Temple who are capable of translation.

Writing System

The Ancient Kaelics used a syllabic alphabet. Most syllabics cover a CV pair (e.g., ka, ma, ni, tu), with standalone syllables for all vowels, and markers for terminal consonants (e.g., t, n, m, and l).

Phonology

Vowels

• a - saw
• ae - say
• e - met
• i - seat
• o - coat
• u - boot

Consonents

b, ch, d, f, h, j (rouge), k, l, m, n, p, r (alveolar tap), s, sh, t, th, v, w, y, z
/f/ and /g/ do not exist (actually, they do, but they are recognized as phonemes of v and k respectively). Y and w are soft, as a nonaspirated i- and u-.

Other Pronunciation Notes

Vocal onset is early. Stress always lands on the last syllable of the word or phrase.
This language is built for fast, smashed-together bursts, so most native speakers will spitfire a sentence, with extended emphasis on the last syllable of each phrase and then extend or alter the last syllable to convey tone. When speaking casually or emotionally, ending consonants will be tapped lightly or even dropped altogether. It is common to hear final vowels extended into an “ah” or “ae” extension at the end of a particularly emphathetic sentence. This end-of-sentence emphasis means that speakers will often restructure their sentence to put the important detail last so as to hit it with the elongation… ergo, passive voice serves a certain function that doesn’t translate.

Morphology

Regular verbs

The infinitive form of regular verbs end in an -i. This -i is extended and conjugated to indicate tense, aspect, and mood.
Example: "to walk" is tati. "I walked" is Kore tata, "I had walked" is Kore tatayea, and "I will have been capable of walking" is Kore taterayayo,

The Nine Title Suffixes

These nine suffixes are used to signify a certain relationship between people (such as -chan or -kun in Japanese). However, they also have particular connotations when added to inanimate objects, and are often used as a poetic short-hand.

• -ka (boy) – rily, loud, excitable, precocious
• -ken (girl) – small, flighty, emotional, cute
• -ke (child) – young, small, early
• -sa (man) – strong, robust, straightforward, straight
• -sen (woman) – beautiful, graceful, complicated, curvy
• -se (non-gendered person) – in its prime (not often used as poetic append)
• -ya (elder/superior man) – weathered, static, experienced
• -yen (elder/superior woman) – shrunken, frail, wise
• -ye (non-gendered elder/superior) – past its prime (not often used as poetic append)

Most words referring to people in this language (e.g., "person," "farmer," "child") are non-gendered, and can be gendered with one of the above nine. For example, "person" (el) can become "man" el-sa and "woman" el-sen.
For inanimate objects, one could append these as shorthand description. For example, for "tree"(esheva): an esheva-ken is a delicate sapling, while an esheva-sa is a strong and robust tree, and an esheva-yen is a gnarled old tree.

Syntax

Sentence structure

Number subject-adjsuff (adj clauses) verb-advsuff adverbs number object-adjsuff) (adjective clauses)

Subject/Object Carry-through

Subjects and objects are carried through by context. So, if a previous sentence has a particular subject, there is no need to restate it unless something changes.
Example: "I have a puppy. I love him." is "Kore maele aru-ka. Mame." Kore ("I") and aru-ka ("puppy") are implied in the second sentence, having been established in the first, leaving only the verb.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

Kore - I
Pola - You (single)

Korem - We
Polam - You (plural)

Third person pronouns (el for "person/he/she" and te for "it") and their plural counterparts (el'm and tem) are used less commonly than in English, since subjects and objects carry through.

Other Key Words

Iya - Yes
Va - No

Petae - Day
Anas - Night
Aya - Life
Mam - Love
El - Person
Mamel - Friend
Puku - Spear
Yaeya - Home
Yima - Sky
Punono - Rain
Toromae - Mountain

Konae - Hello
Vokonae - Goodbye

Yi - To be
Tati - To walk
Ayi - To live
Masi - To know

Loro - Red
Noleo - Blue
Vet - Black
Sheol - White
Ona - Good
Vena - Bad

The name for this world comes from the Ancient Kaelic word for "world": mum.

Successor Languages

• Middle Kaelic

Common Phrases

Si’ye nuyen

It's inevitable. Literally: "It's the tide."

Petae yae-zi?

How are you?. Literally: "How is the day?"

Beli imas wae

To goof around/to have fun. Literally: "To enjoy the sun passing"

Ara sazu

"As a grain of ash," describes something very small