T'Jal

LANGUAGE FAMILY:TYRILAN
# SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 1.85M / #23.5
SPOKEN IN: T'Jau - 1.8M / Sassam - 50K
PERIOD OF USE:
SCRIPT USED:
PARENT LANGUAGE:

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"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."
Translation: ka mo rim kron a nink ka nne a mit yimop tti lsaskʷ
Pronunciation: ka mo rim kɾon a nink ka nne a miːt ˈjimop ttiː lsaskʷ

T'jal word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /b d f g h j k kʰ kʷ l m n n̪ p pʰ r s t tʰ v w z ŋ ɣ ɫ ɭ ɰ ɾ ʃ ʤ ʧ ʨ ʨʰ β/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n̪	n					ŋ
Stop	p pʰ b			t tʰ d					k kʰ kʷ g
Affricate					ʧ ʤ		ʨʰ ʨ
Fricative	β	f v		s z	ʃ				ɣ	h
Approximant								j	ɰ
Tap				ɾ
Trill				r
Lateral approximant				l		ɭ

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar	Velarized alveolar
Approximant	w
Lateral approximant		ɫ

Vowel inventory: /a aː e eː i iː o oː u uː ɛ ɛː ɯ ɯː ʌ/

	Front	Back
High	i iː	ɯ ɯː u uː
High-mid	e eː	o oː
Low-mid	ɛ ɛː	ʌ
Low	a aː

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: b, d, dd, dj, dʃ, g, h, hb, hl, ht, hv, j, jd, jg, jl, jm, jn, js, jv, k, kl, ks, kt, kɾ, kʃ, l, ld, lg, lk, lm, ln, ls, lt, lʤ, m, md, ml, mʤ, n, nd, nk, nl, nm, nn, ns, nsl, nt, nɾ, nʤ, n̪j, p, pɫ, pɾ, r, rk, rr, s, sk, sl, st, t, tb, tl, tm, ts, tt, tɾ, tʃ, tʃm, v, vl, z, zd, zg, zl, ŋg, ɣ, ɣm, ɣɾ, ɰl, ɰls, ɾ, ɾb, ɾd, ɾh, ɾk, ɾkl, ɾl, ɾm, ɾt, ɾtʃ, ɾʃ, ʃ, ʃk, ʃl, ʃm, ʃt, ʤ, ʧ, ʧk, ʧm, βg, βl
Mid-word consonants: d, g, gj, gw, h, hj, j, k, kk, kkj, kpj, kpʰ, ks, kt, kw, kʨ, kʰ, m, md, mg, mh, mj, mm, mn, mnj, mp, mpʰj, ms, mt, mʨ, mʨʰ, n, nd, ng, ngj, nh, nj, nk, nm, nmj, nn, np, ns, nt, ntʰ, nʨ, nʨʰ, p, pj, pk, ps, pt, pʨ, pʨʰ, pʰ, pʰj, s, t, tk, tt, tʨ, tʨʰ, tʰ, w, ŋ, ŋd, ŋg, ŋgj, ŋh, ŋhj, ŋj, ŋk, ŋm, ŋmj, ŋn, ŋp, ŋpʰ, ŋpʰj, ŋs, ŋʨʰ, ɭd, ɭg, ɭgj, ɭgw, ɭk, ɭm, ɭp, ɭpʰ, ɭpʰj, ɭs, ɭt, ɭtʰ, ɭɭ, ɾ, ɾh, ɾj, ɾw, ʨ, ʨʰ
Word final consonants: b, bl, br, bs, bt, d, dd, dkʷ, dm, dw, f, ff, g, gg, gm, gn, gr, h, k, kk, kkʷ, kr, ks, ksk, ksp, kspl, kssp, kst, kstr, kt, kʷ, l, lg, lk, ll, ln, lp, ls, lt, ltr, lw, m, mb, mkʷ, mm, mn, mp, mpl, mpr, mw, n, nd, nf, nfl, nfr, ng, ngr, nk, nkl, nkr, nkʷ, nl, nn, ns, nskr, nsp, nst, nstr, nt, ntr, nw, p, pl, pp, ppl, ppr, pr, ps, pt, r, rb, rd, rf, rg, rk, rkʷ, rm, rn, rp, rr, rs, rsp, rt, rw, s, sd, sk, skʷ, sm, sp, ss, st, stkʷ, str, t, tkʷ, tr, ts, tt, ttr, w
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• h → ʔ / V_V
• ʤ → ð / u_a
• d → ∅ / _#
• h → w / #_
• r → rː / _[+nasal]
• k → j / _s#
• j → ʧ / V_V
• l → n / #_VC

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
p	b / #_ !_ʰ
pʰ	p
ŋ	ng
ɭ	l
ɾ	r
ʌ	eo
ɯ(ː)	eu
ɛ(ː)	ae
j	y
ː
tʰ	t
kʰ	k
ʨʰ	ch
ʨ	j

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 after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions

Nouns

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	If starts with vowel: Prefix d- Else: Prefix di- dipaef /diˈpɛf/ man	Prefix ko- kopaef /koˈpɛf/ men
Feminine	Prefix i- imamall /iˈmamall/ woman	Prefix ɛ- aemamall /ˈɛmamall/ women
Neuter	If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix ma- mamimb /ˈmamimb/ dog	Prefix tmu- tmumimb /ˈtmumimb/ dogs

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	i /i/ the	ni /ni/ a
Plural	and /and/ the	a /a/ some

Pronouns

1st singular	gi /gi/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	miw /miw/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	mo /mo/ he, him, his
3rd singular fem	ku /ku/ she, her, hers
3rd singular neut	bo /bo/ it, its
1st plural	be /pe/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	a /a/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	o /o/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	sap /sap/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)
3rd plural neut	kaem /kɛːm/ they (neut), them (neut), theirs (neut)

Possessive determiners

1st singular	mom /mom/ my
2nd singular	ʤam /ʤam/ your
3rd singular masc	a /a/ his
3rd singular fem	si /si/ her
3rd singular neut	lel /lel/ its
1st plural	ɣmu /ɣmu/ our
2nd plural	ydom /jdom/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	mim /mim/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	es /es/ their (fem)
3rd plural neut	ku /ku/ their (neut)

Verbs

Present	If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mɛ- maegik /ˈmɛgik/ learn
Past	No affix gik /gik/ learned

T'jal uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: op - op gik /op gik/ will learn

Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
T'jal uses a standalone particle word for progressive:

Progressive

Particle before the verb: i - i gik /i gik/ is learning

Habitual aspect
The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).
T'jal uses a standalone particle word for habitual:

Habitual

Particle before the verb: mɛːm - maem gik /mɛːm gik/ learns

Numbers

T'jal has a base-20 number system:
1 - now
2 - saksp
3 - vam
4 - lekot
5 - mikop
6 - ni
7 - ʃteuham
8 - utun
9 - tuwo
10 - mi
11 - nimkʷ
12 - epam
13 - bohip
14 - kankl
15 - meheoni
16 - nkumatib
17 - tupal
18 - naekip
19 - buman
20 - mosi
21 - mosi ka now “twenty and one”
400 - now uf “one fourhundred”
401 - now uf ka now “one fourhundred and one”
800 - saksp uf “two fourhundred”
8000 - now beka “one eightthousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mi-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix a-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix i-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mi-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ja-
Noun to verb = Prefix i-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix nd- Else: Prefix nda-
Tending to = Prefix piː-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix hoː-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix a-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix noː-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ- Else: Prefix ɣa-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix nm- Else: Prefix nme-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix h- Else: Prefix hoː-

Dictionary

4443 Words.