Natively known as: trai /trai̯/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
cyd ych we lloi dydd rnau cyd cin dydd ram eth thy foyd
Pronunciation: /kɨːd ɨːχ wɛ ɬɔi̯ dəð rnau̯ kɨːd kin dəð ram eːθ θɨː vɔɨ̯d/
Trai word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d g h j k l m n n̥ p r r̥ s t v w ð ŋ ɬ ʃ θ χ
↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Dental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Uvular |
Glottal |
Nasal |
m |
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n n̥ |
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ŋ |
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Stop |
p b |
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t d |
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k g |
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Fricative |
|
v |
θ ð |
s |
ʃ |
|
|
χ |
h |
Approximant |
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j |
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Trill |
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r r̥ |
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Lateral fricative |
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ɬ |
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Lateral approximant |
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l |
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Co-articulated phonemes
↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: a ai̯ au̯ aɨ̯ aː ei̯ eɨ̯ eː i iː oː u uː ɔ ɔi̯ ɔɨ̯ ə əu̯ ɛ ɛu̯ ɨ ɨu̯ ɨː ɪ ɪu̯ ʊ ʊɨ̯
Diphthongs: ai̯ au̯ aɨ̯ ei̯ eɨ̯ ɔi̯ ɔɨ̯ əu̯ ɛu̯ ɨu̯ ɪu̯ ʊɨ̯
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
High |
iː i |
ɨ ɨː |
u uː |
Near-high |
ɪ |
|
ʊ |
High-mid |
eː |
|
oː |
Mid |
|
ə |
|
Low-mid |
ɛ |
|
ɔ |
Low |
a aː |
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Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Word initial consonants: b bl d dr dw g gw gwl gwn gwr h j k kl l m n nt n̥ p pl pr r rn r̥ s sd sn t tr v w ð ɬ ʃ θ θj χ
Mid-word consonants: b d dl dr g gl gw h l m ml mr ms n nr̥ nt nw r rb rd rv rw rɬ sg tbl v vj vl vn ð ðj ŋ ɬ θ χ χr
Word final consonants: b d g k l ld m n nd nt r rs rθ s sg t v vn vr ð ŋ ɬ θ χ
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation |
Spelling |
f |
ph |
v |
f |
k |
c |
ŋ |
ng |
χ |
ch |
θ |
th |
r̥ |
rh |
ɬ |
ll |
ð |
dd |
ɪu |
iw |
ɨu |
uw |
ʊɨ |
wy |
ɛu |
ew |
ɔi |
oi |
əu |
yw |
eɨ |
ey |
aː |
a |
ɔ |
o |
oː |
o |
iː |
i |
ɪ |
i |
eː |
e |
ɛ |
e |
uː |
w |
ʊ |
w |
j |
i |
ɨː |
y |
ɨ |
y |
ə |
y |
ʃ |
si |
n̥ |
n |
̯ |
|
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 five cases:
- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is 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.
Nominative |
No affix
oym /ɔɨ̯m/
dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative |
Prefix ɪ-
ioym /ɪˈɔɨ̯m/
(verb done to) dog |
Genitive |
Prefix neɨ̯-
neyoym /neɨ̯ˈɔɨ̯m/
dogʼs |
Dative |
Prefix ɨ-
yoym /ɨˈɔɨ̯m/
to (the/a) dog |
Locative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix dɪ-
doym /dɔɨ̯m/
near/at/by (the/a) dog |
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Singular |
No affix
aid /ai̯d/
man |
No affix
ge /geː/
woman |
Plural |
Prefix ɔi̯-
oiaid /ɔi̯ˈai̯d/
men |
If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bɪ-
bige /bɪˈgeː/
women |
Articles
|
Definite |
Indefinite |
Singular |
ei /ei̯/
the |
gwes /gwɛs/
a |
Plural |
ne /neː/
the |
ai /ai̯/
some |
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
Genitive |
Dative |
Locative |
1st singular |
y /ɨ/
I |
cair /kai̯r/
me |
uwrs /ɨu̯rs/
mine |
basg /basg/
to me |
ha /ha/
at me |
2nd singular |
lwnd /lʊnd/
you |
chuw /χɨu̯/
you |
be /bɛ/
yours |
snad /snad/
to you |
esg /eːsg/
at you |
3rd singular masc |
we /wɛ/
he, it |
yw /əu̯/
him, it |
w /ʊ/
his, its |
ir /ɪr/
to him, at it |
rny /rnɨː/
at him, at it |
3rd singular fem |
myng /mɨŋ/
she, it |
dim /dim/
her, it |
eng /ɛŋ/
hers, its |
yng /əŋ/
to her, at it |
pluw /plɨu̯/
at her, at it |
1st plural |
rny /rnə/
we |
lych /ləχ/
us |
wf /ʊv/
ours |
llond /ɬɔnd/
to us |
thiec /θjɛk/
at us |
2nd plural |
gwrais /gwrai̯s/
you all |
hew /hɛu̯/
you all |
dy /dɨ/
yours (pl) |
gi /giː/
to you all |
dwuwn /dwɨu̯n/
at you all |
3rd plural masc |
nai /nai̯/
they (masc) |
hay /haɨ̯/
them (masc) |
cher /χɛr/
theirs (masc) |
nwnt /nʊnt/
to them (masc) |
by /bɨ/
at them (masc) |
3rd plural fem |
a /a/
they (fem) |
beig /bei̯g/
them (fem) |
fai /vai̯/
theirs (fem) |
yws /əu̯s/
to them (fem) |
prei /prei̯/
at them (fem) |
Possessive determiners
1st singular |
such /suχ/
my |
2nd singular |
thu /θu/
your |
3rd singular masc |
dydd /dəð/
his |
3rd singular fem |
truwfr /trɨu̯vr/
her |
1st plural |
yw /əu̯/
our |
2nd plural |
bo /boː/
your (pl) |
3rd plural masc |
cla /kla/
their (masc) |
3rd plural fem |
a /a/
their (fem) |
Verbs
Future |
Prefix sɨ-
syrnu /sɨrˈnu/
will learn |
Trai uses a standalone particle word for past tense:
Past |
Particle before the verb: ɛ -
e rnu /ɛ rnu/
learned |
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).
Trai uses an affix for imperfective:
Imperfective |
If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bɨ-
byrnu /bɨrˈnu/
learns/is learning |
Numbers
Trai has a base-10 number system:
1 -
bloill
2 -
ci
3 -
wa
4 -
eydd
5 -
llw
6 -
hu
7 -
ceyn
8 -
pasgom
9 -
tha
10 -
ei
11 -
eibloill “ten-one”
100 -
bloill ewn “one hundred”
101 -
bloill ewn bloill “one hundred one”
200 -
ci ewn
1000 -
bloill aroi “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bɨ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix ɨu̯-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix gwl-
Else: Prefix gwlei̯-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix v-
Else: Prefix vɛ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix la-
Noun to verb = Prefix kɨ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix paː-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix dei̯-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix tr-
Else: Prefix trɪu̯-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix r̥ɪ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ɨ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix naɨ̯-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix pr-
Else: Prefix prɛ-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix nuː-
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