Syong na Setche /sʲoŋ na Sɛtʃe/

Writing System

Writing System

Type: Featural Alphabet with a custom script.

Concept: Each symbol will represent phonetic properties, such as consonants and vowels, using distinctive features like voicing, aspiration, and palatalization. The script will be visually structured so that features like aspiration or retroflexion can be easily recognized and distinguished from other sounds.

Direction of Writing: Top to Bottom

Key Features

Consonant Symbols:

• Each consonant symbol will be built with features reflecting the type of consonant it represents (e.g., voiceless or voiced, aspirated or unaspirated, retroflex or non-retroflex).
• Retroflex consonants will have a distinguishing mark or modification to the base character.
• Palatalized sounds (like /ʃ/ before i, e, ü, ö) will have additional marks or diacritics that signal this change.

Vowel Symbols

• Vowels will be simple, standalone symbols, each corresponding to one of the vowel sounds in Syoŋ na Setche (i, e, ü, ö, ı, a, u, o, ɑ, ɛ, y, ɨ).
• Vowel harmony will be evident in the script, possibly indicated by specific groups of vowel symbols that are used together (e.g., front vowels vs. back vowels).

Aspiration

• Aspirated consonants will have a feature (e.g., an added stroke or small mark) to distinguish them from their unaspirated counterparts.

Tone Representation

• Tones will be marked above or below the syllables, using a tonal diacritic that indicates the four main tones and the neutral tone.

Aesthetic

The script will be visually distinct, using flowing lines to reflect the phonetic features of the language. Symbols will be designed to be both functional and visually appealing, with an emphasis on simplicity and clarity.

Phonology

Tones

Syoŋ na Setche is a tonal language with four main tones and a neutral tone:

• High-level (˥) – steady, high pitch.
• Rising (˧˥) – starts mid and rises.
• Low-dipping (˨˩˦) – falls and then rises.
• Falling (˥˩) – starts high and drops sharply.
• Neutral – short, weak tone.

Tone Sandhi

The low-dipping tone (˨˩˦) changes into a rising tone (˧˥) only within a single word when followed by another low-dipping tone.

Syllable Structure

The basic syllable structure is (C)(G)V(N/C), where:

• C = Consonant (optional).
• G = Glide (j, ɾ, ʎ) (optional).
• V = Vowel (required).
• N/C = Nasal or final consonant (optional).

Final Consonant Restrictions

/b/ is prohibited in word-final position. It shifts to /p, ç, t, or k/ depending on phonological conditioning.

Consonants

Consonant Inventory

Plosives	Affricates	Fricatives	Nasals	Liquids	Glides
p	tʃ	s	m	l	j
t	ts	ʃ	ŋ	ɾ
k	ʈʂ	h		ʎ
b		ç

• No voicing distinction in stops; only aspiration matters.
• Retroflex consonants are marked in writing with a special feature.
• Palatalization occurs before i, e, ü, ö, and palatalized sounds have additional diacritics.

Vowels

Syoŋ na Setche has a Turkish-style vowel harmony system, with the following vowels:

Front Vowels	Back Vowels
Unrounded: i, e, ɛ	Unrounded: ı, a, ɑ
Rounded: ü, ö, y	Rounded: u, o, ɨ

• Instead of affecting suffixes, vowel harmony occurs between vowels within words.
• Front vowels occur together, and back vowels occur together in a word with more than one vowel.

Morphology

Syoŋ na Setche is an isolating language, meaning words do not change form through inflection. Instead, grammatical relationships are expressed through word order, helper words (particles), and auxiliary verbs.

Nouns

Plurality: There is no plural suffix. If needed, plurality is indicated by:

• Context (one dog vs. many dog).
• A separate quantifying word (group person instead of people).
• The language does not use classifiers or reduplication for plurality.

Possession:

• Marked by word order ("the teacher book" for "the teacher's book").
• A possessive particle can also be used for emphasis or clarification ("book mine" for "my book").

Cases:

• No case suffixes.
• Prepositions or word order indicate relationships (I give book to teacher instead of marking "teacher" with a suffix).

Verbs

No Conjugation: Verbs do not change for person, tense, or aspect.

• I eat, you eat, he eat (same verb form for all subjects).

Tense: Expressed through time words or auxiliary verbs:

• I eat yesterday (I ate).
• I will eat (I will eat).

Aspect:

• Continuous/progressive: I am eat (I am eating).
• Perfect: I already eat (I have eaten).

Negation:

• The negation word appears before the verb: I not eat (I do not eat).
• Negation in Verb Serialization: "I not eat go" → This negates only one verb ("I do not go to eat").

Word Formation

Compounds: Words are usually kept separate, rather than being fused into long compound words (fire + water instead of firewater).

No Reduplication: Reduplication is not used for grammatical functions.

Syntax

Word Order

Syoŋ na Setche follows the SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) structure. This means the subject comes first, followed by the object, and then the verb.

Example: I (S) apples (O) eat (V).

• Adjectives come before the noun.
• Adverbs generally follow the verb.

Questions

Questions are formed by adding a question particle at the end of the sentence. The question particle is -tʃe.

• Example: I apples eat-tʃe? (meaning "Do I eat apples?").
• This applies to all question types, including yes/no questions and WH-questions.

Negation

In negation, the negation word comes before the verb.

Example: I not eat apples instead of I do not eat apples.

Vocabulary

Core Cultural Concepts

• Harmony / Balance → Choru /tʃoɾu/
• Respect / Honor → Metcha /mɛtʃa/
• Ancestor / Forebear → Chengu /tʃɛŋu/
• Spirit / Soul → Hori /hɔɾi/
• Wisdom / Knowledge → Selku /sɛlku/
• Tradition / Custom → Ngepha /ŋɛpʰa/

Family & Social Structure

• Family → Kina /kɨna/
• Elder / Grandparent → Ropha /ɾopʰa/
• Parent (Mother, Father) → Romu /ɾɔmu/
• Child / Offspring → Ketche /kɛtʃu/
• Brother → Sero /sɛɾo/
• Sister → Sera /sɛɾa/
• Marriage / Wedding → Lotche /lɔtʃe/
• Friend / Companion → Nyaru /ɲɑɾu/
• Stranger / Outsider → Hilko /hɨlko/
• Order / Sect / Gathering → Chungse /tʃuŋsɛ/

Daily Life

• Home / Household → Rutu /ɾutu/
• Food / Meal → Meku /mɛku/
• Tea / Tea Ceremony → Chengo /tʃəŋo/
• Clothing → Phole /pʰolɛ/
• Work / Labor → Soru /sɔɾu/
• Rest / Sleep → Ngura /ŋuɾa/
• Language / Speech → Syoŋ /sʲoŋ/
• Record / Archive → Seruŋ /sɛɾuŋ/

Nature & Environment

• Mountain / Peak → Hatchu /hɑtʃu/
• Valley / River → Sengu /sɛŋu/
• Sky → Pitcho /pɨtʃo/
• Sun → Remu /ɾɛmu/
• Moon → Khulu /kʰulu/
• Tree / Forest → More /mɔɾe/
• Stone / Cliff → Chilpa /tʃɨlpa/
• Connection / Crossing → Luntu /luntu/

Spirituality & Rites

• Ancestor Ritual / Offering → Cheni /tʃɛnɨ/
• Prayer / Meditation → Lisi /lɨsɨ/
• Sacred / Holy → Ngicha /ŋɨtʃa/
• Birth → Thomu /tʰɔmu/
• Death → Hiru /hɨɾu/
• Burial / Cliff Burial → Chonge /tʃɔŋe/

?

• Of (Possessive Marker) → Na /na/

Successor Languages

• Common

Spoken by

• Ketche na Setche /kɛtʃu na Sɛtʃɛ/