Taalli

This is the language of the Ta.

Natively known as: speul /spøːl/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
or gre duircht gun mo irtnedeercht or gein mo vek ble kes graft
Pronunciation: /oːr ɣrɛ dœy̯rxt ɣʏn moː ɪrtnəˈdeːrxt oːr ɣɛi̯n moː vɛk blə kɛs ɣrɑft/
Taalli word order: and stood he holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

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	b p		d t		k
Fricative		v f	z s		ɣ x	ɦ
Approximant		ʋ		j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Vowel inventory: aː eː i oː u y øː œy̯ ɑ ɑu̯ ɔ ə ɛ ɛi̯ ɪ ʏ
Diphthongs: œy̯ ɑu̯ ɛi̯ ?

	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

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ?
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
sx	sch
x	g / _#
x	ch
ʋ	w
p	b / _#
t	d / _#
d	t / C_#
ɣ	g
ɦ	h
ŋk	ng
ŋ	ng
yu	uw
u	oe / !_w
ɑoe̯	ou
eː	ee
aː	a
ɑ	a
oː	o
ɛi̯	ij / _#
ɛi̯	ei
ɛ	e
ɔ	o
i	ie / C_#
œy̯	ui
ɪ	i
ʏ	u
y	u
øː	eu
ə	e
̯

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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 before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Nouns

Nouns have two cases:

• Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
• Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.

Nominative	No affix ver /vɛr/ dog (doing the verb)
Accusative	Prefix ɑ- aver /ɑˈvɛr/ (verb done to) dog

Singular	No affix ver /vɛr/ dog
Plural	Prefix u- oever /uˈvɛr/ dogs

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	voekt /vukt/ the	bou /bɑu̯/ a
Plural	gra /ɣraː/ the	o /oː/ some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Used for languages: ‘The English’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• 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

	Nominative	Accusative
1st singular	bralf /braːlf/ I	vra /vraː/ me
2nd singular	ble /blɛ/ you	brang /brɑŋ/ you
3rd singular masc	duircht /dœy̯rxt/ he, it (masc)	ou /ɑu̯/ his, it (masc)
3rd singular fem	woent /ʋunt/ she, it (fem)	wein /ʋɛi̯n/ her, it (fem)
1st plural	jeils /jɛi̯ls/ we	ij /ɛi̯/ us
2nd plural	gangt /ɣɑŋkt/ you all	schrel /sxrɛl/ you all
3rd plural	gakt /ɣaːkt/ they	ee /eː/ them

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	ee /eː/ my
2nd singular	kur /kʏr/ your
3rd singular masc	mo /moː/ his
3rd singular fem	snij /snɛi̯/ her
1st plural	engt /ɛŋkt/ our
2nd plural	houns /ɦɑu̯ns/ your (pl)
3rd plural	wek /ʋək/ their

Verbs

Present	No affix kost /kɔst/ learn
Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix sxr- Else: Prefix sxroː- schrokost /sxroːˈkɔst/ learned
Remote past	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ- Else: Prefix ɣoː- gokost /ɣoːˈkɔst/ learned (long ago)
Future	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɦ- Else: Prefix ɦaː- hakost /ɦaːˈkɔst/ 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).
Taalli uses an affix for imperfective:

Imperfective

If starts with vowel: Prefix sxr- Else: Prefix sxrɑ- schrakost /sxrɑˈkɔst/ 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.
Taalli uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

If starts with vowel: Prefix sp- Else: Prefix speː- speekost /speːˈkɔst/ have learned

Numbers

Taalli has a base-20 number system:
1 - oug
2 - spre
3 - schrecht
4 - sem
5 - ef
6 - ont
7 - wou
8 - eelvoe
9 - punt
10 - vleer
11 - plildelt
12 - beg
13 - rintangeuls
14 - dui
15 - gem
16 - bou
17 - mechteng
18 - spa
19 - malij
20 - os
400 - bren
8000 - zuk

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix oː-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix v-
Else: Prefix vaː-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ɑ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix œy̯-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɦ-
Else: Prefix ɦɛ-
Noun to verb = Prefix i-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix oːlk-
Else: Prefix oːlkeː-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix oːntm-
Else: Prefix oːntmɑ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jɔ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix vrə-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix draː-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ-
Else: Prefix ɣaː-
Diminutive = Prefix spɑ-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jɛi̯-

Dictionary

3061 Words.