Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w z ð ŋ ɹ ʃ ʒ ʤ ʧ θ/
↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Dental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
Nasal |
m |
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n |
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ŋ |
|
Stop |
p b |
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t d |
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k g |
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Affricate |
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ʧ ʤ |
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Fricative |
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f v |
θ ð |
s z |
ʃ ʒ |
|
|
h |
Approximant |
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|
|
ɹ |
|
j |
|
|
Lateral approximant |
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l |
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Co-articulated phonemes
↓Manner/Place→ |
Labio-velar |
Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /aɪ aʊ eɪ i u æ ɑ ɔɪ ɛ ɪ ʊ ʌ/
Diphthongs: aɪ, aʊ, eɪ, ɔɪ ?
|
Front |
Back |
High |
i |
u |
Near-high |
ɪ |
ʊ |
Low-mid |
ɛ |
ʌ |
Near-low |
æ |
|
Low |
|
ɑ |
Syllable structure: (C)V(C) ?
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ?
Word initial consonants: d, f, g, h, j, k, l, n, p, s, v, w, ð, ɹ, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ, θ
Mid-word consonants: b, bj, bn, bs, bɹ, bʃ, d, df, dj, dm, dn, dw, dʒ, dʤ, f, fd, fg, fh, fj, fn, ft, fw, fɹ, g, gh, gj, gm, gv, gɹ, gʃ, gʒ, h, hb, hj, hl, ht, hw, j, jb, jd, jf, jj, jk, jl, jn, jt, jð, jʃ, k, kd, kf, kh, km, ks, kv, kz, kɹ, kʃ, kʧ, l, ld, lf, lg, lj, ll, ln, lp, lɹ, lʒ, lʧ, m, mf, mh, mj, mm, mn, mv, mw, mɹ, mʒ, mʤ, mʧ, mθ, n, nd, nj, nl, nn, np, ns, nv, nð, nɹ, nʒ, nʤ, p, pj, pl, pm, pv, pz, pʧ, s, sb, sd, sl, sp, ss, sv, sw, sz, sʧ, t, tf, tg, tk, tm, tn, ts, tt, tv, tʤ, tʧ, v, vb, vd, vg, vw, vɹ, w, wd, wk, wl, wm, ws, wt, wð, wʤ, z, zb, zg, zj, zk, zl, zm, zn, zp, ð, ðj, ŋ, ŋd, ŋj, ŋk, ŋp, ŋs, ŋt, ŋθ, ɹ, ɹd, ɹk, ɹl, ɹn, ɹs, ɹt, ɹw, ɹð, ɹʧ, ʃ, ʃj, ʃk, ʃp, ʃt, ʃʧ, ʒ, ʒb, ʒj, ʒn, ʤ, ʤm, ʤt, ʧ, ʧf, ʧg, ʧk, ʧm, θ, θd, θh, θɹ
Word final consonants: b, d, f, g, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, z, ð, ŋ, ɹ, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ, θ
Phonological changes (in order of application): ?
- s → h / V_V
- m → w / B_#
- S → Ø / #_F
- θ → s / _k
- w → Ø / i_#
- l → h / _k
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation |
Spelling |
aɪ |
ie |
aʊ |
ou |
eɪ |
ay |
j |
y |
æ |
a |
ð |
dh |
ŋ |
ng |
ɑ |
ǎ |
ɔɪ |
oi |
ɛ |
e |
ɪ |
ǐ |
ɹ |
r |
ʃ |
sh |
ʊ |
o |
ʌ |
ǔ |
ʒ |
zh |
ʤ |
j |
ʧ |
ch |
|
|
θ |
th |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Singular |
No affix
lu /lu/
man |
No affix
shǐm /ʃɪm/
woman |
Plural |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -kʧæ
Else: Suffix -eɪkʧæ
lukcha /ˈlukʧæ/
men |
Suffix -ʌ
shǐmǔ /ˈʃɪmʌ/
women |
Articles
Chealain has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
1st singular |
zhɔǐ /ʒɔɪ/
I, me, mine |
2nd singular |
shi /ʃi/
you, yours |
3rd singular masc |
weǐg /weɪg/
he, him, his |
3rd singular fem |
heǐ /heɪ/
she, her, hers |
1st plural |
lǐth /lɪθ/
we, us, ours |
2nd plural |
rof /ɹʊf/
you (all), yours |
3rd plural masc |
gǎ /gɑ/
they, them, theirs |
3rd plural fem |
dhe /ðɛ/
they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular |
zhɔǐ /ʒɔɪ/
my |
2nd singular |
shi /ʃi/
your |
3rd singular masc |
weǐg /weɪg/
his |
3rd singular fem |
heǐ /heɪ/
her |
1st plural |
lǐth /lɪθ/
our |
2nd plural |
shi /ʃi/
your |
3rd plural masc |
gǎ /gɑ/
their |
3rd plural fem |
gǎ /gɑ/
their |
Verbs
Present |
No affix
chaǐs /ʧaɪs/
study |
Past |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -s
Else: Suffix -us
chaǐsus /ˈʧaɪsus/
studied |
Future |
Suffix -aʊb
chaǐsaob /ˈʧaɪsaʊb/
will study |
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.
Chealain uses the word for ‘finish’ emwǎ for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Chealain has a base-10 number system:
1 - daǐ
2 - shǐ
3 - ke
4 - vǎm
5 - dɔǐ
6 - iwsaǐbreǐd
7 - nǎ
8 - ye
9 - nǎs
10 - wɔǐng
11 - wɔǐngdaǐ “ten-one”
100 - thusha “hundred”
101 - thusha ǎ daǐ “hundred and one”
200 - shǐ thusha
1000 - rǔk “thousand”
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