Galactic Standard

Natively known as: matlâ /ˈmatlə/

The Galactic Standard language is the primary language spoken by people who normally travel between the Factions and Millennium Station. It was originally devised as a easy to learn/teach language used for first contact scenarios with new and emergent species. It has since evolved and been adopted as a standard language for use in all areas. Especially to facilitate communication between the factions.

Each Faction has their own standard language, so it was easier to use Matlâ since most people knew at least some of it. Matlâ is no longer used as the language for first contact, new rapid translation algorithms have been developed that allow direct communication. This allowed Matlâ to evolve naturally as a language on its own.

Phonology

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
wâ tâ fokh buf so wim wâ sewlâ so yampa âwvo a sâgkang[alt]
Pronunciation: /wə tə fox buf so wim wə ˈsewlə so ˈjampa ˈəwvo a ˈsəgkaŋ/
Matlâian word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind[/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w x z ŋ ɣ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʦ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n			ŋ
Stop	p b		t d			k g
Affricate			ʦ ʣ
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ ʒ		x ɣ	h
Approximant					j
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a e i o u ə

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
High-mid	e		o
Mid		ə
Low	a

Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: b d f g j l m n p s t v w x ŋ ʃ ʒ
Mid-word consonants: b bd bl bm bn bs bt bv bz bʃ d db dd df dg dj dl dm dn ds dw dx dʃ f fg fh fj fk fm fw fʃ g gh gj gk gm gn gt gw gz gʒ h hj hk hl hm ht j jb jj jk jl jn js jv jz jʒ k kb kd kf kj kl kn ks kv kw kz kʦ l lf lg lm lp ls lv lw lz lɣ lʃ m mb md mf mg mh mj mn mp ms mʦ n ng nh nj nk nl nn np nt nv nw nʃ nʒ p pf pl pm pp ps pt pv px pʃ s sb sg sj sk sl sm ss st sv sw sx sz t td tf th tj tk tl tp tw tʦ v vb vd vl vn vv vw w wd wl wm ws wv ww wx wz x xf xh xj xk xn xs xt z zd zg zk zl zt zz ŋ ŋh ŋk ŋs ŋt ŋw ŋʦ ɣ ɣj ɣm ʃ ʃb ʃh ʃl ʃm ʃn ʃp ʃx ʒ ʒd ʒl ʒn ʣ ʦ ʦl ʦn
Word final consonants: b d f g h k l m s t v x z ŋ ɣ ʒ ʣ ʦ
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ə	â
j	y
x	kh
ŋ	ng
ʃ	sh
ʒ	zh
ʣ	dz
ʦ	ts
ɣ	ĝ

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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	No affix dum /dum/ dog
Plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pu- pudum /ˈpudum/ dogs

Articles

Definite	yam /jam/ the
Indefinite	to /to/ a, some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
• 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

1st singular	tuv /tuv/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	yazh /jaʒ/ you, yours
3rd singular	tâ /tə/ he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its
1st plural	fez /fez/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	fa /fa/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	u /u/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

1st singular	si /si/ my
2nd singular	tu /tu/ your
3rd singular	so /so/ his, her, its
1st plural	fi /fi/ our
2nd plural	u /u/ your (pl)
3rd plural	lo /lo/ their

Verbs

Present	No affix fud /fud/ learn
Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix v- Else: Prefix vo- vofud /ˈvofud/ learned
Remote past	If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pu- pufud /ˈpufud/ learned (long ago)

Matlâian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: ji - yi fud /ji fud/ will learn

Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Matlâian uses an affix for progressive:

Progressive

Prefix le- lefud /ˈlefud/ 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).
Matlâian uses a standalone particle word for habitual:

Habitual

Particle before the verb: ʒa - zha fud /ʒa fud/ learns

Morphology

• Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ- (Else: Prefix ʃe-)
• Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ- (Else: Prefix ʃə-)
• Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -d (Else: Suffix -id)
• Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix b- (Else: Prefix be-)
• Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j- (Else: Prefix jo-)
• Noun to verb = Suffix -u
• Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -is
• Tending to = Suffix -is
• Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -i
• Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m (Else: Suffix -em)
• One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -aŋ
• Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -h (Else: Suffix -ah)
• Diminutive = Suffix -e
• Augmentative = Prefix ə-

Dictionary

306 Words.

Numbers

Matlâian has a base-10 number system:

• 1 - dâf
• 2 - ni
• 3 - zha
• 4 - gi
• 5 - wâk
• 6 - khaysu
• 7 - dim
• 8 - wi
• 9 - yobsâ
• 10 - mi
• 11 - dâf wâ mi “one and ten”
• 100 - tadfu “hundred”
• 101 - tadfu wâ dâf “hundred and one”
• 200 - ni tadfu
• 1000 - shâmpa “thousand”

Successor Languages

• Lowers Patois