Cerninlaw

LANGUAGE FAMILY: COLMERIC
# SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 150K / #56
SPOKEN IN: Cerlin - 150K
Offshoot of COLMERHÆD, spoken exclusively in Cerlin.
PERIOD OF USE:
SCRIPT USED:
PARENT LANGUAGE:

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"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."
Translation: uns d̪ˠunsed vˠechwunsed uks d̪ˠo xeardjed uns inkss d̪ˠo shein arts nʲshune eshy
Pronunciation: uːns d̪ˠuːnst vˠɛˈʧuːnst uːks d̪ˠoʊ xɪəʤd uːns ɪŋks d̪ˠoʊ ʃeɪn æɹts nʲʃuːn ˈɛʃiː

Cerninlaw word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /b bˠ c d dʲ d̪ˠ f fʲ fˠ g h j k l lʲ m mʲ mˠ n nʲ n̪ˠ p pˠ r s sˠ t tʲ t̪ˠ v vʲ vˠ w x z ð ŋ ɟ ɫ ɲ ɹ ɾ ɾʲ ɾˠ ʃ ʍ ʤ ʧ θ/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	mʲ mˠ m		n̪ˠ	nʲ n		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	pˠ p bˠ b		t̪ˠ d̪ˠ	tʲ t dʲ d		c ɟ	k g
Affricate					ʧ ʤ
Fricative		fʲ fˠ f vˠ vʲ v	θ ð	sˠ s z	ʃ		x	h
Approximant				ɹ		j
Tap				ɾˠ ɾʲ ɾ
Trill				r
Lateral approximant				lʲ l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar	Velarized alveolar
Approximant	ʍ w
Lateral approximant		ɫ

Vowel inventory: /aɪ aʊ eɪ iː oʊ uː æ ɑ ɑː ɔɪ ɔː ɛ ɛə ɜː ɪ ɪə ʊ ʊə ʌ/
Diphthongs: aɪ, aʊ, eɪ, oʊ, ɔɪ, ɛə, ɪə, ʊə

	Front	Central	Back
High	iː		uː
Near-high	ɪ		ʊ
Low-mid	ɛ	ɜː	ʌ ɔː
Near-low	æ
Low			ɑ ɑː

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: bˠ, c, dʲ, d̪ˠ, fʲ, fˠ, g, gɫ, h, hɾˠ, k, lʲ, mʲ, mˠ, mˠpˠ, nʲ, nʲʃ, n̪ˠ, n̪ˠt̪ˠ, pˠ, sˠ, sˠk, sˠt̪ˠ, tʲ, t̪ˠ, vʲ, vˠ, x, xt̪ˠ, ŋ, ɟ, ɫ, ɫt̪ˠ, ɲ, ɾʲ, ɾˠ, ɾˠsˠ, ɾˠɫ, ʃ, ʃtʲ
Mid-word consonants: bd, bj, bl, bm, bn, bs, bskj, bskɹ, bst, bstɹ, bt, bv, bz, bɹ, bɾ, bʤ, bˠ, c, df, dg, dgɹ, dj, dkw, dl, dm, dn, ds, dv, dw, dɹ, dʃ, d̪ˠ, fj, fl, fspɹ, ft, ftl, ftw, fɹ, fʲ, fˠ, g, gj, gl, gm, gn, gz, gɹ, gʤ, h, j, k, kd, kf, kgɹ, kj, kl, km, kn, ks, ksf, ksk, kskj, kskl, kskw, ksm, ksp, kspl, kspɹ, kst, kstɹ, ksw, ksʧ, kt, ktf, ktl, ktɹ, kw, kz, kɹ, kʃ, kʧ, lb, ld, ldf, ldh, ldl, ldn, ldɹ, lf, lg, lgɹ, lj, lk, lkj, ll, lm, ln, lp, lpf, lpl, lptj, ls, lsh, lsʍ, lt, ltj, ltɹ, lv, lw, lð, lɹ, lʤ, lʧ, lʲ, lθ, mb, mbl, mbɹ, mf, mfl, mft, mfɹ, mh, mj, ml, mn, mp, mpj, mpl, mpt, mptl, mpɹ, mpʃ, mpʧ, ms, mst, mt, mw, mz, mɹ, mʧ, mˠ, mθ, nb, nbɹ, ndj, ndl, ndm, ndɹ, nf, nfj, nfl, nfɹ, ng, ngɹ, nh, nj, nk, nkl, nkw, nkɹ, nl, nm, nn, npl, ns, nsf, nsj, nskɹ, nsl, nsm, nsp, nst, nstɹ, ntl, ntm, ntɹ, nv, nw, nz, nzl, nzp, nɹ, nʃ, nʤ, nʤm, nʧ, nθj, pj, pl, pm, pt, pw, pɹ, pʃ, pʧ, sd, sf, sg, sgɹ, sj, sk, skj, skl, skɹ, sl, sm, sn, sp, spj, spl, st, stj, stl, stm, stw, stɹ, sw, sʧ, sˠ, tb, tf, tj, tl, tm, tn, ts, tsm, tw, tɹ, tʲ, t̪ˠ, vj, vl, vm, vn, vɹ, w, zb, zd, zj, zl, zm, ð, ðdɹ, ðst, ŋ, ŋg, ŋgj, ŋgl, ŋgw, ŋgɹ, ŋk, ŋkt, ŋkw, ŋkʃ, ŋkʧ, ŋl, ɫ, ɹb, ɹd, ɹf, ɹg, ɹk, ɹl, ɹm, ɹml, ɹn, ɹpl, ɹs, ɹsm, ɹt, ɹtl, ɹv, ɹʃ, ɹʤ, ɹʧ, ɹθw, ɾ, ɾˠ, ʃ, ʃm, ʃn, ʤ, ʤm, ʤt, ʧ, ʧl, ʧm, θ, θf, θl, θɹ
Word final consonants: b, bd, bl, bz, d, dst, dz, f, fs, ft, g, gd, gz, k, ks, kst, kt, kts, l, ld, ldz, lf, lk, lm, ls, lt, lts, lv, lvd, lvz, lz, lθ, m, md, mp, mps, mpt, mz, n, nd, ndz, ns, nst, nt, nts, nz, nʤ, nʤd, nʧ, nθ, p, ps, pt, r, rm, s, sk, sp, spt, st, sts, t, ts, v, vd, vz, z, zd, ð, ðz, ŋ, ŋd, ŋk, ŋks, ŋkt, ŋz, ɹ, ɹd, ɹdz, ɹk, ɹks, ɹkt, ɹm, ɹmd, ɹmz, ɹn, ɹnd, ɹs, ɹst, ɹt, ɹts, ɹz, ɹʃ, ɹʧt, ɹθ, ʃ, ʃt, ʤ, ʤd, ʧ, ʧt, θ, θs
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• n → r / {g,p}_
• b → ∅ / V_V
• ʧ → i / C_

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
kw	qu
kt	cked / _#
k	c / !_{ɪ,i,ɛ,e,s}
oʊC₁	oC₁e
uːC₁	uC₁e / _#
eɪC₁	aC₁e / _#
ð	tih
θ	th
ʍ	w
ŋg	ng
ŋk	nks
ŋ	ng
ʧ	chw
ʃ	sh
ɹ	r
z	s / _#
ju	u / C_
cc	ck
c	k / _#
{t,d}	ed / C_#
aʊ	ow / _#
aʊ	au
ɔɪ	oe
ɪə	ear
ɪ	y / _#
ɪ	i
ji	yi
j	y
iː	y / _#
yy	yi / _#
y	i / #_#
ʌ	u
iː	ee
oʊ	o
ʊ	u
ɛ	e
ɑ(ː)	a
t	tt / æ_#
l	ll / æ_#
s	ss / æ_#
z	zz / æ_#
æ	a
ʤ	j / #_
ʤ	ge / _#
ʤ	dj
ɜː	ur
ɔː	or
uː	u
quur	quir
eə	ea

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

Nouns form plural with separate plural word:

Plural

Particle before the noun: hæbl - habl urts /hæbl ʌɹts/ dogs

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	dʲaulved /dʲaʊlvd/ the	t̪ˠurtihs /t̪ˠɜːðz/ a
Plural	sˠor /sˠɔː/ the	hɾˠurlk /hɾˠɜːlk/ some

Pronouns

1st singular	ɾˠy /ɾˠiː/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	curns /kɜːnz/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	d̪ˠunsed /d̪ˠuːnst/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	ɾˠei /ɾˠeɪ/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	hared /hɑɹt/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	mˠei /mˠeɪ/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	i /iː/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

1st singular	mʲume /mʲuːm/ my
2nd singular	asp /æsp/ your
3rd singular masc	d̪ˠo /d̪ˠoʊ/ his
3rd singular fem	mˠei /mˠeɪ/ her
1st plural	d̪ˠor /d̪ˠɔː/ our
2nd plural	ɾˠɫea /ɾˠɫɛə/ your (pl)
3rd plural	sˠo /sˠoʊ/ their

Verbs

	Singular	Plural
Present	Suffix -uːŋd dʲauunged /ˈdʲaʊuːŋd/ (I/you/he/she) learns	Suffix -iː dʲauy /dʲaʊˈiː/ (we/they) learn
Past	Suffix -ɪəkt dʲauearcked /ˈdʲaʊɪəkt/ (I/you/he/she) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹn Else: Suffix -eɪɹn dʲaurn /dʲaʊɹn/ (we/they) learned
Remote past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -ɜːz dʲaus /dʲaʊz/ (I/you/he/she) learned (long ago)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ɛn dʲaun /dʲaʊn/ (we/they) learned (long ago)
Future	If ends with vowel: Suffix -mps Else: Suffix -ɑːmps dʲaumps /dʲaʊmps/ (I/you/he/she) will learn	Suffix -eɪ dʲauei /ˈdʲaʊeɪ/ (we/they) will learn

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.
Cerninlaw uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Suffix -aɪ dʲauai /ˈdʲaʊaɪ/ have learned

Numbers

Cerninlaw has a base-10 number system:
1 - ɾˠsˠea
2 - ark
3 - n̪ˠemed
4 - sˠushed
5 - ei
6 - ɟa
7 - hai
8 - fˠy
9 - isped
10 - o
11 - o uns ɾˠsˠea “ten and one”
100 - ɾˠsˠea vˠeg “one hundred”
101 - ɾˠsˠea vˠeg ɾˠsˠea “one hundred one”
200 - ark vˠeg
1000 - ɾˠsˠea nʲeard “one thousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ldz Else: Suffix -iːldz
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -uː
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ls Else: Suffix -ʌls
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -oʊnt
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -bl Else: Suffix -ɔːbl
Noun to verb = Suffix -ɔː
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -uːr
Tending to = Suffix -uː
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -ʌŋ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -eɪps
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -ɛls
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -aɪl
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋk Else: Suffix -aʊŋk
Augmentative = Suffix -ɜːlv

Dictionary

4433 Words.