Natively known as: Hà̂phphlinɡ /ˈafflinɡ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
ddàːll rhèi ffèpa dẁth rhèi iyuc ddàːll am rhèi ddàr ddaph by ɡŵɡ
Pronunciation: /ðaːɬ r̥ɛi ˈfɛpaː dʊθ r̥ɛi dʒəuk ðaːɬ am r̥ɛi ðar ðaːf bə ɡuːɡ/
Halfling word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f h j k l m m̥ n n̥ p r r̥ s t v w x ð ŋ ŋ̊ ɡ ɬ ʃ ʒ θ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Dental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m̥ m |
|
|
n̥ n |
|
|
ŋ̊ ŋ |
|
| Stop |
p b |
|
|
t d |
|
|
k ɡ |
|
| Fricative |
|
f v |
θ ð |
s |
ʃ ʒ |
|
x |
h |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
|
|
j |
|
|
| Trill |
|
|
|
r̥ r |
|
|
|
|
| Lateral fricative |
|
|
|
ɬ |
|
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
|
l |
|
|
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /a ai au aː eː iː oː uː ɔ ɔi ə əu ɛ ɛi ɛu ɨ ɨː ɪ ɪu ʊ ʊi/
Diphthongs: ai, au, ɔi, əu, ɛi, ɛu, ɪu, ʊi
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
| High |
iː |
ɨ ɨː |
uː |
| Near-high |
ɪ |
|
ʊ |
| High-mid |
eː |
|
oː |
| Mid |
|
ə |
|
| Low-mid |
ɛ |
|
ɔ |
| Low |
a aː |
|
|
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, d, dʒ, f, h, j, k, l, m, m̥, n, n̥, p, r, r̥, s, t, tʃ, v, w, x, ð, ŋ, ŋ̊, ɡ, ɬ, ʃ, ʒ, θ
Mid-word consonants: b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, r̥, s, t, v, w, x, ð, ŋ, ŋ̊, ɡ, ɬ, ʒ, θ
Word final consonants: b, d, dʒ, f, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, tʃ, v, x, ð, ŋ, ɡ, ɬ, ʃ, θ
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- b → u / _C
- {n,l} → [+palatal] / _C
- θ → ʃ / C_
- p → f / V_
- h → Ø / _#
- n → ɲ / _E
- t → s / _V
- ja → aː / C_
- j → ɡ / #_
- N → h / _S
- p → f / _{t,k}
- s → t / _#
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| a: |
a|â |
| a |
a|à |
| ai |
ai|au|ae|áu |
| au |
aw |
| dʒ |
j|di |
| e: |
e|ê |
| f |
ff|ph |
| iː |
î |
| j |
i |
| k |
c |
| m̥ |
mh |
| n̥ |
nh |
| oː |
ô|o |
| r̥ |
rh |
| tʃ |
ts|tsi |
| uː |
ŵ |
| v |
f |
| x |
ch |
| ð |
dd |
| ŋ |
ng |
| ŋ̊ |
ngh |
| ɔ |
ò |
| ɔi |
oi|oe |
| ə |
y |
| əu |
yw |
| ɛ |
è |
| ɛi |
ei|eu |
| ɛu |
ew |
| ɨ |
u |
| ɨː |
û|ŷ |
| ɪ |
i |
| ɪu |
iw|uw|yw |
| ɬ |
ll |
| ʃ |
si|sh |
| ʊ |
ẁ |
| ʊi |
wy|ŵy |
| ʒ |
zs |
| 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
|
Singular |
Plural |
| Definite |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -ɪum
llŵfium /ˈɬɨːvɪum/
the doɡ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɬ
Else: Suffix -auɬ
llŵfawll /ˈɬɨːvauɬ/
the doɡs |
| Indefinite |
Suffix -ɛi
llŵfèi /ˈɬɨːvɛi/
a doɡ |
Suffix -ʊ
llŵfẁ /ˈɬɨːvʊ/
some doɡs |
Articles
Halfling encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.
Pronouns
| 1st singular |
dŵ /duː/
I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular |
sa /sa/
you, yours |
| 3rd singular masc |
rhèi /r̥ɛi/
he, him, his, it, its |
| 3rd singular fem |
dde /ðeː/
she, her, hers, it, its |
| 1st plural |
ddab /ðaːb/
we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural |
ty /tə/
you all, yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
lim /lɪm/
they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
dŵ /duː/
my |
| 2nd singular |
sa /sa/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
rhèi /r̥ɛi/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
ddê /ðeː/
her |
| 1st plural |
ddàːb /ðaːb/
our |
| 2nd plural |
ty /tə/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
lim /lɪm/
their |
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
têddo /ˈteːðoː/
learn |
| Past |
Suffix -ɨː
têddoŵ /teːˈðoːɨː/
learned |
| Remote past |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -p
Else: Suffix -ɔp
teddôp /ˈteːðoːp/
learned (lonɡ aɡo) |
| Future |
Suffix -ɛr
têddôèr /teːˈðoːɛr/
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).
Halfling uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
| Imperfective |
Particle before the verb: r̥ɪu -
rhiu teddô /r̥ɪu ˈteːðoː/
learns/is learninɡ |
Numbers
Halfling has a base-20 number system:
1 - dôch
2 - nha
3 - ng̊it
4 - foch
5 - lur
6 - dî
7 - siâp
8 - llŵt
9 - hèu
10 - iiu
11 - bèdd
12 - llomŵp
13 - bèthâ
14 - caffu
15 - lipyudŵ
16 - wawphi
17 - têthyunè
18 - ddàːlà
19 - ling̊i
20 - hèup
21 - hèupdôch “twenty-one”
400 - doch lè “one fourhundred”
401 - doch lè ddàːll dôch “one fourhundred and one”
800 - nha lè “two fourhundred”
8000 - doch ddàːnytsh “one eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɬ
Else: Suffix -auɬ
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɬ
Else: Suffix -uːɬ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -f
Else: Suffix -auf
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -aɡ
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɪb
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Suffix -ɛub
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ad
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -ɪum
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -oːl
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Suffix -ʊk
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʃ
Else: Suffix -aʃ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -uː
Diminutive = Suffix -af
Augmentative = Suffix -ɨːŋ
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