Yaenar
Yaenar (Yaenar /jei.naʁ/, from Latin Gēinar, the name the Yaenar people gave to themselves) is a Romlang (that is, a constructed language derived from Latin).
Contents
From Latin to Yaenar
Yaenar is quite divergent in comparison to Latin, but in many instances, spelling was fossilized, preserving spelling while diverging in sound.
Sound Changes
C = consonant, but when used in the case of eg. eCF, this means a consonant that was deleted that was between e and a front vowel.
V = vowel
B = back vowel
F = front vowel
0 = deleted
` = retroflex consonant
h > 0
i u > j w / _V
i: u: > i u / _V
s > z_a / V_V
s ks > s_a
sk sj > ɕ
V: > V / _V
aCB > ɑo
aCF > ei
FCa, FCa: > eə
FCo, FCo:, FCu: > øy
eCu > o:
eCF > ei
iCF > øi
iCu > ɨu
oCF > i:
oCB > u:
uCF > o
uCB > ou
a a: > a
e e: > ɨ e
i i: > ɪ i
o o: > ɔ ø
u u: > o u
ai oi > ɛ ɔe
j > z_a
i u > j w / _V
gn, nj > ɲ
gm mj > mʲ
gl lj > j
tj > tɕ
k g > tɕ ʑ / _F
kw gw > k g
rC > C` / C=(t,d,l)
r > ʁ
m s_a n t d > 0 / _# (specifically in that order)
u > y
ou > u
ɪ ɛ ɔ > 0 / #_(multisyllable words only)
e ɛ i ɪ y ø > ɛ a e ɨ u ɔ / _...(a,ɨ)#
a o ɔ u ɨ > ɛ a ɛ y ɪ / _...(i I)#
a ɨ i ɪ > 0 / _# (multisyllable words only)
b d g > v ð 0 / V_V
p t k > b d g / V_V
pp tt kk > p t k / V_V
CC > C
ʑ > j
ʈ ɖ ɭ > tɕ ʑ ɬ
ø > u
ɨ > ɛ
tɕ > ɕ
w > v
o u > 0 / _# (multisyllable words only)
e ɛ ɔ > ie iɛ uɔ / open, stressed syllables
C1C2C3 > C1C3
Grammar Changes
As with most Romance languages (if not all), Yaenar lost the rich inflectional system that was found in Latin:
-the accusative and ablative cases merged quite early
-the 4th and 5th declensions were replaced with the 2nd and 1st (respectively) declensions
-the dative case was replaced with the construction: a + accusative
-the genitive case was replaced with the construction: de + accusative
-plurals, like in Western Romance, were taken from the accusative. However, due to sound changes, many of the plural forms of words sound identical to their respective singular forms, and therefore, articles are REQUIRED.
-articles were derived from the forms of ūnus (a) and ille (the)
-nearly all the original Latin tenses and moods were lost, in favor of the following constructions: the imperfect was replaced with present tense + habēre in the perfect, the future was replaced with infitive + īre in the present, the conditional was formed with infitive + īre in the perfect, the perfect constructions were replaced with habēre + perfect participle, and the passive was replaced with esse + perfect participle. Of these, all but the last two became fused to the verb and became endings.
Phonology
Phonemes
Consonants
Yaenar has 21 consonant phonemes, as follows:
| Consonants | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Labiodent. | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alv. | Velar | Palatal | Uvular | |||||||||
| Nasal | m | mʲ | n | ɲ | ||||||||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | k | g | ||||||||||
| Fricative | f | v | ð | s̺ | z̺ | ɕ | ʑ | ʁ | ||||||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||||||||||
| Lateral Fricative | ɬ | |||||||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant | l | |||||||||||||||
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Vowels
Yaenar has 9 vowel phonemes, plus 7 diphthongs (not counting [ie iɛ uɔ] which are considered to be allophones of /e ɛ ɔ/ by most authorities of the language).
| Vowels | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||||
| Close | i | y | u | |||||||
| Near-Close | ɪ | |||||||||
| Close-Mid | e | o | ||||||||
| Open-Mid | ɛ | ɔ | ||||||||
| Open | a | |||||||||
While /a/ is in fact, in the chart corresponding to "Front" vowels, in the rest of the phonology, it is not treated as such. The front vowels are /i y ɪ e ø/, and the rest (/u o ɔ a/) are back vowels.
Diphthongs
As has been mentioned, there are 7 (phonemic) diphthongs in the Yaenar language, as follows:
/ɑo ei eə ɨu ɔe øi øy/
There are also several phonetic diphthongs as well in the standard language (not counting dialects). These are:
[ie iɛ uɔ], considered to be allophones of /e ɛ ɔ/ in stressed, open syllables
.
Orthography
The orthography of Yaenar is more etymological than phonemic; however, in most cases, spelling and pronunciation are quite easy to exchange (i.e. it is not too difficult to figure out spelling from pronunciation, and vice versa).
| Consonants | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Labiodent. | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alv. | Velar | Palatal | Uvular | |||||||||
| Nasal | m | mj | n | nj | ||||||||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | c,qu,q | g,gu | ||||||||||
| Fricative | f | v | dh | s | z,j | c,rt,ti,sc | rd | r | ||||||||
| Approximant | y,lj,i,g | |||||||||||||||
| Lateral Fricative | ll | |||||||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant | l | |||||||||||||||
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The main problems that arise from spelling and pronunciation are those boxes above that list more than one spelling for only one phoneme.
-m,mj,n,nj are very straight-forward, always pronounced as written
-p,b,t,d are also quite straight-forward
-/k/ is spelled as c when before a back vowel, qu when before a front vowel, and q at the end of a word that was derived from Latin -qui, -quī, -qua, or -que (otherwise, at the end of the word, it is spelled c)
-/g/ follows the same rules as /k/ for spelling, although g is always used word-finally (there is no seperate character for it)
-f,v,dh,s,rd,r are straight-forward
-/z_a/ has two possible spellings: it is spelled as z when derived from the sound change s > z / V_V, but spelled as j when derived from the sound change j > z. Therefore, you will almost never see a z written at the beginning or end of a word (with the exception of words where s was intervocalic during this sound change, but then the first vowel or final vowel was deleted)
-/ɕ/ also has multiple spellings, also mostly etymological: it is spelled as c strictly before front vowels, sc when derived from Latin sc or si, ti when derived from Latin ti, and rt when derived from Latin rt
-l and ll are straight-forward
-Like /z_a/ and /ɕ/, /j/ has several etymological spellings: lj when derived from Latin li or gl, i when derived from Latin ī before a vowel, and y when derived from the first Yaenar ʑ (i.e g before front vowels).
Thankfully, the vowel orthography is much more straight-forward than the consonant orthography, but there are still some hard points in spelling as well.
| Vowels | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||||
| Close | í | u,û | ou,ó | |||||||
| Near-Close | i | |||||||||
| Close-Mid | é | u | ||||||||
| Open-Mid | e,ai | o | ||||||||
| Open | a,á | |||||||||
The diphthongs are spelled as follows:
/ɑo ei eə ɨu ɔe øi øy/ au,á ae ea iu oi ie eu
The allophonic diphthongs are spelled exactly as they sound: i/u + é e/ai o
Of course, there are some letters or combinations that have two different pronunciations, and some pronunciations have multiple ways of being written.
-í,û,ou,é,e,ai,o,a,au,ae,ea,iu,oi,eu,ié,uo,iai are all straight-forward
-The rest are the main problems. While it is not always predictable, there are some clues to give the correct pronunciation or spelling:
-á as /a/ is extremely rare, and usually only to distinguish homophones. Chances are, if you see á and it's not a very short word, it will be /ɑo/
-ie will only be /iɛ/ in stressed open syllables. While it is still possible for /øi/ to be in a stressed open syllable, it is the only time ie will be found in a non-stressed syllable, or a stressed closed syllable (i.e. the syllabe ends in a consonant)
-The other will simply have to be learned, and even occasionally give native Yaenar speakers trouble (in much the same way that English orthography can give native English speakers trouble).
Ablaut
There is an ablaut system in Yaenar, as displayed through the sound changes:
e ɛ i ɪ y ø > ɛ a e ɨ u ɔ / _...(a,ɨ)#
a o ɔ u ɨ > ɛ a ɛ y ɪ / _...(i I)#
a ɨ i ɪ > 0 / _# (multisyllable words only)
As can be seen, both a type of a-mutation and i-mutation exist. In the morphology section, the a-mutation is marked as -ª, and the i-mutation is marked as -ˡ.
In terms of spelling and pronuncation, here is how the system works:
| Radical | a-mutation | i-mutation | |
| a,á | a | ai | |
| ai | a | ai | |
| e | e | i | |
| é | e | é | |
| i | e | i | |
| í | é | í | |
| o | o | ai,e | |
| u | u | a | |
| ou | ou | û | |
| ó | o | ó | |
| u,û | ou | u,û |
Diphthongs were not affected by this ablaut.
Verbal Morphology
Yaenar's verbal morphology is the most intricate aspect of the language. Stemming from Latin's 4 different types of infinitives, Yaenar also has 4 different infinitive stems: -ar, -ér, -er, and -ír (respectively, -āre, -ēre, -ere, and -īre). Much of the conjugation of each verb paradigm begins with the root of the verb, which in most cases can be discovered by removing the -ar, -ér, -er, or -ír ending.
Present Tense
The present tense is the most basic tense in Yaenar, and is the only one still in everyday use that directly derives from the corresponding Latin tense, as well (The Yaenar Simple Past tense derives directly from the Latin pluperfect, but is not much in use today). The endings are as follows:
| -ar | Singular | Plural | amar | (to love, like) | avidar | (to live, reside) | ||||
| 1st person | - | -am | am | amam | avid | avidam | ||||
| 2nd person | -ª | -ˡait | am | aimait | avet | aivedait | ||||
| 3rd person | -ª | -an | am | aman | avet | avidan |
| -ér | Singular | Plural | vidhér | (to see) | placér | (to please) | ||||
| 1st person | -eo | -ém | vidheo | vidhém | placeo | placém | ||||
| 2nd person | -é | -ˡét | vidhé | vidhét | placé | plaicét | ||||
| 3rd person | -ª | -en | ved | vidhen | plasc | placen |
| -er | Singular | Plural | miter | (to send) | conjoscer | (to know a person) | ||||
| 1st person | - | -im | mit | mitim | conjosc | conjoscim | ||||
| 2nd person | -ˡ | -ˡit | mit | mitit | cainjaisc | cainjaiscit | ||||
| 3rd person | -ˡ | -un | mit | mitun | cainjaisc | conjoscun |
In this paradigm, -un is pronounced /on/
| -ír | Singular | Plural | venír | (to come) | dormír | (to sleep) | ||||
| 1st person | -j | -ím | venj | vením | dormj | dormím | ||||
| 2nd person | -ˡ | -ˡít | vin | vinít | derm | dermít | ||||
| 3rd person | -ˡ | -jun | vin | vienjun | derm | dormjun |
Similarly, in this paradigm, -jun is pronounced /zon/ (but njun, mjun, and ljun are all special cases, pronounced /ɲon/, /mʲon/, and /jon/).
The present tense is mainly used to describe actions that are presently happening. The present tense may also be used to describe continuous actions that have happened in the past and still happen currently (much like the English progressive, I am studying, Yaenar Eu (esc) studheo), and in this context can often be used with a particle, esc (cf. Latin etiam), used right before the conjugated verb.
In rarer instances, the present tense can be used to describe future events, especially if the future context was set prior in the conversation or is implied, with words such as deman, tomorrow
