Tlirak shaj gēvtsethị sitsyim
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A brief summary of Tlarak
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 30 Nov 2014, 02:12.
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1. A kifo tlirak
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2. Pronoun declension
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Tlarak originated from Proto-Wynig, like all of the languages in the Northeastern family, and also from Marandaes, the dominant language of central Wynig ca. 470 DA. A series of related languages grew among the people of central Wynig, which had grown over with forests after the last ice age--ones strong enough to last through the next. Though little is left of these, they are considered dialects of Proto-Tlarak. As the peoples had more contact with each other, they grew into a more well-defined, standard language, and Tlarak was formed around 780 DA.
Marandaes and the Proto-Tlarak dialects had more in common with the other subfamilies of the Wynig family, particularly Hgar-Qung languages such as
Aghidi. However, conflict in the south drove many of the Tlarak north and east, where they had contact with the speakers of Gaki languages, which are largely isolational rather than the polysynthetic Northeastern languages. The result of this sprachbund was a blend of the Gaki languages' isolational features, such as particles indicating mood, and the remaining Wynig agglutinating structures. Tlarak's closest living relative is Vänyr and the two are not mutually intelligible. Tlarak has a limited phoneme inventory, compared to its Northeastern peers. It is the only language in the Northeastern family to lack both /p/ and /b/ (bilabial stops), although earlier dialects have them.
Consonants
| Grapheme | IPA | Notes |
| m | m | |
| n | n̪ | |
| ñ | ɲ | |
| ng | ŋ | |
| t | t̪ | /t/ in some dialects |
| d | d̪ | /d/ in some dialects |
| k | c, k | /c/ is an allophone occurring before or after y /j/ |
| g | ɟ, g | /ɟ/ is an allophone occuring before or after y /j/ |
| f | f | |
| v | v | |
| s | s | may be realized as /ʂ/ in some dialects |
| z | ʐ | |
| sh | ɕ | |
| ḥ | x | northern dialects realize as /χ/ |
| gh | ɣ | |
| h | ɦ | |
| l | l | |
| lh | ɬ | |
| y | j | |
| ġ | ɰ | may be uvularized |
| ts | t͡s | |
| j | d͡ʒ | |
| tl | t͡ɬ | |
| r | ɾ |
Vowels
| Grapheme | IPA | Notes |
| a | ɑ | |
| e | ɛ | |
| i | i | |
| o | o | |
| u | u | |
| ä | æ | |
| ị | ɨ |
*All vowels except ị and ä have long counterparts, marked by a macron (ō, for example).
Digraphs
| Grapheme | IPA | Notes |
| ay | aj | |
| ey | ɛj | |
| iy | ij | |
| oy | oj | |
| uy | uj | |
| ịy | ɨj | |
| ya | ja | |
| ye | jɛ | |
| yi | ji | |
| yo | jo | |
| yu | ju | |
| yị | jɨ | |
| au | au |
*While possible, the digraphs äy and yä are extremely rare.
**Similar to regular vowels, digraphs can be made long, and are indicated by a macron over the vowel (y is considered a consonant in TLK).
Because nouns have many cases in Tlarak, word order is generally flexible. Most of the time, the patterns SOV and SVO are used, but occasionally VSO or even VOS may be used; this is especially common in southern dialects. Each noun has a set gender/class, and its inflections are dependent upon the category it falls into. Although many Northeastern languages use particular rules of pronunciation to determine a noun's class, Tlarak tends to classify them by their function (for example, "penis" is a masculine noun) rather than the word's structure.
Example:
tịgād [t̪ɨgɑ:d̪] time
| acc | dat | gen | ins | refl | loc | com | all | abl |
| tyịgād | tịgāda | tịgayd | tịgātl | tyịgādlh | tịgaud | tịgādt | tịgādf | tịgādñ |
Nouns are also inflected for five numbers: singular (default), plural, paucal, negative, and collective.
Example:
tịgād [t̪ɨgɑ:d̪] time
| pl | pauc | coll | neg |
| tịgoād | tịgādyu | tịgādja | tịgādi |
Verbs are conjugated according to three persons including plurality, tense, and various qualities such as mood and aspect. Most auxiliaries are affixed to the verb, a characteristic of the Northeastern family, while most aspects like subjunctivity are indicated by particles, a trait inherited from the Gaki languages.
The addition of a particle can completely change a sentence.
| Tai jyanay, nyōg, fyaha ār; ta yahuj tsōga |
| There is not right, wrong, [or] rules for me; I am free. |
The particle ta indicates that the actions and/or qualities of the previous clause made the actions and/or qualities of the following clause occur. Removing it would disconnect the two clauses from each other, making the first clause unrelated to the second and losing the intended meaning.
| ḥirahuk oj ġah kijoj. |
| They will not see that I cry. |
The significance of the subjunctive mood is somewhat lost in the English translation of this line, but it operates much like that of Spanish, to describe something that is seen, heard, or otherwise insinuated through the senses or mind that may or may not be true. The particle ġah indicates that the action described, crying, may or may not actually be seen by the subject of the verb rahu.
| Hāyāy kitegh oj kaj iyoy yahag ōshyiyn. |
| The bear thought that the traveler was a corpse. |
The particle kaj indicates that not only is this something the bear believes, but it is also definitely untrue.
Tlarak uses a base-4 number system, based upon the four seasons, because Tlarak culture revolves around trees. Numbers are agglutinating, becoming longer as the number gets higher.
| 1 | si | "one" |
| 5 | kūtsi | "four and one" |
| 11 | akkūjtir | "two fours and three" |
| 25 | kūjakkūjsi | "four and two fours and one" |
The longest words in the Tlarak language are large numbers. The numbers may occasionally be rounded to the nearest multiple of 4.
The Tlarak people mostly live in the forest, often making their homes in trees. They have been twisting and bending trees into various shapes to create their houses for many years, and some suggest that they may have the aid of magic in this. The Tlarak vehemently deny this, as they strongly disbelieve the idea magic, as it goes against their religion, which states the trees are the caretakers of the earth and mothers/fathers of all natural processes such as rain. Therefore, the insinuation of magic is blasphemy and extremely insulting to the Tlarak.
Similarly, the worst thing that could happen to a Tlarak community is a wildfire, and many Tlarak profanities are centered around fire and its destructiveness.
Some Tlarak are open to gender equality, while others believe in the superiority of the male sex and others the superiority of the female sex (although these supporters are fewer in number). Rarely, there is a Tlarak born with no sex, and they are often outcasts, as Tlarak people have considerable gender role expectations, mostly patriarchal as a result of the older, male-dominated culture that still lingers. Despite this, the Tlarak are open to binary transgender individuals and homosexuality, although bisexuality is frowned upon as it is associated with promiscuity.
Both Tlarak men and women dress in pants so that they can more easily climb the trees, although sometimes the women wear knee-length or shorter skirts on top of leggings. Gowns are only worn by women in ceremonial settings, and by the age of 6 every woman is taught how to gird her loins with a dress in case she needs to suddenly escape into a tree. Because of their skill for climbing up and through trees, the high branches are often a safe haven from predatory animals or invaders.
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