Caelysi grammar sketch
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Basic phonology and grammar
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 21 Apr 2020, 21:31.
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Caelysi (also known as Caelys or Caels) is an East-Mirarian language spoken by around 30 million in Caelys. Caelysi is generally classified as belonging to its own 
Proto-Pemme branch, though it has considerable influence from neighbouring Elipo-Sucaelian and Mahavic languages, particularly with regards to vocabulary. Modern Caelysi may be descended from an ancient mixing of 
Unknown [XES] and another extinct East-Mirarian branch.The map above shows where Caelysi is natively spoken within Caelys (out-of-date).
Vowels
Caelysi has inherited a system of front/back vowel harmony from
Proto-Pemme. In modern Caelysi though, only the mid and low vowels undergo harmony.| Harmony | Front | Neutral | Back | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | e | é | ö | ő | i | y | a | á | o | ó |
| IPA | ɛ | e: | ə | ɜ: | i | ɨ | ɐ | a: | ɔ | o: |
There is also one diphthong: <æ> /ae̯:/, which has neutral harmony.
Consonants
| Letter | m | n | gn | p | b | t | d | c | g | th | dh | s | z | ch | gh | h | l | j | w | r |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | m | n | ŋ | p | b | t | d | k | g | θ | ð | ʃ | ʒ | x | ɣ | h | l | j | w | r |
Phonotactics
C = consonant , V = vowel
The maximum permitted syllable structure for native words is CwVwCC.
Clusters containing two of the same consonant are not permitted. Almost all vowel clusters are allowed, but always with each vowel in a separate syllable.
Caelysi has a purely suffixing, agglutinative morphology, with very few irregularities. It is also much more simplified in comparison to many other East-Mirarian languages.
The word order is fairly strict, generally:
Nouns
Nouns inflect for six cases, divided into three numbers:
| wir (flower) | SGSingular (number) one countable entity | PLPlural (number) more than one/few | GNOGnomic (aspect/mood) common, timeless truths |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOMNominative (case) TRANS subject, INTR argument | wir | wiri | wirie |
| ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient | wiredh | wiriedh | wirié |
| GENGenitive (case) possessive | wirön | wiriön | wirelyn |
| DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location | wiréth | wiriéth | wirien |
| LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc | wiréd | wiriéd | wiriel |
| VOCVocative (case) 'O [addressee]' | wirő | wiriő |
The GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths number is used mainly for agreement with habitual verbs, eg.:
Nódhori wiriedh iziél | The moose eat the flowers
Nódhoria wirié iziől | Moose eat flowers
There is also a now archaic INSCInstructive (case)
by means of case, which has been mostly replaced by postpositions. It's still used in some dialects:
| wir (flower) | SGSingular (number) one countable entity | PLPlural (number) more than one/few | GNOGnomic (aspect/mood) common, timeless truths |
|---|---|---|---|
| INSCInstructive (case) by means of | wiryg | wirieg | wirelyg |
Nouns with "long" stems take slightly different endings:
| wier (other) | SGSingular (number) one countable entity | PLPlural (number) more than one/few | GNOGnomic (aspect/mood) common, timeless truths |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOMNominative (case) TRANS subject, INTR argument | wier | wieri | wiere |
| ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient | wieredh | wierédh | wieré |
| GENGenitive (case) possessive | wierön | wieræn | wierelyn |
| DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location | wieréth | wieræth | wierin |
| LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc | wieréd | wieræd | wierel |
| VOCVocative (case) 'O [addressee]' | wierő | wieræ |
Verbs
| ygwós (to see) | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive) | 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural) | 3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | 3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INFInfinitive (TAM) non-tensed verb | ygwós | |||||
| INFInfinitive (TAM) non-tensed verb-PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | ygwóst | |||||
| NPSTNon-past (tense) present, continuous and future | ygwym | ygwiam | ygwyt | ygwiat | ygwan | ygwiál |
| PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | ygwyb | ygwiab | ygwydh | ygwiadh | ygwand | ygwiáld |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit-NPSTNon-past (tense) present, continuous and future | ygwóm | ygwióm | ygwót | ygwiót | ygwón | ygwiól |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit-PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | ygwób | ygwiób | ygwódh | ygwiódh | ygwónd | ygwióld |
| IMPImperative (mood) command | ygwithám | ygwi / ygwinon (polite) | ||||
PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed verbs can be made using the suffix -odh/ödh directly after the verb stem, eg.: ygwodhós
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action verbs are formed with a past-tense suffix and a copula (let), eg.: ygwóst let
The PROSPProspective (aspect)
going to aspect can be expressed using an auxiliary verb thón-, eg.: thónós ygwós
The HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habit aspect corresponds to the GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths in many other East-Mirarian languages; it's labelled differently here to avoid confusion with the GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths number.
Caelysi uses a negative verb:
| NEGNegative (polarity) not | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive) | 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural) | 3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | 3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INFInfinitive (TAM) non-tensed verb | é / ée / éős | |||||
| INFInfinitive (TAM) non-tensed verb-PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | éste / éőst | |||||
| NPSTNon-past (tense) present, continuous and future | ém | éghym | ét | éghyt | én | él |
| PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | éb | éghyb | édh | éghydh | énd | éld |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit-NPSTNon-past (tense) present, continuous and future | éme | éghőm | éte | éghőt | éne | éle |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit-PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | ébe | éghőb | édhe | éghődh | énde | élde |
| IMPImperative (mood) command | éthém | éi / é / énön (polite) | ||||
This is placed before an infinitive positive verb to create a negative conjugation, eg.:
Ém ygwós | I'm not seeing
Éme ygwós | I don't see
Other auxiliary verbs behave in a similar manner, eg. (using yw "CAPCapability (mood)
'can'"):
Ywm ygwós | I can see (right now)
Ywóm ygwós | I can see (always)
Then there be a copula (which is distinct from the verb ledhős "to be"):
| COPCopula used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive) | 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural) | 3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | 3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INFInfinitive (TAM) non-tensed verb | let | |||||
| INFInfinitive (TAM) non-tensed verb-PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | les | |||||
| NPSTNon-past (tense) present, continuous and future | lem | liem | legh | liegh | len | liél / lel |
| PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | leb | lieb | ledh | liedh | lend | liéld / leld |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit-NPSTNon-past (tense) present, continuous and future | leme | lieme | leghe | lieghe | lene | liéle / lele |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit-PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | lebe | liebe | ledhe | liedhe | lende | liélde / lelde |
These can be made negative by compounding with the negative é-, eg.: élem
Polar questions are formed with the interrogative particle la, which usually goes directly after the subject.
Pronouns
| Pronouns | SGSingular (number) one countable entity | PLPlural (number) more than one/few | GNOGnomic (aspect/mood) common, timeless truths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I | mygh | mæ | mie |
| 2Second person (person) addressee (you) | gwö | gwidh | gwie |
| 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee | en | il | ie |
| REFLReflexive (valency) argument acts on itself | thyw | ||
| RECPReciprocal (valency) arguments act on each other | thé | ||
Pronouns decline for all the same cases as nouns.
There are possessive suffixes which accompany the genitive pronouns:
| -POSSPossessive (case) owns, has | SGSingular (number) one countable entity | PLPlural (number) more than one/few |
|---|---|---|
| 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I | mon ___mén/ém | myn ___mién |
| 2Second person (person) addressee (you) | gwön ___hén/ég | gwyn ___hién |
| 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee | non ___nén/én | lon ___lén |
| REFLReflexive (valency) argument acts on itself | thywon ___thőn/őth | |
| RECPReciprocal (valency) arguments act on each other | thiön ___thén/éth | |
Possessive suffixes attach after case suffixes.
In most non-formal situations, nominative and genitive pronouns are dropped, eg.:
Gwö ánidhadh éleghe → ánidha éleghe | You are not a dragon
Mon ilwimén wirié mymbiól → ilwimén wirié mymbiól | My cats love flowers
Mæ litiedh izieb → litiedh izieb | We ate the cookies
Finally, here are some samples with full glosses:
Cælysal sidhőm
Cælys-al sidh-ő-m
Caelysi-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc.GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths speak-HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habit-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I speak Caelysi
La sóbosalyn ræcodhót?
La sóbos-alyn ræc-odh-ó-t
QInterrogative
question octopus-GENGenitive (case)
possessive.GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths scare-PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed-HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habit-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
Are you afraid of octopuses?
Áwpedlemén syghythion cere len
Áw-pedl-e-m-én syghyth-i-on cere le-n
water-craft-SGSingular (number)
one countable entity-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-POSSPossessive (case)
owns, has eel-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-GENGenitive (case)
possessive be_full COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
My hovercraft is full of eels
Ánidha ghyrnisié élet
Ánidh-a ghyrnis-ié é-le-t
dragon-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths slave-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths NEGNegative (polarity)
not-COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate-HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habit
A dragon is not a slave
Mæó jylynadh izithém
Mæ-ó jyl-yn-adh iz-ithém
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)-VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]' some-thing-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient eat-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).IMPImperative (mood)
command
Let's eat something
Thygnádmán idh éliél mis jygwynia
Thygn-a-m-án-ád idh é-l-iél mis jygwyn-ia
head-SGSingular (number)
one countable entity-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-POSSPossessive (case)
owns, has-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc on NEGNegative (polarity)
not-COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them five snowflake-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.GNOGnomic (aspect/mood)
common, timeless truths
There are not five snowflakes on my head
Nódhor jyl wiriéd ála caland
Nódhor jyl wir-i-éd ála cal-an-d
moose some flower-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc to walk-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee-PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
The moose walked to some flowers
Mamotó, é ydhirynadh hyscinon
Mamot-ó, é ydhiryn-adh hysc-i-non
mammot-VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]' | NEGNegative (polarity)
not everything-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient ruin-IMPImperative (mood)
command-POLPolite (respect/formality)
formal, polite
O mammot, please don't ruin everything
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