Riftspace Languages

The primary language encountered in Riftspace is for names of the main civilization I'm working with (which itself needs a name).

Canonical Names

1. A'tevh • [ 'äʔ.tʰɛvʱ ], [ 'äʔ.tʰɛf ]
2. Aves • [ 'ä.vəs ]
3. Benoc • [ 'bɛ.nɔk ]
4. Bhäzäf • [ 'bʰæ.zəf ], [ 'bʰæɛ.zæf ]
5. Cänäf • [ 'kæ.nəf ], [ 'kæɛ.næf ]
6. Cor • [ 'kɔɹ ]
7. Dhävur • [ 'dʰæ.vuɹ ]
8. Haruset • [ 'hä.ɹu.sɛt ]
9. Hasu • [ 'hä.su ], [ 'aʱ.sʊ ]
10. Ide'a • [ 'i.dɛʔ.ə ]
11. Ijeve • [ 'i.dʒɛ.və ]
12. Käsuru • [ 'kʰæɛ.su.ɹu ]
13. Konot • [ 'kʰɔ.nɔt ]
14. Kotanuf • [ 'kʰɔʔ.tə.nuf ]
15. Maru • [ 'mä.ɹu ]
16. Mihzät • [ 'mi.zʰæt ]
17. Nänere • [ 'nʌ.nɛ.ɹə ], [ 'næɛ.nɛ.ɹə ]
18. Rhezerë • [ 'ɹʰɛ.zɛ.ɹɛ ]
19. Säserhë • [ 'sæɛ.sɛ.ɹʰɛ ]
20. Sävanes • [ 'sæɛ.və.nɛs ]
21. Sumë • [ 'su.mɛ ]
22. Nohe • [ 'nɔ.hə ]
23. Tätemë • [ 'tʰæ.tʰɛ.mɛ ]
24. Täseta • [ 'tʰæ.sɛ.tʰə ]
25. Väna • [ 'væ.nə ]
26. Veset • [ 'vɛ.sɛt ] • blade
27. Zana • [ 'zä.nə ]

Phonology

Vowels

glyph	phoneme	examples
ä	/æɛ/ or /æ/	bhazaf, nanere, kasuru, canaf, saserhi, dhavur
a	/ä/ or /ə/	zana, maru, haruset, a'tevh, kotanuf, aves
e	/ɛ/ or /ə/	nanere, tatemi, haruset, rhezeri, aves, avezesi
i or ë	/i/ or /ɛ/	ijeve, rhezeri, tatemi, saserhi, canavesi
o	/ɔ/	kotanuf, nohe, cor, benok
u	/u/	kotanuf, kasuru, maru

1. a₁ does not occur word-initially or word-finally in open syllables.
2. /æɛ/ occurs only on stressed syllables, even in the dialects that prefer it. /æ/ occurs in all other conditions.
3. /ä/ occurs only on stressed syllables. /ə/ occurs in all other positions.
4. /ɛ/ and /i/ occur in all positions, except unstressed word-final open syllables, where their allophones /ə/ and /ɛ/ occur instead, respectively.

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Open-Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open	æ	ä

Consonants

Phonemic Consonants

		Labial	Coronal	Post-alveolar	Velar	Glottal
nasal		m	n
obstruent	aspirated		t /tʰ/		k /kʰ/
	voiceless		t /t/		c /k/	' /ʔ/
	voiced	b /b/	d	j /dʒ/
	murmured	bh /bʱ/	dh /dʱ/
fricative	voiceless	f /f/	s /s/			h /h/
	voiced	v /v/	z /z/
	murmured	vh /vʱ/	hz /zʱ/
approximant	voiced		r /ɾ-ɹ/
	murmured		rh /ɹʱ/

1. Voiced consonants cannot be word final.
2. /f/ cannot be word initial.

Grammar

2/7/18

1. Canaf, Canavesi
2. Aves, Avezesi
3. Ijeve, Ijeveni
4. Kotanuf, Kotanuves / Kotanuven

4/16/18

So the other day, I figured out Veset meant blade, so since there's a blade class spaceship, it's been noodling in the back of my brain how to call that. Today, I settled on hamahe vezesot, with the first word meaning "integrated spaceship" vs. a ship that has no human avatar, and -esot meaning "class" essentially, though I can tell it's not that simple were I to unpack it. Hamahe is also my first riftspace word with stress on the second syllable rather than the first and the medial <h> is silent, particularly interesting to me because it is not silent in the name Nohe.