Riftspace Languages
From Series Bible
The primary language encountered in Riftspace is for names of the main civilization I'm working with (which itself needs a name).
Contents
Canonical Words
Character + Location Names
- A'tevh • [ 'äʔ.tʰɛvʱ ], [ 'äʔ.tʰɛf ]
- Aves • [ 'ä.vəs ]
- Benoc • [ 'bɛ.nɔk ]
- Bhäzäf • [ 'bʰæ.zəf ], [ 'bʰæɛ.zæf ]
- Cänäf • [ 'kæ.nəf ], [ 'kæɛ.næf ]
- Cor • [ 'kɔɹ ]
- Dhävur • [ 'dʰæ.vuɹ ]
- Haruset • [ 'hä.ɹu.sɛt ]
- Hasu • [ 'hä.su ], [ 'aʱ.sʊ ]
- Ide'a • [ 'i.dɛʔ.ə ]
- Ijeve • [ 'i.dʒɛ.və ]
- Käsuru • [ 'kʰæɛ.su.ɹu ]
- Konot • [ 'kʰɔ.nɔt ]
- Kotanuf • [ 'kʰɔʔ.tə.nuf ]
- Maru • [ 'mä.ɹu ]
- Mihzät • [ 'mi.zʰæt ]
- Nänere • [ 'nʌ.nɛ.ɹə ], [ 'næɛ.nɛ.ɹə ]
- Rhezerë • [ 'ɹʰɛ.zɛ.ɹɛ ]
- Säserhë • [ 'sæɛ.sɛ.ɹʰɛ ]
- Sävanes • [ 'sæɛ.və.nɛs ]
- Sumë • [ 'su.mɛ ]
- Nohe • [ 'nɔ.hə ]
- Tätemë • [ 'tʰæ.tʰɛ.mɛ ]
- Täseta • [ 'tʰæ.sɛ.tʰə ]
- Väna • [ 'væ.nə ]
- Veset • [ 'vɛ.sɛt ] • blade
- Zana • [ 'zä.nə ]
Spare Names
- 'ota
- surahtë
- ahzetu
- mäzë
Titles
- Säfahe • [ 'sæ.fə.hɛ ] • big sister
Vocabulary
- mäze - a kind of fish
- mäza - a dish made from fish
- bhesë
- häzän
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 |
- a₁ does not occur word-initially or word-finally in open syllables.
- /æɛ/ occurs only on stressed syllables, even in the dialects that prefer it. /æ/ occurs in all other conditions.
- /ä/ occurs only on stressed syllables. /ə/ occurs in all other positions.
- /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
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/ |
- Voiced consonants cannot be word final.
- /f/ cannot be word initial.
Grammar
2/7/18
- Canaf, Canavesi
- Aves, Avezesi
- Ijeve, Ijeveni
- 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.