Ýýlheema'ék

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The language is called ýýlheema‘ék, which translates to ('I travel'). The language is part of a story idea I'm working on. It is only known in the following incantation, which must be spoken before traveling to another world. (That's why it's only known as 'I travel'.)

Language
Spoken in: variable
Timeline/Universe: An ancient language created on earth, but known on at least 2 planets.
Total speakers: 5 known
Genealogical classification: Isolate
Basic word order: SOV
Morphological type: Agglutinating
Morphosyntactic alignment:  ??
Created by:
James W. early 2006-


Phonology


Consonants
Bilabial Labiod. Dental Alveolar Post-alv. Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k g q ɢ ʔ
Fricative v θ ð s χ
Lateral Fricative ɬ
Tap or Flap ɾ
Lateral Approximant l


Vowels
Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
High i u
Near-high ɪ
High-mid e o
Low a


The following vowels also have phonemic length: a, e, i, o
There are two tones: high--marked with acute accent in the orthography; low--unmarked.

Orthography

The native orthography is not known. At some point, the incantation was written down (not on Earth) and analyzed giving us the basis of the known grammar. The orthography I use is mainly for my own convenience. It is fairly straightforward for those who speak a language that uses the Latin alphabet. The following are the exceptions:

IPA Orthography
ɬ lh
i y
ɪ i
ŋ ng
χ x
θ þ
ð ð
ɢ ğ
ʔ


Sentence Structure

  • verb is always last in the clause
  • focus comes first
  • adjectives follow nouns
  • adverbs follow what they modify
  • adpositions follow their noun/phrase
  • relative clauses follow head clauses
  • relationals come before the noun/phrase they refer to


Nouns

  • There are no cases. Syntactic function is determined by position in the clause (see Sentence Structure).
  • Plurals are formed by the prefix yl-.
  • Possessives are suffixed to the noun they relate refer to:
-es 1S.POSS
-‘ang 2S.POSS


Verbs

  • Verbs must contain at least a subject-referent pronoun affix.
  • Morphology: subject-refernt pronoun comes first, patient second, oblique third. Normally, if there is an object noun in the clause, the patient pronoun affix is absent. In this case, any second pronoun affix on the verb is understood to be oblique.
alhu-‘ék-aan
give-1SG-2SG
'I give [to] you'
  • Copula: a circumfix, qu- -kaa, around the predicate nominative.
qu-vyyd-kaa
'[is/are] noble'


Only Known Text

elhee lhyréé kíru vó sóóru‘aang rékaa ýýlheema‘ék.
qáá elhee páá yllaaqes quvyydkaa ngee‘es xu.
qáá elhee páá ylþáángu yliğá‘es eng qu’éélhkaa.
ngyylý alhu‘ékaan lhamaa‘es uðo yğ xóóka‘aan yno qáá elhee eng.
qáá elhee vó sóóru‘aang rékaa ýýlheema‘ék.

Interlinear

elhee lhyréé kíru sóóru-‘aang rékaa ýýlheema-‘ék
land distant far to grace-2POSS by.means.of travel-1SG
qáá elhee páá yl-laaq-es qu-vyyd-kaa ngee-‘es xu
this land in PL-purpose-1POSS COP-noble-COP life-1POSS on
qáá elhee páá yl-þáángu yl-iğá-‘es eng qu-‘éélh-kaa
this land in PL-consequence PL-action-1POSS of COP-mine-COP
ngyylý alhu-‘ék-aan lhamaa-‘es uðo xóóka-‘aan yno qáá elhee eng
permission give-1SG-2SG body-1POSS soil from create-2SG again this land of
qáá elhee sóóru-‘aang rékaa ýýlheema-‘ék
this land to grace-2POSS by.means.of travel-1SG


Smooth Gloss

‘By your grace I travel to a far distant land.’
‘On my life my purposes are noble in this land.’
‘The consequences of my actions are mine in this land.’
‘I give you permission to recreate my body from the soil of this land.’
‘By your grace I travel to this land.’