ᴀᶥᴀᴛᴜɴ Scratchpad

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yangfiretiger121
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ᴀᶥᴀᴛᴜɴ Scratchpad

Post by yangfiretiger121 »

ᴀᶥᴀᴛᴜɴ [ˈɑ.ʔɑ.ʈʉɳ ] is both the home galaxy and official language of the Skaran Empire. The language used aspirated, tenuis, and ejective stops. Speakers aspirated or ejected [ p t d s z k g j ] before mid vowels [ ᴇ ⱺ ]. Eventually, aspirated consonants evolved into, sometimes different, fricatives ([ pʰ→f ]). Could ejective consonants have become non-ejective ([ kʼ→k ])? While [ t d ] [ s z ] and their derivatives were interchangeable at the time, [ p b ] weren't because their <v> Romanization has always been [ ʋ ], never [ bʱ v w ]. Romanizations marked with an asterisk (*) below are interchangeable with their voiced counterparts. [ ʕ ] has always been the pharyngeal approximant, never its fricative counterpart. Syllable structure is (C)V(C), where V is always a monophthong because diphthongs don't exist.

Nakona [ ˈɴɑ.ʠⱺ.ɴɑ→ˈɴɑ.qⱺ.ɴɑ ]
Nakeri [ ɴɑˈkʰᴇrʲ ]→Naxeri [ ɴɑˈχᴇʂ ]
Thanos [ ˈƭhɑ.ɴⱺs→ˈθɑ.ɴⱺs ]

The language treats the character representing [ i j ] and <ϙ>, which represents [ ɑ ʕ ], as semivowels. This means certain words, such as Aʻatun, would, logically, have the approximant before the vowel in local script. To avoid this, the approximant has a tilde above it. Thus, Aʻatun is spelled ϙϙ͂tuɤ locally. I will replace <tu> with the local characters when I figure them out. α represents their sun, and ɤ represents a ram's horn.

Original Aʻatun alphabet and Romanization
<?> (p) <?> (b) <?> (s*) <?> (k) <?> (t*) <?> (g) <?> (h) <?> (r) <?> (v) <?> (m) <ɤ> (n) <?> (i; <?> [ ji ]) <ϙ> (a ʻ; <ϙ͂> [ ʕɑ ]) <?> (u) <?> (e) <?> (o)

Current Aʻatun alphabet and Romanization
<?> (p*) <?> (s*) <?> (k) <?> (t*) <?> (g) <?> (h) <?> (f) <?> (r) <?> (v) <?> (m) <ɤ> (n) <?> (i; <?> [ ji ]) <ϙ> (a ʻ; <ϙ͂> [ ʕɑ ]) <?> (u) <?> (e) <?> (o)
Last edited by yangfiretiger121 on 23 Aug 2018 13:00, edited 14 times in total.
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yangfiretiger121
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by yangfiretiger121 »

As of now, I have {y u} leveling into {ʉ]. Is this likely, or are {y u} far enough apart acoustically to remain separate?
Last edited by yangfiretiger121 on 24 Aug 2018 16:55, edited 2 times in total.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by eldin raigmore »

It’s probably just my guess, but, I’d say it’s not unlikely.

It is true, as you seem to know, that front-back differences in articulation, make a more-detectable difference in the sounds, between close (high) vowels like [ y u ], than between open (low) vowels.
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by yangfiretiger121 »

Thank you. Wikipedia doesn't mention retroflex consonants contrasting with alveolars or post alveolars anywhere (mentions allophony though). Are retroflexes known to contrast with their alveolar/post-alveolar counterparts?
Last edited by yangfiretiger121 on 24 Aug 2018 16:53, edited 4 times in total.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by eldin raigmore »

yangfiretiger121 wrote: 22 Jun 2018 16:39 Thank you. Wikipedia doesn't mention retroflex consonants contrasting with alveolars or post alveolars anywhere (mentions allophony though). Are retroflexes known to contrast with their alveolar/post-alveolar counterparts?
Look it up on PHOIBLE or UPSID. Both sites are on CBB’s “Resources” thread.
Edit: Tamil and some other Dravidian languages definitely contrast retroflex vs alveolar. Maybe one of them also contrasts postalveolar. It seems easy to make the three-way distinction both in articulating it and in hearing it, especially for fricatives but also for stops and one or two other manners of articulation.
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by yangfiretiger121 »

Thanks again. A few of the names in the setting have <mr nr> sequences. Could both of these assimilate into [ ʀ̃ ] before [ ⱺ ɑ ] (usually [ ɑ ]), or would they have to be [ ᵐʀ ᶰʀ ] as [ r̃ ] is the only nasal trill in the IPA?
Last edited by yangfiretiger121 on 24 Aug 2018 16:54, edited 2 times in total.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by eldin raigmore »

To the best of my knowledge that would be up to you.
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by yangfiretiger121 »

Here's the working phoneme chart accompanied by its Romanization.

Notes on the chart below:
(Parenthetical) phones are allophones ([ ɳ ʈ ʈ͡ʂ ʈ͡ɽ ʂ͡ɽ ɽ͡r ] of [ n t tʳ sʳ t͡ʃ r ] when sharing a syllable with [ ʉ ]; [ ɴ q ɢ q͡χ χ ʀ ʀ̃ ] of [ n k g k͡x x r r̃ ] when sharing a syllable with [ ⱺ ɑ ])
Asterisk-trailed (-*) phones show [ m→n ] assimilation (+ Additionally, before [ p̪͡f f ʋ k x q χ ])
Carrot-trailed (-^) phones are interchangeable with their voiced counterparts

/m n (ɳ) ɲ* ŋ*+ (ɴ)/ (<m n ni* ng*+>)
/p^ t^ (ʈ)^ c ɟ k g (q ɢ)/ (<p^ t^ ki gi k g>)
/p̪͡f p͡ʃ^ t̪͡θ^ t͡ʃ^ (ʈ͡ʂ ʈ͡ɽ ʂ͡ɽ)^ t͡ʲɕ^ k͡x ɡ͡ɣ (q͡χ)/ (<pf pi^ tth^ ti^ kx ggh>)
/f θ^ s^ ʃ^ ʂ^ ɕ^ ç ʝ x ɣ (χ) h/ (<f th^ s^ sh^ xi ih x gh h>)
/ʋ r r̃ (ɽ͡r) j (ʀ ʀ̃) ʕ/ (<v r nr* i ʻ>)
[tʳ sʳ]^ (<tr^ sr^>)
/ɑ ᴇ i ⱺ ʉ/ (<a e í o u>)
Last edited by yangfiretiger121 on 23 Aug 2018 13:01, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Aʻatun Scratchpad

Post by yangfiretiger121 »

Aʻatun is officially Romanized in small caps because the local script is single-case. As long as this topic isn't too far out of date, I'll add new words to this post demarcated by a triple em-dash (———) and the date. It should be presumed that each prefix below has been combined with each unit below. The pharyngeal fricative (/ʕ/) became either the glottal affricate (/ʔ͡h/) before /ᴇ ⱺ/ because of a modification to the aspiration rule or the glottal stop (/ʔ/) before /i ʉ ɑ/.

Additions to the lexicon (alphabetized as in a local dictionary):

1. ᴕʜᴇ [ˈʔ͡hᴇ]: Prefix meaning 1,000-2/3 and, thus, equivalent to metric centi-. (Sym.: ᴕ) (added 8/8/18)
———
2. ᴘʀᴀʀ ['ʙ̥ɑr]: Prefix meaning 1,0001 and, thus, equivalent to metric kilo-. (Sym.: ᴘʀ) (pron. updated 8/23/2018)
3. ᴘʀᴀʀᴠᴀꜱʜᴏ ['ʙ̥ɑ.ʙ̪ɑ.ɕⱺ]: Length measurement equivalent to 1.016 kilometres. (Sym.: ᴘʀᴠ) (spelling/pron. updated 8/23/2018)
———
4. ᴘᴊᴜ [ˈp͡ɕʉ]: Prefix meaning 1,000-1/3 and, thus, equivalent to metric deci-. (Sym.: ᴘ) (added 8/7/18)
5. ᴢʀᴀɴ [ˈɼɑn]: Prefix meaning 1,0002 and, thus, equivalent to metric mega-. (Sym.: ᴢ) (added 8/7/18; spelling/pron. updated 8/23/2018)
———
6. ᴋᴊᴀ [ˈc͡çɑᵛ]: Prefix meaning 1,000-1 and, thus, equivalent to metric milli-. (Sym.: ᴋ)
7. ᴘʀᴀᴊʀᴏxᴜᴢʜ ['ʙ̥ɑ.jro.xʉʑ]: The base unit of mass, which is equivalent to 0.9525440.9979 of a kilogram (Sym.: ᴘʀᴊ) (definition updated 8/7/18; pron. updated 8/23/2018)
8. ɢᴊᴏ ['ɟ͡ʝo]: Prefix meaning 1,0002/3 and, thus, equivalent to metric hecto-. (Sym.: ɢ) (pron. updated 8/23/2018)
9. ᴠᴀꜱʜᴏ ['vɑ.ɕo]: The base unit of length, which is equivalent to 1.016 metres (Sym.: ᴠ) (spelling updated 8/23/2018)
10. ᴊʀᴏxᴜᴢʜ [jro'xʉʑ]: Mass measurement equivalent to 0.9525440.9979 of a gram (Sym.: ᴊ) (definition updated 8/7/18; pron. updated 8/23/2018)
11. ᴊᴇᴢʜ ['ʝeʑ]: Prefix meaning 1,0001/3 and, thus, equivalent to metric deca-. (Sym.: ᴊ) (pron. updated 8/23/2018)
———
12. ɴᴊᴇ [ˈʝ̃eᵛ]: Prefix meaning 1,000-2 and, thus, equivalent to metric micro-. (Sym.: ᴊ̃) (added 8/7/18; pron. updated 8/23/2018)

Code: Select all

Prefix     Symbol     Base     Decimal     Translation
ᴢʜʀᴀɴ        ᴢ      1,000^2   1,000,000      Million
ᴘʀᴀʀ         ᴘʀ     1,000^1     1,000       Thousand
ɢᴊᴏ          ɢ     1,000^2/3     100         Hundred
ᴊᴇᴢʜ         ᴊ     1,000^1/3     10            Ten
                    1,000^0       1            One
ᴘᴊᴜ          ᴘ     1,000^-1/3    0.1          Tenth
ᴕʜᴇ          ᴕ     1,000^-2/3   0.01        Hundreth
ᴋᴊᴀ          ᴋ      1,000^-1    0.001      Thousandth
ɴᴊᴇ          ɴ      1,000^-2  0.000001      Millionth
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