Ifadätels

Phonemic inventory

Ifadätels uses the following vowels (notated using the International Phonetic Alphabet):

and these consonants :

Phonotactics

Phonemes other than /l/ and /ɹ/ are categorized into one of two classes: the I-class and the A-class. The I-class includes /n/, voiceless consonants, and front vowels. The A-class includes /m/, voiced consonants, and back vowels. The vowel /e/ is special and may function as either class. Liquid consonants have a special role and are not considered to belong to either class.

A syllable consists of a vowel followed by a consonant of the same class as the vowel. The syllable is said to have the same class as its vowel and consonant. For example, /æp/ is an I-class syllable, while /ev/ is an A-class syllable. An I-class syllable may include either /l/ between the vowel and consonant or /ɹ/ after the consonant, but not both. An A-class syllable may include either /ɹ/ between the vowel and consonant or /l/ after the consonant, but not both.

Class alternation and syllabic structure of words

In general, a word may begin with either class of syllable and alternates classes. Syllables containing liquids in either position are special, and must instead be of the same class as the preceding syllable. Loan words and certain other words may deviate from these rules, but unsurprisingly they often undergo regularization (either through the addition of a liquid or modification of a syllable to a similar syllable of the alternate class).

A word may not begin with a syllable that contains a liquid and cannot end with a syllable that ends with a liquid.

Root content words typically have an odd number of syllables (prior to any inflection or other derivation), while function words typically have either one syllable or an even number of syllables.

Stress

The primary stress within a word falls on the last syllable of a different class than the final syllable of a word. For words whose syllables all share a class, the penultimate syllable is stressed.

Inflection of nouns

At one point, Ifadätels heavily declined nouns, but by the time of the texts surviving in the Labyrinth, all but pluralization and the genitive case were lost.

Non-genitive nouns are pluralized by duplicating the initial syllable at the end, adding the appropriate liquid between the vowel and consonant if necessary for class alternation.

For example, «änitrum» (enclosed space, room, forest clearing, etc.) has the plural «änitrumän», while «ezetum» (individual person) has the plural «ezetumerz» (the “r” is necessary to allow a second consecutive A-class syllable).

The genitive case is marked in the singular with the suffix «-iš» or «-už» according to the final syllable of the noun. Genitive plurals use the suffix «-emliš» or «-enriž», a borrowing from another now-extinct language.

• TODO(rinna): maybe add an archaic native genitive plural form that can be found in some surviving texts

Inflection of verbs

Ifadätels mostly uses particles in place of inflection for verbs. It does not mark verbs for number, person, or gender.

• TODO(rinna): more about what it actually does here

Sentence order

Sentences are typically ordered as VSO.

Order of modifiers

In general, modifiers follow the word or phrase modified. When multiple modifiers appear, they are ordered from least specific to most specific.