Red Laqi language
The Red Laqi language (RL. Plyžlaqebze) is the variety of Laqi speech most closely associated with the Red Laqs. Red Laqs originate from the Laqi Homeland in the grasslands of Brookshire, but split off to migrate west as Ashkenatza fell to ruin.
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Alveolopalatal | Retroflex | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | kʷ | q | qʷ | ʔ | ʔʷ | ||||||||
| voiced | b | d | gʷ | |||||||||||||
| ejective | p' | pʷ' | t' | tʷ' | kʷ' | |||||||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡sʷ | t͡ʃ | t͡ʂ | |||||||||||
| voiced | d͡z | d͡zʷ | d͡ʒ | |||||||||||||
| ejective | t͡s' | t͡ʃ' | t͡ʂ' | |||||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ | ʃ | ʃʷ | ɕ | ʂ | x | xʷ | χ | χʷ | ħ | |||
| voiced | z | ɮ | ʒ | ʒʷ | ʑ | ʐ | ɣ | ʁ | ʁʷ | |||||||
| ejective | ɬ' | ʃ' | ʃʷ' | |||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||||||
| Central | |
|---|---|
| Close-mid | ə |
| Open | a aː |
Orthography
| Character | Phoneme | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | /aː/ | aban "hole" | |
| B b | /b/ | be "a lot (of)" | |
| C | C c | /t͡s/ | cage "rib", cy "body hair" |
| C° c° | /t͡sʷ/ | c°y "ox" | |
| C' c' | /t͡s'/ | c'yfy "person" | |
| Ć ć | /t͡ʃ/ | ćefy "cheerful, pleased" | |
| Ć' ć' | /t͡ʃ'/ | ć'ymafe "winter", ćase "late", ćyg°e "land" | |
| Ĉ ĉ | /t͡ʂ/ | ĉy'e "cold" | |
| Ĉ' ĉ' | /t͡ʂ'/ | ĉyfe "debt" | |
| D | D d | /d/ | dedźe "bitter" |
| Dz dz | /d͡z/ | dzeue "bag", dze "combat, war" | |
| Dz° dz° | /d͡zʷ/ | ḥandz°e "rick, 1.208 m3" | |
| Dź dź | /d͡ʒ/ | dźane "dress, robe, shirt", łamydź "bridge" | |
| E e | /a/ | 'eneẑ, neneẑ "grandmother" | |
| F f | /f/ | fyžy "white" | |
| G | G g | /ɣ/ | gyć'yġ "laundry", ge "gonad" |
| G° g° | /gʷ/ | g°y "heart" | |
| Ġ ġ | /ʁ/ | ġathe "spring", -ġe "-ity, -ness" | |
| Ġ° ġ° | /ʁʷ/ | ġ°yneġ°y "neighbour" | |
| H | H h | /x/ | -he "-s (plural marker)" |
| Ḥ ḥ | /ħ/ | ḥe "dog" | |
| I i | /j/ | iai "theirs", iat'e "dirt" | |
| K | K° k° | /kʷ/ | k°y "cart" |
| K°' k°' | /kʷ'/ | k°'akle "strong", -k°'e "-er" | |
| L | L l | /ɮ/ | ly "meat" |
| Ł ł | /ɬ/ | łaše "weak" | |
| Ł' ł' | /ɬ'/ | ł'y "man" | |
| M m | /m/ | maze "moon", mepy "sheep" | |
| N n | /n/ | ne "eye", ny "mother" | |
| P | P p | /p/ | plyžy "red" paie "for, in order to" |
| P' p' | /p'/ | p'e "bed" | |
| P°' | /pʷ'/ | p°'yr "apprentice" | |
| Q | Q q | /q/ | qek°'eḥyn "to stroll, roam" maq "voice" |
| Q° q° | /qʷ/ | q°yŝe "mountain", q°e "-son (patronymic)" | |
| R r | /r/ | rezeġen "to become content" | |
| S | S s | /s/ | se "I, me", seśh°e "sabre" |
| Ś ś | /ʃ/ | śy "horse, brother" | |
| Ś° ś° | /ʃʷ/ | ś°y- "you all (imperative plural marker)", ś°ece "black" | |
| Š š | /ɕ/ | šy "three" | |
| Ŝ ŝ | /ʂ/ | ŝe "hundred", ŝabe "soft, meek" | |
| T | T t | /t/ | te "we" |
| T' t' | /t'/ | nyt'e "yes" | |
| T°' t°' | /tʷ'/ | t°'yrys "old" | |
| U u | /w/ | uyben "to tamp, make smooth" | |
| X | X x | /χ/ | xyien "to move" |
| X° x° | /χʷ/ | -x°y "male ___" | |
| Z | Z z | /z/ | -bze "female ___, -speech" |
| Ź ź | /ʒ/ | bźyḥe "autumn" | |
| Ź° ź° | /ʒʷ/ | ź°aġ°e "star" | |
| Ž ž | /ʑ/ | žaua "shadow" | |
| Ẑ ẑ | /ʐ/ | ẑy "old", ẑaẑe "slow" | |
| ' | ' | /ʔ/ | 'e "hand" |
| '° | /ʔʷ/ | '°yćen "to meet" | |
Grammar
Verbs
Nouns
Cases
| Indefinite | Definite | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abs | - | ŝ°yze | -r | ŝ°yzer | "a/some woman" "the woman" |
| Erg-Obj | - | ŝ°yze | -m | ŝ°yzem | "a/some woman" "the woman" |
| Inst-Dir | -ć'e | ŝ°yzeć'e | -mć'e | ŝ°yzemć'e | "with a/some woman" "with the woman" |
| Adv | -u | ŝ°yzeu | "as a/the woman" | ||
| Adj | _ | ŝ°yz_ | "womanly" | ||
Absolutive
The Absolutive Case marks the subject of an intransitive verb or the direct object of a transitive verb.
Subject of an Intransitive
- ć'aler iedźap'em k°'aġe "The boy went to the school."
Direct Object of a Transitive
Formation
No ending added to the stem for indefinite nouns in the absolutive. -r affixed to the stem for definite nouns.
Ergative-Oblique
Instrumental-Directional
Adverbial
Adjectival
The Adjectival Case marks when a noun is being used as an adjective to directly modify the following noun.
- ġ°yć'y "iron" → ġ°yć' wate "iron hammer"
Formation
The Adjectival Case is notable in that it is marked not with an ending, but with a reduction of the noun stem. For multi-syllabic nouns, the end vowel is clipped:
- plyžy "red" (abs) → plyž "red" (adj)
For mono-syllabic nouns, the end vowel is retained; for these nouns, the Adjectival has the same form as the indefinite Absolutive or Ergative-Oblique:
- ł'y "man" (abs) → ł'y "manly" (adj)
This absence of clipping extends to compounds in which a monosyllabic noun comes last:
- dzeł'y "fighter" (abs) [< dze "army" + ł'y "man"] → dzeł'y "fighter" (adj)
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns can be optional, due subject and object markings on finite verbs. On the other hand, their inclusion in sentences add redundancy and can be used for emphasis. The category of "personal" covers only First and Second Person as well as a Reflexive.
| First-person | Second-person | Reflexive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Abs | se | ue | iež |
| Erg-Obj | se | ue | iež | |
