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Consonants:
r, l
t (interdental stop)
th (interdental fricative)
m, n
k, s
y /j/
w /w/
glottal stop (unwritten; occurs between any two vowels)
vowels:
{I didn't know much about phonology when I put this together; these don't really go together very well. There's not enough contrast between e and i, or uu and ou. Hmm... not sure what to do about it now, though.}
e /e/ front, mid, lax, unrounded (IPA epsilon) i /I/ front, high, lax, unrounded a /a/ back, low, tense, unrounded o /o/ back, mid, tense, rounded uu /U/ back, high, lax, rounded ou /u/ back, high, tense, rounded long diphthongs: ai /aj/ oi /oj/
Syllables can be of the form V or CV. Except for the two diphthongs mentioned above, a glottal stop must occur between what would otherwise be adjacent vowels. Stress is generally on the first syllable with a tense vowel, or on the first if there are no tense vowels in the word.
{I didn't work out the grammar of Old Toa' until after I had done a good deal of work on Thauliralau Triyk (translating the Toa' creation story, and the Babel Text, into't; writing lots about the grammar, etc. I'm sort of working backwards to figure out the grammar of the old language, so that I can work forward again to get the languages of Kreis, Mar and "Qualtos".}
Word order: SV(adv)O. Mostly isolating, with a few regular suffixes (-te for reversal/negation, -no for diminution, ...). Most words can serve in several parts of speech (noun, verb/adjective, and adverb). Articles, demonstrative adjectives, and numerals/quantifiers are another part of speech: they occur always and only directly before nouns.
(In the third-person demonstratives, note there's a glottal stop between the vowels. Esp. note that "kii" is /kI?I/, not /ki/ as in Thauliralau.)
Singular: Definite Demonstratives 1, 2 and 3d person c. ke kethe kouthe kie m. kai kethai kouthai kiai f. kou kethou kouthou kiou in. kuu kethuu kouthuu kiuu
Plural: c. ki kethi kouthi kii m. ko ketho koutho kio f. ka ketha koutha kia in. koi kethoi kouthoi kioi
{This reconstruction of Old Toa' articles is not wholly satisfactory to me. Simply reversing my (silly hodge-podge of) sound-shifts led to the feminine and inanimate plural articles being identical (koi, etc.). Changing this to "ka" means that the change in Thauliralau to koi, etc. is inmatched by any other sound change. Not good.}
Usage: Definite articles are used before subject nouns which are in context very specific in their reference, before all object nouns, and before subject nouns if an adverb is placed before the subject for emphasis. A quantifier may substitute for the article, and often does with an subject noun that is not, semantically, really definite. The three sets of demonstrative adjectives are used, roughly, for "the one near me," "the one near you," and "the one over there" (near neither speaker nor hearer).
to - memory, knowledge, experience
toila - to give memories
toika - to receive memories
telato - a memory-ancestor; one from whom you have memories indirectly
ramito - a memory-sibling; one with whom you have exchanged memories
ali - people, sentients
mikouta - animals (except sessile ones)
ma - meat, flesh, muscle; corporeal
luuma - to subsist upon meat; a carnivore or omnivore
luumate - to be herbivorous; a herbivore
isako-tikuusi - To fly; a flying creature
isako-soi - to swim; an aquatic creature
suuyoi - bone; shell, exoskeleton
ralo - to keep, preserve, guard
Toaliralolo - Us; lit., the sentients who keep memory for as long as
possible.
* family relations:
tela - grandparent; ancestor
rami - a member of one's immediate family: parent, sibling, or child.
Unmarked whether biological or adopted.
uurimo - spouse; business-partner
ilitoi - friend; lover
tawi - home-sibling; one raised by same parents at about the same time
thuumoi - son or daughter (biological)
thoura-thuumoi - home-son or home-daughter; one you have raised
seso - marriage (generally marriage of adults)
seso ikela rakou - cocoon-marriage
yisoila suu seso - betrothal plans
ema - Cousin via adoptive relations: home-child of a home-sibling of
one's adoptive parents
imora - Biological cousin (or sibling) too nearly related to oneself
to marry
noure - to give a child in adoption; to lend something
kesima - to adopt a child; to borrow something
oita - life (as a sequence of events, not a state); to live (to
experience life); to be awake, to be active.
yoimara - life, living (adj. applied to people, plants, animals); to
be alive
rai - death; to die, to be dead
tailoita - to kill; murder (to cut life)
lou - song, story
lai - dance, story
etoika - to talk w. integrated sound and gestures
etoikalou - to talk with sound only
etoikalai - to talk with gestures only
oumo - to ask, inquire (open inquriy)
tesali - to demand, request, beg (interested inquiry, or asking for
something material)
kouma - to give; gift
thou - word, name
mosoi - to worship, give honor to; to serve, obey
la - to allow, let
siwou - to pass, occur, happen
la ... siwou - to wait; to ignore (to let (event/time) pass)
ta - to go, travel, move
tasuu - to join, become part or member of of
wo - action; to do anything; to do something (object)
wote - inaction; to do nothing; to not do... (verb object)
the - to cause, to make, to render
suuwo - to rise up, bestir oneself, become active ("toward action")
miwuula - whistling, humming; music, especially on wind instruments;
to whistle-laugh, applaud
mana - net, web; complex of tunnels
miso - similar to, like; to resemble (ant. tiyoumi)
telawo - kind, species, sort
nawuu - to grow; to become
nai - silence, stillness, emptiness
salo - recovery from sickness; mercy, forgiveness
* Parts of the body:
moi - head-segment, head; first, most important, most prominent;
nou - mouth; a door or entrance (to a tunnel, cave, house, etc.)
nuu - a hind-segment;
mo - memory-tongue
limosa - tongue
liyuula - throat
sai - fur
nime - skin, hide
tha - leg, foot-hand
souri - teat
raimo - womb; see also entry among thought-words
oinai- ear-nose
luurai - main heart (in head segment)
luuraino - local heart (in a hind segment)
osa - eye
lesou - the body as a whole
wiruu - underside, belly
meluuya - sides, flanks
nouya - top side
nuu thiwe - rearmost hind segment
nelo - male; penis
niwa nelo - cavity in which penis is stored when not in use
minoi - female
nou minoi - vagina
* other biological stuff:
wuulo - to eat or drink leisurely
luu - to eat or drink hurriedly
isoinai- to breathe, breath (< oinai, ear-nose)
maloiko - sleep, cocooning; to sleep or cocoon
ikela - emergence from cocooning
maka - to coil (of Toa, Yith, snakes); to coil around (direct object);
to embrace, grasp wholeheartedly; own, possess, have;
kiyou - to copulate; to beget or conceive; to start or initiate
something; father
yara - baby, newborn; one with only a head-segment
reyara - to carry children, to be pregnant
isoyara - to give birth
sou - milk
resou - to give suck, to nurse; by extension, to take care of
children; mother
isamou - to roll-run
isako - to walk; to shuffle forward or backward
isouta - to laugh-somersault
mou - a place, spot, location; to put, place
tai - to cut, divide, separate
newou - to throw
inomai - possibility, uncertainty; might be, maybe
tawilo - to be desired, hoped for; desire, hope;
okuu - to test, demonstrate, prove, show
makamou - to stay put, to remain in place; stubbornness, tenacity
suumisa - to trade; to sell, buy
uumiso - to wash, bathe; to surround oneself with...
kouro - to pretend, feign
neruusata - to work magic (of aliens) (< Old Pliv nrusad)
muuso - to rule
wai - to try, attempt, make an effort
relina - to fight, to attack
wai ralo moi - to struggle, to defend oneself (try to preserve [one's]
head)
lonuu - to see
wai lonuu - to look for; to expect
lonuu suu - to look at, examine
lonuu mesai - to glimpse, see briefly or incompletely
noya - to hear
wai noya - to listen for
noya suu - to listen to, to attend, pay attention
noya te - to refuse (a proposal or offer)
raloto - to deliberately remember
matokou - to remember, to have experience of, to know about
emorikou - to know thoroughly; to know how (to do something)
meka - to forget; forgetful; (euph.) to die
re - to make, produce, emit, secrete
thoimi - to make, put together, build
mayalou - to be able to, to be competent at
mosiloi - to be able to learn how
tou - thought, idea, mental image; judgment, prejudice, belief
retou - to think, to have thoughts; to be sentient; to be conscious,
awake; to be thoughtful, prudent, cautious.
toumana - system of thought, theory; train of thought, chain of
reasoning
outo - personal memories, as opposed to acquired ones; first part of
the soul; the sort of ghost which might appear at a funeral fire
raimo - f. womb; c. imagination, creativity; second part of soul;
another sort of ghost; a messenger of the Eleven.
tawilo - desire, will, inclination, hope; third part of soul; another
sort of ghost.
lamaki - spirits other than Toa' ghosts ( > Triyk place-name
Lamakiita)
mekoi - to think that, to believe that
komoita - to think about, to ponder
theraiso - to reason about, analyze
raimolou - to imagine, invent, create, compose
yisoila - to plan, prepare, think ahead
koimi - to decide that, to decide to (with or without object)
moyou - to choose (takes object)
yeleta - to resolve to (takes object)
suukai - to decide against (object)
toi - love
toire - loyalty, fealty
soiko - fear
tila - cheerfulness, merriment
koithou - joy
yimuula - delight, to delight in
kaisuume - to be content; to be quietly happy
kolithimou - melancholy
muukita - sadness, sorrow, grief
saraka - lamentation, distress
* stative verbs / adjectives
ra - divine
rate - unholy, deeply wicked
kasou - wise, wisdom, a wise person
le - fast, quick, quickly; speed
mera - large, deep, extensive
laikoi - short, small, shallow
ilaitoi - together
tayoumi - dissimilar, unlike, different from (object)
tisi - strong
uuteka - strong-durable (as opposed to tisi, strong-in-action)
uutekate - fragile
nika - to break
mika - hidden, unknown. ( > Triyk personal name Migalainou, "hidden
dance-cavern.")
semo - lengthy (of Toa, snakes, rivers, &c) or tall (of upright ali,
trees, mtns, etc.)
yisuu - old; experienced (of most sentients, & animals)
wisuu - old, long-standing (of trees, incl. Jhray, natural features,
durable achitecture, &c)
esika - former, previous, ex-; no more, discontinued; to stop doing
yitai - young (of animals & sentients)
witai - new, recent (of trees, natural features, etc)
selai - bright, glowing, lighted; a light; a star
wa - v., to need
wasa - necessary
kounoi - danger; to be dangerous, to endanger (object)
kounoite - safety, security
lina - pain, trouble, injury
yela - loud; bold, brash
nora - sickness; evil, wickedness ( > god's name Wainorameka: tries to
forget evil)
tayuu - open, uncovered, naked
thiwe - final, last, ending
ilaitoi'te- alone
rano - good (on mortal scale; diminutive of "ra," divine)
yosaimiruu - surprising, unlooked-for, startling (ripe early)
kerou - dark
ni - other, otherwise.
alini - other people.
ne - affirmative or emphatic particle; yes (in reply to question),
very, strongly, definitely (as adverb)
we - superlative affix
no - small, little; diminutive suffix
* Stuff
thoura - home, living-place
muuka - A book, record, archive
salota - message; sign-post
imo - a ball of some sort
tata - drum, array of drums
soi - water
soitho - ice
oumasoi - river, broad stream
ri - spring, well; source, origin.
mi - soft earth, clay
wou - topsoil, humus
simika - sandy soil
tho - stone, metal (substance, mass)
niyoi - stone, rock (item, count)
kalou - silver; money (< Old Pliv _glu_)
talou - gold; adj., rare, costly (< Old Pliv _dlu_)
siyai-tho - a stalagmite or similar formation
mira - fire; to burn (be on fire)
kimou - hill
muu - tunnel
remuu - to dig, tunnel, excavate
muutho - a tunnel through rock
muumi - a tunnel or burrow through earth
noi - a cavern or underground room; a room in a surface-dwellers house
niwa - any sort of cavern ( < Old Pliv)
suumita - grass, moss; fungus
siyai - tree; shrubbery; hard-shelled sessile animals
simai - a species of tuber cultivated for food; similar shape as
pototoes, but with a sharper taste.
thisa - edible fruit and vegetables, including berries and tubers, but
exclusive of leaves and stems.
siyathisa - fruit of trees.
mithisa - tubers, ground-fruits, etc.
yosai - ripe
yosaite - unripe; immature
* Cosmogony
teyoi - world, universe
miralosa - the sun
* Weather:
uumaloi - rain
uukisoi - a downpour, torrential rain
yaralai - hurricane
laimanika - an electrical storm; lightning, thunder
tiroula - coolly breezy
kaloima - sweltering hot
soutikoi - cloudy sky, cloudy, overcast
tikuusi - partly cloudy, a cloud
tikailai - fog, foggy
tikai - mist, steam, fog
uumikasa - sleet or hail
tikai-rai - the Mists
* Time:
ketai - yesterday
tosa - today
wuumouyai - last year
wuu - a year
wuumera - eleven years
wuura - thirty-three days (the cycle of fires)
miyetoi - awhile ago (indefinite)
lo - a long while, for as long as possible, etc.
mesai - briefly
miruu - early, soon, prematurely
thi - moment, instant; time, occasion; pl., Time.
imeruu - night
* Numbers:
yuu - one.
na - two
kika - three
tuu - four
woi - five
mai - six
ruu - seven
roi - eight
yi - nine.
yuuyirai - ten.
nayirai - eleven. (2 + 9)
kikayirai - twelve.
.
kikanayirai - twenty-one (3 + 18, three and two nines)
* powers of nine:
uuta - eighty-one
outa - seven hundred twenty-nine
oi - ordinal particle: yuu oi, first, kika oi, third, etc.
* various quantifiers:
tara - all, every, each ( > Taramakato)
so - many
me - more, greater
thoi - fewer, less
sotame - too much
sota - enough
sotathoi - not enough
te - no, not; suffix, reverse meaning of root
teye - none, not one
* pronouns
Use definite articles with these to specify gender (and number).
ou - first-person sng. individual (tawilo only)
o - first-person sng. general (tawilo + passenger outo)
arai - First-person inclusive pl.
alai - First-person exclusive pl.
uu - second person.
i - third person.
* interrogative pronouns & adverbs:
li - what, who?
loi - where, when?
thuu - how? why? in what manner, by what means, for what
reason?
thuuso - how much, how many?
* Prepositions & postpositions:
suu - to, towards, into (pre.).
rou - at, in (post.).
yimoi - on level with, at same altitude or depth as (post.)
rela - with, by means of (pre.).
rakou - when, at the time of, during (post.): uumaloi rakou, while it
rains.
thai - until, up to the time of (pre.)
iko - from, away from, out of (pre.)
wi - of, belonging to, associated with
ti - between, among (conj.)
tikai - with, beside (post.)
tikaite - without (post.)
sa - next, (pre.)
sou rou - above, over
wiruu rou - under, below, beneath
suu meluuya ni - across (to other side of)
meluuya ni rou - across (at other side of)
tara meluuya rou - around, encircling, surrounding ("all sides")
suu mou ni - beyond, farther than, exceeding ("to other place")
suu rela - for (in exchange for)
sai rou - outside of, exterior to ("at fur")
ola moi - only, solely, exclusively
niso - through [pr]
itho - of, out of, among: e.g., Taramakato is the eldest of the gods.
Taramakato yisuu itho rali.
* Conjunctions
ro - and, but, yet, even so
ro te - but, except, with the exception of
se - or
si - rather than
tero - neither...nor
thema - yet, even now, still
wesou - that; introduces subordinate clauses
ino - if, whether
ola - comparative particle: as, like, than
inola - as if, as though
*
----
exported to Thau', ready to move
=:
seluu - sudden
sou - sky (daytime)
sou kerou - sky (nighttime)
etoika weso kinuu - to warn, to advise
lamou - to contain, hold
kinuu - one probably ought to, it would be a good idea to
lekeyoi - one must, it is absolutely necessary to; logically
necessary, inevitable
nourou - to swallow; to hide, conceal, cover up
tekou - to track, follow; to hunt (game animals); a hunter
linesa - to catch, capture, snare; a trap; a trapper
ekuumi - to kill (game-animals)
elo - the moon
elono - circle; round, circular
souno - to come, to return; to appear, become apparent
isamaka - to hold; wear; carry, tote about on one's person
ailuu - again, another time
yila - full, complete
- indirect relations: uncle/aunt, cousin, etc.? Most of these would
be denoted by locutions, e.g. thuumoi tela wi, uncle or aunt
(biological)
louthou - poem, song, proverb: something one remembers as a sequence
of exact words
louloita - story, myth, history: something one remembers as a sequence
of events or ideas
mela - strange, odd, bizarre
kima - to match, fit, suit
luusa - in the direction of (post.)
miralosa luusa - east (in the direction of the sun)
soi mera luusa - south (in the direction of the sea)
tousi - land, territory
themira - to burn (cause to catch fire)
mimira - brick
roula - to stick, glue, attach; mortar, glue, sap, any sticky
attaching substance
wili - building, house (of the sort aliens build)
nitha - to help, aid, give succor
o - to use, employ
roiteyo - tribe, nation, community
----
Musical instruments --
thoutasou - a bulky stringed instrument, with a broad, deep resonance
chamber.
- plants and fungi in general
? - brains, lung, heart, various other internal organs
- to play, have fun
* Directions:
- up, down
uumo - north
thoukuu - west
lolou - south
othou - east
tikou - left
mini - right
* Agricultural:
luutha - crops, food-plants
- plants harvested in their entirety
- plants from which fruit is picked
thoika - c. seeds, bulbs; c. planter (person); to plant
newou thoika - to sow, scatter seeds
- to tend
ruuko - to harvest; c. "the harvest" (not yet harvested, but ready),
in. "the harvest" (after harvesting) plants ready to harvest
uusoyou thoika - planting-time
- harvest-time
- field, orchard
- to plow, prepare for planting
uusoyou - time, season; used in uusoyou thoika, planting-time;
mouthi - place-time
* Colors:
selai - bright, glowing, lighted; a light; a star
osawa - dull, opaque: dark
osala - dull, opaque: light
selaino - opaque, slightly reflective; glistening, shiny
oukameno - opaque, very reflective, returning an image
oukame - opaque, perfectly reflective, mirroring
thawi - translucent, very reflective, returning an image
ouwi - transparent, not reflective
oiki - transparent, somewhat reflective
etithuu - animals which grow new segments during their lives, as the
Toa' do.
Animal species:
toliluu - grendeg (herbivorous herd animals)
mithema - dalvar (horned reptiles)
raikou - ulphrazz
Plant species:
laitewa - poipunya (fruit tree)
tinano - targast (tree)