Çetázó
| Çetázó [çeta:'zo:] | |
| Period | c. -2000 YP |
| Spoken in | Lake Γañeɬina area |
| Total speakers | to be determined |
| Writing system | to be determined |
| Classification | Western |
| Typology | |
| Basic word order | SOV |
| Morphology | agglutinating |
| Alignment | ergative |
| Credits | |
| Created by | WeepingElf |
Çetázó ('of the outflow') is a language of the Western language family in the western part of Peilaš. It was spoken about -2000 YP in the area around the outflow of a lake named Γañeɬina 'the Big Lake'. (It is upon the head honchos of the Akana project to decide where exactly that lake lies, and by what name it is known to other peoples.)
Phonology
Consonants
| labial | dental | sibilant | lateral | palatal | velar | labiovelar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| voiceless stops | p | t | ts | tɬ | c | k | kʷ |
| voiced stops | b | d | dz | dl | ɟ | g | gʷ |
| voiceless fricatives | f | θ | s | ɬ | ç | x | xʷ |
| voiced fricatives | v | ð | z | γ | γʷ | ||
| nasals | m | n | ñ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||
| approximants | l | j | w |
Vowels
| front unround |
front round |
central unround |
back round | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | i | y | u | |
| mid | e | ø | o | |
| low | æ | a |
Morphology
Çetázó is an agglutinating ergative language.
Nouns
The Çetázó noun is inflected for case, number and possessor; also, nouns fall into several noun classes, which are not overtly marked on the noun, but everything that agrees with the noun (adjectives, phoric pronouns and verbs) carries class markers.
There are three numbers: singular, dual and plural; and seven cases: absolutive, ergative, oblique, instrumental, locative, allative and ablative. Nouns fall into five declension classes (not to be confused with noun classes; there is nothing agreeing with a noun's declension class!) which are defined by the noun's final phoneme: There are thus a-stems, e-stems, i-stems, u-stems and n-stems. (The very few long-vowel stems are declined like their short-vowel counterparts.)
| singular | a-stem 'horn' |
e-stem 'water' |
i-stem 'seed' |
u-stem 'wolf' |
n-stem 'road' |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| absolutive | çelna | cufe | føji | kʷuɬu | padazun |
| ergative | çelné | cyfí | føjí | kʷuɬú | padazyni |
| oblique | çelnó | cyfí | føjí | kʷuɬú | padazunu |
| instrumental | çelnómek | cyfímek | føjímek | kʷuɬúmek | padazunumek |
| locative | çelnóma | cyfíma | føjíma | kʷuɬúma | padazunuma |
| allative | çelnóɟe | cyfíɟe | føjíɟe | kʷuɬúɟe | padazunuɟe |
| ablative | çelnóza | cyfíza | føjíza | kʷuɬúza | padazunuza |
Sample
- Γwejúma ɬæñí meŋuk sujçeldagada. Açeni tagwaðú meŋú θula sujbesagadza, kwelé çidu meŋu sujγlatagada, lé naɬtuðu meŋu sujwaɟezagada, jawaó xajómek medzaðu meŋu sujkwegwuda.
- [ ɣʷeˈjuː.mɑ ɬæˌɲiː ˈme.ŋuk suj.çel.dɑˈɡɑ.dɑ ‖ ɑˌçeˌni tɑ.ɡʷɑˈðuː meˌŋuː ˈθu.lɑ suj.be.sɑˈɡɑ.ʣɑ | kweˌleː ˈçi.du ˌme.ŋu suj.ɣlɑ.tɑˈɡɑ.dɑ | leː nɑɬˈtu.ðu ˌme.ŋu suj.wɑ.ɟe.zɑˈɡɑ.dɑ | jɑ.wɑˌoː xɑˈjoː.mek meˌʣɑ.ðu ˌme.ŋu suj.kʷeˈɡʷu.dɑ ]
- hill-LOC horse-ERG sheep-PL(ABS) PAST-see-3.ERG-NC2. woman-ERG first-OBL sheep-OBL wool(ABS) PAST-cut-3.ERG-NC3, child-ERG second(ABS) sheep(ABS) PAST-milk-3.ERG-NC2, man-ERG third(ABS) sheep(ABS) PAST-kill-2.ERG-NC2. ANA-NC1-OBL fire-INST fourth(ABS) sheep(ABS) PAST-cook-NC2
(taken from The horse and the sheep)