Caseyan
The Caseyan Language (Caseyan: Кăзèйски езыкэнзy, [kɐˈzɛjski jɛzɨkənzu], English transcription: Kazeysky yezykenzu, scientific transliteration: Kăzèjski jezykənzu) is a constructed language spoken in eastern Antarctica — most notably Casey where it was also first observed in. It is one of the first known indigenous Antarctican languages and has official status in Casey. It's a mostly religious and poetic language. The language's vocabulary is largely derived from a plethora of languages such as Russian, Icelandic, German, Toki Pona, Ukrainian and Italian. It is written in the Caseyan alphabet.
Alphabet
Caseyan Alphabet | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
А а | Ă ă | Б б | Ц ц | Д д | Ð ð | Е е | È è |
Э э | Ф ф | Г г | Х х | И и | Й й | К к | Λ λ |
М м | Н н | О о | Ō ō | Ö ö | П п | Р р | С с |
Ç ç | З з | Т т | Y y | Ÿ ÿ | В в | Ы ы | Ш ш |
Caseyan is written in Caseyan alphabet (csyn. аλфавитэнзy кăзèйски alfavítənzu kăzèjski), a derivative from the Cyrillic, Latin and Greek scripts.
Since the last spelling reform in March 2022, the Caseyan alphabet consists of 32 letters, where 12 represent vowels — а, ă, е, è, э, и, о, ō, ö, y, ÿ, ы — and the remaining 20 represent consonants.
Phonology
Overview
Grapheme | IPA | Pronounciation in English |
---|---|---|
А а | [a] | Like the "a" in bath when you sound posh. |
Ă ă | [ɐ] | Approximately like the "u" in nut (received pronounciation). |
Б б | [b] | Like the "b" in bottle. |
Ц ц | [t͡s] | Like the "ts" in cats. |
Д д | [d], [ɖ] | First variant: Like the "d" in dad; second variant: No English equivalent |
Ð ð | [ð] | Like the "th" in that. |
Е е | [e] | Approximately like the "é" in café. |
È è | [ε] | Like the "e" in bed. |
Э э | [ə] | Like the "a" in about. |
Ф ф | [f] | Like the "f" in friggin. |
Г г | [g] | Like the "g" in get. |
Х х | [x] | Like the "ch" in Scottish Loch. |
И и | [i] | Like the "ea" in heat. |
Й й | [j] | Like the "y" in yankee. |
Λ λ | [l] | Like the "l" in letter (received pronounciation). |
М м | [m] | Like the "m" in mother. |
Н н | [n] | Like the "n" in no. |
О о | [ɔ] | Approximately like the word awe. |
Ō ō | [o] | Approximately like the "o" in or (received pronounciation). |
Ö ö | [ø], [œ] | Like an exaggerated "ea" in British heard. |
П п | [pʰ] | Like the "p" in people. |
Р р | [r] | The "rolled"/trilled "r". |
С с | [s] | Like the "sc" in scissors. |
Ç ç | [θ] | Like the "th" in thing. |
З з | [z] | Like the "z" in hazy. |
Т т | [tʰ], [ʈ] | First variant: Like the "t" in time; second variant: No English equivalent. |
Y y | [u] | Approximately like the "u" in rude. |
Ÿ ÿ | [y] | No English equivalent — like the "ü" in German Güte. |
В в | [v] | Like the "v" in vase. |
Ы ы | [ɨ] | No English equivalent — somewhat like the "ÿ" from previously. |
Ш ш | [ʃ] | Like the "sh" in shade. |
Example Texts
Example Text 1
Caseyan: |
IPA: |
Translation: | |
Мистер Тшèков тōрте! - Скèнэнзy поλностевйе, Кăпитан. |
Mistɛr t͡ʃɛkɔv tɔrtɛ Skɛnənzu pɔlnɔstjɛvjɛ kɐpitan. |
Mister Chekov, report! - Complete scan, Captain. | |
(Дшèрōм Биксбы, вèдиăкλyп: Стар Трèк СО (1968ÿг г.) С3Ф7) (Jerome Bixby, wediaklup: Star Trek TOS (1968) S3E7) |
Example Text 2
Caseyan: |
IPA: |
Translation: | |
Агаэнзy есÿтно ираэнио дематэногōрy пекинкаогōга. Тyри энмазy модÿλи работÿтно менyнyма фитÿкаио, |
Agaənzu esytnɔ ira̯ənjɔ dematənɔgoru pekinkaɔgoga turi ənmazu mɔdyli rabɔtytnɔ menunuma fitükajɔ |
Agriculture is the art of losing money, when you work four hundred hours a month | |
(Шпицхакè: Ираэнзy дематэногōрy пекинкаогōга (2022ÿг г.) вèрсказy 1–5) (Spitzhacke: Iraənzu dematənogōru pekinkaogōga (2022) verses 1–5) |
Vowels
Vowels | front | central | back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
Close | и /i/ | ÿ /y/ | ы /ɨ/ | y /u/ | ||
Near-close | ||||||
Close-mid | е /e/ | ö /ø/ | ō /o/ | |||
Mid | э /ə/ | |||||
Open-mid | è /ε/ | ö /œ/ | о /ɔ/ | |||
Near-open | ă /ɐ/ | |||||
Open | а /a/ |
Diphthongs
In Caseyan, there are multiple diphthongs involving <и> and a following "second" vowel. In these diphthongs the /i/ from <и> becomes a /j/; this can be done with any vowel except /ɨ/. Some other diphthongs can include <а> or <ă> and <э> (schwa), in which case the first vowel gets shortened (e.g. аэ: [aə] → [a̯ə]). This is not allowed transsyllabically, should this encounter happen between two syllables, a glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted, c.f. нароçăэнзy [na.ˈrɔː.ˌθɐ.ʔən.zu] (the people). If /ɐ/ and /ə/ are next to each other, the sound gets reduced to /ə/.
Diphthong | Example | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grapheme | Phonemically | Phonetically | IPA | Orthography | Translation |
аэ | [aə] | [a̯ə] | [rada̯ənənzu] | радаэнэнзy | radar |
ăэ | [ɐə] | [ə] | [ɛpizɔdənzu] | èпизодăэнзy | episode |
èэ | [εə] | [ε] | [ʃεnzu] | шèэнзy | that (conjunction) |
иэ | [iə] | [jə] | [jənsazɐ] | иэнсазă | valuable |
оэ | [ɔə] | [wə] | [gwədənzu] | гоэдэнзy | |
ÿэ | [yə] | [ʏə] | [kreaʏəli] | креаÿэλи | artificial |
иа | [ia] | [ja] | [fɛdɛrat͡sjaʔənzu] | фèдèрациаэнзy | federation |
work in progress |
Consonants
Consonants | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | vcl | vcd | |
Plosive | п /p/ | б /b/ | т /t/ | д /d/ | т /ʈ/ | д /ɖ/ | к /k/ | г /g/ | ʔ | |||||||||
Nasal | м /m/ | м /ɱ/ | н /n/ | |||||||||||||||
Trill | р /r/ | |||||||||||||||||
Tap/Flap | р /ɾ/ | |||||||||||||||||
Fricative | ф /f/ | в /v/ | ç /θ/ | ð /ð/ | с /s/ | з /z/ | ш /ʃ/ | х /x/ | ||||||||||
Approximant | й /j/ | |||||||||||||||||
Lateral Approximant | λ /l/ |
Grammar
The Caseyan grammar is inspired by slavic languages and therefore highly inflecting. In inflecting languages the appearance of a word is changed according to grammatical categories by the means of the addition of affixes or the changing of the word stem. Caseyan only utilizes the former but does this intensively. That is why word endings are usually made up of two or more parts.
In Caseyan nouns, adflecatives/adjectives and verbs are almost always derived from a part of speech, that is unique to Caseyan: the Inflecative. An Inflecative usually has at least three meanings that can be expressed by inflecting the Inflecative accordingly, i.e. adding the nominal/verbal/adjectival ending to the Inflecative. For example: дōм (house, to live in sth., inhabited) → дōмэнзy (the house); йа дōмÿтно (I live); дōмλи/дōмзă (inhabited).
Declination
wip