TolsienS

Introduction

TolsienS is one of several versions of Tolsian,and at the time of its creation was meant as a definitive standard. According to documentation :

Tolsian is a Romance language, though it is not written with the Latin alphabet. However, the Tolsian script is largely derived from the Latin and Greek alphabets. Syntax and conjugation are very close to those of the French language. However, the phonology is quite different from other Romance languages. The lexicon is mostly of Latin origin, with influences from other European languages, especially English. Tolsian has been evolving for many years before getting to this current "standardized" stage. Its alphabet has been through two main graphical periods, and has had several different versions, that we will assume to be regional variations. The conjugation has also changed a lot over time, becoming more complex. However, just like this standardized Tolsian will leave behind many archaisms, so will it leave behind some grammatical innovations that are deemed unnecessarily complicated. Two main criteria are being considered in order to establish this standardized version of Tolsian : persistence over time of a given grammatical phenomenon, and how consistent it has been (this is meant to be a standardization of modern Tolsian). However, all other forms of Tolsian will stay a part of it.

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial		Labio-dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m				n						ɲ		ŋ
Plosive		p b				t̚ t d								k g
Fricative		ɸ β		f v		θ ð		s z		ʃ ʒ ɧ̙ʷ						χ ʁ		h
Approximant												j		w
Trill																ʀ
Lateral approx.						l
Prenasalised occlusives														ᵑg

Vowels

		Front		Central		Back
Close		i y				u
Close-mid		e ø				o
Open-mid		ɛ (œ) ɛ̃				ɔ ɔ̃
Open				ä		ɑ̃

Orthography

Alphabet

TolsienS uses the Tolsian script, but it has a matching romanization :

Y y /jo/ /ɔj/
À à /aj/
à ã /ja/
A a /a/
B b /b/
Q q /ʃ/
D d /d/
E e /e/ ; Ê ê /ɛ/ ; Ë ë /ø/ (/œ/)
G g /g/ ; É é /ᵑg/ ; È è /ɲ/
H h /h/ or unpronounced
I i /i/
Ð ð /ð/ ; J j /ʒ/
K k /k/
L l /l/
M m /m/
N n /n/
O o /o/ or /ɔ/ ; Ô ô /o/
P p /p/p ; Æ æ /ɸ/
R r /ʁ/
C c /s/ ; S s /θ/
T t /t/ ; Þ þ /t̚/
U u /y/
V v /v/ ; F f /f/
W w /wi/
Z z /z/
Ä ä /ɑ̃/ ; Ï ï /ɛ̃/ ; Ö ö /ɔ̃/
Û û /u/
X x /χ/
Ü ü /bʁa/ or /bɾa/
Ñ ñ /ŋ/
Ç ç /ɧ̙ʷ/
Ù ù /β/

Spelling rules

Several diacritics are used in the original script, and the romanization tries to match it with the following rules :

• So-called diphtongs, better described as approximant + vowel or vowel + approximant, are written with the help of a tilde diacritic between <i> and another vowel (to denote /j/) or <o> (or possibly <û>) and another vowel (to denote /w/). For example :

i~e /je/
ê~i /ɛj/
o~a /wa/
a~o /aw/

• The tilde diacritic is also used after a vowel to indicate that it is a long vowel : a~ /a:/.
• The phoneme /ʀ/ is written r°.
• A so called "weakening accent" used in the original script to "weaken" a sound (usually making it unpronounced) is romanized with a ^ written after the letter.

Tables of phonemes and their corresponding graphemes

		Bilabial		Labio-dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m <M m>				n <N n>						ɲ <È è>		ŋ <Ñ ñ>
Plosive		p b				t̚ <Þ þ> t <T t> d <D d>								k <K k> g <G g>
Fricative		ɸ <Æ æ> β <Ù ù>		f <F f> v <V v>		θ ð <Ð ð>		s <C c> z <Z z>		ʃ ʒ <J j> ɧ̙ʷ <Ç ç>						χ <X x> ʁ <R r>		h <H h>
Approximant												j1		w1
Trill																ʀ <R° r°>
Lateral approx.						l <L l>
Prenasalised occlusives														ᵑg <É é>

¹See section on spelling rules.

		Front		Central		Back
Close		i y				u <Û û>
Close-mid		e <E e> ø <Ë ë>				o <O o> alt. <Ô ô>
Open-mid		ɛ <Ê ê> (œ <Ë ë>) ɛ̃ <Ï ï>				ɔ <O o> ɔ̃ <Ö ö>
Open				ä <A a>		ɑ̃ <Ä ä>

Morphophonology

An epenthetic /i/ (between consonants) or an epenthetic /n/ (between vowels) can be insterted between the radical of a verb and its conjugation ending, if the pronunciation is otherwise deemed difficult.

Morphology

Verbs

There are three verb groups, marked with different infinitive endings : the first group, ending in -ü ; the second group, ending in -ar ; and the third, ending in -ôr. Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood, and person. There are seven persons : 1SG, 2SG, 3SG, 1PL, 2PL, 3PL, and a 2POLITE person of politeness (used in both the singular and the plural). Verbs are conjugated by replacing the infinitive ending with a conjugated ending.

There are five moods : indicative, absolute, imperative, conditional and subjunctive. Overall, the verbal system is similar to that of French, with some extra moods and tenses.

Indicative

Present

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-a /a/	-a /a/	-vêl /vɛl/
2SG	-aec /a/	-ac /as/	-vego /vego/
3SG	-at /a/	-at /at/	-vma /vma/
1PL	-mmec /m/	-mûc /mus/	-vyd /vjɔd/
2PL	-tec /t/	-tic /tis/	-vemi /vemi/
3PL	-aent /w/	-na /na/	-vi~ä /vjɑ̃/
2POL	-e /e/	-e /e/	-và /vaj/

Simple Past

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-ai /e/	-fa /fa/	-bic /bi/
2SG	-ac /a/	-fac /fas/	-bic /bi/
3SG	-at /a/	-fat /fat/	-bit /bi/
1PL	-amôc /am/	-famo /famo/	-böc /bɔ̃/
2PL	-atôc /at/	-fati /fati/	-bez /be/
3PL	-rent /ʁ/	-fana /fana/	-bent /b(ə)/
2POL	-ôtôc /at/	-fe /fe/	-biôz /bje/

Imperfect

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-tea /ta/	-ta /ta/	-loic /lwa/
2SG	-teec /te/	-tac /tas/	-luac /lwa/
3SG	-teat /ta/	-tat /tat/	-liait /li(j)e/
1PL	-teômc /tɛm/	-tamo /tamo/	-limmôc /lim/
2PL	-teôtc /te/	-tati /tati/	-liat /li(j)a/
3PL	-teant /tɑ̃/	-tana /tana/	-luônt /ly/
2POL	-te /te/	-te /te/	-leiônt /le/

• Present perfect (passé composé) : Auxiliary verb in the indicative present followed by the past participle.
• Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) : Auxiliary verb in the imperfect past followed by the past participle.
• Past perfect (passé antérieur) : Auxiliary verb in the simple past followed by the past participle.

Simple Future

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-rãa /ʁa/	-ra /ʁa/	-gamm /gal/
2SG	-rãac /ʁa/	-rac /ʁas/	-gêmôc /gɛl/
3SG	-rãat /ʁa/	-rat /ʁat/	-gora /goʁa/
1PL	-rãômc /ʁ/	-ramo /ʁamo/	-gûônc /gu:/
2PL	-rãôtc /ʁe/	-rati /ʁati/	-girôc /ʒiʁ/
3PL	-rãant /ʁɑ̃/	-rana /ʁana/	-ginnôc /ʒin/
2POL	-rãe /ʁe/	-re /ʁe/	-gin /gin/

• Future perfect (futur antérieur) : Auxiliary verb in the simple future followed by the past participle.

Absolute

Present

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-yh /joh/	-y /jo/	-c (unpronounced)
2SG	-ys /jɔθ/	-yc /jɔs/	-c (unpronounced)
3SG	-yþ /jɔt̚/	-yt /jɔt/	-ct (unpronounced)
1PL	-yæ /jɔɸ/	-yf /jɔf/	-mmôc /m/
2PL	-yj /jɔʒ/	-yz /jɔz/	-tôc /t/
3PL	-yw /jowi/	-yn /jɔn/	-nt (unpronounced)
2POL	-yð /jɔð/	-yô /jo:/	-tôc /ta/

Imperative

Present

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
2SG	-ac /a/	-kal /kal/	-oic /wa/
3SG	-at /a/	-kat /kat/	-oit /wa/
1PL	-awônc /jɔ̃/	-kamo /kamo/	-wonc /jɔ̃/
2PL	-awôz /je/	-kati /kati/	-wôz /je/
3PL	-awent /wa/	-kana /kana/	-oiônt /wa/

• Past imperative : Auxiliary in the present imperative followed by the past participle.

Conditional

Present

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-rãea /ʁa/	-o /o/	-raic /ʁɛ/
2SG	-rãeec /ʁe/	-oc /ɔs/	-raic /ʁɛ/
3SG	-rãeat /ʁa/	-ot /ɔt/	-rait /ʁɛ/
1PL	-rãeômc /ʁɛm/	-omûc /omus/	-ri~onc /ʁjɔ̃/
2PL	-rãeôtc /ʁe/	-otic /otis/	-ri~ez /ʁje/
3PL	-rãeant /ʁɑ̃/	-ona /ona/	-raient /ʁɛ/
2POL	-rãeôz /ʁe/	-e /e/	-ri~ôz /ʁij/

• Past conditional 1 : Auxiliary in the present conditional followed by the past participle.
• Past conditional 2 : Auxiliary in the imperfect subjunctive followed by the past participle.

Subjunctive

Present

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-a /a/	-ko /ko/	-ô (unpronounced)
2SG	-aec /a/	-koc /kɔs/	-c (unpronounced)
3SG	-at /a/	-kot /kɔt/	-t (unpronounced)
1PL	-aônc /jɑ̃/	-komûc /komus/	-onc (-õnc ?) /ɔ̃/
2PL	-aôz /je/	-kotic /kotis/	-ôz /e/
3PL	-eant /ɑ̃/	-kona /kona/	-ônt (unpronounced)
2POL	-eôz /e/	-ke /ke/	-ôz /e:/

Imperfect

Person	First groupe	Second group	Third group
1SG	-aicce /es/	-co /so/	-aic /ɛ/
2SG	-accec /as/	-coc /sɔs/	-aic /ɛ/
3SG	-acce /as/	-cot /sɔt/	-ait /ɛ/
1PL	-ccaônc /sjɑ̃/	-comûc /somus/	-i~onc /jɔ̃/
2PL	-ccaôz /se/	-cotic /sotis/	-i~ez /je/
3PL	-ccent /sɑ̃/	-cona /sona/	-aient /ɛ/
2POL	-acceôz /se/	-ce /se/	-i~êz /je/

• Simple past : Auxiliary verb in the subjunctive present followed by the past participle.
• Pluperfect : Auxiliary verb in the subjunctive imperfect followed by the past participle.

Super-compound tenses

They are not used with the person of politeness.

• Present : Auxiliary verb in the present perfect followed by the past participle.
• Past : Auxiliary verb in the past perfect followed by the past participle.
• Future : Auxiliary verb in the future perfect followed by the past participle.
• Conditional : Auxiliary verb in the past conditional followed by the past participle.

Participles

Present Participle

First groupe	Second group	Third group
-ant /ɑ̃/	-tät /tɑ̃/	-er° /eʀ/

Past Participle

Gender / Number	First groupe	Second group	Third group
Masculine singular	-ê /e/	-te /te/	-ô /e/
Masculine plural	-êc /e/	-tec /te/	-ôc /e/
Feminine singular	-êô /e/	-tee /te/	-ôe /e/
Feminine plural	-êôc /e/	-teec /te/	-ôec /e/

Syntax

Verb phrase

• Questions

There are two different types of constructions to create a question :

Verb (conjugated in the indicative) + Subject + question particle w (affirmative question) or no (negative question) + ? Question phrase catqe ke + Subject + Verb (conjugated in the subjunctive) + ?

• Negation

Particle ne + Subject + Verb (conjugated).