User:IlL/Spare pages 1/51

IlL/Spare pages 1/51/Lexicon

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 (IlL/Spare pages 1/51: a Thigall [ə ˈɬɪɡ̊ɤᵝˤ] or a ŋgaoth dIlL/Spare pages 1/51 [ə ŋɔɬ ˈtɪɡ̊ɤᵝˤ] 'the IlL/Spare pages 1/51 language'; pronounced "tiggle" in English) is a IlL/Spare pages 1/51ic language (a subbranch of the Talmic languages) inspired by Irish, German and Hindi. IlL/Spare pages 1/51 was created in part as a thought experiment posing the question "What would Irish look like with umlaut instead of palatalization?". Like all modern Talmic languages, IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is a descendant of Thensarian. It is spoken on the west coast of the continent Cuadhlabh on Hussmauch.

1: cēm- > cémh 2: tithōr > tiuthar 3: nazge > nág 4: dhaufe > daó 5: salir > salar 6: stām- > sdámh 7: rōde > ródh-L 8: lorethe > lorath-L 9: farve > arbh-L 10: ħiōr > eór

Todo

• Translate Haggadah (as exercise)
• Affixes:
  • -sim

Notes

If a IlL/Spare pages 1/51 word is underlined, hover over it to view the pronunciation.

Symbols

• ⁱ - i-umlaut
• ^u - u-umlaut
• ^L - lenition/aspiration
• ^N - eclipsis
• ^B - b-prefixation

Orthography

Talmic script, used for writing IlL/Spare pages 1/51

Like other modern Talmic languages, IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is written in the Talmic cursive script, which is written from left to right. Some letters are not used in modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51, such as the Thensarian letters y, th, dh, ch, gh; the letters j and v are not used except in loanwords. The letter h is used for lenition as in Irish. So the Tigall alphabet is usually considered to have 20 letters (r d z i a f m g t h b s o ŋ p l n e u c) (digraphs and length diacritics are not counted).

The spelling is extremely conservative and in part reflects Old Tigal pronunciation.

Double consonants are used for ⟨ll, nn, rr⟩, which come from the Old IlL/Spare pages 1/51 fortis resonants /L, N, R/; they are pronounced identically to single ⟨l, n, r⟩ in standard IlL/Spare pages 1/51.

Phonology

Treated below is the phonology of Standard Tigall (a Thigall hÉtaoin). Other dialects differ mostly in vowel reflexes from Old Tigall and in the treatment of Old Tigall /n, nn, l, ll, r, rr/.

Stress

Primary stress usually falls on the first syllable, except for some inflected prepositions.

Consonants

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a relatively average consonant inventory of around 24 consonants, like most West Talmic languages. The phonology is unusual for distinguishing lateral consonants in fricatives but not in liquids.

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 consonants

		Labial	Dental/Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m, mb m	n, nn, nd n~ɳ		ŋ, ŋŋ, ŋg ɲ~ŋ~ɴ
Stop	tenuis	b, bp p	d, dt t~ʈ		g, gc c~k~q			ʔ
	aspirated	p pʰ	t tʰ~ʈʰ		c cʰ~kʰ~qʰ
Spirant	voiceless	f, ph f	th ɬ~ꞎ		ch ç~x
	voiced	bh v	dh ɮ~ɮ˞		gh j~ɣ
Non-spirant	voiceless		s s~ʂ					h, fh, sh h
	voiced		z, zs z~ʐ
Liquid				r, rr ɽ~ɖ~ɺ˞~ɭ			l, ll ʀ~ʟ
Approximant		mh, mhf, v w			j j

Notes

• An initial /ʔ/ is added to null initials (at least in careful speech).
• Étaoin IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a form of Auslautverhärtung: Both aspiration and voicing are neutralized for word-final obstruents.
• Unaspirated consonants /p, t, k/ are half-voiced [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊] between vowels (at least within a word).
• /w/ is a labiovelar approximant [ɰʷ] with the vocalic quality of [u].
• /n, tʰ, t, ɬ, ɮ/ are usually dental [n̪, t̪ʰ, t̪, ɬ̪, ɮ̪], and are retroflex [ɳ, ʈʰ, ʈ, ꞎ, ɮ˞] adjacent to /ɽ˞~ɭ/.
  • The sequence /ŋɽ/ may become a retroflex lateral nasal [ɳᶩ] or, for some speakers, even a weak retroflex click [ᵑǃ˞].
• /s, z/ are alveolar retracted [s̠, z̠], similar to the Northern/Central Castillan Spanish and Modern Greek /s/. They have retroflex allophones [ʂ, ʐ] next to /ɺ˞~ɭ/.
• /ŋ, kʰ, k/ are usually velar [ŋ, kʰ, k], but are often uvular [ɴ, qʰ, q] next to /ʀ~ʟ/. /kʰʀ/ becomes an affricate or a trilled affricate [qχ].
• /ŋ, kʰ, k, x, ɣ/ palatalize to [ɲ, cʰ~cç, c, ç, j] before /iː yː iə yə eː øː/.
• The retroflex liquid /ɽ~ɺ˞~ɭ/:
  • The allophone that occurs before vowels can be a (sub)apical retroflex flap [ɽ], a (sub)apical lateral flap [ɺ˞], or a (sub)apical retroflex voiced plosive [ɖ]; the [ɺ˞] realization predominates after /s z/.
  • The allophone used after vowels is a subapical lateral approximant [ɭ].
• The uvular liquid /ʀ~ʟ/:
  • The [ʀ] allophone occurs before consonants, and can be described as a "trilled Philly L". It is a pharyngealized uvular trill with compressed rounding [ʀᵝˤ] in careful speech, and a fricative or approximant [ʁᵝˤ] in casual speech which devoices to [χᵝˤ] after an aspirate or another fricative.
  • The allophone transcribed as [ʟ] occurs after vowels but may occur before consonants. but may occur is phonetically a pharyngealized uvular approximant with compressed rounding [ʁ̞ᵝˤ~ʁ̠̞ᵝ]; the vocalic quality resembles [ɤ]. It is similar to the Philadelphia English vocalized L.
  • In classical singing and some dialects [ɫ] is used in all positions.

Fortis and lenis resonants

Certain accents and dialects preserve to varying degrees the Old Tigall distinction between fortis and lenis resonants: /l L n N r R/.

Mutations

Consonant mutations

Grapheme	m	p	b	f	n	t	d	s*	z	r	ŋ	c	g	l	0
IPA	/m/	/pʰ/	/p/	/f/	/n/	/tʰ/	/t/	/s/	/z/	/ɺ˞~ɭ/	/ŋ/	/kʰ/	/k/	/ʀ~ʟ/	/ʔ/
Lenited	mh	ph	bh	fh	-	th	dh	sh	zh	-	-	ch	gh	-	h-
IPA	/w/	/f/	/v/	/h/	-	/ɬ/	/ɮ/	/h/	silent	-	-	/x/	/ɣ/	-	/h/
Eclipsed	-	bp	mb	mhf	-	dt	nd	zs	-	-	-	gc	ŋg	-	ŋ-
IPA	-	/p/	/m/	/w/	-	/t/	/n/	/z/	-	-	-	/k/	/ŋ/	-	/ŋ/

^*The clusters sb, sd, sg do not mutate.

Vowels

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 has a vowel system with a complexity comparable to that of German, with 7 basic vowel qualities, vowel length, and the effects of L-vocalization.

It is important to note that the given orthographic values are only a proxy for the exact vowel, especially for the front rounded vowels (due to, among other things, irregular changes in unstressed syllables, and some words having "double umlaut").

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 vowels

	Front				Central		Back
	unrounded		rounded		unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	short	long
Close	i /ɪ/	í /iː/	iu, ui /ʏ/	iú, úi /yː/		ú /ʉː/		u /ʊ/
Mid	e, ae, ai, ei, ia /ɛ/	aé, aí, éi /eː/	eu, oi, aio, aoi, iao, uai /œ/	aío, aói, eío /øː/	a [ə]	aó /ɵː/	al [ɤˁ]	o, ao, ua /ɔ/
Open		á, eá /aː/			a, ea /ɐ/

Diphthongs: é, ía /iə/ éu, ói, íao, úai /yə/ ó, úa /uə/

The vowel [ə] occurs only in unstressed syllables, and is written a.

L-colored vowels

In Étaoin Tigall l-colored vowels and diphthongs result from combinations of any vowels or diphthongs with the vocalized velar liquid [ɤˁ]:

• /iː/, /iə/ + [ɤˁ] > /iɤˁ/
• /ɪ/ + [ɤˁ] > /ɪɤˁ/
• /yː/, /yə/ + [ɤˁ] > /yɤˁ/
• /ʏ/ + [ɤˁ] > /ʏɤˁ/
• /ʊ/, /ʉː/, /uə/ + [ɤˁ] > /ʊˁː/
• /eː/ + [ɤˁ] > /eɤˁ/
• /ɛ/ + [ɤˁ] > /ɛɤˁ/
• /øː/ + [ɤˁ] > /øɤˁ/
• /œ/ + [ɤˁ] > /œɤˁ/
• /ɔ/, /ɵː/ + [ɤˁ] > /ɔˁː/
• /ɐ/, /aː/ + [ɤˁ] > /ɒˁː/

Notes

Close vowels

• /iː/ is close front unrounded [iː] (listen).
• /iə/ is phonetically [iə] (listen).
• /iɤˁ/ is phonetically [iːɤˁ] (listen).
• /yː/ is usually close near-front rounded [y̠ː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
• /yə/ is phonetically [yə], [y̠ə] or [ʏə] (listen).
• /yɤˁ/ is phonetically [y̠ːɤˁ] (listen).
• /ʉː/ is somewhat retracted close central rounded [ʉ̠ː] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.
• /uə/ is phonetically [uə] or [ʊə] (listen). It is a monophthong [uː] for some speakers.
• /ʊˁː/ is near-close back rounded [ʊ̠ˁː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
  • In careful speech, this is a diphthong [ʊ̠ɤˁ].
• /ɪ/ is near-close near-front unrounded [ɪ] (listen).
• /ʏ/ is near-close near-front rounded [ʏ] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
• /ʏɤˁ/ is phonetically [ʏɤˁ] (listen).
• /ʊ/ is near-close near-back rounded [ʊ] or back rounded [ʊ̠] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.

Mid vowels

• /eː/ is close-mid front unrounded [eː] (listen).
• /eɤˁ/ is phonetically [eːɤˁ] (listen).
• /øː/ is close-mid near-front rounded [ø̠ː] or mid front rounded [ø̞ː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
• /øɤˁ/ is phonetically [ø̠ːɤˁ] (listen).
• /ɵː/ is somewhat retracted close-mid central rounded [ө̠ː] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.
• /ɔˁː/ is open-mid near-back rounded [ɔˁː] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
  • In careful speech, this is a diphthong [oɤˁ] or [ɔɤˁ].
• /ɛ/ is open-mid front unrounded [ɛ] or mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽] (listen).
• /ɛɤˁ/ is phonetically [ɛ̞ɤˁ] (listen).
• /œ/ is open-mid near-front rounded [œ] (listen). Its rounding is compressed.
• /œɤˁ/ is phonetically [œɤˁ] or [ɞɤˁ] (listen).
• [ə] is mid central unrounded [ə]. It is often fronted [ə̟] when word-final or utterance-final.
  • If a sonorant follows in the syllable coda, the schwa often disappears so that the sonorant becomes syllabic.
• [ɤˁ] is close-mid compressed pharyngealized [ɤᵝˁ].
• /ɔ/ is open-mid back rounded [ɔ] or mid back rounded [o̞] (listen). Its rounding is protruded.

Open vowels

• /aː/ is open (fully) front unrounded [aː], or near-open front unrounded [æː] (listen).
• /ɐ/ is near-open central unrounded [ɐ] (listen).
• /ɑˁː/ is most often phonetically a diphthong [ɑɤˁ] or [äɤˁ] (listen).

Umlaut

Vowels in the first syllable of roots may undergo i-umlaut or u-umlaut under the addition of some affixes.

Umlaut

Root vowel	a	a	aí	aó	e	é	i	í	o	ó	u	ú
u-umlaut	ao	aó	aío	-	eu	éu	iu	iú	-	-	-	-
i-umlaut	ai	aí	-	aoi	-	-	-	-	oi	ói	ui	uí

Some phonological rules

• Unstressed -alann, -arann > [ɤˁn], [ɭ̩ɳ]

Morphology

Nouns

Masculine vowel declension

Used mostly with some noun suffixes, such as -adh, -óiŋ

aésd - 'word'
Number→ State↓	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	aésd	aésdann
Definite	a haésda	aésdar
Construct	aésdadh	aésdar

Masculine consonantal declension

The mutation after the noun surfaces on adjectives and genitive nouns.

suar - 'house'
Number→ State↓	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	suar	suaira
Definite	a shuar	suairann
Construct	suaradh	suairar

Masculine nouns with -Cadh: -Cadh / -Ctann / -Cta / -Ctar / -Ctadh / -Ctar (indef sg / indef pl / def sg/ def pl / const sg / const pl)

Feminine consonant declension

émh - 'mother'
Number→ State↓	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	émh	émhar
Definite	a ŋ-émh	a émh
Construct	éumhadh	éumhann

Feminine nouns with -Cadh: -Cadh / -Ctar / -Ctadh / -Ctann (indef sg / indef pl / const sg / const pl)

Mass and collective nouns

Mass and collective nouns are either singularia tantum or pluralia tantum; these often have a significantly different indefinite singular state.

Adjectives

Sample declensions

séth 'sharp'
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Predicative	séth a ŋór	séth a dtilŋ	séth ŋórann	séth a tilŋ
Indefinite	ŋór zséth	tilŋ séth	ŋóra sétha	tilŋar séthar
Definite	a ŋóir shéth	a dtilŋ zséth	ŋórann séthann	a tilŋ séth
Construct	ŋóra shéth	tiulŋa shéth	ŋórar séthann	tiulŋar séth

áithamh 'holy'
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Predicative	áithamh a aésda	áithamh a dtilŋ	áithamh aésdann	áithamh a tilŋ
Indefinite	aésda áithamh	tilŋ áithamh	aésdann áithamha	tilŋar áithamhar
Definite	a aésd háithamh	a dtilŋ ŋ-áithamh	aésdar áithamhann	a tilŋ háithamh
Construct	aésdadh h-áithamh	tylŋa h-áithamh	aésdar áithamhann	tylŋar áithamh

Degree

The comparative form of adjectives is formed with the suffix -ann. The comparandum is marked with the particle rá 'than'.

The superlative is formed by adding ar- to the comparative: ar-sintanna 'smallest'

Pronouns

Personal

Tigall personal pronouns

	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl
Independent	ná	zér	fhér	ŋú	hí	gámh	géid	zéid	hár
Dependent	dhá	ér	ér	ú	í	ámh	céir	séir	ár

To emphasize a pronoun or an inflected preposition, -da is added to the pronoun.

Other

• tá = what?
• tóbh = who?
• tach = where?

Prepositions

Prepositions are inflected, as in the ancestor Thensarian.

mo^L, m' comes from a word meaning "next to". It is also the direct object marker for definite persons (like Romanian pe).

Inflection of prepositions

	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl
chaoi 'before'	chaoín	chaoís	chaós	chaó	chaoí	chaoím	chaoíd	chaoíc	chaoír
de-L, d'- 'in, at'	deán	déis	deós	deó	deí	dém	déd	déc	dér
dli 'after'	dlian	dlis	dlios	dliú	dlí	dlim	dlid	dlic	dkr
gil 'from'	gialn	gilis	gilus	gilu	gili	gilam	gilad	gilac	gilar
go-L 'with'	gón	goís	gós	gú	goí	góm	gód	góc	gór
mo-L, m'-	món	móis	mós	mó	muí	móm	mód	móc	mór
an/na 'with (instrumental)'	naín	naís	naíos	naío	naí	naím	naíd	naíc	naír
ro (ergative)	rúin	rúis	ruíos	rú	ruí	ruím	ruíd	ruíc	ruír
so 'to'	són	súis	sús	sú	suí	súm	súd	súc	súr
zead 'on'	zeadan	zeadis	zeadus	zeadu	zeadi	zeadam	zeadad	zeadac	zeadar

Zead can be used to indicate obligation, as in Irish and Hebrew:

Zeadan cháisaladh a cháisan.

[ˈzadn̩ ˈçeːsəʀəɬ ə ˈçeːsn̩]

on-1SG eat-VN-CONST MO DEF.SG.M food

I have to eat the food.

Verbs

Old IlL/Spare pages 1/51 had a verb system with complex alternations, almost comparable to that of Old Irish. Modern IlL/Spare pages 1/51 simplified this system substantially, leaving behind a mixture of synthetic forms (used without a subject pronoun) and analytic forms (used with a subject noun or pronoun), similar to the Modern Irish system. Due to their different origins - namely, synthetic forms come from Thensarian conjugated verbs while analytic forms come from Thensarian participles or verbal nouns - they often morphologically behave differently.

Addition of the b-prefix

Certain verb forms undergo the morphophonological process of b-prefixation, which stems from the Thensarian 3rd person singular object prefix bi-. The b-prefix is not added to analytic forms (since those come from participles), impersonal forms, or imperatives.

For unprefixed verbs, the b-prefix is added by lenition of the stem's initial consonant. If the result of lenition begins with a vowel, then b'- is added.

For prefixed verbs, the addition of the b-prefix works as follows:

• For prefixes ending in a resonant, the first consonant of the root undergoes eclipsis.
  • síl-sreichdadh ná 'I restrain', síl-zsreichdar 'you restrain'
• For other prefixes, the mutation that would otherwise be induced by the prefix is blocked.
  • pé-zhophadh ná 'I make an effort', pé-zophar 'you make an effort'

Present tense

The present tense is conjugated as follows. For some verbs, umlaut occurs with certain affixes.

Template:Col-3

Present tense
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	STEM-adh ná BSTEM-ann (poetic)	STEM-aóch
1.in	-	STEM-adh géid BSTEM-ad (poetic)
2	BSTEM-ar	STEM-adh zéid BSTEM-asg (poetic)
3.m	STEM-adh ŋú/hí	STEM-adh hár
Impersonal	STEM-(a)1ra

Present tense of the verb moladh 'thank'
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	moladh ná mholann (poetic)	mholaóch
1.in	-	moladh géid mholad (poetic)
2	mholar	moladh zéid mholasg (poetic)
3.m	moladh ó moladh ŋí	moladh hár
Impersonal	molra

Present tense of the verb idadh 'lie in a place'
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	idadh ná b'idann (poetic)	b'idaóch
1.in	-	idadh géid b'idad (poetic)
2	b'idar	idadh zéid b'idasg (poetic)
3.m	idadh ó idadh ŋí	idadh hár
Impersonal	idara

¹ The buffer -a- is added when the previous consonant is a coronal.

Imperfect tense

To form the imperfect tense, the particle g'laí is used before the verb, -a is added to the stem, and the verb undergoes eclipsis.

• g'laí mola ná 'I used to thank'
• g'laí ŋ-ida ŋí 'she used to lie'

Preterite tense

The preterite is considered archaic. It may be found in remote or isolated dialects.

Perfect tense

The suffix ⁱ-ín is added to the stem to form the past participle. The subject is preceded by an ergative marker ro. For the impersonal the subject is simply omitted. This is the accepted way of forming the past in Étaoin Tigall.

Cáisín luc ruín.

I ate/have eaten a fruit.

Pluperfect tense

g'laíbh + past participle. This tense uses ergative alignment like the preterite.

• g'laíbh moilín ná 'I had thanked'
• g'laíbh idín ŋí 'she had lain'

Future tense

Template:Col-3

Future tense
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	STEM-tadh ná BSTEM-tann (poetic)	STEM-taóch
1.in	-	STEM-tadh géid BSTEM-tad (poetic)
2	BSTEM-tar	STEM-tadh zéid BSTEM-tasg (poetic)
3.m	STEM-tadh ŋú/hí	STEM-tadh hár
Impersonal	STEM-art

Future tense of the verb moladh 'thank'
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	moltadh ná mholtann (poetic)	mholtaóch
1.in	-	moltadh géid mholtad (poetic)
2	mholtar	moltadh zéid mholtasg (poetic)
3.m	moltadh ŋú/hí	moltadh hár
Impersonal	molart

Future tense of the verb idadh 'lie in a place'
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	idatadh ná b'idatann (poetic)	b'idataóch
1.in	-	idatadh géid b'idatad (poetic)
2	b'idatar	idatadh zéid b'idatasg (poetic)
3.m	idatadh ó idatadh ŋí	idatadh hár
Impersonal	idart

Future perfect tense

fácht + past participle. This tense uses ergative alignment like the preterite.

Imperative

Template:Col-3

Imperative
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-	-
1.in	-	STEM-ad!
2	STEM!	STEM-asg!
3.m	-	-
Impersonal	-

Imperative of the verb moladh 'thank'
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-	-
1.in	-	molad!
2	mol!	molasg!
3.m	-	-
Impersonal	-

Imperative of the verb idadh 'lie in a place'
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-	-
1.in	-	idad!
2	id!	idasg!
3.m	-	-
Impersonal	-

Verbal noun

The verbal noun serves many important syntactic functions.

Some affixes for verbal nouns:

• ⁱ-al
• -a/-as?
• -ach
• ablaut
• bare stem
• i-umlaut

Derivational morphology

Below are some common IlL/Spare pages 1/51 derivational affixes:

• ⁱ-a (f): nominalizer
• -abh: diminutive
• -agha: adjectivizer
• -all: adjectivizer
• ⁱ-al (m.): nominalizer
  • ŋoircal 'bitterness, resentment' < ŋorc 'bitter'
• -al: diminutive
• ⁱ-amh: adjectivizer
  • caoithlamh 'floral' < caothar 'flower' (Note *thr, *dhr > thl, dhl.)
• -dí (f): nominalizer
• é-: 'common, co-'
  • étaoin: 'common/universal, standard' < taoin 'mold, cast'
• í-L: non-
• -í/-zí: adjective suffix (Kagasa)
• -gáin (f): abstract noun
• mí-: mis-
  • mímhaóghach "misuse" < maóghach "use"
• ⁱ-óiŋ, indef. pl. ⁱ-óiŋann, def. pl. ⁱ-óiŋar: agentive (< Thn. -iōȝī < Kagasa -yōȝi)
  • sbúithóiŋ 'sbúith player' < sbúith 'a Talmic lute, usually fretless or with movable frets'
• -ór: augmentative
• -rá: able
  • cásrá = edible
• -sd-: adjectivizer, [NOUN]-like
• -tibh: adjectivizer

Syntax

Constituent order

The overall syntax of IlL/Spare pages 1/51 resembles that of Irish but with more flexibility.

IlL/Spare pages 1/51 is almost completely head-initial, except for compound words which are head-final. The constituent order is VSO. Background information (usually in the order time-manner-place) may be placed before the verb (unlike in Irish), after the subject, or after the direct object. However, no constituent may come between the verb and the subject.

Noun phrase

Adjectives

Adjectives always follow their head nouns.

Possessive noun phrases

In possessive noun phrases the possessed noun uses the construct form, and the possessor (indefinite or definite) is placed after it. For pronominal possessors, the disjunctive pronoun is used.

Moladh a thachd m'éumhadh ú.
/ˈmɔˤːʀəɬ ʔə ˈɬɐxt ˈm‿yəwəɬ ʉː/
mol-adh a-^L tachd mo^L émh-^uadh ú
thank-PRES DEF.SG.M child MO mother-CONS.SG.F 3SG.M.DISJ
The child thanks his mother.

Verb phrase

Negation

• interrogative: é-L
• negative: tí
• negative interrogative: ésd-L

Sentence phrase

Predicate nouns and adjectives

Tigall is zero-copula, like Hebrew. For predicate sentences, the predicate (unmarked) form of the predicate noun or adjective is placed before the subject.

Zuadhma ŋú caothar.

A flower is a plant.

Zuadhma ŋú.

It's a plant.

Similarly for definite nouns as subjects, though the pronoun is not mandatory in this case:

Zuadhma (ŋú) a chaothar.

The flower is a plant.

Árd (hí) a gcomhna.

The woman is tall.

Árd hí.

She is tall.

Conjunctions

• ar: 'and'
• lú: 'or'
• ach: 'but'
• ri-N: 'that (relative clause)'
• ní-L : 'that (complement clause)'
• faódh-N: 'because'
• dli-L: 'when, if'

Dependent clauses

Relative clauses

The relativizer is ri^N. A resumptive pronoun may be used when the head is not the subject of the relative clause, and is mandatory when the head is a prepositional object or a possessor.

A char ri mhfeiladh hú "Zibharn"

The man whose name was "Lightning"

Verbs in relative clauses may be placed anywhere within the relative clause, subject to the constraint that the verb and (syntactic) subject may not be separated unless the subject of the relative clause is the head. If the subject is the head, the relativizer ri may be omitted, however in that case the verb must immediately follow the head.

Nominalized relative clauses use nór ri... 'those who...'

nór ri mímhaóghadh

'those who misuse'

Time clauses

There are two ways of forming time clauses.

Infinitive clauses

Infinitive clauses resemble German zu-infinitive clauses in that they are verb-final: the infinitive is used at the end. The particle used before the infinitive is sho /hɔ/.

Phrasebook

• Feiladh dhá [NAME]. = My name is [NAME].
• Le... = Well...
• Tá a ŋgoimhra? (vulgar) = I don't give a shit!

Sample texts

The North Wind and the Sun

A bhólcoln ar a ŋ-ud

Cémhagha g'laí ŋusga a bhólcoln ar a ŋ-ud tóbh gilar aédhanna, ...