Œtadh

Œtadh

(Oitath)

Œtadh is spoken by a people known as the Enodh. They lived in the country of Šadebu, but they demanded independence in 1923, Earth time. Every Enodh spoke Šadebu, but as a symbol of their independence, they had their new leader create an Enodhi language. The result was Œtadh. There is no Proto-Œtadh, and it is not a member of a language family. It is a constructed language in all ways.

Phonology

Consonants

             labial  dental  alv   alv-pal  velar  glottal



stop          p b            t d             c g



fricative     f v    th dh   s z                     h



affricate                   ts dz   ch j



approximant    w            rr  l



nasal          m              n

F and V are not pronounced as in English. They are made with the lips, not with the lower lip and upper teeth.

C is always pronounced as in “cat.”

Dh is the sound in “these clothes.”

Rr is the sound in the Spanish “perro.”

Ts is the sound in “cats.”

Dz is the sound in “fads.”

Œtadh has eight vowels:

a as in llama

á as in acorn

y as in feet

o as in grow

u as in boot

i as in fight

ó as in pot

œ as in boy

Stress

Stress in Œtadh is always on the first syllable of a word.

Phonological constraints

No consonant clusters are allowed at all.

Numbers

The Œtadh number system is based on 20. The ordinal suffix is –pa. To form fractions, say the numerator and then the ordinal form of the denominator. Numbers function as adjectives.

1 tœ 21 zutœ 41 banitœ

2 zu 22 zuzu 42 banizu

3 bani 23 zubani 43 banibani

4 fátœ 24 zufátœ 44 banifátœ

5 tymo 25 zutymo 45 banitymo

6 nynó 26 zunynó 46 baninynó

7 lórro 27 zulórro 47 banilórro

8 torrá 28 zutorrá 48 banitorrá

9 dica 29 zudica 49 banidica

10 my 30 zumy 50 banimy

11 dzo 31 zudzo 51 banidzo

12 tsimá 32 zutsimá 52 banitsimá

13 bóca 33 zubóca 53 banibóca

14 nógy 34 zunógy 54 baninógy

15 lapá 35 zulapá 55 banilapá

16 lumi 36 zulumi 56 banilumi

17 gonœ 37 zugonœ 57 banigonœ

18 dhy 38 zudhy 58 banidhy

19 ho 39 zuho 59 baniho

20 rróty 40 zurróty 60 banirróty

Nouns (Lymibo)

All nouns are capitalized.

Case (Jasyti)

Noun: Boy Ynos

Subject Ynosa

Direct object Ynoso

Indirect object Ynosœ

Possessive Ynosó

Object of a preposition Ynosá (adjectival phrase)

Object of a preposition Ynosy (adverbial phrase)

Objective compliment Ynosu

Articles (Fudhibo)

Articles and demonstrative adjectives are suffixes attatched to the end of the verb, after the case marking.

the boy (s.) Ynosajy

a boy (d.o.) Ynosoji

this boy (s.) Ynosajo

that boy’s Ynosójá

some boy (i.o.) Ynosœju

Number (Zóni)

There are three numbers in Œtadh: singular, dual and plural. Obviously, dual refers to two objects.

boy (s.) Ynosa

two boys (s.) Ynosabá

boys (s.) Ynosabo

Noun components

Nouns follow this order:

Root-case-number-article

Ynos-œ-bá-jy

the two boys (i.o)

Verbs (Thymonibo)

Verbs conjugate through agglutinating suffixes. Each suffix has a consonant representing the broad meaning of the suffix, and a vowel representing the actual meaning.

Evidentiality

doesn’t eat tóvinœ -nœ (negative)

probably doesn’t eat tóvina -na (probabilitive)

possibly eats tóviná -ná (possibilitive)

hypothetically eats tóviny -ny (hypothetical)

does eat tóvi -__ (positive)

to eat tóvi

Voice

breaks gi -__ (active)

breaks (middle) gidy -dy (middle)

is broken gida -da (passive)

to break gi

Middle voice is when an action happens by itself, as in “The window broke.” The window didn’t break anything, and nothing broke the window.

Mood

Go! ¡Nœ! -__ (imperative)

let me go ¡Nœtha! -tha (hortative)

let him go ¡Nœthá! -thá (optative)

should go nœthi -thi (obligative)

must go nœthó -thó (necessative)

to go nœ

Aspect

is singing chátœrro -rro (progressive)

sings chátœ -__ (single action)

sings (habitual) chátœrri -rri (habitual)

keeps on singing chátœrru -rru (repetitive)

to sing chátœ

Effect

reads for my benefit cidzosa -sa (benefactive)

reads for your benefit cidzosá -sá (second benefactive)

reads against me cidzosy -sy (antibenefactive)

reads against you cidzosœ -sœ (second antibenefactive)

reads regrettably cidzosó -só (regrettative)

to read cidzo

Purpose

build accidentally zymacy -cy (accidentative)

forced to build (without consent) zymacó -có (non-consentive)

build on purpose zyma -__ (purpative)

to build zyma

Perfect

have seen nidháfy -fy (perfect)

see nidhá -__ (normal)

to see nidhá

Order of Suffixes

If more than one distinction is needed for a verb, the suffixes go in this order: Mood Voice Aspect Perfect Purpose Effect Evidentiality.

Should not have been repeatedly imprisoned without his consent, unfortunately

Wónythidarrufycósánœ Wóny-thi-da-rru-fy-có-sá-nœ

Gerunds

Gerunds are formed by adding the Ny- prefix, as well as the –t suffix to the verb.

to milk cárry

milking nycárryt

Participles

Participles are formed by adding –dhym to the end of the verb.

the running boy gadhym Ynosijy

the parked car sunudhym Currolijy

Singing well, I walked home. cátœdhym gim, nochi rra Gy.

Expressing tense

There is no morphological way in Œtadh to represent tense. Instead, tense is expressed through adverbs.

I ate the fish è Yesterday, I eat the fish.

You will run è You plan to run.

He will die è Soon, he dies.

We were happy; now we’re sad. è We are happy once. Now we are sad.

Sometimes, context is used, and tense is assummed.

When were you born? è When are you born?

When I grow up, I will go to Africa. è When I grow up, I go to Africa.

Adjectives (Orribo)

good gim strong fóc red chis

bad rrót weak tudh green wot

not good agim not strong afóc not red achis

not bad arrót not weak atudh not green awot

Comparison

soft lydyv

softer lydac

softest lydóc

less soft lydodz

least soft lydop

as soft as lydát

Adverbs

Adverbs are the same as adjectives, however, they take the prefix wi- and the suffix –u. They can be inflected like verbs to show emphasis on the adverb and not the verb.

runs slowly nadá wihybótu

1.) doesn’t eat quickly tóvinœ wizœnu

2.) doesn’t quickly eat tóvi wizœnunœ

1.) there is no eating going on at all

2.) there is eating going on, but it isn’t going on quickly

Pronouns

I Gy we ces

you fumá y’all ly

he/she ázo them dul

it (animal) nyrri them (animal) œl

it (plant) óc no them (plant) ózi

it (other) sóm them (other) ha

them (combination) zá

Table of Correlatives

Query This That Some No Every

Adjective ci yl nœ mát

Person sœ ylon nœl mán

Thing mót ylo nœl mán

Place gád nók wól ylól nœt mánu

Time so bun pi ylœ nœg mánon

Way tsi idh ynyth yla

Reason caz

Conjunctions

The conjunctions are:

and chœ

or gó

if ca

but sá

and/or an

nor u

because tha

Prepositions

about above

across after

against among

around at

before behind

beside between

by down

during except

for from

in into

inside near

of off

on over

through to

toward under

up with

Noun phrases

Numbers, adverbs and adjectices preceed nouns in that order.

The three very fast cows bani jóm zœn Kobibojy

Clauses

Clauses are formed like in English.

The boy who is green Ynosijy sœ tha wot

The relative pronouns are:

which ci

who(m) sœ

that hyn

when so

where gád

why caz

Sentence order

Sentence order is OVS (Object Verb Subject). This is unlike English, which has SVO (Subject Verb Object.)

Cows possibly eat grass. Novumo tóvina Kobabo.

lit. Grass possibly eat cows.

I accidentally shot the foolish waiter. rrum Ligojy fólodycy Gy.

lit. The foolish waiter accidentally shot I.

Questions

Make a rise in intonation at the end of the sentence, as in English.

Are you sleeping? ¿ymymorro fumá?

lit. is sleeping you?

The words for yes and no are ny and wát, respectively.