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--- lore:outlander_language [2026/05/21 11:42] – removed - external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
+++ lore:outlander_language [2026/05/21 11:42] (current) – ↷ Page name changed from lore:outlander to lore:outlander_language lurker
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+====== Outlander ======
+//This article is about the language. For a resident of the Outer Belt
+or Moonlitter, see [[The Outlands]]//
+===== Phonology =====
+Like all yinrih languages, Outlander possesses a very small phoneme
+inventory when analyzed from a human perspective. The language relies
+instead on subtle changes in pitch and volume to carry most of the
+meaning.
+It's mostly a CTRL+C, CTRL+V of Commonthroat with the following changes:
+  * Gemination is allowed within morphemes, not just at morpheme boundaries. Yips may not be geminated.
+  * In addition to short, long, early, and late, there is an overlong timing. Overlong syllables occur in a few restricted environments.
+  * Two new tone contours: peaking (low high low) and dipping (high low high)
+  * Two new strength contours: cresting (weak strong weak) and troughing (strong weak strong)
+  * Overlong syllables may only occur alongside one of these new contours.
+==== Vowels ====
+^  ^  ^Weak ^ ^Strong^ ^
+^  ^  ^Short^Long^Short^Long^
+^Whines^Low|b|B|c|C|
+^:::   ^High|d|D|f|F|
+^Growls^Low|g|G|h|H|
+^:::   ^High|j|J|k|K|
+^Grunts^Low|l|L|m|M|
+^:::   ^High|n|N|p|P|
+=== Contour Midpoints ===
+^Sound ^Symbol^
+|low|a|
+|high|e|
+|weak|o|
+|strong|u|
+=== Consonants ===
+^Sound^Symbol^
+|Huff|q|
+|Chuff|r|
+|Yip|s|
+==== Grammar ====
+Outlander uses a symmetric voice system. Focus is marked by syntax, with
+the focus coming first in the sentence. Verbs are marked for the role of
+the focus, with actor, object, benefactor, reason, being indicated.
+Other possible forms include locative and instrumental.
+Word order is FVA (focus verb arguments).
+Order is Actor, Object, Benefactor...?
+==== Pronouns ====
+Much like Spanish or French, Outlander uses a politeness distinction in
+its pronouns. This distinction is used in the third person as well as
+the second person as is seen in Spanish or French.
+The Outlander term for this is qghrh /huff, short low strengthening
+growl; chuff, short low strong growl/, which means obligation or duty.
+It conveys the social relationship between the speaker and the referent
+of the pronoun.
+The lowest form of obligation is transactional. This is the default form
+you use when you're not sure what else to use.
+The next form is the amicable. It's used between friends. In some more
+pious corners of Moonlitter, and especially in the indipendent spacer
+city-state Wayfarers' Haven, humans are always addressed with amicable
+pronouns even in situations where the transactional form would be
+appropriate. The transactional/amicable distinction is quickly evolving
+into a species distinction.
+The highest form is the familial, which is used between parents and
+their pups and between litter mates. Some groups of very good friends
+may use familial pronouns among themselves, but this is not universal.
+It usually occurs when friends meet as pups and stay close into
+adulthood.
+It's very important to note that obligation is seen as a reciprocal
+relationship. Addressing someone with familial pronouns doesn't jsut
+mean "I think of you as family" but also "I expect you to treat me
+like family". Using more familiar pronouns when a less familiar form
+is expected is often seen as rude or even vulgar in some contexts,
+especially when a customer addresses an employee, or when employees of a
+business address one another. It's seen as burdening the listener with
+unwelcome obligations or implying a level of closeness that hasn't yet
+been earned.
+=== Personal Pronouns ===
+== 1st person ==
+^Singular^Plural Inclusive^Plural Exclusive^
+|lum|pan|lumq|
+== 2nd and 3rd person ==
+^Obligation^Person^Singular^Plural^
+^Transactional^2nd|rb|rB|
+^:::^3rd|rc|rC|
+^Amicable^2nd|sg|sG|
+^:::^3rd|sj|sJ|
+^Familial^2nd|qm|qM|
+^:::^3rd|qp|qP|
+^Reverential^2nd|rgr|rgr|
+^:::^3rd|rkr|rkr|
+== Demonstrative Pronouns ==
+^Deixis^Singular^Plural^
+^Proximal|Lr|Lrl|
+^Distal|Mr|Mrm|
+=== Nouns ===
+== Attributive and possessive postpositions ==
+Ooutlander distinguishes possession and attribution. possession is
+marked with the postposition n /short high weak grunt/, and attribution
+is marked with the attributive postposition g /short low weak growl/. g
+covers situations such as composition and association, while n refers
+specifically to possession. As a rough rule, you use n whenever English
+would use -'s.
+    sPL    g   mrrBqqb
+    animal ATT healer
+    veterinarian
+    Jh    g   sFb
+    grass ATT sea
+    steppe
+    Mr   khqkh n   gqqgh
+    that guy   POS tail
+    That guy's tail
+Verbs
+Verbs inflect for the semantic role of the main noun in the clause,
+called the focus or the subject. This is different from its syntactic
+role. In the English sentence The dog bit the man, the dog is the
+syntactic subject and the semantic agent, while the man is the syntactic
+object and the semantic patient. In English, we flip this relationship
+by using the passive voice. The man was bitten by the dog. Here, The man
+is the syntactic subject but the semantic patient. The dog is now an
+optional oblique argument syntacticlaly, but it's still the semantic
+agent.
+verb paradigm
+^Focus^non past^past^
+|Actor|-|-qJ|
+|Object|-sd|-sD|
+|Benefactor|-rn|-rN|
+|Reason|-qln|-qLN|
+|Locative|-sfb|-sFB|
+|Instrumental|-rjk|-rJK|
+Nonpast Tense Actor Focus
+    bfb gkg lpl
+    bfb gkg-0     lpl
+    pup climb-ACT tree
+    The pup climbs the tree
+Past Tense Actor Focus
+    bfb gkgqJ  lpl
+    bfb gkg-qJ lpl
+    pup climb-ACT.P tree
+    The pup climbed the tree.
+    The pup was climbing the tree.
+Nonpast Tense Object Focus
+    lpl gkgsd bfb
+    lpl  gkg-sd       bfb
+    tree climb-OBJ    pup
+    the tree is climbed by the pup.
+Past Tense Object Focus
+    lpl gkgsD bfb
+    lpl  gkgsD       bfb
+    tree climb-OBJ.P pup
+    The tree was climbed by the pup.
+Nonpast Tense Benefactor Focus
+    lpl gkgrn bfb
+    lpl  gkg-rn bfb
+    tree climb-BEN.NP pup
+    For the tree, the pup climbs [something].
+Past Tense Benefactor Focus
+    lpl gkgrN bfb
+    lpl  gkg-rN bfb
+    tree climb-BEN.P pup
+    For the tree, the pup climbed [something]
+The order of arguments
+I don't think I've mentioned this before, but here's how the different
+verb endings change syntax.
+agent verb-ACT patient benefactor/indirect object patient verb-OBJ agent
+benefactor benefactor verb-BEN agent patient cause verb-CAU agent(?)
+patient benefactor
+Marking Uncertainty
+Outlander marks uncertainty, which covers both interrogatives and a mood
+similar to Commonthroat's nonauthoritative.
+Uncertainty is marked with a particle placed at the beginning of the
+sentence, it is a reduplicated and reduced form of the following
+syllable, phonologically separate from the following word.
+The particle consists of the onset consonant, if any, of the following
+syllable, followed by a single short plain vowel nearest to the start of
+the vowel of the following syllable. Rising strengthening vowels will
+become low weak, dipping weakening vowels will become high strong, and
+so on. When the following word is already a single short plain syllable,
+the particle is a reduplication of the whole word.
+Etymologically, this particle may have evolved out of a characteristic
+stutter when the speaker is unsure of what they're saying.
+    rb sPsPqJ lum
+    rb     sPsP-qJ    lum
+sg.TR seek-ACT.P 1sg
+    You were looking for me.
+    rb rb sPsPqJ lum
+    rb   rb     sPsP-qJ    lum
+    UNC  2sg.TR seek-ACT.P 1sg
+    Were you looking for me?
+    You were looking for me?
+    l lum sPsPsD rb?
+    l   lum sPsP-sD    rb
+    UNC 1sg seek-OBJ.P 2sg.TR
+    You were looking for ME?
+Reflexive phrases
+A reflexive meaning can be given to a noun phrase by using the word beb
+/overlong peaking weak whine/ which means self or soul along with the
+possessive postposition n.
+    rb     n   beb
+sg.TR POS self
+    yourself
+Yip Stems
+Yips cannot end a syllable, but some words and affixes end in an implied
+yip that manifests in different ways when an affix is added.
+For example the word rgug(s) (mud volcano, geyser) is pronounced and
+written rgug when in the singular (which is unfortunately identical to
+the word for cloaca, which many pups and pups at heart find amusing.) In
+the plural, we would expect *rgugq, but because of the implied yip, the
+word takes the form of the plural suffix used for words ending in a
+consonant, -ql, yielding rgugqql.
+So for yip stems, if a following suffix ends in a vowel, the yip is
+pronounced. If the suffix begins with a huff or chuff, the huff or chuff
+is geminated.
+Imperatives
+The imperative is formed with a special imperative pronoun kr /short
+high strong growl, chuff/. It is in the 2nd person and does not reflect
+obligation or number in either the standard Moonlitter or Partisan
+dialects, but the dialect spoken at Pilgrims' Rest, and subsequently at
+Wayfarers' Haven, has innovated a plural form krql.
+    kr qjK sg n rKGq
+    kr    qjK-0    sg      n   rKG-q
+.IMP wash-ACT 2sg.AMI POS paw-PL
+    Wash your paws.
+Verbs in imperative sentences can be in the past tense. In this case
+they carry the notion that something should have been done but wasn't.
+    kr qjKqJ sg n rKGq
+    kr    qjK-qJ     sg      n   rKG-q
+.IMP wash-ACT.P 2sg.AMI POS paw-PL
+    You should have washed your paws.
+Verbs can also be inflected for other focuses besides the actor focus.
+    sg n rKGq qjKsd kr
+    sg      n   rKG-q  qjK-sd   kr
+sg.AMI POS paw-PL wash-OBJ 2.IMP
+    Your paws must be washed.
+    Your paws, wash them.
+    sg n rKGq qjKsD kr
+    sg      n   rKG-q  qjK-sD kr
+sg.AMI POS paw-PL wash-OBJ 2.IMP
+    Your paws should have been washed.
+    Your paws, you should have washed them.
+Expressing similes
+mlem /short low strong grunt; overlong peaking strengthening grunt/
+means likeness or image or "something similar to something else". To
+express similes, you follow a noun phrase with g mlem eg mrBqqb g mlem
+literally "healer likeness" means "like a healer".
+To say "X is like Y" you use the copula sb, which per an earlier
+post is actually transitive. It means that the actor is among the set of
+entities denoted by the object.
+    mqgrrgsdq sb rgugq g mlem
+    mqgrrgsd-q sb-0    rgug-q    g   mlem
+    opinion-PL COP-ACT cloaca-PL ATT likeness
+    Opinions are like Cloacas.
+g mlem may have fossilized into a postpositive that can be appended to
+whole sentences and not just noun phrases to simply mean "like"
+More uses for the attributive postposition
+The locative focus may be used with time phrases
+verb-verb compounds
+expressing inclination or desire
+You can use the verb qlem to smell like, to feel an emotion in front of
+a subordinate verb to mean to be inclined to. Unlike Commonthroat's
+serial verb constructions, the second verb is inflected in the
+subordinate state.
+    lum qlem bqrMr sjGq
+    lum qlem-0         SUB-rMr-0  sjGq
+sg smell_like-ACT bq-eat-ACT fruit
+    I smell like eating fruit.
+The verb endings must match (for now).
+    sjGq qlemsd bqrMrsd lum
+    sjGq  qlem-sd        bq-eat-OBJ 1sg
+    fruit smell_like-OBJ SUB-rMr-sd lum
+    It's fruit a smell like eating.
+{{tag>language}}