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Table of Contents
Hearthsider
Phonology
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 | |
| Hisses | Plain | t | T | v | V |
| Trilled | w | W | x | X |
Consonants
| Sound | Symbol |
|---|---|
| huff | q |
| chuff | r |
| yip | s |
| plain hiss | y |
| trilled hiss | z |
phonetactics
similar to CT, but with the addition of plain and trilled hisses
hisses can act as vowels or semivowels
hisses do not carry tone, only length and strength
hiss semivowels cannot coexist with hiss vowels in the same syllable
plain and trilled hisses cannot occur in the same syllable
syllable is (C)V
Grammar
verbs are a closed class
word order is SVOC
where C (compliment?) is a noun or determiner phrase that specifies the verb
Most common verb can be translated do, with a transitive and intransitive form. There's also a copula used to form predicate adjectives.
Attributive adjectives may not exist
rMl t qb b sBsb zGK Light do you a shine friend
Pluractionality
You can indicate that an action occurred multiple times by making the compliment noun phrase plural. You mark plurality in the articles.
rc t b qMqm B dqDb 1sg do IND human IND.PL see
The sentence above could have several meanings depending on context or modifiers elsewhere in the sentence.
I see a human several times.
I see a human often.
I see a human regularly.
Compliment Nouns
The compliment nouns, such as dqDb see and sBsb shine can be used as regular nouns, in which case they mean an act or event described by the noun, or the abstract concept defined by the noun. So more literally they mean seeing and shining.
Articles
There are definite and indefinite articles, and possibly a gnomic article
| Article | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| indefinite | b | B |
| definite | m | M |
| gnomic? | g | G |
True Verbs
There are only a few syntactic verbs.
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| t | do (transitive) |
| w | do (intransitive) |
| st | be (forms predicate nominatives |
| zh | have/possess (forms predicate adjectives) |
m sMsm w m sBsb DEF sun do.INTR DEF shine
The sun shines
Pronouns
| Person | singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | rc | crc |
| 2nd | qb | bqb |
| 3rd | rl | lrl |
qb t rl B jygj-x Mzm 2sg do 3sg IND.PL hold-CON wrong
You're holding it wrong
The Construct State
The construct state indicates that a noun is being modified by another noun. This usually means the noun in the construct state is possessed by a following noun, but it's also one way Hearthsider expresses attributive adjectives.
You put a noun in the construct state with the suffix -x /short trilled strong hiss/. The suffix was originally a preposition governing the following noun, but gradually decayed to become a suffix on the preceeding noun.
M Lmsl-x m qHKqk zh b ybF DEF.PL claw-CON DEF man have IND sharpness
The man's claws are sharp
Prepositions
Hearthsider uses prepositions in a similar way to the construct state.
m sCFsf rT M sCqg DEF woman covered_in DEF.PL bald_spot
The balding woman (novice healer)
Adjectives
Hearthsider does have a few true adjectives, but only for expressing quantity and comparison.
zG qb rc zh X qMP against 2sg 1sg have more greatness
I'm bigger than you