Commonthroat

Commonthroat is the most widely spoken language among yinrih. Because yinrih do not use their teeth, tongue, or lips when speaking, they refer to languages as throats rather than tongues. The yinrih are not united as a species, and Focus, their home star system, is home to several political powers that speak different languages. Commonthroat is the official language of the Allied Worlds, a political union of most of the inner planets that currently enjoys a degree of cultural and economic hegemony. The language is an international lingua franca filling a similar niche as English does on Earth, giving rise to the name Commonthroat for the language.

History

Old Commonthroat was spoken in the area around Newman's Dale, the urheimat of the yinrih species, at the end of the Age of Decadence. Since the Bright Way was headquartered there at the time, the language was used as a de facto standard among the clergy. after the War of Dissolution ended the Bright Way's reign as a system-spanning for-profit megacorp and restored its religious character, Old Commonthroat was adopted by the re-emerging secular government of Yih.

When the Partisans threatened to conquer the entire system, Yih and the other inner planets, save Hearthside, formed a defensive alliance in order to maintain the independence they had just clawed back from the clergy. Over time, this union grew more culturally and economically integrated. Other languages on Yih, Newhome, and Welkinstead, as well as among Sweetwater's benthic cities, were displaced by the more prestegious Commonthroat. This left Focus with only three languages with state recognition and reasonably sized communities of speakers at the time of First Contact. Hearthside retains a unique language, and Outlander is the official language of both Moonlitter and Partisan Territory. Tiny isolated communities on the surface of Sweetwater and in the Spacer Confederacy still retain their own languages, including quite a few that were devised by founding groups of Atavists.

At the time of First Contact, Commonthroat has attained a status similar to English on Earth--a de facto international language used in business, diplomacy, and international communication. Most pups on Hearthside and Moonlitter grow up with at least a passive understanding of the language thanks to exposure to Allied Worlds media, though Partisan Teritory's aggressive cultural controls mean that most citizens there only speak Outlander.

Sounds

The set of all the sounds that are valid in a language is called its phoneme inventory. A language may have a particular sound that another language lacks. English is well known for lacking the guttural ch sound like in German Buch. On the other hand, the th sound in think is absent in German. Some languages, such as Japanese and Hawaiian, have very small inventories. Others, like English, have much larger inventories.

To a human, yinrih speech sounds like the quiet yipping and growling made by a dreaming dog. The range of sounds that a yinrih can produce is very limited compared to a human’s vocal repertoire. All yinrih languages rely heavily on changes in pitch and volume, as well as the subtle timing of these changes, to encode meaning. As such, words cannot be sung since the melody and rhythm would completely obscure the meaning.

Vowels

Vowels carry most of the weight. There are three vowel qualities, or phonations: a whine, a growl, and a grunt. These vowels can either be plain (monophthongs) or contoured (diphthongs). A plain vowel can have one of two lengths (short or long), one of two tones (low or high) and one of two volumes, or strengths as they are called here (weak or strong).

A contour consists of two plain vowels which serve as the endpoints of a gradient. The attributes of each plain vowel determine the shape of the gradient. There are two rules that govern what vowels can form contours. First, two plain vowels that differ only in length cannot form a contour. Second, the two vowels must have the same phonation type. If either of these two rules are broken, a hiatus occurs between the vowels and they form two syllables, like the English word Naive.

The following table shows the notation used for vowels.

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

Since humans can’t utter Commonthroat without using a speech synthesizer, the best way to convey how a vowel is pronounced is to describe its phonetic features one by one. For plain vowels, this is simple enough: give its length, tone, strength, then phonation. b is a short, low, weak whine. P is a long, high, strong grunt.

Describing contours gets a little trickier. If both of the vowels in a contour share a phonetic feature, we use the same description we would for a plain vowel with that feature. If both vowels are long, then the contour is simply described as long. If both vowels are high, the contour as a whole is high, and so on. If there is a gradient between the two vowels, we describe it as follows:

• A vowel that goes from low to high tone is called rising.
• A vowel that goes from high to low tone is called falling.
• A vowel that goes from weak strength to strong is called strengthening (increasing volume).
• A vowel that goes from strong to weak is called weakening. (decreasing volume).

But what about length? If the first vowel is short and the second is long, then the change from one vowel to the other occurs earlier in the syllable, so we call these contours early. If the first vowel is long and the second is short, the change occurs later in the syllable, so these contours are called late.

For a complete list of plain vowels and contours along with their phonetic features, see the Vowel Pronunciation Table in the appendix.

Consonants

Consonants are simple compared to vowels. There are only three: a huff, a chuff, and a yip. A huff is an exhalation through the nose. A chuff sounds somewhat like a short purr, or the prusten sound made by tigers and snow leopards. Yinrih chuff as a form of greeting, like a human smile. A yip is a quiet little bark.

Here are the consonant letters.

Consonants

Consonant	Letter
Huff	q
Chuff	r
Yip	s

A language’s phonotactics are the rules that govern where sounds can appear in a word. In English, for example, the ng in words like king and sing cannot occur at the beginning of a word, and the h in hat or hello cannot occur at the end of a word.

In Commonthroat, a syllable can start with a huff, chuff, yip, or it can have no initial consonant. A syllable may end with a huff, a chuff, or no consonant. A yip may not occur at the end of a syllable.

When pronunciations of words are given in this text, they will be set off by forward slashes, and the pronunciations of individual consonants and vowels will be separated by commas like this: CDr /long rising weakening whine, chuff/.

Grammar

Before discussing the grammar, we need to touch on interlinear glosses. A gloss is a word-by-word translation of a language sample. In this document, glosses contain three parts. The first part is a sample of Commonthroat. Prefixes and suffixes may be set off from the rest of their parent word by hyphens. The second part, directly below, is a word-by-word translation of the sample, with the English word left-aligned to its corresponding Commonthroat word above. Abbreviations of linguistic terms are written using capital letters. Simple glosses may not hyphenate prefixes or suffixes to make the example clearer.

For definitions of many of the words used in these examples, see the glossary.

Syntax

The basic word order is subject-verb-object, like in English.

sfcp	lPr	HJqp
pup	climb	tree

The pup climbed the tree.

Adjectives follow the nouns they describe.

sfcp	rpM	lPr	HJqp	rbfq
pup	small	climb	tree	old

The small pup climbed the old tree.

Adjectives can also act like verbs.

sfcp	rpM
pup	small

The pup is small.

HJqp	rbfq
tree	old

The tree is old.

Adverbs that modify an entire sentence can come before the subject.

spr	sfcp	lPr	HJqp
yesterday	pup	climb	tree

The pup climbed the tree yesterday.

Adverbs can also come right after the verb they describe.

sfcp	lPr	rpMr	HJqp
pup	climb	happy	tree

The pup happily climbed the tree.

Adjectives can act like adverbs simply by moving them to the beginning of the sentence.

sfcp	rNlr
pup	good

The pup is good.

sfcp	rNlr	lPr	HJqp
pup	good	climb	tree

The good pup climbed the tree.

rNlr	sfcp	lPr	HJqp
good	pup	climb	tree

The pup climbed the tree well.

Prepositional phrases can act like adverbs, modifying an entire sentence. In this case they are placed before the subject just like adverbs.

P	dqp	sfcp	lPr	HJqp
In	forest	pup	climb	tree

In the forest, the pup climbed the tree.

Prepositional phrases can also act as adjectives, modifying a noun, and are placed after the noun like an adjective.

sfcp	lPr	HJqp	bc	qDCp
pup	climb	tree	on	mountain

On the mountain the pup climbed the tree.

The word for not is rnL /chuff, early falling weak grunt/. It behaves like an adverb.

rnL	sfcp	lPr HJqp
not	pup	climb	tree

The pup did not climb the tree.

Nouns

Here’s where Commonthroat gets a little alien. Nouns change their ending depending on where the object the noun refers to is in space relative to the speaker. The technical term for this is deixis. English also indicates deixis, but it uses demonstratives like this and that. Demonstratives are optional in English, but not in Commonthroat.

Let’s start with the ending I’ve been using on most of the nouns you’ve seen so far, -p /short high strong grunt/. It can roughly be translated as that…. So sfcp lPr HJqp is more precisely translated

sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
pup-D	climb	tree-D

That pup climbed that tree.

The D in the gloss stands for distal which is the technical term for a demonstrative that indicates that something is far away from the speaker.

But what if the tree and the pup were a little closer? We’d use a medial suffix -qN /huff, long high weak grunt/. Which is abbreviated M in glosses.

sfc-qN	lPr	HJq-qN
pup-M	climb	tree-M

This pup climbed this tree.

Normally, a medial suffix is used for something close to the listener but far from the speaker. If we wanted to say that all this was happening right next to the speaker, we’d use a proximal suffix, -Mr /long low strong grunt, chuff/, abbreviated P in glosses.

sfc-Mr	lPr	HJq-Mr
pup-P	climb	tree-P

This pup climbed this tree.

So far, so good, right? But what if we didn’t know or didn’t care where this stuff was happening? Commonthroat uses an indefinite suffix for that: -g /short low weak growl/. It’s abbreviated as I in glosses.

sfc-g	lPr	HJq-g
pup-I	climb	tree-I

A pup climbed a tree.

The indefinite form of a noun is the base form seen in dictionaries. It’s used when the precise nature of the object the noun refers to is not known, not important, or when the word refers to a general class of objects rather than a specific object. This example could also be translated as Pups climb trees. This usage, where a noun refers to a general class of objects, is referred to as gnomic.

Note that Modern English only distinguishes between two levels of demonstratives, proximal this and distal that. Older forms of English had a three-way distinction among proximal this, medial that, and distal yonder.

There’s also no reason why the pup and the tree in these examples must share the same deictic suffix. You could say

sfc-Mr	lPr	HJq-g
pup-P	climb	tree-I

This pup climbs trees.

sfc-qN	lPr	HJq-p
pup-M	climb	tree-D

That pup climbed yonder tree.

To summarize, let’s look at a noun with each of the suffixes we’ve discussed so far. We’ll look at the word sFsFg /yip, long high strong whine, yip, long high strong whine, short low weak growl/ which means friend.

Noun	Meaning
sFsFg	a friend
sFsFMr	this friend
sFsFqN	that friend
sFsFp	yonder friend

Expressing Quantity

Nouns do not indicate number on their own. HJqp can mean the tree or those trees depending on context. The base form of the noun is referred to as the general number. If you want to specify how many of something there are, one way is to use a numeral or other quantifying word. Unlike normal adjectives, words that indicate quantity come before the noun they describe.

rdr	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
one	pup-D	climb	tree-D

One pup climbed the tree.

H	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
none	pup-D	climb	tree-D

No pups climbed the tree.

rdr	sfc-p	lPr	BC	HJq-p
one	pup-D	climb	all	tree-D

One pup climbed all those trees.

There is also a plurative particle h /short low strong growl/ that indicates more than one thing, just like the English suffix -s.

h	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
PL	pup-D	climb	tree-D

Those pups climbed the tree.

Note that h is a particle, not an adjective. It cannot be used like a verb or a noun in the same way adjectives can. Traditionally, the plurative particle is only used if there is no other quantifying adjective associated with the noun. However, younger speakers are increasingly using it in front of nouns that are already explicitly marked.

qBf	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
two	pup-D	climb	tree-D

Two pups climbed the tree. (Standard)

h	qBf	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
PL	two	pup-D	climb	tree-D

Two pups climbed the tree. (Younger speakers)

Personal Deixis

If Commonthroat only used those demonstrative suffixes, it wouldn’t be so alien, but it doesn’t stop there. Demonstratives are part of what’s called spatial deixis, which relates to where an object is relative to the speaker. There’s also personal deixis, which covers how the speaker identifies himself, how he identifies the listener, and how things that are neither the speaker nor the listener is identified. In English, we use personal pronouns like me when referring to yourself, you when referring to the listener, and he, she, or it when referring to someone or something that is neither the speaker nor the listener. You may recognize that I’m talking about first person, second person, and third person.

All the noun endings I’ve introduced are in the third person. From now on, the glosses of third person suffixes will include a 3 as a reminder. Any noun can also be inflected in the first or second person if the noun refers to the speaker or listener. So, if the speaker were the pup in the above examples, he’d say

sfc-l	lPr	HJq-g
pup-1	climb	tree-3I

I, a pup, climbed a tree.

If the speaker wanted to indicate that the listener was the pup, he’d say

sfc-qn	lPr	HJq-g
pup-2	climb	tree-3I

You, the pup, climbed a tree.

But it gets weirder. It’s perfectly grammatical for the speaker to indicate that they or the listener are the tree. When a noun that is clearly not a person is given a first- or second-person suffix, it is understood to be metaphorical.

sfc-g	lPr	HJq-qn
pup-3I	climb	tree-2

A pup climbed you as though you were a tree.

Interrogative Nouns

There’s one last noun ending we need to cover. If you don’t know which pup climbed the tree, or which tree the pup climbed, and want the listener to identify the tree or the pup, you’d use the interrogative ending -BD /long rising weak whine/, which is abbreviated INT in glosses

sfc-p	lPr	HJq-BD
pup-3D	climb	tree-INT

What tree did that pup climb?

sfc-BD	lPr	HJq-g
pup-INT	climb	tree-3I

Which pup climbed a tree? What pup climbs trees?

Deictic Suffixes

That’s all the forms a noun can have. Here’s a table of all thelsuffixes along with their gloss abbreviations.

Deixis	Suffix	Gloss
1st	-l	1
2nd	-qn	2
3rd indefinate	-g	3I
3rd proximal	-Mr	3P
3rd medial	-qN	3M
3rd distal	-p	3D
Interrogative	-BD	INT

And here’s sFsFg friend again in all its forms.

Deixis	Inflection	Translation
1st	sFsFl	I, the friend
2nd	sFsFqn	You, the friend
3rd indefinate	sFsFg	a friend, some friend, friends in general
3rd proximal	sFsFMr	This friend
3rd medial	sFsFqN	that friend
3rd distal	sFsFp	yonder friend
Interrogative	sFsFBD	What friend?

Possession

There are two ways of indicating possession. One method uses the preposition b /short low weak whine/, translated as of in English, and it behaves identically as well.

sfc-g	b	dcr-p	lPr	HJq-p
pup-3I	of	dam-3D	climb	tree-3D

One of the mother’s pups climbed the tree.

The second method uses the possessive particle g /short low weak growl/, which comes before a noun. It shifts the meaning of the noun suffix. Instead of the suffix pointing to the noun itself, it now points to the possessor of the noun. A table best illustrates this.

Regular Noun	Meaning	Possessed Noun	Meaning
sFsFl	I, the friend	g sFsFl	my friend
sFsFqn	you, the friend	g sFsFqn	your friend
sFsFg	a friend	g sFsFg	someone's friend
sFsFMr	this friend	g sFsFMr	my friend
sFsFqN	that friend	g sFsFqN	your friend
sFsFp	yonder friend	g sFsFp	his/her/their friend
sFsFBD	what friend?	g sFsFBD	whose friend?

g	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
POS	pup-3D	climb	tree-3D

Her pup climbed the tree.

You may notice that there are two ways of saying my friend and your friend. The difference has to do with something called inalienable possession. A possession that’s inalienable is an integral part of the possessor. These include parts of the body, like rnqg paw or slPqg tail; metaphysical things like sLg soul or sfBg mind; and aspects of identity such as rJhg language or sBfGHg faith.

Things that are inalienable use the first- and second-person noun suffixes, and things that are alienable use the 3rd person proximal suffix for my… and the 3rd person medial suffix for your….

bc	g	rnq-l	qgKq-p	sMp
on	POS	paw-1	yinrih-3D	tread

That yinrih stepped on my paw.

bc	g	sgHq-Mr	qgKq-p	sMp
on	POS	grass-3P	yinrih-3D	tread

That yinrih stepped on my grass.

In the first example, the speaker is referring to his paw, which is an integral part of his body. In the second, the speaker may own the grass being stepped on, but it isn’t an inseparable part of him.

Words that describe a relationship between two people, such as sFsFg friend can take either form, depending on how strong the relationship is according to the speaker. Someone you address as g sFsFMr is likely to be a casual acquaintance, but g sFsFl is someone you can really rely on.

You can also combine the two ways of expressing possession.

rGhq-p	b	g	sFsF-l	jr
house-3D	of	POS	friend-1	big

My friend’s house is big.

What About Pronouns?

Commonthroat does not have any pronouns. There’s no me or she or they or what. You’ve got to use a noun, even when referring to yourself or the listener. The noun you use can be chosen based on a few factors.

How you feel about the situation you’re describing:

g	qCD-Mr	kHr	rkHr-l
POS	brother-3P	strike_with_tail	angry-1

My brother struck me, the angry one, with his tail.

My brother hit me, and I’m angry about it.

Or what was going on when the event occurred:

Plq-qn	fCq	rDBq-qN
digger-2	find	money-3M

You, the digger, found money.

You found money while digging.

But the easiest and most common strategy is to simply drop the word altogether. If context makes it clear who’s doing what, you can drop the subject or object. This is especially true for first person subjects.

qCq	g	sFsF-l
see	POS	friend-1

[I] saw my friend

You can even do this with both the subject and the object.

qCq

see

[I] saw [him].

But this would not be done in isolation like this example. It would be used as a response or in the middle of a conversation where context could fill in the blanks.

Compound Words

In English compound words, the first word modifies the second word. A doghouse is a kind of house, and a house dog is a kind of dog. In Commonthroat, the second word modifies the first.

rnq-CDq-g

paw-hold-3I

holding paw (human hand)

rnq-rfbr-g

paw-walk-3I

walking paw (human foot)

Both compounds start with rnqg, as both are considered types of paws. Since yinrih use all four paws for both grasping and movement, Commonthroat does not distinguish between the forepaws and rear paws in the same way that English does with hand and foot. Examples 33 and 34 are Commonthroat’s way of telling human extremities apart.

Proper Names

Names in Commonthroat are formed from noun or verb phrases combined into one word, with a name suffix added. The content of the name does not indicate the person’s gender, but the suffix does.

Many names have something to do with light or phenomena that produce light, as light is heavily associated with the divine.

qfr-rmK-sk-Mr

fire-hearth-MALE.NAME-3P

Hearthfire (male)

qfr-rmK-sd-Mr

fire-hearth-FEMALE.NAME-3P

Hearthfire (female)

qMNr-Mr-BCq-sd-Mr

sun-3P-shine-FEMALE.NAME-3P

She shines like the sun.

Sunshine

Direct Address

English uses vocal inflection to indicate that the speaker is directly addressing the listener. This is indicated by commas in writing. Compare Let’s eat, grandma. and Let’s eat grandma.

Commonthroat also uses pauses to indicate direct address.

qfrrmKsk-qn,	sfc-p	lPr	HJq-p
hearthfire-2,	pup-3D	climb	tree-3D

Hearthfire, the pup climbed the tree.

Don’t confuse this with inflecting the subject or object in the second person.

qfrrmKsk-qn	lPr	HJq-p
hearthfire-2	climb	tree-3D

You climbed the tree, Hearthfire.

In the first example, Hearthfire is being addressed, but he isn’t climbing the tree, the pup is. In the second, the speaker is relating that Hearthfire climbed the tree to Hearthfire himself. In English, this expression requires the use of the second person pronoun you as the subject and the name of the listener set off as a direct address, but in Commonthroat, the deictic ending on the noun makes it clear that the noun refers to the listener.

Simple Declaratives

If you want to say That’s a… or I’m a…, you can simply state the noun inflected with the appropriate suffix.

sfc-l

pup-1

I’m a pup.

HJq-Mr

tree-3P

This is a tree.

You can include adjectives.

sfc-Mr	jk
pup-3P	little

This is a small pup.

This pup is small.

Note that this example can be interpreted in two different ways in English, even though the overall meaning is the same. There is a pup close to the speaker, and he is small.

This is also how you introduce yourself.

qfrrmKsk-l

Hearthfire-1

I’m Hearthfire.

My name is Hearthfire.

Conjunctions

Words like j /short high weak growl/ and, and l /short low weak grunt/ or, work similarly to how they do in English.

qCq-0	qMqm-g	j	qgKq-g
see-A	human-3I	and	yinrih-3I

I saw a human and a yinrih.

DB-0	rfbr-0	l	DB-0	rDB-0
can-A	walk.on.4.legs-A	or	can-A	walk.on.2.legs-A

You can walk on four legs or you can walk on two legs.

If you want to say both… and… or either… or… repeat the conjunction at the beginning of the list.

qCq-0	j	qMqm-g	j	qgKq-g
see-A	and	human-3I	and	yinrih-3I

I saw both a human and a yinrih.

l	rBFr	sNLr-g	l	qBf	sNLr-g
or	four	leg-3I	or	two	leg-3I

Either four legs or two legs.

This is a proverb that means something that applies equally to humans and yinrih.

Verbs

Verbs lack a lot of the inflection seen in other languages. They don’t indicate tense. lPr can mean climb, climbed, or will climb, depending on context or clarifying adverbs like yesterday or soon. There are no complicated conjugations to memorize. lPr is always lPr regardless of who’s doing the climbing or how many of them there are.

Moods

Verbs do change based on mood. Mood is a complicated and nuanced topic in Commonthroat, and the same verb form can mean different things in different situations.

The Authoritative and Nonauthoritative Moods

All the examples so far have been in the authoritative mood. It’s considered the default verb form and has no suffix, or in linguistics terms it’s said to have a null suffix. You’ll see this marked as -0 in the top line of glosses, and it has a glossing abbreviation of -A. In general, the authoritative mood indicates that the speaker is confident that the statement is true. The sentence The pup climbed the tree ' is presented below with the authoritative mood marked in the gloss.

sfc-p	lPr-0	HJq-g
pup-3D	climb-A	tree-3I

The pup climbed the tree.

The authoritative mood is contrasted with the nonauthoritative mood, marked with the suffix -b /short low weak whine/. The nonauthoritative mood indicates a hedge on the part of the speaker regarding the truth of the statement. Nonauthoritative verbs are usually translated as I think that… or it seems that… or with words like may or might.

sfc-p	lPr-b	HJq-g
pup-3D	climb-NA	tree-3I

The pup may have climbed a tree.

Egophoricity

When the subject of a sentence is in the first person, the verb ending indicates whether the action was intentional or not. This is referred to as egophoricity. Authoritative verbs indicate the action was done on purpose. Nonauthoritative verbs indicate the action was unintentional.

B	HJq-p	smpr-b
from	tree-3D	fall-NA

I fell from the tree (accidentally).

B	HJq-p	smpr-0
from	tree-3D	fall-A

I fell from the tree (on purpose).

I dropped down from the tree.

Egophoricity also occurs in questions when the subject is in the second person.

mp	B	HJq-p	sFsF-qn	smpr-b
INT	from	tree-3D	friend-2	fall-NA

Did you fall from the tree?

Evidentiality

If you have a main clause with a verb like see, hear, etc, where the object of the verb is another clause describing what is seen or heard, the verb in the object clause can be in the authoritative form if the speaker directly witnessed the event (not necessarily visually). If the speaker is inferring the event based on indirect evidence, the second verb is in the nonauthoritative form.

Consider the following scenario: A dam is watching one of her pups play outside, and she sees him cut his tail against a thorny plant.

0	qCq-0	rdc-qn	rlnq-0	g	slPq-qn
[I]	see-A	poor-2	cut-A	POS	tail-2

I saw you cut your tail, poor dear.

A similar situation, but the child comes inside after playing, and one of his dams notices that his tail is bleeding, but didn’t see him cut his tail.

0	qCq-0	rdc-qn	rlnq-b	g	slpq-qn
[I]	see-A	poor-2	cut-NA	POS	tail-2

I see you cut your tail, poor dear.

These two examples illustrate another use for first and second person nouns. The word slpqg /yip, short rising strengthening grunt, huff, short low weak growl/ means poor or pitiable, and is a term often used when the speaker wishes to express empathy for the listener’s plight.

The Dogmatic Mood

The dogmatic mood is marked with the suffix -K /long high strong growl/. It is used when the truth of the statement is being emphasized. It may be translated using the emphatic do in English. In glosses it has the abbreviation -DOG.

sfc-p	lPr-K	HJq-p
pup-3D	climb-DOG	tree-3D

The pup did climb a tree.

I swear the pup climbed the tree.

The dogmatic mood is also used when making promises.

sjr	0	rGKqsfb-K
tomorrow	[I]	return-DOG

I promise I’ll be back tomorrow.

And when making threats.

0	sNMq-K	khqkh-qn
[I]	kill-DOG	guy-2

I WILL kill you.

Other uses of the dogmatic mood include proclaiming laws, making axiomatic statements, and expressing confidence or trust.

The Mirative Mood

The mirative mood is used to indicate surprise on the part of the speaker. Mirative verbs end in -sfsf /yip, short high strong whine, yip, short high strong whine/. In glosses it has the abbreviation -MIR.

sfc-p	lPr-sfsf	HJq-g
pup-3D	climb-MIR	tree-3I

Wow! The pup climbed a tree!

The mirative mood can be used to express sarcasm. If one speaker makes an assertion using the dogmatic mood:

p	g	rMLcdr-Mr	nl-K	khqkhfd-g	NPr
in	POS	computer-3P	is_at-DOG	little.guy-3I	odd

I swear there’s a funny little guy in my computer.

The responder may repeat the assertion, inflecting the verb in the mirative mood in mock surprise:

p	g	rMLcdr-qN	nl-sfsf	khqkh-fd-g	NPr
in	POS	computer-3M	is_at-MIR	guy-DIM-3I	odd

Really? There’s a funny little guy in your computer?

Modal Particles

The four basic verbal moods can be further narrowed by using modal particles. Modal particles are placed at the beginning of a sentence before the subject or any adverbs.

The Imperative mood

The imperative mood is formed using the modal particle G /long low weak growl/.

G	qMP-0	g	rnq-qn
IMP	wash-A	POS	paw-2

Wash your paws.

You can make it more polite by inflecting the verb in the nonauthoritative mood.

G	qMP-b	g	rnq-qn
IMP	wash-NA	POS	paw-2

Please wash your paws.

You can also use the imperative mood when the subject is in something other than the second person. This is sometimes called the jussive mood.

G	qMP-0	g	rnq-p
IMP	wash-A	POS	paw-3D

He must wash his paws.

You can make a negative command by using the adverb rnL not.

G	rnL	P	BFr-p	0	sD-0
IMP	not	in	room-3D	[you]	go-A

Don’t go in there!

The Prohibitive Mood

The Prohibitive mood is not part of the standard language. It's used by Moonies (inhabitants of the moons of Welkinstead) as well as within the Spacer Confedaracy. While the Imperitive mood orders you to do something, the Prohibitive mood orders you not to do something. It uses the modal particle Gr /long low weak growl, chuff/ which is a contraction of the more usual G rnL.

Standard Commonthroat

G	rnL	qdBq-0	scBq-p	qnlqCb-K
IMP	not	drink-A	water-3D	make_sick-DOG

Don't drink that water; it'll make you sick!

Moony Dialect

Gr	qdBq-0	scBq-p	qnlqCb-K
PROH	drink-A	water-3D	make_sick-DOG

Don't drink that water; it'll make you sick!

The Optative Mood

The optative mood expresses hopes, wishes, and desires. It is formed with the particle L /long low weak grunt/ along with the nonauthoritative form of the verb. The most well-known use of the optative is in the Holy Greeting.

L	rLPq-p	BCq-b	sFsF-qn!
OPT	light-3D	illuminate-NA	friend-2

Light shine upon you, friend!

The Hortative Mood

The hortative mood expresses encouragement. It is often confused with the polite imperative in some dialects. It uses the particle Ln /late rising weak grunt/. The hortative can act like an imperative, but implies that the listener would benefit from performing the action. It can be translated as you really should… or Let’s… The festive greeting during the winter feast uses the hortative mood.

Ln	sFsF-qn	rpMr-b	hgq	h	MNq-Mr	rgj-0	rmn
HORT	friend-2	happy-NA	for	PL	day-3P	become-A	long

Take heart, friend, for the days grow longer.

The Necessitative Mood

The necessitative mood expresses need or requirement. It uses the particle pM /early falling strong grunt/. It differs from the imperative in that the speaker isn’t commanding that an action be done, and it differs from the optative mood in that the speaker may not want what he’s describing, but he does need it.

pM	sG	g	rGhq-Mr	sD-0
NEC	to	POS	home-3P	go-A

I need to go home.

I should go to my home.

There is a subtle difference between the necessitative mood and the 3rd person imperative. The imperative implies the subject as the agency necessary to carry out the action, but the necessitative does not.

G	HJq-p	rgj-0
IMP	tree-3D	grow-A

That tree must grow.*

The example above sounds ungrammatical to native speakers because the tree has no say in whether it grows or not.

pM	HJq-p	rgj-0
NEC	tree-3D	grow-A

This sentence sounds better to native speakers.

Verb Serialization and Coverbs

Commonthroat verbs have no infinitive form. Instead, you serialize verbs to indicate things like the purpose or result of a verb of motion, as well as to indicate aspect.

rGKq	qJq
come	swim

[I’m] coming to swim.

lPr	HJq-Mr	rCFq	qcD-g
climb	tree-3.PROX	eat	fruit-3.INDEF

[I’m] climbing this tree to eat some fruit.

Asking Questions

One way to ask questions has already been covered. By inflecting a noun with an interrogative ending, you can ask the listener to identify the noun so inflected.

rMLcdr-BD	qgJ-0
computer-INT	use-A

Which computer do I use?

If you want to ask how many of something there are, you inflect the noun Cbg /late low weakening whine, short low weak growl/ number, amount with the interrogative ending.

Cb-BD	g	qhq-qN	j	dcr-qN
Amount-INT	POS	sire-3M	and	dam-3M

What number are your sires and dams?

How many sires and dams do you have?

This is not a trivial question, as yinrih can have anywhere from two to twelve natural parents.

You can ask simple yes/no questions by sticking the word mp /short rising strong grunt/ at the beginning of the sentence.

mp	rMLcdr-Mr	qgJ
INT	computer-3P	use

Do I use this computer?

qln-DB	0	qfdr-0
manner-INT	[you]	stand-A

How do you stand?

This is how you ask someone if they’re OK.

Using the Nonauthoritative Mood When Asking and Answering Questions

When you ask a question with a third person subject, you can mark the verb as nonauthoritative if you think it’s a stupid question.

mp	BC-K	qMqm-g	rBD-b
INT	all-time	human-3I	walk.on.hind.feet-NA

Stupid question, but do humans walk on their hind feet all the time?

I should really know this already, but do humans walk on their hind feet all the time?

I know you told me before, but I forgot. Do humans walk on their hind feet all the time?

As with normal yes/no questions, the person answers by repeating the main verb. If he inflects it in the dogmatic mood, that indicates he regards the answer as definitive.

rBD-K

walk.on.hind.feet-DOG

Yes, they do walk on their hind feet [all the time].

If, however, the person answering the question wants you to take his response with a grain of salt, or wants you to trust but verify his answer, he can infelect the verb in the nonauthoritative mood.

rBD-b

walk.on.hind.feet-NA

Yes, I think they do.

I’m pretty sure they do.

I think so, but don’t take my word for it.

Rhetorical Questions

Just like in English, questions can be rhetorical rather than literal.

rnL	nq	h	qnlq-g	lNrm-DB	rnP-0
not	Among	PL	sick-3I	healer-INT	live-A

What healer does not abide among the sick?

Indirect Objects

Words like give and show take an indirect object denoting to whom something is being given or shown. In Commonthroat, the preposition rl /chuff, short low weak growl/ indicates an indirect object. In glosses, this is abbreviated DAT for dative, reflecting a similar construction in Latin and Greek.

rl	g	sFsF-Mr	0	dFr-0	HJq-Mr
DAT	POS	friend-3P	[I]	show-A	tree-3P

I showed the tree to my friend.

Commonthroat has several phrases that use the verb qcDr /huff, early rising weakening whine, chuff/ to give along with an indirect object to form phrases that English uses a single verb for. These include:

rl ___ qcDr qgjg

to give care to ___ : To care for ___, to show reverence for ___

rl ___ qcDr rfDqg

to give interest to ___ : To be interested in ___, to pay attention to ___

rl ___ qcDr nLqg

to give honor to ___ : To honor ___, to venerate ___

rl ___ qcDr kgg

to give glory to ___ : to worship ___

rl	rdr	rLPq-p	g	sL-l	qcDr-K	kg-g
DAT	one	light-3D	POS	soul-1	give-DOG	glory-3I

My soul shall give glory to the one Light.

My soul shall worship the Light alone.

j	rl	h	snp-qN	qcDr-K	nLq-g
and	DAT	PL	holy-3M	give-DOG	honor

And to the saints I shall give honor.

And I shall honor the saints.

j	rl	rjGJfd-Mr	sMlr	qcDr-K	qgj-g
and	DAT	little_creation-3P	dear	give-DOG	care-3I

And to this dear little Creation I shall give care.

And I shall care for this dear little Creation.

Voice and Coverbs

The Passive Voice

Most sentences are in the active voice, which is when the subject of the sentence does something to the object. In English, we’d say The dog bit the man. The subject (the dog) is doing something (biting) to the object (the man). Here’s a typical Commonthroat sentence in the active voice.

rBFrrnqsk-Mr	kHr-0	sPlqBdsk-p
four.paw-3P	strike-A	wet.nose-3D

Fourpaws struck Wetnose.

What if we wanted to put the focus on the object instead of the subject? We’d use the passive voice, in which the subject of the sentence is being acted upon. In English, you form the passive voice by using the verb to be plus the past participle of the main verb. You can indicate who’s doing the acting by using the preposition by. The man was bitten by the dog.

In Commonthroat, we use a coverb. Coverbs are a kind of hybrid between a verb and a preposition. Like prepositions, they can take an object. Like verbs, they are inflected for mood. The example below expresses the same idea as the previous one, but it uses the passive coverb rj /chuff, short high weak growl/. The object of rj is the person performing the action expressed by the main verb, and the subject of the whole sentence is the one being acted upon. In linguistics, this is called the patient, and the person doing the action is called the agent.

sPlqBdsk-p	rj-0	rBFrrnqsk-Mr	kHr-0
wet.nose-3D	PAS-A	four.paw-3P	strike-A

Wetnose was struck by Fourpaws.

Just as in English, you can avoid mentioning who’s performing the action by simply dropping it. The man was bitten. It may not be important who bit the man, or the speaker may wish to avoid saying who bit the man.

In Commonthroat, we can also drop the agent, but we must keep the coverb to indicate the sentence is passive.

sPlqBdsk-p	rj-0	kHr-0
wet.nose-3D	PAS-A	strike-A

Wetnose was struck.

The Reciprocal Voice

Many languages have a way of expressing that the subject and the object of a sentence acted upon one another. English uses the reciprocal construction one another. The dog and the man bit one another.

Commonthroat uses another coverb, pr /short high strong grunt, chuff/. If there are two different parties acting on one another, one is placed at the head of the sentence as the subject and the other is the object of the coverb pr.

rBFrrnqsk-Mr	pr-0	sPlqBdsk-p	kHr-0
four.paws-3P	RECP-A	wet.nose-3D	strike-A

Wetnose and Fourpaws struck one another.

If you have a plural noun or a noun that otherwise indicates a group such as LMrg assembly, moot, you can simply place that in the subject position and use the coverb without an object as you would with a passive construction whose agent is missing.

LMr-Mr	pr-0	rDB-0
moot-3P	RECP-A	speak-A

The congregation spoke amongst themselves.

The Reflexive Voice

The agent can also be the patient of the same action. This is called the reflexive voice. It’s used when someone does something to himself. English uses reflexive pronouns myself, yourself, herself, etc.

Commonthroat uses another coverb. This time it’s rp /chuff, short high strong grunt/. It’s used in the same manner as the passive voice without an agent.

rBFrrnqsk-Mr	rp-0	kHr-0
four.paws-3P	RFLX-A	strike-A

Fourpaws struck himself.

As with the reciprocal voice, you can use a noun referring to more than one person, or to a group. In this case it indicates that each member of the group acted upon himself as an individual.

LMr-Mr	rp-0	rDB-0
moot-3P	RFLX-A	speak-A

The members of the congregation spoke each to himself.

Words that Change Meaning Depending on Voice

Some words take on a different meaning when used with a certain voice. For example, the word rDB /chuff, long falling weak whine/ means to say or to speak. In the reciprocal voice, pr rDB, it means to discuss. The word sf /yip, short high strong whine/ in the active voice means to yip, as in to utter the sound denoted by the letter s. In the reciprocal voice pr sf it means to chit-chat or to make small talk.

A selection of words that change based on voice

Verb	Active Meaning	Reflexive (rp)	Reciprocal (pr)
rDB	say, speak		discuss
PMrCb	calm (transitive)	unwind, relax
rNmplr	ferment	grow old
BFq	concern, occupy	worry
sf	yip		chit-chat
sKj	jostle, shake	shake oneself off, as to rid one's fur of dust or water

Aspect

Aspect refers to how the action described by a verb extends over time. That sounds a lot like tense, doesn’t it? However, tense has to do with when in time an action takes place. For example, the sentences I walk and I am walking are both in the present tense, but the first sentence is in the simple aspect, while the second is in the progressive aspect. This distinction also exists in the past tense. I walked and I was walking, as well as the future tense, I will walk and I will be walking. The simple aspect describes actions that are regarded as a complete whole, while the progressive describes actions that are ongoing, and often occur simultaneously with other actions. I was walking and I saw my friend.

While Commonthroat verbs do not indicate tense. You have to use context or time-related adverbs to relate when an action takes place. Verbs by themselves don’t have inherent aspect, either, but Commonthroat has a number of fixed serial verb constructions that indicate aspect, and this can give a different shade of meaning to the verb.

The Prospective Aspect

The prospective aspect indicates that an action is on the verge of occuring, and uses the verb Lmq /late low strengthening grunt, huff/, which means to fix or to repair.

0	Lmq-0	lPr-0	HJq-Mr
[I]	fix-A	climb-A	tree-3P

I’m about to climb this tree.

The Completative Aspect

The completative aspect indicates that an action has come to a natural end. It uses the verb bf /short rising strengthening whine/, which means to finish, or to complete.

0	bf-0	rCFq-0
[I]	finish-A	eat-A

I’ve finished eating.

Quick word of warning: you might be tempted to say qhgl I’m full if you want to politely decline a second helping of food. This is actually a euphemistic way of saying I have to use the restroom. It still means you’re full, just not your stomach. While we’re on this tangent, don’t say qhgqn you’re full, either. It means you’re full of it!

The Cesative Aspect

The completative aspect contrasts with the cesative aspect. The cesative aspect indicates that an action stopped abruptly, without coming to a natural conclusion. Compare I finished talking and I stopped talking. The first sentence indicates that you were done, while the second does not. The cesative aspect uses the verb fb /short falling weakening whine/ which means to stop or to halt

0	fb-0	rCFq-0
[I]	stop-A	eat-A

I stopped eating.

The Inchoative Aspect

The inchoative aspect indicates that the action described by a verb is just starting. It uses the verb sg /yip, short low weak growl/ to begin.

0	sg-0	lPr-0	HJq-p
[I]	begin-A	climb-A	tree-3D

I begin climbing the tree.

The Superfective Aspect

The superfective aspect uses the verb GJq /long rising weak growl, huff/ which means to persist or to keep on.

rdc-Mr	GJq-0	sFb-0
poor-3P	persist-A	vomit-A

This poor guy keeps vomiting.

Words that change meaning depending on aspect

Why am I making a big deal about these aspects? They just seem like regular serial verb constructions. Well, some verbs have different meanings depending on their aspect.

rn I know becomes sg rn I find out and fb rn I forget.

Important note: sg specifically means to start a task or start doing something. If you want to say start in the sense of turn on, that’s rMNq ignite. Similarly, to say you turned something off, that’s qNMr extinguish.

fCq /early falling strong whine, huff/ means have or possess. sg fCq means begin to have, find or come across. fb fCq stop having means to lose or relinquish.

These aspects are well-established across dialects, but other looser constructions exist as well.

Adverbial phrases expressing time

In English, we think of the past as being behind us and the future as being ahead. In Commonthroat, the past is below and the future is above. When discussing at which point in time an event occurred, you use the adverbial phrase DC m /long falling strengthening whine/ below. for events that occurred in the past, and CD`` m /long rising weakening whine/ above for events that will occur in the future. You precede this phrase with time words like sdFr shkqg a few years or KJq MNqg three days and so forth.

qBf	MNq-p	DC	m	0	bf-0	GJHG-p
two	day-3D	below	ADV	[I]	finish-A	task-3D

I finished that task 2 days ago.

sdFr	MNq-Mr	CD	m	0	sBr-0
some	day-3P	above	ADV	[I]	leave-A

I’m leaving in a few days.

Notice that the word Mnqg day can take deictic suffixes. In general, which suffix is used indicates whether the timespan was long or short in the speaker’s estimation. Using the proximal suffix indicates that the event described happened in the recent past or will happen in the immediate future. The distal suffix is used if the timespan is judged to be very long.

The first example may also be translated I’ve been done with that task for two days already. The second could also be translated I’m leaving in just a few days.

Similarly, you can use the interrogative suffix to ask how long ago or how long from now an event will take place.

MNr-BD	DC	m	0	bf-0	GJHG-p
day-INT	below	ADV	[you]	finish-A	task-3D

How many days ago did you finish that task?

Writing

Visual System

Commonthroat is written using a reverse abjad. Vowels are full letters. Consonants (huffs, chuffs, and yips) are written as mandatory diacritcs when they form the onset of a syllable, and as full letters when in coda position. The romanization used throughout this article matches the writing system 1:1, with the exception that the Romanization renders onsets as full letters as well.

Tactile Systems

Yinrih rely on their rear paws almost as much as their front paws for manipulating objects. This is especially true for spacers, who live permenantly aboard orbital colonies in microgravity. The labels of containers and controls are written in a tactile writing system to ease identification and orientation without looking.

Along with this endemic system, yinrih on Earth additionally use a Braille system adapted for Commonthroat.

The Braille system is featural. Dots 1, 2, and 4 together indicate the phonation type. Dots 1-4 is a whine, 1-2-4 a growl, and 2-4 a grunt. Dots 3, 5, and 6 indicate length, tone, and strength, respectively. An unraised dot represents short, low, or weak. A raised dot represents long, high, or strong. Consonants do not follow a pattern. Dots 3-4 is a huff, 3-4-5 a chuff, and 3-4-6 a yip.

Commonthroat Braille

Print Romanization	Computer Braille	Braille Symbol (Unicode)	Dots	Sound
b	c	⠉	14	short low weak whine
B	m	⠍	134	long low weak whine
c	%	⠩	146	short low strong whine
C	x	⠭	1346	long low strong whine
d	d	⠙	145	short high weak whine
D	n	⠝	1345	long high weak whine
f	?	⠹	1456	short high strong whine
F	y	⠽	13456	long high strong whine
g	f	⠋	124	short low weak growl
G	p	⠏	1234	long low weak growl
h	$	⠫	1246	short low strong growl
H	&	⠯	12346	long low strong growl
j	g	⠛	1245	short high weak growl
J	q	⠟	12345	long high weak growl
k	]	⠻	12456	short high strong growl
K	=	⠿	123456	long high strong growl
l	i	⠊	24	short low weak grunt
L	s	⠎	234	long low weak grunt
m	[	⠪	246	short low strong grunt
M	!	⠮	2346	long low strong grunt
n	j	⠚	245	short high weak grunt
N	t	⠞	2345	long high weak grunt
p	w	⠺	2456	short high strong grunt
P	)	⠾	23456	long high strong grunt
q	/	⠌	34	huff
r	>	⠜	345	chuff
s	+	⠬	346	yip