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