Tcae'ru

Tcae'ru
Pronunciation	[ᵏǀá̰ḛ̀.ɾū]
Language family	Isolate
Official status
Spoken in	Coldba
Speaker
Demonym	Tcae'ruan
Technical information
Language code	???

Tcae'ru, pronounced ᴛᴄᴀᴇ'ʀᴜ: [ᵏǀá̰ḛ̀.ɾū] or ᴇɴ: /ˈtaɪɹuː/, is an isolate language spoken in Coldba as one of its official languages.

Etymology

The name Tcae'ru is frequently written without diacritics, but the full spelling is Tcáè'rū. The word comes from a blend of tcáèx [ᵏǀáèʔ] (conlang) and ùrū [ù.ɾū] (person).

Phonology

The total amount of consonants is 117, with 42 non-click consonants.

Some consonants are written with a dot on top of them. This is used to distinguish them from other uses of the consonant letter. When following a vowel, ⟨n⟩ and ⟨h⟩ by default represent nasalization and breathy voice, respectively. So, when a /n/ follows a vowel, it must be written ⟨ṅ⟩, and when a /h/ follows a vowel, it must be written ⟨ḣ⟩. If /n/ follows a vowel that is already nasal, or /h/ follows a vowel that is already breathy, then the letter is simply doubled and the dot is unnecessary. The letter ⟨ṅ⟩ also has usage in distinguishing /nj/ from /ɲ/, where the former is written ⟨ṅy⟩. For similar letter clusters, ⟨ẏ⟩ is used to mark /j/ when preceded by a letter that ⟨y⟩ would otherwise form a digraph with. Thus, ⟨nẏ tẏ dẏ sẏ⟩ are /Ṽj tj dj sj/. The letter ⟨ġ⟩ only occurs for the geminated consonant /ɢː/, representing it as ⟨gġ⟩.

		Bilabial		Coronal				Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
				Nonsibilant		Sibilant
Nasal		m	m	n	n/ṅ			ɲ	ny	ŋ	ng
Stop	Aspirated	pʰ	ph	tʰ	th	tsʰ	ts	cʰ	tž	kʰ	kh	qʰ	gk
	Tenuis	p	p	t	t	ts	tz	c	ty	k	k	q	kg	ʔ	x
	Voiced	b	b	d	d	dz	dz	ɟ	dy			ɢ	gg/ġ
Ejective		pʼ	p’	tʼ	t’					kʼ	k’	qʼ	g’
Implosive		ɓ	b’	ɗ	d’			ʄ	y’
Fricative		β	v	ð	ð	s	s	ʃ	sy	ɣ	ǧ	χ	ç	h	h/ḣ
Glide		w	w	l	l			j	y/ẏ
Trill				r	rr
Tap				ɾ	r

There are 75 click consonants.

		Bilabial		Dental		Alveolar		Lateral		Palatal
Nasal	Plain	ŋʘ	mc	ŋǀ	nc	ŋǃ	nq	ŋǁ	nł	ŋǂ	nj
	Aspirated	ŋʘʰ	mch	ŋǀʰ	nch	ŋǃʰ	nqh	ŋǁʰ	nłh	ŋǂʰ	njh
	Glottalized	ŋʘˀ	mcx	ŋǀˀ	ncx	ŋǃˀ	nqx	ŋǁˀ	nłx	ŋǂˀ	njx
	Voiceless affricate	ŋʘx	mcç	ŋǀx	ncç	ŋǃx	nqç	ŋǁx	nłç	ŋǂx	njç
	Voiced affricate	ŋʘɣ	mcg	ŋǀɣ	ncg	ŋǃɣ	nqg	ŋǁɣ	nłg	ŋǂɣ	njg
Voiceless	Plain	kʘ	pc	kǀ	tc	kǃ	tq	kǁ	tł	kǂ	tj
	Aspirated	kʘʰ	pch	kǀʰ	tch	kǃʰ	tqh	kǁʰ	tłh	kǂʰ	tjh
	Glottalized	kʘˀ	pcx	kǀˀ	tcx	kǃˀ	tqx	kǁˀ	tłx	kǂˀ	tjx
	Affricate	kʘx	pcç	kǀx	tcç	kǃx	tqç	kǁx	tłç	kǂx	tjç
	Ejective	ʘkʼ	pc’	ǀkʼ	tc’	ǃkʼ	tq’	ǁkʼ	tł’	ǂkʼ	tj’
Voiced	Plain	ɡʘ	bc	ɡǀ	dc	ɡǃ	dq	ɡǁ	dł	ɡǂ	dj
	Aspirated	ɡʘʰ	bch	ɡǀʰ	dch	ɡǃʰ	dqh	ɡǁʰ	dłh	ɡǂʰ	djh
	Glottalized	ɡʘˀ	bcx	ɡǀˀ	dcx	ɡǃˀ	dqx	ɡǁˀ	dłx	ɡǂˀ	djx
	Voiceless affricate	ɡʘx	bcç	ɡǀx	dcç	ɡǃx	dqç	ɡǁx	dłç	ɡǂx	djç
	Voiced affricate	ɡʘɣ	bcg	ɡǀɣ	dcg	ɡǃɣ	dqg	ɡǁɣ	dłg	ɡǂɣ	djg

There are 7 vowel qualities (charted below) and 5 tones: high ⟨á⟩, mid ⟨a⟩, low ⟨à⟩, falling ⟨â⟩, rising ⟨ǎ⟩. There are no polyphthongs and adjacent vowels may have different tones.

	Front		Central		Back
Close	i	i	ɨ	ụ	u	u
Mid	e	e			o	o
Open			a	a	ɒ	ọ

Any vowels may be creaky /a̰/, breathy /a̤/, nasal /ã/, or pharyngealized /aˤ/. These voice qualities always spread up to two vowels in a row, and can be combined in the ways represented on the chart. The ⟨nq⟩ digraph represents a nasal alveolar click, so a nasal and pharyngeal vowel must always be written with ⟨qn⟩ to avoid confusion.

	Modal				Breathy				Creaky
	Oral		Nasal		Oral		Nasal		Oral		Nasal
Plain	a	a	ã	an	a̤	ah	ã̤	anh	a̰	aʼ	ã̰	anʼ
Pharyngealized	aˤ	aq	ãˤ	aqn	a̤ˤ	aqh	ã̤ˤ	aqnh	a̰ˤ	aqʼ	ã̰ˤ	aqnʼ

Lexicon

Tcae'ru	IPA	English
pcīxix	kʘīʔīʔ	computer mouse
tqụ́ụ̀x	kǃɨ́ɨ̀ʔ	computer
nłòōnx	ŋǁõ̀ȭʔ	table, artificial small area for seating
nłòōn	ŋǁõ̀ȭ	area for seating
nłòōnn	ŋǁõ̀ȭn	field, natural large area for seating
ùrū	ùɾū	person, ape, humanoid
bcèx	ɡʘèʔ	milk for adults
bcè	ɡʘè	milk for young
bcāàq’	ɡʘā̰à̰ˤ	cow
tchàséē	kǀʰàséē	hair
í	í	emitted light
íx	íʔ	man-made emitted light
ínn	ĩ́n	sunlight, naturally emitted light
njxộé	ŋǂʔɒ̂é	reflected light
njxộénn	ŋǂʔɒ̃̂ẽ́n	moonlight
kçáā	kxáā	captured light
kçáānn	kxã́ã̄n	mirage, lake reflection, large natural captured light
kçáāx	kxáāʔ	mirror, very good drawing
dcgūu	ɡǀɣūū	water
dcgūux	ɡǀɣūūʔ	spit
dcgūunn	ɡǀɣũ̄ũ̄n	natural body of water
dqúuh	ɡǃṳ́ṳ́	dog
tsāàhx	tsʰā̤à̤ʔ	food (prepared and/or cooked)
tsāàh	tsʰā̤à̤	food (unaltered from dead or living form)
mndé’x	mndḛ́ʔ	appreciation
mndé’	mndḛ́	positive impact
mcgáā	ŋʘɣáā	girl
mcçáā’	ŋʘxá̰ā̰	feminine girl
tq’áụn	ǃkʼã́ɨ̃́	boy
tq’éon	ǃkʼẽ́ṍ	feminine boy
tłxí	kǁʔí	nonbinary person
rrùuvūn	rùːβũ̄	androgyne person
ðà’g’áụn	ðà̰qʼã́ɨ̃́	demiboy
ðànngáā	ðà̰ŋáā	demigirl
ncáànte’	ŋǀã́ã̀tḛ̀	neutrois person
sīsyé	sīʃé	agender person
láahthāh	lá̤á̤tʰā̤	gendervoid person
nyàa’d	ɲà̰à̰d	to feel kinship with
çúuṅ	χúún	to be full of [adverb]
tłēebenn	kǁēēbẽ̄n	night
tłēebe	kǁēēbē	shadow
nyínn	ɲĩ́n	day
nyí	ɲií	bright spot
pchòx	kʘʰòʔ	ground
pchò’x	kʘʰò̰ʔ	floor
džāahb	d͡ʒā̤ā̤b	new
tcáè	kǀáè	language
tcáèx	kǀáèʔ	constructed language
tcáènn	kǀã́ẽ̀n	causality or causation in the context of physics
mòlo	mòlò	know, understand
ncgáldêh	ŋǀɣáldê̤	to gain
píiq	pííˤ	official, standard
tcîxǎx	kǀîʔǎʔ	emperor (gender neutral)
tcîxáāx	kǀîʔáāʔ	emperor (masculine)
tcîxáụnx	kǀîʔã́ɨ̃́ʔ	empress (feminine)