Shaelic language

Shaelic
Pronunciation:	TBA
Spoken In:	Shaelia, Lyson Empire, Greater Zartanian Empire
Speakers:	First Language: 19 million Second Language: 3-4 million
Family:	Shalaise
Official Status
Official:	Shaelia
Regulated by:	No official regulation
Sample Wordlist
One: Dei	People: Natabae
Two: Sa	Big: Niz
Three: Zue	Little: Nizien
River: Sae	Love (v.): Rasat
Town: Hea	Eat (v.): Belat

Shaelic, known as Férocaes by the native speakers, is the official and ancestral language of the Shaelic peoples of northern Eras. It is primarily spoken in the Shaelia. It is also spoken in other 0000 nations, such as the Lyson Empire and the Greater Zartanian Empire.

Phonetics

Consonants

IPA	Letter	Examples	Description
ɡ	G, g	grave, game	voiced velar plosive
d	D, d	dog	voiced alveolar plosive
b	B, b	butcher, bed	voiced bilabial plosive
00	Þ, þ	butcher + y sound to next vowel
ʧ	C, c	church	voiceless postalveolar affricate
ʝ	J, j	jerk	voiced palatal fricative
p	P, p	push, put	voiceless bilabial plosive
k	K, k	kill, cut	voiceless velar plosive
f	F, f	farm	voiceless labiodental fricative
l	L, l	lake	alveolar lateral approximant
kʷ	Q, q	queen, quit	labial-velar stop
m	M, m	mother	bilabial nasal
n	N, n	never	alveolar nasal
ɹ	R, r	real, revolution	alveolar approximant
s	S, s	slice, song	voiceless alveolar fricative
z	Z, z	zebra	voiced alveolar fricative
ʃ	Š, š	show, shop	voiceless postalveolar fricative
Ʒ	Ž, ž	pleasure, vision	voiced postalveolar fricative
ð	Ð, ð	this, the	voiced dental fricative
t	T, t	tin, tea	voiceless alveolar plosive
v	V, v	valor	voiced labiodental fricative
h	H, h	heart, head	voiceless glottal fricative
w	W, w	west	labial-velar approximant
j	Y, y	yes	palatal approximant
ks	X, x	mix, fix	voiceless velar stop + voiceless alveolar fricative

Vowels

IPA	Letter	Examples	Description
eI	E, e	bay, okay
ɑ	A, a	father	open back unrounded vowel
æ	Æ, æ	trap, bath	near-open front unrounded vowel
i	I, i	elope, be	close front unrounded vowel
o	O, o	open	close-mid back rounded vowel
u	U, u	loose	close back rounded vowel
ɛ	é	every, met	open-mid front unrounded vowel
ɪ	í	fit	near-close near-front unrounded vowel
ɐ	ú	under	near-open central vowel

Diphthongs

Coming Soon

Grammar

Nouns

Gender

There are three genders

• Masculine — indicated by word-final /a/, /e/ and sometimes /æ/
• Feminine — indicated by word-final /i/
• Neuter — indicated by word final /u/ or /o/; /o/ endings are irregular, but treated as /u/

GENDER EXAMPLES
Word	Shaelic	Gender
Man	Nata	–a (mas.)
Woman	Nati	–i (fem.)
Table	Fobu	–u (neuter)
Idiot, Moron	Stolo	–o (neuter)
Boot	Vete	–e (mas.)
Sandal	Veti	–i (fem.)
Shoe (generic)	Vetu	–u (neuter)

Note: The Shaelic neuter gender, indicated by /o/ and /u/, evolved with the regular loss of word-final /n/ from its mother language, Deçeān.

Number

There are three number indicators

• Singular — no change
• Definite — add –m (Used when quantity is known or declared)

DEFINITE NUMBER EXAMPLES
Quantity	Shaelic
Two Men	Sa Natam
Two Women	Sa Natim
Two Tables	Sa Fobum
Four Boots	Lei Vetem
Four Sandals	Lei Vetim
Four Shoes	Lei Vetum

• Indefinite — add –s (Used when quantity is unknown or undetermined)

INDEFINITE NUMBER EXAMPLES
General Quantity	Shaelic
Men	Natas
Women	Natis
Tables	Fobus
Boots	Vetes
Sandals	Vetis
Shoes (generic)	Vetus

Case

All nouns reside in the nominative case and are not declined when acting as subjects.

• Accusative — “(something done) to the object”
• Genitive — simple possession
• Dative — “to the (object)”, “for the (object)”
• Ablative — source of an action or a movement: “from the (object)”, “from a (object)”
• Instrumental — how something is done or carried out; “by (object)” or “with (object)”
• Locative — “at (object)”; “in (object)” or “on (object)”
• Associative — “for the (object)”; “for a (object)”
• Illative — “into the (object); “into a (object)”; “onto the (object)”; “onto a (object)”

Shaelic noun declensions are ordered and highly standardized.

SINGULAR DECLENSIONS
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Dative	–ða	–ði	–ðu
Accusative	–na	–ni	–nu
Genitive	–ta	–ti	–tu
Ablative	–ma	–mi	–mu
Locative	–pa	–pi	–pu
Instrumental	–ga	–gi	–gu
Associative	–ra	–ri	–ru
Illative	–da	–di	–du

PLURAL DECLENSIONS
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Dative	–ðas/–m	–ðis/–m	–ðus/–m
Accusative	–nas/–m	–nis/–m	–nus/–m
Genitive	–tas/–m	–tis/–m	–tus/–m
Ablative	–mas/–m	–mis/–m	–mus/–m
Locative	–pas/–m	–pis/–m	–pus/–m
Instrumental	–gas/–m	–gis/–m	–gus/–m
Associative	–ras/–m	–ris/–m	–rus/–m
Illative	–das/–m	–dis/–m	–dus/–m

Pronouns

Coming Soon

Articles

Definite Article

The definite article must agree with its subject in both gender and number, but not case. Note that definite articles make no distinction between definite and indefinite plural and that there is no specified plural.

DEFINITE ARTICLE
Quantity	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Ma	Mi	Mu
Plural	Mas	Mis	Mus

DEFINITE ARTICLE EXAMPLES
Example	Shaelic
The man	Ma nata
The woman	Mi nati
The table	Mu fobu
The men	Mas natas
The women	Mis natis
The tables	Mus fobus
The four Men	Mas lei natam
The four women	Mis lei natim
The four tables	Mus lei fobum

Indefinite Article

Indefinite articles must agree with their subjects in both gender and number, but not case. Note that there is no specified plural.

INDEFINITE ARTICLE
Quantity	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Da	Di	Du
Plural	Das	Dis	Dus

INDEFINITE ARTICLE EXAMPLES
Example	Shaelic
A man	Da Nata
A woman	Di Nati
A table	Du Fobu
Few/Some men	Das Natas
Few women	Dis Natis
Some tables	Dus Fobus

Demonstratives

This, That, These, Those
The demonstrative indicator, unlike definite and indefinite articles, is used regardless of noun case or gender, and are not declined. There are two types: specified and restricted. Specified demonstratives best approximate to this (in the singular) and these (in the plural); restricted demonstratives best approximate to that (in the singular) and those (in the plural).

DEMONSTRATIVES
Type	Singular	Plural
Specified	Gan	Gas
Restricted	Bél	Bés

Using Demonstratives

Definite articles are used only with the nominative; they are implied in all other cases. Indefinite articles are used with all noun cases to make clearer or more specific distinctions.

DEMONSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Example	Shaelic
With these men	Gan nataga
That woman’s garden	Bél natiti setrosi
For this man	Gan natara
From those women	Bés natimi
Those men	Bés natas
Those women	Bés natis
Those tables	Bés fobus
This sword	Gan Kira
This sword’s blade	Gan kirata kire
I know those men	Bés natanas ta mage.
I know these women	Bés natinis ta mage.

Nominative Rule

In some phrases, statements, or expressions which article to use may not be readily apparent, for example:

• Treaty of Asper – Culomi Aspúrara

The above phrase has both masculine and feminine elements. Culomi (treaty) is feminine, and Aspúrara (of Asper) is the associative case for the noun Asper with masculine declension. Is Mi or Ma used? In these cases, articles simply follow their nominative’s gender.

The Nominative Rule states that in all instances where article gender is unclear, they will always take the gender of undeclined nouns (nouns in the nominative).

• The Treaty of Asper – Mi Culomi Aspúrara not Ma Culomi Aspúrara

Verbs

Coming Soon

Adjectives

Coming Soon

Conjunctions

Coming Soon

Prepositions

Coming Soon

The Elucidative

Coming Soon

Sub-Clauses

Coming Soon

Vocabulary

Numerials

Numeration is an Octal (base-8) system. This means that numbers run in 8-digit series (0-7, 10-17, 20-27, etc.), and not 10-digit series (0-9, 10-19, etc.). The system originally developed due to the strong cultural aversion Shaels have to the thumb, thus only the four fingers of each hand were reckoned, giving a total of eight digits.

IMPORTANT DISTINCTION: Unless otherwise noted, all numbers appearing in this section are listed in Shaelic values, not decimal values, ex: 144 is not the base-10 value 12*12, but the Shaelic numerial 144.

Cardinal Numbers

Below is a list of the common cardinal numbers 0-7.

CARDINAL NUMBERS (0-7)
Number	Shaelic
0	Su
1	Dei
2	Sa
3	Zue
4	Lei
5	Doe
6	Ðu
7	Hi

NUMBER TABLES
#	Digit	x8(1)	x64(2)	x512(3)	x4,096(4)	x32,768(5)	x262,144(6)	x2,097,152(7)
0	Su	Su	Su	Su	Su	Su	Su	Su
1	Dei	Liu	Age	Pau	Trae	Oed	Pio	Greme
2	Sa	Liusa	Agesa	Pausa	Traesa	Oedsa	Piosa	Gremesa
3	Zue	Liuzue	Agezue	Pauzue	Traezue	Oedzue	Piozue	Gremezue
4	Lei	Agekla	Paukla	Traekla	Oedkla	Piokla	Gremekla	Iðekla
5	Doe	Liudoe	Agedoe	Paudoe	Traedoe	*Oedoe	Piodoe	Gremedoe
6	Ðu	Liuðu	Ageðu	Pauðu	Traeðu	Oedðu	Pioðu	Gremeðu
7	Hi	Liuhi	Agehi	Pauhi	Traehi	Oedhi	Piohi	Gremehi

* take note of the special spelling and pronunciation [oi:doi]

Writing the Numbers
Each column on the table above is simply a placeholder (much like 246 represents the 100s, 10s, and 1s places in a base-10 system). Numbers can be written simply by finding the desired number in the column and writing it down, highest number first.

Two things important to remember:

• The number written will be a octal number and not a decimal number; and,
• Any number drawn from the table cannot have a place value above seven, i.e. writing the number 999 is not possible from the table above (it can, however, be converted from a decimal number into a octal number).

NUMBER EXAMPLES
Shaelic Number	Decimal Number
liuðu:sa	62
pauzue:su:liu:dei	3,011
age:liusa:zue	123
trae:pauhi:paukla:liuðu:zue	17,563
agedoe:liuhi:lei	574
oed:oedkla:pauðu:agehi:liusa:su	146,720

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are created by affixing the suffix –za directly to the number being ordinalized. Below is a list of the numbers 1-7 as ordinals. Su (zero) has no ordinal value. All other ordinal numbers are created in the same manner.

ORDINAL NUMBERS
Number	Ordinal
1	Deiza
2	Saza
3	Zueza
4	Leiza
5	Doeza
6	Ðuza
7	Hiza

When working with higher numbers, the ordinalizer is affixed to the end of the lowest number.

• maeoza — ‘12th’
• liusa:deiza — ‘21st’
• liuhi:zueza — ‘73rd’
• age:liusa:deiza — ‘121st’

Ordinal numbers appear before the nouns they modify:

• Maeoza losa Qiolisara — ‘12th day of Spring’
• Leiza losana Kædiunara tiulosa æne — ‘Today is the fourth day of Fall’

Derivational Morphology

Coming Soon

Naming Conventions

See also: Shaelic Names

Given Names

Known as the Deizafoa. Given names are mostly derived from words of the language, cultural heroes, and religious icons.

Patronymic

Known as the Besafoa. The patronymic is simply the father’s first name plus one of following four affixes:

PATRONYMIC AFFIXES
Affix	Approx. Meaning
–avasa	"Son of", "the Male Child of"
–ivisi	"Daughter of", "the Female Child of"
–ovosa	"Bastard Son of", "the Male Bastard Child of"
–ovosi	"Bastard Daughter of", "the Female Bastard Child of"

Any son or daughter born out of marriage is considered Vosu (≈ “a bastard”). This also includes children brought into a marriage by the new wife, either from previous marriages or relationships. Note that identification as vosu is not necessarily considered demeaning in Shaelic culture.

Surnames

Known as the Foatiu. The surname is comprised the Hunoada Jabomu (descendancy indicator) Pada (male) or Pidi (female), plus the family name. When a child marries, the hunoada jabomu changes, depending on the comparative ages of the couple. If the female is younger, she takes the new indicator Pisi and her husband’s surname, indicating she has married into her husband’s family. Conversely, if the male happens to be younger, he takes the new indicator Pasa and his wife’s surname, indicating he has married into his wife’s family.

DESCENDANCY INDICATORS
Indicator	Approx. Meaning
Pada	Male child of
Pidi	Female child of
`Pasa	Male (married younger)
Pisi	Female (married younger)

Name Formats

There are three typical formats for names in the language: Long Formal, Short Formal, Common Formal, and Common.

Long Formal Name
Known as the Paezada Aerfoa. The long formal format is simply the four parts of the naming structure:

Given Name + Patronymic + Descendancy Indicator + Surname

The long formal name format will be the format used in official and government documents and other formal documentation.

LONG FORMAL NAMING FORMAT EXAMPLES
Shaelic Name	Meaning
Garrétt Dalíðavasa Pada Kohnn	Garrétt son of Dalíth of the family Kohnn
Tuensae Daliðivisi Pidi Kohnn	Tuensae daughter of Dalíth of the family Kohnn
Famosar Dišumovosa Pada Galonin	Famosar bastard of Dishum of the family Galonin
Ošuyani Telhamovosi Pisi Fraemac	Oshuyani bastard daughter of Telham married into the family Fraemac

Short Formal Name
Known as the Paezienada Aerfoa. A short way to still address an individual formally is to use the person’s given name and Patronymic. This is the preferred way for employers to address their employees, for example.

SHORT FORMAL NAMING FORMAT EXAMPLES
Shaelic Name	Meaning
Garrétt Dalíðavasa	Garrétt, son of Dalíth
Tuensae Dalíðivisi	Tuensae, daughter of Dalíth
Famosar Dišumovosa	Famosar, bastard of Dishum
Ošuyani Telhamovosi	Ošuyani bastard daughter of Telham

Common Informal Name
Known as the Aerienfoa. The common formal name is the common way of referring to someone in a more informal setting is to use the individual’s given name and surname.

• Garrett Kolnn (m.)
• Tuensae Gravost (f.)
• Loeko Þonopesof (m.)
• Staed Traciji (m.)
• Kovisa Ayesse (m.)
• Masaroð Maspúrdar (m.)
• Diusui Trél (f.)
• Hiukli Tauféu (f.)
• Klétil Aecohea (f.)
• Cinirsi Súrivisi (f.)

Lexicon

Coming Soon