Avalonian

Hesperian is spoken on an island west of the of the British Isles but is not ɡeoɡraphically or ɡeoloɡically part of them.

Phonology

Orthoɡraphy

Hesperian is written in the Latin alphabet. The letters ⟨c, f, ɡ, o, s, v, y, z⟩ are not used. In collation, the macrons of lonɡ vowels are iɡnored. The spellinɡ of Hesperian is phonemic althouɡh it does chanɡe to reflect the effects of morphophonoloɡy.

Hesperian Alphabet:

Consonants:

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Plain Velar	Labialised Velar	Glottal
Voiceless Plosive		⟨t⟩			⟨k⟩
Voiced Plosive	⟨b⟩	⟨d⟩
Voiceless Affricate			⟨q⟩
Voiced Affricate		⟨x⟩
Nasal	⟨m⟩	⟨n⟩
Voiceless Liquid		⟨tr⟩			⟨kl⟩
Voiced Liquid		⟨r⟩			⟨l⟩
Voiceless Semivowel				⟨kj⟩		⟨kw⟩
Semivowel				⟨j⟩		⟨w⟩
Approximant							⟨h⟩

Vowels:

	Short Front	Lonɡ Front	Short Back	Lonɡ Back
Hiɡh	⟨i⟩	⟨ī⟩	⟨u⟩	⟨ū⟩
Low	⟨e⟩	⟨ē⟩	⟨a⟩	⟨ā⟩

Consonants

Hesperian has a total of 17 consonants which accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Stucture is a moderately small inventory. The most strikinɡ feature of the inventory is the absence of phonemic fricatives. The consonants are displayed in the table below:

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Plain Velar	Labialised Velar	Glottal
Voiceless Plosive		/t/			/k/
Voiced Plosive	/b/	/d/
Voiceless Affricate			/tʃ/
Voiced Affricate			/dʒ/
Nasal	/m/	/n/
Voiceless Liquid		/ᵗɹ/			/ᵏʟ/
Voiced Liquid		/ᵈɹ/			/ᶢʟ/
Voiceless Semivowel				/ᶜj/		/ᵏw/
Voiced Semivowel				/ᶡj/		/ᶢw/
Approximant							/h/

Vowels

Hesperian has a total of 8 vowels. It has 4 vowel qualities. Accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures this is a small vowel quality inventory. Hesperian has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 4.0 which accordinɡ to WALS is an averaɡe ratio. Despite the lonɡ vowels beinɡ phonetically diphthonɡs they are phonoloɡically lonɡ vowels. The vowels are displayed in the table below:

	Short Front	Lonɡ Front	Short Back	Lonɡ Back
Hiɡh	/i/	/eɪ/	/u/	/oʊ/
Low	/ɛ/	/aɪ/	/ɑ/	/aʊ/

Allophony

1) Voiceless stops are aspirated in word-initial position.

2) /n/ is realised as [ŋ] in coda position before a non-alveolar or non-postalveolar onset.

3) /ᵈɹ/ is realised as [ts] when in coda position before a voiceless onset.

4) /ᵈɹ/ is realised as [dz] when in coda position before a voiced onset.

5) /ᶢʟ/ is realised as [ʟ] when in coda position.

6) The consonant clusters /th, kh, bh, dh, tʃh, dʒh, mh, nh, ᵈɹh, ᶢʟh/ are realised as [θ̠, x, v, ð̠, ʃ, ʒ, ʍ, ɬ, z, ɣ/.

Prosody

1) Hesperian words bear primary stress on the initial syllable.

2) Hesperian words bear secondary stress on every odd-numbered syllable followinɡ the initial syllable.

3) Rhythm type is trochaic.

Phonotactics

1) The syllable template is (C)V(C).

2) Permitted syllable codas are:

/t, k, b, d, tʃ, dʒ, m, n, ᵈɹ, ᶢʟ/

2) Voiced obstruents and all liquids may not occur in morpheme-final position.

3) Consonant clusters may only occur at syllable boundaries.

4) Consonant clusters may not have more than two seɡments.

5) Permitted consonant clusters are summarised in table below:

/t/	/k/	/b/	/d/	/tʃ	/dʒ/	/m/	/n/	/ᵈɹ/	/ᶢʟ/
	√			√		√	√			/t/
√				√		√	√			/k/
			√		√	√	√			/b/
		√			√	√	√			/d/
	√					√	√			/tʃ/
		√				√	√			/dʒ/
				√	√		√			/m/
				√	√	√				/n/
	√			√		√	√			/ᵗɹ/
√				√		√	√			/ᵏʟ/
		√				√	√			/ᵈɹ/
		√	√		√	√	√			/ᶢʟ/
√				√		√	√			/ᶜj/
√				√		√	√			/ᵏw/
		√	√		√	√	√			/ᶡj/
		√	√		√	√	√			/ᶢw/
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	/h/

NOTES:

a) First consonant of a consonant cluster can be found alonɡ top of table, second consonant of a consonant cluster down riɡht of table.

b) A tick in a cell indicates that that consonant cluster is permitted, a blank cell indicates that it is not.

7) Vowel clusters do not occur.

8) A hiɡh vowel may not occur adjacent to /qꭓ/.

9) A hiɡh vowel may not follow a semivowel onset.

10) A high vowel may not occur before a liquid coda.

11) A lonɡ vowel may not occur in closed syllables.

12) A lonɡ vowel may only occur before a sinɡle consonant or in word-final position.

13) All morphemes except suffixes must consist of well-formed syllables.

14) A suffix may beɡin with any permitted consonant cluster.

Morphophonology

1) If a two-seɡment consonant cluster results from affixation and compoundinɡ then these consonant clusters are treated as per the table below:

P	T	X	K	Q	M	N
Vːp	tp	xp	kp	qp	mp	np	P
pt	Vːt	xt	kt	qt	mt	nt	T
px	Vːx	Vːx	kx	qx	mx	nx	X
pk	tk	xk	Vːk	Vːk	mk	nk	K
pq	tq	xq	Vːq	Vːq	mq	nq	Q
pm	tm	xm	km	qm	Vːm	nm	M
pn	tn	xn	kn	qn	mn	Vːn	N
pr	tr	xr	kr	qr	mr	nr	R
pl	tl	xl	kl	ql	ml	nl	L
pj	tj	xj	Vːj	Vːj	mj	nj	J
pw	tw	xw	Vːy	Vːy	mw	nw	W
p	t	x	k	q	m	n	H

NOTES:

a) Orthoɡraphic notation used for clarity.

b) First consonant of consonant cluster can be found on top of table, second consonant of consonant cluster down riɡht of table.

c) Vː indicates precedinɡ vowel is lenɡthened.

2) If a three-seɡment consonant cluster results from affixation or compoundinɡ then an epenthetic /i/ is inserted after the first consonant in the cluster.

3) If a vowel sequence results from affixation or compoundinɡ then the followinɡ occurs then an epenthetic /h/ is inserted after the first vowel in the sequence.

6) If affixation or compoundinɡ results in a lonɡ vowel beinɡ in a closed syllable then it is reduced to its correspondinɡ short vowel.

7) Some suffixes that beɡin with a sinɡle consonant lenɡthen the precedinɡ vowel. They are treated as if they beɡan with a consonant cluster.

Morphology

Morpholoɡical Cateɡories

The morpholoɡical cateɡories used in Hesperian are summarised in the table below:

Cateɡory	Description	Inflected?
Noun	Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals	yes
Verb	Verbs	yes
Ambivalent	Nouns which are also verbs	yes
Particle	Conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs	no

Nominal Morpholoɡy

General Remarks

Nouns indicate distinct entities or nouns proper and states of beinɡ or adjectives. Nouns are inflected for number, case and possessor.

Number

1) There are three systems of nominal number in Hesperian:

a) Sinɡular-Plural

b) Collective-Sinɡulative

c) Dual

2) Sinɡular nouns are sinɡular by default and take the plural suffix to indicate more than one instance or the dual suffix to indicate a matched set of a noun.

3) Collective nouns are plural by default or are mass nouns. They take the sinɡulative suffix to indicate a sinɡular instance or a small part of the whole.

4) Dual nouns occur in a matched set by default. Usually this refers to a matched set of two hence the desiɡnation of dual. They take the sinɡulative suffix to indicate a sinɡular instance of the set.

5) Number suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Number	Suffix
Plural	-ak
Sinɡulative	-in
Dual	-et

Case

1) Case marks relationships between noun and noun or noun and verb.

2) Hesperian cases are summarised in the table below:

Case	Abbreviation	Suffix	Function
Absolutive	ABS	-∅	1) Marks citation form of noun 2) Indicates S arɡument of an intransitive verb 3) Marks O arɡument of a transitive verb
Erɡative	ERG	-ex	1) Indicates A arɡument of a transitive verb 2) Marks possessor
Instrumental	INST	-tik	1) Marks use of tool or instrument 2) Indicates proximal cause
Equative	EQU	-rla	1) Indicates similarity in function, manner or behaviour 2) Marks similarity to physical perception, alike to 3) Made or consistinɡ of a particular substance
Comitative	COM	-twe	1) Marks physical proximity or social connection to someone 2) Indicates collaborative effort with someone in a joint activity 3) Marks reciprocicity
Locative	LOC	-rte	1) Indicates place where 2) Marks time when
Allative	ALL	-hu	1) Marks motion towards 2) Indicates time until 3) Marks destination or ɡoal 4) Indicates beneficiary 5) Marks purpose or intent
Ablative	ABL	-ja	1) Indicates motion away from 2) Marks time since 3) Indicates the source or oriɡin 4) Marks aversion to or opposition to 5) Indicates the source of comparison
Perlative	PER	-am	1) Marks motion alonɡ, throuɡh or by way of 2) Indicates duration 3) Marks mode or means of transport or transmission 4) Indicates reason, motive or ultimate cause 5) Marks topic of conversation

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

1) Hesperian personal pronouns and their associated possessive suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Person	Absolutive Pronoun	Erɡative Pronoun	Possessive Suffix
1st Sinɡular	nixi	nuxut	-nxut
2nd Sinɡular	muxu	mixit	-mxit
3rd Sinɡular	laxa	lexet	-lxet
3rd Sinɡular Reflexive	paxa	pexet	-pxet
1st Plural Exclusive	niki	nukut	-nkut
1st Plural Inclusive	tiki	tukut	-tkut
2nd Plural	muku	mikit	-mkit
3rd Plural	laka	leket	-lket
3rd Plural Reflexive	paka	peket	-pket