Avalonian

Common Minervan (CM: Tīnokwe Telkun) is a polysynthetic, fluid-S split intransitive language with VSOX word order that is employed as a lingua franca by the Minervan Economdic Community (CM: Tiniqroyo Onokte Telkun) throughout its territory on Minerva (CM: Telku). It has become the language of international trade and science and most Minervans know it as at least a second language. Minerva is the fourth planet from the sun. It has one large natural satelite Mavors (CM: Lūhi) which has two small close moons of its own, Timor (CM: Tinho) and Metus (CM: Umlob).

Introduction

Minervans are currently believed to have been transplanted to Minerva by unknown means about a 100,000 years ago. Thus Common Minervan cannot feasibly be linked to any known language family on Terra although the more enthusiastic 'lumpers' among linguistic scholars and outright Goropists have certainly given it a try. Common Minervan derives from the primary language spoken in the former Empire of Irhelodor and its trading sphere. The standard dialect of the language as prescribed by the Minervan Economic Community is described here.

Phonology

Orthoɡraphy

Common Minervan is written in a variant of the script commonly used in Irhobre which was derived from an earlier featural abugida. The spelling of Common Minervan is phonemic although it does change to reflect the effects of morphophonology.

Common Minervan Alphabet:

Common Minervan Letter	IPA Value	Latin Transliteration
⟨o⟩	/h/	⟨h⟩
⟨ɔ⟩	/b/	⟨b⟩
⟨c⟩	/m/	⟨m⟩
⟨v⟩	/t/	⟨t⟩
⟨ʌ⟩	/d/	⟨d⟩
⟨x⟩	/n/	⟨n⟩
⟨z⟩	/l/	⟨l⟩
⟨w⟩	/tʃ/	⟨x⟩
⟨ʍ⟩	/dʒ/	⟨g⟩
⟨n⟩	/k/	⟨k⟩
⟨u⟩	/j/	⟨y⟩
⟨m⟩	/kʷ/	⟨q⟩
⟨ɯ⟩	/w/	⟨w⟩
⟨h⟩	/i/	⟨i⟩
⟨hh⟩	/eɪ/	⟨ī⟩
⟨ɥ⟩	/ɛ/	⟨e⟩
⟨ɥɥ⟩	/aɪ/	⟨ē⟩
⟨b⟩	/u/	⟨u⟩
⟨bb⟩	/oʊ/	⟨ū⟩
⟨q⟩	/ɔ/	⟨o⟩
⟨qq⟩	/aʊ/	⟨ō⟩

Consonants

Common Minervan has a total of 13 consonants which according to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Stucture is a small inventory. The most striking features of the inventory, according to WALS, are missing /p, ɡ/ and the absence of phonemic fricatives. The lack of phonemic fricatives is an areal feature of the languages of Irhobre. The consonants are displayed in the table below:

	Labial	Alveolar	Postalvelar	Dorsal	Labio-Dorsal	Glottal
Voiceless Stop		/t/	/tʃ/	/k/	/kʷ/
Voiced Stop	/b/	/d/	/dʒ/
Nasal	/m/	/n/
Liquid		/l/
Semivowel				/j/	/w/
Transition						/h/

Vowels

Common Minervan has a total of 8 vowels. It has 4 vowel qualities. According to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures this is a small vowel quality inventory. Common Minervan has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 3.5 which according to WALS is an average ratio. Common Minervan is typologically very unusual in lacking a low vowel such as /a/. Only 2% of Terran languages have this trait and it is just as rare on Minerva. The diphthongs are phonologically long vowels. The vowels are displayed in the table below:

	Short Front	Long Front	Short Back	Long Back
Hiɡh	/i/	/eɪ/	/u/	/oʊ/
Mid	/ɛ/	/aɪ/	/ɔ/	/aʊ/

Allophony

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

2) In intervocalic position, /b, d, dʒ/ are realised as [v, ð, ʒ].

3) /t, d/ are realised as [ts, dz] in onset position before a front vowel.

4) /d/ is realised as [z] in intervocalic position before a front vowel.

5) /kʷ/ is realised as [p] in coda position.

6) /n/ is realised as [ŋ] in coda position.

7) /ɹ/ is realised as [ʃ] in coda position before voiceless consonants.

8) /ɹ̠/ is realised as [ʒ] in coda position before voiced consonants and in word-final position.

9) The consonant clusters /th, tʃh, kh, kʷh/ are realised as [θ, ʃ, x, xʷ].

12) The consonant clusters /mh, nh/ are realised as [mx, ŋx].

13) The consonant cluster /lh/ is realised as [lx].

14) The consonant clusters /hl, hj/ are realised as [ɬ, ç].

Prosody

1) Words in Common Minervan bear primary stress on the initial syllable.

2) Common Minervan words bear secondary stress on every odd-numbered syllable following the initial syllable.

3) Rhythm type is trochaic.

4) Common Minervan is spoken with a slower tempo than English is.

Phonotactics

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

2) Only stops, nasals and /l/ are permitted in syllable coda position.

3) Only voiceless stops and nasals are permitted in word-final position.

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

5) Consonant clusters may only occur across syllable boundaries.

6) Permitted consonant clusters are as per the table below:

T	X	K	Q	B	D	G	M	N	L	H
-	xt	kt	qt	-	-	-	mt	nt lt	-	T
tk	xk	-	-	-	-	mk	nk	lk	-	K
tq	-	-	-	-	-	-	mq	nq	lq		Q
-	-	-	-	-	db	gb	mb	nd	lb	-	B
-	-	-	bd	-	md	nd	rd	ld	-	D
-	-	-	-	-	-	nm	-	-	-	M
-	-	-	-	-	mn	-	-	-	-	N
tr*	kr*	qr*	br*	dr*	mr	nr	-	lr	hr*	R
tl*	kl*	ql*	bl*	dl*	ml	nl	rl	-	hl*	L
tw*	kw*	-	bw*	dw*	mw*	nw*	rw*	lw*	hw*	W
ty*	ky*	-	by*	dy*	my*	ny*	ry*	ly*	hy*	Y
th	kh	-	-	-	mh	nh	rh	lh	-	H

NOTES:

a) Latin transliteration used for clarity.

b) First consonant of cluster runs along top of table, second consonant of cluster runs down right of table.

c) A dash indicates that that consonant cluster does not occur.

6) /j/ may not precede a front vowel.

7) /w/ may not precede a back vowel.

8) /j/ may not follow a long back vowel.

9) /w/ may not follow a long back vowel.

10) Vowel clusters do not occur.

11) High vowels may not occur adjacent to /qꭓ/.

12) A lonɡ vowel may not occur before a coda consonant or a consonant cluster.

13) Roots and prefixes must consist of properly formed syllables.

14) Suffixes may begin with a syllable boundary cluster.

15) Suffixes may consist of a single coda consonant.

16) Roots must consist of more than one and no more than three syllables.

17) No affix may have more than two syllables.

Morphophonology

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

T	K	Q	B	D	M	N	R	L
Vːt	kt	qt	Vːt	Vːt	mt	nt	rt	lt	T
tk	Vːk	Vːk	Vːk	tk	mk	nk	rk	lk	K
tq	Vːq	Vːq	Vːq	tq	mq	nq	rq	lq	Q
db	Vːb	Vːb	Vːb	db	mb	nb	rb	lb	B
Vːd	Vːd	Vːd	bd	Vːd	md	nd	rd	ld	D
mt	mk	mq	mb	md	Vːm	nm	mr	ml	M
nt	nk	nq	nb	nd	mn	Vːn	nr	nl	N
tr	kr	qr	br	dr	mr	nr	Vːr	lr	R
tl	kl	ql	bl	dl	ml	nl	rl	Vːl	L
tw	kw	kw	bw	dw	mw	nw	rw	lw	W
ty	ky	ky	by	dy	my	ny	ry	ly	Y
th	kh	q	Vːh	th	mh	nh	rh	lh	H

NOTES:

a) Latin transliteration used for clarity.

b) First consonant of consonant cluster runs along be top of table, second consonant of consonant cluster runs down riɡht of table.

c) Vː indicates precedinɡ vowel is lenɡthened

2) If a three-segment consonant cluster results from affixation then an epenthetic /i/ is inserted between the affix and the stem.

3) If a vowel sequence results from affixation then an epenthetic /j/ before a back vowel, or an epenthetic /w/ before a front vowel, is inserted after the first vowel to break up the vowel sequence.

4) If through affixation a high vowel is adjacent to /qꭓ/ then it is lowered to its corresponding low vowel.

5) If through suffixation a long vowel should precede a coda consonant or a consonant cluster then it is reduced to its corresponding short vowel.

6) If through affixation /j/ should follow a front long vowel then that front long vowel is reduced to its corresponding short vowel.

7) If through affixation /w/ should follow a long back vowel then that long back vowel is reduced to its corresponding short vowel.

Morphology

General Remarks On Morpholoɡy

1) The morphological cateɡories used in Common Minervan are summarised in the table below:

Category	Description	Inflected?
Noun	Nouns, pronouns, numerals	Yes
Verb	Verbs, many adjectives, adpositions	Yes
Affix	Prefixes and suffixes expressing adjunction, inflection or derivation	No
Particle	Conjunctions, some adverbs, interjections	No

2) Common Minervan is an affixal polysynthetic lanɡuaɡe and only one root per word is permitted.

3) Compoundinɡ of roots does not occur.

4) According to the World Atlas of Language Structures, Common Minervan has a moderate preference for suffixinɡ.

Nominal Morphology

General Remarks On Nominal Morphology

1) Nouns indicate distinct entities. Nouns are inflected for number, possessor, demonstration or case.

2) Maximal nominal structure:

demonstrative prefix + possessive prefix + adjectival prefix(es) + nominal or verbal root + derivational suffix(es) + number suffix + case suffix

Number

1) There are two main systems of nominal number in Common Minervan:

a) Sinɡular-Plural

b) Collective-Singulative

2) Singular nouns are singular by default and take the plural suffix to indicate more than four instances.

3) Collective nouns indicate more than four instances by default or are mass nouns. They take the singulative suffix to indicate a singular instance or a small part of the whole.

4) Common Minervan also has a paucal number which is used to mark nouns that are greater than one or fewer than five in number. When used with mass nouns has the sense of 'some'.

5) Number suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Number	Suffix
Plural	-uk
Singulative	-in
Paucal	-ot

Case

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

2) Common Minervan cases are summarised in the table below:

Case	Abbreviation	Suffix (Allomorph)	Function
Absolutive	ABS	-∅	a) Marks citation form of nouno b) Indicates O argument of a transitive verb c) Marks S argument of a stative intransitive verb
Nominative	NOM	-no (-n)	a) Indicates A argument of a transitive verb b) Marks S arɡument of an active intransitive verb c) Indicates the possessor
Dative	DAT	-hē	a) Marks X argument of active intransitive verb b) Marks beneficiary of action c) Indicates purpose or intent
Instrumental	INST	-tik	a) Marks X argument of stative intransitive verb b) Marks use of tool or instrument c) Indicates proximal cause
Equative	EQU	-te (-t)	a) Indicates similarity in function, manner or behaviour b) Marks similarity to, alike to c) Made or consisting of a particular substance d) Indicates the comparative
Comitative	COM	-bwe	a) Marks physical proximity or social connection to someone b) Indicates collaborative effort with someone in a joint activity c) Marks reciprocicity
Locative	LOC	-ri(-r)	a) Indicates place where b) Marks time when
Allative	ALL	-bu (-b)	a) Marks motion towards b) Indicates time until c) Marks destination or goal
Ablative	ABL	-dyō	a) Indicates motion away from b) Marks time since c) Indicates the source or origin d) Marks aversion to or opposition to e) Indicates the source of comparison
Perlative	PERL	-om	a) Marks motion across, along, through or by way of b) Indicates duration c) Marks mode or means of transport or transmission d) Indicates reason, motive or ultimate cause e) Marks topic of conversation

NB: Parenthesised allomorphs are used following a short vowel.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

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

Person	Pronoun	Possessive Prefix
1st Singular	mi	min-
2nd Singular	ki	kin-
3rd Singular	ti	tin-
1st Paucal Exclusive	mot	monto-
1st Paucal Inclusive	bot	nobot-
2nd Paucal	kot	konto-
3rd Paucal	tot	tonto-
1st Plural Exclusive	muk	munku-
1st Plural Inclusive	buk	bunku-
2nd Plural	kuk	kunku-
3rd Plural	tuk	tunku-

2) Personal pronouns take case in the same manner as nouns.

Demonstratives

1) Adnominal demonstratives are suffixes attached to the noun as per the table below:

Name	Locus	English Equivalent	Prefix
Proximal	Near speaker	this, these	inti-
Medial	Near listener(s)	that, those	unku-
Distal	Away from speaker and listener(s)	yon	ondo-

2) Demonstrative pronouns are formed by adding the appropriate demonstrative suffix to the appropriate third person pronoun.

Emphatic Pronouns

These are no emphatic pronouns but as the verbs mark A, S and O arguments, the use of the pronouns correlating with these can be used for emphasis.

Reflexive Pronouns

These are no reflexive pronouns in the absolutive case although there is a reflexive pronominal suffix on the verb. Reflexive pronouns for obliques are formed by prefixing the appropriate possessive prefix to the word yebet 'shadow'.

Interrogative Pronouns

1) There are two interroɡative pronouns:

a) ku "who?"

b) mi "what?"

2) All other interrogatives are built from these two by taking the appropriate case. Eɡ: muted "where?", kudme "with whom?"

3) The canonical word-order of Common Minervan is VSOX. Interrogative pronouns violate this by being fronted to before the verb.

Indefinite Pronouns

These are formed by suffixing the appropriate interrogative pronoun to the reflexive pronoun gebet:

1) gebetikmen "somebody, someone, anyone".

2) gebetmak "somethinɡ, anythinɡ".

General Remarks On Verbal Morphology

1) Verbs express actions, processes or states of being. Verbs are inflected for A, S and O arguments, negation, aspect, valency and mood.

2) Maximal verbal structure:

negative prefix + nominative pronominal prefix + auxiliary prefix + verbal or nominal root + derivational suffix(es) + voice suffix + aspect suffix + absolutive pronominal suffix or absolutive reflexive suffix + adverbial suffix(es)

Pronominal Affixes

Person	Absolutive Suffix (Allomorph)	Nominative Prefix
1st Person Singular	-mi (-m)	min-
2nd Person Singular	-ki(-k)	kin-
3rd Person Singular	-ti(-t)	tin-
1st Person Paucal Exclusive	-mot	monto-
1st Person Paucal Inclusive	-bot	bonto-
2nd Person Paucal	-kot	konto-
3rd Person Paucal	-tot	tonto-
1st Person Plural Exclusive	-muk	munku-
1st Person Plural Exclusive	-buk	bunku-
2nd Person Plural	-kuk	kunku-
3rd Person Plural	-tuk	tunku-

NB: Parenthesised allomorphs are used following a short vowel.