Post by Sparrow on Nov 1, 2016 9:02:00 GMT -6
A lot of this is still subject to change but thought I may as well throw it up here before I put it over on Sparrowminder.
Vowels
i - ih, as in sit.
ii - ee, as in feet.
a - short a, as in apple.
aa - ah, as in not.
e - eh, as in bed.
u - oo, as in boot.
Diphthongs
ei - ey, as in play.
ai - ay, as in fly.
ia - ya, as in yawn.
iu - yu, as in you.
ua - wa, as in water.
au - ow, as in shout.
Consonants
k - as in cat.
kh - breathy, between k and h.
h - as in heat.
sh - as in short.
ch - as in chat.
s - as in toss.
t - as in tip.
r - as in rotten.
rr - rolled r.
n - as in newt.
m - as in melt.
l - as in lemon.
' - the glottal stop, the catch in your throat in uh-oh.
Numbers
Long ago, cats counted in base four.
one - ain
two - rriu
three - miit
four - nai'a
five - nai'ain
six - nairiu
seven - naimiit
eight - rrinai
many, lit. 'star number' - shei'en
In theory one could designate numbers as high as nainai (four fours, or sixteen), but cats in small groups had little reason to do so, so these numbers were never used in practice. It was not too long before the Clans formed, as the prairie clusters grew and became intertwined, that some cats took shei'en and began to use it as a true number, nine. This tied them and their descendants to the stars.
Modern numbers
one - ain
two - rriu
three - miit
four - nai'a
five - nai'ain
six - nairiu
seven - naimiit
eight - rrinai
nine - shei'en
none - rir
multiple - tei
some/a few - erri
several - chau
twenty to thirty - lein
numerous (above nine) - ena
uncountable - ti'ena
Next time: grammar bits and some basic vocab.
Vowels
i - ih, as in sit.
ii - ee, as in feet.
a - short a, as in apple.
aa - ah, as in not.
e - eh, as in bed.
u - oo, as in boot.
Diphthongs
ei - ey, as in play.
ai - ay, as in fly.
ia - ya, as in yawn.
iu - yu, as in you.
ua - wa, as in water.
au - ow, as in shout.
Consonants
k - as in cat.
kh - breathy, between k and h.
h - as in heat.
sh - as in short.
ch - as in chat.
s - as in toss.
t - as in tip.
r - as in rotten.
rr - rolled r.
n - as in newt.
m - as in melt.
l - as in lemon.
' - the glottal stop, the catch in your throat in uh-oh.
Numbers
Long ago, cats counted in base four.
one - ain
two - rriu
three - miit
four - nai'a
five - nai'ain
six - nairiu
seven - naimiit
eight - rrinai
many, lit. 'star number' - shei'en
In theory one could designate numbers as high as nainai (four fours, or sixteen), but cats in small groups had little reason to do so, so these numbers were never used in practice. It was not too long before the Clans formed, as the prairie clusters grew and became intertwined, that some cats took shei'en and began to use it as a true number, nine. This tied them and their descendants to the stars.
Modern numbers
one - ain
two - rriu
three - miit
four - nai'a
five - nai'ain
six - nairiu
seven - naimiit
eight - rrinai
nine - shei'en
none - rir
multiple - tei
some/a few - erri
several - chau
twenty to thirty - lein
numerous (above nine) - ena
uncountable - ti'ena
Next time: grammar bits and some basic vocab.