Qlæþýs

***\*Qlæþýs*** /k̠læˈθyˑs/ — **Qlathys** for short — is the language spoken in \**þneléræ* by the *\*þneléræs lýscter,* literally "peoples of *\*þneléræ*"

## Phonology

### Consonants:

1: Voiceless plosives become aspirated if syllable-initial

2:/ŋ/ and /ŋ̠/ are allophones of /n/ before /k/ /g/ and /k̠/ /g̠/ respectively

### Vowels:

Rhotacized semivowels ⟨jr⟩ /j˞/ and ⟨wr⟩ /w˞/ are also apparent

1: In most dialects, /æ˞/ became de-rhotacized to /a/

### Features:

* No phonemic vowel length (which results in stressed vowels being slightly longer than their unstressed counterparts ([æˑ] [iˑ] [uˑ] etc))
* Stress is unpredictable (indicated orthographically by an acute over the stressed vowel)
* Devoicing of plosives at the end of words (not syllables, full words)

## Grammar

### Nouns, Adjectives, and Adverbs:

* Nouns decline for case and number (If they aren't paired with a verb, they're left unconjugated)
* Adjectives & adverbs don't decline altogether
* There's no gender distinction
* Definiteness is indicated by the particle \**scræ*
* In accommodation for the lack of a dative case, indirect objects that would normally take a dative case take the same case as the direct object (if there is no direct object in a sentence, a *theoretical direct object* is assumed).

### Verbs:

* Verbs are conjugated for person, number, tense, and aspect
* Passives are made by adding the conjugated auxilliary *\*ᵹíþæl* (irregular) before the infinitive form of the main verb
* Qlathys lacks a copula (Subjects of a no-copula sentence take the ***Vocative Case*** instead of either ***Ergative*** or ***Absolutive***)

***Table soon***

## Dialects

Qlathys, like Dahabba, has 3 main dialect groupings alongside the standard language used in inscriptions:

### \*dew qlæþýs

The lower, or south, dialect group, it's identical to the written language except for the de-rhotacization of /æ˞/ into /a/

### \*qojsc qlæþýs

The upper, or north, dialect group, its grammatical elements don't differ from the written form and the southern dialects:

#### Phonological changes

* /æ˞/ => /a/
* /ɸ/ => /f/
* /f/ /b/ => /v/ intervocalically
* /k̠æ/ /k̠e/ /g̠æ/ /g̠e/ => /k̠ə/ /g̠ə/
* /k̠y/ /g̠y/ => /k̠ɨ/ /g̠ɨ/
* CVC => CVːC
* Ci~y => Cʲ

### \*þǽrfis qlæþýs (\*þǽrtæs qlæþýs)

The *\*þǽrtæ,* or west, dialect group, it's mostly isolated from the other groups (apart from the northern dialects) and features some differences from the other 2 dialect groups:

#### Phonological changes

* /y/ => /ø/
* /æ˞/ => /ɛ˞ ~ e˞/
* /e/ /i/ /ø/ => /ɐ/ /ɨ/ /ɶ/ before/after /k̠/ /g̠/
* /s/ => /s̠ ~ ʃ/ before/after /k̠/ /g̠/ /ɐ/ /ɨ/ /ɶ/
* /tl/ => /tɬ/
* /ʃt/ => /tʃ/
* /w/ => /β̠/
* Ci => Cʲ

#### Grammatical changes

* General loss of case endlings and heavier reliance on word order

bædn ˈby˞k̠es æjˈɸæθex ˈθilen g̠yθ ˈpʰæmltesex
bædn ˈby˞k̠es æjˈɸæθex dumˈɹe æbˈlyt ʃɹæ ʃyneˈnon yˈmew˞
bæːdn ˈbʲy˞ːk̠əs æjˈvæːθex ˈθʲiːlen g̠ɨːθ ˈpʰæmltesex
bædn ˈbʲy˞ːk̠əs æjˈvæːθex dumˈɹe æbˈlʲyːt ʃɹæ ʃʲyneˈnoːn yˈmeːw˞
bædn ˈbɶ˞k̠ɐʃ æjˈɸæθex ˈθʲilen g̠ɶθ ˈpʰæmltes
bædn ˈbɶ˞k̠ɐʃ æjˈɸæθex dumˈɹe æbˈløt ʃɹæ ʃøneˈnon øˈmeβ̠ɹ
then cows are killed by man
then cows are cooked [by man] for the ruler "Ymewr"
[habitually]