Evyæriw language

**Evyæriw language** (ev. *evyæri calæv* /əvjæri kälæv/) belongs to the Phálta language family, is put in the Ilemphálta branch. It´s spoken by the Green People in X. It is considered as the most modern language in the Ilemphálta.

## History

Aaa

Since the Proto-Phálta, Evyæriw has undergone these changes:

* If a voiced stop is the initial sound of a word it gets devoiced (/zargə/ > /särgə/).
* /pʰ/, /tʰ/ and /kʰ/ at the beginning of a word changes to /p(C)Vh/, /t(C)Vh/ and /k(C)Vh/ respectively (/pʰaltɐ/ > /plaht/), however they jsut get unaspirated if the C is a nasal or a fricative sound (/tʰam/ > /tam/).
* /ph/, /th/ and /kh/ at the middle or an end of a word changes to /ps/, /ts/ and /ks/ respectively (// > //).
* /ɛ/, /e/ and /æ/ gets assimilated to /æ/ (/eɣʲɛl/ > /æjæli/).
* /ɤ/ and /ə/ are assimilated to /ə/ (/nɤvə/ > /nəv/).
* /a/ changes to /ä/ (still written as /a/ for simplicity).
* /ɐ/ merges with /a/ but kept in short diphthongs.
* /ɪ/ merges with /i/ but kept in short diphthongs.
* /ɔ/ merges with /o/ but kept in short diphthongs.
* /ʊ/ merges with /u/ but kept in short diphthongs.
* Nouns loose their distinction between gender and their groups:
	+ -C ending stays the same (// > /farad/).
	+ -/ə/ ending is deleted (/apʰ/ > /aps/).
	+ -/ɐ/ ending is deleted and A mutation takes place in the now last syllable of a word.
	+ -/ɪ/ ending is deleted and I mutation takes place in the now last syllable of a word.
* /x/ changes to /h/ (/lʲɛxtɪ/ > /læhti/).
* /ɣ/ dissapears but if it was palatalized it the whole palatalized version changes to /j/ (/lʲɛxtəɣə/ > /læhtə/).

## Orthography

Aaa

The romanization of Evyæriw is just as follows:

\*-pronounced like that when it is a part of a diphthong and not accented. If accented, pronounced normally - e.g. víwl /viwɫ/ (grandmother's), viwl /vɪwɫ/ (grandmother).

## Phonology

These are the consonants of the Evyæriw:

\*-if a word starts with a vowel, an extra glottal stop is pronounced first.

And these are the vowels:

\*-found only in diphthongs

## Grammar

#### Nouns

Evyæriw nouns as in most of the Phálta languages are conjugated in case and number. However, the case system is drastically different from the Proto-Phálta's: the nominative merged with accusative, genitive lost its diphthongizating /w/ sound, the prepositional case merged with the genitive and the other cases are now converted into prepositional structures. The gender system is retained but cannot be recognised from a noun itself, thus gender can be understood only through the adjectives.

#### Adjectives

The use of adjectives in Evyæriw is pretty similar to the one reflected in Proto-Phálta: every adjective has four forms (masculine or feminine; singular or plural) and can't decline in case. The change from masc. to fem. gender is indicated by either an A or an I mutation. That being said, some adjectives' masc. and fem. forms can be identical (ærf vs. ærf), some - not (lahar vs. lahær) Adjectives follow the noun they are describing and they can also function as a subject of a sentence, for example the Green People in Evyæriw would translate just as 'the green' ('laharer').

#### Verbs

The three classes of verbs in Proto-Phálta remained in Evyæriw as well. Although the conjugation is very different.

In Evyæriw verbs are divided into these classes:

* EN verbs
* IN verbs
* AN verbs

The names of these classes represent the ending of a noun in its infinitive form. Further on, the verbs in Evyæriw can be conjugated in:

* Mood:
	+ Indicative
		- Aspect: (the distinction within various aspects is not native to Proto-Phálta, probably borrowed from the Ælfa languages)
			* Perfect/imperfect
				+ Tense:
					- Present/past/future
						* 1st, 2nd or 3rd person
	+ Subjunctive
		- 1st, 2nd or 3rd person
	+ Imperative (no distinction between singular and plural)
	+ Volitional