Lesson 2: Word Formation

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Putting the letters together:

1) allowable initial clusters are: shr, shl, zhr, zhl, sl, sr, tr, tl, fr, fl, vr, vl, dr, dl, zl, zr (th, sh, zh, dh, ih, eh, ah are single letters, not consonant clusters)
2) Only these vowels may be followed by an r: a, e, i, o, .., ao
Remember: an "r" following a vowel alters its pronunciation
ar: mark, shark, Arthur
aor: hour, power
er: care, air, bear
ir: ear, deer, pier
or: warm, born, mourn
..r: urge, term, firm, word, heard, murmur, liver, tumor, Douglas fir
3) Doubled vowels or consonants are not allowed.
4) w can only appear at the beginning of syllables.

Syllables:

1) Syllables follow the regular pattern of (C + (r or l)) + V + (C2 or C3), where V=vowel, C=consonant, ( )=optional, r=r and l=l, C2=f, v, th, dh, s, z, r, l, m, n, sh, zh, t, d C3=rt, rd, rs, rz, rn, lt, ld, ls, lz, ln
2) When dividing syllables in a word, Inalasahlit Eled distinguishes between three types of vowels: short, long, other.
Short: aa, ah, eh, ih
Long: â, ê, î, o, u
Other: .., ao (technically a diphthong)
3) A single consonant (including dh, th, sh, zh) between two vowels is divided this way.
a) The consonant is grouped with the first vowel if it is short and with the second vowel if the first vowel is long.
jaak-et, câ-shih
b) If the first vowel is other the consonant is always grouped with the second vowel.
dao-lit, m..-lis
4) When two consonants fall between two vowels, the first consonant is grouped with the first vowel, regardless of what category the vowel falls into. The second consonant is grouped with the second vowel. If the two consonants are one of the allowable clusters (shr, shl, zhr, zhl, sl, sr, tr, tl, fr, fl, vr, vl) the entire cluster is grouped with the second vowel.
mâl-s..m, i-frid, saal-kesh

Words:

V=all vowels
C=all consonants
I=initial clusters
E=C2 consonants
M=C3 allowed ending clusters

Words are formed by combining the sounds like so:
CV, IV, VE, VM, CVE, CVM, IVE, IVM


Interested in making your own conlang? For places to find information, see my links page.

1) Phonology
3) Nouns
4) Verbs
5) Sentence Structure
6) Roots
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