Braereth

Braereth is a collection of four fairly mutually intelligible dialects. Classical Braereth was a Western Romance language spoken in pockets of mountainous areas from the Alps to the Carpathians until the mid-sixteenth century.

For the purposes of this text, we will mainly use the classical spelling of the language (italicized where applicable, e.g. ginte ‘people’); single brackets around words are indicative of the Eomentesa spelling reform (e.g. ⟨jint⟩ ‘people’). Double-brackets indicate Tenibvreth “slang” spellings (e.g. ⟪gint’⟫ ‘people’. Finally, words rendered in the Merineth dialect are enclosed in curved angle brackets (e.g. ⧼zints⧽ ‘people’), which is not a traditional linguistic distinction, but is indicative of the tails of merfolk. Specific differences in the phonologies of the modern dialects are described under Phonology.

Braereth Main Page ● Tenibvreth Dialect ● Eomentesa Dialect ● Merineth Dialect

Braereth Lexicon (arranged alphabetically) ● Braereth Word Hoard ● Braereth Phrasebook

Braereth Categories ● Braereth extra-grammatical categories

External ● A Braereth Grammar

Phonology

There are three major dialects of modern Braereth as well as an “archetypal” form which is official, but no one actually speaks. The archetypal form is based on Classical Braereth, which has a reconstructed phonology that differs slightly from the archetype particularly in the realization of the palatals and the lack of certain hypercorrections.

Archetypal Braereth

Consonants	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Vowels	Front	Back
Plosive	p · b	t · d			k · ɡ		High	i	u
Affricate	· b͡v		ʦ · ʣ	ʧ · ʤ			Mid	e̞	o̞
Fricative	f · v	θ · [ð]	s · [(z)]	ʃ · (ʒ)	(x) ·		Low	ä
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	[ŋ]		Diphthongs	To Front	To Back
Lateral		l		ʎ			High	ui̯	iu̯
Trill			r [ɾ]	r̝			Mid	ei̯	eu̯
Approximant	w			j			Low	ai̯	au̯

* Characters in square brackets are allophones; they are not phonemic.
* Characters in parentheses only occur in borrowings.

Classical Braereth (Reconstructed)

Consonants	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Vowels	Front	Back
Plosive	p · b	t · d		cç · ɟʝ	k · ɡ		High	i	u
Affricate	· b͡β		ʦ · ʣ	ʨ · ʥ			Mid	e̞	o̞
Fricative	ɸ · β	θ · [ð]	s · [(z)]	ɕ · (ʑ)	(x~h) ·		Low	a
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	[ŋ]		Diphthongs	To Front	To Back
Lateral		l		ʎ			High	ui̯	iu̯ , ou̯
Trill			r [ɾ]	r̝			Mid	ei̯	eu̯
Approximant	w, ʋ			j			Low	ae̯	au̯

Tenibvreth Dialect

Main article: Tenibvreth (dialect)

The Tenibvreth dialect is marked by a weakening and near-total deletion of final unstressed vowels, a strengthened palatal series, and diverse realizations of the lateral series. A larger amount of the vocabulary is borrowed from Gothic, other Germanic influences, and Slavic languages. For the most part, Tenibvreth is written as standard Braereth, though many words are slightly abbreviated or modified to reflect current pronunciation: mainly omitting the final vowel. When the final vowel is ⟨e⟩ or when the final consonant is palatalized, an apostrophe (⟨’⟩) is used. The exception to this is infinitives of verbs, which always eliminate the final ⟨e⟩ leaving a palatalized ⟨r⟩, but an apostrophe is not used.

Eomentesa Dialect

Main article: Eomentesa (dialect)

The Eomentesa dialect is notable for its lowered (“true”) mid vowels and almost complete loss of the palatal series to unpacking. It has a small number of borrowings from Celtic sources not shared with the other dialects. Some speakers still use the Classical orthography, but a recent spelling reform has been adopted by most speakers of the Eomentesa dialect, and many words bear little resemblance to their Braereth forebears (e.g. tzeiru ‘zero’ becomes Eomentesa sero.

Merineth Dialect

Main article: Merineth (dialect)

The Merineth dialect is the furthest removed of the dialects from Classical Braereth. It has no palatal sounds whatsoever, and contains a number of liquids that appear seemingly spontaneously around certain clusters. Consonant clusters are all but eliminated, and diphthongs are broken up by an insertive ⟨l⟩ or ⟨r⟩. There is a merging of voiced and unvoiced consonants, as well as fortition of certain fricatives into stops. The vowels ⟨e⟩and ⟨o⟩ do not exist in Merineth, and are usually raised to ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩, respectively, or sometimes lowered to ⟨a⟩. The Merineth do not have a formal written language, and usually use the Classical spelling, though some have adopted the Eomentesa spelling reform, as it is a little closer than Classican Braereth to how Merineth is actually pronounced, though there are still vast differences.

Orthographic and Phonemic Mapping

While all dialects of Braereth may be written in the classical orthography, in Tenibvreth final vowels are often elided, and certain folk spellings have become common where pronunciation has changed, e.g. ⟨floura⟩ for flora, or substituting ⟨qv⟩ for ⟨qu⟩ (ecquilju → ⟨ecqvil’⟩). When final vowels are dropped, final ⟨e⟩ often becomes ⟨’⟩ to indicate palatalization (grande → ⟨grand’⟩), and sometimes final ⟨tu⟩ will be changed to ⟨th⟩ (tutu → ⟨tuth⟩).

Orth.	Phn.	Description	Example	Official	Classical	Tenibvreth	Eomentesa	Merineth	Environment/Notes
a	/a/	as in father.	ath ‘to’	/aθ/	[aθ]	⟪ath⟫ [aθ]	⟨ath⟩ [aθ]	⧼at’⧽ [at’]
ae	/ai̯/	like ⟨i⟩ in side.	laectje ‘milk’	/ˈlai̯k.ʧe/	[ˈlae̯c.ʨe]	⟪laect’⟫ [lai̯kɕ]	⟨létx⟩ [le̞ːʧ]	⧼larits⧽ [laˈrits]	In Merineth, /l/ is inserted between the vowels of earlier diphthongs. If /l/ is already present in an adjacent syllable, /r/ is inserted instead. If both /l/ and /r/ are present, things get weird.
aou	/au̯/	like ⟨ow⟩ in how.	saou ‘salt’	/sau̯/	[sau̯]	⟪saou⟫ [sau̯]	⟨sao⟩ [sa.o̞]	⧼salu⧽ [ˈsa.lu]	Only occurs word-finally in stressed monosyllabic words. See additional notes at ⟨ae⟩.
au	/au̯/	like ⟨ou⟩ in round.	aubvru ‘tree’	/ˈau̯.vru/	[ˈau̯.bβru]	⟪aubvr⟫ [au̯vʀ]	⟨aovro⟩ [ˈau.vro̞]	⧼alubru⧽ [ˈa.lu.bru]	See notes at ⟨ae⟩.
b	/b/	as in bet.	baclu ‘stick’	/ˈbak.lu/	[ˈbak.lu]	⟪bacl⟫ [bakɬ]	⟨baclo⟩ [ˈba.klo̞]	⧼pakalu⧽ [ˈpa.ka.lu]
bv	/bv/	like ⟨v⟩ in very.	ribveu ‘level’	/riˈbveu̯/	[ri.bβeu̯]	⟪ribveu⟫ [riˈveu̯]	⟨riveo⟩ [riˈve̞.o̞]	⧼ribilu⧽ [riˈbi.lu]	Only occurs word-internally.
c	/k/	as cat.	couru ‘heart’	/ˈku.ru/	[ˈkou̯.ru]	⟪cour⟫ [kuʀ]	⟨coro⟩ [ˈko̞.ro̞]	⧼kúru⧽ [ˈkuːru]
	/ʧ/	like ⟨ch⟩ in chair.	dicere ‘to say’	/diˈʧe.re/	[diˈcçe.re]	⟪dicer⟫ [diˈʨeʐ]	⟨ditxer⟩ [diˈʧe̞r]	⧼titsil⧽ [tiˈʦil]	/_{i,e
cj	/ʧ/	like ⟨ch⟩ in cheese.	radjicja ‘root’	/raˈʤi.ʧa/	[raˈʥi.cça]	⟪radjicja⟫ [raˈʥi.ʨə]	⟨radjitxa⟩ [raˈʤi.ʧa]	⧼radzitsa⧽ [raˈʣi.ʦa]
ctj	/kʧ/	like ⟨cti⟩ in action.	fruictju ‘fruit’	/ˈfrui̯k.ʧu/	[ˈfrui̯c.ʨu]	⟪fruict’⟫ [frui̯kɕ]	⟨frútxo⟩ [fruːʧo̞]	⧼prútsu⧽ [ˈpruː.ʦu]
d	/d/	as in door.	dente ‘tooth’	/ˈden.te/	[ˈden.te]	⟪dent’⟫ [denʨ]	⟨dent⟩ [de̞nt]	⧼tints⧽ [tenʦ]
	/ð/	like ⟨th⟩ in other.	cjaudu ‘hot’	/ˈʧau̯.ðu/	[ˈcçau̯.ðu]	⟪cjauth⟫ [ʨau̯ð]	⟨xaodo⟩ [ʃau̯.ðo̞]	⧼salutu⧽ [ˈsa.lu.tu]	/S_S
dj	/ʤ/	like ⟨dg⟩ in edge.	codjax ‘poppy’	/koˈʤa/	[koˈʥa]	⟪codjax⟫ [koˈʥa]	⟨codjà⟩ [ko̞ˈʤa]	⧼kudzax⧽ [kuˈʣa]
e	/e/	like ⟨é⟩ in French été.	estelja ‘star’	/eˈste.ʎa/	[eˈste.ʎa]	⟪estelja⟫ [eˈste.ɮə]	⟨estelia⟩ [e̞ˈste̞.li.a]	⧼ítilia⧽ [iːˈti.li.a]
ei	/i/	as in weird.	deice ‘ten’	/ˈdei̯.ʧe/	[ˈdei̯.cçe]	⟪deic’⟫ [diʨ]	⟨dítx⟩ [diːʧ]	⧼títs⧽ [tiːʦ]
eou	/eu̯/	like ⟨ell⟩ in bell with a Cockney accent.	beou ‘beautiful’	/ˈbeu̯/	[beu̯]	⟪beou⟫ [beu̯]	⟨beo⟩ [ˈbe̞.o̞]	⧼pilu⧽ [ˈpi.lu]	Only occurs word-finally in unstressed monosyllabic words.
eu	/eu̯/	like ⟨ew⟩ in Welsh ewro.	seuva ‘forest’	/ˈseu̯.va/	[ˈseu̯.va]	⟪seuva⟫ [ˈseu̯və]	⟨seova⟩ [ˈse̞u̯.va]	⧼siluba⧽ [ˈsi.lu.ba]
f	/f/	as in four.	folja ‘leaf’	/ˈfo.ʎa/	[ˈfo.ʎa]	⟪folja⟫ [ˈfo.ɮə]	⟨folia⟩ [ˈfo̞.li.a]	⧼pulia⧽ [ˈpu.li.a]
g	/ɡ/	as in gift.	grostu ‘thick’	/ˈɡro.stu/	[ˈɡro.stu]	⟪grost⟫ [ˈɡrost]	⟨grosto⟩ [ˈɡro̞s.to̞]	⧼krustu⧽ [ˈkru.stu]
	/ʤ/	as in gel.	tragere ‘to pull’	/tɾaˈʤe.re/	[tɾaˈɟʝe.re]	⟪trager⟫ [tɾaˈʥeʐ]	⟨tradjer⟩ [tɾaˈʤe̞r]	⧼tradzil⧽ [tɾaˈʣil]	/_{i,e
gj	/ʤ/	like ⟨j⟩ in joke.	obligjare ‘to compel’	/o.bliˈʤa.re/	[o.bliˈɟʝa.re]	⟪obligjar⟫ [o.bliˈʥaʐ]	⟨oblidjar⟩ [o̞b.liˈʤar]	⧼upridzal⧽ [u.pɾiˈʣal]
gn	/ŋn/	like ⟨ngn⟩ in hangnail.	magnu ‘great’	/ˈmaŋ.nu/	[ˈmaŋ.nu]	⟪magn⟫ [ˈmaŋn]	⟨mangano⟩ [ˈmaŋ.ɡa.no̞]	⧼mankalu⧽ [ˈman.ka.lu]
gnj	/ŋɲ/	like ⟨ng⟩ followed by ⟨ny⟩: sing nyet!	ignju ‘fire	/ˈiŋ.ɲu/	[ˈiŋ.ɲu]	⟪ign’⟫ [iŋɲ]	⟨inio⟩ [ˈi.ni.o̞]	⧼inkuliru⧽ [ˈin.ku.li.ɾu]
i	/i/	as in machine.	iljis ‘they’	/ˈi.ʎis/	[ˈi.ʎis]	⟪iljis⟫ [ˈi.ɮis]	⟨ilis⟩ [ˈi.lis]	⧼ilis⧽ [ˈi.lis]
	/j/	like ⟨y⟩ in yet.	iecru ‘liver’	/ˈje.kru/	[ˈje.kru]	⟪iecr⟫ [jekʀ]	⟨iecro⟩ [iˈe̞.kro̞]	⧼ilikru⧽ [iˈlik.ɾu]	[iˈe.kru]	/_V (!_/u/)
iu	/iu̯/	like ⟨ee you⟩ in ssee you.	fluviu ‘river’	/ˈflu.viw/	[ˈflu.viu̯]	⟪fluviu⟫ [ˈfɬu.viu̯]	⟨fluvio⟩ [ˈflu.vi.o̞]	⧼plybiru⧽ [ˈply.bi.ru]
l	/l/	as in lucky.	lapide ‘stone’	/ˈla.pi.ðe/	[ˈla.pi.ðe]	⟪lapid’⟫ [laˈpiʥ]	⟨lapid⟩ [laˈpid]	⧼lapits⧽ [laˈpits]
lj	/ʎ/	like ⟨gl⟩ in Italian dagli.	alju ‘other’	/ˈa.ʎis/	[ˈa.ʎis]	[ˈa.ɮis]	⟨alio⟩ [ˈa.li.o̞]	⧼aliu⧽ [ˈa.li.u]
m	/m/	as in mill.	moulire ‘to die’	/muˈli.re/	[muˈli.re]	⟪moulir⟫ [muˈliʐ]	⟨molir⟩ [mo̞ˈrir]	⧼múril⧽ [muːˈril]
n	/n/	as in net.	nascere ‘to be born’	/nasˈʧe.re/	[nasˈcçe.re]	⟪nascer⟫ [nasˈʨeʐ]	⟨naxer⟩ [naˈʃe̞r]	⧼nastsil⧽ [nasˈʦil]
nc	/ŋk/	like ⟨nk⟩ in tank.	ginclu ‘knee’	/ˈʤiŋ.klu/	[ˈɟʝiŋ.klu]	⟪gincl⟫ [ʥiŋkɬ]	⟨jinclo⟩ [ˈʒiŋ.klo̞]	⧼zinkuru⧽ [ˈzin.ku.ɾu]
ng	/ŋɡ/	like ⟨ng⟩ in finger.	loungu ‘long’	/ˈluŋ.ɡu/	[ˈluŋ.ɡu]	⟪loung⟫ [luŋɡ]	⟨longo⟩ [ˈlo̞ŋ.ɡo̞]	⧼lúnku⧽ [ˈluːn.ku]
	/nʤ/	like ⟨ng⟩ in ginger.	pungere ‘to stab’	/punˈʤe.re/	[punˈɟʝe.re]	⟪punger⟫ [puŋ.ɡʑeʐ]	⟨pundjer⟩ [punˈʤe̞r]	⧼pundzil⧽ [pynˈʣil]	/_{i,e
ngj	/ŋʤ/	like ⟨ng j⟩ in canning jar.	mengjare ‘to eat’	/meŋˈʤa.re/	[meɲˈɟʝa.re]	⟪mengjar⟫ [meŋˈɡʑaʐ]	⟨mandjar⟩ [manˈʤar]	⧼mandzal⧽ [manˈʣal]
nj	/ɲ/	like ⟨ni⟩ in onion.	anju ‘year’	/ˈa.ɲu/	[ˈa.ɲu]	⟪an’⟫ [aɲ]	⟨anio⟩ [ˈa.ni.o̞]	⧼aniu⧽ [ˈa.ni.u]
o	/o/	as in old.	ostu ‘bone’	/ˈo.stu/	[ˈo.stu]	⟪ost⟫ [ˈost]	⟨osto⟩ [ˈo̞.sto̞]	⧼ustu⧽ [ˈu.stu]
ou	/ou̯/	like ⟨oo⟩ in soon.	ouvu ‘egg’	/ˈu.vu/	[ˈu.vu]	⟪ouv⟫ [uv]	⟨ovo⟩ [ˈo̞.vo̞]	⧼úbu⧽ [ˈuːbu]
p	/p/	as in pine.	pelju ‘hair’	/ˈpe.ʎu/	[ˈpe.ʎu]	⟪pel’⟫ [peʎ]	⟨pelio⟩ [ˈpe̞.li.o̞]	⧼piliu⧽ [ˈpi.li.u]
qh	/x/	like ⟨ch⟩ in Scottish loch.	aqhma ‘life force’	/ˈax.ma/	[ˈax.ma]	⟪aqhma⟫ [ˈaχ.mə]	⟨ahma⟩ [ˈaç.ma]	⧼aqhma⧽ [ˈaʀ.ma]	Only in borrowings.
qu	/kw/	as in quiz.	quei ‘what’	/kwiː/	[kwei̯]	⟪qvei⟫ [kʋi]	⟨que⟩ [ˈku.e̞]	⧼kuri⧽ [ˈku.ɾi]
r	/r/	as in Spanish rojo.	ridere ‘to laugh’	/riˈðe.re/	[riˈðe.re]	⟪rider⟫ [riˈðeʐ]	⟨rider⟩ [riˈðe̞r]	⧼ritil⧽ [ɾiˈtil]
rj	/r̝/	like ⟨ř⟩ in Czech Dvořak.	terja ‘earth’	/ˈte.r̝a/	[ˈte.r̝a]	⟪terja⟫ [ˈte.ʐə]	⟨teria⟩ [ˈte̞.ri.a]	⧼teria⧽ [ˈte.ri.a]
s	/s/	as in ssee.	secjare ‘to cut’	/seˈʧa.re/	[seˈcça.re]	⟪secjar⟫ [seˈʨaʐ]	⟨setxar⟩ [se̞ˈʧar]	⧼sitsal⧽ [siˈʦal]
	/s/	as in rose.	espousa ‘wife’	/eˈspu.za/	[eˈspu.za]	⟪espousa⟫ [eˈspu.zə]	⟨espoza⟩ [e̞ˈspu.za]	⧼ípuza⧽ [iːˈpu.za]	/V_V
sj	/ʃ/	like ⟨sh⟩ in shoe.	sji ‘yes’	/ˈʃi/	[ˈɕi]	⟪sji⟫ [ɕi]	⟨xi⟩ [ʃi]	⧼si⧽ [si]
t	/t/	as in tall.	tutu ‘all’	/ˈtu.tu/	[ˈtu.tu]	⟪tuth⟫ [tuθ]	⟨tuto⟩ [ˈtu.to̞]	⧼tytu⧽ [ˈty.tu]
th	/θ/	as in path.	misgerith ‘I’m sorry’	/misˈɡeriθ/	[misˈɡøːriθ]	⟪misqherith⟫ [misˈχeriθ]	⟨misgérith⟩ [misˈɡe̞ːriθ]	⧼miskarit’⧽ [miˈskarit’]
tj	/ʧ/	like ⟨ch⟩ in church.	setje ‘seven’	/ˈse.ʧe/	[ˈse.ʨe]	⟪set’⟫ [seʨ]	⟨setx⟩ [se̞ʧ]	⧼sats⧽ [saʦ]
tz	/ʦ/	like ⟨ts⟩ in cats.	tzince ‘five’	/ˈʦin.ʧe/	[ˈʦiɲ.cçe]	⟪tzinc’⟫ [ʦinʨ]	⟨sintx⟩ [sinʧ]	⧼sints⧽ [sinʦ]	/#_
	/ʣ/	like ⟨ds⟩ in words.	pitzitu ‘small’	/piˈʣi.tu/	[piˈʣi.tu]	⟪pitzith⟫ [piˈʣiθ]	⟨pedzito⟩ [pe̞ˈʣi.to̞]	⧼pidzitu⧽ [piˈʣi.tu]	/S_S (!/n/_)
u	/u/	like ⟨oo⟩ in room.	unce ‘eleven’	/ˈun.ʧe/	[ˈuɲ.cçe]	⟪unc’⟫ [ˈunʨ]	⟨untx⟩ [ˈunʧ]	⧼ynts⧽ [ˈynʦ]
ui	/uj/	like ⟨uy⟩ in Spanish muy.	luictjare ‘to fight’	/lujkˈʧa.re/	[lui̯kˈʨa.re]	⟪luictjar⟫ [lui̯kˈɕaʐ]	⟨lútxar⟩ [luːˈʧar]	⧼lútsal⧽ [luːˈʦal]
v	/v/	as in voice.	voulere ‘to want’	/vuˈle.re/	[vou̯ˈle.re]	⟪vouler⟫ [vuˈleʐ]	⟨voler⟩ [vo̞ˈle̞r]	⧼buril⧽ [buˈril]
x	/ˈ/		iljax ‘there’	/iˈʎa/	[iˈʎa]	⟪iljax⟫ [iˈɮa]	⟨alià⟩ [a.liˈa]	⧼aliax⧽ [a.liˈa]	Indicates unexpected stress. (Eomentesa reform script uses a grave diacritic.)
z	/z/	like ⟨z⟩ in zoo.	quazina ‘quiver (of arrows)’	/ˈkwa.zi.na/	[ˈkwa.zi.na]	⟪qvazjina⟫ [ˈkʋa.ʑi.nə]	⟨quazina⟩ [kuˈa.zi.na]	⧼kulazina⧽ [kuˈla.zi.na]	Only in borrowings and the digraph ⟨tz⟩.
zj	/ʒ/	like ⟨j⟩ in French jamais.	frezjire ‘to deceive'	/freˈʒi.re/	[freˈʑi.re]	⟪frezjir⟫ [freˈʑiʐ]	⟨frejir⟩ [fre̞ˈʒir]	⧼prizil⧽ [priˈzil]	Only in borrowings.

Orthographic Peculiarities

• The diphthongs ⟨au⟩ and ⟨eu⟩ are written as ⟨aou⟩ and ⟨eou⟩, respectively, when they occur at the end of a monosyllabic word; however, this does not include function words, which leads to some interesting homophones:
  • ⟨au⟩ ‘to the’ ~ ⟨aou⟩ ‘I have’ (first person singular present indicative of abvere)
  • ⟨meu⟩ ‘my’ ~ ⟨meou⟩ ‘honey’
  • ⟨seu⟩ ‘his/her’ ~ ⟨seou⟩ ‘I am’ (first person singular present indicative of estere)

Pronouns

Pronouns are much the same as in English, but there is an additional distinction between dative and accusative prounouns (i.e. indirect and direct objects) which is also found in other Romance languages. There are some subtleties around how to distinguish one from the other, but the simplest, most fundamental rule is:

1. Direct object pronouns usually precede the verb that modifies them, and
2. Indirect object pronouns are always used after a preposition.

	Nominative (subject)	Genitive (possessive)	Dative (indirect object)	Accusative (direct object)
1sg	eou I	meu* my	mei (to) me	me, m’** me
2sg	tu you, thou	teu* your, thy	tei (to) you, to thee	te, t’** you, thee
3sg.masc	ilju he	seu* his, her	lei (to) him	le, l’** him
3sg.fem	ilja she		lae (to) her	la, l’** her
3sg.refl	-		sei (to) himself, to herself	se, s’** himself, herself
1pl	nous(autris) we	noustru* our	nous (to) us	ne, n’** us
2pl	vous(autris) you (all)	voustru* your	vous (to) you (all)	ve, v’** you (all)
3pl.masc	iljis they	louru* their	lour (to) them	ljis them
3pl.fem	iljes they			ljes them

* Declines for gender and number (click for additional forms).
** Form used before a vowel.

Determiners

Articles

The articles align very closely to the English articles “the” (definite) and “a” or “an” (indefinite). The singular articles are shortened before a word beginning with a vowel.

The Definite Article

	Sing.	Sing. (_V)	Plur.
Masculine	lu lu lapide ‘the stone’	l’ l’acelju ‘the bird’	lis lis viris ‘the men’
Feminine	la la mage ‘the witch’	l’ l’estelja ‘the star’	les les muljeres ‘the women’

When the masculine singular article follows the prepositions a and de, they fuse into a single word, au and deu, respectively. (Cf. Spanish al, French du, or Italian dal.)

The Indefinite Article

	Sing.	Sing. (_V)	Plur.
Masculine	un un lapide ‘a stone’	n’ n’acelju ‘a bird’	unis unis viris ‘some men’
Feminine	una una mage ‘a witch’	n’ n’estelja ‘a star’	unes unes muljeres ‘some women’

Possessives

The possessive adjectives from the personal pronouns are declined as adjectives (below), but the singular pronouns have a slightly irregular masculine singular form. Meu (‘my’) declines thus:

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	me-u	me-vis
Feminine	me-va	me-ves

Teu (‘your’) and seu (‘his/her’) decline similarly.

Numerals

The “teen” numbers (11-19) are highly irregular. In Classical Braereth, these all ended with ‑dice, which in the modern languages has been contracted to ‑ce.

While ⟨vinctjeth-uictjou⟩ is the literary standard, none of the dialects actually uses this form: Classical Braereth used an older form ⟨vinctje-eth-uictjou⟩ where the conjunction had not been assimilated into the first element; Tenibvreth does not retain the –th of the conjunction because uictjou begins with a consonant sound (it is sometimes written as ⟨vinctje-victjou⟩); Eomentesa’s reform orthography spells it as ⟨vintx-eth-útxo⟩.

tzeiru	0		deice	(archaic)	10	vinctje	20	tzeiru	0
unu	1		unce	undice	11	vinctjeth-un	21	deice	10
dous	2		douce	doudice	12	vinctje-dous	22	vinctje	20
treis	3		treice	treidice	13	vinctje-treis	23	treinctje	30
quatru	4		quarce	quardice	14	vinctje-quatru	24	quarante	40
tzince	5		quince	quindice	15	vinctje-tzince	25	quintzante	50
seis	6		seice	seidice	16	vinctje-seis	26	sesante	60
setje	7		setece	setedice	17	vinctje-setje	27	setante	70
uictjou	8		uictoce	uictodice	18	vinctjeth-uictjou	28	uictante	80
nouve	9		nouce	nouvedice	19	vinctje-nouve	29	nounante	90

Nouns

Like all Romance languages, nouns have grammatical gender; every noun has a value of either masculine or feminine.

Most masculine nouns end in -u. Most feminine nouns end in -a. Some nouns end in -e, and may be either masculine or feminine. (Nouns and adjectives that end in -e come from Latin terms ending in -is.)

The plurals of nouns are very regular: Masculine noun plurals always end in -is, while feminine plurals end in -es.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	oucl-u, ‘eye’ mar-e, ‘sea’	oucl-is, ‘eyes’ mar-is, ‘seas’
Feminine	uricl-a, ‘ear’ niv-e, ‘snow’	uricl-es, ‘ears’ niv-es, ‘snows’

Masculine nouns ending in a diphthong (that is, ⟨au⟩, ⟨aou⟩, ⟨eu⟩, or ⟨eu⟩) have a slightly odd shift, because the u of those vowel clusters actually comes from an earlier l, which remains in the plural forms. When this occurs in adjectives, the feminine singular form also has an l.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	m-eou, ‘honey’ gindr-au, ‘general’	m-elis, ‘honeys’ gindr-alis, ‘generals’

Adjectives

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. The endings of the genders are identical to those of the nouns (above), including some adjectives which end in ⟨-e⟩ and may be masculine or feminine, demonstrated here with pitzitu ‘small’ and leve ‘smooth’.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	pitzit-u lev-e	pitzit-is lev-is
Feminine	pitzit-a lev-e	pitzit-es lev-es

Also like the nouns, a final ⟨-l⟩ in some adjectives becomes ⟨-u⟩ in the masculine singular, as seen here in umbrau ‘shady’.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	umbra-u	umbra-lis
Feminine	umbra-la	umbra-les

An unusual development in Braereth, compared to other Romance languages, is the development of participles to have a gendered adjectival form (which is normal) as well as a non-gendered form used exclusively with compound verbs (which is not).

For example, facere ‘to do’ has the past participle faectje ‘done’, used in verb phrases such as L’aou faectje, ‘I have done it’, but Mis deveris soun faectjis, ‘My chores are done’, (with a masculine plural ending). Almost without exception, the uninflected form ends in –e, while the inflected forms take the standard masculine, feminine, singular, and plural endings –u, –a, –is, and –es.

Verbs

Braereth verbs can be divided into four basic categories, similar to the verbs of other Romance languages. Most verb infinitives end in -are, -ere, or -ire, and these make up the basis of the first three classes of regular verbs. The fourth category is kind of a junk-drawer of verbs that end in -ure and irregular verbs from the first three categories.

Regular Verbs

	-are Verbs	-ere Verbs	-ire Verbs
Infinitive:	est-are ‘to be, to stand’	iac-ere ‘to put’	dourm-ire ‘to sleep’
eou	est-au	iac-eu	dourm-iu
tu	est-aes	iac-eis	dourm-is
ilj(u/a)	est-ae	iac-ei	dourm-ith
nous	est-amu	iac-emu	dourm-imu
vous	est-ate	iac-ete	dourm-ite
ilj(i/e)s	est-aen	iac-ein	dourm-in
Present Participle:	est-ante	iac-ente	dourm-inte
Past Participle:	est-ate	iac-ete	dourm-ite

Irregular Verbs

There are many, but here are a few of the most useful:

	estere
	‘to be’
eou	seou
tu	eis
ilj(u/a)	ei
nous	est-emu
vous	est-ete
ilj(i/e)s	soun
Present Participle:	est-ente
Past Participle:	est-e