Eomentesa (dialect)

Eomentesa is one of two modern dialects of Braereth, spoken primarily by witches. (The other dialect is Tenibvreth.)

The phonology is similar to Spanish or Catalan, marked by vowel lowering and unpacking of the palatal series from Classical Braereth.

Phonology

Consonants	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Vowels	Front	Back
Plosive	p · b	t · d			k · ɡ		High	i	u, uː
Affricate			ʦ · ʣ	ʧ · ʤ			Mid	e̞, eː	o̞
Fricative	f · v	θ · [ð]	s · z	ç, ʃ · ʒ	(x) ·		Low	a
Nasal	m	n			ŋ		Diphthongs	To Front	To Back
Lateral		l					High
Trill			r [ɾ]				Mid		eu̯
Approximant	none						Low		au̯

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

Spelling Reform

While Eomentesa is traditionally spelled as classical Braereth, a recent spelling reform based on the current phonology of the language is used by many speakers, and renders it quite distinct. A few differences of notes:

• Palatal ⟨j⟩ is not used. It is elided entirely after obstruents, or changes to ⟨i⟩ after sonorants.
  • nuictje → nútx ‘night’
  • anju → anio ‘year’
• ⟨bv⟩ is written as ⟨v⟩.
  • aubvru → auvro ‘tree’
• ⟨ou⟩ is written as ⟨o⟩ (sometimes as ⟨u⟩ when it has the value /u/).
  • foucu → foco ‘fire’
• ⟨cj⟩, ⟨ctj⟩, ⟨c⟩ before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩, and ⟨tj⟩ are written as ⟨x⟩ when initial and ⟨tx⟩ otherwise.
  • acelju → atxelio ‘bird’
  • centrau → xentrau ‘central’
• ⟨gj⟩, ⟨g⟩ before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩, and ⟨dj⟩ are written as ⟨j⟩ when initial and ⟨dj⟩ otherwise.
  • gindrau → jindrao ‘general’
  • pungere → pundjer ‘to stab’
• ⟨tz⟩ is written as ⟨s⟩ when initial, ⟨dz⟩ when voiced, and remains ⟨tz⟩ when unvoiced.
  • tzince → sintx ‘five’
  • pitzitu → pedzito ‘small’
• ⟨ei⟩ is normally written as ⟨e⟩, or ⟨é⟩ when long.
  • reigu → rego ‘king’
  • beistja → béxa ‘animal’
• Some instances of ⟨u⟩ and most instances of ⟨ou⟩ are written as ⟨o⟩, and ⟨o⟩ is always used word-finally in place of ⟨u⟩.
  • uricla → oricla ‘ear’
  • ouvu → ovo ‘egg’
• Some instances of ⟨i⟩ are written as ⟨e⟩.
  • cintu → xento ‘hundred’
  • medju → medjo ‘half’
• Some instances of ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ are written as ⟨a⟩.
  • ecquix → acquì ‘here’
  • mengjare → mandjar ‘to eat’
• ⟨qh⟩ is elided when initial; it is writte as ⟨h⟩ otherwise.
  • qheru → ero ‘deer, hart’
  • aqhma → ahma ‘life force’
• Final ⟨e⟩ is elided.
  • ridere → rider ‘to laugh’
  • infante → infant ‘child’
• Final ⟨nje⟩ or ⟨gne⟩ becomes ⟨ng⟩.
  • cjanje → xang ‘dog’
  • seigne → séng ‘dog’
• Final ⟨au⟩ and ⟨aou⟩ are written as ⟨ao⟩.
  • saou → sao ‘salt’
  • centrau → xentrao ‘central’
• Final ⟨eu⟩ and ⟨eou⟩ are written as ⟨eo⟩.
  • beou → beo ‘beautiful’
  • ribveo → reveo ‘level’
• The stress-indicator ⟨x⟩ is written as a grave accent (e.g. ⟨à⟩).
  • iljax → alià ‘there’
• Vowels become long and are marked with an acute accent before former ⟨ct⟩ clusters and in certain other environments.
  • deice → détx ‘ten’
  • uictjou → útxo ‘eight’
• ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ are inserted into consonant clusters which have become unpronounceable according to the phonotactics of the Eomentesa dialect.
  • vrisu → verizo ‘twisted’

Orthographic and Phonemic Mapping

Orth.	Phn.	Example	IPA	Classical	Environment/Notes
x̀	[ˈ]	alià ‘there’	[a.liˈa]	iljax	A grave accent is used to indicate stress.
a	[a]	ath ‘to’	[aθ]	ath
ao	[a.o̞]	sao ‘salt’	[sa.o̞]	saou
au	[au̯]	auvro ‘tree’	[ˈau.vro̞]	aubvru
b	[b]	baclo ‘stick’	[ˈba.klo̞]	baclu
c	[k]	coro ‘heart’	[ˈko̞.ro̞]	couru
d	[d]	dent ‘tooth’	[de̞nt]	dente
d	[ð]	xaudo ‘hot’	[ʃau̯.ðo̞]	cjaudu	/V_V
dj	[ʤ]	tradjer ‘to pull’	[tɾaˈʤe̞r]	tragere
dz	[ʣ]	pedzito ‘small’	[pe̞ˈʣi.to̞]	pitzitu
e	[e̞]	estelia ‘star’	[e̞ˈste̞.li.a]	estelja
é	[e̞ː]	détx ‘ten’	[de̞ːʧ]	deice
eo	[e̞.o̞]	beo ‘beautiful’	[ˈbe̞.o̞]	beou
eu	[e̞u̯]	seuva ‘forest’	[ˈse̞u̯.va]	seuva
f	[f]	folia ‘leaf’	[ˈfo̞.li.a]	folja
g	[ɡ]	grosto ‘thick’	[ˈɡro̞s.to̞]	grostu
h	[ç]	ahma ‘life force’	[ˈaç.ma]	aqhma
i	[i]	ilis ‘they’	[ˈi.lis]	iljis
j	[ʒ]	jalo ‘yellow’	[ˈʒa.lo̞]	gjalu
l	[l]	lap ‘stone’	[lap]	lape
m	[m]	morir ‘to die’	[mo̞ˈrir]	mourire
n	[n]	naxer ‘to be born’	[naˈʃe̞r]	nascere
nc	[ŋk]	jinclo ‘knee’	[ˈʒiŋ.klo̞]	ginclu
ng	[ŋɡ]	longo ‘long’	[ˈlo̞ŋ.ɡo̞]	loungu
ng	[ŋ]	xang ‘dog’	[ʃaŋ]	cjanje
o	[o̞]	ovo ‘egg’	[ˈo̞.vo̞]	ouvu
p	[p]	pelio ‘hair’	[ˈpe̞.li.o̞]	pelju
r	[r]	rider ‘to laugh’	[riˈðe̞r]	ridere
s	[s]	sintx ‘five’	[sinʧ]	tzince
t	[t]	tuto ‘all’	[ˈtu.to̞]	tutu
th	[θ]	pith ‘foot’	[piθ]	pide
tx	[ʧ]	frútxo ‘fruit’	[fruːʧo̞]	fruictju
u	[u]	untx ‘eleven’	[unʧ]	unce
ú	[uː]	útxo ‘eight’	[ˈuːʧo̞]	uictjou
v	[v]	voler ‘to want’	[vo̞ˈle̞r]	voulere
x	[ʃ]	xentrao ‘central’	[ʃe̞nˈtɾa.o̞]	centrau
z	[z]	espuza ‘wife’	[e̞ˈspu.za]	espousa