Tenibvreth (dialect)

Tenibvreth is one of three modern dialects of Braereth, spoken primarily by the vampire clans.

The phonology is similar to Classical Braereth, but is marked by vowel raising, vowel deletion, the establishment of a pure palatal series, and fricativization of the traditional palatal lateral.

Tenibvreth is also characterised by extensive borrowing of terms from Germanic, Slavic, Gothic, and other Romance sources; conversely, certain Classical Latin terms are preserved which were lost in most or all other Romance languages.

Phonology

Consonants	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Vowels	Front	Back
Plosive	p · b	t · d			k · ɡ		High	i	u
Affricate			ʦ · ʣ	ʨ · ʥ			Mid	e	o
Fricative	f· v	θ · [ð]	s · [z]	ɕ · (ʑ)	[x](χ) ·		Low	a~ä, ə
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	[ŋ]		Diphthongs	To Front	To Back
Lateral		l	[ɬ] · ɮ	[ʎ]			High	ui̯	iu̯
Rhotic			r [ɾ]	ʐ	[ʀ]		Mid		eu̯
Approximant	ʋ			j			Low	ai̯	au̯

Notable Changes from Braereth to Tenibvreth

Word-internally, there is very little change from the classical language aside from some minor changes:

• ⟨bv⟩: β → v
• ⟨cj⟩, ⟨tj⟩: cç, ʧ → ʨ
• ⟨ctj⟩: kʨ → kɕ
• ⟨gj⟩, ⟨dj⟩: ɟʝ, ʤ → ʥ
• ⟨sj⟩: ʃ → ɕ
• ⟨zj⟩: ʒ → ʑ
• ⟨ei⟩: ei̯ → i
• ⟨ou⟩: ou̯ → u
• ⟨lj⟩: ʎ → ɮ
• ⟨ou⟩: ou̯ → u

However, word-final vowels are often elided, and the newly-exposed final consonants take on a wide variety of new forms. Final unstressed ⟨u⟩ is deleted word-finally in nouns and adjectives.

• ⟨u⟩: u → ∅ (when unstressed at the end of a word except in diphthongs)
• ⟨t⟩, ⟨d⟩ t, ð → θ
• ⟨r⟩ r → ʀ
• ⟨c⟩ k → χ
• ⟨lj⟩ ʎ → ʎ (This remains palatalized while all word-internal instances of [ʎ] become [ɮ].)

Final unstressed ⟨e⟩ is deleted word-finally, but triggers palatalization to the previous consonant.

• ⟨e⟩: e → ∅ (when unstressed at the end of a word)

Final unstressed ⟨a⟩ is often reduced to [ə], but rarely elided in speech.

Tenibvreth “Argot” Spelling

While, officially, Tenibvreth uses the same orthography as Classical Braereth, the spelling is often modified to more closely reflect the spoken language. While non-standard spellings by definition do not have official rules, there are some tendancies to be aware of.

• Final ⟨-u⟩ is dropped completely except in a diphthong (i.e. ⟨au⟩, ⟨eu⟩, or ⟨ou⟩).
  • patru → patr ‘father’
  • montu → mont ‘mountain’
  • Where ⟨-u⟩ is dropped after ⟨j⟩, the ⟨j⟩ is deleted as well and replaced by an apostrophe to indicate palatalization.
    • reictju → reict’ ‘right’
    • ignju → ign’ ‘fire’
  • Where ⟨-u⟩ is dropped after ⟨t⟩, ⟨t⟩ becomes ⟨th⟩. (This does not occur when ⟨t⟩ appears in a cluster such as ⟨nt⟩.)
    • natu → nath ‘born’
    • crutu → cruth ‘short’
  • Where ⟨-u⟩ is dropped after ⟨d⟩, ⟨d⟩ becomes ⟨th⟩. (This does not occur when ⟨d⟩ appears in a cluster such as ⟨nd⟩ or ⟨ct⟩.)
    • cjaudu → cjauth ‘hot’
    • vridu → vrith ‘green’
  • Where ⟨-u⟩ is dropped after voiced ⟨s⟩, ⟨s⟩ is written as ⟨z⟩.
    • espousu → espouz ‘husband’
    • drosu → droz ‘back’
• Final ⟨-e⟩ is dropped and an apostrophe is added (indicating palatalization).
  • The apostrophe is usually omitted after infinitives, but the final ⟨-r⟩ is still realized as [ʐ].
    • mengjare → mengjar ‘to eat’
    • ire → ir ‘’
  • Where final ⟨-e⟩ follows a ⟨j⟩, both letters may be deleted (as the apostrophe is ostensibly doing the same job as the ⟨j⟩).
    • setje → set’ ‘seven’
    • milje → mil’ ‘thousand’
  • The apostrophe is also used where there is no palatalization:
    • denouve → denouv’ ‘again’
    • escusateme → escusatem’ ‘excuse me’