Braereth

Braereth is a collection of three 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.

The modern language is still often written in the classical orthography, though the two dialects that have emerged from it sometimes diverge sharply. The dialect known as Tenibvreth is much more conservative to the original phonology. The Eomentesa dialect, however, has a sound that is much more similar to modern Iberian languages, and a recent spelling reform has served to further distinguish the two.

For the purposes of this text, We will use the classical spelling of the language; where appropriate and necessary, dialectal forms will be shown in double-brackets, e.g. undix [unˈdi] ‘where’, but Tenibvreth ⟪ubvi⟫ [ˈuvi] or Eomentesa ⟪quondè⟫ [kwonˈde]. Specific differences in the phonologies of the modern dialects are described under Phonology.

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-complete deletion of final 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 rule is the 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.

Merolinian Dialect

Main article: Merolinian (dialect)

The Meolinian 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⟩. The Merolinians do not have a formal written language, and usually use the Classical spelling, though some have recently adopted the Eomentesa spelling reform, as it is a little closer than Classican Braereth to how Merolinian 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, there is also a reform spelling of Eomentesa, presented here in double-brackets (⟪ ⟫) in the Eom. column where the spelling differs from the traditional. Tenibvreth is written in the classical orthography, though 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 → ⟪ecqvilj⟫) or ⟨i⟩ for ⟨ei⟩ (treice → ⟪tric’⟫). When final vowels are dropped, final ⟨e⟩ will often become ⟨’⟩ to indicate palatalization (grande → ⟪grand’⟫), and sometimes final ⟨tu⟩ will be changed to ⟨th⟩ (tutu → ⟪tuth⟫).

Orth.	Brae.	Ten.	Eom.	Example	Classical	Tenibvreth	Ref.	Eomentesa	Environment/Notes
a	a	a	a	ath ‘to’	[aθ]	[aθ]	⟨a⟩	[ aθ]
ae	ae̯	ai̯	e̞ː	laectje ‘milk’	[ˈlae̯.cʧe]	⟪laectj⟫ [lai̯ʨ]	⟨é⟩	⟪léts⟫ [l̪e̞ːts]
aou	au̯	au̯	a.o̞	saou ‘salt’	[sau̯]	[sau̯]	⟨ao⟩	⟪sao⟫ [ˈsa.o̞]	Only occurs word-finally.
au	au̯	au̯	au̯	aubvru ‘tree’	[au̯.bβru]	⟪aubvr⟫ [au̯vʀ]	⟨au⟩	⟪aubro⟫ [ˈau̯.bro̞]
au	au̯	au̯	a.o̞	normau ‘normal’	[norˈmau̯]	[norˈmau̯]	⟨ao⟩	⟪normao⟫ [n̪o̞rˈma.o̞]	/_#
b	b	b	b	baclu ‘stick’	[ˈba.klu]	⟪bacl⟫ [bakɬ]	⟨b⟩	⟪baclo⟫ [ˈba.kl̪o̞]
bl	bl	bɮ	bl̪	blancu ‘white’	[ˈblaŋ.ku]	⟪blanc⟫ [bɮaŋk]	⟨bl⟩	⟪blanco⟫ [ˈbl̪aŋ.ko̞]
bv	bβ	v	b	ribveu ‘level’	[riˈbβeu̯]	[riˈveu̯]	⟨b⟩	⟪ribeo⟫ [riˈbe̞.o̞]	Only occurs word-internally.
c	k	k	k	cou ‘with’	[kou̯]	[ku]	⟨c⟩	⟪co⟫ [ko̞]
c	c	ʨ	ts	dicere ‘to say’	[diˈce.re]	⟪dicer’⟫ [diˈʨer̝]	⟨ts⟩	⟪ditser⟫ [diˈtser]	/_{i,e}
c	c	ʨ	s	centrau ‘central’	[cenˈtɾau̯]	[ʨenˈtɾau̯]	⟨s⟩	⟪sentrao⟫ [sen̪ˈt̪ɾa.o̞]	/#_{i,e}
cj	c	ʨ	ts	radjicja ‘root’	[raˈʤi.ca]	[raˈʥiʨa]	⟨ts⟩	⟪radzitsa⟫ [raˈdzi.tsa]
cj	c	ʨ	s	cjambiare ‘to change’	[camˈbja.re]	⟪cjambiar’⟫ [ʨamˈbjar̝]	⟨s⟩	⟪sambiar⟫ [sam.biˈar]	/#_
cl	kl	kɬ	kl̪	clubvra ‘snake’	[ˈklu.bβra]	[ˈkɬu.vra]	⟨cl⟩	⟪clubra⟫ [ˈkl̪u.bra]
ctj	cʃ	ʨ	ts	fruictju ‘fruit’	[ˈɸrui̯.cʧu]	⟪fruictj⟫ [ˈfrui̯ʨ]	⟨ts⟩	⟪frútso⟫ [ˈfruː.tso̞]
d	d̪	d	d̪	dente ‘tooth’	[ˈden.te]	⟪dent’⟫ [denʨ]	⟨d⟩	⟪dens⟫ [d̪e̞nts]
d	ð	ð	d̪	cjaudu ‘hot’	[ˈcau̯.ðu]	⟪cjauth⟫ [ˈʨau̯ð]	⟨d⟩	⟪saudo⟫ [ˈsau̯.d̪o̞]	/S_S
dj	ʤ	ʥ	dz	codjax ‘head of a poppy’	[koˈʤa]	[koˈʥa]	⟨dz⟩	⟪codzà⟫ [ko̞ˈdza]
dj	ʤ	ʥ	z	djurnu ‘day’	[ˈʤurnu]	⟪djurn⟫ [ʥu(r)ɲ]	⟨z⟩	⟪zorno⟫ [ˈzo̞r.n̪o̞]	/#_
e	e̞	∅	∅	cjanje ‘dog’	[ˈcaɲe]	⟪cjanj⟫ [ʨaɲ]	⟨ ⟩	⟪sang⟫ [saŋ]	/_#
e	e	e	e̞	estelja ‘star’	[eˈste.ʎa]	[eˈste.ɮa]	⟨e⟩	⟪estelia⟫ [eˈste.l̪i.a]
ei	ei̯	i	e̞(ː)	deice ‘ten’	[dei̯.ce]	⟪dicj⟫ [diʨ]	⟨e~é⟩	⟪déts⟫ [d̪e̞ts]
eou	eu̯	eu̯	e̞.o̞	beou ‘beautiful’	[beu̯]	[beu̯]	⟨eo⟩	⟪beo⟫ [ˈbe̞.o̞]	Only occurs word-finally.
eu	eu̯	eu̯	e̞.o	seuva ‘forest’	[ˈseu̯.va]	[seu̯.va]	⟨eo⟩	⟪seova⟫ [ˈse̞.o.va]
f	ɸ	f	f	folja ‘leaf’	[ˈɸo.ʎa]	[foɮa]	⟨f⟩	⟪folia⟫ [fo̞.l̪i.a]
fl	ɸl	fɬ	fl	flora ‘flower’	[ɸlo.ra]	⟪floura⟫ [fɬu.ra]	⟨fl⟩	⟪flora⟫ [fl̪o̞.ra]
g	ɡ	ɡ	ɡ	grande ‘big’	[ˈɡran.de]	⟪grand’⟫ [ɡranʥ]	⟨g⟩	⟪granz⟫ [ɡrandz]
g	ɟ	ʥ	dz	tragere ‘to pull’	[traˈʤe.re]	⟪tradzer’⟫ [traˈʥer̝]	⟨dz⟩	⟪tradzer⟫ [traˈdze̞r]	/_{i,e
g	ɟ	ʥ	z	gindrau ‘general’	[ɟinˈdɾau̯]	[ʥinˈdɾau̯]	⟨z⟩	⟪zendrao⟫ [zenˈdɾa.o̞]	/#_{i,e
gj	ɟ	ʥ	dz	mengjare ‘to eat’	[meɲˈɟa.re]	⟪mengjar’⟫ [meŋ(ɡ)ˈʥar̝]	⟨dz⟩	⟪manzar⟫ [manˈdzar]
gj	ɟ	ʥ	z	gjalu ‘yellow’	[ˈɟa.lu]	⟪gjal⟫ [ʥaɮ]	⟨z⟩	⟪zialo⟫ [zi.a.l̪o̞]	/#_
gl	ɡl	ɡɮ	ɡl	glacja ‘ice’	[ˈɡla.ca]	[ˈɡɮa.ʨa]	⟨gl⟩	⟪glatsa⟫ [ˈɡl̪a.tsa]
gnj	ŋɲ	ŋɲ	ni	ignju ‘fire	[iŋ.ɲu]	⟪ignj⟫ [iŋɲ]	⟨ni⟩	⟪inio⟫ [i.n̪i.o̞]
i	i	i	i	iljis ‘they’	[ˈi.ʎis]	[ˈi.ɮis]	⟨i⟩	⟪lo⟫ [ˈi.lis]
i	j	j	i.	iecru ‘liver’	[ˈje.kru]	⟪iecr⟫ [jekʀ]	⟨i⟩	⟪iecro⟫ [iˈe̞.kro̞]	/_V (!/u/)
iu	ju	iu̯	i.u	iustu ‘right’	[ˈju.stu]	⟪iust⟫ [iu̯st]	⟨iu⟩	⟪iusto⟫ [iˈu.sto̞]
l	l	l	l̪	lape ‘stone’	[ˈla.pe]	⟪lap⟫ [lap]	⟨l⟩	⟪lap⟫ [l̪ap]
lj	ʎ	ɮ	l(i)	aljis ‘others’	[ˈa.ʎis]	[ˈa.ɮis]	⟨li⟩	⟪alis⟫ [ˈa.l̪is]
lj	ʎ	ʎ	li	acelju ‘bird’	[aˈce.ʎu]	⟪acelj⟫ [aˈʨeʎ]	⟨li⟩	⟪atselio⟫ [aˈtse̞.l̪i.o̞]	/_#
m	m	m	m	mourire ‘to die’	[mou̯ˈri.re]	⟪mourir’⟫ [muˈrir̝]	⟨m⟩	⟪morir⟫ [mo̞ˈrir]
n	n	n	n	nascere ‘to be born’	[ˈnasce.re]	⟪nascer’⟫ [ˈnas.ʨer̝]	⟨n⟩	⟪naser⟫ [ˈn̪a.se̞r]
nc	ŋk	ŋk	ŋk	ginclu ‘knee’	[ˈɟiŋ.klu]	⟪gincl⟫ [ʥiŋkɬ]	⟨nc⟩	⟪zinclo⟫ [ˈziŋ.kl̪o̞]
ncj	ɲc	ŋkʨ	nts	louncjanu ‘far’	[lou̯ɲˈca.nu]	⟪louncjan⟫ [luŋˈkʨan]	⟨ns⟩	⟪lonsano⟫ [l̪o̞nˈtsa.n̪o̞]
nctj	ɲcʃ	ŋkʨ	nts	vinctje ‘twenty’	[ˈβiɲ.ʧe]	⟪vinctj⟫ [viŋkʨ]	⟨ns⟩	⟪vinse⟫ [ˈvin.tse̞]
ng	ŋɡ	ŋɡ	ŋɡ	loungu ‘long’	[ˈlou̯ŋ.ɡu]	⟪loung⟫ [luŋɡ]	⟨ng⟩	⟪longo⟫ [lo̞ŋ.ɡo̞]
ng	ɲɟ	ŋʥ	ndz	pungere ‘to stab’	[puɲˈɟe.re]	⟪punger’⟫ [puŋ(ɡ)ˈʥer̝]	⟨nz⟩	⟪punzer⟫ [punˈdze̞r]	/_{i,e
ngj	ɲɟ	ŋʥ	ndz	mengjare ‘to eat’	[meɲˈɟa.re]	⟪mengjar’⟫ [meŋ(ɡ)ˈʥar̝]	⟨nz⟩	⟪manzar⟫ [manˈdzar]
nj	ɲ	ɲ	n(i)	anju ‘year’	[ˈa.ɲu]	⟪anj⟫ [ˈaɲ]	⟨ni⟩	⟪anio⟫ [ˈa.n̪i.o̞]
nje	ɲe̞	ɲ	ŋ	seigne ‘slow’	[ˈsei̯ŋ.ɲe]	⟪seign’⟫ [siŋɲ]	⟨ng⟩	⟪séng⟫ [se̞ːŋ]	/_#
o	o	o	o̞	olja ‘olive’	[ˈo.ʎa]	[ˈoɮa]	⟨o⟩	⟪olia⟫ [ˈo̞.l̪i.a]
ou	ou̯	u	o̞	ouvu ‘egg’	[ˈou̯.vu]	⟪ouv⟫ [uv]	⟨o⟩	⟪ovo⟫ [ˈo̞.vo̞]
p	p	p	p	pelju ‘hair’	[ˈpe.ʎu]	⟪pelj⟫ [peʎ]	⟨p⟩	⟪pelio⟫ [ˈpe̞.l̪i.o̞]
pl	pl	pɬ	pl	pluvia ‘rain’	[ˈplu.vja]	[ˈpɬu.vja]	⟨pl⟩	⟪pluvia⟫ [ˈpl̪u.vi.a]
qh	x	χ	ç	aqhma ‘life force’	[ˈax.ma]	[ˈaχ.ma]	⟨ch⟩	⟪achma⟫ [ˈaç.ma]	Only in borrowings.
qh	x~h	χ	∅	qheru ‘a kind of deer’	[ˈhe.ru]	⟪qher⟫ [χer]	⟨ ⟩	⟪ero⟫ [e̞ˈro̞]	/_{i,e. Only in borrowings.
qu	kw	kʋ	ku.	quei ‘what’	[kwei̯]	⟪qvi⟫ [kʋi]	⟨qu⟩	⟪què⟫ [kuˈe̞]
qu	kw	k	ku.	equou ‘horse’	[ˈe.kwu]	⟪ecu⟫ [ˈe.ku]	⟨qu⟩	⟪equo⟫ [ˈe̞.ku.o̞]	/_{o,u
r	r	r	r	ridere ‘to laugh’	[riˈðe.re]	⟪rider’⟫ [riˈðer̝]	⟨r⟩	⟪rider⟫ [riˈd̪e̞r]
r	ɾ	ɾ	ɾ	trei(di)ce ‘thirteen’	[ˈtɾei̯ðice]	⟪tric’⟫ [tɾiʨ]	⟨r⟩	⟪tréts⟫ [t̪ɾe̞ːts]	/[+dnt]_
r	r	r̝	r	abvere ‘to have’	[aˈbβe.re]	⟪abver’⟫ [aˈver̝]	⟨r⟩	⟪aber⟫ [aˈbe̞r]	/_(Vₒ)#
rj	r̝	r̝	r(i)	terja ‘earth’	[ˈte.r̝a]	[ˈte.r̝a]	⟨ri⟩	⟪teria⟫ [ˈte̞.ri.a]
s	s	s	s	secjare ‘to cut’	[seˈca.re]	⟪secjar’⟫ [se.ʨar̝]	⟨s⟩	⟪setsar⟫ [se̞.tsar]
s	z	z	z	espousa ‘wife’	[eˈspou̯.za]	[eˈspu.za]	⟨z⟩	⟪espoza⟫ [e̞ˈspo̞.za]	/V_V
sc	sc	sʨ	s	escire ‘to know’	[esˈci.re]	⟪escir’⟫ [esˈʨir̝]	⟨s⟩	⟪esir⟫ [e̞ˈsir]	/_{i,e
scj	sc	sʨ	si	escjavare ‘to dig’	[es.caˈβa.re]	⟪escjavar’⟫ [es.ʨaˈvar̝]	⟨si⟩	⟪esiavar⟫ [e̞.si.aˈvar]
sj	ʃ	ɕ	s(i)	sji ‘yes’	[ʃi]	[ɕi]	⟨si⟩	⟪si⟫ [si]
t	t	t	t	tutu ‘all’	[ˈtu.tu]	⟪tuth⟫ [tuθ]	⟨t⟩	⟪tuto⟫ [ˈt̪u.t̪o̞]
th	θ	θ	θ	eth ‘and’	[eθ]	[eθ]	⟨th⟩	[e̞θ]
tj	ʧ	ʨ	ts	setje ‘seven’	[se.ʧe]	⟪setj⟫ [seʨ]	⟨ts⟩	⟪sets⟫ [se̞ts]
tz	ts	ts	ts	tzince ‘five’	[ˈtsiɲ.ce]	⟪tzinc’⟫ [tsiŋkʨ]	⟨ts⟩	⟪sinse⟫ [ˈsin.tse̞]	/#_
tz	dz	dz	dz	pitzitu ‘small’	[piˈdzi.tu]	⟪pitzith⟫ [piˈdziθ]	⟨dz⟩	⟪pedzito⟫ [pe̞ˈdzi.t̪o̞]	/S_S
u	u	u	u	uricla ‘ear’	[uˈri.kla]	[uˈri.kɬa]	⟨u⟩	⟪oricla⟫ [o̞ˈri.kl̪a]
ui	ui̯	ui̯	uː	luictjare ‘to fight’	[lui̯kˈcʃa.re]	⟪luictjar’⟫ [lui̯ˈʨar̝]	⟨ú⟩	⟪lútsar⟫ [l̪uːˈtsar]
v	β	v	v	voulere ‘to want’	[vou̯ˈle.re]	⟪vouler’⟫ [vuˈler̝]	⟨v⟩	⟪voler⟫ [vo̞ˈle̞r]
x	(Indicates stress.)			iljax ‘there’	[iˈʎa]	[iˈɮa]	⟨àèìòù⟩	⟪alià⟫ [a.l̪iˈa]	Indicates stress. (Eomentesa reform script uses a grave diacritic.)
z	z	ʑ	z	raquazna ‘quiver (of arrows)’	[raˈkwaz.na]	⟪raqvazna⟫ [raˈkʋaʑ.na]	⟨z⟩	[ra.kuˈaz.n̪a]	Only in borrowing and the digraph ⟨tz⟩.
zj	ʒ	ʑ	z(i)	frezjire ‘to lead astray’	[freˈʒi.re]	⟪frezjir’⟫ [freˈʑir̝]	⟨zi⟩	⟪frezir⟫ [fre̞ˈzir]	In borrowings.

Pronouns

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
1sg	eou	meou	mei	me, m’	I, my, (to) me, me
2sg	tu	teou	tei	te, t’	thou, thy, (to) thee, thee
3sg.masc	ilj	seou	lei	le, l’	he, his, (to) him, him
3sg.fem	ilja		lae	la, l’	she, her, (to) her, her
3sg.refl	-		sei	se, s’	himself, herself, itself, &c
1pl	nous(autris)	noustru	nous	ne, n’	we all, our, (to) us, us
2pl	vous(autris)	voustru	vous	ve, v’	you all, your, (to) you, you
3pl.masc	iljis	louru	lour	ljis	they, their, (to) them, them
3pl.fem	iljes			ljes

Determiners

Articles

The Definite Article

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

The Indefinite Article

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

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-uicjtou⟩ 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 ⟨vins-eth-útso⟩.

tzeiru	0		deice	10	vinctje	20	tzeiru	0
unu	1		unce	11	vinctjeth-un	21	deice	10
dous	2		douce	12	vinctje-dous	22	vinctje	20
treis	3		treice	13	vinctje-treis	23	treinte	30
quatru	4		quarce	14	vinctje-quatru	24	quatrante	40
tzince	5		quince	15	vinctje-tzince	25	quintzante	50
seis	6		seice	16	vinctje-seis	26	sesante	60
setje	7		setece	17	vinctje-setje	27	setante	70
uictjou	8		uictece	18	vinctjeth-uictjou	28	uictante	80
nouve	9		nouce	19	vinctje-nouve	29	nounante	90