Teket Lau

La chaetcat ete virki vhiegne tarhimasaln anhuth mira ket /lɐ j̊ɐ‘ɛt tʃɐt ɛ’tɛ vi’ɾki fi'ɛgnɛ tɐɹi’mɐsɐln ɐnhɯθ mɪ’ɾɐ kɛt/

 "Listener, be wary because the beast in the forest hunts for animal ears."

Rhatun /ɹɐ’tɯn/

 A tongue.

Leg /lɛg/

 Exclusive "we".

Marhunia /mɐɹɯni’ɐ/

 A know-it-all.

Trhemeki lau /tɹɛ'mɛki lɐɯ/

 A constructed language.

There are four noun classes in all dialects of Ket Lau, usually noted numerically:

Holy: gods and their domains

Hunter: ketal and things that eat them

Animate: things that can be eaten

Inanimate: things that can’t be eaten

There are a few nouns with classes you just have to memorise, but for the most part it’s simple and intuitive. Just ask yourself these questions:

Is it a god or does it belong to a god?

Is it a ket or a monster?

Is it alive, and something other than a ket, monster, or plant?

Is it anything else?

You need to know what class a noun is in because the rest of your sentence needs to be in agreement with that class.

Marhsaln (”Hunt”) is the god of the hunt, so they go in the first class.

Vhieg (”beast”) is not a god, but it is a monster that eats ketal, so it goes in the second class.

Mira (”prey”) is not a god, and it doesn’t eat ketal, but it is a living animal, and so it goes in the third class.

Iirem (”stick”) is not a god, doesn’t eat ketal, and is not alive, so it goes in the fourth class.

We’ll make a sentence: “Yesterday, I saw ________”. We’ll fill in the blank with our examples, above.

If you are speaking in a formal register, you’ll have the leading pronoun agree with the class of the object. If you aren’t, the verb itself will agree with the class of the object. We’ll look at a formal register first:

Sek · vhan · set · kuu · ta·Marhsaln

See · yesterday · it · I · Marhsaln

Sek · vhan · ete · kuu · ta·vhieg

See · yesterday · it · I · vhieg

Sek · vhan · ene · kuu · ta·mira

See · yesterday · it · I · mira

Sek · vhan · kit · kuu · ta · hiirem

See · yesterday · it · I · iirem

As you can see, these sentences follow the formula of: verb - tense - leading pronoun - subject - object marker - object, and the leading pronoun is in agreement with the class of the object.

In a sentence without an object, the leading pronoun will be in agreement with the subject, instead.

And in our informal register:

Sesk · vhan · kuu · ta·Marhsaln

See · yesterday · I · Marhsaln

Sekt · vhan · kuu · ta·vhieg

See · yesterday · I · vhieg

Seken · vhan · kuu · ta·mira

See · yesterday · I · mira

Seki · vhan · kuu · ta · hiirem

See · yesterday · I · iirem

Our formula is now: verb - tense - subject - object marker - object. The verb has combined with the leading pronoun, and now agrees itself with the class of the object.

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Let’s practice:

Match the noun class with the pronoun

Holy                              ene

Hunter                           kit

Animate                        ete

Inanimate                      set

.

What noun class would a dog belong to?

What noun class would a pencil belong to?

What noun class would a dragon belong to?

What noun class would a flower belong to?

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The word “Lan” means “to wait”. Write the sentence “I’m waiting” in formal Teket Lau: ______________________________________________________________

The word “Rhatun” means “to smell”, and conjugates into these forms:

Rhasal

Rhaet

Rhaten

Rhaki

Ulmavik /ʌlmɐ’vɪk/

 A troublemaker.

Rhit mchima Lirsasalat /ɹɪt mj̊ɪ’mɐ lɪɾɐ’sɐlɐt/

 One touched by the Absent God, who lives in Lirasal's domain.

 Imaki mchima Testalaat /ɪ’mɐki mj̊ɪ’mɐ tɛstɐ‘leɐt/

One touched by the Sun God, who lives in Testala's domain.

Iusa /iɯ’sɐ/

 A hole.

Rhetarhem /ɹɛ’tɐɹɛm/

 To cuddle.

Maunive /mɐɯnɪ'vɛ/

 A sandwich.

Tuet takuu. Manetat kuu ane kit tase ket. /’tɯɛt tɐkɯ’ʌ. ‘mɐnetɐt kɯ’ʌ ɐn’e kɪt tɐ’sɛ kɛt/

 "Come to me. I have something for you."

Vasuluet taetalat. Ete mvhiegal susalin. Trhesaln etal tasaniis senius seiket. /vɐsɯl’ɯɛt tɐɛt’ɐlɐt. ɛ'tɛ mfiɛ’gɐl sɯsɐ’lɪn. ‘tɹɛsɐln ɛ’tɐl tɐsɐn’jɪs sɛnɪ’ɯs sɛɪ’kɛt/

"Listen to them. Monsters of the night. What music they make, stranger."

Iruki kit. Vairuki iraki kit ket /i‘ɾɯki kɪt. vɐi‘ɾɯki i'ɾɐki kɪt kɛt/

"It's weird. It is super weird."

Rhaet taet mkuu hat kuu ket /‘ɹɐɛt tɐ’ɛt mkɯ’ʌ hɐt kɯ’ʌ kɛt/

"Taste this for me."

Vemasen ge en tamira ket /vɛ‘mɐsɛn gɛ ɛn tɐmɪ’ɾɐ kɛt/

"We kill that beast!"