Tinasan, Ineshîmé, and other fantasy-Japonic curiosities

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Most of this thread is now woefully out of date, but I've been working out a comparison between two stages of the language, which I presently call "Middle High Tinasan" and, well, "Ineshîmé", which is the same as before. Middle High Tinasan was spoken quite a long time before Ineshîmé, but in writing is still quite intelligible with it. A poem, presumably "originally" written in Middle High Tinasan, is reproduced below, alongside a rendition into something closer to Ineshîmé as it would be spoken at the narrative present:

Middle High TInasan

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雨書：『憂け 旅者っは
凬書：『やせいけ えくゐりっは
狼間書："Yeseki ekiri-ha
音書：[jé.s̪ɛ́ˑ.c(ʰ)ì ɛ́.c(ʰ)íˑ.ɾ̪ʲì xà]
訓り書：weary.ADJ-ADN travel.person.VOCATIVE
航語："O weary traveler..."

雨書：『帰ゆ゙！』と 柔 玲る
凬書：『かべゆ゙！』と やを がんがる
狼間書："Kabelu!" to yewo gangaru
音書：[k(ʰ)á.bɛ́ˑ.ʎỳᵝ | t̪òᵝ jéˑ.wòᵝ gá̰ɴ.gáˑ.ɾ̪ʉ̀ᵝ]
訓り書：come-home.HORTATIVE ACC gentle ring.PREDICATIVE
航語："Come home!" softly rings.

雨書：『煩れ、忘れ、悔𛀁゙ず…』
凬書：『うれ、をすれ、かなせい𛀁゙ず…』
狼間書："Ure, wosure, kanaselezu..."
音書：[ʉ́ᵝˑ.ɾ̪ɛ̀ wóᵝ.s̪ʉ́ᵝˑ.ɾ̪ɛ̀ k(ʰ)à.n̪à.s̪ɛ́.l̪éˑ.z̪ʉ̀ᵝ]
訓り書：worry.CONCURRENT forget.CONCURRENT feel-regret..HORTATIVE.NEGATIVE
航語："O, do not worry, forget, or feel regret..."

雨書：鈴鐘い、『帰~ 帰ゆ゙！
凬書：すずがない、『かべ、かべゆ゙
狼間書：Suzugane, "Kabe — Kabelu!
音書：[s̪ʉ́ᵝ.z̪ʉ̀ᵝ.gáˑ.n̪ɛ̀ | k(ʰ)áˑ.bɛ̀ | k(ʰ)á.bɛ́ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：bell.large-bell(=tower-bell).DEFINITE come-home.CONCURRENT come-home.HORTATIVE
航語：The great bell, "Come home! Come home!

雨書：『全て 良しい に 帰ゆ゙！
凬書：『すめいて よしい に かべゆ゙！
狼間書：Sumeti yoshi ni, kabelu!
音書：[s̪ʉ́ᵝ.mɛ́ˑ.t̪(ʰ)ʲì̥ jóᵝˑ.ɕì ɲì | k(ʰ)á.bɛ́ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：all good.PREDICATIVE copula.ADVERBIAL(=because) come-home.HORTATIVE
航語："Because all is well, come home!"

雨書：『遠寝いより
凬書：『とうほにんいより
狼間書："Tohonin'i yori
音書：[t̪óᵝ.xwòᵝ.ɲḭ́ˑɴ.ɲì jóᵝˑ.ɾ̪ʲì]
訓り書：long-sleep.DEFINITE out-of LOCATIVE
航語："From this long sleep

雨書：『起時ゐ！
凬書：『にせいとうこゐ！
狼間書："Nisetoki!
音書：[ɲí.s̪ɛ̀.t̪(ʰ)óᵝˑ.c(ʰ)ì]
訓り書：awaken.instance.DEFINITE
航語："(It is) the time to awake"

雨書：『起ゆ゙！』
凬書：『にせいゆ゙！』
狼間書："Niselu!"
音書：[ɲí.s̪ɛ́ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：awaken.HORTATIVE
航語："Awaken!"

雨書：鐘い、『旅は 終とうり
凬書：かない、『えくゐは きせいとうり
狼間書：Kane, "Ekiha chisetori!
音書：[k(ʰ)áˑ.n̪ɛ̀ | ɛ́ˑ.c(ʰ)ì.xà cɕ(ʰ)í.s̪ɛ̀.t̪(ʰ)óᵝˑ..ɾ̪ʲì]
訓り書：large-bell.DEFINITE journey.DEFINITE end.PERFECTIVE
航語：The bell, "The journey has ended

雨書：『帰ゆ゙！遠 行ゐとうり！
凬書：『かべゆ゙！とうほ あろうくゐとうり！
狼間書："Kabelu! Toho arokitori!
音書：[k(ʰ)á.bɛ́ˑ.ʎỳᵝ || t̪(ʰ)óᵝˑ.xwòᵝ á.ɾ̪óᵝ.c(ʰ)ì.t(ʰ)óᵝˑ..ɾ̪ʲì]
訓り書：come-home.HORTATIVE long travel.PERFECTIVE
航語："Come home! A long way has been travelled!

雨書：『梅ろう嵐 減る 様 来うる 和…』
凬書：『わたろうあらし へる さわ けうる へり…』
狼間書："Wataro arashi heru sawa keuru heri..."
音書：[wɑ́.t(ʰ)áˑ.ɾ̪òᵝ á.ɾ̪áˑ.ɕì̥ xɛ́ˑ.ɾ̪ʉ̀ᵝ sáˑwɑ̀ kǿǿᵝˑɾ̪ʉ̀ᵝ xɛ́ˑ.ɾ̪ʲì]
訓り書：ocean.LOCATIVE storm pass.away.PREDICATIVE like come.ADNOMINAL peace
航語："Like the abatement of storms on the sea, coming peace..."

雨書： 鐘い『帰ゆ゙ …』
凬書：かない、『かべゆ゙ …』
狼間書：Kane, "Kabelu..."
音書：[k(ʰ)áˑ.n̪ɛ̀ | k(ʰ)á.bɛ́ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：bell.DEFINITE come-home.HORTATIVE
航語：The bell, "Come home..."

A few phonological notes:

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Middle High Tinasan voiceless stops were not aspirated by all speakers, and when they were, the aspiration was quite weak. The phone [øᵝ(ː)] was not common, and not present in all dialects, but an influx of it as a loan-phoneme make it quite a lot more present in Ineshîmé. Devoiced vowels (and a few others, though not many are represented in the text) were pronounced very short.

Ineshîmé

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雨書：『憂け 旅者っは
凬書：『やせいけ えくゐりっは
狼間書："Eseki ekiri-ha
音書：[é̞.s̪é̞ˑ.c^çʰì é̞.c^çʰíˑ.ɾ̪ʲì xɐ̞̀]_{1, 2}
訓り書：weary.ADJ-ADN travel.person.VOCATIVE
航語："O weary traveler..."

雨書：『帰ゆ゙！』を 柔様 玲る
凬書：『かべゆ゙！』を やをさわ がんがる
狼間書："Kabelu!" wo₃ yōsō₄ gangaru
音書：[kʰɐ̞́.bé̞ˑ.ʎỳᵝ | wò̞ᵝ jéˑ.wò̞ᵝ gɐ̞̰́ɴ.gɐ̞́ˑ.ɾ̪ʉᵝ]
訓り書：come-home.HORTATIVE ACC gentle ring.PREDICATIVE
航語："Come home!" softly rings.

雨書：『煩れ、忘れ、悔𛀁゙ず…』
凬書：『うれ、をすれ、かなせい𛀁゙ず…』
狼間書："Ure, wosure, kanaselezu..."
音書：[ʉ́ᵝˑ.ɾ̪ɛ̀ wóᵝ.s̪ʉ́ᵝˑ.ɾ̪ɛ̀ kʰɐ̞̀.n̪ɐ̞̀.s̪é̞.l̪é̞ˑ.z̪ỳᵝ]₅
訓り書：worry.CONCURRENT forget.CONCURRENT feel-regret..HORTATIVE.NEGATIVE
航語："O, do not worry, forget, or feel regret..."

雨書：鈴鐘い、『帰~ 帰ゆ゙！
凬書：すずがない、『かべ、かべゆ゙
狼間書：Suzugane, "Kabe — Kabelu!
音書：[s̪ʉ́ᵝ.z̪ʉ̀ᵝ.gɐ̞́ˑ.n̪è̞ | kʰɐ̞́ˑ.bè̞ | kʰɐ̞́.bé̞ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：bell.large-bell(=tower-bell).DEFINITE come-home.CONCURRENT come-home.HORTATIVE
航語：The great bell, "Come home! Come home!

雨書：『全ず 良しい に 帰ゆ゙！
凬書：『すめず よしい に かべゆ゙！
狼間書：Sumezu₆ yoshi ni, kabelu!
音書：[s̪ʉ́ᵝ.mé̞ˑ.z̪ỳᵝ jó̞ᵝˑ.ɕì ɲì | kʰɐ̞́.bé̞ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：all.ADV good.PREDICATIVE copula.ADVERBIAL(=because) come-home.HORTATIVE
航語："Because all is well, come home!"

雨書：『遠しい 寝いより
凬書：『とほうしい にんいより
狼間書："Tōshi₇ nin'i yori
音書：[t̪ʰó̞͜ó̞ᵝ.ɕì ɲḭ́ˑɴ.ɲì jó̞ᵝˑ.ɾ̪ʲì]₈
訓り書：long.ADJECTIVE sleep.DEFINITE out-of LOCATIVE
航語："From this long sleep

雨書：『起時ゐ！
凬書：『にせいとうこゐ！
狼間書："Nisetoki!
音書：[ɲí.s̪è̞.t̪ʰó̞ᵝˑ.c^çʰì]
訓り書：awaken.instance.DEFINITE
航語："(It is) the time to awake"

雨書：『起ゆ゙！』
凬書：『にせいゆ゙！』
狼間書："Niselu!"
音書：[ɲí.s̪éˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：awaken.HORTATIVE
航語："Awaken!"

雨書：鐘い、『旅は 終け えり
凬書：かない、『えくゐは きせいけ えり₉
狼間書：Kane, "Ekiya chiseki eri!
音書：[kʰɐ̞́ˑ.n̪è̞ | éˑ.c^çʰì.jɐ̞̀ cɕʰí.s̪è̞.c^çʰì é̞ˑ.ɾ̪ʲì]₁₀
訓り書：large-bell.DEFINITE journey.DEFINITE end.PAST PERFECTIVE-AUXILIARY
航語：The bell, "The journey has ended

雨書：『帰ゆ゙！遠 行ゐけ えり！
凬書：『かべゆ゙！とう ほ あろうくゐけ えり！
狼間書："Kabelu! Tô arokike eri!
音書：[kʰɐ̞́.béˑ.ʎỳᵝ || t̪ʰó̞͜ò̞ᵝ á.ɾ̪óᵝ.c^çʰíˑ.cè é̞ˑ.ɾ̪ʲì]
訓り書：come-home.HORTATIVE long travel.PAST PERFECTIVE-AUXILIARY
航語："Come home! A long way has been travelled!

雨書：『梅ろう嵐ら 減る 様 来る 和…』
凬書：『わたろうあらしら へる さわ ける へり…』
狼間書："Wataro araschera₁₁ heru sô kyoru heri..."
音書：[wɐ̞́.tʰɐ̞́ˑ.ɾ̪ò̞ᵝ ɐ̞̀.ɾ̪ɐ̞́͜ɐ̞́ʃ.ʃɘ.ɾ̪ɐ̞̀ xé̞ˑ.ɾ̪ʉ̀ᵝ só̞͜ò̞ᵝ c^çʰi̯óᵝˑɾ̪ʉ̀ᵝ xé̞ˑ.ɾ̪ʲì]_{12, 13}
訓り書：ocean.LOCATIVE storm pass.away.PREDICATIVE like come.ADNOMINAL peace
航語："Like the abatement of storms on the sea, coming peace..."

雨書： 鐘い『帰ゆ゙ …』
凬書：かない、『かべゆ゙ …』
狼間書：Kane, "Kabelu..."
音書：[kʰɐ̞́ˑ.n̪è̞ | kʰɐ̞́.bé̞ˑ.ʎỳᵝ]
訓り書：bell.DEFINITE come-home.HORTATIVE
航語：The bell, "Come home..."

Notes:

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1. Similar vowels have tended to become phonetically identical, and to move towards the centre somewhat; what were previously [ɛ~e eː ɛː oᵝ oᵝː ɔːᵝ a~ɑ aː~ɑː] have become generally [e̞ e̞ː e̞ː o̞ᵝ o̞ᵝː o̞ᵝː ɐ̞ ɐ̞ː]; the sequence [je] has become [e̞], except where the [j] is maintained (or introduced) as an excrescence of a preceding [i].
2. Aspiration has become generalised for voiceless stops and affricates, however it is not as strong as in English; [cʰ ɟ] have become partly-affricated before [i]
3. The accusative marker wo has generally replaced the earlier quotative particle to.
4. While applying the marker sō here is not strictly grammatically necessary, it would be common, and helps to preserve the metre of the original; scansion tends to count only syllable number, and not quantity.
5. The shift of [ʉᵝ] > [yᵝ] after [z̪] is imperfect, and conditioned by a merger of earlier [d̪͡z̪(ʲ)]s, which always conditioned allophonic u-fronting, where it occurs; a preceding or following [ʉᵝ] in an adjacent syllable without historically-conditioned fronting will usually block this shift.
6. The form here has been shifted to a partly-regularised adverbial, though zu rather than su is unusual, and probably dissimilatory.
7. The addition of the adjectival marker here is largely for metre — using nouns as descriptors preceding other nouns is still commonplace in Ineshîmé, though those that have become monosyllabic (even with long vowels) tend to take -shi somewhat more often than they did in Middle High Tinasan;
8. Long vowels are represented in this way to note where pitches fall; there is no hiatus between them, even in careful speech — the distinction is purely one of quantity.
9. Already underway in later stages of Middle High Tinasan bleeding into Late East Tinasan, the ending -tori came to have first an anterior, then an imperfect, meaning, being in narrative-present Ineshîmé the formant of an imperfect tense, similar to those of the modern Romance languages; tori was supplanted by the auxiliary eri (an aphetic form of heru — "to elapse, to pass away" influenced by the copula ari) in its perfective senses.
10. Most instances of historical /h f/ were deleted intervocalically, the crasis of the resulting vowels in hiatus creating a number of long vowels, or examples of excrescent [j w].
11. The new phoneme [ɘ] is in free variation with overshort [ɛ] or [ɪ] (with these laxer vowels, as opposed to the tenser [e̞ i] in fully-realised syllables; it is often dropped both in speech and poetry; the plural marker -ra is still optional, but somewhat more common in Ineshîmé; it is also added here to preserve the metre, as a word loses a syllable owing to contraction into a long vowel.
12. The palatals /cɕ ɟʑ ɕ ʑ/ have developed palato-alveolar allophones [tʃʰ dʒ ʃ ʒ] in codas, and when not in contact with [i y].
13. The shift of the adnominal of kyō "come" to kyoru is through the regularisation of the paradigm, and not an expected sound change; most lower quintigrade verbs show such regularisation, though only those with monosyllabic stems tend to have a stem in -yo.

Being rather small in scope, the two texts probably make the languages look more mutually-intelligible than they actually would be: Ineshîmé, noteworthily, has a much larger amount of foreign vocabulary, owing to an influx of speakers of an unrelated language in the period I would normally term "Early Ineshîmé", however none of the vocabulary in this poem happened to be replaced (most of the new vocabulary was for then culturally novel things); there was also some realignment of the verbal paradigm, and a tendency for verbs to mark tense rather than plain aspect. The use of some particles altered (note to being replaced as the quotative particle by wo, though a form combining the two, tō, also exists). Some of these changes were influenced by the new substratum. Using a to-quotative or a tori-perfective in Ineshîmé would be the rough equivalent of using an obscure Middle English word (like maugry) in modern English — somebody who had studied an older form of the language would probably understand it, but a modern speaker would be confused.

Many sequences of a vowel + /h/, /f/, /w/, or sometimes /j/ + vowel have collapsed into single long vowels (note toho > tô, sawa > sô); this is extremely common, and affected quite a number of common words — 長 MHT: naha, Ineshîmé nô "long" (influenced by tô and sô), 面 MHT: gao, Ineshîmé gô; 縄 MHT: nafa, Ineshîmé nâ.

At the same time as the influx of foreign words like 梨 (poêr - "pear"), which supplanted 檎 (nasche - "apple, pear") in this sense, there was also a large amount of dialect mixing, brought about in part by the advent of universal education, and of schools placing boys (the society isn't actually sexist, the fantasy species that speaks the language is, from a human perspective, always male, and reproduces through some ethereal magical fashion) depending on their aptitudes, which meant sometimes sending them far away because not every school offered every subject they might need, and so on and so on; consequently a number of interdialectal borrowings, and borrowings between daughter languages, also occurred, whence Ineshîmé 青 (sâ - "pale blue"), a parallel descendant of 蒼 (sô - "pale green") borrowed from a related language, Middle High Tinasan 蒼 (sawo). Verbal forms were also borrowed interdialectally, and underwent a number of contractions, usually with both the long and contracted forms surviving (as with English don't, do not) resulting in a proliferation of more nuanced uses (unfortunately the poem did not really have space to showcase this, and I don't quite have enough material for longer texts yet; I'm currently working on a comparison of verbal forms between Middle High Tinasan, Ineshîmé, and Proto-Japonic, Old Japanese, Classical Japanese, and Modern Japanese, but it's going to take a while yet).

What the poem was translated from:

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"Weary traveller come home,"
Rings the bell in softly falling tone;
"Never fret, nor forget, nor regret..."
Rings the bell, "Come home! Come home!
"All is well, come home! Come home! Come home!
"From this long sleep you take
"At last awake
"Awaken!"
Rings the bell, "The journey is ended...
"Now come home, a long way you have wended!
"And like storms on the sea
"All abate, now peace
"Comes for thee..."
Rings the bell, "Come home..."

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[Arzena]

Replying to say that I love the kanji font in the documents linked to DropBox in OP. Just so lovely.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Replying to say that I love the kanji font in the documents linked to DropBox in OP. Just so lovely.

It's called something like "UD Digi Kyokasho NK-R", I think, if you're referring to the more cutesy ones (they have unfortunately bad IPA support), though the one I use now is more often "Yu Mincho Light". My that original is out of date, though, and has some names that have been superseded.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

I translated a fragment of a story I recently wrote, set in the culture that would actually speak Ineshîmé:

Translation:

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"There's a magic power in the winter rains of Tournesol."
生法の力 葵の冬雨で 居り。
いひちのりの ちほり つをうろねそい゙の ふいい゙あめで ゐり。
Isĕnori no siyori Turnesol no fuiyame de yuri.
[iꜜs̪ɘꜛn̪o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi n̪o̞ᵝ s̪i.jo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi t̪ʰʉᵝɾ̪.n̪e̞ꜛs̪o̞ᵝɫ n̪o̞ᵝ ɸʷø̞ᵝːꜛjɐ̞ˑꜜme̞.d̪e̞ jyᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi]
life-force.law.GENTITIVE power sunflower.GENITIVE winter.rain.LOCATIVE exist.PREDICATIVE

"If you ride the town line from Fumôri Harbour to Tournesol Castle, all the way, without getting out of your seat — you have to choose a good seat, too — and carry the same wish in your heart all through, it's guaranteed to come true."
爾れ 群線ひを 日廻津より 葵館へ、 全通で、爾の乗辺より 立をぜいて ~ しけひ 良ひ乗辺を 選ゐ可て ~ 一同 祈っを 心にて 全通 運ゐて、乗れば、在れ 真守ゐ 叶ふ。
もうろうれ むらしとうひを びまほりつより つをうろねそい゙しいろうへ、すべとをりで、もうろうの どるはより ~ しけひ よひ どうるはを えるゐめて ~ ひすへ いのりっを けほろう にて すべとをり とうどうくゐて、どうるれば、あれ ままをるゐ かだふ。
Morore murashitoiyo Fumôritsu yori Turnesol-shirowe, subetôri de, moro no doruwa yori tatozete — shikei yoi doruwō erimete — hisue inori wo kyōro nite subetôri todokite, dorureba, are mamôri kadō.
[mo̞ᵝꜛɾ̪o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪e̞ mʉᵝ.ɾ̪ɐ̞ꜛɕʰi.t̪ʰo̞ᵝˑꜜwi.jo̞ᵝ ɸʷʉᵝꜛmo̞ᵝː.ɾ̪ʲi.t̪͡s̪ʰʲyᵝ jo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi t̪ʰʉᵝɾ̪.n̪e̞ꜛs̪o̞ᵝɫ ɕʰiˑꜜɾ̪o̞ᵝ.we̞ | s̪ʉᵝ.be̞ꜛt̪ʰo̞ᵝːꜜɾ̪ʲi d̪e̞ | mo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪o̞ᵝ n̪o̞ᵝ d̪o̞ᵝ.ɾ̪ʉᵝˑꜜwɐ̞ jo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi t̪ʰɐ̞ꜛt̪ʰo̞ᵝˑꜜz̪e̞.t̪ʰe̞ | ɕʰiˑꜜcʰe̞ː jo̞ᵝˑꜜwi d̪o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʉᵝ.wo̞ᵝː e̞.ɾ̪ʲiꜛme̞ˑꜜt̪ʰe̞ | çiˑꜜs̪ʉᵝ.we̞ iꜛn̪o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi wo̞ᵝ c͡çʰo̞ᵝːꜜɾ̪o̞ᵝ ɲiˑꜜt̪ʰe̞ s̪ʉᵝ.be̞ꜛt̪ʰo̞ᵝːꜜɾ̪ʲi t̪ʰo̞ᵝ.d̪o̞ᵝꜛc͡çʰiˑꜜ.t̪ʰe̞ | d̪o̞ᵝ.ɾ̪ʉᵝꜛɾ̪e̞ˑꜜbɐ̞ | ɐ̞ˑꜜɾ̪e̞ mɐ̞ꜛmo̞ᵝːꜜɾ̪ʲi kʰɐ̞ꜜd̪o̞ᵝː]
2sg.NOMINATIVE town.line.DEFINITE.ACCUSATIVE sun.spiral(=sunflower).harbour.ABLATIVE sunflower.castle.LATIVE all-the-way 2sg.GENITIVE sit.place.ABLATIVE stand.NEGATIVE.CONNECTING | also good.ADNOMINAL sit.place.ACCUSATIVE choose.INFINITIVE.must.CONNECTING | ride.PROVISIONAL distal-demonstrative.NOMINATIVE true.protect(=guarantee).INFINITIVE come-true.PREDICATIVE

"You might not understand when or how, though."
しかう 爾れ 何季とう 那とう 在っを 分ゑぜひ。
しかう もうろうれ えぎいとう なぜとう あっを をこるゑぜひ。
Shikō morore eji to naze to a wo wokorezei.
[ɕʰiꜜkʰo̞ᵝː mo̞ᵝꜛɾ̪o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪e̞ e̞ˑꜜʑi t̪ʰo̞ᵝ n̪ɐ̞ˑꜜz̪e̞ t̪ʰo̞ᵝ ɐ̞ˑ wo̞ᵝ wo̞ᵝ.kʰo̞ᵝ.ɾ̪e̞ꜛz̪e̞ː]
however 2sg.NOMINATIVE what.season.QUOTATIVE why.QUOTATIVE distal-demonstrative.ACCUSATIVE know.POTENTIAL.NEGATIVE.ADJECTIVAL.PREDICATIVE

Notes on the Vocabulary:

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生法 (isĕnori) — The word literally means "vital law". In the internal fantasy, magic is produced from a vital power called 生 (îs; the reading of the character in in 生法 is somewhat irregular, the first vowel having been shortened, and the weak vowel preserved to prevent an illegal cluster sn). The word also refers to the study and practice of what I usually translate as "magic", and not an individual instance of it, which would be 呪 (ittori); the initial i- is connected to 生, but the rest of the word ended up very contracted and eroded (the second element is etymologically connected with 持 toru — "hold, carry, make use of"; the etymological form 生持ゐ (isĕtori), is still used sometimes in very formal speech and writing).

の (no) — A genitive particle, probably related to the verb 現り (noeri — "which is")

力 (siyori) — The initial element si- is certainly akin to the chi- in Japanese 力 (chikara); the second element is probably the ablative particle.

葵 (Turnesol) — From Kokori, a substratum language used by a group of people that were integrated into Ineshîmé society some generations before the narrative present; the language is now a curiosity only used among certain professions with historically high Kokori involvement; a large number of loanwords from it into Ineshîmé occur in baking and advanced mathematics. In the same period, there was a vogue for giving new cities names in Kokori. Street signs in such places often have Kokori writing on them, whence are taken some of the English text spellings of Ineshîmé place names.

冬雨 (fuiyame) — From elements 冬 (fuil, [ϕᶣɥiː(ʎ)]; cognate to Japanese 冬 fuyu) "winter", and 雨 (ame) "rain".

で (de) — originally a contraction of にて (nite), a dative particle, now an instrumental marker, or an intrative or locative marker with verbs of existence.

居り (yuri) — Cognate to Japanese いる; indicates existence in a place; with で, tends to indicate a form of inalienable possession, or a presence within something else. The Tesséki spelling ゐり reflects an archaic pronunciation wiri.

爾れ (morore) — A second-person pronoun, but originally an impersonal one; variantly also spelled 己れ, meaning "oneself, anybody, such a person as", and still having impersonal uses (maps oddly neatly onto translating English impersonal you); cognate to the now obscure Japanese pronoun 麿 (maro).

群線 (murashito) — The element 群 (mura) means both "gathering" and "city, town", appearing in the names of some cities, as 萵群 (Kressonmura, usually spelled "Cressonmura" in English texts), but also 群葩 (Murashîme, usually "Murashîmé" in English texts, a now-archaic word for "Hydrangea", literally "Cluster-Blossom"); 線 is read ito as a standalone word, cognate to Japanese 糸.

ひ (-i-) — Here, a graphical variant of the definite article, い (i).

を (-wo, -yo) — Direct object marker; tends to be read -yo after front vowels, to coalesce with back vowels into a long ō, and to be read as a separate word in many cases after pronominals and in the definite forms of a large number of nouns (in which case it is written っを, the っ being a separator that does not necessarily indicate consonant doubling).

日廻 (Fumôri) — A dialect form of the native word for "sunflower", now chiefly restricted to use as a proper name; another form, 㬢盤 Himâri, also exists, and is also chiefly now a proper name, both being supplanted by 葵, a loanword). The reading of 日 (Tesséki: び) as fu is an irregular development, probably an interdialectal borrowing or else a spontaneous alteration.

津 (tsu) — Cognate to the Japanese word of the same spelling, and roughly the same pronunciation.

より (yori) — An ablative marker, meaning "from, out of", and also "because" (note similar Japanese use of から)

館 (shiro — Cognate to Japanese 城 (shiro) "castle, rampart"; in Ineshîmé, tends to refer to a grand, palatial sort of building, usually one for a public purpose, but not the main residence of a soveriegn (which would use the term 宮 miye), and not a stately residence outside a city (which would use the term 宅 iye); Tournesol Castle is a large public building housing various government offices, as well as serving as the official residence of the Governor-General of the Himôri (㬢廻) region.

全通で (subetôri de) — An emphatic adverbial expression meaning "all throughout".

乗辺 (doruwa) — Means "seat", as on a bus, train, or other conveyance, literally "sitting-place"; distinct from 椅 (shiji — "chair").

立をぜいて (tatozete) — The negative connecting form of 立 (tatsu) meaning "stand up"; means roughly "without standing up". The Tesséki spelling ぜい does not indicate a long vowel, but rather that the vowel of ぜ is fully realised, [e̞], and not weakened [ɘ]

しけひ (shikei) — "and, also, furthermore, in addition, too", a variant of しか (shika — "just, only, merely; thus, in this way, so"), also connected with しかう (shikō — "but, however, yet")

良ひ (yoi) — "good, proper, suitable, nice, pleasant"; akin to Japanese いい, えい, よい; the adjectivaliser -i, usually written -ひ in Ineshîmé, has similar descent to the Japanese one, though the lenition of what was originally -k- > -g- > -h- happened earlier in Ineshîmé, at about the time there was a merger of pre-existing /f h/ (a few stray examples of f do survive in Ineshîmé, however) roughly contemporaneous with the introduction of the Tesséki syllables, whence the perhaps unexpected spelling; Ineshîmé adjectives have a number of endings, with -ひ tending to imply an inherent quality (as opposed to しい shi — note the short vowel, the い is to indicate a fully-pronounced vowel — indicating more usually how somebody feels about something; か -ka, which implies a changeable property that is true at the narrative present; and け ki~ke, which indicates the result of a process).

選ゐ (eri) — Infinitive of 選 (eru) "choose, select".

可て (mete) — Connecting form of 可しい (meshi) "must, have to".

一同 (hisuwe, hisue) — "same"

祈っを (inori wo) — Definite accusative of 祈 (inori - "wish, hope, desire"), compare with Japanese 祈り (inori - "prayer").

心 (kyôro) — "heart, mind, soul"; usually less-literal than in English. Cognate to Japanese 心 (kokoro), from Proto-Japonic *kəkərə, Proto-Tinasan, by dissilimation *kɘgərə~*kɘhərə.

にて (nite) — "to, towards, within, inside", by its form apparently originally some form of verb, probably the connecting form of the one which genitive の (no) is derived; note also Classical Japanese and Ineshîmé ぬ nu, a perfective aspect auxiliary.

運ゐて (todokite) — Connecting form of 運 (todoku — "to hold, to carry"), akin to Japanese 届く (todoku — "to reach, to attain").

乗れば (dorureba) — Provisional form of 乗 (doru — "to ride on, to take as a means of transportation"), akin to Japanese 乗る (noru).

在れ (are) — Distal anaphoric demonstrative, note resemblance to Japanese あれ (are), あの (ano), あそこ (asoko), classical あしこ (ashiko).

真守ゐ (mamôri) — A compound, from 真 (ma) "true, truth", 守 (môru) "protect, defend, guarantee", akin to Japanese 守る (mamoru); in the infinitive before another verb, carries the meaning "is guaranteed to, is certain to, will positively".

叶ふ kadō — "to come true, to be granted" (akin to Japanese 叶う kanau)

何季 eji — "when? at what time?"

とう to — Quotative particle; note that short-o in the sequences こう (ko), そう (so), とう (to), もう (mo), and ろう (ro) have short vowels, with the う being used to indicate historically that a fully-realised [oᵝ], rather than [ɵᵝ] (which was often lost) was desired; now こ そ と も ろ are often used to write the standalone consonants k, s, t, m, r, especially in loanwords.

那 naze — "why?", the only occurrence of interrogative "na" in Ineshîmé; akin to Japanese 何故 (naze).

分ゑぜひ wokorezei — Negative potential adjectival form of 分 (wokoru) "know, understand", meaning roughly "might not know" or "might not understand".

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Table of Ineshîmé Tesséki (Kana):

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あ (a)1	か (ka)	さ (sa)	た (ta)	な (na)	は (ha)2	ま (ma)	や (ya~e)3	ら (ra)	わ (wa)
い (i)	き (chi)4	し (shi)4	ち (si)4	に (ni)	ひ (hi)	み (mi)		り (ri)	ゐ (wi~yu)5
	きや (cha)	しや (sha)		にや (nya)	ひや (hya)	みや (mya)		りや (rya)
	きゆ (chu)	しゆ (shu)		にゆ (nyu)	ひゆ (hyu)	みゆ (myu)		りゆ (ryu)
	き𛀁 (che)6	し𛀁 (she)		に𛀁 (nye)	ひ𛀁 (hye)	み𛀁 (mye~mi)		り𛀁 (rye)
	きよ (cho)	しよ (sho)		によ (nyo)	ひよ (hyo)	みよ (myo)		りよ (ryo)
う (u)	く (ku)	す (su)	つ (tsu)	ぬ (nu)	ふ (fu)	む (mu)	ゆ (yu)	る (ru)
	くわ (ka)7	すわ (sa)	つわ (ta)	ぬわ (ma)	ふわ (fa)	むわ (ma)		るわ (ra)
	くゐ (ki)	すゐ (shi)	つゐ (ti)	ぬゐ (mi)	ふゐ (fi)	むゐ (mi)		るゐ (ri)
	くゑ (ke)	すゑ (se)	つゑ (te)	ぬゑ (me)	ふゑ (fe)	むゑ (me)		るゑ (re)
	くを (ko)	すを (so)	つを (to)	ぬを (mo)	ふを (fo)	むを (mo)		るを (ro)
え (e)	け (ki~ke~kĕ~kyo)8	せ (se~sĕ)	て (te~tĕ)	ね (ne~nĕ)	へ (he)	め (me~mĕ)	𛀁 (ye~i)	れ (re)	ゑ (we~yo)5
お (o)	こ (k)9	そ (s)	と (t)	の (no)	ほ (ho)	も (m)	よ (yo)	ろ (r)	を(wo)

Note 1: When followed by は, a character from the a-row will be read with a long vowel â [ɐ̞ː]; when followed by any of う, ふ, ほ, わ, or を, the resulting reading is with the long vowel ô [o̞ᵝː] (e.g. さを is pronounced [s̪o̞ᵝː]). All a-row characters shift their vowel to e when followed directly by い.
Note 2: Characters from the は-column frequently lose their initial consonant word-medially; a preceding front vowel will usually trigger the appearance of an excrescent [j], while back vowels will usually trigger an excrescent [w]; the sequence けは is pronounced kya [c͡çʰi̯ɐ̞].
Note 3: The character や is normally read e [e̞] as a standalone, however the sequence やあ may be used to write ya [jɐ̞] in foreign loanwords;
Note 4: The characters き and し are normally neutralised, both pronounced sche [ʃʰɘ~ʃ] in unstressed positions following short vowels at the middle or end of a word. If the vowel [ɘ] is lost, the preceding vowel has a pitch rise, and is lengthened; to produce the readings chi [c͡ɕʰi] and shi [ɕʰi] in these positions, the spellings きい and しい are used, respectively. Terminally, the digraph きう appears in the single word 秋う「あきう」aschu "(of leaves) to change colour in autumn", pronounced, unusually, [ɐ̞ˑꜜʃʰʉᵝ]. The character ち behaves similarly to き and し, having a reading [s̪i] in prominent positions, however it is always [s̪] terminally, or [s̪ɘ] in unprominent medial positions where [ɘ] is needed to break up illegal clusters.
Note 5: The characters ゐ and ゑ were historically pronounced wi [wi] and we [we̞], respectively, but are normally pronounced identically to ゆ [jyᵝ] and よ [jo̞ᵝ] except in the u-row digraphs given in the table. To transcribe wi and we, the sequences ゐい and ゑい, respectively, may be used.
Note 6: The sequences che, she, and so on, are only used in transcribing foreign words and some onomatopoeia.
Note 7: The sequences using the ku + w-column Kana with readings not represented elsewhere are chiefly used in writing the inflected forms of quadrigrade verbs.
Note 8: The character け is pronounced kyo in prominent syllables, ke directly after i, ki terminally, and kĕ medially; where the vowels noted differ, the weak vowel ĕ appears medially in nonprominent positions, while e appears elsewhere. Unambiguous e may be written with a following い.
Note 9: The characters こ, そ, と, も, and ろ were historically used to represent a sequence of a consonant followed by [ɵᵝ] (whence the use of these characters for plain consonants) which was either lost, or merged with [o̞ᵝ]; to cause the vowel to be realised as [o̞ᵝ], う may be written after. The sequences */jɵ xɵ/ did not occur, and historic /nɵ/ merged with the terminal nasal, with which character it is now written.

The Dakuten and Handakuten (no internal names for them yet) may be used as in Japanese, with the rules as above generally applying, with the exception that ぎ じ are pronounced identically, usually [ʑi] in prominent positions, and [ʒɘ~ʒ], with the same compensatory lengthening, elsewhere (this is Romanised ġe); initially, ぢ is usually pronounced [z̪i], but is used only in loanwords; medially, it is pronounced identically to ぎ and じ. It is, further, applied to w-column kana to produce a sound [b~β~v], again mostly in loanwords, and also to y-column kana to produce [l̪~ʎ~ɫ]; when appearing terminally, this last sound is written い゙.

The final nasal monograph ん represents a coda nasal [ɴ], usually non-syllabic, and the nasalisation of the preceding vowel; a separator っ is sometimes used to indicate that an h-row consonant (medial [x~ç] or [ɸʷ~ɸᶣ] is still pronounced, or that a y- or w-column character is not part of a digraph; this is, however, rare.