Lecture 3: Stress and Syllable Separation, plus a bit

[Iustì Carlüs Canun]

I'm stepping in for this lecture because the professor is a lazy good-for-nothing has been busy with extra-Talossan schtuffphe this past little bit, but hopefully he'll be back for lecture númerul qátor.

This week we will conclude the lectures intended to give you a solid foundation in the written Talossan word and how to pronounce it. We've covered vowels, consonants, and random odd bits. This week we will discuss the other features of written Talossan.

PART 1: STRESS

Stress is the word used to indicate which of the syllables of a word is given primary emphasis in a word when spoken. For example, in English, the word discus (the disc that is hurled in the Olympic event) is "stressed" on the first syllable dis-, while the word discuss (to talk about something) is "stressed" on the second syllable -cuss. In English this distinction is not marked in any way (other than the doubling of the letter s in this particular case).

The easiest way to figure out which vowel in a word to stress is to look for a stress mark. Not all words have them, of course, but we're covering them first because they're the easiest.

Unmarked	Marked
a	á or à
ä*	ä́ or a̋
e	é or è
i	í or ì
o	ó or ò
ö*	ö́ or ő
u	ú or ù
ü*	ǘ or ű

*I can guarantee that you will almost never see this letter stressmarked in an actual Talossan text, as there are so few words in which it is necessary that the more common ones are mostly just understood to be irregularly stressed.

Talossan, unlike English, has both

• a definite and unbroken rule that determines where stress is placed on words in which no vowel is marked (that is, this rule determines which syllable is in "default stress position" in a word, and therefore need not be marked),
• and, as we know, an easy to use system of stressmarking that is used consistently to mark all words in which the spoken stress is to be placed on a syllable that is not in "default stress position".

Historical note: Prior to the Arestada of 2007, Talossan could be said to have neither of the above two features. That is, in "Old Spelling", there is no rule to assist in determination of stress in words containing no stressmarked vowel (such as saftrac = breakfast). Additionally, many words contain more than one stressmarked vowel in "Old Spelling;" only memorization and a familiarity with vocabulary could assist in determining which (if any) of the marks truly indicated stress. This second situation was partially due to the fact that pre-Arestada Talossan retained all stressmarks of a word in all words built from it. For example, the word xhurnál (= journal or newspaper) became xhurnálátsch (= tabloid newspaper) by the addition of the -átsch suffix. Thus we see, in "Old Spelling", two competing stress marks, and only fluency in the language could assist in determining which to obey in speech. In modern Talossan, these two words are xhurnal and xhurnalatsch, as both follow the default stress rule that we will now discuss.

The Stress Rule

Students familiar with Spanish and other Romance languages are probably quite at home with the concept of stressmarking only when necessary, and omitting stressmarks when stress falls in the "default position" for that language. The stress rule in Spanish, for example, is that (unless otherwise marked) stress falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable of all words that end in a vowel, or n or s; otherwise, stress falls on the word's final syllable. This is why a Spanish name like José is stressmarked as is a Spanish word like médico, while words such as toro (stressed on the initial syllable to-) and matador (stressed on the final syllable -dor) contain no stressmark. [One interesting note here while speaking of Spanish stress; note the necessary stressmarking that is done in only one of the two similar surnames Gonzales and González.]

Talossan's stress rule is a bit more complicated than the rule in Spanish, but not so much so that you should be intimidated. With a bit of practice, the stress system will begin to come naturally to you. Essentially, if stress is not marked in a Talossan word, stress is determined by the following rules:

• Firstly, if the word ends with an s or one of these five suffixes, you should simply remove that suffix before proceeding through the rest of the stress rules: -mint (which is the adverbial suffix, similar to English -ly), -laiset(s) (which is the suffix added to a number to make fractional part, similar to English -th as in fourth, fifth, etc.), -p(h)äts (which is a suffix used to indicate a country name, similar to English -land or -dom, as in Finland, and as seen in the Talossan word regipäts, which means Kingdom), -sqab(s) (which is similar to the English suffix -hood or -ship or -ness; for example, the Talossan words for goodness and kingship and highness end with this suffix), and -ttä (equivalent to English "-less").
• If a word ends with an umlauted vowel (ä, ö, ü), that vowel is stressed. Otherwise...
• Stress falls on the vocalic (vowel group) containing the vowel before the final “brace” of the word:
  
• • Any consonant or group of consonants (except a word-terminal s) is a brace.
  • Any glide (except for the u in eu) is a brace.
  • Additionally, each of the following constructions is a single brace: ‑en, ‑ent (and ‑ient and ‑uent), ‑er, ‑eux, ‑ic, and ‑ilor.

[/u][/b][li]A glide is a vowel that is pronounced like English y or w. Specifically, in Talossan, a glide is either an i or u followed by any vowel, an i following any vowel (other than i and u), and the “non-a” in the diphthongs ae, au, and oa. (As stated in the rule, while the u in eu is phonologically a glide, it does not qualify as a brace.).
[/li][li]In words like mici (= crumbs), vea (= old [feminine]), and ricas (= windrows), in which no vocalic precedes the final brace of the word, stress falls on the first vocalic.
[/li][li]The optional final-syllable stress on a verb conjugated into the third-person singular future tense form is not marked. For instance, we write lirarha (= he/she/it will read), even though a speaker may stress the final syllable. [The final-syllable stress on the irregular conjugations serà (= he/she/it will be), ischà (= he/she/it will change location), and säperà (= he/she/it will know) is not optional, and is marked.][/li][li]The words säparh (= to know), zespäts (= since), ündesch (= eleven), and sa müchet (= so/as much) are all irregularly stressed on their umlaut-marked vowel (as if written sãparh, etc.).
[/li][li]The words acest (= this, that), vidarh (= to see), and embù (= both) can optionally be stressed on their first syllable.
[/li][/ul]For a list of some examples, so you can get an idea of what all of this means, check out the list at the bottom of this page.
[/blockquote]
Affixes (Suffixes and Prefixes)

This may seem like a strange time to discuss prefixes and suffixes. After all, we are not quite done discussing stress, but we'll get back to that in a minute. The reason I wanted to cover prefixes and suffixes here is because, as you just learned, a number of Talossan word-endings are naturally "unstressed". Also, some affixes are examples of another subject: irregular pronunciation.

It may help you to remember that a pluralized word is almost always stressed on the same syllable as its singular form. Other than the word-ending -pätsilor, there are only six words that have irregular plural forms that do not follow this rule; obviously in these cases, either the singular or plural form is stressmarked to indicate the irregular stress. One of these is is cióvec (= man) which has the irregular plural form cioveci. In this case, not only does stress shift one syllable to the right in the plural form, but cioveci is also one of the very few irregularly pronounced words in Talossan -- the final i is silent, so the word cioveci is pronounced as if it is spelled ciovetsch.

Second, the weak-vowel word-ending -ent is very common since it used in conjugating any verb to the first- or third-person plural (the we or they) sense. For example, the verb parlarh (= to talk) conjugates to parlent (= we talk or they talk) and parlevent (= we or they talked) and parlarhent (= we or they will talk). We will obviously discuss verb conjugation much more later in the course, but for now simply note that this word ending -ent is among those that are naturally unstressed.

Remember that before identifying any weak vowels to determine which syllable should be stressed, four specific word-endings are completely removed from the word. The suffixes that are completely ignored when analyzing stress are common and specialized in their use, making them easy to remember. One of these is -laiset, which is like the English -th ending used to form ordinal numbers; for example, vuitlaiset (= eighth). This suffix is often heard pronounced clipped, as simply -laist. Another of these is -mint, which is like the English -ly suffix used to form adverbs from adjectives. For example, actual becomes actualmint (= actually). Another unstressed ending that is easy to keep in mind is the suffix -päts (often seen using consonant mutation as -phäts); it is used similarly to the English suffix -land or -dom. For example, Finphäts (= Finland), Ispäts (= Iceland) and regipäts (= kingdom). The unstressed suffix -sqab may be easy to remember as being unstressed once you know that it is equivalent to the English suffixes -ness and -ship (holding of an office). For example, the Talossan word ben (= good) becomes bensqab (= goodness), and Seneschalsqab (= prime ministership).

It is worth noting that a few specific prefixes and suffixes are irregularly pronounced. Perhaps the most important of these to know about is the word-ending -ind which is used like the English -ing ending to create present participles. For example, the verb parlarh (= to speak or talk) has the present participle form parlind (= speaking). This word-ending is not pronounced as it looks, but instead as if it were -ant. Unlike in English, the Talossan present participle can be pluralized, and this same exceptional pronunciation rule applies. For example, in both el cióvec parlind (= the talking man) and els cioveci parlinds (= the talking men), the letters ind are pronounced as if spelled ant.

Historical note: This irregular pronunciation of the -ind word-ending was actually a result of a dispute between users of Talossan in the 1980's. Some formed the present participle by pronouncing (and spelling) it -ind while others formed it by both pronouncing and spelling it -ant. The two groups agreed to compromise on the one spelling with the other pronunciation.

Another irregularity of affix pronunciation is one we have already discussed, and that is the fact that the letter x is pronounced as the English "sh" when it appears in the plural form endings -eux and -éux. Another exception to keep in mind is that the prefix scurz- (which means "short") is pronounced as if it is spelled scurtz-. Finally, another very common ending that is irregularly pronounced is the word ending -schti (which is the plural ending for words ending in -scù, -x, and -sc). In this word-ending, the final letter i is not pronounced, so that computex (= computer) has the plural form computeschti, in which the final letter i is not pronounced.

Talossan has a robust collection of prefixes and suffixes. We won't go into them in any more detail here than we have already, but you may want to look at the lists of common prefixes and suffixes that are given on this Webpage and this Webpage. In fact, you may have realized another suffix was involved in one of the examples we used earlier. The word xhurnalatsch (= tabloid newspaper) was formed by suffixing xhurnal (= newspaper) with the suffix -atsch (meaning "bad").

PART 2: SYLLABLE SEPARATION

As we've seen over the last couple weeks, Talossan has a number of multi-letter combinations, and we've discussed how this poses a challenge in written Talossan when one part of the combination should be pronounced in one syllable, and the other part in another syllable.

For example, the English word ruin cannot be transliterated directly into Talossan as simply ruin, since ui is a diphthong, so a Talossan word ruin would be a single syllable, while the English word is spoken in two distinct syllables. As another example, the English word dragnet also could not be transliterated simply, since the combination gn would indicate pronunciation of the Spanish ñ (as in English canyon and onion).

When the letter combination to be separated is a set of vowels (a diphthong such as ui), there are three methods that can be used to indicate syllabic separation. When the letter combination is a set of consonants (such as gn), then there is only one method that can be used. Let's discuss the three methods of separating diphthongs first, some of which you have already seen:

• When the vowel to be separated from a diphthong appears in "default" stress position, explicitly stress marking that vowel may be done to indicate the separation. This only works, however, if the stress mark does not have the effect of indicating that the entire diphthong is being stressed. For examle, the word sunía (= hallucination) is stressed on the vowel i, which is separated from what would otherwise be the diphthong ia by the stress mark. Notice that this only worked because the stressmarked form of the diphthong ia is iá and not ía. In a word like ruin, then, this method would not be useful, and one of the methods below would need to be used.
• If one of the letters in the diphthong to be separated is the letter i, then the separation can be indicated by adding a trema, or diæresis mark (two-dots, identical to the umlaut) over the i. This is also done in English, in words like naïve, the diæresis indicating that the word is not pronounced as nave or nive, but that the i stands in its own syllable, so that the word is pronounced nah-eev. For example, consider the Talossan word fruïtz (= fruit). Here, what would be the diphthong ui is separated into two syllables, so that this word is pronounced "fru-eetz". Notice that the word is still not stress marked, so stress falls, by default, on the (now separated) letter i, meaning that the second and final syllable is stressed. Notice also that the word could not be written fruítz, since uí indicates a stressed vowel combination (diphthong).
• If neither of the above methods can be used, then the separation of a diphthong into two syllables is indicated in writing by inserting an apostrophe (or, more recently, an interpunct or middle dot: •) between the components of the diphthong. There are only a few words in Talossan that must resort to this method. One of them is enfe·uçarh (= to set afire). Here, the two-syllable word féu (= fire) has been both prefixed (with en-) and suffixed (with -çarh), and the suffix takes default stress. So to indicate that the integrated word does not contain the diphthong eu, an apostrophe is necessary in writing. Most of the other words in Talossan that use apostrophes to separate what would be diphthongs are formed by prefixes as well. For example, co·aliziun (= coalition), re'unitarh (= to reunite), and retro•actïu (= retroactive). In these cases, a hyphen can also be used instead of an apostrophe, because just as in English (pre-school, post-mortem), hyphenization can be used at prefix boundaries in Talossan. (Some persons choose to use this method in preference to the ï method listed above, preserving the umlaut only for use to indicate the vowels ä, ö, and ü. Such persons would use fru'itz or fru·itz rather than fruïtz)

When the issue is the separation of a group of consonants (instead of vowels), then the only available method is the third one discussed above -- use of an apostrophe/interpunct. Once again, the number of words in which this type of separation is called for is limited to only a few dozen, and again, many are words formed by prefixes, where a hyphen could be used instead -- for example, pan'naziunal (= pan-national), út'traval (= workout), and inter'raçal (= inter-racial). But for some words, such as adeg·nás (= dirty white color), t'svaçeir (= racket, for tennis, etc.), mag'noglh (= magnolia), and fil'harmonic (= philharmonic), an apostrophe/interpunct is needed to separate a consonant group that would otherwise indicate an alternate pronunciation.

Other Uses of the Apostrophe

Before finishing this lecture, a word or two should be said about the fact that in addition to its use (in a limited number of words, as discussed above) to indicate the separation of what would be a diphthong or consonant combination, the apostrophe is used in Talossan to indicate elision and contraction. (The interpunct is not used for this.)

We have seen this in action already, with such examples as com'estás't, which is a contraction of come (= how) with estás. Such cases are much like English examples like you're and I'm, meaning that the apostrophe indicates the removal of a vowel sound at the beginning or end of one of two words, and the contraction of the two words into one. The result is a construction where the apostrophe appears between a vowel and a consonant. This dropping of vowels is known as "elision".

Notice that in this use of the apostrophe, what would have been multiple syllables is often combined into a single syllable. This is the opposite effect from the use of the apostrophe to separate diphthongs and consonant combinations, discussed above.

One extremely common word in Talossan that is an example of elision and contraction is c'e (= it is; so you may think of is as very much like English it's). This is not only a contraction of two words, but also a drastic shortening of one of them. The word c'e is equivalent to ça (= it) + esta (= is). Notice, though, that these two words have nearly been completely lost in the creation of c'e. The ç has turned to a c, and esta has been shortened to simply e. Not only that, but by juxtaposing the c with an e (even with the apostrophe separation), the c becomes pronounced as "ch" in English chair. So the Talossan word c'e is pronounced as English "cheh" or even "chay".

Talossan also can (and often does) use c'e where in English a simple "is" would suffice. That is, an English sentence such as "the lion is yellow" could be translated as either la liun isch vermel (= the lion is yellow) or as la liun c'e vermel (= the lion, it is yellow). However, c'e cannot be used in this way if the subject is a person. That is, va figlheu c'e feliceu (= my son, it is happy) is improper; you must say va figlheu isch feliceu (= my son is happy).

Before leaving this topic, here are a couple more interesting and important facts about c'e. First of all, this common word is not only used for "it is", but also anytime you want to say "this is" or "that is". Just as English accepts both "does not" and "doesn't", the longer, uncontracted forms are also available in Talossan: ça isch (= it is) and acest isch and aceasta isch (both = this/that is). The other thing to notice is that yes, esta (which was one of the two words contracted long ago to form c'e) is no longer the word for "is". Although many of the tenses of the verb estarh (= to be) have retained the est- form, the word used for third-person subjects like it and this and that (as well as for he and she and the second-person subject you) is isch. We see this in the example Va num isch ______ (= my name is ______), which can also be Va num c'e ______. The word c'e is therefore a preserved relic of an older Talossan form, when esta had not yet been displaced by isch.

With the conclusion of this lecture, you now have a complete picture of written Talossan, and we can advance into topics such as the meanings of words, how to form sentences, conjugate verbs, and use the various tenses, voices, and aspects of Talossan (don't be intimidated if you don't know what some of those things mean).

As always, Da Prof and I are available for (and would welcome) questions about this lecture or any of the earlier ones. If anything is unclear, please let one of us know.

Assignments forthcoming, as soon as I think of one.

(And hopefully the next lecture will be Hooligan's doing and not mine.)[/blockquote]

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

schtuffphe?

[Iustì Carlüs Canun]

Yes. Schtuffphe. The constantly accumulating things that pile up in your brain and in your life.

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

Yiddish?
How do you even pronounce it? [ˈʃtufːɛ]? [ˈʃtufpʰɛ]?

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

Aug 5, 2013 16:24:44 GMT -6 Iustì Carlüs Canun said:

(...)
PART 1: STRESS

(...)

Unmarked	Marked
ä*	ä́ or a̋
ö*	ö́ or ő
ü*	ǘ or ű

*I can guarantee that you will almost never see this letter stressmarked in an actual Talossan text, as there are so few words in which it is necessary that the more common ones are mostly just understood to be irregularly stressed.

(...)

I had the impression that umlaut-marked vowels "ä", "ö" and "ü" themselves would be stressed (except for "-päts" and "-ttä", which are excluded when determinating stress) by default.
I, for example, have stressed "översteir" always [ˈøvəɾˌstɛjɾ]. (I thus cannot understand why I did this wrong in the week two homework. For the record: I rectified the stress signs given in my IPA-transliteration.)
This belief of mine is also supported by the Prof's stress-rules he sent me via e-mail upon a request of clarification for the pronunciation of "circüs".

[Iustì Carlüs Canun]

The stress in översteir is on the third syllable.
Umlauted O and U at the ENDS of words are always stressed, but not elsewhere.

[Ián B. Anglatzarâ]

Aug 6, 2013 3:46:13 GMT -6 Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun said:

Yiddish?
How do you even pronounce it? [ˈʃtufːɛ]? [ˈʃtufpʰɛ]?

[stʌf] would be my guess.

[Iustì Carlüs Canun]

Aug 7, 2013 0:49:15 GMT -6 Ián B. Anglatzarâ said:

Aug 6, 2013 3:46:13 GMT -6 Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun said:

Yiddish?
How do you even pronounce it? [ˈʃtufːɛ]? [ˈʃtufpʰɛ]?

[stʌf] would be my guess.

[ʃtʌfː], actually. My Intro Psych professor came up with it. It's all the accumulated things that pile up in your brain, and by extension, in life, including both the relevant and irrelevant things.

[Adam da Simeon]

Since there is no poll I guess I have to post I'm here so "Here".

[Dr. Txec dal Nordselvă]

No poll? I'm present anyway.

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

Hey, now there's a poll! Here anyways.

[Ián Tamorán S.H.]

<thinks> How do I vote "No" on the poll? </thinks>

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

Burp at it.