Irathient Grammar

Vowel Quadrangle

An important organizing feature of Irathient grammar is the vowel quadrangle:

i		u
	ə
e		a

Several grammatical patterns are organized around alternating pairs of vowels, i ~ a and e ~ u. For example, the plural of nouns is formed by switching the final vowel with its opposite on the quadrangle:

• harathi alien, haratha aliens
• ugyure necklace, ugyuru necklaces
• tishuma human, tishumi humans

If a noun ends in a consonant, then the center of the quadrangle, ə, is used:

• nugyith tower, nugyithə towers
• undur rock, undurə rocks

The present, zaha, and imperfect, zahi, of the auxiliary verbs have this vowel exchange, as do the active, etu, and passive, utu, of non-auxiliary verbs.

The quadrangle is inspired by the conlang Afrihili.