Zanahi

From Linguifex
Revision as of 10:27, 24 November 2022 by Shariifka (talk | contribs) (→‎Orthography)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Zanahi (native: zanāhī, haṭ-ṭaṣwā haz-zanāhiyyā) is an Indo-European language with a high degree of Semitic influence.

Zanahi
zanāhī
Pronunciation[zænæːhiː]
Created byShariifka
Early form
Proto-Zanahi

Introduction

Zanahi is a satem language.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Zanahi
Labial Dental Denti-alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
plain emphatic
Nasal /m/ /n/
Stop voiceless /p/ /t̪/ /t̪ʕ/ /k/ /q/ /ʔ/
voiced /b/ /d̪/ /d͡ɮˤ/ /d͡ʒ/ /ɡ/
Fricative voiceless /f/ /θ/ /s/ /sˤ/ /ʃ/ /x ~ χ/ /ħ/ /h/
voiced /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ðˤ/ ~ ʁ/ /ʕ/
Trill /r/
Approximant /l/ /j/ /w/

Vowels

Vowel phonemes of Zanahi
Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Close /i/ /u/ /iː/ /uː/
Mid /eː/ /oː/
Open /a/ /aː/
Diphthongs /aw/, /aj/

Orthography

Zanahi orthography (consonants)
Letter Scientific transliteration Alternative transliterations IPA Name Remarks
' ' /ʔ/ 'ālaf
b b /b/ bēṯ
v ḇ; bh /v/ vēṯ
g g /ɡ/ gāmal
gh; ɣ; ġ /ɣ ~ ʁ/ ḡāmal
ǧ j /d͡ʒ/} ǧāmal Used in Arabic and other foreign loanwords.
d d /d̪/ dālaṯ
dh; ð /ð/ ḏālaṯ
h h /h/
w w /w/ wāw
z z /z/ zayn
ħ; h'; 7 /ħ/ ḥēṯ
kh; ch; x; 7' /x ~ χ/ ḫēṯ Used in Arabic and other early Semitic loanwords.
t'; 6 /t̪ˁ/ ṭēṯ
z'; dh'; ð̣; 6' /ðˁ/ ẓēṯ Used in Arabic loanwords.
y /j/ yōḏ
k /k/ kāf
kh; ch; x /x ~ χ/ ḵāf
č ch; tsh /t͡ʃ/ čāf Used in non-Semitic loanwords.
l /l/ lāmaḏ
m /m/ mīm
n /n/ nūn
s /s/ samkaṯ
ʻ c; "; 3 /ʕ/ ʻayn
ġ gh; ɣ; 3' /ɣ ~ ʁ/ ġayn Used in Arabic and other early Semitic loanwords.
p /p/
f p̄; ph /f/
s'; 9 /sˁ/ ṣāḏē
d'; 9' /d͡ɮˁ/ ḍāḏē
q /q/ qōf
r /r/ rēš
š sh /ʃ/ šīn
t /t̪/ tāw
th; θ; þ /θ/ ṯāw
Zanahi orthography (vowels)
Grapheme Scientific transliteration Alternative transliterations IPA Name Remarks
a /a/ fatḥā
e /e/ imālā In native words, only occurs in combination with a mater lectionis.
i /i/ kasrā
o /o/ faḫmā In native words, only occurs in combination with a mater lectionis.
u /u/ ḍammā
ā aa; â /aː/
â aa; ā /aː/ Used in a few words.
ē ee; ea; ei; ey; ê /eː/
ī ii; ee; iy; î /iː/
ō oo; oa; ou; ow; ô /oː/
ū uu; oo; uw; û /uː/
aw au /aw/
āw aaw; âu /aw/
ay ai /aj/
āy aay; âi /aj/
C C sukūn Used to indicate that a consonant is not followed by a vowel.
CC Cː šaddā Used to indicate that a consonant is geminated.

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Lenition

Non-emphatic plosives undergo lenition to fricatives (analogous to "begadkefat" in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew) in certain environments.

Consonants that undergo lenition
Un-lenited Lenited
/b/ /v/
/ɡ/ /ɣ ~ ʁ/
/d/ /ð/
/k/ /x ~ χ/
/p/ /f/
/t/ /θ/

Morphology

Like Arabic, Zanahi words are traditionally classified in three categories: nominals, verbs, and particles.

Nominals

Pronouns

Personal pronouns
Zanahi personal pronouns
Person/
Number
Independent Dependent
1S ammā -mā
2SM antā -tā/-ṯā
2SF antī -tī/ṯī
3SM hattā -hā
3SF hattī -hī
1P annā -nā
2PM antān -tān/ṯān
2PF antīn -tīn/ṯīn
3PM hattān -hān
3PF hattīn -hīn
Demonstrative pronouns
Zanahi demonstratives
Distance Singular Plural
masc. fem. masc. fem.
Near sān sīn
Far tān tīn

Nouns and adjectives

Nouns do not decline for case.

There are two genders: masculine and feminine.The feminine is most often marked with the ending .

There are two numbers: singular and plural.

Adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender and definiteness.

The definite article is ha-, which is prefixed to the noun/adjective causes the first consonant to geminate if it is not pharngeal or glottal. There is no indefinite article.

Below is an example declension for the adjective bān "clear":

Declension of bān "clear"
Gender Singular Plural
indef. def. indef. def.
Masculine bān hab-bān bānīn hab-bānīn
Feminine bānā hab-bānā bānān hab-bānān

Adverbs

Verbs

Particles

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources