Oalanii

This entry contains reconstructed words and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Oalanii
Seilim
∅
Created by	Jukethatbox
Date	2023
Era	4,000 UH-2,300 UH
Revival	300 BH
Language family	Taskaric Oalanic Oalanii
Dialect	Several hypothesised

Oalanii, also called Seilim is a comparatively reconstructed language that was most likely spoken in what is now the Moshurian city of Oalan, hence its name. Most of our knowledge of the language is reconstructed from Siktó-Oalanii and Irhekhee-Oalanii translated tablets as well as comparatively reconstructed from contemporary languages, child languages such as Zanúzh, and parent languages like Proto-Taskaric.

The Oalanii endonym is unknown, as no surviving record written in the Oalanii logographic script mentions their own name, though we know the Siktó called them the *séékm'e, which is also most likely the root of the Endépéd word for the Oalanii, zaakyuma, although this word is now mostly used to mean Moshurian speakers who are from Oalan and/or speak the unique Oalan dialect.

Syntax

Cases

We know that Oalanii had at least four grammatical cases, and from Proto-Taskaric, we can deduce that these cases were probably the nominative, accusative, dative and/or ablative. The existence of the ablative case is controversial, as the case does not appear in Oalanii's child language of Zanúzh, although proponents of the existence of the Oalanii ablative case have pointed out that though modern Zanúzh does not have an ablative case, it does have an ablative preposition, ûk, which would have most likely served as an ablative prefix in more ancient registers of the language.

Another source of controversy over Oalanii grammatical cases is whether the cases were indicated by prefixes or suffixes. Proponents of the prefix theory point to the fact that early forms of Zanúzh as well as modern-day registers of Bayù(another direct descendant of Oalanii) use prefixes to denote grammatical case. However, proponents of the alternative theory state that among other Taskaric languages, suffixes seem to be the dominant pattern among grammatical case indicators, and that modern Oalanic languages usage of prefixes bear similar characteristics with neighbouring non-Taskaric languages that would have not existed during the era of the Oalanii language.

Proposed prefixes

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	(Ablative)
Standalone		*ə-/*∅	*tə-	*sə-	(*taw(ə)-)
Examples	*kúlú(m)	*əkúlú(m)/*kúlú(m)	*təkúlú(m)	*səkúlú(m)	(*taw(ə)kúlú(m))
	*ógóx	*ə(j)ógóx/ógóx	*tə(j)ógóx	*sə(j)ógóx	(*taw(əj)ógóx)
Meaning	wood