Yrkyr: Difference between revisions

  | style="text-align:center" | t͡s

  | style="text-align:center" | t͡ʃ

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  | style="text-align:center" | s

  | style="text-align:center" | ʃ

  | style="text-align:center" | x

  | style="text-align:center" | xʷ

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  ! Approximant

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[[w:Palatalization (phonetics)|Palatalization]] and [[w:Labialization|labialization]] are two unique Yrharian features. In Proto-Yrharian almost every consonant had a palatalized and a labialized variants. But a sound change, that resulted in lowering of North Yrharian high vowels, allowed to eliminate them as phonemic everywhere, except for velars, which still preserve labialized counterparts. In modern language both palatalization and labialization occure before /i/ and /u/ respectively, but these features are not phonemic anymore. Instead new consonant alterations derived from the change.

===Vowels===

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===Phonotactics===

Most basic Yrkyr word roots are monosyllabic. Typical syllable structures are '''V''', '''CV''' and '''CVC''', where '''C''' is a consonant and '''V''' is a vowel. The first two types are called light syllables, which take part in vowel alterations and don't receive stress, when there is a heavy syllable of a '''CVC''' structure nearby. There are no limitations to which consonant may appear word-initially or in consonant clusters, which are only possible on syllable boundaries. Root final clusters are not allowed, an epenthetic [ə] being inserted between the consonants, when such a cluster would appear. Vowel sequences are also not allowed, except between different words. Nearby consonants and vowels are affecting each other, creating a comlex system of alterations, some of which became unpredictable with time, for example: ''lyči'' /ˈlə.t͡ʃi/ - "to see", ''lyteŋ'' /lə.ˈtɛn/ - "I see it", where /t/ always palatalizes to /t͡ʃ/ before /i/; ''kʷocawun'' /kʷʌ.t͡sɑ.ˈwun/ - ''while bathing'', ''lykʷos'' /lə.ˈkʷʌs/ to wash (something) - kʷoskyŋ /ˈkʷʌs.kəŋ/ "I wash up", ''laxkʷohŋ'' /lɑx.ˈkʷʌːŋ/ - "I took a bath", where /t͡s/ becomes /s/ and dissappears.

==Morphology==

===Nominal morphology===

Nominals are inflected for seven cases and three numbers (singular, dual and plural). Any animate noun can take dual number, while only naturally paired inanimate nouns can take it. The rest usually take plural. Reduplication is a non-productive element of derivation. It is occasionally used to indicate a collective group. Mass nouns do not have plurals but new nouns can be derived from them by attaching a plural marker. They would still be declined as singular ones, while the plural marker becomes a suffix. This process is called [[w:Suffixaufnahme|suffixaufnahme]]. It can also occure with genitive and dative markers, which become suffixes and can receive new endings. For example, ''toj'' - "side", ''tojiha'' "sideways" (of the side), become ''tojihka'' "to the side", ''tojihcan'' "suddenly" (out from the side).

The most common nouns used with these prefixes are ''tlat'' "place, location", ''to'' "side", ''ne'' "way", ''šon'' "time, occasion", hahr "person". However, the prefixes may be used with any noun, so a large number of pronouns can be created this way.

===Verbal morphology===

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An example, where all the prefixes slots are full: ''lisilhajŋuŋkorinoŋ'' (lis-im-lha-ajŋ-un-kor-in-oŋ) "It seems they might not have talked to each other yet". Such words are occasionaly used in common speech to convey as much information as the speaker would like to, despite looking complex and cumbersome. However, usually shorter verbs are preferred.

====Stem====

Yrkyr has different [[w:Grammatical aspect|aspectual]] and [[w:Grammatical mood|modal]] distinctions indicated by an aspect prefix or, sometimes, a combination of several aspect prefixes fused together. Yrkyr lacks a grammatical [[w:Grammatical tense|tense]]. There are primary and secondary aspects, with the secondary aspects being used only in combination with a primary ones.

====Suffixes====

*The impersonal marker '''-su''' is used either when the agent is unknown, like the English word "someone" or in general statements, that are true of any person, similarly to English "one" or "they say".

*The '''verb type modifier''' is a special suffix attached to the verb in order to change or clarify the meaning of it. These modifiers are used to derive new verbs.  

===Postpositions===

===Numerals===

Like the Mtari language, Yrkyr uses a '''decimal''' (base-10) numeral system. Only numerals from one to four are local, higher numerals are borrowed from Mtari.

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Words for hundreds and even higher numbers are formed in the same way (''-kehm'' is added to make hundreds, ''-mek'' - for tens of thousands and ''-kyrom'' - for millions). In the compound numerals the lesser numeral is simply put after the bigger one: ''sylkanihs ahm'' - "twenty six". In order to make an ordinal numeral, the prefix ''tla-'' is added to the corresponding cardinal numeral. Exceptions are ''lapyn'' - "first", ''tlakʷa'' - "second" and ''tlaš'' - "third".

==Vocabulary==

Almost all of Yrkyr basic vocabulary is of a native Yrharian origin, but the vocabulary size is still fairly small. The core vocabulary (kinship and geographic terms, words for celestial bodies, body parts, animals and some plants) can be traced to Proto-Yrharian, while a large amount of other native words can be found only in the North-Yrharian branch or in Yrkyr only. Prior to the Mtari colonization Yrkyr did not borrow much from its neighbouring languages, instead it invented new native words for newly introduced terms and cultural items. Even after the Mtari colonists took over much of Yrharian lands and almost wiped out other native population there, the Yrkyr people were still living in a relative isolation in northern taiga regions. Around a century ago contacts with the Mtari became much more frequent, they introduced new technologies to Yrharians, most notably metals and agriculture and thus many new loanwords entered Yrkyr, which were soon adapted to its phonology, since most of the population remained monolingual. Nowadays a large portion of Yrkyr words (primarily nouns) are of the Mtari origin. Bilingual speakers tend to simplify the grammar, especially the verb morphology in their speech, using calques from Mtari instead, and thus the language changes very quickly.