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Yrkyr: Difference between revisions
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| style="text-align:center" | t͡s | | style="text-align:center" | t͡s | ||
| style="text-align:center" | t͡ʃ | | style="text-align:center" | t͡ʃ | ||
| style="text-align:center" | t͡ɬ<ref | | style="text-align:center" | t͡ɬ<ref>Merged with /r/ in the South due to Mtari influence.</ref> | ||
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| style="text-align:center" | s | | style="text-align:center" | s | ||
| style="text-align:center" | ʃ | | style="text-align:center" | ʃ | ||
| style="text-align:center" | (ɬ)<ref | | style="text-align:center" | (ɬ)<ref>In Yrhu dialect /ɬ/ is still a separate phoneme, while elsewhere it merged with /l/ due to Mtari influence.</ref> | ||
| style="text-align:center" | x | | style="text-align:center" | x | ||
| style="text-align:center" | xʷ | | style="text-align:center" | xʷ | ||
| style="text-align:center" | h (ɦ)<ref | | style="text-align:center" | h (ɦ)<ref>In Yrhu dialect [ɦ] is present everywhere, except word finally, while in Yrkyr [h] is more common.</ref> | ||
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! Approximant | ! Approximant | ||
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{{reflist | {{reflist}} | ||
[[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. | [[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. | ||
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==Morphology== | ==Morphology== | ||
All Yrkyr words fall into one of three, clearly differentiated, classes; verbs, nominals, and particles. The latter class is a collecting term for various non-inflecting words. Nominals may be derived from verbal stems but apparently no verb is derived from a nominal stem, instead a nominal root is attached to an existing verb - a process, called noun [[w:Incorporation (linguistics)|incorporation]] | All Yrkyr words fall into one of three, clearly differentiated, classes; verbs, nominals, and particles. The latter class is a collecting term for various non-inflecting words. Nominals may be derived from verbal stems but apparently no verb is derived from a nominal stem, instead a nominal root is attached to an existing verb - a process, called noun [[w:Incorporation (linguistics)|incorporation]]. Adjectives and adverbials derive from either verbs or nominals, but all of them behave like stative verbs, so they are not listed as a separate class. Yrkyr is between agglutinative and fusional types of language and inflections are often essential to clear understanding and transmission of information. It is also fairly regular in its nominal morphology, but more irregular in the verbal one. There are dozens of old irregular verbs with completely unpredictable conjugation patterns, resulted from various sound changes. Proto-Yrharian is considered to had been far more regular polysynthetic language, but over time all of its descendants gained more and more irregularities. | ||
===Nominal morphology=== | ===Nominal morphology=== | ||
Yrharain has two nominal declensions based on [[w:Animacy|animacy]]: animate and inanimate. Each declension has its own set of case markings. Most animals, people, some weather | Yrharain has two nominal declensions based on [[w:Animacy|animacy]]: animate and inanimate. Each declension has its own set of case markings. Most animals, people, some weather phenomena like thunder, and supernatural entities are animate, while most non-living things, insects, abstract and collective nouns, plants, and sky/weather features (such as clouds) are inanimate. Animate nouns typically take the ergative case, while inanimate - either absolutive or instrumental cases, when two are present in a sentence, regardless of their actual role as a subject and an object. | ||
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). | 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). | ||
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| ajŋ-/ijŋ- || reciprocal | | ajŋ-/ijŋ- || reciprocal | ||
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| aŋ-/iŋ- || | | aŋ-/iŋ- || benefactive | ||
|- | |- | ||
| ak(a)t-/ik(i)t- || causative | | ak(a)t-/ik(i)t- || causative | ||
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====Suffixes==== | ====Suffixes==== | ||
*In Yrkyr noun declensions usually give enough information about which noun is the subject and which is the object. But this was not the case in Proto-Yrharian, which marked this distinction on the verb only. Modern Yrkyr inherited this system and innovated the other one so now it is marked twice. Animacy plays an important part in Yrkyr morphology. Generally, the most animate noun in a sentence should be the agent while the noun with lesser animacy is a patient. If both nouns are of an equal animacy then the roles are inferred from noun cases only. In all other cases an inverse marker '''-sw'''/'''-ru''' is used to indicate that the action is performed by someone of lower animacy. For example: both ''Eŋahn čilh lyteje'' and ''Čilh Eŋahn lyteje''means "Enga listens to the jay", and in order to say "The jay listens to Enga" an inverse marker is used, since the jay is a bird and thus has lower animacy and can not be in the ergative case: ''Eŋahn čilh lytiswi''. This can also be translated as "Enga is being listened to by the jay". | *In Yrkyr noun declensions usually give enough information about which noun is the subject and which is the object. But this was not the case in Proto-Yrharian, which marked this distinction on the verb only. Modern Yrkyr inherited this system and innovated the other one so now it is marked twice. Animacy plays an important part in Yrkyr morphology. Generally, the most animate noun in a sentence should be the agent while the noun with lesser animacy is a patient. If both nouns are of an equal animacy then the roles are inferred from noun cases only. In all other cases an inverse marker '''-sw'''/'''-ru''' is used to indicate that the action is performed by someone of lower animacy. For example: both ''Eŋahn čilh lyteje'' and ''Čilh Eŋahn lyteje'' means "Enga listens to the jay", and in order to say "The jay listens to Enga" an inverse marker is used, since the jay is a bird and thus has lower animacy and can not be in the ergative case: ''Eŋahn čilh lytiswi''. This can also be translated as "Enga is being listened to by the jay". | ||
*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 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. | *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. | ||
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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". | 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== | ==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. | 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. | ||