Idavic languages

Idavic languages/Lexicon

Idavic languages/Swadesh

Rough sketch of the distribution of the major Idavic languages in its native continent

In the Unbegotten timeline, the Idavic languages are a family of in-universe conlangs by conlanger and composer Edna Ashe. The family is intended to blend IE, Uralic, Salish, and Semitic phonaesthetics seamlessly.

Family tree

• Idavic
  • Shalaic (j > r, dł > l?)
    • Shalaian (Salisho-Welsh)
  • Varkic
    • Varkun (Finno-Arabic)
    • Sami gibberish
  • Netagic
    • Netagin (Optimized for piyyutim)
  • Nabŋaic
    • Nabbrzé (Russo-Arabic)
    • Ouřefr (Czech + Dutch)
  • Beronic
    • Rozzino (Japano-Hebrew)

Phonology

• Consonants: b d dł j g gʷ p t tł č k kʷ q s ł š h ʔ m n ŋ l r w y ř (ř is a retroflex approx.)
• Vowels: a e i u ā ē ī ū (ə allophonic)
• Pitch accent: modal (á), creaky (ã)
  • Creaky voice is the source of glottal reinforcement in Shalaian and vowel shifts in Netagin.
  • Vowels can only be long in stressed syllables.

Shalaian diachronics

• b > v; ɓ > b; g > y, kh, or CL; j > ʒ; ng > ng3 > n3
• Grimm's law: p t č kʷ q > f θ ʃ x H
• q G q' > H ayin q
• further shifts: kʷ' > kʷ > xʷ
• Vowel shifts: ā > ō > /əʊ/, u > /ɒ/, iw > /ju:/
• final -ā -ī shorten to -a -i
• Loss of initial glottal stop, then loss of non-prevocalic /r/
• Historical long vowels (also /ɑː/ from historical /ar/) shorten before /ʕ/

Phonotactics

Allowed root clusters

Allowed clusters with no glottal stop:

• mC: mn ml mr my m3 mb md mj mg mp mt mtł ms mł mč mk mkw mq mh
• nC: nm nr n3 ny nw nd ndł nj ng nt ntł ns nš nč nk nkw nq nh
• lC: lm ln l3 ly lw lb ld lj lg lp lt ls lč lk lkw lq lh
• rC: rm rn r3 ry rw rb rd rdł rj rg rp rt rł rtł rs rč rk rkw rq rh
• 3C: 3m 3n 3l 3r 3y (never initial) 3w 3b 3d 3dł 3j 3g 3p 3t 3s 3ł 3tł 3č 3k 3kw 3q
• Cm: nm lm rm 3m dm jm gm tm sm šm čm łm tłm km kwm qm hm
• Cn: mn ln 3n bn dn jn gn pn tn sn šn čn łn tłn kn kwn qn hn
• Cl: ml nl 3l rl bl dl jl fl tl sl šl čl kl kwl ql hl
• Cr: mr nr għr vr br dr jr pr tr sr šr čr kr kwr qr hr
• Cy: my ny ly ry 3y (never initial) by py dy ty sy šy ły dły tły gy ky qy hy
• Cw: nw 3w dw dłw jw tw tłw sw łw čw qw
• C3: m3 n3 l3 r3 b3 d3 j3 p3 t3 tł3 ł3 s3 š3 č3 k3 kw3 q3
• XX: any cluster of 2 obstruents are allowed, as long as they agree in voicing and are not both dorsal (k, g, kw, gw, q); in addition, s + voiced stop and š + voiced stop

Morphology

Combine German, Semitic and PIE morphologies

Tone changes were part of the morphology of Proto-Idavic. Shalaic retained the Proto-Idavic accent system, while Netagic lost it with a shift to stem-initial stress and a vowel split conditioned by creaky voice.

The three genders, the three numbers and the possessive suffixes are Proto-Idavic features. Shalaian added a new alienable-inalienable possession distinction by creating alienable possessive prefixes from genitive pronouns.

Pronouns

• independent: lī, dā, kʷā, nidí
• emphatic: *swi-li, *swi-da, *swi-kʷa, *swi-nídi

Root structure

Idavic roots were consonantal roots similar to PIE and Semitic languages: most roots were biconsonantals C-C or triconsonantals alternating between CVC(ə)C (also called the segolate form) and C(ə)CVC (also called the antisegolate form) by Schwebeablaut.

2-letter roots:

• √t-q 'to say' (a source of Shal. θāħ)
• √ʕ-d 'to shine, to show' (source of Shal. lyd 'bright'; ládmar 'happiness' comes from a root extension √ʕ-dm)
• √ʕ-n 'high, raised'

3-letter roots:

• √qdVb~qVdb 'true'

In Late Proto-Idavic, Schwebeablaut alternations are part of the inflectional morphology of a word. In Early Proto-Idavic they are thought to have been phonologically conditioned:

• The default state is the CVCC form: qidb 'to be true'; qidbti 'loyalty'
• With closed syllable in the prefix the segolate form is used: hin·qídb 'to verify' → li·hinqadb 'I verify'
• With open syllable in the prefix the antisegolate form is used: ri·qádb 'to stay true' → li·ríqdab 'I stay true'

Ablaut

There were several ablaut grades:

• zero-grade (CC)
• a-grade (CaC ~ CCa or CaCC ~ CCaC)
• i-grade (CiC ~ CCi or CiCC ~ CCiC)
• u-grade (CuC ~ CCu or CuCC ~ CCuC)
• lengthened grades: ā, ī, ū-grades (intensive? transitive? plural? nominalization? pair up with short grades?)
• creaky voice: causative and intensive

Many prefixes and suffixes require certain ablaut grades.

Netagin is the only Idavic language to preserve the Proto-Idavic ablaut system and develop it into a system of verb conjugation, binyanim, and noun and adjective patterns. (How should it do that?)

Examples

√ʕ-d 'to shine'

• Intransitive verbs: -ʕad- ~ -ʕid- ~ -ʕd- = to shine
• Adjectives: ʕīd = bright
• Noun:
  • ʕād = light
  • ʕā̃d = Sun, star? (singulativized collective)
  • creaky voice marked singulatives: ʕãd = ray
• Action or state noun: ʕud-ar = (state of) shining, brightness
• Deverbal nouns:
• Derived stems:
  • wa·ʕā́d = to polish
  • ʕãd-ī́r = to illuminate, to show (source of Shal. għa'téer 'to prove')
  • ʕád-m-ar = (root extension) happiness, joy
  • ʕíd-n-ar = (root extension) beauty, radiance

Nouns

TODO: needs a more PIE-like feel; shift accents, lengthen/change root vowels

Proto-Idavic had 3 genders: inanimate (i), animate (a), and abstract (h). The abstract gender evolved to serve honorific functions in Shalaian, hence the abbreviation "h".

Nouns declined for four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) and three numbers (singular, dual, plural).

Idavic nouns could have plurals marked with case suffixes (weak nouns) and sometimes with ablaut and/or reduplication and then marked with singular suffixes (strong nouns). Broken plurals often developed into lexicalized singular nouns in Shalaian.

Animate

rū̃sa 'dog'

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	rū̃sa	rū̃sandi	rusā́n
Accusative	rū̃say	rūsandi	rusī́k
Dative	rū̃sam	???	rusī́s
Genitive	rū̃sat	???	rusā́ka

Inanimate

acc = nom for inanimates and abstracts

šármi 'stone'

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	šármi	šármindi	šarmā́t
Accusative	šármi	šármindi	šarmā́t
Dative	šármin	???	šarmī́s
Genitive	šármit	???	šarmā́ka

Abstract

ʕídnasi 'radiance'

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ʕídnasi	ʕídnasandi	ʕidnā́si
Accusative	ʕídnasi	ʕídnasandi	ʕidnā́si
Dative	ʕidnásin	???	ʕidnā́sin
Genitive	ʕidnást	???	ʕidnā́sit

Possessive suffixes

Possessive suffixes were added directly to the case form of a noun.

Possessor	Suffix
First person singular	*-li
Second person singular	*-di
Third person singular	*-hī ~ *-sī (his/her) *-ha ~ *-sa (its)
First person plural	*-kʷi
Second person plural	*-nikʷi
Third person plural	*-hist ~ *-sist

Adjectives

Adjectives agreed with nouns in number, gender and case.

Adverbs were formed from adjectives by replacing the case suffix with -u.

Class 1

ʕīd- 'bright'

	singular			plural
	animate	inanimate	abstract	animate	inanimate	abstract
Nominative	ʕī́da	ʕī́di	ʕī́dar	ʕidā́n	ʕidā́	ʕidā́ri
Accusative	ʕī́day	ʕī́di	ʕī́dari	ʕidī́	ʕīdā́ka	ʕīdā́ri
Dative	ʕī́dam	ʕī́din	ʕī́darin	ʕidī́s	ʕidī́s	ʕidā́rin
Genitive	ʕī́dat	ʕī́dit	ʕī́darit	ʕidā́ka	ʕidā́ka	ʕidā́rit

Class 2

Broken plurals; no gender distinction in plural

Verbs

Verbs had the following forms:

• imperative
• imperfect (either nonpast or imperfective aspect)
• past participle
• infinitive or verbal noun
• mi-infinitive (analogous to the German zu-infinitive)
• mi-participle (analogous to the German zu-participle)

Verbs were not inflected for person.

Paradigms

There were two regular classes of verbs, strong and weak verbs, much like strong and weak verbs in Germanic. Note: The infinitive was formed in a variety of ways.

	weak-unprefixed	weak with separable prefix	strong-unprefixed	strong with separable prefix
imperative	kadī́r!	kadī́r čal!	ʔakʷ!	ʔakʷ nuš!
imperfect	kadī́rik	čal·kadī́r	ʔákʷik	nuš·ʔákʷ
active participle	kadī́riškʷ-	čal·kadī́riškʷ-	ʔákʷiškʷ-	nuš·ʔákʷiškʷ-
passive participle	ʔa·kadirī́n-	čálʔa·kadirī́n-	ʔa·ʔúkʷč-	núšʔa·ʔúkʷč-
infinitive	kadī́rti	čálkadirti	ʔā́kʷi~ʔãkʷi~ʔā̃kʷi~ʔíkʷi	núšʔakʷi, núšʔəkʷi, etc.
mi-infinitive	mi·kadī́rti	čálmikadirti	mi·ʔā́kʷi~mi·ʔãkʷi~mi·ʔā̃kʷi	núšmiʔakʷi, núšʔəkʷi, etc.
mi-participle	mi·kadī́riškʷ-	čálmikadiriškʷ-	mi·ʔákʷiškʷ-	núšmiʔakʷiškʷ-

Auxiliaries

Auxiliaries conjugated in imperfect and preterite tenses, in addition to the usual verb forms.

• kan- 'to have' = haben
• hī-, hā- 'to be' = sein
• łar 'to come'/tay- 'to become' = werden

need modals

Syntax

Lifted from German: V2, SAuxOV, verb final in subordinate clauses

Derivation

Proto-Idavic had an extensive array of derivational affixes.

Root extensions: suffixes

• Creaky voice marked intensive or transitive verbs like the Semitic geminate binyan
• -ay (h): deverbal noun
• With prefixed verbs, the stress shift derives verbal nouns: *ri·kʷā́n 'to rest' → ·ríkʷan 'rest'. This is the source of some infinitives being marked with stress shifts in Shalaian (riwháin, ríwhain 'sleep').
• -gʷidi (i): augmentative; derives nouns
• -t (i): verbal noun, resultative
• -aʕ (a): agentive
• -ī́r: causative verbs
• -áy: causative, change of state
• -ā́l: transitive or causative verbs
• dan-: applicative, like German be-
• tar-: frequentative
• nar-: telic
• šu-: mis-, over-
• ur-: causative, change of state
• ri-: detransitivizer, passive
• -mak: nominalizer
• ⟨n⟩: continuative? frequentative?
• C1aC2- reduplicant: graduative
• -jan: instrument noun

Todo: separable prefixes