I Kronurum

I Kronurum
"that which is spoken"
Pronunciation	[/ˈʔi ˈkɾo̞.nu.ɾum/]
Created by	Nicolás Straccia
Setting	Unnamed conworld
Native to	The Marks of Ifarka (i-Étrir, ...) and some exclaves under their influence
Language family	Northern Languages I Kronurum
Early forms	Proto-Northern Ancient IK Old IK

The language known as I Kronurum is a conlang being created and developed by Nicolás Straccia since 2013 [It is part of a larger conworlding project].

Background

The language known as I Kronurum (IK) is a part of the Northern Languages linguistic family, which populates the northern region of the central continent.

Notwithstanding the several subgroups that have split from this branch at different stages, this central branch of the family has been studied as a continuity in which four main stages can be identified: Ancient IK (AIK), Old IK (OIK), Middle IK (MIK; together with Early-MIK, EMIK) and Modern IK (MoIK; together with Early-MoIK, EMoIK).

The developmental stage presented in this article is that of Middle-IK (MIK). At this stage, a group of OIK speakers has already moved westwards from the AIK speaker's cultural Urheimat, which was located in the plains in the northern region of the central continent. MIK is thus the main variety spoken in the region nearby and at the shores of the northern sea.

The endonym of this region is Ifarka (/ʔi.ˈfɑɾ.kɐ/), which is translated as "The Land". It is divided in several administrative provinces, called Igódánafáreþ ("Marks"), which hold periodical meetings regarding whichever matters would affect the generality of the hold.

Grammar

In a nutshell:

OSV

N/A

Pro-drop

[...]

PHONOLOGY

Vowels

Vowel inventory

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i u (ʊ) (ɘ) e̞ o̞ (ɛ) (ɐ) (a) ɑ
Near‑close
Close‑mid
Mid
Open‑mid
Near‑open
Open

Vowel allophony

· /ɑ/ becomes /ɐ/ in unstressed syllables and /a/ in word medial unstressed syllables.

· /e̞/ becomes /ɘ/ in unstressed syllables and /ɛ/ in word medial unstressed syllables.

Consonants

Consonant inventory

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b			t d			k g	ʔ
Nasal	m			n		(ɲ)	(ŋ)
Trill				r
Tap or flap				ɾ
Fricative	(β)	f	θ ð	s	ʃ		x (ɣ)	h
Lateral fric.				(ɬ)
Approximant	w					j
Lateral app.				l

Onset mutations

Mutation grade
0	1	2
b- /b/~/β/	p- /p/	f- /f/
d- /d/	ð- /ð/	þ- /θ/
f- /f/	p- /p/	b- /b/~/β/
h- /h/~/χ/	k- /k/	g- /g/~/ɣ/
j- /j/	jw- /jʷ/	ñ- /ɲ/
k- /k/	g- /g/~/ɣ/	h- /h/~/χ/
l- /l/	l- /l /	lh- /ɬ/
m- /m/	mw- /mʷ/	w- /w/
n- /n/	nw- /nʷ/	ñ- /ɲ/
s- /s/	þ- /θ/	ś- /ʃ/
t- /t/	d- /d/	ð- /ð/
w- /w/	gw- /gʷ/	ƕ- /hw/~/hv/

Onset mutations posit a great challenge for the diachronic analysis of I Kronurum. Since the previous stages of the language are not yet well documented, most of the information on this regard is a matter of scientific speculation.

Given the data available and the currently valid synchronic analysis, they are analysed as conforming a continuum of mutation grades from 0 to 2. The 0 degree of mutation is that of the onset consonant as it appears in the citation form of the root (nominative, unmarked). A first and second degree of mutation will be triggered by the prepositions governing the genitive and the accusative cases: the preposition ‹ó› governs the genitive (GEN) and triggers the first degree of mutation. The preposition ‹tró› governs the accusative (ACC) and triggers the second degree of mutation. Thus the mutations of ‹d› /d/, ‹ð› /ð/ and ‹þ› /θ/, are considered part of a continuum as in the example below.

Eg. duma {fox:nom}, ó ðumen {gen fox-gen}, tró þuma {acc fox-acc}

Some of the occurring phenomena are nasalization, labialization, palatalization, velarization, fricativization, voicing and devoicing.

Other contextual phonological phenomena

There are some morpho-phonological phenomena that need yet to be properly described. This is a sample of those:

· -ren-rin- → -relin-

· jw+u /jʷu/ → jub- /juβ/ [+labialization][+methatesis] sky juska /ˈjus.kɐ/, ó jubsken /ʔu̹.ˈjuβs.ke̞n/

· /u̜.j/ → /ui̯/ fish strójr /ˈstɾu̜.jɾ̩/ ; fish (pl.) strójran /ˈstɾui̯.ɾɐn/

· -/m/ /b/- → -/mb̥/- som breja /ˈso̞m.ˌb̥ɾe̞.jɐ/

Syllable structure

The structure of the longest possible syllable is (C)(C)(C)nu(C)(N/R), where the nucleus nu must be either a vowel or a syllabic [R] or [N]. In coda position, a cluster can end either with a nasal, N, or a rhotic, R.

MORPHOLOGY

Nominal morphology

Nouns are marked for case, number and definiteness.

Grammatical case

· Genitive

Some older genitive compounds do not display the onset mutation of the second element that follows the genitive preposition ór. For instance hissóhéuren vs. hissókéuren* (/ˈhi.sːa.hɘ.ju.ɾe̞n / vs / ˈhi.sːa.kɘ.ju.ɾe̞n /, i.e. "hiddenly worm", crysalis). This is part of the Discrepance on onset mutations controversy.

Declension particles and affixes

Case		Marker			Notes
nom	Nominative	∅			The nominative case is not marked
gen	Genitive	ó(r) _-(e)n	/ˈʔu̹ɾ/ _-/e̞n/	preposition, suffix	Triggers mutation 1. Excrecent r before a vowel: ór okren /ˈʔu̹ɾ ʔo̞.kɾe̞n/
akk	Accusative	tró	/ˈtɾu̹/	preposition	Triggers mutation 2
dat	Dative	-(r)is	-/ɾis/	suffix
instr	Instrumental/Commitative	-(n)ion	-/nio̯n/	suffix	Inanimate nouns: instrumental. Animate nouns: commitative
loc	Locative/Adessive ("with", "by", "at")	-(a)ftó	-/f.ˈtu̹/	suffix	þaneftó /θɐ.nɘf.ˈtu/, “at the house”, “at home”
all	Allative	-(o)rion	-/o̞.ɾio̯n/	suffix	þanerion /ˈθɑ.nɘ.ɾio̞n/ "homebound"

Grammatical number

Here: singular vs. plural vs. collective

· Plural marking

Grammatical gender	Plural form			Example
Animate	umlaut+-n	{´}n	‹´›-/n/	‹fara› /ˈfɑ.ɾɐ/ → ‹fáran› /ˈfɐi̯.ɾɐn/ (fara-{´}an)
	umlaut+-an	{´}n	‹´›-/ɐn/
Inanimate	umlaut+-ran	{´}ran	‹´›-/ɾɐn/	‹þane› /ˈθɑ.nɘ/ → ‹þáneran› /ˈθɑi̯.nɘ.ɾɐn/ (þane-{´}ran)
	umlaut+-eþ	{´}eþ	‹´›-/eθ/	‹baga› /ˈbɑ.gɐ/ → ‹bágeþ› /ˈbai̯.geθ/ (baga-{´}eþ)
Indefinite	umlaut+-aþ	aþ	-/ɐθ/

Terms of endearment

· Diminutives

Grammatical gender	Diminutive form			Example
Animate	-	-	-
	preposition	‹som›	/so̞m/	som lugr, little hand; som breja, little animal.
Inanimate
	umlaut+-þu	{´}þu	‹´›-/θu/
	umlaut+-li	{´}li	‹´›-/li/
Indefinite	-	-	-

· Augmentatives

Grammatical gender	Augmentative form			Example
Animate	-
	preposition	‹det›	/de̞t/	det _, big _; det _, big _.
Inanimate
	-
Indefinite	-

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are declined for grammatical case in the same manner as nouns. For the instrumental (inst), locative (loc) and allative (all) cases in the third person, the declined form is that of the third person indefinite (3s.ind and 3p.ind) for all grammatical genders.

Person			Grammatical case
			nom	gen	acc	dat	inst	loc	all
Singular	1		‹angr› /ˈʔɑŋ.gr̩/	‹ór angren› /ˈʔu̜ɾ ˈʔɑŋ.gɾɘn/	‹tró angr› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈʔɑŋ.gr̩/	‹angris› /ˈʔɑŋ.gɾis/	‹angrion› /ˈʔɑŋ.gɾio̯n/	‹angraftó› /ʔɑŋ.gɾɐf.ˈtu̹/	‹angorion› /ˈʔɑŋ.go̞.ɾio̯n/
	2		‹setr› /ˈse̞.tr̩/	‹ó þetren› /ʔu̹ ˈθe̞.tɾɘn/	‹tró śetr› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈʃe̞.tr̩/	‹setris› /ˈse̞.tɾis/	‹setrion› /ˈse̞.tɾio̯n/	‹setraftó› /se̞.tɾɐf.ˈtu̹/	‹setorion› /ˈse̞.to̞.ɾio̯n/
	3	anim	‹osta› /ˈʔo̞s.tɐ/	‹ór osten› /ʔu̹ɾ ˈʔo̞s.tɘn/	‹tró osta› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈʔo̞s.tɐ/	‹ostris› /ˈʔo̞s.tɾis/	‹estrion› /ˈʔe̞s.tɾio̯n/	‹estraftó› /ʔe̞s.tɐf.ˈtu̹/	‹estarion› /ˈʔe̞s.tɐ.ɾio̯n/
		inan	‹masta› /ˈmɑs.tɐ/	‹ó mwasten› /ʔu̹ ˈmʷɑs.tɘn/	‹tró wasta› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈwɑs.tɐ/	‹mastris› /ˈmɑs.tɾis/
		ind	‹esta› /ˈʔe̞s.tɐ/	‹ór esten› /ʔu̹ɾ ˈʔe̞s.tɘn/	‹tró esta› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈʔe̞s.tɐ/	‹estris› /ˈʔe̞s.tɾis/
Plural	1		‹óstr› /ˈʔu̜s.tɾ̩/	‹ór óstren› /ˈʔu̜ɾ ˈʔu̜s.tɾən/	‹tró óstr› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈʔu̜s.tɾ̩/	‹óstris› /ˈʔu̜s.tɾis/	‹óstrion› /ˈʔu̜s.tɾio̯n/	‹óstraftó› /ʔu̜s.tɾɐf.ˈtu̜/	‹óstrorion› /ʔu̜s.tɾo̞.ɾio̯n/
	2		‹hagr› /ˈhɑ.gɾ̩/	‹ó kagren› /ˈʔu̜ ˈkɑ.gɾɘn/	‹tró gagr› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈgɑ.gɾ̩/	‹hagris› /ˈhɑ.gɾis/	‹hagrion› /ˈhɑ.gɾio̯n/	‹hagraftó› /hɑ.gɾɐf.ˈtu/	‹hagorion› /ˈhɑ.gɾo̞.ɾio̯n/
	3	anim	‹jóka› /ˈju̜.kɐ/	‹ó jóbken› /ˈʔu̜ ˈju̜β.kɘn/	‹tró ñóka› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈɲu̜.kɐ/	‹jókris› /ˈju̜.kɾis/	‹narkrion› /ˈnɑɾ.kɾio̯n/	‹narkaftó› /nɑɾ.kɐf.ˈtu/	‹narkorion› /ˈnɑɾ.ko̞.ɾio̯n/
		inan	‹méka› /ˈmei̯.kɐ/	‹ó mwéken› /ˈʔu̜ ˈmʷei̯.kɘn/	‹tró wéka› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈwei̯.kɐ/	‹mékris› /ˈmei̯.kɾis/
		ind	‹narka› /ˈnɑɾ.kɐ/	‹ó nwarken› /ˈʔu̜ ˈnʷɑɾ.kɘn/	‹tró ñarka› /ˈtɾu̜ ˈɲɑɾ.kɐ/	‹narkris› /ˈnɑɾ.kɾis/

Adjectives

Adjectives precede the noun they modify. They agree in case and number with the modified noun.

· Comparatives

Comparative constructions have the compared-to term affixed with the comparative suffix comp -(a)los. In this case, the modified noun precedes the "adjective", i.e. the comparative construction (adjective plus compared-to noun or noun phrase). The adjective is prefixed with de-, from det.

· comp

-(a)los

-/ɐlos/

comparative

Suffix

From losi (adj.) “(to be) the other”

· det

/ˈde̞t/

adjective particle

with x, x-ful, having x (n.); very x (adj.)

The structure of the comparative construction is:

[X]	(is)	er-[α]	[Y]-than
(theme, what is being described)		more-[adjective]	[compared-to-noun]-than
		de-[adjective]	[compared-to-noun]-(a)los

For example:

[X]	(is)	er-[α]	[Y]-than
[wolf/dog]		er-[small]	[house]-than
[gangr]		de-[som]	[þane]-los
‹gangr de-som þanelos›
"the dog is smaller than the house"

· Superlatives

Superlative forms are marked as follows:

Grammatical gender	Superlative form			Example
Animate	-
	preposition	‹dette›	/de̞.tːɘ/	(dette < det-det)
Inanimate
	-
Indefinite	-

Verbal morphology

Particles and affixes

Function		Marker			Notes
caus	Causative	-a-	-/ɑ/-	affix	Derives a causative verb from a noun after the template [noun.root]-caus-[verb.declension] nimr water; nimrajur to.make.moist,to.water (a plant,etc)

Marking hierarchy

Nouns

The marking of the nouns happens according to the following hierarchy:

0	1	2	3	4
√noun	det	pl	and	nom, gen, akk, dat, inst, loc, all

In the genitive and accusative cases, the root is also preceded by a preposition.

Verbs

The marking of the verbs happens according to the following hierarchy:

-2	-1	0	1	2
Passive voice marker	Aspect marker prefix	√verb	Conjugation affix for person, number and mood	Aspect marker suffix

Derivational morphology

Derivational particles and affixes

Function		Marker			Notes
nmlz	Nominalizer	i	/ˈʔi/	preposition	Mostly paired with the determiner suffix ‹-rum› kronur “I speak” 1s.pres.ind i kronurum, {i kro-nur-rum} [NMLZ to.speak-1s.pres.ind-det] = "was ich spreche", “that what I’m speaking”; speech, language.
det	Determiner	-rum	-/ɾum/	suffix	"the x" (instead of "a x")
and	Coordinator	-ór	-/u̹ɾ/	preposition	"and"
advm	Adverbializer	-(r)is	-/ɾis/	suffix	"x-ly", "in the maner of x" turns nouns into adverbs of manner turns verbs of motion in adverbs of manner
pers	Associated person	-rir	-/ɾiɾ/	suffix	Forms actor nouns from verbs and nouns; from ríra, “person” hlajur v. to.make, hlajrir n. maker. assa n. forge, assarir n. smith.
tool	Associated artifact, tool	-(e)nar	-/ɘnɐɾ/	suffix	From nara, “thing, artifact, contraption” iltur “to.rest” > ilturenar “chair”
place	Associated place	-fér	-/fe̞i̯ɾ/	suffix	From féra, “place”.
land	Region name	-får(k)	-/fɑɾk/	suffix	From farka, “earth”.
col	Colective noun	-hir	-/hiɾ/	suffix	From hitr, “pack, herd” sigra “drop” > sigrahir “rain”
adj	Adjetivizer	-rin	-/ɾin/	suffix	Forms adjectives of quality. sigr "ash", agor-ó-śigrelin "ash-coloured"

· Nominalizer (nmlz)

Derivation of nouns from verbs:

nmlz-[verb in the infinitive]

Derivation of nouns from adjectives and past-participles:

nmlz-[adjective]

dag, big; i-dag, bigness.

Syntax

Word order per sentence type

Sentence type			Word order	Marking	Notes
Declarative sentences	Active sentences	Intransitive verbs	SV	nom-v	-
		Monotransitive verbs	OSV	acc-nom-v	-
		Ditransitive verbs	OTSV	acc-dat-nom-v	-
	Passive sentences		SOV	nom-acc-pvm-v	-
Questions			-	-	Focus fronting
Imperative sentences			OVS	acc-v-nom+det	-

Lexicon

Citation forms:

· Nouns: nominative singular;

· Verbs: first person singular present active.

Orthography

Besides the history of the in-world, "native" orthographies of the different historical stages of I Kronurum, there are two transliteration standards: a romanization, and a variation on Ulfilas' Gothic script.

Orthographies
Consonants
IPA value	Latin letter	Gothic letter	Native orthography	Notes
p	p	-	-	-
b	b	-	-	-
t	t	-	-	-
d	d	-	-	-
k	k	-	-	-
g	g	-	-	-
m	m	-	-	-
n	n	-	-	-
ɲ	ñ, ń, nj	-	-	-
r	ŕ, rr	-	-	-
ɾ	r	-	-	-
f	f	-	-	-
θ	þ	-	-	-
ð	ð	-	-	-
s	s	-	-	-
ʃ	ś	-	-	-
h	h	-	-	-
w	w	-	-	-
j	j	-	-	-
l	l	-	-	-
ɬ	lh	-	-	-
Vowels
ɑ	a, å	-	-	The graphy ‹å› is used for the causative marker caus ‹-a-› to be pronounced as /ɑ/, which happens in a position in which ‹a› would be realized either as /a/ or /ɐ/
i	i	-	-	-
e̞	e	-	-	-
o̞	o	-	-	-
u	u	-	-	-
u̹	ó	-	-	From an early long o vowel; AIK and OIK ‹ō› /oː/, EMIK ‹ó› /oʊ̯/

Samples

Sentences

‹ó pagrumórn, undrumórn, faŕumen›
/ˈʔu̜	ˈpɑ.gɾu.mu̜ɾn	|	ˈʔun.dɾu.mu̜ɾn	|	ˈfɑ.ru.mɘn/
ó(r)	{b→p}aga-rum-ór-(e)n		unda-rum-ór-(e)n		fara-rum-(e)n
gen	tree-det-and-gen		bird-det-and-gen		horse-det-gen
"of/about the tree, the bird and the horse" (a tale)

Other samples

I Kronurum has also taken part in the Fourth Linguifex Relay.