Nurian

Nurian (gaħēs nūrimēs /ˈgɐħeːs ˈn̪ˠʊɚrʲɪmʲeːs/) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Lithuanian, Russian, Italian and English. Nurian phonology and vocabulary has been signficantly influenced by Meetzarri. It is spoken alongside Meetzarric languages, Clofabic languages and New World Reber Wiebian.

Historical phonology

• Cl > Cj > Cʲ (Italian style): pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl chl ghl > pi bi mi fi ci gi ngi chi ghi
  • Exceptions: ħl ȝl > ħħ ȝȝ; nl, rl > ll
• C₁C₂ > C₂C₂ (similarly to Italian)
• mlīd - conclusion, end > mīd /mʲiːdˠ/
• ar- > aC- (ar- before vowels); as- > s-

Numbers

• 1: cēma /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɐ/
• 2: tiħōr /tʲɪˈħɔɚ/
• 3: nargь /ˈnˠɑɚd͡ʒ/
• 4: dhaufь /ˈðˠɐʊfʲ/
• 5: saliħь /sˠɐˈlʲɪħ/
• 6: stāma /ˈsˠtˠɑːmɐ/
• 7: rōdь /ˈrˠoːdʲ/
• 8: loreħь /ɫɔɚˈrʲæħ/
• 9: farvь /ˈfˠɑɚɹɪ/
• 10: ħiler /ˈħɪlʲɛɚ/ (influenced by Meetzarri ulyerre)
• 11: cēmara /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɑɚrˠə/ (< Themsarian cēmiħioré, influenced by Zutarl emarra)
• 12: pidь /ˈpʲɪdʲ/ (Zutarl pirdi)
• 144: tarþь /ˈtˠɑɚθʲ/
• 1728: ūbyc /ˈuːbˠɪ̞k/

Phonology

Consonants

As a result of a series of historical palatalizations, Nurian has many consonants in hard (velarized) and soft (palatalized) versions, similar to Lithuanian and Russian. Radicals and /h/ cannot palatalize - however, they color the /a/ vowel as if they were soft.

Consonant phonemes in Nurian

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Radical	Glottal
		vel.	pal.	vel.	pal.	vel.	pal.
Nasal		mˠ	mʲ	n̪ˠ			nʲ	ɲ~ɲ̄	ŋ
Stop	tenuis	pˠ	pʲ	t̪ˠ			tʲ	tʃ	k
	voiced	bˠ	bʲ	d̪ˠ			dʲ	dʒ	g
Fricative	voiceless	fˠ	fʲ	θˠ	θ	sˠ	sʲ	ʃ	x	ħ	h
	voiced			ðˠ	ð	zˠ	zʲ	ʒ	ɣ	ʕ
Trill						rˠ	rʲ
Approximant	central	w				(ɹ)		j
	lateral			ɫ			lʲ

[ɹ] occurs in the hiatus after r-colored vowels before another vowel.

Palatalization

Word-final soft consonants use a soft sign ь.

Palatalization

Grapheme	m	p	b	f	v	n	t	d	th	dh	s	z	r	l	ng	c	g	ch	gh	ħ	ȝ	h	j
Hard	/mˠ/	/pˠ/	/bˠ/	/fˠ/	/w/	/nˠ/	/tˠ/	/dˠ/	/θˠ/	/ðˠ/	/sˠ/	/zˠ/	/rˠ/	/ɫ/	/ŋ/	/k/	/ɡ/	/x/	/ɣ/	/ħ/	/ʕ/	/h/	silent
Soft	/mʲ/	/pʲ/	/bʲ/	/fʲ/	/j/	/nʲ/	/tʲ/	/dʲ/	/θ/	/ð/	/sʲ/	/zʲ/	/rʲ/	/lʲ/	/ɲ/	/t͡ʃ/	/d͡ʒ/	/ʃ/	/ʒ/

r = r-coloring before a consonant or word-finally

Vowels

Vowel phonemes in Nurian

	Front			Central	Back
	short	long	rhotic	short	short	long	rhotic
Close	/ɪ~ɪ̞/	/iː/	/ɪɚ/		/ʊ/	/uː/	/ʊɚ/
Mid	[ɛ~æ]		/ɛɚ/	[ə]	/o/	/oː/	/ɔɚ/
Open		[æː]		/ɐ/		/ɑː/	/ɑɚ/

Diphthongs: /ɐɪ/ /ɐʊ/ /iə~iɛ/

• Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
• ia and e both represent [ɛ], the allophone of /ɐ/ after palatalized consonants.
• [ə] occurs as an epenthetic vowel after word-final geminates except before another vowel.

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Nurian. Nurian stress can be derived by applying the following stress pattern in Thensarian and then Thensarian > Nurian sound changes:

• A short final vowel cannot be stressed.
• Only one of the last 3 syllables can be stressed.
• the last heavy syllable is stressed if not the final syllable; if there is a final heavy syllable, the penult is stressed. (e.g. burgent [ˈbʊɚdʒænt])
• If no heavy syllables, the 3rd from last is stressed.

• piudiinъ - final stress;
• piudiin - penult stress

Grammar

Somewhat unusually, Nurian is verb-final with prepositions and modifier-modified order.

Nouns

Sgv-clv-plv system.

Accents and dialects

Dialect 1

Polishy

• ci gi chi ghi = [tʂ dʐ ʂ ʐ]
• sci = [ʂtʂ]
• ti di si zi = [tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ]
• fi > [ç]
• ni ngi > [ɲ]

Dialect 2

Conservative

• ci gi chi ghi = [kʲ gʲ xʲ ɣʲ]
• sci = [skʲ]

Dialect 3

Proto-clicky

• ci gi chi ghi = [kɧ gɧ̬ ɧ ɧ̬]
• sci = [ɧː]
• velarized labials and dentals become clicks

Dialect 4

Scottish Gaelic pseudo-gib