Nurian/Old

Nurian/Lexicon
Nurian/Swadesh list

Nurian/Old
nūrimā
Created by	IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Language family	Quihum Talmic Thensaric Nurian/Old
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qnr

Nurian (/ˈnʊəɹiən/, Nurian: gaffā nūrimā, Eevo: Nwrim) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Pali, Italian, and Lithuanian. Close relatives include Eevo and Bênôcian. Nurian is the official language of Nuria (Nūrē) in southwestern Talma. More than any other Talmic language, Nurian exhibits stark diglossia: Standard Nurian is easily the most conservative extant Talmic language in both lexicon, grammar, and phonology, but colloquial Nurian is much different.

Historical phonology

• -am -em -im -om -um -ym -ām -ēm -īm -ōm -ūm -ȳm > -ą -ę -į -ą -ų -y̨ -ą -ę -į -ų -ų -y̨
• -s > -h
• Thn. cia ce ci cio ciu > ċia ċe ċi ċio ċiu
• e ē ei ea eā > e ē ei ia iā
• o, ō > a, uo
• ae oe ui ao eo iu > ai ȳ ui au iuo iū

Cluster assimilations

Nurian is rich in geminate consonants, most of which arise from the following historical assimilations. Geminate consonants become degeminate word-initially.

• pl bl ml fl tl dl cl gl ngl > ppi bbi mmi ffi ċċi ġġi kki ggi ngi
• ħl, ȝl > ħħ, ȝȝ
• nl, rl > both ll
• sp, st, sc, sȝ, sn, sl, sr > pph, tth, kkh, ħħ, tth, nnh, llh, rrh
• sb, sd, sg > bb, dd, gg
• pr, fr, tr, θr, cr, ngr, ħr > pph, ff, tth, θθ, kkh, ng, ħħ
• br, dr, δr, gr, ȝr > bb, dd, δδ, gg, ȝȝ
• mr > nn
• cn, gn > ngh, ng
• mn > nn
• rC > CC
• lC > :C
• ct > tt
• VN + fricative > V[+nasal] + fricative
• tv dv θv δv > pp bb ff vv

Phonology

The Nurian sound system has a large inventory of around 56 consonants and 10 vowels. A notable feature of the phonology of most Nurian accents is phonemic velarization vs. palatalization in hard-soft pairs. All consonants except /ħ ʕ h j/ are members of a hard-soft-pair. /ħ ʕ h j/ color the /a/ vowel as if they were soft, and /ħ ʕ/ tend to lower adjacent vowels.

There are two major accents of Standard Nurian.

Phonotactics

Nurian forbids all consonant clusters other than those of the form homorganic nasal + consonant or consonant. Word-medially, every consonant can be geminated except /j/ and /h/. Word-finally, usually only /n/, /ʔ/ (as an allophone of /r/), /h/, /s/ and vowels are allowed.

Dagȳne accent

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Nurian (Dagȳne)

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Postalveolar	Velar		Radical	Glottal
		hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft		soft	hard
Nasal	voiceless	mh m̊ˠ	mhi m̊ʲ	nh n̪̊ˠ			nhi n̊ʲ		nghi ŋ̊ʲ	ngh ŋ̊
	voiced	m mˠ	mi mʲ	n n̪ˠ			ni nʲ		ngi ŋʲ	ng ŋ
Stop	tenuis	p pˠ	pi pʲ	t t̪ˠ			ti tʲ	ċi tʃ	ki kʲ	k k		-r, -t ʔ
	aspirated	ph pˠʰ	phi pʲʰ	th t̪ˠʰ			thi tʲʰ	ċhi tʃʰ	khi kʲʰ	kh kʰ
	voiced	b bˠ	bi bʲ	d d̪ˠ			di dʲ	ġi dʒ	gi ɡʲ	g ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f fˠ	fi fʲ	θ θˠ	θi θʲ	s sˠ	si sʲ				ħ, ħi ħ	h, hi h
	voiced	v vˠ	vi vʲ	δ ðˠ	δi ðʲ	z zˠ	zi zʲ
Trill	voiceless					rh r̥ˠ	rhi r̥ʲ
	voiced					r rˠ	ri rʲ
Lateral	voiceless			lh l̥ˠ			lhi l̥ʲ
	voiced			l lˠ			li lʲ
Approximant									j j		ȝ, ȝi ʕ

Notes

• Voiceless stops and affricates are unaspirated.
• All hard consonants are velarized (especially /rˠ, lˠ, θˠ, ðˠ/, which are uvularized).
• All consonants are labialized before the back vowels /u, uː, uɔ/.
• /tˠ, dˠ, nˠ/ are laminal denti-alveolar [t̪ˠ, d̪ˠ, n̪ˠ].
• /tʲ, dʲ, nʲ/ are laminal alveolar [t̻ʲ, d̻ʲ, n̻ʲ].
• /θˠ, θ, ðˠ, ð/ are dental spirants [θʶ, θ, ðʶ, ð].
• /sˠ, sʲ, zˠ, zʲ/ are laminal denti-alveolar [s̪ˠ, s̪ʲ, z̪ˠ, z̪ʲ].
• /rˠ/ is uvularized apical alveolar [r̺ʶ] or postalveolar [r̠ʶ]. When not geminated, it can either be a trill [rʶ] or a flap [ɾʶ].
• /rʲ/ is palatalized alveolar flap [ɾ̪ʲ] and less commonly a trill [r̺ʲ]. It is always a trill [r̺ːʲ] when geminated.
• /lˠ/ is a uvularized apical alveolar [l̺ʶ] or uvularized laminal denti-alveolar [l̪ʶ].
• /lʲ/ is laminal alveolar [l̻ʲ].
• /ɲ/ is postpalatal [ɲ̄].
• /tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ/ are laminal palatalized alveolar [tʃʲ, dʒʲ, ʃʲ, ʒʲ].
• Before /k, ɡ/, /n/ is realized as velar [ŋ].
• /ħ/ has been variously described as pharyngeal [ħ] and epiglottal [ʜ].
• /ʕ/ is an epiglottal approximant [ʕ̞].
• /h/ is voiced [ɦ] after vowels and voiced consonants.

Vowels

Nurian has three short, three long and three nasal monophthongs. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low vowels.

Vowel phonemes

	Front			Central			Back
	short	long	nasal	short	long	nasal	short	long	nasal
Close	/ɪ~ɪ̞/	/iː/	/ĩː/				/ʊ/	/uː/	/ũː/
Open	[ɛ~æ]	[æː]		/a/	/aː/	/ãː/	[ɑ]	[ɑː]

Diphthongs: /aɪ aʊ iɛ uɔ ʊi/

Notes

• Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
• /a aː/ each have three allophones:
  • [ɐ~ɑ ɑː] after non-radical hard consonants
  • [ɛ~æ æː] after soft consonants, radicals and /h/
• Allophony of /a aː/ is, however, reduced in the speech of many younger speakers, who pronounce both as [ɐ aː]

Fiuġġēra accent

The Fiuggēra [fudˈdʒæːrˁɑ] accent turns hard consonants into uvularized consonants, and soft consonants into plain.

• θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ

Consonants

Consonant phonemes (Fiuġġēra)

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Postalveolar	Velar		Radical	Glottal
		hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft		soft	hard
Nasal	voiceless	m̊ʶ	m̊	n̥ʶ			n̥		ɲ̊	ŋ̊
	voiced	mʶ	m	n̪ʶ			n		ɲ	ŋʶ
Stop	tenuis	pʶ	p	tʶ			t	tʃ	k	kʶ		ʔ
	aspirated	pʶʰ	pʰ	tʶʰ			tʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	kʶʰ
	voiced	bʶ	b	dʶ			d	dʒ	g	ɡʶ
Fricative	voiceless	fʶ	f		θ	sʶ	s				ħ	h
	voiced	vʶ			ð	zʶ	z
Trill	voiceless					r̥ʶ	r̥
	voiced					rʶ	r
Lateral	voiceless			ɬʶ			ɬ
	voiced						l
Approximant		wʶ	w						j		ʕ

Notes

• Hard consonants are uvularized, like Arabic emphatic consonants.

Stress

Nurian stress is similar to Modern Standard Arabic:

• Stress falls on the heavy (CV: or CVC) syllable closest to the end, if it is not the final syllable;
• if neither the penult nor the antepenult are heavy, the antepenult is stressed.

Orthography

Consonants

Consonants

Grapheme	m	p	b	f	v	n	t	d	θ	δ	s	z	r	l	ng	k	g	ħ	ȝ	h	j
Hard	/mˠ/	/pˠ/	/bˠ/	/fˠ/	/vˠ/	/nˠ/	/tˠ/	/dˠ/	/θˠ/	/ðˠ/	/sˠ/	/zˠ/	/rˠ/	/ɫ/	/ŋ/	/k/	/ɡ/	/ħ/	/ʕ/	/h/	/j/
Soft	/mʲ/	/pʲ/	/bʲ/	/fʲ/	/vʲ/	/nʲ/	/tʲ/	/dʲ/	/θ/	/ð/	/sʲ/	/zʲ/	/rʲ/	/lʲ/	/ɲ/	/t͡ʃ/	/d͡ʒ/

The pairs of aspirated plosives and voiceless resonants /pʰˠ pʰʲ/, /tʰˠ tʰʲ/, /tʃʰ/, /kʲʰ kʰ/, /m̊ˠ m̊ʲ/, /n̪̊ˠ n̊ʲ/, /ɲ̊ ŋ̊/, /l̥ˠ l̥ʲ/, /r̥ˠ r̥ʲ/ are written ⟨ph, th, ċh, kh, mh, nh, ngh, lh, rh⟩.

Final -r is pronounced /ʔ/.

Vowels

• a: hard /a/ [ɐ~ɑ]
• ā: hard /aː/ [ɑː]
• ą: hard /ãː/
• ai: hard /aɪ/ [ɐɪ~ɑɪ]
• au: hard /aʊ/ [ɐʊ~ɑʊ]
• y: hard /ɪ/ [ë]
• y: hard /iː/
• y̨: hard /ĩː/
• u: hard /ʊ/
• ui: hard /ʊɪ/
• uo: hard /uɔ/
• ū: hard /uː/
• ų: hard /ũː/

• ia, e: soft /a/ [ɛ]
• iā, ē: soft /aː/ [æː]
• ią, ę: soft /ãː/
• iai, ei: soft /aɪ/ [ɛɪ]
• iau: soft /aʊ/ [ɛʊ]
• i: soft /ɪ/
• ī: soft /iː/
• į: soft /ĩː/
• iu: soft /ʊ/
• ui: soft /ʊɪ/
• iuo: soft /uɔ/
• iū: soft /uː/
• ių: soft /ũː/
• ie: soft /iə/

Grammar

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

Nouns

Sgv-clv-plv system.

Nouns and adjectives

Masculine nouns

θȳrą 'bird'
	Singulative	Collective	Plurative
Indefinite	θȳrą	θyθȳrą	θȳrīh
Definite	θȳrai	θyθȳrai	θȳrinny

Feminine nouns

gandā 'body'
	Singulative	Collective	Plurative
Indefinite	gandā	gagandā	gandār
Definite	gandą	gagandą	gandāh

Neuter nouns

tettyh 'child'
	Singulative	Collective	Plurative
Indefinite	tettyh	tetettyh	tettȳn
Definite	tettȳh	tetettȳh	tettȳr

Mass nouns

jenāh 'water' (n.)
	Singulative	Collective
Indefinite	jenāh	jenenāh
Definite	jenaȝeh	jenenaȝeh

Verbs

TAM

Present

Person	tussani "I pray" (a-stem)	tareni "I bloom, flourish" (e-stem)	aillini "I love" (i-stem)	kassyni "I eat" (ablaut stem)
1SG	tussani	tareni	aillini	kassyni
2SG	tussar	tarer	aillir	kassyr
3SG.M	tussą	tarę	aillį	kassy̨
3SG.F	tussah	tareh	aillih	kassyh
3SG.N	tussa	tare	ailli	kassy
1EX	tussamē	taremē	aillimē	kassymē
1IN	tussanti	tarenti	aillinti	kassynti
2PL	tussaċċhi	tareċċhi	ailliċċhi	kassyċċhi
3PL	tussati	tareti	ailliti	kassyti

Imperfect

Reduplication rules:

• If word begins with C, redup first CV (V is shortened)

Preterite

Person	tussan "I pray" (a-stem)	taren "I bloom, flourish" (e-stem)	aillin "I love" (i-stem)	kassyn "I eat" (ablaut stem)
1SG	tussanne	tarenne	aillinne	ċēnne
2SG	tussȳ	tarī	aillī	ċēvȳ
3SG.M	tussamhi	taremhi	aillimhi	ċēmhi
3SG.F	tussatthi	taretthi	aillitthi	ċētthi
3SG.N	tussasa	taresa	aillisa	ċēsa
1EX	tussamer	taremer	aillimer	ċēmer
1IN	tussanter	tarenter	aillinter	ċēnter
2PL	tussaċċher	tareċċher	ailliċċher	ċēċċher
3PL	tussati	tareti	ailliti	ċēter

Syntax

Particles

• ank = 'and'
  • ħuġġiah ank pādī [ˈħʊdʒːæh æŋk paːdʲiː] = 'bread and milk'
• nīh (/nʲiːh/) = 'not'

Relative clauses

Nurian uses the resumptive pronoun strategy when the head is not the subject. A resumptive pronoun must be fronted, if it is not embedded in another clause within the relative clause.

Phrasebook

• Adduorī! = 'Hello!'
• Malisā! = 'Thank you!'

Sample texts

UDHR, Article 1

Kakarai ħausį gagāry̨ ank θeθēvų di khussiū ank iġġiatū; ammimīdīnį gą ȝiabbī ank dȳkaluttī, siūȝą danθū fētariākah ħaibatthyh di helą venghimę.

[ˈkɐkɐrˠɐɪ ˈħæʊsʲĩː gɐˈgaːrˠɘ̃ː k θʲɛˈθʲæːvˠũː dʲɪ ˈkʰʊsʲːuː k ˈɪdʒːɛtˠuː | æmʲːiːˈdʲiːnʲĩː gɑ̃ː ʕæbʲːiː k dˠiːkɐlˠʊtʲːiː, sʲuːʕæ̃ː dˠɐnθˠuː fæːtˠɐrʲæːkɐh ħæɪbˠɐtʰˠːɪh dʲɪ hælˠɑ̃ː vʲɛŋ̊ʲːɪmʲæ̃ː]

human.COL.DEF be.born-3SG.M.PRES free.COL.INDEF.M and equal.COL.INDEF.M in dignity-3SG.M and right-3SG.M; gifted-COL.INDEF.M with reason and conscience, duty upon-3SG.M behave-INFV mutually in spirit-SGV.DEF brotherly-SGV.DEF.F

All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.