Naeng

This article describes Modern Naeng. See Naeng/Classical for Classical Naeng.

Naeng/Wordlist
Naeng/Texts
Naeng/Translations
Fi tbeach fi mi-brits Dămea
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דף זה בעברית

Naeng
fi brits Dămea
Created by	Praimhín
Setting	Verse:Hmøøh
Native speakers	220 million (13b0dd)
Language family	Lakovic Naengic Classical Naeng Naeng
Official status
Official language in	USB, Tumhan, Pategia, Quintlopetl, Yocneam

Naeng (fi cduay Dămea /vɪi gduəj dəmeə/ or fi cduay Neng /... naeŋ/; Eevo: a łynǿñ Dymée or a łynǿñ Neñ) is a Lakovic language belonging to the Naengic branch. It is also known as Ashanian (e.g. ne Qaśenin in Netagin, specifically for Classical Naeng, zinAxān /sinaʃaːn/ in Naquian) or Tergetian (e.g. døluder Terged in Tseer, tergetosin in Clofabosin) in various Hmøøhian languages. It is more distantly related to Tseer, Ksieh and other Lakovic languages.

Modern Naeng is a revived koine/lingua franca/creole arising from various Classical Naeng reading and interpretive traditions, and some scholars believe that Modern Naeng grammar doesn't directly continue that of Classical Naeng. An even more unorthodox view proposed by modern linguist Lămanoa Wadangpaş is that Modern Naeng should be thought of as a Lakovic-Netagin-Nurian hybrid language, unlike Tergetian vernaculars (descendants of Classical Tseer) which are true Lakovic languages; he thinks Modern Naeng is in part a relexification of Netagin and Nurian with Classical Naeng words, and he proposes that it be renamed to fi brits Biechănd or the Bjeheondian language. This hypothesis is challenged by Prăfin of Bălang and other scholars of creoles and sprachbunds in Hmøøh, who cited various historical intermediate stages of Naeng which appeared in writing (e.g. works by Etsoj Jopah) and in folk songs. For example, the polite pronoun Pra (from pida 'sage'), which is post-Classical, is found in ___'s letters.

Today, Naeng is the majority language of Pategia and Quintlopetl, and a prominent minority language of the USB and Tumhan. In Talma Classical Naeng was replaced with vernacular Tseer varieties (called the Tergetian languages) and other languages. It forms the Bjeheondian sprachbund with Netagin vernaculars, Trây, Gwnax, and most other Bjeheondian languages.

External history

Naeng is based on similarities between Hebrew and Mon-Khmer languages, such as final stress, minor syllables and head-initial syntax. Aesthetically it's also inspired by German, Romanian and Tíogall, one of User:IlL's old Talmic sketches. It was originally created by Praimhín for the Fifth Linguifex Relay.

Todo

Lakovic no longer has gneder; get rid of gendered pronouns?

Should th be dental d~t (and d, t alveolar~retro)?

Need Tigol words in Naeng

Inflected prepositions survive in Modern Naeng (in fact ya rie and șa rie are incorrect) -- but are only used in formal Naeng

Ien ruay ched Lăbaldimoara - He lives in Baltimore (mi is optional)

Făngtsăfie = Philadelphia, via quasi-Arabic "fa3Dafiyya" <- hypothetical PSem *paʕtɬ'ap-

Wenmĭryam = Maryland

Merge c and g and introduce Ch clusters? or should those become breathy voiced vowels

nean - a verb of motion/direction

When was glādos 'god' (> gláḋ > glọð > glawð) borrowed?

• If before the Naengic vowel shift, then make it Clot /klaot/
• If during Tigol stage: Clod /klaod/
• If post-revival Eevo loan: Grath /gʀɒð/ or Groth /gʀaoð/

yăhuaș should be a Naeng adjective

Măluac yări srüe thăgem ftsüen e łen = Come with me if you want to live (lit. follow with me)

casual: Măluac drel ngăse srüe ... lit. Follow hither if ...

Lăchier e Pra haș mül mĭf brits Anggla, chăbec ngĭ fĭthnar e tchung croth șaf brits hathbur Pra șän-șän

Ădoath chea thosli drel sed. (Dream PST reveal hither this) / literary: Ădoath chea thosli şar sed. lit. A dream revealed this to me

More realistic vowel split:

• a e i o u ü → RTR ɑ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ ʏ → a e ie o ua üe
• à è ì ò ù ǜ → ATR æ e i o u y → ä ea i oa u ü

Directional verbs as in Southeast Asian languages, e.g. ngămlac seaf "to call someone" vs ngămlac drel "to call someone back" -- sometimes casual Naeng uses these rather than pronouns to disambiguate referents like Ien chea briets drel sed "He told me this"

Pronouns aren't used as often in colloquial Naeng e.g. Fi tsum rad? for What's your name? Formal Naeng would have Fi tsum łe/łen/łes rad?; Seaf ra? for "Where are you going?"

More directional markers which work like serial verbs besides seaf/drel?

Diachronics

Phonological history

• PLak i e a ā o u in unstressed syllables → CNaeng ĭ ĭ Ø ă ǎ Ø
• Classical Naeng /pʰ tʰ kʰ/ become /f θ x/; /f θ/ gain voiced realizations
• Classical Naeng reduced vowels ă /ɔ/ and ĭ /ɨ/ merge into ă /ə/
• Breathy vowels become separate vowel phonemes:
  • CNaeng a e i o u ü → MidNaeng ɑ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ ʏ → ModNaeng /ɒ ae ɪ ao u ø/
  • CNaeng à è ì ò ù ǜ → MidNaeng æ e i o u y → ModNaeng /æ e i o ʉ y/
• Classical Naeng ts and tł merged into /ts/, while ł (Basque s in Classical) shifted to /ɬ/ (occasional tł -> ł in a few words)

Grammatical history

• Tense particles instead of older tense inflections
• Loss of the Classical Naeng accusative particle ü

Phonology

Consonants (mosălis'ir)

All dialects have the following consonant phonemes, but their realizations and conditions for allophony differ by accent. Below, the Standard Bjeheondian transcriptions will be given:

		Labial mofăsing	Dental mogloł	Alveolar mosăbies	Lateral molăngoan	Palatal moyălech	Velar moscong	Glottal motășac
Nasal mocră'i		m /m/		n /n/			ng /ŋ/
Plosive bintăptep	voiced yătcer	b /b/	th /d̪/	d /d/
	voiceless chatcer	p /p/		t /t/			c /k/	' /ʔ/
Affricate bintsăda				ts, tł /ts/		tș /tʃ/
Fricative binchlas	spirant binthăre	f /v/					ch /χ/
	nonspirant binsăreaf			s /z/	ł /ɬ/	ș /ʃ/		h /h/
Resonant binnădüeng		w /w/			l /l/	y /j/	r /ʁ/

tș /tʃ/ is mainly found in loans from Bjeheondian languages such as Netagin.

Some dialects like the Rural Fincreaș dialect retain the Classical Naeng tł as a separate phoneme /tʃ~tʂ/.

/h/ is [ɦ] between voiced sounds. Many speakers drop /ʔ/ and /h/ in casual speech.

Voiceless stops /p t k/ are usually unaspirated [p⁼ t⁼ k⁼]. Voiced stops /b d̪ d g/ are fully voiced. Front fricatives /v z/ are by default voiced [v z]; they only devoice to [f s] when followed by an "inherently voiceless" consonant, i.e. one of /p t k ts x h ʔ/. (Thus obstruent voicing assimilation can be said to work like in Slavic languages or Israeli Hebrew.)

/əm ən əl ər/ become [m̩ n̩ l̩ ɐ] in closed unstressed syllables.

In some rural accents in eastern Bjeheond, around Plüeng Sănach, and in some styles of singing, r is pronounced as an alveolar trill /r/ in all positions. In the Wieb accent r triggers a low tone onset on the following vowel, and in contemporary Wieb Naeng this is the only sign of phonemic r, with initial /r/ entirely replaced with [h].

ff thth ss may be used to transcribe /f θ s/ in other languages.

Vowels (motger)

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	i /i/	ü /y/	u /ʉ/	ua /u/
Near-close	ie /ɪ/	üe, ö /ø/
Diphthong	e /ae/			o /ao/
Mid	ea /e/		ă /ə/	oa /o/
Open	ä /æ~eə/		ăr /ɐ/	a /ɒ/

• /y ø/ are compressed and /ʉ/ is protruded.
• /ɒ æ e o/ are [ɒ̝ æ̝ ɛ̝ ɔ̝].
• In most accents, ir = ier, ür = üer, ur = uar.
• Stressed ă is used mainly in loans from Scellan (in Crackfic Hmøøh, English).

R-vocalization

/ʁ/ vocalizes to [ɐ] when not before a vowel, as follows:

• ir = ier → [iɐ]
• ür = üer → [yɐ]
• ur = uar → [uɐ]
• ear → [eɐ]
• er → [ɛɐ]
• oar → [oɐ]
• or → [ɔɐ]
• ar = är → [aː]
• Vocalization of R has caused a chain vowel shift in stressed vowels Std. Naeng (these shifts don't occur for e o before w/y):
  • ie üe ua ea oa > [ɪ ø u ɛ̝ ɔ̝]
  • u e o > [ʉ ae ao]
  • a ä > [ɒ̝ æ̝~eə]

Vowel reduction

Vowels reduce in unstressed syllables: a/ä reduces to ă, e/ie reduces to /I/, o/oa reduces to /o/

Intonation

Standard Naeng intonation is like Standard Khmer. In certain accents of Naeng, especially in the Wieb region, stressed syllables with a final voiceless consonant are pronounced with a rising tone and other stressed syllables with a falling tone. In contemporary Wieb Naeng final voicing is no longer contrastive, having entirely been replaced with tone -- Wieb Naeng can be analyzed as having four tones.

Stress

Stress is almost always final, but can be non-final in function words.

Phonotactics

Zero and C are the only permitted word-final codas. /g h ʔ/ are phonemically prohibited in coda; in most accents of Naeng final c surfaces as [ʔ].

Allowed initial clusters in Classical Naeng are similar to Khmer. Here is a list by type of cluster (some clusters may be listed more than once):

• Cl: pl, tl, cl, bl, dl, gl, fl, thl, chl, sl, tsl, șl
• Cr: pr, tr, tsr, cr, br, dr, gr, fr, thr, chr, sr, tsr, șr
• Cm: tm, thm, cm, chm, sm, tsm, șm
• Cn: fn, cn, chn, sn, tsn, șn
• Cng: fng, tng, thng, chng, sng, tsng, șng
• Cw: tw, thw, dw, cw, chw, gw, tsw, sw, łw, tsw, șw
• XX (two obstruents): pd, pg, ps, pș, ft, fts, fc, tb, tg, thp, thc, cb, cd, cs, cș, chp, cht, chts, tsp, tsc, sp, st, sts, sc, șp, șt, șc

Voiced stops are not allowed to begin minor syllables in roots. This rule does not apply to proper names such as Dămea.

Accents

Main article: Naeng/Accents

Orthography

Classical script

This script is the one used in the Mărotłite sacred texts (the Imθumăytil and other pidaic writings) and other Classical Naeng texts. It descends from Talmic runes and is thus a sister of the Talmic alphabet, which is used for Talmic languages. Nowadays it is mainly used for religious (Mărotłite announcements/edicts/rulings/etc.), ceremonial, and decorative purposes.

Consonants

Consonants have capital and lowercase forms. Names and extremely respectful pronouns are written in all caps.

• Ϫϫ Շչ Ɑᶑ Ѡϙ Ғғ Ѵѵ Ƌժ Ƨƨ ſʗ = p b f t d th c g ch
• Ɨɟ ʢє Ϯ₼ = m n ng
• Ϟɥ Ɔɔ Պɱ Պ̃ɱ̃ Ʌʎ (Պ'ɱ') = s ł ts tł ș (tș)
• Էէ Ӿӿ Գƪ Քƍ Ֆⱷ Пп = r w y h l ʔ

The alphabetical order for the consonant letters is:

R D F L M G C B S Ł Ș Y NG T N TH P CH H W TS TŁ (rieth, däl, fieth, lear, mear, goal, cam, boal, sam, ła, șnat, yam, ngoath, trop, nang, thop, pa, cha, hieth, wir, tsaf, tłaf)

rădäf = alphabet

Vowels

The vowel signs are placed to the right of the consonant letter.

• · : ; ı › ˫ ⸗ƍ ⸗ = ă ua üe ie o e ä a; :ƍ ;ƍ ıƍ ›ƍ ˫ƍ = u ü i oa ea

Modern script

The modern Naeng script

The modern Naeng script is an abugida related to Idavic scripts. It derives from an old Bjeheondian runic alphabet, which was in turn an adaptation of an even older logographic writing system used by the Dábhiaŋal (Naeng Dobingal) civilization (from ancient Erkwisngwal).

Should look square-ish like both Hebrew and Khmer

Parts of speech

Nouns

There are two articles: the definite article fi, from the distal demonstrative fi, and the specific article se (m), from the proximal demonstrative se. Indefinite nonspecific nouns do not take an article. The English definite article, and some unpreceded English nouns such as society, man (humanity), and life, correspond closely to the Naeng definite article, but the English indefinite article can be translated into either Naeng indefinite nouns or specific nouns depending on context.

• nonspecific: Thăgem șar nga ies rüe șar imyar! / Thăgem dunse rüe drel e ies imyar! = "I want her to give me some flowers! (any flowers, I don't care what flowers they are)"
• specific: Thăgem șar nga ies rüe șar se imyar! / Thăgem dunse rüe drel e ies se imyar! = "I want her to give me some flowers! (specific ones I have in mind)"
• definite: Thăgem șar nga ies rüe șar fi imyar! / Thăgem dunse rüe drel e ies fi imyar! = "I want her to give me the flowers! (you and I both know what flowers)"

Nouns can be pluralized with im-, which is usually used for specific or definite plural nouns. Pluralization is optional, however, and the nonspecific-specific distinction can make pluralization unnecessary where English would require it:

Rie die poar fa binfăndaw.

1SG NEG derive_enjoyment from NOM-test

I don't like exams.

The articles contract with a preceding preposition such as mi 'in, at' and șa 'to, for': for example, mis, mif and șas, șaf. Before a sibilant (resp. labial), forms such as mise (resp. mifi) are used.

Pronouns

Modern Naeng have pronouns similar to Classical Naeng, but slightly restructured: it lost the feminine plural pronouns and added the impersonal and polite pronouns.

I	thou (m.)	thou (f.)	thou (neopronoun)	you (polite)	he	she	they (neopronoun)	we (exc.)	we (inc.)	you (pl.)	they (an.)	impersonal
rie	łen	łes	łe	Pra	ien	ies	ie	tsa	bang	łănam	(ă)nam	tung

The impersonal pronoun tung (from tăchung 'some') can be used instead of a passive voice. In fact it's more general purpose than the passive voice which can only be used to turn direct objects into subjects. As in English, the impersonal may be used to state general commands, especially prohibitions:

Tung die lieb sä șa ngud mĭ ădoac tsrăboł.

IMPERS NEG put fire DAT burn LOC room closed

You don't let fire burn in a closed room.

In Middle Naeng, Pra was sometimes a third person pronoun but this is archaic. Ĭmpra is an obsolete plural form of Pra; nowadays Pra is used regardless of number.

Łănam is used as a very respectful 2nd person pronoun, restricted to addressing royalty and divine figures.

rie 'I' can informally be used as an impersonal pronoun.

Inanimates use the demonstrative fid (plural ĭmfid).

The gendered demonstratives sen/ses 'this man/this woman' and fin/fis 'that man/that woman' are literary.

Demonstratives

TODO: Correlatives table

• this: __ se (adnominal); sed (pronominal), pl. imsed
• that: __ fi (adnominal); fid (pronominal), pl. imfid
• here: rădun se, dunse
• there: rădun fi, dumfi
• who: ășac ra, șara
• what: ra (determiner), rad (pronoun)
• where: rădun ra, dura
• when: ngith ra, ngithra
• how: tănsü ra; tăra
• why: fănäl ra, fnăra
• all: tsor (preposed)
• many: mea (preposed)
• some: tăchung (preposed)
• few: łüp (preposed)
• any: prang (preposed)
• other: nătha

Verbs

Verbs are not conjugated, but are used with tense particles.

Imperatives:

• Familiar (both sg and pl): Tsrin! 'Eat!'
  • A little softened or insistent: tsrin e łen/łes/łănam! 'Please eat!/Can you please eat?!'
• Polite: Tsrin e Pra!
• Very polite: Tsrin e Łănam! or Hay tsrin e Łănam!
• Cohortative: (formal) Tsrin e bang! (Let's eat!), (colloquial) Măluac tsrin! (lit. follow eat)

Archaic style may use the vocative particle ha or hay: Hay tsrin....

Negative imperatives are formed with taș:

• Taș hămoch fĭ thcür mĭ ăcnas hălut! = Don't climb too high on the ladder!
• Taș ămpaw e łen fĭ ădoac! = Don't you leave the room!

Verbs of motion

Modern Naeng does not have exact equivalents for the English verbs "go", "carry", or "bring". Naeng motion verbs vary along two dimensions: one dimension is the method or direction of transport and one dimension is the telicity of the verb. Unidirectional, or telic, motion verbs express one-time motion towards a destination. Multidirectional, or atelic, verbs express undirected motion, repeated directed motion, or back-and-forth motion. The directionality is usually expressed by an infix or prefix, but is sometimes expressed through suppletion.

Meaning	Unidirectional verb	Multidirectional verb
to go by foot, to walk	tmuay (< tăm'uay 'to travel')	nămchül
to go with a land vehicle	tseng	tsăntseng
to ride, to mount (trans.)	csüm	sămcsüm
to go in	hădean	hămtean
to go out; to originate; to rise (of heavenly bodies and other inanimate beings)	hăgep	hifcep
to set (of heavenly bodies) to fall (of precipitation)	chănuy	cichnuy
to run	chi	cămhi
to swim	łămay	măłmay
to fly	thlut	tăthlut
to float on water to go with a small boat, to row	tchos	chădchos
to flow (of a fluid or current)	smin	măsmin
to roll	ftär	tăftär
to climb	hămoch	hithmoch
to jump	ștüp	thuștüp
to crawl	tgär	trăgär
to fall (of animates) to go down (of inanimates)	łăpaw	tăłpaw
to dive, go into water	tscur	tscărcur
to carry, bring (on foot)	fngün	fămngün
to carry, bring (using a vehicle) (trans.)	saf	sămhaf
to pull, drag (trans.)	năfor	nărfor
to drive (an animal or a vehicle), lead	hoth	hithoth

Adjectives

The copula mot is not used with adjectives. For example, 'The man is strong' = Fĭ noaf ngăwes.

The comparative is formed with rech + adjective and the superlative is formed with hă'et + adjective.

• to = good
• rech to = better
• hă'et to = best

The word for 'than' is ăngi 'surpass', and rech is not necessary when ăngi is used. Colloquially the similar-sounding ngĭ 'like' may be used instead.

For comparing two verbs or clauses, you need to use ăngi fid moang or ăngi foang, lit. 'than that which':

Bloy Etingof chea chmi ben rech tăfiet ăngi foang rie chea fnga thărĭșür măluac.

(*ăngi rie chea fnga thișür măluac)

Soon E. PST run COMP PROG fast surpass that_which 1SG PST can keep_up follow

Soon Etingof was running faster than I could keep up with.

There are no imperatives for adjectives; one uses ieng 'do', căfol 'become', or ămtüs 'remain' with the adjective depending on the situation. For example:

• Ieng cdeal! (familiar) or Ieng e Pra cdeal! (polite) = Be bold! (lit. do boldly) to make a wish that the addressee should act boldly. This is the most neutral imperative.
• Căfol cdeal! implies that the listener is not bold now and should be.
• Ămtüs cdeal! should be obvious: "stay bold".

TAM particles

• chmi (or VERB VERB) = progressive
• chea = preterite
• chea ftoal = 'used to'
• chea chmi = past progressive
• fa = perfect
• chea fa = past perfect
• per = future
• per chmi = future progressive
• hos = conditional
• tsămfe = 'situationally can'
• fnga = can, to know how to
• poar = like to
• thăgem = want to
• pdar = must
• fteal = should

Determiners

• swoch fi X = the very X

Conjunctions

• te = and
• uy = xor
• soał = or (either one of two)
• seam = but (however)
• chăbec = (higher register) however
• ăyut = but (rather)
• łüch șa = in order to
• hăbra = therefore
• pĭlang = because
  • łong = (high register) because; ław = (high register) because of
• ătuach nga = although
  • ya(ng) = (high register) although
• șang, łüch șa(ng) = so that
• moang = relativizer
• nga = complementizer
• tăngap (nga) = before
• łăgie (nga) = after
• swe/sweng = when, while
• șăfongtas nga = as long as
• mĭ tstoal nga = as soon as
• roan = until
• tă'iep = on the other hand
• sach = also

Prepositions

Classical Naeng inflected prepositions survive in Modern Naeng (in fact *ya rie for 'with me' is incorrect as in CNaeng) but are only used in formal or written Naeng. Spoken Naeng uses directionals and verbs of motion instead of inflected prepositions.

The regular pronominal affixes:

• 1sg: -ir
• 2sg: -eł (m), -łes (f)
• 3sg: -n (m), -s (f)
• 1pl.ex: -tsa
• 1pl.in: -ang
• 2pl: -łam
• 3pl: -nam

	I	thou (m.)	thou (f.)	thou (neopronoun)	you (polite)	he	she	they (neopronoun)	we (exc.)	we (inc.)	you (pl.)	they (an.)
mi 'in, at'	mir	mił	miłes	miłe	mi Pra	min	mis	mie	mitsa	ming	miłam	minam
șa 'to, for'	șar	șał	șăłes	șăłe	șa Pra	șan	șas	șăngie	șătsa	șbang	șăłam	șănam
fa 'from'	ăchir	ăcheł	ăchłes	ăchłe	fa Pra	ăchin	ăchis	ăchie	ăchtsa	ăchbang	ăchłam	ăchnam
ya 'with'	yăngir	yăngeł	yăngłes	yăngłe	ya Pra	yăngin	yăngis	yăngie	yăngtsa	yăbang	yăłam	yănam
ław 'on'	łăwir	łăweł	łăwłes	łăwłe	ław Pra	łăwin	łăwis	łăwie	łăwtsa	łăbang	łăwłam	łăwnam
cde 'around, about'	cder	cdeł	ctiłes	ctiłe	cde Pra	cdin	cdis	cdie	ctitsa	ctibang	ctiłam	ctinam

Sometimes variant forms with -ng- show up: e.g. șăngłam or șăngir

• moang: of (optional)
• mĭ: locative; in, at
• ya: with
• șa: to, for
• ngĭ: like, as
• fa: ablative
• tsăbi: without
• fe: by (passive)
• ław: on
• cde: around, about, concerning
• tăngap: before
• woach: behind
• łăgie: after
• bath: through
• ștal: along
• ngĭ prăwim: according to
• roan ('to wait'): (temporary) until
• nüng = (literary) until, up to
  • häb = (high register synonym of nüng)
  • fa... nüng... = from... to/through...
• măceaf = towards (a person)
• mĭ hoath = by means of
• mĭ rădun = instead of
• lĭștew = over, instead of
• năguł = above
• fă'üet = under
• șăbad = below

Auxiliaries

• hac = passive
• dur = come to
• cișloch = need only
• ithris = to go up
• psuy = to go down
• thușnoa = be sure to
• ruay hălșab = be permitted to
• seaf te VERB = continues to VERB

Adverbs of location

• liștew = over
• năguł = above
• fă'üet = under
• șăbad = below
• ithris = up
• psuy = down
• mif ey = on the side
• lăgoan = besides
• săfea te wăgie (from *s⟨oX⟩pe de w⟨oX⟩gi) = back and forth, to and fro

Adverbs of time

• hăsüs = yet, still
  • die ... hăsüs = not anymore (NOT "not yet")
• lișnap = not yet
• smaw X = every X/by the X where X = time
  • smaw tsoa/fnüd/tsănga/len = every morning/day/evening/night
  • smaw roac = from time to time, every now and then
• ngieș = already
• bloy = soon
• łăduy = again

Adverbs of emphasis

• torech = rather
• yic = only
• ămic fi X, swoch fi X = (this) very X
• ătuach = even
  • comes before negative: Ătuach die thăgem mălitchow ef chäth fi. 'That child doesn't even want to communicate.'
• tămo = very, very much, greatly
  • Ies chea dur thușrăber fa ien tămo. = She came to be very resentful of him.
• tsor łăngü = at all, anyway
• eth = it does, doesn't it?

Adverbs of quantity

• șămea = a lot of, much (number or quantity)
  • In lăchir șămea ło hălwier-prăcăbäs. = He writes about sociology a lot.
• łüp = a little
  • yic łüp = little, only a little
• ngĭ tlieb = about, approximately
• rech șămea = more
  • rech tăfad = less
• ămac = enough
• mi thuyut = especially
• răngi = (verb) too much, too (adj, adv)
  • răngi mea = too much

Syntax

SVO, VSO in subordinate clauses with the subject marked with e; but subordinate clauses are SVO when marked with the complementizer nga

NAdj, NGen, NRel, prepositions

Rie chmi briets cdes că'üs tes tsăctsoc.

1SG PROG speak about-SPEC love and-SPEC hate

I speak of love and hate.

Fi rüech chmi tsrin se troas.

DEF bird PROG eat SPEC seed

The bird is eating a seed.

Existence

Existence is indicated using ruay 'to have'; indeed, this is the more archaic meaning of ruay.

Chea ruay rath hăngüs fa yeap.

There were two people outside.

Questions

Modern Naeng is wh-in-situ, unlike Classical Naeng.

Time clauses

• swe = "while" but it takes VSO: swe căwdul ef imfnüd ("as the days go by")
• for SVO use sweng: sweng fi imfnüd căwdul

Verb phrase

Verb phrases are usually of the form:

TENSE MARKER + NEGATION + AUXILIARY + VERB + pronominal oblique object + direct objects + nominal oblique object

Hăyad chea rüe tsăstsus șa Inthar, seam ien chea die făntsüc chămpüe fid.

H. PST give riddle to I. but he PST NEG succeed untangle that_noun

Hăyad gave Inthar a riddle, but he couldn't solve it.

Serial verbs

Serial verbs are common as in Southeast Asian langs. Negated as follows:

Rie sișpeal die tsäl

'I don't understand [what was said]' (lit. I hear not understand)

fi inthar ngi'üt chwäp hămtean fi tar imhareach

DEF raven bring.ATEL light enter.ATEL DEF house PL-story

'Raven brings light into the house of stories'

Inversion

SVO clauses are inverted to VSO clauses after certain conjunctions. In a VSO clause the particle e must precede the subject.

Independent VSO clauses have hortative or optative meanings:

Plachtom e chwäp!

appear NOM light

Let there be light!

The more... the more...

Rie die clăduang tsäl fa foang chmi nătsap. Ămben-ămben e rie, căfol-căfol e rie blaw.

1SG not receive hint from that_which PROG happen. run-run SBJ 1SG, become-become SBJ 1SG fat.

I don't get what's going on. The more I run, the fatter I get.

Relative clauses

moang is the relativizer. It is often dropped when the relative clause is short (most often with adjectives).

When the head becomes an oblique object, using a resumptive pronoun is a formal Naeng strategy. Resumptive pronouns are not common in the colloquial language:

Colloquial: fi łamhif moang rie chea tmuay ('the market I went to', lit. "the market that I walked_telic")

Formal: fi łamhif moang rie chea tmuay şa dunfi (lit. "the market that I walked_telic to there")

English what-clauses are translated with fid moang... or foang.... foang is also used to translate the [adjective] one in English:

Łes tsădwer ăyied ra, foang sim uy foang pday?

2SG.F choose box INTERR, that_which red xor that_which blue

Which box do you choose, the red one or the blue one?

Exclamations

As in most Talman languages, exclamations of the form 'how...!' usually use the vocative particle ha or hay, in the construction ha(y) fi "ADJ-ness" (= 'how ADJ/ADV...') or ha(y) foang [clause] (= 'how [clause]/how much...').

Ha fĭ hălfngărnach fĭ moșiew! Ha foang ies fnga sătsiet bang!

VOC DEF NMLZ-awful DEF nature! VOC that_which she can teach we.INC!

How terrible nature is! How much she can teach us! (lit. O the terribleness of nature! O that which she can teach us!)

Hay fĭ hălwier moang ien lăleș mĭ yăgom!

VOC DEF beauty REL he play_an_instrument LOC zither

How beautifully he plays the zither!

Vocabulary

Modern Naeng contains more Netagin and Talmic loanwords than Classical Naeng; even derivational affixes have been borrowed. In modern times, many Eevo loans are entering the language, to the dismay of purists.

Layers

• inherited Naeng (including older Talmic loans)
• Tseer and Talmic loans, esp. during the Middle Naeng period. These words often sound high register, like Aramaic loans do in Modern Hebrew
• Netagin loans
• other miscellaneous loans (from Häskä, Eevo etc.)
• Recent native coinages; reborrowings from older Naeng stages
• recent Eevo loans

Derivation

Part-of-speech changing affixes

• TODO: another nominalizer?
• ⟨ĭ⟩ = nominalizer for verbs
• bĭn- = nominalizer for verbs
• hăl- = nominalizer for adjectives
• să- = nominalizer
• ⟨ng⟩ = infix forming place nouns
• sngeaf 'world, Hmøøh, age (used in the idiom sloc imsngeaf "forever" (lit. until the judgement of the world) ' < seaf 'walk, go'
• ⟨c⟩ = infix forming instruments from verbs
• dĭ- = negation
• cha- = -less
• ĭng- = verbalizer
• mo- (+ voicing of plosives) = adjectivizer
• lă = verbalizer (how productive?)
• yă- = adjectivizer
• neach- = agentive
• nu- = agentive (Classical Naeng; and productive to an extent in Modern Naeng)
• pa- = patientive (from Old Naeng *p + *ha)
• ⟨ngăr⟩, ⟨măr⟩ = a result/state (which becomes another adjectivizer?)
• Că(syllable S) -> Că(S reduced)(S) = diminutive
  • yar 'flower' > yăryar 'little flower'
  • inthar 'raven' > inthărthar 'crow'
• ‹ră› = patient noun
• pră- = patient noun, -ee
• ha- = -able, able to [intransitive verb]
• -om = augmentative
• -ith = diminutive

"Trigger" verb affixes

The "trigger" infixes usually derive verbs from other verbs. These were originally trigger affixes but had become derivational affixes to derive verbs by Classical Naeng times.

• ‹ăn/ăng› = Applicative trigger
• ‹ĭth› = Locative trigger
• ‹ăw› = Instrumental trigger
• ‹ăfong› = Destination trigger
  • răfongüe 'to endow' < rüe 'to give'
• ‹ălĭs› = Comitative trigger
• ‹ăm› = Source/cause trigger
• ‹ăchem› = Benefactive/purpose trigger
• ‹ărea› = Malefactive trigger

Aspect?

Many Proto-Lakovic aspects had become derivational by Classical Naeng, analogous to how PIE aspects became inflectional or lexical in daughter IE languages. This mirrors the development in other Talman Lakovic languages but Naeng has been the most heavily affected.

Reduplicant uses 1st consonant (F) or last consonant (L)

• perfective = em-
• momentane = pla-
• intensive/excessive = incopyfixation of L
• distributive ("X widely, affecting many objects") = eNFă-
• inchoative/inceptive = os-, osăL-
• graduative = tă-, tăFa-

Should inflectional tam be more complex?

Concatenation

Head-initial concatenation is often used to derive expressions that would correspond to words in English: e.g. hălwier-chne 'mathematics' (lit. 'beauty of ideal/order').

The resulting meaning from concatenation is not always entirely predictable:

• tar-siet (lit. 'house of letter (character)') means 'school'.
• șän-finaw (lit. 'word of truth') means 'major warning sign, wake-up call' in formal language.

Archaic words also appear as cranberry morphemes in some concatenated expressions. For example, sămeath-păchnay, meaning 'patriotism', literally means "honoring the king", where sămeath means 'to honor, to revere' in archaic Naeng.

Common concatenated morphemes are:

• tar = places (lit. 'house of')
• hălwier = '-logy' (lit. 'beauty of')
  • This is a calque from the same usage of tadaakh 'beauty' in Tseer.
• wang = 'matter, affairs'
• ngoth = 'manner, way'
• sces = 'style of, à la'
• ăma = 'proto, ur-' (lit. 'mother of')
• tam = 'full of, -ive, -ful'

Sample texts

Newton's Laws

I: Tsi'eth ămtüs mi hăllithăhuł soas mi hăltsăliet rădoan, srüe die tłith'ach e sănguac ło fid.

object remain LOC NOMZ-stationary or LOC NOMZ-speed constant, if not act NOM force on that_PRON

I: An object stays at rest, or at a constant speed, unless a force acts on it.

II: Fi ălcifol ło fi hălpășad moang fteach fid sibaganangch mif sănguac moang tung șithcats șafi fteach; te fi ălcifol ișrom șawim fi șădong glan moang tung șithcats fi sănguac yătăngap ło fid.

DEF <VN>change on DEF STAT-ACT-move of body that_PRON proportional LOC-DEF force REL IMPERS apply DAT-DEF body; and the <VN>change occur along DEF line straight REL IMPERS apply DEF force aforementioned on that_PRON

II: The change in the momentum of a body is proportional to the force applied to the body; and the change occurs along the straight line on which that force is applied.

III: Tsor binșithcats ruay se binșithcats-căräng thür.

all action have SPEC action-against equal

III: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

You are not obligated to complete the work, but...

Łen die nămărłof şa cĭthloch se thĭbur, tă'iep łen die pluam șa măreado fid. (Mișna, Pirceay Afoat 2’21”)

2SG.M NEG obligated to complete SPEC work, but_also 2SG.M NEG free to abandon DEM_DIST

You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. (Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 2:21)

Inge

Bang fa bin'ătsoal fĭ lăhoal fĭ sngeaf ĭmtriem, te fa păfonglis fĭ ĭmșășur bang ya tsăngua te gow mĭ thusăyüer chngăfi, häb nga tsip crĭrath, päd fnga frel e nam săwim, ănam hos rĭstey fĭ chlăpsür mĭ wă'ua croth.

1PL.IN PERF enslave DEF rest DEF world PL-animal, and PERF treat DEF PL-cousins 1PL.IN with fur and feather ADV evil so_much, until COMP without doubt, if_counterfactual POT transmit NOM 3PL.AN story, 3PL.AN COND imagine DEF villain in form human_being.

"Ne-Zim"

Srüe ruay e croth patsrin, te die ruay ef păcrit rus, te rüe e sed șa fid, yic ya sămĭrüe łĭthad tsip neab te tămĭseath e fid swoch, lea mot bĭntănse hașĭthbech? Tieth, fid mot mĭtse paw yătĭthun moang bĭnłăcthie! Thăbur ef croth ngĭ nuthbur papluas mĭ-thäș, șang fid plang łos ĭmsrup te thusămpey moang thăprea. To, fĭ mocănłin Pra lea chĭthud srüe ngil e rie "Grath" mĭ łäm "croth"? - Ne-Sim

From Hamlet

Șa ftsüen uy șa răchta, sed fĭ bĭnbiets fănaw.

To live or to die, this.PRON DEF question real

To be or not to be, that is the question.

(This line is in the Naeng alexandrine)

From the Internationale

Ămflü, hay tsor pachărea'i fi sngeaf!

arise, VOC all PAT-scorn DEF world

Arise, all ye scorned ones of the world!

UDHR

Binhithma lăchpaș cdef imłin croth

Nicüf tăche

Tsor croth fa ășeal pluam te thür mis hăltsăbas tes imłin. Tung răfongüe nam yas hălpăthin tes bintochur, te pdar thușnoa e nam tănse fidoan măceaf nătha mis șă'or hălchăsräf.

all human PERF be_born free and equal in-SPEC dignity and-SPEC PL-right. IMPERS endow 3PL with-SPEC reason and-SPEC conscience, and must make_sure NOM 3PL act one towards other in-SPEC spirit ABST-fellow

(Standard Bjeheondian) [tsɔɐ kʁaoð və ʔəʃɛl plum te ðyɐ mɪs hltsəbɒs təs ʔɪmɬin. tʉŋ ʁəvoŋø nɒm jəs hlpəðin təz bɪntoxuɐ, tə pda: ðʉʃnɔ e nɒm tənzae vɪdɔn məkɛv nəðɒ mɪs ʃəgɔɐ hlxəzʁæv]

The Round Table

This passage is from the Imthumitil Păchlac, a retranslation of the Imθumitil into Modern Naeng by Pida Yăchef Samarasang.

Modern Naeng

Mĭ ngith doan chea chmi dur es tach ĭmchäth mĭs mogor litheath. Fĭ Pĭda Brăwied chea sray bĭntăbiets: "Łănam mot mea ra hăngüs?"

Swe chea chmi chnung e müets ĭmchäth hăsüs, se doan chäth chea plawăsma: "Șrüch stiw! Ruay mĭ tsum ĭmmognas tach dunse, ĭmmălin thaf müets, ĭmchustiw liew, ĭmchusmech thaf müets, ĭmchumüets tach, te doan ĭmchutach."

Prăyon nga fĭ Pĭda Brăwied chea tăbiets: "Wăhang, hos ruay mea ra hăngüs, srüe placäp e do croth hĭboath șaf tĭ'uar?"

Chea că'aw e fied: "Lea sed die placămărnga, fĭ Pĭda? Bang ruay tsor tĭ'uar palüc, sach se făbeang ĭmtĭ'uar nătha yaf croth mălem!"

Fĭ Pida chea sngiem șaf chäth mĭ ngil, "Fĭ chäth se eth ruay hăltsrüeng mi finaw."

Original (Classical Naeng)

Ngiiθ dur mogor se taχ χaaθ. "Măra łĭnam?" tăbits φin Pĭda Brăwid.

Mi-ăngnuung căχθaaθ năθa emrĭtsal sen doon: "Șrüχ te-stiiw: taχ mognas, θaφ te-müts θraaφ, liw stăliiw, θaφ te-müts sălmeχ, taχ mălüüts, doon tălaχ."

"Ǎna mee ra, srü hĭdeen croθ năθa?" tăbits φin Pĭda Brăwid.

"Op cănga, φin Pĭda: tsor pădiχ φnărtaang, te ămsaχ păχwădiχ năθa ya φin croθ φi!" eφθooc φin χaaθ.

"Ăruy șa-χaaθ ses tsărüng φănaw φănaw." esngim șa φin χaaθ φin Pĭda Brăwid.

English

Once, six children were in a round table. Master Brăwied asked them a question: "How many people are you?"

While five children were still counting, one child called out: "Sixty-three! Specifically, 6 individuals, 15 teams of two, 20 teams of 3, 15 teams of 4, 6 teams of 5, and one team of 6."

Then Master Brăwied asked: "Well then, how many people will be there if another person joins the group?"

The child replied: "Isn't that obvious, Master? We'll have all of the old teams, as well as another set of teams with the new person!"

The Master praised the child, saying, "This child has wisdom indeed."

Warming Up to You

[...]
Tuach ya snar nga łen per răchta mi neab
Rie pănea mi ses hălsieth łen,
Tsin cămșuth es s­ădoan hălsieth se hălngărătiew –
Fi imcnul hălsnar;
Fin tslües, sem fa tănet e łen mif căngtseth se
Te per ăloth ris șa tăgoa.

Gloss:
even with know COMP 2SG.M FUT die LOC end
1SG dwell LOC-SP warmth 2SG.M
because nurture NOM-DEF same warmth SP curiosity
DEF PL-leaf knowledge
DEF garden REL PERF plant NOM 2SG.M LOC-DEF plot_of_land this
and FUT keep up DAT eternity

Poetry

Rhyme

Rhyming works similarly to English (two words rhyme if rimes agree).

Meter

A literary Naeng meter is determined by

• The number of syllables in a line (which might alternate);
• A sequence of accentual feet making up each line (usually anapaests and iambs, with the occasional trochee);
• Zero or more caesurae in each line.

The most common meter in literary verse by far is the anapestic tetrameter: (u)uSuuSuuSuuS. It is also used in the King Sămtsay Song, the Bjeheondian national anthem.

Some other meters are:

• Free verse
• Rhyming prose, like poetic sections of the Imθumăytil
• Quantitative meters from Netagin poetry

Iambic meters and meters that use a combination of iambs and anapests are also used. An iambic meter that goes back to Classical Naeng verse is the chinung tălach ('hexad meter', more literally 'hexad count'), a form of alexandrine where each line consists of two iambic trimeter hemistichs separated by a caesura. The first of each group of three feet may occasionally be a trochee.