Roshterian: Difference between revisions

|quote=The Roshterian tongue is truly a marvel to behold, an infinite trove of jewels for the student of languages ... While its words and affixes display some affinity to our own language, they are even more akin to the ancient [[Thensarian]] language, indeed to such a degree that its Talmic provenance cannot be doubted. Curiously, the Roshterian speech in particular is pronounced with consonants with tongue-curling not unlike those of the Gulyasj language ... noit has a proclivity towards using lengthy words for single utterances where a multitude of smaller words and prefixes combine in a quite volatile manner, reminding one of the language of Old Tíogall texts ... I think it proper to further study this language, for surely it will yield a great wealth of information concerning the common forebear of Talmic languages.

 

'''Roshterian''' /rɒʃˈtɛriən/ (native name: ''eṟbiros̱ṯerim'' /ɛɻbɪɾɔʂʈɛˈɾɪm/ 'The Roshterian language', ''ros̱ṯer'' from older ''*rosker-'' 'front, east'; [[Clofabosin]]: ''rosterosin'') is a [[Talmic languages|Talmic language]] spoken in Northeastern Cuadhlabh, inspired partly by Welsh and Tamil. It is head-initial and polysynthetic; verbs use bipersonal conjugation, evidentials, applicative constructions and noun incorporation.

 

<!--*''eṟbitamiṟim'' = Tamil language (the Dravidian one, not [[Tamil]]serotin)-->

*''ooxus'' /oːˈɬus/ 'wave'

*''roṉḏ, roṉḏo-'' /rɔɳɖ/ = man (male) ({{recon|''rondwom''}}?)

*''breit, breity-'' /brɛɪt/ (< ''boni-teit'' 'AGT-child') = woman

*''bo-'' = profession

**''bopenicili-, bopenicili'' /bopɛnikiˈli/ = ''penicillin'' player

**''nys̱ṉoq'' = sauce (''noqa-, noq'' = 'top')

*''qeqeqeqeqe...'' = (laughter or snickering)

 

*1: ''peem''

*2: ''tixu''

*3: ''naṟg''

*4: ''loob''

*5: ''helix'', ''lix-''

*8: ''lored''

*10: ''ḡir''

*11: ''hunai''

*12: ''nai''

| '''x''' /ɬ/

| '''s̱''' /ʂ/

| '''x̱''' /ɬʵ/

| '''v''' /v/

| '''r''' /ɾ~ɽ/

| '''l''' /l/

'''j''' /j/ and '''z''' /z/ are used in loanwords.

*Northeastern dialects fail to distinguish /ɭ/ from /ɻ/.

ɪ i: ʊ u:

ɛ e: ə ə: ɔ o:

a a:

{{angbr|'''i i u uu e ee y yy o oo a aa ai ei ia au ua oi iu'''}}

There is no phonemic stress or tone; however, all words are pronounced with word-final stress.

Roshterian allows relatively few clusters compared to e.g. [[Thensarian]], but more clusters than [[Nurian]].

*Not allowed initially: ''mp, mb, nt, nd, ṉṯ, ṉḏ, nc, ng, nq, nḡ, lp, lt, lc, lq, lb, ld, lg, lḡ, rp, rt, ṟṯ, rc, rq, rb, rd, rg, rgh, st, s̱ṯ, sv, sc, s̱q, ṟb, ṟḏ, ṟg''?

*Allowed initially: ''pl, pr, bl, br, fr, vr, tr, ṯr, dr, (ḏr), ts, tx, tx̱, cl, cr, gl, gr''

====Sandhi====

==Sound changes==

The most significant changes characterizing Roshterian are coalescing and altering of consonant clusters, often creating retroflex consonants.

*{{recon|ā}} > ''ia'' ({{recon|nā}} > ''nia'' 'I'); {{recon|ō}} > ''ua''; {{recon|au}} > ô; {{recon|ou}} > ''û''; {{recon|ū}} > ''ii''

*{{recon|qʷ}} > /χʷ/ > /ɧ/ > ''s̱''; {{recon|ʁʷ}} > /ζ/ > ''ṟ''

**''ʁʷelinə'' ("6 parts [of 12]") > ''ṟelin'' 'half'

*{{recon|nw, tw, dw, sw, łw, lw, rw}} > ''ṉ, ṯ, ḏ, s̱, x̱, ḻ, ṟ'' /ɳ, ʈ, ɖ, ʂ, ɬ̠, ʐ~ɻ~ɭ, ʐ~ɻ~ɭ/

**''gʷałwā'' > ''bax̱i'' 'neck, throat' ~ Thn. ''gaθuā'' 'throat (also language)'

*{{recon|sl-, sm-, sn-}} > ''ḻ-, m-, ṉ-''

*{{recon|sɸ-, sr-, sw-}} > ''s̱-, ṟ-, s̱-''

*{{recon|st, sk, skʷ, sq}} > ''t-/st, ṯ-/s̱ṯ-, v-/sv-, q-/s̱q''

**''stas-'' > ''tetsil'' 'gathering' (~ Thn. ''Stasnyssōs'')

**''skəttā'' > ''ṯyyti'' 'body' ~ Thn. ''scyttā''

**{{recon|bastom}} > ''bast'' 'king' ~ Thn. ''bastom'' 'head'

*{{recon|sb, sd, sg}} > ''ṟb, ṟdh, ṟg''  

**{{recon|nasg-}} > ''naṟg'' '3'

*{{recon|φn, tn, φl, tl}} > /ːn, ts, ːɬ, tɬ/

**''łnāgin'' > ''txiagin'' 'I believe' ~ Thn. ''θnāginis''  

**''oφlutsus'' > ''ooxus'' 'wave'

*{{recon|kt, qt}} > /jt, ːʈ/

**{{recon|tektə}} > ''teit'' /teit/ 'child'

**{{recon|neqtə}} > ''neeṯ'' /neːʈ/ 'cloud'

*{{recon|ks, qs}} > /js, ːʂ/

*{{recon|kn, gn, qn, ql, qr}} > /jn, jn, :ɳ, :ɻ, :ɻ/ (with **/uj/ > /uː/ )

**''sφugnus'' > ''s̱uun'' 'root' ~ Thn. ''sφugnus''

**''leqnos'' > ''leeṉ'' 'river' ~ Thn. ''leānos''?

**''qrīdis'' > ''ṟiid'' 'knife' ~ Thn. ''ȝrīdis'' 'edge'

*{{recon|φj, tj, kj, qj}} > ''pt s ts ḡ''

*{{recon|φ-, j-, s-}} > ''h-''

*{{recon|skj, stj}} > ''ṯ-/s̱ṯ, s-/ːs''

*final short vowels lost; final ''-m, -r, -s, -t'' lost; final long vowels shorten (''ia, ua'' > ''i, u'')

*''i''-affection: The following changes affect V1 in sequences of the form V1 + consonant cluster + ultimate (*i/*ī/*j) unless the consonant cluster after V1 contains a retroflex consonant.

**''a'' > ''e''

**''e'' > ''i''

*Some combining forms and combined forms are altered due to the stress shift - conjunct forms for verbs arise when there is an antepenultimate syllable

Nouns are marked with a singular-plural distinction, and may also take possessive suffixes. However, the lemma form of a noun is typically its combining form, which is the incorporated form of a noun and is also used to form possessed forms and compounds. Unlike in [[Thensarian]] and its descendants, the [[Proto-Talmic]] grammatical gender was lost; gendered pronouns and verb affixes no longer mark grammatical gender, but natural gender (as in [[Naquian]]).

The plural form is inherited from the Proto-Talmic reduplicated collective; some irregularities may be present due to the retention of the original single consonant in the reduplicant, as opposed to the stem-initial cluster where the consonants interacted to produce new consonants and clusters.

|+ ''veiny-'' 'brother'

| ''veiny-'' || ''vein'' || ''vevein''

|''veinyn''||''veveinyn''

|''veinys''||''veveinys''

!|his/her

|''veinyti''||''veveinyti''

!|its

|''veinyt''||''veveinyt''

|''veinym''||''veveinym''

|''veinys̱''||''veveinys̱''

|''veinyc''||''veveinyc''

!|their

|''veinytu''||''veveinytu''

|+ ''loiro-'' 'bird'

| ''loiro-'' || ''loir'' || ''leloir''

|''loiron''||''leloiron''

|''loiros''||''leloiros''

!|his/her

|''loiroti''||''leloiroti''

|''loirot''||''leloirot''

|''loirom''||''leloirom''

|''loiros̱''||''leloiros̱''

|''loiroc''||''leloiroc''

|''loirotu''||''leloirotu''

| ''ṟiidi-'' || ''ṟiid'' || '''''qe'''ṟiid''  

!|his/her

|''ṟiiditi''||''qeṟiiditi''

|''ṟiidis̱''||''qeṟiidis̱''

===Verbs===

====Object incorporation====

Verb stems have a ''combining form'', also called ''incorporating form'', used with object markers, negation or incorporated objects.

Evidentials mark the source of the speaker's information; evidential marking is mandatory for all verbs. Other discourse affixes also go into this slot.

*''co-'' (PTal ''*kosən''): I witnessed or otherwise directly experienced it

*''pyn-'': Information I obtained from hearsay or am quoting

*''dre-'': a third-party source I consider credible

*''mei-'': my own inference or assumption

*''hy-'' (< 'pray tell'): interrogative

====Negative/focus affixes====

Negation is marked with the negative affix ''mis-'' or ''mi-'', which may alter the verb stem to its incorporating form.

There's also focused affirmative ("yes, X is true") and focused negative ("no, X isn't true") affixes, used e.g. when answering questions.

====Object affixes====

|+ Object affixes

|''ni-''

|''mee-''

|''-''

|''xee-''

|''ti-''

|''hee-''

!|3 (proximate)

|''bi-''

|''nee-''

!|4 (obviative)

|colspan="2"|''pi-''

!|Whom?/Someone

|colspan="2"|''tei-''

!|What?/Something

|colspan="2"|''taa-''

====Subject+TAM affixes====

{| class="bluetable"

! Person !! Affix !! ''-ḡaiman'' 'I fly' !! ''-caasyn'' "I eat"

| 2SG || ''-r'' || ''-ḡaimar'' || ''-caasyr''

| 3SG.M || ''-m'' || ''-ḡaimam'' || ''-caasym''

| 3SG.F || ''-s'' || ''-ḡaimas'' || ''-caasys''

| 3SG.N || ''-0'' || ''-ḡaima'' || ''-caas''

| 1EX || ''-me'' || ''-ḡaimame'' || ''-caasyme''

|-

| 2PL || ''-f'' || ''-ḡaimaf'' || ''-caasyf''

| 3PL || ''-tu'' || ''-ḡaimatu'' || ''-caasytu''

|-

| 4 || ''-p'' || ''-ḡaimap'' || ''-caasyp''

|-

| Who? || ''-te'' || ''-ḡaimate'' || ''-caasyte''

| What? || ''-ta'' || ''-ḡaimata'' || ''-caasyta''

{| class="bluetable"

|-

! Person !! Affix !! ''-ḡaiman'' 'I fly' !! ''-caasyn'' "I eat"

| 1SG || RDP-''-n'' || ''-ḡeḡaiman'' || ''-cecaasyn''

| 3SG.F || RDP-''-s'' || ''-ḡeḡaimas'' || ''-cecaasys''

| 3SG.N || RDP-''-0'' || ''-ḡeḡaima'' || ''-cecaas''

| 1EX || RDP-''-me'' || ''-ḡeḡaimame'' || ''-cecaasyme''

| 1IN || RDP-''-nt'' || ''-ḡeḡaimant'' || ''-cecaasynt''

| 3PL || RDP-''-tu'' || ''-ḡeḡaimatu'' || ''-cecaasytu''

| 4 || RDP-''-p'' || ''-ḡeḡaimap'' || ''-cecaasyp''

| Who? || RDP-''-te'' || ''-ḡeḡaimate'' || ''-cecaasyte''

| What? || RDP-''-ta'' || ''-ḡeḡaimata'' || ''-cecaasyta''

| 3SG.M || ''-ḡaimateem'' || ''-caasteem''

| 3SG.F || ''-ḡaimatees'' || ''-caastees''

To express "is an X", the copula ''-puan'' is suffixed to the bare stem of X; X plus the copula then goes to the normal stem slot for purposes of verb inflection.

:'''''Hyroṉḏuar, hybreituar?'''''

:''Are you a man or a woman?''

==Syntax==

|width=25%

|quote=Your first thought when seeing a glossed Roshterian sentence might be, "How can these people talk so fluently backwards?"

Roshterian is a head-marking polysynthetic language. Verbs take both subject and object affixes (bipersonality occurs in Thensarian and other Quihum languages as well). Complex morphophonemic alternations are common, reminiscent of [[Old Tíogall]] or Old Irish. Where Roshterian deviates from typical Cuadhlabh (or even Talmic) typology are features such as obviation, noun incorporation and evidential marking, making Roshterian resemble Native American languages such as Blackfoot or Ojibwe.

:'''''Cotiraḏan.'''''

:/kɔt̪ɪraˈɖan/

:co-ti-raḏa-n

:EVID_DIR-2SG.OBJ-love-1SG.SUBJ

:''I love you.''

===Possession===

"X of Y" = X-3SG Y or X-Y (e.g. ''veinyti breit'' 'the woman's brother' or ''safuti huar'' = 'the color of the house'