Tarkandamonian

Tarkandamonian
Tarkandamon
Pronunciation	[tar'kandamɔn]
Created by	Anyar
Setting	Earth
Native speakers	436,232 (1980)
Language family	language isolate
Writing systems	Latin Devanagari Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Ōran Kan (“Beautiful Land”)

Introduction

Tarkandamonian, from the word Tarkandamon, meaning "Those who speak properly", is the official language spoken in Ōran Kan, a country situated between the border of the Pakistani-admininstered Gilgit-Baltistan region, and Indian-administered Kashmir. It is separated from Ladakh by a small strip of land approximately 25KM in length extending from Gilgit-Balikstan to Kashmir. It is estimated that roughly 100,000 speakers live outside of Ōran Kan, the vast majority having fled the country after a military coup led by Brigadier General Enor Gavilna overthrew President Gar Tindra in early July 1983. The majority of the expatriate community lives in various parts of the EU, with the largest number in Spain and Italy.

Knowledge of the language's history is unknown prior to the 1870's, when British explorers arrived after the First Anglo-Sikh War and began documenting the language. Although phylologists and linguists have attempted to link the language to neighbouring Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan languages, as well as the language isolate Burushaski also located in the same geographical region, Tarkandamonian shows no genetic relationship to any of its neighbors. More exotic relationships have been proposed, the most prominent of these being the Austronesian theory proposed by Samuel Burdock from the University of Kentucky. Proponents of the theory point to the preponderance of circumfixation in verb forms, even though none of these circumfixes show any similarity in form or function as those of the Austronesian languages.

Typologically, Tarkandamonian is a fusional language, with SOV syntax and Nominative-Accusative alignment. Nouns do not inflect for gender, number, or case (with the exception being the construct state case marker). Core case relations are expressed by strict word order of the core noun arguments, with the nominative argument preceding the patient argument; however, when the direct object is omitted, obligatory agreement markers surface in the verb forms. Postpositions mark oblique nominal arguments. The language lacks both definite and indefinite markers, although indefiniteness can be explicitly expressed by the cardinal number nomir("one").

Pronouns display more inflectional complexity. There are portmanteau forms that encode agent and patient core arguments. While the language does not mark for gender, it differentiates third person core arguments with two distinct forms, a proximal and obviative form.

Orthography

Inscriptions dating from the end of the third millennium BCE were discovered in 1942 in the remote northwestern province Baida Nor. These inscriptions, carved on a rock face near the villages of Belat and Trima, are indigenous to the area, resembling neither the different varieties of cuneiform in Mesopotamia nor the Indus Valley script dating from the same era. The inscriptions remain largely undeciphered, but their highly iconic nature suggests that at least some of them were measure symbols of some kind, in particular the symbols of what appear to be baskets with lines drawn inside suggesting sheaves of wheat. Greek coins, also found in Baida Nor, most likely originated in nearby Bactria, but evidence that the Greek alphabet was adopted by the inhabitants of the area remains lacking, although some ruins of a non-Greek civilization have been found in some archeological sites.

The earliest evidence of a continuous writing system dates to the 9th CE, shortly after the Islamic conquest of Iran. The Arabic-derived script was adopted by speakers of the earliest attested form of Tarkandamonian, termed by scholars as Medieval Tarkandamon. Although Islam was adopted by only a small number of the ruling elite, the system continued to be in use until its discovery by Western explorers in the 1870's. After the British annexed Ōran Kan, the Latin alphabet was introduced and replaced the Arabic script.

The Language Regulation Act of 1973 established the Academy of Proper Speech, responsible for standardizing the national language. The Academy enacted a series of orthographic reforms in 1976 to reflect the pronunciation of the Geruna dialect, which formed the basis of the standard language. After the July 1983 Revolution, the leaders of the military coup, all from Bāzor Province, declared the Bāzor dialect as the basis of a new official standard language. The Academy instituted another series of language and orthographic reforms, however these reforms were incomplete as of 2017. The modern standard language, a hybrid of the two dialects, was a result of these incomplete reforms. The orthography, as it was originally meant to reflect the pronunciation of Geruna dialect, still remains faithful to that dialect's phonology. However, the orthography did not accurately reflect the pronunciation of words from the Bāzor dialect. Numerous spelling irregularities have arisen, particularly noticeable where Bāzor cognate words supplanted Geruna terms. For example, the Geruna word for "immediately" <orin> was replaced by the Bāzor cognate /toɾm/, but the modern spelling retains the Geruna spelling. Even more striking differences include the word for “blitzkrieg”, /glɛvka/ in the modern pronunciation but retaining the original Geruna spelling <mozkadi>.

Due to this divergence from the original Geruna spelling and the pronunciation of the standard dialect, foreign media transcribe Tarkandamonian in various formats; no standard as of yet has arisen. In this article, the IPA representation will be provided alongside the Tarkandamonian word or phrase if the pronunciation deviates from the older Geruna-based spelling.

Morphology

Nouns

Gender

Modern Tarkandamonian does not distinguish gender, although a masculine-feminine distinction existed up until the 15th century. Masculine nouns were marked with the suffix -e-, whilst feminine nouns were marked with the suffix -i. Traces of the old gender system in Modern Tarkandamonian survive as irregularities in the number system, particularly in words indicating body parts and a few high-frequency or culturally significant words, where the original -I feminine marker surfaces (c.f. karan -> karandokon /'kangon/ “hammers”, vs. baralt -> baraldokin /'baʒgin/ “ears”).

Case

Tarkandamonian has only two formal cases, a direct case and a construct case. The direct case represents both the subject and the object, differentiated by word order. The construct case marks the dependent noun argument in possessive phrases.

Case	Singular	Plural	Example	Meaning
Direct	-∅	-dokon	bori - bori-dokon /'boʒgon/ zugum /'d͡ʒɛm/ - zegum-dokon /'d͡ʒɛnkon/ ravarn /ɾa'van/ - ravarn-dokon /ɾa'vankon/	temple - temples thief - thieves mountain - mountains
Construct	-na -a	-don	bori-na /boɾn/ - bori-don /'boʒon/ zuge-na /d͡ʒɛn/ - zuge-don /'d͡ʒɛndon/ ravarn-a /ɾa'vana/ - ravarn-don /ɾa'vandon/	of/belonging to the temple - of/belonging to the temples of/belonging to the thief - of/belonging to the thieves of/belonging to the mountain - of/belonging to the mountains

Case relations are otherwise expressed by prepositions, many of which which exist separately as relational nouns, followed by the noun in the construct case:

	Preposition	Example	Meaning
Dative	pavan /pon/ zi	pavan borina /pon boɾn/ pavan zugena /pon d͡ʒɛn/ pavan ravarna /pon ɾa'vana/ ziva /zva/ zaja /zad͡ʒ/ zahen /za:n/ ziri /ziɾ/ zina /zin/ zinja /zid͡ʒ/ zijat /ʒat/ zihe /zi/ ziria /ziɾi/	to the temple to the thief to the mountain
Benefactive	yere /jɛ/	yere borina /jɛ boɾn/ yere zugena /jɛ d͡ʒɛn/ yere ravarna /jɛ ɾa'vana/	for the temple for the thief for the mountain
Comitative	on /'vani/	on bori /'vani boɾ/ on zuge /'vani d͡ʒɪm/ on ravarn /'vani ɾa'van/	with the temple with the thief with the mountain
Allative	gela /gla/	gela bori /'gla boɾ/ gela zuge /'gla d͡ʒɪm/ gela ravarn /'gla ɾa'van/	towards the temple towards the thief towards the mountain
Ablative	derin	derin bori /'dɛɾɪn boɾ/ derin zuge /'dɛɾɪn d͡ʒɪm/ derin ravarn /'dɛɾɪn ɾa'van/	from the temple from the thief from the mountain
Locative	nai /naɪg/	nai bori /naɪg boɾ/ nai zuge /naɪg d͡ʒɪm/ 'nai ravarn /naɪg ɾa'van/	in the temple **in the thief in the mountain

** Ungrammatical

Pronouns

Tarkandamonian pronouns mark for person and number. The pronouns are divided into two classes based on polarity, one class for positive statements, and the other for indicating negation. The so-called negative personal pronouns are unusual in that unlike the positive class, the negative class can optionally mark for direct objects, provided that an overt direct object does not surface. Additionally, they obligatorily encode tense, aspect, and mood (TAM). TAM and polarity marking in the negative class arose from cliticization of pronominal forms to a copula, which itself encoded negation.

Positive Forms

Independent

	Singular					Plural
	1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv		1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv
	va	aja /ad͡ʒ/	ahen /a:n/	iri /ɛ'ɾi/		na	ja jat	he /aɪ/	ria /ja/

Possessive Pronouns

	Singular					Plural
	1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv		1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv
	vali	ajali /ad͡ʒil/	ahenli /anli/	irili /ɛ'ɾli/		nali	jali jatli	heli /aɪl/	rial /jal/

Negative Forms

Intransitive

	Singular					Plural
	1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv		1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv
Declarative Present	vala	ajla	lan	lassi		nala	tala	hela	rila
Perfective	valak	ajlak	lanak	landri		nalak	talak	lak	lāti
Imperfective	valan	ajunla	lana	lasse		nalan	taluna	lan	lāse
Future	valak	ajalla	lakan	lassar		nalak	tala	lakan	lāsar
Future Imperfective	vala	ajaljal	lana	lassati		nala	tala	lan	lasāti

Verbs

First person singular object paradigm with -maz, "to teach", to lead".

Conjugation paradigms are arranged according to object agreement type, e.g. first person singular object, etc. In the glosses below, the verb root appears in dark bold to show the complex placement and interposition of the verbal affixes, which combine to encode person, aspect, and tense:

First Person Singular Object

	Object Pronominal Affixes	Verbal Affixes			Sample Texts with Gloss
		Preverbal Affix	Verbal Infix	Postverbal Affix
Declarative Present	v- vi-	-	-ind-	-a	Aja vimindaza /ad͡ʒa vmɪn'dazƏ/ aja vi-m-ind-az-a 2S.NOM 1S.ACC-teach-DECL-teach-DECL You teach me, you are teaching me
Perfective	v-	-arin-	-	-	Aja varinmaz /ad͡ʒa vaɾ'maz/ Aja v-ar-in-maz 2S.NOM 1S.OBJ-PRF-teach-GNOM You taught me
Imperfective	v-	-ank-	-ind-	-
Future	v-	-az-	-	-
Future Imperfective	v-	-ant-	-ind-	-a

Second Person Singular Object

	Object Pronominal Affixes	Verbal Affixes			Sample Texts with Gloss
		Preverbal Affix	Verbal Infix	Postverbal Affix
Declarative Present	ti-	-lum-	-ind-	-a	Va tilumzindaza
Perfective	ti-	-lus-		-ta	Va tilusmikazta va ti-lus-m-i-k-az-ta 1S.NOM 2S.ACC1-2S.PRS1-R1.teach-EPENTH-2S.ACC2-R2.teach-2S.GNOM I taught you
Imperfective	ti-	-lunk-	-ind-	-
Future	t-	-az-	-	-
Future Imperfective	t-	-ant-	-ind-	-a

Third Person Singular Object

	Object Pronominal Affixes	Verbal Affixes			Sample Texts with Gloss
		Preverbal Affix	Verbal Infix	Postverbal Affix
Declarative Present	hi-	-non- -nom-	-ind-	-ará	Aja hinommindazará aja hi-nom-m-ind-az-ará 2S.NOM 3S.PROX.ACC-DECL-teach-DECL-teach-DECL You teach him, you are teaching him
Perfective	h-	-arin-	-	-	Aja harinmaz Aja h-ar-in-maz 2S.NOM 3S.OBV.OBJ-PRF-teach-GNOM You taught him
Imperfective	h-	-ank-	-ind-	-
Future	h-	-az-	-	-
Future Imperfective	h-	-ant-	-ind-	-a

	Object Pronominal Affixes										Verbal Affixes			Examples
	Singular					Plural					Preverbal Affix	Verbal Infix	Postverbal Affix
	1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv		1	2	3 Prox	3 Obv
Declarative Present	v- vi- van(d)-	t- ti- tan(d)-	h- hi- hen(d)-	k(V)--s(V)-		n- nan(d)-					-	-ind-	-a	Va himindaza Root: maz "to learn" Translation: "I learn it, I am learning it" Va kimindassa Translation: I am learning that other thing Note: z of root maz assimilates to s (second part of the 3S.OBV object circumfix)
Perfective	var-	tar-	har-	sar-		nar-
Imperfective	valan	atunla	lana	lasse		nalan	taluna	lan	lāse
Future	valak	atalla	lakan	lassar		nalak	tala	lakan	lāsar
Future Imperfective	vala	ataltal	lana	lassati		nala	tala	lan	lasāti

Adverbs

Adverbs do not form a distinct word class. The majority are identical in form with adjectives, differentiated only by syntax. A smaller set of adverbs are uninflectable particles, primarily time adverbials.

Adverb	Meaning	POS Source	Example
mon /'tɛmon/	very, really; hard, with exertion	Particle	Va mon arinkadrén. va 'tɛmon ɛ'rɪnkadrɛn va mon arin-kadrén 1S very PRFV-jump I jumped very high.
sejál	clumsily	Adjective	Aja temon sejál tindarka. ad͡z mon sɛ'd͡ʒal tɛn'daɾka aja temon sejál t-ind-ark-a. you very clumsy speak-DECL-speak-DECL You speak (Tarkandamonian) very badly.
pir /pɛɾ/	now	Particle	Va pir Spara minda. va pɛɾ 'spaɾa 'mɪndɛ va pir spara m-ind-a-a 1S.NOM now place.name go-DECL-go-DECL I am going to Spara now.
orin /'toɾm/	immediately	Particle	Janste bila orin hinommindará! d͡ʒɛns bɪl toɾm ɛnnomɪn'dɾa ja-nst bila orin hi-nom-m-ind-a-ará. 2S.CAUS here immediately 3S.PROX-DECL-go-DECL-go-DECL Send him here immediately!

Derivation

Tarkandamonian has a large inventory of derivation affixes. Furthermore, multiple affixes may be combined to generate complex words that diverge significantly from the meanings of their roots.

Affix	Function/Meaning	Example
-ta	Derives nouns, usually persons, from adjectives and particles	tuva-ta << tuva "yes": there is filled with healthy go-ta stranger foreigner hostile
-la-	(Pseudo-verb) no, not, is not, does not	[placeholder]
[placeholder]	asik	leader to lead to conquer (w. Allative)
[placeholder]	domai	mountain
[placeholder]	sivga, sijga	mountain stream, river
[placeholder]	suin	brilliant; glorious; civilization
-tan	agentive deverbal	kopen to wander to go into exile to immigrate to flee shameful kopen-tan fugitive coward expatriate
m-	reversative	hoz: to attack to chase to hunt hozka: war hozkadi: long war hozkinert: victory mozai: absence of war armistice cease-fire mozanai: anti-war protesters mozkinertan: defeat failure disappointment

A complication arises wherein a derivation may exist in one dialect and not the other, and because the language reforms were incomplete, the reader may need to resort to context to use the correct word. For example, the word mozkadi (blitzkrieg, lit. "not a long war") originates from the Geruna dialect, but as the Bāzor dialect has superseded the former, Bāzor speakers must read in the word glevka << gleb + va + ka, which literally means "sky-swoop-downwards and seizure".

Syntax

Tarkandamonian exhibits strict SOV order, and modifiers to heads also display strict ordering: adverbs precede the adjectives and verbs they modify, the positive polarity particle vor always appears as the initial element of a clause, while its counterpart, the negative polarity pseudo-verb -la-, follows the subject in intransitive clauses, and between the subject and object clausal arguments. Any oblique arguments, including the indirect object, always occurs after the direct object in transitive verbs, and after the pseudo-verb -la-, if expressed in intransitive clauses. The interrogative particle tunima obligatorily appears immediately before the verb; it is the only particle that may appear between the verb and any of its adverbial modifiers.

Texts

Sener zi va ahen arintar.
/'sɛnɛɾ zva:n 'aɾɪntaɾ/
sener zi=va=ahen arin-tar
PN to=1S=3S.PROX PST-speak.about
Sener spoke to me about it.

Pavan garidjna vali, tilumzindkarín!
/'pon ga'ɾɪd͡ʒɘn 'vali tlum'zɪnkaɾɪn/
pon garidj-na vali ti-lum-zu-ind-karin-a
DAT head-CONSTR 1S.POSS 2S.ACC-bring.ruin-DECL.PRS-bring.ruin-DECL.PRS-bring.ruin-DISTR/PL
By my head, I will reign ruin upon you!

Vocabulary

Tarkandamonian	Meaning
tuva	tuva: yes tuvata: there is filled with healthy
-la-	(Pseudo-verb) no, not, is not, does not
gota	stranger foreigner hostile
asik	leader to lead to conquer (w. Allative)
domai	mountain
sivga, sijga	mountain stream, river
suin	brilliant; glorious; civilization
kopen	kopen to wander to go into exile to immigrate to flee shameful kopentan fugitive coward expatriate
hoz	hoz: to attack to chase to hunt hozka: war hozkadi: long war hozkinert: victory mozai: absence of war armistice cease-fire mozanai: anti-war protesters mozkinertan: defeat failure disappointment