Nurian

Nurian/Lexicon

Nurian
nūrimēn
Created by	IlL
Language family	Quihum Talmic Thensaric Nurian
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qnr

Nurian (/ˈnʊəɹiən/, Nurian: gaffēn nūrimēn, Tíogall: an Núirimh) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Pali, Italian, and Lithuanian. Close relatives include Tíogall. Nurian is spoken in the western region of the continent called Cuadhlabh by Tíogall speakers. It is easily the most conservative Talmic language in both grammar and phonology, though with signficant influence from Dwischric, in particular Dūsswaren.

Numbers: cēmon, tithōr, nagge, δaube, salithe, thāmon, rōde, loθθe, bavve, ħiōr

Bīsynih ħē raraiθā ar cecionni.

speak-1SG about COL-love and COL-hate

I speak of love and hate.

Bīj-aurih entoracyn sión? = Are you saving it for me?

Biaunih cionni, avih aunih meggā siō nibbiā ȳnnaθā.

Historical phonology

• -m > -n
• -s > -h
• Thn. cia ce ci cio ciu > ċia ċe ċi ċio ċiu
• e ē ea eā > e ē ia iā /ʲa ʲaː ʲa ʲaː/
• o, ō > a, uo

Cluster assimilations

Double consonants become single word-initially.

• pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl > ppi bbi mmi ffi cci ggi ngi
• ħl, ȝl > ħħ, ȝȝ
• nl, rl > both ll
• sp, st, sc, sȝ, sn, sl, sr > pph, tth, cch, ħħ, tth, nnh, llh, rrh
• sb, sd, sg > bb, dd, gg
• pr, fr, tr, θr, cr, ngr, ħr > pph, ff, tth, θθ, cch, 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

Phonology

The Nurian sound system has around 57 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. Nurian is quite phonologically conservative among Talmic languages.

Phonotactics

Nurian forbids all consonant clusters other than those of the form homorganic nasal + consonant. In compensation Nurian is rich in geminate consonants; word-medially, every consonant can be geminated except /j/ and /h/. Word-finally, usually only /n/, /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	ci kʲ	c k
	aspirated	ph pˠʰ	phi pʲʰ	th t̪ˠʰ			thi tʲʰ	ċhi tʃʰ	chi kʲʰ	ch 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 and three long monophthongs. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low vowels.

Vowel phonemes

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

Diphthongs: /aɪ aʊ iɛ uɔ/

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
• Non-rhotic

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
	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.

Orthography

Consonants

Consonants

Grapheme	m	p	b	f	v	n	t	d	θ	δ	s	z	r	l	ng	c	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/

Aspirated plosives and voiceless resonants /pʰˠ pʰʲ tʰˠ tʰʲ tʃʰ kʰ m̊ˠ m̊ʲ n̪̊ˠ n̊ʲ ɲ̊ ŋ̊ l̥ˠ l̥ʲ r̥ˠ r̥ʲ/ are written ⟨ph th ch mh nh ngh lh rh⟩.

Vowels

• a: hard /a/ [ɐ~ɑ]
• ā: hard /aː/ [ɑː]
• ai: hard /aɪ/ [ɐɪ~ɑɪ]
• au: hard /aʊ/ [ɐʊ~ɑʊ]
• y: hard /ɪ/ [ë]
• y: hard /iː/
• u: hard /ʊ/
• uo: hard /uɔ/
• ū: hard /uː/

• ia, e: soft /a/ [ɛ]
• iā, ē: soft /aː/ [æː]
• iai: soft /aɪ/ [ɛɪ]
• iau: soft /aʊ/ [ɛʊ]
• i: soft /ɪ/
• ī: soft /iː/
• iu: soft /ʊ/
• iuo: soft /uɔ/
• iū: soft /uː/
• 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

θȳru 'bird'
	Singulative	Collective	Plurative
Indefinite	θȳru	θyθȳru	θȳrīh
Definite	θȳrai	θyθȳrai	θȳrinny

Feminine nouns

gandā 'body'
	Singulative	Collective	Plurative
Indefinite	gandā	gagundā	gandār
Definite	gandān	gagundān	gandāh

Neuter nouns

tettȳ '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)	cassyni "I eat" (ablaut stem)
1SG	tussani	tareni	aillini	cassyni
2SG	tussari	tareri	ailliri	cassyri
3SG.M	tussami	taremi	aillimi	cassymi
3SG.F	tussah	tareh	aillih	cassyh
3SG.N	tussa	tare	ailli	cassy
1EX	tussamē	taremē	aillimē	cassymē
1IN	tussanti	tarenti	aillinti	cassynti
2PL	tussaċċhi	tareċċhi	ailliċċhi	cassyċċhi
3PL	tussati	tareti	ailliti	cassyti

Syntax

Particles

• ar (before a vowel); aC (before C; C is unaspirated) = 'and'
  • ħunaġiah at thādī = 'bread and milk'
• nīh = 'not'