Aeranir: Difference between revisions

From Linguifex
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 160: Line 160:
*The velar, labio-velar, and labio-uvular consonants /k/, /g/, /kʷ/, /gʷ/, and /qʷ/ are palatalised before front vowels and /j/ to [c], [ɟ], [kᶣ], [gᶣ], and [qᶣ] respectively.  Futhermore, dental consonants /n/, /t/, and /d/ are palatalised before /j/ to [ɲ], [c], and [ɟ].  The glottal fricative /h/ is also palatalised to [ç] before high front vowels and /j/.  Some dialects also palatalise the postalveolar consonants /s̠/ and /ts̠/ to [ɕ] and [tɕ] before front vowels and /j/.  In dialects were /ɣ/ is velar, it is often palatalised to [ʝ] in the same enviorments as the other velar consonants.
*The velar, labio-velar, and labio-uvular consonants /k/, /g/, /kʷ/, /gʷ/, and /qʷ/ are palatalised before front vowels and /j/ to [c], [ɟ], [kᶣ], [gᶣ], and [qᶣ] respectively.  Futhermore, dental consonants /n/, /t/, and /d/ are palatalised before /j/ to [ɲ], [c], and [ɟ].  The glottal fricative /h/ is also palatalised to [ç] before high front vowels and /j/.  Some dialects also palatalise the postalveolar consonants /s̠/ and /ts̠/ to [ɕ] and [tɕ] before front vowels and /j/.  In dialects were /ɣ/ is velar, it is often palatalised to [ʝ] in the same enviorments as the other velar consonants.
*The labialised consonants /kʷ/, /gʷ/, and /qʷ/ are pronounced as truly labialised, rather than a sequence of two consonants, i.e. /kw/, /gw/, /qw/.  The voiced labiovelar stop only occurs after a nasal consonant.
*The labialised consonants /kʷ/, /gʷ/, and /qʷ/ are pronounced as truly labialised, rather than a sequence of two consonants, i.e. /kw/, /gw/, /qw/.  The voiced labiovelar stop only occurs after a nasal consonant.
*All consonants, with the exception of /ʋ/, can be geminated between vowels.  This is denoted orthographically by doubling of the first letter of the phoneme, i.e. ⟨cc⟩, ⟨ff⟩, ⟨rrh⟩, etc.  The palatal approximate /j/ is always geminated to [jː] between vowels, but is written with a simple ⟨i⟩.
*All consonants, with the exception of /ʋ/, can be geminated between vowels.  This is denoted orthographically by doubling of the first letter of the phoneme, i.e. ⟨cc⟩, ⟨ff⟩, ⟨rrh⟩, etc.  The palatal approximate /j/ is always geminated to [jː] between vowels, but is written with a simple ⟨i⟩.  Fricative /hː/ is usually realised as [çː], however in dialects with uvular or pharyngeal articulation of /ɣ/, it is usually backed to match that articulation.  In dialects that palatalise /s̠/ and /ts̠/, [çː] often becomes [ɕː], merging in some environments with /s̠ː/.
*The lateral approximate /l/ has two allophones in Classical Aeranir; [l] before close front vowels, /j/, and when geminated, and [ɫ] elsewhere.


===Vowels===
===Vowels===

Revision as of 18:15, 25 July 2019

Aeranir
coeñar indëris
coeñar aerānir
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|[[ˈcøː.ɲar ˈɪ̃n.dæ.rɪs̠],
[ˈcøː.ɲar ɛːˈraː.nɪr]]]]
Created byLimius
SettingAvrid
Native toTelrhamir, Iscaria, the Aeranid Empire
EthnicityAeran
Maro-Ephenian
  • Iscaric
    • Aeranir
Early forms
Proto-Maro-Ephenian
  • Proto-Iscaric
    • Old Aeranir
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Aeranir, also known as coeñar aerānir (language of the Aerans), or coeñar indëris (language of the capital), is an Iscaric language in the Maro-Ephenian language group. It was originally spoken by the Aerans, developed in the deserts of Northern Iscaria in the city of Telrhamir, and spread with the expanse of the Aeranid Empire throughout Ephenia, as well as parts of Eubora and Syra. It later developed into the Aeranid languages, such as Dalot, Ilesse, Iscariano, Îredese, S'entigneis, and Tevrés. It is still used throughout Ephenia as a language of theology, science, medicine, literature, and law.

Aeranir had been standardised into Classical Aeranir by the time of the Early Empire, around the second millennia BTC by the writer and educator Limius. The period before that is generally referred to as Old Aeranir. The language spoken between the 15th and 12th centuries BTC is generally referred to Late Aeranir. This shift is marked by several grammatical and phonetic shifts. After that period, Aeranir began to splinter off into the various Aeranid languages. A form of Classical Aeranir called New Aeranir or Medieval Aeranir remained in use in official writings even after this period.

Aeranir is a highly infective and fusional language, with three distinct genders, nine cases, two aspects, four moods, three persons, two or three voices, and two numbers.

History

Old Aeranir

The oldest attested form of Aeranir is Old Aeranir, which was spoken in the kingdom of Telrhamir circa 2300 BTC. It is attested mostly in inscriptions found in and around the Great Desert, and in some early remaining Aeranid literary works. Old Aeranir lacked many of the verb-forms found in Classical Aeranir, such as the potential and causative moods, and the passive voice (which was marginal even in Classical Aeranir). Old Aeranir had an additional declension class, the i-stem declension, which merged with the consonant-stems in Classical Aeranir. Proto-Iscaric diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/, as well as initial /gn/ and non-affricate /ts/ were retained in Old Aeranir, and it is believed that Classical /ɛː ɔː øː yː/ remained diphthongs /ai au oi ui/ (and were thus written ai au oi ui, as opposed to Classical ae au oe ȳ). In general, Old Aeranir lacked much of the vowel diminishing that characterised Classical Aeranir.

Classical Aeranir

A standardised form of the language arouse in the time of the Early Empire, created conciously by the prominent grammarians, writers, and orators of the time. This formed the basis of what was taught in the Telrhamiran axēs system. One of the most prominent of these figures was Limius (who was known in their day as Lēctïca Prīstus Limius Vestil Oscānus Fellëntīmā Motā Soniae) who is credited with first marking diminished vowels in writing.

Phonology

Consonants

The following is a table of phonemes in Aeranir. This analysis is based on Classical Aeranir, as it was used during the hight of the Aeranid Empire. The phonology, especially the number of vowel phonemes, varied greatly time, but this is seen as the standard version of the language.

Consonant phonemes
Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
dental lateral post-
alveolar
plain labial plain labial
Nasal m
/m/
n
/n/
ñ
/ɲ/
Stop voiceless p
/p/
t
/t̪/
c
/k/
cu
/kʷ/
q
/q/
qu
/qʷ/
voiced b
/b/
d
/d̪/
g
/g/
gu
/gʷ/
Affricate tl
/tɬ/
ç
/ts̠/
Fricative f
/f/
s
/s̠/
gh
/ɣ/
h
/h/
Trill voiceless rh
/r̥/
voiced r
/r/
Approximate v
/ʋ/
l
/l/
i
/j/

Notes:

  • The nasal consonant /n/ assimilates to the place of articulation of the following stop, so that /nk/ or /nqʷ/ for example become /ŋk/ and /ɴʷqʷ/. Before fricatives, /n/ is deleted, and the proceeding vowel is lengthened and nasalised. These processes apply between word boundries as well. Word final /n/ as part of case and personal markers is elided before a word starting with a vowel, fricative, approximate, or before a pausa.
  • The phoneme /ɣ/ has the greatest variance of all Aeranid phonemes, varying between dialects and even between individual speakers from [ɰ~ɣ~ʁ~ʀ~ɢ~ʕ~ɦ~Ø]. It often served as a shibboleth for discerning one's origins or social circles.
  • The velar, labio-velar, and labio-uvular consonants /k/, /g/, /kʷ/, /gʷ/, and /qʷ/ are palatalised before front vowels and /j/ to [c], [ɟ], [kᶣ], [gᶣ], and [qᶣ] respectively. Futhermore, dental consonants /n/, /t/, and /d/ are palatalised before /j/ to [ɲ], [c], and [ɟ]. The glottal fricative /h/ is also palatalised to [ç] before high front vowels and /j/. Some dialects also palatalise the postalveolar consonants /s̠/ and /ts̠/ to [ɕ] and [tɕ] before front vowels and /j/. In dialects were /ɣ/ is velar, it is often palatalised to [ʝ] in the same enviorments as the other velar consonants.
  • The labialised consonants /kʷ/, /gʷ/, and /qʷ/ are pronounced as truly labialised, rather than a sequence of two consonants, i.e. /kw/, /gw/, /qw/. The voiced labiovelar stop only occurs after a nasal consonant.
  • All consonants, with the exception of /ʋ/, can be geminated between vowels. This is denoted orthographically by doubling of the first letter of the phoneme, i.e. ⟨cc⟩, ⟨ff⟩, ⟨rrh⟩, etc. The palatal approximate /j/ is always geminated to [jː] between vowels, but is written with a simple ⟨i⟩. Fricative /hː/ is usually realised as [çː], however in dialects with uvular or pharyngeal articulation of /ɣ/, it is usually backed to match that articulation. In dialects that palatalise /s̠/ and /ts̠/, [çː] often becomes [ɕː], merging in some environments with /s̠ː/.
  • The lateral approximate /l/ has two allophones in Classical Aeranir; [l] before close front vowels, /j/, and when geminated, and [ɫ] elsewhere.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
plain rounded
Close i • ī
/ɪ/ • /iː/
y • ȳ
/ʏ/ • /yː/
ï • ü
/ɨ/ • /ʉ/
u • ū
/ʊ/ • /uː/
Mid-close ē
/eː/
oe
/øː/
ö
/ɵ/
ō
/oː/
Mid-open e • ae
/ɛ/ • /ɛː/
o • au
/ɔ/ • /ɔː/
Open ë
/æ/
a • ā
/a/ • /aː/

Verbs

Conjugation

Number of Conjugations

Basic conjugation paradigm
Aspect → Imperfective Perfective
Mood →
Voice ↓
Indicative Subjunctive Optative Potential Indicative Subjunctive Optative Potential
Active aedaç
They love me
aedet
They should love me
aedārit
They want to love me
aedātaç
They can love me
aedāvī
They loved me
aedēvī
They should have loved me
aedāruī
They wanted to love me
aedātāvī
They could have loved me
Middle aedor
I love
aedeō
I should love
aedārō
I want to love
aedātor
I can love
aedāvō
I loved
aedēvō
I should have loved
aedāruō
I wanted to love
aedātāvō
I could have loved
Passive aedālō
I am loved
aedēlō
I should be loved
aedārēlō
I want to be loved
aedātālō
I can be loved
aedāvēlō
I was loved
aedēvēlō
I should have been loved
aedāruēlō
I wanted to be loved
aedātāvēlō
I could have been loved
Causative aedātiç
They let me love them
aedātiat
They should let me love them
aedātīrit
They want to let me love them
aedātītaç
They can let me love them
aedātīvī
They have let me love them
aedātiāvī
They should have let me love them
aedātīruī
They wanted to let me love them
aedātītāvī
They could have let me love them

Principle Parts

Stse.png

The verb in Aeranir is primarily made of three parts: stem, theme, and ending, with an optional forth category, the suffix, for forming the perfective. The stem carries the semantic content of the word, and can also be conjugated to carry modal imformation. The theme describes how the stem interacts with the ending, and can also be changed, along with the stem and endings, to express a variety of different grammatical meanings. Endings indicate the voice, aspect, person, number, and gender of the most oblique argument in the DGA scheme.

Basic verb endings
Active Middle Passive
Imperfective Perfective Imperfective Perfective Imperfective Perfective
Singular 1st Person -iç/-it -or/-ō -ēlō -ēlō
2nd Person -in -in -istī -iste -ēlāstī -ēlāste
3rd Person temporary -is -is -ërur -ëre -ēlārur -ēlāre
cyclical -a -a -erra -ēlārra
eternal -e -ërur -ēlārur
Plural 1st Person -ïmus -ïme -ïmur -ïmur -ēlāmur -ēlāme
2nd Person -ïtis -ïte -ïtur -ïtur -ēlātur -ēlāte
3rd Person -end -end

The way in which a verb will conjugate can be determined from how it forms the following five constructions:

  1. the active idicative imperfective first person singular
  2. the active imperfective accusative infinitive
  3. the active perfective participle
  4. the active optative imperfective first person singular
  5. the active indicative perfective first person singular

These five forms are refered to as a verb's reference forms. They are often shortend to first person singular (1p.sg), accusative infinitive (acc.inf), perfective participle (pfv.ptcp), optative first person singular (opt.1p.sg), and perfective first person singular (pfv.1p.sg) respectively.

The first of these reference forms determines a verb's base thematic class, or what theme vowel is used in its indicative imperfective forms. There are four main thematic classes; one weak or null class, wherein the ending is applied directly to the stem, and three strong classes, wherein a thematic vowel is inserted between the stem and the ending.

Consonant stem changes
t-stem s-stem
-m- -mpt- -s-*
-n- -nt-
-ñ-
-p- -pt- -ps-
-t- -ss-
-s-**
-ss-
-s-**
-tl-
-ç-
-c- -ct- -x-
-cu-
-q- -qt- -qs-
-qu-
-b- -pt-* -ps-*
-d- -s-* -s-*
-g- -ct-* -x-*
-s-
-s- -st- -ss-
-s-**
-r- -st-
-s-**
-rt-††
-ss-
-s-**
-rr-††
-l- -s-**
-lt-††
-s-**
-ll-††
-v- -ut-
-ct-*††
-ur-
-x-*††
-i- -ct-* -x-*
-gh-
-V- -Vt- -Vr-
Theme-ending combination
Ending Theme
-ā- -ē- -ī-
-iç -aç -eç -iç
-is -ās -ēs -īs
-a -a -ea -ia
-ae
-ïmus -āmus -ēmus -īmus
-or -or -eor -ior
-ēlō -ālō -ēlō -iēlō

The second two determine a verbs's t-stem and s-stem. These stem alterations are used for further conjugation, the t-stem forming the active and middle perfective participles, the causative voice, and the potential mood, and the s-stem forming the optative. The t- and s-forms often are identical, however meaning is useally further differentiated by thematic vowels, so completely identical forms are rare.

The final form determines how a verb with form the perfective aspect. Generally, there are three main strategies for this: the application of suffix -u- directly after the stem (e.g. oeliç ("I work") → oeluī ("I worked")), the appication of the suffix -v- after a theme vowel (e.g. aedaç ("they love me") → aedāvī ("they loved me")), or no suffix, with lengthening of the root vowel (e.g. legiç ("I choose") → lēgī ("I chose")). It should be noted that the perfective is always followed by weak endings.

Occassionally, a thematic vowel, weak or strong, may be inserted before the t- or s-stem. This is most common in verbs with a base thematic -ā-, which often functions as a part of the stem (e.g. aedaçaedātus ("that loved") aedārit ("they want to love me") vs. mavaç ("I wander") → mautus ("that wandered") maurit ("I want to wander)). This may occur with other theme classes, although it should be noted that -ē- is never used, and is always replaced with -ī-.

Aspect

Aeranir verbs have two basic aspects, which express how the verb extends over time. Aspect differs from tense in that it deals with the completion or continuity of an action or state, rather than the absolute timeframe inwhich it took place.  Each aspect may be in any voice and/or mood. Aspect is expressed primarily through endings, and secondarily through the suffix, as discussed above.

Imperfective

The imperfective aspect describes a situation viewed with interior composition. It describes ongoing, habitual, or repeated situations, rather or not they occured in the past, present, or future. The imperfective aspect is considered the most basic, unmarked aspect of a verb. The stem is uninflected, and endings are attached directly to the verb's basic theme vowel.

  • vōnia rhael salvan—The child reads/is reading/was reading/will be reading a book

Pefective

The perfective aspect in Aeranir describes situations viewed with exterior composition, which is to say actions which are completed and viewed as a unified whole, whether thet take place in the past present, or future, although this construction is very rarely used in for the future.

There are a variety of different strategies to form the perfective. Many of them involve the suffix, which takes the form of -v- between vowels and -u- after consonants. All of them take the perfective endings.

  • Attachment of the suffix directly to the stem.
mendiç ("they are healing me") → menduī ("they healed me")
saepiç ("they are cutting me") → saepuī ("they cut me")
  • Attachment of the suffix after base thematic vowel.
praeffiliaç ("they are paying me") → praeffïliāvī ("they payed me")
augeç ("they are looking at me") → augēvī ("they looked at me")
  • No suffix; perfective endings attached directly to the stem, with root vowel lengthening.
iuvaç ("they are writing me") → iūvī ("they wrote me")
feriç ("they are carrying me") → fērī ("they carried me")

Mood

Indicative

The indicative mood is the baseline grammatical mood in Aeranir. It is used in declarative statements, to express statements or facts, of what the speaker considers true or known. It is the least marked mood of a verb, taking endings directly to the base theme vowel, stem, or suffix.

Indicative

Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood has numerous, but genreally speaking is used to express such nuances as 'would,' 'should,' or 'may.' It can be used to refer to information that the speaker is unsure about, such as hearsay, or for theoretical or hypotherical situations. It is often found in subordinate clauses, annd may be used for conditional statements (e.g. if..., when...).

Subjuntive theme changes
Type Change Example
Weak Verbs -ø--ē- mendiçmendet
-ē--ā- mendēlōmendālō
Strong
Verbs
a-stem -ā--ē- aedaçaedet
aedālōaedēlō
i-stem -ī--iā- saepiçsaepiat
-iē--iā- saepiēlōsaepiālō
e-stem -ē--eā- cōreçcōreat
cōrēlōcōreālō

The subjunctive is formed by shifting a verb's base theme vowel, as described by the table to the left. This shift happens after the stem, but may be either before or after the suffix, depending on whether or not there is a theme vowel before the suffix in the indicative. So the perfective of aedēs ("they should love it") is aedēvis (from indicative aedāvis) but saepiās ("they should cut it") is saepuēs (from indicative saepuis), not **aedāvēs or **saepēvis. Although these forms are occasionally found in non-standard writing, they are considered incorrect my grammaticians.

The imperfective subjunctive uses the 1st person sungular -it instead of -iç, and instead of -or: paciç, pacior ("they take me, I take") become paciat, paciō ("they should take me, I should take").

The 1st person subjunctive perfective in verbs that have no theme vowel before the suffix and does not extend the root vowel is identical to the indicative, and the mood must be inferred through conext: saepuī may be either "they cut me" or "They should cut me."

Optative

Potential

Perfective system

Perfective conjugation
mendiç
"they heal me"
aedaç
"they love me"
legiç
"they choose me"
cōreç
"they torture me"
singular plural singular plural singular plural singular plural
1st Person menduī menduïme aedāvī aedāvïme lēgī lēgïme cōrēvī cōrēvïme
2nd Person menduin menduïte aedāvin aedāvïte lēgin lēgïte cōrēvin cōrēvïte
3rd Person temporary menduis menduend aedāvis aedāvend lēgis lēgend cōrēvis cōrēvend
cyclical mendua aedāva lēga cōrēva
eternal mendue aedāve lēge cōrēve

Lexicon

Aeranir Lexicon.