Suwáá/Unknown: Difference between revisions

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Relative pronoun ''ovy'' < {{recon|han-ðū}}
Relative pronoun ''ovy'' < {{recon|''han-ðū''}}





Revision as of 03:00, 27 March 2015


Vy górov en socovíto

Suwáá/Unknown
socovíc/socovija lesán
Created byIlL
Native speakers393,000 (2013)
Afro-Asiatic
  • Semitic
    • North Semitic
      • Suwáá/Unknown

todo

Background

Suwáá/Unknown (Suwáá/Unknown: socovíc /ˈsotsoviːts/ or socovija lesán /ˈsotsovija ˈlesaːn/), sometimes called Sotsovian in English, is a Semitic language in the Balkan Sprachbund, spoken in the nation of Mostsev (Moscév). A North Semitic language, it diverges in many ways from Central Semitic tongues such as Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew - it preserves archaic features that have not survived in Central Semitic languages, as well as some innovations in its grammar. The name of the language, socovíc, seems to have stemmed from *√s-t-w, a root meaning 'north' in Suwáá/Unknown (cf. Hebrew סְתָו săṯâw 'winter'). Like its Semitic relatives, Suwáá/Unknown is a fusional language with an accusative alignment.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/
Plosive voiceless p /p/ t /t/ k /k/ q /q/ (/ʔ/)
voiced b /b/ d /d/ g /g/
Fricative voiceless f /f/ þ /θ/ s /s/ š /ʂ/ /x/ h /h/
voiced v /v/ z /z/ ž /ʐ/
Affricate c /ts/ č /ʈʂ/
Trill r /r/
Approximant l /l/ j /j/

Allophony

If a word begins with a vowel, a glottal stop is added before it.

Vowels

Oral

Front Back
unrounded rounded
short long short long short long
Close i /i/ í /iː/ u /u/ ú /uː/
Mid e /e̞/ é /e̞ː/ y /ø/ ý /øː/ o /ɤ/ ó /o̞ː/
Open ě /æ̝/ ě /æ̝ː/ a /ɑ/ á /ɑː/

Nasal

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close
Mid ę /ɛ̃ː/ ǫ /ɔ̃ː/
Open

Diphthongs?

ai äi ei oi ui yi ęi ǫi

Stress

Stress always falls on the first syllable of a word.

Diachronics

STRESS

Initially Arabic-like, then stress shifts leftward (before "Proto-/Old Suwáá/Unknown" stage), resulting in the loss of the final nasal elements in dual and plural endings

  • base cases: *kabī́ra; *kátaba; *nawlū́da (when > *náwlūda?)
  • generalize the rule "start from the left to determine syllable weight":
    • only the first 2 syllables may be stressed
    • [H L; [L H; [H H; [L L

Vowels

PSem to PNSem

  • Word-final -i dropped; this triggers the generalization of diptotes and the fronting of the overall consonant inventory.
  • *āN *īN *ūN > overlong *â *î *û if N is not part of a root

PNSem to PSuwáá/Unknown

Proto-North Semitic Proto-Suwáá/Unknown
i ь
u ъ
a > ə o
ī i
ū y
ay ě
aw u
ā a
an ǫ
in ę, ь
un ǫ, ъ

Havlík's law: strong *ъ > *o, strong *ь > *e, weak jers vanish without doing anything

Cja > Cě

Consonants

PSem *b *d *g *p *t *k *ṭ *ḳ *z *s *þ̣ *ṣ *ṣ́ *x *h *m *n *l *r *w *y
Suwáá/Unknown b d ž p c č t k v z f s š s f š þ g aq, -a ː, v, j ch ah h m n l r v j

Declension

Proto-North Semitic

Diptotic declension. The parenthesized nasal elements in the dual and plural were unstable due to the shift to word-initial stress that had occurred in PNSem.

Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative yawmu yawmā(m) yawmū
Accusative/Genitive yawma yawmay(m) yawmī

Nouns

Suwáá/Unknown nouns decline in definiteness, three numbers (singular, dual and plural), and four cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, oblique). Unusually for a modern Semitic language, case plays a very important and productive role. There is no counterpart to the construct state or possessed forms of other Semitic languages (the Suwáá/Unknown case suffixes are from the original construct state forms); however, the possessor always follows the noun. This state of affairs presumably came about due to re-analysis of the elements of the original genitive construction, which were strictly 'construct-locked', as "free" declined forms to which clitics could be added.

The accusative is identical to the genitive for animate nouns, and identical to the nominative for inanimate nouns.

Suwáá/Unknown nouns are notable for generalizing the diptotic (two-case) system, with nominative singular -Ø < * < PNSem *-u and genitive/accusative singular -o < PNSem *-a. It is uncertain whether diptotes or triptotes dominated the original Proto-Semitic paradigm. Feminine singular nominative *-atu was changed to * > -a, presumably under Indo-European influence. The oblique case is older than the definite affixes and wasformed by suffixing inflected forms of the preposition *bi 'with/by, in': běcbi < *běcъbьjъ < *baytu-bihu "house, in it".

The definiteness suffixes arose from cliticized demonstratives: e.g. vodov 'the child' (nom.) < *voldъ-vy < PNSem *waldu ðū; porosili 'the horses' (acc./gen.) < *porosi-ъli < PNSem *parašī ʔulī.

Nouns fall into one of several declension paradigms. Diachronically, the declension paradigm a noun belongs to is a function of the declension class it was analyzed as, as well as the noun's gender.

The possessor follows the possessor: mestajov jumovo 'the drink of the day', except when the possessor is a pronoun: li hadif bĕcov 'my new house'.

Masculine nouns of type júm

Masculine noun: vod 'child, boy'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative vod vodov voda vodava vody vodyly
Genitive vodo vodovo vodě voděvě vodi vodili
Oblique vodbi vodvobi voděma voděvěma vodím vodilím


Masculine noun: júm 'day'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative júm júmov júma júmava júmy júmyly
Genitive júmo júmovo júmě júměvě júmi júmili
Oblique júmbi júmvobi júměma júměvěma júmím júmilím

Masculine *-ь-stems

Masculine noun: fob 'antelope'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative fob fobjev fobja fobjava fobje fobjely
Genitive fobje fobjevo fob fobjěvě fobji fobjili
Oblique fobbi fobvobi fobjěma fobjěvěma fobjím fobjilím

q-stems

*-q > a, *-aq, *-yq > á, *-eq, ěq > ě, *-uq > ó, *-iq > é

Masculine noun: vrá 'arm'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative vrá vraqov vraqa vraqava vraqy vraqyly
Genitive vraqo vraqovo vraqě vraqěvě vraqi vraqili
Oblique vraqbi vraqvobi vraqěma vraqěvěma vraqím vraqilím

-stems

Similar alternations to q-stems.

Masculine noun: ráh 'wind'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ráh ryhov ryha ryhava ryhy ryhyly
Genitive ryho ryhovo ryhě ryhěvě ryhi ryhili
Oblique ryhbi ryhovobi ryhěma ryhěvěma ryhím ryhilím

Masculine -ot- nouns

Loanwords: Greek loans in -ma, several suffixes such as -ista, Slavic loanwords.

Masculine noun: problema 'problem'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative problema problemav problemota probleměta problemy problemyly
Genitive problemoto problemotovo problemocě probleměcě problemi problemili
Oblique problemóbi problemotvobi problemóbima probleměbima problemím problemilím

Feminine nouns of type molča

sira 'performance, ritual'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative sira sirěc sirota sirěta sirác siralác
Genitive siroto sirěto sirocě sirěcě siraci siralaci
Oblique siróbě sirěbě siróbima sirěbima sirábín siralábín

Feminine nouns of type lesán

This class includes many feminine body part nouns. Examples: qӗn 'eye'; ovon, ovn- 'ear'; beton, betn- 'stomach'; koron, korn- 'horn'; óm 'mother'; lӗl 'night'; oroþ, orþ- 'earth'.

lesán 'tongue, language'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative lesán lesáněc lesána lesáněta lesánác lesánalác
Genitive lesáno lesáněto lesáně lesáněcě lesánaci lesánalaci
Oblique lesán lesáněbě lesáněma lesáněbima lesánábín lesánalábín

Feminine abstract -íc nouns

Feminine noun: omyníc 'truth'
Case Singular Dual Plural
direct omyníc omynita omynijác
gen./acc. omynito omynicě omynijaci
dative omynítla omynítluma omynijátlěn
oblique omynítbě omynítbima omynijátbín

Irregular nouns

Nouns with "irregular" declension or broken plurals became nigh-extinct by the time of Proto-Socovíc; however, some still remain.

  • ęs (pl. nom. indef. onasy) 'person'
  • sem (pl. nom. indef. osamy) 'name'

Possessed nouns

Possessed nouns, or nouns that take possessive suffixes, are a closed class; this group covers only the nuclear family nouns ob 'father' (pl. obáje), óm 'mother' (pl. ómác), och (pl. ochovy) 'brother', ochoc, ochc-/ocht- 'sister' (pl. ochovác), ben, bn- (pl. bnáje) 'son', bęc, bęc-/bęt- 'daughter' (pl. bnác). Only the singular has possessed forms: ochi 'my brother', but li ochava 'my two brothers'. Note that the plurals are all irregular in order to disambiguate the plural case-marked forms from the singular possessed forms.

All nouns in this class follow the same declension w.r.t. possession. The oblique can be formed by adding -bi to the end of the accusative/genitive possessed forms.

'My sister' and 'my daughter' are ochci and ci in the nominative; all other posssessed forms take stems in ocht- and bęt-.

Possessed forms of ob 'father'
Nominative
Case Singular Dual Plural
1 obi obyna obyny
2.m obyko obykma obykmy
2.f obyk obykno
3.m oby obyma obymy
3.f obá obyno
Accusative/Genitive
Case Singular Dual Plural
1 obaj obana obany
2.m obako obakma obakmy
2.f obak obakno
3.m obav obama obamy
3.f obá obano

Adjectives

Adjectives merge the genitive and oblique cases into the genitive case.

Adjectives precede nouns in the nominative and accusative cases: rób běc 'a big house', taba spara 'a good story', but follow the nouns in the genitive and oblique: docěc běcovo róbovo 'the door of the big house', and prepositional objects: en běcovo róbovo 'in the big house'. Adjectives do not agree in definiteness when they precede the noun, but do agree when they follow the noun.

Adjectives ending in a consonant

Adjective declension: tab 'good' (masculine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative tab tabov taba tabava taby tabyly
Genitive tabo tabovo tabě taběvě tabi tabili
Adjective declension: tab 'good' (feminine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative taba taběc tabota taběta tabác tabalác
Genitive taboto taběto tabocě taběcě tabaci tabalaci

Nisba adjectives

Adjective declension: bošorí 'bodily, physical' (masculine)
Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative bošorí bošorív bošorija bošoríva bošorije bošoríly
Genitive bošorije bošorívo bošorijě bošorívě bošorí bošoríli
Adjective declension: bošorí 'bodily, physical' (feminine)
Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative bošorija bošoríc bošorijota bošoríta bošorijác bošorílác
Genitive bošorijoto bošoríto bošorijocě bošorícě bošorijaci bošorílaci

Pronouns

Genitive and short accusative pronouns can be used as verbal clitics denoting a pronominal object; the clitic precedes the verb unless the verb is in the imperative. The genitive/dative clitic comes before the accusative clitic. A pronominal object may be "doubled" by a clitic for emphasis like in Balkan or Romance languages.

Personal pronouns
Case First person
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative nák nahna nahny
Genitive li lona lony
Accusative níc, ni nác, na nýc, ny
Oblique bi bna bny


Personal pronouns, cont.
Case Second person Third person
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative ǫto ǫt ǫtma ǫtmy ǫtna hy hi homa homy hen
Genitive loko lok lókma lókmy lókna luma lumy lěn
Accusative kác, ka kíc, ki, k kmác, kma kmýc, kmy knác, kna hóc, ho hác, ha homác, homa homýc, hom henác, hen
Oblique beko bek bekma bekmy bekna bíma bímy bín


Interrogative pronouns
Case 'who' 'what'
Nominative ma
Genitive mǫlu malu
Accusative mǫc ma
Oblique mǫbi mabi


Demonstrative pronoun
Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative vy věc va věta ely elác
Genitive vu věto věcě eli elaci
Dative vylu větla věluma větluma elilúm elátlěn
Oblique vybi větbě věbima větbima elibím elátbín


Relative pronoun ovy < *han-ðū


Relative pronoun
Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative ovy ověc ova ověta óly ólác
Genitive ovu ověto ově ověcě óli ólaci
Dative ovylu ovětla ověluma ovětluma ólilúm ólátlěn
Oblique ovybi ovětbě ověbima ovětbima ólibím ólátbín

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

Different cardinal numerals are declined differently, and have various effects on the modified noun depending on the final digits of the numeral:

  • Cardinal numerals one and two, and those ending in "1" or "2", are declined as adjectives. The modified noun is singular (and agrees in case) for numbers ending in ahod, and the noun is dual for numbers ending in fla.
  • All other numerals are declined as nouns and require the noun they modify to be in the genitive plural.
    • Words šolaf (3) through cés (9) or in qošor (10-19) are declined like feminine singular nouns in adnominal position (Hén šolafa ęsáje 'There are three people') and like masculine singular nouns in nominal position (Hén šolaf 'There are three').
    • Words qošory (20), šolafy (30), ..., césy (90) are declined as masculine plural nouns.
    • Units such as nul (0, m), meja (100, f), olop (1000, m), milijon, milijarda, etc. are declined as ordinary nouns, taking the appropriate number and case.

Examples:

  • qošory júmi '20 days', qošory sonáci '20 years'
  • qošory v ahod júm '21 days', qošory v ahda sona '21 years'
  • qošory vo fla júma '22 days', qošory vo flota sonota '22 years'
  • qošory v šolafa júmi '23 days', qošory v šolafa sonaci '23 years'
  • milijona dolari '2 million dollars'
  • mejota milijoni dolari '200 million dollars'

One may also encounter calques from Arabic:

  • Olop lělaci v lěl 'One thousand and one nights' (Arabic ˀalfu laylatin wa-laylatun).

Since Suwáá/Unknown has singular and dual forms, modifying numerals one and two are not needed; thus Hén li voda v bęc 'I have two sons and a daughter' is just as correct as (in fact preferred to) Hén fla voda v ahda bęc.

The ordinal numerals okdom 'first' and okrob 'second' are suppletive; okdom is the elative of the root k-d-m (kodam) 'front, before', (cf. the etymology of first), and okrob is the elative of k-r-b (koreb) 'near' (cf. next).

Suwáá/Unknown numerals
n nth 1/n
0 nul nulí -
1 ahod (m), ahda (f) okdom -
2 fla (m), flota (f) okrob žǫb
3 šolaf, šolafa šolyf mošólef
4 roba, roboqa robá moróbě
5 chǫs, chǫsa chonys mochónes
6 séf, séfa sodyf mosódef
7 sóp, sópa sobá mosóbě
8 fomán, fomána fomyn mofómen
9 cés, césa cosá mocósě
10 qošor, qošora qosyr moqósyr
11 ahod v qošor - -
20 qošory - -
21 qošory v ahod - -
30 šolafy - -
40 roboqy - -
50 chǫsy - -
60 séfy - -
70 sópy - -
80 fomány - -
90 césy - -
100 meja mejocí -
200 mejota mejotají -
300 šolafa mejác šolafamejocí -
1000 olop olpí -
2000 olpa olpají -
3000 šolafa olpy šolafaolpí -

Verbs

See also: Verbal subparadigms.

Overview of the verb forms

Present

The present tense is derived from the construction *bi- + verbal noun + possessive suffix (agreeing with the subject) which shifted in meaning into something like 'is at one's X-ing'. The possessive suffix component developed into the personal affixes for the present tense. This grammaticalization is reminiscent of the Biblical Hebrew construction for time clauses: bă- + infinitive construct + personal suffix, e.g. bă-ḇôˀô lit. 'at his coming in', i.e. 'when he comes in'.

Imperfect

Aorist

The aorist indicates an action that was completed in the past. It was inherited from the Proto-Semitic preterite.

Lu nohób vohób.
I gave him gold.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive form is similar to the aorist form, but has a short vowel in the stem (like the imperative) instead of a long vowel.

The non-2nd person imperatives may be formed with the hortative particle c (< ci 'come') plus the subjunctive.

C jóci memlóč loko.
Thy kingdom come.

The subjunctive (like the imperative) is negated with the negative particle la, instead of bo.

La li tošnej!
Don't get mad at me!
La ho tačol!
Don't eat it!

Imperative

The imperative is formed by removing the personal prefix from the subjunctive. Often the subjunctive is used with imperative meaning instead. Any clitic pronouns must follow the imperative, not precede it like with other verb forms.

Verbal noun

Past participle

Perfect

Pluperfect

Future perfect

G-stems: joktól

joktól 'kill'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
kotlec
Present participle
katel
Stative passive participle
kotyl
Past participle
kotol
Imperative
Singular Dual Plural
2.m ktol! ktola! ktoly!
2.f ktoli! ktolno!
Present
Singular Dual Plural
1 bektli bektolna bektolny
2.m bektlok bektolkma bektolkmy
2.f bektloč bektolkno
3.m bektlu bektolma bektolmy
3.f bektla bektolno
Subjunctive
Singular Dual Plural
1 noktol noktla noktly
2.m toktol toktla toktly
2.f toktli toktolno
3.m joktol joktla joktly
3.f joktli joktolno
Imperfect
Add fo- to present tense forms.
Aorist
Singular Dual Plural
1 noktól noktóla noktóly
2.m toktól toktóla toktóly
2.f toktóli toktólno
3.m joktól joktóla joktóly
3.f joktóli joktólno
Future I
Singular Dual Plural
1 de noktol de noktla de noktly
2.m de toktol de toktla de toktly
2.f de toktli de toktolno
3.m de joktol de joktla de joktly
3.f de joktli de joktolno
Future II
Singular Dual Plural
1.m nočyn kotol nočyna kotla nočyny kotly
1.f nočyn kotla nočyna kotlota nočyny kotlác
2.m točyn kotol točyna kotla točyny kotly
2.f točyni kotla točyna kotlota točynno kotlác
3.m jočyn kotol jočyna kotla jočyny kotly
3.f jočyni kotla jočyna kotlota jočynno kotlác
Perfect
Singular Dual Plural
1.m nák kotol nána kotla nány kotly
1.f nák kotla nána kotlota nány kotlác
2.m ǫto kotol ǫtma kotla ǫtmy kotly
2.f ǫc kotla ǫtma kotlota ǫtno kotlác
3.m (hy) kotol (homa) kotla (homy) kotly
3.f (hi) kotla (homa) kotlota (hen) kotlác
Pluperfect
Singular Dual Plural
1.m čǫk kotol čanna kotla čanny kotly
1.f čǫk kotla čanna kotlota čanny kotlác
2.m čǫt kotol čǫtma kotla čǫtmy kotly
2.f čǫc kotla čǫtma kotlota čǫtno kotlác
3.m čan kotol čana kotla čany kotly
3.f čana kotla čanota kotlota čanno kotlác

N-stems: jękotyl

D-stems: jokótél

Examples: jobóréč 'greet, celebrate', joþójém 'bring up in conversation, build upon a concept' (< þima 'topic, theme')

jopóléž 'split (something)'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
pólžíc
Participle
mopólež
Imperative
Singular Dual Plural
2.m pólež! pólža! pólžy!
2.f pólži! póležno!
Subjunctive
Singular Dual Plural
1 nopólež nopólža nopólžy
2.m topólež topólža topólžy
2.f topólži topóležno
3.m jopólež jopólža jopólžy
3.f jopólži jopóležno
Aorist
Singular Dual Plural
1 paložok paložna paložny
2.m paložot paložtma paložtmy
2.f paložoc paložtno
3.m palož paloža paložy
3.f paloža paložota paložno

ND-stems: ękótol

Š-stems: soktel, soktal

T-stems: ektotel, ętoktal

ŠT-stems: stoktol, ęstoktal

čan 'be, exist'

The verb čan has no present tense indicative forms; the formal "present tense" forms are used for the future and subjunctive. It also has no imperfective-perfective distinction in the past or future. In the present indicative, pronouns are used as the copula, and the word jef is used to indicate existence.

čanec, čon, jočyn, čan, čun 'be'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
čanec
Participle
čun
Imperative
Singular Dual Plural
2.m čon! čona! čony!
2.f čoni! čonno!
Present
Singular Dual Plural
1 (nák) (nána) (nány)
2.m (ǫto) (ǫtma) (ǫtmy)
2.f (ǫc) (ǫtno)
3.m (ho) (homa) (homy)
3.f (hi) (hen)
Past
Singular Dual Plural
1 čǫk čanna čanny
2.m čǫt čǫtma čǫtmy
2.f čǫc čǫtno
3.m čan čana čany
3.f čana čanota čanno
Future
Singular Dual Plural
1 de nočyn de nočyna de nočyny
2.m de točyn de točyna de točyny
2.f de točyni de točynno
3.m de jočyn de jočyna de jočyny
3.f de jočyni de jočynno
Subjunctive
Singular Dual Plural
1 nočyn nočyna nočyny
2.m točyn točyna točyny
2.f točyni točynno
3.m jočyn jočyna jočyny
3.f jočyni jočynno

Interrogatives

Interrogatives
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
ma what *
who *man
mur when * + Ancient Greek hōra 'time'
vilma why vil 'for' + ma 'what'

Prepositions

Prepositions
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
en in, towards, into (+gen) *ʔin(a)
me from (+gen); with (+obl) *min; Greek me
between, among (+obl) *ʕimm-
qolě on (+gen) *ʕalay
vil for (+acc)

Conjunctions

Conjunctions
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
v(o) and *wa-
éla or *ʔim lā
u xor *ʔaw
vén so, thus *wa-hinna
ča as
no subjunctive *ʔan(na), *-anna
jěj if *yahwī
lu if (contrary-to-fact) *law
po then, so *pa-

Particles

Particles
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
o polar question *ha-
bo not (indicative) *bal
la not (irrealis) *

Usage

Nominal sentences

As in most Semitic and certain Slavic languages, present indicative does not require a copula:

Eláh ibošorí. (also: Eláh hy ibošorí. Obviously, a Muslim might say Alláh (hy) ibošorí.)
God is incorporeal.

Existentials

In positive clauses, hén is used as the word for "there is"; in interrogative and negative clauses jef is used.

Existential words are used in predicative possession.

Relative clauses

As is the case in most European languages, but unlike in other Semitic languages, relative pronouns agree with the gender and number of the head, but are case-marked for their syntactic position within the relative clause.

The choice of the relative pronoun depends on the definiteness/specificity of the noun. Specific referents use vy as the relative pronoun, whereas indefinite or hypothetical nouns use (animate)/ma (inanimate).

Derivational morphology

Patterns

  • meCCoC place noun
    • mevbáh 'altar' < *ð-b-ħ 'sacrifice' (altar, altarj- is more common though)

Affixes

  • aft(o)- 'self-, auto-'
    • aftokotlec 'suicide'
    • aftorahom 'self-pity' < rahom, rahm- 'compassion, mercy'
  • -cija '-tion'
    • funkcija '(mathematical) function'
  • i- 'un-', 'non-' (negative prefix for nouns and adjectives)
    • ibercí 'nonmetallic'
  • adjective (nisba) suffix
    • májí 'aquatic, aqueous' < máj 'water'
    • qomí 'national' < qom 'people, nation'
  • -íc abstract noun suffix from nouns and adjectives
    • nopsíc 'identity' < nopos, nops- 'self'
    • omyníc 'truth' < omyn 'true'
    • onasíc 'humanity (human species)' < onasy 'people (pl.)' (compare ęsíc 'humanity (being human)' < ęs 'person (sg.)'; cf. German Menschheit vs. Menschlichkeit)
    • polaríc 'polarity' < polarí 'polar'
  • -izom, -izm- '-ism'
    • šiqizom 'Shiˁism'
  • -loja '-logy'

Phrasebook

  • Solám! 'Hello!'
  • Tab mahár! 'Good morning!'
  • Tab júm! 'Good day!'
  • Taba mesa! 'Good evening!'
  • Taba lěl! 'Good night!'
  • Ma lók/lóč smov? 'What is your (m.sg/f.sg) name?'
  • Li smov [name]. 'My name is [name].'
  • Staqpu/Staqpovi/Staqpova/Staqpovy/Staqpuna li! (to one man/one woman/two people/m.pl./f.pl) 'Excuse me!'
  • Oj vil ma! 'No worries!'

Texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Čóly onasyly jǫvolydy horary v savije en qosorvobi v tahikilím.
all-PL.M.NOM human.PL.DEF.NOM 3.PRES-beget/PASS-PL.M free-PL.M.NOM and equal-PL.M.NOM in worth-SG.DEF.INS and right-PL.DEF.INS
All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Mosyčaly mosbárbi v tostočínbi, homy mopokady no joptaqly okrobokroblu en hnumoto ochovíto.
PART-empower/PASS-PL.M.NOM reason-SG.INS and conscience-SG.INS 3.PL.M.NOM PART-obligate/PASS-PL.M.NOM SUBJ 3-behave/PRES-PL.M each_other-SG.M.DAT in spirit-SG.GEN brotherhood-SG.GEN
Empowered with reason and conscience, they ought to behave toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(audio)

Pater noster

Obyny, ovy ǫto en somájlibím!
C joktódas smov lók.
C jóci memlóčov lók.
C jǫpoqyly roþív lók, ěma en somájlibím ěvi v en orþěbě.
Chlebov lony jumí hab lony ojúm.
V staqpu lony chotálác menny, ěvi v nahny nostaqpovy chotálác nož lony.
V la ny sabé en tonésíny, éla žal ny leč rogovo.
Amen.

Schleicher's fable

Sověc v porosyly

Sova větla bo fojočon qobáj jorí porosi; ahod fojožórer čobid merčab, ahod fojoshab rób homol, v ahod fojoshab odomo išǫ. Sověc jamári porosili: «Lébov li bemoraru, rájoto odom mosožér porosi.» Porosyly jamáry: «Stosmeqi, sova, lébov lony bemoraru, rájili vy: odom, baqlov, beqši noposlu qobájvobi sověto ham molbes. Vén sovětla bo jef qobáj.» Someqa vy, sověc jobráhi en mesvójovo.

(audio)

The Sheep and the Horses

A sheep that had no wool saw horses; one was pulling a heavy wagon, one was carrying a big load, and one was carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, having seen a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us, having seen this: a man, the master, makes out of the wool of the sheep a warm garment for himself. So the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.