Nurian

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Nurian/Lexicon

Nurian
nūrimēs
Pronunciation[/ˈn̪ˠʊ˞ːrʲɪmʲæːs/]
Created byIlL
Extinct220 v.T.
Pfeuno-K'aitian
Language codes
ISO 639-3qnr
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Nurian (gathēs nūrimēs /ˈgɐθæːs ˈn̪ˠʊ˞rʲɪmʲæːs/) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Lithuanian, Arabic, Italian and English.

Introduction

Nurian is spoken on the west coast of the continent called Kuderau by Wiebians. It is easily the most conservative Talmic language, though with signficant Meetzarric influences. It is spoken alongside Meetzarric languages, Clofabic languages and New World Reber Wiebian.

Historical phonology

  • Cl > Cj > Cʲ (Italian style): pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl chl ghl > pi bi mi fi ci gi ngi chi ghi
    • Exceptions: ħl ȝl; nl, rl > ll
  • C1C2 > C2C2 (similarly to Italian)
  • mlīd - conclusion, end > mīd /mʲiːdˠ/
  • ar- > aC- (ar- before vowels); as- > s-

Numbers

  • 1: cēma /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɐ/
  • 2: tithōr /tʲɪˈθɔɚ/
  • 3: narge /ˈnˠɑɚd͡ʒɛ/
  • 4: dhaufe /ˈðˠɐʊfʲɛ/
  • 5: salithe /ˈsˠɐlʲɪθˠɛ/
  • 6: stāma /ˈsˠtˠɑːmˠɐ/
  • 7: rōde /ˈrˠoːdʲɛ/
  • 8: lorethe /ɫɔɚˈrʲæθɛ/
  • 9: farve /ˈfˠɑɚvʲɛ/
  • 10: ħiōr /ˈħɔɚ/
  • 11: cēmara /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɑɚrˠɐ/ (< Themsarian cēmiħiore, influenced by Meetzarri emarra)
  • 12: pide /ˈpʲɪdʲɛ/ (Zutarl pirdi)
  • 144: tarthe /ˈtˠɑɚθɛ/
  • 1728: ūbyc /ˈuːbˠɪ̞k/

Phonology

The standard [Standard A] Nurian consonant inventory contains around 42 consonants and 12 vowels. A notable feature of the phonology of most Nurian accents is phonemic palatalization in hard-soft pairs, similar to Lithuanian; however, the Fiuschērian dialect or accent is an exception in that the hard-soft distinction is realized as pharyngealization versus lack of pharygealization. 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.

Accent 1

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Nurian [Accent 1]
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Radical Glottal
hard soft hard soft hard soft
Nasal /mˠ/ /mʲ/ /n̪ˠ/ /nʲ/ /ɲ~ɲ̄/ /ŋ/
Stop tenuis /pˠ/ /pʲ/ /t̪ˠ/ /tʲ/ /tʃ/ /k/
voiced /bˠ/ /bʲ/ /d̪ˠ/ /dʲ/ /dʒ/ /ɡ/
Fricative voiceless /fˠ/ /fʲ/ /θˠ/ /θ/ /sˠ/ /sʲ/ /ʃ/ /x/ /ħ/ /h/
voiced /vˠ/ /vʲ/ /ðˠ/ /ð/ /zˠ/ /zʲ/ /ʒ/ /ɣ/ /ʕ/
Trill /rˠ/ /rʲ/
Approximant central /j/
lateral /ɫ/ /lʲ/

Vowels

Nurian shows an unusual vowel system, with rhotic vowels and a relative lack of phonemic front vowels. There is a three-way contrast between short, long and rhotic vowels. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low short and rhotic vowels.

Vowel phonemes in Nurian [Accent 1]
Front Central Back
short long rhotic short rhotic short long rhotic
Close /ɪ~ɪ̞/ /iː/ /e˞ː/ [ɚ] /u/ /uː/ /ʊ˞ː/
Mid [ɛ~æ] [ə] /o/ /oː/ /ɔ˞ː/
Open [æː] [æ˞ː] /a/ /a˞ː/ /aː/ [ɑ˞ː]

Diphthongs: /ɐɪ ɐʊ iɛ/

  • Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
  • /e˞ː/ has two allophones:
    • [e˞ː] after soft consonants, radicals and /h/
    • [ɨ˞ː] after non-radical hard consonants
  • /a aː a˞ː/ each have three allophones:
    • [ɐ~ɑ ɑː ɑ˞ː] after non-radical hard consonants
    • [ɛ~æ æː ɛ˞ː] after soft consonants and /h/
  • Unstressed rhotic vowels have a tendency to reduce in colloquial speech: /ʲe˞ ʲæ˞/ > [ʲɚ], /ˠɑ˞ ˠe˞/ > [ˠɚ], /ɔ˞ ʊ˞/ > [o˞].

Accent 2

Mandarin pseudo-gib

  • ci gi chi ghi = [tʂ dʐ ʂ ʐ]
  • sci = [ʂtʂ]
  • ti di si zi = [tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ]
  • thi dhi = [ts dz]
  • ni ngi > [ɲ]
  • li > [ʎ]
  • ri > [ʐ]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Standard Nurian [Accent 2]
Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Radical Glottal
hard soft
Nasal /m/ /mʲ/ /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋ/
Stop tenuis /p/ /pʲ/ /t/ /ts/ /tʂ/ /tɕ/ /k/
voiced /b/ /bʲ/ /d/ /dz/ /dʐ/ /dʑ/ /ɡ/
Fricative voiceless /f/ /fʲ/ /θ/ /s/ /ʂ/ /ɕ/ /x/ /ħ/ /h/
voiced /v/ /vʲ/ /ð/ /z/ /ʐ/ /ʑ/ /ɣ/ /ʕ/
Trill /r/
Approximant central /j/
lateral /l/ /ʎ/

Vowels

Vowel phonemes in Nurian [Accent 2]
Front Central Back
short long rhotic short rhotic short long rhotic
Close /ɪ~ɪ̞/ /iː/ /i˞ː/ /ʊ/ /uː/ /oː˞/
Mid [ɛ~æ] [eː˞] [ə] /ɚː/ /ɔ/ /oː/
Open [æː] /ɐ/ /aː/ [ɑː] [ɒː˞]

Many vowels are centralized after retroflexes: /a aː ɝ i iː ɪɚ/ become [ä äː ɐɚ ɨ ɨː ɘɚ]

Accent 3

Fiuschēra [fuʃˈʃæːrˁɑ] accent (Arabic-esque)

  • Hard consonants > pharyngealized; soft consonants > plain
  • o and ō are centralized
  • θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ
  • Non-rhotic

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Fiuschēran Nurian
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Postvelar Radical Glottal
hard soft hard soft hard soft
Nasal /mˁ/ /m/ /nˁ/ /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋ̠/
Stop tenuis /pˁ/ /p/ /tˁ/ /t/ /tʃ/ /k̠/
voiced /bˁ/ /b/ /dˁ/ /d/ /dʒ/ /ɡ̄/
Fricative voiceless /fˁ/ /f/ /θ/ /sˁ/ /s/ /ʃ/ /x~χ/ /ħ/ /h/
voiced /vˁ/ /ð/ /zˁ/ /z/ /ʒ/ /ɣ~ʁ/ /ʕ/
Trill /rˁ/ /r/
Approximant central /wˁ/ /w/ /j/
lateral l

Vowels

Vowel phonemes in Fiuschēran Nurian
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close /ɪ~ɪ̞/ /iː/ /ʊ/ /uː/
Mid [ɛ~æ] /ə/ /ɵː/ [ɤ] [oː]
Open [æː] /a/ /aː/ [ɑ] [ɑː]

/ɐɪ ɐʊ iə~iɛ iɚ uɚ ɛɚ ɔɚ ɑɚ/ = /ɐj ɐw iə iə uə ɛə~æə əː ɑə/

Accent 4

Conservative

  • ci gi chi ghi = [kʲ gʲ xʲ ɣʲ]
  • sci = [skʲ]

Accent 5

Scottish Gaelic pseudo-gib

Stress

Nurian stress is derived from a particular pattern of weight-sensitive stress (similar to Arabic) in a dialect of late Thensarian:

  • A short final vowel cannot be stressed.
  • Only one of the last 3 syllables can be stressed.
  • the last heavy syllable is stressed if not the final syllable; if there is a final heavy syllable, the penult is stressed. (e.g. burgent [ˈbʊɚdʒænt])
  • If no heavy syllables, the 3rd from last is stressed.

Stress is marginally phonemic in Nurian, due to the loss of vowel length preceding /r/.

Orthography

Consonants

Consonants
Grapheme m p b f v n t d th dh s z r l ng c g ch gh ħ ȝ h j
Hard /mˠ/ /pˠ/ /bˠ/ /fˠ/ /vˠ/ /nˠ/ /tˠ/ /dˠ/ /θˠ/ /ðˠ/ /sˠ/ /zˠ/ /rˠ/ /ɫ/ /ŋ/ /k/ /ɡ/ /x/ /ɣ/ /ħ/ /ʕ/ /h/ /j/
Soft /mʲ/ /pʲ/ /bʲ/ /fʲ/ /vʲ/ /nʲ/ /tʲ/ /dʲ/ /θ/ /ð/ /sʲ/ /zʲ/ /rʲ/ /lʲ/ /ɲ/ /t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/

r = r-coloring before a consonant or word-finally

Vowels

  • a: hard /a/ [ɐ~ɑ]
  • ā: hard /aː/ [ɑː]
  • ar, ār, air, aur: hard /a˞/ [ɑ˞]
  • ai: hard /aɪ/ [ɐɪ~ɑɪ]
  • au: hard /aʊ/ [ɐʊ~ɑʊ]
  • y: hard /ɪ/ [ë]
  • y: hard /iː/
  • yr, ȳr: hard /i˞/ [ɘ˞]
  • o: hard /o/
  • ō: hard /oː/
  • or, ōr: hard /ɔ˞/
  • u: hard /u/
  • ū: hard /uː/
  • ur, ūr: hard /ʊ˞/

  • ia, e: soft /a/ [ɛ]
  • iā, ē: soft /aː/ [æː]
  • iar, er, iār, ēr, iair, iaur: soft /aɚ/ [æ˞]
  • iai: soft /aɪ/ [ɛɪ]
  • iau: soft /aʊ/ [ɛʊ]
  • i: soft /ɪ/
  • ī: soft /iː/
  • ir, īr, ier: soft /i˞/ [e˞]
  • io: soft /o/
  • : soft /oː/
  • ior, iōr: soft /ɔ˞/
  • iu: soft /u/
  • : soft /uː/
  • iur, iūr: soft /ʊ˞/
  • ie: soft /iə/


Grammar

Somewhat unusually, Nurian is verb-final with prepositions and modifier-modified order.

Nouns

Sgv-clv-plv system.