Nurian/Old
Nurian/Lexicon
Nurian/Phrasebook
Nurian/Swadesh list
| Nurian/Old | |
|---|---|
| nūrimai | |
| Pronunciation | [/ˈnˠuːrʲɪmˠɐɪ/] |
| Created by | IlL |
| Setting | Verse:Tricin |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | qnr |
Nurian (/ˈnʊəɹiən/, Nurian: gaffai nūrimai /ˈgɐfˠːɐɪ ˈnˠuːrʲɪmˠɐɪ/, Eevo: Nwrib or brits Nwrée) is a Talmic language, a sister of Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Pali, Italian, Lithuanian and Arabic. Nurian is one of the classical languages of Bjeheond, along with Classical Netagin.
Todo
- Explain Lithuanian-like vowel system as a result of Idavic substrate?
- should be P-Talmic
- Did Thensarian have intensive noun/adjective suffixes that Nurian preserves?
- -tl-, -dl- > -ċċ-, -ġġ- used mainly in names
- -tą = instrument/patient suffix
- massah = dark
- Tamīħinai = Wen Dămea
- ħammih = wheat (~ sñyrm)
- dallhatuh = strife
- hienaθini = sleep soundly
- -zzah = deverbal noun
- muoġiazzah = food
- nhuobai = jaw
- natterai = chain
Historical phonology
- -am -em -im -om -um -ām -ēm -īm -ōm -ūm > -ą -ę -į -ą -ų -ą -ę -į -ų -ų
- -s > -h
- Thn. cia ce ci cio ciu gia ge gi gio giu > ċia ċe ċi ċio ċiu ġia ġe ġi ġio ġiu
- e ē ei ea eā > e ē ei ia iā
- o, ō > a, uo; word final -uo > -ū
- ae oe ui ao eo iu > ai ȳ ui au iuo iū
Cluster assimilations
Nurian is rich in geminate consonants, most of which arise from the following historical assimilations. Geminate consonants become degeminate word-initially.
- bl ml fl tl dl θl δl cl gl ngl > bbi mmi ffi ċċi ġġi ṡṡi żżi kki ggi ngi
- ħl, ȝl > ħħ, ȝȝ
- nl, rl > both ll
- sp, st, sc, sȝ, sn, sl, sr > pph, tth, kkh, ħħ, tth, nnh, llh, rrh
- sb, sd, sg > bb, zz, gg
- pr, fr, tr, θr, cr, ngr, ħr > pph, ff, tth, θθ, kkh, ng, ħħ
- br, dr, δr, gr, ȝr > bb, dd, δδ, gg, ȝȝ
- mr > mm
- cn, gn > ngh, ng
- mn > nn
- rC > CC
- lC > :C; lv > vv
- ct > tt
- VN + fricative > V[+nasal] + fricative
- tv dv θv δv > pp bb ff vv
Co-reflexes with Eevo
- aw ~ uo, ā, a+C
- ia ~ ei
- i ~ ȳ, ī, ē, a/e/i+C
Numbers
Phonology
The Old Nurian sound system has a large inventory of around 58 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.
Phonotactics
Old Nurian forbids all consonant clusters other than those of the form homorganic nasal + consonant. Word-medially, every consonant can be geminated except /j/ and /h/. Word-finally, usually only /n/, /l/, /ʔ/ (as an allophone of /r/), /h/, /s/, /t/, and vowels are allowed.
Consonants
| 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 | ki kʲ | k k | -r ʔ | |||
| aspirated | ph pˠʰ | phi pʲʰ | th t̪ˠʰ | thi tʲʰ | ċhi tʃʰ | khi kʲʰ | kh 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 | ṡi ʃ | ħ, ħi ħ | h, hi h | ||
| voiced | v vˠ | vi vʲ | δ ðˠ | δi ðʲ | z zˠ | zi zʲ | żi ʒ | |||||
| 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, three long and three nasal monophthongs. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low vowels.
| Front | Central | Back | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | nasal | short | long | nasal | short | long | nasal | |
| Close | /ɪ~ɪ̞/ | /iː/ | /ĩː/ | /ʊ/ | /uː/ | /ũː/ | |||
| Open | [ɛ~æ] | [æː] | /a/ | /aː/ | /ãː/ | [ɑ] | [ɑː] | ||
Diphthongs: /aɪ aʊ iɛ uɔ ʊi/
- Notes
- /a aː/ each have three allophones:
- [ɐ~ɑ ɑː] after non-radical hard consonants. /aː/ in this environment may be pronounced [ɔː] or [ʌː] by many younger speakers of the Fiuṡṡērah accent.
- [ɛ~æ æː] after soft consonants, radicals and /h/
- Allophony of /a aː/ is, however, reduced in the speech of many younger speakers of the Dagȳne accent, who pronounce both as [ɐ aː]
Stress
Nurian stress is similar to Modern Standard Arabic:
- Stress falls on the heavy (CV: or CVC) syllable closest to the end, if it is not the final syllable;
- if neither the penult nor the antepenult are heavy, the antepenult is stressed.
Orthography
Nurian is written in a different script than all the other Talmic languages.
Consonants
| Grapheme | m | p | b | f | v | n | t | d | θ | δ | s | z | r | l | ng | k | 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/ |
The pairs of aspirated plosives and voiceless resonants /pʰˠ pʰʲ/, /tʰˠ tʰʲ/, /tʃʰ/, /kʲʰ kʰ/, /m̊ˠ m̊ʲ/, /n̪̊ˠ n̊ʲ/, /ɲ̊ ŋ̊/, /l̥ˠ l̥ʲ/, /r̥ˠ r̥ʲ/ are written ⟨ph, th, ċh, kh, mh, nh, ngh, lh, rh⟩.
Final -r is pronounced /ʔ/.
Vowels
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Morphology
- Main article: Old/Morphology
Numerals
Nurian uses a vigesimal numeral system. 1-20: pēm, θiuor, naġġį, δiaubį, salle, thām, ruodih, laddih, habbih, ħuor, ħuopphēm, ħuoθθhiur, ħuonnaġġį, ħuonδiaubį, ħųsallie, hųthām, ħuorruodih, ħuolladdih, ħuorrhabbih, miekah
- pēm, pēmai, pēmah '1', thām, thāmai, thāmah '6' and their teen counterparts decline as o-stem nouns
- θiuor '2', ħuor '10', and ħuoθθiur '12' decline like a dual adjective
- naġġį '3', δiaubį '4' and their teen counterparts are i-stem masculines
- salle (< saliθe) '5' is indeclinable
- ruodih, laddih, habbih are i-stem neuters
Syntax
Nurian uses SVO, head-initial syntax. There are no articles.
- Guoδati damibeh jāni betthar.
- [ˈguɔðˠɑtʲi ˈdˠɑmʲɪbʲæh ˈjæːnʲi ˈbʲættʰˠɑɾ]
- guoδ-ti tam-ibeh jāni betth-ar
- remain-3PL leaf-PL.CST laurel.SG.ABS.NOM green-PL.F.ABS.NOM
- Laurel leaves stay green.
Particles
- kaC-, kat = 'and'
- ħuġġiah kap pālei = 'bread and milk'
- ei (/ɛɪ/) = 'not'
- fī /fʲiː/ = 'if'
Relative clauses
Nurian uses the resumptive pronoun strategy when the head is not the subject. A resumptive pronoun must be fronted, if it is not embedded in another clause within the relative clause.
Sample texts
UDHR, Article 1
- Kakarai ħausį gatthāną kaθ θeθeivų di khussiū kat iġġiatū; ammimīdīnį nai ȝabbī kad dȳkaluttī, ṡiūȝą danθū hieθariākah ħaibatthah di helą venghimę.
- [ˈkɐkɐrˠɐɪ ˈħæʊsʲĩː gɐˈtʰˠːɑːnˠɑ̃ː kɐθ θʲɛˈθʲɛɪvˠũː dʲɪ ˈkʰʊsʲːuː kɐʔ ˈɪdʒːætˠuː | æmʲːɪmʲiːˈdʲiːnʲĩː nɐɪ ʕæbʲːiː kɐd dˠiːkɐlˠʊtʲːiː, ʃuːʕãː dˠɐnθˠuː fʲɛɪtˠɐrʲæːkɐh ħæɪbˠɐtʰˠːɐh dʲɪ hælˠɑ̃ː vʲɛŋ̊ʲːɪmʲæ̃ː]
- human.COL.DEF be.born-3SG.M.PRES free.COL.INDEF.M and equal.COL.INDEF.M in dignity-3SG.M and right-3SG.M; gifted-COL.INDEF.M INS reason and conscience, duty upon-3SG.M behave-INFV mutually in spirit-SGV.DEF brotherly-SGV.DEF.F
- All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Poetry
Greek and Latin quantitative meters, no rhyming