Zanahi
Zanahi (native: zanāhī, haṭ-ṭaṣwā haz-zanāhiyyā) is an Indo-European language with a high degree of Semitic influence.
| Zanahi | |
|---|---|
| zanāhī | |
| Pronunciation | [zænæːhiː] |
| Created by | Shariifka |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | Proto-Zanahi
|
Introduction
Zanahi is a satem language.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Denti-alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | emphatic | |||||||||
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | ||||||||
| Stop | voiceless | /p/ | /t̪/ | /t̪ˁ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /k/ | /q/ | /ʔ/ | ||
| voiced | /b/ | /d̪/ | /d͡ɮˤ/ | /d͡ʒ/ | /ɡ/ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | /f/ | /θ/ | /s/ | /sˤ/ | /ʃ/ | /x ~ χ/ | /ħ/ | /h/ | |
| voiced | /v/ | /ð/ | /z/ | /ðˤ/ | /ɣ ~ ʁ/ | /ʕ/ | ||||
| Trill | /r/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | /l/ | /j/ | /w/ | |||||||
Vowels
| Short | Long | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front | Back | |
| Close | /i/ | /u/ | /iː/ | /uː/ |
| Mid | /eː/ | /oː/ | ||
| Open | /a/ | /aː/ | ||
| Diphthongs | /aw/, /aj/ | |||
Orthography
| Letter | Scientific transliteration | Alternative transliterations | IPA | Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ' | ʔ; ˀ; 2 | /ʔ/ | ’ālaf | ||
| b | /b/ | bāṯ | |||
| v | ḇ; bh | /v/ | vāṯ | ||
| g | /ɡ/ | gāmal | |||
| ḡ | gh; ɣ; ġ | /ɣ ~ ʁ/ | ḡāmal | ||
| ǧ | j | /d͡ʒ/ | ǧāmal | Used in Arabic and other foreign loanwords. | |
| d | /d̪/ | dālaṯ | |||
| ḏ | dh; ð | /ð/ | ḏālaṯ | ||
| h | /h/ | hā | |||
| w | /w/ | wāw | |||
| z | /z/ | zayn | |||
| ḥ | ħ; h'; 7 | /ħ/ | ḥāṯ | ||
| ḫ | kh; ch; x; 7' | /x ~ χ/ | ḫāṯ | Used in Arabic and other early Semitic loanwords. | |
| ṭ | t'; 6 | /t̪ˁ/ | ṭāṯ | ||
| ẓ | z'; dh'; ð̣; 6' | /ðˁ/ | ẓāṯ | Used in Arabic loanwords. | |
| y | /j/ | yāḏ | |||
| k | /k/ | kāf | |||
| ḵ | kh; ch; x | /x ~ χ/ | ḵāf | ||
| č | ch; tsh | /t͡ʃ/ | čāf | Used in non-Semitic loanwords. | |
| l | /l/ | lāmaḏ | |||
| m | /m/ | mīm | |||
| n | /n/ | nūn | |||
| s | /s/ | samkaṯ | |||
| ʻ | c; ʕ; ˁ; "; 3 | /ʕ/ | ʻayn | ||
| ġ | gh; ɣ; 3' | /ɣ ~ ʁ/ | ġayn | Used in Arabic and other early Semitic loanwords. | |
| p | /p/ | pā | |||
| f | p̄; ph | /f/ | fā | ||
| ṣ | s'; 9 | /sˁ/ | ṣāḏā | ||
| ḍ | d'; 9' | /d͡ɮˁ/ | ḍāḏā | ||
| q | ḳ | /q/ | qāf | ||
| r | /r/ | rāš | |||
| š | sh | /ʃ/ | šīn | ||
| t | /t̪/ | tāw | |||
| ṯ | th; θ; þ | /θ/ | ṯāw |
| Grapheme | Scientific transliteration | Alternative transliterations | IPA | Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | /a/ | fatḥā | |||
| e | /e/ | imālā | In native words, only occurs in combination with a mater lectionis. | ||
| i | /i/ | kasrā | |||
| o | /o/ | tafḫīmā | In native words, only occurs in combination with a mater lectionis. | ||
| u | /u/ | ḍammā | |||
| ā | aa; â | /aː/ | |||
| â | aa; ā | /aː/ | Used in a few words. | ||
| ē | ee; ea; ei; ey; ê | /eː/ | |||
| ī | ii; ee; iy; î | /iː/ | |||
| ō | oo; oa; ou; ow; ô | /oː/ | |||
| ū | uu; oo; uw; û | /uː/ | |||
| aw | au | /aw/ | |||
| ay | ai | /aj/ | |||
| C | C | sukūn | Used to indicate that a consonant is not followed by a vowel. | ||
| CC | Cː | šaddā | Used to indicate that a consonant is geminated. |
Prosody
Stress
Intonation
Phonotactics
Morphophonology
Lenition
Non-emphatic plosives undergo lenition to fricatives (analogous to "begadkefat" in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew) in certain environments.
| Un-lenited | Lenited |
|---|---|
| b /b/ | v /v/ |
| g /ɡ/ | ḡ /ɣ ~ ʁ/ |
| d /d/ | ḏ /ð/ |
| k /k/ | ḵ /x ~ χ/ |
| p /p/ | f /f/ |
| t /t/ | ṯ /θ/ |
Vowel breaking
This refers to the "breaking up" of ē and ō into ay and aw respectively before vowel-initial suffixes.
Morphology
Like Arabic, Zanahi words are traditionally classified in three categories: nominals, verbs, and particles.
Nominals
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
| Person/ Number |
Independent | Dependent |
|---|---|---|
| 1S | ’ammā | -mā |
| 2SM | ’antā | -tā/-ṯā |
| 2SF | ’antī | -tī/ṯī |
| 3SM | hattā | -hā |
| 3SF | hattī | -hī |
| 1P | ’annā | -nā |
| 2PM | ’antān | -tān/ṯān |
| 2PF | ’antīn | -tīn/ṯīn |
| 3PM | hattān | -hān |
| 3PF | hattīn | -hīn |
Demonstrative pronouns
| Distance | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masc. | fem. | masc. | fem. | |
| Near | sā | sī | sān | sīn |
| Far | tā | tī | tān | tīn |
Nouns and adjectives
Nouns do not decline for case.
There are two genders: masculine and feminine.The feminine is most often marked with the ending -ā.
There are two numbers: singular and plural.
Adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender and definiteness.
The definite article is han-, which is prefixed to the noun/adjective. Before a non-guttural consonant (i.e. any consonant besides ’, h, ‘, ḥ, ġ, ḫ), the -n- is dropped and the first consonant of the noun/verb is geminated. After a prefix or preposition, the ha- is dropped.
There is no indefinite article.
Below is an example declension for the adjective bān "clear":
| Gender | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | indef. | def. | |
| Masculine | bān | hab-bān | bānīn | hab-bānīn |
| Feminine | bānā | hab-bānā | bānān | hab-bānān |
Adverbs
Numerals
| Symbol | Cardinal number | |
|---|---|---|
| masc. | fem. | |
| 0 | ṣifr | |
| 1 | ‘ayn | ‘aynā |
| 2 | ṭuwā | |
| 3 | tarayā | tarē |
| 4 | kaṯurā | kaṯur |
| 5 | pankā | pank |
| 6 | šaššā | šašš |
| 7 | haftā | haft |
| 8 | ‘aṣṭā | ‘aṣṭ |
| 9 | nawā | nō |
| 10 | ṭasā | ṭas |
| 11 | ‘ayn ṭas | ‘aynā ṭasā |
| 12 | ṭuwā ṭas | ṭuwā ṭasā |
| 13 | tarayā ṭas | tarē ṭasā |
| 14 | kaṯurā ṭas | kaṯur ṭasā |
| 15 | pankā ṭas | pank ṭasā |
| 16 | šaššā ṭas | šašš ṭasā |
| 17 | haftā ṭas | haft ṭasā |
| 18 | ‘aṣṭā ṭas | ‘aṣṭ ṭasā |
| 19 | nawā ṭas | nō ṭasā |
| 20 | ṭasīn | |
| 21 | ‘ayn wa-ṭasīn | ‘aynā wa-ṭasīn |
| 30 | tarayīn | |
| 40 | kaṯurīn | |
| 50 | pankīn | |
| 60 | šaššīn | |
| 70 | haftīn | |
| 80 | ‘aṣṭīn | |
| 90 | nawīn | |
| 100 | sint | |
| 200 | ṭuwā sintīn | |
| 1000 | ’alf | |
| 2000 | ṭuwā ’alfīn | |
Verbs
Stems and primary forms
Verbs have two finite stems: perfect and imperfect.
There are three primary forms from which other tenses derive: the perfect, imperfect, and imperative (which use the perfect, imperfect, and imperfect stems respectively). The imperative only exists in the second person.
| Person/ Number |
Perfect | Imperfect | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1S | -mā | ma- | |
| 2SM | -tā/ṯā | ta- | (a)- |
| 2SF | -tī/ṯī | ta-(n)ī | (a)-(n)ī |
| 3SM | -(h)ā | ya- | |
| 3SF | -(h)ī | ya-(n)ī | |
| 1P | -nā | na- | |
| 2PM | -tān/ṯān | ta-(n)ān | (a)-(n)ān |
| 2PF | -tīn/ṯīn | ta-(n)īn | (a)-(n)īn |
| 3PM | -(h)ān | ya-(n)ān | |
| 3PF | -(h)īn | ya-(n)īn |
Participles
The active participle of a verb is formed with the suffix -(a)nt (feminine: -(a)ntā) added to the imperfect stem.
As per the usual formation of the passive, the passive participle is formed with the suffix -(a)mant (feminine: -(a)mantā).
Passive
The passive of a verb is formed by adding the suffix -(a)m- to the imperfect stem (before any endings) or -(i)r to the end of the perfect subject suffixes.
Tenses
Particles
Prefixed particles
- ta-: "of, that"
- Attached to nominals: possessive.
- Attached to verbs: relative.
- wa-: "and"
Independent particles
- ’aw: "or"
Syntax
Constituent order
Noun phrase
Verb phrase
Sentence phrase
Dependent clauses
Example texts
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)
Standard Zanahi
Transliteration: Ḥalō ta-m-manō yaṣanmān muḵtīn wa ḥamāḵīn ‘an haš-šaraf wa-n-ḥuqūq. Allāh ṭānā-hān ‘aql wa ḍamīr, wa barā fī-hān ka-yahakarākarān sa-rūḥ ta-b-barātartā.
Gloss: all of-the-people they_are_born free_PL and equal_PL in the-dignity and the-rights. Allah gave-them reason and conscience, and it_is_obligatory on-them that-they_mutually_act_with_each_other in-spirit of-the-brotherhood.