Nurian/Old

Nurian is diglossic; this page describes Standard Nurian. For basilectal Nurian, see Nurian/Low.

Nurian/Lexicon
Nurian/Phrasebook
Nurian/Swadesh list

Nurian/Old
nūrimai
Pronunciation	[/ˈnˠuːrʲɪmˠɐɪ/]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Language family	Quame Talmic Thensaric Nurian/Old
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qnr

Nurian (/ˈnʊəɹiən/, Nurian: gaffai nūrimai /ˈgɐfˠːɐɪ ˈnˠuːrʲɪmˠɐɪ/, Eevo: Nwrib or brits Nwrée) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Pali, Italian, Lithuanian and Arabic. Nurian is the official language of the island country of Nūrei in Cualuav. Standard Nurian is extremely conservative, and contains few loanwords. It used to have less conservative sisters whose words were absorbed into Eevo during the Old Eevo period, and modern Nurian, especially basilectal Nurian, is also a source of loans for Modern Eevo.

Todo

• 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
• dallhatuh = strife
• hienaθini = sleep soundly
• -zzah = deverbal noun
  • muoġiazzah = food
• hnuobai = jaw

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

Phonology

The 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.

There are two major accents of Standard Nurian.

Phonotactics

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.

Dagȳnei accent

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Nurian (Dagȳne)

		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.

Vowel phonemes

	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]

Fiuṡṡērah accent

The Fiuṡṡērah [fuʃʃæːrˁɑh] accent turns hard consonants into uvularized consonants, and soft consonants into plain.

• θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ

Consonants

Consonant phonemes (Fiuṡṡērah)

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Postalveolar	Velar		Radical	Glottal
		hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft		soft	hard
Nasal	voiceless	m̊ʶ	m̊	n̥ʶ			n̥		ɲ̊	ŋ̊ʶ
	voiced	mʶ	m	n̪ʶ			n		ɲ	ŋʶ
Stop	tenuis	pʶ	p	tʶ			t	tʃ	k	kʶ		ʔ
	aspirated	pʶʰ	pʰ	tʶʰ			tʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	kʶʰ
	voiced	bʶ	b	dʶ			d	dʒ	g	ɡʶ
Fricative	voiceless	fʶ	f		θ	sʶ	s	ʃ			ħ	h
	voiced	vʶ			ð	zʶ	z	ʒ
Trill	voiceless					r̥ʶ	r̥
	voiced					rʶ	r
Lateral	voiceless			ɬʶ			ɬ
	voiced						l
Approximant		wʶ	w						j		ʕ

Notes

• Hard consonants are uvularized, like Arabic emphatic consonants.

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

Consonants

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

• a: hard /a/ [ɐ~ɑ]
• ā: hard /aː/ [ɑː]
• ą: hard /ãː/
• ai: hard /aɪ/ [ɐɪ~ɑɪ]
• au: hard /aʊ/ [ɐʊ~ɑʊ]
• u: hard /ʊ/
• ui: hard /ʊɪ/
• uo: hard /uɔ/
• ū: hard /uː/
• ų: hard /ũː/

• ia, e: soft /a/ [ɛ]
• iā, ē: soft /aː/ [æː]
• ią, ę: soft /ãː/
• iai, ei: soft /aɪ/ [ɛɪ]
• iau: soft /aʊ/ [ɛʊ]
• i: soft /ɪ/
• ī: soft /iː/
• į: soft /ĩː/
• iu: soft /ʊ/
• ui: soft /ʊɪ/
• iuo: soft /uɔ/
• iū: soft /uː/
• ių: soft /ũː/
• ie: soft /iə/

Morphology

Main article: Old/Morphology

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'
• nīh (/nʲiːh/) = '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.