Verse:Tdūrzů/Knench
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| Cubrite | |
|---|---|
| Kibrið | |
| Created by | IlL |
Afro-Asiatic
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Cubrite (Kibrið /kɪbɹɪð/ or núm Kibr /niːm kɪbɐ/) is a Canaanite language spoken in an alt-hist timeline, spoken by the Cubrites, a minority in the Balkans . Standard Cubrite is based on the Criadosch (Krírdox /kɹɪəˈdɔɧ/ from karyō ħadasō) dialect. Genetic studies have shown that the Cubrites are descendants of Celtic speakers who adopted a Canaanite language. The language preserves quite a few quasi-Biblical Hebrew words and phrases, but its grammar was completely restructured to use auxiliaries instead of the older prefix and suffix conjugations. Most modern Cubrites are Eastern Orthodox; a few are Muslim.
Cubrite has many Greek, Turkish, Arabic and Romance loanwords.
It's inspired grammatically by Welsh, and aesthetically by Cockney English, Icelandic and Khmer.
History
TODO
- Swadesh list
- bel-, ble- is a common prefix (conflation of ben- and ba3al-)
- biuth or šą har... = when...
- Many adverbs are froma infinitive absolute
- likkori = to die (lit. be called [by God])
- šovuą = week
- mødbár = conference
- נא becomes a focus marker =nr
- question marker a ... [FOCUS]=nr
- Philippi should be weaker: i > e, instead of the TibH i > a (*bint > peþ 'daughter'; TibH baṫ)
- Makhin fows ta xett likkori? = Why did you have to die?
Some sound changes
- non-rhoticity, H-dropping
- ħ > x; *gt, kt, ᴋt, ħt > ht
- ś > usually x, sometimes f or fl
- dt, tt > st
- -ø (mainly from ACub -ā) becomes silent and lengthens the vowel before it
- ACub ā ō ū > OCub ó ú í
- OCub ó ú í > Modern Cub. aɤ i: əi
- xr > x
Phonology
Consonants
- /m n (Philly L) h l w j ɹ~ʋ ɾ/ ⟨m n ł h l w j r rr⟩
- /p b f v t d ʔtʰ~ʔ θ ð k g ʔkʰ/ ⟨p b f v t d tt þ ð k g kk⟩
- /s z ts ʃ ž ɧ h/ ⟨s z ts š ž x h⟩
Ancient Cubrite /l/ became /w/ in some places, especially before C.
Mutations
Words can undergo initial voicing mutation.
Vowels
Tdūrzů/Knench has the largest vowel inventory of any Semitic language in Lõis:
/a e ɪ ɔ ʊ ɛ̃ː iə iː äɤ ɨː ɑ̃ː ɛ̃ː ɪɤ̃ ɔ̃ː æː aw ɛw ɪw ɔw ʊw ɑː(ɹ) ɛː(ɹ) eː(ɹ) oʊ~oː(ɹ) ɜː(ɹ) ə(ɹ)/ = ⟨a e i o u á é í ó ú ą ę į ų aw ew iw ow uw ar er ir or ur ø/r⟩
Word-final /ə/ is pronounced [ɐ(ɹ)] and is transcribed as a syllabic r, or ør after r.
The following is the traditional classification of vowels:
- Shva: ø
- Short vowels: a e i o u
- Long vowels: á é í ó ú
- Nasal vowels: ą ę į ų
- L-colored vowels: aw ew iw ow uw
- R-colored vowels: ar er ir or ur r
Prosody
Stress
Stress tends penultimate or final.
Intonation
Phonotactics
Morphophonology
Orthography
Modern Cubrite is written in a Latin orthography which is an almost exact relex of an earlier Koine Greek-inspired deep orthography. A notable feature is that b d are always fricatives. <sch> for x?
Its orthography is as irregular as English. The orthography used on this page is an academic one devised by Icelandic linguist Hrafn Leifsson (expy of Inthar lus Lăneaf).
Morphology
Tdūrzů/Knench has lost the verbal inflections and triconsonantal morphology of Ancient Cubrite.
Nouns and adjectives
Nouns inflect for number and definiteness. Adjectives agree with nouns in number.
Tdūrzů/Knench has regularized all plurals to -r (from a merger of Ancient Cubrite -īm and -ōδ). It also lost grammatical gender, although animates still have natural gender.
Words ending in a nasal vowel or an R-colored vowel add an intrusive R between the final vowel and the plural suffix: pdą 'tree', pdąrør 'trees'.
Some irregular plurals: penš, plenš = human
Canaanite has lost the construct state.
Degree markers:
- Equative: de- = as X as; equally X (~ BH day 'enough')
- Emphatic: ro- = so X, very X indeed (inherited from Ancient Cubrite, which borrowed it from Celtic)
- Comparative/Superlative: -ðr = more X or most X; comparandum takes prið 'than' (from Ancient Cubrite pirʔūðī 'when I see')
Example: kkrú 'big', degrú 'as big as'; rogrú 'so big; very big indeed', kkrúðr 'bigger/biggest'
Verbs
Almost all verbs use only one form, the infinitive (usually etymologically the infinitive construct). The infinitive is also used as an imperative: ðett lo hi! = 'Give it to her!' The infinitive form may or may not have a prefixed l-, depending on the verb; however, even verbs without l- display a voicing mutation in the infinitive construct. Some verbs instead are derived from other nouns derived from the relevant triconsonantal root rather than the infinitive of a particular verb.
Inflected lexical verbs
There are only six inflected lexical verbs (i.e. verbs with inflected past and future forms):
- juð 'to be'
- fluð 'to do' (from √ʕśy, with contamination from √pȝl)
- luð 'to come' (with suppletion of √ʔty and √bʔ); bu is still used as a directional
- laht 'to go'
- kaht 'to take'
- ðett 'to give'
The finite forms have become more similar to each other due to analogy.
| → Person | I | thou (m) | thou (f) | he/it | she | we | you (polite/plural) | they | Non-pronominal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| juð | future | é ni | þé ta | þí te | jé u | þé hi | né nu | þú tem | jú'm | jé/þé |
| past | ið i | is ta | is te | jo u | ðo hi | in nu | is tem | ju'm | jo/ðo | |
| fluð | future | ąf i | þąf ta | þąf te | jąf u | þąf hi | nąf nu | þąflu tem | jąflu'm | jąf/þąf |
| past | fowð i | fows ta | fows te | fow u | fól hi | fown nu | fows tem | flu'm | fow/fól | |
| luð | future | eð i | þes ta | þes te | jeð u | þeð hi | neð nu | þeðu tem | jeðu'm | jeð/þeð |
| past | powð i | pows ta | pows te | pow u | pól hi | pown nu | pows tem | pu'm | pow/pól | |
| laht | future | ley ni | tley ta | tley te | len u | tlen hi | ley nu | tlew tem | lew'm | ley/tley |
| past | laht i | laht ta | laht te | law u | lál hi | layn nu | laht tem | lølu'm | law/lál | |
| kaht | future | key ni | tkey ta | tkey te | ken u | tken hi | key nu | tkew tem | kew'm | key/tkey |
| past | kaht i | kaht ta | kaht te | kaw u | kál hi | kayn nu | kaht tem | klu'm | kaw/kál | |
| ðett | future | ney ni | tney ta | tney te | nen u | tnen hi | ney nu | tnew tem | new'm | nen/tnen |
| past | naht i | naht ta | naht te | naw u | nál hi | nayn nu | naht tem | nølu'm | naw/nál | |
Non-pronominal forms agree in gender only with a singular subject; the feminine is only used with women and females. With plural nominal subjects, the masculine singular form is used.
Regular pa3al verbs
The regular pattern is *(li)CCuC.
-t verbs
Many of these verbs got the glottally reinforced -tt from -ʔt. The -tt then analogically spread to other verbs.
- laht /ˈlaxt/ = to go
- kaht /ˈkaxt/ = to take
- šaht /saxt/ = to go back
- šoft /ʃɔft/ = to sit
- ðett /ðeʔt/ = to give
- lost /lɔst/ = to be born
- rost /ɹɔst/ = to go down
- xett /seʔt/ = to carry, to owe, should
- tsett /tseʔt/ = to go out
- šątt /ʃãːʔt/ = to travel
- gątt /gãːʔt/ = to hit
- dątt /dãːʔt/ = to know
- tątt /tãːʔt/ = to plant
Regular nif3al
The regular pattern is *(li)CoCiC where the first C is not lenited.
Regular pi3el
The regular pattern is *løCaCiC or *løCiCuC where the middle C is not lenited.
Regular hif3il
The regular pattern is *laCCiC, *leCCeC, or *laCCoCø.
Regular hithpa3el
The regular pattern is *lithCaCiC where the middle C is not lenited.
Other verbs
Other verbs come from noun derivation patterns, or from earlier verb + noun collocations.
Auxiliaries
Tdūrzů/Knench has an auxiliary verb system similar to Colloquial Welsh. In addition, there is a T-V distinction: the 2nd person plural tem is also used as a polite pronoun.
- Re Dovíð ław šun. = David is about to sleep.
- Piuth Dovíð ław šun = When David is about to sleep
ha/he/hem may be found instead of ta/te/tem in some dialects.
| → Person | I | thou (m) | thou (f) | he/it | she | we | blotp | they | Non-pronominal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present (re, r' , from *rVʔē 'look!') | i, ni | ta | te | u | hi | nu | tem | rem | re, r' before V |
| Present emphatic (inflected forms of עוֹד) | łud i | łud ta | łud te | łuden u | łuden hi | łud nu | łud tem | łud em | ngud |
| Interrogative (from הַאִם, -nø must be added to the focused word) | am ni, am i | am ta | am te | am u | am hi | am nu | am tem | am em | am |
| Passive present (from imperfect of עָבַר 'to pass') | ur ni, ur i | þur ta | þri te | jur u | þur hi | nur nu | þru tem | ru'm | jur/þur |
| Passive past (from perfect of עָבַר 'to pass') | bar ni, bar i, bart i | bart ta | bart te | bar u | bro hi | barn nu | bart tem | bru'm | bar/bro |
| "Do X more" - present (from imperfect of הוֹסִיף 'to add') | siv i | tsiv ta | tsiv te | isiv u | tsiv hi | nusiv nu | tsiv tem | isivu'm | isiv/tsiv/isivu |
| "Do X more" - past (from perfect of הוֹסִיף 'to add') | seft i | seft ta | seft te | sev u | sivø hi | sev nu | seft tem | sivu'm | siv/sivu |
| Cautionary (from imperfect of זָמַם 'to scheme') | zum i | tøzum ta | tøzum te | zum u | tøzum hi | nøzum nu | tøzmu tem | zmu'm | zum/tøzum/zmu |
| "X well" - present (from imperfect of הֵיטִיב 'to do well') | atteb i | tatteb ta | tattbi te | jatteb u | tatteb hi | natteb nu | tatteb tem | yattebu'm | yatteb/tatteb/yattebu |
| "X well" - past (from perfect of הֵיטִיב 'to do well') | ettebt i | ettebt ta | ettebt te | etteb u | ettibø hi | etteb nu | ettebt tem | ettebu'm | etteb |
kaht 'to take' is used as an auxiliary meaning 'to go ahead and VERB'.
The auxiliary zum for the cautionary future comes from the Ancient Cubrite verb *zāmam 'to scheme'. It's used to:
- warn the listener of a future event or contingency:
- Zum sąras ða luð fu hol ngeð. = 'The storm might come here any moment.'
- Zum tafkestas mul lið kobuą hetteb! = 'The map might not be well-defined! [in a hypothetical math lecture, cautioning against a tacit assumption the audience might make]'
- often used in a threatening manner, for example: Lakh to mul yedhą ma zum i ląsuth lakh to! = 'You have no idea what I'm gonna do to you!'
Prepositions
Prepositions inflect like in Welsh: for pronominal prepositional objects, usually the preposition is inflected and is followed by the independent pronoun.
example of a Tdūrzů/Knench inflected preposition: lø "for"; bø 'in, at', min 'from' are inflected similarly
- 1sg: li, li ni
- 2sg.m: lah ta
- 2sg.f: lah te
- 3sg.m: lomu hu
- 3sg.f: lo hi
- 1pl. lon nu
- 2pl. lahøm tem
- 3pl. low'm
Other prepositions:
- túb lø = for
- ján = because of (also "reason")
- łøj = on, above
- jax, jaxøm = with (both inst. and com.)
- pøłé = inside, within
- sim. løłé, møłé 'into, out of'
- pølip = amidst
- wén = without
- møné = before, in front of
- kkorrm = before (temporally)
- xár = after
- møłál = above
- møþál = below
- þaht = instead of
- til = like, as
- hakr = until
- gu = up to
Numbers
0-10: zero, xóð (inanimate)/xáð (animate), šném/šné (attributive), šluš, arvą, xomi, šeš, šebą, šmún, þeš, łax
11-20: štąx, šnająx, šlušąx, arvąx, xomišąx, šešąx, šebąx, šmúnąx, þešąx, łixi
21-30: łixi xóð, łixi šném, ... łixi łax
31-40: łixi łax štąx, ..., šné łixi
41, 42, ...: šné łixi xóð/xáð, šné łixi šném, ...
60: šluš łixi
...
100: mír
1000: awv
Syntax
Constituent order
The order is tense-subject-verb-object.
- R'išas bø hél ablas.
- The man is eating the apple.
- Re béð u bø de-rul til stadi.
- His house is as big as a stadium.
- Fól hi ða fluð halkkbéð hi bø ro-múhr.
- She did her homework too late.
The negative particle mul (from mə'umâ lo 'not anything') comes after the subject pronoun and before the verb.
Faulty accusative
Tdūrzů/Knench has the faulty accusative particle ða or ð' (from Ancient Cubrite ʔet ha-). It is not used for all direct objects, but only for constituents that are separated from their heads. Đa must also be used before the verbal noun when using an auxiliary: היֶטבר הי דﬞאַ ליתפﬞוס נינר Hettvø hi ða litfus ninø. = She was good at catching fish.
It's also used in a ba construction of sorts:
- Fow Móše prah ða hél.
- PST.3SG.M Moshe meat ÐA eat.INF
- It's meat that Moshe ate.
Noun phrase
Both nouns and adjectives inflect for definiteness, as follows:
- Singular: -as (after C) or -sr (after V)
- Plural: -il (replacing the plural suffix -r if any)
Examples:
- xadr = a room
- xadras = the room
- xadrør = rooms
- xadril = the rooms
- xadr grú = a big room
- xadras grú = the big room
- botr grulr = big houses
- botil grulr = the big houses
There is no construct state, unlike in Biblical Hebrew. Genitives are expressed with concatenation: šem mawkas = the king's name.
To say "this X" or "that X", X-as fu and X-as feni (lit. "the X here" and "the X there") are used. To say "this" and "that", you say se fu and se feni (where the se becomes ilø in the plural).
The abstract demonstrative is suð.
Words for yes and no
- ens (from *amitt ze "this is truth") = present 'yes'
- aj (from ajjē "where?") = present 'no'
- ríð (from rahīδī "I saw") = past 'yes'
- lu fow (from lū 3aśā inflected) = past 'no'
- jąf (from ja3śē, inflected) = future 'yes'
- lu jąf (inflected) = future 'no'
- aw (from hal "don't!") = imperative 'no'
Verb phrase
VN constructions
- re Parm pø laht = Parm is going, goes
- re Parm þax laht = Parm is about to go
- re Parm hár laht = Parm has gone
- re Parm hár juð pø laht = Parm has been going
- re Parm døs laht = Parm just went
- re Parm wén laht = Parm hasn't went
- fól Parm laht = Parm went
- þąf Parm laht = Parm will go
- Laht! = Go! (number neutral)
- Púþnu laht! = Let's go!
Sentence phrase
Complementizer
There is a complementizer mur /mɐ/ (from lēmōr) or jið /əð/ (from conflation of hajūδ 'to be' and jūδ accusative marker) depending on dialect.
Relativizer
Relative clauses use the relativizer har (from *χa-ʔašir). Re is not used in relative clauses in the present tense.
- I bø hél ablas har pø xadr i. = I am eating the apple which is in my room.
Serial verb construction
Serial verbs are very common in Cubrite, it's an extension of how the infinitive construct used to work in Ancient Cubrite (and Biblical Hebrew).
- Pow Móše kaht él prah. / Fow Móše luð kaht él prah.
- come.PST.3SG.M Moshe take.INF eat.INF meat / PST.3SG.M Moshe come.INF take.INF eat.INF meat
- Moshe came, took, and ate the meat.
Directionals derived from verbs, such as laht 'hence', bu 'hither' and kub 'with a person' are also common and may replace pronouns.
Vocabulary
Canaanite has the following vocabulary layers:
- Most of the common words are inherited from Ancient Cubrite, however they often show drastic semantic drift or compounding. Example: šłúd 'a lot' comes from saȝudō 'feast'.
- Celtic substrates
- Ancient Greek, Old Togarmite and Aramaic loans
- Latin, Romance and Modern Greek
Although it is attested in Ancient Cubrite, the *CaCīCō verbal noun pattern is not as productive as the corresponding pattern in Mishnaic and Modern Hebrew.
Many words are formed form earlier construct state combinations, and are sometimes unrecognizable as such:
- ambin 'brick' from *ʔabanē binyan 'building stones'
- søvgom 'massacre; (slang) debacle, fiasco; a mess' from *šapk dam 'spilling of blood'
- łénøm 'source' from ʕēn mayim 'spring of water'
- xeppin 'to like' from *śe'θ pin lit. 'lift the face of' meaning 'to favor'
- xettném (el) 'to look at' from *śe'θ 3ēnajim 'lift eyes'
- klalib 'conscience' from *qūl hal-lēbb lit. 'voice of the heart'
Some productive affixes are:
- pen-/ple- = agentive
- pnar 'wolf' comes from pre-Cubrite *pen har 'son-of mountain'; a euphemism replacing Ancient Cubrite zēb
- peδ- = place noun
- pəd-/pd- = singulative of a collective noun
- pdą = tree, from *pett ya3r 'daughter of forest'
- -əl = transitivizer or causative of verbs (from a -w ~ -l alternation in some intransitive-transitive verb pairs)
Example texts
UDHR, Article 1
- Hol plenšil bru'm lost til xor; em bø šow łøj akšoprepil e ðičomatil. Bru'm fkuð jax režún e kulalib, e rem bø xett liðaléh jaxøm šúv pø nøšóm axwr.
- all human/PL-DEF.PL PASS.PRES-3PL be_born as free; 3PL equal-PL on dignity-DEF.SG and right-DEF.PL. PASS.PRES-3PL entrust with understanding and conscience, and PRES.3PL PRES should behave with one_another with spirit brotherhood.
- All human beings 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.
Tower of Babel
| Cubrite | Masoretic Hebrew (translit.) |
|---|---|
|
|
Schleicher's Fable
Phrasebook
When three forms are given, the forms are respectively for addressing one male informally, one female informally, and multiple people or formal language.
- Šoløm! [ˈsɔləm] = Hello! / Goodbye!
- Hakr gorv! = See you!
- Ebí Tem! = Welcome!
- Parg el Tem! = Thank you!
- imtsøhém Tem = Please (etym. if it finds favor in your eyes)
- also plíz [pli:z] (from English)
- łeð tub [ŋɛθ tub] = have fun
- Ay šemas tkey to? = What's your name?
- Key ni šemas [NAME] = My name is [NAME].