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 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 Txapoalli (spoken near the modern Naquic languages). 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
- 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 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.
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
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