Zanahi

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Zanahi (native: zanāhī, haṭ-ṭaṣwā haz-zanāhiyyā) is an Indo-European language with a high degree of Semitic influence.

Zanahi
zanāhī
Pronunciation[zænæːhiː]
Created byShariifka
Early form
Proto-Zanahi

Introduction

Zanahi is a satem language.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Zanahi
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/ ~ ʁ/ /ʕ/
Trill /r/
Approximant /l/ /j/ /w/

Vowels

Vowel phonemes of Zanahi
Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Close /i/ /u/ /iː/ /uː/
Mid /eː/ /oː/
Open /a/ /aː/
Diphthongs /aw/, /aj/

Orthography

Zanahi orthography (consonants)
Letter Scientific transliteration Alternative transliterations IPA Name Remarks
' ʔ; ˀ; 2 /ʔ/ ’ālaf
b /b/ bāṯ
v ḇ; bh /v/ vāṯ
g /ɡ/ gāmal
gh; ɣ; ġ /ɣ ~ ʁ/ ḡāmal
ǧ j /d͡ʒ/ ǧāmal Used in Arabic and other foreign loanwords.
d /d̪/ dālaṯ
dh; ð /ð/ ḏālaṯ
h /h/
w /w/ wāw
z /z/ zayn
ħ; h'; 7 /ħ/ ḥāṯ
kh; ch; x; 7' /x ~ χ/ ḫāṯ Used in Arabic and other early Semitic loanwords.
t'; 6 /t̪ˁ/ ṭāṯ
z'; dh'; ð̣; 6' /ðˁ/ ẓāṯ Used in Arabic loanwords.
y /j/ yāḏ
k /k/ kāf
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/
f p̄; ph /f/
s'; 9 /sˁ/ ṣāḏā
d'; 9' /d͡ɮˁ/ ḍāḏā
q /q/ qāf
r /r/ rāš
š sh /ʃ/ šīn
t /t̪/ tāw
th; θ; þ /θ/ ṯāw
Zanahi orthography (vowels)
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.

Consonants that undergo lenition
Un-lenited Lenited
b /b/ v /v/
g /ɡ/ /ɣ ~ ʁ/
d /d/ /ð/
k /k/ /x ~ χ/
p /p/ f /f/
t /t/ /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
Zanahi 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
Zanahi demonstratives
Distance Singular Plural
masc. fem. masc. fem.
Near sān sīn
Far 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 .

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, the ha- is dropped. After a preposition, ha- or a- is dropped if the preposition ends in a vowel or consonant respectively.

There is no indefinite article.

Below is an example declension for the adjective bān "clear":

Declension of 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

Zanahi 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
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

Types of verbs

There are 5 main types of verbs:

  1. Biliteral root verbs - have 2 root consonants
  2. Triliteral root verbs - have 3 root consonants
  3. Quadriliteral root verbs - have 4 root consonants
  4. Derived root verbs - verbs derived from the above with a certain pattern
  5. Suffixed verbs - verbs formed with an unchanging stem followed by a suffix

Stems

Verbs have two finite stems: perfect and imperfect.

The formation of the stems depends on the type of verb.

Zanahi verb stem formation
No. Type Perfect stem Imperfect stem
1 Biliteral root verbs 1a2- -1i2- (rarely: -1u2-)
2 Triliteral root verb 1a2a3- -12i3- (rarely: -12u3-)
3 Quadriliteral root verbs 1a23a4- -1a23i4-
4 Derived root verbs ! Depends on the formation
5 Suffixed verbs ! S-ā- -S-ē-

Notes:

  1. If a consonant is y or w, any occurance of expected Ci, Cu, iC or uC is replaced by the corresponding long vowel (ī and ū respectively for y and w). As for expected aCa, it becomes ē or ō for y and w respectively.

Simple tenses

There are three simple tenses: the perfect, imperfect, and imperative (which use the perfect, imperfect, and imperfect stems respectively). The imperative only exists in the second person.

Zanahi verb conjugation
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 stem. The addition or ommission of the -(a)- depends on phonotactics: it is added whenever necessary and dropped otherwise (which may vary even between forms with the same stem).

Tenses

Derived verbs

Particles

Prefixed particles

  • ta-: "of, that"
    • Attached to nominals: possessive.
    • Attached to verbs: relative.
    • Becomes ṯa- when used possessively and immediately preceded by the vowel-final possessed noun.
  • 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 ṯa-m-manō yaṣanmān muḵtīn wa-ḥamāḵīn ‘an aš-šaraf wa-n-ḥuqūq. Allāh ṭāṭā-hān ‘aql wa-ḍamīr, wa-barā fī-hān ka-yahakarākarān sa-r-rūḥ ta-b-barāṯartā.

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-the-spirit of-the-brotherhood.


Other resources