Togarmite

Togarmite
Þėgamiþ
Pronunciation	[/θegamiθ/]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Lõis
Language family	Afro-Asiatic North Semitic (Togarmo-Canaanite) Togarmite

Togarmite (Þėgamiþ /θegamiθ/ or lysėnyn þėgamijyn /ˈləsenən θegamijən/) is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew and Knánith. It is inspired by Lithuanian, Germanic languages (particularly Icelandic) and the Semitic conlang Alashian.

Modern Togarmite retains the Semitic root-and-pattern morphology and binyanim of Old Togarmite, but has undergone some grammatical restructuring, taking features of the Turkey-Northern Levant-Iranian sprachbund, with L-Persian, Modern An Bhlaoighne and English:

• loss of grammatical gender
• loss of the passive binyanim
• the use of the w-form (inherited from the Old Togarmite waw-subjunctive) for the present progressive, mirroring English -ing < PIE *-nd-kwe

Todo

• gdėl = big
• kdės = (formal, mathematics) specific, particular, chosen (not arbitrary)
• mkodas = holy, sacred (from Old Semehliþ muquddaš)
  • mkosyn = expletive/swear word like "damn"
• Kabšyn wy frasel /xabʃən və fɾasel/ = The sheep and the horses

History

The Old Togarmite name for the language, Θėgammīθ, is thought to have been borrowed from a pre-Togarmite source *Tāgarma. The name Togarmah from the same source is also attested in the Hebrew Bible. (The Greeks and the Romans called the Togarmite people Θηγαρμικοί and Thegarmici respectively.) The name of the language shows the most striking feature of Togarmite, the shift of Proto-Semitic ā to ė /e:/, mirroring the Canaanite shift ā > [o:] occuring in its close relative Hebrew.

Phonology

Consonants

Togarmite has 23 consonants, 22 of them inherited from Proto-Semitic. It gained /p/ during the Old Togarmite stage from adapting loans from Greek, Aramaic and Persian, e.g. parkes 'he acted', from Ancient Greek πραξις.

• m n /m n/
• p t c k ' /p t ts k ʔ/
• b d g /b d g/
• f þ s š x h /f θ s ʃ x h/
• w z ž ȝ /v z ʒ ɣ/
• l r j /l r j/

Vowels

Modern Togarmite has 9 vowels in stressed syllables, possibly the largest vowel inventory of any Semitic language.

a e ė i o ø u y /ɑ ɛ e i o ø u (ə)/

ai au /ai øy/

ai and au are often merged to /ɛ ø/. Some dialects pronounce au as /y/.

Stress

Stress is always penultimate.

Orthography

The abjadi letter names: al, bėþ, gam, dal, hė, wau, zėn, žėn, tėþ, jėþ, xaf, lam, mėm, nun, ȝėn, fė, pė, cad, køf, rėš, sin, šin, tau

Pronouns

Modern Togarmite pronouns work very similarly to English pronouns.

	I	thou (m.)	thou (f.)	he	she	it	we	you (pl.)	they
Nominative	nėx	aþ	eþ	hu	hi	že	nanė	aþøm	høm
Objective	þi	þax	þex	þau	þa	þež	þynė	þaxøm	þaum
Possessive	li	lax	lex	lau	la	lež	lynė	laxøm	laum
Reflexive/Intensive	afi	afax	afex	afau	afa	afež	afnė	afxøm	afaum

The plural pronouns aþøm and høm can be used as gender-neutral pronouns in the singular, like English they.

Nouns

In some ways declension has simplified: Like Knánith, Modern Togarmite has lost grammatical gender. Nouns and adjectives still have indefinite and definite states, but the construct state has been lost.

However, declension has become more complicated in other ways. For example, Modern Togarmite has innovated more declension paradigms.

Regular declension

Most nouns have a regular plural in -i, definite -il.

Example: ȝėlam 'world'

Regular noun declension

	singular	plural
indefinite	ȝėlam	ȝėlami
definite	ȝėlamyn	ȝėlamil

Nisba nouns

An important declension class is comprised of nouns or adjectives with the nisba suffix -i:

þėrmi 'Togarmite'

	singular	plural
indefinite	þėrmi	þėrmije
definite	þėrmijyn	þėrmijel

Singulative-collective nouns

These nouns have a marked singular in -t.

šeȝart '(strand of) hair'

	singular	plural
indefinite	šeȝart	šeȝar
definite	šeȝartyn	šeȝaril

Former feminines/body parts

This class consists of a small number of nouns that were feminine in Old Togarmite, such as many body parts, which take a plural in -ėþ:

øžny 'ear'

	singular	plural
indefinite	øžny	øžnė
definite	øžnyn	øžnėþil

lysėn 'tongue; language'

	singular	plural
indefinite	lysėn	lysėnėþ
definite	lysėnyn	lysėnėþil

-a nouns

These are mainly Greek words:

apoloža 'defense (apologetics)'

	singular	plural
indefinite	apoloža	apoložes
definite	apoložan	apoložėþil

Greek ending in -ma can have a plural in -mata:

þėma 'topic'

	singular	plural
indefinite	þėma	þėmes / þėmata
definite	þėman	þėmėþil / þėmataþil

By analogy, even some native words are declined this way:

heta 'sin'

	singular	plural
indefinite	heta	hetes
definite	hetan	hetėþil

Adjectives

Adjectives have the same declension patterns as nouns.

Degree

Adjectives do not have separate degree forms, unlike in Indo-European languages. A dedicated particle brėþ (*bi-raʔēθī yuθ- 'when-see.INF-1SG ACC') is used for 'than', however.

Verbs

• Past = prefix conjugation
• Present = particle še (from Old Tog. yašē₂b 'sits') + w-form?
• Future = suffix conjugation
• Subjunctive = w-form (like the Hebrew construction wa-ashiv-ah "so that I may answer")
• Imperative
• Infinitive
• Participles

Passive uses the PSem stative; use passive participle for past passive

Binyanim

Binyan 1: fȝal

Binyan 1a conjugation: xþab 'he wrote'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	xþabti	xþabt	xþab	xþabnė	xþabtøm	xþybu
past progressive; past subjunctive	hwiti woxþøb	hwit wtyxþøb	hwė wėxþøb	hwinė wnyxþøb	hwitøm wtyxþøbu	hwu wėxþøbu
present	yxþøb	tyxþøb	jyxþøb	nyxþøb	tyxþøbu	jyxþøbu
present progressive	še woxþøb	še wtyxþøb	še wėxþøb	še wnyxþøb	še wtyxþøbu	še wėxþøbu
present subjunctive	yxþøban	tyxþøban	jyxþøban	nyxþøban	tyxþøbun	jyxþøbun
future	ėbe xþėb	tėbe xþėb	jėbe xþėb	nėbe xþėb	tėbu xþėb	jėbu xþėb
w-form	woxþøb	wtyxþøb	wėxþøb	wnyxþøb	wtyxþøbu	wėxþøbu
imperative	-	xþøb!	-	-	xþøbu!	-
active participle	xėþeb			xėþebi
passive participle	xyþub			xyþubi
verbal noun	xþėb

Binyan 2: faȝel

taȝem 'to elect'

Binyan 3: hyfȝel

hytȝem 'to distinguish'

Binyan 7: styfȝel

stytȝem 'to try out'

Concatenative "binyanim"

• [STEM]-o = active
• þy-[STEM]-o = reflexive/reciprocal
• mø- = active participle
• -aþ = verbal noun
• -uþ = -ity, -ness
• i- = non-, un-

Loan verb active conjugation: maksimezo 'he maximized'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1sg	2sg	3sg	1pl	2pl	3pl
past; conditional	maksimezauti	maksimezaut	maksimezo	maksimezaunė	maksimezautøm	maksimezu
past progressive; past subjunctive	hwiti womaksimez	hwit wtymaksimez	hwė wėmaksimez	hwinė wnymaksimez	hwitøm wtymaksimezu	hwu wėmaksimezu
present	ymaksimez	tymaksimez	jymaksimez	nymaksimez	tymaksimezu	jymaksimezu
present progressive	še womaksimez	še wtymaksimez	še wėmaksimez	še wnymaksimez	še wtymaksimezu	še wėmaksimezu
present subjunctive	ymaksimezan	tymaksimezan	jymaksimezan	nymaksimezan	tymaksimezun	jymaksimezun
future	ėbe maksimezaþ	tėbe maksimezaþ	jėbe maksimezaþ	nėbe maksimezaþ	tėbu maksimezaþ	jėbu maksimezaþ
w-form	womaksimez	wtymaksimez	wėmaksimez	wnymaksimez	wtymaksimezu	wėmaksimezu
imperative	-	maksimez!	-	-	maksimezu!	-
active participle	mømaksimez			mømaksimezi
passive participle	mamaksimez			mamaksimezi
verbal noun	maksimezaþ

Gzarot

Main article: Togarmite/Gzarot

In Semitic languages, gzarot (Hebrew, sg. gizra 'figure, form, pattern') are variations of an inflectional (especially verbal) paradigm that are determined by the choice of consonants in the consonantal root. Thus, a paradigm has not only a regular gizra but various irregular ones, which occur most commonly when

• the consonantal root contains a "guttural" (ʔ ȝ h) or a semivowel (j w);
• the consonantal root contains a n, since nC tends to assimilate into CC
• the consonantal root has 2 letters.

Prepositions

Some prepositions:

• ly 'to'
• by 'in'
• šydo 'outside'
• me 'from'
• ȝem 'with'
• ȝal 'on'
• lid' 'of (possessive)'

Numerals

1: yhad 2: šnai / attributive šnė 3: šlėš 4: yrbaȝ 5: hymes 6: sec/sets 7: sabȝy 8: šmėni 9: þesȝy 10: ȝašry 20: ȝešrim 30: šlėšim 40: yrbȝim 50: hymsim 60: setsim 70: sybȝim 80: šmėnim 90: þesȝim 10: me'yþ

Syntax

Existentials

The word iš is used to indicate existence. It is also used with the preposition ly 'to' or the possessive pronouns to indicate possession. The negative of iš is lėš.

• Iš mykėm ėn... = There is a place where...
• A iš lex zman? = Do you have time?

The particle iš uses the accusative marker iþ when the "object" is animate.

Relative clauses

The relative pronoun xi is used for both relative and complement clauses. It takes prepositional cases, just like English relative pronouns.

Derivation

Noun and adjective patterns

• myCCaC = place
• myCCeC = instrument
• þyCCuC = action
• þyCCøCt = (hypothetical cognate of Hebrew tiCCóCet) = system of things
• CyCiC = -able
• CyCuC = color

Affixes

• -uþ = (borrowed from Hebrew) abstract noun
• -i = forms adjectives

Lexicon

ʔ

• √ʔ-(w)-r
  • aur 'light'
  • awer 'to illuminate'
• √ʔ-d-m
  • ydum 'red'
• √ʔ-ž-n
  • øžny 'ear'
• √ʔ-x-l
  • yxal 'to eat'
  • exly 'food'
  • taxil 'comsumption'
• √ʔ-m-n
  • amėn (in some religions) 'Amen'
  • hy'ymen 'to trust, to believe'
• √ʔ-m-r
  • ymar 'to say'
  • emry 'remark'
  • amer 'to assert, to affirm'
• √ʔ-r-þ
  • arþy 'earth'
• √ʔ-þ-j
  • yþė 'to come'

B

• bajþ 'house'
• √b-r-ʔ
  • bra 'to create'
  • bri 'healthy'

G

• √g-d-l
  • gdėl = big
  • nitgydal = to grow

D

• √d-r-x
  • darxy = road
  • drax = to go, to walk
  • hydrex = to lead
• √d-r-s
  • dras = to study, to learn
  • dares = to demand
  • þydares = to teach
  • mydras = school

H

• √h-d-š
  • hyduš 'new'
• √h-t-ʔ
  • heta 'sin'
  • hatė 'to sin'
• √h-m-d
• √h-m-l
  • hymal 'to suffer'
  • hymil 'patient'
• √h-m-m
  • hymum 'warm'
• √h-r-c
  • hyruc 'yellow'

W

• √w-l-d
  • waldy 'child'
  • molad 'birth'
  • wlad (archaic) 'to give birth to (of a woman)'
  • holėd 'to give birth to, to sire, to father' (for both genders in the modern language)
• √w-r-š
  • waršy 'inheritance'
  • wrėš 'to inherit'
  • wriš 'heritable'
  • wrišt 'gene'
  • morašt 'heritage'
  • twarešt 'tradition'

Z

• √z-h-r (?)
  • hazhėr 'to warn'
• √z-m-r
  • myzmer 'kantele'
• √z-r-ȝ
  • zarȝe 'seed'
  • zraȝ 'to sow'

Ž

• √ž-b-h
  • tyžbuh 'sacrifice (the act of sacrifice)'
  • žbih 'sacrifice (the thing or person sacrificed)'
• žbi 'antelope'
• √ž-h-b
  • žahab 'gold'
  • žaheb 'to gild'
• √ž-h-r
  • žohri 'noon'
• √ž-m-r
  • žemyrt 'might'
• √žxr
  • žyxar 'to remember'
  • žaxer 'to record; to memorize'
  • hažxer 'to remind'
  • haždaxar 'to come to mind'
  • styžxer 'to make note of'
• √ž-r-ȝ
  • žerėȝ (f.) 'arm'

T

• √t-l-l
  • tlul 'steep; difficult'
• √t-ȝ-m
  • tȝam 'to choose; (archaic) to taste'
  • taȝem 'to elect'
    • taȝum 'election'
  • þytaȝem '(literary) to be pleased with, to take pleasure in'
  • stytȝem 'to try out'

J

• jad 'hand'
• √j-b-s
  • jabas 'dry'

X

• √x-s-f
  • xasfy 'silver, money'
  • myxsaf 'bank'

L

• lė = not; no
• ly = to, for
• √l-b-s
• √l-m-d
  • lymad 'to notice, to experience, to come to know'
  • lamed 'to show, to point out'
  • halθamad 'to find one's way around'
• lysėn 'tongue; language'

M

• √m-l-x
  • malxy 'king'
• √m-n-w
  • myno 'to count'

N

• √n-b-ʔ
  • nybi 'prophet, truthteller'
  • nabė 'to call out (a wrongdoing)'
  • nitnyba 'to hector'
• √n-ś-ʔ
  • nyša 'to carry'
• √n-þ-n
  • nyþan 'to give'

Ȝ

• √ȝ-n-y
  • ȝnė 'to answer'
  • þyȝanė 'to satisfy'
• √ȝ-š-j
  • ȝyšė 'to do, to make'
  • maȝše 'act'

F

• √f-l-ʔ
  • føla 'miracle'
  • hafle 'to amaze'
  • miføla 'wonderful'

P

• √p-rk-s
  • parkes 'to act'
• √p-s-f
  • psif 'vote'
  • psifin 'voting'
  • psaf 'to vote'

C

• √c-b-ȝ
• √c-d-k
  • hycdek = to justify
  • þycadek = to make right, to set right

K

• √k-d-s
  • kdės 'specific, not arbitrary'
  • hykdes 'to sanctify'
• √k-r-ʔ
  • kra 'to read, to call'
  • mekra 'scripture'
  • tykru 'invocation, prayer'
• √k-s-m
  • hyksem 'to curse'

R

• √r-ʔ-j
  • ry'ė 'to see'

S

• √s-x-n
  • sxan 'to live (at a certain place)'
  • mesxan 'apartment'
  • saxen 'to inhabit'
• √s-l-m
  • slėm 'peace; hello!'
• √s-m-ȝ
  • smaȝ 'to hear'

Š

• šmėl 'north'
• šol 'fox'

Þ

• þ-g-m
  • hyþgem 'explain'

Sample texts

Lysėn þėgamiþ, lysėn tlul

• Amsyn mynauti, jaumyn ymnu; amsyn sybauti, jaumyn ysbu! = "Yesterday I counted, today I count; yesterday I turned, today I turn" (using the wrong form *ysbu for ysbøb 'I turn')
• Yhad texni, rab texnes; yhad þėgami, rab þėgames = one skill, many skills; one Togarmite, many Togarmites (the correct plural of þėgami is þėgamije)

UDHR

Xøl ynėsi še mewøladi hyruri w isi b aksjoprepjan wyb žyxawil laum. Høm še møþyhønani ȝym ložeki w synidisi w høbu ly parkus l odšni by ruh lid ahwuþ.

all human-PL COP be.born/PASS.PART-PL free-PL and equal-PL in dignity-DEF.SG and right/PL-DEF.PL 3PL.POSS. 3PL COP grant/PASS.PART-PL with reason and conscience and ought-3PL to act.VN to one_another in spirit of brotherhood

/xøl ə'nesi ʃɛ mɛvø'ladi hə'ruri 'visi baksjo'prepjan vəb ʒə'xavil løym || høm ʃɛ møθəhø'nani ɣəm lo'ʒɛki fsəni'disi və 'høbu lə 'parkus 'lotʃni bə ruh lid 'ahvuθ/