Avalonian

Hyperborean (c) Rebecca Ashling 2019-2020. I assert that the Hyperborean conlang presented here is my intellectual property and confirm that Linguifex may post this material on their site.

Hyperborean (HB:Tinaqqa Telhun) is a polysynthetic, fluid-S split intransitive language with VSOX word order that is the official language of Hyperborea (HB: Telku) and has approximately 33 million native speakers. Hyperborea comprises northern Eurasia from the Volga-Kama-Urals line in the west to the Bering Strait in the east as well as Alahak (*Alaska, northern *British Columbia), Tiqtāhaqix (southern *British Columbia, *Oregon, *Idaho, western *Montana), Kaliqqarinja (*Alta California) and Hantaqqe (Santa Fé de Nuevo Mexico) in North America. The nation acquired its exonym of Hyperborea in Antiquity.

Introduction

The Hyperboreans (HB: Jamix) belong to the European Pygmy phenotype which is believed to have diverged from other ancient European lineages some 8,000 years ago, their urheimat being the forests of prehistoric central Europe. European pygmies exist in mostly scattered populations throughout Europe and speak a variety of largely unrelated languages. Hyperborean is a language isolate and has no traceable genealogical relation to any language, ancient or modern. It does however form a sprachbund with the Uralic languages, sharing the features of consonant gradation, the negative verb and expressing 'have' with the copula and an oblique case. The dialect described below is the standard variety promulgated by the Hyperborean Commonwealth (HB: Tinqara Anakte Telhun).

Phonology

Orthoɡraphy

General Remarks On Orthography

Hyperborean is written in the Latin script which was adopted in favour of the Cyrillic script in the 16th Century. The letters ⟨b, c, d, f, g, o, p, s, w, y, z⟩ are not used, even to write foreign names.

Hyperborean Alphabet

Letter	IPA Value
⟨a⟩	/ɑ/
⟨ā⟩	/aʊ/
⟨e⟩	/ɛ/
⟨ē⟩	/aɪ/
⟨h⟩	/h/
⟨i⟩	/i/
⟨ī⟩	/eɪ/
⟨j⟩	/j/
⟨k⟩	/k/
⟨l⟩	/l/
⟨m⟩	/m/
⟨n⟩	/n/
⟨q⟩	/kʷ/
⟨r⟩	/ɹ/
⟨t⟩	/t/
⟨u⟩	/u/
⟨ū⟩	/oʊ/
⟨v⟩	/w/
⟨x⟩	/kʲ/

Consonants

Hyperborean has a total of 11 consonants which according to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Stucture is a small inventory. The most striking feature of the inventory, according to WALS, is the lack of phonemic fricatives. The consonants are displayed in the table below:

	Bilabial	Central Alveolar	Lateral Alveolar	Plain Velar	Palatalised Velar	Labialised Velar
Nasal	/m/	/n/	/l/†
Stop		/t/		/k/	/kʲ/	/kʷ/
Continuant		/ɹ/		/h/‡	/j/	w/

†While not phonetically a nasal, /l/ pattern phonologically with them

‡While not phonetically a plain velar /h/ pattern phonologically with /k/

Vowels

Hyperborean has a total of 8 vowels. It has 4 vowel qualities. According to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures this is an small vowel quality inventory. Common Minervan has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 2.75 which according to WALS is an average ratio. The diphthongs are phonologically long vowels. The vowels are displayed in the table below:

	Short Front	Long Front	Short Back	Long Back
Hiɡh	/i/	/eɪ/	/u/	/oʊ/
Low	/ɛ/	/aɪ/	/ɑ/	/aʊ/

Allophony

1) In coda position /n/ is realised as [ŋ].

2) In word-initial position /t, k, kʲ, kʷ/ are realised as [tʰ, kʰ, kʲʰ, kʷʰ].

3) In coda position /kʲ, kʷ/ are realised as [tʃ, p].

4) The geminate nasals /mm, nn, ll/ are realised as [m̥, n̥, ɬ].

5) The geminate stops /tt, kk, kkʲ, kkʷ/ are realised as [θ̠, x, xʲ, xʷ].

6) In closed syllables /i, u/ are realised as [ɪ, ʊ].

Prosody

1) Words in Hyperborean bear primary stress on the initial syllable.

2) Hyperborean words bear secondary stress on every odd-numbered syllable following the initial syllable.

3) Rhythm type is trochaic.

4) To an English speaker, Hyperborean would appear to be spoken with a slower tempo than English is.

Phonotactics

1) The syllable template is (C)V(C).

2) Nasals and stops are permitted in coda position.

3) Consonant clusters may not have more than two segments.

4) Consonant clusters may only occur across syllable boundaries.

5) Permitted consonant clusters are as follows:

/m/	/n/	/l/	/t/	/k/	/kʲ/	/kʷ/
√	√	√					/m/
√	√	√					/n/
√	√	√					/l/

a) The geminate clusters /mm, nn, ll, tt, kk, kkʲ, kkʷ/

b) The nasal + nasal clusters /mn, ml, nm, nl, lm, ln/

c) nasal + stop clusters

d) nasal + continuant clusters

e) The stop + stop clusters /tk, tkʲ, tkʷ, kt, kʲt, kʷt/

6) /j/ may not follow a long front vowel.

7) /w/ may not follow a long back vowel.

8) Front vowels may not follow /kʲ, j/.

9) Back vowels may not follow /kʷ, w/.

10) A lonɡ vowel may not occur in a closed syllables.

11) Vowel clusters do not occur.

12) All morphemes must consist of properly formed syllables.

13) Suffixes may have a morpheme-final allomorph consisting of a single coda consonant.

15) Roots must consist of more than one and no more than three syllables.

16) No affix may have more than two syllables.

Morphophonology

1) Consonant clusters resulting from affixation are treated as per the table below:

T	K	B	D	M	N	L	R	V	V̄
Vːph	Vːph	Vːph	Vːph	mp	np	lp	rp	b	ph	P
Vːth	Vːth	Vːth	Vːth	mt	nt	lt	rt	d	th	T
Vːkh	Vːkh	Vːkh	Vːkh	mk	nk	lk	rk	g	kh	K
Vːp	Vpː	Vːp	Vːp	mb	nb	lb	rb	bh	p	B
Vːt	Vːt	Vːt	Vːt	md	nd	ld	rd	dh	t	D
Vːk	Vːk	Vːk	Vːk	mg	ng	lg	rg	gh	k	G
t-ph	k-ph	b-ph	d-ph	m-ph	n-ph	l-ph	r-ph	ph	ph	PH
t-th	k-th	b-th	d-th	m-th	n-th	l-th	r-th	th	th	TH
t-kh	k-kh	b-kh	d-kh	m-kh	n-kh	l-kh	r-kh	kh	kh	KH
t-bh	k-bh	b-bh	d-bh	m-bh	n-bh	l-bh	r-bh	bh	bh	BH
t-dh	k-dh	b-dh	d-dh	m-dh	n-dh	l-dh	r-dh	dh	dh	DH
t-gh	k-gh	b-gh	d-gh	m-gh	n-gh	l-gh	r-gh	gh	gh	GH
Vːmh	Vːmh	Vːm	Vːm	Vːmh	Vːmh	lm	rm	m	m	M
Vːnh	Vːnh	Vːn	Vːn	Vːnh	Vːnh	ln	rn	n	n	N
t-mh	k-mh	b-mh	d-mh	m-mh	n-mh	l-mh	r-mh	mh	mh	MH
t-nh	k-nh	b-nh	d-nh	m-nh	n-nh	l-nh	r-nh	nh	nh	NH
lh	lh	l	l	ml	nl	Vːlh	Vːrh	l	l	L
rh	rh	r	r	mr	nr	Vːrh	Vːrh	r	r	R
t-lh	k-lh	b-lh	d-lh	m-lh	n-lh	l-lh	r-lh	lh	lh	LH
t-rh	k-rh	b-rh	d-rh	m-rh	n-rh	l-rh	r-rh	rh	rh	RH
ki	ki	gi	gi	mgi	nh	lgi	rgi	gi	gi	GI
pu	pu	bu	bu	mbu	nbu	lbu	rbu	bu	bu	BU
t-ki	k-ki	b-ki	d-ki	m-ki	n-ki	l-ki	r-ki	ki	ki	KI
t-pu	k-pu	b-pu	d-pu	m-pu	n-pu	l-pu	r-pu	pu	pu	PU
th	kh	ph	th	mh	nh	lh	rh	h	h	H

NOTES:

a) Latin transliteration used for clarity.

b) First consonant of consonant cluster runs along be top of table, second consonant of consonant cluster runs down riɡht of table.

c) Vː indicates precedinɡ vowel is lenɡthened

d) -: indicates epenthesis of /i/ between the two consonants.

2) If as the result of affixation a plosive ends up in intervocalic position after a short vowel then that plosive lenites as follows:

3) If a vowel cluster results from affixation then an epenthetic /n/ is inserted after the first vowel in the cluster.

4) If through suffixation a long vowel should precede a coda consonant or a consonant cluster then it is reduced to its corresponding short vowel.

5) If through affixation /j/ should follow a front long vowel then that front long vowel is reduced to its corresponding short vowel.

6) If through affixation /w/ should follow a long back vowel then that long back vowel is reduced to its corresponding short vowel.

Morphology

General Remarks On Morpholoɡy

1) The morphological cateɡories used in Common Minervan are summarised in the table below:

Category	Description	Inflected?
Noun	Nouns, pronouns, numerals	Yes
Verb	Verbs, many adjectives, adpositions	Yes
Affix	Prefixes and suffixes expressing adjunction, inflection or derivation	No
Particle	Conjunctions, some adverbs, interjections	No

2) Common Minervan is an affixal polysynthetic lanɡuaɡe and only one root per word is permitted.

3) Compoundinɡ of roots does not occur.

4) According to the World Atlas of Language Structures, Common Minervan has a moderate preference for suffixinɡ.

Nominal Morphology

General Remarks On Nominal Morphology

1) Nouns indicate distinct entities. Nouns are inflected for number, possessor, demonstration or case.

2) Maximal nominal structure:

demonstrative or possessive prefix + adjectival prefix(es) + nominal or verbal root + derivational suffix(es) + number suffix + case suffix

Number

1) There are two main systems of nominal number in Common Minervan:

a) Sinɡular-Plural

b) Collective-Singulative

2) Singular nouns are singular by default and take the plural suffix to indicate more than four instances.

3) Collective nouns indicate more than four instances by default or are mass nouns. They take the singulative suffix to indicate a singular instance or a small part of the whole.

4) Common Minervan also has a paucal number which is used to mark nouns that are greater than one or fewer than five in number. Also indicates matched sets of entities of any number.

5) Number suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Number	Suffix
Plural	-ad
Singulative	-in
Paucal	-uk

Case

1) Case marks relationships between noun and noun or noun and verb.

2) Common Minervan cases are summarised in the table below:

Case	Abbreviation	Suffix (Allomorph)	Functions
Absolutive	ABS	-∅	a) Marks citation form of nouno b) Indicates O argument of a transitive verb c) Marks S argument of a stative intransitive verb
Nominative	NOM	-na (-n)	a) Indicates A argument of a transitive verb b) Marks S arɡument of an active intransitive verb c) Indicates the possessor
Dative	DAT	-hē	a) Marks X argument of active intransitive verb b) Marks beneficiary of action c) Indicates purpose or intent
Instrumental	INST	-tik	a) Marks X argument of stative intransitive verb b) Marks use of tool or instrument c) Indicates proximal cause
Equative	EQU	-te (-t)	a) Indicates similarity in function, manner or behaviour b) Marks the S arɡument of copula c) Indicates similarity to, alike to c) Made or consisting of a particular substance d) Indicates the comparative
Comitative	COM	-pe	a) Marks physical proximity or social connection to someone b) Indicates collaborative effort with someone in a joint activity c) Marks reciprocicity
Locative	LOC	-li (-l)	a) Indicates place where b) Marks time when
Allative	ALL	-bu (-b)	a) Marks motion towards b) Indicates time until c) Marks destination or goal
Ablative	ABL	-gā	a) Indicates motion away from b) Marks time since c) Indicates the source or origin d) Marks aversion to or opposition to e) Indicates the source of comparison
Perlative	PERL	-am	a) Marks motion across, along, through or by way of b) Indicates duration c) Marks mode or means of transport or transmission d) Indicates reason, motive or ultimate cause e) Marks topic of conversation

NB: Parenthesised allomorphs are when in morpheme-final position following a short vowel.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

1) Common Minervan personal pronouns and their associated possessive suffixes are summarised in the table below:

Person	Abbreviation	Possessive Prefix
1st Person Singular	mi	min-
2nd Person Singular	ki	kin-
3rd Person Singular	ti	tin-
4th Person Sinɡular	li	lin-
1st Person Paucal Exclusive	muk	munka-
1st Person Paucal Inclusive	buk	bunka-
2nd Person Paucal	kuk	kunka-
3rd Person Paucal	tuk	tunka-
4th Person Paucal	luk	lunka-
1st Person Plural Exclusive	mad	manda-
1st Person Plural Inclusive	bad	banda-
2nd Person Plural	kad	kanda-
3rd Person Plural	tad	tanda-
4th Person Plural	lad	landa-

2) Personal pronouns take case in the same manner as nouns.

Demonstratives

1) Adnominal demonstratives are suffixes attached to the noun as per the table below:

Name	Locus	English Equivalent	Prefix
Proximal	Near speaker	this, these	inti-
Medial	Near listener(s)	that, those	unku-
Distal	Away from speaker and listener(s)	yon	ondo-

2) Demonstrative pronouns are formed by adding the appropriate demonstrative suffix to the appropriate third person pronoun.

Emphatic Pronouns

These are no emphatic pronouns but as the verbs mark A, S and O arguments, the use of the pronouns correlating with these can be used for emphasis.

Reflexive Pronouns

These are no reflexive pronouns in the nominative or the absolutive cases although there is an absolutive reflexive pronominal suffix on the verb. Reflexive pronouns for obliques are formed by prefixing the appropriate possessive prefix to the reflexive pronoun yet which derives from the word yevet 'shadow'.

Interrogative Pronouns

1) There is one interroɡative pronoun: je 'who, what' which is undifferentiated for number.

2) All other interrogatives are built from this by adding the appropriate case. Eɡ: jex 'where?', jebwe 'with whom?'

3) There is an interrogative pronominal possessive prefix: jen- 'whose?'.

4) Prefixing je- to a noun gives the sense of 'which?'.

5) The canonical word-order of Common Minervan is VSOX. Interrogative pronouns or nouns taking an interrogative pronominal possessive prefix violate this by being fronted to before the verb.

Indefinite Pronouns

There is one indefinite pronoun jeyet 'somebody, something'.

General Remarks On Verbal Morphology

1) Verbs express actions, processes or states of being. Verbs are inflected for A, S and O arguments, negation, aspect, valency and mood.

2) Maximal verbal structure:

interrogative prefix + nominative pronominal prefix + negative prefix + auxiliary prefix + causative prefix + verbal or nominal root + derivational suffix(es) + applicative suffix + aspect suffix + adverbial suffix(es) + absolutive pronominal suffic

Pronominal Affixes

Person	Absolutive Suffix (Allomorph)	Nominative Prefix
1st Person Singular	-mi (-m)	min-
2nd Person Singular	-ki(-k)	kin-
3rd Person Singular	-ti(-t)	tin-
4th Person Sinɡular	-li (-l)	lin-
1st Person Paucal Exclusive	-muk	munka-
1st Person Paucal Inclusive	-buk	bunka-
2nd Person Paucal	-kuk	kunka-
3rd Person Paucal	-tuk	-tunka
4th Person Paucal	-luk	lunka-
1st Person Plural Exclusive	-mad	manda-
1st Person Plural Exclusive	-bad	banda-
2nd Person Plural	-kad	kanda-
3rd Person Plural	-tad	tanda-
4th Person Plural	-lad	landa-

NB: Parenthesised allomorphs are when in morpheme-final position following a short vowel.

Voice

1) Transitive verbs in Common Minervan have three voices:

a) Active

b) Passive

c) Antipassive

2) These are indicated by the presence or absence of verbal pronominal affixes as per the table below:

Voice	Abbreviation	Nominative Prefix?	Absolutive Suffix?	Promoted Argument	Case Of Demoted Argument	Function
Active	ACT	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	No topicalisation of either argument
Passive	PASS	No	Yes	ABS	INST	Topicalisation of O argument
Antipassive	ANTIP	Yes	No	NOM	DAT	Topicalisation of A argument

Syntax