Nurian
| Nurian | |
|---|---|
| nūrimēs | |
| Pronunciation | [/ˈn̪ˠʊ˞ːrʲɪmʲæːs/] |
| Created by | IlL |
| Extinct | 220 v.T. |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | qnr |
Nurian (gathēs nūrimēs /ˈgɐθæːs ˈn̪ˠʊ˞rʲɪmʲæːs/) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Lithuanian, Arabic, Italian and English.
Introduction
Nurian is spoken on the west coast of the continent called Kuderau by Wiebians. It is easily the most conservative Talmic language, though with signficant Meetzarric influences. It is spoken alongside Meetzarric languages, Clofabic languages and New World Reber Wiebian.
Historical phonology
- Cl > Cj > Cʲ (Italian style): pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl chl ghl > pi bi mi fi ci gi ngi chi ghi
- Exceptions: ħl ȝl; nl, rl > ll
- C1C2 > C2C2 (similarly to Italian)
- mlīd - conclusion, end > mīd /mʲiːdˠ/
- ar- > aC- (ar- before vowels); as- > s-
Numbers
- 1: cēma /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɐ/
- 2: tithōr /tʲɪˈθɔɚ/
- 3: narge /ˈnˠɑɚd͡ʒɛ/
- 4: dhaufe /ˈðˠɐʊfʲɛ/
- 5: salithe /ˈsˠɐlʲɪθˠɛ/
- 6: stāma /ˈsˠtˠɑːmˠɐ/
- 7: rōde /ˈrˠoːdʲɛ/
- 8: lorethe /ɫɔɚˈrʲæθɛ/
- 9: farve /ˈfˠɑɚvʲɛ/
- 10: ħiōr /ˈħɔɚ/
- 11: cēmara /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɑɚrˠɐ/ (< Themsarian cēmiħiore, influenced by Meetzarri emarra)
- 12: pide /ˈpʲɪdʲɛ/ (Zutarl pirdi)
- 144: tarthe /ˈtˠɑɚθɛ/
- 1728: ūbyc /ˈuːbˠɪ̞k/
Phonology
The standard [Standard A] Nurian consonant inventory contains around 42 consonants and 12 vowels. A notable feature of the phonology of most Nurian accents is phonemic palatalization in hard-soft pairs, similar to Lithuanian; however, the Fiuschērian dialect or accent is an exception in that the hard-soft distinction is realized as pharyngealization versus lack of pharygealization. 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.
Dagȳne accent
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Radical | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hard | soft | hard | soft | hard | soft | ||||||
| Nasal | /mˠ/ | /mʲ/ | /n̪ˠ/ | /nʲ/ | /ɲ~ɲ̄/ | /ŋ/ | |||||
| Stop | tenuis | /pˠ/ | /pʲ/ | /t̪ˠ/ | /tʲ/ | /tʃ/ | /k/ | ||||
| voiced | /bˠ/ | /bʲ/ | /d̪ˠ/ | /dʲ/ | /dʒ/ | /ɡ/ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | /fˠ/ | /fʲ/ | /θˠ/ | /θ/ | /sˠ/ | /sʲ/ | /ʃ/ | /x/ | /ħ/ | /h/ |
| voiced | /vˠ/ | /vʲ/ | /ðˠ/ | /ð/ | /zˠ/ | /zʲ/ | /ʒ/ | /ɣ/ | /ʕ/ | ||
| Trill | /rˠ/ | /rʲ/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | central | /j/ | |||||||||
| lateral | /lˠ/ | /lʲ/ | |||||||||
- Notes
- /tˠ, dˠ, nˠ/ are laminal denti-alveolar velarized [t̪ˠ, d̪ˠ, n̪ˠ].
- /tʲ, dʲ/ are palatalized laminal denti-alveolar [t̪ʲ, d̪ʲ] with alveolar allophones [tʲ, dʲ] before /rʲ/.
- /nʲ/ has been variously described as palatalized laminal denti-alveolar [n̪ʲ] and palatalized laminal alveolar [n̻ʲ].
- /sˠ, sʲ, zˠ, zʲ/ are laminal alveolar [s̻ˠ, s̻ʲ, z̻ˠ, z̻ʲ].
- /lˠ/ has been variously described as pharyngealized apical alveolar [l̺ˤ] and velarized laminal denti-alveolar [l̪ˠ].
- /rˠ, rʲ/ are apical alveolar [r̺ˠ, r̺ʲ].
- /tʲ, dʲ, nʲ/ are laminal alveolar [t̻ʲsʲ, d̻ʲzʲ, n̻ʲ]; as indicated in the transcription, in case of the first two the tongue is raised enough to produce slight frication.
- /lʲ/ is laminal alveolar [l̻ʲ].
Vowels
Nurian shows an unusual vowel system, with rhotic vowels and a relative lack of phonemic front vowels. There is a three-way contrast between short, long and rhotic vowels. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low short and rhotic vowels.
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | rhotic | short | rhotic | short | long | rhotic | |
| Close | /ɪ~ɪ̞/ | /iː/ | /e˞ː/ | [ɚ] | /u/ | /uː/ | /ʊ˞ː/ | |
| Mid | [ɛ~æ] | [ə] | /o/ | /oː/ | /ɔ˞ː/ | |||
| Open | [æː] | [æ˞ː] | /a/ | /a˞ː/ | /aː/ | [ɑ˞ː] | ||
Diphthongs: /ɐɪ ɐʊ iɛ/
- Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
- /e˞ː/ has two allophones:
- [e˞ː] after soft consonants, radicals and /h/
- [ɨ˞ː] after non-radical hard consonants
- /a aː a˞ː/ each have three allophones:
- [ɐ~ɑ ɑː ɑ˞ː] after non-radical hard consonants
- [ɛ~æ æː ɛ˞ː] after soft consonants and /h/
- Unstressed rhotic vowels have a tendency to reduce in colloquial speech: /ʲe˞ ʲæ˞/ > [ʲɚ], /ˠɑ˞ ˠe˞/ > [ˠɚ], /ɔ˞ ʊ˞/ > [o˞].
Fiuschēra
Fiuschēra [fuʃˈʃæːrˁɑ] accent (Arabic-esque)
- Hard consonants > pharyngealized; soft consonants > plain
- o and ō are centralized
- θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ
- Non-rhotic
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Postvelar | Radical | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hard | soft | hard | soft | hard | soft | ||||||
| Nasal | /mˁ/ | /m/ | /nˁ/ | /n/ | /ɲ/ | /ŋ̠/ | |||||
| Stop | tenuis | /pˁ/ | /p/ | /tˁ/ | /t/ | /tʃ/ | /k̠/ | ||||
| voiced | /bˁ/ | /b/ | /dˁ/ | /d/ | /dʒ/ | /ɡ̄/ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | /fˁ/ | /f/ | /θ/ | /sˁ/ | /s/ | /ʃ/ | /x~χ/ | /ħ/ | /h/ | |
| voiced | /vˁ/ | /ð/ | /zˁ/ | /z/ | /ʒ/ | /ɣ~ʁ/ | /ʕ/ | ||||
| Trill | /rˁ/ | /r/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | central | /wˁ/ | /w/ | /j/ | |||||||
| lateral | l | ||||||||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | /ɪ~ɪ̞/ | /iː/ | /ʊ/ | /uː/ | ||
| Mid | [ɛ~æ] | /ə/ | /ɵː/ | [ɤ] | [oː] | |
| Open | [æː] | /a/ | /aː/ | [ɑ] | [ɑː] | |
/ɐɪ ɐʊ iə~iɛ iɚ uɚ ɛɚ ɔɚ ɑɚ/ = /ɐj ɐw iə iə uə ɛə~æə əː ɑə/
Accent 2
Mandarin pseudo-gib
- ci gi chi ghi = [tʂ dʐ ʂ ʐ]
- sci = [ʂtʂ]
- ti di si zi = [tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ]
- thi dhi = [ts dz]
- ni ngi > [ɲ]
- li > [ʎ]
- ri > [ʐ]
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Radical | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hard | soft | |||||||||
| Nasal | /m/ | /mʲ/ | /n/ | /ɲ/ | /ŋ/ | |||||
| Stop | tenuis | /p/ | /pʲ/ | /t/ | /ts/ | /tʂ/ | /tɕ/ | /k/ | ||
| voiced | /b/ | /bʲ/ | /d/ | /dz/ | /dʐ/ | /dʑ/ | /ɡ/ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | /f/ | /fʲ/ | /θ/ | /s/ | /ʂ/ | /ɕ/ | /x/ | /ħ/ | /h/ |
| voiced | /v/ | /vʲ/ | /ð/ | /z/ | /ʐ/ | /ʑ/ | /ɣ/ | /ʕ/ | ||
| Trill | /r/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | central | /j/ | ||||||||
| lateral | /l/ | /ʎ/ | ||||||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | rhotic | short | rhotic | short | long | rhotic | |
| Close | /ɪ~ɪ̞/ | /iː/ | /i˞ː/ | /ʊ/ | /uː/ | /oː˞/ | ||
| Mid | [ɛ~æ] | [eː˞] | [ə] | /ɚː/ | /ɔ/ | /oː/ | ||
| Open | [æː] | /ɐ/ | /aː/ | [ɑː] | [ɒː˞] | |||
Many vowels are centralized after retroflexes: /a aː ɝ i iː ɪɚ/ become [ä äː ɐɚ ɨ ɨː ɘɚ]
Accent 3
Conservative
- ci gi chi ghi = [c ɟ ç ʝ]
- sci = [skʲ]
- ȝ ħ = [q χ]
Accent 5
Scottish Gaelic pseudo-gib
Stress
Nurian stress is derived from a particular pattern of weight-sensitive stress (similar to Arabic) in a dialect of late Thensarian:
- A short final vowel cannot be stressed.
- Only one of the last 3 syllables can be stressed.
- the last heavy syllable is stressed if not the final syllable; if there is a final heavy syllable, the penult is stressed. (e.g. burgent [ˈbʊɚdʒænt])
- If no heavy syllables, the 3rd from last is stressed.
Stress is marginally phonemic in Nurian, due to the loss of vowel length preceding /r/.
Orthography
Consonants
| Grapheme | m | p | b | f | v | n | t | d | th | dh | s | z | r | l | ng | c | g | ch | gh | ħ | ȝ | h | j |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard | /mˠ/ | /pˠ/ | /bˠ/ | /fˠ/ | /vˠ/ | /nˠ/ | /tˠ/ | /dˠ/ | /θˠ/ | /ðˠ/ | /sˠ/ | /zˠ/ | /rˠ/ | /ɫ/ | /ŋ/ | /k/ | /ɡ/ | /x/ | /ɣ/ | /ħ/ | /ʕ/ | /h/ | /j/ |
| Soft | /mʲ/ | /pʲ/ | /bʲ/ | /fʲ/ | /vʲ/ | /nʲ/ | /tʲ/ | /dʲ/ | /θ/ | /ð/ | /sʲ/ | /zʲ/ | /rʲ/ | /lʲ/ | /ɲ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /d͡ʒ/ | /ʃ/ | /ʒ/ |
r = r-coloring before a consonant or word-finally
Vowels
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Grammar
Somewhat unusually, Nurian is verb-final with prepositions and modifier-modified order.
Nouns
Sgv-clv-plv system.