Nurian
| Nurian | |
|---|---|
| nūrimēn | |
| Created by | IlL |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | qnr |
Nurian (gaffēn nūrimēn) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Pali, Italian, and Arabic. Close relatives include Tíogall.
Numbers: cēmon, tithōr, nagge, δaube, salithe, thāmon, rōde, loθθe, bavve, ħiōr
Introduction
Nurian is spoken in the western region of the continent called Cuadhlabh by Tigalls. It is easily the most conservative Talmic language, though with signficant influence from Dwischric, in particular Dūsswaren.
Historical phonology
- -m > -n
- -s > -h
- Thn. cia ce ci cio ciu > ċia ċe ċi ċio ċiu
- e ē ea eā > e ē ia iā /ʲa ʲaː ʲa ʲaː/
Cluster assimilations
Double consonants become single word-initially.
- pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl > ppi bbi mmi ffi cci ggi ngi
- ħl, ȝl > ħħ, ȝȝ
- nl, rl > both ll
- sp, st, sc, sȝ, sn, sl, sr > pph, tth, cch, ħħ, tth, nnh, llh, rrh
- pr, fr, tr, θr, cr, ngr, ħr > pph, ff, tth, θθ, cch, ng, ħħ
- br, dr, δr, gr, ȝr > bb, dd, δδ, gg, ȝȝ
- mr > nn
- cn, gn > ngh, ng
- mn > nn
- rC > CC
- lC > uC/iC/:C
- ct > tt
Numbers
Phonology
The Nurian consonant inventory contains around 57 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. Nurian is quite phonologically conservative among Talmic languages, preserving vowel length and gemination.
Phonotactics
Nurian forbids all consonant clusters other than those of the form homorganic nasal + consonant. In compensation Nurian is rich in geminate consonants; word-medially, every consonant can be geminated except /j/ and /h/. Word-finally, usually only /n/, /r/, /h/ and vowels are allowed.
Dagȳne accent
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 | ci kʲ | c k | ||||
| aspirated | ph pˠʰ | phi pʲʰ | th t̪ˠʰ | thi tʲʰ | ċhi tʃʰ | chi kʲʰ | ch 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 | ħ, ħi ħ | h, hi h | |||
| voiced | v vˠ | vi vʲ | δ ðˠ | δi ðʲ | z zˠ | zi zʲ | ||||||
| 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 and three long monophthongs. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low vowels.
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | /ɪ~ɪ̞/ | /iː/ | /ʊ/ | /uː/ | ||
| Open | [ɛ~æ] | [æː] | /a/ | /aː/ | [ɑ] | [ɑː] |
Diphthongs: /aɪ aʊ iɛ uɔ/
- Notes
- Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
- /a aː/ each have three allophones:
- [ɐ~ɑ ɑː] after non-radical hard consonants
- [ɛ~æ æː] after soft consonants, radicals and /h/
- Allophony of /a aː/ is, however, reduced in the speech of many younger speakers, who pronounce both as [ɐ aː]
Fiuġġēra accent
The Fiuggēra [fudˈdʒæːrˁɑ] accent turns hard consonants into uvularized consonants, and soft consonants into plain.
- θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ
- Non-rhotic
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Radical | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hard | soft | hard | soft | hard | soft | soft | hard | |||||
| Nasal | voiceless | m̊ʶ | m̊ | n̥ʶ | n̥ | ɲ̊ | ŋ̊ | |||||
| voiced | mʶ | m | n̪ʶ | n | ɲ | ŋʶ | ||||||
| Stop | tenuis | pʶ | p | tʶ | t | tʃ | k | kʶ | ||||
| aspirated | pʶʰ | pʰ | tʶʰ | tʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | kʶʰ | |||||
| voiced | bʶ | b | dʶ | d | dʒ | g | ɡʶ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | fʶ | f | θ | sʶ | s | ħ | h | ||||
| voiced | vʶ | ð | zʶ | z | ||||||||
| Trill | voiceless | r̥ʶ | r̥ | |||||||||
| voiced | rʶ | r | ||||||||||
| Lateral | voiceless | ɬʶ | ɬ | |||||||||
| voiced | l | |||||||||||
| Approximant | wʶ | w | j | ʕ | ||||||||
- Notes
- Hard consonants are uvularized, like Arabic emphatic consonants.
Orthography
Consonants
| Grapheme | m | p | b | f | v | n | t | d | θ | δ | s | z | r | l | ng | c | 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/ |
Aspirated plosives and voiceless resonants /pʰˠ pʰʲ tʰˠ tʰʲ tʃʰ kʰ m̊ˠ m̊ʲ n̪̊ˠ n̊ʲ ɲ̊ ŋ̊ l̥ˠ l̥ʲ r̥ˠ r̥ʲ/ are written ⟨ph th ch mh nh ngh lh rh⟩.
Vowels
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Grammar
Somewhat unusually, Nurian is verb-final with prepositions and modified-modifier order.
Nouns
Sgv-clv-plv system.
Nouns and adjectives
Masculine nouns
| θȳron 'bird' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singulative | Collective | Plurative | |
| Indefinite | θȳron | θoθȳron | θȳrīh |
| Definite | θȳrai | θoθȳrai | θȳrinny |
Feminine nouns
| gondā 'body' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singulative | Collective | Plurative | |
| Indefinite | gondā | gogondā | gondāra |
| Definite | gondām | gogondām | gondāh |
Neuter nouns
| tettȳ 'child' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singulative | Collective | Plurative | |
| Indefinite | tetty | tetetty | tettȳn |
| Definite | tettyh | tetettyh | tettȳra |
Mass nouns
| jenā 'water' (n.) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singulative | Collective | ||
| Indefinite | jenā | jenenā | |
| Definite | jenaȝeh | jenenaȝeh | |
Verbs
Verbs do not conjugate as such - information is mostly marked on the clitic complex.
TAM
au- = present
- aunih, aura, aun, ausi, au, aumā, aunte, auċċhe, autih 'I do, thou dost, he does, she does, it does, we (exc) do, we (inc) do, ye do, they do'
- tiaunih, ... = 'I don't, ...'
fi- = preterite
- finih, fira, fin, fisi, fi, fimā, finte, fiċċhe, fitih
- tiffinih, ... = 'I didn't ...'
- auh = 'do...' (imperative)
- ȝommi = 'don't...'