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The Yrkyr language has approximately 70 thousand native speakers, most of whom are monolingual and illiterate. Some also learned Mtari due to the modern compulsory education policy, which requires children to get a basic education in boarding schools. | The Yrkyr language has approximately 70 thousand native speakers, most of whom are monolingual and illiterate. Some also learned Mtari due to the modern compulsory education policy, which requires children to get a basic education in boarding schools. | ||
==Yrhu== | ==Yrhu== | ||
Yrhu (''jyrhu'' /jər.ˈɦu/) is a dialect of Yrkyr spoken next to the Shallow Sea. While being intelligible with Yrkyr to some degree, it differ in vocabulary and grammar from the inland language. It shares some more lexical similarity with Yhkagur, while phonologically it is almost identical to Yrkyr. | Yrhu (''jyrhu'' /jər.ˈɦu/) is a dialect of Yrkyr spoken next to the Shallow Sea. While being mutually intelligible with Yrkyr to some degree (with Yrhu speakers understanding Yrkyr more than vice versa), it differ in vocabulary and grammar from the inland language. It shares some more lexical similarity with Yhkagur, while phonologically it is almost identical to Yrkyr. Yrhu is most notable for its breathy-voiced vowels at the end of many words and final /r/ and /l/ devoicing to /r̥/ and /ɬ/ respectively. Some consonant clusters, found in Yrkyr, are simplified to geminated consonants (all instances of /sn/, /t͡ʃŋ/, /t͡sn/, /tn/ become /nː/, /ln/ becomes /lː/ and /mn/ becomes /mː/. Most instances of /nt/ and /rt/ also become /tː/ and /t͡sː/, while /lt/ becomes /ɬ/ without gemination). Also the /x/~/s/ alteration in Yrkyr was leveled to /ɦ/ in Yrhu - ''tox'' ("rabbit") - ''tosyx'' ("rabbits") is ''toh'' - ''tohyx''. However, /ɬ/ is preserved in every position, while in Yrkyr the sound almost completely merged with /l/. The phoneme /t͡ɬ/ is also never substituted with /r/ which does not appear word-initially at all in Yrhu, even in loanwords. One of the smaller features is /h/ which is voiced [ɦ] except word-finally. A few villages next to the sea also preserve an ancient phoneme /ɸ/ (only word-initially), which merged with /h/ in all other North-Yrharian dialects, so such words as hahr /ɦɑːr̥/ "human" and fahr /ɸɑːr̥/ "[[w:Alpine tundra|mountain meadow]]" sound differently, while in Yrkyr they are both pronounced /hɑːr/. The word for "coast" is ''wytwal'' in Yrhu, which preserves the marginal phoneme [tʷ], since /tw/ cluster is not allowed, while in Yrkyr it became ''wytul'' where [tʷ] is an allophone of /t/. Some Yrhu speakers, living next to the area, where Yhkagur is spoken, also have palatalized consonants marginally. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
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| style="text-align:center" | t͡s | | style="text-align:center" | t͡s | ||
| style="text-align:center" | t͡ʃ | | style="text-align:center" | t͡ʃ | ||
| style="text-align:center" | t͡ɬ<ref | | style="text-align:center" | t͡ɬ<ref>Merged with /r/ in the South due to Mtari influence.</ref> | ||
| | | | ||
| | | | ||
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| style="text-align:center" | s | | style="text-align:center" | s | ||
| style="text-align:center" | ʃ | | style="text-align:center" | ʃ | ||
| style="text-align:center" | (ɬ)<ref | | style="text-align:center" | (ɬ)<ref>In Yrhu dialect /ɬ/ is still a separate phoneme, while elsewhere it merged with /l/ due to Mtari influence.</ref> | ||
| style="text-align:center" | x | | style="text-align:center" | x | ||
| style="text-align:center" | xʷ | | style="text-align:center" | xʷ | ||
| style="text-align:center" | h (ɦ)<ref | | style="text-align:center" | h (ɦ)<ref>In Yrhu dialect [ɦ] is present everywhere, except word finally, while in Yrkyr [h] is more common.</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Approximant | ! Approximant | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
{{reflist | {{reflist}} | ||
[[w:Palatalization (phonetics)|Palatalization]] and [[w:Labialization|labialization]] are two unique Yrharian features. In Proto-Yrharian almost every consonant had a palatalized and a labialized variants. But a sound change, that resulted in lowering of North Yrharian high vowels, allowed to eliminate them as phonemic everywhere, except for velars, which still preserve labialized counterparts. In modern language both palatalization and labialization occure before /i/ and /u/ respectively, but these features are not phonemic anymore. Instead new consonant alterations derived from the change. | [[w:Palatalization (phonetics)|Palatalization]] and [[w:Labialization|labialization]] are two unique Yrharian features. In Proto-Yrharian almost every consonant had a palatalized and a labialized variants. But a sound change, that resulted in lowering of North Yrharian high vowels, allowed to eliminate them as phonemic everywhere, except for velars, which still preserve labialized counterparts. In modern language both palatalization and labialization occure before /i/ and /u/ respectively, but these features are not phonemic anymore. Instead new consonant alterations derived from the change. | ||
===Vowels=== | ===Vowels=== | ||
There are five vowels, four of which contrast in length. The quality of long vowels mostly overlaps with the quality of short vowels, except long ones are pronounced slightly more closed, while short vowels are slightly centralized. The only exception is /aː/ which is fronted noticeably comparing to its short counterpart. Long vowels are denoted with a silent "h" before consonants in the orthography, since the consonant /h/ appeares in this environment, while conjugating various words. In Yrhu the final "h" is pronounced as a weak aspiration, but it is still silent before other consonants, lengthening a preceding vowel. | |||
{| class="wikitable alternance" | {| class="wikitable alternance" | ||
! rowspan="2" | | ! rowspan="2" | | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
The high vowels /i/ and /u/ along with their long counterparts influence a preceding consonant: /i/ always palatalize it, while /u/ always labialize the consonant. This is a type of an assimilation process. The feature is very noticeable in Yrkyr speech despite not being phonemic. | |||
===Phonotactics=== | ===Phonotactics=== | ||
Most basic Yrkyr word roots are monosyllabic. Typical syllable structures are '''V''', '''CV''' and '''CVC''', where '''C''' is a consonant and '''V''' is a vowel. The first two types are called light syllables, which take part in vowel alterations and don't receive stress, when there is a heavy syllable of a '''CVC''' structure nearby. There are no limitations to which consonant may appear word-initially or in consonant clusters, which are only possible on syllable boundaries. Root final clusters are not allowed, an epenthetic [ə] being inserted between the consonants, when such a cluster would appear. Vowel sequences are also not allowed, except between different words. Nearby consonants and vowels are affecting each other, creating a comlex system of alterations, some of which became unpredictable with time, for example: ''lyči'' /ˈlə.t͡ʃi/ - "to see", ''lyteŋ'' /lə.ˈtɛn/ - "I see it", where /t/ always palatalizes to /t͡ʃ/ before /i/; ''kʷocawun'' /kʷʌ.t͡sɑ.ˈwun/ - ''while bathing'', '' | Most basic Yrkyr word roots are monosyllabic. Typical syllable structures are '''V''', '''CV''' and '''CVC''', where '''C''' is a consonant and '''V''' is a vowel. The first two types are called light syllables, which take part in vowel alterations and don't receive stress, when there is a heavy syllable of a '''CVC''' structure nearby. There are no limitations to which consonant may appear word-initially or in consonant clusters, which are only possible on syllable boundaries. Root final clusters are not allowed, an epenthetic [ə] being inserted between the consonants, when such a cluster would appear. Vowel sequences are also not allowed, except between different words. Nearby consonants and vowels are affecting each other, creating a comlex system of alterations, some of which became unpredictable with time, for example: ''lyči'' /ˈlə.t͡ʃi/ - "to see", ''lyteŋ'' /lə.ˈtɛn/ - "I see it", where /t/ always palatalizes to /t͡ʃ/ before /i/; ''kʷocawun'' /kʷʌ.t͡sɑ.ˈwun/ - ''while bathing'', ''lykʷos'' /lə.ˈkʷʌs/ to wash (something) - kʷoskyŋ /ˈkʷʌs.kəŋ/ "I wash up", ''laxkʷohŋ'' /lɑx.ˈkʷʌːŋ/ - "I took a bath", where /t͡s/ becomes /s/ and dissappears. | ||
==Morphology== | ==Morphology== | ||
All Yrkyr words fall into one of three, clearly differentiated, classes; verbs, nominals, and particles. The latter class is a collecting term for various non-inflecting words. Nominals may be derived from verbal stems but apparently no verb is derived from a nominal stem, instead a nominal root is attached to an existing verb - a process, called noun [[w:Incorporation (linguistics)|incorporation]] | All Yrkyr words fall into one of three, clearly differentiated, classes; verbs, nominals, and particles. The latter class is a collecting term for various non-inflecting words. Nominals may be derived from verbal stems but apparently no verb is derived from a nominal stem, instead a nominal root is attached to an existing verb - a process, called noun [[w:Incorporation (linguistics)|incorporation]]. Adjectives and adverbials derive from either verbs or nominals, but all of them behave like stative verbs, so they are not listed as a separate class. Yrkyr is between agglutinative and fusional types of language and inflections are often essential to clear understanding and transmission of information. It is also fairly regular in its nominal morphology, but more irregular in the verbal one. There are dozens of old irregular verbs with completely unpredictable conjugation patterns, resulted from various sound changes. Proto-Yrharian is considered to had been far more regular polysynthetic language, but over time all of its descendants gained more and more irregularities. | ||
===Nominal morphology=== | ===Nominal morphology=== | ||
Yrharain has two nominal declensions based on [[w:Animacy|animacy]]: animate and inanimate. Each declension has its own set of case markings. Most animals, people, some weather | Yrharain has two nominal declensions based on [[w:Animacy|animacy]]: animate and inanimate. Each declension has its own set of case markings. Most animals, people, some weather phenomena like thunder, and supernatural entities are animate, while most non-living things, insects, abstract and collective nouns, plants, and sky/weather features (such as clouds) are inanimate. Animate nouns typically take the ergative case, while inanimate - either absolutive or instrumental cases, when two are present in a sentence, regardless of their actual role as a subject and an object. | ||
Nominals are inflected for seven cases and three numbers (singular, dual and plural). Any animate noun can take dual number, while only naturally paired inanimate nouns can take it. The rest usually take plural. Reduplication is a non-productive element of derivation. It is occasionally used to indicate a collective group. Mass nouns do not have plurals but new nouns can be derived from them by attaching a plural marker. They would still be declined as singular ones, while the plural marker becomes a suffix. This process is called [[w:Suffixaufnahme|suffixaufnahme]]. It can also occure with genitive and dative markers, which become suffixes and can receive new endings. For example, ''toj'' - "side", ''tojiha'' "sideways" (of the side), become ''tojihka'' "to the side", ''tojihcan'' "suddenly" (out from the side). | Nominals are inflected for seven cases and three numbers (singular, dual and plural). Any animate noun can take dual number, while only naturally paired inanimate nouns can take it. The rest usually take plural. Reduplication is a non-productive element of derivation. It is occasionally used to indicate a collective group. Mass nouns do not have plurals but new nouns can be derived from them by attaching a plural marker. They would still be declined as singular ones, while the plural marker becomes a suffix. This process is called [[w:Suffixaufnahme|suffixaufnahme]]. It can also occure with genitive and dative markers, which become suffixes and can receive new endings. For example, ''toj'' - "side", ''tojiha'' "sideways" (of the side), become ''tojihka'' "to the side", ''tojihcan'' "suddenly" (out from the side). | ||
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The most common nouns used with these prefixes are ''tlat'' "place, location", ''to'' "side", ''ne'' "way", ''šon'' "time, occasion", hahr "person". However, the prefixes may be used with any noun, so a large number of pronouns can be created this way. | The most common nouns used with these prefixes are ''tlat'' "place, location", ''to'' "side", ''ne'' "way", ''šon'' "time, occasion", hahr "person". However, the prefixes may be used with any noun, so a large number of pronouns can be created this way. | ||
===Verbal morphology=== | ===Verbal morphology=== | ||
Verbs are the most complex element of the Yrkyr morphology. They are composed of a stem to which inflectional or derivational | Verbs are the most complex element of the Yrkyr morphology. They are composed of a stem to which inflectional or derivational affixes are added. The stem itself is composed of a root and an aspect marker. Sometimes there is also a thematic suffix fused to the stem. The affixes that occur on a verb are added in specified more or less rigid order according to affix type. Positions of those types are called templates. A verb doesn't need to have all templates filled, but every verb must have at least one full template. Below is a table of all the Yrkyr verb templates: | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap;" | ||
|- | |- | ||
! rowspan="3" | Preverb | ! rowspan="3" | Preverb | ||
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| ajŋ-/ijŋ- || reciprocal | | ajŋ-/ijŋ- || reciprocal | ||
|- | |- | ||
| aŋ-/iŋ- || | | aŋ-/iŋ- || benefactive | ||
|- | |||
| ak(a)t-/ik(i)t- || causative | |||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
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|} | |} | ||
An example, where all the prefixes slots are full: ''lisilhajŋuŋkorinoŋ'' (lis-im-lha-ajŋ-un-kor-in-oŋ) "It seems they might not have talked to each other yet". Such words are occasionaly used in common speech to convey as much information as the speaker would like to, despite looking complex and cumbersome. However, usually shorter verbs are preferred. | An example, where all the prefixes slots are full: ''lisilhajŋuŋkorinoŋ'' (lis-im-lha-ajŋ-un-kor-in-oŋ) "It seems they might not have talked to each other yet". Such words are occasionaly used in common speech to convey as much information as the speaker would like to, despite looking complex and cumbersome. However, usually shorter verbs are preferred. | ||
====Stem==== | ====Stem==== | ||
Yrkyr has different [[w:Grammatical aspect|aspectual]] and [[w:Grammatical mood|modal]] distinctions indicated by an aspect prefix or, sometimes, a combination of several aspect prefixes fused together. Yrkyr lacks a grammatical [[w:Grammatical tense|tense]]. There are primary and secondary aspects, with the secondary aspects being used only in combination with a primary ones. | Yrkyr has different [[w:Grammatical aspect|aspectual]] and [[w:Grammatical mood|modal]] distinctions indicated by an aspect prefix or, sometimes, a combination of several aspect prefixes fused together. Yrkyr lacks a grammatical [[w:Grammatical tense|tense]]. There are primary and secondary aspects, with the secondary aspects being used only in combination with a primary ones. | ||
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====Suffixes==== | ====Suffixes==== | ||
*In Yrkyr noun declensions usually give enough information about which noun is the subject and which is the object. But this was not the case in Proto-Yrharian, which marked this distinction on the verb only. Modern Yrkyr inherited this system and innovated the other one so now it is marked twice. Animacy plays an important part in Yrkyr morphology. Generally, the most animate noun in a sentence should be the agent while the noun with lesser animacy is a patient. If both nouns are of an equal animacy then the roles are inferred from noun cases only. In all other cases an inverse marker '''-sw'''/'''-ru''' is used to indicate that the action is performed by someone of lower animacy. For example: both ''Eŋahn čilh lyteje'' and ''Čilh Eŋahn lyteje''means "Enga listens to the jay", and in order to say "The jay listens to Enga" an inverse marker is used, since the jay is a bird and thus has lower animacy and can not be in the ergative case: ''Eŋahn čilh lytiswi''. This can also be translated as "Enga is being listened to by the jay". | *In Yrkyr noun declensions usually give enough information about which noun is the subject and which is the object. But this was not the case in Proto-Yrharian, which marked this distinction on the verb only. Modern Yrkyr inherited this system and innovated the other one so now it is marked twice. Animacy plays an important part in Yrkyr morphology. Generally, the most animate noun in a sentence should be the agent while the noun with lesser animacy is a patient. If both nouns are of an equal animacy then the roles are inferred from noun cases only. In all other cases an inverse marker '''-sw'''/'''-ru''' is used to indicate that the action is performed by someone of lower animacy. For example: both ''Eŋahn čilh lyteje'' and ''Čilh Eŋahn lyteje'' means "Enga listens to the jay", and in order to say "The jay listens to Enga" an inverse marker is used, since the jay is a bird and thus has lower animacy and can not be in the ergative case: ''Eŋahn čilh lytiswi''. This can also be translated as "Enga is being listened to by the jay". | ||
*The impersonal marker '''-su''' is used either when the agent is unknown, like the English word "someone" or in general statements, that are true of any person, similarly to English "one" or "they say". | *The impersonal marker '''-su''' is used either when the agent is unknown, like the English word "someone" or in general statements, that are true of any person, similarly to English "one" or "they say". | ||
*The '''verb type modifier''' is a special suffix attached to the verb in order to change or clarify the meaning of it. These modifiers are used to derive new verbs. | *The '''verb type modifier''' is a special suffix attached to the verb in order to change or clarify the meaning of it. These modifiers are used to derive new verbs. | ||
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|} | |} | ||
When the subject is the third person and has a lower animacy than the object and vice versa, then the third inverse person marker is used. Sometimes this marker may be fused to the stem in old verbs. According to another analysis of these suffixes, the actual third singular person marker (both direct and inverse) is zero and vowels -e-/-i- appear during alterations in the stem of the verb. | When the subject is the third person and has a lower animacy than the object and vice versa, then the third inverse person marker is used. Sometimes this marker may be fused to the stem in old verbs. According to another analysis of these suffixes, the actual third singular person marker (both direct and inverse) is zero and vowels -e-/-i- appear during alterations in the stem of the verb. | ||
===Postpositions=== | ===Postpositions=== | ||
Yrkyr uses postpositions, some of which can be attached to nouns in the locative case, to mark various spatial and temporal relations. If standalone, all | Yrkyr uses postpositions, some of which can be attached to nouns in the locative case, to mark various spatial and temporal relations. If standalone, all postpositions must take a person suffix, which is the same as possessive suffixes of nouns. For example: ''neke'' "away from it", ''kʷaŋ'' "towards me", ''čittyšihaskʷa'' "towards that stone". | ||
===Numerals=== | ===Numerals=== | ||
Like the Mtari language, Yrkyr uses a '''decimal''' (base-10) numeral system. Only numerals from one to four are local, higher numerals are borrowed from Mtari. | Like the Mtari language, Yrkyr uses a '''decimal''' (base-10) numeral system. Only numerals from one to four are local, higher numerals are borrowed from Mtari. | ||
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|} | |} | ||
Words for hundreds and even higher numbers are formed in the same way (''-kehm'' is added to make hundreds, ''-mek'' - for tens of thousands and ''-kyrom'' - for millions). In the compound numerals the lesser numeral is simply put after the bigger one: ''sylkanihs ahm'' - "twenty six". In order to make an ordinal numeral, the prefix ''tla-'' is added to the corresponding cardinal numeral. Exceptions are ''lapyn'' - "first", ''tlakʷa'' - "second" and ''tlaš'' - "third". | Words for hundreds and even higher numbers are formed in the same way (''-kehm'' is added to make hundreds, ''-mek'' - for tens of thousands and ''-kyrom'' - for millions). In the compound numerals the lesser numeral is simply put after the bigger one: ''sylkanihs ahm'' - "twenty six". In order to make an ordinal numeral, the prefix ''tla-'' is added to the corresponding cardinal numeral. Exceptions are ''lapyn'' - "first", ''tlakʷa'' - "second" and ''tlaš'' - "third". | ||
==Vocabulary== | |||
Almost all of Yrkyr basic vocabulary is of a native Yrharian origin, but the vocabulary size is still fairly small. The core vocabulary (kinship and geographic terms, words for celestial bodies, body parts, animals and some plants) can be traced to Proto-Yrharian, while a large amount of other native words can be found only in the North-Yrharian branch or in Yrkyr only. Prior to the Mtari colonization Yrkyr did not borrow much from its neighbouring languages, instead it invented new native words for newly introduced terms and cultural items. Even after the Mtari colonists took over much of Yrharian lands and almost wiped out other native population there, the Yrkyr people were still living in a relative isolation in northern taiga regions. Around a century ago contacts with the Mtari became much more frequent, they introduced new technologies to Yrharians, most notably metals and agriculture and thus many new loanwords entered Yrkyr, which were soon adapted to its phonology, since most of the population remained monolingual. Nowadays a large portion of Yrkyr words (primarily nouns) are of the Mtari origin. Bilingual speakers tend to simplify the grammar, especially the verb morphology in their speech, using calques from Mtari instead, and thus the language changes very quickly. | |||
==Syntax== | |||
In terms of basic word order, Yrkyr has been classified as the '''SOV''' (Subject–Object–Verb) language. But the actual word order is completely free, since the language is not subject-prominant, like English, but instead a topic-prominent one, meaning that the first word in a sentence is usually the topic of discussion regardless of its grammatical function. In neutral (zero-focused) sentences the noun of the highest animacy will be the first and the verb - the last word. But generally speaking, word order is not fixed by syntactic rules. The only compulsory part of the sentence is the verb, which due to its complex morphology can convey meaning of the whole sentence on its own, like in ''Myltešarmotorkyrapaŋ'' (myl-te-yš-árym-o-tórk-ráp-as-ŋ ) - "I’m cutting this piece of fabric with a knife", which is formed from the verb root ''rap'' meaning "to cut" and the noun ''arym'' - "fabric". | |||
In terms of the [[w:Head-directionality parameter|head directionality]] Yrkyr is considered mostly head-final, except for [[w:Complementizer|complementizer phrazes]] where a complementizer can come either before or after its complement. Still, this is the only case of head-iniality in Yrkyr. Overall the syntax is very simple, since most information, that would be expressed by the syntax in English, is conveyed via morphology. | |||
[[Category:Languages]] | [[Category:Languages]] | ||