Eadlan/Older draft

Older draft
Năhtuıyin
Created by	User:IlL
Setting	Verse:AETHER
Language family	Idavic Older draft

Netagin (Năhtuıyin /ˈnəʔtʰʉjin/) is a Sami, Hebrew and Windermere-inspired Idavic language. It is related to Shalaian but phonologically is less conservative. Netagin has notably developed Uralic-style consonant gradation. It also has non-rhoticity as a historical sound change, a sprachbund feature it shares with Shalaian but in a much more limited fashion (Only word-final /r/ is lost).

Like Shalaian, Netagin is an inflected head-initial language, but has a more fusional morphology: both nouns and verbs are inflected using stem changes (gradation, umlaut and creaky voice ablaut) in addition to prefixes and suffixes. It also retains older Idavic morphology such as cases and the dual.

About

External history

This is the sixth reincarnation of Netagin (my past Hebrew-inspired conlangs).

I was getting bored of standard-fare Semitic and Celtic aesthetics, so I decided to try out a much more (mainly Northern and Skolt) Sami aesthetic and make the Hebrew influence much more subtle (at least phonologically).

Internal history

Netagin is a conlang created by Edna Ashe. Like its relative Shalaian, it is loosely inspired by Hebrew, (in-universe) Philadelphia English, and Celtic languages (Old Irish, Judeo-Gaelic and Verthanic).

Both Netagin and Shalaian are used as liturgical languages in Ashe's personal system of spirituality.

Internal² history

Shalaian and Netagin belong to a common sprachbund. They are two different branches of the Idavic family that convergently evolved to share the following features:

• Preglottalization
• Large vowel system
• Historical non-rhoticity
• Verb-initial syntax
• Split-ergativity

The relationship between Shalaian and Netagin is analogous to that between Centum and Satem IE languages: labiovelars become plain velars and plain velars become the c̦-series in Netagin.

Phonology

"Northern + Skolt Sami but more Windermere and Tíogall"

Vowels

/ɪ u ɛ ɔ ə ɨ a iə uə eə oə ɨə/ i u e o ă ĭ a ia ua ea oa ĭa

Umlauted counterparts of the above:

/i ʉ e ɵ ɨ i æ ie ue ie oe ɨɪ/ iı uı eı ăı ĭı aı ieı ueı eaı oeı ĭeı

Proto-Netagin a ā i ī u ū ə + modal/stød -> a o/oa e/ea i/ie u/ua ă ĭ/ĭa

TODO: closing diphthongs and Philly-style reinforcement

Consonants

• Nasals:
  • m bm bmm hm hmm /m pm bːm m̥ː m̥ːː/
  • n dn dnn hn hnn /n tn dːn n̥ː n̥ːː/
• Stops:
  • p pp hp hpp b bb hb hbb f /pʰ pːʰ ʔpʰ ʔːpʰ p~b pː hp hːp v~f/
  • t tt ht htt d dd hd hdd th /tʰ tːʰ ʔtʰ ʔːtʰ t~d tː ht hːt ð~θ/
  • ț țț hț hțț ḑ ḑḑ hḑ hḑḑ z /tsʰ tsːʰ ʔtsʰ ʔːtsʰ ts~dz tsː hts hːts z/
  • c̦ c̦c̦ hc̦ hc̦c̦ ģ ģģ hģ hģģ j /tʃʰ tʃːʰ ʔtʃʰ ʔːtʃʰ tʃ~dʒ tʃː htʃ hːtʃ ʒ/
  • ξ ξξ hξ hξξ λ λλ hλ hλλ ƛ /tɬʰ tɬːʰ ʔtɬʰ ʔːtɬʰ tɬ~dɮ tɬː htɬ hːtɬ l/
  • c cc hc hcc g gg hg hgg /kʰ kːʰ ʔkʰ ʔːkʰ k~g kː hk hːk/
  • q qq hq hqq q /qʰ qː ʔqʰ ʔːqʰ q~ɢ/
    • final /q~ɢ/ is transcribed -q
• Fricatives: s ss s's ș șș ș'ș σ σσ σ'σ h hh h'h /s sː sːː ʃ ʃː ʃːː ɬ ɬː ɬːː h xː xːː/
• Other resonants:
  • l ll gll hl hll /ʟ qː ɢː χː χːː/
  • r rr drr hr hrr /ɾ tɾ dːɾ r̥ː r̥ːː/
  • y yy gyy hy hyy /j cː ɟː çː çːː/
  • w ww gww hw hww /w kʷː gʷː xʷː xʷːː/

The back liquid /ʟ/ is realized as a pharyngealized nasalized uvular approximant [ʁ̃ˁ]. /ʟ/ and its gradated counterparts come from a merger of Proto-Idavic *l, *ʕ, and often *q.

Stress

Stress is always initial, ignoring derivational prefixes.

Gradation

There are 3 gradation grades in Netagin morphology, respectively termed weak, strong, and overlong or I, II, and III. Gradation is purely morphological and is no longer phonologically conditioned: different forms of a word may require different grades, and a form may be marked through gradation alone.

Simple consonants

Weak (I)	f	b	th	d	z	ḑ	y	ģ	ƛ	λ	j	g	q /q⁼/	s	ș	σ	h	m	n	l	r	y	w
Strong (II)	hb	hp	hd	ht	hḑ	hț	hģ	hc̦	hλ	hξ	hg	hc	hq	ss	șș	σσ	hh	bm	dn	ll	rr	yy	ww
Overlong (III)	hbb	hpp	hdd	htt	hḑḑ	hțț	hģģ	hc̦c̦	hλλ	hξξ	hgg	hcc	hqq	ss	șș	σσ	hh	hm	hn	gll	drr	gyy	gww

Historical geminates

Geminates historically arose from historical nC, /ʔ h/ + C, C + /ʔ h/ → C: sound changes, before gradation became morphologically significant. In Modern Netagin geminates almost always turned to preaspirated or preglottalized stops, except after resonants.

Weak (I)	hb	hp	hd	ht	hḑ	hț	hģ	hc̦	hλ	hξ	hg	hc	hq	ss	șș	σσ	hh	bm	dn	ll	rr	yy	ww	hl	hr	hy	hw
Strong (II) = Overlong (III)	hbb	hpp	hdd	htt	hḑḑ	hțț	hģģ	hc̦c̦	hλλ	hξξ	hgg	hcc	hqq	s's	ș'ș	σ'σ	h'h	bmm /b:m/	dnn /d:n/	gll /ɢ:/	drr /d:ɾ/	gyy /ɟː/	gww /gːʷ/	hll	hrr	hyy	hww

Clusters with resonants

Cluster type	PR	RR	FR	RX, R ≠ l	lX (l = /ʟ/)
Weak (I)	PIRI	RIRI	FIRI	RIXI	lXI
Strong (II)	PIIRI	RIRII	FItRI	RIX:	qXI
Overlong (III)	PIIIRI	RIRIII	FIIRI	RIX:	llXI

• R = resonant /m n ʟ r j w/
• X = obstruent
• P = stop
• F = fricative /s ʃ ɬ/
• C_I, C_II, C_III = simple consonant in the corresponding gradation grade
• C: = geminate counterpart of an obstruent

Stop-obstruent clusters

Weak (I)	fd, fḑ, fģ, fλ, fg /vd~ft, .../	ft, fț, fc̦, fξ, fc, fq, fs, fș, fσ /ftʰ, .../	thb, thg /ðb~θp, ðg~θk/	thp, thc, thq /θpʰ, θkʰ, θqʰ/	wb, wd, wḑ, wģ, wλ /wb~wp, .../	wp, wt, wț, wc̦, wξ, ws, wș, wσ /xʷpʰ, .../
Strong (II)	bd, bḑ, bģ, bλ, bg /pt, .../	pt, pț, pc̦, pξ, pc, pq, ps, pș, pσ /ptʰ, .../	db, dg /tp, tk/	tp, tc, tq /tpʰ, tkʰ, tqʰ/	gb, gd, gḑ, gģ, gλ /kp, .../	cp, ct, cț, cc̦, cξ, cs, cș, cσ /kpʰ, .../
Overlong (III)	bdd, bḑḑ, bģģ, bλλ, bgg /hpt, .../	ptt, pțț, pc̦c̦, pξξ, pcc, pqq, pss, pșș, pσσ /ʔptʰ, .../	dbb, dgg /htp, htk/	tpp, tcc, tqq /ʔtpʰ, ʔtkʰ, ʔtqʰ/	gbb, gdd, gḑḑ, gģģ, gλλ /hkp, .../	cpp, ctt, cțț, cc̦c̦, cξξ, css, cșș, cσσ /ʔkpʰ, .../

The hypothetical qC~lC gradation has merged with llC~lC gradation into llC~qC~lC gradation.

Sibilant-stop clusters

Weak (I)	sp, st, sț, sξ, sc, sq /sp, st, sts, stʃ, stɬ, sk, sq/	șp, șt, șc̦, șξ, șc, șq /ʃp, ʃt, ʃtʃ, ʃtɬ, ʃk, ʃq/	łp, łt, łc, łq /ɬp, ɬt, ɬk, ɬq/
Strong (II) = Overlong (III)	spp, stt, sțț, sξξ, scc, sqq /sːp, sːt, sːts, sːtɬ, sːk, sːq/	șpp, ștt, șc̦c̦, șξξ, șcc, șqq /ʃːp, ʃːt, ʃːtʃ, ʃːtɬ, ʃːk, ʃːq/	łpp, łtt, łcc, łqq /ɬːp, ɬːt, ɬːk, ɬːq/

Phonotactics

Initial sC clusters are valid in names and loans from Shalaian.

Morphology

Nouns

Netagin has singular, dual, and plural numbers, and animate and inanimate genders. Some inanimates end in -ă, which is cognate to the Shalaian honorific suffix -er.

Netagin nouns take the definite article pă and the specific article nă.

Possessive markers

Possessive markers have different forms depending on number and case.

• c̦uall = a house (nominative singular)
• 1s c̦ualăl
• 2s c̦ualăth
• 3s c̦ualla (a); c̦ualli (i)
• 1d c̦ualăjăf
• 2d c̦uallănif
• 3d c̦uallăf
• 1p c̦ualăģ
• 2p c̦ualni
• 3p c̦uallăs

• c̦ual = a house (genitive singular)
• 1s c̦ualăhcăl
• 2s c̦ualăhcăth
• 3s c̦ualăg (a); c̦ualuy (i)
• 1d c̦ualăhcăjăf
• 2d c̦ualăgănif
• 3d c̦ualăgăf
• 1p c̦ualăhcăģ
• 2p c̦ualăgăni
• 3p c̦ualăgăs

• c̦ualăhd = two houses (nominative dual); to form the dual genitive, attach the suffix -id to all these forms
• 1s c̦ualăhdăl
• 2s c̦ualăhdăth
• 3s c̦ualăhdud (a); c̦ualăhduģ (i)
• 1d c̦ualăhdăjăf
• 2d c̦ualăthănif
• 3d c̦ualăthăf
• 1p c̦ualăhdăģ
• 2p c̦ualăthăni
• 3p c̦ualăthăs

• c̦uallu = houses (nom pl)
• 1s c̦ualul
• 2s c̦ualuth
• 3s c̦uallud (a); c̦ualluģ (i)
• 1d c̦ualujăf
• 2d c̦uallunif
• 3d c̦ualluf
• 1p c̦ualuģ
• 2p c̦ualluni
• 3p c̦uallus

• c̦ualu = houses (gen pl)
• 1s c̦ualugăl
• 2s c̦ualugăth
• 3s c̦ualuhc (a); c̦ualluy (i)
• 1d c̦ualugăjăf
• 2d c̦ualuhcănif
• 3d c̦ualuhcăf
• 1p c̦ualugăģ
• 2p c̦ualuhcăni
• 3p c̦ualuhcăs

Adjectives

animate:

• nominative: qoeıdb /ˈqʰoetp/, qoeıthbehd /ˈqʰoəðbɪht/, qoathbun /ˈqʰoəðbun/ <- PShal *qũdba, *qũdband, *qũdbaan
• genitive: qoathbă /ˈqʰoəðbə/, qoeıthbehdid /ˈqʰoəðbɪhtɪt/, qoadbă /ˈqʰoətpə/ <- *qũdbak, *qũdband=igid, *qũdbii

inanimate

• nominative: qoadb, qoathbăhd, qoadbu <- *qũdbi, *qũdbund, *qũdbaa
• genitive: qoathb, qoathbăhdid, qoathbu <- *qũdbik, *qũdbund=igid, *qũdbaak

Syntax

Lushootseed (predicate first)?

Myl las oszað, byddzal = Give me your hand, my love

Vocabulary

Shalaian as major loan source?