Šinax Netagin
Śinax Netagin (ku bric Ntahi Śinax; Naeng fi brits Inthăgin Șinach; Crackfic Trician Irish an tSionnachais or just an Nadáthais) is the most widely spoken descendant of Classical Netagin in Tricin; it's spoken in Bjeheond and Raiđluav (especially in Andaegor). It exists in a sprachbund with Nurian, Modern Naeng, Gwnax and other Bjeheondian languages. It has many loans from Classical Netagin in its literary register.
I borrowed Șinach from Irish sionnach 'fox' because Bjeheond has a fox motif. In-universe it comes from Gwnax Si Wnax 'Gwnax town'.
Grammatical changes from Classical Netagin include:
- SAuxVO word order
- Loss of grammatical gender and construct state
- Relative clauses use the gap strategy
- As a result of Jespersen's cycle, negation uses a negative absolutive marker jėn derived from the Classical connegative determiner de.
- SEA style serial verbs
- Emphatic -mik (< miek)
- Tricons is derivational not inflectional
- Initial qo, qu, qů → vo, vu, vů
Modern Netagin people usually have Classical Netagin names
Should drop some final consonants like Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (which has qam > qa 'stand' and emar > ema 'say')
Inspiration: "What if Hebrew evolved further in Mainland Southeast Asia"
Lexicon
- ďaccerabaccera (may be stressed as ďáccera báccera) = unintelligible, 'it's all Greek to me'
- Bric ťebari moćel ďáccerabáccera votok. (speech religious come unintelligible all) --- "Religious jargon just all sounds like gobbledygook to me."
Phonology
"Classical Netagin become Modern Saigon Vietnamese"
Consonants
- CNtg r /r/ becomes a uvular approximant [ʁ]
- ť ď /t d/ become /ʈ~ʈʂ ɖ~ɖʐ/
- ś ź /ɕ ʑ/ become non-retracted /s z/, while s z become /ʂ ʐ/
- ć /t͡ɕ/ merges with c /ts(ret)/ into /t͡ɕ/
Vowels
i u ů ė e ă o å a /i ɨ u e ɛ ə o ɔ a/
- unconditional: u > /ï/, ů > /u/
- ie = ė = /e/ but ie sometimes > /i/
- y > /i/, sometimes /ə/
Stress
Stress shift to penult? (to be able to pull a JBA and drop final consonants)
Parts of speech
Pronouns
Șinach Netagin has only one set of pronouns, from the Classical Netagin emphatic pronouns. They do not inflect for case.
1sg | 2sg | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
animate | inanimate | |||||
li | nů | naj | nas | ťů | nybi | nus |
Subject pronouns can be omitted when they are clear from context, though Netagin has lost person inflection on verbs. Object pronouns are also much less frequent than in European and Semitic languages. For example, 'Where are you going (walking)?' can be Nů mů dbe? (lit. "thou walk.GO.TELIC where") or Mů dbe? (which can be used for any subject).
Nouns
Like Naeng, Șinach Netagin has definite and specific articles. They're both preposed as in Naeng:
- definite ku (< kyve 'that')
- specific di (< dybin 'hither' > 'here')
Plurals are always marked with ŋ-, from the CNtg class C plural ŋy-.
Prepositions
Śinax Netagin often uses motion verbs instead of prepositions.
The CNtg oblique preposition my is analyzed as part of prepositions, resulting in many prepositions ending in -m. Most true prepositions come from relational nouns or from words for locations in CNtg (reanalyzed as nouns). Though nouns, including relational nouns/prepositions, can take possessive affixes (like Hebrew nouns and prepositions), in everyday speech, motion verbs are used instead of personal markers.
Motion verbs
Śinax Netagin has inherited Classical Netagin motion verbs essentially unchanged (though some verbs have been lost); motion verbs are required to say "go", "come", "carry", "take" or "bring", as in Slavic. Śinax Netagin motion verbs use forms inherited from the Classical transgressive or my + verbal noun in some cases.
Meaning | Telic, "go" | Telic, "come" | Atelic, "go" | Atelic, "come" |
---|---|---|---|---|
to go by foot, to walk | mů | moćel | vaććůl | vćaćůl |
to go with a land vehicle | dlůk | madlek | dalůk | dlalůk |
to ride, to mount (trans.) | pacůj | mpacej | pcůj | pcacůj |
to go in | xpůŋ | maxpeŋ | xappůŋ | xpapůŋ |
to go out | bůť | mabeť | qabbůť | babůť |
to rise (of heavenly bodies and other inanimate beings) | pkůś | mapkeś | pakkůś | pkakůś |
to set (of heavenly bodies) to fall (of precipitation) |
śbůď | maśbeď | śabbůď | śbabůď |
to run | ŋůź | maŋeź | ŋavvůź | ŋvavůź |
to swim | nhůb | manheb | nahůb | nhahůb |
to fly | klůl | maklel | kallůl | kaslůl |
to float on water to go with a small boat, to row |
nvahůt | manvahet | vahůt | vhahůt |
to flow (of a fluid or current) | bhůl | mabhel | bahůl | băhahůl |
to roll | mlůl | mamlel | mallůl | maslůl |
to climb | ďxůp | maďxep | ďaxxůp | ďxaxůp |
to jump | bcůc | mabcec | baccůc | bascůc |
to crawl | zůr | mazůr | zarzor | zăvavor |
to fall (of animates) to go down (of inanimates) |
nmůj | manme | nammůj | nămamůj |
to dive, go into water | sdůj | masde | saddůj | sdadůj |
to carry, bring (on foot) | psůŋ | mapseŋ | passůŋ | psasůŋ |
to carry, bring (using a vehicle) (trans.) | dsůp | madsůp | dassůp | dsasůp |
to pull, drag (trans.) | kćůl | makćel | kaćůl | kćacůl |
to drive (an animal or a vehicle), lead | pďů | mapďe | paďďů | pďaďů |
Syntax
wh-in-situ unlike CNtg
- Li jėn śnaz dav rpaŋ, xambe kve lůť.
- 1SG NEG obey people other, when that bad
- I do not obey others when it's wrong.
- Ku kra psasůŋ tpej xpapůŋ ku jaŋ tăzyŋpeś.
- DEF raven carry.ATEL.come light enter.ATEL.come DEF house narration
- The raven brings light into this house of stories.