Šinax Netagin

Śinax Netagin (ku bric Ntahi Śinax; Naeng fi brits Inthăgin Șinach) 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."

• ťebar: religion
• způb: (internet slang) lol
  • z___ p___ b___, put into transgressive pattern

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.

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 go up	pkůś	mapkeś	pakkůś	pkakůś
to go down 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	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 tzyŋpeś.

DEF raven carry.ATEL.come light enter.ATEL.come DEF house narration

The raven brings light into this house of stories.