Suwáá/Unknown

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Vy górov en socovíto

Suwáá/Unknown
socovíc/socovija lesán
Created byIlL
Native toMostsev, Greece, Italy
Native speakers3,930,000 (2015)
Afro-Asiatic
  • Semitic
    • North Semitic
      • Suwáá/Unknown

todo

  • Socovíc/Lexicon
    • cedor, cedr- instead of *oroz, orz-
    • odom: high register word for 'human'/'mortal'
    • qobod 'servant'; qobdíc 'work, service'
    • túr instead of *fúr
    • ura 'time'
  • Main Page/Socovíc
  • Grammar
    • stative > present?

Background

Suwáá/Unknown (Suwáá/Unknown: socovíc /ˈsotsoviːts/ or socovija lesán /ˈsotsovija ˈlesaːn/), sometimes called Sotsovian in English, is a Semitic language in the Balkan Sprachbund, spoken in the nation of Mostsev (Moscév) which is actually a thin piece of land running straight down the west coast of the Balkan Peninsula or something. A North Semitic language, it diverges in many ways from Central Semitic tongues such as Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew - it preserves archaic features that have not survived in Central Semitic languages, as well as some innovations in its grammar. North Semitic is thought to have been quasi-Central Semitic dialect that separated very early from the rest of Central Semitic. The name of the language, socovíc, is the feminine singular definite form of the adjective socoví - which seems to have stemmed from *√s-t-w, a root meaning 'north' in Suwáá/Unknown (cf. Hebrew סְתָו săṯâw 'winter'). Like its Semitic and Afro-Asiatic relatives, Suwáá/Unknown is a fusional, templatic language with an accusative alignment. Because of its obvious connection with the "sacred tongue" Hebrew, Suwáá/Unknown had caught some attention in historical Western scholarship before the era of modern linguistics. While Suwáá/Unknown is very conservative in some respects (e.g. inflectional cases, dual number, a prefix-conjugated preterite, feminine plural verb forms), over its history the language has absorbed influences from Slavic, Greek, Albanian, Turkish, Arabic, and more recently French, Italian, German and English.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/
Plosive voiceless p /p/ t /t/ k /k/ q /q/ (/ʔ/)
voiced b /b/ d /d/ g /g/
Fricative voiceless f /f/ þ /θ/ s /s/ š /ʂ/ ḫ /x/ h /h/
voiced v /v/ z /z/ ž /ʐ/
Affricate c /ts/ č /ʈʂ/
Trill r /r/
Approximant l /l/ j /j/

Allophony

If a word begins with a vowel, a glottal stop is added before it.

Obstruents followed by an obstruent assimilate to the voicing of the following obstruent: mosbár /mɤsbaːr/ '(faculty of) reason' is pronounced [ˈmɤzbaːr].

Vowels

Oral

Front Back
short long short long
Close i /i/ í /iː/ u /u/ ú /uː/
Mid e /e/ é /eː/ o /ɤ/ ó /o̞ː/
Open ě /æ̝/ ě /æ̝ː/ a /a/ á /aː/

Nasal

Front Back
short long short long
Close
Mid ę /ɛ̃ː/ ǫ /ɔ̃ː/
Open

Allophony

/i/ > [ɨ] / C[+retroflex]_

Stress and intonation

Stress always falls on the first syllable of a word.

Disyllabic words tend to have a high-low intonation. In words with more syllables, pitch starts high, declines until the last syllable, and the last syllable is higher in pitch than the lowest syllable.

Diachronics

STRESS

Initially Arabic-like, then stress shifts leftward (before "Proto-/Old Suwáá/Unknown" stage), resulting in the loss of the final nasal elements in dual and plural endings

  • base cases: *kabī́ra; *kátaba; *nawlū́da (when > *náwlūda?)
  • generalize the rule "start from the left to determine syllable weight":
    • only the first 2 syllables may be stressed
    • [H L; [L H; [H H; [L L

Vowels

PSem to PNSem

  • Word-final -i dropped; this triggers the generalization of diptotes and the fronting of the overall consonant inventory.
  • *āN *īN *ūN > overlong *â *î *û if N is not part of a root

PNSem to PSuwáá/Unknown

Proto-North Semitic Proto-Suwáá/Unknown
i ь
u ъ
a > ə o
ī i
ū y
ay ě
aw u
ā a
an ǫ
in ę, ь
un ǫ, ъ

PSuwáá/Unknown to Suwáá/Unknown

Havlík's law: strong *ъ > *o, strong *ь > *e, weak jers vanish without doing anything

*y > e

Consonants

Suwáá/Unknown distinguishes between around 23 of the original 29 consonants of Proto-Semitic. (cf. Arabic 28, Aramaic/Phoenician 22, Akkadian 20, Modern Hebrew <20).

PSem *b *d *g *p *t *k *ṭ *ḳ *ð *z *þ *š *ś *s *þ̣ *ṣ *ṣ́ *ɣ *ʕ *ʔ *x *ħ *h *m *n *l *r *w *y
Suwáá/Unknown b d ž p c č t k v z f s š s f š þ g aq, -a ː, v, j ḫ ah h m n l r v j

Declension

Early Proto-North Semitic

Diptotic declension. The parenthesized nasal elements in the dual and plural were unstable due to the shift to word-initial stress that had occurred in PNSem.

Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative yawmu(n) yawmā(ni) yawmū
Accusative/Genitive yawma(n) yawmay(ni) yawmī

Proto-/Old Suwáá/Unknown

Accusative implements DOM based on animacy of the noun: = genitive for animates, = nominative for inanimates

Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative jumъ juma jumy
Genitive jumo jumě jumi

Nouns

Suwáá/Unknown nouns decline in definiteness, three numbers (singular, dual and plural), and three cases (nominative, accusative, genitive). Unusually for a modern Semitic language, case plays a very important and productive role. There is no counterpart to the construct state or possessed forms of other Semitic languages; however, the possessor always follows the head. This state of affairs presumably came about because absolute and construct forms merged very early in the language's history, thus allowing the speakers to analyze them as free case-declined forms instead of bound, "construct-locked" forms.

Morphological notes

The accusative is identical to the genitive for animate nouns, and identical to the nominative for inanimate nouns.

Suwáá/Unknown nouns are notable for generalizing the diptotic (two-case) system, with nominative singular -Ø < *-ъ < PNSem *-u and genitive/accusative singular -o < PNSem *-a, though it is uncertain whether diptotes or triptotes dominated the original Proto-Semitic paradigm. Feminine singular nominative *-atu was changed to *-ā (modern -a), presumably under Indo-European influence. The feminine plural genitive also has an unexpected form of -aci instead of the syncretic *-ác < *-āti - probably a result of analogy to the masculine genitive plural.

The definiteness suffixes arose from cliticized demonstratives: e.g. vódov 'the child' (nom.) < *voldъ-vy < PNSem *waldu ðū; porosili 'the horses' (acc./gen.) < *porosi-ъli < PNSem *parašī ʔulī.

Nouns fall into one of several declension paradigms. Diachronically, the declension paradigm a noun belongs to is a function of the declension class it was analyzed as, as well as the noun's gender.

Masculine nouns of type júm

Masculine noun: vód 'child, boy'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative vód vódov vóda vódava vóde vódele
Genitive vódo vódovo vódě vóděvě vódi vódili


Masculine noun: júm 'day'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative júm júmov júma júmava júme júmele
Genitive júmo júmovo júmě júměvě júmi júmili

Masculine *-ь-stems

Masculine noun: fob 'antelope'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative fob fobjev fobja fobjava fobje fobjele
Genitive fobje fobjevo fobjě fobjěvě fobji fobjili

q-stems

*-q > a, *-aq, *-yq > á, *-eq, ěq > ě, *-uq > ó, *-iq > é

Masculine noun: vrá 'arm'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative vrá vraqov vraqa vraqava vraqe vraqele
Genitive vraqo vraqovo vraqě vraqěvě vraqi vraqili

*ħ-stems

Similar alternations to q-stems.

Masculine noun: ráh 'wind'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ráh rehov reha rehava rehe rehele
Genitive reho rehovo rehě rehěvě rehi rehili

Feminine nouns of type molča

sira 'performance, ritual'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative sira sirěc sirota sirěta sirác siralác
Genitive siroto sirěto sirocě sirěcě siraci siralaci

Feminine nouns of type lesán

This class includes many feminine body part nouns. Examples: qӗn 'eye'; ovon, ovn- 'ear'; beton, betn- 'stomach'; koron, korn- 'horn'; óm 'mother'; lӗl 'night'; oroþ, orþ- 'earth'.

lesán 'tongue, language'
Singular Dual Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative lesán lesáněc lesána lesáněta lesánác lesánalác
Genitive lesáno lesáněto lesáně lesáněcě lesánaci lesánalaci

Feminine abstract -íc nouns

These nouns have no definiteness distinction.

Feminine noun: omeníc 'truth'
Case Singular Dual Plural
direct omeníc omenita omenijác
gen./acc. omenito omenicě omenijaci

Irregular nouns

Nouns with "irregular" declension or broken plurals became nigh-extinct by the time of Proto-Socovíc; however, some still remain.

  • ęs (pl. nom. indef. onase) 'person'
  • sem (pl. nom. indef. osame) 'name'

Possessed nouns

Possessed nouns, or nouns that take possessive suffixes, are a closed class; this group covers only the nuclear family nouns ob 'father' (pl. obáje), óm 'mother' (pl. ómác), oḫ (pl. oḫove) 'brother', oḫoc, oḫc-/oḫt- 'sister' (pl. oḫovác), ben, bn- (pl. bnáje) 'son', bęc, bęc-/bęt- 'daughter' (pl. bnác). Only the singular has possessed forms: oḫi 'my brother', but oḫava li 'my two brothers'. The possessive suffixes make the noun definite. Note that the plurals are all irregular in order to disambiguate the plural case-marked forms from the singular possessed forms.

All nouns in this class follow the same declension w.r.t. possession. The oblique can be formed by adding -bi to the end of the accusative/genitive possessed forms.

'My sister' and 'my daughter' are oḫci and bęci in the nominative; all other posssessed forms take stems in oḫt- and bęt-.

Possessed forms of ob 'father'
Nominative
Case Singular Dual Plural
1 obi obena obene
2.m obeko obekma obekme
2.f obeč obekno
3.m obe obema obeme
3.f obá obeno
Accusative/Genitive
Case Singular Dual Plural
1 obajo obana obane
2.m obako obakma obakme
2.f obač obakno
3.m obav obama obame
3.f obá obano

Adjectives

Adjectives merge the genitive and oblique cases into the genitive case.

Adjectives precede nouns in the nominative and accusative cases: rób běc 'a big house', taba spara 'a good story', but follow the nouns in the genitive and oblique: docěc běcovo róbovo 'the door of the big house', and prepositional objects: en běcovo róbovo 'in the big house'. Adjectives do not agree in definiteness when they precede the noun, but do agree when they follow the noun.

Adjectives ending in a consonant

Adjective declension: tab 'good' (masculine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative tab tabov taba tabava tabe tabele
Genitive tabo tabovo tabě taběvě tabi tabili
Adjective declension: tab 'good' (feminine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative taba taběc tabota taběta tabác tabalác
Genitive taboto taběto tabocě taběcě tabaci tabalaci

Nisba adjectives

Adjective declension: bošorí 'bodily, physical' (masculine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative bošorí bošorív bošorija bošoríva bošorije bošoríle
Genitive bošorije bošorívo bošorijě bošorívě bošorí bošoríli
Adjective declension: bošorí 'bodily, physical' (feminine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative bošorija bošoríc bošorijota bošoríta bošorijác bošorílác
Genitive bošorijoto bošoríto bošorijocě bošorícě bošorijaci bošorílaci

Pronouns

Genitive and short accusative pronouns can be used as verbal clitics denoting a pronominal object; the clitic precedes the verb unless the verb is in the imperative. The genitive/dative clitic comes before the accusative clitic. A pronominal object may be "doubled" by a clitic for emphasis like in Balkan or Romance languages.

The original 1st person dual-plural pronoun, *naħnā/*naħnū was reinterpreted as two different pronouns, each with its respective number ending: hence 1st person dual nahna < *naħnā and 1st person plural nahne < *naħnū.

Personal pronouns
Case First person
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative nák nahna nahne
Genitive li lona lone
Accusative níc, ni nác, na néc, ne


Personal pronouns, cont.
Case Second person Third person
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative ǫto ǫc ǫtma ǫtme* ǫcna he hi homa home hen
Genitive lók lóč lókma lókme lóčna lú lá luma lume lěn
Accusative kác, ka, k číc, či, č kmác, kma kméc, kme čnác, čna hóc, ho hác, ha homác, homa homéc, hom henác, hen

* 2nd person masculine plural is also used as a polite pronoun.

Interrogative pronouns
Case 'who' 'what'
Nominative mǫ ma
Genitive mǫlu malu
Accusative mǫc ma


Demonstrative pronoun
Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative ve věc va věta ele elác
Genitive vu věto vě věcě eli elaci
Dative velu větla věluma větluma elilúm elátlěn


Relative pronoun ove < *han-ðū

Relative pronoun
Singular Dual Plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
Nominative ove ověc ova ověta óle ólác
Genitive ovu ověto ově ověcě óli ólaci
Dative ovelu ovětla ověluma ovětluma ólilúm ólátlěn

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

Different cardinal numerals are declined differently, and have various effects on the modified noun depending on the final digits of the numeral:

  • Cardinal numerals one and two, and those ending in "1" or "2", are declined as adjectives. The modified noun is singular (and agrees in case) for numbers ending in ahod, and the noun is dual for numbers ending in fla.
    • Nul (0) is also an adjective that takes nominative singular.
  • All other numerals are declined as nouns and require the noun they modify to be in the genitive plural.
    • Words šolaf (3) through cés (9) or in qošor (10-19) are declined like feminine singular nouns in adnominal position (Hén šolafa onasi 'There are three people') and like masculine singular nouns in nominal position (Hén šolaf 'There are three'). Colloquial Hebrew displays this behavior as well. This pattern of agreement derives from the original Semitic chiastic concord, seen in Biblical Hebrew and Classical Arabic, wherein masculine numerals had feminine endings and vice versa.
    • Words qošore (20), šolafe (30), ..., cése (90) are declined as masculine plural nouns.
    • Units such as meja (100, f), olop (1000, m), milijon, milijarda, etc. are declined as ordinary nouns, taking the appropriate number and case.

Examples:

  • qošore júmi '20 days', qošore sonáci '20 years'
  • qošore v ahod júm '21 days', qošore v ahda sona '21 years'
  • qošore vo fla júma '22 days', qošore vo flota sonota '22 years'
  • qošore v šolafa júmi '23 days', qošore v šolafa sonaci '23 years'
  • milijona dolari '2 million dollars'
  • mejota milijoni dolari '200 million dollars'
  • Olop lělaci v lěl 'One thousand and one nights' (Arabic ˀalfu laylatin wa-laylatun).

Since Suwáá/Unknown has singular and dual forms, modifying numerals one and two are not needed; thus Li hén voda v bęc 'I have two sons and a daughter' is just as correct as, in fact preferred to, Li hén fla voda v ahda bęc.

The ordinal numerals okdom 'first' and okrob 'second' are suppletive; okdom is the elative of the root k-d-m (kodam) 'front, before', (cf. the etymology of first), and okrob is the elative of k-r-b (koreb) 'near' (cf. next).

Suwáá/Unknown numerals
n nth 1/n
0 nul novel -
1 ahod (m), ahda (f) okdom -
2 fla (m), flota (f) okrob žǫb
3 šolaf, šolafa šolef mǫšólef
4 roba, roboqa robá mǫróbě
5 ḫǫs, ḫǫsa ḫones mǫḫónes
6 séf, séfa sodef mǫsódef
7 sóp, sópa sobá mǫsóbě
8 fomán, fomána fomen mǫfómen
9 cés, césa cosá mǫcósě
10 qošor, qošora qoser mǫqóser
11 ahod v qošor - -
20 qošore - -
21 qošore v ahod - -
30 šolafe - -
40 roboqe - -
50 ḫǫse - -
60 séfe - -
70 sópe - -
80 fománe - -
90 cése - -
100 meja mejocí -
200 mejota mejotají -
300 šolafa mejác šolafamejocí -
1000 olop olpí -
2000 olpa olpají -
3000 šolafa olpe šolafaolpí -

Verbs

See also: Verbal subparadigms.

Voices

Passive voice is almost concatenative, it's often just a nasal vowel prefix (derived from the *n-preformative):

  • unprefixed ę-
  • w/ personal prefixes nǫ-, tǫ-, ję-

With I-nasal verbs this changes to:

  • unprefixed é-
  • w/ personal prefixes nó-, tó-, jé-

Overview of the verb forms

Present

The present tense stems from the Proto-Semitic stative, or the suffix conjugation.

Imperfect

Preterite

The preterite indicates an action that was completed in the past. It was inherited from the Proto-Semitic preterite.

Lú nohób vohób.
lú=no-hób-Ø vohób-Ø
3SG.M.DAT=1-give/PRET-SG gold-SG.ACC.INDEF
I gave him gold.

Morphologically, the preterite is one of two forms that inherit the Proto-Semitic prefix conjugation. The personal prefixes are usually 1st person no-, 2nd person to-, and 3rd person je-, though a "weak" 1st radical may change the prefix vowel. Note that unlike in other Semitic languages, the 1st person singular prefix is n- (not *ʔ-), and number/gender suffixes are added as in 2nd and 3rd person (cf. Maghrebi Arabic/Maltese). Also, 3fs form of jektól is jektóli, not toktól! This is often a shibboleth for Hebrew and Arabic speakers.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive form is similar to the preterite form, but has a short vowel in the stem (like the imperative) instead of a long vowel. The short vowel often elides when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added.

The non-2nd person imperatives may be formed with the hortative proclitic c (< ce! 'come!') plus the subjunctive.

Jěj roþěja no jeþej, po c jeþej.
jěj roþěj-a no=je-þe-i po c=je-þe-i
if want/PRES-3SG.F SUBJ=3-leave-SG.F, then HORT=SUBJ=3-leave-SG.F
If she wants to leave, let her leave.

In archaic language the bare subjunctive is used for hortatives and optatives:

Jéce memlóčov lók.
je-ʔce-Ø memlóč-ov=lók
3-come/SUBJ-SG.M kingdom-SG.DEF=2SG.M.GEN
Thy kingdom come.
Ječna f v g moftóbacota funkcijota...
je-čŭn-a f v g moftóbac-ota funkcij-ota
3-be/SUBJ-DU f and g continuous-DU.F.NOM.INDEF function-DU.NOM.INDEF
Let f and g be continuous functions...

The subjunctive (like the imperative) is negated with the negative particle la, instead of bo.

La li tošnej!
la li=to-šne-i
PROH 1SG.DAT=2-be_resentful/SUBJ-F.SG
Don't be mad at me!
La ho tačol!
la ho=to-ʔčol-Ø
PROH 3SG.M=2-eat/SUBJ-M.SG
Don't eat it!

Imperative

The imperative is formed by removing the personal prefix from the subjunctive. Often the subjunctive is used with imperative meaning instead. Any clitic pronouns must follow the imperative, not precede it like with other verb forms.

Imperative forms are often syncretic with present tense forms.

Verbal noun

Verbal nouns may be marked with a feminine suffix -c, a preformative t- or both. Its use mirrors that of the maṣdar in Arabic.

Participles

  • Present participle: *qātilu, *mu-
  • Stative passive participle: *qatīlu (only G-stems)
  • Past participle: *qatālu

Future

The most frequently used compound tense, the future tense is formed with de + subjunctive.

Perfect

The perfect construction is similar to Slavic: the past (also called resultative) participle is used with the present tense copula, the pronoun (a so called esse-perfect).

Pluperfect

Future perfect

G-stems: jektól

jektól 'he killed'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
kotlec
Present participle
katel
Stative passive participle
kotil
Past participle
kotal
Imperative
Singular Dual Plural
2.m ktol! ktola! ktole!
2.f ktoli! ktolno!
Present
Singular Dual Plural
1 kotolok kotolna kotolne
2.m kotolot kotoltma kotoltme
2.f kotoloc kotoltno
3.m kotol kotola kotole
3.f kotola kotolota kotolno
Subjunctive
Singular Dual Plural
1 noktol noktla noktle
2.m toktol toktla toktle
2.f toktli toktolno
3.m jektol jektla jektle
3.f jektli jektolno
Imperfect
Add fo- to present tense forms.
Preterite
Singular Dual Plural
1 noktól noktóla noktóle
2.m toktól toktóla toktóle
2.f toktóli toktólno
3.m jektól jektóla jektóle
3.f jektóli jektólno
Future I
Singular Dual Plural
1 de noktol de noktla de noktle
2.m de toktol de toktla de toktle
2.f de toktli de toktolno
3.m de jektol de jektla de jektle
3.f de jektli de jektolno
Future II
Singular Dual Plural
1.m de nočon kotol de nočna kotla de nočne kotle
1.f de nočon kotla de nočna kotlota de nočne kotlác
2.m de točon kotol de točna kotla de točne kotle
2.f de točni kotla de točna kotlota de točonno kotlác
3.m de ječon kotol de ječna kotla de ječne kotle
3.f de ječni kotla de ječna kotlota de ječonno kotlác
Perfect
Singular Dual Plural
1.m nák kotol nahna kotla nahne kotle
1.f nák kotla nahna kotlota nahne kotlác
2.m ǫto kotol ǫtma kotla ǫtme kotle
2.f ǫc kotla ǫtma kotlota ǫtno kotlác
3.m (he) kotol (homa) kotla (home) kotle
3.f (hi) kotla (homa) kotlota (hen) kotlác
Pluperfect
Singular Dual Plural
1.m nočen kotol nočena kotla nočene kotle
1.f nočen kotla nočena kotlota nočene kotlác
2.m točen kotol točena kotla točene kotle
2.f točeni kotla točena kotlota točenno kotlác
3.m ječen kotol ječena kotla ječene kotle
3.f ječeni kotla ječena kotlota ječenno kotlác

N-stems: jękotál

D-stems: jekótél, jękótél

Examples: jobóréč 'greet, celebrate', joþójém 'bring up in conversation, build upon a concept' (< þima 'topic, theme')

jopóléž 'split (something)'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
pólžíc
Present Participle
mopólež
Imperative
Singular Dual Plural
2.m pólež! pólža! pólže!
2.f pólži! póležno!
Subjunctive
Singular Dual Plural
1 nopólež nopólža nopólže
2.m topólež topólža topólže
2.f topólži topóležno
3.m jepólež jepólža jepólže
3.f jepólži jepóležno
Preterite
Singular Dual Plural
1 nopóléž nopóléža nopóléže
2.m topóléž topóléža topóléže
2.f topóléži topóléžno
3.m jepóléž jepóléža jepóléže
3.f jepóléži jepóléža jepóléžno

Š-stems: soktel, ęsoktel

Gt-stems: ektotel

The ⟨t⟩-infix adds a reciprocal or mediopassive meaning to the verb.

Metathesis of ⟨t⟩

Kinda like Hebrew but weirder.

The ⟨t⟩ metathesizes out of the stem and dissimilates when the first radical is:

  • t: *tt > st
  • c: *ct > sc
  • d: *dt > zd
  • þ: *þt > sþ

Metathesis also takes place when the first radical is m and n to better distinguish m from n:

  • m: *mt > tm
  • n: *nt > tn

Št-stems: stoktol, ęstoktal

čan 'be, exist'

The verb čan has no present tense indicative forms; the formal "present tense" forms are used for the future and subjunctive. It also has no imperfective-perfective distinction in the past or future. In the present indicative, pronouns are used as the copula, and the word jef is used to indicate existence.

čanec, čon, jočen, čan, čun 'be'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
čanec
Present Participle
čun
Past Participle
čan
Imperative
Singular Dual Plural
2.m čon! čona! čone!
2.f čoni! čonno!
Present
Singular Dual Plural
1 (nák) (nahna) (nahne)
2.m (ǫto) (ǫtma) (ǫtme)
2.f (ǫc) (ǫtno)
3.m (ho) (homa) (home)
3.f (hi) (hen)
Past
Singular Dual Plural
1 nočen nočena nočene
2.m točen točena točene
2.f točeni jočenno
3.m ječen ječena ječene
3.f ječeni ječenno
Future
Singular Dual Plural
1 de nočon de nočna de nočne
2.m de točon de točna de točne
2.f de točni de točonno
3.m de ječon de ječna de ječne
3.f de ječni de ječonno
Subjunctive
Singular Dual Plural
1 nočon nočna nočne
2.m točon točna točne
2.f točni točonno
3.m jočon jočna jočne
3.f jočni jočonno

Interrogatives

Interrogatives
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
ma what *mā
mǫ who *man
mur when *mā + Ancient Greek hōra 'time'
vilma why vil 'for' + ma 'what'

Prepositions

Prepositions
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
cat under *taħt
en in, towards, into *ʔin(a)
me from, with *min; Greek me
qę between, among *ʕimm-
qolě on *ʕalay
vil for
smǫ named, by the name of *šman

Conjunctions

Conjunctions
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
v(o) and *wa-
éla or *ʔim lā
u xor *ʔaw
vén so, thus *wa-hinna 'and lo'
ča as
no subjunctive *ʔan(na), *-anna
jěj if *yahwī
lu if (contrary-to-fact) *law
po then, so *pa-
onur when *han-hōra or *ʔana hōra

Particles

Particles
Suwáá/Unknown Gloss Etymology
o polar question *ha-
bo not (indicative) *bal
la not (irrealis) *lā

Usage

Nominal sentences

As in most Semitic and many Slavic languages, present indicative does not require a copula:

Eláh ibošorí. (also: Eláh he ibošorí. Obviously, a Muslim might say Alláh (he) ibošorí.)
God is incorporeal.

Possession

The possessor follows the possessum.

Possession is emphasized with the adjective nopsí (the pronoun is optional):

me joděcě nopsícě
me jod-ěcě nopsí-cě
with hand-DU.DEF own-DU.F.DEF
with one's [the subject's] own hands

Emphasized possession of possessed nouns: e.g. bni nopsív 'my own son', cf. běcov nopsív li 'my own house'.

Existentials

In positive clauses, hén is used as the word for "there is"; in interrogative and negative clauses jef is used.

Existential words are used in predicative possession.

Relative clauses

As is the case in most European languages, but unlike in e.g. Arabic, relative pronouns agree with the gender and number of the head, but are case-marked for their syntactic position within the relative clause.

The choice of the relative pronoun depends on the definiteness/specificity of the noun. Specific referents use ve as the relative pronoun, whereas indefinite or hypothetical nouns use mǫ (animate)/ma (inanimate).

Derivational morphology

Patterns

  • CoCCán 'person characterized by//associated with X", also -án
    • rahmán 'merciful one' < *r-ħ-m
  • meCCoC place noun
    • mevbáh 'altar' < *ð-b-ħ 'sacrifice' (altar, altarj- is more common though)
    • mesvój 'plain' < *š-w-y 'even, equal'

Guidelines to internationalisms

Heuristic: Transliterating from the Modern Hebrew form of the internationalism and adding any acute accents as necessary often gives a correct Socovíc form. lol

Affixes

  • aft(o)- 'self-, auto-'
    • aftokotlec 'suicide'
    • aftorahom 'self-pity' < rahom, rahm- 'compassion, mercy'
    • aftoqosor 'self-worth; eigenvalue' < qosor, qosr- 'value, worth'.
  • -cija '-tion'
    • funkcija '(mathematical) function'
  • -eza '-esis'
    • fotosinþeza 'photosynthesis'
  • i- 'un-', 'non-' (negative prefix for nouns and adjectives)
    • ibercí 'nonmetallic'
  • -í adjective (nisba) suffix
    • májí 'aquatic, aqueous' < máj 'water'
    • qomí 'national' < qom 'people, nation'
    • -ikí '-ic'
      • logikí 'logical' < logika 'logic' vs. logí '(of or pertaining to) throat'
    • Some 'redundant' adjective suffixes may be omitted, more often than in English: mizoginí 'misogynistic' (cf. German misogyn)
  • -íc abstract noun suffix from nouns and adjectives
    • nopsíc 'identity' < nopos, nops- 'self'
    • omeníc 'truth' < omen 'true'
    • onasíc 'humanity (human species)' < onase 'people (pl.)' (compare ęsíc 'humanity (being human)' < ęs 'person (sg.)'; cf. German Menschheit vs. Menschlichkeit)
    • polaríc 'polarity' < polarí 'polar'
  • -ist '-ist'
    • Again, not always used: mizogin 'misogynist'
  • -izom, -izm- '-ism'
    • šiqizom 'Shiˁism'
  • -loja (< Demotic Greek -loya) '-logy'

Dialects

Standard Socovíc (socovíc standardíc) has the dual number and the feminine plural verb suffix -no. Other dialects tend to omit one or both of these features.

Greek-influenced

  • c (in affixes) > s: socovis : socovíc
  • f.pl. ending (all cases) is -as, def. -alas
  • e and ě merge to /e/
  • Netagin-esque mutation?
Adjective declension: tab 'good' (masculine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative tab tabov taba tabava tabe tabele
Genitive tabo tabovo tabe tabeve tabi tabili
Adjective declension: tab 'good' (feminine)
Singular Dual Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite indefinite definite
Nominative taba tabes tabota tabeta tabas tabalas
Genitive taboto tabeto tabose tabese tabas tabalas

Italian-influenced

  • Geminates are preserved; *VCC did not turn into *VːC
  • *ū > *y merges into i rather than e
    • Plural verb ending is still -e
  • /q/ merges into /k/
  • No gender distinction in plural

Phrasebook

  • Solám! 'Hello!'
  • Tabǫ ocěj! 'Welcome!' (to m.sg, conjugate as adjective)
  • Tab mahár! 'Good morning!'
  • Tab júm! 'Good day!'
  • Taba mesa! 'Good evening!'
  • Taba lěl! 'Good night!'
  • Ma smov lók/lóč? 'What is your (m.sg./f.sg.) name?'
  • Smov li [name]. 'My name is [name].'
  • Staqpu/Staqpovi/Staqpova/Staqpove/Staqpuno li! (to one man/one woman/two people/m.pl./f.pl.) 'Excuse me!'
  • Oj vil ma! 'No worries!'
  • Čok. 'Yes.'
  • Bo. 'No.'
  • Bo mólúk socovíc. 'I don't speak Suwáá/Unknown.'
  • O mólút/mólúc... 'Do you (m.sg./f.sg.) speak...'
    • ...anglíc? '...English?'
    • ...němcíc? '...German?'
    • ...francíc? '...French?'
    • ...rusíc? '...Russian?'
    • ...juníc? '...Greek?'
    • ...qebríc? '...Hebrew?'
    • ...qorobíc? '...Arabic?'

Texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Čóle onasele jǫvolade horare v savije en qosrovo v tahikili.
all-PL.M.NOM human.PL.DEF.NOM 3.PRES-beget/PASS-PL.M free-PL.M.NOM and equal-PL.M.NOM in worth-SG.DEF.INS and right-PL.DEF.INS
All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Mǫsečale me mosbáro v tostočíno, home mǫpokade no joptaqle okrobokroblu en ḫnumoto oḫovíto.
PART-empower/PASS-PL.M.NOM with rationality-SG.GEN and conscience-SG.GEN 3.PL.M.NOM PART-obligate/PASS-PL.M.NOM SUBJ 3-behave/PRES-PL.M each_other-SG.M.DAT in spirit-SG.GEN brotherhood-SG.GEN
Empowered with reason and conscience, they ought to behave toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(audio)

Pater noster

Obene, ove ǫto en somájili!
Jektódas smov lók.
Jéce memlóčov lók.
Jępoqele roþív lók, ěma en somájili ěvi v en orþěto.
Ḫlebov lone jumív cen lone ojúm.
V staqpu lone ḫotálác lone, ěvi v nahne nostaqpove ḫotálác nož lone.
V la ne sabej en tonésíne, éla žal ne leč rogovo.
Amen.

Schleicher's fable

Sověc v porosele

Sova větla bo foječon qobáj jerí porosi; okdomov foježórer čobid merčab, okrobov fojeshab rób homol, v solefov fojeshab ęso išǫ. Sověc jamári porosili: «Lébov li bemoraru, rájoto ęso mosožéro porosi.» Porosele jamáre: «Stosmeqi, sova, lébov lone bemoraru, rájili ve: ęs, baqlov, beqši noposlu qobájvobi sověto ham molbes. Vén sovětla bo jef qobáj.» Someqa ve, sověc jebráhi en mesvójovo.

(audio)

The Sheep and the Horses

A sheep that had no wool saw horses; one was pulling a heavy wagon, one was carrying a big load, and one was carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, having seen a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us, having seen this: a man, the master, makes out of the wool of the sheep a warm garment for himself. So the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.

A math joke (which probably already exists in quite a few languages)

Vilma matricěc jektórádi?
Why did the matrix crumple up?
Pove lá foječon nul aftoqosor.
Because it had a zero eigenvalue/zero self-worth.
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