Nurian

Nurian (gaħēs nūrimēs /ˈgɐħæːs ˈn̪ˠʊɚrʲɪmʲæːs/) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Lithuanian, Arabic, Italian and English.

Introduction

Nurian is spoken on the west coast of the continent called Kuderau by Wiebians. It is easily the most conservative Talmic language, though with signficant Meetzarric influences. It is spoken alongside Meetzarric languages, Clofabic languages and New World Reber Wiebian.

Historical phonology

• Cl > Cj > Cʲ (Italian style): pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl chl ghl > pi bi mi fi ci gi ngi chi ghi
  • Exceptions: ħl ȝl; nl, rl > ll
• C₁C₂ > C₂C₂ (similarly to Italian)
• mlīd - conclusion, end > mīd /mʲiːdˠ/
• ar- > aC- (ar- before vowels); as- > s-

Numbers

• 1: cēma /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɐ/
• 2: tiħōr /tʲɪˈħɔɚ/
• 3: narge /ˈnˠɑɚd͡ʒ/
• 4: dhaufe /ˈðˠɐʊfʲ/
• 5: saliħe /sˠɐˈlʲɪħ/
• 6: stāma /ˈsˠtˠɑːmɐ/
• 7: rōde /ˈrˠoːdʲ/
• 8: loreħe /ɫɔɚˈrʲæħ/
• 9: farve /ˈfˠɑɚvʲ/
• 10: ħiler /ˈħɪlʲɛɚ/ (influenced by Meetzarri ulyerre)
• 11: cēmara /ˈt͡ʃæːmˠɑɚrˠɐ/ (< Themsarian cēmiħiore, influenced by Meetzarri emarra)
• 12: pide /ˈpʲɪdʲ/ (Zutarl pirdi)
• 144: tarþe /ˈtˠɑɚθʲ/
• 1728: ūbyc /ˈuːbˠɪ̞k/

Phonology

The standard [Standard A] Nurian consonant inventory contains around 42 consonants and 12 vowels. A notable feature of the phonology of most Nurian accents is phonemic palatalization in hard-soft pairs, similar to Lithuanian; however, the Fiuschērian dialect or accent is an exception in that the hard-soft distinction is realized as pharyngealization versus lack of pharygealization. All consonants except /ħ ʕ h j/ are members of a hard-soft-pair. /ħ ʕ h j/ color the /a/ vowel as if they were soft, and /ħ ʕ/ tend to lower adjacent vowels.

Accent 1

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Nurian [Accent 1]

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Radical	Glottal
		vel.	pal.	vel.	pal.	vel.	pal.
Nasal		mˠ	mʲ	n̪ˠ			nʲ	ɲ~ɲ̄	ŋ
Stop	tenuis	pˠ	pʲ	t̪ˠ			tʲ	tʃ	k
	voiced	bˠ	bʲ	d̪ˠ			dʲ	dʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	fˠ	fʲ	θˠ	θ	sˠ	sʲ	ʃ	x	ħ	h
	voiced	vˠ	vʲ	ðˠ	ð	zˠ	zʲ	ʒ	ɣ	ʕ
Trill						rˠ	rʲ
Approximant	central							j
	lateral			ɫ			lʲ

Vowels

Nurian shows an unusual vowel system, with rhotic vowels and a relative lack of phonemic front vowels. There is a three-way contrast between short, long and rhotic vowels. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low short and rhotic vowels.

Vowel phonemes in Nurian [Accent 1]

	Front			Central		Back
	short	long	rhotic	short	rhotic	short	long	rhotic
Close	/ɪ~ɪ̞/	/iː/	/ɪ˞/			/ʊ/	/uː/	/ʊ˞/
Mid	[ɛ~æ]		[ɛ˞]	[ə]	/ɝ/	/ɔ/	/oː/	/ɔ˞/
Open		[æː]		/ɐ/			/ɑː/	[ɑ˞]

Diphthongs: /ɐɪ/ /ɐʊ/ /iə~iɛ/

• Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
• /a aː/ has two allophones:
  • [ɐ~ɑ ɑː] after hard consonants
  • [ɛ~æ æː] after soft consonants
• /ɝ/ has three allophones:
  • [ɑ˞] after hard consonants (in or before a stressed syllable)
  • [ɛ˞] after soft consonants (in or before a stressed syllable)
  • [a˞] after radicals
  • [ɝ] in posttonic positions
• [ə] occurs as an epenthetic vowel after word-final geminates except before another vowel.

Accent 2

Polishy - ended up quite Mandarin-esque due to the rhotic vowels and palatalization!

• ci gi chi ghi = [tʂ dʐ ʂ ʐ]
• sci = [ʂtʂ]
• ti di si zi = [tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ]
• ni ngi > [ɲ]
• li > [ʎ]
• ri > [dʲ]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Standard Nurian [Accent 2]

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Radical	Glottal
		vel.	pal.	vel.	pal.
Nasal		mˠ	mʲ	n̪ˠ				ɲ	ŋ
Stop	tenuis	pˠ	pʲ	t̪ˠ			tʂ	tɕ	k
	voiced	bˠ	bʲ	d̪ˠ			dʐ	dʑ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	fˠ	fʲ	θˠ	θ	sˠ	ʂ	ɕ	x	ħ	h
	voiced	vˠ	vʲ	ðˠ	ð	zˠ	ʐ	ʑ	ɣ	ʕ
Trill						ɾˠ
Approximant	central							j
	lateral			ɫ				ʎ

Vowels

Vowel phonemes in Nurian [Accent 2]

	Front			Central		Back
	short	long	rhotic	short	rhotic	short	long	rhotic
Close	/ɪ~ɪ̞/	/iː/	/i˞/			/ʊ/	/uː/	/o˞/
Mid	[ɛ~æ]		[e˞]	[ə]	/ɚ/	/ɔ/	/oː/
Open		[æː]		/ɐ/	/aː/		[ɑː]	[ɒ˞]

Many vowels are centralized after retroflexes: /a aː ɝ i iː ɪɚ/ become [ä äː ɐɚ ɨ ɨː ɘɚ]

Accent 3

Fiuschēra [fuʃˈʃæːrˁɑ] accent (Arabic-esque)

• Hard consonants > pharyngealized; soft consonants > plain
• o and ō are centralized
• θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ
• Non-rhotic

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Fiuschērian Nurian

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal	Postvelar	Radical	Glottal
		phar.	plain	phar.	plain	phar.	plain
Nasal		mˁ	m	nˁ			n	ɲ	ŋ̠
Stop	tenuis	pˁ	p	tˁ			t	tʃ	k̠
	voiced	bˁ	b	dˁ			d	dʒ	ɡ̄
Fricative	voiceless	fˁ	f		θ	sˁ	s	ʃ	x~χ	ħ	h
	voiced	vˁ			ð	zˁ	z	ʒ	ɣ~ʁ	ʕ
Trill						rˁ	r
Approximant	central	wˁ	w					j
	lateral						l

Vowels

Vowel phonemes in Fiuschērian Nurian

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	/ɪ~ɪ̞/	/iː/			/ʊ/	/uː/
Mid	[ɛ~æ]		/ə/	/ɵː/	[ɤ]	[oː]
Open		[æː]	/a/	/aː/	[ɑ]	[ɑː]

/ɐɪ ɐʊ iə~iɛ iɚ uɚ ɛɚ ɔɚ ɑɚ/ = /ɐj ɐw iə iə uə ɛə~æə əː ɑə/

Accent 4

Conservative

• ci gi chi ghi = [kʲ gʲ xʲ ɣʲ]
• sci = [skʲ]

Accent 5

Scottish Gaelic pseudo-gib

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Nurian. Nurian stress can be derived by applying the following stress pattern in Thensarian and then Thensarian > Nurian sound changes:

• A short final vowel cannot be stressed.
• Only one of the last 3 syllables can be stressed.
• the last heavy syllable is stressed if not the final syllable; if there is a final heavy syllable, the penult is stressed. (e.g. burgent [ˈbʊɚdʒænt])
• If no heavy syllables, the 3rd from last is stressed.

Orthography

Palatalization

Palatalization

Grapheme	m	p	b	f	v	n	t	d	th	dh	s	z	r	l	ng	c	g	ch	gh	ħ	ȝ	h	j
Hard	/mˠ/	/pˠ/	/bˠ/	/fˠ/	/vˠ/	/nˠ/	/tˠ/	/dˠ/	/θˠ/	/ðˠ/	/sˠ/	/zˠ/	/rˠ/	/ɫ/	/ŋ/	/k/	/ɡ/	/x/	/ɣ/	/ħ/	/ʕ/	/h/	/j/
Soft	/mʲ/	/pʲ/	/bʲ/	/fʲ/	/vʲ/	/nʲ/	/tʲ/	/dʲ/	/θ/	/ð/	/sʲ/	/zʲ/	/rʲ/	/lʲ/	/ɲ/	/t͡ʃ/	/d͡ʒ/	/ʃ/	/ʒ/

r = r-coloring before a consonant or word-finally

Grammar

Somewhat unusually, Nurian is verb-final with prepositions and modifier-modified order.

Nouns

Sgv-clv-plv system.