Illyrian
| Illyrian | |
|---|---|
| Илирјански јазик | |
| Created by | – |
| Era | Ancient; reconstructed in modern times |
Indo-European
| |
Illyrian (Template:Lang-cu, Ilirjanski jazik) is a reconstructed South Slavic language, closely related to Slovene, Macedonian, and Serbo-Croatian. It is characterized by the loss of the Proto-Slavic /g/ (marked in writing with an apostrophe ’, representing either a silent position or a glottal stop). The language preserves a rich system of nominal and pronominal declension and a fully inflected verb system.
Phonology
A distinctive feature of Illyrian is the treatment of Proto-Slavic /g/, which is absent in the language except in written form, even then it only appears at the start of the word. In writing, its position is marked with an apostrophe (’). For example:
- Illyrian: јокро’ ("around") ← cf. Russian вокруг
- Illyrian: бо’ ("god") ← cf. Serbo-Croatian бог
The vowel system corresponds broadly to South Slavic norms, while consonants align with Slovene and Macedonian developments.
Grammar
Cases
Illyrian preserves a full system of seven cases, similar to other Slavic languages:
- Nominative (N): subject, citation form. (бо’ "god")
- Genitive (G): possession, "of x". (бо’a "of god")
- Dative (D): indirect object, "to x". (бо’у "to god")
- Accusative (A): direct object. (бо’а "god" as object)
- Locative (L): location, used with prepositions. (бо’у "at god")
- Instrumental (I): "by, with". (бо’ам "by god")
- Vocative (V): address. (бо’о! "o god!")
Nouns
Nouns inflect by case and number, but unlike other Slavic languages, Illyrian does not distinguish between hard and soft declension classes. Masculine paradigms illustrate the typical endings.
Example: Masculine Hard stem
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | бо’ | бо’əви |
| Genitive | бо’a | бо’əвем |
| Dative | бо’у | бо’əвам |
| Accusative | бо’а | бо’əвә |
| Locative | бо’у | бо’əвих |
| Instrumental | бо’ам | бо’əви |
| Vocative | бо’о | бо’ови |
Pronouns
Illyrian personal pronouns are richly declined.
Example: 1st person singular
| Case | Form |
|---|---|
| Nominative | Јаз |
| Genitive | Мə |
| Dative | Мəни |
| Accusative | Мə |
| Locative | Мəнә |
| Instrumental | Мəној |
| Vocative | Јаз |
Other pronouns follow similar paradigms (Ти "you (sg.)", Сə "oneself", Мидва "we two", Видва "you two", Јон "he", Јона "she", Јоно "it", plural forms, and various interrogatives such as Хдо "who", Цај "what").
Numerals
Illyrian cardinal numbers:
- 1: један
- 2: два
- 3: три
- 4: штирә
- 5: пет / пеќ
- 6: шест / шесќ
- 7: седәм
- 8: осәм
- 9: деват / деваќ
- 10: десат / десаќ
Verbs
Verbs in Illyrian conjugate for person and number, and exhibit present, past, and participial forms.
Example: горети ("to burn")
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | горим | горимә |
| 2nd | гориш | горитә |
| 3rd | гори | горо |
- Past tense: горл/горла/горло (sg. masc./fem./neut.), горли/гореле (pl.)
- Present adverbial participle: горућ
- Present adjectival participle: горути
- Gerunds: verbs form verbal nouns in -ање/-ење (писати → писање "writing"; горети → горење "burning").
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives decline like nouns. Adverbs are non-declined and formed primarily from adjectival bases. Example: Adjective declension (hard stem)
| Case | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Neuter Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | добəр | добра | добро | добри |
| Genitive | добəра | добре | добро’ | добрих |
| Dative | добəрy | добрeј | доброму | добрим |
| Accusative | добəр | добру | добро | добре |
| Locative | добəрy | добрeј | доброму | добрих |
| Instrumental | добəром | добрoм | добрoм | добрим |
| Vocative | добəрe! | добра! | добро! | добри! |
See also
References
- Comparative grammar materials (reconstructed)