Aterran Imperial

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Modern Standard Imperial
Drikva Yakke
Pronunciation[ˈdrik.vɑ ˈjɑk.ʃe]
Created byBenJamin P. Johnson,

creator of:

curator of:

Date2020
SettingPlanet Aterra

Drikva Yakke /ˈdrik.vɑ ˈjɑk.ʃe/, or Modern Standard Imperial, is a standardized analytic language developed from an earlier creolized form of of various ancient languages, though it still retains a rather deep orthography from an earlier form. It is written in the Imperial Script (Kuggi Yakke /ˈkuɡ.ʒi ˈjɑk.ʃe/), which is an alphabet originally written vertically in syllable blocks, but is now most commonly written left-to-right in individual letters. The block-form letters are still commonly used similarly to how majuscule letters are used in Latinate scripts.

Phonology

The Imperial Language is actually a snapshot of several languages over the course of several centuries. While the written language changed very little in that time, the spoken language changed significantly, and the word order and syntax became much more rigid. In a way, it is analogous to Latin, the Classical form of which would barely be understood by speakers of Vulgar Latin a few centuries later, but the word forms remained largely the same.

Consonants

  Labial Dental Coronal Palatal Dorsal
Stop p · b t · d     k · ɡ
Affricate pf · bv   ts · dz tʃ · dʒ (kʃ) · (ɡʒ)
Fricative f · v θ · ð s · z ʃ · ʒ · h
Nasal m   n   ŋ
Lateral   l (ɬ) · ɮ    
Lateral Affricate     tɬ · dɮ    
Tap     ɾ    
Approximant       j  

Vowels

  Front Back
High i · · u
  ɪ · · ʊ
Mid e · · o
  ɛ · · ɔ
Mid æ · · ɑ

Diphthongs

There were no diphthongs in Old Imperial; The modern diphthongs are contractions or earlier bi-syllabic constructions. E.g. meu ‘I’ was pronounced as /ˈme.u/ rather than the modern /mew/.

  Front Back
Mid-High ej ew
Low-High aj aw

Orthography & Romanization

Rom IPA Description
a ɑ Like 〈a〉 in English father.
ae aj Like 〈i〉 in English wine.
ai aj Like 〈i〉 in English wine.
ao aw Like 〈ow〉 in English house.
à æ Like 〈a〉 in English bat.
b b Like 〈b〉 in English bot.
bb bv Like 〈bv〉 in English obvious.
bh v Like 〈v〉 in English very. Identical to 〈v〉, but from an earlier /bʰ/.
d d Like 〈d〉 in English day.
dd dz Like 〈dz〉 in English adze. Identical to 〈tz〉, but from an earlier /dd/.
dh ð Like 〈th〉 in English this. (Never as in thin.)
dl Not an English sound. Identical to 〈dlh〉, but from an earlier /dl/.
dlh Not an English sound. The sound of 〈d〉 followed immediately by 〈lh〉.
dzh Like 〈j〉 in English joke.
e e Like 〈e〉 in Spanish vero.
ei ej Like 〈ay〉 in English day.
eu ew Like the 〈e〉 in egg followed immediately by 〈w〉.
è ɛ Like 〈e〉 in English bet.
f f Like 〈f〉 in English foot. Identical to 〈ph〉.
g ɡ Like 〈g〉 in English get. (Never as in gel.)
gg ɡʒ A little like 〈gg〉 in English suggest. A 〈g〉 followed by a 〈zh〉 (see).
h h Like 〈h〉 in English have.
i i Like 〈i〉 in English machine.
ie Like 〈ye〉 in English yet.
iu ju Like 〈you〉 in English you.
ì ɪ Like 〈i〉 in English bit.
k k Like 〈k〉 in English keep.
kh Like 〈ct〉 in English action. Identical to 〈kk〉, but from earlier /kʰ/.
kk Like 〈ct〉 in English action. Identical to 〈kh〉, but from earlier /kk/.
l l Like 〈l〉 in English laugh.
lh ɬ~ɮ Not an English sound. Like 〈ll〉 in Welsh llygoden, but usually voiced.
m m Like 〈m〉 in English man.
n n Like 〈n〉 in English no.
ng ŋ Like 〈ng〉 in English singer. (Never as in finger or ginger.)
o o Like 〈oa〉 in English boat.
ò ɔ Like 〈au〉 in English caught.
p p Like 〈p〉 in English put.
ph f Like 〈f〉 in English foot. Identical to 〈f〉, but from earlier /pʰ/.
pp pf Not an English sound. Like 〈pf〉 in German Apfel. From earlier /pp/.
r ɾ Like 〈r〉 in Spanish pero; like 〈t〉 in (American) English water.
s s Like 〈s〉 in English soap.
sh ʃ Like 〈sh〉 in English shoe.
t t Like 〈t〉 in English table.
th θ Like 〈th〉 in English thing. (Never as in these.) From earlier /tʰ/.
tl Not an English sound. Identical to 〈tlh〉, but from an earlier /tl/.
tlh Not an english sound. Like 〈tl〉 in Nahuatl coyotl.
ts ts Like 〈ts〉 in English cats. Identical to 〈tt〉.
tsh Like 〈ch〉 in English chair.
tt ts Like 〈ts〉 in English cats. Identical to 〈ts〉, but from earlier /tt/.
tz dz Like 〈ds〉 in English ads. Identical to 〈dz〉, but from an earlier /ts/ that became voiced.
u u Like 〈oo〉 in English boot.
ua Like 〈wa〉 in English want.
ue we Like 〈we〉 in English went.
ui wi Like 〈wee〉 in English week.
ù ʊ Like 〈oo〉 in English good.
v v Like 〈v〉 in English very. Identical to 〈bh〉, but from earlier /w/.
y j Like 〈y〉 in English yes.
z z Like 〈z〉 in English zoo.
zh ʒ Like 〈si〉 in English vision or 〈g〉 in French genre.

You will note that there are several combinations which appear to have identical pronunciation. This is due to sound changes during the creolization of the Imperial language which have created mergers. For example, the kh in thikhe ‘sharp’ and the kk in thrakku ‘like that’ are both pronounced like the ksh in thraksha ‘like this’. However, in Old Imperial, they were pronounced [ˈuːkʰɑ], [tʰrɑkˈkũ], and [tʰrɑkˈtʃɑ], respectively.

Morphology

Substantives

Gender

All nouns are classified as either masculine or non-masculine. This is, of course, a grammatical construct rather than an anatomical one, and aside from including some specifically masculine words – such as òla ‘father’, phetùk ‘brother’, rosha ‘man’, &c – the masculine class is mainly notable for the feature that masculine nouns usually end in a vowel, while non-masculine nouns do not.

Number

Grammatical number is not automatically indicated on nouns, though a singular~plural distinction exists in personal pronouns. Grammatical number for nouns may be marked if necessary by way of reduplication (in the case of masculine nouns) or a pluralizing particle (in the case of non-masculine nouns), but is usually ignored when not explicitly required. The plural is never indicated in the presence of numerals.

A small set of nouns which generally come in pairs may have irregular dual forms. (See Dual Nouns below.)

Pluralising Masculine Nouns

Masculine nouns are pluralised through a process of reduplication.

In simplest terms, take the first letter of the noun, follow it by 〈a〉 (if the first vowel of the noun is a, o, or u) or 〈e〉 (if the first vowel is a, i, or e) and then add the singular noun. E.g.:

  • rosha ‘man’ → rarosha ‘men’
  • shi ‘animal’ → sheshi ‘animals’
  • kama ‘table’ → kekama ‘tables’

There are, of course, some exceptions and nuances, as well as flat-out irregularities:

  • If the first or second syllable of the noun is lax (i.e. contains à, è, ì, ò, or ù), it becomes tense (i.e. drop the accent mark). E.g.:
    • ‘wood’ → teti ‘woods’ (‘types of wood’)
    • ‘stone’ → deda ‘stones’
    • lòga ‘husband’ → laloga ‘husbands’
  • If a masculine noun begins with 〈ng〉, the 〈g〉 is dropped in reduplication, E.g.
    • nga ‘time’ → nenga ‘times’
  • If a masculine noun begins with an aspirate – that is, a cluster with 〈h〉 from an earlier aspirate in Old Imperial (i.e. bh, dh, kh, lh, ph, or th – but not sh or zh, which are just transcriptional), the 〈h〉 is dropped, E.g.:
    • lhadzhèlalhadzhè ‘mountains’
    • phetùk ‘brother’ → paphetuka ‘brothers’
    • thule ‘tree’ → tathule ‘trees’
  • If a masculine noun begins with vowel, it is pluralized like a non-masculine noun (see below).
Pluralising Non-Masculine Nouns

Non-masculine nouns are pluralised simply by preceding the noun with the particle kve. E.g.:

  • meth ‘place’ → kve meth ‘places’
  • paletsh ‘woman’ → kve paletsh ‘women’
  • trìl ‘reason’ → kve trìl ‘reasons’

Unlike masculine nouns, the kve particle does not affix to the noun and does not affect the quality of the vowels of the noun, except…

Pluralising Vowel-Initial Nouns

Both masculine and non-masculine nouns beginning with a vowel are pluralised by preposing the particle kv- as an affix, eliding the e. E.g.:

  • elin ‘mother’ → kvelin ‘mothers’
  • ebreth ‘wife’ → kvebreth ‘wives’
  • atze ‘island’ → kvatze ‘islands’

Irregular & Suppletive Nouns

There are several of the most common nouns which have irregular plurals. Some of the most common are:

  • òla ‘father’ → kvòla ‘fathers’ (not **kvola)
  • pàn ‘child’ → pepàn ‘children’ (not **kve pàn)
  • ‘person’ → kvètè ‘people’ (not **tete), but
    • tetzavà ‘cyborg’ → kvètetzava ‘cyborgs’ (not **kvètètzava, using the irregular plural of or **tetetzava using the regular masculine plural)
  • yìr ‘thing’ → kveyir ‘things’ (not **kve yìr)
Dual Nouns

Some non-masculine nouns, particularly those referring to body parts which come in pairs, use masculine-type reduplication when referring explicitly to the paired sense, and kve otherwise. E.g.:

  • blizh ‘eye’ → beblizh ‘pair of eyes’ → kve blizh ‘(many) eyes’
  • bresh ‘foot’ → bebresh ‘pair of feet’ → kve bresh ‘(many) feet’
  • dèt ‘horn’ → dadet ‘pair of horns’ → kve dèt ‘(many) horns’
  • dendor ‘leg’ → dedendor ‘pair of legs’ → kve dendor ‘(many) legs’
  • doman ‘hand’ → dedoman ‘pair of hands’ → kve doman ‘(many) hands’
  • noth ‘ear’ → nanoth ‘pair of ears’ → kve noth ‘(many) ears’
  • rinen ‘knee’ → rerinen ‘pair of knees’ → kve rinen ‘(many) knees’
  • yinkesh ‘wing’ → yeyinkesh ‘pair of wings’ → kve yinkesh ‘(many) wings’

Possession

Possession is indicated with the adposition go. In addition to standard possession of nouns, it is also used with pronouns to form the basis of the possessive pronouns rather than a separate genitive-like construction. (Old Imperial, however, did use genitive pronouns which were lost after The Expansion.)

Yìrku go meu (ei).
‘That is my stone.’
(“That-thing stone of me [is].”)

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Modern Standard Imperial are simple in scope, including first and second person singular and plural forms, and third person singular distinction between masculine and non-masculine grammatical gender. The third person plural does not have a gender distinction. The first person plural does not make a clusivity distinction (meaning there is no differentiation between “we including you” and “we but not you.”)

The personal pronouns are:

Singular Plural
meu ‘I, me’ ta ‘we, us’
‘you’ hei ‘you (all)’
shva ‘he, him’ ‘they’
dehu ‘she, her, it’

Prepositions

Imperial has a small set of adpositions, many of which serve multiple purposes. While Old Imperial, which had a much freer word order, used both prepositions and postpositions, the modern language uses prepositions exclusively. Because the language does not inflect for case, this placement is very important.

Some of the more common prepositions are:

  Translation Equivalent Case Example
dhi under, on the bottom of Subessive Yìraggè dhi bresh go meu.
Something is on the bottom of my foot.
dzu under, beneath, below Sublative Thombir dzu .
The worm is under the rock.
go of, belonging to, related to Genitive tètsha òla go meu ei.
This is my father.
ke to, towards Allative ke shuthket ati?
Are you going to town?
khan without, lacking Abessive ta khan meti.
We will go without them.
lhao over, above Superlative Yaral lhao mahe hati thruga.
A bird flew over the house.
li behind Postessive Teggè li mitlu ei.
Someone is behind the door.
lu in, inside of Inessive Reshte lu yash.
The fish is in the water.
ma from, out of Delative Meu ma methku hati ngatsha thuri.
I just came from there.
na on, on top of, upon Superessive Thule na lhadzhei.
The tree is on the mountain.
ne on, on the side of Pertingent Shise ne blishmitlu.
The snow is on the window.
ngè through Translative Dehu ngè yathrèk hati vanda.
She walked through the forest.
thie with, in the company of Commitative Pàn thie shva gòla.
The child is with his father.
tho in front of, before Antessive Bebage tho mahei.
The dogs are in front of the house.
ti at, in (a location) Locative Shva ti mahe go shva.
He is at his house.
vae for, to Benefactive Metsha satha vae .
Here is a gift for you.