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Netagin
brítz nˀAthághín
בְּרִיץ אֲ֬תָגִין
ββρείτζ νἈθωγείν
Brítz nˀAthághín.png
Pronunciation[/bʁitɬ naθɒˈʝin/]
Created by
Native toCyprus, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey
Native speakers393,000 (At least it's more than Irish, hallelujah) (2013)
Isolate
  • Netagin
Official status
Regulated byˀAbhlóchath mBrítzí ˀAthághín (אב״א)
Language codes
ISO 639-1nt
ISO 639-2nt
ISO 639-3qnt
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Qúlátz dí ˀAthághígh: Brítz nˀAthághín

דף זה בעברית: נתגין

Netagin is intended to be my "real" jump-on-the-pseudo-Celtic-bandwagon - a morphophonological rather than syntactic imitation of Celtic, specifically within a Semitoid framework. It is an a priori language intended to have a Northwest Semitic and Irish aesthetic, (Indeed Tiberian Hebrew and Aramaic are the most stereotypically "Celtic" of all Semitic languages, with their use of lenition. So much that I was once tempted to make an Irish-looking Semlang. For the curious, it resulted in something like

A chathabh an séibhear an seabhar ba bhíth an dtóir?
Q write.3SG.M DEF scribe.ABS.DIR DEF book.ABS.DIR LOC house.CONST.GEN DEF purity.ABS.GEN
Did the scribe write the book in the house of purity?

This project can be considered a compromise between the two aesthetics, bent rather more toward the Semitic side.) and also as a semi-joke, though I'm not sure if it is best understood as laughing with or at Israelis/Modern Hebrew for their mutational challengedness. (So if any of you Semitic speakers and Semiticists are reading this please excuse the language's being in the Semitic-ness uncanny valley; it's part of the humor value.) It employs templatic morphology, animacy hierarchy-based person marking and mutation-triggering proclitics encoding multiple grammatical functions such as topic-prominence, TAM and modality/evidentiality.

Background

The Netagin language (Netagin: בְּרִיץ אֲ֬תָגִין ββρείτζ νἈθωγείν brítz nˀAthághín [bʁɨtɬ naθɒˈʝin] "speech in our manner"; Greek: νεθαγίν nethayín; Modern Hebrew: נְתָגִין nesogį́ or נְתָגִינִית nesoginís), as its name suggests, is a language isolate autochthonous to Cyprus and spoken in Cyprus and its Middle Eastern environs, including the Holy Land. (There are suspicions, however, that it may be related to Afroasiatic.) It shares with neighboring Greek extensive spirantization, nasal mutation and palatalization. Rather remarkably, however, Netagin additionally grammaticalized some of these sandhi processes, much like the insular Celtic languages and to a lesser extent Tiberian Hebrew. It is a fusional and templatic language utilizing consonantal (mainly triconsonantal) roots, with some agglutinative characteristics. The language has been small but vigorous up until modern times, and has influenced the local dialects of other languages. Currently the language is suffering from decline in speakers and attrition of its many unique grammatical features. The latter is especially severe in Israel as the marginalized speakers assimilate more Israeli roots, vocabulary and syntax, and omit mutations as in spoken Israeli Hebrew.

Phonology

The Netagin phonemic inventory contains 5 vowels and some 35 consonants, and secondary articulations are quite pronounced in said consonants' realizations. Consequently the phonology of Netagin has been colloquially summarized as "Proto-Semitic > Tiberian Hebrew sound changes applied in the wrong order and spoken in a Russian accent".

Consonants

Netagin consonants
Consonants
Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
plain pharyngealized plain pharyngealized
Nasals m, mb /mˠ~mʲ/ n, nd, nˀ, nh /nˠ~ȵ/ nˤ, nḥ /nˤ/ ng /ɲ~ŋ/
Plosives voiceless p /pˠ~pʲ/ t /tˠ~t͡ɕ/ /tˤ~ɗˤ/ c /c~k/ q /q/ ˀ /ʔ/
voiced b, bp /bˠ~bʲ/ d, dt /dˠ~d͡ʑ/ dṭ /dˤ/ g, gc /ɟ~g/ gq /ɢ/
Fricatives voiceless f, ph /fˠ~fʲ/ th /θ/ ṭh /fˤ~θˤ/ s /sˠ~ɕ/ š /ʂˠ~ʃ/ ch /ç~x/ qh /χ/ ḥ, fh /ħ/ h /h~ɦ/
voiced bh /vˠ~vʲ/ dh /ð/ z /zˠ~ʑ/ gh /(j~)ʝ~ɣ/ r /ʁ~ʀ/ ˁ /ʕ/
Approximants mh, mhf /w~vʲ/ y /j(~ʝ)/
Lateral app. l /ɫ~ʎ/
Lateral fric. ś /ɬ/
Lateral aff. tz /tɬ/

The phoneme /tˤ/ is commonly realized as an implosive, [ɗˤ] word-initially.

In the standard pronunciation (but not in all dialects; notably not in the Ṭašálí dialect) all consonants except /j/, pharyngealized coronals, uvulars, gutturals (pharyngeals and glottals), lateral fricatives and affricates and dental fricatives are strongly palatalized when preceding a front vowel and (especially for coronals) velarized before a back vowel. (Some speakers also velarize and palatalize lateral obstruents /ɬ/ and /tɬ/.) This serves to more clearly distinguish plain consonants from their emphatic counterparts.

Phoneme /ɣ/ /x/ /g/ /k/ /ŋ/ /ʂ/ /l/ /z/ /s/ /d/ /t/ /n/ /w/ /v/ /f/ /b/ /p/ /m/
Velarized [ɣ] [x] [g] [k] [ŋ] [ʂˠ] [ɫ] [zˠ] [sˠ] [dˠ] [tˠ] [nˠ] [w] [vˠ] [fˠ] [bˠ] [pˠ] [mˠ]
Palatalized [ʝ(~j)] [ç] [ɟ] [c] [ɲ] [ʃ] [ʎ] [ʑ] [ɕ] [d͡ʑ] [t͡ɕ] [ȵ] [vʲ] [fʲ] [bʲ] [pʲ] [mʲ]

Y and slender gh are merged by many speakers.

Vowels

The vowels written with an acute accent can be analyzed as long vowels or tense vowels; one or more of both pronunciations may be realized simultaneously.

Vowels
Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close í /i(ː)/ [ɨ] ú /u(ː)/
Near-close i /ɪ/ u /ʊ/
Close-mid é /e(ː)/ [ɘ] ó /o(ː)/
Mid
Open-mid e /ɛ/ [ɜ] o /ɔ/
Near-open
Open a /ä/ á /ɒ(ː)/

Front vowels /i e ɛ/ are centralized to [ɨ ɘ ɜ] after pharyngealized or uvular consonants.

Vowels are nasalized before /ʕ/, /ħ/ and /ʁ/.

Stress

In native words primary stress can only fall on the ultimate, or less commonly the penultimate syllable.

Orthography

Until recently the Greek alphabet and the Hebrew abjad (especially in Israel or by Jews) were more often used. However, recently the Latin script, especially imprecise renditions thereof, has been spreading to the exclusion of the Hebrew-based orthography.

Consonants

The dagesh (Netagin: tirpálí) is used to mark historical gemination (dagesh forte) that is nowadays realized only as gemination in resonants n, l, and r and non-lenition for the case of the lenitable letters b, g, d, , c, m, p, q, and t. The lenitable letters (Netagin: בֵּגָֿ״דֿ וֲּטֵֿכָֿ״םֿ וֻּפֶֿקָֿ״תֿ béghádh fa-ṭhéchámh fu-phéqháth [beˌɣɒð fasˤɘˌxɒw fʊfʲeχɒθ]) are written with a dagesh when they are not lenited. Mémh, however, often resists lenition after /ɪ/, /i/ or /j/. A word-medial dageshed lenitable consonant is not written as double letters in Latin script.

Syllable/word-final <ˀ> and <h> are silent. When a word-final he has a mappiq (homographic to the dagesh) it is not silent, but is to be pronounced /h/ (Romanized as hh and Hellenized as a doubled vowel).

Netagin consonant graphemes
Hebrew Name Latin Greek IPA
א ˀálaph ˀ spiritus lenis /ʔ/
בּ báith b ββ /b~bʲ/
גּ gímhal g γγ /ɟ~g/
דּ dálath d δδ /d~dʑ/
ה h spiritus asper, vowel doubling (when word-final) /h/
וּ f ϝϝ /f~fʲ/
ז záin z ζ /z~ʑ/
ח ḥéth η /ħ/
טּ ṭéth ττ /tˤ~ɗˤ/
י yódh y, i after a vowel ι, ϊ after a vowel /j/
כּךּ cáph c χχ /c~k/
ל lámhadh l λ /ɫ~ʎ/
מּםּ mémh m μμ /m~mʲ/
נן nún n ν /n/
ס sámhach s σ, ς /s~ɕ/
ע ˁáin ˁ ω /ʕ/
פּףּ p φφ /p~pʲ/
צץ tzádhe tz τζ /tɬ/
קּ qóph q κκ /q/
ר réš r ρ /ʁ~ʀ/
ש šín š σζ /ʃ/
שֹ śín ś θζ /ɬ/
תּ t θθ /t~tɕ/

Lenition (Netagin: taqídháˀ 'melting; dissolution') is marked with a lack of a dagesh in the Hebrew script, or a following h in the Latin script. The rafe may be used for improved contrast.

Lenition
Hebrew script Latin Greek IPA
ב bh β /v~vʲ/
ג gh γ /ʝ~ɣ/
ד dh δ /ð/
ו fh ϝ /ħ/
ט ṭh τ /fˤ~θˤ/
כך ch χ /ç~x/
מם mh μ /w~vʲ/
פף ph φ /f~fʲ/
ק qh κ /χ/
ת th θ /θ/

Historical nasalization, or eclipsis (Netagin: carríṭháˀ 'befogging; making turbid'), is marked in the Hebrew script with a núní mecharríṭh ('befogging little nún'; rendered here as an iluy) in conjunction with a dagesh for lenitable consonants.

Eclipsis
Hebrew script Latin Greek IPA
א֬, ה֬ nˀ, nh ν- added /n~nʲ/
בּ֬ mb μβ /m/
גּ֬ ng νγ /ɲ~ŋ/
דּ֬ nd νδ /n~nʲ/
וּ֬ mhf μϝ /w~vʲ/
ח֬, ע֬ nḥ, nˁ ν- added /nˤ/
י֬ ny ν- added /nʲ/
טּ֬ dṭ ντ /dˤ/
כּ֬ gc γχ /ɟ~g/
פּ֬ bp μφ /b/
קּ֬ gq γκ /gˤ~ɢ/
תּ֬ dt νθ /d~dʑ/

Vowels

Netagin vowel graphemes
Hebrew Latin Greek IPA (Standard) IPA (Țašálí)
אַ, אֲ a α /a/ /o/
אָ1 á ω /ɒ/ /ɒ/
אֶ, אֱ, אְ e ε /ɛ/ /e/
אֵ é αι /e/ /ej/
אִ i ι /ɪ/ /i/
אִי í ει /i/ /i/
אָ, אֳ o ο /ɔ/ /o/
אֹ, אוֹ ó αυ /o/ /oj/
אֻ u υ /ʊ/ /u/
אֻו ú ου /u/ /uj/
אְ Ø

Disambiguation

In the Latin and Greek scripts interpuncts (·) are used to separate digraph combinations that are to be pronounced as two letters: piq·háˀ (they dream).

Unvocalized orthography

In the unvocalized Hebrew-based orthography it is generally accepted to indicate all mutations in addition to writing matres lectionis for certain long vowels. The diphthong ái and sometimes éi are written with two consecutive yódh.

Morphology

NB. Superscript L = lenition of the following consonant, N = eclipsis, D = following consonant is dageshed.

Nouns and Adjectives

See also: Netagin/Declension patterns.

Nouns and adjectives are inflected for number (singular, paucal and plural), gender (animate, honorific, inanimate and abstract; historically the latter two, being somewhat arbitrary with respect to abstract nouns, had been dubbed "masculine" and "feminine" after the Semitic genders they resemble), and four cases.

The mutations that accompany the words only affect other words in the same prosodic phrase or between words of a modifier-modified relationship.

Declensions with sound plurals

Animate plurals are typically sound (concatenative), while inanimate sound plurals are typically adjectives (and their nounless forms derived from them via the prefix m- if they don't have it already) and abstract/honorifics.


Animate declension: qinnáth ('stranger')
Case Singular Paucal Plural
Direct qinnáth qinnáthú qinnátháˀ
Genitive qinnáthímN qinnáthannL qinnáthínN
Instrumental qinnáthámh qinnátháigh qinnáthígháˀL
Locative qinnáthámh qinnáthéimN qinnáthán


Inanimate declension: yáréph ('wheel')
Case Singular Paucal Plural
Direct yáréphN yiréphú yirépháˀ
Genitive yiréphíL yiréphannL yirépháiN
Instrumental yiréphéghN yirépháigh yiréphgháˀL
Locative yiréphín yiréphéimN yiréphán


Uncountable/honorific declension: ˀimáˀ ('mother')
Case Singular Paucal Plural
Direct ˀimáˀ(N if abstract) ˀimáthéi ˀimónáˀ
Genitive ˀimathN ˀimáthannL ˀimónáiN
Instrumental ˀimáthéghN ˀimátháigh ˀimóncháˀL
Locative ˀimáthín ˀimáthéimN ˀimónín

Declensions with broken plurals

Broken plurals are nonconcatenative plurals that take singular case markers (they derive diachronically from collective noun patterns). Broken plurals only occur with (mainly less animate) nouns. Unlike in Arabic broken plurals induce no irregularity in agreement.

Broken plural patterns
Singular Plural Examples
C1əC2íC3 C1əC2úC3 brítz (language) > brútz
psíph (vote) > psúph
C1əC2óC3 fríaˁ (arrow, ray) > fróaˁ
C1eC2[a]C3 C1əC2áC3, C1əC2éC3 śebhar (fish) > śbhár
C1éC2[a]C3 létzí (sow, contemptible person) > letzí
C1óC2[a]C3 C1oC2áC3, C1oC2éC3 nódhamh (sack) > nodhémh
C1éC2óC3, C1éC2áC3 ˀəC1C2íC3, ˀəC1C2úC3, ˀəC1C2áC3 céthóaˁ (encounter) > ˀechtíaˁ
léghóaˁ (season) > ˀelgúaˁ
C1óC2áC3 C1əC2óC3áˀN póḥar (island) > paḥóráˀ
C1áC2íC3 ˀəC1íC2úC3 ˁáríaḥ (handle) > ˀaˁírúaḥ
C1áC2óC3 C1əC2C2éC3 páthól (tree) > pitél
CəCCVːC CəCáCóC, CəCóCéC, CəCáCúC tidhpór (grammar) > tadháphór
CiCCəCáˀ CəCCóCáˀ misratzáˀ (attention) > masrótzáˀ

Derivational morphology

Patterns
  • CáCíC: quality adjective
  • CúCáC: resultative adjective
  • CéCóCN: event
  • tiCCúCN: event/place
  • tiCCáC/tiCCéCN: instrument
  • maCCéC/maCCíC: profession
  • tiCCáCáˀN/tiCCéCáˀN: process
  • miCCúCN: patient noun
  • miCCóCN: resultative noun
  • CóCáCáˀN: degree/measure
  • CéCéiC, meCaCCéiC (Hebrew): wannabe X[-er]
Affixes
  • -ón: certain nouns, pejorative suffix
  • -úl: "network"/system of things
  • -í, -íy-: diminutive; person; (Semitic) nisba adjectival suffix
  • -íthN, -úthN (pl. -ínáˀ, -únáˀ) abstract noun suffix, probably of Semitic origin

Pronouns

Second person plural pronouns and verbs are used for politeness, and first person paucal is used for humility in very formal situations. Subject and direct object forms are usually omitted, except for topicalization or focusing. The short forms are adpositional object forms, which follow the adposition unlike other NPs.

The third person pronouns only refer to animates.

Personal pronouns
Case Zeroth person First person Second person Third person
Singular Paucal Plural Singular Paucal Plural Singular Paucal Plural
Nominative ˀagáˀ ˀaghd ˀadú ˀadáˀ ˀann ˀannú ˀannáˀ héhh hennú hennáˀ
Accusative ˀácháˀ, cháˀ ˀaghtí, ˀáthú, thú ˀátháˀ, tháˀ ˀání, ˀánú, ˀánáˀ, náˀ hethí, hethú, hetháˀ, háˀ
Genitive ˀácháiN, cháiN ˀaghímN, ghímN ˀáthannL, thannL ˀátháiN, tháiN ˀanímN, nímN ˀánannL, nannL ˀánáiN, náiN hímN hannL háiN
Instrumental ˀáchnáˀL, chnáˀL ˀaghámh, ghámh ˀátháigh, tháigh ˀáthgháˀL, thagháˀL ˀanámh, námh ˀánáigh, náigh ˀán·gháˀL, nagháˀL hámh háigh hagháˀL
Locative ˀáchín, chín ˀaghámh, ghámh ˀáthéimN, théimN ˀáthín, thín ˀanámh, námh ˀánéimN, néimN ˀánín, nín hámh héimN hín


Interrogative pronouns
Case 'who' 'what'
Nominative ˀéiN
Accusative máˀ ˀéiN
Genitive méiL ˀayyéiL
Instrumental mím ˀéigh
Locative mím ˀéim

The demonstrative pronoun is used adnominally or pronominally. It may be used as a pronoun for inanimates.

Having arisen from historical gemination, the demonstrative pronoun resists mutations.

Demonstrative pronoun
Case Singular Paucal Plural
Direct cáˀ
Genitive déiL lannL cáiN
Instrumental dágh léigh cagháˀ
Locative léimN cín

There is another demonstrative pronoun, nadí, meaning 'that other' (similar to "obviative") or 'the former'. As in French or German, demonstratives do not encode distance; a place word (such as zán 'here', rán 'there', lehalán 'the following') is necessary in order to deictize the noun more precisely.

Verbs

Netagin verbs, perhaps similarly to those of Biblical Hebrew, mark aspect and person, but not tense. (Netagin, rather unusually, renders tense as proclitics on NPs instead.) Non-concatenative morphology figures prominently in conjugation for valence and TAM, much like in Semitic and Proto-Indo-European. However, unlike in Semitic languages verbs can also be derived via derivational "mishqalim" patterns (with a lot of overlap with nominal patterns), so there is not as much skew towards being noun-heavy as in Semitic.

Primary stems

For inflectional paradigms, please see Netagin/Primary stem conjugation.

The primary stems inflect with heavy use of transfixes. Comprising about 500 verbs, this class is the counterpart to strong verbs in Germanic. There are up to 4 primary patterns or "binyanim" that a root may take in Netagin:

  • In the Intransitive paradigm are verbs denoting intransitive actions ("come"), as well as stative verbs ("be cold"). It is often considered the most basic form. The difference between adjectives and stative verbs is roughly equivalent to the ser-estar distinction.
  • The Transitive paradigm contains most monotransitive verbs, ("eat") including causativizations of Intransitive verbs ("make happy"). Can also have a telic (desired outcome was reached) meaning.
  • The Reflexive pattern consists of verbs denote reflexive/reciprocal action ("get dressed", "kiss each other"), or change of state ("thicken").
  • The Causative pattern contains causatives of transitive verbs ("feed") (and of some Intransitives and Reflexives). Causatives of statives in the imperfective aspect may denote active maintenance of a state (as opposed to changing a state in the perfective aspect).

Note that there is no passive in Netagin - this function is mainly served by zeroth person in transitive verbs or with Reflexive verbs, or simply topicalization of the patient.

Perfective Imperfective Participle Action noun
Intransitive C1aC2aC3 C1iC2C2aC3 C1óC2éC3 C1C2íC3N
Transitive C1C2óC3 C1aC2C2í1C3 meC1aC2C2íC3 C1aC2C2íC3áˀN
Reflexive ˀiC1C2é1C3 niC1C2é1C3 miNC1úC2áC3 ˀaC1C2óC3athN
Causative ˀaC1C2aC3 NC1éC2aC3 maC1C2áC3 ˀaC1C2úC3áˀN

1 Attenuates to a before a stressed suffix beginning with a consonant.

Suffixes beginning with a vowel cause the vowel between C2 and C3 to be elided.

The infinitive (inf) is formed by leniting the first letter of the bare stem of the verb, or if said first letter is a guttural or n, adding fa-.

The participle is an agent noun or an adjective. Adverbializing it yields manner of action "as if to X".

The action noun (axn) or gerund is used in action noun constructions, which are of the form SUBJECT-gen AXN OBJECT-acc. It is of importance in forming relative clauses, for Netagin does not have a relativizer.

בֶּן אָתַןּ גְדִיב כַּ֬וֵּה וַּתַּתֵּ֬לַם.
Ben ˀáthann ghedhíbh gcaféh fatedtélamh.
FUT=1PC.GEN drink.AXN.SG.DIR coffee.SG.DIR INV-(1,3)-awaken/CAUS.IPFV
Our drinking coffee will keep us alert.

Derived stems

The derived conjugation generates the bulk of new verbs in Netagin. The inflection, incorporating various concatenative formatives from the primary inflection, is almost entirely linear.

Perfective Imperfective Participle Action noun
Intransitive ˀe[STEM] [STEM] miN[STEM] ˀa[STEM]íthN
Transitive ˀa[STEM] ˀiN[STEM] mə[STEM] [STEM]íyáˀN

The infinitive is formed in the same manner as for the primary stems.

Patterns

Many (nowadays, most) derived verb patterns are verbalized noun patterns.

Affixes

Unipersonal (suffix) conjugation

The suffix conjugation is used for inherently intransitive (unaccusative) or reflexive verbs, and imperatives. Unipersonal verbs are negated in the optative/imperative by núrN.

Unipersonal verb structure
0 1 2
Stem/Voice/Aspect Personal suffix Imperative or Polarity/Focus

In the indicative the personal suffixes represent the subject; in the imperative they indicate the object.

Unipersonal suffixes
Person Singular Paucal Plural
0 -c[h]1áˀ
1 -d(i)/-gh(i)1/-t[h]1í3 -t[h]1ú -t[h]1áˀ
2 -ann -nú -náˀ
3 -(a)2/3 -áˀ

The 0th, 1st and 2nd person forms are penultimately stressed; the 3rd person forms are ultimately stressed.

1After vowels or mh.
2As indicative subject; not expressed without another suffix
3As imperative object.

Slot 2 suffixes
Netagin Gloss
-n Imperative (imp)
-chú Affirmative focus (aff.foc)
-hí Negative (neg)
-náˀ/-cháˀ* Negative focus (neg.foc)

*In second person forms.

Bipersonal (prefix) conjugation

The prefix conjugation is used for non-imperative transitive verbs (verbs that can take an agent and a patient).

Bipersonal verb structure
−2 −1 0 1 2
Inverse prefix Bipersonal prefix Transitive stem/Voice/Aspect Polarity/Focus Pluractionality suffix


Inverse prefix
Netagin Gloss
faD- Inverse (inv)

The inverse prefix is called fó mágham ('flipping/inverting fó') in Netagin. Note that the inverse prefix geminates/de-lenites the personal prefix consonant.

Personal prefixes
Netagin Gloss
b- (2,0)
c- (1,0)
h- (1,2)
l- (0,3)
n- (2,3)
t- (1,3)
y- (3,3)


Polarity/focus suffixes
Netagin Gloss
-(a) Affirmative (aff)
-cú Affirmative focus (aff.foc)
-hí Negative (neg)
-náˀ Negative focus (neg.foc)

All of the above suffixes are stressed. The focused suffixes emphasize the truth value and are therefore used to answer yes/no questions.

Pluractionality suffix
Netagin Gloss
-nn Pluractional (plax)

The pluractionality suffix never affects the thematic vowel in irregular verbs, unlike other suffixes beginning with a consonant.

Numerals

Numerals are essentially ordinary adjectives (below 100) or nouns (for 100 and higher units). Units larger than 100 turn their heads into the genitive case.

The collective and reciprocal is archaic for numerals above 3. Numerals exceeding ten only have periphrastic distributives, collectives and reciprocals (ḥáchúbh fa-hálódh mbúrégh '11 at a time'; ˀaˁathómhath tzúbhál nḥachúbháˀ 'a group of 30'; hálódh méˀath '1/100').

Netagin numerals
n nth n each/at a time n-fold; n-ad 1/n
0 séphar *mesáphúr - - -
1 hálódh mehálúdh halúdhládh halálédh -
2 gáḥéz megáḥúz gaḥuzḥáz gaḥáḥéz géḥáz
3 tzúbhál metzábhúl tzebhulbál tzebhábhél tzibál
4 méqhátz memháqhútz meqhutzqátz meqháqhétz miqátz
5 pazzím mepházúmh pezumhzámh pezázémh pizzámh
6 ˀalbán melábhún lebhunbán lebhábhén libán
7 qátzídh meqhátzúdh qetzudhtzádh qetzátzédh qittzádh
8 cóˁáš mecháˁúš ceˁušˁáš ceˁáˁéš céˁáš
9 ripúi merápheh rephuipheh rephápheh ripeh
10 ḥachúbh meḥáchúbh ḥachubhcábh ḥacháchébh ḥicábh
11 ḥáchúbh fa-hálódh ḥáchúbh mehálúdh - - -
20 gáḥéz nḥachúbh megháḥúz nḥachúbh - - -
21 gáḥéz nḥachúbh hálódh gáḥéz nḥachúbh mehálúdh - - -
100 méˀáˀ maˀáthí - - -
1000 ˀelaph ˀalphí - - -
10^6 ˀecatomíryó, ˀecat' - - - -
10^9 disecatomíryó, disec' - - - -

Grammar

Word order

The constituent order defaults to SXVO/SVOX, but topicalization may promote a constituent to first position. Adjectives and genitives usually follow the noun unless they are topicalized, focalized or used to form appositional collocations. Genitive/possessive pronouns always precede the possessed NP.

Two types of function words can be recognized in Netagin: proclitics (coordinating conjunctions, topic/focus, etc.), which attach to the host or to another clitic and form what counts as one word, and relators (prepositions and subordinating conjunctions) which occupy second position (a.k.a. Wackernagel's position) in their dependent noun phrases or clauses.

Number

There exist three numbers in Netagin: singular (sg) representing one object, paucal (pc) for a few, and plural (pl) for many. The paucal form usually denotes two to nine items, but the boundary between paucal and plural is quite fluid; a paucal could be used for a larger number for contrast with a much larger number of things. The plural number in pronouns also serves as an honorific; complementarily, using paucal pronouns where a plural is expected entails a "dishonorific", humble or pejorative meaning.

Nominal number

Nouns are declined for all three numbers.

Verbal number

Pluractionality denotes that an action is performed a plural (as opposed to singular or paucal) number of times or places, or the number of objects is plural. Pluractionality with a second person object, or lack of pluractionality with a first person object, may also be used to indicate politeness.

Politeness/Honorific

Honorific suffixes on nouns indicate that the speaker raises the referent. The second person honorific is above the first person in the animacy hierarchy while the second person familiar is below first person. Pluractionality is used for honorific objects.

הַבֲּ֬תֻורָא תִּרֵּנַפַןּ.
Ἁ-μΒαθουρώ θθιρραιρναφάνν.
Ha-mBathúráˀ tirrénaphann.
ha-N báthúr-áˀ t-[r-n-p]/ˀaCCaC-ann
FOC=deity-HON.DIR (1,3)-serve/CAUS.IPFV-PLAX
It is God I/we serve.

Cases

All cases have adpositions that govern them. High-register language relies more on case and less on adpositions.

Direct

The direct case (dir) marks a core argument of a verb, either subject or direct object. It should be noted that Netagin marks the recipient (usually the more animate patient), rather than the theme (the less animate patient), of most ditransitive verbs with the direct case; Netagin is thus a dechticaetiative language. Pronouns, unlike nouns, distinguish nominative (nom) and accusative (acc). The direct/accusative case is the case governed by prepositions that originate from verbs.

Genitive

The genitive case (gen) indicates possession, origin, cause, or concern. It is used also appositionally (in the order genitive-noun), where English would use a compound. The genitive case also has partitive uses.

Possessor-less genitives are possible and, by corollary, headless relative clauses.

Instrumental

The instrumental (ins) indicates instrument/means or comitation (with certain prepositions; the bare instrumental can optionally be used as a comitative for pronouns). What is considered the direct object of ditransitive constructions in dative languages is most often cast in the instrumental in Netagin. (Netagin, although a dechticaetiative language, does not have a dedicated dechticaetiative case.)

The inanimate instrumental singular is used as an adverb for adjectives.

Locative

The locative or allative case (loc) marks location or destination (often with locational prepositions), spatial, temporal or abstract. Some ditransitive verbs cause their themes to take the locative.

Hierarchy

Person, animacy and social status are all factors in the hierarchical person marking. The hierarchy is:

2.honorific > 1 > 2.familiar > 3.human > 3.other animate > 0 > 3.inanimate

By default the direction of transitivity is assumed to be from higher to lower animacy. Generally when a less animate participant acts on a more animate one, the verb is required to take an inverse-marking affix.

If neither participant outranks the other, then the priority is settled with degree of obviation: if the action proceeds from a more obviate to a more proximate one, the verb carries the inverse prefix.

Topic and focus particles

The topic marker, which is also the vocative marker, marks what the sentence is about. It is used frequently (at least to the same degree as in Japanese), but there can be at most one topic in a clause. Topic markers are usually absent in subordinate clauses (always in relative clauses).

The focus is used for new information or contrastive emphasis. The latter sense can be emphasized by fronting the focused constituent in front of the verb.

Nominal/Adjectival predication

Netagin is entirely devoid of copulas. Instead one uses the topic particle ha-L with the subject, and the focus particle ha-N on the predicate nominal.

הֲזְמָלִ אֶלָּא הַגַּ֬שֻּודָא.
Ἁ-ζεμώλ ἐλλώ ἁ-νγασζζουδώ.
Ha-zemhál ˀelláˀ ha-ngaššúdháˀ.
TOP=person.PL.DIR NEG FOC=thing-INAN.PL.DIR
People are not objects.

Sentences of this form are not always predication (although the following case could be analyzed as an eclipsed form of "As for me, it's this big one that I get...").

הֲאַגְדּ, הַמְּטָלֵם זָן; הֲאַןּ, הַמְּרָשִיחַ רָן.
Ἁ-ἄγδδ, ἁ-μμετωλαίμ ζών, ἁ-ἀνν, ἁ-μμερωσζείαη ρών.
Ha-ˀaghd, ha-meṭhálémh zán; ha-ˀann, ha-merášíaḥ rán.
TOP=1SG.NOM, FOC=NOMZ-big.INAN.SG.DIR here; TOP=2SG.NOM, FOC=NOMZ-small.INAN.SG.DIR there
Me, this big one; you, that small one.

Predication of possession

Predicative possession is constructed similarly to the dative construction in many languages, but the possessor is topicalized.

הֲאַגְדְּ חֵמָא חִצָּא אַקְדֻּול.
Ἁ-ἄγδδ ηαιμώ ηιτζζώ ἀκδδούλ.
Ha-ˀaghd ḥémháˀ ḥittzáˀ ˀaqhdúl.
TOP-1SG.NOM exist.IPFV-3PL excess.PL.DIR coin.PL.DIR
I have too many coins. (lit. Me-wise, there are excess coins.)

Other dative-like uses of the topic marker

The topic marker also has absorbed many other functions of the dative in European languages, such as dative of interest or ethical dative. This use of the topic marker is more felicitous and predominant in subordinate clauses.

הֲאַגְדְּ אֵי נַנְעַש?
Ἁ-ἄγδδ ἀίϊ νανωάσζ;
Ha-ˀaghd ˀéi nanˁaš?
TOP=1SG.DIR what.DIR (2,3)-discuss.PFV
What did you talk about (that is relevant to me)?
הֲאַגְדּ לְהֵהּ הַסָבִיעַ.
Ἁ-ἄγδδ λε-ἁίι ἁ-σώβείαω.
Ha-ˀaghd le-héhh ha-sábhíaˁ.
TOP=1SG.DIR RECENT_PAST=3SG(AN).DIR FOC=tender.SG.AN.DIR
Towards me/In my opinion she was a warm person.

Focus affixes

Focus affixes mark the utterance as an answer to a question. Focused verbs are the usual response to polar questions.

"ˁAnnú?" "ˁAdtúnáˀ."
"Are you coming?" "No."

Focused verbs are also used for discourse functions.

כַּזַגְדִּכֻו רַקּ, נַג מטִּיג, נַג וַבִּיץ, נַג פַרְשִין מַּהְּבִּינִי תֻּובָסָא.
Χχαζαγδδίχου ράκκ, ναγ ματτείγ, ναγ ϝαββείτζ, ναγ φαρσζείν μααβεινεί ντουβωσώ.
Cazaghdichú raq, nagh mhaṭígh, nagh fhabítz, nagh pharšín mahhbíní dtúbhásáˀ.
be_embittered-1SG-AFF.FOC INF.write/IPFV, again INF/tranliterate/IPFV, again INF/vocalize/IPFV, again INF/decode/IPFV example-SG.GEN utterance-PL.DIR
I'm just sick of having to write, AND transliterate, AND vocalize, AND gloss example sentences.

Relative clauses

Netagin uses deranked relative clauses that employ a possessive construction using the action noun of the verb. Resumptive pronouns are required as oblique arguments in the RC, and may be used in subject/DO positions as well. The position of tense particles in the RC is useful for reconstructing the aspect of the clause; they are found on the most patient-like argument when the verb is perfective and the most agentive argument when the verb is imperfective. Relative clauses are negated with the prefix míl- ('un-, lack of') which is hyphenated to the verb.

הַוָרָשֹ לְאָ֬תָי דַ֬סִּילַת?
Ἁ-ϝωρώθζ λε-ὠθώϊ νδασσειλάθ;
Ha-fháráś le-ˀáthái ndassílath?
TOP=silver.SG.DIR RECENT_PAST=1PL.GEN earn/AXN-SG.GEN
What of the money we've been earning? [lit. as for the money of past-our earning]

Using the plural form of the verbal noun indicates pluractionality, which is required for plural absolutive NPs in relative clauses as well as for plural actions.

כֳּלָל וְּטֻונָא
χχολώλ ϝϝτουνώ
colál fṭhúnáˀ
bird.PL.DIR migrate/AXN.PL-GEN
birds that migrate
שְֹבָר אֲ֬גִיםּ שַֹבִּירוֹנָי
θζβώρ νἀγείμμ θζαββειραυνώϊ
śbhár nˀaghím śabírónái
fish.SG.DIR 1SG.GEN fish/AXN-PL.GEN
the fish I catch

RCs of the form "which is NP" can be rendered with apposition (FOC=[predicate NP]-INS).

אֲגִיםּ חָ֬שִי, הַמִּזְרֵגָם דְּיוֹם
ἀγείμμ νηωσζεί, ἁ-μμιζραιγώμ δδιαύμ
ˀaghím nḥáší, ha-mizréghámh dyómh
1SG.GEN sister.SG.DIR FOC=student.SG.INS still
my sister, who is still a student

Relative clauses may occur before the noun in poetry.

Instrument clauses

The sense of "by X-ing/having X do Y" is conveyed by an isomorphic construction, but the action noun occurs in the instrumental case.

אַנְעֻונִיָּתֵג גֶּשְלִין צְבָבֵל
ἀνωουνειιωθαίγ γγεσζλείν τζεβωβαίλ
ˀanˁúníyáthégh gešlín tzebhábhél
AXN-press-AXN-INS button-LOC three/times
by pressing the button thrice

Complement clauses

Complement clauses can be formed in two ways. The first is more common in literary usage, and makes use of raising:

נְרַמִּיץ הֶתִי דַנּיא לְטַּזְטֵּזֵג.
Νεραμμείτζ ἑθί δαννεί λετταζτταιζαίγ.
Neramítz hethí dhanníˀ leṭazṭézégh.
(2,3)-know.IPFV 3SG.ACC INF/cook mediocre-ADV
You know him/her to be a mediocre cook.

The second is more active in more common speech and uses a complementizer ṭú.

רִמַּצַןּ הֵהּ טֻּו לְדַנִּיא לְטַּזְטֵּזֵג.
Ριμματζανν ἁίι ττού λεδαννεί λετταζτταιζαίγ.
Rimatzann héhh ṭú ledhanníˀ leṭazṭézégh.
be.aware.IPFV-2SG 3SG.NOM COMP (0,3)-cook mediocre-ADV
You know s/he's not the best cook.

Questions

Questions do not use a question particle (except e.g. hén in leading "tag" questions), nor is there normally a change in word order.

Interrogatives
Netagin Gloss
who
ˀéiN what
mah what (determiner)
léimáˀ which one
mánabh where
mór
ˀášéináˀ
when
ˀamínáˀ how
michlím how much/many
ˀellú
céináˀ
why


Clitics

Clitics serve a diversity of functions in Netagin. The order of pre-NP clitics is as follows: epistemic-tense-topic/focus.

Inpositional

Netagin adpositions come in second position (cf. the Latin phrase magna cum laude) unless the object is pronominal, in which case they are prepositional.

קִּב כִיםּ
γκιβ χειμμ
qibh chím
for 1SG.GEN
for me
תִּפְלוֹן אָ֬נָי תַּ֬ל אִ֬מַּת
θθιφλαύν νὠνώϊ νθαλ νἰμμάθ
tiphlón nˀánái dtal nˀimath
letter.INAN.DIR 2PL.GEN from mother-HON.GEN
a letter from your mother

The following lists common adpositions. If two cases are listed, the accusative case denotes movement to the position.

Adpositions
Adposition Case Gloss
talN genitive from
qibhL genitive for the sake of
L genitive in order that
qrúthN genitive lest, in order that... not
ˁarN instrumental with (accompanying)
ˀelN instrumental without
déráˀL accusative because of
hídhL accusative towards
mašN locative, accusative in, within
celN locative, accusative above, over
dónL genitive, accusative on, about
nótzL genitive, accusative before, in front of
cadL locative when
tarN locative, accusative after, behind, for (locative)
meṭáˀL locative, accusative over, beyond, through
bachN locative, accusative below, under
ferrN genitive, accusative between, among
yirinL genitive instead of
Usage of cí/qrúth/cad/nótz/tar

Purpose clauses and time clauses have a different structure than independent clauses. The subject is declined in the appropriate case and occupies first position, and the infinitive form is used for the verb.

מִּבְלוֹקִי קְרֻות תַקַם צָּפִיחַ
Μμιβλαυκεί κρούθ θακαμ τζωφείαη
Mibhlóqhí qhrúth thaqhamh tzáphíaḥ
ice-SG.GEN lest INF-melt.PFV early
lest the ice melt prematurely

Pronominal subjects follow the conjunction:

תַּר נֻו לָט!
Θθαρ νου λώτ!
Tar nú láṭh!
after 2PC.ACC INF.die.PFV
After you die! (hostile response to a command/request)

Discourse

Discourse particles
ha-L topic, vocative
ha-N focus, new information
L after all
ˀéibháˁ don't you know?
hén tag question

Epistemic

Epistemic modal particles
ṭim "probably"
qáš "must"
ca-L "can/might"
hégh "I doubt that..."

Tense

Tense marking can be omitted or shifted depending on the context; narrative texts, for instance, will record tense relative to the present time of the story. Tense is marked on the most patientive argument available if the verb is perfective, and on the most agentive argument if the verb is imperfective.

Tense particles
Netagin Gloss
l- recent past
š- historical, >20 years ago
ben future

Attitudinal

Attitudinal clitics typically precede the verb.

Attitudinal particles
Netagin Gloss
nacL happiness, excitement
šúN entreaty for empathy, "so"
ˀichL optative
dimL hope
qrúthN fear/warning, 'lest'


דִּיתִיב שֹֻו רַצַמְגְ!
Δδειθείβ θζού ρατζάμγ!
Díthíbh śú ratzamhgh!
today so be_saggy/PFV-1SG
I've been so exhausted today!
Jussive
וָּחִין בַּר וֲּעָן!
Ϝϝωηείν ββαρ ϝϝαωών!
Fáḥín bar faˁán!
order.PFV-3SG then INF-come.PFV
Let her come then! (lit. tell her to come)

Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions always come in second position.

Conjunctions
Coordinating
Netagin Gloss
fa- (fu- / _C[+labial]) and (nominal/adjectival)
ˀis and (sentential)
or
ˀach but
ˀóth but/rather
Subordinating
Netagin Gloss
ṭúL that [complement clause]
haṭhúL if
ˀaph although, even if
barL then
gúnN because
habhráˀL so, therefore

Loanwords

Netagin has many loanwords from various sources such as Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew (ancient and modern).

from Israeli

Note that Modern Hebrew words use (a derivative of) the Ashkenazi vocalization, as the revivers of Hebrew adopted Ashkenazi Hebrew for its being superior representation of the structure of Tiberian Hebrew in comparison to Sephardi Hebrew. Some adaptations are made:

  • the Hebrew feminine ending -o is rendered as -áˀ.
  • the Hebrew vowel /ø/ is mapped to é.
  • the nasal vowels of Hebrew are mapped to VC[+nasal +homorganic] / _C and to Vn, Vmh or V / _#.
  • Hebrew consonantal values may be either orthographically or phonetically mapped, within Netagin constraints.

Diachronics from loanwords

Netagin's long history of borrowing allows reconstruction of much of the diachronic history of the language, by looking at the sound changes that have happened between the source word and the modenr recorded form.

Examples:

targūm (Aramaic 'translation') > tirgúmh ('translation')

Poetry

Netagin poetry may use meters ranging from Arabic/Turkish-like quantitative meters (leading to resemblance to Hebrew piyyutim) to more Greek- and Italian-influenced qualitative meters (the latter being altered to fit the predominantly iambic words of Netagin).

The following equivalences are considered rhyming (modulo homophony, e.g. = -úmh):

  • sharing a stressed -VC,
  • sharing a stressed -CH ("mutations mutandis", e.g. -tann = -thann),
  • sharing a -H(CVC), where the first syllable is stressed. The C beginning the second syllable may be discounted in less serious contexts. (H is a heavy rime of the form -VV(C) or -VC(C), where VV is a long vowel)

To conform to meter or rhyme patterns initial consonant clusters may be broken: *bláth > beláth, or syllables may be elided.

Note that rhyming is often not transitive when initial mutations are considered; namely it is strongly discouraged to traverse both homophony and mutation (and is absolutely impermissible to do so simultaneously) in a given rhyme.

Sample

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לַבְרִיץ דִּי לַצְבַּש נוֹצִין.
Λα-βρείτζ δδεί λατζββάσζ ναυτζείν.
La-bhrítz dí latzbaš nótzín.
This language has been featured [lit. shown in front].

דִּי הַגּ֬וֹזָבִי, הַמַּעֲמוֹרָתִי, וֲּהַמֵּיגָת תְּ֬קֻוסֵג, לִפְסוֹף הַבְרָא וַּאַצְבָּש.
Δδεί ἁ-νγαυζωβεί, ἁ-μμαωαμαυρωθεί, ϝϝαἁ-μμαιγάθ νθεκουσαίγ, λιφσαύφ ἁβρώ ϝϝαἀτζββάσζ.
Dí ha-ngózábhí, ha-maˁamhóráthí, faha-méghath dteqhúségh, liphsóph habhráˀ faˀatzbaš.
It is useful/usable, natural, and well-done, hence it has been elected to be featured.

Dictionary

Please see Netagin/Dictionary.