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Ewige: Difference between revisions
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'''Ewige''' (/əˈwiːgeɪ/, natively ''néto | '''Ewige''' (/əˈwiːgeɪ/, natively ''néto Éwigéře'' [neto ˈeɹigerɛ], "Ewige language") is a language spoken in central-southern [[w:Siberia|Siberia]], near the borders with Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China. It is one of several descendants of the Ivugi language, also spoken in Siberia circa 1000 CE, but it is not considered mutually intelligible with the other Ivugean languages, as they are collectively known. The speaker pool of Ewige is estimated at around 200,000 individuals, mostly living in [[w:Kemerovo Oblast|Kemerovo Oblast]], the [[w:Altai Republic|Altai Republic]], and other nearby federal subjects of Russia; significant Ewige communities also exist in Kazakhstan, western Russia, the United States, and Germany. Community leaders have been enthusiastic about keeping the language alive, arranging for many films, comic strips, and books to be translated into the language and publishing newspapers in it. | ||
Ewige is a nominative-accusative, agglutinative language with VOS (verb-object-subject) word order and an animate-inanimate distinction for nouns; as it features polypersonal agreement on verbs and many simpler sentences can express all their information with just a verb, some linguists argue that it is polysynthetic instead. It has two main dialects: '' | Ewige is a nominative-accusative, agglutinative language with VOS (verb-object-subject) word order and an animate-inanimate distinction for nouns; as it features polypersonal agreement on verbs and many simpler sentences can express all their information with just a verb, some linguists argue that it is polysynthetic instead. It has two main dialects: ''Jugře'' ("Southern") and ''Třaře'' ("Northern"); the more widely spoken and prestige Jugře dialect is the one covered in this article. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
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==Dialectology== | ==Dialectology== | ||
The dialect documented in this article is the prestige '' | The dialect documented in this article is the prestige ''Jugře'' (Southern) dialect, spoken by the majority of the population. The more innovative ''Třaře'' (Northern) dialect is characterized by the following features: | ||
* A lower percentage of loanwords and a tendency to use native coinings instead. When loanwords are imported, they are less likely to use non-native phones such as /l/. | * A lower percentage of loanwords and a tendency to use native coinings instead. When loanwords are imported, they are less likely to use non-native phones such as /l/. | ||
* The mid high vowels /e/ and /o/ are diphthongized to [iə] and [uə]. | * The mid high vowels /e/ and /o/ are diphthongized to [iə] and [uə]. | ||
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* /h/ disappears initially and merges with /x/ elsewhere; this creates homophones such as ''oš'' ("than") vs. ''hoš'' ("footprint"), and ''og'' ("that", to mark subordinate clauses) vs. ''hog'' ("gust"). | * /h/ disappears initially and merges with /x/ elsewhere; this creates homophones such as ''oš'' ("than") vs. ''hoš'' ("footprint"), and ''og'' ("that", to mark subordinate clauses) vs. ''hog'' ("gust"). | ||
* /ə/ is slightly fronted and rounded, often as far as [ø~œ], but does not exhibit nearly the degree of allophony found in Jugřé Ewige. | * /ə/ is slightly fronted and rounded, often as far as [ø~œ], but does not exhibit nearly the degree of allophony found in Jugřé Ewige. | ||
* The possessive pronouns are suffixed with the adjectival ''- | * The possessive pronouns are suffixed with the adjectival ''-ře'', such as ''sodaře'' ("yours"), equivalent to saying "yours-like" or "yours-ish" in English. | ||
* Double negation is common, with the general negative particle ''ou'' coming immediately before the verb. | * Double negation is common, with the general negative particle ''ou'' coming immediately before the verb. | ||
* Although Třařé Ewige is also pro-drop and its verbs have polypersonal agreement, subject pronouns are still used with greater frequency than in Jugřé Ewige, but they come at the very end of the sentence, including after any adverbs. | * Although Třařé Ewige is also pro-drop and its verbs have polypersonal agreement, subject pronouns are still used with greater frequency than in Jugřé Ewige, but they come at the very end of the sentence, including after any adverbs. | ||
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| ''heiry?'' (from ''hei iry?'', literally "what place?") | | ''heiry?'' (from ''hei iry?'', literally "what place?") | ||
| here | | here | ||
| '' | | ''gá'' | ||
| there | | there | ||
| '' | | ''twá'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
| when? | | when? | ||