Fásriyya

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Fásriyya
Created byLimius
SettingAvrid
Native toFasser
EthnicityFasserman
Haïdic
  • Fásriyya
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Fásriyya (also Faṣriyya) is an a priori naturalistic artlang, which takes inspiration from, amongst others, Old Japanese, Chinese, the Semitic languages, and Classical Nahuatl. It is spoken in the world of Avríd (also home to the Aeranid languages, such as Tevrés) by the Fassermen (native fásrí’íín) of the nation of Fasser (native fásr). It is a member of the Central-Haïdic language family, ultimately descending from Proto-Common-Haïdic.

Phonology

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
Front Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid
Open a aː
Diphthongs aj aw

Consonants

Consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless t k q
voiced b d
Fricative voiceless f s ɕ x ~ χ ħ h
voiced z ɣ ~ ʁ ʕ
Trill r
Approximate l y w

Tone

Fásriyya is a tonal language with two tone levels, high (H) and low (L), with low being the default tone. Contour tones (i.e. rising or falling tone melodies) are usually analysed as separate tones occurring on adjacent tone bearing units (morae) and thus have no phonemic status. Tone may be both lexical (an inherent feature of a word) or grammatical. High tones are marked by use of the acute accent (⟨á⟩, ⟨í⟩, ⟨ú⟩) on short vowels, with low tone unmarked. Atonal long vowels (long vowels with a simple low tone) are written with a macron (⟨ā⟩, ⟨ē⟩, ⟨ī⟩, ⟨ū⟩), whilst tonal vowels are written doubled, with an acute accent placed on the first for falling tone (HL) (⟨áa⟩, ⟨ée⟩, ⟨íi⟩, ⟨úu⟩), on the second for rising tone (LH) (⟨aá⟩, ⟨eé⟩, ⟨ií⟩, ⟨uú⟩), and both for a long high tone (HH or just H) (⟨áá⟩, ⟨éé⟩, ⟨íí⟩, ⟨úú⟩).

Fásriyya tonemes
Name Contour example
toneless L bakuš (/bàkùʃ/) 'they drink'
high H fásr (/fásr/) 'Fasser'
rising LH luddú (/lùdːú/) 'head (nom.)'
falling HL báskir (/báskìr/) 'head'
peaking LHL baktúru (/bàktúrù/) 'they're speaking'
broken LM* kaãtr (/kàā̰tr/) 'speech'

Another tone contour, called the broken tone, may appear on long syllables, as an allophone of the peaking tone. It is written with a tilde over the second vowel (⟨aã⟩, ⟨eẽ⟩, ⟨iĩ⟩, ⟨uũ⟩). It is realised as a contour from low to mid pitch, with creaky voice manifesting towards the end. See more bellow.

Lexical tone

Lexical tone is a feature of Fásriyya's triconsonantal root system, with each root carrying one of the five tone melodies. For example, the root of the word báskiru ('it blooms') is not simple s-k-r, but rather s-k-r HL, with a high-low tone melody. These melodies play themselves across any words derived from their associated stems, that is, all words derived from s-k-r HL carry the same tone melody. Due to the fact that different vocalisations have different numbers of vowels, these lexical tone melodies manifest differently depending on the number of morae (a short vowel is one mora, a long vowel is two) present.

Tone manifestation
Toneme one-mora two-morae three-morae four-morae five-morae
toneless L
ka’n (/kàʔn/)
LL
bak’un (/bàkʔùn/)
LLL
bak’unu (/bàkʔùnù/)
LLLL
kā’inu (/kààʔìnù/)
LLLLL
kā’inīn (/kààʔìnììn/)
high H
fásr (/fásr/)
HH
fásrú (/fásrú/)
HHH
báfássír (/báfásːír/)
HHHH
báfássírú (/báfásːírú/)
HHHHH
táfássíríín (/táfásːíríín/)
rising LH*
ḡaábd (/ɣǎˑbd/)
LH
ḡabdú (/ɣàbdú/)
LHH
ḡabádá (/ɣàbádá/)
LHHH
baḡáábád (/bàɣáːbád/)
LHHHH
baḡáábádú (/bàɣáːbádú/)
falling HL*
sáakr (/sâˑkr/)
HL
sákru (/sákrù/)
HLL
sákira (/sákìrà/)
HLLL
ískīra (/ískìːrà/)
HLLLL
sáakirīn (/sâːkìrìːn/)
peaking LM*
kaãtr (/ka̰᷄ˑtr/)
LHL*
kaátru (/kǎˑrù/)
LHL
katára (/kàtárà/)
LHHL
bakáátir (/bàtáːtìr/)
LHHHL
bakáátíru (/bàtáːtírù/)

Nouns

Prepositions

Prepositions can be classified into two groups; conjugating and non-conjugating. This may be somewhat a misnomer, as even non-conjugating prepositions may take suffix conjugation when they are used with a personal pronoun, but this is not considered true conjugation. Conjugating pronouns conjugate to match the main subject of a sentence.

Conjugating Prepositions
3SG 1PL Meaning Notes Example
wanū focus ban before words starting with vowels or /ʔ/; conditions an adnominal verb ḥamaba ’Ámnú díyālana—'It was Amn who wrote the letter'
báta wátū complementizer does not trigger tone sandhi bamḥúdúú ’ayráásúúná bátū kīhu ruffút—'the Aerans think this is their land'
Non-conjugating Prepositions
Form Meaning Notes Example
dative case ’aḥmub díyālana da’Ámní–'I wrote a letter to Amn'
qu allative case bádīlu wakmīna quJádááhi—'They're sending the children to Jadah'
ǎz genitive case may indicate alienable possession, assimilates voice with following consonant Jattú zAmní—'Amn's dog;' Luddú zFasrí’ííná—'capital of the fassermen'

Verbs