Lifashian: Difference between revisions

|agency        = National Lifashian Language Board<br/>''so Majalis Gulkehi Dáré Lífasyám''

Hamza may occur on any vowel, either long or short, as long as it is stressed (either primarily or in compounds)<ref>Some extremely conservative inland dialects have hamza on unstressed vowels too; in the standard, it sometimes occurs in careful speech in some prefixes and words derived from those, such as ''efter'' "higher" /eˤfˈter/, from the prefix ''eˤp-''..</ref>. Hamza on short vowels is always realized as creaky voice or pharyngealization, while hamza on long vowels, for many speakers, is phonetically closer to a broken tone, with a full glottal stop interrupting the sound, before a short echo of the vowel:

Lifashian nouns distinguish two numbers (''hamári'', sg. ''hamár'') – '''singular''' (''enikás'') and '''plural''' (''pilifuntikás'') – and four cases (''pitósi'', sg. and pl.) – '''nominative''' (''lónamsyás'' or in older literature ''onomastikás''), '''genitive''' (''gyenikás''), '''dative''' (''dotikás''), and '''accusative''' (''eytiatikás'').<br/>

Nouns can belong to three different genders (''jensi'', sg. ''jens''): '''masculine''' (''turéssyás''), '''feminine''' (''ninfasyás''), or '''neuter''' (''udeterás'').

| mísy'''é''' || mísy'''ám'''

| gír'''é''' || gír'''ám'''

| pirt'''é''' || pirt'''ám'''

| líssy'''ehi''' || líssy'''ehám'''

| ninf'''ehi''' || ninf'''ehám'''

| giry'''é''' || giry'''ám'''

| zimestá'''e''' || zimestá'''m'''

| mát'''ors''' || mát'''irám'''

| fat'''ors''' || fat'''irám'''

| jomm'''i''' || jomm'''enám'''

| lónam'''i''' || lónam'''ám'''

| rangg'''i''' || rangg'''ám'''

| colspan=2 | tosy || tassyá || colspan=2 | tyám || tásam

Personal names are not used with articles in the standard language, but it is a prominent feature of Western dialects (in the provinces of Elenasyahr and Kawéy, and parts of Milesyihars province, as well as in the (mostly extinct) dialects of the Sinope area), which have greater Greek influence and use articles in front of names anywhere except for vocative phrases; e.g. ''tási Syáhpúrí tom námirom eléha.'' "I gave Syáhpúr the book."<br/>However, even in the standard language, an article is used in front of pluralized given names to denote a group of more people defined from one of them, often (depending on context) "X and their family", e.g. ''tás Freyánehes'' "Freyáná and her family/friends/colleagues/etc."<br/>In older Lifashian (and sometimes in rendering foreign patronymics), a construction similar to Ancient Greek is used for the patronymic (or, rarely, matronymic, as it is not a fixed form), that is, a structure composed of the given name, the corresponding article, and the name of the parent in the genitive case, e.g. ''Freyáná sá Syáhpúré'' "Freyáná the [daughter] of Syáhpúr", ''Habdolláh so Irénors'' "Habdolláh the [son] of Iréné''.

Another structure that has a parallel formation in Greek, the genitive interposed between the article and noun, is found to this day in official, formal written Lifashian, as well as in certain speech forms (fixed phrases or official speeches such as Presidential speeches or court verdicts); e.g. ''tí tosy ondúhé haki'' "human rights" (lit. "the rights of the person"), ''at tyám Lífasyám mulúman'' (Parliament of the Lifashians).

Possessives follow the same declension of articles, as they are diachronically formed from the pronominal genitive attached to an article. Note that the neuter singular has a ''-t-'' inserted before the article. The possessives are:<br/>

| colspan=2 | -astasy || -ássyá || colspan=3 | -átsám

Pronominal adjectives - such as ''polc'' "many" (f. ''poltá'', n. ''poltom''), ''somals'' "all" (f. ''somalá'', n. ''somalom''), ''himbi'' (f. ''himbá'', n. ''himbim'') "both" - follow nominal declensions. The pronominal adjective ''máˤn'' (f. ''máˤná'', n. ''máˤnt'') "no", however, is declined like the demonstrative ''hiˤn''.

'''ep''' ''+ genitive case'' "on"; ''+ accusative case'' "onto". Also used for islands and riverside areas (see first example):

* ''So hars Muskuy '''ep''' tosy hafni Muskuy esti.'' "The city of Moscow is on the Moscow river."

* ''So syorón '''ep''' tosy seláe syúpeti.'' – The cat is sleeping on the table.

'''for''' ''+ genitive case'': "for", "in favour of"

* '''''For''' tet pótt alúhha.'' – I cooked dinner for you.

* ''Husein '''for''' tom heldúbatom mulúcam lefit e.'' – Husein voted for (in favour of) the proposal.

'''hó''' ''+ genitive case'': "from"

* ''So tulay nyam enseytorm '''hó''' tosy ongisé hewi bereti.'' – The boy is bringing a jar from the kitchen.

* '''''Hó''' Dáré Hayám frádagi syari benggim.'' – I'm coming back from Armenia tomorrow.

'''li''' ''+ genitive case'': "behind" (state), "after" (in time); ''+ accusative case'' "behind" (motion)

* ''Hin syorón '''li''' tassyá pardehi esti.'' "That cat is behind the curtain."

* '''''Li''' tosy tórwété sá serwáná eyesa.'' "After the storm came the calm."

'''marw''' ''+ genitive case'': "as", "like", "being a(n)"; also used for languages (see third example)

* ''Nye syanangé '''marw''' nyasy tájé esti.'' – a popular saying; (lit.) "A friend is like a jewel."

* '''''Marw''' méliwútastasy, histam lalimam mé sirémi.'' – Being an atheist, I do not like this wording.

* ''Parwáná mehwesi '''marw''' faransótastasy mulúti, wate '''marw''' inggrízyastasy.'' – Parwáná speaks good French, [but] bad English.

'''mey''' ''+ genitive case'' "in", "inside of" (state); ''+ accusative case'' "to", "in", "inside of" (motion)

* ''Sunuté minso nung '''mey''' tosy madrasyi esti.'' – My son is at (in the) school now.

* ''Duhaté minsá nung '''mey''' at madrasyé benti.'' – My daughter is going to school now.

'''midi''' ''+ genitive case'' "between", "among" (state); ''+ accusative case'' "between", "among" (motion)

'''nil''' ''+ genitive case'' "at" (state); ''+ accusative case'' "to", "at" (motion)

* ''Iréné siréti ene merpehi '''nil''' tosy gulestáné panesti.'' – "Iréné likes to spend the morning in the park."

'''peli''' ''+ genitive case'' "under" (state); ''+ accusative case'' "under", "below" (motion)

* ''So syorón '''peli''' tosy seláe syúpeti.'' – The cat is sleeping under the table.

'''pire''' ''+ genitive case'' "in front of" (state), "before" (in time); ''+ accusative case'' "in front of" (motion)

* ''Lámá minsá '''pire''' tassyá hettehi esti.'' – My house is in front of the church.

* ''Mé gyalhe at jahán '''pire''' ontarendóré.'' – I don't know [how] the world [was] before the Internet.

'''tenúe''' ''+ dative case'', rarely (informally, but proscribed) ''+ genitive case'': "because of"

* ''Mánt mé elersyaha '''tenúe''' tasyé líssyehí.'' (proscribed: ''tenúe tassyá líssyehi'') "I could not see anything because of the rain."

The current Lifashian calendar is the Solar&nbsp;Hijri (Iranian) calendar but counting years since (Gregorian/Julian) 1917, the year of the October Revolution; the month names are mostly the Persian ones also used in Iran, which were the ones traditionally used by the Lifashians before adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1918: the Lifashian names are slightly different from the current Iranian ones as they were mostly borrowed in Lifashian prehistory, from Early Middle Persian; three of the month names (Khordad, Aban, and Dey) are old calques rather than borrowings.<br/>The Iranian calendar had been unofficially used all throughout the Soviet era, and the shift from the Gregorian calendar to it (with the year numbering change) was approved in 1992, right after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Lifashian independence; the calendar entered official use on Nowruz 77 (21 March 1993). In Dár&nbsp;Lífasyam, 20 March 1993 was followed by 1 farwardín 77.<br/>Years before 1917 are counted backwards and marked in writing with the abbreviation ''p.R.'', "before the Revolution" (''pire tassyá Rewalúciyehi''); 1916 is 1 p.R. in the Lifashian calendar

* Day of the International (''hámor tassyá Kútebénesyássyá''): 11 and 12 ardowhist (celebration of International Workers' Day; the days correspond to Gregorian 1/2 May in most years)

* Victory Day (''hámor tosy Sejmé''): 19 ardowhist (commemorating the Victory over Nazi Germany on 9 May 1945 / 19 ardowhist 29)

* Day of Peace and Freedom in the World (''hamor tassyá Serwánehi ng Ázáditehi mey Dejehi''), often referred to by left-wing parties as Day of the Liberation from Colonialism and Imperialism (''hámor tassyá Hótarpetiyors hó tassyá Mostahmartuwehi ng Iluhántuwehi''): 24 liftá (introduced in 1999; the date commemorates the birth of Ernesto "Che" Guevara on 14 June 1928 / 24 liftá 12)

* Day of the Renaissance (''hámor tassyá Anajencehi''): 26 amartát (commemorating the death of Dótfaren Lilháti, a prominent poet and philosopher of the Lifashian Renaissance, on 17 August 1646 / 26 amartát 271 p.R.)

* Day of the Constitution (''hámor tosy Syadúbmé'') : 14 ksyahrbér (commemorating the signing of the Lifashian Constitution on 5 September 1992 / 14 ksyahrbér 76)

* Day of the Revolution (''hámor tassyá Rewalúciyehi otúbri''): 16 hehnsúns (commemorating the October Revolution on 7 November 1917 / 16 hehnsúns 1)

* Day of the Memory of Lenin (''hámor tosy yádi Leniné''): 1 bohman (commemorating the death of V.I.&nbsp;Lenin on 21 January 1925 / 1 bohman 8). Reintroduced in 1995.

The Day of the Paris Commune (''hámor tosy komúné Parízyi'') on 27 isfendárm, commemorating the uprising of the National Guard of Paris on 18 March 1871 / 27 isfendárm 46 p.R., had been reintroduced in 1998 after being a holiday in the early Soviet era; however, after three years, it was removed from the list of public holidays as it was deemed too close to Nowruz anyway; the Day of the Renaissance was instituted to replace it.