Lifashian: Difference between revisions

|nativename    = sá gulká lífasyása

|pronunciation = {{IPA|[sɑː ˈguɬkɑː ˈliːfæʃɑːsæ]}}

|speakers      = {{formatnum:3600000}}

|date          = 2016

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

'''Lifashian''', natively referred to as ''(at) lífasyátat'' or ''(sá) gulká lífasyása'', is an [[w:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language, an isolate inside the family, spoken in an alternate timeline of Earth in the northeastern corner of [[w:Anatolia|Asia Minor]], i.e. the historical region of [[w:Pontus (region)|Pontus]] and neighboring areas across the Pontic Alps into the [[w:Armenian highlands|Armenian highlands]]. It is the official language of the former Soviet republic of ''Dár Lífasyám'', spoken by the majority of its population. Lifashian is the native language of about 3,6 million people in the world, the majority of which in Dár Lífasyám and neighboring areas in Eastern Turkey; a small Lifashian diaspora is found mostly in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, as well as in some Western European countries.

Lifashian developed on its own, distinctly from other Indo-European languages, despite sharing some traits with the [[w:Anatolian languages|Anatolian languages]], [[w:Armenian language|Armenian]], and [[w:Greek language|Greek]]. Its vocabulary has a substantial number of inherited roots, but through millennia the language absorbed many loanwords, especially from [[w:Persian language|Persian]] and [[w:Arabic language|Arabic]] (through the former), and to smaller extents from its neighbours Armenian, the [[w:Kartvelian languages|Kartvelian languages]] and [[w:Turkish language|Turkish]], as well as from Greek and [[w:Russian language|Russian]]. Long-term Genoese colonization and reciprocal contacts also introduced many [[w:Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]] loans, as well as forming one of the main ethnic minorities in the country, Lifashian Ligurians, which had a marked influence on the culture of coastal urban areas.

Standard Lifashian - which is based on a polished, late 19th century register of the Trapezuntine dialect - has the following 21 consonants. The consonant inventory itself is close to the ones of many European languages, as well as quite similar to neighboring Turkish.

Old Lifashian used to have a {{IPA|/ð/}} phoneme which was inconsistently written as '''d''' or '''l''' in the early stages of Lifashian writing (around the 7th century), but already by the beginning of the 9th century all words that were written with alternating '''d''' or '''l''' are consistently written with '''l'''. Lifashian {{IPA|/ð/}} in fact merged with {{IPA|/l/}} unless before consonants (or after '''n'''), where it merged with {{IPA|/d/}}; this is easily noticed from the fact that {{IPA|[ð]}} from multiple loanword sources before the spread of Islam is reflected as {{IPA|/l/}}: see for example Greek given names such as ''Δηϊδάμεια'' > ''Lilamiyá'' or ''Θουκυδίδης'' > ''Fókílil'' (but ''Δρυάδα'' > ''Driálá''<ref>This form is attested in early Lifashian; later Lifashian borrowed an ''-adá'' suffix from Medieval Greek, so that the modern form of this name has been archaized as ''Driádá''.</ref> for a preconsonantal example) or general nouns such as ''δελφῖνος'' > ''lalfín'' and ''στάδιον'' > ''sitálam''. Later in Lifashian history, foreign {{IPA|[ð]}} is borrowed as {{IPA|/d/}}, or indirectly as {{IPA|/z/}} from Arabic through Persian; see for example ''δημοκρατία'' > ''dimokratíyá''.

| i iː || u uː

| e eː || o oː

| æ || ɑː

In the speech of young urban Lifashians there is a noticeable ongoing sound change in the high vowels, where the vowels are being restructured with long ones being front and short ones being back, and then distinguishing them for roundedness. Therefore, the high vowels of those speakers ae {{IPA|[iː yː ɯ u]}}, result of the {{IPA|[i]}} → {{IPA|[ɯ]}} and {{IPA|[uː]}} → {{IPA|[yː]}} shifts.

Hamza may occur on any vowel, either long or short, as long as it is stressed (either primarily or in compounds). 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:

* ''élom'' "I ate" {{IPA|/ˈeːˤlom/}} {{IPA|[ˈeɁĕlom]}}

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'').

Nouns can be categorized as following one of six different declensions (''kilisi'', sg. and pl.); in most cases, each declension (except the fourth) only contains nouns of a single gender.<br/>

Nearly every noun, whether native or borrowed, is declined according to one of the six declensions; however, transcriptions of foreign anthroponyms and toponyms are indeclinable whenever they do not end in one of the typical endings of the declensions. See e.g. toponyms such as ''Peru'' "Peru", ''Konggo'' "Congo", or ''Wanwátu'' "Vanuatu".

The first declension (''kilisi hancás'') of Lifashian contains most masculine nouns, inherited or borrowed. The nominative singular, citation form, ends in ''-as'', ''-s'', ''-sy'', or has no ending.

|+ '''''mísy'' (√míˤsy-) "moon, month"'''

| mísy || mísy'''i'''

| mísy'''é''' || mísy'''ám'''

| mísy'''í''' || mísy'''uwi'''

| mísy'''om''' || mísy'''ás'''

The second declension (''kilisi sfétás'') contains most feminine nouns. Their citation form always ends in '''-á'''.

The third declension (''kilisi tartás'') contains nearly all neuter nouns, and its forms in the genitive and dative are identical to the first declension. Its citation form ends in ''-am'' for all native words and some borrowings, or in a vowel plus ''-n'' in other borrowings. Such ''-n'' was often part of the stem in the donor language, but has been treated as an inflection in Lifashian.

Words of the fourth declension (''kilisi pitúrtás'') are either masculine or feminine. Their citation form ends in ''-é''.

The fifth declension (''kilisi penftás''), mostly unproductive (although the common derivational suffix ''-né'', marking collective nouns, belongs to this declension), contains neuter nouns whose lemma forms end in ''-é''. They are clearly distinct from 4th declension ones.

Words of the sixth declension (''kilisi géstás'') are predominantly masculine, ending in ''-i'' in their citation form; its plural forms are the same as in the first declension. Some borrowings are also included in this declension.

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 elém.'' "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''.

Titles (adpositions) follow the proper names they refer to and are not used with any article (e.g. ''Iyústinyanos iluhan rómeyás'' "Roman Emperor Justinian (I)"), unless they include an adjective not part of the title itself, in which case this usually precedes the noun (e.g. ''Nikoláy 2. so ejesiyás iluhan russyás'' "Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia").<br/>Titles however regularly use possessives or other determinatives (e.g. ''Syáhpúr barté minso'' "my brother Syáhpúr").

* All names of countries and territories require the definite article, except for those constructed as ''Dár + genitive of an ethnonym''<ref>Five countries: ''Dár Lífasyám'', ''Dár Hayám'' (Armenia), ''Dár Pársyám'' (Iran), ''Dár Turkám'' (Turkey), and ''Dár Yúniyám'' (Greece).</ref>, or Persianized placenames ending in ''-(V)stán'', which are never accompanied by articles.<br/>Originally collective (fifth declension) toponyms do not use articles in the standard, but they are sometimes used in more colloquial registers, e.g. ''(at) Midihafnené'' (Mesopotamia), ''(at) Selné Syené'' (Côte d'Ivoire).

Even in formal contexts, the remnants of T-V distinction are usually manifest in the use of ''turésysuás'' (Mr.) or ''ninfásuása'' (Ms.) with either the surname or - even more often - the given name. Using both the surname and given name is generally limited to written legal texts. It is not uncommon even for contemporary politicians or other prominent people to be mentioned in Lifashian newspapers with ''turésysuás''/''ninfásuása'' and their given name.

| -ás || -átat || -ása || -ésti || -(e)tá || -éssyes

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

| colspan=2 | -étsim || -átasyé || colspan=2 | -óstós || -áwtábi

| -átam || -átat || -ántam || -ástás || -(e)tá || -ástás

Lifashian cardinal numerals are inflected for case only in the forms from 1 to 4 (and numbers ending in the digits 1-4), which also agree in gender with the noun, as well as 100 and 1000; however, while 1-4 have their own peculiar declensions, hundreds and thousands decline as nouns.

|+ ''pitúri, pecar, pitór'' (four)

| '''pitúri''' || '''pitór''' || '''pecar'''

| colspan=2 | pitráˤm || pecéˤrem

| colspan=2 | pitwárm || pecórm

| pitúram || pitór || pecarm

The numerals 11-19 are compounds of the base numeral plus ''lasyam''; however, due to historical reasons, the latter root may take three different forms: ''-lasyam'' after vowels, ''-tasyam'' after voiceless consonants, and ''-dasyam'' after all other consonants. In the case of 11-14, the first component is declined.

|+ ''pitúrilasyam, pecardasyam, pitórdasyam'' (fourteen)

| '''pitúrilasyam''' || '''pitórdasyam''' || '''pecardasyam'''

| colspan=2 | pitráˤndasyam || pecéˤrendasyam

| colspan=2 | pitwárstasyam || pecórdasyam

| pitúrandasyam || pitórdasyam || pecardasyam

The other numerals 20-99 follow the same overall rules:

| nyastílásti ''m'', nyálílásti ''f'', nyandílásti ''n''

| lúˤlílásti ''m'', luwáˤlílásti ''f'', luyóˤlílásti ''n''

| teristílásti ''m'', tisyardílásti ''f'', tírdílásti ''n''

| pitúrilílásti ''m'', pecardílásti ''f'', pitórdílásti ''n''

| pembilílásti

| géstílásti

| sutondílásti

| fastúlílásti

| núndílásti

| '''tiresyát'''

| nyastiresyát ''m'', nyátiresyát ''f'', nyantiresyát ''n''

| pitóresyát

| pembisyát

| géssyát

| sutóssyát

| nússyát

100 is '''syandom''' and, unlike most other cardinals, it is declined for case and number as a third declension noun (with the stem ''syand-'' and accent on the ending). It does not combine with tens and units, and the number of hundreds may either be written separately or conjoined; conjoined writing is preferred in the formal language.

| '''syandom'''

| syandom nyé ''m'', syandom nyá ''f'', syandom nyam ''n''

| syandom sutompembisyát

| '''luyóˤsyandá'''

| '''tírsyandá'''

| '''pitórsyandá'''

| '''pembisyandá'''

| '''géssyandá'''

| '''sutossyandá'''

| '''fastúsyandá'''

| '''núnsyandá'''

Similarly, 1000 is the neuter noun '''hesyarom''', also declined as a regular third declension noun. In the standard language, stress is on the first syllable of the stem. Unlike with hundreds, thousands are never written conjoined, e.g. 2000 ''luyó hesyará'', 4896 ''pitór hesyará fastúsyandá gésynússyát''.

| '''pitúrtás'''

Adverbial numerals are indeclinable adverbs meaning "X times". Numerals from 1 to 4 included are special forms, the others are regularly formed with the suffix ''-mát'' , an original suffixless locative (cfr. Skr. ''māti'', A-Gr. ''μῆτις''):

| once || '''somi''' || 11 times || ''somi lasyammát'' || 111 times || ''syandommát somi lasyammát''

| twice || '''lis''' || 22 times || ''lis lílástimát'' || 200 times || ''luyóˤsyandámát''

| 3 times || '''ters''' || 33 times || ''ters tiresyámmát'' || 300 times || ''tírsyandámát''

| 4 times || '''pitrás''' || 44 times || ''pitrás pitóresyámmát'' || 400 times || ''pitórsyandámát''

| 5 times || '''pembimát''' || 55 times || ''pembipembisyámmát'' || 500 times || ''pembisyandámát''

| 6 times || '''gésymát''' || 66 times || ''gésyigéssyámmát'' || 600 times || ''géssyandámát''

| 7 times || '''sutommát''' || 77 times || ''sutonsutonsyámmát'' || 700 times || ''sutossyandámát''

| 8 times || '''fastúmát''' || 88 times || ''fastúfastúsyámmát'' || 800 times || ''fastúsyandámát''

| 9 times || '''númmát''' || 99 times || ''núnnússyámmát'' || 900 times || ''núnsyandámát''

| 10 times || '''lasyammát''' || 100 times || '''syandommát''' || 1000 times || ''hesyarmát''

| one each || '''seméh'''<br/>(''seméhá, seméhom'') || 11 each || ''seméh lasymír'' || 111 each || ''syandír seméh lasymír''

| two each || '''liséh''' || 22 each || ''liséh lílástír'' || 200 each || ''luyóˤsyandír''

| three each || '''teréh''' || 33 each || ''teréh tiresyátír'' || 300 each || ''tírsyandír''

| four each || '''pitórír''' || 44 each || ''pitórír pitóresyátír'' || 400 each || ''pitórsyandír''

| five each || '''pembír''' || 55 each || ''pembipembisyátír'' || 500 each || ''pembisyandír''

| six each || '''gésyír''' || 66 each || ''gésyigéssyátír'' || 600 each || ''géssyandír''

| 7 each || '''sutonír''' || 77 each || ''sutonsutonsyátír'' || 700 each || ''sutossyandír''

| 8 each || '''fastúwír''' || 88 each || ''fastúfastúsyátír'' || 800 each || ''fastúsyandír''

| 9 each || '''núnír''' || 99 each || ''núnnússyátír'' || 900 each || ''núnsyandír''

| 10 each || '''lasymír''' || 100 each || '''syandír''' || 1000 each || ''hesyarír''

Distributive numerals (in the neuter plural, except for "one") are those used in spoken multiplication, e.g. ''lis liséhá pitór séti'' "two times two equals four" (lit.: twice (adverbial) two (distributive neuter pl.) are four (cardinal neuter)).

The related relational adjectives in ''-ónwás'' denote something "of X units", "consisting of X of something", e.g. ''hars hesyarírónwás'' "a village inhabited by 1000 people"; ''pulukam teréhónwátat'' "a three-part flag (a triband)"; ''elot pembírónwás'' "a group of five people, quintet".

All collective numerals are regularly formed by adding ''-é'' (or ''-né'' after vowels) to the cardinal stem (hence without the endings for ''syandom'' and compounds), the neuter stem in the case of 4 (''pitóré''), with the exception of the irregular 1 (''nyané''), 2 (''liyé''), and 3 (''teré'').

The verbal system of Lifashian is quite archaic among Indo-European languages: while overall morphological complexity has been reduced, notably through the use of analytic tenses, the system of synthetic verbs shows a late PIE stage where each root is independently conjugated in each tense-aspect combination, and the same root may have multiple primary formations; only verbs which are derived or borrowed with the addition of a secondary formant may be said to have a regular conjugation. Otherwise, a primary present formation can correspond to different past formations, or viceversa: see for example the root past ''eseram'' which can mean either "I tied" (as past of ''serámi'' "I tie"), "I joined, built" (as past of ''serémi'' "I join, build"), or "I presented" (as past of the aorist form ''sisara'' "I present").

| -(a)m || -(e)s || -(e)t || -(a)me || -(e)te || -át

* class III (nasal infix), athematic class with a stressed ''-ne-'' suffix inserted into the root in the singular and a ''-n-'' before the last consonant in the plural. Includes many common verbs, such as e.g. ''pure<ne>s-mi, pure<n>s-mas'' "I/we ask", ''iske<ne>l-mi, iske<n>la-mas'' "I/we have to", ''u<ne>l-mi, u<n>da-mas'' "I/we wash", ''tu<ná>-mi, tu<ná>-mas'' "I/we can" (less regular due to an original root-final laryngeal, still present in the root ''tuh-'', cf. root past ''a-tú-m'').

* class VII (-émi), the most regular formation, adds ''-é-'' to the root. An original primary formation (PIE *-é-ye-) is the second most common class, including common verbs such as e.g. ''pur-é-mi'' "I do, make", ''syál-é-mi'' "I fall", ''gil-é-mi'' "I see", ''far-é-mi'' "I tempt, allure, entice".

Certain verbs may have irregular or multiple participles, most notably ''frálmi, farhálm'' (I become, became, also used as passive auxiliary), which has the historically contracted participle ''frálit'' as an auxiliary, and uncontracted ''farhelit'' as a standalone verb. Certain meanings may be conveyed by different roots and it is possible for a different root from the past and present to be preferred in the perfect: while "I do" and "I did" is most commonly ''purémi'' and ''parm'', the preferred participle for "done" is ''deˤt'' (actually cognate with English "do"), and not ''parit''.

* class I (root athematic): more common than in other modern IE languages, it is simply formed by the root plus the suffixes. Forms other than the first person singular and third plural show extensive consonant assimilation. Plural forms often have different stems, reflecting PIE zero-grade. Examples: ''e-lersy-om, e-lors-me'' "I saw, we saw"; ''a-lúh-om, a-lú-me'' (underlying form ''a-luh-me'') "I, we created, made, prepared", ''é-ˤl-om, e-deˤ-me'' "I, we ate".

* class II (root thematic): overall the most common; class I and II together correspond to the vast majority of verbs in Lifashian. Root thematic past verbs generally have the same, regular forms in all persons. Examples: ''e-ber-om'' "I brought", ''e-denah-om'' "I ran".<br/>Roots that belong to the present class VIII (-iyámi) keep the ''-iy-'' suffix in the past. They exclusively have ''-a-'' as the suffix vowel instead of ''-o-''; see ''a-bón-iy-am'' "I built", ''a-cóc-iy-am'' "I cradled", ''e-pít-iy-am'' "I counted".

* class III (''s-past'', sigmatic): corresponding to Greek sigmatic aorist. Overall not as common as in other IE languages, but still represented. The added '''s''' is often obscured by consonant assimilation. See ''a-lúw-s-om'' "I loved", ''e-gíj-om'' (underlying e-gil-s-om, from PIE *e-wéyd-s-ṃ) "I watched".

* class IV (reduplicated): very rare. The root is often quite obscured due to the stressed reduplication, zero-grade, and consonant assimilation. The few examples include ''e-lelag-om'' (more commonly ''e-lelá-m'', from the variant ''e-lelah-om'') "I had", or the literary ''a-gúk-om'' "I said" (cf. Gr. εἶπον).

: Examples: ''paregim'' "I will do", ''paregis'', ''paregi'', ''paregime'', ''paregite'', ''paregít''

: ''denggim'' "I will run", ''denggis'', ''denggi'', ''denggime'', ''denggite'', ''denggít''

The subjunctive is used after most conjunctions, such as ''ent'' "in order to, cf. Latin ''ut''". Example: ''Pambúgim ent somalam túnayam húóm.'' "I'll stay in order to hear the entire speech."

The conditional (also called hypothetical) is used to form conditional sentences; unlike e.g. Romance languages, but like neighboring Turkish and Azerbaijani, the Lifashian conditional is used in the protasis, e.g. ''Paláng sahét '''lásem''', mey tám Ispániyam wakánsom etinenggim.'' "'''If I had''' enough money, I'd go on holiday in Spain."

: ''bersem'' (root ''ber-'') "if I brought", ''berses'', ''berset'', ''berseme'', ''bersete'', ''berseát''.

There is also a past conditional (cf. "if I had had"), which is formed with the ''-it'' participle and the conditional of ''esyim'', e.g. ''berit búsem'' "if I had brought". See e.g. ''Letám résy mé '''det búset''', tám mosábakam esejme.'' "Had she not been injured, we'd have won the match."

| esyim || astám || búhit (e)syim || búhit astám || rowspan=6 style="text-align: center;" | present of<br/> ''frálmi'' "I become" || buhegim, búgim || búhewm || búsem || búhit búsem

| esyi || astás || búhit (e)syi || búhit astás || buhegis, búgis || búhewdi || búses || búhit búses

| esti || astát || búhit e(sti) || búhit astát || buhegi, búgi || búhewtu || búset || búhit búset

| somé || astame || búhit somé || búhit astame || buhegime, búgime || búhíwe || búseme || búhit búseme

| iste || astate || búhit iste || búhit astate || buhegite, búgite || búhíte || búsete || búhit búsete

| séti || astát || búhit séti || búhit astát || buhegít, búgít || búhítu || búseát || búhit búseát

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

* '''''Lá''' tom námirom mek polté kenitastasy ámóht eberam.'' "The book taught me many new things."

* ''Deynepati '''lá''' at ígam so lúkéc apart ene hó tom hérom eferset.'' "Yesterday night the ice made the driver slide off the road."

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

* '''''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.

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

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

* ''So helbart lámiyétam '''sya''' tós angurnyétuwi abóniyat.'' – "The child built a little house with the toy bricks."

(more to be added)

: ''Fikarás sutás kúrhíyámi.'' (I critique, am against his/her/their^SG opinions.)

Even so, there is a prohibition against using inanimate agents for certain verbs that may imply volition: e.g. a sentence such as *lá tom népom ebelem "the vase hit me" is still ungrammatical, and so it has to be reformulated by explicitely marking the non-volitive action implied, i.e. ''so néps asyájat ng mek belit farhálm.'' "the vase fell and I was hit". Note the use of the passive in this standard sentence, but in colloquial registers the absolutive alignment is still used even without ''lá'', i.e. ''so néps asyájat ng mek ebelem.''

| phrase = Mek tám ninfam deyhámrey elersyem ene (lesá) lámam ebenat.

| phrase = Mek ene letám deyhámrey elersyem, sá ninfá lámam ebenat.

| phrase = Mek ene tám ninfam deyhámrey elersyem, lesá lámam ebenat.

Through its history at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and the long contact between languages resulting from the millennia through which the Lifashians were always subjects of foreign powers, the vocabulary of Lifashian has been enriched and shaped by the absorption of plenty of loanwords, which certainly dates back to Lifashian prehistory. The vast majority of loanwords, also, are considered to be fully integrated in the language, helped by the fact that all of them (except some proper nouns) are transcribed into the Lifashian script and are adapted to fit native morphology.

The share of loanwords is not uniform in the Lifashian vocabulary. First of all, the vast majority of borrowed words in any stage of the language are nouns, and the number of borrowed adjectives with no corresponding noun, while not small on its own, is far smaller. Borrowed verbs are a very small number, and nearly all of them are formed through the suffix ''-íy-'' that also served to form verbs from other parts of speech. Note that in more recent times (from the 18th century onwards), nearly all new verbs that have entered Lifashian are compound verbs, and new compound verbs have also displaced full verbs; the verbal part of compound verbs, which contributes little meaning of its own, is nearly always a native Lifashian (PIE-inherited) root. The only very common Lifashian verbs which are loanwords and do not have the ''-íy-'' suffix are ''gurémi'' (I write) and ''sirémi'' (I like), both loanwords from Armenian.

Dating back to the first millennium CE are also likely most Armenian loans, which also cover many semantic fields, but more everyday words than Persian loans; they include the previously mentioned ''gurémi'' "to write" and ''sirémi'' "to like", but also e.g. ''órén'' "rule; law", ''tatum'' "pumpkin", ''tulay'' "boy", ''yo'' "yes", ''hamár'' "number". Also from the early first millennium (around the time of the earliest attestations of Lifashian) are the Aramaic loans, introduced alongside Syriac Christianity and generally limited to that semantic field, such as ''hettá'' "Church; a church", ''násrey'' "Christian", ''mahmolítá'' "baptism", ''sów'' "priest", ''Esyuh Misyihów'' "Jesus Christ"; there are also a few Aramaic loans not strictly related to Christianity, such as ''lap'' "paper".

Greek loanwords belong to two layers: a smaller, earlier one with more varied semantic fields (''kawnás'' "blue", ''ninfá'' "woman", ''falem'' "room", ''istíryás'' "rigid") and a later one, generally used in scientific terms as e.g. linguistics (''kilisi'' "declension", ''pitosi'' "grammatical case", ''oristikás'' "indicative (mood)").<br/>During the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era, during Genoese rule, various Ligurian terms entered the Lifashian language: many of these relate to administration or commerce (''paláng'' "money", ''dyugangá'' "customs", ''bitégá'' "shop", ''pázyi'' "government palace"), nautical terms (''rutá'' "route", ''lengtarná'' "lighthouse", ''istíwá'' "hold"), but also a few general words (''jastémá'' "blasphemy", ''lélwá'' "ivy", ''dupostás'' "indigenous", ''mangdili'' "handkerchief") as well as certain foodstuffs, although these were probably introduced later, from the Ligurians settled on the Lifashian coast (''tuki'' "sauce", ''sézyá'' "cherry", ''fyugasá'' "(Genoese) focaccia").

The most recent substantial layer of loanwords is from Russian, which includes most words that have entered the language in the 20th century. They are mostly modern concepts, such as ''haladilnik'' "fridge", ''milíciyá'' (Militia, police (until 2005)), ''poyist'' "train" (but ''kárbáné'', itself ultimately a loanword from Middle Persian, has been the preferred term since the 1960s, and virtually the only term after independence), ''tilivizar'' "TV set" (but note the calque ''lúrgiltá'', used for "television" as a medium or technology). However, a very large number of 20th century neologisms, and especially since Lifashian independence in 1991 (which has markedly influenced the language in the following decades due to the increasing Lifashian patriotism, as for the first time the Lifashian state is an independent country not ruled by any foreign power), has been composed of calques, often from Russian, Greek, or internationalisms. Some calques from Greek or internationalisms were already coined during the 19th century, as e.g. ''lámadánesy'' "ecology". Calques or semantic calques include ''syaselman'' (council, committee; coined in the 19th century as a calque of Greek ''συνέδριον''; later acquired the sense of “Soviet” as a semantic calque of Russian ''совет''); ''halhámor'' (update, calqued from French ''ajourner''), ''jámehtuwá'' (socialism); calques or partial calques from English are particularly common in words about computers and IT, such as ''píttorm'' “computer”, ''embentél'' “drive”, ''páwehiksy'' “firewall”, ''rakomíyás'' “digital”; sometimes, the new meanings have been added to preexisting words, as in the case of ''gort'' “file”, previously just “document” (itself one of the dubious Akkadian loans) or ''hesyow'' “account”, previously just “register”. In fact, it is extremely rare for new words to be borrowed, and not calqued or somehow adapted, into Lifashian.<br/>Some words introduced in recent years are actually loanwords: for example, the new Lifashian currency introduced in 2002 is the ''zenuíng'', named after the Genovino (Lig. ''zenoín''), an old Genoese coin, and its subdivision is the ''sódi'' (ultimately cognate with Italian ''soldo''); similarly, the Lifashian police reformed in 2005 is named ''dárigán'' after one of the court guard formations of the Sasanian Empire (despite modern Dár Lífasyám itself only being briefly – and negligibly - part of the Sasanian Empire).

| lúsywat || m || {{IPA|[luˤːʃˈwæt]}}

| terisywat || m || {{IPA|[teriʃˈwæt]}}

| pitúrisywat || m || {{IPA|[pituːriʃˈwæt]}}

| pembisywat || m || {{IPA|[pembiʃˈwæt]}}

| syússywat || m || {{IPA|[ʃuːʃːˈwæt]}}

* 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)

* 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)

* 9:15 – ''pitórisyása lasyam'', literally "a quarter of [hour] ten"; note how fractions are always feminine, implying ''istísá'' "part".

* 9:20 – ''tírisyása lasyam'' "a third of [hour] ten"

* 9:30 – ''keltása lasyam'' "half ten"

* 9:40 – ''luwá tírisyéssyes lasyam'' "two thirds of [hour] ten"

* 9:45 – ''tisyar pitórisyéssyes lasyam'' "three quarters of [hour] ten"; often contracted in speech as *tisy-pitórsyes

Hours are always represented by cardinal numerals, and they decline (or are invariable) accordingly, as in e.g. '''12:30''' ''keltása nyasy'', '''13:30''' ''keltása lúsy'', '''14:30''' ''keltása taryóm'', '''15:30''' ''keltása pitrám'', '''22:30''' ''keltása nyastasyam'', '''23:30''' ''keltása lústasyam''.<br/>In order to disambiguate in speech between a.m. and p.m., ''tassyá merpehi'' "of the morning" and ''tosy wisferé'' "of the evening" are used respectively; sometimes, ''tassyá beltehi'', literally "of the light", is preferred for p.m. hours before dusk.

Lifashian has one of the most complex kinship terminology systems among Indo-European languages. It has an obligatory distinction of age among siblings and parallel cousins, and a distinction in the treatment of parallel and cross cousins.

===Schleicher's Fable ''(So masy ng tí esyúi)''===

: Nyé masy, pesy hawláná ne astát, elerset esyúás; nyé nyam arikam karetántám etenget, nyé nyim tangtom duwsátam eberet, nyé lengom nyim turésyom eberet.  

: So masy tós esyúwi amulút: «Mintat syardém duwsom résy mewi puréti, pimbe turésyom, esyúám lúkétom, gilémi.»

: Tí esyúi tási masyí amulút: «Hú, a masy! Mintá syardéa duwsom résy ósmi puréti, pimbe histom gilémas: nyé turésy, so kirius, et tosy masyé hawlánam eynemeti. Dán méat hawlánehi ha tosy masyé esti.»

: Histom ahút, so masy gacewam ham at peliné etinemat.

: {{IPA|[ɲeː mæʃ peʃ hæu̯ˈlɑˤːnɑː ne æʃˈtɑːt eˈlerʃet eˈʃuː.ɑːs . ɲeː ɲæm ˈærikæm kæreˈtɑːntɑːm eˈteŋet . ɲeː ɲim ˈtæŋtom duu̯ˈsɑːtæm eˈberet . ɲeː ˈleˤŋom ɲim tuˈreːʃom eˈberet]}}

: {{IPA|[so ˈmæʃ toːs eˈʃuːwi amuˈluːˤt . minˈtæt ʃærˈdeːm duu̯som ˈreːʃ mewi puˈreːti . ˈpimbe tuˈreːʃom . eˈʃuːɑːm luːˈkeːtom . ɡiˈleːmi]}}

: {{IPA|[tiː eˈʃuː.i tɑːsi ˈmæʃiː amuˈluːt . huː æ ˈmæʃ . minˈtɑː ʃærˈdeː.æ duu̯som ˈreːʃ oːsmi puˈreːti . ˈpimbe ˈhistom ɡiˈleːmæs . ɲeː tuˈreːʃ . so ˈkirjus . et toʃ ˈmæʃeː hæu̯ˈlɑˤːnæm ei̯ˈnemeti . dɑˈn ˈmeː.æt hæu̯ˈlɑˤːnehi hæ toʃ ˈmæʃeː eʃˈti]}}

: {{IPA|[ˈhistom aˈhuːt so ˈmæʃ ɡaˈtʃewæm hæm at ˈpelineː etiˈnemæt]}}