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Lifashian: Difference between revisions
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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. | 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. | ||
Moreover, loanwords are not evenly distributed in terms of frequency; all function words are native, inherited from Proto-Indo-European, as are many of the most commonly used words, so that the most basic forms of the language contain mostly native roots. However, very basic words are not always native, sometimes due to semantic drift that has caused loanwords to fit into the other meaning. Almost as a counterpoint to basic words being mostly inherited roots, nearly all Lifashians carry given names that are borrowed. | Moreover, loanwords are not evenly distributed in terms of frequency; all function words are native, inherited from Proto-Indo-European, as are many of the most commonly used words, so that the most basic forms of the language contain mostly native roots. However, very basic words are not always native, sometimes due to semantic drift that has caused loanwords to fit into the other meaning. Almost as a counterpoint to basic words being mostly inherited roots, nearly all Lifashians carry given names that are borrowed: most of them from Middle Persian, while Western names are typically borrowed through Medieval Greek or through Ligurian; Islamic theophoric names are borrowed from Arabic. | ||
Among borrowings, the most ancient layer was borrowed in the Lifashian prehistory, and some of them are of disputed etymology. However, while not all words attributed to those sources may effectively be loanwords, there definitely is a prehistorical layer of borrowings that likely dates back to the first coming of Lifashians into eastern Anatolia, consisting of loanwords attributed to ancient languages of the Near East: Hurrian, Urartian, and Akkadian. Nearly all of proposed etymologies attributed to these languages belong to (or originally entered the language in) the semantic fields of animals, plants, agriculture, and early technology; some examples are ''syorón'' "cat", ''lesp'' "honey" (from Akkadian), ''henjá'' "apple", ''syelur'' "plum" (from Hurrian), ''hér'' "road" (attributed to Urartian). Words generally attributed to Indo-European Anatolian languages are most likely to be influenced, areal, or calques, as the phonological shape does not always support the hypothesis of direct borrowing. | Among borrowings, the most ancient layer was borrowed in the Lifashian prehistory, and some of them are of disputed etymology. However, while not all words attributed to those sources may effectively be loanwords, there definitely is a prehistorical layer of borrowings that likely dates back to the first coming of Lifashians into eastern Anatolia, consisting of loanwords attributed to ancient languages of the Near East: Hurrian, Urartian, and Akkadian. Nearly all of proposed etymologies attributed to these languages belong to (or originally entered the language in) the semantic fields of animals, plants, agriculture, and early technology; some examples are ''syorón'' "cat", ''lesp'' "honey" (from Akkadian), ''henjá'' "apple", ''syelur'' "plum" (from Hurrian), ''hér'' "road" (attributed to Urartian). Words generally attributed to Indo-European Anatolian languages are most likely to be influenced, areal, or calques, as the phonological shape does not always support the hypothesis of direct borrowing. | ||