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Middle Ru: Difference between revisions
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<p>Being functionally identical to verbs, Middle Ru adjectives can take any affix that could apply to verbs. For instance, the causative prefix <em>ižy-</em> may be used to form the verb <em>ižyaxan-</em>, meaning 'to cause [something or somebody] to grow old, to age'.</p> | <p>Being functionally identical to verbs, Middle Ru adjectives can take any affix that could apply to verbs. For instance, the causative prefix <em>ižy-</em> may be used to form the verb <em>ižyaxan-</em>, meaning 'to cause [something or somebody] to grow old, to age'.</p> | ||
<p>Comparatives (and superlatives) are expressed through the prefix <em>ñir-</em> or <em>ñwr-</em>, meaning 'to surpass', which may also be applied to any other verb in order to express than an action has been conducted to a higher degree than some reference level. This prefix is not to be confused with a voice mark as it does <b>not</b> modify the valency of the verb. Thus, <em>ñiraxan</em> is not to be understood as transitive 'to be older than [someone]' but as a still-intransitive 'to be older', without making | <p>Comparatives (and superlatives) are expressed through the prefix <em>ñir-</em> or <em>ñwr-</em>, meaning 'to surpass', which may also be applied to any other verb in order to express than an action has been conducted to a higher degree than some reference level. This prefix is not to be confused with a voice mark as it does <b>not</b> modify the valency of the verb. Thus, <em>ñiraxan</em> is not to be understood as transitive 'to be older than [someone]' but as a still-intransitive 'to be older', without making explicit who the person or object is older than, which is left out to context. Examples include:</p> | ||
<p><em><b>Ñiraxanarlys mimýaħ.</b></em></p> | <p><em><b>Ñiraxanarlys mimýaħ.</b></em></p> | ||
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<p><em><b>Axanarlys xek'aħ, ñiraxanarly mimýaħ.</b></em></p> | <p><em><b>Axanarlys xek'aħ, ñiraxanarly mimýaħ.</b></em></p> | ||
<p><em>The man was older | <p><em>The woman was old, the man was older ~ The man was older than the woman.</em></p> | ||
<p><em><b>Zeviħals mimýaħ añiraxána.</b></em></p> | <p><em><b>Zeviħals mimýaħ añiraxána.</b></em></p> | ||
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<p>The number 'one' is always expressed as <em>ýla</em>, although in combining forms it may also appear as <em>ylárra</em> (literally 'and one', although shifting the stress to the second syllable unlike the more general usage of the affix <em>-rra</em>). The form <em>ylárra</em> is most commonly found after 'round' numbers such as <em>jat</em> (twenty); in a sense <em>ylárra</em> indicates that the value is one more than a number that would be more likely to be expected. The forms <em>játel</em> and <em>c'étel</em> alternate with <em>jat</em> and <em>c'et</em> (respectively) when not followed by any further numerals.</p> | <p>The number 'one' is always expressed as <em>ýla</em>, although in combining forms it may also appear as <em>ylárra</em> (literally 'and one', although shifting the stress to the second syllable unlike the more general usage of the affix <em>-rra</em>). The form <em>ylárra</em> is most commonly found after 'round' numbers such as <em>jat</em> (twenty); in a sense <em>ylárra</em> indicates that the value is one more than a number that would be more likely to be expected. The forms <em>játel</em> and <em>c'étel</em> alternate with <em>jat</em> and <em>c'et</em> (respectively) when not followed by any further numerals.</p> | ||
<p>Unlike English, Middle Ru numerals | <p>Unlike English, Middle Ru numerals always follow the noun to which they apply: <em>emimy jat</em> for '20 men'.</p> | ||
<p>Ordinals are formed in a relatively unusual way. The first element is described as <em>ac'ála</em>, the participle of <em>c'al</em>, 'to come first'. Other ordinals are formed by using the particle <em>swr</em> and the number of elements that come <em>before</em>, followed by the suffix <em>-(a)rra / -(å)rrå</em>. Thus, 'the second man' becomes <em>mimy swr ýlarra</em> (~ man preceded by one other); 'the tenth mountain' becomes <em>ħóxol swr sótårrå</em> (~ mountain preceded by nine others) and so on.</p> | <p>Ordinals are formed in a relatively unusual way. The first element is described as <em>ac'ála</em>, the participle of <em>c'al</em>, 'to come first'. Other ordinals are formed by using the particle <em>swr</em> and the number of elements that come <em>before</em>, followed by the suffix <em>-(a)rra / -(å)rrå</em>. Thus, 'the second man' becomes <em>mimy swr ýlarra</em> (~ man preceded by one other); 'the tenth mountain' becomes <em>ħóxol swr sótårrå</em> (~ mountain preceded by nine others) and so on.</p> | ||
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<h1>The Middle Ru script</h1> | <h1>The Middle Ru script</h1> | ||
<p>The Middle Ru | <p>The Middle Ru script, the native writing system for the language, is an abugida where each consonant is represented by a letter while vowels other than /a/ are marked through diacritics above the consonant. Much as in the Brahmic scripts from India, a <em>virama</em> mark is used to supress the inherent /a/ in a consonant in order to mark codae. Thus, the word <em>xek'aħ</em> (absolutive singular form of <em>xek'a</em>, 'woman') would be written with the consonant letter for <em>X</em> plus the <em>E</em> diacritic, the consonant letter for <em>K'</em> (which, on its own is read as <em>k'a</em>), the consonant letter for <em>Ħ</em> with the <em>virama</em> diacritic to indicate that it is to be read as a word-final <em>-ħ</em> rather than as the sequence <em>ħa</em>. The abugida is supposed to be a descendant from the Ancient Hulamic script used for Proto Ru-Hulam.</p> | ||
<p>The glyphs used for Middle Ru consonants have a characteristic shape based on a slightly curved slanted lined over which further strokes are drawn (except for the glottal stop, marked by the slanted line alone). The characters are partially featural. For instance, the glyphs ejectives are clearly derived from the corresponding plain plosives.</p> | <p>The glyphs used for Middle Ru consonants have a characteristic shape based on a slightly curved slanted lined over which further strokes are drawn (except for the glottal stop, marked by the slanted line alone). The characters are partially featural. For instance, the glyphs ejectives are clearly derived from the corresponding plain plosives.</p> | ||