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|states            = Natalicia; Firenia and the Kontamchian Islands
|states            = Natalicia; Firenia and the Kontamchian Islands
|region            = Central-East Tinaria
|region            = Central-East Tinaria
|speakers          = 32,123,487
|speakers          = 37,123,487
|date              = 2021
|date              = 2021
|created          = 2022
|created          = 2021
|familycolor      = Tinarian
|familycolor      = Tinarian
|fam2              = Kasenian
|fam2              = Kasenian
Line 21: Line 21:
|creator          = User:Hazer
|creator          = User:Hazer
|script1          = Latn
|script1          = Latn
|minority          = Espidon, Nirania, Amarania (Dogostania)
|official          = Natalicia, Firenia, Budernie, Nirania, Kannamie
|minority          = Espidon, Amarania (Dogostania)
|agency            = The Natalician Academic Council for Linguistics
|agency            = The Natalician Academic Council for Linguistics
|map              = Natalician_Distr_Map.png
|map              = Natalician_Distr_Map.png
Line 29: Line 30:
|ethnicity        = Natales
|ethnicity        = Natales
}}
}}
'''Natalician''' ({{IPA|/nəˈtɑlɪʃən/ or /ˌnɑteɪˈlɪʃ.ən/}}; [[w:Endonym|endonym]]: ''Nataledhi'' {{IPA|[na.ta.le.di]}} or ''Nataledhi Retti'' {{IPA|/na.ta.le.di re.tːi/}}) is a Kasenian language mainly spoken in Central East Tinaria, primarily in Natalicia, Firenia and North-East Nirania. It is recognized as an official language in Modern Natalician developed from Old Natalician, which in turn developed from the extinct language of Natalo-Kesperian. About 45,223,502 people speak Natalician worldwide.  
'''Natalician''' ({{IPA|/nəˈtɑlɪʃən/ or /ˌnɑteɪˈlɪʃ.ən/}}; [[w:Endonym|endonym]]: ''Nataledhi'' {{IPA|[na.ta.le.di]}} or ''Natal Rettive'' {{IPA|/na.tal re.tːive/}}) is a North Kasenian language mainly spoken in Central East Tinaria, primarily in Natalicia, Firenia and North-East Nirania. Outside of Natalica, it is recognized as an official language in Budernie, Nirania, Kannamie and as a minority language in East Espidon and the Dogostanian community in Eastern Amarania. Natalician is closely related to other North Kasenian languages such as Espidan and Niranian.  


Luthic is an [[w:Inflection|inflected]] [[w:Fusional language|fusional language]], with four [[w:Grammatical case|cases]] for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three [[w:Grammatical genders|genders]] (masculine, feminine, neuter); and two [[w:Grammatical number|numbers]] (singular, plural).
Modern Natalician gradually developed from Old Natalician, which in turn developed from an extinct unnamed language spoken by the Natalo-Kesperian tribes. Today, Natalician is one of the most important languages in the world, and is the most spoken Kasenian language, both natively and as an additional language. About 65 million people speak Natalician worldwide, 37 of which are natives.


==Classification==
Natalician is a language characterised by the lack of [[w:Grammatical case|cases]], the absence of [[w:Grammatical genders|genders]], nearly no irregularity and a systematic grammar and an orthography with no digraphs, dipthongs or anything of the like, making it such a straightforward language to read and learn.
[[File:Romance-lg-classification Luthic.png|thumb|Chart of Romance languages based on structural and comparative criteria, not on socio-functional ones. FP: Franco-Provençal, IR: Istro-Romanian.]]
Luthic is an [[w:Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] that belongs to the Gotho-Romance group of the Italic languages, however Luthic has great Germanic influence; where the [[w:Germanic languages|Germanic languages]] are traditionally subdivided into three branches: [[w:North Germanic languages|North Germanic]], [[w:East Germanic languages|East Germanic]], and [[w:West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]. The first of these branches survives in modern [[w:Danish language|Danish]], [[w:Swedish language|Swedish]], [[w:Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[w:Elfdalian language|Elfdalian]], [[w:Faroese language|Faroese]], and [[w:Icelandic language|Icelandic]], all of which are descended from [[w:Old Norse language|Old Norse]]. The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and [[w:Gothic language|Gothic]] is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts; Luthic is the only surviving Indo-European language with extensive East Germanic derived vocabulary. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as [[w:English language|English]], [[w:German language|German]], [[w:Dutch language|Dutch]], [[w:Yiddish language|Yiddish]], [[w:Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]], and others.
 
Among the Romance languages, its classification has always been controversial, for example, it is one of the [[w:Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian languages]] and most closely related to [[w:Istriot language|Istriot]] on the one hand and [[w:Tuscan dialect|Tuscan-Italian]] on the other. Some authors include it among the [[w:Gallo-Italic languages|Gallo-Italic languages], and according to others, it is not related to either one. Although both [[w:Ethnologue|Ethnologue]] and [[w:Glottolog|Glottolog]] group Luthic into a new language group, the Gotho-Romance (''opere citato'') family is still somewhat dubious.
 
Luthic has been influenced by [[w:Italian language|Italian]], [[w:Frankish language|Frankish]], [[w:Gothic language|Gothic]] and [[w:Lombardic language|Langobardic]] since its first attestation, the great influence of these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern Luthic is widely acknowledged. Most specialists in [[w:Language contact|language contact]] do consider Luthic to be a [[w:Mixed language|true mixed language]]. Luthic is classified as a Romance langauge because it shares innovations with other Romance languages such as Italian, French and Spanish.


==History==
==History==
The Luthic [[w:Philology|philologist]] Aþalphonso Silva divided the history of Luthic into a period from 500 AD to 1740 to be "Mediaeval Luthic", which he subdivided into “Gothic Luthic” (500–1100), “Mediaeval Luthic” (1100–1600) and “late Mediaeval Luthic” (1600–1740).
The earliest traces of the Natalician language date as far back as the year 334, with a much different vocabulary and grammar as that of the modern descandant, sub-dividing the Natalician language's history into 3 timelines - '''Classic Natalician''' (334 - 1203), '''Old Natalician''' (1203 - 1540) and '''Modern Natalician''' (1540 - present). The language is estimated to be 1687 years old as of 2021.
 
===Gothic Luthic===
The earliest varieties of a Luthic language, collectively known as ''Gothic Luthic'' or “''Gotho-Luthic''”, evolved from the contact of [[w:Vulgar Latin|Latin dialects]] and East Germanic languages. A considerable amount of East Germanic vocabulary was incorporated into Luthic over some five centuries. Approximately 1,200 uncompounded Luthic words are derived from Gothic and ultimately from [[w:Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. Of these 1,200, 700 are nouns, 300 are verbs and 200 are adjectives. Luthic has also absorbed many loanwords, most of which were borrowed from West Germanic languages of the [[w:Early Middle Ages|Early Middle Ages]].


Only a few documents in Gothic Luthic have survived – not enough for a complete reconstruction of the language. Most Gothic Luthic-language sources are translations or glosses of other languages (namely, [[w:Koine Greek|Greek]] and [[w:Latin language|Latin]]), so foreign linguistic elements most certainly influenced the texts. Nevertheless, Gothic Luthic was probably very close to Gothic (it is known primarily from the [[w:Codex Argenteus|Codex Argenteus]], a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century [[w:Bible|Bible]] translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizeable [[w:Text corpus|text corpus]]). These are the primary sources:
===Classic Natalician===
:* ''Codex Luthicus'' (Ravenna), two parts: 87 leaves
Also known as the '''Poetic Natalician''' or the '''Natalo-Kesperian Language''', the only recorded evidences of the earliest traces of the language are found in ancient poetries and old writings on recovered artifacts. These evidences however are deemed not enough by the NACL to be considered a valid or complete written evidence of the Natalo-Kesperian spoken language, as illiteracy was dominant in the pre-Killisic era and the chosen vocabulary choice is said to be too formal. Classic Natalician's vocabulary has many direct elements from the early Proto-North-Kasenian language which was later ambolished due to the migratory era, culture clashes and the increase of loanwords.
::It contains scattered passages from the New Testament (including parts of the gospels and the Epistles), from the Old Testament (Nehemiah), and some commentaries. The text likely had been somewhat modified by copyists. It was written using the [[w:Gothic alphabet|Gothic alphabet]], an alphabet used for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by [[w:Ulfilas|Ulfilas]] (or ''Wulfila''), a Gothic preacher of [[w:Cappadocian Greeks|Cappadocian Greek]] descent, for the purpose of [[w:Gothic Bible|translating the Bible]].
[[File:Luthiks.png|thumb|Detail of the ''Codex Luthicus'', the word ''Luþiks'' is attested, referring to the Luths]]


:* ''Codex Ravennas'' (Ravenna), four parts: 140 leaves
There is no known documents for Classic Natalician that have survived. No known evidence of the development of the language during the primary era have been found.
::A [[w:Civil code|Civil code]] enacted under [[w:Theodoric the Great|Theodoric the Great]]. The code covered the [[w:Ostrogothic Kingdom|Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy]], but mainly Ravenna, as Theodoric devoted most of his architectural attention to his capital, Ravenna. Codex Ravennas was also written using the Gothic alphabet. The text likely had been somewhat modified by copyists. Together with four leaves, fragments of Romans 11–15 (a Luthic–Latin diglot).


===Mediaeval Luthic===
===Old Natalician===
In the mediaeval period, Luthic emerged as a separate language from Gothic. The main written language was Latin, and the few Luthic-language texts preserved from this period are written in the Latin alphabet. From the 7th to the 16th centuries, Mediaeval Luthic gradually transformed through language contact with [[w:Italian language|Old Italian]], [[w:Lombardic language|Langobardic]] and [[w:Frankish language|Frankish]]. During the [[w:Carolingian Empire|Carolingian Empire]] (773–774), [[w:Charles Martel|Charles]] conquered the [[w:Lombards|Lombards]] and thus included northern Italy in his sphere of influence. He renewed the [[w:Roman Curia|Vatican]] donation and the promise to the papacy of continued Frankish protection. Frankish was very strong, until [[w:Louis the Pious|Louis’]] eldest surviving son [[w:Lothair I|Lothair I]] became Emperor in name but ''de facto only'' the ruler of the [[w:Middle Francia|Middle Frankish Kingdom]].
[[File:Mediaeval luthic.png|thumb|'''The first sentence is:''' “''Luthica unsara rasda ist, e scolamos defendere unsarǫ raihtǫ di usare la rasda fremente, l’italiano nogca sarat l’unsara rasda fragca, car gli italiani non unse rispetanno.''” '''English translation:''' “Luthic is our language, and we must defend our right to use it freely, Italian will never be our language, as the Italians don’t respect us”]]
 
===Late Mediaeval Luthic===
{{Quote box |align=right|quoted=true |
{{Quote box |align=right|quoted=true |
|salign=right
|salign=right
|quote=''Fraugiani e Narri hanno rasda fre.'' <br /> “Lords and jesters have free speech.”
|quote=''Reširi ägsös nör på tånåka if kelševi wez̊en fölsi sos.'' <br /> “The people have the right to write and say what they please.”
|source= Giuseppe il Lûthico, proverbs
|source= The first quote from the famous Ulun Cilesli Irkete's 1210 language guide
}}
}}
Following the first Bible translation, the development of Luthic as a [[w:Written language|written language]], as a language of religion, administration, and public discourse accelerated. In the second half of the 17th century, grammarians elaborated grammars of Luthic, first among them Þiudareico Bianchi’s 1657 Latin grammar ''De studio linguæ luthicæ''.


====''De Studio Linguæ Luthicæ''====
''De Studio Linguæ Luthicæ'' (English: On Study of the Luthic Language) often referred to as simply the ''Luthicæ'' ({{IPA|/lʌˈθiˌki, lʌθˈaɪˌki/}}), is a book by Þiudareico Bianchi that expounds Luthic grammar. The Luthicæ is written in Latin and comprises two volumes, and was first published on 9 September 1657.


====Book 1, ''De grammatica''====
When the Killistic era entered, the Natale tribes have recieved access to knowledge brought by the proclaimed king of the Natales, '''Ribel Zömeri'''. It was the era where literacy skyrocketed in the newly born and united Natale monarchy [1203 - 1834], and printed evidence of the Natalician language have surfaced and bloomed.
Book 1, subtitled ''De grammatica'' (On grammar) concerns fundamental grammar features present in Luthic. It opens a collection of examples and Luthic–Latin diglot lemmata.
The first recorded book containing written evidence comes from the book "Natåltïå kočåculaï orūnza" (Natalician Guide Book) by late author Ulun Cilesli Irkete, written and published in year 1210. Following that have come multiple documents that have been preserved through generations and found as artifacts in the '''Natalician Grand Museum of Literature and Artifacts''' in Celicia.


====Book 2, ''De orthographia''====
[[file:Old_natalician_book.png|thumb|A recovered old copy of Prof. Irkete's Old Natalician guide book]]
Book 2, subtitled ''De orthographia'' (On orthography), is an exposition of the many vernacular orthographies Luthic had, and eventual suggestions for a universal orthography.
[[File:De studio linguae luthicae.png|thumb|Remounted cover, at Luthic Community of Ravenna]]


==Geographical distribution==
Many scholars of history and literature have claimed that Classic and Old Natalician are the same language, but lack of evidence weakened the claims. Scholar '''Iček Friktinäm''' quotes: ''"Old Natalician may be the result of intervention of new local loanwords and the varieties of dialects may have caused a deviation of Kasenian roots from the standard spoken Natalician at that time."''
Luthic is spoken mainly in [[w:Emilia-Romagna|Emilia-Romagna]], Italy, where it is primarily spoken in Ravenna and its adjacent [[w:Municipality|communes]]. Although Luthic is spoken almost exclusively in Emilia-Romagna, it has also been spoken outside of Italy. [[w:Emigration|Luth and general Italian emigrant communities]] (the largest of which are to be found in the [[w:Americas|Americas]]) sometimes employ Luthic as their primary language. The largest concentrations of Luthic speakers are found in the [[w:Province|provinces]] of Ravenna, Ferrara and Bologna ([[w:Metropolitan City of Bologna|Metropolitan City of Bologna]]). The people of Ravenna live in [[w:Diglossia|tetraglossia,]] as Romagnol, Emilian and Italian are spoken in those provinces alongside Luthic.


According to a census by [[w:Italian National Institute of Statistics|ISTAT]] (The Italian National Institute of Statistics), Luthic is spoken by an estimated 250,000 people, however only 149,500 are considered ''de facto'' natives, and approximately 50,000 are monolinguals.
Old Natalician features a drastically different grammar and vocabulary from that of the Natalician of today, the most notable difference is ''vowel harmony'' and ''cases''. The old language features '''4''' vowel harmony types and '''3''' grammatical cases: '''Nominative''', '''Accusative''' and '''Genetive'''. The different suffixes and verb conjugation are majorly notable differences aswell.


===Status===
===Modern Natalician===
As in most European countries, the minority languages are defined by legislation or constitutional documents and afforded some form of official support. In 1992, the Council of Europe adopted the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe.
{{Quote box |align=right|quoted=true |
 
|salign=right
Luthic is regulated by the '''Council for the Luthic Language''' (Luthic: ''Gafaurdo faul·la Rasda Lûthica'' {{IPA|[ɡɐˈfɔɾ.du fɔl‿lɐ ˈʁaz.dɐ ˈlu.tʰi.xɐ]}}) and the '''Luthic Community of Ravenna''' (Luthic: ''Gamainescape Lûthica Ravennai'' {{IPA|[ɡɐˌmɛ.neˈska.fe ˈlu.tʰi.xɐ ʁɐˈvẽ.nɛ]}}). The existence of a regulatory body has removed Luthic, at least in part, from the domain of Standard Italian, its traditional [[w:Abstand and ausbau languages|Dachsprache]], Luthic was considered an Italian dialect like many others until about [[w:World War II|World War II]], but then it underwent [[w:Abstand and ausbau languages|ausbau]].
|quote=''Äg čan vizih zifekev if savekilivev ensei ťenałr nameš čan özev.'' <br /> “Our history is filled with rich stories and leaders.”
[[File:Spoken Luthic Ravenna.png|thumb|Luthic geographical distribution in the commune of Ravenna]]
|source= Zafel Sörät Fortla, father of the Natales
 
}}
===Luthic regarded as an Italian dialect===
Luthic lexicon is discrepant from those of other Romance languages, since most of the words present in Modern Luthic are ultimately of Germanic origin. The lexical differentiation was a big factor for the creation of an independent regulatory body. There were many attempts to assimilate Luthic into the Italian [[w:Dialect continuum|dialect continuum]], as in recent centuries, the intermediate dialects between the major Romance languages have been moving toward [[w:Language death|extinction]], as their speakers have switched to varieties closer to the more prestigious national standards. That has been most notable in [[w:France|France]], owing to the French government’s [[w:Language policy in France|refusal to recognise minority languages]]. For many decades since Italy’s unification, the attitude of the French government towards the ethnolinguistic minorities was copied by the Italian government. A movement called “Italianised Luthic Movement” (Luthic: ''Movimento Lûthicai Italianegiatai''; Italian: ''Movimento per il Lutico Italianeggiato'') tried to italianase Luthic’s vocabulary and reduce the inherited Germanic vocabulary, in order to assimilate Luthic as an Italian derived language; modern Luthic orthography was affected by this movement.
 
Almost all of the Romance languages spoken in Italy are native to the area in which they are spoken. Apart from Standard Italian, these languages are often referred to as [[w:Italian dialects|''dialetti'']] “dialects”, both colloquially and in scholarly usage; however, the term may coexist with other labels like “minority languages” or “vernaculars” for some of them. Italian was first declared to be Italy's official language during the [[w:Fascist Italy|Fascist period]], more specifically through the R.D.l., adopted on 15 October 1925, with the name of ''Sull'Obbligo della lingua italiana in tutti gli uffici giudiziari del Regno, salvo le eccezioni stabilite nei trattati internazionali per la città di Fiume''. According to [[w:Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]], there are 31 endangered languages in Italy.
[[File:Lang Status 80-VU.svg|thumb|Luthic is classified as Vulnerable by the [[w:Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]]]
 
==Orthography==
The basis of Standard Luthic was developed by the popular language spoken by the Ravennese people, whose was highly influenced by Gothic, together with other East Germanic [[w:Stratum (linguistics)|substrate]], such as [[w:Vandalic language|Vandalic]] and [[w:Burgundian language|Burgundian]] and other ancient West Germanic languages, mainly Frankish and Langobardic. Standard Luthic orthography was further influenced by Italian. Increasing mobility of the population and the dissemination of the language through mass media such as radio and television are leading to a gradual standardisation towards a “Standard Luthic” through the process of [[w:Koiné language|koineization]].
 
===Alphabet===
Luthic has a shallow orthography, meaning very regular spelling with an almost one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. In linguistic terms, the writing system is close to being a [[w:Phonemic orthography|phonemic orthography]]. The most important of the few exceptions are the following (see below for more details):
 
* The letter c represents the sound /k/ at the end of words and before the letters a, o, and u but represents the sound /t͡ʃ/ before the letters e and i.
* The letter g represents the sound /ɡ/ at the end of words and before the letters a, o, and u but represents the sound /d͡ʒ/ before the letters e and i. It also represents the sound /ŋ/ before c or g.
** /ɡʷ/ only happens before a nasal and is spelled as ggu /ŋɡʷ/, or inherited from Gothic ''-ggw-'' as a regular outcome of [[w:Proto-Germanic language|Germanic]] ''*ww'': 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 [triɡʷːs], ''tregguo'' [ˈtɾɛɡ.ɡʷu].
* The letter r represents the sound /ʁ/ onset or stressed intervocalic, /ɾ/ when intervocalic or nearby another consonant or at the end of words and /ʀ/ if doubled.
* The cluster sc /sk/ before the letters e and i represents the sound /ʃ/, [[w:Gemination|geminate]] if intervocalic.
* The spellings ci and gi before another vowel represent only /t͡ʃ/ or /d͡ʒ/ with no /i/ sound.
* The spelling qu and gu always represent the sounds /k/ and /ɡ/.
* The spelling ġl and ġn represent the palatals /ʎ/ and /ɲ/ retrospectively; always geminate if intervocalic.
 
The Luthic alphabet is considered to consist of 22 letters; j, k, w, x, y are excluded, and often avoided in loanwords, as ''tacċi'' vs ''taxi'', ''cċenophobo'' vs ''xenofobo'', ''geins'' vs ''jeans'', ''Giorque'' vs ''York'', ''Valsar'' vs ''Walsar'':
 
* The [[w:Circumflex|circumflex accent]] is used over vowels to indicate irregular stress.
** The digraphs ⟨ai, au, ei⟩ are used to indicate stressed /ɛ ɔ i/ retrospectively.
** In VCC structures and some Italian borrowings, the digraphs are not found.
* The [[w:Dot (diacritic)|overdot accent]] is used to over ⟨a, o⟩ to indicate coda /a o/.
** The letter o always represents the sound /u/ in coda.
** The overdot is also used over ⟨c, g⟩ to indicate [[w:Palatalization (sound change)|palatalisation]].
* The [[w:Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis accent]] is used to distinguish from a [[w:Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] or a [[w:Diphthong|diphthong]].
* The letter ⟨s⟩ can symbolise voiced or voiceless consonants. ⟨s⟩ symbolises /s/ onset before a vowel, when clustered with a voiceless consonant (⟨p, f, c, q⟩), and when doubled (geminate); it symbolises /z/ when between vowels and when clustered with voiced consonants.
** Similarly, the letter ⟨z⟩ can symbolise voiced or voiceless consonants. ⟨z⟩ symbolises /t͡s/ onset before a vowel, when clustered with a voiceless consonant (⟨p, f, c, q⟩), and when doubled (geminate); it symbolises /d͡z/ when between vowels and when clustered with voiced consonants.
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Letter !! Name !! Historical name !! [[w:International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! [[w:Diacritic|Diacritics]]
|+ '''Standard Luthic Alphabet'''
|-
| [[w:A|A]], a || a [ˈa] || asga [ˈaz.ɡɐ] || /ɐ/ or /a/ || â, ȧ
|-
| [[w:B|B]], b || bi [bi] || bairka [ˈbɛɾ.kɐ] || /b/ or /ʋ/ || —
|-
| [[w:C|C]], c || ci [ˈt͡ʃi] || caunȯ [ˈkɔ.no] || /k/, /t͡ʃ/ or /x/ || ċ
|-
| [[w:D|D]], d || di [ˈdi] ||dago [ˈda.ɣ˕u] || /d/ or /ð̞/ || —
|-
| [[w:E|E]], e || e [ˈɛ] || aiqqo [ˈɛk.kʷu] || /e/ or /ɛ/ || ê
|-
| [[w:F|F]], f || effe [ˈɛf.fe] || faiho [ˈfɛ.hu] || /f/ or /p͡f/ || —
|-
| [[w:G|G]], g || gi [ˈd͡ʒi] || giva [ˈd͡ʒi.vɐ] || /ɡ/, /ɣ˕/ or /ŋ/ || ġ
|-
| [[w:H|H]], h || acca [ˈak.kɐ] || haġlo [ˈhaʎ.ʎu] || /h/ or /ç/ || —
|-
| [[w:I|I]], i || i [ˈi] || eisso [ˈis.su] || /i/ or /j/ || ï
|-
| [[w:L|L]], l || elle [ˈɛl.le] || lago [ˈla.ɣ˕u] || /l/ || —
|-
| [[w:M|M]], m || emme [ˈẽ.me] || manno [ˈmɐ̃.nu] || /m/ || —
|-
| [[w:N|N]], n || enne [ˈẽ.ne] || nauþo [ˈnɔ.θu] || /n/ || —
|-
| [[w:O|O]], o || o [ˈɔ] || oþalȯ [oˈθa.lo] || /o/ or /ɔ/ || ô, ȯ
|-
| [[w:P|P]], p || pi [ˈpi] || pairþa [ˈpɛɾ.t͡θɐ] || /p/ or /f/ || —
|-
| [[w:Q|Q]], q || qoppa [ˈkʷɔp.pɐ] || qairþa [ˈkʷɛɾ.t͡θɐ] || /kʷ/ || —
|-
| [[w:R|R]], r || erre [ɛˈʀe] || raida [ˈʁɛ.ð̞ɐ] || /ʀ/, /ʁ/ or /ɾ/ || —
|-
| [[w:S|S]], s || esse [ɛsˈse] || sauila [ˈsɔj.lɐ] || /s/, /t͡s/ or /z/ || —
|-
| [[w:T|T]], t || ti [ˈti] || teivo [ˈti.vu] || /t/ or /θ/ || —
|-
| [[w:Thorn (letter)|Þ]], þ || eþþe [ˈɛθ.θe] || þaurno [ˈθɔɾ.nu] || /θ/ or /t͡θ/ || —
|-
| [[w:U|U]], u || u [ˈu] || uro [ˈu.ɾu] || /u/ or /w/ || û, ü
|-
| [[w:V|V]], v || vi [ˈvi] || viġna [ˈviɲ.ɲɐ] || /v/ || —
|-
| [[w:Z|Z]], z || zi [ˈt͡si] || zetta [ˈt͡sɛt.tɐ] || /t͡s/ or /d͡z/ || —
|}
[[File:Luthic keyboard.png|thumb|A Luthic computer keyboard layout.]]
 
Luthic has geminate, or double, consonants, which are distinguished by [[w:Length (phonetics)|length]] and intensity. Length is distinctive for all consonants except for /d͡z/, /ʎ/, /ɲ/, which are always geminate when between vowels, and /z/, which is always single. Geminate plosive and affricates are realised as lengthened closures. Geminate fricatives, nasals, and /l/ are realised as lengthened continuants. When triggered by [[w:Tuscan gorgia|Gorgia Toscana]], voiceless fricatives are always constrictive, but voiced fricatives are not very constrictive and often closer to approximants.
 
===Phonology===
There is a maximum of 8 oral vowels, 5 nasal vowels, 2 semivowels and 35 consonants; though some varieties of the language have fewer phonemes. Gothic, Frankish, [[w:Suebi|northern Suebi]], Langobardic, [[w:Lepontic language|Lepontic]] and [[w:Cisalpine Gaulish|Cisalpine Gaulish]] ([[w:Roman Gaul|Roman Gaul]]) influences were highly absorbed into the local Vulgar Latin dialect. An early form of Luthic was already spoken in the Ostrogothic Kingdom during Theodoric’s reign and by the year 600 Luthic had already become the [[w:Vernacular|vernacular]] of Ravenna. Luthic developed in the region of the former Ostrogothic capital of Ravenna, from Late Latin dialects and Vulgar Latin. As Theodoric emerged as the new ruler of Italy, he upheld a Roman legal administration and scholarly culture while promoting a major building program across Italy, his cultural and architectural attention to Ravenna led to a most conserved dialect, resulting in modern Luthic.


====Vowels====
The language has been having a constant update of vocabulary and grammar during the 15th century, during the beginning of the decline of the monarchy by the hands of '''Goz Hoz''', and until the creation of the new republic by '''Zafel Sörät Fortla''', during the year 1845 when the official ''Natalician academic council for Linguistics'' was founded and coined the official source of tracking of the language's status.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|+ '''Vowel phonemes of Standard Luthic'''
|-
!rowspan="2"|
!colspan="2"|[[w:Front vowel|Front]]
!colspan="2"|[[w:Central vowel|Central]]
!colspan="2"|[[w:Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!{{small|oral}}
!{{small|nasal}}
!{{small|oral}}
!{{small|nasal}}
!{{small|oral}}
!{{small|nasal}}
|-
![[w:Close vowel|Close]]
|i
|ĩ
|
|
|u
|ũ
|-
![[w:Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|e
|ẽ
|colspan="2"|
|o
|õ
|-
![[w:Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|ɛ
|
|ɐ
|ɐ̃
|ɔ
|
|-
![[w:Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan="2"|
|a
|
|colspan="2"|
|}


=====Notes=====
==Etymology==
When the mid vowels /ε, ɔ/ precede a nasal, they become close [ẽ] rather than [ε̃] and [õ] rather than [ɔ̃].
The name of Natalicia, the Natales and the Natalician language comes from the '''Natala''' tribes of the Natalo-Kesperian community from central east Tinaria, the name comes from the Proto-Kasenian word '''Nåťåla''' (meaning: "To ensure fairness"), which later evolved to ''Nåsåla'' in Old Natalician and to ''Nasala'' in Modern Natalician.
[[File:Luthic oral vowels.png|thumb|[[w:Monophthong|Oral monophthongs]] of Standard Luthic]]


* /i/ is close front unrounded [i].
== Phonology ==
* /u/ is close back rounded [u].
* /e/ is close-mid front unrounded [e].
* /o/ is close-mid back rounded [o].
* /ɛ/ has been variously described as mid front unrounded [ɛ̝] and open-mid front unrounded [ɛ].
* /ɔ/ is somewhat fronted open-mid back rounded [ɔ̟].
* /ɐ/ is near-open central unrounded [ɐ].
* /a/ has been variously described as open front unrounded [a] and open central unrounded [ä].


====Consonants====
=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|-
|+ Consonant phonemes of Standard Luthic
|+ Consonant phonemes of Standard Natalician
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 |
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 |
! rowspan=2| [[w:Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan=2| [[w:Labial consonant|Labial]]
Line 256: Line 95:
| n
| n
|
|
| ɲ
|  
| ŋ
|  
| (ŋʷ)
|
|
|
|
|
Line 269: Line 108:
|
|
| k
| k
| kʷ
|  
|
|
|
|
Line 279: Line 118:
|
|
| ɡ
| ɡ
| ɡʷ
|  
|
|
|
|
Line 288: Line 127:
| s θ
| s θ
| ʃ
| ʃ
| ç
|  
| (x)
|
|  
|  
|
|
Line 296: Line 135:
! {{small|[[w:voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
! {{small|[[w:voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| v
| v
| z
| z ð
| ʒ
| ʒ
|
|
Line 305: Line 144:
!rowspan=2| [[w:Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
!rowspan=2| [[w:Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! {{small|[[w:voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
! {{small|[[w:voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| (p͡f)
|  
| t͡s (t͡θ)
|  
| t͡ʃ
| t͡ʃ
|
|
Line 316: Line 155:
! {{small|[[w:voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
! {{small|[[w:voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
|
| d͡z
|  
| d͡ʒ
| d͡ʒ
|
|
Line 338: Line 177:
| l
| l
|
|
| ʎ
|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|
|
Line 344: Line 183:
|-
|-
! {{small|[[w:Tuscan gorgia|Gorgia Toscana]]}}
! {{small|[[w:Tuscan gorgia|Gorgia Toscana]]}}
| (ʋ)
|
| (ð̞)
|
|  
|  
|  
|  
| (ɣ˕)
|
|
|
|
|
Line 355: Line 194:
! colspan="2" | [[w:Flap consonant|Flap]]
! colspan="2" | [[w:Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
|
| ɾ
|
|
|
|
|
Line 368: Line 207:
|
|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|ʀ
|
|
|
|}
|}


=====Notes=====
==== Consonant Harmony ====


* '''Nasals:'''
Natalician orthography reflects voice sandhi voicing, a form of consonant mutation with two consonants that meet, and the second is voiced and the first is unvoiced. The first unvoiced consonant {{IPA|[p t f ʃ t͡ʃ θ k s]}} is voiced to {{IPA|[b d v ʒ d͡ʒ ð ɡ z]}}, but the orthography remains unchanged. This usually does not include load words.
** /n/ is laminal alveolar [n̻].
** /ɲ/ is alveolo-palatal, always geminate when intervocalic.
** /ŋ/ has a labio-velar allophone [ŋʷ] before labio-velar plosives.


* '''Plosives:'''
====Vowels====
** /p/, /pʰ/ and /b/ are purely labial.
[[file:Natalician_vh_chart.png]]
** /t/, /tʰ/ and /d/ are laminal dentialveolar [t̻, t̻ʰ, d̻].
** /k/ and /ɡ/ are pre-velar [k̟, ɡ̟] before /i, e, ɛ, j/.
** /kʷ/ and /ɡʷ/ are palato-labialised [kᶣ, ɡᶣ] before /i, e, ɛ, j/.
 
* '''Affricates:'''
** /p͡f/ is bilabial–labiodental and is only found as a common allophone.
** /t͡θ/ is dental and is only found as a common allophone.
** /t͡s/ and /d͡z/ are dentalised laminal alveolar [t̻͡s̪, d̻͡z̪].
** /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/ are strongly labialised palato-alveolar [t͡ʃʷ, d͡ʒʷ].
 
* '''Fricatives:'''
** /f/ and /v/ are labiodental.
** /θ/ is dental.
** /s/ and /z/ are laminal alveolar [s̻, z̻].
** /ʃ/ is strongly labialised palato-alveolar [ʃʷ].
** /x/ is velar, and only found when triggered by Gorgia Toscana.
** /ʁ/ is uvular, but in anlaut is in free variation with [h].
** /h/ is glottal, but is in free variation with [x ~ ʁ], /h/ is palatal [ç] nearby /i, e, ɛ, j/.
 
* '''Approximants, flap, trill and laterals:'''
** /ʋ/ is labiodental, and only found when triggered by Gorgia Toscana.
** /ð̞/ is dental, and only found when triggered by Gorgia Toscana.
** /j/ and /w/ are always geminate when intervocalic.
** /ɾ/ is alveolar [ɾ].
** /ɣ˕/ is velar, and only found when triggered by Gorgia Toscana.
** /ʀ/ is uvular [ʀ], but is in free variation with alveolar [r].
** /l/ is laminal alveolar [l̻].
** /ʎ/ is alveolo-palatal, always geminate when intervocalic.
 
====Historical phonology====
The phonological system of the Luthic language underwent many changes during the period of its existence. These included the palatalisation of velar consonants in many positions and subsequent [[w:Lenition|lenitions]]. A number of phonological processes affected Luthic in the period before the earliest documentation. The processes took place chronologically in roughly the order described below (with uncertainty in ordering as noted).
 
=====Vowel system=====
The most sonorous elements of the [[w:Syllable|syllable] are [[w:Vowel|vowels]], which occupy the [[w:Nucleus (syllable)|nuclear]] position. They are prototypical [[w:Mora (linguistics)|mora]]-bearing elements, with simple vowels monomoraic, and long vowels bimoraic. Latin vowels occurred with one of five qualities and one of two weights, that is short and long /i e a o u/. At first, weight was realised by means of longer or shorter duration, and any articulatory differences were negligible, with the short:long opposition stable. Subtle articulatory differences eventually grow and lead to the abandonment of length, and reanalysis of vocal contrast is shifted solely to quality rather than both quality and quantity; specifically, the manifestation of weight as length came to include differences in tongue [[w:Vowel height|height]] and tenseness, and quite early on, /ī, ū/ began to differ from /ĭ, ŭ/ articulatorily, as did /ē, ō/ from /ĕ, ŏ/. The long vowels were stable, but the short vowels came to be realised lower and laxer, with the result that /ĭ, ŭ/ opened to [ɪ, ʊ], and /ĕ, ŏ/ opened to [ε, ɔ]. The result is the merger of Latin /ĭ, ŭ/ and /ē, ō/, since their contrast is now realised sufficiently be their distinct vowel quality, which would be easier to articulate and perceive than vowel duration.
[[File:Vowel changes in Luthic.png|thumb|Gotho-Romance vowel changes from Latin.]]


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowel phonemes of standard Natalician
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
|-
|+ Vowels phoneme in Classical Latin
! {{small|unrounded}}
!
! {{small|rounded}}
! [[w:Front vowel|Front]]
! {{small|unrounded}}
! [[w:Central vowel|Central]]
! {{small|rounded}}
! [[w:Back vowel|Back]]
|-
|-
! [[w:Close vowel|Close]]
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| i iː ĩː
| i
|
| y
| u uː ũː
|  
| u
|-
|-
! [[w:Mid vowel|Mid]]
! Near-open
| e eː ẽː
| æ
|
|  
| o oː õː
|  
|  
|-
|-
! [[w:Open vowel|Open]]
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| e
| ä äː ä̃ː
| œ
|
| a
| o
|}
|}


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
|+ Vowels phoneme in Early Spoken Latin
!
! [[w:Front vowel|Front]]
! [[w:Central vowel|Central]]
! [[w:Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[w:Close vowel|Close]]
| ɪ iː ĩː
|
| ʊ uː ũː
|-
! [[w:Mid vowel|Mid]]
| ε eː ẽː
|
| ɔ oː õː
|-
! [[w:Open vowel|Open]]
|
| ä äː ä̃ː
|
|}


Unstressed a resulted in a slightly raised a [ɐ]. In hiatus, unstressed front vowels become /j/, while unstressed back vowels become /w/.
The vowels of the Natalician language are, in their alphabetical order, {{angbr|a}}, {{angbr|ä}}, {{angbr|e}}, {{angbr|i}}, {{angbr|o}}, {{angbr|ö}}, {{angbr|u}}, {{angbr|ü}}.
The Natalician vowel system can be considered as being three-dimensional, where vowels are characterised by how and where they are articulated focusing on three key features: [[Vowel#Backness|front and back]], rounded and unrounded and [[Vowel#Height|vowel height]].


In addition to monophthongs, Luthic has diphthongs, which, however, are both phonemically and phonetically simply combinations of the other vowels. None of the diphthongs are, however, considered to have distinct phonemic status since their constituents do not behave differently from how they occur in isolation, unlike the diphthongs in other languages like English and German. Grammatical tradition distinguishes “falling” from “rising” diphthongs, but since rising diphthongs are composed of one semiconsonantal sound [j] or [w] and one vowel sound, they are not actually diphthongs. The practice of referring to them as “diphthongs” has been criticised by phoneticians like Alareico Villavolfo.
====Notes====
* When the vowels /i/, /u/ precede or succeed another vowel, they become /j/, /w/ respectively. If both vowels meet one another, only the /i/ will transform into a /j/ which the /u/ remains unchanged.
* The only diphthong in the whole language is the ''Object'' second person singular '''Ou''' ''(You)'', pronounced /uː/.


=====Absorption of nasals before fricatives=====
==== Vowel harmony ====
This is the source of such alterations as modern Standard Luthic fimfe [ˈfĩ.(p͡)fe] “five”, monþo [ˈmõ.(t͡)θu] “mouth” versus Gothic fimf [ˈɸimɸ] “''id.''”, munþs [ˈmunθs] “''id.''” and German fünf [fʏnf] “''id.''”, Mund [mʊnt] “''id.''”.


=====Monophthongization=====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: 1em"
The diphthongs au, ae and oe [au̯, ae̯, oe̯] were monophthongized (smoothed) to [ɔ, ɛ, e] by Gothic influence, as the Germanic diphthongs /ai/ and /au/ appear as digraphs written ⟨ai⟩ and ⟨au⟩ in Gothic. Researchers have disagreed over whether they were still pronounced as diphthongs /ai̯/ and /au̯/ in Ulfilas' time (4th century) or had become long open-mid vowels: /ɛː/ and /ɔː/: ''ains'' [ains] / [ɛːns] “one” (German ''eins'', Icelandic ''einn''), ''augō'' [auɣoː] / [ɔːɣoː] “eye” (German ''Auge'', Icelandic ''auga''). It is most likely that the latter view is correct, as it is indisputable that the digraphs ⟨ai⟩ and ⟨au⟩ represent the sounds /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ in some circumstances (see below), and ⟨aj⟩ and ⟨aw⟩ were available to unambiguously represent the sounds /ai̯/ and /au̯/. The digraph ⟨aw⟩ is in fact used to represent /au/ in foreign words (such as ''Pawlus'' “Paul”), and alternations between ⟨ai⟩/⟨aj⟩ and ⟨au⟩/⟨aw⟩ are scrupulously maintained in paradigms where both variants occur (e.g. ''taujan'' “to do” vs. [[w:Past tense|past tense]] ''tawida'' “did”). Evidence from transcriptions of Gothic names into Latin suggests that the sound change had occurred very recently when Gothic spelling was standardised: Gothic names with Germanic au are rendered with au in Latin until the 4th century and o later on (''Austrogoti'' > ''Ostrogoti'').
! rowspan="2" | Natalician Vowel Harmony
! colspan="5" | Front Vowels || colspan="3" | Back Vowels
|-
! colspan="3" | Unrounded || colspan="2" | Rounded || colspan="1" | Unrounded || colspan="2" | Rounded
|-
! Vowel
| style="border-right: 0;" | '''ä''' || '''e''' || '''i''' || '''ö'''
| style="border-left: 0;" | '''ü''' || '''a''' || '''o'''
| style="border-left: 0;" | '''u'''  
|- style="text-align: center;"
! Type Ĕ (Backness)
| colspan="5" | '''e''' || colspan="5" | '''o'''
|- style="text-align: center;"
! Type Ĭ (Backness + Rounding)
| colspan="3" | '''i''' || colspan="2" | '''ü''' || colspan="1" | '''a''' || colspan="2" | '''u'''
|}


=====Palatalisation=====
====The principle of vowel harmony====
Early evidence of palatalized pronunciations of /tj kj/ appears as early as the 2nd–3rd centuries AD in the form of spelling mistakes interchanging ⟨ti⟩ and ⟨ci⟩ before a following vowel, as in ⟨tribunitiae⟩ for tribuniciae. This is assumed to reflect the fronting of Latin /k/ in this environment to [c ~ t͡sʲ]. Palatalisation of the velar consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ occurred in certain environments, mostly involving front vowels; additional palatalisation is also found in dental consonants /t/, /d/, /l/ and /n/, however, these are not palatalised in word initial environment.


* Latin ''amīcus'' [äˈmiː.kus̠ ~ äˈmiː.kʊs̠], ''amīcī'' [äˈmiː.kiː] > Luthic ''amico'' [ɐˈmi.xu], ''amici'' [ɐˈmi.t͡ʃi].
# If the first vowel of a word is a back vowel, any subsequent vowel is also a back vowel; if the first is a front vowel, any subsequent vowel is also a front vowel.
* Gothic ''giba'' [ˈɡiβa] > Luthic ''giva'' [ˈd͡ʒi.vɐ].
# If the first vowel is unrounded, so too are subsequent vowels.
* Latin ''ratiō'' [ˈrä.t̪i.oː] > Luthic ''razione'' [ʁɐˈd͡zjo.ne]
* Latin ''fīlius'' [ˈfiː.li.us̠ ~ ˈfiː.lʲi.ʊs̠] > Luthic ''fiġlo'' [ˈfiʎ.ʎu].
* Latin ''līnea'' [ˈliː.ne.ä ~ ˈlʲiː.ne.ä] , ''pugnus'' [ˈpuŋ.nus̠ ~ ˈpʊŋ.nʊs̠], ''ācrimōnia'' [äː.kriˈmoː.ni.ä ~ äː.krɪˈmoː.ni.ä] > Luthic ''liġna'' [ˈliɲ.ɲɐ], ''poġno'' [ˈpoɲ.ɲu], ''acremoġna'' [ɐ.kɾeˈmoɲ.ɲɐ].


Labio-velars remain unpalatalised, except in monosyllabic environment:
The second and third rules minimize muscular effort during speech. More specifically, they are related to the phenomenon of labial assimilation: If the lips are '''rounded''' (a process that requires muscular effort) for the first vowel they may stay rounded for subsequent vowels. If they are '''unrounded''' for the first vowel, the speaker does not make the additional muscular effort to round them subsequently.


* Latin ''quis'' [kʷis̠ ~ kʷɪs̠] > Luthic ''ce'' [t͡ʃe].
Grammatical affixes have "a chameleon-like quality" and obey one of the following patterns of vowel harmony:
* Gothic ''qiman'' [ˈkʷiman] > Luthic ''qemare'' [kʷeˈma.ɾe ~ kᶣeˈma.ɾe].
* '''Twofold (''-e/-o'')''': The article, for example, is ''-(v)e'' after front vowels and ''-(v)o'' after back vowels.
* '''Fourfold (''-i/-a/-ü/-u'')''': The verb infinitive suffix, for example, is ''-i'' or ''-a'' after unrounded vowels (front or back respectively); and ''-ü'' or ''-u'' after the corresponding rounded vowels.
* '''Type & 'and'''': The adjectival passive voice suffix, for example, is ''-t&t'', the ''&'' being the same vowel as the previous one.


=====Lenition=====
Practically, the twofold pattern (usually referred to as the type Ĕ) means that in the environment where the vowel in the word stem is formed in the front of the mouth, the suffix will take the '''e''' form, while if it is formed in the back it will take the '''o''' form. The fourfold pattern (also called the type Ĭ) accounts for rounding as well as for front/back. The type & pattern is the reppetition of the same last vowel.
The Gotho-Romance family suffered very few lenitions, but in most cases the stops /p t k/ are lenited to /b d ɡ/ if not in onset position, before or after a sonorant or in intervocalic position as a geminate. A similar process happens with /b/ that is lenited to /v/ in the same conditions. The non-geminate rhotic present in Latin is simplified to /ɾ ʁ/. The unstressed labio-velar /kʷ/ delabialises before hard vowels, as in:
The following examples, based on the nominal suffix ''-zĭk'', illustrate the principles of type Ĭ vowel harmony in practice: ''Čikel'''zik''''' ("Wellness"), ''Ok'''zuk''''' ("Knowledge"), ''Ian'''zak''''' ("Food"), ''Nör'''zük''''' ("Living").


* Gothic ''ƕan'' [ʍan] > *[kʷɐn] > Luthic ''can'' [kɐn].
==== Exceptions to vowel harmony ====
* Latin ''nunquam'' [ˈnuŋ.kʷä̃ː ~ ˈnʊŋ.kʷä̃ː] > Luthic ''nogca'' [ˈnoŋ.kɐ].
These are four word-classes that are exceptions to the rules of vowel harmony:


Luthic is further affected by the Gorgia Toscana effect, where every plosive is spirantised (or further approximated if voiced). Plosives, however, are not affected if:
# '''Native, non-compound words''', e.g. ''Ela'' "then", ''Čela'' "drink", ''Äga'' "by"
# '''Native compound words''', e.g. ''Pawez'' "for what"
# '''Foreign words''', e.g. many English loanwords such as '''Sertifikäht''' (certificate), '''Hospital''' (hospital), '''Komphuter''' (computer)
# '''Invariable prefixes / suffixes:'''


* Geminate.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto;"
* Labialised.
! scope="col" | Invariable prefix or suffix
* Nearby another fricative.
! scope="col" | Natalician example
* Nearby a rhotic, a lateral or nasal.
! scope="col" | Meaning in English
* Stressed and anlaut.
! scope="col" | Remarks
|-
| '''–tüs'''
| ''iantüs'' || "eating"
| From ''ian'' "eat"
|-
| '''–(v)iš'''
| ''üčiš'' || "exit"
| From ''üč'' "leave."
|-
| '''öz-'''
| ''özhaša'' || "to return"
| From ''haša'' "to come"
|-
| '''gik-'''
| ''gikögültüt'' || "unwanted"
| From ''ögültüt'' "wanted"
|}


=====Fortition=====
====Note====
In every case, /j/ and /w/ are fortified to /d͡ʒ/ and /v/, except when triggered by hiatus collapse. The Germanic /ð/ and /xʷ ~ hʷ ~ ʍ/ are also fortified to /d/ and /kʷ/ in every position; which can be further lenited to /d͡z/ and /k ~ t͡ʃ/ in the environments given above. The Germanic /h ~ x/ is fortified to /k/ before a rhotic or a lateral, as in:
* A native compound does not obey vowel harmony: ''Ras+cezil'' ("city center"—a place name)
* Loanwords also disobeys vowel harmony: ''Kofi'' ("Coffee")
* Every grammatical prefix disobeys the vowel harmony aswell.


* Gothic ''hlaifs'' [ˈhlɛːɸs] > Luthic ''claifo'' [ˈklɛ.fu].
==Orthography==
* Gothic ''hriggs'' [ˈhriŋɡs ~ ˈhriŋks] > Luthic ''creggo'' [ˈkɾeŋ.ɡu].
===Alphabet===
Natalician has a straightforward orthography, meaning regular spelling with (almost) no diphthong or digraph or anything of the sort. In linguistic terms, the writing system is a phonemic orthography. The following are exceptions:


Coda consonants with similar articulations often [[w:Sandhi|sandhi]], triggering a kind of [[w:Syntactic gemination|syntactic gemination]], it also happens with [[w:Oxytone|oxytones]]:


* ''Il catto'' [i‿kˈkat.tu].
* The letter that is called ''Girbit El'' ("Silent L"), written {{angbr|Ł}} in Natalician orthography, represents vowel lengthening. It never occurs at the beginning of a word or a syllable, always follows a vowel and always preceeds a consonant. The vowel that preceeds it is lengthened.
* ''Ed þû, ce taugis?'' [e‿θˈθu | t͡ʃe ˈtɔ.d͡ʒis?].
* The Object second person singular ''Ou'' is the only digraph in the entire language, making the sound of /uː/.
* ''La cittâ stâþ sporca'' [lɐ t͡ʃitˈta‿sˈsta‿sˈspoɾ.kɐ].
* The letter {{angbr|H}} in Natalician orthography represents two sounds: The /h/ sound, and the /j/ sound. If the letter {{angbr|H}} is located at the beginning of the word, it takes the /h/ sound, otherwise it takes the /j/ sound. (e.g. ''Hiloh'' /hi.loj/'' "Hello", ''Konah /ko.naj/'' "Beautiful", ''Haz /haz/ "This")


Regarding the absorption of nasals before fricatives, voiceless fricatives are often fortified to affricates after alveolar consonants, such as /n l ɾ/, or general nasals:
====Standard Natalician alphabet====
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
* ''Il monþo'' [i‿mˈmõ.t͡θu].
! Letter !! Name !! [[w:International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
* ''L’inferno'' [l‿ĩˈp͡fɛɾ.nu].
|+
* ''La salsa'' [lɐ ˈsal.t͡sɐ].
|-
* ''L’arsenale'' [l‿ɐɾ.t͡seˈna.le].
| [[w:A|Aa]] || a [a] || /a/
 
|-
=====Deletion=====
| [[w:Ä|Ää]] || ä [æ] || /æ/
In some rare cases, the consonants are fully deleted ([[w:Elision|elision]]), as in the verb ''havere'', akin to Italian ''avere'', which followed a very similar paradigm and evolution:
|-
 
| [[w:B|Bb]] || be [be] || /b/
* 1st person indicative present: Latin ''habeō'', Gothic ''haba'', Luthic ''hô'', Italian ''ho''.
|-
* 2nd person indicative present: Latin ''habēs'', Gothic ''habais'', Luthic ''haïs'', Italian ''hai''.
| [[w:C|Cc]] || ce [d͡ʒe] || /d͡ʒ/
* 3rd person indicative present: Latin ''habet'', Gothic ''habaiþ'', Luthic ''hâþ'', Italian ''ha''.
|-
 
| [[w:Č|Čč]], || če [t͡ʃe] || /t͡ʃ/
Vowels other than /a/ are often syncopated in unstressed word-internal syllables, especially when in contact with liquid consonants:
|-
 
| [[w:D|Dd]] || de [de] || /d/
* Latin ''angulus'' [ˈäŋ.ɡu.ɫ̪us̠ ~ ˈäŋ.ɡʊ.ɫ̪ʊs̠] > Luthic ''agglo'' [ˈaŋ.ɡlu].
|-
* Latin ''speculum'' [ˈs̠pɛ.ku.ɫ̪ũː ~ ˈs̠pɛ.kʊ.ɫ̪ũː] ~ Luthic ''speclȯ'' [ˈspɛ.klo].
| [[w:Ď|Ďď]] || ďe [ðe] || /ð/
* Latin ''avunculus'' [äˈu̯uŋ.ku.ɫ̪us̠ ~ äˈu̯ʊŋ.kʊ.ɫ̪ʊs̠] > Luthic ''avogclo'' [ɐˈvoŋ.klu].
|-
 
| [[w:E|Ee]] || e [e] || /ɛ/, /e/
====Phonotactics====
|-
Luthic allows up to three consonants in syllable-initial position, though there are limitations. The syllable structure of Luthic is (C)(C)(C)(G)V(G)(C)(C). As with English, there exist many words that begin with three consonants. Luthic lacks bimoraic (diphthongs and long vowels), as the so-called diphthongs are composed of one semiconsonantal (glide) sound [j] or [w].
| [[w:F|Ff]] || ef [ɛf] || /f/
 
|-
{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align: center;"
| [[w:G|Gg]] || ge [ɡ] || /g/
! C₁ !! C₂ !! C₃
|-
|+ '''Onset'''
| [[w:H|Hh]] || ha [ha] || /h/, /j/
|-
| [[w:I|Ii]] || i [i] || /i/, /j/
|-
| [[w:J|Jj]] || je [ʒe] || /ʒ/
|-
| [[w:K|Kk]] || ka [ka] || /k/
|-
|-
| f v p b t d k ɡ || ɾ || j w
| [[w:L|Ll]] || el [ɛl] || /l/
|-
|-
| s || p k || ɾ l
| [[w:Ł|Łł]] || girbit el [gir.bit ɛl] || /ː/
|-
|-
| s || f t || ɾ
| [[w:M|Mm]] || em [ɛm] || /m/
|-
|-
| z || b || l
| [[w:N|Nn]] || en [ɛn] || /n/
|-
|-
| z || d ɡ || ɾ
| [[w:O|Oo]] || o [o] || /o/
|-
|-
| z || m n v d͡ʒ ɾ l || —
| [[w:Ö|Öö]] || ö [œ] || /œ/
|-
|-
| p b f v k ɡ || ɾ l || —
| [[w:P|Pp]] || pe [pe] || /p/
|-
|-
| ɡ || n l || —
| [[w:R|Rr]] || er [r] || /r/
|-
|-
| pʰ t tʰ kʰ d || ɾ || —
| [[w:Ř|Řř]] || eř [ɛʁ] || /ʁ/
|-
|-
| θ || v ɾ || —
| [[w:S|Ss]] || es [s] || /s/
|-
|-
|kʷ ɡʷ t͡s t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ʃ h ð ʁ ɲ l ʎ || — || —
| [[w:Š|Šš]] || eš [ɛʃ] || /ʃ/
|}
 
'''CC'''
 
* /s/ + any voiceless stop or /f/;
* /z/ + any voiced stop, /v d͡ʒ m n l ɾ/;
* /f v/, or any stop + /ɾ/;
* /f v/, or any stop except /t d/ + /l/;
* /f v s z/, or any stop or nasal + /j w/;
* In Graeco-Roman words origin which are only partially assimilated, other combinations such as /pn/ (e.g. ''pneumatico''), /mn/ (e.g. ''mnemonico''), /tm/ (e.g. ''tmesi''), and /ps/ (e.g. ''pseudo-'') occur.
 
As an onset, the cluster /s/ + voiceless consonant is inherently unstable. Phonetically, word-internal s+C normally syllabifies as [s.C]. A competing analysis accepts that while the syllabification /s.C/ is accurate historically, modern retreat of i-[[w:Prothesis (linguistics)|prosthesis]] before word initial /s/+C (e.g. ''miþ isforza'' “with effort” has generally given way to ''miþ sforzȧ'') suggests that the structure is now underdetermined, with occurrence of /s.C/ or /.sC/ variable “according to the context and the idiosyncratic behaviour of the speakers.”
 
'''CCC'''
 
* /s/ + voiceless stop or /f/ + /ɾ/;
* /z/ + voiced stop + /ɾ/;
* /s/ + /p k/ + /l/;
* /z/ + /b/ + /l/;
* /f v/ or any stop + /ɾ/ + /j w/.
 
{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align: center;"
! V₁ !! V₂ !! V₃
|+ '''Nucleus'''
|-
|-
| a ɐ e ɛ || i [j] u [w] || —
| [[w:T|Tt]] || te [te] || /t/
|-
|-
| o ɔ || i [j]|| —
| [[w:Ť|Ťť]] || ťe [θe] || /θ/
|-
|-
| i [j] || e o || —
| [[w:U|Uu]] || u [u] || /u/
|-
|-
| i [j] || ɐ ɛ ɔ || i [j]
| [[w:Ü|Üü]] || ü [y] || /y/
|-
|-
| i [j] || u [w] || o
| [[w:V|Vv]] || ve [ve] || /v/
|-
|-
| u [w] || ɐ ɛ ɔ || i [j]
| [[w:W|Ww]] || wa [wa] || /w/
|-
|-
| u [w] || e o || —
| [[w:Z|Zz]] || ze [ze] || /z/
|-
|-
| u [w] || i || —
|}
|}
[[File:Natalician_keeb_1.png|thumb|A Natalician AZERTÖ computer keyboard layout.]]
==Grammar==
Natalician grammar can be compared to that of the English language to an extent. Cases were dropped during the middle stages of the language, and like the rest of the Tinarian languages, there is no gendered nouns.


The nucleus is the only mandatory part of a syllable and must be a vowel or a diphthong. In a falling diphthong the most common second elements are /i̯/ or /u̯/. Combinations of /j w/ with vowels are often labelled diphthongs, allowing for combinations of /j w/ with falling diphthongs to be called triphthongs. One view holds that it is more accurate to label /j w/ as consonants and /jV wV/ as consonant-vowel sequences rather than rising diphthongs. In that interpretation, Luthic has only falling diphthongs (phonemically at least, cf. [[w:Synaeresis|Synaeresis]]) and no triphthongs.
===Pronouns===


{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align: center;"
{| class=wikitable
! C₁ !! C₂
!
|+ '''Coda'''
!colspan=3|Singular
!colspan=3|Plural
|-
! !!1st!!2nd!!3rd!!1st!!2nd!!3rd
|-
|-
| m n l ɾ || Cₓ
!Personal Pronoun
|''Nei''  ||''On''  ||''Sü'' ||''Namše''  ||''Daš''  ||''So''
|-
|-
| Cₓ || —
!Object Pronoun / Possessive Determiner
|''(V)In''  ||''(V)Ou''  ||''Süs''  ||''Nameš''  ||''Daša''  ||''Soz''
|-
!Possessive Pronoun
|''(V)Ini'' ||''(V)Onu'' ||''Süzü'' ||''Nameše'' ||''Dašo'' ||''Sozun''
|}
|}


Luthic permits a small number of coda consonants. Outside of loanwords, the permitted consonants are:
The pronouns ''(V)In'', ''(V)Ou'', ''(V)Ini'' and ''(V)Onu'' will use the V if the preceding noun ends with a vowel. In a sentence, the possessive determiner will always succeed the object. The object pronoun usually comes after the verb:


* The first element of any geminate.
* ''Haz ensei ianzak '''in''''' - This is '''my''' food
* A nasal consonant that is either /n/ (word-finally) or one that is homorganic to a following consonant.
* ''Iandaita ťimana '''vin''''' - You ate '''my''' grape
* /ɾ/ and /l/.
* ''Rimtiz '''soz''' kołru'' - I saw '''them''' yesterday
* /s/ (though not before fricatives).


=====Prosody=====
===Verbs===
Luthic is quasi-[[w:Paroxytone|paroxytonic]], meaning that most words receive stress on their penultimate (second-to-last) syllable. Monosyllabic words tend to lack stress in their only syllable, unless emphasised or accentuated. Enclitic and other unstressed personal pronouns do not affect stress patterns. Some monosyllabic words may have natural stress (even if not emphasised), but it is weaker than those in polysyllabic words.


* ''rasda'' (ʀᴀ-sda ~ ʀᴀs-da) /ˈʁa.zdɐ ~ ˈʁaz.dɐ/;
====Stems of verbs====
* ''Italia'' (i-ᴛᴀ-lia) /iˈta.ljɐ];
Many stems in the dictionary are indivisible; others consist of endings attached to a root.
* ''approssimativamente'' (ap-pros-si-ma-ti-va-ᴍᴇɴ-te) /ɐp.pɾos.si.mɐ.θi.vɐˈmen.te/.


Compound words have secondary stress on their penultimate syllable. Some suffixes also maintain the suffixed word secondary stress.
====Verb-stems from nouns====
 
The verb-stem ''Maršo-'' "Build" is the adjective ''Mar'' "A build" with the suffix ''-šo''. Many verbs are formed from nouns or adjectives with ''-šĕ'':
* ''panzar'' + ''campo'' + ''vaġno'' > ''panzarcampovaġno'' (ᴘᴀɴ-zar-ᴄᴀᴍ-po-ᴠᴀ-ġno) /ˌpan.t͡sɐɾˌkam.poˈvaɲ.ɲu/;
:{| class="wikitable"
* ''broþar'' + ''-scape'' > ''broþarscape'' (ʙʀᴏ-þar-sᴄᴀ-pe) /ˌbɾo.θɐɾˈska.fe/.
! Noun !! Verb
 
|-
Secondary stress is however often omitted by Italian influence. Tetrasyllabic (and beyond) words may have a very weak secondary stress in the fourth-to-last syllable (i.e. two syllables before the main or primary stress).
| ''Ergem'' "negativity" || ''Ergem'''še'''-'' "negate"
 
==Research==
Luthic is a well-studied language, and multiple universities in Italy have departments devoted to Luthic or linguistics with active research projects on the language, mainly in Ravenna, such as the '''Linguistic Circle of Ravenna''' (Luthic: ''Creizzo Rasdavitascapetico Ravennai''; Italian: ''Circolo Linguistico di Ravenna'') at '''Ravenna University''', and there are many dictionaries and technological resources on the language. The language council ''Gafaurdo faul·la Rasda Lûthica'' also publishes research on the language both nationally and internationally. Academic descriptions of the language are published both in Luthic, Italian and English. The most complete grammar is the ''Grammatica ġli Lûthicai Rasdai'' (Grammar of the Luthic Language) by Alessandro Fiscar & Luca Vaġnar, and it is written in Luthic and contains over 800 pages.
[[File:Ravenna University's arms.png|thumb|Ravenna University’s arms]]
 
Multiple corpora of Luthic language data are available. The ''Luthic Online Dictionary project'' provides a curated corpus of 35,000 words.
 
===History===
The Ravenna School of Linguistics evolved around Giovanni Laggobardi and his developing theory of language in [[w:Structural linguistics|linguistic structuralism]]. Together with Soġnafreþo Rossi he founded the Circle of Linguistics of Ravenna in 1964, a group of linguists based on the model of the [[w:Prague Linguistic Circle|Prague Linguistic Circle]]. From 1970, Ravenna University offered courses in languages and philosophy but the students were unable to finish their studies without going to [[w:Accademia della Crusca|Accademia della Crusca]] for their final examinations.
 
'''Ravenna University Circle of [[w:Phonological Development|Phonological Development]]''' (Luthic: ''Creizzo Sviluppi Phonologici giȧ Accademiȧ Ravennȧ'') was developed in 1990, however very little research has been done on the earliest stages of phonological development in Luthic.
 
'''Ravenna University Circle of [[w:Theology|Theology]]''' (Luthic: ''Creizzo Theologiai giȧ Accademiȧ Ravennȧ'') was developed in 2000 in association with the [[w:Ravenna Cathedral|Ravenna Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ]] (Luthic: ''Cathedrale metropolitana deï Osstassi Unsari Signori Gesosi Christi''; Italian: ''Cattedrale metropolitana della Risurrezione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo; Duomo di Ravenna'').
{{Quote box |align=right|quoted=true |
|salign=right
|quote=''Aina lettura essenziale summȧ importanzȧ, inu andarogiugga.'' <br /> “An essential lecture, of the highest importance, without equivalents.”
|source= Lucia Giamane
}}
 
===The Handbook of Luthic Linguistics, Culture and Religion===
In 2012, a collaboration of the Circle of Linguistics, the Circle of Phonological Development and the Circle of Theology resulted in '''The Handbook of Luthic Linguistics, Culture and Religion''' (Luthic: ''Il Handobuoco Rasdavitascapeticai, Colturai e Religioni Luthicai'') initiated in 2005 by Lucia Giamane, designed to illuminate an area of knowledge that encompasses both general linguistics and specialised, philologically oriented linguistics as well as those fields of science that have developed in recent decades from the increasingly extensive research into the diverse phenomena of communicative action.
 
==Grammar==
Luthic grammar is almost typical of the grammar of Romance languages in general. Cases exist for personal pronouns (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive), and unlike other Romance languages (except Romanian), they also exist for nouns, but are often ignored in common speech, mainly because of the Italian influence, a language who lacks noun cases. There are three basic classes of nouns in Luthic, referred to as genders, masculine, feminine and neuter. Masculine nouns typically end in -o, with plural marked by -i, feminine nouns typically end in -a, with plural marked by -ai, and neuter nouns typically end in -ȯ, with plural marked by -a. A fourth category of nouns is [[w:Marker (linguistics)|unmarked]] for gender, ending in -e in the singular and -i in the plural; a variant of the unmarked declension is found ending in -r in the singular and -i in the plural, it lacks neuter nouns:
 
Examples:
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Definition !! Gender !! Singular nominative !! Plural nominative
|-
|-
| Son || Masculine || Fiġlo || Fiġli
| ''To'' "two" || ''To'''šo'''-'' "Two-ify", that is, "get married"
|-
|-
| Flower || Feminine || Bloma || Blomai
| ''Kel'' "word" || ''kel'''še'''-'' "say"
|}
 
====Voice====
A verbal root, or a verb-stem in ''-šĕ'', can be lengthened with certain '''extensions'''.  If present, they appear in the following order, and they indicate distinctions of '''[[Grammatical voice|voice]]''':
:{|class="wikitable"
|+ Extensions for voice
|-
|-
| Fruit || Neuter || Acranȯ || Acrana
! Voice !! Ending !! Notes
|-
|-
| Love || Masculine || Amore || Amori
!Reflexive
|''-(ĭ)r''||rowspan=2|&nbsp;
|-
|-
| Art || Feminine || Crafte || Crafti
!Reciprocal
|''-dĕ''
|-
|-
| Water || Neuter || Vadne || Vadni
!rowspan=4|Causative
|''-(ĕ)m''||after polysyllabic stems in a vowel
|-
|-
| King || Masculine || Regġe || Regġi
|''-(&)z''||in other cases
|-
|-
| Heart || Neuter || Hairtene || Hairteni
|''-rĕb''||after some monosyllabic stems
|-
|-
| Father || Masculine || Fadar || Fadari
|&nbsp;||there are some other exceptional forms as well.
|-
|-
| Mother || Feminine || Modar || Modari
! [[Passive voice|Passive]]
|''-(ĭ)v''||after stems ending in a consonant other than ''-v''; otherwise, same as reflexive.
|}
|}
These endings might seem to be ''inflectional'' in the sense of the {{section link||Introduction}} above, but their meanings are not always clear from their particular names, and dictionaries do generally give the resulting forms, so in this sense they are ''constructive'' endings.


Declension paradigm in [[w:Formal language|formal]] Standard Luthic:
The causative extension makes an intransitive verb transitive, and a transitive verb '''factitive'''.  Together, the reciprocal and causative extension make the '''repetitive''' extension ''-(i)ştir''.
 
:{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Verb Root/Stem !! New Verb !! Voice
|-
|-
! Number
| rowspan=2 | ''Dol'' "Send"
! Case
| ''Dolur'' "Share" || ''-ur'' (reciprocal)
! o-stem <sup>m</sup>
! a-stem <sup>f</sup>
! o-stem <sup>n</sup>
! i-stem <sup>unm</sup>
! r-stem <sup>unm</sup>
|-
|-
!rowspan=4| Singular
| ''Doluv'' "Be sent" || ''-uv'' (reflexive)
! {{small|nom.}}
| dago
| geva
| hauviþȯ
| crafte
| broþar
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
| rowspan=2 | ''Ver'' "Fix (something)"
| dagȯ
| ''Veriv'' "wash oneself" || ''-iv'' (reflexive)
| geva
| hauviþȯ
| crafte
| broþare
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
| ''yıkanıl'' "be washed" || ''-n'' (reflexive) + ''-ıl'' (passive)
| dagȧ
| gevȧ
| hauviþȧ
| crafti
| broþari
|-
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
| ''kayna'' "(come to a) boil" || ''kaynat'' "(bring to a) boil" || ''-t'' (causitive)
| dagi
| gevai
| hauviþi
| crafti
| broþari
|-
|-
!rowspan=4| Plural
| ''öl'' "die"
! {{small|nom.}}
| ''öldür'' "kill" || ''-dür'' (causitive)
| dagi
| gevai
| hauviþa
| crafti
| broþari
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
|
| dagos
:''öldür'' "kill"
| gevas
| ''öldürt'' "have (someone) killed" || ''-t'' (causitive, factitive)
| hauviþa
| craftes
| broþares
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
| dagom
| gevam
| hauviþom
| craftivo
| broþarivo
|-
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
| ''ara'' "look for"
| dagoro
| ''araştır'' "investigate" || ''-ş'' (reciprocal) + ''-tır'' (causitive) = (repetitive)
| gevaro
| hauviþoro
| craftem
| broþarem
|}
|}


===Pronouns===
====Negation and potential in verb-stems====
Luthic, like Latin and Gothic, inherited the full set of Indo-European pronouns: personal pronouns (including [[w:Reflexive pronoun|reflexive pronouns]] for each of the three [[w:Grammatical person|grammatical persons]]), possessive pronouns, both simple and compound demonstratives, relative pronouns, interrogatives and indefinite pronouns. Each follows a particular pattern of inflection (partially mirroring the noun declension), much like other Indo-European languages. Although Luthic inherited a paradigm extremely close to Gothic (and Common Germanic), the Italic influence is visible in the genitive and plural formations.
A dictionary-stem is '''positive'''; it can be made:
 
*'''negative''', by addition of ''-me'';
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
*'''impotential''', by addition of ''-e'' and then ''-me''.
! PIE !! Latin !! Gothic !! German !! Luthic
Any of these three (kinds of) stems can be made '''potential''' by addition of ''-e'' and then ''-bil''.  The ''-bil'' is not enclitic, but represents the verb ''bil-'' "know, be able"; the first syllable of the impotential ending represents an obsolete verb ''u-'' "be powerful, able" [[#References|Lewis]] [VIII,55].
So far then, there are six kinds of stems:
:{|class="wikitable"
|+ Paradigm for stems negative, impotential and potential
|-
|-
| *u̯ei̯ <sup>nom</sup>, *n̥s <sup>acc</sup> || nōs <sup>nom/acc</sup> || weis <sup>nom</sup>, uns <sup>acc</sup> || wir <sup>nom</sup>, uns <sup>acc</sup> || vi <sup>nom</sup>, unse <sup>acc</sup>
! ||English infinitive||English finite form
|}
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|-
|+Personal pronouns of Standard Luthic
|''gel-''||"come"||"come"
! rowspan=2| Number
! rowspan=2| Case
! rowspan=2| 1<sup>st</sup> person
! rowspan=2| 2<sup>st</sup> person
!colspan=3| 3<sup>rd</sup> person
! rowspan=2| reflexive
|-
|-
! {{small|masculine}}
|''gelme-''||"not come"||"do not come"
! {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|neuter}}
|-
|-
!rowspan=4| Singular
|''geleme-''||"be unable to come"||"cannot come"
! {{small|nom.}}
| ic
| þû
| is
| ia
| ata
| —
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
|''gelebil-''||"be able to come"||"can come"
| mic
| þuc
| inȯ
| ina
| ata
| sic
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
|''gelmeyebil-''||"be able to not come"||"may not come"
| mis
| þus
| iȧ
| iȧ
| iȧ
| sis
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
|''gelemeyebil-''||"able to be unable to come"||"may be unable to come"
| meina
| þeina
| eis
| isai
| eis
| seina
|-
!rowspan=4| Singular
! {{small|nom.}}
| vi
| gi
| eis
| isai
| ia
| —
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
| unse
| isve
| eis
| isas
| ia
| sic
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
| unsis
| isvis
| eis
| eis
| eis
| sis
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
| unsara
| isvara
| eisôro
| eisâro
| eisôro
| seina
|}
|}
Such stems are not used for aorist forms, which have their own peculiar means of forming negatives and impotentials.
Note that ''-ebil'' is one of several verbs that can be compounded to enhance meaning. See [[#Auxiliary verbs|Auxiliary verbs]].
===Bases of verbs===
The '''characteristics''' with which verb-'''bases''' are formed from '''stems''' are given under {{section link||Inflectional suffixes}}. Note again that aorist verbs have their own peculiar negative and impotential forms.
The '''progressive''' base in ''-mekte'' is discussed under {{section link||Verbal nouns}}.
Another base, namely the '''necessitative''' (''gereklilik''), is formed from a verbal noun.
The characteristic is ''-meli'', where ''-li'' forms adjectives from nouns, and ''-me'' forms gerunds from verb-stems.
A native speaker may perceive the ending ''-meli'' as indivisible; the analysis here is from [[#Lewis]] [VIII,30]).
The '''present''' base is derived from the ancient verb ''yorı-'' "go, walk" [[#Lewis]] [VIII,16]; this can be used for ongoing actions, or for contemplated future actions.
The meaning of the '''aorist''' base is described under [[#Participles|#Adjectives from verbs: participles]].
There is some irregularity in first-person negative and impotential aorists. The full form of the base ''-mez'' (or ''(y)emez'') reappears before the interrogative particle ''mi'':
:''Gelmem'' "I do not come" (cf. ''Gelmez miyim'' "Do I not come?");
:''Gelmeyiz'' "We do not come" (cf. ''Gelmez miyiz'' "Do we not come?")
The '''definite past''' or ''di''-past is used to assert that something did happen in the past.
The '''inferential past''' or ''miş''-past can be understood as asserting that a past participle is applicable ''now''; hence it is used when the fact of a past event, as such, is not important; in particular, the inferential past is used when one did not actually witness the past event.
A newspaper will generally use the ''di''-past, because it is authoritative.  The need to indicate uncertainty and inference by means of the ''miş''-past may help to explain the extensive use of ''ki'' in the newspaper excerpt at [[Turkish vocabulary#The conjunction ki]].
The '''conditional''' (''şart'') verb could also be called "hypothetical"; it is used for remote possibilities, or things one might wish for.  (See also [[#Compound bases]].)


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
The various bases thus give distinctions of tense, aspect and mood.  These can be briefly tabulated:
:{| class="wikitable"
|+ First-person singular verbs
! Form !! Suffix !! Verb !! English Translation
|-
|-
|+Possessive pronouns of Standard Luthic
| Progressive || ''-mekte''
! rowspan=2| Number
|''gelmekteyim''||"I am in the process of coming"
! rowspan=2| Case
!colspan=3| 1<sup>st</sup> person singular
!colspan=3| 2<sup>st</sup> person singular
!colspan=3| 3<sup>rd</sup> person singular
|-
|-
! {{small|masculine}}
| Necessitative || ''-meli''
! {{small|feminine}}
|''gelmeliyim''||"I must come"
! {{small|neuter}}
! {{small|masculine}}
! {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|neuter}}
! {{small|masculine}}
! {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|neuter}}
|-
|-
!rowspan=4| Singular
| Positive || ''-(i/e)r''
! {{small|nom.}}
|''gelirim''||"I come"
| meino
| meina
| meinȯ
| þeino
| þeina
| þeinȯ
| seino
| seina
| seinȯ
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
| Negative || ''-me(z)''
| meinȯ
|''gelmem''||"I do not come"
| meina
| meinȯ
| þeinȯ
| þeina
| þeinȯ
| seinȯ
| seina
| seinȯ
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
| Impotential || ''-(y)eme(z)''
| meinȧ
|''gelemem''||"I cannot come"
| meinȧ
| meinȧ
| þeinȧ
| þeinȧ
| þeinȧ
| seinȧ
| seinȧ
| seinȧ
|-
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
| Future || ''-(y)ecek''
| meini
|''geleceğim''||"I will come"
| meinai
| meini
| þeini
| þeinai
| þeini
| seini
| seinai
| seini
|-
|-
!rowspan=4| Plural
| Inferential Past || ''-miş''
! {{small|nom.}}
|''gelmişim''||"It seems that I came"
| meini
| meinai
| meina
| þeini
| þeinai
| þeina
| seini
| seinai
| seina
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
| Present/Imperfective || ''-iyor''
| meinos
|''geliyorum''||"I am coming"
| meinas
| meina
| þeinos
| þeinas
| þeina
| seinos
| seinas
| seina
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
| Perfective/Definite Past || ''-di''
| meinom
|''geldim''||"I came"
| meinam
| meinom
| þeinom
| þeinam
| þeinom
| seinom
| seinam
| seinom
|-
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
| Conditional || ''-se''
| meinoro
|''gelsem''||"if only I came"
| meinaro
| meinoro
| þeinoro
| þeinaro
| þeinoro
| seinoro
| seinaro
| seinoro
|}
|}


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
===Questions===
|-
The interrogative [[#Particles|particle]] ''mi'' precedes predicative (type-I) endings (except for the 3rd person plural ''-ler''), but follows the complete verb formed from a verbal, type-II ending:
|+Possessive pronouns of Standard Luthic
:''Geliyor  musunuz?'' "Are you coming?" (but: ''Geliyorlar mı?'' "Are they coming?")
! rowspan=2| Number
:''Geldiniz mi?''      "Did you come?"
! rowspan=2| Case
 
!colspan=3| 1<sup>st</sup> person singular
===Optative and imperative moods===
!colspan=3| 2<sup>st</sup> person singular
Usually, in the '''optative''' (''istek''), only the first-person forms are used, and these supply the lack of a first-person '''imperative''' (''emir''). 
!colspan=3| 3<sup>rd</sup> person singular
In common practice then, there is one series of endings to express something wished for:
|-
:{| class="wikitable"
! {{small|masculine}}
|+ Merged Optative & Imperative Moods
! {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|neuter}}
! {{small|masculine}}
! {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|neuter}}
! {{small|masculine}}
! {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|neuter}}
|-
!rowspan=4| Singular
! {{small|nom.}}
| unsar
| unsara
| unsarȯ
| isvar
| isvara
| isvarȯ
| seino
| seina
| seinȯ
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
! Number !! Person !! Ending !! Example !! English Translation
| unsare
| unsara
| unsarȯ
| isvare
| isvara
| isvarȯ
| seinȯ
| seina
| seinȯ
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
! rowspan=3 | Singular
| unsari
! 1st
| unsarȧ
| ''-(y)eyim'' ||''Geleyim''||"Let me come"
| unsarȧ
| isvari
| isvarȧ
| isvarȧ
| seinȧ
| seinȧ
| seinȧ
|-
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
! 2nd
| unsari
| — || ''Gel'' ||"Come (you, singular)"
| unsarai
| unsari
| isvari
| isvarai
| isvari
| seini
| seinai
| seini
|-
|-
!rowspan=4| Plural
! 3rd
! {{small|nom.}}
| ''-sin'' || ''Gelsin''|| "Let [her/him/it] come"
| unsari
| unsarai
| unsara
| isvari
| isvarai
| isvara
| seini
| seinai
| seina
|-
|-
! {{small|acc.}}
! rowspan=3 | Plural
| unsares
! 1st
| unsaras
| ''-(y)elim'' || ''Gelelim'' ||"Let us come"
| unsara
| isvares
| isvaras
| isvara
| seinos
| seinas
| seina
|-
|-
! {{small|dat.}}
! 2nd
| unsarivo
| ''-(y)in(iz)'' || ''Gelin'' ||"Come (you, plural)"
| unsaram
| unsarom
| isvarivo
| isvaram
| isvarom
| seinom
| seinam
| seinom
|-
|-
! {{small|gen.}}
! 3rd
| unsarem
| ''-sinler'' || ''Gelsinler''||"Let them come"
| unsararo
| unsaroro
| isvarem
| isvararo
| isvaroro
| seinoro
| seinaro
| seinoro
|}
|}


The pronouns unsar, isvar have an irregular declension, being declined like an unmarked adjective in the masculine gender and marked in the other genders. Every possessive pronoun is declined like an o-stem adjective for masculine and neuter gender, while its feminine counterpart is declined as an a-stem adjective
===Copula===
{{main article|Turkish copula}}
 
The copula in Turkish appears in only two variants―''*imek'', a defective verb often attached to the noun, and ''olmek'', which is a detached regular auxiliary verb.
 
''*Imek'', derived from the ancient verb ''er-'' [[#Lewis]] [VIII,2], survives in Turkish only in the inferential past, perfective, and conditional:
*''imiş'',
*''idi'',
*''ise''.
The form ''iken'' given under [[#Adverbs from verbs]] is also descended from ''er-''.
Since no more bases are founded on the stem ''i-'', this verb can be called defective. In particular, ''i-'' forms no negative or impotential stems; negation is achieved with the [[#Adverb of negation]], ''değil'', given earlier.
 
The ''i-'' bases are often turned into base-forming suffixes without change in meaning; the corresponding suffixes are
*''-(y)miş'',
*''-(y)di'',
*''-(y)se'',
where the ''y'' is used only after vowels. For example, ''Hasta imiş'' and ''Hastaymış'' both mean, "Apparently/Reportedly, he/she/it is ill".
 
The verb ''i-'' serves as a [[copula (linguistics)|copula]].  When a copula is needed, but the appropriate base in ''i-'' does not exist, then the corresponding base in ''ol-'' is used; when used otherwise this stem means "become". ''Idir'', a variant of ''imek'', is used for emphasis.
 
The verb ''i-'' is irregular in the way it is used in questions: the particle ''mi'' always precedes it:
:''Kuş idi'' or ''Kuştu'' "It was a bird";
:''Kuş muydu?'' "Was it a bird?"


Interrogative and indefinite pronouns are indeclinable by case and number:
===Compound bases===<!-- This section is linked from [[Grammatical mood]] -->
The bases so far considered can be called "simple".  A base in ''i-'' can be attached to another base, forming a compound base.  One can then interpret the result in terms of English verb forms by reading backwards.  The following list is representative, not exhaustive:
*Past tenses:
**'''continuous past:''' ''Geliyordum'' "I was coming";
**'''aorist past:''' ''Gelirdim'' "I used to come";
**'''future past:''' ''Gelecektim'' "I was going to come";
**'''pluperfect:''' ''Gelmiştim'' "I had come";
**'''necessitative past:''' ''Gelmeliydim'' "I had to come";
**'''conditional past:''' ''Gelseydim'' "If only I had come."
*Inferential tenses:
**'''continuous inferential:''' ''Geliyormuşum'' "It seems (they say) I am coming";
**'''future inferential:''' ''Gelecekmişim'' "It seems I shall come";
**'''aorist inferential:''' ''Gelirmişim'' "It seems I come";
**'''necessitative inferential:''' ''Gelmeliymişim'' "They say I must come."
By means of ''ise'' or ''-(y)se'', a verb can be made '''conditional''' in the sense of being the hypothesis or protasis of a complex statement:
:''önemli bir şey yapıyorsunuz'' "You are doing something important";
:''Önemli bir şey yapıyorsanız, rahatsız etmeyelim'' "If you are doing something important, let us not cause disturbance."
The simple conditional can be used for remote conditions:
:''Bakmakla öğrenilse, köpekler kasap olurdu'' "If learning by looking were possible, dogs would be butchers."

Latest revision as of 00:23, 28 March 2024



Natalician
Nataledhi
Natalician Flag.png
Flag of the Natalician Republic
Pronunciation[na.ta.le.di]
Created byHazer
Date2021
Native toNatalicia; Firenia and the Kontamchian Islands
EthnicityNatales
Native speakers37,123,487 (2021)
Tinarian
  • Kasenian
    • North Kasenian
      • Natalo-Kesperian
        • Old Natalician
          • Natalician
Official status
Official language in
Natalicia, Firenia, Budernie, Nirania, Kannamie
Recognised minority
language in
Espidon, Amarania (Dogostania)
Regulated byThe Natalician Academic Council for Linguistics
Natalician Distr Map.png
A map showing the distribution of (native and non-native) speakers of Natalician in Tinaria. Dark blue is native, light blue is secondary language speaker, and cyan is minorities.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Natalician (/nəˈtɑlɪʃən/ or /ˌnɑteɪˈlɪʃ.ən/; endonym: Nataledhi [na.ta.le.di] or Natal Rettive /na.tal re.tːive/) is a North Kasenian language mainly spoken in Central East Tinaria, primarily in Natalicia, Firenia and North-East Nirania. Outside of Natalica, it is recognized as an official language in Budernie, Nirania, Kannamie and as a minority language in East Espidon and the Dogostanian community in Eastern Amarania. Natalician is closely related to other North Kasenian languages such as Espidan and Niranian.

Modern Natalician gradually developed from Old Natalician, which in turn developed from an extinct unnamed language spoken by the Natalo-Kesperian tribes. Today, Natalician is one of the most important languages in the world, and is the most spoken Kasenian language, both natively and as an additional language. About 65 million people speak Natalician worldwide, 37 of which are natives.

Natalician is a language characterised by the lack of cases, the absence of genders, nearly no irregularity and a systematic grammar and an orthography with no digraphs, dipthongs or anything of the like, making it such a straightforward language to read and learn.

History

The earliest traces of the Natalician language date as far back as the year 334, with a much different vocabulary and grammar as that of the modern descandant, sub-dividing the Natalician language's history into 3 timelines - Classic Natalician (334 - 1203), Old Natalician (1203 - 1540) and Modern Natalician (1540 - present). The language is estimated to be 1687 years old as of 2021.

Classic Natalician

Also known as the Poetic Natalician or the Natalo-Kesperian Language, the only recorded evidences of the earliest traces of the language are found in ancient poetries and old writings on recovered artifacts. These evidences however are deemed not enough by the NACL to be considered a valid or complete written evidence of the Natalo-Kesperian spoken language, as illiteracy was dominant in the pre-Killisic era and the chosen vocabulary choice is said to be too formal. Classic Natalician's vocabulary has many direct elements from the early Proto-North-Kasenian language which was later ambolished due to the migratory era, culture clashes and the increase of loanwords.

There is no known documents for Classic Natalician that have survived. No known evidence of the development of the language during the primary era have been found.

Old Natalician

Reširi ägsös nör på tånåka if kelševi wez̊en fölsi sos.
“The people have the right to write and say what they please.”

“
”
The first quote from the famous Ulun Cilesli Irkete's 1210 language guide


When the Killistic era entered, the Natale tribes have recieved access to knowledge brought by the proclaimed king of the Natales, Ribel Zömeri. It was the era where literacy skyrocketed in the newly born and united Natale monarchy [1203 - 1834], and printed evidence of the Natalician language have surfaced and bloomed. The first recorded book containing written evidence comes from the book "Natåltïå kočåculaï orūnza" (Natalician Guide Book) by late author Ulun Cilesli Irkete, written and published in year 1210. Following that have come multiple documents that have been preserved through generations and found as artifacts in the Natalician Grand Museum of Literature and Artifacts in Celicia.

A recovered old copy of Prof. Irkete's Old Natalician guide book

Many scholars of history and literature have claimed that Classic and Old Natalician are the same language, but lack of evidence weakened the claims. Scholar Iček Friktinäm quotes: "Old Natalician may be the result of intervention of new local loanwords and the varieties of dialects may have caused a deviation of Kasenian roots from the standard spoken Natalician at that time."

Old Natalician features a drastically different grammar and vocabulary from that of the Natalician of today, the most notable difference is vowel harmony and cases. The old language features 4 vowel harmony types and 3 grammatical cases: Nominative, Accusative and Genetive. The different suffixes and verb conjugation are majorly notable differences aswell.

Modern Natalician

Äg čan vizih zifekev if savekilivev ensei ťenałr nameš čan özev.
“Our history is filled with rich stories and leaders.”

“
”
Zafel Sörät Fortla, father of the Natales

The language has been having a constant update of vocabulary and grammar during the 15th century, during the beginning of the decline of the monarchy by the hands of Goz Hoz, and until the creation of the new republic by Zafel Sörät Fortla, during the year 1845 when the official Natalician academic council for Linguistics was founded and coined the official source of tracking of the language's status.

Etymology

The name of Natalicia, the Natales and the Natalician language comes from the Natala tribes of the Natalo-Kesperian community from central east Tinaria, the name comes from the Proto-Kasenian word Nåťåla (meaning: "To ensure fairness"), which later evolved to Nåsåla in Old Natalician and to Nasala in Modern Natalician.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Standard Natalician
Labial Dental/
Alveolar 		Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain labialized
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s θ ʃ h
voiced v z ð ʒ ʁ
Affricate voiceless t͡ʃ
voiceless d͡ʒ
Approximant semivowel j w
lateral l
Gorgia Toscana
Flap
Trill

Consonant Harmony

Natalician orthography reflects voice sandhi voicing, a form of consonant mutation with two consonants that meet, and the second is voiced and the first is unvoiced. The first unvoiced consonant [p t f ʃ t͡ʃ θ k s] is voiced to [b d v ʒ d͡ʒ ð ɡ z], but the orthography remains unchanged. This usually does not include load words.

Vowels

Natalician vh chart.png

Vowel phonemes of standard Natalician
Front Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Close i y u
Near-open æ
Open e œ a o


The vowels of the Natalician language are, in their alphabetical order, ⟨a⟩, ⟨ä⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨ö⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨ü⟩. The Natalician vowel system can be considered as being three-dimensional, where vowels are characterised by how and where they are articulated focusing on three key features: front and back, rounded and unrounded and vowel height.

Notes

  • When the vowels /i/, /u/ precede or succeed another vowel, they become /j/, /w/ respectively. If both vowels meet one another, only the /i/ will transform into a /j/ which the /u/ remains unchanged.
  • The only diphthong in the whole language is the Object second person singular Ou (You), pronounced /uː/.

Vowel harmony

Natalician Vowel Harmony Front Vowels Back Vowels
Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded
Vowel ä e i ö ü a o u
Type Ĕ (Backness) e o
Type Ĭ (Backness + Rounding) i ü a u

The principle of vowel harmony

  1. If the first vowel of a word is a back vowel, any subsequent vowel is also a back vowel; if the first is a front vowel, any subsequent vowel is also a front vowel.
  2. If the first vowel is unrounded, so too are subsequent vowels.

The second and third rules minimize muscular effort during speech. More specifically, they are related to the phenomenon of labial assimilation: If the lips are rounded (a process that requires muscular effort) for the first vowel they may stay rounded for subsequent vowels. If they are unrounded for the first vowel, the speaker does not make the additional muscular effort to round them subsequently.

Grammatical affixes have "a chameleon-like quality" and obey one of the following patterns of vowel harmony:

  • Twofold (-e/-o): The article, for example, is -(v)e after front vowels and -(v)o after back vowels.
  • Fourfold (-i/-a/-ü/-u): The verb infinitive suffix, for example, is -i or -a after unrounded vowels (front or back respectively); and -ü or -u after the corresponding rounded vowels.
  • Type & 'and': The adjectival passive voice suffix, for example, is -t&t, the & being the same vowel as the previous one.

Practically, the twofold pattern (usually referred to as the type Ĕ) means that in the environment where the vowel in the word stem is formed in the front of the mouth, the suffix will take the e form, while if it is formed in the back it will take the o form. The fourfold pattern (also called the type Ĭ) accounts for rounding as well as for front/back. The type & pattern is the reppetition of the same last vowel. The following examples, based on the nominal suffix -zĭk, illustrate the principles of type Ĭ vowel harmony in practice: Čikelzik ("Wellness"), Okzuk ("Knowledge"), Ianzak ("Food"), Nörzük ("Living").

Exceptions to vowel harmony

These are four word-classes that are exceptions to the rules of vowel harmony:

  1. Native, non-compound words, e.g. Ela "then", Čela "drink", Äga "by"
  2. Native compound words, e.g. Pawez "for what"
  3. Foreign words, e.g. many English loanwords such as Sertifikäht (certificate), Hospital (hospital), Komphuter (computer)
  4. Invariable prefixes / suffixes:
Invariable prefix or suffix Natalician example Meaning in English Remarks
–tüs iantüs "eating" From ian "eat"
–(v)iš üčiš "exit" From üč "leave."
öz- özhaša "to return" From haša "to come"
gik- gikögültüt "unwanted" From ögültüt "wanted"

Note

  • A native compound does not obey vowel harmony: Ras+cezil ("city center"—a place name)
  • Loanwords also disobeys vowel harmony: Kofi ("Coffee")
  • Every grammatical prefix disobeys the vowel harmony aswell.

Orthography

Alphabet

Natalician has a straightforward orthography, meaning regular spelling with (almost) no diphthong or digraph or anything of the sort. In linguistic terms, the writing system is a phonemic orthography. The following are exceptions:


  • The letter that is called Girbit El ("Silent L"), written ⟨Ł⟩ in Natalician orthography, represents vowel lengthening. It never occurs at the beginning of a word or a syllable, always follows a vowel and always preceeds a consonant. The vowel that preceeds it is lengthened.
  • The Object second person singular Ou is the only digraph in the entire language, making the sound of /uː/.
  • The letter ⟨H⟩ in Natalician orthography represents two sounds: The /h/ sound, and the /j/ sound. If the letter ⟨H⟩ is located at the beginning of the word, it takes the /h/ sound, otherwise it takes the /j/ sound. (e.g. Hiloh /hi.loj/ "Hello", Konah /ko.naj/ "Beautiful", Haz /haz/ "This")

Standard Natalician alphabet

Letter Name IPA
Aa a [a] /a/
Ää ä [æ] /æ/
Bb be [be] /b/
Cc ce [d͡ʒe] /d͡ʒ/
Čč, če [t͡ʃe] /t͡ʃ/
Dd de [de] /d/
Ďď ďe [ðe] /ð/
Ee e [e] /ɛ/, /e/
Ff ef [ɛf] /f/
Gg ge [ɡ] /g/
Hh ha [ha] /h/, /j/
Ii i [i] /i/, /j/
Jj je [ʒe] /ʒ/
Kk ka [ka] /k/
Ll el [ɛl] /l/
Łł girbit el [gir.bit ɛl] /ː/
Mm em [ɛm] /m/
Nn en [ɛn] /n/
Oo o [o] /o/
Öö ö [œ] /œ/
Pp pe [pe] /p/
Rr er [r] /r/
Řř eř [ɛʁ] /ʁ/
Ss es [s] /s/
Šš eš [ɛʃ] /ʃ/
Tt te [te] /t/
Ťť ťe [θe] /θ/
Uu u [u] /u/
Üü ü [y] /y/
Vv ve [ve] /v/
Ww wa [wa] /w/
Zz ze [ze] /z/
A Natalician AZERTÖ computer keyboard layout.

Grammar

Natalician grammar can be compared to that of the English language to an extent. Cases were dropped during the middle stages of the language, and like the rest of the Tinarian languages, there is no gendered nouns.

Pronouns

Singular Plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Personal Pronoun Nei On Sü Namše Daš So
Object Pronoun / Possessive Determiner (V)In (V)Ou Süs Nameš Daša Soz
Possessive Pronoun (V)Ini (V)Onu Süzü Nameše Dašo Sozun

The pronouns (V)In, (V)Ou, (V)Ini and (V)Onu will use the V if the preceding noun ends with a vowel. In a sentence, the possessive determiner will always succeed the object. The object pronoun usually comes after the verb:

  • Haz ensei ianzak in - This is my food
  • Iandaita ťimana vin - You ate my grape
  • Rimtiz soz kołru - I saw them yesterday

Verbs

Stems of verbs

Many stems in the dictionary are indivisible; others consist of endings attached to a root.

Verb-stems from nouns

The verb-stem Maršo- "Build" is the adjective Mar "A build" with the suffix -šo. Many verbs are formed from nouns or adjectives with -šĕ:

Noun Verb
Ergem "negativity" Ergemše- "negate"
To "two" Tošo- "Two-ify", that is, "get married"
Kel "word" kelše- "say"

Voice

A verbal root, or a verb-stem in -šĕ, can be lengthened with certain extensions. If present, they appear in the following order, and they indicate distinctions of voice:

Extensions for voice
Voice Ending Notes
Reflexive -(ĭ)r  
Reciprocal -dĕ
Causative -(ĕ)m after polysyllabic stems in a vowel
-(&)z in other cases
-rĕb after some monosyllabic stems
  there are some other exceptional forms as well.
Passive -(ĭ)v after stems ending in a consonant other than -v; otherwise, same as reflexive.

These endings might seem to be inflectional in the sense of the Template:Section link above, but their meanings are not always clear from their particular names, and dictionaries do generally give the resulting forms, so in this sense they are constructive endings.

The causative extension makes an intransitive verb transitive, and a transitive verb factitive. Together, the reciprocal and causative extension make the repetitive extension -(i)ştir.

Verb Root/Stem New Verb Voice
Dol "Send" Dolur "Share" -ur (reciprocal)
Doluv "Be sent" -uv (reflexive)
Ver "Fix (something)" Veriv "wash oneself" -iv (reflexive)
yıkanıl "be washed" -n (reflexive) + -ıl (passive)
kayna "(come to a) boil" kaynat "(bring to a) boil" -t (causitive)
öl "die" öldür "kill" -dür (causitive)
öldür "kill"
 öldürt "have (someone) killed" -t (causitive, factitive)
ara "look for" araştır "investigate" -ş (reciprocal) + -tır (causitive) = (repetitive)

Negation and potential in verb-stems

A dictionary-stem is positive; it can be made:

  • negative, by addition of -me;
  • impotential, by addition of -e and then -me.

Any of these three (kinds of) stems can be made potential by addition of -e and then -bil. The -bil is not enclitic, but represents the verb bil- "know, be able"; the first syllable of the impotential ending represents an obsolete verb u- "be powerful, able" Lewis [VIII,55]. So far then, there are six kinds of stems:

Paradigm for stems negative, impotential and potential
English infinitive English finite form
gel- "come" "come"
gelme- "not come" "do not come"
geleme- "be unable to come" "cannot come"
gelebil- "be able to come" "can come"
gelmeyebil- "be able to not come" "may not come"
gelemeyebil- "able to be unable to come" "may be unable to come"

Such stems are not used for aorist forms, which have their own peculiar means of forming negatives and impotentials.

Note that -ebil is one of several verbs that can be compounded to enhance meaning. See Auxiliary verbs.

Bases of verbs

The characteristics with which verb-bases are formed from stems are given under Template:Section link. Note again that aorist verbs have their own peculiar negative and impotential forms.

The progressive base in -mekte is discussed under Template:Section link. Another base, namely the necessitative (gereklilik), is formed from a verbal noun. The characteristic is -meli, where -li forms adjectives from nouns, and -me forms gerunds from verb-stems. A native speaker may perceive the ending -meli as indivisible; the analysis here is from #Lewis [VIII,30]).

The present base is derived from the ancient verb yorı- "go, walk" #Lewis [VIII,16]; this can be used for ongoing actions, or for contemplated future actions.

The meaning of the aorist base is described under #Adjectives from verbs: participles.

There is some irregularity in first-person negative and impotential aorists. The full form of the base -mez (or (y)emez) reappears before the interrogative particle mi:

Gelmem "I do not come" (cf. Gelmez miyim "Do I not come?");
Gelmeyiz "We do not come" (cf. Gelmez miyiz "Do we not come?")

The definite past or di-past is used to assert that something did happen in the past. The inferential past or miş-past can be understood as asserting that a past participle is applicable now; hence it is used when the fact of a past event, as such, is not important; in particular, the inferential past is used when one did not actually witness the past event.

A newspaper will generally use the di-past, because it is authoritative. The need to indicate uncertainty and inference by means of the miş-past may help to explain the extensive use of ki in the newspaper excerpt at Turkish vocabulary#The conjunction ki.

The conditional (şart) verb could also be called "hypothetical"; it is used for remote possibilities, or things one might wish for. (See also #Compound bases.)

The various bases thus give distinctions of tense, aspect and mood. These can be briefly tabulated:

First-person singular verbs
Form Suffix Verb English Translation
Progressive -mekte gelmekteyim "I am in the process of coming"
Necessitative -meli gelmeliyim "I must come"
Positive -(i/e)r gelirim "I come"
Negative -me(z) gelmem "I do not come"
Impotential -(y)eme(z) gelemem "I cannot come"
Future -(y)ecek geleceğim "I will come"
Inferential Past -miş gelmişim "It seems that I came"
Present/Imperfective -iyor geliyorum "I am coming"
Perfective/Definite Past -di geldim "I came"
Conditional -se gelsem "if only I came"

Questions

The interrogative particle mi precedes predicative (type-I) endings (except for the 3rd person plural -ler), but follows the complete verb formed from a verbal, type-II ending:

Geliyor musunuz? "Are you coming?" (but: Geliyorlar mı? "Are they coming?")
Geldiniz mi? "Did you come?"

Optative and imperative moods

Usually, in the optative (istek), only the first-person forms are used, and these supply the lack of a first-person imperative (emir). In common practice then, there is one series of endings to express something wished for:

Merged Optative & Imperative Moods
Number Person Ending Example English Translation
Singular 1st -(y)eyim Geleyim "Let me come"
2nd — Gel "Come (you, singular)"
3rd -sin Gelsin "Let [her/him/it] come"
Plural 1st -(y)elim Gelelim "Let us come"
2nd -(y)in(iz) Gelin "Come (you, plural)"
3rd -sinler Gelsinler "Let them come"

Copula

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The copula in Turkish appears in only two variants―*imek, a defective verb often attached to the noun, and olmek, which is a detached regular auxiliary verb.

*Imek, derived from the ancient verb er- #Lewis [VIII,2], survives in Turkish only in the inferential past, perfective, and conditional:

  • imiş,
  • idi,
  • ise.

The form iken given under #Adverbs from verbs is also descended from er-. Since no more bases are founded on the stem i-, this verb can be called defective. In particular, i- forms no negative or impotential stems; negation is achieved with the #Adverb of negation, değil, given earlier.

The i- bases are often turned into base-forming suffixes without change in meaning; the corresponding suffixes are

  • -(y)miş,
  • -(y)di,
  • -(y)se,

where the y is used only after vowels. For example, Hasta imiş and Hastaymış both mean, "Apparently/Reportedly, he/she/it is ill".

The verb i- serves as a copula. When a copula is needed, but the appropriate base in i- does not exist, then the corresponding base in ol- is used; when used otherwise this stem means "become". Idir, a variant of imek, is used for emphasis.

The verb i- is irregular in the way it is used in questions: the particle mi always precedes it:

Kuş idi or Kuştu "It was a bird";
Kuş muydu? "Was it a bird?"

Compound bases

The bases so far considered can be called "simple". A base in i- can be attached to another base, forming a compound base. One can then interpret the result in terms of English verb forms by reading backwards. The following list is representative, not exhaustive:

  • Past tenses:
    • continuous past: Geliyordum "I was coming";
    • aorist past: Gelirdim "I used to come";
    • future past: Gelecektim "I was going to come";
    • pluperfect: Gelmiştim "I had come";
    • necessitative past: Gelmeliydim "I had to come";
    • conditional past: Gelseydim "If only I had come."
  • Inferential tenses:
    • continuous inferential: Geliyormuşum "It seems (they say) I am coming";
    • future inferential: Gelecekmişim "It seems I shall come";
    • aorist inferential: Gelirmişim "It seems I come";
    • necessitative inferential: Gelmeliymişim "They say I must come."

By means of ise or -(y)se, a verb can be made conditional in the sense of being the hypothesis or protasis of a complex statement:

önemli bir şey yapıyorsunuz "You are doing something important";
Önemli bir şey yapıyorsanız, rahatsız etmeyelim "If you are doing something important, let us not cause disturbance."

The simple conditional can be used for remote conditions:

Bakmakla öğrenilse, köpekler kasap olurdu "If learning by looking were possible, dogs would be butchers."
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