Nurian

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Nurian/Lexicon

Nurian
nūrimēn
Created byIlL
Quihum
Language codes
ISO 639-3qnr
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Nurian (gathvēn nūrimēn) is a Talmic language descending from Thensarian, aesthetically inspired by Italian, Arabic, Pali and Lithuanian.

Introduction

Nurian is spoken in the western region of the continent called Cuadhlabh by Tigals. It is easily the most conservative Talmic language, though with signficant influence from Dwischric, in particular Dūsswaren.

Historical phonology

  • Cl > Cj > Cʲ (Italian style): pl bl ml fl cl gl ngl chl ghl > pi bi mi fi ci gi ngi chi ghi
    • Exceptions: ħl ȝl; nl, rl > ll
  • C1C2 > C2C2 (similarly to Italian)
  • mlīd - conclusion, end > mīd /mʲiːdˠ/
  • ar- > aC- (ar- before vowels); as- > s-
  • st, sn > (t)th, (n)nh

Numbers

Phonology

The Nurian consonant inventory contains around 42 consonants and 10 vowels. A notable feature of the phonology of most Nurian accents is phonemic velarization vs. palatalization in hard-soft pairs. All consonants except /ħ ʕ h j/ are members of a hard-soft-pair. /ħ ʕ h j/ color the /a/ vowel as if they were soft, and /ħ ʕ/ tend to lower adjacent vowels. Nurian is otherwise extremely phonologically conservative among Talmic languages, preserving vowel length and gemination.

Diaphonemes

Consonants

Hard ṿ θ̣ ð̣ ŋ q ġ x ğ ħ ʕ h y
Soft m p b f v n t d θ ð s z r l ñ č j š ž

Vowels

a ā i ī u ū ia ua ai au

Dagȳne accent

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Nurian (Dagȳne)
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Radical Glottal
hard soft hard soft hard soft
Nasal voiceless m̥ʲ n̥ˠ n̥ʲ
voiced n̪ˠ ɲ ŋ
Stop tenuis t̪ˠ k
voiced d̪ˠ ɡ
aspirated pˠʰ pʲʰ t̪ˠʰ tʲʰ tʃʰ
Fricative voiceless θˠ θʲ ʃ x ħ h
voiced ðˠ ðʲ ʒ ɣ
Trill voiceless r̥ˠ r̥ʲ
voiced
Approximant j ʕ
Lat. app. voiceless ɬˠ ɬʲ
voiced


Consonants
Grapheme m p b f v n t d θ δ s z r l ng c g χ γ ħ ȝ h j
Hard /mˠ/ /pˠ/ /bˠ/ /fˠ/ /vˠ/ /nˠ/ /tˠ/ /dˠ/ /θˠ/ /ðˠ/ /sˠ/ /zˠ/ /rˠ/ /ɫ/ /ŋ/ /k/ /ɡ/ /x/ /ɣ/ /ħ/ /ʕ/ /h/ /j/
Soft /mʲ/ /pʲ/ /bʲ/ /fʲ/ /vʲ/ /nʲ/ /tʲ/ /dʲ/ /θ/ /ð/ /sʲ/ /zʲ/ /rʲ/ /lʲ/ /ɲ/ /t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/


Notes
  • Voiceless stops and affricates are unaspirated.
  • All hard consonants are velarized (especially /rˠ, lˠ, θˠ, ðˠ/, which are uvularized).
  • All consonants are labialized before the back vowels /u, uː, uɔ/.
  • /tˠ, dˠ, nˠ/ are laminal denti-alveolar [t̪ˠ, d̪ˠ, n̪ˠ].
  • /tʲ, dʲ, nʲ/ are laminal alveolar [t̻ʲ, d̻ʲ, n̻ʲ].
  • /θˠ, θ, ðˠ, ð/ are dental spirants [θʶ, θ, ðʶ, ð].
  • /sˠ, sʲ, zˠ, zʲ/ are laminal denti-alveolar [s̪ˠ, s̪ʲ, z̪ˠ, z̪ʲ].
  • /rˠ/ is uvularized apical alveolar [r̺ʶ] or postalveolar [r̠ʶ]. When not geminated, it can either be a trill [rʶ] or a flap [ɾʶ].
  • /rʲ/ is palatalized alveolar flap [ɾ̪ʲ] and less commonly a trill [r̺ʲ]. It is always a trill [r̺ːʲ] when geminated.
  • /lˠ/ is a uvularized apical alveolar [l̺ʶ] or uvularized laminal denti-alveolar [l̪ʶ].
  • /lʲ/ is laminal alveolar [l̻ʲ].
  • /ɲ/ is postpalatal [ɲ̄].
  • /tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ/ are laminal palatalized alveolar [tʃʲ, dʒʲ, ʃʲ, ʒʲ].
  • Before /k, ɡ/, /n/ is realized as velar [ŋ].
  • /ħ/ has been variously described as pharyngeal [ħ] and epiglottal [ʜ].
  • /ʕ/ is an epiglottal approximant [ʕ̞].
  • /h/ is voiced [ɦ] after vowels and voiced consonants.

Vowels

Nurian has three short and three long vowels. There is a considerable degree of allophony in low vowels.

Vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close /ɪ~ɪ̞/ /iː/ /ʊ/ /uː/
Open [ɛ~æ] [æː] /a/ /aː/ [ɑ] [ɑː]

Diphthongs: /aɪ aʊ iɛ uɔ/

Notes
  • Short /ɪ/ is lowered to [ɪ̞] after hard consonants.
  • /a aː/ each have three allophones:
    • [ɐ~ɑ ɑː] after non-radical hard consonants
    • [ɛ~æ æː] after soft consonants, radicals and /h/
  • Allophony of /a aː/ is, however, reduced in the speech of many younger speakers, who pronounce both as [ɐ aː]

Fiuχχēra accent

The Fiuχχēra [fuʃˈʃæːrˁɑ] accent turns hard consonants into uvularized consonants, and soft consonants into plain.

  • θˠ ðˠ > fˁ vˁ
  • Non-rhotic

Consonants

Consonant phonemes (Fiuχχēra)
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Radical Glottal
hard soft hard soft hard soft
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop tenuis p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative voiceless f θ s ʃ x~χ ħ h
voiced ð z ʒ ɣ~ʁ ʕ
Trill r
Approximant central w j
lateral l


Notes
  • Hard consonants are uvularized, like Arabic emphatic consonants.

Orthography

Consonants

Consonants
Grapheme m p b f v n t d θ δ s z r l ng c g χ γ ħ ȝ h j
Hard /mˠ/ /pˠ/ /bˠ/ /fˠ/ /vˠ/ /nˠ/ /tˠ/ /dˠ/ /θˠ/ /ðˠ/ /sˠ/ /zˠ/ /rˠ/ /ɫ/ /ŋ/ /k/ /ɡ/ /x/ /ɣ/ /ħ/ /ʕ/ /h/ /j/
Soft /mʲ/ /pʲ/ /bʲ/ /fʲ/ /vʲ/ /nʲ/ /tʲ/ /dʲ/ /θ/ /ð/ /sʲ/ /zʲ/ /rʲ/ /lʲ/ /ɲ/ /t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/

Velars (ng c g χ γ) remain hard before other consonants. The remaining consonants assimilate in palatalization before other consonants.

Vowels

  • a: hard /a/ [ɐ~ɑ]
  • ā: hard /aː/ [ɑː]
  • ai: hard /aɪ/ [ɐɪ~ɑɪ]
  • au: hard /aʊ/ [ɐʊ~ɑʊ]
  • y: hard /ɪ/ [ë]
  • y: hard /iː/
  • o, u: hard /ʊ/
  • ō: hard /uɔ/
  • ū: hard /uː/

  • ia, e: soft /a/ [ɛ]
  • iā, ē: soft /aː/ [æː]
  • iai: soft /aɪ/ [ɛɪ]
  • iau: soft /aʊ/ [ɛʊ]
  • i: soft /ɪ/
  • ī: soft /iː/
  • io, iu: soft /ʊ/
  • : soft /uɔ/
  • : soft /uː/
  • ie: soft /iə/


Grammar

Somewhat unusually, Nurian is verb-final with prepositions and modified-modifier order.

Nouns

Sgv-clv-plv system.