Old Shalaian/Sketchbook
| Sketchbook | |
|---|---|
| u għámyōnth shaláius | |
| Pronunciation | [/u: ˈʕæmjəʊnθ ʃəˈlɛɪu:s/] |
| Created by | User:IlL |
| Setting | Verse:Unbegotten |
Idavic
| |
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook (shə-LAY-ən, natively u għámyōnth shaláius /u: ˈʕæmjəʊnθ ʃəˈlɛɪu:s/) is an in-universe naturalistic conlang in the sci-fi setting Verse:Unbegotten.
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook is a split-ergative, moderately synthetic, head-marking, verb-initial language where preverbal clitics ("preverbs") play an important grammatical role.
Todo
Deutschify the grammar (V2, cases, STOV)?
Old Irishy allomorphy with prefixes?
*-t is an important suffix for the Anglo-Semitic aesthetic
Get CVCVCC words
Skóo'chis: a liturgical title? s-ku'ċ-is 3.H-handle-3PL "She is handy with things" (-is for 3pl abs on verbs is a deliberate archaism)
- alienable: dog CLASSIFIER-my? dog of-me?
- inalienable: hand-my
Agentive vs patientive verb pairs: we see/hear/learn = (PREVERB) is_seen-it to-us vs (PREVERB) we-see-intentionally-it
Shalaian: 1. Rosh ian lagħvée, lōkh fo'nanée. / Għar shím'tal mee, lōkh fo'nanée. time REL.PFV 1-see-3SG.A, PFV flee-3SG.AN / LOC see.INF-1SG ACC-3SG.AN PFV flee-3SG.AN 2. Warṓdal, rosh naaf whi'ł mi kástłam għarnd. call-1SG, when COMP.FUT need DAT help LOC-2SG. 3. Yarsh (naaf) shafóngad? when COMP.FUT hither-come-2SG?
Sá'klas as whínjan għar karúns Hárverd = "Park the car in Harvard yard"
Shalaian might not have glottal reinforcement anymore. instead: coda voicing alternations t~d and th~dh?
tn~n, hr~r, ł~l (icelandic/eevo-esque)?
Derivation
- "basic" noun patterns come from: CaCC, CiCC, CuCC, CãCC, CîCC, CûCC, CaCa(a)C, CaCi(i)C, CaCu(u)C + suffix + decl. class
About
External history
In these dark times, I decided now was a good time to combine wanton utopian escapism with conlanging. The goal of Shalaian is not so much uniqueness as it is to represent what a "fancy" language is for me in aesthetics and grammar.
I've been kicking around the idea of an Arabo-RP language in my head for a while – Standard Arabic and RP English are two of my favorite aesthetics. So those are the two main aesthetic inspirations; the Icelandic, Irish and Lushootseed influences are also undeniable. The grammar is pretty typical of verb-initial languages; the ergativity is inspired by Mam.
(For another take on Semito-Germanic see Windermere, or Togarmite for an actual Semlang using the idea.)
Internal history
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook was created by Edna Ashe as her personal conlang; she was mainly inspired by Biblical Hebrew, Verthanic (a Celtic language), and English (especially her native Welvington accent, a Philadelphia-Boston hybrid).
Internal² history
Shalaian is the language of a large and complex civilization. It is a major source of loans for the related Idavic language Netagin.
The liturgical accent of Standard Shalaian, described in this article, is an artificial standard that insists on not pronouncing historical non-prevocalic /r/ but pronouncing all pharyngeals as written, including non-prevocalic /ʕ/ (called rijál jāf, għaṡ aṡkéoħ "soft R, hard ʕ" in Shalaian).
The basilect of the capital drops /h/, turns /θ/ into /f/, turns /ħ/ into /(ɐ)h/, turns nonprevocalic /ʕ/ into the German vocalized R, and has a Philly/NYC-like BATH vowel [ɛə] (thus merging with SQUARE instead of START). One remote rural dialect remains fully rhotic.
Shalaian and Netagin belong to a common sprachbund. They are two different branches of the Idavic family that convergently evolved to share the following features:
- Preglottalization
- A large vowel system but with no front rounded vowels
- Historical non-rhoticity
- Verb-initial syntax
- Split-ergativity
Phonology of Liturgical Shalaian
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook has an average consonant inventory and has a moderately large vowel inventory derived from a smaller vowel system in Proto-Old Shalaian/Sketchbook combined with loss of nonprevocalic /r/.
Liturgical pronunciation of Old Shalaian/Sketchbook involves carefully articulating every sound.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i /ɪ/ "KIT" | ī /iː/ "FLEECE" | ū /uː/ "GOOSE" | |||
| Mid | īr, iya, īya /ɪə~ɪː/ "NEAR" | a, er /ə/ "lettER/commA" | er, ōwa /əː/ "NURSE" | ūr, or, ōr, ūwa /oː/ "POOR/FORCE" | ||
| Open-mid | ėr, ėya /ɛː/ "SQUARE" | [ɐ] | o /ɔ/ "LOT" | |||
| Open | a /a/ "TRAP" | ā, ar /aː/ "BATH/START" | ||||
| Diphthong | ė /ɛɪ/ "FACE" | ō /əʊ/ "GOAT" | ||||
- Notes
- /ə/ occurred only in unstressed syllables. Adjacent to pharyngeals it is closer to [ɐ].
- It is considered acceptable, even in liturgical pronunciation, to use both etymological linking R and "intrusive" R [ɹ~ɾ] between /aː eː ɛː oː əː ə/ and a following vowel in a prosodic unit. For example: Għídner ał kisál't 'Edna and her dogs' is pronounced [ˈʕednə‿ɹəɬ kɪ'sæɫʔt].
- /aː/ is central [äː] or front [aː].
- /uː/ is [üː].
- /iː/ may be [iː] or [ɪj].
- /æ/ is front [a] or [æ]. However it reduced to /ə/ in certain unstressed syllables.
- /ɪ/ may be [e~ɛ~ɛ̈] after /ʕ/.
- /ɜː/ may be [ɐː], especially after /ʕ/.
- /ɛɪ əʊ/ are normally [ɛɪ ə̟ʊ]. They are realized as [aɪ aʊ] after pharyngeals.
- Old Shalaian/Sketchbook does not have vowel mergers before intervocalic R such as the Mary-marry merger and the mirror-nearer merger. For example, thárad /'θæɹəd/ 'moon; month', tháirad /'θɛːɹəd/ 'you (sg.) fall', and thā́rad /'θɑːɹəd/ 'your (sg.) foot' are distinct.
Consonants
Shalaian consonants are fairly conservative; they preserve the basic structure of Proto-Shalaian consonant system.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Lateral | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labialized | |||||||||||
| Nasal | plain | m /m/ | n /n/ | ng /ŋ/ | ||||||||
| glottalized | m̓ /ʔm/ | n̓ /ʔn/ | ||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | p /p/ | t /t/ | tł /tɬ/ | ch /tʃ/ | k /k/ | kw /kʷ/ | ' /ʔ/ | ||||
| voiced | b /b/ | d /d/ | j /dʒ/ | g /g/ | gw /gʷ/ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f /f/ | th /θ/ | s /s/ | ł /ɬ/ | sh /ʃ/ | kh /x/ | wh /xʷ/ | lh /χ/ | ħ /ħ/ | h /h/ | |
| voiced | v /v/ | dh /ð/ | z /z/ | zh /ʒ/ | ||||||||
| Resonant | λ /l/ | r /r/ | y /j/ | w /w/ | l /ʟ/ [ʁ̃~ɴ̆] | |||||||
Intonation
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook has a characteristic intonation. Three different intonations can be used after the stressed part of a sentence.
- Declarative: high-steady falling pitch on stressed syllable, steeper fall after stressed syllable. If the stressed unit is a single stressed syllable, the the whole syllable takes the steady-then-steep-fall intonation.
- Interrogative: dip and steady rise
- Dependent: high-falling with a dip-rise at the end.
Stress
Stress is phonemic. Primary stress is transcribed with an acute accent.
Vowel reduction
- /a/ and /ɜː/ reduce to [ə] in unstressed syllables.
Phonotactics
TODO: Allow initial clusters fully, like Modern Hebrew?
Shalian clusters are similar to Arabic but slightly more restrictive in the direction of Proto-Germanic and Latin.
Clusters in Shalian must obey a sonority hierarchy depending on their position. Few initial clusters (only /Cj/, /Cw/ and /sC/) are allowed, and many non-English clusters are found within words such as /tm/ in għádmer [ˈʕadmə] 'happiness'. However, the most common clusters are ones found in English such as Cr and Cl clusters. Geminates and /rC/ clusters are not allowed within stems, which will be assumed below.
Within stems, the following 2-consonant clusters are allowed, ignoring glottal reinforcement and assuming no syncope. Clusters requiring glottal reinforcement are marked with an asterisk.
- mC: mn ml mr mj mgħ md mđ mġ mg mþ ms mṡ mł mx mħ mh
- nC: nm nr nj ngħ nw nd nđ nġ ng ngw nf nþ ns nł nṡ nx nxw nħ nh
- lC: lm ln lj lgħ lv lw ld lġ l'k* l'kw* lf lþ ls lṡ lx lxw lħ lh
- għC: għm għn għl għr għj (never initial) għw għv għd għđ għġ għk għkw għf għþ għs għł għṡ għx għxw
- Cm: nm lm għm dm đm jm 'km* 'kwm* thm sm łm ṡm xm ħm hm
- Cn: mn ln għn vn dn đn jn 'kn* 'kwn* fn þn sn łn ṡn xn xwn ħn hn
- Cl: ml għl vl dl 'kl* 'kwl* fl þl sl shl xl xwl ħl hl
- Cr: mr nr għr vr dr đr ġr 'kr* 'kwr* þr sr łr ṡr xr xwr ħr hr
- Cj: mj nj għj (never initial) vj dj đj 'kj* fj þj sj łj xj ħj hj
- Cw: nw għw dw jw þw sw łw w ħw
- Cgħ: mgħ ngħ lgħ vgħ dgħ jgħ 'kgħ* 'kwgħ* fgħ þgħ sgħ ṡgħ xgħ xwgħ
- XX: dv ġv tf tk tkw tħ ċt ċk ċf kt kċ kf ks kṡ kħ kwt kwċ kws kwṡ ft fċ fk fs fṡ fħ þk þf þħ sv st sk skw sf sħ łv łt łk łkw łf łħ ṡt ṡk ṡkw ṡf ṡħ xf xt xs xṡ xwt xwċ xwþ xws xwṡ ħt ħċ ħf ħs
Sound rules
- Prefixes sometimes cause syncope: C₁V-C₂ə- (second is open) > C₁VC₂-
- Example: li-ħajái-s > laħcháis 'I shall praise him/her (honorific)'
- Grassmann's law on pretonic syllables before spirants, turning spirants th kh wh to stops t k kw
Phoneme frequencies
- r (orthographic) > l ~ għ
- Gutturals: għ > ħ
- Sibilants: s ~ sh > ł, ch > tł
Morphophonology
Glottal reinforcement
In Shalaian, glottal reinforcement (GR) is used both lexically and grammatically. Each coda consonant has a glottally reinforced variant which is usually voicing
Orthography
The Old Shalaian/Sketchbook script is an abugida. The writing direction is top to down and lines go from right to left.
Morphology
Morphological stress shifts as in English (used for some plurals and infinitives)
Nouns
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook has a 3-gender system: animate (a), inanimate (i), and abstract-honorific (h). Animate and inanimate are usually straightforward. The abstract-honorific gender includes many abstract nouns, persons whom one regards highly, and certain objects, especially big objects such as planets and objects viewed as feminine such as flowers and certain articles of clothing.
Nouns have singular and plural numbers; there is no gender distinction in the plural.
Possession
TODO: plural possessive markers: suffixed to -n-' or -t-?
| 1sg | 2sg | 2sg.h | 3sg.a | 3sg.h | 3sg.i | 1pl.ex | 1pl.in | 2pl | 3pl, 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alienable | u rush mil 'my dog' | u rush mid | u rush midi | u rush mee | u rush mis | u rush mis | u rush miwh | u rush míwhav | u rush miníd | u rush mees |
| Inalienable | għáshal 'my hand' | għáshad | għáshadi | għashée | għáshas | għáshas | għáshawh | għáshwhav | għashníd | għáshis |
The inalienable possessive markers are suffixes and are used for body parts, family members, and parts or properties of an object.
Plurals
Plurals are approximately as unpredictable as in German. Depending on the noun, the plural may be marked with a suffix, known as suffix plurals, or entirely with a stress shift, known as stress plurals.
- Suffix plural: u taħáanf 'the chalice', wa taħáanfa 'the chalices'
- Stress plural: u lágħ'oth 'the garden', wa lagħ'óth 'the gardens'
Suffix plurals are usually one of -i, -ri, -a, -ach. Syncope occurs regularly when /ə/ is in the last syllable of the root (+ some other conditions). A stress shift to the suffix sometimes occurs. There is also a pseudo-dual -and, used for plurals of body parts: the plural of għash 'hand' is għáshand.
Basic vocabulary has the most irregular plurals. Most new animate nouns use -i for the plural, and most new inanimates use -ach: the plural of Móslim would be Móslimi, and the plural of twy't would be twý'tach.
Article
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. | i. | h. | ||
| definite | u | as | ur | wa |
| indefinite specific | ni | nis | ner | na |
Pronouns
Shalaian has 3 sets of personal pronouns:
- Independent pronouns
- Inalienable/absolutive pronouns (suffixes)
- Alienable/ergative pronouns (prefixes)
The affixes are mostly the same for both nouns and verbs but some differ slightly.
Nouns denoting groups of people or organizations are treated as 3rd person plural, as in British English.
The original Proto-Idavic 1st person dual has become the inclusive we (because it was commonly used for "you and I").
| 1sg | 2sg | 3sg animate | 3sg inanimate | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl, 4 | impersonal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| neutral | honorific | neutral | honorific | exclusive | inclusive | ||||||
| Independent | swil | swid | swídi | fin | fer | fi | sowh | swav | swiníd | fikh | - |
| Absolutive/Inalienable | -al | -ad | -adi | -ée | -as | -0 (not on verbs) | -awh | -awhav | -níd | -is (-ax on verbs) | -va |
| Ergative/Alienable | l(i)- | t(i)- | st(i)- | in-/im- | s- | a- | wh(i)- | whan(i)- | ch(i)- | thi- | ri- |
Correlatives
Demonstratives come after nouns but may come before in poetry. They are inflected as strong nouns when they substitute nouns.
- (u) X ain = this X; áinan, áiner, ain, áini = this (pronominal)
- (u) X aif = that X; áifan, áifer, aif, áifi
- (u) X ais? = which X?
- yakh = who?
- yan = what?
- għaim = where?
- għan = here
- għaf = there
- hiláv = when?
- éri = now
- ħo'sh = then
- idyám = how many?
Adjectives
Adjectives are a separate class from both nouns and verbs. Adjectives do not inflect when they are predicative. Nominalized adjectives inflect like nouns, taking the appropriate gender and number markers.
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. | i. | h. | ||
| predicative | ískwid | |||
| adverbial | ískwid, (archaic) ískwidō | |||
| attributive | ískwidan | ískwid | ískwider | ískwida |
Degree
Shalaian has no forms for the comparative or superlative degrees. The definite article can be used before the adjective to express a comparative or superlative meaning (when the noun being compared to is not explicit). The words thul' and ħerkh can optionally be used before the adjective to indicate the comparative and superlative explicitly.
The word vair (< *għar vaifad għar 'when you look at') is used before the noun being compared to.
Adverbs
Prepositions
There is a generic locative preposition għar and a dative mi. Most other prepositions in English are expressed with relational nouns.
għar + articles u, as, ur, wa: għárri, għas, għárrer, għárra
għar + specific article n- in the singular: għarn
Inflected forms of għar: għárnal, għarnd, għarndi, għarnée, għarns, għarns, għárnwhav, għárnav, għárnawh, għarníd, għárnis
mi + articles u, as, ur, wa: míya, mis, maar, míya
mi + specific article n- in the singular: min
Inflected forms of mi: mil, mid, midi, mee, mis, mis, míwhav, míyav, míyawh, miníd, míyax
Relational nouns
Relational nouns are used where English would use prepositions. They must get absolutive possessive affixes that agree with the following noun.
- ish = with (instrumental)
- tuj = inside (lit. belly)
- cherth = like (lit. spirit)
- tłwith = because of
- yerl = before, in front of (lit. face)
- sor = as
Verbs
In the present tense, verbs inflect for bipersonal agreement (with the absolutive argument and the ergative argument). In other tenses, agreement is marked on the auxiliary instead of the verb.
Verbs have three principal parts: the singular imperative, the past participle and the infinitive.
Imperative
The singular imperative has an accusative syntax: it does not take a marker for the subject. It is used as the citation form of a verb. In imperatives, person marking bahaves in an accusative way, so transitive verbs take an absolutive suffix for a direct object:
- khair 'go (sg)!'
- shun-0 'eat!' or 'eat it!'
- ħajái-s 'praise her (hon)!'
The plural imperative is identical in form to the plural indicative, except the subject is marked following accusative syntax:
- chikháir 'go, you folks!'
- chishún 'eat it, you folks!'
- chaħcháis <- ċi-ħajái-s 'praise her (honorific), you folks!'
Similarly, skhair, sshun, and sħajái are singular honorific imperatives.
Nonfinite forms
There are several nonfinite forms:
- the infinitive
- the mi-infinitive
- the past participle (regularly in -éen)
- the gerundive or the mi-participle
Voice and transitivity
Transitivity and voice are intimately linked in Shalian. They're also linked to some semantic features of the verb.
- Verbs that have a semantic agent and a semantic patient, such as hit, eat, kill are usually transitive.
- On the other hand, many verbs of experience such as love, know, think, ... are intransitive in Shalian, unlike in English.
Verb to verb derivation is voice, aspect, and transitivity-based, but there's multiple affixes for each function.
- The active voice is unmarked.
- The causative affixes or- or -éer turns intransitive verbs into transitives and transitive verbs into ditransitives.
- orkháimer 'to cause to drink; to water plants' < kháimer 'to drink'
- The applicative tal- promotes an oblique object of a transitive verb into a direct object, allowing it to be indexed with an absolutive affix.
- The antipassive kash- makes a transitive verb intransitive, and promotes the ergative argument to the absolutive argument.
Tables
Conjugation classes
- Main article: Shalaian/Verb classes
The conjugation classes are partly phonologically conditioned like gzarot in Hebrew and other Semitic languages:
- If the verb stem begins with one of ħ għ, then a prefix i before the pharyngral becomes a.
- If the verb begins with CaC-, it's common but not necessary for the a to syncope when a prefix is added: say, CaCV- > li-CCV-. In this case the prefixes take slightly different allomorphs. The stress shifts to the prefix if the a that syncopes is stressed.
- If the verb ends in r then suffixes are added orthographically as usual. Unstressed -er "syncopes" to -r- when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added. [Verbs that end in -a thus would sound the same (from *-ā, *-ag or *-u) have merged in the finite forms, hence this -a now survives as an emphatic imperative.]
- If the verb ends in i then suffixes are added directly to the i or the i changes to a semivowel y.
Intransitives
Intransitive verbs use the intransitive verb inflection.
| subj | 1sg | 2sg | 2sg.h | 3sg.a | 3sg.h | 3sg.i | 1pl.in | 1pl.ex | 2pl | 3pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| finite forms | kháiral | kháirad | kháirdi | khairée | kháirs | kháir | kháirwhav | kháirawh | khairníd | kháirakh | |
| infinitive | khair't | ||||||||||
Imperatives:
| subj | 2sg | 2sg.h | 2pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| khair! | skhair! | chikháir! |
(Should verbs of knowing, experiencing and opinion be intransitive?)
Transitives
It is possible to use 1st and 2nd person markers reflexively or reciprocally (cf. German).
Ditransitives
Ditransitives are verbs with three arguments (the giver, the recipient and the theme) and include verbs like 'give' and causatives of transitives. The arguments are indexed on the verb as follows:
giver-STEM-recipient-theme.
If the recipient is inanimate singular, the nonzero allomorph -ab is used.
Conjunctions
- ał = and
- wof = or (inclusive)
- kal = xor
- raish = but
Preverbs
Preverbs are clitic complexes that encode basic subordinators, question/evidentiality, negatives, and tense information. Individual components may fuse together in unpredictable ways (as in Irish). Preverbs are not verb affixes since the constructions
"PREVERB VERB1 and VERB2"
and
"PREVERB CLAUSE1 and CLAUSE2"
are valid.
The preverb (when not negative) can be omitted in subjunctive and imperative clauses and in poetry.
TODO: turn preverbs into conjugated auxiliaries
Modal
"Modal" markers include some basic subordinators, evidentiality and mirativity.
Possible values for this slot:
- am = yes/no question
- sher = if (real)
- rugħ = if (irreal)
- vi = relativizer (used when head is absolutive)
- cha = relativizer (used when head is not absolutive)
- ith = complementizer; often "because"
- direct: directly witnessed or generally known fact
- hearsay (German sollen can be used this way)
- inferential
- mirative
Truth value
This slot may be filled by one of several truth value words.
Negatives take different forms:
- thur negates nominal sentences
- yand is the negative form of whid
- mar negates verbal sentences
- bai' negates imperatives
- sōn means "can't"
Tense
3 possible values:
- imperfect (present or past imperfective)
- perfect (past perfective); completed action
- future/subjunctive - future or certain subjunctive clauses (similar to Modern Hebrew future)
Tables
The preverbs that are conjugated and require non-finite verb forms are marked: (i) if the lexical verb is required to be in the infinitive and (p) if the lexical verb is required to be in the past participle.
Perfect preverbs and future/subjunctive preverbs are conjugated ergatively for subject and object. Perfect preverbs require the past participle form for the lexical verb; future preverbs require the infinitive.
| imperfect | perfect | future/subjunctive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pos. | neg. | foc. | pos. | neg. | foc. | pos. | neg. | foc. | |
| direct (verbal) | vor | mar | thom' | khan | vij | lōm' | łar't | fai' | łarm' |
| mirative | thwal | thwal mar | thwal'om' | thwakh | thwaij | thwakh lōm' | thwal łar't | thwal fai' | thwal łarm' |
| hearsay | shan | shan mar | shanom' | shanakh | shanj | shan lōm' | shan łar't | shan bai' | shan łarm' |
| inferential | tiv | tiv mar | tiv thom' | tílakh | tivaj | tiv lōm' | tiv łar't | tiv fai' | tiv łarm' |
| question | am | maand | am thom' | okh | morra | okh thom' | ner't | ner'bai' | nerm' |
| relativizer (direct) | vi | dov | vi thom' | vikh | dover | vikh thom' | ver't | do'ft | verm' |
| relativizer (indirect) | cha | ro'ch | cha thom' | chakh | do'char | chakh thom' | char't | do'cht | charm' |
| complementizer | ith | dor | ith thom' | ian | dorn | ian thom' | naaf | dor't | naaf thom' |
| if (real) | sher | rikh | sher thom' | shern | reen | shern thom' | wher't | reer't | wher't thom' |
| if (irreal or less vivid) | rugħ | rikh | rugħ thom' | rugħan | reen | rugħan thom' | rur't | reer't | rugħ łar't thom' |
Statives
Like Mayan languages, Shalaian has a part of speech called statives, that are not inflected like verbs. (Somewhat like English words like aflame which can't be attributive)
Numerals
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook uses a mixed vigesimal system: 1. laath 2. wees(and) 3. syul 4. á'min 5. bathéem' 6. albón 7. whaisí'th 8. kṓgħas 9. yái'takh 10. sórth 11. soláath 12. sowées 13. sosyúl 14. solá'min 15. sobathéem' 16. soralbón 17. sowhaisí'th 18. sokṓgħas 19. soyái'takh 20. adrúgħ
400. hashón'
8000. akh'
160000. ví'wha
3200000. no'áv
Numerals come before nouns and are used with singular nouns.
weesand is wees when attributive.
The ordinals are formed by affixing ner-. 'First' is irregular: chakṓl.
Distributives are formed with reduplication: latháath, wasées, sasyúl, aman'mín, ...
Syntax
- Main article: Shalaian/Syntax
Vocabulary
Normative Shalaian tends to be purist, in that most words are derived from inherited roots and morphology. There are some Netagin loans as well. Spoken Shalaian spoken by Unbegotten learners may use English loans.
Derivation
Shalian has many derivational affixes. As usual in verb-initial languages, verbs tend to derive nouns rather the other way around. (TODO: need more deverbal noun affixes)
Get derivational affixes from rhymes in famous piyyutim?
- -us = origin, language names
- -id (after C), -wid (after V) = (h) abstract noun from "adjective", -ness, -hood; noun-forming suffix
- -agħ = (a) agentive
- -agħid = deverbal noun suffix; -manship, X-ing
- -ad, -t: noun-forming suffix
- -isi, -si (after fricatives); pl. -sée? = agentive from verb
- -whai = verb from noun (not very productive)
- áanwhai 'to cherish' < aans 'dear'
- -éen = -able (but ergative), to be VERB-ed
- khairéen 'able to walk'
- tankhairéen 'walkable' (Note that we had to make khair into a transitive verb using an applicative.)
- -éer = causative, change of state from verb of state
- -nan = verb denoting change of state
- -fis = causative
- The intransitive prefix ri- forms intransitive verbs from transitive ones. This is not productive, as it has shifted to an impersonal verb affix. (Some intransitive verbs like riwháin 'to sleep' also have this prefix but the original meaning of the root has been lost.)
- ya- 'negative'
- -jan/-chan = (i) instrument suffix from verb
- wairjan 'violin'
- -fa (i) 'resultative noun from verb'
- -va'tł, -wha/kha, -da, -iha, -ái (all h) 'action noun', '-ness', '-tion'
- tóħsiha 'virtue, good' < toħáas 'good'
- avréeniha 'courage' < avréen 'courageous'
- whanéemva'tł 'dedication' < whanéem 'to dedicate'
- valánwha 'vitality' < valán 'lively'
- thalkháirva'tł 'resignation' < thalkháir 'to be resigned'
- -ka = patientive suffix
Literature
Poetry
Meter
Old Shalaian/Sketchbook poems use stress-based meters common in English, such as iambic pentameter, alexandrine, iambic tetrameter, and anapaestic tetrameter. In iambic meters the last stressed syllable can be replaced with a trochee.
More constrained are quantitative-qualitative meters inspired by Hebrew piyyutim, with prescribed syllable weights for unstressed syllables. One example is the following version of the lục bát (note: h = heavy unstressed, ℓ = light unstressed; subscripts denote rhymes):
hSℓSuS1
uSℓSuS1ℓS2
hSℓSuS2
uSℓSuS2ℓS3
hSℓSuS3
uSℓSuS3ℓS4
...
uSℓSuSnℓS1
Common units in quantitative-qualitative meters include hS, ℓS
Gibberish in Yigdal meter:
Stimsái't whidá'ch staħtáas mi kṓvidakh
Stilchéem kwajṓli mial għar rí'fħadakh
Whijósma' stágħran shwó'ch kwafáa'th sravdákh
Swha'ál għanín faslá'k al érkwandakh
Gibberish in Shaħar Avakeshkha meter:
Savnú'k stiwhárk tashnéel lanzháidi kwasnal'féen
Chamlúd aħinmórawh inchṓl' għar sowhnuféen
Cháanfer tanórran vái wha'krúh taħái' orái'k
Hṓnam stichúla'akh vikh yafs mi nee'ch sarái'k
Rhyme
Rhymes work much like in English.
In poetry, a in a syllable that is stressed according to the meter is not reduced, and is pronounced as /æ/.
Form
Alphabetical acrostics are sometimes written, as in Hebrew poetry. Since Shalaian has 23 consonant letters, alphabetical acrostics may be arranged in rhyming units of 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, and 3 lines long, or cyclic permutations of this sequence (these are step sizes of the mavila[7] anti-diatonic scale in 23edo).
Example
Prose
A handful of Old Shalaian/Sketchbook-language fiction and scientific works have been written by those who learned the language. Fiction often takes place in hypothetical Old Shalaian/Sketchbook-speaking cultures or in hard sci-fi or high fantasy settings.
Sample texts
Some math proofs
Snake Lemma
A biology abstract
(todo)
We measure the nucleating eukaryotic folding of the TSP3 gene in Bruchorium sponercii. TSP3 encodes a protezine-binding receptor kinase located at the cytotubular microsporellata of the quanticular ribosome, and malfunction of TSP3 is commonly believed to be the source of cybothrotic cancer. In this paper we prove using a Rɪᴇᴛᴢᴇʀ-Yᴀʟɪɴꜱᴋʏ double-blind test that TSP3 binding to the phyllochrypsinase inhibitor occurs (p = 0.856) in the hypotrellome of a healthy Bruchorium cell when adenotoxin concentrations are low. This research will have significant implications for the study of symbrychous descloroma.
"Warming Up to You"
Ó'thki għar vṓthal naaf chórragħad só'cham ríbi,
even LOC die.INF-1SG that.FUT die.INF-2SG fall.INF-3SG.I time
Even with the knowledge that you will eventually die,
I will still feel your warmth up close,
The same warmth that nurtures curiosity,
The leaves of knowledge -
A garden that you have planted in this plot of land
and will keep forever.
The Round Table
|
Laathkw, lṓkh vórl'i alvón łur għar tálgħer'ch. Lṓkh inłaifakh u Łiwhér Vrawíyad: "Idyám swiníd?" Málash kóvlakh wa fadée thōl lyur, lōkh safainée łur laath: "Syul adrúgħ ał syul! Alvón tóvli, sobathéem' for'tán, adrúgħ syula'k, sobathéem' á'mina'k, laath bathéem'a'k." Lōkh inłaifée u Łiwhér Vrawíyad: "Ħo'sh idyám ver't whid, wher't chṓ'khva taiv thōl min kwalyú?" Lōkh noshłaifée u łur: "Maand għōdéen, Łiwhér? Whid ħerkh tłur'chta maráin khin yerlas, ał mosh ħerkh tłur'chta magħa ish taiv magħa." Nargolamée u Łiwhér Vrawíyad miya łur mi thaaħ: "Vor għarri łur ain łiwhérid ał rogħn'va'tł mi ħídver." |
Original (Classical Wdm.) Ngiθ dur se taχ χaaθ mogor. Tăbiits φin Pĭda Brăwiid: "Măra łĭnam?" Mi-ăngnung căχθaaθ năθa emrĭtsal sen doon: Șrüχ te-stiw: taχ mognas, θaφ te-müüts θraaφ, liiw stăliw, θaφ te-müüts mălsaaχ, taχ mălüüts, doon tălaχ." Tăbiits φin Pĭda Brăwiid: "Ǎna mee ra, srüü hĭdeen croθ năθa?" Eφθooc φin χaaθ, "Op cănga, φin Pida: tsor pădiiχ φnărtaang, te ămsaχ păχwădiiχ năθa ya φin croθ φi!" Esngiim φin Pĭda Brăwiid șa φin χaaθ șa-ngil, "Ăruuy șa-χaaθ ses tsărüüng te sen θăpal φănaw φănaw." |
English Once, six children were in a round table. Master Brăwied asked them a question: "How many people are you?" While five children were still counting, one child called out: "Sixty-three! Specifically: 6 individuals, 15 teams of two, 20 teams of 3, 15 teams of 4, 6 teams of 5, and one team of 6." Then Master Brăwied asked: "Well then, how many people will be there if another person joins the group?" The child replied: "Isn't it obvious, Master? We'll have all of the old teams, as well as another set of teams with the new person!" The Master praised the child, saying, "This child has wisdom and understanding indeed." |
"Dirge Without Music"
todo: Update to new phonology
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Mar thalkháiral għar risítfonath avrée vi áanwhai għárri nójav áshkōħ. |
NEG_VERB.PRES resign_oneself-1SG LOC COMP.SUBJ PASS-away-lock-3PL heart-PL PART-love OBL-DEF.SG.I ground hard. |
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. |