Skyrdagor

Skyrdagor
Pronunciation	[[Help:IPA|ɧɯ˞ˈdeːan ˈmɒʃt]]
Created by	Lili21
Date	Feb 2017
Setting	Calémere
Ethnicity	Skyrdagoreans (Skyrdegankot)
Native speakers	13,000,000 (2312 / 4E 133)
Language family	Skyrdagor languages Skyrdagor
Official status
Official language in	Skyrdagor, Gorjan, Arkjatar, Aksalbor, Karynaktja, Askand, Tulfasysz, Ylvostydh

The Skyrdagor language (native name Skyrdegan mast [ɧɯ˞deːan mɒʃt]) is the language of Greater Skyrdagor ([ɧɯ˞dɒː˞]), a plurinational area on the planet of Calémere, in northeastern Márusúturon, once part of the Skyrdagor Empire. It is the official language in all eight countries of this area — Skyrdagor, Gorjan, Arkjatar, Aksalbor, Karynaktja, Askand, Tulfasysz, and Ylvostydh — as well as a minority language in Brono, Ikalurilut, and the Inquisition.

While written Skyrdagor is the same throughout all of the Skyrdagor-speaking world, there is no standard spoken dialect, and some of them vary widely in pronunciation. The written language reflects Middle Skyrdagor, but while the most conservative varieties - like Ylvostyzdor - do not diverge much in pronunciation, many others do, like the most commonly heard and studied one, Skyrdegan Skyrdagor, based on the dialect of Tol Sakszyv [tɔl ʃɒksɯʊ̯], former imperial capital and modern-day capital of the Republic of Skyrdagor. As an example, the name “Skyrdagor” was most likely pronounced in Middle Skyrdagor as [ʃkɨɽˈdagoɽ] like in modern Ylvostyzdor, but in the three most spoken varieties it is [ɧɯ˞ˈdɒː˞] (Skyrdegan Skyrdagor), [ɧɨɽˈɖɔwɽ] (Karynaktjur), and [ʂɨɖˈɖaɣʊː] (Arkjatrur).

Unless otherwise noted, all transcriptions in this article refer to Skyrdegan Skyrdagor.

Greater Skyrdagor

Skyrdagor ([ɧɯ˞dɒː˞]) proper is an archipelago nation, made up of the islands in the Skyrdagor Inner Sea. The central and largest island, Tuf Kjegesmeth [tuf ˈɕeːʃmeθ], is the most populated and the cradle of Skyrdagor civilization. On it lies Tol Sakszyv [tɔl ˈʃɒksɯʊ̯], the former imperial capital, the present-day capital of Skyrdagor, and the largest city of Greater Skyrdagor. Almost all islands are divided in two large areas: a narrow northwestern coast, usually cold and windy due to polar winds flowing south and reaching them, and a much more vast southeastern plain where most of each island’s population lie.

The mainland countries, from north to south, are:

Askand (Sk.: [ˈaʃkɒnd]; locally [ˈɔʃkaːt]) is the northernmost country of Greater Skyrdagor and, due to its location, also the least populated. Most of the country lies above the 60th parallel north and 90% of its population lies along the Zyszovkes (loc.: [zɯˈsɔːkɪʃ]) river in the south of the country. It has, however, more than 70% of the total human population on Calémere living above 60ºN.

Aksalbor (Sk.: [aˈkʃalbu˞]; locally [æˈkʃawbo]), the third-northernmost country (the northernmost islands of Skyrdagor reach 65ºN, three degrees north of Aksalbor’s northernmost point), is the largest country of Greater Skyrdagor by area, and the second least densely populated (after Askand). Most of its population lies in the southwestern corner of the country, on the north side of the large Gepten (loc.: [ˈɣeften]) estuary, which is shared with neighboring Arkjatar. Most of the rest of the country is taiga, and the climate is in large areas marked by bitter cold winters, like in most of northern Márusúturon (still not as cold as the areas to its north and east).

Arkjatar (Sk.: [ɚˈɕatɚ]; locally [ɛɽˈçatəɽ]) is a peculiar country as, apart from the markedly oceanic coast, its interior sees the border between the subarctic taiga and the temperate biomes (decidual forests closer to the coast, but also some grasslands farther away). The Gdaron (loc.: [ˈgdɛɽon]) river, the main one of the country, is somewhat a boundary as north and east of it the taiga predominates while south and west the temperate biome is dominant.

Karynaktja (Sk.: [karɯˈnɒtʃa]; locally [kaɽˈnaktˢa]) is the most populated country of Greater Skyrdagor, thanks to the large alluvial plain of the Gitran (loc.: [ˈɟiʈɽɒŋ]) river that makes up most of the country, apart for the Ratszan [ˈɽatsɒŋ] mountains in the north (just south and parallel to the 50th parallel north) and the colder coast north of it. The climate in Karynaktja has more in common with the central and southern islands of Skyrdagor (Tol Sakszyv being roughly on the same latitude as central Karynaktja) and the southern countries than to the subarctic ones to the north, being markedly mediterranean on the coast and continental inland (central-southern France being the closest example on Earth).

Tulfasysz (Sk.: [ˈtulfəʃɯs]; locally [ˈtuwɸaʃuʃ]) is the only landlocked country in Greater Skyrdagor, and it is made up by three different river basins - one draining in the northern Inner Sea through Arkjatar, another into the southern Inner Sea through Karynaktja, and the third into the endorheic Plezyth [ˈplɛzus] inland lake, shared with Gorjan and the Chlouvānem Inquisition. It has the driest climate of all Skyrdegan countries, with many grasslands, but the abundant freshwater still supports a relatively large population.

Gorjan (Sk.: [ˈgɔ˞ʒɒn]; locally [ˈgorʒɔn]) is the southernmost of the adjacent countries of Greater Skyrdagor (and containing the southernmost point of the whole area, including Ylvostydh), and the homonymous river (that begins in Southern Gorjan, a diocese of the Inquisition) that runs all the way through it, south to north, is the main geographical feature of the country. It is the third most populated country of the region, and due to its close proximity with culturally Bronic areas, as well as having been the first area to be contacted by the Chlouvānem cultures, it is culturally peculiar in Greater Skyrdagor, for example for being the only country in the area where up to 37% of the population is Yunyalīlti.

Ylvostydh (Sk.: [uˈwoːʃtɯθ]; locally [ɨlˈvɔʃtɨð]) is the geographical outlier of Greater Skyrdagor, being located on the other side of the Inner Sea, divided from the other mainland countries by the Bronic-speaking areas. It was historically the last area to be colonized by Skyrdagor peoples, and it also has a peculiar culture due to being nestled between the Bronic culture space to the southeast and the Kalurilut one to the southwest. It has the warmest climate of all Greater Skyrdagor, as it is surrounded by the sea on two sides and, apart from the northernmost tip, the whole of the country lies south of the 40th parallel north.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labials	Dentals	Palatoalveolars	Palatals	Velars
Nasals	m	n			(ŋ)
Stops and affricates	p b	t d	tʃ		k g
Non-sibilant fricatives	f v	θ ð		ç⁓ɕ ʝ	x (ɣ)
Sibilants		s z	ʃ ʒ		ɧ
Approximants		l r		j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ɯ ɯ˞	u
Mid	ɛ	(ə) ɚ	ɔ
Low		(a)	ɒ

Orthography

[TBA]

Romanization

In all of the present article, sound transcriptions are from Skyrdegan Skyrdagor unless noted. Its romanization mostly follows IPA letters, but:

• y represents /ɯ/;
• The fricatives /s z ʃ ʒ x θ ð/ are represented, respectively, sz z s zs h th dh. /ç～ɕ ʝ/ appear in different places, but most commonly they are written kj gj (they are both unvoiced in most Skyrdegan dialects, excluding notably the capital's); /ɧ/ is also written in various ways, most commonly sk before /i ɛ ɯ/ or another consonant.
• Many sequences are not read literally, as notably g has the tendency to disappear (c.f. kogyzsda "they see it" [ˈkoːʒdɒ]) and influence neighboring sounds, which often influence their neighboring ones in a chain (note the -agor in the word Skyrdagor, which is pronounced [ɒː˞], in a chain like *[agɔɽ] > *[aɣɔɽ] > *[ɑɔ̯˞] > [ɒː˞]). Final -eg (which is, amongst others, the 1SG past tense indefinite ending) is also pronounced [a]. lv is pronounced [w], and shifts neighboring y to [u], neighboring i to [ɪ], and neighboring e to [ə].

Morphology

Verbs

Skyrdagor verbs inflect for person (subject and object), gender, definiteness, tense, and mood. Two of the main notable features of Skyrdagor is that there are two different conjugation patterns for definite and indefinite objects and aspects are not distinguished morphologically at all. Gender is marked sporadically in subjects, namely in 2nd and 3rd singular and 3rd plural in the indefinite conjugation and in 3rd persons in the definite one, while it is marked in all persons except the 1st singular and plural inclusive for objects.

Present indefinite

Skyrdagor verbs are mostly conjugated agglutinatively, but there are hints to a former system of vowel harmony. The 1st person singular indefinite is the citation form, as it is the most unmarked form of the verb. Non-3rd person objects do not exist in present indefinite, as they're intrinsecally definite.

kog (to see) → Subjects ↓ Objects	1S	2S Masc.	2S Fem.	3S Masc.	3S Fem.	1P Incl.	1P Excl.	2P	3P Masc.	3P Fem.
—	kog	kogob	kogybe	kogs	kogyth	kogbjel	kogt	kogvot	kogst	kogthyt
3S Masc.	szykog	szykogob	szykogybe	szykogs	szykogyth	szykogbjel	szykogt	szykogvot	szykogst	szykogthyt
3S Fem.	edhkog	edhkogob	edhkogybe	edhkogs	edhkogyth	edhkogbjel	edhkogt	edhkogvot	edhkogst	edhkogthyt
3P Masc.	tszykog	tszykogob	tszykogybe	tszykogs	tszykogyth	tszykogbjel	tszykogt	tszykogvot	tszykogst	tszykogthyt
3P Fem.	thtekog	thtekogob	thtekogybe	thtekogs	thtekogyth	thtekogbjel	thtekogt	thtekogvot	thtekogst	thtekogthyt

Vowel harmony traces are present in the 2S masculine and 2P subjects, as verbs whose roots have as last vowel e or i use -eb and -veb, e.g. szlek "to drive" → szlekeb "you (sg) drive", szlekvet "you (pl) drive"; fkin "to throw" → fkineb "you (sg) throw", fkinvet "you (pl) throw".
Note that no gender distinction in 2nd person singular is present in all Tulfasyzdor dialects, most Gorjanor ones, and southern Karynaktjor. The 2nd person plural is archaic in Askandor, where the 3rd person forms are used (as in pronouns, where the courtesy (V) forms have replaced the T ones).

Present definite

kog (to see) → Subjects ↓ Objects	1S	2S	3S Masc.	3S Fem.	1P Incl.	1P Excl.	2P	3P Masc.	3P Fem.
—	koge	kogjol	kogyzso	kogyszy	kogetjel	kogette	kogult	kogyzsda	kogysztu
1S	(avkog)	vkogjol	vkogyzso	vkogyszy	vkogetjel	vkogette	vkogult	vkogyzsda	vkogysztu
2S Masc.	kykoge	kykogjol	kykogyzso	kykogyszy	kykogetjel	kykogette	kykogult	kykogyzsda	kykogysztu
2S Femm.	zekoge	zekogjol	zekogyzso	zekogyszy	zekogetjel	zekogette	zekogult	zekogyzsda	zekogysztu
3S Masc.	szykoge	szykogjol	szykogyzso	szykogyszy	szykogetjel	szykogette	szykogult	szykogyzsda	szykogysztu
3S Fem.	edhkoge	edhkogjol	edhkogyzso	edhkogyszy	edhkogetjel	edhkogette	edhkogult	edhkogyzsda	edhkogysztu
1P Incl.	jokoge	jokogjol	jokogyzso	jokogyszy	jokogetjel	jokogette	jokogult	jokogyzsda	jokogysztu
1P Excl. Masc.	dhokoge	dhokogjol	dhokogyzso	dhokogyszy	dhokogetjel	dhokogette	dhokogult	dhokogyzsda	dhokogysztu
1P Excl. Femm.	zsokoge	zsokogjol	zsokogyzso	zsokogyszy	zsokogetjel	zsokogette	zsokogult	zsokogyzsda	zsokogysztu
2P Masc.	kythkoge	kythkogjol	kythkogyzso	kythkogyszy	kythkogetjel	kythkogette	kythkogult	kythkogyzsda	kythkogysztu
2P Femm.	sztekoge	sztekogjol	sztekogyzso	sztekogyszy	sztekogetjel	sztekogette	sztekogult	sztekogyzsda	sztekogysztu
3P Masc.	tszykoge	tszykogjol	tszykogyzso	tszykogyszy	tszykogetjel	tszykogette	tszykogult	tszykogyzsda	tszykogysztu
3P Fem.	thtekoge	thtekogjol	thtekogyzso	thtekogyszy	thtekogetjel	thtekogette	thtekogult	thtekogyzsda	thtekogysztu

The same observations made with the indefinite forms about uses apply here (and in all other forms): Tulfasyzdor, most of Gorjanor, and SE Karynaktjor do not distinguish 2Sm and 2Sf; Askandor does not use 2P forms.
The 1S object affix is va-, but assumes the form v- before single consonants (apart v itself); in many dialects, including Skyrdegan Skyrdagor, it is often pronounced as [u] before voiceless consonants, e.g. vkogjol [uˈkɔʝɔl] (Skyrdegan), [uˈkɔdʒoː] (Karynaktjor) "you see me". avkog is the reflexive.

Syntax