User:IlL/A Danified analytic Neo-Arabic/Ancient

TODO: should have a celtic name

Ancient Cophrite
𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍𐤉𐤀
Pronunciation	[/'xənaɣ̃ni:ja:/]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Lõis
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Togarmo-Canaanite Canaanite Ancient Cophrite

Kubrīδ (natively 𐤄𐤋𐤔𐤅𐤍 𐤄𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍𐤉𐤀 hal-lasōn haκ-κubrijjā /ʔal'lasoːn ʔax'xanaɣ̃niːjaː/ or hal-lasōn hat-turūdijjā) is the stage of Xnánið after the split from Pre-Exilic Biblical Hebrew. It was used as a literary language during this period and was the language of Near-East druidism, a form of Celtic druidism incorporating Semitic pagan elements, before the religion was supplanted by Henosis Ousias. It was then that the drastic changes that had occurred in the spoken language began to be reflected in writing, thus ushering in the era of modern Xnánið.

Ancient Cubrite developed in isolation from Jewish Hebrew and was influenced by Celtic languages such as Gaulish and Galatian. It is a separate lineage from the Post-Exilic Jewish reading traditions that eventually gave rise to Tiberian Hebrew and the modern Jewish reading traditions in Lõis.

Surviving literature in Ancient Cubrite includes bardic poetry; one Beowulf-length heroic epic, Hikkēdē Harδuγār (Tales of Harδuγār); incantations; and instructions for various rituals.

Todo

• Long and overlong vowels?
• When should matres lectionis be used?
• some a-priori roots

Phonology

Orthography

Ancient Cubrite was written in an abjad descended from the Proto-Hebrew script. Incantations were completely vocalized, other religious texts less so.

Since Ancient Cubrite merged /ʔ/ and /h/ completely, the letters aleph (half) and he (hê) are confused in earlier texts. Eventually the letter he was only used for a few function words and particles such as the definite article haC-.

Consonants

Out of the 25 consonants of Pre-Exilic Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Cubrite merged:

• /x/ with /ħ/ into /ħ/
• /ɬ/ with /t/ (taw) into /θ/
• /ʕ/ and /ɣ/ into /ɣ̃/
• /h/ and /ʔ/ into /ʔ~ɦ~h~Ø/ ([h] was an allophone used for emphasis.)
• /s/ and /š/ into /s/

On the other hand, it gained consonants allophonically (see #Mutations).

/m p b f v n t d tʰ θ ð ts s tsʰ ɣ̃ ħ k g kʰ x ɣ l w j r ʔ~ɦ~h~Ø/ ⟨m p b f v n t d ᴛ θ δ z s c ȝ ħ k g ᴋ χ γ l w j r h⟩

Mutations

Words can undergo initial mutation but the mutations are different from the begadkefat spirantization in Tiberian Hebrew. The following mutations occur after a vowel:

• beth /p/ → /b/
• pe /f/ → /v/
• daleth /t/ → /d/
• taw /θ/ → /ð/
• gimel /k/ → /g/
• kaph /x/ → /ɣ/
• zayin /ts/ → /dz/
• samekh /s/ → /z/

Vowels

Ancient Cubrite had overlong vowels.

a e i u ā ē ī ō ū â ê î ô û /a ɛ~e ɪ~ɨ ʊ~o aː ɛː iː ɔː uː aːː ɛːː iːː ɔːː uːː/

The phonemic distinction between /e/ and /i/ is doubtful.

Many instances of long and overlong vowels resulted from dropped aleph and he and instances of lost gemination in grammatical affixes. For example: pû 'come! (m.sg.)' (from *būʔ < *buʔ, Tiberian Hebrew /bo:/)

Prosody

Stress

There were major stress shifts away from final stress from Pre-Exilic Hebrew to Ancient Cubrite, eventually resulting in unconditional initial stress.

1. Stress shifted to penultimate for feminine singular nouns ending in -ā in adjectives, then nouns, by analogy with the unstressed 3SG.F perfect affix -ā.
2. By analogy, stress shifted to penultimate for nouns ending in a plural suffix -īm, -ē, or -ōδ.
3. Stress became uniformly initial, ignoring proclitics such as the definite article haC-, and prepositions wa- 'and', la- 'dative', ba- 'locative/instrumental', ka- 'like', miC- 'from'. Vowel reduction in surviving texts (missing matres lectionis, or changes in vowels) suggests that at first this was done deliberately as a stylized way to chant incantations.

Grammar

Syntax was retained as VSO under the influence of Celtic.

Pronouns

Independent

• 1sg: hanī, nī
• 2sg: haθθa, θa (m); haθθe, θe (f)
• 3sg: hū (m); hī (f)
• 1pl: haħnu,
• 2pl: haθθemma, θemma (m); haθθenna, θenna (f)
• 3pl: hemma (m), henna (f)

Nouns

Inflection

The definite article was ʔaC- (from Biblical Hebrew *haC-). It caused gemination of the following consonant; if the following consonant was a guttural and thus could not geminate, it was lengthened to ʔā-.

The Biblical feminine singular ending *-ā́ became unstressed -ā, and the stress in feminine singular nouns in -ā shifted to penultimate (by analogy with masculine singular adjectives and 3fs perfect verbs). Other possible feminine endings are -t, -θ or -δ. Eventually stress shifted away from gender/number suffixes across the board: The regular masculine and feminine plural endings were unstressed -īm and unstressed -ōδ, from Biblical Hebrew *-ī́m and *-ṓt.

Often -ā is found where Standard Jewish Hebrew has -t.

The construct state was much more predictable than in Tiberian Hebrew.

Example with sūs 'horse' and sūsā 'female horse':

Noun declension

number	singular		plural
gender	m.	f.	m.	f.
indef.	𐤎𐤅𐤎 sūs /suːs/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤀 sūsā /ˈsuːsaː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤌‎ sūsīm /ˈsuːsiːm/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤅𐤕‎‎ sūsōδ /ˈsuːsoːð/
def.	𐤄𐤎𐤅𐤎 has-sūs /ʔassuːs/	𐤄𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤀 has-sūsā /ʔasˈsuːsaː/	𐤄𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤌‎ has-sūsīm /ʔasˈsuːsiːm/	𐤄𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤅𐤕‎‎ has-sūsōδ /ʔasˈsuːsoːð/
const.	𐤎𐤅𐤎 sūs /suːs/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕 sūsaδ /ˈsuːsað/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉‎ sūsē /ˈsuːseː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤅𐤕‎‎ sūsōδ /ˈsuːsoːð/
"my"	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉 sūsī /ˈsuːsiː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉 sūsaδī /ˈsuːsaðiː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉‎ sūsê /ˈsuːseːː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉‎‎ sūsuδê /ˈsuːsuðeːː/
"thy" (m)	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤊 sūsaγa /ˈsuːsaɣa/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤊 sūsaδaγa /ˈsuːsaðaɣa/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤊‎ sūsēγa /ˈsuːseːɣa/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤊‎‎ sūsuδēγa /ˈsuːsuðeːɣa/
"thy" (f)	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤊 sūsaγe /ˈsuːsaɣɛ/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤊 sūsaδaγe /ˈsuːsaðaɣɛ/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤊‎ sūsēγe /ˈsuːseːɣɛ/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤊‎‎ sūsuδēγe /ˈsuːsuðeːɣɛ/
"his"	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤅 sūsō /ˈsuːsoː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤅 sūsaδō /ˈsuːsaðoː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤅‎ sūsô /ˈsuːsoːː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤅‎‎ sūsuδô /ˈsuːsuðoːː/
"her"	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤀𐤀 sūsâ /ˈsuːsaːː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤀𐤀 sūsaδâ /ˈsuːsaðaːː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤀𐤀‎ sūsehâ /ˈsuːseʔaːː/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤀𐤀‎‎ sūsuδēhâ /ˈsuːsuðeːʔaːː/
"our"	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤍 sūsinu /ˈsuːsinu/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤍 sūsaδinu /ˈsuːsaðinu/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤍‎ sūsēnu /ˈsuːseːnu/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤍‎‎ sūsuδēnu /ˈsuːsuðeːnu/
"y'all's" (m)	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤊𐤌‎‎ sūsaγem /ˈsuːsaɣem/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤊𐤌 sūsaδaγem /ˈsuːsaðaɣem/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤊𐤌‎ sūsēγem /ˈsuːseːɣem/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤊𐤌‎‎ sūsuδēγem /ˈsuːsuðeːɣem/
"y'all's" (f)	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤊𐤍 sūsaγen /ˈsuːsaɣen/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤊𐤍 sūsaδaγen /ˈsuːsaðaɣen/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤊𐤍‎ sūsēγen /ˈsuːseːɣen/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤊𐤍‎‎ sūsuδēγen /ˈsuːsuðeːɣen/
"their" (m)	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤀𐤌 sūsām(u) /ˈsuːsaːm(u)/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤀𐤌 sūsaδām(u) /ˈsuːsaðaːm(u)/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤀𐤌, 𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤌𐤅 ‎ sūsêm, sūsēmu /ˈsuːseːːm, ˈsuːseːmu/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤀𐤌, 𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤌𐤅 ‎‎‎ sūsuδêm, sūsuδēmu /ˈsuːsuðeːːm ˈsuːsuðeːmu/
"their" (f)	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤀𐤍 sūsān /ˈsuːsaːn/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤀𐤍 sūsaδān /ˈsuːsaðaːn/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤉𐤀𐤍‎ sūsên /ˈsuːseːːn/	𐤎𐤅𐤎𐤕𐤉𐤀𐤍‎‎ sūsuδên /ˈsuːsuðeːːn/

Other inflections

The directive he in Biblical Hebrew reflects as -a.

Adjectives

Adjectives are very similar to pre-exilic Biblical Hebrew. Adjectives can be put in construct state: e.g. ħṓli hā́bā 'lovesick (m.sg.)' (ħṓli is the construct of ħṓlē 'sick').

A common way to express 'very, extreme(ly), great(ly)' was to use the prefix rō- (which caused mutation; borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸro-; cognate to Irish ró-, Welsh rhy, both 'too, excessively'). At first only adjectives could take this prefix, but later it was also used on nouns (influenced by Biblical Hebrew רוב *rubb 'multitude' used before a noun).

Verbs

All 7 binyanim of Biblical Hebrew were in use; another stem (the L-stem; TibH פולל pôlêl) remained fully productive in Ancient Cubrite. Ancient Cubrite also developed the binyan fuȝal (passive of faȝal) completely, instead of merging it completely with fuȝȝal like Tiberian Hebrew.

Verbs inherited the following forms from Biblical Hebrew:

• preterite independent (from the BH waw-consecutive preterite)
• present independent (from the BH waw-consecutive imperfect)
• preterite dependent (from the BH perfect)
• present dependent (from the BH imperfect)
• imperative
• cohortative -a
• infinitive construct
• participles

The following verb forms lost their productivity:

• emphatic m.sg. imperative -a
• jussive (only survives in hajā 'to be')
• infinitive absolute

The Biblical Hebrew waw-consecutive now came to play a purely syntactic role: The waw-consecutive is used as the default form, and the non-waw forms are used when a pre-verbal particle is attached (such as lō 'not', him 'if; definitely not', ha- 'question particle', χī 'when', hinni 'but; nut then'). This is similar to Old Irish or Egyptian verbal allomorphy between independent and dependent forms.

Independent vs. dependent forms: example

	independent	dependent
preterite	waw-preterite: wajjōγal 'he ate'	perfect: lō haγal 'he did not eat'
present	waw-stative: wāhaγal 'he eats'	imperfect: lō jōγal 'he does not eat'

Binyan faȝal (paʕal)

samar 'he kept'

→ Person ↓ Tense		1s	2ms	2fs	3ms	3fs	1p	2mp	2fp	3mp	3fp
preterite	indep.	wêsmur	waθθesmur	waθθesmurī	wajjesmur	waθθesmur	wannesmur	waθθesmurū	waθθesmurna	wajjesmurū	waθθesmurna
	dep.	samarθī	samarθa	samarθe	samar	samarā	samarnu	samarθem	samarθen	samarū
present	indep.	wassamarθī	wassamarθa	wassamarθe	wassamar	wassamarā	wassamarnu	wassamarθem	wassamarθen	wassamarū
	dep.	hesmur	θesmur	θesmurī	jesmur	θesmur	nesmur	θesmurū	θesmurna	jesmurū	θesmurna
imperative		-	simur!	simurī!	-	-	-	simurū!	simurna!	-	-
active participle		sōmḗr
passive participle		samū́r
infinitive		simṓr

Binyan nivȝal (nifʕal)

niktab 'it was written'

→ Person ↓ Tense		1s	2ms	2fs	3ms	3fs	1p	2mp	2fp	3mp	3fp
preterite	indep.	wêkkatib	waθθikkatib	waθθikkatibī	wajjikkatib	waθθikkatib	wannikkatib	waθθikkatibū	waθθikkatibna	wajjikkatibū	wattikkatibna
	dep.	niktabθī	niktabθa	niktabθe	niktab	niktabā	niktabnu	niktabθem	niktabθen	niktabū
present	indep.	wanniktabθī	wanniktabθa	wanniktabθe	wanniktab	wanniktabā	wanniktabnu	wanniktabθem	wanniktabθen	wanniktabū
	dep.	hikkatib	θikkatib	θikkatibī	jikkatib	θikkatib	nikkatib	θikkatibū	θikkatibna	jikkatibū	θikkatibna
imperative		-	hikkatib!	hikkatibī!	-	-	-	hikkatibū!	hikkatibna!	-	-
participle		niktāb
infinitive		hikkatib

Binyan fiȝȝil (piʕʕel)

kittil 'he grew (sth)'

→ Person ↓ Tense		1s	2ms	2fs	3ms	3fs	1p	2mp	2fp	3mp	3fp
preterite	indep.	wâgattil	waθθagattil	waθθagattilī	wajjagattil	waθθagattil	wannagattil	waθθagattilū	waθθagattelna	wajjagattilū	waθθagattelna
	dep.	kittelθī	kittelθa	kittelθe	kittil	kittilā	kittelnu	kittelθem	kittelθen	kittilū
present	indep.	wakkittelθī	wakkittelθa	wakkittelθe	wakkittil	wakkittilā	wakkittelnu	wakkittelθem	wakkittelθen	wakkittilū
	dep.	hagattil	θagattil	θagattilī	jagattil	θagattil	nagattil	θagattilū	θagattelna	jagattilū	θagattelna
imperative		-	kattil!	kattilī!	-	-	-	kattilū!	kattelna!	-	-
participle		mugattil
infinitive		kattil

Binyan hivȝīl (hifʕil)

hibdīl 'he separated'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1s	2ms	2fs	3ms	3fs	1p	2mp	2fp	3mp	3fp
preterite indep.	wâbdīl	waθθabdīl	waθθabdīlī	wajjabdīl	waθθabdīl	wannabdīl	waθθabdīlū	waθθabdelna	wajjabdīlū	waθθabdelna
preterite dep.	hibdelθi	hibdelθa	hibdelθe	hibdīl	hibdīlā	hibdelnu	hibdelθem	hibdelθen	hibdīlū
present indep.	wêbdelθi	wêbdelθa	wêbdelθe	wêbdel	wêbdelā	wêbdelnu	wêbdelθem	wêbdelθen	wêbdelū
present dep.	habdīl	θabdīl	θabdīlī	jabdīl	θabdīl	nabdīl	θabdīlū	θabdelna	jabdīlū	θabdelna
imperative	-	habdel!	habdelī!	-	-	-	habdelū!	habdelna!	-	-
participle	mabdīl
infinitive	habdīl

Binyan hiðvaȝȝil (hithpaʕʕel)

hiθnaᴋᴋim 'he was/became vengeful'

→ Person ↓ Tense	1s	2ms	2fs	3ms	3fs	1p	2mp	2fp	3mp	3fp
preterite indep.	wâθnaᴋᴋim	waθθiθnaᴋᴋim	waθθiθnaᴋᴋimī	wajjiθnaᴋᴋim	waθθiθnaᴋᴋim	wannabdīl	waθθabdīlū	waθθabdelna	wajjabdīlū	waθθabdelna
preterite dep.	hiθnaᴋᴋemθī	hiθnaᴋᴋemθa	hiθnaᴋᴋemθe	hiθnaᴋᴋim	hiθnaᴋᴋimā	hiθnaᴋᴋemnu	hiθnaᴋᴋemθem	hiθnaᴋᴋemθen	hiθnaᴋᴋimū
present indep.	wêθnaᴋᴋemθī	wêθnaᴋᴋemθa	wêθnaᴋᴋemθe	wêθnaᴋᴋim	wêθnaᴋᴋimā	wêθnaᴋᴋemθnu	wêθnaᴋᴋemθem	wêθnaᴋᴋemθem	wêθnaᴋᴋimū
present dep.	haθnaᴋᴋim	θiθnaᴋᴋim	θiθnaᴋᴋimī	jiθnaᴋᴋim	θiθnaᴋᴋim	niθnaᴋᴋim	θiθnaᴋᴋimū	θiθnaᴋᴋemna	θiθnaᴋᴋimū	θiθnaᴋᴋemna
imperative	-	hiθnaᴋᴋim!	hiθnaᴋᴋimī!	-	-	-	hiθnaᴋᴋimū!	hiθnaᴋᴋemna!	-	-
participle	muθnaᴋᴋim
infinitive	hiθnaᴋᴋim

Other derivations

θivȝil and šavȝil

Gzarot

Main article: Ancient Cubrite/Gzarot

Prepositions

• li- = to, for, of
• pi- = in, at, by, with (inst.)
• χamó- = like, as
• miC- = from
• 3im = with (comit.)
• wēn = without
• ja3n = because of

Conjunctions

• χa- = and ('like' > 'and')

Usage

Tense constructions

Ancient Cubrite preserved Biblical Hebrew verb conjugation quite well (even retaining the waw-consecutive), but also innovated tense constructions. This came from the fact that Celtic speakers attempting to use the aspect-based grammar of Biblical Hebrew wanted to indicate tense unambiguously. The choice of whether to use the non-waw or the waw forms is purely syntactic; it depends on whether there is a preverb or not.

• Pluperfect: hajā or wajjê + perfect
• Preterite: perfect or waw-preterite
• Past imperfect: hajā or wajjê ('was') + imperfect is used to specifically indicate past imperfect
• Present: imperfect or waw-stative
• Future imperfective: jî or wājā + imperfect
• Future perfective: wājā + perfect (remnant of BH *wahayā, waw-consecutive + suffix conjugation)
• Jussive: jê 'let it be' + imperfect or perfect depending on aspect

Uses of the infinitive construct

Many of the Biblical or quasi-Biblical uses of the infinitive construct were retained:

1. la + IC may be used to indicate purpose
2. there were many verbs after which either la + IC or bare IC were commonly used
3. ba- or χa- + IC + NOUN = "when possessor VERBs/VERBed..."
   • more generally IC + NOUN serves to point to an action in a tenseless way, like "for NOUN to VERB" or subordinate clauses where English would use a tensed verb form.
4. IC was often used to give further descriptions of what someone did in addition to the main verb, could often be translated as "X-ing" in sentences

Narratives

A narrative is commonly introduced by wayyê 'it was' (often to give background info).

Hypothetical example:

waθθê lāħamā, pōdīγā smâ. waθθê ȝazzaδ θessuᴋā, hinni hajāδā rō-ħōljaδ hābā.

Once there was a woman of war named Boudica. She was mighty in the art of battle, but she was greatly lovesick.

Wishes

Wishes and prayers use a form of ħajj 'alive' + wa + the dependent prefix conjugation (from jussive). This is an evolution of a Biblical Hebrew oath formula ħayy X... 'as surely as X lives'.

ħajjōδ wa δagallēna hā-hasirōδ niᴛavōδ ham-mumallihōδ bā-harc kullâ wa baθ-θōruκaδâ bâ.

May the tree-spirits reveal mystical insights pervading the whole earth and the lush vegetation in it.

Vocabulary

Ancient Cubrite vocabulary was mostly Semitic, but with some Celtic loans. The inherited Semitic vocabulary shows some semantic drift relative to Biblical Hebrew, as well as additional coinages.

Derivation

Mishkalim

• ᴋaᴛāl, ᴋaᴛēl = common noun and adjective pattern for basic words
• masculine segolates: ᴋaᴛl, ᴋiᴛl, ᴋuᴛl (ᴋuᴛl is often used for nouns of quantity and quality)
• feminine segolates: ᴋaᴛlā, ᴋiᴛlā, ᴋuᴛlā
• ᴋaᴛalā (paraγā 'good fortune, auspiciousness')
• ᴋaᴛilā
• ᴋaᴛulā (kadúlā 'magnificence', zarúħā 'radiance')
• ᴋaᴛalᴛal(ā) = diminutive
• meᴋᴛal(ā) = often place
• maᴋᴛel(ā) = instrument
• meᴋᴛōl
• meᴋᴛul(ā)
• θaᴋᴛilā, θeᴋᴛulā
• ᴋaᴛlōn
• ᴋiᴛᴛalōn
• ᴋaᴛᴛal(ā) = agentive
• ᴋaᴛᴛelā = disease
• ᴋaᴛᴛulā
• θaᴋᴛelā
• θeᴋᴛūlā = system of, art of, study of

Affixes

• -î (feminine -ījā): adjective-forming affix
• -ūδ: abstract noun suffix
• hī-: un-, non-

Sample texts

An incantation

The following incantation has 4 stressed syllables per line (Prosody in Ancient Cubrite poetry is based on the number of stressed syllables per line):

[...]

Lexicon

h

• hā́bā = love
• hilô (pl. hilṓhīm) = an animistic spirit, like a Japanese kami
• hasírā = the spirit of a tree
• hinni = but

z

• zadā = defect, crookedness (זדה is a hapax legomena in the Siloam inscription)
• zīdā = wrongness, injustice
• zaruħā = radiance

χ

• χin 'and'

n

• n-ᴛ-f
  • níᴛfā = spiritual intuition or inspiration (from a root meaning 'dropping, prophecy' in BH)

ȝ

• ȝarábā = willow

f

• fárrā = cow

r

• rimmṓn = pomegranate