Aneric
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Aneric
Last update: 30 November 2007
Introduction
Introduction Phonology Grammar Derivation Syntax Dialects Babel text Vocabulary
Internal history
Aneric was the most widely-spoken language of the large island of Aner
Biznek in south-west Sunovia, and the other principal member of the
South-Western branch of Sunovian, besides Rachovian with which it had much in common. It
retained many archaisms which had been lost in other Sunovian
languages.
Phonology
Consonants
The exact number of distinct consonant phonemes in Aneric has long
been contentious. For the purposes of this description, the phonemes
will be taken to be those shown below; note that, in the interests of
brevity, phonemic terminology has been treated somewhat loosely in the
table headings.
| Type | Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar
|
|---|
| Voiceless stops
/affricates | p | t | tS | k
|
| Voiced stops
/affricates | b | d | dZ | g
|
| Voiceless fricatives
| f | s | S |
|
| Voiced fricatives
| v | z | Z |
|
| Nasals | m | n | J |
|
| Laterals | | l | L |
|
| Trills | | r | r_j |
|
| Approximant | | | j |
|
All phonemes except /j/ had palatalised allophones before front
vowels, and it is these allophones which are responsible for the
debate about the size of the phoneme inventory. For example, /t/ had
the palatalised allophone [c]; [t] and [c] contrasted before back
vowels (e.g. from /ta/ and /tja/ respectively), but not before front
vowels where [c] alone was found. Some scholars, undoubtedly
influenced by Rachovian, therefore consider /t/ and /c/ separately;
others prefer to regard [c] as an allophone of [t] and a realisation
of /tj/. The problem is further confused by the fact that the
palatalised allophones of /n l r/ merged with /J L r_j/, which
originated in /nj lj rj/. This merger is the motivation for the
transcriptions <ne le re>, rather than <nje lje rje>.
Morphophonemic alternations were found between /k g/ and /tS dZ/, and
less commonly between /s z n l r/ and /S Z J L r_j/.
Vowels
The vowel phonemes of Aneric consisted of short /i a u/, long /i: e:
a: o: u:/, and two diphthongs /ai/ and /au/. The long vowels and
diphthongs were pronounced twice as long as the short vowels.
In careful speech, long and short /i a u/ had the qualities of [i a
u], and /e: o:/ were characteristically halfway between [e: o:] and
[E: O:], i.e. [E_r: O_r:] or [e_o: o_o:]; more casual speech
pronounced the short vowels more laxly as [I 6 U]. The pronunciation
of /ai au/ as monophthongs [E: O:], which was accompanied by a raising
of /e: o:/ to [e: o:], was generally regarded as rustic, although it
was actually found in much of the north of the island. Similarly,
popular southern speech often pronunced /e: o:/ as opening diphthongs
/ie uo/, especially in open syllables.
Intonation
Aneric had a pitch accent, rather than a stress accent as in
Liotan. What this meant in practice is that one mora of a long vowel
or diphthong was pronounced at a higher pitch than the other; if the
first was higher, the vowel effectively had a falling tone,
while if the second was higher, the tone was rising. The
diphthongs /ai au/ always had the rising tone; the long vowels could
take either.
For example, sàzá "two" has a falling tone on the first /a/ and
a rising tone on the second; using /A/ to represent a higher pitch
than ordinary /a/, this word may be represented phonologically as
/sAazaA/.
Transcriptions
All non-palatals and /j/ are transcribed straightforwardly. /tS dZ S
Z/ are represented by <ch dzh sh zh>, as in Rachovian; /J L r_j/
are <n l r> before front vowels, /j/, and palatal or palatalised
consonants, and <nj lj rj> otherwise. Furthermore, to conserve
<h>'s and <j>'s, /S Z J L r_j/ are <s z n l r/ whenever
possible, i.e. when next to another palatal or palatalised consonant;
/LS/ and /SL/ are thus lsh shl.
/i a u/ are transcribed <i a u> when short, with acute accents
(<í á ú>) when carrying the rising tone, and with grave accents
<ì à ù> when carrying the falling tone. The diphthongs /ai au/
are straightforwardly <ai au>.
/e: o:/ with the rising tone are transcribed without accents, and with
the falling tone are transcribed <è ò>. This is because there
were no short /e o/, and the rising tone was much commoner on these
vowels.
Phonotactics
Aneric, like Rachovian, had a preference for open syllables, although
not to the extent of losing all syllable-final consonants. A result of
this preference was a large number of assimilatory phenomena, both
inside and between words; these may be grouped into three types.
Liaison
All syllables started with a consonant, except at the beginning of a
clause or after a pause. Consequently, a consonant at the end of a
word - which could only be one of /s S t/ - which preceded a word with
an initial vowel was transferred to the start of that word; for
example metjus urudus "a thin nose" was pronounced
/me.tju.su.ru.dus/, and shas itozhas "the fish" was
/Sa.si.to:.Zas/.
Consonant clusters
All consonants in a cluster had the same voicing; the precise nature
of the assimilation varied, for example the initial voiceless stops of
some older suffixes were voiced after voiced stops. Palatalisation
similarly spread throughout a cluster; if one consonant was
palatalised, the rest palatalised in due course. Voicing assimilation
is shown in the orthography, but palatal assimilation is not;
galshas "man" and shlaras "heavy" have /LS/ and /SL/.
/v/ after consonants was closer to its original value, an approximant
[w].
Disregarding voicing and palatal assimilations, consonant clusters
could consist of any subsequence of /s z S Z/ + /p b t d k g/ + /l r
v/, of /S Z l r/ + /tS dZ/, or /fl fr/.
Vowel combinations
Aneric did not permit hiatus between adjacent vowels. Consequently,
when two vowels came to be next to each other, they either coalesced
into a single vowel phoneme or were separated by the insertion of a
glide. The rules governing the changes are listed below, with some
examples; "=" in the phonemic transcriptions shows the results of the
changes.
- With falling tone, /i: a: u:/ became /in an un/, and /e: o:/
became /e:n o:n/ with rising tone: itozhò ushkavà
"fishes' eggs" > /itóZ=ónu=Skavà/.
- Otherwise, any combinations of long and short /i/ produced long
/i:/, which had the falling tone if the second /i/ also had it
and the rising tone otherwise: shani itozhi "from the
fish" > /Shan=í=tóZa/. The same applied in all respects
to /u/.
- Before any other vowel, short /i u/ became /j v/, and /i: u:/
with rising tone became /ij uv/: shanú itozhú "at/by the
fish" > /San=uvi=tóZa/, semì altat "you stand by
me" > /sém=ina=ltat/.
- Before any vowel, /e o/ became /aj av/, and /ai au/ became /a:j
a:v/ with rising tone: shanai itozhú "with the fish" >
/San=áji=tóZa/.
- Short /a/ plus any /i a u/ became /e a: o/ respectively; long
/a:/ plus any /a/ gave /a:/; long /a:/ plus /i u/ gave /ai
au/. All /a:/ resulting from this rule had the rising
tone. shaná itozhá "to the fish" > /San=ai=tóZa/.
- Any /a/ plus /e/ or /ai/ gave /ai/, and with /o/ or /au/ gave
/au/: pedja ona "23" > /pédj=au=na/, pedja
itozhè "twelve fish" > /pédj=é=tóZè/.
Many derivational suffixes began with a vowel, which combined with the
thematic vowel of the base noun, adjective, or verb. These
thematic vowels will be given where appropriate.
Grammar
Descriptions of Aneric grammar merely distinguish "nominals" from
"verbals". In this description, the nominals are treated separately as
nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numbers; verbs remain as one part of speech.
Nouns
Aneric nouns inflected for two numbers (singular and plural)
and eight cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, partitive,
ablative, allative, locative, and instrumental). There were four
genders, which largely (but not always) related to the inherent nature
of the noun as follows:
- Common: Humans, many animals.
- Neuter: Other animals, body parts, some natural
phenomena believed to be animate through their own power
(rivers, weather, and so on).
- Tangible: Inanimates, anything which could be touched.
- Abstract: Concepts, ideas, things which could not be
touched.
There were six declensions of nouns, which were closely correlated
with gender; because of subsequent restructuring, the inflectional
endings for number and case were more homogenous across the
declensions than those of Rachovian. The table below shows the typical
endings for one noun from each declension, with "+" in the fourth and
sixth declensions indicating endings which caused palatalisation of /k
g/ to /tS dZ/. The row headed "Vowel" gives the thematic vowel.
| Declension | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
|
| Gender | common | neuter | tangible | neuter |
abstract | all
|
| Case | "man" | "cave" | "floor" | "tooth"
| "size" | "ear"
|
| Vowel | a | u | u | i | ú | -
|
| Singular
|
|---|
| Nom | galsh-as | salsh-us | nast-us | pasch+is
| ìs-as | zúl-us
|
| Acc | galsh-a | salsh-u | nast-u | pasch+i
| ìs-a | zúl-u
|
| Gen | galsh-o | salsh-o | nast-o | pask-e
| ìs-á | zúl-a
|
| Part | galsh-ás | salsh-os | nast-os | pask-es
| ìs-os | zúl-as
|
| Abl | galsh-e | salsh-e | nast-ave | pasch+aje
| ìs-ai | zúlj+i
|
| All | galsh-á | salsh-á | nast-ava | pasch+aja
| ìs-uva | zúlj+á
|
| Loc | galsh-ú | salsh-ú | nast-ú | pasch+ú
| ìs-ú | zúlj+ú
|
| Ins | galsh-ai | salsh-ai | nast-avai | pasch+ai
| ìs-uvai | zúl-ai
|
| Plural
|
|---|
| Nom | galsh-è | salsh-ò | nast-avà | pasch+ajà
| ìs-uvà | zúlj+à
|
| Acc | galsh-eri | salsh-ori | nast-avari | pasch+eri
| ìs-uvari | zúlj+ari
|
| Gen | galsh-ò | salsh-ù | nast-ún | pask-ò
| ìs-ún | zúl-ù
|
| Part | galsh-asi | salsh-osi | nast-avasi | pask-asi
| ìs-uvasi | zúl-asi
|
| Abl | galsh-ami | salsh-omi | nast-umi | pasch+imi
| ìs-úmi | zúl-ami
|
| All | galsh-ada | salsh-oda | nast-uda | pasch+ida
| ìs-úda | zúl-ada
|
| Loc | galsh-anu | salsh-onu | nast-unu | pasch+inu
| ìs-únu | zúl-anu
|
| Ins | galsh-ala | salsh-ola | nast-ula | pasch+ila
| ìs-úla | zúl-ala
|
Subdeclensions
Some first declension nouns had nominative singular in -is or
-us, with corresponding thematic vowels /i/ and /u/; for
example pedis "hand" and dasus "crab". These nouns had
/j/ and /v/ respectively before the case-endings which did not start
with short /a/, except that /j/ was lost before /e/, and /v/ before /o
u/; the /j/ palatalised the preceding consonant if possible. The
genitive and partitive singulars of these two nouns were thus
malsho malshás and daso dasvás.
The nominative singular of the sixth declension could end in any of
-as -is -us or -às -ìs -ùs. If the vowel in the
suffix had the falling tone, another consonant (usually one of /m n
s/) appeared before the inflectional endings elsewhere in the
declension; for example samjàs "child", accusative singular
samjasu.
Articles
Aneric, like Liotan but unlike most of its other Sunovian
contemporaries, had a definite article, which declined for case,
number, and gender as shown below. Note that four cases were identical
in the plural of the non-common genders.
| | Singular |
Plural |
|---|
| Gender | common | tangible | neuter | abstract
| common | tangible | neuter | abstract
|
|---|
| Nom | shas | shú | shat | shà
| she | shave | shule | shure
|
| Acc | sha | shu | shi | shamu
| sho | shavo | shulo | shuro
|
| Gen | shan- | shun- | shat- | sham-
| shon- | shaun- | shuln- | shurn-
|
| Part | shanas | shunas | shatas | shamas
| shási | shúsi | shulsi | shursi
|
| Abl | shani | shuni | shati | shami
| shemi | shumi
|
| All | shaná | shuná | shatá | shamá
| sheda | shuda
|
| Loc | shanú | shunú | shatú | shamú
| shenu | shunu
|
| Ins | shanai | shunai | shatai | shamai
| shela | shula
|
The article preceded the noun, but was not used with a noun which was
qualified by another noun in the genitive or partitive.
A peculiarity of Aneric was that the genitive and partitive cases of
the article, and of all words conjugated similarly, were syntactically
adjectives which agreed with a dependent noun. For example nastus
shatos salshos "the floor of the cave, the cave's floor", where
shatos is the partitive singular inflection of the genitive
singular form of the article, agreeing with salshos.
Adjectives
Adjectives agreed in gender with the nouns which they described,
whether attributively or predicatively. Attributive adjectives always
preceded their nouns.
Predicative adjectives and attributive adjectives which described
indefinite nouns took the inflectional endings of nouns, whereas those
which described definite nouns took the endings of the article; thus
sánus salshus "a dark cave", but shat sánat
salshus "the dark cave".
Some adjectives had the common nominative singular in -is or
-us; the thematic vowels of these adjectives were /i/ and /u/,
as opposed to the /a/ of all other adjectives. As with the
corresponding nouns of the first declension, the /i u/ became /j v/
elsewhere in the declension, the /j/ disappearing before /e i/ and the
/v/ disappearing before /o u/. Thus metis galshas "a thin man"
(nominative), metja galsha (accusative), metjus urudus
"a thin nose".
Note also the double agreement of the genitive and partitive cases of
adjectives which accompanied definite nouns, thus nastus shatos
sánatos salshos "the floor of the dark cave".
Comparisons
The degrees of comparison will be familiar from other Sunovian
languages; as elsewhere in Sunovian, the noun being compared to was
always in the partitive case. The comparitives of superiority and
inferiority infixed -um- and -on- before the case
ending, thus sánumas shunas salshos "darker than the cave",
sánonas "not as dark". These two comparitives took on the
meaning of superlatives with the article: shat sánumat salshos
"the darkest cave".
The equative infixed -ist-, which palatalised /k g/ to /tS dZ/:
sánistas "as dark as".
Demonstratives
There were two demonstrative adjectives, which were compounds
with the article and syntactically behaved like it. "This" prefixed
à- to the article, and "that" changed its initial /S/ to /aSk/:
àshat paschis "this tooth", ashkat paschis "that tooth".
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Aneric did not distinguish exclusivity in the first person or
familiarity in the second, and innovated a fourth person pronoun from
the Sunovian switch reference pronoun. There were thus nine personal
pronouns in Aneric: singular and plural for four persons, plus a
reflexive pronouns was were independent of number. The first, second,
and fourth person pronouns are shown below.
| | Singular | Plural |
|---|
| | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4
|
|---|
| Nom | re | fe | zvi | dzhina | fana | zvana
|
| Acc | semú | djakú | zvakú | dzhita | fata | zvata
|
| Gen | sam- | dak- | zvak- | gazh- | fazh- | zvazh-
|
| Part | samas | dakas | zvakas | gesì | fasì | zvasì
|
| Abl | semi | dechi | zvichi | dzhani | fani | zvani
|
| All | samá | dachá | zvichá | dzhiná | faná | zvaná
|
| Loc | semì | dechì | zvichì | dzhanì | fanì | zvanì
|
| Ins | same | deke | zvike | dzhine | fane | zvane
|
The reflexive was similarly like the second person but with
initial zh-; it had no nominative case, but its apparent
nominative zhe was used for the accusative. The third
person pronoun, the only personal pronoun which distinguished
gender, was the same as the article with initial t-; thus the
nominative singulars were tas tú tat tà.
Non-personal pronouns and adverbs of place
All other pronouns inflected like the article, and are listed in their
common singulars below where not further qualified. Adverbs of place
were formed from the allative, locative, and ablative cases of the
abstract singular.
- Demonstrative: àtas "this one", shtas
"that one"; àtamá "hither", àtamú "here",
shtami "thence".
- Relative: azhas "which, that";
azhamá "to which, whither".
- Interrogative: dzhas "who?",
dzhú "what?". Note the use of the tangible if
actual gender is not known. Similarly dzhamú
"where?"
- Negative: ljas "nobody", ljú
"nothing"; ljamú "nowhere".
- Others: masas "everyone", kàtas "someone,
anyone".
Numbers
Aneric, like Rachovian, used a base-twelve number system. The numbers
from one to twelve are shown below in cardinal and ordinal forms.
| | Cardinal | Ordinal
|
|---|
| 1 | mala | selas
|
| 2 | sàzá | makas
|
| 3 | salja | salzhas
|
| 4 | rìgù | ridzhas
|
| 5 | durjà | durzhas
|
| 6 | nùchà | nùzhas
|
| 7 | ljòkù | ljòzhas
|
| 8 | kurja | kurzhas
|
| 9 | fishta | fidzhas
|
| 10 | kèti | kèdzhas
|
| 11 | ona | ozhas
|
| 12 | pedja | pedzhas
|
Higher twelves were compounds with pedja as the second element;
thus sàzápedja "24", kurjapedja "96". Intermediate
numbers were further compounds with the units: pedjamalas "13",
sàzápedjauna "35", with /au/ resulting from /a/ + /o/ in
pedja ona.
mala sàzá salja rjìgù were the forms used when counting. When
preceding a noun, alternative forms which declined for case and gender
(as did malas) were used instead; the nominative cases of the
common gender were malas sàzhè saljè rjìgvè. These adjectival
forms were used as the final element in all appropriate compound
numbers, for example kurjapedárjìgvè paschajà "100 teeth".
"144" and "1728" were làzhu and dasku.
Verbs
Simple, i.e. non-derived, verbs were divided into static and
dynamic; static verbs described states, whereas dynamic verbs
expressed changes of state. In addition to person and number, verbs
were inflected for the following:
- Dependency. Independent forms were used in main clauses,
dependent forms in subordinate clauses.
- Simple versus habitual actions.
- Imperfective and perfective aspects, which may
alternatively be considered as present and past tenses.
- Person (first through fourth) and number
(singular and plural), plus indefinite and
relative persons which were independent of number.
There were three conjugations; one static verb of each is shown fully
conjugated below in the independent and dependent forms of the simple
imperfective. There was no thematic vowel in the first conjugation;
that of the other two was /a/.
| | Independent
| Dependent
|
|---|
| Person | to sleep | to wait | to rise
| to sleep | to wait | to rise
|
| Singular
|
| 1 | brag-u | last-a | sarj-a
| bradzh-o | lasht-o | sarj-o
|
| 2 | bradzh-a-t | last-e-t | sarj-á-t
| bradzh-e-t | lasht-e-t | sarj-e-t
|
| 3 | bradzh-ì | last-è | sarj-à
| bradzh-è | lasht-è | sarj-è
|
| 4 | bradzh-a-s | last-e-s | sarj-á-s
| bradzh-e-s | lasht-e-s | sarj-e-s
|
| Plural
|
| 1 | brag-a-dzhà | last-á-dzhà | sarj-á-dzhà
| bradzh-á-dzhà | lasht-á-dzhà | sarj-e-dzhà
|
| 2 | bradzh-a-sta | last-e-sta | sarj-á-sta
| bradzh-á-sta | lasht-á-sta | sarj-e-sta
|
| 3 | bradzh-i-na | last-e-na | sarj-á-na
| bradzh-á-na | lasht-á-na | sarj-e-na
|
| 4 | bradzh-a-sa | last-e-sa | sarj-á-sa
| bradzh-á-sa | lasht-á-sa | sarj-e-sa
|
| Other
|
| impersonal | brag-a | last-á | sarj-á
| bradzh-á | lasht-á | sarj-e
|
| relative | brag-a-ja | last-á-ja | sarj-á-ja
| bradzh-á-ja | lasht-á-ja | sarj-e-ja
|
The final consonant or consonant cluster of the stem was palatalised
(/k G n l r/ to /tS dZ J L r_j/) throughout the dependent and the
third conjugation independent, and in the second, third, and fourth
persons in the first conjugation independent.
The imperative was formed from the independent in the second
person and first person plural, and in the second person singular it
dropped the -t: laste! "wait", bragadzhà! "let
us sleep".
Converting between dynamic and static verbs
Dynamic verbs were converted to static verbs by adding
-izh- and the endings of the first conjugation to the
stem; for example lap-i -> lap-izh-i "it covers",
where the first expresses the change of state and the second the
resulting state. The dependent equivalent was -jezh-, with
palatalisation of the stem: /k g s z/ > /tS dZ S Z/.
Conversion the other way, from static to dynamic, was expressed with
the inceptive suffix -osh-, whose dependent form was
-ash-; both of these palatalised and were followed by the
endings of the first conjugation. Thus bradzh-osh-u "I fall
asleep", dependent bradzh-ash-o.
Another conversion to dynamic used the causative suffix, which was
/-au-/ in the first person singular and reflexive and /-ai-/
otherwise. It was added to intransitive verbs to create transitives,
thus sar-au "I raise", sar-ai "he/she raises". It never
palatalised the final consonant of the stem in the independent, but
always did so in the dependent.
Many dynamic verbs had no static derivatives; for example
skrama "I dig" and boga "I hit". The converse is not
true, however, since the a verb denoting a state always had a dynamic
equivalent expressing the entering into that state.
Aspect and tense
The perfective aspect or past tense was formed by suffixing /s/ and
the endings of the first conjugation. In the second and third
conjugations, the /s/ was preceded by /a i/ respectively, thus
lastasu "I waited", sarisu "I rose". In the first
conjugation, /i/ was inserted after any consonant cluster, and the /s/
combined with other preceding single consonants as follows:
- Stops changed places with the /s/, which voiced if
necessary: laspu "I covered", brazgu "I
slept". Before /tS dZ/, /s z/ became /S Z/.
- Nasals and sibilants disappeared, lengthening a
preceding short vowel and giving it the falling tone;
additionally, /m S/ changed /s/ to /S/: skrama "I dig"
> skràsha "I dug".
- Liquids remained, but /s/ became /S/: sarsh-u "I
rose, have risen".
- /aZ av/ from older /aj aw/ became /e o/, with /s/ becoming /S/
after /o/: skavu "I jump" > skoshu "I jumped",
fazhu "I pray" > fesu "I prayed".
The conversion from simple to habitual actions was expressed with
reduplication, by which the first consonant of the root and /a/
were prefixed to a modified form of the stem: ba-brug-u "I
sleep", la-list-a "I wait", sa-strj-a /saStr_ja/ "I
rise".
Summary
Here is a table summarising all the first person singular forms of "to
sleep".
| | Independent | Dependent
|
|---|
| | Static | Dynamic | Causative |
Static | Dynamic | Causative |
|---|
| Simple present | bragu | bradzhoshu | bragau
| bradzho | bradzhasho | bradzhau
|
| Habitual present | babrugu | babrudzhoshu | babrugau
| babrudzho | babrudzhasho | babrudzhau
|
| Simple past | brazgu | brazdzhoshu | brazgau
| brazdzho | brazdzhasho | brazdhau
|
| Habitual past | babruzgu | babruzdzhoshu | babruzgau
| babruzdzho | babruzdzhasho | babruzdzhau
|
Irregularities
A number of common verbs were unpredictable in some parts. The most
important of these were "to be", which had neither dynamic nor
habitual forms, and "to go", which was purely dynamic; the stems of
both of these verbs featured alternations between /a/ and /i/. The
simple present tenses of both verbs are shown below.
| Person | "to be" |
"to go" |
| Singular
|
| 1 | asu | asho | àgu | àdzho
|
| 2 | asat | ashet | àdzhat | àdzhet
|
| 3 | asì | ashà | àdzhì | àdzhè
|
| 4 | asas | ashes | àgas | àdzhes
|
| Plural
|
| 1 | izhdzhà | ishádzhà | ìgadzhà | ìdzhádzhà
|
| 2 | ista | ishásta | ìgasta | ìdzhásta
|
| 3 | ina | ishána | ìgana | ìdzhána
|
| 4 | sisa | ishása | ìgasa | ìdzhása
|
| Other
|
| impersonal | asa | ashá | àga | àdzhá
|
| relative | asha | ashája | àdzha | àdzhája
|
The past singulars of asu asho were sasku sascho, and
those of àgu àdzho were ultu ultjo; the habitual of
àgu was màshu. All these were conjugated regularly
accoring to the first conjugation.
"To become" was more or less the dynamic equivalent of "to be". Its
present was a regular first conjugation verb; the first person
singular presents were the independent oshu and the suppletive
dependent oshto, and the corresponding pasts were ushshu
ushto.
Non-finite verbal forms
There were four participles, which were verbal adjectives which
expressed the possible combinations of voice (active and passive) and
tense/aspect (completed versus still in progress). The participles of
one verb from each conjugation are shown below in the nominative
singulars of the common gender.
| | to drink | to hit | to eat
|
| | rotu | boga | zema
|
| Present active | rot-justas | bog-ostas | zem-ostas
|
| Present passive | rot-ichas | bodzh-echas | zem-echas
|
| Past active | rot-janas | bog-onas | zem-onas
|
| Past passive | rot-ísas | bodzh-esas | zem-esas
|
Prepositional verbs
Many words which corresponded to prepositions elsewhere in Sunovian
were prefixed to verbs in Aneric. For example, the equivalent of "in,
into, within" was bez; however, "I jump into the cave" was not
*skavu bez shatá salshá. Instead a compound of the preposition
and "to go" was used, this verb appearing in the dependent: skavu
bezâdzho shatá salshá, more or less "I jump I in-go to the
cave". The corresponding verb for expressing location was altu
"to be, stand, be located"; thus bezaltu shatú salshú "I am in
the cave", skavu bezaltjo shatú salshú "I jump around inside
the cave". Note the use of the allative and locative cases with the
prepositional verbs.
No preposition was needed if "to", "at", or "from" without further
qualification was implied, the case of the noun sufficing; altu
shatú salshú was "I am at/near/by the cave", and àgu shatá
salshá was "I go to the cave".
Derivation
Nominal suffixes
-mas (a6) formed qualities from nouns and adjectives:
galshamas "manliness", shlaramas "heaviness".
Related to this was -sàs (a6 -m-), which formed abstract
nouns: shlarasàs "weight", sànusàs "darkness".
-tìds (a6) added to the vowel which appeared before the /s/ of
the nominative singular made collections from nouns:
alshitìds "constellation", itozhatìds "school of
fish". Another suffix with the same meaning was -ultas:
chisoltas "gang, crowd of boys".
Nominae agentis (a6), nouns denoting one who does something,
added -jas to the verbal stem, prepending -a- in second
and third conjugation verbs: falajas "runner", rotjas
"drinker".
Results of actions were formed by adding -tis or
-dis (both t6) directly to the verbal stem with no thematic
vowel, often causing changes: martis "a gift", bozhdis
"a strike, a blow".
Tools and things in general were often formed with -chis
-dzhis -kus -gus (all t6), also with no thematic vowel:
làkus "a covering, blanket", sìchis "knife". /k g/
alternated with /tS dZ/, so that the accusative singulars were làku
sìku and the nominative plurals were làchà sìchà.
Adjectival suffixes
-umàs (-n) denoted "-like, having the quality of":
galshomàs "manly", uskhúmàs "like an egg".
-uminas indicated "having much of, rich in": terúminas
"with many eyes" (thus terúminkus "peacock"),
paschuminas "toothy".
-uvàs (-n) was the opposite, equivalent to "-less":
terúvàs "eyeless", selovàs "cloudless".
-ustamas and -ichamas, derived from the participles,
respectively denoted active and passive tendency:
rotjustamas "fond of drink", kechichamas "tending to
break".
-astas, which overlapped with the preceding, indicated passive
ability: kekastas "fragile", terastas "visible".
Verbal suffixes
The main causative suffix was -azu: sànvazu "I
darken", metjazu "I stretch, I make thin".
Diminutives and augmentatives
The four suffixes -al- -alsh- -ashl- -akl-, all of which
preserved the declension, created diminutives: marchalis
"little gift, trinket", zonáklas "little girl".
The opposite augmentative suffix was -um-, sometimes
found as -ùk-: paschumas "large tooth (used of a jagged
rock in a harbour)", salshùkus "cavern".
All of these suffixes could be added to adjectives and verbs,
typically lessening or intensifying the meaning: sazháklas
"fastish", bragumu "I have a deep sleep".
Syntax
Word-order
Within a clause, all nominal elements were ordered according to the
animacy hierarchy. This dictated that any pronouns came first
in the clause, with first person preceding second; these were then
followed by nouns and third-person pronouns ordered by gender as
common, neuter, tangible, and finally abstract. The verb took its
place in the same order according to the gender of its subject. Thus
vilu zakú "I see you", but semú vilat, since first
person pronouns precede second; *vilat semú would be
surprising and, in some circumstances, potentially offensive.
The same ordering also overned the order of nouns in a genitive
relationship; thus túro terò "snake's eyes", but terò
fizdzha "louse's eyes". túrus "snake", terus "eye",
and fizdzhis "louse" are respectively of common, neuter, and
tangible genders.
"To be"
The predicates of "to be" and "to become" always followed their
subjects: shat salshus oshì sánus "the cave is getting dark",
mozhus ljásì túras "a worm is not a snake".
Uses of the cases
The nominative and accusative cases indicated the
subject and direct object of the verb: zema dasu "I eat a
crab".
The partitive was used in comparisons, and could replace the
nominative or accusative (but not both) when part rather than all of
the appropriate noun was being referred to: zema dasvás "I am
eating part of the crab", túrasi bradzhina "some of the snakes
are sleeping".
The genitive, as in Rachovian, expressed both alienable and
inalienable possession, as shown above.
The instrumental indicated the instrument of an action, and of
abstract nouns adverbs: zema sìkai "I am eating with a
knife", zema sazhuvai "I am eating quickly".
The allative, locative, and partitive, of course,
expressed direction and location.
Impersonal and reflexive
The impersonal inflection expressed the Aneric equivalent of the
passive voice, and was considered to be lowest in the animacy
hierarchy; thus itozha zemá "the fish is being eaten".
The reflexive pronoun always referred to the subject of the sentence,
and was equal in animacy with it: ìza zhakú "I wash myself",
maru zhachá dasu "I give the crab to myself".
Relative clauses
In written Aneric, a relative clause was syntactically an adjectival
phrase introduced by the relative pronoun, which had highest animacy;
thus "the cave in which I am standing is dark" was shat azhú
bezaltu salshus asì sánus, in which azhú bezaltu "in which
I am standing" modifies salshus.
If the noun was the subject of the relative clause, the verb in the
relative clause took the relative inflection in -ja-: shas
azhas shatá salshú bezaltaja túras asì ljoras "the snake which is
in the cave is short", where azhas shatá salshú bezaltaja
"which is in the cave" modifies túras.
Interrogatives, negatives, and responses
An interrogative pronoun or adverb took its place in a question
according to the animacy hierarchy: dzhas zema dasu? "who is
eating the crab?", zemat dzhú "what are you eating?", túrè
altina dzhamú "where are the snakes?"
Negation was expressed with lja-, which was prefixed to the
verb and combined with a following vowel: ljabragu "I am not
sleeping", ljáltu "I am not situated". Any number of negative
words could also be present, thus ljazemu ljú was perfectly
good Aneric for "I am not eating anything".
Lja at the end of a sentence turned it into a question; thus
zemát lja "are you eating"? The response repeated the verb; the
equivalents of "yes" and "no" to this question were thus zemát
and ljazemát.
Conjunctions and dependent clauses
The principal coordinating conjunctions were ìs and
sù "and", bìs "but", and mù "or". The
difference between ìs and sù was similar to that
between Liotan daoi and as: the first expressed
simultaneity, whereas the second was used with consecutive actions.
Many other conjunctions were originally specialised meanings of
particular cases of nouns; for example, from ùdzhas "reason"
came ùdzhá "therefore" and ùdzhi "for, because",
and from zirjas "event" came zirji "if" and
zirjá "in order to". The verb introduced by such a
conjunction was always in the dependent, for example davu zirjá
zemjo "I sit down in order to eat", zemu zirji davjo "I
will eat if I sit down".
The dependent was also used for all verbs in dependent clauses: onu
zemjo "I want to eat"
Fourth person
The fourth person was used to refer to the second-mentioned of two
third-person referents. For example, shas chisas lasà sha
zona sù falshás shtami "the boy kissed the girl and she ran
away", falshás "ran" had the fourth-person inflection and
therefore referred to the second nominal to be mentioned. If the order
of the nouns was reversed, viz. sha zona lasà shas chisas
sù falshà shtami, "ran" would take the third-person
inflection; ... sù falshás would now mean "... and he ran
away".
The fourth person distinguished number, by analogy with the third; if
our example boy became amorous with more than one girl, the sentence
would be shas chisas lasà sho zoneri sù falsháse shtami.
Babel text
- Sù zetis sanusi ìs malus rúkachis saschina shamú sútú.
- Sù galshè sàsina lafai, fázdena Shinarú fòku,
sù idachòshina shtamú.
- Sù masas tási dòzhina mìgada "dùsadzhà
zirkari, sù skarshadzhà tavo". Sù tozdina zirkari
kutù sàbra ìs falkru kutù ulekra.
- Sù dòzhina "kazdadzhà chatja ìs kèsku selanu
kushtai, maradzhà malsha zhachá, zirjá
dzhita tegú shamú sútá lja-foshkishá."
- Sù God turultì zirjá vilshè sho azho samjàsà galshò kazdena
chatja ìs kèsku.
- Sù God dòzhì, "vila! te ina malas zhaschis, ìs
tadina malu rúkaku, ìs chatina dúnjána
azhu onina dúnjána masamu."
- "turìgadzhà sù spraskádzhà tamu rúkaku,
zirjá masas tási ljechatjána dozhezhána sheda
mìdzheda."
- Sù ùdzhá God foshkisì to tegú shamú sútá
shtami, sù istisána kazhdána sha chatja ìs shu kèsku.
- Sù Babel tunas malshis saschì, ùdzhi God
spraschè shano zhascho rúkaku shtamú, ìs ùdzhi
foshkisè to tegú shamú sútá shtami.
Analysis
This is a tricky Babel text to analyse, and so some detail is given in
the discussion below.
1. Sù zetis sanusi ìs malus rúkachis saschina shamú sútú.
And few words[part] and one language were[3pl] the[loc] world[loc].
"world" was abstract, and thus followed the other nouns. "word" and
"language" were respectively common and tangible; as a compound noun
phrase, they took the most animate gender.
2. Sù galshè sàsina tarai, fázdena Shinarú fòku,
sù idachòshina shtamú.
And men came[3pl imperfect] east[abl], found[3pl perf] Sginar[loc]
plain[acc], and live[3pl dynamic] there[loc].
"they came[imperfect] ... they found [perfect]": the usual Aneric
idiom for "while they came ... they found". Note the use of the
dynamic of "to live" for "dwell".
Sù masas tási dòzhina mìgada "dùsadzhà zirkari,
sù skarshadzhà tavo". Sù tozdina zirkari kutù sàbra
ìs falkru kutù ulekra.
And each[common] them[part] said[3pl perf] others[all] "make[1pl
imper] bricks[acc], and burn[1pl imper perf] them". And had[3pl]
bricks[acc] instead-of clay[gen] and bitumen[acc] instead-of
mortar[gen].
Note the use of the perfective imperative of "let us burn", to give
the idea of completeness; the imperfective skarjadzhà would
not have the same connotation. kutù "instead of" was a
fossilised locative of an obsolete noun meaning "place, role".
Sù dòzhina "kazdadzhà chatja ìs kèsku selanu
kushtai, maradzhà malsha zhachá, zirjá dzhita tegú
shamú sútá lja-foshkishá."
And said[3pl] "build[1pl imper perf] city[acc] and tower[acc]
clouds[loc] head[ins], and give[3pl] name[acc] selves[all], so-that
us[acc] surface[loc] the[loc] world[gen] not-scatter[impersonal]."
"clouds[loc] head[ins]": "with its head in the sky". shamú:
doubly-inflected article, the common locative singular of the abstract
singular genitive. Those paying attention will note that
kushtus "head" is the only neuter noun in the entire Text.
Sù God turultì zirjá vilshè sho azho samjàsà galshò kadena chatja
ìs kèsku.
And God down-went[3sg] in-order-to see[3sg dep perf] the[common acc
pl] rel[common plural] children men[gen] build[3pl imperfective]
city[acc] and tower[acc].
"city" and "tower" together made a compound noun phrase of common
gender, as in line 1.
Sù God dòzhì, "vila! te ina malas zhaschis, ìs tadina malu
rúkaku, ìs chatina dúnjána azhu onina dúnjána masamu."
And God said, "see![2sg imper] they are one people, and have[3pl] one
tongue[acc], and can[3pl] do[3pl dep] rel[abs acc] want[3pl] do[3pl
dep] everything[acc]."
"Everything that they want" came out as "which they want everything".
"turìgadzhà sù spraskádzhà tamu rúkaku, zirjá
masas tási ljechatjána dozhezhána sheda mìdzheda."
"go-down[1pl imper] and confuse[1pl imper perf] language[acc]
their[abs acc], so-that each[common sg] them-part not-can[3pl dep]
speak[3pl dep] the[common all] others[all]."
Nothing complicated here, hopefully.
Sù ùdzhá God foshkisì to tegú shamú sútá
shtami, sù istisána kazhdána sha chatja ìs shu
kèsku.
And so God scatter[3sg perf] them[acc] surface[loc] the[loc]
earth[gen] there[abl], and forgot[3pl perf] build[3pl dep] the
city[acc] and the tower[acc].
Note once again how the animacy hierarchy governed the word-order.
Sù Babel tunas malshis saschì, ùdzhi God spraschè shano
zhascho rúkaku shtamú, ìs ùdzhi foshkishè to
tegú chamú sútá shtami.
And Babel its name was[3 sg], for God confused[3sg dep perf] the[gen]
people[gen] language[acc] there[loc], and because scattered[3sg dep
perf] them[acc] surface[loc] the[loc] earth[gen] there[abl].
Note the dependent forms of the verbs after ùdzhi "because".
Vocabulary
alshis [nc1] "star"
altu [vs1] to stand, be situated
boga [vd2] I hit
bragu [vs1] I sleep
chatis [nc1] city
chatu [vs1] I can, I am able
chisas [nc1] boy, youth
dasus [nc1] crab
davu [vd1] to sit down
dozha [vd2] I say
dúna [vd2] I make, I do
fáda [vs2] I find
fala [vd2] I run
falkrus [na6] tar, bitumen
fazhu [vd1] I pray
fizdzhis [nt6] louse
foshka [vd2] I scatter
fòkus [nt6] plain
galshas [nc1] man
idachoshu [vd1] to settle (dynamic of idacha [vs3] "I dwell")
inasas [na5] size
ista [vd3] I lose, I forget
itozhas [nc1] fish
ìza [vs2] I wash
kada [vd2] I build
keku [vd1] I break
keschis [nt6] tower
kushtus [nn2] head
kutù [prep] in stead of
lafas [va5] east
lapu [vd1] I cover
lasa [vs3] I kiss
lasta [vs2] I wait
ljoras [adj] short
malshis [nc1] name
maru [vs2] I give
metis [adj] thin
mìgas [adj] other, another ("different", not "more")
mozhus [nn2] worm
nastus [nt3] floor, ground
onu [vs1] to want
paschis [nn4] tooth
pedis [nc1] hand
rotu [vs1] I drink
rúkachis [nt6] tongue, language
sàbrus [na6] stone (the material)
sánus [adj] dark, dim
salshus [nn2] cave
samjàs [nc6] child
sanus [nc1] word
sarja [vs3] I rise
sazhas [adj] quick, fast
selas [nc1] cloud
senu [vd1] I come, I arrive
sìchis [nt6] knife
shlaras [adj] heavy
skarja [vd3] I burn
skavu [vd1] I jump
skrama [vd2] I dig
spraka [vd2] I confuse
sútas [na5] world
tegas [nc1] surface
terus [nn2] eye
todu [vs1] I have
túras [nc1] snake
turjàgu [vd1] I go down (compound of àgu)
ulekrus [na6] mortar
urudus [nn2] nose
uskhus [nt3] egg
vilu [vs1] I see
zema [vs3] I eat
zetis [adj] few (+ partitive)
zhaschis [nc1] people
zirchis [nt6] brick
zonas [nc1] girl
zúlus [nc6] ear