All4Ɇn wrote:Really digging this so far! Hope to see more on the grammar and some sample texts
That's the plan! Also, I just hope everyone knows that messages like this are very motivating for authors. At least they are for me. This is why I was so unsure in the beginning and kept asking about interest.
Samuu: Pronouns and the Nominal Declensions
The Three Declensions (I may not be using declensions right, please inform me)
These are the three nominal declensions. As promised, two for nouns (regular and t-infixed) and one for adjectives. As aforementioned, Semitic languages generally used a slightly modified variant of their nominal patterns for adjectives. They usually match their adjective to the noun in case, number, and gender (
Usually. As Davush will tell you, in some dialects of Arabic disagreement will occur). They then place the adjective adjacent to the noun being qualified/quantified (which position, whether preceding or following, depends on the individual language). Luyuqii matches cases and number with the noun, it does not have gendered adjectival cases, and the position of the adjective is usually following but there is a fair bit of fluidity. A normal, simple noun phrase:
ar-'Ubbus 'Aradjum|"The loamy blossom."
DEF-blossom-NOM.SG earthy-NOM.SG.ADJ
A slightly more complex one.
Bars-wdjaarum ar-Xaaliþis|"The quivering belly of the mayor."
belly-quiver-NOM.SG.ADJ DEF-mayor-GEN.SG
This fluidity is because of something that you may have already noticed- the adjectival patterns are entirely different from the nominal. Those of you unfamiliar with Semitic may see this as the 'slight variation' that I mentioned, but it really isn't. Usually, semitic adjectives and nouns are or are almost identical. They are normally derived (presumably!) directly from the nominal declensions. Luyuqii's adjectival cases are borrowed- they are a gender-collapsed form of the noun cases from another language known as Mesarian (Lašn Mešarim in their own tongue), a now-extinct "east" semitic language spoken by a people who's literature was very popular in the society where the Luyuqii lived pre-exile("east" is in quotes because it refers to our world's classification, and not the geographic location in the conworld's). The popularity of spoken poetry specifically had a great effect on the speakers of nascent Luyuqii, especially on the religious shamans who's descendants would formally write the liturgy of the Luyuqii's religion and inadvertently standardize Luyuqii's grammar because of it (the liturgical language anchors the spoken and literary language due to high prestige).
The Construct Forms
Before we learn about the Pronouns and the other nominal patterns, a staple of the semitic languages' nouns is the construct form. The nuances vary from language to language (as I understand it) but generally this is a fusing of a nominative word to a genitive word to form a bound constituent
(I think I'm getting the terminology wrong). This constituent can even look like agglutination in some semitic languages (hebrew is what comes to mind for me). Luyuqii has two systems that pass as construct arrangement- one is a type of irregular pattern for singular nouns, while the other is meant for adjectival phrases. The former is evidenced in the name of the language itself:
Lisun is in a nominative construct pattern {CvCuC} that is used to show that the noun is definite, singular, and is bound to the genitive noun which follows it. The actual basic substantive noun (with a case ending) for "tongue" is
lisnus. The full phrase is the title of this thread,
Lisun al-Luyuqii, or Tongue of the Drowned (Luyuqus is one who is drowned, from LYQ, meaning "to cough"). The <u> in CvCuC can be interchanged with an <a> to make an accusative construct. Plurals are never in construct form.
Luyuqii has another construct state that it employs, and once again, you've already seen it ("The quivering belly). It is called the adjectival construct, and it is formed by taking a noun that has an adjective bound to it in a genitive phrase, and removing its case-ending. Number and case can be extrapolated from the adjective. Definiteness can be specified with one of the definite articles (you've not seen the second kind) although generally it is left to context. This is essentially a removal of an extraneous case ending but in Luyuqii these words are now considered bound to each other. Furthermore, the adjective can no longer be moved, it must always follow the noun in such form.
Nominal Patterns Showcase
This is probably the Spiced Meat and Potatoes that some of you've been waiting for. These are some of the basic, most regular nominal patterns that Luyuqii applies to its roots in order to bring forth derived forms. You have already been expose to the CvCC (citl catl cutl) form, which as aforementioned is pan semitic and expresses the most basic semantic noun value that the root's concept can produce. There are many more forms than the ones that I am about to describe, some of which are arguably as regularly applied as they (as far as they
can be, remember what I said about 30-40%) but this is so that you can get the gist of how Semitic languages derive their nouns
*1.
For Nouns->
>
CvCaaC: This is a basic pattern, but ironically is probably the least regular one on this list. It's generally used to express a physical object or technique associated with the verbal expression of the concept (see why it's so unpredictable?). It is one of the most common patterns. When in NOM.SG or NOM.DUA, it does not receive a case ending.
Lisaan - A taste or flavour of something. From
LSN, which has to do with the tongue.
Gilaat - A book. From
GLT which is writing.
'Ubaab - A blossom that is blooming, or a stem of a blooming plant. This is what they call their verbal stems, by the way. From
'BB, which has to do with blossoms.
Subaat - Fins. Any kind of them. From
SBT which has to do with swimming.
>
maCCvC: This is a fairly regular pattern, and very productive. This may actually go above that 40% mark. It is called the Instrumentative pattern, and has to do specifically with objects that perform tasks which are heavily associated with or simply
are the root concept. These will always take a case ending save for construct forms.
Mabriþus - A magician's staff. From
BRþ, which is general magic.
Mabrasus - A belt. From
BRS, which has to do with the belly.
Maxliþus - Town Council. This one's weird to you, but it is as I said before. From
XLþ, meaning neighbours and neighbourhoods.
Madjxulus - Hammer. From
DjXL, meaning "to break".
>
CaaCvC: This is sometimes called the Do-er pattern. It applies to roots whose concepts have people actively working with them. When in NOM.SG or NOM.DUA, it does not receive a case ending.
Çaariq - Spitter. One who spits. It's, predictably, used as an insult. From
ÇRQ, which has to do with spit.
Naadun - Giver. From
NDN, "to give".
Baariþ - Sorcerer. From aforementioned
BRþ.
Zaarrus - Magistrate, Governor. Hah! Thought it would be easy, did you? Well it still is, I'm just joking. The only quirk here is that many roots with a double glide or rhotic at the end omit their theme vowel and thus the case ending returns to compensate. This word is from
ZRR "to govern, to ordinate" (not "to rule"!).
For Adjectives->
>
CaCvC: This is to adjectives what the CvCC pattern is to nouns. Understand, however, that the meaning of the noun pattern does not necessarily transfer to the adjectival, nor does the presence of one pattern for any given root imply the existence of the other. Some roots are even entirely just for adjectives (or just adjectives and verbs but not nouns). Adjectival patterns almost always get a case ending.
'Asiyum - Visible (in a social sense). From
'SY, having to do with the concept of witnessing.
Lafiyum - Historical (in a non-academic sense). Sort in reference to the past version of someone. From
LFY, which has to do with the concept of the past.
Nawaxum - Deep. "This is a deep well". From
NWX, which deals with the deep, which is one of those exclusively adjectival patterns I was talking about.
>
CuCCuC: This is the transitive intensive adjective (I know it's a mouthful, but the title is apt. Pay head to it). It, like many adjectival patterns in semitic languages, is derived from a verb stem. A verb stem is a pattern or collection of related patterns applied to a root to make one component of a verb conjugation (more on this later). The stem that this is derived from is the Intensive stem, which creates a word with an intensified verbal meaning, but the internal vowels are different from the verbal form of the intensive stem.
Wudjdjurum - Quaking. Vibrating to an extreme degree. From
WDjR meaning "to shake".
Djuxxulum - Obliterated. From aforementioned
DjXL.
Burruþum - Ensorcelled, enchanted. Specifically for ancient and important incantations, fixtures, or objects. From aforementioned
BRþ.
>
CCaaC/CvCaaC: This adjectival pattern is called the gerunditive adjective. This is also a nominal pattern when given a nominal case ending but is employed more as an adjective with the adjectival case ending. It is only applied to roots with verbal semantic possibilities (these usually have an <i> or <u> vowel in their CvCC basic substantive). It gerundizes the verb, then applies it as an adjective. You've seen it already. Notice how there is a variant? The second form, CvCaaC, is used when the initial consonant is a liquid, glottal stop, or an affricate.
Sbaatum - Swimming. Context is like "The swimming otters" and so forth. From aforementioned
SBT. This is regular.
Glaatum - Writing. This can also mean studious or scholarly but specifically is to do with qualifying someone with the act of writing. From aforementioned
GLT.
'Isaayum - Discovered. The semantic value is questionable. The form has a word initial glottal stop. From aforementioned
'SY.
Closing Remarks: This is limited information, but despite what I told you, see if you can't try and derive more adjectives and nouns that I may not have added to these examples, just as a fun personal exercise. I'm fairly certain that semitic speakers will try this tactic at least once. Or you can not do that
and then accuse me of patronizing you fine folks.
The Pronouns
Each pronoun corresponds to the role given in the paradigm. IND is independent, and functions as its own word. Independent pronouns are also used in copula phrases. ACC is accusative for passive and verbal sentences in which a pronoun stands in for the subject, and ENC is enclitic. Enclitics suffix themselves to other words and can denote possession, agency, or the accusative or dative case, and so on. The exact purpose varies depending on whether it is attached to a noun, adjective, or individual verbal stem, but these variances are regular (for example, it is always a possessive when attached to a noun:
Gilaatni "My book").
The polite versus familiar/vulgar divide is very strict in this case. One uses polite pronouns to refer to those who command respect or, again, a person in a prestige position. Places in the Polite Pronoun tab that are empty refer to the lack of use/collapsing of that pronoun with the familiar one to make a common form (use the familiar for those cases).
Alright! Next we will learn about copular phrases, prepositional phrases, and the definite articles. Questions are answerable in the meantime. (Ask them, University is heating up for me so the next part may be a while).
*1: