Proto-Nekturian

Characteristics
The Nekturian family of languages present some characteristics that can be found in almost all member languages:
 * 1) Simple ("plain") phonology
 * 2) Nouns, pronouns and adjectives have basically three genders, three numbers and ten cases (tending to a smaller number in most languages), sharing a common set of endings, with small differences from a class to other, in some languages
 * 3) Verbs with flexions for tense (time+aspect), mood and person
 * 4) Flexional morphology (words have a base form whose ending is changed)

Proto-Nekturian is the oldest known state of what is called "Nekturian", the language which originated a large number of important languages in Drion (like Tláymyts, for instance). It is uncertain whether this "proto" state really existed, as it was registered only at a time when its four subdivisions already existed. Most probably, the variations were already present at this stage of the language. It is theorized that the original Nekturian language was one if its four variants (North Nekturian, South Nekturian, East Nekturian, Center-West Nekturian), and that this "proto" language actually appeared only as a literary language.

Phonology
Although not using any exotic phoneme, Proto-Nekturian was very rich both in consonant and in vowel sounds.

Consonants
While ph, th, kh, bh, dh and gh are aspirated consonants (like e.g. English "loophole"), the sh (like English "wash") and zh (like English "azure") are simple consonants.

Vowels
Vowels are:

The vowels â, ê, î, ô and û are simply long versions of a, e, i, o and u. While there is no meaningful distinction between open and closed e and o, the general practice is to pronounce them open when short (e, o ) and closed when long (ê [e:], ô [o:]).

Stress and Pitch
Stress in Nekturian is variable. Although words are generally stressed on the first syllable, this is not a rule. Sentence stress prevails over word stress. On the other hand, syllable length is very important, as long vowels have necessarily two times the length of short vowels.

Some old texts are traditionally recited with a pitch scheme applied to the words. Although this system seems to be very coherent throughout, there is no evidence of its actual use in the spoken language.

Nouns
There are three gender of nouns: masculine, feminine and neuter. Nouns are declined according to three numbers: singular, dual and plural, and to ten cases, viz.:
 * 1) Nominative (subject)
 * 2) Accusative (direct object)
 * 3) Dative (indirect object)
 * 4) Ablative
 * 5) Genitive (possessive)
 * 6) Locative
 * 7) Commitative (company)
 * 8) Instrumental
 * 9) Vocative
 * 10) Ergative (agent for passive voice)

Noun declension is extremely regular, with no exceptions.

Adjectives
Adjectives are declined exactly the same way as nouns. Each adjective inflects for gender, number and case.

There are adjectives with "free" theme and those with theme in -i. E.g., mupph- is a "free" theme adjective, while kLmti- is an adjective with theme in -i. The only difference is that this -i merges with a following i when am ending containing this vowel is added.

Superiority
The suffix -êul- is added to the stem of the adjective, resulting in a new adjective. Ex.:
 * kLmtiu "large", kLmtiêulu "larger"
 * mupphu "new", mupphêulu "newer"
 * punnu "good", punnêulu "better"

Superlative
The suffix -êdhên- is added to the stem of the adjective, resulting in a new adjective. Ex.:
 * kLmtiu "large", kLmtiêdhênu "the largest"
 * mupphu "new", mupphêdhênu "the newest"
 * punnu "good", punnêdhênu "the best"

Pronouns
Pronouns follow the same declension system used for nouns and adjectives, with little differences in some forms.

Personal
Although there are dual forms for all pronouns, they were not always used, plural forms being preferred. Dual forms were used mostly when the speaker wanted to emphasize the fact that the elements were exactly two.

1st and 2nd person pronouns have special forms, while the 3d person pronoun follows the regular noun endings.

Possessive
Possessive pronouns are declined like any other adjective.

Demonstrative

 * iddhiu, -e, -i "this" (very near)
 * hizdu, -e, -i "this" (not so near)
 * egîru, -e, -i "that" (far)
 * hu, he, hi "this", "that" and also "the"

These follow the regular nominal declension. The form hu, he, hi is used in expressions like hi dhêteti "the (capital) city", hi pâri "the beautiful (things)" = "beauty", hu bhLdiu "the strong one", hi têsiti "that (what was) said".

Interrogative

 * ghîu "what"
 * ghânu "who"
 * goheru "which"
 * gûneng "how"
 * hMtior "where"
 * gohMtuor "when"

Relative

 * ghîu "that"
 * ghânu "who"

Indefinite

 * hRkonnnu "some", "any"
 * mamêhonnu "no", "none"
 * duttu "all", "every"
 * ghettu "each", "every"

Cardinal Numbers

 * 0 sâlu
 * 1 honnu, -e, -i
 * 2 tugwêdduz, -ez, -iz
 * 3 dLdhes
 * 4 gohedL
 * 5 dhMgu
 * 6 zihêddhes
 * 7 dhâdi
 * 8 uhêdu
 * 9 mûphi
 * 10 tâddhes
 * 11 hontâddhes
 * 12 tuguêtâddhes
 * 13 dLdhetâddhes
 * 14 gohedLtâddhes
 * 15 dhMgutâddhes
 * 16 zihêdtâddhes
 * 17 dhâditâddhes
 * 18 uhêdutâddhes
 * 19 mûphitâddhes
 * 20 phMdi
 * 21 phMdi honnu
 * 30 dlMde
 * 40 gohelMde
 * 50 dhêmgohMde
 * 60 zihêddhMde
 * 70 dhâdMde
 * 80 uhêdMde
 * 90 mûphMde
 * 100 dhânu

Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers are regular adjectives.
 * 1 bLnihêlu, -e, -i
 * 2 dhîkMdu, -e, -i
 * 3 dLdhîhêlu, -e, -i
 * 4 gohLdu, -e, -i
 * 5 dhMgMdu, -e, -i
 * 6 zihêddhu, -e, -i
 * 7 dhâdênu, -e, -i
 * 8 uhêdepphu, -e, -i
 * 9 mûphimmu, -e, -i
 * 10 tâddhênu, -e, -i

Coordinating

 * ghoye "for"
 * hî, goy "and"
 * mahN "nor"
 * dhât, nez, bûlN "but"
 * uho "or"
 * ihMted "yet"
 * eddhêna "so"

Correlative

 * hNpuz/ez/iz … hi …  "both … and … "
 * uho … uho …  "either … or … "
 * mahN … mahN …  "neither … nor … "
 * mewu … dhat …  "not … but … "
 * meddhu … dNpN …  "not only … but also … "

Subordinating

 * tibuhêd "after"
 * gMdot "although"
 * dhî "if"
 * iddhâd "unless"
 * ghîuk "so that"
 * bLdMd "therefore"
 * hebbîsL "in spite of", "despite"
 * ghoye "because"

Verbs
Nekturian verbs present quite a challenge to the memory. However, the fact that there is almost no irregular verb comes to the relief of those learning the language.

In the standard form of the language there are really no irregular verbs. Some irregularities appear only in some local variants of the language.

Concepts
Each verb is inflected for two voices, three moods (four if we take the imperative in account). Each mood has ten tenses. For each tense, the verb is inflected for three persons and three numbers. So, in theory, each verb has 2*3*10*3*3 = 540 forms, plus 3*3 forms for the imperative, one form for the infinitive and 10 forms of participle, so 540 + 9 + + 1 + 10 = 560 forms.

In practice, many of these forms are not used (e.g., the pluperfect conditional of the passive voice, something like "he would have had been seen"), but the number of actually employed forms is indeed large, as the language prefers synthetic verb forms rather than phrasal constructions.
 * Voices: Active and Passive
 * Moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, Conditional
 * Tenses: Present, Present Continuous, Perfective, Aorist, Imperfective, Pluperfect, Past Continuous, Future, Future Perfect, Future Continuous
 * Persons: 1st, 2nd and 3rd
 * Numbers: Singular, Dual and Plural

Each verb has a root that is expanded with a thematic vowel (e, ê or i). To this theme (root+vowel) are added tense and personal suffixes. E.g.:
 * bher-e-ø-um->bhereum "I speak" (root, vowel, present tense indicative, 1st person singular)
 * bher-e-phe-nûz->bherephenûz "we were speaking" (root, vowel, past continuous indicative, 1st person plural)
 * bher-e-zda-ka->bherezdaka "it was spoken" (root, vowel, aorist indicative passive, 3st person singular)

Sample Conjugation: Phêtiolu "see"
Here is the full conjugation of the verb phêt-i-olu "see". For other verbs, just change the root (in this case, phêt-) and the thematic vowel (-i- in this case).

Basic Word Order
In principle, Nekturian is a SVO language. Word order can be altered by some factors like emphasis or the presence of adverbs. Anyway, as the language relies heavily on endings to establish relationships between words, there is some liberty in the position of elements in a sentence.

Interrogative Sentences
Although not a rule, it is a common practice to begin an interrogative sentence with the verb. Ex.:
 * Affirmative: Nazdli gumêydhiez diw. "The teacher knows you."
 * Interrogative: Nazdli gumêydhiez diw? "Does the teacher know you?"
 * Alternative Interrogative: Gumêydhiez nazdli diw? "Does the teacher know you?"

Subordinate Clauses
For adjectival, substantival and adverbial subordinate clauses there are two possibilities:
 * 1) the verb is fully conjugated and the sentence is introduced by a conjunction; or
 * 2) the verb is reduced to a participle, which assumes an appropriate case, and the sentence is not introduced by a conjunction.

In the reduced form, the subject of the reduced verb, if explicited, is marked by the ergative case.

Conjugated
The relative pronoun ghîu is used. It assumes the case that the word being represented would assume in the subordinate sentence. Word order is not altered. Ex.:
 * rêphlu ghîo (acc.) gNblehêwoum "the book that I bought" (cf.: GNblehêwoum rêphlo (acc.) "I bought a book.")
 * berephleddhes ghîeddhas têsizdaez "the words that you said" (cf.: Têsizdaez berephleddhas "You said the words.")
 * izdulêhe ghîew melelihêka "the story that he is going to tell" (cf.: Melelihêka izdulêhew. "He is going to tell a story.")
 * norêhale ghîe hosenuka phizdeto mikklo "the woman that is wearing a black dress" (cf.: Norêhale hosenuka phizdeto mikklo. "The woman is wearing a black dress.")

Reduced
The participle forms of the verb are used, according both to tense and voice. Generally, transitive verbs use passive participles, while intransitive verbs use active participles. However, transitive verbs may also use active participles, depending on the subject-object relation.
 * rêphlu gNbleteyu nim "the book that I bought" (lit.: "the book [that has been] bought by me")
 * berephleddhes têsizdeyeddhes dim "the words that you said" (lit.: "the words [that were] said by you.")
 * izdulêhe meledoye egîrem "the story that he is going to tell" (lit.: "the story to be told by him")
 * norêhale hoseMte phizdeto mikklo "the woman that is wearing a black dress" (lit.: "the woman wearing a black dress")

Attention should be payed to the fact that these verb forms (gNbleteyu, têsizdeyeddhes &c.) are actually adjectives, attributed to a noun in order to form a syntagm. Compare these syntagms with the full sentences below, with verbs conjugated in the passive voice:
 * Rêphlu gNblehêwodo nim. "The book has been bought by me."
 * Berephleddhes têsizdayang dim. "The words were said by you."
 * Izdulêhe melelihêdo egîrem. "The story is going to be told by him."
 * Phizdetu mikklu hosenudo norêhalem. "The black dress is being worn by the woman."

Conjugated
In their full form, adverbial clauses are introduced by conjunctions and prepositions like "when", "after", "before". Ex.:
 * gohMtuor dhepihêwoka phLtetiw "when he found out the truth"
 * tibuhêd ghîum zhikehêwoka "after he arrived"
 * hMdîz ghîum nulilihêka "before he dies"

Reduced
The various participle forms are used, in the ablative case. The tense used reflects the tense in the "full" form of the sentence. The subject, if expressed, may be placed before or after the participle, and is also in the ablative case. E.g.:
 * dhepitum (egîrum) phLtetiw "when he found out the truth"
 * zhiketum (egîrum) "after he arrived"
 * nulidolum (egîrum) "before he dies"

Note that the selection of tense depends on the chronological relation between the main sentence and the subordinate clause. Basically, if the actions are simultaneous, a present participle is used. If the subordinate clause happens "before" the verb in the main sentence, a future participle is used. If the subordinate clause happens "after" the verb in the main sentence, a past participle is used. The choice between active and passive follows the same principles explained for adjectival clauses. Some examples:

Vocabulary

 * Swadesh List: Here we give the Swadesh List for Proto-Nekturian.

Sample

 * "Duttuddhes ûnanuddhes meddhiyang rêphliuddhes, têkmêtetum hî têlihêdundhes. Egîregdhes lesewe hî gMzêhMzêhe, ghoy tiphinga eshêolu honnu uhodluk izbêlêdubba hLnMtetik."
 * ("All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.")