Nolikan

The Nolikan language (native name: Nolikine carag) is an umbrella term for a group of related dialects of the Khacheric family. The language discussed here is the classical language of the Ankawidan empire (specifically called Ankawidano carag; possibly Anglicized as Ankawidanian), modern dialects are very divergent and the speakers use this one as a standard. It is also the language of the Achobisak, the Nurkhasibite holy book.



Vowels
The vowels /e o/ are typically pronounced [e̞ o̞], but become [ɛ ɔ] before /r h x ɣ/. Nox 'nose' is pronounced [nɔx].

In unstressed open syllables /a/ becomes [ɐ], which merges with /e/ in speech of Shilkarya, where a North Khacheric language is spoken by many people, especially peasants. Mitwa 'similar' is [mitβe] for the Shilkaryanis but [mitwɐ] in Old Ankawidan.

Consonants
There is obviously some allophonic variation, as described below:
 * 1) A glottal stop occurs predictably before an initial vowel, e.g. anka 'pure' ['ʔaŋkɐ]. It may be considered phonemic or not.
 * 2) /t d n/ are dental, /l r s z ɬ/ are laminal alveolars
 * 3) /ɬ/ is affricated to [t͡ɬ] word-initially and after /x r/: ļak 'one' [t͡ɬäk]
 * 4) /n/ assimilates to a following postalveolar or velar stop
 * 5) voiced obstruents are devoiced before a voiceless one. Sabxam 'dog (loc.)' is pronounced [säp'xäm]. However, there is no anticipatory voicing: eļga 'rib' is pronounced [ʔe̞ɬgɐ]
 * 6) /w/ is [β] in Shilkarya, but this is attributed to North Khacheric influence, absent from Old Ankawidan which retains the semivowel [w].
 * 7) In the Delta, voiced fricatives are merged with the voiceless ones and voiced stops are devoiced in codas. This pronunciation is considered a parody by the rest of Nolikans.

Stress
When a word ends in a consonant, the last syllable is stressed; otherwise - the penultimate. The exceptions occur in some inflexional forms and are always marked in this grammar.

Phonotactics
Primary syllable structure of Nolikan is CV(C), where /p w/ do not occur in coda position (at least in native vocabulary) and /j/ only in muyga 'mumble, jabber'.

Geminates are banned; even in compounds they are simplified to simple consonants. However, many denizens of Ankawidan pronounced /ld/ as /ll/.

Syncope
It is an important phenomenon, occurring in many inflectional forms. Wherever three syllables of the form CV-CV-CV(C) occur, having the same vowel, the middle vowel is deleted. For example the locative of carag 'language' is cargam not caragam.

Noun
Nouns are inflected for case and number. Plurals almost always end in -ak

Nolikan has 5 cases: ergative, absolutive, dative, genitive and locative. There is also a vocative particle ya, as in ya Esax 'O God'.

There is no morphological distinction between nouns and adjectives. Nouns used as modifiers are always in absolutive singular, as in mal karzusa 'sweet kiss', ergative: mal karzusal, genitive plural: mal karzusane.

Declensions
Declension I – nouns ending in -a - cida 'day'

Declension II – nouns ending in a consonant - ļir 'dream'

Nouns that end in a stop have -še in dative plural and -ekam in locative plural: hob 'thing' yields hobše and hobekam. If tš dš clusters arise, they are simplified to c j: ubad 'horse' yields ubaje.

Nouns ending in s have an assimilation in the dative: Kutas 'Satan' yields Kutasis in dat. sing.

There is a group of nouns stressed on the penultimate syllable. They have syncope before all endings which begin with a consonant: náraj 'boat', gen. sing. narjo but gen. pl. narajne.

A number of nouns in e i, such as pulhi 'belt' belong here. Wherever a hiatus could occur, an intrusive ģ is added (pulhiģil, pulhiģak). Me 'leg' and gi 'tooth' receive a w instead.

declension III – nouns in vowels other than /a/ - mabu 'grandmother'

The noun mek 'people' has its own declension. It occurs in the plural only.

Case usage
The absolutive marks subject of an intransitive sentence or the patient in a transitive sentence, as well as subject of a sentence in the middle or reciprocal voice:


 * Axcin menduha kibam arģa 'A boy sits in front of the house'
 * Dixkimek mospata 'The pagans were defeated'
 * Zaxum si zaxod ris karazo 'Husband and wife are kissing'

The ergative marks the agent in a transitive sentence. It is also used for causes of states and events:


 * ahmeha jahrisal sul 'Sad because of a friend's death

With verbs of perception, the roles are reversed:


 * Binat cumanil linate 'The girl saw a barbarian' (he caused her to see him)

The genitive marks possessor: It is also used before relational nouns:
 * axcino sabax 'the boy's dog'
 * tolokne niram 'above the trees'

The dative marks indirect objects, as well as a superior in a relationship:
 * Xasibil Isoliš yag kenate 'Khasib gave the knife to Isol'
 * axcince menor 'the boys' father'
 * Esaxiš jimran 'I worship God'

Subjects of modal verbs and verbs of knowledge and perception are in the dative:
 * Lamiš salawam colasa pirnat 'Noone is allowed to run naked'
 * Neš kur la sulpat 'I don't know this'

It marks also the goal of motion:


 * Ļimsariš dode 'the road to Tlimsar'

The ablative marks origin or source of motion:
 * Acwirex zelanda 'I went from the city (by foot)'
 * Wine carag Esaxex kenate 'Our language is a gift from God'

This case is regularly used only in the Achobisak. In the classical language, which is around 200 years longer, it is replaced by the genitive except of personal pronouns.

The locative marks location or path: It is the case in which the relational nouns are used:
 * acwiram mek 'the people in the city'
 * dodayam zela 'he is going down the road'
 * biškum šayam 'inside the belly'

As the example above indicates, it is also used before relational nouns if the location is inside the landmark chosen.

The locative has also an adverbial and comparative function:
 * cetikam tol zalat 'She sings freely' (sc. as she wants to)
 * horbiļam ruz 'evil as a demon'

Most verbs have an ergative-absolutive allignment, but some have different. As seen above, jimra 'to worship, pray' has absolutive-dative, as do some other verbs, e.g. šarbe 'love'.

Relational nouns
Relational nouns are normal nouns gramatically, but they are distinguished by their meanings. Generally, they denote spatial relations. For example, nir means 'up', 'the upper part of something'. Relational nouns in the locative, genetive and dative are equivalents of Indo-European prepositions. Therefore, niram means 'above' or 'about', niro or nirex means 'from above' and niriš 'up (as a direction)'. Similarly, ļub means 'lack (of something)' but ļubam is 'without'.

Personal pronouns
Among personal pronouns remains ģet, having the meaning of 'one's own'. Cf.
 * Mehendimil ģet rahib pezalata 'Warrior picked up his sword' (his own)
 * Mehendimil to rahib pezalata 'Warrior picked up his sword' (e.g. his enemy's)

Demonstrative pronouns
There are three basic ones: kad 'so', kur 'this' and haģe 'that'. They are the basis of all demonstrative expressions:
 * kadi 'such', derived from kad using the standard nominalizing morpheme -i.
 * kuram 'here' and hayam 'there' (both are locative cases, the latter was shortened from haģayam)
 * kum < *kur xazum 'now' and hazum < *haģe xazum 'then'

Negative and interrogative pronouns
They form pairs, differing only in initial consonant:
 * mam 'who' and lam 'no one'
 * mina 'where' and lina 'nowhere'
 * maļ 'what' and ļaļ 'nothing'
 * mange 'which' and lange 'neither'
 * ma and la (see below)

There are three interrogative pronouns with no negative counterpart: mište 'how many', max 'when' and mok 'how'. Case forms are also employed: maļo means 'why' and maļil - 'what for'.

There are also negative pronouns resulting from prefixing la 'no' before a demonstrative pronoun or relational noun, e.g. lakad 'no way' or laxzum 'never'.

Nolikan has no wh-movement, unlike English:


 * Šarbidan maļ? 'What is love?'
 * Šarnaxil mam mandate? 'Whom has the sharnakh eaten?'

Yes/no questions are formed by placing ma before the sentence:


 * Ma  šec sawa line? 'Do you see it'

Any word can be negated by using la (al before vowels). To negate a sentence, one adds it before the entire VP:
 * Tawa al Esaxiš zibat. 'She does not believe in God'

Another negative particle, bano, implies that the information negated used to be true:
 * Bano en wimaj. 'I am no longer strong'

Indefinite pronoun
Nolikan uses one indefinite pronoun, in. It is juxtaposed with a noun to produce the meaning desired, e.g.
 * in hob 'anything'
 * in mij 'any man', 'anyone'
 * in xazum 'anytime'

Verbs
Verbs agree with the absolutive argument of the sentence. There is no infinitive; the quotation form is the 3rd person present tense. Note that in the 3rd person there is no difference between numbers.

Nolikan is pro-drop, but when absolutive personal pronouns are used for emphatic purposes, the verb is used in the 3rd person (better described as unmarked). Cf. jolun 'I'm alive' vs. en jolo 'I am alive'

The verbs presented are representative of the three regular conjugations. They mean 'lead, drink, hurt'. Obviously, there are irregularities within these paradigms. There are also four so-called zero-stem verbs: ja 'do', xot 'make', pol 'to be possible' and tis (existential verb). Every of them has its peculiarities, but ja was used as a representative.

Aorist
The aorist is used to express things true regardless of time; much like English Present Simple.

Past
If the stem contains already a c or j, the second person singular has št</tt> instead of c</tt>: eja 'to become' yields ejašta 'you became'.

Future
The future, apart from its obvious function, expresses impossible things:
 * Takšahiš dode mina decore? 'Where is (literally: will be found) the road to Texas?' (Texas was on another planet and there is no road there)

Moods
The imperative has two inflexional forms:

The imperatives work as in a nominative-accusative language, with object in the absolutive put after them (this is the only exception from the verb-final word order):
 * Mandi wed! 'Eat bread'

Optative is formed using the particle du after the verb in any tense:
 * Nal kur solkel la mahate du. 'I wish I hadn't drunk that wine'
 * Lemyadan cal decore du. 'May you find happiness'

Voice
There are two voices apart from the active: middle, formed by the particle ra and reciprocal by ris:
 * jegut 'they are hurt'
 * ra jegut 'they hurt themselves'
 * ris jegut 'they hurt one another/each other'

These particles occur typically after the subject, but not necessarily.

Numerals
Other numbers are formed in a completely regular way, by summing the multiples of powers of ten: 2744 is po tehirak xaje tagniyak bir šodak bir.

Fractions are formed with the denominator in ablative plural: maxke pehexak '3/8'.

Derivational morphology
Suffixation is the most common derivational process. Most common suffixes are given below:


 * -m – added to a verbal stem to form name of an agent
 * kumre 'to listen' →kumrim 'listener'
 * -sa (assimilated to ša if there is a š</tt> in the root) to form nomina actionis:
 * karazo 'to kiss' →karzusa 'a kiss'
 * takše 'to roam' → takšiša 'rage'
 * -g and -ļ had a similar function, but are no longer productive:
 * cara 'to speak' → carag 'language'
 * iboka 'to fantasize' → ibokaļ 'story'
 * -d –forms names of patients:
 * juke 'to hunt' →juked 'game animal'
 * -dan (with -tan and -an as variants) form abstract nouns:
 * bar 'precious' →bardan 'price'
 * toš 'equal' →toštan 'equality'
 * wimaj 'strong' →wimajan 'strength'
 * -kar and -men for place names
 * nuda 'to wash' →nudakar 'bathroom'
 * han/ hand- 'flower' →handikar 'garden'
 * waho 'deity' →wahomen 'a shrine'
 * -i (-ni after a vowel) forms names of inhabitants:
 * Yoket →Yoketi 'Yoketian'
 * Šilkarya →Šilkaryani
 * the same suffix forms names of members of collectives:
 * cuma 'horde' →cumani 'barbarian, vandal'
 * -cin for diminutives and -mu for augmentatives:
 * pilac 'heart' →pilacin 'little heart'
 * bur 'settlement' →bormu 'town'
 * -hob (in itself meaning 'thing') for inanimate objects:
 * šil 'beautiful' →šilhob 'ornament'
 * ziwale 'to play' →ziwalihob 'toy'
 * -waš forms names of people according to their affinities:
 * jego 'hurt' →jegwaš 'cruel'

The most unusual part of the Nolikan derivational system are infixes, used to form verbs from verbs. They are usually placed before the last consonant of the root:


 * ⟨tu⟩ - causative (used only with intransitive verbs)
 * jolo 'to live' →jotulo 'to conceive', 'to beget'
 * ⟨xa⟩ - trying to achieve the meaning of the main verb
 * pela 'to hold' →pexala 'to desire'
 * ⟨za⟩ - inchoative
 * xirpe 'to sleep' →xirzape 'to fall asleep'
 * ⟨li⟩ - strengthening the meaning of the main verb
 * tiba 'to lead' →tiliba 'to rule'
 * ⟨ni⟩ - end of an action
 * jolo 'to live' →jonilo 'to die of natural causes'

The only really productive prefix is ku-, adding a sinister aspect to the meaning:
 * kel 'water' →kukel 'flood'
 * šub 'fast' →kušub 'mad, insane'

Nolikan has also many compound words, especially tatpurusas, cf. duštisabax 'dachshund' (literally: hole-dog). Compounds with verbs (cf. zaljun < zala-jun 'sing-woman', 'songstress') and relational nouns (cf. biškawada 'belly-below', 'crotch') are also common.

There are two affixes used to form verbs from nouns: Periphrastic constructions are often employed instead, e.g. anka eja 'to be purified', literally 'to become pure'.
 * -e - 'to perform an action'
 * xur 'breath' → xure 'to breathe'
 * -no - 'to imitate someone or something'
 * sabax 'dog' → sabaxno 'to follow'

Syntax
Nolikan uses typically SOV word order and is consistently head-final. As in any fusional language, the word order is more free than in English.

Equative sentences
Nolikan has no copula. The meaning is achieved by combining two nouns in the absolutive:
 * Ankawidan karu 'Land of the Pure is rich'
 * Kur mij gilbad 'This man is a chieftain'

There is also an emphatic construction with the noun toš 'equal':


 * Hejamo Warestan huje lemyadano toš 'The Golden Order is (equal to) happiness for all'

Expressing possession
There is no verb meaning 'to have'. Two constructions, both using the dative, can be used to replace it:


 * Joniš yag kenate. 'The woman as a knife', literally: 'A knife has been given to the woman'
 * Jon iš  yag tiste. Literally, 'woman's knife exists'.

The construction with the existential verb tis in the aorist is obligatory when talking about inalienable entities:


 * T awiš  šil xorak tiste 'She has beautiful eyes'

Comparisons
Comparisons are done using the relational noun pan 'beyond':
 * Isol Xasibo panam wimaj. 'Isol is stronger than Khasib' (literally: strong beyond Khasib)

Superlative is replaced by the word hupan, etymologically hud-pan 'beyond all':
 * Hupan perdu 'the ugliest'
 * Hupan yatwe 'the wisest'

Before non-adjectival nouns, hupan acquires the meaning of 'having the most typical qualities of an X' or 'superior as an X':
 * Hupan kuwid 'the greatest despot'
 * Hupan binat 'the most girly girl'

Relative clauses
There is a relativizer, dar, used to form all relative clauses:


 * Mijil solkel mahe 'Man drinks wine'
 * mijil mahe dar solkel 'the wine drunk by the man'
 * tol solkel mahe dar mij 'the man that drinks wine'


 * Axcin arģa 'Boy sits'
 * Arģa dar axcin 'the boy that sits'

Pronouns in the absolutive are absorbed by the relativizer; those in other cases are not.
 * Haģe hobne ļubam joludan saļub 'Without those things life is worthless'
 * So ļubam joludan saļub dar hobak 'Things, without which life is worthless'

Often, especially with temporal and locative phrases, periphrastic strategies are employed instead of the relativizer, such as nominalization:


 * Cumanil zalsaha xazum karzatoris. 'They kissed when the barbarian was singing' (literally: during the barbarian's singing)

Conjunctions
Among most popular ones are:
 * ahno 'so': Jahred da, ahno la zahlare 'He is dead, so he won't answer'
 * aštu 'in order to', 'so that': Mek mulut aštu taļ mandit. 'People work in order to eat'
 * bil 'because': Meljandiyak ruzak bil šarnaxce jimrat 'The Meljanese are evil, because they worship sharnakhs'
 * šundam used to introduce locative clauses: šundam handak tiste, wice xirpisa korja 'We want to sleep where there are flowers'
 * sax 'but': la nokri da, sax arzu 'It's no hawk, it's an eagle'
 * si 'and': axcin si binat 'Boy and girl'
 * ter 'if': Ter šec la mulusa korja, la mandi 'If you don't want to work, don't eat'
 * ter is also used to introduce temporal clauses: Ter cumanil zalata, ris karzato 'They kissed when the barbarian was singing'
 * ul 'or': cetik ul jahred 'Free or dead'

Unlike English, Nolikan does not permit connecting sentences without conjunctions.

Quoting
Nolikan does not use indirect speech. The sentence quoted is incorporated into the main one as the pronoun kur and then pronounced verbatim:


 * Botil kur carata, ģitoļ zalat, literally 'The old man said this, the stars sing'.

Personal names
A child is given name on its first birthday and it is believed that Esakh (God) gives it a soul in this very moment.

Masculine names are either references to martial (Ahmelati 'Friendly Arm') or moral (Dixkiļub 'Without Frivolity') virtues or to animals admired for their strength and virility (Takšim 'Tiger').

Girls can have names of moral virtues too (Ankadan 'Purity'), but more often their names allude to beauty (Barhejam 'Precious Gold') or pleasure (Core Xaje 'Sweet Seven' ).

It is characteristic of the Nolikans to use negated names of vices (Alikril 'Not Vain'), in line with the Achobisak commandment to express contempt for Kutas.

Use of compound nouns as names is considered aristocratic.

The name of the prophet, Nurxasib (literally, 'Virtue-Peace') is not given to any other man, but various phonetically similar names are common. Titles such as "the absolute role-model" (Wastatin Jexibar) and "the happiness of the universe" (Hutistano Lemyadan) can also be alluded to, giving seemingly nonsensical names like Wasjex, Hulem or Nurab.

Writing system
Nolikan has its own syllabary, based on the Yoketian syllabary, which was created from earlier ideograms. For example the syllable &lt;ya&gt; is written using a descendant of ancient Yoketian hieroglyph for ram (ya'ak). Each CV syllable has its own unique glyph. More complex syllables are written using combinations of two or three glyphs, as in maxke, written &lt;ma-xa-ke&gt;.

Nolikan version
Ecanam, tawiš la kumaļ tis dar jiyaš ubadak linate: ļakil šuhad ohruhob ohrato si ļakil pod šuhadan apato si ļakil mij šubam apato. Jiyal ubaje kur carata: „Ne pilac jego, ter mijil ubadak osturo dar neš line.” Ubadoļ haģe zahlata: „Kumri, ya jiya, lune pilacak jego, ter kur luce line: podwidam mijil kumaļo ģet lumre uxtelax xot. Si jiyaš la kumaļ tis.” Jiyaš kur kumrate, ahno tawa šolmiš colilato.

Gloss
Hill-LOC, 3sg.DAT no wool exist.PRS.3 REL sheep-DAT horse-PL see-PST.3: one-ERG heavy wagon pull-PST.3 and one-ERG big load carry-PST.3 and one-ERG man fast-LOC carry-PST.3. Sheep-ERG horse-DAT.PL this speak-PST.3: "my heart hurt.PRS.3, when man-ERG horse-PL drive.PRS.3 REL 1sg.DAT see.PRS.3." Horse.ERG.PL that answer.PST.3: "Listen-IMP, VOC sheep, 1pl.EXCL.GEN heart.PL hurt.PRS.3, when this 1pl.EXCL.DAT see.PRS.3: lord-LOC man-ERG wool-GEN own warm clothing make.PRS.3. And sheep-DAT no wool exist.PRS.3" Sheep.DAT this hear.PST.3, so 3sg plain-DAT flee-PST.3

Literal translation
On a hill, a sheep which had no wool saw horses: one was pulling a heavy wagon, one was carrying a big load and one was carrying fast a man. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart hurts when I see man driving horses". The horses answered: "Listen, sheep, our hearts hurt when we see this: man, the lord, makes his warm clothes from wool. And sheep has no wool". Sheep heard this so she fled for a plain"