Iáþi

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Iáþi (/ɪ.ɐ.θɪ/, anglicized Iathi) is a language of the Lhuban family. It is spoken in Se Nil é Λúbace on the planet Ajsliŋ (Aysling), where it is an official and national language. It is spoken as a first language by 64 million people and as a second language by an additional 4 million, mostly by native speakers of other Lhuban languages in the south of Se Nil é Λúbace.

Classification and Dialects
Iáþi is the most spoken member of the Lhuban family. It is one of three extant languages of the Northern branch, the only extant branch of the family. The other two languages, Throlyen and Vaseka, are closely related though not mutually intelligible with each other or Iáþi.

There are two main dialects of Iáþi, which are mutually intelligible. The northern dialect, known in English as Talaman after the major city of Talama, is the more innovative dialect, while the southern dialect, called Marunaean in English after the city of Marúné, is more conservative. Marunaean is the prestige dialect, although Talaman is increasing in popularity. Amongst these two main dialects are several subdialects, found primarily in major urban centers, such as Oϟaalí.

Consonants
Iáþi has the largest consonant inventory of any Lhuban language, totaling in at 31 native standard phonemes in Talaman and 36 in Marunaean.
 * speakers of Talaman have lost contrast of /ɱ/, /p͆/, /b̪/, /ɴ/ and /ɢ/, merging them with /m/, /p/, /b/, /ŋ/ and /g/ respectively
 * /s/ is voiced to [z] when in the syllable coda and the next syllable begins with a voiced consonant
 * /r/ can be realized either as [r] or [ɾ], depending on the subdialects (the city of Talama uses /ɾ/ and Marúné uses /r/)
 * voiceless plosives are normally aspirated in most dialects (notably not in the city of Awsíñ, where a large number of Vaseka speakers have settled)
 * velar and uvular consonants become labialised before rounded vowels
 * /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are found only in loanwords in Talaman; Marunaean replaces these with /s/ and /z/ respectively
 * some subdialects of Marunaean may insert a glottal stop between adjacent vowels, though speakers of the standard dialect regard this as a sign of uneducated speech

Vowels

 * Talaman merges /ɯ/, /ɯ̃/, /ɤ/ and /ɤ̃/ with /u/, /ũ/, /o/ and /õ/ respectively, and also fronts /ä/, /ä̃/, /ɐ/ and /ɐ̃/ to /a/, /ã/, /æ/ and /æ̃/ respectively
 * in Talaman, /a/ and /ã/ in open syllables (those without a coda) tend to be backed to /ɑ/ and /ɑ̃/ respectively
 * permitted diphthongs: /ṷV/, /i̭V/, /aṷ/, /ɛṷ/, /øṷ/*, /ai̭/, /ɔi̭/, /ɤi̭/* (where V stands for any vowel or other diphthong; asterisked diphthongs occur only in Marunaean)
 * diphthongs may also be nasalized
 * /ə/ may become voiceless or even be elided after voiceless consonants in rapid speech

Phonotactics
Syllables must be in the form (s)(C)(L1)V(L2)(s), where V is any vowel (including permitted diphthongs and triphthongs), C is any consonant, L1 is /s/ or /r/, and L2 is any sonorant. C must be voiceless if the syllable onset is a consonant cluster including /s/. Thus, an example of the simplest syllable possible is /ɛ/ (Eng. "a") and an example of the most complex is /scrṷɔi̭ls/ (a disease native to the continent of Meralû), though such highly complex syllables are incredibly rare.

The vowel /ə/ may only appear at the end of a word in an open syllable (i.e., one without a coda).

The Marunaean dialects permit series of two adjacent vowels of the same value (i.e., /aa/). These series may be phonetically a long vowel ([aː]), however they are analyzed phonemically as two distinct vowels. Some subdialects may insert a glottal stop in order to distinguish the two phonemic vowels ([aʔa]). Talaman dialects do not permit these sequences, assimilating them into simple single vowels (/a/).

Stress
Stress is not distinctive in Iáþi, much like in French. This means that two words may not be differentiated based on stress alone, as can be the case in English such as in the pair "dessert" and "desert." In fact, the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables is much less marked than in English, making such a distinction impossible anyway.

Writing Systems

 * Main article: Iáþi Writing Systems 

Iáþi has two native scripts, a true alphabet and a featural abugida. The alphabetic script, known as Se Hízôl, is used for everyday purposes, and has two cases, with capitalization rules similar to those of the Latin alphabet. The abugida, known as Se Φώteentar, is used for special purposes such as ceremonial events, religious scripture, or decorative design. It has only one case, though it uses a diacritical mark to mark what would otherwise be a capital letter. It can however be written in two styles, one rounded and the other square, the former being more common. All native speakers are taught to read and write in both.

The standard orthography used throughout the country is based on the Marunaean dialects, as these dialects use more phonemes than do the Talaman dialects. Words that may be distinguished in Marunaean dialects can be homophones in Talaman.

In this article, Iáþi will be transcribed in a Latin script appended with some Greek and Cyrillic characters to maintain a 1:1 phoneme to grapheme ratio. This script is called the Stón transliteration, and is as follows. * Ḿ is properly a Greek mu with a long left leg, however Unicode does not code this specific character, so an M with acute will be used for legibility

/ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are transcribed in this system as ⟨Śś⟩ and ⟨Źź⟩ respectively, however they are not included in the standard alphabet.

There are two other systems of transliteration, however the Stón system is the most common. To see these systems, please see the article Iáþi Writing Systems.

Grammar
In Iáþi, most words have roots that take the form of nouns. All basic roots of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are expressed as the absolutive case of the noun. For example, hajla is the noun "music" in the absolutive case. To form the infinitive of the verb "to perform music," one simply adds the suffix -sä to form hajlasä, which can then be conjugated. Likewise, the adjective "musical" can be formed as hajlatä and the adverb "musically" can be formed as hajlaþä.

Nouns
Nouns in Iáþi only decline directly for case. However, all nouns must carry a determiner with them. These determiners mark definiteness and number. Nouns possess no grammatical gender.

Case
Nouns in Iáþi decline for a large number of cases. In most dialects this number is 26, though some dialects still use the now-archaic vocative case. Nouns decline for cases with simple suffixes, and the unmarked noun is in the absolutive case, which is used as the subject of intransitive verbs and copulae. Examples of each case are given in the table below, with the noun жom "house, home." Some cases may be combined. For example, the ergative and accusative may be combined to express a reflexive action. "Ánnadu sevílase" means "I washed myself."

As a result of the extensive case system, Iáþi has no adpositional system. It lacks prepositions or postpositions.

Determiners
Every noun is required to carry a determiner, which may be either an article or demonstrative. Articles and demonstratives carry the noun's definiteness and number.

Verbs
Infinitive verbs in Iáþi are formed from noun roots by adding the suffix -sä to the absolutive. These infinitives may then conjugate for tense and mood, but not for voice or agreement with any arguments (i.e., the subject or object), and aspect is denoted using adverbs. Infinitives always end in -sä. The infinitive ending is then replaced with other endings to denote tense and mood. The consonant of the ending reflects the mood, and the vowel the tense. The following table demonstrates the conjugation of the verb víêsä "to see." Most verbs are regular and follow these conjugations. There are a few verbs, however, that drop the -sa ending in the present indicative. These verbs are vasä "to be," vósä "to be," masä "to have," sasä "to exist," and pésä "to do." Some colloquial speech may also do this with tasä "to go, come," though this is informal and almost never found in writing.

Moods may also be compounded, much like noun cases. To do this, one simply suffixes both endings, so that "Could you see him?" becomes "Sánna zándu víêñexe?" Note that the vowels (and thus the tense) of both suffixes are the same. The indicative cannot compound with the other moods.

Gerunds and participles are formed by suffixing noun and adjective endings to the indicative forms of the verbs, respectively. If a gerund is the subject of an intransitive verb, it takes the ergative ending.

Pronouns
Iáþi uses eighteen personal pronouns that distinguish between five persons and two numbers, and clusivity in the first person and animacy in the third and fourth persons. Pronouns do not distinguish gender or formality. Singular pronouns of the second, third, and fourth persons have two forms that are equal in meaning; they are used to distinguish between multiple possible antecedents, resolving abiguities that exist in languages such as English (e.g., "He gave him the apple."). The forms correspond to the order in which the possible antecedents were mentioned. The following is a list of pronouns:

The third person denotes a proximity close to the speaker, whereas the fourth person denotes a proximity farther from the speaker. (The third is normally used when the antecedent is within sight, and the fourth when the antecedent is not within view.) Both are translated as the third person in English. The fifth person denotes a general, nonspecific antecedent; it is often used in general truths.

Adjuncts
Adjuncts come in three forms: adjectives, adverbs, and intensifiers. As in most languages, adjectives modify nouns and adverbs modify verbs. Intensifiers can modify both adjectives and adverbs. Unlike in English, adverbs do not modify adjectives or other adverbs; this is solely the job of intensifiers.

Adjectives and adverbs can be formed from nouns using the suffixes -tä and -þä respectively. Intensifiers however are a closed word class, meaning that they have their own roots and new ones cannot be derived. Most intensifiers do not take a suffix like the -tä or -þä of adjectives and adverbs.

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs are formed using an intensifier. For the comparative, this intensifier is the word ka, while in the superlative it is kí. In comparative constructions, the comparative form of the adjective is followed by the word pá "than" and then the noun being compared in the absolutive case.

Syntax
The basic, default syntax structure in Iáþi is SOV. However, due to the extensive use of cases, word order is virtually free. In many subordinate clauses, the default order is SVO instead, though this is not universal. Additionally, Iáþi does not require a subject to be present, though it is not a pro-drop language in the sense that the Romance languages are. An absence of a subject indicates the passive voice. Modifiers always follow the word being modified. The standard modifier order is manner-place-time, which is uncommon cross-linguistically, the common orders being place-manner-time and time-manner-place.

Vocabulary

 * Main article: Iáþi Lexicon 

Example text

 * Án lússa se iáþike.
 * "I speak Iathi." IPA: [ɐn lus.sə sɛ ɪ.ɐ.θɪ.kɛ]
 * Zé téúnédu þelstä kemjesa φajlaþä le méλúþä se жóvêsce le zé çedalíce. Δándu bâxisa se crêsi le se hínólsi só δán ótrãga psa se ô dastä e tímísi se kúpevoce.
 * "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."