Amarimnu

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Type
Alignment
Head direction
Tonal
No
Declensions
No
Conjugations
No
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect

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General information

 Amarimnu is a fictional language spoken on a fictional island in the East Mediterranean, it is descended from the Semitic language family but much of its vocabulary comes from the Mediterranean Lingua Franca and to a lesser extent from Italian, Turkish, English and Greek. Grammatically, Amarimnu has made some developments which also sets it apart from other Semitic languages.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal	m /m/		n /n/
Plosive	b /b/ p /p/		d /d/ t /t/		k /k/			q /ʔ/*
Fricative		d /ð/* t /θ/*	s /s/ z /z/	ş /ʃ/	g /ɣ/*		â /ʕ/* ħ /ħ/	h /h/
Affricate			ẓ /t͡s/
Approximant			l /l/		w /w/
Trill			r /r/*			r /ʀ/*
Flap or tap			r /ɾ/*

• "t" is realized both as /θ/ and /t/, while d is realized both as /ð/ and /d/. This is a difference between mountainous (the former) and coastal (the latter) Amarimnu; both are accepted forms.

• the standard form of "g" is /ɣ/. "g" is pronounced as /k/ when it is immediately followed by another consonant.

• "r" is pronounced in a variety of ways, depending on a person's dialect. These differences are respected.

• "â" is pronounced as /ʕ/ (not to be confused with the glottal stop /ʔ/). However, there are some differences. If â is immediately followed by "i" or "j" they are together pronounced as [eɪ] or [eː]. At the end of the word it is pronounced as /ħ/.

• "q" is pronounced as /ʔ/. However, in some dialects it is pronounced as /k/ if "q" stands between two vowels. It is also pronounced /k/ if "q" is followed by the word ending -Vr (jaqar is pronounced /jakar/, not /jaʔar/).

• "h" is often pronounced as /ħ/ at the end of a word. 

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e
Mid		o
Open	a

Diphthong

Diphthong	IPA
aj	aɪ
aj	eɪ
aw	oː

"aw" is often pronounced as "o", especially on the coast. 

Alphabet

The Amarimnu alphabet consists of 25 letters (C, F, V, X and Y do not occur in Amarimnu):

 A B D E G H Ħ I J K L M N O P Q R S Ş T U W Z Ẓ

Stress

Stress is usually on the last syllable but often also on the penultimate syllable, depending on the syllable weight. There are extreme exceptions, in long words, where the stress is even further back, but those are not very numerous.

Grammar

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Nouns	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adpositions	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Article	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Pronouns

Pronouns are quite regular, with some exceptions. 

Past		Subject	Possessive 1	Possessive 2	Direct object	Indirect
1st singular	I	enek	işeli	-ẓi	-iti	-li
2nd singular m / f	you (m) you (f)	etti(wi) ett(wi)	işelga işelig	-ẓga -ẓig	-itga -itig	-lga -lig
3rd singular m / f	he (m) she (f)	hu(we) hija(we)	işelu işelħa	-ẓu -ẓij	-itu -itij	-lu -la
1st plural 1st plural	we we*	nagnu enagnu	işelnu iẓelnu	-ẓnu -ẓna	-itnu -itin	-lnu -lne
2nd plural m / f	you (m) you (f)	ettmu ettni	işelmu işelni	-ẓmu -ẓni	-itmu -itni	-lmu -lni
3rd plural m / f*	they (m) they (f)	ettum ettun	işelum işelun	-ẓum -ẓun	-itum -itun	-lum -lun

• There is a difference between etti and ettiwi or hija and hijawe. The latter is used to create extra "passion" in speech. For example, the compliment "etti miqet" ("you are 100 - you are great) is something one would say to a friend. "Ettiwi miqet" is something one would say to a date. Note that "miqet" is pronounced as "mi'et" as "q" is a glottal stop.

• The first plural has two variants. The first one is the regular first plural. The second one is a special case. Its use is highly subjective. In this case "we" can be understood as family or close friends. For example, at the beginning of basic training, Kbirbian shoulder shout "nagnu jaburim!" (we are warriors!). When they finished their course they will shout "enagnu jaburim!" (we are warriors! and we are a close group of people). An even stronger variant exists in mountain dialects, "ẓenagna". This form of we gives a certain value to the "we" group which the other group lacks. For example, "ẓenagna jaburim!" would mean something like "We are warriors, and they are not".

• The female variant of the third person plural is only used in some dialects nowadays, instead only the male or "neutral" variant is used. There is a trend to do the same with the second person plural but  this is not widely accepted.

Demonstrative, Relative and Interrogative 

who = mi

what = mu

this/these = qze (in modern Amerimnu "this" doesn't change depending on the gender or plurality of the noun)

that/those = hi (like "qze", "that" doesn't change)

where = ajwo

to where = leqan

why = lamo / madu

that/which/who/whom = şe

when = mitai

how = aig

something = maşeşu

someone = mişeşu

anything = minim

Noun

Nouns inflect depending on gender and number. There are no cases for nouns as we know them in Indo-European languages. 

Article

There is no indefinite article, but there is a definite article "ha". The definite article changes when the following noun starts with the following consonants: d, n, r, s, ş, t, ẓ, or z. See below:

borak = (a) blessing

haborak = the blessing

hat-traqisun = the treason

had-dolşi = the candy

Gender and number

All nouns in Amarimnu are either male or female, nouns can be singular, dual or plural. In general, nouns ending on –o, -u, or a consonant are masculine and others are female. Words like daughter (bitt) are female nouns despite this general rule. Nouns are highly regular in written Modern Amarimnu, although stress and vowel length may change in the case of dual and plural nouns. The dual is still extensively used. 

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Masculine	-	-jim	-im / -ijim*
Feminine	-	-jit	-it

• Nouns ending on "ar" get the suffix -ijim in plural. For example: hadar / hadijim (home / homes).

Construct state

The construct is a noun form, though not a case, where one noun modifies another noun. It is the head noun, not the dependent noun which is modified. The head noun loses the definite article, while the dependent noun doesn't. The final vowel is removed. See the examples below the table.

Construct State	Singular	Dual	Plural
Masculine	-âm	-jâm	-lem
Feminine	-ât	-jât	-let

Construct state 1: wabrikâm helegem = the bread factory (lit. factory-of thebread). 

Construct state 2: wabrikantâm haklida = the ice cream manufacturer (lit. manufacturer-of the-icecream).

Construct state 3: wabriklem hawabrikanta = the factories of the manufacturer (lit. factories-of the-manufacturer).

Besides the construct state, there are other options to show possession. For example:

Example 1: hawabrikim işelu = the factories of him (lit. the factories his).

Example 2: hawabrikimẓu = the factories of him (lit. the factories-his). 

Verbal noun

The verbal noun is formed by the suffix "-kba". Take for example the verb "şerub" (to drink) --> "şerubkba" (drinking) --> "haşerubkba" (the drinking).

Verbs

Verbs in Amarimnu have two tenses: the past and the non-past tense. They are conjugated as follows. Both use the root form "drink" (şerub).

		Past	Past (2)	Non-Past
1st singular	I - enek	şerbudi	şerdibu	ekşerub
2nd singular m / f	you (m) - etti you (f) - ett	şerbuda şerbud	şerdabu şerdbu	tişerubi tişerub
3rd singular m / f	he (m) - hu she (f) - hija	şerbuqa şerbuqo	şerabu şerobu	uşerub juşerub
1st plural	we - nagnu	şerbunu	şernubu	nuşerub
2nd plural m / f	you (m) - ettmu you (f) - ettni	şerbudim şerbudin	şerimbu şerinbu	imşerub inşerub
3rd plural m / f*	they (m) - ettum they (f) - ettun	şerbuqum şerbuqun	şerumbu şerunbu	j(um)şerub j(un)şerub

Past tense

The past tense conjugation is rather easy. The conjugation depends on person, number and (except for the 1st singular and 1st plural) gender. The conjugation of almost all verbs is regular. As we can see, the last consonant and the last vowel of the root verb have changed places: şerub --> şerbu. In the case of the 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural, one can see the letter "q" in the conjugation. Again this is a glottal stop: şerbuqum for English speakers would sound like "sherbu'um". 

The second past tense as the name reveals is not used as often anymore. One can still find its use in official texts and theater plays but also in many dialects. All mountain dialects still use it. Instead of suffixes, infixes are used which are almost the same as those of the normal past tense. Do notice the difference for the 2nd plural though (-dim/-din vs. -im/in). This tense is used when something happened before the other verb in the past tense. Take for example the difference in these two sentences.

Enek şerbudi w hu şerbuqa kawe = I drank and he drank coffee (at the same time or unclear in which order).

Enek şerdibu w hu şerbuqa kawe = I drank coffee before he drank coffee or I drank coffee and then he drank coffee.

It can also be used to explain that something happened very far in the past.

Enek şerbudi miim mim hamabbu. = I drank water from the fountain.

Enek şerdibu miim mim hamabbu. = I drank water from the fountain (years ago). 

Non-past tense

The non-past tense uses prefixes and in one case also a suffix. The non past is used for both present and future tense, though unless the context says differently it is usually expected to be the present tense. Grammatically the sentence below has two meanings:

Enek ekşerub gamr. = I drink wine / I will drink wine. 

Enek ekşerub hagamr. = I drink the wine / I will drink the wine. 

However, some moods, aspects and particles are used to clarify that something will happen in the future and not in the present. In spoken language, few people actually say "Enek ekşerub gamr". More likely alternatives are "Qnekşerub (ʔnekşerub) gamr" or "Enekşerub gamr" or even "Nekşerub gamr". 

Voice

There are five voices: active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal and intensive.

Active: Enek nişkraditig = I kissed her (notice that  nişkraditig =  nişkradi + itig, where itig loses its first i).

Passive Past: Enek jiħnişkradi = I was kissed.

Passive (non-Past): Enek jiħeknişkar = I am kissed / I will be kissed.

Reflexive: Enek neẓajredi = I drew myself. 

Reciprocal: Nagnu neẓẓajrrenu = We drew each other. 

Reciprocal (2): Nagnu 'ne'ẓnuowwew  = We love each other. 

Reciprocal (3): Nagnu netowwenu = We loved each other (note: NOT  Nagnu netowwwenu). 

Reciprocal (4): Netowenu = We loved each other (spoken language).

Not that for the reciprocal voice the difference with the reflexice voice is that the final consonant of the root verb (ẓajer) is doubled. The infix for the reflexive and reciprocal voice is -net-, but in case the next consonant is a {d, n, r, s, ş, t, ẓ, or z} the letter t is dropped and the next consonant is instead doubled. This is the case for the first and second reciprocal voice, but not for the third example (where next letter is a vowel). In the third example, there is no doubling of the second consonant as three "w" in a row would never be pronounced. In spoken language (example 4) "We loved each other" may be as short as "Netowenu", where even the second consonant is dropped altogether as well as the personal pronoun. 

Intensive: Enek ekowwew! =  I love you so much! 

Active: Enek ekowew! =  I love you!

The intensive mood is a tricky one to use. In the example above it's simply about a degree of affection. But with other verbs it could mean the difference between dislike and hate or working for someone or being used as a slave. It also very much depends on context.

Causative: Enek eksononetitig = I made her hate me. 

Active: Enek eksonetitig = I hate her (Enek eksonet = I hate -itig = her).

The causative mood, created by the infix -on- after the first consonant of the verb, is now obsolete in spoken language and most written language. One can still finds its use in literature, but increasingly less so. 

Mood

There are five special moods for verbs: cohortative, imperative, jussive, subjunctive and conditional. 

Cohortative: Kipeskar = Let us fish (nagnu nupeskar = we fish).

Imperative: Rajaked = Speak (Etti tijakedi = you (m) speak).

Imperative: Rijaked = Speak (Ett tijaked = you (f) speak).

Imperative: Reħjaked = Speak (Ettmu umjakedu = you all (male) speak).

Imperative: Reħjaked = Speak (Ettni imjaked = you all (female) speak).

Jussive: Ẓijaked = He/she/they (must) speak. 

The cohortative mood can only be used for the non-past verb tense for the first person plural. The imperative can only be used for the non-past verb tense for the second person singular and plural. As you can see there is no difference between the second person plural male and female versions, unlike the normal non-past tense. The jussive is used for the third person in the non-past tense but it is now largely obsolete. It's the same regardless of number or gender. 

Subjunctive & conditional:  Enek şekruẓ = I may run (Enek ekruẓ = I run).

The subjunctive and conditional use the same form, the meaning depends on the context.

Verbal aspects & particles

Below are verbal aspects and particles, note that not all are used regularly.  

Inchoative: Enek mâdekruẓ = I start to run. 

In some dialects the inchoative is used a future tense to distinguish it from the non-past tense. This is a recent development in some coastal dialects. To use the inchoative as a present tense scuh dialects need context. For them "Enek mâdekruẓ" means "I will run", while for the use in the present it needs context: "Enek mâdekruẓ agşaw" means "I start to run right now". Some linguistics postulate that the inchoative aspect will be adopted a simple future tense by most speakers of Amarimnu. However it must be noted that those dialects do not use it as a future tense if the time in the future is known. An example for these dialects:

Enek mâdekruẓ = I will run (when is unclear, inchoative used).

Enek ekruẓ âdlajla = I will run at night (time is clear, non-past tense used). 

Gnomic future: Marijim prekarmeş = Bishops will pray / Mar prekarmeş= A bishop will pray.

A gnomic future aspect is used if something happens in the future because this is how it has always been done, one may logically assume it will go like this again. The suffix -meş is added to the non-past verb while the verb itself is not conjugated at all.

Continuous: Hija tâk judormir bijardin = She is napping in the garden or she will be napping in the garden.

Past Continuous: Hija tâk dormrio bijardin = She was napping in the garden. Simply by adding "tâk" in front of (but not attached to) a verb one creates a present or past continuous.

Future decision/desire: Had-dej mâk umedaber ingliş likreħ haambaẓador.

Future obligation: Had-dej miẓ umedaber ingliş likreħ haambaẓador.

In both cases the sentence can be translated as "The governor (...) will speak English to the ambassador". But there is a difference. In the first case (mâk), the governor has either made the decision to speak English or really wants to speak English at his future meeting with the ambassador. In the second case (miẓ),  the governor has to speak English because maybe the president ordered him to or maybe out of necessity because the ambassador does not speak Amarimnu. 

The verb to be 

There is no verb "to be" in Amarimnu like there is in English.

Example: Tutim sano = Mulberries are healthy (lit. mulberries healthy).

Example: Hakaweẓu kar = The coffee is cold (lit. the coffee cold).

Example: Kaweẓu kar = His coffee is cold (lit. coffee-his cold).

For the future tense "mât" is used (not to be confused with the inchoative mât), it is not conjugated. 

Example: Hakawe mât kar = The coffee will be cold. 

Example: Haamaẓbag mât netto = The kitchen will be clean. 

For the past tense "awar" is used. 

Example: Hagalav awar fada = The milk was tasteless. 

Example: Hagalav w hakawe awar bihaamaẓbag = The mulberry and the coffee were in the kitchen. 

Adjectives

Adjectives are written behind the noun. As a qualifier, the adjective agrees with its noun in gender and number. If the preceding noun is in its definite form, then so is the article. If this doesn’t happen it changes the meaning of the words. Female adjectives are realized by simply adding “a” to the adjective if the adjective ends in a consonant, or by removing the final vowel and then adding “a”. Duals and plurals are written with the suffix “-im” (masculine) or  "-ot" (feminime). Adjectives follow the noun.

Haz-zet hawerde = the green olive (masculine singular)

Haz-zetjim hawerdim = the two green olives (masculine dual)

Haz-zetim hahalwim hawerdim = the sweet green olives (masculine plural)

Ha-kaliotta hawerda = the green boat (feminine singular)

Ha-kaliottjit hawerdot = the two green boats (feminine dual)

Ha-kaliottot hawerdot = the green boats (feminine dual)

Verbal adjectives 

These are nouns derived from verbs, using the root of the verb. Attributive adjectives follow the noun while predicate adjectives precede the noun and do not change with regards to definiteness. Both change with regards to gender and number. 

haiş haşerub = the drinking man.

şerub haiş = the man is drinking.

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives for adverbs and adjectives are created in the following way:

- One-vowel, one consonant: the vowel is removed and an “i” prefix and suffix are added.

ur (light) --> iri (lighter)

- One-vowel: the vowel is removed and the “i” prefix and suffix are added.

mit (dead) --> imti (deadlier)

- Two vowels, one of which is an “a” vowel: both are replaced by “i”. 

berak (blessed) --> birik (more blessed) 

- Two vowels, without an “a” vowel: the first vowel is changed to “i”. 

leben (white) --> liben (whiter) 

- Two vowels, one or more of which is an “i” vowel: the suffix “â” is added after the second vowel.

bibir (drunk) --> bibiâr (more drunk)

- More than three consonants, the adverb or adjective remains unchanged but “ager” (more) is added preceding the adverb or adjective. 

zhiraqit (careful) --> ager zhiraqit (more careful) 

The English "like" translates into "ksaħ", see for example the sentence "This man is like my brother":

Qze aiş ksaħ agẓi (lit. this man like brother-mine).

The English "than" translates into "min", which is used in the comparative form, se for example the example sentence "this house is more expensive than that house":. 

Qze bait ili min hi bait (lit. this house more expensive than that house). 

The superlative can be created in two ways, the first way is to double the noun and put it in the construct state:

kaâm hakam = the greatest valley (lit. the valley of valleys)

Another way is to add the definite article to the comparative form of the adjective or adverb:

hakam haliben = the whitest valley (lit. the valley the whiter)

The number system

Ordinal & Cardinal

In Amarimnu there are both masculine and feminine numbers. There are unique ordinal numbers for 1 to 10. From 11 onwards cardinal and ordinal numbers are the same. The number 1 is treated as an adjective which is placed behind the noun, all others precede the noun. Number 2 is treated as a dual noun, while all others are considered singular nouns. There exists separate feminine and masculine numbers for 0 to 19. Masculine nouns are preceded by feminine numbers while feminine nouns are preceded by masculine numbers. For regular counting the feminine form is used. 

iş egad = one man

işa ehada = one woman

ştaim işjim = two men

şnaim işajit = two women

haiş har-rişona = the first man

haş-ştimi haiş = the second man

haş-ştimi haişjim = the second two men

haş-ştimi haişim = the second men (more than two)

haş-şalişi haişim = the third men 

	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
0	epeẓ	epeẓ	n/a	n/a
1	ehad	egad	rişon	rişona
2	şnaim	ştaim	şnimi	ştimi
3	şaloşe	şaloş	şaloşiqi	şalişi
4	arbâqa	arbâ	arbâqiqi	arbiqi
5	gameẓa	gameẓ	gameẓiqi	gamiẓi
6	şetta	şet	şettiqi	şiti
7	şebqa	şebat	şebqiqi	şebiti
8	şmona	şmonet	şmoniqi	şmoniti
9	dişâ	dişat	dişiqi	dişiti
10	âşer	qeser	âşiri	qeseri
11	ehad âşre	egat esra
12	ehad âşre	esra
13	şnim âşre	esra
14	şloşe âşre	şloş esra
15	gmeẓa âşre	gme eẓra
16	şett âşre	şet esra
17	şebqa âşre	şebat esra
18	şmon âşre	şmonet esra
19	diş âşre	dişat esra
20		âşrin
21		âşrin w egat
30		şloşim
31		şloşim w egat
40		arbâm
50		gamsiin
60		şitiin
70		şabâm
80		şmonim
90		dişân
100		miqet
200		mqtain
300		şaloş miqet
400		arbâ miqet
500		gameẓ miqet
600		şet miqet
700		şebat miqet
800		şmonet miqet
900		dişat miqet
1000		elp
2000		elpjim
1 mil.		miljun

Vocabulary

No.	English
1	I	—
2	you (singular)	—
3	he	—
4	we	—
5	you (plural)	—
6	they	—
7	this	—
8	that	—
9	here	—
10	there	—
11	who	—
12	what	—
13	where	—
14	when	—
15	how	—
16	not	—
17	all	—
18	many	—
19	some	—
20	few	—
21	other	—
22	one	—
23	two	—
24	three	—
25	four	—
26	five	—
27	big	—
28	long	—
29	wide	—
30	thick	—
31	heavy	—
32	small	—
33	short	—
34	narrow	—
35	thin	—
36	woman	—
37	man (adult male)	—
38	man (human being)	—
39	child	—
40	wife	—
41	husband	—
42	mother	—
43	father	—
44	animal	—
45	fish	—
46	bird	—
47	dog	—
48	louse	—
49	snake	—
50	worm	—
51	tree	—
52	forest	—
53	stick	—
54	fruit	—
55	seed	—
56	leaf	—
57	root	—
58	bark	—
59	flower	—
60	grass	—
61	rope	—
62	skin	—
63	meat	—
64	blood	—
65	bone	—
66	fat	—
67	egg	—
68	horn	—
69	tail	—
70	feather	—
71	hair	—
72	head	—
73	ear	—
74	eye	—
75	nose	—
76	mouth	—
77	tooth	—
78	tongue	—
79	fingernail	—
80	foot	—
81	leg	—
82	knee	—
83	hand	—
84	wing	—
85	belly	—
86	guts	—
87	neck	—
88	back	—
89	breast	—
90	heart	—
91	liver	—
92	drink	—
93	eat	—
94	bite	—
95	suck	—
96	spit	—
97	vomit	—
98	blow	—
99	breathe	—
100	laugh	—
101	see	—
102	hear	—
103	know	—
104	think	—
105	smell	—
106	fear	—
107	sleep	—
108	live	—
109	die	—
110	kill	—
111	fight	—
112	hunt	—
113	hit	—
114	cut	—
115	split	—
116	stab	—
117	scratch	—
118	dig	—
119	swim	—
120	fly	—
121	walk	—
122	come	—
123	lie	—
124	sit	—
125	stand	—
126	turn	—
127	fall	—
128	give	—
129	hold	—
130	squeeze	—
131	rub	—
132	wash	—
133	wipe	—
134	pull	—
135	push	—
136	throw	—
137	tie	—
138	sew	—
139	count	—
140	say	—
141	sing	—
142	play	—
143	float	—
144	flow	—
145	freeze	—
146	swell	—
147	sun	—
148	moon	—
149	star	—
150	water	—
151	rain	—
152	river	—
153	lake	—
154	sea	—
155	salt	—
156	stone	—
157	sand	—
158	dust	—
159	earth	—
160	cloud	—
161	fog	—
162	sky	—
163	wind	—
164	snow	—
165	ice	—
166	smoke	—
167	fire	—
168	ash	—
169	burn	—
170	road	—
171	mountain	—
172	red	—
173	green	—
174	yellow	—
175	white	—
176	black	—
177	night	—
178	day	—
179	year	—
180	warm	—
181	cold	—
182	full	—
183	new	—
184	old	—
185	good	—
186	bad	—
187	rotten	—
188	dirty	—
189	straight	—
190	round	—
191	sharp	—
192	dull	—
193	smooth	—
194	wet	—
195	dry	—
196	correct	—
197	near	—
198	far	—
199	right	—
200	left	—
201	at	—
202	in	—
203	with	—
204	and	—
205	if	—
206	because	—
207	name	—