| Karphian | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Fusional | ||||||||||||
| Alignment | Nominative-Accusative | ||||||||||||
| Head direction | Beginning | ||||||||||||
| Tonal | No | ||||||||||||
| Declensions | No | ||||||||||||
| Conjugations | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Genders | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||||||||||||
| Case | Number | ||||||||||||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||||||||||||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||||||||||||
| Voice | Mood | ||||||||||||
| Person | Number | ||||||||||||
| Tense | Aspect | ||||||||||||
| Meta-information | |||||||||||||
| Progress | 0% | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Creator | [[User:|]] | ||||||||||||
Karphian (կարֆոմէ [karfɔmɛ]) is an Ogelian language, of the western branch, which originated in the kingdom of Karphia more than a thousand years ago. Currently, it has a native population of 450 million people; furthermore, it is official in 16 countries, although it also has a large number of speakers in different parts of the world. This makes it the second most spoken language on the planet, only behind Verguenian.
General information
Most of the grammatical and typological features of Karphian are shared with the other Ogelian languages. Karphian is a fusional language. The noun and adjective systems exhibit three genders and two numbers. There are about fifty conjugated forms per verb, with 3 tenses: past, present, future; 2 aspects for past: perfective, imperfective; 4 moods: indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative; 3 persons: first, second, third; 2 numbers: singular, plural; 3 verboid forms: infinitive, gerund, and past participle. The indicative mood is the unmarked one, while the subjunctive mood expresses uncertainty or indetermination, and is commonly paired with the conditional, which is a mood used to express "would" (as in, "I would sleep if I had bed); the imperative is a mood to express a command, commonly a one word phrase – "¡Camina!", "Walk!".
Verbs express T-V distinction by using different persons for formal and informal addresses.
Subject/verb inversion is not required in questions, and thus the recognition of declarative or interrogative may depend entirely on intonation.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | b p pʰ | d t tʰ | ɡ k kʰ | |||
| Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ ʒ | x ~ χ ɣ ~ ʁ | x ~ χ ɣ ~ ʁ | h |
| Affricate | d͡z t͡s t͡sʰ | d͡ʒ t͡ʃ t͡ʃʰ | ||||
| Approximant | ʋ | l | j | |||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Flap or tap | ɾ |
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
| Low | ɑ |
Phonotactics
Writing System
| Letter | Ա ա | Բ բ | Գ գ | Դ դ | Է է | Ֆ ֆ | Ք ք | Հ հ | Ի ի | Ճ ճ | Կ կ | Լ լ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | ɑ | b | ɡ | d | ɛ | f | kʰ | h | i | t͡ʃ | k | l |
| Letter | Մ մ | Ն ն | Թ թ | Ո ո | Պ պ | Խ խ | Ր ր | Ս ս | Տ տ | Ը ը | Վ վ | Ւ ւ |
| Sound | m | n | tʰ | ɔ. Word-initially /ʋɔ/. | p | x ~ χ | ɾ | s | t | ə | v | u |
| Letter | Ց ց | Ե ե | Զ զ | Ջ ջ | Յ յ | Ժ ժ | Ծ ծ | Փ փ | Չ չ | |||
| Sound | t͡sʰ | ɛ. Word-initially /jɛ/. | z | d͡ʒ | j | ʒ | t͡s | pʰ | t͡ʃʰ |
Transliteration of Karphian
| Letter | Ա ա | Բ բ | Գ գ | Դ դ | Է է | Ֆ ֆ | Ք ք | Հ հ | Ի ի | Ճ ճ | Կ կ | Լ լ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romanization | a | b | g | d | e | f | k’ | h | i | č | k | l |
| Letter | Մ մ | Ն ն | Թ թ | Ո ո | Պ պ | Խ խ | Ր ր | Ս ս | Տ տ | Ը ը | Վ վ | Ւ ւ |
| Romanization | m | n | t' | o | p | x | r | s | t | ë | v | w |
| Letter | Ց ց | Ե ե | Զ զ | Ջ ջ | Յ յ | Ժ ժ | Ծ ծ | Փ փ | Չ չ | |||
| Romanization | c’ | y. | z | ǰ | h' | ž | ç | p' | č̔ |
Grammar
Nouns
The Karphian language has nouns that express concrete objects, groups and classes of objects, qualities, feelings and other abstractions. All nouns have a conventional grammatical gender. Countable nouns inflect for number (singular and plural). All Karphian nouns have one of three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neutre (mostly conventional, that is, arbitrarily assigned). Most adjectives and pronouns, and all articles and participles, indicate the gender of the noun they reference or modify.
Verbs
Karphian verbs form one of the more complex areas of Karphian grammar. Karphian is a relatively synthetic language with a moderate to high degree of inflection, which shows up mostly in Karphian conjugation.
As is typical of verbs in virtually all languages, Karphian verbs express an action or a state of being of a given subject, and like verbs in most Ogelian languages, Karphian verbs undergo inflection according to the following categories:
- Tense: past, present, or future
- Number: singular or plural
- Person: first, second or third
- T–V distinction: familiar or formal
- Mood: indicative, subjunctive, or imperative
- Aspect: perfective or imperfective (distinguished only in the past tense as preterite and imperfect)
- Voice: active or passive
The modern Karphian verb paradigm (conjugation) has 16 distinct complete forms (tenses), i.e. sets of forms for each combination of tense, mood and aspect, plus one incomplete tense (the imperative), as well as three non-temporal forms (the infinitive, gerund, and past participle).
The 16 "regular" forms (tenses) include 8 simple tenses and 8 compound tenses. The compound tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb րոպաճ (ɾɔpɑt͡ʃ) plus the past participle. Verbs can be used in other forms, such as the present progressive, but in grammar treatises they are not usually considered a part of the paradigm but rather periphrastic verbal constructions.
Syntax
Karphian syntax is considered right-branching, meaning that subordinate or modifying constituents tend to be placed after head words. The language uses prepositions, and usually—though not always—places adjectives after nouns, as do most other Ogelian languages.
Karphian is classified as a subject–verb–object language; however, as in most Ogelian languages, constituent order is highly variable and governed mainly by topicalization and focus rather than by syntax. It is a null-subject" language—that is, it allows the deletion of subject pronouns when they are pragmatically unnecessary. Karphian is described as a "verb-framed" language, meaning that the direction of motion is expressed in the verb while the mode of locomotion is expressed adverbially.
Lexicon
The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Karphian are from the 105th century. Throughout the next five centuries, the most important influences on the Karphian lexicon came from neighboring Ogelian languages—Kazrabian, Varagesvian, Nevulian, Taranese, Rogodian, Salsunese, and later, Runian and Megalian. Karphian also borrowed a considerable number of words from Zarvian, as well as a minor influence from the Loeric language through the migration of tribes and a period of loeric rule in Varnia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Ogelian through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the religion. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Ogelian and Reinstaurated Ogelian, the form of Ogelian in use at that time.
Example text
Dog
Աց բաճճէ տէնջզդըսէ ազ իմ տազսամտըամդա տէնազդըսոտէ տաց ցէպէ. Աց բաճճէ տաճըֆո տա իմ ցէպէ ոմդըխիէ լ աեդըմդէ, լ աց ցէպէ խճըզ նէտաճմէ ազ աց բոճըամդա ֆըֆէ նծզ սաճսոմէ տաց բաճճէ. Աց բաճճէ վիա ցո բճընաճո ազբասըա ամ զաճ տէնազդըսոտո բէճ սոգոտէճազ-ճասէցասդէճազ րոսա նծզ տա 15000 ուէզ, ոմդազ տաց տազոճճէցցէ տա ցո ոխճըսիցդիճո. Զի ցոճխո ոզէսըոսըյմ սէմ ցէզ րինոմէզ րո ցցաֆոտէ ո ցէզ բաճճէզ ո ոտոբդոճզա տա վէճնո ժմըսո ոց սէնբէճդոնըամդէ րինոմէ, ցէ կիա րո ցցաֆոտէ ո իմո խճոմ սոմդըտոտ տա ըմտըֆըտիէզ տէնջզդըսէզ ւ ո ցո սոբոսըտոտ տա բճէզբաճոճ սէմ իմո տըադո ճըսո ամ ոցնըտյմ կիա զաճփո ըմոտասիոտո բոճո էդճէզ սծմըտէզ.
| English translation |
|---|
| The domestic dog is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. The dog derived from an ancient, extinct wolf, with the modern grey wolf being the dog's nearest living relative. The dog was the first species to be domesticated, by hunter–gatherers over 15,000 years ago, before the development of agriculture. Their long association with humans has led dogs to be uniquely adapted to human behavior, leading to a large number of domestic individuals and the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids. |