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| Neorei yReison | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Artlang, A priori | ||||||||||||
| Alignment | Nominative-Accusative | ||||||||||||
| Head direction | Head-initial | ||||||||||||
| Tonal | No | ||||||||||||
| Declensions | No | ||||||||||||
| Conjugations | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Genders | No Genders | ||||||||||||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||||||||||||
| Case | Number | ||||||||||||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||||||||||||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||||||||||||
| Voice | Mood | ||||||||||||
| Person | Number | ||||||||||||
| Tense | Aspect | ||||||||||||
| Meta-information | |||||||||||||
| Progress | 44% | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Creator | Geminis DD | ||||||||||||
yReison (/ɨ’ɾɛɪ̯zɤn/), a.k.a. Neorei, is a language spoken natively in the cold planet Hirnuš (/’hilnɯʃ/), precisely in the territories of Reityka (between Southern Maġoť and Middle-Eastern Jaxan) by a total of 512 million people of the Kaer species, including the international variants. Since the language is the lingua franca of the planet (like English on Earth but both de iure and de facto), it is taught in all schools and so spoken as secondary language by 4.5 billion Hirnushans circa.
History[]
The Reison comes from ancient people who migrated from Oť Peninsula (/'ɤt͡s/). In the Tǧerek Mitology these migrations are represented by Hargik, a legendary demigod who brought the Otsers to Northern Trēggok (Trēggok /'tɾɛ:ŋgɤk/ is the western continent of Hirnuš). So the language family from which Rei comes is called "Hargitic", it's called in this way the alphabet used in many Hargitic and non-Hargitic languages too. The Proto-Hargitic evolved in various linguistic families: Otsic, Nahalic and Sjonic. The family that comes to our interest is the Nahalic one. The Nahalic language evolved to Ancient Gegkese and Ancient Nahalic. From the Ancient Gegkese the Gegkese developed, then Rei (Reison) and Kyras.
Following the Reityka's colonization of several territories in Hirnuš, many Rei dialects like Xraqain (/xʀa'qaɪ̯n/) or Čonel (/'t͡ʃɤnel/) evolved from the original language. In 1931, during the Great Planetary Unification, Rei underwent several changes, promoted by the central government, that led to the more advanced and inclusive Neorei (yReison).
In present days, yReison is the main official language of the Kaer Union (a supranational political and economical union between the kaer countries in the galaxy), being the official administrative language of 5 of the 15 members and being recognized by of 6 others. There are slight dialectal differences between planets and countries. The yReison spoken in Hirnuš (Federal Republic of Hirnuš) is considered the standard language, but the yReison spoken in the Federal Republic of the Eight Stars is also considered important, due to its role in economy and influences by various human and kaer languages.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | n | ɲ | (ŋ) | (ɴ) | |||||
| Plosive | p b | t d
tʰ |
(c) (ɟ) | k g
kʰ |
|||||
| Fricative | s (z) | ʃ (ʒ) | x ɣ | ʁ | h | ||||
| Affricate | t͡s d͡z
t͡sʰ |
t͡ʃ ʤ
t͡ʃʰ |
|||||||
| Approximant | j | ɰ | |||||||
| Flap or tap | ɾ | ||||||||
| Lateral app. | l |
The consonants /c/ and /ɟ/ are accepted regional variants of /k/ and /g/, when before /j/. Consonant gemination is present in Neorei, and it's written by doubling the consonant (Ex: ‹nn› /nː/). For /z/ and /ʒ/, see #Phonotactics
Vowels[]
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | (ä ~ ɐ) | ɑ | |||
| Near-high | |||||
| High-mid | ɛ | ||||
| Mid | |||||
| Low-mid | e ~ ɘ | ɤ | |||
| Near-low | (ɪ) | ||||
| Low | i | ɨ | ɯ | ||
/ɐ/ is an accepted variant of /ä/, they are very often indistinguishable each other. It's the same thing for /ɘ/. Vowels are short but can be long (that is indicated by a macron or with a double vowel). Words can be distinguished by vowel length. The neuter vowel /ɨ/ is the only vowel that cannot be long and cannot be stressed (there are only a few exceptions).
Diphthongs[]
- Ai /ɑɪ̯/
- Au /ɑɯ̯/
- Ay /ɑɨ̯/
- Ei /εɪ̯/
- Eu /εɯ̯/
- Ey /εɨ̯/
- Aė /ɑɘ/
Phonotactics[]
Consonants[]
- Every voiced consonant → unvoiced when at the end of a syllable and this is indicated by the ortography: /d/ → /t/, /g/ → /k/, /ʣ/ → /ʦ/, /ʤ/ → /ʧ/, /ɣ/ → /x/. The only exception /ʁ/, that, without orthography changing (for historical reasons), instead of becoming /χ/ (it's a thing in many dialects though) becomes /x/.
- Aspirated consonants are found only at beginning of a word or at the second syllable. If a syllable with aspirated consonant doesn't have "phrase accent", that consonant can be not pronounced as aspirated.
- /s, ʃ/ → /z, ʒ/ when between vowels.
- /g/ → /ŋ/ when it precedes /k/, /g/, /x/ and /ɣ/;
- /g/ → /ɴ/ when it precedes /ʁ/;
- /ɾ/ → /l/ when at the end of a word or preceding a consonant;
- If a voiceless consonant at the end of the syllable is followed by the corresponding voiced one at the beginning of the following syllable, the latter is absorbed by the first, resulting in gemination; es: /t.d/ → [t:];
- If a voiceless consonant at the end of the syllable is followed by a voiced one at the beginning of the next syllable, the latter becomes voiceless; es: /s.d/ → /s.t/.
Vowels[]
- /i/ → /ɪ/ when not stressed;
- /ɑ/ → /ä ~ ɐ/ when not stressed;
- If a vowel meets another identical vowel in the following syllable, without consonants between these two, a single lengthened vowel is created; es: /ɑ.ɑ/ → [ɑ:]
- /l/ and /n/ become respectively /l̩/ and /n̩/ when isolated (when they are the only letter of the word)
Syllables[]
The Neorei syllable follows the pattern (C)V(S), with S representing the voiceless unaspirated consonants (/t/, /ʦ/, /s/, /ʧ/, /ʃ/, /k/, /x /) plus /n/ and /l/.
Ex: kā "person"; ō "word"; hiťš "sneeze"; uǧ "sickness, nausea"
Legal consonant groups: Consonant + same consonant (gemination); /s/+voiceless unaspirated consonant; /n/ and /l/ + voiceless unaspirated consonant; /ŋ/ + /k, g, x, ɣ/, /ɴʁ/.
Accent[]
In Neorei, accent can be put on the last, penultimate or antepenultimate syllables. Accent "follows" long syllables (the ones in which a diphthong or a long vowel can be found) and "heavy" syllables (the ones with an aspirated consonant or with a geminated consonant). If there are more than one long/heavy syllable (as it may happen in compound words), stress is put on the long syllable of the compound word's head or on the one that's nearest the end of the word if we are not talking about a compound word. If there is both a long and a heavy syllable, Neorei tends to put the accent on the long one. Accent never falls on prefixes and suffixes and never falls on /ɨ/ (except for a few exceptions). If there is neither long nor heavy syllables, accent is usually put on the penultimate syllable.
We'll mark the accent with an acute in some cases for clarification but ini daily life accent is always unmarked.
Orthography[]
yReison has an its own alphabet. There are a romanization and a cyrillization of the alphabet, called "Aigga Method". Note: C = consonant, V = vowel.
Romanization[]
| Letter | a | d | ď | ďš* | ė | e | g | h | i | y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | ɑ | d | ʣ | ʤ | e ~ ɘ | ɛ | g | h | i | ɨ |
| Letter | j | k | l | n | nj* | o | r | ǧ | s | š |
| Sound | j | k | l | n | ɲ | ɤ | ɾ | ʁ | s | ʃ |
| Letter | t | ť | ťš* | u | x | w | ġ | C-h* | V̄ | |
| Sound | t | t͡s | ʧ | ɯ | x | ɰ | ɣ | -ʰ | ː |
Cyrillization[]
| Letter | a | д | з | зш* | э | e | ґ | г | и | ы |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | ɑ | d | ʣ | ʤ | e ~ ɘ | ɛ | g | h | i | ɨ |
| Letter | й | к | л | н | нй* | o | p | ғ | с | ш |
| Sound | j | k | l | n | ɲ* | ɤ | ɾ | ʁ | s | ʃ |
| Letter | т | ц | цш* | y | х | ў | ӷ | C-г* | V-ь | |
| Sound | t | t͡s | ʧ | ɯ | x | ɰ | ɣ | -ʰ | ː |
Notes:
- The letters marked by an asterisk don't appear in the Hargitic alphabet (H.a.), they're instead represented by a cluster.
- <h>, <j>, <w> and aren't proper letters in the H.a., they are diacritic signs instead.
- /ː/ is indicated by a letter in the H.a. but only regarding long vowels.
Morphology[]
Noun Formation[]
Nouns have no cases, numbers or genders. With particular affixes it is possible to create new words or to better characterize a word. Among the affixes there are demonstrative adjectives (ex. this) and adjectives that indicate oldness or newness and adjectives about physical and social characteristics (the "kānu ogkakan" which we will list later).
Examples: kā "person" ykā "new person, young person"; → lakā "tall person"; → sakā "talkative person"; → ekā "this person, the person".
There are also derivational suffixes and affixes.
Examples: ē "eye" → euk "will, desire" (-uk is the suffix that indicates the "emanation" of a thing) → deuk "luck" (d/t(a)- is the prefix that negates the thing expressed, so deuk literally means "non-will")
There are prefixes (indicated by a hyphen) with an independent meaning that are attached to the word to indicate things such as direction or role in the sentence. There is also the suffix kā ("person") to indicate the person related to a thing or a job.
Examples: kā → nu-kā "towards a/the person, to the/a person"; → hō-kā "about the person, the person" (hō is the topic marker); nodaái "newspaper" → nodaái-kā "newsagent"
Derivational Prefixes and Suffixes[]
Neorei has a large variety of prefixes and suffixes with a lexical function.
Suffixes[]
- -jā: noun > adjective (also k.o.); it almost always refers to animated beings endowed with the concept expressed by the noun.
- -uk: noun > noun; refers to a concept that expresses the "úkin" (also called "emanation", "spirit") of what is expressed by the noun, that is, what the element expressed by the noun "emanates" (eye > will; person > charisma; word > meaning). Words ending in -uk always indicate an abstract concept.
- -nu: noun > noun; refers to a concept that expresses the "nuin" ("direction") of the element expressed by the noun, i.e. the "direction" or "sense" of that element (eye > sight; ear > listening; hair > touch; mind > curiosity). It is a very productive suffix.
- -ġy: noun > noun; refers to a concept that expresses the "ġýin" ("capacity") of the element expressed by the noun, i.e. what that element can do or the prerequisite for the functioning of that element (presence > consciousness/awareness, mind > reason, hand > gesture).
- -eǧ: noun > noun; refers to the "keǧsei" ("expanded community") of which the concept expressed by the noun is part (human > humanity; cat > cats [as a species]; knowledge > knowledge/sciences).
- -to: noun > adverb; it is a very productive suffix that can be translated as a “for” in front of the noun that receives this suffix (brevity > for brevity; bad luck > for bad luck, unluckly etc.).
- -nar: adjective > verb; creates verbs that mean “make [adjective].”
Prefixes[]
- d/t(a)-: word > word of the same category; it denies what is expressed by the word, has unpredictable results but is very rare on verbs (word > silence, asociality; life > death; everything/completely/completely > not everything/not entirely/not completely; will > luck).
- r(e)-: word > word of the same category; denies what is expressed by the word with a pejorative connotation (luck > bad luck; young > old, etc.), this can have very unpredictable results too, because its use is often subjective. It can be put in words in which there is already d(a)-, therefore with the word already with a negation. In this case, this prefix doesn't negate the negation, but make it stronger and adds the pejorative connotation. Theoretically, all words that have the prefix d/t(a)- can have the r(e)- instead if they are intendend with this connotation.
- x(y)+i-: verb > noun; it is what in many languages is the infinitive form of a verb. In yReison it is defined as the ġýin of the verb and it's a noun (I speak > speaking; I live > living).
- n(i)-: verb > noun; whoever does the action of the verb (niník), it is used for various professions (use > operator; sell > seller).
- kh(a)-: noun > noun; place where something is produced or done (ata), it is used for workplaces and factories (sweet > pastry shop; weapon > forge; object > factory).
- hat(y)-: noun > noun; place where something is sold (newspaper > newsagent; bread > bakery; fish/seafood > fishmonger).
The kānu ogkakan[]
Kānu ogkakan (KO) are adjectives about physical and social characteristics. These particular adjectives can be attached to a proper noun (like a personal name), becoming appellatives or honorific particles with the addition of "(j)a". If associated with a common name they are just shortened irregular versions of these adjectives, so they gain no "(j)a" addition. Depending on the context, the culture and the intimacy one has with the person receiving the appellative, KOs can be affectionate as well as offensive or simply descriptive or ironic. Several of these have fallen into disuse over time. There are some nouns that can become a KO adjective, but only when they are used as appellatives.
Most KOs are subject to qualitative apophony leading to a lowering of the vowel: /l̩, n̩/ → /ɨ/, /i/ → /ɛ/, /e/ → /ɑ/, /ɛ/ → /ɑ/, /ɨ/ → /ɤ/, /ɯ/ → /ɤ/, /ɤ/ → /ɑ/, /ɑ/ → /ɑɨ̯/
Examples: laja-Hari (Hari the tall one); ganja-Šanna (Šanna the black one); neka-Dêtoru (Dêtoru the shy one); uta-Aantaro (Mr. Aantaro); utkā (a gentleman); torkā (chief/group leader); takkā (person with brown fur); goktok (fat dog); nodaái-nekā (shy newsagent); nodaái-torkā (newspaper editor)
Below are listed physical and social KOs
| Original adj | K.O. in appellative position (attached to a proper noun) | IPA | meaning | K.O. in attributive position (attached to a noun) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ėdanťš [eˈdɑnt͡ʃ] | tayťša | [ˈtɑɨ̯t͡ʃä] | multicolored fur | - |
| ėnit [eˈnit] | neta | [ˈnɛtä] | white fur | net(y) |
| ėgek [eˈgɛk] | gaka | [ˈgɑkä] | grey fur | gak(y) |
| ėgo [eˈgɤ] | ganja | [ˈgɑɲä] | black fur | ganj(a) |
| ėtak [eˈtɑk] | tayga | [ˈtɑɨ̯gä] | brown fur | tak(y) |
| ėtā [eˈtɑː] | taynja | [ˈtɑɨ̯ɲä] | reddish/orange fur | - |
| ėsinė [eˈzine] | seja | [ˈsɛjä] | soft fur | - |
| ėgoggu [eˈgɤŋgɯ] | huga | [ˈhɯgä] | fat | - |
| ėnoė [eˈnɤe] | nata | [ˈnɑtä] | fit | - |
| ėsėliki [ezeˈlikɪ] | salja | [ˈsɑljä] | slender | sa(l) |
| ėkiǧ/kikaǧijā [eˈkix][kɪkäʁɪˈjɑː] | keja/kekja | [ˈkɛjä][ˈkɛkjä] | skinny | ke(j) |
| ėkytorė [ekɨˈtɤɾe] | kota | [ˈkɤtä] | robust, dominant | kot(y) |
| ėtota [eˈtɤtä] | tata | [ˈtɑtä] | strong | ta(t) |
| ėlê [eˈleː] | laja | [ˈlɑjä] | tall | la(j) |
| ėwê [eˈɰeː] | waja | [ˈɰɑjä] | short | wai(j) |
| Original adj | K.O. in appellative position (attached to a proper noun) | IPA | meaning | K.O. in attributive position (attached to a noun) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| agėjā [ägeˈjɑː] | agā | [äˈgɑː] | cool | ag(y) |
| ėgun [eˈgɯn] | honja | [ˈhɤɲä] | sly | hon |
| ėjėt [eˈjet] | jata | [ˈjɑtä] | banal, nothing special, shallow | jat(y) |
| thagyjā [tʰägɨˈjɑː] | tagja | [ˈtɑgjä] | bossy, overbearing | tag(y) |
| ėkisy [eˈkizɨ] | kesa | [ˈkɛzä] | submissive | kes(y) |
| ėlêtyna [eˈleːtɨnä] | látyna | [ˈlɑtɨnä] | stubborn | laty |
| ėnanugė [enäˈnɯge] | noga | [ˈnɤgä] | curious | nog(y) |
| ėso/sosojā [eˈzɤ][sɤzɤˈjɑː] | sasa | [ˈsɑzä] | sociable, talkative | sa(s) |
| dasojā [däsɤˈjɑː] | dasja | [ˈdɑsjä] | asocial | das(j) |
| niďšjā [nɪˈd͡ʒjɑː] | neďša | [ˈnɛd͡ʒä] | good | neťš(y) |
| ėtul [eˈtɯl] | tora | [ˈtɤɾä] | bad | tol(y) |
| kaukjā [kɑɯ̯ˈkjɑː] | kwā | [ˈkɰɑː] | charismatic | - |
| tor | tor | [ˈtɤl] | leader | - |
| nikjā [nɪˈkjɑː] | neka | [ˈnɛkä] | shy | nek(y) |
| šanjā [ʃäˈɲɑː] | šaynja | [ˈʃɑɨ̯ɲä] | mature, composed, temperate | šan |
| kėkjā [keˈkjɑː] | kaka | [ˈkɑkä] | immature, clumsy | kak(y) |
| Original adj | K.O. in appellative position (attached to a proper noun) | IPA | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| rata [ˈɾɑtä] | rayta | [ˈɾɑɨ̯tä] | master |
| ťara [ˈt͡sɑɾä] | ťayra | [ˈt͡sɑɨ̯ɾä] | student |
| ut [ˈɯt] | uta | [ˈɯtä] | sir |
| tjus [ˈtjɯs] | tjosa | [ˈtjɤzä] | slave (derogatory) |
| tolga | tolga | [ˈtɤlgä] | respectable |
| utodentoga | utodentoga | [ɯtɤdɛnˈtɤgä] | lord of lords (today ironic and derogatory) |
Grammar[]
Word order[]
Neorei is almost always VSO.
Personal Pronouns[]
Ergative Form[]
| Neorei | IPA | English | Neorei | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sykoka | [sɨˈkɤkä] | indefinite pronoun | ēkaōka | [ɛːkä'ɤːkä] | (inclusive) we, me and you |
| ēka | ['ɛːkä] | I | dandoka | [dänˈdɤkä] | (exclusive) we |
| ōka | ['ɤːkä] | you | ōkanīgka | [ɤːkä'niːŋkä] | (inclusive) you, you and them |
| nīgka | ['niːŋkä] | singular they | ōdigka | ['ɤːdɪŋkä] | (exclusive) you, you and he/she/sing. they |
| unīgka | [ɯ'niːŋkä] | he | dinnīgka | [dɪn'niːŋkä] | they (common gender) |
| anīgka | [ä'niːŋkä] | she | dunnīgka | [dɯn'niːŋkä] | they (masculine) |
| dannīgka | [dän'niːŋkä] | they (feminine) |
Absolutive Form[]
| Neorei | IPA | English | Neorei | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sasykoga | [säzɨˈkɤgä] | indefinite pronoun | sarenoka | [säɾɛn'ɤkä] | (inclusive) we, me and you |
| sarēka | [saɾ'ɛːkä] | I | sytoka | [sɨ̥ˈtɤkä] | (exclusive) we |
| sarōka | [säɾ'ɤːkä] | you | sarónigka | [sa'ɾɤniŋkä] | (inclusive) you, you and them |
| saigka | ['saɪ̯ŋkä] | singular they | saródigka | [sa'ɾɤdɪŋkä] | (exclusive) you, you and he/she/sing. they |
| saugka | ['sɑɯ̯ŋkä] | he | sodīgka | [sɤ'diːŋkä] | they (common gender) |
| sāgka | ['sɑ:ŋkä] | she | sodūgka | [sɤ'dɯːŋkä] | they (masculine) |
| sodāgka | [sɤ'dɑːŋkä] | they (feminine) |
Possession and specification[]
In Neorei there is a distinction between specification and possession, when in other languages the two things are not distinct. The specification is indicated by the prefixoid ā-. Furthermore, the presence of ā- always implies that the noun to which it refers is definite
Example: thyka ā-Āntaro “the land of Āntaro (the one from which he comes/where he was born)"
There are three ways to indicate possession. The first and most common of these is the prefixoid ū-. Then there is the construction with the verb (is)anna “to bring” (to indicate a physical possession) and the construction with the verb (i)synu “to possess” (to indicate an abstract possession)
Examples: thyka ū-Āntaro “a/the land of Āntaro (which he owns)"; ikysanna Āntaro thyka “Āntaro has the land”; isynu Āntaro šyna “Āntaro has the idea”; thyka ja-ikysanna Āntaro “the land that Aantaro owns”
Phrasebook[]
Greetings[]
| Neorei | IPA | English | Neorei | IPA | English | Neorei | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ê | [ˈeː] | hi | ri | [ˈɾi] | I'm bad | ynitasyrgái | [ɨnɪtäzɨlˈgɑɪ̯] | goodbye |
| syrê | [sɨˈɾeː] | hi (in the Eight Stars) | akka | [ˈɑkːä] | bye | játatan | [ˈjɑtätän] | until we meet again |
| iwé | [ɪˈɰɛ] | hey | ugǧá, ťšau | [ɯɴˈʁɑ], [ˈt͡ʃɑɯ̯] | bye (in the Eight Stars) | yšgun | [ɨʃˈgɯn] | good morning |
| asý? | [äˈzɨ] | how are you? (informal) | ajan | [ˈɑjän] | greetings | itaraikwan | [ɪtäˈɾɑɪ̯kɰän] | good afternoon |
| wari | [ˈɰɑɾɪ] | I'm good | khe jassýr | [kʰɛjäsˈsɨl] | greetings (in the Eight Stars) | gas-dan l | [gästänˈl̩] | good evening |
| joxō | [jɤˈxɤː] | I'm ok | nidėwara? | [nɪdeˈɰɑɾä] | how are you? (formal) | khe ujan | [kʰɛ.ˈɯjän] | goodnight |
| wari-wawari | [ɰäɾɪɰäˈɰɑɾɪ] | I'm so-so | nidėwara | [nɪdeˈɰɑɾä] | I'm good | utynwár | [ɯtɨˈnɰɑl] | thanks |
Numbers[]
| Number | Neorei | IPA | Ordinal Number | Number | Neorei | IPA | Ordinal Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | tō | [ˈtɤː] | ā-tō | 8 | ťyka | [t͡sɨˈkɑ] | ā-ťyka |
| 1 | ka | [ˈkɑ] | ā-ka | 9 | tena | [ˈtɛnä] | ā-tena |
| 2 | taja | [ˈtɑjä] | ā-taja | A | disyk | [ˈdizɨk] | ā-disyk |
| 3 | tjaďša | [ˈtjɑd͡ʒä] | ā-tjaďša | B | kotyk | [ˈkɤtɨk] | ā-kotyk |
| 4 | we | [ˈɰɛ] | ā-we | C | ulla | [ˈɯlːä] | ā-ulla |
| 5 | njėr | [ˈɲel] | ā-njėr | D | xur | [ˈxɯl] | ā-xur |
| 6 | išyk | [ˈiʒɨk] | ā-išyk | E | jul | [ˈjɯl] | ā-jul |
| 7 | gan | [ˈgɑn] | ā-gan | F | lū | [ˈlɯː] | ā-lū |