Shataranjan was the language of Shataranjans, inhabitants of the tidally-locked planet of Shataran, located around 500 light years from the Solar System.
There are two main descendants, the one spoken on the always bright side which eternally is illuminated by their star, and the other spoken in the darkness of the hemisphere facing against the star.
| Shataranjan ' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |||
| Agglutinative | |||
| Alignment | |||
| Nominative-Accusative | |||
| Head direction | |||
| Mixed | |||
| Tonal | |||
| Yes | |||
| Declensions | |||
| Yes | |||
| Conjugations | |||
| Yes | |||
| Genders | |||
| No | |||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||
| Case | Number | ||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
| Voice | Mood | ||
| Person | Number | ||
| Tense | Aspect | ||
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
The consonant inventory in noteworthy for having a retroflex series of sounds, no labiodentals and a contrast between voiced and voiceless bilabial trills. [ɾ] is an allophone of /d/ before another voiced stop.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | plain | lab. | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | (ŋʷ) | ||||
| Occlusive | unv. | p | t | ts | ʈʂ | c | k | kʷ | (ʔ) |
| v. | b | d | dz | ɖʐ | ɟ | g | gʷ | ||
| Continuant | unv. | ɸ | ɬ | s | ʂ | ç | x | xʷ | h |
| v. | l | z | ɻ | j | w | ||||
| Trill | ʙ̥, ʙ | ||||||||
Vowels[]
The vowel inventory is rather small and mundane, with [ɨ] being the realization of /i/ after a retroflex consonant.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | (ɨ) | u |
| Mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
Diphtongs[]
All diphtongs and are made of either /j/ or /w/ followed by with a vowel. /i/ and /u/ cannot be combined with /j/ and /w/ respectively.
| First component | Second component | Result |
|---|---|---|
| /j/ | /ɛ/ | /jɛ/ |
| /a/ | /ja/ | |
| /ɔ/ | /jɔ/ | |
| /u/ | /ju/ | |
| /w/ | /i/ | /wi/ |
| /ɛ/ | /wɛ/ | |
| /a/ | /wa/ | |
| /ɔ/ | /wɔ/ |
Phonotactics[]
The maximum syllable structure is (C)(L)V(C).
Onset[]
All consonants can serve as onset (for some speakers, /ŋ/ and /ŋʷ/ have merged with null and /w/ in onset). The following onset clusters are permitted:
| ∅ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | /p/ | /t/ | /ts/ | /k/ | /b/ | /d/ | /dz/ | /g/ | /ɸ/ | /ɬ/ | /s/ | /z/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + ∅ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | /p/ | /t/ | /ts/ | /k/ | /b/ | /d/ | /dz/ | /g/ | /ɸ/ | /ɬ/ | /s/ | /z/ | |
| + /j/ | /j/ | /mj/ | /nj/ | /pj/ | /tj/ | /tsj/ | /bj/ | /dj/ | /dzj/ | /ɸj/ | /ɬj/ | /sj/ | /zj/ | |||
| + /l/ | /l/ | /ml/ | /nl/ | /ŋl/ | /pl/ | /tl/ | /tsl/ | /kl/ | /bl/ | /dl/ | /dzl/ | /gl/ | /ɸl/ | /sl/ | /zl/ | |
| + /w/ | /w/ | /nw/ | /tw/ | /tsw/ | /dw/ | /dzw/ | /ɬw/ | /sw/ | /zw/ |
Nucleus[]
The nucleus of a syllable must contain at least one vowel.
Coda[]
/m, n, ŋ, p, t, ts, ʈʂ, k, s, ʂ/ are permitted syllable codas. Obstruent codas are often voiced whenever the following syllable begins with a voiced sound. /t/ becomes [ɾ] when it serves as a coda before a voiced obstruent.
Transcription[]
English-based transcription[]
This transcription was created mainly to appeal to English speakers.
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ | (ŋʷ) | p | t | ts | ʈʂ | c | k | kʷ | (ʔ) | b | d | dz | ɖʐ | ɟ | g | gʷ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | n | ny | ng | ngw | p | t | ts | ch | ky | k | kw | ʼ | b | d, r | dz | dj | gy | g | gw |
| ɸ | ɬ | s | ʂ | ç | x | xʷ | h | l | z | ɻ | j | w | ʙ̥ | ʙ | i | ɛ | a | ɔ | u |
| f | lh | s | sh | hy | kh | wh | h | l | z | r | y | w | pr | br | i | e | a | o | u |
Technical transcription[]
This transcription is used for more technical causes.
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ | (ŋʷ) | p | t | ts | ʈʂ | c | k | kʷ | (ʔ) | b | d | dz | ɖʐ | ɟ | g | gʷ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | n | ñ | ŋ | ŋw | p | t | c | č | kj | k | kw | ʼ | b | d | dz | dž | gj | g | gw |
| ɸ | ɬ | s | ʂ | ç | x | xʷ | h | l | z | ɻ | j | w | ʙ̥ | ʙ | i | ɛ | a | ɔ | u |
| f | ł | s | š | xj | x | xw | h | l | z | r | j | w | pr | br | i | e | a | o | u |
Grammar[]
Verbs[]
Verb template[]
| Negative | Imperative | Stem | Voice | Reflexive | Mood | Tense-Aspect | Subject | Direct object |
|---|
Verbs in Shataranjan are highly inflected.
Negative[]
To negate a verb, a prefix su- is added to the word.
Voice[]
There are three voices, from lowest to highest valency, passive, active and causative. A reflexive suffix -dzo- might also be added after the voice suffix.
| Affix | English equivalent | |
|---|---|---|
| Passive | -on- | I am eaten |
| Active | unmarked | I eat |
| Causative | -jaš- | I make (someone) eat |
TAM[]
| Affix | English equivalent | |
|---|---|---|
| Present perfective | unmarked | I eat |
| Past perfective | -juN- | I ate |
| Past imperfective | -ni- | I was eating |
| Present imperfective | -u- | I'm eating |
| Future | -da- | I will eat |
| Prospective | -dzjo- | I will have eaten |
Moods[]
| Mood | Affix | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Indicative | unmarked | You eat |
| Imperative | reduplicated stem | Eat! |
| Conditional | -x- | You would eat |
| Potential | -fes- | You might eat |
Agreement[]
Verbs exhibit polypersonal agreement.
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Subject | -na- | -ñu- | -k- | -kju- | -m-/-∅- | -mju- |
| Object | -na | -ñu | -ak | -akju | -lom | -lomju |
Auxiliary verbs[]
Despite its rich verb morphology, Shataranjan makes use of a few auxiliary verbs, which are often located at the very beginning of a sentence. Some of those include:
| Auxiliary verb | English translation | Grammatical function | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| dze- | to be | Progressive marker | I keep eating |
| dzejuN- | to be (past perfective) | Past progressive marker | I used to eat |
| wong- | to see | Future imperfective marker | I will be eating |
| fes- | to be able | Optative marker | May I eat |
Nominals[]
Nouns[]
Nouns have several cases, despite the amount of verb agreement present. This is a relic of Old Shataranjan's extensive case system and less inflected verbs. Nouns also have possessive prefixes. There are multiple types of stems.
Consonant stems[]
Consonant stems, as their name suggests, end in a consonant in their root form and may or may not take an epenthetic vowel if followed by a suffix beginning with a consonant. Their codas undergo voicing when followed by a voiced obstruent or nasal, and are assimilated by place of articulation when they are a nasal. Consonant stems are the most common type of noun in Shataranjan.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | met | metju |
| Accusative | meta | metaju |
| Dative | mergi | mergju |
| Genitive | merna | merñu |
| Instrumental | metłin | metłiñu |
| Ablative | mermlo | mermloju |
h-stems[]
h-stems are often roots without a coda. Whenever they take a suffix beginning with a vowel, an -h- is inserted between it and the stem. Whenever a voiced obstruent follows the stem immediately, it gets devoiced.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | tla | tlahju |
| Accusative | tlaha | tlahaju |
| Dative | tlaki | tlakju |
| Genitive | tlan | tlañu |
| Instrumental | tlałin | tlałiñu |
| Ablative | tlamlo | tlamloju |
j-stems and w-stems[]
Some nouns used to end in -w or -j in Old Shataranjan. Those resulted into -i and -u mutating into -j and -w when followed by a vowel suffix.
| j-stem | w-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | kli | klju | cu | ciu |
| Accusative | klja | kljaju | cwa | cwaju |
| Dative | kligi | kligju | cugi | cugju |
| Genitive | klin | kliñu | cun | cuñu |
| Instrumental | kliłin | kliłiñu | cułin | cułiñu |
| Ablative | klimlo | klimloju | cumlo | cumloju |
r-stem and l-stem nouns[]
A few nouns, descended from words that used to end in -r and -l in Old Shataranjan, have since lost those finals, unless followed by another vowel. This creates a set of nouns that gain -r- and -l- in their declension.
| r-stem | l-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ša | šaju | dwo | dwalju |
| Accusative | šara | šaraju | dwala | dwalaju |
| Dative | šagi | šagju | dwogi | dwogju |
| Genitive | šaran | šañu | dwalan | dwalañu |
| Instrumental | šałin | šałiñu | dwołin | dwołiñu |
| Ablative | šamlo | šamloju | dwomlo | dwomloju |
Possessive suffixes[]
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| -nan | -nañu | -an | -añu | -lun | -liñu | |
Adjectives[]
Adjectives, like nouns, decline for case and number. They have a superlative form marked by reduplicating the root, as such džang = old, džangdžang = very old. To compare two nouns, one of them is placed in the ablative case, and becomes the noun with lesser value compared to the one in the nominative case.
Pronouns[]
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | na | neju | a | hju | lom | lomju |
| Accusative | na | naju | xa | xeju | loma | lomaju |
| Dative | nagi | nagju | aki | akju | lungi | lungju |
| Genitive | nan | nañu | an | añu | lomon | lomeñu |
| Instrumental | nałin | nałiñu | ałin | ałiñu | lomłin | lomłiñu |
| Ablative | namlo | namloju | amlo | amloju | lomlo | lomloju |
| Benefactive | naduk | nadukju | atuk | atukju | lunduk | lundukju |
Syntax[]
The following table shows the default word order of an extended Shataranjan sentence.
| Time indicator | Verb | Place indicator | Manner indicator | Subject | Direct object | Lexical verb in infinitive | Indirect object |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cjem commloju | zarnimlom | dardzaju gungaju | bratłiñu hongłiñu | lom | šarajunan | kwodle | čałin |
| Three years ago | wanted | on the cold mountains | with passion (lit. with red eyes) | he/she | my animals | to fight | with a stick |
| Three years ago on the cold mountains, he/she wanted to fight my animals with a stick with passion. | |||||||
Relative clause[]
The particle lem links a relative clause to the main clause.
Numerals[]
Shataranjan uses a base 8 number system.
Lexicon[]
Example text[]
Miscellaneous[]
