Description
Language constructed by Gabriel Norberto Sander, to a series of RPG plots criated by him and many other authors. The other associated authors have abandoned production before conclusion, what caused, by extension, the destruction of the scenery where this language was intended to be used. Now, the language is just a relic of a lost project. Functional and virtually complete, with 2500 root-words, but useless.
Original inspiration came from the sci-fi stereotype of alien languages: broad almost unnecessary use of apostrophe and a phonology not too much unlike that of English, but using many uncommon consonantal clusters (description reaching, for exemple, Vulcan, Romulan and Mando'a), originating words like za'ha'dúni "quickly" and zun'ha'dum "a little", references to Z'ha'dum (from Babylon 5). The very name of the language, and the original creation trigger have come from Iconian, the language of Iconia, from Star Trek. To this inspiration were added influences from Portuguese, English, Native American languages, and East Asian languages.
Yikonyian was the language of a scenery highly influenced by Star Wars, Power Rangers, Saint Seiya, and Dune. In a distant past, around 30.000 years ago, in a distant region of the Milky Way, a stellar empire menaced a certain part of the galaxy. But in a world called Yíkonyi there was a temple where a special kind of energy was mantained: with this energy were produced technomagical weapons and armours to be used by local warriors, and warriors from adjacent allied worlds, united in a resistence against this menace. These warriors, using these weapons and armours have won the Empire, bringing peace back to their region of the galaxy. But in our time, a remain of this ancient Empire is rising again, and now it menaces Earth. And to defend our World, young humans may unite and search for the weapons and armours of that ancient war. Yikonyian was the language used in the region where the Temple stood, in Yíkonyi. Thus, it was the language understood by the weapons and armours, and that could influence the flux of the energy mantained in the Temple. It worked as a language of enchantments used in battle. For this reason, it has become the common language used by the allied worlds united to Yíkonyi in the ancient resistence against the stellar empire.
Phonology
Consonants were: p, t, k, b, d, g, m, n, f, s, h, v, z, l, all sounding as they sound in IPA; added to those there were dj (ou j) and sh, sounding as in English, and r, sounding as an alveolar flap [ɾ]. Being a language used by several worlds, Yikonyian developed many variations, being possible to pronounce h as an uvular fricative [χ], specially between vowels and at the end of words.
Vowels were: a, e, i, o, u, all sounding as they sound in IPA, but also with freedom to pronounce e and o more open, as [ε] and [ɔ]. There were also the schwa [ə], treated below.
With C standing for “consonant” and V for “vowel”, the phonotatics was: in structures xCV and VxC(V), the x = t, k, g, s, sh. Examples: klap’h “to scream”, tkon “to damage” (position xCV); fagt “hand”, host “bone” and djáshmouk “strong” (position VxC). From this rule derived the clusters tsh and ts (that are not africates), as in tshea “mouth” and tsa “to hide” (position xCV, where x = t). All other consonants could behave as “x”, but in their case, a schwa [ə] would appear between x-C, and that sound was represented by the apostrophe, as in p’vuín “cold country”, b’vark “to cut”, f’vaivagóul “spirit”, dj’bok “bad”, v’kánigt “to hang”. Initial repeated consonants were also expanded with schwa, as in t’táh “to be equal”.
In structures VyC(V), but never yCV, the y = l, m. Exemples: hálb “hull”, tshámb “to snuffle”, albá “to store” and ómka “wheel”. Combinations VyxC were normal, as in ílkve “slope”.
In structures zCV, VzC and Cz(C) (syllabic consonants), z = r, h, n, z. Exemples: erme “cell”, ahdja “bunch” (position VzC); rkot “to follow”, hdam “faint”, ngot “six”, zsárit “to shake, to hobble” (position zCV); mit’r “eleven”, kláp’h “to scream”, kuiák’n “a single hair”, obóglev'z “keg” (position Cz). Those consonants appeared also in CzV structures, as in breme “mountain”, vriha “chimney”, dhálegon “chasm”, óvhats “clan”, shubní “to purify”, padzo “head”. From this rule derived the cluster (and not africate) dz. Combinations VzxC were normal, as in nobérst “to be”, dontshéh “to lie down”, kezktí “(famale) breast”. But combinations VzyC were not allowed.
All consonants could begin and end words.
Vowels could combine freely, not following fixed patterns of diphthongs, resulting in long clusters and repetitions: uáhouib “ectocervix”, aéiskarah "now", hóuutshits “harmony”, fadáee “emperor”, iip "world", Eliúu “(name of a planet)”, djáusf'h'vaa "prism". But [i] and [u] could be pronounced as glides [j] and [w], making articulation easier.
Due to allophony, the consonant g formed the syllables vu (not gu) and yi (not gi) before [u] and [i]. The syllable yi should be pronounced [ji], being distinct from the hiatus ii, that should be pronounced [ii] or [ij].
Grammar
One of the features of Yikonyian was the existence of affixes conected simultaneously at the end and at the beginning of words, the so called "circumfixes". One of these circumfixes was g- -yi, that is, a prefixed g-, simultaneous to a suffixed -yi. It was used to form names of places, as in íkon "house, family, clan", giving G-íkon-yi, pronounced (due to allophony of the syllable gi) Yíkonyi "the place of the clans, World". When used with verbs, it generated the name of the place in which the action happens, as in g'sáyi "hiding-place" (from tsa "to hide"), yíekyi "court of justice" (from íek "to sentence"), gdivah'h'háyi "point of origin" (from divah'h'há "to leave, to go away") and vúrigyi "hotel" (from úrig "to house, to lodge").
Other feature was the existence of temporal personal pronouns (as in the Wolof language): the sentence "I hide" was usually rdjetsái'dja, and "I will hide" was usually rdjetsá'dja, where -dja marks "I", circumfix rdje- -i marks present tense, and prefix rdje- alone marks future tense; there was no need of isolated personal pronouns, at least in colloquial language. But in a more refined and complex language, as the one used by the guardians of the Temple, isolated personal pronouns were used, and they should be in accordance with the verbal tense, expanding the former sentences to rdjetsái'dja kahdjé and rdjetsá'dja ka, where kahdjé means "I (present tense)" and ka means "I (future tense)". These temporal pronouns were also used in adverbial constructions, as in hatzassáhgol ka, enarká'tsh rdjekéh'dja, literally "I-futurally arriving, will prepare the food", that could be translated as "having arrived, I will prepare the food".
The pronouns used as object didn't have temporal distinction, as in barhá ihíua'dja "I love you (aorist tense)", where barhá "you, thee" was used with any tense, as in barhá rdjeihíua'dja "I will love you".
There was a main core of derivation using a sixfold affixation system, originating new ideas from verbs: taking itneshis'há "to write" as an exemple, one should derive itneshis'házt "writer" (agent), yitneshis'há'h "spelling" (action, abstraction), itneshis'hátsh "text" (passive name), yitneshis'há'tik "pen, pencil" (instrumental name), yitneshis'háyi "office" (place of action), itneshis'háva "writing (concrete sense)" (remains of action). Yikonyian was an aglutinating language, permiting derivations from derivations, acumulating affixes, allowing the former words to form yitneshis'há'hvót "graphical", itneshis'hát'vót "textual", and yitneshis'háztyi "writers academy".
Holy Prayer
Hátdenek Yi rou kk'henz erázedn Kaválka,
djrazitálk pavástevabel nobérst ba,
djrazkórerz zení ba,
djrazzggralt'h kehbel ba
erázedin k'hvzéka tki tsauk nobérst.
Uvúr bátshe djrati'uhiáp rdjehelne'iz rieid er ked'h haih.
Djrati'tsháhonivaik rdjeuéla'iz rieid tki djrati'tsháhoniztik ka'tit.
Kness ked'h peh rdjehemiv'h'iz rieid er yíekyi, uá ked'h rdjetrkani'iz rieid an avonkía.
Kiin djraz kromm vuáfeg'h, kromm kórerz bzidá kromm gtneshmeh, rváhian.
Níhtouf'n.
I preferred here to use the original Greek "don't lead us into trial (court of justice)", ked'h peh rdjehemiv'h'iz rieid er yíekyi. The word "amen" is also translated to its closest meaning, "faithfully", níhtouf'n.
Expressions
- keitáh "yes"
- peh "no"
- have "hi, hello"
- sanamáika or devehé "thanks, thank you"
- narómi "be welcome"