Unlike most threads here, I'm writing this as if it was actually being written by a Heocg person, to an Azen scholar who wishes to read Heocg's epics in their native language. However, I also wrote it so that you can skip all the fluff if you want. I'm trying not to drag on the flavor text too much, but it's fun to write as compared to a boring old grammar! I already have the Heocg thread for that.
Dah Heocguwa lutfare!--You must learn Heocg!
Welcome, students, to lessons in the language of epics, romance, drama, history, and adventure! On Thōselqat, they say that "Pazmat is what you learn to live by money, but Heocg is what you learn to live by passion". There's a good reason for that--the literary achievements of the Heocg are vast. It is us who wrote the world's first great epics--as they say here, Mionų sturoya yemut not, "The one which is first stands above all". We pioneered writing, and brought the power of the pen to the other countries on this planet. What we lack in military prowess, we sure make up for in literary prowess--what other country can say that it brought an attacking force's general to tears from poetry, and watched as he called off an invasion solely so such beautiful writing would not be destroyed and forgotten?
The Heocg epics, or Ghwoyibhu, are known to nearly everyone on Thōselqat, as they frequently pop up in the school system to be read in literature classes. But those are translations--and very translations can match the original. Take, for instance, the infamous line from Hacnas:
tǫ smut dau kruoraru meadirosar hukayo skarana salu dah lighatar snegau nǫppyegyu bak effṛyut qoðð reskuwa wų Warhlau bṛ?
And why should I look at you with even the slightest amount of respect when you cannot muster up enough strength to defeat even the pathetic weakling that is Warhlas?
Oh, the translation above captures SOME of the original passage, but it loses out so much. How can the translation capture how "smut" means not "why", but more "in regards to what (reason)", how "tǫ" is as much "and thus", or how "kruoraru" means "why MUST (I) look (at you)"?
Perhaps the translation "And thus, in regards to what (reason) must I see you with interest to myself using the smallest amount in regards to respect when you cannot summon enough strength for overcoming even the pathetic one who is Warhlas" would better capture the original, but as you can clearly see, it's pathetically stilted. Not to imply that Heocg is above any other language--no, after all a translation into Heocg of the Azenti epic Ani Mazzi Daccos Tol Benti Samjujja would lose much of the same feeling (though Writikų Writoyt certainly tried her best, and she must be commended on it)
Thus, it is required of the scholar, be they in Cryset, Chyffelb, Vzodyet, Pazmat, Azehar, Qeung, Sunago, Ngith, or any other place I have failed to mention, to learn the language of the Ghwoyibhu to fully appreciate them. Thankfully, the modern language has almost no differences--any Heocg off of the streets of Higcwaz could understand the above line with few difficulties.
Those from Azehar (such as you, presumably, dear reader) would also appreciate being able to understand the speech of the many Heocg immigrants in the country. We and the Azen are closely linked, though not genetically, and Heocg may be found all other the islands. The colloquial Azen lexicon features many words from Heocg, some as slang, some as full-on loanwords to the point where an Azen would be shocked to learn of their non-native orgin.
With that, let the lessons begin:
Note that it is assumed that the reader is already familiar with Heocg script (Sterbų). If you are not, it is highly suggested that you first begin by learning it. Suggestions for books on the subject are in the final chapter of this book. However, it should not be much of challenge, as the Azen use a modified version of it to write their language anyway.
Sounds:
To be able to read, first you must pronounce! While the epics are rarely read aloud today, being able to understand the unique sound of Heocg can be useful, and those wanting to speak with a native would find eliminating their accent to be useful (it is said, however, that the accent of a Azen man makes Heocg girls swoon, so you may find accent elimination to be detrimental, but never the less!)
Thankfully, not many aspects of Heocg pronunciation are hard, and for the Azen they will be even easier. We begin with the vowels.
Heocg vowels are as so:
/i u e o a iː uː eː oː aː/
<i u e o a į ų ę ǫ ą>
/ɛ æ y/
<eo ea y>
Unless the speech of the Azen, the Heocg does not worry about unusual vowel qualities as much. There are no unrounded back vowels, and only one unrounded front vowel. For the Azen tongue, the trickest parts of Heocg are the long vowels and /ɛ æ/. Long vowels must be held longer than their short ones, but maintain the same quality. It is easy to over-step and extend it for too long, but with practice it should be easy. /ɛ æ/ are trickier, but imagine /e/ but slightly lower and more "eh"-like, and /a/ but slightly higher. Capturing these nuances will be tricky, but as an Azen you are lucky in that there is almost always a Heocg nearby to practice.
Heocg vowels are ordered by height and frontness--thus the high front /i/ is first, while the low-front /a/ is final. Then the long vowels, in the same order.
Finally, the diphthongs--sequences of two vowels:
/uj ej oj aj ew aw/
<uy ey oy ay eu au>
These are not that difficult for the Azen tongue.
What WILL be difficult, however, is the fact that vowels can occur anywhere. Azenti, with it's unique restriction of rounded vowels after /j/ and unrounded ones after /h/, will prove difficult to overcome at first. One must take care to pronounce <yem> ("to be above") as [jem], not [jøm], as such a mistake will mark you as an Azen immediately. Likewise, <hytoy> ("much, many"), is [hytoj], NOT [hitoy]! It will take practice, but it is nothing impossible.
Finally, that most bizarre of vowels /ṛ/. Yes, a consonant, but a vowel. One of the most tricky parts of Heocg, this syllabic trill forms a vowel nucleus all by itself--gṛhom "cat", bhṛta "(I) fought", etc. It must be given a forceful trill, and do not add a vowel to ease pronunciation, for that sounds too much like <eor> or <er>, and not <ṛ>!
Now, the consonants of Heocg. They are ordered rather cleanly--by their place in the mouth, with labials first and uvulars last, and their degree of restriction (so approximants first, plosives last). First, the labial series:
/w m f p b bʰ/
<w m f p b bh>
All of these should be old hat except for /w/. Though the Azen write /v/ with the same letter in Sterbų, DO NOT pronounce it as /v/, unless you wish to be exposed as an Azen immediately. /w/ is a light approximant, much like your /u/ before vowels (do not believe me? Pronounce uas. and you will quickly see that it is pronounced [was] and not [uas]--we have borrowed your words with /w/ for /u/ frequently--Azenti Zuotys to Heocg Swotys). If it is needed, mentally turn <wV> into <uV> until you get the hand of it. Also remember that <ue ui> are [ue ui], NOT [uy uø]!
However, do not discard [v] yet. In Heocg, it shows up as a frequent allophone to both /w f/--for /w/, before consonants (but not after!) and at the end of a word--writ "to love, ew "to exceed, be better than", rowd "to have sex" are [vrit ev rovd]. For /f/, it is voiced between vowels and before voiced consonants--thus Stayfu "boy" must be [stajvu:].
Next, the dental series:
/r~ɾ~ɻ l n s~z θ~ð ts dz t d dʰ/
<r l n s ð c z t d dh>
The trickiest part is the fact that the fricatives of this set all undergo voicing at certain times. The conditions are indeed, though, the same as /f/ up there--all of Heocg's fricatives are neutral in regards to voicing, and simply assimilate to voiced consonants while also voicing between vowels.
Do not pronounce /dz/ as /z/, despite the fact that Azenti Sterbų borrowed its letter to write /z/!
<r> may be pronounced in any of the three ways put above, but pronunciation as a tap is a mark of Azenti-influenced dialects, while as an alveolar trill it makes one sound like they stepped out of a Ghwoyibhu.
Finally, /ts dz/ after /s/ create quite the tricky clusters: /sts zdz/. They are simplified to [ʃ ʒ]. In Azenti these are allophones of /si zi/, and thus will be slightly annoying at first, but nothing that cannot be handled with practice.
Next, the palatal series:
/j tʃ dʒ/
<y cg gc>
Yes, <y> is both /j/ and /y/. It is rarely ambiguous, however. In any case, the last two--the affricates--will trip up the Azen tongue, which views them as being /ts dz/, the most. In Azenti, these two are allophones of the sequences /tsi dzi/, once again some practice and they will come to you.
The velar series is next:
/ŋ x k g gʰ/
<ng h k g gh>
Unlike the previous series there is nothing here worth mentioning besides /x/ voicing like all fricatives before voiced consonants and inbetween vowels. However, it sometimes does not--such failure to voice is one of the markers of a speaker hailing from the western area of Heocg.
One final consonant remains--the uvular stop, /q/ <q>. This is the only uvular in the language. It must be pronounced like /k/, but further back in the mouth, almost till one is choking (though be careful when producing it!). It is not very common (going by how many words it shows up in), but it does show up in the common words qoðes "to think" and muqqas "woman".
A final note: gemination of consonants is phonemic. The letter is doubled (in digraphs the first letter only is doubled).
Stress in Heocg is much like Azenti stress: in disyllabic words, the first syllable is stressed, while in words of 3 syllables or more, the second-to-last syllables is stressed.
With that, you now have the sounds of Heocg. They should come with some practice--it is highly suggested to search out a Heocg and let them be a tutor.
An exercise: What is the pronunciation, in IPA, of this following sentence? Do not mark stress. All <r>'s are alveolar trills (as this is a sentence from an epic). The sentence is:
bharam stat writoys nayoy bṛ laghoyyų bak uffṛyut ratrirð Matṛbhosa?
The answer:
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Next I will go over nouns, mainly in regards to case and class.
Please point out any typos I may have made. Some always slip through the cracks...