Shëyzngaa: The Ancient Mountain Tongue

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Introduction

Shëyzngaa is the ancient language of the Shëyzngaa people, inhabitants of the land of Kãguu, a mountain range analogous to the Caucasus Mountains or the Himalayas. Primarily semi-nomadic yak herders by trade, the Shëyzngaa are known for their short and stocky stature, their practice of one woman marrying a man and all his brothers, and their polytheistic religion focused primarily on the interpretation of dreams.

The Shëyzngaa language is descended from Proto-Shëyzngaa, hypothesized to have existed some 500 to 1,000 years prior to the emergence of this language. Along the way it developed many features such as voiced obstruents, palatal consonants, and the schwa, while simultaneously losing h, as well as several word-initial consonant clusters that once predominated. While the grammar of the proto-language was well established due to a history that cannot be reconstructed, Shëyzngaa innovated further features, such as quirky subject, multiple forms for numbers, and several suppletive forms for basic verbs.

In the coming days I will be posting the details of Shëyzngaa, starting with the phonology and then moving on to grammar, syntax, and finally a translation of the Babel text.

[Khemehekis]

I love the conculture! Does their oneirocritic religion mean that new gods can be added to the roster if someone encounters a theretofore unknown god or goddess in his/her dreams?

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I love the conculture! Does their oneirocritic religion mean that new gods can be added to the roster if someone encounters a theretofore unknown god or goddess in his/her dreams?

Different gods are representative of different qualities and features like the sun or water or the wind but they express their wishes and desires through dreams, so dreams are seen as messages from gods about how to live your life that are interpreted by religious figures and used to guide morality and spirituality among the people.

The pantheon is fairly set, as new figures met in dreams are interpreted as different avatars of the gods or minor spirits working on their behalf

[Khemehekis]

Sounds as if you've got it all worked out . . .

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Phonology

Consonants

Shëyzngaa features 26 consonants at six places of articulation (bilabial, alveolar, post-alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal) and seven degrees of closure (nasal, stop, sibilant affricate, sibilant fricative, non-sibilant fricative, approximant, and lateral approximant), with a voicing distinction in stops, sibilant affricates, and sibilant fricatives and an ejective distinction in stops and sibilant affricates. Shëyzngaa also features the lateral consonant /l/.

m n ɲ (ñ) ŋ (ng)
p b t d k g ʔ (')
p’ t’ k’
tʃ (ch) dʒ (j)
tʃ’ (ch')
s z ʃ (sh) ʒ (zh)
ɸ (f) x (kh)
j (y) w
l

Vowels

Shëyzngaa features four vowels at three heights (close, mid, and open) and three degrees of frontness (front, central, and back). Shëyzngaa features a length distinction and a nasalization distinction for /i u a/, for a total of ten vowel qualities. Shëyzngaa also features the semivowels /j w/.

i i: (ii) u u: (uu)
ĩ ũ
ə (ë)
a a: (aa)
ã

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Phonotactics

Syllables in Shëyzngaa are (C)(C)V(C), though there are many different rules about what kinds of consonants can appear where. Onset clusters take the following forms:

- /ɲ/ + /w/
- /n ŋ/ + lateral approximant (but not word-initially)
- /z/ + /m n ŋ/ (but not word-initially)
- /z/ + /w/ (but not word-initially)
- /z/ + lateral approximant (but not word-initially)
- modal stop (except /ʔ/) + /w/
- modal sibilant affricate + /w/
- non-sibilant fricative + /w/

Post-alveolar and palatal consonants other than /ɲ/ only occur prior to /i i: ĩ/
/ʔ/ only occurs between vowels
/ŋ/ does not occur word-initially
/ŋ/ only occurs in the coda word-medially
/ɸ/ does not occur prior to /u u: ũ/
/m n ŋ/ do not occur in the coda prior to /z/ except when /z/ is followed by a consonant
Vowels must be separated by at least one consonant
/ʔ/ is inserted between vowels in compounds
Only nasals and approximants appear in the coda
Geminate consonants are pronounced doubly long

Stress falls on the penultimate syllable unless the final syllable is long, nasalized, or closed, in which case stress falls on the final syllable. Note that /ə əj əw/ never take stress.

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Allophony

Shëyzngaa has comparatively little allophony, with seven consonant allophones and two vowel ones. They appear in the following circumstances:

- /l/ is realized as /r/ following a consonant
- aanglë, meaning "pleasant", is pronounced /'a:ŋrə/
- /b d g/ are realized as /β ð ɣ/ respectively between vowels
- lãbam, meaning "iron", is pronounced /lã'βam/
- iduy, meaning "base", is pronounced /i'ðuj/
- jigaa, meaning "tomorrow", is pronounced /dʒi'ɣa:/
- /tʃ tʃ’/ are realized as /ts ts’/ respectively between vowels
- ëchii, meaning "assure", is pronounced /ə'tsi:/
- The sequence /ng/, when created by morphology, is always realized as /ŋ/
- /i u/ are realized as /ɪ ʊ/ respectively prior to consonant clusters
- imbam, meaning "tin", is pronounced /ɪmbam/
- k'uzway, meaning "arrange", is pronounced /k’ʊzwaj/

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Grammar

Nouns

Nouns in Shëyzngaa are marked for number (Singular, Dual, and Plural) with a prefix and case (Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Ablative, Locative, Instrumental, Comitative, Inessive, and Adessive) with a suffix.

Plurality

The Singular number on nouns is unmarked; lã means "face"
The Dual number takes several forms depending upon morphology
- The most common prefix is kay-, which appears prior to another consonant besides /m n ŋ/; kaylã means "two faces"
- If the noun begins with a vowel, the dual prefix is kw-; kwumaa means "two plants"
- If the noun begins with /m n ŋ/ the prefix ka- is added and the nasal becomes /ɲ/; may means "fire", while kañay means "two fires"
The Plural number also has three different forms depending upon morphology
- If the word begins with a vowel, the prefix is ngan-; nganamun means "deserts"
- If the word begins with /m n ɲ/, the prefix is nga-; ngamã means "enemies"
- If the word begins with an /ŋ/, the prefix is ngã-; ngãngaman means "sticks"

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Grammatical Case

Nouns take one of ten cases: Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Ablative, Locative, Instrumental, Comitative, Inessive, and Adessive.

Nominative nouns are unmarked
Accusative nouns take one of two markings: -të if the noun ends in a vowel and -t'ë if the noun ends in a consonant
- ëmii means "baby"; it takes the form ëmiitë
- jinznay means "flesh"; it takes the form jinznayt'ë
Genitive nouns take the form -(')ë, where the intervening glottal stop only appears to prevent vowels from appearing adjacent to one another
- jinznayë means "of the flesh"
- ëmii'ë means "of the baby"
Dative nouns take the form -gan; ëmigan means "to the baby"
Ablative nouns take the form -ñaa; ëmiñaa means "from the baby"
Locative nouns take the form -zngii; ëmizngii means "at/by the baby"
Instrumental nouns take the form -muy; jinznaymuy means "using the flesh"
Comitative nouns take the form -(')um, where the intervening glottal stop only appears to prevent vowels from appearing adjacent to one another
- jinznayum means "along with the flesh"
- ëmi'um means "along with the baby"
Inessive nouns take the form -zngit'un; ëmizngit'un means "in the baby"
Adessive nouns take the form -zngi'ũ; ëmizngi'ũ means "on the baby"

Note that nouns ending in a nasal will have that nasal assimilate to an /n/ in the Accusative, Locative, Inessive, and Adessive, while the ending nasal is lost and the previous vowel nasalized in the Dative and the nasal lost with no nasalization in the Instrumental.

Likewise long vowels in the root will be reduced if they lose stress, which occurs in the Dative, Ablative, Locative, Instrumental, Comitative, and Inessive.

Subjects of a verb of experience are placed in the Instrumental, while subjects of changes of state are placed in the Genitive.

Uymuy shĩ fatë
1stPS-INST feel cold-ACC
I feel cold

Uyë ña pabëtë
1stPS-GEN become mother-ACC
I became a mother

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Personal Pronouns, Adjectives and Numbers

Personal pronouns in Shëyzngaa are distinguished by person (1st Person, 2nd Person, and 3rd Person) and number (Singular, Dual, Trial, and Plural).

uy - I, me
lay - you (singular)
ii - he/she/it
kwuy - we two
kway - you two
kwii - they two
ni'uy - we three
may - you three
ni'ii - they three
wam - we, us
lam - you all
am - they

Personal pronouns take case marking like nouns; Uy laytë luy means "I see you"

Adjectives act like nouns and take case and number marking to agree with the noun they modify; nganunum nganënuyum means "with the good dogs"
Numbers, however, do not take any marking; ni nganënuyum means "with three dogs"

Adjectives take comparative, superlative, and excessive forms:
- The Comparative is marked with i- if the adjective begins with a consonant and iw- if it begins with a vowel; ijiingluu means "more precise"; iwënlim means "dimmer"
- The Superlative is marked with ni- if the adjective begins with a consonant and ni'- if it begins with a vowel; nik'umuu means "most practical"; ni'unguu means "earliest"
- The Excessive is maked with ĩ- if the adjective begins with a consonant and ĩ'- if it begins with a vowel; ĩlãwĩ means "too firm"; ĩ'abë means "too chilly"

Numbers are base-6

- pii (#) – one
- kay (#) – two
- ni (#) – three
- khĩ (#) – four
- ay (#) – five
- shã (#) – six
- shamii (#) – seven
- shangay (#) – eight
- shaanëy (#) – nine
- shãkhĩ (#) – ten
- shamĩnëy (#) – eleven
- ã (#) – twelve
- amii (#) – thirteen
- angay (#) – fourteen
- aanëy (#) – fifteen
- ãkhĩ (#) – sixteen
- amĩnëy (#) – seventeen
- ãgã (#) – eighteen
- ãgamii (#) – nineteen
- ãgangay (#) – twenty
- ãgaanëy (#) – twenty-one
- ãgĩ (#) – twenty-two
- ãgamĩnëy (#) – twenty-three
- ch’ii (#) – twenty-four

Numbers take cardinal, ordinal, fractional, frequentative, and multiplicative forms
- Cardinal forms are unmarked
- Ordinal forms receive the prefix lam-; lampii means "first"
- Fractional forms receive the prefix nay-if the number begins with a consonant and m- if it begins with a vowel; naykay means "one half"; may means "one fifth"
- Frequentative forms receive the prefix lii- if the number begins with a consonant and liw- if the number begins with a vowel; liini means thrice; liwã means "twelve times"
- Multiplicative forms receive the prefix su- if the number begins with a consonant and su'- if the number begins with a vowel; sukhĩ means "quadruple"; su'amii means "times thirteen"

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Verbs

Verbs in Shëyzngaa are marked for tense (Non-Future and Future), aspect (Perfective, Progressive, Habitual), and evidentiality (Eyewitness, Secondhand, and Deductive).

The Non-Future tense (representing both Present and Past) is unmarked
The Future tense is marked with the suffix –nũ; amp'ëynũ means "will surround"
The Perfective aspect is unmarked
The Progressive aspect is indicated by reduplicating the first syllable; amamp'ëy means "is/was surrounding"
- This of course can be combined with the Future marker; amamp'ëynũ means "will be surrounding"
The Habitual aspect is indicated with -p'an if the verb ends in a consonant and -pan if the verb ends in a vowel
- amp'ëyp'an means "usually surrounds/surrounded"
- jiinglaapan means "usually snaps/snapped"
This can also be combined with the Future tense: amp'ëynũpan means "will usually surround". Note that the stem appears first, then the Future marker, then the Habitual marker

The Eyewitness evidential (which refers to statements of truth and things the speaker saw with their own eyes) is unmarked
The Secondhand evidential (which refers to things the speaker heard about secondhand) is marked with the suffix -znamuy; amp'ëyznamuy means "I heard... surrounds/surrounded"
The Deductive evidential (which refers to things the speaker deduced from evidence) is marked with the suffix -jĩmuy; amp'ëyjĩmuy means "I can tell... surrounds/surrounded"
- This can be combined with both the Future tense marker and the Habitual aspect marker, for a verb such as the one in this sentence

Jim iitë amp'ëynũpanjĩmuy
/dʒim 'i:tə amp'əjnũpandʒĩ'muj/
water 3PS-ACC surround-FUT-HAB-EVID
I can tell the water will usually surround him

Reduplication replaced the Progressive aspect suffix from the proto-language in all words except the following:

- ĩ (v) – have, hold
- niik’um (v) – say, speak
- nũ (v) – go, leave
- a (v) – know, understand
- luy (v) – see, witness
- khim (v) – come, approach
- ay (v) – like, enjoy

In these words the Progressive aspect is marked with the suffix -në, which combines with the Future marker to become -nunë
- niik'umnë means "be/was saying"
- niik'umnunë means "will be saying"
These words also have a separate Future Habitual of the form -nupan
- niik'umnupan means "will usually say"
With all the markings put together on one of these irregular verbs, you get a sentence like this:

Ii khimnunëznamuy ñwumzngit'un
/i: ximnunəzŋa'muj ɲwumzŋi't’un/
3PS come-FUT-PRO-EVID afternoon-INE
I heard he will be coming in the afternoon

The word “go”, nũ, has the suppletive root ã in the Future tense
The word “walk”, wã, has the suppletive root lii in the Future tense
The word “join”, nuuñë has the suppletive root t’ĩ in the Future tense
The word “be”, nunuy has the suppletive root uu in the Future tense

Verbs are negated by preceding them with ã, as in the following sentence.

Uy iitë ã luynũ jigazngii lii
/uj 'i:tə ã luj'nũ dʒiɣa'zŋi: li:/
1stPS 3PS-ACC no see-FUT tomorrow-LOC until
I will not see him/her/it until tomorrow

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Syntax

Word order in Shëyzngaa is Subject-Verb-Object in most clauses and Subject-Object-Verb when the object of the sentence is a pronoun, with adjectives that precede nouns, possessors that precede possessees, auxiliaries that follow lexical verbs and postpositions.

Uy luy uyë watë ënuyt'ë
/uj luj 'ujə 'watə ə’nujt'ə/
1PS see 1PS-GEN good-ACC dog-ACC
I see my good dog.

Uy iitë luy
/uj 'i:tə luj/
1PS 3PS-ACC see
I see him/her/it.

Lay nũ naznamuy jiñugan iwizngit'un
/laj nũ nazna'muj dʒiɲu'gan iwizŋi't'un/
2PS go do-EVID lake-DAT summer-INE
I heard you do/did go to the lake in the summer

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Irregularities

Words that end in a nasal will have that nasal assimilate to the following consonant when suffixed

Words that once began with /ŋ/ will have that /ŋ/ reappear when prefixed.

Some words that begin with /x/ will have that /x/ become /ʔ/ when prefixed with a prefix that ends in a vowel and disappear when prefixed with a prefix that ends in a consonant

Stressed long vowels that lose that stress when affixed will have their previously stressed long vowel reduce to its short equivalent

Words that previously began with an /s/ prior to another consonant will have that /s/ reappear as /z/ when prefixed.

Words that begin with /p t k/ will have those consonants change to /b d g/ respectively when prefixed

Suffixes including an /i i: ĩ/ will turn the previous /u u:/ into /i i:/

Unstressed vowels are dropped between /m n ŋ/ and /w/ followed by a vowel

Unstressed vowels are dropped between /p t tʃ k s ɸ x/ and /w/ followed by a vowel

Some words starting with /dʒ/ will have that /dʒ/ turn into /j/ when prefixed.

Words that previously began with an /x/ but now begin with /ʃ/ will have that /ʃ/ be realized as /g/ between voiced segments and /ɣ/ between vowels when prefixed.

If the sequence /mw/ is created by morphology, it is realized as /ŋ/

Words that previously began with an /ŋ/ at the beginning of a consonant cluster will have that /ŋ/ reappear when that word is prefixed.

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The Babel Text

Ay lĩ muy ĩ piitë lëyint’ë ĩ niigëwt’ë mëtayt’ë. Taa ngananmũ suynũ wũgant’ë, am nu angĩtë Shinayzngit’un ĩ am shatë p’ënt’um. Am niik’um ngamp’igan ngananmũgan, “Khim, wam ĩgan mũ nganzhimaatë ĩ wam ĩgan ant’ë khi t’imazmũ mayum.” Am k’um jimaatë kan lun ĩ litiñuutë tiñumaa lun. K’ũ am niik’um, “Khim, wam ĩgan imũ ngãngiitë, ngĩ’i’um shun ii ch’i ngamëzlungan, taa shun wam pii mũ p’iimaatë wamë ungluu lun ĩ ã nungë wamë ungluutë lĩ’ë kunwaa’ë p’izngii nã.” Uy Numim khim t’untë ĩ ii luy ngãngiitë ĩ ngĩ’itë shun ngananmũ i’imũ. Numim niik’um, “Im taa pii ngaa am nana nii shiitë k’a am niniik’um kutë lëyint’ë, k’ũ ã naznë shun am mũ nũkhëynũ. Khim, wam ĩgan nũ t’unt’ë ĩ wam ĩgan na’an amë lëyint’ë un am ã anũ p’iitë ngananmũtë.”Un Numim ant’ë nungë shañaa amzngii kunwazngii nã, ĩ am i’imũ usuynũ ngãngiitë. Un wam lëwaa Babii – ji Numim na’an lĩ’ë kunwaa’ë lëyint’ë. Numim ant’ë nungë shañaa lĩ’ë kunwaa’ë p’izngii nã.

/aj lĩ muj ĩ ‘pi:tə lə’jɪnt’ə ĩ ‘ni:gəwt’ə mə’tajt’ə ta: ŋanan’mũ sʊj’nũ wũ’ɣant’ə am nu a’ŋĩtə ʃinajzŋi’t’un ĩ am ‘ʃatə p’ən’t’um am ni:’k’um ŋamp’i’ɣan ŋananmũ’ɣan xim wam ĩ’ɣan mũ ŋanʒi’ma:tə ĩ wam ĩ’ɣan ‘ant’ə xi t’ima’zmũ ma’jum am k’un dʒi’ma:tə kan lun ĩ liti’ɲu:tə tiɲu’ma: lun k’ũ am ni:’k’um xim wam ĩ’ɣan i’mũ ŋã’ŋi:tə ŋĩʔi’ʔum ʃun i: tʃ’i ŋaməzru’ŋan ta: ʃun wam pi: mũ p’i:’ma:tə ‘wamə u’ŋru: lun ĩ ã ‘nuŋə ‘wamə u’ŋru:tə ‘lĩʔə ku’nwa:ʔə p’i’zŋi: nã uj nu’mim xim ‘t’untə i: luj ŋã’ŋi:tə ĩ ŋĩ’ʔitə ʃun ŋanan’mũ iʔi’mũ nu’mim ni:’k’um im ta: pi: ŋa: am ‘nana ni: ‘ʃi:tə k’a am nini:’k’um ‘kutə lə’jint’ə k’ũ ã ‘naznə ʃun am mũ nũxəj’nũ xim wam ĩ’ɣan nũ ‘t’unt’ə ĩ wam ĩ’ɣan na’ʔan ‘amə lə’jint’ə un am ã a’nũ ‘p’i:tə ŋanan’mũtə un nu’mim ‘ant’ə ‘nuŋə ʃa’ɲa: am’zŋi: kunwa’zŋi: nã ĩ am iʔi’mũ usʊj’nũ ŋã’ŋi:tə un wam lə’wa: ba’bi: dʒi nu’mim na’ʔan ‘lĩʔə kʊ’nwa:ʔə lə’jint’ə nu’mim ‘ant’ə ‘nuŋə ʃa’ɲa: ‘lĩʔə kʊ’nwa:ʔə p’i’zŋi: nã/

now whole world have one-ACC language-ACC and common-ACC speech-ACC as PLU-person move east-ACC 3PP find plain-ACC Shinar-INE and 3PP there-ACC settle 3PP say PLU-other-DAT PLU-person-DAT come 1PP must make PLU-brick-ACC and 1PP must 3PP-ACC through cook fire-COM 3PP use brick-ACC stone for and asphalt-ACC mortar for then 3PP say come 1PP must build town-ACC tower-COM that 3PS reach PLU-sky-DAT so that 1PP may make name-ACC 1PP-GEN self for and no spread 1PP self-ACC whole-GEN earth-GEN face-LOC over but god come down-ACC and 3PS see town-ACC and tower-ACC that PLU-person RED-build god say if as one people 3PP RED-do begin this-ACC while 3PP RED-speak same-ACC language-ACC then no plan that 3PP make fail-FUT come 1PP must go down-ACC and 1PP must confuse 3PP-GEN language-ACC so 3PP no understand-FUT other-ACC PLU-person-ACC so god 3PP-ACC spread there-ABL all-LOC earth-LOC over and 3PP RED-build stop town-ACC so 1PP 3PS-ACC call Babel because god confuse whole-GEN earth-GEN language-ACC god 3PP-ACC spread there-ABL whole-GEN earth-GEN face-LOC over

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. This is why it was called Babel – because the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.