Ismaîn

From Almeopedia

Ismaîn
Native name Ismaîn
Verdurian ismaën
Characteristics
Location Ismahi, Azgami
Family Eastern
Subfamily Central
Standard Raizumi
Writing system alphabet
Info available full grammar
Sample wordlist
one en
two zin
three ʐin
river çelŕe
town maçtane
people ʐen
big boʐe
little pyş

Ismaîn [is ma ˈɛ̃] is a sister language of Verdurian, spoken by the inhabitants of Azgami, Denisovič, and Ismahi.

Most scholars tend to still wax in Caďinor, but since the founding of Ismahi state in the 26th century we see Old Ismaîn used in literature. By the 30th century, literature was flourishing and government records were kept in the vernacular.

The language does diverge rather distinctly from its brethren, losing a lot to phonological changes, some of which obscures cognates— however still retaining a strong, Eastern identity. It borrows heavily from Verdurian because of culture and trade, and from Kebreni it borrows terms for philosophy and technology, while also being true to its roots. It uses the same script as Verdurian, but makes adjustments for its own phonology.

  • Phonological features:
    • The language developed both retroflex fricatives, ş and ʐ, and alveolar-palatal fricatives, ç and j.
    • l, n, and r can be syllabic.
    • l can be light (written l) or dark (ł), depending if it begins a syllable or ends it, however the distinction is hardly phonemic.
  • Morphological Features:
    • Nouns decline for three cases: Nominative, Dative, and the Ablative, the endings of which have analogized out towards both numbers, Singular and Plural, and the gender distinction has altogether been lost.
    • Adjectives do not decline, but are sometimes written with the appropriate endings.
    • 2nd person pronouns, le and mih have been replaced with lolŕ (lôde lŕ, your honor) and its plural, lomû.
    • There are 3 verb conjugations, which form in the present, past, past anterior, the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive.
    • The new 2nd person pronouns use the 3rd person verb forms, however in some rural areas le and mih forms exist.

Sample Text

  • Paveles pêtile fu hŕ ŕ demeʐe, ŕ şi silizegi lygimi eçtes ŕ iʐeçtn, tes glini bŕegi rolyn, pidêne beçtic, î ylin en ŕaʐis.
  • pavel-abl song-nom was-3s slow and sad / and she graceful-adv sway-past-3s here-abl and there-abl / she-abl long arm-pl-nom twist-past-3s / always move-pres-part / in way-dat bird-abl.
  • Pavel's song was slow and sad, and she gracefully swayed back and forth, her long arms twisting— always in motion— like a bird.

See also

Author: Neek