Antarian

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Antarian (wāk antarihas) is an independent branch of the Maverico-Casaterran family of languages, native to Antari and neighbouring regions in Vinya. Its sole surviving member, Antarian, is the native language of most Antarians and is co-official with Anglian in Antari. The family contains other extinct languages such as Marallic, Capeatic, Cadialic, and Meyianic. The language is also spoken by minorities in other Vinyan states, where it is mostly unrecognized.

Antarian has the longest written tradition of any living Maverico-Casaterran language, having been attested more-or-less continuously for about 4,000 years on Antarian syllabary script and then the Alphabet, introduced in the 7th century BCE. Knowledge of the Antarian syllabary having gone extinct after the Alphabet's introduction, the script was rediscovered in 1784 but remained undeciphered due to its small corpus of limited subject matter. Anglian antiquarian Sir Edward Keen led the academic effort towards its decipherment in the 1890s and 1900s and conclusively demonstrated it as an archaic form of the Antarian language in 1910. It is often described as the sister to all other Maverico-Casaterran branches in view of its many archaic features.

The first millennium of the attestation of Antarian consists almost exclusively of personal names, labels, inventories, and transaction accounts. Occasionally, longer texts reflecting directions for craftsmen are found. The written record of Antarian experienced a notable enrichment under the Old Antarian Kingdom, during which literature is first set in writing, it being assumed that an oral tradition was normal both at the royal court and in communities.

History

Under the Maverico-Antarian Hypothesis, first raised by Henry Hatter, the ancestor to all Antarian languages diverged from the Proto-Maverico-Casaterran about 6,000 years ago. Two methods have been accpeted to support this date: firstly, the shared vocabulary between Proto-Antarian and other Proto-Maverico-Casaterran languages reflects a neolithic society without the ability to fashion elaborate objects from metallurgy, and secondly, assuming a constant rate of attrition, the relatively few cognate remains within the core vocabulary.

The Antarian language is customarily divided into the following phases:

  • Proto-Antarian, the unattested ancestor to the Antarian family, spoken just after splitting from Proto-Maverico-Casaterran.
  • Syllabary Antarian, the language attested from about 2000 BCE to 500 BCE with the syllabary script; later phases of the language reflect many features of earlier Classical Antarian, but also present are archaic set phrases.
  • Classical Antarian, the lingua franca of the Old Antarian Kingdom, spoken from about 750 BCE to the start of the Common Era.
  • Late Antarian, the lingua franca of the New Antarian Kingdom, spoken from the 3rd centry CE to the 10th century. Late Antarian, though attested on media and forms close to their Classical counterparts, is not a direct evolution of the Classical language and shows influence from Caditic.
  • Medieval Antarian, spoken from the 10th century to the 14th century.
  • Early Modern Antarian
  • Modern Antarian

Geographic distribution

Grammar

The grammars of the Antarian languages are highly inflected and, owing to the family's early attestation, preserves a number of archaic Proto-Maverico-Casaterran features and correspondingly does not share in certain innovations, though common innovations are also attested. Due to this genetic position, Antarian has been influential in the reconstruction of Proto-Maverico-Casaterran grammar and syntax.

Word structure

Most Antarian words can be analyzed as a root, ending, and optionally a suffix between them. The root provides a basic meaning and can be used in all parts of speech. Endings in verbs provide the person, number, aspect, and voice, and in nouns the case and number. Suffixes modify the meaning of the root The tripartite word structure of Antarian is inherited from the PMC ancestral language and closely correlates to ablaut patterns.

Ablaut

A common feature in all Antarian languages is ablaut or apophony, where the form of the vowel in each syllable differs amongst zero-grade (noted in some texts as Ø), e-grade, and o-grade; ablaut is correlated but not completely determined by the position of accent, where the accented syllable is likely to have a full grade, i.e. e- or o-grade, and both are strongly related to syntax in both substantives and verbs.

The thematic vowel is present in Antarian in limited numbers. Whereas its presence or absence is a fundamental division in the conjugation and declensional paradigms in other MC langauges, the thematic vowel in Antarian is more akin to a suffix and cannot, in principle, be applied to other suffixes.

Nouns

Nouns in Syllabary Antarian decline for three numbers and nine cases, though not all permutations of number and case are morphologically distinct. Nouns are either animate or inanimate in gender, where animate nouns are generally cognate with masculine and feminine nouns in other MC languages, while inanimate nouns correspond to neuter nouns therein. The following sketches the basic semantics of each of the cases:

  • Nominative case is used for the animate subject of verbs, e.g. the cat drinks water.
  • Absolutive case is used for the inanimate subject of intransitive verbs and inanimate object of transitive verbs, e.g. the water drips, or the cat drinks water.
  • Accusative case is used for the animate subject of transitive verbs, e.g. the cat eats the dog.
  • Vocative case signifies direct address. In animate nouns, the vocative takes the full-grade stem without endings. In inanimate nouns, the vocative case always takes the singular stem and is identical to the absolutive form. In translation to Anglian, the interjection o is typically used to mark vocative use, e.g. o water, you drip.
  • Genitive case marks the possessor.
  • Dative case marks the indirect object of transitive verbs or beneficiary in intransitive verbs in some clauses, e.g. the man gave tuna to the cat, or the cat speaks.
  • Locative case marks locations, e.g. the cat slept in the bed.
  • Ablative case provides a variety of extra information or origin, e.g. the cat ate tuna from Anglia.
  • Allative case indicates direction towards, e.g. the cat went to Anglia.

Basic endings

The endings of animate nouns are as follows, with hner "man, male person" as example:

Singular Dual Plural
Nominative hner -s/-Ø hnera -a/-ʔ hneres -es
Vocative hner hneres -es
Accusative hnerm̩ -m hnerm̩s -ms
Locative hneri -i hnran -an hnəra -es/-as
Dative hnrey -i/-ey hnərmus -mas
Genitive hnras -s/-as hnərus -as
Ablative hnras -s/-as
Instrumental hnra -h/-a
Allative hnra -a

The endings of inanimate nouns are as follows, with wútər "water" as example:

Singular Plural
Absolutive wétr̩ wétr̩ -h/a/Ø
Vocative wátər
Locative uténi -i wétūri -i
Genitive utēn -s utrés -s
Dative uténi -i utréi -i
Instrumental uténta -ta utréta -ta
Ablative utēn -s utrés -s
Allative uténa -a utréa -a

-r stem

There are four types of nouns with a stem in -r. These are traditionally named the "father", "mother", "parent", and "hand" types and are all animate nouns. With the exception of the fourth type, kesar "hand", all r-stem nouns are descended from PMC agentive nouns in *-ter and *-tor, the former especially denoting kinship terms. The first two patterns diverge in the place of their accent: the accent is mobile on "father" and shifts to the ending in the oblique cases, while they are static on the root syllable in "mother". The final pattern for kesar is infrequent but attested in a few common nouns.

1. The pattern of ptér "father":

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. ptér
piter
ptérʔe
piteroe
ptéres
piteres
Acc. ptérm̩
piterom
ptérm̩s
piteromos
Loc. ptéri
piteri
ptérʔāw
piterooaou
ptérsi
pitersi
Dat. ptréy
piterei
ptr̩mā́
pitoromoa
ptr̩más
pitoromas
Gen. ptrás
pitras
ptr̩ʔás
pitorooas
ptr̩ʔám
pitorooam

2. The pattern of mátar "mother":

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. mátar
matar
mátr̩ʔe
matorooe
mátres
matres
Acc. mátr̩m
matorom
mátr̩ms
matoroms
Loc. mátr̩i
matoroi
mátr̩ʔāw
matorooaou
mátr̩si
matorosi
Dat. mátr̩i
matoroi
mátr̩mā
matoromoa
mátr̩mas
matoromas
Gen. mátr̩s
matoros
mátr̩ʔas
matorooas
mátr̩ʔam
matorooam

3. The pattern of kennətār "parent":

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kénnətār
kennotoar
kénnəterʔe
kennoterooe
kénnəteres
kennoteres
Acc. kénnəterm̩
kennoterom
kénnəterms
kennoteroms
Loc. kennətr̩i
kennotri
kénnətr̩ʔāw
kennotorooaou
kénnətersi
kennotersi
Dat. kn̩nətrei
kononotrei
kn̩nətr̩mā
kononotoromoa
kn̩nətr̩más
kononotoromas
Gen. kn̩nətrás
kononotras
kn̩nətr̩ʔás
kononotorooas
kn̩nətr̩ʔám
kononotorooam

4. The pattern of kesar "hand":

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-n stem

tkmman, "human, earthling":

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. tkm̩mā́n
dgomomaon
tkm̩menʔe
dgomomenooe
tkm̩menes
dgomomenes
Acc. tkm̩menm̩
dgomomenom
tkm̩menm̩s
dgomomenomos
Loc. tkm̩men
dgomomen
tkm̩menʔāw
dgomomenooaou
tkm̩mensi
dgomomensi
Dat. tkm̩mnéy
dgomomney
tkm̩mnmā́
dgomomonomoa
tkm̩mnmás
dgomomonomas
Gen. tkm̩mnás
dgomonas
tkm̩mnʔás
dgomomonooas
tkm̩mnʔám
dgomomonooam

uksḗn, "ox":

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. uksḗn
uksean
uksénʔe
uksenooe
uksénes
uksenes
Acc. uksénm̩
uksenom
uksénm̩s
uksenomos
Loc. ukséni
ukseni
uksénʔāw
uksenooaou
uksénsi
uksensi
Dat. uksnéy
uksnei
uksnmā́
uksonomao
uksnmás
uksonomas
Gen. uksnás
uksnas
uksnʔás
uksonooas
uksnʔám
uksonooam

-s stem

hewsas

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-t stem

hnept

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-l stem

sal

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-ʔ stem

pant-

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-m stem

tekm

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-i/-u stems

wawis/dyews

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam
Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-ī/-ū stems

ẉlkis/tenus (2)

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam
Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

pléh₁dʰh₁-uh₁-s

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-is/-us stems

mentis/suqnus

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam
Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-ih

kennetrii

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-nt stem

tant/tnt/tent

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

qsant/qsnt/qsant

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-wā́s stem

perf. act. part.

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-h stem

kenh, knahs

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-r/n stem

wetr̩

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

-l/n stem

sawl̩

Sing. Du. Pl.
Nom. kesā́r
kesaor
kserʔe
kserooe
kséres
kseres
Acc. ksérm̩
kserom
ksérm̩s
kseromos
Loc. kséri
kseri
kserʔāw
kserooau
ksérsi
ksersi
Dat. ksréy
kisrei
ksr̩mā́
ksoromoa
ksr̩más
ksoromas
Gen. ksrás
kisras
ksr̩ʔás
ksorooas
ksr̩ʔám
ksorooam

Pronouns

Verbs

Verbs in Antarian are conjugated for three persons, three numbers, two voices, and four moods, agreeing with the subject of the sentence in person and number.

Unlike most other MC languages, Antarian does not morphologically distinguish tense, with primary endings (associated with the present tense in most languages) conspicuously absent. There are two kinds of roots, present and perfect, which take different endings directly; present roots tend to have transitive meanings, while prefect roots intransitive meanings, but this is by no means universal. Present roots may take personal endings directly or with affixes in derivation, while the perfect roots in general may only take perfect endings. New verbs are always created as presents and never as perfects.

Present roots and perfect roots differ notably by their accentuation patterns. Present roots display mobile accent, which is on the root or suffix syllables in the strong or singular forms and on the endings in the weak or dual and plural forms. Perfect roots display static accent, persisting on the root syllable. It should be noted that the accentuation pattern is a property of the root itself and not of the conjugation: a perfect stem derived from a present root will retain the accentuation pattern derived from the present.

Present

In the active voice of present verbs, there are two sets of endings called primary and secondary. The primary endings follow, with ’et- "to eat" as example:

Sing. Du. Pl.
1st ’édmi -mi dwési -wési dmési -mési
2nd ’éši -s štəwés -twés ’éšte -té
3rd ’édšti -t štés -tés ténti -ént

The secondary endings are as follows:

Sing. Du. Pl.
1st ’édəm[1] -m dwé -wé dmé -mé
2nd ’ḗts -s štúm -túm šté -té
3rd ’ḗtt -t štám -tám tént -ént
  1. *t > d before syllabic consonants; id for 1 du. and pl.

Present verbs may also take, from the root, the so-called "middle" endings, which are in early Antarian transparent as a synthesis of active and perfect endings:

Sing. Du. Pl.
1st ’édəmə < *’ét-m̩-h -m-h dwétə -wé-th dmétə -mé-th
2nd ’étstə* < *’ét-s-th -s-th štəmt.hé -təm-thé < *tm̩-dʰh₂é ’etstawé[1] < *’et-s-tawé
štăwé < *’t-s-tawé
-t-təwé < *t-dʰh₂wé
3rd ’étsta -t-a štamt.hé -tam-thé < *th₂m-dʰh₂é téntər -nt-r
  1. From the strong stem and seems to be the original form

Optative

The optative endings are as follows:

Sing. Du. Pl.
1st ’étie’əm -ie’-əm ti’wé -i’-wé ti’mé -i’-mé
2nd ’ḗtiets -ie-ts < *-ie’-s tittúm -it-túm titté -it-té
3rd ’ḗtiet -ie-t tittám -it-tám ti’ént -i’-ént

Perfect

The endings of perfect verbs are as follows, with kei- "to lie down (oneself)" as example:

Sing. Du. Pl.
1st kéih -h/-ă kéiwa -wa kéitha -ta
2nd kéita -ta kéita -ta kéitawe -tawe
3rd kéia kéita -ta kéir -r

Classification

Writing systems

See also