Namchog language
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Namchog language | |
---|---|
Ppŭhryndadda, ŋıqııt ryndadda | |
Pronunciation | [ppʊhrɨˈndadda] |
Native to | Oroshia |
Ethnicity | Namchog people |
Native speakers | ca. 250,000 (2018) |
Sabarian | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Oroshia |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | nm |
ISO 639-2 | nam |
ISO 639-3 | nam |
The Namchog language, or Namchogi (ppŭhryndadda, pronounced: [ppʊh.rɨˈnda.dda]), is a language isolate, or a small family of languages, spoken in the interior of the Oroshan peninsula, mostly in the central, mountainous regions of Oroshia, in northeast Surucia. It is the second-most spoken language in Oroshia, with around 250,000 speakers in 2018. While not an official language in the country, it is a recognized charter language in the Oroshan department of Qaʔłvəŋočəčivi ğiʔnvək, where most of the Namchogi population lives.
Namchogi is most likely the indigenous language of the Oroshan peninsula, having been supplanted by Gujino-Bintani languages, whose speakers migrated from the west, and later Jogin during the colonization of Oroshia. Namchogi speakers were severely prosecuted and oppressed under colonial rule, though the remoteness of the locations where the language is spoken prevented the language from total extinction. Namchogi was made a recognized language in the interior mountain region in 1972, after Oroshan independence. This is despite the Oroshan government's extant restrictive language policy, which limits the use of minority languages, especially Yvlipkan. The large number of speakers relative to the country's population made Namchogi recognition necessary for effective government of the whole country.
Phonology
Namchogi has an extensive consonant and vowel inventory, employing both consonant gradation and vowel harmony.
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive | p b | t d | tʃ dʒ | k g | q | |
Fricative | f v | s | x ɣ | χ ʁ | h | |
Approximant | w | l r | j |
Consonant gradation follows two main paradigms, depending on whether the initial consonant is geminate or not. For non-geminate base consonants, there are up to 5 different levels of gradation, while for geminates, there are only 4.
Gradation level | Labial | Labial nasal | Alveolar | Alveolar nasal | Palatal | Palatal nasal | Velar | Velar nasal | Uvular | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | pp | mpp | tt | ntt | čč | ňčč | kk | ŋkk | xx | |
4 | p | mp | t | nt | č | ňč | k | ŋk | q | x |
3 | b | mb | d | nd | dž | ňdž | g | ŋg | w | h |
2 | v | m | l | n | j | ň | ğ | ŋ | ǥ | ∅ |
1 | w | v | ∅ | l | ∅ | j | w | ğ | w | ∅ |
4i | pp | mpp | tt | ntt | čč | ňčč | kk | ŋkk | xx | |
3i | bb | mbb | dd | ndd | ddž | ňddž | gg | ŋgg | ww | hh |
2i | vv | mm | ll | nn | jj | ňň | ğğ | ŋŋ | ǥǥ | ∅ |
1i | ww | vv | ∅ | ll | ∅ | jj | ww | ğğ | ww | |
3ii | ff | ∅ | ss | rr | ∅ | xx | ∅ | ħħ | ∅ | |
2ii | f | s | r | x | ħ | |||||
1ii | v | h | ∅ | ğ | ǥ |
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː y yː | ɨ | ɯ ɯː u uː |
Mid | e ø | ə əː | ʊ o oː |
Open | a aː |
Vowels are contrastive for length, and are grouped into 3 groups for vowel harmony, which works based on both roundness and height. Vowel group 1 (V1) are the high vowels, V2 are the lower vowels, and V3 are the reduced vowels, which are not contrastive for length.
Group | Front clear | Front round | Back clear | Back round |
---|---|---|---|---|
V1 | i | ü | ı | u |
V2 | ə | ə | a | o |
V3 | e | ø | y | ŭ |
Syllable structure allows for clusters of CCC, but these are analyzed as one consonant of a high grade. Under that interpretation, the general syllable structure is understood to be (C)V(C). Stress is placed on the penult of the root, meaning that affixes do not shift stress.
Morphology
Namchogi is an agglutinative language with up to 10 grammatical cases. Nouns have no gender, declension follows a nominative-accusative alignment, and syntax is predominantly head-initial. Nouns have 3 numbers, singular, dual, and plural. Prefixes on nouns harmonize with the root vowel pattern, or the pattern of the first root word in compounds, which is closest to the prefixes.
Nouns
Number is considered more central to the noun, and is prefixed before case. Being head-initial, consonant gradation affects the first consonant, which is cross-linguistically unusual.
Case | Prefix | Example |
---|---|---|
Nominative | ∅ | nadda, mountain |
Accusative | qqV1- | qqınadda, mountain (acc.) |
Dative | -GRAD | ladda, to the mountain |
Genitive | +GRAD | ndadda, of the mountain |
Ablative | -GRAD, V2t- | atladda, from the mountain |
Locative | -GRAD, gV2d- | gadladda, in/on the mountain |
Allative | -GRAD, V3dž- | ydžladda, into/onto the mountain |
Elative | -GRAD, qqV1- | qqıladda, out of the mountain |
Instrumental | +GRAD, V2t- | atndadda, with (using) the mountain |
Comitative | +GRAD, gV2d- | gadndadda, with (by) the mountain |
Namchogi employs prefixes for the dual and plural, and appear to be invariable. Since nouns lack gender, the same prefixes are used for all nouns.
Number | Prefix | Example |
---|---|---|
Singular | ∅ | ŋŋit, tree |
Dual | sV2- | səŋŋit, two trees |
Plural | rV3- | reŋŋit, trees |
Verbs
Unlike nouns, verbs inflect very little, conjugating for only person. This similarity in morphology with Gujino-Bintani languages was once used to propose a genetic relationship, however this has been proven to be only a coincidence. While Gujino-Bintani languages such as Oroshan make use of uninflected particles, Namchogi employs an extensive class of modal and aspectual verbs, which can conjugate in their own right and stand alone in a clause. An animacy distinction is made in the third person, with separate verbal prefixes.
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | jV1ǥ- | sV2j- | -GRAD, rV3j- |
jıǥqııt, "I speak" | sajqııt, "we two speak" | ryjwııt, "we all speak" | |
2 | ssV2- | +GRAD, ssV2- | rV3ssV2- |
ssaqııt, "you speak" | ssaqqııt, "you two speak" | ryssaqqııt, "you all speak" | |
3.ANIM | lV1p- | sV2l- | -GRAD, rV3l- |
lıpqııt, "he/she/they speak(s)" | salqııt, "they two speak" | rylwııt, "they all speak" | |
3.INAN | ħV3ddžV1- | +GRAD, ħV3ddžV1- | -GRAD, ħV3ddžV1- |
ħyddžıqııt, "it speaks" | ħyddžıqqııt, "they two speak" | ħyddžıwııt, "they all speak" |
Verb | Use alone | Use in combination |
---|---|---|
gəət, "finish" | ssəgəət qqiŋixet, "you finished the work" | jiǥgəət rrad, "I finished eating, I ate" |
palıŋ, "want" | lıppalıŋ qqitispi "he/she/they want(s) a reindeer" | rylbalıŋ rrad "they all want to eat" |
vivve, "begin" | səjvivve, "we two begin, we two set off, depart" | jiǥvivve rrad, "I begin to eat" |