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The evolution from Old Meng to the Archaic language includes the following changes:
The evolution from Old Meng to the Archaic language includes the following changes:
#Vowel rounding
#Monophthongization
#* *-aw > *-o
#* *-aw > *-o
#* *-ew > *-u
#* *-ew, *-əw > *-u
#* *-iw > *-i
#* *-iw > *-i
#* *-əw > *-u
 
#Vowel breaking
#Vowel breaking
#* *e undergoes breaking to *ye, though this is written as <yi> in cuneiform; however, it is distinct from a genuine <yi> as *ye evolves to *i
#* *e undergoes breaking to *ye, though this is written as <yi> in cuneiform; however, it is distinct from a genuine <yi> as *ye evolves to *i
Line 147: Line 147:
{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align: center"
{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align: center"
|-
|-
! colspan="2" | Consonants!!Bilabial !!Alveolar !!Palatal !!Velar !!Uvular !!Glottal  
! colspan="2" | Consonants!!style="width: 5em"| Bilabial !!style="width: 5em"|Alveolar !!style="width: 5em"|Palatal !!style="width: 5em"|Velar !!style="width: 5em"|Uvular !!style="width: 5em"|Glottal  
|-
|-
! rowspan="4" | Stop ||Voiceless     
! rowspan="3" | Stop ||Voiceless     
| p || t ||  || k || q ||  ʔ  
| p || t ||  || k || q ||  ʔ  
|-
! Aspirated
| pʰ|| tʰ||  || kʰ|| qʰ||
|-
|-
!Voiced
!Voiced
Line 177: Line 174:
|-
|-
!Voiced
!Voiced
|  || z*||  ||  || ɦ ||
|  ||(z)||  ||  ||(ɦ)||
|-
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan=1"|Liquid !!Voiced
!rowspan="2" colspan=1"|Liquid !!Voiced
Line 223: Line 220:


'''朕 / lrem′'''
'''朕 / lrem′'''
:Called the ''emphatic I'' in some literature, use is nuanced.  In nominative function, ''lrjem′'' draws attention to oneself, which can be expressed as "I, this person".  For this function, it has been characteristically used in [[Menghe]] by sovereigns, forbidden from others, but in Themiclesia the pronoun was not exclusive to the monarch.  In genitive function, it tends govern inalienable, highly valued, or humanly significant things, particularly family relations; where the governor can be either alienable or inalienable, ''lrjem′'' can provide additional information, e.g. ''ngai′ krā'' "my house", but ''lrjem′ krā'' "my household"; ''ngai′ kung'' "my (physical) body", but ''lrem′ kung'' "my person, my personhood".  Abuse of this pronoun may make the speaker appear arrogant or inconsiderate, e.g. ''lrem′ gwre′'' "my friend (who has no choice but to be my friend)".  Accusative use is uncommon.
:Called the ''emphatic I'' in some literature, use is nuanced.  In nominative function, ''lrjem′'' draws attention to oneself, which can be expressed as "I, myself".  For this function, it has been characteristically used in [[Menghe]] by emperors, but in Themiclesia the pronoun was not exclusive to the monarch.  In genitive function, it tends govern inalienable possessions, particularly the speaker's body and family; where the governor can be either alienable or inalienable, ''lrjem′'' can provide additional information, e.g. ''ngai′ krā'' "my possessions", but ''lrjem′ krā'' "my household"; ''ngai′ kung'' "our (physical) bodies", but ''lrem′ kung'' "my person, my personhood".  Misuse may make the speaker appear arrogant or inconsiderate, e.g. ''lrem′ gwre′'' "my friend (who has no choice but to be my friend)".  


'''臣 / gên''' and '''妾 / ts′ap'''
===Numbers===
:Respectively meaning "slave" and "slavewoman" originally.  These two terms were only used to identify oneself when addressing monarchs (of any nationality).  In modern Themiclesia, these two terms are deemed unnecessary.
The Shinasthana number system is {{wp|base 10|decimal}}. 20, 30, and 40 have special forms that are contractions with the numeral 10, and their use is not obligatory.  Numbers up to 10,000 are reckoned in multiples of the first three power of 10, and thereafter up to 100,000,000 in multiples of 10,000, so 11,750,000 = 1,175 × 10,000 (千百十丨又五萬, lit. "thousand hundred seventy and five ten-thousands").  The same rule of compounding the first three powers of 10 with each fourth power of 10 applies for the following units of ''qek'' (100,000,000) and ''lu'' (1,000,000,000,000), so 9,123,456,789,123,456 = 9,123 × 1,000,000,000,000 + 4,567 × 100,000,000 + 8,912 × 10,000 + 3,456 (九千百廿又三兆又亖千五百六丨又十億又八千九百丨又二萬又三千亖百五丨又六).


'''民 / mrying '''
Ordinal numbers are formed with the particle ''li'' (弟) plus the cardinal number for all numbers except 1 – 4.  The ordinal 1, i.e. "first", is from ''ngwan'' (元), meaning "head".  The ordinals "second", "third", and "fourth" are formed by the ''s-'' prefix attached to their respective cardinalsThis rule applies only to 2, 3, and 4 as individual numbers and not any of the compound numbers with them.  In terms of written forms, "second" and "third" have special written forms, while "fourth" has the same written form as "four".
:Originally meaning "commoner", it was used by individuals not in public office towards those who areIt is still used by some individuals in letters to the government, though most would consider it old-fashioned.


'''僕 / bwak'''
{| class="wikitable"
:Originally meaning "groom", it is most often found in writing by men with their peers.
!  !!colspan="2"| Cardinal !!colspan="2"| Ordinal
 
|-
'''愚 / nga'''
| 1 || ′ik || 一 || ngwan || 元
:Meaning "ignorant", it is often found in academic writing to express circumspection or humility about the idea one is about to expound.
|-
 
| 2 || nis || 二 || snis || 次
''' 私 / se'''
|-
:Meaning "private, personal", individuals use this term to express a non-qualified opinion.
| 3 || srum || 三 || s-srum || 參
 
|-
====Second person====
| 4 || blis || 亖 || splis || 亖
'''女 / nja′'''
|-
:General second-person pronoun in nominative and accusative position.
| 5 || lnga || 五 ||colspan="2" rowspan="14"| ''no special forms''
 
|-
''' 乃 / ne′'''
| 6 || ruk || 六
:Second person genitive.
|-
 
| 7 || snit || 十
'''爾 / nji′ '''
|-
:Meaning "near", also used as second person pronoun.
| 8 || pryat || 八
 
|-
'''子 / tsje′ '''
| 9 || ku || 九
:Originally meaning the leader of a clan, it has been generalized as an honorific in second-person function.
|-
 
| 10 || gip || 丨
'''君 / kljur '''
|-
:Originally meaning "lord", it is often used in the second person as an honorific to equals.
| 20 || nip || 廿
 
|-
'''公 / klong '''
| 30 || srup || 卅
:Originally meaning "lord", it has a similar function and semantic evolution as above.
|-
 
| 40 || splip || 卌
'''卿 / k′rjang '''
|-
:Originally meaning "companion", it was used by monarchs to address their servants, acquiring honorific value when used for social inferiors bound in some sort of relationship with the speaker.  However, it is also used between couples, since they are bound in an equal relationship.
| 100 || prik || 百
 
|-
'''郎 / rang'''
| 1,000 || sning || 千
:Originally meaning "gentleman", it is used by unmarried females to their male partners.
|-
 
| 10,000 || mans || 萬 
'''良人 / rjang-njing'''
|-
:Originally meaning "good person", it is used between couples.
| 100,000,000 || qeks || 億
 
|-
'''陛下 / prêdh-gra′'''
| 1,000,000,000,000 || lu || 兆
:Usually translated as "your majesty", used to address monarchs.
|}
 
'''殿下 / denh-gras '''
:Usually translated as "your lordship", used to address hereditary nobility.


==Dialectal variation==
==Dialectal variation==

Latest revision as of 03:10, 30 April 2023

Shinasthana
Themiclesian, Sinastani
震旦語系
Pronunciationtərt.tɑns.ŋɑq.giks
Native toThemiclesia
EthnicityMeng
Native speakers
51,240,000 (2010)
Menghic
  • Shinasthana
Early forms
Proto-Meng
  • Old Meng language
Standard forms
l′wāng-ngan
DialectsSee "dialects" below
Mengja
Official status
Official language in
Themiclesia
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-1sh
ISO 639-2tem
ISO 639-3

Shinasthana (震旦言系, tert-tans-ngan-kiks) is a group of languages most widely spoken in Themiclesia, with 10 officially-recognized dialect groups. It is a member of the Menghic language family, originally spoken in Menghe and introduced to Themiclesia by Meng merchants and settlers in several strata. The variety of Shinasthana that is the official language in Themiclesia is l'wāng-ngan, or the "common speech". Language policy in pre-modern Themiclesia had curtailed the dialectal variety present in the country, with several now critically endangered; modern efforts to preserve them are in effect. Shinasthana has around 41 million native speakers, domestically and abroad, as well as several million second language speakers. The language is widely taught and researched in foreign educational institutions.

Etymology

The word Shinasthana is from an early transliteration of Sjing (name of a dynasty) into Old Maverican, suffixing -sthana, meaning "place"; this term was later further transliterated by Casaterran scholars into Shinasthana, Sinastana, Xinastana, Zenaktana, Shenaclana, and also Themiclesia. Though technically the same word, Shinasthana is now exclusively used to refer to the language, and Themiclesia the country.

History

Archaic

The oldest evidence of Meng language in Themiclesia dates to the Themiclesian Dark Ages and is a key source in reconstructing the Old Meng language; S. G. Mang places this stage around the 8th – 2nd c. BCE, ending with the Archaic Period.

This layer is not systematically reflected as a distinct branch of the family, but its traces can be evinced in oldest texts and some irregular readings. Archaic Shinasthana is preserved in clay tablets that record business transactions, which are particularly informative as they are phonetically written using the Achahadian cuneiform script. The main characteristic contrasting with the Classical language is the syllable structure, which features "hiatus" or disyllabic words in the form CV1.V1C, co-existing with monosyllabic words in CVC and CV. The existence of "hiatus" words is also tentatively visible in the older strata of the Book of Songs, where they scan as two morae.

The evolution from Old Meng to the Archaic language includes the following changes:

  1. Monophthongization
    • *-aw > *-o
    • *-ew, *-əw > *-u
    • *-iw > *-i
  1. Vowel breaking
    • *e undergoes breaking to *ye, though this is written as <yi> in cuneiform; however, it is distinct from a genuine <yi> as *ye evolves to *i
    • *o breaks to *-ua
  2. "Hiatus" words evolve from an older realization in Old Meng
  3. *-rl <ra.la> > -l

Classical

The Classical language was spoken from the Classical Period (c. 100 CE) and was the lingua franca of learning, business, and administration from the 4th century CE. Its details are preserved through transliteration in Maverican writing. This writing system was used by Themiclesians as a guide to proper pronunciation.

Archaic vowels settle into a symmetrical four-vowel system in the early Classical period consisting of /a i u ə/.

The main characteristics of this layer, as they evolve into the common dialect are:

  1. "Hiatus" words containing simply vowels simplify to long vowels.
  2. "Hiatus" words containing diphthongs following these rules:
    • *Cye.ye- simplifies to Cey-
    • *Cyi.yi- simplifies to Ciː-
    • *Cyu.yu- simplifies to Cuy-
    • *Cya.ya- simplifies to Cay-
    • *Cyə.yə- simplifies to Cəː-
    • *Cua.ua- simplifies to Cau-
  3. Simplification of diphthongs
    • *ye > i
    • *ua > u
  4. *o > u
  5. *-kw > -wVk
  6. In the sequence *-Nq, *q assimilates to the stop in the place of articulation of *N.

Morphology

Shinasthana as a family of languages exhibits both agglutination and isolation. In the more archaic languages, as in the reconstructed ancestral language, morphology is productive, while in the more derived ones, morphology, often obscured by phonetic change, is unanalyzable and vestigial. It is assumed that loss of morphology is an innovation shared by most members of the Meng language family, though notable exceptions exist; as for the conspicuous derivational system in the Common dialect, scholars agree it has been retained mainly through conscious effort and an early bloom in linguistics, likely inspired by Maverican grammarians during the early years of Themiclesian settlement.

It should be noted that there is contrast between lexical and morphological segments that appear before r, e.g. 兢 krjang ≠ 京 k.rjang. Themiclesian grammarians consider k the root consonant in the former, but r in the latter. A comparable but imperfect contrast in Anglian is that between redress and re-dress. While prefixes can occur before any number of root consonants, confusion only arises before r; a prefix is separated from it by means of a full stop or period <.>.

Prefix s-

The prefix s- has multiple functions. Words derived from each other may not be co-phonetic with each other, and the simple character may not be the root. The following are functions of s- that scholars have recovered through semantic comparison:

  • Transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, e.g. 升 *s-təŋ > steng "raise", from 登 *təŋ > teng "rise"; 喪 *s-māŋ > smang "lose", from 亡 *maŋ "escape".
  • Denominal verbs, e.g. 使 *s-rək-s > srjeks "to task", from 吏 *rək-s > reks "office".

Prefix N/a-

The prefix N- has the primary function of deriving intransitive (often stative) verbs from transitive verbs. Its effects are opposite to those of prefix s-. That both prefixes exist has been considered evidence that certain roots were inherently transitive or intransitive, thus necessitating two opposing affixes to derive them, while preserving semantic consistency. Prefix N- surfaces as a- before obstruents.

  • Stative verbs from transitive verbs, e.g. 敗 *a-prāt-s > aprats "to be defeated", from 敗 *prāts > prāts "to defeat".
    • N.B. 敗 *prāt-s is itself a suffix -s derivative from 別 *prāt "break, split", where "defeated" is a derivative meaning of "break"; 別 *prāt also has its own *N- derivation in 別 *a-prāt > aprāt "to depart".
  • Intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, e.g. 現 *a-kēnq-s > akens "to be present" (i.e. to be seen present), from 見 *kēnq-s > kēns "to see".
    • 見 *kēnq-s > kêns is itself a derivative of 顯 *kēnq > kēnʔ "to shine", which also has an N- derivation in 顯 *a-kēnq > akēnʔ "to be renowned".

Prefix *m-

Prefix m- at the Old Meng level has a number of functions that may have resulted from the merger of several older prefixes, though this remains controversial amongst linguists. Phonologically, *m- is reflected in the Common dialect through the affix usually written as ‹′› in the Sylvanization scheme; different schools of traditional philology ascribe a variety of phonetic values to it, although all but one acknowledge its existence apart from *N- and *s-. The oldest Maverican transcriptions give the have the value [a], though later texts also use [e], possibly showing that the prefix was only used in literary circles and no longer saw use in daily language.

  • Volitional verbs from non-volitional verbs or nouns, e.g. 學 *m-kruk > nkruk "learn (consciously, as in education)", from 覺 *kruk > kruk "to learn (unconsciously, as in becoming aware)"; 背 *m-pək-s > ′pəgh "to betray", 背 *pək-s > pəgh "to have one's back facing".
  • Nouns from verbs, e.g. 廷 *m-leŋ > mlêng "place for standing", from 定 *leŋ > lêng "stop"; 朝 *m-traw > ′trjaw "morning meeting", from 朝 *traw > trjaw "morning".
  • Agent nouns from nouns, e.g. 袍 *m-pru > ′pru "robe (i.e. something which wraps the body)", from 胞 *pru > pru "seed casing".

Suffix *-s

The suffix -s was a prolific suffix and also had a number of functions.

  • Deverbial and agent nouns, often called the "agent *-s", e.g. 內 *nup-s > nups "inside", from 納 *nup > nup "take inside"
  • Denominal verbs, often called the "participle -s", e.g. 冠 *kor-s > kwars "to crown", from 冠 *kor "crown"; 王 *ɢʷaŋ-s > ghwangs "to rule", from 王 *ɢʷaŋ > ghwang "prince, king".
  • Transitive verbs, e.g. 好 *huʔ-s > hus "to like, prefer", from 好 *huʔ > hu′ "good"; 惡 *qak-s > qaks "to dislike", from 惡 *qak > qak "bad".

Prefix *r-

The prefix -r is observed in a number of derivatives.

  • 亞 *r-qak > r.qak "the second, the worse"

Writing systems

Cuneiform

While the earliest speakers of Meng languages in Themiclesia probably spoke a dialectal form of Old Meng, the oldest Shinasthana writing examples are to be found in cuneiform and often interspersed with Proto-Chikai and Achahadian texts. The most ancient examples are tentatively dated to the 7th centuries BCE.

Menghean characters

Inherited from the Menghean language, each Menghean character is monosyllabic and morphemic. This writing system is common to all Shinasthana languages and is the standard script. Under traditional reckoning, there are six methods that govern the formation of characters:

  1. Pictographic (象形, sghangh-ging), where the character depicts the physical appearance of an object; however, the actual meaning of the character needs not be constrained by the object depicted.
  2. Pictophonetic (形聲, ging-l′ing), where a pictogrammatic character used determinatively is combined with another, unrelated grapheme that represents the character's pronunciation.
  3. Ideographic (指事, ki′-dzre′), similar to pictogrammatic characters, but the depiction (or at least part thereof) does not correspond to a physical attribute or object.
  4. Ideosynthetic (會意, gwaps-qeh), where multiple pictogrammata are combined and meaning deduced from the relationship between them.
  5. Transideographic (轉注, trwan′-twah), where the definition of an existing character is given to a new character.
  6. Substitution (假借, krai′-tsraih), where a completely unrelated character acquires the definition of a word that otherwise cannot be formed according to the principles above.

There are certain differences between characters used in modern Menghe and Themiclesia. In the late 3rd to early 2nd c. BCE, a process called yebyeon (隸變; Shinasthana: rjebh-bronh) that prioritized ease of writing at the expense of fidelity. This process was not yet complete when the first non-monumnetal writing is attested in Themiclesia. As a result, the preferred character forms in both countries diverged. More than half of the characters are wholly identical, and where they differ they are usually not difficult to identify. In a few cases, the characters have become totally unrecognizable. Such changes are cumulative, since Themiclesians continued to modify the shape of the characters for artistic reasons well after the yebyeon stage was complete in Menghe.

Devanagari transcription

Sylvanization

Various schemes, based on the Sylvan Alphabet, have been used to notate Shinasthana since the 14th century, when the first Casaterran merchants landed in Themiclesia and began to document the local languages. Few Casaterran languages have the same phonemic or phonetic inventory as Shinasthana, resulting in the use of several alphabets to represent a single phoneme or the representation of several phonemes by one alphabet; the former leads to uneconomical writing, and the latter, ambiguity. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, Sylvan, Sieuxerrian, Hallian, and Tyrannian scholars each Sylvanized Shinasthana according to idiosyncratic rules. That they often draw on different dialects or even mix them further reduced intelligibility. As printing Shinasthana characters was impossible in Casaterra until the 1800s, academic work was hampered by this confusion.

In 1807, the first Sylvanization reference with government backing appeared, devised by Anglian scholar, George Franklin, who worked as a diplomat to Themiclesia and orientalist scholar for over three decades. Keenly aware of the difficulties that Casaterran scholars encountered in writing about Themiclesian tongues and proper terms, Franklin devised a Sylvanization scheme that he introduced to the printing of court digests in Tyrannian. As he lived in Tor, the scheme was based on the dialect there. While it found a somewhat sympathetic audience in Casaterra, other scholars, based elsewhere in Themiclesia, found their choice of dialect to generalize for Shinasthana, as a whole, unacceptable.

Revision

As phonemic theory gained prominence late in the 19th century, there was impetus to rework Franklin according to phonemic lines and suggestions from the government to adopt a more generalist system that worked for all dialects in some way. In theory, by applying phonemic analysis to the most archaic dialect of Shinasthana then known, one can describe a set of syllables that encompass all syllables in any dialect, it being assumed all dialects were simplifications of a common ancestor. The revision was announced in 1930, known as Revised Franklin or RF. To demark this scheme from the previous, a drop capitals rf was printed ahead of the sylvanized phrase, though if a pervious Sylvanization was in circulation, the RF rendition is provided secondarily.

Meng dynasty

Initials:

IPA p b m t d n r t͜s t͜sʰ d͜z s k g ŋ ŋ̊ q ɢ ɴ ɴ̥ ʔ h ɦ l w j
Sylvanization p p′ b m m′ t t′ d n n′ r r′ ts ts′ dz s k k′ g ng ng′ q q′ gh nh nh′ h g′ l l′ w y

Vowels and medials:

IPA a aː i iː u uː ə əː w j
Sylvanization a ā i ī u ū e ē w y

Phonology

Consonants Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Stop Voiceless p t k q ʔ
Voiced b d g ɢ
Prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ᵑg ᶰɢ
Nasal Voiced m n ŋ ɴ
Voiceless ŋ̊ ɴ̥
Affricate Voiceless t͡s
Voiced d͡z
Fricative Voiceless s h
Voiced (z) (ɦ)
Liquid Voiced r
Voiceless
Approximant Voiced w l j (w)
Voiceless
Vowels Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid ə əː
Open a aː

Comparison

Menghean

Within the Menghic family, Shinasthana is more closely related to the Menggok-descended group of dialects. Having diverged around 2,700 years ago at the oldest stratum, differences between modern Menggok dialects and Shinasthana are considerable. An obvious example is the absence of phonemic tones in Standard Menghean, though they remain in conservative dialects of the south and west of Menghe. These dialects are more closely related to Gwanhwa, the language of the Menghean court; however, scholars do not classify them as descendants of Gwanhwa, since Gwanhwa itself lost tones between the 9th and 11th centuries. Not all these dialects retain the three tones presumed to have existed in the Old Menggok period. Moreover, under the influence of modern Standard Menghean, some of the younger generation have dispensed with tonal distinction when speaking a dialect that canonically retains it.

The collapse of a three-way distinction between between voiceless, aspirated, and voiced consonants has occurred in most of Menghe. In Themiclesia, a similar but less pervasive change occasioned the phonemization of relative pitch in the tonal system (previously only distinguishing contour), while in Menghe it seems to have simply devoiced formerly voiced consonants, merging them with their unvoiced and unaspirated counterparts.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

First person

余 / la

The most basic first person pronoun, can be used as nominative and accusative. The referent is usually singular. Genitive use is uncommon.

我 / ngāi′

Meaning is similar to la, but usually used as a plural. Sometimes given the blanket translation "we". Accusative use is uncommon.

朕 / lrem′

Called the emphatic I in some literature, use is nuanced. In nominative function, lrjem′ draws attention to oneself, which can be expressed as "I, myself". For this function, it has been characteristically used in Menghe by emperors, but in Themiclesia the pronoun was not exclusive to the monarch. In genitive function, it tends govern inalienable possessions, particularly the speaker's body and family; where the governor can be either alienable or inalienable, lrjem′ can provide additional information, e.g. ngai′ krā "my possessions", but lrjem′ krā "my household"; ngai′ kung "our (physical) bodies", but lrem′ kung "my person, my personhood". Misuse may make the speaker appear arrogant or inconsiderate, e.g. lrem′ gwre′ "my friend (who has no choice but to be my friend)".

Numbers

The Shinasthana number system is decimal. 20, 30, and 40 have special forms that are contractions with the numeral 10, and their use is not obligatory. Numbers up to 10,000 are reckoned in multiples of the first three power of 10, and thereafter up to 100,000,000 in multiples of 10,000, so 11,750,000 = 1,175 × 10,000 (千百十丨又五萬, lit. "thousand hundred seventy and five ten-thousands"). The same rule of compounding the first three powers of 10 with each fourth power of 10 applies for the following units of qek (100,000,000) and lu (1,000,000,000,000), so 9,123,456,789,123,456 = 9,123 × 1,000,000,000,000 + 4,567 × 100,000,000 + 8,912 × 10,000 + 3,456 (九千百廿又三兆又亖千五百六丨又十億又八千九百丨又二萬又三千亖百五丨又六).

Ordinal numbers are formed with the particle li (弟) plus the cardinal number for all numbers except 1 – 4. The ordinal 1, i.e. "first", is from ngwan (元), meaning "head". The ordinals "second", "third", and "fourth" are formed by the s- prefix attached to their respective cardinals. This rule applies only to 2, 3, and 4 as individual numbers and not any of the compound numbers with them. In terms of written forms, "second" and "third" have special written forms, while "fourth" has the same written form as "four".

Cardinal Ordinal
1 ′ik ngwan
2 nis snis
3 srum s-srum
4 blis splis
5 lnga no special forms
6 ruk
7 snit
8 pryat
9 ku
10 gip
20 nip 廿
30 srup
40 splip
100 prik
1,000 sning
10,000 mans
100,000,000 qeks
1,000,000,000,000 lu

Dialectal variation

Common dialect

Comparative phonology

Mengja Menghean Sinmun
Sylvanized
Middle Meng Stratum Old Meng Stratum
國之語音
異乎中國
與文字不相流通
故愚民有所欲言
而終不得伸其情者多矣
予爲此憫然
新制二十八字
欲使人人易習便於日用耳
guk ji eo eum
i ho jung guk
yeo mun ja bul sang yu tong
go u min yu so yo geon
i jong bul deuk sin gi jeong ja da ui
yeo wi cha min yeon
sin je i sip pal ja
yok sa in in yeo seup pyeon eo il lyong i
kwek chi ngjo' iim
ih gho tiung kwek
ngjo' mjun dzih' pjut sjang lju t'ung
koh ngjo miin ghju' srjo' yoh ngjan
nje cung pjut tek shin gje dzjeng tja ta ghwje'
yo wjeh ts'i' min njen
sjin c'iai njih zip peat dzje'
yok srje' nin nin yik zjek pianh yo njit yungh ni
kwēk te ngaq ′rem
leks gā trung kwēk
laq men dzeq pe smang ryu l′ung
kah nhu mrying ghweq sq′ra′ k.luk ngan
nye tyūng pe tek l′in gyi dzyeng ta′ tai ghwe′
la m.gwrais dzi′ men′ nen
sjing dits nyis gep pryāt dze′
luk s.req ning ning lek sgyap prans gwra nik l′ungs ne′

Scholarship

Dedicated references

The canonical anthology of ancient phonology consists of the following twelve works.

Title Year Compiler(s) Status Categorization Notes
聲類   hling-rjed 2nd c. 李登  ′rje′-teng Fragmentary 322 rhymes extant Compiled in Menghe
韻集   ghjwonh-dzjep 275 呂靜  glja'-dzjingh Extant 539 rhymes
釋韻   st'jak-ghjwonh 334 李軌  ′rje′-krju′、徐邈 sdja-mrawk Extant 421 rhymes
四聲   sjed-hleng 472 沈約  st'jem-'jawk Extant 252 rhymes First work to describe tones concretely
玉篇   ngjowk-p'rjan 531 梁惠帝 Emperor ghwid of Rjang Fragmentary 260 rhymes Reflects speech in Kien-k'ang
經典音義 king-ten'-'rjem-ngjars 560 陸明  rjuk-mrjang Extant 212 rhymes With definitions
切韻   ts'it-ghwjens 601 陸法延 rjuk-pjap-lan Mostly extant 193 rhymes Reflects speech in Glak-lang
廣音錄  kwang-'rjem-rjuk 732 張常拱 trjang-djang-kjung′ Mostly extant 2,742 dialectal peculiarities
廣韻   kwang'-ghwjens 1001 丁重  teng-drjong Extant 206 rhymes With definitions
集韻   dzjep-gwjens 1030 孫皓青 sun-ghu'-ts'ing Extant 238 rhymes With definitions
韻鏡   gwjenh-krjangs 1161 uncertain Extant 3,324 syllables A table-style summary of all known syllables in the language
簡韻略  kren'-ghjwonh-gljak 1210 顧平水 gah-brjang-hljei′ Extant 106 rhymes Abridged ver. of dzjop-ghjwohn

Epexegesis references

To support the study of classical literature that often possessed much philosophical and political esteem in imperial-period Themiclesia, many authors have written epexegeses (a work that explains another) that offer analyses of the canonical texts, including definitions of terms, notable contrasts with other works and other epexegeses, and correct pronunciation of words. The corpus of such explanatory literature has since accumulated, over many centuries, to be dozens, if not hundreds, of times longer than canon. Authors provide their opinion on how individual characters should be read, often reflecting the speech of their own environment and age.

Poetry analysis

In 972, Dzi-dynasty scholar Mak Mjon-ghwedh developed a method of the phonological relationship between rhyming syllables in verse. This is known as the Rhyme Identification Method (歸韻法). It stipulates:

  1. If a poem has lines XXXA / XXXB / XXXC / XXXD, and if each line is known to rhyme with each other, then syllables A, B, C, and D must rhyme with each other.
  2. If a second poem has lines XXXA / XXXE / XXXF / XXXG, then syllables E, F, and G must rhyme with each other and B, C, and D, since they are "connected" by syllable A.

These two principles proved incredibly potent in reconstructing the phonological structure of ancient languages based on a logical and consistent analyses. Though Mak himself did not pursue this subject much further, his students proceeded to apply this method to hundreds of poems dating to the archaic and classical eras of Menghean history. In the 1100s, scholars concluded that ancient Menghean poetry had nine "rhyme departments"; for many generations afterwards, this conclusion was refined by exhaustive studies to remove connections made by incorrect rhyme identification (i.e. connecting two words that do not actually rhyme) and glyph conflation (i.e. assuming each glyph corresponds to only one syllable). This heralded the birth of Ancient Phonology (古音學) in Themiclesia.

In 1594, it was known that ancient poetry rhymed according to 33 departments; upon this conclusion, scholar Drjen Lih (陳第) asserted that the pronunciation of some words have changed since ancient times, but a number have not. He (using methods not rigorous) identified some such syllables as "anchor rhymes" and consulted well-established analyses to assert that words, in his time not rhyming, must have been pronounced in a way that did rhyme with his so-called "anchor rhymes". The majority of modern scholars believe that Drjon's theories, though factually flawed, pioneered the assignment of phonetic values to abstract phonological structures and the principle that sound changes occurred under specific phonological conditions (i.e. not randomly).

His successors focused on the criteria under which such changes occurred, though until the modern period and the arrival of Casaterran phonology in 1757, their results have been limited. Of the types of criteria they could assert as a conditioning factor for a phonetic change, place of articulation (i.e. glottal, velar, alveolar, and bilabial), manner of articulation (i.e. plosive, nasal, approximant), voicedness, aspiration, tone, and vowel quality have all been used to explain the causes of sound change. This in turn allowed more recent scholars to describe accurately the phonological and phonetic characteristics of languages lost to time, e.g.

  • What has been analyzed as two separate groups of consonants under Modern Phonology (今音學), the /t/ and /tr/ groups, were in complimentary distribution and should be the same group in Ancient Phonology, and the /tr/ group diverged under the criteria of second-division and third-division-type-B factors.
  • The /pf/ group in some modern dialects diverged from /pj/ in others, and /pj/ is asserted to be the "ancient pronunciation".

Cognates and borrowings

Cognates

Borrowings

As Shinasthana shares a writing system with and Menghean, terms from the latter are sometimes borrowed with their written forms intact into the former. However, since the written form of the borrowing may represent an existing term in Shinasthana, the phonetic pronunciation is sometimes borrowed together to distinguish the borrowed term in speech. The same situation occurs when homographs are introduced. In more recent times, even Dayashinese words have been borrowed into Shinasthana with their Dayashinese pronunciations. This process is not limited to individual character: the meanings and readings of larger semantic units, including proper names, can be borrowed and written in the same way or another way.

Character Reading Source Meaning
nups < Old Meng *nup-s 1. to enter
2. (of the Sun) to set
nup < Old Meng *nup 1. to take in, receive
mnup < Old Meng *m-nup 1. the speaker's household
2. (dated) the speaker's wife
3. an exchequer
4. a teller or cashier
5. the area around a capital city, Inner Region
nwai from Middle Meng noi 1. the inner palace
2. cismarine Themiclesia
mrāngs < Old Meng *mˁrang-s 1. eldest
2. Mrangh
smrāng agentive s- 1. elder sibling
2. a chief baron, member of the Themiclesian peerage
maing borrowing from Middle Meng 1. Menghe
2. Mengheans
3. (derogatory) Themiclesians of Menghean heritage
東京 twāng-krang 1. Rak, a city in Themiclesia
tong-kyeng borrowing from Modern Standard Menghean 1. Donggyŏng, the capital city of Menghe
tik < Old Meng *tek 1. legitimate
2. therefore
tiks < Old Meng *tek-s 1. god
tei/ti from Middle Meng *tei 1. used in the term g′wang-tei, "emperor"

In popular media

Notes


See also