Aldzinian language
| Aldzinian | |
|---|---|
| Ѓáкӏа̄ Áлженщòх Ģákhā Álženśòh | |
| Native to | Gabrielland |
| Region | North Gabrielland Region |
| Ethnicity | Aldzinians |
Native speakers | 700,0000 (2020) |
Gabrielt
| |
| Govoric alphabet latin alphabet | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Aldzina province |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | al |
| ISO 639-2 | ald |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
 Distribution of Aldzinian speakers in the North Gabrielland region Majority language (>50%) Minority language (>20%) | |
The Aldzinian language (Standard Gabrielt: មដឣល្ឌិនន "Mada Aldzinan", IPA: /mada alˈd͡zinan/ Aldzinian: Ѓáкӏа̄ Áлженщòх "Ģákhā Álženśòh", IPA: /ˈɟákʰaː ˈálʒenɕòh/) is a language isolate within the Gabrielt language family primarily spoken in the Aldzina province located within the Northern Gabrielland region, spoken mainly by the Aldzinian people, but also by other people groups residing in or surrounding Aldzina. Speakers also exist in the neighboring Adinnyan region, primarily in the Dzakramila and the Meladza provinces. Within the Northern Gabrielland region, it is also spoken in the neighboring provinces of Ortom, Edzuli, and Altrang. According to the latest 2020 Gabrielt census, around 700,000 people collectively speak the Aldzinian language.
Aldzinian is of particular interest to linguists and grammarians alike as the language has arguably preserved the most features and inflectional patterns from Proto-Gabrielt. Aldzinian, as a language isolate within the langauge family, did not descend from Literary Gabrielt, and split off earlier from the Proto-Gabrielt languages compared to the other branches of the Gabrielt language, which was by then still a singular language with burgeoning dialects. With its archaic sentence formation, inflectional morphology, and native vocabulary, Aldzinian is one of the hardest languages to understand in general by other Gabrielt speakers without prior knowledge of the language, whereas in other circumstances similar-sounding words or phrases might hint at a general meaning being conveyed. Much later in the language's development, Kento-Polyash languages began to influence the language to some extent, leaving many couplets of words and resulting in a rich and varied vocabulary.
The language is an official language in the Aldzina province, and is the language of education, media, government, and administration. While the Aldzinian language possesses several notable dialect groups, they are still very intelligible to speakers of other dialects, and are not considered separate langauges. Although so, the eastern dialects which retain more native-words serve as the de-facto official standard used in schools, offices, and government institutions. The Aldzinian language council serves as the language's regulatory body, and oversees the language's development and exposure. Services in Aldzinian are available in the southern portions of the Dzakramila province, where sizeable minorities of speakers live. Outside of the traditional Aldzinian homelands, very few, if any, Gabrielts speak the language, and speakers usually switch to Standard Gabrielt to facillitate communication.
Currently, Aldzinian is written in a modified Govoric alphabet, introduced by the Kento-Polyashi traders in the early 20th century. It is one of the few languages in Gabrielland written in the Govoric script, and one of three languages written in Govoric within the Gabrielt language family. In more recent times, a latin alphabet developed by the Aldzinian language community has gained ground, and is becoming more widespread. However, for all official purposes, the Govoric alphabet is still used.
Phonology
The phonology of the Aldzinian language is still highly influenced by pre Proto-Gabrielt, as evident by the lack of merged and shifted sounds present in virtually every other branch outside of the Aldzinian branch. It still maintains two rhotic sounds inherited from pre-Gabrielt, and possesses unshifted variants of the fricatives, resulting in a far greater number of phonemes. As a lot of the phonemes in Aldzinian are still unmerged or unshifted, cognates in other languages may be harder to distinguish. Aldzinian also retains palatalization and labialization, a feature shared by the neighboring Tazbakan languages as the Tazbakan languages split before palatalization and labialization was lost in the Proto-Gabrielt language.
Aldzinian vowels are differentiated in length and pitch. Aldzinian is the only Gabrielt language which still has pitch as a phonemic feature.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain | Pal. | Lab. | Plain | Pal. | Lab. | Plain | Pal. | Lab. | Plain | Pal. | Lab. | ||||
| Nasal | m | mʲ | mʷ | n | nʲ | nʷ | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||||||
| Plosive | unaspirated | unvoiced | p | pʲ | pʷ | t | tʲ | tʷ | c | k | kʲ | kʷ | |||
| voiced | b | bʲ | bʷ | d | dʲ | dʷ | ɟ | g | gʲ | gʷ | |||||
| aspirated | unvoiced | pʰ | pʰʲ | pʰʷ | tʰ | tʰʲ | tʰʷ | cʰ | kʰ | kʰʲ | kʰʷ | ||||
| voiced | bʰ | bʰʲ | bʰʷ | dʰ | dʰʲ | dʰʷ | ɟʰ | gʰ | gʰʲ | gʰʷ | |||||
| Affricate | unvoiced | t͡s | t͡sʲ | t͡sʷ | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃʲ | t͡ʃʷ | ||||||||
| voiced | d͡z | d͡zʲ | d͡zʷ | d͡ʒ | d͡ʒʲ | d͡ʒʷ | |||||||||
| Fricative | unvoiced | s | sʲ | sʷ | ʃ ɕ | ʃʲ ɕʲ | ʃʷ ɕʷ | x | xʲ | xʷ | h | ||||
| voiced | z | zʲ | zʷ | ʒ ʑ | ʒʲ ʑʲ | ʒʷ ʑʷ | |||||||||
| Approximant | w | ɹ l ɹʷ | j | ||||||||||||
| Trill | r | rʲ | |||||||||||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
Orthography
The Aldzinian Govoric alphabet is the longest alphabet in Gabrielland, comprising of 126 letters, most of which are digraphs and trigraphs. Each digraph and trigraph are recognized as separate letters, as they possess their own dictionary entries. Geminate consonants, while officially digraphs, are not considered as part of the alphabet as they do not possess their own dictionary entries, and are confied to being in the onset position. Below is the complete Aldzinian Govoric alphabet as approved by the Aldzinian language council in 1953.
| A a /a/ |
Á á /á/ |
À à /à/ |
Ā ā /aː/ |
Ā́ ā́ /áː/ |
Ā̀ ā̀ /àː/ |
Б б /b/ |
Бь бь /bʲ/ |
Бв бв /bʷ/ |
Бӏ бӏ /bʰ/ |
Бӏь бӏь /bʰʲ/ |
Бӏв бӏв /bʰʷ/ |
| В в /w~ʷ/ |
Г г /ɡ/ |
Гь гь /ɡʲ/ |
Гв гв /ɡʷ/ |
Гӏ гӏ /ɡʰ/ |
Гӏь гӏь /ɡʰʲ/ |
Гӏв гӏв /ɡʰʷ/ |
Ѓ ѓ /ɟ/ |
Ѓӏ ѓӏ /ɟʰ/ |
Д д /d/ |
Дь дь /dʲ/ |
Дв дв /dʷ/ |
| Дӏ дӏ /dʰ/ |
Дӏь дӏь /dʰʲ/ |
Ддв ддв /dʰʷ/ |
E e /e/ |
É é /é/ |
È è /è/ |
Ē ē /eː/ |
Ḗ ḗ /éː/ |
Ḕ ḕ /èː/ |
Ё ë /jo/ |
Ж ж /ʒ/ |
Жь жь /ʒʲ/ |
| Жв жв /ʒʷ/ |
Җ җ /ʑ/ |
Җь җь /ʑʲ/ |
Җв җв /ʑʷ/ |
Ӂ ӂ /d͡ʒ/ |
Ӂь ӂь /d͡ʒʲ/ |
Ӂв ӂв /d͡ʒʷ/ |
З з /z/ |
Зь зь /zʲ/ |
Зв зв /zʷ/ |
S s /d͡z/ |
Sь sь /d͡zʲ/ |
| Sв sв /d͡zʷ/ |
И и /i/ |
И́ и́ /í/ |
Ѝ ѝ /ì/ |
Ӣ ӣ /iː/ |
Ӣ́ ӣ́ /íː/ |
Ӣ̀ ӣ̀ /ìː/ |
Й й /j/ |
К к /k/ |
Кь кь /kʲ/ |
Кв кв /kʷ/ |
Кӏ кӏ /kʰ/ |
| Кӏь кӏь /kʰʲ/ |
Кӏв кӏв /kʰʷ/ |
Ќ ќ /c/ |
Ќӏ ќӏ /cʰ/ |
Л л /l/ |
Ль ль /lʲ/ |
М м /m/ |
Мь мь /mʲ/ |
Мв мв /mʷ/ |
Н н /n/ |
Нь нь /nʲ/ |
Нв нв /nʷ/ |
| Њ њ /ɲ/ |
Ң ң /ŋ/ |
Ңв ңв /ŋʷ/ |
O o /o/ |
Ó ó /ó/ |
Ò ò /ò/ |
Ō ō /oː/ |
Ṓ ṓ /óː/ |
Ṑ ṑ /òː/ |
П п /p/ |
Пь пь /pʲ/ |
Пв пв /pʷ/ |
| Пӏ пӏ /pʰ/ |
Пӏь пӏь /pʰʲ/ |
Пӏв пӏв /pʰʷ/ |
Р р /r/ |
Рь рь /rʲ/ |
P̆ p̆ /ɹ/ |
P̆в p̆в /ɹʷ/ |
С с /s/ |
Сь сь /sʲ/ |
Св св /sʷ/ |
Т т /t/ |
Ть ть /tʲ/ |
| Тв тв /tʷ/ |
Тӏ тӏ /tʰ/ |
Тӏь тӏь /tʰʲ/ |
Тӏв тӏв /tʰʷ/ |
У у /u/ |
У́ у́ /ú/ |
У̀ у̀ /ù/ |
Ӯ ӯ /uː/ |
Ӯ́ ӯ́ /úː/ |
Ӯ̀ ӯ̀ /ùː/ |
(Ф ф) /f/ |
Х х /h/ |
| Ҳ ҳ /x/ |
Ҳь ҳь /xʲ/ |
Ҳв ҳв /xʷ/ |
Ц ц /t͡s/ |
Ць ць /t͡sʲ/ |
Цв цв /t͡sʷ/ |
Ч ч /t͡ʃ/ |
Чь чь /t͡ʃʲ/ |
Чв чв /t͡ʃʷ/ |
Ш ш /ʃ/ |
Шь шь /ʃʲ/ |
Шв шв /ʃʷ/ |
| Щ щ /ɕ/ |
Щь щь /ɕʲ/ |
Щв щв /ɕʷ/ |
Ю ю /ju/ |
Я я /ja/ |
Ь ь /ʲ/ |
Syntax
As a Gabrielt language, the basic word order for the Aldzinian language is VSO, with a strong emphasis on the verb or action word in the sentence. Verbs in Aldzinian are inflected for a wide variety of grammatical categories which may be affixes or inflection. Aldzinian is a pro-drop language, and in some contexts, the object can also be incorporated into the root verb, creating complete sentences with only a single word. Different from other Gabrielt languages, aspect is an inseperable part of the verb, and possesses its own set of rules (known as "windows") to determine the inflectional pattern for a specific tense-aspect-mood combination. Bellow is an example of a sentence exhibiting basic word order in Aldzinian.
- Еҗу́векӏӣ àнщатрáтӏьа свешḗpин, њаже àякӏáм ази́на! (Eźúwekhī ànśatráthya swešḗrin, ňaže àyakhám azína!)
- They have said they have cut down the trees, but I don't see any!
From векӏ wekh "to say", the affixes Е- (perfective) -җу́- (present indicative) and -ӣ (3rd person animate plural) are attached according to form "they have said". Such affixes are governed by the "window" system, and the affixes for the different windows may differ.