Nan Namorese
| Nan Namorese | |
|---|---|
| Нан Наморайин/Нанйин (Tzishin) Nan Namorayin/Nanyin (Tziroma) 南纳摩言/南言 (Ventzi) | |
| Region |  Namor (Minjian, Xhipei, parts of Southern Namor) Katranjiev (Trifonov, Talnakh)Template:Country data Riro |
Native speakers | 60-90 million (2015) |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Early form | =
|
| Tzishin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nnm |
| File:NanNamoreselocation.png | |
Nan Namorese (Нан Наморайин, Nan Namorayin, 南纳摩言), colloquially referred to as Nan (Нанйин, Nanyin, 南言) is a dialect of Namorese spoken in southwestern Namor (specifically the regions of Minjian, Xhipei and parts of Southern Namor), Riro and Katranjiev.
A dialect continuum between Standard Namorese and Minjianese, Nan Namorese contains many elements prevalent in Minjianese but not in Standard Namorese, mainly variety in tone. Nan dialects spoken in Southern Namor share more similarities with Standard Namorese, while dialects spoken in Minjian share more similarities with Minjianese. In some cases, dialects in opposite ends of the spectrum are not mutually intelligible. In Riro and Katranjiev, a variation of Nan exists which incorporates loanwords not just from Minjianese, but also Katranjian.
History
Modern Nan developed from Minjianese and Namorese, owing to the long history of interactions between the Minjianese and Kannei Namorese peoples.
At its height, the Minjianese Xhi dynasty controlled large swaths of territory, including some that were mostly populated by Kannei. This facilitated efforts at reducing the language barrier between Xhi rulers and Kannei subjects. Slowly, Minjianese words entered the local Namorese lexicon, causing a distinct dialect to form.
Nan Namorese was further shaped by the Antelopian conquest of Minjian. The Antelopians introduced words from Antelopian and Standard Namorese into Minjianese, but due to the vast differences between Minjianese and Antelopian as opposed to the relatively minimal differences between Minjianese and Namorese, Antelopian influence eventually faded from most Nan dialects except in a few that are extremely Namorese-leaning.
In the NMR 2320s, officials started encouraging all Namorese to speak the Standard dialect. The program greatly diminished the diversity of Nan Namorese such that dialects in the same group (i.e. Yintosan and Changlong, Xhishin and Nankin) became more identical to each other with few, if not any, differences in tone and vocabulary. The Regulatory Committee of the National Language and Dialects reported in NMR 2377 that the number of native Nan speakers had fallen from at most 150 million in NMR 2322 to 90 million - a 40% decrease.
Subgrouping
Nan Namorese is generally divided into three groups - dialects that are more similar to Minjianese, dialects that are more similar to Standard Namorese and dialects that are considered "pure hybrids" of the two languages.
Minjianese-leaning dialects
Minjianese-leaning dialects are those that share more similarity, both in terms of tone and vocabulary, with the Minjianese language. These dialects are spoken in the Xhi Valley, or the area surrounding the Xhi River. Dialects in this group are mostly or totally tonal. They are mutually intelligible with some Namorese-leaning dialects and mostly unintelligible with Standard Namorese. The Nan Namorese spoken in Jicho (Jizhou in Minjianese), a city bordering Minjian, is generally considered to be a Minjianese-leaning dialect.
"Pure Hybrids"
"Pure Hybrids" are dialects that are considered neither Minjianese nor Namorese-leaning. They are either mostly tonal or partially tonal and borrow as many loanwords from Namorese as from Minjianese. The Xhishin and Nankin dialects are classified as "Pure Hybrids."
Namorese-leaning dialects
Namorese-leaning dialects share more similarity with Namorese than with Minjianese. Most of these dialects, such as the Changlong dialect, are mutually intelligible with the Minjianese-leaning dialects, whereas others such as the Yintosan dialect are not.
Nanxhi (Southwestern) Namorese
"Nanxhi Namorese" or "Southwestern Namorese" is a term used by some linguists to describe the group of Namorese dialects spoken in Riro and majority-Namorese regions of Katranjiev. Most of the Nanxhi dialects are sometimes classified as "Pure Hybrids;" however, they differ from Nan dialects in Namor due to the existence of loanwords from Katranjian. For example, the Nanxhi term Tsukfa (church), which is derived from the Katranjian tsurkva, is not used in either the Xhishin or Nankin dialects. Orthographic rules introduced by Luziycan linguist Grigor Zhelyaskov in 1908, or new rules introduced by Katranjian linguist Ivailo Zhai in 2002 to the Nanxhi dialects do not apply to any of the Nan dialects in Namor.
Orthography
Like other non-Standard dialects of Namorese, Nan is a spoken language with no standardized writing system. However, since Tzishin is the writing system used throughout mainland Namor, Tzishin is also used to write Nan. Ventzi is also used by Nan speakers who are also native speakers of Minjianese due to the common use of characters based on Ventzi.
One major difference between Nan and Standard Namorese when written in Tzishin is the use of the letter Ж (Zh). In Standard Namorese, Ж never appears as the first letter of any word and is only featured after Д (D) to form the letter Дж (J/Dzh). In Nan, Ж is heavily used, sometimes as the first letter of a word, because of the prevalence of the zh sound in Minjianese.
Tone
Depending on the region, Nan Namorese can be partially tonal or fully tonal. Due to influences from Minjianese, all Nan dialects are considered more tonal than Standard Namorese.
Like Minjianese, Nan Namorese has four tones - a neutral tone, rising tone, dipping tone and falling tone. Unlike in Katranjiev and Riro, where differences in tone are indicated either by diacritics or by adding letters either before or after the word being affected, differences in tone are not marked in written Nan in Namor.
There is no clear distinction between Ж (/ʒ/) and Дж (/d͡ʒ/) in Nan. Instead, Дж is pronounced as /ʒ/, just as Ж is pronounced is Standard.
Nan extensively uses the unique Minjianese vowel ü (/y/). Ṻ is used whenever the letter У (U) follows the consonants К (K) and Ц (Tz).
The vowel "o" (pronounced /o/ in Standard Namorese) is pronounced uo or ao in Nan except when it follows another vowel.
There is only way to pronounce the character 人 (person) in Nan - lon (лон), a corruption of the Minjianese rén - unlike in Standard Namorese, where either lon or i is used depending on the context. For example, the word imin in Standard Namorese, which means "the people," is lonmin in Nan. The full name of Namor in Standard Namorese, Namora Iminguka, is Namora Lonminguka in Nan Namorese.
Vocabulary
Nan borrows heavily from the vocabulary of both Minjianese and Standard Namorese. The amount of words borrowed from each language varies by dialect.
Numbers
The numbers in Nan Namorese are distinct from both Standard Namorese and Minjianese, although they are considered a hybrid of both languages. In mostly or totally tonal dialects of Nan, the tones of the numbers are identical to those of Minjianese.
| Language | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 100 | 1000 | 10000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nan Namorese | Ni | De | San | Se | Ku | Lu | Chia | Pa | Jo | Sa | Pai | Chiyen | Wan |
| Minjianese | Yī | Èr | Sān | Sì | Wǔ | Liù | Qī | Bā | Jiǔ | Shí | Bǎi | Qiān | Wàn |
| Standard Namorese | Uni | Demi | San | Si | Kinze | Size | Chi | Pa | Go | Deka | Pai | Chin | Van |
Pronouns
| English | Nan | Minjianese | Standard Namorese |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Мо (Mo) | 我 (Wǒ) | Ук (Uk) |
| You | Неи (Nei) | 你 (nǐ) | Во (Bo) |
| He/She | И (I) | 他/她 (tā) | И (I) |
| We | Нанг (Nang) | 我们 (women) | Нола (Nola) |
| You (plural) | Неилон (Neilon) | 你们 (nǐmen) | Вола (Vola) |
| They | Илон (Ilon) | 他/她们 (tāmen) | Ила (Ila) |
Words influenced by Minjianese
| English | Nan | Standard Namorese | Minjianese |
|---|---|---|---|
| County | Жо (Zho) | Гун (Gun, 郡) | "zhōu" (州) |
| President | Зунгтунг (Zungtung) | Онгтинг (Ongting, 总统) | "zóngtǒng" (总统） |
| Prime Minister | Зунгли (Zungli) | Онгсиянг (Ongsiyang, 总相) | "zónglǐ" (总理) |
| Hospital | Йийен (Yiyen) | Йифан (Yifan, 医房) | "yīyùan" (医院) |
| Swim | Йойонг (Yoyong) | Гиянгшуи (Giyangshui, 行水) | "yóuyǒng" (游泳) |
| Motorway | Gaosu (Гаосу) | Косу (Kosu) | "gāosù" (高速) |
| Temple | Симияо (Simiyao) | Шентанг (Shentang, 神堂) | "sìmiào" (寺庙) |
| Welcome | Хуанйинг (Huanying) | Ханйин (Hanyin, 欢迎) | "huānyíng" (欢迎) |
| Wheat | Шияомаи (Shiyaomai) | Ме (Me, 米) | "xiǎomài" (小麦) |
| Border | Кон (Kon) | Кан (Kan, 关) | "guān" (关) |
Family surnames
| Surname character | Nan | Standard Namorese | Minjianese |
|---|---|---|---|
| 张 | Жанг (Zhang) | Цанг (Tzang/Tsang) | Zhāng |
| 王 | Вунг (Vung) | Ванг (Vang) | Wáng |
| 陈 | Чен (Chen) | Чин (Chin) or Чен (Chen) | Chén |
| 廓 | Ко ("kuo") | Ко ("koh") | Kuò |
| 曾 | Зенг (Zeng) | Зе (Ze) | Zēng |