Tengarian language
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Tengarian language | |
---|---|
Native to | Tengaria Bistravia Ravnia Amathia |
Native speakers | 26.8 million (2020) |
Early forms | Proto-Euclean
|
Solarian Apsinthian Soravian | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Tengaria |
Recognised minority language in | |
Regulated by | Imperial Academy of Languages |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | TEN |
The Tengarian language is a South Marolevic language spoken in southern Euclea, primarily in the country of Tengaria. It is one of Tengaria's official languages, and is the principal spoken language of the country. In addition, the language is also spoken by communities in Bistravia, Amathia, and Ravnia, and is a recognised minority language in these states.
It is one of the oldest attested Marolevic languages due to the proximity of the Tengars to the Empire of Arciluco, and was used as a basis for Old Church Marolevic, although the language itself was never written until the 15th century. The languange has very heavy influences from Solarian, Vulgar Solarian and Amathian, which have contributed significant loanwords to the language and influenced the development of its grammar. The language is also partially digraphic, with three historic alphabets- versions of the Solarian, Apsinthian and Soravian- as possible for the usage of the language, although the modified Solarian alphabet is predominant.
Classification
The Tengarian language is classified by almost every modern scholar as a Marolevic language. This fact is corroborated by the fact that the most important and fundamental root words from the language are known to be taken from proto-Marolevic roots, and that the Tengars are descended from Marolevic tribes. The language is thus categorized as a South-Marolevic language.
Historically, as the Tengars underwent integration into the Amathian Empire of Arciluco and interacted with Solarian, Vulgar Solarian and proto-Amathian. Early studies of the language during the Tengarian Golden age connect the language far more closely to Solarian, especially with the work of Cornelius Lapidus, which also influenced the morphological, grammatical and lexical development of the language. This lead to some scholars to insist that it is a fusion language, a view that was largely prominent in Tengarian scholarship until the beginning of the twentieth century.
Despite being considered a Marolevic language, Tengarian is notable for being an easy language to relate to or to learn Solarian, as they share many common grammatical features and both share a similar degree of inflection, although Solarian verbs are much more highly inflected. Some scholars speculate that Tengarian's development may have been altered and adjusted by Solarianist authors through their influence in literature versus what was being spoken, meaning that in education the language has been more forcibly Solarianised over what its natural state should be by being pushed through education, although this claim is disputed by others who just suggest that its inflection is just a retention of more ancient Marolevic usage.
History
The Tengars, as a Marolevic tribe, spoke a dialect of the Proto-Marolevic language, as they migrated into the lands which currently comprise the country of Tengaria in the 4th and 5th centuries. After the conquest and eventual assimilation of the Tengars into the Empire of Arciluco, the language continued to be spoken by Tengars, although the language of trade and administration was first Solarian before gradually giving way to Vulgar Solarian and Proto-Amathian. Solarian was also used for liturgical services, and as the scholarly language used by Arciluco. As such, it was not a Literary language, and no extant documents of its writing survive, although there are historical mentions to a language which the Tengars spoke and various words and phrases recorded by Amathian scholars. The Empire later adopted the Apsinthian Alphabet for a time, but Tengarian was never a written language. This period of Tengarian is known as "Proto-Tengarian". Because they were part of the Empire, Amathian Missionaries used the language of the Tengars to develop Old Church Marolevic for the conversion of other Marolevic countries.
The Iconoclast schism in the late 14th saw great changes. The fall of Arciluco and the western half of the Empire becoming the Empire of Tengaria and claimant to the Empire's authority saw the centre of power shift from an Amathian speaking to a largely Tengarian speaking region. Although Solarian was upheld as the official language and continued to be used as both the language of scholarship and liturgy as part of a Solarianist revival, the spread of Amathian as a trading language began to decline. A scholar of the Tengarian Golden Age, a grammarian and Solarianist, named Cornelius Lapidus, studied the Tengarian language and published the first comprehensive grammatical text of the language in 1393, De Grammatice Linguae Tengaricae, in which he developed a Solarian alphabet to provide the first transcripition of Tengarian words. This, in combination with a glossary for those attempting to study Solarian in 1401, are seen as the foundational text for the Tengarian language.
Although Solarian continued to be the primary written and scholarly language for the next few centuries, writing in Tengarian venacular also increased, and it became the primary spoken language in the Empire. The language evolved and underwent modifications throughout the centuries, but the grammar remained largely the same, although the lexicon expanded and more words were added and developed over time. In 1847, the Imperial Academy of Languages was established to regulate Tengarian and its usage in schools, and remains the regulating body of the language. Alternative lexicons were proposed by Tengarian nationalists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to replace words Solarian origin, but were never adopted. In 1935, following the establishment of the Tengarian Republic, Tengarian became the official language used in all government matters, and remains the dominant written and legal language in the country to this day.
Alphabet
The first full script of the language is a script based on the Solarian script, introduced by Cornelius Lapidus in 1393. This is the predominant script of the language, although there are different scripts which are variously used. The Apsinthian Alphabet was invented by Amathian clerics to be able to better write in the languages of the Marolevic tribes before the peoples of Amathia adopted it to replace the Solarian alphabet. Because this script remained the primary system of writing before the collapse of the Empire of Arciluco in the 14th century, various early writers of the language employed its usage when writing Tengarian, even as the Tengarian Empire saw a shift back to the Solarian Script. Hence early written Tengarian was digraphic, although the Solarian script was predominant- still, the Apsinthian alphabet was more commonly used in the eastern regions of Tengaria. In the 19th century, Tengarian nationalists and Pan-Marolevic supporters began to advocate for the adoption of the Soravian script, although it was limited and never became widespread. Although depending on region the alphabet use might differ- such as in areas proximate to the Amathian border, the use of Apsinthian is more common- making it technically digraphic, the primary alphabet used by speakers of the language in the Solarian alphabet.
The Tengarian alphabet has the following 30 Solarian letters and 29 Apsinthian and Soravian letters (the Soravian removing 4 letters and adding an additional 3):
Solarian | Apsinthian | Soravian | Sound | Name | Pronunciation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
А | Ⰰ | А | /ɑ/ | A | a in "father" |
Ă | Ⱏ | Ъ | /ə/ | Ă | a in above |
Æ | Ⱑ | N/A | /e/ | Yae | e in "red" |
B | Ⰱ | Б | /b/ | Be | b in "ball" |
C | Ⰽ | К, Ч | /k/, /tʃ/ | Ce | c in "scan" ch in "choice" |
D | Ⰴ | Д | /d/ | De | d in "door" |
E | Ⰵ | E | /e/ | E | e in "red" |
F | Ⱇ | Ф | /f/ | Fe | f in "flag" |
G | Ⰳ | Г, Џ | /ɡ/, /dʒ/ | Ga | g in "goat" g in "general" |
H | Ⱈ | X | /h/ | Ha | h in "aha" |
I | Ⰹ | И | /i/,/j/ | I | i in "machine" y in "yes" |
J† | Ⰶ | Ж | /ʒ/ | Je | s in "treasure" |
K* | Ⰽ | К | /k/ | Ka | c in "scan" |
L | Ⰾ | Л | /l/, /ʎ/ | El | l in "lamp" |
М | Ⰿ | M | /m/ | Em | m in "mouth" |
Solarian | Apsinthian | Soravian | Sound | Name | Pronunciation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | Ⱀ | H | /n/, /ɲ/ | En | n in "north" gn in "gnocchi" |
O | Ⱁ | O | /o/ | O | o in "floor" |
P | Ⱂ | П | /p/ | Pe | p in "spot" |
Q | Ⱉ | N/A | /k/ | Qu | k in "kettle" |
R | Ⱃ | P | /r/ | Er | "r" as in "curd" |
S | Ⱄ | C | /s/ | Es | s in "song" |
Ș | Ⱎ | Ш | /ʃ/ | Șe | sh in "shopping" |
Т | Ⱅ | T, Ц | /t/, /t͡s/ | Te | t in "stone" zz in "pizza" |
Th | Ⱚ | Ѳ | /θ/ | The | "th" in "thigh" |
U | Ⱆ | У | /u/, /w/ | U | oo in "boot" w in "cow" |
V | Ⰲ | B | /ʋ/ | Ve | v in "vision" |
W* | Ⱗ | N/A | /w/ | Veve | w in "west" |
X | Ⱓ | К+C | /ks/ | Ix | x in "six" x in "example" |
Y | Ⱛ | Ь | /j/, /i/ | Ye | y in "yes" i in "machine" |
Z | Ⰸ | З | /z/ | Ze | z in "zipper" |
{*}Only used in more contemporary loanwords.
† Historically, the letter Ᶎ ᶎ was used until the eighteenth century, when J overtook it in usage.
As noted above, the letters in Tengarian may be may pronounced different according to different general principles (when written in Soravian, these different sounds are sometimes written with other letters).
- C: If C comes before E, I, AE or Y, it is pronounced /tʃ/, as in "choice". In all other cases, it is pronounced /k/, as in "cap".
- G: If G comes before E, I, AE or Y, it is pronounced /dʒ/, as in "general". In all other cases, it is pronounced /ɡ/, as in "girl".
- GN: GN together makes the sound /ɲ/, like in "gnocchi".
- H: If H comes after a C or G and before E, I, AE, or Y, it makes the C or G hard (/k/ or /ɡ/) but does not have a sound of its own. In all other cases, it is pronounced as /h/.
- T: If T comes before I with a vowel following, it is pronounced /t͡s/, as in "pizza". In all other cases it is pronounced /t/, as in "stone".
Phonology
Vowel length
Grammar
Nominal morphology
Tengarian nouns and adjectives possess grammatical case, number, and gender. Tengarian has six cases, one more than Solarian and one fewer than Old Church Marolevic: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental and vocative (the locative of Old Church Marolevic was merged in with the instrumental case). Number is either singular (one) and plural (multiple). Nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Nouns are divided into four categories based on the principal vowel used to determine an ending, called "stems". Although like Old Church Marolevic, the stems were once greater in number, over time they became reduced in usage. Certain dialects of Tengarian utilised some different morphologies for noun-endings until the language became more uniform from education in the 19th and 20th centuries.
O-Stems
O-Stems can be masculine or neuter, although the majority tend to be masculine.
Masculine | Neuter | |||
Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
NOM | grad- † | grad-i | verb-om ‡ | verb-a |
GEN | grad-i | grad-ă | verb-i | verb-ă |
DAT | grad-ov | grad-omu | verb-ov | verb-omu |
ACC | grad-om | grad-omo | verb-om ‡ | verb-a |
INS | grad-u | grad-omu | verb-u | verb-omu |
VOC | grad-e | grad-i | verb-e | verb-a |
† Masculine O-Stem nominatives may also end with "-e" in certain cases.
‡ Neuter O-stem nominatives and accusatives are highly flexible in endings; they may be bare-stem, may end in "-e" (such as in 'Ime, imi'), "-om" ('verbom, verbi'), or "-o" ('radio, radii'). The important rule with neuters is that the nominative and the accusative must be the same form.
A-Stems
The vast majority of A-Stems are feminine, with only a few exceptions.
Case | Singular | Plural |
NOM | jen-a | jen-e |
GEN | jen-e | jen-ă |
DAT | jen-av | jen-amu |
ACC | jen-am | jen-ama |
INS | jen-a | jen-amu |
VOC | jen-a | jen-e |
I-Stems
I-Stems can be variably masculine, feminine or neuter.
Masc. & Fem. | Neuter | |||
Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
NOM | gen-i | gen-i | gost- | gost-a |
GEN | gen-i | gen-ă | gost-i | gost-ă |
DAT | gen-iv | gen-umă | gost-iv | gost-umă |
ACC | gen-im | gen-imi | gost- | gost-a |
INS | gen-e | gen-umi | gost-u | gost-umi |
VOC | gen-e | gen-uje | gost-e | gost-uja |
U-Stems
U-Stems can be variably masculine or feminine.
Case | Singular | Plural |
NOM | dom-u | dom-ovu |
GEN | dom-ui | dom-ovă |
DAT | dom-uv | dom-ămă |
ACC | dom-um | dom-umu |
INS | dom-ă | dom-ămi |
VOC | dom-e | dom-ove |
Pronouns
Pronouns match the case, number and gender of the ancendent. As a pro-drop language, demonstrative and personal pronouns are dropped when functioning as the subject of the verb because the person is contained within the grammatical form of the verb itself.
Personal pronouns
Case | First Person | Second Person | Reflexive | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
NOM | eu | mi | tu | vi | - |
GEN | mi | nasă | ti | vasă | si |
DAT | mene | namă | tebe | vamă | sebe |
ACC | me | nă | te | vă | se |
INS | mene | nami | tebe | vami | sebe |
Demonstrative pronoun
There are three kinds of demonstrative pronouns: the weak demonstrative, proximal demonstrative and the distal demonstrative. Over time, the weak demonstrative eventually came to be used as third-person personal pronoun ("he, she, it") is considered demonstrative.
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
NOM | io | ii | ia | ie | ie | ia |
GEN | ii | ixă | ie | ixă | ii | ixă |
DAT | iov | imu | iav | imu | iov | imu |
ACC | iom | iomo | iam | iama | ie | ia |
INS | iu | imi | ia | imi | iu | imi |
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
NOM | ovo | ovi | ova | ove | ovo | ova |
GEN | ovi | ovă | ove | ovă | ovi | ovă |
DAT | ovev | ovemu | ovav | ovamu | ovev | ovemu |
ACC | ovom | ovomo | ovam | ovama | ovo | ova |
INS | ovu | ovemi | ova | ovami | ovu | ovemi |
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
NOM | ono | oni | ona | one | ono | ona |
GEN | oni | onă | one | onă | oni | onă |
DAT | onov | onemu | onav | onam | onov | onemu |
ACC | onom | onomo | onam | onama | ono | ona |
INS | onu | onemi | ona | onami | onu | onemi |
Relative and Interrogatives pronoun
Whereas the other pronouns largely come from Marolevic origins, the relative and interogative pronouns are taken Solarian qui, quae, quod and quis, quod, although they influenced by the Vulgar Solarian forms which came after- such as the accusative "quene". The pronoun can render "who", "what", or "which", depending on the circumstances.
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
NOM | qui | qui | qua | que | quene | qua |
GEN | cui | că | cui | că | cui | că |
DAT | cuiv | quimu | cuiv | quamu | cuiv | quimu |
ACC | quene | quomo | quam | quama | quene | quomo |
INS | que | quimi | qua | quami | que | quimi |
– | Masculine, Feminine |
Neuter |
NOM | quis | quene |
GEN | cui | |
DAT | cuiv | |
ACC | quene | |
INS | qua | que |
Adjectives
Adjectives in Tengarian agree in case, number and gender with the nouns which they modify. Adjectives are mostly declined as both a-stem (for feminine nouns) or o-stem nouns (for masculine or neuter) depending on the gender of the noun, although some i-stem adjectives exist as well. Notable exceptions include the masculine nominative singular for the o-stem, where an "-e" is added, such as "albe" for white. Adjectives usually come after the nouns which they modify (E.G. "domovu albi" instead of "albi domovu") and may also be used substantively if standing on its own- for example, Novi might be used to signify "[the] new [things]" with a noun being implied.
Comparative adjectives are formed by adding the letter j (/ʒ/) after the base vowel of the adjective and then supplying the proper case ending, such as "alboje", "albaja", "albojom". Superlatives are of two kinds: relative superlatives, which add the prefix "mai-" to the comparative adjective, such as "maialboje" or "mainovaja"; and absolute superlatives, which add the prefix "pre-" to the comparative adjective, such as "prealboje" or "prenovaja".
O/A-Stem Adjectives
While o-stem adjectives have flexibility in the nominative and accusative, adjectives will always take the following forms:
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | ||||
Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
NOM | prav-e | prav-i | prav-a | prav-e | prav-om | prav-a |
GEN | prav-i | prav-ă | prav-e | prav-ă | prav-i | prav-ă |
DAT | prav-ov | prav-omu | prav-av | prav-amu | prav-ov | prav-omu |
ACC | prav-om | prav-omo | prav-am | prav-ama | prav-om | prav-a |
INS | prav-u | prav-omu | prav-a | prav-amu | prav-u | prav-omu |
VOC | prav-e | prav-i | prav-a | prav-e | prav-e | prav-a |
I-Stem Adjectives
I-stem adjectives are idenitical when agreeing with masculine and feminine nouns. The only differences are found when agreeing with neuter nouns.
Masc. & Fem. | Neuter | |||
Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
NOM | len-i | len-i | len-e | len-a |
GEN | len-i | len-ă | len-i | len-ă |
DAT | len-iv | len-umă | len-iv | len-umă |
ACC | len-im | len-imi | len-e | len-a |
INS | len-e | len-umi | len-u | len-umi |
VOC | len-e | len-uje | len-e | len-uja |
Verbal morphology and grammar
Tengarian verbs are highly inflected and conjugated, with verbal inspiration from proto-Marolevic with influence of Solarian and Amathian.
Finite Verbs
Finite verbs possess person, number, voice, aspect, tense and mood. Tengarian has first, second and third person verbs, which can also be singular or plural. Tense and aspect are sometimes grouped together into six tenses, but principally they are distinguished- tense signifies the time of the verb's action in the past, present and future, while aspect is considered progressive (sometimes called imperfective), signifying an ongoing action, and perfect (sometimes called perfective), signifying a complete action.
Tengarian verbs are divided into three categories, called conjugations, based on the letter which forms the stem for the verb form. Proto-Tengarian likely had more conjugations with greater variety, which by the 13th century had become more simplified and unified.
A-Stem
Stati, "To stand" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | staneaxo | staneasi | staneastut | staneaxomă | staneaste | staneastunt | I was standing, I used to stand | |
Present Progressive | stamo | stasi | statut | stamă | staste | stastunt | I stand, I am standing | ||
Future Progressive | stanamo | stanasi | stanastut | stanamă | stanaste | stanastunt | I will stand, I will be standing | ||
Past Perfect | staxovă | staxovi | staxovit | staxovomă | staxovoste | staxovunt | I had stood | ||
Present Perfect | staxă | staxi | staxit | staxomă | staxoste | staxunt | I stood, I have stood | ||
Future Perfect | stanaxă | stanaxi | stanaxit | stanaxomă | stanaxoste | stanaxunt | I will have stood | ||
Imperative | Present | – | stani! | – | – | stanate! | – | stand! (2nd person only) |
E-Stem
Nesti, "To carry" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | neseaxo | neseasi | neseastut | neseaxomă | neseaste | neseastunt | I was carrying, I used to carry | |
Present Progressive | neso | nesesi | nesetut | nesemă | neseste | nesestunt | I carry, I am carrying | ||
Future Progressive | nesamo | nesasi | nesastut | nesamă | nesaste | nesastunt | I will carry, I will be carrying | ||
Past Perfect | nexovă | nexovi | nexovit | nexovomă | nexovoste | nexovunt | I had carried | ||
Present Perfect | nexă | nexi | nexit | nexomă | nexoste | nexunt | I carried, I have carried | ||
Future Perfect | nesaxă | nesaxi | nesaxit | nesaxomă | nesaxoste | nesaxunt | I will have caried | ||
Imperative | Present | – | nesi! | – | – | nesete! | – | carry! (2nd person only) |
I-Stem
Prositi, "To ask" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | proseaxo | proseasi | proseastut | proseaxomă | proseaste | proseastunt | I was asking, I used to ask | |
Present Progressive | proso | prosisi | prositut | prosimă | prosiste | prosistunt | I ask, I am asking | ||
Future Progressive | prosiamo | prosiasi | prosiastut | prosiamă | prosiaste | prosiastunt | I will ask, I will be asking | ||
Past Perfect | prosixovū | prosixovi | prosixovit | prosixovomă | prosixovoste | prosixovunt | I had asked | ||
Present Perfect | prosixă | prosixi | prosixit | prosixomă | prosixoste | prosixunt | I asked, I have asked | ||
Future Perfect | prosiaxă | prosiaxi | prosiaxit | prosiaxomă | prosiaxoste | prosiaxunt | I will have asked | ||
Imperative | Present | – | prosi! | – | – | prosite! | – | ask! (2nd person only) |
Athematic Verbs
There are five verbs recognised as athematic in Tengarian: Beti ("to be"), Dati ("to give"), Moti ("to be able"), Esti ("to eat"). Sometimes considered as hese are unique because they have older archaic forms which have been perserved, and do not fall under the other verb conjugations.
Beti, "To be" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | beaxo | beasi | beaset | beaxomă | beaste | beașet | I was, I used to be | |
Present Progressive | esmo | esi | est | esmă | este | sunt | I am, I am being | ||
Future Progressive | bodo | bodesi | bodetut | bodemă | bodete | bodotunt | I will be, I will be being | ||
Past Perfect | bexovă | bexovi | bexet | bexovomă | bexovoste | bexovunt | I had been | ||
Present Perfect | bexă | besi | bestū | bexomă | beste | beșet | I was, I have been | ||
Future Perfect | beaxă | beaxi | beaxet | beaxomă | beaxoste | beaxunt | I will have been | ||
Conditional | Present | - | - | sit | - | - | sint | It might be, It would/should be | |
Past | - | - | bist | - | - | bistet | It might have been, It would/should have been | ||
Imperative | Present | – | bodi! | – | – | bodite! | – | be! (2nd person only) | |
Non-Finite Forms | |||||||||
Infinitive | beti | To be | |||||||
Verbal Noun | betu, betui | Being | |||||||
Active | Participle | Present | si (m,f) | se (n) | Being (adj) | ||||
Future | bodi (m,f) | bode (n) | About to be | ||||||
Passive | Past | byvă | Has been, Makes other verbs passive |
Dati, "To give" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | dadeaxo | dadeasi | dadeastut | dadeaxomă | dadeaste | dadeastunt | I was giving, I used to give | |
Present Progressive | damo | dasi | dastut | damă | daste | dastunt | I give, I am giving | ||
Future Progressive | dadamo | dadasi | dadastut | dadamă | dadaste | dadastunt | I will give, I will be giving | ||
Past Perfect | daxovă | daxovi | daxovit | daxovomă | daxovoste | daxovunt | I had given | ||
Present Perfect | daxă | daxi | daxit | daxomă | daxoste | daxunt | I gave, I have given | ||
Future Perfect | dadaxă | dadaxi | dadaxit | dadaxomă | dadaxoste | dadaxunt | I will have given | ||
Imperative | Present | – | dadi! | – | – | dadite! | – | give! (2nd person only) |
Moti, "To be able" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | mojaxo | mojase | mojastut | mojeaxomă | mojeaste | mojeastunt | I was able, I used to be able | |
Present Progressive | mogo | mojesi | mojet | mojemă | mojete | mogotunt | I am able, I am being able | ||
Future Progressive | modzamo | modzasi | modzastut | modzamă | modzaste | modzastunt | I will be able | ||
Past Perfect | mogoxovă | mogoxovi | mogoxovit | mogoxovomă | mogoxovoste | mogoxovunt | I had been able | ||
Present Perfect | mogoxă | mogoxi | mogoxit | mogoxomă | mogoxoste | mogoxunt | I was able, I have been able | ||
Future Perfect | modzaxă | modzaxi | modzaxit | modzaxomă | modzaxoste | modzaxunt | I will be able | ||
Imperative | Present | – | modzi! | – | – | modzete! | – | be able! (2nd person only) |
Esti, "To eat" | |||||||||
Voice | Mood | Tense & Aspect | Number and person | Estmerish equivalent (only sg. 1st) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
Active | |||||||||
Indicative | Past Progressive | edeaxo | edease | edeastut | edeaxomă | edeaste | edeastunt | I was eating, I used to be eating | |
Present Progressive | emo | esi | eset | emă | este | edunt | I eat, I am eating | ||
Future Progressive | edamo | edasi | edastut | edamă | edaste | edastunt | I will eat | ||
Past Perfect | esovă | esovi | esovit | esovomă | esovoste | esovunt | I had eaten | ||
Present Perfect | esă | esi | estă | esomă | este | esunt | I ate, I have eaten | ||
Future Perfect | easă | easi | easit | easomă | easoste | easunt | I will have eaten | ||
Imperative | Present | – | edi! | – | – | edite! | – | be able! (2nd person only) |
Compounded Voice and Mood
In addition to forming verbs by morphological inflection of the word itself, Tengarian has several compound verbal poroperties which are formed by taking the inflected forms above with a compound.
The conditional mood (which also can fulfill the role of the optative or subjunctive in other languages), only truly present in the verb beti ("to be"), is formed by compounding the indicative form of the verb according to the number or tense of the verb in question. The present conditional is fromed by the base verb + sit (singular) or verb + sint (plural), while the past conditional is formed by verb + bist (singular) or verb + bistet (plural). Examples include prosisi sit ("you may ask") and nesastunt bistet (they would have carried).
All verbs above are listed above are in the active voice, but Tengarian verbs may also be in the passive voice. When coupled with the special past passive particple byvū (of the word beti), the word is changed into the passive voice, while keeping their tense, aspect mood and number the same. Examples include proso byvū ("I am asked") and stanaxoste byvū ("you all will have been stood").
Non-finite Verbs
Non finite verbs include infinitives, verbal nouns, and participles.
Infinitives have the common ending -ti, and are usually formed by taking the vowel stem of the verb: stamo > stati, neso > nesti, and proso > prositi. Certain words have other ways of forming the infintives.
The verbal noun is retained in Tengarian from old proto-Marolevic, although it was conflated in form and in use with the supine. It is formed by taking the infintive form but replacing the -i ending with a u-stem noun. For example, the infintive stati becomes statu, statui, as is declined as a u-stem noun. Since they are u-stem, they are always considered masculine nouns. These verbal nouns are usually rendered as gerunds in Estmerish.
Although historically there were more participles in Tengarian, there currently only remain two dominant forms- a present active and a past passive. However, certain exceptions remain of historical uses (most notably, bodi, bode, which is the future participle of "to be"). Generally speaking, the present active is created by adding a "-m-" plus the stem ending for the i-stem adjective, while the past passive varies in each conjugation but always ends with the o/a adjective endings. The notable exception to this is the passive past byvū, which functions as a particle to make a compound passive rather than a proper participle.
Voice | A-Stem | E-Stem | I-Stem |
---|---|---|---|
Present Active | Stanimi, Stanime | Nesimi, Nesime | Prosimi, Prosime |
Past Passive | Stave, Stava, Stavom | Nesene, Nesena, Nesenom | Prosine, Prosina, Prosinum |
Adverbs
The vast majority of adverbs in Tengarian are the same in form with the nominative singular masculine form of an o/a stem adjective, although there are some exceptions. Adverbs can be made comparative and superlative by the same way as adjectives, although there is no absolute superlative form of adverbs, and it always remains as the masculine singular form.
There are a selection of ancient and original adverbs which are exceptions to the adjectival adverbs, taken from Marolevic roots:
- abie "at once, immediately"
- ieste "yet, still"
- nine "now"
- pac "again"
- uje "already"
Prepositions
Prepositions in Tengarian cause the word which they modify to take a certain case. Some prepositions may take alternative cases depending on the use. Generally speaking, prepositions with gentive are for origin, accusative with direction, and instrumental for place (a function inherited from the defunct locative case).
Prepositions with Genitive
- a (from, away)- used to describe descent from.
- otu (from, out of)
- u (at)
Prepositions with Accusative
- in (into)
- na (unto, over)
- ob (on account of)
- po (under)- used for direction.
- su (for the extent of)
- vus (for)
Prepostions with Instrumental
- be (without)
- cu (with)
- de (about, concerning)
- in (in, inside)
- na (on)
- nadu (above, over)
- o (around, about)
- pre (in front of, before)
- podu (below, under)
- za (behind, after)
Conjunctions and Particles
The most common conjuctions and particles of the language are as follows:
- aste (if, whether)
- ide (for, since)
- egda (when, if)
- insa (but, yet)
- și (and)
- -și suffix which is also used for "and"
- li (or)
- li...li (either... or)
- ne (not)
- ne...ni (neither, nor)
- -ne, a suffix which turns the verb into a question.
- ne-, prefix which negates the word in question
- neste (if not, unless)
- potu (because, therefore)
- to (then, so)
- ut (as, in order that)
Word order
Because it is highly inflected, Tengarian has a relatively free word order, because the role in the sentence is determined by the morphology of the word rather than its placement. Word order is up to the speaker or writer in question, and depends on locality, level of understanding of the language. The most common word order for speech and prose is generally subject-object-verb, and this is generally taught as the default way of expressing the language. The second most common is the subject-verb-object construction, which is also commonly taught but tends to be secondary. Placing the word at the beginning of the sentence can also be used for immediacy or emphasis. Adjectives generally precede the noun if they are more subjective in character, and follow the noun if they are inherent or important.
Tengarian names
The Tengarian naming system consists of a given name and a surname or family name, and largely matches the naming conventions of Euclea. In certain areas of the country, such as in the north, a direct patronymic is used in between the given and the surname.
Given names
Parents may give their children one or more given names. If more than one is used, the first is most commonly used without reference to the others, although the other names are required for official identification. Given names are prominently taken from three sources: Biblical and early Church Sotirian names, variously from Atudean and Piraean but often morphology influenced by Solarian and Amathian; Solarian and Amathian names; and names of Marolevic origin. Certain names were brought into the language more recently, including some by pan-Marolevs, most notable being Svetlana and Dimitri. Because Tengarian distinguishes between the nominative and the vocative (except for A-stem feminines), speaking to someone sees the use of a different inflection of the same name (E.G., Simeon to Simeone, Mattæ to Mattæe and Ioani to Ioane).
Masculine names are largely O-stem or I-stem nouns, with a handful of exceptions. Biblical and Sotirian names include: Andre, Angel, Ciril, Gabriel, Daniel, Georghi, Iacob, Ioani, Iosef, Laurenti, Luca, Mattæ, Mihail, Nicolæ, Paul, Petre, Simeon, Sotrian, and Stefan. Solarian and Amathian names include: Adeodat, Alexandre, Anton, Clement, Corneli, Constantin, Cyriac, Donat, Mari, Renat, Sergi, Solarian, Theodos, Valentin, Vasile, and Victor. Marolevic names include: Bogdan, Bogomil, Boian, Casimir, Dragomir, Dimitri, Lubomir, Milan, Stanislav, Vladimir, and Zlatan.
Feminine names are almost A-stem nouns, with a few exceptions. Biblical Sotirian names include: Ana, Andrea, Angela, Caterina, Eva, Ioana, Maria, and Veronica. Solarian and Amathian names include: Alexandra, Beata, Clara, Coroana, Daria, Florina, Gloria, Hippodalia, Lacrimiara, Margarita, Monica, Silvia, Sofia, Renata, and Valentina. Marolevic and Piraean names include: Anastasia, Bogdana, Bogomila, Cloa, Elena, Ludmila, Olga, Svetlana, Tatiana, Theodora, Vera, Violeta, and Zora.
Surnames
Traditionally, fixed family names did not exist for most class except for the nobility. In the later part of the 19th century, in accord with Euclean culture, the government supported the adoption of family last names. The most common way of forming this is through the use of patronymics, or in rare cases when a father could not be identified, through matronymics, although these were not the only methods of arriving at last names. Legally, surnames are passed down from the father in the vast majority of cases, although in certain cases they can be passed down from the mother. Wives take the surname of their husbands, although in a feminine form.
Most patroynmics are the same for both men and women. They are formed with the genitive form (using the prefix "a-", from the preposition a) were used, as in "Adragomiri", or 'from Dragomir'. With names that begin with vowels except i (such as Andre, Angel, and certain feminine names) an intervocalic 'i' and the /j/ sound is added, making "A-angeli" "Aiangeli" (ah-yahn-ge-li). In some cases where the name begins with vowels, the first "a" is dropped and only the i remains, such as "Iandrei" or "Iantoni". The rarer matronymics follow the same rule, except use the feminine a-stem genitive, such as "Amarie" and "Aieve". Pan-Marolevic supporters also proposed adding suffixes to make the names look more Marolevic; these partroynmics have a masculine "-v" or feminine "-va" added onto the end of the genitive, such as "Abogdaniv", "Aioaniva". Family names formed with Marolevic suffixes will be masculine or feminine depending on the sex of the person.
Besides patronymics as the basis for surnames, there are other ways to form them as well. The same formula use for patronymics can also be used for place of origin rather than names- for example, "Agarne", meaning 'from Garna', and "Arece" meaning 'from the river'. Feminine last names are more common here than with patronymics. Some names come from occupations, such as "Kovachev"/"Kovacheva" coming from the word Kovac, which is a word meaning "smith" with a Marolevic suffix, "Istine" coming from istina meaning "truth", or "Ursi" coming from Urs meaning "bear". The final source for surnames are those which come from adjectives- "Albe/Alba" coming from Alba signifying "white". Names from adjectives do not come from the genitive but instead agree with the gender, case and number of the name.
Sample Texts
Tengarian (Solarian Script) | Tengarian (Apsinthian Script) | Tengarian (Soravian Script) | Declaration of Universal Natural Rights |
Ide omi toti cu ratuina conșientași daristunt byvă, | Ⰹⰴⰵ ⱁⰿⰹ ⱅⱁⱅⰹ ⰽⱆ ⱃⰰⱅⱆⰹⱀⰰ ⰽⱁⱀⱎⰹⰵⱄⰰⱎⰹ ⰴⰰⱃⰹⱄⱅⱆⱀⱅ ⰱⱛⰲⱏ, | Идe oми тoти ку paтуинa кoшиeнтaши дapиcтунт бьвъ, | Whereas all human beings are endowed with reason and conscience, |
Ideși derecti naturali in ensumi patristunt cu ratuina conșientași, | Ⰹⰴⰵⱎⰹ ⰴⰵⱃⰵⰽⱅⰹ ⱀⰰⱅⱆⱃⰰⰾⰹ ⰹⱀ ⰵⱀⱄⱆⰿⰹ ⱂⰰⱅⱃⰹⱄⱅⱆⱀⱅ ⰽⱆ ⱃⰰⱅⰹⱆⱀⰰ ⰽⱁⱀⱎⰹⰵⱀⱄⰰⱎⰹ, | Идeши дepeкти нaтуpaли ин eнуми пaтpиcтунт ку paтуинa кoшиeнтaши, | Whereas natural rights inhere in beings with reason and conscience, |
Ideși nuditut byvă declati derectomo naturalomo in documentu universale vedeti, | Ⰹⰴⰵⱎⰹ ⱀⱆⰴⰹⱅⱆⱅ ⰱⱛⰲⱏ ⰴⰵⱌⰾⰰⱅⰹ ⰴⰵⱃⰵⰽⱅⱁⰿⱁ ⱀⰰⱅⱆⱃⰰⰾⱁⰿⱁ ⰹⱀ ⰴⱁⰽⱆⰿⰵⱀⱅⱆ ⱆⱀⰹⰲⰵⱃⱄⰰⰾⰵ ⰲⰵⰴⰵⱅⰹ, | Идeши нудитут бьвъ дeклaти дepeктoмo нaтуpaлoмo ин дoкуmeнту унивepcaлe вeдeти, | Whereas it is necessary to declare natural rights in a document to be universally known, |
Ut deputati și guverne gentă totă, Internationali Assembla declatut: | Ⱆⱅ ⰴⰵⱂⱆⱅⰰⱅⰹ ⱎⰹ ⰳⱆⰲⰵⱃⱀⰵ ⰳⰵⱀⱅⱏ ⱅⱁⱅⱏⱔ Ⰹⱀⱅⰵⱃⱀⰰⱅⰹⱁⱀⰰⰾⰹ Ⰰⱄⱄⰵⰿⰱⰾⰰ ⰴⰵⰽⰾⰰⱅⱆⱅ: | Ут дeпутaти ши гувepнe џeнтъ тoтъ, Интepнaтиoнaли Acceмблa дeклaтут: | As the representatives and governments of all people, the International Assembly declares: |
Tengarian (Solarian Script) | Tengarian (Apsinthian Script) | Tengarian (Soravian Script) | Common Estmerish translation |
Patre nasă, qui in celu est, svetom sit ti ime. | Ⱂⰰⱅⱃⰵ ⱀⰰⱄⱏ, ⱉⱆⰹ ⰹⱀ ⰽⰵⰾⱆ ⰵⱄⱅ, ⱄⰲⰵⱅⱁⰿ ⱄⰹⱅ ⱅⰹ ⰹⰿⰵ. | Патре насъ, куи ин келу ест, светом сит ти име. | Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; |
Regat ti proditut sit, vola ti delatut sit, na zema ut in celu est. | Ⱃⰵⰳⰰⱅ ⱅⰹ ⱂⱃⱁⰴⰹⱅⱆⱅ ⱄⰹⱅ, ⰲⱁⰾⰰ ⱅⰹ ⰴⰵⰾⰰⱅⱆⱅ ⱄⰹⱅ, ⱀⰰ ⰸⰵⰿⰰ ⱆⱅ ⰹⱀ ⰽⰵⰾⱆ ⰵⱄⱅ. | Регат ти продитут сит, вола ти делатут сит, на зема ут ин кело. | Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. |
Hlebom eședenină namă dadi, și narusitinimi nasă prosti namă, | Ⱈⰾⰵⰱⱁⰿ ⰵⱎⰵⰴⰵⱀⰹⱀⱏ ⱀⰰⰿⱏ ⰴⰰⰴⰹ, ⱎⰹ ⱀⰰⱃⱆⱄⰹⱅⰹⰿⰹⱀⰹ ⱀⰰⱄⱏ ⱂⱃⱁⱄⰹ ⱀⰰⰿⱏ, | Хлебом ешеденинъ намъ дади, ши наруситимини насъ прости намъ, | Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, |
ut prostimă quomo namă narusitunt; și in sablaznam nevodi, insa nū a losu eliberani. Amen. | ⱆⱅ ⱂⱃⱁⱄⱅⰹⰿⱏ ⱉⱆⱁⰿⱁ ⰿⰰⱀⱏ ⱀⰰⱃⱆⱄⰹⱅⱆⱀⱅ; ⱎⰹ ⰹⱀ ⱄⰰⰱⰾⰰⰸⱀⰰⰿ ⱀⰵⰲⱁⰴⰹ, ⰹⱀⱄⰰ ⱀⱏ ⰰ ⰾⱁⱄⱆ ⰵⰾⰹⰱⰵⱃⰰⱀⰹ. Ⰰⰿⰵⱀ. | ут простимъ куомо намъ наруститунт; ши ин саблазнам неводи, инса нъ а лосу елиберани. Амен. | as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. |