D'ni (language)

From MYSTlore

D'ni evolved from the Ronay language after they split with the Terahnee from Garternay.

As the dialects of D'ni proper and of Terahnee are mutually intelligible^[1], neither has changed significantly in the ten thousand years since their separation. The connection with the Art may have been a strong conservative factor in their evolution.

This language was taught to and used by the relyimah slaves of the Terahnee, who after the great plague far outnumbered native speakers, with a population of over 2 billion^[2] in 9469 DE ^{(1814 AD)}.

After the Fall of D'ni, D'ni-speaking communities were scattered among several Ages until they were reunited by Atrus and transplanted to Releeshahn, with a population of over 1,800^[3] in 9469 DE ^{(1814 AD)}.

See D'ni script for the D'ni alphabet and its transliteration into Roman letters.

Our sources and knowledge of D'ni are limited, and this description is by no means complete.

[edit] Phonology

Diphthongs: /ɑɪ/, /oɪ/, /eɪ/

The majority of D’ni syllables are of the form (C)(liquid)V(r)(C). Codas also exist of the form nasal-stop, and, more rarely, /st/ is observed in the onset (stofah) or coda (eest).

The glottal stop and schwa are heavily restricted in position, neither occurring at the beginning or end of a word and in complementary distribution elsewhere, with the glottal stop occurring after vowels and the schwa after consonants. (Both are represented by the same symbol in the D’ni alphabet.)

A process of vowel reduction occurs, in which certain monosyllabic morphemes have their vowel replaced by schwa when preposed to another word. These include:
The perfect prefix le-. Reduction is optional and has only been observed to occur before a vowel.
The definite article re. Reduction is optional and has only been observed to occur before /r/ or a vowel.
Prepositions of the form Ce. Reduction is obligatory.
The conjunction gah. Reduction is optional.
The derivational prefix de- 'again'. Reduction is optional.

A schwa or glottal stop will sometimes appear between two morphemes for uncertain reasons. Common occurrences are between a noun and a possessive suffix (e.g. vaytsoo'on), between a noun and a preceding ah or re, and between the two elements of a compound (such as doo'shol).

[edit] Morphology

The lexical word classes in D'ni are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. For numerals, see D'ni numbers. D'ni morphology is largely agglutinative and employs both prefixes and suffixes.

[edit] Nouns

The structure of a noun is: stem-(plural)-(possessor)

Plural number is indicated with the suffix -tee.

There are a number of suffixes for pronominal possession.

The derivational suffix -ets produces an adjective when applied to a noun stem.

Several noun-noun compounds exist. New nouns may also be formed from adjective-noun and noun-adjective compounds.

[edit] Adjectives

The suffix -(e)th forms a noun from an adjective. -(e)sh forms an adverb from an adjective. The vowel in these suffixes is only present when the noun stem ends in a consonant.

[edit] Verbs

The structure of a verb is:

tense-(progressive)-(perfect)-stem-subject-(imperative)/(passive)

The tense prefixes are 0- for present, ko- for past, and bo- for future.

The progressive prefix is do-.

The perfect prefix is l(e)-. The vowel in this prefix is absent if other prefixes precede it.

Subject agreement suffixes:

The imperative suffix is -ah.

The passive suffix is -ij.

In addition to these inflectional suffixes, there are a number of suffixes which derive other parts of speech from a verb stem.

-tahv results in a noun expressing either the result of the verb's action or the action itself.
-tahn results in an noun expressing the agent of the verb.
-ahl results in an active participle.
-in results in a passive participle. Both participles modify nouns.

There are a few examples of objects being incorporated into verbs: doo'shol^{(food-prepare)} and the active participle pradteegahl^{(rock-working)}.

[edit] Syntax

The basic word order of D'ni is subject-verb-object. The subject of an intransitive clause is grammatically identical to the subject of a transitive clause.

[edit] Noun Phrases

The accusative marker is ah, preceding all other elements of the noun phrase. It is not obligatory, and the semantic reasons for its use are not certain.

The definite article re and indefinite article erth precede their head noun, and are very frequently attached to the beginning of the noun phrase they modify.

Demonstratives have been observed to either precede or follow the head noun, and may be used as pronouns in their own right. There is a two-way contrast of distance: met 'this' and mot 'that'.

Adjectives and relative clauses follow their head noun. An exception is the adjective gahro 'great', which precedes the noun in the definite phrases regahro zeero and regahro tiwah^[4]. (gahro also precedes the noun in compound words.)

Possessive noun phrases are of the form (noun) okh (possessor).

[edit] Verb Phrases

Auxiliary verbs expressing mood follow the main verb. Adverbs are more variable in their placement.

[edit] Copula

The copula ken is used in locative, existential, and predicate nominal constructions, as in the following examples.

Predicate nominal: gen kenen nahvahot^{(Gehn is our master)}

Predicate adjective: ken chevet^{(I am thankful)[5]}

Locative: regerahnokh re ter kenen t'nayon^{(The ??? of the tree is in its root)}

Existential: korvahkhtee keneet tomet^{(Linking books are here)[6]}

[edit] Passive Voice

D'ni has two primary strategies for the passive voice, in which the patient of a clause is placed in the subject position. The prefix do- may be used (making it ambiguous between progressive aspect and passive voice), or a form of ken may precede the main verb. If the agent appears, it is expressed in a preposition phrase headed by te.

retiwah kokenen kosayen t'telooknahvah gahrten^{(The shaft was designed by Surveyors Guild Master Garten)}

rebishtah kodosayen...^{(The tunnel was designed...)[7]}

The passive suffix -ij may also be used with either of these strategies. If the ken construction is used, then -ij is the only inflection present on the main verb, as in the example below.

rilbokenet verenij^{(We will not be ???)[8]}

For a few D'ni verbs the patient may be either subject or object without any change in the form of the clause, for example, reeslo 'dissolve'.

doreesloen remahrg melin mreprad^{(dissolving the outer layer of the rock)[9]}

tre'irvantee...mot lereesloeet^{(with the minerals...that have dissolved)[10]}

[edit] Prepositions

D'ni makes use of prepositions. Several prepositions are of the form Ce and can be attached to the following word, with the e being replaced by an apostrophe (see above) or, when followed by re-, deleted altogether. The possessive preposition okh can be attached to the end of the preceding noun.

[edit] Pronouns

The personal pronouns do not occur as subjects of the verb.

[edit] Negation

Ril is the negative particle. It precedes the word it negates, and may even be prefixed to it.

[edit] Subordinate and Coordinate Clauses

Verbs prefixed with do- may be used in adjunct clauses, as in the following example.

kohooret ahmetm'lah t'fah tregahlpotee vogets^{(We found this lizard living in one of the natural caves...)[11]}

There are also instances of a verb prefixed with do- and inflected for subject acting as the head of a verb phrase governed by a preposition.

oonrayot gen lepahboyen set te dotahgen b'set ah r'raiway b'bahrel rekortee^{(our lord Gehn has blessed us by giving us the procedure to make the books)}

When prefixed to a verb stem, b' produces an infinitive form of the verb, which may be used either to modify a preceding noun or as the non-finite complement of a preceding verb. When the infinitive is the complement of a verb, its subject is assumed to be identical with that of the main verb. When the infinitive modifies a noun, its subject may be left unstated or given explicitly with the preposition khe.

kenen gor khrekahntintahntee b'ken shentomeij^{(It is time for the ??? to be taken from)[12]}

The finite complement of a verb is introduced with the word roo.

Relative clauses with head nouns are introduced by mot (though the relativizer is not obligatory) and follow their head. Headless relative clauses also occur, introduced by the relative pronoun kam and its compound forms such as kamrov, which refers to a person, and kamto, which refers to a place. There are examples of relativized subjects, objects, and oblique noun phrases.

Conjunctions such as roob 'but' and gah 'and' link two independent clauses. The same conjunctions are used for nominal and verbal coordination.

[edit] Interrogative

Polar questions are identical in form to declarative sentences, a difference in intonation likely marking them as interrogative.

kenen ahtsoo^{(Is it ready?)[13]}

In the one known example of a content question, the interrogative word appears at the beginning of the sentence.

thoe kenem^{(How are you?)[14]}

[edit] OOC History

The D'ni language is in reality developed, for the most part, by RAWA. It borrows grammar elements from and has a few words resembling those in languages including English, Hebrew and Sumerian. It has been augmented slightly by the D'ni Language Research Project.

[edit] Links

• The D'ni Student
• Domahreh's D'ni Grammar
• Kh'reestrefah's D'ni Dictionary
• D'ni Linguistic Fellowship
• D'ni wikibook

References