D'ni (language)

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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.

Contents

[edit] Phonemes

Consonants Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosives p b t d k g ʔ
Nasals m n
Flaps ɾ
Fricatives f v θ ð s z ʃ x h
Affricates ts͡ tʃ dʒ
Approximants w j w
Laterals l
Vowels Front Central Back
Close i u
ɪ
eɪ o
Mid ə
ɛ ʌ
æ
Open ɑ

Diphthongs: /ɑɪ/, /oɪ/, /eɪ/

An epenthetic segment (/ʔ/ between vowels and /ə/ between consonants) is often inserted in a difficult vowel hiatus or consonant cluster.

[edit] Morphology

[edit] Nouns

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

The conjunction gah ("and") and prepositions can also be prefixed to a noun, with the vowel (prepositions are monosyllabic) being replaced with an apostrophe or sometimes deleted altogether, depending on the phonotactics.

Definiteness and indefiniteness are indicated with the prefixes re- and erth- respectively.

Plural number is indicated with the suffix -tee.

The possessive preposition okh can be suffixed to the end of a noun. There are also a number of suffixes for pronominal possession:

Singular Plural
First person -oy -ot
Second person -om
Third person -on -os

[edit] Verbs

The structure of a verb is:

time-aspect-stem-actor-(imperative)

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

Aspectual prefixes:

Simple Progressive
Simple 0- do-
Perfect le- dol-

The infinitive form of the verb is prefixed with b'-

Person/number suffixes:

Singular Plural
First person -0 -et
Second person -em -tee
Third person -en -eet

The imperative suffix is -ah.

[edit] Derivational Suffixes

There are a number of derivational suffixes.

-ets forms an adjective from a noun -tahv forms a noun from a verb -tahn forms a personal noun from a verb -ahl forms an participle from a verb -(e)th forms a noun from an adjective -(e)sh forms an adverb from an adjective.

[edit] Syntax

D'ni is a largely head-initial language. The basic word order is subject-verb-object. Adjectives follow nouns and adverbs follow verb.

There are auxiliary verbs such as voohee "can, could" that express modality. These follow the main verb.

[edit] Pronouns

Singular Plural
First person zoo set
Second person shem shemtee
Third person tah (impersonal) eest

[edit] OOC History

The following section is written from an OOC point of view. Events and elements surrounding the Myst Universe are regarded as fictional.

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, Hebraic and Sumerian.

[edit] Links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Book of D'ni, Part IV, hardcover edition p.148
  2. ↑ Book of D'ni, Part VII, hardcover edition p.267
  3. ↑ Book of D'ni, Part III, hardcover edition p.95
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