Drikva Yakke

Drikva Yakke /ˈdrik.va ˈjak.ʃe/, or Modern Standard Imperial, is a standardized analytic language developed from an earlier creolized form of various ancient languages, though it still retains a rather deep orthography from an earlier form. It is written in the Imperial Script (Kuggi Yakke /ˈkuɡ.ʒi ˈjak.ʃe/), which is an alphabet originally written vertically in syllable blocks, but is now most commonly written left-to-right in individual letters. The block-form letters are still commonly used similarly to how majuscule letters are used in Latinate scripts.

The Imperial Language is actually a snapshot of several languages over the course of several centuries. While the written language changed very little in that time, the spoken language changed significantly, and the word order and syntax became much more rigid. In a way, it is analogous to Latin, the Classical form of which would barely be understood by speakers of Vulgar Latin a few centuries later, but the word forms remained largely the same.

• Drikva Yakke words

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Coronal	Palatal	Dorsal
Stop	p · b	t · d			k · ɡ
Affricate	pf · bv		ts · dz	tʃ · dʒ	(kʃ) · (ɡʒ)
Fricative	f · v	θ · ð	s · z	ʃ · ʒ	· h
Nasal	m		n		ŋ
Lateral		l	(ɬ) · ɮ
Lateral Affricate			tɬ · dɮ
Tap			ɾ
Approximant				j

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i ·	· u
	ɪ ·	· ʊ
Mid	e ·	· o
	ɛ ·	· ɔ
Low	æ ·	a ·

Diphthongs

There were no diphthongs in Old Imperial; The modern diphthongs are contractions of earlier bi-syllabic constructions. E.g. meu ‘I’ was pronounced as /ˈme.u/ rather than the modern /mew/.

	Front	Back
Mid-High	ej	ew
Low-High	aj	aw

Writing System(s)

Orthography & Romanization

Hrz	Vrt	Rom	IPA	Description	Example
		a	a~ɑ	Like ⟨a⟩ in English father.	aggè ‘some’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter AE	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter AE	ae	aj	Like ⟨i⟩ in English wine.	blaesh ‘144’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter AO	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter AO	ao	aw	Like ⟨ow⟩ in English house.	lhao ‘above’
		à	æ	Like ⟨a⟩ in English bat.	pàn ‘child’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter B	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter B	b	b	Like ⟨b⟩ in English bot.	beblizh ‘pair of eyes’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter BB	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter BB	bb	bv	Like ⟨bv⟩ in English obvious.	rabba ‘to swim’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter BH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter BH	bh	v	Like ⟨v⟩ in English very. Identical to ⟨v⟩, but from an earlier /bʰ/.	raebh ‘new’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter D	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter D	d	d	Like ⟨d⟩ in English day.	dehi ‘to do’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter DD	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter DD	dd	dz	Like ⟨dz⟩ in English adze. Identical to ⟨tz⟩, but from an earlier /dd/.	yadde ‘old’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter DH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter DH	dh	ð	Like ⟨th⟩ in English this. (Never as in thin.)	kladha ‘9’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter DL	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter DL	dl	dɮ	Not an English sound. Identical to ⟨dlh⟩, but from an earlier /dl/.	dlaka ‘snake’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter DLH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter DLH	dlh	dɮ	Not an English sound. The sound of ⟨d⟩ followed immediately by ⟨lh⟩.	dlhu ‘not’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter DZH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter DZH	dzh	dʒ	Like ⟨j⟩ in English joke.	dzhote ‘young’
		e	e	Like ⟨e⟩ in Spanish vero.	etlh ‘4’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter EI	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter EI	ei	ej	Like ⟨ay⟩ in English day.	hei ‘you all’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter EU	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter EU	eu	ew	Like the ⟨e⟩ in egg followed immediately by ⟨w⟩.	meu ‘me’
		è	ɛ	Like ⟨e⟩ in English bet.	shviè ‘ice’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter F	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter F	f	f	Like ⟨f⟩ in English foot. Identical to ⟨ph⟩.	fortal ‘rope’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter G	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter G	g	ɡ	Like ⟨g⟩ in English get. (Never as in gel.)	gathka ‘to steal’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter GG	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter GG	gg	ɡʒ	A little like ⟨gg⟩ in English suggest. A ⟨g⟩ followed by a ⟨zh⟩ (see).	ngaggè ‘sometime’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter H	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter H	h	h	Like ⟨h⟩ in English have.	hati ‘to finish’
		i	i	Like ⟨i⟩ in English machine.	ilè ‘1’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter IE	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter IE	ie	jɛ	Like ⟨ye⟩ in English yet.	iel ‘other’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter IU	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter IU	iu	ju	Like ⟨you⟩ in English you.	dhiun ‘right side’
		ì	ɪ	Like ⟨i⟩ in English bit.	trìdla ‘why’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter K	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter K	k	k	Like ⟨k⟩ in English keep.	kashkì ‘very’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter KH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter KH	kh	kʃ	Like ⟨ct⟩ in English action. Identical to ⟨kk⟩, but from earlier /kʰ/.	khìth ‘dirty’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter KK	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter KK	kk	kʃ	Like ⟨ct⟩ in English action. Identical to ⟨kh⟩, but from earlier /kk/.	ukka ‘6’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter L	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter L	l	l	Like ⟨l⟩ in English laugh.	lavani ‘year’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter LH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter LH	lh	ɬ~ɮ	Not an English sound. Like ⟨ll⟩ in Welsh llygoden, but usually voiced.	lhat ‘tooth’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter M	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter M	m	m	Like ⟨m⟩ in English man.	mahe ‘house’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter N	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter N	n	n	Like ⟨n⟩ in English no.	nente ‘star’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter NG	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter NG	ng	ŋ	Like ⟨ng⟩ in English singer. (Never as in finger or ginger.)	ngun ‘whenever’
		o	o	Like ⟨oa⟩ in English boat.	tho ‘in front of’
		ò	ɔ	Like ⟨au⟩ in English caught.	òla ‘father’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter P	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter P	p	p	Like ⟨p⟩ in English put.	paen ‘large’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter PH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter PH	ph	f	Like ⟨f⟩ in English foot. Identical to ⟨f⟩, but from earlier /pʰ/.	phamba ‘to fall’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter PP	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter PP	pp	pf	Not an English sound. Like ⟨pf⟩ in German Apfel. From earlier /pp/.	veppat ‘smoke’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter R	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter R	r	ɾ	Like ⟨r⟩ in Spanish pero; like ⟨t⟩ in (American) English water.	riggu ‘red’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter S	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter S	s	s	Like ⟨s⟩ in English soap.	sakha ‘to strike’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter SH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter SH	sh	ʃ	Like ⟨sh⟩ in English shoe.	shukh ‘seed’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter T	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter T	t	t	Like ⟨t⟩ in English table.	tè ‘person’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TH	th	θ	Like ⟨th⟩ in English thing. (Never as in these.) From earlier /tʰ/.	thra ‘8’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TL	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TL	tl	tɬ	Not an English sound. Identical to ⟨tlh⟩, but from an earlier /tl/.	tlaste ‘distant’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TLH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TLH	tlh	tɬ	Not an english sound. Like ⟨tl⟩ in Nahuatl coyotl.	tvetlh ‘16’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TS	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TS	ts	ts	Like ⟨ts⟩ in English cats. Identical to ⟨tt⟩.	yatsù ‘left side’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TSH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TSH	tsh	tʃ	Like ⟨ch⟩ in English chair.	metsha ‘here’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TT	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TT	tt	ts	Like ⟨ts⟩ in English cats. Identical to ⟨ts⟩, but from earlier /tt/.	mittè ‘just, only’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter TZ	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter TZ	tz	dz	Like ⟨ds⟩ in English ads. Identical to ⟨dd⟩, but from an earlier /ts/ that became voiced.	atze ‘island’
		u	u	Like ⟨oo⟩ in English boot.	umè ‘2’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter UA	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter UA	ua	wɑ	Like ⟨wa⟩ in English want.	ruan ‘daughter’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter UE	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter UE	ue	we	Like ⟨we⟩ in English went.	guelh ‘brown’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter UI	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter UI	ui	wi	Like ⟨wee⟩ in English week.	kuis ‘grey’
		ù	ʊ	Like ⟨oo⟩ in English good.	phetùk ‘brother’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter V	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter V	v	v	Like ⟨v⟩ in English very. Identical to ⟨bh⟩, but from earlier /w/.	vae ‘for’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter Y	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter Y	y	j	Like ⟨y⟩ in English yes.	yagre ‘heavy’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter Z	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter Z	z	z	Like ⟨z⟩ in English zoo.	azokha ‘ash’
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter ZH	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter ZH	zh	ʒ	Like ⟨si⟩ in English vision or ⟨g⟩ in French genre.	lezh ‘will be’

You will note that there are several combinations which appear to have identical pronunciation. This is due to sound changes during the creolization of the Imperial language which have created mergers. For example, the kh in thikhe [ˈθikʃe] ‘sharp’ and the kk in thrakku [ˈθɾakʃu] ‘like that’ are both pronounced like the ksh in thraksha [ˈθɾakʃa] ‘like this’. However, in Old Imperial, they were pronounced [ˈtʰikʰeː], [tʰrɑkˈkũ], and [tʰrɑkˈtʃɑ], respectively.

The Imperial Script (Kuggi Yakke)

Though this guide uses almost exclusively Romanization for describing the Imperial language, that Romanization (as described above) is derived directly from the Imperial “Alphabet” known as Kuggi Yakke (“Imperial Writing”). The Yakke script is arranged in “blocks” of syllables consisting of (minimally) a single vowel, and may contain various types on onsets and codas, each syllable basically forming a square shape. In most modern writing, this square format has been ignored due to constraints on space, and writing has become more compact, but the block style is still a default for signs, titles, important words, and other functions, a bit like majuscule letters or italics might used in Latin scripts, or hiragana in Japanese. These are not direct analogies, of course, but be aware that block script is usually used to set apart important words from other text.

Traditionally the Yakke script was written vertically from top to bottom in columns from right to left. Recently it has become more common to write it horizontally from left to right, but unlike languages like Chinese or Japanese, where writing direction has changed but character orientation has remained constant, Yakke script written horizontally also changes the direction of the written characters, so a horizontal text can simply be turned 90° to become a vertical text, more like how Mongolian or Manchurian are vertical scripts derived from Sogdian, a vertical script based on horizontally written Syriac.

In all there are three main types of characters: Onsets, secondary onset modifiers, and vowels. Onsets may use the entire width of the character, or may share the initial space with a secondary onset modifier. Vowels always use the entire width of the character (in the case of vertical script) or height (for horizontal).

Onsets

There are nineteen possible onsets: (Stay tuned for graphics!)

Hrz	Vrt	Rom		Hrz	Vrt	Rom		Hrz	Vrt	Rom		Hrz	Vrt	Rom		Hrz	Vrt	Rom
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter p	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter p	p		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter t	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter t	t		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter k	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter k	k		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter s	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter s	s		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter l	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter l	l
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter b	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter b	b		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter d	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter d	d		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter g	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter g	g		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter z	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter z	z		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter r	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter r	r
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter m	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter m	m		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter n	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter n	n		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter ng	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter ng	ng		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter sh	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter sh	sh		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter lh	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter lh	lh
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter v	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter v	v		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter y	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter y	y		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter h	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter h	h		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter zh	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter zh	zh

Secondary Onsets

There are eight possible secondary onsets, consisting of two groups: four which precede the primary onset (starting at the bottom of a stroke in the vertical or on the left for horizontal), and four which follow it (at the top or right, respectively): (Stay tuned for graphics!)

Preceding				Following
Hrz	Vrt	Rom		Hrz	Vrt	Rom
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter s	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter s	s		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter h	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter h	h
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter d	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter d	d		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter r	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter r	r
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter t	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter t	t		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter l	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter l	l
Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter sh	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter sh	sh		Kuggi Yakke Horizontal Letter v	Kuggi Yakke Vertical Letter v	v

Nuclei (Vowels)

There are ten vowels or nuclei:

Tense				Lax
Hrz	Vrt	Rom		Hrz	Vrt	Rom
		i				ì
		e				è
		a				à
		o				ò
		u				ù

There are no diphthongs in the writing system. Diphthongs are a recent development which evolved from adjacent syllables with no intervening consonants. In writing, they are still written as if they were two separate syllables. For example, meu ‘I’ is written as two blocks: me-u. However, this has led to modern non-block writing developing ligatures for the diphthongs which are beginning to take on their own shapes. Until such time as a spelling reform is implemented, however, the syllable blocks continue to be the standard.

Codae

Codae are ostensibly identical to the onsets, only written on to the right of the vowel (or below it in vertical script), but several of the onsets (such as p, b, d, ng, and z) are not used in coda position. The secondary onsets are also very rarely used, occurring only in dzh, tsh, tlh, and bh. Also note that syllables do not always fall into blocks as they do phonologically in polysyllabic words: There is a tendancy towards maximizing onsets which may not always be reflected in the writing.

Morphology

Substantives

Gender

All nouns are classified as either masculine or non-masculine. This is, of course, a grammatical construct rather than an anatomical one, and aside from including some specifically masculine words – such as òla ‘father’, phetùk ‘brother’, rosha ‘man’, &c – the masculine class is mainly notable for the feature that masculine nouns usually end in a vowel, while non-masculine nouns do not.

Number

Grammatical number is not automatically indicated on nouns, though a singular~plural distinction exists in personal pronouns. Grammatical number for nouns may be marked if necessary by way of reduplication (in the case of masculine nouns) or a pluralizing particle (in the case of non-masculine nouns), but is usually ignored when not explicitly required. The plural is never indicated in the presence of numerals.

A small set of nouns which generally come in pairs may have irregular dual forms. (See Dual Nouns below.)

Pluralising Masculine Nouns

Masculine nouns are pluralised through a process of reduplication.

In simplest terms, take the first letter of the noun, follow it by ⟨a⟩ (if the first vowel of the noun is a, o, or u) or ⟨e⟩ (if the first vowel is a, i, or e) and then add the singular noun. E.g.:

• rosha ‘man’ → rarosha ‘men’
• shi ‘animal’ → sheshi ‘animals’
• kama ‘table’ → kekama ‘tables’

There are, of course, some exceptions and nuances, as well as flat-out irregularities:

• If the first or second syllable of the noun is lax (i.e. contains à, è, ì, ò, or ù), it becomes tense (i.e. drop the accent mark). E.g.:
  • tì ‘wood’ → teti ‘woods’ (‘types of wood’)
  • dà ‘stone’ → deda ‘stones’
  • lòga ‘husband’ → laloga ‘husbands’
• If a masculine noun begins with ⟨ng⟩, the ⟨g⟩ is dropped in reduplication, E.g.
  • nga ‘time’ → nenga ‘times’
• If a masculine noun begins with an aspirate – that is, a cluster with ⟨h⟩ from an earlier aspirate in Old Imperial (i.e. bh, dh, kh, lh, ph, or th – but not sh or zh, which are just transcriptional), the ⟨h⟩ is dropped, E.g.:
  • lhadzhè → lalhadzhè ‘mountains’
  • phetùk ‘brother’ → paphetuka ‘brothers’
  • thule ‘tree’ → tathule ‘trees’
• If a masculine noun begins with vowel, it is pluralized like a non-masculine noun (see below).

Pluralising Non-Masculine Nouns

Non-masculine nouns are pluralised simply by preceding the noun with the particle kve. E.g.:

• meth ‘place’ → kve meth ‘places’
• paletsh ‘woman’ → kve paletsh ‘women’
• trìl ‘reason’ → kve trìl ‘reasons’

Unlike masculine nouns, the kve particle does not affix to the noun and does not affect the quality of the vowels of the noun, except…

Pluralising Vowel-Initial Nouns

Both masculine and non-masculine nouns beginning with a vowel are pluralised by preposing the particle kv- as an affix, eliding the e. E.g.:

• elin ‘mother’ → kvelin ‘mothers’
• ebreth ‘wife’ → kvebreth ‘wives’
• atze ‘island’ → kvatze ‘islands’

Irregular & Suppletive Nouns

There are several of the most common nouns which have irregular plurals. Some of the most common are:

• òla ‘father’ → kvòla ‘fathers’ (not **kvola)
• pàn ‘child’ → pepàn ‘children’ (not **kve pàn)
• yìr ‘thing’ → kveyir ‘things’ (not **kve yìr)
• tè ‘person’ → kvètè ‘people’ (not **tete). Tè in particular has a number of irregular compounds. One commonality is that the lax vowel is almost never tensed as it would be in normal plurals. Some compounds are formed with kvè (rather than the expected **kve), while others use reduplication:
  • arratè ‘hunter’ → kvarratè
  • lurkatè ‘murderer’ → kvèlurkatè
  • shatviarratè ‘investigator’ → shatvikvarrattè
  • shatvietè ‘teacher’ → sheshatvietè, but
  • tetzavà ‘cyborg’ → kvètetzava ‘cyborgs’ (not **kvètètzava, using the irregular plural of tè or **tetetzava using the regular masculine plural)

Dual Nouns

Some non-masculine nouns, particularly those referring to body parts which come in pairs, use masculine-type reduplication when referring explicitly to the paired sense, and kve otherwise. E.g.:

• bhèt ‘breast’ → bebhèt ‘pair of breasts’ → kve bhèt ‘(many) breasts’
• blizh ‘eye’ → beblizh ‘pair of eyes’ → kve blizh ‘(many) eyes’
• bresh ‘foot’ → bebresh ‘pair of feet’ → kve bresh ‘(many) feet’
• dèt ‘horn’ → dadet ‘pair of horns’ → kve dèt ‘(many) horns’
• dendor ‘leg’ → dedendor ‘pair of legs’ → kve dendor ‘(many) legs’
• doman ‘hand’ → dedoman ‘pair of hands’ → kve doman ‘(many) hands’
• noth ‘ear’ → nanoth ‘pair of ears’ → kve noth ‘(many) ears’
• rinen ‘knee’ → rerinen ‘pair of knees’ → kve rinen ‘(many) knees’
• yinkesh ‘wing’ → yeyinkesh ‘pair of wings’ → kve yinkesh ‘(many) wings’

While these “dual” forms almost always refer to grouped pairs of objects, they sometimes refer to sets of more than two, e.g. lhat ‘tooth’ → kve lhat ‘teeth’ → lelhat ‘set of teeth’. In the case of teeth, this may have originated with the dual sense of the upper and lower sets of teeth, and other sets were later analogized on this model.

Another slight irregularity is the (usually poetic) dual usage of thrin ‘heart’ to refer to couples in love, but generally the use of tethrin is discouraged in formal writing.

Possession

Possession is indicated with the adposition go. In addition to standard possession of nouns, it is also used with pronouns to form the basis of the possessive pronouns rather than a separate genitive-like construction. (Old Imperial, however, did use genitive pronouns which were lost after The Expansion.)

Yìrku dà go meu (ei).
‘That is my stone.’
(“That-thing stone of me [is].”)

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Modern Standard Imperial are simple in scope, including first and second person singular and plural forms, and third person singular distinction between masculine and non-masculine grammatical gender. The third person plural does not have a gender distinction. The first person plural does not make a clusivity distinction (meaning there is no differentiation between “we including you” and “we but not you.”)

The personal pronouns are:

Singular		Plural
meu	‘I, me’	ta	‘we, us’
vè	‘you’	hei	‘you (all)’
shva	‘he, him’	dì	‘they’
dehu	‘she, her, it’

Prepositions

Imperial has a small set of adpositions, many of which serve multiple purposes. While Old Imperial, which had a much freer word order, used both prepositions and postpositions, the modern language uses prepositions exclusively. Because the language does not inflect for case, this placement is very important.

Some of the more common prepositions are:

	Translation	Equivalent Case	Example
dhi	under, on the bottom of	Subessive	Yìraggè dhi bresh go meu. Something is on the bottom of my foot.
tzu	under, beneath, below	Sublative	Thombir tzu dà. The worm is under the rock.
go	of, belonging to, related to	Genitive	tètsha òla go meu ei. This is my father.
ke	to, towards	Allative	vè ke shuthket ati? Are you going to town?
khan	without, lacking	Abessive	ta khan dì meti. We will go without them.
lhao	over, above	Superlative	Yaral lhao mahe hati thruga. A bird flew over the house.
li	behind	Postessive	Teggè li mitlu ei. Someone is behind the door.
lu	in, inside of	Inessive	Reshte lu yash. The fish is in the water.
ma	from, out of	Delative	Meu ma methku hati ngatsha thuri. I just came from there.
na	on, on top of, upon	Superessive	Thule na lhadzh’ei. The tree is on the mountain.
ne	on, on the side of	Pertingent	Shise ne blishmitlu. The snow is on the window.
ngè	through	Translative	Dehu ngè yathrèk hati vanda. She walked through the forest.
thie	with, in the company of	Commitative	Pàn thie shva g’òla. The child is with his father.
tho	in front of, before	Antessive	Bebage tho mah’ei. The dogs are in front of the house.
ti	at, in (a location)	Locative	Shva ti mahe go shva. He is at his house.
vae	for, to	Benefactive	Metsha satha vae vè. Here is a gift for you.

Adjectives

Adjectives, with the exception of numerals, almost exclusively follow the nouns the modify. Though that is slightly out of character for a language that is otherwise strong head-final, this is at least in part due to the language’s verb-final and optional null-copula status, as adjectives in many circumstances may be seen simply as verbs.

Nearly all adjectives can receive the suffix –ei ‘to be’ in order to convert them into a verb; however, this copulative ending is usually optional. If no copula is indicated, the adjective may precede the subject if they make up the entirety of the sentence. E.g.:

• ‘I am cold.’
  • Amedi meu.
  • Amedi meu ei.
  • Meu amedei.
• ‘The mountain is green.’
  • Lhadzhè merri.
  • Merri lhadzh’ei.
  • Lhadhzè merrei.

Numerals

The Imperial numerals are duodecimal – that is, base-12 – as are numbers in most Aterran languages with the exception of Hakdor. For duodecimal transcription, ⟨X⟩ is used to represent ‘ten’ and ⟨B⟩ for ‘eleven’. Decimal equivalents are given in parentheses after the duodecimal.

The “teen” numerals are slightly irregular, having gone through an additional stage of sound change. Higher numbers are compounded with ya ‘and’.

dlhukat	0		tvalh	10	(12)	umè tvalh	20	(24)	tvalh	10	(12)
ilè	1		tvalè	11	(13)	umè tvalh ya ilè	21	(25)	umè tvalh	20	(24)
umè	2		tvamè	12	(14)	umè tvalh ya umè	22	(26)	shar tvalh	30	(36)
shar	3		tvashar	13	(15)	umè tvalh ya shar	23	(27)	etlh tvalh	40	(48)
etlh	4		tvetlh	14	(16)	umè tvalh ya etlh	24	(28)	pikh tvalh	50	(60)
pikh	5		tvapikh	15	(17)	umè tvalh ya pikh	25	(29)	ukka tvalh	60	(72)
ukka	6		tvakka	16	(18)	umè tvalh ya ukka	26	(30)	kvet tvalh	70	(84)
kvet	7		tvakvet	17	(19)	umè tvalh ya kvet	27	(31)	thra tvalh	80	(96)
thra	8		tvathra	18	(20)	umè tvalh ya thra	28	(32)	kladha tvalh	90	(108)
kladha	9		tvadhla	19	(21)	umè tvalh ya kladha	29	(33)	vuku tvalh	X0	(120)
vuku	X	(10)	tvuku	1X	(22)	umè tvalh ya vuku	2X	(34)	yosh tvalh	B0	(132)
yosh	B	(11)	tvayosh	1B	(23)	umè tvalh ya yosh	2B	(35)	blaesh	100	(144)

Exponents

Higher numbers can be formed i the same way using exponents on a long scale:

tvalh	10	(12)
blaesh	100	(144)
latlha	1,000	(1,728)
tvalh latlha	10,000	(20,736)
blaesh latlha	100,000	(248,832)
thrakvi	1,000,000	(2,985,984)
tvalh thrakvi	10,000,000	(35,831,808)
blaesh thrakvi	100,000,000	(429,981,696)
latlha thrakvi	1,000,000,000	(5,159,780,352)
tvalh latlha thrakvi	10,000,000,000	(61,917,364,224)
blaesh latlha thrakvi	100,000,000,000	(743,008,370,688)
thrappa	1,000,000,000,000	(8,916,100,448,256)

Verbs

TAM Marking

Imperial verbs do not inflect, so indications of tense, aspect, mood, mode, evidentiality, voice, and other verbal features are indicated almost exclusively with particles.

Tense

The past tense is formed using the auxiliary verb hati. E.g.:

• ‘He sees that tree.’ Shva thule ku veta.

→ ‘He saw that tree.’ Shva thule ku hati veta.

The future is formed using the auxiliary ati, which follows the verb, or may be suffixed to the verb in some circumstances. E.g.:

• ‘He sees that tree.’ Shva thule ku veta.

→ ‘He will see that tree.’ Shva thule ku vet’ati.

Negation

Negation with dlhu

Negation is formed on most verbs by directly preceding the verb with the negative particle dlhu. E.g.:

• ‘She will teach you how to make it.’ Dehu vè shatviati dehu, thrakla dehu dehi.

→ ‘She will not teach you.’ Dehu vè dlhu shatviati dehu.

Negation with ruk

The copula ei and the null copula are negated by replacing the copula (if extant) with the negative verb ruk. Some other common verbs also use ruk for negation instead of dlhu. E.g.

• ‘That child is my brother.’ Pàn ku phetùk go meu (ei).

→ ‘That child is not my brother.’ Pàn ku phetùk go meu ruk.

• ‘Something is not right.’ Yìraggè yadì ruk.

Irregularity & Suppletion

Many common verbs show suppletion or irregularity in one or more forms (in bold):

Present	Negative	Past	Negative Past	Future	Negative Future
veta ‘to see’ (regular)	dlhu veta	hati veta	dlhu hati veta	vet’ati	dlhu vet’ati
ati ‘to go’	ruk ati	ganati	ruganati	meti	ruk meti
dehi ‘to do’	dlhu dehi	hati dehi	dlhu hati dehi	dedehi	dlhu dedehi
ei ‘to be’	ruk	gan(ei)	rugan(ei)	lezh	ruklezh
hati ‘to finish’	dlhu hati	hehati	dlhu hehati	hat’ati	dlhu hat’ati
satha ‘to give’	dlhu satha	hati satha	dlhu hati satha	sasathi	dlhu sasathi
thuri ‘to come’	ruk thuri	gan thuri	rugan thuri	thur’ati	ruk thur’ati

• He goes into that house. Shva lu mahe ku ati.

→ He does not go into that house. Shva lu mahe ku ruk ati.

→ He went into that house. Shva lu mahe ku ganati.

→ He did not go into that house. Shva lu mahe ku ruganati.

→ He will go into that house. Shva lu mahe ku meti.

→ He will not go into that house. Shva lu mahe ku ruk meti.

Syntax

Word Order & Alignments

The basic order of Standard Imperial is SOV; that is: Subject, Object, Verb. However, as with many languages, it doesn’t fit quite so tidily into a single category. Intransitive or “objectless” clauses may be VS, and “verbless” predicative adjectival phrases may be AS or SA depending on various factors.

Typology

SOV~VS; VSO or SVO marked.

Morphosyntactic Alignment

Historically, Ancient Imperial was a heavily marked nominative-accusative language, though this description is rather nominal, as no inflection exists in modern Standard Imperial that might differentiate marked nouns. Modern Imperial shows tendencies toward an ergative-absolutive structure in its non-standard handling of objectless subjects and duplication of certain subjects to coerce them into transitive roles (see Bi-Transitive Verbs), but not enough to be able to consider it an ergative-absolutive language.

Noun Phrases

The standard order ot most noun phrases is:

1. Adposition
2. Numeral
3. Noun
4. Demonstrative/Determiner
5. Adjective (Phrase)
6. Genitive (Phrase)
7. Relative (Clause)

E.g. ‘…with those three thin men from the village who stole my brother’s dog’ would be translated more literally as “with three men those thin (ones) from village who dog of brother of me stole.”

…thie shar rarosha ku meish ma shuthket,
with	three	men	those	thin (ones)	from (the) village
cmt	3	pl-man	dist	thin	del village
thie	shar	ra-rosha	ku	meish	ma shuthket

tèla bagè go phetùk go meu hati gathka.
who	(the) dog	of (the) brother	of me	did steal
rel	dog	of brother	of 1sg	pst steal
tèla	bagè	go phetùk	go meu	hati gathka

Adjective Phrases

Degree adverbs precede the adjective they modify.

1. Degree Adverbs
2. Adjective

‘That was a very good dog,’ would be literally, ‘That (one) dog very good was.’

Tèku bagè kashkì savati gan.
that (onw)	dog	very	good	was
one-that	dog	aug	good	pst.cop
tèku	bagè	kashkì	savati	gan

Alternatively, because of the copula-optional nature of the language as concerns adjectives, it is also correct to render this as: kashkì hati savati bagè ku. (“Very was good dog that.”)

Verb Phrases

The typical verb phrase is arranged:

1. Subject
2. Object
3. Spatial Adverb or Phrase
4. Temporal Adverb or Phrase
5. Standard Adverb
6. Negative Marker
7. Verb
8. (Subject)

Verb Phrases consisting solely of one-word subject and verb:

1. Subject
2. Verb

Copular Clauses

The copula in the Old Imperial language was ei, and was always required; however, in Modern Standard Imperial, the copula is optional in both equative phrases and phrases with adjectival predicates. E.g.:

• ‘That child is my brother.’
  • Pàn ku phetùk go meu ei, or simply
  • Pàn ku phetùk go meu.
• ‘Your stone is heavy.’
  • Dà go vè yagre ei, or
  • Dà go vè yagrei, or
  • Dà go vè yagre.

In cases with an adjectival predicate (or other intransitive verbs) where the subject consists of a single word (usually a pronoun), the subject and verb may invert.

• ‘I am cold.’
  • Amedi meu, or
  • Amedei meu.
• ‘It is heavy.’
  • Yagre dehu.

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are formed, in pretty standard fashion, by using the interrogatives as relative conjunctions. Relative clauses follow the noun they modify. E.g.:

Tèku bagè, tèla reshte go meu hati langa.
That (one)	(the) dog	is	who	fish	of me	did eat
One-that	dog	cop	one-rel	fish	of 1sg	pst eat
Tè-ku	bagè	∅	tè-la	reshte	go meu	hati langa

‘That is the dog who ate my fish.’

Seklesh kerei ngala yempath phamba.
(The) earth	is-wet	when	the rain	is-falling
Earth	wet-cop	time-rel	rain	fall
Seklesh	kera-ei	nga-la	yempath	phamba

‘The earth is wet when it rains.’

Bi-Transitive Verbs

Not to be confused with ditransitive verbs, which are merely verbs which take a direct and indirect object, bi-transitive verb construction is a unique feature in Modern Standard Imperial which is semantically more or less equivalent to a causative (though there are other types of causatives as well). These are verbs which are intransitive by default, but can be made transitive by adding an object. However, since the subject follows the verb in intransitive clauses, but precedes it in those containing a predicate, this set of verbs developed a context in which the subject becomes duplicated. E.g.:

• ‘I know.’

  Shatviè meu.

(Here there is no object, and so the subject follows the verb.)

• ‘I know how to swim.’

  (“I swimming know.”)

  Meu rabba shatviè.

(Here there is a direct object, which triggers the sentence to revert back to its natural SOV order.)

• ‘I teach.’

  (“I know I” → “I cause knowing.”)

  Meu shatviè meu .

• ‘I teach you.’

  (“I you know I” → “I cause you to know.”)

  Meu vè shatviè meu .

• ‘I teach you how to swim.’

  (“I you swim know I” → “I cause you to know how to swim.”)

  Meu vè rabba shatviè meu .

If the subject is a noun or noun phrase (rather than a pronoun), its equivalent pronoun will follow the verb. (A full noun can never follow a verb in Modern Standard Imperial.)

• ‘That man teaches swimming.’

  (“Man that knows swimming he.”)

  Rosha ku rabba shatviè shva .

Some other examples of bi-transitive causatives are:

	Intransitive	Transitive	Bi-Transitive
ati	to go	--	to send (so sth)
darrana	to sit	to set (sth)	to seat (so)
shatviè	to know	to know (sth)	to teach (so sth)
thuri	to come	--	to bring (so sth)
traya	to remain	--	to leave (sth) behind
veta	to see	to see (sth)	to understand

Vocabulary & Lexicon

• Drikva Yakke words

Swadesh List

(For those of you who like this sort of thing.)

	Imperial	English		Imperial	English		Imperial	English
001	meu	I	070	kvitta	feather	139	nasta	to count
002	vè	you	071	platti	hair (on head)	140	gvida	to say
003	shva, dehu	he, she, it	072	patuk	head	141	shula	to sing
004	ta	we	073	noth	ear	142	nopra	to play
005	hei	you	074	blizh	eye	143	threka	to float
006	dì	they	075	gaman	nose	144	blei	to flow
007	tsha	this	076	rigla	mouth	145	brona	to freeze
008	ku	that	077	lhat	tooth	146	varra	to swell
009	metsha	here	078	merka	tongue	147	shakuth	sun
010	methku	there	079	krè	fingernail	148	mirat	moon
011	tèla	who	080	bresh	foot	149	nente	star
012	yìdla	what	081	dendor	leg	150	yash	water
013	methla	where	082	rinen	knee	151	yempath	rain
014	ngala	when	083	doman	hand	152	midli	river
015	thrakla	how	084	yinkesh	wing	153	uthka	lake
016	dlhu	not	085	kèba	belly, abdomen	154	kespe	sea
017	tash	all	086	kigvezh	guts, entrails	155	bitlun	salt
018	gatzo	many	087	nadzha	neck	156	dà	stone
019	aggè	some	088	gesh	back	157	thè	sand
020	kith	few	089	bhaya	breast	158	sahal	dust
021	iel	other	090	thrin	heart	159	seklesh	earth, soil, dirt
022	ilè	one	091	nuyom	liver	160	druya	cloud
023	umè	two	092	godha	to drink	161	ngeshet	fog, mist
024	shar	three	093	langa	to eat	162	nash	sky
025	etlh	four	094	lenka	to bite	163	keishi	wind
026	pikh	five	095	sanga	to suck	164	shise	snow
027	paen	big, large	096	tlatta	to spit	165	shviè	ice
028	yetlh	long	097	bhenkò	to vomit	166	veppat	smoke
029	bìku	wide, broad	098	prahe	to blow	167	nuk	fire
030	yadla	thick	099	harra	to breathe	168	azokha	ash, ashes
031	yagre	heavy	100	netha	to laugh	169	paksha	burn
032	kie	small, little	101	veta	to see	170	athri	path, road, trail
033	tzi	short	102	kesta	to hear	171	lhadzhè	mountain
034	nesi	narrow	103	shatviè	to know	172	riggu	red
035	meish	thin	104	telka	to think	173	merri	green
036	paletsh	woman	105	falta	to smell	174	thibre	yellow
037	rosha	man	106	krakha	to fear	175	lhasi	white
038	tè	person	107	gendzha	to sleep	176	geka	black
039	pàn	child	108	budhra	to live	177	naril	night
040	ebreth	wife	109	skobha	to die	178	dashi	day
041	lòga	husband	110	lurka	to kill	179	lavani	year
042	elin	mother	111	voka	to fight	180	theda	hot (weather)
043	òla	father	112	arradae	to hunt	181	amedi	cold
044	shi	animal	113	sakha	to hit	182	pisash	full
045	reshte	fish	114	shaka	to cut	183	raebh	new
046	yaral	bird	115	khegriè	to split	184	kopra	old
047	bagè	dog	116	ditsha	to stab, to pierce	185	savati	good
048	svì	louse	117	dlhage	to scratch	186	kash	bad
049	dlaka	snake	118	tvanda	to dig	187	yetsh	rotten
050	thombir	worm	119	rabba	to swim	188	khìth	dirty
051	thule	tree	120	thruga	to fly	189	gata	straight
052	yathrèk	forest, woods	121	vanda	to walk	190	vòbh	round
053	yakèt	stick	122	thuri	come	191	thikhe	sharp
054	nithren	fruit	123	nubhi	to lie (down)	192	rog	dull
055	shukh	seed	124	darrana	to sit	193	sheris	smooth
056	din	leaf	125	eska	to stand	194	kera	wet
057	kazin	root	126	tviska	to turn	195	akram	dry
058	nuis	bark (of tree)	127	phamba	to fall	196	yadì	correct, right
059	thuman	flower	128	satha	to give	197	dzhesa	near
060	athe	grass	129	korda	to hold	198	tlaste	far
061	fortal	rope	130	kveda	to squeeze	199	dhiun	right (hand)
062	toma	skin	131	bìna	to rub	200	yatsù	left (hand)
063	rundzhat	flesh, meat	132	nodha	to wash	201	ti	at
064	tadlash	blood	133	ridva	to wipe	202	lu	in
065	ikva	bone	134	kuna	to pull	203	thie	with
066	grabh	grease, fat	135	sidlha	to push	204	ya	and
067	ngusha	egg	136	vaka	to throw	205	dzhe	if
068	dèt	horn	137	durga	to tie, bind	206	tritsha	because
069	kadu	tail	138	hovae	to sew	207	arel	name