Ashian

Ashian, also known as Ashian, is the native language of the people who live on the central continent of Aterra.

• Ashian words

Phonology

Consonants

Ashian is known for its robust palatal series.

	Labial	Dental	Coronal	Palatal	Dorsal
Stop	p • b p • b	t • d t • d		č • ǯ c • ɟ	k • g k • ɡ
Fricative	f • v ɸ • β	þ • ð θ • ð	s • z s • z	š • ž ɕ • ʑ	ĸ • ɢ x • ɣ
Nasal	m m	n n		ň ɲ	ɴ ŋ
Lateral		l l		ʌ̌ ʎ
Trill			r r	ř r̝	ʀ ʀ
Approximant	w ʋ			ǰ j	ʜ h

Vowels

Ashian vowels may be short or long, and there are a number of diphthongs. Short vowels are generally pronounced lax, while long vowels are tense.

	Short Vowels			Long Vowels
	Front	Back		Front	Back
High				í • ý iː • yː	• ú • uː
	i • y ɪ • ʏ	• u • ʊ
Mid				é • œ́ eː • øː	• ó • oː
	e • œ ɛ • œ	• o • ɔ
Mid	a • a ·				á • ɑː ·

Diphthongs

	Front	Back
High	ui ʊɪ̯	iu ɪʊ̯
Mid-High		eu ɛʊ̯
Low-High	ai aɪ̯	au aʊ̯

Orthography & Romanization

Rom1	Rom2	IPA	Comparison
a	a	a	Like ⟨a⟩ in Spanish allí.
á	á	ɑː	Like ⟨a⟩ in father.
ai	aj	aɪ̯	Like ⟨igh⟩ in sigh.
au	aw	aʊ̯	Like ⟨ou⟩ in loud.
b	b	b	Like ⟨b⟩ in boat.
č	kj	ʨ	Like ⟨ch⟩ in chair.
d	d	d	Like ⟨d⟩ in dog.
ð	dh	ð	Like ⟨th⟩ in these.
e	e	ɛ	Like ⟨e⟩ in empty.
é	é	eː	Like ⟨é⟩ in French allé.
eu	ew	ɛʊ̯	Like ⟨eu⟩ in Spanish neutro.
f	f	ɸ	Like ⟨f⟩ in foot.
g	g	ɡ	Like ⟨g⟩ in goat.
ɢ	gh	ɣ	Like ⟨g⟩ in Spanish amigo.
ʜ	h	h	Like ⟨h⟩ in house.
i	i	ɪ	Like ⟨i⟩ in inch.
í	í	iː	Like ⟨ee⟩ in see.
iu	iw	iʊ̯	Like ⟨ieuw⟩ in Dutch nieuw.
ǰ	j	j	Like ⟨y⟩ in yes.
k	k	k	Like ⟨c⟩ in cape.
ĸ	kh	x	Like ⟨j⟩ in Spanish rojo.
l	l	l	Like ⟨l⟩ in Spanish solo.
ʌ̌	lj	ʎ	Like ⟨gl⟩ in Italian glielo.
m	m	m	Like ⟨m⟩ in man.
n	n	n	Like ⟨n⟩ in no.
ň	nj	ɲ	Like ⟨ñ⟩ in Spanish año.
ɴ	ng	ŋ	Like ⟨ng⟩ in singing.
o	o	ɔ	Like ⟨a⟩ in all.
ó	ó	oː	Like ⟨o⟩ in hope.
œ	ø	œ	Like ⟨eu⟩ in French peu.
œ́	ǿ	øː	Like ⟨eu⟩ in French creuse.
p	p	p	Like ⟨p⟩ in pike.
r	r	r	Like ⟨rr⟩ in Spanish perro.
ř	rj	r̝	Like ⟨ř⟩ in Czech Dvořak.
ʀ	rh	ʀ	Like ⟨r⟩ in French rien.
s	s	s	Like ⟨s⟩ in soap.
š	sj	ɕ	Like ⟨sh⟩ in shoe.
t	t	t	Like ⟨t⟩ in top.
þ	th	θ	Like ⟨th⟩ in think.
u	u	ʊ	Like ⟨oo⟩ in good.
ú	ú	uː	Like ⟨oo⟩ in food.
ui	uj	uɪ̯	Like ⟨uy⟩ in Spanish muy.
v	v	β	Like ⟨b⟩ in Spanish bosca.
w	w	ʋ	Like ⟨w⟩ in Dutch waarom.
y	y	ʏ	Like ⟨ü⟩ in German Hütte.
ý	ý	yː	Like ⟨u⟩ in French lu.
z	z	z	Like ⟨z⟩ in zig-zag.
ž	zj	ʑ	Like ⟨s⟩ in vision.
ǯ	gj	ʥ	Like ⟨j⟩ in joke.

Morphology

Substantives

Gender

Nouns are classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter. Verbs in the third person inflect for animate (masculine and feminine) and inanimate (neuter).

Number

Nouns and pronouns may be singular or plural. Number is marked on nouns and pronouns.

Cases

There are five grammatical cases, and these are reflected in all nouns and pronouns. The cases are: Nominative (subject), Genitive (possessive, ‘of’, ‘from’), Dative (Indirect Object, ‘for’, ‘to’), Instrumental (‘by means of’, ‘using’), and Accusative (direct object). Not every sentence needs to contain all of the cases; indeed, most sentences contain only the nominative and accusative. When prepositions are used, however, a case is required. Most prepositions take the dative or instrumental; some take the genitive or accusative; a select few take the nominative. See Adpositions for guidance on which prepositions are governed by various cases. Below I will describe some of the cases in more detail with the use of glosses.

Nominative

The nominative case is simply the subject of a sentence. It is the “default” form of the word, and the noun in the sentence which is doing the action in the verb. In the sentence “I read the book,” the word I is in the nominative.

Ok nóška ʌ̌avak.
ok	nóš-ka	ʌ̌av-ak
I	read	the book
1sg.nom	read-pst	book.acc-def
‘I read the book.’

The nominative case is also used in copular sentences. In the sentence “I am an author,” both I and author are in the nominative case.

Ok ó knúramaš.
ok	ó	knúram-aš
I	am	an author
1sg.nom	cop	author-nom
‘I am an author.’

Though nouns and articles no longer have case in English, the pronouns do: The pronouns I, he, she, it, we, you, they and who are all nominative (though it and you are the same in other cases as well). The archaic prepositions thou and ye are also nominative. (Modern “you” is from the accusative form of ye.)

Accusative

In the ancient neo-grammarian tradition of describing cases in grammars, the accusative normally comes fourth or fifth in the list of cases, but I mention it here in second place because this is the most direct contrast to the nominative, and sometimes the most difficult to grasp for the student who is new to grammatical cases.

The accusative case is used for the noun or pronoun which fills the role of direct object in a sentence. In our previous sentence, “I read the book,” the book is the direct element and would be in the accusative case.

Ok nóška ʌ̌avak.
ok	nóš-ka	ʌ̌av-ak
I	read	the book
1sg.nom	read-pst	book.acc-def
‘I read the book.’

As aforementioned, English does retain the accusative case in its pronouns: me, him, her, it, us, you, them, and whom are the accusative pronouns in English, though whom is falling out of use now.

Dative

The dative case, again out of the traditional order, is not as frequently used as the accusative, but it is still quite common. The dative describes the indirect object of the sentence, usually in relation to the accusative (direct object), or used with a preposition to establish location or direction. The dative pronouns in English have long since melded with the accusative, but it is often replaced with phrases using the preposition “to” or “for.” In the sentence “I gave the book to him,” “to him” is the dative element – it is the indirect object of “give,” while “the book” is the direct object” – that which is being given.

Ok rag ʌ̌avak feron.
ok	rag	ʌ̌av-ak	fer-on
I	gave	the book	to him
1sg.nom	give.pst	book.acc-def	3sg-dat
‘I gave the book to him.’

You might be tempted to ask, “What if I were to say, ‘I gave him the book’?” This changes some syntax rules, but it does not actually change the cases of the objects: the book is still what is being given (accusative), and “him” is still what the direct object is being given to (dative).

Ok rag ʌ̌avak feron.
ok	rag	fer-on	ʌ̌av-ak
I	gave	(to) him	the book
1sg.nom	give.pst	3sg-dat	book.acc-def
‘I gave (to) him the book.’

Dative/Accusative Alternation

Certain prepositions, such as suk ‘with’ and íš ‘out of’ are always followed by the dative case, though other prepositions may take different cases depending on other factors such as motion or change of state. Particularly “locative” prepositions, which describe where something is, tend to take the dative case when something is stationary and the accusative when it is moving. This is a feature that is believed to be inherited from the Orka language, which in turn inherited it from Germanic. For example, in the sentence “The book is on the table,” on is your dative preposition and the table is in the dative case, because the book (the subject) is not in motion. diš koðrai

Ʌ̌avak diš er koðrail.
ʌ̌av-ak	di-š	er koðra-i-l
the book	sits	on the table
book.nom-def	sit-3sg.pres.ind	on table-dat-def
‘The book is on the table.’

However, in the sentence “Put the book on the table,” the book is no longer stationary; it is the direct object of the imperative verb put, and on the table slips into the accusative case as well to reflect that there is motion involved.

Vrá ʌ̌avak er koðral.
vrá-∅	ʌ̌av-ak	er koðra-l
Put	the book	on(to) the table
put-imp	book.acc-def	on table-acc-def
‘Put the book on the table.’

There are some subtleties, but generally the rule is: If the subject is moving, accusative; otherwise, dative.

As the dative began to vanish from English, we compensated for this by changing some of the actual prepositions themselves, though others just collapsed together. For example, the prepositions in and on got fused with the “accusative to” and became into and onto to replace the dative/accusative distinction when it was lost.

Genitive

The genitive case is fairly simple but is sometimes hard for English speakers to grasp because we actually have two genitive cases, and only one of them is really still a case. The true genitive case in English is the possessive “‑’s” ending which indicates possession, though the secondary genitive is the preposition of. In any case, it is a single case in Ashian: the genitive. It also encompasses the possessive pronouns, such as my or their. Sticking with our examples, in the sentence “Her book is dedicated to the memory of John’s brother,” there are actually three genitive clauses floating around, all different in English:

Ʌ̌af ek fleki furu šukoǯ lorira gau Ǯanu.
Ʌ̌af ek flek-i fur-u	šuk-oǯ	lor-i-ra	ga-u Ǯan-u
The book at her hand	is summoned	to the memory	of the brother of John
book.nom-def at hand-dat 3sg.fem-gen	call-3sg.psv	memory-dat-def	brother-gen John-gen
‘Her book is dedicated to the memory of John’s brother.’

Here the possessive adjective her is the genitive of she, John’s is a true genitive retaining it’s ‑’s, and finally of (the) brother, though this is broken up by the second genitive. Sometimes it can be helpful in phrases like these to reword sentences using “of” to target the genitives, e.g. “The book [gen: of yours] is dedicated [dat: to the memory] [gen: of the brother] [gen: of John].”

Instrumental

The instrumental is a simple case that is more rarely used than the others, but it simply means by means of, with the use of, or via.

Ok vrátaš ʌ̌avak er koðral rú flekin.
ok	vrát-aš	ʌ̌av-ak	er koðra-l	rú flek-in
I	put	the book	on the table	with my hand
1.sg.nom	put-pst	book-acc.def	on table-acc.def	1.sg.gen hand-ins
‘I put the book on the table with my hand.’

Possession

Possession is indicated in one of two ways.

For inalienable possession such as body parts or family members, the genitive is used (e.g. rú flek ‘my hand’, windu má ‘our mother’). The genitive expression in this case precedes the possessed noun.

Alienable possession instead follows the noun, and is constructed from the phrase ek fleki “at hand,” e.g. ʌ̌af ek fleki rú ‘my book’ would literally translate to ‘the book at my hand’. Here the genitive (rú) follows the dative expression.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Ashian inflect for number (singular and plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter). The first and second person pronouns do not inflect for gender. Pronouns do not inflect for clusivity.

Declension of Pronouns

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Ins.	Acc.
1sg	ok	rú	rún	rúš	rux
2sg	sí	sú	sún	súš	sux
3sg.m	fer	feru	feron	ferum	ferel
3sg.f	furi	furu	furron	furrum	fura
3sg.n	kif	kiru	kin	kim	kif
1pl	—	kú	kún	kúš	kux
2pl	þwóm	windu	windon	windum	wind
3pl.m	šóm	šondu	šondon	šondum	šond
3pl.f	sé	seru	seron	senum	ser
3pl.n	sem			serum
3rflx	som	saru	saron	sarum	sor

Nouns

masc:	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Ins.	Acc.
Sg	síraš	síru	síri	síran	síra
Pl	sírař	sírar	síran	sírin	síras

fem:	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Ins.	Acc.
Sg	má	mau	mai	mán	má
Pl	máðra	máðra	máðran	máðrin	máðra

neu:	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Ins.	Acc.
Sg	flek, ʌ̌af	fleku, ʌ̌avu	fleki, ʌ̌avi	flekin, ʌ̌avin	flek, ʌ̌af
Pl	fleka, ʌ̌ava	flekra, ʌ̌avra	flekna, ʌ̌avna	fleknin, ʌ̌avnin	fleka, ʌ̌ava

Adpositions

Prp.	Meaning	Governed Case(s)
as	under	dative/accusative
ek	at, by, next to	dative/accusative
er	on, upon, onto	dative/accusative
íš	from, out of	dative
ol	in, into, inside of	dative/accusative
suk	with	dative

Adjectives

All generally precede the nouns the modify. Like nouns, all adjectives fall into groups determined by their final vowel (or lack thereof). The aš-stem adjectives are declined very similarly to aš-stem nouns.

E.g. šili stofreš ‘the small cloud’

Numerals

Numbers are duodecimal; that is, base-12, like most other number systems on Aterra. For duodecimal transcription, ⟨X⟩ is used to represent ‘ten’ and ⟨B⟩ for ‘eleven’. Decimal equivalents are given in parentheses after the duodecimal.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	X	B	10
nín	ča	dlé	þer	þuž	šox	šum	tax	rem	gent (10)	lesk (11)	ǯuk (12)

Verbs

Ashian is what is described as a “V2” language. That is, it is normally SVO (subject – verb – object), but when a clause begins with another element, such as an adverb or adverbial phrase, the verb changes place with the subject. In other words, the standard English word order is used in the sentence Ok ekla þibreň “I see the-bird,” but add the word ‘now’ – Far ekla ok þibreň “Now see I the-bird” and the order of subject and verb changes. (This does not happen after conjunctions.)

Inflection / Conjugation

Aside from a few irregular verbs, all verbs may be either “strong” or “weak,” to use the terminology of their ancient Germanic ancestors. Weak verbs form the past tense by adding the suffix -aš to the verb stem, with some minor alteration depending on the inflectional endings. Strong verbs form the past by changing the root vowel of the stem.

	Weak		Strong
	Present	Past	Present	Past
ok	nar-a	nar-aš	rog-a	rag-∅
sí	nar-as	nar-š-as	rog-as	rag-gas
fer/furi	nar-ař	nar-aš-∅	rog-ař	rag-∅
kif	nar-ak	nar-aš-k	rog-ak	rak-∅
þwóm	nar-am	nar-š-am	rog-am	rag-gam
šóm	nar-aš	nar-šaš	rog-aš	rag-gaš
sé/sem	nar-ast	nar-aš-t	rog-ast	rag-gast
som	nar-ask	nar-aš-k	rog-ask	rag-gask
	narat ‘to fall’		rogat ‘to give’

Negation

Negation is formed by affixing the negative suffix –aɴk to the conjugated verb, though this may change the conjugation slightly depending on the ending, particularly in the animate third person singular, where the negative assimilates to the palatalized ending.

	Weak		Strong
	Present	Past	Present	Past
ok	nar-aɴk	nar-ašaɴk	rog-aɴk	rag-gaɴk
sí	nar-asaɴk	nar-š-asaɴk	rog-asaɴk	rag-gasaɴk
fer/furi	nar-aňč	nar-aš-aɴk	rog-aňč	rag-gaɴk
kif	nar-akant	nar-aš-kant	rog-akant	rag-gaɴk
þwóm	nar-amaɴk	nar-š-amaɴk	rog-amaɴk	rag-gamaɴk
šóm	nar-ašaɴk	nar-šašaɴk	rog-ašaɴk	rag-gašaɴk
sé/sem	nar-astaɴk	nar-aš-taɴk	rog-astaɴk	rag-gastaɴk
som	nar-ast-aɴk	nar-ašt-aɴk	rog-ast-aɴk	rag-gastaɴk
	narat ‘to fall’		rogat ‘to give’