Zanahi
Zanahi (native: zanāhī, haṭ-ṭaṣwā haz-zanāhiyyā) is an Indo-European language with a high degree of Semitic influence.
| Zanahi | |
|---|---|
| zanāhī | |
| Pronunciation | [zænæːhiː] |
| Created by | Shariifka |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | Proto-Zanahi
|
Introduction
Zanahi is a satem language.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Denti-alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | emphatic | |||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t̪ | tˤ | k | q | ʔ | |||
| voiced | b | d̪ | dˤ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | θ | s | sˤ | ʃ | x ~ χ | ħ | h | |
| voiced | v | ð | z | ðˤ | ɣ ~ ʁ | ʕ | ||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||||||
Vowels
| Short | Long | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front | Back | |
| Close | /i/ | /u/ | /iː/ | /uː/ |
| Mid | /eː/ | /oː/ | ||
| Open | /a/ | /aː/ | ||
| Diphthongs | /aw/, /aj/ | |||
Orthography
| Letter | Transliteration | IPA | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| ' | /ʔ/ | 'ālaf | |
| b | /b/ | bēþ | |
| v | /v/ | vēþ | |
| g | /ɡ/ | gāmal | |
| ġ | /ɣ ~ ʁ/ | ġāmal | |
| d | /d̪/ | dālaþ | |
| ð | /ð/ | ðālaþ | |
| h | /h/ | hē | |
| w | /w/ | wāw | |
| z | /z/ | zayn | |
| ħ | /ħ/ | ħēþ | |
| ṭ | /t̪ˁ/ | ṭēþ | |
| y | /j/ | yōð | |
| k | /k/ | kāf | |
| x | /x ~ χ/ | xāf | |
| l | /l/ | lāmað | |
| m | /m/ | mīm | |
| n | /n/ | nūn | |
| s | /s/ | samkaþ | |
| ʻ | /ʕ/ | ʻē | |
| p | /p/ | pē | |
| f | /f/ | fē | |
| ṣ | /sˁ/ | ṣāðē | |
| q | /q/ | qōf | |
| r | /r/ | rēš | |
| š | /ʃ/ | šīn | |
| t | /t̪/ | tāw | |
| þ | /θ/ | þāw |
Prosody
Stress
Intonation
Phonotactics
Morphophonology
Lenition
Non-emphatic plosives undergo lenition to fricatives (analogous to "begadkefat" in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew) in certain environments.
| Un-lenited | Lenited |
|---|---|
| /b/ | /v/ |
| /ɡ/ | /ɣ ~ ʁ/ |
| /d/ | /ð/ |
| /k/ | /x ~ χ/ |
| /p/ | /f/ |
| /t/ | /θ/ |
Morphology
Like Arabic, Zanahi words are traditionally classified in three categories: nominals, verbs, and particles.
Nominals
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
| Person/ Number |
Independent | Dependent |
|---|---|---|
| 1S | ammā | -mā |
| 2SM | antā | -tā/-þā |
| 2SF | antī | -tī/þī |
| 3SM | hattā | -hā |
| 3SF | hattī | -hī |
| 1P | annā | -nā |
| 2PM | antān | -tān/þān |
| 2PF | antīn | -tīn/þīn |
| 3PM | hattān | -hān |
| 3PF | hattīn | -hīn |
Demonstrative pronouns
| Distance | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masc. | fem. | masc. | fem. | |
| Near | sā | sī | sān | sīn |
| Far | tā | tī | tān | tīn |
Nouns and adjectives
Nouns do not decline for case.
There are two genders: masculine and feminine.The feminine is most often marked with the ending -ā.
There are two numbers: singular and plural.
Adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender and definiteness.
The definite article is ha-, which is prefixed to the noun/adjective causes the first consonant to geminate if it is not pharngeal or glottal. There is no indefinite article.
Below is an example declension for the adjective bān "clear":
| Gender | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | indef. | def. | |
| Masculine | bān | hab-bān | bānīn | hab-bānīn |
| Feminine | bānā | hab-bānā | bānān | hab-bānān |