Marib
| Marib مریب | |
|---|---|
| Pronounced: | /maˈʁib/ |
| Timeline and Universe: | Here & now |
| Species: | Human |
| Spoken: | Iran Turkey |
| Total speakers: | 7.5 million |
| Writing system: | Modified Perso-Arabic script |
| Genealogy: | Indo-European Mariban Marib |
| Typology | |
| Morphological type: | Fusional |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | Nominative-accusative |
| Basic word order: | Right-branching VSO |
| Credits | |
| Creator: | Colonel Cathcart |
| Created: | 2009 |
Marib (مریب) is an Indo-European language spoken in northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey. It is the last surviving member of the Mariban subfamily, once spoken across an expanse stretching from Kurdistan to the Caucasus; Marib thus constitutes an isolate within the Indo-European family.
The name "Marib" is an exonym which is derived from Persian زبن مغربی, zabân-e maghrebi, "western language."
Phonology
Phonemes & orthography
Marib is written in a modified Perso-Arabic script, which was introduced when the Seljuks took control of the Mariban states in the mid-11th century. Here, the first orthographic representation is the native orthography; the second is used for phonetic transliteration.
Consonants
Stops /p t k b d g/ <گ د ب ک ت پ>, <p t k b d g>
Affricatives /ts tʃ dz dʒ/ <ج ظ چ ط>, <ts č dz j>
Fricatives /f v s z ʃ ʒ h/ <ه ژ ش ز س و ف>, <f v s z š ž h>
Approximants /j w l ʁ/ <ر ل و ی>, <y w l r>
Nasals /m n/ <ن م>, <m n>
- /s/ has alternate realization <ص>; /h/ has alternate realization <ح>. Many words using these letters are Persian or Arabic loans; others are purely aesthetic.
- Marib uses the ligature <لا> for /la/; with a hamzeh above <لأ> this ligature represents /laj/.
- <ع> is often used to indicate a syllable break between vowels and particularly diphthongs, eg. /saj"i:/ <سأعی> <saii> (page-gen.pl).
- <ق غ خ> are found only in Persian and Arabic loans; they are pronounced /h g g/ and transliterated <kh gh q>.
Marib contrasts consonant length. Any consonant except /h j w ʁ/ may be geminated. Geminate consonants, which can occur medially or finally, are written with a tašdid <ّ > above.
Vowels
Marib has a simple five-vowel system, distinctive in that the mid-close vowels /e o/ have shifted to mid-open /ɛ ɔ/.
Vowels /a ɛ i ɔ u/
initial: <او او ای ا ا>, <a e i o u>
medial: <و و ی ا ا> or null, <a e i o u>
final: <و و ی ه ا>, <a e i o u>
Some eastern dialects lack /a/, featuring instead a Persian-influenced /æ ɒ/ opposition, written <آ ا> and transliterated <a â>. These dialects have generally retained the mid-close vowels /e o/.
Modern Marib does not contrast vowel length (at least not phonemically - see Prosody). Marib's Perso-Arabic orthography indicates medially only those vowels which were long in Medieval Marib (eg. MedM /ma"ɾi:b/ > ModM /ma"ʁib/ <مریب>) and in cases where vowel omission would result in a doubled consonant (eg. /tan"nɛn/ <تنّان> rather than *<تنّن>)
Diphthongs
Marib has four semivowel diphthongs:
/aj ɛj ɔj uj/ <ؤ ؤ ۀ أ>, <ay ey oy uy>
These diphthongs are written with a hamzeh <ء> above, a convention possibly derived from Persian's use of <ۀ> for /eje/.
Alphabet
Standard Marib alphabet
| الف - ا alef /a"lɛf/ |
به - ب be /bɛ:/ |
په - پ pe /pɛ:/ |
ته - ت te /tɛ:/ |
جیم - ج jim /dʒim/ |
| چه - چ če /tʃɛ:/ |
حه شأ جیم - ح he-šay-jim /ˌhɛ:ʃajˈdʒim/ |
دال - د dal /dal/ |
ره - ر re /ʁɛ:/ |
زه - ز ze /zɛ:/ |
| ژه - ژ že /ʒɛ:/ |
سین - س sin /sin/ |
شین - ش šin /ʃin/ |
صاد - ص sad /sad/ |
طا - ط tsa /tsa:/ |
| ظ - ظا dza /dza:/ |
أعین - ع aiin /aj"in/ |
کاف - ک kaf /kaf/ |
گاف - گ gaf /gaf/ |
لام - ل lam /lam/ |
| میم - م mim /mim/ |
نون - ن nun /nun/ |
واو - و vav /vav/ |
ها - ه he /hɛ:/ |
یه - ی ye /jɛ:/ |
Formerly considered part of the Marib alphabet
| خه - خ khe /kɛ:/ |
غأعین - غ ghaiin /gaj"in/ |
قوف - ق qof /kof/ |
Not considered part of the Marib alphabet (though often used as such in vernacular speech)
| الف س هامزو - أ alef-s-hamzu /alˌɛfshamˈzu:/ "alef with hamzeh" |
ها س هامزو - ۀ he-s-hamzu /ˌhɛ:shamˈzu:/ "he with hamzeh" |
واو س هامزو - ؤ vav-s-hamzu /ˌvavshamˈzu:/ "vav with hamzeh" |
Prosody
Phoneme length
Marib distinguishes phonemic consonant length: long (geminate) consonants are written with a tašdid above. Vowel length is a prosodic feature: if a stressed syllable is open (CV), then the vowel is pronounced long (CV:).
Timing
Marib prosody is stress-timed. Generally, stressed open syllables with a long vowel are articulated about 1.5 times longer than unstressed or closed syllables, though this varies greatly between dialects and speakers.
Stress
Stress in Marib, as in French, is dependent upon syntax and semantics. Primary stress is placed upon the last syllable of a clause or phrase determined by the speaker. Primary stress may be marked by a slight lengthening of the syllable (more distinctive if the syllable is open, as stated above) and/or a slight rising or falling tone. Secondary stress may be placed upon the last syllable of a verb, noun, or modifier, according to the speaker's semantic discretion. Pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions are never stressed except for emphasis.
Pronouns
Personal
| Nominative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| 1 | من | men | اش | aš |
| 2 | سن | sen | تی | ti |
| 3-m | ایش | iš | نه | ne |
| 3-f | نا | na | نه | ne |
Marib's nominative case is actually a nominative-accusative, so the above are used as both subject and object pronouns. When specificity is desired, the Persian borrowing را <-ra> can be used to mark a nominative pronoun as an object: من را <men-ra>, "me."
| Genitive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| 1 | ما | ma | اشا | aša |
| 2 | سا | sa | تأعا | taya |
| 3 | یو | yo | نی | ni |
The genitive pronouns are used for possession, as well as with certain prepositions. Strictly in cases of possession, suffix ه <-e> or ی <-ye> is used to mark the head: اولما ی ما <olma-ye ma> "my dog."
| Dative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| 1 | مو | mu | اشو | ašu |
| 2 | سو | su | تأو | tayu |
| 3 | أ | ay | أعی | aii |
The dative pronouns are used for the indirect object, as well as with certain prepositions.
Demonstrative
| تا | ta | this/these |
| ستا | sta | that/those |
| هونا٫ سینی | sini, hona | here, there |
Indefinite
| کمن | komon | everything, everyone |
| بز کمن | baz-komon | everyone |
| همن | hemon | something, anything |
| کولت | kulet | someone, anyone |
| لاکتات | laktet | nothing, no-one |
| بز لاکتات | baz-laktet | no-one |
| ایمنی٫ ایمن | imen, imni | little, few |
| زأتی٫ رأت | zayt, zayti | much, many |
Interrogative & relative
| مت | mata | what |
| میس | mis | which |
| منه | mine | who |
| منا | mina | whose |
| س منو | s-munu | to whom |
| ملّا | milla | where |
| لا ملّأ | la-millay | whence |
| ای ملّو | i-millu | whither |
| مدی | medi | when |
| منت | mint | why |
| موشّ | mušš | how |
| مأد | mayd | how much |
| مأدی | maydi | how many |
Interrogative pronouns are normally used in situ rather than at the beginning of the clause, and they do not take the copulaic clitic ش <š-> : تا مت <ta mata> "what is this," lit. "this what."
They are placed at the beginning of the clause, however, when they are used as relative pronouns: مدی شودی من ش ایژن٫ <medi šudi men š-ižen, ...> "when I was a boy, ..."
Nouns
Determiners
Marib lacks true articles, employing instead a system of determiners.
Ta (ت), contracted to t- before a vowel, is loosely translated as "the." It indicates "the one we are talking about" or "the one which has been mentioned."
- Idi t-ižen kaydaš - ایدی ت ایژن کأدش - The boy read a book.
Ažin (اژین) shares a similar but more specific meaning with ta, indicating "that same one."
- Tuži men az kaydaša, taš hessi men ažin kaydaš s-keru.
- توژل من از کأدشا٫ تش حسّل من اژین کأدش س کرو.
- I thought about a book, and I saw that same book in town.
Baš (بش) indicates "the present or current one," usually referring to a period of time, geographical location, or a certain mode.
- Baš ker - بش کر - this town, the town we live in
- Baš lešen - بش لشن - this language, the one we are speaking right now
- Baš ayla - بش ألا - today, this very day (colloquially امروز <emruz>)
- Baš šah - بش شاه - this king, the king who is currently reigning
Declension
There are two numbers, singular and plural. The singular is unmarked, though many or most nominative singular nouns end in -[ay]en (أن٫ ن) [masculine] or -[iy]a (یا٫ ا) [feminine]. The plural is usually marked with the plural morpheme ی <-i>. The noun appears in the singular after numerals.
There are two genders, masculine and feminine. Noun gender assignment follows a simple pattern, with masculine nouns ending in a consonant and feminine nouns ending in /a/. Some nouns, ending in /u/, can be masculine or feminine.
There are three cases. The "nominative" is a nominative-accusative, used for both the subject and direct object - where specificity is desired, the Persian-borrowed object marker را <-ra> may be used following the noun. The genitive is used to show possession, relation, or origin, and is used with certain prepositions; it is marked with ا or أ. The dative is used for the indirect object and with certain other prepositions; it is marked with و.
Masculine nouns in the first two declensions (nominative only in the first declension) elide the final vowel, as long as this does not create an illegal consonant cluster or compromise the integrity of the stem.
First declension
Declension 1a: Masculine nouns ending in ن -en
| ایژن - ižen - boy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | ایژن | ižen | ایژنی | ižni |
| gen | ایژا | iža | ایژی | iži |
| dat | ایژو | ižu | ایژیو | ižiu |
| مژدن - mežden - world | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | مژدن | mežden | مژدنی | meždeni |
| gen | مژدا | mežda | مژدی | meždi |
| dat | مژدو | meždu | مژدیو | meždiu |
Declension 1b: Masculine nouns ending in أن -ayen
| سأن - sayen - page | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | سأن | sayen | سأنی | sayni |
| gen | سأعا | saya | سأعی | saii |
| dat | سأو | sayu | سأو | sayu |
Second declension
Masculine nouns ending in any other consonant
| صأفت - sayfet - sand | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | صأفت | sayfet | صأفتی | sayfti |
| gen | صأفتا | sayfta | صأفتیا | sayftiya |
| dat | صأفتو | sayftu | صأفتأو | sayftayu |
| کر - ker - town | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | کر | ker | کری | keri |
| gen | کرا | kera | کریا | keriya |
| dat | کرو | keru | کرأو | kerayu |
Third declension
Declension 3a: Feminine nouns ending in ا -a
| ویلا - wila - oil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | ویلا | wila | ویلی | wili |
| gen | ویلأ | wilay | ویلیا | wiliya |
| dat | ویلو | wilu | ویلأو | wilayu |
Declension 3b: Feminine nouns ending in یا -iya
| سالیا - saliya - water | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | سالیا | saliya | سالیّ | salii |
| gen | سالأ | salay | سالیّ | salii |
| dat | سالو | salu | سالآو | salayu |
Fourth declension
Declension 4a: Masculine and feminine nouns ending in -u
| شونو - šunu (f) - light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | شونو | šunu | شونی | šuni |
| gen | شونا | šuna | شونیا | šuniya |
| dat | شونیو | šuniu | شونأو | šunayu |
Declension 4b: Masculine and feminine nouns ending in -iu
| مزیو - maziu (m) - food | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg | pl | |||
| nom | مزیو | maziu | مزیّ | mazii |
| gen | مزا | maza | مزیا | maziya |
| dat | مزو | mazu | مزأو | mazayu |
