Terzemian

Overview

Terzemian
Timeline and Universe:	Terzemya, Тэрзэмйа, تاِرزاِمي
Writing system:	Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic
Genealogy:	Unique PIE, strong adstrates from Kartvelian, Turkic, Persian, Uralic and Slavic
Typology
Morphological type:	Mixed
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Lexically Split-S
Basic word order:	VSO
Credits
Creator:	Paul.w.bennett

Terzemian is an IE-derived conlang located along the west coast of the Caspian Sea. It is a satem language (the word for hundred is xündo (хүндо, خَِنداَ) /xyndo/), with some retention of laryngeals. Other salient features are the use of the ruki rule, Grassman's law, Slavic depalatalization, z/r alternation, a three-group vowel harmony system, and two phases of lenition (the first word-final, and the second approximately intervocalic).

Writing System

Terzemian has been written in a variety of scripts. In the modern era, a modified Latin alphabet is used. During the Soviet era, Cyrillic was used, and can still be found. Before the Soviet era, a form of the UTA was used alongside Arabic. The latter can also be found in some particularly isolated areas.

Modern Alphabet	Cyrillic	UTA	Arabic	IPA
A a	А а	A a	ا	a
Å å	Ω ω	Å å	اً	ɒ
B b	Б б	B b	ب	b
C c	Ц ц	C c		ts
Č č	Ч ч	Ç ç		tʃ
D d	Д д	D d	د	d
E e	Э э	E e	اِ	e
F f	Ф ф	F f	ف	f
G g	Г г	G g	گ	ɡ
Ǧ ǧ	Ғ ғ	Ƣ ƣ	غ	ɣ
H h	Һ һ	H h	ه	h
I i	И и	I i	هِ (hi)	i
K k	К к	K k	ك	k
L l	Л л	L l	ل	l
M m	М м	M m	م	m
N n	Н н	N n	ن	n
Ň ň	Ң ң	Ŋŋ		ŋ
O o	О о	O o	اَ	o
Ö ö	Ө ө	Ɵ ɵ	اَِ	ø
P p	П п	P p	پ	p
R r	Р р	R r	ر	ɾ
S s	С с	S s	س	s
Š š	Ш ш	Ş ş	ش	ʃ
T t	Т т	T t	ت	t
U u	У у	U u	هَ (hu)	u
Ü ü	Ү ү	Y y	هَِ (hü)	y
V v	В в	V v		v
W w	Ў ў	W w	و	w
X x	Х х	X x	خ	x
Y y	Й й	J j	ي	j
Z z	З з	Z z	ز	z
Ž ž	Ж ж	Ƶ ƶ	ʒ

The table above follows the Latin alphabet order. The correct order of the other alphabets for Terzemian is

• Cyrillic: А Б В Г Ғ Д Ж З И Й К Л М Н Ң О Ө П Р С Т У Ў Ү Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Э Һ Ω
• Arabic: ا ب پ ت ج د ذ ر ز س ش غ ف ك گ ل م ن ه و ي اَ اِ اَِ اً

Sound Changes

• Possibly-useful Special Characters: ḱǵʷʰʕʔeoéóēōḗṓu̯i̯m̥n̥r̥l̥ƀđǥƕːʴʲˠǫõŏoͥoͧoͣъыьᵊ∅→

ḱ > k / s _

ǵ > g / s _

ǵʰ > gʰ / s _

ḱ > x

ǵ > ɣ

ǵʰ > ɣʰ

R̥ > ыR / # _ C , C _ C

R̥ > Rы / C _ #

Kʷы > Kъ

s > ʃ / r,u,k,i _ , _ r,u,k,i

Morphosyntax

Verbs

Agreement

Terzemain nouns mark two or less of three core cases, notionally representing the semantic roles INITIATOR, UNDERGOER, and TARGET. For ease of reference, these will be marked with the traditional A, P, and O labels used in discussing Ergative/Accusative marking.

Terzemian is Split-S, with Ergative or Accusative style marking determined lexically by the class of the verb.

The main classes are as follows:

Class	Required	Optional	Description	Ablaut Pattern(s)
I	A		Intransitive Active verbs	1
II	P		Intransitive Stative verbs	1

The ablaut patterns are as follows:

Pattern	Root Vowel	Present Realis	Past Realis	Irrealis
1	a	a	e	å
	e	e	i	ö
	i	i	iy	ü
	o	o	ö	o
	u	u	ü	uw
	ü	i	ü	ü
	ö	e	ö	ö
	å	å	o	åw

The agreement prefixes for each class and person are as follows:

Class	Argument	1st Person	2nd	3rd
I	A	-	z-, d-	y-, i/ü/e-
II	P	m-	yü/yu/yo-	-

Tense and Evidentiality

• There are two verb tenses, the past and non-past.

• In the past tense, there are three evidentiality/reality markings:
  • direct realis, indicating first-hand observational (i.e. "eye witness") knowledge. This is marked by the Past Realis ablaut plus a prefix of e-, a-, or ö- (depending on harmony).
  • indirect realis, indicating knowledge that is informed, inferred, supposed, or otherwise not personal. This is marked by the Past Realis ablaut, according to the class of the verb in question.
  • irrealis, making no overt statement about the reality of the VP, but inferring a lesser degree of certainty than either realis marking. This is marked by the Irrealis ablaut.

• In the non-past, only the Present Realis and the Irrealis are distinguished, marked by their respective ablauts.