Anathic

Anathic Á h-Ænæþ
Pronounced:	/oɑ ˈhanaθ/
Spoken:	Hoyer (Á h-Ór)
Total speakers:	300,000
Writing system:	Latin (Modified) - Anathic Alphabet
Genealogy:	Old Anathic > Anathic
Typology
Morphological type:	Fusional
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Nominative-Accusative
Basic word order:	VSO
Credits
Creator:	Rhian Davies
Created:	November 2011

Anathic (Á h-Ænæþ, pronounced [oɑ ˈhanaθ] in Anathic) is an artlang created by Rhian Davies in November 2011. Its grammar is a priori but it has an a posteriori vocabulary with influences from Old English and the Celtic and Nordic languages. Anathic is spoken in Hoyer (Á h-Ór in Anathic), a fictional island continent in the Denit world. It is the native language of approximately 300,000 people.

History

Etymology

The standard name Á h-Ænæþ is compromised of the Anathic <Á> (honorific or vocative prefix) and <ænæþ>, the definite form of <æþæn>, meaning language. One might translate the name as O Great Language or The Great Language.

Old Anathic

Old Anathic (Anathic: Á Séyn Ænæþ) is the name given to the variety of Anathic spoken until the 8th century. Little information of its grammar, phonology and vocabulary remain.

Name

Nothing is known of Old Anathic speakers' autonym for the language; the only information remaining is that -ol and -or were language-name suffixes. Some reconstructed names for Old Anathic have been Á h-Ómurol (from OA ōmur, alphabet), Á h-Werol (from OA ωerə, man) and Á Þeyfryŋol (from OA ā þeifryŋ, Theyfryng, a deer deity who, according to myth, gave the language to mankind as a means to communicate with nature; literally means language of tree roots, or language of the source of the trees).

Features

Old Anathic had a slightly different phonology, including the phonemes [i, jɪ, ʝ, ʍ] which are no longer present in the standard language. It also had six noun classes as opposed to the modern four, and four forms of adjective vowel mutation.

Vocabulary

Old Anathic	Anathic	English
āræn	árur	hour
rūiæn	rénur	rain
crecur	crecə	rock
scȳþ	núyæn	sky
ƿyçer	gáþur	wind
jāfur	reahə	hair, fur

Official Status

Standard Anathic (Á Çýryliel Ænæþ, lit. City Anathic) is the official language of Hoyer and is based on the language spoken in the capital city, Cýrír.

Phonology & Orthography

Anathic is written using the following alphabet:

Aa Ææ Bb Cc Çç Dd Ðð Ee Vv Ff Gg Ȝȝ Ŋŋ Hh Ii Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Þþ Uu Wω Yy Ɛə

The most common diacritic is the acute accent, which is for long vowels and diphthongs; the grave accent shows irregular stress.

Consonants

Phonology

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b			t d		k g
Fricative		f v	θ ð	s	(ʃ)	x ɣ	h
Nasal	m (mʰ)			n (nʰ)		ŋ (ŋʰ)
Trill				r (rʰ)
Approximant				ɫ	j	w

(Allophones in parentheses)

Orthography

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b			t d		c g
Fricative		f v	þ ð	s	(sc)	ç ȝ	h
Nasal	m			n		ŋ
Trill				r
Approximant				l	i	ω

Vowels

Monophthongs

Phonology

	Front	Central	Back
Close			u:
Near-close	ɪ		ʊ
Mid	ɛ	ə, ø:	ɔ
Open	a		ɑ

Orthography

	Front	Central	Back
Close			ú
Near-close	y		u
Mid	e	ə, ə́	o
Open	æ		a

Diphthongs

Phonology

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ui	iə
Mid	ɛi, oe	əʉ	oɑ~oə, eo
Open	ai

Orthography

	Front	Central	Back
Close	úy	í
Mid	é, oe	ó	á, eo
Open	ý

Stress

Stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable; irregular stress is shown with a grave accent:

• sylvə ['sɪɫ.və] (a forest)
• əsylv [ə'sɪɫv] (the forest)
• èrsylvə ['ɛrsɪɫvə] (the edge of a forest)

Grammar

Word order is mainly VSO, but OVS can also be used.

Morphology

Noun Class

There are three noun classes in Anathic: Núyæn (sky; aether), Gúyrur (flow) and Celəsə (solidity).

• Núyæn nouns are celestial or abstract concepts. These are marked with the suffix -æn (plural -ýn) or -na:
  • niolæn (night sky); æþæn (language); æmbrna (yellowness)
• Gúyrur nouns are related to fluids, movement, time or change and are marked with the suffix -ur (plural -úyr):
  • treorur (blood); cómur (step); glómur (twilight; dusk); émsur (season).
• Celəsə nouns are any animate or inanimate object that may be experienced directly with the senses. These are marked with the suffix -ə (plural -æ):
  • gerþə (arm); borə (table); úylə (owl).

Adjectives

Anathic has a rather complex adjective system which includes vowel mutation according to speaker attitude. All adjectives have a neutral base vowel which mutates, depending on whether the speaker is using the description positively or negatively. The Colour class may refer to any shade or colour (glæm - dark; rúybæ - pink); Emotive refers to any subjective adjective or emotional state (þeglyn - beautiful, handsome, pretty; mestys - condemned, damned, cursed); State adjectives are those referring to texture, taste, size, form etc (húr - long; múð - soft; læscú - juicy).

Class	Neutral	Positive	Negative
Colour	æ	ý	á
Emotive	y	í	u
State	ú	í	ə́

Example:

• Dryc - 'bad' (Neutral, used in an unbiased news report); Dríc (Positive, meaning 'so bad it's good'); Druc (Negative - extremely bad, wrong, evil.)

Comparative and Superlative

Comparative and superlative adjectives are formed with the suffixes -re and -att respectively. Example:

• h-Urnosc fiyn: the cold night
• h-Urnosc fiynre: the colder night
• h-Urnosc fiynatt: the coldest night

Sample Text

Here is a sample of The Dog and the Wolf Fable in Anathic:

h-En əræω sum n’ornluos ný h-èrroþur òbregyð ocrasur n’éðos. Roþ frysna, sálað yð blýþə na teahos scybla éfyl. “h-Ú, á h-ỳþoçə,” laωerað əωlýþ.

“Fyωes bygý eç mehys hæn; þúybr-na-ωegnos nícleasus ðyn bygý h-èrroþur ðyn. Cav ny ráteþ gleasís mehys rátý mer, oç þycca éðə ðyn aft?”

“Ny çava mer córæωə,” laωerað əlornlu, “éþr ny lárý çafota steðə”

“Bygla gleasa steðə ruc þu, mé h-ás,” laωerað əωlýþ; “ga ωása mé mer yní h-eŋhavyð myn oç bygyrt þu suntra rátur myn.” Sy fraþ əlornlu oç əωlýþ yní h-əωrug ynðralə. Þrúy h-əþrúybr yní, sálað əlornlu əreah ærþ suntrə æstys na ωynál na ωlýþos gorə́ccys, sy ȝə́mnað h-yð hyt fyþ ωerþað.

“h-Ú, er yð esro,” laωerað əωlýþ, “Na er esréþr əsteð mynálcronə ωyn er cyra þrúy noscur mún aðoa vé sénys; cræþa yð lúəþ, éþr ny ωygəþ fỳscyla þrúy frysur.”

“Mé h-ydrə́na?” laωerað əlornlu. “h-Òbregyð na, bygla laωerað áȝrícþu, á ωlýþə.”