Netagin

'Netagin brítz nˀAthághín בְּרִיץ אֲ֬תָגִין ββρείτζ νἈθωγείν
Spoken in:	Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey
Conworld:
Total speakers:	393,000
Genealogical classification:	Isolate (Branch) (Subbranch) Netagin
Basic word order:	SOV
Morphological type:	Templatic, Fusional
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Accusative, Dechticaetiative, Hierarchical
Writing system:
Created by:
IlL	2013~

Netagin is intended to be my "real" jump-on-the-pseudo-Celtic-bandwagon - a morphophonological rather than syntactic imitation of Celtic, specifically within a Semitoid framework. It is an a priori language intended to have a Northwest Semitic and Irish aesthetic, (Indeed Tiberian Hebrew and Aramaic are the most stereotypically "Celtic" of all Semitic languages, with their use of lenition. So much that I was once tempted to make an Irish-looking Semlang. For the curious, it resulted in something like A chathabh an séibhear an seabhar ba bhíth an dtóir? 'Did the scribe write the book in the house of purity?' This project can be considered a compromise between the two aesthetics.) and also as a semi-joke (though I'm not sure if it is best understood as laughing with or at Israelis/Modern Hebrew for their mutational challengedness. The aim definitely is, however, to create a language that would inspire *DIVINE FEAR* and *DREAD* in the minds of the average Israeli). It employs templatic morphology, animacy hierarchy-based person marking and mutation-triggering proclitics encoding multiple grammatical functions such as topic-prominence, TAM and modality/evidentiality.

Background

The Netagin language (Netagin: בְּרִיץ אֲ֬תָגִין

ββρείτζ νἈθωγείν brítz nˀAthághín [bʁɨtɬ naθɒˈʝin] "speech of the recluses"; Greek: νεθαγίν nethayín; Modern Hebrew: נְתָגִין
netagín or נְתָגִינִית
netaginít) is a language isolate autochthonous to Cyprus and spoken in Cyprus and its Middle Eastern environs, including the Holy Land. As a result of interaction with Greek it shares with it extensive spirantization, nasal mutation and palatalization. Rather remarkably, however, Netagin additionally grammaticalized these sandhi processes, much like the insular Celtic languages and to a lesser extent Tiberian Hebrew. It is a fusional and templatic language with some agglutinative  characteristics. The language has been small but vigorous up until modern times. Currently the language is suffering from decline in speakers and attrition of its many unique grammatical features. The latter is especially severe in Israel as the marginalized speakers assimilate more Israeli roots, vocabulary and syntax, and omit mutations as in spoken Israeli Hebrew.

Phonology

Consonants

There are 35 phonemic consonants.

Netagin consonants

Consonants
		Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
					plain	emphatic
Nasals		m, mb /m~mʲ/			n, nd, nˀ, nh /n~nʲ/	nˤ, nḥ /nˤ/		ng /ɲ~ŋ/
Plosives	voiceless	p /p~pʲ/			t /t~tɕ/	ṭ /tˤ~ɗˤ/		c /c~k/		q /q/		ˀ /ʔ/
	voiced	b, bp /b~bʲ/			d, dt /d~dʑ/	dṭ /dˤ/		g, gc /ɟ~g/		gq /ɢ/
Fricatives	unvoiced		f, ph /f~fʲ/	th /θ/	s /s~ɕ/	ṭh /sˁ~θˁ/	š /ʂ~ʃ/	ch /ç~x/		qh /χ/	ḥ, fh /ħ/	h /h~ɦ/
	voiced		bh /v/ ([vʲ])	dh /ð/	z /z~ʑ/			gh /ʝ~ɣ/		r /ʁ/	ˁ /ʕ/
Approximants		mh, mhf /w/						y /j/
Lateral app.					l /ɫ~ʎ/
Lateral fric.					ś /ɬ/
Lateral aff.					tz /tɬ/

The phoneme /tˤ/ is realized as an implosive, [ɗˤ] word-initially.

In the standard pronunciation (but not in all dialects; notably not in the Ṭašálí dialect) all consonants except /j/, emphatics, uvulars, gutturals (pharyngeals and glottals), lateral fricatives and affricates and dental fricatives are palatalized when preceding a front vowel. /w/'s palatalized allophone is /vʲ/.

Plain	/ɣ/	/x/	/g/	/k/	/ŋ/	/ʂ/	/ɫ/	/z/	/s/	/d/	/t/	/n/	/w/	/v/	/f/	/b/	/p/	/m/
Palatalized	[ʝ]	[ç]	[ɟ]	[c]	[ɲ]	[ʃ]	[ʎ]	[ʑ]	[ɕ]	[dʑ]	[tɕ]	[nʲ]	[vʲ]		[fʲ]	[bʲ]	[pʲ]	[mʲ]

Vowels

The vowels written with an acute accent can be analyzed as long vowels or tense vowels; one or more of both pronunciations may be realized simultaneously.

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	í /i(ː)/		[ɨ]		ú /u(ː)/
Near-close		i /ɪ/		u /ʊ/
Close-mid	é /e(ː)/		[ɘ]		ó /o(ː)/
Mid
Open-mid	e /ɛ/		[ɜ]		o /ɔ/
Near-open
Open			a /ä/		á /ɒ(ː)/

Front vowels /i e ɛ/ are centralized to [ɨ ɘ ɜ] after emphatic or uvular consonants.

Stress

In native words primary stress can only fall on the ultimate, or less commonly the penultimate syllable.

Orthography

Until recently the Greek alphabet and the Hebrew abjad (especially in Israel or by Jews) were more often used. However, recently the Latin script, especially imprecise renditions thereof, has been spreading to the exclusion of the Hebrew-based orthography.

Consonants

The dagesh is used to mark historical gemination (dagesh forte) that is nowadays realized only for resonants n, l and r, and non-lenition (dagesh lene) for the case of b, g, d, ṭ, c, m, p, q, and t. In Netagin the lenitable letters are termed בֵּגָֿ״דֿ וֲּטֵֿכָֿ״םֿ וֻּפֶֿקָֿ״תֿ

béghádh fa-ṭhéchámh fu-phéqháth [beˌɣɒð fasˤɘˌxɒw fʊfʲeχɒθ]. Mémh, however, often resists lenition after /ɪ/, /i/ or /j/. A word-medial dageshed lenitable consonant is not written as double letters in Latin script.

Syllable/word-final <ˀ> and <h> are silent. When a word-final he has a mappiq (homographic to the dagesh) it is not silent, but is to be pronounced /h/ (Romanized as hh and Hellenized as a doubled vowel).

Netagin consonants
Hebrew	Name	Latin	Greek	IPA
א	ˀálaph	ˀ	spiritus lenis	/ʔ/
בּ	báith	b	ββ	/b~bʲ/
גּ	gímhal	g	γγ	/ɟ~g/
דּ	dálath	d	δδ	/d~dʑ/
ה	hé	h	spiritus asper, vowel doubling (when word-final)	/h/
וּ	fó	f	ϝϝ	/f~fʲ/
ז	záin	z	ζ	/z~ʑ/
ח	ḥéth	ḥ	η	/ħ/
טּ	ṭéth	ṭ	ττ	/tˤ~ɗˤ/
י	yódh	y, i after a vowel	ι, ϊ after a vowel	/j/
כּךּ	cáph	c	χχ	/c~k/
ל	lámhadh	l	λ	/ɫ~ʎ/
מּםּ	mémh	m	μμ	/m~mʲ/
נן	nún	n	ν	/n/
ס	sámhach	s	σ, ς	/s~ɕ/
ע	ˁáin	ˁ	ω	/ʕ/
פּףּ	pé	p	φφ	/p~pʲ/
צץ	tzádhe	tz	τζ	/tɬ/
קּ	qóph	q	κκ	/q/
ר	réš	r	ρ	/ʁ/
ש	šín	š	σζ	/ʃ/
שֹ	śín	ś	θζ	/ɬ/
תּ	tó	t	θθ	/t~tɕ/

Lenition (Netagin taqídháh 'melting; dissolution') is marked with a lack of a dagesh in the Hebrew script, or a following h in the Latin script. The rafe may be used for improved contrast.

Lenition
Hebrew script	Latin	Greek	IPA
ב	bh	β	/v~vʲ/
ג	gh	γ	/ʝ~ɣ/
ד	dh	δ	/ð/
ו	fh	ϝ	/ħ/
ט	ṭh	τ	/sˤ~θˤ/
כך	ch	χ	/ç~x/
מם	mh	μ	/w~vʲ/
פף	ph	φ	/f~fʲ/
ק	qh	κ	/χ/
ת	th	θ	/θ/

Historical nasalization (Netagin: carríṭháh 'befogging; making turbid') is marked in the Hebrew script with a nún mecharríṭh ('befogging nún'; rendered here as an iluy) in conjunction with a dagesh for lenitable consonants.

Eclipsis
Hebrew script	Latin	Greek	IPA
א֬, ה֬	nˀ, nh	ν- added	/n~nʲ/
בּ֬	mb	μβ	/m/
גּ֬	ng	νγ	/ɲ~ŋ/
דּ֬	nd	νδ	/n~nʲ/
וּ֬	mhf	μϝ	/w~vʲ/
ח֬, ע֬	nḥ, nˁ	ν- added	/nˤ/
י֬	ny	ν- added	/nʲ/
טּ֬	dṭ	ντ	/dˤ/
כּ֬	gc	γχ	/ɟ~g/
פּ֬	bp	μφ	/b/
קּ֬	gq	γκ	/gˤ~ɢ/
תּ֬	dt	νθ	/d~dʑ/

Vowels

Vowels
Hebrew	Latin	Greek	IPA (Standard)	IPA (Țašálí)
אַ, אֲ	a	α	/a/	/a/
אָ 1||á|| ω || /ɒ/ || /o/
אֶ, אֱ, אְ	e	ε	/ɛ/	/æ/
אֵ	é	αι	/e/	/e/
אִ	i	ι	/ɪ/	/i/
אִי	í	ει	/i/	/i/
אָ, אֳ	o	ο	/ɔ/	/o/
אֹ, אוֹ	ó	αυ	/o/	/ø/
אֻ	u	υ	/ʊ/	/u/
אֻו	ú	ου	/u/	/y/
אְ	Ø

Disambiguation

In the Latin and Greek scripts interpuncts (•) are used to separate digraph combinations that are to be pronounced as two letters: piq•háh (they dream).

Unvocalized orthography

In the unvocalized Hebrew-based orthography it is generally accepted to indicate all mutations in addition to writing matres lectionis for certain long vowels. The diphthong ái and sometimes éi are written with two consecutive yódh.

Morphology

NB. Superscript ^L = lenition of the following consonant, ^N = eclipsis, ^D = following consonant is dageshed.

Nouns and Adjectives

See also: Netagin/Declension patterns.

Nouns and adjectives are inflected for number (singular, paucal and plural), gender (animate, honorific, inanimate and abstract; historically the latter two, being somewhat arbitrary with respect to abstract nouns, had been dubbed "masculine" and "feminine" after the Semitic genders they resemble), and four cases.

The mutations that accompany the words only affect other words in the same prosodic phrase or NP.

Declensions with sound plurals

Animate plurals are typically sound, while inanimate sound plurals are typically adjectives (and their nounless forms derived from them via the prefix m- if they don't have it already) and abstract/honorifics.

Animate declension: qinnáth ('stranger')
Case	Singular	Paucal	Plural
Direct	qinnáth	qinnáthú	qinnáthíyáh
Genitive	qinnáthímN	qinnáthannL	qinnáthínN
Instrumental	qinnáthath	qinnátháich	qinnáthícháhL
Locative	qinnáthámh	qinnáthéimN	qinnáthán

Inanimate declension: yáréph ('wheel')
Case	Singular	Paucal	Plural
Direct	yáréphN	yiréphú	yirépháh
Genitive	yiréphéiL	yiréphannL	yirépháiN
Instrumental	yiréphéchN	yirépháich	yiréphcháhL
Locative	yiréphín	yiréphéimN	yiréphán

Uncountable/honorific declension: ˀimáh ('mother')
Case	Singular	Paucal	Plural
Direct	ˀimáh(N if abstract)	ˀimáthéi	ˀimótháh
Genitive	ˀimathN	ˀimáthannL	ˀimótháiN
Instrumental	ˀimáthéchN	ˀimátháich	ˀimóthcháhL
Locative	ˀimáthámh	ˀimáthéimN	ˀimóthín

Declensions with broken plurals

Broken plurals are nonconcatenative plurals that take singular case markers (they derive diachronically from collective noun patterns). Broken plurals only occur with (mainly less animate) nouns. Unlike in Arabic broken plurals induce no irregularity in agreement.

Broken plural patterns
Singular	Plural	Examples
C1əC2íC3	C1əC2úC3	brítz (language) > brútz psíph (vote) > psúph
	C1əC2óC3	fríaˁ (arrow, ray) > fróaˁ
C1eC2[a]C3	C1əC2áC3, C1əC2éC3	śebhar (fish) > śbhár
C1éC2[a]C3		létzí (sow, contemptible person) > letzí
C1óC2[a]C3	C1oC2áC3, C1oC2éC3
C1éC2óC3, C1éC2áC3	ˀəC1C2íC3, ˀəC1C2úC3, ˀəC1C2áC3	céthóaˁ (encounter) > ˀechtíaˁ
C1óC2áC3	C1əC2óC3áh
C1áC2íC3	ˀəC1íC2úC3
C1áC2óC3	C1əC2C2éC3
CəCCVːC	CəCáCóC, CəCóCéC, CəCáCúC
CiCCəCáh	CəCCóCáh

Derivational morphology

• -ón: certain nouns, pejorative suffix
• -í, -íy-: nisba adjectival suffix, borrowed from Semitic

Pronouns

Second person plural pronouns and verbs are used for politeness, and first person paucal is used for humility in very formal situations. Subject and direct object forms are usually omitted, except for topicalization or focusing. The short forms are adpositional object forms, which follow the adposition unlike other NPs.

The third person pronouns only refer to animates.

Personal pronouns
Case	Zeroth person	First person			Second person			Third person
		Singular	Paucal	Plural	Singular	Paucal	Plural	Singular	Paucal	Plural
Nominative	ˀagáˀ	ˀachd	ˀadú	ˀadáˀ	ˀanní	ˀannú	ˀannáˀ	héhh	hennú	hennáˀ
Accusative	ˀácháˀ, cháˀ	ˀachtí, tí	ˀáthú, thú	ˀátháˀ, tháˀ	ˀání, ní	ˀánú, nú	ˀánáˀ, náˀ	hethí, hí	hethú, hú	hetháˀ, háˀ
Genitive	ˀácháiN, cháiN</sup	ˀachímN, chímN	ˀáthannL, thannL	ˀátháiN, tháiN	ˀanímN, nímN	ˀánannL, nannL	ˀánáiN, náiN	hímN	hannL	háiN
Instrumental	ˀácháhL, cháhL	ˀachath, chath	ˀátháich, tháich	ˀáthcháhL, thacháhL	ˀanath, nath	ˀánáich, náich	ˀáncháhL, nacháhL	hath	háich	hacháhL
Locative	ˀáchín, chín	ˀachámh, chámh	ˀáthéimN, théimN	ˀáthín, thín	ˀanámh, námh	ˀánéimN, néimN	ˀánín, nín	hámh	héimN	hín

Interrogative pronouns
Case	'who'	'what'
Nominative	mí	ˀéiN
Accusative	máh	ˀéiN
Genitive	méiL	ˀayyéiL
Instrumental	míth	ˀéich
Locative	mím	ˀayyó

The demonstrative pronoun is used adnominally or pronominally. It may be used as a pronoun for inanimates.

Having arisen from historical gemination, the demonstrative pronoun resists mutations.

Demonstrative pronoun
Case	Singular	Paucal	Plural
Nominative	dí	lú	cáˀ
Accusative	dáh	láh	cáˀ
Genitive	déiL	lannL	cáiN
Instrumental	dách	léich	cacháh
Locative	dó	léimN	cán

Verbs

Netagin verbs, perhaps similarly to those of Biblical Hebrew, mark aspect and person, but not tense. (Netagin, rather unusually, renders tense as proclitics on NPs instead.) Non-concatenative morphology figures prominently in conjugation for valence and TAM, much like in Semitic and Proto-Indo-European.

Patterns

Up to 4 verbal patterns may be derived from a root in Netagin:

• In the Intransitive paradigm are verbs denoting intransitive actions ("come"), as well as stative verbs ("be cold"). It is often considered the most basic form.
• The Transitive paradigm contains most monotransitive verbs, ("eat") including causativizations of Intransitive verbs ("make happy"). Can also have a telic (desired outcome was reached) meaning.
• The Reflexive pattern consists of verbs denote reflexive/reciprocal action ("get dressed", "kiss each other"), or change of state ("thicken").
• The Causative pattern contains causatives of transitive verbs ("feed") (and of some Intransitives and Reflexives). Causatives of statives in the imperfective aspect may denote active maintenance of a state (as opposed to changing a state in the perfective aspect).

Note that there is no passive in Netagin - this function is mainly served by zeroth person in transitive verbs or with Reflexive verbs.

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2aC3	C1iC2C2aC3	C1óC2éC3	C1C2íC3N
Transitive	C1C2óC3	C1aC2C2í1C3	meC1aC2C2íC3	C1aC2C2íC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀiC1C2é1C3	niC1C2é1C3	miNC1úC2áC3	ˀaC1C2óC3athN
Causative	ˀaC1C2aC3	NC1éC2aC3	maC1C2áC3	ˀaC1C2úC3áhN

¹ Attenuates to a before a stressed suffix beginning with a consonant.

Suffixes beginning with a vowel cause the vowel between C₂ and C₃ to be elided.

The infinitive (inf) is formed by leniting the first letter of the bare stem of the verb, or if said first letter is a guttural, adding fa-.

The action noun (axn) or gerund is used in action noun constructions, which are of the form SUBJECT-gen AXN OBJECT-acc. It is of importance in forming relative clauses, for Netagin does not have a relativizer.

בֶּן אָתַןּ גְדִיב כַּ֬וֵּה וַּתַּתֵּ֬לַם.

Ben ˀáthann ghedhíbh gcaféh fatedtélamh.

FUT=1PC.GEN drink.AXN.SG.DIR coffee.SG.DIR INV-(1,3)-awaken/CAUS.IPFV

Our drinking coffee will keep us alert.

Affixes

Unipersonal (suffix) conjugation

The suffix conjugation is used for inherently intransitive (unaccusative) or reflexive verbs, and imperatives. Unipersonal verbs are negated in the optative/imperative by núr^N.

Unipersonal verb structure

0	1	2
Stem/Voice/Aspect	Personal suffix	Imperative or Polarity/Focus

(There are the intransitive stem, the reflexive stem, and the transitive/causative stem(s). The latter is used in imperatives of transitive verbs.)

In the indicative the personal suffixes represent the subject; in the imperative they indicate the object.

Unipersonal suffixes
Person	Singular	Paucal	Plural
0	-c[h]1áˀ
1	-d(i)/-ch(i)1/-t[h]1í3	-t[h]1ú	-t[h]1áˀ
2	-ní	-nú	-náˀ
3	-(a)2/-í3	-ú	-áh

The 0th, 1st and 2nd person forms are penultimately stressed; the 3rd person forms are ultimately stressed.

¹After vowels or mh.
²As indicative subject; not expressed without another suffix
³As imperative object.

Slot 2 suffixes
Netagin	Gloss
-n	Imperative (imp)
-chú	Affirmative focus (aff.foc)
-chí	Negative (neg)
-náh/-cháh*	Negative focus (neg.foc)

*In second person forms.

Bipersonal (prefix) conjugation

The prefix conjugation is used for non-imperative transitive verbs (verbs that can take an agent and a patient).

Bipersonal verb structure

−2	−1	0	1	2
Inverse prefix	Bipersonal prefix	Transitive stem/Voice/Aspect	Polarity/Focus	Pluractionality suffix

Inverse prefix
Netagin	Gloss
faD-	Inverse (inv)

Personal prefixes
Netagin	Gloss
b-	(2,0)
c-	(1,0)
h-	(1,2)
l-	(0,3)
n-	(2,3)
t-	(1,3)
y-	(3,3)

Polarity/focus suffixes
Netagin	Gloss
-(a)	Affirmative (aff)
-cú	Affirmative focus (aff.foc)
-cí	Negative (neg)
-náh	Negative focus (neg.foc)

All of the above suffixes are stressed. The focused suffixes emphasize the truth value and are therefore used to answer yes/no questions.

Pluractionality suffix
Netagin	Gloss
-nn	Pluractional (plax)

The pluractionality suffix never affects the thematic vowel in irregular verbs, unlike other suffixes beginning with a consonant.

Example paradigm

The following is the paradigm of the verb root g-d-b ('drown, drink') which has verbs in all four verb patterns:

gadhabh - to drown
	Perfective			Imperfective
Subject	Singular	Paucal	Plural	Singular	Paucal	Plural
0	gadhabhcáˀ			gidabhcáˀ
1	gadhabhd	gadhabhtú	gadhabhtáˀ	gidabhd	gidabhtú	gidabhtáˀ
2	gadhabhní	gadhabhnú	gadhabhnáˀ	gidabhní	gidabhnú	gidabhnáˀ
3	gadhabh	gadhbhú	gadhbháh	gidabh	gidbhú	gidbháh

gadhóbh - to drink, prefixed
Perfective		Imperfective
Direct	Inverse	Direct
bighdóbh	fabighdóbh	beghadíbh
cighdóbh	facighdóbh	ceghadíbh
highdóbh	fahighdóbh	heghadíbh
lighdóbh	fallighdóbh	leghadíbh
nighdóbh	fannighdóbh	neghadíbh
tighdóbh	fatighdóbh	teghadíbh
yighdóbh	fayyighdóbh	yeghadíbh

gadhóbh - to drink, w/ focus suffixes
yighdóbhcí	yighdóbhcú	yighdóbhnáh

gadhóbh - to drink, imperative
	Perfective			Imperfective
Object	Singular	Paucal	Plural	Singular	Paucal	Plural
0	gadhóbhcán!			gadabhcán!
1	gadhóbhtín!	gadhóbhtún!	gadhóbhtán!	gadabhdin!	gadabhtún!	gadabhtán!
3	gidhbhín!	gidhbhún!	gidhbhán!	gadbhín!	gadbhún!	gadbhán!

ˀighdébh - to get oneself drowned; to fill up with liquid
	Perfective			Imperfective
Subject	Singular	Paucal	Plural	Singular	Paucal	Plural
0	ˀighdabhcáˀ			nighdabhcáˀ
1	ˀighdabhd	ˀighdabhtú	ˀighdabhtáˀ	nighdabhd	nighdabhtú	nighdabhtáˀ
2	ˀighdabhní	ˀighdabhnú	ˀighdabhnáˀ	nighdabhní	nighdabhnú	nighdabhnáˀ
3	ˀighdébh	ˀighdebhú	ˀighdebháh	nighdébh	nighdebhú	nighdebháh

ˀaghdabh - to drown (transitive)/to cause to drink/to fill w/ liquid, prefixed
Perfective	Imperfective
baghdabh	bingédabh
caghdabh	cingédabh
haghdabh	hingédabh
laghdabh	lingédabh
naghdabh	ningédabh
taghdabh	tingédabh
yaghdabh	yingédabh

ˀaghdabh, imperative
	Perfective			Imperfective
Object	Singular	Paucal	Plural	Singular	Paucal	Plural
0	ˀaghdabhcán!			ˀingédabhcán!
1	ˀaghdabhtín!	ˀaghdabhtún!	ˀaghdabhtán!	ˀingédabhtín!	ˀingédabhtún!	ˀingédabhtán!
3	ˀaghdabhín!	ˀaghdabhún!	ˀaghdabhán!	ˀingédbhín!	ˀingédbhún!	ˀingédbhán!

Weak roots

The so-called weak roots have consonants that create various irregularities in conjugation.

First radical

Gutturals (ˀálaph, héˀ, ḥéth, ˁáin)

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2aC3	C1iC2C2aC3	C1óC2éC3	C1aC2íC3N
Transitive	C1aC2óC3	C1aC2C2íC3	meC1aC2C2íC3	C1aC2C2íC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀeC1eC2éC3	neC1eC2éC3	miNC1úC2áC3	ˀáC2óC3athN (C1 = ˀ) ˀaC1aC2óC3athN (C1 = h, ḥ, ˁ)
Causative	ˀaC1aC2aC3	n(e)C1éC2aC3	maC1aC2áC3	ˀáC2úC3áhN (C1 = ˀ) ˀaC1aC2úC3áhN (C1 = h, ḥ, ˁ)

Nún

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	naC2aC3	niC2C2aC3	nóC2éC3	neC2íC3N
Transitive	NC2óC3, ~NC2óC3	naC2C2íC3	menaC2C2íC3	naC2C2íC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀiNC2éC3	niNC2éC3	minnúC2áC3	ˀaNC2óC3athN
Causative	ˀaNC2aC3	(n)néC2aC3	maNC2áC3	ˀaNC2úC3áhN

Yódh

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	yaC2aC3	yiC2C2aC3	yóC2éC3	yeC2íC3N
Transitive	C2óC3, ~éC2óC3	yaC2C2íC3	meyaC2C2íC3	yaC2C2íC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀéiC2éC3	néiC2éC3	minyúC2áC3	ˀéiC2óC3athN
Causative	ˀéiC2aC3	nyéC2aC3	méiC2áC3	ˀéiC2úC3áhN

Fó

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action Noun
Intransitive	faC2aC3	fiC2C2aC3	fóC2éC3	f(e)C2íC3N
Transitive	C2óC3, ~óC2áC3	faC2C2íC3	mefhaC2C2íC3	faC2C2íC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀóC2éC3	nóC2éC3	mimhfúC2áC3	ˀóC2óC3athN
Causative	ˀóC2aC3	mhféC2aC3	móC2áC3	ˀóC2úC3áhN

Second radical

Guttural

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2aC3	C1éC2aC3	C1óC2éC3	C1eC2íC3N
Transitive	C1eC2aC3	C1áC2íC3	meC1áC2íC3	C1áC2íC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀeC1C2éC3	niC1C2éC3	miNC1úC2áC3	ˀaC1C2óC3athN
Causative	ˀaC1C2aC3	NC1éC2aC3	maC1C2áC3	ˀaC1C2úC3áhN

Hollow-Y

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1áC3	C1iyyaC3	C1áC3	C1íC3N
Transitive	C1éC3	C1ayyíC3	meC1ayyíC3	C1ayyíC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀéC1íC3	náC1éC3	miNC1éC3	táC1óC3athN
Causative	ˀáC1íC3	NC1éC3	máC1íC3	táC1úC3áhN

Hollow-W

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1áC3	C1ifaC3	C1áC3	C1íC3N
Transitive	C1úC3	C1afíC3	meC1afíC3	C1afíC3áhN
Reflexive	ˀéC1úC3	náC1óC3	miNC1óC3	táC1óC3athN
Causative	ˀáC1úC3	NC1óC3	máC1úC3	táC1úC3áhN

Third radical

Guttural

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2aC3	C1iC2C2aC3	C1óC2é[a]1C3	C1(e)C2í[a]1C3N
Transitive	C1C2aC3	C1aC2C2í[a]1C3	meC1aC2C2í[a]1C3	C1aC2C2í1C3áhN
Reflexive	ˀiC1C2é2C3	niC1C2é[a]1C3	miNC1úC2áC3	ˀaC1C2óC3athN
Causative	ˀaC1C2aC3	NC1éC2áC3	maC1C2áC3	ˀaC1C2úC3áhN

¹ inserted if C₃[+pharyngeal]. ² becomes á if C₃[+pharyngeal].

Nún

This irregularity does not hold for all verbs whose C₃ = n; specifically, this class is no longer productive with new verbs.

If a unipersonal suffix beginning with an eclipsable consonant is attached, the final nún vanishes, eclipsing the consonant:

1sg: -c 1pc, pl: -dtú, -dtá

For all other suffixes, the nún is written/geminated as normal.

Yódh

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2áh, -í- / _C	C1iC2C2áh, -í- / _C	C1óC2eh	C1(e)C2íN
Transitive	C1C2eh, -éi- / _C	C1aC2C2eh, -í- / _C	meC1aC2C2eh	C1aC2C2íyáhN
Reflexive	ˀiC1C2áh, -éi- / _C	niC1C2áh, -éi- / _C	miNC1úC2eh	ˀaC1C2íthN
Causative	ˀaC1C2eh, -í- / _C	NC1éC2eh, -í- / _C	maC1C2eh	ˀaC1C2úyáhN

The suffixes -áh and -eh are deleted before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Consonants in suffixes lenite after a vowel.

Fó

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2áh, -ú- / _C	C1iC2C2áh, -ú- / _C	C1óC2eh	C1(e)C2íN
Transitive	C1C2eh, -ó- / _C	C1aC2C2eh, -ú- / _C	meC1aC2C2eh	C1aC2C2ífáhN
Reflexive	ˀiC1C2áh, -ó- / _C	niC1C2áh, -ó- / _C	miNC1úC2eh	ˀaC1C2úthN
Causative	ˀaC1C2eh, -ú- / _C	NC1éC2eh, -ú- / _C	maC1C2eh	ˀaC1C2úfáhN

The vowel suffixes -áh and -eh are deleted before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Consonants in suffixes lenite after a vowel.

Geminate roots

Geminate roots are those with identical second and third radicals.

	Perfective	Imperfective	Participle	Action noun
Intransitive	C1aC2C2, -ó- / _C	C1úC2aC2	C1óC2éC2	C1iC2C2N
Transitive	C1óC2C2, -ó- / _C	C1úC2íC2	meC1úC2íC2	C1úC2íC2áhN
Reflexive	ˀéC1iC2C2, -ó- / _C	néC1iC2C2, -ó- / _C	miNC1úC2áC2	ˀaC1C2óC2athN
Causative	ˀáC1aC2C2, -ó- / _C	NC1éC2aC2	máC1aC2C2	táC1uC2C2áhN

Numerals

Numerals are essentially ordinary adjectives or nouns (for 100 and higher units). Numerals larger than 10 turn their heads into the genitive case.

Netagin numerals
	n	nth	n each/at a time	n-fold; n-ad	1/n
0	séphar	*mesáphúr	-	-	-
1	hálódh	mehálúdh	halúdhládh	halálédh	-
2	gáḥéz	megáḥúz	gaḥuzḥáz	gaḥáḥéz	géḥáz
3	tzúbhál	metzábhúl	tzebhulbál	tzebhábhél	tzibál
4	méqhátz	memháqhútz	meqhutzqátz	meqháqhétz	miqátz
5	pazzím	mepházúmh	pezumhzámh	pezázémh	pizzámh
6	ˀalbán	melábhún	lebhunbán	lebhábhén	libán
7	qátzídh	meqhátzúdh	qetzudhtzádh	qetzátzédh	qittzádh
8	cóˁáš	mecháˁúš	ceˁušˁáš	ceˁáˁéš	céˁáš
9	ripúi	merápheh	rephuipheh	rephápheh	ripeh
10	ḥachúbh	meḥáchúbh	ḥachubhcábh	ḥacháchébh	ḥicábh
11	ḥáchúbh fa-hálódh	ḥáchúbh mehálúdh	-	-	-
20	gáḥéz nḥachúbh	megháḥúz nḥachúbh	-	-	-
100	méˀáh	maˀáthí	-	-	-
1000	ˀelaph	ˀalphí	-	-	-
10^6	ˀeqaṭomíryó, ˀeqaṭ	-	-	-	-
10^9	diseqaṭomíryó, diseq	-	-	-	-

Grammar

Word order

The constituent order defaults to SXVO/SVOX, but topicalization may promote a constituent to first position. Adjectives and genitives usually follow the noun unless they are topicalized or focalized. Genitive/possessive pronouns always precede the possessed NP.

Two types of function words can be recognized in Netagin: proclitics (coordinating conjunctions, topic/focus, etc.), which attach to the host or to another clitic and form what counts as one word, and relators (prepositions and subordinating conjunctions) which occupy second position (a.k.a. Wackernagel's position) in their dependent noun phrases or clauses.

Nominal/Adjectival predication

Netagin is entirely devoid of copulas. Instead one uses the topic particle ha-^L with the subject, and the focus particle ha-^N on the predicate nominal.

הֲזְמָלִ אֶלָּא הַגַּ֬שֻּודָה.

Ἁ-ζεμώλ ἐλλώ ἁ-νγασζζουδώ.

Ha-zemhál ˀelláˀ ha-ngaššúdháh.

TOP-person.PL.DIR NEG FOC-thing-INAN.PL.DIR

People are not objects.

Predication of possession

Predicative possession is constructed similarly to the dative construction in many languages, but the possessor is topicalized.

הֲאַכְדְּ חָמָה חִצָּה אַקְדֻּול.

Ἁ-ἄχδδ ηωμώ ηιτζζώ ἀκδδούλ.

Ha-ˀachd ḥámháh ḥittzáh ˀaqhdúl.

TOP-1SG.NOM exist-3PL excess.PL.DIR coin.PL.DIR

I have too many coins. (lit. Me-wise, there are excess coins.)

Relative clauses

Netagin uses deranked relative clauses that employ a possessive construction using the action noun of the verb. Resumptive pronouns are required as oblique arguments in the RC, and may be used in subject/DO positions as well. The position of tense particles in the RC is useful for reconstructing the aspect of the clause; they are found on the most patient-like argument when the verb is perfective and the most agentive argument when the verb is imperfective. Relative clauses may occur before the noun in poetry.

הַוָרָשֹ לְאָ֬תָי דַ֬סִּילַת?

Ἁ-ϝωρώθζ λε-ὠθώϊ νδασσειλάθ?

Ha-fháráś le-ˀáthái ndassílath?

TOP=silver.SG.DIR RECENT_PAST=1PL.GEN earn/AXN-GEN

What of the money we've been earning? [lit. as for the money of past-our earning]

Copulative RCs (i.e. of the form "which is NP"), can be rendered with apposition (FOC=[predicate NP]).

Clitics

Clitics serve a diversity of functions in Netagin. The order of pre-NP clitics is as follows: attitudinal-epistemic/evidential-tense-topic/focus.

Inpositional

Netagin adpositions come in second position (cf. the Latin phrase magna cum laude) unless the object is pronominal, in which case they are prepositional.

קִּ֬ב כִיםּ

γκιβ χειμμ

qibh chím

for 1SG.GEN

for me

תִּפְלוֹן אָ֬נָי תַּ֬ל אִ֬מַּת

θθιφλαύν νὠνώϊ νθαλ νἰμμάθ

tiphlón nˀánái dtal nˀimath

letter.INAN.DIR 2PL.GEN from mother-HON.GEN

a letter from your mother

• tal^N [genitive]: from
• qibh^L [genitive]: for the sake of
• cí^L [genitive]: in order that
• qrúth^N [genitive]: lest, in order that... not
• ˁar^N [instrumental]: with (accompanying)
• ˀel^N [instrumental]: without
• déráˀ^L [accusative]: because of
• hídh^L [accusative]: towards
• maš^N [locative] in, within; [accusative] into
• cel^N [locative: place; accusative: movement]: above, over
• dón^L: on, about [genitive]; onto [accusative]
• nótz^L [genitive place; accusative: movement]: before, in front of
• cad^L [locative]: when
• tar^N [locative place; accusative: movement]: after, behind, for
• meṭáˀ^L [locative] over, beyond; [accusative]: movement beyond, through
• bach^N: [locative: place; accusative: movement] below, under
• ferr^N [genitive]: between, among
• yirin^L [genitive]: instead of

Usage of cí/qrúth/cad/nótz/tar

Purpose clauses and time clauses have a different structure than independent clauses. The subject is declined in the appropriate case and occupies first position, and the infinitive form is used for the verb.

מִּבְלוֹקֵי קְרֻות תַּקַם צָּפִיחַ

Μμιβλαυκαίϊ κρούθ θακαμ τζωφείαη

Mibhlóqhéi qhrúth thaqhamh tzáphíaḥ

ice-SG.GEN lest INF-melt early

lest the ice melt prematurely

Pronominal subjects follow the conjunction:

תַּר נֻו לָט!

Θθαρ νου λώτ!

Tar nú láṭh!

after 2PC.ACC INF.die.PFV

After you die! (hostile response to a command/request)

Discourse

• הֲ-

ha-L: topic/vocative

• הַ-

ha-N: focus

• דֵּי

déL: "after all"

• הֵן

hénL: tag question

Epistemic

• טִּםּ

ṭim: certainty

• קָּש

qáš: deductive/inferential

• כֲּ-

ca-L: possibility

• הֵג

hégh: doubt

Evidential

• bél: witnessed
• ˁatáˀ: hearsay
• tzúl: axiomatic

Tense

Tense marking can be omitted depending on the context; it is most often marked on the most patientive argument available if the verb is perfective, and on the most agentive argument if the verb is imperfective.

• ל-

l-: recent past

• ש-

š-: remote (historical or more than ~20 years ago) past

• בֶּן-

ben: future

Attitudinal

• nac^L: happiness
• šú^N: entreaty for empathy
• ˀich^L: optative
• dim^L: hope
• qrúth^N: fear, 'lest'

Number

There exist three numbers in Netagin: singular (sg) representing one object, paucal (pc) for a few, and plural (pl) for many. The paucal form usually denotes two to nine items, but the boundary between paucal and plural is quite fluid; a paucal could be used for a larger number for contrast with a much larger number of things. The plural number in pronouns also serves as an honorific; complementarily, using paucal pronouns where a plural is expected entails a "dishonorific", humble or pejorative meaning.

Nominal number

Nouns are declined for all three numbers.

Verbal number

Pluractionality denotes that an action is performed a plural (as opposed to singular or paucal) number of times or places, or the number of objects is plural. Pluractionality with a second person object, or lack of pluractionality with a first person object, may also be used to indicate politeness.

Politeness/Honorific

Honorific suffixes on nouns indicate that the speaker raises the referent, accompanied by a rise above the speaker (only for animates) in animacy.

אִךְ בֲתֻורָה תֵּרְנַף.

Ἰχ Βαθουρώ θθαρνάφ.

ˀIch Bhathúráh tarnaph.

ˀich-L báthúr-áh Ø-t-[r-n-p]/ˀaCCaC

OPT deity-HON.DIR DIR-(1,3)-attest/CAUS.PFV

God be my witness.

Cases

All cases have prepositions that govern them.

Direct

The direct case (dir) marks a core argument of a verb, either subject or direct object. It should be noted that Netagin marks the recipient (usually the more animate patient), rather than the theme (the less animate patient), of most ditransitive verbs with the direct case; Netagin is thus a dechticaetiative language. Pronouns, unlike nouns, distinguish nominative (nom) and accusative (acc). The direct/accusative case is the case governed by prepositions that originate from verbs.

Genitive

The genitive case (gen) indicates possession, origin, cause, or concern. It is used also appositionally (in the order noun-genitive), where English would use a compound. The genitive case also has partitive uses.

Possessor-less genitives are possible and, by corollary, headless relative clauses.

Instrumental

The instrumental (ins) indicates instrument/means or comitation (with certain prepositions; the bare instrumental can optionally be used as a comitative for pronouns). What is considered the direct object of ditransitive constructions in dative languages is most often cast in the instrumental in Netagin. (Netagin, although a dechticaetiative language, does not have a dedicated dechticaetiative case.)

Locative

The locative or allative case (loc) marks location or destination (often with locational prepositions), spatial, temporal or abstract. Some ditransitive verbs cause their themes to take the locative.

Hierarchy

Person, animacy and social status are all factors in the hierarchical person marking. The hierarchy is:

2.honorific > 3.honorific > 1 > 2.familiar > 3.familiar > 0 > 3.inanimate

By default the direction of transitivity is assumed to be from higher to lower animacy. Generally when a less animate participant acts on a more animate one, the verb is required to take an inverse-marking affix.

Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions always come in second position.

• fa- (fu- / _C[+labial]): and (nominal/adjectival)
• ˀis: and (sentential)
• mó: or
• ˀach: but
• ˀóth: but/rather
• ṭú^L: that [complement clause]
• haṭhú^L: if
• ˀaph: although, even if
• bar^L: then
• gún^N: because
• habhráˀ^L: so, therefore

Dictionary

Please see Netagin/Dictionary.