Syrenian

Syreni žr zã̞
Spoken in:	the planet Syren
Conworld:	imaginary future
Total speakers:	~ one million
Genealogical classification:	Exolang Semitic (Subbranch) Syreni
Basic word order:	SVO
Morphological type:	inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Topic-Comment
Writing system:
Created by:
Robert Marshall Murphy	2012 A.D.

The Syreni language is extremely difficult, but learnable by homo sapiens. It many ways, it is close to the Semitic language family of Earth, but it is remarkable different, owing to its unique situation. It is spoken on the planet Syren but an artificially created, semi-translucent, genderless species of humanoid. They have many characteristics in common with the mermaids of Earthlore and they lead absolutely nomadic lives.

Syren

The planet itself is remarkably different from Earth. There are no terrestrial formations at all. That is, the entire planet is ocean, apart from the uninhabitable, frozen, polar regions. Syren, however, does not lack “land”. Vast numbers of mobile “islands” exist - undulating platforms, ranging in size from a few square meters to dozens of square kilometers. Trees and other large flora grow there, though they are far more flexible than their Terran counterparts. A bewildering array of fauna exist too, a sizable majority of which is amphibious to sea and sky. “Dragons” or “dinosaurs” exist, though none has ever been observed larger than a Big Cat. Aquatic fauna also do not exist beyond a certain size, comparable to the killer whales of Earth. The entire planet is quite shallow, never deeper than two kilometers at any point.

A continual cloud cover envelopes the planet, at about the height of Earth’s cirrus clouds. This ubiquitous fog is the color of gold or copper. The sun, moon(s) stars are completely unknown to the Syreni. The planet’s weak magnetic field (and the lack of ferrous tools) mean North and South are only distinguished by the remote presence of ice. Without sunrises and sunsets, East and West can only be referenced as “with the world-current” or against it (but of course, that current reverses across the equatorial line.)

The oceans of Syren have a mere fraction of the salinity Earth oceans. An average ocean depth is a tenth of Earths’. The number of ecosystems is very small, despite the planet being very comparable to Earth in size, gravity, sidereal day and atmosphere. Because from the Coriolis effect, anything carried by the ocean current is capable of being swept anywhere within its hemisphere, even by luck the whole planet. Hence, while Syren teems with life on a scale unimaginable on Earth, there is very little specialization of species.

The environment of Syren has had a vast impact on the Syreni language. On Earth, a great majority of time is spent without an apparent changes taking place. On Syren, change is constant. The land “waves”, the trees bend, the wind blows and nothing is ever still. There is no sun in the sky, just an ever shifting high fog. Without careful planning, an individual would drift between islands (and hence the entire world) and never retain any friends or family. The largest island observed might hold a few hundred people, but no crowd of more than 20 has ever been known to exist.

Verbal Parameters

Aside from the handful of particles, conjunctions, interjections, and clitics, verbs make up the entirety of the Syreni language. The functionality of nouns, as found in all Earth languages, is covered by participles. Adjectives are stative verbs, adverbs are a mood of verbs, adpositions are contained in verbs, even cardinal numbers are impersonal verbs.

Syreni verbs are inflected for DEIXIS, NUMBER , ASPECT, MOOD, and VOICE. Participles must be marked for CLASS and STATE. Any Indicative or Negative verb may become an ADVERB.

Voice

The role of Voice in Syreni nouns most closely corresponds to Case in Earth languages, and is therefore a very good starting places for learners of the language.

A verb must be in one of the seven voices available. If the “subject” or argument of the verb precedes it, it is said to be on the “active side”. If it follows, the “passive side”. Not all voices accept arguments on either side.

Active side	Voice Name	#	Passive side
Yes	CAUS.ATIVE	5	No
Yes	ERG.ATIVE	4	Yes
Yes	ANTI.PASSIVE	3	Yes
Yes	THEM.ATIC	2	Yes
Yes	PAT.IENTIVE	1	Yes
No	IMP.ERSONAL	0	No
No	RES.ULTIVE	-1	Yes

Ergative

The active side of a verb in the ERGATIVE voice is the most “normal” for speakers of English. I ran a mile and You gave money are sentences where the person performing the action is stated first, in the emphatic position. The passive side of the ERGATIVE VOICE is more complicated. It can be adjutative, mirative, or benefactive, but is perhaps most comparable to the English “pseudopassive”, i.e. I had the car washed. or I got Michael fired. The subject is still the source of the action, but the they are not so much the focus. The listener may feels compelled to ask who actually performed the action.

Antipassive

On the active side, the ANTIPASSIVE voice may seem difficult to distinguish from the ERGATIVE in many cases. English treats all nouns alike when they are in any kind of active role. Syreni distinguishes between the intentional actor and and the unintentional, and relegates the unintentional to Voice #3. The Agent or Force or Source is encoded in the ERGATIVE. The Experiencer requires the ANTIPASSIVE. The passive side of the ANTIPASSIVE voice expects the beneficiary of an action or the manner of an action. The Instrumental means also goes here.

Thematic

The active side of the THEMATIC voice expresses the initial recipient of the action. This can be the Indirect Object, depending on the English verb. In order to determine the thematic subject of a sentence, the usual question to ask is, “Who is the recipient of the action?” The passive side of the THEMATIC voice is typically the less personal recipient of the action.

Patientive

The active side of the PATIENTIVE voice expresses the ultimate recipient of the action of the verb. If the active side of the ERGATIVE answers “Who verbed it?”, then the active side of the PATIENTIVE answers “What was verbed?”. The passive side of the PATIENTIVE often expresses context or location. In English, this is often expressed as the passive voice of the verb plus a preposition (somewhat colloquial). What was played in? or Where was he fired from?.

Impersonal

The IMPERSONAL voice cannot take argument, so it has neither “side”. In English, only certain verbs are typically impersonal but even they require dummy pronouns. Examples are weather terms, such as It is hot or There is a lot of rain around here. Syreni can do this with almost any verb.

Causative

The CAUSATIVE voice can be tricky for English speakers, who must be careful not to jump from a lower voice to this one in order to ask a “why” question. The CAUSATIVE voice can only take an argument on the active side and denote the source of the entire chain of events, from the ERGATIVE actor through PATIENTIVE recipient. English is not careful to distinguish between 'Who blew out the candle? I did'; 'What blew out the candle? I had my bellows blow them out'; and 'Why are the candles blown out? I blew them out.' The CAUSATIVE voice is the answer only to a fourth question, 'Why did you blow the candles out? For fear of fire.'

Resultative

At the opposite end of the spectrum from the CAUSATIVE, the RESULTATIVE voice can only used to express a later effect of the entire set of actions, i.e. the τελoς of the verb. 'Kissing produced anger. Splitting resulted in more.' The argument of a RESULTIVE voiced-verb may only appear on the passive side.

Mood

Syreni verbs must be in one of six voices listed below. In Syreni, participles are the most irreal mood. This effect can be countered by using the FREQUENTIVE or UBIQUITOUS aspect.



	Realis	Irrealis	Participle
Factual	Indicative	Subjunctive	Participle
Counterfactual	Neg.ative	Opt.ative	Adv.erbial

Indicative

The overwhelming majority of statements in Syreni (like any language) are in the Indicative. Note, however, that nothing speculative, doubted, dubiously inferred, reported by unsubstantiated witnesses or simply desired can be expressed in this mood. There is also a separate mood for negative statements. Less-polite, positive commands are given in the Indicative mood. Imperfective aspects indicate commands for ongoing action. Perfective aspects indicate commands viewed as a single event. Prosody and context alone distinguish imperatives from declaratives.

Negative

Syreni expresses negative sentences through a separate mood. The simple English particle/adverb not is usually the indicator that this mood ought to be used. The prefix un-, however, is typically expressed through the REGRESSIVE aspect. Less-polite, negative commands are given in the Negative mood. Imperfective aspects indicate commands not to engage in ongoing action. Perfective aspects indicate commands not to do an action viewed as a single event. Prosody and context alone distinguish imperatives from declaratives.

Subjunctive

The Subjunctive mood conveys a generally positive or likely event that has not happened yet or that is unclear whether it has happened already. Hence, the subjunctive often is used as a kind of “future tense” and arises in all conditional or modal expressions. Polite, positive commands are given in the Subjunctive mood.

Optative

The Optative mood is used for non-actualized events that are less likely or negative. It also doubles as a kind of “future negative tense”. Most conditional or modal expressions that take the subjunctive also accept the optative as a “less-likely” or negative alternative. Polite, negative commands are given in the Optative mood.

Aspect

Like many Earth language, Syreni encodes note only tense on its verbs, but aspect. For those unfamiliar with the distinction, aspect expresses the speakers view of the action, whether it has parts or not. The Perfective aspect sees the action as a whole, which often means it is complete. Such verbs have more of a “foreground” appearance. The Imperfective aspect expresses the speakers view of an action as having parts, which often implies incompleteness. Imperfective verbs are therefore more in the “background”.

Aspect Names.

Imperfective	Endoclitic Particle	Perfective
STAT.IVE	No	AOR.IST
DISC.ONTINUOS	ONE	MOM.ENTAE
FREQ.UENTIVE	UNIV.ERSAL	UBI.QUITOUS
PROG.RESSIVE	No	No
REG.RESSIVE	No	No
INT.ENSIVE	MORE	COMP.ARATIVE
No	No	SUPER.LATIVE
DIM.INUITIVE	LESS	DEP.RECIATIVE
No	No	INF.ERIOR
INCEP.TIVE	BEG.INNING	INCH.OATIVE
CESS.ATIVE	END.ING	TERM.INATIVE
PERF.ECT	RETRO.SPECTIVE	PLU.PERFECT

Number

In English, everything is either one (singular) or many (plural). Other Earth languages have the “dual” for two of something. There are vestigial remnants of this in English, when we speak of a pair of pants or both of two and yet all of many. Many Earth language also have a “paucal” number, periphrastically possible in English (e.g. a few, a couple, some, “five minutes”). It is convenient to say that Syreni has the dual and the paucal, but the number of exceptions in the use of the dual for exactly two is limitless. Instead, it is more productive to use an analogy such as mono vs. stereo or monocular vs. binocular.

Paucal

Verbs that are not marked for Vision/Number indicate that the source or end of the action is not very many in number. Syreni has no way to talk about “a hundred- thousand grains of sand” but would have to say “a few carpets of sand” or some such paraphrasis. The paucal is “fuzzy” and can refer from as few as one to perhaps more than ten. The entire group is taken as one, variegated item.

Dual

In many Earth languages, the dual is used to refer to body parts. This is true of Syreni as well, but it must have expanded from there to subsume the informal pronouns and eventually all non-polite address. Failing to use the dual in dialogue indicates “standoffish- ness” and an aloof disconnect with the interlocutor. Family units, however large, are in the dual. Body parts that don’t appear to require the dual are all spoken of this way. When questioned, Syreni say they picture the piece of anatomy as consisting of two parts (e.g. upper and lower forehead, two nares of the nose, two sounds to the one heart beating, etc.)

All verbs except those in the IMPERSONAL voice have an argument (English subject or object) that must be marked on the verb for definiteness and deixis.

Deixis

Definiteness	Distance	“Energy”	Name
Indefinite	All	All	NDF
Definite	Proximal	Energetic	PE
		Active	PA
		Passive	PP
	Medial	Energetic	ME
		Active	MA
		Passive	MP
	Distal	Energ./Active	DA
		Passive	DP
	Obviative	All	OBV

The RESULTIVE and CAUSTIVE voice do not inflect for energy.

Definiteness

All non-Impersonal verbs in Syreni indicate whether their argument is definite or indefinite. Names are always definite. Topics are always definite. In discourse, a new, unexpected subject is indefinite, but immediately becomes definite.

Distance

The demonstrative “distance” from the speaker can be one of four levels.

Energy

Syreni requires the speaker to encode the “energy level” or quality of the argument of a verb. Because the “landscape” of Syren is constantly undulating, simply sitting up requires some effort! Hence, sitting is an ACTIVE level. For a person to stand up and/or actively engage in some task such as walking or swimming requires deliberate, conscious attention, and the subject is said to be ENERGETIC at such a time. Being inert or lying down is considered PASSIVE.

Class

Participles are markable for Class.

Name	Acronym	Infix
Persons, Lightning, Forces	PLF	hiko
Living, Animate Beings	LAB	 kīlehe
Receptacles, Openings, Controls	ROC	 pipi
Solid, Discreet Things	SDT	 sū
Mushy, Porous Areas	MPA	  salu
Bendy, Flat Fractals	BFF	  saoka
Flowing, Undulating Flocks	FUF	  ‘ōkai
Cloudy, Random Hazes	CRH	 kohu
Unchanging, Dead Stuff	UDS	  mana

PLF's are uncontrollable, (mostly) unpredictable, intentional things (cp. “acts of God/Nature”). LAB's are more predicable, but very alive. Cows, cats, and gravity. ROC's are that which is manipulated. An element of unpredictability remains, since anything can go in a box. SDT's are balls, fruits, and non-containers with clear boundaries MPA's have fuzzy boundaries, fuzzy definitions, e.g. mud or a mirage/reflection on a hot day. BFF's are the Syreni “land”. This category sees the interlocking, patterned nature of bushes, carpets, ropes and shower curtains all together. FUF's include a school of fish, which is not the sum of individuals. One cannot study individual water molecules and understand a river. CRH - there is continual, complete cloud cover on Syren. It is always moving and changing, but does nothing. UDS's are how we see a majority of things in our world, whereas Syreni consider this the least populated, least important category there is.

State

Participles chains can be attributive, with the head coming last (right) or in Construct chains, with the non-Construct (Absolute) head coming last (right). Unmarked participles are in the Absolute state.

Texts

The North Wind and the Sun

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other. Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him; and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveler took off his cloak. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.

Once upon a time, there was yon Cold Blower and yon Warmer. These two were on-again- off-again fighting, talking about being more powerful, when yon lying-down coming-here person made and donned in order to get warm. These two made-peace, talking about he who triumphs, the person being-made-bare. This is being more powerful. Regarding the Cold Blower, he blew the most. But more-and-more-blowing more-and-more donning. Not triumphing, he called. Regarding the Warmer, he warmed-more-and-more. Immediately, that person un-donned. Finally, that Cold Blower made peace, saying, ”You are more powerful.” There is force. Kindness is better.

The Donkey Beater Story

There was once a man who beat his donkey every day. One day, a second man, who was a neighbor, came to the donkey-beater and asked, “Why do you beat your donkey?” The donkey- beater said, “Beating is all the donkey knows, I must beat him until he learns how to behave.” The donkey-beater then went into his home and discovered his dinner wasn’t ready, so he beat his wife. His neighbor heard the screams of the donkey-beater’s wife and came to the door. “You should not beat your wife so much,” said the neighbor. “I beat her until she learns to have dinner ready on time.” Some time later, the neighbor saw the donkey-beater beating his son in a field. This time, he did not say anything, but seized the donkey beater and began to beat him with a heavy cudgel. When the donkey-beater asked why his neighbor was beating him, his neighbor replied, “I will beat you until you learn not to beat others.”