Æðadĕ

Æðadĕ [ˈæ.ða.də] is, just like Ayasth and Aθáta, a descendant of the earlier Adāta language developed by Deiniol Jones (aka Dewrad). It was created for the "Derivation Relay" in August 2006 at the zompist board by Daniel Ebner (aka ebilein).

Phonology

Phonemes

Here follows the consonant inventory:

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	pʰ b	tʰ d		kʰ ɡ
Fricative	ɸ β	θ ð	s z	x	h
Nasal	m	n
Lateral		l	ɾ
Semivowel	w		j

The aspirated voiceless stops are usually pronounced without aspiration after another consonant.

The Vowel Inventory is as follows:

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid High	e eː	ə	ɔ ɔː
Mid Low	æ
Low	a aː

Orthography

ɸ and β are represented with f and v, θ with þ. Aspirated stops are written with a following h: ph, th, kh.

Sometimes (due to etymological reasons) p, t and k occur on their own; this is only after other consonants, where the voiceless stops are always pronounced withouth aspiration.

Long Vowels are marked with a makron: ī, ē, ā, ō, ū; ə is represented by ĕ.

Sound Changes from Adāta

1. i > j / _V: iarioba > jarjoba, hānedia > hānedja
2. a, e > ə / unstressed: abesa > abəsə, lōzera > lōzərə
3. b, d, g > β, ð, ɣ: jabə > jaβə, Adātə > Aðātə, gamun > ɣamun
4. ə > nil / following or preceding a stressed syllable and always wordfinal, but never initial or after another vowel or halfvowel: aβən > aβn, ēəβ > ēəβ; Exception: pəpō, zəzāk and hápəβ remain
5. Two geminate consonants following each other are simplified to one: azz > az
6. ls > lz: lsō > lzō
7. n, l, r > ṇ, ḷ, ṛ / final and preceded by a consonant: aln > alṇ, khīrl > khīrḷ, lōzr > lōzṛ
8. p(h), t(h), k(h) > ɸ, þ, x / _C (but not if preceding /j/): áplo > áɸlo, záthṇ > záþṇ
9. regressive assimilation: áβs > áɸs, ásð > ázð, átzən > ádzən, ðiézk > ðiésk
10. ai, ei, oi, au, eu > aj, ej, oj, aw, ew: eul > ewl, dei > dej
11. á, é, í, ó, ú > ǽ, ié, í, ú, ué: Ádātə > Ǽðātə
12. ué, ié > wé, jé
13. Stress shifts to initial syllable
14. ə > a / stressed: əpjāp > apjāp
15. p, t, k > b, d, g / initial, V_V or final after a vowel: ǽk > ǽg
16. Unstressed long vowels are shortened: apjāp > apjap
17. lz > ḷz / wordinitial: lzō > ḷzō
18. ɣ > h / initial: ɣǽmun > hǽmun
19. ɣ > x: zūlɣ > zūlx

Grammar

Nominal Morphology

Plural

The Plural is formed by the prefix oph- (< Adāta "opha", many), which becomes ov- before voiced stops or fricatives and of- before voiceless stops, fricatives and nasals. Additionally, long vowels are shortened because stress shifts to the initial syllable. Remember also that aspirated initial consonants are spoken without aspiration as soon as the prefix is added.

Pluralisation is not required if the noun is preceeded by such words as iz every or næm some.

Examples:

• thālo moon, ofthalo moons
• ðjesk king, ovðjesk kings
• iþki mistress, ophiþki mistresses
• jādi prisoner, ophjadi prisoners

Possession

Æðadĕ, unlike Adāta but very much like its sister languages Ayasth and Aθáta, marks possession with suffixes rather than independant words.

	Singular	Plural
1	-aj	-ajg
2	-aðo	-alaw
3	-ag	-aga

The following changes occur: wordfinal e and i > j, wordfinal o and u > w and wordfinal a vanishes.

Examples:

• ðjesk king, ðjeskajg our king
• iþki mistress, iþkjaj my mistress
• iðo noble man, iðwaðo your noble man
• aðuna girl, aðunalaw your girl

Adjectives

Adjectives follow the noun they describe (ðjeskaj bira my brave king), but they do not change for number (ovðjeskaj bira my brave kings). A Comparative can be formed by suffixing -nez (or -ez if the adjective ends in a non-syllabic n), a Superlative by suffixing -jal (Adāta "ial", very).

Examples:

• bira, biranez, birajal - brave, braver, bravest
• thērn̩, thērn̩nez, thērn̩jal - beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful
• ðōdin, ðōdinez, ðōdinjal - holy, holier, holiest

For emphasis it is also possible to add jæl very in front of the Superlative. Remember, though, that jæl is never used before the comparative.

Example: ðjesk (jæl) birajal the bravest king

Subject Marker -ro

The Subject Marker suffix ro is suffixed to the last part of the noun phrase, but never to appositional nouns or relative phrases. It is also not used if the sentence is negated (obviously Æðadean speakers thought if it did not happen, why bother to mark the Subject?).

Examples:

• ðjesk king, ðjeskro king
• iþkjaj my mistress, iþkjajro my mistress
• aðunalaw jæl thērn̩jal your most beautiful girl, aðunalaw jæl thērn̩jalro your most beautiful girl
• Sjenkĕn, ðjesk xizor Sjenken, the great king, Sjenkĕnro, ðjesk xizor Sjenken, the great king

Adverbs

Adverbs precede the verb they modify and are not marked otherwise.

Compare:

• jero ōvo nun I went happily
• je ōvoro nun I, the happy one, went

Demonstratives and Quantifiers

Æðadĕ lost Adāta's three-way deixis of demonstratives and simplified it to a two-way distinction: this and that.

• zē Pl. zāg - this, these
• sje Pl. sjeg - that, those

Here follows a list of Quantifiers:

• næm some
• iz all
• ur every, each

Both Demonstratives and Quantifiers precede the noun they modify; if the noun is preceded by a demonstrative or quantifier, the plural prefix oph- is optional and usually omitted.

Examples:

• zāg (ov)ðjesk these kings
• næm (oph)aðuna some girls

Personal Pronouns

	Normal	Subjective	Oblique	Vocative
1 sg	je	jero	jen	æxin
2 sg	ðo	ðoro	ðon	æxðon
3 sg	æ	æro	æn	æxan
1 pl	jeg	jexro	īn**	æxi
2 pl	ðog*	ðoxro*	lākhon**	æxlakho
3 pl	æg	æxro	ān**	æxa

(*) The analogically formed 2nd person forms from singular ðo replaced the original "lākhok", "lākhok ro" which would have resulted in lākhog, lākhoxro.

(**) The plural oblique forms would originally have developed without the final "n"; it was, however, placed there due to analogy with the singular.

The Vocative forms are used as possessive pronouns in combination with the possessive suffixes if someone is adressed. They are not usually used to indicate mere possession.

Example: iþki! oh mistress, iþkjaj æxin! oh my mistress!

Verbal Morphology

Compared to Adāta's verbal system, Æðadĕ has changed a lot. The habitual aspect was lost, as well as some moods. All in all, Æðadĕ tends to be a tense-language rather than an aspect-language. The following chart shows how the tenses developed from Adāta's aspects:

	Past	Present	Future
Indicative	Ind. Perfective	Ind. Imperfective	Opt. Imperfective
Imperative		Imp. Imperfective
Optative	Opt. Perfective	Opt. Imperfective	Paraphrased
Obligative	Oblig. Perfective	Oblig. Imperfective	Paraphrased

Verbs are usually given in the Indicative Present Pl, which is the least inflected form. E.g. ævi say, zjema live, hæva drink.

Endings

	Past		Present		Future
	Sg	Pl	Sg	Pl	Sg	Pl
Indicative	-n	-v	-si	-	uk-si	uk-
Imperative			ī-si	ī-
Optative	uk-n	uk-v	uk-si	uk-	ūsi VN*	ūs VN*
Obligative	so-n	so-v	so-si	so-	susi VN*	sō VN*

(*) VN = Verbal noun

Verb Stems & Ending Varieties

Verbs whose Indicative Present Plural form ends in an a or an e usually loose this vowel when endings are suffixed (so ævi say with the stem ævi-, opposed to zjema live with the stem zjem-).

The affixed n of the past tense becomes syllabic (n̩) if following another consonant (thus ævin said next to zjemn̩ lived).

The last sound of the Stem is assimlated to the voiced Past Plural suffix v (nuzv died from nusa, die).

Similarly, the last sound of the Stem is assimilated to the voiceless Present Singular suffix si (hæfsi drinks from hæva, drink).

The prefix uk of Optative and Future Indicative only remains in front of h (ukhæfsi will drink). If the Stem begins with a vowel or halfvowel, it is softened to ug (ugævisi will say); if the Stem of the verb begins with another consonant, it becomes ux (uxzjemsi will live).

The Obligative prefix so is shortened to s in front of vowels and halvowels (sævi shall say).

Two geminate sounds are usually simplified to one (hæv drank instead of *hævv, nusi dies instead of *nussi)

Example Conjugation

ævi	Past		Present		Future
say	Sg	Pl	Sg	Pl	Sg	Pl
Indicative	ævin	æviv	ævisi	ævi	ugævisi	ugævi
Imperative			īævisi	īævi
Optative	ugævin	ugæviv	ugævisi	ugævi	ūsi ævjĕn	ūs ævjĕn
Obligative	sævin	sæviv	sævisi	sævi	susi ævjĕn	sō ævjĕn

hæva	Past		Present		Future
drink	Sg	Pl	Sg	Pl	Sg	Pl
Indicative	hævn̩	hæv	hæfsi	hæva	ukhæfsi	ukhæva
Imperative			īhæfsi	īhæva
Optative	ukhævn̩	ukhæv	ukhæfsi	ukhæva	ūsi hævjĕn	ūs hævjĕn
Obligative	sohævn̩	sohæv	sohæfsi	sohæva	susi hævjĕn	sō hævjĕn

The Verbal Noun can be formed by omitting the last vowel of the Present Plural and adding either -jĕn or -ĕjĕn (the latter is not as common as the former and thus marked in dictionaries).

Regular Irregularities

Verbs beginning with a voiced plosive consonant (b, d, g) are usually two stemmed; they change this first voiced consonant into a voiceless consonant in Optative mood and in Future Present Indicative.

Examples:

• dijo pull, uxtijo will pull
• bilæza send, uxpilæzaa will send
• giga throw, uxkiga will throw

Verbs that end in ja or je do not loose the final vowel in inflection, but change it to ĕ. This also goes for verbs of three or more syllables and is marked in dictionaries if it does not occur.

Examples:

• mælja suck, mæljĕsi sucks
• ævuje hold, ævujĕsi holds
• ōloka forget, ōlokĕsi forgets

Irregular Verbs

There are a few irregular verbs whose full inflection will be given now (they are æthe be, æði be, dū drink and abena cry).

æthe	Past		Present		Future
be	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Indicative	æn	vi	si	æthe	ūsi	ūs
Imperative			isi	is
Optative	weg	ūv	ūsi	ūs	ūsi	ūs
Obligative	son	sov	susi	sō	susi	sō

æði	Present
be	Singular	Plural
Indicative	æth	æði
Imperative	ī	īĕði

dū	Past		Present		Future
drink	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Indicative	dwen	dwev	dwesi	dū	uxtwesi	uxtu
Imperative			īswesi	īsu
Optative	uxtwen	uxtwev	uxtwesi	uxtu	ūsi dijĕn	ūs dijĕn
Obligative	sodwen	sodwev	sodwesi	sodu	susi dijĕn	sō dijĕn

abena	Past		Present		Future
cry	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Indicative	aben	abenv	abensi	abena	uxpensi	uxpena
Imperative			īĕbensi	īĕbena
Optative	uxpen	uxpenv	uxpensi	uxpena	ūsi abenjĕn	ūs abenjĕn
Obligative	spēn	spēnv	spēnsi	spēna	susi abenjĕn	sō abenjĕn

Negation

Adāta's negative prefixes m- and a- came to be considered as separate prepositions; m became n (because 'm' was not allowed word final in Adāta) and later became syllabic ('ṇ'). The negative 'a' became 'æ'.

By the time we reach Æðadĕ ṇ and æ are interchangeable. They are simply put before the conjugated verb.

Example: N̩ abensi iþki. = Æ abensi iþki.

not cry-PRES mistress

The mistress is not crying.

Syntax

Noun Phrases

Noun phrases consist of a noun that can be modified by adjectives, appositions and genitives. The order is usually Determiner - Noun - Adjective - Genitive - Apposition.

Example: iz ðiphi jæl birajal æx Kāxd ovðjesk gæǽsun

all child very bravest of Kaxd PL-king powerful

all the bravest children of Kaxd, the powerful kings

Simple Sentences

Usual word order is S-V-O, as can be seen in the following example:

Jero huphin ān.

I-SUBJ defeat-PAST they-OBL

I defeated them.

Complex Sentences

The S-V-O word order is changed to V-O-S if the Subject is followed by appositional nouns or a relative clause:

Ævin sjeb Sjenkĕnro, ðjesk xizor.

speak-PAST thus Sjenken-SUBJ king great

Thus spoke Sjenken, the great king.

Wephonĕphĕnĕv jen ovðjeskĕlĕs gæsusro æg wez papazjĕn īl jen jwe ðiphi.

belittle-PAST I-OBL PL-kingdom nearby-SUBJ they PAST name-PARTICIPLE to I-OBL like child.

The nearby kingdoms, who named me a child, belittle me.

Sample text

Ævin sjeb Sjenkĕnro, ðjesk xizor, ðjesk æx læs æx Kāxd, mēxt æx Zæm un æx Thālo:

īlnu jero æpṇ uv ōbagatjĕ æx mizaj, iz ðjeskĕlĕs rūlzro æn hēgon īl jen. Ovðjeskĕlĕs rūlz gæsusro æviv sjeb: "Mizagro æn ðjesk bira. Æro huphin ovðjeskĕlĕs ægarĕn. Un æro dæn jwe næg. Ðæl æþ jwe ðiphi æro æ jwe æbjĕn uv ōbagatjĕ æx mizag.