Calineg
| Calian Calineg | |
| Spoken in: | Calen (Cale) |
| Conworld: | Alternate Europe |
| Total speakers: | 430-490 million |
| Genealogical classification: | Indo-European
|
| Basic word order: | VSO (V1) |
| Morphological type: | inflecting |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | nominative-accusative |
| Writing system: | |
| Created by: | |
| K. Willis | circa 2000-2008 C.E. |
Calineg [kæl'inɨg] (i Galineg [i gæl'inɨg]) is an a posteriori constructed language that is a modern descendant of Proto-Italo-Celtic. Calineg has been systematically derived from Proto-Celtic and Proto-Italic roots that best approximate a synthesis of these branches. The vocabulary also shows early pseudo-historical borrowing from Latin and later Brythonic loanwords. The alternate timeline presented in this article has been constructed in order to provide an environment necessary for the survival of the language.
Calineg is today spoken around the world by 171.4 million people as a native language, and by about 260 to 300 million people as a second or third language. The language ranks 8th among total number of native speakers, and between 7th and 9th overall. Most native speakers live in Calen (89.6 million), where the language originated. The rest live in Calophone South America (38.1 million), Canada (28.3 million), Calophone Africa (12.6 million), United States (1.9 million), and Israel (635 000). Calineg is an official language of 16 countries, most of which form what is know as i Galluna (The Calophone).
In Calen, where fluency is a requirement for citizenship, 89.6 million people (96% of 93.1 million) speak Calineg as their native language. According to the European Union, 159 million people (32% of 497.2 million) speak Calineg, 92.8 million (18.7%) as first language and 65 million (13%) claim it as their second language, which makes it second in the Union after English. In South America, Calineg ranks third after Portuguese and Spanish, respectfully, in number of native speakers. Calineg ranks third in North America as well, after English and Spanish.
See Nosuch Galinege! Learn Calineg! for more information on the language.
History
Proto-Calinic diverged from Proto-Italo-Celtic sometime before the first millennium B.C.E. Widely spoken across Central Europe, Common Calinic stone inscriptions have been found dating as early as the 3rd century B.C.E. Common Calinic speakers were first attested in Roman works of the 1st century B.C.E.
The earliest extant sources identifiable as Calineg go back to about the 1st century C.E. Very little of the language from this period, known as Early Calineg (Calineg fora), remains. The next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Calineg (Hena Galineg) from the 3rd to 7th centuries. The period also saw the borrowing of numerous Latin words, especially in technical language. Middle Calineg (Calineg metha), with its soaring epic poetry, runs into the 10th century. Modern Calineg consists of two distinct periods. It was marked by the extensive influx of Brythonic words after the incorporation of Belgium (Gwala Felga) in North Burgundy (Borgone Golethole) into Calen. Early Modern Calineg (Calineg thiwetha bora) officially began with the drafting of The Alliance of Calen and the United Burgundy (Ir Hocida’r Cale a’r Borgone Eloge) in 937 C.E. Similarly, Late Modern Calineg (Calineg thiwetha netha) began with the drafting of the Unification of the Two Kingdoms (Eloga’r thua Wala) in 1475 C.E. Current linguistic debate centers over whether the modern era has ended with the widespread education and media publication that effectively made the colloquial register the only known language of the people, and Post-Modern Calineg (Calineg thiwetha hura) began in the latter half of the 20th century.
Phonology
Vowels
| Vowels | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | ||||||
| High | i | u | ||||||||
| Near-high | ||||||||||
| High-mid | e | o | ||||||||
| Mid | ||||||||||
| Low-mid | ||||||||||
| Near-low | ||||||||||
| Low | a | |||||||||
Consonants
| Consonants | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Labiod. | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alv. | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ng | |||||||||||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | c | g | ch | |||||||||||
| Fricative | f | th | s | |||||||||||||||
| Affricate | ||||||||||||||||||
| Approximants | w | h | ||||||||||||||||
| Lateral | l | r | ||||||||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant | lh | rh | ||||||||||||||||
Stress and Pitch
Stress in polysyllabic words occurs on the penultimate syllable, with rare exceptions. Monosyllabic words are always treated as stressed. Because of a shift in stress position, related words may sound very different as declension, conjugation or compound formation change the word length.
Stress on penultimate syllables is characterised by a low pitch, which is followed by a high pitch on the (unstressed) word-final syllable.
Morphology
Mutation
Initial consonant mutation is a phenomenon common to Calinic and Celtic languages. The first consonant of a word in Calineg may change depending on grammatical context or when preceded ("triggered") by certain words. Calineg has three mutations: the soft mutation (hence SM), the nasal mutation (NM), and the aspirate mutation (AM). These are also represented in writing:
Radical Soft Nasal Aspirate p b m h f b f m t d n h th d th n c g ng h ch g * ng lh l rh r m m h n n h
- A blank cell indicates no change.
- Note: /g/ disappears.
- Letters not listed under the category “radical” do not undergo mutation.
For example, the word for “tree” is prana, but “the tree” is i brana, “my tree” fim hrana, and “her tree” ea frana. Not all letters mutate under the same environments, so the same sequence for “woman” is: bena “woman”, i fena “the woman”, fi mena “my woman” , but ea bena “her woman”. Gramatical mutation is discussed under syntax.
The Article
- There is no indefinite article in Calineg.
bena, a woman. cethe, a man.
- There are three forms of the definite article in Calineg.
I is used before a consonant. i cethe, the man.
Ir is used before words beginning with a vowel or /h/. ir ore, the hammer.
‘r is used after words that end in a vowel, regardless of whether the following word begins with a vowel or not.
Ma’r fena’n fira.
Is-FEM.-3S. the [SM]woman-NOM.S. PROG. speak-FEM.
The woman is speaking.
Note: Feminine nouns undergo the soft mutation after the direct article. i fena, the woman.
Nouns
In Calineg nouns are declined for gender, number and case.
- There are two genders in Calineg: masculine and feminine.
All nouns meaning individual male or female persons are masculine or feminine respectfully, but all nouns referring to a mixed group of males and females are feminine. The gender of all other nouns must be memorized.
- There are three numbers in Calineg: singular, dual, and plural.
- There are five cases in Calineg: nominative, accusative, genitive, ablative and vocative.
The Nominative is the case of the subject: bena, cethe.
The Accusative is the case of the direct object: bene, cethi.
The Ablative is the case of the indirect object. The particle e precedes the noun and causes the nasal mutation: e mena, eng hethe.
Genitive is the case of possession. Genitive relationships are expressed by apposition. The indefinite noun undergoes the soft mutation. cethe fena, a woman’s man.
The Vocative case is the case of direct address. Nouns undergo a soft mutation to form the vocative case. Proper names, however, usually do not undergo mutation: fena, chethe.
Bures, minduch at ga!
[SM]Boy-NOM.Pl. go-IMPER.Pl. to [SM]home-NOM.S.
Boys, go home!
Masculine Nouns
Case Singular Dual Plural Nominative e en es Dative e [NM] -e e [NM] -en e [NM] -es Accusative i in is
Feminine Nouns
Case Singular Dual Plural Nominative a an as Dative e [NM] -a e [NM] -an e [NM] -as Accusative e en es
- For example, consider the declension of brene, a male ruler.
Case Singular Dual Plural Nominative brene "a ruler" brenen "two rulers" brenes "rulers" Dative e mrene "(to) a ruler" e mrenen "(to) two rulers" e mrenes "(to) rulers" Accusative breni "a ruler" brenin "two rulers" brenis "rulers"
- And brena, a female ruler
Case Singular Dual Plural Nominative brena "a ruler" brenan "two rulers" brenas "rulers" Dative e mrena "(to) a ruler" e mrenan "(to) two rulers" e mrenas "(to) rulers" Accusative brene "a ruler" brenen "two rulers" brenes "rulers"
Pronouns
Pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun to which they refer.
Personal Pronouns
Person Singular Dual Plural First mi on ni Second ti en chi Third ha/e an nu
Calineg also has special emphatic forms of the personal pronouns.
Emphatic Pronouns
Person Singular Dual Plural First mina fina nina Second titha dena china Third hinta (her) dana nuna finta (himself)
Possessive Pronouns
Person Singular Dual Plural First fi [NM] fin [SM] eni Second di [SM] den [SM] enich Third ea [AM] ('hers') dan [AM] enu ei [SM] ('his')
- The possessive pronouns are also used in the accusative case of the personal pronouns.
Reflexive Pronouns
Person Singular Dual Plural First finun fin hun eni hun Second dinun den hun enich hun Third danun (herself) dan hun enu hun denun (himself)
Demonstrative Pronouns
Person Singular Dual Plural 'This'/'These' han (f.) i - rhan i - rhen hen (m.) hin (intangible) 'That'/'Those' hena/e (f./m.) i - rhani i - rheni heni (intangible)
Adjectives
In Calineg, adjectives agree with the gender of the noun they modify: cethe ine, last man bena ina, last woman.
Adjectives undergo the soft mutation following feminine nouns: bena la, small woman (From lh- 'small' ).
- The equative degree can be formed by adding –ad for a feminine or -ed for a masculine adjective, to the stem. Emphatic pronouns are used if necessary: i fena lad hinat, the woman as small as her.
- The comparative degree is formed by adding –ach or -ech to the stem: bena lach, smaller woman
- The superlative degree is formed by adding –af or –ef to the stem. The adjective must be preceded by the article. i feraf, the largest; i lhef, the smallest.
The demonstrative adjectives are enclitic. 'ma 'this'/'these' and 'na 'that/those' are affixed to the end of the noun the describe. The article must be used with the noun: i cethe'na, this man, i cethes'na "these men", i fena'ma, that woman, i fenas'ma those women.
Verbs
In Calineg verbs are conjugated for voice, mood, tense, number, and person.
- There are two voices: active and passive.
The active represents the subject as acting or being.
Molo then.
Praise-1S. [SM]your-2D.
I praise you two.
The passive represents the subject as acted upon.
Molor.
Praise-1S.-Pass.
I am praised.
- There are three moods: indicative, subjunctive/conditional, and imperative.
- There are nine tenses: present, past, future (the simple tenses), imperfect, past imperfect, future imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect (the compound tenses).
Personal Endings of the Active Voice
Person Singular Dual Plural First o (-) -n -ch Second -s -n- -g Third -d/-t -m -th
Personal Endings of the Passive Voice
Person Singular Dual Plural First -r -r-n -r-ch Second -r (-r-s) -r-n -r-g Third -r-d/-r-t -r-m -r-th
The Active Simple Tenses
Number Person Present Imperfect Future Imperative Singular 1st o a i - 2nd es as is us 3rd ed/et ad/at id/it uch Dual 1st en an in - 2nd ene ana ini un 3rd em am im um Plural 1st ech ach ich - 2nd eg ag ig uch 3rd eth ath ith uth
Verbal Nouns
The verbal noun is a special verb form that is declined only for gender like an adjective. The verbal noun can behave in a similar manner to an infinity or gerund in English. In Calineg, the verbal noun is also used to form the compound tenses as well as a noun or an adjective.
- Molo 'to praise' forms the verbal nouns:
mola 'praising' (feminine subject) and mole 'praising' (masculine subject)
Bod 'to be'
Bod 'to be' is highly irregular. In addition to having inflected forms of the preterite, future, and conditional, it also maintains inflected present and imperfect forms which are used frequently as auxiliaries with other verbs. Bod also distinguishes between affirmative, interrogative, and negative statements for each tense.
Present Past Future Affirmative Negative Interrogative Aff. Neg. Inter. Aff. Neg. Inter. Singular First dwi rwi dim idwi? reni deri dim oni? fithi fithi dim ithi? Second dach rach dim idich? reti deti dim oreti? fithiti fithiti dim ithiti? Third ma/e da/e dim ida/e? retha/e detha/e dim oretha/e? fitha/e fitha/e dim itha/e? Dual First dan rho dim idon? ron deron dim oron? fithon fithon dim ithon? Second den rhe dim iden? ren deren dim oren? fithen fithen dim ithen? Third man rha dim idan? ran deran dim oran? fithan fithan dim ithan? Plural First dani rani dim idani? rethi deni dim oreni? fitheni fitheni dim itheni? Second dachi rachi dim idachi? rechi dechi dim orechi? fithechi fthechi dim ithechi? Third manu danu dim idanu? renu denu dim orenu? fithenu fithenu dim ithenu?
The affirmative forms presented above are actually abbreviated forms of the formal roots. Bod also has conditional forms of the verb. Additionally, Calineg does not have one word for ‘yes’ and ‘no', but instead uses modified verb forms in response to direct questions. However, they are all omitted here for the sake of clarity.
Becasue a soft mutation always follows the verb phrase, the negative particle dim appears as thim in most sentances.
Da'r anera thim en tama.
Is-FEM.S. the young-woman-NOM.S. [SM]NEG. PROG. die-FEM.
The young-woman is not dying.
Adverbs
Adverbs are unique because the do not decline to agree with the verbs they modify. Most adverbs are formed from the same stem as the corresponding adjective and a null suffix.
Compare:
Ma'n rheda ber. Ma'n fera.
Is-FEM.3S. PROG. run-FEM. slow. Is-FEM.3S. PART. [SM]slow-FEM.
She is running slowly. She is slow.
Prepositions
Some prepositions decline for grammatical gender. They are called personal prepositions. They must be memorized because they are highly irregular. The radical form of a preposition is used before nouns and adjectives to from prepositional phrases.
Personal Prepositions
Radical 'Me' 'You' (s.) 'Her'/'Him' Dual 'Us' 'You' (pl.) 'Them' Ag 'at' agam agat aga/e agan agi agof agu Am 'about/for' amdana amdanat amdana/e amdon amdani amdonon amdonin Ar 'on' arna arnat ara/e arn ari archi arnun As 'out of' asam asat asa/e asan asi asod astu At 'to'/'towards' atam atat ata/e aton ati atoch atin Chug 'towards' chugam chat cha/e chun chuci chuch chucu Dan 'under' danam danat dana/e danan dani dachi danu E 'in' emi eti eda/e eden edihi edif edin Gan 'with' gen geni genna/e genon geneni genoch genenu In 'to' imi ito ifa/e inen ini ichi inu Id 'between' idmi iditi idiha/e idin edra edar etar O 'from'/'of' ono onat ona/e on oni onich onu Rom 'before' roham romat roma/e ron romi roman romu Nes 'next' nesam neset nesa/e nesan nesi nesan newu Thar 'over' tharam tharat thara/e thon thomi tharan tharu Ti 'by means of' tam tat ta/e ton tithi tin tinu Um 'around/about' unam umat uma/e uman umi umaf umu
- All personal prepositions cause the soft mutation (SM), except for ti 'by means of'.
- The dual form of the preposition is used in all cases.
Numbers
Case Singular Dual Plural Nominative e en es Dative e [NM] -e e [NM] -en e [NM] -es Accusative i in is
Feminine Nouns
Nominative a an as Dative e [NM] -a e [NM] -an e [NM] -as Accusative e en es
Syntax
Sentence Structure
In an inflecting language like Calineg word order is theoretically optional. Practically, however, the verb normally occupies the first position in neutral sentences, with the subject following. In English, the verb is the second main idea and it separates the subject from the complement—either the object or a phrase dependant on the verb. Unlike English, Calineg is VSO in affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences.
Affirmative
Me'r cethe ar na.
Is-1S.MASC. the man-NOM.S. on ship-NOM.S.
The man is on a ship.
Interrogative
Ide'r cethe ar na?
Is-1S.MASC. the man-NOM.S. on ship-NOM.S.
Is the man on a ship?
Negative
De'r cethe thim ar na.
Is-1S.MASC.NEG. the man-NOM.S. [SM]NEG. on ship-NOM.S.
The man is not on a ship.
Simple sentences are formed around a conjugated verb.
Rhetha'r ar bade a lida Cale.
Travel-1S.IMP. the on [SM]length-NOM. and width-NOM. Calen-NOM.
I travelled the length and breadth of Calen.
Compound sentences are formed from a form of to be and a verbal noun linked by a complement marker (en or wed).
Me'r cethe’n bone dure.
Is-1S.MASC. the man-NOM.S. PROG. open-MASC. door-ACC.S.
The man is opening a door.
Me'r cethe wed bone dure.
Is-1S.MASC. the man-NOM.S. PERFECT open-MASC. door-ACC.S.
The man has opened a door.
Caineg is head initial and therefore dependent phrases must begin with a verb in a similar manner to the use of that in English. In the present tense the infinitive of the verb to be is followed by the subject of the dependant clause or preceded by a possessive pronoun. Compare:
Fitho bod i mabe'n lhere. Cetho ea bod en bala.
Know-1S. to-be the son-NOM.S. PROG. read-MASC. Believe-1S. her to-be PROG. ill-FEM.
I know the son is reading. I believe that she is ill.
In the past tense the verb to happen is used instead.
Meno darfa'r masa'n celura.
Want-1S. happen-FEM. the girl PROG making-pots-FEM.
I want the girl to have been making pots.
In the future or conditional tenses, however, the appropriate verb is used.
Fomeno fitha'r anera'n bera pere chirra.
Hope-1S. Is-3.S.FEM.FUT. young-woman PROG cook-FEM chicken-ACC.S. curry-FEM.
I hope the young-woman will be cooking curry chicken.
While the verb typically occupies the first position, this is only a general rule in Calineg. The rule is consistent enough, however, to make deviation from it noticeable. Therefore, Calineg often draws attention to a focused element by moving it from its more expected position to the beginning of the sentence. In the colloquial register, word order is more ridged and misplaced elements often undergo a soft mutation. When subject occupies the first position it is dependant on an understood “is”, and therefore must be followed by a relative clause.
I fena'n ta.
The [SM]woman-NOM. PROG. come-FEM.
(It is) the woman (who) is coming.
When the verb is emphasized, it is placed first in the infinitive (verbal noun), and linked to the verb to do in the relative clause. In informal speech the to be verb may be used instead. Compare:
Ta gwened. Ta ma!
Come-FEM. does-3S.FEM. Come-FEM. is-1S.FEM.
She is coming. She is coming!
Mutation
All instances of mutations in Calineg can be divided in to either contact or grammatical mutations. Contact mutations occur following a relatively small number of high frequency words such as prepositions, numerals, and the complement markers. Instead of being caused by a preceding word, grammatical mutations fulfill a syntactic function.
Gramatical Mutations
In Calineg, because neutral sentences are VSO in structure, a soft mutation (SM) is used to separate the subject from the complement. This most fundamental rule of Calineg grammar can be summarized as: Subject[SM].
Bonet i cethe thure.
Open-3.MASC.S. the man-NOM.S. [SM]door-ACC.S.
The man opens a door.
Contact Mutations
The complement markers cause a soft mutation on proceeding nouns and adjectives.
Ma'r fena'n bride.
Is-1FEM.S. the [SM]woman-NOM.S. PART. [SM]poetess-ACC.S
The woman is a poetess.
