Eastern Drydic: a descriptive grammar
The
Eastern Drydic language differs from Standard (Western) Drydic in many ways;
these mostly affirm its close affinity to Udraþ, but a few differences in
vocablulary appear. A good rule of thumb is to pronounce Udraþ as if it were
Drydic, add the Instrumental, and very little will be missing.
{a
few notations are to be used (rarely) in this chapter:
CK: Classical Kerinidoi
Da: Daraleœ
OU: Old Udraþ
PDK: Proto-Drydo-Kerinidoi
PDU: Proto-Drydo-Udraþ
PS: Proto-Steppe
PSam: Proto-Samerian, Old Šiffaraxtī
OSal: Old Salanjan
Sam: Samaritic
SU: Standard Udraþ
Č: Čal
WD:Western (Standard) Drydic
WZ: Western Zēīn (Zēīn)
WVZ: Western Valley Zēīn
(Zēīn)}
Phonology
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palato-Alveolar
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive p
b - -
t d č
ĵ c
ï k g q
Nasal -
m - - -
n - ñ
- ŋ
Spirant ¸ b
þ ð
- z š ž
ç Æ
x γ -
h
Lateral
- - - -
- l - λ
Rhotic -
- -
r*
Glide - w - j
Vowels:
*the
r is
an approximant; the *zR sound de-rhotacised to Eastern Drydic z
(the sole alveolar fricative), changing many forms that would otherwise be
identical to the Udraþ form.
Unlike
Western Drydic and Lan, the voiced bilabial plosive is an ordinary stop, not an
implosive [º].
The
Udraþ sounds of Eastern Drydic are not always represented by the Udraþ (or
Drydic) symbolism; the most striking differences are:
/λ/ is represented by lj (Udraþ <l> with the Palatal diacratic) [sequences of /l/ + /j/ are shown as ljj]
/ñ/ is represented by nj (Udraþ <n> with the Palatal diacratic) [sequences of /ñ/ + /j/ are shown
as njj]
/çw/ and /xw/ are represented as çhu, xhu
(Udraþ çw, xw) {Udraþ hw no longer occurs in Eastern Drydic;
before its loss, it was written hu, which explains the spellings çhu,
xhu}
/Æ/ is represented by
<ç> with a bar, namely <>, wheras in Udraþ it is <ï> intervocalicaly,
sometimes with the fricative diacratic.
Changes
from Proto-Drydo-Udraþ/Old Udraþ:
æ
to ē
in most positions (the change æ
> ē has halted, and the
ē's
that resulted from æ are slowly changing into a lower-mid vowel [ε]. The
exception is the Genitive singulars in –ēk, where it stays as [eI])
*k to q after *ā,
*ō, *ŏ, *ū, *ŭ
c to t after mid vowels (which
are in great abundance in Eastern Drydic; they only occur in
vocabulary items peculiar to Eastern Drydic, the
Highland dialects of Udraþ, and the Western Drēīn leading us to
believe that they are substratum items.)
*s to š in all positions[1];
the phonemes /s/ and /š/ have merged in all dialects of Drydo-Udraþ except Lan
and Western Drydic.
*z to ž in all positions1;
the phonemes /z/ and /ž/ have merged in all dialects of Drydo-Udraþ except Lan
and Western Drydic.
w to β in initial positions (Standard Udraþ is
inconsistant: v is written instead of β, which is the phoneme in all
cases)
q to g in βarg (Drydic Warg,
SU Varg); to q in all
other postitions.
*kw
to p in
all positions, except where predeeded by a nasal, where to k (for
*kw > p, as in all dialects except Lan and Western
(Standard) Drydic)
*zR
to z
in all positions
l to lj [´] before palatals, front
vowels
n, ŋ to nj [ø] before palatals, front
vowels
h to ç, x in all positions
Morphology
Nominal Declension
The
Eastern Drydic declension systems are slightly different from the Drydic, and
more like the Udraþ; the differences between it and Udraþ mostly include Old
Udraþ postpositions that have not yet become case forms, but a few form
differences occur, namely the Ablative plural of the 3rd person
personal pronoun.
1st Declension: a-stems
Sg Pl
Nominative -aš -ai
Genitive -oi -ålū
Ablative -ād -ūzoš
Allative -lje -εge
Abessive -ta -ēd
Dative -ai -enš
Accusative -un -ōš
Instrumental -ga -ššē
Locative -ī -nūš
2nd Declension: o-stems
Sg Pl
Nominative -oš -až
Genitive -ēk -olū
Ablative -yd -ūzoš
Allative -lje -εge
Abessive -ta -ēd
Dative -ai -enš
Accusative -ēm -ōš
Instrumental -ga -ššē
Locative -ī -nūš
3rd Declension: i-, e-, l-, ū-stems f/m/n (neuters, in the oblique cases, take the vowel before the final
consonant and convert it to i)
Sg Pl
Nominative -š (usuallly) -ūš (from ū-stems)
Genitive -iol (from l-stems){e-stems have -eo} -lū
Ablative -ūd (-īd, -ēd) -ūzoš
.Allative -lje -εge
Abessive -ta -ēd
(e-stems have -ēēd)
Dative -ai -enš
Accusative -om -ūš
Instrumental -ga -ššē
Locative -ī -nūš
4th Declension: n-, m-stems f/m
Sg Pl
Nominative -nš, -m -ēš
Genitive -on/-om -lū
Ablative -ūd -ūzoš
Allative -lje -εge
Abessive -ta -ēd
Dative -ai -enš
Accusative -ēn,
-ēm -ōš
Instrumental -ga -ššē
Locative -ī -nūš
5th Declension: r(z)-stems f/m/n
(PDU
*zR
became /z/ in Eastern Drydic)
Sg Pl
Nominative -z -zēz
Genitive -oz -izzū
Ablative -zīd -ūzoš
Allative -lje -εge
Abessive -ta -ēd
Dative -ai -enš
Accusative -ēz -zēz
Instrumental -ga -zzē
Locative -ī -nūš
6th Declension: uo-stems Neuter
Sg Pl
Nominative -uoš -ijāz
Genitive -ēk -uolū
Ablative -yd -ūzoš
Allative -lje -εge
Abessive -ta -ēd
Dative -ai -enš
Accusative -uom -ijāz
Instrumental -ga -ššē
Locative -ī -nūš
Adjectives
Declension 1
Sg Pl
f m n f m n
Nomimative -aš -oš -uoš -ai -až -ijāz
Genitive -oi -ēk - -alū -olū -
Ablative -ād -yd - -ūzoš - -
Allative -lje - - -εge - -
Abessive -ta - - -ēd - -
Dative -ai - - -enš - -
Accusative -un -ēm -uom -ōš -ōš -ijāz
Instrumental -ga - - -ššē - -
Locative -ī - - -nūš - -
Declension 2
Sg Pl
f m n f m n
Nomimative -š - -e_C -aj -ūš -ijāz
Genitive -iol - - -lū - -
Ablative -iād -yd - -ūzoš - -
Allative -lje - - -εge - -
Abessive -ta - - -ēd - -
Dative -ai - - -enš - -
Accusative -un -ēm -uom -ōš -ōš -ijāz
Instrumental -ga - - -ššē - -
Locative -ī - - -nūš - -
Comparitives
-īnna- plus the endings of
Decelnsion 2.
Superlatives
-irrēl- plus the endings of
Decelnsion 1.
Pronouns
1st
Person
Sg. Pl.
Nominative ūla nōš
Genitive mon nōlu
Ablative mål nål (<*nō- 1st pl. stem + ål, Ablative Allative pronominal
ending)
Allative måle
(<*mål-le) nøge (<*nō-ēge)
Abessive måta(<*mål-ta) nød (<*nō-ēd)
Dative mū nū (<*nō-ū)
Accusative ūlēm nøš (<*nō-ēš)
Instrumental måga
(<*mål-ga) nōššē
Locative (rare) mī nōnūš
2nd Person
Sg. Pl.
Nominative ša kōš
Genitive šon kōlu
Ablative šål kål (<*kō- 1st pl. stem + ål, Ablative pronominal
ending)
Allative šåle (<*sål-le) køge (<*kō-ēge) pronominal ending)
Abessive šåtå(<*sål-ta) kød (<*kō-ēd)
Dative šū kū (<*kō-ū)
Accusative šūløm (<*sū-lēm) køš (<*kō-ēš)
Instrumental šågå (<*sål-ga) kōššē
Locative (rare) šī kōnūš
3rd Person
Sg. Pl.
f m n f m n
Nominative ta tē tuoš tai tuī tura
Genitive toi tai - tālu tōlu -
Ablative tål - - tål (<*tō- 3rd pl. stem +
ål, Ablative pronominal ending)
Allative tålœ
(<*tål-le) tøge (<*tō-ēge)
Abessive tåta
(<*tål-ta) tød (<*tō-ēd)
Dative tū - - tønš (<*tō-ēnš)
Accusative tun tēm tuom tøš (<*tō-ēš) tura
Instrumental tåga
(<*tål-ga) tōššē
Locative (rare) tī - - tōnūš
Verbal
conjugation
Levels
of evidentiality:
1. -tī- seen by the
speaker
2. -ēl- seen by someone
else
3. -šī- not seen, but
probable (in opposition with the optative mood, which it cannot occur with.)
Moods:
1. -e- indicative
2. -a- subjunctive
3. -i- optative (in
opposition with the 3rd level of evidentiality, which it cannot occur with.)
Tenses:
1.
-ekV- Future Simple
2.
elaš-/stem/-ek- Future Aorist
3. -ekelī- Future
Perfect (note: the construction of aš + the Future is also very common)
4. -bV- Imperfect,
Imperfective Past Simple
5. -elī- Present Perfect
(Perfective)
6. -elībV- Pluperfect
(note: the construction of aš + the Aorist or the Present
Perfect is also very common)
7. elaš- Aorist (also formed
with reduplication, with vowel height raised one step)
8. ela- Present Aorist (reduplicated stem, regardless)
Uses:
Tense/Aspect system
Present Past Future
Imperfective Present
Imperfect Future
Aoristic Present Aorist
Aorist Future Aorist
Perfective Present Perfect Pluperfect Future
Perfect
Narrative system:
Aorist Future Aorist
| ___|___
|
| | | |
Plu. Perf. Imperf. Pres Future Future
Perfect
|
| | | | |
Personal
Endings: (note: the Dual number coincided with the Plural, as in the Western
(Highland) Udraþ dialects.)
Active Middle Passive
sg pl sg pl sg pl
1st -m -mūl -mai -mēn -maz -muz
2nd -š -tēl
-šai -čai[2] -šaz -pez
3rd -t -ntē -tai -ntai -taz -ntūz
Note: the Active 2nd person plural is the Dual form, almost exact with the Udraþ form.
Infinitives:
Present:
Active: -ai
Middle: -ein
Passive: -ēm
Aorist:
Active:
elaš-/stem/-ai
Middle: elaš-/stem/-ein
Passive: elaš-/stem/-ēm
(Plu)perfect:
Active: -elīai
Middle:-elīein
Passive:-elīem
Future:
Active: -ekai
Middle: -ekein
Passive: -ekem
The Future Perfect infinitive is
formed with the Future Infinitive plus the adverb aš.
The Imperfect Infinitive, which is
conciously avoided if possible, is constructed with aš + the present
infinitive; it is avoided most of the time because of its extreme ambiguity
with the Present Infinitive.
Participles:
Present:
/stem/ + -aš, -oš, -uoš.
(Plu)Perfect:
/perf. stem/ + -(e)ðezaš, -(e)ðezoš, -(e)ðezuoš.
Aorist:
/aor. stem/ + -(e)liš, -(e)liš,
-(e)len (3rd [i-stem] decl.)
Verbal affixes:
1.keī- negating prefix
Dialects
The
Eastern Drydic language is fairly homogeneous, but the Highland dialect has
much in common with the Highland Udraþ dialects spoken across the border; These
share the lack of a /b/~/β/, /d/~/z/, and /g/~/γ/ distinction, and
the Plural formation of –Vj (except
for r-stems, which are now actually z-stems), with the
stem vowel as the Nominative, and /-æj/ for the Accusative. These dialects have
been helpful in the reconstruction of Proto-Drydo-Udraþ,
As Old Udraþ texts in this small area also show these features. Although it is termed Eastern, it is actually the more westerly of the
Drydic-named languages; this derives from description in a definitive Salanjan
grammatical survey, which compares the Udraþ Dryds (as the modern Eastern Dryds
were typically described) to the wild Raskal peoples, because of the massive
destruction the Udraþ wrought on the Salanjan Kingdom, and describes the
Lan-Dryds (Western Dryds) as noble, civilised, and more worthy of the
designation 'Western', traditionally placed on only the most awe-striking item
in a work, because they were the mortal enemies of the Udraþ (a typical
development in tribo-linguistic groups).
Syntax
Example:
Gazik, rēkun
okulenun, dur
teranijāz šaolēk
<Sleep(Imp.)
little(f. sg.Acc) girl (Acc. sg.) for cares(Nom/Acc.pl) Šaol(gen.sg.)
keīdočīantūz[3] šon.
be(neg.prob.3rd.Pl.
pass) thou (gen.sg)>
Sleep, little one, for the cares of the world
are not yours.
Gazik, rēkun,
dur teranijāz šaolēk keidočīantūz
< Sleep(Imp.) girl (Acc. sg.) for
cares(Nom/Acc.pl) Šaol(gen.sg.)
be(neg.prob.3rd pl.pass.)
šon šai
keigazikekaš.
thou(gen.sg.) until sleep(neg.fut.2nd.sg.)>
Sleep, girl, for the troubles of the world will
not be yours until you awaken.
Lexicon
The Eastern Drydic
lexicon has many words that have cognates in Western Zēīn, suggesting
that Western Zēīn was once more widely spoken; that these words are
present in the Old Udraþ texts from this area is only more proof. 14 words.
aadekai, -ålu,
f/m. pl.-the Aadeks { from PDU *aadek-a-j,
-alū, the Aadeks < Proto-
Steppe *aed«k-, the
Aadeks}
ageinoš, -ēk, m.- lamb {from PDU *agein-o-s, lamb}
altošaš-river {from
Proto-Drydo-Udraþ *alt-os-a-s, "'stream-augm.',
river"}
aqåcæ-steep coast, peninsula, etc.{from Old Udraþ akautæ,
the same}
bhybhroš-beaver {from Arēsæd bhībhr-, beaver}(the /y/ rounded from an /i/
by the influence of the surrounding bilabial consonants, a change shared by
Highland Udraþ)
dočai-to be (the form doč- spread from the 1st
evidentiality, and took over the /c/ of the original stem.)
dur, …-
after all, …; for …
gazikai-to sleep
hazdaggaš,
-oi, f/m.-a
bear-like creature, 10 feet tall at the shoulder {from Proto-Steppe
*x2e¨tegù-, the same}
hairēkš,
-eo, f/m.-
a type of small rodent
βazg,
-oz, m.-Warg
{from Proto-Steppe *we¨g-, a Warg}
kreŭxhuoz,
-oz, m.- raw
flesh (stem kreŭxhuor-) (<xhu> is the representation of /xw/)
kruçīaštoz, -oz, m.- Megalania (stem kruçīaštor-)
okulenaš,
-oi, f.-girl
rēkaš, -oš, -uoš- little
rēgai-
to rule (Preterit rērēg-)
šai-adv.,until, then;
when (+inf. clause)
teranuoš, -ēk, n.-care
(as in cares of the world)
terraš,
-oi, f.-Earth {from Latin terra, dirt}