Phyrean language

Phyrean
High Phyrean
‘fwyrdunwyz Ffwyrdunwyrh
Pronunciation	[ˈfuɨ̯rdɨnuɨ̯r̥]
Region	Most of Phyrea
Ethnicity	Continental Avannians
Era	1260 ANB - Present
Language family	Namuno-Ethian Avannic Continental Avannic Phyrean
Early forms	Elder Phyrean Old High Phyrean Middle Phyrean
Writing system	Phyrean script
Official status
Official language in	Official language Amrhyl Nemmark Blackstrath Working language Hower Hearn

Phyrean (‘fwyrdunwyz Ffwyrdunwyrh [ˈfuɨ̯rdɨnuɨ̯r̥]) is an Avannic language spoken throughout southern upper Phyrea and parts of lower Phyrea, as well as ex-colonies of the Kingdom of Amrhyl. It is the main language of commerce in the northern hemisphere, and compounded with the ex-colonial territories it has been introduced to, it has arguably become a global lingua franca.

History

Phyrean and its dialects are Continental Avannic languages, of the broader Namuno-Ethian family. The earliest evidence found of Early Old Phyrean, the first true form of the language, is a eulogistical inscription on a gravestone dated to around 80 BNB. The text is presented below, with a translation into Literary Standard Phyrean.

EWLAWNAVANŌRROWFŌRLNMOXWLNNXWLNPĀRW EWLAWN:AVANŌR:ROWFŌR:L[E]N:MOXW:L[E]N:N[E]XW:L[E]N:PĀRW

ewlawn ‘avanōr ar rwf . ln moxw . ln nxw . ln mhārw ^ Ewlawn Afanór ar rwff, len mochw, len nechw, len mhárw.

"To Afan the Night you go, my soul, my blood, my girl."

The colons (:) are added to ease parsing, separating words–they were not present in the original, as early inscriptions made no use of spaces or punctuation. Unwritten <e> is added in the transliteration, as it is customary of phyrean orthography to skip this letter within words.

Phonology

Consonants

There are a total of 24 consonants in Phyrean, counting the ones only appearing in initial mutations.

Consonants

		Labial / Labiodental		Alveolar / Dental / Linguodental		Lateral	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
		Unvoiced	Voiced	Unvoiced	Voiced			Unvoiced	Voiced
Nasal		mh mh /m̥/	m m /m/	nh nh /n̥/	n n /n/			ngh ngh /ŋ̊/	ng ng /ŋ/
Plosive		p p /p/	b b /b/	t t /t/	d d /d/			c c /k/	g g /g/
Fricative	Plain	f ff (ph) /f/	v f /v/	þ th /θ/	ð dd /ð/	q ll /ɬ/		x ch /x/		h h /h/
	Sibilant			s s /s/
Trill				z rh /r̥/	r r /r/
Approximant			w w /w/			l l /l~ɫ/	i~j i~j /j/		(w w /w/)

There are traditional naming conventions for the sounds found in the language, often documented in older grammars:

• The hard struck sounds: p, t, c
• The soft struck sounds: b, d, g
• The hard whispered sounds: ff, th, s, ch, h
• The soft whispered sounds: f, dd
• The rough rolling sounds: ll, rh
• The soft rolling sounds: l, r
• The narrow sounds: m, n (sometimes mh, nh, ng, ngh are included, though not always, as they either occur rarely or due to initial mutations)

Vowels

The Phyrean language has seven written vowels: a, e, i, o, u, w and y, with lengthened counterparts marked with a diacritic (á, é, í, etc.).

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i i /i/ • ī í /i:/	y~u y~u /ɨ/ • ȳ~ū ý~ú /ɨ:/	w w /ʊ/ • ẅ ẃ /u:/
Mid	e e /e/ • ē é /e:/		o o /o/ • ō ó /o:/
Open		a a /a/ • ā á /a:/

Audibly, the vowels u and y are identical, but never interchangeable in writing, exemplified by the word “blue” below.

• qulud llulud incorrect
• qylyd llylyd incorrect
• qylud llylud incorrect
• qulyd llulyd correct form

Diphthongs

It’s important to note that most diphthongs have their stress on the first vowel. Below is a table of possible diphthongs. Any combinations not listed in the table may still occur, but will not be considered diphthongs. Although not listed, lengthened counterparts are valid first vowel components.

Diphthongs

	Second vowel
First vowel	a	e	i	o	u/y	w
a	-	ae ae /aɨ̯/	ai ai /ai̯/	-	au au /aɨ̯/	aw aw /au̯/
e	-	-	ei ei /ei̯/	-	eu eu /eɨ̯/	ew ew /eu̯/
i	ia ia /i̯a/	ie ie /i̯e/	-	iu io /i̯o/	iu iu /iɨ̯/	iw iw /iu̯/
o	-	oe oe /oɨ̯/	oi oi /oi̯/	-	ou ou /oɨ̯/	ow ow /ou̯/
u/y	-	-	-	-	-	yw~uw yw~uw /ɨu̯/
w	wa wa /u̯a/	we we /u̯e/	wi wi /u̯i/	wo wo /u̯o/	wy~wu wy~wu /uɨ̯~u̯ɨ/	-

Stress

Stress in phyrean is almost always present in the penultimate (in bisyllables) or antepenultimate (in polysyllables) syllable, except in words beginning with hy- or y-, which have their accent after the first syllable.

• ‘aniðun Aniddun /ˈaniðɨn/ "Anidon"
• māharþ máharth /ˈma:harθ/ "watcher"
• hyvr hyfer /hɨˈver/ "all, every"
• hyvoryd hyforyd /hɨˈvorɨt/ "other, another"

Initial mutations

As with other of its close Avannic relatives, Phyrean has a system of initial mutations, similar to those of Hogharryan, its closest relative. However, they developed differently and in different circumstances to the initial mutations found in other relatives like Stockardian, insomuch as the phonological processes leading to them were not the same. The consonants able to assume initial mutations are the struck sounds (p, t, c, b, d, g), the narrow sounds (m, n) and the rough rolling sounds (ll, rh). Vowels (and thus also diphthongs) may also assume two kinds of initial mutation, and h has a unique mutation that only occurs in specific compounds.

Initial mutations

Base form	Smooth	Narrow	Whispered	Compounding
b b /b/	v f /v/	m m /m/	-	-
d d /d/	ð dd /ð/	n n /n/	-	-
g g /g/	Elided	ng ng /ŋ/	-	-
p p /p/	b b /b/	mh mh /m̥/	f ph /f/	-
t t /t/	d d /d/	nh nh /n̥/	þ th /θ/	-
c c /k/	g g /g/	ngh ngh /ŋ̊/	x ch /x/	-
m m /m/	v f /v/	-	-	-
n n /n/	ð dd /ð/	-	-	-
q ll /ɬ/	l l /l/	-	-	-
z rh /r̥/	r r /r/	-	-	-
vowels	v'V f-V /vV/	n'V n-V /nV/	-	-
h h /h/	-	-	-	g g /g/

Grammar

Morphologically, Phyrean is fusional, as is common of Namuno-Ethian languages. [WIP]

Dialects

Map displaying the dialect continuum of the native Phyrean-speaking area.

Vowel realisations

The chart below shows the differing vowel realisations found in various major Phyrean dialects or "accents."

Vowel realisations

Standard		[a]	[a:]	[e]	[e:]	[i]	[i:]	[o]	[o:]	[ʊ]	[u:]	[ɨ]	[ɨ:]
Capital	Levon	[a]	[a:]	[e]	[e:]	[i]	[i:]	[o]	[o:]	[ʊ]	[u:]	[ɨ]	[ɨ:]
	Llyd-an-Járth		[ɑ:]		[ɛ:]				[ɔ:]
Amrhylian	East			[ɛ]				[ɔ]				[ə]
	West	[ɑ]		[e]		[ɪ]		[o]				[ɨ]
Hogharrhyan	Coastal	[a]	[a:]			[i]				[u]		[i]	[i:]
	Lowland			[ɛ]				[ɔ]
	Midland		[aʊ̯]	[e]	[eɪ̯]	[ɪ]	[ɪi̯]	[o]	[oʊ̯]		[əʊ̯]	[ɪ]	[ɪi̯]
	Highland				[ɛa̯]		[eɪ̯]		[ɔa̯]	[ʊ]			[eɪ̯]
Nemmark-Blackstradian	East Nemmish	[ɐ]	[a:]	[ɛ]	[ɛ:]		[i:]	[ɔ]	[ɔ:]		[u:]	[ɨ]	[ɨ:]
	Central Nemmish	[a]	[ɔ:]	[e]	[æ:]		[ɛ:]	[o]				[ɪ]	[ɛ:]
	West Nemmish				[ɛ:]						[ɤ:]
	North Blackstradian	[ɐ]	[a:]				[i:]			[ɤ]		[ɨ]	[ɨ:]
	South Blackstradian	[æ]	[æ:]	[ɛ]		[i]		[ɔ]		[ə]	[u:]	[ɪ]	[ɪ:]

Variant vocabulary

The chart below shows variations in vocabulary in various Phyrean dialects.

Variations in vocabulary

Meaning	Capital		Amrhylian		Hogharrhyan				Nemmark-Blackstradian
	Levon	Llyd-an-Járth	East	West	Coastal	Lowland	Midland	Highland	East N.	Central N.	West N.	North B.	South B.
Fox	cðyn Ceddyn											mabyn Mabyn	jab Jab
Stative be, ind. perf.	ena Ena				nav Naf	enav Enaf	nav Naf		na Na
Eventive be, ind. perf.	yra Yra				rav Raf	yrav Yraf	rav Raf		ra Ra
Become, ind. perf.	ryma Ryma				ymav Ymaf	rymav Rymaf	ymav Ymaf		yma Yma				ma Ma
Stative be, opt. past	vawn Fawn	von Fon	vawn Fawn		von Fon		vawn Fawn		von Fon			van Fan
Eventive be, opt. past	yrvawn Yrfawn	yrvon Yrfon	yrvawn Yrfawn		yrvon Yrfon		yrvawn Yrfawn		yrvon Yrfon			yrvan Yrfan
Become, opt. past	ymawn Ymawn	ymon Ymon	ymawn Ymawn		ymon Ymon		ymawn Ymawn		ymon Ymon			yman Yman
King	jārþ Járth		hiaharþ Hiaharth		jārþ Járth	hiaharþ Hiaharth			hiaharþ Hiaharth				hiārþ Hiárth
Hello	leo Leo					gwyl Gwyl
Wolf	marþ Marth				þyr Thyr		marþ Marth		þyr Thyr
Now	anrw Anrw	anw Anw			nw Nw			rw Rw		arwn Arwn		arw Arw	rw Rw

Levon dialect

The Levon dialect of Phyrean is the basis for the standardised language, and it differs little in phonology and grammar. The colloquial vocabulary, however, presents terms not found in other varieties, or meanings that deviate from Standard Phyrean.

• wosъ wosh, wossh "cool"
• fyþ ffyth "arse" (from fyþain ffythain "peach")
• qyrðan llyrddan "to give" (normally "to share")

Llyd-an-Járth dialect

The dialect spoken in and around the city of Llyd-an-Járth used to be the prestige dialect for most of early Phyrean history up until the declaration of Levon as the capital in 1204. It is peculiar in that it, like the West Amrhylian dialects, makes use of the honorific second person pronoun on in informal speech.

West Amrhylian dialects

West Amrhylian dialects are known for making use of the honorific second person pronoun on as an informal pronoun. It also makes further distinctions between long and short vowels, employing a pattern of prosodic lengthening unique to the area, seen below.

West Amrhylian prosodic lengthening

Historical vowel length	Closed syllable					Open syllable
	Plosive coda	Dental or alveolar coda		Nasal or [NC] coda	Liquid or [LC] coda
		Unvoiced	Voiced
Historically short	Short nwg nwg /nʊk/ "knee"	Coda lengthened zaþ rhath /r̥ɑθ:/ "bone"	Semi-long mav maf /mɑˑv/ "it is short"	Coda lengthened hin hin /hɪn:/ "without"	Coda lengthened hwl hwl /hʊɫ:/ "leaf"	Semi-long bẹ be /bɛˑ/ "for"
Historically long	Short þāg thág /θɑk/ "tile"	Short, coda lengthened gēf géff /gef:/ "oxbow lake"	Long lēð lédd /lɛ:ð/ "hall"	Overlong pān pán /pɑ::n/ "autumn"	Long pār pár /pɑ:r/ "girl"	Overlong mē mé /mɛ::/ "self"

East Amrhylian dialects

East Amrhylian dialects present some influence from Ascon in their vocabulary and phonology, most notably in their vowel realisations.

Orthography

Since its earliest recognisable stages, Phyrean has been written using the Phyrean script, starting with Old Phyrean scripts ca. 800 BNB, derived from the Vedan script introduced by Anouni merchants some time before. The orthography of Phyrean originally began being standardised with the introduction of the printing press in the 12th century. In modern times, there are two standardised orthographies for the language: traditionalist orthography, based on Middle Phyrean, and modernist orthography, a standard developed in 1678 by the Amrhylian Royal Seat of the Word. Traditionalist orthography is prolific in the Kingdom of Bluehand, while modernist orthography is preferred by the rest of the Phyrean-speaking world.