Phyrean language

Phyrean
High Phyrean
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 (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.

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

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 /m̥/	m /m/	nh /n̥/	n /n/			ngh /ŋ̊/	ng /ŋ/
Plosive		p /p/	b /b/	t /t/	d /d/			c /k/	g /g/
Fricative	Plain	ff (ph) /f/	f /v/	th /θ/	dd /ð/	ll /ɬ/		ch /x/		h /h/
	Sibilant			s /s/
Trill				rh /r̥/	r /r/
Approximant			w /w/			l /l~ɫ/	i~j /j/		(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/ • í /i:/	y~u /ɨ/ • ý~ú /ɨ:/	w /ʊ/ • ẃ /u:/
Mid	e /e/ • é /e:/		o /o/ • ó /o:/
Open		a /a/ • á /a:/

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

• llulud incorrect
• llylyd incorrect
• llylud incorrect
• 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 /aɨ̯/	ai /ai̯/	-	au /aɨ̯/	aw /au̯/
e	-	-	ei /ei̯/	-	eu /eɨ̯/	ew /eu̯/
i	ia /i̯a/	ie /i̯e/	-	io /i̯o/	iu /iɨ̯/	iw /iu̯/
o	-	oe /oɨ̯/	oi /oi̯/	-	ou /oɨ̯/	ow /ou̯/
u/y	-	-	-	-	-	yw~uw /ɨu̯/
w	wa /u̯a/	we /u̯e/	wi /u̯i/	wo /u̯o/	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.

• Aniddun /ˈaniðɨn/ "Anidon"
• máharth /ˈma:harθ/ "watcher"
• hyfer /hɨˈver/ "all, every"
• 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/	f /v/	m /m/	-	-
d /d/	dd /ð/	n /n/	-	-
g /g/	Elided	ng /ŋ/	-	-
p /p/	b /b/	mh /m̥/	ph /f/	-
t /t/	d /d/	nh /n̥/	th /θ/	-
c /k/	g /g/	ngh /ŋ̊/	ch /x/	-
m /m/	f /v/	-	-	-
n /n/	dd /ð/	-	-	-
ll /ɬ/	l /l/	-	-	-
rh /r̥/	r /r/	-	-	-
vowels	f-V /vV/	n-V /nV/	-	-
h /h/	-	-	-	g /g/

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	Ceddyn											Mabyn	Jab
Stative be, ind. perf.	Ena				Naf	Enaf	Naf		Na
Eventive be, ind. perf.	Yra				Raf	Yraf	Raf		Ra
Become, ind. perf.	Ryma				Ymaf	Rymaf	Ymaf		Yma				Ma
Stative be, opt. past	Fawn	Fon	Fawn		Fon		Fawn		Fon			Fan
Eventive be, opt. past	Yrfawn	Yrfon	Yrfawn		Yrfon		Yrfawn		Yrfon			Yrfan
Become, opt. past	Ymawn	Ymon	Ymawn		Ymon		Ymawn		Ymon			Yman
King	Járth		Hiaharth		Járth	Hiaharth			Hiaharth				Hiárth
Hello	Leo					Gwyl
Wolf	Marth				Thyr		Marth		Thyr
Now	Anrw	Anw			Nw			Rw		Arwn		Arw	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.

• wosh, wossh "cool"
• ffyth "arse" (from ffythain "peach")
• 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 /nʊk/ "knee"	Coda lengthened rhath /r̥ɑθ:/ "bone"	Semi-long maf /mɑˑv/ "it is short"	Coda lengthened hin /hɪn:/ "without"	Coda lengthened hwl /hʊɫ:/ "leaf"	Semi-long be /bɛˑ/ "for"
Historically long	Short thág /θɑk/ "tile"	Short, coda lengthened géff /gef:/ "oxbow lake"	Long lédd /lɛ:ð/ "hall"	Overlong pán /pɑ::n/ "autumn"	Long pár /pɑ:r/ "girl"	Overlong 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.