Atheinən language: Difference between revisions

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 == History ==
+== Status as a mixed language or creole language ==
+The official status of Atheinən is unclear by most linguists. According to [[Nakoi Riku]], as contact between Azkali refugees and Mallians occured, Atheinən as it was know then was considered a number of pidgin languages, each being spoken by a distinct number of Azkalis. As it evolved, however, contact between speakers of the pidgin languages occured, simultaneously with Mallian speakers. As a result, the pidgin languages appeared to merged into several dialects of a distinct Atheinən language. However, this timeline is disputed by a number of linguists. [[Nakoi Riku]] classified Atheinən in her paper ''[[On the Atheinən Creole|On the Atheinən Creole, its Grammar, Phonology, and Evolution]]'' as a creole language, with Mallian as the lexifier, but with heavy lexical influence by Azkali. In a rebuttal published by [[Redho Tsalirricha]], Atheinən was classified as a mixed language. According to the author, <code>"many Azkali refugees at that time were fluent to some degree in Mallian, and or subsequently learned, or attempted to learn that language. However, the differences grammatically speaking between Azkali and Mallian resulted in the mapping [sic] of Azkali grammar onto Mallian vocabulary."</code> He goes on to note, <code>" (...) a large amount of common vocabulary was loaned from Azkali, which they were fluent in, to the language that would become Atheinən. Due to the amount of people who would go on to have children who spoke Atheinən, who were also fluent in Mallian, it would be classified as [a] mixed language [sic]."</code>
 == Phonology ==
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+
+! colspan="2" |Consonants
+!Labial
+!Alveolar
+!Coronal
+!Dorsal
+!Glottal
+|-
+! colspan="2" |Nasal
+|'''m'''
+/m/
+|'''n'''
+/n/
+|'''gn'''
+/ɲ/
+|
+|
+|-
+! rowspan="2" |Plosive
+!<small>voiceless</small>
+|'''p'''
+/p/
+|'''t'''
+/t/
+|'''ch'''
+/c/
+|'''k'''
+/k/
+|
+|-
+!<small>voiced</small>
+|
+|'''d'''
+/d~tʰ/
+|
+|'''g'''
+/g~kʰ/
+|
+|-
+! colspan="2" |Affricate
+|
+|'''c'''
+/t͡s/
+|'''th'''
+/t̪θ/
+|
+|
+|-
+! colspan="2" |Fricative
+|
+|'''s'''
+/s/
+|'''th'''
+/θ~d
+|'''gh'''
+/ɣ/
+|'''h'''
+/ɦ/
+|-
+! colspan="2" |Liquid
+|'''w'''
+/ʍ/
+|'''l'''
+/l/
+|'''y'''
+/j/
+|'''r'''
+'''/'''ʁ~ʀ̥~ɹ~ɾ/
+|
+|}
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+
+!
+! colspan="2" |Front
+! rowspan="2" |Central
+! colspan="2" |Back
+|-
+!
+!<small>unrounded</small>
+!<small>rounded</small>
+!<small>unrounded</small>
+!<small>rounded</small>
+|-
+!Close
+|'''i'''
+/i/
+|'''ü'''
+/y/
+|
+|
+|'''u'''
+/u/
+|-
+!Mid
+|'''e'''
+/ɛ/
+|
+|'''ə'''
+/ə/
+|
+|'''o'''
+/ɔ/
+|-
+!Open
+|'''æ'''
+/æ/
+|
+|
+|'''a'''
+/ɑ/
+|
+|}
 == Orthography ==
 == Grammar ==
+''See main article: [[Atheinən grammar]]''
+Unlike both of its parents languages, Atheinən is highly analytical. In most dialects, with the exception of three verbs - ''to be, to be at,'' and ''to have'', verbs are not conjugated at all. With the exception of pronouns, no nouns are overtly inflected for case, instead relying on word order and particles conveying case-like information. Atheinən's word order, like both of its parents languages, is subject-object-verb, however in some cases it can be shifted for context, emphasis, etc.
+Unusual for a mixed or creole language, virtually all Atheinən dialects have developed a system of split ergativity. In the future and present tenses, the default morphological alignment is ergative; the morphological alignment is nominative in the future tense, however. The pronouns, which by default decline for the ergative and absolutive cases, instead decline for the nominative and accusative cases respectively in the future. The exact reason for the evolution of split ergativity in Atheinən is unknown.
 == Vocabulary ==