Alhi language
Alhi, specifically Modern Alhi is an Alhic language that evolved from Classical Alhi. It is spoken primarily in Alloti and its overseas territories, with about 70 million native speakers, and about 100 million when including non-native speakers. Alhi was also once a language of high prestige in Cring, as in [placeholder date], Cring was controlled but not completely integrated into Alloti. Since then, Alhi slowly lost its presence in Cring.
Alhi is related to Kes, another Alhic language, spoken in central Alloti. Alhi's first texts can be traced back to [placeholder date], being written in Alhi's native script, Oulaj. Oulaj is still used to write Alhi today, and a variation of it is used to write Kes. Tova, another native language of Alloti (but unrelated to Alhi and Kes), was once written in Oulaj, but Tova's original script regained popular use and Oulaj's use to write Tova is purely historical.
As an Alhic language, around 95% of Alhi's modern vocabulary is derived from Classical Alhi, but the rest is from borrowings from Tova, Kes, Loremese, Cring, and other languages.
Name of the language and etymology
The only name that Alhi has is Alhi itself, but different pronunciations can be heard throughout Alloti. The etymology of the name is unknown but it is hypothesized to be related to the name of the country Alloti.
History of the language
Like other Alhic languages, Alhi evolved from Classical Alhi, originating in the north-west of Alloti. Due to expansion, Alhi eventually spread all across Alloti, before coming in contact with Tova. Many other native languages are hypothesized to have existed in the areas that were controlled by Alhi-speaking people, but no written records exist and their only remnants are loanwords with questionable etymologies.
The first documents written in Alhi can be traced back to [placeholder date], being an older form of Alhi.
Due to contact with speakers of Tova, much conflict had broken out between the two groups. The areas of conflict were subject to linguistic discrimination and many loanwords entered both languages. Still to this day, dialects of Alhi spoken near where Tova is the primary language have many Tova loanwords.
Alhi as a language did not phonologically change much from its predecessor as most of the changes were grammatical and semantic. An example of a sound shift is Classical Alhi's dental fricative set, /θ ð/ becoming stops, /t d/ ([t̪ d̪]).
Geographical distribution
Alhi is the primary language of Alloti and its overseas territories. It is estimated that Alhi has 70 million native speakers, making it the 2nd most spoken language by amount of native speakers. When including non-native speakers, Alhi has around 100 million, making it the 2nd most spoken language in the world. On the internet, Alhi is the [number]th most spoken language.
Alloti
Alhi is one of three official languages of Alloti, and it is the most spoken language in Alloti. It is taught in schools as a mandatory subject for the last three years of grade school, and is available in all colleges and universities in Alloti for learning and study. In the [century]s, Alhi was the only official language of Alloti, with usage of other languages being discouraged and often punished.
Ojanka
Ojanka, a set of five islands controlled simultaneously by both Alloti and Mallia, Alhi is an official language. Most people on Ojanka speak both Alhi and Mallian, with road signs, other signs, and text being written in both Alhi and Mallian.
Sinovoz
Sinovoz, a large island located in the middle of the Bellic Sea was also a colony of Alloti. Alhi had been an official language until Sinovoz's independence. The native language of Sinovoz, Piriň, has gained more and more use and now is the most spoken language on Sinovoz, but Alhi is still widely spoken and some areas on the island are still majority Alhi speaking. Signs and text are translated into both Piriň and Alhi, but many signs in only Piriň appear commonly in the capital of Sinovoz, Sinovoz-Ler.
Grammar
Alhi shares many grammatical features with its relative, Kes. Alhi is classified as a fusional language, marking multiple features of verbs, nouns, etc. with singular affixes. Nouns and adjectives exhibit two definitenesses (indefinite and definite), two numbers (singular and plural), and five cases (nominative, accusative, dative, locative, and comitative). Verbs exhibit four moods (indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and interrogative), multiple tenses depending on the mood, two synthetic aspects (non-aspectual and habitual), and a periphrastic aspect (progressive). Verbs have multiple non-finite forms, having past, present, and future participles; gerunds; two types of agentives (non-human and human) and a verbal noun.
T-V Distinction
Alhi exhibits a T-V distinction, having familiar and formal forms of 2nd and 3rd person pronouns. Familiar forms are grammatically singular and formal forms are grammatically plural. Verbs conjugate to reflect this shift.
Mon vs. Ner
Mon is the familiar, informal 2nd person pronoun, it is grammatically singular and it is used when talking to someone who is younger than the user or if they are in a lower position than the user, such as in a job, or for people of equal age as the user. This contrasts with ner, which is grammatically plural, it is the more respectful of the two and it is used when referring to someone older than the user, or someone in a superior position than the user, or simply for respect.
Ei/Eis vs. Eil/Eisal
Just like mon and ner, Alhi also has a T-V distinction in the third person. The demonstratives ei and eis are used in the same way as mon, and they can refer to any person or thing. The demonstratives eil and eisal are plural, and are used like ner. All of these are proximal in their spatial deixis.
Ou, Oul, Oum, and Oulum
Ou, Oul, Oum, and Oulum are all distal demonstratives. Ou and oum mean 'that', oul and oulum mean 'those'. These are not used to refer to people/things in the subject or direct object of verbs, but only as the indirect object if the direct object is also in the 3rd person.
Pronouns
Alhi has a relatively simple set of pronouns, a notable feature is that Alhi only has two true persons in its set of pronouns, using demonstratives for the third person.
Personal pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | |
| Nominative | ejo | mon | voi | ner |
| Accusative | ejın | mıln | vın | nen |
| Dative | ehus | mos | vis | nies |
| Possessive | ej | mo | vi | na |
| Locative | eji | mi | nas | |
| Vocative | mu! | nuo! | ||
Alhi has no vocative forms for the 1st person pronouns of either number. The possessive forms, ej, mo, vi, na behave more like suffixes, as they tack onto the ends of the nouns being possessed. If a noun has one adjective after it, it will also have the possessive affix, but if a noun has multiple adjectives after it, only the noun will have the affix. Thus, kouda-ej 'my family', kouda-ej ada-ej 'my big family', and kouda-ej ada col 'my big, good family'.
Demonstrative pronouns and third-person pronouns
| Spatial Deixis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal | Distal | ||
| Nominative | Singular | ei | ou |
| Plural | eil | oul | |
| Oblique | Singular | eis | oum |
| Plural | eisal | oulum | |
These are the demonstratives in Alhi. They are used in place of third person pronouns and are also used for demonstratives normally. One could translate the demonstrative ei as 'this, they, he, she, it'. When demonstratives are used with a noun, the demonstrative will go before the noun. Thus, ou pilos 'that food'. The possessive form used to indicate 'his, her(s), their(s), its' is eis, and it also behaves like a suffix. E.g. kouda-eis 'their family'.
Nouns
Alhi nouns are declined for definiteness, number, and case. They are not marking separately, but marked together in a single affix. The base form of a noun is the indefinite, nominative, singular form, which has no marking. Nouns are sorted into three declensions, and they fit into one of them, depending on the last vowel of the noun. Nouns with /a/ as their final vowel are A-type, nouns with either /i/, /e/ or /ɨ/ as their final vowel are I-type, and nouns with either /u/, /o/, or /ɨ/ as their final vowel are U-type. A special instance is when a noun has its final vowel as /ɨ/, such as the word ıs 'god', these nouns are either I-type or U-type, and there is no pattern as to which declension they are, but most of them are I-type. However, different dialects will have different declensions for these types of nouns.
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | vas | vasal | vasali | vasei |
| Accusative | vasa | vasan | vasel | vasas |
| Dative | vasar | vasand | vasay | |
| Locative | vasem | vasel | ||
| Comitative | vasor | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | udut | udutul | udutuli | udutau |
| Accusative | udutu | udutun | udutuni | udutos |
| Dative | udutur | udutund | udutuy | |
| Locative | udutem | udutel | ||
| Comitative | udutor | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ani | anihil | anihili | anihai |
| Accusative | anihi | anihin | anihini | anihas |
| Dative | anihir | anihind | anihiyi | |
| Locative | anihem | anihel | ||
| Comitative | anihor | |||
Noun cases
The different noun cases perform different functions in nouns, this section will cover what each of them does individually.
The nominative case
The nominative case simply marks the subject of a verb, because Alhi has a canonical word order of Verb-Subject-Object, this is usually the second element in a basic sentence. For example, the sentence Daonta anihili eis 'The woman recieved it', the subject: anihili (ani), is in the nominative case.
The accusative case
The accusative case marks direct objects of a verb, this is usually the last element in a basic sentence. Using the example sentence from the section above, Daonta anihili eis 'The woman recieved it', the direct object: eis (ei), is marked in the accusative case. Also, it is important to know that in the indefinite singular for all nouns, the accusative and dative form is the same.
The dative case
The dative case marks indirect objects of a transitive verb or the argument of an intransitive verb, and in Alhi, indirect objects can be before or after the object in a transitive verb. Take for example, Tenav ejo eis miaha 'I gave it to a cat'. This is a transitive verb, and miaha (mia) is marked for the dative case. Another example with an intransitive verb is Ola ejo miaha 'I talked to a cat', the argument of the intransitive verb is marked in the dative.
The locative case
The locative case simply marks the location of a noun, it can also mark movement like an ablative. Number is not distinguished in this case, only definiteness is.
The comitative case
The comitative case marks accompaniment, as in 'with' a person, or instrumental usage like 'with' a knife. It corresponds to 'with'. This case has only one form across all definitenesses and numbers. It is derived from an affixation of the postposition lor 'with'.
Genitive constructions
The genitive in Alhi is formed with this construction: noun + [possessed object-eis]. For example, "your mom's food" would be ama-mo pilos-eis, this literally translates to "your mom her food".
Adjectives and adverbs (modifiers)
Adjectives in Alhi decline just like nouns to agree with them, they also have the three declensions that nouns do. Adverbs are not phonologically unique from adjectives, so they have the same form. Adjectives and adverbs always go after the word they modify.
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ada | adahal | adahali | adahei |
| Accusative | adaha | adahan | adahel | adahas |
| Dative | adahar | adahand | adahay | |
| Locative | adahem | adahel | ||
| Comitative | adahor | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | lur | lurul | luruli | lurau |
| Accusative | luru | lurun | luruni | luros |
| Dative | lurur | lurund | luruy | |
| Locative | lurem | lurel | ||
| Comitative | luror | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | nist | nistil | nistili | nistai |
| Accusative | nisti | nistin | nistini | nistas |
| Dative | nistir | nistind | nistiyi | |
| Locative | nistem | nistel | ||
| Comitative | nistor | |||
Positive, comparative, and superlative forms of adjectives
Adjectives in Alhi have three degrees of comparison, the default form of an adjective is the positive. Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives still decline for all of the forms that positive forms do. The comparative is formed by affixing -sei to the declined positive form. The superlative is formed the same way but with a prefix os-.
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | nist | nistil | nistili | nistai |
| Accusative | nisti | nistin | nistini | nistas |
| Dative | nistir | nistind | nistiyi | |
| Locative | nistem | nistel | ||
| Comitative | nistor | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | nistsei | nistilsei | nistilisei | nistaisei |
| Accusative | nistisei | nistinsei | nistinisei | nistasei |
| Dative | nistirsei | nistindsei | nistiyisei | |
| Locative | nistemsei | nistelsei | ||
| Comitative | nistorsei | |||
Note that nistasei is not supposed to be nistassei, as Alhi does not have geminates. Positive forms that end in a voiced obstruent, nasal, or approximant cause the /s/ in -sei to become voiced to [z]. These forms correspond to 'heavier'.
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | osnist | osnistil | osnistili | osnistai |
| Accusative | osnisti | osnistin | osnistini | osnistas |
| Dative | osnistir | osnistind | osnistiyi | |
| Locative | osnistem | osnistel | ||
| Comitative | osnistor | |||
Special forms of the indefinite nominative plural
Many nouns and adjectives in Alhi end in il, ul, or al. When these nouns are declined, this causes those endings to be repeated twice, but different endings are employed to prevent this.
| Ending of noun | Indefinite nominative plural affix |
|---|---|
| -al | -il |
| -ul | |
| -il | -al |
For example, the word dujul 'piece, Allotian currency' would be dujulul if this paradigm did not exist, but the actual form is dujulil.
Postpositions
Postpositions, as stated in the name, generally go after nouns. The only time they do not go after nouns is if they have an adjective modifying them, in that situation they will go before the noun.
| Word in Alhi | Translation |
|---|---|
| ler | in, on |
| lor | with, amongst |
| daja | against |
| te | without |
| o | at |
| ede | of |
Verbs
Verbs in Alhi are the most inflecting part of speech in the language, as they conjugate for multiple moods, aspects, tenses, they also have multiple compound (periphrastic) tenses. All verbs have one singular way of conjugation with minor alterations for ease of pronunciation.
The tenses that exist in Alhi verbs are: the present, the future, the near past, and the future past. This 4-way distinction only exists in indicative mood of the non-aspectual aspect & progressive aspect. Most other moods only distinguish present, future, and past.
The non-aspectual aspect
The 'non-aspectual' aspect in Alhi verbs corresponds to actions that are perfective in nature, not perfect, as that is another aspect on its own.
Indicative mood
The indicative mood in Alhi is used to convey real information, statements, or facts.
The present
The present tense in the indicative mood corresponds to actions that occur in the 'now'.
- Vo colu. — I am good. (The copula, vulun, is the only verb to not require a subject pronoun.)
- Daon ei heitiri. — She recieves a sword.
- Keleu eil heilor. — They play amongst themselves.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First person | kela 'I play' | kelau 'We play' |
| Second person | kelo 'You play' | kelu 'You play (plural)' |
| Third person | kel 'He, she, they, it plays' | keleu 'They play (plural)' |
Verbs in the third person present indicative non-aspectual are the same as the stem of the verb (infinitive-less verb).
The future
The future tense in the indicative mood corresponds to actions that occur in the future or 'later'. Unlike the past tense, this future tense corresponds to any action that will occur in any amount of time in the future. In Classical Alhi, there was distinct near future and far future tense but this system eventually collapsed to one singular future tense.
- Vos lozkuliz. — I will be a husband.
- Ojelf ei. — She will change.
- Edosam eil oum. — They will throw it.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First person | kelav 'I will play' | kelan 'We will play' |
| Second person | kelo 'You will play' | keln 'You will play (plural)' |
| Third person | kelf 'He, she, they, it will play' | kelam 'They will play (plural)' |
The near (proximal) past
As is stated in the name, the near past is used to refer to actions that have recently occured. The window of 'recency' is relative to the time frame, if established, in the conversation. For example, if one was talking about actions that occured last week, then actions that occured yesterday or two days ago would be in the near past. If an action has 'just' occured, then the verb will always be conjugated for the near past.
- Julat ejo. — I just ate.
- Ridut fojalhulasez eis. — We recently bought a car for him.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First person | kelat 'I recently played' | kelut 'We recently played' |
| Second person | kelok 'You recently played' | kelota 'You recently played (plural)' |
| Third person | kelta 'He, she, they, it recently played' | kelt 'They recently played (plural)' |
The far (distal) past
The distal past refers to actions that occured 'a long time ago'. Just like the proximal past, this window of 'long time ago' is dependant on the established time frame. If no time frame has been established, then verbs will be conjugated for this tense, except for if the action had 'just' occured.
- Seija on. — He was sleeping.
- Magec ei oum kouhu o. — He left (a while ago) it at the door.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First person | kela 'I played' | kela 'We recently played' |
| Second person | keli 'You recently played' | keloca 'You recently played (plural)' |
| Third person | kelec 'He, she, they, it recently played' | kelna 'They recently played (plural)' |
The subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood in Alhi is used to convey doubt, feelings, wishes, opinions, suggestions, etc. It can also be used for impersonal statements like Hido colu... 'It is good...'. Some usages of the subjunctive may involve a relative clause, such as Mo kelei mon, hido tusu. "It is bad that you wouldn't play."