Sebastic (Semitic lang) Workpad [NP: Ergativity? Discussion)

[tiramisu]

I'm working on reworking my Semitlang from scratch.

One of the things I've worked on tonight is phonology. I'm not quite sure what I want to do with the emphatic consonants. I wanted to do something with dissimilation, and had the idea to use it to mess with stress patterns too.

Except at the beginning of a word, dissimilation results in a glottal stop preceding:
/k_ʔ/ > /ʔk/
/t_ʔ/ > /ʔt/
and so forth

If the emphatic begins a syllable, the glottal stop conforms to the coda of a preceding syllable.
*yatqarrib > yat.ʔkar.rib > yatʔ.kar.rib

The prosodic effect is a falling pitch. Falling pitch syllables become stressed, and the pitch accent disappears with the loss of the glottal.
*yatqárrib > yátʔ.kar.rib > yátkarrib
*yatkárrib > yatkárrib

Thoughts?

[Zaarin]

I would expect a CʔC sequence to become CʼC pretty quickly. So basically you have TṬ > TʔT > ṬT. Which is a pretty cool shift, actually.

Incidentally I'm working on a Semitic language myself, a Medieval descendant of Punic spoken in the Canary Islands.

[tiramisu]

I'm wondering if the prosodic effect sounds plausible. As far as I can tell, this is shaky territory because the relationship between pitch, tone, and accent, as well as between articulation and pitch & tone, seem to be something that is still uncertain.

[tiramisu]

This may be a good time to add a disclaimer that I am not aiming for accuracy in relation to the Semitc languages so much as plausibility. Note, further and unrelated to the previous disclaimer, that Sebastic is neither East or West Semitic, but is intended to be the earliest branch of Semitic. Thus, it, in fact, predates what is typically called Proto-Semitic. In other words, Proto-Semitic would need to be revised in light of Sebastic, were Sebastic a real language. Thus, for convenience, I will generally refer to its common ancestor with East + West Semitic as 'Proto-Semitic.' Feel free to ask for clarifications about whether something described as 'Proto-Semitic' is actually Proto-Semitic or con-Proto-Semitic.

Topic: Phonology

Comparative Semitics has a 'sibilant' problem. There appears to be a fourth, undefined sibilant that merges with s¹ in some languages in some environments, and becomes /h/ or Ø in some environments, or merges entirely with s¹ or /h/ or Ø. Its original realization is entirely untraceable, other than that it likely had some proximity to s¹ (probably [s]). This is the sibilant found in 'C-stem' derivations.

Another problem in Comparative Semitics comes with a handful of occurrences of the letter n. In these occurrences, vowels cannot be reconstructed in the syllable with n. Moreover, in these same occurrences, the n itself has some curious manifestations. For instance, it becomes /r/ in Aramaic in most of these occurrences. One of the popular interpretations (though far from consensus) is that Proto-Semitic had syllabic n.

These were originally the same phoneme, probably a voiced laminal alveolar trill fricative [r̝]. By Classical Sebastic, it seems to have merged with /dʒ/ (< *z, *ð), but with /r/ in the environment of an alveolar stop.

son
Proto-Semitic: *br̝
Classical Sebastic: bajā́
Arabic: ibn
Syriac: brā
Hebrew: bɛn
Akkadian: (reflex unattested)

two
Proto-Semitic: *θr̝
Classical Sebastic: chā <*tʃdʒ+a < *tʃn + a
Arabic:iθnān
Syriac: trēn
Hebrew: šnāyim
Akkadian: šina

you (fem pl)
Proto-Semitic: *ʔantr̝
Classical Sebastic: hámtir
Arabic: 'antunna
Syriac: 'atten
Hebrew: 'attɛn
Akkadian: attina

them (fem)
Proto-Semitic: *r̝r̝
Classical Sebastic: jir
Arabic: hunna
Syriac: (reflex unattested)
Hebrew: hɛn
Akkadian: šina

C-stem (*r̝V-)
Classical Sebastic: jáslāma
Arabic: Øaslama
Syriac: Øašlem
Hebrew: hišlīm
Akkadian: šuprusum

Ct-stem (*r̝ta-)
Classical Sebastic: ərtáslāma
Arabic: istaslama
Syriac: ettašlem
Hebrew: (reflex unattested)
Akkadian: šutaprusum

[Zaarin]

Akkadian: (reflex unattested)

I believe Akkadian māru is generally regarded as originating from the same root as ben / bar / ibn etc. with the change b > m, or at least that's what Lipinski claims.

[tiramisu]

Interesting! But unlikely.

mārum has clear cognates in other Semitic languages, including Arabic and Aramaic. That by itself makes it unlikely, although Akkadian > Aramaic > Arabic borrowing has happened in several instances.
But also, even if b > m could be explained by a nasal sonorant, the nasal sonorant becoming r isn't attested anywhere else in Akkadian. You also have no way to explain the long ā there, let alone an open vowel in the first place. The internal evidence contradicts the claim that it's from *bn, and you just can't use comparative evidence against internal evidence to draw conclusions about the development of a language.

Lipinski is terrible at comparative linguistics. The poor guy. (His Comparative Semitics book is so bad that it's virtually useless.)

[KathTheDragon]

Is there a good, recent source for comparative Semitic stuff?

[Zaarin]

Interesting! But unlikely.

mārum has clear cognates in other Semitic languages, including Arabic and Aramaic. That by itself makes it unlikely, although Akkadian > Aramaic > Arabic borrowing has happened in several instances.
But also, even if b > m could be explained by a nasal sonorant, the nasal sonorant becoming r isn't attested anywhere else in Akkadian. You also have no way to explain the long ā there, let alone an open vowel in the first place. The internal evidence contradicts the claim that it's from *bn, and you just can't use comparative evidence against internal evidence to draw conclusions about the development of a language.

Lipinski is terrible at comparative linguistics. The poor guy. (His Comparative Semitics book is so bad that it's virtually useless.)

I have to admit, quite a few things in his Comparative Semitics left me scratching my head. His positing the Semitic homeland in the western Sahara (i.e., the Afroasiatic homeland) was strange enough, and I noticed he still clings to the notion that Proto-Semitic emphatics were pharyngealized. That also wasn't the only ad hoc sound change he proposed.

[tiramisu]

I'm not sure anything has been published in one place, which may be why Lipinski's book is so popular. John Huehnergard has a great overview of Proto-Semitic in The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia that I would recommend. He gives a state-of-the-field bibliography at the end of useful articles as well. This was published about 12 years ago, but is still pretty up-to-date. Brevity leads to things being oversimplified or insufficiently explicated, if anything needs to be said about it. The comparative evidence itself is also not provided, so it truly is a treatise on Proto-Semitic. I expect that Huehnergard has been working on a book of his own on Comparative Semitics, and will release it sometime within the next decade now that he's entering into retirement. He at least has done significant preliminary work on one that he has been keeping held tightly over the past decade or so.

[tiramisu]

Topic: Morphosyntax, Verbal System

Subject marking
Person is marked with a prefix. Plural number is marked with a suffix. Feminine gender may also be marked with a suffix.
Dual verbs have already disappeared by the Classical Sebastic era. The only two dual forms (2m, 3m) would have been identical with the feminine plural forms.

Code: Select all

Person Sg     Pl
1      hV-     nV- -o
2m     tV-     tV-X-o
2f     tV-X-ī  tV-X-ɔ
3m     yV-     yV-X-o
3f     yV-X-ī  yV-X-ɔ

The prefix vowel is determined by a) the stem and b) TMA. More on this in a future post.

Aspect and tense
Sebastic verbs are primarily aspectual.
The two verbal forms are an imperfective and a perfective, with a perfect aspect fulfilled by the predicative use of verbal adjectives.

Imperfective (ə)C₁áC₂C₂iC₃
The imperfective form represents an event whose end is unbound, and whose internal contours are dynamic or contextually relevant. The beginning of the action may be bound by context, and can thus refer to a past, present, or future action. Unmodified, it tends to refer to an action whose beginning is either in the present or near future. In other words, the agent is just beginning to undertake the action, or is about to undertake the action.

yəsákkim he is settling; he is going to settle

Perfective/Non-imperfective (á)C₁C₂iC₃
The perfective form has a wide range of uses, which can be categorized together by its lack of imperfectivity. The event is usually viewed as a whole, complete event and the internal contours are not considered. Note that the perfective can be tough to translate into English clearly distinct from the imperfective or the perfect. In narrative texts, it is probably most typically translated as a present perfect or near past.

yáskim he has settled; he has just settled

Perfect
The perfect represents a past event with relevance to the present moment. In narrative texts, it is probably most typically translated as pluperfect.

sákina he had settled

Derived Stems

D-stem
Imperfective: yəsakkám
Perfective: yəsakkím
Primary meaning: intensifying, habitualizing ("put down roots, become entrenched")
Secondary meanings: transitivizing, denominalizing
Notes: 1. D-stems are less often transitivizing in Sebastic than in other Semitic languages. Sebastic is able to transitivize G-stem verbs by adding objects to the verb.
2. It is unclear what distinguishes D-stems clearly from G-stem imperfectives in Proto-Semitic, although the relevant Semitic languages demonstrate mechanisms to distinguish them. In Sebastic, stress in D-stems shifts to the final syllable. This likely happened through occurrences of D-stems with pronominal object suffixes, which would shift the stress to the final syllable of the stem. (Although common in Sebastic, pronominal object suffixes were not common on G-stem verbs in Proto-Semitic). This stress pattern subsequently leveled throughout the D-stem paradigm. Likewise, the stress of the G imperfective no longer shifts with pronominal suffixes.

C-stem
Imperfective: yəjasákkim
Perfective: yajáskim
Primary meaning: causative ("put s.t., settle s.o")
Secondary meanings: denominalizing

CD-stem
Imperfective: yəjəsakkám
Perfective: yəjəsakkím
Primary meaning: causative of D-stem

N-stem
Imperfective: yənsákkim
Perfective: yánsakim
Primary meaning: productive passive of transitives
Secondary meaning: mediopassive of intransitives ("settle in")

ND-stem
Imperfective: yənsakkám
Perfective: yənsakkím
Primary meaning: productive passive of D-stem transitives
Secondary meaning: mediopassive of intransitives ("become integrated")

NC-stem
Imperfective: yənjasákkim
Perfective: yanjáskim
Primary meaning: productive passive of C-stem ("be settled")

NCD-stem
Imperfective: yənjəsakkám
Perfective: yənjəsakkím
Primary meaning: productive passive of CD-stem

Gt-stem
Imperfective: yəstákkim
Perfective: yástakim
Primary meaning: mediopassive
Secondary meaning: reflexive ("settle oneself")

Dt-stem
Imperfective: yəstakkám
Perfective: yəstakkím
Primary meaning: mediopassive of D-stem, reflexive of D-stem

Ct-stem
Imperfective: yəjtasákkim
Perfective: yajtáskim
Primary meaning: reflexive of C-stem, mediopassive of the C-stem, causative of the Gt-stem, denominalizing ("move, migrate")

CDt-stem
Imperfective: yəjtəsakkám
Perfective: yəjtəsakkím
Primary meaning: reflexive of CD-stem, mediopassive of the CD-stem, causative of the Dt-stem, intensifying of the Ct-stem ("move around, wander around")

[tiramisu]

Topic: Morphosyntax, Verbal System

Note: I used fake roots for the following, in order to better demonstrate the paradigms comparatively.

Class II Verbs (First radical historical emphatic)

G-stem
Imperfective: yúsakkim
Perfective: yáskim

D-stem
Imperfective: yúsakkam
Perfective: yásakkim

C-stem
Imperfective: yəjásakkim
Perfective: yajáskim

CD-stem
Imperfective: yəjásakkam
Perfective: yajásakkim

N-stem
Imperfective: yúnsakkim
Perfective: yánsakim

ND-stem
Imperfective: yúnsakkam
Perfective: yánsakkim

NC-stem
Imperfective: yənjásakkim
Perfective: yanjáskim

NCD-stem
Imperfective: yənjásakkam
Perfective: yənjásakkim

Gt-stem
Imperfective: yústakkim
Perfective: yástakim

Dt-stem
Imperfective: yústakkam
Perfective: yástakkim

Ct-stem
Imperfective: yəjtásakkim
Perfective: yajtáskim

CDt-stem
Imperfective: yəjtásakkam
Perfective: yəjtásakkim

Class III Verbs (Second radical historical emphatic)

G-stem
Imperfective: yəsákkim
Perfective: yáskim

D-stem
Imperfective: yəsákkam
Perfective: yasákkim

C-stem
Imperfective: yəjasákkim
Perfective: yajáskim

CD-stem
Imperfective: yəjasákkam
Perfective: yajasákkim

N-stem
Imperfective: yənsákkim
Perfective: yansákim

ND-stem
Imperfective: yənsákkam
Perfective: yansákkim

NC-stem
Imperfective: yənjasákkim
Perfective: yanjáskim

NCD-stem
Imperfective: yənjasákkam
Perfective: yənjasákkim

Gt-stem
Imperfective: yəstákkim
Perfective: yastákim

Dt-stem
Imperfective: yəstákkam
Perfective: yastákkim

Ct-stem
Imperfective: yəjtasákkim
Perfective: yajtáskim

CDt-stem
Imperfective: yəjtasákkam
Perfective: yəjtasákkim

Class IV Verbs (Third radical historical emphatic)

G-stem
Imperfective: yəsakkít
Perfective: yaskít

D-stem
Imperfective: yəsakkát
Perfective: yəsakkít

C-stem
Imperfective: yəjsakkít
Perfective: yəjaskít

CD-stem
Imperfective: yəjsakkát
Perfective: yajsakkít

N-stem
Imperfective: yənsakkít
Perfective: yansakít

ND-stem
Imperfective: yənsakkát
Perfective: yansakkít

NC-stem
Imperfective: yənjəsakkít
Perfective: yanjaskít

NCD-stem
Imperfective: yənjəsakkát
Perfective: yənjəsakkít

Gt-stem
Imperfective: yəstakkít
Perfective: yastakít

Dt-stem
Imperfective: yəstakkát
Perfective: yastakkít

Ct-stem
Imperfective: yəjtəsakkít
Perfective: yajtaskít

CDt-stem
Imperfective: yəjtəsakkát
Perfective: yəjtəsakkít

In cases of 2 emphatic consonants, the second emphatic seems to dissimilate without trace of the glottalization. This means the verb is treated as though only the first of the emphatic consonants is emphatic.

[tiramisu]

Topic: Nouns, Adjectives, Substantives

Watch this post! This post combines a number of "working" features liable to change, and thus there are known uncertainties.

Types of Nominals
Nouns identify a person, place, or thing.
Adjectives qualify a person, place, or thing.
Sometimes, adjectives can be used as substantives, standing in place of and functioning as nouns. This function is both syntactic and morphological.

Because of the fluidity of adjectives, the term nominals will be used here to refer collectively to nouns, adjectives, and substantives.

Because substantivized adjectives function identically to nouns, the term substantives will be used when referring to both nouns and substantives, but excluding adjectives.

Nominals may be marked for gender and definiteness with suffixed morphemes. In some cases, number may also be marked with suffixes. Internal plural markings will be dealt with in a separate post.

Gender
Gender distinction in Sebastic is weak. It is largely unmarked, except with certain body parts, natural pairs, and female human nouns, all of which are marked feminine.

Masculine nominals are unmarked, and take only the nominal ending -a.
-ába 'father'
-wárda 'boy, ward'
-káyba 'dog'
-káspa 'silver'

Feminine nominals tend to end with -ay. Moreover, any noun in the singulative, -(a)ta, is treated as feminine in Classical Sebastic, though this agreement is only clear in verbs and pronouns. Some feminine nouns are morphologically indistinguishable from masculine nouns.
-chámta 'year'
-ħúsmay 'lucky girl; female oracle'
-máhra 'river'

Definiteness
Definite substantives attach -(i)m after the gender suffix.
-ábam 'the father'
-káspam 'the silver'
-chámtam 'the year'
-ħúsmaym 'the oracle'
-chamā́m 'the years'

Number
Number in Sebastic consists primarily of an unmarked form, which can refer variously to a single specimen, a collective species, or an unspecified amount of specimens. A singulative form exists, which specifies a particular specimen or part. A plurative form also exists, which specifies multiple specimens or parts, but cannot refer to a species collectively. An unproductive form likewise exists in nouns marking natural pairs, which can take either unmarked or plurative agreement.

The singulative is marked by -(a)ta. Adjectives describing the specimen will also take this ending.
-ʔíła 'wood'
-ʔíłta 'a piece of wood'
-ʔíłta makī́łta 'a chopped piece of wood'
-hákla 'food'
-háklata 'a piece of food'
-háklata tʔámta 'a tasty piece of food'

The plurative is marked with -ā. Feminine nouns ending in -ay, end in -áyya, due to historical sound changes. Some are marked by internal plurals. Some adjectives may have internal plurals when substantivized as well.
-wardā́ 'boys'
-wardā́m 'the boys'
-urā́d 'boys'
-əchghā́r 'children' (sg. chághra)
-chaghráyya 'young girls'
-chamā́ 'years'
-chamā́m 'the years'
-mahrā́ 'rivers'

Natural pairs are marked by -ay. This applies primarily to body parts and certain reproductive couples.
-ábay 'parents'
-gámlay 'pair of camels'
-hújnay '(two) ears'
-máhray 'Mesopotamia'

Adnominal Agreement
Only the head of a noun phrase may be marked definite.
-káybam wárda 'the boy's dog,' 'the dog of the boy,' 'the dog of a boy'
-káyba wárda 'a dog of the boy,' 'a dog of a boy'
-wárdam chághra 'the young boy'

Adjectives agree in gender with their head.
-bijtá chághray 'a young daughter'
-káybay sáymay 'a healthy bitch'
-nā́ka sáymay 'a healthy female camel'

Number of adjectives tend to agree with the head.
-ʔíła sayma '(some) sturdy wood'
-abā́ saymā́ 'healthy parents (pl.)'
-əchghā́r saymā́ 'healthy children'
-urā́d sáymā́ 'healthy boys'
-chaghráyya saymáyya 'healthy female children'
-káybay sáymay 'healthy bitch'
-háklata sáymata 'nourishing piece of food'

[tiramisu]

Dump (sticky notes for up-and-coming posts):

taʔmá, f. (ə)tʔámta 'delicious'
ʔalā́y 'god'

To-Do:
internal plurals
script
transliteration and transcription
verb modality

[tiramisu]

NOTE: The native demonym as given below is no longer correct. To be fixed.

Brief History of Speakers of Sebastic

The Chiqqēl (sg. Echqīl, pl. Echqīlīn) are a Semitic people of unknown origin. Though they seem to have settled in the region of Canaan, they do not seem to be Canaanites themselves. Instead, it seems they conquered Dor from the sea, and established a colony there around the 12 or 11th century BC. Where they came from has been lost to history. Echqīli legend claims they were seafaring nomads. In truth, they were most likely settled elsewhere along the Mediterranean, and the settlers in Dor may have been a class of warrior-fishermen, perhaps hired as mercenaries by a naval power to give the Phoenicians trouble.

Their relationship with the ancient Israelites was complicated, but they were quickly engulfed into Israelite culture. Nonetheless, they maintained a separate identity, and rebelled when oppressed. A catalyst occurred with the arrival of the Prophet Elias, a missionary sent by the Kingdom of Judea to spread its religion. Reflecting societal divisions in the region, a parallel Echqīli religion developed alongside Samaritanism — practiced in Israel — and Judaism — practiced in Judea. According to the Chiqqēl, theirs is the religion of Elias, and God's holy temple belonged on Mt. Carmel.

Nonetheless, the Chiqqēl were among the first converts to Christianity, and were the first ethnic group to completely convert. According to them, the community's conversion is recounted in Acts 8 and 9. Under the Byzantines, they were primarily located within the Sees of Sebaste and Sycaminum, and became known to outsiders as Sebastians.

In the 5th century, Christianity in the Middle East was shaken by controversy over the Council of Chalcedon. The official stance of the Sebastic Church in this period remains unclear, with certain contemporary sources suggesting dissent with Chalcedon. It is clear, however, that Sebaste initially opposed Byzantine imperialism, and communion with the Church of Jerusalem may have been severed for a time. Contemporary accounts suggest that the Sebastic community was far more sympathetic to the non-Chalcedonian communion by the reign of Justinian II, but no theological treatises have survived. During the Islamic Conquests, however, and particularly during the reign of Amīr Umar, there was furtive embrace of the Byzantine church by the Sebastic community. During this time, they seemed to have adopted the Byzantine rite, but remained quite active in the use of the Sebastic language. Today, virtually all Echqīlīn belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The overall quietist nature of the Chiqqēl, however, has led to its decline by assimilation. By the mid-20th century, only about 66,000 were left. Expulsion and emigration have prevented population growth in post-1948 Israel and Palestine. Today, estimates of 75,000 are generous, though another 175,000-190,000 can be found in the diaspora.

[tiramisu]

A Psalm of Elias: The Sebastic biblical canon includes a number of poems attributed to Elias the Prophet in the psalms. The following is one such psalm, which seems to make reference to Elias' competition with the priest of Ba'al. Christian Sebastic theologians note the parallels of this psalm with the Transfiguration and the Incarnation. They note specifically the motif of YHWH's revelation of himself through light. They also draw attention to the phrase "His Angel," equating it with the Angel of the Lord and Jesus Christ. They also note the motif of an intimate connection between heaven and earth in this moment, and compare it with the Incarnation, citing Athanasius: "God became man, that man might become God." Finally, they note that "Israel is brought high through salvation" could also be read as "Israel is brought high through Jesus," as "salvation" and "Jesus" are homophonous.

Text
Yiłāʔíl hállalju
Litwákkūlap Yiłāʔíl ham YHWH
Liyətwaddí YHWH ham hára
Máħra ʔáməmju yətwaddí
Yəłámmis əkbaráka
Málʔakju yəłámmis
Tətákkaʔ łabáhāt málʔakta shā́parjim
Yúłabbit YHWH rághəmju
Yáda rághəmju yətwaddá
Samayātəm liyiłāʔíl tətpállay
Yiłāʔílu yáda yashūʔa tətʔállay
Litwákkūlap Yiłāʔíl ham YHWH

Translation
Praise him, O Israel
Let Israel hope in the Lord!
For the Lord has revealed himself on the mountain
Before his people he has revealed himself
He has shone forth in the lightning
His Angel has shone forth
The Hosts of the Angels sound their trumpets
The Lord strikes his thunder
By his thunder he makes himself known
Heaven is brought low to Israel
And Israel is brought high through salvation
Let Israel hope in the Lord!

Gloss
Yiłāʔíl hállal-ju
Israel praise.IMPV-3.M.PL.OBL
Li-twákkūl-a-p Yiłāʔíl ham YHWH
PURP-have.hope.GERUND-MASC-RES.CONJ Israel PREP YHWH
Li-yə-twaddí YHWH ham hár-a
PURP-3.M-reveal.oneself.PERF YHWH PREP mountain-MASC
Máħra ʔáməm-ju yə-twaddí
before people.ABS-3.M.SG.POSS 3.M-reveal.oneself.PERF
Yə-łámmis ək-barák-a
3.M-shine.PERF PREP-lightning-MASC
Málʔak-ju yə-łámmis
angel-3.M.PL 3.M-shine.PERF
Tə-tákkaʔ łabá(h)-āt málʔak-ta shā́par-jim
3.COL-blast host-F.PL angel-COL trumpet.COL-3.M.PL.POSS
Yú-łabbit YHWH rághəm-ju
3.M.IMPF-strike.IMPF YHWH thunder.ABS-3.M.SG.POSS
Yáda rághəm-ju yə-twaddá
through thunder.ABS-3.M.SG.POSS 3.M-reveal.oneself.IMPF
Samay-āt-(ə)m li-yiłāʔíl tə-tpállay
sky-3.F.PL-DEF PURP-Israel 3.COL-humble.IMPF
Yiłāʔíl-u yáda yashūʔ-a tə-tʔállay
Israel-CONJ through salvation-MASC 3.F-raised.up.IMPF
Li-twákkūla-p Yiłāʔíl ham YHWH
PURP-have.hope.GERUND-MASC-RES.CONJ Israel PREP YHWH

Notes:
Cohortative mood is marked by a purposive prefix with the resultative conjunction
Yiłāʔíl - borrowed from Heb.
hára - borrowed from Heb.
yəłámmis - a verb used typically to refer to the sun and daylight
málʔak - borrowed from Heb.
łabáhāt - borrowed, uncertain which language
yúłabbit - native Sebastic word, but similar enough to łabáhāt that a Sebastic speaker would likely connect the two
shā́par - borrowed from Heb.?
tətpállay - from Pre-PS biconsonantal root PL
yashūʔa - borrowed from Heb.
tətʔállay - calls to mind a divine realm for a Sebastic speaker (cf. 'god' ʔalā́y)

Poetic Nuance
Color highlighting is used to emphasize parallelism and structure.

Yiłāʔíl hállalju
Litwákkūlap Yiłāʔíl ham YHWH
Liyətwaddí YHWH ham hára
Máħra ʔáməmju yətwaddí
Yəłámmas əkbaráka
Málʔakju yəłámmas
Tətákkaʔ łabáhāt málʔakta shā́parjim
Yúłabbit YHWH rághəmju
Yáda rághəmju yətwaddá
Samayātəm liyiłāʔíl tətpállay
Yiłāʔílu yáda yashūʔa tətʔállay
Litwákkūlap Yiłāʔíl ham YHWH

[tiramisu]

Topic: Verbs, Syntax

To be fleshed out! Watch this post for illustrative examples.

Topicalization
Verbs can be topicalized by the addition of -ma. This is perhaps typical in sentences with more than one verb.
In sentences with coordinated verbs, it is usually attached to the first verb in the sequence, and can be translated as a conjunction. It implies sequence -- that the marked verb has begun prior to the beginning of the second verb -- but does not always imply result.

Subordination
Verbs and clauses may be subordinated by adding the conjunction -u to the head of the subordinated clause, usually a verb. In cases of possible ambiguity between subordination and coordination (as -u on its own is a coordinating conjunction), the subordinating verb often takes a topicalization marker.

Subordinated nominal clauses typically have a circumstantial interpretation.

Irrealis

Imperative
The imperative is formed from the stem of the perfective conjugation. If there is no word directly before it which ends in a vowel, it may take a prosthetic vowel ə-.

Optative
The optative is formed by adding lə- or li- to the perfective conjugation stem. lə- exists only in pro-pretonic first or second person optatives.

Optatives may be used with imperative force.

[tiramisu]

Bump.
[Probably premature, but I am very busy at the moment and know I will not add to this thread for a while, and I've lost threads on this board in the past by erring on the side of not bumping prematurely, so...]

[tiramisu]

Dump:

Every year around New Year's, I have a tradition of conlanging and translating Auld Lang Syne into my conlangs developed throughout the outgoing year. I've been trying to get the tradition going on the zBB for a couple of years now. It gives the community a nice 'museum' of our progress over the year. So say a little about your conlang in 2016, and where you hope to take it in 2017, and give your translation.

Here we have it in Classical Sebastic, my Semitic conlang that I have been revamping from scratch. I created 'Sebastic' in 2012 or so, and was completely dissatisfied about how I went about doing it. I talked for a few years about redoing it from scratch using the same premises, but it took quite a while to get around to doing that. I'm happy with how it's turning out, although in 2017 I hope to work out a more aesthetically pleasing and realistic Romanization.

So here it is:

Ləmjətḥallíl ḥibratamā́
ʔit lírbi sikramā́
Ləmjətḥallíl ḥibratamā́
hin hayyā́m ja jikramā́

Hayyā́m ja jikramā́, ḥibrā́ya
Hayyā́m ja jikramā́!
Másti kī́sa ī́ma bī́sa
hin hayyā́m ja jikramā́

Back translation:

Let's feast with our friends
So may our drink accrue
Let's feast with our friends
With our days of remembrance (holidays)

Days of remembrance, buddies
Days of remembrance!
We'll drink a cup of cheer, not tears
On our days of remembrance!

Gloss:

Lə-m-jətḥallíl ḥibra-ta-mā́
OPT-1.PL-celebrate friend-COLL-1.PL.POSS
ʔit lí-irbi sikra-mā́
CONJ OPT.3-accrue.3.M.S imbibing-1.PL.POSS
Lə-m-jətḥallíl ḥibra-ta-mā́
OPT-1.PL-celebrate friend-COLL-1.PL.POSS
ʔin ayyā́m ja jikra-mā́
PREP day.PL POSS commemoration-1.PL.POSS*

Ayyā́m ja jikra-mā́, ḥibr-ā́-ya
day.PL POSS commemoration-1.PL.POSS, friend-PL-1.S.POSS
Ayyā́m ja jikra-mā́!
day.PL POSS commemoration-1.PL.POSS
M-ásti kī́sa ī́ma bī́sa
1.PL-drink cup NEG** tragedy***
ʔin ayyā́m ja jikra-mā́
PREP day.PL POSS commemoration-1.PL.POSS

*"day of commemoration" is a set phrase denoting holidays, anniversaries, or celebrations
**This negation particle stands in place of the verb in a clause, which is usually the same verb of the previous clause.
***bīsa broadly refers to events that present hardship and tragedy, but have been survived. The Arabic cognate has even undergone enough semantic expansion along these lines, that its primary meaning is positive, "fortitude." English words that fall into its range of meaning are: tragedy, hardship, catastrophe, calamity, evil
***The three <ī> in this phrase all have the rare phoneme /e:/, which are not written distinctively in Classical Sebastic. This phrase is a set idiom in Classical Sebastic, about looking forward with optimism and not dwelling on the past.

[tiramisu]

Pronouns in Classical Sebastic are pretty simple. They are primarily enclitic. There exists independent pronouns as well, which most often appear as subject pronouns.

Code: Select all

Independent pronouns
1 hamā́ku		íḥmu
2m hámka		hámkim
2f hámki		hámkir
3m júwa 		jim
3f jíya 		jir

Enclitic subject pronouns
1  -ku	-ma
2m -ka	-kim
2f -ki	-kir
3m -a*	-u
3f -at	-a

*In some cases, such as with predicative adjectives, 3m is often marked -0

Enclitic object/possessive pronouns
1  -mi*	-ma
2m -ka	-kim
2f -ki	-kir
3m -ju	-jim
3f -ja	-jir

*1SG object pronoun is -mi. Possessive pronoun is -i after a consonant, -ya after a vowel.

[tiramisu]

Topic: Modern Sebastic, phonology, verbs, nouns

Modern Sebastic
Modern Sebastic comes in three forms. It includes two colloquial dialects, referred to as Galilean and Diasporal. The Galilean dialect belongs to the largest concentration of Sebastic speakers, in the southern Galilee region, who also produce the most cultural output. The Diasporal dialect is descended from the Jerusalem dialect, whose largest concentration of speakers in the region is now in Bethlehem. The majority of its speakers now live abroad, where a sort of koine serves as the lingua franca among them. Remnants of other dialects have influenced very local uses of the Diasporal dialect, but have, for the most part, died out.

A standard written dialect, referred to as simply Modern Sebastic, has also existed since the 19th century. It is a slightly classicizing or conservative standard, intended to be accessible to modern Sebastic speakers.

Below is a look at the standard written dialect, with partial notes on the phonologies of the Galilean/Diasporal dialects.

Phonology
β̥ (from *b) > v in Galilean, some Diasporal; > w in other Diasporal (incl. in Bethlehem)
l > j / _.C in both Galilean, Diasporal
l > w / V_V in Diasporal
w > v in Galilean, some Diasporal; remains w in other DIasporal (incl. in Bethlehem)
ā > ɔ in Diasporal
ī > e
ū > o
Galilean dialect undergoes advanced imāla: a > ε, ī > e > i, ā > ɔ > a
Some Diasporal accents influenced by this.

Verbs
The verbal system condenses significantly in Modern Sebastic.

Stems:
Gt, Dt disappear
D stems tend to merge morphologically: (G, D), (C, CD), (N, ND), (NC, NCD), (Ct, CDt).
Ct/CDt no longer productive and fossilized in meaning.
Classical D and CD stem meanings tend to transfer to Ct/CDt stem. Sometimes their meanings replace the G-stem or C-stem. Sometimes the meanings disappear entirely.
In some cases, D-stem is replaced with a stem of reduplication.
Meanings of t-stem verbs tend to transfer to N-stem verbs.
N-stems are almost always intransitive. The other stems (G, C, Ct/CDt) tend to be either transitive or intransitive.
Intransitives, especially mediopassives and passives, of Ct/CDt tend to take an indirect object to mark this function. They are similar in this regard to reflexive verbs of the Indo-European languages.

Examples:
'put down roots, become entrenched': Classical D-stem yəsakkám > Modern G-stem esákkim (also 'settle, settle down')
'chop up': Classical D-stem yákassir > Modern Redup. yákaskis
'be chopped up': Classical Dt-stem yátkassir > Modern Ct/CDt ejtákassir (see below)
'fall to pieces': Classical NCD-stem yəmjákassir > Modern Ct/CDt ejtákassir (used also transitively as 'break apart,' the Classical meaning of this verb)
'cut oneself': Classical Gt-stem yátkasir > Modern N-stem yámkasir (subsumed under the broader meaning: 'be cut')

Other notes:
Gender is no longer marked in verbs.
e- replaces yə- as 3S subject prefix.

Nouns
The archaic nominal marker -a is reanalyzed as an indefinite article. One theory claims this would have been motivated by a reanalysis of the Classical definite marker -(i)m as marking direct objects, in confusion with the actual direct object marker, -ma. There is little to evidence the theory, however.

Indefinite marker: -a (kásba 'a piece of money')
Definite marker: -Ø (kásib 'the money')
Indef Direct Object marker: -ma (ejtəhakkílmaju kásibma 'he spent some money on it')
Definite Direct Object marker: -imma (ejtəhakkílmaju kásbimma 'he spent the money on it')

The feminine marker is no longer productive, as a homophonous morpheme marks collectives/specimens.
Gender agreement thus falls out of use.
Semantic distinctions in masculine/feminine nouns remain only in nouns that preserve social or economic differentiations based on gender. In some cases they come from different roots entirely (mas man; vashar woman), while in other cases, the feminine marker is preserved fossilized to make the distinction (bajɔ́ son; bájit daughter).


Next post: Comparison of Classical/Modern/Galilean/Diasporal

[tiramisu]

Example of differences between the dialects, with recordings of Classical, Galilean, and Diasporal dialects. (Click for soundcloud links). Glosses to be edited in later.

English: His lovely wife took down the bottle, and poured out a drink for us
Classical: təjabállī-ma himraʔtajú tāb̥ta bīḫam, təjballáy-u lima síkara
Modern: tɔj jamjú tɔv ejáble beḫ, ke ejtəballé mama síkarma
Colloquial Galilean: taj jemjú tav ejébli biḫ, ke ejtəbellí əmma síkarma
Colloquial Diasporal: tɔj jamjú tɔv ejáble beḫ, ke ejtəbawwé əmma síkarma

[mèþru]

Where is it spoken, and what happens to the Jews? Also, is this the same universe as Marshlandic and Βλάχεαν?

[tiramisu]

They are all spoken in our universe. They all exist in 'different universes,' in the sense that I don't have them interacting with each other in any way. Nothing happens to the Jews-- why would it affect them? Sebastic has nothing to do with them.

This is a map of the Sebastic communities in Palestine in 1947:

This is a map of the Sebastic communities in Palestine in 2013:


These maps are about 4 years old or so, and aren't quite what I conceptualize now, but they're good enough for now.
There's also a brief description about their history, about 5 or so posts into this thread. Again, it's a bit outdated for what I conceptualize now, but it does the job until I update it.

[mèþru]

So they take the combined role of Palestinians/Israeli Druze, or just Palestinians?

[tiramisu]

Palestinians. Not sure how/why they could be Druze; the post about the Sebastic speakers that I linked in the previous post explains that they are a Christian community. Certainly most of the Galilean speakers are Israeli citizens.