Declension of nouns (noun prefixes)

 

This article will detail noun prefixes.

Neramese has 9 (7 unique) cases:

1. Indefinite nominative (dictionary)
2. Definite nominative
3. Genitive
4. Dative
5. Indefinite accusative (dictionary)
6. Definite accusative
7. Vocative
8. Locative
9. Instrumental/comitative
10. Comparative (like)

The definiteness of a noun works approximately the same as in Catalan. The definite article is used in all cases, except for situations where the indefinite would be used. The definite article must be used. This includes abstract concepts such as general concepts (the art, the math, the music, etc...),  countries/regions, superlatives, languages, addressing a group, and time and date. Names (any proper noun) and possession use the definite article as well. 

Only the nominative/accusative differentiate between definite and indefinite nouns. In all other cases, the definiteness is not defined and is of no importance.

All cases cause lenition. See the page on lenition for more details

1./5. Indefinite nominative/accusative - This is the form of the noun found in the dictionary. It is the form used for the subject or object.

2./6./7. Definite nominative/accusative and vocative - The noun takes the "n-" prefix if the noun begins in a vowel, and the "i-" prefix if the noun begins in a consonant. It is the form used for the subject or object. The vocative is used when calling a name/thing by its name, to capture its attention.

- eram (a language) -> neram (the language)

As names are also subject to the definite cases, they require these prefixes. However, any proper noun requires a hypen between the article and the name, with the article remaining lowercase.

- Nicola -> i-Nicola

Vocatives also require the definite article, even when calling out common nouns. 

- paras (a dog) -> ipharas!

3. Genitive - The noun takes the "me-" prefix. The genitive has many uses, with the most common being possession. It also means "from", is used with most prepositions, is used with some expressions like śorim me... (to get used to), and it is used to indicate the agent in passive constructions).

- zam (a world) -> mezam (of/from a/the world)

4. Dative - The noun takes the "pe-" prefix. The dative also has many uses, with the most common being the indicator for the indirect object, in opposition to the accusative. The dative is also used for the preposition "for" (not in the sense of "in order to"), in the sense of a donor for an action. ("I did this for my sister", for example). The dative is also used with a handful of prepositions, which will be detailed in a future article.

- uì (a man) -> peuì (for a/the man)

8. Locative - The noun take the "ez-" prefix if the noun begins in a vowel, and the "ze-" prefix if the noun begins in a consonant. The locative subsumes all locative prepositions that would be used in English and French. On, at, in are all translated using the locative case. In addition, "to", as in the directional "to", is also translated using the locative. Finally, one prepositions (towards - cazi) uses the locative, which will be explained in a future article.

- madras - a school -> zemhadras (at/in/on (a) school)

9. Instrumental/comitative - The noun uses the "pri-" prefix if the noun begins in a vowel, and the "pro-" prefix if the noun begins in a consonant. The instrumental/comitative is the combination of two cases, which in most languages would be separate. In English and French, these are usually the same (with/avec), but the instrumental can be distinguished with "using". In addition, this case also indicates the mode of transport used, by bus, by train, by foot, for example.

- bera (a woman) -> probhera (with a/the woman)

10. Comparative - Like, as. The noun takes the "alha-" prefix.

- tlora (flower) -> alhatlora (like a flower)

Conjugation and personal pronouns

 

This article will detail the conjugation patterns and personal pronouns of Neramese.

Neramese is a pro-drop language. This only has a few exceptions, which regard mhìm and cám. Outside of those two cases, using the personal pronoun adds emphasis.

Neramese's personal pronouns are only reflective of person, animacy, formality and number. Animacy is only important in the third person. Formality is only important in the plural animate.

1st person singular (I) - en

2nd person singular (you) - tl'e

3rd person singular animate (he/she/they) - re

3rd person singular inanimate (it) - se

1st person plural (we) - aman in the formal, man in the colloquial

2nd person plural (you) - etluì in the formal, tl'uì in the colloquial

3rd person plural animate (they) - erem in the formal, rem in the colloquial

3rd person plural inanimate (they) - sem

In conjugation, animacy and formality are of no importance. This means that "se" uses the same conjugations as "re" and "sem" uses the same conjugations as "erem".

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Neramese verbs are conjugated based on number, person, and tense. Neramese has no grammatical gender, and therefore gender is of no importance. Aspect is not reflected in Neramese grammar. Mood is reflected in the end particle used.

There are four tenses: Present, past, future, and conditional.

- The present is the most basic of all tenses. It is used for any action occurring in the present moment, that is still occurring up to now, or any action that occurs in general or habitually.

- The past tense is used for any action that occurred in the past.

- The future tense is used for any action that will occur in the future. The anterior future does not exist in Neramese and is expressed with the plain future tense.

- The conditional tense is for any hypothetical action that would occur in a given situation. The anterior conditional does not exist and is expressed with the plain conditional tense.

- Infinitives are used for nominalisation (turning a verb into a noun).

All infinitives end in -m. This goes without exception. There are four verb groups: 

- Group one is verbs ending in -am.

- Group two is verbs ending in -um.

- Group three is all other verbs.

- Group four is the two exceptional verbs: im, prezam and mhìm.

Conjugation is always formed with morphological additions to the root. The root is formed by removing the last -m. 

In the present tense, first person will either be nasalised or take "-n", second person will take "-s", third person singular will take nothing and third person plural will take "-tl". 

In the past tense, it is the same as the present, with the only difference being that the root undergoes a vowel change.

In the future tense, singulars take the augment "i-", while plurals take the augment "e-".

In the conditional tense, singulars take the augment "hi-", while plurals take the augment "he-". The root undergoes the same vowel change as the past.

• Group one conjugation: infinitives in -am.
• Example: śam (to fear)
• First person in nasalised in present. Only the first person singular is nasalised in the future tense.
• The root vowel change in the past and conditional is: "-a" -> "-u".

Present:                                                                     Past:

- śą en (nasalisation)                                                - śun en (-n)

- śas tl'e (-s)                                                               - śus tl'e (-s)

- śa re (-)                                                                    - śu re (-)

- śą aman (nasalisation)                                          - śun aman (-n)

- śas etuì (-s)                                                           - śus etuì (-s)

- śatl erem (-tl)                                                        - śutl erem (-tl)

  

Future:                                                                      Conditional:

- iśą en (i-, nasalisation)                                           - hiśun en (hi-, -n)

- iśas tl'e (i-, -s)                                                          - hiśus tl'e (hi-, -s)

- iśa re (i-)                                                                 - hiśu re (hi-)

- eśą aman (e-, -n)                                                    - heśun aman (he-, -n)

- eśas etluì (e-, -s)                                                     - heśus etluì (he-, -s)

- eśatl erem (e-, -tl)                                                    - heśutl erem (he-, -tl)

• Group two conjugation: infinitives in -um.
• Example: sum (to kill)
• The root vowel change in the past and conditional is: "-u" -> "-ì".

Present:                                                                     Past:

-  sun en (-n)                                                             - sìn en (-n)

- sus tl'e (-s)                                                               - sìs tl'e (-s)

- su re (-)                                                                  - sì re (-)

- sun aman (-n)                                                       - sìn aman (-n)

- sus etluì (-s)                                                          - sìs etluì (-s)

- sutl erem (-tl)                                                        - sìtl erem (-tl)

Future:                                                                      Conditional:

- isun en (i-, -n)                                                         - hisìn en (hi-, -n)

- isus tl'e (i-, -s)                                                          - hisìs tl'e (hi-, -s)

- isu re (i-)                                                                 - hisì re (hi-)

- esun aman (e-, -n)                                                  - hesìn aman (he-, -n)

- esus etluì (e-, -s)                                                     - hesìs etluì (he, -s)

- esutl erem (e-, -tl)                                                   - hesìtl erem (he-, -tl)

• Group three conjugation: all other infinitives.
• Example: erem (to know (connaître))
• The root vowel change in the past and conditional is: "-V" -> "-u".
• If the the first letter of the root is the same as the augment, they remain separate vowels, not a long vowel. This forms a glide.
• eeren: [ɛ̯.ɛɾɛn] 

Present:                                                                     Past:

- eren en (-n)                                                           - erun en (-n)

- eres tl'e (-s)                                                          - erus tl'e (-s)

- ere re (-)                                                               - eru re (-)

- eren aman (-n)                                                    - erun aman (-n)

- eres etuì (-s)                                                       - erus etuì (-s)

- eretl erem (-tl)                                                    - erutl erem (-tl)

Future:                                                                      Conditional:

- ieren en (i-, -n)                                                         - hierun en (hi-, -n)

- ieres tl'e (i-, -s)                                                          - hierus tl'e (hi-, -s)

- iere re (i-)                                                           - hieru re (hi-)

- eeren aman (e-, -n)                                                  - heerun aman (he-, -n)

- eereś etluì (e-, -ś)                                                    - heeruś etluì (he-, -s)

- eeretl erem (e-, -tl)                                                    - heerutl erem (he-, -tl)

• Group four conjugation: im, prezam and mhìm.
• "Im" (to see) is nothing but the infinitive. It is conjugated as though it were really "hem". "Hem" is not a verb, but it forms the root "he-", on which all conjugations are based on.
• Hen en, hu re, hen aman, hehutl erem, etc...
• Mhìm (copula) (to be) is only conjugated on tense. Number and person are unimportant in conjugating the copula. Remember : final particles also contain this information. 
• Present: is
• Past: mhas
• Future: es
• Conditional: mhos
• Prezam (to understand) is conjugated normally except in the first person singular present. In this case there are two options: "Prezą en", the regular conjugation OR "prą en", the common conjugation. The former is only seen in writing, and the latter is always preferred in speech, regardless of the register.

Word Order

 

This article will detail the word order of Neramese.

In its most basic form, Neramese has a VSO word order. Similar to what one would encounter in Irish Gaelic.

Particles are very important in Neramese, meaning they have set positions. Final particles contain grammatical information referring to the arguments of the verb, particularly number and person

- Negation particles (mhi, çem, gì... etc) must be the first word in the clause. Nothing may precede them, within the confines of the clause.

- The verb follows the negation particle, if there is one. There must be a verb in order to qualify the phrase as a phrase, rather than a mere interjection or vocative.

- After the verb, and before the subject, comes any complement. This includes adverbs, locations, datives, comitatives/instrumentals, etc...

- Then comes the subject. Any numeral, which should be detached from the subject, is still considered to be apart of the subject, meaning nothing may come in between them. Any genitive or adjective that comes after the subject is also apart of the subject's realm.

- Then comes the object. Any numeral, which should be detached from the object, is still considered to be apart of the object, meaning nothing may come in between them. Any genitive or adjective that comes after the object is also apart of the object's realm. In predicative adjective constructions, the adjective acts as an invariable object.

- The end of the clause must be a particle. Final particles may not be omitted; this goes without exception. Certain particles allow for the addition of another clause.

I don't understand why we are not eating lunch in the school anymore. =

Am emhą zemadras idina gaś, mhi prą sa. 

no.more  we.eat    in.school   the.lunch   why,   no i.understand obj.

Phonology

 

This article will detail the necessary phonology of Neramese. Neramese is completely phonologically consistent, therefore there are no worries on the part of the learner. All consonants are apical where applicable.

Stress:

- Stress always falls on the ultimate syllable of a word. This is without exception. Neramese is syllable-timed.

Vowels:

/a/ - a

/ã/ - ą

/i/ - i

/y/ - ì

/ɛ/ - e

/ɔ/ - o

/u/ - u

/ɔɻ/ - uì

NOTE: If two vowels are next to each other, or especially when they are the same vowel, the first one becomes a semivowel. 

• eeren: [ɛ̯.ɛɾɛn] 

Consonants:

/m/ - m

/p/ - p

/b/ - b

/β/ - mh (1)

/f/ - ph

/v/ - bh

/n/ - n (NOTE: [n̪] - dental)

/t/ - t (NOTE: [t̪] - dental)

/d/ - d (NOTE: [d̪] - dental)

/θ/ - ç

/ð/ - z

/s/ - s

/ɾ/ - r

/ʃ/ - ś

/l/ - l

/k/ - c

/g/ - g

/x/ - h

/ɬ/ - lh (2)

/t͡ɬ/ - tl (3)

/j/ - i

/k'/ - c' (4)

/t'/ - t' (5)

/p'/ - p' (6)

/t͡ɬ'/ - tl' (7)

/ʔ/ - '

Syllable formation:

- (C)V(+)

- (!)RV(+)

- V = vowel, C = consonant, + = specific coda consonants

- For V, any vowel from the list is accepted.

- For C, any consonant from the list is accepted.

- For +, most consonants may take the coda position, EXCEPT /-d/, /-t/, /-p/, /-b/, /-k/, /-g/, /-f/, /-v/, /-ʔ/ or any ejective. 

- The most common coda consonants are liquids, approximants, fricatives (except labio-dentals), and affricates.

- For (!)R, the only consonant clusters permitted are: /pr-/, /fr-/, /tr-/, /θr-/, /br-/, /vr-/, /ðr-/, and /dr-/.

The Neramese Language

Welcome.

This blog is dedicated to the teaching of my native tongue: Neramese. These are the only documents that exist, detailing the functioning of Nerám.

This is a sacred language, passed down through generations of diaspora, since time immemorial. Due to the language's fracturing, it has been subject to lexical influences of the primary languages of the places it is spoken. The learner may notice French, Spanish, or any Indo-European influence. What complexes people is its origins. It appears that Neramese is a linguistic isolate, meaning it shares no genealogical relation to another tongue. It has heavily influences from many European languages, due to centuries upon millennia of contact, but its grammar and syntax remains "alien" to the rest of the world. To the European eye and ear, it's structure more closely resembles the likes of Korean.

The phonology is simple and clear. The language has no tones and is strictly syllable-timed, with the accent always falling on the last syllable. All vowels are short and there are plenty. I must confess, however, that these descriptions are based on my own phonological inventory, which is influenced by the French language, due to my ancestors choosing the Loire region as their home.

Nonetheless, I urge the curious reader to become the voracious learner. My tongue is a dying one, and I write this in the fear that some day its branches and twigs will be spoken no more. 

Thank you.

- Áhmą