Tuesday 16 February 2016

Inukamati language



The Inuket and the Inukamati language
500 BCE – somewhere off the coast of Greenland, an Inuit fishing expedition, equipped with nothing more than a few open-topped canoes and nets, is blown off course towards the open sea. For two weeks, they float on Arctic waters, living off nothing but the fish they have caught. Ultimately, before they starve, they come ashore at a strange land – great rivers, open grassy plains, snow-capped mountains, boiling water running from the ground, trees growing on open fields. The few survivors are amazed, believing themselves to have arrived in heaven.

Of course, they have landed in what would later be Reykjavik, Iceland – well, not the same Iceland we know. This Iceland is almost twice as big as ours, its land extending 150 miles southwest of Reykjavik. On its southern plains, there are forests, and the Thingvellir fault extends all the way south to the sea, providing a continuous source of warm springs. Great colonies of bears roam the wilderness, provide fur, blubber and meat for potential settlers.

The sailors return to their homeland, with news of the heavenly island. Some of their kin dismiss the island as hallucinations brought on by starvation, but many believe them, and almost the entire village follows them to this new island. Soon, they build villages, with luxuries unknown to the communities in Greenland – if they wanted to keep warm in the winter, they would bathe in the hot streams, building houses from bear hide around the springs. If they wanted to store food and keep it from rotting, they would bury it in ice caves near the mountains. And the great shoals of fish surrounding their home island gave them plenty of food to survive through all winters – in fact, a custom rose whereby during December and early January, when daylight was at its shortest, fishing and hunting would cease, and this time was devoted to recreation and storytelling.

Their fishing expeditions continue to lead them across the ocean, to discover and settle new islands. By 200 BCE, they have begun to colonise the coast of Norway, the Faroes and the Shetlands, and just a century later, there is evidence that they have reached the coast of Scotland. These colonies come into contact with Proto-Norse tribes, and so, in these parts, a fusion of Norse and Inuit languages arises – this is the basis for the modern Inuket language.

By 0 CE, a primitve trade network has formed with Inuket (“the Island”) at its centre – canoes carry goods of varying value from northeastern Canada to southern Greenland, then to Inuket and down to Norway and the Faroes. The culture of these traders is a fusion of Norse and North American culture, with similar myths, deities and rituals. Observe, for example, their religion:

- The worldview of the Inuket was that the sky looped round into the ground – for example, if one were to ascend through the sky, they would first reach the Cave of the Gods, the ocean, the Inukalit (the fish said to rest below Inuket) and finally back up to Inuket itself. It was believed that when the Northern Lights shone, the gods were celebrating something, or if it shone weakly, this showed the shoals of fish in the ocean. It was believed the gods’ celebrations fueled the hot springs.

- It was believed that other islands rested on top of other fish, but not benevolent fish as Inukalit. Inukalit defended Inuket against attacks from these fish and other ocean monsters, which caused earthquakes and volcanoes.

During the next millennium, the Inuket lived a peaceful, undisturbed life – there are some records of Christian missionaries travelling into their territories, and Roman sailors approaching and even trading with their vessels. Their fraternity with the Norse continued, and they were also trade partners of the Celts and Picts – some of the early Scottish kings welcomed the most prominent traders into their castles, and in 838, Aethelstan, ruler of East Anglia, established (admittedly short-lived) trading ties with the Inuket, which could have potentially made East Anglia the most powerful of the English kingdoms.

However, history began to turn away from their favour in the 900s. At this time, under a new warlike leadership, they attempted to seize many of the English and French kingdoms by force, as the Vikings did. Unlike the Vikings, however, the Inuket were easily resisted and repelled, soon being shunned by Europe. Natural processes also began to wreak havoc – a series of volcanic eruptions in 1023-1028 decimated the population of Inuket, and then the Little Ice Age made temperatures on the island far less sustainable than beforehand. As Christianity was introduced to Norway, the Inuket resisted – a series of pogroms forced them to return to their home island. By 1200, their glory days were over, their populations heavily reduced.

In the 1500s and 1600s, as their population began to recover, slave raids once again reduced the population of the island. Britain and Denmark fought a war over ownership of the islands – the British won, and Inuket, renamed New Cumbria, was proclaimed a colony of Britain. Local culture was suppressed, and the island was the site of many battles since, between foreign invaders, natives and colonists alike.

After the natives helped the British in resisting invasion after World War II, New Cumbria was granted independence in 1949, and in 1955 its name was restored to Inuket. Today, it is a member of the Commonwealth, but is strongly tribal and centred in its traditions, with a semi-republican government and full autonomy. Local traditions, dating back all the way to the first colonists, are being restored, and the ancient, Runic-inspired writing system is undergoing a revival, as is their language, Inukamati, a hybrid of Greenlandic and Old Norse, with a few English loanwords (and some words with no traceable origin) thrown in.

1: Orthography

Inukamati uses an adapted runic alphabet, but this is the system used for Latin transliteration.

A a
/æ/
J j
/j/
P p
/p/
U u
/u/
Ǎ ǎ
/a/
K k
/k/
Q q
/q/
V v
/v/
B b
/b/
L l
/l/
Q̌ q̌
/ɢ/
X x
/x/
D d
/d/
Ł ł
/ɬ/
R r
/r/
Y y
/y/
Đ đ
/ð/
M m
/m/
Ř ř
/ʁ/
Z z
/z/
E e
/e/
N n
/n/
S s
/s/
Ž ž
/ʒ/
F f
/ɸ/
Ň ň
/n͡m/
Š š
/ʃ/


G g
/g/
O o
/o/
T t
/t/


I i
/i/
Ǒ ǒ
/ɔ/
Ŧ ŧ
/θ/



2: Nouns

2.1: Noun cases

There are eleven noun cases:

-          Ergative – agent, subject
-          Absolutive – patient, object
-          Essive – like, as, similar to
-          Inessive – in, from within
-          Genitive – of,
-          Ablative – from, far, behind, out of
-          Lative – to or towards
-          Instrumental - using
-          Caritive – without, except for
-          Comitative - with
-          Apudessive – next to, near

2.2: Noun declensions

For declensions, there are two classes of nouns:

-          Full nouns: most nouns. Most of these nouns can be incorporated into verbs.
-          Half nouns: mostly Norse-descended words, which do not change fully for each case.


Full sing.
Full plu.
Half sing.
Half plu.
Erg
-u
-ut
-a
-at
Abs
-Øt/it
-a
-at
Ess
-ud /Ød
-udi
-e
Ine
-im/Øm
-ǎm
-em
-ǎm
Gen
-imet/ Ømet
-ǎt
-am
-im
Abl
-et
-eŧ
-am
-im
Lat
-am
-em
-et
-it
Ins
-iq/Øq
-ǎq
-ek
-ik
Car
-te
-tu
-aj
-aje
Com
-en
-ed
-a
-at
Apu
-in
-it
-an
-in

2.3: Definite articles

There are two definite articles, which come after the noun:
-          “E” – “this”
-          “I” – “that”

3: Pronouns

3.1: Basic pronouns


1st sing.
2nd sing.
3rd sing.
1st plu.
2nd plu.
3rd plu.
Erg/Abs/Com
Ux
It
Un
Ung
Il
Uq
Ess
Uk
Te
Ne
Ge
Inq
Ine
Ukem
Tem
Nem
Gem
Ilim
Inqem
Gen/Abl
Uxa
Ta
Na
Q̌a
Ila
Ina
Lat
Uki
Ti
Ni
Qi
Lis
Nai
Ins
Uqi
Teq
Naq
Q̌aq
Laq
Naq
Car
Ukte
Tete
Nate
Qate
Late
Uite
Apu
Ukni
Teni
Nani
Qan
Lan
Nan

3.2: Reflexive suffixes

There are two reflexive suffixes, which follow the main pronouns – “-or”, for the singular, and “-orti”, for the plural.

3.3: Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are incorporated in the noun – these suffixes come after the case endings.


Singular
Plural
1st sing.
-xa
-ka
2nd sing.
-d/-ud
-t/-ut
3rd sing.
-a
-at
1st plu.
-pa
-pat
2nd plu.
-aš
-ašt
3rd plu.
-at
-aŧ

4: Verbs

4.1: Personal indicative conjugation

Note that in this and all future conjugations, the rows are subject pronouns, the columns are object pronouns.

Present
1st
2nd
3rd
Past
1st
2nd
3rd
1st sing.
-a
-i
-e
1st sing.
-ai
-y
-u
2nd sing.
-at
-it
-ot
2nd sing.
-ait
-yt
-ut
3rd sing.
-aq
-iq
-oq
3rd sing.
-aiq
-yq
-uq
1st plu.
-am
-im
-om
1st plu.
-ama
-ym
-um
2nd plu.
-aš
-až
-oš
2nd plu.
-ša
-yš
-uš
3rd plu.
-et
-aq
-it
3rd plu.
-ta
-eiq
-ut

The future is indicated with the article “ax” coming after the verb.

4.2: Interrogative conjugation

Present
1st
2nd
3rd
Past       
1st
2nd
3rd
1st sing.
-ang
-ing
-eng
1st sing.
-aing
-yng
-engi
2nd sing.
-and
-itaq
-ond
2nd sing.
-aind
-itaqa
-ondi
3rd sing.
-anq
-inq
-onq
3rd sing.
-ainqa
-inqa
-onqi
1st plu.
-amaq
-imaq
-omeq
1st plu.
-amqi
-imqi
-omqi
2nd plu.
-ašaq
-ažaq
-oš
2nd plu.
-ašqi
-yžqi
-ošqi
3rd plu.
-ti
-aqi
-itqi
3rd plu.
-atqi
-eiqi
-itqi

4.2: Imperative/optative conjugation

                
1st
1st sing.
2nd sing.
-łda
3rd sing.
-łqa
1st plu.
-tłi
2nd plu.
-łŧ
3rd plu.
-tał

4.3: Incorporated nouns

Given names can be incorporated into verbs, for example:

-          “Josauq” = “John-love-3RD.SING” = “John loves him/her/it”

Some full nouns have a form whereby they can be incorporated into the verb, for example:

-          “Agl-ažpi-łqa” = “Whale-surface-OPT.3RD.SING” = “The whale surfaces”