Meigri language

Meigri

Spoken in the Meigen Mountains, a fictional region of Scandinavia.

1: Phonology

This is the traditional Meigri Latin alphabet, used to transcribe the language until the 20th century. The standard linguistic community today substitutes the “h”-initial digraphs for carons (“ˇ”).

A a	/a/	M m	/m/
B b	/b/	N n	/n/
C c	/ʦ/	O o	/o/
D d	/d/	P p	/p/
E e	/ɛ/	Q q	/ʧ/
F f	/ɸ/	Hq hq	/ʧ’/
Hf hf	/p͡ɸ/	R r	/ɹ/
G g	/g/	Hr hr	/r/
Hg hg	/ɡ͡ɣ/	S s	/s/
H h	/x/	T t	/t/
I i	/i/	U u	/u/
J j	/j̊/~/ç/	V v	/β/
K k	/k/	X x	/ʒ/
Hk hk	/k’/	Y y	/j/
L l	/l/	Z z	/ʣ/

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2: Verbs & adverbs

Except for the use of articles, verbs cannot be distinguished from nouns, and so the article-less form of each verb is the gerund (“noun”) form of the verb, and is declined like such a noun. Despite this, even when using articles, use the plural when a plural subject applies.

2.1: Adverb-less verbs

All verbs, except for the predicate, without adverbs take either one of five articles, regardless of the class of verb.

Example = Zlik = to keep

	Imperfect		Perfect
Present	I keep	U ge zlik	I will keep	U zlik ge
Present continuous	I was keeping	U go zlik	I will be keeping	U zlik go
Past	I kept	U qo zlik	I will have kept	U zlik qo
Negative	I don’t keep	U yo zlik	I won’t keep	U zlik yo
Interrogative	Do I keep?	U ja zlik	Will I keep?	U zlik ja

2.2: Adverb (and conditional) verbs

If there is an adverb, this adverb takes the place of the article in all instances, and is declined as such:

Class 1: Mon = could, can

Pr	Mon
Pr Con	Mot
Pa	Moq
Ne	Mohq
In	Moi

Class 2: Urux = carelessly

Pr	Urux
Pr Con	Urun
Pa	Urui
Ne	Uhrux
In	Uhrui

Note that in some cases, adverbs can end in “i”, “y” or “j” in the present, and so are switched with “n” in the interrogative. In class 2, the first consonant must be “f”, “g”, “k”, “q”, “r” or “y”, so it can be replaced with its “h”-digraph counterpart or “j”.

2.3: The predicate

Only the predicate (the verb “to be”) takes no article. This verb, “ai”, is treated as a Class 1 adverb.

3: Nouns & adjectives

Note that in all sentences, the order is Nominative-Accusative-Dative-other.

3.1: Noun cases

·          Accusative: Identical to the nominative and dative in all nouns

·         Genitive: The possessive form of each noun

·         Perlative/Instrumental: Refers to the object which another noun is going through. In some instances, it is equivalent to “with” or “using”, particularly with the preposition “ne”, and it is also equivalent to “because” or “for” in some instances.

·         Inactive: For where the accusative does not interact – for example “I gave the book to him”, because “the book” does not interact, it is inactive

·         Resultative: For where the subject is a form of the object that has changed state, not an entirely different object

3.2: Noun classes

There are five classes of noun, chosen mostly at random. The class is determined based on the final syllable, which always has the form CVC in the accusative singular (except for Class 1, which takes CV). The vowel before the final consonant influences the declension pattern.

3.3: Class 1

These are for nouns which end in a vowel in the accusative. Example – “Hqorca” = Oven

	Sing.	Plu.
Accusative	Hqorca	Hqorco
Genitive	Hqorek	Hqorka
Perlative	Hqorci	Hqorcu
Inactive	Hqorki	Hqorko
Resultative	Hqorcaj	Hqorcoj

3.4: Class 2

These are for nouns where the final vowel is “o” or “a”, but there is a stop consonant. For example, “Manog” = Horse

	Sing.	Plu.
Accusative	Manog	Manom
Genitive	Manok	Manon
Perlative	Mangi	Mangu
Inactive	Maneg	Manem
Resultative	Manol	Manen

3.5: Class 3

These are for nouns where the final vowel is “i”. E.g. = “Hkaktit” – Ride

	Sing.	Plu.
Accusative	Hkaktit	Hkakti
Genitive	Hkaktet	Hkaktey
Perlative	Hkakit	Hkakot
Inactive	Hkaktin	Hkaktil
Resultative	Hkaktir	Hkaktin

3.6: Class 4

For nouns where the final vowel is “u”. E.g. “Poxhkuz” = “Birch”

	Sing.	Plu.
Accusative	Poxhkuz	Poxhkaz
Genitive	Poxhkoz	Poxhkiz
Perlative	Poxohk	Poxuhk
Inactive	Poxhkus	Poxhkul
Resultative	Poxhkul	Poxhki

3.7: Class 5

Where the final vowel is “e”. E.g. “Lizdet” = “Lake”

	Sing.	Plu.
Accusative	Lizdet	Lizdot
Genitive	Lizdit	Lizdut
Perlative	Lizit	Lizot
Inactive	Lizday	Lizdey
Resultative	Lizdel	Lizdej

3.8: Class 1 & 2 adjectives

Adjectives can come before or after the noun.

Adjectives are not inflected for noun class, but only for case and quantity. There are two classes – Class 1 and Class 2 adjectives seem to function as opposites – for example, if “quiet” is Class 1, then “loud” is Class 2.

An example of a Class 1 adjective is “otot”, meaning “quiet”.

	Sing.	Plu.
Nominative-Dative	Otot	Otku
Accusative	Ota	Otka
Genitive-Perlative	Oti	Otir
Inactive-Resultative	Otol	Oton

“Otor” means “loud”.

	Sing.	Plu.
Nominative-Dative	Otor	Otkur
Accusative	Otar	Otkar
Genitive-Perlative	Otim	Otin
Inactive-Resultative	Otoj	Otoq

3.9: Numbers 1-10 Accusative only

1	Am	6	Kaj
2	Kej	7	Est
3	Koc	8	Esir
4	Hqol	9	Un
5	Majhat	10	Nihat