diff --git a/content/en/proto-nyqy.org b/content/en/proto-nyqy.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc392b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/en/proto-nyqy.org @@ -0,0 +1,440 @@ +# -*- eval: (require 'org-ref) -*- +#+title: The Proto-Ñyqy People +#+subtitle: Their Culture, their Language, and what we know about it +#+setupfile: ../headers +#+html_head: +#+html_head: +#+html_head: +#+macro: nyqy (eval (conlanging-proto-nyqy-to-org $1)) +#+options: auto-id:t +#+subject: Proto-Ñyqy Culture and Language +#+uid: https://langue.phundrak.com/en/proto-nyqy +#+latex_header: \linespread{1.15} +#+latex_header: \makeglossaries +#+latex: \printglossaries + +* Foreword +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-Foreword-d22hjv20e5j0 +:END: +Redistribution or sell of this document is strictly prohibited. This +document is protected by French law on copyright and is completely +owned by its author[fn:3] (myself, Lucien “Phundrak” Cartier-Tilet). +This document is released for free in various formats on the author’s +website[fn:1] and is released under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence[fn:2]. + +If you got this document by any other mean than a website on the +~.phundrak.com~ domain, please report it as soon as possible. There is +currently no agreement with the author to redistribute it by any mean +possible. If you wish to redistribute it, please contact the author. + +This document is about a gls:conlang I created. However, it will be +written as an in-universe document would be. Therefore, any reference +to other works, documents or people will be completely fictional. If +there is somewhere written that there “needs to be more research done +on the subject” or any similar kind of expression, this simply means I +haven’t written anything on this subject, and I may not plan to. As +you might notice, the style of writing in this document will be +inspired mainly by the book /Indo-European Language and Culture/ by +Benjamin W. Forston. Go read this book if you haven’t already, it’s +extremely interesting (except for the part with the Old Irish and +Vedic people and what their kings and queens did with horses, I wish +to unread that). + +This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, +to any real event, or any real people is purely coincidental. + +* Introduction +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-z8wgna40e5j0 +:END: +** Language Evolution +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-Language-evolution-mpo10x50e5j0 +:END: +We are not sure which was the first language ever spoken in our world. +Was there even one primordial language, or were there several that +spontaneously appeared around our world here and there? We cannot know +for certain, this is too far back in our history. Some scientists +estimate the firsts of our kind to be gifted the ability to speak +lived some hundred of thousand of years back, maybe twice this period +even. There is absolutely no way to know what happened at that time +with non-physical activities, and we can only guess. We can better +guess how they lived, and how they died, than how they interacted with +each other, what was their social interaction like, and what were the +first words ever spoken on our planet. Maybe they began as grunts of +different pitches, with hand gestures, then two vowels became +distinct, a couple of consonants, and the first languages sprung from +that. This, we do not know, and this is not the subject of this book +anyways. + +What we do know is, languages evolve as time passes. One language can +morph in the way it is pronounced, in the way some words are used, in +the way they are shaped by their position and role in the sentence, by +how they are organized with each other. A language spoken two +centuries back will sound like its decendent today, but with a +noticeable difference. Jumping a couple of centuries back, and we lost +some intelligibility, and some sentences sound alien to us. A +millenium back, and while the language resonates, we cannot understand +it anymore. Going the other way around, travelling to the future, +would have the same effect, except that we would not necessarily +follow only one language, but several, for in different places, +different changes would take place. As time goes by, these differences +become more and more proeminent, and what was once the same langage +becomes several dialects that become less and less similar to one +another, until we end up with several languages, sister between +themselves, daughters to the initial language. + +** Relating Languages Between Themselves +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-Relating-languages-between-themselves-7qp10x50e5j0 +:END: +We are not sure who first emited the theory of language evolution; +this has been lost to time during the great collapse two thousand +years back, and only a fraction of the knowledge from back then +survived the flow of time. We’re lucky even to know about this. It’s +the Professor Loqbrekh who, in 3489, first deciphered some books that +were found two decades prior, written in Énanonn. They described the +principle of language evolution, and how language families could be +reconstructed, how we could know languages are related, and a hint on +how mother languages we do not know could be reconstructed. The +principle on how historical linguistics are the following: + +#+begin_quote +If two languages share a great number of coincidentally similar +features, especially in their grammar, so much so that it cannot be +explained by chance only, then these two languages are surely related. +#+end_quote + +By this process, we can recreate family trees of languages. Some are +more closely related to one another than some other, which are more +distant. Sometimes, it is even unsure if a language is related to a +language tree; maybe the language simply borrowed a good amount of +vocabulary from another language that we either now of, or died since. + +The best attested languages are the ones we have written record of. In +a sense, we are lucky: while we do know a vast majority of the written +documents prior to the great collapse were lost during this sad event, +we still have a good amount of them left in various languages we can +analyze, and we still find some that were lost before then and found +back again. The earliest written record we ever found was from the +Loho language, the oldest member of the Mojhal language tree attested; +the Mojhal tree has been itself linked to the Ñyqy tree some fifty +years ago by the Pr Khorlan (3598). + +** Principles of Historical Linguistics +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-Principles-of-historical-linguistics-woq10x50e5j0 +:END: +So, how does historical linguistics work? How does one know what the +mother language of a bunch of other languages is? In historical +linguistics, we study the similarities between languages and their +features. If a feature is obviously common, there is a good chance it +is inherited from a common ancestor. The same goes for words, we +generally take the average of several words, we estimate what their +ancestor word was like, and we estimate what sound change made these +words evolve the way they did. If this sound change consistently works +almost always, we know we hit right: sound changes are very regular, +and exceptions are very rare. And this is how we can reconstruct a +mother language that was lost to time thanks to its existing daughter +languages. + +But as we go back in time, it becomes harder and harder to get +reliable data. Through evolution, some information is lost --- maybe +there once was an inflectional system that was lost in all daughter +languages, and reconstructing that is nigh impossible. And since no +reconstruction can be attested, we need a way to distinguish these +from attested forms of words. This is why attested words are simply +written like “this”, while reconstructed words are written with a +preceding star like “{{{recon(this)}}}”. Sometimes, to distinguish both from +the text, you will see the word of interest be written either in *bold* +or /italics/. This bears no difference in meaning. + +** On Proto-Languages +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-On-proto-languages-qtr10x50e5j0 +:END: +As we go back in time, there is a point at which we have to stop: we +no longer find any related language to our current family, or we can’t +find enough evidence that one of them is part of the family and if +they are related, they are very distantly related. This language we +cannot go beyond is called a proto-language, and it is the mother +language of the current language family tree. In our case, the +Proto-Ñyqy language, spoken by the Ñyqy people, is the mother language +of the Ñyqy language family tree and the ancestor of the more widely +known Mojhal languages. + +There is something I want to insist on very clearly: a proto-language +is not a “prototype” language as we might think at first --- it is not +an imperfect, inferior language that still needs some iterations +before becoming a full-fledged language. It has been proven multiple +times multiple times around the world, despite the best efforts of the +researchers of a certain empire, that all languages are equally +complex regardless of ethnicity, education, time, and place. Languages +that are often described as “primitive” are either called so as a way +to indicate they are ancient, and therefore close to a proto-language, +or they are described so by people trying to belittle people based on +incorrect belief that some ethnicities are somehow greater or better +than others. This as well has been proven multiple times that this is +not true. A proto-language bore as much complexity as any of the +languages currently spoken around the world, and a primitive language +in linguistic terms is a language close in time to these +proto-languages, such as the Proto-Mojhal language (which is also in +turn the proto-language of the Mojhal tree). The only reason these +languages might seem simpler is because we do not know them and cannot +know them in their entierty, so of course some features are missing +from it, but they were surely there. + +Note that “Proto-Ñyqy” is the usual and most widely accepted spelling +of the name of the language and culture, but other spellings are +accepted such as “Proto Ñy Qy”, “Proto Ñy Ȟy”, “Proto My Qy”, or +“Proto My Ȟy”, each with their equivalent with one word only after the +“Proto” part. As we’ll see below in +§[[#Phonology-Consonants-crlb9nn0h5j0]], the actual pronunciation of +consonants is extremely uncertain, and each one of these orthographies +are based on one of the possible pronunciations of the term +{{{recon(ñyqy)}}}. In this book, we’ll use the so called “coronal-only” +orthography, unless mentionned otherwise. Some people also have the +very bad habit of dubbing this language and culture as simply “Ñyqy” +(or one of its variants), but this is very wrong, as the term “Ñyqy” +designates the whole familiy of languages and cultures that come from +the Proto-Ñyqy people. The Tiltinian languages are as much Tiltinian +as they are Ñyqy languages, but that does not mean they are the same +as the Proto-Ñyqy language, even if they are relatively close in terms +of time. When speaking about something that is “Ñyqy”, we are +generally speaking about daughter languages and cultures and not about +the Proto-Ñyqy language and culture itself. + +Note also we usually write this language with groups of morphemes, +such as a noun group, as one word like we do with {{{recon(ñyqy)}}}. +However, when needed we might separate the morphemes by a dash, such +as in {{{recon(ñy-qy)}}}. + +** Reconstructing the Culture Associated to the Language +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Introduction-On-the-culture-associated-to-the-language-oa3g5660e5j0 +:END: +While the comparative method described in +§[[#Introduction-Principles-of-historical-linguistics-woq10x50e5j0]] work +on languages, we also have good reasons to believe they also work of +culture: if elements of different cultures that share a language from +the same family also share similar cultural elements, we have good +reasons to believe these elements were inherited from an earlier stage +of a common culture. This is an entire field of research in its own +right, of course, but linguistics also come in handy when trying to +figure out the culture of the Ñyqy people: the presence of certain +words can indicate the presence of what they meant, while the +impossibility of recreating a word at this stage of the language might +indicate it only appeared in later stages of its evolution, and it +only influenced parts of the decendents of the culture and language. +For instance, the lack of word for “honey” in Proto-Ñyqy but the +ability to reconstruct a separate word for both the northern and +southern branches strongly suggests both branches discovered honey +only after the Proto-Ñyqy language split up into different languages, +and its people in different groups, while the easy reconstruction of +{{{recon(mygú)}}} signifying /monkey/ strongly suggests both branches knew +about this animal well before these two groups split up. More on the +culture in §[[#Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-keflq2i0g5j0]] below. + +* Culture of the Proto-Ñyqy People +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-keflq2i0g5j0 +:END: +While the Proto-Ñyqy is the most well attested cultural and linguistic +family, the temporal distance between the Proto-Ñyqy people and us +makes it extremely hard to reconstruct anything. The various branches +of the Ñyqy family evolved over the past eight to twelve past +millenia, and some changed pretty drastically compared to their +ancestors. Therefore, do not expect an in-depth description of what +their society was like, but rather what could be considered an +overview compared to some other culture descriptions. + +** The Name of the Language +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-The-Name-of-the-Language-cknak9n0h5j0 +:END: +First, it is important to know where the name of this language came +from. Since it has such a wide spread in this world, giving it a name +based on where its daughter branches went would give it a very long +name, or with a shorter one we would have very boring or limited names +--- the “Proto-Northern-Southern” language doesn’t sound very good, +and the “Proto-Mojhal-Andelian” language leaves other major branches +out, such as the Pritian branch which we cannot ommit, just as the +Mojhal and Andelian branches. So, researchers went with the +reconstructed word for the inclusive /we/: {{{recon(ñyqy)}}}. It itself is a +coumpound word made up of {{{recon(ñy)}}}, which is the first person +pronoun, and {{{recon(qy)}}} which is sometimes used as a grammatical +morpheme indicating a plural --- it also means six, as we will later +on, the number system of the Proto-Ñyqy people was a bit complex. + +** Geographical Location +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-Geographical-Location-fmfkumo0h5j0 +:END: +It is often very hard to find the location of very old reconstructed +languages, such as the Proto-Mojhal language itself which location is +still not clearly known despite its name. But when it comes to the +Proto-Ñyqy people, we have a surprisingly good idea of where they +were: in the hot rainforests of the northern main continent, most +probably near nowadays’ Rhesodia. We know this thanks to some of their +reconstructed words which are typical for the other people that lived +or still live in hot rainforests, and these terms are older than the +split between the northern and southern groups. For instance, both +groups have a common ancestor word for /bongo/, {{{recon(zebac)}}}, as well as +for the /bonobo/, {{{recon(pawac)}}}, which are only found in these +rainforests. + +** Society +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-Society-g29i52n0h5j0 +:END: + +** Religion and Beliefs +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-Religion-and-beliefs-31mj52n0h5j0 +:END: + +** Personal Names +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Culture-of-the-Proto-Ñyqy-People-Personal-names-8ymj52n0h5j0 +:END: + +* Phonology +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Phonology-imgb9nn0h5j0 +:END: +** Vowels +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Phonology-Vowels-uvkb9nn0h5j0 +:END: +** Consonants +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Phonology-Consonants-crlb9nn0h5j0 +:END: +* Dictionary +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionary-y2icocp0h5j0 +:END: +** B +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-B-ae79d268 +:END: + +** C +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-C-29dc766b +:END: + +** E +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-E-54360434 +:END: + +** G +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-G-5a9af03c +:END: + +** I +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-I-a81a4697 +:END: + +** J +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-J-88f57f6a +:END: + +** M +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-M-cccfd958 +:END: + +** N +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-N-0ef6f2af +:END: + +** Ñ +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-Ñ-ff7a574f +:END: + +** O +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-O-cf8f0e3f +:END: + +** Ø +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-8fcb6e1e +:END: + +** Œ +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-Œ-0c780f53 +:END: + +** P +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-P-2b7ab301 +:END: +- {{{recon(pawac)}}} :: {{{def}}} + 1. (n) bonobo + +** Q +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-Q-b1ec8323 +:END: + +** S +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-S-e9e187ae +:END: + +** U +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-U-fa109e34 +:END: + +** Ú +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-Ú-c35e6434 +:END: + +** W +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-W-ea0cd36f +:END: + +** Y +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-Y-a217cb68 +:END: + +** Z +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Dictionnaire-Z-144a2853 +:END: +- {{{recon(zebac)}}} :: {{{def}}} + 1. (n) bongo + +* Private Data :noexport: +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Private-data-4kqa1530e5j0 +:END: +#+name: glossary +| label | name | description | +|---------+---------+------------------------| +| conlang | conlang | A constructed language | + +* Footnotes +:PROPERTIES: +:CUSTOM_ID: Footnotes-uybi3030e5j0 +:END: + +[fn:3] [[https://phundrak.com][phundrak.com]] + +[fn:2] [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/][creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/]] + +[fn:1] [[https://langue.phundrak.com][langue.phundrak.com]] diff --git a/content/headers b/content/headers index 34dece3..ed6fc04 100644 --- a/content/headers +++ b/content/headers @@ -68,3 +68,4 @@ #+macro: end-largetable @@html:@@ #+macro: def @@latex:\hfill@@ #+macro: defnl @@latex: \hfill\\@@ +#+macro: recon *@@html:$1@@@@latex:\emph{$1}@@ diff --git a/content/headers.tex b/content/headers.tex index a4aa387..ba2d9ef 100644 --- a/content/headers.tex +++ b/content/headers.tex @@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ \newunicodechar{’}{'} \newunicodechar{…}{\ldots} \newunicodechar{ }{~} -\newunicodechar{ }{~} \ No newline at end of file +\newunicodechar{ }{~} +\usepackage{glossaries}