Kiravic Coscivian: Difference between revisions

|speakers      = 450-600 million

|date          = 21205

|speakers2    =

|iso3          =

Kiravic is a highly {{wp|synthetic language|synthetic}} language that encodes a great deal of grammatical and semantic information in single words through use of relational morphemes (as is evident in the formation ''ápniverþē'', "in any other book"), and frequently derives new words through processes of compounding. It is noted for its complex array of {{wp|determiners}} and adpositional {{wp|noun cases}}, as well as for its {{wp|deontic mood|deontic}} mood. Kiravic is an {{wp|Ergative-absolutive language|ergative-absolutive language}} in terms of morphosyntactic alignment. As in other Cosco-Adratic languages, a great deal of grammatical information that most languages communicate through verb conjugation, such as {{wp|grammatical tense|tense}}, {{wp|grammatical aspect|aspect}}, and {{wp|grammatical mood|mood}} is instead expressed through a large number of specific absolutive cases. Also like other Cosco-Adratic languages, Kiravic has a very high relative abundance of nouns and adjectives over verbs: By most counts, there are some 50-70 Kiravic verbs, depending on the dialect and the degree to which certain foreign loans such as ''gib'' are considered. Though unusual among world languages, this is not as extreme as in some related Cosco-Adratic languages, which have as few as 3 true verbs, and as [[Izoravi language|Izoravi]], which may have no verbs at all.

Genealogically speaking, Kiravic Coscivian belongs to the Kironic languages, a division of the Trans-Kiravian language family. Its closest living relatives are [[Languages of Kiravia|Dir]] (~8,000 speakers) and [[Languages of Kiravia|Kinnír]] (~50,000 speakers). It has, especially in its various regional dialects, absorbed vocabulary from other Coscivian languages, Celtic languages, and Kirhavite Urom languages, to the extent that some linguists consider it to be a formalised {{wp|creole language|creole}}. There are three distinct literary registers of the language, ''Nohærikiravirona'', ''Oskandikiravirona'', and ''Ixtikiravirona'', with recognisably different conventions as to vocabulary, syntax, orthography, and style.

As in all other Cosco-Adratic languages, the most important {{wp|word class}} in Kiravic is the {{wp|noun}}. Nouns are the primary bearers of meaning, and most information in a typical Kiravic sentence is contained in its {{wp|noun phrase|noun phrases}}. Because Kiravic has few verbs compared to most languages, it relies heavily on {{wp|case governance}} and verb-noun constructions to approximate what many languages might express with a single, unitary verb. As such, noun morphology in Kiravic is rather complex, and the various noun cases can be used to convey a number of different meanings.  

Kiravic nouns inflect for two numbers (singular/nonplural and plural) and X main cases: The absolutive, ergative, genitive, indirect, locative, lative, essive, benefactive, and instrumental. Within the absolutive case, nouns further inflect for three tenses (present/gnomic, past, future, imperative) and two aspects (simple and perfect).\

Grammatically, nouns can be nonplural (unmarked) or plural. Nonplural nouns may be semantically singular, collective, uncountable, or plural. Among native speakers and in [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Written_Registers|Literary Kiravic]], the plural is marked only sparingly, and never in the company of numerals or {{wp|Classifier (linguistics)|classifiers}} (e.g. ''vôrux ethruv'' "five tree" rather than ''vôrux ethruya'' "five trees"). In [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Written_Registers|Standard Kiravic]] (which eschews classifiers) and the Svéaran dialect, plural marking is more frequent; marking enumerated plurals, while acceptable and formerly standard, has become less common since Reunification.

As illustrated in the following section, there are only two declension patterns for plural nouns. Form II (''-a'') nouns take a unique plural suffix for each case. On all other nouns, the plural base form is marked with the sufix ''-ya'' and is then declined as if it were a Form II <u>singular</u> noun.

There are four general declension patterns in Kiravic, characterised by the suffixes taken in the absolutive and genitive cases:

*'''Form I -''' Absolutive ''-v''  ⇒ genitive ''-l''<br>

*'''Form II -''' Absolutive ''-a''  ⇒ genitive ''-á''<br>

*'''Form III -''' Absolutive ''-n'', ''-r'', ''-m''  ⇒ genitive ''-sk''<br>

*'''Form IV -''' Absolutive ''-k''  ⇒ genitive ''-idek''<br>

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural

*'''Benefactive''' - Indicates purpose or destination.

===="Case" - Adpositionals====

There are only 20-30 verbs in formal written Kiravic, a great many of which are {{wp|semantic primes}}, such as ''lé'' ("exist, occur, happen"), ''va'' ("do"), ''èk'' ("arrive, become"), ''ka'' ("make"), ''er'' ("go"), ''kur'' ("put"), and ''send'' ("take", "consume", "undergo"). The range of meaning communicated by these verbs can be quite broad, and verbs usually need to be qualified with adverbs, nouns, and adpositions to express complete predicates. ''Sta'', for example, can mean "see", "hear", "feel", "taste", "smell", "perceive", "realise", or even "imagine". Verbs are not conjugated. Instead, tense, aspect, and mood are marked on nouns in the absolutive case, as detailed in the previous section.

Spoken Kiravic dialects often have verbs not present in the written registers, some of which are quite versatile. ''Śak'', used in [[Niyaska]] and eastern [[Etivéra]], can mean "raise/lower", "steal", "work out", "jump", "damage", "bungle", or "break up/crush into pieces". However, many spoken varieties of Kiravic, especially those used by speech communities that shifted to Kiravic from another languages (e.g. Uroms or immigrant groups) employ markedly fewer verbs than the written registers.

===Numerals===

As in all other Cosco-Adratic languages, numerals exist separately as nouns (the names of numerical values) and as adjectives (used to quantify nouns). As such, all numerals have three forms: nominal, cardinal, and ordinal. Kiravic numerals follow a split vigesimal system with a base of 20 and a superbase of 100. As such, Kiravic only has distinct names for ''every other'' power of ten.

<strike>The most common order in Kiravic is verb-subject-object, though word order can be rather free and subject-object-verb order is also common, particularly in Central and Upper Kiravic dialects. Adpositional phrases modifying verbs most often precede the verb in VSO sentences and follow it in SOV sentences. Adjectives and adverbs precede the words that they modify.</strike>

The bulk of Kiravic Coscivian vocabulary is either inherited from High Coscivian or newly synthesised from High Coscivian roots. Much of this High Coscivian patrimony is ultimately derived from other languages that provided loanwords to High Coscivian as far back as pre-Imperial times, including Iathei Coscivian, Stairovix Coscivian, Thygiastran Coscivian and [that non-Coscivian one]. A great deal of words have entered Kiravic from the various vernacular languages of ethnic communities living in Kiravia, particularly major ones such as Taństan Coscivian and Great Antaric Coscivian. The lexicon continues to grow with a steady stream of new coinages and borrowings.

*'''Ɣámpraxuruv''' - {{wp|Nebula}}, from ''ɣámpra'' (womb) + ''xuruv'' (cloud)

For historical and cultural reasons, Kiravic lexicographers often distinguish between culturally "foreign" loanwords and loanwords from other Cosco-Adratic languages or languages within the Coscivian cultural sphere. Different literary registers and stylistic forms of Kiravic vary in their commitment to {{wp|linguistic purism}}, with some being more welcoming of foreign loans than others. Nonetheless, as Kiravian society has never been isolated from other cultures, words with ultimately non-Coscivian etymologies can be found in most strata of the Kiravic lexicon.

{{wp|Goidelic languages|Gaelic}} is without a doubt the language that has contributed the largest number of loandwords to Kiravic. Most basic ecclesiastical terminology has come to Kiravic through Gaelic, such as ''Æglasta'' ("church", from Gaelic ''eaglais'') ''Avrenn'' ("Mass", from ''aifreann''), and ''Þíarna'' ("God", "the Lord", from ''Thíarna''). In many Kiravic dialects, Gaelic loans have displaced many common words of Coscivian origin, such as ''práta'' ("potato", versus Coscivian ''ēln''), ''portán'' ("crab"), and ''fovar'' ("autumn", from ''fomhar''). ''Práta'' and ''fovar'' in particular have gained currency nationwide and are acceptable in most literary forms of Kiravic.

Other important loandwords to Kiavic from Ixnayan languages include ''mestiśuv'' ("person of mixed Coscivian and non-Coscivian descent", from {{wp|Portuguese|Tryhstian}} ''mestiço''), ''gipklé'' ("cede territory under the threat of force", from [[Lebhan language|Lebhan]] ''gib clay''), and ''bola'' ("bomb", from [[List of Hekuvian Latin Words#P|Hekuvian Latin]] ''pyrobola'').

*'''Kandan Kiravic''' is native to the parts of upstate [[Kaviska]] surrounding the city of [[Cities of Kiravia#Evira|Evira]], as well as communities of [[Ethnic Groups in Kiravia#Kandem Coscivians|ethnic Kandan]] populations in other parts of Northern Kirav and the Colonies.

*'''White Kiravic''' (''Thasikirrona'') - Spoken across most of [[Kastera]] and parts of neighbouring states by the [[Kir people#White_Kir|White Kir]].

*'''Kandan Kiravic'''' or '''Red Kiravic'''' (''Hūrikirrona'') - Spoken across the upper hemiboreal belt of Great Kirav by the Kandan Kir, as well as pockets of Upper Kirav.

*'''Róvidrean Kiravic''' - Spoken in part of Kaviska.

*'''Xúsran Kiravic''' is spoken mainly in the state of [[Hiterna]].

 

*'''North Niyaskan Kiravic''' - Vulnerable dialect once dominant across North Niyaska but now rare in daily use outside of some rural communities in County Manôt and County Fermanek. More closely related to Peninsular Kiravic than to South Niyaskan Kiravic.

 

*'''South Niyaskan Kiravic''' - Spoken by Niyaskan Kir and other traditionally agrarian groups across much of South Niyaska. More vital than North Niyaskan Kiravic.

*'''Svéaran Kiravic''' - Native to the Svéa Coast and its hinterlands, over parts of Kaviska and Harma, as well as most of Bissáv, this dialect was spread to [[the Cape]], [[Paulastra]], the [[Saxalin Islands|Saxalins]], and part of [[Cartadania]] as a disproportionately large number of traders, sailors, whalers, and early emigrants hailed from the Svéa Coast. Svéaran is notable for its atypical nominative-accusative morphosyntactic alignment (attributed to a Anderan substrate), and for the strong Taństan influence on its phonology and vocabulary.

*'''Urban Northeastern Kiravic''' dialects are spoken in large, multi-ethnic urban areas in traditionally Taństan-speaking Northeastern states, such as Bérasar. Kiravic displaced Taństan as the main language of daily life and inter-ethnic communication in these cities during the Kirosocialist era. Formed on a foundation of written Standard Kiravic as taught in schools, its spoken form reflects the influence of Taństan (for example, having a {{wp|progressive aspect}}) as well as diverse lexical influences from the ethnic languages of its speakers, including Gaelic and other Levantine languages spoken by the substantial Levantine-Kiravian communities in these cities.

*'''Highland Kiravic''' is spoken in the general region of the Eastern Highlands, as well as overseas colonies settled by emigrants from this region. It borrows heavily from Celtic and Urom languages and is notable for its nasal vowels and distinct cadence.

*'''Telmarine Kiravic''' is spoken in and around [[Cities of Kiravia#Telmar|Telmar]], [[Ventarya]]. Kalvertan Coscivian is the prevailing language of the surrounding area, but was supplanted by Kiravic after the city became the operational hub of the Kiravian Navy. Although it is located far south of the Southern Kiravic dialect belt, Telmarine Kiravic is in fact an outlying Northern dialect, reflecting the influence of the many navy yard workers relocated from Valēka. It is also heavily influenced by Svéaran Kiravic and by Maritime Coscivian.

==Usage==

In Kiravia, Kiravic is the language of interethnic communication, business, and mass media. From the Kirosocialist period until the late 21190s all public secondary (and most public primary) education was conducted in Kiravic, and while some states (such as [[Dysona]]) have since made local languages the standard medium of instruction, most secondary education nationwide is still in Kiravic, while higher education is conducted mainly in [[High Coscivian]]. Kiravic is spoken competently by 66% of the Kiravian population, by 42% as a native language, and by 33% as their sole native language. Most Kiravic speakers are fluent, either natively or non-natively, in one or more ethnic vernacular languages.

[[Category: Language]]