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{{User:Carthinova/Settlement
{{infobox language
| name                   = Bérasar
|name         = Kiravic Coscivian
| native_name            =  
|nativename    = Kirrona, Kiravirona
| native_name_lang       =
|familycolor  = paleosiberian
| settlement_type        = State Capital
|pronunciation =
| image_skyline          = File:City Skyline from Sidney Harbour.JPG
|states       = [[Great Kirav]]
| image_alt              =  
| ethnicity    = [[Kir people]]
| image_caption          =  
|region        = [[Great_Kirav#Mid-Oceanic_Kirav|Mid-Oceanic]]<br>[[Great_Kirav#Mid-Continental_Kirav|Mid-Continental]]
| etymology              =  
|speakers      = 450-600 million
| nickname                = ''City on the Edge of Forever''
|date          = 21205
| latd                    =  
|rank          =  
| longd                  =  
|speakers2    =
| coordinates_type        =  
|fam1          = Cosco-Adratic
| coordinates_region      =  
|fam2          = Kasavic-Koskan
| coordinates_display    = inline, title
|fam3          = Varakoskan
| subdivision_type        = Country
|fam4          = Kironic
| subdivision_name        = [[File:KiravianFlag.png|25px]] [[Kiravia]]
|fam5          = Right-Hand Kironic
| subdivision_type1      = State
|fam6          = Kiravic
| subdivision_name1       = [[File:FarivaFlag.png|25px]] [[Fariva]]
|fam7          =  
| subdivision_type2       = Countyship
|fam8          =  
| subdivision_name2      = Antram
|fam9          =  
| governing_body          = Board of Estimate
|fam10        =
| leader_party            = DPF
| standards    =
| leader_title            = Provost
| stand1       = [[Kiravic Coscivian#Written_Registers|Literary Kiravic]]
| leader_name            = Jakee Shanahan
| stand2      = [[Kiravic Coscivian#Written_Registers|Standard Kiravic]]
| leader_title1          = Chairman of the Board
| script       = Coscivian script
| leader_name1            = {{wp|Michael Vick}}
|nation        =
| population              = 5,608,920
|agency        =  
| website                = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
|iso1          =
| blank_name_sec1        = Climate
|iso2b        =
| blank_info_sec1        = Thermoboreal subcontinental
|iso2t        =
|iso3          =
|map          =
|nation        = [[File:KiravianFlag.png|22px]] [[Kiravia]]<br>[[File:SaintKenneraFlag.png|22px]] [[Saint Kennera]]<br>[[File:PribraltarFlag.png|22px]] [[Pribraltar]]<br>
|minority          =  
}}
}}


'''Bérasar''' is a major coastal city in northeastern [[Great Kirav]], the capital and largest city of the Kiravian state of [[Fariva]]. One of the oldest Coscivian settlements in [[Ixnay]], Bérasar is the economic, cultural, and transportation hub of the [[Great Kirav#Far Northeast|Far Northeastern region]], and has an almost thousand-year-old history shaped principally by its status as a major port of the [[Kilikas Seaway]]. Along with [[Valēka]], it was a leading Kiravian nexus of the intellectual, cultural, and technological movement known as the [[Kilikas Enlightenment|Northern]] or [[Kilikas Enlightenment]], and is regarded as the "most Levantine city" in Kiravia due to its strong historic and demographic ties to [[Fiannria]], [[Burgundie]], and [[Faneria]]. It is the northernmost major city in Kiravia and one of the most northerly in the world, at a slightly lower latitude than [[Dol Awraidd]] and trailing the northernmost national capital, [[Rolvssvik]].
'''Kiravic Coscivian''' ('''Kiravic:''' ''Kiravirona'', ''Kiravikoskirona'') is a Cosco-Adratic language spoken primarily in the [[Kiravian Federacy]], where it serves as the official and national language. It is the largest Cosco-Adratic language by number of speakers, both native and acquired. Originally spoken in the Mid-Oceanic area of Eastern Kirav corresponding to the [[United Provinces]] during the Viceregal Period, the Kiravic ''{{wp|Sprachraum}}'' expanded with the spread of Coscivian settlement to include most of Upper, Central, and Northwestern [[Great Kirav]], as well as the Western Highlands, positioning it to become the dominant language of the emerging multilingual federation.  


Contemporary Bérasar stands at the forefront of many knowledge-intensive fields, such as higher education, medical research, high-tech manufacturing, naval architecture, and investment banking, while still maintaining the robust shipping, fishing, brewing, and papermaking sectors that have been active in the city for centuries. It has a longstanding rivalry with its southern neighbour Valēka that extends from economic competition for dominance in certain industries to cuisine, music, and, most importantly, sports.
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.


==Geography and Climate==
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.
Kilikas Storm Belt, snow starts in late September, early October.


==History==
==History==


During the [[Colour Wars]] and the general social and political tumult of the XYZth century, Bérasar's high society was a stronghold of Occidentophile and Whiggamore-Freetrader sentiments, as well as the "national bourgeoisie", while strong support for populist movements and [[Kirosocialism]] simmered among the city's working-class population and sparked numerous demonstrations and (mostly short-lived and alcohol-fuelled) episodes of revolt.
==Grammar==
===Nouns===
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.  


On [October 14 2023], an {{wp|LNG carrier|liquefied natural gas tanker}} exploded while docked at the ÁLO KiliGas LNG terminal in Bérasar Harbour, triggering a chain of explosions that destroyed the terminal and caused extensive strucutral damage and loss of life in surrounding areas of the city. Among the casualties were Provost Jakee Shanahan and the majority of the Board of Estimate - killed when half of the city hall collapsed, and the entire [[Kirav national soccer team]], who were practicing 500 meters away at Pitchblende Park. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation. State, federal, civil, and international - from [[the Cape]] and [[Alstin]] organisations were involved in the containment and relief efforts.
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).\


==Economy==
====Number====
[[File:EXPERIENCE & BLACK MARLIN (48529470471).jpg|thumb|Ship-shipping ship shipping shipping ships]]
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.
SHIPPING


Bérasar is the principal port serving Northeast Kirav and has for centuries been an major node of trading networks crossing the Kilikas Sea. The city's maritime industry was bolstered by the [[Ice trade in Kiravia|ice trade]] to Sarpedon and South Levantia, with Bérasar serving as the main point of departure for ice from the many small lakes of the Northeast, and a transshipment hub for ice from the [[Great Kirav#North Coast|North Coast]]. Prosperous, tropical [[Burgundie]], with its well-developed merchant navy, was a key market for ice, and it was this commerce that brought lasting Burgundoix influence to Béyasar. Ice was gradually overtaken as the city's main export by a wider range of goods, including coal, tin, lead, and zinc from the Ensciryan Massif, and then locally produced manufactures from Bérasar's own mills and factories.
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.


Fishing: Actual fish. Lobsters. Oysters.
====Case - Grammaticals====
There are four general declension patterns in Kiravic, characterised by the suffixes taken in the absolutive and genitive cases:


Timber processing and papermarking.
*'''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>


High-tech knowledge- and capital-intensive shit. Finance.
Regular declension paradigms for the grammatical and absolutive cases of Forms I-III nouns are laid out below:
The Bérasar metropolitan area hosts the second-largest concentration of biomedical research and business activity in the Federacy, after the [[Kartika Metropolitan Area|Primóra-Kartika Metropolitan Area]].


Bérasar is home to Kilika Brewing SAK, the largest Kiravian beer company outside the [[Alquifer|Alquifer]] concern. Its best-selling product is the Kilika Ice™ Bérasar Lager, an affordable mass-market {{wp|pale lager}}.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-style:italic; text-align:center; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif !important;"
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Form I - ''istuv''
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Case
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Ergative
| colspan="2" | istu'''k'''
| colspan="2" | istu'''yak'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Genitive
| colspan="2" | istu'''l'''
| colspan="2" | istu'''yá'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Indirect
| colspan="2" | istu'''m'''
| colspan="2" | istu'''yam'''
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Absolutives
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Number
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left; background-color:#dae8fc;"
| style="text-align:center;" | Aspect
| style="text-align:center;" | Imperfect
| Perfect
| Imperfect
| Perfect
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Present
| istu'''v'''
| istu'''vi'''
| istu'''ya'''
| istu'''yi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Past
| istu'''ve'''
| istu'''véi'''
| istu'''yave'''
| istu'''yavéi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Future
| istu'''vo'''
| istu'''vói'''
| istu'''yavo'''
| istu'''yavói'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Jussive
| istu'''vu'''
| istu'''vúi'''
| istu'''yavu'''
| istu'''yavúi'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-style:italic; text-align:center; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif !important;"
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Form II - ''rona''
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Case
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Ergative
| colspan="2" | rona'''k'''
| colspan="2" | ron'''æk'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Genitive
| colspan="2" | ron'''á'''
| colspan="2" | ron'''æ'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Indirect
| colspan="2" | rona'''m'''
| colspan="2" | ron'''ám'''
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Absolutives
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Number
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left; background-color:#dae8fc;"
| style="text-align:center;" | Aspect
| style="text-align:center;" | Imperfect
| Perfect
| Imperfect
| Perfect
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Present
| rona
| rona'''vi'''
| ron'''áv'''
| ron'''ávi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Past
| rona'''ve'''
| rona'''véi'''
| ron'''áve'''
| ron'''ávéi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Future
| rona'''vo'''
| rona'''vói'''
| ron'''ávo'''
| ron'''ávói'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Jussive
| rona'''vu'''
| rona'''vúi'''
| ron'''ávu'''
| ron'''ávúi'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{{col-end}}
<br>
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-style:italic; text-align:center; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif !important;"
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Form III (''n'' stem) - ''vālin''
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Case
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Ergative
| colspan="2" | vāli'''th'''
| colspan="2" | vāli'''nyak'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Genitive
| colspan="2" | vāli'''sk'''
| colspan="2" | vāli'''skya'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Indirect
| colspan="2" | vāli'''nt'''
| colspan="2" | vāli'''ntya'''
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Absolutives
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Number
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left; background-color:#dae8fc;"
| style="text-align:center;" | Aspect
| style="text-align:center;" | Imperfect
| Perfect
| Imperfect
| Perfect
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Present
| vāli'''n'''
| vāli'''sti'''
| vāli'''nyav'''
| vāl'''inyavi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Past
| vāli'''ste'''
| vāli'''stéi'''
| vāli'''nyave'''
| vāli'''nyavéi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Future
| vāli'''sto'''
| vāli'''stói'''
| vāli'''nyavo'''
| vāli'''nyavói'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Jussive
| vāli'''stu'''
| vāli'''stúi'''
| vāli'''nyavu'''
| vālin'''yavúi'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-style:italic; text-align:center; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif !important;"
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Form III (''r'' stem) - ''kenor''
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Case
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb;" | Plural
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Ergative
| colspan="2" | kenor'''th'''
| colspan="2" | kenor'''yak'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Genitive
| colspan="2" | kenor'''sk'''
| colspan="2" | kenor'''skya'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; color:#000000; font-style:normal; text-align:left;" | Indirect
| colspan="2" | kenor'''d'''
| colspan="2" | kenor'''dya'''
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left;"
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background-color:#00d2cb;" | Absolutives
|- style="font-style:normal;"
| style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Number
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Nonplural
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#cbcbcb; color:#333333;" | Plural
|- style="font-style:normal; text-align:left; background-color:#dae8fc;"
| style="text-align:center;" | Aspect
| style="text-align:center;" | Imperfect
| Perfect
| Imperfect
| Perfect
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Present
| kenor
| kenor'''sti'''
| kenor'''yav'''
| kenor'''yavi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Past
| kenor'''ste'''
| kenor'''stéi'''
| kenor'''yave'''
| kenor'''yavéi'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Future
| kenor'''sto'''
| kenor'''stói'''
| kenor'''yavo'''
| kenor'''yavói'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0; font-style:normal;" | Jussive
| kenor'''stu'''
| kenor'''stúi'''
| kenor'''yavu'''
| kenor'''yavúi'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{{col-end}}


==Society and Culture==
Case syncretism is fairly common. The most common syncretic pattern variant is Form I nouns that take the Form III suffix ''-sk'' in the genitive, a prominent example being the word ''Kirav'' (genitive ''Kiravsk'' rather than ''Kiral'').
[[File:Qbridgenycha.JPG|thumb|Public housing in Southwest Bérasar]]
Bérasar has a rich culture that is reflective of its geographic foundations and the cultural traditions set in place by its earliest settlers, as well as by centuries of dynamic urban evolution, migration, and international contact. It has strong commercial and demographic ties to Levantia, and is regarded as the most Levantine-influenced and Occident-oriented Kiravian city.


===Ethnic Makeup and Demographic History===
======Ergative-Absolutive======
Bérasar has been shaped by multiple waves of immigration from different parts of the Coscivian world, the wider Far Northeast, the Eastern Highlands, and [[Levantia]]. While less monumentally diverse than Valēka, [[Escarda]], and [[Saar-Silverda]] with their hundreds and hundreds of ethnic communities, Bérasar manifests a unique and characteristic blend of cultural influences from the various ethnic groups that have come to call it home.
The two most important noun cases in sentence formation are the '''absolutive''', which marks the object of a transitive sentence or the subject of an intransitive sentence, and the '''ergative''', which marks the subject of a transitive sentence. At minimum, a Kiravic subject-predicate sentence comprises an absolutive noun and a verb.


>Foundational groups
''Sta <u>rusto'''n'''''</u><br>
"The person sees"


>Lúnstem, Sea Coscivians, Keregūlem ans similar maritime groups
''Sta rusto'''th''' <u>fidi'''n'''</u>''<br>
"The person sees the building"
<br>
<br>
The tense (past, present, future, jussive) and aspect (imperfect, perfect) of a sentence are marked on the absolutive noun.


>Ĥeirans, Gaels, and Highlanders. Meridian Finns.
''Sta rustoth <u>fidi'''ste'''</u>''<br>
"The person saw the building"


>South and Southwestern Coscivians + Svenskem and North Elutes
''Sta rustoth <u>fidi'''stéi'''</u>''<br>
"The person had seen the building"


>New Coscivians
''Sta rustoth <u>fidi'''sti'''</u>''<br>
"The person has seen the building"


>Burgundines with their various layers of history
''Sta rustoth <u>fidi'''sto'''</u>''<br>
"The person will see the building"


>Urceans, Fiannrians, and Fanerian
''Sta rustoth <u>fidi'''stói'''</u>''<br>
"The person will have seen the building"
<br>
<br>
The jussive mood (for forming commands) is also marked on the absolutive noun.


===Religion===
''<u>Fidi'''stu'''</u> sta''
Bérasar is a predominantly Christian city. Just under half of the population belongs to the [[Catholic Church]], with the next largest denominations being [[Insular Apostolic Church|Insular Apostolic]], Coscivian Orthodox, and Mercantile Protestant. Most of the non-Christian minority adheres to Ruricanism or Læstorianism (monotheistic religions of Coscivian origin) or are irreligious theists.
<br>
"See the building"


Catholic influence in Bérasar has always been very strong, owing to the city's close links with the Levantian mainland. Bérasar and its sattelite city of [[Cities of Kiravia#Epsilar|Epsilar]] are the only Kiravian cities of significant size outside of the [[Tryhstian Littoral]] where more Catholics belong to the Latin Rite than to the Coscivian Rite. The Archbishop of Bérasar is usually a Cardinal and has strong influence over the Kiravian Church as whole.
''<u>Luktu'''vu'''</u> send erú''
<br>
"Let them eat <u>cake</u>"
<br>


The city's Ĥeiran Coscivians, Féinem, and most of its Gaels belong to the Insular Apostolic Church. Coscivian Orthodoxy is the traditional faith among most of the Coscivian ethnic groups who immigrated to Bérasar from southern and southwestern Éorsa, as well as from the New Coscivian countries. Mercantile Protestantism arrived in the city with Burgundine merchants.
<br>


===Language===
======Indirect======
The most commonly spoken languages in Bérasar are Eshavian Coscivian, Kiravic Coscivian, and Gaelic. Eshavian is the "native" language of the city and official language of the state, and the prevailing language in its suburbs and surrounding {{wp|Peri-urbanisation|periurban mosaïc}}. Native speakers of Eshavian are concentrated in the northern and western neighbourhoods.
Kiravic has few verbs, so many actions are expressed through noun-verb couplets (compare the English examples "eat dinner" vs. "dine", "make a sale" vs. "sell"). For example, "to push" in Kiravic is ''va stugon'' (lit. "do a push"), "to welcome" is ''tá rædor'' (lit. "to give welcome"). The second, or indirect, object, which does not form part of the couplet, is marked in the '''indirect''' case, indicated by the suffix ''-m'' for Form I and Form II nouns, and ''-nt'' or ''-d'' for Form III nouns.


Kiravic is... It is the preferred language for inter-ethnic communication over Eshavian, and the leading Kiravian language acquired by immigrants who settle in Bérasar. Native speakers are concentrated in the central and upper-western areas of the city.
{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#ffffff;"
|- style="font-style:italic;"
| Rustoth <u>stugoste va</u> vāli'''nt'''
| Rustoth <u>stugoste va</u> ruku'''m'''
|- style="font-family:'Courier New', Courier, monospace !important;"
| person.ERG push.ABS-PAST do case.IND
| person.ERG push.ABS-PAST do bucket.IND
|-
| The person pushed the '''case'''
| The person pushed the '''bucket'''
|}


Bérasar has the largest concentration of urban Gaelic speakers in Kiravia, centred in the neighbourhoods of South Bérasar.  
====Case - Constructives====
In addition to the three grammatical cases which establish the structure of a sentence, Kiravic nouns also decline for several "constructive cases" that are used to form {{wp|noun phrase}}s.


<!-- 32% of Bérasar residents reported Kiravic as their only mother tongue, while an additional 26% report themselves as natively multilingual in Kiravic and one or more other languages. The most common native language after Kiravic is Gaelic (mostly Fiannrian-Kiravians, native Kiravian Gaels, and [[Féinem]]), followed by Kostiatan Coscivian, Lebhan, Kālatan Coscivian, and Latin. Most educated Coscivian residents of Bérasar are Kiravic-speaking, literate in High Coscivian, and conversational in either Lebhan, Sorrentine Romance, or both. -->
*'''Genitive''' - Indicates possession, composition, and origin. Also forms infinitive constructions with the verbal nouns (see below).
*'''Benefactive''' - Indicates purpose or destination.
*'''Instructive''' - Instructive.
*'''Essive (formal)''' - Formal essive.
*'''Essive (modal)''' - Modal essive.


<!-- Use of Levantine languages in commercial and public service settings is very common in Bérasar. Most directional signage in core areas of the city is printed in both Kiravic and Latin, and most police officers have at least a rudimentary understanding of Latin and/or Lebhan. Many downtown restaurants have bi- or trilingual menus, and electoral ballots in the city are available in Gaelic, Lebhan, Canaesh, Rexan, and Pretannic. Beginning in 21208, emergency broadcasts in the Bérasar metro area will include information in Urcean English and Fanerian Gothic. -->
===="Case" - Adpositionals====
Kiravic nouns can also take on a number of regular adpositional suffixes indicating spatial/temporal position and motion. These are not cases ''per se'' but were traditionally treated as such by Occidental linguists, so here they are:


==Sports==
====Proper and Indeclinable Nouns====
Bérasarites are known for their fanatical devotion to the city's sporting teams, and for their heated rivalry with Valēka-based teams. Fieldball (also known as "Kiravian-rules football" or "Kiravian gridiron") and hockey are the most popular sports in the city, represented at the professional level by the Bérasar Blues of the Federal Fieldball League and the Bérasar Longshoremen of the Seaboard Hockey League. Bérasar is sometimes considered the easternmost extension of the Hockey Belt running across Great Kirav's northern coast (though this is disputed by hockey fans from core Hockey Belt cities like [[Xūrosar]] and [[Xistódarin]]). Television viewership for fieldball games in the Bérasar media market is somewhat higher than viewership for hockey games, but hockey viewership has been known to edge out fieldball viewership in years that the Blues perform poorly.
Proper nouns are subject to the same declension rules as common nouns. By convention, one declines a Coscivian personal name by changing the surname only (e.g. "The office of [[Irasur Mérovin]]" would be ''adikuv Irasur Mérovi'''sk''''' rather than ''adikuv Irasursk Mérovin''), with the forename treated as a {{wp|noun adjunct}}. Similarly, when declining a compound geographic name such as [[Xýzyro|Mount Xýzyro]] (''Nár Xýssyrov'') or the River Kaviska (''Rurin Kaviska''), only the general noun is declined while the specific appellation remains unchanged (''Nárē Xýssyrov'', ''Rurinst Kaviska''). Foreign names and brand names that cannot be readily Coscivised can be fit into the structure of a Kiravic sentence using auxiliary prepositions like ''áu'' ("of") and ''ōs'' ("as"), but most style guides for formal writing encourage using the indeclinable name as an adjunct to an appropriate Kiravic common noun. For example, "There was a fire in [[Gulnaz]]" (the capital of [[Kayistan]]) would be translated as ''Lé spóre '''sarēs''' Gulnaz'' ("There was a fire '''in the city''' of Gulnaz").


The athletic rivalry between Bérasar and Valēka is deep-seated and bitter. In Valēka, which has two teams in both major professional leagues, and where affiliation with one of the two teams is a social and political fault line, residents from opposing fanbases will, as a rule, root for their intra-city rival over Bérasar. Similarly, Bérasar observes an unofficial holiday called ''Tæn Lakuśikorsk'' ("Day of Futility") whenever two Valēkan fieldball teams play one another, customarily "celebrated" by going to the pub, drinking a great deal, and making it a point to ''not'' watch the game.
====Nouns (continued)====


Pitchblende Park in Bérasar is the home field of the [[Kirav national football team|Kiravian national football team]].
<!--
The dative case, for example, can be used to form comparative statements (''Kēþram tergíx '''síþramd''''' - "This house is bigger '''than that house'''"), express perspective (''Sívódin é inox '''kúd''''' - "That idea is new '''to me'''"), indicate relationships, benefaction, and duty (''Thá '''vúd''' kú krótath '''akmad''''' - "I will give '''him''' money '''for rent'''").


==Points of Interest==
There exist a number of highly regular adpositional forms that may be treated either as noun cases or noun-adposition compounds. Kiravic nouns lack not only {{wp|grammatical gender}} but also the gender-neutral {{wp|Noun class|noun classes}} of most other Cosco-Adratic languages, vestiges of which remain in a few noun suffixes.
[[File:Monument honoring former potato storage sheds.jpg|thumb|Potato Monument]]
 
*'''Maritime Cutter Service Memorial''' - Memorial to fallen personnel of the [[Maritime Cutter Service]], featuring a statue of the branch's founder, [[Leonoix family|Talorgan Leonoix]].
While no Cosco-Adratic languages feature {{wp|grammatical gender}} distinctions comparable to Indo-European or Afro-Asiatic, Kiravic is an outlier among them in that it lacks any gender-neutral {{wp|Noun class|noun classes}} of grammatical consequence, though vestiges of the High Coscivian noun class system (solar, lunar, terrestrial, celestial, aquatic) survive in Kiravic noun suffixes and declension patterns.
*'''Potato Monument''' - A monument honouring [[Agriculture in Great Kirav#Potato|the nation's staple crop]].
-->
*'''Pitchblende Park''' - Home pitch of the [[Kirav national soccer team]].
 
*'''Saint Joseph Cathedral''' - Largest Latin Rite cathedral in Kiravia
Kiravic does not employ {{wp|Article (grammar)|articles}}. {{wp|Definiteness|Definacy}} is inferred from context, though in the absence of contextual clues to the contrary, nouns are generally interpreted as being definite by default. In situations where contextual clues might be ambiguous and there is a need to clarify definacy, the determiner ''lē-'' can be used to specify that a noun is indefinite, e.g. ''Ar koé '''lē-'''asdrárdas, tos dhé voé asdrár klesk skúl'' ("I spoke with '''a''' salesman, but he was not the salesman from your company"). The determiner ''irdi-'' accomplishes the same distinction with greater emphasis (''Thá vú '''irdi'''sarēs Kannurē''  -  "She is in '''some''' city in [[Kannur]]"). The determiners ''kē-'', ''sí-'', and ''śo-'' ("this", "that", "yonder") can be used to clarify that the referend is definite.
 
===Pronouns===
Kir/Kirth/Kirsk
 
===Adjectives and Adverbs===
Kiravic adjectives inflect for three degrees (basic, comparative, and superlative). Adjectives precede the nouns they modify [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Copulas|except in zero-copula phrases]], and are not inflected to agree with them in class, case, or number.
<!-- Remember that the excessive, abessive, and sufficient are expressed by prefixes now -->
 
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#00d2cb;" | i-stem
|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#a0d5d1;" | ''thansix'' - "based"
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Base
| style="text-align:center;" | thans'''ix'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Comparative
| style="text-align:center;" | thans'''éx'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Superlative
| style="text-align:center;" | thans'''íx'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#00d2cb;" | a-stem
|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#a0d5d1;" | ''xanax'' - "tranquil"
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Base
| style="text-align:center;" | xan'''ax'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Comparative
| style="text-align:center;" | xan'''áx'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Superlative
| style="text-align:center;" | xan'''æx'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#00d2cb;" | o-stem
|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#a0d5d1;" | ''inbox'' - "full"
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Base
| style="text-align:center;" | inb'''ox'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Comparative
| style="text-align:center;" | inb'''óx'''
|-
| style="background-color:#e0e0e0;" | Superlative
| style="text-align:center;" | inb'''ôx'''
|}
{{col-break}}
{{col-end}}
 
All adverbs are notionally derived from adjectives by switching the final ''-x'' to an ''-s'' (''kávix'' "good" → ''kávis'' "well", ''lādéx tarśumt'' "stronger than iron" → ''lādés tarśumt'' "more strongly than iron").
 
===Verbs===
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. Urom or immigrant groups) employ markedly fewer verbs than the written registers.
 
====Copulas====
<!-- The {{wp|copula}} ''é'' ("be") links nouns to adjectives and other nouns (''É thram ávix'' - "The house is blue"; ''síethruv é kirtik'' - "that tree is a fir"). It is normally dropped in tenses other than the simple present (''Troavo volrix'' - "The park will be beautiful"; ''Síğoskave nikóln'' - That fish was a sturgeon). In High Kiravic writing it is common for ''é'' to be dropped even in the simple present. -->
 
====Verbal Nouns====
Each verb is paired with a noun, known in Kiravic as its ''Nureden'' ("master noun"). These nouns serve a similar semantic and syntactic role to infinitives and gerunds in Levanto-Sarpic languages. Verbal nouns are among the most frequently used words in the language and are extremely productive as derivational morphemes, forming the basis of many compounds. In some cases, there is a clear etymological relationship between the verb and its master noun (''va'' "do" : ''vara'' "activity"), while in others there is not (''thá'' "stand" : ''itur'' "status, position"). Several verbal nouns are grammatically irregular.
 
===Adpositions===
In Kiravic, adpositions are typically affixed to their objects as suffixes rather than written as separate words, but can be written as such to improve clarity in particularly complex sentences. For example, while "I came here '''with''' a cake" would ordinarily be written "''Kú kēdés vediƌ lúktū'''das''''', the form "''Kú kēdés vediƌ '''das''' lúktuv''" is also grammatically valid.
 
While professional linguists, especially outside Kiravia, treat these appended adpositions as independent {{wp|postpositions}}, in Kiravia they are thought of and taught as {{wp|noun case|noun cases}}. The reason for this discrepancy lies in historical linguistics: When Kiravic was developing as an Iatic-based creole, the practice of appending adpositions to their objects developed as a replacement for most of Iatic's more morphologically-complex cases in order to better communicate with non-native speakers while the original Iatic syntax was kept.
 
===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.
 
==Syntax==
<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>
 
[Word order redux]<br>
[Questions & Answers]<br>
[''na'' particle]<br>
[Recursion, Relative clauses, Dependent clauses, etc]<br>
 
===Case governance===
An important way in which Kiravic produces a full and rich range expression with a very limited number of verbs is through case-governed constructions.
 
===Noun phrases===
 
====Infinitive phrases====
Infinitive phrases are a subset of noun phrases that have a verbal noun as the nucleus and perform a similar function to {{wp|infinitives}} and {{wp|gerunds}} in languages with more synthetic verb morphology. Nominalisation of a verb phrase into an infinitive phrase involves regular transformations of grammar and syntax.
 
The formula for the infinitive form of a transitive verb phrase is as follows:
 
[Verb] [Subject - Ergative] [Direct object - Absolutive] ⇒ [Verbal noun] [Direct object - '''Genitive'''] [Subject - '''Prolative''']
 
Whereas the word order of transitive verb phrases is fairly free (see above), the word order of corresponding infinitive phrases is fairly fixed. Optionally, for longer phrases, the subject may be placed between the verbal noun and direct object. Indirect objects remain in the indirect case and are placed between the genitive direct object and the prolative subject. Other constructive nouns (e.g. benefactives) also retain their cases and are placed between the direct object (or indirect object, if present) and the subject, in the same order as they appear in the verb phrase.
 
If the verb is modified by an adverb, the adverb is converted to its adjectival form when nominalising.
 
[Adverb] [Verb] [Subject- Ergative] [Object - Absolutive] ⇒ ['''Adjective'''] [Verbal noun] [Object - Genitive] [Subject - Prolative]
 
The formula for the infinitive form of an intransitive verb phrase is as follows:
 
[Verb] [Subject - Absolutive] ⇒ [Verbal noun] [Subject - '''Genitive''']
 
==Lexicon==
<small>''See also: [[Glossary of Coscivian Terms]]''</small>
 
Lexicographers divide Kiravic words into six principal categories according to their etymological journey:
 
* '''{{wp|Tatsama|Sovisíndix}}''' ("same as that") words: Words of a High Coscivian provenance that have retained their original spellings and (often) pronounciations.<ref name="The Lexical Patrimony of High Coscivian">Vúraluin, p. 65</ref> They include words that have been inherited from spoken Iatic Coscivian through several stages of spoken descendant languages which have survived without modification (e.g. Kiravic ''róva'' / Iatic ''róva'', "spring"; Kiravic ''verþa'' / Iatic ''verþa'', "book"), as well as forms borrowed directly from literary High Coscivian in more recent times (''avórua'', "environment"; ''vūroska'', "rhetoric"). Words in this category can be further divided among numerous subcategories based on their internal composition, date of borrowing from High Coscivian, and previous etymological heritage.
 
* '''Onśapurnix''' ("vocally ground-down") words: Words of a High Coscivian provenance that have undergone sound and spelling changes. This includes words that have changed over the course of linguistic evolution from spoken Iatic Coscivian to modern Kiravic through several intermediary stages, as well as early direct borrowings from High Coscivian that have becomed thoroughly "nativised". ''Onśapurnix'' words form a large and important share of the Kiravic lexicon, including most of the most frequently used words in the language, such as {{wp|function words}}, almost all verbs, and basic concrete nouns. They are even more common in spoken and dialectal Kiravic than in the formal literary registers.
 
* '''Dheśtravundix''' ("internally/natively composed") words: Compounds and morphological derivations newly composed in Kiravic from High Coscivian and other classical roots according to Kiravic morphological rules. A related class are the ''duîsovisíndix'' ("pseudo-''Sovisíndix''") words that were newly composed in Kiravic using High Coscivian (or other classical) morphological rules, in order to resemble an authentic ''sovisíndix'' direct borrowing. ''Duîsovisíndix'' words are very common in the ''Ixtikiravirona'' or "High Kiravic" literary register (see below), uncommon in Nohæric Kiravic, and traditionally proscribed in Standard Kiravic.
 
* '''Dheśtraguamix''' or '''Vūlidheśtrax''' ("native-born/truly native") words: Words that were neither inherited from an ancestral language or borrowed from another language, to include native coinages, {{wp|onomatopoetic|onomatopœia}}, {{wp|nonce words}}, derivations from proper names, and elevated slang and colloquial terms. Some lexicographers also assign natively-formed compounds constructed by nonstandard morphological rules - such as {{wp|portmanteaux}}, blends, truncations, and syllabic abbreviations - to this category, even if they include classical or foreign roots. The minor "Open Kiravic" register and the experimental "Recorded Kiravic" style of writing, which both seek to emulate contemporary spoken Kiravic more than the major literary registers do, make much more extensive use of native-born words than their competitors.
 
* '''Manitovix''' ("accreted") words: Words of non-classical and non-native provenance that are not considered "foreign" in origin. The membership and subdivision of this category is a matter of some contention among Kiravic linguists, but by its broadest definition includes loanwords of non-classical origin borrowed into post-classical spoken ancestors of Kiravic from other languages in the Coscivian cultural sphere and words morphologically derived therefrom, and direct borrowings into Kiravic from other modern Coscivian languages and languages in the Coscivian cultural sphere.
 
* '''Velśix''' ("foreign") words: All words borrowed from outside the Coscivian cultural sphere, including "near-foreign" loans from Urom, Finno-Kiravite, and Celtic languages, and "far-foreign" loans from all other languages.
 
Kiravic has a rich and copious lexicon so replete with synonyms and terms with very subtle yet profound distinctions from one another in meaning, register, tone, and connotation that there exists an entire class of reference works, termed ''îhadsomethingforthis-shite-uv'', that serve to help writers navigate the nuances of the language to maximal rhetorical or artistic effect by providing detailed explanations of relationships between various words with extensive cross-references that go far beyond the offerings of a typical English thesaurus. The overlarge vocabulary of literary Kiravic is attributable in large part to the semi-independent development of different literary registers in the pre-modern and early modern periods, and to the diffusion of words across dialectal boundaries.
 
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 Eshavian Coscivian and Great Antaric Coscivian. The lexicon continues to grow with a steady stream of new coinages and borrowings.
 
===Scientific Terminology===
In the modern era, Kiravic has avoided directly borrowing scientific and technical terms from [[Hekuvian Latin|Latin]], Ænglish, and other Western languages. The writing guides most commonly followed by Kiravian scientific journals all discourage direct borrowings, and prescribe formulas for translating Western terms into Kiravic, most often by {{wp|calque|calquing}}. Professional institutions such as the Kiravian Astronomical Academy (''Kiravix Iselrakénax Lárutovarum'') and the Kiravian Chemical Society (''Kiravix Ğislokénax Askola'') play an important role in formally defining Kiravic scientific nomenclature and creating paradigms to derive new words as needed.
 
A significant number of Kiravian scientific terms, however, are original coinages, some of which predate Western discoveries. For example, the phenomenon of {{wp|synaesthesia|synæsthesia}}, known as ''télar'' in Kiravic and High Coscivian, has been known to [[Coscivian civilisation]] for millennia. The Kiravic word for {{wp|diuresis}}, ''śgrulva'', is attested in writing as early as 20542 (1362), and occurs frequently in common parlance.
 
*'''Kōstrúlôstum''' - "Blood plasma", from ''kōstrum'' (blood) + ''lôstum'' (broth)
*'''Dharnagrám''' - Translation of both "{{wp|parenchyma}}" and "{{wp|Mittelstand}}", from ''dharna'' (brick) + ''grám'' (supporting structure)
*'''Ɣámpraxuruv''' - {{wp|Nebula}}, from ''ɣámpra'' (womb) + ''xuruv'' (cloud)
*'''Sirrúréstor''' - {{wp|Cloud seeding|Cloud-seeding}}, from ''sirrum'' (rain) + ''réstor'' (conduction, fomentation)
 
===Foreign Loans===
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'').
 
==Varieties==
===Written Registers===
There are three main literary registers of Kiravic. While all are mutually intelligible, they differ substantially in vocabulary, lexico-morphological rules, orthography, and style. Usage of one register or another varies by region as well as by context.
 
*'''Literary Kiravic''' (Kiravic: ''Vénakirrona'') or '''Nohæric''' emerged from conventions established during [time period] by traditional rhetorical schools in the Kir lands when they began teaching rhetoric in the vernacular instead of solely in High Coscivian, and went on to evolve organically with the flowering of Kiravic literary culture. Nohæric is the {{wp|Prestige (sociolinguistics)|register of prestige}}, and is used in the majority of long-form literature and ''{{wp|belles-lettres}}'', most newspapers and mid- and upmarket magazines, and polished correspondence. Native speakers prefer Literary Kiravic for most purposes, and in states where Kiravic is the prevailing language (as well as Æonara and the Overseas Regions), Literary Kiravic is the only register taught in schools.
*'''Standard Kiravic''' (Kiravic: ''Oskandikiravirona''), also known as ''teléuverþarona'' ("schoolbook language") was developed by the [[Kiravian Union]] Directorate of Education to promote the adoption of Kiravic as the unified national language in accordance with the programme of the Kirosocialist Party. It was the result of reforms intended to rationalise, modernise, and simplify the language in order to facilitate its acquisition by non-native speakers, and also to "proletarianise" the written language to make it more accessible to the masses. Today, Standard Kiravic is the predominant register used in federal government documents (and lower-level government documents in Kiravic from non-Kiravic-speaking regions), business documents and correspondence, {{wp|grey literature}}, and technical writing. In provinces outside the native range of Kiravic, Standard Kiravic is the register taught in schools, though Literary Kiravic vocabulary is often taught in the upper forms.
 
*'''High Kiravic''' (Kiravic: ''Ixtikirrona'') is a conservative form of Kiravic modelled closely on the stylistic conventions of Traditional High Coscivian and replete with lexical borrowings from older and more arcane recensions of High Coscivian. Certainly the least commonly used of the three main registers, High Kiravic is encountered in many of the greatest Kiravic literary works, a growing number of higher-brow periodicals, and in some recent works of popular nonfiction (especially on historical or political topics). The language of legal documents and proceedings most closely resembles High Kiravic, earning it the informal appellation ''áldarona'' ("legalese"). A great deal of personal correspondence among the middle- and upper-classes during  the 15th-19th centuries was written according to High Kiravic conventions, including the letters circulated among the founding fathers of the Republic, which are widely studied and recited today.
 
Note that the unqualified name of the language itself - ''Kirrona'' in Literary and High Kiravic, ''Kiravirona'' in Standard Kiravic - reflects each register's origins, with the former developing organically from the ethnic language of the Kir people, and the other having been designed and proliferated to be the common language of the entire nation.
 
There are several minor literary registers used among smaller communities, most of which adhere to style guides published by a particular literary society, university, or other institution. Today, it is often difficult to definitively say that a particular document is written in one register or another, though it is usually easy to identify which register's conventions it leans more toward.
 
===Dialects===
====Core Dialects====
*'''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.
 
*'''Læran Kiravic''' - Spoken in southeastern [[Etivéra]].
 
*'''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.
 
====Peripheral Dialects====
*'''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 Eshavian influence on its phonology and vocabulary.
 
*'''Urban Northeastern Kiravic''' dialects are spoken in large, multi-ethnic urban areas in traditionally Eshavian-speaking Northeastern states, such as Bérasar. Kiravic displaced Eshavian 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 Eshavian (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.
 
*'''Upper Kiravic''' is spoken in north-central and northwestern Great Kirav, and borrows extensively from Central and North Coscivian languages. It has a rather singsong cadence and always distinguishes for animacy in third-person pronouns.
 
*'''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.
 
*'''Xirayic''' is spoken in [[Xirya]], where it is formalised and used for official purposes. One notable feature is the pronunciation of the adjectival ''-x'' suffix as ''-s'', erasing any phonetic distinction between adjectives and adverbs. This is causes mild to moderate confusion for speakers of other dialects.
 
==Usage==
In the Kiravian Federacy, Kiravic is the sole official and working language of the Federal government. It is the language in which all laws are written, as well as all original copies of official documents. Most federal subjects, with a few exceptions, use Kiravic as their language of governance either officially or unofficially. While all territories, intendancies, and governments-general use Kiravic as their official language by default, the more self-governing mainland states and chartered colonies are free to designate their own official languages, and several retain Kiravic only in a secondary or auxiliary capacity.
 
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 [[Sydona]]) 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.
 
Due to Kiravian political and economic influence overseas, especially in [[Ixnay]], Kiravic is often studied as a foreign language abroad, especially in [[the Cape]], [[Paulastra]], and [[Caphiria]].


[[Category:KRV]]
[[Category:KRV]]
[[Category: Kiravian Federacy]]
[[Category: Languages]]
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Latest revision as of 02:44, 25 September 2023

Kiravic Coscivian
Kirrona, Kiravirona
Native toGreat Kirav
RegionMid-Oceanic
Mid-Continental
EthnicityKir people
Native speakers
450-600 million (21205)
Cosco-Adratic
  • Kasavic-Koskan
    • Varakoskan
      • Kironic
        • Right-Hand Kironic
          • Kiravic
            • Kiravic Coscivian
Standard forms
Coscivian script
Official status
Official language in
Kiravia
Saint Kennera
Pribraltar
Language codes
ISO 639-3

Kiravic Coscivian (Kiravic: Kiravirona, Kiravikoskirona) is a Cosco-Adratic language spoken primarily in the Kiravian Federacy, where it serves as the official and national language. It is the largest Cosco-Adratic language by number of speakers, both native and acquired. Originally spoken in the Mid-Oceanic area of Eastern Kirav corresponding to the United Provinces during the Viceregal Period, the Kiravic Sprachraum expanded with the spread of Coscivian settlement to include most of Upper, Central, and Northwestern Great Kirav, as well as the Western Highlands, positioning it to become the dominant language of the emerging multilingual federation.

Kiravic is a highly 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 determiners and adpositional noun cases, as well as for its deontic mood. Kiravic is an 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 tense, aspect, and 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, 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 Dir (~8,000 speakers) and 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 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.

History

Grammar

Nouns

As in all other Cosco-Adratic languages, the most important word class in Kiravic is the noun. Nouns are the primary bearers of meaning, and most information in a typical Kiravic sentence is contained in its noun phrases. Because Kiravic has few verbs compared to most languages, it relies heavily on 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).\

Number

Grammatically, nouns can be nonplural (unmarked) or plural. Nonplural nouns may be semantically singular, collective, uncountable, or plural. Among native speakers and in Literary Kiravic, the plural is marked only sparingly, and never in the company of numerals or classifiers (e.g. vôrux ethruv "five tree" rather than vôrux ethruya "five trees"). In 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 singular noun.

Case - Grammaticals

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
  • Form II - Absolutive -a ⇒ genitive
  • Form III - Absolutive -n, -r, -m ⇒ genitive -sk
  • Form IV - Absolutive -k ⇒ genitive -idek

Regular declension paradigms for the grammatical and absolutive cases of Forms I-III nouns are laid out below:


Case syncretism is fairly common. The most common syncretic pattern variant is Form I nouns that take the Form III suffix -sk in the genitive, a prominent example being the word Kirav (genitive Kiravsk rather than Kiral).

Ergative-Absolutive

The two most important noun cases in sentence formation are the absolutive, which marks the object of a transitive sentence or the subject of an intransitive sentence, and the ergative, which marks the subject of a transitive sentence. At minimum, a Kiravic subject-predicate sentence comprises an absolutive noun and a verb.

Sta ruston
"The person sees"

Sta rustoth fidin
"The person sees the building"

The tense (past, present, future, jussive) and aspect (imperfect, perfect) of a sentence are marked on the absolutive noun.

Sta rustoth fidiste
"The person saw the building"

Sta rustoth fidistéi
"The person had seen the building"

Sta rustoth fidisti
"The person has seen the building"

Sta rustoth fidisto
"The person will see the building"

Sta rustoth fidistói
"The person will have seen the building"

The jussive mood (for forming commands) is also marked on the absolutive noun.

Fidistu sta
"See the building"

Luktuvu send erú
"Let them eat cake"


Indirect

Kiravic has few verbs, so many actions are expressed through noun-verb couplets (compare the English examples "eat dinner" vs. "dine", "make a sale" vs. "sell"). For example, "to push" in Kiravic is va stugon (lit. "do a push"), "to welcome" is tá rædor (lit. "to give welcome"). The second, or indirect, object, which does not form part of the couplet, is marked in the indirect case, indicated by the suffix -m for Form I and Form II nouns, and -nt or -d for Form III nouns.

Rustoth stugoste va vālint Rustoth stugoste va rukum
person.ERG push.ABS-PAST do case.IND person.ERG push.ABS-PAST do bucket.IND
The person pushed the case The person pushed the bucket

Case - Constructives

In addition to the three grammatical cases which establish the structure of a sentence, Kiravic nouns also decline for several "constructive cases" that are used to form noun phrases.

  • Genitive - Indicates possession, composition, and origin. Also forms infinitive constructions with the verbal nouns (see below).
  • Benefactive - Indicates purpose or destination.
  • Instructive - Instructive.
  • Essive (formal) - Formal essive.
  • Essive (modal) - Modal essive.

"Case" - Adpositionals

Kiravic nouns can also take on a number of regular adpositional suffixes indicating spatial/temporal position and motion. These are not cases per se but were traditionally treated as such by Occidental linguists, so here they are:

Proper and Indeclinable Nouns

Proper nouns are subject to the same declension rules as common nouns. By convention, one declines a Coscivian personal name by changing the surname only (e.g. "The office of Irasur Mérovin" would be adikuv Irasur Mérovisk rather than adikuv Irasursk Mérovin), with the forename treated as a noun adjunct. Similarly, when declining a compound geographic name such as Mount Xýzyro (Nár Xýssyrov) or the River Kaviska (Rurin Kaviska), only the general noun is declined while the specific appellation remains unchanged (Nárē Xýssyrov, Rurinst Kaviska). Foreign names and brand names that cannot be readily Coscivised can be fit into the structure of a Kiravic sentence using auxiliary prepositions like áu ("of") and ōs ("as"), but most style guides for formal writing encourage using the indeclinable name as an adjunct to an appropriate Kiravic common noun. For example, "There was a fire in Gulnaz" (the capital of Kayistan) would be translated as Lé spóre sarēs Gulnaz ("There was a fire in the city of Gulnaz").

Nouns (continued)

Kiravic does not employ articles. Definacy is inferred from context, though in the absence of contextual clues to the contrary, nouns are generally interpreted as being definite by default. In situations where contextual clues might be ambiguous and there is a need to clarify definacy, the determiner lē- can be used to specify that a noun is indefinite, e.g. Ar koé lē-asdrárdas, tos dhé voé asdrár klesk skúl ("I spoke with a salesman, but he was not the salesman from your company"). The determiner irdi- accomplishes the same distinction with greater emphasis (Thá vú irdisarēs Kannurē - "She is in some city in Kannur"). The determiners kē-, sí-, and śo- ("this", "that", "yonder") can be used to clarify that the referend is definite.

Pronouns

Kir/Kirth/Kirsk

Adjectives and Adverbs

Kiravic adjectives inflect for three degrees (basic, comparative, and superlative). Adjectives precede the nouns they modify except in zero-copula phrases, and are not inflected to agree with them in class, case, or number.

All adverbs are notionally derived from adjectives by switching the final -x to an -s (kávix "good" → kávis "well", lādéx tarśumt "stronger than iron" → lādés tarśumt "more strongly than iron").

Verbs

There are only 20-30 verbs in formal written Kiravic, a great many of which are semantic primes, such as ("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. Urom or immigrant groups) employ markedly fewer verbs than the written registers.

Copulas

Verbal Nouns

Each verb is paired with a noun, known in Kiravic as its Nureden ("master noun"). These nouns serve a similar semantic and syntactic role to infinitives and gerunds in Levanto-Sarpic languages. Verbal nouns are among the most frequently used words in the language and are extremely productive as derivational morphemes, forming the basis of many compounds. In some cases, there is a clear etymological relationship between the verb and its master noun (va "do" : vara "activity"), while in others there is not (thá "stand" : itur "status, position"). Several verbal nouns are grammatically irregular.

Adpositions

In Kiravic, adpositions are typically affixed to their objects as suffixes rather than written as separate words, but can be written as such to improve clarity in particularly complex sentences. For example, while "I came here with a cake" would ordinarily be written "Kú kēdés vediƌ lúktūdas, the form "Kú kēdés vediƌ das lúktuv" is also grammatically valid.

While professional linguists, especially outside Kiravia, treat these appended adpositions as independent postpositions, in Kiravia they are thought of and taught as noun cases. The reason for this discrepancy lies in historical linguistics: When Kiravic was developing as an Iatic-based creole, the practice of appending adpositions to their objects developed as a replacement for most of Iatic's more morphologically-complex cases in order to better communicate with non-native speakers while the original Iatic syntax was kept.

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.

Syntax

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.

[Word order redux]
[Questions & Answers]
[na particle]
[Recursion, Relative clauses, Dependent clauses, etc]

Case governance

An important way in which Kiravic produces a full and rich range expression with a very limited number of verbs is through case-governed constructions.

Noun phrases

Infinitive phrases

Infinitive phrases are a subset of noun phrases that have a verbal noun as the nucleus and perform a similar function to infinitives and gerunds in languages with more synthetic verb morphology. Nominalisation of a verb phrase into an infinitive phrase involves regular transformations of grammar and syntax.

The formula for the infinitive form of a transitive verb phrase is as follows:

[Verb] [Subject - Ergative] [Direct object - Absolutive] ⇒ [Verbal noun] [Direct object - Genitive] [Subject - Prolative]

Whereas the word order of transitive verb phrases is fairly free (see above), the word order of corresponding infinitive phrases is fairly fixed. Optionally, for longer phrases, the subject may be placed between the verbal noun and direct object. Indirect objects remain in the indirect case and are placed between the genitive direct object and the prolative subject. Other constructive nouns (e.g. benefactives) also retain their cases and are placed between the direct object (or indirect object, if present) and the subject, in the same order as they appear in the verb phrase.

If the verb is modified by an adverb, the adverb is converted to its adjectival form when nominalising.

[Adverb] [Verb] [Subject- Ergative] [Object - Absolutive] ⇒ [Adjective] [Verbal noun] [Object - Genitive] [Subject - Prolative]

The formula for the infinitive form of an intransitive verb phrase is as follows:

[Verb] [Subject - Absolutive] ⇒ [Verbal noun] [Subject - Genitive]

Lexicon

See also: Glossary of Coscivian Terms

Lexicographers divide Kiravic words into six principal categories according to their etymological journey:

  • Sovisíndix ("same as that") words: Words of a High Coscivian provenance that have retained their original spellings and (often) pronounciations.[1] They include words that have been inherited from spoken Iatic Coscivian through several stages of spoken descendant languages which have survived without modification (e.g. Kiravic róva / Iatic róva, "spring"; Kiravic verþa / Iatic verþa, "book"), as well as forms borrowed directly from literary High Coscivian in more recent times (avórua, "environment"; vūroska, "rhetoric"). Words in this category can be further divided among numerous subcategories based on their internal composition, date of borrowing from High Coscivian, and previous etymological heritage.
  • Onśapurnix ("vocally ground-down") words: Words of a High Coscivian provenance that have undergone sound and spelling changes. This includes words that have changed over the course of linguistic evolution from spoken Iatic Coscivian to modern Kiravic through several intermediary stages, as well as early direct borrowings from High Coscivian that have becomed thoroughly "nativised". Onśapurnix words form a large and important share of the Kiravic lexicon, including most of the most frequently used words in the language, such as function words, almost all verbs, and basic concrete nouns. They are even more common in spoken and dialectal Kiravic than in the formal literary registers.
  • Dheśtravundix ("internally/natively composed") words: Compounds and morphological derivations newly composed in Kiravic from High Coscivian and other classical roots according to Kiravic morphological rules. A related class are the duîsovisíndix ("pseudo-Sovisíndix") words that were newly composed in Kiravic using High Coscivian (or other classical) morphological rules, in order to resemble an authentic sovisíndix direct borrowing. Duîsovisíndix words are very common in the Ixtikiravirona or "High Kiravic" literary register (see below), uncommon in Nohæric Kiravic, and traditionally proscribed in Standard Kiravic.
  • Dheśtraguamix or Vūlidheśtrax ("native-born/truly native") words: Words that were neither inherited from an ancestral language or borrowed from another language, to include native coinages, onomatopœia, nonce words, derivations from proper names, and elevated slang and colloquial terms. Some lexicographers also assign natively-formed compounds constructed by nonstandard morphological rules - such as portmanteaux, blends, truncations, and syllabic abbreviations - to this category, even if they include classical or foreign roots. The minor "Open Kiravic" register and the experimental "Recorded Kiravic" style of writing, which both seek to emulate contemporary spoken Kiravic more than the major literary registers do, make much more extensive use of native-born words than their competitors.
  • Manitovix ("accreted") words: Words of non-classical and non-native provenance that are not considered "foreign" in origin. The membership and subdivision of this category is a matter of some contention among Kiravic linguists, but by its broadest definition includes loanwords of non-classical origin borrowed into post-classical spoken ancestors of Kiravic from other languages in the Coscivian cultural sphere and words morphologically derived therefrom, and direct borrowings into Kiravic from other modern Coscivian languages and languages in the Coscivian cultural sphere.
  • Velśix ("foreign") words: All words borrowed from outside the Coscivian cultural sphere, including "near-foreign" loans from Urom, Finno-Kiravite, and Celtic languages, and "far-foreign" loans from all other languages.

Kiravic has a rich and copious lexicon so replete with synonyms and terms with very subtle yet profound distinctions from one another in meaning, register, tone, and connotation that there exists an entire class of reference works, termed îhadsomethingforthis-shite-uv, that serve to help writers navigate the nuances of the language to maximal rhetorical or artistic effect by providing detailed explanations of relationships between various words with extensive cross-references that go far beyond the offerings of a typical English thesaurus. The overlarge vocabulary of literary Kiravic is attributable in large part to the semi-independent development of different literary registers in the pre-modern and early modern periods, and to the diffusion of words across dialectal boundaries.

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 Eshavian Coscivian and Great Antaric Coscivian. The lexicon continues to grow with a steady stream of new coinages and borrowings.

Scientific Terminology

In the modern era, Kiravic has avoided directly borrowing scientific and technical terms from Latin, Ænglish, and other Western languages. The writing guides most commonly followed by Kiravian scientific journals all discourage direct borrowings, and prescribe formulas for translating Western terms into Kiravic, most often by calquing. Professional institutions such as the Kiravian Astronomical Academy (Kiravix Iselrakénax Lárutovarum) and the Kiravian Chemical Society (Kiravix Ğislokénax Askola) play an important role in formally defining Kiravic scientific nomenclature and creating paradigms to derive new words as needed.

A significant number of Kiravian scientific terms, however, are original coinages, some of which predate Western discoveries. For example, the phenomenon of synæsthesia, known as télar in Kiravic and High Coscivian, has been known to Coscivian civilisation for millennia. The Kiravic word for diuresis, śgrulva, is attested in writing as early as 20542 (1362), and occurs frequently in common parlance.

  • Kōstrúlôstum - "Blood plasma", from kōstrum (blood) + lôstum (broth)
  • Dharnagrám - Translation of both "parenchyma" and "Mittelstand", from dharna (brick) + grám (supporting structure)
  • Ɣámpraxuruv - Nebula, from ɣámpra (womb) + xuruv (cloud)
  • Sirrúréstor - Cloud-seeding, from sirrum (rain) + réstor (conduction, fomentation)

Foreign Loans

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 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.

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 Tryhstian mestiço), gipklé ("cede territory under the threat of force", from Lebhan gib clay), and bola ("bomb", from Hekuvian Latin pyrobola).

Varieties

Written Registers

There are three main literary registers of Kiravic. While all are mutually intelligible, they differ substantially in vocabulary, lexico-morphological rules, orthography, and style. Usage of one register or another varies by region as well as by context.

  • Literary Kiravic (Kiravic: Vénakirrona) or Nohæric emerged from conventions established during [time period] by traditional rhetorical schools in the Kir lands when they began teaching rhetoric in the vernacular instead of solely in High Coscivian, and went on to evolve organically with the flowering of Kiravic literary culture. Nohæric is the register of prestige, and is used in the majority of long-form literature and belles-lettres, most newspapers and mid- and upmarket magazines, and polished correspondence. Native speakers prefer Literary Kiravic for most purposes, and in states where Kiravic is the prevailing language (as well as Æonara and the Overseas Regions), Literary Kiravic is the only register taught in schools.
  • Standard Kiravic (Kiravic: Oskandikiravirona), also known as teléuverþarona ("schoolbook language") was developed by the Kiravian Union Directorate of Education to promote the adoption of Kiravic as the unified national language in accordance with the programme of the Kirosocialist Party. It was the result of reforms intended to rationalise, modernise, and simplify the language in order to facilitate its acquisition by non-native speakers, and also to "proletarianise" the written language to make it more accessible to the masses. Today, Standard Kiravic is the predominant register used in federal government documents (and lower-level government documents in Kiravic from non-Kiravic-speaking regions), business documents and correspondence, grey literature, and technical writing. In provinces outside the native range of Kiravic, Standard Kiravic is the register taught in schools, though Literary Kiravic vocabulary is often taught in the upper forms.
  • High Kiravic (Kiravic: Ixtikirrona) is a conservative form of Kiravic modelled closely on the stylistic conventions of Traditional High Coscivian and replete with lexical borrowings from older and more arcane recensions of High Coscivian. Certainly the least commonly used of the three main registers, High Kiravic is encountered in many of the greatest Kiravic literary works, a growing number of higher-brow periodicals, and in some recent works of popular nonfiction (especially on historical or political topics). The language of legal documents and proceedings most closely resembles High Kiravic, earning it the informal appellation áldarona ("legalese"). A great deal of personal correspondence among the middle- and upper-classes during the 15th-19th centuries was written according to High Kiravic conventions, including the letters circulated among the founding fathers of the Republic, which are widely studied and recited today.

Note that the unqualified name of the language itself - Kirrona in Literary and High Kiravic, Kiravirona in Standard Kiravic - reflects each register's origins, with the former developing organically from the ethnic language of the Kir people, and the other having been designed and proliferated to be the common language of the entire nation.

There are several minor literary registers used among smaller communities, most of which adhere to style guides published by a particular literary society, university, or other institution. Today, it is often difficult to definitively say that a particular document is written in one register or another, though it is usually easy to identify which register's conventions it leans more toward.

Dialects

Core Dialects

  • Kandan Kiravic is native to the parts of upstate Kaviska surrounding the city of Evira, as well as communities of ethnic Kandan populations in other parts of Northern Kirav and the Colonies.
  • Læran Kiravic - Spoken in southeastern Etivéra.
  • White Kiravic (Thasikirrona) - Spoken across most of Kastera and parts of neighbouring states by the 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.

Peripheral Dialects

  • 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 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 Eshavian influence on its phonology and vocabulary.
  • Urban Northeastern Kiravic dialects are spoken in large, multi-ethnic urban areas in traditionally Eshavian-speaking Northeastern states, such as Bérasar. Kiravic displaced Eshavian 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 Eshavian (for example, having a 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.
  • Upper Kiravic is spoken in north-central and northwestern Great Kirav, and borrows extensively from Central and North Coscivian languages. It has a rather singsong cadence and always distinguishes for animacy in third-person pronouns.
  • 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 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.
  • Xirayic is spoken in Xirya, where it is formalised and used for official purposes. One notable feature is the pronunciation of the adjectival -x suffix as -s, erasing any phonetic distinction between adjectives and adverbs. This is causes mild to moderate confusion for speakers of other dialects.

Usage

In the Kiravian Federacy, Kiravic is the sole official and working language of the Federal government. It is the language in which all laws are written, as well as all original copies of official documents. Most federal subjects, with a few exceptions, use Kiravic as their language of governance either officially or unofficially. While all territories, intendancies, and governments-general use Kiravic as their official language by default, the more self-governing mainland states and chartered colonies are free to designate their own official languages, and several retain Kiravic only in a secondary or auxiliary capacity.

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 Sydona) 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.

Due to Kiravian political and economic influence overseas, especially in Ixnay, Kiravic is often studied as a foreign language abroad, especially in the Cape, Paulastra, and Caphiria.

  1. Vúraluin, p. 65