Sallam
Descendant of Tenwälamï spoken by the Nolǐur of Udzar in early First Age.
While the language spoken by the witches of Unno-Ǐara remained nearly unchanged by the influence of their immortal queen, the same could not be said about the tongue spoken by the rest of the Nolǐur.
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal |
m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ɲ ⟨ň⟩ | ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩ |
Stop |
p ⟨p⟩ b ⟨b⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ d ⟨d⟩ | c ⟨ť⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ g ⟨g⟩ |
Affricate |
t͡s ⟨ts⟩ d͡z ⟨dz⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨tš⟩ d͡ʒ ⟨dž⟩ | ||
Fricative |
θ ⟨th⟩ (ð) s ⟨s⟩ z ⟨z⟩ | ɕ ⟨š⟩ ʑ ⟨ž⟩ | x ⟨h⟩ (ɣ) | |
Approximant |
(w)ʋ ⟨w⟩ | l ⟨l⟩ | (ʎ) j ⟨ǐ⟩ | |
Trill |
r ⟨r⟩ |
Consonant Gradation
Like Tenwälamï, Sallam lenited consonants in closed syllables, affecting both voicing and length of the consonants.
Gradation in Sallam extended to some clusters as well, mainly ones featuring a plosive either voiced or unvoiced.
| Strong | Weak |
|---|---|
| pp | p |
| tt | t |
| kk | k |
| ss | s |
| b | ʋ |
| d | ð |
| g | ɣ |
| t͡s (t͡ʃ) | s (ʃ) |
| d͡z (d͡ʒ) | z (ʒ) |
| Strong | Weak |
|---|---|
| bb | b |
| dd | d |
| gg | g |
| mb | mm |
| nd | nn |
| ŋg | ŋŋ |
| bm | m |
| dn | n |
| gŋ | ŋ |
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i ⟨i⟩ y ⟨ü⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Central | e ⟨e⟩ ø ⟨ö⟩ | o ⟨o⟩ |
| Low | æ ⟨ä⟩ | ɑ ⟨a⟩ |
| ai | äi | ei | oi | ui | üi |
Vowels
Sallam lost back unrounded vowels ɤ and ɯ to various sound changes, but otherwise kept the front-back vowels harmony of Tenwälamï.
In addition, Sallam had developed six diphthongs, all ending in i.
Morphology
Nouns
Sallam inflected nouns in eight cases and three numbers, each marked by suffixes, with case suffix following a number marker.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
Nominative |
- | -d | -ǐ |
Accusative |
-k | -dak | -ik |
Genitive |
-m | -dam | -im |
Locative |
-s | -das | -is |
Ablative |
-l | -dal | -il |
Lative |
-len | -dalen | -ilen |
Prolative |
-ɣɑl | -daɣɑl | -iɣɑl |
Comitative |
-nn | -dann | -inn |
Number
Of the three numbers Sallam nouns declined in, the singular remained unmarked while the dual and plural were marked with suffixes -d and -ǐ, respectively.
Singular
The unmarked singular number denoted a singular instance of a noun.
Dual
The dual number was used when there were exactly two of a noun. Usually heard when talking about things which naturally came in pairs.
Plural
Plural number could be used when there were many of a noun, but also when the number remained uncertain or irrelevant.
loutt "a lake"
saradza "a raven"
üm "an eye"
raǐ "ear"
loutta "two lakes"
sarazad "two ravens"
ümid "a pair of eyes"
raǐad "a pair of ears"
louteǐ "lakes"
sarazaǐ "ravens"
ümeǐ "eyes"
raǐaǐ "ears"
Case
Sallam's cases remained largely unchanged in terms of usage as it evolved from Tenwälamï. Case suffixes attached after a number-marking suffix.
Nominative
The nominative case, unmarked in the singular number, denoted the main subject or agent of a noun or verb phrase.
Accusative
The accusative case, marked with the suffix -k, denoted the direct object of a transitive verb phrase.
Genitive
The genitive case, marked with the suffix
-m, denoted the possessor or origin of a noun and was often used with possessive suffixes.
Locative
The locative case, marked with the suffix
-s, roughly corresponded to prepositions in, on, at and by.
Ablative
The ablative case, marked with the suffix -l, roughly corresponded to prepositions
(away) from or out of, and generally marked movement out of or away from the noun.
Lative
The lative case, marked with the suffix
-len, was the opposite of the ablative and denoted movement toward or into the noun instead.
Prolative
The prolative case, marked with the suffix
-häl/hal, denoted movement through something.
Comitative
The comitative case, marked with the suffix
-nn, roughly corresponded to with or in company of.
Pronouns
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
First Person |
min | minad, minda- | minaǐ, minai- |
Second Person |
sin | sinad, sinda- | sinaǐ, sinai- |
Third Person |
pin | pinad, pinda- | pinaǐ, pinai- |
The three persons in Sallam were the first, second and third persons. Each had a pronoun which declined in both case and number with fairly regular consistency.
Personal suffixes (-n, -s and -w) were used to mark possession as well as person in verb inflection.
Adjectives
Sallam adjectives inherited an attributive suffix -t from Tenwälamï, used when an adjective was used attributively as opposed to independently such as in nonverbal clauses. However, in Sallam the suffix was only used when the adjective preceded the noun it modifies, which it did not always do.
The attributive suffix allowed for an alternative way to construct noun phrases and was particularly used by the miznaraǐ, whose language remained far more resistant to change than the general Nolǐur population.
eljit tar "an old tree"Verbs
Verbs inflected in tense, aspect and person through strong agglutination. Person marking was identical to the possessive suffixes described above. When negating, the person suffix was attached to a negative auxiliary verb instead of the head verb.
Tense and Aspect
Sallam verbs inflected in two tenses (nonpast and past) and three aspects (simple, perfect and imperfect).
| Simple | Perfect | Imperfect | |
|---|---|---|---|
Nonpast |
simple present | present perfect | simple future |
Past |
simple past | past perfect | past imperfect |
Verb inflection of Sallam was fairly regular, mostly depending on the final vowel and length of the stem.
Ä/A-stems
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple Present |
-än/an | -äs/as | -äw/aw |
Simple Past |
-en | -es | -ew |
Simple Future |
-äwenni/-awenni | -äwessi/-awessi | -äweŋwi/aweŋwi |
Past Imperfect |
-ewinni | -ewissi | -ewiŋwi |
Present Perfect |
-änden/anden | -ändes/andes | -ändew/andew |
Past Perfect |
-endin | -endis | -endiw |
E-stems
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple Present |
-en | -es | -ew |
Simple Past |
-in/un | -is/us | -iw/uǐ |
Simple Future |
-ewinni | -ewissi | -ewiŋwi |
Past Imperfect |
-iwenni/uwenni | -iwessi/uwessi | -iweŋwi/uweŋwi |
Present Perfect |
-endin | -endis | -endiw |
Past Perfect |
-indin/undun | -indis/undus | -indiw/unduǐ |
anlu, "to be"
Mainly used as a copula in nonverbal clauses, anlu was one of the few irregular verbs in Sallam language.
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple Present |
anna | assa | an |
Simple Past |
annu | assu | annuǐ |
Simple Future |
amenni | amessi | ameŋwi |
Past Imperfect |
amunni | amussi | amuŋwi |
Present Perfect |
anden | andes | andew |
Past Perfect |
andun | andus | anduǐ |
lüil, the negative verb
Sallam negated verbs by way of an auxiliary verb lüil. It followed immediately after the negated verb and took a person marking, but no tense or aspect.
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person |
|---|---|---|
| lün | lüs | lüǐ |
Participles
Sallam had four participles, divided by state of completion and passiveness. Combined with anlu, the passive participles were used to form passive sentences.
A-stems
| Active | Passive | |
|---|---|---|
Imperfect |
-äwen/awen | -älüwen/aluwen |
Perfect |
-änd/and | -älünd/alund |
E-stems
| Active | Passive | |
|---|---|---|
Imperfect |
-ewin | -elüwen/eluwen |
Perfect |
-end | -elünd/elund |
Syntax
Nonverbal Clauses
tar eld an "the tree is old"
eljit tar lemmäs an "the old tree is in a forest"
eljit tar minam an "the old tree is mine"
lemmäs aŋwen eljit tarun misselünd an "my old tree in the woods is cursed"
Intransitive Clauses
olmewinni "I am sleeping"
olmendis "you have slept"
Transitive Clauses
sinak elmen "I see you"
nüm sinak karsew "the fire burns you"
lemmäs minak tumas "you meet me in the forest"
Dependent Clauses
pinam allandum salan "I know who said that"
pinam lemmäs aŋwenim salan "I know he is in the forest"
ertäik saram talǐilla kailaspu
iwät oŋŋaik ǐälwäs kawluwen
alhanduinn loswediim toillen
kuilulla kailaspu
Tongue of the Nolǐur
Pronunciation
/ˈsɑlːɑm/
Language Family
Northern languages
Alignment
Nominative-accusative
Morphology
Agglutinative
Maximum Syllable
(C)V(C)(C)
Word Order
SOV (with exceptions)
Comments