Mursian language

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Mursian
Murstina
Mursland Flag.jpg
Flag of Mursland, often used to indicate the Mursian language, although it is not the sole language of the nation
Pronunciation /ˈmʊrʃtina/
Native to Mursland
Sorland
Ethnicity Mursian
Native speakers
Mursland: 6.1 million
Confederate States of Northern Avalonia: 83 400
Second: ~2 million (2015)
Sera-Boreslavic
  • Borealslavic
    • Slavic
      • Volirian
        • Mursian
Early form
Old Mursian
Dialects
Latin script
Official status
Official language in
 Mursland
Regulated by Mursian Institute for the Nation's Language
Language codes
ISO 639-1 mur
ISO 639-2 mur
ISO 639-3 mur
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For a guide to IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Mursian (Murstina, pronounced /ˈmʊrʃtina/) is a Borealslavic language spoken in South Central Artemia, primarily in Mursland. It is the language of Mursians.

Along with the closely related Volirian languages Porzik and Vrtgoran, it is a member of the Sera-Boreslavic dialect continuum of the Proto-Artemian language family. The language has several characteristics that sets it apart from the other Slavic languages: changes include elimination of case declension in adjectives, a vocabulary with much foreign influence, different structuring of grammatical genders, and the retention of Dual case in specific parts.

History

From the early 17th century, Mursian sees a significant influx of Jungastian loanwords. Often, these were copied featuring the definitive article at the front (an 'o' or 'a'.), making these words very recognisable.

In the late 17th century, the famous playwright and novelist Ismé u Dit wrote many of her stories in Mursian. Her works were highly popular and caused a resurgence of interest in the language among the elite. Although much of her linguistic contributions have been lost over time, it has formed the basis of modern vocabulary and grammar. She is often credited for the Mursian Naissance in literature.

By the 1700s, it became custom to write the language in Latin script (in various systems), as opposed to the "Ludarsian" or Samot scripts from before.

In 1852, Mjtys Fialovou introduced the "Jungastian" system, with the intend of representing sound rather than transcribing other scripts.

Contemporary

Domolar, a popular hotel consolidator, combines the Jugnastian and Mursian words for 'house, home'

Mursian is an ever changing language. Although various efforts have been made to keep the language distinct, loanwords from all over the world have been introduced in the past century. While west Artemian languages remain popular, influences from east Kesh are increasing.

There is still disagreement over the status of the language across Mursland, especially in Tergovína and Zahélen, where historically Ludarsian was the spoken language.

Phonology

Mursian has pairs of short and long vowel phonemes. The short vowels are /ä/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /o/, /ʊ/, and /i/. The long vowels are /a:/, /e:/, /i:/, /o:/, and /ʉ:/. There is one super short vowel, which is /ɜ/. There are 3 diphthongs: /iɪ/, /ou̯/, and /ʉu/.

voiced)
Labial Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive p b t d k, kʰ g ʔ
Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ (d͡ʒ)
Fricative f v, vʰ s z ʒ x (h) ɦ
Trill r
Approximant ʋ ɹ, l (j)

Note: /kʰ/ and /g/ are merged in certain dialects; they are generally acknowledged to be the same sound.

Mursian consonants are considered either hard or soft:

  • hard: /d/, /ɦ/, /x/, /k/, /n/, /r/, /t/, /ʒ/
  • soft: /m/, /n/, /p/, /b/, /kʰ/, /g/, /t͡s/, /t͡ʃ/, /f/, /v/, /vʰ/, /s/, /z/, /ʋ/, /ɹ/, /l/

Morphology

Nominal inflection

Mursian words inflect on gender, number and cases. Verbs have tense and aspect (perfective, imperfective). Person appears in pronouns.

Gender

Mursian distinguishes four grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, neuter, and epicene.

The epicene is used when the referred should have a grammatical gender, but this gender is not determinable, could not be determined, or (in vernacular language) is irrelevant. This sees use when used in reference to a person of profession (of unknown gender), unknown figures, groups of people of both genders, and (in recent times) non-binary people. Neuter is limited to non-human subjects, such as objects, animals [1], or abstract objects. A complication is when talking about groups of people; when talking about its members, epicene ought to be used, when talking about the group as a whole, neuter should be used.

Examples:

  1. I went to the doctor, they told me to rest. - Ja bsem wokpehil lékare, oni kronilo mje odpotsivat. (epicene singular)
  2. What does the thief look like? (lit. The thief resembles who?) - Slodsej skadas kogo? (epicene singular)
  3. When the class heard the news, they all (the class-members) cheered. - Ked taxi uswytal správy, woni bsi witalio. (epicene plural)
  4. Once the regiment finishes training, it will be deployed immediately on the frontline. - Raz pluko bsem podokontit vytuiko, inhed wono bsem rozmiistit wj kufovi. (neuter singular)

The first sentence is an example of where the gender is deemed irrelevant to what is said; it does not matter for the story told whether the doctor is male or female. In the second sentence, the thief has yet to be identified, which means that they cannot be assigned a relevant gender, even though they are expected to have one in the sentence. In the third sentence, the class does not consist of a single gender, thus will have to use the epicene. The fourth sentence is an example of when neuter should be used for groups.

Number

Modern Mursian has 3 inflections for number: Singular, Dual and Plural.

In practice has the Dual gone into disuse in written language, finding only use in Personal pronouns and some special verbs. However, it still finds use in spoken language in various dialects. It is then often (arguably incorrectly) used to refer to a smaller group in relation of larger groups. For example:

  1. Woni bsi nimi na odovernovi; Wono nekedsjbos. - 'They were angry at the government; it (the government) did not care.'
  2. Woni bsi nimi na odovernovi; Wonej nekedsjbosou. - 'They were angry at the government; they (the government) did not care.'

Most Utmursik gods are considered a 'dual-being' and have either a neuter dual or epicene dual inflection. These inflections are still in use in modern day when talking about the relevant deities.

Case

Mursian has 7 cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, Locative, and Instrumental.

Declension based on case is used in nouns, adjectives, and some pronouns (personal, possessive, demonstrative). For Vocatives goes they are equal to the Nominative safe for some irregular nouns.

Nouns

Mursian does not use articles to indicate nouns. They are split in hard and soft roots, which determines what their inflection will be based on gender. The hardness is determined on the ending of the root of the word: noun roots ending on [d, h, ch, k, n, r, t] are determined hard, all others soft. There are a few exceptions: words ending in -vo are hard neuter, and words formed from verbs ending on -ne are soft neuter. Additionally, soft nouns ending on -a have their own set of inflections; it should be noted these are usually not feminine nouns. If a noun ends in -i, regardless of their hardness, it will also have their own inflection.

Nouns are also split on singular and plural. Historically, there was a separate dual form, but this has been merged with the singular and had disappeared by the 19th century.

Hard Soft -a -i
Number Gender Masc Fem Epi Neut Epi Neut any any
Singular
Dual
Nominative - -a - -o - -e -a -i
Genitive -y -y -y -a -e -e -ay -i
Dative -ovi -ovi -u -u -i -i -avi -i
Accusative -a -a -e -o -e -e -uh -i
Locative -ovi -i -ovi -ovi -ovi -ovi -avi -i
Instrumental -en -an -en -on -en -en -ou -in
Plural Nominative -ové -ii
Genitive -uu -uu -uu -ou -uu -uu -uu
Dative -um -am -um -um -ím -ím -um -ím
Accusative -ata -ata -eta -ota -eta -eta -aty -íta
Locative -ech -ach -ích -ích -ích -ích -ach -ích
Instrumental -ymí -amí -ymí -ymí -emí, -mí -ymí -ymí -imí

The Vocative has the same declension as the Nominative. The Locative is always combined with a preposition.

Personal names also obtain suffixes depending on the case, but rather than adding it straight behind the name, an apostrophe is added in between. Example: Jaan'a - Jaan in accusative form.

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives are placed before nouns. They have no inflection in modern day use. The comparative is formed by either changing the ending of the adjective or adding a suffix; this retains in the superlative, which also adds the "nu-" prefix.

Adverbs are obtained through modifying the adjective's root.

Root Comparitive

Superlative

Adverb Example Translation
-y -jsy -u mivy, mivjsy, numivjsy, mivu complete, more complete, most complete, completely
-i -jsi -e bliski, bliskjsi, nubliskjsi, bliske near, nearer, nearest, nearly
-o/-a -osy chuda, chudosy, nuchudosy, chudá poor, poorer, poorest, poorly
Other +zy +i gotýr, gotýrzy, nugotýrzy, gotýri important, more important, most important, importantly

Pronouns

Personal and Possessive

A large variety of personal and possessive pronouns can be found in the Mursian language. Personal pronouns can be found in 4 genders, 3 numbers and 6 cases, most of them unique, for a total of 87.Below you can find an example of 1st personal pronouns (not gender dependant). For all other personal and the possessive pronouns, see Mursian pronouns.

1st Person personal pronouns.
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ja mej my
Genitive mnjo, mje naju nas
Dative nama nama
Accusative naju nas
Locative mnjo nama
Instrumental mnou nami

Interrogative

Mursian has a set of Interrogatives which form the base for most of the pronouns. These are:

  • kto - 'who?'
  • co - 'what?'
  • ak / hak[2] - 'how?', and its derivatives
    • aki / haki[2] - 'what kind?'
    • aký tas / haký tas[2] (hakitas[3]) - 'at what time?'
    • ak tasto / hak tasto[2] (haktato[3]) - 'how many times?'
  • kad - 'where?'
  • wotkul - 'from where?'
  • kedy - 'when?'
  • cohola - 'why?'
  • poses - 'how many/much?'

Of these interrogatives, kto, co, ak, aki and ak tasto have declensions. Declensions are carried over to the derivatives, as long as the pronoun type does not add a suffix to the word (with exception of -i).

Relative

Relative pronouns are formed by adding -s to the Interrogative. In the case the Interrogative already ends in -s (poses - 'how much?'; hakitas - 'at what time?') the last syllable is replaced by -os. Thus you form posos 'as many as' and hakitos 'at which time'. Exceptions to this rule are: kam 'where' and ked 'when'.

There are also indefinitive relative pronouns. These are formed by adding -kolek to the stem of the interrogative. Exceptions are: lecjaký - 'whoever', 'whatever', and shehak - 'however' . Poseskolek 'however much' is often contracted into posalek.

Indefinite

Indefinite pronouns are made from the interrogative by adding ne- or kod(o)-. The former method results in a request for a specific although unknown subject (such as 'some' works in Anglic; someone, somehow, etcetera). The latter method is a more generalized form of the indefinite, used for when any member of a group suffices (such as 'any' work in Anglic; anyone, any kind of, anywhere, etcetera).

Exceptions to this rule are: raz (lit. 'some time' → 'once'), naki 'some kind of', kodotkul 'from anywhere' and kodakitas 'at any moment'.

Negative

Negatives are formed by adding the suffix ni- to the interrogative. The only exception on this is nitkul 'from nowhere', a contraction of wotkul 'from where?' and the aforementioned suffix.

Demonstrative

Mursian knows 3 types of demonstratives: proximal, medial and distal. Proximal demonstratives are te 'this', to 'here', wotul 'from here' and vtedy 'then'. Medial demonstratives are tam 'this/that, the one/those near you' and tom 'the place near you'. Distal demonstratives are wón 'that', ta 'there' and womtul 'from that place'.

The basic demonstratives te, tam and wóm have declensions based on case, gender and number. Their declension is similar to the possessive pronouns safe for some exceptions, see Mursian_pronouns#Te/tam/wón_declensions for details.

Collective

Collective pronouns are formed by adding vys- to interrogative, although this gets contracted or reshaped for most versions.

  • vyske - 'all', 'every'
    • oba - 'both', archiac
  • vysaki - 'all kinds', 'every kind'
  • visak - 'in every way'
  • chudé - 'everywhere'
  • vyskul - 'from everywhere'
  • vishdy - 'always'
  • vysaktato - 'all the times', for repetitions

Identity and other

There are three identity pronouns: tatjed and tamjed, both mean 'the same' for humans and objects respectively; and ihned - 'immediately'.

Next tot that, there are pronouns to refer to 'others.' The most common is hynaksy, which means "someone or something else." There are also other pronouns for manner, place and source, which is formed by adding in- to their respective interrogatives.

Prepositions

Prepositions in Mursian are combined with a specific noun inflection. Some prepositions, like na, change meaning depending on the inflection of the noun. Following is a table with the most common prepositions and their cases.

Case EN MU Example Translation
GEN without bis Kiab bis ledruu A book without letters
GEN untill, up to, to ta Ty taku ta vhodní tzase You wait until the right time
GEN from behind zezady Oni devits zezady kameny They appear from behind the rock
GEN [to go] past nimo Wona bsem hil nimo ja She walked past you
ACC onto, at (targeting) na Oni aedu na stólta They jump onto the chair
ACC into beh Ja zeru beh noce I look into the night
LOC on (stacking) na Won miise kiabe na hynaksy kiabovi He put down the book on the other books
LOC on (attached) bar Osvetlenie bar prilbavi A Tunderbolt on a helmet
LOC about, around there wo biimalsten bsem wo ta The hospital is around there
LOC throughout, during My thozime pó wjhes We walk through the countryside

Numerals

N# Mursian N# Mursian N# Mursian N# Mursian
1 ida 11 idjnact 10 dáh 10 dáh
2 dua 12 duanact 20 dwadet 100 sto
3 try 13 trynact 30 tridet 1000 hjzar
4 stiri 14 stinact 40 stirset 10^6 ekatomon
5 pes 15 petnact 50 panah 10^9[4] ekatody
6 ses 16 sesnact 60 sedtad 10^12 bisekamon
7 syda 17 sydnact 70 sydatad 10^15 bisekady
8 okta 18 okdonact 80 okdotad 10^18 trisekamon
9 ené 19 enjnact 90 enadtad
10 dáh 20 dwadet 100 sto

Numbers not included in the table are often rendered as their digits. If they are written out, convention dictates using dashes between the various elements. Multiples of hundreds, thousands, etc., will use an special form of the numeral. Examples:

  • 25: dwadet-pes
  • 300: tryhy-sto
  • 5844: pet-hjzar-hast-sto-stirset-stiri
  • 20 000 001: dwadty-ekatomon-ida

Verbs

Perfectives

Verbs in Mursian exist in two forms: the imperfect and the perfect. Historically, these were two separate verbs. They usually shared some similarity, but under influence of the proto-Ludarsian and Aravan languages, many variations existed across the dialect continuum. Attempts were made to standardize the two forms since the middle 17th century as a result of the Mursland region regaining sovereignty from Variadia and Propyria. The attempts often saw only temporary success in literary circles, if any at all. It was the formation of Hebalia that sparked countrywide efforts to standardise the imperfective-perfective pairs, initially for administrative reasons. It was in 1851 that a standard was devised to make the two forms conjugated from one another. In 1889, the many types were reduced to the set in current day use.

There are 6 regular forms. They are usually marked with single letters in dictionaries as can been seen in the table below.

Type Instruction example translation
h add -eh-/-hj- between root and tense component zatsynis
wokpit
zatsynihjs
wokpehit
close
visit, attend
n add -n- between root and tense component (becomes -no- for -it roots) idáat

zabútit

idánat

zabútnoit

debate

forget

p add po- snas posnas know
u add u- robit urobit do
w add -ow- between root and tense component pinest pinesowt bring
z add z- (or zj- for hard const.) kupis
owas
zjkupis
zowas
buy
call

Some verbs do not have a perfective, and some have multiple for different stressing.

Conjugation

Tense Ending Example
-at -it -s
sing plural sing plural sing dual plural
Infinitive -at -it -s boskat, twarit, kupis
present -u -eme -e -ete -s -sou -me bosku, tware, kupis
Imperative - -te - -te - -dy -de bosk'/boskte! kupi/kupide!
past participle -al -ali -il -ili -l -ly -li boskal, twaril, kupil
passive participle -at -ati -it -iti -n -ny -ni boskat, twarit, kupin
  • The past tense is achieved by using the verb být 'to be'[5] and the past participle. Example: Ja bsem boskal 'I kissed'
  • The future tense is achieved differently for imperfect and perfect verbs:
    • Imperfectives: by using the verb být 'to be' and the infinitive. Example: Ja bsem twarit 'I will build'
    • Perfectives: here, the present tense also serves as the future tense.
      • In spoken language, the two are sometimes used to indicate the speaker is absolutely certain something will happen. Examples: Woni padowas raz 'they will fall someday', Woni bsi padowas raz 'they shall (certainly) fall someday (/soon)'
  • The present conditional is achieved by using the verb biil 'to be'[5] and the past participle. Example: Ja bych kupil 'I would kiss'
  • The past conditional is achieved by using both the verb biil and být, and the past participle. Example: Ja bsem bych kupin 'I would have bought'
  • Negatives can be made using the prefix ne- onto the stem. Example: dobys, nedobys 'to benefit, to not benefit'. Note that, in writing, the prefixes of the imperfective are applied before the negative, but the position at the stem has priority. Example: owas, zowas 'to call', neowas, zneowas 'to not call', instead of zjneowas. Since 'zn' is an awkward sound, it is often pronounced with either glottal stop or ⟨ə⟩ between them.
  • When talking about female or neuter subjects, the suffix -a and -o can be added to the participle. This has become optional, and is only used in literary and poetic context, or ceremonial addresses.

Irregular verbs

Mursian features various irregular verbs. Some have fully irregular declensions, while others have only an irregular perfective. The most often encountered are být, bill (both meaning 'to be'), deas (to must), at (may), and hít (go).

Sample of irregular verbs
Tense Být (be) Biil (be) Deas (must) At (may) Hít (go)
imprerfect Infinitive být biil deas at hít
past participle byl, bylj - deal, dealy, deali atjl, atjli híl, híli
passive participle - - dean, deany, deani at hít, híti
present bsem, bsi bych, biil dem, demj, demy atu, ame he, hete
Imperative but! butte! ? dej! aj! hj, hte
perfective Infinitive detas hat hedit
past participle detal, detaly, detali hatjl, hatjli hedil, hedili
passive participle detan, detany, detani hat hedit, hediti
present det, detjm, detmy hatu, hame hede, hedete
Imperative det! haj! hed, hedte

Syntax

Historically, Volirian had a flexible sentence structure, with the large variety of grammatical cases giving context. However, foreign influence has solidified word-order, especially notable in formal writing. In informal spoken language and poetics, the syntax is often purposefully broken to generate emphasis on certain items. General sentences are structured as:
     S (PP) V O

For example:

Dieté

Child.NOM.PL

gandame

read.PRES.PL

kiabe.

book.ACC.SG

Dieté gandame kiabe.

Child.NOM.PL read.PRES.PL book.ACC.SG

'The children read a book'

Dieté

Child.NOM.PL

bá matkan

with mother.INS.SG

gandame

read.PRES.PL

kiabe.

book.ACC.SG

Dieté {bá matkan} gandame kiabe.

Child.NOM.PL {with mother.INS.SG} read.PRES.PL book.ACC.SG

'The children read a book with their mother'

In older writing, especially on religion, you will often find VSO order. This was thanks to Aravan syntax as found in the Rabt and related writings.

Adjectives are always placed before their nouns. Likewise, nouns can be used to specify other nouns by directly following each other (e.g. Duurzhavi-Pokoj 'Province Room', as opposed to Duurzhavy Pokoj 'The Room of the Province'). When used, both nouns inflect to the same case.

Bohari

Rich.ADJ

musj

man.NOM.SG

wokpe

attend.PRES.SG

autoe esrése

car.ACC.SG race.ACC.SG

Bohari musj wokpe {autoe esrése}

Rich.ADJ man.NOM.SG attend.PRES.SG {car.ACC.SG race.ACC.SG}

'The rich man watches the car race'

Dependent clauses

Ja

I.NOM.SG

snas

know.PRES.SG

that

ty

you.NOM.SG

bsem udjlal

have done.PERF.PAST.SG

te

this.ACC.SG

Ja snas ké ty {bsem udjlal} te

I.NOM.SG know.PRES.SG that you.NOM.SG {have done}.PERF.PAST.SG this.ACC.SG

'I know that you have done this.'

Ja

I

duu

want.PRES.SG

wokpit

visit.INF

Panapisimuh,

university.ACC.SG,

cos

which.HUM

bsem djgandan

gets educated.PASS.SG

Jaan'a.

John.ACC.SG

Ja duu wokpit Panapisimuh, cos {bsem djgandan} Jaan'a.

I want.PRES.SG visit.INF university.ACC.SG, which.HUM {gets educated}.PASS.SG John.ACC.SG

'I want to visit the university that John attends.'

Conjunctions

In Mursian, conjunctions are never preceded or followed by a comma.

An example sentence showing how conjunctions rules differ from Anglic:

Ja

I

bsem djgandal

learn about.PAST.SG

tistis

hygiene

a

and

gandal

read on.PAST.SG

Hasys

Cannabis

i

and

Kamjr

Smoking

i

and

Mahal

Alcohol

i

and

Afoon

Opium

Zákon

Law

Ja {bsem djgandal} tistis a gandal Hasys i Kamjr i Mahal i Afoon Zákon

I {learn about}.PAST.SG hygiene and {read on}.PAST.SG Cannabis and Smoking and Alcohol and Opium Law

'I learned about the hygiene, and I learned about the "Cannabis, Smoking, Alcohol and Opium" Law.'

Note how both a and i are translated as 'and', but hold different meanings: the former is used to connect sentences, while the latter is used for summations.

Orthography

Mursian can be written in three systems: the 'Jungastian' system, the 'Näei' system, and the 'Ludarsian' system. The first has become the standard in education and government communications.

Jungastian system

In the Jungastian system, every vowel and consonant has its own grapheme or grapheme pair. Long vowels are indicated by an acute accent, which can be placed on all the vowels. Additionally, the j serves a double function as a vowel, since the /d͡ʒ/ appears only in foreign words.

The origin of this lays with Mjtys Fialovou, writer and friend of Henrique II. He revamped the orthography to match west-artemian languages (especially Jungastian), departing from the older transposing systems.

Letter Name Phoneme Letter Name Phoneme
A, Á a, á á /ä/, /a:/ M m emé /m/
B b /b/ N n ené /n/
C c /t͡ʃ/ O, Ó o, ó ó /o/, /o:/
D d /d/ P p /p/
E, É e, é é /ɛ/, /e:/ R r eré /r/
F f efé /f/ S s esé /s/
G g /g/ or /kʰ/ T t /t/
H h agá /ɦ/ U, Ú u, ú u /ʊ/, /ʉ:/
CH ch echá /x/ V v /v/
I, Í i, í i /ɪ/, /i:/ W w dablo /ʋ/
J j[6] jotá /d͡ʒ/, /ɜ/ X x gis /ks/, /g/
K k kapá /k/ Y, Ý y, ý epsé /i/, /i:/
Kt kt[7] ktá /kh't/ Z z /z/
L l elé /l/ Zj zj[8] zjet /ʒ/

The letter Q is not used. The digraphs ch and zj are always displayed separate from h and z. However, kt is often put under k, since it is used in very few words. Very rarely, diaeresis are used on vowels; these can have varied phonemes.

Ludarsian system

This is the oldest script for Mursian still in use. Various writing systems had been in use, often originating from foreign powers and applied to the local language. The Ludarsian system (a term coined in the 16th century) was codified in the 11th century, as proto-Mursian gained prominence among the social elite. Yet, older writing can appear significantly different. Various changes in the language, especially in the 16-18th century, have transformed written words in attempts to maintain the phonemes matches. The current system dates from 1932 and is solidified with their words. As such, some words are written in their older form.

The system is written right-to-left, and is always cursive. As such, a character will look different depending on their position in a word. Most vowels (especially the short vowels) are not displayed in writing. Cognates can be made distinct by a diacritic, if the context requires.

Contextual forms Jungastian

Name

Phoneme Contextual forms Jungastian

Name

Phoneme
Final Medial Initial Isolated Final Medial Initial Isolated
ـا ا álep /a:/ ـص ـصـ صـ ص sa /s/
ـب ـبـ بـ ب be /b/ ـض ـضـ ضـ ض za /z/
ـپ ـپـ پـ پ pe /p/ ـع ـعـ عـ ع 'y ʔ
ـت ـتـ تـ ت te /t/ ـغ ـغـ غـ غ gy /kʰ/
ـث ـثـ ثـ ث se /s/, /z/ ـف ـفـ فـ ف fe /f/, /v/
ـج ـجـ جـ ج je /d͡ʒ/ ـک ـکـ کـ ک ka /k/
ـچ ـچـ چـ چ ce /t͡ʃ/ ـگ ـگـ گـ گ ga /g/
ـح ـحـ حـ ح he /ɦ/ ـل ـلـ لـ ل lem /l/
ـخ ـخـ خـ خ che /x/ ـم ـمـ مـ م mem /m/
ـد د dah /d/ ـن ـنـ نـ ن nen /n/
ـر ر ra /r/ ـو و wa /ʋ/, /o:/, /ʉ:/
ـز ز ze /z/ ـه ـهـ هـ ه ha /ä/, /ɪ/[9]
ـژ ژ zje /ʒ/ ـی ـیـ یـ ی y /i:/, /e:/
ـس ـسـ سـ س sen /s/ ـي ـيـ يـ ي ahy, hii /iɪ/
ـش ـشـ شـ ش tsen /t͡s/ ـے ے barj /ɛ/
Diacritic Jungastian Name Phoneme
◌َ zabjr /ä/, /ɛ/, (/ɜ/)
◌ِ zjr /ɪ/, /i/, (/ɜ/)
◌ُ pis /o/, /ʊ/
ّ tadit repeats phoneme

Näy system

The Näei system is based on the transcription of the Ludarsian system. The system dates to the late 16th century, with its origins uncertain. It was introduced by the court of the Grand Duchy of Nai in the middle 17th century (the first attested official writing is 1651, although some evidence suggest its use as early as 1620s). It has been modified only a few times, usually to match the Ludarsian system. In 1998, the symbol apostrophe was introduced to mean /ɜ/. This has not been put into practice by many writers.

The writing system is uncommon nowadays, mostly limited to literature and local culture. Its main use is by those who primarily write in the Ludarsian system and have to write in a latin script, since it transposes easier.

Ludarsian match Letter Name Phoneme Ludarsian match Letter Name Phoneme
◌َ a aw /ä/ پ p pe /p/
ا ä ä /a:/ غ q /kʰ/
ب b bi /b/ ر r ir /r/
د d de /d/ س, ص s is /s/
◌ِ, ه e e /ɪ/ ث sh esh /s/, /z/
ف f yf /f/ ت t ti /t/
گ g gi /g/ چ ,ج tj tiji /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/
ح h yts /ɦ/ ش ts tsï /t͡s/
خ hh do'yts /x/ و u ju /ʉ:/
◌َ, ے i ih /ɛ/ ◌ُ û ûw /ʊ/
ی ï ï /e:/ ف v /v/
ژ j ji /ʒ/ و w wi /ʋ/
ک k /k/ ◌ِ y yh /i/
ل l il /l/ ی ÿ jÿ /i:/
م m ym /m/ ي ÿe do'yh /iɪ/
ن n in /n/ ز z zi /z/
◌ُ o oh /o/ ض zh zhet /z/
و ö öw /o:/ ◌َ, ع ' 'y /ʔ/, /ɜ/ [10]

Examples

Comparison between the common writing systems of Mursian
Jungastian system Won thozis njogo pesen dietí bsi isili znubjrkótum woni zorjtreteme röanjzy kamenovi
Ludarsian system ون تحزس نوغو پصن ديتی بسه عِسله زنبرکوتُم ونِ زعُرترتمے روَنز کمنفه
Näy system won thozys nöqö pisin dÿetÿ bse esele znûb'rkötûm wone z'or'tritimi rüan'zy kam'nove
Transcription /ʋon tɦozɪs nɜ'okʰo pɛsɛn/ /dɪ'ɛti: bsɪ ɪsɪlɪ znʊbɜrko:tʊm/ /ʋonɪ zorɜ'trɛtɛmɛ ru'änɜzi kämɛnovɪ/
Translation He walks his dog The children ate candy They photographed the holy rock

Lexicon

First couplet and refrain of 'Dla moia omym'
Mursian API Anglic
Ja se bsem neviibat

musref’ ani árys’

Protose neco bsi

gotýr'sy nes mnjo

Sji det odhedit tan

/d͡ʒä sɛ bsɛm nɛv'ɪbät/[11]

/mʊsrɛf änɪ a:'ris/

/pro'tosɛ 'nɛt͡ʃo bsɪ/

/kʰo'ti:rsi nɛs mnɜ'o/

/si dɛt odɦɛdɪt tän/

I shall not evade

police nor soldier

because somethings are

more important than me

I have to leave you now

Posna, ja te djlat

dla moich prestel'ta

dla moich abán'ta

dla t’u domovinuh

i dla moia omym

/Posnä, d͡ʒä te dɜlät/

/dlä mo'ɪx prɛs'tɛlta/

/dlä mo'ɪx ä'ba:ntä/

/dlä tʊ domovinʊɦ/

/ɪ dlä mo'ja omim/

Know (that) I do this

for my friends

for my parents

for (this) homeland

and for my love/sweethard

Linguistic influences

Origin of words (top 6 000 frequency)

      Volirian (46.3%)
      Ludarsian (14.6%)
      Lusjkian (9.7%)
      Thallasian (9.1%)
      Jungastian (4.7%)
      Utmurak (4.4%)
      Other (3.6%)
      Unknown/unattested (7.6%)

Scholars speak of a separate Proto-Mursian when the Proto-Pozrik arrived in the Bohesian region and came into contact with the Utmuraks in the 5th century. The populations were in frequent contact with each other, and gradually merged vocabulary.

The Utmurak language itself had considerable loanwords from Ershimad?, Lusjkian and Atrymian by exposure during settlement period. From the latter, little has remained in modern Mursian and only few words can be attested with certainty. When the Ershamids settled the coast in 122 BCE, many loanwords entered Utmurak vocabulary, particularly about governance, law and religion.

During the Tovik period, the language saw significant influence of Thallasian words, especially about novelty ideas. As the region gained independence, these words would often remain up until the Mursian Naissance in the 18th century. From then on, attempts were made to 'Voliriate'[12] everyday vernacular, which saw success to some extend.

More modern terms find their origin from Jungastian and Bakanese. As Ludarsian and Thallasian (of the Bohesian form) return to education, loanwords from these languages gain popularity.

Antone-Mursian vs Sorish-Mursian

In northeast Sorland (KNA), the settlements of Antonene, Tordiu and Draukoirad speak a variant of Mursian. The region was settled in the 1870s-1900s by Mursian immigrants, mostly from the West Reimos area. Current day, an estimated 85000 people speak the variant.

Scholar disagree whether this variant is a dialect (Antone-Mursian, Mu: Antoni Murstina) or a separate language (Sorish-Mursian, Mu: Sorlani Murstina). Arguments in favour of it being a separate language is because there is a clear division point where the variant developed differently from mainland Mursian dialects. The far distance from the homeland, combined with the settlements at no point having Mursian government supervised schools, has caused various chances compared to standard Mursian. Much of the spelling and grammar is based on the older Mursian rules before the reform of 1889. The language also has seen influences of Bakanese and Norsk for much of the day-to-day speaking.

Arguments against it is that the language is still very mutually eligible when a speaker of either variant has been in contact with the other for a short period of time, once they are adjusted to the different slang. Additionally, beside being based on the older grammar, much of the simplification in both variants have resulted in the languages looking similar in most writing.

Vocabulary comparison

Noun comparison
Mursian Antone-Mursian /

Sorish-Mursian

Vrtgoran Yarovar Thallasian Lusjkian Ludarsian Jungastian Anglic
abjvan abevàn rodič родитель (roditel') gonéfs prind (abavan) o pai parent
bronz bronz bronz бронза (bronza) broúntzos bronzi o bronze bronze
chanté andváski peněženka кошелек (koshelek) portofóli çantë a bolsa purse
enjenheria injhenherià inžinierstvo инженерия (inzheneriya) michanikí inxhinieri a engenharia engineering
kalori kàlhori рыцарь (rytsar') ippótis kalorës o cavaleiro knight
kiih sho палка (palka) shkop o pau stick
kortma kort'ma бар (bar) o bar bar
nougan nougan Военно-морской (voyenno-morskoy) marina (navgan) a marinha navy
limani limani prístav гавань (gavan') limáni liman o porto harbor
minas mana mesiac месяц (mesyats) mínas muaj (muaj) o mês month
musref polic полицейский (politseyskiy) polic مشرف (musharaf) o policial agent, officer of police
oprezident oh-preszident' prezident президент (prezident) president o presidente/a president
ruka ruka ruka рука (ruka) dorë a mão hand
Saj Sà'e король (korol') mbretit شه‎ (šah) o rei king (Haqiqatan)
ubjb kírka'gáred cintorín кладбище (kladbishche) varrezat o cemitério cemetery
wino vhino víno вино (vino) verë o vinho wine

Notes

  1. Animals are considered neuter in Mursian. However, when talking about an animal with which a person has a personal relation (such as pets), it is common to use masculine and feminine genders. When the gender of the animal is unknown but respected, epicene is sometimes used.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Both "ak" and "hak" are used. The form with h- is preferred in Naian and northern dialects, whereas without is common in peninsular and eastern dialects. Neither form enjoys a favoured position in the whole language continuum. However, good form prescribes to be consistent in use within a text. Some derivatives of ak/hak have a h- integrated when a prefix is applied. These are used on the whole language continuum. Eg.: nehak (somehow), nihaki (no kind), nehaktato (some number of times), etc. But: kodak (in any way), visak (in every way), inak (otherwise), etc.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Hakitas and haktato are contracted forms. They form the base for the derivatives of respectively exact time and repetition (E.g.: hakitos (at which time), haktatokolek (however many times), etc.). They are considered informal when used as they are in questions.
  4. Mursian uses the long scale, in which orders of magnitude above million scale per million. The intermediate steps of thousands uses the -dy ending.
  5. 5.0 5.1 být and biil both translate as 'to be' as they were historically two forms of the same verb. In most modern literature, they are given as separate verbs, but their use does not match the auxiliary verbs in the English language.
  6. The consonant j is displayed separately from the vowel j in dictionaries. However, the order differs between issues. For alphabetising (sur)names, this distinction is not made.
  7. Only used in kto 'who' and its derivatives.
  8. Not to be confused by words starting with /zɜ/. Examples: zjena /ʒɛ'nä/ (women), zjuta /ʒʊtä/ (yellow), zjgor /zɜ'kʰor/ (crowd), zjt /zɜt/ (to live).
  9. ه is only used in word endings
  10. The ' is only used as a glottal stop /ʔ/ between two vowel sounds. For indicating /ɜ/, it has been only in use since 1998.
  11. To keep to the metre, '-ii-' is transcribed as /ɪ/ rather than /iɪ/. However, in the lyrics, it is kept in its original spelling to ensure the emphasis does not include the 'v'.
  12. 'To become more like Volirian', a cultural-political ideal to bring the language closer to its historic form. By replacing loanwords with ones found in Volirian or any of Mursian sister languages, attempts are made to 'purify' the language from foreign influences.