Dyaritan

Dyaritan, in its many dialects and regional variants, is the language spoken by all Dyari. Like all languages native to the Arik Cluster, it derives from the Zarishian language. Within the Zarishian language family, the Shaperate classifies Dyaritan as a Dhurian language, meaning it is distantly related to Rislandisc (the language of the Rislanders), and Ogha (the language of the Guin), both abhuman groups native to the Arik Cluster.

Due to the isolated and insular nature of the Dyari, the language has remained fairly free from outside influence, although it does feature some words borrowed from both Ornsinian and Rislandisc, though these are usually modified to better fit the distinct phonology and morphology of Dyaritan.

Phonology
Dyaritan follows a rather strict set of rules regarding its phonology, though, like all languages, there are exceptions and slight quirks to it. One major all encompassing rule, for example, is that all words must follow a strict alternating pattern between consonants and vowels. However, what constitute as single consonants or single vowels, at least when transliterated into our standard alphabet, are little different than what you might expect.

Vowels

 * A - Pronounced either like the a in ‘cat’ or the a in ‘wall’.
 * E - Pronounced like the e in ‘bed’.
 * I - Pronounced either like the i in ‘sit’ or the ee in ‘wheel’.
 * O - Pronounced either like the o in ‘log’ or the o in ‘own’.
 * U - Pronounced either like the u in ‘under’ or the oo in ‘book’.
 * AI - Pronounced like the i in ‘while’.
 * EI - Pronounced like the a in ‘ate’.
 * AO - Pronounced like the ou in ‘sound’.

Consonants

 * D - Pronounced like the d in ‘dog’.
 * G - Pronounced like the g in ‘go’.
 * H - Pronounced like the h in ‘hot’.
 * J - Pronounced like the j in ‘join’.
 * K - Pronounced like the c in ‘cat’.
 * F - Pronounced like the f in ‘fall’.
 * V - Pronounced like the v in ‘veil’.
 * L - Pronounced like the l in ‘lamb’.
 * M - Pronounced like the m in ‘mild’.
 * N - Pronounced like the n in ‘nose’.
 * B - Pronounced like the b in ‘bad’.
 * R - Pronounced like the r in ‘arrive’.
 * S - Pronounced like the s in ‘sleep’.
 * SH - Pronounced like the sh in ‘shed’.
 * Z - Pronounced like the z in ‘zoo’.
 * ZH - Pronounced like the j in ‘jean luc’.
 * T - Pronounced like the t in ‘tail’.
 * TH - Pronounced like the th in ‘thin’.
 * DH - Pronounced like the th in ‘than’.
 * Y - Pronounced like the y in ‘you’.

Double Consonants
There are a handful of consonants that, while technically two, are pronounced together so they almost sound as one.
 * DL - Pronounced like the dl in ‘addle’.
 * TS - Pronounced like the ts in 'flotsam'.
 * QU - Pronounced like the qu in ‘quail’.
 * DZ - Pronounced like the dz in 'adze'.
 * MB - If at the end of a word, pronounced like a normal m, if in the middle of a word and thus followed and preceeded by a vowel, pronounced like the mb in ‘amber’, if at the beginning of a word the m is given its own syllable and pronounced as if it were a vowel.

Additional Y
Any of the single consonants, but not any of the double consonants, can be directly followed by a y which does not act as a vowel, only a glide.

Grammar
Compared to most other languages, Dyaritan has a fairly simple grammar. It follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order ("The hound saw the bird.") as well as an Object-Descriptor word order ("The hound red saw the bird large.") In addition, ownership is expressed by the thing that is owned followed by the owner and a genitive suffix.

While not precisely agglutinative, many things are expressed by the addition of suffixes and prefixes. Articles as well are almost never used, the only exception being a definite article prefix that is attached to only some words. For example it would not be used in the phrase "Get in the house.", which would be just "Get in house.", but would be used when referring to the Temple, or the Jesubara.

The gender of an object can be expressed by the addition of certain suffixes, but this has fallen increasingly out of use. When it is used, however, there are four suffixes: masculine, feminine, neuter, and other (used for things that are percieved as having a gender altogether separate from the others).

Verbs have four tenses: past, present, future, and possible. The possible tense is akin to saying "Maybe it will rain."

Writing
The system of writing used for Dyaritan resembles certain types of abjads and syllabaries. It is written in a calligraphic style top to bottom and left to right. The consonants are written quite large from top to bottom. To the right of each consonant, however, is a small mark representing the vowel that follows the consonant. In the case of a word beginning with a vowel (and thus there being no preceeding consonant), a silent "placeholder" mark is used where a consonant would go.

Furthermore, the consonants can be modified easily to include the addition of the so-called "additional y" talked about in the section on phonology. Double consonants are rendered as a single unique marking are formed and shaped specifically to make it impossible to add the additional y marking.

Punctuation is fairly simple, but does exist, however concepts such as paragraphs do not.

Accents, Dialects, and Variants
Like any language spoken for thousands of years and spanning an entire planet, Dyaritan is highly varied. The historical variants most commonly studied are "Jomarin Dyaritan", which was spoken in and around the time of the Prophet Jomar between around K0.Y001 and K0.Y500, "Classical Dyaritan" which was in use between K2.Y300 and K2.Y800, and "Temple Dyaritan" which was first used around K3.Y200 and is still in use by the Temple today.

The way an individual speaks contemporary Dyaritan is decided by a mix of factors. Each Great House has their own unique dialect, so whichever Great House is dominant in an individual's area dictates their dialect. Regional and ethnic circumstances tend to dictate one's accent. Caste dictates one's literacy level and manner of speaking.

Kinship
How kinship and family ties are viewed by the Dyari is evident in their language. Among the immediate family, there are the usual terms such as adam (father), mei (mother), naran (sister), tarein (sibling, neuter/general), udar (brother), naranoth (big sister), udareir (little brother), etc.

Among the extended family, however, things get a bit more complicated. Grandparents and great grandparents and the like are referred to as adam adamiyath (father's father), and so on and so forth but in intimate family settings are more informally called things such as adamoth (big father).

The terminology used for aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. is different depending upon if one shares their family name and, in the case of aunts and uncles, whether they are older or younger than the parent on that side of the family.

In addition there are the terms batham (relative), oram (relative with whom the speaker shares a family name), and tuthem (relative with whom the speaker does not share a family name).