Præta language

Præta, formally known as ia Sziroþs Præta /jə ˈʃi.roθs ˈpræ.tə/ ("the Shirerithian Speech"), is the official language of Shireroth. Standard Præta, also known as Kaïsars Præta, the Kaiser's Præta, or Uiksts Præta, Script Præta, is the chancery standard used by the Golden Mango Throne and its ministries.

Despite being called "the Shirerithian Speech", Præta is the first language only in Brookshire, parts of Goldshire, and territories historically associated with these regions. In other parts of Shireroth and Benacia, it is acquired to varying degrees of fluency through schooling.

History

Præta derives from the Brookshirese or Prætaic Language Family, specifically the prestige dialect spoken at Raynor I's court. This form of Præta, or Old Præta, bears extensive lexical influence from Khaz Modanian, the now lost language of the Empire of Khaz Modan. Old Præta was introduced to the Shirekeep region and portions of the Red Elwynn during the First Era as a result of concerted efforts to resettle the greater Shirekeep region and western Goldshire with more reliable subjects.

The usage of Old Præta drifted into diverging dialects by the end of the First Era, prompting the reassertion of a centralized standard with the onset of the Second Era, this time derived mostly from the dialect prevalent in Monty Crisco. Middle Præta succeeded in penetrating to the mouth of the Elwynn River and further into Goldshire. New Præta, or the contemporary form, was established in an archaic mode under Kaiser John II and refined under Kaiseress Viviantia I.

Orthography and Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Coronal		Palatal		Velar
Nasal		⟨ M m ⟩ /m/		⟨ N n ⟩ /n/
Plosive		⟨ P p ⟩ /p/	⟨ B b ⟩ /b/	⟨ T t ⟩ /t/	⟨ D d ⟩ /d/			⟨ K k ⟩ /k/	⟨ G g ⟩ /g/
Affricate						⟨ Tz tz ⟩ /tʃ/	⟨ Z z ⟩ /dʒ/
Fricative	sibilant			⟨ S s ß ⟩ /s/		⟨ Sz sz ⟩ /ʃ/
	non-sibilant	⟨ F f ⟩ /f/	⟨ V v ⟩ /ʋ/	⟨ Þ þ ⟩ /θ/			⟨ Ï ï ⟩ /j/	⟨ H h ⟩ /h/
Approximant
Trill				⟨ R r ⟩ /r/
Lateral Fricative				⟨ Ł ł ⟩ /ɬ/	⟨ L l ⟩ /l/

• ⟨ ß ⟩ is used for /s:/, derived from the archaic ⟨ ſs ⟩. It is only used when the /s:/ falls entirely within a single morpheme

  e.g. ⟨ Aß ⟩ "As, ~7 1⁄4 bushels", versus ⟨ rass ⟩ "domestic", from ⟨ Ras ⟩ "House"

• ⟨ dz ⟩ common in Early New Praeta for /dʒ/, now deprecated.
• ⟨ ï ⟩ is sometimes written ⟨ i ⟩ or ⟨ ı ⟩ by nonstandard texts.
• ⟨ n ⟩ before a velar consonant is rendered as a velar nasal

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	⟨ I i ⟩ /i/	⟨ Î î ⟩ /ɪ̈/	⟨ U u ⟩ /u/
Mid	⟨ E e ⟩ /e/	⟨ Â â ⟩ /ə/	⟨ O o ⟩ /o/
Low	⟨ Æ æ ⟩ /æ/		⟨ A a ⟩ /ɑ/

⟨ A a ⟩ in unstressed vowels reduces to /ə/.

Archaic or nonstandard documents may use ⟨ Â â ⟩ and/or ⟨ Î î ⟩ to represent /ə/. Each represented distinct vowels in Early New Præta but have since merged into unstressed ⟨ A a ⟩.

Writing Rules

Nouns are capitalized in all instances. Words of other classes are capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

Nominal Morphology

Præta nominals (pronouns, nouns, and adjectives) are declined, or modified in order to reflect their grammatical case, according to five cases: Vocative, Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative. They are also declined according to number (Singular and Plural). Gender also has some influence on which declension pattern is used.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

	First Person		Second Person				Reflexive
	Singular	Plural	Impolite	Neutral	Polite/Plural	Reverent
Nom	i	uis	ïat	þu	iks	isus	-
Acc	mi						si
Gen	min	ußar	ïis	þin	ikkar	isar	sin
Dat	mis	ußis	ïam	þus	ikkis	isus	sis

Because Præta verbs conjugate according to person and number, subject pronouns are not necessary, but may be added for emphasis. The Dative Opinion may be used to emphasize that the sentence expresses an opinion.

Præta offers a range of 2nd person pronouns that differ according to levels of politeness.

• Impolite is used for speech with those of a lower social class (though it may also be used between peers of a lower class)
• Neutral is used for speech between peers, especially those who are on familiar terms
• Polite is used for speech with those of a moderately higher social class, those who are unfamiliar, or in formal settings. Use of Polite pronouns coincides with using a person's title (or abbreviated style of address) and/or family name than a personal name.
• Reverent is used for speech with those of significantly higher social class and to deities. Use of reverent pronouns coincides with using full style of address, epithets, and avoidance of names; it also coincides with using a Reflexive pronoun to refer to oneself rather than a First Person pronoun.

Demonstratives

The below chart indicates which word or phrase to use when indicating either an emphatic or oblique 3rd person. There is no default 3rd person pronoun per se, though the Medial Demonstrative Determiner is the closest.

	Singular		Plural
	Proximal	Medial	Proximal	Medial
Nom	is	þis	ïos	szos
Acc	in	þin	ïos	szos
Gen	is	þis	ïou	szou
Dat	im	þam	im	szam

Correlatives

The Assertive Existential column doubles as a distal demonstrative (as well as the number 1), especially in archaic or overly-formal speech, though no longer in colloquial use.

	Inter.	Demonstrative			Rel.	Quantitative
		Proximal	Medial	Distal		Existential		Universal	Negational	Alternative
						Assertive	Dubitative
Determiner						æn				al
Time		nu	bi þam			bi ænam				bi alam
Manner		inka				ænka				alka
Reason
Location		hæ	þæ	ïann
Source		hæran	þæran	ïannan		ænan				alan
Destination		hæris		ïannis		ænis				alis

Nouns

Nouns in Præta are organized into three declensions, identified according to their Genitive Singular ending.

	1st Declension Gen Sg ‑is						2nd Declension Gen Sg ‑os		3rd Declension Gen Sg ‑in
	Common			Neuter			Common		Common			Neuter
		"Sovereign" Kaïsar‑	"Herdsman" Hirz‑		"Might" Alf‑	"Cliff" Nasz‑		"Child" Mog‑		"Worm" Maþ‑	"Language" Prætâ‑		"Plain" Łat-	"Egg" Oï‑
Voc	‑e	Kaïsare	Hirze	‑	Alf	Nasz	‑	Mog	‑	Maþ	Prætâ	‑	Łat	Oï
Nom	‑	Kaïsar	Hirz
Acc									‑an	Maþan	Prætan
Gen	‑is	Kaïsaris	Hirdis	‑is	Alfis	Nasis	‑os	Mogos	‑in	Maþin	Prætin	‑in	Łatin	Oïin
Dat	‑i	Kaïsari	Hirdi	‑i	Alfi	Nasi	‑u	Mogu
Voc	‑as	Kaïsaras	Hirdis	‑a	Alfa	Nasza	‑as	Mogas	‑an	Maþan	Prætan	‑an	Łatan	Oïin
Nom
Acc
Gen	‑eï	Kaïsareï	Hirzeï	‑eï	Alfeï	Naszeï	‑ou	Mogou	‑eï	Maþeï	Præteï	‑eï	Łateï	Oïeï
Dat	‑am	Kaïsaram	Hirdim	‑âm	Alfam	Nasim	‑am	Mogam	‑am	Maþam	Prætam	‑am	Łatam	Oïim

Note: If a noun's stem ends in a palatalized consonant (e.g. Hirz "herdsman", Adtz "office", Nasz "cliff", Oï "egg", etc), the stem and the endings are modified according to the following pattern:

If the case ending features an ⟨ a ⟩, that is realized and written as ⟨ i ⟩

Nom Pl	Hirdiz	Adtis	Nasis	Oïis
Dat Pl	Hirdim	Adtim	Nasim	Oïim

If the case ending features an ⟨ i ⟩, the stem ending becomes unpalatalized if an unpalatalized equivalent is available.

Gen Sg	Hirdis	Adtis	Nasis	Oïis
Dat Sg	Hirdi	Adti	Nasi	Oïi

Note: If a noun stem ends in a vowel, it is dropped for non-zero case endings

Stem	Præta‑	Łæïra-
Nom Sg	Præta	Łæïra
Gen Sg	Prætin	Łæïros

Articles

There is only one article, to indicate definiteness. The absence of the article is taken to mean that the corresponding noun is indefinite. The definite article declines as follows:

	Common	Neuter
Voc	ïe	ïa
Nom	ïa
Acc
Gen	ïes	ïis
Dat	ïæ	ïæ
Voc	ïes	ïe
Nom
Acc
Gen	ïeï	ïeï
Dat	ïam	ïam

Adjectives

Adjectives in Attributive Position (i.e. within the Noun Phrase and placed in front of the noun) are declined weakly when the noun is definite, using the case markers of the 3rd Declension. When the noun is indefinite or when the adjective is used predicatively, the adjective is declined strongly, using the case markers of the 1st Declension.

Adjectives used substantively (i.e. as a noun) are declined strongly even in the presence of a definite article.

bi hosi Vaïni "at a light-blue car" vs. bi ïæ hosin Vaïni "at the light-blue car"

Case Function

Vocative Case

The Vocative is used when addressing someone directly.

Ïaume, v' æïs ïa Mel? — "James, have the time?"

Nominative Case

Subject

Golletas varþt us Baïmam — "Mangos come from trees."

Predicate Nominative

Aïreon boþ Kaïsar. — "Ayreon is Kaiser."

Accusative Case

Direct Object

— " "

Object of certain prepositions.

— " "

Genitive Case

Possession or Relation

— " "

— " "

Object of certain Prepositions.

— " "

Dative Case

The Dative has many functions.

Indirect Object

— " "

Direct Object of certain verbs

— " "

Dative Absolute

— " "

Emphatic Subject of Opinion

— " "

Colloquial Possessive Construction in replacement of the Genitive

— " "

Verbal Morphology

Regular Conjugation

The Old Praeta distinction of seven conjugations of strong verbs and four conjugations of weak verbs as well as the Middle Praeta distinction of two conjugations of strong verbs and one conjugation of weak verbs has been rendered down to a single conjugation for all regular verbs.

All tense endings are applied to the regular, or unmutated, stem except for the Preterite. To conjugate in the Preterite Realis, the primary vowel of the stem receives what is called a U-Mutation. Front vowels are replaced with their back equivalent, back vowels raise by one degree. For unmutated stems with a primary vowel of ⟨ u ⟩, the mutated and unmutated stems are identical. The Preterite Irrealis is formed through a periphrastic construction that uses a verb's infinitive form.

Unmutated		⟨ i ⟩ /i/	⟨ u ⟩ /u/		⟨ e ⟩ /e/	⟨ o ⟩ /o/		⟨ æ ⟩ /æ/	⟨ a ⟩ /ɑ/
Mutated		⟨ u ⟩ /u/			⟨ o ⟩ /o/	⟨ u ⟩ /u/		⟨ a ⟩ /ɑ/	⟨ o ⟩ /o/

ratzur "to suggest"		Realis Mood				Irrealis Mood
		Present		Imperfect		Present
Unmutated Stem	1s	‑	ratz	-ïa	ratzïa	‑o	ratzo
	2s	‑s	ratzs	-as	ratzas	‑es	ratzes
	3s	‑t	ratzt	-a	ratza	‑e	ratze
	1p	-im	ratzim	‑um	ratzum	‑em	ratzem
	2p	‑iþ	ratziþ	‑uþ	ratzuþ	‑eþ	ratzeþ
	3p	‑in	ratzin	‑un	ratzun	‑en	ratzen
rotz-		Preterite				Preterite
Mutated Stem	1s	‑	rotz			tu + Sup	tu ratzur
	2s	‑æs	rotzæs			tuis + Sup	tuis ratzur
	3s	‑æ	rotzæ			tui + Sup	tui ratzur
	1p	-am	rotzam			tuim + Sup	tuim ratzur
	2p	‑æþ	rotzæþ			tuiþ + Sup	tuiþ ratzur
	3p	‑an	rotzan			tuin + Sup	tuin ratzur
Supine		‑ur	ratzur -in (n)
Active Participle		-us	ratzus
Passive Participle		-oþ	ratzoþ

Irregular Verbs

biur "to be"	Real.		Irr.
	Pres	Imperf	Pres
1s	bom	as	bïu
2s	bos	ast	bïos
3s	boþ	as	bïo
1p	bom	osim	bïum
2p	bod	osiþ	bïuþ
3p	boþ	osin	bïun
	Pret		Pret
1s	si		os
2s	sis		osz
3s	sit		oszi
1p	sim		oszim
2p	siþ		oszt
3p	sin		oszin
Supine		biur -in (n)
Active Participle		bius
Passive Participle		szoþ

gaur "to go"	Real.		Irr.
	Pres	Imperf	Pres
1s	gah	gagg	gaggo
2s	gahs	gaggs	gagges
3s	gaht	gaggt	gagge
1p	gaïm	gaggim	gaggem
2p	gaïþ	gaggiþ	gaggeþ
3p	gaïn	gaggin	gaggen
	Pret		Pret
1s	iza		izo
2s	izæs		izes
3s	izæ		ize
1p	izam
2p	izæþ		izeþ
3p	izan		izen
Supine		gaur -in (n)
Active Participle		gaus
Passive Participle		gaggoþ

Tense/Mode Function

Realis Mood

The Realis can be used to form statements of fact.

• Present Tense

• Imperfect Tense

• Preterite Tense

Irrealis Mood

The Irrealis can be used to form statements of desire, emotion, opinion, doubt, and request/command.

• Present Tense

• Preterite

Syntax

Word Order

Præta is predominantly Subject-Object-Verb (SOV), with the following instances in which that shifts to VSO order:

• Imperatives

Hrænes	ïis	Usl.
cleanIMP.S	youGEN	roomACC
"Clean your room."

• Negations

ni	þult	ïa	Mog	Advæta.
not	suffer3S	theNOM	childNOM	scourgeACC.PL
"The son will not suffer scourges."

• Questions

Hræ	boþ	szæ	stur	Dom	ho	ïa	ussar;
whoNOM	be3S	as…	greatNOM	godNOM	…as	theNOM	weGEN
"Who is as great a god as ours?"

Apposition

A noun in apposition agrees in case and number with its reference, in gender if there is a particular form for it. An abstract noun does not change for number. Apposition can be used in the following instances:

• Nouns marking a title

Nur	Kaïsarin	hær	livt.
NoorNOM	KaiseressNOM	here	lie3S
"Kaiseress Noor lies here."

• Proper nouns meaning countries, territories, towns, localities, etc

ïu	ïæ	Szonstoïu	Utnvahtam	iza.
to	theDAT	MinistryDAT	Outer.AffairsDAT.PL	goPRET.1S
"I've gone to the Ministry of the Exterior."

• Bynames

Aïreone	ïe	Fiursz,	ïe	Orhuse	Svale,	bimude	uis!
AyreonVOC	theVOC	fourthVOC	theVOC	shiningVOC	SunVOC	protectIMP.S	weACC
"Oh Ayreon IV, The Radiant Sun, protect us!"

• A collective noun before a concrete noun

Opratzt	Holïuraki	hær	boþ.
ManipleNOM	artillerymanNOM.PL	here	be3S
"A maniple of Bombardiers are here."

• A noun of measure (or Kun "sort") before another noun

Fif	Rikas	Sæþ
five	RicsNOM.PL	GrainNOM
"Five Rics of Grain"

• Nouns preceded by ho ("as")

ïe	Vadz	ho	Aþal	si	aszat
theNOM	DegenerateNOM	as	NobleNOM	selfACC	dressIMP.3S
The degenerate dressed himself as a noble.

Lexicon

Main Article: Præta language/Lexicon

The core and bulk of the Præta lexicon derives from Common Brookshirian and have been with the language since Old Præta. A large portion, notably concerning matters of prestige, government, and magic, are borrowed from the language of Khaz Modan, due to their hegemonic influence over Brookshire before the founding of Shireroth. Others yet have entered the language from Goldshire and Elwynn and from cultures beyond the borders if the Imperial Republic.

Derivational Affixes

New words have been regularly coined through affixation, i.e. the adding of prefixes and suffixes, which develops the meaning and/or shifts the part of speech for the word stem receiving that affix.

Directional Prefixes

Verb → Verb

Verb → Noun

• -an
• -il
• -ovin (added to mutated stem)

Verb → Adjective

• -mos

Noun → Noun

• -ak

• -hæd

• -in

• -tuï

Noun → Adjective

• -s

• -elk

Noun → Verb

Adjective → Adjective

• -

Adjective → Verb

Adjective → Adverb

• -(a)v

lutih "spendid" → lutihv "splendidly"

sart "dark, black" → sartav "darkly"

Adjective → Noun

• -naß