Præta
Præta, formally known as iâ Sziroþs Prætâ / jə ˈʃi.roθs ˈpræ.tə / ("the Shirerithian Speech"), is the official language of Shireroth. Standard Præta, also known as Kaïsars Prætâ, the Kaiser's Præta, or Uikstâs Prætâ, 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, it is acquired to varying degrees of fluency through schooling.
Contents
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 / |
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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 / |
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Fricative | sibilant | ⟨ S s ß ⟩ / s / |
⟨ Sz sz ⟩ / ʃ / |
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non-sibilant | ⟨ F f ⟩ / f / |
⟨ V v ⟩ / ʋ / |
⟨ Þ þ ⟩ / θ / |
⟨ Ï ï ⟩ / j / |
⟨ H h ⟩ / h / | ||||
Approximant | |||||||||
Trill | ⟨ R r ⟩ / r / |
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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 / |
- ⟨ Â â ⟩, / ə / is not found in stressed syllables.
- ⟨ Î î ⟩, / ə / is found in Early New Praeta to represent a near-close central vowel, now merged with and written ⟨ Â â ⟩.
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. In Præta, nominals decline according to five cases: Vocative, Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative. Nouns in Præta are organized into three declensions, identified according to their Genitive Singular ending (-is, -os, and -in). Personal pronouns follow an irregular declension
Some patterns in the noun declensions include:
- Incomplete syncretism between the Vocative, Nominative, and Accusative in the Singular dependent on gender and declension, complete in the plural:
Common Voc Nom Acc Voc Nom Acc 1st -e - -âs 2nd - 3rd - -ân -ân Neuter - -a / -ân
- The 2nd Declension is a back-shifted mirror of the 1st Declension:
-is ⇔ -os -i -u -eï -ou
- If the stem ends in ⟨ z ⟩:
- Endings with ⟨ â ⟩ / ə / are realized as ⟨ i ⟩ / i /
- Stem ending shifts from palatalized to unpalatalized with endings featuring ⟨ i ⟩:
⟨ tz ⟩ ⇔ ⟨ t ⟩ ⟨ z ⟩ ⟨ d ⟩ ⟨ sz ⟩ ⟨ s ⟩
Case Function
Vocative
Direct address
Nominative
Subject
Object of a Copula
Accusative
Direct Object
Genitive
indicates possession or relation
Dative
Indirect Object
Direct Object of certain verbs
Dative Absolute
Subject of a Copula
Colloquial Possessive
Pronouns
Nouns
1st Declension Gen Sg ‑is |
2nd Declension Gen Sg ‑os |
3rd Declension Gen Sg ‑in | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common | Neuter | Common | Common | Neuter | |||||||||||
"Sovereign" Kaïsar‑ |
"Herder" Hirz‑ |
"Might" Alf‑ |
"Cliff" Nasz‑ |
"Mango" Gollet‑ |
"Child" Mog‑ |
"Worm" Maþ‑ |
"Language" Prætâ‑ |
"Egg" Oï‑ | |||||||
Voc | ‑e | Kaïsare | Hirze | ‑ | Alf | Nasz | ‑ | Gollet | Mog | ‑ | Maþ | Prætâ | ‑ | Oï | |
Nom | ‑ | Kaïsar | Hirz | ||||||||||||
Acc | ‑ân | Maþân | Prætân | ||||||||||||
Gen | ‑is | Kaïsaris | Hirdis | ‑is | Alfis | Nasis | ‑os | Golletos | Mogos | ‑in | Maþin | Prætin | ‑in | Oïin | |
Dat | ‑i | Kaïsari | Hirdi | ‑i | Alfi | Nasi | ‑u | Golletu | Mogu | ||||||
Voc | ‑âs | Kaïsarâs | Hirdis | ‑a | Alfa | Nasza | ‑âs | Golletâs | Mogâs | ‑ân | Maþân | Prætân | ‑ân | Oïân | |
Nom | |||||||||||||||
Acc | |||||||||||||||
Gen | ‑eï | Kaïsareï | Hirzeï | ‑eï | Alfeï | Naszeï | ‑ou | Golletou | Mogou | ‑eï | Maþeï | Præteï | ‑eï | Oïeï | |
Dat | ‑âm | Kaïsarâm | Hirdim | ‑âm | Alfâm | Nasim | ‑âm | Golletâm | Mogâm | ‑âm | Maþâm | Prætâm | ‑âm | Oïâm |
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.