Plaarnan

ah
br
seh
deh
eh
f
gr
lim
mi
n
o
oo
r
reh
rah
vra
yi
yy
'
-
.

Introduction

Plaarnan is the principle language of the species native to Plaarna, a small world of unified tribesmen. Under the guidance of Hrr'Var Jysiso, the Plaarnans have advanced their technology very rapidly. Their natural gift of accelerated thought processing has allowed advancement from the Earth equivilent of Stone Age technology to mid-25th century technology. Their language also reflects the fast nature of their thoughts - in general, it is very complex.

Writing System

Grammar

Grammar is additive. The meaning of words are altered through the addition of suffixes or prefixes. For example:

Yyi'f gri'vran. (lit. Friend relates to bad father.)

In this case, the noun representing "father" is "gri", while the noun representing "friend" is "yyi". However, the meaning of "gri" is altered via the suffix "vran", literally meaning "bad." The suffix "f" literally means "relates to", and refers to whatever noun follows on. In general, there are no opposites in Plaarnan. For example, there is no distinct word for good, as there is one for bad. However, there is a prefix which inverses meanings of words. The prefix "eck" (as in Eck'vran) inverses the meaning of "vran", in this case to good. Multiple prefixes/suffixes are seperated via a hyphen. Therefore:

Yyi'f gri-eck'vran. (lit. Friend relates to good father.)

Roughly translated, this means "my friend has a good father." Pronouns are inferred by context, and there are no Plaarnan words to indicate the sex of the subject. In general, verbs are attached as suffixes. Nouns are root words, which other additives are attached to. Adjectives are additives, while pronouns and most other "complex" words are inferred by context.

Plaarnan grammar encompasses

• a highly synthetic morphology
• a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements:
  • a polished vernacular foundation;
  • a Slavonic-style inheritance;
  • a Western European style.

The spoken language has been influenced by the literary, but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language.

Alphabet

The Plaarnan alphabet (right) features twenty-one distinct symbols, including three symbols which could be considered punctuation. Numbers are always written out in a form similar to Roman Numerals. These will be explained later in this article. Each symbol acts as a phonetic compenent of larger words. For example, the Plaarnan word "vran" (bad) may be contructed using the symbols "vra" and "n":

Sentence Structure

Sentences are written left to right. Paragraphs and ideas are often seperated by three "'" symbols. Generally, Plaarnan sentences are short and to the point. Long sentences generally become very difficult to read due to the exponential usage of inverting prefixes, and of additive suffixes. Usually, long sentences result in unreadable text. Therefore, the phrase mentioned above ("yyi'f gri'vran") could be written:

Orthography

Plaarnan spelling is reasonably phonetic in practice. It is in fact a balance among phonetics, morphology, etymology, and grammar, and, like that of most living languages, has its share of inconsistencies and controversial points.

The current spelling follows the major reform of 2124, and the final codification of 2231. An update proposed in the late 2390's has met a hostile reception, and has not been formally adopted.

Geographic Distribution

Plaarnan is primarily spoken in Plaarna and, to a lesser extent, the other nations that were once constituent republics of the UPT. Until 2917, it was the sole official language of the Plaarnan people. Though each of the constituent republics has its own official language, the unifying role and superior status is reserved for Generic Plaarnan.

Sizable Plaarnan-speaking communities (totalling in the hundreds of thousands) also exist in many space faring nations and, to a lesser extent, Sol. These have been fed by several waves of emigrants since the beginning of the twenty-fourth century, each with its own flavour of language. The descendants of the Plaarnan emigrés, however, have tended to lose the tongue of their ancestors by the third generation.

Recent estimates of the total number of speakers of Plaarnan:

Offical Status

Plaarnan is the official language of the small world of Plaarna, and an official language of the Unified Plaarnan Tribes.

Dialects

Although several distinct dialects are in use, none are formally recognised by the Unified Plaarnan government.

Example Texts

Two lines of Sonnet 13, Shakespeare

O. Ooreh'f ooreh, grehf'r, eck'ooreh
Eck'sehn eck'ooreh, ooreh limn fehmi.

(Lit. Oh. Self relates to self, love but you;
Unbelonging you, I exist.)

Compared to:

O! that you were your self; but, love, you are
No longer yours, than you your self here live.