Raʾʾarig-dahabba

**\**Raʾʾarig-dahabba*** /r̥ɑʔʔɑr̥ik tɑhɑppɑ/ — **Dahabba** for short — , literally "*unified language*", is the standard and vernacular language spoken throughout \**Raʾʾarig-harassā* by the *\*Pāṣ́i-ḥax*

## Phonology

### Consonants

1: While Dahabba does exhibit consonant gemination, \**ss*, \**śś*, \**ṣ*, and \**ṣ́* are excluded as they are already seen as nongeminate-geminate pairs without the actual need of gemination. \**ss* is viewed as the geminate form of \**ṣ*, and \**śś* is viewed as the geminate form of \**ṣ́*, even though phonemically they aren't.

### Features:

* Consonant gemination (Except for /s/ /ɬ/ /tsʼ/ /tɬʼ/)
* Phonemic vowel length
* (C)V(C) Syllable structure
* Individual morphemes can be at most 6 syllables long
* VSO default word order
* No phonemic stress

### Sound Symbolism:

Consonant phonemes are grouped into two categories based on their percieved "*harshness*" or "*softness*" (which is completely arbitrary). Words that are inherently "*harsh*" or "*soft*" will be composed of "*harsh*" or "*soft*" consonants respectively:

## Grammar

### Nouns & Adjectives:

* Nouns & adjectives both decline for case and gender (nouns & adjectives derived from roots are inherently masculine unless ended with -ss(V). Those not derived from roots are wildcards, though mostly predictable)
* Definiteness is indicated by demonstratives

***Noun and Adjective case declension:***

#### Pluralization:

Pluralization is normally by reduplicating the word the amount of said word, but when the number is too big or the word itself is too long, reduplication is instead substituted by "number + \**ḳaḥḥa*" (number + count) [this is why a general plural form doesn't really exist, in situations where a plural is normally used while referring to a group of category, the singular is used instead]

#### Naming:

Names of people, pets, etc are, in essence, agent/patient nouns with \**rakkaʾin* (named/called) prefixed before the noun, declined accordingly.

### Verbs

* All verbs come from roots (ones that don't get backformed roots)
* Root-derived verbs come in passive & active, each with imperfective & perfective aspects
* Dahabba lacks a copula
* Verbs are tenseless, tense is indicated by "with-past/future" (\**dāʾu-hassirīnn*/*ṣ́uśśirīnn*) [Sidenote: possessive construction is similar: his axe => "axe with-he" (\**nannakūʾi dāʾu-ṣ́axxa*)]

## Dialects

Dahabba has 3 main dialect groupings alongside the standard language used in inscriptions and scribings:

### \*raʾʾan dahabba

The lower, or north, dialect group, it's largely conservative and the most similar to the written language. the most prevalent changes are uvular /χ/ fronting to velar /x/ and /ɑ/ becoming /a/ in most cases (which are present in all dialects). Its grammar is also largely identical to that of the written language, even preserving the VSO word order.

### \*raxxaśś dahabba

The upper, or south, dialect group, it's phonology and grammar differ a bit from those of the north:

#### Phonological changes

* /p/ /t/ /k/ => /b/ /d/ /g/
* /pʰ/ /tʰ/ /kʰ/ => /p/ /t/ /k/
* /pʼ/ /tʼ/ /kʼ/ => /pˠ/ /tˠ/ /k̠/
* /ɬɬ/ /ss/ => /ɬ/ /s/
* /tsʼ/ /tɬʼ/ => /sˠ/ /tɬ/
* /ʔ/ => /∅/ (except in specific words)
* /h/ => /∅/ word-finally
* /a/ /i/ /u/ => /ɐ/ /ɪ/ /ʊ/ when far from stress

#### Grammatical changes

* VSO largely supplanted by SVO
* Demonstratives go directly before their antecedent instead of after

### \*rammah dahabba

The Cyrene, or western, dialect group, it's a pretty exotic branch. Not only does it differ from both the other groups, but it also takes from the nearby Quashilic languages:

#### Phonological changes

* /pʰ/ /tʰ/ /kʰ/ => /p/ /t/ /k/
* /p/ /t/ /k/ /pʼ/ /tʼ/ /kʼ/ => /b/ /d/ /g/ /bˤ/ /dˤ/ /gˤ/ intervocalically
* /ss/ /ɬɬ/ => /s/ /ʃ/
* /tsʼ/ /tɬʼ/ => /sʼ/ /ʃʼ/
* /l/ => /ɫ/ before/after colored /ɑ/
* /a/ /i/ /u/ => /ɛ/ /ɪ/ /o/ in unstressed positions

#### Grammatical changes

* ...

All three Dialect groups have developed the same stress patterns.

1. Stress the first syllable with a long vowel
2. If no long vowels are present, stress the syllable beginning with a geminated consonant
3. If no long vowels or syllable-initial geminates are present, stress the first syllable

tʰɑ ikʰːɑpʰɑχ ikʰːɑpʰɑχ kʼiɬːɑsːɑh pʰɑːtɬʼiʔuh
tʰɑ ihːɑtsʼɑsː ihːɑtsʼɑsː kʼiɬːɑsːɑh par̥ ʔɑʔːɑmuːniʔuhu r̥ɑkːɑʔinuhu-tʰɑtʰːɑħiʔuhu tsʼukuhu.
tʰa iˈkʰːapʰax iˈkʰːapʰax kʼiˈɬːasːah ˈpʰaːtɬʼiʔuh
tʰa iˈhːatsʼasː iˈhːatsʼasː kʼiˈɬːasːah par̥ ʔaʔːaˈmuːniʔuhu r̥aˈkːaʔinuhu-tʰaˈtʰːaħiʔuhu ˈtsʼukuhu.
ta k̠ɪˈɬasa ɪˈkːapax ɪˈkːapax ˈpaːtɬjʊ
ta k̠ɪˈɬasa ɪˈhːasˠas ɪˈhːasˠas bar̥ ˈsˠuguhʊ ʔɐʔɐˈmuːnjʊhʊ r̥ɐˈgːainuhʊ-tɐˈtːaħjuhʊ.
then cows are killed by man
then cows are cooked [by man] for the ruler "Thatthahi"
[habitually]