Rab'ka (language)

[[Image:StoneRuin.png|thumb|300px|An early Rab'ka inscription dating from the first Rab'ka invasion. It reads Kurush(a)ha darul b'adaku Rutiha ... &ndash; "Here is inhumed the leader, Rutiha ..." It was found on a ruined monument in Shens. <br /

The Rab'ka language was spoken by the Rab'ka people of Lakash in northern Ias and served as the administrative language of the Righteous Abode. Rab'ka is no longer spoken as a first language but is retained as the liturgical language of Duham and as the language of the Duhamic scriptures.

Many of the languages of contemporary Ias, including modern Lakashi and the so-called Sakuli Languages, Holma-Sakuli, Sheni-Sakuli, Therem Sakuli and Rok Sakuli, are descended from regional dialects of Rab'ka spoken during the Expansion of the Righteous Abode forming a Rab'kaic language family.

History

Three main chronological periods are recognized in Rab'ka development:

Archaic Rab'ka is known from early rock inscriptions in Lakash and northern Menza. Some of these are also claimed to be early Menza.

Classical Rab'ka designates the language of the Duhamic scriptures, the Rab'ka-nasa epic and other early literature.

Middle Rab'ka was spoken during the period of the Expansion of the Righteous Abode and was characterized by syntactical changes and the influx of new vocabulary from other languages.

The terms "Late Rab'ka" and "Modern Ecclesiastical Rab'ka" are sometimes used to describe the language of documents written after Rab'ka ceased to be a spoken language.

Phonology

The pronunciation of Rab'ka varies considerably by region within modern Duhamic religious communities. Lakashi pronunciation is regarded as more pure, but does not necessarily represent ancient Rab'ka pronunciation.

Vowels</big

There are five vowels: a, e, i, o, and u. The vowels e and o are somewhat lowered in closed syllables.

Classical Rab'ka had no diphthongs. A word like baiol is pronounced as three distinct syllables.

Consonants</big

Rab'ka velarized consonants are pronounced with unrounded back off-glide (IPA ɰ) similar to Irish "broad" consonants.1 A rounded allophone occurs after b, so b' may be pronounced [bw] or [bˠw]. The Rab'ka term for this feature is qamol, "softness."

The realization of l' is similar to Arabic ظ or the English "dark" l. In daughter languages it often becomes a semivowel.

The phonetic realization of Rab'ka velarized r, r', varies considerably. In Classical Rab'ka it was probably [ɾˠ] a velarized flap. In modern pronunciation it is often realized as [ɹ], similar to the English syllable-initial r, and in some regions as a post-alveolar fricative.

Rab'ka h is pronounced as a post-velar fricative in Rok Sakul and western Lakash. This may represent an older pronunciation.

Morphology

Rab'ka syllabic structure is generally (C)(L)V(C), where C represents any consonant. V represents a vowel, and L represents a liquid or nasal. A limited set of consonant clusters involving liquids or nasals, including sn, sl, hn and kl, can occur in syllable-initial position. Most roots consist of one or two syllables.

Usually, only the consonants b, d, g, h, l, m, n, q, r, s, and z can occur at the ends of words, though exceptions occur. Orthographic b, d and g are normally pronounced p, t and k in word-final position except when followed by vowels.

Rab'ka uses a fairly extensive collection of case endings and derivational suffixes, such as -a to form form adjectives from nouns, -ol to form abstract and verbal nouns, and -as to form agentive nouns.

Examples:

Syntax

Rak'ka has fairly free word order. A typical construction in classical Rab'ka uses the enclitic particles 2 -e or -ha attached to the initial noun or noun phrase to indicate topic focus. The choice between -e and -ha seems to have been used to indicate subtle shifts in emphasis, with the -ha suffix being more emphatic and used to indicate shifts in topic. The use of the -ha topicalizer became more frequent in later Rab'ka.

Uninflected attributive adjectives are attached directly to a following noun. Predicate adjectives agree with the case of the noun.

Verbs</big

Rab'ka has a small set of finite verbs. These are conjugated to agree with subject and object as well as aspect of the verb. Conjugated forms of these verbs are some of the most common words in the language. Examples (all with third person subjects) include da "is," qa "is not," ez "does it," o "makes it / causes it," ba "goes." The negative verb qa "it isn't" is also used to mean "no," along with other negative forms such as qanem "I'm not going to."

The remaining non-finite verbs occur only in infinitive and participle forms and are used in periphrastic constructions with finite verbs acting as auxiliaries.

Noun Inflection</big

Adpositions</big

Writing system

Rab'ka script is an abugida3. It is thought to be derived from the Shens syllabary, though the connections are not especially clear. Early forms of this script are found in rock inscriptions in the Lakasha Badlands and what is now Lower Menza (the Nawel). A cursive form of this script was developed during the Rab'ka Foundation Age and forms the basis of many of the scripts used in modern Ias and other areas of Drowlto that fell within the Rab'ka Righteous Abode or its sphere of influence.