© Nikhil Sinha, 2003-2021

The Cannic language

Ðí Kánika lánguéja |   

Azukania | Contents

1 INTRODUCTION

Cannic is a language that was created by Nikhil Sinha in May 2004. It is an a posteriori artistic language. It has a fusional grammar. Its vocabulary is based mostly on English.

2 GRAMMAR

2.1 PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

Cannic is written in both Cannic and Roman scripts. In the Roman script, there are three different orthographies – standard, alternative and old. There are 29 letters in the alphabet – 19 consonants and ten vowels. The letters and their names and pronunciations are given below.

In the old orthography, <c> and <j> were written as <ś> and <ź>, respectively. This orthography is no longer used. In the alternative orthography, <á>, <ð>, <é>, <í>, <ó>, <þ> and <ú> are written as <aa>, <dh>, <ai>, <y>, <au>, <th> and <w>, respectively. This is only used in digital environments where typing or using special characters is either not possible or not desirable.

Cannic is written phonetically, that is, all words are pronounced exactly the same way as they are written. The stress on Cannic words is natural. There is no definite rule.

2.2 MORPHOLOGY

2.2.1 CASES AND NUMBERS

There are five cases. These are indicated by endings. Cases function like prepositions, except that they are joined at the end of the words. The case inflections are different for words ending in vowels and consonants. There are two numbers – singular and plural. Case inflections also vary according to number. The cases of Cannic, along with the prepositions represented by them, are given below.

Sometimes, it is desirable not to inflect a word, like proper names and abbreviations. This can be done by using kí after such a word. The inflections can be put on the word kí instead. For example, in London can be written as Landan kínin instead of Landané.

2.2.2 NOUNS

Nouns are inflected for case and number. Proper nouns are written in Cannic orthography. Only the last word of proper nouns, which have more than one word, is inflected. So, in New York is Nrú Rórké (or Nrúrórké) and not Nrúnin Rórké.

2.2.3 ADJECTIVES

All adjectives, except articles and numbers, are inflected and they agree with nouns in case and number. They occur before nouns.

The degrees of comparison are indicated with the help of endings. The comparative degree is shown by the ending -nér for words ending in vowels and by the ending -ér for those ending in consonants. The superlative degree is shown by the ending -mégá for words ending in vowels and by the ending -ig for those ending in consonants. The root word indicates the positive degree of comparison.

The definite article (the) in Cannic is ðí and the indefinite article (a or an) is á.

The cardinal numbers from one to ten are vun, tú, trí, for, fív, siks, sén, et, nín anddán. Hundred is kenti, thousand is þúzánd, million is milrón, billion is bilrón and zero is zér. Numbers, which are multiplied together are separated by í, while those, which are added together are written as separate words. For example, 12,210,000,217 is dán tú í bilrón tú í kenti dán í milrón tú í kenti dán sén in Cannic.

Ordinal numbers are formed by the ending -þ for numbers which end in vowels and by the ending -ið for numbers which end in consonants. So, vunið is first, túþ is second, dánið is tenth and so on.

For fractions, the ending -frá is used for numbers which end in vowels and the ending -of is used for numbers which end in consonants. The word moán is used to separate the fractional part from the integral part. For example,túfrá is 1/2 or 0.5, trífrá is 1/3 or 0.33, tú-trífrá is 2/3 or 0.66, tú moán trífrá is 7/3 or 2.33, etc.

2.2.4 PRONOUNS

The personal pronouns are ám meaning I, rú meaning you (singular), hí meaning he, cí meaning she and it meaning it. Pronouns are inflected for case and number.

2.2.5 VERBS

Verbs are conjugated to show tense and number. There are eight tenses. The verbs always agree in number with the nouns and adjectives. The verb inflections are different for words ending in vowels and consonants. They are given below.

Verbs can be turned into passive voice with the prefix me- for words beginning with a consonant and z- for words beginning with a vowel.

2.2.6 ADVERBS, CONJUNCTIONS, PREPOSITIONS AND INTERJECTIONS

Adverbs, conjunctions and interjections do not inflect. They are used as in English.

The prepositions of, by, with, from, in, on and at are represented by cases. The rest of the prepositions are used as in English. They are not inflected, but the nouns and adjectives accompanying them are changed to the trash case.

2.2.7 FORMING NEW WORDS

There are many prefixes and suffixes which can be used to form new words.

Prefixes are given below. They are different for words beginning with vowels and consonants.

Suffixes are given below. They are different for words ending with vowels and consonants.

Many words can also be put together to form compound words. For example, tál means tall and bildécun means building. Put together, tálbildécun means skyscraper (tall building).

2.2.8 SYNTAX

The word order in Cannic is subject-verb-object. The word vó is used when framing questions which have yes/no answers. When changing direct speech into indirect speech, the speaker's tense is not changed.

3 TEXTS

3.1 SOME SENTENCES

01. Three birds are flying.

Trí birduz flíni.

02. Cannic is a simple language.

Kánika astis á simplán lánguéja.

03. There were many beautiful trees in the garden.

Astuva maniz béllaz vríkáz ðí gardáné.

04. I am learning Cannic.

Áma larning Kánika.

05. My name is Nikhil Sinha.

Ámos náma astis Nikil Sinhán.

06. Where is the book?

Uhéra astis ðí búka?

07. You are coming with me.

Rún kaming ámuviþ.

08. Are you coming with me?

Vón rún kaming ámuviþ?

09. What is the name of that city?

Vón astis ðí náma ðátos métrosi?

10. She said, "I am coming."

Cín tákóz, "Áma kaming."

11. She said that she was coming.

Cín tákóz ðát cín kaming.

12. I live in India in Asia.

Áma livis Indiánin Áciánin.

3.2 BASIC PHRASES

3.3 ARTICLE 1 OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Óla hrúmanas burþár frín án ikvála dignínin án rítetát. Itas hávár rízana án kóncisa án cudí áktí óluviþ á éspirité braðánéssos.

4 VOCABULARY

Cannic has a vocabulary of over 1,100 root words. Many more words can be formed with compounding and derivation.

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This website was last updated on 12 May 2021.