Basics & History
Qhuric (native Sadhwara HaQhur “language of the Noble People”) is a descendant of the ancient Ammonite language spoken in modern Jordan, a sister language to Biblical Hebrew and one of only two survivors of the Canaanite language family still around today. It is spoken by the Qhur, an ethnic group living around the Gulf of Aqaba and on the island of Soriah (Sawrayah). Interesting features include the disappearance of gender in nouns and adjectives (a process that began in Ammonitic), much borrowing from Koine Greek and Classical Arabic, and a “mystic language”–Old Ammonitic–still used in initiation ceremonies in the Qhuric Church.
Phonology & Phonotactics
Consonants: m <m> p <p> f <f> b <b> w <w> n <n> t <t> θ <th> d <d> ð <dh> s <s> z <z> ʃ <š> ʒ <j> j <y> l <l> r <r> k <k> g <g> q <q> x <kh> ɣ <gh> ħ <qh> ʕ <Ø> ʔ <‘> h <h>
Vowels: a i u
Phonotactics: Biblical Hebrew had a habit of fricativizing post-initial stops (<b> became <v> and so on). Biblical Ammonitic did the same, with the exception of word-final stops. This has passed down to Qhuric accordingly; the word kithab, kithawim “book, manuscript” is derived from the root K-T-B, with <v> becoming <w> and <t> becoming <th>.
Vowel Changes: in the most prominent dialect at the moment, that spoken on Soriah (and originally in
- <a> is pronounced <æ> in open syllables.
- <i> runs the range from /i/ in stressed syllables and /ɪ/ in unstressed syllables to /e/ in syllables with /q,ħ,ʕ/ nearby.
- <u> runs a similar range, from /u/ in stressed syllables and /ʉ/ in unstressed ones to /o/ in syllables with /q,ħ,ʕ/ nearby.
- <aw> is pronounced /ɔ/, <iw> as /y/, and <uw> as /oʉ/.
Stress: verbal stress follows strict rules, but for nouns it’s best to assume the final syllable is stressed if followed by a consonant, and the penultimate syllable otherwise. Thus akhal kathib akhil “the (male) writer ate the food” would be stressed /æ’xal kæ’θib æ.’xil/.
Orthography: Ammonitic used to be written in the Hebraic script, but around the 8th Century switched to Arabic. Modern pagan revival movements often use the Modern Hebrew Abjad, formalized for Qhuric by Ira bin Hiram-Huldah in the 1960s.
Derivational Morphology
Morphology
Verb Conjugation
| Perfect | Imperfect | |
| Pa’al | 1s: katháwdi 2sm: katháwda 2sf: kathwát (kathwatí-) 3sm: katháb 3sf: kathwá 1p: katháwnu 2pm: kathawdím 2pf: kathawdín 3p: kathwú | 1s: ’akhtúb 2sm: tikhtúb 2sf: tikhtawí 3sm: yikhtúb 3sf: tikhtúb 1p: nikhtúb 2pm: tikhtabú 2pf: tikhtúwna(h) 3pm: yikhtawú 3pf: tikhtúwna(h) |
| Pi’al | 1s: kitáwdi 2sm: kitáwda 2sf: kitawát 3sm: kitáb 3sf: kitawá 1p: kitáwnu 2pm: kitawdím 2pf: kitawdín 3p: kitabú | 1s: ’akhatáb 2sm: tikhatáb 2sf: tikhatawí 3sm: yikhatáb 3sf: tikhatáb 1p: nikhatáb 2pm: tikhatabú 2pf: tikhatáwna(h) 3pm: yikatabú 3pf: tikatáwna(h) |
| Pu’al | 1s: kutáwdi 2sm: kutáwda 2sf: kutawát 3sm: kutáb 3sf: kutawá 1p: kutáwnu 2pm: kutawdím 2pf: kutawdín 3p: kutabú | 1s: ’akhutáb 2sm: takhutáb 2sf: takhutawí 3sm: yakhutáb 3sf: takhutáb 1p: nakhutáb 2pm: takhutabú 2pf: takhutáwna(h) 3pm: yakhutabú 3pf: takhutáwna(h) |
| Hipa’il | 1s: hikatíwdi 2sm: hikatíwda 2sf: hikatawát 3sm: hikatíb 3sf: hikatiwá 1p: hikatíwnu 2pm: hikatawdím 2pf: hikatawdín 3p: hikatabú | 1s: ’akatáb 2sm: tikatáb 2sf: tikatawí 3sm: yikatíb 3sf: tikatíb 1p: nikatíb 2pm: tikatabú 2pf: tikatíwnah 3pm: yikatabú 3pf: tikatíwnah |
| Hipu’al | 1s: hikutáwdi 2sm: hikutáwda 2sf: hikutawat 3sm: hikutáb 3sf: hikutawá 1p: hikutáwnu 2pm: hikutawdím 2pf: hikutawdín 3p: hikutabú | 1s: ’akatáb 2sm: tikatáb 2sf: tikatawí 3sm: yikutáb 3sf: tikutáb 1p: nikutáb 2pm: tikutabú 2pf: tikutáwnah 3pm: yikutabú 3pf: tikutáwnah |
| Hif’il | 1s: hikhtíwdi 2sm: hikhtíwda 2sf: hikhtíwat 3sm: hikhtíb 3sf: hikhtiwá 1p: hikhtíwnu 2pm: hikhtiwdím 2pf: hikhtiwdín 3p: hikhtibú | 1s: ’akhtíb 2sm: takhtíb 2sf: takhtiwí 3sm: yakhtíb 3sf: takhtíb 1p: nakhtíb 2pm: takhtibú 2pf: takhtawínah 3pm: yakhtibú 3pf: takhtawínah |
| Huf’al | 1s: hukhtáwdi 2sm: hukhtáwda 2sf: hukhtáwat 3sm: hukhtáb 3sf: hukhtawá 1p: hukhtáwnu 2pm: hukhtawdím 2pf: hukhtawdín 3p: hukhtabú | 1s: ’ukhtáb 2sm: tukhtáb 2sf: tukhtawí 3sm: yukhtáb 3sf: tukhtáb 1p: nukhtáb 2pm: tukhtabú 2pf: tukhtáwnah 3pm: yukhtabú 3pf: tukhtáwnah |
| Nif’al | 1s: nikhtáwdi 2sm: nikhtáwda 2sf: nikhtáwat 3sm: nikhtáb 3sf: nikhtawá 1p: nikhtáwnu 2pm: nikhtawdím 2pf: nikhtawdín 3p: nikhtabú | 1s: ’akathil 2sm: tikathíb 2sf: tikathwí 3sm: yikathíb 3sf: tikathíb 1p: nikathíb 2pm: tikathwú 2pf: tikatháwnah 3pm: yikathwú 3pf: tikatháwnah |
Syntax
Some basics:
- Word order is VSO.
- Genitive constructions are formed with [N1.construct] ha-[N2.absolute], for example kithab hasshamir “the bishop’s book”.
Examples
كُل هَاِنَصِم نُلَدِم حَفصِم وَ صِوَيِم
כול האעינאשׁימ נולאדימ חאפבשׁימ וא שׁיואיימ
Kul ha’inashim nuladhim qhapshim wa shiwayim.
All human beings are born free and equal.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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