Napranian language
AKA Napranian, High Napranian, Valenian
| Napranian language | |
|---|---|
| Napranian | |
| Napranije | |
| Native to | Valenowa |
| Region | Oczyżna Region |
| Ethnicity | Poles |
Early forms | Napranian (traditional)
|
Standard forms | High Napranian
|
| Dialects | Napranian (traditional)
High Napranian
|
| Latin (Polish alphabet, Czech alphabet) | |
| Sign Language System | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Grand Duchy of Naprzódsk, Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa |
| Regulated by | Valenian Language Council |
Napranian (Polish: Napranije, Łynkwa Napranije) is an unrecognized West Slavic language of the Lechitic group within the Indo-European language family written in the Latin and Cyrillic (to a lesser extent) scripts. It is spoken officially only within Valenowa, and was historically spoken as a minority language within the Grand Duchy of Naprzódsk. Napranian takes strong influence from Polish, Czech, and German (to a lesser extent), and is the native language of the Wisconsinite Polonians. It serves as the official language of the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa, and is one of the least-spoken languages in the world. It consists of two dialects, Napranian (extinct) and High Napranian.
The Napranian alphabet has eleven additions (ą, а̄, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, š, ź, ż) to the letters of the 26-letter Latin alphabet, while removing three (x, q, v). Those three letters, though not included in the Napranian alphabet, are often included in foreign equivalents to native words. The Napranian alphabet consists of 23 consonants and 9 written vowels, including two nasal vowels (ą, ę), which are denoted by a reversed diacritic hook called an ogonek. Napranian and its dialects, like Polish, are among the few languages in the world that utilize continuous penultimate stress (with some exceptions) and having an abundance of palatal consonants. The language developed in the early 21st century among Polish immigrants to the United States, with its first dialect, Napranian, having been declared extinct as of 2023.
Napranian is directly derived from Polish, and shares minor similarities with Czech and English. It has been argued that Napranian is a dialect of its parent language, Polish, however the Valenian Language Council remains insistent that Napranian is a separate language for a separate people. Like Polish, Napranian was influenced both by Germanic and Romance languages, including Swedish, Italian, and French, and is closely related to other West Slavic languages such as Slovak and Czech. Words and phrases borrowed from Polish, Yiddish, and German have also found their way into the everyday language.
History
The first dialect of the Napranian language, simply referred to as Napranian in both English and Napranian, developed during the early 21st century among Polish immigrants to the United States. It was utilized as a secondary language to Polish and English, and viewed as a slightly simpler alternative to Polish for non-speakers in America. Its first official utilization as a recognized language was by the Grand Duchy of Naprzódsk, following the signing of Culture Order 2 by Grand Duke Michał II, which clarified that Napranian would be recognized as one of two official regional languages within Naprzódsk.
Following the dissolution of the Grand Duchy of Naprzódsk in early 2023 and the abdication of Michał II, the Napranian language within Naprzódsk entered a state of stagnation, during which its first dialect, Napranian, was determined to be extinct. This declaration would be made official by the Valenian Language Council in late 2023.
On 12 June 2023, the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa, formed as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Naprzódsk, declared independence from the United States of America. Michał II, claiming the title of Governor-General of Valenowa, immediately began drafting a series of documents that would make the second dialect of the language, High Napranian, one of four official languages of Valenowa on the national level. These languages included English, Polish, German, and High Napranian (as listed on MicroWiki).
Geographic distribution
The majority of Napranian speakers reside within the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa in the US State of Wisconsin, though there remains a very small diaspora along the East and West coasts of the United States. There are no speakers that declare Napranian as their first language.
Dialects
The Napranian language was formerly divided into two distinctly different dialects, Napranian and High Napranian, the former of which was declared extinct in 2023. The surviving dialect, High Napranian, survives as one of the four national languages of Valenowa, and is typically spoken and/or written as a second or third language to Polish or English. It is typically described as a direct derivative of the Polish language, and is far closer in resemblance and pronunciation to other West Slavic languages than traditional Napranian.
Orthography
The Napranian language utilizes a modified Latin script, including additional letters formed using diacritics. The Napranian alphabet is similar in appearance and pronunciation to the Polish and Czech (to a lesser extent) alphabets, and as such can also be written in a modified Cyrillic script. Its minor Czech influence can be seen through the use of a diacritic called the caron or háček, which resembles a small letter "v" above a letter.
The diacritics utilized in the Napranian alphabet include the the kreska over the letters ć, ń, ó, ś, ź and through the letter in ł, the kropka (superior dot) over the letter ż, the ogonek (little tail) beneath the letters ą and ę, and the makron (macron) above the letter а̄. The Latin letters q, v, and x are only used in foreign words and names.
| Uppercase | Lowercase | Phonemicvalue(s) | Upper
case |
Lower
case |
Phonemic
value(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | a | /a/ | Ń | ń | /ɲ/ |
| Ą | ą | /ɔ̃/, [ɔn], [ɔm] | O | o | /ɔ/ |
| А̄ | а̄ | /ˈeɪ/ | Ó | ó | /u/ |
| B | b | /b/ (/p/) | P | p | /p/ |
| C | c | /ts/ | Q | q | Only loanwords |
| Ć | ć | /tɕ/ | R | r | /r/ |
| D | d | /d/ (/t/) | S | s | /s/ |
| E | e | /ɛ/ | Ś | ś | /ɕ/ |
| Ę | ę | /ɛ̃/, [ɛn], [ɛm], /ɛ/ | Š | š | Archaic |
| F | f | /f/ | T | t | /t/ |
| G | g | /ɡ/ (/k/) | U | u | /u/ |
| H | h | /x/ (/ɣ/) | V | v | Only loanwords |
| I | i | /i/, /j/ | W | w | /v/ (/f/) |
| J | j | /j/ | X | x | Only loanwords |
| K | k | /k/ | Y | y | /ɨ/, /ɘ/ |
| L | l | /l/ | Z | z | /z/ (/s/) |
| Ł | ł | /w/, /ɫ/ | Ź | ź | /ʑ/ (/ɕ/) |
| M | m | /m/ | Ż | ż | /ʐ/ (/ʂ/) |
| N | n | /n/ |
The following digraphs and trigraphs are used:
| Digraph | Phonemic value(s) | Diagraph/trigraph
(before a vowel) |
Phonemic value(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /x/ | ci | /tɕ/ |
| cz | /tʂ/ | dzi | /dʑ/ |
| dz | /dz/ (/ts/) | gi | /ɡʲ/ |
| dź | /dʑ/ (/tɕ/) | (c)hi | /xʲ/ |
| dż | /dʐ/ (/tʂ/) | ki | /kʲ/ |
| rz | /ʐ/ (/ʂ/) | ni | /ɲ/ |
| sz | /ʂ/ | si | /ɕ/ |
| zi | /ʑ/ |
Voiced consonant letters can often represent voiceless sounds. This occurs at the end of words and clusters due to phonological neutralization. Voiceless consonant letters can additionally represent voiced sounds in clusters on occasion.
There is a standard rule of spelling in the Napranian language, which is as follows: before the vowel i the letters s, z, c, dz, and n are used; before other vowels the combinations si, zi, ci, dzi, and ni are used; when not followed by a vowel the diacritic letters ś, ź, ń, dź, and ć are utilized instead. The exceptions to this rule are borrowed words from Latin, Italian, French, Russian, English, Yiddish, or German, where s before i is pronounced as s, e.g. sinus, sinology, etc. In other loanwords the Napranian vowel i is displayed as y, e.g. Syria, cry, shy, etc.
The table displayed below defines the correspondence between sounds and their spellings:
| Phonemic value | Single letter/Digraph
(in pausa or before a consonant) |
Digraph/Trigraph
(before a vowel) |
Single letter/Digraph
(before the letter i) |
|---|---|---|---|
| /tɕ/ | ć | ci | c |
| /dʑ/ | dź | dzi | dz |
| /ɕ/ | ś | si | s |
| /ʑ/ | ź | zi | z |
| /ɲ/ | ń | ni | n |
Grammar
Napranian, similarly to Polish, is a fusional language with relatively free word order that can follow English, German, or Polish grammar styles, with the Polish subject-verb-object arrangement being the officially standard form. However unlike in the Polish language, subject pronouns are often kept instead of being dropped.
Nouns in the Napranian language can belong to one of three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Similarly, the suffixes of adjectives (optional) and verbs (standard) can be modified to fit the gender of the noun being discussed or described, and it is typical for the noun to precede the adjective in a sentence or phrase (e.g. Końastycja Walenowej, "Valenian Constitution"). However, verbs always succeed the noun in a sentence or phrase (e.g. ona jesz, "she eats"). Some exceptions can be made to this rule, such as Żalenošy Preszyšije Polonije Walenowa, "Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa," in which a proper noun (Walenowa, "Valenowa") is placed at the end of the phrase.
Borrowed words
Napranian, as a language directly derived from Polish, contains many loanwords acquired by the Polish language, as well as a number of its own, borrowed primarily from English (e.g. bag, "bag"), German (e.g. szpáł from spiel, "play"), and Yiddish (e.g. szmoć from shmok, "shmuck"). Languages such as Latin, Polish, and Czech also hold significant influence over the modern Napranian language. One of a few Napranian words shared directly with the Polish language, rzeczpospolita, "commonwealth" is derived from the Latin phrase res publica, "Republic." The lesser, however still present Czech influences can be found in shared words like sejm, which has no direct English translation, and is often translated as "parliament" or "congress." The High Napranian dialect specifically includes a number of traditional Napranian words such as krasznów from "krasnov" (destroy), brałwa (future), and jądwo from jedwa (want).
The borrowing of German and Yiddish words began around 2019. At first, words like spiel (game/performance) and shmok (shmuck), and phrases like oy vey (woe is me) saw spoken use in the language as sarcastic and/or insulting expressions amongst individuals of German ancestry and Yiddish-speakers within the United States. Eventually, words, phrases, and other similar aspects of language would be officially adopted into the Napranian language, and respelled using the Napranian alphabet (e.g. maszel tów from mazel tov, "good luck"). This would become especially apparent following the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa's 2023 alliance with the Empire of Levinia, a Jewish micronation which recognizes English, Yiddish, and Hebrew as official national languages within its territories.
Some Napranian words are taken directly from the Polish language, such as tak and nie (yes and no), złotych (plural form of złoty), and barbakan (barbican), and many are similar in spelling and pronunciation to their Polish counterparts (e.g. żalenošy from zależność, "dependency"). A number of Polish words were borrowed and shortened/respelled with the intention of building a "Polish-like" language that is more easily accessible for those with little or no experience with West Slavic languages.
Literature
The only official written use of the Napranian language can be found in the official Napranian translation of the Valenian Declaration of Secession, as drafted and presented by Michał II Valenski, Governor-General of Valenowa.
Sample text
Sentences 1 and 2 of the Articulus Nullus of the Constitution of the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa in High Napranian:
Wier da łudzie Walenowej, W prawo, ceła, i packoj wamać poszyń, prąłyka jeszć i kielójeż esz Końastycja Walenowej, i poc artykeła i mędmonica w cełu chowyś. To bódszecz podstaw czа̄szóną wa żosział i prawo, i deczja raszy i nieraszy w cełu podstawa zywił, rzady, wojskówy, i zysztena prawy.
Sentences 1 and 2 of the Articulus Nullus of the Constitution of the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa in English:
We the people of Valenowa, in order to impose law, order, and peace upon ourselves, ratify for now and for ever more this Constitution of Valenowa, and all articles and amendments borne within. It shall be the guiding principle of our society and law, and the first and final word in matters of the citizenry, government, military, and legal systems.
Sentences 1 and 2 of the Articulus Nullus of the Constitution of the Polonian Presidential Dependency of Valenowa in Napranian Cyrillic:
Вѥр да льуsѥ Валеновѣ, в право, цельа, и пацкой вамач пошыњ, прѫльыка эщ и кѥлóэж еш Коньастыця Валеновѣ, и поц артыкельа и мѧдмоница в цельу ховысь. То бóдшеч подстав ча̄шóнѫ ва жошяль и право, и дечя рашы и нѥрашы в цельу подстава зывиль, жады, войскóвы, и зыштена правы.