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Naya is a simple language constructed from what was originally a basic substitution cipher of Kendane͡ivash.
A Brief History of Naya
350 EYBT
The substitution cipher was used back when the tensions between the Nayabaru and kavkema were better described as an actual war. A cluster of kavkema suffering social and military isolation from the 'main forces' tried to exchange tactical information. They chose a basic substitution ciphertext that preserved the ability to pronounce the resulting words and phrases, following the (initially correct) assumption was that the Nayabaru would not be able to determine the meaning of the messages, but the kavkema would recognise and be able to reverse the basic pattern.
0 EYAT
The substitution cipher did not see much kavkem use, overall, but when Teranyina entered the picture (and Ysikary as a Kendane͡ivash influence necessarily disappeared), she felt it right to educate the Nayabaru about the cipher to eradicate the last vestiges of its usefulness, resulting in the Nayabaru typically fluent in both Kendane͡ivash and the cipher language about five thousand years into her existence.
7 000 EYAT
The conflict was essentially resolved at this point and a situation along the lines of the current status quo began to settle on Nekenalos. Culturally, the Nayabaru lay claim to the cipher amongst a search for a new cultural identity, emotionally considering it distinct from Kendane͡ivash, which had politically come to signify the kavkema, and it began to evolve as its own language: Naya.
18 000 EYAT
Naya grammar had evolved to present form, pruning from the original template language various constructs unnecessary for Nayabaru culture (such as a simple grammatical 'I' rather than its use as a degenerate 'we'). Naya words can no longer be easily mapped to Kendane͡ivash, having condensed syllables by packing consonants together in a way better suited for Nayabaru vocalisations than to those of the kavkema.
The global nature of Naya is maintained by the Karesejat, although regional dialects have taken hold regardless - the Karesejat's sole concern is in ensuring that the dialects do not hamper communication between groups of Nayabaru, she is not a purist about the details as for example the kavkema are with Kendane͡ivash.
Substitution Cipher
Much of the substitution cipher was a simple pronunciation shift away from the common intonations for glyphs toward intonations usually used for other glyphs. These were not always reversible - sometimes more than one source glyph/sound would be mapped into the same destination glyph/sound, and sometimes there were more than one destination glyph/sound to optionally map a source glyph/sound to.
| a͡u | a | a | e | aa | a | a͡i | e͡i | e | e͡i |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e͡i | a͡i | e͡u | y | i | i | i͡y | i | o | a͡u |
| o͡i | y | o͡u | o | u | o | uu | u | u͡i | u |
| y | u | y | tsh | y͡i | i͡u | b | p | b | b |
| d | t | g | tk | h1) | j | g | j | h | |
| j | tsh | ja | pe | k | g | l | r | l | l |
| m | n | n | m | p | b | q | k | r | l |
| r | r | s | sh | s | s | t | d | th | sh |
| th | t | v | ph | z | s | ||||
Later alterations added the following drifts and conventions:
- ph adopted its own glyph in the Nayabaru alphabet, though the sound became only marginally harder. For Naya, it is best to transliterate it as f in our own alphabet.
- certain instances of s (predominantly those previously sh-derived) drifted toward ch, a new sound specific to the Nayabaru.
- s̈ became sh - this has eradicated s̈ from the Nayabaru alphabet and while those with linguist interests are still aware of s̈, most Naya cannot properly pronounce it even if they try. Their resulting different pronunciation of various Kendane͡ivash words is a point of offense for many kavkema.
- leading and trailing vowels were eschewed as incomplete; the Nayabaru typically prepended h or g to words beginning with a vowel, and appended b or l to words ending in a vowel. (They later reversed on this practise with certain nouns and with adjectives.)
Characteristics
The Nayabaru know many more consonant digraphs than the kavkema, which is a point of (mostly subconscious pride), and part of what fuels their opinion of kavkema as a bit dimwitted.
Ironically, the Naya language simplifies some parts of Kendane͡ivash, by tightening the incidental correspondence of certain suffixes to certain types of words into strict rules:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| o | noun, person | chrefenno (master) |
| i | adjective | tkesiri (powerful) |
| et | verbs | chabret (to respect) |
Notably is the absence of an “I” in Naya. There is a “we” which is used with caution, or the ability to refer to oneself in third person. In some dialects, there are degenerate forms of 'we' or third person pronouns that usually immediately imply the speaker. The Nayabaru do have a sense of individual identity, but they only value it so much.
Inflections
Verbs
Using the example of tna͡uchet - to strike.
Present tense:
- tna͡uchetta - we strike
- tna͡uchetna - they strike
- tna͡uchetra - you (plural) strike
- tna͡uchetun - it strikes / another strikes
- tna͡uchetur - you (singular) strike
Future tense:
- tna͡uchetta͡i - we will strike
- tna͡uchetna͡i - they will strike
- tna͡uchetra͡i - you (plural) will strike
- tna͡uchetu͡in - it will strike / another will strike
- tna͡uchetu͡ir - you (singular) will strike
Hypothetical future tense:
- tna͡uchette͡i - we may strike
- tna͡uchetne͡i - they may strike
- tna͡uchetre͡i - you (plural) may strike
- tna͡uchety͡in - it may strike / another may strike
- tna͡uchety͡ir - you (singular) may strike
Past tense (rarely used - past actions often have a present tense characterisation; past tense is only used when differentiation for clarity is absolutely necessary):
- tna͡uchetta͡u - we struck
- tna͡uchetna͡u - they struck
- tna͡uchetra͡u - you (plural) struck
- tna͡ucheto͡un - it struck / another struck
- tna͡ucheto͡ur - you (singular) struck
Plural forms are generally preferred unless it creates ambiguity. First person singular, when circumstance force a Nayabaru's hand, is often denoted by prepending she͡i' to a “we” or “it” form verb. The prefix is a derivate of the Kendane͡ivash sa pronoun.