Kangrim is a member of the Tarandim language family, and is also known as hieratic Tarandim. The native name is ṭaḥandim ṭakaŋri priestly, hieratic Tarandim or just kaŋrim, priestly, hieratic.
A sample sentence:
Ḥoqen šaʾkoŋbona ḥeʾAwaw ʾAqran ʾamondim, mor šaʾkeŋerbenen.
ḥo-qen šaʾ-koŋbon-a ḥeʾAwaw ʾAqran ʾa-mondim/ mor šaʾkeŋ<er>ben-en.
red-king 3p.P-decree-PRF DEF-source- ʾAqran 3p.POSS-wisdom / human 3p-<JUSS>decree[PL]-3p.A
The Source-ʾAqran, in His wisdom, appointed Red Kings to rule mankind.
This sentence provides examples of some of the key characteristic of the language:
- It's active-stative
- OVS word order is fairly common - more accurently, the unmarked order is patient-verb-agent
- It is head-marking; note the patient šaʾ- and agent -an markers on šaʾkeŋerbenan, or the posessive marker ʾa on ʾamondim, His wisdom.
- It makes use of both vowel-alternation: koŋbon, he decrees > keŋbenen, they decree (with every back vowel changing to e) and infixing: keŋbenen, they decree > keŋerbenen, let them decree.
Stative verbs
Some verbs are inherently stative, that is intransitive and marked with patient markers:
raramo šaʾsono bo
monster 3p.P-sleep-HAB past.
The monsters were sleeping then.
This class includes, but is not limited to, adjectives:
samoḥ
1s.A-great
I am great.
Active verbs
Active verbs are ambitransitive, and marked for agent and (if present) patient:
ḥdakwan
1s.AGT-judge<HAB>
I judge; I am a judge.
Taqse ʾaqeri šaʾḥdakwan
Taqse 3s.POSS-people 3p.P-1s.A-judge[HAB]
I judge the people of Taqse.
In the singular, the agent is marked with a prefix:
ḥ-qo
1s.A-eat
I eat
aš-qo
2s.A-eat
you eat
The 3rd person singular agent is usually unmarked:
šaʾdakan
šaʾ-∅-dakan
3p.PAT-3s.AGT-judge
He judges them.
The 3rd person singular prefix wa- marks a break in the animacy hierarchy:
Wo leŋse ṭɔbqolanim šaʾwadeqekon ḥowo.
And time-this cattle-eat<HAB>-3p-REL 3p-3s-judge<PREDIC> DEF-cow.
And in those days the cows will judge those who ate them.
Plural forms that include the listener are marked with a prefix too:
waʾ-qo
1p.A-eat
we eat
šaʾ-qo
2p.A-eat
you eat
But exclusive plural (exclusive 'we', 'they') is marked with a prefix (for first person only), vowel alteration and a suffix.
waʾ-qel-en
1p.A-eat[PL]-PL
qelen
eat[PL]-PL.
I call this kind of vowel alteration e-gradation. The rule is fairly simple, every back vowel changes to e-:
qol > qelen
eat > eat[PL]-3p.A
wonaḥ > wenaḥen
study > study[PL]-3p.A
koŋbon > koŋbonen
decree > decree[PL]-3p.A
Some classes of verbs are immune to this change and mark exclusive plural with a suffix alone:
koŋri > koŋrilen
hallow > hallow-3p.A
Patient marking
The patient is also marked with a prefix:
sason
1s.P-sleep
I'm sleeping
There's no inclusive/exclusive distinction in the plural:
waʾson
1p.P-sleep
we sleep
raʾson
2p.P-sleep
you(pl) sleep.
ʾason
3s.P-sleep
he sleeps
Third person inanimates patients must be marked with the appropriate classifier (out of about twenty):
ḥeʾawe loŋṭara, ḥeteren dowasa
DEF-day TIME-count-PERF / the-wall BODY-build-PERF
The days are counted / the walls are built
Aspect
Simple forms, are neither perfective nor imperfective:
weṭaḥ
write
he writes, he’s writing.
The perfect is marked with -a:
weṭaḥa
weṭa-ḥa
write-PRF
, he has written or -ḥa:
qoḥa
qo-ḥa
write-PRF
he has eaten.
The meaning is experiential or resultative:
ḥweṭaḥa ŋ-ašwornaḥ
1s-write-PRF therefore-2s.study<JUSS>
I have written (it) so that you study (it) / I have written so study (it)
raleša.
father-PERF.
He has children.
Ṭlemmo newerna, wo šaʾqen šaʾkoŋrilena ḥeʾAwawʾAqran ʾade.
Tlemmo inside-3p.A-PRF / and 3p-king 3p-make.holy-3p-PRF DEF-source-Aqran 3s-give.
They had entered Ṭlemmo, and they sanctified their king in the eyes of the Source-Aqran.
The perfect of stative verbs is a bit more difficult; but to put it shortly, it implies that the described state is the result of a previous action:
Wo ḥoŋammu dowiḥa dolema
and DEF-palace BODY-blue-PERF body-gold-PERF
And the palace was (painted) blue and (its walls were plated with) gold.
The habitual is marked by vowel alternation. Time back vowels are changed to o or ɔ, which I call o-gradation
ḥweṭaḥ > ḥwɔṭaḥ
1s.A-write > 1s.A-write<HAB>
I write > I am a scribe
Some classes of verbs mark the habitual with a suffix -o in the singular
qom > qomo
take > take-HAB
he takes, he always takes
But o-gradation is used in the plural:
qemen > qoman
take[PL]-3p.A > take[HAB]-3p.A
Monosyllabic verbs ending in a vowel use a suffix -ṭo instead:
qoṭo šondem
eat-HAB noon-ADV
He always eats at noon.
But, again, in the exclusive plural vowel gradation is used instead:
qelen šondem > qolan šondem.
eat[PL]-3p.A noon-ADV > eat[HABIT]-3p noon-ADV
The stative habitual conveys the implicature that the described state is essential, not episodic:
dolem > dolom
BODY-gold > BODY-gold[HAB]
it’s (plated with) gold > it’s made of gold.
ʾaṭame > ʾaṭamo
3s.P-quiet > 3s.P-quiet[HAB]
he’s quiet > he’s a quiet one.
Mood
The intensive mood is marked by reduplication.
For monosyllabic roots, the first consonant is reduplicated:
qo > eqqo
eat > <INTENS>eat
was > ewwas
Build > <INTENS>eat
In both cases, an epenthetic e- is added to break an illegal cluster, which disappears once prefixes are added:
ḥaqo > ḥaqqo
ḥawas > ḥawwas.
But, when the verb root is polysyllabic, the second consonant is doubled instead
weṭaḥ > weṭṭaḥ
An epenthetic -e- is added as needed:
koŋri > koŋerri
Usage differs sharply between active and stative verbs.
The active intensive works as an imperfective:
weṭṭaḥ
<INTENS>write
I'm writing
But the stative intensive is a comparative or superlative:
ʾamoḥ > ʾammoḥ
great > greatest
Ṭlemmo don Taqse ʾallem
Ṭlemmo BODY-hit Taqse 3s-<INTENS>gold
There is more gold in Taqse than in Ṭlemmo.
The hypothetical is formed by inserting -m, following the same formula, before the first or the second consonant:
emqo
<HYP>eat
aybe he eats
wemṭaḥ
<HYP>write
maybe he writes
qaŋemlom
CUP-<HYP>gold[HAB]
maybe it’s a golden cup.
The future follows the same formula with an infix -q-:
weqṭaḥ
<FUT>write
he shall write
The jussive uses the infix -r-.
It's used for commands, curses, and wishes:
tosoš doʔarrem
2s.POSS-house BODY-<JUSS>burn<JUSS>
May your house burn down.
samwor saromerbaḥ
1s-<HYP>wrong 1s.P-<JUSS>dead
May I die if I am unfaithful
ḥonrowun aʾašerror
DEF-adulterer 3s.P-2s.A-<JUSS>kill
Thou shall kill the adulterer
loŋeršun
TIME-<JUSS>pleasant.
Have a nice day.