Sambahsa

Sambahsa's phonology has little to do with Proto-Indo-European phonology, though the majority of its vocabulary comes from PIE.{{Cite web|title=sambahsa / Sambahsa pronunciation in English|url=http://sambahsa.pbworks.com/w/page/27811711/Sambahsa-pronunciation-in-English|access-date=2021-08-21|website=sambahsa.pbworks.com}}

The changes from PIE are not regular, since the creator of Sambahsa has tried to avoid homophones, which would have become common after the elimination of some PIE sounds like laryngeals or some aspirated consonants. Unlike some auxlangs like Esperanto, the orthography of Sambahsa is complex yet regular and consists only of the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet."The strange quest for a universal "Earth Standard" language" by Esther Inglis-Arkell, 08-17-2012 : http://io9.com/5935563/the-strange-quest-for-a-universal-earth-standard-language This system was chosen to preserve the recognizability of words taken from West-European languages, where orthography plays a key role. For example, according to the rules of Sambahsa, {{wikt-lang|fr|bureau}} is pronounced as in French, and point as in English.

Sambahsa's phonemic inventory has 22 consonants and nine vowels (excluding the lengthened forms of these vowels).However, different versions of pronunciation of "r" are admitted, and the "ng" sound (as in English "sing") could be counted as a new sound, distinct from the conjunction of [n] + [g]. To help language learners, and because IPA symbols cannot be written with all keyboards, a special simpler system has been developed, called Sambahsa Phonetic Transcription, or SPT.

Compared to other conlangs, Sambahsa words are short, often as short as English words, and highly consonantic.See this link on a French-speaking forum : http://aphil.forumn.net/t844p15-analyse-phonotactique-kotava-esperanto-uropi-et-autres?highlight=analyse+phon%E9tique This latter point is in accordance with the PIE background of Sambahsa, where roots have often a consonant-vocal-consonant structure.{{Cite book |last=Benveniste |first=Émile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OD4IAQAAIAAJ |title=Origines de la formation des noms en indo-européen |date=1962 |publisher=Adrien-Maisonneuve |language=fr}}

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Sambahsa's stress rules are complex but regular, and tend to follow what is often found in German or Italian. This predictability implies that all words with the same orthography are pronounced and stressed the same way as each other. Thus, for example, while German {{wikt-lang|de|Präsident}} and Italian {{wikt-lang|it|presidente}} are stressed on the "ent" syllable, Sambahsa {{Lang|art|president}} is stressed on the "i", since {{Lang|art|president}} can also mean "they preside", and a final "ent" never bears the stress. This regularity of accentuation can be compared with English president and to preside, two words that bear the stress on different syllables, though they share the same origin.

In Sambahsa, declensions are only compulsory for pronouns. The declensions of these pronouns (demonstrative/interrogative and relative/personal) are mostly parallel, and often show similarities with their Proto-Indo-European ancestors. Thus, in all Sambahsa declensions, the neuter nominative and accusative are identical, as it was the case in PIE.R.S.P. Beekes, Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, J.Benjamins.Pub., p.195 There are identical forms for the relative and interrogative pronouns,With the exception of the nominative singular masculine, as in Latin, where the relative pronoun is {{lang|la|qui}}, and the interrogative form is {{lang|la|quis}}. as well as for the third person pronoun and the definite article (the in English).But the genitive form serves only for the definite article, while the possessive pronouns have special forms (otherwise, confusions could have arisen).

Sambahsa has two numbers (singular and plural; the dual number of PIE has not been preserved) and four grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, neuter, and undetermined. This last gender, which is an innovation from PIE, is used when a noun of uncertain or unknown gender is referred to, and, in the plural, for groups containing elements of different genders. The creator of Sambahsa introduced this non-PIE element to avoid the "gender" dispute found in Esperanto.

Gender is attributed in Sambahsa according to the "true nature" of the noun referred to, as English speakers do with he, she and it.

Sambahsa has four grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive; however, their attribution tries to be as logical as possible, and not arbitrary as in many modern Indo-European languages. The nominative is the case of the subject, and the form under which words are given in dictionaries. Except for verbs describing a movement or a position (where the appropriate prepositions ought to be used), all transitive verbs must introduce the accusative case in the first place, before an eventual dative case. However, the dependent clause of indirect speech is considered as a direct object, leading to verbs introducing an indirect object, even if there is no visible direct object.

Compare:

• {{Lang|art|Is mi antwehrdt od is ne gwehmsiet cras}}, 'He answers (to) me that he won't come tomorrow'
• {{Lang|art|Is ne mi hat antwohrden}}, 'He hasn't answered (to) me'

In Sambahsa, all prepositions trigger the accusative.Under certain circumstances, the preposition {{lang|art|bi}} can merge with the definite article in its dative form.

The genitive indicates possession, and is used after adjectives that can introduce a dependent clause.

Compare:

• {{Lang|art|Som yakin od is ghehdsiet kwehre to}}, 'I'm sure that he'll be able to do that'
• {{Lang|art|Som yakin eysen}} (genitive plural) {{Lang|art|imkans}}, 'I'm sure of his abilities'

For substantives and adjectives, there are declined "free endings" (i.e. non-compulsory) used most often in literary context for euphonics or poetry. This system is inspired by the euphonic endings (ʾiʿrāb) found in Modern Standard Arabic.

In Sambahsa, all verbs are regular, except {{Lang|art|ses}} ('to be'), {{Lang|art|habe}} ('to have'), and {{Lang|art|woide}} ('to know', in the meaning of French savoir or German wissen). Sambahsa verbs are indicated in dictionaries not under their infinitive form, but their bare stem, because the whole conjugation can be deduced from the form of this stem.

The main tenses of Sambahsa are present and

past, but many other tenses can be obtained through the use of affixes or auxiliary verbs. Sambahsa uses the following endings, which are close to those found in many Indo-European languages.They can be compared to the data provided in Indo-European Linguistics : an introduction by J. Clackson, Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 127 & 128.

Sambahsa is unusual among auxlangs because of its use of a predictable ablaut system for the past tense and passive past participles. For example, eh within a verbal stem turns to oh. Other verbs that cannot use ablaut can drop their nasal infix, or use an improved version of the De Wahl's rules. Finally, the remaining verbs simply add the past tense endings, which are optional for verbs of the categories described above.

Therefore, this system qualifies Sambahsa as a language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages, though it remains a constructed language.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

Because of its rather large vocabulary for an auxlang (as of April 2021, the full Sambahsa-English dictionary contained more than 19,500 entries{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/39063111/Sambahsa-English-Dictionary|title=Sambahsa English Dictionary - Nature|website=Scribd|accessdate=27 June 2017}}), it is difficult to assess the share of each language in Sambahsa's eclectic wordstock. However, the main layers are (either reconstructed or extrapolated) Indo-European vocabulary, Greco-Roman scientific and technical vocabulary (which is not discussed below, as it is more or less comparable to what is found in English) and multiple sources extending from Western Europe to Eastern Asia.

The core of Sambahsa's vocabulary is undoubtedly of Indo-European origin. Only a few Sambahsa words can be traced back to pre-Indo-European times (like {{Lang|art|kamwns}}, 'chamois', cf. Basque: {{wikt-lang|eu|ahuntz}}). Many basic Sambahsa words are thus very close to their reconstructed Indo-European counterparts. See (Sambahsa/Proto-Indo-European): {{Lang|art|eghi}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*H₁eghis}} ('hedgehog'), {{Lang|art|ghelgh}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*ghelghe-}} ('gland'), {{Lang|art|pehk}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*pek}} ('to comb'), {{Lang|art|skand}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*skand}} ('to jump'), {{Lang|art|peungst}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*pn̥kʷsti-}} ('fist'), {{Lang|art|wobhel}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*wobhel-}} ('weevil'), {{Lang|art|gwah}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*gweH₂}} ('to go'), {{Lang|art|tox}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*tòksom}} ('yew wood' in Sambahsa; 'yew' in PIE), {{Lang|art|treb}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*trêbs}} ('dwelling'), {{Lang|art|oit}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*H₁òitos}} ('oath'), {{Lang|art|poti}}/{{Lang|ine-x-proto|*potis}} ('Sir, lord'). But less attested Indo-European vocabulary is found in Sambahsa too. For example, the common Sambahsa word for person is {{Lang|art|anghen}}, as in {{Lang|art|semanghen}}, 'someone, somebody', and can be derived from PIE {{Lang|ine-x-proto|?*H₂enH₁ǵh}}, only found in Old Armenian {{Transliteration|xcl|anjn}} ('person') and Old Norse {{Lang|non|angi}} ('smell'). And {{Lang|art|motic}} ('hoe') may be a cognate of Old Church Slavonic {{Transliteration|cu|motyka}} and English mattock.

Though Sambahsa, like any other conlang, has derivation rules, it sometimes uses backformation too. For example, the relation between Lithuanian {{Lang|lt|bendras}} ('companion'), Old Greek {{Lang|grc-latn|pentheros}} ('father-in-law') and Sanskrit {{Transliteration|sa|bandhu-}} ('companion') is uncertain;J.P Mallory & D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, p.196 however Sambahsa "reconstructs" this root as {{lang|art|behndwr}} from behnd 'to bind'. PIE has {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*dhéǵhom}} 'earth' and {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*dhinéǵh-}} (with nasal infix) 'to shape, to make pottery'; accordingly, Sambahsa has {{Lang|art|(di)ghom}} and {{Lang|art|dinegh}}, but the latter can be understood as "to put earth on" if we refer to {{Lang|art|yug}} ('yoke') and {{Lang|art|yuneg}} ('to join'), both from PIE {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*yugom}} and {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*yunég-}}.

The Sambahsa word for 'ice pellet' is {{Lang|art|kersnit}}; it rests on the word {{Lang|art|kersen}} 'frozen snow', itself from Old Norse {{Lang|non|hjarn}}, Lithuanian {{Lang|lt|šarma}} ('frost') and Russian {{Transliteration|ru|serën}}.ibidem, p.287 But the suffix -it was abstracted from PIE words like {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*sepit}} 'grain of wheat' and {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*H₂elbit}} 'grain of barley';ibidem, p.639 thus {{Lang|art|kersnit}} can be understood as 'a grain of frozen snow'.

A characteristic of Sambahsa is to include words found in different language families, while the most famous auxiliary languages tend to limit themselves to a compilation of Romance vocabulary with some borrowings from the Germanic languages. For example:

• {{Lang|art|Schkaf}} ('cupboard') has cognates both in Germanic and Slavic languages: Russian {{wikt-lang|ru|шкаф}}, Polish {{wikt-lang|pl|szafa}}, Ukrainian {{wikt-lang|uk|шафа}}, Danish {{wikt-lang|da|skab}}, Icelandic {{wikt-lang|is|skápur}}, Franconian dialect {{lang|ksh|schaaf}} and Swedish {{wikt-lang|sv|skåp}}.
• {{Lang|art|Graf}} ('count', as a nobility title) is a German word from Greek {{Lang|grc-latn|grapheùs}} that has been borrowed into many languages including Azerbaijani {{wikt-lang|az|qraf}}, Bulgarian {{wikt-lang|bg|граф}}, Czech {{wikt-lang|cs|hrabě}}, Danish {{wikt-lang|da|greve}}, Estonian {{wikt-lang|et|krahv}}, Croatian {{wikt-lang|hr|grof}}, Hungarian {{wikt-lang|hu|gróf}}, Finnish {{wikt-lang|fi|kreivi}}, Lithuanian {{wikt-lang|lt|grafas}}, Icelandic {{wikt-lang|is|greifi}} and Russian {{wikt-lang|ru|граф}}.
• {{Lang|art|Bicair}} ('mug') is found in German {{wikt-lang|de|Becher}} and many other Germanic languages. It comes from Low Latin {{wikt-lang|la|bicarium}} and is at the origin of Hungarian {{wikt-lang|hu|pohár}}, Italian {{wikt-lang|it|bicchiere}} and Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|pahar}}, all meaning 'glass'.
• {{Lang|art|Saray}} means 'big hall, palace' and has the same Turkish and Persian origin as English seraglio but with a meaning closer to its etymology and to Russian {{wikt-lang|ru|сарай}} ('barn').

Though they belong to different language families,{{clarification needed|date=August 2017}}{{dubious|date=August 2017}} the languages spoken in Southeast Europe share a number of common grammatical features and of loanwords due to their historical background.{{citation needed |date=August 2017}} That is why Sambahsa includes words from this region.

• {{Lang|art|Schut}} ('hornless') corresponds to Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|șut}}, Bulgarian/Serbo-Croatian {{Lang|zls|šut}}; also Albanian {{Lang|sq|shut}} 'hornless'.
• {{Lang|art|Potire}} ('pitcher') comes from Old Greek {{Lang|grc|ποτήρ}}, like Serbo-Croatian {{wikt-lang|sh|путир}}, Russian {{wikt-lang|ru|потир}}, Romanian and Albanian {{Lang|sq|potir}}.
• {{Lang|art|Keramide}} ('coating') comes from Greek {{lang|el|κεραμίδα}}, which has given, among others, Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|cărămidă}} ('brick') and Arabic {{Lang|ar|قرميدة}} {{Transliteration|ar|qirmîda(t)}} 'tile'.

A significant part of Sambahsa's vocabulary comes from Arabic and Persian. Both languages have extensively provided loanwords to a lexical continuum ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to Indonesia because, respectively, of the spread of Islam and the brilliance of the former Persian civilization. Sambahsa learning materials often call this stratum "Muslim".

• {{Lang|art|Amlak}} ('assets') comes from Arabic {{Lang|ar|أملاك}} and is found in Turkish {{Lang|tr|emlak}} ('estate') and Persian {{Lang|fa|املاک}}.
• {{Lang|art|Zina}} ('adultery') comes from Arabic {{Lang|ar|زنا}} and is found in Persian and many other languages spoken by a majority of Muslims.
• {{Lang|art|Adarb}} ('merlon') comes from Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|adarve}} and Portuguese {{lang|pt|adarve}} from Arabic {{Lang|ar|درب}} and ultimately Persian {{Lang|fa|در}} which has its origin in PIE {{wikt-lang|ine|*dʰwer-}} like Sambahsa {{Lang|art|dwer}} ('door').

Classical Chinese has heavily influenced the wordstock of neighbouring languages, mostly Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. As a result, Sambahsa incorporates some Sinitic vocabulary, but the phonetic differences between these various languages can be high.

• {{Lang|art|Kjingyow}} ('goldfish') corresponds to {{Lang-zh|c=金魚|labels=no}}, which is read {{Lang-zh|p=jīnyú|labels=no}} in Mandarin Pinyin and {{Nihongo3|||kingyo}} in Japanese.
• {{Lang|art|Geong}} ('fortified palace') corresponds to the Han character {{Lang-zh|c=城|labels=no}} read {{Lang-zh|p=chéng|labels=no}} in Mandarin Pinyin, {{Lang|ja-latn|jō}} in Japanese Go-on reading, {{Transliteration|ko|seong}} in Korean, and {{Lang|vi|thành}} in Vietnamese.
• {{Lang|art|Rjienrlwey}} ('humankind') in an attempt to balance Mandarin {{Lang-zh|p=rénlèi|labels=no}}, Japanese {{Nihongo3|||jinrui}}, Korean {{Transliteration|ko|illyu}}, and other renderings of {{Lang-zh|c=人類|labels=no}}. This word showcases some seeming flaws of the language's approach to be reminiscent of all targeted languages at once.

Not all Sambahsa Sinitic words come from Classical Chinese. The Min Nan language of Southern China provided loanwords to some South-East Asian languages, and some of these borrowings are, in turn, found in Sambahsa.

• Sambahsa {{Lang|art|pangsit}} ('wonton') is an Indonesian word from Min Nan {{Transliteration|nan|pian sit}}, while Mandarin Chinese (Pinyin) has {{Lang-zh|p=húndùn|labels=no}}.
• Likewise, Sambahsa {{Lang|art|loteng}} ('attic') comes from Min Nan {{Transliteration|nan|lauteng}} through Indonesian loteng.

• The Songs of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs : [http://fr.scribd.com/doc/83065380/Ia-Songvs-as-Bilitis Ia Songvs as Bilitis]
• Demian by Hermann Hesse : [http://fr.scribd.com/doc/122334083/Demian-Sambahsa-tarjem Demian]
• The Stranger by Albert Camus : [http://fr.scribd.com/doc/81520739/Is-Gospoti-l-Etranger-in-Sambahsa Is Gospoti]
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry : [http://fr.scribd.com/doc/61098743/Is-Lytil-Prince-Le-Petit-Prince-en-Sambahsa-The-Little-Prince-in-Sambahsa Is Lytil Prince]
• The Gospel of Matthew : [http://fr.scribd.com/doc/147341646/EUANGHELIO-SEKWENT-MATYAH Id Euanghelio sekwent Matyah]
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland : [http://www.evertype.com/books/alice-sambahsa.html Ia Aventures as Alice in Daumsenland] and [http://www.evertype.com/books/looking-glass-sambahsa.html Through the Looking-Glass] published by Evertype
• The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde : [https://www.evertype.com/books/jekyll-sambahsa.html Id Stragno Fall om Doctor Jekyll ed Poti Hyde] published by Evertype
• Un Coeur simple by Gustave Flaubert : [https://fr.scribd.com/document/380965322/Un-Simple-Kerd Un simple kerd]
• The Tower of the Elephant, The Scarlet Citadel, The Devil in Iron, A Witch Shall Be Born, Jewels of Gwahlur and Shadows in Zamboula by Robert E. Howard : [https://fr.scribd.com/document/334053099/Id-Tor-Ios-Elephant Id Tor ios Elephant], [https://fr.scribd.com/document/335501303/Id-Scarlato-Citadell Id Scarlato Citadell], [https://fr.scribd.com/document/383775991/Diabel-Ex-Sider Diabel ex Sider], [https://fr.scribd.com/document/580718626/Gnahsiet-Un-Yasa Gnahsiet un Yasa], [https://fr.scribd.com/document/611394629/Ia-Dents-Os-Gwahlur Ia Dents os Gwahlur], [https://fr.scribd.com/document/638702165/Zamboulas-Anthropophags Zamboulas Anthropophags]
• A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle : [https://fr.scribd.com/document/469774223/Scandal-in-Chekhia Un Scandal in Chekhia]
• The Call of Cthulhu and the Moon-Bog by H. P. Lovecraft : [https://fr.scribd.com/document/558075126/Kal-Os-Cthulhu Kal os Cthulhu], [https://fr.scribd.com/document/558075759/Luna-moor Luna-moor]

• Revelations (a fan-made movie based on Star Wars): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-qjqQwF0Bc Revelations]
• The Hunt for Gollum (a fan-made prequel to the Lord of the Rings) : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkAxzTfcMbU Sayd po Gollum]
• Born of Hope (a fan-made prequel to the Lord of the Rings) : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY4aAtSf8eI Gnaht Speh]
• Home (a French movie by Yann Arthus-Bertrand about environmental threats) : [http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1ikyf_3abductee_ghom-in-sambahsa-hd/1#video=xgb2g3 Ghom]
• Kaydara (a fan-made movie based on The Matrix) : [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xickar_kaydara-official-film_shortfilms Kaydara]

{{reflist}}

• [http://sambahsa.pbworks.com/w/page/10183084/FrontPage|The Official Website of Sambahsa]
• [https://www.scribd.com/doc/39063111/Sambahsa-English-Dictionary A Sambahsa English Dictionary]
• [https://glosbe.com/mis_sam/en/ Sambahsa-English dictionary on Glosbe (providing dictionaries to many other languages)]
• [https://sambahsa.fandom.com/wiki/Sambahsa-mundialect_Wiki Sambahsa-mundialect Wiki]

{{Constructed languages}}

Category:International auxiliary languages

Category:Constructed languages introduced in the 2000s

Category:2007 introductions

Category:Constructed languages