Cwengâr

Blackbird's Song	Ôsha nGec'hyr	Péladí ba Gécir
A Blackbird sings	Tengec'hyrh ôsha,	Gécir di ba édhí
To me of my youth,	dulh su gwe su n'ashâ,	del di me pél adhí
For my loaf of bread.	pen legw du nanâr.	pon di ba tenira.
It is a song of youth	Te ât ashâ ngec'hyr.	Té ítibh cu éndhí ba gécíra,
Of flowing white rivers	Negw fêrâr cwâ lanàr,	Cór nég bérad lenár,
Of high, dark caverns	Pel lelycw cwâ c’hylàr,	Cór níl pél nilár.
So long as the harp sings	Tengec'hyrh ôsha ô ôrhôdon,	In gécir tol ítibh me aradon,
I shant forget these things	o afongâm du en c’hon.	Tel calím me di ce én chon.

Cwengâr
Type
Analytic
Alignment
Direct
Head direction
Initial	Mixed		Final
Primary word order
Verb-subject-object
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
Yes
Nouns decline according to...
Case		Number
Definiteness		Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice		Mood
Person		Number
Tense		Aspect

Introduction

Background

This is a sibling language to Fén Ghír, I have come into it more familiar with linguistics and language construction and it should hopefully show in the slightly more fluid nature of the language. There is a voiced/unvoiced contrast used for gender which, combined with the mutation of Fén Ghír, makes it a highly shifting language.

General Information

Cwengâr represents a contemporary sibling language to Fén Ghír.

As Fén Ghír draws heavily of Irish Gaelic influence for spelling, phonetics and to some degree grammar, Cwengâr serves as a Bythronic equivalent, drawing heavily on Welsh and Breton. In this regard, an additional mutation was added [hard/nasal mutuation] and consonant agreement.

Root words are related to Fén Ghír, with some changes in connotations. For example, Cún [Fén: Law, Promise, Vow] has become Cwŷn and now mostly fills the Bér in Fén as a general Superlative like "Good". Cún in the sense of Promise has become Cwŷn C'hâr[aff] or "Just Word[s]". Per which is [Cognate to Bér] is basically reduced to meaning "Bright" in Cwengâr.

History of the Cwelhenev. [Cwelhànàf Netar]

Derived from the Galav culture which spread far during the early iron age. The Cwelhàn people occupy the hill and plains at the heart of the Galav expansion to the east of the Fayn Highlands. They are the largest Galavic Culture, by both population and size. Formerly a power, they have declined and ultimately been conquered by the Empire of Toryr. The Northern half of Cwelâr has retained some degree of independance as tribal puppet kings with their armies serving as auxiliaries and mercenaries, while the south is largely pushed to the country under the Toryl speaking aristocracy that has quickly risen up. The divide between the two groups however has not been long enough to be significant and there are no major differences of dialects, with the exception of Loeryr which has been heavily influenced by Toryr and is considered by many to be its own language.

To do

'Tenecwap cwâr cwŷr dol 'ôffan pen et ffelârh dolh tecwab c'hâr ngâbàf.'

Language is always expanding to meet the needs of an expanding language.

Currently this language is in the early stages of development.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Epiglottal	Glottal
Nasal	m			n				ŋ
Plosive	b/p			t/d					q/ɢ
Fricative		f/v			ʃ/ʒ				x/ɣ
Affricate
Approximant												h
Trill				r					ʀ
Flap or tap
Lateral fric.				l					ʎ
Lateral app.
Lateral flap

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	y
Near-close		Y
Close-mid	e				ɤ
Mid			ə
Open-mid	ɛ				ʌ
Near-open
Open	a		ä		ɑ

Phonotactics

Cwengâr avoids vowel and consonant clusters as a general rule. Consonant clusters are resolved by dropping the first consonant while the latter is lenitioned. Vowel clusters are usually separate words.

Orthography

Cwengâr spelling corresponds to IPA with these exceptions;

• ŋ is spelt ng as in English.
• q is spelt cw, ɢ is spelt gw. This is convention based off the Breton, if a Cwengâr script is invented, they will not be digraphs.
• f is spelt ff, v is spelt f, inspired by Welsh.
• ʃ is spelt sh, ʒ is spelt s, based off the above relation. It's tempting to use "ss" but "sh" is more conventional.
• x is spelt c'h, ɣ is spelt g'h, inspired by Breton.
• ʀ is spelt rh at the beginning of the word, rr elsewhere for aesthetic reasons. Rh at all points is acceptable but looks off to me personally.
• ʎ is spelt lh, inspired by Breton.

• y is spelt ŷ
• Y is spelt y
• e is spelt â
• ə is spelt à or a.
• ɛ is spelt e
• a is spelt a
• ɤ is spelt ê
• ʌ is spelt u
• ä is spelt ô
• ɑ is spelt o

Grammar

Essentials

Pronouns

Pronoun	Fem.	Masc.
1S	Ty	Du
2S	Ra	Rhà
3S	Le	Lho
1P	Ês	Ŷsh
2P	Ôrhà	Yra
3P	Ulhà	Âla

Genders

Cwengâr bases masculine/feminine distinctions on the first vowel in a word, which modifies the preceding consonant of the word [if any] and the final consonant of the word preceding it.

Masc	Fem.
ê	ŷ
u	â
ô	y
o	e
à	a

a is usually feminine, but this may not be the case when the /ə/ sound is not marked separately (usually as"à").

If the vowel is masculine, the preceding consonant is unvoiced. If Feminine, the consonant is voiced. r and l also agree with feminine vowels, while rh and lh agree with masculine ones. Nasal consonants are wholly neutral.

The primary relevance of this is in personal names and occaisionally in assigning genders to titles and animals, where the first vowel is changed to the corresponding letter on the table above.

The use for titles is generally rare and will occur mostly etymologically rather than grammatically, "Cwŷshyn" [King] for example is technically a feminine term, but relates to law and legitimacy over the land which is traditionally feminine. Cwŷson is a variation which occurs when the last syllable is made masculine but Cwŷshyn presedes the discintion and is usually left alone unless relevant.

For animals, the distinction usually defaults towards feminine or the roots of the term but when an animal's gender is relevant, the first letter will be changed; merygw "Sheep" becomes "morygw" or "ram".

To emphasize gender in a noun which defaults to the gender, a suffix if added; Female is usually signaled with an addition at the end or "-ŷn" or "-yn". "-ul" may be used at times to emphasize age. Male in turn is signified with "-on" or "-àn". "-àl" is a paternal counterpart to "-ul" but is used more rarely usually only for people seen actively serving as guardians.

Thus morycwŷn is an "ewe" while morycwul would be an "old-ewe" or "mother-sheep", while merygwàl might be used to refer to an old sheep.

Consonant Agreement Between Words

The Masculine-Feminine Consonant Distinction carries over between words as well as within them; Unless the word is a noun or determiner, then the final consonant will shift according to the gender of the word after it, thus, the example;

focw tânycw merygw ta ty.

The noun "fogw" agrees with the feminine adjective ["tâ-"] by becoming unvoiced ["focw"], similarly, the adjective becomes feminine; [tânygw-> tânycw]

However, the ending of merygw [sheep] which is masculine remains so, despite the next word starting with an unvoiced "t" [-gw remains -gw].

Mutations

A "Hard" Mutation occurs in either verbs which are modifed by auxilaries or else a possessed object which are possessed.

A "Soft" Mutation occurs in direct objects or in a noun following a preposition.

Unmutated	Soft	Hard
m	f/ff
p	ff	m
b	f	m
ff	'	b
f	'	p
n	sh/s
t	sh	n
d	s	n
sh	h	t
s	h	d
ng	c'h/g'h
cw	c'h	ng
gw	g'h	ng
c'h	h	cw
g'h	h	gw

Pluralization

Words are pluralized by adding "-àf" if the last vowel is masculine and "-aff" if feminine.

Verbs

Prefix	Meaning
A-	Negative
-Te-	Progressive/Past
-Dô-	Future
-Cwŷ-	Should
-Ma-	Want
-Te-	May
-Ga-	Able

• Te on its own usually implies an action that has taken place consistantly over time. If it is a thing that happened but is not happening currently, a time is specificed after, or else "gwô 'ogw" [at another time] is used.

"I [masc] am able to eat"

Ganegw du.

"I [fem] will not be able to eat this after today"

Anônganecw ty hâd gwof ghôl.

Verb and Noun Phrases

Cwengâr branches leftwards on Verb/Noun Phrases. Adjectives, Adverbs and Possessive precede the Verb/Noun.

Verb Phrase

Adverbs	Quantity Adverb	Verb

+Quantity in this case refers to the number of times an action is performed rather than the number of people performing it; "Hit twice" would be used rather than "Hit two times"

Noun Phrase

Preposition*	Adjective for Poss. Noun	Possessive Noun	Adjective	Quantity	Noun	Determiner

Subject/Object Distinction

The Subject of the sentance follows the Verb and is not mutated unless it follows after adjectives.

The Direct Object of the sentance follows the Subject and undergoes soft mutation regardless of the prescence of adjectives.

If there is no subject in a sentance, the direct object may be preceded by an "a"

Prepositions

Masc	Fem	English
Ngo	Nge	Against
Dulh	Tyl	From
Dà	Ta	To
Dàf	Taff	Towards
Rhàlh	Ral	Than
Êrô	Âra	Like
Rhàlh	Rŷ	By
fà	ffa	With
Gwu	Cwy	Under
Gwê	Cwe	Over
Gwô	Cwâ	In[to]
Lhurod	Lârot	Around
Nêrh	Nŷr	Near
Erac'hôn	Erac'hôn	Opposite
Gwuf	Cwâff	Before
Gwof	Cweff	After
Dôf	Taff	Until
Gwêr	Cwŷr	At/During
Bon	Pen	For/Because of
Gwulh	Cwâl	According

Words which begin with vowels following these are often pronounced with with a "h" sound preceding them or "n" in the case of possessives. Only the "n" is written however.

Preposition Conjugation

Person	Masc	Fem
1S	-s	-sh
2S	-rh	-r
3S	-lh	-l
1P	-sà	-sha
2P	-rhà	-ra
3P	-lhà	-la -	Determiner/Inanimate	-g'h	-c'h

If a pronoun is the object following a preposition, then it may be shortened by adding the above suffix after the preposition. This is not to be done when the pronoun is the possessor.

Possessive

Possessive causes a hard mutation in the possessed word;

He walked to your house.

Tenôlh lho dô rhà melem.

Vocative

A person may be addressed directly with  followed by their lenitioned name;

"John, go to the store please."

"Â Hon, ffeLhô dy lhotenan"

Unlike Fén Ghír, the location of this is in a sentance is fairly flexible;

"Â Hon, ffeLhô dy lhotenan pen shecwan ô shanyr"

"FfeLhô dy lhotenan, â Hon, pen shecwan ô shanyr."

"FfeLhô dy lhotenan pen shecwan ô shanyr, â Hon."

Determiners

Gender	Current Determiner	Contrasting Determiner	New Determiner	Current Determiner (Pl)	Contrasting Determiner (Pl)	New Determiner (Pl)	Inquistive Determiner	Relative Determiner	Inquistive Determiner (Pl)	Relative Determiner (Pl)
Masc	âd	âdà	âdôn	âdàf	âdànàf	âdônàf	E âd	Ed	E âdàf	Edàf
Fem	ât	âta	âtyn	âtyff	âtaff	âdynaff	E ât	Et	E âtaff	Etaff
	This [Person]	That [Person]	This Other [Thing/Person]	These [People]	Those [People]	These Other [Things/People]	What [person]?	Which [person]	What [people] ?	Those [things/people] which...
Masc	ugwô	ugwà	ugwôn	ugwôf	ugwàf	gwônàf	E ugwà	Egwà	E ugwàf	Egwàf
Fem	ucwy	ucwa	ucwyn	ucwyff	ucwaff	ucwynaff	E ucwa	Ecwa	E ucwaff	Ecwaff
	Now	Then	This Other Time	These Times	Those Times	These Other Times	When?	When	Which Time?	Those Times When...

Relative Clauses

In Cwengâr relative clauses are rather common and often mark another action within the sentance. These begin with a relative determiner, however there are no strict rules on there ending.

I shouted at the woman who took my bread.

Terhôlhôt du tyl alyn et tengŷcw dy nânar cwê 'ocwâ. .

These relative clauses can sometimes be worked into the shorter form of dependant clauses to express cause which is something rare in English, the result is something like this;

We went to the store to get fishing supplies.

Would said in Cwengâr as;

Telô dy lhotenan pen ed lhôtan ŷs gwânan c'honaf.

Although, it could also be expressed with depedant coupla dividing it into two sentances;

Tengâb du gwânan c'honaf o telô dy lhotenan.

This would translate as something closer to:

We needed fishing supplies so we went to the store.

It is also important to note that these relatively clauses may build on top of eachother, perhaps more often than in English;

I went to the man who sold the boat to the guy who talked to me yesterday.

Telô dy ôlon et telhotan ât cwerêl ta ed tengâr lho ta ny cwê fon gâl..

Practical Use

Phrasebook

“Hello”

• Cwâ!

"Hello" [Resp.]

• Ârâ!

“How are you?”

• E ne ed gwu rhà? [To a man]
• E ne ed cwy ra? [To a woman]

“I am well.”

• Te ât c'hŷn.

"So-so"

• Ffan ô fon.

“What is your name?”

• E ne ffemocw gwu rhà?
• E ne ffemocw cwy ra?

"It is ______"

• Te _______

Experiments

An example of the shifting language of Cwengâr;

Words

• du/ty "I"
• Pag'hôrh "To help"
• merygw "Sheep"
• âd/ât "That"
• ugwôn "Another Time"

I, [a woman] helped that [male] sheep before.

Temag'hôr ty borycw âd gwê hugwôn.

I[, a man,] helped that [female] sheep before.

Temag'hôrh du perygwyn ât gwê hugwôn.

Jury is Out, PLease leave a Message

Most of these are up in the air questions. Most individual cases both lay out the current problem and the path I think I may take on it. If someone can suggest or advise on these, it will be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, I will likely remove them once I have the time to go over what has been written so far.

Pronouns

I may consider including further pronouns, esp. incl. v. excl. "we" since the current form is too indo-european for my liking.