Alvinian

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Alvinian
Алвини Език, Alvini Ezik
Created byAlbertVen
Indo-European
  • Slavic
    • Southern Slavic
      • Alvinian


Introduction

Alvinian (Алвини Език, Alvini Ezik) is a Southern Slavic language based on Old Slovene, which has been significantly influenced by Venetan, an Italo-Romance language spoken in North-Eastern Italy, and other Slavic languages, especially Serbian and Russian.


Alphabet

Alvinian uses both Cyrillic and Latin script. The alphabets have an equal status, although latin is usually preferred in informal texts, while cyrillic is normally used in normative, scientific and official texts.

Cyrillic Latin IPA value
А а A a /a/
Б б B b /b/
В в V v /v/
Г г G g /ɡ/
Д д D d /d/
Џ џ Ğ ğ /dʑ/
Е е E e /ɛ/ (stressed); /e/ (unstressed)
Ж ж Ž ž /ʐ/
З з Z z /z/
И и I i /i/
Ј ј J j /ʝ/
К к K k /k/
Л л L l /l/
Ԡ ԡ L̆ l̆ /ʎ/
М м M m /m/
Н н N n /n/
Ԣ ԣ Ň ň /ɲ/
О о O o /ɔ/ (stressed); /о/ (unstressed)
П п P p /p/
Р р R r /ɾ/
С с S s /s/
Т т T t /t/
У у U u /u/
Ф ф F f /f/
Х х H h /x/
Ц ц C c /ts/
Ч ч Č č /tɕ/
Ш ш Š š /ʂ/
Һ һ X x /dz/
Я я Ą ą /ɔ̃/


Grammar

Nouns

Alvinian inflects nouns for number (singular, dual, plural), gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and case (nominative, genitive, accusative, dative). The declensions are divided into masculine, feminine and neuter.

Masculine - Ušnik (Student) Singular Dual Plural
Nominative Ušnik Ušnika Ušniki
Genitive Ušnika Ušnika Ušnikov
Accusative Ušnik Ušnika Ušnike
Dative Ušniku Ušnikam Ušnikima


Feminine - Niga (Book) Singular Dual Plural
Nominative Niga Nigi Nige
Genitive Nige Nigi Nig
Accusative Nigu Nigi Nige
Dative Nigi Nigam Nigima


Neuter - Revo (Tree) Singular Dual Plural
Nominative Revo Revi Revą
Genitive Reva Revi Rev
Accusative Revo Revi Revą
Dative Revu Revam Revima

Personal Pronouns

Alvinian personal pronouns are inflected for number (singular, dual, plural), person, case (nominative, genitive, accusative, dative) and the 3rd persons are inflected also for gender (masculine/neuter, feminine).

1S 2S 3S m,n 3S f 1D 2D 3D 1P 2P 3P m, f, n
Nom Mi Ti El, Elo Ela Naj Vaj Laj Ni Vi Eli, Ele, Elą
Gen Meg Teg Neg Ne Nas Vas Las Nih Vih Lih
Acc Men Ten Nen Nu Nas Vas Las Nih Vih Lih
Dat Mom Tom Nem Nom Nama Vama Lima Nam Vam Lim

Verbs

Subject Clitics

Alvinian doesn't have any agreement morphology realised on the verb, that's why it developed a second serie of subject pronouns, which are clitic elements derived from full personal pronouns. These elements function only as markers of the agreement with the subject, and they are obligatorily realised in a sentence with a verb. Subject Clitics are normally proclitic in declarative sentences (they come before the verb) and enclitic in interrogative sentences (they follow the verb). Subject Clitics are not inflected for case, since they always encode the relation of agreement with the subject, but they inflect for person, number (singular, dual, plural) and the 3rd persons are also inflected for gender (masculine, feminine, neuter).

Subject Pronoun 1S 2S 3Sm 3Sf 3Sn 1D 2D 3D 1P 2P 3Pm 3Pf 3Pn
Full Mi Ti El Ela Elo Naj Vaj Laj Ni Vi Eli Ele Elą
Clitic Me Te El La Lo Na Va La Ne Ve Li Le

In a sentence with a full pronominal subject or with a referential nominal subject, Subject Clitic has to be realised as well.

Subject Clitic + Verb Full Pronoun + Subject Clitic + Verb Referential Noun + Subject Clitic + Verb
Declarative La že Ela la že Lara la že
Translation She is She she is Lara she is

In questions the order is inverted: the verb comes before the Subject Clitics and they are written as a single word.

Declarative Interrogative Translation
La že Žela? She is. --> Is she?

Finite Tenses

Alvinian Present tense covers more or less the functions of English Present Simple and Present Continuous. Verbal morphology is very limited. Verbs in the present tense consist of a single form (the root) which is combined with Subject Clitics in order to give rise to the full conjugation. Alvinian Aorist covers more or less the functions of English Past Simple and Past Perfect. The form consists of the root of the verb with the addition of an -s morpheme at the end of it, and it has to be combined with Subject Clitics in order to give rise to the conjugation. The meaning of Alvinian Imperfect is that of a continuous or repeated action taking place in the past. The form consists of the root of the verb with the addition of a -k morpheme at the end of it, and it has to be combined with Subject Clitics in order to give rise to the conjugation. Alvinian Future tense covers all the meanings of actions taking place in the future. The form consists of the root of the verb with the addition of a -bo morpheme at the end of it, and it has to be combined with Subject Clitics in order to give rise to the conjugation.

Verb "že" (to be) Present Aorist Imperfect Future
1S Me že Me žes Me žek Me žebo
2S Te že Te žes Te žek Te žebo
3Sm El že El žes El žek El žebo
3Sf La že La žes La žek La žebo
3Sn Lo že Lo žes Lo žek Lo žebo
1D Na že Na žes Na žek Na žebo
2D Va že Va žes Va žek Va žebo
3D La že La žes La žek La žebo
1P Ne že Ne žes Ne žek Ne žebo
2P Ve že Ve žes Ve žek Ve žebo
3Pm Li že Li žes Li žek Li žebo
3Pf Le že Le žes Le žek Le žebo
3Pn Lą že Lą žes Lą žek Lą žebo

Conditional

Just like finite verbs, conditional mood is realised by attaching the particle -bi'' at the end of the present stem. The negative conditional is formed by attaching the usual ni- before the verbal stem.

Subject Clitic Conditional Negative conditional
Me, Te, El, La, Lo, Na, Va, La, Li, Le, Lą Žebi Nižebi

Questions, Negation, Negative questions

In questions, the clitic + verb complex undergoes an inversion: the clitic, which is found in a proclitic position (before the verb) in declarative sentences, is found in an enclitic position (after the verb) in interrogative questions. The inversion takes places in all tenses. Some clitics (3sf, 3sn, the dual, 3p) don't change with inversion, but some others (1s, 2s, 3sm, 1p, 2p) lose their vowel. The negation is formed by attaching a ni- morpheme before the verbal stem. This negative particle is attached to all negative verbs in all tenses. In negative questions, the negative morpheme keeps the same position, while the clitic undergoes the same inversion phenomenon as their positive counterparts.

Verb "že" (to be) Declarative Interrogative Negative Neg. Interr.
1S Me že Žem? Me niže Nižem?
2S Te že Žet? Te niže Nižet?
3Sm El že Žel? El niže Nižel?
3Sf La že Žela? La niže Nižela?
3Sn Lo že Želo? Lo niže Niželo?
1D Na že Žena? Na niže Nižena?
2D Va že Ževa? Va niže Niževa?
3D La že Žela? La niže Nižela?
1P Ne že Žen? Ne niže Nižen?
2P Ve že Žev? Ve niže Nižev?
3Pm Li že Želi? Li niže Niželi?
3Pf Le že Žele? Le niže Nižele?
3Pn Lą že Želą? Lą niže Niželą?

Reflexive verbs

Reflexivity in Alvinian is expressed with the Reflexive Clitic . This clitic comes immediately after the Subject Clitic and it's written separately from the verb.

Infinitive Present Aorist Negative Question
Są vavere (to believe) El są vavere (He believes) El są vaveres (He believed) El są nevavere ( He doesn't believe) Są vaverel? (Does he believe?)