Riphean
Riphean (rivška) is an Indo-European language of Tdūrzů, spoken in our Poland, Prussia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is inspired by Czech and Dutch and contains vocabulary we think of as Balto-Slavic and non-English Germanic.
TODO
Split-ergative past tense using a -n- passive participle?
UDHR
Wiži dzíni kimeđ walni im lejki in zwem chejn im zwame đejžam.
/ˈʋɪʒɪ ˈdziːɲɪ ˈkɪməθ ˈʋalɲɪ ɪm ˈlɛjkɪ ɪn zʋɛm xɛjn ɪm ˈzʋamə ˈðɛjʒɐm/
(im ~ Latin ambō)
hejn ~ τῑμή 'honor', đejše ~ teisė
Phonology
Riphean has consistent initial stress.
Voiceless stops are not aspirated
w and v as in Dutch
c č ď dz dž ň ř š ž h ch as in Czech, ľ as in Slovak, ř devoices word-finally
h devoices to [x]
đ = [ð], devoices to [θ]
Stressed a e i o u = [a ɛ ɪ ɔ u]
á é í ó ů = [aː e̞ː iː o̞ː uː]
ej ui ou = [ɛj œɥ ɔw]
l is velarized, r may be an approximant. Both can be syllabic: wlch 'wolf', crn 'grain'.
Auslautverhärtung
Unstressed a = [ɐ] (like Portuguese)
Morphology
Nouns and adjectives
Masculine animate
The dative singular has replaced the regular accusative singular for masculine animate nouns (cf. a in Spanish).
manč "man"
- nom. manč, manči
- gen. mančez, manču
- dat. manče, mančem
- acc. manče, mančuz
- ins. manču, mančiz
Masculine inanimate
Dialectally, these nouns may merge with neuter nouns: tam, tama
tam "house"
- nom. tam, tami
- gen. tamez, tamu
- dat. tame, tamem
- acc. tam, tamuz
- ins. tamu, tamiz
Feminine -a
kena "woman"
- nom. kena, kenaz
- gen. kenaz, kenu
- dat. kene, kenam
- acc. kenou, kenouz
- ins. kenam, kenami
Other feminine
váni (< vađni < potnih2) "lady, Mrs."
- nom. váni, vániz
- gen. vániz, váňu
- dat. váni, vánim
- acc. váni, vániz
- ins. vánim, vánimi
nacht "night"
- nom. nacht, nachtiz
- gen. nachtiz, nachťu
- dat. nachti, nachtim
- acc. nachti, nachtiz
- ins. nachtim, nachtmi
Neuter
céđ "child" (<- ģenh1tom, ~ Kind)
- nom. céđ, céđa
- gen. céđez, céđu
- dat. céđe, céđem
- acc. céđ, céđa
- ins. céđu, céđiz
Adjectives
Indefinite and definite declensions
Verbs
etež "to eat"
ec etem, ji eteđ, ež eteđ, đam etar, jíľud eteđ, í eteđ
(Polite pronoun?)
negative ne
buiž 'to be'
ec em, ji eđ, ež es, đam ér, jiľud eđ, í zouđ
Negative ec nem, ji neđ, ež nes, đam nér, jiľud neđ, í nezouđ
Reflexive verbs
ouchiž ze "to learn"
ec ouchim ze, ji ouchiđ ze, ež ouchiđ ze, đam ouchir ze, jiľud ouchiđ ze, í ouchiđ ze
Numerals
ejn, tů, đrí, cheđur, véch, zest, zevouđ, astuđ, ňouđ, tezou
ejnľez, twejľez, đríľez, cheđurľez, véľez, zesľez, zevaľez, astľez, ňouľez, twejcouđi
đrícouđi, cheđurcouđi, vécouđi, zescouđi, zevacouđi, ascouđi, ňucouđi, stou? (random change from kmtom -> ktom, influenced by the ordinal stouđe <- ktm-tos)
đouzuđ
ejn "1" declines as follows:
- nom. ejn, ejna, ejn
tů "2" declines as follows:
- nom. tů, twí, twej
- gen. tweju
- dat. twím
- acc. tů, twí, twej
- ins. twími
đrí "3" declines as follows:
- nom. đrí
- gen. đríu
- dat. đrím
- acc. đrí
- ins. đrími
Syntax
German-like?
Swadesh list
I: ec
thou: ji
he/she/it: ež/já/it
we: đam (originally a dummy word used with the impersonal, from đám "there")
ye: jíľud
they: í/jáz/đá
this: siđe
that: đađe
here: sím
there: đám
Texts
Schleicher's fable
Ra oucha um ri dzrki
Oucha, čá wlnou ne [had], [saw] dzrkuz