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Similarly to [[w:Latin|Latin]] in the real world, Elvarri did not undergo [[w:Language death|language death]], but rather evolved into regional dialects and then distinct languages, including [[Hoklevar]], [[Hespadrin]], [[Whitereed]], [[Tasparin]], [[Macatranese]], [[Amtarese]], [[Moonhind]] and various isolated Inner Water island languages collectively called [[Insular Levarian]]. However, it remained a significantly used common language long after it was no longer spoken as a native language, due to its large influence on scientific, economic, military, horological and naval vocabulary; this dominance remained till the 12th century, when modern languages largely supplanted its traditional use.
Similarly to [[w:Latin|Latin]] in the real world, Elvarri did not undergo [[w:Language death|language death]], but rather evolved into regional dialects and then distinct languages, including [[Hoklevar]], [[Hespadrin]], [[Whitereed]], [[Tasparin]], [[Macatranese]], [[Amtarese]], [[Moonhind]] and various isolated Inner Water island languages collectively called [[Insular Levarian]]. However, it remained a significantly used common language long after it was no longer spoken as a native language, due to its large influence on scientific, economic, military, horological and naval vocabulary; this dominance remained till the 12th century, when modern languages largely supplanted its traditional use.


Elvarri is a mostly agglutinative, strictly VSO, adjective-noun and informally [[w:Pro-drop language|pro-drop]] language with a complex system of [[w:Grammatical|case inflections]], verb inflections, and a twoway [[w:Animacy|animacy]] distinction of animate and inanimate.
Elvarri is a [[w:Synthetic language|synthetic]], strictly SOV, adjective-noun and informally [[w:Pro-drop language|pro-drop]] language with a complex system of [[w:Grammatical|case inflections]], verb inflections, and a twoway [[w:Animacy|animacy]] distinction of animate and inanimate.
==Phonology==
==Phonology==
===Consonants===
===Consonants===
Line 50: Line 50:
! Process !! Resultant</br>phoneme !! Examples
! Process !! Resultant</br>phoneme !! Examples
|-
|-
| {{ipa|/r/}} + {{ipa|/g/}} || {{ipa|/ɣ/}} || ''ar'''g'''a'' "also"</br>''meiur'''g'''e'' "garbage, trash"
| {{ipa|/r/}} + {{ipa|/g/}} || {{ipa|/ɣ/}} || ''ar'''g'''a'' "also, other"</br>''meiur'''g'''e'' "garbage, trash"
|-
|-
| {{ipa|/r/}} + {{ipa|/k/}} || {{ipa|/x/}} || ''ur'''k'''amo'' "to split, to cut"</br>''mur'''k'''ambet'' "aqueduct"
| {{ipa|/r/}} + {{ipa|/k/}} || {{ipa|/x/}} || ''ur'''k'''amo'' "to split, to cut"</br>''mur'''k'''ambet'' "aqueduct"
Line 79: Line 79:
|}
|}
{{ipa|/ɛ ɔ/}} become {{ipa|/e o/}} in unstressed syllables. {{ipa|/u/}} was also often dropped between a velar consonant and any other consonant, rendering the latter consonant syllabic, as in ''k'''u'''ruk'' "tailor" [[Help:IPA|[ˈkr̩uk]]].
{{ipa|/ɛ ɔ/}} become {{ipa|/e o/}} in unstressed syllables. {{ipa|/u/}} was also often dropped between a velar consonant and any other consonant, rendering the latter consonant syllabic, as in ''k'''u'''ruk'' "tailor" [[Help:IPA|[ˈkr̩uk]]].
==Grammar==
Grammatically, Elvarri is a [[w:Synthetic language|synthetic]], mostly [[w:Fusional language|fusional]] [[w:Nominative-accusative language|nominative-accusative]] language. [[w:Noun|Nouns]] (''malor''), [[w:Adjective|adjectives]] (''hemerei'') and [[w:Pronoun|pronouns]] (''yomalor'') are inflected on [[w:Animacy|animacy]], [[w:Grammatical number|number]] and [[w:Grammatical case|case]]. Personal pronouns are also often dropped in spoken or colloquial speech, though only if the subject could be inferred; this is discouraged in standardised literary language. [[w:Verb|Verbs]] are inflected on tense, mood, and (to an extent) [[w:Grammatical person|person]].
===Nouns===
Nouns are primarily infected on case, which then differentiates based on the animacy (broadly, whether the noun is living or not living) and the grammatical number (singular, paucal or plural) of the noun.
====Case====
There are, traditionally, eight noun cases in Elvarri: [[w:Nominative case|nominative]], [[w:Accusative case|accusative]], [[w:Genitive case|genitive]], [[w:Dative case|dative]], [[w:Locative case|locative]], [[w:Instrumental case|instrumental]], [[w:Perlative case|perlative]] and [[w:Vocative case|vocative]].
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
! colspan=2 | !! Nominative !! Accusative !! Genitive !! Dative !! Locative !! Instrumental !! Perlative !! Vocative
|-
! rowspan=2 | Singular
! inanimate
| rowspan=2 | — || ''-i'' || ''-os'' || ''-ta'' || ''-si'' || ''-es'' || ''-as'' || ''-to''
|-
! animate
| ''-a'' || ''-u'' || ''-i'' || ''-ea'' || ''-si'' || ''-se'' || ''-va''
|-
! rowspan=2 | Paucal
! inanimate
| ''-ur'' || ''-ir'' || ''-sro'' || ''-tra'' || ''-sia'' || ''-sur'' || ''-sra'' || ''-tor''
|-
! animate
| ''-om'' || ''-am'' || ''-nem'' || ''-nis'' || ''-nye'' || ''-ams'' || ''-ems'' || ''-va''
|-
! rowspan=2 | Plural
! inanimate
| ''-or'' || ''-er'' || ''-ro'' || ''-tar'' || ''-sa'' || ''-sor'' || ''-srat'' || ''-tor''
|-
! animate
| ''-i'' || ''-e'' || ''-iu'' || ''-im'' || ''-ses'' || ''-is'' || ''-ise'' || ''-vai'' / ''-ve''*
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The plural animate vocative ''-vai'' was written as ''-ve'' in the ''Book of Whitereed'' and other literary works and inscriptions. This practice expanded in use across most literary societies during the Age of Twilight due to the dominance of Whitereed literature, the sole Elvarri literary institution still sponsored by the state in the Twilight.
{| class="multicol" role="presentation" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0; background: transparent; width:auto; text-align: center;"
| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top;" |
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|+ Case inflections on regular animate noun ''dud'' ("tree")
! !! Nominative !! Accusative !! Genitive !! Dative !! Locative !! Instrumental !! Perlative !! Vocative
|-
! Singular
| ''dud'' || ''duda'' || ''dudu'' || ''dudi'' || ''dudea'' || ''dudsi'' || ''dudse'' || rowspan=2 | ''dudva''
|-
! Paucal
| ''dudom'' || ''dudam'' || ''dudnem'' || ''dudnis'' || ''dudnye'' || ''dudams'' || ''dudems''
|-
! Plural
| ''dudi'' || ''dude'' || ''dudiu'' || ''dudim'' || ''dudses'' || ''dudis'' || ''dudise'' || ''dudvai'' / ''dudve''
|}
&#32;
| style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top;" |
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|+ Case inflections on regular inanimate noun ''rukum'' ("bread")
! !! Nominative !! Accusative !! Genitive !! Dative !! Locative !! Instrumental !! Perlative !! Vocative
|-
! Singular
| ''rukum'' || ''rukumi'' || ''rukumos'' || ''rukumta'' || ''rukumsi'' || ''rukumes'' || ''rukumas'' || ''rukumto''
|-
! Paucal
| ''rukumur'' || ''rukumir'' || ''rukumsro'' || ''rukumtra'' || ''rukumsia'' || ''rukumsur'' || ''rukumsra'' || rowspan=2 | ''rukumtor''
|-
! Plural
| ''rukumor'' || ''rukumer'' || ''rukumro'' || ''rukumtar'' || ''rukumsa'' || ''rukumsor'' || ''rukumsrat''
|}
|}
====Animacy====
Nouns in Elvarri are categorised into either '''animate''' or '''inanimate''' nouns, with their case endings differing based on this animacy. Generally, living things such as {{l|elva|dud}} "tree", {{l|elva|tokis}} "child" or {{l|elva|vanu}} "mother" are inflected as animate, while objects are inflected as inanimate, as in {{l|elva|rukum}} "bread", {{l|elva|farfa}} "flatbread" and {{l|elva|gort}} "container, bottle". However, there are many exceptions to this rule, with many nouns that are ostensibly animate taking on inanimate inflections and vice versa. For example, {{l|elva|vard}}, meaning "meeting spot, meeting place" or by extension "city, ward, town, seaport", is animate, despite referring to a location, which would logically be inanimate (as in {{l|elva|kin}} "field"). These exceptions are usually because the words already imply people are involved; a ''vard'', for example, could not feasibly exist without people to build it or decide on its location.
Additionally, some words can be inflected as either animate or inanimate, though the meaning changes; for example, {{l|elva|teps}} "leaf" can be inflected as animate, {{l|elva|tepsi}}, to refer to living, typically green leaves, or as inanimate, {{l|elva|tepsor}}, to refer to dead, typically brown or yellow leaves (the latter form itself became a euphemism for autumn, {{l|elva|hurdet}}, and became the basis for the word "autumn" in many descendant Elvarno languages). These types of nouns are called animate or inanimate by sense.
====Number====
Elvarri nouns are conventionally either '''singular''', '''paucal''' or '''plural'''. 'Paucal' is equivalent to the construction "some [noun]s" in English, so {{l|elva|dudom}} would translate to "some trees". Some [[#Case|cases]] don't have unique inflections for the paucal, in particular the vocative, which takes on the singular declension (''-va'') among animate nouns and the plural (''-tor'') among inanimate nouns.
===Numerals===
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
! rowspan=2 | n. !! colspan=2 | Numeral
|-
! cardinal !! ordinal
|-
! 1
| ''hond'' || ''honder''
|-
! 2
| ''nei'' || ''neidet''
|-
! 3
| ''sis'' || ''siser''
|-
! 4
| ''kev'' || ''kevet''
|-
! 5
| ''hum'' || ''humer''
|-
! 6
| ''ves'' || ''vest''
|-
! 7
| ''nart'' || ''naher''
|-
! 8
| ''skov'' || ''skovet''
|-
! 9
| ''kiam'' || ''kier''
|-
! 10
| ''poz'' || ''pozoi''
|}
Ordinal numbers are derived from cardinal numbers and are generally inflected with ''-er'' if odd and ''-et'' if even. However, all multiples of 10 are inflected to be ordinal with a separate suffix, ''-oi''.
===Verbs===
===Personal pronouns===
Unlike regular nouns, personal pronouns are inflected on only five of the eight [[#Case|noun cases]], with the exception of the inanimate third-person pronouns which are inflected on seven.
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
! colspan=2 | !! Nominative !! Accusative !! Genitive !! Dative !! Locative !! Instrumental !! Perlative
|-
! rowspan=2 | First</br>person
! singular
| ''bo'' || ''ba'' || ''bu'' || ''bes'' || ''abo'' || colspan=2 rowspan=4 |
|-
! plural
| ''vo'' || ''va'' || ''vu'' || ''ves'' || ''avo''
|-
! rowspan=2 | Second</br>person
! singular
| ''ne'' || ''nya'' || ''nu'' || ''nes'' || ''ans''
|-
! plural
| ''glei'' || ''gla'' || ''glau'' || ''glaves'' || ''aglei''
|-
! rowspan=2 | Inanimate</br>third</br>person
! singular
| ''i'' || ''un'' || ''hea'' || ''ier'' || ''aier'' || ''eris'' || ''eras''
|-
! plural
| ''ovo'' || ''ova'' || ''ou'' || ''oves'' || ''auvo'' || ''averis'' || ''averas''
|-
! rowspan=2 | Animate</br>third</br>person
! singular
| ''tad'' || ''tar'' || ''tor'' || ''ter'' || ''ater'' || ''teris'' || ''teras''
|-
! plural
| ''evo'' || ''eva'' || ''ou'' || ''eves'' || ''aivo'' || ''leris'' || ''leras''
|}
==Example texts==
===Swadesh===
{{Swadesh
|language=Elvarri
|nativename=elvarriu
|I=
|you (singular)=
|he=
|we=
|you (plural)=
|they=
|this=
|that=
|here=
|there=
|who=
|what=
|where=
|when=
|how=
|not=
|all=
|many=
|some=-om
|few=
|other=arga
|one=hond
|two=nei
|three=sis
|four=kev
|five=hum
|big=
|long=
|wide=
|thick=
|heavy=
|small=
|short=
|narrow=
|thin=
|woman=kavin
|man (adult male)=tades
|man (human being)=hosep
|child=tokis
|wife=vardi
|husband=pardi
|mother=vanu
|father=panu
|animal=
|fish=
|bird=
|dog=
|louse=
|snake=
|worm=
|tree=dud
|forest=duid
|stick=
|fruit=
|seed=
|leaf=teps
|root=
|bark=
|flower=
|grass=
|rope=
|skin=
|meat=
|blood=
|bone=
|fat=
|egg=
|horn=
|tail=
|feather=
|hair=
|head=
|ear=
|eye=
|nose=
|mouth=
|tooth=
|tongue=
|fingernail=
|foot=
|leg=
|knee=
|hand=
|wing=
|belly=
|guts=
|neck=
|back=
|breast=
|heart=
|liver=
|drink=
|eat=
|bite=
|suck=
|spit=
|vomit=
|blow=
|breathe=
|laugh=
|see=
|hear=
|know=
|think=
|smell=
|fear=
|sleep=
|live=
|die=
|kill=
|fight=
|hunt=
|hit=
|cut=
|split=
|stab=
|scratch=
|dig=
|swim=
|fly=
|walk=
|come=
|lie=
|sit=
|stand=
|turn=
|fall=
|give=
|hold=
|squeeze=
|rub=
|wash=
|wipe=
|pull=
|push=
|throw=
|tie=
|sew=
|count=
|say=
|sing=
|play=
|float=
|flow=
|freeze=
|swell=
|sun=
|moon=
|star=
|water=
|rain=
|river=
|lake=
|sea=
|salt=
|stone=
|sand=
|dust=
|earth=
|cloud=
|fog=
|sky=
|wind=
|snow=
|ice=
|smoke=
|fire=
|ashes=
|burn=
|road=
|mountain=
|red=
|green=
|yellow=
|white=
|black=
|night=
|day=
|year=
|warm=
|cold=
|full=
|new=
|old=
|good=
|bad=
|rotten=
|dirty=
|straight=
|round=
|sharp=
|dull=
|smooth=
|wet=
|dry=
|correct=
|near=
|far=
|right=
|left=
|at=
|in=
|with=
|and=
|if=
|because=
|name=
}}
[[Category:Elvarri]] [[Category:Hamanna]] [[Category:Languages]] [[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Elvarri]] [[Category:Hamanna]] [[Category:Languages]] [[Category:Conlangs]]
Retrieved from "https://linguifex.com/wiki/Elvarri"