Varangian

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Varangian (Native: Verinskă /ˈverinskə/) is a North Germanic language that is part of the Balkan sprachbund.

Varangian
Verinskă tungă
Веринскъ тунгъ
Pronunciation[ˈverinskə ˈtuŋɡə]
Created byShariifka
Early forms
Old Norse
  • Old Varangian

Introduction

Phonology

Orthography

Varangian orthography
Letter IPA Remarks
Latin Cyrillic
A a А а a
Ă ă Ъ ъ ə
 â Ы ы ɨ Generally used when /ɨ/ is derived from earlier /a/.
B b Б б b, p¹
C c Ц ц ts, dz²
Č č Ч ч tʃ, dʒ²
D d Д д d, t¹
Ð ð Ԁ ԁ ð, θ¹
Dz dz Ѕ ѕ dz, ts¹
Dž dž Џ џ dʒ, tʃ¹
E e Е е e
F f Ф ф f, v³
G g Г г ɣ, ɡ, k¹, x¹ Pronounced /ɡ/ (devoiced: /k/) initially and after /ŋ/; /ɣ/ (devoiced: /x/) otherwise.
Gg gg Ґ ґ ɡ, k¹ Not used initially or after /ŋ/.
H h Х х x ~ h, ɣ² /h/ can be used in free variation with /x/, but it is most often used word-initially before vowels.
I i И и i
Î î Ы ы ɨ Generally used when /ɨ/ is derived from earlier /e/ or /i/.
J j Й й (Ј ј) j Й and ј are considered variants of the same letter.
Ь ь After consonants except /l, n, r/.
K k К к k, ɡ²
L l Л л l Can be syllabic.
Ľ ľ Ль ль (Љ љ) ʎ Љ is a ligature of ль.
M m М м m
N n Н н n, ŋ Pronounced /ŋ/ before velars; /n/ otherwise.
Ň ň Нь нь (Њ њ) ɲ Њ is a ligature of нь.
O o О о o
P p П п p, b²
R r Р р r Can be syllabic.
Ř ř Рь рь rʲ ~ r̝ ~ ɻ⁴ Рь may be written as a ligature which looks roughly like R with a loop on the right leg.
S s С с s, z³
Š š Ш ш ʃ, ʒ³
Št št Шт шт (Щ щ) ʃt, ʒd² Щ is considered a ligature of the cluster шт.
T t Т т t, d²
Þ þ Ѳ ѳ θ, ð³
U u У у u
V v В в v, f¹
Z z З з z, s¹
Ž ž Ж ж ʒ, ʃ¹

Notes:

¹ Voiced obstruents are devoiced before voiceless consonants.

² Voiceless stops and affricates are voiced before voiced consonants except /v/.

³ Voiceless fricatives are voiced when they occur between voiced sounds (including vowels). To remain unvoiced in such environments, they can be written doubled.

⁴ Free variation (depending on speaker and dialect).

Consonants

Vowels

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

The following phonological transformations occur in certain environments:

First palatalization

  • t > c
  • d > dz
  • þ > s
  • ð > z
  • s > š
  • z > ž
  • k > č
  • g (as /ɡ/) > dž
  • g (as /ɣ/) > ž

Second palatalization

Includes all mutations under the first palatalization as well as:

  • n > ň
  • l > ľ
  • r > ř

U-umlaut

  • a > o
  • ă, â > u

I-umlaut

  • a > e
  • ă, â, î > i
  • After consonants: jo, ju > i
  • After palatalized consonants: o > i
  • Otherwise: o > e
  • u > i

Disappearing -g-

  • Some verbs have a stem-final -g- that appears in certain morphological environments and disappears in others.

Disappearing -j-, -v-, and palatalization

  • Some consonant-final verbs, nouns, and adjectives have a final -j- or -v- or a palatalization of the final consonant which appear before vowels but are lost in other environments.

Dental past suffix

The dental past suffix varies between -t-, -d-, and -ð- depending on the context.

  • -t- > after orthographic voiceless consonants, and after disappearing -g- (which is dropped in this environment)
  • -d- > after nasals and l
  • -ð- > otherwise

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Varangian personal pronouns
Number Case 1st 2nd 3rd person
Masc. Fem. Neut. Refl.
Singular Nom. jek þu hân hână þat
Acc. mik sik hân hîn hână hîn þat hîn šik šă
Gen. mer ser hâns hiňi þes šer
Dat. mer ser hâns hîn hiňi hîn þes hîn šer šă
Poss. adj. min sin šin
Plural Nom. ver jer þir þer þau Same as singular.
Acc. os ăs iðr îr þir þîr þer þîr þau þîr
Gen. os iðr þem þem þem
Dat os ăs iðr îr þem þîm þem þîm þem þîm
Poss. adj. vor iðr

Definite pronoun

Definite pronoun
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. in ină it
gen./dat. ins iňi inu
Plural nom./acc. iňir inăr in
gen./dat. inum

Demonstratives

Near demonstrative
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. ses sesă set
gen./dat. ses seši sesu
Plural nom./acc. sešir sesăr ses
gen./dat. sesum
Far demonstrative
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. þân þo þat
gen./dat. þes þeři þes
Plural nom./acc. þir þer þau
gen./dat. þem

Other pronouns

Relative/interrogative/indefinite pronoun
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. hver hveřă hvert
gen./dat. hvers hveři hveřu
Plural nom./acc. hveřir hveřăr hver
gen./dat. hveřum
ândr "other (one)"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. ândr ândră ândrt/ândăt
gen./dat. ândrs ândři undru
Plural nom./acc. ândřir ândrăr undr
gen./dat. undrum

Nouns

Declension

  • The citation form is the nominative-accusative singular.
  • Pluralization of regular masculine nouns:
    • Ending in consonant: add .
    • Ending in -i: replace -i with .
    • Ending in : no change.
  • Pluralization of regular feminine nouns:
    • Ending in consonant: add -ăr.
    • Ending in -i: replace -i with -ăr.
    • Ending in -u: add -r.
  • Regular neuter nouns undergo u-umlaut in the plural.
  • Some nouns (known as consonant stems) have irregular plurals involving i-umlaut. Examples:
    • mând "man" (M) > mindă
    • foðr "father" (M) > feðră
    • moðr "mother" (F) > meðrăr
    • šistr "sister" (F) > šistrăr
    • broðr "brother" (M) > breðră
    • dotr "daughter" (F) > detrăr
    • fot "foot" (M) > fetă
    • tund "tooth" (F) > tindăr
    • not "night" (F) > netăr
  • A class of feminine nouns known as u-stems have u-umlaut in the singular that is reversed in the plural. Examples:
    • džov "gift" (F) > džavăr
    • corn "lake" (F) > carnăr
  • Formation of genitive-dative:
    • The genitive-dative plural is always identical to the nominative-accusative plural.
    • The genitive-dative singular is identical to the nominative-accusative plural except in the case of consonant stems, where the i-umlaut is reversed.

Definiteness

The definite article is formed suffixing the definite pronoun -in (in its appropriately declined form) to the noun. Note that the following changes occur:

  • The -i- of the definite article is dropped after vowels and after the -r of the feminine plural.
  • The final consonant of the noun undergoes the second palatalization before undropped -i- of the definite article whenever possible.

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Vocabulary

Example texts

Other resources