Varangian

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 by	Shariifka
Language family	Indo-European Germanic North Germanic Varangian
Early forms	Old Norse Old Varangian

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. Such doubling is maintained in a word's stem even when it occurs word-finally.

⁴ Free variation (depending on speaker and dialect).

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

This palatalization is also known as "obstruent palatalization".

In this article, obstruent palatalization is represented as {j-o}

Second palatalization

Includes all mutations under the first palatalization as well as:

• n > ň
• l > ľ
• r > ř

By default, "palatalization" refers to the second palatalization unless specified otherwise.

In this article, palatalization is represented as {j}.

U-umlaut

• a > o
• ă, â > u

Represented as {u}.

I-umlaut

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

Represented as {i}.

Disappearing -g-

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

The environments where -g- appears are:

• Strong verbs: In the past participle and the plural forms of the past tense.
• Preterite-present verbs: In the infinitive, present participle, imperative, and the plural forms of the present tense.

In this article, disappearing -g- is represented as {g}.

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)
  • Expected *-tt- is simplified to -t-.
• -d- > after -n-, -m-, -l-, -d- and -ð-.
  • Expected *-dd- and *-ðd- are simplified to -d-.
• -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	mă	sik	să	hân	hîn	hână	hîn	þat	hîn	šik	šă
	Gen.	mer		ser		hâns		hiňi		þes		šer
	Dat.	mer	mă	ser	să	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

These can also function as determiners.

Near demonstrative

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Singular	nom./acc.	þess	þessă	þet
	gen./dat.	þess	þešši	þessu
Plural	nom./acc.	þeššir	þessăr	þess
	gen./dat.	þessum

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

Note that these pronouns can also function as determiners.

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	ândăt
	gen./dat.	ândrs	ândři	undru
Plural	nom./acc.	ândřir	ândrăr	undr
	gen./dat.	undrum

ald "all, every, everyone"

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Singular	nom./acc.	ald	aldă	alt
	gen./dat.	alds	aldři	oldu
Plural	nom./acc.	aldzir	aldăr	old
	gen./dat.	oldum

Adjectives

Declension

Adjectives can be declined either strong or weak. Weak forms are used when modifying definite nouns, while strong forms are used otherwise. However, certain adjectives can only take one of the two patterns irrespective of definiteness.

Strong adjective declension

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Singular	nom./acc.	-	-ă	-t¹
	gen./dat.	-s²	-(ř)i³	{u}-u
Plural	nom./acc.	-ir	-ăr	{u}-
	gen./dat.	{u}-(u)m⁴

Notes:

¹ Dental consonants (-t-, -d-, -þ-, -ð-, and -n-) assimilate to -t and are dropped.

² -s is dropped after postalveolar consonants.

³ -ř- is dropped after the consonants -r-, -s-, -n-, and -l-, which are then palatalized in its stead.

⁴ -u- is dropped after a vowel.

Weak adjective declension

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Singular	nom./acc.	-ă¹
	gen./dat.	-ă¹	-u	-ă¹
Plural	nom./acc.	-u
	gen./dat.

Notes:

¹ -ă is dropped after a vowel.

Placement

Adjectives may precede or follow the nouns they modify. When a weak adjective is used with a definite noun, the definite article is attached to whichever word comes last (whether it is the noun or adjective).

Comparative and superlative

• Comparative: mer "more" + adjective
• Superlative: mest "most" + adjective
• Some adjectives have irregular comparatives and superlatives.

Numbers

Numbers

#	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	nul; zero	nuldă
1	en, enă, et (en)	first
2	tvir, tver, tvau (tvo)	tvoðă
3	srir, sror, sru (sri)	sriză
4	fjořir, fjorăr, fjor (fjor)	fjorðă
5	fim	fimtă
6	ses	setă
7	šau	šundă
8	otă	otândă
9	niu	nindă
10	ciu	cindă
11	enpociu	enpocindă
12	tvopociu	tvopocindă
13	sripociu	sripocindă
14	fjorpociu	fjorpocindă
15	fimpociu	fimpocindă
20	tvociu	tvocindă
21	tvociu ok en	tvocindă ok first
30	sriciu	sricindă
40	fjorciu	fjorcindă
50	fimciu	fimcindă
100	hundrăð	hundrădă
101	hundrăð ok en	hundrădă ok first
200	tvau hundruð	tvau hundrădă
1000	þusund	þusundă

Notes:

¹ All ordinal numbers are weak adjectives, except first which can be strong or weak.

² En (1) is declined as a strong adjective. Tvir (2) is declined as the plural third person pronoun (þir). Fjořir (4) is declined as a plural strong adjective. Srir (3) is declined irregularly. These numbers (1-4) also have indeclinable variants.

Declension of en "one"

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Singular	nom./acc.	en	enă	et
	gen./dat.	ens	eňi	ens
Plural	nom./acc.	eňir	enăr	en
	gen./dat.	enum
Indeclinable		en

Declension of tvir "two"

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Plural	nom./acc.	tvir	tver	tvau
	gen./dat.	tvem
Indeclinable		tvo

Declension of srir "three"

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Plural	nom./acc.	srir	sror	sru
	gen./dat.	srim
Indeclinable		sri

Declension of fjořir "four"

Number	Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Plural	nom./acc.	fjořir	fjorăr	fjor
	gen./dat.	fjorum
Indeclinable		fjor

Hundrăð (100) and þusund (1000) are declined as neuter nouns. All other numbers are indeclinable.

Nouns

Declension

• The citation form is the nominative-accusative singular.
• Pluralization of regular masculine nouns:
  • Ending in consonant: add -ă.
  • Ending in -i: replace -i with -ă.
  • Ending in -ă: 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 formed as below:
    • Masculine and neuter nouns: identical to the nominative-accusative singular.
    • Feminine nouns: identical to the nominative-accusative plural.

Definiteness

A noun is made definite by suffixing the definite article -in (declined as the definite pronoun) 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/genitive-dative.
  • Note: The -r of the feminine plural/genitive-dative is not pronounced before the definite article. For example, džavărnăr "the gifts (nom./acc.)" is pronounced as if it were written *džavănăr.
• The final consonant of the noun is palatalized before undropped -i- of the definite article whenever possible.

Verbs

Verb stems

A verb can have up to 5 stems:

• Primary present stem (Pr)
  • Used in the infinitive, present participle, plural present tense, and imperative.
• Secondary present stem (Pr')
  • Used in the singular present tense.
  • Either identical to the primary present stem, or derived from it via i-umlaut.
• Primary past stem (P)
  • Used in the singular past tense.
  • For weak verbs and preterite-present verbs, it is formed from the primary present stem with the ending -ð- (or one of its allomorphs).
  • For strong verbs, it is formed by ablaut. Some strong verbs additionally add the ending -r- followed by weak verb endings.
• Secondary past stem (P')
  • Used in the plural past tense.
  • Identical to the primary past stem for the vast majority of verbs.
• Past participle stem (Pa)
  • Used in the past participle.
  • For weak verbs and preterite-present verbs, it is identical to the past stem.
  • For strong verbs, it is formed by ablaut along with the ending -in-.

Verb classes

Verbs fall into 3 main categories:

1. Strong verbs
2. Weak verbs
3. Preterite-present verbs

Strong verbs

Strong verbs are characterized by ablaut variations between the present, past, and past participle stems.

Strong verb declension

Non-finite forms
Infinitive		Pr'-(ă)
Present participle		Pr'-(â)nd
Past participle		Pa-(i)n
Finite forms
Person/ Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	Pr'-
2S	Pr'-r
3S
1P
2P
3P

Notes: Vowels in brackets are dropped after stems ending in vowels.