Vesenian

Vesenian (native: vesenesko /veseˈnesko/) is a Slavic language.

Introduction

Vesenian is an attempt to create a "Spanish-sounding" Slavic language.

Phonology

Consonants

Vesenian consonant phonemes

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar/ Palatal	Velar/ Guttural
Nasal		m		n	ɲ	(ŋ)
Stop	voiceless	p	t		c ~ tʃ	k
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	θ	s		x
	voiced	v	ð	z	ʝ
Approximant		(β̞)	(ð̞)		(j)	(w), (ɣ˕)
Lateral				l	ʎ
Trill				r
Tap				ɾ

Phonological history

From Proto-Slavic (with original vowel length preserved) to Proto-Vesenian

Vowels

• *oRC > *oRъC
• *eRC > *eRьC
• *ъRC > *ъRъC
• *ьRC > *ьRьC
• Weakening of yers:
  • Yers were considered weak (and were likely shortened to some extent but were not completely dropped) when final, and when followed by a syllable in the same word that did not contain a weak yer.
  • Yers followed by a syllable containing a weak yer were considered strong.
  • Weak yers could not carry an accent. Therefore, any accent they had was shifted to the previous vowel, resulting in the neoacute.
• All final-syllable accents were shifted to the previous syllable (or the syllable before that if the penultimate syllable contained a weak yer), forming more cases of the neoacute.
• Neoacute vowels (including yers) were lengthened.

Consonants

• *šč > *sc / adjacent to front vowels
• *č > *c / adjacent to front vowels
• *č > *ť / otherwise
• *ždž > *zdz / adjacent to front vowels
• *ždž > *žď / otherwise
• *ž > *z / adjacent to front vowels
• *š > *s / adjacent to front vowels
• *ś > *s / everywhere

Proto-Venesian prounciation notes

• Preserved *š = /ç/
• Preserved *ž = /ʝ/
• *ť = /c/
• *ď = /ɟ/
• *ь = /ɪ/
• *ъ = /ʊ/

From Proto-Vesenian to Early Old Vesenian

Vowels

• Reformulation of strong and weak yers (only applies to short yers):
  • The earlier distinction between strong and weak yers was lost.
  • Final yers were preserved except when part of a polysyllabic inflectional ending and in some other exceptional cases.
  • Elsewhere, yers were dropped whenever phonotactically feasible (with the second of a sequence of two yers being dropped when possible), lengthening the preceding vowel. This process was highly susceptible to analogy.
  • Yers were also added to break impermissible consonant clusters. The quality of the yer was in accordance with the vowel of the syllable that it split.
  • A front yer was also added word-initially before clusters of a sibilant + consonant.
• *ь̄ > e
• *ъ̄ > o
• *e > ь / before palatal consonants (j, ž, š, ť, ď)
• *o > vъ / before j initially or after velars
• *o > ъ / before j otherwise

From Early Old Vesenian to Late Old Vesenian

Vowels

• ь, ъ > i / adjacent to j, ž, š
• ь, ъ > e / adjacent to ť, ď
• ь > e / otherwise
• ъ > o / otherwise
• ě > ē
• ę > ēN / before a consonant (N = homorganic nasal to following consonant)
• ę > ē / otherwise
• ǫ > ōN / before a consonant
• ǫ > ō / otherwise

Consonants

• šť > ť / initially
• šť > jť / otherwise
• žď > ď / initially
• žď > jď / otherwise
• ť > č /c/ (purely transcription change)
• ď > ž /ʝ/
• j > ∅ / #_i

Transcription Notes

• Long vowels are consistently marked with macrons.

From Late Old Vesenian to Modern Vesenian

Vowels (vowel length marked)

• Non-final posttonic short vowels were often dropped where phonotactically feasible.
• Posttonic long vowels were shortened.
• ē > ië (note: ë = /ə/)
• ō > uë
• ā > a
• ī > i
• ū > u
• ȳ > ë
• ë > e
• CjV, CijV > CiV (i.e. became an opening diphthong)
• uej > ui /u̯i/
  • This occurred after gC > jC and resulted in Old Vesenian ōgC becoming uiC.
• uie > Cui
  • This (and the change below) occurred after CvV > CuV
• ui > uj / before non-front vowels
• ue > u / _CiV
• ie > i / _CiV

Consonants

• š /ç/ > x
• c > ť /θ/
• j > j /ʝ/ / except when before a consonant (i.e. in a closing diphthong) or after /i/, in which case it is pronounced /j/
• ž > j /ʝ/
• dz > ď /ð/
• dl > gl
• tl > kl
• g > j / before consonants
• x > f / before consonants
• fv > f
• v > u /w/ / adjacent to consonants and word-finally
• r > r /ɾ/
• ř > ř /r/
• m > n / word-finally

Morphology

Pronouns

Vesenian personal pronouns

Person/ Number	Subject	Object	Oblique	Approximative	Clitic object		Possessive
					Direct	Indirect	Weak	Strong
1S	ja	mene	menen	meneh	me	mi	mi	mije
2S	te	tebe	teben	tebeh	te	ti	ti	tije
3SM	ono	niego	niegon	niegoh	go	gi	gi	jego
3SF	ona	nijo	nijon	nijoh	jo	ji	ji	ije
3R	—	sebe	seben	sebeh	se	si	si	sije
1P	ne	namo	namon	namoh	ne	nas	nas	naso
2P	ve	vamo	vamon	vamoh	ve	vas	vas	vaso
3PM	oni	niho	nihon	nihoh	ho	hi	hi	iho
3PF	one	niho	nihon	nihoh	ho	hi	hi	iho

Strong possessives decline as adjectives.

Nouns

Original Proto-Slavic case forms were mostly lost, with some relics.

Possessive adjectives, equivalent to -'s in English, are formed with the suffixes -vo (added after the final vowel of masculine nouns ending in -o or -e) and -ino (added to non-masculine nouns, replacing the final vowel). When formed from a plural noun, the suffix is -sevo (added after the final vowel of the plural).

The plural is regularly formed by changing the final vowel to -i (masculine) or -e (feminine). However, if this would result in the word ending in -ji or -ii, the final vowel instead becomes -a (yielding -ja or -ia respectively). Many nouns have irregular plurals, often co-occurring with regular plurals.

An emphatic plural can be formed with the suffix -s added after the vowel of the regular plural. However, the emphatic plural is often used colloquially as the default plural.

The oblique is formed by adding a final nasal (-n) to a noun in the singular or plural.

The approximative (meaning "around X", "in the area of X", "approximately X") is formed by adding a final (-h) to the plural form of the noun.

Adjectives

Adjectives are declined as nouns and agree with them.

Unlike other Slavic languages, the "ling" forms of adjectives have been completely lost except for some relics.

Numerals

Vesenian numerals

#	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	zero; niťo	zereno
1	eno, ena	pervo
2	dova, dove	votoro
3	tri	trete
4	ťeteri	ťeterto
5	piente	piento
6	seste	sesto
7	sedme	sedmo
8	osme	osmo
9	deviente	deviento
10	desiente	desiento
11	enaťie
12	dovanaťie
13	trinaťie
14	ťeterinaťie
15	pientenaťie
16	sestenaťie
17	sedmenaťie
18	osmenaťie
19	devientenaťie
20	dovaťién
21	dovaťién i eno
30	triťién
40	ťeteriťién
50	pienteťién
60	sesteťién
70	sedmeťién
80	osmeťién
90	devienteťién
100	soto	soteno
200	dueste	duesteno
300	trista	tristeno
400	ťeteristo
500	pientesto
1000	tesienťa
2000	dove tesienťe

Verbs

Features

• Lexical aspect is highly regularized.
• Most verbs regularly form the perfective and habitual from the imperfective (via the prefix po- and the suffix -va- respectively).
• Verbs that are inherently perfective form the imperfective via the -va- suffix appended to the perfective form. This applies to most prefixed verbs.
  • Note: The -va- suffix is appended after the theme vowel, but a preceding -a- becomes -e- (except in monosyllabic or originally monosyllabic stems).
• A durative can be formed from any base verb (whether imperfective or perfective) by combining the prefix po- and the suffix -va-. This gives a meaning of "to do (verb) for a period of time".
• Aspectual counterparts essentially behave as tense/aspect counterparts of a single verb.
• Verbs formed from imperfectives with prefixes other than po- are also usually perfective, but they have additional meaning and behave as derived verbs, with their own regularly formed imperfective, habitual, and durative aspectual forms.

a-stems

Conjugation of dielati "to be doing" (impf.)

Infinitive		dielati
Present active participle		dielanťe
Past active participle		dielalo
Passive participle		dielano
Verbal noun		dielanie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	dieló	dielah
2S	dielás	dielases	dielaj
3S	dielá	dielase
1P	dielamo	dielasmo	dielajmo
2P	dielate	dielaste	dielajte
3P	dielán	dielahon

ie-stems

Conjugation of bilieti "to be whitening" (impf.)

Infinitive		bilieti
Present active participle		bilienťe
Past active participle		bilielo
Passive participle		bilieno
Verbal noun		bilienie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	bilijo	bilieh
2S	bilijes	bilieses	bilí
3S	bilije	biliese
1P	bilimo	biliesmo	bilimo
2P	bilite	bilieste	bilite
3P	bilijon	biliehon

i-stems

Conjugation of voditi "to be leading" (impf.)

Infinitive		voditi
Present active participle		vodienťe
Past active participle		vodilo
Passive participle		vodino
Verbal noun		vodinie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	vodio	vodih
2S	vodis	vodises	vodi
3S	vodi	vodise
1P	vodimo	vodismo	vodimo
2P	vodite	vosiste	vodite
3P	vodien	vodihon

u-stems

Conjugation of tolkuati "to be interpreting" (impf.)

Infinitive		tolkuati
Present active participle		tolkujenťe
Past active participle		tolkualo
Passive participle		tolkuano
Verbal noun		tolkuanie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	tolkujo	tolkuah
2S	tolkujes	tolkuases	tolkuj
3S	tolkuje	tolkuase
1P	tolkujmo	tolkuasmo	tolkujmo
2P	tolkujte	tolkuaste	tolkujte
3P	tolkujon	tolkuahon

Consonant stems

Conjugation of paseti "to be grazing" (impf.)

Infinitive		paseti
Present active participle		pasienťe
Past active participle		paselo
Passive participle		paseno
Verbal noun		pasenie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	paso	paseh
2S	pases	paseses	pasi
3S	pase	pasese
1P	pasemo	pasesmo	pasimo
2P	pasete	paseste	pasite
3P	pason	pasehon

Example of a regular verb

Conjugation of dielati "to be doing" (impf.)

Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	dieló	dielah
2S	dielás	dielases	dielaj
3S	dielá	dielase
1P	dielamo	dielasmo	dielajmo
2P	dielate	dielaste	dielajte
3P	dielán	dielahon

Conjugation of podielati "to have done" (perf.)

Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	podieló	podielah
2S	podielás	podielases	podielaj
3S	podielá	podielase
1P	podielamo	podielasmo	podielajmo
2P	podielate	podielaste	podielajte
3P	podielán	podielahon

Conjugation of dielevati "to do" (hab.)

Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	dielevó	dielevah
2S	dielevás	dielevases	dielevaj
3S	dielevá	dielevase
1P	dielevamo	dielevasmo	dielevajmo
2P	dielevate	dielaste	dielevajte
3P	dieleván	dielevahon

Conjugation of podielevati "to do for a while" (dur.)

Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	podielevó	podielevah
2S	podielevás	podielevases	podielevaj
3S	podielevá	podielevase
1P	podielevamo	podielevasmo	podielevajmo
2P	podielevate	podielaste	podielevajte
3P	podieleván	podielevahon

Example of a highly irregular verb

Conjugation of beti "to be" (impf.)

Infinitive		beti
Present active participle		sienťe
Past active participle		belo
Passive participle		beno
Verbal noun		benie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Future	Imperative
1S	esme	beh	buendo
2S	es	beses	buendes	buendi
3S	este e	bese	buende
1P	esmo	besmo	buendemo	buendimo
2P	este	beste	buendete	buendite
3P	suen	behon	buendon

Conjugation of estati "to be, become" (perf.)

Infinitive		estati
Present active participle		estanťe
Past active participle		estalo
Passive participle		—
Verbal noun		estanie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	estano	estah
2S	estanes	estases	estani
3S	estane	estase
1P	estanemo	estasmo	estanimo
2P	estanete	esaste	estanite
3P	estanon	estahon

Conjugation of bevati "to be" (hab.)

Infinitive		bevati
Present active participle		bevanťe
Past active participle		bevalo
Passive participle		—
Verbal noun		bevanie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	bevó	bevah
2S	bevás	bevases	bevaj
3S	bevá	bevase
1P	bevamo	bevasmo	bevajmo
2P	bevate	bevaste	bevajte
3P	beván	bevahon

Conjugation of estavati "to become" (hab.)

Infinitive		estavati
Present active participle		estavanťe
Past active participle		estavalo
Passive participle		—
Verbal noun		estavanie
Person/Number	Present	Past	Imperative
1S	estavó	estavah
2S	estavás	estavases	estavaj
3S	estavá	estavase
1P	estavamo	estavasmo	estavajmo
2P	estavate	estavaste	estavajte
3P	estaván	estavahon

Other forms:

• Durative: postavati "to be for a while"

Example texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Vesi ti ljudie rodien se soboni i orueni vo dostineste i zakone.

IPA: /ˈvesi ti ˈʎudje ˈrodjen se soˈboni i oˈɾweni vo dostiˈneste i zaˈkone /

Other resources

Swadesh list