Bearlandic: Difference between revisions

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====Relative clauses====
====Relative clauses====
A special type of subordinate clauses are relative clauses. Relative clauses always begin with a [[#relative pronouns|relative pronoun]], or a combination of a preposition and a relative pronoun. The place of the verb within the clause depends on which function the pronoun has:
A special type of subordinate clauses are relative clauses. Relative clauses always begin with a [[#Relative pronouns|relative pronoun]], or a combination of a preposition and a relative pronoun. The place of the verb within the clause depends on which function the pronoun has:


* If the pronoun functions as a subject in the relative clause, the verb comes directly after it.
* If the pronoun functions as a subject in the relative clause, the verb comes directly after it.

Revision as of 15:45, 18 March 2014

Bearlandic
Bʉrnlannts
Pronunciation[/ˈbœːrnlɑnːts/]
Created by
Native speakersApproximately 20 million (2653)
Iropo-Antilonian languages
  • Berilonian languages
    • Western Berilonian languages
      • Bearlandic
  • Bearlandic
Early form
Old Bearlandic
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Background

Bearlandic (Bʉrnlannts, IPA: /ˈbœːrnlɑnːts/) is one of many languages of the planet which is called Virrolt in Bearlandic. The language belongs to the Berilonian language family, which in its turn is a branch of the Iropo-Antilonian language family.

Spoken natively by approximately 20 million people, it is one of the most spoken Berilonian languages. It is also one of the major lingua francas of the world, so it also has millions of second-language speakers.

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ng /ŋ/
Plosive p b /p b/ t d /t d/ k q /k kʷ/
Fricative f v /f v/ s z /s z/ (ʃ) (ç) g /x ~ ɣ/ h /h/
Approximant w /ʋ/ j /j/
Trill r /r/
Lateral app. l /l/

In some dialects /ʃ/ and /ç/ occur as allophones of /s/ and /x ~ ɣ/. The latter is often slightly fronted or palatalized in the standard dialect.

All consonants except /b d ŋ kʷ v z h/ can be geminated.

The velar fricative is pronounced /ɣ/ in onsets (except in the cluster /sx/) and /x/ in codas.

Coda consonants may be voiced when the following syllable begins with a voiced consonant.

Vowels

Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close i u /i y/ ú /u/
Near-close i u /ɪ ʏ/
Close-mid e /e/ o /o/
Mid e /ə/
Open-mid e ʉ /ɛ œ/ o /ɔ/
Near-open
Open a /a/ a /ɑ/


Bearlandic distinguishes "short" (ɑ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʏ) and "long" (a e i o y) vowels. However, the "long" vowels are actually only pronounced long when they're stressed. Ú and Ʉ (/u/ and /œ/) are usually considered to be neither short nor long, but are, just like the "long" vowels, pronounced long when they're stressed (except when followed by a geminated consonant) and short otherwise.

There are two diphthongs: y, pronounced /ɛɪ̯/ and au, pronounced /aʊ̯/.

Phonotactics

Bearlandic allows fairly complex syllables, which can begin in up to three and end in up to four consonants, making the maximal syllable structure (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C). The last consonant of final clusters with four consonants is always an -s, as is the first consonant of an initial cluster with three consonants. Note that geminated consonants count as single consonants, and can only appear directly after vowels.

Orthography

Most of the orthography is clear from the tables above, however, the way "short" and "long" vowels are distinguished isn't. "Short" vowels are indicated by doubling the following consonant (which indeed is geminated). If there is no consonant to double (=if the vowel is at the end of a word), a macron is used to indicate its "shortness".

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns don't have cases or genders, only numbers. The plural can be made in three different ways:

  1. Adding -s
  2. Adding -en
  3. Adding -er

The first class contains by far most nouns. The second class contains almost all nouns that end in -s (except a few with -er plurals). The third class consists of about twenty irregular nouns, and also includes all nouns ending in -er, which have identical singular and plural forms. Note that the third class does not include nouns ending in -err.

Adjectives

The comparative is formed by adding -err to the end of the adjective, while the superlative ends in -iss. If the adjective ends in a vowel, a -t- is inserted between the stem and the ending.

Any adjective can be turned into an adverb by adding -lyk. This is however only needed and done with adjectives that end in -ig.

There are a few irregular adjectives, which are listed in the table below.

Meaning Positive Comparative Superlative
"good" gut byterr bisst
"many" fill mirr filless
"far" ferr ferrtē firrst

Verbs

Regular verbs

"walk" "shoot" "improve" "need" "leave"
Present lop sgit byterr bihúf ausdwyn, dwyn aus
Past lop-ti sgit-i byterr-ti bihúf-ti ausdwyn-ti, dwyn-ti aus
Perfect gi-lop-t gi-sgit gi-byterr-t bihúf-t aus-gi-dwyn-t
Byform lop-ē sgit-ē bytr-ē bihúv-ē ausdwyn-ē
Present participle lop-nē sgit-nē bytre-nē bihúf-nē ausdwyn-nē
Past participle gi-lop-t-nē gi-sgit-nē gi-byterrt-nē bihúf-t-nē aus-gi-dwyn-t-nē

The byform is a verb form that used to be an infinitive, but in modern Bearlandic it does not do particularly much besides messing up the grammar. The byform ending voices eventual preceding fricatives, unless they're geminated.

Irregular verbs

"be" "have" "eat" "go" "give" "become"
Present iss heppt et ga gef vort
Past wast haptē ati gigti giffti virti
Perfect giassit gihapt giotē gigisst gigifft givirtē
Byform zyt, zyti hypē ytē gatē gyvē vortē
Present participle zytnē hepptnē etnē gatnē gefnē vortnē
Past participle - hassnē giotnē - gigifftnē -


These are the most irregular verbs. There are more irregular verbs, but as they rely on more or less regular vowel changes while otherwise being conjugated normally, they are often not considered really irregular. These vowel changes can be summarised like this:

Present Past Perfect
a i o
e a short i
i a o
o i i
y i short i

The byform of these verbs always has a y, and if the stem ends in a fricative, it is voiced, as usual.

As an example, this is the full conjugation of the strong verb sgryf "to write":

Present sgryf
Past sgrifti
Perfect gisgrifft
Byform sgryvē
Present participle sgryfnē
Past participle gisgrifftnē

Perfect tenses

The perfect tenses are made with an auxiliary verb (either heppt or iss) and a perfect participle, which can be placed either directly after the auxiliary (less common) or at the end of the sentence (more common).

Ig heppt a fiss gizit.
/ˈix ˈhɛpːt a ˈfɪsː ɣiˈziːt/
Ig heppt a fiss gi-zi-t.
1SG have a fish PERF-see.

I have seen a fish.

The passive

The passive is made like the perfect tenses, but uses vort as auxiliary verb, rather than heppt or iss.

Dē haus vort giklurrt.
/dɛ ˈhaʊ̯s ˈvoːrt ɣiˈklʏrːt/
Dē haus vort gi-klurr-t.
The house become PERF-paint.

The house is being painted.

The perfect tenses are made as normally, though the participle of vort may be left out.

Dē haus iss giklurrt (givirtē).
/dɛ ˈhaʊ̯s ˈɪsː ɣiˈklʏrːt (ɣiˈviːrtɛ)/
Dē haus iss gi-klurr-t (gi-vort-ē)
The house be.PRES PERF-paint (PERF-become)

The house has been painted.

Pronouns

Personal and possessive pronouns

Number Person Subject Object/Reflexive Possessive
Singular 1st ig mi miess
2nd ji ji jiess
3rd masculine hi emm, zigg hiess
3rd feminine zy, zigg zess
3rd neuter dē, zigg dess
Plural 1st wi oss oss
2nd jis jis jisiss
3rd zess hunn, zess, zy hʉn

Hunn may only be used when referring to people, whereas zess may always be used.

Relative pronouns

Referent Without preposition With preposition
Person
Thing dy
Several things di
Entire sentence dy

Note that there are no specific relative pronouns for places, instead one says inn dy, which literally means "in which".

Other pronouns

Which? This That Every/all Some None
Adjective willg ditt, dē1 di, dē1 all, any somm gyn
Person wi? use personal pronoun, see the above section anymann imant, imants2 nimant
Thing wass? ditt, dē1 di, dē1 all, alltingiss3 itiss nikktitiss, nititiss, nitiss4
Place warr? hirr dirr allpig irgiss nytirgiss
Time wann? nu tann alltyt ojjit nojjit, nauter3
Reason werrmē? darross
Manner hu? zoss

Notes:

  1. Ditt and di are normally only used for emphasis. can be used where English would use "that".
  2. Imants can be used to stress that it's about more than one person. However, it isn't necessary.
  3. Archaic.
  4. Colloquial.

Articles

There are two articles, the definite article and the indefinite article a.

Numerals

1 a
2 to
3 tri
4 forr
5 vy
6 zett
7 safē
8 ottjo
9 nippē
10 tinn
11 atinn
12 totinn
20 totē
21 atotē
30 tritē
40 forrtē
50 vytē
60 zetttē
70 saftē
80 otttē
90 nipptē
100 horrt
1000 dass

Note: otttē derives from an earlier ottjotē.

Ordinal numbers are made by adding -stē. If a number ends in -ē, that -ē is dropped, so "first" is "astē" and "seventh" is "safstē". The -ē is however not left out in "zettēstē", as it otherwise would sound the same as "zettstē".

Derivational morphology

  • -ig is a general adjectiviser:
    • attoll "nobility" -> attlig "noble"
    • statt "city" -> stattig "urban"
    • durr "door" -> durrig "door-ish"
  • -ing is used to nominalise verbs:
    • sgryf "write" -> sgryfing "writing"
    • et "eat" -> eting "food"
  • -hyt is used to nominalise adjectives:
    • bly "happy" -> blyhyt "happiness"
    • kunnig "possible" -> kunnighyt "possibility"
  • nit- gives the word (which tends to be an adjective or a nominalisation thereof) the opposite meaning:
    • yntig "finite" -> nityntig "infinite"

Syntax

Word order

Bearlandic normally has a SVO word order, but questions have a VSO order. Any constituent can be placed in front of the verb to add emphasis, but there can only be one constituent (which includes subordinate clauses) before the verb, which means that the subject is moved to after the verb when another constituent, or a subclause, is placed before the verb.

Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss a sgiter.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər/
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss a sgiter.
The hunter shoot the rabbit with a gun.

The hunter shoots the rabbit with a gun.
Oss a sgiter sgit dē jaggter dē konin.
/ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin/
Oss a sgiter sgit dē jaggter dē konin.
With a gun shoot the hunter the rabbit.

With a gun, the hunter shoots the rabbit.
Oss dē a konin zyt sgit dē jaggter dē oss a sgiter.
/ɔsː dɛ a ˈkoːnin ˈzɛɪ̯t ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ɔsː a sxiːtər/
Oss dē a konin zyt sgit dē jaggter dē oss a sgiter.
If 3SG be.BYF a rabbit shoot the hunter 3SG with a gun.

If there is a rabbit, the hunter shoots it with a gun.

The object is rarely fronted. Instead the passive is used, although an OVS structure with a somewhat different intonation is possible as well:

Dē konin vort oss dē jaggter oss a sgiter gisgit.
/dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈvoːrt ɔsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər ɣiˈsxiːt/
Dē konin vort oss dē jaggter oss a sgiter gi-sgit.
The rabbit PASS by the hunter with a gun PERF-shoot.

The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun.
Dē konin sgit dē jaggter oss a sgiter.
/dɛ ˈkóːnin ˈsxìːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər/
Dē konin sgit dē jaggter oss a sgiter.
The rabbit shoot the hunter with a gun.

The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun.

If there is more than one verb in the sentence, there are two possibile constructions: one with an SVVO and one with an SVOV order.

Dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
/dɛ ˈjaxːtər ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːt dɛ koːnin/
Dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
The hunter want shoot the rabbit.

The hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
Dē jaggter will dē konin sgitē.
/dɛ ˈjaxːtər ˈʋɪlː dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ/
Dē jaggter will dē konin sgit-ē.
The hunter want the rabbit shoot-BYF.

The hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.

Note the use of a byform in the second sentence.

Subordinate clauses

In subordinate clauses the verb can generally be placed either directly after the first constituent or at the end. When it's at the end, the byform is used.

Ig wet dass dē jaggter sgit dē konin.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter sgit dē konin.
I know that the hunter shoot the rabbit.

I know that the hunter shoots the rabbit.
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgitē.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjaxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgit-ē.
I know that the hunter the rabbit shoot-BYF

I know that the hunter shoots the rabbit.

When there is more than one verb in the subordinate clause there are three different possible word orders: one in which the verbs are placed direclty after the first constituent, and two in which the verbs are placed at the end.

Ig wet dass dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
I know that the hunter want shoot the rabbit.

I know that the hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin will sgitē.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːtɛ/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin will sgit-ē.
I know that the hunter the rabbit want shoot-BYF.

I know that the hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgitē willē.
/ix ʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ ˈʋɪlːɛ/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgit-ē will-ē.
I know that the hunter the rabbit shoot-BYF want-BYF.

I know that the hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.

An SVO construction may imply a somewhat more hypothetical meaning than an SOV construction, which may imply some sort of obviousness. This difference is mostly relevant in clauses with oss. Compare:

Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē iss hiess verking.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː dɛ ˈɪsː ˈhiːɛsː veːrkiŋ/
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē iss hiess verking.
The hunter shoot the rabbit if it be his job.

The hunter shoots the rabbit if it's his job.
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē hiess verking zyt.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː dɛ ˈhiːɛsː ˈveːrkiŋ ˈzɛɪ̯t/
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē hiess verking zyt.
The hunter shoot the rabbit because it his job be.BYF.

The hunter shoots the rabbit because it's his job.

In the former of these two sentences, the fact that it's the hunter's job to shoot the rabbit is not necessarily true, so it's not clear whether the rabbit is shot or not. It the latter sentence however that definitely is the hunter's job, so it's rather obvious that he is going to shoot the rabbit.

Relative clauses

A special type of subordinate clauses are relative clauses. Relative clauses always begin with a relative pronoun, or a combination of a preposition and a relative pronoun. The place of the verb within the clause depends on which function the pronoun has:

  • If the pronoun functions as a subject in the relative clause, the verb comes directly after it.
  • If not, the subject comes after the pronoun, and the verb comes after that.

Just like in normal subordinate clauses, a byform is used clause-finally.

dē mann wē et a fiss
/dɛ ˈmɑnː ʋɛ ˈeːt a ˈfɪsː/
dē mann wē et a fiss
DEF man REL eat INDEF fish

the man who eats a fish.
dē fiss dē dē mann ytē
/dɛ ˈfɪsː dɛ dɛ ˈmɑnː ˈɛɪ̯tɛ/
dē fiss dē dē mann ytē
DEF fish REL DEF man eat.BYF

the fish (that) the man eats

Questions

Yes-no questions are made by inverting the subject and the verb and raising the tone:

Sgit dē jaggter dē konin?
/ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkóːnin/
Sgit dē jaggter dē konin?
Shoot the hunter the rabbit?

Does the hunter shoot the rabbit?

Interrogative pronouns are always placed at the beginning of the phrase:

Wi sgiti dē konin?
/ˈʋi ˈsxiːti dɛ ˈkóːnin/
Wi sgit-ti dē konin?
Who shoot-PAST the rabbit?

Who shot the rabbit?

As interrogative pronouns don't distinguish subject and object forms, this question could also be translated as "Whom did the rabbit shoot?". This is however rare; the latter would normally be expressed using a passive: "Wi virti oss dē konin gisgit?".

Noun phrases

The word order in noun phrases is preposition-determiner-number-adjective(s)-noun-modifying phrase. The modifying phrase can be either a prepositional phrase or a relative clause. There can be multiple adjectives within a single noun phrase, but the other elements can all only appear once.

inn miess to aut klyn grys hausen inn dē tarrp
/ɪnːˈ miːɛsː toː aʊ̯t klɛɪ̯n ɣrɛɪ̯s ˈhaʊ̯sən ɪnː dɛ tɑrːp/
inn miess to aut klyn grys haus-en inn dē tarrp
in my two old small grey house-PL in the village

in my two old small grey houses in the village

Sample

Dē fillgikentnē mann hermakti miess aut enn itig mojj bot nat dē pabrúr oss a stoppig mys dē oss pegging oss a aut zworrt zwart gisgat haptē.

The well-known man repaired my old and quite beautiful boat after a stupid girl's uncle by accident had damaged it with an old black sword.