Scellan

Revision as of 03:14, 2 January 2020 by IlL (talk | contribs) (→‎TODO words)

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Names
Fia dlog dy Sgewlib (This page in Skellan)

Scellan
a birits Eevo
Pronunciation[Fyxoomian: /ə piˈrits ˈaivɔ/
Skellan (Alcvean): /ˈə pɪˈrɪts ˈevɔ/]
Created byIlL
SettingVerse:Tricin
Native speakers400 million (13b0dd)
Quame
  • Talmic
    • Tigolic
      • Central Tigolic
        • Scellan
Official status
Official language in
Skella, Fyxoom, ...
Language codes
ISO 639-3qee
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.

Skellan SKEL-ən (natively Sgewlib Fyxoomian: /ˈskœ̃ˁʟip/; Skellan (Alcvean): /ˈskɛːʟip/, Windermere: cduay Scela), in-universe often called Eevo AY-voh (Fyxoomian: /ˈɛivɔ/; Skellan (Alcvean): /ˈevɔ/; from Tigol é- 'common' + 'language'), is a Talmic language belonging to the Tigolic branch. Skellan is modern Tricin's lingua franca, the third-most widely spoken language (after Hetomic and Dodellian) and the most widely spoken Quame language. Its vocabulary has been influenced by many languages, most of all by Lakovic classical languages Windermere and Tseer. Typologically, Skellan is a mostly analytic, topic-prominent, head-initial, usually V2 language.

The beginning of the modern Skellan language, dated to ca. fT 1792, is often credited to the Skellan philosopher and poet Oovsari Vyhalv. The name Eevo refers to the fact that it had its origins as a Skellan koiné. Modern Skellan has been a living language for about 500 years, approximately fT 1792-2292.

Skellan is official in the Talman nation of Skella (Sgewla) SKEL-ə. It is also de facto official in Fyxoom fə-SHOME, Þrwhas THROO-həs, and many other countries.

Skellan is inspired by Icelandic, Welsh, Hmong (orthography-wise), English (especially Philadelphian and Scottish English), Khmer, and Gaelic.


Todo

Talmic vocab needs more b's and Cr-s

  • Goal: Memrise courses
  • "Reason, Compassion and Action"
    • Symbolized by Borromean rings?
  • might have more talmic than expected
  • suffix for halogens, suffix for noble gases, suffixes for radioactive elts
    • metals: -cis
  • How much are adjectives like verbs? What tense markers can they take?
  • The "21 accents" of Skellan
  • (Sometimes misleading) nationality descriptors - like french fries or English horn in English
  • Vowel changes before /χ/
  • positive anymore
  • HOW MANDATORY ARE NUMBER MARKERS? - They tend to be used more for human nouns.
  • Add the new words to wordlist
  • https://www.ef.edu/english-resources/english-vocabulary/top-1000-words/
  • against, de-/dis-/un-
  • Merge postvocalic ñ and postvocalic l?
    • No, but use llt > lt and make -l more common in Windermere
  • Folk etymology of mine: aver > average. So use this etymology: guess/try > most probable > average
  • more nouns with -i

vee, cyvah, çeedi, døll, sdeñg/sdehñ, sawvn, melli, dysið, feeþl, seehi, eela

  1. Ar ugairedh Jisráér gil Éigipt, suaradh Jalgóbh gil badhnedh gáth shlodhán;
  2. saedhaín Jaħúdhá le áthradh ú, Jisráér le fúichnedh ú.
  3. Ésrín ron fón minn, ag amaltín hú; fulmáín an Jardén ar blíon.
  4. Bídín na scaimhthe madh zsíograin; na glóna iadha, madh mbioltha.
  5. Tá naes, ae fón, bhfá n-amaltar? Ae Jardén, bhfá bhfuldar?
  6. Ae scaimhthe, bhfá mbídes madh zsíograin; ae ghlóna iadha, madh mbioltha?
  7. Bróg ŋal an Mannar, ae luabh, ŋal Caemadh Jalgóbh,
  8. Ri bhforsaedhaín rú an óc le pasc, an ŋgorda le sálanadh eanŋ.
  • replace Clofabic words with Tseer words
  • ñ is pronounced the same as l, unless ñ is at the beginning of a stressed syllable
    • hñ is pronounced like ll in similar circumstances
  • Revise classical wdm loans (switch x and z, d ~ ð)
  • btw p t k in Wdm minor syllables as by- dy- gy- might be better

ceev (cébh or ceaf?), ainið, brawþ, heeg (séag)

TODO words

  • Some way to say 'the X associated with each' or 'their respective X'

Diachronics

Phonological history

  • Voicing becomes aspiration.
  • a > a
  • á > aw
  • ae, ái > ai
  • aei > ee
  • ao, aoi > øø
  • e, ei > e
  • é > ee
  • éi > oi > wa
  • eó, éu > ew
  • ai, i, io > y
  • í, oí, uí > i
  • iu > y
  • iú > iw
  • o > o
  • oi > ø
  • ó > oo
  • ói, ua > wa
  • u > w
  • ui > ø
  • ú > u /y/
  • úi > wi
  • rb, rd, rg > /rv, rð, rj/
  • -n > -m after aw, ew, iw, oo, øø w, u
    • -ng > -m too
  • aw > o in unstressed syllables or before clusters
  • > V; ġ > j or i otherwise

Grammatical history

Many of the most drastic changes from Old Skellan are a result of rapid "creolization" as a result of second-language speakers learning the language.

  • Tigol nouns, verbs and adjectives were drastically simplified. Nouns and verbs no longer inflect for person; adjectives no longer agree with nouns.
  • Loss of grammatical gender
  • A new sgv-plv-col system arises, marked by determiners. Definiteness is lost.
  • Old Skellan mutations were lost under the influence of Windermere.
  • Development of split ergativity.
  • Development of topic-comment syntax.
  • Smoothing of certain consonant clusters (e.g. -mn > -m, sñl- > sml-)

Background

See also: Talmic languages, Thensarian, Tigol, Middle Skellan

Phonology

Consonants (mosylisír)

Skellan has a slightly larger-than-average consonant inventory of about 27 consonants.

→ PoA
↓ Manner
Labial
mofysíñ
Dental/Alveolar
mosybías
Palatal
mojycléh
Velar
mosgóñ
Uvular
moçlyðóo
Glottal
motyxág
Nasal
mocryí
m /m/ n /n/ ñ /ŋ/
Plosive
bintybtéb
unaspirated b /p/ d /t/ g /k/
aspirated p /pʰ/ t /tʰ/ c /kʰ/
Affricate
bintsydá
unaspirated ts /ts/ (dzj /tʃ˭/)
aspirated tx, tsj /tʃ/
Non-sibilant
binþyré
unvoiced f /f/ þ /θ/ ç /ç/ ll /χ/ h /h/
voiced v /v/ ð /ð/ j /j/
Sibilant
binsyréef
unvoiced s /s/ x, sj /ʃ/
voiced z /z/ zj /ʒ/
Resonant
binnydúah
unvoiced rr /r̥/
voiced ł /w/ r /r/ l /ʟ/
Notes
  • If not word-final, the unaspirated plosives /p t k/ are most likely to be fully voiced in the clusters /mp nt ŋk/, then after vowels, and never voiced after obstruents.
  • Affricates /ts tʃ/ are aspirated but not as strongly as aspirated plosives.
  • Aspiration is neutralized in coda; all plosives are unvoiced or all plosives are voiced, depending on the accent.
  • /r/ may be a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ].
  • /ʟ r/ become their devoiced counterparts /χ r̥/ after aspirates and /s/.
  • The liquid transcribed /ʟ/ for convenience may be pronounced [ʀ], [ʁ] or [ɴ̆]. The allophone [ɴ̆] is somewhat more common intervocalically. The allophone [ɫ] occurs in classical singing and in some conservative dialects.
    • The reason L is a uvular consonant in most modern Talman languages is that uvular L started to be used in the prestige language Windermere, though Qazhrian was the first Talman language to develop uvular L.
  • /n ʟ r/ can be syllabic in some accents.
  • Coda /ç/ is disallowed; /ç/ > /h/ after a vowel.
  • /h/ is often elided after a voiced consonant.

/Cj/ sequences

  • /sj, tsj/ become /ʃ tʃ/ in standard Skellan: Slysjon /ˈsχəʃɔn/ 'April'.
    • In addition, zj dzj [ʒ tʃ˭] is used in loanwords.
  • /ʟj/ is viewed as a separate phoneme /j̃/ by people who analyze nasal vowels as vowel + /ʟ/ and may be pronounced [ɲ] by some speakers.

Vowels (motryłáj)

todo: use vowel shift ee oo øø > /ai au ay/? The vowel inventory of Skellan is also fairly large, with 8 or 11 basic vowel qualities depending on the accent. Skellan also has many diphthongs, in addition to nasal vowels (in "nasal" accents; these vowels are written l or ñ in the Skellan orthography).

Oral vowels
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
Close i, iaj /i~əi/ u /y~əy/ w /u~əu/
Mid ee /e~ai/ øø /ø~ay/ y /ə/ oo /o~au/
Open e /ɛ/ ø /œ/ a /a/ o /ɔ/
Diphthongs /ai~oi ui au~ɛu ɛu iu iə yə uə/

Nasal vowels
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
Close /ĩ/ /ỹ/ /ũ/
Mid /ẽ/ /ø̃/ /ə̃/ /õ/
Open /ɛ̃/ /ã/ /ɔ̃/


Diphthongs

The diphthongs are written as follows:

Phoneme Spellings
/ai/ ai, aj
/ui/ wi, wj, oj, waj
/au/ aw, ał
/ɛu/ ew, eł, eeł
/iu/ iw, ił, iał, uł, uał
/ɛi/ ee, ej, eej
/œy/ øø
/ɔu/ oo, oł
/iə/ ia
/yə/ ua
/uə/ wa

Nasal vowels

The nasal vowels /ĩ ỹ ũ ẽ ø̃ ə̃ õ ɛ̃ œ̃ ã ɔ̃/ arose from historical V + /l/ and V + /ŋ/ sequences. In many accents they are also pharyngealized or diphthongized. To some extent most accents merge nasal vowels with each other or with other vowels. Certain, "non-nasal" accents realize them as long vowels (with no nasalization) - these accents may have "linking" and "intrusive L" realized as [ʁ] or [ɴ̆] analogous to linking and intrusive R in non-rhotic English accents. A handful of remote dialects pronounce them as pharyngealized vowels or vowels followed by [ɫ].

This is how nasal vowels are written in the orthography:

Phoneme Spellings
/ã/ al, ail, añ, aiñ
/ɛ̃/ el, ewl, eñ
/ẽ/ eel, eeñ
/ĩ/ il, ial, iwl, iñ, iañ, iwñ
/ø̃/ øl, øøl, øñ, øøñ
/ỹ/ ul, ual, uñ, uañ
/ɔ̃/ ol, awl, oñ, awñ
/õ/ ool, wil, ooñ, wiñ
/ũ/ wl, wal, wñ, wañ
/ə̃/ yl, yñ, syllabic l or ñ

After stressed syllables, unstressed /a/ and unstressed /ə/ are merged to /ə/.

Stress

Stress is not marked in the native orthography. Talmic words usually have initial stress, but prefixed verbs are usually not stressed on the prefix. Windermere loans have final stress.

The romanization used in this article and related material will mark non-initial stress with an acute accent.

Intonation

Scellan has a distinctive intonation paradigm. It originates from discursive uptalk in older stages of the language, which has since generalized to all declarative sentences. A few conservative accents in Skella do not use this pattern.

  • Topic noun phrases and subordinate clauses start low and gradually rise in pitch.
  • In declarative sentences, the stressed syllable of the focused word (if there is no focused constituent, the last word) has a lower pitch than the immediately preceding syllable. ("...mid ꜜ LOW mid...")
  • In interrogative sentences, the stressed syllable of the focus word has a higher pitch than the syllable immediately before. ("... mid ꜛ HIGH mid ... ?")
  • In exclamations, the stressed syllable starts low and receives a rising intonation ("... mid ꜜ LOW-HIGH mid ... !"), possibly with a gradual drop to low pitch in the end. Angry or indignant questions also use an exclamatory intonation.

Phonotactics

  • /z/ devoices to [s] before a stop (plosive or affricate).
  • The allowed initial clusters in native (Talmic) vocabulary are listed by type below (some clusters may be listed more than once):
    • Cl: bl, vl, fl, dl, ðl, tl, þl, gl, cl, ml, sl, sgl, sml, hml
    • Cr: br, vr, fr, dr, ðr, tr, þr, gr, cr, mr, ñr, sr, sgr, smr, hmr
    • Cn: vn, tn, þn, gn, cn, hn
    • sC: sb, sd, sg, sm, sn, sñ, sgl, sgr, sml, smr
    • hC: hm, hn, hñ, hml, hmr
  • In Windermere loans, the following initial clusters are allowed:
    • Cl: pl, tl, tsl, cl, bl, gl, fl, (çl), sl
    • Cr: pr, tr, tsr, cr, br, dr, gr, fr, þr, (çr), sr
    • Cm: tm, þm, cm, (çm), sm
    • Cn: fn, cn, (çn), sn
    • Cñ: fñ, tñ, þñ, (çñ), sñ
    • Cł: tł, þł, dł, cł, çł, gł, sł, xł
    • sC: sb, sd, sg, sm, sn, sñ, sl, sr, sł
    • çC: çm, çn, çñ, çl, çr
  • In Tseer loans, many more initial clusters may be allowed.
  • Final/post-tonic combinations are a bit more restricted - the allowed post-tonic combinations are generally similar to Irish or Welsh.

Phoneme frequency

b d g > p t c; v ð j > þ ç

Accents

Main article: Skellan/Accents

Pronouncing Skellan words in English

  • An epenthetic schwa may be inserted for Skellan clusters that English lacks.
  • Voiceless resonants may be pronounced as their voiced counterparts: /hm hn hŋ r̥/ → /m n ŋ r/.
    • /χ, ç/ should be rendered [h] or [x].
  • /ʀ~ʁ/ → /l/
  • Coda /h/ should be deleted.
  • /p t k/ → /b d g/, but:
    • /sp st sk/ → /sp st sk/
    • /hp ht hk/ hb hd hg → /p t k/
    • Word-finally, pronounce b d g as /p t k/.
  • /pʰ tʰ kʰ/ → /p t k/
  • Vowels: /i y ə u ɛ œ a ɔ ai au ɛu iu ei øy ou iə yə uə ui/ → /iː uː ʌ~ə uː ɛ ə æ~ɑː ɑ~ɔ aɪ aʊ oʊ juː eɪ oʊ oʊ iːə uːə uːə ɔɪ/
  • Vowels before R and L are as expected

Orthography

File:Skellan script.png
Skellan alphabet

Skellan is written in the version of the Talmic alphabet, which is related to the Talman Windermere script. The Skellan alphabet has 30 letters.

Stress accent is not marked. (However, in materials for English speakers we will mark stress.)

The letters l and ñ are only distinguished word-initially and at the beginning of stressed syllables.

The sequences çm, çn, çl, çr are pronounced identically to hm, hn, ll, rr in most modern Skellan accents, except that çm, çn, çr are [xm, xn, xr] in accents that have [x] for ç. çł is also usually pronounced [hw].

In native Talmic words, final /p t k/ tend to be spelled b d g, but the future tense suffix is always spelled -t.

Punctuation

  • | = period
  • . = comma
  • ₂ = strong comma
  • ᑉ = question mark
  • + = exclamation point
  • - = hyphen
  • ~ = ellipsis
  • ⸗ = semicolon
  • ᕑ = colon
  • ⟨ ⟩ = parentheses
  • : = hyphen (for affixes in linguistics)

Numerals

Skellan uses a base-10 positional numeral system. The digits are as follows:

ɔ ı ʎ ɺ ħ ʕ ʑ ɛ ɴ κ = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

decimal point: :

1000's separator: · (optional)

Morphology

Skellan inflectional morphology tends to be simpler than most other Talmic languages; for example, it has no grammatical gender, no case, and no number inflection on nouns.

Verbs

Verbs have little inflection, and the bulk of verbs are completely regular.

Skellan preserves the Tigol tense system very well, but most of the forms have been replaced with analytic forms and particles. The following table roughly organizes the tense system of Modern Skellan as well as the regular forms for each in terms of principal parts (PRES = present stem; INF = infinitive; PST = past participle); These are not all of the possible tenses as different constructions can be combined, e.g. Tynd fa dy desg naw lly nee rree. 'I have been eating for three days.'

Skellan tense system
Past Present Future Imperative
Imperfective past imperfect
jo PRES
present
PRES
future I
PRES-t
imperative I
PRES-t!
Perfective simple past
PST (regularly PRES-in)
- future II
so VN
imperative II
PRES!
Progressive past progressive
fað dy INF
present progressive
dy INF
future progressive
fahd ___ dy INF
imperative progressive
fahd dy INF!
Perfect past perfect
fað tynd VN
present perfect
tynd VN
future perfect
so fa tynd VN
imperative perfect
fa tynd VN!

Imperative

The imperfective imperative has the same form as the imperfective future. The perfective imperative is simply the bare verb.

The direct object, if there is one, goes behind the faulty accusative ym.

The cohortative is formed by using the particle gw after the verb.

Tar gw helt na llawm rreem.
go COH plant DET.PL seed today
Let's go plant the seeds today.

Present

The present uses the unmarked form of the verb followed by the subject. For example, Duvwñ, mol naw iar means "Teacher, I thank you".

Archaic Skellan (still used in some historical fiction) uses the following personal endings in the present tense:

I you (sg.) he she (inanimate) we (exc.) we (inc.) you (pl.) they (animate) you (polite) impersonal
-an -ir -ab -e -0 -em -ad -ag -að -ag -av

Conditional

The conditional uses the suffix . It continues the Old Skellan past subjunctive.

The conditional must be used when using the word matósg 'almost' in the past tense.

Imperfect

The imperfect uses the particle jo.

Progressive/Stative

To form the progressive, the particle dy is used before the verb.

Unlike in English, verbs referring to emotional states also use the progressive in the present tense. For example, Dy ell naw'r means "I love you," and Dy faiðin naw cwig tyn tamranáls ny coo. 'I am happy because my son has graduated.'

Preterite

The preterite is used to describe completed actions. It used to be ergative in Middle Eevo, but since lost its ergativity.

  • Iantin naw. = I slept.
  • Vesin naw na ahdyn. = I painted the pictures.

Perfect

The perfect, formed by placing tynd 'after' before the verb (often shortened to tyn or tn'), is used for:

  • an event in the immediate past
  • an event that occurred in the past and is relevant to the present
    • an event that occurred regularly in the past with a cumulative effect on the present

The perfect is being used more and more commonly for any past event, especially in Fyxoomian Eevo.

Example: Tynd iant naw sdawb pug. = I have slept for 6 [Trician] hours. (sdawb pug = 6 hours continuously?)

Syntax

Perfect: tynd VERB SUBJECT

Perfect progressive: tynd fa dy VERB SUBJECT

Pluperfect: jo tynd VERB SUBJECT

Future imperfective

The future imperfective uses the -t affix inherited from Old Skellan. It is used for:

  • events that will happen regularly or continually over a period of time in the future
  • events that will happen some time in the future, but whose time or outcome is not yet known or determined.

Future perfective

The future perfective tense is formed with so + VERB. It is used for:

  • a future event that has a definite ending point or occurs once
  • future events with a known definite time point
  • outcomes which are likely or certain to occur.

Jussive

Normally the jussive is formed by using the complementizer emb before the clause:

Ir le tic jyvad llyn! Emb asgarni ir dia jovi!
2SG be how_much hate DAT.1SG COMP die_of_thirst 2SG in-SPEC desert
I hate you so much! I hope you die of thirst in the desert!

The morphological jussive is high-register and is formed with the suffix -or. It can be used in conditional statements expressing a generally true rule.

cehnor dy car
if one wishes (fixed expression)
n forr e dyb cliam slahah, coþ n dyb cliam xlor.
n be.JUSS it is_a number counting, then n is_a number real
Let n be a natural number. Then n is a real number.

Copula

The copula is the most irregular verb in Skellan. In the present tense, zero copula is used.

Nouns

Skellan nouns do not inflect, even for number. For specific nouns, number is marked using articles and combined forms of determiners and possessive pronouns.

Pronouns

The direct pronouns are used as pronominal topics, subject markers and objects.

I you (sg.) he she it we (exc.) we (inc.) you (pl.) they impersonal
Direct neutral naw, no iar, ir, 'r ob, o ee ñe, e awb gwad swad awr car
emphatic nawta iarta obta eeta ñeta awbta gwadta swadta awrta -
Possessive sg. ny ho ih oo of os id ...ry car
pl. nyn hon in in in om onf ons ind
emphatic ...ryta ...resta ...rebta ...reeta ...ryñta ...ribta ...regta ...reta ...rerta -
Dative neutral llyn lles lleb llee llyñ llib lleg lled ller lly çar
emphatic llynta llesta llebta lleeta llyñta llibta llegta lleta llerta -
  • The forms no and ir are casual forms used in some dialects.
  • iar is commonly pronounced jyr.
  • 'r is commonly used after a vowel.

Demonstratives

Skellan has a 4-way contrast in demonstratives:

  1. near me, but not near you
  2. near us (inclusive)
  3. near you, but not near me
  4. distal: far from both you and me
Near 1 Near 1+2 Near 2 Distal Interrogative Negative Every/All Some Any Other
Adjective mi fi ce ñe ti (preposed) - baw (preposed) zens (preposed)
Thing mes fes ces ñes taw twm satn zens satn
Person - - - tua twm lias - - niltua
Place mah enah cah ñah þlawd arjavo nillawd
Source mylli enylli cylli ñylli tylli nilli
Destination mahd enahd cahd ñahd tahd niltahd
Time sada ñyv ihd fuat botín niltin
Manner/Kind miar siar ciar ñiar tiar niltiar
Quantity tic (how many); ticar (how many-th)
Reason cwig tin

Demonstratives with number

The demonstrative adjectives mi, fi, ce, ñe combine with number markers a/að, na as follows:

sg. pl.
mi mið/mia min
fi fið/fia fin
ce cee/ceð cen
ñe ñee/ñeð ñen

Adjectives

Adjectives behave like verbs in that they can take tense clitics. However, imperative constructions must use fa + ADJECTIVE.

Adjectives usually follow nouns; they may precede nouns in poetry.

Adverbs can be formed from both verbs adjectives by adding dy before the verb or adjective. However, often adverbs are unmarked.

Degree

Unlike other Talmic languages, Eevo has lost the Tigol comparative and superlative. However, some fossilized comparative forms have become new words in the modern language.

  • føs X = comparative (from Tigol fo·ois 'to go over')
  • nuab X = superlative (from Classical Wdm. superlative nüüp)
  • llaw X = very
  • jal X = too X

A few adjectives have suppletive comparative and superlative forms:

  • slawb 'good': cølly 'better', cøllws 'best'
  • orð 'big': jwm 'bigger', jwmt 'biggest'
  • dum 'far': ytñí 'farther', ytñít or nuab ytñí 'farthest' (from Classical Windermere ătngi 'having surpassed, farther')
  • øør 'many': ram 'more', ramt 'most'
  • ñawð 'few': broost 'less', broosws 'least'

'Than' is translated as raw.

Construct state

An adjective may be placed in the construct state by suffixing -að. Construct adjectives are mainly used in constructions like hnoosað ers 'easy to learn', and lloosað fiah 'red-eyed'. In addition they survive in some fixed expressions and prepositions.

  • deljað is a preposition meaning 'worth; worthy of', and is the construct form of an adjective *deli ('worthy').
  • gruað means "devoid of, lacking"
  • segað means "free of"

Syntax

Main article: Skellan/Syntax

Vocabulary

Skellan's basic vocabulary is largely Talmic. However, a large portion of Skellan vocabulary (comparable to English) is borrowed, for example from Windermere, Tseer, or other languages (especially Naquian, Swuntsim, Ciètian, Anbirese, Häskä, Hlou). This gives Skellan a rich array of synonyms.

Layers

  • Core Skellic + dialectal doublets
  • Classical and Middle Windermere loans
  • Classical Tseer loans
  • Naquic loans (from trade)
  • Other loans from trade
  • recently incorporated isoglosses from Proto-Quame, Proto-Talmic or Tigol

Domains that commonly use Windermero-Eevo:

  • generic learned words
  • music
  • philosophy and religion
  • politics, law

Domains that commonly use Tseero-Eevo:

  • "fancier" learned words
  • theater, narrative
  • basic geometry, arithmetic, algebra and number theory
  • medicine, sciences

Derivational morphology

Native noun-noun compounds are head-final; however, head-initial "noun noun" juxtaposition is preferred. "Noun verb" juxtaposition is also common.

The table below lists selected derivational suffixes.

From...
Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
To... Noun -wñ (agentive)
-os (instrument)
-id (diminutive)
-óm (augmentative; Tseer)
-emb (female suffix)
ni- (non-)
ir- (un-)
bah- (sub-)
ñal- 'before'
tynd- 'after'
-arn (collective)
-ah (verbal noun)
-ev (verbal noun)
-wñ (agentive)
-os (instrument)
-vih (abstract noun)
hal-(abstract noun)
-u (abstract noun)
-igi (one characterized by X)
Verb ar- (applicative)
as- (telic)
so-
fra- or fr-
ar- (applicative)
as- (telic)
dy- (in)
ee- (co-, with)
fra- or fr- (causative)
fw- (back, re-)
gol- (up)
oc- (from, out)
ro- (down)
so- (towards)
sen- (well)
mi- (mis-)
go- (de-, dis-)
fra- or fr-
Adjective -ahd
-on
-ib
-ín (Netagin)
-ol
-flen
-i
-in (-ee)
-gon, -jon (-able, but ergative)
di- (non-)
er- (un-)
Adverb -

Nouns

  • -i is a frozen diminutive suffix.
  • -ið is a diminutive suffix but is often used discursively, somewhat like "a nice X".
  • -ló is a Windermere augmentative suffix.
  • -wr is a native Talmic augmentative suffix.
  • mi- is used in some nouns where it is a prefix meaning 'bad', 'mis-' or sometimes 'pseudo-'.
  • hylłiar- is a prefix meaning 'study of X'. Stress falls on the word which the prefix attaches to.
    • hylłiarclíam means 'number theory'.
  • -óm is a noun suffix of unclear meaning, historically an augmentative.
  • -wñ is a suffix meaning "a person associated with [noun] or who does [verb]" (unknown origin).
    • birítswñ means 'speaker (a person who speaks)', from biríts 'to speak; speech'.
    • trovihwñ means 'vegetarian' (from trovih 'vegetarianism').
    • sbwiþwñ means 'sbwiþ player'. (A sbwiþ is a plucked string instrument with 18-22 sympathetic strings.)
  • nw- is a Windermere agentive suffix.
  • -u (collective) is a common native affix used to form abstract nouns.
  • -lan is another abstract noun suffix.
  • -ad is a common noun suffix, from Thensarian -sdos.
  • peñ- = 'X-to-be'; from Windermere future tense particle peng
  • -yn is an instrumental suffix.

Phrasal nouns

Skellan also has phrasal nouns: these are noun-preposition combinations that are stressed on the preposition.

  • beð ry (part of) = component
  • hmawg dy (word at) = subject of the conversation
  • hmawg lly (word for) = support, endorsememt

Verbs

Old Skellan prefixes remain productive in Modern Skellan.

  • fr(a)- (usually pronounced /frə-/) was formerly only found in some frozen "causative" verbs but is gaining productivity in modern Skellan.
  • mi- is an affix similar to 'mis-, mal-' in English, also sometimes 'pseudo-'.
  • ru- is a Clofabic affix meaning 'too much, over-'.

Phrasal verbs

Skellan has phrasal verbs like English does.

Adjectives

  • -mell = '-ful', '-some' (lit. 'rich')
  • er- is a negating suffix of Talmic origin; it is most commonly used with Talmic adjectives.
  • -flen /-fʟɛn/ is an adjectival suffix with the same meaning as Korean -tapta and Japanese -rashii: it means 'like an X is supposed to be' or 'like a typical X'. The suffix comes from Old Skellan compound adjectives of the form X-fheileán (from feil 'name' + -án adjectivizer; i.e. 'like the name X' or 'worthy of the name X'). Some words with the suffix have undergone semantic shifts, e.g. carflen /ˈkʰarfʟɛn/ 'humane, moral, ethical' (from Old Skellan car "human" + -flen).
  • -jon is similar to '-able', but it is ergative in that it can also be used for "able to [intransitive verb]". ex. feñgjon 'mortal, human (flowery)' < feñg 'die'.
  • jy- (jyn- before C) is a Windermere adjectival suffix.
  • -ol /-ɔ̃/ is an adjectival suffix of Talmic origin.
  • -on is a Talmic adjectival suffix, from Old Skellan -án (itself from Thensarian -aħnam, Proto-Talmic *-aʁnəm).
  • -vað '-like' is another Talmic adjectival suffix.
  • -wd = from Tigol -óid
  • -wid = from Tigol -óid via Windermere -oyd
  • mee- = multi-
  • do- = uni-, mono-

Place name morphemes

  • -ve 'city, town'
  • -døø 'valley'
  • -has (country names)
  • -sgyb 'mountain'
  • -oog 'rock'

Sample texts

A biology abstract

Sloomañ awv a ñwdah yliñ-manoñg-lwtab iñtytseb rið prynel TSP3 dy Sigatføñxys batnyñtxar. TSP3 ...

measure we.EX SPEC folding (cell-owner-nucleus) (do-nucleus) of-SPEC gene TSP3 in Bruchorium sponercii. TSP3 encode it kinase receptor bind to protezine, located LOC SPEC.PL microsporella cytotubular of-SPEC.SG ribosome quanticular, and malfunction TSP3 believe IMPERS widely COMP-COP SPEC source cancer cybothrotic. in this-SG essay prove 1PL.EX LOC use test double_blind Rɪᴇᴛᴢᴇʀ-Yᴀʟɪɴꜱᴋʏ COMP...

We measure the nucleating eukaryotic folding of the TSP3 gene in Bruchorium sponercii. TSP3 encodes a protezine-binding receptor kinase located at the cytotubular microsporellata of the quanticular ribosome, and malfunction of TSP3 is commonly believed to be the source of cybothrotic cancer. In this paper we prove using a Rɪᴇᴛᴢᴇʀ-Yᴀʟɪɴꜱᴋʏ double-blind test that TSP3 binding to the phyllochrypsinase inhibitor occurs (p = 0.856) in the hypotrellome of a healthy Bruchorium cell when adenotoxin concentrations are low. This research will have significant implications for the study of symbrychous descloroma.

If not now, when?

Hinén geeb o, "I twm nawta llyn, tua a fahd llyn? Ah il naw diráð llynta, naw tua naw? As i twm sada, ihd?" (Pirgéj Avóoþ, 1′14″)
Hillel says, "If I am not for me, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?" (Pirkei Avot, 1:14)

Declaration of Independence

Arm, hylrygéen's çipóoj faiðlan
Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness

Featured banner

Fia birits go rogóhdin car ym ñe ciwr.
This language was once featured.
Nai vøhd ry binsiþlóom hylłavéem, hylbocylisdód, as hylprynées bintomáj ryñ, tynd cmil car lly rogóhd ñe.
Thanks to (lit. by the grace of) its level of quality, plausibility and usage capabilities (variety of uses), it has been voted as featured.

Ode to Joy

Crofdaig lly Bial

Ai Bial, nert eryñ ry swm,
Juah gyl Snawhasewl,
Asgyrr awb, smogin nai sdu,
Ai bas ___, að awþdiaba res!
...
...
Baw am swlýnda lly eegað
cah, þlawd sdeevi a sderr ciwmon res.

Ode to Joy

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter from Elysium,
We enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, thy sanctuary!
Your magic binds again
What convention strictly divides;
All people become brothers,
Where your gentle wing abides.

Who has succeeded in the great attempt,
To be a friend's friend,
Whoever has won a lovely woman,
Add his to the jubilation!
Indeed, who calls even one soul
Theirs upon this world!
And whoever never managed, shall steal himself
Weeping away from this union!

All creatures drink of joy
At nature's breast.
Just and unjust
Alike taste of her gift;
She gave us kisses and the fruit of the vine,
A tried friend to the end.
[Even] the worm has been granted sensuality,
And the cherub stands before God!

Gladly, as His heavenly bodies fly
On their courses through the heavens,
Thus, brothers, you should run your race,
Joyful, like a hero going to conquest.

You millions, be embraced.
This kiss is for all the world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.
Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your creator?
Seek him in the heavens
Above the stars must He dwell.

An die Freude

Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Wem der große Wurf gelungen
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein;
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!

Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,
Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben
und der Cherub steht vor Gott.

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum siegen.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen.


Apology, first clause

Tiar, ai bo am Aþéna, a tynd argíall na nwmyłléj ryn ja swad, twm cwllyn lly oclah...
Fyxoomian: [tʰiəɾ, ai bɔ am aˈθɛnə, ə tʰənt aɾˈkiəχ nə numəwˈʟɛi ɾən jə suət, tʰum ˈkʰuχən χə okχəh]
Skellan (Alcve): [tʰiːɾ, æː bɔ ʁ̃‿am aˈθɛnə, ə tʰənt ar̥ˈkiəχ nə numəwˈʟe ɾən jə suːt, tʰum ˈkʰuχən χə okχəh]
how, VOC COL person Athens, A PERF affect COM PL accuser GEN.1SG with 2PL, NEG can.1SG to deduce
How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I cannot tell...

RWBY opening monologue

SALEM: Hulafa.
/ˈhyʟəfə/
legend
SALEM: Legends.
SALEM: Vønd frallóþin pes hiñg.
/vœnt fɾəˈχɔθin pɛs hiŋk/
story scatter-PST.PART across time
SALEM: Stories scattered through time.
SALEM: Swal damol a hugas am dy entsybytsẃal na fosgu ry øøl as llypsid, as gønd ab ñwar dy ciar noos, emb dyb orjyn gwad, odotamés ry ymdáł røsandin.
/suʟ ˈtamɔʟ ə ˈhygəs am tə ɛntsəpəˈtsuʟ nə ˈfɔsky ɾə œʟ əs ˈχəpsit, əs kœnt əp ŋuəɾ tə kiəɾ nɔus, ɛmp təp ˈoɾjən kuət, ɔtɔthaˈmɛs ɾə əmˈtaw ˈɾœsəntin/
quite wont SG species human in recount PL story PL valiant_deed of hero and villain, and lose 3SG.M thought ADV so easy, that is_a remnant 1PL.INC, byproduct, of past forget-PST.PART
SALEM: Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past.
SALEM: Am – sñøøin ab gyl a Si – jo cleðn, øøvr, as esginað ñadl ab.
/am – ˈsŋœyin ap kəʟ ə si – kɔ ˈkʟɛðn̩, ˈœyvr̩, əs ˈɛskinəð ˈŋatəʟ ap/
human be.born-PST.PART 3SG.M from SG Dust IMPF strong, wise, and rich-CST gifts 3SG.M
SALEM: Man, born from Dust, was strong, wise and resourceful.
SALEM: Ah ab dy smøøh erlóhyn a jo sñøøin reb.
but 3SG.M in world pitiless A IMPF be.born-PST.PART RY.3SG.M
SALEM: But he was born into an unforgiving world.
SALEM: Sohaðin a maslan eróbasjon, bo mocnía ry bimblasóoð, mocnía Grim, w hawr fiah ar Am as baw blygasu reb.
fix-PST.PART SG darkness inevitable, COL creature of destruction, creature G. ERG 3PL eye on man and all creation 3SG.M
SALEM: An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction, the creatures of Grimm, set their sights on Man and all of his creations.
SALEM: Jo sñawrand min pirúaf, as dewhyn jo vriþ a maslan lly fwltáwm a hylhyþús ñai ryb Am llyð errah.
IMPF clash this.PL force, and seemingly IMPF intent SG darkness to return SG existence brief of man to-SG nothingness
SALEM: These forces clashed and it seemed that darkness was intent on returning Man's brief existence to the Void.
SALEM: Dimbehd, oos a nert cellws ry þus a solyñ lly oðyñẃð a roféelah, as nai joor, rrawbin a þwðilás, a frañádlu, as a hylþwłyðép bo Am llyfós na garjol lly esnam a çrumi.
[however], even SG spark small-SUP of hope A enough to ignite SG change, and with course, carry-PST.PART 3PL ERG SG passion, SG giftedness, and SG ingenuity toward tools to balance SG table
SALEM: However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, Man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds.
SALEM: Mia ras a jo fial a dy paloþreh "a Si". Nai þi a devna a moxíaf, rwvin Am øþ meñ a maslan, as dy isír ysli, divin lleed, biniñcymẃax, as dy comol, arm.
SALEM: This power was appropriately named "Dust". Nature's wrath in hand, Man lit their way through the darkness and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization and, most importantly, life.
SALEM: Ah oos bar ennynéelws a cregi as feñg dy lawðah.
but even light brilliant-SUP A flicker and die [eventually]
SALEM: But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die.
SALEM: As tev octlúast awr, a maslan a forrit.
and when vanish-FUT 3PL, darkness A return-FUT
SALEM: And when they are gone, darkness will return.
SALEM: Ñyv im simynd na nwfiþlóñ red, im dyfían plesit llia smøøh red ñi maint red, ah im broos fiah... dy lleed twm sobt swad a huv.
thus IMP prepare PL defender RY.2PL, IMP raise monument for.SG world RY.2PL as pleasure RY.2PL, but IMP put eye... in strength not find-FUT 2PL SG victory
SALEM: So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called free world, but take heed... there will be no victory in strength.
OZPIN: Ah a huv ar plañ dy sahn fan cryfía a sobt awb ñe, sahn røsandin w hiar dy føhnas: sahn rosvi a lias føs cell's huslanon.
but SG victory [perhaps] in thing COMP simple A find-FUT 1PL.EX it, thing forget-PST.PART ERG 2SG in long_time: thing require SG soul COMP small and honest
OZPIN: But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten: things that require a smaller, more honest soul.

UDHR, Article 1

Bo am sñøø awr rygéen as þur nai hyltlás as zin. Awr lawr fyójin nai hylynbyþín as binþoçúr, ceeda beð rer a þwrynúf hið velc dy heeb eeðagu.
DET.COL human be_born 3PL free and equal INS dignity and right. 3PL COP-3PL bestow-PST.PART INS rationality-COL and conscience-COL 3PL, therefore part GEN.3PL DET act towards one_another in spirit brotherhood
All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Að øøm Depanjẃn (Making Anisole)

NileRed: Making Anisole

Depanjẃn, ry givolín pnaþafol tamyr tlaméni e, að øømt riav hreem.
Today we're making anisole which is a somewhat nice-smelling organic liquid.
Twm øør bo bintxynóv tamẃx depanjẃn hnoh, as gøørws ñi bannẃts lly bisçǿð as efataþol að txynób car e.
Anisole itself doesn't have many direct applications and it's mostly used as a precursor to perfumes and pharmaceuticals.
Eenand naw nai møø a depaniẃn lly øøm tawtn arbóin cosgarjẃn, ry cnee ciab tyr navta raw agl vallib e.
I plan to use the anisole to make something called anethole, which is 13 times sweeter than regular sugar.

The reaction that we'll be doing to make the anisole is called the Williamson ether synthesis, and I'll cover the mechanism later on in the video. In terms of chemicals, we have four major reagents: sodium metal, methyl iodide, phenol and methanol. We'll also need some sodium hydroxide, some dry calcium chloride, and some dichloromethane for the workup. To start things off, I added 150 mL of dry methanol to a round bottom flask. Once I'm done adding the methanol, I then move on to preparing the sodium metal. Before the sodium metal can be used, we first have to clean off the mineral oil that it was stored in, and then we have to chop it up into smaller pieces. Using a knife I took out a reasonably-sized chunk, and I tried to wipe away as much oil as I could using a paper towel. When I felt like most of the oil had been removed, I dropped the sodium into a beaker. I fill the beaker with toluene until the sodium is covered. Mineral oil is soluble in toluene, so this is just an added step to get rid of as much of the oil as possible. Using my very rusted knife, I try to agitate things as best as I can. After something like a minute, I felt like it had been washed decently enough, so I took it out and placed it on some paper towel. Now for the slightly more fun part where we get to cut the sodium and weigh out about 8 grams. Using my knife, I cut away some moderately-sized pieces and I place them on the scale. The freshly cut sodium is nice and silver, but it very quickly tarnishes. Once about 8 grams are weighted out, I put the sodium to the side and remove the scale. The sodium metal that is left over that we don't need is placed back under mineral oil for storage. Coming back to the round-bottom flask with the methanol in it, I go ahead and dump in all of the sodium. You can see that the sodium reacts quite vigorously immediately after being added. The reaction is going to heat the methanol to its boiling point, and a lot is going to boil off, so it's very important to have a high-efficiency condenser.

From a manifesto

Bo slawb ys dy bo hñyl mawr savísi, bo fehd øølyb, as bo jysn hwrðon a heþál ñe?
Fyxoomian: [pɔ sχaup əs tə bɔ ŋɔ̃ˁ mauɾ səˈvisi, pɔ fɛht œ̃ˁʁ̃əp, əs pɔ ˈjəsən ˈhuːɾəðɔn ə hɛˈθãˁ ŋɛ]
Skellan (Alcve): [pɔ sχɑup əs tə bɔ ŋ̊ɔ mɑuɾ səˈvɪsɪ, pɔ fɛht ˈoːʁəp, əs pɔ ˈjəsən ˈhuɾəðɔn ə hɛˈθɑː ŋɛ]
COL good Q in DET.COL trunk tree towering, DET.COL lake heaven and DET.COL mountain craggy DET reside 3PL
Does good reside in the towering tree trunks, the heavenly lakes, the cragged peaks?
Ia, dy lwm hiar res a sdeevi ryñ.
Fyxoomian: [iə, tə ʁ̃uːm hiəɾ ɾɛs ə ˈstɛɪvi ɾɔ̃ˁ]
Skellan (Alcve): [iː, tə ʁum hiːɾ ɾɛs ə ˈstevɪ ɾɔ]
nay in interior 2SG GEN.2SG DET dwell GEN.it
Nay, it dwells within thyself.

From Zompist

I room llyð am cail as twm lly in sdawol, as sgoð ab cail lly mi diraþ nai binsymrua emb beð mi lly behn as tymiseeþ ym hnawb ðav çawlþ, sec fahað ñe xyvehflen? Ter, hegn dyb tałswñg jytiþwn ry binzycþia ñe! Jahanor að am ñi nwþyvwr desranin nai boosws, nai taw arm ab ar as bosg ab llyð øltu. Ñyv, sy mocynxin es rofeel ñe i geeb naw "glawð" dy xam "am"? -- ne-Zim

Srüe ruay e croth patsrin, te die ruay ef păcrit rus, te rüe e sed șa fid, mitse ya binsămrüe łithad tsip neab te tămiseath e fid swoch, lea mot bintănse yășithbech? Tieth, fid mot mitse paw yătithun binłăcthie! Thăbur ef croth ngie nuthbur papluas mi-thäș, șang fid plang ło imsrup te thusămpey moang thăprea. To, fi mocănłin pra lea chithud srüe ngil e rie "Seth" mi łam "croth"? - Ne-Sim

If a man has food and his neighbor has none, and he gives him food only on the condition that his neighbor ceaselessly beg and abase himself, would this be honorable? No, it is only a pathetic case of exploitation! Let the man work as a paid laborer at least, that he might stand on his feet and care for a family. Now does your judgment change if I say “god” instead of “man”? —ne-Zim

Poetry

Rhyming poetry is often said to be from Windermere and Tseer influence, as poetry in these languages tend to use rhyme. This supplanted ___ used in Tigol poetry.

  • Stress-accentual meters like trochaic/iambic/dactylic meters: the iambic pentameter is common as in English.
  • Quantitative meters arose in the vernacular poetic tradition. Like medieval Hebrew piyyutim, these meters are based on a pattern of long and short syllables. Here, short = a syllable ending in [ə] and long = everything else; x denotes an anceps (s OR L). The last L in a line can be replaced by a trochee.
    • sLxLsLxL (hazaj/marnin)
    • sxLsLxLsxLsLxL
    • xLsLxLxLsLxL
    • xLsLxLsxLsL (mahir)
    • xLsLxLsLxL (variant of mahir)
    • xLsxLsxLxL
    • sLxLsLxLsxL (merubeh)
    • xLsxLsLxLsxLsL (mitpashet)
    • sLxLxLsLxLxL