Scellan
Thematic word lists
Phrasebook
Scellan-English lexicon
Sketchbook
Swadesh list
Names
Periodic table
Fia sfir dy Sgewlib (This page in Skellan)
| Scellan | |
|---|---|
| a brits Eevo | |
| Pronunciation | [/ə ˈprits ˈɛivɔ/] |
| Created by | IlL |
| Setting | Verse:Tricin |
| Native speakers | 400 million (13b0dd) |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Skella, Fyxoom, ... |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | qee |
Skellan /skɛlən/ SKEL-ən (Sgewlib /ˈskɛ̃ʟip/), in-universe often called Eevo /ˈeɪvoʊ/ AY-voh (natively /ˈɛivɔ/; from Tigol é- 'common' + bó 'language'), is a Talmic language belonging to the Tigolic branch. Skellan is modern Tricin's lingua franca, the third-most spoken language (after Hetmic and Sjowaázh) and the most spoken Quame language. Its vocabulary has been heavily influenced by Lakovic languages Windermere and Tseezh.
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. Typologically, Skellan is a mostly analytic, topic-prominent, head-initial, usually V2 language.
Skellan is official in the Talman nation of Skella (Sgewla) /ˈskɛ̃ʟə/ SKEL-ə. It is also de facto official in Fyxoom /fəˈʃɔʊm/ fə-SHOME, Þrwhas /ˈθɾuhəs/ THROO-həs, and many other countries. In real life, it is one of the official languages of the Facebook group The Pitcairns, Also Bhutan, And Also Possibly Tannara Mòr.
Skellan is inspired by Icelandic, Welsh, Hmong (orthography-wise), English (especially Philadelphian English), Khmer, and Gaelic.
Todo
- Content-word-last word order (so possessive pronouns should be preposed)
- Goal: Duolingo 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
- sgv/plv/col can be a feature of modern talma but not ancient talma
- 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/
- Skellan word from a cognate of cathair 'flower' (can't use caþr because of th-fronting)
- 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 ŋ and postvocalic l?
- No, but use llt > lt and make -l more common in Windermere
- oo/øø merger? They seem to largely be in complementary distribution except in open syllables.
- Folk etymology of mine: aver > average. So use this etymology: guess/try > most probable > average
- more nouns with -i
vee, cyvah, çeedi, døll, taiðl, sdeŋg/sdehŋ, sawvn, melli, dysið, feeþl, seehi, çewv
- Ar ugairedh Jisráér gil Éigipt, suaradh Jalgóbh gil badhnedh gáth shlodhán;
- saedhaín Jaħúdhá le áthradh ú, Jisráér le fúichnedh ú.
- Ésrín ron fón minn, ag amaltín hú; fulmáín an Jardén ar blíon.
- Bídín na scaimhthe madh zsíograin; na glóna iadha, madh mbioltha.
- Tá naes, ae fón, bhfá n-amaltar? Ae Jardén, bhfá bhfuldar?
- Ae scaimhthe, bhfá mbídes madh zsíograin; ae ghlóna iadha, madh mbioltha?
- Bróg ŋal an Mannar, ae luabh, ŋal Caemadh Jalgóbh,
- Ri bhforsaedhaín rú an óc le pasc, an ŋgorda le sálanadh eanŋ.
- replace Clofabic words with Tseezh words
- ŋ is pronounced the same as l, unless ŋ is at the beginning of a stressed syllable
- hŋ 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
TODO words
- Some way to say 'the X associated with each' or 'their respective X'
- to remain
- "to take"
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
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, as in Snachian.
- Smoothing of certain consonant clusters (e.g. -mn > -m, sŋl- > sml-)
Background
- See also: Talmic languages, Thensarian, Tigol, Middle Skellan
Phonology
Consonants (motylisíç)
Skellan has a slightly larger-than-average consonant inventory of about 26 consonants.
| → PoA ↓ Manner |
Labial mofysíŋ |
Dental/Alveolar | Palatal | Velar mosgóŋ |
Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal mocryí |
m /m/ | n /n/ | ŋ /ŋ/ | ||||
| Plosive motybtéb |
unaspirated | b /p/ | d /t/ | g /k/ | |||
| aspirated | p /pʰ/ | t /tʰ/ | c /kʰ/ | ||||
| Affricate | ts /ts/ | tx, tsj /tʃ/ | |||||
| Non-sibilant | unvoiced | f /f/ | þ /θ/ | ç /ç/ | ll /χ/ | h /h/ | |
| voiced | v /v/ | ð /ð/ | j /j/ | ||||
| Sibilant | unvoiced | s /s/ | x, sj /ʃ/ | ||||
| voiced | z /z/ | zj [ʒ] | |||||
| Resonant | unvoiced | rr /r̥/ | |||||
| voiced | ł /w/ | r /r/ | l /ʟ/ | ||||
- Notes
- ŋ is the official transcription for /ŋ/, however ņ may be used for typing on Android keyboards.
- 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 reduced to /j/ among younger speakers: e.g. çaljad 'window' /çaʟjət/ is pronounced [çajət], [çaːjət], or [çãjət].
Vowels (motynyrłáj)
The vowel inventory of Skellan is also fairly large, with 8 or 11 basic vowel qualities depending on the analysis. Skellan also has many diphthongs, in addition to nasal vowels (in "nasal" accents; these vowels are written l or ŋ in the Skellan orthography).
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diaereses can be used on the second member of a vowel cluster to distinguish them from diphthongs.
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 |
| /yu/ | uł, uał |
| /ɛɪ/ | 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. Certain, "non-nasal" accents realize them as long vowels (with no nasalization) - these accents may have "linked" and "intrusive L" realized as [ʁ] or [ɴ̆] analogous to linked and intrusive R in non-rhotic English accents. A handful of remote dialects pronounce them as pharyngealized vowels or vowels followed by [ɫ].
/õ/ may merge with either /ũ/ or /ɔ̃/ depending on the accent.
/ə̃/ may be merged with either /ɔ̃/ or /ø̃/ in many accents. In unstressed syllables, /ə̃/ and /ɔ̃/ often merge to [ɔ̃].
This is how nasal vowels are written in the orthography:
| Phoneme | Spellings |
|---|---|
| /ã/ | al, ail, aŋ, aiŋ |
| /ɛ̃/ | el, ewl, eŋ |
| /ẽ/ | eel, eeŋ |
| /ĩ/ | il, ial, iwl, iŋ, iaŋ, iwŋ |
| /ø̃/ | øl, øøl, øŋ, øøŋ |
| /ỹ/ | ul, ual, uŋ, uaŋ |
| /ɔ̃/ | ol, awl, oŋ, awŋ |
| /õ/ | ool, wil, ooŋ, wiŋ |
| /ũ/ | wl, wal, wŋ, waŋ |
| /ə̃/ | yl, yŋ, syllabic l or ŋ |
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, ŋr, sr, sgr, smr, hmr
- Cn: vn, tn, þn, gn, cn, hn
- sC: sb, sd, sg, sm, sn, sŋ, sgl, sgr, sml, smr
- hC: hm, hn, hŋ, 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
- Cng: fŋ, tŋ, þŋ, (çŋ), sŋ
- Cł: tł, þł, dł, cł, çł, gł, sł, xł
- sC: sb, sd, sg, sm, sn, sŋ, sl, sr, sł
- çC: çm, çn, çŋ, çl, çr
- XX [X = obstruent]: pd, pg, tb, tg, cb, cd
- In Tseezh 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.
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
Stress accent is not marked. (However, in materials for English speakers we will mark stress.)
The letters l and ŋ 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-12 positional numeral system. The digits are as follows:
ɔ ı ʎ ɺ ħ ʕ ʑ ɛ ɴ κ ə ʋ = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X E
duodecimal point: :
1728's separator: · (optional)
Examples:
2017 = 1,201dd = ı·ʎɔı
π = 3.184809493b918...dd = ɺ:ıɴħ·ɴɔк·ħкɺ·кʋı·ɴ... or ɺ:ıɴħɴɔкħкɺкʋıɴ...
Morphology
Skellan inflectional morphology tends to be simpler than most other Talmic languages; for example, it has no grammatical gender and no construct state.
Verbs
Verbs have little inflection, and the bulk of verbs are completely regular.
Imperative
The imperative is formed with im [VERB] (from "now VERB"). The im is not used when the verb is preceded by ðelláws 'please'.
Cohortative: [VERB] gwm, [VERB] wm (from "VERB with us.EXC")
- Tar gwm 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, Duvwŋ, mol naw tlaw means "Teacher, I thank you".
This is often replaced by the progressive in casual speech.
Archaic Skellan (still used in 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 | -ah | -að | -ah | -av |
Conditional
The conditional uses the suffix -ð. It continues the Old Skellan past subjunctive.
Imperfect
The imperfect uses the particle go.
Progressive/Stative
To form the progressive, the particle dy is used before the verb.
Verbs referring to emotional states also use the progressive. For example, Dy ell naw'r means "I love you."
Preterite
The preterite uses the ergative particle w. This particle is conflated with ry in some nonstandard dialects, which often use ergative syntax in all tenses.
- Iantin naw. = I slept.
- Vesin w 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: go 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 hly + 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
The 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)
- Fohor a cliam slahah Ⅎ, coþ...
- be-JUSS number counting [variable], then
- Let n be/If n is a natural number, then...
Copula
The copula is the most irregular verb in Skellan. In the present tense, zero copula is used.
Nouns
Skellan uses a collective-singulative-plurative system. Number is marked with determiners, not by affixes:
- a(ð) for singulative
- na for plurative
- im- may be used as a plurative marker for Windermere nouns. This is seen as extremely posh, though.
- bo for collective
When no determiner is used, it signifies collective by default.
Singulative and plurative (called "singular" and "plural" below for convenience) refer to one resp. more than one specific instances of the noun. A noun in the collective form refers to "[noun] in general" or "the set of all [noun]". This distinction also applies to abstract nouns (which often use unmarked collectives). The collective of an abstract noun refers to the quality in general, and the singulative and plurative refer to one or more specific instances or manifestations of the abstraction. For example, the collective bo fosgu means 'valor (in general)'; the singulative a fosgu means 'a valiant deed'; the plurative na fosgu means 'valiant deeds'.
Collective nouns are referred to with plural pronouns.
Pronouns
| I | you (sg.) | he | she | it | we (exc.) | we (inc.) | you (pl.) | they | impersonal | you (polite) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct | naw, no | (h)iar, jar, 'r | (h)ab | (h)ee | (h)e | awb | gwad | swad | (h)awr | car | tlaw |
| Genitive | ryn | res | reb | ree | ryŋ | rib | reg | red | rer | ry çar | ry tlaw |
| Possessive (preposed) | no | to | in | ih | in | mo | fo | so | in | - | - |
| Genitive (emphatic) | rynda | resda | rebda | reeda | ryŋda | ribda | refda | rehda | reða | ry bewmav | ry tlaw |
| Dative | llyn | lles | lleb | llee | llyŋ | llib | lleg | lled | ller | lly çar | lly tlaw |
The forms no and ir, 'r are casual forms.
Polite pronouns are much less common in Fyxoomian Eevo than in Skellan Eevo.
Demonstratives
Skellan has a 4-way contrast in demonstratives:
- near me, but not near you
- near us (inclusive)
- near you, but not near me
- 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 | ŋe | ti (preposed) | - | baw (preposed) | zens (preposed) | ||
| Thing | mes | fes | ces | ŋes | taw | twm satn | zens satn | |||
| Person | - | - | - | tua | twm lias | - | - | niltua | ||
| Place | mah | enah | cah | ŋah | þlawd | nillawd | ||||
| Source | ||||||||||
| Destination | mahd | enahd | cahd | ŋahd | tahd | niltahd | ||||
| Time | sada | ŋyv | ihd | fuat | botín | niltin | ||||
| Manner/Kind | miar | siar | ciar | ŋiar | tiar | niltiar | ||||
| Quantity | tic (how many); ticar (how many-th) | |||||||||
| Reason | tin | |||||||||
Demonstratives with number
The demonstrative adjectives mi, fi, ce, ŋe combine with number markers a/að, na as follows:
- mia/mið, min
- fia/fið, fin
- cee/ceð, cin
- ŋee/ŋeð, ŋin
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
Eevo has lost the Tigol reduplicated comparative and -us superlative. However, some fossilized comparative forms have become new words in the modern language.
- føs X = comparative
- nuab X = superlative
- llaw X = very
- jal X = too X
A few adjectives have suppletive comparative and superlative forms:
- slawb 'good': cøll 'better', cøllws 'best'
- orð 'big': jwma 'bigger', jwmws 'biggest'
- dum 'far': yŋí 'farther', yŋíws or nuab yŋí 'farthest' (from Windermere ăngi 'to surpass')
- ŋawð 'few': ???
Construct adjectives
An adjective may be placed in the construct state by suffixing -að. Construct adjectives are mainly used in constructions like noosað ers 'easy to learn', and lloosað fiah 'red-eyed'. In addition they survive in some fixed expressions and prepositions. For example, deljað is a preposition meaning 'worth; worthy of', and is the construct form of an adjective *deli ('worthy').
Derivational morphology
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 | -wŋ (agentive) -os (instrument) -id (diminutive) -óm (augmentative; Tseezh) -emb (female suffix) ni- (non-) ir- (un-) bah- (sub-) ŋal- 'before' tynd- 'after' |
-ah (verbal noun) -ev (verbal noun) -wŋ (agentive) -os (instrument) |
-vih (abstract noun) hal-(abstract noun) -u (abstract noun) -igi (one characterized by X) |
|
| Verb | so- (verbing nouns) | ar- (applicative) as- (telic) ee- (co-, with) for- (causative) fw- (back, re-) gol- (up) oc- (from, out) ro- (down) so- (towards) sen- (well) mi- (mis-) |
|||
| Adjective | -ahd -on -ib -ín (Netagin) -ol (Clofabic) -flen |
-i -in (-ee) -go, (-able, but ergative) |
di- (non-) er- (un-) |
||
| Adverb | - | ||||
Nouns
- -i is a frozen diminutive suffix.
- -id 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.
- -wŋ is a suffix meaning "a person associated with [noun] or who does [verb]" (unknown origin).
- britswŋ means 'speaker (a person who speaks)', from brits 'to speak; speech'.
- trovihwŋ means 'vegetarian' (from trovih 'vegetarianism').
- sbwiþwŋ means 'sbwiþ player'. (A sbwiþ is a plucked string instrument with 18-22 sympathetic strings.)
- -fen is another "agent" suffix, like -wŋ, but of Clofabic origin.
- 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.
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.
- for- (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).
- -gon is similar to '-able', but it is ergative in that it can also be used for "able to [intransitive verb]". ex. feŋggom 'mortal, human (flowery)' < feŋg '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-
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, Tseezh, or other languages (especially Qazhrian, Anbirese, Häskä, Tsrovesh, Nurian). This gives Skellan a rich array of synonyms.
Place name morphemes
- -ve 'city, town'
- -døø 'valley'
- -has country names
- -sgyb 'mountain'
Sample texts
Featured banner
- Fia brits go rosgáiþin ŋe ciwr.
- This language was once featured.
- Nai vwiþ ry binsiþlóom hylłavéem, hylbocylisdód, as hylprynées bintomáj ryŋ, tynd smil car lly rosgáiþ ŋe.
- Thanks (lit. by the grace of) to its level of quality, plausibility and usage capabilities (variety of uses), it has been voted as featured.
Ode to Joy
|
Crofdaig lly Bial |
Ode to Joy |
An die Freude |
Apology, first clause
- Tiar, ai bo am Aþéna, a tynd argíall ry na nwmyłléj ryn swad, twm cwllyn a deeb...
- /tiər ai bo am aˈθɛnə ə tʰənt arˈkiəχ rə nə numəwˈʟɛi rən suət, tʰum ˈkʰuχən ə tɛip/
- how, VOC COL person Athens, A PERF affect RY PL accuser GEN.1SG 2PL, NEG can.1SG A say
- How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I cannot tell...
RWBY opening monologue
[check this later, what are the right numbers to use and when can they be omitted?]
- SALEM: Hulafa.
- /ˈhyʟəfə/
- legend
- SALEM: Legends.
- SALEM: Vønd forllóþin pes hiŋg.
- /vœnt fɔɾˈχɔθin pɛs hiŋk/
- story scatter-PST.PART across time
- SALEM: Stories scattered through time.
- SALEM: Swal damol a huðas am dy entsybytsẃal na fosgu ry øøl as llypsid, as gønd ab ŋwar dy ciar noos, emb dyb soltyn gwad, odosméd ry ymdáł røsandin.
- /suʟ ˈtamɔʟ ə ˈhyðəs am tə ɛntsəpəˈtsuʟ nə ˈfɔsky ɾə œʟ əs ˈχəpsit, əs kœnt əp ŋuəɾ tə kiəɾ nɔus, ɛmp təp ˈsɔ̃tən kuət, ɔtɔsˈmɛt 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 – sŋøøin ab gyl a Si – go cleðn, øøvr, as esginað ŋadl 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 go sŋøøin 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 eróbasgon, 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: Go sŋawrand min pirúaf, as dewhyn go vriþ a maslan lly fwltáwm a hylhyþús ŋai 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: Dyb tuahad, oos a nert cellws ry þus a solyŋ lly oðyŋẃð a roféelah, as nai joor, rrawbin a þwðilás, a forŋádlu, 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 go fial a dy paloþreh "a Si". Nai þi a devna a moxíaf, rwvin Am øþ meŋ a maslan, as dy isír ysli, divin lleed, biniŋcymẃax, 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 feŋg 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: Ŋyv im simynd na nwfiþlóŋ red, im dyfían plesit llia smøøh red ŋi 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 plaŋ dy sahn fan cryfía a sobt awb ŋe, 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 rygéen as þur nai hyltlás as zin awr gyl sŋøø. Awr fyójin nai hylynfyþín as binþoçúr awr, ŋyþ beð rer a þwrynúf hið velc dy heeb eeðagu.
- DET.COL human free and equal INS dignity-COL and right-COL 3PL from be_born. 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)
- 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 ŋi 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 hŋyl mawr savísi, bo fehd øølyb, as bo jysn hwrðon a heþál?
- COL good Q in DET.COL trunk tree towering, DET.COL lake heaven and DET.COL mountain craggy DET reside
- Does good reside in the towering tree trunks, the heavenly lakes, the cragged peaks?
- Ia, dy lwm hiar res a sdeevi ryŋ.
- nay in interior 2SG GEN.2SG DET dwell GEN.it
- Nay, it dwells within thyself.
Miscellany
Poetry
Skellan poetry traditionally uses rhyme. In modern poetry, alliteration is often used instead (cf. Tsjoen poetry).
- Stress based meters
- Piyyut meters