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|name = Valian | |name = Valian | ||
|nativename = Välyatalle | |nativename = Välyatalle | ||
|pronunciation = | |pronunciation = ˈvæljɑˌd̥ɑlle | ||
| | |setting = [[w:Eurasia|Eurasia]] | ||
|speakers = 3 190 | |speakers = 3 190 | ||
|date = 2012 | |date = 2012 | ||
|familycolor=Isolate | |familycolor=Isolate | ||
| | |fam2 = [[Tenarian languages]] | ||
|ancestor = [[Valian# | |ancestor = [[Valian#Old Valian|Old Valian]] | ||
| | |stand1 = Standard Valian | ||
| | |dia1 = Sanahta | ||
| | |clcr = qav | ||
| | |script1 = Latn | ||
|creator = User:Chrysophylax | |||
|notice = IPA | |notice = IPA | ||
}} | }} | ||
<!-- start article --> | <!-- start article --> | ||
'''Välyatalle''', [ˈvæl.jɑˌtɑl.le], (a compound of {{ | '''Välyatalle''', [ˈvæl.jɑˌtɑl.le], (a compound of {{term|välya}} 'good, noble' and {{term|talle}} 'speech'), also known as '''Valian''' is an a priori [[artistic language|artlang]] strongly inspired by Estonian phonology. The grammar is a mash up between agglutinative trends, weird case retention, a half-broken gender system (inspired by Swedish debates about forcing the use of a gender neutral pronoun to not 'offend' anyone), and appositional genitive constructions (with trends to state differences for nouns) and Spanish-style object/subject marking on verbs (e.g. entregandotelo 'giving it to you'). As a bonus, there's a lot of sandhi going on at morpheme boundaries to spice up the mix and a seeming Ablaut-style system in effect for many of the verb stems. It is currently being quickly codified as I spend more and more sleepless nights running different sounds through my head and deciding on morphological and syntactic features. | ||
But "Why so much Eesti?" you may ask. Well, the truth is that I have come to realise Estonian is a language rich in "cellar doors" i.e. rich in sounds I find extremely pleasing, e.g. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BNHZce1TCa8 Greip - Vihma Loits (YouTube)] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtM_jG_llDU Sandra Nurmsalu - Velvetiin (YouTube)]. | |||
To sum it up: Pretty much broken pseudo-Estonian if it were spoken by a sleep-deprived conlanger, high on insane morphosyntax. | |||
Recently, it was successfully demonstrated to be related to [[Elasian]] [[Valian/Etymologies|[2013]]]. | Recently, it was successfully demonstrated to be related to [[Elasian]] [[Valian/Etymologies|[2013]]]. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
===Vowels=== | ===Vowels=== | ||
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At its core, the language writes the plosive series as ⟨p t k⟩, the nasals as ⟨m n⟩, the trill as ⟨r⟩, the voiced labial fricative as ⟨v⟩, the palatal approximant as ⟨y⟩, the lateral one as ⟨l⟩, and the glottal fricative as ⟨h⟩. Palatalisation is not indicated in writing as it is the result of a regular process. | At its core, the language writes the plosive series as ⟨p t k⟩, the nasals as ⟨m n⟩, the trill as ⟨r⟩, the voiced labial fricative as ⟨v⟩, the palatal approximant as ⟨y⟩, the lateral one as ⟨l⟩, and the glottal fricative as ⟨h⟩. Palatalisation is not indicated in writing as it is the result of a regular process. | ||
The "weakened" variants of ''p, t, k'' (see [[{{FULLPAGENAME}} | The "weakened" variants of ''p, t, k'' (see [[{{FULLPAGENAME}}#Consonants|Valian phonology]]) encountered after certain consonants and intervocalically are written as ''b, d, g'' something which may confusion at first as they are not fully voiced sounds, unlike say English, but are actually only half voiced, often if word-final they represent unreleased stops. Like the vowels, the basic (non-weakened) consonants can all be doubled for the long versions of the consonants. Note, this means that there are no double ⟨b d g⟩ at all. The voiced labial fricative ⟨v⟩ is counted among the "weakened" consonantal sounds as it too cannot be doubled even though there is no 'full' form of it. | ||
As will be noted, many forms of the personal pronouns and related affixes are written as if non-weakened with ''t, k'' even though they are between vowels. Nonetheless, they are to be pronounced as normal weakened consonants. One of the more prominent examples of irregularity in usage of the weakened consonants is evident in the native name of the language itself ''Välyatalle'' – a remnant from when the name was ''Välya(h) tallet'' and not one single word. There are many similar compound words that are spelt "strongly" when nonetheless pronounced "weakly". | |||
==Morphology== | ==Morphology== | ||
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====Possession==== | ====Possession==== | ||
Nouns can be marked directly for possession, absorbing the role possessive adjectives have in many European languages. The markers are - | Nouns can be marked directly for possession, absorbing the role possessive adjectives have in many European languages. The markers are -tä, -kä, -nä corresponding to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd singular and follow the number marker. Thus ''siidinä'' 'his hope' and ''siiditän'' 'our (excl.) hope'. Although they are written with "unweakened" consonants they are to be pronounced as if written with the weakened set. | ||
E.g. | E.g. | ||
{{Valian silma | {{Valian inflection|silma|silma}} | ||
===Adjectives=== | |||
Adjectives in Valian can be broadly divided into two groups: ha-adjectives and s-adjectives. The first group (ha-adjectives) is characterised by ending in -ha, always being after their nouns and not inflecting for possession. The second group (s-adjectives) on the other hand are able to stand before their nouns in certain registers, inflect for possession, and always terminate in -s. There are some oddballs that do not belong to either group, as the verbal participle in -ttava which may behave as an adjective, a noun, or a verb, depending on context, e.g., an adjective and a verb in ''täättava handa'' 'the freezing man' or 'the man is freezing', and a noun in ''palia vëi Sveariik tärnama täättava vaha kui tää […]'' 'Sweden received a good freezing this morning as snow […]''. | |||
====First group (ha-adjectives)==== | |||
These adjectives do agree with their heads in plurality but '''not''' in the state of possession. E.g., ''handain hauhain'' 'the wroth men' but never *'''handaitä hauhaitä''' 'your angry man'. | |||
They are furthermore easily turned into adverbs by suffixing -n. e.g., ''vaha'' 'good' → ''vahan '' 'well'; ''huva'' 'lone' → ''huvan'' 'once'; ''hauha'' 'wroth' → ''hauhan'' 'wrathfully'. | |||
====Second group (s-adjectives)==== | |||
This second group of adjectives agree with their heads in both plurality and state of possession. E.g., ''lai, lai, kasgelodinitä malmesinitä!'' 'Woe, woe, my sorrowful sperm whales!'. | |||
===Pronouns=== | ===Pronouns=== | ||
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! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" rowspan="3" | singular | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" rowspan="3" | singular | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | first | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | first | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|tee}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|tu}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|tä}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | second | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | second | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|kee}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|ku}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|kä}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | third | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | third | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|nee}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|nu}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|nä}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" rowspan="3" | plural | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" rowspan="3" | plural | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | first | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | first | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|teen}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|tun}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|tän}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | second | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | second | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|keen}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|kun}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|kän}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | third | ! style="background:#63ADD0" colspan="2" | third | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|neen}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|nun}} | ||
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{ | | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#93C9E1" | {{term|nän}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
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A minor but quite important point in Valian is the alternation that certain verb stems show. One such alternation is the a-alternation encountered in primary verbs with the stem vowel /a/. In the past tense form it changes to /æ/ and when used to form nouns it changes to /e/. | A minor but quite important point in Valian is the alternation that certain verb stems show. One such alternation is the a-alternation encountered in primary verbs with the stem vowel /a/. In the past tense form it changes to /æ/ and when used to form nouns it changes to /e/. | ||
====Stem==== | |||
The present stem of class I verbs (type {{term|magaan}}) is found by removing the infinitive suffix ''-an'', thus giving ''maga-''. To form the past tense stem, replace the stem vowel (a → ä) and drop the final vowel, giving ''mäg-'' for the past tense. | |||
====Tenses==== | ====Tenses==== | ||
=====Present===== | =====Present===== | ||
The present is generally used for denoting actions that are taking place in the now and is also used for forming the future tense in conjunction with specific adverbs. Unlike English which has a distinction between "I'm going" and "I go", Valian uses the same form for both. For thematic verbs, the present tense set of inflexions consists of ''-te, -ke, -na, -teen, -keen, -nän'' For athematic verbs, add the linking vowel ''-i-'' and the thematic endings. Thus ''magate'', ''magake'', ''magana'', ''magateen'', ''magakeen'', ''maganän'' for the verb ''magaan''. | The present is generally used for denoting actions that are taking place in the now and is also used for forming the future tense in conjunction with specific adverbs. Unlike English which has a distinction between "I'm going" and "I go", Valian uses the same form for both. For thematic verbs, the present tense set of inflexions consists of ''-te, -ke, -na, -teen, -keen, -nän'' For athematic verbs, add the linking vowel ''-i-'' and the thematic endings. Thus ''magate'', ''magake'', ''magana'', ''magateen'', ''magakeen'', ''maganän'' for the verb ''magaan''. | ||
=====Past===== | =====Past===== | ||
The past tense | The past tense verb is formed similarly to the present but with a differing (secondary) set of inflexions: ''-tama, -kama, -nama, -tänna, -känna, -nänna''; these are affixed directly to the past tense version of the stem (if there is such one) even if it's a thematic verb. <br>Thus ''mähtama, mäkkama, männana, mähtänna, mäkkänna, männänna'' for the verb ''magaan'' in the past tense. | ||
====Optative==== | ====Optative==== | ||
The optative mood is used to express wishes and potentiality. It is formed by the addition of ''-est(i)'' to the present stem and the primary inflexions ''-te, -ke, -na, -teen, -keen, nän''. | The optative mood is used to express wishes and potentiality. It is also used in curses and swears. It is formed by the addition of ''-est(i)'' to the present stem and the primary inflexions ''-te, -ke, -na, -teen, -keen, nän''. | ||
* '' | * ''Tuleikä meleestina'' "May thy kingdom come." | ||
* ''Tausaikä ruusiestina!'' "May your house come to be on fire!" | |||
====Imperative==== | |||
The imperative mood takes no derivation but is formed directly from the radix of the verb. It exists for two persons - the first and the second. The first person only exists in the plural as ''-taa''. | |||
* ''Kevataa!'' "let's forget it" | |||
As for the second person, the singular takes no ending and is just the radix of the verb. | |||
* ''Ruusi!'' "burn!" | |||
* ''Palga!'' "take!" | |||
* ''Lahe!'' "give!" | |||
The second person plural takes the suffix ''-kaa''. | |||
* ''Melekaa!'' (Come you guys!). | |||
The Sanahta dialect inserts /a/ between the suffixes and the radix if not doing so would result in an unpronounceable cluster, e.g. *läbtaa becomes Sanahta ''läbataa'' for Standard Valian ''lävaa''. | |||
====Passive==== | |||
The present passive is formed by adding the passive personal endings ''-sse, -kse, -sse, -tas, -kas, -las'' to the present stem. | |||
* ''taevasse'' 'I am made sacred, he/she/it is made sacred.' | |||
* ''nee palgasse saa Urmas'' 'It is being taken to Urmas.' | |||
The past passive is formed similarly to the present but with the past stem. | |||
* ''tävisse'' 'I was made sacred, he/she/it was made sacred.' | |||
* ''nee pälgisse saa Urmas'' "he/she/it was taken to Urmas' | |||
The passive has a tentative subjunctive/future form which is formed by adding ''-d'' to the singular endings and ''-si'' to the plural. This form has been found to correspond to both a wishing mood (similar to the optative) and a future tense as well. Presumably, it's unrelated to the optative as it differs strongly in form and comes after the personal suffixes unlike the optative which comes before. | |||
* ''Taevassed nennikä'' "May thy name be made sacred/Thy name will be made sacred." | |||
* ''Laheksed saa Vihtor kui ruuseemme'' "Thou art to be given to Victor as an offering/Thou shalt be given to Victor as a sacrifice." | |||
* ''Saolalassi saolain saolalinna!'' "May the songs of the song weaver be sung!/The songs of the song weaver will be sung!" <!-- lol I think I just discovered the first tongue twister --> | |||
====Negative==== | |||
To negate a verb, the suffix -lya- is inserted before the person endings. Thus, | |||
* ''Taevalyaten<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' "I do not make it holy" | |||
* ''Lahelyassed!'' "I will not be given!" | |||
* ''Palgalya!'' "Don't take (it)!" | |||
==Syntax== | ==Syntax== | ||
Unlike its distant relative [[Elasian]], Valian [[w:syntax|syntax]] does not adhere to a [[w:subject-object-verb|subject-object-verb]] basic word order but instead uses as its most common and unmarked form the same as English, i.e the [[w:subject-verb-object|subject-verb-object]] word order. Adjectives and adverbs generally follow their heads (e.g. ''pead miris'' lit. 'sparrow red') although an inversion may occur for adverbs in poetry. In more formal speech it is common to see the adjective precede the noun to mark definiteness, e.g. ''müotte malmesin kasgelodin'' ('I hunt the sorrowful sperm whales'). | |||
Valian verbs are able to encapsulate pronouns in an agglutinative fashion. It is therefore sometimes also possible to find sentences using a word order different from the default SVO if context is able to disambiguate, e.g. if it is known that the person speaking is doing so to another human, then ''taevakenu varra aas'' for what usually is ''aas taevake varra'' ('Girl, thou consecratest the chalice') becomes a perfectly valid sentence. Needless to say, distinguishing between the many options available for interpretation is one of the more confusing aspect of Valian to the beginner. | |||
===Formation of the genitive=== | |||
In Valian, genitive structures are formed syntactically by apposition. It is a process similar to the English construction X of Y (e.g. ''John of France'') or Ancient Hebrew's X-{{sc|constr}} Y (e.g. ''bejt ha-sefer'', where ''bejt'' is the {{sc|constr}} of ''bajit''). | |||
*:rauda aura, "Hammer of Time" (lit. hammer time) | |||
There is no morphological marking for it, unlike in Old Valian where the genitive was morphologically marked on the possessor by ''-a''; the example above would have been rendered as ''rauda auraa''. | |||
<!-- Example: Word order, qualifiers, determinatives, branching, etc. --> | <!-- Example: Word order, qualifiers, determinatives, branching, etc. --> | ||
==Translations== | |||
===Obligatory header translation=== | |||
<poem> | |||
''Talle nëi yärgatta huvan. Tälgisse küi yärgatalle midä nee käryatta vahan, nuras, sest mendest.'' | |||
'This language was once made featured. It was chosen as feature-language because it is well-made, plausible, and useful' | |||
</poem> | |||
<!-- Categories --> | <!-- Categories --> | ||
[[Category:Languages]] | [[Category:Languages]] | ||
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[[Category:Valian]] | [[Category:Valian]] | ||
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