Varangian

Varangian (Native: Verinskă /ˈverinskə/) is a North Germanic language that is part of the Balkan sprachbund.

Varangian
Verinskă tungă
Веринскъ тунгъ
Pronunciation[ˈverinskə ˈtuŋɡə]
Created byShariifka
Early forms
Old Norse
  • Old Varangian

Introduction

Phonology

Orthography

Varangian orthography
Letter IPA Remarks
Latin Cyrillic
A a А а a
Ă ă Ъ ъ ə
 â Ы ы ɨ Generally used when /ɨ/ is derived from earlier /a/.
B b Б б b, p¹
C c Ц ц ts, dz²
Č č Ч ч tʃ, dʒ²
D d Д д d, t¹
Ð ð Ԁ ԁ ð, θ¹
Dz dz Ѕ ѕ dz, ts¹
Dž dž Џ џ dʒ, tʃ¹
E e Е е e
F f Ф ф f, v³
G g Г г ɣ, ɡ, k¹, x¹ Pronounced /ɡ/ (devoiced: /k/) initially and after /ŋ/; /ɣ/ (devoiced: /x/) otherwise.
Gg gg Ґ ґ ɡ, k¹ Not used initially or after /ŋ/.
H h Х х x ~ h, ɣ² /h/ can be used in free variation with /x/, but it is most often used word-initially before vowels.
I i И и i
Î î Ы ы ɨ Generally used when /ɨ/ is derived from earlier /e/ or /i/.
J j Й й (Ј ј) j Й and ј are considered variants of the same letter.
Ь ь After consonants except /l, n, r/.
K k К к k, ɡ²
L l Л л l Can be syllabic.
Ľ ľ Ль ль (Љ љ) ʎ Љ is a ligature of ль.
M m М м m
N n Н н n, ŋ Pronounced /ŋ/ before velars; /n/ otherwise.
Ň ň Нь нь (Њ њ) ɲ Њ is a ligature of нь.
O o О о o
P p П п p, b²
R r Р р r Can be syllabic.
Ř ř Рь рь rʲ ~ r̝ ~ ɻ⁴ Рь may be written as a ligature which looks roughly like R with a loop on the right leg.
S s С с s, z³
Š š Ш ш ʃ, ʒ³
Št št Шт шт (Щ щ) ʃt, ʒd² Щ is considered a ligature of the cluster шт.
T t Т т t, d²
Þ þ Ѳ ѳ θ, ð³
U u У у u
V v В в v, f¹
Z z З з z, s¹
Ž ž Ж ж ʒ, ʃ¹

Notes:

¹ Voiced obstruents are devoiced before voiceless consonants.

² Voiceless stops and affricates are voiced before voiced consonants except /v/.

³ Voiceless fricatives are voiced when they occur between voiced sounds (including vowels). To remain unvoiced in such environments, they can be written doubled. Such doubling is maintained in a word's stem even when it occurs word-finally.

⁴ Free variation (depending on speaker and dialect).

Consonants

Vowels

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

The following phonological transformations occur in certain environments:

First palatalization

  • t > c
  • d > dz
  • þ > s
  • ð > z
  • s > š
  • z > ž
  • k > č
  • g (as /ɡ/) > dž
  • g (as /ɣ/) > ž

This palatalization is also known as "obstruent palatalization".

In this article, obstruent palatalization is represented as {j-o}

Second palatalization

Includes all mutations under the first palatalization as well as:

  • n > ň
  • l > ľ
  • r > ř

By default, "palatalization" refers to the second palatalization unless specified otherwise.

In this article, palatalization is represented as {j}.

U-umlaut

  • a > o
  • ă, â > u

Represented as {u}.

I-umlaut

  • a > e
  • ă, â, î > i
  • After consonants: jo, ju > i
  • After palatalized consonants: o > i
  • Otherwise: o > e
  • u > i

Represented as {i}.

Disappearing -g-

Some verbs have a stem-final -g- that appears in certain morphological environments and disappears in others.

The environments where -g- appears are:

  • Strong verbs: In the past participle and the plural forms of the past tense.
  • Preterite-present verbs: In the present participle, imperative, and the plural forms of the present tense.

In this article, disappearing -g- is represented as {g}.

Disappearing -j-, -v-, and palatalization

Some consonant-final verbs, nouns, and adjectives have a final -j- or -v- or a palatalization of the final consonant which appear before vowels but are lost in other environments.

Dental past suffix

The dental past suffix varies between -t-, -d-, and -ð- depending on the context.

  • -t- > after orthographic voiceless consonants, and after disappearing -g- (which is dropped in this environment)
    • Expected *-tt- is simplified to -t-.
  • -d- > after -n-, -m-, -l-, -d- and -ð-.
    • Expected *-dd- and *-ðd- are simplified to -d-.
  • -ð- > otherwise

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Varangian personal pronouns
Number Case 1st 2nd 3rd person
Masc. Fem. Neut. Refl.
Singular Nom. jek þu hân hână þat
Acc. mik sik hân hîn hână hîn þat hîn šik šă
Gen. mer ser hâns hiňi þes šer
Dat. mer ser hâns hîn hiňi hîn þes hîn šer šă
Poss. adj. min sin šin
Plural Nom. ver jer þir þer þau Same as singular.
Acc. os ăs iðr îr þir þîr þer þîr þau þîr
Gen. os iðr þem þem þem
Dat os ăs iðr îr þem þîm þem þîm þem þîm
Poss. adj. vor iðr

Definite pronoun

Definite pronoun
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. in ină it
gen./dat. ins iňi inu
Plural nom./acc. iňir inăr in
gen./dat. inum

Demonstratives

These can also function as determiners.

Near demonstrative
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. þess þessă þet
gen./dat. þess þešši þessu
Plural nom./acc. þeššir þessăr þess
gen./dat. þessum
Far demonstrative
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. þân þo þat
gen./dat. þes þeři þes
Plural nom./acc. þir þer þau
gen./dat. þem

Other pronouns

Note that these pronouns can also function as determiners.

Relative/interrogative/indefinite pronoun
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. hver hveřă hvert
gen./dat. hvers hveři hveřu
Plural nom./acc. hveřir hveřăr hver
gen./dat. hveřum
ândr "other (one)"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. ândr ândră ândăt
gen./dat. ândrs ândři undru
Plural nom./acc. ândřir ândrăr undr
gen./dat. undrum
ald "all, every, everyone"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. ald aldă alt
gen./dat. alds aldři oldu
Plural nom./acc. aldzir aldăr old
gen./dat. oldum

Adjectives

Declension

Adjectives can be declined either strong or weak. Weak forms are used when modifying definite nouns, while strong forms are used otherwise. However, certain adjectives can only take one of the two patterns irrespective of definiteness.

Strong adjective declension
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. - -t¹
gen./dat. -s² -(ř)i³ {u}-u
Plural nom./acc. -ir -ăr {u}-
gen./dat. {u}-(u)m⁴

Notes:

¹ Dental consonants (-t-, -d-, -þ-, -ð-, and -n-) assimilate to -t and are dropped.

² -s is dropped after postalveolar consonants.

³ -ř- is dropped after the consonants -r-, -s-, -n-, and -l-, which are then palatalized in its stead.

-u- is dropped after a vowel.

Weak adjective declension
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. -ă¹
gen./dat. -ă¹ -u -ă¹
Plural nom./acc. -u
gen./dat.

Notes:

¹ is dropped after a vowel.

Placement

Adjectives may precede or follow the nouns they modify. When a weak adjective is used with a definite noun, the definite article is attached to whichever word comes last (whether it is the noun or adjective).

Comparative and superlative

  • Comparative: mer "more" + adjective
  • Superlative: mest "most" + adjective
  • Some adjectives have irregular comparatives and superlatives.

Numbers

Numbers
# Cardinal Ordinal
0 nul; zero nuldă
1 en, enă, et (en) first
2 tvir, tver, tvau (tvo) tvoðă
3 þřir, þřor, þřu (þři) þřiză
4 fjořir, fjorăr, fjor (fjor) fjorðă
5 fim fimtă
6 ses setă
7 šau šundă
8 otă otândă
9 niu nindă
10 ciu cindă
11 enpociu enpocindă
12 tvopociu tvopocindă
13 þřipociu þřipocindă
14 fjorpociu fjorpocindă
15 fimpociu fimpocindă
20 tvociu tvocindă
21 tvociu ok en tvocindă ok first
30 þřiciu þřicindă
40 fjorciu fjorcindă
50 fimciu fimcindă
100 hundrăð hundrădă
101 hundrăð ok en hundrădă ok first
200 tvau hundruð tvau hundrădă
1000 þusund þusundă

Notes:

¹ All ordinal numbers are weak adjectives, except first which can be strong or weak.

² En (1) is declined as a strong adjective. Tvir (2) is declined as the plural third person pronoun (þir). Fjořir (4) is declined as a plural strong adjective. Þřir (3) is declined irregularly. These numbers (1-4) also have indeclinable variants.

Declension of en "one"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Singular nom./acc. en enă et
gen./dat. ens eňi ens
Plural nom./acc. eňir enăr en
gen./dat. enum
Indeclinable en
Declension of tvir "two"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Plural nom./acc. tvir tver tvau
gen./dat. tvem
Indeclinable tvo
Declension of þřir "three"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Plural nom./acc. þřir þřor þřu
gen./dat. þřim
Indeclinable þři
Declension of fjořir "four"
Number Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Plural nom./acc. fjořir fjorăr fjor
gen./dat. fjorum
Indeclinable fjor

Hundrăð (100) and þusund (1000) are declined as neuter nouns. All other numbers are indeclinable.

Nouns

Declension

  • The citation form is the nominative-accusative singular.
  • Pluralization of regular masculine nouns:
    • Ending in consonant: add .
    • Ending in -i: replace -i with .
    • Ending in : no change.
  • Pluralization of regular feminine nouns:
    • Ending in consonant: add -ăr.
    • Ending in -i: replace -i with -ăr.
    • Ending in -u: add -r.
  • Regular neuter nouns undergo u-umlaut in the plural.
  • Some nouns (known as consonant stems) have irregular plurals involving i-umlaut. Examples:
    • mând "man" (M) > mindă
    • foðr "father" (M) > feðră
    • moðr "mother" (F) > meðrăr
    • šistr "sister" (F) > šistrăr
    • broðr "brother" (M) > breðră
    • dotr "daughter" (F) > detrăr
    • fot "foot" (M) > fetă
    • tund "tooth" (F) > tindăr
    • not "night" (F) > netăr
  • A class of feminine nouns known as u-stems have u-umlaut in the singular that is reversed in the plural. Examples:
    • džov "gift" (F) > džavăr
    • corn "lake" (F) > carnăr
  • Formation of genitive-dative:
    • The genitive-dative plural is always identical to the nominative-accusative plural.
    • The genitive-dative singular is formed as below:
      • Masculine and neuter nouns: identical to the nominative-accusative singular.
      • Feminine nouns: identical to the nominative-accusative plural.

Definiteness

A noun is made definite by suffixing the definite article -in (declined as the definite pronoun) to the noun. Note that the following changes occur:

  • The -i- of the definite article is dropped after vowels and after the -r of the feminine plural/genitive-dative.
    • Note: The -r of the feminine plural/genitive-dative is not pronounced before the definite article. For example, džavărnăr "the gifts (nom./acc.)" is pronounced as if it were written *džavănăr.
  • The final consonant of the noun is palatalized before undropped -i- of the definite article whenever possible.

Verbs

Verb stems

A verb can have up to 5 stems:

  • Primary present stem (represented as <Pr>)
    • Used in the plural present tense and the imperative.
  • Secondary present stem (represented as <Pr`>)
    • Used in the present participle and singular present tense.
    • Either identical to the primary present stem, or derived from it via i-umlaut.
  • Primary past stem (represented as <Pa>)
    • Used in the plural past tense.
    • For weak verbs and preterite-present verbs, it is formed from the primary present stem with the ending -ð- (or one of its allomorphs).
    • For strong verbs, it is formed by ablaut. Some strong verbs additionally add the ending -r- followed by weak verb endings.
  • Secondary past stem (represented as <Pa`>)
    • Used in the singular past tense.
    • Identical to the primary past stem for the majority of verbs.
  • Past participle stem (represented as <PP>)
    • Used in the past participle.
    • For weak verbs and preterite-present verbs, it is identical to the past stem.
    • For strong verbs, it is formed by ablaut along with the ending -in-.

Verb classes

Verbs fall into 3 main categories:

  1. Strong verbs
  2. Weak verbs
  3. Preterite-present verbs

Strong verbs

Strong verbs are characterized by ablaut variations between the present, past, and past participle stems.

Strong verb declension
Non-finite forms
Form Active Middle
Present participle <Pr`>-(â)ndă <Pr`>-(â)ndziskă
Past participle <PP>-({j}i)n <PP>-({j}i)nsk
Finite forms
Person/
Number
Present Past Imperative
Active Middle Active Middle Active Middle
1S <Pr`>- <Pr`>-sk <Pa`>- <Pa`>-sk
2S <Pr`>-r <Pa`>-t <Pr>- <Pr>-sk
3S <Pa`>-
1P <Pr>{u}-(u)m <Pr>{u}-(u)msk <Pa>{u}-(u)m <Pa>{u}-(u)msk <Pr>{u}-(u)m <Pr>{u}-(u)msk
2P <Pr>-({j}i)ð <Pr>-({j}i)sk <Pa>{u}-(u)ð <Pa>{u}-(u)sk <Pr>-({j}i)ð <Pr>-({j}i)sk
3P <Pr>-(ă) <Pr>-(ă)sk <Pa>{u}-u <Pa>{u}-usk

Notes: Vowels in brackets are dropped after stems ending in vowels.

Weak verbs

Preterite-present verbs

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Vocabulary

Example texts

Other resources