Alarine

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Alarine
Démfa Alaríne
Pronunciation[ˈde̞ɱfä äläˈɾine̞]
Created byRonnie Lovell
SettingAlaria
Early form

Alarine(démfa alaríne, Alarine: [ˈde̞ɱfä äläˈɾine̞]) is a constructed language used in the fictional kingdom of Alaria, the setting of an ongoing book series.
It was developed as a semi-serious endeavor to create an Indo-European constructed language, and was retroactively placed in the fictional series as the primary language spoken in Alaria.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants of Alarine
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Post-Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Affricate t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f v θ s z ʃ ʒ x
Trill/Tap r ɾ
Approximant l j ʎ w

The phonemes /d/ and /ɡ/ are pronounced as voiced stops only after a pause, or after a nasal consonant,
in all other contexts, they are realized as voiced fricatives /ð/, /ɣ/

Vowels

The Alarine phonemic inventory consists of the standard five vowel system, and their long counterparts.

Vowels of Alarine
Front Center Back
Close i u
Mid e̞ː o̞ː
Open ä äː

Stress

Alarine features variable stress, marked with an acute accent on the vowel (á/é/í/ó/ú)

Phonotactics

Alarine features a (C)V(C)(C) syllable structure

Orthography

Alarine Orthography
Alarine: a b c d dj e f g h i j l lj m n ñ o p q r s sj t tj þ u v w z zj
IPA: ä b k d d͡ʒ f ɡ x i j l ʎ m n ɲ p r s ʃ t t͡ʃ θ u v w z ʒ

Nouns

Nouns are declined for 3 genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and 2 numbers (singular, plural)


Masculine nouns are marked by the singular ending -o and the plural -ī

présto ‘'finger'’ (masc.)
Singular Plural
Base présto préstī
Genitive préstos préstīs

Feminine nouns are marked by the singular ending -ā and the plural -ē

ézā ‘'food'’ (fem.)
Singular Plural
Base ézā ézē
Genitive ézās ézēs

Neuter nouns are marked by the singular ending -e and the plural -ī

énde ‘'fire'’ (neut.)
Singular Plural
Base énde éndī
Genitive éndes éndīs

Humans and animals are declined for their respective gender, and inflecting them for neuter creates a "default" or "non-conforming" state for the noun:

Human

  • anéro - man/male
  • anérā - woman/female
  • anére - person(in general)/non-gender-conforming individual

Animal

  • múto - male cat
  • mútā - female cat
  • múte - cat(in general)/feline

Adjectives

Adjectives decline identically to nouns, and precede them.
Adjectives also feature an optional clitic derived from the copula (to be) to mark the subject of an adjective or interrogative:

Copula (to be)

Present Past Future
1S éru, 'ru óram, 'ram fuáo, 'fu
2S éres, 'res óras, 'ras fués, 'fes
3S ére, 're óra, 'ra fué, 'fe
1P erémo, 'rmo eráma, 'rma fuámo, 'fmo
2P eréto, 'rto eráta, 'rta fuáto, 'fto
3P éren, 'ren óran, 'ran fuén, 'fen

Examples

  • tóþi'ru - I am there
  • tjúto'res - You are loud
  • niódo're - he/she/it is stupid
  • séti'rmo - we are quiet
  • máto'rto - y'all are together
  • sácro'ren - they are sacred

Adjectives possess a comparative and superlative form, attached to the end of the adjective stem.

  • -iér- (more X)
  • -ìst- (most X)

Adverbs

Adverbs are formed by the neuter ending -e on adjectives, and are placed after the verb.

  • créto

Verbs

Verbs inflect for three persons (First, Second, Third) and three tenses (Present, Past, Future)
Currently there are two classes of verbs:

Class 1

The first class takes the pattern CéCe - CóCa

sérpe (present stem serp-, perfect stem sérft-, participle stem serpúd-); first class

Present Past Future
1S sérpu sórpam serpéru
2S sérpes sórpas serpéres
3S sérpe sórpa serpére
1P serpémo sorpáma serperémo
2P serpéto sorpáta serperéto
3P sérpen sórpan serpéren

Class 2

The second class takes the pattern CáCe - CúCa

Present Past Future
1S evánu evúnam evanéru
2S evánes evúnas evanéres
3S eváne evúna evanére
1P evanémo evunáma evadrémo
2P evanéto evunáta evadréto
3P evánen evúnan evanéren