Vairish
| Vairish | |
|---|---|
| Varišö | |
 | |
| Pronunciation | [vɑriˈʃø] |
| Created by | Aenil2 |
| Date | 2024 |
| Native speakers | 400k (1894 CC) |
Dialects |
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | vrs |
| CLCR | qir |
| IETF | avr-vi-vrs |
Vairish (autoglossonym: Varišö; Vairish : [vɑriˈʃø]) is an Ano-Vaire language spoken in Aonir (Riukish : Aüniž [ɑyniʒ]). Vairish can be considered as a lingua franca in Aonir and the surrounding regions such as Oira and Taritren, which have different pronunciations, but are almost entirely mutually intelligible. Unless indicated, this article will focus on Varišaüniž (Aonir Vairish).
Phonology
Consonants
The following table is the consonant inventory of Vairish. Dialectal allophones will be indicated in dark cells :
| Labials | Dentals/Alveolars | Post-Alveolars | Dorsals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | m <m> | n <n> | ŋ <ň> | |
| Plosives | p <p>, b <b> | t <t>, d <d> | k <k>, g <g> | |
| Affricates | t͡ʃ <č>, d͡ʒ <ž> | |||
| Fricatives | f <f>, v <v> | s <s>, z <z> | ʃ <š> | |
| Approximants | w <w> | l <l> | j <j> | |
| Trills | r <r> |
Dialectal variation :
- /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/ and /ʃ/ are pronounced /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑ/ and /ɕ/ in Värištriten (Tariten Vairish)
- /f/ and /v/ are pronounced /ɸ/ and /β/ in Varisoir (Oira Vairish) and Varišaüniž
Vowels
There are 9 vowels in Vairish, with no length distinction :
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i <i>, y <ü> | u <u> | |
| Mid | e <e>, ø <ö> | ɵ~ə <ë> | o <o> |
| Open | ɑ <a>, æ <ä> | ||
Morphophonology
Final devoicing
When a word-final consonant is voiced, it's pronounced as its voiceless equivalent, and when inflected, the consonant becomes voiced again.
Diaeresis
When 2 "non-close" vowels are in hiatus, the hiatus is broken down using a glide (the use of one preferably from another depends on the hiatus constituents)
Stress and pitch
Primary stress falls on the last syllable of a word, except if the last syllable is composed of a single vowel. In this case, the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns can be inflected for number, case and possession.
Numbers
Nouns can be inflected for 4 numbers : Singulative (sgv), Dual (du), Plurative (plv) and Collective (col). Depending on the noun, the unmarked number can be either the Singulative or the Collective
Singulative
The singulative is the default, unmarked form of count nouns. When put into the singulative, mass nouns define the smallest unit of the noun, which is translated into English as a measure word (e.g. water → drop of water).
- tolvä
- "cloud"
Dual
The dual is only fully productive for body parts, kinship and animals. The dual still exists for other count nouns (as mass nouns can't take it), but is considered archaic by many.
- örpa-man-it teiliä
- eye-1s.poss-du brown
- "My eyes are brown"
Plurative
The plurative is formed by affixing -ide. When a voiced plosive comes just before the affix, it is pronounced as its voiceless equivalent
- sëid-jon-ide Äirade ö Olsü
- name-3p.poss-plv Äirade and Olsü
- "They are called Äirade and Olsü" (litt. "Their names are Äirade and Olsü")
Collective
The collective is the default, unmarked form of mass nouns. Count nouns can't inflect for the collective
- siöre
- water
Cases
Vairish nouns can be using a set of 8 noun cases :
- Nominative and Accusative
- Simple morphosyntactic cases. The nominative can also be used for marking the predicate.
- Dative
- Dative proper
-
- The dative proper is used to indicate the indirect object of a sentence
- Dative of measure
-
- The dative of measure is used to indicate the difference of measure between 2 objects
- Instrumental
- The instrumental is used to indicate the instrument of an action
- Lative
- The lative is used to indicate motion to a location
- Ablative
- Ablative proper
-
- The ablative proper is used to indicate motion away from a location
- Ablative of location
-
- The ablative of location is used to indicate a location
- Causal
- The causal indicates that the noun is the cause/reason of the action
- Essive
- Essive proper
-
- The essive proper is used to indicate that the noun is a state of being
- Essive of location
-
- The essive of location is used to indicate that the noun is a temporary location
- Essive of equality
-
- The essive of equality is used to indicate the first noun is equal to the second
- Past essive
-
- The past essive is used when wanting to cojugate a verb in the past tense
Possession
Nouns in Vairish can be marked for possession. The basic suffixes are -mVn, -sVn, -ňVn and -jVn.
E.g.
| Possession markers of raväi "hope" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singulative | Dual | Plurative |
| 1st (exclusive) | raväiman | raväimën | raväimon |
| 1st (inclusive) | raväisin | raväison | |
| 2nd | raväiňän | raväiňen | raväiňön |
| 3rd | raväijan | raväiin | raväijön |
Paradigms
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Pronouns
Pronouns can be inflected for number, case and modality
Numbers
Pronouns numbers are the same as noun numbers (minus the collective and the dual)
Case
Vairish pronouns are inflected with a limited array of cases, those cases being :
- Nominative
- Accusative
- Dative (proper)
The last case for pronouns is the Pegative case, which is inexistant everywhere else in the language.
Modality
In Vairish, pronouns use a system of nominal mood to convey more informations. Pronouns can inflect for 5 modal usages, as follows :
| Modality inflections | |
|---|---|
| Vairish suffix | English translation |
| -tta | should/shall |
| -lve | can |
| -rë | want |
| -šče | ought |
| -orü | may/wish |
Paradigms
1st person pronouns
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2nd person pronouns
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3rd person pronouns
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Verbs
Verbs can inflect for tense, aspect, mood, politeness and inverse marking
Tenses and aspects
Tenses and aspects are intricately linked in Vairish, as one cannot exist without the other.
The Vairish language uses a set of 3 tenses (more on that later) and 3 aspects :
- Non-Future
- Perfective non-future
-
- The perfective non-future indicates that the action is occuring/occured
- Gnomic non-future
-
- The gnomic non-future indicated that the action is/was a general truth
- Episodic non-future
-
- The episodic non-future is the contrary of the gnomic non-future
- Future
- Perfective future
-
- The perfective future indicates that the action will occur
- Gnomic future
-
- The gnomic future indicated that the action will be a general truth
- Episodic future
-
- The episodic future is the contrary of the gnomic non-future
The past is not marked on the verb but rather on the object, as its construction is : Non-Future Verb + Object in the Essive
Moods
Vairish verbs can inflect for 7 moods, which are the following :
- Indicative
- The indicative is the default, unmarked mood of verbs. It is used to indicate that the action is a statement for the speaker.
- Optative
- The optative can be used to indicate wishes or hopes. It can also be used to indicate that the action is encouraged.
- Imprecative
- The imprecative can be used to indicate misfortune upon another person/thing. It can also be used to indicate that the action is discouraged.
- Imperative
- The imperative is used to create commands/requests. More rarely, it could also be used to indicate that the action is a requirement.
- Hypothetical
- The hypothetical mood is used to indicate that an action could have happened, but didn't. It is only used in the Non-Future tense.
- Deductive
- The deductive mood is used to indicate that the statement was deducted from another source, and wasn't known beforehand.
- Inferential
- The inferential mood is used to report a non-witnessed action without confirming it.
Politeness
Vairish verbs change roots depending on the listener's hierarchy :
- Higher
- When speaking to a person higher in the hierarchy, you must infix -ka- after the first syllable
- Same
- If the listener is from the same hierarchy level as yours, you can just use the "basic" root
- Lower
- You have two options if the person listening to you is from lower hierarchy : you can used the "basic" root, or add -še- to form a sort of pejorative root (which is often use to mock someone)
Inverse marking
Sometimes, the inverse marker "-a" is affixed onto the verb root to indicate that the object is the main focus of the sentence
Paradigm
| Conjugation of čenita ("to see") | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main inflections | ||||||||
| Indicative | Optative | Imprecative | Imperative | Hypothetical | Deductive | Inferential | ||
| Non-Future | Perfective | čenita | čenitaä | čenitainü | čenitabo | čenitaze | čenitaju | čenitaši |
| Gnomic | čenitate | čenitattä | čenitatin | čenitabëdin | čenitadü | čenitaiut | čenitačei | |
| Episodal | čenitada | čenitadä | čenitadi | čenitadlin | čenitadëze | čenitaidu | čenitažai | |
| Future | Perfective | čenitani | čenitanä | čenitaininü | čenitabio | - | čenitajü | čenitanši |
| Gnomic | čenitanite | čenitatiä | čenitanitin | čenitabiedin | - | čenitainut | čenitačinei | |
| Episodal | čenitanida | čenitanidä | čenitadini | čenitadilin | - | čenitaidun | čenitažnai | |
| Miscellaneous Affixes | ||||||||
| Inverse marker | čenitaa | |||||||
| Higher hierarchy listener | čekanita | |||||||
| Lower hierarchy listener | češenita | |||||||
Adjectives
Adjectives in Vairish do not inflect at all
Copulae
Vairish has multiple deictic copulae, that are used depending on the proximity to the object.
- äo
- äo is the proximal copula, it is used to describe an object close to the speaker
- i
- i is the descriptive copula, it is used when the object doesn't have a specific distance to the speaker.
- rëi
- rëi is the medial copula, it is used when the object is close to the listener
- kärui
- kärui is the distal copula, it is used when describing an object far away from both the speaker and listener
Correlatives
Like Ancient Greek and Esperanto, Vairish also has a correlative system, based on 4 roles and 9 "qualifiers".
Roles
The correlative's role is what indicates the function that it fulfills. Here are 4 roles of the correlatives :
- Negative
- The negative role corresponds to adding "no"/"not" before the qualifier
- Interrogative
- The interrogative role more or less corresponds to English interrogative pronouns
- Universal
- The universal role corresponds to adding "every" before the qualifier
- Indefinite
- The indefinite role corresponds to adding "some" before the qualifier
Qualifiers
The qualifier of a correlative specifies the type of question it addresses or the kind of information it conveys. There are 9 qualifiers :
- Reason
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "why", indicating a cause or explanation.
- Time
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "when", indicating a point or period in time.
- Individual
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "who", referring to a person or entity.
- Object
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "what", reffering to an object
- Place
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "where", reffering to locations
- Amount
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "how much", reffering to quantities
- Manner
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "how", indicating ways or methods
- Frequency
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "how often", reffering to regularity or recurrence
- Direction
- This qualifier corresponds to the question word "which direction", indicating movement and orientation
Table
| Interrogative | Negative | Indefinite | Universal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reason | kirä why ? |
serä for no reason |
ürä for some reasons |
torä for every reasons |
| Time | kidö when ? |
sedö never |
üdö sometime |
todö always |
| Individual | kilda who ? |
selda no one |
ülda someone |
tolda everyone |
| Object | kiňu what ? |
seňu nothing |
üňu something |
toňu everything |
| Place | kijë where ? |
sejë nowhere |
üje somewhere |
tojë everywhere |
| Amount | kipo how much? |
sepo none |
üpo some |
topo all of it |
| Manner | kiki how ? |
seki in no way |
üki in some way |
toki in every way |
| Frequency | kivü how often ? |
sevü never |
üvü often |
tovü always |
| Direction | kiše in which direction? |
seše in no direction |
üše in some direction |
toše in every direction |
Syntax
Word order
The most used word orders are VSO and SOV, even though VOS is also used to indicate a passive-like construction, and might also be used to replace the inverse marker.
For exemple : "karë ronän čenitaa" and "čenita ronän karë" both mean "The citizen looks at the king", but the second sentence doesn't need an inverse marker.