Elvish
Natively known as: à̗ellviʃ /ˈæellviʃ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...lí mut lɑt lūm mut mifego lí ʎin mut úvɑ búf thɑl lugú
Pronunciation: /lɪ mut lɑt lʌm mut ˈmifego lɪ ʎin mut ˈʊvɑ bʊf θɑl ˈlugʊ/
Elvish word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h k l m n r s t v w z ɹ ʃ ʎ θ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ||||||
Stop | b | t d | k g | |||||
Fricative | f v | θ | s z | ʃ | h | |||
Approximant | ɹ | |||||||
Trill | r | |||||||
Lateral approximant | l | ʎ |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
Near-high | ɪ | ʊ |
High-mid | e | o |
Low-mid | ɛ | ʌ |
Near-low | æ | |
Low | ɑ |
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
æ | à̗ |
ɛ | é |
ɪ | í |
ʊ | ú |
ʌ | ū |
θ | th |
ɹ | ŕ |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
Singular | No affix
bégɑ /ˈbɛgɑ/ dog |
Plural | Prefix ɑ-
ɑbégɑ /ˈɑbɛgɑ/ dogs |
Articles
Elvish has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.Pronouns
1st singular | sà̗t /sæt/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | ʃék /ʃɛk/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | mut /mut/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc) |
3rd singular fem | mi /mi/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem) |
1st plural inclusive | lít /lɪt/ we (including you), us (including you), ours (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | mɑ /mɑ/ we (excluding you), us (excluding you), ours (excluding you) |
2nd plural | bɑ /bɑ/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural | tho /θo/ they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
Possessive | |
---|---|
1st singular | sà̗t /sæt/ my |
2nd singular | ʃék /ʃɛk/ your |
3rd singular masc | mut /mut/ his |
3rd singular fem | mi /mi/ her |
1st plural inclusive | lít /lɪt/ our (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | mɑ /mɑ/ our (excluding you) |
2nd plural | bɑ /bɑ/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | tho /θo/ their |
Verbs
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Present | No affix
bità̗e̯ /ˈbitæe̯/ (I/you/he/she/it) learn(s) |
Prefix mʌ-
mūbità̗e̯ /ˈmʌbitæe̯/ (we/you all/they) learn |
Past | Prefix ɛ-
ébità̗e̯ /ˈɛbitæe̯/ (I/you/he/she/it) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʌb-
Else: Prefix ʌbæ- ūbà̗bità̗e̯ /ˈʌbæˌbitæe̯/ (we/you all/they) learned |
Remote past | Prefix ʎɛ-
ʎébità̗e̯ /ˈʎɛbitæe̯/ (I/you/he/she/it) learned (long ago) |
Prefix ɑ-
ɑbità̗e̯ /ˈɑbitæe̯/ (we/you all/they) learned (long ago) |
Future | Particle before the verb: ʃɑf -
ʃɑf bità̗e̯ /ʃɑf ˈbitæe̯/ will learn |
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.Elvish uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
Perfect | Reduplicate first part of first syllable
bibità̗e̯ /ˈbibitæe̯/ have learned |
Numbers
Elvish has a base-10 number system: 1 - ol2 - bél
3 - mū
4 - bɑn
5 - se
6 - ʃɑ
7 - odut
8 - ebi
9 - lu
10 - lū
100 - búm
1000 - ʎu
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -mElse: Suffix -om
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ɑf
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lʌ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix lɪ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɛ
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -mi
Else: Suffix -ɑmi
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹ
Else: Suffix -ɑɹ
Tending to = Suffix -i
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix æe̯-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -e
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʃ
Else: Suffix -uʃ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix lo-
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -ɑn
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -ɛm
Opposite = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -ol