Old Croibhic

daicli croibtheic /ˈd̪ˠəu̯kɫɪ ˌcroibˈheic

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Embroidered image of the croibhic Apple of Knowledge and the holy serpent by Microsoft Designer & Pfeffermin

Old Croibhic, (pronounced: 'Old Cree-vik') is an ancient language that has been spoken in the region of Wallorstein and the surrounding Leyland areas of southern Meddlemark for centuries. It is still spoken by members who practice the religion of Croibhism during rituals and ceremonies, due to its strong connection with that ancient faith.

Writing Style & Script

Old Croibhic script and cursive retains vestiges of the language’s roots in carving, both stone and wood, with sharp, harsh lines, little curves or complex shapes, and an emphasis on describing the greatest variance in sounds with the least amount of letters as possible.

Natively known as: daicli croibtheic /ˈd̪ˠəu̯kɫɪ ˌcroibˈheic

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
clá chaar suíːar crí meibh clá péar bach mofi meibh irt a
Pronunciation: /kɫɑː ˈxaar ˈsˠiːar cɾʲiː mˠɛvˠ kɫɑː ˈpʲeːar bʲax ˈmʲɔfʲɪ mˠɛvˠ ɪɾˠtʲ əi̯/
Old Croibhic word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face the wind to

Origin & Etymology

Derived from various dialects of Leylandish in the early 1st and 2nd centuries BGK, Old Croibhic is a lineal language that takes much inspiration from the religion it is so close to, both the lanaguge and the faith having developed together over centuries.
The word 'Croibhe', from which the language and religion is derived, translates roughly to 'tree branch' in the language originally (the same as the 'croibhe' in Fallowin, ‘croeuf’ in Molian, ‘kreuyf’ in Flomish, ‘kruijff’ in Unt-Jorgaardian, and of course the ‘croeve’ in Leylandish that all of these words stem from.)
In Old Croibhic, and languages that descend from it, ‘croibhe’ and numerous similar words are polysemous, with ‘croibhe’ referring to a family, ancestry, and a household. This triple meaning stems from the central tenet in Croibhism, which states that all beings return to the ‘Endless Garden’ in death, where they become trees along with all of their ancestors, and all of the people who have ever lived. These ‘green men’ or ‘Ancestors’ ( ɑːbribá in Croibhic, pron. /ɑːˈbˠɾˠɪbˠɑː/) as those beings who have died are known, are reified in the Croibhic religion as gods, with nine of the oldest ancestors, who each birthed the first nine human tribes, being commonly worshipped in chapels and homes.
Plants and animals also exist in the ‘Endless Garden,’ (bhódeibúmicic in Croibhic, pron. /vʲoːˌdʲɛbˠuːˈmʲicic/) but sapience and intelligence is said to have been a gift from the serpent, who gifted the Ancestors the Apple of Knowledge in thanks for their first attempts at caring for the Eternal Garden.
Croibhism has a huge influence on the language itself, with the word for ‘rich’, ‘wealthy’ or ‘nutritious’, being the same word used to describe the colour of soil (glust in Croibhic, pron. /gɫʊʃtʲ/). The Croibhic word for (plant) rot, is also used for ‘sickness’, ‘yellow,’ and ‘evil’ (sral, pron. /sˠɾˠaɫ/, in Croibhic).

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: bʲ bˠ c dʲ d̪ˠ fʲ fˠ g h k lʲ mʲ mˠ nʲ n̪ˠ pʲ pˠ sˠ tʲ t̪ˠ vʲ vˠ x ç ŋ ɟ ɫ ɲ ɾʲ ɾˠ ʃ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	mˠ mʲ		n̪ˠ	nʲ		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	bˠ bʲ pˠ pʲ		d̪ˠ t̪ˠ	tʲ dʲ		c ɟ	k g
Fricative		fˠ fʲ vʲ vˠ		sˠ	ʃ	ç	x	h
Tap				ɾˠ ɾʲ
Lateral approximant				lʲ

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Velarized alveolar
Lateral approximant	ɫ

Vowel inventory: a eː ia̯ iə̯ iː oː uə̯ uː ɑː ɔ əi̯ əu̯ ɛ ɪ ʊ
Diphthongs: ia̯ iə̯ uə̯ əi̯ əu̯

	Front	Back
High	iː	uː
Near-high	ɪ	ʊ
High-mid	eː	oː
Low-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Low	a	ɑː

Syllable structure: In Old Croibhic, words normally only have one stressed syllable, usually the penultimate syllable.
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable in most cases.
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ca	cea
coː	ceo
cu	ciu
kɪ	coi | cai | cui
k	c
h	th
x	ch
ç	ch
ɲ	nn
#n̪ˠ	n
nʲ	n
n̪ˠ	nn
ŋg	ng
ŋ	ng
mʲ	m
mˠ	m
pʲ	p
pˠ	p
bʲ	b
bˠ	b
lʲ	l
ɫ	l
ʃa	sea
sˠɪ	sai
sˠi	suí
sˠeː	sao
ʃɔ	seo | sio
ʃo	seo
ʃu	siu
ʃ	s
sˠ	s
tʲu	tiu
tʲ	te / _{a,ɑː}
tʲ	t
t̪ˠoː	teo
t̪ˠɛ	te
t̪ˠ	t
fˠi	faoi
fˠɪ	fui
fˠuː	fiú
fˠ	f
fʲ	f
ɟ	g
ɪ	i
ɑː	á
eːɾˠ	éar
ɾˠ	r
ɾʲ	r
vˠ	bh | mh
vʲ	bh
d̪ˠ	d
dʲ	d
əi	a
eː	é
ɛ	ei
ɔ	o
oː	ó
iː	í
uː	ú
iə	ia
əu	ai
uə	ua
ʊ	u
̯

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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: postpositions

Verb affixes

Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɑːlʲ- Else: Prefix ɑːlʲɑː- áláfiatear /ˌɑːlʲɑːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learned
Present	If starts with vowel: Prefix fˠ- Else: Prefix fˠuə̯- fuafiatear /fˠuə̯ˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Future	Prefix n̪ˠɑː- náfiatear /n̪ˠɑːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ will learn

Verb affixes

Perfective	Prefix cɾʲəi̯- crafiatear /cɾʲəi̯ˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Habitual	Prefix pˠʊ- pufiatear /pˠʊˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn (often, habitually)
Progressive	If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix kuə̯- cuafiatear /kuə̯ˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ be learning
Perfect	If starts with vowel: Prefix gɾˠ- Else: Prefix gɾˠɪ- grifiatear /gɾˠɪˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ have learned

Verb affixes

Singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix gɾˠ- Else: Prefix gɾˠiː- grífiatear /gɾˠiːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ (I/you/he/she/it) learn
Plural	Prefix ɑː- áfiatear /ɑːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ (we/you all/they) learn

Verb affixes

Indicative	Prefix eː- éfiatear /eːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Conditional	Prefix kɫɔ- clofiatear /kɫɔˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Subjunctive	Prefix xɫiə̯- chliafiatear /xɫiə̯ˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Imperative	Prefix ɔ- ofiatear /ɔˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn

Verb affixes

1st person	Prefix uː- úfiatear /uːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ (I/we) learn
2nd person	If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix kuː- cúfiatear /kuːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ (you/you all) learn
3rd person	Prefix ʊ- ufiatear /ʊˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ (he/she/it/they) learn

Verb affixes

Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix n̪ˠ- Else: Prefix n̪ˠa- nafiatear /n̪ˠaˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learned
Present	Prefix dʲɾʲɑː- dráfiatear /dʲɾʲɑːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Future	Prefix uə̯- uafiatear /uə̯ˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ will learn

Verb affixes

Active	If starts with vowel: Prefix aʃ- Else: Prefix aʃa- aseafiatear /ˌaʃaˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn
Passive	Prefix eː- éfiatear /eːˈfʲiə̯tʲar/ learn

Numbers

Old Croibhic has a base-10 number system:
1 - thág
2 - di
3 - trém
4 - rei
5 - sria
6 - ríchú
7 - crifú
8 - cla
9 - lú
10 - á
100 - an
1000 - faoíthei

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix mˠʊ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix d̪ˠəu̯-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ia̯-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ik
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix a-
Noun to verb = Prefix sˠəu̯-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix kɪ-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix bʲ-
Else: Prefix bʲɛ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix mʲ-
Else: Prefix mʲa-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix mˠɛ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix kɪ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix tʲia̯-
Diminutive = Prefix oː-
Augmentative = Prefix sˠkɔ-

A bible in Old Croibhic from the 4th Century AGK. by Pfeffermin (Using Microsoft Designer)

Dictionary

3223 Words.

Root Languages

• Leylandish

Successor Languages

• Walloren

See Also:

Old Croibhism

Croibhism	Croibhic Language
Wallorstein	Walloren Languages, Culture of Wallorstein