Elvish

Natively known as: meháli'n /ˈmɛhɑlɪn/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
i'dán ell olenáhřá átřellá ellion ellŷl vábřŷnn i'dán essýřásê aewiř viraevinê anorá átřellá ellion ciřiřae
Pronunciation: /ˈɪdɑn ɛll ˌolɛˈnɑɾɑ ˈɑtɾɛllɑ ɛˈlliɒn ɛˈllɪl vɑˈbɾɪnn ˈɪdɑn ˈɛssiˌɾɑsə ˈeɪ̯wiɾ ˌviɹeɪ̯ˈvinə æˈnoɹɑ ˈɑtɾɛllɑ ɛˈlliɒn ˈsiɾiɾeɪ̯/
Elvish word order: and he his hat holding stood and to the wind his wet face turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n s t v w z ɹ ɾ θ
Click IPA symbols for audio [img]

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m			n
Stop	b			t d		g k
Fricative		f v	θ	s z			h
Approximant				ɹ	j
Tap				ɾ
Lateral approximant				l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: eɪ̯ i o u æ ɑ ə ɛ ɪ
Diphthongs: eɪ̯ ?

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Near-high	ɪ
High-mid			o
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ
Near-low	æ
Low			ɑ

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: No fixed stress ?
Sound changes (in order of application):

• θ → t / #_
• i → aɪ̯ / #_
• ɛ → ∅ / _i
• j → ɪ / _C !_{ɹ,ɾ}
• j → i / _{ɹ,ɾ}
• k → s / _{i,ɪ,j}
• k → k / _{æ,eɪ̯}
• h → ∅ / _{l,ɹ,ɾ}
• o → ɒ / #_{m,n}
• o → ɒ / i_n

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
k	c / _{æ,eɪ̯,i,ɪ,j}
k	c / _ɑ !_ɑh
s	c / _i
j	ŷ / _C !_{ɹ,ɾ}
j	ý / _{ɹ,ɾ}
j	y / _{ɑ,æ,eɪ̯,ɛ,ɪ,i,o}
eɪ̯	ae
ɑ	∅ / _æ
æ	a
ɑ	∅ / _ɑ
ɑ	á
ɛ	e
ə	ê
i	í / #_
ɪ	i'
ɒ	o
u	ü
θ	th
ɹ	r
ɾ	ř

---

Grammar

Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Pronouns

	Nominative	Accusative
1st person singular	á /ɑ/ I	má /mɑ/ me
2nd person singular	áriá /ˈɑɹiɑ/ you	gwi'th /gwɪθ/ you
3rd person masculine singular	ell /ɛll/ he	ellion /ɛˈlliɒn/ him
3rd person feminine singular	ellá /ˈɛllɑ/ she	elli'sá /ɛˈllɪsɑ/ her
3rd person nonbinary singular	i'llê /ˈɪllə/ they	i'lleth /ɪˈllɛθ/ them
3rd person neutral singular	ářen /ɑˈɾɛn/ it	si'nás /ˈsɪnɑs/ it
1st person plural	elae /ɛˈleɪ̯/ we	ořen /oˈɾɛn/ us
2nd person plural	írŷth /ˈaɪ̯ɹɪθ/ you	li'hel /ˈlɪhɛl/ you
3rd person plural	gwŷn /gwɪn/ they	gwŷnen /gwɪˈnɛn/ them

Noun affixes

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	No affix áralán /ˈɑɹælɑn/ dog (doing the verb)	Suffix -iɹə áralánirê /ˌɑɹæˈlɑniɹə/ dogs (doing the verb)
Accusative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -heɪ̯ Else: Suffix -ɛiθə áraláneithê /ɑɹæˌlɑniˈθə/ (verb done to) the/a dog	Suffix -ælɑmeɪ̯jɑ áralánalámaeyá /ˌɑɹæˌlɑnæˈlɑmeɪ̯jɑ/ (verb done to) dogs
Genitive	Suffix -ɑunə áralánáünê /ˌɑɹæˌlɑnɑˈunə/ dogʼs	Suffix -neɪ̯ áralánnae /ˌɑɹæˈlɑnneɪ̯/ dogsʼ
Dative	Suffix -viɹɑ áralánvirá /ˌɑɹæˈlɑnviɹɑ/ to the/a dog	Suffix -ɑnonɑlɑ áralánánonálá /ɑˌɹælɑˌnɑnoˈnɑlɑ/ to dogs
Locative	Suffix -ɑulɑ áralánáülá /ɑˌɹælɑˌnɑuˈlɑ/ near/at/by the/a dog	Suffix -ɪsɑ áraláni'sá /ˌɑɹæˈlɑnɪsɑ/ near/at/by dogs
Ablative	Suffix -ɑuɾeɪ̯ áralánáüřae /ˌɑɹæˌlɑnɑˈuɾeɪ̯/ from the/a dog	If ends with vowel: Suffix -mɑɹeɪ̯ Else: Suffix -ɛnoɾɑ áralánenořá /ɑˌɹælɑˌnɛnoˈɾɑ/ from dogs
Instrumental	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kiɾeɪ̯ Else: Suffix -eɪ̯wɛmeɪ̯ɑ áralánaewemaeá /ˌɑɹæˌlɑneɪ̯ˈwɛmeɪ̯ɑ/ with/using the/a dog	Suffix -lɛ áralánle /ˌɑɹæˈlɑnlɛ/ with/using dogs

Verb affixes

	Past	Present	Future
Perfective	Suffix -fɾə týřivanfřê /tiˈɾivænˌfɾə/ learned	No affix týřivan /ˈtiɾivæn/ learn	Suffix -zjɹɪ týřivanzýri' /tiˈɾivænˌziɹɪ/ will learn
Habitual	If ends with vowel: Suffix -miɾæ Else: Suffix -ɛlɛnoɹɑ týřivanelenorá /tiˌɾivæˌnɛlɛˈnoɹɑ/ learned (often, habitually)	Suffix -ɑɾɪmeɪ̯ɑ týřivanáři'maeá /ˌtiɾiˌvænɑˈɾɪmeɪ̯ɑ/ learn (often, habitually)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -vælu Else: Suffix -ɑɾɪlɑ týřivanáři'lá /ˌtiɾiˈvænɑˌɾɪlɑ/ will learn (often, habitually)
Progressive	Suffix -vɑleɪ̯ týřivanválae /ˌtiɾiˈvænvɑleɪ̯/ was/were learning	Suffix -li týřivanli /ˈtiɾiˌvænli/ am/are learning	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹæ Else: Suffix -æmeɪ̯ɑ týřivanamaeá /ˌtiɾiˈvænæˌmeɪ̯ɑ/ will be learning
Perfect	Suffix -æmɑleɪ̯ɑ týřivanamálaeá /ˌtiɾiˌvænæˈmɑleɪ̯ɑ/ had learned	Suffix -ænɑ týřivananá /tiˌɾivæˈnænɑ/ have learned	Suffix -æmɑɹeɪ̯ týřivanamárae /tiˌɾivæˈnæmɑˌɹeɪ̯/ will have learned

Determiners

	Singular	Plural
Definite	ářŷth /ˈɑɾɪθ/ the	caemiř /ˈkeɪ̯miɾ/ the
Indefinite	íriá /ˈaɪ̯ɹiɑ/ a	zonŷn /ˈzonɪn/ some

Numbers

Elvish has a base-10 number system:
1 - aedřáná
2 - ořemaeyá
3 - meiřŷn
4 - i'nŷllářá
5 - i'nánřaelê
6 - sŷnn
7 - virülá
8 - elomárá
9 - minořae
10 - omaemiř
100 - viránünê
1000 - elsaelê

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nə
Else: Suffix -ɛnə
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -mə
Else: Suffix -eɪ̯m
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾiɑ
Else: Suffix -iɾiɑ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -llə
Else: Suffix -ɪllə
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -llɑ
Else: Suffix -ɪllɑ
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -veɪ̯ɑ
Else: Suffix -ɑveɪ̯ɑ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -θ
Else: Suffix -æθ
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -noɾ
Else: Suffix -ɪnoɾ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lɛθ
Else: Suffix -ɑlɛθ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Suffix -mɑ
Else: Suffix -ɛmɑ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -njθ
Else: Suffix -jθ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾiɛl
Else: Suffix -iɛl
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾɑ
Else: Suffix -ɪɾɑ
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -sɑ
Else: Suffix -ɪsɑ

Geographical Distribution

Elvish, called Meháli'n by native speakers, is spoken by the High Elves and Drow on both ti'Rae and Crimson Hollow. While also spoken by the Drow on The Argent Moon, they speak a dialect that differs slightly from the original language.

Dictionary

3089 Words.

Natively Spoken by
High Elf
Drow