Bevesdani

= History =

Alesse, my fourth completed conlang, is part of my Almsaundean branch of conlang in which I study sound change over time and through dialectal changes. Although deriving from the pseudo-Germanic parent conlang Lindjerblau, it was an attempt at finding a more "Mediterranean" feel and sound. The most notable languages that influenced the change were Standard Italian and Modern Greek although their affects may be subtle.


 * - Almsaundean language family
 * -- Lindjerblau
 * --- Alesse
 * --- Apfe
 * --- Adølie
 * --- Ąsje
 * --- Añdriana

Feel free to browse.
 * --TheWrittenWord 02:46, April 21, 2012 (UTC)

= Setting = Originally written for the complanet Daia, Alesse, originating in the ancient nation of Alessajndrjana, (modern-day Vereva), has always been an important language of transoceanic trade, although in recent years, it has become a language of the fine and performance arts, culture, cuisine, and cinema. The dialect, more than other Almsaundean dialects, has been significantly influenced by and has influenced many other worldly languages. It has borrowed and lent more words than its counterparts and continues to do so today. Traditionally, many languages borrow words that have meanings related to trading, fishing and seafaring, though newly given words often pertain to fine arts and world culture. Alesse today is Vereva's language of commerce. Lindjerblau is used for trade and commerce between the Verevian city-states alone, but Alesse is usually preferred internationally due to Alessajndrjana's history as a thelassocracy. The dialect itself is almost entirely regular, having been reformed twice in the Almsaundean language reforms. Very few words, all of which nouns and verbs, have irregularities. The most notable irregularities exist in the verbs bíerne, isserne and erne, the dialect's three copulae.

Distribution
In Vereva, the dialect stretches an expanse of the entire oceanic border, Alesse, Apfe, Adølie and Ąsje, and encompasses most tourist destinations and many airports and ports. Small Alessephone diaspora can be found throughout Añdriana as well making it the only dialect beside the standard Lindjerblau spoken in each Verevian city-state. Across the borders, many Alessephone communities are found in the Rasoran Union as well as other neighboring nations. Despite Verevian law stating that each able citizen must attain a certain proficiency in the standard dialect, many Alessephone youth falsely regard knowing only Alesse as being adequate for travel throughout the majority of Vereva. This idea is thought in part to come from the famous saying "In Vereva, Speak Alesse!", the title of a popular Alessan foreign language dictionary.

= Orthography =

Alesse’s orthography is straightforward. It uses an alphabet of 27 letters, nearly half of which are vowels. The consonants are said to represent one phoneme each, the exception are the seven diagraphs that represent different phones from their monograph counterparts. Vowels, however, may represent six different sounds depending on their proximity to the stressed or tonic syllable of a word.


 * Alessan Alphabet


 * Aa, Āā, Àà, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Èè, Ff, Gg, Ii, Ìì, Íí, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Òò, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ùù, Vv, Úú, Zz


 * Diagraphs


 * cc, gc, qc, sc, ss, vv, zc

Only one diatric is used in Alesse, the circumflex, while the acute and grave accents, and the macron, are considered integral parts of a letter. The circumflex is used to signify the change in the stress class of a vowel to the “double-consonanted” stress class before the digraphs [ss] and [vv]. Native Alessan words rarely have a double-consonanted vowel pronunciation before [ss] and [vv] and therefore most words using these letters are foreign loanwords.

= Phonology =

Alessan phonology is mostly as straightforward as its orthography.

Consonants
Consonants represent one phoneme and do not geminate when doubled or tripled.

Vowels
The 7 basic vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ā, ē) may represent six different sounds depending on the position of the vowel in the word. These six different phonemic representations are called the vowel’s “stress class” and fall under opening, pre-stressed, stressed, post-stressed, final and doubled-consonanted.


 * Opening : If an unstressed vowel begins a word, the vowel is pronounced as an opening vowel.


 * Pre-Stressed : All vowels before the stressed syllable which are not opening vowels are pronounced as pre-stressed vowels.


 * Stressed : Vowels are always pronounced as stressed vowels when part of the stressed syllable of a word, regardless where the stressed syllable may fall.


 * Post-Stressed : All vowels after the stressed syllable which are not final vowels are pronounced as post-stressed vowels.


 * Final : Unstressed vowels within the final syllable of a word are pronounced as final vowels.


 * Double-Consonanted : Vowels that precede doubled consonants such as -tt or -gg are pronounced as “doubled-consonanted” or “special” vowels when not part of the stressed syllable. The clusters, [ss] representing /s/, and [vv] representing /v/, are the exceptions, representing different phonemes from their singular counterparts. For these two digraphs, a special pronunciation is shown on the preceding vowel by placing the circumflex accent over it, (eg: [êss] or [êvv]). This, however, is extremely rare, occuring only upon occasion in foreign loanwords.

Stress
The stressed syllable falls primarily on the penultimate, or second-to-last syllable of a word, however, the grave accent [`] is used over a vowel in a word where the stressed syllable is not the penultimate syllable. This accent is considered an integral part of a letter because it changes not only the sound of the vowel it sits over, but also the pronunciation of all vowels that follow it.


 * cèssela - /'θeselə/ - sea, noun

In verbs whose roots have accented vowels, it is used to indicate where the verb will undergo, or has undergone an ablaut change (apophony) as verbs always have stress on the penultimate syllable. These changes are studied more in the section marked “Apophony.”


 * cèsselerne - /θɛsɛ'leʁhnɛ/ - to go (by sea), verb


 * còsselei - /θasɛ'lei/ - i went (by sea), verb

Tonic Syllable
The tonic syllable is used to refer to the syllable of the root of a word which undergoes apophony. This syllable is usually the penultimate syllable of the root. When a root has a vowel with a grave accent (`), that syllable is the tonic syllable.


 * root: itt-, tonic syllable [i-]; “iccerne” yields ”uccelei”


 * root: ottor-, tonic syllable[o-]; “ottorerne” yields “ittorelei”


 * root: cèssel-, tonic syllable [cè-] ; “cèsselerne” yields “còsselei”

= Phonotactics =

The table below shows the syllable structures for the Alessan language. In all cases, the consonant can be doubled following a vowel, (t to tt if after a).


 * Fricative1 = [s], [sc], [ss], [z], and affricate [cc]


 * Fricative2 = [c], [f], [v], [vv] and affricate [zc]

= Grammar =

Alesse, a noun-based language, has grammar that is typically inflectional. Inflections generally begin with vowels while all roots end in consonants. Alesse follows an arbitrary pattern called the “Ideal of Euphony.” This grammatical rule governs that all words end in vowels in Alesse. This rule influences the belief that all words at the beginning of a grammatical phrase should begin with consonants, bringing light to the euphonic morphophonological rules of elision and euphonic í. Euphony is held in high regard in the language, where sentences and phrases are spoken, though not slurred, in a way that is meant to make difficult to segment individual words, leading to the foreign belief that Alessan sentences are made of singular, highly-descriptive words. Alessan grammar calls this phenomena “Phonosynthesis.” Unique amongst the Almsaundean dialects, Alesse is a pro-word drop language. Word drop occurs only when the word to be dropped is understood and is allowed for all words except verbs, which require enunciation. Verbs, however, may be replaced with erne, the supplant verb where word drop is possible.

Roots
Roots, the words most basic form, are highly important in Alesse. Roots will change to mark grammatical sandhi upon adding new endings. Roots are formed simply by taking the singular ergative case noun and subtracting the ending -a. When this happens, the root will be marked as the form that endings beginning with hard vowels are attached to.


 * iaossa (House, sing, erg.) - -a = iaoss (House, root)

Roots are the smallest form of a word that has semantic meaning and therefore a root will govern all words with related meaning


 * iaossa (house), iaosserne (to house, shelter), iaossesco (house-like), iaossía (home), iaosscca (neighborhood)

Morphophonology
Morphophonology is in the simplest sense, the change of sounds in words that mark grammatical function. Alesse is highly morphophonologically sound, changing its letters and sounds in the tonic syllable of a word’s root, at the head or end of a word, or across word boundaries to note different grammatical functions of a word.

Grammatical Sandhi
Alessan words follow a pattern of internal sandhi, changing the sound within words in reference with the word’s grammatical function. Grammatical sandhi happens primarily on the final consonant(s) of a word’s root, differing to reflect the grammatical case of the ending after it. These changes occur on the root before an ending beginning with a soft consonant (e, i, ē), before an ending beginning with a hard vowel, (a, o, u, ā), or when the ending attached to the root gives it the grammatical function of a verb or adverb. Less common, but still prevalent, it happens on the opening vowel or consonant of a word when a prefix is added that changes the word’s meaning. These changes happen both before soft and hard vowels.

Apophony
Apophony, or ablaut change, is the strong change of a vowel sound in the tonic syllable of a words root in Alesse. This can be examined in with the words “ride” and “rode.” Both from the verb “to ride,” the first is in the present tense, the second in the past. The simple change in the vowel sound of the word changes the word’s meaning. In Alesse, apophony happens in verbs, distinguishing the present and preterit tenses, when the function of a word is an adjective and to distinguish masculine and feminine noun agents (performers of an action) from patients (recipients of an actions). In the table below, the top row of vowels changes to the bottom row of vowels when apophony happens.

Because the strong changes follow parallel patterns for each vowel, apophony in Alesse is sometimes considered a change in vowel harmony. Vowel harmony is shown by the endings of gendered nouns as well.

Euphonic Morphology
Three other morphophonological entities occur. These final three, word-initial gemination, elision and euphonic í serve mostly euphonic purpose, though euphonic í can be said to also serve a de facto grammatical purpose as well.

Word-Initial Gemination
Word-initial gemination is a euphonic device used to string together neighboring words acting under the rule of phonosynthesis. This device is used across word boundaries whereas a word ending in a vowel causes a following wording beginning in a single consonant to be geminated, or pronounced twice. The first geminate phoneme attaches itself to the final vowel of the previous word while the second maintains its place at the head of the original word. Word-initial gemination is required and practiced in Alesse but is never shown in its orthography.




 * ottiro babona - /o'tiʁhob bæ'bonə/ - "great stupidity" (lit. fiery/burning stupidity)


 * Issi sabro. - /’isiz ‘zabʁho/ - “She’s happy.”


 * Esta gizceleu temaru. - /’eztag gɪdʒɛ‘leut tɛ’maʁhu/ - “I’ll be going there tomorrow.”

Elision
Unlike word-initial gemination, the euphonic device known as elision take place only between neighboring words sharing a grammatical relationship, (eg. article + adjective + noun, creating a noun phrase). Elision in Alesse is formed by dropping the final vowel or sometimes the final vowel cluster of a previous word, adding an apostrophe, and starting the next word. Final vowel lost caused by elision causes words to lose their stress, but maintain their pronunciation. When this happens, normal stress can be found only on the word at the tail of the compound. Where elision can happen, it is required.

Although elision can take place on any word, it happens least and is least recognizable in the spoken language when taking place on a verb or ergative, nominative or vocative noun.


 * Examples


 * ottir'itta - /otiʁh'itə/ - "spicy food/meal" (lit. fiery/burning food), noun phrase


 * Grictar’occai. - /gʁhɪθtaʁha’tʃai/ - “They all ate quickly,” verb phrase


 * gcon’ottir’iaossevtemma - /çonotiʁhɪæasɛð’temə/ - “in the grand mansion,” prepositional phrase

Euphonic Í
Euphonic í, or intrusive í is a euphonic device used across word boundaries where elision is forbidden. It is formed by placing an “í’” before a word that begins with a vowel, when that word is preceded by a word in a different grammatical phrase. Euphonic í also takes place of definite articles when a noun begins with a vowel, though demonstrative articles may also be used. Euphonic í is considered optional and stylistic, however it is used by the majority of Alessephones and as is so, it is considered to be the attribute to the de facto grammatical rule that all words start with a consonant.


 * Examples


 * Vv'ottiro babonemma í'iccelea í'ottir'ittasta - /vo'tiʁhob bæba'nemə jɪt͡ʃɛ'leə jotiʁhi'tastə/ - "With great stupidity, I had eaten the spicy meal."

Agreement
Agreement is shown in all parts of speech and grammatical phrases are said to strengthen, starting with words that need less agreement and growing to words that depend more heavily on the tail--the verb or noun--which require the most agreement. Rules governing agreement are usually simple when modifiers precede their head directly, though typically follow more complex patterns when elsewhere.

Syntax
Because Alessan nouns have grammatical cases, word order can be said to be free. However, Alesse is considered a SVO time-manner-place language because there are rules governing each of the six possible syntaxes, where SVO is allowed the most freedom and is the common rendering of an ordinary independent clause.


 * Subject-Verb-Object, or Standard form, is the most common syntax. It has the capability to be used in nearly all sentence structures with the exception of those with a subject in the nominative case.


 * Object-Subject-Verb, or Transitional form, is the syntax most common in a nominative dependent clause (all clauses beginning with a word ending in -vito) where the subject of the dependent clause is different from the subject of the previous clause. The Transitional form, where possible, is required.


 * Subject-Object-Verb, or Almsaundean form, named so because it is used parellelly in all Almsaundean dialects, is required in all ergative clauses where two verbs (a conjugated and an infinitive) are being used. The infinitive is always thrown to the end of the sentence, but the conjugated verb may remain elsewhere, especially in poetry. The Almsaundean form, as in all Almsaundean languages, is required.


 * Verb-Subject-Object, or Nominative form, is required when the verb is intransitive, taking a nominative subject. The object part of the nominative and rare phrases is where adpositional phrases are placed. The Nominative form, where possible, is required.


 * Object-Verb-Subject, or Nominative-Transitional phrases are like their transitional counterparts differing only in that the subject is nominative and verb intransitive. The Nominative-Transitional form, where possible, is required.


 * Verb-Object-Subject, or Rare form, is a highly stylistic form used mostly in poetry and very formal writing. It is used when there are two verbs in an nominative clause, usually a modal verb and the infinitive form of an intransitive verb. In these sentence, the infinitive is put first, followed directly by the post- or prepositional phrases and finally the subject in the nominative case. The Rare form is optional and in spoken language is often usurped by the Almsaundean form.


 * Nominative, Nominative-Transitional and Rare form govern phrases with reflexive and passive verbs as well, where it is optional and not required.

= Verbs =

Verbs are formed simply by changing the root word to meet verbal sandhi and adding correct inflectional affixes. These affixes are always placed in a particular order and not all need to be used in a word. In any given verb, only one affix from every category can be used. Alessan verbs are made of single words that express mood, tense, person, number, aspect and the gender of the subject and are conjugated in a specific order.


 * Root (may undergo ablaut changes) + Aspect Infix + Evidential Infix + Modal Infix + Personal Infix + Tense Suffix


 * Sitt (sight) + en (progressive negation particle) + — + — + tt (he) + a (pluperfect tense) = sittentta; he had not been seeing


 * Icc (eating) + evv (affirmative particle) + eí (evidential particle of logic) + eln (inferential mood) + a (they/all) + i (present tense) = iccevveíelnai; we can infer because of the evidence that they do, in fact, eat.


 * Levv (love) + ezc (progressive particle) + — + emu (passive mood) + st (you,singular) + u (future tense) = levvezcemustu; you will be loved

Verbal Aspect
The aspect infixes come first. These mark progressiveness, habit and negativity and are used only when necessary. A verb without an aspect affixes will tend to have a generic quality to it, such as "iccei" - "I eat." The difference can be demonstrated by comparing iccei with "iccelei" and "iccevvei," which mean "I do eat," and "I am eating" respectively.


 * Examples


 * “Sci ríantesessi í’iertscavtingerne.”
 * (SHE-erg. WANT-neg.3p.fem.sing.pres. SUFFER-juss.inf.)
 * She doesn’t want to have to suffer.


 * “Aotu gizcelti í’iaossell’aotu.”
 * (OUT|-ind. |GO-progr.3p.masc.sing.pres. HOUSE-post.neu.sing'OUT)
 * He is leaving his house. (With the nuance that he’s going very far from it.)


 * “Riste sittezcta.”
 * (US-acc. SEE-hab.neg.3p.masc.masc.plup.)
 * He had never seen us.

Verbal Evidentiality
The evidential infixes come second, after the aspect infixes, if any. They are purely inferential, being used to show the speaker came across information, or by what circumstance they assume their own words as correct or plausible. Many evidential infixes deal with the senses, while the remaining infixes deal with logic and renarration.




 * “E bàlla saonderrecu.”
 * (THE-neu.sing. BALL-nom.neu.sing. TO SOUND-audio.ev.3p.neu.sing.fut)
 * The bell’s about to ring, we will hear it ourselves.


 * “Mevvera gectelellssi.”
 * (MOTHER-nom.neu.sing. COOK-prog.smell.ev.3p.fem.sing.pres)
 * I can smell that 'mother is cooking.


 * “Gizceneddssi, scesu Brevvera.”
 * (GO-neg.prog.report.ev.3p.fem.sing.pres. HER-masc.sing. BROTHER-neu.sing.voc.)
 * Her brother told us she’s not coming.

Verbal Mood
Modal infixes come third, after the evidential infixes, if any. These were formed from infixes that marked tense in otherAlmsaundean languages. The moods which are marked by modal infixes are the subjunctive, jussive, passive, conditional and hypothetical moods.

The indicative and imperative moods do not add modal infixes. A verb without a modal infix is generally conceived as an indicative verb, while they are taken imperatively when then imperative subject pronoun directly follows the conjugated verb.


 * Indicative - Relates to general statements of truth, generic actions or states of being


 * “U manna co vvomasta sittetti.”
 * (THE-masc.sing. MAN-neu.sing.erg. THAT-fem.sing. WOMAN-neu.plur.acc. SEE-3p.masc.sing.pres.)
 * The man sees the woman.


 * “Ríonevito renneci, egseci.”
 * (WHEN-conj. RAIN-3p.neu.sing.pres. BE2-3p.neu.sing.pres.)
 * When it rains, it pours.


 * “Benesti vei sabri.”
 * BE2-3p.masc.plur.past. THEY-erg. HAPPY-erg.plur.)
 * They weren’t happy.


 * Imperative - Used to issue orders and commands. It is formed by putting the imperative subject pronoun after an indicative verb. When a sentence begins with a conjunction ending in -vito + the meaning, its meaning is that of a polite request.


 * “Gizcsti devv’ast’eríu!”
 * (|GO-2p.sing.pres. YOU-imper.sing.'ME-acc.'AWAY|-imp.)
 * Get away from me!


 * “Trottesti devv’esta.”
 * (TRY-2p.sing.pres. YOU-imper.sing.'IT-acc.)
 * Just try it.


 * “Vito sittesti devv’asta legccrell’avtu.”
 * (THAT-conj. SEE-2p.sing.pres. YOU-imper.sing.'ME-acc. CLASS-neu.sing.post.'AFTER)
 * Please see me after class.


 * Subjunctive - Found solely in dependent clauses. It expresses will/wanting and desires, opinion, emotions and doubt. Many verbs and phrases require the use of the subjunctive in dependent clauses that follow them while others may require either the jussive or the subjunctive. The jussive usually strengthens the meaning in such cases. When a sentence begins with a conjunction ending in -vito + the subjunctive, its meaning is that of “whether (or not).…”


 * “Sabro vito gomptevvettesti.”
 * (HAPPY-erg.sing. THAT-conj. COME[preterite]-aff.subj.2p.plur.pres.)
 * (I am) happy that you all came.


 * “Vingei vit’istettetti scmallartē.”
 * (THINK-1p.sing.pres. THAT-conj.'BE1-subj.3p.masc.sing.pres. FOOL-erg.masc.sing.)
 * I think he’s a fool. (opinion).


 * “Vito nivvelettessi, eneci gcone ríemma.”
 * (THAT-conj. KNOW-prog.subj.3p.fem.plur.pres. BE1-prog.neg.3p.neu.sing.pres. IN-neu.sing. RAIN-prep.neu.sing.)
 * Whether they know or not is irrelevant.
 * This sentence used the idiom "Bíenerne gcone ríemma" meaning "to not matter," lit. "to be in the rain."


 * Jussive - Relays need and necessity, advice, suggestion and judgment. Some verbs and phrases require the jussive mood in dependent clauses that follow them while others may take both the subjunctive and the jussive. In this case, the jussive usually strengthens the meaning of the phrase. When a sentence begins with a conjunction ending in -vito + the jussive, its meaning is that of a suggestion or advice.


 * “Iccingeci gconulovverne.”
 * (EAT-juss.3p.neu.sing.pres. ON|LIVE-inf.)
 * One must eat to survive.


 * “Vingei vit’istingti scmallartē.”
 * (THINK-1p.sing.pres. THAT-conj.'BE1juss.3p.masc.sing.pres. FOOL-erf.masc.sing.)
 * I think he’s a fool. (judgment)


 * “Vitottingu gizcingssa scesu favverasta ríonevito tugizcelne.”
 * (THAT-conj.TO|-juss. |GO-juss.3p.fem.sing.plup. HER-masc.sing. FATHER-acc.neu.sing WHEN-conj. TO|GO-inf.past.)
 * She should probably have visited' her father before having left.


 * Passive - Considered a mood due to how it is formed grammatically. It is used simply to change the function of a subject of a verb into that of the object without having to change noun cases. When no pronouns or nouns are present in the accusative or dative cases, the passive can also act as a reflexive mood. When a sentence begins with a conjunction ending in -vito + the passive, its meaning is reflexive.


 * “Anna teggeíemuece.”
 * (ME-dat. STEAL-aff.pass.3p.neu.sing.past.)
 * It was stolen from me.


 * “Vit’ioccepsemuei zcella selíanu.”
 * (THAT-conj.'HATE-habit.pass.1p.sing.pres. IT-post. DUE/ACCORDING TO)
 * I’ve always hated myself because of it.


 * “Vit’iortemuti ríonevito sgitterne.”
 * (THAT-conj.'HATE-pass.3p.masc.sing.pres. WHEN-conj. SKI-inf.)
 * He hurt himself while skiing.


 * Conditional - Used to show the plausibility or possibility of an action dependent upon the realization of another. It is used mostly in dependent clause introduced by the hypothetical mood.


 * “Setternsti ‘íese,’ escelnei?”
 * (SAY-cond.2p.sing.pres. YES ASK-hyp.1p.sing.pres.)
 * Would you say ‘yes’ if I asked?


 * “Fattelneto gcone vvaremma, datteíernetu.”
 * (FIGHT-hyp.3p.masc.plur.fut.ant. IN-neu.sing. WAR-prep.neu.sing. DIE-aff.cond.3p.masc.plur.fut.)
 * “If they fight in the war, they’ll die.”


 * “Gizcelelnti, sctettelernei.”
 * (GO-prog.hyp.3p.masc.sing.pres. STAY-prog.cond.1p.sing.pres.)
 * If he’s going, I’m staying.


 * Hypothetical - Used to refer to actions taken in an event contrary to reality. Often, but not always, used in conjunction with the conditional mood.


 * “Nivvepselnaa?”
 * (KNOW-habit.hyp.3p.neu.plur.plup.)
 * What if they had already known?
 * (With the nuance that the speaker knows the performer hadn’t already known.)


 * “Gectsti devvi í’icceccasta, iivvelneni gestane.”
 * (COOK-2p.sing.pres. YOU-imp.sing. MEAL-acc.neu.sing. HAVE-hyp.1p.plur.pres. GUEST-acc.neu.plur.)
 * Cook a meal, should we have guests.


 * “Gizcelelnti, sctettelernei.”
 * (GO-prog.hyp.3p.masc.sing.pres. STAY-prog.cond.1p.sing.pres.)
 * If he’s going, I’m staying.

Verbal Person
Personal infixes come fourth, after the modal infix, if any. Contrary to the first three infixes, a verb will always have a personal infix. These express which grammatical person is performing the action denoted by the verb. There are 5 persons that each have their own plural person. Three of these persons, the third (he, masculine), fourth (she, feminine) and fifth (it, neutral) are said to be gendered persons. The fifth person is also the dummy person used for impersonal verbs.

Verbal Tense
A verb’s tense is represented by the vowel or cluster at its tail. Six tenses exist in alongside the infinitive and gerundive, they are the present, simple past, pluperfect, preterit, future and future anterior.


 * The infinitive is the basic un-conjugated form of the verb. It is often found in phrases after a modal verb.


 * The present tense denotes an action in the present. The present tense ending is -i.


 * The simple past tense denotes an action in the past or recent past. However, a second simple past tense, called the preterit, also exists. Its usage is parallel and it usurps the simple past in everyday spoken language. Contrarily, the imperative past is more often formed in both writing and spoken language using the simple past tense. The simple past tense ending is -e.


 * The pluperfect tense denotes an action that happened before another action in the simple past or preterit. The pluperfect is also used as a historical past, taking the place of all verbs that happened in history or that happened in distant past, often before the life of the speaker, but relative to the listener as well. The pluperfect tense ending is -a.


 * The future tense denotes an action that will happen in the future. The future tense ending is -o.


 * The future anterior tense denotes an action that will happen in the near future or before another action in the future. The future anterior tense ending is -u


 * The gerundive is used as a verbal adjective where it agrees in case and number with the noun it describes, but maintains the function of a verb by never attaching to nouns through elision. The gerundive may also function as the infinitive past. In this case, like all verbs, it conjugates strongly to reflect mood.

The Preterit
The preterit tense is a tense parallel to the simple past tense. It is used more often in everyday speech, where the first person singular simple past ending -ee is avoided, while the simple past is found mainly in writing. The preterit tense is formed when an ablaut change occurs to the stressed syllable of the root. The present tense ending -i, is used for verbs in the preterit tense.

Adpositional Verbs
Adpositional verbs are verbs that take adpositions to change their meaning. The adpositions of adpositional verbs never take objects, so the verb takes its own regular objects as if the adpositions weren’t there. Adpositions do agree with the mood of the verb, adding the verb’s modal infixes to themselves. Just as when part of a noun phrase, prepositions generally precede the adpositional verb and postpositions succeed them. With verbs however, and different from nouns, adpositions modifying verbs often separate themselves from the conjugated verb, moving to the head or tail of the sentence. With the infinitive and gerundive, adpositions attach themselves without inflection at the head of the verb compounding into a single word, only changing to subtract the -u when the verb begins with a vowel.

Irregular Verbs
Alesse has only three irregular verbs, called the copulae, which each translate as “to be.” There are some verbs that are referred to as irregular because their roots cause letters to be added before some endings. Verbs whose roots end in -s, -ss or -tt require that the singular 2nd, 3rd person masculine and 3rd person feminine infixes -st-, -t- and -ss-, add an -e- between them. (the infix -t- is doubled to -tt- in these cases.) This causes the verbs to be pronounced (not necessarily spelled) the same in the singular and plural third and fourth persons.


 * Sittetti (he sees), sitteti (they see)


 * Plessessa (she had sewn, they had sewn)

Disambiguation
“Irregular verbs” disambiguate the meaning by disabling word drop. They keep their subject nouns, or use their subject pronouns, which are usually omitted, directly before or after the verbs.


 * Ii sittetti / sittett'ii - he sees (although grammatically, rules state pronouns do not follow the pattern of elision, "ii" still contracts with verbs ending in the vowel i.)


 * Vei sitteti / sitteti vei - they see


 * Sci plessessa / plessessa sci - she had sewn


 * Vei plessessa / plessessa vei - they had sewn

The Copulae
The copulae is a term used to collectively refer to the three verbs "to be" in Alesse. These verbs conjugate only for three tenses, the present, the complete past and the complete future. The complete past functions as the preterit, simple past and pluperfect, while the complete future functions the future and the future anterior.

The three verbs, which are the only three truly irregular verbs in the language, differ dramatically by what they signify. "Bíerne" is the transitive verb to be. It always takes a direct object, whether this object is a noun, pronoun or adjective. When its object is an adjective, the adjective it is used as a descriptive copula.

The verb "isserne" is intransitive. It is used whenever the verb takes no object, most often when all objects are the objects of adpositions and is used when the meaning of "to be" in a phrase is more metaphoric, existing and less directly descriptive. Some fixed expressions use isserne as well.

The verb "erne" is called the supplantive verb. It takes place of any other verbs, except the other two copulae, when the speaker doesn't wish to repeat the verb, especially if the verb is long. Erne can be used in simple answers without having to repeat verbs that have already been stated. In all cases, it's meaning is dependant upon circumstance. Common meanings include "I do, I will, I wont, I am, I would, I can, I have to."

For these verbs, aspects, evidentiality markers and modal infixes are added after subtracting the final i of the root for each person and tense, and re-adding the correct personal ending. This makes each copulae have its own root for tense and person. Conjugated copulae always end in -i.


 * Benini (we were) - i + ing (jussive infix) + eni (we, present tense) = Beniningeni (we must have been)


 * Issi (she is) - i + evv (progressive infix) + ssi (she, present tense) = Issevvssi (she is being)


 * G'ai (they will be) - i + en (generic negation infix) + ai (they, present tense) = G'anai (they wont be)

Bíerne
Usages of bíerne:


 * When “to be” receives an object.
 * “Ammei manna."
 * (BE1[present]-1p.sing MAN-erg.neu.sing.)
 * I am a man.

these objects should be in the ergative case, but may be in the accusative to distinguish meaning. Eg. “Firsoda eci svvera,” meaning “A square is a rectangle” is grammatically correct but semantically incorrect. The order of the words leads the listener to semantically believe the rectangle to be the subject of the sentence, rendering it “A rectangle is a square,” which is incorrect. In such cases, the accusative is used to disambiguate. “Firsodasta eci svvera,” is better.


 * When the verb’s predicate is an adjective.
 * “Vvissi sabri temari."
 * (BE1[future]-3p.fem.plur. HAPPY-erg.sing. TOMORROW-fut1.)
 * They will be happy tomorrow.

Isserne
Usages of isserne:


 * When the verb’s predicate is an adpositional phrase
 * “Benini gcone sctiremma ríonevito vva sottet’ii."
 * (BE2[past]-1p.plur. IN-neu.sing. STORE-prep.neu.sing. WHEN-conj. YOU-acc.sing. SEE[preterite]-3p.masc.sing.'HE-erg.)
 * We were in the store when he saw you.


 * When the verb’s sentiment is metaphoric
 * “Vingei, sovit’issei."
 * (THINK-1p.sing.pres. SO-conj.'BE2[present]-1p.sing.)
 * I think, therefore I am.

Erne
Usages of erne:


 * To supplant verbs left out of a phrase by word drop
 * “Vito gizcettesti vii, elei."
 * (THAT-conj. GO-subj.2p.plur.pres. YOU-erg.plur. BE3[present]-prog.1p.sing.pres.
 * Whether or not you go, I am (going).


 * Where elei replaces gizcelei.


 * To give short answers to questions. -
 * “Iivvti babasta? Nivvsti vitotti."
 * (HAVE-3p.masc.sing.pres. SISTER-acc.neu.sing.? KNOW-2p.sing.pres. THAT-conj.BE3[present]-3p.masc.sing.pres.)
 * Does he have a sister? You know he does.


 * Note that some single syllable forms erne attach as a clitics to conjunctions and adverbs.

= Nouns =

Nouns inflect to reflect number, case and gender.


 * Numbers - Singular, Plural


 * Cases - Ergative, Accusative, Dative, Prepositional, Postpositional, Genitive, Nominative, Vocative


 * Genders - Neuter, Masculine, Feminine
 * The majority of nouns are neuter, while nouns may only be masculine or feminine if the noun itself has a meaning of the performer (or sometimes recipient) of an action.

Definiteness can be expressed as well, though articles handle this. Nouns are intrinsically neuter and indefinite, and therefore the lack of an article will render a noun indefinite.

Noun Cases
There are only eight noun cases in Alesse. These mark the function of the noun in the sentence.

Ergative Case
The ergative case marks the subject of a transitive verb.


 * “As’iaossa í’eci í’oro." - Her house is yellow.


 * “U tectē leste tocti.” - The thief took everything.


 * “Í’iortarto fremme gizcartemme livvessi í’alla bissodu.” - The victims of the accident lived beside me.

Some verbs may take the ergative transitively and the nominative intransitively. The two sentence below show the differences between such sentences using the verb sclipterne.


 * “O mevvere scliptelessi scesi gerlane.”- The mothers are putting their daughters to sleep. - Mothers is in the ergative case because the verb “sclipterne” is transitive, meaning “to put to sleep.”


 * “O mevverere scliptelessi.” - The mothers are sleeping. - Mothers is in the nominative case because the verb “sclipterne” is intransitive, meaning “to sleep.””

Accusative Case
The accusative case marks the direct object of a verb.


 * “Nivvelei cu mannasta.” - I know that man.


 * “Actingti í’iertartastē 'gconingu.”- You must punish the one responsible.


 * “I gindè ríantai lesi nuvvo babastā sittetterne.” - The kids wanted to see their new sister.

Dative Case
The dative case marks the indirect object of a ditransitive verb.


 * “Gizcelei ce stirasta taonnena.” - I’m going to the store in town. (With the nuance that the speaker isn’t already in town.)


 * “Govvti vvi ce bogasta vo vvomptena.” - Give this book to that woman.


 * “Í’iira vvittoremuece í’ildianaste ce vvarena.” - The city was lost to the Hyldians in/via/through/by the war.

Prepositional Case
The prepositional case marks the object of a preposition. Prepositions agree in number with the noun they modify. Articles are typically left out of prepositional phrases as prepositions end like neuter articles.


 * “Arni fremme Vvurevvemma.” - We are from Vereva.


 * “Vve filossammemma, piscasta gottett’ii vvu.” - Through religion, he found peace.


 * “Esta guzcei ríov’asi baptesse.” - I went there with my sisters.

Postpositional Case
The postpositional case marks the object of a postposition. Unlike other modifiers, they do not decline to agree with the nouns they modify. Articles remain part of the postpositional phrase.


 * “Nivvenssi mevverella selíanu.” - She doesn’t know according to mom.


 * “Sces’iaossa í’egseci taonnell’aotu.” - Her house is outside of town.



Genitive Case
The genitive case marks the possessive form of the noun. The genitive noun follows the noun it modifies.


 * o gerla vvomptesa - the woman’s daughter


 * levva mevveresa - a mother’s love


 * í’iaosse mannerse - men’s houses

Nominative Case
The nominative case marks the subject of an intransitive verb. These are required by verbs that are impersonal or in the middle voice. The nominative case shares its endings with the vocative case.


 * "O mevvera scliptelessi." - "The mother is sleeping."


 * "í’alienere í’issenai." - "Aliens do not exist."


 * "Pzestere lovveíai, datteíai." - "People live and die."

Vocative Case
The vocative case marks the noun in disjunction with the verb. It is used exclamatory, or as single word answers to questions. The vocative case shares its endings with the nominative case.


 * "Ríu? E Vvareru!" - "Who? The soldiers!"


 * "Pzestere!" - "(Attention) everyone!"

Gendered Nouns
Nouns are intrinsically neuter, but are given gender when replacing the final -a or -e of neuter nouns with gendered endings. The masculine singular and plural endings are -ē and -u respectively; the feminine are -ā and o. These gendered nouns typically change the noun into the performer of the related verb.

When ablaut change happens to the root of gendered nouns, the noun is typically the recipient of the related verb.

Many nouns pertain to only one gender are masculine or feminine nouns that follow neuter patterns.

Amelioration
Amelioration is the adding of affixes to a word to change its meaning. Common forms of amelioration are diminutives and pejoratives. Amelioration is quite common in Alesse, many complex words forming from word compounding using both amelioration and adpositions. Some ameliorative endings may require ablaut change, or have more than one meaning. Amelioration can be either direct or metaphoric.

= Pronouns = Pronouns, though rare in use, are basic in how they are formed. The ergative pronouns are irregular, while the cases endings (shared with nouns) for the other cases are added to pronoun roots shown in parentheses in the table below.

Relative Pronouns and Conjunctions
= Modifiers =

Modifiers need to agree with the words they modify. There are six sets of modifiers which don’t all necessarily agree with the same grammatical aspect when modifying the same noun or verb.

Articles
Articles are single syllable words that mark a noun‘s definiteness. They agree with the noun in number and gender. Articles are clitics, phonemes dependent on the noun, and so they are not subject to free word order and can place themselves only at the head of the noun phrase.

Adjectives
Adjectives describe nouns. When directly preceding nouns, they agree with the noun only in number. Elsewhere, they agree in both number and case.

Comparatives and Superlatives
Adjectives are marked for comparison by prefixing.


 * Sabro - happy; vvesabro - least happy; nesabro - less happy; sesabro - as happy; besabro - happier; gesabro - happiest

Numerals
Numerals agree in gender with the nouns they modify.

Prepositions
Prepositions modify both nouns and verbs. With nouns, they are typically found at the head of the noun phrase where they contract with articles. Wherever they are found in a sentence, they only agree with the noun in number.

When prepositions mark verbs, they agree with them in mood.

Postpositions
Postpositions modify both nouns and verbs. With nouns, they are found at the tail of the noun phrase, after the noun. Here, they receive no ending, ending in the un-conjugated adpositional ending -u. Elsewhere, prepositions agree with the noun in number.

When postpositions mark verbs, they agree with them in mood.

Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs where they agree with the verb in tense.

Particles
Particles modify other modifiers. They are versatile and agree in every aspect that the modifier qualifies. Alike articles, they are dependent modifiers that always precede the word they qualify.

Particles can use the comparative and superlative prefixes like adjectives.

= Example Texts =

= See also =
 * Lindjerblau