Genovian

Melanian is like English; it's based on Romance and Germanic languages. However, Melanian is also greatly influenced by Finnic-Ugric, Slovak, and Asian languages. At one point, it used to be intelligible with speakers of Germanic and Romance languages to some extent, but because of the influence of what seems like every language known to man and the evolution of the vocabulary, it is now less understood at first sight. One would need to really look into the language in order to see where the majority of the vocabulary came from.

The most common dialect of Melanian is Standard Melanian, but Brazilian Melanian and the Skandevi dialect is becoming popular among the current generation. A seemingly overwhelming characteristic about the Melanian language is the fact that it has more than twenty optional noun cases. However, although these are optional to use, they are mandatoriliy taught in schools. As said before, the language is influenced by many languages from different groups, such as the doubling of adjectives for emphasis (derived from Thai and Japanese), i.e. "ollanai tristi tristi!" (literally "don't be sad sad!"), "don't be so sad!". The noun cases were inspired by Finnish, and the particles derived from Japanese.

=Sounds=

Consonants
Coarticulated Consonants

is represented by the letter W.

Single Consonants

is represented by the letter P.

is represented by the letter Б.

is represented by the letter B.

is represented by the letter T.

is represented by the letter Ŧ.

is represented by the letter D.

is represented by the letter K.

is represeted by the letter Ǩ.

is represented by the letter G.

is represented by the letter M.

is represented by the letter N.

is represented by the letter R.

is represented by the letter Ź.

is represented by the letter Đ.

is represented by the letter Č.

is represented by the letter Ć.

is represented by the letter F.

is represented by the letter V.

is represented by the letter S.

is represented by the letter Z.

is represented by the letter H.

is represented by the letter J.

is represented by the letter L.

Consonant Clusters

is represented by the letters DZ.

is represented by the letters CH.

Vowels
There are nine vowels in Melanian: A, Ä, E, Ę, I, O, Ö, U, and Y.

A :

Ä :

E :

Ę :

I :

O :

Ö :

U :

Y :

Vowel Harmony
Melanian vowels fall into two categories: back vowels and front vowels. Vowel harmony requires that vowels from different groups cannot appear in the same word (with the exception of compound words).

Back vowels: A, Ę, O, U

Front Vowels: Ä, Ö, Y

I and E are neutral vowels, meaning they can appear with vowels from either group.

Phonotactics
1. Plosives 2. Nasals 3. Trills 4. Affricates 5. Fricatives 6. Approximant 7. Lateral Approximant 8. W
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) Before a trill
 * 3) Before approximants and lateral approximants
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) Before affricates
 * 3) After fricatives
 * 4) Before approximants
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) After plosives
 * 3) Before/after fricatives
 * 4) Before an approximant
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) After nasals
 * 3) After trills
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) Before a trill (except glottal fricatives)
 * 3) Before approximants and lateral approximants (except glottal fricatives)
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) After plosives
 * 3) After nasals
 * 4) After a trill
 * 5) After fricatives
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) After plosives
 * 3) After fricatives
 * 4) Before an approximant
 * 1) Before/after a vowel
 * 2) After plosives
 * 3) After fricatives

= Grammar =

Pronouns
Pronouns vary according to number, gender, and age. Their forms in the nominative and accusative case are the same.

Singular

Plural

Verb Conjugation
Verbs are conjugated according to person and time. There are five kinds of verbs:

A Verbs - end in two vowels with "a" being the final vowel; aa, ea, ia, oa, ua. (i.e. rakkaa, to love).

B Verbs - end in one vowel (i.e. pala, to talk).

C Verbs - end with a consonant, but use "a" when conjugating (i.e. lom, to hear). Will be further explained.

D Verbs - end with a consonant, but use "e" when conjugating (i.e. seng, to sing). Will be further explained.

E Verbs - irregular verbs.

Gerund A Verbs, remove the final "a" from the infinitive; B Verbs, do nothing. C and D Verbs, add the corresponding vowel. Then add "-ndo"

Ex: rakkaa -&gt; rakkando (loving)

fala -&gt; falando (talking)

hör -&gt; hörando (hearing)

seng -&gt; sengendo (singing)

Present Tense A Verbs, remove the final "a"; B Verbs, do nothing; C Verbs, add an "a" to the end of the infinitive; D Verbs, add an "e" to the end of the infinitive. Then add...

Ex: rakkaa -&gt; rakkan (I love) / rakkas (you love) / rakkat (he/she/it loves) / rakkane (we love) / rakkase (you [pl.] love) / rakkate (they love)

fala -&gt; falan (I talk) / falas (you talk) / falat (he/she/it talks) / falane (we talk) / falase (you [pl] talk) / falate (they talk)

hör -&gt; höran (I hear) / hörat (you hear) / hörau (he/she/it hears) / hörammi (we hear) / höratti (you [pl] hear) / höravi (they hear)

seng -&gt; sengen (I sing) / senges (you sing) / senget (he/she/it sings) / sengene (we sing) / sengese (you [pl] sing) / sengete (they sing)

Past Tense
Take the present tense and add..

Ex: rakkaa -&gt; rakkande (I loved) / rakkatte (you loved) / rakkaude (he/she/it loved) / rakkammie (we loved) / rakkattie (you [pl] loved) / rakkavie (they loved)

fala -&gt; falande (I talked) / falatte (you talked) / falaude (he/she/it talked) / falammie (we loved) / falattie (you [pl] loved) / falavie (they loved)

hör -&gt; hörande (I heard) / höratte (you heard) / höraude (he/she/it heard) / hörammie (we heard) / hörattie (you [pl] heard) / höravie (they heard)

seng -&gt; sengende (I sang) / sengette (you sang) / sengeude (he/she/it sang) / sengemmie (we sang) / sengettie (you [pl] sang) / sengevie (they sang)

Past Participle
A Verbs, remove the final two vowels of the infinitive; B Verbs, remove the final "a"; C and D Verbs, do nothing. Then add "-is".

Ex: rakkis ([have] loved) / falis ([have] talked) / höris ([have] heard) / sengis ([have] sung)

Future Tense
Take present tense and add "-a".

Ex: rakkaa -&gt; rakkana (I will love) / rakkata (you will love) / rakkaua (he/she/it will love) / rakkammia (we will love) / rakkattia (you [pl] will love) / rakkavia (they will love)

fala -&gt; falana (I will talk) / falata (you will talk) / falaua (he/she/it will talk) / falammia (we will talk) / falattia (you [pl] will talk) / falavia (they will talk)

hör -&gt; hörana (I will hear) / hörata (you will hear) / höraua (he/she/it will hear) / hörammia (we will hear) / hörattia (you [pl] will hear) / höravia (they will hear)

seng -&gt; sengena (I will sing) / sengeta (you will sing) / sengeua (he/she/it will sing) / sengemmia (we will sing) / sengettia (you [pl] wll sing) / sengevia (they will sing)

Conditional Tense
Take present tense and add "-si"

Ex: rakkaa -&gt; rakkansi (I would love) / rakkatsi (you would love) / rakkausi (he/she/it would love) / rakkammisi (we would love) / rakkattisi (you [pl] would love) / rakkavisi (they would love)

fala -&gt; falansi (I would talk) / falatsi (you would talk) / falausi (he/she/it would talk) / falammisi (we would talk) / falattisi (you [pl] would talk) / falavisi (they would talk)

hör -&gt; höransi (I would hear) / höratsi (you would hear) / hörausi (he/she/it would hear) / hörammisi (we would hear) / hörattisi (you [pl] would hear) / höravisi (they would hear)

seng -&gt; sengensi (I would sing) / sengetsi (you would sing) / sengeusi (he/she/it would sing) / sengemmisi (we would sing) / sengettisi (you [pl] would sing) / sengevisi (they would sing)

Nouns and Noun Cases
There are 22 noun cases in Melanian. These are optional to use, but although learning them may be challenging for some, you can make colloquial Melanian easier by doing so. Also, the use of definite and indefinite articles is optional.

Note: Don't confuse the genitive case with the possessive case!

"The King's picture" translated would be "kunens foto"

"a picture of the king" (a picture in which the king is portrayed) translated would be "foto kunenin"

"a picture of the king's wife" translated would be "foto kunens epposihin"

Gender
There are no genders.

Plurals
Add -t or -at to the end of the noun.

Adjectives
All adjectives are regular. The comparative form is formed by adding either "-re" or "-ere" to the inflecting stem.

Stor (big) -&gt; storere (bigger)

Pekien (small) -&gt; pekienere (smaller)

Bonne (good) -&gt; bonnere (better)

Mal (bad) -&gt; malere (worse)

You can also use the word "mer" (more) before the adjective.

Storere = mer stor

Pekienere = mer pekien

Bonnere = mer bonne

Malere = mer mal

The superlative of an adjective is formed by adding "-st" or "-est" to the inflecting stem.

Stor -&gt; storere -&gt; storest

Pekien -&gt; pekienere -&gt; pekienest

Bonne -&gt; bonnere -&gt; bonnest

Mal -&gt; malere -&gt; malest

You can also use the word "mest" (most) before the adjective.

Stor -&gt; mer stor -&gt; mest stor

Pekien -&gt; mer pekien -&gt; mest pekien

Bonne -&gt; mer bonne -&gt; mest bonne

Mal -&gt; mer mal -&gt; mest mal

In the Melanian language, using a double comparative (e.g. mer lindare, "more beautifuler") or double superlative (e.g. mest lindast, "most beautifulest") isnot grammatically incorrect. It actually emphasizes the adjective.

Adverbs
To make an adjective into a adverb, add "-menne" or "-imenne" to the end of the adjective.

Furta (dread) -&gt; Furtamenne (dreadfully)

=Similarities Between Melanian and English= Considering Melanian and English both descend from Latin and Germanic languages, they're a lot more similar than one would think. This especially applies to the endings of words.

Another thing the Melanian language is infamous for is the existence of two words for one meaning, with one being from the Latin/Romance roots and the other being from Germanic/Scandinavian/Other roots. There can also be an originally made word.

Example: Conclusion = konkluzja and endesegening

Vendor = vendor and sellare

Romantic = romantiki and rakkataina

A benefit to this would be that foreigners learning Melanian whose main tongue is of Latin, German, Nordic, or Finnic-Ugric derivation will have no problem undertaking the language.

= Different Dialects =

There are three main dialects in Melanian: Standard Melanian, Brazilian Melanian, and Skandevi. The major differences between the three dialects are the vocabulary and pronunciation.

Standard Melanian
Standard Melanian is the form of Melanian that is mandatorily taught in schools and spoken in media. Most indigenous Melanians speak Standard Melanian.

Brazilian Melanian
Brazilian Melanian uses words stemming from Romance languages, and there is a notable difference in the pronunciation from Standard Melanian:

- When there is a vowel that comes before and after S(i.e. "duse", sweet), S sounds like /z/.

- /d/ and /t/ become /ʤ/ and /ʨ/, respectively, before i or e, in which both vowels sound like /i/.

- vowels proceding "n" or "m" are nasalized, unless already nasalized beforehand (i.e. ã, õ)

- Rs at the beginning of a word are pronounced as /h/ ("roso", pink /'hoso/)

- Some loanwords from Portuguese are used, ex. doente (sick) in place of malasa

Skandevi
Skandevi developed from the stereotypical accent of immigrant Scandinavians.

- Ł is pronounced /v/ instead of /w/.

- Ã = /a:/, Ą = /ɔ/, Ę = /y/, and Õ = /o:/.

- Most polysyllabic words end in a rising tone rather than a falling tone.

= Example Texts = Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Lang Melanja (Long Melanian)

Tutt manusajat naskovie kratis ja ekval digniŧassa ja rittatissa. Olekki endovande met raźja ja konsjensy ja sku aktaa esaralle kaistissa irmansapin.

Choppande Melanja (Chopped Melanian)

Tutt manusajat naskovie kratis ja ekval na digniŧa ja rittat. De olekki endovande met raźja ja konsjensy ja sku aktaa ti esara na en kaisti di irmansap.