Aran

Aran (pronounced /'eɪr-ɪn/ or /'æˌræn/) is a language created by me, for me, and with the help of me. It may sound a bit like Irish, and although that's what I based the pronunciation on, the grammar was created without inspiration from another language.

Pronunciation

Word Stress

The primary stress of a word is on the first syllable. If the stress is put on another syllable, the first letter of that syllable is capitalized. For example, the name maRach.

Vowels

Aran has long and short vowels, with long ones being indicated by a grave accent over the letter. Some of them are pronounced differently when touching a high or low consonant. If a letter is touching both, the high overpowers the low.

Long vowels:

• à - eɪ as in say
• è - e as in ten
• ì - i as in free
• ò - oʊ as in vote
• ù - u as in actual

Short vowels:

• a - æ as in cat
• e - (ə) as in battle or ə as in banana
• i - ɪ as in sit
• o - ɔ as in bot
• u - ʊ as in put

Long vowels:

• à - eɪ as in say (same)
• è - i as in tiny
• ì - aɪ as in fry
• ò - oʊ as in vote (same)
• ù - u as in actual (same)

Short vowels:

• a - ɑ as in caught
• e - (ə) as in battle or ə as in banana (same)
• i - ɪ as in sit (same)
• o - ɔ as in bot (same)
• u - ə as in cut (same)

Consonants

Aran consonants can change the way vowels are pronounced. They are split into two groups, High consonants and Low consonants.

High Consonants

B C D G K P T W Y

Low Consonants

F H J L M N R S V

Inflections

Plural Words

If the last letter is a consonant, the vowel before it is removed. If this is not pronouncable, the vowel is replaced by an è, or an 'i' if the letter is already an è.

Examples

tòlèm - tòlm

nìsìn - nìsèn

Gender

There are many rules about gender.

• To show gender, the consonant closest to the middle is changed, or has a letter added before or after it.
• If there are two consonants touching, this affects both.
• If the two closest ones are not touching, whichever one is stressed is changed. (If none are stressed, change the first one.)

• Two consonants that make one sound are treated as one.
• If the letter added is the same as the one before or after it, remove the letter.
• If two letters are added before another, whichever one goes directly before is second.
• All changes are made at the same time. For example, if an M was replaced with R, and a T was added before the M, you would get TR.

• Multiple changes can be made, such as race and sex.

For example, tòrm, the word for historian.

Sex

• tòm (R added directly before letter) - male
• tòtfrm (TF added directly before letter) - female

Race

• tò (letter replaced with M) - human
• tòlm (letter replaced with L) - elf
• tòdm (letter replaced with D) - dwarf
• tògm (letter replaced with G) - halfling
• tòcm (letter replaced with C) - orc, goblin, or similar monster

Others

• tòlèm (È added directly after letter) - half human (in this case, half human and elf)

Examples

Human male historian - tòrmm - tòr /rtoʊ/

Dwarven female historian - tòtfdm /'toʊθˌd(ə)m/

Orcish male historian - tòrcm /'toʊˌc(ə)m/

Case

There is only one change in case in Aran, which I've shown below.

For example, nìsìn, the word for kitten.

• nìsìtf (last two letters and any vowels directly before them replaced with ìtf) - subject or nominative - the world (is, does, ...)
• nìsìn (same) - object or accusative - (something affects) the world
• nìsìn (same) - vocative - O world!
• nìsìn (same) - possessive or genitive - the world’s
• nìsìn (same) - indirect object or dative - (given, sold, etc.) to the world
• nìsìtf (last two letters and any vowels directly before them replaced with ìtf) - ablative - (something is done) by the world

Word Roots

In Aran, all words come from roots. The roots are listed below, organised into categories. The roots are one syllable, with very few exceptions.

People

tar - male

tùr - female

fèr - human

tìs - elf

dùr - dwarf

hal - halfling

gaì - gnome

drùc - dragon

Colors

ac - black

rù - white

ar - grey