Conlang
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Hanisian
Hannäsåg
Type
Synthetic
Alignment
Head direction
Final
Tonal
Yes
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information[]

Hanisian -- also known as "Hannä," or more properly as "Hannäsåg" -- is a language of North Germanic, with several undefined influences. Many trace these particular non-Germanicisms back to the influence of Slavic, Thracian, and Dacian languages. Despite these anomalous appearances, Hanian is classified as a North Germanic language.

Hanisian is spoken among a diverse population across a wide geographical distribution, ranging from southern Sweden all the way over to parts of Poland.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Below are all of the sounds contained within the Hanisian language, with the exception of [ɧ] (voiceless coarticulated velar and palatoalveolar fricative), for which there was no appropriate place.

Vowels[]

Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive p b t̪d̪ k g
Fricative f v s h
Approximant j
Trill r
Flap or tap ɾ
Lateral app. l
Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close i ʉ u
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e ø o
Mid
Open-mid ɛ
Near-open æ
Open ɑ

Alphabet[]

The alphabet is actually pretty simple.

Letter Letter Name Sound
A a A [ɑ]
B b Be [b]
D d De [d̪]
E e E [e/ɛ]
F f Äf [f]
G g Ge [g]
H h Ho [h]
I i I

[i/ɪ]

J j Jo [j]
K k Ke [k]
L l Äl [l]
M m Äm [m]
N n Än [n/ɲ]
O o O [ʊ/o]
P p Pe [p]
R r Ar [ɾ/r]
S s Äs [s]
T t Te [t̪]
U u U [ʉ/u]
V v Ve [v]
X x Yx [ks]
Y y Yl [ɪ]
Ä ä Ä [ɛ]
Æ æ Æn [æ]
Å å Å [o]
Ö ö Ö [ø]
Sj <not a letter> [ɧ]
Ng <not a letter> [ŋ]

All of the nouns have a "long" and "short" form. For those with two listed pronunciations, the first is the "long form". The general rule of thumb is to use the long form for all stressed vowels, unless there's a double consonant following it, or a consonant cluster.

Long Short

Mar [mɑ:r] ("music")

Marr [mɑr] ("trout")

Fet [fe:t] ("fate") Fett [fɛt] ("lowly")
Tim [ti:m] ("hour") Timt [tɪmt] ("dull")
Fot [f'ʊ:t] ("foot") Foll [fol] ("small hill")
Ful [f'ʉ:l] ("ugly") Full [ful] ("drunk")
Sät [sɛ:t] ("group")

Sätt [sɛt] ("mode")

Læm [læ:m] ("sheep")

Læmm [læm]*("barley")

[fo:] ("get/find") Fålt [folt] ("sulphur")
Sjön [ɧø:n] ("lake") Sjönn [ɧøn] ("kin")
  • In some dialects, the short Æn makes an Ä sound.

As you can see, it's not always easy to distinguish between two words that differ only by vowel quality. The pitch accent makes that much easier, as long and short vowels are also differentiated by their pitch. (see Pitch Accent)

The double consonant appears quite often in Hanian, and it is realized differently, depending on where in the word it is. Most of the time, you pronounce it longer. If it's at the end of a word, it's dormant, only being pronounced longer if there is a suffix added on after it.

Phonotactics[]

The basic phonotactic structure demands only that there be at least one vowel. There can be up to three consonants preceeding and following the vowel nucleus. Therefore, the phonotactic structure can be writting with the following formula:

(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C).

An example of this is the one-syllable word "strömst" [strømst̪], meaning "noisiest"

Pitch Accent ("Melodi")[]

Stressed syllables differentiate two "pitch accents". They are called pitches 1 and 2 -- pitch 1, in monosyllabic words, is (˥˧); pitch 2 is pronounced without a tone.

(Ex. "mat" [mɑ:t˥˧] ("snack-food") v.s. "matt" [m'ɑt] ("lost"))

In polysyllabic words, pitch 1 starts high and falls (˥˧˩), while pitch 2 starts in the middle, falls, then starts high and falls again (˧˩˥˩)/

(Ex. "sjöne" ['ɧø:˥˧˩] ("kinsmen") v.s. "sjönne" ['ɧø˧˩˥˩] ("to accept someone"))

You use pitch 1 if the stressed syllable is a long vowel. You use pitch 2 if it's a short vowel.

Irregularities:

If the word is a single vowel (i.e. a, e, i, å), you use tone 2.

If the word is more than two syllables, you use no tone except on stressed syllable if it is a long vowel.

Grammar[]

Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Nouns Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Adjectives Yes No Yes No No No No No
Numbers Yes No No No No No No No
Participles Yes No No Yes No No No No
Adverb No No No No No No No No
Pronouns Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No No No No No No No No
Particle Yes No No No No No No No
A fish In fysk
A cup Ät bærer

All nouns have four basic forms: singular indefinite, singular definite, plural indefinite, and plural definite. The way you form these changes depending on gender. For "in" words:

Singular (-Ø) Plural (-e(r))*
Indefinite (-Ø) fysk, lus, seng fyske, luse, senge
Definite (-än) fyskän, lusän, sengän

fyskerän, luserän, sengerän

  • You only add an R if the last letter of the noun is a vowel.

For "ät" words, it becomes:

Singular (-Ø) Plural (-ar)
Indefinite (-Ø) bærer, hår, haje bærerar, hårar, hajar
Definite (-ät) bærerät, hårät, hajät bærerarät, hårarät, hajarät

Adjectives are also changed to match gender and number. For instance, here is the word "green" ("grön") applied to both genders and numbers:

Neuter Mutual
Single Ät grönt söm In grön pil
Plural Grönta sömar Gröne pile

Many adjectives end in D. When the neuter -T is added, it makes a very challenging consonant cluster. In these cases, only the T is pronounced. (Ex. L'und [lund] > L'undt [lunt] "heavy")


Vocabulary[]


No. English Hanisian
1Ija
2you (singular)du
3hehän
4wevij
5you (plural)di
6theysi
7thisdän
8thatden
9herehär
10theredär
11whoti
12whatva
13whereunea
14whenuneanår
15howejår
16notej
17allælt
18manymån
19somenålän
20fewsul
21otherandra
22onein
23twoto
24threesai
25fourfia
26fivefer
27bigståm
28longvaig
29wideur
30thickständ
31heavyfus
32smallsmål
33shortskund
34narrowharean
35thinlön
36womanlina
37man (adult male)mæn
38man (human being)männäske
39childlitän
40wifelina
41husbandmæn
42motherma
43fatherfar
44animaljer
45fishfysk
46birdpasara
47doghund
48lousebrynt
49snakevår
50wormbriavår
51treetre
52forestgiria
53sticktresarm
54fruitkym
55seedsjäm
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name

Most of the vocabulary is of Germanic/Norse decent. However, there are many words which have been retained from the Dacian and Thracian substrata. These have, however, gone through a lot of phonological change to acclimate to the Germanic vocabulary.

Example text[]

"Ælt å männäskenna är födt frie, a lige i verdihett a rättihetter. Si är klarvesteret med mansvit a hötanke, a skal lejandere med inandene i in bråskabännas ånd."

[ælt̪ o: 'mɛnːɛskɛnːɑ ɛ:r føt̪ frie ɑ: lige i: 'vɛrdɪhɛt̪ ɑ: 'rɛt̪ːɪˌhɛt̪ːɛr. Si: ɛ:r klɑr'vɛst̪ɛrɛt̪ me:d̪ 'mɑnsvit̪ ɑ: 'hø:t̪ɑnke ɑ: skɑ:l lejɑ'd̪e:rɛ me:d̪ in'ɑnd̪enɛ i: i:n 'broskɑbɛnːɑs ond̪.]

"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."

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