Phonology[]
Vowels[]
Length[]
Nessëran has a vowel system involving nine 'basic' vowels: /æ/, /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /i/, /ɒ/, /ɔ/ and /u/. In Old Nessëran, all of these vowels came in a long and a short variety, however only /ɑː/, /ɛː/, /eː/ and /ɒː/ were carried over into Modern Nessëran. In more recent times, /ɛː/ and /ɒː/ have become to be realised as /iː/ and /ɶː/ respectively. As these sound changes occurred after the most recent spelling & language reform they are still represented by <ee> and <oo>, for example 'eeseen' /iːsiːn/ and 'loor' /lɶːɾ/.
Representation[]
| Phoneme | Letter | Example Word |
Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /æ/ | a | la | [læ] | 'what?' |
| /ɑ/ | ä | falkär | [fælkɑr] | 'to argue' |
| /ɑː/ | ää | asväär | [æsvɑːr] | 'arm' |
| /ɛ/ | e | sel | [sɛl] | 'to act' |
| /e/ | ë | adërq | [æderç] | 'satisfactory' |
| /eː/ | ëë | bëër | [beːr] | 'bread' |
| /ɪ/ | i | avril | [ævrɪl] | 'April' |
| /i/ | y | ty | [ti] | 'so' |
| /iː/ | ee | eeseen | [iːsiːn] | 'to fall' |
| /ɒ/ | o | kon | [kɒn] | 'to build' |
| /ɶː/ | oo | loor | [lɶːr] | 'good' |
| /ɔ/ | ò | òrces | [ɔrtsɛs] | 'arch' |
| /u/ | u | luţe | [lutsɛ] | 'why?' |
Consonants[]
The following table shows the consonants that are found in Nessëran. When found in pairs, the one on the left is voiceless, and the one on the right is voiced.
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ1 | ŋ2 | ||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | c3 ɟ4 | k g | ||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ ʒ | ç ʝ5 | h | |||
| Affricate | ts | tʃ | ||||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||
| Flap | ɾ | |||||||
| Lateral | l | ʎ6 |
- The palatal nasal /ɲ/ is an allophone of /n/ before a palatal consonant /j/ or /ç/.
- The velar nasal /ŋ/ is an allophone of /n/ before a velar consonant /k/ or /g/.
- The voiceless palatal plosive /c/ is an allophone of /k/ or /t/ before a palatal consonant /j/ or /ç/.
- The voiced palatal plosive /ɟ/ is an allophone of /g/ or /d/ before a palatal consonant /j/ or /ç/.
- The voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ is never found as a phoneme in it's own right, only ever sometimes as an allophone of /ç/ between vowels or before a voiced consonant.
- /ʎ/ is an allophone of /l/ before palatal consonants /j/ or /ç/.
Allophones[]
As shown from the table above, the Nessëran language has a large consonant inventory, but many of them are merely allophones of other sounds.
Palatals[]
There are many allophones in Nessëran, with all but one regarding palatal consonants. When preceding a palatal consonant (/j/ or /ç/), most consonants become palatal themselves. So for example, the word 'unsenq', meaning 'to maintain' is pronounced [unsɛɲç]. The palatal allophones are as follows: /n ~ ɲ/, /t, k ~ c/, /d, g ~ ɟ/ and /l ~ ʎ/. The fact that both /k/ & /t/ and /g/ & /d/ share the same palatal allophones rarely causes confusion, however it sometimes does, such as the words 'tetq' ('swan') and 'tekq' ('palm') which are both pronounced [tɛcç].
Velars[]
There is also one velar allophone, which is also found in English. This is when the alveolar nasal /n/ is found before a velar consonant such as /k/ or /g/, /n/ becomes /ŋ/. This is found in english words such as sink and finger.
Orthography[]
Alphabet[]
The Nessëran language uses the Latin alphabet, modified by a few extra letters.
| Letter | Name | IPA | English Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | /æ/ | cap |
| ä | äd | /ɑ/ | car |
| b | be | /b/ | big |
| c | ce | /ts/ | hats |
| ç | çe | /tʃ/ | cheap |
| d | de | /d/ | dig |
| e | e | /ɛ/ | bet |
| ë | ëd | /e/ | like the first part of the dipthong in same |
| f | ef | /f/ | foot |
| g | ag | /g/ | give |
| h | ha | /h/ | hand |
| i | i | /ɪ/ | bit |
| j | ja | /j/ | yes |
| k | ka | /k/ | cold |
| l | el | /l/ | lamb |
| m | em | /m/ | mice |
| n | en | /n/ | nice |
| o | o | /ɒ/ | hot |
| ò | ogrä | /ɔ/ | raw |
| p | pa | /p/ | pat |
| q | eq | /ç/ | huge |
| r | er | /r/ | rolled r |
| s | es | /s/ | six |
| ş | eşa | /ʃ/ | shoot |
| t | ta | /t/ | top |
| ţ | ţe | /ts/ | hats |
| u | u | /u/ | boot |
| v | ve | /v/ | very |
| y | ypsilon | /i/ | very |
| z | zeta | /z/ | zoo |
Letters with diacritics[]
The Nessëran Alphabet employs three diacritic marks. These are the diaeresis (ä and ë), the cedilla (ç,ş and ţ) and the grave accent (ò). These symbols are not regarded as letters with diacritics, instead as individual letters in their own right. They represent sounds quite different from their non-diacritic counterparts.
Ţ versus C[]
The letters C and Ţ both represent the same sound, the Voiceless Alveolar Affricate, a sound similar to the last sound in cats. There is no rule as to when C and Ţ are used, and one needs to just learn a word containing the sound /ts/ with its spelling. This can sometimes lead to confusion, as for example, the words cent and ţent are both pronounced the same way. The letter Ţ is also used in transliterations from Cyrillic, as the equivalent of the letter Ц, as in the words ţär (tsar) and ţink (zinc), and also from other orthographies, such as ţunamy (tsunami).
Absent Letters[]
Nessëran does not used the letters <w> or <x>. This is because the sound /w/ is not found in Nessëran, and is instead realised as /v/. The letter x is not used because the sound /ks/ is represented by the letter combination ks.
Double Letters[]
Some vowels come in a long and a short variety, with the long variety being represented by doubling the vowel letter as in <ëë> and <ää>. However, <ee> and <oo>, although representing long vowels, represent long vowels quite different from those of their single counterparts <e> and <o> (see section Nessëran#Vowels for details).
Double consonants do not effect the pronunciation of the word, they are usually the result of adding a case suffix to a noun, in which duplicate consonants are retained (whereas duplicate vowels are not). Otherwise they are there purely a relic of Old Nessëran's unregulated orthography rules.
Basic Grammar[]
Nouns[]
Cases[]
Nouns in Nessëran come in several cases, each recognisable by a particular suffix. For example take the word rymastvai meaning "the car".
| Case | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Genitive | rymastvai [..]dän | the car [that belongs to] [someone] |
| Dative | rymastvaipe | to the car (as in "he gave it to the car") |
| Locative | rymastvaiben | in the car |
| Allative | rymastvaisòr | to the car (as in "he went to the car) |
| Ablative | rymastvaipal | from the car |
| Comitative | rymastvaiveq | together with the car |
| Instrumental | rymastvaisul | by/using the car |
| Noninstrumental | rymastvainëër | without the car |
| Adjacent | rymastvaiadd | next to the car |
| Enclitic | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -pän | rymastvaipän | for the car |
| -pòr | rymastvaipòr | from the car |
| -[j]entres | rymastvaijentres | the whole/entire car |
| -[j]effek | rymastvaijeffek | type/kinds of car |
| -[j]ossep | rymastvaijossep | over the car |
| -[j]unţun | rymastvaijunţun | under the car |
| -[j]ärrok | rymastvaijärrok | around the car |
| -leeş | rymastvaileeş | car-based |
Examples:
- Hänylalun açulsòr rymastvaisul "I traveled here by (the) car"
- Feşsepun açeer denëër "I can do this without you"
In addition, the word nahär can be used to reverse any noun case, similar to the english word "not". For example the phrase Attakkanalun nahär rymastvaijentres means "I didn't buy the whole car" (literally "i bought not the whole car").
Articles[]
There are two articles in Nessëran, the definate and the indefinate. Both are added as encltics to the noun that they are modifying. Still using the noun rymast meaning "car":
| Article | Nessëran | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definate | -vai | rymastvai | the car |
| Indefinate | -lei | rymastlei | a car |
Number[]
Nouns in Nessëran come in two numbers, singluar and plural. The plural is marked by adding the ending -n or -en to the noun, so for example seqerr (tree) can be changed to seqerren (trees), and then seqerrenvai (the trees).
Posession[]
Possession of nouns are shown by adding an enclitic to the nouns. A possessive enclitic is used instead of an article, to the word "kanapërvaian" (my the couch) would not make sense. Which endings are used is shown in this table, using the noun kanapër (couch):
| Enclitic | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -an | kanapëran | my couch |
| -ad | kanapërad | your couch (referring to one person) |
| -az | kanapëraz | your couch (referring to several people) |
| -ef | kanapëref | his couch |
| -esäär | kanapëresäär | her couch |
| -und | kanapërund | their couch |
| -unnel | kanapërunnel | our couch |
| -oq | kanapëroq | its couch |
| -ërr | kanapër Tomërr | Tom's couch |
Enclitic Order[]
There is a specific order in which enclitics are added to the end of a noun. The order is this: NOUN+number+article/possession+case. So for example the word kanapërenvaiben (in the couches) is made from the noun kanapër + the plural number -en + the article -vai + the Locative case -ben.
Adjectives[]
Nessëran adjectives come in numerous forms- as seen by the following table, using the adjective şäreny (nice).
| Ending | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| - | şäreny | nice |
| -leg | şärenyleg | nicer |
| -legennër | şärenylegennër | nicest |
| -tòrr | şärenytòrr | very nice |
| -nass | şärenynass | not nice |
Verbs[]
Tenses[]
There are several different verb tenses in Nessëran, each of which is represented by adding a suffix to the verb itself. For example, take the verb visseje (to say).
| Ending | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| - | visseje | to say |
| -al | vissejal | said |
| -avul | vissejavul | was said |
| -ud | vissejud | was saying |
| -ussil | vissejussil | saying (past) |
| -el | vissejel | will say |
| -ussel | vissejussel | saying (future) |
| -işin | vissejişin | will have said |
| -alab | vissejalab | going to say |
| -alabal | vissejalabal | was going to say |
Objects and Subjects[]
The object of a verb is attatched to the end of the word, so in the table:
| Ending | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -un | vissejun | I say |
| -id | vissejid | You say (one person) |
| -iz | vissejiz | You say (several people) |
| -if | vissejif | He says |
| -aşin | vissejaşin | She says |
| -innär | vissejinnär | We say |
| -ettër | vissejettër | They say |
| -ërq | vissejërq | It says |
However, the subject of the verb is separate from the verb+object word. It is placed after the verb+object, for example in the sentence "she said to him" vissejalaşin fepe, "fepe" (to him) is placed after "vissejalaşin" (she said).
Pronouns[]
Personal Pronouns[]
Personal pronouns in Nessëran are easy, as they only come in one form - so for example "I" and "me" are both represented by the word un. There are no subjective personal pronouns, such as the "her" in "I love her", as these are indicated in the form of the verb, such as in "Vyjelun-aş" ("I love her"), where the the suffix "un" indicates the subject is the first person.
| Pronoun | English |
|---|---|
| un | I, me |
| den | You (one person) |
| zun | You (several people) |
| fe | He, him |
| aş | She, her |
| väär | They, them |
| nos | We, us |
| urq | It |
For example, the objective personal pronouns in the following sentence are in bold: Annädun-den nejj fe (I like you not him). The subjective pronouns are not needed, as "I like" is represented by a single word "Annädun".
Posessive Pronouns[]
| Possessive Pronoun |
Meaning |
|---|---|
| anes | mine |
| ades | yours (one person) |
| azes | yours (two or more people) |
| efes | his |
| esääres | hers |
| undes | theirs |
| unneles | ours |
| oqes | is |
Compare:
- Rymastan - ("My car")
- Rymastaçestatu anes - ("This car is mine")
Disjunctive Pronouns[]
Disjunctive pronouns are only used in isolation, for example in Who does this belong to? Me. There is no distinction made in english, but in Nessëran they are indicated by a personal pronoun preceded by the word "e".
- Who is this? Me.
- Lyr ogaçest? E un.
Dummy Pronouns[]
Dummy pronouns are like the "it" in it is raining, when grammar rules require a pronoun, but it is not taking the place of any particular noun. In Nessëran, dummy pronoun is Ţan, for example Ţan vennussil ("It is raining").
Interrogative Pronouns[]
There are numerous interrogative pronouns in Nessëran, with most of them beginning with "l".
| Nessëran | English |
|---|---|
| la? | what? |
| lyr? | who? |
| lacema? | when? |
| luţe? | why? |
| loceir? | where? |
| lacek | which? |
| loş? | how? |
| lëër? | how much/many? |
Relative Pronouns[]
Relative pronouns are pronouns which link a relative clause with a larger sentence. Often in English they are written as interogative pronouns, just not starting a question.
Compare:
- What do you hate? (Interogative)
- This is what you hate. (Relative)
In Nessëran relative pronouns are identical to interrogative pronouns preceded by the word "hoq". Compare:
- La kastanid? ("What do you hate?") (Interrogative)
- Ogaçest hoq la kastanid. ("This is what you hate") (Relative).
Demonstratives[]
Demonstratives (English: this, that, those) are not words in there own right, instead they are added as enclitics onto the noun they are demonstrating.
For example, the noun "delik" meaning "shoe"
| Enclitic | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -açest | delikaçest | this shoe |
| -oçost | delikoçost | that shoe |
| -enaçest | delikenaçest | these shoes |
| -enoçost | delikenoçost | those shoes |
When a demonstrative is a pronoun in it's own right, as in This is my car, the demonstrative enclitic (shown above) is added to the dummy word "og".
For example compare:
- Rymastaçest - ("This car")
- Ogaçest rymastvai - ("This is the car")
Quantifiers=[]
Quantifiers are indicated by a word preceding the noun.
| Quantifier | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ţotel | ţotel deliken | all shoes |
| onu | onu delik | every shoe |
| pluj | pluj deliken | many shoes |
| sopen | sopen deliken | few shoes |
| neţ | neţ deliken | hardly any shoes |
Numbers[]
Cardinal Numbers[]
- 0 - hin
- 1 - ull
- 2 - këry
- 3 - lëren
- 4 - aqqär
- 5 - u
- 6 - särl
- 7 - sinel
- 8 - nolc
- 9 - kenc
- 10 - den
Ordinal Numbers[]
- 0 - hinu
- 1 - ullu
- 2 - këru
- 3 - lërenu
- 4 - aqqäru
- 5 - uku
- 6 - särlu
- 7 - sinelu
- 8 - nolcu
- 9 - kencu
- 10 - denu
Suffixes[]
| Suffix | Effect |
|---|---|
| -es | Changes an adjective to a noun. For example belest ("to approve") to belestes ("approval"). |
| -ees | Indicates an occupation or a hobby, similar to english "-er" or "-or". For example eşkol ("to teach") to eşkolees ("teacher"). Also indicates someone participating in an activity, as in kepq ("to take") to kepqees ("taker"). |
| -laç | Indicates a group of something, for example dranesvër ("mountain") to dranesvërlaç ("mountain range") |
| -lokòr | Indicates the study of something, for example elep ("number") to eleplokòr ("mathematics"). |
| -sçen | Similar to the "-tion" suffix of english. Forms nouns from adjectives and verbs. |
Dictionary[]
Useful Phrases[]
| English | Nessëran |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Olasëël |
| Hello Hi |
Synnäs Sy |
| How are you? I'm fine thanks, and you? |
Loş datu? Unatu adërq orcein, deşe? |
| What is your name? My name is... |
La lärneladatu? Lärnelanatu... |
| Where are you from? I am from... |
Loceir datu puna? Unatu puna... |
| Good Morning | Prşmërynas loor |
| Good Afternoon | Ullmërynas loor |
| Good Day | Urna loor |
| Good Luck | Vòrţun loor |
| Thank You | Orcein |
Example Text[]
The Tower of Babel[]
| English | Nessëran | |
| 1 | Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. | En lonikevaijentres ënesal nelv ull vissejesleijeşe runevate. |
| 2 | As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. | Jomenlenn träävälal ysooriş, dessonalettër väseveş Şinärben ţendenaltolte-värdaçest. |
| 3 | They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. | Vissejalettër väärespe, "Eced, hanninnär kon muçed perogeldër qòrestek, buleşe perogeldër mòrtër. |
| 4 | Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." | Vissejalettërtolte, "Eced hanninnär koninnär väärespe kassalei, tòressesleiveq hoq mereç parydesvaisòr, ty hoq konsepinnär kon lärnellei väärespepän nejjeşe tinţeleţaleb vissetvaisòsep lonikevaijentres." |
| 5 | But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. | Nejl kòzesvai ecedal visseje kassavai tòressesvaieşe hoq jomenvai konud. |
| 6 | The LORD said, "Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them, if as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this. | Kòzesvai vissejal, "Nam ogoşetes maronettër imposiblekeleb väärpän, şan nelëtdël ull vissejussil nelvvai runevate yndullääralettër feş-aşet. |
| 7 | Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." | Eced, hanninnär trääval dundes pelòsëëçtolte nelvund ty nahär ennërekelettër-vääres." |
| 8 | So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. | Ty kòzesvai tinţeleţal-väär värdaçestpòr lonikevaijentressòsep, väärtolte ital konussil kassavai. |
| 9 | That is why it was called Babel -- because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. | Ogoçostatu hoq loceir urqatal lärnelal "Babel" -- luţepär värdaçest kòzesvai pelòsëëçal nelvvai lonikevaijentresdän. Värdaçestpòr kòzesvai tinţeleţal-väär teletvaisòsep lonikevaijentresdän. |
The North Wind and the Sun[]
| English | The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak.
They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other. Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him; and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveler took off his cloak. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two. |
| Nessëran | Laşvai Nòrd Elysvaijeşe jannakussil hoq lacek gòrsevekleg, hoq lacema hänyleeslei ecedal qunal ròzeglei kolääd.
Demeţalettër hoq fegvai hoq lyr ullu vestral nessonussil hänyleesvai ërmek ròzegef prog rekkäralab gòrsevekleg hoq ogosetesvai. Laşvaitolte Nòrd òfal aştännekev, nejl annecvai òfalif qunnepleg hänyleesvai qunal ròzegef fejärrok; ummërtolte Laşvai Nòrd mastòral syvai. Elysvaitolte ëmmëral koläädede, hänyleesvaitolte ërmekal ròzegef. Ty Laşvaitolte Nòrdatal uţempërdal selet hoq Elysvaijatal ogvai gòrsevekleg këryvaidän. |