| Sŷlven | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Analytical | ||||||||||||
| Alignment | Nominative–accusative | ||||||||||||
| Head direction | Initial | ||||||||||||
| Tonal | No | ||||||||||||
| Declensions | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Conjugations | No | ||||||||||||
| Genders | None | ||||||||||||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||||||||||||
| Case | Number | ||||||||||||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||||||||||||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||||||||||||
| Voice | Mood | ||||||||||||
| Person | Number | ||||||||||||
| Tense | Aspect | ||||||||||||
| Meta-information | |||||||||||||
| Progress | 0% | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Creator | Thorn0906 | ||||||||||||
Sŷlven is the language of the Sŷlvi people, living in the continent Sŷlven (in Sŷlven the name of a language is the same as that of the place from whence it came) of the planet Serâþ, or Kepler-296e to us. It developed in a biosphere for ten thousand years on it's way to Serâth from Earth (Arêþ to the Sŷlvi).
Classification and Dialects[]
The language as it is found here is the dialect the Sŷlvi spoke immediately after landing at Serâth.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Epiglottal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||||||
| Plosive | þ | |||||||||||
| Fricative | f, v | s, z | x | |||||||||
| Affricate | ||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||
| Flap or tap | ||||||||||||
| Lateral fric. | ||||||||||||
| Lateral app. | l | |||||||||||
| Lateral flap |
Ñ is in there too, I just don't know where it would go.
Vowels[]
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |||
| Near-close | y | ||||
| Close-mid | |||||
| Mid | e | o | |||
| Open-mid | |||||
| Near-open | |||||
| Open | æ | a |
Stress[]
Main stress in Sŷlven falls on the first circumflex. Any circumflexes after this are lighter stress.
Writing System[]
Sŷlven, being developed from various earthly languages, is written with the Latin alphabet.
Grammar[]
Morphology []
For affixes, if the affix would make two vowels collide (râine + ar = râinear), remove the vowel from the base (râine + ar = râinar).
Nouns
Plurals:
Change the last vowel to an i.
Duals:
Add r after the plural I.
Definite:
Nouns are given in indefinite form. For definite, add ar. Plural i would go after the r.
Example:
Râine 'a frog'
Râini 'some frogs'
Râinir ‘two frogs’
Râinar 'the frog'
Râinari 'the frogs'
Râinarir ‘the two frogs’
Circumpositions
Sŷlven uses circumpositions - they go on either side of the phrase that they modify. Circumpositions affecting only one word can be attached to the word as a prefix. Ex: E Sêla e > Esêla.
Derivational morphology []
Compounds go in head-modifier order - lesânwasên ‘place-learn’, nôwelis ‘to not make’.
Syntax []
Syllable structure is V or CV or CVC.
Tenses are controlled word order, so it's SOV ("Bob the sandwich ate") for past tense, SVO ("Bob ate the sandwich" like English) for present tense, and VSO ("Ate Bob the sandwich") for future.
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs usually go after the word they modify, for example râine azûri, 'a blue frog', but they can go before to signify importance, e.g. azûri râine, 'a blue frog'. No conjugation is done, adjectives do not have number.
Lexicon[]
The lexicon is on a spreadsheet at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-F-HNasSO4YUX-gAmZH4wauJWZLym_1KbCaAWbk4urY/edit?usp=sharing. You might need to log in, but it's set so anyone with the link can view it.