Svadoki

General informationEdit

Svadoki is the official language of the conworld (insert name and link here). The language consists of 23 sounds: 14 consonants, 2 vowel connectors (v & j), and 7 vowels. In this Wikia, unfamiliar IPA symbols will be represented as English letters: θ is th, ɬ is sh, t͡ʃ is ch, j is y, and ɣ is h.

PhonologyEdit

ConsonantsEdit

VowelsEdit

AlphabetEdit

In order:

t as in talk

r like in run, but with a small trill

n as in no

d as in dog

th as in thunder (IPA = θ)

k like in kite, but have the middle of you tongue near the roof of your mouth

ch as in chew (IPA = t͡ʃ)

b as in boy

sh has no English equivalent; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_lateral_fricative (IPA = ɬ)

h like an H in English, but with a slight gutteral (IPA = ɣ)

s like in some, but move the tip of your tongue a centimeter towards the back

l as in line

ʒ as in measure

m as in mom

-

i as in the letter e in me

e as in play (without the diphthong)

a as in father

o as in low

ø as in the German word schön (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_front_rounded_vowel)

ʌ as in mud

u as in luminate

-

y as in you

v as in vase

NotesEdit

Vowel connectors (the letters v and y) are used in front of vowels.

Never use a vowel connecter after the consonants B, R, and H.

The sound of ø is created when the vowels o and ʌ are together in that order (oʌ)

There are only two vowel diphthongs in Svadoki: oi and ai

PhonotacticsEdit

GrammarEdit

Sentence LayoutEdit

Svadoki follows a subject-object-verb format in its sentences. This is a similar format to languages like Korean, but completely different from languages like English and Spanish. Take a look at the sentences below:

ʒon kenum kleʒi - I will tell him

kenum ʒon kleki - He will tell me.

In the sentences above, the pronouns ʒon (I) and kenum (he) were switched, so the sentence was altered and the verb was conjugated differently. It is optional in Svadoki to add the vowel e in front of the object to clarify the subject and the object.

kenum enenumyoh kleka - I tell them.

The Parts of Speech

There are five parts of speech in Svadoki: nouns, verbs, noun modifiers, verb modifiers, and prepositions (interjections aren't considered a part of speech in this language). Nouns in Svadoki include words like "he", "cow", "they", and "louse".  Noun modifiers are almost the English equivilent to an adjective. In English, the Svadoki word leksis means "fish". But, when adding the noun modifier "-oʒyʌ", the word becomes leksisoʒyʌ, or "small fish". The noun modifier to make a noun plural is "-osh". Always put the plural noun modifier on first, then a regular noun modifier second.  You cannot use more than one regular noun modifier on a noun.

Verbs are always conjugated in this language; the last consonant in the verb is matched to the first letter of the pronoun the noun follows and the last vowel is matched to the tense. a verb ending in "o" is in past tense, a verb ending in "a" is in present tense, and ending in "i" is in future tense. Here is a verb chart:

(TO) TELL - KLEDA

You have to mention the (pro)noun before the verb in sentences. It's never grammatically correct to leave out the (pro)noun and just have a conjugated verb, like in Spanish.  The only instance you can leave out the pronoun is in a command (see "Commands").    A verb modifier is used to affect the meaning of the verb using suffixes.  In the example, the verb suffix "-ʒe" means "to need to" and "-te" means "to have to".

kenis roch klekaʒe - She needs to tell us.

ʒon tvan hobroʒite - I will have to kill you.

The last part of speech in Svadoki are the prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases work like they do in English. In these examples, 'une' is "in" and ise is "by". 

kenum tobroko une hosmikʌ - He died in the forest.

nenumyoh borkatvut kleno u kenis ise rubenosh - They told the story to him by the flowers / I told him the story by the flowers.

InterrogativesEdit

Interrogative pronouns in Svadoki include abom, abos, abush, abʌk, aboʌr and aban (who, what/which, where, when, why, and how).  These pronouns are mentioned at the end of interrogative sentences and they are phrased as if they were statements. The interrogative suffix -mya goes onto the last verb of the question (after a regular verb suffix).

ekenoʌs hobrokomya abom - Who killed it?

kenoʌs hobrokomya abom - It killed who?

kenis kenoʌs hobrokomya aboʌr - Why did he kill it?

When you're not asking a question with an interrogative pronoun, you replace the a with u.

tvan toib svaiti ubush tvan tvoita - You will come to the house when you finish.

CommandsEdit

In English, sentences like "Go to the garden" don't include a pronoun at the beginning of the verb.  These are called Commands in Svadoki.  When using commands, take out the subject and use the "we" form of the verb.

bera ibre rubenes - Go to the garden

ibre - to/at

Subordinate ClausesEdit

When using subordinate clauses, only put the part of the sentence that cannot stand alone in the sentence at the end.  An example is shown.

VocabularyEdit

Pronouns:Edit

I - ʒon

You - tvan

He - kenum

She - kenis

It - kenoʌs

We - roch

You (pl.) - syut 

They - nenumyoh

Interrogatives:Edit

Who - abom

What/Which - abos

Where - abush

When - abʌk

Why - aboʌr

How - aban

VerbsEdit

to be - da

to go - beda

to come to - svaida

to tell - kleda

to see - nomda

to suck - borvida

to eat - kotvada

to drink - breda

to kill - hobroda

to die - tobroda

to finish - tvoida

to win - shoʌda

to lose- ʒʌda

to smell - bvidada

to know - klaika

to not know - lireda

NounsEdit

man - honyum

woman - honyis

child - tityum

spouse - tvanum

mother - svanis

father - sanum

animal - hotad

fish - leksis

skin - smol

house - toib

meat - krasvan

blood - lekhos

rubenes - garden

Example textEdit