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Valannic
Valannō Lyore
Type Fusional
Alignment Nominative-Accusative
Head direction Mixed
Tonal No
Declensions Yes
Conjugations Yes
Genders no
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect
Meta-information
Progress 1%
Statistics
Nouns 3%
Verbs 0%
Adjectives 0%
Syntax 0%
Words 29 of 1500
Creator Nahzmerhs

Valannō Lyore or Valannic is the language of Valanne, and lingua franca of the main lands and regions around the Holy Sanctuary of Ilarúnen.

Classification and Dialects[]

Valannic is an agglutinative, polysynthetic and highly inflected language. The classical form Valannō pertheä, which will be the main subject of this page, has many features that will seem familiar to those who have basic knowledge of the Proto-Indo-European languages and of Uralic/Altaic languages. It means that nouns and adjectives are inflected in up to eleven cases, nouns and verbs have four numbers, including a dual form, and verbs are conjugated for all grammatical verb-related features. There are rudimental traits of vowel harmony, which stem from the Proto-Valannic language. A few features from Bantu languages, mainly Kiswahili, may also occur, such as word classes and implementation of (in)direct object and preposition markers within the verbs.

With the passing of time, more vulgar and simplified variations have emerged, mainly the vernacular Low-Valannic tongue Valannō mangreä ('vulgar Valannic'), spoken in the valleys around Mēoran. I will eventually add some notes on the differences between the 'book' language and the common spoken language.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Consonants in Valannic are always pronounced as given in the table below. Voiced consonants at the end of a word or syllable for instance, will not lose its voiced pronunciation. However, some consonants may undergo changes in conjugations or in contraction of phonemes. This depends heavily on the consonants that they interact with, or a shift of word accent. Mostly voiceless plosives may become aspirated or voiced in such cases.

Geminated consonants are pronounced longer than their single equivalents, but do not undergo other changes. The following consonants appear also in geminated form: mm, nn, ll, rr, pp, tt, cc, ss. 'gg' is found in transliteration to the Latin alphabet, representing /ŋg/, but is not part of the Valannic script

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ny ng
Plosive p b t d ty gy c g
Fricative ph bh f v th dh s z hy ry ch gh h
Approximant hw (w) y
Trill rr
Flap or tap r rh
Lateral app. l ly ll
See 'Writing system' for alphabet and pronunciation

When two consonants are in the same box, they represent the voiceless (left) and voiced (right) variation of the same sound. The rh is an aspirated version of the regular alveolar tap.

All of the above consonants are represented in the alphabet by one letter, geminated consonants will have a diacritical mark to identify them as geminated. Some consonants have a labialised equivalent, which do not qualify as a single sound, even though they are represented by a single letter. These consonants are:

consonant labialised equivalent pronunciation
m mw warm water /mw/
n nw ringworm /ŋw/
t tw twice /tw/
d dw dwarf /dw/
c qu question /kw/
g gu Antigua /gw/
r rw carwash /ɾw/
l lw Elwood /lw/

Note that in the latinised representation, /qu/ and /gu/ are written with a u and not a w.

Vowels[]

Valannic has 7 vowels and 9 diphthongs.

All vowels have a short and a long equivalent. The long vowels carry a macron to indicate its lenghtened pronunciation. The length of the short vowels can be under the influence of its position before a stop or a liquid/sibilant consonant, but so will their long equivalents. In pertheä , there is little dynamic in pronunciation of vowels, because vowel length is important to distinguish words that look alike. However, in closed syllables (ones ending in a consonant or consonant cluster ) a will tend to be pronunciated more backed /ä/ , while e and o will tend to be pronunciated more open, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ respectively .

Front Center Back
Close i ī ý ȳ u ū
Close-mid e ē o ō
Open-mid ê ê̄
Open a ā

All written vowels are pronounced. Lyore is pronounced with two syllables: Lyo - re. /'ʎo.ɾe/

Diphthongs[]

Valannic has 9 falling diphthongs. All diphthongs appear in a short and long version, in which the lenghtening is expressed in the first part of the diphthong:

sound pronunciation
ai /aɪ̯/ pronounced like i in kite
āi /a:ɪ̯/ pronounced like i in mine
au /aʊ̯/ pronounced like ou in pout
āu /a:ʊ̯/ pronounced like ou in loud
êi /ɛɪ̯/ pronounced like a in cat, directly followed bij an open /i/ sound. Cf scandinavian languages, like Norwegian 'nej' . Cf Ancient Greek diphthong
ê̄i /ɛ:ɪ̯/ longer equivalent of /ɛɪ̯/
ei /eɪ̯/ pronounced like ei in eight
ēi /e:ɪ̯/ longer equivalent of /eɪ̯/
eu /eʊ̯/ pronounced like eu in Latin neuter,
ēu /e:ʊ̯/ longer equivalent of /eʊ̯/
ie /iə̯/ pronounced like ia in Mia
īe /i:ə̯/ longer equivalent of /iə̯/
oi /oɪ̯/ pronounced like oi in loin
ōi /o:ɪ̯/ longer equivalent of /oɪ̯/
ou /oʊ̯/ pronounced like ou in soul
ōu /o:ʊ̯/ longer equivalent of /oʊ̯/
ui /uɪ̯/ pronounced like ui in ruin but the end-i is more open.
ūi /u:ɪ̯/ longer equivalent of /uɪ̯/

In conjugations of nouns and verbs, and a few other words, one will sometimes find a tilde ~ over a letter. A tilde also lengthens a vowel sound, but slightly more melodical. These vowels or diphthongs are the result of contraction or ellipsis of phonemes when conjugated, e.g:

  • quenāin (inf. to grow) -> aorist equẽinan (I grew)
  • auvāin (inf. to wake (s.o. up)) -> aorist hãuvan (I woke)

Phonotactics[]

Not all combinations of consonants are allowed in Valannic, though the amount of phonemes is significant.

The nucleus of a phoneme is always a vowel, which can be any of the above listed vowels or diphthongs. Though a single vowel can technically form an entire phoneme, most phonemes also contain at least one consonant, typically preceding the vowel. Hence the typical structure of a phoneme or syllable is:

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

Allowed onsets are vowels, diphthongs and essentially all consonant letters from the alphabet, including 'ng', 'ps', 'ts' and 'x'. Geminated consonants can appear as an onset withín a word, but never at the beginning of a word. Consonant clusters can be non-palatal plosives followed by liquids r and l, including the aspirated plosives. Of these clusters, the ones with a voiceless non-palatal, non-aspirated plosive can also be preceded by an s. The labiovelar qu sound preceded by an s is also allowed as an onset.

The coda of a phoneme is mostly a vowel, but consonants are common. Fairly common consonant endings are a nasal n or m, a liquid l or r , or a sibilant s. Fricative or plosive endings are also allowed. Non-palatal plosives tend towards their voiced equivalents. The voiceless equivalents will tend towards the the fricative, aspirated sounds. The velar nasal sound /ŋ/ is also allowed.

The only consonant clusters at the end of a phoneme are nd, ld and rd. At the end of a word, these phonemes change to ns, ls and rs respectively. Earlier phonemes in Proto-Valannic may have been more complex clusters , but these all seem to have been simplified to less complex sounds.

Complex consonant clusters are allowed in Valannic words, and it would go too far to make a table of every single one of them. However, these consonant clusters will only occur as a merging of multiple syllables, and thus phonemes, within a single word, and when broken down into syllables, they will obey the above rules.

  • Ereb Umbreon [ 'e.ɾeb. um.'bɾe.on ] - The Land of the Black Wolves.
  • Vangyorolar [ ʋan.'ɟo.ɾo.laɾ ] - the zodiac.

Stress and pitch-accents[]

Valannic does not qualify as a tonal language: tone alone does not affect the meaning or function of a word. The stress in a word is often easy to recognize and rarely influenced by conjugation. However, since Valannic is an highly agglutinitive and inflected language, words can become very polysyllabic. Vowels are mainly open and often multiple long vowels appear in one word. Under these circumstances, in some longer words a second pitch accent will occur, aside form the main stress.

Stress in a word is expressed by tonal height; the stressed syllable has a high (H) tone, the unstressed ones are low (L). In short words (two or three syllables), the main stress is on the second- or third-to-last syllable, so HL(L) of LHL. Stress does not primarily affect the length of the vowels.

  • Calbas 'apple´ [ 'kal.bas ]: HL
  • Sýnome 'temperament' [ 'sɨ.no.me ]: HLL
  • Anyaras 'queen' [ a.'ɲa.ɾas ]: LHL

In words from the vowel classes, the stress does not change during conjugation, as in non-compound words conjugations never have a tonal influence. So sýnome (HLL) and sýnomelerun (HLLLL) ('of the specific temperaments') have the same stress, and no second pitch accents,

In words from the consonant classes, the main stress may change during conjugation, but this effect is consistent during more extended conjugation. This phenomenon is known as 'metric stress' in the singular nominative and accusative cases.

  • Orrýn' 'horse' [ 'o.rɨn ], but orrýnā'horses: [ o.'rɨ.n:a: ] and orrýnyainen: [ o.'rɨn.jaɪ̯.nen ]
  • Nomoguntýs 'archer' [ no.mo.'gun.tɨs ], but nomoguntý'archers': [ no.mo.gun.'tɨ.ɾa ]

In longer coumpound words, a second pitch-accent may occur.

  • Lyorongarodhār 'the Speaking Mountains' [ 'ʎo.ron.ga.,ro.ða:r]: HLLHL

Writing System[]

The writing system of Valannic is an alphabet, consisting of 44 consonant sounds and 16 vowel sounds, so 60 in total. These do not only represent single letters, but also the vowel diphthongs and some of the consonant clusters mentioned above. These letters also have adjustments for length by applying diacritical marks, which are not given below. Interpunction is provided within the below table in grey.

In the yellow boxes the plosives and derived fricatives are given. The fourth column represents the labialised and nasal variants. The red boxes are the remaining nasal sounds. The green boxes form the rest group of liquids and sibilants and their derived forms.

The blue boxes are the 7 vowels and 9 diphthongs that form single letters. These can be adjusted for length or fused vowels/diphthongs by applying diacritical marks, but these are not viewed as different letters.

Letterssounds2

Valannic Alphabet

Grammar[]

Valannic grammar is rather regular and there are few exceptions to the rules.

Nouns[]

Nouns are divided in a/e-class, o/u-class, and 2 consonant classes. These classes do not qualify as genders, and there is no gender congruency with for instance adjectives. A noun can be declined in eleven different cases and in four numbers, so that a noun has 44 different forms.

First, here´s an overview of the cases:

nominative subject of a sentence, also the case used for objects in sentences with a copula.
partitive expression of partialness, or an unspecified - or unquantified - amount of something.

Used in several different specific occasions. cf French du in 'je bois du lait' (or similar constructions) 'I drink some milk'

accusative direct object of a sentence
genitive signifies possession, 'belongs to'
dative indirect object, mostly used to express the aspect of 'in favour of' or 'to the disadvantage of'
instrumental signifies 'with' as in 'using a...' of 'by means of...'
locative indicates location, static. On, at, in, upon
allative indicates movement towards, going up on or in the direction of
ablative indicates movement away from, or coming off from
essive describes the state of being of something, or used as a comparison. Sometimes also used as the adjective form of a noun.
comitative signifies 'with' as 'accompanied by' of 'together with'

Nouns come in vowel stem classes and consonant stem classes. Below you can find the regular declension of both classes.

A/E-class Pertheä
calba- singular dual plural 1 plural 2
nominative calbas calbais calbar calbaler the apple(subject)
partitive calbā calbata calbarta calbalīta (of the) apple
accusative calban calbain calbain calbalīn the apple (direct object)
genitive calbō calbatū calbarun calbalerun of the apple
dative calbē calbate calbarin calbalerin for the apple
instrumental calbam calbãm calbainen calbalīnen with/using the apple
locative calbōa calbōta calbōinen calbalūnen on/at the apple
allative calbōnna calbõnna calbōinna calbalūnna towards the apple
ablative calbōssa calbõssa calbōissa calbalūssa off/away from the apple
essive calbama calbãma calbarma calbalīma as/being the apple
comitative calbani calbãni calbaini calbalīni (together) with the apple
O/U-class Pertheä
nyoro- singular dual plural 1 plural 2
nominative nyoros nyorois nyoror nyorolar the ring (subject)
partitive nyoroa nyorota nyororta nyorolarta (of the) ring
accusative nyoron nyoroin nyoroin nyorolain the ring (direct object)
genitive nyorū nyorotū nyororun nyorolarun of the ring
dative nyorō nyorote nyororin nyorolarin for the ring
instrumental nyorom nyorõm nyoroinen nyorolainen with/using the ring
locative nyorūa nyorūta nyorūinen nyorolōnen on/at the ring
allative nyorūnna nyorũnna nyorūinna nyorolōnna towards the ring
ablative nyorūssa nyorũssa nyorūissa nyorolōssa off/away from the ring
essive nyoroma nyorõma nyororma nyorolarma as/being the ring
comitative nyoroni nyorõni nyoroini nyorolaini (together) with the ring
Consonant class

(liquids)

Pertheä
orrýn- singular dual plural 1 plural 2
nominative orrýn orrýnis orrýnā orrýnyar the horse (subject)
partitive orrýna orrýnta orrýnta orrýnyarta (of the) horse
accusative orrýn orrýnin orrýnā orrýnyain the horse (direct object)
genitive orrýnū orrýntū orrýnerun orrýnyarun of the horse
dative orrýne orrýnte orrýnerin orrýnyarin for the horse
instrumental orrýnem orrýndem orrýnenen orrýnyainen with/using the horse
locative orrýnua orrýnuta orrýnūnen orrýnyōnen on/at the horse
allative orrýnunna orrýnũnna orrýnūinna orrýnyōnna towards the horse
ablative orrýnussa orrýnũssa orrýnūissa orrýnyōssa off/away from the horse
essive orrýmma orrýndema orrýnema orrýnyarma as/being the horse
comitative orrýnni orrýndeni orrýneni orrýnyaini (together) with the horse
Consonant class

(other consonants)

Pertheä
madh- singular dual plural 1 plural 2
nominative mad madhis madhā madhār the river (subject)
partitive madha madheta madheta madharta (of the) river
accusative mad madhin madhā madhār the river (direct object)
genitive madhū madhetū madherun madharun of the river
dative madhe madhete madherin madharin for the river
instrumental madhem madhẽm madhenen madhainen with/using the river
locative madhua madhetu madhūnen madhōnen on/at the river
allative madhunna madhũnna madhūnna madhōnna towards the rivers
ablative madhussa madhũssa madhūssa madhōssa off/away from the river
essive madhema madhẽma madhema madharma as/being the river
comitative madheni madhẽni madheni madhaini (together) with the river

The above conjugations are considered regular conjugation. There are some irregular conjugations, mostly in short words with a complex vowel structures:

Irregular

consonant

Pertheä Pertheä
cab- sing dual plural 1 plural 2 lie sing dual plural 1 plural 2
nominative cãus cabis cabā cabār lie lyīs elyīr elyeler
partitive caba cabeta cãuta cabarta liā lieta elyīta elyelīta
accusative cãus cabin cabā cabār lien lyīn elyīn elyelīn
genitive cãu cabetū cãurun cabarun liū lietū elyerun elyelerun
dative cabe cabete cãurin cabarin lië liete elyerin elyelerin
instrumental cãum cabẽm cãunen cabainen lië liẽm elyīnen elyelīnen
locative cãu cabetu cabūnen cabōnen liū lietu elyũinen elyelūnen
allative cãunna cabũnna cabuinna cabōnna liūnna liũnna elyũinna elyelūnna
ablative cãussa cabũssa cabuissa cabōssa liūssa liũssa elyũissa elyelūssa
essive cãuma cabẽma cabema cabarma liẽma liẽma elyīma elyelīma
comitative cãuni cabẽni cabeni cabaini liẽni liẽni elyīni elyelīni

Adjectives[]

Adjectives come in two classes: vowel-class and consonant class. Inflection is regular and less intricate than noun-inflection. There is a singular/dual form, and a plural 1/2 form

Vowel class A/E Vowel class O/U Consonant class A/E Consonant class O/U
sing plural sing plural sing plural sing plural
nominative vela velā poro porā thelin thelinā cudun cudunā
partitive velā velā pora pora thelina thelina cuduna cuduna
accusative velã velā porõ porā thelin thelinā cudun cudunā
genitive velū velūn porū porūn thelinū thelinūn cudunū cudunūn
dative velē velēn pori porīn thelinē thelinēn cuduni cudunīn
instrumental velē velen porē poren thelinē thelinen cudunē cudunen
locative velu velun poru porun thelinu thelinun cudunu cudunun
allative velu velun poru porun thelinu thelinun cudunu cudunun
ablative velu velun poru porun thelinu thelinun cudunu cudunun
essive vele vele pore pore theline theline cudune cudune
comitative vele vele pore pore theline theline cudune cudune
'red' 'big, large' 'bright' 'chestnut brown'


Adjectives can be placed freely before or after the noun it belongs to.

Adverbs are formed from the adjective: for A/E class adjectives, the concomitant adverb is formed 'stem + -ere' (thelin -> thelinere). For O/U class adjectives, the adverb is formed 'stem + are' (poro -> porare).

Verbs[]

Verbs can be split up into two classes: consonant stem verbs and vowel stem verbs. Both classes have verbs with thematic vowels -a and -o and athematic vowels. Athematic consonant stem verbs take -e as a conjugational vowel when needed. Furthermore verbs have three roots from which all conjugations are formed.

Overview of verb classes
Consonant stem verbs Vowel stem verbs
thematic athematic thematic athematic
a o a o
infinitive did-a-ein

didāin

prag-o-ein

pragōin

xaph-ein

xaphein

pso-a-ein

psoāin

ora-o-ein

oraōin

nga-ein

ngaein

root present stem dida prago xaph(e) psoa orō nga
root aorist stem dẽidhā prāxō xãusa psosā õisō ngasa
root perfect stem dedidō pepragū cexaphu pepsõu ẽurõu nengõ
to break to move to bathe to give,

to hand over

Verbs are conjugated for person, number, voice, mood, tense and aspect.

Person and number[]

Verbs are conjugated for person and number: Valannic recognizes a singular form, a dual and 2 plural forms, as well as a first person, a second person and third person animate and inanimate.

Below is the indicative active conjugation of the present tense of the verb xaphein.

Indicative active conjugation of xaphein - to bathe
person root: xaphe person root: xaphe
singular first xaphen i bathe plural 1 first xaphenner we bathe
second xaphet you bathe second xaphequer you bathe
third animate xaphē he/she bathes third animate xapher they bathe
third inanimate xaphel it bathes third inanimate xapheller they bathe
dual first xaphendet the two of us bathe plural 2 first xaphenneli we bathe
second xaphexet the two of you bathe second xaphequeli you bathe
third animate xapheit the two of them bathe third animate xapheli they bathe
third inanimate xapheldet the two of those bathe third inanimate xaphelleli they bathe
These conjugation forms are the same for all verbs

Not all of these forms are used regularly and are mostly 'book language'. Especially the dual form will only be used in relation to specifically paired items such as eyes, ears, or hands. Also a word like ruazis ('twins´) is conjugated with the dual form. The more common plural form is plural 1, which is an aspecific plural. It just refers to multiple items of the singular form, whereas the plural 2 refers to a specific group or earlier mentioned group. One could argue that this is a 'definite' form, but plural 1 can be definite as well. Valannic has no definite articles, so context mostly determines if definition is appropriate in translation.

Since conjugation of verbs is fairly regular, in further examples only the root will be given.

Tense and aspect[]

Then there's tense and aspect. Valannic has a present tense, a future and exact future tense, an imperfect tense, a perfect tense and a pluperfect tense. Furthermore there is the aorist aspect. The exact difference in aspect between imperfect, aorist and perfect is rather hard to make when taking a close look. In general one could state that imperfect refers to a state of being or an ongoing action in the past, the aorist more or less refers to single actions in the past (like a story-telling past (or present) would), and the perfect aspect refers to closed actions that took place in the past, that altered a state of being with an ongoing effect in the present. The aorist aspect kan also be translated as present tense, e.g. when talking about habitual actions or when something does not apply to a certain time aspect.

Present, imperfect and future tense are formed from the present tense root. Perfect, pluperfect and exact future tense are formed from the perfect tense root. Aorist has its own root.

The table below shows an overview of how the different tenses are built up.

Formation of tenses and aspect of the verb xaphein in indicative mood
tense augment reduplication stem th. vowel aspect suffix result translation remarks
present xaph e xaphe bathe/is bathing e behaves in this case like a thematic vowel
imperfect e xaph i exaphi bathed
future xaph eä* xapheä will bathe
aorist e xaph sa exãusa bathe/bathed xãusa is the contracted form of 'xaphsa'
perfect ce xaph u cexaphu has bathed
exact future ce xaph iss u cexaphissu will have bathed
pluperfect e ce xaph er u ecexapheru had bathed
*) diaeresis for clarity.

Voice[]

Valannic has three voices: the active, the medium, and the passive voice. All three voices are formed synthetic, without the use of auxillary verbs, exept for the passive perfect tense.

  • In the active voice, most verbs require a direct object and sometimes even an indirect object, i.e. they are mostly transitive verbs. These verbs are often - but not necessarily - expanded by the pronoun suffixes. Some common intransitive or inergative verbs however are also expressed in active mood, like phanein (to die).
  • The medium voice root is formed by adding -the after the active root. In the medium voice, the verbs expresses inergative or intransitive actions, which do not take (in)direct objects, like yabethein ('to sleep'), or sarwathein ('to work'). Sometimes medium is also used to express reflexive verbs: tastāin - 'to wash' -> tastathein - 'to wash one's self, in conjugation mostly, but not obligatory, augmented bij a reflexive pronoun incorporated in the verb: tastathenar aliëm ýssē - they wash themselves with cold water.
  • In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the one that underwent an action passively, instead of being the active agent. The passive voice is made in two ways:
  1. consonant stem verbs take -v after the active root, which leads to contraction of -av to- õ and of -ov to ū. This contraction is caused by the following passive voice suffix -i.
  2. vowel stem verbs take after the active root, followed by the passive voice suffix -i. When the preceding vowel is an a or e, contracts with that vowel to -ễ.
Root formation of the voices.
voice > active root medium root active root passive root
didāin dida + the didathe dida +v didav > didõ +i didõi
pragōin prago + the pragothe prago +v pragov > pragū +i pragūi
xaphein xaph(e) +the xaphethe xaph(e) +v xaphu +i xaphui
psoāin psoa +the psoathe psoa psoaê > psoễ +i psoễi
oraōin orō +the orōthe orō orōê +i orōêi
ngaein nga +the ngathe nga ngaê > ngễ +i ngễi

Mood[]

The last feature according to which verbs can conjugate is mood. There are 5 moods, which are represented in different tenses:

Root formation of the moods in active voice
Mood Present Future
root -a root -o athematic root root -a root -o athematic root
infinitive didāin psoāin pragōin oraōin xaphein ngaein didheäsein* psōiāsein** pragheōsein* orāiōsein** xapheäsein ngāiasein**
indicative dida psoa prago orō xaphe nga didheä psōiā pragheō orāiō xapheä ngāia
conjunctive didē psoē pragā orōē xapha ngẽ - - - - - -
optative didaime psoaime pragoime orōime xaphime ngaime didheäime psōiāime pragheōime orāiōme xapheäime ngāiaime
imperative didā! psoā! pragoa! orōē! xapha! ngā! - - - - - -
participium didāiān psoāiān pragōiān orōiān xapheiān ngaiān didheäsān psōiāsān pragheōsān orāiōsān xapheäsān ngāiasān
Aorist Perfect
root -a root -o athematic root root -a root -o athematic root
infinitive dẽidhāin psosāin prāxõin õisõin xãusāin ngasāin dedidōssain pepsõussain pepragūssain ẽurõussain cexaphussain nengõssain
indicative edẽidhā epsosā eprāxō eõisō exãusa engasa dedidō pepsõu pepragū ẽurõu cexaphu nengõ
conjunctive dẽidhē psosē prāxā õisā xãusē ngasē dedidōssa pepsõussa pepragūssa ẽurõussa cexaphussa nengõssa
optative dẽidhāima psosāima prāxōima õisōima xãusaima ngasaima dedidōima pepsõuima pepragūima ẽurõuima cexaphuima nengõima
imperative dẽidhē! psosē! prāxā! õisā! xãusē! ngasē dedidōssē! pepsõussē! pepragūssē! ẽurõussē! cexaphussē! nengõssē!
participium dẽidhāiōn psosāiōn prāxõiōn õisõiōn xãusāiōn ngasāiōn dedidōssōn pepsõussōn pepragūssōn ẽurõussōn cexaphussōn nengõssōn
* In the future tense, the infixed e causes plosive stem consonants to undergo lenition.

** in vowel stems, the future aspect marker contracts with the thematic vowel or with the stem vowel.

  • The infinitve mood simply describes the action that it expresses, without conjugations.
  • The indicative mood describes an action, possibly conjugated for all verb-related features, as a fact or objective point of view. It does not express any feeling or doubt the subject may have about that which is stated.
  • The conjunctive mood expresses certain points of view that the subject of the sentence may have, related to opinion, feeling, irrealistic situation or an indirect quotation. Also the conditional mood (if..., than...) uses the conjunctive.
  • The optative mood expresses a wish or hope that the subject of the sentence may have. It means anything like: 'I wish...', 'I hope...', or 'may he...' or 'if only...'.
  • The imperative mood expresses a command or assignment for the one spoken to. The present imperative is used for urgent or direct commands (as one would give a disobedient child or e.g. in the army), whereas the aorist imperative is used for more polite or less urgent ones (cf. 'keep off the grass'-like general orders, or used in prayers). An even more polite way of ordering someone to not do something, would be using the imperative of the verb quessāin - to not want, followed by an infinitive: quessā ýdāin! - please, don't do it!
  • The participium is the adjectival form of the infinitive, comparable to the English present participle 'walking' or 'sleeping'. These forms are also present in the future, aorist and perfect tense, each with different grammatical and idiomatic nuances.
Root formation of the moods in medium voice
Mood Present Future
root -a root -o athematic root root -a root -o athematic root
infinitive didathein psoathein pragothein oraothein xaphethein ngathein didheäthein psōiāthein pragheōthein orāiōthein xapheäthein ngāiathein
indicative didathe psoathe pragothe orōthe xaphethe ngathe didheäthe psōiāthe pragheōthe orāiōthe xapheäthe ngāiathe
conjunctive didatha psoatha pragotha orōtha xaphetha ngatha - - - - - -
optative didãithe psoãithe pragõithe orõithe xaphẽithe ngãithe didheãithe psōiãithe pragheõthe orāiõithe xapheãithe ngāiãithe
imperative didathē! psoathē! pragothē! orōthē! xaphethē! ngathē! - - - - - -
participium didathān psoathān pragothān oraothān xaphethān ngathān didheäthān psōiāthān pragheōthān orāiōthān xapheäthān ngāiathān
Aorist Perfect
root -a root -o athematic root root -a root -o athematic root
infinitive dẽidhāthāin psosāthāin prāxōthāin õisōthāin xãusathāin ngasathāin dedidōxain pepsõuxain pepragõuxain ẽurõuxain cexaphexain* nengaxain*
indicative edẽidhāthe epsosāthe eprāxōthe eõisōthe exãusathe engasathe dedidōtha pepsõutha pepragõutha ẽurõutha cexaphetha nengatha
conjunctive dẽidhātha psosātha prāxōtha õisōtha xãusatha ngasatha dedidōxa pepsõuxa pepragõuxa ẽurõuxa cexaphexa nengaxa
optative dẽidhãitha psosãitha prāxōitha õisõitha xãusãitha ngasãitha dedidõitha pepsõutha pepragõuitha ẽurõuitha cexaphẽitha nengẽitha
imperative dẽidhāthē! psosāthē! prāxōthē! õisōthē! xãusathē! ngasathē! dedidōxē! pepsõuxē! pepragõuxē! ẽurõuxē! cexaphexē! nengaxē!
participium dẽidhāthōn psosāthōn prāxōthōn õisōthōn xãusathōn ngasathōn dedidōxōn pepsõuxōn pepragõuxōn ẽurõuxōn cexaphexōn nengaxōn
*In medium voice. athematic root vowels are not conjugated with -u suffix in perfect tense.
Root formation of the moods in passive voice
Mood Present Future
root -a root-o athematic root root -a root -o athematic root
infinitive didavein psoễin pragovein orōêin xaphevein ngaêin didheäpsein# psōiễsein pragheõpsein orāioêsein xapheäpsein ngāiễsein
indicative didõi psoễi pragūi orōêi xaphui ngễi didheõi psōiễi pragheõui orāiõi xapheõi ngāiễi
conjunctive didōa psoễia pragūa orōêia xaphua ngễia - - - - - -
optative didõimi psoễimi pragūimi orōêimi xaphuimi ngễimi didheõimi psōiễimi pragheõuimi orāiõimi xapheõimi ngāiễimi
imperative didõi! psoễi! pragūi! orōêi! xaphui! ngễi! - - - - - -
participium didõiān psoễiān pragūiān orōêiān xaphūiān ngễiān didheõsān psōiễsān pragheõusān orāioêsān xapheõsān ngāiễsān
aorist perfect
root -a root -o athematic root root -a root -o athematic root
infinitive didhêthãin* psoêthãin praghêthõin orê̄thõin xãuthễin ngathễin edidōn ērōssain** epsõun ērōssain epragõun ērōssain eorõun ērōssain exaphun ērōssain engõn ērōssain
indicative edidhêthãi epsoêthãi epraghêthõi eorê̄thõi exãuthê̄i engathê̄i edidōn ērō epsõun ērō epragõun ērō eorõun ērō exaphun ērō engõn ērō
conjunctive didhêthãia psoêthãia praghêthõia orê̄thõia xãuthê̄ia ngathê̄ia edidōn ērā epsõun ērā epragõun ērā eorõun ērā exaphun ērā engõn ērā
optative didhêthãima psoêthãima praghêthõima orê̄thõima xãuthê̄ima ngathê̄ima edidōn ēima epsõun ēima epragõun ēima eorõun ēima exaphun ēima engõn ēima
imperative didhêthãiē! psoêthãiē! praghêthõiē! orê̄thõiē! xãuthê̄iē! ngathê̄iē! - - - - - -
participium didhêthãiōn psoêthãiōn praghêthõiōn orê̄thõiōn xãuthê̄iōn ngathê̄iōn edidōn(ā) epsõun(ā) epragõun(ā) eorõun(ā) exaphun(ā) engõn(ā)
#Passive future infinitive in consonant vowels is formed -psein . The v marker is changed from fricative to plosive /p/.

*For all thematic verbs, there is metathesis of the thê aorist aspect marker.

**Passive perfect is formed by the passive perfect particle and the congruent perfect form of arāin (- to become).

Pronouns[]

The pronouns are a means to describe the different persons or actors that may appear in a sentence in an independent manner, so without the use of a noun. They are also conjugated for all noun cases, though most overlap. Pronouns come in different forms. They can be personal pronouns, demonstrative, possessive, interrogative, reflexive. In Valannic, forms of the pronoun are also used to conjugate the verbs, making Valannic a ´prodrop´ language, and nominative personal pronouns practically obsolete.

In the below table the personal pronouns for each person are given. It includes the verb conjugation (See also the tables for verb conjugation in person and number).

Nom Gen/Dat Acc/Part Other Verb conjugation
single 1 nyo -nye- -nya- -nyi- -n
2 tyo -tye- -tya- -tyi- -t
3 eó/hyo (an) -ye- -ya- -yi- - (lengthened vowel)
3 lyo (inan) -lye- -lya- -lyi- -l
dual 1 ento -nde- -nda- -ndi- -ndet
2 exo -xe- -xa- -xi- -xet
3 esto (an) -ste- -sta- -sti- -it/-stet
3 elto (inan) -lde- -lda- -ldi- -ldet
plural 1 and 2 1 enno -nne- -nna- -nni- -nner/-nneli
2 equo -que- -qua- -qui- -quer/-queli
3 ero (an) -sse- -ssa- -ssi- -r/-li
3 ello (inan) -lle- -lla- -lli- -ller/-lleli

The nominative case - which is rarely used, mostly for emphasis - is an independent word. The other cases are used as markers that are integrated within the main conjugated verb of the sentence, or the one it applies to. These markers are placed just before the conjugation ending of the verb.

auvan - I wake up . auva-tya-n - I wake you up. hãuva-ssa-n - I woke them up..

laulor - They tell. laulo-que-r - They tell you. lelaulū-nye-r - They have told me.

lelaulūnyet man auvétyan - you have told me to wake you up.

Note that different verbs may take different cases.

The below table shows the other derived pronouns for possive, reflexive, and prepositional use:

possessive prepositional reflexive
single 1 -eny- nye/-a/-i nyona
2 -ety- tye/-a/-i tyona
3 -ey- (an) ye-/-a/-i yona
3 -ely- (inan) lye-/-a-/i lyona
dual 1 -end- ende-/-a/-i endona
2 -ex- exe/-a/-i exona
3 -est- (an) este/-a/-i estona
3 -eld- (inan) elde/-a/-i eldona
plural 1 and 2 1 -enn- enne/-a/-i ennona
2 -equ- eque-/-a/-i equona
3 -ess- (an) esse/-a/-i essona
3 -ell- (inan) elle/-a/-i ellona
  • The possesive pronoun is incorporated in the noun to which it refers, in a similar manner as the pronoun markers are in the verbs. It is attached after the last consonant of the stem of the noun, also in vowel-class words.

anyaras - the queen. anyar-enn-as - our queen.

orrýn - the horse. orrýn-eny-e - my horse. (the final -e is a vowel added to prevent illegal word ending).

  • The prepositional pronoun is used, when a preposition refers to a person or other actor previously introduced, which can not be describe by a noun. This form is placed before the preposition, congruent with the case the preposition takes. For instance, za taking the genitive case means 'of', whereas it means 'by' when the partitive case is used.

Yeza ō varya - The object is his. Calba yaza etastōn ērōn - The apple has been washed by him.

  • The reflexive pronoun is used when there is an emphasis on the fact that the action in the sentence is erformed by the subject itself.

Tyona ýdēt - you can do it yourself

Prepositions[]

Syntax[]

Numerals[]

Valannic has a duodecimal, positional numeral system, i.e. counting in base 12. The numbers 0 to twelve have seperate names, all other numbers are derived from these twelve numbers and symbols.

Numberssounds1

Cardinal numbers[]

Valannic Duodecimal Numeral system: Cardinal numbers
Duodecimal Position 1 (120) 2 (121) 3 (122)
Prefix numeral numeral numeral
rug-/run- 0 siëns 12 rūn a dozen 144 yũrrūn from: rug-rún-yar pl2 form
ne- 1 nene 13-23 -rūnen suffix 145 yũrrūn neni ne-ni = 'with one'
ru-/yu- 2 rua 24-35 yũnnis from: yu-rūnis ('two twelves') dual form 156 yũrrūn rūnni rūn-ni = 'with twelve'
thi- 3 thia 36-47 thrūnā from: thi-rūnā ('three twelves') pl1 form 157 yũrrūn nerūnen gross (and) thirteen
nal-/nau 4 nala 48-59 nōrūnā from: nau-rūnā 168 yũrrún yũnnis gross twenty
vī-/vid(h)- 5 vinta 60-71 vīdhrūnā 288 rua yũrrūnis two grosses
coi-/-cod(h)- 6 cotta 72-83 cõrrūn from: codh-rūn-yar ('six of the twelves') pl2 form 864 cogyũrrūnā six grosses
tyā-/tyad(h)- 7 tyatta 84-95 tyãrrūnā from: tyadh-rūnā 4 (123)
cin-/cib(h)- 8 cimma 96-107 cibhrūnā Numeral
den-/deb(h)- 9 demma 108-119 debhrūnā 1728 harma twelve grosses (great gross)
gan-/gab(h)- 10 gana 120-131 gõrrūnā from: gabh-rūnā 3456 ruarmēs two great grosses (dual form)
lui-/lug- 11 lugna 132-143 lũrrūnā from: lug-rūnā 5184 thiarmar three great grosses (pl1 form)


The numbers between 12 and 144 are composite. They are formed by adding the given prefixes for the numbers 1-11 to the numerals. So 13 is nerūnen', 14 is yurūnen, etc. 25 is neyũnnis, etc, up to 144. After 144, yũrrūn, the numerals are separated words. The use of names for the numbers 1-12 is used only for these specific numbers, only prefixes are used henceforth. In certain places a construction with -ni ('with') is used:

  • cõrrūn neni - half a gross with one - 73
  • cõrrūn runi - half a gross with two - 74
  • yũrrūn neni - a gross with one - 145
  • yũrrūn rūnni - a gross with twelve - 156
  • rua yũrrūnis neni - two grosses with one - 289
  • harma neni - A great gross with one - 1729

In general, after every new step in extra duodecimal places and its 'whole' derivatives like two grosses, three grosses, etc. a construction with -ni is used, ánd in the case of cõrrūn. Second duodecimal place is a composite numeral, all other numerals are seperate words, according to the above mentioned rules, except for a few exceptions:

  • codhrūnyar - cõrrūn - 72 (half a gross)
  • rugrūnyar - yũrrūn - 144 (a gross, 122)
  • cogyūrrūnā - 864 (six grosses)
  • harma - 1728 ( a great gross, 123)
  • ruarmēs - 3456 (two great grosses)
  • thiarmar - 5184 (three great grosses)
  • codharmar - 10368 (six great grosses)
  • rugharmar - rughãm - 20736 (twelve great grosses, 124)

The number 0, siëns, is a number apart, and is not referred to in further formation of the numerals.

Some examples:

  • 100 - nalcibhrūnā (= duodecimal 84)
  • 180 - yũrrūn thrūnā ( = duodecimal 130)
  • 360 - rua yũrrūnis cõrrūn ( = duodecimal 260)
  • 365 - rua yũrrūnis cõrrūn vīni (= the regular number of days in a Valannic year)
  • 1000 - cogyũrrūnā naulũrrūnā ( = duodecimal 6↋4)
  • 1982 - harma yũrrūn rudebhrūnā ( = duodecimal 1192)
  • 2022 - harma rua yũrrūnis coini ( = duodecimal 1206)
  • 4350 - ruarmēs cogyũrrūnā cogyũnnis ( = duodecimal 2626)
  • 5040 - ruarmēs lũrrūnā ( = duodecimal 2↋00)

Use of numerals[]

The numerals 'count' how many persons/objects of a certain noun there are. For nene ('one') the noun is given in singular form. When the noun is in singular partitive case, it means 'a, a single one'. With rua ('two'), the dual number is used. When the noun is in dual partitive case, it means 'a pair of'.

  • Nene illos - One man
  • Nene illoa - A single man
  • Rua mittois - Two children
  • Rua hēmpa - A pair of eyes

Plural 1 (and plural 2 in some cases) is used with numerals higher than two. For rūn, and for the numerals that use the -ni construction mentioned above, the noun is in plural 1 partitive case.

  • Thia mittor - Three children
  • Rūn yorta - Twelve eggs ('a dozen of eggs)
  • nalyũnnis cālar - Twenty eight years ( A period of special meaning in a person's life. A life is divided in periods of 28 years, referring to youth - adulthood - venerable age - old age)
  • Harma encýreta - 1728 soldiers (a great gross of soldiers, a military unit called a harmaggýrd)

For siëns ('zero, nought'), the plural 1 partitive case is used for countable nouns. For non-countable words the partitive case singular is used. Sometimes it can be a way of expressing 'no, none'. The word siën itself means 'empty, barren'.

  • siëns rebha - no grain, no bread
  • siëns rebheta - no loaves of bread

Inflection of numerals[]

Yes, to fully fulfill their grammatical function, even numerals are inflected in all cases. The cardinal numerals are inflected according to the A/E-class noun declensions. If a numeral consists of more than one word, all words are conjugated accordingly.

Declension of numerals
nene (1) rua (2) rūn (12) nerūnen (13) yũnnis (24) thrūnā (36) yũrrūn (144) thia yũrrūnā (432) harma (1728) rughãm (20736)
nominative nene rua rūn nerūnen yũnnis thrūnā yũrrūn thia yũrrūnā harma rughãm
partitive neneä ruā rūna nerūnna yũnneta thrūneta yũrrūna thiā yũrrūneta harmā rughãma
accusative nenen ruan rūn nerūnen yũnnin thrūnā yũrrūn thian yũrrūnā harman rughãm
genitive nenū ruō rūnū nerūnnū yũnnetū thrūnerun yũrrūnū thiō yũrrūnerun harmō rughãmū
dative nenē ruē rūni nerūnni yũnneti thrūnerin yũrrūni thiē yũrrūnerin harmē rughãmi
instrumental nenem ruam rūnem nerūnnem yũnnẽm thrūnenen yũrrūnem thiam yũrrūnenen harmam rughãmem
locative nenūa rwōa rūnua nerūnnua yũnnuta thrūnuinen yũrrūnua thiōa yũrrūnuinen harmōa rughãmua
allative nenūnna rwōnna rūnunna nerūnnunna yũnnũnna thrūnuinna yũrrūnunna thiōnna yũrrūnuinna harmōnna rughãmunna
ablative nenūssa rwōssa rūnussa nerūnnussa yũnnũssa thrūnuissa yũrrūnussa thiōssa yũrrūnuissa harmōssa rughãmussa
essive nenema ruama rūmma nerūnnema yũnnẽma thrūnema yũrrūmma thiama yũrrūnema harmama rughãmma
comitative neneni ruani rūnni nerūnneni yũnnẽni thrūneni yũrrūnni thiani yũrrūneni harmani rughãmmi
*note that rua and nerūnen (13) still use the singular case. Yũnnis and derivatives use dual number. It is only after thrūnā and beyond that plural 1-inflection is used, except for the 'new'numerals like yũrrūn, harma and rughãm

The numerals inflect with the nouns according to the case. For those numerals that take the partitive case by default, the noun keeps the partitive case and only the numerals are inflected.

  • Thian illolain eiman - I see the three men.
  • Cirbeyon carā nenem suedem - He carries his sword with one hand.
  • Ruē cōnā hēmpetya elelden - I am in love with your friendly eyes.

Ordinal numbers and fractions[]

Ordinal numerals and fractions are derived from the cardinal numerals. Both behave as adjectives, even though they can also be used as independent nouns. For inflection, see the corresponding table of adjectives

Valannic Duodecimal Numeral system: Ordinal numbers and fractions
Ordinal numerals Fractions
1st tēla first 13th nerūndra thirteenth 1/1 tēlqua a whole 1/13 nerūnqua a thirteenth
2nd pharma second 14th yurūndra fourteenth 1/2 pharqua a half 1/14 yurūnqua a fourteenth
3rd thirma third 24th yũnnembra twenty fourth 1/3 thirqua a third 1/24 yũnnelqua a twenty fourth
4th naura fourth 36th thrūnembra thirty sixth 1/4 nalqua a fourth, a quarter 1/36 thrūnelqua a thirty sixth
5th vidhra fifth 48th nōrūnembra forty eighth 1/5 vīlqua a fifth 1/48 nōrūnelqua a forty eighty
6th codhra sixth 60th vidhrūnembra sixtieth 1/6 cōlqua a sixth 1/60 vidhrūnelqua a sixtieth
7th tyadhra seventh 72nd cõrrūndra seventy second 1/7 tyālqua a seventh 1/72 cõrrūnqua a seventy second
8th cibhra eighth 84th tyãrrūnembra eighty fourth 1/8 cinqua an eighth 1/84 tyãrrūnelqua a eighty fourth
9th debhra ninth 1/9 denqua a ninth
10th gabhra tenth 144th yũrrūndra hundred and forty fourth 1/10 ganqua a tenth 1/144 yũrrūnqua a hundred and forty fourth
11th lughra eleventh 1728th harmambra 1/11 lūlqua an eleventh 1/1782 harmalqua
12th rūdhra twelfth 20736th rughãmbra 1/12 rūnqua a twelfth 1/20736 rughãmelqua


When a number is written with more than one word, only the first term of both the ordinal numbers and the fractions is put in the above form, the rest follow in their normal form.

  • yũrrūndra nōrūnen - hundred and sixtieth (160th)
  • yũrrūnqua nōrūnen - a hundred and sixtieth (1/160).

Lexicon[]

Valannic Lexicon periodically updated

Example text[]

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