Paatherye - The language of the Elves

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Iyionaku
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Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

I finally decided to post on my language Paatherye, the language of the Elves, analoguous to Bath'aso from the same conworld (although that one is eventually abandoned in fact). A few design principles:

1. Pseudo-Indo-European (very similar to PIE languages in terms of vocab and grammar, but there are no regular sound changes)
2. Focus on a nice sound
3. Strongly morphological inflection, including ablaut, infixes, stem changes and anlaut mutations
4. Matriarchalic sprachbau, i.e. the primary form is always the feminine one, the masculine one is marked

Phonetics/Phonology

This section deals with the phonetics of Paatherye.

Consonant inventory

Nothing too special in here, except maybe for the labialized bilabial approximant /ʋʷ/ that opposes /w/ but is realized as [v] word initial. The romanization is in brackets (native script coming later on)

/p pʰ t tʰ k kʰ/ <p ph t th k kh>
/t͡s d͡ʒ/ <c j>
/f ð s ʒ ɣ h/ <f d/dh s ș g/gh h>
/m n/ <m n>
/ʋʷ w j/ <v w y>
/r l/ <r l>

Vowel inventory

Paatherye distinguishes only four different vowels: /a e i u/, as well as two diphtongs: /ai̯ ei̯/. Vowel length is a distinctive feature.

/a aː/ <a ā>
/e eː i iː/ <e ē i ī>
/u uː/ <u ū>
/ai̯ aːi̯ ei̯ eːi/ <ay āy ey ēy>

Phonotactics

The maximum syllable structure is (C)(C)V(N). The coda consonant can only be one of /l m n r s/, and /s/ can only occur after /a/ and /e/. If the vowel changes due to ablaut, the consonant changes too: It becomes /r/ (Rhotacism)

Example: ma khēlir (the money, nominative), but mā khēlisan (the money, accusative): The inherent /s/ was changed to [r] in the nominative form, where it is the anlaut of the subsequent syllable in the accusative form.

Only the first syllable of a word can have two anlaut consonants. Word-intern, only one consonant is allowed, so there are anlaut mutations occuring if, for example, a word starts with a prefix. Example:

twan (big) -> stāwen (biggest) | Dissimilation of /tw/ to /w/.

A complete list of all possible two-consonant anlauts can be found behind the spoilers.
Spoiler:
tr -> r
dhr -> r
hr -> r
pr -> r
fr -> r
pw -> w
tw -> w
kw -> w
kv -> v
st -> s
șt -> ș
ts -> dh
tș -> ș
sl -> l
ty -> y
ky -> y
Hiatus is generally allowed.

Native alphabet

Paatherye uses a slightly modified version of the Devanagari alphabet with 39 letters. It is an abugida, i.e. every consonant has an inherent vowel /a/ that can be modified accordingly. What's special about that writing system is that /m n r l s/ have alternative forms when they occur in coda, hence it is always clear which consonant serves as anlaut, and which as coda. If a word starts with a vowel, a "dummy consonant" is used: श doesn't bear any phonetic value. Similar to most Indic scripts, the alphabet is sorted after place of articulation, with the vowels coming first, then back consonant to the front, suborded from "hard" consonants to "soft" consonants. Early Elvish writers didn't have exact knowledge of the places of articulation, so there are some "irregularities", as /h/ is placed at the front consonants, for examples. Last come the special coda forms of the consonants.

श शा शै शाग़ <a ā ay āy> [a aː ai̯ aːi̯]
शे शो शौ शौग़ <e ē ey ēy> [e eː ei̯ eːi̯]
शि शी शु शू <i ī u ū> [i iː u uː]

ख क घ ग व <kha ka gha ga wa> [kʰa ka ɣa ɣa wa]
ज ष य न ल <ja șa ya na la> [d͡ʒa ʒa ja na la]
ठ त च ड़ ध द​ <tha ta ca ra dha da> [tʰa ta t͡sa ra ða ða]
फ प फ़ व्व म ह <pha pa fa va ma ha> [pʰa pa fa ʋʷa ma ha]

शं श़ शर शऌ शज़ <am an ar al as> [am an ar al as]

Note that the distinction between घ and ग (gh/g) as well as between ध and द (dh/d) is purely etymological and doesn't bear any phonetic value.

Next: Phonotactics, Prosody and Stress.
Last edited by Iyionaku on 15 Aug 2017 08:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Nachtuil »

Hurrah! An elven language with aspirated consonants, no palatal fricative and no front rounded vowels!
Iyionaku wrote: /ʋʷ/
Wait what? Geebus (wo)man :p
(Edit: I just to stress my inability to contrast /ʋʷ/ with both /ʋ/ AND /w/ doesn't mean you shouldn't totally do it!)

I quite like the fricative selection.

I like the writing system. I am not familiar enough with Devanagari to know what you've changed but I think it is great. Having alternative forms, which seem quite useful orthographically for reading, and the dummy consonant thing are nice touches.

I think it is interesting to see the feminine form be the standard form. Does your language have grammatical gender?
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Creyeditor »

Nice, the euphonic-as-a-goal looks similar to my elve-conlang Mamambam. Maybe I am going to post something about it sometime [:)]
I am looking forward to seeing more.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Frislander »

Iyionaku wrote:Also I'm kind of uncertain whether having a voicing distinction in affricates when there isn;t one in stops is properly attested.
Actually, you can ignore this, I've just found an Arawakan and a Tucanoan language which have this.
Last edited by Frislander on 16 Aug 2017 21:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Nachtuil wrote:Wait what? Geebus (wo)man :p
(Edit: I just to stress my inability to contrast /ʋʷ/ with both /ʋ/ AND /w/ doesn't mean you shouldn't totally do it!)
Frislander wrote:Nothing too special, you say? How about the mismatches of the place of articulation of the fricatives and affricates? Also how do you distinguish /ʋʷ w/? That seems a strange distinction in a language with an otherwise normal-sixed inventory. Other than that I do kind of like this. Maybe /v~ʋ d͡z z/ instead of /ʋʷ d͡ʒ ʒ/? Also I'm kind of uncertain whether having a voicing distinction in affricates when there isn;t one in stops is properly attested.
Alright, adjusted the phonology:

/t͡s t͡ʃ/ <c j>
/f θ s ʒ ɣ h/ <f d/dh s ș g/gh h>
/m n/ <m n>
/v w j/ <v w y>

Prosody and Stress

Paatherye doesn't count syllables, but morae. Syllables are hence divided into three groups:

"Star syllables" (1 mora) - all syllables ending in a short vowel -a, -e, -i or -u;
"Moon syllables" (2 morae) - all syllables ending in a long vowel -ā, -ē, -ī, -ū, a short diphtong -ay, -ey or a short vowel plus consonant -aC, -eC, -iC or -uC; note that if possible, a coda consonant always counts for the next syllable.
"Sun syllables" (3 morae) - all syllables ending in a long vowel + coda consonant -āC, -ēC, -īC, -ūC or a long diphtong -āy, -ēy.

The main stress of a word always lays on the antepenultimate mora. That means, if the last two syllables of a word are star syllables (1 mora), the stress is on the antepenultimate one.

Examples: घदमे ghadame [ˈɣaθame], चाषने cāșane [ˈt͡saːʃane], ठूवड़ि thūwari [ˈtʰuː.ari], त्षूरवरि tșūrwari [ˈtʃuːɾwari]

If the last syllable of a word is a sun syllable (3 morae), it bears the main stress.

षयी़ șayīn [ʃa.ˈiːn], किखॄ kikhūn [kiˈkʰuːn], क्य़खोऌ kyankhēl [kjanˈkʰeːl]

In all other cases (which is also the usual one), the stress is on the penultimate syllable.

शोड़ूफिं ēgūphim [eːˈɣuːpʰim], मेमोत​ memēta [meˈmeːta], शैपरय़ ayparjan [ai̯ˈpaɾjan], वेषं weșam [ˈweʃam]

This rule is thorough, i.e. inflected forms of a word also shift stress, if necessary.

स्तीलुर stīlur [ˈstiːluɾ] (writing system) -> स्तीलुड़ी stīlurī [stiːˈluriː] (writing systems)

There are three other important rules regarding the morae:

1. "The balance of power": A sun syllable must be followed by a star syllable mandatorily. If this is not possible, the first syllable is shortened to a moon syllable.
2. "The root of the word": A word with at least three syllables needs to have at least one star syllable. If this is not possible, the last syllable is shortened.
3. "The weak younger brother": If an inflected form is formed via reduplication (occurs for some duals and imperatives), the first syllable is always reduplicated, but the first of the both has to be reduced to a star syllable.

"Shortening" refers to a process where a syllable loses morae in order to fulfill those rules. At first, coda consonants are elided, at second, a long vowel will be shortened.

Examples:

व्वार vār [vaːɾ] (green.NOM) -> *vārmer -> व्वरमेर varmer [ˈvaɾmeɾ] (green.DAT)
प्रोच​ prēca [ˈpreːt͡sa] (arm): The dual is formed reduplicatively.
*prēprēca -> *prērēca [Anlaut mutation: pr -> r]
*prērēca -> प्रेड़ोच​ prerēca [preˈreːt͡sa] [Shortening due to reduplication: ē -> e]

The phonological rules and patters may not appear easy, but students of Paatherye get used to them relatively soon. They have to, anyway: Deep understanding of Elvish's inflection can hardly be obtained without regarding those three rules (four, if you count the anlaut mutations, which classical Elvish grammarists didn't).
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Iyionaku
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Word formation

There are seven main types to create new words or inflected forms of words in Paatherye.

1. Concatenation: You can just combine two lexemes (mostly two nouns) to create a new lexeme with a combined (or sometimes new) meaning. Sometimes, short vowels between them are altered or dissimilated.
शापेऌ āpel (apple) + पेरषु perșu (tree) -> शापेऌपेरषु āpelperșu (apple tree)
वाड़​ wāra (weapon) + खोरत​ khērta (place, meeting spot) --> वाड़िखोरत​ wārikhērta (weapon room)

2. Agglutination: Adding of prefixes and suffixes to a word stem.
कासेमे kāseme (to do) + Prefix फू- phū- -> फूकासेमे phūkāseme (to prefer)

3. Reduplication: Some irregular plurals as well as imperatives are formed with partial reduplication. Classical Elfish grammar does not distinguish between partial reduplication of the stem syllable and reduplication of a theme consonant (as done in the imperative).

ड़ा़य​ rānya (hand) --> ड़ड़ा़ज़​ rarānya (hands)
खामज़ khāmes (You lead, you guide) --> खा़कमेज़ ! Khānkames! (Lead!)

4. Ablaut: Many substantives, verbs and adjectives use ablaut for word formation. In that case, only the stem vowel is altered, sometimes combined with other formation types. Examples:

मानु mānu (boy) --> मैनु maynu (boys)
व्वीड़ज़ vīras (man) --> व्विड़ज़ viras (men)
Spoiler:
There are 14 ablaut patterns and certain exeptions:

I ā -> ay -> ī -> i
II a -> e -> e -> i, rare a -> ey -> e -> i
III āC -> aC -> eC -> uC
IV aC -> eC -> uC -> uC
V ay -> ī -> i -> u or ay -> ā -> ī -> ū
VI ē -> ī -> i -> i
VII e -> i -> i -> i
VIII ēC -> eC -> eC -> uC
IX eC -> iC -> uC -> uC
X ey -> ē -> ī -> i
XI ī -> i -> i -> i
XII i -> ay -> i -> i
XIII īm -> ēm -> em -> um
XIV ū -> u -> i -> i

Words with a simple short /u/ in the stem never form ablaut.
5. Subtraction: One part of the stem is elided. This is very rare and only occurs for a few very common nouns.

ठान​ thāna (star) --> ठा thā (stars)

6. Infigation: An infix is put between the anlaut and the first vowel. This is used to form certain moods and also for some derivational affixes.

षवेऌ șawel (sun) + Causative -ज़- -jan- --> षज़वेऌ șajanwel (sign, symbol)
पेरदुमेज़ perdumes (you sleep) + Optative infix -शै- ay --> पयेरदुमेज़ payerdumes (I wish you would sleep)

7. Suppletion: Some forms of a few irregular nouns, verbs, pronouns and adjectives are formed by means of new stems. See for the verb शोयेमे ēyeme (to have):

यज़ (ēku) yas - I have
शो (ūpayn) ē - They have
शौमै (ēku) eymay - I will have
शीनज़ (ēku) īnas - I had
हव्वज़ (ēku) havas - I would have
Last edited by Iyionaku on 24 Aug 2017 07:51, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Nouns

Nouns have either feminine or masculine gender, have both definite and indefinite articles and inflect for eight cases (Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Allative, Ablative, Locative and Vocative) and three numbers (Singular, Plural, Collective).

Number

The unmarked form of nouns is the Singular. The plural is so complex that the plural forms of each noun have to be learnt by heart. In contrast, the rules of forming the collective are easier as all collective plurals are formed with either the suffix -ती -tī (after a or ā), -नी -nī (after all other vowels) or ी (after consonants.) There are several different formations of the plural:

1. Regular plural suffix

Nouns of this class just obtain a regular plural suffix. It's ं -m if the last syllable is a star syllable (1 mora). Note that the weight of the last syllable shifts in the plural form, so the stress can change. In collective plural, any of those suffixes are elided.

म गठ​ ma gatha (the cat) --> फ़ि गठं fi gatham (the cats) --> गठती gathatī (all cats)
मे षेकेलु me șekelu [ˈʃekelu] (the wheel) --> फ़ि षेकेलुं fi șekelum [ʃeˈkelum] (the wheels) --> षेकेलुनी șekelunī [ʃekeˈluniː] - all wheels

Words ending on a moon syllable (2 morae) get either -व्वि -vi if the last vowel was /a/ or /e/, or -मु -mu if the last vowel was /i/ or /u/. Sometimes an auslaut -m, -n or -l is elided, hence the weight of the word stays identical.

म प्या ma pyā (the leaf) --> फ़ि प्याव्वि fi pyāvi (the leaves) --> प्याती pyātī (all leaves)
मे हामिर me hāmir (the half) --> फ़ि हामिरमु fi hāmirmu (the halves) --> हामिड़ी hāmirī (all halves)

Words ending on a sun syllable (3 morea) get either -ि -ior ु -u, following the same vowel rules as before.

म ठो़ ma thēn (the tooth) --> फ़ि ठोनि fi thēni (the teeth) --> ठोनी thēnī (all teeth)

2. Replacement of final syllable

Some nouns replace a final syllable -en, -el, -ne with -am or a final syllable -em or -um with -ey, respectively. Not all nouns with those final syllables follow this pattern, though. The collective again is appended to the singular endings.

मे गठे़ me gathen (tomcat) --> गठं gatham (tomcats) --> गठोनी gathenī (all tomcats)
मे खिकुं me khikum (bird) --> फ़ि खिकौ fi khikey (birds) --> खिकुमी khikumī (all birds)

3. Reduplication

Some nouns (mainly some that appear pair-wise) form their plural with reduplication of the first syllable (see previous posts).

म ध्रीप​ ma dhrīpa (the shoe) --> फ़ि ध्रिड़ीप​ fi dhrirīpa (shoes) --> ध्रीपती dhrīpatī (all shoes)
म नूष​ ma nūșa (the ear) --> फ़ि नुनूष​ fi nunūșa (ears) --> नूषती nūșatī (all shoes)

4. Ablaut

Many nouns of the core vocabulary form their plural solely by ablaut. Some others combine ablaut with other forms of plural formation. In collective, the stem vowel is shifted another station (III. ablaut step)

म चना ma canā (the woman) --> फ़ि चौना fi ceynā (the women) --> चेनाती cenātī (all women)
मे फूड़ु me phūru (the child) --> फ़ि फुड़ुं fi phurum (the children) --> फिड़ुनी phirunī (all children)
म यरनज़ ma yarnas (the horse) --> फ़ि येरनव्वि fi yernavi (the horses) --> युरनसी yurnasī (all horses)

5. Subtraction


Only a few core nouns use stem substraction to form their plural. In collective, the plural stem is the basis for the collective suffix.

मे फ़ीगेज़ me fīges (the fish) --> फ़ि फ़ी fi fī (fish) --> फ़ीनी fīnī (all fish)
म त्रायु ma trāyu (magic) --> फ़ि त्रा fi trā (lots of magic) --> त्राती trātī (all magic)

As those rules are so subtle, it is recommended to students of Elfish to learn the Plural forms.

Next: How to determine the gender of a noun and cases.
Last edited by Iyionaku on 24 Aug 2017 07:53, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Salmoneus »

I don't understand the role of Devanagari. It surely can't "really" be the native script of the elves, because clearly a non-human species evolving on an entirely different world isn't - without you having specified it - going to just hop through a portal, copy the script of an Indian language and then hop back again. But it's also not the language of presentation, because we don't know Devanagari (most of us) and you provide a proper romanisation anyway. So... what's the Devanagari doing there?


Frislander: I don't think "attestation" is relevent anyway, given that these are non-humans speaking a non-human language. You'd expect it to be at least a little odd!
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Lambuzhao »

Salmoneus wrote:I don't understand the role of Devanagari. It surely can't "really" be the native script of the elves, because clearly a non-human species evolving on an entirely different world isn't - without you having specified it - going to just hop through a portal, copy the script of an Indian language and then hop back again. But it's also not the language of presentation, because we don't know Devanagari (most of us) and you provide a proper romanisation anyway. So... what's the Devanagari doing there?
A wise old Paathareyan said it best:

खड़संता जूदैण, नेड़ दुदूमेज़ ष थि ना जयंफिसेमे फासुड़दूण.
Kharsamtā jūdayn, ner dudūmes șa thi nā jayamphiseme phāsurdūn.


[<3] [:3]

@ Iyionaku:

Another wise Paatheryan (or maybe the same one) reminds us:

ओयहेज़ मि फैसुड़दण ऊति देया हीरियु!
Ēyahes mi phaysurdan ūti deyā hīriyu!


:!:
Iyionaku
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Salmoneus wrote:I don't understand the role of Devanagari. It surely can't "really" be the native script of the elves, because clearly a non-human species evolving on an entirely different world isn't - without you having specified it - going to just hop through a portal, copy the script of an Indian language and then hop back again. But it's also not the language of presentation, because we don't know Devanagari (most of us) and you provide a proper romanisation anyway. So... what's the Devanagari doing there?

Frislander: I don't think "attestation" is relevent anyway, given that these are non-humans speaking a non-human language. You'd expect it to be at least a little odd!
Devanagari is basically the placeholder for a native script that works and looks similarly. Now, if I had any talent in art, I'd create a unique script. I can't, but I always intended to let there be one. It's basically a nice workaround. Don't let it bother you too much! [:)]
Lambuzhao wrote:ओयहेज़ मि फैसुड़दण ऊति देया हीरियु!
Ēyahes mi phaysurdan ūti deyā hīriyu!
शोकु शोयज़ हे चोनि! कुलंता, खीड़िष​!
Ēku ēyas he cēni! Kulamtā, khīrișa!

1SG.NOM believe.1SG PART DEM.DIST.MASC.ALL | thanks, friend.VOC
I believe in it! Thank you, friend! [:)]
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Gender

There are two genders in Paatherye: Feminine and masculine (or sometimes referred to as feminine vs. non-feminine). The definite article in the nominative is म ​ma and मे me, respectively. Which gender a noun has is partially phonetically-based.

Most nouns ending in -a or -u are feminine. Examples:

म ता़य​ ma tānya - happening, occurence
म पोग​ ma pēga - fear
म पोरक​ ma pērka - question
म मी़तु ma mīntu - market

However, this is not a solid rule: There are some exceptions:

मि व्विड़ाह​ me virāha - element
मे पूयु me pūyu - autumn
मे षेकेलु me șekelu - wheel

Most nouns ending in -i, -n or -ne are masculine. Examples:

मे ड़ुति me ruti - grain
मे लूनि me lūni - moon
मे त्रीमि me trīmi - moon
मे त़ड़ि़ me tanrin - mercenary
मे पोग़ me pēgan - peak
मे क्रेज़पॢ me krespun - steel

However, many animals and persons ending in -i are feminine.

म मूड़नि ma mūrani - master

Also, there are exceptions:

म षंति ma șamti - harmony, unity
म कूषि ma kūși - bird

All other endings are not determinable. Overall, it's valid to say that it's easier to learn the genders of the noun by heart.
Last edited by Iyionaku on 23 Aug 2017 10:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Nachtuil »

I like that there are exceptions.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Inkcube-Revolver »

Though the vocab has words from Indo-European langs (don't know if they're placeholders like the script or if you sum those up as coincidence), I really like the sound of Paartherye and its phonotactics and morphology! The manner in which the morae behave is something I've wanted in a conlang of my own, though I've yet to do enough research on morae in general. It's also nice on the ears, and isn't derivative of Tolkien's langs! (always a breath of fresh air)
I like my languages how I like my women: grammatically complex with various moods and tenses, a thin line between nouns and verbs, and dozens upon dozens of possible conjugations for every single verb.
Iyionaku
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Inkcube-Revolver wrote:Though the vocab has words from Indo-European langs (don't know if they're placeholders like the script or if you sum those up as coincidence), I really like the sound of Paartherye and its phonotactics and morphology!
Thank you! The vocabulary (as well as parts of the grammar) are neither placeholders nor coincidence. In fact, a huge part of the vocabulary is PIE and this is on purpose. In the conhistory (that I didn't do, but the friend of mine who created that conworld), the Elves were originally humans so it kinda made sense that they spoke a language remotely similar to the storyteller language. (= German, or English)

Case - Brief overview at end of post!

There are eight cases in Paatherye:

Nominative, marking the agent as well as a subject complement;
Genitive, marks a possessor;
Dative, marks an indirect object, like a benefactor or recipient;
Accusative, marks the patient of a transitive sentence;
Allative, marks a movement towards something;
Ablative, marks a movement away from something;
Locative, marks a spatial position;
Vocative, functions as address form.

The PIE instrumental case is lost, the dative took over its functions.

Classical Elfish grammar distinguishes nine different conjugation classes:

1a. Feminine nouns, ending on star syllables;
1b. Feminine nouns, ending on moon syllables;
1c. Feminine nouns, ending on sun syllables;
2a. Masculine nouns, ending on star syllables;
2b. Masculine nouns, ending on moon syllables;
2c. Masculine nouns, ending on sun syllables.
3a. Nouns in Plural, ending on star syllables;
3b. Nouns in Plural, ending on plural suffixes;
3c. Nouns in Plural, ending on moon syllables that are not plural suffixes;
4. Nouns in Collective.
Edit: If you don't want to read everything: The conjugation patterns are collected in a nice tl;dr excel sheet you can see at the end of the file.
Another general rule is that nouns forming ablaut always have their Genitive, Allative and Ablative have their stem vowel in the II. step, and vocative in the III. step. In Plural, everything is shifted one more step. Some endings are not triggered for ablaut nouns. Furthermore, there are several exceptional forms that are not part of this examination. The following section shows the main conjugation classes, leaving aside exceptions for convenience.

Class 1a
Spoiler:
Weak noun: mīntu (market)

ma mīntu [unmarked]
may mīnt-i
mam mint-ur
ma mīnt-an
mes mint-es
may mintu-r
mu mīntu-ye
mīnt-așa!

Note that the stem vowel shift in Dative, Allative and Ablative (ī -> i) is not a result of ablaut, but of Shortening. This is due to the rule "The Balance of Power" (see above).

Strong noun: plēna (skin, VI. ablaut pattern)

ma plēna
may plīn-e [Ablaut!]
mam plēn-ur
mā plēn-an
mes plīn-es [Ablaut!]
may plīna-r [Ablaut!]
mu plēna-yu
Plin-așa! [Even more ablaut!]

There are a few irregularities:

1. If the noun ends on -i, the genitive ending is -e.
2. If the anlaut of the last syllable is r, the entire last syllable is replaced by -ri in ablative case.
3. If the anlaut of the last syllable is y, the entire last syllable is replaced by -yu in locative case.
4. If the last syllable is -yu, the last syllable is replaced by -ye in locative case.
Class 1b
Spoiler:
Example noun: canā (woman)

Note that canā is irregular as it follows a unique ablaut row a -> ey -> e -> i.

ma canā [Unmarked]
may ceynā-ti
mam canā-dur
mā canā-n
mes ceynā-yas
may ceynā-day
mu canā-yu
Cenā-șa!
Class 1c

For this class, genitive and allative case are syncretic, as well as dative, ablative and locative and also accusative and vocative. Hence a distinction can only be made with the article.
Spoiler:
Example noun: thēn (tooth) - entirely regular

ma thēn
may thēn-i
mam thēn-u
mā thēn-a
mes thēn-e
may thēn-u
mu thēn-u
Thēn-a!


Class 2a

The declination of masculine nouns is a little easier than the one of feminine nouns. Unlike feminine nouns that show distinctive endings for all cases most of the time, masculine nouns usually don't mark the accusative and show syncretism of genitive and dative (except for ablaut, which are formed the same way as feminine nouns, i.e. genitive, allative, ablative and vocative show ablaut). Furthermore, the endings of ablative and allative are derived from the locative case. Also note that the definite article is syncretic for allative, ablative and locative case.
Spoiler:
Example noun: pēre - feather

me pēre [unmarked]
mey pēr-u
mem pēr-u [distinctive definite article!]
mē pēr-e [marked with -e, syncretic for nouns ending on -e]
mi per-arfīn
mi pēr-arūn
mi per-ar
Per-ē!

There are two exceptions you can learn:

1. If the last consonant is -u, the genitive and dative suffix is -un.
2. If the noun has ablaut, the endings of ablative and locative are syncretic (-ar) and the allative case ending is -īn.

Demonstrated at the noun dhāmu (house); I. ablaut row

me dhāmu
mey dhaym-un
mem dhām-un [due to ablaut, genitive and dative are syncretic!]
mē dhām-e
mi dhaym-īn
mi dhaym-ar
mi dhām-ar
Dhim-ē!
Class 2b

Class 2b and 2c don't mark the accusative case except for the article.
Spoiler:
Example: praydhā - foot

me praydhā
mey praydhā-tur
mem praydhā-tur
mē praydhā
mi praydhā-dayn
mi praydhā-dūn
mi praydhā-dar
Praydhā-yē!

Example with ablaut: vīras - man; XI. ablaut row

me vīras
mey viras-un [similar endings as in class 2a now]
mem vīras-un
mē vīras
mi viras-dan
mi viras-dar
mi vīras-dar
Viyē! [Irregular vocative: regular ending is -yē]
Class 2c

In this class, the endings of ablative, allative and locative are syncretic (-a). As the articles are also syncretic, two particles are used to distinguish the cases: he (allative case) and șa (ablative case). They are put in front of the definite article. The particle also commence to be used after different declination classes, but this is generally shunned as substandard.
Spoiler:
Example noun: hīn - stone

me hīn
mey hīn-u
mem hīn-u
mē hīn
he mi hīn-a
șa mi hīn-a
mi hīn-a
Hīn-e!
Class 3a

In Plural, there is no distinction between the genders.
Spoiler:
Example noun is gūr - rabbit; the nominative plural is gūri

fi gūri [unmarked]
fay gūr-ay
fay gūr-ar
fē gūr-en
fes gūri-m
fa gūri-l
fu gūri-r
Gūri-șa!

An exception occurs for a few plural forms that only consist of one mora (i.e. plurals that were formed with substraction). In that case, the cases are formed with an extra syllable.

Example: phul (flower); plural is phu.

fi phu
fi phuw-ay [Fugen-w that doesn't bear a phonetic value]
fay phuw-ar
fē phuw-en
fes phuw-im
fa phuw-il
fu phuw-ir
Phu-șa!
Class 3b

That class consists of nouns that form their plural with one of the plural suffixes -m, -vi, -mu, -i, -u, -am or -ey. Those suffixes are normally elided during declination.
Spoiler:
Example noun: khūlum (ghost, spirit); XIV. ablaut row; plural is khuley

fi khuley [unmarked]
fay khil-ay
fay khul-ar
fē khul-en
fes khil-em
fa khil-al
fu khul-ur
Khil-ayșa!
Class 3c

This class consists of all plural forms that end on moon syllables but not on one of the named plural suffixes. There are no plural forms that end on sun syllables.
Spoiler:
Example noun: thāna (star); Plural is thā

fi thā
fay thā-day
fay thā-yun
fē thā-yan
fes thā-dem
fa thā-yal
fu thā-dur
Thā-yașa!
Class 4

The class for collective nouns is the easiest. There are no definite articles and no nominative case, and the suffixes are easily determinable. Ablaut occurs as usual (genitive, ablative and allative are in the IV. ablaut step)
Spoiler:
Example noun: perșu - tree; IX. ablaut row; plural pirșu; collective purșunī

In that ablaut row (eC -> iC -> uC -> uC), the III. and IV. ablaut step are identical so in collective it is not visible.

purșun-ī
purșun-ay
purșun-ū
purșun-ē
purșun-āfi
purșun-āyun
purșun-ā
Overview

The following table shows all the suffixes of all 10 ablaut rows. The symbol ε is used to indicate that the vowel following the stem is retained. The symbol Ø shows that there is no special case marking (zero morpheme).

Image
Last edited by Iyionaku on 24 Aug 2017 14:51, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Nachtuil »

Nice work. How free is the word order? I think if I had that many declensions I would probably shy away from nonconfigurationality or have a good deal more syncretism with endings but that is because I am lazy and not aiming for naturalism. I like what syncretism you do have and the endings seem nice. Will your articles/adjectives/"determiners" indicate case, gender, number as well?
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Ashtăr Balynestjăr »

I would have expected the forms of the plural definite article to be at least:


fay
fou
fəm
[ˈaʃt̪əɹ ˈbalɨˌnɛsʲtʲəɹ]
Nachtuil
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Nachtuil »

Ashtâr Balînestyâr wrote:I would have expected the forms of the plural definite article to be at least:


fay
fou
fəm
[+1] [xD]
Iyionaku
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Iyionaku »

Nachtuil wrote:Nice work. How free is the word order? I think if I had that many declensions I would probably shy away from nonconfigurationality or have a good deal more syncretism with endings but that is because I am lazy and not aiming for naturalism. I like what syncretism you do have and the endings seem nice. Will your articles/adjectives/"determiners" indicate case, gender, number as well?
The word order is reasonably free, but some patterns are more fixed then others, i.e. the negation verb (see later) is always fronted. SVO is the most commonly used word order, but all other patterns are permitted as well.
I could have had a little more syncretism, that's right. I'm a little unsatisfied especially with the classes 2b and 3c; maybe I'll analogize them up a little. [:)]
Yes, articles, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns all have case and number as well, sometimes with syncretism.
Ashtâr Balînestyâr wrote:I would have expected the forms of the plural definite article to be at least:


fay
fou
fəm
I'm afraid I don't get the reference? [:$]
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by qwed117 »

Iyionaku wrote:
Ashtâr Balînestyâr wrote:I would have expected the forms of the plural definite article to be at least:


fay
fou
fəm
I'm afraid I don't get the reference? [:$]
Fi fay fou fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman.
At least, I'd take it to be a Jack in the Beanstalk reference
Spoiler:
My minicity is [http://zyphrazia.myminicity.com/xml]Zyphrazia and [http://novland.myminicity.com/xml]Novland.

Minicity has fallen :(
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Nachtuil
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Re: Paatherye - The language of the Elves

Post by Nachtuil »

It is a phrase used by a giant or ogre I believe but sometimes those count as elves I guess. I wouldn't worry about it too much :)
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