Nereifa

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Ebon
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Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

Nereifa is the main language spoken in an island country bordering the Elendelean Bay. It's part of the Elendeli language family, which in turn is part of the Proto North family.

Phonology:

/p b t d k g/ <p b t d k g>
/m n ŋ/ <m n ŋ>
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ/ <f v th dh s z sh zh>
/ɾ l j ʋ/ <r l y w>

/i iː ɪ u uː/ <i ii i u uu>
/e eː ɛ o oː ɔ/ <e ee e o oo o>
/a aː/ <a aa>
/æ/ <ae>

Vowels, nasals, fricatives and l can be long or short; long versions are geminated. e/ɛ and o/ɔ are allophones, but I haven't quite nailed down which is used when.

i/ɪ and æ/aɛ are in free variation.

Stress is consistent and follows two rules.
1. If a word has an even number of syllables, stress is on the first one, unless the second syllable's vowel is geminated; in that case, it's on the second.
2. If it has an uneven number, stress is on the second, unless the third syllable's vowel is geminated; in that case, it's on the third.

Phonotactics:
Nereifa's syllable structure is (C)(C)V(V)(C)(C), but many CC combinations aren't allowed in either coda, onset or both.
(This is a bit of a work in progress, so the list won't be complete as I post this.)
Allowed Onsets:
Spoiler:
gw-
kw-
dw-
tw-

gr-
kr-

ts-
ks-

sk-
zg-

ly-
ry-
sy-
zy-
dy-
ty-

Geminated consonants may also start a syllable.
Allowed Codas:
Spoiler:
to be added



Nouns:


There are no noun classes and nouns are inherently ungendered, but there are suffixes for specifying if something's male or female.

yirem [ˈji.ɾɛm] person (ungendered)
yirengi [jiˈɾɛŋ.ɡi] male person
yiremyo [jiˈɾɛm.jo] female person

These suffixes are only really used when it's necessary to specify. It's perfectly normal to refer to someone as yirem even if you know their gender, for example; in fact, constantly using the suffixes would sound awkward and unnatural.

Nereifa utilises a case system; I'm still tweaking it, but so far there's an unmarked nominative, a genitive, an accusative, a comitative, an agentive and several different locative and directional cases.
In addition to case, nouns are also marked for number, with a singular and plural form. Articles are definite and indefinite and inflect for plural and case.

Article table:
Spoiler:
Image



Nominative:

Singular: tokori [suj to.ˈko.ɾi]
Plural: tokorae [ˈsu.na to.ˈko.ɾaɛ] or [toˈko.ɾæ]
The nominative marks the subject of the sentence.
Example:
Daibuka sui tokori.
eat.PASS DEF meal.NOM
The meal is eaten.

Genitive:
Singular: tokoreli [dja ˈto.ko.ɾe.li]
Plural: tokoraeli [ˈde.ve ˈto.ko.ɾaɛ.li] or [ˈto.ko.ɾæ.li]
The genitive is used for many different things. Possession, of course, but it can also be used as a way to address others as well as miscellaneous uses in various expressions. It's noteworthy that the genitive does not replace the article in Nereifa; in English sentences like "the person's meal", the second article is dropped. This is not allowed in Nereifa.
When a genitive noun is used in a vocative tense, the article is dropped. The noun is then attached to the pronoun referring to the adressee.
Examples:

sede tokoreli sui daibia
The meal's eater.

Daibaya renveigeli neme so tokoreor.
eat.IMP boy.GEN 2SG DEF meal.ACC
Eat the meal, boy.

Avui raiya sede ourigeli sui aize.
past_aux.3SG be.PART DEF traveller DEF state.
I used to be a traveller.


Accusative:
Singular: tokoreor [suj toˈko.ɾeɔɾ]
Plural: tokoraeor [ˈsu.na ˈto.ko.ɾa.eɔɾ]
The accusative marks the direct object of a sentence.
Example: Daibou re so tokoreor.
I eat the meal.


Comitative:
Singular: tokoramu [ˈto.ko.ɾa.mu]
Plural: tokoraemu [ˈto.ko.ɾaɛ.mu] or [ˈto.ko.ɾæ.mu]

The comitative has a different declination if the noun is animate:
kaidime [kajˈdi.me] an animal kept for its meat
Singular: kaidimivu [ˈkaj.di.mi.vu]
Plural: kaidimaevu [ˈkaj.di.maɛ.vu] or [ˈkaj.di.mæ.vu]

Examples:
Shiemou re sei syatamu.
I work with the tool.
Daibou re saer ileyivu.
I eat with my sister.


Agentive:
Singular: yiremyofen [ˈji.ɾe.mjo.fɛn] by the woman/because of the woman
Plural: yiremyaefen [ˈji.ɾe.mjæ.fɛn] by the women/because of the women
There are two uses of the agentive: Naming the agent in a passive sentence, and in active sentence causatives.

Examples:
Daibuka sui tokori sifyirenfen.
eat.PASS DEF meal DEF person.AGENT
The meal is eaten by the person.

Daibou re so tokoreor sifyirenfen.
eat.1SG 1SG DEF.ACC meal.ACC DEF.AGENT_person.AGENT
I eat the meal because of the person. / The person makes me eat the meal.



Superessive, singular: sibonvaath [si.bɔnˈvaːθ] on top of the harbor
Superessive, plural: sibonvaeth [siˈbɔn.væθ] on top of the harbors

Locative, singular: sibonvash [siˈbɔn.vaʃ] in the harbor
Locative, plural: sibonvaesh [siˈbɔn.væʃ] in the harbors

Subessive, singular: sibonvain [siˈbɔn.vajn] under the harbor
Subessive, plural: sibonvaen [siˈbɔn.væn] under the harbors

Proximative, singular: sibonvil [siˈbɔn.vɪl] near the harbor
Proximative, plural: sibonvael [siˈbɔn.væl] near the harbors

Allative, singular: sibonvauya [ˈsi.bɔn.vau.ja] to the harbor
Allative, plural: sibonvaeya [ˈsi.bɔn.væ.ja] to the harbors

Ablative, singular: sibonvuyen [ˈsi.bɔn.vu.jɛn] from the harbor
Ablative, plural: sibonvaeyen [ˈsi.bɔn.væ.jɛn] from the harbors



The standard sentence order is VSO; temporal clauses usually either go before the verb or after and anything pertaining to location usually comes after the subject.



It's getting late and I'm running out of time, so that's all for now. Questions, feedback?
Last edited by Ebon on 02 Oct 2017 22:47, edited 17 times in total.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by shimobaatar »

Ebon wrote: Nereifa is the main language spoken in Serse, an island country bordering the Elendelean Bay.
I like the name, personally. Is there anything more you can tell us about the setting?
Ebon wrote: Vowels, nasals, fricatives and l can be long or short; long versions are geminated.
How are geminated consonants written?
Ebon wrote: Nereifa utilises a case system; I'm still tweaking it, but so far there's an unmarked nominative, a genitive, an accusative and a comitative.
How are the different cases used, exactly?
Ebon wrote: It also has several declinations for direction and location; I'm not entirely sure if they count as case or not, if I'm perfectly honest...
Is there any more you can tell us about this?
Ebon wrote: Nominative, definite article, plural: suna tokorae [ˈsu.na to.ˈko.ɾaɛ] or [toˈko.ɾæ]
So are [aɛ] and [æ] in free variation?
Ebon wrote: The comitative has a different declination if the noun is animate:
kaidime [kajˈdi.me] an animal kept for its meat
Interesting! How does the language define animacy? What kind of animal is the kaidime, other than one kept for its meat?
Ebon wrote: The standard sentence order is VSO; temporal clauses usually either go before the verb or after and anything pertaining to location usually comes after the subject.
When you say "before" and "after" here, do you mean immediately?
Ebon wrote: It's getting late and I'm running out of time, so that's all for now. Questions, feedback?
Take your time, of course, but hopefully we'll get to see more soon. [:D]
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: Nereifa is the main language spoken in Serse, an island country bordering the Elendelean Bay.
I like the name, personally. Is there anything more you can tell us about the setting?
Lots. Did you mean Serse specifically or the entire conworld?
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: Vowels, nasals, fricatives and l can be long or short; long versions are geminated.
How are geminated consonants written?
They're doubled, for example palassir [paˈla.ssiɾ] beginning. I haven't decided what to do with geminated digraphs though... Maybe I'll use shh, dhh and so on. I don't use h except in digraphs, so that wouldn't be ambiguous.
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: Nereifa utilises a case system; I'm still tweaking it, but so far there's an unmarked nominative, a genitive, an accusative and a comitative.
How are the different cases used, exactly?
The nominative marks the subject and the accusative the object, generally (although of course some phrases don't use the accusative even though you'd expect it to- in Nereifa, you don't thank someone, you thank to someone.)
The genitive marks a number of things; possession, obviously, but also a lot of other things. I'm still finding new weird stuff to do with it, but so far I have:
1. Addressing people. If I wanted to say something like "Shimobaatar, do you want to comment on my conlang?" I could use shimobaatareli neme [ˈʃi.mo.baː.ta.ɾe.li ˈne.me], literally "you of shimobaatar".
You can do something similar with titles to show respect. Touvimeli neme [ˈtou.vi.me.li ˈne.me], literally "you of the highly respected person", is more polite than just neme.
2. Constructs like "I want (noun)" or "I used to be (noun)" use the genitive. Rei yed tokoreli suyure* literally means "It is the wish of a meal", so "I want a meal".

*Articles fuse with the next word if its first sound is the same as the last of the article. i and y count as the same.

Like I said, I'm still adding to the genitive.
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: It also has several declinations for direction and location; I'm not entirely sure if they count as case or not, if I'm perfectly honest...
Is there any more you can tell us about this?
Yep! I'm omitting the article out this time, since it doesn't change.

Sibonva [siˈbɔn.va] harbor, nominative
sibonvaath [si.bɔnˈvaːθ] on top of the harbor
sibonvash [siˈbɔn.vaʃ] in the harbor
sibonvain [siˈbɔn.vajn] under the harbor
(I'll create more one day, but for now I only have those three.)

sibonvauya [ˈsi.bɔn.vau.ja] to the harbor
sibonvuyen [ˈsi.bɔn.vu.jɛn] from the harbor

I also have a suffix demoting an agent. In passive voice sentences it's what does the verb, and in active voice sentences it adds a connotation of the agent making the subject do something.
Example:
Daibuka sui tokori sifyirenfen.
eat-PSV.PRS DEF meal DEF.AGENT person.AGENT
The meal is eaten by the person.
Daibou re so tokoreor sifyirenfen.
eat-1SG.PRS I DEF.ACC meal.ACC DEF.AGENT person.AGENT
The person makes me eat the meal. / The person causes me to eat the meal.

I'm not sure if these count as cases? I need to refresh my case knowledge, I think...
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: Nominative, definite article, plural: suna tokorae [ˈsu.na to.ˈko.ɾaɛ] or [toˈko.ɾæ]
So are [aɛ] and [æ] in free variation?
So far, yes. If I say the former fast, it frequently comes out as the latter, so I decided they can both be used for the ae diphthong.
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: The comitative has a different declination if the noun is animate:
kaidime [kajˈdi.me] an animal kept for its meat
Interesting! How does the language define animacy? What kind of animal is the kaidime, other than one kept for its meat?
I haven't fully decided yet. Animals and people will probably be animate, but I want to add some outliers to it. Maybe it has to do with movement. A river could be animate, but maybe a tree is not.

As for what a kaidime is, it can be any kind of animal. In RL terms, a pig is probably a kaidime, unless it's a pet pig. A chicken might be, or it might not be. If you keep it for eggs only, it wouldn't be.
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: The standard sentence order is VSO; temporal clauses usually either go before the verb or after and anything pertaining to location usually comes after the subject.
When you say "before" and "after" here, do you mean immediately?
If it comes before the verb, it's immediately before. If it comes after, adjectives-turned-adverb would probably follow the verb, and then after that the temporal clause. Location phrases can be anywhere after the subject.

As it's a case language, you can mix it up, but that's the standard order.
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: It's getting late and I'm running out of time, so that's all for now. Questions, feedback?
Take your time, of course, but hopefully we'll get to see more soon. [:D]
Thanks! :) I'll try to add more as soon as I can.
Last edited by Ebon on 01 Aug 2016 20:45, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by shimobaatar »

Ebon wrote: Lots. Did you mean Serse specifically or the entire conworld?
Both!
Ebon wrote: They're doubled, for example palassir [paˈla.ssiɾ] beginning. I haven't decided what to do with geminated digraphs though... Maybe I'll use shh, dhh and so on. I don't use h except in digraphs, so that wouldn't be ambiguous.
That's a great solution.
Ebon wrote:
Spoiler:
The nominative marks the subject and the accusative the object, generally (although of course some phrases don't use the accusative even though you'd expect it to- in Nereifa, you don't thank someone, you thank to someone.)
The genitive marks a number of things; possession, obviously, but also a lot of other things. I'm still finding new weird stuff to do with it, but so far I have:
1. Addressing people. If I wanted to say something like "Shimobaatar, do you want to comment on my conlang?" I could use shimobaatareli neme [ˈʃi.mo.baː.ta.ɾe.li ˈne.me], literally "you of shimobaatar".
You can do something similar with titles to show respect. Touvimeli neme [ˈtou.vi.me.li ˈne.me], literally "you of the highly respected person", is more polite than just neme.
2. Constructs like "I want (noun)" or "I used to be (noun)" use the genitive. Rei dya tokoreli suyure* [ɾei dja ˈto.ko.ɾe.li suˈju.ɾe] literally means "It is the wish of a meal", so "I want a meal".

*Articles fuse with the next word if its first sound is the same as the last of the article. i and y count as the same.

Like I said, I'm still adding to the genitive.
Interesting!
Ebon wrote: Yep! I'm omitting the article out this time, since it doesn't change.

Sibonva [siˈbɔn.va] harbor, nominative
sibonvaath [si.bɔnˈvaːθ] on top of the harbor
sibonvash [siˈbɔn.vaʃ] in the harbor
sibonvain [siˈbɔn.vajn] under the harbor
(I'll create more one day, but for now I only have those three.)

sibonvauya [ˈsi.bɔn.vau.ja] to the harbor
sibonvuyen [ˈsi.bɔn.vu.jɛn] from the harbor
These seem like cases to me.
Ebon wrote: I also have a suffix demoting an agent. In passive voice sentences it's what does the verb, and in active voice sentences it adds a connotation of the agent making the subject do something.
I'm not sure if this is a case, though, but it's certainly a cool idea.
Ebon wrote: I haven't fully decided yet. Animals and people will probably be animate, but I want to add some outliers to it. Maybe it has to do with movement. A river could be animate, but maybe a tree is not.

As for what a kaidime is, it can be any kind of animal. In RL terms, a pig is probably a kaidime, unless it's a pet pig. A chicken might be, or it might not be. If you keep it for eggs only, it wouldn't be.
Ahh, got it!
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

shimobaatar wrote: Both!
That's a tall order. This conworld's been in development for several years. [xD]

Like I mentioned, Serse's an island nation- but you can in fact walk all the way to the continent via a (mostly) submerged landbridge if you don't mind getting your feet wet! You'll even find stilt house villages across the bridge. I'm loosely basing the environment on New Zealand, but without the geographical isolation.
What are you interested in, specifically? Culture, nature, something else? It's hard to sum it up like this, hahaha.
shimobaatar wrote: These seem like cases to me.
Would the location ones be all grouped under locative then? What about the direction ones?
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

Numbers:

Nereifa has a duodecimal number system.

0: lu [lu]
1: mai [maj]
2: san [san]
3: take [ˈta.ke]
4: shie [ʃiɛ]
5: gea [gea]
6: ner [neɾ]
7: fela [ˈfe.la]
8: uvon [ˈu.vɔn]
9: keri [ˈke.ɾi]
10: dur [duɾ]
11: dhasa [ˈða.sa]
12: yan [jan]

Numbers after that are formed by adding -da and then the regular numbers again, essentially meaning twelve-and-number. For example, 13 is yandamai [janˈda.maj], 22 is yandadur [janˈda.duɾ].

Multiples of 12 are formed by putting the number in front of -an, but they're slightly irregular.
24: sanan [ˈsa.nan]
36: takan [ˈta.kan]
48: shian [ˈʃi.an]
60: gean [gean]
72: neran [ˈne.ɾan]
84: felan [ˈfe.lan]
96: vonan [ˈvo.nan]
108: keran [ˈke.ɾan]
120: duran [ˈdu.ɾan]
132: dhasan [ˈða.san]

144 is a unique number, selou [ˈse.lou]. Once again, multiples are created by attaching the numbers 1-11 in front of it.
288: sanselou [sanˈse.lou]
432: takselou [taˈkse.lou]
576: shieselou [ʃiˈe.se.lou]
720: geaselou [geaˈse.lou]
864: nerselou [neɾˈse.lou]
1008: felselou [fɛlˈse.lou]
1152: vonselou [vɔnˈse.lou]
1296: kerselou [keɾˈse.lou]
1440: durselou [duɾˈse.lou]
1584: dhaselou [ðaˈse.lou]

Once again, numbers are attached to them by first adding -da and then the appropriate numbers. For example, 171: seloudasanandake [seˈlou.da.sa.nan.da.ke].


Counting things:

Nereifa uses counter words, much like Japanese does; in order to count nouns, you need to attach the appropriate counter to the number. After that, they go between the article and the noun.
For example, the counter for people is -tu. "Two people" is then deve santu yiremmae [ˈde.ve ˈsan.tu jiˈɾe.mmæ].
I didn't get to making other counters yet.


Ordinal numbers:

Ordinal numbers use the genitive. "The second person" in Nereifa is saneli suyirem [saˈne.li suˈji.ɾem], which literally translates to "the person of two".

Fractions:

Fractions are phrased by adding -than to the numerator. 1/2 is maithan san, 3/4 is takethan shie.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by markski »

ebon wrote:I also have a suffix demoting an agent. In passive voice sentences it's what does the verb, and in active voice sentences it adds a connotation of the agent making the subject do something.
That would for sure be a case. Cases used like that are typically called either "instrumental" or "ergative."

Now, instrumental and ergative cases are by no means the same thing, but they do have overlapping uses in that they both are often used as the agent of a passive verb. The key difference between the two is that instrumental is characteristically an oblique case, and typically often has other miscellaneous uses associated with oblique cases. For example in my conlang the instrumental case is required before certain postpositions, eg

maz rvīnu te nedojēk
rain.ABS.S sky-INS.S from fall-ITER.N.S
rain falls from the sky

But it can also function as the agent of a passive verb, eg

dęva varjonu udęvēx
food.NOM.S 1.S-INS VERB-food-IMPF.M.S
food is eaten by me

This same language also features an ergative case. In my language, the ergative specifically marks neuter nouns that are the subjects of transitive verbs (this is a phenomenon called "ergative alignment"), but for other languages it could easily serve as the agent of passive and causative verbs, as it does in yours.

So essentially if this suffix only does what you say it does (passive & causative agents), I'd call it an ergative case marker. Otherwise, if it can combine with prepositions or act in other miscellaneous fashions I'd call it an instrumental case marker.
ebon wrote:Would the location ones be all grouped under locative then? What about the direction ones?
There's a case name that could go with each one of those suffixes.

sibonvaath [si.bɔnˈvaːθ] on top of the harbor- superessive
sibonvash [siˈbɔn.vaʃ] in the harbor- locative
sibonvain [siˈbɔn.vajn] under the harbor- subessive
sibonvauya [ˈsi.bɔn.vau.ja] to the harbor- allative
sibonvuyen [ˈsi.bɔn.vu.jɛn] from the harbor- ablative

Lemme know if you have any more questions or need anything explained
Last edited by markski on 08 Jul 2016 00:01, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

markski wrote:
Spoiler:
ebon wrote:I also have a suffix demoting an agent. In passive voice sentences it's what does the verb, and in active voice sentences it adds a connotation of the agent making the subject do something.
That would for sure be a case. Cases used like that are typically called either "instrumental" or "ergative."

Now, instrumental and ergative cases are by no means the same thing, but they do have overlapping uses in that they both are often used as the agent of a passive verb. The key difference between the two is that instrumental is characteristically an oblique case, and typically often has other miscellaneous uses associated with oblique cases. For example in my conlang the instrumental case is required before certain postpositions, eg

maz rvīnu te nedojēk
rain.ABS.S sky-INS.S from fall-ITER.N.S
rain falls from the sky

But it can also function as the agent of a passive verb, eg

dęva varjonu udęvēx
food 1.S-INS VERB-food-IMPF.M.S
food is eaten by me

This same language also features an ergative case. In my language, the ergative specifically marks neuter nouns that are the subjects of transitive verbs (this is a phenomenon called "ergative alignment"), but for other languages it could easily serve as the agent of passive and causative verbs, as it does in yours.

So essentially if this suffix only does what you say it does (passive & causative agents), I'd call it an ergative case marker. Otherwise, if it can combine with prepositions or act in other miscellaneous fashions I'd call it an instrumental case marker.
ebon wrote:Would the location ones be all grouped under locative then? What about the direction ones?
There's a case name that could go with each one of those suffixes.

sibonvaath [si.bɔnˈvaːθ] on top of the harbor- superessive
sibonvash [siˈbɔn.vaʃ] in the harbor- locative
sibonvain [siˈbɔn.vajn] under the harbor- subessive
sibonvauya [ˈsi.bɔn.vau.ja] to the harbor- allative
sibonvuyen [ˈsi.bɔn.vu.jɛn] from the harbor- ablative

Lemme know if you have any more questions or need anything explained
Thanks! That helps a lot. :) I'll go update the first post.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by shimobaatar »

Ebon wrote: That's a tall order. This conworld's been in development for several years. [xD]

Like I mentioned, Serse's an island nation- but you can in fact walk all the way to the continent via a (mostly) submerged landbridge if you don't mind getting your feet wet! You'll even find stilt house villages across the bridge. I'm loosely basing the environment on New Zealand, but without the geographical isolation.
What are you interested in, specifically? Culture, nature, something else? It's hard to sum it up like this, hahaha.
Heh, I'm sure it is.

I'd be interested in anything, really. Maybe you could start a thread in the Conworlds & Concultures section?
Ebon wrote: Would the location ones be all grouped under locative then? What about the direction ones?
I think I agree with the names given by markski.

Although I don't know if I'd use the term "ergative" in that way, I can't think of anything better, other than perhaps "agentive".
Ebon wrote:Numbers:
All very interesting!
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

shimobaatar wrote:
Heh, I'm sure it is.

I'd be interested in anything, really. Maybe you could start a thread in the Conworlds & Concultures section?
I probably will, when it's no longer too hot to write worldbuilding essays, hahah.
shimobaatar wrote:
Although I don't know if I'd use the term "ergative" in that way, I can't think of anything better, other than perhaps "agentive".
Funny, agentive is what I noted it down as because I needed a header for the section. I might use that.
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote:Numbers:
All very interesting!
Thanks!
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

Verbs

There are two verb classes in Nereifa, plus a verb for to be that doesn't fall into either. Historically, this has to do with when a verb was introduced into the language; verb class I contains the verbs that descend from proto-Nereifa verbs, class II are the ones that were introduced afterwards. They can be distinguished by their endings. Class I verbs always end in -an, whereas class II verbs end in -un or -in.

Pronouns are listed along the verbs.


Present tense


Class I: daaran [ˈdaː.ɾan] to sleep
1SG: daarou re
2SG: daarail neme
3SG: daaris dwi
1PL: daaran tharye
2PL: daarauth nimarith
3PL: daarim wearith
Generic person: daarush yato

Class II: sivain [ˈsi.vajn] to shine
1SG: sivain re
2SG: sivain neme
3SG: sivaii dwi
1PL: sivaine tharye
2PL: sivai nimarith
3PL: sivai wearith
Generic person: sivaun yato

raiu [ˈraj.u] (to be):
1SG: ran re
2SG: ru neme
3SG: rei dwi
1PL: raun tharye
2PL: riva nimarith
3PL: rathu wearith
Generic person: raim yato


Participles

There are two sets of participles: One for auxiliaries and one for the future tense. The latter is identical with the former for class II verbs and raiu, but not for class I verbs.

Auxiliary participles:
Class I: daaran -> daara
Class II: sivain -> sivaina
raiu -> raiya

Future tense participle:
Class I: daaran -> daarasu

The auxiliary participle is used for connecting verbs in constructions such as "continue to do something".

Past tense
The past tense in Nereifa uses an auxiliary verb, avun. It's a regular class II verb and the main verb is attached to it in the auxiliary participle.

1SG: avun daara re
2SG: avun daara neme
3SG: avui daara dwi
1PL: avune daara tharye
2PL: avu daara nimarith
3PL: avu daara wearith
Generic person: avun daara yato


Future tense

The future tense also uses an auxiliary, isin, which is also a class II verb. It uses the future participle.

Class I:
1SG: isin daarasu re
2SG: isin daarasu neme
3SG: isii daarasu dwi
1PL: isine daarasu tharye
2PL: isi daarasu nimarith
3PL: isi daarasu wearith
Generic person: isun daarasu yato

Class II:
1SG: isin sivaina re
2SG: isin sivaina neme
3SG: isii sivaina dwi
1PL: isine sivaina tharye
2PL: isi sivaina nimarith
3PL: isi sivaina wearith
Generic person: isun sivaina yato


Progressive, Continuous and Perfect
Unlike English Nereifa makes a distinction between progressive and continuous.

Continuous verbs aren't actually conjugated in any special way, nor is there an auxiliary. The construction used literally means something like "I am in a state of [verbing]".
Example: Rei sui valavou re dyo pala shideor aize. [rɛj suj vaˈla.vou ɾe dja ˈpa.la ˈʃi.deɔɾ ˈaj.ze]
to be-3SG.PRES DEF learn-1SG.PRES 1SG INDEF new.SG language.ACC state.
I'm currently in the process of learning a new language.

Progressive verbs, on the other hand, make use of a particle (mi) that isn't actually integrated into the verb. (Since everything else in Nereifa's verb system can be traced back to particles that eventually morphed, including the auxiliaries, it's safe to assume that daughter languages of Nereifa will do the same with the current set.) It's placed after the conjugated verb, but before any in participle form.
Valavou mi re dyo pala shideor.
learn.1SG.PRES PROG 1SG INDEF new.SG language.ACC
I'm currently studying a new language [you can see me at the table studying].

Perfect verbs use a particle (kai) as well.
Avun kai daiba re so tokoreor.
Past aux-1SG PERF eat-PART 1SG DEF meal.ACC
I have eaten the meal.

If both perfect and progressive particles are present, they fuse into mikai.

The future perfect plays a bigger role in Nereifa than in English, because it's used to describe plans.
Isin kai sena re suzu yaramauya.
Future aux-1SG PERF go-PART 1SG DEF city-ALLATIVE
I will have gone to the city -> I plan to go to the city.


Other things verbs can do

When there are two sentences with the same subject (for example, "I go to the city and eat a meal"), they can be connected with a special verb conjugation.

Class I: daaran -> daaron
Class II: sivain -> sivainon
raiu -> raiun

Example: Senon re suzu yaramauya, daibou dyo tokoreor.
go-SS 1SG DEF city-ALL eat-1SG.PRES INDEF meal-ACC
I go to the city and eat a meal.

Conditionals also take a special verb mood, but there's more to them which I will detail in a future post.
Class I: daaran -> daaradh
Class II: sivain -> sivaidh
raiu -> dharai


The imperative can be used with any person, with different connotations depending on which one it is. The verb form is the same for all persons and for both verb classes and is formed by attaching -aya to the verb stem.
Class I: daaran -> daaraya
Class II: sivain -> sivaaya
raiu -> raia

When used with first persons, the imperative carries a meaning somewhat similar to "I/we should" or "let's". Second person person imperatives are orders much like in English. A third person implies that the person in question needs to do something.

Daaraya re: I should sleep
Daaraya neme: Sleep!
Daaraya dwi: He/she needs to sleep
Last edited by Ebon on 01 Aug 2016 20:48, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by shimobaatar »

Ebon wrote: I probably will, when it's no longer too hot to write worldbuilding essays, hahah.
Haha, of course, take your time!
Ebon wrote: Class I: sivain [ˈsi.vajn] to shine
Is this meant to say "Class II"?
Ebon wrote: There are two sets of participles: One for auxiliaries and one for the future tense.
Are auxiliary participles used with any auxiliary verbs other than the one for the past tense?
Ebon wrote: When there are two sentences with the same subject (for example, "I go to the city and eat a meal"), they can be connected with a special verb conjugation.

Class I: daaran -> daaron
Class II: sivain -> sivainon
raiu -> raiun

Example: Senon re suyaramauya, daibou dya tokoreor.
go-WHATEVERTHISISCALLED 1SG DEF city-ALLATIVE eat-1SG.PRES INDEF meal-ACC
I go to the city and eat a meal.
Perhaps you would find this interesting and/or helpful, at least for glossing? Based on conventions described there, I would gloss "WHATEVERTHISISCALLED" as "SS", short for "same subject".

Also, I think the allative can be glossed as "ALL".
Ebon wrote: Conditionals also take a special verb mood, but there's more to them which I will detail in a future post.
I look forward to hearing more about them.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: Class I: sivain [ˈsi.vajn] to shine
Is this meant to say "Class II"?
Yes, my bad. Thanks for letting me know.
shimobaatar wrote: Are auxiliary participles used with any auxiliary verbs other than the one for the past tense?
Ahh, yes, I forgot to mention that. They're used to connect verbs in general- something like "continue to verb" would also use the aux participle (at least if I decide to make that a verb construction).
shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote: When there are two sentences with the same subject (for example, "I go to the city and eat a meal"), they can be connected with a special verb conjugation.

Example: Senon re suyaramauya, daibou dya tokoreor.
go-WHATEVERTHISISCALLED 1SG DEF city-ALLATIVE eat-1SG.PRES INDEF meal-ACC
I go to the city and eat a meal.
Perhaps you would find this interesting and/or helpful, at least for glossing? Based on conventions described there, I would gloss "WHATEVERTHISISCALLED" as "SS", short for "same subject".

Also, I think the allative can be glossed as "ALL".
Definitely useful, thanks! I'm still trying to find my way around glossing.


I also added some information on passive and imperative, which I somehow managed to forget when I wrote the post.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by shimobaatar »

Ebon wrote: Ahh, yes, I forgot to mention that. They're used to connect verbs in general- something like "continue to verb" would also use the aux participle (at least if I decide to make that a verb construction).
Got it!
Ebon wrote: Definitely useful, thanks! I'm still trying to find my way around glossing.
No worries! It isn't easy.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

Man, it's been a while since I updated this thread. I also revamped the first post a little, adding explanations and more examples.

Questions!

In Nereifa, the word order doesn't change for questions. Instead, question words are added or replace parts of the sentence.

Example sentence:
Daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor.
The person eats a fruit.

Yes-no questions: ta
Ta daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor? Does the person eat a fruit?
The yes/no question word, ta, is simply added as the first word of the sentence.

Who: taiva
Daibis taiva dyo rereyeor? Who eats a fruit?
Daibis suyirem taiveor? The person eats whom?
Daibis suyirem taiveli do rereyeor? Whose fruit does the person eat?
Daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor taivivu? With whom did you eat a fruit?
Question words that function as part of the sentence are treated like nouns and thus, they can decline as nouns as well.

What: tere
Daibis suyirem tereor? What does the person eat?
Daibis tere dyo rereyeor? What eats a fruit?

Where: tou
Daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor tou? Where did the person eat a fruit?
Sei suyirem tauya? Where does the person go to?
Oreis suyirem touyen? Where does the person come from?
Much like location phrases, tou is usually added after the subject and object, but it's possible to add it elsewhere too.

When: tima
Tima daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor? When did the person eat a fruit?
As temporal phrases are usually added before the verb, that's where tima goes too.

Why: tia
Tia daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor? Why does the person eat a fruit?

What kind: tidhi
Daibis suyirem tidhi rereyeor? What kind of fruit does the person eat?
Tidhi replaces the article of the noun it refers to.

How: tis
Tis daibis suyirem dyo rereyeor? How does the person eat a fruit?

How much/many: tewan
Daibis suyirem tewan rereyeor? How many fruits does the person eat?
Note that unlike English, tewan doesn't need a plural noun. Also unlike English, you can't use it on its own; if you wanted to say "how much does the person eat?" you would say "Daibis suyiren tewan pala?", literally "how many things does the person eat?"

Which: torsa
Daibis suyirem torsa rereyeor? Which fruit does the person eat?
Last edited by Ebon on 01 Aug 2016 20:51, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by shimobaatar »

Ebon wrote:Man, it's been a while since I updated this thread. I also revamped the first post a little, adding explanations and more examples.
It's nice to see a new post here. I'll have to go back and reread the first post sometime.

I like the way questions and question words work in Nereifa.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

shimobaatar wrote:
Ebon wrote:Man, it's been a while since I updated this thread. I also revamped the first post a little, adding explanations and more examples.
It's nice to see a new post here. I'll have to go back and reread the first post sometime.

I like the way questions and question words work in Nereifa.
Thanks. :) I hope I can get another one up soon.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by k1234567890y »

looks nice (: keep working.

you said the word order is VSO, but can one change the word order freely? also, how are the negations and relative clauses formed in Nereifa.

also, /ts/ is not an affricate but a sequence of /t/+/s/?
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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Re: Nereifa

Post by Ebon »

k1234567890y wrote:looks nice (: keep working.

you said the word order is VSO, but can one change the word order freely? also, how are the negations and relative clauses formed in Nereifa.

also, /ts/ is not an affricate but a sequence of /t/+/s/?
The verb needs to stay before the subject and object, but otherwise you can switch them around, and also other things like comitatives or locatives. VSO is just the neutral no emphasis order.

Negations are simple: Prefix sa- /sa/ in front of the verb negates it. Relative clauses are squished between article and the noun they apply to.

For example: The person I don't know
sui samerou re yirem; samerou coming from sa+imeran
DEF be_acquainted_with.NEG.1SG 1SG person

Like [p͡f] in German, /ts/ is not represented by a unique glyph but by writing t and s in succession, but nevertheless pronounced as an affricate. ...I need to fix my patchy IPA knowledge, I think...
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Re: Nereifa

Post by k1234567890y »

Ebon wrote:
k1234567890y wrote:looks nice (: keep working.

you said the word order is VSO, but can one change the word order freely? also, how are the negations and relative clauses formed in Nereifa.

also, /ts/ is not an affricate but a sequence of /t/+/s/?
The verb needs to stay before the subject and object, but otherwise you can switch them around, and also other things like comitatives or locatives. VSO is just the neutral no emphasis order.

Negations are simple: Prefix sa- /sa/ in front of the verb negates it. Relative clauses are squished between article and the noun they apply to.

For example: The person I don't know
sui samerou re yirem; samerou coming from sa+imeran
DEF be_acquainted_with.NEG.1SG 1SG person
nice (: thank you for your explanation
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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