Ðanmarc
| Ðanmarc | |
|---|---|
| Pronounced: | /'ðænmarʃ/ |
| Timeline and Universe: | Aarð, Classical Period |
| Species: | Human |
| Spoken: | Ðanmar Empire |
| Total speakers: | 0 |
| Writing system: | Ðanmarc (unique) |
| Genealogy: | Þēo-Niraþi Þeali |
| Typology | |
| Morphological type: | Inflecting |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | Nominative-Accusative |
| Basic word order: | SVO |
| Credits | |
| Creator: | Navidel |
| Created: | May 25, 2007 |
Ðanmarc is a language spoken in the ancient Ðanmar Empire. The language uses SVO word order in most cases but OSV is sometimes used to highlight the object in literature and poetry. Since the empire's fall, the language has had no native speakers, but is used as a diplomatic and general-purpose interlanguage in the region, similar to Latin in our world.
Script
The alphabet consists of six vowels and 20 consonants, for a total of 26 letters, which are listed below.
Hh - Hatc* /ħ, x/
Mm - Mē /m/
Nn - Nē /n/
Ŋŋ - Ŋē /ŋ/
Ee - E /ε/
Bb - Be /b/
Ēē - Ē /e/
Vv - Va /β/
Pp - Pa /p/
Gg - Gi /g/
Ff - Fi /φ/
Tt - To /t/
Oo - O /o/
Dd - Do /d/
Kk - Ka /k/
Rr - Ra* /r/
Aa - A /a/ (/æ/ before m, n, or ŋ)
Ww - Wa /w, ɰ/
Ss - Sa /s/
Zz - Zē /z/
Ii - I /i/
Cc - Ci /ʃ/
Jj - Ji /ʒ/
Ðð - Þa* /ð, θ/
Uu - U /ɔ/
Yy - Yog /j/
- Hatc is also sometimes written ħ or x
- Þa is written as þ when it represents /θ/.
- Ra is written as l when it means a lateralized (/l/ or /ɫ/) sound.
Grammar
Morphology
Nouns
Case
Ðanmarc is an accusative language and thus has two cases: nominative (used when the noun is the subject of a transitive or intransitive verb) and accusative (used when the noun is the object of a transitive verb). Words are in the nominative by default and become accusative in the following ways:
- Words ending in vowels: The vowel is mutated one down on the hierarchy below (u becomes i) and a final lateralized r (actually, an l) is added.
- ieēaou
- Words ending in consonants (unlike the inflections below, this includes r and w): The consonant is "softened" as per the below chart.
Letter h ŋ n m t p k d b g f s r z v w c j y ð Becomes ŋ n m b d b g z v ŋ v z w r w w j y w j
Plurals
In Ðanmarc, plural nouns are formed by adding the following suffixes in the nominative case:
- -s for words ending in vowels or r
- -as for words ending in other consonants
And these in the accusative case:
- -n for words ending in vowels or r
- -an for words ending in other consonants
Possessives
Possessive nouns, too, are formed by adding suffixes:
- -c is used for words ending in vowels or r (hence Ðanmarc <- Ðanmar).
- -ac is used for words ending in other consonants.
- -j is used on plural words ending in vowels or r. (The plural suffix is dropped.)
- -aj is used on plural words ending in other consonants.
- In cases of possession, only the possessed object inflects for case.
Verbs
Tense
Ðanmarc verbs have a variety of tenses. The most basic are the present, past, and future; the inflections for these are given below.
- -d forms the past tense of verbs ending in vowels and r.
- -ad forms the past tense of verbs ending in other consonants.
- -s forms the present tense of Type A verbs (those ending in vowels and r).
- -as forms the present of type B verbs, which end in consonants other than r.
- -k is added to type A verbs to form their future tense.
- -ek is added to form the future tense of a type B verb.
More complicated tenses employed in the Ðanmarc language include participles, gerunds, and infinitives; the basic uses of these are outlined below. In case you, like me, are not very familiar with complex and nonfinite verb tenses, a gerund is a verb used as a noun (Swimming is fun), a participle is one used as an adjective (The falling snow blinded him), and an infinitive can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs (To run a mile is difficult; I have a book to read; She practiced to become better).
- -(i)ð is used to form past participles.
- -(i)z is used to form present participles.*
- -(i)c is used to form future participles.
- -(a)g is used to form gerunds.
- -(ē)r is used to form infinitives.
- There is a difference between the pronunciation of present and present participle forms of type A verbs in Ðanmarc. In English (think tears) we pronounce a final s voiced, like a z. This is not true in Ðanmarc. If it helps, think of the Ðanmarc final -s as an English final -ce.
Other tenses include perfect, imperfect and progressive tenses. These are a little tougher to grasp than those above, but English speakers use them every day. In grammar, perfect has a different meaning than its usual one. To say that an action is "perfect" means that the action is completed. For example, consider English examples: I lived is an imperfect past tense, while I have lived is a perfect one. I have come is perfect; I'm coming is not. Progressive tenses are imperfect by definition; they show that an action is going on. In Ðanmarc, verbs are in a basic (not progressive) imperfect by default.
- -(o)t forms the past perfect tense.
- -(a)ŋ forms the past progressive tense.
- -(a)p forms the present perfect tense.
- -(a)m forms the present progressive tense.
- -(a)g forms the future perfect tense.*
- -(a)n forms the future progressive tense.
- Note: The a in this suffix is prononced /æ/, an exception to the usual rule.
Mood and Aspect
Ðanmarc has a fairly complex system of mood, including indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and negative moods. Verbs are by default in the indicative mood, meaning that they are real and certain, but this can also have a strengthened form, equivalent roughly to the English construction "I am sure that...". The subjunctive mood indicates that the verb is uncertain or desired. It, too, has a differing form to show that the speaker does not know that something happened [but speculates that it did]. The imperative mood, used to command, also has a more polite form. The negative mood does not have an alternate form, but is indicated by an auxiliary verb, te, and so can be used in combination with other moods. Te must agree with the verb it modifies in tense, but not mood. Other moods are indicated by prefixes:
- k(@*)- indicates the strengthened indicative mood.
- g(@)- indicates the subjunctive mood.
- ŋ(@)- indicates the second subjunctive mood mentioned above.
- r(@)- indicates the imperative mood.
- Note: The @ indicates a variable vowel (it is not an X-SAMPA schwa). This vowel is e if the verb is part of a secondary clause in the sentence, and a if it is in the main clause. When the speaker is being especially polite, e is replaced by ē and a by o. All of these vowels, except a, are present at the word's beginning when the verb is in the simple indicative mood or begins with a vowel. In that case, the o is accented to become ó, which indicates a deviation from the standard penultimate-stress rule in Ðanmarc, and the ē is accented to become ê.
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjective agreement
Adjectives in Ðanmarc must agree with the noun they modify in number. This is accomplished in the same way as with the nouns, by modifying the coda of the final syllable. To see how to do this, look at the Plurals section of Nouns.
Adverb agreement
This section does not really need to be here, as adverbs do not need to agree with the verbs they modify unless they are in secondary clauses, in which case the adverb takes the suffix -o.
Derivation
Negation
In Ðanmarc, two prefixes are used to negate a word. The prefix ók(a)-, roughly equivalent to English anti- is used mainly on verbs, when an action of doing the opposite (not just refraining from doing the action) is meant. The auxiliary te is used when the subject is merely not doing the action (as opposed to doing its opposite, implied by ók(a)-). The second prefix, íŋē-, is used to negate a noun or adjective (happy vs. unhappy).
