Ălyis

Classical Ălyis [ˈaʎis] is the language that originated the Thăndaran and the Ălyis languages, the latter being the language of the Ĭdharas people, the dwellers of the Island of Ĭdharos, the northwesternmost of the Great Islands. The word ălyis itself means simply “speak” or, when referred to as a proper name, “the speak”.

Classical Ălyis is the language used in formal contexts, such as religious ceremonies, court trials, royal audiences, school lectures. Although this is widespread in the island of Ĭdharos, not all cities in the imperial island of Thăndaræ follow this practice.

The rules presented here were established by the ĭdharan Tradition Masters Council in the year 10I, after a decades work of standardization of the ĭdharan vernacular language.

Phonology, orthography, and pronunciation

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial

Labiodental

Dental

Alveolar

Postalveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Nasals

m

n

ɲ

Plosives

p

b

t

d

k

ɡ

Fricatives

f

v

θ

ð

s

z

ʃ

ʒ

x

ɣ

h¹

ɦ

Flaps & Taps

ɾ

Lateral Approximants

l

ʎ

¹ The sound /h/ is considered a “foreign” sound and usually appears only in loanwords and foreign names, although it can appear as an allophone of /ɦ/.

Vowels	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Near-open		ɐ
Open	a

Orthography

The above phonemes are rendered in writing as follows:

B b	P p	D d	T t	Z z	S s	G g	K k	L l	R r	M m	N n
/b/	/p/	/d/	/t/	/z/	/s/	/ɡ/	/k/	/l/	/ɾ/	/m/	/n/
V v	F f	DH dh Ð ð	TH th Þ þ	ZH zh J j	SH sh Ʃ ʃ	GH gh Ɣ ɣ	KH kh C c	LY ly Ł ł	H h	Ħ ħ	NY ny Ŋ ŋ
/v/	/f/	/ð/	/θ/	/ʒ/	/ʃ/	/ɣ/	/x/	/ʎ/	/ɦ/	/h/	/ɲ/

The consonant variants in italics are used when one desires to be as faithful as possible to the native orthography when transliterating.

A a	Æ æ	E e	I i	O o	U u
/a/, /ɐ/	/e/	/ɛ/, /e/	/i/	/ɔ/, /o/	/u/

Pronunciation

Pronunciation of consonants and vowels

The position in a word doesn't change a consonant sound. The consonant L, however, can become labialized as /lʷ/ before other consonants or in word-final positions.

Vowels, on the other hand, usually don't become nasalized before /m/, /n/, and /ɲ/, but the vowel e is pronounced as /e/ in such positions even when stressed.

• A: /a/ when stressed, /ɐ/ otherwise.
• Æ: /e/ when stressed, /ɐe/ otherwise.
• E: /e/ when followed by /m/, /n/, or /ɲ/, otherwise /ɛ/ when stressed, /e/ elsewhere.
• I: /i/ in all positions
• O: /ɔ/ when stressed and followed by /i/, /l/, or /ʎ/, /o/ elsewehere.
• U: /u/ in all positions

Stress

Disyllabic words are, in general, paroxitones, and the stressed vowel — indicated with a macron (ǣ, Ǣ) or with a breve (ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, Ă, Ĕ, Ĭ, Ŏ, Ŭ) — usually doesn't change with the addition of prefixes and/or suffixes — for example, ănis (life) → shinănis (their (f) life); ăle (to love) → shăle (they (f) love) → shălete (they (f) love you (s)) → shiălete (they (f) loved you (s)) → oshiălete (they (f) would love you (s)). Exceptions to this rule are the preposition + demonstrative pronoun combinations — ǣkis (this) → ĭdækis (of this); words with three or more syllables are, in general, proparoxytones.

When a prefix is linked to an unstressed monosyllable, the stress falls on the prefix, as, for example, is the case of iv- (with) + -te (you) = ĭvite (with you). Stressed monosyllables, on the other hand, usually retain the stress: ăus (dog) → dinăus (my dog).

Grammar

Pronouns

Masculine and feminine pronouns are only used when applied to humans.

Personal pronouns (subject)

d-	I	dh-	we
t-	you	th-	you (pl)
s-	she	sh-	they (f)
z-	he	zh-	they (m)
l-	it	n-	they (n)

Personal pronouns (object)

-de	me	-dhe	us
-te	you (obj)	-the	you (pl, obj)
-se	her	-she	them (f)
-ze	him	-zhe	them (m)
-le	it (obj)	-ne	them (n)

Demonstrative and indefinite pronouns

The prefixes are linked to consonant-starting words with the vowel -i-, except when its absence would cause a double consonant; in this case, the consonants merge into a single one.

æg-	this noun (close to the speaker)	æk-	this noun (close to the person spoken to)	ærk-	that noun
ægis	this (close to the speaker)	ækis	this (close to the person spoken to)	ærkis	that
æl-	many noun (pl)	æv-	all, every noun	æf-	no noun
ælis	multitude	ævis	everything	æfis	nothing
æn-	some noun	ær-	few noun
ænis	a handful	æris	a few

Examples:

• Ægrĭs = this sand
• Ækĕm = these rocks
• Æfăus = no dogs
• Ælăum = many dogs
• Ævăum = all [the] dogs

Interrogative pronouns

dĭle	why	tĭle	for what
vĭnye	who	vĭme	where
dĭnye	whose	dĭme	whence
sĭnye	which	tĭme	to where
mĭnye	how much, how many	ĭhæ	what

It is possible to omit the copula from a sentence and link the interrogative pronoun directly to the personal suffixes and demonstrative pronouns:

• Vĭnyete? = Vĭnye tĕne? = “Who are you?”
• Dĭnyele? = Dĭnye lĕne [ǣgis/ǣkis]? = “Whose is it/this?”
• Ĭhæle? = Ĭhæ lĕne [ǣgis/ǣkis]? = “What is it/this?”

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Article

The only article is the definite, li, and it is only used when the context alone is not enough to precisely identify the object being referred to.

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Nouns

All nouns end in -s, and the plural is made by changing -s to -m. Nouns derived from verbs usually end in -is.

• Augmentative: om- + noun
• Diminutive: um- + noun

If the noun starts in a consonant other than m-, p-, or b-, om- and um- change to on- and un-, respectively. Double consonants created this way merge into one.

Examples:

• ĕnis “[a] person” → ĕnim “people”
• omĕnis “[a] big person” → omĕnim “big people”
• pas “[a] hand” → pam “hands”
• umpăs “[a] small hand” → umpăm “small hands”
• fais “[a] tree” → faim “trees”
• onfăis “[a] large tree” → onfăim “large trees”
• nuis “[a] hole” → nuim “holes”
• unŭis “[a] small hole” → unŭim “small holes”

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Adjectives

All adjectives end in -n, and the ones derived from other words usually end in -æn or -in; many adjectives are derived from verbs.

• Comparative of superiority: om- + adjective
• Comparative of inferiority: um- + adjective

Example:

• ălnyin “good”, “useful” → omălnyin “better”, “more useful”

Possessive adjectives

din-	my	dhin-	our
tin-	your	thin-	your (pl)
sin-	her	shin-	their (f)
zin-	his	zhin-	their (m)
lin-	its	nin-	their (n)

If the word being linked to begins with a bilabial consonant, the -n- changes to -m-. Double consonants formed when linking merge into one.

Examples:

• nĭzais “father” → dinĭzais “my father” → zindinĭzais “my father's”
• pam “hands” → dimpăm “my hands”

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Verbs

Tenses and modes

The general structure of a verbal word is [secondary temporal prefix] + [personal prefix] + [primary temporal prefix] + [verb root] + [mode suffix] + [object suffix]. Not all combinations are possible for all verbs.

The three mode suffixes are -e, -i, and -a, and they are used as follows:

• Infinitive: root + -e
• Participle: root + -a
• Gerund: root + -i

For the following list, the -e ending can be changed to -i to give the idea of progression or continuous action. In some cases, it is possible to use the participle mode suffix to express a past, present or future state without using a copula.

• Indicative:
  • Present tenses
    • Simple Present: person + root + -e (action in course or true at the moment of speaking)
    • Progressive Present: person + root + -i (action in course at the moment of speaking)
  • Past tenses
    • Finished Past: person + -i- + root + -e (action completed in the past)
    • Progressive Past: person + -i- + root + -i (action in progress or true for some period of time in the past)
    • Perfect Past: i- + person + -i- + root + -e (action completed before a past event)
    • Perfect Progressive Past: i- + person + -i- + root + -i (action in progress or true for some period of time before a past event)
  • Future tenses
    • Simple Future: person + -o- + root + -e (action to be executed in the future)
    • Progressive Future: person + -o- + root + -i (action expected to be in progress or true for some period of time in the future)
    • Past Future: o- + person + -i- + root + -e (a future action relating to a past event)
    • Past Progressive Future: o- + person + -i- + root + -i (a future action expected to be in progress or true for some period of time, relating to a past event)
• Subjunctive:
  • Ve + corresponding indicative form
• Imperative:
  • Hæ + Simple Present

Examples:

• ve diĕni = “if I were”
• hæ tăhe ǣgis = “do this”

Passive voice

The simplest form of passive voice is a verbal form with the participle ending -a and without an object suffix.

The common ĭdharan salutation Tălnyaza! “[You're] welcome!” is also an example of linking the patient subject of a noun phrase directly to an adverb + participle nominal predicate, also omitting the copula of the passive voice, usually present in other languages. Of course, as the resulting word is still a verbal form, the primary and secondary time prefixes can apply, and adverbs of time can be added to the phrase in order to position the idea more precisely in time, as in the sixth example below.

Examples:

• Săla. = “She is loved.”
• Liărka. = “It was/has been weakened.”
• Doălka. = “I will be strengthened.”
• Zhiărba elærkizăis. “They (m) were/have been bought by that man.”
• Inævigăim idhiăra. “We had been hated everywhere.”
• Nĭlar ĭngar diălnyaza, ha ăinar va. “Yesterday I was welcome here, but not today.”

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Adverbs

Most adverbs end in -ar and they usually come before the word they modify, especially when it is a verb. In many cases, the -r can be dropped to link the adverb to the verb it modifies, thus creating new verbal forms. If the original verb starts in ĕ-, the starting vowel merges with -a- into -æ-. A very common example is the verb ălnyaze “to welcome”, created by linking the adverb ălnyar “well” to the verb ăze “to come”. This, in turn, leads to a very common salutation among the ĭdharash: Tălnyaza! “[You're] welcome!” (Note that, unlike English, this is not used as an answer to thanks.)

Some very important and very common exceptions to the above are:

	Linked to an adjective	Linked to a noun
om-	Comparative of superiority	Augmentative
um-	Comparative of inferiority	Diminutive

vi	yes
va	no
va-	not

The (unstressed) adverb prefixes om- and um- can also be linked to other adverbs (with the vowel -a- if they begin with a consonant) to change their meanings. Thus Tomălnyaza! would mean something like “You're very much welcome!”

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Prepositions

The prepositions in Ălyis are all prefixes (though they can receive endings to become independent words if such is needed) and as such they allow for a case system of sorts. The full list follows.

et-	to (destination)	id-	of	el-	by
ob-	behind	ed-	since	ep-	before (sb or sth)
ot-	until	in-	in	av-	without
ap-	after	im-	between, among	ib-	under
iv-	with	it-	to	eb-	on, on top of
al-	against	il-	for (sb)

One can omit the verbs ĕne (“permanent” to be) and ĕme (“transitory” to be) ― the two generic copulae ― and link the preposition to its corresponding word with the vowel clusters -i-, -e-, -ei-, -a-, -oi-, and -o- to convey time information, meaning Perfect Past, Finished Past, Progressive Past, Simple Present, Future in the Past and Simple Future, respectively. The resulting word can then be used as the subject of a sentence.

If the verb cannot be ommited (for reasons of clearness ― see the fourth example), the preposition is linked with the vowel -i-.

Examples:

• Ægitadinăus. = Ǣgis itadinăus. = Ǣgis lĕne itidinăus. = “This is for my dog.”
• Ægiteidinăus. = Ǣgis iteidinăus. = Ǣgis liĕni itidinăus. = “This was for my dog.”
• Ægiteidinăus ŏmar lălnye. = “This, which was for my dog, is very good.”
• Ægăleite, ha ăinar zĕne ĭlate. = “This [man] was against you, but now he is for you.”

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Conjunctions

All conjunctions are independent words.

hi	and	ho	so	ilăinæ	while, as long as
hæ	that	ha	but	imăinæ	how
ve	if	ĭlæ	because

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Numerals

• Simple numbers: -l
• Tens: -lal
• Hundreds: -lel
• Thousands: -lyal
• Millions: -lyel

Numbers are writen and read from left to right; round numerals can have two numeral suffixes, shifting the stress:

• 10,001: elălyal hi el
• 11,002: ĕlal-ĕlyal hi kal
• 111,222: ĕlel-ĕlal-ĕlyal hi kălel-kălal-kal
• 9,456,123: mŏlyel hi tŏlel-rălel-gŏlyal hi ĕlel-kălal-fol
• 9,000,000: mŏlyel hi ŭlel hi ul, to emphasize the number's “roundness”, or simply mŏlyel

The numerals ul, ŭlal, ŭlel, ŭlyal, and ŭlyel can also indicate the idea of emptiness at different degrees.

Trivia: the expression hi ŭlel hi ul is a common expression among the ĭdharash and means “absolutely nothing”.

Number	Numeral	×10	×100	×1,000	×1,000,000
0	ul	ŭlal	ŭlel	ŭlyal	ŭlyel
1	el	ĕlal	ĕlel	ĕlyal	ĕlyel
2	kal	kălal	kălel	kălyal	kălyel
3	fol	fŏlal	fŏlel	fŏlyal	fŏlyel
4	tol	tŏlal	tŏlel	tŏlyal	tŏlyel
5	ral	rălal	rălel	rălyal	rălyel
6	gol	gŏlal	gŏlel	gŏlyal	gŏlyel
7	zhol	zhŏlal	zhŏlel	zhŏlyal	zhŏlyel
8	val	vălal	vălel	vălyal	vălyel
9	mol	mŏlal	mŏlel	mŏlyal	mŏlyel

Syntax

To be expanded

Samples

Short examples

Dăne.	“I live.”
Dĕme ănin.	“I am alive.”
Tălede?	“Do you love me?”
Vi, tăve dălete.	“Yes, you know I love you.”
Va, vadărete, hi tăvele.	“No, I don't hate you, and you know that.”
Vasăve vazărete.	“She doesn't know he doesn't hate you.”
Dărle tăze ĭvide.	“I want you to come with me.” (lit. “I want that you come with me.”)
Dĭle tărle tăse ăvide?	“Why do you want to go without me?” (lit. “Why do you want that you go without me?”)
Vasărle săse ĭvite.	“She doesn't want to go with you.” (lit. “She doesn't want that she goes with you.”)
Vadiăvi ziĕmi ălide.	“I didn't know [that] he was against me.”
Shoănse!	“They (f) will die!”
Odiănse ĭlite…	“I would die for you…”
Dinărfis ĭdækis valoĕrne!	“My thoughts on this won't change!” (lit. “My thought of this won't change!”)
Ĭnar doĕnme ĭngar.	“I will always stay here.”
Vi, dăve ŏmomar dălye.	“Yes, I know [that] I speak too much.”
Ǣrkilas aĭnar siărnyælni.	“She looked bad before that day.” (lit. “That day before she looked bad.”)
Ăstis lăstethe!	“May the light shine upon you!”

Literal translations

Ĭnar diăve tiănlize ŏmar tiănlise, ha ănar diărfe thinănlis liĕni ho ălkin.
Always I-[past]-know you-[past]-be-friend-of-[progressive]-him more you-[past]-be-friend-of-[progressive]-her, but never I-[past]-think your(pl)-friendship it-[past]-be-[progressive] so strong.
“I always knew you were more friends with him than with her, but I never thought your friendship was so strong.”

Vĕnar lălnye dhăhe ǣvis dhărle, ve dhoărle dhănle ævĕnim.
Not-always it-be-good we-do all/everything we-want, if we-want we-be-friend-of all-people.
“It is not always good for us to do everything we want if we want to be friends with everybody.”

Ĭnar doărle omălnyin ĭtite, ĭnmar vatăflede.
Always I-[future]-want more-good to-you(obj), even not-you-believe-me.
“I will always want the best to you, even if you don't believe me.”

Ănar osiăreze, ĭnmar ve otiăilese 'hæ săreze'.
Never [future]-she-[past]-hate-him, even if [future]-you-[past]-tell-her that she-hate-him.
“She would never hate him, even if you told her 'hate him'.”

Vĭnye shĕne, dĭme shăze, hi dĭle ĭngar shĕme?
Who they(f)-be, whence they(f)-come, and why here they(f)-be?
“Who are they (f), where do they (f) come from, and why are they (f) here?”

Vĭnyete, dĭmete, tĭlete?
Who-you(obj), who-you(obj), for-what-you(obj)?
“Who are you, where do you come from, what are you here for?”

Ægitadinăus ŏmar lălnye.
This-to-[present]-my-dog much it-be-good.
“This, which is for my dog, is very good.”

Ærgis liĕni ĭtide.
That it-[past]-be-[progressive] to-me.
“That was for me.”

Va, vadăfe tindĭzais.
No, not-I-know your-brother.
“No, I don't know your brother.”

Ærkăus sindindĭsis.
That-dog her-my-sister.
“That dog is my sister's.”

Sample text

“Ælĕnim naĭle, hi ælăilim nănya; aĭlim zhinakĕnim hi shim, ăigim ăihæn hi ăinim vanăivæn, ĕnim ăikin niălga hi ăufarim ilăhlis idălnyafis. Ænækăilim nălye idĭhim ănvenar niăneme, ilăinæ vǣgim vĕmar; năme ǣrkim ĭnmar vaniăneme, ha ĕnim hi ănemim ninǣrkim noăme ilăinæ ǣrkim naĭla. Hŏnæ năme ærkĕnim naĭle ærkăilim ăiar hi ăimiar ilămlis idanaĭlene, hi năme ærkĕnim naĭlene itanăule ăulim; zăme ănvalyæs, omăfin, hæ zălye vazărle zăule æfăulim, ha zănvalye ilămlis idaĭlæs.

“Ǣrkis vadĕne. Dăhe ægăilis ilitĭlis dăule ăulis itivĭnyes nănvanyele — na ælăulim, ăblar vĭnyes nănvanyele. Ækăulim ălsæm năhle nănvame haum năke năgle ninăisim ĕpine hi năpe năisene — hæ năme ælihăum ăkin năhele. Ăulis ităulyis ninărkim nănvanyele; dărle lălmanene hi lălnyene. Ha, ămlis idaĭlæs valărse edækidinăulis: ănvalyæs dăuhe dăule dinăulis lĕlne ăilis zănvalye ilămlis, ălnyar dăvele, hi ǣkis lĕne ĭlis diănageze: ŏmar lălnyeze, hŏnæ dăvele, zăule dinăilis. Ǣkar hŏnæ dălmaneze hi dăheve dintĭlis.

“Dănfede: diănma ivælănmis inælivĭmim, ha inăilis dănfethe dăfa -Li Ăvæs Ădæn-, ălnyalfæs zinăstanæs ănhin -Kăllæ-. Doăile lăke lăiba hi doănfe lăke lăbaka etăhevis itidintĭlis. Doăke dăire imăinim toăke tănvelne ălmanvæn, na doăke dănfe ĕlnam toăke tănvelne ăubæn — Ĭdide, ha, ăgar doănfe, imăinæ dănvele, lăbe (na lăke lăbe) ăvanis epǣrkim noănvane edǣkivălum ăginin.”

“Many tell stories, and many are the tales that have been heard of; legends of heroes and heroines, miraculous rescues and countless prodigies, opressed people that have been freed and insurrections in the hope of justice. Some of these stories talk about things that happened indeed, while others not as much; there are those that did not even happen, but their characters and events shall exist for as long as they are retold. There are also those who tell such stories purely and simply for the delight of telling them, and there are those who tell them to pass on messages; there is one, a very well known one, that says that he does not want to pass on any messages, but that he instead does so only for the pleasure of being a storyteller.

“That is not my case. I make this account with the intent of conveying a message to whomever reads it — or many messages, depending on who reads it. These messages are wayfarers that expect to find houses that open their doors to them and allow them in — may there be many able to do so. The message is meant to the good of those who read it; I want it to please them and to be useful for them. However, the delight in storytelling is not absent from this one of mine: the scribe I employ in order to pass on my message in the form of a story writes for pleasure, and I'm well aware of that, and this is why I chose him: it benefits him very much, and I am aware of that too, to pass on my tale. That way I please him as well and I fulfill my intent.

“Let me introduce myself: I have been called by many names in many places, but, in the story I present to you, I am known as the Wise Ădæn, counselor of the young king Kăllæ. I will tell what may be necessary and will show only what may be relevant to the fulfillment of my objective. I may omit some details you might consider to be interesting, or I may show some aspects you might consider to be superfluous — from my part, however, I will show only what, as I see it, has (or might have) a meaning to those who come into contact with these brief parchments.”

(From the prologue of The Legend of Ĭdharos)

Lexicon

The words shown here are those that appear in this article; for a more comprehensive list, please see the main article: Classical Ălyis lexicon.