Sevvufery

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Sevvufery is a language spoken by the Sevvuferýkilý of Sevvuferý, a country at the centre of contemporary maps of the fictional planet Erad. Its inhabitants are similar to humans, apart from differences in intellectual capacity. Though there has been some change in the language, not much has evolved over time, which is why this page's information was taken from a time when the language had lived for about 200 years.


Phonology

Consonants

Sevvufery has 27 consonants. Some of these are represented using two of the same letter, but they are treated as one letter in writing, and would be considered as such to a native speaker. The same applies for "ΔΓ". Where two consonants are in the same cell, the one on the left represents the voiceless version.

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal
Plosive p b t d k [k]* vv [g]
Nasal m n ɳ* ΔΓ [ŋ]
Trill r
Affricate g[ʧ] yy [dʑ]
Fricative f v å [θ] ð [ð] s [s] x [z] rr [ʃ] ii [ʒ] hh [χ] h/ʰ [h]* [ɦ]*
Lateral Fricative ∞ [ɬ]
Approximant w [ʋ] j
Lateral Approximant l

[k] is not released if preceding another consonant, even between words. For example, the phrase "nek got" (/nɛk̚ ʧɔt/) meaning "I don't know".

[n] becomes [ɳ] before another consonant.

[h] becomes [ɦ] if it is the last letter of a word. ʰ is pronounced as a weaker version of [h] and cannot appear at the start or end of words.

[ʋ] can sometimes be reduced to [ʷ] if a consonant is either before or after it. For example, the word "ywtar" (/eʷtar/) meaning "weather". Similarly, other consonants, especially in clusters, can be reduced to affecting the previous letter. As another example, the word "silnif" (/silⁿif/) meaning "son".

Letters representing consonant clusters

The cluster [ks] is represented by the letter 'z'

The cluster [zχ] is represented by the "letter" 'zz'

Monopthongs

Sevvufery uses 18 letters to represent vowel/dipthong sounds. Of these, 13 represent monopthongs. Where two sounds are included in the same row, the one on the left represents the unrounded version

Front Central Back
Close i/ý [i]* u [y] ö [u]
Near-close í [ɪ]
Close-mid y [e] ä [ɵː]
Mid õ [o̞ː]
Open-mid e [ɛ] o [ɔ]
Near-open ú [ɐ]
Open a ã [ɑː]

i and ý both make the [i] sound, but ý is pronounced [ĭ], being shorter than 'i'. the value of 'ý' also varies between just [ĭ] and [ĭʔ], with the latter being less common in normal speech but more so when someone is speaking slowly/emphatically or in works of literature.

Dipthongs

Vowel clusters are banned in Sevvufery, so other letters are used for dipthongs, as are shown below:

  • ÿ [ai]
  • ø [aɔ]
  • ë [ɛi]
  • ï [ɪi] (or, much less commmonly, [ei])
  • ü [ɐi]

Morphology

Sound clusters

Start of a word

Most sound clusters are banned at the start of words, but there are three which are permitted: kr, tr and kw, although the latter is rarely used since it would replace the "q" sound, a sound which is virtually absent in Sevvufery to begin with.

For example, in the word 'krut' (/kryt/) meaning 'synagogue'

Middle

However, in the middle of words, consonant clusters are allowed, if they are no longer than two letters (with one exception : ntr), provided that a vowel both preceeds and proceeds them.

For example, the word 'ysry' (/esre/) meaning 'voice'.

End of a word

There is some more lenience at the end of words, although not much. Again though, the clusters must not be any longer than 2 letters. The following are permitted: ns, nt, nk. And here the effect I mentioned earlier occurs, where the n shifts to being pronounced as [ɳ] because it precedes another consonant.

For example, the word 'nunk' (/nyɳk/) meaning 'to notice'.

Uses of ʰ

Vowel lengthening

Now, with the exception of 'i' and 'ý', Sevvufery does not distinguish between long and short vowels with the use of different letters. In order to lengthen another vowel, two of the same vowel are placed on either side of the letter ʰ.

For example: the word "hyliʰi" (/heliː/) meaning 'certain' or 'specific'

Although this is rare, this can also occur for vowels that are already long, so they are lengthened exaggeratedly.

For example: the word "ãʰãsi" (/ɑːːsi/) meaing 'to annoy'

Joining vowels in a very weak dipthong

The other use of ʰ is less subtle, and places more importance on its pronunciation. When two vowels occur next to each other whose dipthong is not already covered by one of the letters mentioned earlier, ʰ is used to connect these since it does act as a consonant, just a weakly pronounced one.

For example, in the word 'yʰale' (/ehalɛ/) meaning 'phase'.

affixes

Sevvufery employs the use of prefixes, suffixes, and, rarely, infixes, these can be added to a word to change its meaning, and will often change the pronunciation of the part of the new word that was inherited from its affixless form.

The most common examples of this occur with numbers, as is further explained in the section with that title. However, it can happen for regular words as well. Common patterns are shown below, along with examples:

  • Initial and/or final vowels, and even whole syllables, may be elided. For example, most words that stem from [concept + "ekil" (meaning "man" or "human being")] have elided the initial [ε] of ekil. This is reflected in spelling.
  Thus, for example, "uhiju" (music) becomes "uhijukil" (music-man, i.e musician). 
This kind of elision also tends to occur for concepts related to "silif" (child), "neftam"(sibling), "gëhom" (parent), "ibajo" (its meaning is further covered in the section Regular Nouns and Adjectives) and many others.
  • Consonant and vowel clusters tend towards a monophthong – with some exceptions.
  Hence, the archaic form of the number 126, "oiidojxis"*, becomes "oiioyyis": [d] is elided after [ʒ], and [ɔjz]/[ɔiz] is reduced and palatalised to [ɔdʑ]
  • As just mentioned, consonants following [ʒ] are usually elided.
  "dúiijad"* (red stone) becomes "dúiiad": [j] is elided such that [ʒj] becomes [ʒ], so /dɐʒad/
  • Consonants before [j] are usually elided, EXCEPT FOR [s].
  "sut" (obvious) + "jak" (certain) becomes "sujak" from "sutjak"*: [t] is elided such that [tj] becomes [j]. 
  Note: the ablative of this noun (more on this in the next section) is used as a means of saying "surely" (because the ablative of this means, approximately, "in an obviously certain way", which is close to "surely").
  • Sometimes, two consonants may be joined together which do not fit, such as [ʧ]+[t] ([ʧt is difficult to pronounce for the average Sevvuferýkil]). What usually happens in this case is that a short [ɵ] is added inbetween. Due to the limitations of Sevvuferyn phonology, this [ɵ] lengthens over time to [ɵː]
  "õnf-" (from "onÿfunk", meaning "to defend") + "ry" (thing) becomes "õnfäry": an extra [ɵː] was added to prevent a cluster of three sounds, [ɳfr], as this would not fit with Sevvuferyn phonology. Thus, [o̞ːɳfre] became [o̞ːɳfɵːre].

Grammar

Nouns and Adjectives

Nouns in Sevvufery employ a highly inflectional structure, where each case, apart from the nominative singular, is marked with a suffix. Adjectives precede the noun they describe, and must agree with it in number, but not in case (so, for example, an adjective in the dative plural does not need to be followed by a noun in the dative plural, but the noun must still be in the plural form, and not the singular). This will be explained further in the section 'Articles' burden'. All nouns and adjectives decline differently depending on whether they end in a consonant, or a vowel.

Regular nouns

Nouns in Sevvufery can have eight cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, possessive*, dative, ablative, locative, resultant, which serve the following purposes:

The Nominative acts as the subject of the sentence. Some prepositions, such as "nas" meaning "against", are followed by the nominative.

The Accusative acts as the object of a sentence.

The Genitive indicates possession, as does the Possessive, but the latter can be combined with any case, to achieve meanings such as 'of my' or 'to his' etc.

The Dative can be used in either a locative sense, or to indicate the recipient of an action.

The Ablative can be used in four different ways:

  1. By itself, without an article. In this case, it means 'in' or 'on'
  2. By itself, with an article. Either the article is in the ablative, or the noun is, but it is the presence In this case, it indicates an instrumental sense (i.e 'by [insert noun]')
  3. With the word 'ibajo', without an article. In this case, it means 'from' or 'out of'
  4. With the word 'ibajo', with an article. In this case, it means 'with', both in an instrumental sense and in a sense of companionship.

The Locative indicates a locational sense where the observer is 'at' their destination. So, indeed, it means 'at [insert noun]'

The Resultant has two uses:

  1. Following comparatives, to achieve the meaning 'than [insert noun]'
  2. Indirect statements, to achieve the meaning 'that [insert noun]'
Consonant Vowel
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative - - -jý
Accusative -en -ýjen -mon -kýmon
Genitive -ime -ölig -jetöd -zze
Possessive -tel
Dative -aiiu -ajahh -fodyl -kömë
Ablative -ymal -ýmal -byn -býn
Locative -gúd -mød -úd -ød
Resultant -ymuvv -imuvv -bylø -belø

Adjectives

Adjectives decline in the exact same way as regular nouns, so that will not be covered in this section.

Table of Contractions

Letter e-contraction i-contraction ú-contraction
a y ÿ ø
ä ä ú o
e e i í
ö õ u ö

ë, ï and ü have not been included here, since they would just be reduced to e + j, í + j, and ú + j respectively, after which they follow the consonant endings.

Rules of formation

Although adjectives may end in any consonant, they cannot end in any vowel. Only the following are permitted, due to the way this plays into comparatives, superlatives and absolutives, having mentioned the table of contractions in the previous section: a, ä, e, ë, ï, ö, ü.

Comparative

This is the mode adjectives take in order to, well, compare nouns to others, as is the case for many natural languages. Comparatives decline like regular adjectives. They are formed by adding -egan to consonant endings, and adding the e-contracted version of the last vowel of the adjective + gan if the adjective ends in a vowel. Refer to the Table of Contractions. Comparatives are followed by the resultant case to achieve the meaning 'than [insert object]'

For example, "dögegan TËIRymuvv mo."

I am better than him.


Superlative

This is the mode adjectives take only to indicate a substantial amount of the adjective's quality, not per se to indicate the highest possible amount of it. The latter function is taken up by the absolutive.

The Sevvuferyn superlative is formed by adding either '-ivvino' to adjectives ending in consonants, or the adjective's last vowel's i-contracted version + -vvino to adjectives ending in vowels.


Take this sentence, for example:

Oheå sytejýn dögivvino soran.
Oheå sytejýn dögivvino soran
This bread good.SUPER be.IND.ACT.3rd.SING

This bread is very good.

Absolutive

As mentioned previously, adjectives take this mode to indicate the highest possible amount of an adjective's quality. They are formed either by adding 'úme' to adjectives ending in consonants, or by adding the adjective's last vowel's ú-contracted version + -me to adjectives ending in vowels.

For example:

Soran et nagríme Sevvuferÿl* ediga.
Soran et nagríme Sevvuferÿl ediga
be.IND.ACT.3rd.SING the.NOM.SING big.ABS Sevvuferý.ABL.SING bridge.NOM.SING

It is the biggest bridge in Sevvuferý.

*you may notice that the ablative of 'Sevvuferý' is not what you would expect. This is covered in the section "Irregular Terminations of 'Sevvuferý' and 'Sevvufery'"

Numbers

Number System

The way Sevvufery deals with numbers is... more mathematical than most languages can be bothered to include. But to begin, the numbers 0-10 are just direct translations (and the ordinals are also shown here):

English Sevvufery Sevvuferyn ordinal
zero nihilil nihilal
one oiienzzi oiienal
two dojeni dojenal
three trezeni trezenal
four ereja erejal
five kwinkwa kwinkwal
six xis xisal
seven pente pentejal
eight ohhoj ohhojal
nine xande xandejal
ten zortýn zortyjal

However, for numbers greater than 10, Sevvufery actually just says the digits, in base 10, of the number, starting with the biggest. However, it does not use these forms of said numbers. It uses the shortened stems instead. The other stems which are shown here will be explained afterwards, but here is a list of said stems:

Number Shortened stem(s) Root
nihilil níh,* ní,* íh,* í* n/a
oiienzzi oii o
dojeni doj id
trezeni trez ter
ereja erej er
kwinkwa kwin ki
xis xit i
pente pen e
ohhoj ohh y
xande xan ax
zortýn n/a zo

Those for 0 will vary based on the phonetics of the numbers before and after it. For example, 204 is dojíhereja, but 505 is pekwinkwa. Granted, the "n" here was already part of the shortened stem for the number 5, but the stem is still different in that it does not have the "h" that the stem in dojíhereja had.

Another useful thing to note is that this does not apply to multiples of ten. For these, we simply add -anos to the shortened stems (and -anal for the ordinal form).

For multiples of 100, we add -oðe to the shortened stems, with the exception of 100 itself, which has the name 'xendato' (ordinal: xendatal)

And for greater numbers, we use this formula:

S + R + -mil

Where S is the shortened stem and R is the root, or combination of roots. ʰ will sometimes be necessary in said combination.

For example, the current estimate for the number of atoms in the universe, in Sevvufery, is 'xendatidimil' (/zɛndatidimil/) which can be broken down into 'xendat' + 'id' 'i' + mil i.e 100 x 10^3(20 + 6) or 10^78 x 10^2, which equals 10^80

Cases

Although numbers have an almost completely different declination system to regular nouns, they also do not decline for the accusative singular and plural. This can lead to some ambiguity, as, for example, the sentence "trezeni ivvuåÿhe" can mean either "three [people/beings] understand" or "they understand three [people/beings]". Granted, this can be avoided in most cases by switching the word order for the second example, and leaving the first to be understood from context.

Vowel Consonant
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative - -mý - -emý
Accusative - -mý - -emý
Genitive -jÿ -mlÿ -ÿ -emÿ
Dative -lo -lmo -ilo -emo
Ablative -byn -býn -ymal -ýmal
Locative
Resultant -eΔΓ -eΔΓý -eΔΓ -eΔΓý

Note that for the locative and resultant, vowel and consonant endings are the same. This is because, if the number ends in a vowel, said vowel is lost in place of the ending: for example, "ereja" becomes "erejú" in the locative singular.

Combining Cases with the Possessive

Remember how there are two ways to express possession in Sevvufery? Well, the possessive can, as stated earlier, be combined with other cases. It declines like any regular noun that ends in a consonant, but the stem now has "-tel" added to it.

For example, the word "nostelymuvv" (/nɔstɛlemyg/), meaning "that the king's".

For plural subjects, the letter 'ý' is added before '-tel' to the stem. Thus, for the plural form of the same word, we have "nosýtelymuvv" (/nɔsĭtɛlemyg/) meaning "that the kings'".

Articles' burden

This refers to the fact that, in Sevvufery, the definite and indefinite articles do not need to agree with the noun they describe, similar to adjectives, in case. They will need to agree in number, however. Thus, you might as well say that the article "takes the burden" of the case upon itself so that the following noun does not have to.

This also applies to the 2nd and 4th uses of the ablative (see the section Regular Nouns for more information).

For example: Sytejýnen gafus (I eat bread) becomes "eten sytejýn gafus (I eat the bread).

Irregular Terminations of 'Sevvuferý' and 'Sevvufery'

These irregularities are due to the influence of neighbouring languages such as North-East Sevvufery and Cathlushenian, since those humans would more commonly use these words than the Sevvuferýkilý.

Sevvuferý Sevvufery +possessive
Nominative Sevvuferý Sevvufery n/a
Accusative Sevvuferýj Sevvuferyj n/a
Genitive Sevvuferýn Sevvuferyn SevvuferýΔΓ SevvuferyΔΓ
Possessive Sevvuferýn Sevvuferyn n/a
Dative Sevvuferým Sevvuferem Sevvuferýmní Sevvuferymne
Ablative Sevvuferyl Sevvuferÿl Sevvuferýle Sevvuferyle
Locative Sevvuferu Sevvuferø Sevvuferun Sevvuferøn
Resultant Sevvuferýd Sevvuferyd Sevvuferýnde Sevvuferynde

Verbs

Sevvuferyn verbs fall into four categories, and these have distinctly different endings. The standard form used for study, and for giving explanations about verbs, is the present infinitive.

Simplest verb

Historically, this was the first word added to Sevvufery, when its first ruler had just arrived and before the language merged with those of its neighbours. It means 'to' but without indicating what the action is. It declines irregularly and its present tense is the source of Sevvuferyn pronouns. 'Yr' (/er/) was originally the present tense infinitive, but over time that has contracted into 'yk' (/ek/). A table of the past and future tenses will be shown below ― since the pronouns are, well, nouns, these will be omitted, being the present tense of 'yk'.


Past Future
INFINITIVE arre kyzzø
1st person singular errø ixo
2nd person singular rrolú jilu
3rd person singular minzze dizz
1st person plural ösö ximar
2nd person plural rrúntis kyzzö
3rd person plural zzøme ezzi

Since Sevvufery can turn verbs into participles in the present, past and future (as is shown in the section Participles), these will also be shown here.

Active Passive
Present nin ne*
Past sa kaå*
Future bölyb böleb*


*The passive forms of these participles are actually used as the participles for the word 'si' (to be), since they technically align in meaning.

Indicative Mood

Nothing unusual to see here. This is just what you would expect, the mood used to indicate a statement or fact.

Active Voice

Present Tenses

Let us begin with something basic, the Simple Present Tense. The four example verbs mean "to appear (in the sense of making an apparition, not as a synonym of "to seem")", "to say", "to go", and "to notice", respectively, and these will also be used as examples for all other tenses. The parts in bold are the endings, whereas the regular parts indicate the stem.

1st conjugation 2nd conjugation 3rd conjugation 4th conjugation
Infinitive apar ysi nigon nunk
1st person singular apa ys* nigot nul
2nd person singular apal ysora nigo nu
3rd person singular apansí ysoran nigotamunt numan
1st person plural aparamnes ysoranos nigotus nuta
2nd person plural aparasí ysojilo nigotis nutys
3rd person plural aparante ysorajyn nigotinen nuåÿhe
*some verbs instead use the ending -mo for the 1st person singular, which is also the irregular 1st person singular form of the verb "si". Verbs that do this are either those that combine prepositions with it (e.g "tiposi" (to be present) --> "tipomo") or verbs for which the stem would otherwise contain two consonants (e.g "pelsi" (to sleep) --> "pels"* --> "pelmo").

The verb "si", meaning "to be", belongs in the second declension. However, aside from its irregular participles, it can also be used to form compound and continuous tenses through what are called mutations. Below are the present ones, which are used for the following tenses:

Present continuous

Perfect

Near-Future

And these work in what I would consider to be a very intuitive way: first the stem includes a participle of the first part of this tense (think about the imperfect in English, for example: "I was" is part of the ending, and "doing" is part of the stem), such that the present continuous is literally "doing I am", the perfect is "having done I am", and the near-future is "about to do I am", when transliterated.

mutation
vowel consonant
1st person singular -s* -ís
2nd person singular -ra -a
3rd person singular -ran -an
1st person plural -nos -os
2nd person plural -ilõ*
3rd person plural -jyn -y
  * in the Perfect Tense, the first person singular is actually contracted from "ås" (θs) to "z" (ks), because the former would not be permitted in Sevvufery.
 * -ilõ starting with a vowel will cause the verbs formed to have a dipthong. For example, in the word "nösÿlõ" (/nusailo̞ː/) meaning "you all have noticed"
Past Tenses

Now Sevvufery has two Simple Past tenses – the Past Tense and the Historic Conditional – and five Compound Past tenses – the Imperfect Tense, the Perfect Tense, the Pluperfect Tense, the Future Perfect Tense and the Past Future Tense. The Historic Conditional Tense has its own section, therefore this one will be dedicated to the Past Tense.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE apavvÿ yse nigovõ nö
1st person singular apavv ysele nigov nuv
2nd person singular apavves yselen nigova nöiieb
3rd person singular apavven yseres nigovali nöΔΓo
1st person plural apavvemes ysemas nigovolis nönuwös
2nd person plural apavvejos ysejil nigovolon nödeg
3rd person plural apavvenÿ yserelin nigovalens nöna


And the mutations, used for the following tenses:

Imperfect (was doing)

Pluperfect (had done)

Near-Future Past (was about to do)

Mutation
Vowel Consonant
1st person singular -le -e
2nd person singular -len -en
3rd person singular -res -es
1st person plural -mas -as
2nd person plural -il
3rd person plural -lín -ín
Historic Conditional Tense

Now, this tense is NOT to be confused with the regular conditional, used for probable events. This tense is used to describe what would usually happen in the past, if you are speaking from the present. An example in English is "when he was sick, I would visit him in the hospital" or "If we had too much, we would usually give some of them back". Note the use of the word "usually" which is, pun not intended, usually used with this tense in English.

This is the only simple tense to have no infinitive and no participle, and its endings are slightly irregular, especially in the plural forms.

1st Conjugation 2nd conjugation 3rd conjugation 4th conjugation
1st person singular apagø ysyle nigorro nüne
2nd person singular apagøne ysyla nigorrimo nújä
3rd person singular apagi ysysyn nigoðo nújø
1st person plural apagolmes ysemys nigoðäm numo
2nd person plural aparëni yselyn nigorri nunhi
3rd person plural apahýnÿ ysinyju nigomä niiie
Future tenses

There is one simple future tense, and there are 5 compound future tenses, the Future Continuous Tense, Future Perfect Tense, Near-Future Tense, Near-Future Past Tense and the Near-Future Future Tense. The simple future conjugations are shown below.

1st conjugation 2nd conjugation 3rd conjugation 4th conjugation
INFINITIVE apariiii y nigopobyn nÿm
1st person singular apari ysýly nigopot nÿje
2nd person singular aparite ysýlan nigopolo nÿmena
3rd person singular aparimam ysýlal nigoponis nÿkada
1st person plural aparimamos ysýnamis nigopoterem nÿmos
2nd person plural aparinat ysýlol nigopotitis nÿlyn
3rd person plural aparinoj ysýryjun nigopoja nÿsija

And the mutations, used for the following tenses:

Future Continuous

Future Perfect

Near-Future Future

Mutation
Vowel Consonant
1st person singular -lý ýl
2nd person singular -lýn -ýn
3rd person singular -lal -al
1st person plural -mis -is
2nd person plural -ol*
3rd person plural -jun -un


* e + ol becomes 'el'

Passive Voice

Now, the passive voice is the same as its active counterpart, but this time the subject has the action done to it, rather than it doing the action. This is similar to most languages that have a passive voice. In the tables below, "nigon" (to go) has been replaced with "donon" (to give), because the latter makes more sense as having a passive form. Same goes for "apar" (to appear, make an apparition) being replaced with "myr" (to think, consider)

Present Tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE myåÿ ysoåÿ donoteåÿ nuåÿ
1st person singular mynawo ysonawo donotawo nunawo
2nd person singular mynawö ysonawö donotawö nunawö
3rd person singular mynada ysonada donotada nunada
1st person plural mynas ysonas donotas nunas
2nd person plural mynetas ysonetas donotetas nunetas
3rd person plural mynonas ysononas donotonas nunonas
Past Tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE mykåÿ yseåÿ donoveåÿ nöåÿ
1st person singular myvvawo ysenawo donovawo nönawo
2nd person singular myvvawö ysenawö donovawö nönawö
3rd person singular myvvada ysenada donovada nönada
1st person plural myvvas ysenas donovas nönas
2nd person plural mynetas ysenetas donovetas nönetas
3rd person plural mynonas ysenonas donovonas nönonas

Note that [g] is reduced to unreleased [k̚] before another consonant, hence the spelling of the 2nd declension infinitive is with 'k' even though 'vv' would be expected.

Historic Conditional Tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1st person singular myjegawo ysyjenawo donoðarrawo núiiinawo
2nd person singular myjegawö ysyjenawö' donoðarrawö núiiinawö
3rd person singular myjegada ysyjenada donoðarrada núiiinada
1st person plural myjegas y'syjenas donoðarras núiiinas
2nd person plural myjegetas ysyjenetas donoðarretas núiiinetas
3rd person plural myjegonas ysyjenonas donoðarronas núiiinonas


For the 4th declension formation, "úiiin" is a combination of "ú" + "ii" + "in", thus /ɐʒin/

Future Tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE myriåÿ ysýåÿ donopeåÿ nÿåÿ
1st person singular myrinawo ysýnawo donopawo nÿnawo
2nd person singular myrinawö ysýnawö donopawö nÿnawö
3rd person singular myrinada ysýnada donopada nÿnada
1st person plural myrinas ysýnas donopas nÿnas
2nd person plural myrinetas ysýnetas donopetas nÿnetas
3rd person plural myrinonas ysýnonas donoponas nÿnonas

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive is used to state a possibility, i.e what one 'might' do in a situation. Unlike some languages, Sevvufery distinguishes between the Future Subjunctive Tense and the 'Present Subjunctive Tense, as will be shown later.

It is formed by taking the genitive of the future participle as the stem, and adding mutations to it to determine tense and person.

Active voice vs Passive voice

This time, there is no separate section for the active and passive voice. The reason is that the only difference between them is that for the passive, the stem of the future passive participle is used instead of the future active. The difference between these two is a single letter: "bolybime" for the active stem and "bölebime" for the passive stem.

Present tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE apariiiibölybar ysýbölybiʰi nigopobynbölybon nÿmbölybunk
1st person singular apariiiibölybimes ysýbölybimes nigopobynbölybimes nÿmbölybimes
2nd person singular apariiiibölybimera ysýbölybimera nigopobynbölybimera nÿmbölybimera
3rd person singular apariiiibölybimeran ysýbölybimeran nigopobynbölybimeran nÿmbölybimeran
1st person plural apariiiibölybimenos ysýbölybimenos nigopobynbölybimenos nÿmbölybimenos
2nd person plural apariiibölybimëlõ ysýbölybimëlõ nigopobynbölybimëlõ nÿmbölybimëlõ
3rd person plural apariiiibölybimejyn ysýbölybimejyn nigopobynbölybimejyn nÿmbölybimejyn


   e + i = ë
Past tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE apariiiibölybavvÿ ysýbölybeʰe nigopobynbölybovõ nÿmbölybö
1st person singular apariiiibölybimele ysýbölybimele nigopobynbölybimele nÿmbölybimele
2nd person singular apariiiibölybimelen ysýbölybimelen nigopobynbölybimelen nÿmbölybimelen
3rd person singular apariiiibölybimeres ysýbölybimeres nigopobynbölybimeres nÿmbölybimeres
1st person plural apariiiibölybimemas ysýbölybimemas nigopobynbölybimemas nÿmbölybimemas
2nd person plural apariiiibölybimël ysýbölybimël nigopobynbölybimël nÿmbölybimël
3rd person plural apariiiibölybimelín ysýbölybimelín nigopobynbölybimelín nÿmbölybimelín
Future tense
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
INFINITIVE apariiiibölybiiii ysýbölybijý nigopobynbölybopobyn nÿmbölybÿm
1st person singular apariiiibölybimelý ysýbölybimelý nigopobynbölybimelý nÿmbölybimelý
2nd person singular apariiiibölybimelýn ysýbölybimelýn nigopobynbölybimelýn nÿmbölybimelýn
3rd person singular apariiiibölybimelal ysýbölybimelal nigopobynbölybimelal nÿmbölybimelal
1st person plural apariiiibölybimemis ysýbölybimemis nigopobynbölybimemis nÿmbölybimemis
2nd person plural apariiiibölybimel ysýbölybimel nigopobynbölybimel nÿmbölybimel
3rd person plural apariiiibölybimejun ysýbölybimejun nigopobynbölybimejun nÿmbölybimejun

Uses

As mentioned previously, Sevvufery distinguishes between the present and future subjunctive, which other languages, as far as I am aware, do not often do. Therefore, this and other features of the Sevvuferyn subjunctive will be discussed here.

The Present Subjunctive Tense is used for possibilities that exist in the present, in relation to when they are said.

For example, "GËÏRaiiu mixødopobynbölybimenos" (we might be helping you (right now)).


The Future Subjunctive Tense is used for possibilities that will exist in the future, in relation to where they are said. This is most familiar to many languages that use the subjunctive

For example, "hhanok bankaiiu nigopobynbölybimelý" (I might go to the bank today (later today i.e in the future))


The Past Subjunctive is used retrospectively, in regards to possibilities that may have existed previously, but for which a decision has already been made.

For example, "TËÏRen syjosýbölybimelín" (they could have saved her (in the past)).

There is no pluperfect subjunctive. Instead, other constructions are used to convey a similar meaning, such as the use of the word "tyfin" (meaning "maybe" or "perhaps").]


There is another use for the subjunctive, and that is with the word "wylin" (meaning "because", when the reason is uncertain). This achieves a meaning close to "for... to happen".

For example, "Nezigen tetamon evönuwös wylin vvyvitøpobynbölybimenos".
Literally meaning "We did not have enough food that we might survive" which can be translated as "we did not have enough food for us to survive."

If the Past Subjunctive were used instead, the result is "Nezigen tetamon evönuwös wylin vvyvitøpobynbölybimemas".
Literally meaning "We did not have enough food that we might have survived" i.e "we did not have enough food for us to have survived."

If the Future Subjunctive were used instead, the result is "Nezigen tetamon evönuwös wylin vvyvitøpobynbölybimemis".
Literally meaning "We did not have enough food that we might survive (in the future)" i.e "we did not have enough food for us to be about to survive".

Imperative Mood

Positive vs Negative Imperative

In Sevvufery, the way to give a negative command is simply with a different ending. Although one could use the word "nek" (not) to convey this meaning, the former method is quicker and much more common among the Sevvuferýkilý. Positive imperatives indicate a regular command, and are more familiar to speakers of most languages.

Below are the endings.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
POSITIVE ACTIVE apareto! ysoben! nigotant! nalate!
POSITIVE PASSIVE apagome! ysogome! nigotogome! nugome!
NEGATIVE ACTIVE aparento! yseben! nigonent! nelate!
NEGATIVE PASSIVE apanege! ysonege! nigotenege! nunege!

Single vs Repeated imperative

This is the only part of Sevvuferyn grammar where aspect plays a role. This feature was heavily inspired by Ancient Greek's aorist imperatives, as will be shown below.

The two aspects present are the Continuous Aspect and the Individual Aspect. Their names speak for themselves: the former is used to convey a command that should be repeated over time, whereas the latter is used for a command that is to be repeated once. Unlike Ancient Greek, the Individual Aspect is shown by the Future Imperative, not a past tense imperative. Since the Continuous Aspect has already been shown in the previous section, below are the formations for the Individual Aspect.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
POSITIVE ACTIVE aparit! ysýb! nigopõ! nÿl!
POSITIVE PASSIVE aparigome! ysýgome! nigopogome nÿgome
NEGATIVE ACTIVE aparint! ysifne! nigonpõ! nÿn!
NEGATIVE PASSIVE aparinege! ysýnege! nigoponege! nÿnege!

General Mood

This construction is used for all kinds of sayings where, for example, the word "one" would be used in English. For example:

"One does not ask the richest man for one's own personal needs."

Note that the pronoun for 'one' in Sevvufery is "LËÏR" (/lεjɪir/), which will be useful for conditional phrases.

The way to form this construction in Sevvufery is to lengthen all the vowels of the ending of the 3rd person singular form of the verb. For example, to turn the word "apansí" (it appears) into the general mood, do NOT lengthen the first 'a' because that is still part of the stem. The stem 'ap' is left alone, but every other vowel is lengthened. Thus, the resulting verb is "apaʰansíʰí" (/apaːɳsɪː/)

For the 3rd declension, do not lengthen the first 'o' of the ending, because even amongst the Sevvuferýkilý it is not certain whether this should be included in the stem, or in the ending.

This works the same way for the past and future tense, as well as the historic conditional tense. However, this form does not exist for the compound tenses.

For example, "nöΔΓο" (it noticed) becomes "nöʰöΔΓoʰo" (nuːŋɔː) (one noticed); "ysysyn" (it would say) becomes "ysyʰysyʰyn" (/eseːseːn/) (one would say); and "nÿkada" (it will notice) becomes "nÿkaʰadaʰa" (/naikaːdaː/) (one will notice).
Notice, no pun intended, that the dipthong /ai/ is not lengthened, because it is already a long syllable to begin with, like all other dipthongs.

Participles

Participles exist in three tenses (present, past and future), two voices(active and passive), and one mood (subjunctive). Their uses will be shown later, but for now, here are the formations, which are each formed using the infinitive of a given tense, sometimes with a few modifiers for ease of pronunciation. Note that Sevvufery does not distinguish between long and short consonants, so any two that would go together are written and said as a single consonant. For example, this is why you will see that the 3rd conjugation's present participle is "nigonin" and not "nigonnin*"

Formation

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Present Active apanin ysinin nigonin nunin
Present Passive apane ysine nigone nune
Past Active apavvÿsa ysesa nigovõsa nösa
Past Passive apavvÿkaå ysekaå nigovõkaå nökaå
Future Active apariiiibölyb ysýbölyb nigopobynbölyb nÿmbölyb
Future Passive apariiiiböleb ysýböleb nigopobynböleb nÿmböleb

Cases

The Past Active and Past Passive participles of the 4th conjugation will be shown here as examples, but this pattern is the same for participles of all tenses, only varying based on whether their last letter is a vowel or consonant.

nösa nökaå
Nominative Singular nösa nökaå
Plural nösa nökaåý
Accusative Singular nösa nökaå
Plural nösa nökaåý
Genitive Singular nösajetöd nökaåime
Plural nösazze nökaåölig
Possessive (Obsolete) Singular nösatel nökaåel/nökaåtel
Plural nösajýtel nökaåýtel
Dative Singular nösafodyl nökaåaiiu
Plural nösakömë nökaåajahh
Ablative Singular nösabyn nökaåymal
Plural nösabýn nökaåýmal
Locative Singular nösagúd nökaåúd
Plural nösamød nökaåød
Resultant Singular nösabylø nökaåymuvv
Plural nösabelø nökaåimuvv

Adjectival use and Temporal use

Now, all these cases are nice, but useless without, well, a use. And in Sevvufery, the way participles work changes with how they are used. They can be used in a temporal sense (i.e having destroyed the temple, the men laughed) or an adjectival sense (they looked at the [having been] destroyed temple). The latter is the only use for which participles decline, but for the former there is no changing of the participle: after all, the participle is describing an action, not an object. Thus, why would it need to agree with the doer of the action?

Here are some more examples:

Tüsä urökaå gafusenada.

The food, having been found, was eaten (no conjugation, because participle describes time and manner of action, so not linked to food specifically).

Gafuserelin eten etyldovõkaåime syjve tüsa.

We ate the food of the destroyed tree (participle conjugated as an adjective would be, because of specific link to tree).

Forming conditional phrases

When used with either of the words "fy" (if) or "eiiet" (yet, until now), a Future Participle can be used to achieve the meaning of "I would do..." and a Past Participle can be used to achieve the meaning "I would have done..." Here, the structure of the tense is more akin to an analytical language, like English, although Sevvuferyn structure usually does not behave in this way. In other words, you will need the pronoun of the

Here are some examples.

"Fy nekøkaåil kaåes, sut ekýl nekøkaåil RËÏR fy ãlnyzesa" (if you had been a foreigner, we would have treated you as a foreigner).

"Fy MËÏR fy pøwopobynbölyb ËÏRen ãʰãsora, fifif nek ËÏR fy böleb" (If you 'would stop annoying me, I would not be angry)!

Resultant Absolute

This carries the same meaning as latin's ablative absolute and ancient greek's genitive absolute (with... being done/having been done/about to be done, etc.). However, its formation is different, because only the participles adopt an absolutive form. Frankly, the reason for naming it the "resultant absolute" is simply that the endings resemble those of the resultant case.


1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Present Active apanym ysinym nigonym nunym
Present Passive apanuvv ysinuvv nigonuvv nunuvv
Past Active apavvÿsøg ysesøg nigovõsøg nösøg
Past Passive apavvÿkøå ysekøå nigovõkøå nökøå
Future Active apariiiibõly ysýbõly nigopobynbõly nÿmbõly
Future Passive apariiiibõle ysýbõle nigopobynbõle nÿmbõle

Other Features

Fylyn... Nalyn...

This construction is used when wanting to say things like "the more one asks, the more one shall receive".

There are two ways to use it.

The first involves using a comparative adjective after either word, in which case it is "the more greatly..."
For example, "Fylyn sutegan tünen ibenu, nalyn tuninegan tiposýnada."

"The more obviously I show interest, the more interesting it will become."

The second neglects the use of an adjective, in which case the meaning of "the more often..." is achieved.

To illustrate this, a translation of the first phrase into Sevvufery is shown. Note that the general mood is used here, which lengthens the vowel of the 3rd person singular form.

"Fylyn agaʰansíʰí, nalyn suwopoʰoniʰis".