Ălyis
Ălyis [ˈaʎis] is the language of the ĭdharash, former inhabitants of the Mĕzelis Valley, located in the southeast of the southeastern continent of Năshelas, and dwellers 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”.
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?”
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.
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” → omĕnish “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”
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”
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)
- Present tenses
- 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.”
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!”
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 ĭlate. = “This [man] was against you, but now he is for you.”
Conjunctions
All conjunctions are independent words.
| hi | and | ho | so |
| hæ | that | ha | but |
| ve | if | ĭlæ | because |
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 ævĕnish.
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
“Ælĕnish naĭle, hi ăilish nănya ǣlis nĕne; aĭlish zhinakĕnish hi shinakĕnish, ăigish ăihæn hi ăinish vanăivæn, ĕnish ăikin niălga hi ăufarish ilăhlis idălnyafis. Ænækăilish nălye idiklăsh ănvenar niăneme, ilăinæ vǣgish vĕmar; năme ǣrkish ĭnmar niăneme, ha ĕnish hi ănemish ninǣrkish noăme ilăinæ ǣrkish naĭla.”
«to be expanded»
“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
Main article: Ălyis lexicon
