Dalcurian Language Homepage

This article is a work in progress.
The contents may be tentative, incomplete, inaccurate, in need of elaboration, subject to later revision, or just plain sketchy.

As a courtesy, if you are not the author of the article, please do not make edits to this article while this message is displayed.

Overview

First of all, through my own experiences, I have purposely used only basic grammar terminology in this article, and I have also included brief descriptions of grammatical words and expressions in each respective sections. This is because I want newcomers to conlanging not to feel intimidated by heavy terminology and explanations. As I can remember when I first began to create dal'qörian, I was very confused with 'intense, grammatical explanations'. Of course, when creating a language, one must have some understanding of grammar to begin with, however, for the above reasons I have written this article in simple English.
I should also state that most of the examples and references here are based in comparison to the English language.

dal'qörian (pronounced: dal-koo-ree-yan) is a 3 year old conlang invented by myself (Rivendale). It's basic style is Indo-European, and although mainly arbitrarily invented, many words are drawn from English, German, Welsh, Cornish and Latin. To date, the language is fully functional, with a dictionary of around 10,000 references, words and phrases, idioms, (including a small colloquial element), fully grammatical, and the language also includes around 400 'dal'qörian' people's names. All the countries of the world have also been 'dal'qöranized, (as in anglisized).
The language actually sounds like a hybrid of Romance and eastern European languages. Here is a quick taster:

ela mantábel, am gravætas ön jerandel, nämambr eƒragörädn ön equahörädn.

éren Þöldr, máriÞ resæÞámn ön qevésenámn, néba qväombr,, ön, máriÞ ela, am perös qve beröjelperös, agöentr.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

They should be endowed with reason and conscience and act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Style

dal'qörian is a 'rhotic' language; the letter 'r' is pronounced after every vowel. It's pronounciation is very deliberate. In fact, by and large, dal'qörian is quite formal; it has no 'slang' form, although there is a small colloquial element to it.

I created this language out of my interest in Elvish. I became fascinated with Lord of the Rings when the films were released. With that, I started studying the Quenyan alphabet and learned to write using the Tengwar system. I've also studied German for the last 3 years. Through learning German, I 're-educated' myself in English grammar and around the same time began to create dal'qörian.
Initially, I wanted dal'qörian to sound like Elvish, to be spoken with a 'flowing tongue' if you like. However, as it developed, I guess it took on its own flavour and sounds-which is fine by me; it gives it its own character then.

Alphabet and pronunciation


letter	letter name	pronunciation
a	al	as in cat
b	bri	as in bat
c	ca	as in cat
d	da	as in day
e	era	as in end
f	ƒe	as in fall
g	géø	see special pronounciation
h	hal	as in hat
i	il	as in kill
j	öja	as in the French name Jean
l	lá	as in like
m	ma	as in man
n	na	as in not
o	ol	as in top
p	pä	as in pat
q	qöc	as in 'k' in kick
qu	q'qöa	as in quick
r	ræ	see special pronunciation
s	siri	as in sit
t	tø	as in take
v	vála	as in van
x	séca	as in wax
y	yenta	see special pronounciation

special vowels and characters


letter	letter name	pronunciation
ä	äli	as in 'ey' in they (see also special pronunciation)
á	áli	long as in bar
é	éga	long as in feel
ö	öli	long as in cool
ø	ø	as in German doch
æ	æ	as in the 'i' in find
Þ	eÞ	th as in bath but not in the

special pronunciations

g is pronounced hard at the beginning and middle of a word, like g in get but soft at the end of a word,like g in the German word swanzig.
r is an alveolar trill. Its place of articulation is alveolar which means it is articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge (or just behind the top teeth). It can be likened to the way in which a Scottish person with a strong accent would say great, straight, road, etc.
ä is pronounced like the ey in they. However, at the end of a word, or where it is separated by a high apostrophe, it is pronounced 'ey ya'.
y is always pronounced as the English upper case 'y'.
q on its own is only found at the beginning of a word, including words that are separated by a high apostrophe, as in dal’qörian or qatáj-cat, and is always pronounced like an English 'k'.
c only appears in the middle or end of a word such as qurvecsár-to annoy and dörac-through, and is sounded like an English hard 'c'.
x is used only to denote a negative word and attaches to the end of a verb. (see verbs and negatives)

As well as being a 'rhotic' lanuage, dal'qörian is also PHONETIC; its spoken exactly as it is written. Once you have learned to pronounce the letters, speaking and reading dal'qörian should be relatively easy. For example, dal'qörian is pronounced dal-koo-ree-yan. Here are a few more examples, in syllabic form, to give you a flavour of how words sound:


dal'qörian	meaning	phonetic pronunciation
strömi	hot	stroo-mi
binä	I/Iam	bin-Aya
stæcnáÞrädn	thankless	sty-kun-arth-rey-dun
ädiáda	yesterday	ey-dee-ar-da
yenø	immense	why-en-och
ødérämös	steadiness	och-dee-rey-mooss
qsendaréø	scenario	ku-send-a-ree-och
embáragadöraj	puppy	em-bar-ra-gad-oo-raj
siagentöj	aunty	see-a-gent-ooj

Grammar

Adjectives

Many adjectives in English have recognizable endings such as: able/ible, al, ful, ic, ive,less, ous. However, there are many adjectives that do not have specific endings, for example, colours. The past participle of verbs can also be used as adjectives. For example, in the sentence, "He was abandoned as a child", abandoned is the past participle of the verb abandon, but in the sentence, "He was an abandoned child", abandoned becomes an adjective because it describes an attribute of the noun child.

dal’qörian has no specific endings for adjectives except:

When the past participle of a verb is used as an adjective (looses the prefix gä’ and adds the suffix ädn)
When an adjective has a relative verb (formed by adding the suffix ädn to an infinitive):


infinitive	past participle	adjective
námbr-to abandon	gä’námbr-abandoned	námbrädn-abandoned
qurivecsár-to anger	gä’qurivecsár-angered	qurivecsárädn-angry
tsöcr-to touch	gä’tsöcr-touched	tsöcrädn-touched

example text:

mæ gä’námbr di arangájel qve mæöra. He abandoned his children.
mæ ni námbrädn arangáj. He is an abandoned child.
Jödran gä’tsöcr di gæatéj qve diöra. Jordan touched your guitar.
binä, gerödn taÞ Þonábrämös, disiri tsöcrädn. I'm very touched by that gesture.
diö gä’ábravecsár binöra. You have angered me.
binä qurivecsárädn. I'm angry.

Comparison of adjectives

In English, many adjectives are compared by adding the suffixes er and est with the definite article the:


absolute	comparative	superlative
fast	faster	the fastest
late	later	the latest

Another way of comparing adjectives is with more and the most:


absolute	comparative	superlative
achievable	more achievable	the most achievable
advanced	more advanced	the most advanced

In dal'qörian, both of these constructions are rendered with the prefix te with words beginning with a consonant, and tev with those beginning with a vowel:


absolute	comparative	superlative
araciev-late	tev'araciev-later	di tev'araciev-the latest
bracödrädn-achievable	te'bracödrädn-more achievable	di te'bracödrädn-the most achievable

Comparative sentence patterns

There are three types of comparative sentence: positive, comparative and superlative.
Positive sentences are those such as:

The pie is not as nice as it was yesterday.

One picture is as nice as the next.

It’s as good as it gets!

In dal'qörian, these are formed with the word säsa which goes before the adjective:

séÞa epnij säsa stæ’quraläla ädiáda. The pie is not as nice as yesterday. (In comparative sentences, adverbs of time do not begin the sentence. See Adverbs)

sia gä’létr di vaÞriámn,, ön sia säsa gé’älig söcasendras. She told the truth and was as honest as possible.

Using the intensifier esti with säsa also renders the equivalent of just as...as, which is slightly more emphatic:

binä säsa esti sæadörädn diöra. I’m just as surprised as you.

Comparative sentences are those such as:

I’m more intelligent than you.

The train is faster than the car.

It was less noticeable than yesterday.

These are simply formed with the comparative form of the adjective and nas-than:

binä tev’ilalägra nas diöra. I'm more intelligent than you.

Sahán ni tev’éagöra evédrátsi nas Sösan. Shane is a better driver than Susan.

tiÞ gé’natinträdn stæmériÞ nas ädiáda. It was less noticeable than yesterday.

Sentences such as: "You are getting taller and taller. The wind is blowing stronger and stronger etc, (where the adjectice is compared with itself), are formed with the adverb brát-still (brát is also used as the conjunction but) and the comparative:

diö vädenária brát te’viténa. You are getting taller and taller. (lit: You are becoming still taller).

di ateméj löbria brát te’herecöl. The wind is blowing stronger and stronger. (lit: The wind is blowing still stronger).

Superlative sentences are those such as:

I’m the best guitar player.

This is the happiest I’ve seen her.

...and worst of all, she said I wasn’t attractive!

The first two examples are formed as in English:

binä di tev’éagöra gæatéjátsi. I'm the best guitar player.
séÞa di te’qurnöra,, taÞ binä gä’ábravisör siöra. This is the happiest I've seen her.

As in the third example, the form adj + of all is formed by adding the adverbial suffix as/ni to the comparative adjective:

minäla, te ména, gä’ábra-eƒragör di iáda,, brát tev’éagöras, ména, lintöni Tradiáda, mösárax nöreÞár. We’ve been given the day off but best of all, we don’t have to go back until Wednesday. (mösárax-must not in dal'qörian renders the English equivalent of do not have to, see Verbs)

Adjective endings

dal'qörian adjectives fall under one of 3 categories: verbal-derivative, noun-related or non-derivative.

Verb-derivative adjectives

In dalqörian, Verb-derivative adjectives are those which have a 'verbal' relative. If the adjective is derived from an infinitive, it must add the suffix ädn:


verb	adjective
iquir-to like	iquirädn-likeable
döfindr-to afford	döfindrädn-affordable

If the past participle of the verb is used as the adjective, this must lose its participle prefix gä' and again add the suffix ädn:


past participle	adjective
gä'amár-captivated	amárädn-captivated
gä'lilör-irritated	lilörädn-irritated

It's very important to remember this rule with past participle adjectives. For example, if you were to translate the sentence:

I am captivated by her looks.

using the participle:

binä, máriÞ di gesibniel qve siöra, gä'amár

then this would translate back as:

I captivated with her looks'

which of course makes no sense. You must use the adjective ending:

binä, máriÞ di gesibniel qve siöra, amárädn.

Noun-related adjectives

These are adjectives that have no verbal relative. These are 'free standing' adjectives, but their respective nouns are formed with the suffix ámn (note: Where the adjective ends in ä, this is removed):


adjective	noun
söaviä-romantic	söaviámn-romance
sörelbæ-pleasurable	sörelbæámn-pleasure

Non-derivative adjectives

These are simply dalq'örian adjectives that have no specific ending, and no verbal or nounal relative.

Adjective tense

Past tense denoting was/were

dal’qörian has a unique past tense inflection with adjectives. This is because dal’qörian has no literal equivalent of the auxiliary verbs was/were and the perfect tense had been. This is formed with the prefix gé’ and when used with an adjective, it renders was/were or had been. Here are some examples: (Note: modifying words like disiri-very, disénig-quite and veclérÞ-really, always FOLLOW the adjective in the past tense but PRECEDE it in the present and future):

sia gé’vélø. She was nasty.

ädiáda, tiÞ gé’strömi disénig. It was quite hot yesterday. (lit: Yesterday, it was hot quite).

éren, gé’lenandrädn veclérÞ. They were really helpful. (lit: They were helpful really).

di ødörämösel gé’vemörädn disiri. The instructions were very clear.

As you can see, was or were is denoted by a singular or a plural noun/pronoun.

Adjective continuous past

Because of the dal'qörian tense system, ambiguity can arise on many occasions if it is not used correctly. Lets look at this example sentence:

She has been depressed for a very long time.

The past tense has been implies that she 'had' become depressed in the past and 'still is'. So the action of being depressed is 'still' on going. However, we cannot literally translate this sentence into dal'qörian because we cannot say has been. A common mistake might be to put the sentence into the adjective past tense:

öcra tirimiÞ, sia gé’námaroqu disiri. She was very depressed for a long time.

This however, would be conveying the wrong message because was would imply that she is no longer depressed when, in fact, she is. We would only use this tense if we wanted to say:

She had been very depressed for a long time. (and no is longer)

So, for this kind of continuous past formation (with adjectives/adverbs only), where the ‘state’ is still on going, we use the present tense with the preposition sintra-since:

sintra tirimiÞ, sia disiri námaroqu. (lit: Since a long time, she is very depressed. Translating as: She has been depressed for a very long time).

The first part of the sentence tells us that the action had begun in the past; the second part, being in the present indicative, tells us that the action is still on going.

NOTE: When stating the continuous past regarding the existential position of people or objects, you would normally use the verb Þalár-reside. However, in colloquial dal'qörian, the verb can be omitted:

sintra sol qömblel, éren gä’ábraÞalár dérÞ. (lit: Since six weeks, they have resided here. Translating as: They have been here for six weeks).

Adjective future tense

In dal'qörian, there are two ways in which the future tense with adjectives can be constructed. Firstly, the verb néba-be is not used. The verb vädenár-become is used instead. (see Verbs for verb inflections):

di quádrátsi gä’ságr,, taÞ vonériáda vädenáræ strömi. The weather man said it will be hot tomorrow. (lit: The weather man said, that tomorrow will become hot).

méla diö viti’behalbrädn,, nes siaparenöi vädenáræ disiri quranöra. Mummy will be very happy if you behave well. (lit: If you are well behaved, then Mummy will become very happy).

Again in a colloquial sense (and somewhat idiomatically), you can add the future suffix ræ to the pronoun tiÞ-it (or the compound form tätiÞ-that it when introducing a subordinate clause) and refer the adjective reflexively back to the noun, just like a verb

iáda, tiÞræ vélø tiÞöra. It will be hot today (lit: Today, it will hot itself)

di quádrátsi gä’ságr, tätiÞræ vonériáda strömi tiÞöra. The weather man said it will be hot tomorrow. (lit: The weather man said that it will tomorrow hot itself).

NOTE: The adverb tomorrow in the last example must follow the contraction tätiÞræ as it would normally follow the subordinating conjunction taÞ.

Attributive and Predicative adjectives

Attributive adjectives precede the noun they describe. This is the exactly the same in dal'qörian:

eÞöa sangtörädn esteplédrämösel. Some controlled explosions

di qurnöra angaráj. The happy child.

di ädøni sájel. The old men.

ni qalba fléj. The black fly.

Predicative adjectives occur 'after' the noun but not immediately; they follow a verb, (normally a form of the verb to be). Again, this the same in dal'qörian:

di arangáj tirigör qurnöra. The child seems happy

di iádel vädenária te’vélø. The days are getting colder.

However, the adjective must still follow the verb when in conjunction with prepositional word order:

di iádel, dörac Vinti, vädenária te’vélø. The days are getting colder through the winter.

Post positive adjectives

These are adjectives that, in English, immediately follow a noun 'without' a verb, especially in certain institutionalized expressions:

the Governor General

the Princess Royal

times past

Post position is obligatory when the adjective modifies a pronoun:

something useful

everyone present

those responsible

They are also commonly found together with superlative-attributive adjectives (although not obligatory):

the shortest route possible

the worst conditions imaginable

the best hotel available

In dal'qörian, (with the exception of institutional titles of position), the postpositive adjective is ALWAYS introduced 'after' the noun as a taÞ clause:

di Siasájarega’Lamæa. The Princess Royal

di Vitihæarátsi’Algemérädn. The Governor General

but:

sáÞ épø, taÞ gä’ábragör. Times past. (lit: Those times, that have gone.)

eÞöa, taÞ vosérädn. Something useful. (lit: Something, that is useful.)

yetrasáb, taÞ qedérÞ. Everyone present. (lit: Everyone, that is present. Colloquailly, you can use eladiö-you all).

sáÞ, taÞ gé’Þerapönas. Those (who were) responsible (Note here that the dal'qörian example is in the past tense, however the English translation can still be those responsible; tense becoming clear from conext).

di te’tiriø vécan, taÞ söcasendras. The shortest route possible. (lit: The shortest route, that is possible).

di tev’éagöra gasániabödä, taÞ aviablos. The best hotel available. (lit: The best hotel, that is available).

séÞa te’darø qurnisæ, taÞ minä näocr æmöaÞr. These are the worst conditions imagineable. (lit: These are the worst conditions that I could imagine).

NOTE: Lets take a look at this last example. There are some adjectives which do not exist in dal'qörian, that are quite common in English. This is because dal'qörian only allows for 'one' adjective to be formed from a verb, thus taking the adjective ending ädn. However, in English, more than one adjective may be derived from a verb taking either able or ive as an ending:


verb	adjective 1	adjective 2
to imagine	imaginative	imaginable
to predict	predictive	predictable
to describe	descriptive	describable

Where there are two such adjectives in English, only one of these exists in dal'qörian; that being the ave/ive equivalent (although there are many verbs in English that only form one or the other eg: to seduce only forms seductive as an adjective, and to deploy only forms deployable as an adjective, both being rendered in dal'qörian with the ending ädn). So, in order to equate the able/ible form, you have to ‘verbalize’ the sentence, as in the example.

Inherent and non-inherent adjectives

Most attributive adjectives denote some ‘attribute’ of the noun which they modify. For instance, the phrase a red car may be said to denote a car which is red. In fact most adjective-noun sequences such as this can be loosely reformulated in a similar way:

an old man-a man who is old

difficult questions-questions that are difficult

round glasses-glasses that are round

This applies equally to postpositive adjectives:

something understood-something which is understood

those responsible-those who are/were responsible

In each case the adjective denotes an attribute or quality of the noun, as the reformulations show. Adjectives of this type are known as INHERENT adjectives. The attribute they denote is, as it were, inherent in the noun which they modify. However, not all adjectives are related to the noun in the same way. For example, the adjective small in a small businessman does not describe an attribute of the businessman. It cannot be reformulated as a businessman who is small. Instead, it refers to a businessman whose 'business' is small. We refer to adjectives of this type as NON-INHERENT adjectives. They refer less directly to an attribute of the noun than inherent adjectives do. Here are some more examples, showing the contrast between inherent and non-inherent:

Inherent

distant hills

a complete chapter

a heavy burden

an old man

Non-inherent

distant relatives

a complete idiot

a heavy smoker

an old friend

Putting the non-inherent adjectives into a clause then changes the meaning all together:

relatives who are distant

an idiot who is complete

a smoker who is heavy

a friend who is old

In dal'qörian, attributive adjectives are NEVER used as non-inherent adjectives. This is because, in dal'qörian, almost all attributive adjectives carry only an attributive meaning. For example, to say literally ni vätös sécösatrátsi-a heavy smoker, would imply that the ‘smoker’ was of a ‘heavy stature’ and not that he smoked heavily. Again, the adjectives must be avoided but there are a number of ways in which non-inherent formations can be rendered. One way is to verbalize the sentence and modify it with an adverb that relates to the adjective:

mæ vätösas sécösatr. He smokes heavily. (see Adverbs for word order)

Although this does not directly describe an attribute of ‘the smoker’ himself, it still describes an attribute of his smoking which, in turn, tells us more about ‘him’.

ni qömpal qvéamø di äda-épø. An old friend (lit: A friend out of the past)

tev’araciev, binä, máriÞ ni qömpal qvéamø äda épø, vehitøamria. I'm meeting an old friend later (lit: Later,I am, with a friend out of the past, meeting).

geræÞ tamlájel. Distant relatives (in dal'qörian, these are known as slight relations)

Unfortunately, there is no ’list’ that depicts each and every equivalent of an English non-inherent phrase. Through your learning of dal'qörian, it will become apparent as to which words can be replaced or used, and how sentences can simply be re-formed.

Nominal adjectives

Certain adjectives are used to denote a class by describing one of the attributes of the class. For example, the poor denotes a class of people who share a similar financial status. Other nominal adjectives are:

the old

the sick

the wealthy

the blind

the innocent

A major subclass of nominal adjectives refers to nationalities:

the French

the British

the Japanese

However, not all nationalities have corresponding nominal adjectives. Many of them are denoted by plural, proper nouns:

the Germans

the Russians

the Americans

the Poles

Nominal adjectives do not refer exclusively to classes of people. Indeed some of them do not denote classes at all:

the opposite

the contrary

the good

Comparative and superlative forms can also be nominal adjectives:

The best is yet to come.

The elder of the two.

The greatest of these.

The most important among them.

We refer to all of these types as nominal adjectives because they share some of the characteristics of nouns (hence nominal) and some of the characteristics of adjectives. They have the following nominal characteristics:

ː They are preceded by a determiner (usually the definite article the)
ː They can be modified by adjectives (the gallant French, the unfortunate poor)
ː They are gradable (the very old, the extremely wealthy)
ː Many can take comparative and superlative forms (the poorer, the poorest)

In dal'qörian, when an adjective is used in a nominal sense, it takes the noun ending ämös. This 'adds' to those which already end in ädn and, where a non-inflected adjective ends in a vowel, the vowel is dropped. Exceptions are those which depict nationality, and comparative and superlative forms:

di EƒrancaniÞ-the French

di BretæniÞ-the British

di GemæniÞ-the Germans

Now look at this table. The first 4 examples are non-inflected adjectives (they do not have a verbal or nounal relative). Ending with a vowel, the vowel is removed and the noun ending ämös is added. The last 3 examples are verb-inflected adjectives (those derived from an infinitive) in which case the noun ending goes on top of the adjective ending:


adjective	nominal adjective form
stæni-opposite	di stænämös-the opposite
éagöra-good	di éagörämös-the good
talgresta-guilty	di talgrestämös-the guilty
ädøni-old	di ädønämös-the old
täcélosträdn-injured	di täcélosträdnämös-the injured
stælilangörädn-bald	di stælilangörädnämös-the bald
neÞörädn-brave	di neÞörädnämös-the brave

This rule changes with adjectives that have a 'nounal' relative (those where a noun is derived from the adjective, thus taking the ending ámn). ámn is removed altogether and replaced with ämös:

talgresta-guilty

di talgrestámn-the guilt

BUT

di talgrestämös-the guilty

NOTE: You must also try to avoid the mistake of removing ädn from verb related adjectives when using them in a nominal position. For example, di täcélosträdnämös means the injured, but if ädn was omitted, di täcélosträmös means the injury. Your knowledge of verb related and non-verb related adjectives will be of great importance in understanding this part of dal'qörian grammar.

Resultant adjectives

These are adjectives that, in English, are placed after the noun they modify and reflects a change that occurs by action of the verb on the noun:

She wiped the glass clean. (The glass was dirty)

He painted the fence white. (The fence was a different colour before he painted it)

If you place the adjectives 'before' the noun, then this changes the meaning altogether:

She wiped the clean glass. (The glass is already clean as she wipes it)

He painted the white fence. (The fence is already white before he paints it)

In dal'qörian, a resultant adjective 'immediately follows' the verb, and unlike in English, it 'precedes' a pronoun:

sia gä’ipr nørädn di gläj. She wiped the glass clean (lit: She wiped clean the glass)

mæ gä’emblär etiri di peremitij. He painted the fence white.

sia gä’ipr nørädn tiÞ. She wiped it clean (lit: She wiped clean it.)

mæ gä’emblär etiri tiÞ. He painted it white. (lit: He painted white it.)

Adjectives with prepositions

Dynamic adjectives

Page still under construction