Vrne tartal

Vrne Tartal (VT: The Green language), called Eylastal after passing out of common usage, is my language; it's both an artistic and personal constructed language. It is an inflected fusional language with two grammatical genders and

It is based on no other language, but it is nonetheless mostly conventional.

Phonology

IPA equivalents are given here for letters in the most common writing system I use. There is theoretically an independent writing system for Eylastal but I haven't had any success in making it; this is all romanization nonetheless and as such I may spell inconsistently.

Vowels

Vowel	IPA
a	[a, ə]
e	[ɛ]
ê	[eɪ, e]
i	[i]
o	[ɔ]
ô	[oʊ]
u	[u]

• At the end of a word, r can also serve as a vowel.
• When two vowels are juxtaposed, o = ô and e = ê. Hence ear [eɪ.ar]
• er = [er], not [ɜr]

Diphthongs

Diphthong	IPA
ay	[aɪ]
oy	[ɔɪ]
uy	[uɪ]
aw	[aʊ]
ew	[eʊ]

Consonants

Consonant	IPA
b	[b]
c	[k]
ch	[ʧ]
d	[d]
dh	[ð]
f	[f]
g	[g]
h	[h]
k	[x]
l	[l]
m	[m]
n	[n]
ng	[ŋ]
p	[p]
r	[r]
s	[s]
sh	[ʃ]
t	[t]
th	[θ]
v	[v]
w	[w]
x	[ks]
y	[j]
z	[z]

At the end of a word, o is pronounced as ô and e as ê.

Stress

Stress falls on the first syllable unless there is an accented vowel:

• a -> á
• e -> é
• ê -> è
• o -> ò
• ô -> ó
• u -> ú

which, naturally, takes the stress. Also, any diphthong automatically takes the stress, including the "diphthongs" ar, er, ir, or, and ur, unless there is an accent mark, which always overrides it; however, stress cannot fall on the last syllable unless there is an accent written. Thus, "sathay" is pronounced ['saθaɪ] whereas "satháy" is pronounced [saθ'aɪ].

Syllable rules

Where C represents any consonant above and V any vowel, generally:

Word-initially, a syllable may take the form CCVC; Medially, a syllable may take the form CVC; Word-finally, a syllable may take the form CVC.

This boils down to a word structure of CCVCCVCCVCCVC, at most. In other words, you can never have more than two consonants next to each other, including liquids.

Some exceptions:

• If the last consonant is a spirant (denoted as s) [s] or [z], the final syllable can take the form CVCs.

• When the last consonant is r functioning as a vowel, the cluster can end in CCVCr or even theoretically CCVCsr. For example, "tiryatr" (to the kingdom), "èmatr" (to the animal), "cutsr" (to the cube).

When a voiced consonant comes in contact with an unvoiced consonant, the whole consonant cluster becomes voiced. Thus, satha (white) + varósa (clothed) = sadhvarósa (white-clothed)

Two plosives can never be juxtaposed. When there is a consonant cluster of the form PP (where P is a plosive), it will become FP, where F is the fricative equivalent according to the following rule:

• p -> f
• b -> v
• t -> th
• d -> dh
• ch -> sh
• c -> k
• g -> g

The resultant is then voiced if necessary; since there is no voiced equivalent of k, it simply disappears.

The following clusters will change as follows, where P is any plosive, V any vowel, and F any fricative, N any nasal and P(n) that nasal's plosive equivalent, and L any approximant or fricative:

• PvV -> PwV
• PgV -> PyV
• kyV -> shV
• hLV -> cLV
• NN -> P(n)N

This transformations are performed before applying the two-consonant rule to reduce clusters. Hence, nelki (to hate) + ya (3rd person singular present) = nelsha

Grammar

Nouns

Eylastali nouns have the following properties:

• Two genders: masculine and feminine;
• Two numbers: singular and plural. Gender is lost in the plural.
• Six cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, and vocative;
• Two "aspects": definite and indefinite;
• Two "verities": positive and negative.

I can't figure out how to do a fancy table so bear with me here:

For the prototypical masculine noun I here use "neldas" (the nose), for the prototypical feminine "etwês" (the star).

Not all nouns are regular; many nouns end simply in a consonant rather than the -a or -e gender ending. These words must simply be memorized along with their gender (normally denoted by the nominative pronoun they take, "ga" (masculine) or "e" (feminine)).

Regular masculine paradigm

• Nominative positive: nelda (a nose), neldas (the nose)
• Nominative negative: nelday (not a nose), neldays (not the nose)

• Accusative positive: neldo (a nose), neldos (the nose)
• Accusative negative: neldoy (not a nose), neldoys (not the nose)

• Genitive positive: nelden (a/the nose's)
• Genitive negative: neldedmá (not a/the nose's)

• Dative positive: neldar (to a/the nose)
• Dative negative: neldamá (not to the nose)

• Locative positive: neldov (at the nose)
• Locative negative: neldoyv (not at the nose)

• Vocative positive: neldat (O nose!)
• Vocative negative: neldayt (O non-nose!)

Regular feminine paradigm

• Nominative positive: etwe (a star), etwês (the star)
• Nominative negative: etweya (not a star), etwêsmá (not the star)

• Accusative positive: etwo (a star), etwôs (the star)
• Accusative negative: etwoy (not a star), etwôsmá (not the star)

• Genitive positive: etwin (a/the star's)
• Genitive negative: etwidmá (not a/the star's)

• Dative positive: etwiz (to a/the star)
• Dative negative: etwemá (not to the star)

• Locative positive: etwon (at the star)
• Locative negative: etwoyn (not at the star)

• Vocative positive: etwêt (O star!)
• Vocative negative: etwêtmá (O non-star!)

Regular plural paradigm

• Nominative positive: etwi (stars), etwis (the stars)
• Nominative negative: etwiya (not stars), etwismá (not the stars)

• Accusative positive: etwu (stars), etwus (the stars)
• Accusative negative: etwuy (not stars), etwusmá (not the stars)

• Genitive positive: etwanir (the stars')
• Genitive negative: etwadmá (not the stars')

• Dative positive: etwalir (to the stars)
• Dative negative: etwalmá (not to the stars)

• Locative positive: etwanon (among the stars)
• Locative negative: etwanoyn (not among the stars)

• Vocative positive: etwit (O stars!)
• Vocative negative: etwitmá (O non-stars!)

Pronouns

Eylastali pronouns serve either as placeholders for nouns or as focus markers. More on this distinction in the sentence structure section.

Singular pronouns:

English (nominative)	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Locative
I	nwa*	(h)om	men	omr	mov
thou/you	sha	(h)eth	thay	the	thov
he/it	ga	ta	tay	tar	tov
she/it	e	te	teya	tiz	ton

Plural pronouns:

English (nominative)	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Locative
we	amen/amel**	(h)imu/(h)imlu	imir	imlir	ibnon
ye/you	sfia	(h)ivu	ivir	ivlir	ivnon
they	kay	ihu	ihir	iclir	icnon

There is also the pronoun "a", which is the indefinite/passive pronoun, roughly equivalent to the "there" in "there are clouds outside." Verbs with it as subject always take the second person ending.

The initial h on the accusative pronouns only comes into play when the pronoun comes after a vowel. Ie:

Nweri sarim eth. (I want to see you.)
vs. Ga nerya sarya heth. (He wants to see you.)

Nwa is rarely used as a pronoun in its own right, except as a focus marker or relative pronoun. Amel refers to we as in "someone else and I" ie it is exclusive; amen refers to we as in "you and I" ie it is inclusive.

Pronouns are negated by the suffix -má.

Adjectives

Adjectives are inflected to agree with the ending of the noun they modify, including negative endings.

Positive endings:

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Locative	Vocative
Masc.	-a	-o	-an	-ar	-ov	-(th)a
fem.	-e	-o	-en	-er	-on	-(th)e
plu.	-i	-u	-(n)ir	-(l)ir	-(n)on	-(th)i

Positive endings:

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Locative	Vocative
Masc.	-ay	-oy	-ayn	-admá	-oyv	-(th)ay
fem.	-eya	-oy	-êdmá	-edmá	-oyn	-(th)eya
plu.	-iya	-uy	-(n)idmá	-(l)idmá	-(n)oyn	-(th)iya

The consonants in parentheses only appear when the adjective root ends in a vowel.

A negative noun always takes a negative adjective, but a positive noun may take a negative adjective if that adjective is to be negated. Ie:

"Efiya garismá" = the old not-men
vs.
"Efiya garis" = the not-old men

An unfinished text in Vrne Tartal

Aharo cwi aványir adzelir / swa sewlir sadhalir kay egmov so, / cyat nwa voydhósa laylim ivlir te / ti ecyo aynon sunanon efró. / A sadhar so ek Uren tartebla,/ ol èov tiryo Dria egmos sco, / agáhte Uras agadríabla, / ga nelsha glarion ta tiryatôs. /

Ga onlo Uras genwon Driathon, / e naryo norov ocyês egmien, / swa onlu fehi engei ton so, / shta edzu asi kay mot áveken, / cha naru prôvilúlis evrulon, / swa genulnon athorin Driathen, / swa'y obnu Fortesmo, ga bliov sa, / cha'y gyaru Driar fi mot zahus men. /

Niy aysho adzel Rahas Uzar ko / swa tasco "Urat lei nari sha, / ti trefi bladhi gyatsu athelon, / è semza ga, ta nelki, cetson sa? / Heth twari bladhim athriôs nwa fo / am adri engi adzelis selát; / te bladhu amlen fo el roy swa cwar / swa shtendi vekti; nol anari sha." /

Agáhte sfetyo Uras adzelar, / "Shtalá cyatari sha tor athrês men?" / Swa ga côcharya Rahas, "Tiryaví / sca sha aványa Driacétsien!" / Cha tasco Uras, "asi tirim shi, / shtalá nw' acetson si ef chaprien?" /