Elw language

The Elw language is an ergative–absolutive agglutinating language spoken in Elwynn, Wintergleam and Talenore.

Background

Blah, blah, language of Elwynn

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Retroflex		Palatal				Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		⟨ m ⟩ / m /		⟨ n ⟩ / n /					⟨ n ⟩ / ŋ̊ /	⟨ n ⟩ / ŋ /		⟨ n ⟩ / ɴ /
Stop	⟨ p ⟩ / p /	⟨ b ⟩ / b /	⟨ t ⟩ / t /	⟨ d ⟩ / d /							⟨ q ⟩ / q /	⟨ g ⟩ / ɢ /
Sibilant fricative			⟨ s ⟩ / s /	⟨ z ⟩ / z /	⟨ sh ⟩ / ʂ /	⟨ zh ⟩ / ʐ /			⟨ k ⟩ / k /
Non-sibilant fricative	⟨ f ⟩ / ɸ /	⟨ v ⟩ / β /					⟨ sh ⟩ / ɕ /	⟨  ž ⟩ / ʑ /			⟨ q ⟩ / χ /	⟨ r ⟩ / ʁ /	⟨ h ⟩ / h /
Approximant						⟨ y ⟩ / j /
Lateral approximant			⟨ ll ⟩ / ɬ /	⟨ l ⟩ / l /

/ q / and / χ / are allophones both written . In a syllable-initial position, ⟨ q ⟩ is pronounced / q / and in a syllable-final position it is pronounced / χ /. The pronunciation of qoq is therefore / qoχ /

/ ʂ / and / ʐ / appear only before / a /, / o /, / u / and / ə / and as a final. They are allophones with / ɕ / and / ʑ / respectively, who appear in the other positions.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	⟨ i ⟩ / i /		⟨ u ⟩ / u /
Close-mid			⟨ o ⟩ / o /
Mid		⟨ e ⟩ / ə /
Open	⟨ a ⟩ / a /

Each vowel except ⟨ e ⟩ / ə / can be made long, in which case in orthography, the letter is doubled, e.g. ⟨ a ⟩ becomes / a: / ⟨ aa ⟩.

Syllabic structure

Generally speaking, syllables are V, CV, VL, or CVL where V is a vowel, C is any consonant, and L is any non-stop consonant.

However, there are some illegal syllables under these rules, all around the vowel / i /. / i / can never come before uvular consonants. The vowel / i / would under these conditions be realized as / ə / and written ⟨ e ⟩. Similarly, / u / can never appear before uvular consonants. The vowel is then allophonically realized as / o / and written ⟨ o ⟩. These rules are for all native Elw words, and some exceptions exist for loanwords, like Kalirion from Hyperborean.

Orthography

Elw employs Cyrillic. Its usually transliterated either by letter-to-letter (L2L) notation or by the "English" version which attempts to use ASCII as far as possible.

Cyrillic	L2L	English
А а	A a
Б б	B b
В в	V v
Г г	G g
Д д	D d
Е е	E e
Ж ж	Ž ž	Zh zh
З з	Z z
И и	I i
Й й	J j	Y y
К к	K k
Қ қ	Q q
Л Л	L l
Ԯ ԯ	Ł ł	Ll ll
М м	M m
Н н	N n
О о	O o
П п	P p
Р р	R r
С с	S s
Т т	T t
У у	U u
Ф ф	F f
Х х	H h
Ш ш	Š š	Sh sh, X x
Ю ю	Ů ů	Yu yu
Я я	Å å	Ya ya

Long vowels are indicated by doubling the vowel, except /jaː/ and /juː/ which are written /яа/ (åa, yaa) and /юу/ (ůu, yuu) respectively.

Academic Elw, as well as names of ethnic minorities or foreigners, or words from foreign languages, can be written by a set of extra letters (mainly adapted from the Ocian alphabet, with some additions for other sounds). Note, A–O refers to Amokolian–Ocian names, words, etc.

Cyrillic	L2L	English	A–O	Comment
Ә ә	ä			generally used for /ɛ/-like sounds (also e.g. /æ/)
Ӷ ӷ	Ǧ ǧ	Gh gh		generally used for /ɣ/-like sounds (also e.g. /ʀ/)
Ђ ђ	Đ đ	Dh dh		used for /ð/; A–O: dʲ
Ё ё	ë	yo		/jo/
Ј ј	J̌ ǰ	J j		/j/ (A–O)
Љ љ	Ľ ľ	Lj lj	Lj lj	/lʲ/ (A–O)
Њ њ	Ň ň	Nj nj	Nj nj	/ŋ/; A–O /nʲ, ɲ/
Ө ө	Ö ö			for /ø/-like sounds
Р̌ р̌	Ř ř	Rh rh		For trilled or tapped /r/-like sounds
Ҭ ҭ (Ѳ ѳ)	Ť ť	Th th		/θ/ (the alternative letter is occasionally seen, but generally avoided due its likeness with ö)
Ћ ћ	Ć ć	Ch ch		/tɕ/ (A–O)
Ў ў	W w	W w		/w/
Ү ү	ü			/y/-like sounds
Ұ ұ	û			/ʉ/-like sounds (Norse)
Ҳ ҳ	Ȟ ȟ	Kh kh		/x/
Ц ц	C c	Ts ts		/ts/
Ч ч	Č č	Ch ch		/tʂ~tʃ/ (A–O)
Џ џ	Ź ź	Dz	Dž dž	/dʑ/ (A–O)
Щ щ	Ś ś	Shch shch		/ʃː~ʃt/ (foreign names)
Ъ ъ	ʺ			silent (foreign names)
Ы ы	Y y	Ÿ ÿ		ɨ~ɤ (foreign names)
Ь ь	ʹ	Ý ý		palatalization (foreign names)
Э э	ê			/e/-like sounds

Grammar

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

	I	We	You (sg)	You (pl)	Zie	They
absolutive	ан an	арус arus	или ili	илис ilis	ун un	орус orus
ergative	анех aneh	арухес aruhes	илих ilih	илихес ilihes	унех uneh	орухес oruhes
instrumental	анмеқ anmeq	арунеқ aruneq	илимеқ ilimeq	илинеқ ilineq	унмеқ unmeq	орунеқ oruneq
allative	anmus	arunus	ilimus	ilinus	unmus	orunus
locative	anen	aruni	ilin	ilini	unyn	oruni
ablative	anmes	arunes	ilimes	ilines	unmes	orunes
prosecutive	anios	aruzios	ilios	ilizios	unios	oruzios
equative	andus	arudus	ilidus	ilidus	undus	orudos

Nominals

Simple nominals

	Singular	Plural		English approx.
absolutive	-Ø, -q, -r	(y)s	kizoq	kizos
ergative	-(e)h	-hes	kizoh	kizohys
instrumental	-meq	-neq	kizomeq	kizoneq	"using the cat"
allative	-mus	-nus	kizomus	kizonus	"toward the cat"
locative	-(e)n	-ni	kizon	kizoni	"in the cat"
ablative	-mes	-nes	kizomes	kizones	"from the cat"
prosecutive	-jos, -ios, -os	zios	kizojos	kizozios	"with the cat", "along the cat"
equative	-dus	-dus	kizodus	kizodus	"like a cat"

Possessives

Possessor	Singular	Plural	Example	Example
1st person sg	ra	ja, ia	kizora "my cat"	kizoja "my cats"
2nd person sg	(i)s	sis	kizos "your cat"	kizosis "your cats"
3rd person sg	a	e	kizoa "his cat"	kizoe "his cats"
1st person pl	bus	hus	kizobus "our cat"	kizohus "our cats"
2nd person pl	ze	se	kizoze "your cat"	kizose "your cats"
3rd person pl	as	es	kizoas "their cat"	kizoes "their cats"

Complex nominals/possessives

When the nominal is inflected in another case than absolutive, the possessive comes afterwards. If this means that two consonants will follow each other in the stem, the schwa / ə /, written ⟨ e ⟩, is added inbetween:

• Kizohera qimnea neriaa:
• / kizohəʁa qimnea nəʁiaː /
• Cat (ergative, possessive first person singular) dog (absolutive, possessive third person singuar) eats (intransitive; indicative):
• My cat eats his dog.

Verbs

Verbs are inflected differently depending on if they take an intransitive or transitive form. In Elw grammar, a transitive form occurs when there is a nominal agent (an object) to the verb.

There are no tenses in Elw; however the verbs are inflected by their mood.

Intransitive

	Indicative	Interrogative	Imperative	Optative	Conjunctive	Conditional	Participial
1st person sg	-on	-(e)q		-lam	-ram	-ona	-son
2nd person sg	-ozys	-(e)s	-(e)hi	-lames	-rames	-ahes	-suzes
3rd person sg	-or	-a		-li	-rame	-oni	-ses
1st person pl	-ohus	-za	-ha	-lajus	-rada	-ruza	-sus
2nd person pl	-oze	-ze	-haze	-laze	-raze	-ruze	-suze
3rd person pl	-bus	-zas		-lis	-rameq	-runeq	-suhus

Here follows an example of neri- (to eat):

	Indicative	Interrogative	Imperative	Optative	Conjunctive	Conditional	Participial
1st person sg	nerion	nereq		nerilam	nereram	neriona	nerison
2nd person sg	neriozes	neris	nerihi	nerilames	nererames	neriahes	nerisuses
3rd person sg	nerior	neria		nerili	nereramy	nerioni	nerises
1st person pl	neriohus	neriza	neriha	nerilajus	nererada	nereruza	nerisus
2nd person pl	nerioze	nerize	nerihaze	nerilaze	nereraze	nereruze	nerisuze
3rd person pl	neribus	nerizas		nerilis	nererameq	nereruneq	nerisuhus