Elosian Language Elosian was the national language of the Elosian Empire (400 bc-1349ce) and serves as the first language of many people in the countries that were once part of that empire, existing alongside Stoffonian which usually serves as the official language (these areas were Stoff. controlled 1349-1908). The language began as the dialect of the inhabitants of the area around the lower reaches and the mouth of the Elos river, especially the city-state of Elos. It spread with the growth of the Empire, also giving rise to Knarrian. Another closely related language is Aksurst (Elostof), spoken mostly in modern Eshtikur, which was originally a fusion of Elosian and Stoffonian. Elosian is also the language used for rituals by most of the religious groups that trace their beleifs back to the Imperial religion, including the Stoffonian church, which has branches all over Robertson's planet. In the more than 2500 years that the language has been written, it has changed and evolved little compared to a language like English. Nevertheless, this long history has been sufficient to produce the same types of orthographic difficulties as in English, and thus a transliteration system based on Elosian spelling (like the system used with Stoffonian, which is written with an alphabet invented much more recently) would be difficult to define and understand. Therefore, Elosian is written in English according to pronunciation, and with no regard to the native spelling. It should also be understood that an exact imitation of Elosian speech can not be produced by the Hominid speech aparatus, but that the pronunciations given are sufficient to be intellible (though somewhat foreign-sounding) to native Elosian-speakers. There are two large dialects of Elosian, the Eastern (spoken in the eastern half of the old empire) and Western. These dialects differ in about as many respects as the English of the U.K. differs from that of North America. "Church" Elosian is deliberately modeled more closely after the Elosian of Imperial times, and thus can be said to have few if any native speakers, only those who learn it. Standard Elosian is a literary language that serves as a common denominator for all speakers of the language, and is usually considered the "correct" form. It is with Standard Elosian that this lesson is concerned. =========================================================================== sounds : trans. comments a as in "hat" ai approx. "ay" in "day" au between "cow" and "o" as in "note" e as in "bed" eu approx. "o" as in "note", slightly like "e" as in bed i approx. "pizza" or "ee" in "feet", slightly like "i" in "hit" o between "o" as in "hot" and as in "note" oi between "i" in "ice" and "oy" in "boy" ou between "aw" as in "o" as in "note" u as "oo" in "too" b ch as in english "chat" ck "k" indicates slight click after "c" ("c" as in english "cat"). may be pronounced as in english without loss of meaning. d f g j between "j" and the sound made by "s" in "treasure". h with friction in the back of the throat l m kn "k" indicates a slight click before "n". may be prnounced as in english. used only at the begginning of a syllable. n used at other locations. p r s sh sk "s" followed immediately by "k" click t v w y z notes : 1. the vowels are of two types - weak (i,u) and strong (a,e,o). two consecutive strong vowels are always pronounced as separate syllables. a double weak vowel is pronounced for a double period of time. a strong vowel after a weak vowel begins a new syllable. when a strong vowel is followed by a weak vowel, they are pronounced as one sound (dipthong). The dipthongs that actually occur in spoken Standard Elosian are included in the list above. 2. when a double consonant occurs, the first one of the pair is considered to be the end of one syllable and the second is start of the next syllable. otherwise, consecutive consonants are to be blended into one sound as much as possible. 3. the click notated as "k" can best be approximated by humans as the sound produced by touching the teeth or the roof of the mouth with the tip of the toungue and then rapidly pulling the toungue back while sucking in air and saliva. it is not humanly possible to produce this sound in rapid succession with other sounds as quickly and smoothly as the Elosians. For all practical purposes, it can simply be pronounced as "k" with no loss of meaning. 4. "Stress" in Elosian is more of a matter of pitch than of force. The more emphasis there is on a syllable, the higher its pitch. There are four levels of pitch, which do not correspond to any specific musical intervals but which are still distinguishable. Stress is not applicable to single words. Stress comes into play in differeniating different types of sentences, as will be seen later. The Elosian Alphabet letter approximate pronunciation (all rules have exceptions) -------------------------------------------------------------- 3 a "cat", often silent before f,s,p,t,c(k),ch -------------------------------------------------------------- X e "bed", often silent before f,s,p,t,c(k),ch -------------------------------------------------------------- C o "hot", often silent before f,s,p,t,c(k),ch h especially at the beginning of words -------------------------------------------------------------- Y i "pizza", often silent before v,z,b,d,g,j y especially at the beginning of words -------------------------------------------------------------- ? u "rude", often silent before v,z,b,d,g,j w especially at the beginning of words -------------------------------------------------------------- l sometimes pronounced as a syllable -------------------------------------------------------------- <> r sometimes pronounced as a syllable -------------------------------------------------------------- /< m sometimes pronounced as a syllable -------------------------------------------------------------- >\ n sometimes pronounced as a syllable -------------------------------------------------------------- @ y after a,e,o j after i,u -------------------------------------------------------------- N w after a,e,o v after i,u -------------------------------------------------------------- D sh after a,e,o j after i,u -------------------------------------------------------------- & f after a,e,o,s,t,c(k),ch,l,r v after i,u,z,d,g(k),j,m,n -------------------------------------------------------------- A s after a,e,o,f,t,c(k),ch,l,r z after i,u,v,d,g(k),j,m,n -------------------------------------------------------------- [] p after a,e,o,f,s,t,c(k),ch,l,r b after i,u,v,z,d,g(k),j,m,n -------------------------------------------------------------- t after a,e,o,f,s,p,c(k),ch,l,r d after i,u,v,z,b,g(k),j,m,n -------------------------------------------------------------- [X] c(k) after a,e,o,f,s,p,t,ch,l,r g(k) after i,u,v,z,b,d,j,m,n -------------------------------------------------------------- U ch after a,e,o,f,s,p,t,c(k),l,r j after i,u,v,z,b,d,g(k),m,n -------------------------------------------------------------- notes : 1. The symbols above merely approximate actual Elosian letters. 2. when a consonant letter appears twice, the second occurence is always the alternative to the first. 3. vowel letters often serve only to determine the pronunciation of the adjacent consonants, and are not pronounced as vowels. 4. in elosian writing, silent letters are usually written smaller. =========================================================================== Grammar: There are certain rules to be observed whenever a grammatical suffix is added to any Elosian word : 1. consonants that are added after strong vowels are unvoiced. (ex. "s" after "a") consonants added after voiced consonants are voiced. 2. consonants that are added after weak vowels are voiced. (ex. "z" after "i") consonants added after unvoiced consontants are unvoiced. 3. a vowel may not be repeated by the adding of a suffix. the suffix vowel should be changed to another vowel of the same strenght. examples: tana + a = tanae, NOT tanaa halcku + u = halckui, NOT halckuu Nouns : Elosian nouns are made up of a root followed by suffixes to indicate case, gender, and number. Noun roots always end with a consonant, which is usually one of the following: p,b,t,d,ck,gk,ch,l,m,or n. examples : tan- ("person", root form) halck- ("animal", root form) Case: Elosian nouns have these cases, indicated by the vowel that follows the root: Nominative (i) used for the subject of a statment example: tani- ("person", root+case) Accusative (u) used for the direct object of a verb Dative (e) used for the indirect object in these cases, the noun is actually used as a modifier: Genitive (a) shows possession of, ownership of, etc. Associative (o) essentially turns the noun into an adjective or adverb. All "adjectives" and "adverbs" in Elosian are noun forms, though some do not make sense when used as a noun. When used in this way, a noun takes on the gender of that which it modifies. Gender: Elosian genders are masculine, feminine, unisex, or simple. Masculine nouns are the nouns that refer to male people or creatures. Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant. The consonant normally depends on the nature of the noun: Words for male persons end in t or d (ex. tanid = "man" nom.) other male entities end in s or z (holckas = "male animal" assoc.) Feminine nouns refer to female people or creatures. Feminine nouns usually end in a, or e to avoid vowel repetetion. For female persons, the gender vowel immediately follows the case vowel (ex. tania = "woman" nom. ; tanoa = "woman" assoc.) Other female entities have f or v before the gender vowel. (ex. holckafa = "female animal" genitive) Unisex nouns are used for people or creatures of uncertain gender, similar to constructions used in 'politically-correct' English. Unisex nouns usually end in u, or i to avoid vowel repetition. Simple nouns refer to things which have no gender. Simple nouns usually end in p or b. Number: Elosian nouns are either singular, plural, or multiple. Singular nouns refer to a single person, place, or thing. Singular nouns have no inflection for number. Plural nouns refer to a definate, limited number. Plural nouns are formed by adding a suffix : gender: | suffix to form plural: ----------|------------------------ masculine | -ick feminine | -ck unisex | -ck simple | -ick examples: tanidick = "men" nominative tanuack = "women" accusative tanepick = "people" dative Multiple nouns refer to an indefinate, unlimited number. Multiple nouns are formed by adding -t to the plural form. examples: tanidickt = "men" (multiple) nominative tanuackt = "women" (multiple) accusative tanepickt = "people" (multiple) dative Compound Nouns : Elosian often makes use of compound nouns. When joining two nouns, the root of the first noun is joined to the second noun. ex. Elockan- + tan- = Elockantan- Noun Contraction: For certain uses, nouns are "contracted". In a masculine noun, contraction simply means the use of the root without any suffixes. In a feminine noun, the last part of the root is cut off so that the last letter is final last vowel in the original root. This vowel is then changed to "a" unless it is already "a" or "e". ex.: Arania (a personal name, root Aran-) contracts to Ara. Binalonia (root Binalon-) contracts to Binala Unisex and Simple nouns cannot be contracted. Only singular nouns can be contracted. Only words with roots at least 2 syllables long are contracted. For example, the name Andria (root Andr-) cannot be contracted. Uses of contraction: Personal names are contracted when used in signatures, letterheads, simply stating a name, or when the name is otherwise not playing any part in the action of a sentence. For uncontractable names, the singular nominative is used. examples: Ara (when not part of a sentence) Arania (when used as the subject) Andria (for both uses) Titles ("Mister", "Emporer") are contracted when used immediately before a name. examples: Elockantan- ("emporer") contractes when used like this: Elockantan Binalon (Emporer Binalon) Elockanta Andria (Empress Andria) When translating Elosian to English, any nouns which are not translated are contracted. Gender, Case, and Contraction (where applicable) tables for some nouns: (all shown in singular number) tan- (human being) masculine feminine unisex ---------------------------------- nom. | tanid tania taniu acc. | tanud tanua tanui dat. | tanet tanea taneu gen. | tanat tanae tanau assoc. | tanot tanoa tanou halck- (animal) masculine feminine unisex simple --------------------------------------------- nom. | halckiz halckiva halckiu halckib acc. | halckuz halckuva halckui halckub dat. | halckes halckefa halckeu halckep gen. | halckas halckafa halckau halckap assoc. | halckos halckofa halckou halckop Elockan- (the Elosian empire) simple ------------- nom. | Elockanib acc. | Elockanub dat. | Elockanep gen. | Elockanap assoc. | Elockanop Elockantan- (ruler of the empire) masculine feminine unisex ------------------------------------------------ nom. | Elockantanid Elockantania Elockantaniu acc. | Elockantanud Elockantanua Elockantanui dat. | Elockantanet Elockantanea Elockantaneu gen. | Elockantanat Elockantanae Elockantanau assoc. | Elockantanot Elockantanoa Elockantanou contr. | Elockantan Elockana Aran- (personal name, an archaic word for "hardness") masculine feminine ---------------------- nom. | Aranid Arania acc. | Aranud Aranua dat. | Aranet Aranea gen. | Aranat Aranae assoc. | Aranot Aranoa contr. | Aran Ara Andr- (a personal name, derived from andren-, archaic word for "gold") masculine feminine ---------------------- nom. | Andrid Andria acc. | Andrud Andrua dat. | Andret Andrea gen. | Andrat Andrae assoc. | Androt Androa contr. | Andrid Andria Binalon- (a name, archaic word meaning "son of the sea") masculine feminine ------------------------- nom. | Binalonid Binalonia acc. | Binalonud Binalonua dat. | Binalonet Binalonea gen. | Binalonat Binalonae assoc. | Binalonot Binalonoa contr. | Binalon Binala Pronouns: Elosian pronouns are forms of the nouns yal-, yer-, and yon-. The various forms are derived by the rules discussed above. Case and Gender tables for singular pronouns are listed below : First Person Pronouns (yal-) masculine | feminine | unisex -----------|----------|---------- nom. | yalid | yalia | yaliu acc. | yalud | yalua | yalui dat. | yalet | yalea | yaleu gen. | yalat | yalae | yalau assoc. | yalot | yaloa | yalou Second Person Pronouns (yer-) when representing persons: masculine | feminine | unisex -----------|----------|------- nom. | yerid | yeria | yeriu acc. | yerud | yerua | yerui dat. | yeret | yerea | yereu gen. | yerat | yerae | yerau assoc. | yerot | yeroa | yerou Second Person Pronouns (yer-) when representing other nouns: masculine | feminine | unisex | simple -----------|----------|---------|------ nom. | yeriz | yeriva | yeriu | yerib acc. | yeruz | yeruva | yerui | yerub dat. | yeres | yerefa | yereu | yerep gen. | yeras | yerafa | yerau | yerap assoc. | yeros | yerofa | yerou | yerop Third Person Pronouns (yon-) when representing persons: masculine | feminine | unisex -----------|----------|-------- nom. | yonid | yonia | yoniu acc. | yonud | yonua | yonui dat. | yonet | yonea | yoneu gen. | yonat | yonae | yonau assoc. | yonot | yonoa | yonou Third Person Pronouns (yon-) when representing other nouns: masculine | feminine | unisex | simple -----------|----------|---------|-------- nom. | yoniz | yoniva | yoniu | yonib acc. | yonuz | yonuva | yonui | yonub dat. | yones | yonefa | yoneu | yonep gen. | yonas | yonafa | yonau | yonap assoc. | yonos | yonofa | yonou | yonop Plural pronouns can be formed by the usual rules. Articles: Elosian "articles" are actually forms of the nouns man- and len-, which have no meaning in any case other than the associative. Special abbreviated (not to be confused with the normal process of noun contraction) forms are often used. Indefinate articles (man-, associative) used with persons: singular | plural | multiple ----------|-----------|--------- Masculine | manot | manotick | manotickt Feminine | manoa | manoack | manoackt Unisex | manou | manouck | manouckt Simple | manop | manopick | manopickt or sing. | plur. | mult. --------|-------|------ Masculine | mat | mick | mickt Feminine | ma | mack | mackt Unisex | mau | mouck | mouckt Simple | map | maick | maickt For non-persons, make this substitution: sing. -------- ------ Masculine| manoz or | maz Feminine | manofa | ma Definate articles (len-, associative) used with persons: singular | plural | multiple ----------|-----------|--------- Masculine | lenot | lenotick | lenotickt Feminine | lenoa | lenoack | lenoackt Unisex | lenou | lenouck | lenouckt Simple | lenop | lenopick | lenopickt or sing. | plur. | mult. --------|-------|-------- Masculine | let | lick | lickt Feminine | le | leck | leckt Unisex | leu | louck | louckt Simple | lep | leick | leickt For non-persons, make this substitution: sing. -------- ------ Masculine| letoz or | lez Feminine | letofa | le Special Nouns: The noun an- is the Elosian interrogative noun. Various forms of this noun in questions, and it is translated variously as what, which, who, etc. Example: Anot tanid ("what man?", "which man?") Anotick tanidick ("what men", "which men?") Anib ("what?") The noun il- is the demonstrative noun. Roughly equivalent to the English "that". Example: Ilos tanid ("that man") Ilosick tanotick ("those men") Ilis lua anub ("that is what") The noun or-, is the qualitative word. Roughly equivalent to the English "how". Example: Oriz ("how?") Ilis lua oruz ("that is how") The noun ck- is used only as a modifier and in compounds. It has the changes the meaning of the word it modifies or is compounded with to the opposite if the original meaning. Examples: Andria cklua yalat ("Andria is not mine") Lez wadiz ckos velasuen. ("The dog didn't sleep") Un- is means "any", and is used often in compouns. Example: Untan- (anyone) Verbs: Elosian verbs are made up of a root with suffixes added to show aspect, tense, and voice. Verb roots always end in a consonant, which is usually one of the following : f,v,s,z,sh examples: poz- "go" bels- "live" l- "be" For certain verbs can be turned into noun roots by adding -an to the verb root. Coversely, certain nouns can be turned into verbs by the addition of s or z to the noun root. Aspect: Aspect is shown by the addition of a vowel(s) following the root: pefect (i) indicates that the action is or was complete at the tense to which the statement refers. imperfect (u) indicates that the action is or was taking place at the tense to which the statement refers. example: pozi- "go" (pefect) belzu- "live" (imperfect) lu - "be" (imperfect) Tense: Tense is indicated by the addition of a vowel after the root. tense | vowel ---------|------- present | a past | e future | o examples: pozia "go" (present perfect) belsue "live" (past imperfect) luo "be" (future imperfect) Thus, the verb l-, for example, has these six forms: perfect imperfect ------------------ present | lia lua past | lie lue future | lio luo Each of these six forms has more than one possible English translation. For example, the phrase "Andria pozua" can be translated to mean "Andria goes" or "Andria is going". Translation of Elosian into English should be done with knowledge of how the verbs should be handled in order to sound the most natural in English. Thus one can avoid such cumbersomeness as is shown by the following (poor) translation from an Elosian novel : "I was thinking that she was wanting me, but I was not knowing what to be doing about it." Voice: Verbs can either be active or relfexive. Active voice is used when the subject is actually peforming the action on the object and when the subject "is" the object (including when the object is a modifier). Active verbs do not have a suffix for voice. examples: Binalonid pozue Ckaltanub (Binalon went to Ckaltan) Arania lua gamanofa (Ara is beatiful) Reflexive voice is used when the subject is performing an action on he/she/itself, or when there is no object. Reflexive verbs end in n. examples: Binalonid vilasuen (Binalon slept) Prepositions: Elosian prepositions, especially when used to mean "to" or "at", are often optional. They are only used when necessary to avoid confusion in long or complex statements, and are not often used in simple statements. om "to","at","in" ckom "from","of" The prepositions can also be treated as roots for nouns, but only make sense in certain forms. Om can be the root of a noun meaning "in". Ckom can be the root for a noun meaning "out". examples: Yatid pozua omud ("I went in") Yatid pozua ckomud ("I went out") Vocabulary: ai- (n.) greatness ailos- (v.) to live (see also belz-) andren- (n.) gold aran- (n.) hardness atricksan- (n.) leadership, political power atricks- (v.) to rule, to lead belz- (v.) to live (ie, to dwell, to reside) binal- (n.) the sea birl- (v.) to want, desire, etc. ck- (n.) negative, opposite, etc. (used only in compounds) Ckep- (n.) god cker- (n.) other, different (used often in compounds) ckrizan- (n.) 1. never, at no time, etc. (used as adjective) 2. timelessness, immortality dack- (n.) physical love, sexuality er- (n.) self, same, (used in compounds) eurz- (v.) to swear, to promise ful- (n.) rock gaman- (n.) beauty halck- (n.) animal, creature, beast har- (n.) proper, correct, etc.. jel- (n.) romantic love ladan- (n.) honour, valour, respectedness lom- (n.) youth nom- (n.) child (in the sense of being young, see also "on-") on- (n.) child (in the sense of being descended from, see also "nom-") par- (n.) the first one, primary, etc. poz- (v.) to live renog- (n.) the extreme, the most, etc. rizan- (n.) time spiman- (n.) religion, spirituality, etc. spiz-(v.) to praise, worship, etc. tan- (n.) person (usually adult) tof- (n.) place, land, country, ect. tuz- (v.) to know urs- (v.) to owe vilas- (v.) to sleep zim- (v.) place, position, status