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Hrafnir's languages - Nordic

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This article now contains several languages and more will come. To ease the finding of a language you are interested in, I've added links here:

Languages of the Fourth Era - A short list of the languages spoken in the Fourth Era

Nordic  - The modern Nordic language

Aldmeris- The Aldmeri language

Development of Aldmeris - The Aldmeri dialects and early Elven languages

Cyrodis - The language of the Ayleids before their society collapsed during the Alessian Rebellion

Altmeris - The modern Altmeris, the most conservative of all living Elven languages

Alt Redoranis - The main form of Fourth Era Dunmeris

Bosmeris - One of the main forms of modern Bosmeris

Orcish languages - The Orcish language family

Old Cyrodiilic - The classical Cyrodiilic of Tiber Septim's time

Cyrodiilic - The modern Cyrodiilic language of late 3rd Era and early 4th Era

Riekling language - The language of the Rieklings of Solstheim

Reachspeech - The native language of the Reach

Ta'agra - Pa'alatiini - The southern of the two major Khajiiti languages

Dwemeris - The language of the Dwemer.

Oh, and I'm still fighting with the aestethic side of this article, as I can never get the texts stay where I want them to stay. Damnit.

Lately I've been adding sketches or more fleshed out versions of new languages, as well as adding more details and information to the existing ones. Some of them have more English-type grammars hinted at by the game designers and I have stayed loyal to that, and some of them have more exotic grammars.

 

Languages of the Fourth Era

Here is a list of languages spoken in the Fourth Era.

Alik'r Yoku - A Yoku language spoken by the nomads of Alik'r desert. It was never replaced Cyrodiilic. While the language is spoken by a relatively small number of people, it has never been in danger of becoming extinct.

Altmeris - The main language of the Altmer spoken in Alinor (formerly Summerset Isle).

Alt Redoranis - The main form of Dunmeris, the mosty widely-spoken language in the kingdom of Morrowind.

Ashlander - The language or languages of the remaining Ashlander tribes.

Banthan Yoku - The last remnants of the pre-Tiber Septim Yoku language native to the Bantha Valley of Hammerfell's northern coast. It is still spoken by some individuals in the areas of Totambu, Kozanset and Lainlyn, but those individiuals are all elders. It remains to be seen if this form of Yoku experiences same type of revivalism as the Skaven Yoku.

Bosmeris - The language of the bosmer of Valenwood. There are at least two main forms of it, but most likely many isolated tribes have developed their own forms of Bosmeris. Dialects number in hundreds.

Bretic - The language of Bretony, i.e. the kingdoms of Daggerfall, Wayrest, Shornhelm, Northpoint and Evermore. Also spoken by Breton immigrants in Sentinel and Cyrodiil at least. The language of culinarists everywhere.

Cyrodiilic - The main language of Cyrodiil and large parts of Hammerfell as well as Cyrodiilic immigrants in other countries. The main dialect groups are the Colovian dialects, the Nibenese dialects, the Jeralls dialects, and the dialects of Hammerfell. Cyrodiilic influence in other languages spreads through trade, imperial administration and the legionaries.

Deshaanis - The Dunmeri language of the Deshaan Plains.

Hlaalis - A Dunmeri language spoken by the remaining nobility of House Hlaalu. It has been heavily influenced by Cyrodiilic.

Jel - The language of the Argonians spoken in the old province of Black Marsh and the southern portion of Morrowind.

Ne Quin-ali - The khajiiti language of northern Elsweyr, spoken in the kingdom of Anequina.

Nordic - The main language of Skyrim, spoken by the majority and quickly learned by most immigrants too. There is a wide variety of dialects.

Orcish languages - The languages spoken by the orc tribes throughout Tamriel are too numerous to list here, but the main groups are Orsinian spoken in the modern kingdom of Orsinium, languages of the Druadach Mountains, languages of the tribes of the Reach, languages of the Wrothgarian Mountains, languages of the Velothic Mountains, eastern languages of Morrowind, languages of the Valus Mountains, languages of the Dragontail Mountains, and the Wood-Orcish languages of Valenwood.

Pa'alatiini - The khajiiti language of southern Elsweyr, spoken in the kingdom of Pelletine.

Reachspeech - Spoken by the natives of the Reach in Skyrim. Many Reachmen have switched to Nordic, but at least for now the native language is still alive and widely spoken.

Skaal - A relative of Nordic spoken by the Skaal and the people of Thirsk in Solstheim.

Smaller Ta'agra languages - In addition to the two widely spoken khajiiti languages, Ne Quin-ali and Pa'alatiini, there are many smaller languages. These include Tenmari spoken in the jungles of Tenmar, Rimmeni spoken in the city-state of Rimmen, various tribal languages of the desert, and languages spoken only in individual villages in the Quin'rawl peninsula.

Telvannis - A Dunmeri language spoken by the remaining Telvanni and the common people living in their lands in eastern Morrowind.

Vélothi - A creole language of Dunmeris and Nordic spoken in small areas of the Velothi Mountains.

West-Reachian - A close relative of the Reachspeech, spoken in the kingdoms of Farrun and Jehanna in the Western Reach.

Yoku - Also known as the Skaven Yoku. This is the form of Yoku spoken for a long time only in the inner parts of Hammerfell around Skaven, having been replaced by Cyrodiilic in most parts of the country. Now its spreading quickly with the post-Great War Redguard nationalism as people are learning it.

 

 

Nordic language

 

This article tells about the modern Nordic language, its grammar, vocabulary, dialects as well as its history. Remember, as with all my languages, while I use everything I can find in the lore especially what comes to dates, population movements and such, this is still fan fiction. I will keep editing this article.

 

 

History of the Nordic language

 

The history of the Nordic language starts in Atmora during the Meretic Era. First groups of Atmoran settlers arrived in Tamriel between years 1100-800 in Merethic Era, settling on the fringes of Elven lands, in areas where the Elves had not settled. Following Skyrim's great rivers south, they first settled in the area of Falkreath, Elinhir and Sancre Tor, quickly wandering into eastern and northern Hegathe (modern Hammerfell) and even spreading into Iliac Bay and Western Reach in High Rock.

 

This first wave of Atmoran settlers is usually known as the "Nedic peoples" and consists of at least two main groups. The eastern group were what would become the Colovians living in the areas of Falkreath, Elinhir and Sancre Tor, and the western were what I like to call the actual Nedes lacking a better term, living in central Hammerfell, Iliac Bay and Western Reach. 

 

What then happened to the Nedes and Colovians is a matter of another article, but it is important to note that they spoke a language closely related to the earliest form of Nordic. Some of the oldest elements in Nedic and Colovian places names can be found in a similar form in the earliest Nordic place names (more on this in the article conserning the Colovian language).

 

The history of the Nordic language in Tamriel starts sometime around the year 500 or so of the Merethic Era, when early proto-nordic tribes of hunter-gatherers settled the northern coasts of Hjaalmarch and the Pale, living in peace with the Falmeri. About two centuries later, Ysgramor founded his city, Saarthal, on the coast of Winterhold. The oldest Proto-Nordic place names come from this era, including Morthal and Saarthal, and the oldest areas of worship, the Snow-veil Sanctum and a small road-side ruin west of Dawnstar, at that time a place where the sky (and its avatar the hawk) was worshipped.

 

The Proto-Nordic stage of the Nordic language was spoken by the early nords until the time of the first kings, in 3rd century of the First Era. The period of Ancient Nordic can be counted from that time onwards, as the language had changed quite much with the large changes in the early nordic culture.

An example of Proto-Nordic: Kynewyng fal âl ysmi âl Miriol, el mer illyngli eyn - Sky-children are the lords of the North, not the blasphemous elves

An example of Ancient Nordic: Wulfharþu ysjeþ êl nurþinas, êl mêres nêþen uvere âfal - Wulfharth ruled over the north, but the elves killed him

Some important changes include the development of grammatical gender and new ways of forming the plurar of words which was done by vowel changes in Proto-Nordic.

Note: I have written long vowels with the apostrophe (such as â). For the "th" sound as in English "the" I have used the sign þ. It is just a stylistic thing to give these language the feeling of antiquity.

 

The Ancient Nordic itself was divided into three main dialects, one spoken by nordic settlers in High Rock, one in Skyrim and one in the nord-controlled parts of Morrowind, with only the Skyrim dialect surviving into modern times. This period lasted until about the middle First Era, at which point the language had already changed so much that it can be called Old Nordic.

An example in Old Nordic: Ulfharðo sernave um él nurðinn, él elfer áfa joffrave uver - Wulfharth ruled over the north, but the elves killed him.

Much had changed from the Ancient Nordic, both grammatically and in the vocabulary, more than can be seen from these short examples. Perhaps the most characteristic change is the r-ending plural in many cases. This period can be considered "the classical" period of the Nordic language.

Note: To give this and the following stages of Nordic more of an Old Norse feeling, I have written the long vowels as "á" and "é" and so on, and the "th" sound with the sign ð.

 

The Old Nordic was spoken until the time of Reman emperors at which point it had developed into Middle Nordic. The Middle Nordic was spoken from the late First Era to about 2nd or 3rd century of the Third Era, and was thus contemporary with the Old Cyrodiilic, the classical "latinesque" language of the Empire. The difference between Middle Nordic and the modern Nordic is perhaps a bit greater than between Shakespearean English and modern English.

An example of Middle Nordic: Ulfharð styrver um el nørðinur, ak el alfar offravi uvre - Wulfharth ruled over the north, but the elves killed him.

 

The period of modern Nordic starts during the early to middle Third Era and is still spoken today. Of course, the language changes all the time and in the future the Nordic will be again quite different from the modern form.

 

 

Modern Nordic

This the Nordic language as spoken in the Fourth Era. Here is represented the White Plains dialect, which is the most neutral of the Nordic dialects, and spoken in the White Plains (southern parts of the Pale, plains of Whiterun and far western Hjaalmarch).

 

Pronunciation

The following consonants are pronounced as in English:

b, p

d

k

l

m, n

s

th

w, v, f

These consonants are different:

g               always as in 'good'

h               always pronounced, never silent as in 'honour'

j                always as in English 'you', never as in 'Jack'

r               a thrilled 'r' in White Plains dialect. In some dialects its similar to English 'r'

t               always pronounced as 't' in White Plains dialect. In some dialects its sometimes 'd' or 'th between vowels.

 

Pronunciation of vowel sounds:

a              as in 'father' but short.

aa           as the regular 'a' but long. A rare sound and one of the few remaining long vowels.

e             as in 'tell'

ei & ey   as in English 'hey'. 

i              as in 'still'

ie           today pronounced as a long 'i' sound, as in 'steel', but historically as 'i' + 'e'

o             as in 'hold'

u             as in 'fool' but short.

y             the same as French 'u', never a consonant as in English.

æ           as the vowel sound in 'cat'. It can as also be written as 'ä'

ø            a sound not really existing in English. The closest sound in English might be the vowel sound in 'girl' and 'her'. The sound exists in Scandinavian languages and Finnish.

A note on the vowels 'æ' and 'ø': I suggest using the correct pronunciation, not to pronounce them as 'a' and 'o'. As in example of using them in a wrong way in the real world, I'll give you the Finnish words 'nakki' and 'näkki'. The first word 'nakki' means a small sausage, while the second word 'näkki' is a kind of water troll from folklore.

 

Grammar

 

Nouns and their declension

The declension of noun have simplified a lot. The old grammatical genders of masculine and feminine have melted together into a common gender. The neuter gender have been retained.

The declensions are the same as in English (having been much simplified from the Middle Nordic); nominative and genitive.






 

Common

 

Neuter

 

  Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.

Nom.

-

-ar

-

-e

Gen.

-s

-ra

-

-er

 

Adjectives

The Nordic adjective is not declined and has no plural form, just as in English.

 

 

Definite article

The modern Nordic has a definite article which works quite differently from the English article. The indefinite article does not exist.

Preceding a noun, it is an independent word as in English, but the common gender and the neuter have their own articles:

Common gender       va

Neuter                        a

But when there is an adjective or preposition before the noun, it becomes a suffix attached to the adjective or preposition. So, when compared to English, the Nordic structure is: adjective+the noun. The gender of the article suffix depends on the gender of the noun.

Common gender       -va        

example I: got brand 'a good sword' > gotva brand 'the good sword'

example II: fram skog 'from a forest' > framva skog 'from the forest'

Neuter                       -a           

example I: knjak land 'a quiet land' > knjaka land 'the quiet land'

example II: fram hus 'from a house' > frama hus 'from the house'

The use of article suffix is still completely regular as it is a new feature in the language, but the language is propably moving towards definite forms similar to, for example, Swedish.

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

The pronouns work quite similar to English pronouns, with a nominative form and a different accusative form, as well as the genitive form.

 





Pronoun

Nom.

Acc.

Gen.

I

Ek

Mej

Meja

You (sg.)

Ke

Ike

Ikka

He/she

Uve

Uvre

Uvra

Relative pronoun; one, who, which

Vem

Vem

Vema

We

Nie

Irje

Irja

You (pl.)

Lie

Lie

Lija

They

Jo

Jore

Jora

(demonstratives currently being revised)





Demonstrative

Nom.

Acc.

Gen.

This

Her

Her

 

That

 

 

 

It

A

A

Ara

These

Here

Here

 

Those

 

 

 

They

 

 

 

Other pronouns:
Self - Ser           an independent pronoun, not used together with a personal pronouns as in English (fro example "yourself"). "Steal yourself a knife" - Køva ser dalk. 
Each - Jaak
 
 

Verbs

The modern Nordic has two verbal tenses; the present and the past.

 

The present tense tells what happens or is happening now. It is formed by adding an ending to the verb.

Singular           -ar

Plural               -a

 

The past tense what happened or has happened. It is also formed by adding an ending to the verb.

Singular         -vir

Plural             -vi

 

The infinitive form and its use:

The infinitive form is the basic form of the verb, formed by adding the suffix -a to the verb. It is used similar to the English verb form 'to VERB', for example: snilla vor signa 'to kill is to win'  or jo kjølvi skavna a Sud 'they sailed to raid the South'. As you can see, Nordic does not use a preposition here, unlike English.

 

Commands:

The imperative (the command form of a verb) is similar to the infinitive in appearance; formed by adding a suffix, -a. For example; Bryla! 'Listen!'

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -and, but is used only as an adjective. For example, you can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -t and is used in a similar way, with the help of the verb 'to be' when needed. For example, va valvi kært 'the girl was loved'.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by using the negation word ej-, placing it before the verb, not after as in English.

The negation word is undergoing a huge change from a participle to a verb, as is many areas it has become common to add the verbal suffixes to the negation word, and leave the actual verb into infinitive form.

In traditional usage; uve ej fryktavir va bern 'he feared not the bear.'

But commonly these days; uve ejvir frykta va bern 'he feared not the bear.' In this example, the word ej has taken the past singular ending, -vir.

 

Prepositions

(incoming; their usage and a list of Nordic prepositions)

bei - near, close

brir - away, faraway

fram - from

hød - above, over

i - in, at

opp - using something, with something, with, together

um - about ['considering something', not 'nearby']

vid - to, into, towards

yte - without

 

Conjunctions

(incoming; their usage and a list of them)

ak - but

alleid - so, thus

att - because

ed - or

hjot - so that, that

munn - perhaps, maybe

o - and

ott - also

som - as, like

vann - though

 

Adverbs

(incoming; their usage and a list of them)

An adjective can be turned into an adverb by adding -i, for example frali quickly from fral quick.

aft - again

Directions:

fara - through, across, over

før - onward

hød - upward

uff - out, away

Quantifiers:

aani - only

hyra - many, much

Time:

eer - before

pratt  - soon

sindi - at last, finally

tann - then, at that moment

 

Numerals

One                             Aan

Three                          Thri

Five                             Fam

Eight                           Atte

Twelve                        Tolf

 

Interrogatives

From where?        Varfram?

How?                     Voo?

What?                    Vad?

When?                   Herr?

Where?                  Var? ["at what place?": compare to varvid and varfram]

Where to?             Varvid?

Who?                     Vem?

Why?                     Vam?

 

Word order

(incoming)

Basic word order: Subject + Verb + Object

Questions: Interrogative + Verb + Subject + Object

 

Vocabulary

I have marked what kind of word is in question (noun, adjective, verb) as well as the gender and plural form for nouns (n.n. = noun, neuter and n.c. = noun, common). The verbs are in infinitive form.

Adda                                               To add, to increase (verb)

Afn (afne)                                        Temple (n. n.)

Agna-                                               To have (verb)

Ald                                                   Old, ancient (adj)

Aldafathir (aldafathrar)                 Ancestor (n. c.)

Alf (alfar)                                         Elf (n. c.)

Alig                                                   Same (adj)

All                                                     All (adj)

Allgard                                             The world (n. c.)

Ambir                                              Amber (n. c.); has no plural form

Angar (angre)                                 Regret (n. n.)

Angra-                                             To regret (verb)

Ansil (ansle)                                   Face (n. n.)

Arg                                                  Horny, lusty (adj)

Arn (arne)                                       Eagle (n. n.)

Ask (aske)                                       Ashes (n. n.)

Aud                                                 Easy (adj)

Baat (baatar)                                 Ship (n. c.)

Bal, eld (balar, eldar)                    Fire, flame (n. c.)

Band-                                             To join (verb)

Barn (barnar)                                Child (n. c.)

Bathm, vid (bathmar, vidar)            Tree (n. c.)

Bedra-                                             To bed a woman (verb); slightly obsence word

Beira-                                              To carry, to bear, to drag (verb)

Beirir (beirirar)                              Carrier, bearer (n. c.)

Beit (beite)                                     Question, bid (n. n.)

Beita-                                              To ask, to bid (verb)

Bel                                                   Brave, fearless (adj)

Belja-                                              To dare, to have the courage to (verb)

Ben (bene)                                     Bone (n. n.)

Berg, vall (bergar, vallar)             Cliff (n. c.)

Bittna-                                            To cut, to cleave (verb)

Bod (bode)                                     Meal (n. n.)

Borg (borgar)                                 Village (n. c.)

Bjart                                                Blonde, fair [of color] (adj)

Bjor (bjore)                                    Beer (n. n.)

Bjørn, bern (bjørnar, bernar)      Bear (n. c.)

Bland                                             Plain, naked, bare (adj)

Blek                                                Pale, bleak (adj)

Blitt-                                              To wink, to blink (verb)

Boog (booge)                                Bow (n. n.)

Boogdreng (boogdrenge)           Bow string (n. n.)

Borda-                                            To need, must (verb); both 'I need something' and 'I must do something'

Botra-                                             To reward, to donate (verb)

Bott (botte)                                    Reward, payment, gift, donation (n. n.)

Brand (brandar)                            Sword (n. c.)

Bratta-                                           To swear, to promise (verb)

Brattung (brattunge)                   Promise, oath, contract (n. n.)

Briehl (briehle)                              Field (n. n.)

Brodir (brodrar)                            Brother (n. c.)

Bron, brun                                     Brown (adj)

Bru (bruar)                                     Bridge (n. c.)

Bruka-                                            To collapse, to be destroyed, to sunder, to crumble (verb)

Brygg-                                            To repair (verb)

Bryla-                                             To hear, to listen (verb)

Brynja (brynjar)                            Armor (n. c.)

Burd (burde)                                 Table, board, plank (n. n.)

Bunt (bunte)                                 Belly, stomach (n. n.)

Bøl (bølar)                                     Sorrow, grief, worry (n. c.)

Bølla-                                             To grieve, to worry (verb)

Børsa-                                            To tie, to bind (verb)

Dag (dagar)                                    Day (n. c.)

Dalk (dalkar)                                  Knife, dagger (n. c.)

Den (dene)                                     Den, nest (n. n.)

Ding (dinge)                                   Thing (n. n.)

Dis (disar)                                       Lady, noblewoman (n. c.)

Domme (dommer)                        Doom, judgement (n. c.)

Drake (draker)                                Dragon (n. c.)

Draug (daugar)                              Ghost, undead (n. c.); also a specific type of undead, the draugr

Dreija-                                             To turn (verb)

Dreng (drenge)                              String, wire (n. n.)

Drifa-                                               To collect, to gather (verb)

Dwarg (dwargar)                            Dwarf (n. c.)

Effa-                                                 To soak (verb)

Eita (eitar)                                        Poison (n. c.)

Eldig                                                 Clear (adj)

Enn (enne)                                       Forehead (n. n.)

Fafna-                                               To whisper (verb)

Falla-                                                To fail (verb)

Fam-                                                 To come (verb)

Fast                                                   Hard, ubreakable (adj)

Fathir (fathrar)                                 Fathir (n. c.)

Feig                                                   Fey, otherworldly (adj) 

Feiging (feigingar)                          Omen, vision (n. c.)

Fel                                                     Cold, freezing (adj)

Fell (fellar)                                       Hill, mound (n. c.)

Fen (fenar)                                      Fen, swamp, marsh (n. c.)

Ferd                                                  Dead (adj)

Ferdommt                                       Doomed to die (adj)

Fid (fide)                                           Fitness, health (n. n.)

Finna-                                               To find, to meet, to plan (verb); the 'to plan' is an old, poetic meaning

Firr (firrar)                                       Fir tree (n. c.)

Fjalda-                                              To gather somewhere, to come together (verb)

Fjalding (fjaldinge)                         Gathering, meeting (n. n.)

Fjell (fjelle)                                       Mountain, mound, hill (n. n.)

Fjord (fjorde)                                    Fjord (n. n.)

Fjøl (fjølar)                                       Group, herd, flock, band (n. c.)

Fjør (fjøre)                                        Life (n. n.)

Fjøra-                                                Live (verb)

Fjøt (fjøtar)                                      Foot (n. c.)

Flesk (fleske)                                  Flesh (n. n.)

Flod (flode)                                     Wave (n. n.)

Forra-                                               To shape (verb)

Frabb (frabbar)                               Night (n. c.)

Fral                                                   Fast, quick (adj)

Frald (fralde)                                  Speed, hurry (n. n.)

Frand-                                             To keep, to hold (verb)

Freir (freirar)                                  Lover, boyfriend (n. c.); a male lover, not female

Fri                                                    Free (adj)

Frid (fridar)                                     Peace (n. c.)

Frik (frikar)                                     Freedom (n. c.)

Frod (frode)                                    Loss (n. n.)

Frodna-                                           To lose something (verb)

Frofna-                                            To wake up (verb)

Fryfn (fryfne)                                  Honey (n. n.)

Frykta-                                             To fear, to be afraid (verb)

Frykte (frykter)                               Fear (n. c.)

Fryse (fryser)                                  Frost (n. c.)

Frysehag (frysehagar)                   Frost witch (n. c.)

Frøssel (frøsslar)                            Winter (n. c.)

Fulja-                                               To be born (verb)

Fult (fulte)                                       Birth (n. n.)

-fyll (-fyllar)                                    -born, -kin (n. c.); for example drakefyll dragonborn

Fylta-                                               To give birth (verb)

Føl                                                    Pale (adj)

Før (føre)                                         Trip, journey (n. n.)

Gal (galar)                                       Yell, shout (n. c.)

Galla-                                              To yell, to bellow, to scream (verb)

Gandra-                                          To walk, to travel (verb)

Gang-                                              To go (verb)

Gar (garar)                                     Weapon, gear (n. c.)

Gard (garde)                                  Yard, land (n. c.)

Geil-                                               To yell, to shout (verb)

Geir (geirar)                                   Spear (n. c.)

Geiss                                               Furious (adj)

Geissir (geissrar)                           Berserker (n. c.)

Gest (gestar)                                 Guest (n. c.)

Gisl (gislar)                                   Staff (n. c.)

Glessig                                           Greedy (adj)

God, gud (gode, gude)                God (n. n.)

Goll (golle)                                    Gold (n. n.)

Got                                                  Good (adj)

Gra                                                  Grey (adj)

Grahl (grahlar)                              Frost troll of Solstheim (n. c.)

Grav (gravar)                                 Grave (n. n.)

Greid                                               Firm, confident (adj)

Gret (grete)                                    Grinn (n. n.)

Gretta-                                            To grinn (verb)

Grim                                               Grim, cruel, mean (adj)

Grymm-                                        To set on fire, to burn (verb), transitive only, never "a house burns", but "the bandits burn the village"

Grysval (grysvale)                        Blizzard, snowstorm (n. n.)

Grønn                                             Green (adj)

Gundir (gundrar)                          Warrior (n. c.)

Gunja-                                            To help (verb)

Gylden                                           Golden (adj)

Haafin                                            Lonely, isolated (adj)

Hafn (hafne)                                  Haven, port  (n. n.)

Hafyll (hafyllar)                            Noble (n. c.)

Hag (hagar)                                   Witch (n. c.)

Hald (halde)                                   Jarldom, hold (n. c.)

Halfa-                                             To have (verb)

Halfa- vald hød                             To rule over, to have lordship over (verb)

Hall (hallar)                                    Hall (n. c.)

Hand (handar)                               Hand (n. c.)

Har (hare)                                       Hair (n. n.)

Hard                                                Hard (adj)

Haust (hauste)                               Autumn (n. n.)

Havil (havlar)                                 Bay (n. n.)

Heedig                                            Tired, weary (adj)

Heeding                                          Exhaustion (n. n.)

Hefad (hefade)                              Revenge (n. n.)

Hefda-                                            To avenge (verb)

Heid (heide)                                   Moor, heath, meadow (n. n.)

Heim, ham (heimar, hamar)        Home (n. c.)

Heimsk                                           Mad, foolish, crazy (adj)

Helm (helmar)                               Helmet (n. c.); also 'castle' in the old times

Herd (herdar)                                 Shoulder (n. c.)

Hert (hertar)                                   Heart (n. c.)

Hidi (hide)                                      Flake (n. n.)

Hild, gund, vøl, vig (hilde, gunde, vøle, vige) Battle (n. n.)

Hildifjøl (hildifjølar)                      Warhost, army (n. c.)

Himmel (himmlar)                        Sky (n. c.)

Hirse (hirser)                                  Beam (n. c.); an architectural element, not a beam of ligth

Hjold (hjolde)                                 Song (n. n.)

Hjolda-                                            To sing (verb)

Hlar (hlare)                                      Blood (n. n.)

Hlard                                                Bloody (adj)

Hlerja-                                             To bleed, to cause to bleed (verb)

Hof (hofe)                                        Pride (n. n.)

Hofsk                                               Proud (adj)

Hol (hole)                                        Hole (n. n.)

Hold (holdar)                                  A Nordic Hold (n. c.)

Holm, ey (holmar, eyar)                Island (n. c.)

Honnung (honnunge)                   Mead (n. n.)

Hork (horkar)                                  Tusk (n. c.)

Horkir (horkrar)                              Horker (n. c.)

Horsk                                                Wise (adj)

Hrefn (hrefnar)                                Crow (n. c.)

Hrein                                                Clean, pure (adj)

Hreir (hreire)                                   Reed (n. n.)

Hrisa-                                               To shiver (verb)

Huld (huldar)                                   Shell, sheath (n. c.)

Hull, hul (hulle, hule)                     Cave, tomb cavern (n. n.)

Hus (huse)                                       House (n. n.)

Huskarl (huskarlar)                        Huscarl (n. c.)

Hval (hvalar)                                   Whale (n. c.)

Hvit                                                   White (adj)

Hyrd (hyrde)                                     Herd (n. n.)

Hæd (hæde)                                     Height (n. n.)

Høgn (høgne)                                  Strike, punch (n. n.)

Høgna-                                             To strike, to hit, to punch (verb)

Høl (høle)                                         Hill (n. n.)

Hør (høre)                                        Linen (n. n.)

Hørski                                               Made of linen (adj)

Idja, id (idje, ide)                             Work, job, duty, obligation (n. n.)

Ifrand                                                Refrain (n. n.)

Ifrand-                                               To refrain (verb)

Iggna-                                               To burn (verb)

Ild (ildar)                                          River (n. c.)

Ill                                                       Ill, evil (adj)

Is (isar)                                              Ice (n. c.)

Isin                                                    Made of iron (adj)

Jage (jager)                                       Hunt, chase (n. c.)

Jarl (jarlar)                                         Jarl (n. c.)

Jol                                                       Midwinter (n. n.)

Jolda-                                                 To lie, to lie down (verb); not 'to tell a lie'

Jor (jorar)                                           Chief, chieftain (n. c.)

Jorn (jornar)                                      Steel (n. c.)

Jøfn                                                     Equal (adj)

Kall                                                     Cold (adj)

Karl (karlar)                                       Peasant, commoner (n. c.); male

Katla (katlar)                                     Cauldron (n. c.)

Kelda (keldar)                                   Spring, watersource (n. c.)

Kjølva-                                               To sail (verb)

Kleppa-                                             To babble, to gossip (verb)

Kleppir (klepprar)                            Gossiper (n. c.)

Knjak                                                  Quiet, silent (adj)

Knur                                                   Soft (adj)

Knurbunt (knurbunte)                     Softgut, wimp (n. c.)

Kodra (kodrar)                                  Cloak, cape (n. c.)

Kol (kole)                                           Coal (n. n.)

Komus (komuse)                              Page (n. n.)

Kong (kongar)                                   King (n. c.)

Kongerike (kongeriker)                   Kingdom (n. c.)

Kor (korar)                                         Tower (n. c.)

Krefa-                                                To begin, to start (verb)

Kryssig                                              Ancient (adj)

Krøstig                                              Busy (adj)

Kuf (kufe)                                          Ink (n. n.)

Kygg (kygge)                                     Corridor (n. n.)

Kylja-                                                 To hope, to wish (verb)

Kyll (kylle)                                         Hope (n. n.)

Kyr (kyrar)                                          Cow (n. c.)

Kær                                                     Dear, beloved (adj)

Kæra-                                                 To love (verb)

Kørst (kørstar)                                   Ground, earth (n. c.)

Køss (køsse)                                       Chest, breast (n. n.)

Køva-                                                  To steal (verb)

Køvir (køvrar)                                    Thief (n. c.)

Lage (lager)                                       Lake (n. c.)

Land (lande)                                      Land, area, region (n. n.)

-lav                                                     -less (adj suffix); for example konglav kingless

Legge-                                               To set, to put (verb)

Leid (leide)                                        Custom, habit (n. n.)

Leig (leige)                                        Payment, price (n. n.)

Ljot                                                     Loud, noisy (adj)

Lod, urd (lodar, urdar)                     Fate (n. c.)

Lof (lofe)                                            Honour (n. n.)

Lofa-                                                  To honour, to praise (verb)

Luke (luker)                                      Lid, door (n. c.)

Lund (lundar)                                   Glade (n. c.)

Løg (løge)                                         Law (n. n.)

Mal (male)                                        Language (n. n.)

Mala-                                                To speak (verb)

Man (mannar)                                 Human, man (n. c.)

Mane (maner)                                 Spell, enchantment (n. c.)

Mar (marar)                                     Horse (n. c.)

Mark (marke)                                  Borderland, hinterland, march (n. n.)

Mata-                                               To eat (verb)

Mid                                                   Mid, middle (adj)

Mithril                                             Mithril (n. n.); no plural form

Mjøl (mjøle)                                     Flour (n. n.)

Mjølhus (mjølhuse)                        Mill (n. n.)

Mjøll-                                               To crush, to grind, to chew (verb)

Mjøllir (mjøllrar)                             Miller (n. c.)

Mod (modar)                                   Rage, hatred (n. c.)

Modisk                                             Angry, furious (adj)

Mothir (mothrar)                            Mother (n. c.)

Mund, mud (munde, mude)         Mouth (n. n.)

Myrva (myrvar)                              Tundra (n. c.)

Mø, frøk (møar, frøkar)                  Maiden, girl, miss, young woman (n. c.)

Møg (møgar)                                  Family (n. c.)

Møgen (møgnar)                            Relative (n. c.)

Møl (møle)                                      Sand, gravel (n. n.)

Nar (nare)                                       Corpse, dead body (n. n.)

Njad                                                Beautiful (adj)

Nord (nordar)                                 Nord (n. c.)

Ny                                                    New (adj)

Nørrin                                             Northern (adj)

Nørring (nørringar)                       Northman (y. subs)

O-                                                     Un- (adj); a prefix as in English

Odd                                                  Odd, strange (adj)

Offra-                                              To die (verb)

Ogunlig                                           Useless, futile (adj)

Oheedig                                         Tireless (adj)

Okyld                                              Desperate (adj)

Okyll                                                Desperation (n. n.)

Oløgir (oløgrar)                              Outlaw (n. c.)

Ond                                                  Evil, bad (adj)

Orgna-                                             To stalk (verb)

Ork (orkar)                                      Orc (n. c.)

Orm (ormar)                                   Snake, worm (n. c.)

Ovaldung                                        Misrule, chaos (n. n.)

Pfan-                                               To bend (verb)

Pfund (pfundar)                             Head, hill, peak (n. c.)

Praad (praadar)                             Camp (n. c.)

Rad (rade)                                       Guidance, advice, counsel (n. n.)

Rada-                                              To advice, to counsel (verb)

Ragn (ragnar)                                 God (n. c.)

Reft (refte)                                      Rift, crevice (n. n.)

Regn (regnar)                                Rain (n. c.)

Regna-                                            To rain (verb)

Reid (reide)                                     Ride (n. n.)

Reisa-, risa-                                    To raise, to rise (verb)

Retta (rettar)                                  Wheel (n. c.)

Rida-                                               To ride (verb)

Ridir (ridrar)                                   Rider (n. c.)

Riekling (rieklingar)                     Riekling (n. c.)

Rik (rike)                                         King (n. n.)

Rika (rikar)                                     Queen (n. c.)

Rim (rime)                                      Frost (n. n.)

Ring (ringar)                                  Ring, circle (n. c.)

Rjaak (rjaake)                                 Hinterland, borderland (n. n.)

Rjaaka-                                           To reach (verb)

Rof (rofe)                                        Crack, hole, openin (n. n.)

Rogg (rogge)                                  Insult, mockery (n. n.)

Rum (rumar)                                  Room (n. c.)

Runa (runar)                                  Rune (n. c.)

Ræf (ræfe)                                      Roof (n. n.)

Rød                                                 Red (adj)

Røsse (røsse)                                 Brass, bronze (n. n.)

Saad (saadar)                                 Coast, shore (n. c.)

Sarna-                                             To say, to order (verb)

Sarna (sarnar)                                Speech (n. c.)

Sid                                                   Long (adj)

Sif (sife)                                          Love, affection (adj)

Sifna-                                              To love (verb)

Sig (sige)                                         Victory (n. n.)

Signa-                                             To win (verb)

Sin, rolf (sinar, rolfar)                   Friend, companion (n. c.)

Sind                                                 Last, final (adj)

Sitta-                                               To sit (verb)

Sjø, sjør, haf (sjøar, sjørar, hafar)   Sea (n. c.)

Skald (skaldar)                               Skald (n. c.)

Skappa-                                          To sweep (verb)

Skav                                                Destruction (n. n.)

Skavna-                                          To destroy, to sack, to raid (verb)

Skavnir (skavnrar)                          Destroyer, raider (n. c.)

Skegg (skeggar)                             Beard (n. c.)

Skivir (skivrar)                                Skeever (n. c.)

Skjold (skjoldar)                            Shield (n. c.)

Skjorta (skjortar)                           Skirt (n. c.)

Skog, staang (skogar, staangar)  Forest, woods (n. c.)

Skuld (skuldar)                               Crime, sin (n. c.)

Skulda-                                            To punish (verb)

Skulna-                                            To whip, to beat (verb)

Sky (skye)                                        Sky (n. n.)

Skygge (skygger)                           Shadow (n. n.)

Snilla-                                              To kill, to slay (verb)

Snygg (snygge)                              Corner (n. n.)

Snæd                                               Small, tiny (adj)

Snær (snære)                                  Snow (n. n.)

Snærsk                                            Snowy (adj)

Sol (solar)                                       Sun (n. c.)

Solst (solstar)                                 Dawn, sunrise (n. c.)

Son (sonar)                                     Son (n. c.)

Sova-                                               To sleep (verb)

Sovn (sovne)                                   Sleep, rest (n. n.)

Staad (staadar)                              Place (n. c.)

Stag, staag (stage, staage)          Castle, fort (n. n.)

Stahl (stahle)                                  Steel (n. n.)

Stald (stalde)                                  Prey (n. n.)

Starna, star (starnar, starar)         Star (n. n.)

Stein, sten (steinar, stenar)          Stone (n. c.)

Stig (stigar)                                     Path (n. c.)

Storm, sturm (stormar, sturmar)  Storm (n. c.)

Strad (stradar)                                River, stream (n. c.)

Styra-                                              To steer (verb)

Styrr (styrrar)                                 Steer (n. c.)

Støra                                                Valor, bravery (n. c.)

Størn                                               Fearless, brave (adj)

Sud                                                  South (n. n.)

Svan (svanar)                                 Seagull (n. c.)

Svapp                                              Week, timid (adj)

Syd (syde)                                      Vapor, steam (n. n.)

Sydig                                              Vaporous, ethereal (adj)

Særa-                                              To wound (verb)

Sætra-                                             To mean, to signify (verb)

Sætta (sættar)                                Compensation (n. c.)

Sætta-                                             To compensate (verb)

Søtt                                                  Cute, sweet, pretty (adj)

Virk (virke)                                      Castle, fort (n. n.)

Tal (tale)                                          Tale, story (n. n.)

Tala-                                                To tell, to speak (verb)

Tid (tide)                                         Time (n. n.)

Tun (tune)                                      Town, city (n. n.)

Trag (tragar)                                   Glacier (n. c.)

Treva-                                              To touch, to caress (verb)

Trysta-                                             To drive (verb)

Thegn (thegnar)                               Thane (n. c.)

Throkna-                                          To raid, to plunder (verb)

Throknir (throknrar)                       Raider, bandit (n. c.)

Throm                                               Firm, stiff, stoic, unmovable (adj)

Thrud                                                Glorious, magnificent (adj)

Thryng                                              Dry (adj)

Thund                                                Black, dark (adj)

Thu'um (thu'umar)                          The Shout (n. c.)

Thyll-                                                To fall (verb)

Thyrr (thyrrar)                                  Spirit (n. c.)

Udyr (ydrar)                                     Monster (n. c.); irregular plural

Ulf, olf (ulfar, olfar)                         Wolf (n. c.)

Ull (ulle)                                            Fur (n. n.)

Ulmar (ulmarar)                              Mammoth (n. c.)

Umgang-                                          To go upon, to possess someone (as in go spiritually inside someone's body), to invigorate spiritually

Urd (urdar)                                        Word (n. c.)

Urda-                                                 To say (verb)

Urn (urnar)                                       Urn (n. c.)

Vaan (vaane)                                    Glow (n. c.)

Val (valar)                                         Corpse, dead person (n. c.)

Vald (valdar)                                     Authority, power (n. c.)

Var, vaar (vare, vaare)                     Spring (n. n.); the season, not a spring of water

Vard (vardar)                                    Guard (n. c.)

Varda-                                               To guard, to watch over (verb)

Vatr (vatre)                                       Water (n. n.)

Vel                                                     Happy, glad (adj)

Vet                                                    Knowledge (n. n.)

Veta-                                                 To know (verb)

Vigna-                                               To fight (verb)

Vild                                                    Wild (adj)

Vind (vindar)                                    Wind (n. c.)

Ving (vingar)                                     Wing (n. c.)

Vip (vipe)                                           Sight, vision (n. n.)

Vipa-                                                  To look, to see (verb)

Vir (virar)                                           Man, male (n. c.); not human, but a human male

Vong (vongar)                                   Road (n. c.)

Vor                                                      To be (verb); valvi in the past tense

Vrag                                                    Crooked, evil, treacherous (adj)

Vulk (vulke)                                       Folk, people (n. n.)

Vølja-                                                  To wage war (verb)

Vølsung (vølsunge)                          War (n. n.)

Wafa-                                                  To feed (verb)

Wil (wile)                                            Will, mind (n. n.)

Wilja-                                                  To wish, to want (verb)

Yffa-                                                     To cry, to weep (verb)

Yld                                                       Full (adj)

Ylda-                                                   To fill (verb)

Ythva-                                                 To rob, to take away (verb)

Ø (øar)                                                 Eye (n. c.)

Ølja-                                                    To smear (verb)

Øll                                                       Oil (n. c.)

Ørt (ørte)                                            Herb (n. n.)

Øst                                                       East (n. c.)

Øttra (øttrar)                                      Old woman, hag, granny (n. c.)

(under construction; I'll continue translating my finished Nordic vocabulary into English as well as adding new words.)

 

Placenames

A Rjaak - The Reach

Blekva - The Pale

Falkreath - Falkreath

Frøsselvirk - Winterhold

Haafingar - Haafingar

Hjaalmark - Hjaalmarch

Hvitstrad - Whiterun

Reftland, A Reft - The Rift

Østmark - Eastmarch

 

Text samples

A Nordic translation of an English poem written by Ratwolf in the Skywind forums. This translation was made by Dagoth Relnav here in the Imperial Library, all the credit and my thanks on the translation go to him.

 

Ek gandra vid nørrin lande.
Vid heim.
Vidva land meja aldfathir
wilja ek gandraa.
Vragva øst iggna mej.

Thrudva vind ova snær
mjøll i meja wil.
Heim o meja møg
fafna vid meja hert.
Grima gude ej bryla
meja ohofsk beit.

 

I will not post the original English version until I'm given a permission by the author himself.

 

Prophecy of the Dragonborn:

Herr ovaldung legger ia atte snygge a gard
When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world
 
Herr va Røsse-Kor gandrar o Tid vor aftforrat
When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped
 
Herr va thriti-got falla o Rødva Kor hrisar
When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles
 
Herr Drakefylla Rik frodnar uvra vald, o Hvitva Kor brukar
When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls
 
Herr va Snær-Kor joldar brukat, konglav, hlerjand
When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding
 
Va Gard-Matir frofnar, o va retta dreijar vidva Sind Drakefyll
The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn.

 

 

Aldmeris

The Aldmeri grammar was originally published in my other article, 'My Tamrielic Languages'.

 

Pronunciation

Let's start with the pronunciation. The pronunciation of Ayleid language heard when Umaril speaks closely resembles the pronunciation of Aldmeris. It is important to remember that the sounds are always pronounced the same, unlike in English.

 

The consonants:The following consonants are pronounced as in English:

qu, x
d
h               always pronounced, as in 'happy', never silent as in 'honour'
p, b
l
s, sh
th
n, m
v, w, f
 
These consonants are a bit different:
c                always pronounced 'k' as in "cat", never as 's'
k and kh     the 'k' sound is never aspirated, meaning that there is not puffy sound with it. The 'kh' sound is the aspirated version.
g                always pronounced as in "good"
ch              pronounced as in Scottish "loch" or German "ich", never as in English "choose"
gh              sharper and stronger version of the 'ch' sound
t                always pronounced 't', never 'd' or any other sound, not even between vowels
r                thrilled 'r' sound, not like the standard English sounds or the French sound
y               a semi-vowel, pronounced as the consonant in "you" before a vowel, as the vowel sound in "still" after a vowel and as the French or Japanese 'u' between consonants. The words ry, fey and nirya show the different uses of the sound.
 
The vowel sounds:
There are five vowels (or six if you count the semi-vowel 'y'), each having a short and a long version. The long versions are written as "aa, ee" etc. and simply pronounced as a longer version of the short sound. The long vowels are extremely rare in Aldmeris.
 
a           as in "father" but short.
e           as in "tell"
i            as in "still"
o           as in "hold"
u           as in "fool" but short
 
Stress:
The stress normally falls on the first syllable of the word. But when the last syllable ends in a consonant, the stress falls on the last syllable. Examples, with an accent marking the stress:
 
            Ánda - stress on the first syllable
            Cemén - stress on the final syllable as it ends in a consonant
 
 

Grammar

 

Article

Neither definite article nor indefinite article exist in Aldmeris in any form.

 

Nouns and adjectives

The Aldmeris noun and adjective declines in six classes. As in English, the only declesions are the nominative and genitive, but both have singular and plural forms. The noun are divided into the declesion classes simply by the final sound in singular.

Noun class
Nominative
Genitive
 
Sg.
Pl.
Sg.
Pl.
A-ending
-a
-ai
-e
-ae
E-ending
-e
-ei
-e
-ei
I-ending
-i
-is
-i
-ie
O-ending
-oth
-a
-o
-ae
U-ending
-us
-u
-a
-ue
Consonantal ending
-
-e
-u
-e

 

Example: The word buroth "servant" is an O-ending noun, and the word aldmer is a consonantal ending noun. Buroth aldmeru means '(the) servant of an aldmer and bura aldmere means '(the) servants of aldmeri'

 

The declension of adjectives is similar, but lacks the genitive form, just like in English. The greatest difference to English is that the Aldmeris adjective had plural form. So, if the word it describes is in plural, so is the adjective.

Adjective class
 Nominative
 
Sg.
Pl.
A-endings
-a
-ai
E-endings
-e
-ei
I-endings
-i
-is
O-endings
-o
-a
U-endings
-us
-u
Consonantal endings
-K
-e
 

Possessive

Aldmeris completely lacks possessive, meaning that is has no equivalent of the English "have" verb. You can't ask "do you have any money?" Aldmeris phrases those kind of questions in a different way, making some speech patters very different from typical real-world Western patterns. Some examples:

 

Do you have any money?            >           Is there any money in your pockets?

The king has a tall tower              >          The king's tower (followed by a desription of the tower's location or something else; "... is in the valley" so you can't simply say that the king has a tower) 

He has a terrible disease             >          He is sick with a terrible disease

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

Personal pronouns:

Pronoun
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
I
A
A
Angua
You (sg.)
Ni
Ni
Sou
He
-
-
-
We
Nu
Nu
Nou
You (pl.)
Tye
Tye
Tou
They
Thy
Thy
Thya
Relative pronoun; which, who
 Man
 Man
 Man
A certain one
Le
Le
Lou
Note that there is no pronoun for "he" or "she"; instead of them, a noun is always used. For example, "he killed the bear" = "Bob killed the bear / the man killed the bear."
 

The relative pronoun man is also used as a phrase meaning "which was/who was". For example: aldmer man lindai the aldmer who was rich.

Pronoun
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
Everybody, all
Rauma
Rauma
Raume
 
 

Verb

The Aldmeris verb has three tenses; the present, the future and the past.

 

Present tense:

The present of course tell what happens now and is formed by adding a personal ending to the verb. The endings are:

Me  -nye          

You (sg.) -t

He/she - (no ending)

We -ne

You (pl.) -ye

They - (no ending)

If the verb ends in a consonant, an -a- is added before the personal ending.

So, for example using the verb hecta- "to receive"; hectanye I receive, hectat you receive, hecta he receives and using tarn- to passtarnane we pass

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. In verbs ending with a vowel, an -i- is infixed just before the last vowel, and then followed by the regular personal ending. In verbs ending with a consonant, an ending -e is added, followed by the regular personal ending.

Example:

hecta- to receive > hectia he received, hectiaye they received

tarn- to pass > tarne he passed, tarnet you passed

 

 

Future tense:

The future tense tells what will happen in the future. It is formed by adding an ending -va followed by the regular personal ending. For example, hectavanye I will receive.

 

Commands:

There are two forms of commands. The first is the regular imperative, used to tell somebody to do something. It is formed with the ending -oy. An example using the verb heca- to go away, to leave; hecoy! leave!

The second is a polite form, used to ask somebody to do something. It is formed with the ending -e. An example using the verb heca- to go away, to leave; Hece Please leave, if you will

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -en, but is used only as an adjective. For example, you can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -ti (-ati if the verb ends in a consonant) and is used in a similar way, although verb "to be" is not used. For example, aldmer amati an aldmer was asked

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a prefix aba- to a verb, or ab- if the verb starts with a vowel. Otherwise the verb works as normal. For example. aldmer abahectava an aldmer will not receive

 

Interrogatives

From where? - Avma?

How? - Amma?

What? - Ma?

When? -

Where? In what place? - Feyma?

Where to? - Vama?

Who? - Man?

Why? - Asma?

With what? - Amma?

 

Positions

(under construction)

To help those interested in Aldmeris but with not so much knowledge about linguistics, I have listed here all those words having to do with location, including adverbs and prepositions. I did this after a friend of mine requested it.

Grammatically they work in the same way; the positional word is always placed before the noun.

am - using something, by something

anta - nearby, close, around, next to

as - for, because of

av - from, of

ba - without

de - considering, about

fey - in, at

gume - against

heu - out, away

ry - as

va - to, into, towards

vas - through, over

ver - before, in front of

vinne - forward

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

ae - and

em - but

ni, ne, aba - no, not

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

frey - only, sole, alone

ilpen - many, a lot, much, very

Time:

aboie - never

avanas - afterwards, after something

washe - soon

 

Numerals

Ordinals follow the word they describe but are not declined, unlike adjectives.

(uncer construction)

Numeral
Aldmeris
Ordinal
Aldmeris
Zero
Nulli
-
-
One
Para
1st
Paravant
Two
Vera
2nd
Veravant
Three
Nata
3rd
Natavant
Four
Ehca
4th
Ehcavant
Five
Nosci
5th
Noscivant
Six
Ethi
6th
Ethivant
Seven
Banto
7th
Bantovant
Eight Yendo 8th Yendovant
Nine Quento 9th Quentovant
Ten Veranosci 10th Veranoscva
11 Parapin 11th Parapinva
12 Verapin 12th Verapinva
13 Natapin 13th Natapinva
14-19 suffix pin added to a numeral: yendopin etc. 14th-19th suffix va added to a numeral: yendopinva etc.
20 Veraben 20. Verabenva
30 Nataben 30. Natabenva
40 Ehcaben 40. Ehcabenva
50 Nosciben 50. Noscibenva
60 Ethiben 60. Ethibenva
70 Bantoben 70. Bantobenva
80 Yendoben 80. Yendobenva
90 Quentoben 90. Quentobenva
100 Veranosciben 100. Veranoscibenva
200 Verabenta 200. Verabentava
300, 400, 500 etc. suffix ta added to a numeral: natabenta etc. 300th., 400th etc. suffix va added to a numeral: natabentava etc.

 

Word order

A common sentence has the following word order: Subject + Verb + Object.

An adjective always follows the word it describes; mirie rielle girl beautiful = beautiful girl

The owner always follows the owned; daen aldmeru the sword aldmer's = the aldmer's sword

In question sentences the basic word order is: Interrogative + Verb + Subject + Object + Preposition. Some examples:

Man hectia gandra? Who received the gift?

Feyma ni daen hindet? Where you the sword found? = Where did you find the sword?

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type of the word and the plural form. The class of a noun or adjective can be clearly seen from its ending in singular and plural. The verbs are in the root form.

This vocabulary represents Aldmeris with it still was a spoken, living language in the Merethic Era. For this reason it lacks the words like altmer and dunmer. Following this vocabulary is a separate vocabulary for words used in civilized writings in the later eras.

 

Aba (abai)                                         Forbidden (adj)

Abannen (abannene)                      Nonexistent (adj)

Abramor (abramore)                       Meteor, comet (n.)

Acia (aciai)                                        Plant (n.)

Ada (adai)                                         God (n.)

Adas (adase)                                     Temple (n.)

Adawen (adawene)                         Goddess (n.)

Adma-                                               To listen (verb)

Adonai (adonais)                             Godly, godlike, divine (adj)

Aedroth (aedra)                               Ancestor; AEDRA (n.)

Aelle (aellei)                                     Wondrous, amazing (adj)

Aellis                                                 Awe, wonderment (n.)

Aetta-                                               To sing (verb)

Aettus (aettu)                                  Song (n.)

Afba (afbai)                                      Honey (n.)

Agar (agare)                                     Knowledge (n.)

Agea (ageai)                                     Wisdom (n.)

Aican (aicane)                                  [Some coniferous tree] (n.)

Aka (akai)                                         Dragon, king, eternity, time (n.)

Alata (alatai)                                    Light, radiance (n.)

Alcharya (alcharyai)                       High elf; the aldmer of Summerset Isle (n.)

Ald (alde)                                          First, old, ancient, proto (adj)

Aldmer (aldmere)                           First elf; ALDMER (n.)

Ali (alis)                                            Glory, honour (n.)

Alt (alte)                                           High (adj)

Alten (altene)                                   Highland, plateau (n.)

Ama-                                                To ask, to bid (verb)

Amaralda-                                       To foresee, to predict (verb)

An (ane)                                            New (adj)

Anar                                                  Sun (n.)

Anca-                                                To stalk (verb)

Anda (andai)                                    Long (adj)

Anga (angai)                                    Cold (adj)

Angon (angone)                              Hut, tent (n.)

Anis (anise)                                       Daily (adj)

Anix (anixe)                                      Day (n.)

Annith (annithe)                              Age, era, season, period of time (n.)

Anya (anyai)                                     Living, alive (adj)

Anyammis                                        Life (n.)

Apaliin                                              Future (n.)

Ar-                                                     Royal, kingly (adj) [prefix]

Ara (arai)                                          Queen (n.)

Aran (arane)                                    King (n.)

Arata (aratai)                                   Mist, fog, twilight (n.)

Arbas (arbase)                                 Womb (n.)

Archen (archene)                            Castle, fort (n.)

Arda (ardai)                                     Faithful, loyal (adj)

Ardis                                                Loyalty (n.)

Argon (argone)                               Meeting, gathering (n.)

Arkta-                                              To know, to understand (verb)

Arquen (arquene)                           Noble (n.)

Arstare (arstarei)                            Palace (n.)

Ascuvar (ascuvare)                         Mutual (adj)

Ata (atai)                                          Father (n.)

Atron (atrone)                                 Element of the natural world (n.); light, fire, earth, water, air, storm etc.

Atronach (atronache)                     Atronach (n.)

Ath (athe)                                         High, tall (adj)

Athel (athele)                                  Sky (n.)

Auri (auris)                                       Gold (n.)

Aushanta-                                         To return (verb)

Auta (autai)                                      Mind (n.)

Autare (autarei)                               Thought (n.)

Autarium (autariume)                    Theory (n.)

Ava-                                                   To open (verb)

Ayla (aylai)                                       Invisible, unnoticeable (adj)

Baene (baenei)                                Mighty, great, large, big (adj)

Bahra (bahrai)                                 Type, species, race (n.)

Bal (bale)                                          Stone, rock (n.)

Bala (balai)                                      Strength, power (n.)

Barra-, baerra-                                To fold (verb)

Basra (basrai)                                  Bush, shrub (n.)

Baume (baumei)                             Attribute, feature (n.)

Bavar (bavare)                                 Beard (n.)

Bek (beke)                                        Settlement (n.); village, city, farm etc.

Bel (bele)                                          Physical strength (n.)

Belda (beldai)                                  Strong, powerful, mighty (adj)

Bella (bellai)                                    Storm (n.)

Belo-                                                 To hit, to strike, to beat (verb)

Benpar (benpare)                            Courtyard (n.)

Berate (beratei)                               Half-elf (n.)

Bere (berei)                                      Half (n.)

Berca-                                               To crawl (verb)

Bet, betoth (bete, beta)                  Beast, animal (n.)

Bis (bise)                                           New (adj)

Bor (bore)                                          Follower, vassal (n.)

Bos (bose)                                         Green (adj)

Bos (bose)                                         Tree-sap (n.)

Bo'sun (bo'sune)                              Bow (n.)

Buroth (bura)                                   Slave, servant (n.)

Brel (brele)                                       [some large coniferous tree] (n.)

Bruk (bruke)                                     Brook (n.)

Cahoth (caha)                                   Hurricane (n.)

Calan (calane)                                   Family, clan (n.)

Cali (calis)                                         Transluminent (adj.)

Calium                                              Glass (n.); ordinary glass, not malachite

Calna (calnai)                                   Crowd (n.)

Caman (camane)                              Red (adj)

Camulis (camulise)                          Root, base, building's foundations (n.)

Can (cane)                                          Call, summon (n.)

Can-                                                    To summon (verb)

Cand (cande)                                     Vault (n.)

Canoth (cana)                                   Cage, dungeon (n.)

Capa-                                                 To stand (verb)

Car (care)                                           Hill, mound (n.)

Carael-                                               To go and bring back (verb)

Caran (carane)                                  Brown (adj)

Carand (carande)                              Ridge (n.)

Carannayne (carannaynei)             Brownhaired, brunette (adj)

Carya-                                                To raise, to elevate (verb)

Caupi (caupis)                                   Rare (adj)

Cava (cavai)                                       House, cottage, longhouse (n.)

Cele (celei)                                         Silver (n.)

Cestar (cestare)                                 Sculptor (n.)

Cestumir (cestumire)                       Sculpture (n.)

Cey (ceye)                                          Shade, shadow (n.)

Cinda (cindai)                                    Thin, skinny (adj)

Cira (cirai)                                          Amber (n.)

Comus (comu)                                   Surface (n.)

Cor (core)                                            Highland, plateau (n.)

Coridal (coridale)                              Waterfall (n.)

Cormix (cormixe)                              Danger (n.)

Cul-                                                     To rise, to ascend (verb)

Culli (cullis)                                        Food (n.)

Cuman (cumane)                               Cloud (n.)

Cun (cune)                                          Arch (n.)

Cyrod (cyrode)                                   Heart (n.)

Char (chare)                                        Man, person (n.)

Charrias (charriase)                           Name (n.)

Chasca (chascai)                                Destiny, fate (n.)

Chi-                                                     To change, to transform (verb)

Chimen (chimene)                            Change, transformation (n.)

Chimer (chimere)                              Changed elf; CHIMER (n.)

Daedroth (daedra)                             Daedra (n.)

Daen (daene)                                      Sword (n.)

Dagon (dagone)                                 Destructive, harsh (adj)

Dagoth (daga)                                    Destruction (n.)

Dar (dare)                                            Guard-station such as a border fortress (n.)

Delium (deliume)                              Status, condition (n.)

Delle-                                                  To offer (verb)

Delles (dellese)                                  Tribute (n.)

Dena (denai)                                      Useful (adj)

Dena (denai)                                       Benefit (n.)

Denni (dennis)                                   Bitter, strong (adj); of taste

Dennica (dennicai)                           Spice (n.)

Diren (direne)                                    Quick-flowing stream, rapid (n.)

Dun (dune)                                         Black, dark, cursed (adj)

Dwe (dwei)                                         Deep, smart, intelligent, short (adj)

Dwemer (dwemere)                          Deep elf; DWEMER (n.)

Ebedar (ebedare)                              Absent (adj)

Ebemis (ebemise)                             Present (adj)

Ebemis                                               Presence (n.)

Ebon (ebone)                                     Black (adj); the source of modern words for Ebony

Ebonnayne (ebonnaynei)                Blackhaired, darkhaired (adj)

Ecul (ecule)                                        Beach (n.)

Ehlin (ehline)                                     Mortality, death (n.)

Ehlno (ehlna)                                     Mortal (adj)

Ehlnofex                                            Language of the Ehlnofey (n.)

Ehlnofey                                            The First Mortals (n.)

Ela (elai)                                             Head (n.)

Elda (eldai)                                         Leaf (n.)

Elen (elene)                                       Oak (n.)

Emel-                                                 To hesitate (verb)

Emeloth (emela)                              Hesitant person, unsure person (n.)

Emera-                                               To guide, to teach, to mentor (verb)

Emeratis (emeratise)                        Music (n.)

Emeroth (emera)                              Teacher, mentor, guide (n.)

Empa-                                                 To seek (verb)

Empor (empore)                                Student, apperentice (n.)

En (ene)                                               Eye (n.)

Ener (eneri)                                         Sharp point (n.)

Ennacar (ennacare)                           System (n.)

Epe-                                                     To speak (verb)

Ereth (erethe)                                     Heat (n.); especially a heat-wave type of weather

Erra (errai)                                          Hot, heated (adj); especially of weather

Erin                                                      South (n.)

Erinne (erinnei)                                 Southwards-pointing (adj)

Esh (eshe)                                           High, noble, royal (adj)

Esto (esta)                                           Wise, knowing (adj)

Eton (etone)                                        Mountain, peak (subs)

Fair (faire)                                           Fair, pale (adj)

Fairnayne (fairnaynei)                      Blonde, fairhaired (adj)

Fal (fale)                                              Snow (subs)

Fal, fel (fale, fele)                               Area, region, land (n.)

Falca-                                                   To swear, to promise (verb)

Falmer (falmere)                                Snow elf; FALMER (n.)

Fanacas (fanacase)                            White (adj)

Fanna-                                                 To load, to fill (verb)

Fara (farai)                                          Bride (n.)

Farca (farcai)                                      Bay (n.)

Fiera (fierai)                                       Island (n.)

Frensca (frenscai)                             Wave (n.)

Gaia-                                                   To fear, to be afraid (verb)

Gandra (gandrai)                               Gift (n.)

Garlas (garlase)                                 Cave, cavern (n.)

Gen-                                                    To give (verb)

Ghurde (ghurdei)                               Grass, hay (n.)

Gil (gile)                                              Ice (n.)

Gile (gilei)                                           Glacier (n.)

Glothyn (glothyne)                            Bay (n.)

Glynn (glynne)                                   Wooded valley (n.)

Gond (gonde)                                     Cold, freezing (adj)

Gondorin                                            North (n.)

Gori (goris)                                         Mystical, strange, obscure (adj)

Goth (gothe)                                       River, stream (n.)

Gran (grane)                                       Linden-tree (n.)

Gravia (graviai)                                  Disgusting, hostile (adj)

Graxis (graxise)                                 Feeling, emotion (n.)

Hacya (hacyai)                                    Ship (n.)

Haelia (haeliai)                                   Terrible (adj)

Hal (hale)                                             Horror, fear (n.)

Hame (hamei)                                     Sanctuary, safe place, home (n.)

Hapra-                                                 To send (verb)

Haro (hara)                                          Lively, virile (adj)

Has (hase)                                           Bone (n.)

Hautal-                                                 To send (verb)

Hebas (hebase)                                   Fur, pelt (n.)

Heca-                                                    To leave, to go away, to depart (verb)

Hecta-                                                  To exile, to refuse (verb)

Hecurta (hecurtai)                              Truth (n.)

Hegath (hegathe)                               Wasteland, desert (n.)

Heim (heime)                                      Cliff (n.); not connected to the Nordic word heim

Hessia (hessiai)                                   Healthy (adj)

Hevla (hevlai)                                      Joy, festival (n.)

Hil (hile)                                               Servant, vassal (n.)

Hilya-                                                   To follow, to serve (verb)

Hind-                                                    To find (verb)

Hleed (hleede)                                     Great, big (adj)

Hond (honde)                                      [some large coniferous tree] (n.)

Horst (horste)                                      Shrine (n.)

Hrota (hrotai)                                      Mine (n.)

Huroon (huroone)                               Name (n.)

Hyarna (hyarnai)                                 Marsh, swamp (n.)

Ili (ilis)                                                  Body of water (n.)

Ilin (iline)                                             Lake (n.)

Indoth (inda)                                       Victory (n.)

Ing (inge)                                             Gentle (adj)

Imis (imise)                                         Answer, reply (n.)

Imso-                                                    To answer (verb)

Jaque (jaquei)                                      Tusk (n.)

Joran-                                                    To deceive, to betray, to lie (verb)

Kama-                                                  To scream (verb)

Kan-                                                      To dare (verb)

Karan (karane)                                     Shield (n.)

Karn (karne)                                        Peninsula (n.)

Kembari (kemgaris)                           Chair (n.)

Kemen (kemene)                                Earth, ground (n.)

Kemendelia                                         Agriculture (n.)

Kogo (kog-)                                         Eternal, unbreakable (adj)

Kynd (kynde)                                      Child (n.)

Khan (khane)                                      Drum (n.)

Khard (kharde)                                    Patriarch, clan elder (n.)

La (lai)                                                  Moment (n.)

Lae (laei)                                              Throat (n.)

Laelia (laeliai)                                      -throated (adj); for example snow-throated

Lain (laine)                                          Cypress (n.)

Lan-                                                      To divide (verb)

Laure (laurei)                                      Golden sunglight (n.)

Lenya (lenyai)                                     Mother (n.)

Linda (lindai)                                       Property, riches, wealth, treasure (n.)

Lindai (lindais)                                    Rich, wealthy (adj)

Lor (lore)                                              Darkness, doom (n.)

Luch (luche)                                         Room, chamber (n.)

Lye (lyei)                                              Tree (n.)

Lyecia (lyeciai)                                    Any plant with wooden trunk (n.)

Ma (mai)                                              Mouth (n.)

Madra (madrai)                                  Thing (n.)

Madracalan (madracalane)              Category (n.)

Mae-                                                    To use (verb)

Mafre (mafrei)                                    Winter (n.)

Magicka (magickai)                           Magic (n.)

Magis (magise)                                   Mage (n.)

Maira (mairai)                                     Moon (n.)

Mal, mala (male, malai)                    High (adj)

Malatus (malatu)                                Truth (n.)

Malex (malexe)                                   Height (n.)

Mantia (mantiai)                                Tower (n.)

Mar (mare)                                           Any large body of water (n.)

Mata-                                                   To lie horizontally (verb); to lie on bed, on the ground etc., not "to tell a lie"

Math (mathe)                                      Home, dwelling (n.)

Maor (maore)                                      Tropical (adj)

Mec (mece)                                         Benefit (n.)

Meldi (meldis)                                    Exiled (adj)

Mend (mende)                                    Mansion, estate, dwelling (n.)

Mer (mere)                                          Elf (n.)

Merya (meryai)                                   Elven (adj)

Met (mete)                                          Trunk of a plant (n.)

Meta-                                                   To straighten up, to stand erect (verb)

Mil (mile)                                             Sweet, good-tasting (adj)

Mina (minai)                                       Panoply (n.)

Mir (mire)                                            Lad, young man (n.)

Mirie (miriei)                                      Girl, maiden, young woman (n.)

Misca-                                                 To brighten, to shine (verb)

Miscul (miscule)                                Crystal (n.)

Miscurin (miscurine)                         Crystallic (adj)

Mista-                                                  To rain (verb)

Miste (mistei)                                     Rain (n.)

Mitta-                                                  To enter (verb)

Moca-                                                  To join, to ally, to bond (verb)

Mocarum (mocarumi)                       Bond, connection (n.)

Molag (molage)                                 Fire, flame (n.)

Mora (morai)                                      Forest, woods (n.)

Morag (morage)                                Forester, woodsman (n.)

Mori (moris)                                       Evil, bad (adj)

Mucroth (mucra)                               Witch (n.)

Mucur (mucure)                                Riddle (n.)

Na-                                                      To be (verb)

Naercus (naercuse)                           Tendency, habit (n.)

Naga (nagai)                                      Death (n.)

Nagaia (nagaiai)                                Fatal, dangerous, deadly (adj)

Nagar-                                                 To die, to perish (verb)

Nagra (nagrai)                                    Dead (adj)

Nalca-                                                  To choose (verb)

Nara-                                                    To stay, to remain (verb)

Nardix (nardixe)                                 Stasis (n.)

Narilia (nariliai)                                 Final (adj)

Naris (narise)                                      End (n.)

Nas (nase)                                           Soft (adj)

Nascus (nascu)                                   Torrent (n.)

Nava-                                                   To tire (verb)

Nayn (nayne)                                      Hair (n.)

-nayne (naynei)                                  -haired (adj)

Nen (nene)                                          Water (n.)

Nence (nencei)                                   Pool, pond, lagoon (n.)

Nerva-                                                 To notice (verb)

Nesi-                                                   To see (verb)

Nil (nile)                                              Flower (n.)

Ninecia (nineciai)                              Any desert plant, cactus (n.)

Nir (nire)                                             Creation (n.)

Nira-                                                    To create, to make, to do (verb)

Nirn                                                     World (n.)

Nirya (niryai)                                      Creator, maker (n.)

Nor-                                                     To order, to command (verb)

Noris (norise)                                     Order, command (n.)

Num (nume)                                       Bronze, brass (n.)

Odium (odiume)                                 Cult (n.)

Odioth (odia)                                       Worshipper, cultist (n.)

Oia (oiai)                                              Eternal (adj)

Ondoth (onda)                                    Cliff (n.)

Onei (oneis)                                        Veil (n.)

Orin                                                     East (n.)

Orinne (orinnei)                                 Eastwards-pointing (adj)

Orn (orne)                                           Grassplain (n.)

Ors-                                                      To abandon (verb)

Orsi (orsis)                                           Pariah, abandoned (adj)

Orsimer (orsimere)                            Orc; ORSIMER (subs); perhaps originally referring to early goblins

Otte (ottei)                                          Docks (n.)

Padoth (pada)                                     Beginning, distant past (n.)

Palla (pallai)                                        Dress, clothing (n.)

Par (pare)                                             Fist (n.)

Pas (pase)                                            Sea (n.)

Pastur (pasture)                                  Captain of a ship (n.)

Pelin (peline)                                       Member of the warrior caste (n.)

Pella (pellai)                                        Distant country (n.)

Pen (pene)                                           Center (n.)

Pielle (piellei)                                      Cape, cloak (n.)

Pinorin                                                 Northeast (n.)

Pinorinne (pinorinnei)                       Northeast-pointing (adj)

Pinya (pinyai)                                      Small, tiny (adj)

Piuka (piukai)                                      House entry, atrium (n.)

Poli (polis)                                           Seed (n.)

Pyanda (pyandai)                               Mist (n.)

Pyandonea (pyandoneai)                  Veil of mist (n.)

Quan (quane)                                      Dry (adj)

Quelna-                                               To copulate, to make love, to fuck (verb)

Quellis (quellise)                                Sex, intercourse (n.)

Quin-                                                   To cleave, to cut, to divide (verb)

Quinath (quinathi)                             Canyon, ditch, abyss (n.)

Raboth (raba)                                      Goblin (n.)

Racu-                                                    To be destroyed, to fall down, to collapse (verb)

Rahtan-                                                To reach (verb)

Raena (raenai)                                     Pride (n.)

Rauba (raubai)                                    Group (n.)

Rauta-                                                  To hear (verb)

Red (rede)                                            Smith (n.)

Re-                                                        To speak, to tell (verb)

Relle (rellei)                                         Sea (n.)

Renqua-                                               To travel (verb)

Renva (renvai)                                     Land, country (n.)

Rerum (rerume)                                  Story, myth, legend (n.)

Resda (resdai)                                      Scarab, dung-beetle (n.)

Rias (riase)                                           Speech, word (n.)

Riel (riele)                                            Beauty (n.)

Rielle (riellei)                                       Beautiful (adj)

Ril (rile)                                                 Glory (n.)

Rille (rillei)                                           Glorious (adj)

Rinde (rindei)                                      Valley (n.)

Ring (ringe)                                         Wreath, garland (n.)

Rot (rote)                                              Rotten (adj)

Ruma (rumai)                                      Familiar, dear (adj)

Runnath (runnathe)                           Place (n.)

Runnebal (runnebali)                         Waystone (n.); literally 'Placewards-Stone'

Ryn (ryne)                                            Home (n.)

Saldor (saldore)                                  Priest (n.)

Sancar (sancare)                                 Golden-colored (adj)

Sassa-                                                  To whisper (verb)

Sassi (sassis)                                       Whisper (n.)

Sel (sele)                                              Hall (n.)

Selma (selmai)                                    Village (n.)

Semir (semire)                                    Steep (adj)

Semra (semrae)                                  Low, shallow (adj)

Sepredia (seprediai)                           Peace, calmness (n.)

Sercen (sercene)                                 Earth (n.)

Sidan (sidane)                                     Determined, strong-willed (adj)

Sil (sile)                                                Light (n.)

Sila-                                                      To shine, to gleam, to brighten (verb)

Silta (silta)                                           Shining, bright, gleaming (adj)

Sinda-                                                  To dismantle (verb)

Sor (sore)                                             Gray (adj)

Sorn (sorne)                                        Edge (n.)

Span (spane)                                       Deep (adj)

Spania (spaniai)                                 Depth (n.)

Stani (stanis)                                       City (n.)

Stare (starei)                                       Any large building (n.)

Starma-                                               Shape, form (n.)

Stassa-                                                 To press, to squeeze (verb)

Stetta (stettai)                                    Dance (n.)

Stetta-                                                 To dance (verb)

Suna-                                                   To wish well (verb)

Shanta-                                                To come, to arrive (verb)

Taeta (taetai)                                       Yellow (adj)

Talwin (talwine)                                  Summer (n.)

Tam (tame)                                          Morning (n.)

Tand-                                                    To love (verb)

Tandil (tandile)                                   Love (n.)

Tar (tare)                                              Woodland (n.)

Tarn-                                                     To go, to travel, to pass by (verb)

Tarn (tarne)                                         Portal, doorway (n.)

Tasta (tastai)                                        Fresh (adj)

Tata-                                                     To grab, to catch (verb)

Tata (tatai)                                            Hand (n.)

Taur (taure)                                          Oxen (n.)

Tel (tele)                                               Tower (n.)

Telin (teline)                                        Fortress, castle (n.)

Telepe (telepei)                                   Safe, secure (adj)

Tor (tore)                                              Hill, mound (n.)

Tresia (tresiai)                                     Trial, test (n.)

Trumbe (trumbei)                               Fortress, castle (n.)

Tur (ture)                                              Lord, ruler (n.)

Turcoth (turca)                                    Master of the house (n.)

Twyll (twylle)                                      Well, any source of drinking water (n.)

Tya-                                                      To taste (verb)

Thalma-                                               To decide (verb)

Udhendra (udhendrai)                       Explorer (n.)

Ulun (ulune)                                         Blue (adj)

Umba (umbai)                                     Dark, lightless (adj); not dark as in "evil"

Umbra (umbrai)                                  Grey, dark (adj)

Ur (ure)                                                 Mighty, powerful (adj)

Uri (uris)                                               Source, essence (n.)

Vabra (vabrai)                                      Foam, white-crested wave (n.)

Vaer-                                                     To weave (verb)

Vahta (vahtai)                                      Secret (n.)

Val (vale)                                              Hill, mountain (n.)

Valendra (valendrai)                          Birth (n.)

Vanua (vanuai)                                    Ruin (n.)

Vanwa-                                                 To disappear, to become lost (verb)

Var (vare)                                            Mouth (n.)

Varla (varlai)                                       Star (n.)

Varoth (vara)                                        Scout (n.)

Vash-                                                    To vanish, to disappear (verb)

Vasha (vashai)                                     Lost, vanished, disappeared (adj)

Vassi (vassis)                                      Root (n.)

Vehrumas (vehrumase)                     Kitchen (n.)

Velke (velkei)                                      Descendant (n.)

Vend (vende)                                      Authority, lordship (n.)

Vendis (vendise)                                High, noble, lordly (adj)

Venna-                                                To wound (verb)

Venne (vennei)                                   Wound (n.)

Verhan (verhane)                               Wrath (n.)

Vetumas (vetumase)                         Innocent (adj)

Vina-                                                   To touch (verb)

Viran (virane)                                     Wind (n.)

Volan (volane)                                    Club, staff (n.)

Voor (voore)                                        River basin (n.)

Waen (waene)                                     Wife (n.)

War (ware)                                          Blood (n.)

Wasten                                                West (n.)

Wel (wele)                                            Sky (n.)

Wen (wene)                                         Woman (n.)

Wend (wende)                                    Journey (n.)

Wing (winge)                                      Breath (n.)

Yond (yonde)                                       Yard (n.)

 

Later eras scientific/civilized terms

These words did not exist in Aldmeris during the Merethic Era; they have been added for civilized/scientific purposes in the later eras.

 

Altmer (altmere)                                  Altmer (n.)

Ayleid (ayleide)                                    Ayleid (n.)

Ayleidoon                                             The Ayleid culture and realms as a whole (n.)

Bosmer (bosmere)                              Bosmer (n.)

Dunmer (dunmere)                             Dunmer (n.)

 

 

Derivative endings

These endings are used to derive new words from existing ones.

 

-in                            direction

-en, -ath                  place, geographical feature

-diil, -ion                 place, region, country

-nium                      city

-sse, -we, -que       feminine agent

-ya, -r, -ro               agent, maker

-oth                         being

-um, -is, -ex           abstractive

-i, -e                        general derivative ending

 

 

Text sample

The beginning of the Aldmeri tale, "Father of the Niben." I didn't try to go for rhyming here, I don't have the skills for poetry. The English translation is a bit more literal than in the book.

 

Pasquiniel hacya veravant, am Illio pastur,

tarnie am Runnebal erinne; ae nata man Niben

am Topal pastur, tarnie am Runnebal pinorinne;

norise Mantie Miscurin, pesne vinne

tendoben yaenume, avanas aushantaye am riase.

Ley Niben aushantia va Aldatelin, fannati am

lindai, dennicai, hebase ae goribeta,

nagrai ae anyai.

Ey! Ehlnofey Ald Topal aboie abahindi,

rie rerum de renvai tarni

ry aellis raume.

 

Pasquiniel the second ship, with Illio steering,

go by southwards Waystone; and third that was Niben

with Topal steering, go by northeastwards Waystone;

orders of the Crystal Tower, sail forth for

eighty moons, then return with words.

Only Nibern returned to Firsthold, laded with

gold, spice, fur and strange creatures,

dead and live.

Alas! Old Ehlnofey Topal never found,

he told the tales of the lands he passed to

wonderment of all.

 

 

Early Elven languages

[Warning! If you are not interested in changes of sounds and grammar and all that linguistic stuff, just skip this part to the next language.]

 

The classical Aldmeris was spoken during the Middle and Late Middle Merethic Era, the time when the elves were colonizing Tamriel. But the change of environment, emerging localized cultures and huge distances naturally caused the Aldmeris to fragment into dialects from Late Middle to Late Merethic Era.

 

The known dialects were:

Atmoran Elven - The language of the colonists in Atmora. Nothing is known.

Cyrodis - Also known as the Ayleidic

Dirennis - Spoken by the elves of Iliac Bay. Called "Dirennis" after the ruling dynasty.

Falmeris - Spoken in Skyrim

Late Aldmeris - Spoken in Summerset Isle

Left-Handed Elven - The language of the colonists in Yokuda. Nothing is known.

Old Bosmeris - Spoken in Valenwood

Velothis - The earliest stage of Dunmeris, spoken in Morrowind

 

Then there was also the Maormeris spoken in Pyandonea and Dwemeris spoken by the Dwemer. But nothing is known of the Maormeris and at this point before further research I cannot say whether Dwemeris is related to Aldmeris or not. Some words might be cognates though.

 

Everywhere the changes in sounds are relatively small, but changes in word meanings are quite strong, caused by the changes in the aldmeri culture as a whole and local elven cultures all over the aldmeri zone of influence.

 

A change happening in every early elven language is the o-ending noun singular -oth becoming simply -o, meaning that this was already a feature in Aldmeris during the time when the Aldmeri world was still unified enough for the feature to spread into every early dialect.

 

 

Cyrodis (Ayleidis)

The dialect of the elves of Cyrodiil, meaning the Ayleid language before and up to the Alessian Rebellion. I use the term "Cyrodis" because the word ayleid, having to do with hiding, means the Ayleids after the collapse of their civilisation into hidden tribal societies.

 

The most important sound changes:

         Aldmeris w > Cyrodis qu at the beginning of a word

         Aldmeris v > Cyrodis w at the beginning of a word before the vowel e

         Aldmeris kh > Cyrodis g

         Aldmeris ae > Cyrodis ye under certain circumstances, a feature shared with Falmeris

 

The grammar experiences more changes:

- The noun declensions are remodelled after the Aldmeris i-ending, with plurals now adding -s to them.

- The noun genitive endings and adjective declensions also experience slight changes

- A new noun declension class, the -ia endings, is born

- Birth of personal genitive endings added to a noun, such as the first person singular -ngua; hamengua my castle

- The old personal endings of the verbs start to turn into stylistic endings, and using them is voluntary. For example, you can say a heca or hecanye, and both mean I go away.

- The polite form of imperative is lost

- A new form of imperative or subjunctive (meaning a hope for something to happen) is born. This is formed with the ending -be and means that the subject should be something, such as sunnabe be blessed.

 

 

Dirennis

The dialect of the elves of Iliac Bay. Some elements of the dialect can be extracted from the Merethic Era elven place names in the Bay, but that is all.

 

The Dirennis grammar is very conservative, but the sounds experience some interesting changes. The most important changes are the vowel changes connected to the sound i, meaning that the sound i itself changes and causes changes in other vowels.

 

Otherwise the most imporant sound change, the loss of middle syllable in long words, is shared also by the Late Aldmeris of Summerset Isle, but not by the other dialects. This change means that the middle syllable is lost in words with three or more syllables, so that a word like alata would become alta.

 

 

Falmeris

The language of the elves of modern Skyrim. Perhaps because of its isolation from the rest of the aldmeri world in the Late Merethic, the Falmeris changes more than the other elven languages of its time.

 

The most important sound changes:

          Aldmeris th > Falmeris dh between vowels

          Aldmeris w > Falmeris v at the beginning of a word before the vowel e

          Aldmeris a > Falmeris e when there is a vowel e in the following syllable

          Aldmeris ae > Falmeris ye under certain circumstances

          Aldmeris i > Falmeris e in many situations, but preservation as i in others

          Shortening of Aldmeris long vowels, such as uu > u

 

As with Cyrodis, the grammar changes more than the sounds:

- Slight changes in existing declensions

- Complete remodeling of the genitive declension: now formed from singular forms simply by adding after a vowel or a after a consonant. It is the same in singular and plural.

- Birth of two new noun declension classes, the -as endings and -is endings.

- The loss of adjectival declensions; now undeclined like the English adjective

- Personal genitive endings are born as in Cyrodis

- The singular and plural personal endings of verbs are melted together; the first person -ne (or -lle in l-ending words) covers both the singular "me" and plural "us"

- Past tense remodeled: now formed only with the ending -e without the i infix as in Aldmeris

- Falmeris preserves the polite form of imperative, unlike Cyrodis

 

 

Late Aldmeris (Old Altmeris)

The Late Aldmeris is the language spoken in Summerset Isle in the Late Merethic, and can be called the earliest form of Altmeris. The pronunciation is very conservative, apparently because the Altmer emphasized the importance of pronouncing the language in the "classical" manner.

 

But preventing a language completely from changing is impossible, and even in Summerset Isle the language changed a little.

 

The most important sound change is the loss of the middle syllable in words with three syllables or more, just like in the Iliac Bay dialect, with a word like alata turning into alta. There are a few other minor changes in addition to this.

 

The noun declensions are also changed a bit with remodeling of the e-ending plural after the i-ending, turning into -es from Aldmeris -ei. Also the u-ending is affected by the other noun classes, becoming -u in singular and -i in plural.

 

The personal endings of the verb are preserved, but the way of forming negative sentences changes. Instead of adding aba- at the beginning of the word, the new way was to add -ni- to the verb before the personal ending. This gives us forms like the following: heca- to go away > hecavaninye I will not go away. The structure is heca+future ending va+negative ending ni+personal ending nye.

 

The prefix aba- is now used only for negative imperatives.

 

 

 

 

Cyrodis (also known as the 'Ayleid language')

This is the classical Ayleid language spoken by Umaril the Unfeathered and used in several phrases in TES IV: Oblivion. The modern cultures of Tamriel know the language as the Ayleid language, but here I call it 'Cyrodis' to distinguish the classical language from the tribal tongues of the Wild Elves after the Alessian Rebellion.

The word 'ayleid' itself has to do with hiding, and it was the Wild Elves who were called ayleids. The city-building ayleid slave-masters of Alessia's time were no hidden people and apparently knew themselves simply as high elves (Aldmeri) or Heartlands elves (Cyromeri).

 

Pronunciation

As mentioned in the Aldmeris article, the pronunciation of Cyrodis closely resembles the pronunciation of Aldmeris. It is important to remember that the sounds are always pronounced the same, unlike in English.

 

The consonants:The following consonants are pronounced as in English:

qu, x
d
h               always pronounced, as in 'happy', never silent as in 'honour'
p, b
l
s, sh
th
n, m
v, w, f
 
These consonants are a bit different:
c                always pronounced 'k' as in "cat", never as 's'
k               the 'k' sound is never aspirated, meaning that there is not puffy sound with it.
g                always pronounced as in "good"
ch              pronounced as in Scottish "loch" or German "ich", never as in English "choose"

t                always pronounced 't', never 'd' or any other sound, not even between vowels

r                thrilled 'r' sound, not like the standard English sounds or the French sound
y               a semi-vowel, pronounced as the consonant in "you" before a vowel, as the vowel sound in "still" after a vowel and as the French or Japanese 'u' between consonants. The words ry, fey and nirya show the different uses of the sound.
 
The vowel sounds:
There are five vowels (or six if you count the semi-vowel 'y'), each having a short and a long version. The long versions are written as "aa, ee" etc. and simply pronounced as a longer version of the short sound. The long vowels are extremely rare.
 
The 'e' sound is usually pronounced as 'ey' (like the English 'eh?') at the end of a word, so Umarile is pronounced Umariley. This is how Umaril pronounces it by himself too.
 
a           as in "father" but short.
e           as in "tell"
i            as in "still"
o           as in "hold"
u           as in "fool" but short
 
 

Grammar

 

Article

Cyrodis has the definite article, equivalen to English "the". The article is an.

 

Nouns and adjectives

The Cyrodis noun and adjective declines in seven classes. As in English, the only declesions are the nominative and genitive, but both have singular and plural forms. The noun are divided into the declesion classes simply by the final sound in singular.

Noun class
Nominative
Genitive
 
Sg.
Pl.
Sg.
Pl.
A-ending
-a
-ais
-a
-ai
E-ending
-e
-eis
-e
-eis
I-ending
-i
-is
-i
-ie
IA-ending -ia -ia -ia -ia
O-ending
-o
-ois
-o
-ois
U-ending
-u
-o
-u
-o
Consonantal ending
-
-i
-e
-e

The declension of adjectives is similar, but lacks the genitive form, just like in English. The greatest difference to English is that the Cyrodis adjective had plural form. So, if the word it describes is in plural, so is the adjective.

Adjective class
 Nominative
 
Sg.
Pl.
A-endings
-a
-ai
E-endings
-e
-i
I-endings
-i
-i
IA-endings -ia -ia
O-endings
-o
-oi
U-endings
-u
-o
Consonantal endings
-K
-i

Possessive

Cyrodis, like Aldmeris, completely lacks possessive, meaning that is has no equivalent of the English "have" verb. You can't ask "do you have any money?" Cyrodis phrases those kind of questions in a different way, making some speech patters very different from typical real-world Western patterns. Some examples:

 

Do you have any money?            >           Is there any money in your pockets?

The king has a tall tower              >          The king's tower (followed by a desription of the tower's location or something else; "... is in the valley" so you can't simply say that the king has a tower) 

He has a terrible disease             >          He is sick with a terrible disease

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

Personal pronouns:

Pronoun
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
Genitival ending
I
A
A
Angua
-ngua
You (sg.)
Ni
Ni
Sou
-ya
He
-
-
-
-
We
Nu
Nu
Nou
-na
You (pl.)
Tye
Tye
Tou
-ya
They
?
?
?
?
Relative pronoun; which, who
 Man
 Man
 Man
-
Note that there is no pronoun for "he" or "she"; instead of them, a noun is always used. For example, "he killed the bear" = "Bob killed the bear / the man killed the bear."
 
Genitival endings are a feature that did not exist in Aldmeris. They are used as an alternative to the genitival form of a pronoun and added to the noun that is owned. The separate genitival word and the ending are never used together. Thus you can say cava angua or cavangua and both mean my house.
 

The relative pronoun man is also used as a phrase meaning "which was/who was". For example: aldmer man buro the aldmer who was a slave.

 

Verb

The Cyrodis verb has three tenses; the present, the future and the past.

 

Present tense:

The present of course tell what happens now. The root form of the verb is used as the present tense. The old personal endings can be used as a stylistic addition. The endings are:

Me  -nye          

You (sg.) -t

He/she - (no ending)

We -ne

You (pl.) -ye

They - (no ending)

If the verb ends in a consonant, an -a- is added before the personal ending.

So, for example using the verb mitta- "to enter"; a mitta I enter or stylistically mittanye I enter.

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. In verbs ending with a vowel, an -i- is infixed just before the last vowel. In verbs ending with a consonant, an ending -e is added. The personal endings can be used stylistically as with the present tense, and if a personal ending is used, it is added after the past tense marker.

Example:

mitta- to enter > ni mittia you entered, mittiat  you entered with the personal ending

amar- to tell> ni amare you told, amaret you told with the personal ending

 

Future tense:

The future tense tells what will happen in the future. It is formed by adding an ending -var (-avar in verbs ending in a consonant). A personal ending is never used. For example, racuvar they will fall down.

 

Commands:

There are two forms of commands. The first is the regular imperative, used to tell somebody to do something. It is formed with the ending -voy with vowel-ending verbs and -a with verbs ending in a consonant.

An example using the verb mitta- to enter; mittavoy! enter!

An example using the verb amar to tell; amara! tell!

The second is a new form that did not exist in the Aldmeris, used to express a hope for somebody to be something. It is formed with the ending -be and can be added to either a verb or an adjective. Thus the following examples:

                             sunnabe! be blessed! from sunna blessed

                             racabe! be destroyed! from raca- to destroy

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -en, but is used only as an adjective. For example, you can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -i and is used in a similar way, although verb "to be" is not used. For example, aldmer amari an aldmer was told

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence uses the classic Aldmeri formation. It is formed by adding a prefix aba- to a verb, or ab- if the verb starts with a vowel. Otherwise the verb works as normal. For example. aldmer abamaravar an aldmer will not tell

 

Interrogatives

From where? - Avma?

How? - Asma?

What? - Man?

When? -

Where? In what place? - Vama?

Where to? - Vime?

Who? - Man?

Why? - Asma?

With what? - Asma?

 

Positions

(under construction)

To help those interested in Cyrodisbut with not so much knowledge about linguistics, I have listed here all those words having to do with location, including adverbs and prepositions. I did this originally with Aldmeris after a friend of mine requested it, but have continued it here.

Grammatically they work in the same way; the positional word is always placed before the noun.

as - for, because of

asva - within

av - considering, about, from, of, out, away

lipsa - faraway, far

ry - as

sino - here

va - in, at

ve - among, between

vinne - to

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

ni, aba - no, not

yando - also

ye - and

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Forming an adverb that tells of a manner something is done: an ending -le is added to a word.

Quantifiers:

sa  - so, very

Time:

ne - never

pado - before

 

Numerals

Ordinals follow the word they describe but are not declined, unlike adjectives.

(under construction)

Numeral
Aldmeris
Ordinal
Aldmeris
Zero
 
 
 
One
Para
1st
Paravant
Two
 
2nd
 
Three
 
3rd
 
Four
 
4th
 
Five
 
5th
 
Six
 
6th
 
Seven
 
7th
 
Eight   8th  
Nine   9th  
Ten   10th  
11   11th  
12   12th  
13   13th  
20   20.  
30   30.  
40   40.  
50   50.  
60   60.  
70   70.  
80   80.  
90   90.  
100   100.  

 

Word order

A common sentence has the following word order: Subject + Verb + Object.

An adjective always follows the word it describes; mar vabria sea foaming = foaming sea

The owner always follows the owned; cava aldmere the house aldmer's = the aldmer's house

In question sentences the basic word order is: Interrogative + Verb + Subject + Object + Preposition. Some examples:

Man nor Rielle? Who rules Rielle?

Vime ni burongua ayleide? Where you my slave hid? = Where did you hide my slave?

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type of the word and the plural form. The class of a noun or adjective can be clearly seen from its ending in singular and plural. The verbs are in the root form.

Aba (abai)                                             Forbidden (adj)

Ada (adais)                                           Deity, temple (n.)

Adma-                                                  To hear (verb)

Adonai (adonai)                                  Noble, royal, exalted, high-bearing (adj)

Agea (ageais)                                       Lore, wisdom (n.)

Alata (alatai)                                        Radiance (n.)

Ald (aldi)                                              Original, ancient (adj)

Aldmer (aldmeri)                                Aldmer, high elf (n.)

Amar-                                                   To tell, to declare (verb)

Amaralda-                                            To foretell, to precede (verb)

Anda (andai)                                        Long (adj)

Anga (angais)                                      Iron (n.)

Anga (angai)                                        Cold (adj)

Angalayond (angalayondi)               Winter (n.)

Anu (ano)                                             Beginning, creation (n.)

Anyadena (anyadenais)                     Life-treaty (n.)

Anyammis                                           Life (n.); as an abstract force, not an individual's life and deeds

Aran (arani)                                          King (n.)

Aranque (aranqui)                               Queen (n.)

Arata (aratais)                                      Dust (n.)

Arcta-                                                    To recognize, to admit (verb)

Arpen (arpeni)                                     Nobleman, noblewoman (n.)

Arpenia (arpenia)                                Nobility (n.)

Ata (atais)                                             Father (n.)

Atatar (atatari)                                     Fatherwoods (n.)

Auran-                                                  To welcome, to receive (verb)

Auri (auris)                                           Welcome (adj)

Autaracu (autaraco)                             Remnant (n.)

Ayleid-                                                  To hide (verb)

Ayleidoon                                             Hiding (n.)

Bal (bali)                                                Stone, rock (n.)

Bala (balais)                                          Power, strength (n.)

Barra-                                                    To wear (verb)

Baune (bauni)                                       Mighty (adj)

Bek (beki)                                              City (n.)

Belda (beldai)                                       Strong, powerful (adj)

Bella (bellais)                                        Storm (n.)

Belle (belli)                                            Stormy (adj)

Bellia-                                                     A storm is going on (verb)

Bre, brelye (breis, brelyeis)                 Beech (n.)

Buro (burois)                                         Slave, slavery (n.)

Can-                                                        To summon, to call (verb)

Can (cani)                                               Magic, call (n.)

Cand (candi)                                          Vault, arch (n.)

Cano (canois)                                        Dungeon, prison (n.)

Canomora (canomorais)                     Daedric herald (n.)

Carac (caraci)                                        Mountain (n.)

Cava (cavais)                                         House, mansion (n.)

Cele (celeis)                                           Silver, white-gold (n.)

Cele (celi)                                               Silver (adj)

Cey (ceyi)                                               Shadow, shade (n.)

Chi (chis)                                                Person, man (n.)

Cul (culi)                                               Tower (n.)

Cyrod (cyrodi)                                        Heart, center (n.)

Delle-                                                      To give (verb)

Dena (denais)                                         Treaty (n.)

Ecul (eculi)                                             Coast, shore (n.)

Ede (edeis)                                              End (n.)

Ehlno (ehlnoi)                                        Mortal (adj)

Elen (eleni)                                             Oak (n.)

Emera-                                                    To guide (verb)

Emero (emerois)                                    Guide (n.)

Ener (eneri)                                             Skill, ability, edge (n.)

Epe-                                                          To speak (verb)

Fal (fali)                                                   Cold (adj)

Fanacas (fanacasi)                                White (adj)

Frensca (frenscai)                                  Wave, foamy crest of a wave (n.)

Gaia-                                                        To be afraid, to fear (verb)

Gaiar (gaiari)                                          Fear, horror (n.)

Gandra (ganrdais)                                 Gift (n.)

Gandrevla (gandrevlais)                       Festival (n.)

Garlas (garlasi)                                      Cave, cavern (n.)

Glath (glathi)                                           Sunset (n.)

Glynn (glynni)                                        Wooden valley, glen (n.)

Gord (gordi)                                            Patriarch (n.)

Gori, goria (goris, goria)                       Obscure (adj)

Gravia (gravia)                                        Ugly (adj)

Haelia (haelia)                                         Horrible, scary (adj)

Hame (hameis)                                       Home (n.)

Hec-                                                          To leave, to go away, to depart (verb)

Hecta-                                                       To exile, to refuse (verb)

Heculmora (heculmorais)                      Outcast-Daedra (n.)

Hilya-                                                       To follow (verb)

Horst (horsti)                                          Temple (n.)

Hrota (hrotais)                                        Mine, delving, subterranean hall (n.)

Imperatum (imperatumi)                      Empire, realm (n.)

Joran-                                                       To betray (verb)

Jorano (joranois)                                     Traitor (n.)

Kana-                                                        To dare (verb)

Karan (karani)                                          Armor (n.)

Kemen (kemeni)                                      Earth, ground, soil (n.)

Kynd (kyndi)                                             Child (n.)

La (lais)                                                      Time (n.)

Lae (laeis)                                                  Throat (n.)

Larelleis                                                     Spring season (n.); no plural form

Latta (lattais)                                            Light (n.)

Latte (latti)                                                Bright, shining (adj)

Lattia-                                                        To shine, to brighten (verb)

Leed (leedi)                                               Great, big (adj)

Linda (lindais)                                           Wealth (n.)

Lindai (lindai)                                           Rich, wealthy (adj)

Lipsand (lipsandi)                                    Soapstone (n.)

Lor (lori)                                                     Dark, black (adj)

Loria-                                                         To wade, to darken (verb)

Luch (luchi)                                               Room, chamber (n.)

Lye (lyeis)                                                  Tree (n.)

Macka (mackai)                                        Enduring, firm, steady (adj)

Mafre (mafreis)                                        Frost (n.)

Magicka (magickais)                               Magic (n.)

Mala (malai)                                              High (adj)

Malatu (malato)                                       Truth (n.)

Mallari (mallaris)                                     Gold (n.)

Mantia (mantia)                                       Tower (n.)

Mar (mari)                                                 Sea (n.)

Math (mathi)                                             Home (n.)

Meld-                                                         To drive away, to exile (verb)

Meldi (meldi)                                            Exiled (adj)

Mentain (mentaini)                                  Mansion (n.)

Mir (miri)                                                   Young man (n.)

Misca-                                                        To brighten, to bring light(verb)

Miscar (miscari)                                        Lantern, lamp (n.)

Mitta-                                                         To enter (verb)

Molag (molagi)                                         Fire, flame (n.)

Mor (mori)                                                 Evil (n.); as an abstract force

Mora (morais)                                           Forest (n.)

Mor, mori (mori)                                       Evil (adj)

Morilatta (morilattais)                             Autumn (n.)

Na-                                                             To be (verb)

Naga (nagais)                                            Death (n.)

Nagaia (nagaia)                                        Lethal, dangerous (adj)

Naril (narili)                                              Final (adj)

Nen (neni)                                                  Lake, body of water (n.)

Nili (nilis)                                                   Flower (n.)

Nir-                                                             To make, to craft, to create (verb)

Nirn                                                            World (n.)

Nirya (niryais)                                           Maker, craftsman, creator (n.)

Nor-                                                            To rule, to reign (verb)

Norn (norni)                                              Reign, authority (n.)

Oio (oioi)                                                    Eternal (adj)

Ondo (ondois)                                           Cliff (n.)

Orn (orni)                                                   Weald, meadow (n.)

Otte (otti)                                                   Harbor (n.)

Pado (padois)                                             Past (n.)

Par (pari)                                                     Fist, grip (n.)

Pelin (pelini)                                              Knight (n.)

Pelinal (pelinali)                                        Glorious knight (n.)

Pellan (pellani)                                          Foreign, outsider (adj)

Pellan (pellani)                                          Foreigner, outsider (n.)

Piuka (piukais)                                           Corridor (n.)

Quen (queni)                                              Woman (n.)

Raca-                                                           To destroy, to sack, to break (verb)

Racu-                                                           To be destroyed, to collapse, to fall down verb)

Rahtan-                                                       To reach (verb)

Relle                                                            Water (n.); no plural form

Relleis                                                         River, stream  (n.); no plural form

Rielle (rielleis)                                            Beauty (n.)

Rielle (rielli)                                                Beautiful (adj)

Ril (rili)                                                         Glory, honour (n.)

Ruma (rumai)                                             Familiar, important (adj)

Rumare (rumari)                                        Dear, familiar, own (adj)

Sancre (sancri)                                           Golden (adj)

Sard (sardi)                                                 Bridge (n.)

Sardavar (sardavari)                                  Fortress guarding a bridge (n.)

Sel (seli)                                                       Hall (n.)

Sepredia (sepredia)                                    Peace (n.)

Sercen (serceni)                                          Earth (n.)

Sil (sili)                                                         Light, brightness, shining (n.)

Sila-                                                              To shine, to glitter (verb)

Silyanorn (silyanorni)                                Acorn (n.)

Shanta-, shauta-                                        To come, to arrive (verb)

Spanga (spangais)                                      Foam (n.)

Spana (spanai)                                            Deep (adj)

Spania (spania)                                           Depth, abyss, crevice (n.)

Stani (stanis)                                               City (n.)

Stare (stareis)                                              Mansion (n.)

Suna-                                                            To bless (verb)

Sunna (sunnai)                                            Blessed, good (adj)

Talwin (talwini)                                           Warmth, summer (n.)

Tam (tami)                                                   Morning (n.)

Tar (tari)                                                       Forest (n.)

Tarn-                                                             To go, to pass by, to travel (verb)

Tarn (tarni)                                                   Dwelling (n.)

Tarnabye (tarnabyeis)                                 Mountain pass, way, road (n.)

Telepe                                                            Safe, secure (adj)

Thel (theli)                                                    Wing (n.)

Tor (tori)                                                        Hill (n.)

Trumbe (trumbeis)                                      Wall, fortified gate (n.)

Twyll (twylli)                                                 Well (n.)

Tya-                                                                To taste (verb)

Vabra (vabrais)                                             Foam (n.)

Vabria (vabria)                                              Foaming (adj)

Vahta (vahtais)                                             Secret (n.)

Vahtacen (vahtaceni)                                  Secret (adj)

Val (vali)                                                        Foothill (n.)

Vanua (vanuais)                                           Ruin (n.)

Var (vari)                                                       Mouth (n.)

Var-                                                                To throw, to cast (verb)

Varla (varlais)                                               Star (n.)

Vasha (vashais)                                             Lost, gone (adj)

Vea (veais)                                                     Sea (n.)

Veyond (veyondi)                                         Walled yard (n.)

Vinda (vindais)                                             Pain, suffering (n.)

Vindai (vindai)                                              Painful (adj)

Wel (weli)                                                     Child (n.)

Wenaya (wenayai)                                      Green (adj)

Wenayasille (wenayasilleis)                       Summer (n.)

Wend (wendi)                                               Journey (n.)

Wende (wendeis)                                         Throne, authority (n.)

Yond (yondi)                                                 Garden (n.)

 

Derivative endings

These endings are used to derive new words from existing ones.

 

-diil                         place, region, country, imporant building

-que                        feminine agent

-ya, -r, -ro               agent, maker

 

 

 

Altmeris

 

Pronunciation

The pronunciation of Altmeris language is very conservative. The main difference to Aldmeris pronunciation is the stress with unusual stress patterns in certain sociolects.

The consonants:The following consonants are pronounced as in English:

qu, x
d
h               always pronounced, as in 'happy', never silent as in 'honour'
p, b
l
s, sh
th
n, m
v, w, f
 
These consonants are a bit different:
c                most often pronounced 'k' as in "cat", but as 's' before the vowel 'i'
k and kh     the 'k' sound is never aspirated, meaning that there is not puffy sound with it. The 'kh' sound is the aspirated version.
g                always pronounced as in "good"
ch              pronounced as in Scottish "loch" or German "ich", never as in English "choose"
gh              sharper and stronger version of the 'ch' sound
t                always pronounced 't', never 'd' or any other sound, not even between vowels
r                thrilled 'r' sound, not like the standard English sounds or the French sound
y               a semi-vowel, pronounced as the consonant in "you" before a vowel, as the vowel sound in "still" after a vowel and as the French or Japanese 'u' between consonants. The words ry, fey and nirya show the different uses of the sound.
 
The vowel sounds:
There are five vowels (or six if you count the semi-vowel 'y'), each having a short and a long version. The long versions are written as "aa, ee" etc. and simply pronounced as a longer version of the short sound.
 
a           as in "father" but short.
e           as in "tell"
i            as in "still"
o           as in "hold" expect in stressed syllable when it broadens and sounds almost like "a" as in "father"
u           as in "fool" but short, except in stressed syllable when it broadens and sounds almost like "o" as in "hold"
 
Stress:
In words with one or two syllables, the stress is on the first syllable. On longer words, the stress is on the penultimate syllable.
 
            Óndo - stress on the first syllable
            Pelládil - stress on the penultimate syllable
 
Upper class male pronunciation:

Stress is always on the first syllabe.

 

This pronunciation is used by most upper-class men. Women also use this pronunciation occasionally, and are considered either powerful and commanding, or haughty and arrogant depending on the speaker's societal status and the social situation. Foreigners most often associate this accent with the Thalmor Justiciars who used it when dealing with non-Altmer.

 

Upper class female pronunciation:

Stress works as normal, but is very light. The stressed vowel is also lengthened lightly, so that ruma sounds a bit like ruuma with semilong u.

 

This pronunciation is used by most upper-class women and is considered cultured and refined. Altmer men most often also consider it attractive. Men who use this pronunciation are associated with artistic and scholarly types.

 

 
 

Grammar

 

Article

Neither definite article nor indefinite article exist in Altmeris in any form.

 

Nouns and adjectives

The Aldmeris noun and adjective declines in six classes. As in English, the only declesions are the nominative and genitive, but both have singular and plural forms. The noun are divided into the declesion classes simply by the final sound in singular.

Noun class
Nominative
Genitive
 
Sg.
Pl.
Sg.
Pl.
A-ending
-a
-ae
-e
?
E-ending
-e
-es
-e
?
I-ending
-i
-is
-i
-is
O-ending
-o
-a
?
?
U-ending
-u
-i
-a
?
Consonantal ending
-
-i
-e
?

 

The declension of adjectives is similar, but lacks the genitive form, just like in English. The greatest difference to English is that the Aldmeris adjective had plural form. So, if the word it describes is in plural, so is the adjective.

Adjective class
 Nominative
 
Sg.
Pl.
A-endings
-a
-ae
E-endings
-e
-es
I-endings
-i
-is
O-endings
-o
-a
U-endings
-u
-i
Consonantal endings
-
-i

 

Possessive

Possessive is the English verb to have. Unlike Aldmeris, Altmeris has developed a possessive. Actually it has two forms of possessive, a verb and a prefix.

They have developed from Aldmeris genitive which in that language was used instead of an actual possessive. The actual basis of the Altmeris possessive were late Aldmeris constructions such as fey-angua mantia, literally at-me tower, meaning "I have a tower."

 

Possessive verb fe-

An irregular verb fe- that uses its own personal endings. As it has not actually become a full verb, it has no tenses such as past or future. The possessive verb is the main form of possessive.

Me  -ngua         

You (sg.) -sou

He/she -a

We -nou

You (pl.) -tou

They -thya

For example meri fethya daeni elves have/had swords.

 

Possessive prefix

The possessive prefix f'-/fe- is added to the thing that is possessed. This form of possessive is used in colloquial speech and in certain types of poetry as well as soldiers' speech.

 

Before a vowel the prefix is f'- and before a consonant its fe-. For example mer fe-daen the elf has a sword.

 

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

Personal pronouns:

Pronoun
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
I
A
A
Angua
You (sg.)
Ni
Sou
Sou
He
-
-
-
We
Nu
Nu
Nou
You (pl.)
Tye
Tou
Tou
They
Thy
Thy
Thya
Relative pronoun; which, who
 Man
 Man
 Man
A certain one
An- [prefix]
An- [prefix]
An- [prefix]
Note that there is no pronoun for "he" or "she"; instead of them, a noun is always used. For example, "he killed the bear" = "Bob killed the bear / the man killed the bear."
 

The relative pronoun man is also used as a phrase meaning "which was/who was". For example: altmer man linde the altmer who was rich.

Pronoun
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
Everybody, all
 
 
 

 

 

Verb

The Aldmeris verb has three tenses; the present, the future and the past.

 

The Altmeris has become much more complex than the Aldmeris one. It shows the tense, negation, person of the subject and person of the object. If the sentence has an object of any kind, the object ending is always added.

 

Thus the verb structure is: ROOT + TENSE + NEGATION + SUBJECT + OBJECT.

 

Subject ending: Tells who does the verb.

Object ending: Tell on whom the verb is done.

 

For example:

A hecan I leave: no object ending.

Thy hindaran an-goth They find the river: the 3rd person singular objective ending is used because of the object of the sentence, the river.

 

To make things more complicated, the subject ending has three different forms. The basic ending is used if no other endings are added after it. The other two forms are singular and plural infixes used only when an object ending is added. Whether the singular or plural form is used depends on whether the object ending is singular or plural.

 

So in short:

Basic subject ending - Use when the sentence has no object, "the elves left"

Singular subject infix - Use when the sentence uses a singular object ending, "the elves found him"

Plural subject infix -Use when the sentence uses a plural object ending, "the elves found them"

Pronoun
Subject ending
Subject infix if an object ending is added
Object ending
Sg. Pl.
I
-en, -n
-nn-
-n-
-a
You (sg.)
-as, -s
-ss-
-s-
-i-
He
-
-
- -an
We
-en, -n
-nn-
-n-
-nu
You (pl.)
-tye
-ty-
-tye-
-tu
They
-r
-rr-
-r-
-thy

 

 

 

Present tense:

The present of course tell what happens now and is formed simply by adding the subject (and possibly object) ending to the word.

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. It is formed with the ending -i that replaces the final vowel if the verb root ends in a vowel.

Example:

heca- to leave > heci he left, hecitye they left

 

Future tense:

The future tense tells what will happen in the future. It is formed by adding an ending -va followed by the regular personal ending. For example, hecavan I will leave.

 

Commands:

There are two forms of commands, normal and negative. The first is the regular imperative, used to tell somebody to do something. It is formed with the ending -e. An example using the verb heca- to go away, to leave; hece! leave!

The negative form is used to deny someone to do something. It is formed with the prefix aba- and the ending -e, for example abahece! do not leave!

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -en, but is used only as an adjective. For example, you can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -te (-ate if the verb ends in a consonant) and is used in a similar way, although verb "to be" is not used. Tense markers work as normal.

For example, Almion hindate Almion is found or Almion hindite Almion was found.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a infix -ni- to a verb, before the subject personal ending. For example Almion hindinian Almion did not find her. The verb's structure is hind(a)- to find / -i- past tense / -ni- not / -an him/her.

 

Interrogatives

From where? -

How? -

What? - Ma?

When? -

Where? In what place? -

Where to? -

Who? - Man?

Why? -

With what? -

 

Positions

(under construction)

To help those interested in Altmeris but with not so much knowledge about linguistics, I have listed here all those words having to do with location, including adverbs and prepositions. I did this after a friend of mine requested it.

Grammatically they work in the same way; the positional word is always placed before the noun.

anta - nearby, close, around, next to

de - considering, about

fe - in, at

il - from, of

im - between, in the middle of, among

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

ae - and

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

baene - very

Time:

cendre - for a long time

 

Numerals

Ordinals follow the word they describe but are not declined, unlike adjectives.

(uncer construction)

Numeral
Aldmeris
Ordinal
Aldmeris
Zero
Nulli
-
-
One
Para
1st
 
Two
Vera
2nd
 
Three
Nata
3rd
 
Four
Ehca
4th
 
Five
Nosci
5th
 
Six
Ethi
6th
 
Seven
Banto
7th
 
Eight Yendo 8th  
Nine Quento 9th  
Ten   10th  

 

Word order

A common sentence has the following word order: Subject + Verb + Object.

An adjective always follows the word it describes; mirie rielle girl beautiful = beautiful girl

The owner always follows the owned; daen altmere the sword altmer's = the aldmer's sword

In question sentences the basic word order is: Interrogative + Verb + Subject + Object + Preposition. Some examples:

Man hindan Almion? Who finds Almion?

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type of the word and the plural form. The class of a noun or adjective can be clearly seen from its ending in singular and plural. The verbs are in the root form. Many words are similar or almost similar in form to Aldmeris words, but often the meaning has changed.

 

Aican (aicani)                                              [Some coniferous tree] (n.)

Ald (aldi)                                                      Beginning (n.)

Alda (aldae)                                                 Old, ancient, proto- (adj)

Aldmer (aldmeri)                                        Aldmer (n.)

Ali (alis)                                                        Glory, honour (n.)

Alt (alti)                                                        High, tall (adj)

Altmer (altmeri)                                          Altmer (n.)

Anar (anari)                                                  Sun (n.)

Anca-                                                             To hunt (verb)

Ancar (ancari)                                               Hunter (n.)

Anco (anca)                                                  Hunt (n.)

Ango (anga)                                                 Hut, shack (n.)

Anya (anyae)                                                Life (n.)

Anyar-                                                           To live (verb); in the sense "to be alive"

Ar-, ara-                                                        Royal (adj); prefix

Ara (arae)                                                      Queen (n.)

Aran (arani)                                                  King (n.)

Arda (ardae)                                                 Loyal (adj)

Arin (arini)                                                    Royal, kingly (adj)

Arquen (arqueni)                                         Nobleman, nolewoman (n.)

Arta (artae)                                                   Fog, mist (n.)

Ata (atae)                                                       Father (n.)

Ath (ahti)                                                       High (adj)

Athel (atheli)                                                 Sky, heaven (n.)

Aure (aures)                                                   Dear, beloved (adj)

Bella (bellae)                                                 Storm (n.)

Calin, cal- (calini)                                         White (adj); cal is a prefix

Calluis (calluisi)                                            Island (n.)

Canah (canahi)                                             Canah-bird (n.)

Cano (cana)                                                   Cave (n.)

Cara (carae)                                                   Hill, mound (n.)

Caran (carani)                                               Dark, dark brown (adj)

Carandi (carandis)                                        Ridge (n.)

Caranya (caranyae)                                       Brunette (n.)

Carya-                                                              To rescue, to save (verb)

Caryar (caryari)                                              Hero, savior (n.)

Cele (celes)                                                     Silver (n.)

Celmo (celma)                                                Glow (n.)

Cinda (cindae)                                                Reed (n.)

Cira (cirae)                                                      Jewel (n.)

Cul-                                                                 To rise, to ascend (verb)

Culu (culi)                                                       Ascend, slope (n.)

Cun (cuni)                                                       Bow (n.)

Cunar (cunari)                                                Archer (n.)

Daen (daeni)                                                  Sword (n.)

Dun (duni)                                                      Dark, cursed (adj)

Dunmer (dunmeri)                                        Dunmer (n.)

Elda (eldae)                                                     Leaf (n.)

Elen (eleni)                                                      Oak (n.)

Erra (errae)                                                      Exotic (adj)

Erin                                                                   South (n.)

Esto (esta)                                                        Wise, knowning (adj)

Eton (etoni)                                                      Mountain (n.)

Fair (fairi)                                                          Blonde, fairhaired (adj)

Faire (faires)                                                     Blond (n.)

Fal (fali)                                                             Snow (n.)

Fal (fali)                                                             Region, land (n.)

Falmer (falmeri)                                               Falmer (n.)

Gil (gili)                                                             Cold, winter (n.)

Gondorin                                                           North (n.)

Goth (gothi)                                                      River (n.)

Hal (hali)                                                            Terrifying, horrible (adj)

Heca-                                                                 To leave, to go away (verb)

Hil (hili)                                                              Servant (n.)

Hinda-                                                                To find (verb)

Hlid (hlidi)                                                          Great, big (adj)

Hond (hondi)                                                      Maple (n.)

Hookah (hookahi)                                              Hookah-pipe (n.); a type of pipe smoked mostly by women

Hyarna (hyarnae)                                               Wasteland, wilderness (n.)

Imbar (imbari)                                                    Inhabitant (n.)

Ing (ingi)                                                             Mild, gentle (adj)

Kard (kardi)                                                         Ancestor (n.)

Lar (lari)                                                               Forest (n.)

Laure (laures)                                                      Gold (n.)

Linde (lindes)                                                      Rich, wealthy (adj)

Lor (lori)                                                               Dark, lightless (adj)

Maira (mairae)                                                    Moon (n.)

Mala (malae)                                                       High (adj)

Mend (mendi)                                                     Mansion (n.)

Mer (meri)                                                            Elf (n.)

Merya (meryae)                                                   Elven (adj)

Mil (mili)                                                              Syrup (n.)

Mir (miri)                                                              Young man (n.)

Mirie (miries)                                                       Girl, maiden (n.)

Mora (morae)                                                       Forest (n.)

Na-                                                                        To be (verb)

Nayn (nayni)                                                        Hair (n.)

-nayne (naynes)                                                  -haired (adj); for example laurenayne golden-haired

Nen (neni)                                                             Water (n.)

Nil (nili)                                                                 Flower (n.)

Nir (niri)                                                                Creation (n.)

Nira-                                                                      To make, to create, to craft (verb)

Nirn                                                                       World (n.)

Nirya (niryae)                                                       Maker, crafter, creator (n.)

Nor (nori)                                                              Reign, lordship (n.)

Ohte (ohtes)                                                          Harbor (n.)

Ondo (onda)                                                          Cliff (n.)

Orin                                                                        East (n.)

Orsimer (orsimeri)                                               Orc (n.)

Palla (pallae)                                                         Dress, attaire (n.)

Palonirya (paloniryae)                                         Tailor, clothier (n.)

Paravant (paravanti)                                            Important (adj)

Pella (pellae)                                                         Stranger (n.)

Pelladil (pelladili)                                                 Foreign land (n.)

Raena (raenae)                                                      Pride, source of happiness (n.)

Renqua-                                                                 To wander (verb)

Renquar (renquari)                                               Ranger, wanderer (n.)

Rerum (rerumi)                                                      History (n.)

Riel (rieli)                                                                Beauty (n.); as an abstract thing, not a beautiful girl

Rielle (rielles)                                                         Beautiful (adj)

Ril (rili)                                                                    Glory, honour (n.)

Rille (rilles)                                                             Glorious, honourful (adj)

Ruma (rumae)                                                        Dear, beloved (adj)

Rume (rumes)                                                        Friend (n.)

Runciba (runcibae)                                                Small glade (n.)

Ryn (ryni)                                                                Home (n.)

Selma (selmae)                                                       Village (n.)

Sil (sili)                                                                     Light (n.)

Silsa-                                                                        To guide with a shining light (verb)

Silsailen (silsaileni)                                                Lighthouse (n.)

Silta (siltae)                                                             Shining, bright (adj)

Sinda-                                                                      To think, to ponder (verb)

Sinder                                                                      Science (n.)

Sinderion (sinderioni)                                           Scholar (n.)

Stante (stantes)                                                      Civilized (adj)

Taarie (taaries)                                                        Lady, noblewoman (n.)

Tam (tami)                                                               Morning (n.)

Tandil (tandili)                                                         Love (n.)

Tar (tari)                                                                   Woodland (n.)

Taur (tauri)                                                               Bull (n.)

Telin (telini)                                                             Castle, fortress (n.)

Tur (turi)                                                                   Lord, ruler (n.)

Turco (turca)                                                            Master of the house (n.)

Thalmor                                                                    Thalmor (n.)

Umba (umbae)                                                        Dark, lightless (adj); not dark as in "evil"

Ur (uri)                                                                      Powerful, strong (adj)

Val (vali)                                                                    Prince (n.)

Valie (valies)                                                             Princess (n.)

Volan (volani)                                                           Club, staff (n.)

Wen (weni)                                                                Woman (n.)
 

 

 

Alt Redoranis

Alt Dunmeris is the main form of Dunmeris spoken in the Fourth Era. It originates in the Velothis region, dominated by Great House Redoran, and is also used as the language of administration in most parts of the dunmeri lands.

 

Nouns

Alt Redoranis has quite a number of declensions compared to the older forms of Dunmeris or the ancient Aldmeris. Also the declension classes have gone quite a chance from Aldmeris classes. Some noun classes have lost their distinctive ending in nominative singular such as I-, U- and consonantal endings, only distinguished from each other when declined.

 










Noun class

Nominative (subject)

Accusative (object)

Genitive (owner)

Locative (in, at)

 

sg.

pl.

sg.

pl.

sg.

pl.

sg.

pl.

A-endings

-a

-ai

-uas

-ais

-a

-ai

-us

-usi

I-endings

-

-en

-uas

-ens

-

-ia

-us

-is

O-endings

-o

-a

-oas

-as

-o

-ai

-us

-usa

U-endings

-

-i

-uas

-is

-i

-i

-us

-usi

R-endings I

-ar

-ar

-aras

-ars

-ar

-arys

-arus

-aris

R-endings II

-or

-or

-oras

-ors

-or

-ras

-orus

-oris

Consonantal endings

-

-en

-as

-ens

-

-i

-us

-is

 






Noun class

Ablative (from)

Illative (to)

 

sg.

pl.

sg.

pl.

A-endings

-aan

-aan

-ali

-anil

I-endings

-iin

-iin

-ili

-enil

O-endings

-oon

-oon

-oli

-anil

U-endings

-uun

-uun

-uli

-inil

R-endings I

-aran

-aran

-ari

-aril

R-endings II

-oran

-oran

-ori

-oril

Consonantal endings

-uun

-uun

-ul

-el

 

Adjectives

Has only the nominative form, no other declensions. Unlike in English though, is has a plural form used when the word it describes is also in plural.

 




Adjective class

Nominative & accusative

 

sg.

pl.

A-endings

-a

-ai

I-endings

-i

-en

IS-endings

-is

-ei

O-endings

-o

-a

U-endings

-u

-u

R-endings

-r

-ren

Consonantal endings

-

-i

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

 








Pronoun

Nom.

Obj.

Gen.

Locat.

(in, at)

Abl. (from)

Illat. (to)

I

A

A

Anga

Aus

Aan

Ali

You (sg.)

Ni

Ni

Su

Nius

Niin

Nili

He/she

Hle

Hle

Hlu

Hleus

Hleen

Hleli

Which

Maan

Maan

Maan

Manus

Manuun

Manul

We

Nu

Nu

Nu

Nusi

Nuun

Nuli

You (pl.)

Tya

Tya

Tu

Tyasi

Tyaan

Tyali

They

Tha

Tha

Thya

Thasi

Thaan

Thali

Certain, one

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every, all

Rauma

Rauma

Raume

Raumasi

Raumaan

Raumali

 

 

Numerals

Ordinals follow the word they describe but are not declined, unlike adjectives.

(under construction)

Numeral
Aldmeris
Ordinal
Aldmeris
Zero
 
 
 
One
Para
1st
 
Two
 
2nd
 
Three
Nata
3rd
 
Four
 
4th
 
Five
 
5th
 
Six
 
6th
 
Seven
 
7th
 
Eight   8th  
Nine   9th  
Ten   10th  
11   11th  
12   12th  
13   13th  
20   20.  
30   30.  
40   40.  
50   50.  
60   60.  
70   70.  
80   80.  
90   90.  
100   100.  

 

Verb

 

Present tense:

The present of course tell what happens now. It is formed by adding the personal ending:

Me  -ni

You (sg.) -oh, -h

He/she -a

We -n

You (pl.) -i

They -a

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. Has two classes, vowel-final verb roots and consonant-final verb roots.

Past tensevowel-final verb roots

1. pers. sg. -a 1. pers. pl. -a

2. pers. sg. -a 2. pers. pl. -a

3. pers. sg. -a 3. pers. pl. -a

 

Past tenseconsonant-final verb roots

1. pers. sg. -ti 1. pers. pl. -ti

2. pers. sg. -ti 2. pers. pl. -ti

3. pers. sg. -ti 3. pers. pl. -ti

 

Infinitive

Infinitive form is used when the verb does not receive a personal ending, mostly in following types of sentences: "The warrior has to go to the smith" in which the verb "to go" is in infitive form.

It is formed with the ending -oa

 

 

Commands:

Imperative is used to tell somebody to do something. It is simply the verb root without any endings.

 

Interjections:

An interjection, such as an exclamation of surprise. Verb has its own special ending for interjections, formed with the ending -ow.

 

Subjunctive:

Subjunctive is a rare form in Alt Redoranis, used mainly in religious speech to tell of a wish for something to happen. In English these types of sentences are typically formed by starting the sentence with "Let..", for example "Let Almsivi guide you."

In Alt Redoranis the verb wished for starts the sentence in infinitive form, for example gsur- to comfort > Gsuroa Azurah nu dagrusa... Let Azura helps us in our troubles...

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English ending -ing is formed by lengthening the vowel in the verb's first syllable, and keeping the verb in the root form. Form example nerua- to see > neerua seeing. As in all Elven languages, it is used only as an adjective. For example, you can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -ain and is used in a similar way, although verb "to be" is not used.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a prefix ava- or va- to a verb. Both forms are used, and it does not matter which one you choose Otherwise the verb works as normal.

 

Interrogatives

(incoming)

 

Syntax

Owner + Owned

Adjective + Noun

Subject + Verb + Object

 

Positions

(under construction)

To help those interested in Alt Redoranis but with not so much knowledge about linguistics, I have listed here all those words having to do with location, including adverbs and prepositions.

Grammatically they work in the same way; the positional word is always placed before the noun.

anta - with

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

ai - and

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

parjo - only, sole, alone

Time:

 

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type of the word and the plural form. The class of a noun or adjective can be clearly seen from its ending in singular and plural, but is also marked in the vocabulary. The verbs are in the root form.

 

Ama (amai)                                             Mother (n., A)

Argon (argonen)                                     Meeting, gathering (n., C)

Ata (atai)                                                  Father (n., A)

Ban-                                                         To darken (verb)

Baan                                                         Darkened, black (adj., C )

Cava-                                                        To be located (verb)

Chaar (chaaren)                                       Man, male (n., C)

Chaaruma (chaarumai)                          Brother (n., A)

Dagro (dagra)                                           Trouble (n., O)

Darhul (darhulen)                                    Temple (n., C)

Daruh                                                        Faith (n., C)

Denudi (denuden)                                  Just (adj., I) 

Dunira (dunirai)                                      Cavern (n., A)

D'le-                                                          To give (verb)

D'nuh                                                        Justice (n., C)

Fetch-                                                       To steal (verb)

Fetcher (fetcheren)                                 Thief (n., C)

Foyada (foyadai)                                     Fire-river, foyada (n., A); a borrowing from the Ashlander language

Foyash (foyashen)                                  Volcano (n., C)

F'lah (f'lahen)                                          Fellow, buddy (n., C); a familiar informal title

Gah (gahi)                                                Great, big (adj., C)

Gargon (gargonen)                                Council (n., C)

Gsur-                                                         To comfort (verb)

Hetman (hetmanen)                               Steward (n., C)

Hlaalu                                                       Hlaalu (n., U)

Hluurn (hluurnen)                                   A certain meal made of marshmellow (n., C)

Huul (huulen)                                           Hall (n., C)

H'lag (h'lagen)                                         Retainer, vassal (n., C)

Jor (jor)                                                     Rumour (n., R II)

Jorda (jordai)                                            Conman (n., A)

Kena (kenai)                                             Mage, savant (n., A)

Khan (khanen)                                         Chieftain (n., C); a borrowing from the Ashlander language

Khuul (khuulen)                                      Shallow beach (n., C)

Laatha (laathai)                                       Bright, lightening (adj., A)

Laka (lakai)                                               Hour, moment (n., A)

Maar (maar)                                             Sea (n., R I)

Mir (miren)                                               Husband (n., C)

Muatra (muatrai)                                     Spear (n., A)

Na-                                                            To be (verb)

Nalcon (nalconen)                                  Priest (n., I)

Natil                                                          The Tribunal (n., C)

Neen (neenen, also irregularly neen)   Ferry, ford, crossing-place (n., C)

Nerua-                                                      To see (verb)

Nil (nilen)                                                 Flower (n., C)

Nilyn (nilynen)                                        Whore (n., C)

Nim (nimen)                                            Farm (n., C)

Nor (nor)                                                  Nord (n., R II); from Nordic autonym nord

N'wah (n'wahen)                                     Slave, foreigner (n., C)

Oanora (oanorai)                                    Lawman (n., A)

Oanorin (oanorin)                                  Law (n., C)

Ouada (ouadai)                                       Water, river (n., A)

Ouraan (ouraanen)                                 House, clan (n., C); means the dunmeri clans, not a building

Rasman (rasmanen)                               Oathman (n., C)

Read (readen)                                          Vista, fort, view, watch, outpost (n., I)

Renka-                                                      To walk (verb)

Rethar (rethar)                                        Smith (n., R I)

Ruhmber (ruhmberen)                           Relative, kinsman (n., C)

Ruhn (ruhnen)                                         Home (n., C)

Ruma (rumai)                                          Sibling (n., A)

Saar (saar)                                                Bridge (n., R I)

Sal (salen)                                                 Hall (n., C)

Taarn-                                                       To flow (verb)

Tato-                                                         To take (verb)

Tong (tongen)                                          Guild (n., C)

T'lonya (t'lonyai)                                     Swaddle (n., A)

Urman (urmanen)                                   Patriarch, House Father (n., C)

Velk (velken)                                            Child (n., C)

Velkir (velkiren)                                       Son (n., C)

Velvyn (velvynen)                                   Daughter (n., C)

Verutoris                                                  Anticipation (n., R II); loan from Ald Dunmeris. Declines as a normal R   II noun, with the final -is hanging along after the declension ending: verutorasis, verutorusis etc.

Vyn (vynen)                                             Woman (n., C)

Vyruma (vyrumai)                                   Sister (n., A)

 

B'vek?! [exclamation of surprise]

Nchow! Goddamnit! [swearword]

S'wit [insult of unknown meaning]

 

Ouraan Dagrai                                        House of Troubles

 

 

Examples

Comfort is given, justice is taken. - Gsuron na d'lain, d'nuh na tatain.
Almsivi in every hour. - Almsivi raumasi lakus
Walk with the Three. - Renka anta Nata
Let faith be your only law. - Noa daruh su parjo oanorin
Rumors flow from the House of Troubles. - Jor taarna Ouraanuun Dagrai
Learn by serving. - Antuta admaan.

 

 

Bosmeris

One of the two main forms of Bosmeris spoken in the Fourth Era.

 

 

 

Pronunciation

(incoming)
 
 

Grammar

 

Article

Neither definite article nor indefinite article exist in Bosmeris in any form.

 

Nouns

The Bosmeris noun and adjective has changed quite a lost from the Aldmeris noun. It has three genders, animate, inanimate, and abstract. It has retained five of the six classical Aldmeri declension classes, having melted A-endings and E-endings together.

The main difference between the genders is the behavior of the nominative plural. In animate it is simply marked by an ending -i. In inanimate there are three slightly different forms of plural: in words ending with vowel the marker is simply the ending -i. In most words ending with a consonant the ending -i also double the word's last consonant (for example falin > falinni). And then there is the second group of words ending with a consonant, those ending in -ch, -th, -ng (which are all single sounds despite the way they are written) or a group of consonants. The abstract gender has no plural.

To animate gender belong words that describe mainly living beings, but also planets and moon, plants, seasons, and weather phenomena such as storms and rain.

To inanimate gender belong words that describe physical, unliving items.

To abstract gender belong words that describe abstract things without physical form such as words describing an action or a feeling.

Animate gender










 

Nominative & accusative

Genitive

Instrumental (using something)

Translative (to become something)

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

A

-a

-ai

-es

-eis

-em

-yam

-era

-eira

I

-i

-i

-is

-ies

-im

-yam

-ira

-iera

O

-o

-oi

-es

-ais

-em

-yam

-ora

-aira

U

-u

-ui

-as

-uis

-am

-yam

-ara

-uira

Consonantal
ending

-

-i

-us

-eis

-um

-yam

-ura

-eira

 










 

Illative (to a place)

Locative (in, at)

Ablative (from)

Allative (to a person)

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

A

-ibin

-ibin

-efe

-ife

-ef

-yaf

-eba

-eiba

I

-ibin

-ebin

-ife

-efe

-if

-yaf

-iba

-ieba

O

-obin

-ibin

-ofe

-ife

-of

-yaf

-oba

-aiba

U

-abin

-ibin

-efe

-ife

-af

-yaf

-aba

-uiba

Consonantal ending

-ubin

-ebin

-ufe

-efe

-uf

-ef

-uba

-eba

Inanimate gender

In inanimate gender the consonantal-ending class has two main groups: the first group are words that end in a single consonant and double the last consonant after the pural ending -i is added. The second group of are words that end in ch, th, ng or a group of consonants.

 










 

Nominative & accusative

Genitive

Instrumental (using something)

Translative (to become something)

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

A

-a

-ai

-es

-eis

-em

-yam

-era

-eira

I

-i

-i

-is

-ies

-im

-yam

-ira

-iera

O

-o

-oi

-es

-ais

-em

-yam

-ora

-aira

U

-u

-ui

-as

-uis

-am

-yam

-ara

-uira

Consonantal ending I

-

-i

-us

-eis

-um

-yam

-ura

-eira

Consonantal ending II

-

-ei

-us

-eis

-um

-yam

-ura

-eira










 

Illative (to a place)

Locative (in, at)

Ablative (from)

Allative (to a person)

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

A

-ibin

-ibin

-efe

-ife

-ef

-yaf

-eba

-eiba

I

-ibin

-ebin

-ife

-efe

-if

-yaf

-iba

-ieba

O

-obin

-ibin

-ofe

-ife

-of

-yaf

-oba

-aiba

U

-abin

-ibin

-efe

-ife

-af

-yaf

-aba

-uiba

Consonantal ending I

-ubin

-ebin

-ufe

-efe

-uf

-ef

-uba

-eba

Consonantal ending II

-ubin

-ebin

-ufe

-efe

-uf

-ef

-uba

-eba

Abstract gender

Has no plural form.










 

Nom. ja acc.

Gen.

Instr.

Transl.

Illat.

Locat.

Abl.

Allat.

A

-a

-es

-em

-era

-ibin

-efe

-ef

-eba

I

-i

-is

-im

-ira

-ibin

-ife

-if

-iba

O

-o

-es

-em

-ora

-obin

-ofe

-of

-oba

U

-u

-as

-am

-ara

-abin

-efe

-af

-aba

Consonantal endings

-

-us

-um

-ura

-ubin

-ufe

-uf

-uba

Adjectives

(incoming)

 

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

(incoming)

 

 

Verb

The Bosmeris verb is very simple and has only two tenses; the present and the past.

 

Present tense:

The present of course tell what happens now. It is formed by adding the personal ending:

Me  -nya

You (sg.) -ath, -th

He/she -an

We -na

You (pl.) -ya

They -an

If the verb ends in a consonant, an -a- is added before the personal ending.

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. In verbs ending with a vowel, the past tense is formed with the ending -ie that replaces the verb root's final vowel if it has any. In verbs ending with a consonant, an ending -a is added. The personal endings are not used with the past tense.

 

Commands:

There are two forms of commands. The first is the regular imperative, used to tell somebody to do something. It is formed with the ending -oy.

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -en, but is used only as an adjective. For example, you can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -ti and is used in a similar way, although verb "to be" is not used.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a prefix b'- to a verb. Otherwise the verb works as normal.

 

Interrogatives

(incoming)

 

Positions

To help those interested in Bosmeris but with not so much knowledge about linguistics, I have listed here all those words having to do with location, including adverbs and prepositions. I did this originally with Aldmeris after a friend of mine requested it, but have continued it here.

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

 

Quantifiers:

 

Time:

 

 

Numerals

Ordinals follow the word they describe but are not declined, unlike adjectives.

(under construction)

Numeral
Aldmeris
Ordinal
Aldmeris
Zero
 
 
 
One
 
1st
 
Two
 
2nd
 
Three
 
3rd
 
Four
 
4th
 
Five
 
5th
 
Six
 
6th
 
Seven
 
7th
 
Eight   8th  
Nine   9th  
Ten   10th  
11   11th  
12   12th  
13   13th  
20   20.  
30   30.  
40   40.  
50   50.  
60   60.  
70   70.  
80   80.  
90   90.  
100   100.  

 

Word order

 

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type of the word and the plural form. The class of a noun is marked by an. n. (animate noun), in. n. (inanimate noun) and ab. n. (abstract noun). The verbs are in the root form.

 

Adan (adani)                                                Man, male (an. n.); not a human but a male person

Adha (adhai)                                                Moor, rugged terrain (in. n.)

Aelth (aelthi)                                               Leaf (an. n.)

Aepla                                                            Noble, royal (adj)

Aerin                                                             South (ab. subs)

Aga                                                               Wise (adj)

Agar                                                              Wisdom (ab. n.)

Aledion                                                         Hiding, stealth (ab. n.)

Anakh (anakhi)                                            Sun (an. n.)

Ang (angei)                                                  Cave (in. n.)

Ara-                                                               Royal, kingly (adj); prefix

Aran (arani)                                                  King (an. n.)

Ard                                                                True, authentic, correct (adj)

Baen                                                             Big, large (adj)

Baera-                                                           To wear, to dress up (verb)

Bal (balli)                                                      Stone (in. n.)

Balga (balgai)                                               Cliff, rock (in. n.)

Bela                                                                Strong, powerful (adj); bele- in compounds and when declined

Beleval (belevali)                                         Dragonfly (an. n.)

Bella (bellai)                                                 Storm (an. n.)

Bonsamu (bonsamui)                                 Bonsamu vampire (an. n.)

Bor                                                                 Loyal (adj)

Boro (boroi)                                                  Chambermaid, handmaiden (an. n.)

Bruch (bruchei)                                            River (in. n.)

Cela (celei)                                                    Silver (in. subs); cele- in compounds and when declined

Cir (cirri)                                                        Amber (in. n.)

Coria (coriai)                                                 Ridge, plateau, hillcountry (in. n.)

Daen (daenni)                                               Sword (in. n.)

Edhel (edhelli)                                              Sky (in. n.)

Eng                                                                 Tender, gentle (adj)

Falin (falinni)                                                City (in. n.)

Fara (farai)                                                     Beauty, beautiful girl (an. n.)

Faunu (faunui)                                              Village (in. n.)

Faunva                                                           Bright (adj)

Gela (gelei)                                                    Winter (an. n.); gele- in compounds and when declined

Glenh (glenhi)                                               Valley (in. n.)

Gor                                                                  Secret (adj)

Goth (gothi)                                                   Stream (in. n.)

Graht (grahti)                                                Graht oak (an. n.)

Hil (hili)                                                          Servant (an. n.)

Hond (hondi)                                                 Lime tree (an. n.)

Hor (horri)                                                      Mite (an. n.)

Horval (horvalli)                                            Horval-bug (an. n.)

Imga (imgai)                                                  Imga (an. n.)

Jagga (jaggai)                                                An alcoholic drink made of pig milk (in. n.)

Jakh (jakhi)                                                     Wild boar (an. n.)

Jakhspur (jakhspuri)                                      Jaqspur archer (an. n.)

Kathar (kathari)                                             Raiding party (an. n.)

Keerilth (keerilthi)                                         Keerilth vampire (an. n.)

Lie (liei)                                                           Tree (an. n.)

Liette (liettei)                                                 Spriggan (an. n.)

Lor                                                                   Lightless, dark (adj)

Malgoth (malgothei)                                    Waterfall (in. n.)

Mar (marri)                                                     Water (in. n.)

Mara (marai)                                                   Moon (an. n.); not connected to the goddess Mara

Mech                                                                Benefit (ab. n.)

Meth (methei)                                                 Juice (in. n.)

Mil (milli)                                                         Honey (in. n.)

Mir (miri)                                                         Young man (an. n.)

Nil (nili)                                                            Flower (an. n.)

Ondrebe                                                           A traditional form of punishment (ab. n.)

Onthrappa (onthrappai)                                A dish made of the victim of the ondrebe punishment (in. n.)

Ora-                                                                  To receive (verb)

Orn (ornei)                                                       Meadow (in. n.)

Parwen (parweni)                                           Wife, female love interest (an. n.)

Poru (porui)                                                     Beast (an. n.)

Rel (relli)                                                          Sea (in. n.)

Relhem (relhemmi)                                        Reef (in. n.)

Riel (rieli)                                                         Beauty, beautiful woman (an. n.)

Ril                                                                      Radiance, light, brightness (ab. n.)

Ring (ringi)                                                       Wreath (in. n.)

Roth                                                                  Rotten (adj)

Rotmeth (rotmethei)                                      Rot-mead [alcoholic drink] (in. n.)

Thalfin (thalfini)                                             Summer heat (an. n.)

Tham                                                                Sunrise (ab. n.)

Thar (tharri)                                                     Forest (in. n.)

Tharba (tharbai)                                              Glade (in. n.)

Thelba                                                              Treacherous, deceitful (adj)

Thelboth (thelbothi)                                       Telboth vampire (an. n.)

Thorin (thorinni)                                             Hill, slope (in. n.)

Thoro (thoroi)                                                   Chief, ruler (an. n.)

Vallen (vallenni)                                               Bay (in. n.)

Varba (varbai)                                                   Star (an. n.)

Varbaril                                                              Light of the stars (ab. n.)

Vehem (vehemmi)                                            Crevice, crack on the cliffside (in. n.)

Vendan (vendani)                                              Old man (an. n.)

Venwen                                                               Old (adj)

Vind                                                                    Sacred, calm, peafecul (adj)

Verauf (veraufi)                                                 Clan (an. n.)

Wen (weni)                                                        Woman (an. n.)

Wing (wingi)                                                     Wind (an. n.)

Yekef (yekefi)                                                    Yekef vampire (an. n.)

 

 

 

Orcish languages

Coming soon!

 

 

Old Cyrodiilic

The Old Cyrodiilic, also known as the classical Cyrodiilic still used in names, legal terms, legionary titles and so on in the Fourth Era. Old Cyrodiilic was spoken from the late Second Era to the 2nd or 3rd century of the Third Era, after which we can start talking of the modern Cyrodiilic. It was also the language of administration during Tiber Septim's era, and the language he talked for most of his life (apparently speaking Middle Nordic or a Colovian language or both in his youth while serving king Cuhlecain of Falkreath).

Old Cyrodiilic is quite a change from the earlier forms of Cyrodiilic language as it was heavily influenced by the Colovian languages during the Second Era.

 

Pronunciation

(Coming soon)

 

Stress:
Stress is always on the long vowel. If there is no long vowel in the word, the stress is on the first syllable. The stress is for historical reasons sometimes a bit irregular, so I have written the long (stressed) vowels in these article as ā, ē, ī, ō, ū

 

Grammar

Noun

The nouns and adjectives are declined as in for example Aldmeris or the Classical Latin of the real world. There are three gender, masculine, feminine and neuter, as well as five declensions; nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative.

 

Short explanations of the use of declensions in Old Cyrodiilic:

Nominative - the basic form of the word. The subject of a sentence is always in nominative.

Accusative - the object of a sentence.

Genitive - the owner of something. In English the genitive form is the ending 's, as in "Bob's"

Dative - meaning "at" or "to" when somebody receives something. In English the word "them" is in dative in a sentence like "give it to them."

Ablative - meaning "from somebody" or "from somewhere."

 

With all these things, the language is much more complex than for example Aldmeris or Nordic.

 

1st declension class

Feminines ending in -a, masculines ending in -us and neuters ending in -um








 

Feminine

Masculine

Neuter

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-a

-ai

-us

-i

-um

-a

Acc.

-am

-ai

-um

-os

-um

-a

Gen.

-ai

-arum

-i

-orum

-i

-orum

Dat.

-ai

-ais

-o

-is

-o

-is

Abl.

-a

-is

-o

-is

-o

-is

 

2nd declension class

Feminines ending in -i

 




 

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-is

-es

Acc.

-em

-es

Gen.

-is

-ium

Dat.

-i

-eis

Abl.

-e

-ie

 

3rd declension class

Words ending in consonants. The feminines of this class end in -x in singular, masculines end in -r and the rest are neuters.

In feminine, the word root before any endings ends in either -c,-g or even -ct such as leg- law. This becomes -x in nominative and accusative singular, but the -c- or -g- is shown with the other endings, suchs as lex > legis, or nox > nocti








 

Feminine

Masculine

Neuter

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-x

-es

-r

-res

-

-a

Acc.

-x

-es

-rem

-res

-

-a

Gen.

-is

-um

-ris

-rum

-is

-is

Dat.

-i

-is

-ri

-ris

-i

-i

Abl.

-e

-ibus

-re

-ribus

-e

-e

 

Adjective

The adjective has the same declensions as noun and is also divided into three declension classes. Whatever the adjective class, it must always be in the same gender and declension as the word it describes. For example, an adjective describing a plural masculine genitive must also be in plural masculine genitive.

That's why every adjective declension class has declensions for every gender. Note that an adjective never changes its declension class, just the gender and declension according to the word it describes.

 

Comparative (for example stronger, weaker), is formed with the ending -er- and declined as a 3rd class adjective.

Superlative (for example strongest, weakest) is formed with the ending -is- and declined as a 1st class adjective.

 

1st declension class

The adjectives with feminine singular in -a, masculine singular in -us and neuter singular in -um.








 

Feminine

Masculine

Neuter

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-a

-ai

-us

-i

-um

-a

Acc.

-am

-as

-um

-os

-um

-a

Gen.

-ai

-arum

-i

-orum

-i

-orum

Dat.

-ai

-ais

-o

-is

-o

-is

Abl.

-a

-is

-o

-is

-o

-is

 

2nd declension class

The adjectives with masculine and feminine singular in -is and neuter singular in -e.






 

Masculine and feminine

Neuter

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-is

-es

-e

-ia

Acc.

-em

-es

-e

-ia

Gen.

-is

-ium

-is

-ium

Dat.

-i

-ie

-i

-ie

Abl.

-i

-ie

-i

-ie

 

3rd declension class

The adjectives ending in consonant.








 

Feminine

Masculine

Neuter

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-

-es

-s

-es

-

-a

Acc.

-

-es

-em

-es

-

-a

Gen.

-is

-um

-is

-um

-is

-is

Dat.

-i

-is

-i

-is

-i

-i

Abl.

-e

-ibus

-e

-ibus

-e

-e

Articles

The language has no articles like the English "the" or "a."

 

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

The pronouns and demonstratives have all the same declensions as the nouns, except the ablative. These are also the same that English pronouns have. They partly follow the noun declensions and were even closer to the noun declensions in an earlier stage of the language in the early Second Era.

 

The genitive forms work like adjectives. In singular they are declined like the 2nd class adjectives. In plural they are declined like the 1st class adjectives.

 

 






Pronoun

Nom.

Acc.

Gen.

Dat.

Me

Gō

Gō

Ēg-

Ēgo

You (singular)

Īo

Īe

Īn-

Īe

He, she

Dē

Dem

Dēi-

Dēi

What, which, who (relative pronoun)

Quī

Quī

Qui-

Quī

We

Mā

Mīa

Mī-

Mīai

You (plural)

 

 

 

 

They

Dāses

Dāses

Dāsu-

Dāsis

What, which, who (plural relative pronoun)

Ques

Ques

Quīu-

Quīes

 






Demonstrative

Nom.

Acc.

Gen.

Dat.

This

 

 

 

 

That

 

 

 

 

It

Dē

Dem

Dēis

Dēi

These

 

 

 

 

Those

Dāses

Dāses

Dāsum

Dāsis

Them

Dāses

Dāses

Dāsum

Dāsis

The pronouns are still partially under construction. I haven't decided yet on the second person plural for exaple.

 

 

Verbs

The verb has three tenses: future, present and past.

 

Present tense:

The present tense tells what happens now and is formed by adding a personal ending to the verb. The endings are:

Me  -a

You (sg.) -it

He/she -e

We -ra

You (pl.) -ca

They -em

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. It is formed with an ending.

Me  -ēta

You (sg.) -ētit

He/she -ēte

We -ētra

You (pl.) -ētca

They -ētem

 

Future tense:

The future tense tells what will happen in the future. It is formed by adding an ending. Already during Tiber Septim's time, the future tense had become rare in everyday speech, replaced simply by the present tense with the context in the sentence telling that the action will happen in future.

Me  -īa

You (sg.) -īt

He/she -īe

We -īra

You (pl.) -īca

They -īem

 

The infinitive form and its use:

The infinitive form is the basic form of the verb, formed by adding the suffix -ad to the verb. It is used similar to the English verb form 'to VERB', for example: de cane scribad 'he goes to write'.  Similar to modern Nordic, Old Cyrodiilic does not use a preposition such as "to" here, unlike English.

 

Imperative - The command form

Imperative form is the command to tell somebody to do something. It is the verb root without any endings.

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -t- and declined as a 1st class adjective. You can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -nt-, declined as a 2nd class adjective, and is used with the verb "to be" like the English -ed to form passive sentences. For example, regi onte gannantis scribtum the king was given a book.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a word nen before a verb, noun or adjective, just like in English. For example, rex one nen ignata the king is not ignorant or dases nen meldetem dases meres they did not kill those elves.

 

The verb 'to be'

The verb 'to be' is relatively irregular. The verb cedad to happen has replaced the traditional future form on normal use. The traditional future form based on the First Era way of forming future tense by duplicating the first syllable is used only in some very conservative texts such as legal and religious texts during Tiber Septim's time.

In the past tense the plural forms are in process of melting together with the singular forms, a process that is finished in the modern Cyrodiilic.

Present tense

Sg. 1. prs. ōna        pl. 1. prs. onra

Sg. 2. prs. ōnit       pl. 2. prs. onca

Sg. 3. prs. ōne       pl. 3. prs. ōnem

 

Past tense

Sg. 1. prs. onta        pl. 1. prs. onta

Sg. 2. prs. onti        pl. 2. prs. onti

Sg. 3. prs. onte       pl. 3. prs. ontem

 

Future - The common future form

Sg. 1. prs. cēdia      pl. 1. prs. cēdira

Sg. 2. prs. cēdit      pl. 2. prs. cēdica

Sg. 3. prs. cēdie     pl. 3. prs. cēdiem

 

Infinitive ond

 

The old future form used only in some legal and religious texts:

Sg. 1. prs. nōna       pl. 1. prs. nonra

Sg. 2. prs. nōnit      pl. 2. prs. nonca

Sg. 3. prs. nōne       pl. 3. prs. nōnem

 

Interrogatives

What? [nominative]          Quā?

What? [accusative]            Quam?

Who?                                   Quī?

Why?                                   Sund?

When?                                Quandai?

Where?                                Quad?

Where to?                           Quāter?

From where?                       Quāda?

How?                                   Que?

 

Positions

(under construction)

As I did with the Aldmeris, to help those interested but with not so much knowledge about linguistics, I have listed here all those words having to do with location, including adverbs and prepositions. I did this after a friend of mine requested it.

Grammatically they work in the same way; the positional word is always placed before the noun. I have noted here when use of a case such as dative or ablative replaced a separate word, or when the object of the preposition always takes a specific form.

About, regarding - [ablative]

Among, between - inter

Away, out - au

From somewhere, from somebody - [ablative]

In, at - ad

Outside, around - aure

Over, above - bus

To - ūter + dative

Under, beneath - sub

With something, using something - āvante + dative

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

also - tāsa

and - ta

but - tem

no, not - nen

so - sae

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

 

Time:

again - prēte

at, during, in - dum; for example at night, in the morning

 

Numerals

(uncer construction)

The ordinals (like first, second etc.) are adjectives and declined as 1st class adjectives.

One - Ūna                                   First - Prīm-

Two - Dūa                                   Second - Secund-

Three - Ter                                 Three - Terti-

Four -                                          Fourth -

Five - Quinte                              Fifth - Quinti-

Six - Sex                                      Sixth - Sexti-

Seven - Septim                          Sevent - Septim-

Hundred - Centum

 

Word order

A common sentence has the following word order: Subject + Verb + Object.

An adjective always follows the word it describes; rex prima king first = first king

The owner always follows the owned; lex imperatoris the law emperor's= the emperor's law

In question sentences the basic word order is: Interrogative + Verb + Subject + Object. Some examples:

Qui gannetit hie manifestum? Who gave you the manifest?

Quad io palpit? Where do you live?

Quada dases adventem? Where are they coming from?

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type, class and gender of the word and the plural form (n. m. III = noun masculine 3rd class). The verbs are in the root form.

Acadēmia (acadēmiai)                                Academy (n. f. I)

Adām-                                                           Unbreakable, adamantite (adj. I)

Adventa-                                                       To come, to arrive (verb)

Adventus (adventi)                                      Coming, arrival (n. m. I)

Agra (agrai)                                                  Wheat field, farm (n. f. I)

Allia (alliai)                                                   Alley (n. f. I)

Altar (altares)                                               Altar (n. m. III)

Āma-                                                             To love (verb); amā- in 1. and 2. person plural

Amnis (amnes)                                             Stream, torrent (n. f. II)

Anni-                                                             Annual, yearly (adj. I)

Annus (anni)                                                Year (n. m. I)

Ant-                                                              Old, ancient (adj. I)

Antic-                                                             Classical (adj. I)

Arborētum (arborēta)                                 Park, garden (n. n. I)

Arcādi-                                                          Wise, intelligent (adj. I)

Arcādum (arcāda)                                        Knowledge, wisdom, lore (n. n. I)

Arctus                                                           Northern lands, the north (n. m. I)

Ardāria (ardāriai)                                         Oath (n. f. I)

Āria (āriai)                                                     Spell (n. f. I)

Arimatrīca                                                    Mathematics (n. f. I)

Attinctūra                                                     Blood Magic (n. f. I)

Aucava-                                                         To grow, to enlarge, to widen (verb)

Auda-                                                            To dare, to have courage (verb)

Auden-                                                          Fearless, brave, daring (adj. III)

Aur-                                                               Golden (adj. I)

Aureman (auremana)                                   Layman (n. n. III)

Aurum (aura)                                                Gold (n. n. I)

Āvante                                                           Together (adv)

Āvanti-                                                          Common, mutual (adj. I)

Āvendum (āvenda)                                      Rebellion, uprising (n. n. I)

Brandis (brandes)                                        Brandy (n. f. II)

Brillia (brilliai)                                              Glory, honour (n. f. I)

Brilliant-                                                        Glorious, brilliant (adj. II)

Brucca-                                                          To eat (verb)

Brūma (brumai)                                            Winter (n. f. I)

Brūsor (brūsores)                                         Dealer of stolen goods, a fence (n. m. III)

Buccus (bucci)                                              Goat (n. m. I)

Buscan-                                                        To rise, to ascend (verb)

Busmec-                                                      To undertake (verb)

Bustarta-                                                       To occupy (verb)

Bustartium                                                   Military occupation (n. n. I)

Cālium                                                           Glass (n. n. I)

Callid-                                                            Skilled, experienced (adj. I)

Cān-                                                             To go (verb); can- in 1. and 2. person plural

Capta (captai)                                               Head (n. f. I)

Cār-                                                                Dear, beloved (adj. I)

Carcāta (carcātai)                                        Female relative (n. f. I)

Carcātus (carcāti)                                        Male relative (n. m. I)

Cast-                                                             Pure, chaste (adj. I)

Catamēruca (catamērucai)                       Catacombs (n. f. I)

Cēd-                                                             To happen (verb)

Centūria (centūriai)                                    A military unit of ~100 men (n. f. I)

Cētis (cētes)                                                 Throat (n. f. II)

Cīcer (cīceres)                                              Chickpea (n. m. III)

Civīta (civītai)                                              City (n. f. I)

Clātum (clāta)                                              Price (n. n. I)

Claud-                                                           Crippled (adj. I)

Clōaca (clōacai)                                           Filth sewer (n. f. I)

Cōmus (cōmi)                                              Page (n. m. I)

Constan-                                                      Steady, firm (adj. III)

Contra-                                                        To prevent, to ban (verb)

Contracūlus (contracūli)                           Enemy (n. m. I)

Contumeliōrus (contumeliōri)                 Harasser, bully (n. m. I)

Corvus (corvi)                                              Crow, raven (n. m. I)

Cosm-                                                           Beautiful (adj. I)

Crasva-                                                         To smuggle (verb)

Cubitor (cubitōres)                                      Scribe (n. m. III)

Cūbum (cūba)                                              Ink (n. n. I)

Cūlum (cūla)                                                Vein (n. n. I)

Cūpola (cūpolai)                                         Dome (n. f. I)

Curcūlum (curcūla)                                     Sinew (n. n. I)

Cūrid (cūrida)                                              Heart (n. n. III)

Daedra (daedra)                                          Daedra (n. f. I); note the undeclined plural

Dēcent-                                                         Decent, chaste, proper (adj. I)

Detha (dethai)                                              Day (n. f. I)

Detrit-                                                           Fearful, weak, shivering (adj. I)

Diēta (diētai)                                                Goddess, female Divine (n. f. I)

Diētus (diēti)                                               God, male Divine (n. m. I)

Doyen (doyena)                                           Doyen (n. n. III); a title in the Cyrodilic Thieves' Guild

Drāca (drācai)                                              Drake, septim (n. f. I); the Imperial coin

Dracōnis (dracōnes)                                    Dragon (n. f. II)

Encyclopēdia (encyclopēdiai)                    Encyclopedia (n. f. I)

Fāgus (fāgi)                                                   Beech (n. m. I)

Falēr-                                                             White (adj. II)

Fax (fāces)                                                    Face, appearance (n. f. III)

Faxtrebātum (faxtrebāta)                           Duel (n. n. I)

Ferr-                                                               Made of iron (adj. II)

Ferrum (ferra)                                               Iron (n. n. I)

Fīd-                                                                 True, authentic, real, correct (adj. I)

Flōris (flōres)                                                Flower (n. f. II)

Formīt-                                                          Loyal, true (adj. I)

Fort-                                                               Strong (adj. II)

Frāca-                                                             To scream, to yell (verb)

Furiōs-                                                           Furious (adj. I)

Fūrius (fūrii)                                                  Fury, rage (n. m. I)

Ganna (gannai)                                             Gift, present (n. f. I)

Ganna-                                                           To give (verb)

Gārda (gārdai)                                                Guard (n. f. I)

Garra-                                                             To babble, to gossip (verb)

Gemellus (gemelli)                                       Twin (n. m. I)

Gēnus (gēni)                                                  Race, species (n. m. I)

Hayn (hayna)                                                 Child (n. n. III)

Hier-                                                               Holy, sacred (adj. I)

Hūmil-                                                            Humble (adj. II)

Ignāti-                                                            Ingorant, uneducated, uncivilized (adj. I)

Ignis (ignes)                                                   Fire, flame (n. f. II)

Illēgali-                                                           Illegal (adj. II)

Immortāl-                                                       Immortal (adj. II)

Imperātic-                                                      Imperial (adj. I)

Imperātor (imperātores)                              Emperor (n. m. III)

Imperātum (imperāta)                                  Empire (n. n. I)

Interrēgnum (interrēgna)                            Interregnum (n. n. I)

Lēgiōna (lēgiōnai)                                         Legion (n. f. I)

Lērus (lēri)                                                      Light (n. m. I)

Lex (lēges)                                                      Law (n. f. III); the word root is leg-

Librārium (librāria)                                        Library (n. n. I)

Long-                                                               Long (adj. I)

Lūri-                                                                 Pale, yellowish, sickly yellow (adj. I)

Lyra (lyrai)                                                       Lyra (n. f. I)

Māgia, magicka                                              Magic, magicka (n. f. I)

Māgus (māgi)                                                  Mage, sorcerer, wizard (n. m. I)

Mal-                                                                  Evil (adj. I)

Malleus (mallei)                                              Hammer (n. m. I)

Mālum                                                              Evil (n. n. I); the forces of evil as the opposite good

Man (mana)                                                     Man, human (n. n. III)

Manifestum (manifesta)                                Manifest, proclamation (n. n. I)

Marīn-                                                              Marine, having to do with sea (adj. I)

Mārius (mārii)                                                 Sailor (n. m. I)

Mārus (māri)                                                   Sea (n. m. I)

Massi-                                                              Big, large (adj. I)

Matta (mattai)                                                 Carpet (n. f. I)

Meca-                                                               To take (verb)

Mēl-                                                                  Sweet-tasting (adj. II)

Melde-                                                              To kill (verb)

Mēr (mēres)                                                     Elf (n. m. III)

Mercator (mercatōres)                                   Merchant (n. m. III)

Mercātum (mercāta)                                      Marketplace (n. n. I)

Mēruca (mērucai)                                          Tunnel (n. f. I)

Mezz-                                                                Restless (adj. I)

Millia (milliai)                                                  Army (n. f. I)

Mōcarum (mōcara)                                         Covenant (n. n. I)

Molle-                                                               To crush (verb)

Mōnia (mōniai)                                                Money (n. f. I)

Mort-                                                                 Dead (adj. I)

Mortāl-                                                             Mortal (adj. II)

Mortis (mortes)                                                Dead, corpse (n. f. II)

Nānus (nāni)                                                    Dwarf, dwemer (n. m. I)

Nasca (nascai)                                                 Copper (n. f. I)

Nēc-                                                                 All (adj. II)

Nirra-                                                                To shape, to create, to make (verb)

Nox (noctes)                                                     Night (n. f. III); word root noct-

Nymus (nymi)                                                  Name (n. m. I)

Ōcula (ōculai)                                                   Eye (n. f. I)

Ōpus (ōpi)                                                         Story, tale (n. m. I)

Opuscūlus (opuscūli)                                      Short tale (n. m. I)

Orcus (orci)                                                       Orc (n. m. I)

Ordum (orda)                                                    Order, organisation (n. n. I)

Pābum (pāba)                                                   Disease, sickness (n. n. I)

Palpa-                                                                To dwell, to live in (verb)

Parca-                                                                To call, to invite (verb)

Pēlagus (pēlagi)                                               Open sea (n. m. I)

Pēnit-                                                                 Internal, inwards-pointing (adj, I)

Persōna (persōnai)                                           Person (n. f. I)

Polcus (polci)                                                    Folk, people (n. m. I)

Prādum (prada)                                                Camp (n. n. I)

Prefectus (prefecti)                                          Commander, officer (n. m. I)

Prenirrum (prenirra)                                        Reform (n. n. I)

Prēt-                                                                   New (adj, II)

Prīme                                                                  Mostly (adverb)

Puer (pueres)                                                     Child (n. m. III)

Querrum (querra)                                              War (n. n. I)

Quinch (quincha)                                               Field, plains (n. n. III)

Raud-                                                                   Red (adj. I)

Raudagārda (raudagārdai)                               Redguard (n. f. I)

Regāl-                                                                Royal (adj, II)

Rēgina (rēginai)                                                 Queen (n. f. I)

Rēgnum (rēgna)                                                 Reign (n. n. I)

Rēgulus (rēguli)                                                 Prince (n. m. I)

Rex (rēges)                                                          King (n. f. III); word root reg-

Sanguinār-                                                          Bloody, bleeding (adj, II)

Sanguis (sangues)                                              Blood (n. f. II)

Scrīb-                                                                    To write, to scribe (verb)

Scribtor (scribtōres)                                            Writer, scribe (n. m. III)

Scribtum (scribta)                                               Book, text (n. n. I)

Servātia (servātiai)                                             Servant-woman (n. f. I)

Servātius (servātii)                                             Man-servant (n. m. I)

Sigillum (sigilla)                                                 Seal, lock (n. n. I)

Signa (signai)                                                      Symbol, mark, token (n. f. I)

Simplic-                                                               Simple (adj, I)

Simūle + ablative                                                In a similar way; simule rege like a king

Simulacrum (simulacra)                                    Impostor, mirror-image (n. n. I)

Starma-                                                                To form (verb)

Starma (starmai)                                                 Form (n. f. I)

Statla-                                                                   To set, to put (verb)

Sūd-                                                                       To say (verb)

Tastum (tasta)                                                      Tea (n. n. I)

Taurus (tauri)                                                        Bull (n. m. I)

Treba-                                                                     To fight (verb)

Trebati-                                                                  Warlike, warmongering (adj, I)

Trebatum (trebata)                                               Battle (n. n. I)

Trebatus (trebati)                                                 Warrior, soldier (n. m. I)

Trēsia (trēsiai)                                                       Trial (n. f. I)

Trōna (trōnai)                                                        Throne (n. f. I)

Turra (turrai)                                                          Tower (n. f. I)

Umbra (umbrai)                                                    Shadow, shade (n. f. I)

Ūrna (ūrnai)                                                           Urn (n. f. I)

Ursa (ursai)                                                            Female bear (n. f. I)

Ursus (ursi)                                                            Male bear (n. m. I)

Vampyr (vampyres)                                              Vampire (n. m. III)

Vēdis (vedes)                                                         Fire, flame (n. f. II)

Ver-                                                                         To have [possessive] (verb)

Viator (viatōres)                                                    Courier, messenger (n. m. III)

Vier-                                                                        Green (adj, III)

Vīr (vīres)                                                                Man, male (n. m. III); never used to mean a human

Vōmica (vōmicai)                                                   Plague (n. f. I)

 

 

Cyrodiilic

[Work in progress]

 

The modern Cyrodiilic, spoken since the early or middle Third Era onwards, is quite different from the Old or "Classical" Cyrodiilic. This is the living and spoken language of Cyrodiil during the time of TES IV and V. Note that names of people as well as all kinds of terms having to do with royalty, laws or religion are in the Old Cyrodiilic as it the learned language of the Imperial civilization.

 

Many things have changed from the Old Cyrodiilic. These include noun declensions, verb forms and especially the verb "to be" as well as the split of the third person pronoun along the grammatical gender. So while the Old Cyrodiilic had only one word for "he" and "she", the modern Cyrodiilic has different words for them like English. Also related to the third person pronoun is the "freeform" definite article de. It has not yet developed into a full article and is used voluntarily with the meaning like "that one".

 

Grammar

Noun

The noun has retained the masculine and femininen grammatical genders, but lost neuter. Also the Old Cyrodiilic ablative case has been lost and the accusative form has become identical with nominative.

 

Vowel roots - The nouns whose root form end in vowel.






 

Feminine

Masculine

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-a

-ei

-u

-i

Gen.

-ai

-oru

-i

-oru

Dat.

-ei

-ei

-o

-i

Consonantal roots - The nouns whose root form end in consonant






 

Feminine

Masculine

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nom.

-

-a

-

-e

Gen.

-i

-u

-i

-u

Dat.

-i

-i

-i

-i

 

 

Adjective

(incoming)

 

Articles

(incoming: the freeform definite article de)

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

(incoming)

Pronoun

Nom.

Acc.

Gen.

Dat.

Me

Go

Go

Ez

Ez

You (singular)

Jo

Hie

Hin

Hie

He

Dii

Dii

Dei

Dei

She Dea Dea Dei Dei

What, which, who (relative pronoun)

Qui

Qui

Qui

Qui

We

Ma

Lem

Lem

Lem

You (plural)

 

 

 

 

They

 

 

 

 

What, which, who (plural relative pronoun)

Que

Que

Quiu

Quei

 

 

Verbs

The verb has three tenses: future, present and past.

 

Present tense:

The present tense tells what happens now and is formed by adding a personal ending to the verb. The endings are:

Me  -a

You (sg.) -is

He/she -e

We -ar

You (pl.) -as

They -e

 

Past tense:

The past tense tells what happened or has happened. It is formed with an ending.

Me  -eta

You (sg.) -etis

He/she -ete

We -etar

You (pl.) -etas

They -ete

 

The infinitive form and its use:

The infinitive form is the basic form of the verb, formed by adding the suffix -ad to the verb. It is used similar to the English verb form 'to VERB', for example: dea cane scribad 'she goes to write'.  Similar to modern Nordic, Cyrodiilic does not use a preposition such as "to" here, unlike English.

 

Imperative - The command form

Imperative form is the command to tell somebody to do something. It is the verb root without any endings.

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -as. You can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -an, and is used with the verb "to be" like the English -ed to form passive sentences.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a word before a verb, noun or adjective, just like in English.

 

The verb 'to be'

The verb 'to be' is relatively irregular.

Present tense

Sg. 1. prs. cea        pl. 1. prs. cear

Sg. 2. prs. cis        pl. 2. prs. ceas

Sg. 3. prs.          pl. 3. prs. cede

 

Past tense

Sg. 1. prs. ona        pl. 1. prs. onta

Sg. 2. prs. onis        pl. 2. prs. onti

Sg. 3. prs. one       pl. 3. prs. onte

 

Infinitive ond

 

 

Interrogatives

(incoming)

 

Positions

(incoming)

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

 

Numerals

(incoming)

 

Word order

(incoming)

 

Vocabulary

(incoming)

 

Lezión (lezióna)                                           Legion (n. f. c.)

Mazic (mazica)                                             Magic (n. f. c.)

 

 

 

Riekling language

Incoming. I already have a pretty good picture of the grammar (very interesting and very non-Western verbs) and a short vocabulary. I just have to spend more time with the Rieklings in Solstheim and make notes of the situations they say certain things.

 

I have translated most of the Godspeak Song of the loading screens, and about half of the chieftain's speech when they prepare for battle, but both still need more work. There are also things that I do not understand yet. That's why I have to spend more time with the Rieklings.

 

This is the first published version of Riekling grammar and vocabulary. Things might change with more research. It might be useful to hear other people's thoughts of the grammar.

 

Vowel lengthening

The common Riekling habit of stretching the vowels (for example, Hrawwaaaaa!) is used to stress the importance of the word in question or make it the topic.

 

Noun

The noun has no plural forms. My research show far hints that the noun is agglutinative, with case endings telling the place something happens.

 

Nominative             -

Object                      -

Locative                   -i               in, at, when

Allative                    -a              to someone

Illative                     -a               to some place

Ablative                   -urak        from

 

Possessive endings:

These are endings that are added to the thing owned, and depends on person. Currently only one ending is known.

 

My              ?                  Our           -ag

Your (sg.)   ?                   Your (pl)    ?

His, her      ?                   Their         ?

 

 

 

Verb

The Riekling verb is quite complex. In addition to intransitive, transitive and medial forms, there are also several modal infixes and a passive marker.

 

The verb can take several infixes and endings and can become quite long.

 

The three tenses are:

                     continual present that also covers future: is happening, will happen

                     immediate present: happens now

                     past: happened or has happened

 

The structure of the verb is as follows:

prefix + root + modal infix + tense + person

 

 

Modals

The so-called modals are infixes that are used to form imperatives, positives, optatives and negatives at least. The modal infix is placed right after the verb root.

 

The known infixes:

-f-                 "strong positive" with the basic meaning of "truly, very, really." It is also has the meanings "ordered

                      to do" and "must do." For example fala- to find > falaf- truly finds / find! / must find

-fath-, -fakath-        optative: a polite command

-h-, -ha-                    negative; used to form a negative verb

 

 

Intransitive verb

A verb that has no object, so it is done but not on someone or something. For example "to go, to sleep." The intransitive ending tells both the tense and the person.

 

Continual present and future:

1. sg.        -ga               1. pl.       -gar

2. sg.       -oo               2. pl.       -see

3. sg.       -ka               3. pl.       -ja

 

Immediate present:

1. sg.       -la                 1. pl.        -lar

2. sg.       -loo              2. pl.        -lee

3. sg.       -ee               3. pl.        -la

 

Past:

1. sg.        -raga           1. pl.         -ragar

2. sg.       -roo             2. pl.         -ree

3. sg.       -ra               3. pl.         -ra

 

 

Transitive verb

A verb that has an object. Unlike the intransitive verb, the transitive verb does not mark the person, only the tense.

 

Continual present and future      -ik

Immediate present                       -lik

Past                                                -rik

 

 

Medial

A verb that means that the speaker and somebody else do the verb to each others. Does not mark the person, only the tense.

 

Continual present and future     -ek

Immediate present                      -lek

Past                                               -rek

 

 

Other verbal forms

Infinitive - the basic form of the verb. No markers, just the root.

 

Imperative - Command. While the -f- modal can be used to form sort of imperatives, the best way to form an imperative is a separate imperative particle fah. This word is placed after the verb, tun fah! see!

 

 

Passive sentence

Passive verb has its own wya of working. The main marker is the ending -wala. The structure of the passive verb: root + modal + tense-depended intransitive personal ending + wala.

 

The passive verb always uses the intransitive personal endings, even when the verb should by its meaning be transitive. Note that in the passive verb, the personal ending tells the object, not the subject.

 

 

Question sentence

(under investigation)

What?               Paw?

 

 

 

Pronouns

Pronouns are seriously under investigation. For example there might be inclusive and exlusive forms of the pronoun "we."

 





Pronoun

Nom.

Obj.

Gen.

Allat./Illat

I

 

 

 

 

you (sg.)        

he, she

cha      
we hra twafaar   twafaara
you        
they   taray   jaa

Pronoun

Nom.

Obj.

Gen.

Allat./Illat.

which, who, one that

a

 

 

 

those   taar taar  

oneself

woong      

Positions

Close                                 - Tik

For                                     - Kee

From faraway                   - Aburak

To somewhere faraway   - Aba

Here                                   - La

Through                            - Tiri

 

 

Conjunctions

No - Ha

 

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

 

Time:

Before, earlier - Wilberk

Never - Hawah

Now - Tiweki

 

 

Vocabulary

Baa                                        God (n.)

Bar-                                       To happen, to go on in one's life (verb); for example what's going on?

Berti-                                     To reclaim (verb)

Brel-                                      To need (verb)

Bu-                                         To be (verb)

Cawa-                                    To dwell, to live (verb)

Faa                                         Home (n.)

Faanig                                    Idle (adj.)

Fala-                                      To find (verb)

Far-                                        To kill (verb)

Fel-                                         To notice, to detect (verb)

Fi-                                           To come (verb)

Froo                                        Nord (n.)

Fuk-                                        To speak (verb)

Gaj-                                         To order, to ask (verb)

Gel-                                         To meet (verb)

Go-                                          To steal (verb)

Hafa-                                      To be content (verb)

Jo-                                           To allow (verb)

Kala-                                      To go, to leave (verb)

Kar-                                        To die (verb)

Kawa-                                     To quiet down, to be silent (verb)

Muwa-                                    To tell (verb)

Pel-                                         To flee (verb)

Poo-                                        To demand (verb)

Rak-                                        To want, to wish  (verb)

Rawa-                                     To return (verb)

Taka-                                       To do, to make (verb)

Tik-                                          To shut, to close, to close eyes (verb)

Tiwek                                      This moment (n.)

Tun-                                         To see (verb)

Tuwan                                     Battle (n.)

Wara                                        Hand (n.)

 

 

 

Waaaah!                                  Yes!

 

 

 

 

Reachspeech

The native language of the Reach, spoken by the Forsworn and non-Forsworn Reachmen such as Ainethach of Karthwasten.

There are three main dialectal groups; the northern dialects spoken around Druadach Redoubt and the northwest Reach, the eastern dialects spoken in the Sundered Hills between River Karth and the plains of Whiterun, and the southern dialects spoken in Karthspire and southern Reach.

 

Grammar

Noun

Short explanations of the use of declensions in Reachspeech:

Nominative - the basic form of the word. The subject of a sentence is always in nominative.

Accusative - the object of a sentence.

Genitive - the owner of something. In English the genitive form is the ending 's, as in "Bob's"

Locative- meaning "at/in" or "to" when something goes somewhere.

Ablative - meaning "from somebody" or "from somewhere."

Instrumental - meaning "using something"

There are two genders; masculine and feminine, all easy to regocnize. Feminines end in vowels and masculines in consonants. Feminine noun has two classes; one that ends in -a in singular nominative, and one that ends in -e in similar situation.

 








 

Feminine -a

Feminine -e

Masculine

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

Nominative

-a

-ach

-e

-es

-

-ach

Accusative

-a

-ach

-e

-es

-

-ach

Genitive

-e

-aich

-e

-eis

-e

-aich

Locative

-oth

 

-oth

 

-ir

 

Ablative

-air

 

-eir

 

-ór

 

Instrumental

-aid

 

-eyd

 

-id

 

Pecularities; the plural of locative, ablative and instrumental

There are two ways to use locative, ablative and instrumental in plural. In the northern dialects the ending is same in singular and plural, while in the southern and eastern dialects the plural ending is replaced by the use of a separate positional word. See "Positions" for more information.

 

Pecularities: the genitive form of male personal names

While the male personal names are otherwise declined like normal nouns, their genitive form is different. In male personal names the genitive is formed by adding -i- directly behind the last vowel in the word. For example, Faolan becomes Faolain and Madanach becomes Madanaich. Female personal names are declined as normal nouns.

 

Adjective

The adjectives are in the same gender and number as the noun they describe, but lack the case endings and have onlyone feminine form instead of two.






 

Feminine

Masculine

 

Sg.

Pl.

Sg.

Pl.

All cases

-a

-a

-

-na

 

Articles

The language has no articles like English "a/an" or "the".

 

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

 

Pronoun Nominative Accusative Genitive Locative Ablative
I Gia Gia Ge Goth Gair
You (sg. familiar) Yia Yia Ye Yoth Yair
You (sg. infamiliar)          
You (sg. referenial) Túa Túa Tue Tuoth Tuair
He, she, it Detha Deoth Déair
We Ma Lemia Lemie Maoth Máir
You (pl. familiar) Yén Yéna Yie Yeoth Yair
You (pl. infamiliar)          
You (pl. refential) Tán Tána Taoth Táir
They Dúr Dúra Dúre Duroth Dúair
Demonstrative Nominative Accusative Genitive Locative Ablative
This, that Ia Ia Ie Ioth Iair
These, those Adach Ada Ade Adoth Adair
Relative pronoun Nominative Accusative Genitive Locative Ablative
Which, who, what (sg.) Wi Wia Wie Wioth Wiair
Which, who, what (pl.) Wes Wesa Wese Wesoth Wesair

 

 

Verbs

 

Immediate present:

The immediate present tense tells what happens right now. An equivalent English sentence in this tense would be for example "He buys a sword." It is formed by adding a personal ending to the verb. The endings are:

Me -a

You (sg.) -o

He/she -e

We -h

You (pl.) -ch

They -eym

 

Continual present:

The continual present tense tells what is happening these days. An equivalent English sentence would be for example "He is running." It is formed by adding a personal ending to the verb. The endings are:

Me -'n

You (sg.) -'n

He/she -'n

We -enh

You (pl.) -ench

They -enn

 

Perfect past:

The past tense equivalent of the immediate present, describing a finished action in the past. For example "she kissed him." It is marked by an infixed -i- after the word's first vowel and the ending -th. For exampl, bel- to kiss > beilth kissed.

 

Imperfect past:

The imperfect past is the past tense equivalent of the continual present. It describes an incomplete action in the past, such as "he was counting the beans." Instead of a personal ending, it is marked by an infixed -i- after the word's first vowel. For example, bel- to kiss > beil was kissing.

 

Conditional

The Reachspeech conditional has the general meaning of "something would happen if..." It has a present and past forms, both formed with personal endings. Conditional sentences are important part of the language and used in situation in which you would say "might, could, would, maybe" and so on in English. It is used especially when talking of things related to weather, seasons, and war.

For example, a sentence "it's going to rain" or "they are about to attack" usually use conditional in Reachspeech.

Present endings:

Me -adda

You (sg.) -addo

He/she -adde

We -adh

You (pl.) -adh

They -aym

 

Past endings:

Me -id

You (sg.) -id

He/she -id

We -idh

You (pl.) -idh

They -iam

 

Other verb forms:

An equivalent of the English -ing ending is -in. You can use it to say "A running man" but not "A man is running"

An equivalent of the English -ed ending is -th, and is used with the verb "to be" like the English -ed to form passive sentences.

 

Negative sentence:

A negative sentence is formed by adding a word nith after a verb, noun or adjective.

 

Interrogatives

What? [nominative]           Wa?

What? [accusative]            Wan?

Who?                                   Wi?

Why?                                   Wa cai?

When?                                 Wada?

Where?                                Woth?

Where to?                           Woth?

From where?                       Wair?

How?                                    Wáta?

By what?                              Waid?

 

Positions

(incoming)

as, like - om

because of, for - cai

behind, beyond - áis

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

and - nn (note: this word has no vowels)

but - lam

no - nith

though - hin

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

 

Time:

always, forever - ail

now - an

 

Numerals

(uncer construction)

One - On

Four - Cethair

 

Word order

 

 

Vocabulary

I have marked what kind of word is in question (noun, adjective, verb) as well as the gender and plural form for nouns (n.f. = noun, feminine and n.m. = noun, masculine). The verbs are in the root form.

Abrann (abrannach)                              Oath (n. m.)

Aine (aines)                                             Glory, honour (n. f.)

Aineth                                                      Glorious, honorful (adj)

Ainethach (ainethchach)                       Hero (n. m.)

Air (airach)                                               Man, male (n. m.)

Alra (alrach)                                             Hunter (n. f.)

Alvuire (alvuires)                                    Steep narrow valley (n. f.) 

Ambir                                                       Amber (n. m.); loan from Nordic, has no plural form

Bail (bailach)                                           Stone, rock (n. m.)

Bann (bannach)                                       Juniper (n. m.)

Bel-                                                          To kiss (verb)

Bladach                                                   Mighty, awesome, noble (adj)

Braig                                                       Strong, powerful (adj)

Brig                                                         Strength (n. m.)

Cai-                                                         To cry, to weep (verb)

Cai                                                           Cry, lament, weeping (n. f.)

Cairin                                                      Dear, beloved, lovable, sweet (adj)

Cedran (cedranach)                              Father (n. m.)

Cnoss (cnossach)                                   Hill, mound (n. m.)

Coss (cossach)                                       Foot (n. m.)

Craich (craichach)                                 Bone (n. m.)

Crann (crannach)                                   Raven (n. m.)

Criag (criagach)                                      Cliff, rock (n. m.)

Daighre (daighres)                                Fire, flame (n. f.)

Darva (darvach)                                     End (n. f.)

Domuin (domuinach)                           Large temple (n. m.)

Donn                                                       Brown (adj)

Druad (druadach)                                  Canyon, crevice, pit (n. m.)

Duim (duimach)                                    Dwarf (n. m.)

Dobhinn (dobhinnach)                         Orc (n. m.)

Duibh (duibhach)                                   Fort, castle, redoubt (n. m.)

Edra (edrach)                                          Daughter (n. f.)

Enn (ennach)                                          Bird (n. m.)

Eola (eolach)                                           Beauty (n. f.)

Err (errach)                                              Warrior, fighter (n. m.)

Faol                                                          Red (adj)

Fiann                                                        White (adj)

Flaith (flaithach)                                     Realm, nation, country (n. m.)

Fridane (fridanes)                                  Sister (n. f.)

Garr (garrach)                                        House, building, hall (n. m.)

Ginn (ginnach)                                       Talon, claw, nail (n. m.)

Gol (golach)                                            Fox (n. m.)

Hom (homach)                                       Copper (n. m.)

Hrocc (hroccach)                                    Bear (n. m.)

Lan (lanach)                                            Eagle (n. m.)

Linn (linnach)                                         Lake (n. m.)

Lorc (lorcach)                                          Path (n. m.)

Lottach (lottchach)                                Enemy, rapist (n. m.); also a rasistic name to Nords

Luag (luagach)                                        Lamb (n. m.)

Luin                                                          Burly, broad-shouldered (adj)

Mac (macach)                                         Son (n. m.)

Madan                                                     Luck, fortune (n. m.)

Már                                                           Great, big (adj)

Mér (mérach)                                           Elf (n. m.)

Mercath (mercathach)                           Marketplace (n. m.)

Morven (morvenach)                             Spider (n. m.)

Muir (muirach)                                        Sea (n. m.)

-nach                                                        -less; a derivative ending. Meanings such as cedrannach fatherless

Nana (nanach)                                         Little girl (n. f.)

Nél (nélach)                                             Cloud (n. m.)

Nepos (neposach)                                   Nobleman, prince (n. m.)

Nimhe                                                      Poisonous (adj)

Nithre (nithres)                                       Woman (n. f.)

Nórr (nórrach)                                         Nord (n. m.); non-rasistic basic word for Nords

Nuin (nuinach)                                        Town, settlement (n. m.)

Óc                                                             Young (adj)

Orican (oricanach)                                 Elk (n. m.)

Oss (ossach)                                            Stream (n. m.)

Parga-                                                      To break, to collapse (verb)

Pargain                                                     Broken, sundered (adj)

Perth (perthach)                                      Heir (n. m.)

Rond (rondach)                                       Bond, connection (n. m.)

Rondach (rondchach)                             Blood-brother, friend (n. m.)

Rhíad (rhíadach)                                      Contest, sport (n. m.)

Saide (saides)                                          Place (n. m.)

Senn                                                          Old (adj)

Senna (sennach)                                      Crone, grandmother, respected old woman (n. f.)

Sib                                                             Dead (adj)

Stain (stainach)                                       Forest (n. m.)

Storig (storigach)                                   Werewolf (n. m.)

Tara (tarach)                                             Shrine, small temple (n. f.)

Teor (teorach)                                          Bull (n. m.)

Tír (tírach)                                                 Land, country (n. m.)

Uail                                                            Busty, buxom (adj)

Uar (uarach)                                             Winter (n. m.)

Uma (umach)                                           Mother (n. f.)

Umacrann (umacrannach)                    Hagraven (n. m.)

Umatre (umatres)                                   Matriarch (n. f.)

Vanna (vannach)                                     Water (n. f.)

Voad (voadach)                                        Berserker (n. m.)

Wayne (waynes)                                      Wide part of a river where the water flows slowly (n. f.)

Weyl-                                                        To seek (verb)

Weylin                                                      Sought after (adj)

 

Deities

A list of gods that has been proposed for the Reachmen with their Reachian names for you to use. I leave the final decision for you, my reader, on whom the Reachmen should worship. I'll add more names if people want.

 

Bridea                                                      Meridia

Claivich                                                   Clavicus Vile

Daighsenn                                              Molag Bal

Druaga                                                     Druaga (mentioned in Tamrielic festivals)

Dui Bla                                                     Dibella

Faolan                                                      Red Eagle

Hirsian                                                     Hircine

Iffre                                                          Yffre

Mailach                                                    Malacath

Maira                                                        Mara

Namira                                                     Namira

Periathe                                                   Peryite

Sheor                                                        Sheor (Bretonic version of Shor)

 

 

 

Ta'agra - Pa'alatiini

 

The language of the Khajiit, Ta'agra, actually consists of two major languages. The southern of these two is Pa'alatiini, spoken in the kingdom of Pelletine in the southern half of Elsweyr. The northern language, Ne Quin-ali, is spoken in the northern kingdom of Ne Quin-al. There are other minor languages of course, but these two are spoken by vast majority of the population.

 

Pa'alatiini is a case-heavy language with peculiar classes of adjectives and somewhat non-Western verbs.

 

Special thanks to Rethar Saryon. This language is based on a combination of his notes and mine.

 

Grammar

Noun

The noun has no grammatical gender and no plural form, or any other plural markers. The cases are formed by adding a case marker in front of the word, not in the end.

 

Case
Marker
Explanation
Nominative
-
The basic form of the word
Object
-
The object of a sentence
Focus
aa-
Marks the word as the focus of the sentence
Genitive
(word order; owner + owned)
the owner; English -'s, "dog's"
Locative
ka-
in, at
Ablative
tan-
from
Illative
tra-
to a place
Allative - to a person
Instrumental be- using something
Comitative ra- along, with
Separative fu- without

 

Usage of the cases:

The cases replace most English prepositions; Pa'alatiini has very few separate words telling of the location. The case is always marked on the word where the thing happen, not on the subject of the word. Some examples:

                the man goes to the house : Pa'alatiini marks the illative case on the house

                he is without a sword : Pa'alatiini marks the separative case on the sword

The only cases that would be marked on the subject are nominative and genitive, but both cases use the basic form of the word so you don't have to worry about trying to remember.

When attached to a word beginning with a vowel, the case marker ending with a vowel is separated with a ' or - to make reading it easier. For example ra'ohmes with the Ohmes.

 

Further explanations of some cases:

The focus case is a freeform case, meaning that using it is voluntary. It is used to mark a noun as the focus or topic of the sentence.

There are two different cases with the general English meaning "to." First one, illative tra-, means "to some place." The second one, allative with no marker, means "to a person."

The differences of comitative and intrumental cases might require a further explanation for people not familiar with certain case-heavy languages. The comitative case is not the same as the English word "with": instead it covers those meanings of "with" that has to do with having something along with you. The instrumental case is used when talking about doing something using/with something.

Another case that might not be familiar is the separative. It replaces the prepostion "without."

 

Derivatives

These are the endings used to derive words.

 

Agentive                            -iit; English -er; runner, sleeper

Adjective from a noun     -i; Khajiit > Khajiiti "Khajiitic"

Noun from an adjective   -e; turns an adjective into a noun; big > big one

Noun from a verb             -r, similar to English -ing; running, sleeping

 

 

Adjective

There are two main classes of adjectives, easily distinguished; monosyllablic adjectives (adjectives of only one syllable long) and polysyllablic adjectives (those with more than one syllable).

 

Monosyllablic adjectives are attached to the word they describe as prefixes, usually separated by a ' for the ease of reading. For example do'iss good people. They can be attached even to a verb in cases when you say "it is ADJECTIVE to VERB", such as do'shurh'do it is good to be brave. When you say that "something is ADJECTIVE" the monosyllablic adjective is attached to the verb to be.

 

Polysyllablic adjectives precede the word they describe but are not otherwise special in any way. For example khajiiti renrij Khajiiti mercenaries.

 

Adjectives of any type are declined in any way or marked with a case and have no plural forms.

 

Articles

There are no articles such as "a" or "the" in Pa'alatiini.

 

 

Pronouns and demonstratives

Unlike the nouns, the pronouns actually mark the genitive and object cases. The pronouns have different forms in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons but do not in singular and plural. Also there is only one pronoun for the third person instead of different forms for "he" and "she." The object form is used as an object of a sentence and also when a case marker is added.

 

There is only one demonstrative, ahn, which covers both "this" and "these."

 

In polite speech - which the Khajiit usually use when talking to someone they don't know or someone they respect - the second person pronouns are not used at all. Instead the speaker refers to the other person in third person, for example "what does the stranger want?" Of him or herself the speaker uses the normal first person pronoun (which means "this person"), his name or some other title, for example "S'Ratha tells..." when S'Ratha speaks of himself.

When talking to a foreigner the Khajiit does not know, the verbs referring to the foreigner are in abstract form. Because the abstract is a personless form, the Khajiit replace this construct with the pronoun "it" when talking in languages other than Ta'agra.

 





Pronoun

Nom.

Obj.

Gen.

I, we

ahzirr

zirr

ahziss

You (singular and plural) jir jerr jess
He/she/it, they ator tor otos

 





Pronoun

Nom.

Obj.

Gen.

This, these

ahn

ahn

ahs

Oneself no no no
Relative pronoun "who, which" kah kah kah

 

 

Verbs

In addition to the basic verbal form there is also the desiderative mood, abstract mood, dynamic mood and the imperative. The basic, desiderative, and dynamic moods all have present, past, infinitive and imperative forms. The abstract mood has only one form and is indeclinable. 

 

The present form tells us what happens or is happening now.

The past form tells us what happened or has happened.

The infinitive form is the basic form used in situation where you would say "to VERB" in English.

The imperative form is the order.

 

All verbal forms are created with regular endings. The endings only distinguish the first person and the combined second and third person. As with the nouns, adjective and pronouns, the verbal endings have no separate plural forms.

 

Basic mood:

The basic forms of the verb; the man runs, the dog eats etc..

Infinitive                                -

Imperative                             -r

Present 1. person                  -rr

Present 2. and 3. persons    -ba

Past 1. person                        -rrta

Past 2. and 3 persons           -bata

 

Desiderative mood:

The desiderative mood tells that the speaker wishes the action to happen. For example "to go" in desiderative mood would mean "wants to go."

Infinitive                               -kasash

Imperative                            -rkasash

Present 1. person                 -kasash

Present 2. and 3. persons   -bakasash

Past 1. person                       -rrtakasash

Past 2. and 3. persons         -batakasash

 

Abstract mood:

The abstract mood is a personless verb, not tied to time; the verb just happens in general. The abstract form is not declined in any way, it is always in the basic form.

 

Use of the abstract mood to form passive sentences:

The abstract mood can also be used to construct sentences like "he was detected" but these should be avoided as poor Ta'agra. This type of sentence is formed by placing the main verb in abstract, followed by the pronoun or noun the action as done upon. For example "detected him." No verb "to be" is used.

 

Dynamic mood:

Dynamic mood gives the verb a dynamic meaning. Most dynamic verbs have a permanent, well-established meaning and are marked in the following vocabulary section as dynamic verbs.

Infinitive                                  -zeri

Imperative                               -rzeri

Present 1. person                    -jazeri

Present 2. and 3. persons      -bazeri

Past 1. person                          -rzerita

Past 2. and 3. persons            -bazerita

 

Negative sentence:

Negative sentence is formed simply by adding a prefix nu- at the beginning of the verb.

 

Question sentence:

Question sentence is formed mainly by changing the word order. The word order is: interrogative (when needed) + Obj + Subj + Verb

 

Who?                               Kazirr?

Why?

What?                              Kaaka?

When?                             Kaq'zi?

Using what?                    Kabe?

Where to?                        Katra?

Where?                             Ka?

Where from?                   Katan?

How?                                Kara?

 

 

Positions

(under construction)

 

Conjunctions

(incoming)

and - e

 

Adverbs

(incoming)

Quantifiers:

 

Time:

Never - Du

When  - Q'zi

(incoming)

 

Numerals

(uncer construction)

 

Word order

The basic word order is subject+verb+object.

In a sentences that use the abstract form of a verb, the abstract is always at the beginning of the sentence and the verb has no subject in any form.

The topic of the sentence can be marked with the case aa-; this is voluntary.

Owner precedes the owned; neither is marked in any way.

Monosyllablic adjective is always attached to a word.

In a "something is ADJECTIVE" sentence the monosyllablic adjective is attached to the verb to be.

Polysyllablic adjective precedes the word it describes.

In question sentences the word order is: interrogative (when needed) + Obj + Subj + Verb

 

Vocabulary

I have marked the type and other information of the words in the vocabulary. The verbs marked as dynamic are always declined in the dynamic mood, and those marked as abstract always in the abstract mood.

 

Ajo                                   Wonderful (adj) [works like a monosyllablic]

Dar                                   Clever, skilled with hands (adj)

Do                                    Good (adj)

Dro                                   Respectful (adj)

Durra                               To give freely, distribute, hand out (verb)

Durrar                             To write (verb)

Durrarr                            Writing (n)

Gzalzi                               Absurdity (n)

Iiliten                               Girl (n)

Iss                                     People, folk (n)

J, ji, ja                               Inexperienced, young (adj)

Ja'Kha'jay                         Lunar lattice (n)

Ja'khajiit                           Khajiit-child, also a name for Mehrunes Dagon (n)

Jeko                                  To prostitute oneself (verb)

Jekosiit                            Prostitute (n)

Khaj                                  Desert (n)

Khajiit                              Khajiit, desert-dweller (n)

Krin                                  Laugh, grin (n)

Lhajiito                            To run away, to flee (verb)

Liter                                  Brother, sibling (n)

Llesw'er                           Paradise (n)

Ma                                    Virgin (adj)

Ma                                    Child, virgin (n)

Maaszi                              Necessary (adj)

Maaszi                              Necessity (n)

Ra                                      Mighty, high (adj)

Rabi                                   A type of shirt (n)

Rabi                                  To have (verb)

Rabi-                                 To give (dynamic verb)

Rawl                                  Water (n)

Rawli                                To rain (abstract verb)

Rawlith                             Raid (n)

Renrij                                Scum, landless one, mercenary (n)

S                                        Adult (n)

Sallidad                            Martyr (n)

Sench                               Big, huge (adj)

Shurh'do                          To be brave (verb)

Sozay                                Regret (n)

Ta'ag                                 Word (n)

Ta'agra                             Language (n)

Thjizzrini                         Foolish concept, rule (n)

Thodurrarr                      Writing stick, writing utensil (n)

Thzina                              To tell (verb)

Traaji                                To occupy, to possess with force (verb)

Traaji-                               To take by force (dynamic verb)

Ualizz                                Truth (n)

Vano                                  To contradict (verb)

Var-dar                              To kill, to murder, to steal lives (verb)

Zirr                                     Person (n)

Zwin                                   Yellow (adj)

 

 

Titles

These are elements added as prefixes to personal names, especially those of males. They begun their careers as common monosyllablic adjectives, but have since then became a permanent part of the Khajiiti names.

 

Dar                        Thief, clever one, clever with hands

Do                         Warrior [archaic and rarely used]

Dro                        Grandfather, a sign of respect

J, Ja, Ji                    Bachelor, young adult, inexperienced

Jo                           Wizard, scholar

M, Ma                   Child, apprentice, virgin

Ra                         Of high status

Ri                          Chieftain, lord of a city

S                            Adult

 

 

Dwemeris

 

Pronuncation

The late Dwemeris pronuncation can be at least partially reconstructed (or guessed) from the only known example of spoken Dwemeris in the Elder Scrolls games. It can be heard in the game "Redguard", spoken by the main hero Cyrus. For now I cannot say how much it differs from the older Dwemeris pronuncation, but in any case, the following is the First Era pronuncation.

 

First of all, the Schwa vowel:

The schwa vowel can be written as ə when the exact pronunciation has to be shown, and is the most frequent vowel sound in spoken English. Can be found for example in taken (the last e), the (the e again), memory (the o), about (the a) and so on. Very frequent in Dwemeris too.

 

In Dwemeris the schwa is frequently left unwritten.

 

Consonants

Most consonants are pronounced as in English, but these are the special cases:

Consonant + n        In most cases the schwa is added between. For example ahvardn = ahvardən

bth-                         at the beginning of the word pronounced as English "bath" but with very short a sound

-th                         sh as in English when following a vowel at the end of the word. Bluth = blush.

ch                            unknown, but either as the ch in English church or kh.

 

Vowels:

a                            a as in English father but shorter.

e                             the schwa sound

i                            unknown, but most likely as in English still, his

o                             unknown, most likely as in English horn

u                             unknown

y                               unknown, most likely the same as the uh sound.

ah                             ey; English say

eh                             ey; English say

ih                               ay; English eye

oh                             unknown, perhaps like English oh

uh                              as French or Japanese u, close to English stew.

 

 

Grammar

Noun

No plural, no declensions of any kind. And no article like the English a/an or the.

 

Derivative prefixes and suffixes:

i-        prefix         having to do with the Animunculi
a-       prefix         verb from a noun
a-        prefix        having to do with living beings
 

-al      suffix         glorious (like the Aldmeris suffix/prefix al)
-ak     suffix         master, lord, king
-ch     suffix         slightly changed meaning from the original word; nchard stone > nchardch bone.
-lft     suffix         action
-en    suffix          abstract noun
-um   suffix          person
-z       suffix          collective

 

Genitive

Marked by word order, has no declensions like the English -'s:

                   owned + owner when the owner is a noun

                   owner + owned when the owner is a pronoun

 

When the owner is a pronoun, it is prefixed to the thing being owned. For example "Our gift" = dua- + arkng = duarkng. In some cases the genitive is an independent word instead of being prefixed, but the exact rules are still unknown, so I suggest using the prefix for now.

 

Adjective

The adjective follows the word it describes and is suffixed to it. For example stubborn Dwemer is duumanchard from duum dwemer and anchard stubborn. It is not declined in any way and does not mark plural in any way.

 

Positionals

Has no preposition equivalent to English to or in. Both are omitted in the sentence. For example, passage to the freehold colony = chend aleft.  There is no "to" anywhere.

 

The following positionals are always placed before the word they are connected to: for example against the enemy = mzin stur.

 

Abakch                  Only by

Mzin                      Against

Rald                       Between, in the middle of

Star                        Up

Zhar                        Far away

 

 

Suffixes: Added to the word it is connected. Duum + ch = By a Dwemer

-ch                          By

 

Akath jokin numero väliltä 11-19

Avatheled 16 [ehkä avath-eled, 15-ja-1]

Conjunctions

And                      Th

And so                 Chun

Because, for        Che  

 

 

Adverbs of time

And                        Always, forever

Ralz                        Before

Ur                           When, during

Thand                     Never

 

 

Numerals

Eled                          perhaps 1; see Avatheled

Akath                       [most likely some number between 11 and 14]

Avath                        perhaps 15; see Avatheled

Avatheled                16; apparently from 15-and-1

 

 

Pronouns

These are the known pronouns. 

 






Pronoun

Nominative & accusative

Genitive (independent word)

Genitive prefix

I

ih

 

 

You (sg.)

 

 

 

He, she

mze

 

 

We

du

dua

dua-

You (pl.)

thu

thua

thua-

They

 

 

 

Which, who

chun

 

 

 

 

Verbs

The verb does not mark person or aspect (tells when the thing happened).

 

Passive form has its own ending, -d

 

Negative sentence is formed by adding fahl before the word that is negated similar to English not, no; Ih fahl aword - I will not say (aword is negated) or du chal fahl ngark we desire no thanks. (ngark is negated).

 

 

Word order

Subject + Verb + Object

Adjective follows the noun it describes as a suffix

Negation word fahl precedes the negated word.

 

 

Vocabulary

Abak                                                        Only (adv)

Abazun                                                   To take part, to partake (verb)

Ahrk                                                        Destruction (n)

Ahrk                                                        To break, to be destroyed (verb)

Ahrkanch                                                To die (verb)

Ahvardn                                                  Protection (n)

Aka                                                          King (n

Aleft                                                        Freehold colony (n)

Alf                                                            Guard (n)

Alft                                                           Vigilance, watchfulness (n)

Amakai                                                    To survive (n)

Amk                                                          Life (n)

Amz                                                           Many, much (adv); ams in East Dwmer?

Anch                                                         Physical (adj)

Anchard                                                   Stubborn (adj)

Angth                                                       Tall, high (adj)

Angz                                                         Mind, will (n)

Anum                                                       Mundus, ground, earth (n)

Anumidium                                             Anumidium (n); derived from anum but the exact meaning unknown

Arkng                                                       Affection, gift (n)

Arkng                                                       To give (verb)

Avanchn                                                   To endure, to continue (verb)
Awerk                                                       To open (verb)

 

Aword                                                       To say, to utter (verb)

 

 

Balak                                                         Chaos (n)

 

Bamz                                                         Gallery of interconnected halls (n)

Bcharn                                                       Machine (n)

Betha                                                          Secret (n)

Bluth                                                           Attraction (n)

Bluthanch                                                   Beauty (n); as an abstract thing

Bth                                                              Secret (adj); Pronounced with vowel e: beth?

 

 

Bthah                                                          Lie, falsehood (n)

 

 

Bthahhrk [bthah+ahrk]                            Machine to which a password is uttered (n)

 

Btham                                                         Power, strength (n)

Bthan                                                           Foyada (n)

Bthar                                                           Bond, connection, ally (n)

Bthar                                                           Connected, allied (adj)

Bthar                                                           To bind, to connect, to ally (verb)

Bthardamz                                                  Alliance (n)

Btharumz                                                    To take (verb)

Bthu                                                             Mountain (n)

Bthun                                                           To know, to believe (verb)

Bthung                                                         Knowledge, wisdom (n)

Bthungthumz                                              Library, archive (n)

Bthurk                                                           Test tube (n)

Chal                                                               To demand (verb)

Chend                                                           Passage, entrance, corridor, gate (n)

Chin                                                              Wind (n)

Chond                                                           Throat (n)

Chundakar                                                   Child (n)

Dam                                                              Person (n)

Damz                                                            Group (n)

 

Din                                                                Black (adj)

Dium                                                             Deity (n); Aetheric only?

Drung                                                            Mighty (adj)

Dumz                                                            Land, region (n)

Duum                                                            Dwemer (n)

Eftar                                                              To set (verb)

Eftardn                                                         To settle down (verb)

Fahl-                                                              Un- (adj)

Fahlbthar                                                       To unbind (verb)

Fahlbtharz                                                     Unbound (adj)

Fal                                                                  Realm, kingdom (n)

Fell                                                                 City-state (n)

 

 

Idium                                                             Artificial deity (n)

 

 

Ill                                                                    Light, brightness (n)

 

Ingth                                                              New (n)

Irkng                                                              To darken (verb)

Irkngd                                                            To be darkened (verb)

Irkngth                                                           Darkness (n)

Irkngth                                                           Dark (adj)

Kanthaln                                                        To send (verb)

Kagr                                                               Tone (n)

Kagren                                                           Music (n)

Kagrum                                                         Tonal architect (n)

Kar                                                                  Sky (n)

Karstang                                                         Weather (n)

Kemel                                                             Bellowing, deep-voiced (adj)

Klok                                                                Spider (n)

Kurok                                                              Spear (n)

Left                                                                 Colony (n)

Makai                                                             Salvation, rescue (n)

Melz                                                               To hear (verb)

Mer                                                                 People (n)

Mez                                                                 Vault (n)

Mzin                                                               To begin (verb)

Mzinch                                                           Entrance (n)

Mzual                                                             Mercy (n)

Mzul                                                               Snow (n)

Mzulft                                                            Freezing (figuratively or literally), storage (n)

Nchard                                                           Stone (n)

Nchardch                                                       Bone (n)

Nchmar                                                          Animunculi (n)

 

Nchu                                                              Valley (n)

Nchuan                                                          Brightness (n)

Nchul                                                             Fruit (n)

Nchun                                                            Fire (n)

Nchur                                                             Symbol (n)

Nchuth                                                            Sight, vision (n)

Ngalft                                                             Gratitude (n)

Rad                                                                  Forge (n)

Raldch                                                            Last, final (adj)

Rkund                                                             Skystone (n)

Rkung                                                             Death (n)

 

Shahbth                                                          Password (n)

 

 

Sheh                                                                Word (n)

 

Stang                                                              Varying, changing (adj)

Stardumz                                                        Upland (n)

Stuh                                                                 To stand (verb)

Stur                                                                  Enemy (n)

Thamz                                                              Cavern (n); a network of caves

Thumz                                                              Culture (n)

Thunch                                                             Fear (n)

Thunch                                                             To fear (verb)

Thurm                                                              Wand, staff (n); not "personnel" but a wizard's staff etc.

 

Thurn                                                               War, battle (n)

 

 

Thurnidamz                                                     Warhost (n)

 

Vanchn                                                             Eternity (n)

Volen                                                                Hammer (n)

Vvarden                                                            Strong shield (n)

Yagr                                                                   Skill (n)

Yagren                                                              Craftsmanship, making (n)

Yagrum                                                             Craftsman, maker (n)

Yld                                                                     Steam (n)

Zel                                                                      City-kingdom (n)

Zelft                                                                    Mine (n)

Zhardum                                                           Reach, locality, area (n)

Zinch                                                                  Cold (adj)

Zuun                                                                   Wonder (n)

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Actually Nordic should be based off of Dragon Languages... just my two cents. Seeing that they adopted it with Zest. 

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Do you have any evidence of this? All of the Nordic names and place names are quite different than the Draconic language. They obviously carried their language from Atmora (which can be seen in the city's name Jylkyrfyk or however you spell it).

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It's just what I thought it would be, anyway don't you think the language would at least have an effect on Nordic languages? They did worship the Dragons... 

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Joined: 10/11/2011

The Dragonic language was the sacred language of the ancient nords, used by the priests and the Cult's warriors (who are now the ever-happy draugr), similar to the useage of Latin by Catholic Church in Middle Ages.

 

While Dragonic was the language of religion, the common folk spoke their own language, brought from Atmora. The Dragonic language had a huge effect on the Nordic speech of that time. The situation is very much the same as in medieval England; the nobility spoke Norman French, priests spoke Latin and common folk spoke the English language of that period. Both the Norman French and Latin had quite a strong effect on English, but the people still retained their own Germanic language, which is still widely spoken in its modern form.

 

As Tauryon said it, the Nordic place names of the earliest times are quite different from Dragonic language. These include Saarthal, Jylkurfyk, Honnith and most likely Hrothgar and Morthal too. Judging by the book 'Holdings of Jarl Gjalund' it was common to a settlement to have a name in Nordic as well as in Dragonic. This is similar to a situation in Finland during the era of Swedish rule, when it was common to give a settlement both a Finnish and a Swedish name in many areas.

Dagoth Relnav's picture
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Hi! I just wanted to say great work, this is pretty much just like I pictured the languages sounding, and I was wondering if you're still working on this project or are working on other things now?

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Joined: 10/11/2011

Dagoth Relnav: I haven't abandoned this project. Life's just been a bit crazy the whole spring, but I'm still working on these. I just haven't had time to update anything here in the Library.

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Joined: 10/11/2011

Okay, I'm back. I'll update the Nordic language in near future, as well as putting up several new languages, such as Cyrodiilic, Old Cyrodiilic, Reachmannic and the first sketches of the old (and lost) Colovian languages.

 

I'm also tempted to give you some information on Proto-Reachmannic,  Proto-Nordic, Ta'agra, Riekling tongue, the old and modern Yoku languages, a comparison between the early Elven languages (early Altmeris, Dirennis, Falmeris, Ayleid language) and Aldmeris, and a peek into the Orcish language family. Or perhaps a peek into Dwemeris?

 

So lots of stuff coming up!

 

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Joined: 10/11/2011

Just made a major update, another coming soon.

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I'm tempted to finally publish my full non-fan-fiction translation of the Falmeri-Dwemeri stone plate found in Skyrim with full explanations and notes on grammar and vocabulary, but I'm unsure. Will I get flamed by some fanatic Dwemer-fan if I do? I have to think about publishing it some more.

The other languages are coming up well and I've been updating them on this site too, and will continue that. I think I might add some new languages too despite the fact that many of them have only partial grammars and short vocabularies so far. I can keep updating them afterwards.

Dagoth Relnav's picture
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Joined: 04/01/2013

I don't know about others, but I would love to see your translation.

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I'm preparing my translation of the dwemeri/falmeri bilingual text for publishing. It just takes time, I have to give good explanations on how I have translated the words and so on. On the other news, my first notes on the Riekling language are soon ready to be added on this article.

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Updated with the Ayleid language, more words to Old Cyrodiilic vocabulary as well as the first short Reachian word list.

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Everything looks great. I'm excited to see that the language of the Rieklings is coming!

Speaking of the Reachman, though, and knowing that your full work on this language has not yet been published, would I be correct in suggesting karth was a Reachman term akin to city/village?

Mar-karth "big village"

Bel-karth "kissed/blessed village"

Karth-wasten "?"

Karth-gran "?"

Also, some of the more traditional rendering of Markarth on maps labels the city as Markarth Side. Is this derived from some Reachman term? Or is it a later Imperial-Nordic addition?

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The Riekling language is wonderful, I like it and I have to publish it soon. A sentence can consist of a single verb, like 'habichaaalakawaramalek'. The constructions within a verb tell us most things. As a little example the word fel- to notice. Felharek (fel+ha+rek) means we two did not notice each other. Felfathoo (fel+fath+oo) means you should take note (of anything on general level). Things like to, from, at are marked on a noun with suffixes. The Riekling habit of lengthening the vowel sounds is used for example to emphasize the word within a sentence.

 

Actually the use of the word 'karth' in the placenames suggests that it means "ravine, gorge, canyon.' The ancient name Karth originally meant the canyon of the river, later also the river itself. Also, 'Markarth' was originally the name of the valley the city is in, as in Big Ravine or something like that. Later the name was logically applied to the city.

 

In Karthwasten the 'Karth' part is propably connected to either the river or the river canyon. Naturally, because of the importance of the river Karth and the geography of the Reach consisting of mountains and valleys, Karth is a popular element in native placenames.
 

What comes to the 'Side' in the traditional name of Markarth, I tend to think that its a Nordic or Imperial addition from the period the conquerors adopted Markarth as a placename. Perhaps at that time 'Markarth' was still the name of the valley, and 'Side' was added to the name to mean the city. By Fourth Era the 'Side' part has been dropped because it is no longer needed as Markarth is exclusively the name of the city.

 

I have not yet added the word 'karth' into vocabulary as I have to think if the word is in that form in the modern Reachspeech. The word in the place names is very old so it could have changed in the actual speech. The placenames might have preserved the original form.

 

As a side note, interesting cognates can be found in very old Nordic and Colovian placenames. Mort-Hal and Saart-Hal both contain the Proto-Nordic element 'hal' which can also be found in the early First Era Colovian placenames like Cheydin-Hal and Sarc-Hal. The word hal means 'a settlement' in both languages. Within the Colovian language itself, some sound changes can be seen by comparing the name elements from different periods. 'Kreath' comes from the very late Merethic Era Colovian (the period of the 'Nedic' settlement of north-western Tamriel), and has the same function as the Nordic 'heim', meaning 'a settlement, realm, homeplace' etc.. By early First Era, the word has become 'grad' at least in West Weald Colovian and can be found in 'Skingrad.' Occasional placenames with their origins in Colovian and/or Nedic languages can be found in Western Cyrodiil, around border of Cyrodiil and Morrowind (Cheydinhal and Silgrad), Falkreath, most of Hammerfell (excluding the Alik'r Desert and the west coast) and the coast of Iliac Bay. This gives us pretty good picture of the Colovian and 'Nedic' areas around the early First Era, before the arrival of the Yokudans. Apparently the Jerall Mountains as far east as Cheydinhal and Silgrad were part of the Kreathian kingdom right after the Alessian Rebellion. The Kreathmen themselves were Colovians who were sometimes part of the Alessian Empire, sometimes vassals to the Nordic kings and occasionally indepedent.

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Wealth beyond measure Hrafnir the Second, you truly are a great scholar and linguist. I am Wizard Telvanni Rethar Saryon, Archibibliothecarius Bibliothecæ Telvanicæ, and I have been watching you and admiring your work for quite some time now. I was invisible though, so you probably didn't notice.

 

On Markarth: My theory is that this toponym was actually younger than the name of the Karthouada, and that Markarth means "Source of the Karth". This is in fact merely a hypothesis though, a result of my recent interest in the Kreathish language.

 

On Markarth Side: I totally agree with you in "Side" being a foreign addition. You may not have thought of the possibility that the Old Nordic word for marketplace is "markaðr" and that the original meaning was "market site".

 

On 'hal': I have heard many scholars argue that Saarthal is in fact Saar-Tal "wound-vale". It fits both with the history and the geography of the region. I don't know with the other toponyms that you mention, but you should keep this in mind. Also, did you know that if you swap the first consonants of each syllable it becomes Taarsal, which means "Tear-Hall"?

 

As mentioned above, I have also recently developed an interest in the Kreathish languages, and I find Reachspeech particularly interesting. Might I ask if you are basing the words on the Celtic languages of your world like the Nordic ones are based on Scandinavian? I hope not, for I feel that there really is no way the two could be related: As far as I know, neither Celts nor Vikings developed the technology necessary for extraurbic travel.

 

Best regards,

Archibibliothecarius Rethar Saryon

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Thank you for your comment, Rethar Saryon. You have good points there on the placenames like Saarthal and Markarth, and gave me something to think about. It is entirely possible that Saarthal is actually Saar-Thal, not Saart-Hal. The name of Markarth is another open question. It could be Reachian 'Great Vale' or Nordic 'Market place'.

 

Well, the Reechspeach is partially based on Irish like its sister-language, that of the Western Reach, will be partially based on Welsh. I'm following the examples given by the game designers there, as with all the Tamrielic languages. But aside from part of the vocabulary that is similar or partially similar to Irish or Old Norse or whatever, I don't want to make the languages copies of any real-world languages. Those Tamrielic language of which little is known aside from some words, I can really have fun with the grammars.

 

If it is of any interest, Old Cyrodiilic is based on Latin and Bretic is based on French, as has been done by the game designers. But the modern Cyrodiilic - the standard form of the language in the Fourth Era - will be more like the real-world and now extinct Dalmatian Romance. Old Nordic resembles the real-world Old Norse, but the older stages of the language are more exotic, especially the Proto-Nordic spoken during Ysgramor's time. One of its features is that it forms plural nouns by internal vowel changes. This feature was lost in the early First Era, but left all kinds of effects on the later stages of Nordic.

 

I'm also working on the Colovian languages. They are all extinct these days, but they had huge impact on the Cyrodiilic language, giving it a huge number of non-Latinesque words. The Colovian languages have no clear real-world counterparts, so I have much more freedom in creating them. Other human languages I'm currently working on are the modern Yokudan languages, and I also have made some conceptual notes on the language of the Horse-People of the Bjoulsae River. On the latter I don't even know if the people exists anymore in the Fourth Era, but conlagery is fun. They were mentioned with a picture or two in the first edition of the Pocket-Guide. The Bosmeri grammar is still being revised (for a tenth time perhaps), as I'd like to make it more complex and exotic than that of the Aldmeris but still make it so that it could have realistically developed from Aldmeris.

 

Anyway, I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on my work, sera Rethar. Any other lurkers out there, feel free to give my your ideas, opinions, questions and critique.

 

Edit: Today I have added some notes on the upcoming Reachian grammar as well as some stuff on the modern Cyrodiilic verb.

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Just some thoughts on the complexity of my languages: So far I've tried to keep the grammars pretty simple, as there might be people who are really interested in this stuff but are not so good with linguistics and also because Bethesda has kept them pretty simple. But lately I've been thinking of making at least the verbal system of Aldmeris and some of its descenants much more complex. Irregular noun forms and stuff like that I add little by little to all of my languages.

 

Some of the Yoku and Orcish languages as well as Ta'agra will be much more complex and my (currently) unpublished Proto-Nordic already has pretty complex noun system.

 

Also, just out of curiosity, has anyone found any use for my stuff (other than individual terms and short phrases I have translated for people who sent me a PM)? Or has anyone used my stuff as a basis for his/her own conlangery? Either would be awesome.

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Wealth beyond measure yet again, sera Hrafnir of House Unknown.

As a matter of fact, I have been using a bit here and there lately, especially the treatise on Reachspeech, as I have been looking into Reachman history lately. I have a few questions on the subject.

Question AYEM:Is it possible that the morphemes that 'Faolan' is composed of are in fact Faol "Eagle" and Lan "Red" instead of your Faol "Red" and Lan "Eagle"? Of course I am a novice Reachspeaker, I just came to think that it might be different in that language. Perhaps faol or lan is from an Earthling language?

Question BEDT: You mention that -nach means "-less", but it apparently also denotes plurality and is a common ending in male names as well. It seems a bit confusing, but then again, most languages are.

Also, when studying the history of the Reach, I found an old map of the area, and it showed a settlement called Lainalten approximatedly at the same spot where Broken Tower Redoubt lie today. Maybe Lainalten is Reachspeech for Brokentower?

If you are interested in complex languages, the many dialects of Dunmeris is right up your alley! Perhaps you have been to Morrowind, and noticed the numerous similar surnames? They are in fact remnants of a case system we had long ago, but then disappeared.

Best regards,

Rethar Saryon Nu-Fyr

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Well, answer to question AYEM: I like to keep some real-world words (those that have been used by Bethesda) in my languages to give them a slight sense of familiarity. The actual reason why I wouldn't like to change the meanings anymore is that I have established etymologies for both words and the cognates can be found in some of the related languages.

Answer to question BEDT: The actual plural ending for (some) masculine and feminine nouns is -ach. The -nach "-less" is a relic from the older stage of the language, rarely used in derivation these days because it is easy to confuse it with plurals of nouns ending in -n. I'll mark this in the vocabulary when I add new stuff to the Reachspeech, and tell the modern way of forming the meaning "-less."

Lainalten is a good question. I haven't managed to decide about that name. It could very well be Broken Tower in Reachspeech, maybe in Old Reachian. Here's a short list of all the languages that have left placenames in Skyrim through the history: Reachspeech, Nordic, Cyrodiilic, Falmeris, Dwemeris, Kreathic and Orcish. Note that there are many layers of placenames, so the oldest Nordic placenames are in Proto-Nordic while others are in Old or Middle and even modern Nordic. The same with the other languages. Maybe I should make a compilation of Skyrim placenames and their source languages.

Dunmeris is on my "to do" list as is its sister language, the Ashlander. I love the idea that Dunmeris has lost its declensions and is now an analytic language. This would make it seem exotic to people who can speak Altmeris or Aldmeris.

And finally some of my ideas what the incoming verb-heavy Ta'agra grammar could include:
- remains of an absolutive-ergative case system that has died off because the language has been slowly transforming many words (like adjectives and some nouns) into verbs

- verbs have familiar, infamiliar and "hostile" forms for use in different social situations. "Hostile" forms have the same function as swearing in other languages.

- verbs mark intransitivity and transitivity clearly

- verb tenses show remains of older tenses based on the moon phases

- denominative verbs: a class of verbs formed directly from the nouns

- adjectives are mostly contained in denominative verbal constructions, so that when you say that a banana is yellow, you make a denominative verb out the noun "banana" with a denominative construction containing the meaning "yellow"

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I once studied the language of my Khajiitis slaves. My notes are somewhat unstructured, and it is possibly just some exilic slavedialect, but I could send them privately if you wished to have a look.

 

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Yes, I would very much like to have a look on your notes, sera Rethar, and if you don't mind, I might also use some of your ideas for my Ta'agra.

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Of course! I will order my scribes to transmit the notes privately immediately.

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This is so remarkably wonderful that I can't withstand it. 

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Joined: 10/11/2011

Now I'm focusing on Reachspeech and Ta'agra, trying to get the grammar and vocabulary of both languages published. I have to thank Rethar Saryon for letting me see and use his notes on Ta'agra, they gave me new ideas for the language and I will definitely make use of them.

 

As always, I'm also working on many languages that has nothing to do with Elder Scrolls, so I will publish Ta'agra and Reachspeech when I have the time. Darn it, too many interesting languages under construction.

 

At Dont Forget This: Always nice to hear from people who like my linguistic stuff. Thankee kindly.

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Hrafnir ll

Can you give me some help with some of the Redguard Lore please?

Is there a way to contact you personally please sir

 

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Joined: 10/11/2011

Yes ReVeaL, I can at least try to give you advice with Redguard Lore. I'll tell what I know. The easiest way to contact me personally is to send me a private message from the 'Send PM' link under my name next to this comment.

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Okay, the Reachspeech just received a major update with at least the basics of the grammar now published. The work continues though. Rethar Saryon has kindly given me lots of ideas for Dunmeri languages as well Ta'agra, and after the basic Reachspeech grammar is more or less complete, I might have to start working on them. Although modern Cyrodiilic also requires attention.

 

Finding time to expand all the published vocabularies is difficult, but I have to do that too at some points. All of these languages need lots of new words.

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Joined: 09/14/2013

I'm so glad that you are doing this. I am a language enthusiast. I can speak many languages Swahili, Icelandic, Norsk (bokmal), Old Norse, Irish Gaelic, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Spanish, and Faroese.

Alot of the words are actually old norse, this is really cool dude keep it up. 

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Thank you for your kind words, Sveinbjorn! I am also familiar with many of the language you mentioned (excluding Japanese, Thai and Russian), especially Old Norse, but also with Old English and Old High German among others. I like the way Bethesda has done with their languages, using some elements from real-world languages to give the languages a sense of familiarity and I have done the same with my versions of these languages.

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Joined: 10/26/2013

Hrafnir II, amazing work!