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 |
|
|
|
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 mø 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:
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
|
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 pass; tarnane 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 e 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:
t always pronounced 't', never 'd' or any other sound, not even between vowels
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
|
- |
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:
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]
|
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 tense – vowel-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 tense – consonant-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
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 |
- |
-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 né 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. cé 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 | Dé | Dé | Deoth | Déair |
We | Ma | Lemia | Lemie | Maoth | Máir |
You (pl. familiar) | Yén | Yéna | Yie | Yeoth | Yair |
You (pl. infamiliar) | |||||
You (pl. refential) | Tán | Tána | Té | 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)
Actually Nordic should be based off of Dragon Languages... just my two cents. Seeing that they adopted it with Zest.
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).
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...
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.
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?
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.
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!
Just made a major update, another coming soon.
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.
I don't know about others, but I would love to see your translation.
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.
Updated with the Ayleid language, more words to Old Cyrodiilic vocabulary as well as the first short Reachian word list.
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?
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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"
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.
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.
Of course! I will order my scribes to transmit the notes privately immediately.
This is so remarkably wonderful that I can't withstand it.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hrafnir II, amazing work!