Elder Tongue

From The Lands Under the Sun

The language of the Elder Folk who inhabited the Hidden Lands before The History began.  Their civilization is no more but their ancient language survives as a ritual language in many of the cultures of the Lands Under the Sun.

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Pronunciation is generally the same as in English. IPA values are given below:

Theme I Theme II Theme III Theme IV Universal Vowels
f f t t s s l l p p a a
v v d d z z r r b b e e
th θ n n sh ʃ y j m m i i
dh ð k k zh ʒ w w   o o
h h x g g dj     u u
  ng ŋ ch      

Thematics

Consonants are organized into four themes (see, Gender, below), a set of universals, and five vowels.

Nouns

Gender

The Language has four genders based on the four ancient elements: air, earth, fire, and water

Air

The Air, or Ethra Gender is identified by the presence of the thematic consonants of the First Theme (f,v,th,dh,h).  It is used for abstract nouns and gasses.

ethra  air efath truth

Earth

The Earth, or Kadam Gender is identified by the presence of the thematic consonants of the Second Theme (t, d, n, k, g, ng). It is used for ordinary neuter inanimate nouns.

kadam  earth geto thing

Fire

The Fire, or Zazh Gender is identified by the presence of the thematic consonants of the Third Theme (s, z, sh, zh, dj, ch).  It is used for masculine animates and for forms of energy.

zazh  fire djasu  man/male

Water

The Water or Alir Gender is identified by the presence of the thematic consonants of the Fourth Theme (l, r, y, w).  It is used for animate feminine nouns and liquids.

alir water lara  woman

Subjective Form (Absolute)

The subjective form, also known as the absolute, is the basic, lexical form of the noun.  There are no, standard patterns for nouns in any particular gender other than the thematic consonants used in them.  The Language generally resists consonant clusters, but they are found.  All the forms given in the section on gender, above, are in the Subjective Form. The subjective form is used for the subject of a sentence or for the predicate nominative.

The plural

The plural is formed by adding (h)u to the end of a word.  If the word ends in a consonant, the h does not appear.  Even when appearing between two vowels, it is not often pronounced, and often is manifested as a slight pause or lift between vowels. [1]

Singular Plural
efath  truth efathu truths
djasu man/male djasuhu  men/males
lara woman/female larahu  women/females

Objective Form

The objective form is used for the direct object of the main verb.  It is formed by prefixing a- to the noun, whether singular or plural:

Subjective Objective
efath, efathu a-efath, a-efathu
geto, getohu a-geto, a-getohu
djasu, djasuhu a-djasu, a-djasuhu

Bound Form

The bound form is for any noun used with a preposition.  It is formed by suffixing -a to the noun.  In the plural, the suffix follows the plural ending:

Subjective Bound
efath, efathu efath-a, efathu-a
geto geto-a, getohu-a
djasu djasu-a, djasuhu-a

Adjectives

As with all words in the Language, adjectives are formed from the noun.  Strictly speaking, there are no pure adjectives in the Language, and all adjectival constructions are in fact noun phrases. To form an adjectival phrase, two nouns are connected by the particle va (based on ava being).  If one wanted to say “a blue house” one would take the word ganad house and the word ethia blue and connect them with the adjectival particle va.  The definite article is placed after the modified noun:

ganad va-ethia blue house  (lit. ‘house being blue-one’)

If the noun in question is definite, the definite article is placed after the entire adjectival phrase:

ganad-va-ethia ka  The blue house

Note that the definite article agrees with the modified noun (here ka agrees with ganad, both earth gender not ethia, air gender).

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns cover three persons and two numbers.  In the first person, there are three numbers, a plural exclusive (“we, but not you”) and a plural inclusive (“we, including you”).  In the first and second person, all pronouns are of common/indeterminate gender.  In the third person, there is a pronoun for each gender.  Where those being described are of more than one gender, the earth gender plural is used.

  Singular Plural
I me  I meha  we (excl)[2]mehu  we (inc)
II pe  you pehu  you (pl.)
III a. the  it thehu  they
III e. ke  it kehu  they
III f. ze  he/it zehu they
III w. le  she/it lehu  they

Demonstrative Pronouns/Adjectives

Demonstrative pronouns and the Definite Article are based on the personal pronouns (which may in fact be a form of a demonstrative).  The Definite Article and the Demonstratives are as follows.

Def. Art. (the) That Those This These
tha tho thohu thi thihu
ka ko kohu ki kihu
za zo zohu zi zihu
la lo lohu li lihu

The definite article and the other demonstratives, like all adjectives, follow the noun they modify and take the same case modifiers as their nouns.

efath tha  the truth kadam ka the earth djasu zo that man larahu lihu these women i-larahu-a lihu-a  with these women 

Relative Pronouns

Verbs

The foundation of the Language is the noun.  All verbs, therefore, are derived from the base noun form.  In each tense, personal endings are added based on the personal pronouns. Because of the specificity of the personal endings, an explicit subject need not always be used.  If the noun stem ends in a vowel, the e is elided.

  Singular Plural
I -em -emu
II -ep -epu
III a. -eth -ethu
III e. -ek -eku
III f. -ez -ezu
III w. -el -elu

Infinitive

The infinitive is formed by adding b’ to the unaugmented verbal noun stem. dhifa  thought     b’dhifa  to think  

Present Tenses

Simple Present

The simple present tense is formed by adding the prefix ba- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The simple present is translated by the English simple present. b’zazh  to set on fire

  Singular Plural
I ba-zazhem  I set on fire ba-zazhemu  we set on fire
II ba-zazhep  you set on fire ba-zazhepu  you set on fire (pl.)
III a. ba-zazheth  it sets on fire ba-zazhethu  they set on fire
III e. ba-zazhek  it sets on fire ba-zazheku  they set on fire
III f. ba-zazhez  he/it sets on fire ba-zazhezu  they set on fire
III w. ba-zazhel  she/it sets on fire ba-zazhelu  they set on fire

b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I ba-dhifam  I think ba-dhifamu  we think
II ba-dhifap  you think ba-dhifapu  you think
III a. ba-dhifath  it thinks ba-dhifathu  they think
III e. ba-dhifak  it thinks ba-dhifaku  they think
III f. ba-dhifaz  he/it thinks ba-dhifazu  they think
III w. ba-dhifal  she/it thinks ba-dhifalu  they think

Present Continuous

The present continuous tense is formed by adding the prefix aba- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The present continuous is translated by the English present continuous. b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I aba-dhifam  I am thinking aba-dhifamu  we are thinking
II aba-dhifap  you are thinking aba-dhifapu  you are thinking
III a. aba-dhifath  it is thinking aba-dhifathu  they are thinking
III e. aba-dhifak  it is thinking aba-dhifaku  they are thinking
III f. aba-dhifaz  he/it is thinking aba-dhifazu  they are thinking
III w. aba-dhifal  she/it is thinking aba-dhifalu  they are thinking

Future Tenses

Simple Future

The simple future tense is formed by adding the prefix be- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The simple future is translated by the English simple future. b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I be-dhifam  I will think be-dhifamu  we will think
II be-dhifap  you will think be-dhifapu  you will think
III a. be-dhifath  it will think be-dhifathu  they will think
III e. be-dhifak  it will think be-dhifaku  they will think
III f. be-dhifaz  he/it will think be-dhifazu  they will think
III w. be-dhifal  she/it will think be-dhifalu  they will think

Future Continuous

The future continuous tense is formed by adding the prefix ebe- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The future continuous is translated by the English future continuous. b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I ebe-dhifam  I will be thinking ebe-dhifamu  we will be thinking
II ebe-dhifap  you will be thinking ebe-dhifapu  you will be thinking
III a. ebe-dhifath  it will be thinking ebe-dhifathu  they will be thinking
III e. ebe-dhifak  it will be thinking ebe-dhifaku  they will be thinking
III f. ebe-dhifaz  he/it will be thinking ebe-dhifazu  they will be thinking
III w. ebe-dhifal  she/it will be thinking ebe-dhifalu  they will be thinking

Past Tenses

Simple Past

The simple past tense is formed by adding the prefix bo- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The simple past is translated by the English simple past. b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I bo-dhifam  I thought bo-dhifamu  we thought
II bo-dhifap  you thought bo-dhifapu  you thought
III a. bo-dhifath  it thought bo-dhifathu  they thought
III e. bo-dhifak  it thought bo-dhifaku  they thought
III f. bo-dhifaz  he/it thought bo-dhifazu  they thought
III w. bo-dhifal  she/it thought bo-dhifalu  they thought

Past Continuous

The past continuous tense is formed by adding the prefix obo- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The past continuous is translated by the English past continuous. b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I obo-dhifam  I was thinking obo-dhifamu  we were thinking
II obo-dhifap  you were thinking obo-dhifapu  you were thinking
III a. obo-dhifath  it was thinking obo-dhifathu  they were thinking
III e. obo-dhifak  it was thinking obo-dhifaku  they were thinking
III f. obo-dhifaz  he/it was thinking obo-dhifazu  they were thinking
III w. obo-dhifal  she/it was thinking obo-dhifalu  they were thinking

Past Perfect

The future continuous tense is formed by adding the prefix ebe- to the base noun stem and adding the personal endings.  The future continuous is translated by the English future continuous. b’dhifa  to think

  Singular Plural
I bobo-dhifam  I have thought bobo-dhifamu  we have thought
II bobo-dhifap  you have thought bobo-dhifapu  you have thought
III a. bobo-dhifath  it has thought bobo-dhifathu  they have thought
III e. bobo-dhifak  it has thought bobo-dhifaku  they have thought
III f. bobo-dhifaz  he/it has thought bobo-dhifazu  they have thought
III w. bobo-dhifal  she/it has thought bobo-dhifalu  they have thought

The verb b’ava ‘to be’

The verb b’ava is completely regular based on the noun stem ava  being. ba-avam, ba-avap, ba-avath, ba-avak, ba-avaz, ba-aval, ba-avamu, ba-avapu, ba-avathu, ba-avaku, ba-avazu, ba-avalu  

Verbal Short Forms

In conversation and in poetry, the personal endings can be dropped where the subject is explicit.

Djasu za ba-thavaz a-efath a-tha Djasu za ba-thava’ a-efath a-tha The man speaks the truth

Participles

There are two kinds of participle, continuous (trad. “present”) and complete (trad. “past”).  They are formed similar to verbs in that they are based on a prefix affixed to the noun stem.

Continuous Participles

The continuous participle is formed by adding the

Complete Participles

Non-indicative Moods

Subjunctive

Imperative

Prepositions

Spatial

Locational Directional To Directional From
ur at ul to um from
er in el into em out of
or on ol onto om off of
ir by/alongside il to alongside im from alongside
nur under/beneath nul to under num from under
mer between mel to inbetween mem from between
ar agains al (to) against am from against
war behind wal to behind wam from behind
lar before/in front lal to the front lam from before
merer throughout merel through merem from among

Temporal

o by (instrument)
i with (accompaniment)
la before
wa after
merel through(out)
he of

Vocabulary

Entry Gender Meaning Notes
kadam e earth
kadmawe(hu) e person (people) -awe, suff. = “-ite”, “-ling”, “of”
geto e thing  
tung e way, path  
alir w water  
ethra a air  
efath a truth  
thava a word b’thava = “to speak”
zazh f fire  
djasu f male/man  
noten e day  
dhifa a thought  
dang e work  
dum e place  
kedoten e year  
hav a number  
avath a name  
genot e home  
kid e line  
hadh a sound  
ganad e house  
akkadam e world  
dhifa-gnad e school lit, ‘though-house’
eth a sky
ethila a blue lit. ‘sky-color’
dhufah a storm
kogod e business, dealings
tega e run, course b’tega = “to run”
kodang e making, creation b’kodang = “to make”
shadja f sun  
thuva a language  
dju f son  
lir w daughter  
azh f father  
illa w mother  
kag e stone  
wal l blood  

References and Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. This leads many to think that the base form is in fact u with an intervocalic h inserted between two vowels, as opposed to *hu with a dropped h before a consonant.  Were the base form *hu we would expect to see some aspiration in the preceding consonant: genot - *genothu home, homes.  Instead, we see genot/genotu.
  2. Some believe that meha may be a vestige of an earlier dual form “we two”.