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| Evansk Evvānsk/Godspraksk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |||
| Fusional | |||
| Alignment | |||
| Nominative-Accusative | |||
| Head direction | |||
| First | |||
| Tonal | |||
| No | |||
| Declensions | |||
| Yes | |||
| Conjugations | |||
| Yes | |||
| Genders | |||
| No | |||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||
| Case | Number | ||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
| Voice | Mood | ||
| Person | Number | ||
| Tense | Aspect | ||
General information[]
Evansk is a conlang that exists primarily in the fictional world of Čuld, as the language of the Mighty Kingdom (Mīčtos Onwāldinn). It is spoken mostly by humans, but some other inhabitants and traders speak is as well, such as elves, goblins, the occasional halfling, and others. However, just because it exists in a fictional world does not mean it is restricted to it! I attempt to use Evansk in my daily life, and I hope to grow it to a fully functional conlang little by little. Anyone is welcome to attempt to learn it (as I don't think that it is too hard), and the more who I have to speak it with, the merrier! Although I have had many conlang ideas, Evansk is my most fleshed-out and well developed conlang, with both history and a tiny bit of writing in it. It was also my first conlang, although not necessarily the first one that I developed heavily; some other ideas have been scrapped, and I've always come back to Evansk.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Dental | Alveolar |
Post-alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m <m> | n <n> | (ŋ) <n> | ||||||
| Plosive | p <p> b <b> | t <t> d <d> | k <k> g <g> | ||||||
| Fricative | f <f> (v) <v> | θ <þ> (ð) <ð> | s <s> | ʃ <š> | h <h> | ||||
| Affricate | tʃ <č> | ||||||||
| Approximant | j <j> | w <w> | |||||||
| Trill | r <r> | ||||||||
| Lateral app. | l <l> |
Vowels[]
| Long | Short | |
|---|---|---|
| Close Front | i: <i ī> | ɪ <i> |
| Close Back | u (u:) <u> | |
| Mid Front | e: <e ē> | ɛ <e> |
| Mid Back | o (o:) <o> | |
| Open Front | æ <a> | |
| Open Back | ɑ: <a ā> |
Alphabet[]
The three alphabets in use are the Latin alphabet (in our world) plus Wāgdov Runov and Folmratanov Runov, the two conscripts that have been created for the language for use in our world and in the conworld it exists in. The only differences are minor allophonic variations that are expressed in the Latin alphabet but not in the native one, as well as four additional letters in the native alphabets which represent <st nd eo ei>.
Latin Alphabet: < f u þ a r k g č w h n i j p z s š t b e m l o d ž (ð) (v) >. Although optional, <ð v> are usually used to indicate voiced allophones of <þ f> to increase simplicity for non-speakers.
Wāgdov Runov:
This native alphabet is used for formal documents, lasting writings on stone,religious ceremonies, and other important events, similar to print in English.
Folmratanov Runov:
This handwritten alphabet is used for daily documents, letters, quick notes, personal records/documents and other informal uses, similar to cursive in English.
Orthography[]
Most letters are pronounced the same no matter what their position in a word. The exceptions are f, þ, and vowels.
F /f/ and Þ /θ/ are pronounced unvoiced (unstēvd) when at the beginning of a word or when followed or preceded by an unvoiced consonant (unstēvd midstevinn); they are voiced (stēvd) in all other positions, realized as [v] and [ð].
Weak vowels, or eðeliššov leoðrunov, and become short (lutel) when followed by a consonant cluster in the Latin orthography. This can be negated by adding a macron (stav) to <a e i>, turning them to firm vowels, or trumov leoðrunov. A trum leoðrun is unaffected by the consonants surrounding it and thus is always long (lan). The vowels <o u> are always trumov leoðrunov and thus cannot become short; however, they vary allophonically in length according to the environment. For instance, /hund/ is pronounced [hund] but /uvel/ is pronounced [u:ve:l].
For the following examples, I will use ð, s and t as my example consonants; however, know that they can be replaced by any other consonants and the effect on the vowel will be the same.
| Lanov Leoðrunov | Lutelov Leoðrunov |
|---|---|
| < ā aða > [ɑ:] | < aðð² > [æð] |
| < ē eða > [e:] | < ess² > [ɛs] |
| < ī iða > [i:] | < itt² > [ɪt] |
| < oða > [o:]¹ | < ost > [ost] |
| < uða > [u:]¹ | < ust > [ust] |
¹ Note that /u/ and /o/ do not vary phonemically in length, and thus cannot take a stavum to show that they would vary in length. Therefore, a word such as fūrð cannot exist and would instead be spelled furð.
² A double consonant (twotfeld midstevinn) in the Latin orthography shortens an eðelišš leoðrun before it just as a consonant cluster (midstevinn klot) would. The consonant itself does not change, but the vowel just before it becomes lutel when it would otherwise be lan. Because this is the only function of a twotfeld midstevinn, a stav followed by one is impossible. Therefore, a word such as ētten cannot exist, and a word such as fūrr can doubly not exist.
Finally, when combining words, conjugating verbs or declining nouns, the elimination of a vowel after a twotfeld midstevinn often renders it unnecessary due to the production of a new midstevinn klot, thus reducing it to one consonant. For example, the word sprikku, when conjugated to 2nd person singular, gives sprikst.
Grammar[]
| Gender | Cases | Numbers | Tenses | Persons | Moods | Voices | Aspects | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Nouns | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Adjectives | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Numbers | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Participles | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Adverb | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Pronouns | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Adpositions | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Article | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Particle | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Verbs[]
Present Tense (Nufjērst tid)[]
The present tense in Evansk serves as a habitual present (as in English he runs) as well as an actual present (as in English he is running). Another way to form the present progressive, with more emphasis on the fact that the action is happening at that very moment, is to use the construction binnu att ____, where the blank is filled in by any infinitive (i.č binn att sprikku) Verbs in Evansk conjugate by replacing the infinitival marker -u with different suffixes. The following chart shows the conjugations of the verb sprikku (to speak).
| sprikke | sprikkom |
| sprikst¹ | sprikkiðð |
| sprikt¹ | sprikken |
¹ For the 2nd and 3rd person singular conjugations, twotfeldov midstevinnov in the infinitive may be reduced to a single consonant in accordance with the orthographic rules for vowel shortening. Conversely, if the vowel is a lan eðelišš leoðrun, a stav will be added to preserve vowel length.
Another example conjugation can be given of a slightly different verb with a lan eðelišš leoðrun: seku (to attack).
| seke | sekom |
| sēkst¹ | sekiðð |
| sēkt¹ | seken |
Thus, the verb endings for the general present tense are -e, -st, -t, -om, -iðð, -en.
Simple Past Tense (Soð ārfjērst)[]
The past tense in Evansk is formed by changing the vowel closest to the end of the word in the present tense, and dropping the -e in the 1st person singular. Otherwise, the conjugations are the same. The list of vowel changes are listed below.
| Nufjērst | Ārfjērst |
|---|---|
| /ɛ/ | /ɪ/ |
| /e/ | /ɑɪ̯/ |
| /ɪ/ | /æ/ |
| /i/ | /ɑ/ |
| /æ/ |
/ɛ/ |
| /ɑ/ | /e̯o/ |
| /u/ | /o/ |
| /o/ | /u/ |
| /e̯o/ | /ju/* |
| /ɑɪ̯/ | /jɑ/* |
- If the stem of a verb in the present tense has a glide before the primary vowel, that glide is replaced by /j/ upon conversion to the past tense. For example, ič čweorve is changed to ič čjurv.
Vocabulary[]
| No. | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | — |
| 2 | you (singular) | — |
| 3 | he | — |
| 4 | we | — |
| 5 | you (plural) | — |
| 6 | they | — |
| 7 | this | — |
| 8 | that | — |
| 9 | here | — |
| 10 | there | — |
| 11 | who | — |
| 12 | what | — |
| 13 | where | — |
| 14 | when | — |
| 15 | how | — |
| 16 | not | — |
| 17 | all | — |
| 18 | many | — |
| 19 | some | — |
| 20 | few | — |
| 21 | other | — |
| 22 | one | — |
| 23 | two | — |
| 24 | three | — |
| 25 | four | — |
| 26 | five | — |
| 27 | big | — |
| 28 | long | — |
| 29 | wide | — |
| 30 | thick | — |
| 31 | heavy | — |
| 32 | small | — |
| 33 | short | — |
| 34 | narrow | — |
| 35 | thin | — |
| 36 | woman | — |
| 37 | man (adult male) | — |
| 38 | man (human being) | — |
| 39 | child | — |
| 40 | wife | — |
| 41 | husband | — |
| 42 | mother | — |
| 43 | father | — |
| 44 | animal | — |
| 45 | fish | — |
| 46 | bird | — |
| 47 | dog | — |
| 48 | louse | — |
| 49 | snake | — |
| 50 | worm | — |
| 51 | tree | — |
| 52 | forest | — |
| 53 | stick | — |
| 54 | fruit | — |
| 55 | seed | — |
| 56 | leaf | — |
| 57 | root | — |
| 58 | bark | — |
| 59 | flower | — |
| 60 | grass | — |
| 61 | rope | — |
| 62 | skin | — |
| 63 | meat | — |
| 64 | blood | — |
| 65 | bone | — |
| 66 | fat | — |
| 67 | egg | — |
| 68 | horn | — |
| 69 | tail | — |
| 70 | feather | — |
| 71 | hair | — |
| 72 | head | — |
| 73 | ear | — |
| 74 | eye | — |
| 75 | nose | — |
| 76 | mouth | — |
| 77 | tooth | — |
| 78 | tongue | — |
| 79 | fingernail | — |
| 80 | foot | — |
| 81 | leg | — |
| 82 | knee | — |
| 83 | hand | — |
| 84 | wing | — |
| 85 | belly | — |
| 86 | guts | — |
| 87 | neck | — |
| 88 | back | — |
| 89 | breast | — |
| 90 | heart | — |
| 91 | liver | — |
| 92 | drink | — |
| 93 | eat | — |
| 94 | bite | — |
| 95 | suck | — |
| 96 | spit | — |
| 97 | vomit | — |
| 98 | blow | — |
| 99 | breathe | — |
| 100 | laugh | — |
| 101 | see | — |
| 102 | hear | — |
| 103 | know | — |
| 104 | think | — |
| 105 | smell | — |
| 106 | fear | — |
| 107 | sleep | — |
| 108 | live | — |
| 109 | die | — |
| 110 | kill | — |
| 111 | fight | — |
| 112 | hunt | — |
| 113 | hit | — |
| 114 | cut | — |
| 115 | split | — |
| 116 | stab | — |
| 117 | scratch | — |
| 118 | dig | — |
| 119 | swim | — |
| 120 | fly | — |
| 121 | walk | — |
| 122 | come | — |
| 123 | lie | — |
| 124 | sit | — |
| 125 | stand | — |
| 126 | turn | — |
| 127 | fall | — |
| 128 | give | — |
| 129 | hold | — |
| 130 | squeeze | — |
| 131 | rub | — |
| 132 | wash | — |
| 133 | wipe | — |
| 134 | pull | — |
| 135 | push | — |
| 136 | throw | — |
| 137 | tie | — |
| 138 | sew | — |
| 139 | count | — |
| 140 | say | — |
| 141 | sing | — |
| 142 | play | — |
| 143 | float | — |
| 144 | flow | — |
| 145 | freeze | — |
| 146 | swell | — |
| 147 | sun | — |
| 148 | moon | — |
| 149 | star | — |
| 150 | water | — |
| 151 | rain | — |
| 152 | river | — |
| 153 | lake | — |
| 154 | sea | — |
| 155 | salt | — |
| 156 | stone | — |
| 157 | sand | — |
| 158 | dust | — |
| 159 | earth | — |
| 160 | cloud | — |
| 161 | fog | — |
| 162 | sky | — |
| 163 | wind | — |
| 164 | snow | — |
| 165 | ice | — |
| 166 | smoke | — |
| 167 | fire | — |
| 168 | ash | — |
| 169 | burn | — |
| 170 | road | — |
| 171 | mountain | — |
| 172 | red | — |
| 173 | green | — |
| 174 | yellow | — |
| 175 | white | — |
| 176 | black | — |
| 177 | night | — |
| 178 | day | — |
| 179 | year | — |
| 180 | warm | — |
| 181 | cold | — |
| 182 | full | — |
| 183 | new | — |
| 184 | old | — |
| 185 | good | — |
| 186 | bad | — |
| 187 | rotten | — |
| 188 | dirty | — |
| 189 | straight | — |
| 190 | round | — |
| 191 | sharp | — |
| 192 | dull | — |
| 193 | smooth | — |
| 194 | wet | — |
| 195 | dry | — |
| 196 | correct | — |
| 197 | near | — |
| 198 | far | — |
| 199 | right | — |
| 200 | left | — |
| 201 | at | — |
| 202 | in | — |
| 203 | with | — |
| 204 | and | — |
| 205 | if | — |
| 206 | because | — |
| 207 | name | — |