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Ranvqua ' | |||
---|---|---|---|
Type | |||
Alignment | |||
Head direction | |||
Tonal | |||
No | |||
Declensions | |||
No | |||
Conjugations | |||
Yes | |||
Genders | |||
No | |||
Nouns decline according to... | |||
Case | Number | ||
Definiteness | Gender | ||
Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
Voice | Mood | ||
Person | Number | ||
Tense | Aspect |
General information
Ranvqua is loosely based on a mixture of Cherokee and English, and is used as a language in the novel, Keeping Leaves.
Phonology
Consonants
Bilabial | Labio-dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Epiglottal | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ||||||||||
Plosive | d | g q | ||||||||||
Fricative | s | |||||||||||
Affricate | ds | |||||||||||
Approximant | w | |||||||||||
Trill | r | |||||||||||
Flap or tap | ||||||||||||
Lateral fric. | ||||||||||||
Lateral app. | ||||||||||||
Lateral flap |
Vowels
Note: the letter v is used as a vowel; it's pronounced as "uh," such as in the word gut, but it's nasalized.
Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |||
Near-close | |||||
Close-mid | |||||
Mid | e | o | |||
Open-mid | v | ||||
Near-open | |||||
Open | a |
Alphabet
Aa Dd Ee Gg Hh Ii Mm Nn Oo Qq Rr Ss Uu Vv Ww
Phonotactics
Dipthongs are only acceptable after the letters qu. Examples are qua, que, qui, quo, quu, quv.
Grammar
Nouns
Nouns are made plural by adding the prefix ra-.
Verbs
Verbs are conjugated with both prefixes and suffixes.
Prefixes are used to indicate the doer:
- The prefix for hv is g- or ge-, depending on whether the verb begins with a vowel or consonant.
- For nihi it's h- or he-.
- For arv the verb is left unchanged.
Suffixes are used to indicate past, present, future, or a command.
- Present: -nv or -env (again, use depends on the ending letter of the verb).
- Past: -rv or -erv.
- Future: -gv or -egv.
- Command: the verb is left unchanged.
Examples:
- I will eat fish. Hv gisa gidugv.
- You went home. Nihi homv hequomerv.
- They carry the animals. Arv raquidv quarinv.
- Look! Si!
Syntax
If it's a sentance that just describes or identifies something, there doesn't need to be a verb. For example:
- They are beautiful. Arv hewudi.
- You are my family. Nihi gamiro.
For more complex sentences, the order is SOV (subject-object-verb).
- I eat bread. Hv reda gidunv.
Vocabulary
English |
Ranvqua |
above |
ahowe |
after |
agede |
air |
eru |
alive |
ariwa |
and |
are |
around |
arawo |
ask |
asv |
beautiful |
hewudi |
because |
dequasv |
before |
weho |
bird |
dervda |
birth |
girv |
boat |
hoda |
body |
doda |
bread |
reda |
but |
nu |
care |
quare |
carry |
quari |
cat |
quado |
cause |
quasv |
change |
dsanv |
clean |
quina |
color |
quoro |
come |
quome |
container |
quodanvra |
copulate |
quodura |
creature |
quidv |
do |
do |
down |
dowe |
drink |
dinv |
during |
duri |
eat |
idu |
egg |
egv |
emotion |
emodo |
face |
hasu |
family |
gamiro |
fear |
hena |
few |
gewo |
fire |
gira |
fish |
gisa |
food |
hudv |
fowl |
howa |
free |
hira |
fruit |
gudo |
give |
giwv |
good |
guda |
grain |
ganv |
grass |
gasv |
hand |
hanv |
harmony |
haromi |
have |
hawv |
help |
herv |
here |
hia |
home |
homv |
hurt |
hura |
illness |
irvne |
insect |
esequa |
inside |
iniside |
know |
nowv |
language |
ranvqua |
leaf |
reha |
like |
riqua |
love |
rowv |
make |
maque |
many |
manv |
menstruate |
menasuwa |
mineral |
minera |
moon |
muno |
mountain |
modanoda |
move |
mowi |
never |
nawe |
no |
da |
now |
nowa |
object |
ogequa |
old |
orv |
one |
wanv |
or |
oru |
outside |
awudise |
parent |
nera |
path |
sahu |
person |
deso |
place |
gase |
plant |
drande |
remember |
remene |
river |
riwo |
safe |
sahv |
see |
si |
sky |
qui |
sleep |
svdi |
slow |
dso |
small |
sarv |
soft |
sohu |
soil |
sori |
song |
sogv |
sound |
sona |
speak |
sdiqua |
star |
dsara |
stone |
doni |
strong |
sduranv |
sun |
sunv |
thing |
dsinv |
thirst |
diso |
through |
duro |
time |
dime |
tired |
diro |
tool |
durv |
under |
uneda |
understand |
vdesdanv |
up |
unv |
want |
wadv |
warm |
waru |
water |
waderv |
weather |
wedaru |
wet |
wedv |
with |
widv |
work |
woquo |
Example text
Radeso hira girvrv. Arv vdesadanv hawvegv are arv guda widv radeso.
All human beings are born free. They are endowed with reason and act honorably towards others.