Varrit

Varrit Bvareq Otan
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Head direction
left
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

Varrit (natively Bvareq Otan [ˈvj̈ɐɾɪʔ ˈɐʊʰtɐŋ]; Alemarese Veariq) is a language isolate spoken on the semi-autonomous Varrit Islands of Alemar, off the coast of Barejinia on the Chevin Peninsula.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n			(ŋ)
Plosive	lax	p	t	ts		k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tsʰ		kʰ
	ejective		tʼ			kʼ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			x~h
	voiced	v	z
Approximant					j j̈	w
Flap			ɾ

• /n/ is realized as [ŋ] word-finally.
• The lax series consonants are voiced when between two voiced sounds.
• The aspirated series consonants are preaspirated after vowels.
• The /h/ phoneme can be pronounced [x] or [h] in free variation, tending towards [x] in educated speech. It is however exclusively pronounced [x] in the coda.
• The postpalatal approximant /j̈/ is only found as part of the high opening /j̈ɐ/ diphthong.

Vowels

Varrit has three basic, somewhat centralized vowels, two long vowels which tend to diphthongize in uneducated speech, two low closing diphthongs, and a high opening diphthong.

	Front	Central	Back
High	ɪ	j̈ɐ	ʊ
Mid	eː~eɪ		oː~oʊ
Low	ɐɪ	ɐ	ɐʊ

• The vowel system of Varrit used to be a simple ten vowel system: five short, five long, but it underwent something like the opposite of the Great Vowel Shift of English. Long vowels lowered (except for /aa/), short vowels raised (except for /i/ and /u/).

short		long
/a/	[ɐ]	/aa/	[j̈ɐ]
/e/	[ɪ]	/ee/	[ɐɪ]
/i/		/ii/	[eː]
/o/	[ʊ]	/oo/	[ɐʊ]
/u/		/uu/	[oː]

Stress

Stress is completely predictable. It is placed on the last long vowel, ignoring the last syllable of a word, which is never stressed. If their are no long vowels or the only one is in the last syllable, then the stress is on the antepenultimate.

Writing System

Letter	A	B	D	Ð	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M
Sound	/a/	/p/	/t/	/z/1	/e/	/f/	/k/	/ʔ/2	/i/	/h/	/kʰ/	/r/1	/m/
Letter	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	X	Y	Z	Þ
Sound	/n/	/o/	/pʰ/	/ʔ/	/r/	/s/	/tʰ/	/u, w/3	/v/	/s/1	/j/	/z/	/s/1

1. <ð>, <x>, <l>, and <þ> are only used in borrowed words.
2. <h> is pronounced /ʔ/ in borrowed words and is used in native words in the digraph <hu>, which used to be its own letter.
3. <u> is pronounced /w/ between a consonant and a vowel.

Digraphs:

dz	/ts/
ts	/tsʰ/
tq	/tʼ/
kq	/kʼ/
hu	/w/

Examples:

• dzirris /tsiris/ [ˈtsɪɾɪs]
• jummuts /humotsʰ/ [ˈxʊmoːʰts]
• tqinde /tʼintai/ [ˈtʼɪndɐɪ]
• akqin /aakʼin/ [ˈj̈ɐkʼɪŋ]
• huettsu /witsʰo/ [ˈwɪʰtsoː]

Pronouns

		sg		pl
1	ex	dem	[ˈtɪm]	jegom	[ˈxɐɪgʊm]
	in			ubve	[ˈoːvɐɪ]
2		pfu	[ˈfoː]	qartuzzin	[ˈʔɐɾtʰʊzɪŋ]

Verbs

Classification

Verbs are classified by number of syllables, number of stem-final consonants, and length of the last stem vowel for conjugation purposes. For example, zarri "to cut" is monosyllabic, ends in one consonant, and the last stem vowel is short.

Nonfinite forms

The Infinitive, is the dictionary form of a verb. Its ending is -Ci (C is a doubled final consonant) if the stem ends in a single consonant after a short vowel, -i if the stem ends in multiple consonants or a single consonant after a long vowel, -qi if the stem ends in a long vowel, or -qqi if the stem ends in a short vowel.

Clusivity

There are two first person plurals in Varrit, an exclusive and an inclusive. The exclusive is used when the listener is not included as the subject, and conversely, the inclusive is used when the listener is included as part of the subject. ex. Muvat ke dzerebratqyon! "Me and you won the lottery!" vs Qoorsaq un dem muvan ke yorg! "Sister and I won the game!"

Zeroth Person

The zeroth person is used when there is no subject, such as in impersonal verbs. ex. Pfeddeku "It's raining"

Past tense

The past tense is the most basic tense. Verb stems change in order to preserve their vowels length.

		sg	pl
1	ex	-pf	-(a)t3
	in		-(a)n3
2		-s/z/01	-(s)ue4
3		-02	-(t)te5
0		-(k)ku5

1. In the 2s, the ending voices for monosyllabic verbs. The 2s becomes the same as the 3s when the stem ends in a sibilant. Monosyllabic stem verbs vowels are lengthened in the 3s.
2. In the 3rd sg, the last vowel, if short and becomes the last phoneme in the word in the 3rd sg, will lengthen. A short vowel will also lengthen in the 3rd sg of monosyllabic verbs.
3. The <a> in the 1st pls only appear if the verb stem ends in a consonant.
4. The <s> in the 2nd pl only appears if the verb stem ends in a vowel.
5. The doubled consonant version of the 3p and zeroth person endings is used if the verb stem ends in a short vowel.

Present tenses

		Continuous1		Habitual2
		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	-(m)mipf	-(m)mat	-dzipf	-dzat
	in		-(m)man		-dzan
2		-m	-mzue	-dz	-dzue
3		-m	-mde	-dz	-dzde
0		-mgu		-dzgu

1. The Continuous Present is used for describing a present situation as ongoing and either evolving (I am going) or unevolving (I know).
2. The Habitual Present is used to specify an action as occurring usually, ordinarily, or customarily.

Modality

Varrit has two Irrealis mood prefixes: de(e)- and kqi(i)-.

Negative

Negation of verbs is expressed with a dedicated verb form using an infix ⟨jo⟩ which is placed directly after the stressed vowel and lengthens the stressed vowel if possible. All negative verbs are polysyllabic, short vowel verbs.

ex. zarri "to cut, slash, slice" --> zajorri [ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾeː]

		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	zajorpf	zajorrat	[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾf]	[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾɐʰt]
	in		zajorran		[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾɐŋ]
2		zajors	zajorue	[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾs]	[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾwɐɪ]
3		zajor	zajorte	[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾ]	[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾtʰɐɪ]
0		zajorku		[ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾkʰoː]

Examples

Polysyllabic short vowel stem verb: tqindeqqi "to eat" [ˈtʼɪndɪʔeː], neg tqijondeqqi

		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	tqindepf	tqindet	[ˈtʼɪndɪf]	[ˈtʼɪndɪʰt]
	in		tqinden		[ˈtʼɪndɪŋ]
2		tqindes	tqindesue	[ˈtʼɪndɪs]	[ˈtʼɪndɪswɐɪ]
3		tqinde	tqindette	[ˈtʼɪndɐɪ]	[ˈtʼɪndɪtʰɐɪ]
0		tqindekku		[ˈtʼɪndɪkʰoː]

Monosyllabic long vowel stem verb: niqi "to start, begin, commence" [ˈneːʔeː], neg nijoqqi

		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	niipf	niit	[ˈneːf]	[ˈneːʰt]
	in		niin		[ˈneːŋ]
2		niiz	niisue	[ˈneːz]	[ˈneːswɐɪ]
3		ni	nite	[ˈneː]	[ˈneːʰtɐɪ]
0		niku		[ˈneːʰkoː]

Polysyllabic short one consonant stem verb: berzarri "to bifurcate, branch, fork" [ˈpɪɾzɐɾeː], neg berzajorri

		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	berzarpf	berzarrat	[ˈpɪɾzɐɾf]	[ˈpɪɾzɐɾɐʰt]
	in		berzarran		[ˈpɪɾzɐɾɐŋ]
2		berzars	berzarue	[ˈpɪɾzɐɾs]	[ˈpɪɾzɐɾwɐɪ]
3		berzar	berzarte	[ˈpɪɾzɐɾ]	[ˈpɪɾzɐɾtʰɐɪ]
0		berzarku		[ˈpɪɾzɐɾkʰoː]

Monosyllabic short one consonant stem verb: zarri "to cut, slash, slice" [ˈzɐɾeː], neg zajorri

		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	zarpf	zarrat	[ˈzɐɾf]	[ˈzɐɾɐʰt]
	in		zarran		[ˈzɐɾɐŋ]
2		zarz	zarue	[ˈzɐɾz]	[ˈzɐɾwɐɪ]
3		zaar	zarte	[ˈzj̈ɐɾ]	[ˈzɐɾtʰɐɪ]
0		zarku		[ˈzɐɾkʰoː]

Irregular verb: atsi "to go" [ˈj̈ɐʰtseː], neg ajotsi

		sg	pl	sg	pl
1	ex	aapf	atsat	[ˈj̈ɐf]	[ˈj̈ɐʰtsɐʰt]
	in		atsan		[ˈj̈ɐʰtsɐŋ]
2		aats	aatue	[ˈj̈ɐʰts]	[ˈj̈ɐʰtwɐɪ]
3		ats	ate	[ˈj̈ɐʰts]	[ˈj̈ɐʰtɐɪ]
0		atikku		[ˈj̈ɐʰtɪʰkoː]

Vocabulary

Numbers

#	name		8+#		8*#
0	biddiin	[ˈpɪdeːn]	pfrin	[ˈfɾɪŋ]	biddiin	[ˈpɪdeːn]
1	vij	[ˈvɪx]	qam	[ˈʔɐm]	pfrin	[ˈfɾɪŋ]
2	berz	[ˈpɪɾz]	dzapfs	[ˈtsɐfs]	kqardo	[ˈkʼɐɾdɐʊ]
3	moon	[ˈmɐʊŋ]	monfriin	[ˈmʊɱfɾeːŋ]	kqardo-pfrin	[ˈkʼɐɾdɐʊfɾɪŋ]
4	tqe	[ˈtʼɐɪ]	tqefriin	[ˈtʼɪfɾeːŋ]	junders	[ˈxʊndɪɾs]
5	qigs	[ˈʔɪks]	qigsfriin	[ˈʔɪksfɾeːŋ]	junders-pfrin	[ˈxʊndɪɾsfɾɪŋ]
6	qassar	[ˈʔɐsɐɾ]	qassarfriin	[ˈʔɐsɐɾfɾeːŋ]	juuvz	[ˈxoːvz]
7	zetto	[ˈzɪʰtɐʊ]	zettofriin	[ˈzɪʰtʊfɾeːŋ]	juuvz-pfrin	[ˈxoːvzfɾɪŋ]
8	pfrin	[ˈfɾɪŋ]	kqardo	[ˈkʼɐɾdɐʊ]	jemissed	[ˈxɐɪmɪsɪt]