Overview
Setting
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Orthography
Alphabet
The Viselek Alphabet consists of 34 letters. It uses the 26 standard Latin letters, as well as a, s and z circumflex (â,ŝ and ẑ), and six digraphs (cŝ, dh, gh, lh, nh and qh). All of these are treated as seperate letters, and are ordered accordingly. So for example, dhzebaw comes after duwn.
Viselek | a | â | b | c | cŝ | d | dh | e | f | g | gh | h | i | j | k | l | lh | m | n | nh | o | p | q | qh | r | s | ŝ | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | ẑ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | æ | a | b | ts | tʃ | d | d | ɛ | f | g | ʝ | h | ɯ | dʒ | k | l | ʎ | m | n | ɴ | ɒ | p | q | ç | r | s | ʃ | t | ʊ | v | w | ks | j | z | ʒ |
Other Letter Combinations
In addition to the letters of the alphabet, there are a few less-common digraphs that represent either a)rarer phonemes or b)phonemes that are more commonly represented by an letter of the alphabet. These are not counted as letters, and are ordered with their component letters.
- iy - represents the vowel /i/. Found in words like siyeb (seven) and powriy (river).
- uw - represents the vowel /ʌ/. Found in words like nuwn (north) and guwm (gum).
- aw - represents the vowel /ɔ/. Fairly common, found in words like dezawna (other) and yaw (floor).
- hŝ - represents the consonant /ʃ/ when found at the start of a word, as in hŝex (six). The 'h' is effectively silent.
- ur - represents the vowel /œ/. Found in words like urqh (castle).
Basic Grammar
Because of the inflected nature of Viselek, nouns, adjectives and verbs come in many forms, and often whole sentences in English can be written in one or two words.
Nouns
Nouns can come in a great many forms, with suffixes being added to them to indicate possession, article, number and location.
Suffixes
Below is a table about the noun "ŝaw" meaning "horse", and the various suffixes used to indicate it's aspects. The suffixes added to ŝaw are the same used for every noun, so this is a good indication of how to put other nouns together.
Articles
suffix | word | meaning |
---|---|---|
[none] | ŝaw | horse |
-an | ŝawan | horses |
-ad | ŝawad | the horse |
-ayetad | ŝawayetad | the horses |
-et | ŝawet | a horse |
Number
suffix | word | meaning |
---|---|---|
[none] | ŝaw | horse |
-ayet | ŝawayet | horses |
Possession
suffix | word | meaning |
---|---|---|
[none] | ŝaw | horse |
-an | ŝawan | my horse |
-adh | ŝawadh | your horse (sing.) |
-ev | ŝawev | your horse (plur.) |
-eŝq | ŝaweŝq | her horse |
-ehek | ŝawehek | his horse |
-enh | ŝawenh | our horse |
-eqh | ŝaweqh | it's house |
-uwm* | ŝawuwm* | [named person]'s house* |
- To say that the noun belongs to a named person, that is indicated by writing the noun with the suffix -uwm, and then the person's name. So to say "Bill's horse", you write "ŝawuwm Bill".
Location
suffix | word | meaning |
---|---|---|
-âbân | ŝawadâbân | in the horse |
-uwan | ŝawaduwan | next to the horse |
-avâq | ŝawadavâq | with the horse |
-ewd | ŝawadewd | on the horse |
-epit | ŝawadepit | to the horse |
-ugwa | ŝawadugwa | under the horse |
-opowod | ŝawadopowod | infront of the horse |
-apozd | ŝawadapozd | behind the horse |
Adjectives
Adjectives in Viselek come in three forms, the regular, exaggerated and superlative. The exaggerated in formed by adding the suffix "-eref", and the superlative is formed by adding the suffix "-edhef". So the adjective "vedheq" meaning "good", can be modified to become "vedheqeref" meaning "better" and "vedheqedhef" meaning "best".
To cancel the adjective, you add the word "nahâr" to the start of the sentence or clause. So for example to change "it is better" ("ghuyura vedheqeref") into "it is not better", you write "nahâr ghuyura vedheqeref", literally "not it is better".
The English word "is" is represented by the Viaskan suffix "ura", so that "she is" is written "ŝura".
Verbs
Viselek verbs are fairly easy to understand. There are suffixes added for the past, present, future, , infinitive, imperitive and gerund.
The below table shows the different forms of the verb "vowroŝ" meaning "to go".
suffix | verb | meaning |
---|---|---|
[none] | vowroŝ | to go |
-ab | vowroŝab | will go |
-eqh | vowroŝeqh | goes |
-el | vowroŝab | went |
-urq | vowroŝurq | going |
-ok | vowroŝok | GO! |
-eb | vowroŝeb | (has) been going |
Like with adjectives, Verbs can be cancelled by adding the word "nahâr" to the start of the sentence or clause. So the sentence "Lâh vowroŝab" ("I went"), becomes "Nahâr lâh vowroŝab" ("I did not go").
Personal Pronouns
The personal pronouns in Viselek are similar to those in English.
Personal Pronouns | |
---|---|
Lhâ | I, Me |
Dhâ | You (singular) |
Vâ | You (plural) |
Qhâ | He, Him |
Ŝaa | She, Her |
Nhâ | We, Us |
Ghuy | It |
Fâqâr | They, Them |
Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative Pronouns are known as the "Q" words, similar to the "wh" words in English, as they all (with the exeption of "ka") begin with "q".
Viselek | English |
---|---|
Qopâ | Who |
Ka | What |
Qdhe | When |
Qghâ | Why |
Qidâr | Which |
Qurd | How |
In a sentence, the interrogative pronoun is followed by a comma. So "What is your name?" is written "Ka, lhâradh?". Note that the Viselek suffix for "is" (the suffix "-ura") is not needed.
Dictionary
Viselek | IPA Pronunciation |
English | Synonyms | Antonyms | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Balkânayet | bælkanajɛt | Balkans | Plural form, as the singular form Balkân is not needed, and so is not used. | ||
Bulgâriya | bʊlgarijə | Bulgaria | |||
buwn | bʌn | good | vedheq | rawc, hŝan | |
cinciy | tsɯntsi | small | ninâ | jawd, gubâr | |
ctât | tstat | state, country | |||
cŝer | tʃɛr | less | mulca | ||
cŝiwa | tʃɯwə | five | |||
Danuwba | dænʌbə | Danube | |||
deprenŝawka | dɛprɛnʃɔkə | along | |||
dezawna | dɛzɔnə | other | |||
dhâ | da | you | used when referring to a single person, as opposed to vâ, which refers to a group of people. | ||
fâqâr | faqar | they/them | |||
Greka | grɛkə | Greece | |||
Ghurkiya | ʝœkijə | Turkey | |||
ghuy | ʝœj | it | |||
hŝan | ʃæn | bad | rawc | buwn, vedheq | |
incŝeriyât | ɯntʃɛrijat | border (with another nation) | |||
jawd | dʒɔd | big | gubâr | cinciy | |
ka | kæ | what? | |||
kileniy | kɯlɛni | south | nuwn | ||
kocorsag | kɒtsɔrsæg | republic | |||
lhâ | ʎa | I/me | |||
mariqh | mærɯç | sea | |||
Maqedoniya | mæqədɒnijə | Macedonia | |||
mulca | mʌltsə | more | cŝer | ||
neq | nɛq | and | |||
nolowqh | nɒlɒwç | black | fekedhe | ||
nuwn | nʌn | north | kileniy | ||
nhâ | ɴa | us/we | |||
powriyad | pɒwrijæd | river | |||
qdhe | qədə | when? | |||
qghâ | qʝa | why? | |||
qidâr | qɯdar | how? | |||
qopâ | qɒpə | who? | |||
qurd | qœd | which? | |||
qhâ | ça | him/he | |||
rawc | rɔts | bad | hŝan | vedheq, buwn | |
Rumâniya | rumanija | Romania | |||
Serbiya | sɛrbijə | Serbia | |||
ŝaa | ʃa | her/she | |||
ŝaw | ʃɔ | horse | |||
ŝewdnew | ʃɛwdnɛw | define | |||
tawxâl | tɔksal | extent | |||
ujerawt | ʊdʒɛrɔt | then.. | as in "then, he went to the shop". | ||
vâ | va | you | used when referring to a group of people, as opposed to dhâ which refers to a single person. | ||
vedheq | vɛdɛq | good | buwn | hŝan, rawc | |
viyest | vijɛst | west | yest | ||
yest | jɛst | east | viyest |
Numbers
Number | Viselek Word |
---|---|
0 | naq |
1 | âl |
2 | dhe |
3 | tev |
4 | fak |
5 | cŝiwa |
6 | hŝex |
7 | ŝiyeben |
8 | otac |
9 | nhonnh |
10 | dev |
11 | devâl |
12 | devdhe |
13 | devtev |
20 | dhedev |
30 | tevdev |
100 | cinc |
110 | cinc-es-dev |
120 | cinc-es-dhedev |
200 | dhecinc |
1000 | nilân |
1100 | nilân-es-cinc |
2000 | dhenilân |
2145 | dhenilân-cinc-es-fakdev-cŝiwa |
Example text
Viselek | Bulgâriyura ctâtet Balkânayetadâbân. Ghuy incŝeriyâteqh cŝiwa dezawna ctâtayet: Rumâniya nuwnadepit (mulcala deprenŝawka Powriyad Danuwba), Serbiya neq Kocorsagad Maqedoniyâinhâ viyestadepit, neq Greka neq Ghurkiya kileniyadepit. Mariqhad Nolowqh ŝewdneweqh tawxâlad ctâtadâinhâ yestadepit. |
English | Bulgaria is a state in the Balkans. It borders five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the River Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east. |