Lizarfolk (Szerval)
Natively known as: Sveral
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
chal vuv shaa lishaahsslom ehr ahveh chal zl tah shaa lahshauzu ehti zl...
Pronunciation: /chal vuv ʃæ ˈlɪʃɑsslom ɛɹ ˈɑvɛ chal zl tɑ ʃæ ˈlɑʃuzu ˈɛtɪ zl/
Vulahssmel word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /c h k l m n r s t v z ɹ ʃ θ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||
| Stop | t | c | k | |||||
| Fricative | v | θ | s z | ʃ | h | |||
| Approximant | ɹ | |||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
Vowel inventory: /a e i o u æ ɑ ɛ ɪ/
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Near-high | ɪ | |
| High-mid | e | o |
| Low-mid | ɛ | |
| Near-low | æ | |
| Low | a | ɑ |
Stress pattern: advanced Phonological rules (in order of application):
- s→h / V_V
- s→z / V_V
- s→h / #_
- h→q / _#
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| æ | a |
| ɑ | ah |
| ɛ | eh |
| ɪ | i |
| ɹ | r |
| ʃ | sha |
| θ | th |
| χ | x |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Oblique-Object-Verb. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Mary with a key the door opened.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Noun
Nouns have two cases:
Ergative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man
The ergative affix only appears if there is an absolutive in the sentence
Absolutive is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog
Absolutives are always no affix
| Ergative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -ɛn nehsslokin /ˈnɛsslokɪn/ |
| Absolutive | No affix
nehssloki /ˈnɛsslokɪ/ |
Articles
| Definite | u /u/
the |
| Indefinite | eh /ɛ/
a, some |
Pronouns
| Ergative | Absolutive | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | it /ɪt/
I |
ehth /ɛθ/
me |
| 2nd singular | i /ɪ/
you |
eh /ɛ/
you |
| 3rd singular masc | vuv /vuv/
he, it |
ehsha /ɛʃ/
him, it |
| 3rd singular fem | uv /uv/
she, it |
ah /ɑ/
her, it |
| 1st plural inclusive | a /æ/
we (including you) |
av /æv/
us (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive | lah /lɑ/
we (excluding you) |
nuv /nuv/
us (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural | ta /tæ/
you (all) |
riv /ɹɪv/
you (all) |
| 3rd plural | ahl /ɑl/
they |
la /læ/
them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | av /æv/
my |
| 2nd singular | ehv /ɛv/
your |
| 3rd singular masc | shaa /ʃæ/
his, its |
| 3rd singular fem | shaisha /ʃɪʃ/
her, its |
| 1st plural inclusive | ehn /ɛn/
our (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive | lu /lu/
our (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural | ehr /ɛɹ/
your |
| 3rd plural | vu /vu/
their |
Verbs
Future tense is indicated with the word:
| Future particle | vah /vɑ/
future tense particle |
| Present | Past | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | If ends with vowel: Suffix -v
Else: Suffix -iv tzatuv /ˈtzatuv/ |
Suffix -aɹ
tzatuar /ˈtzatuaɹ/ |
| 2nd singular | Suffix -i
tzatui /ˈtzatui/ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -nlɑ
Else: Suffix -ænlɑ tzatunlah /ˈtzatunlɑ/ |
| 3rd singular masc | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʃɪ
Else: Suffix -iʃɪ tzatushai /ˈtzatuʃɪ/ |
Suffix -oc
tzatuoc /ˈtzatuoc/ |
| 3rd singular fem | Suffix -ɪ
tzatui /ˈtzatuɪ/ |
Suffix -ɪm
tzatuim /ˈtzatuɪm/ |
| 1st plural inclusive | Suffix -aʃ
tzatuasha /ˈtzatuaʃ/ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -lu
Else: Suffix -ɑlu tzatulu /ˈtzatulu/ |
| 1st plural exclusive | If ends with vowel: Suffix -va
Else: Suffix -ava tzatuva /ˈtzatuva/ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -rn
Else: Suffix -irn tzaturn /ˈtzaturn/ |
| 2nd plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹz
Else: Suffix -aɹz tzaturz /ˈtzatuɹz/ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -kn
Else: Suffix -ekn tzatukn /ˈtzatukn/ |
| 3rd plural | Suffix -orn
tzatuorn /ˈtzatuorn/ |
Suffix -ɑlk
tzatuahlk /ˈtzatuɑlk/ |
Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am studying,
and habitual actions, such as I study (every night).
It is indicated with the word:
| Imperfect particle | chalza /ˈchalzæ/
imperfect particle |
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s
Else: Suffix -æs
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -rko
Else: Suffix -ɛrko
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹsæ
Else: Suffix -aɹsæ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -e
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ks
Else: Suffix -oks
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -st
Else: Suffix -æst
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -tsu
Else: Suffix -itsu
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -o
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ɑ
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Suffix -i
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -i
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -st
Else: Suffix -ɑst
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -θo
Else: Suffix -ɛθo
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -it
Comments