Elvish

Consonant Inventory

Elvish consonants are carefully selected to create a soft, flowing, and melodic sound. The language lacks harsh stops like /d/ and /g/, instead favoring approximants and fricatives.

Consonant Chart

• No consonant clusters are allowed; every consonant must be surrounded by vowels.
• Glottal stop /ʔ/ is used in place of /k/, making words sound softer.
• /s/ becomes /z/ between vowels for a more fluid pronunciation.
• /t/ softens between vowels.
• A glottal stop is inserted between a root word and a suffix, or between two suffixes, if required for ease of speaking.

Gemination Rules

Certain consonants can appear doubled (geminate) to change meaning:

• Allowed: /w, n, f, s, l, r/
• Not Allowed: /p, t, m, v, j, ʔ/

Vowel Inventory

Elvish has a rich vowel system, including front, back, and neutral vowels.

Vowel Chart

Vowel Length

Vowel length is phonemic, meaning long and short vowels can change word meanings. However, not all vowels can be lengthened:

• Allowed to be long: /a, e, i, u, y/
• Always short: /o, ä, ö, ə/

Vowel Harmony

Words generally contain only front or back vowels, except for the neutral schwa.

Syllable Structure

Elvish follows a VCV-dominant structure to maintain its melodic flow. VC is allowed in final syllables, but restricted in which final consonants can be used:

• Words cannot end in /w, m, f, v, r, j, ʔ/.
• Words can end in /p, t/, but they must remain voiceless.

This structure ensures a smooth, vowel-driven rhythm while allowing some consonantal endings.

Stress and Intonation

Stress

• Default: The second syllable of a word is stressed.
• Past Tense Rule: Stress shifts to the final syllable, with a secondary stress retained to maintain flow.

Intonation

Elvish features a light rising-falling intonation pattern, which makes it sound melodic and graceful:

• The stressed syllable has a rising intonation.
• The next syllable has a falling intonation.
• This creates a natural, wave-like flow in speech.

Nasalization and Nasal Harmony

• Vowels before or after nasal consonants (/n, m/) become nasalized.
• Nasal Harmony Rule: If one vowel in a word is nasalized, all vowels in the word follow.

Elvish follows an agglutinative structure, meaning that grammatical relationships are expressed through suffixes attached to words. The language is gender-neutral, using neutral pronouns instead of masculine or feminine distinctions.

Elvish also features multiple noun cases and a flowing, melodic verb system that aligns with its phonotactic and intonational rules.

Nouns and Case System

Elvish nouns decline based on nine grammatical cases, each marked with a suffix. The endings are influenced by vowel harmony, ensuring that suffixes match the front or back vowels of the root word.

Noun Cases and Their Functions

Roots with neutral vowels (/ə/) take the front vowel suffixes by default.

Plural Formation

Pluralization in Elvish is variable:

• Some nouns take suffixes such as -au or -ion
• Other nouns lengthen a vowel

Verbs and Conjugation

Elvish verbs follow a suffix-based conjugation system with stress shifts in the past tense.

Verb Conjugation Table

• Vowel harmony applies to all suffixes.
• A glottal stop is inserted if necessary for fluid pronunciation.

Verb Features

• Past Tense Rule: The stress shifts to the final syllable (talé "sang"), in contrast to the usual second-syllable stress.
• Vowel Harmony Applies: Suffixes change depending on whether the root contains front or back vowels.

Phonological Influence on Morphology

Elvish phonotactics shape its morphology:

• No Consonant Clusters: All suffixes start with vowels.
• Vowel Harmony: All case and verb suffixes match the front or back vowel group of the root.
• Melodic Intonation: Stressed syllables rise in pitch, followed by a falling pitch on the next syllable.

Elvish follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure as its default word order but allows for flexibility in poetic or conceptual speech.

Word Order

The default structure of Elvish sentences places the subject first, the object second, and the verb at the end.

Flexible Word Order for Emphasis

• The rich case system allows for word order variations.
• Flexible word order can create intentional ambiguity for poetic expression.

Pronouns

Elvish does not distinguish gender in pronouns.

Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives

• Adjectives follow nouns to maintain a flowing, harmonious structure.
• Adjectives do not agree in case with their noun.

Adverbs

• Adverbs typically precede verbs.

This ordering ensures smooth, predictable speech rhythm.

Possession

• Elvish expresses possession by placing the possessor before the possessed noun.
• Unlike adjectives, possessive nouns take case endings when necessary.
• This structure prevents ambiguity while maintaining a natural cadence.

Negation

• Elvish negation is expressed with a separate negative particle (ne), placed before the verb.
• The negation particle (ne) follows the adverb but still precedes the verb.

Questions

Elvish questions follow a simple, clear structure.

Yes/No Questions

• A question word appears at the beginning.

Wh-Questions

• Wh-words appear at the beginning of the sentence.

This structure ensures clarity and consistency in forming interrogative sentences.

Prepositions and Postpositions

• Since Elvish has rich case marking, it does not rely heavily on prepositions. Instead, it uses postpositional phrases.
• This system reinforces the fluidity of Elvish while making location-based phrases more compact and intuitive.