Drifeyir
Natively known as: driféyir /driˈfɛyˌir/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind... li ta kal ti léryr té ta li rafiinda viil or té ta e lohe[alt] Pronunciation: /li ta kal ti lɛrjr tɛ ta li ˈrafiːnda viːl or tɛ ta e ˈlohe/ Drifeyan word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind[/alt]Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f fː g h j k l m n p r s t v w z| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||
| Fricative | f fː v | s z | h | |||
| Approximant | j | |||||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|---|
| Approximant | w |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː y | u | |
| High-mid | e | o | |
| Low-mid | ɛ | ||
| Near-low | ɐ | ||
| Low | a |
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: b dr f fr k l m mj n p r s t th tj v vj w wj z
Mid-word consonants: bj d f fh g h hn j lf m mj mn mr n nd nr nv p r rv rz t v z
Word final consonants: jr jrr l m n r rr zjr
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| j | y |
| ɛ | é |
| ɐ | à |
| V₁ː | V₁V₁ |
| ae | aë |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key. Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun. Adposition: prepositionsNouns
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| No affix wàrr /wɐrr/ dog | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ri Else: Suffix -i wàrri /wɐˈrri/ dogs |
Articles
| Definite | Indefinite |
|---|---|
| Particle before the article: ver - ver wàrr /ver wɐrr/ the | Particle before the article: ve - ve wàrr /ve wɐrr/ a, some |
Pronouns
| 1st singular | fé /fɛ/ I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular | le /le/ you, yours |
| 3rd singular | ta /ta/ he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its |
| 1st plural | ve /ve/ we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural | be /be/ you all, yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural | re /re/ they, them, theirs (can be used for sg) |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | fi /fi/ my |
| 2nd singular | liir /liːr/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | lii /liː/ |
| 3rd singular fem | wé /wɛ/ |
| 1st plural | vi /vi/ our |
| 2nd plural | bi /bi/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural | riin /riːn/ their (can be used for sg) |
Verbs
| Singular | If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -ar dinir /diˈnir/ |
| Plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -iːr dinir /ˈdinir/ |
| Past | Particle before the verb: wɐ - wà dini /wɐ ˈdini/ learned |
| Future | Particle before the verb: wi - wi dini /wi ˈdini/ will learn |
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present. Drifeyan uses the word for ‘finish’ fynyr for the perfect aspect.Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as 'I am learning' and habitual actions, such as 'I learn (something new every day)'. Drifeyan uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:| Imperfective | li dini /li dini/ learns/is learning |
Numbers
Drifeyan has a base-10 number system: 1 - én 2 - lem 3 - và 4 - fényr 5 - vérrym 6 - bii 7 - rànii 8 - ve 9 - ma 10 - fi 11 - én li fi “one and ten” 100 - én ber “one hundred” 101 - én ber li én “one hundred and one” 200 - lem ber 1000 - én vya “one thousand”Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -eAdjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -il
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -a
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -yr
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -am
Noun to verb = Suffix -ɛm Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -iːn
Tending to = Suffix -a
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mi-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -iːm
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -er
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ɛ
Diminutive = Suffix -y
Augmentative = Suffix -irjr
History:
Drifeyan is a mix between the ancient west-dwarfish, which is a dialect of high-dwarfish and mer-elvish, which derives from the common new-elvish tongue. As elvish and dwarfish culture intertwined more tightly, so did their languages as the Common Arregean was neither species's preferred language and wasn't ideal for the circumstances of Drifeyer, as many special words were missing. Especially words related to the sea and mining as well as geology related vocabulary.Dialectal Information:
Depending on the percentage of elves or dwarves that live in a given area, the language gets softer or harsher and the more it sounds closer to either of its original languages. there is one town that has an unusually high percentage of humans and it can be noticed that the human language is influencing Drifeyan a lot, even though the humans there speak Drifeyan.Gestures:
Strong hand gestures that mimic what the speaker is saying are common in the oldest inhabitants of Drifeyer (pretty much just elves), due to old times where communication between elves and dwarves in their native languages had been far away from seamless. Younger generations don't do that anymore as there is simply no need for it. There are still your typical nods and head shakes as well as pointing to a thing in question, shrugging or throwing your hands up to show innocence. There are also specific gestures made when talking in a religious context.Evolution:
Drifeyan has become more and more mixed In fact, it took quite a while after the Queendom was formed until a standardized version of the language could be introduced. In the beginning drifeyan sounded more like a bilingual talking in remix of two languages, but slowly words merged together and new words were made and now it's a unique blend of two very different languages, which is why Drifreyan has very soft and very harsh sounds in it. Drifeyan is an extreme mix between soft, blunt sounds that often use y, n, e, a and rough, spiky sounds such as r, k, z, i. The dwarven aspect of the language also brings the double r into the language and more consonant-consonant sequences than the elvish that has more of a consonant-vowel sequence.Extended Grammar:
Pronouns are often omitted because the context of the conversation is clear enough on who is meant. They do have two past forms, one for a finished past and one for an ongoing past. To differenciate how far back something is, special particles are used. They also have two presents, a general and an immediate present. There are three future tenses, one for the near future, one for the far future and one for a hypothetical future.Geographical Distribution
Drifeyan is spoken in Drifeyer and in parts of Deya.
Dictionary
Successor Languages
Common Phrases
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