Vestim (vesh-THIM)

What Is It?

The ancient and sophisticated language known as Vestim is spoken exclusively by the Angels of Light, a group known for their strict adherence to religious principles. Vestim holds the distinction of being the oldest language in Caelumen, pre-dating the existence of all other angelic races and their respective languages.

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Phonetics

(Consonants)↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal	m	ɱ	n
Stop	b p		d t	c	g k
Implosive					ɠ
Fricative		f v	s z				h
Trill			r			ʜ
Lateral approximant			l

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowels	Front	Central	Back
High			u
Near-high	ɪ
High-mid	e		o
Mid		ə
Low-mid	œ
Near-low	æ
Low			ɒ

Pronunciation and Spelling

Sound changes:
o → ɒ
i → ə
t → θ
z → ʒ
d → ð
s → ʃ
c → ʧ
ʜ → hʌ
ɱ → muː
ɠ → gɒ

Vestim is a language in which the last syllable is often stressed.

Ethnicity = biḩe [bə.hʌ.'e]

Pronunciation	Spelling
æ	a
ɒ	ö
ə	i
ɪ	ï (sometimes ignored)
ɠ	g’ (sometimes ignored)
ʜ	ḩ (sometimes ignored)
ɱ	m̈ (sometimes ignored)
c	ch (only at the end of a word)

Grammar

Articles

Definite	bed [beð] the
Indefinite	lom [lɒm] a, an, some

There are certains ways of utilizing definite articles:

• Definite article can be omitted: Gœ eʜœn evu [gœ ehʌ'œn e'vu] = 'I am going to market'
• Used to talk about countable nouns in general: 'I like cats' would translate to Gœ bed öfata ɠetes [gœ beð ɒ.fæ.'θæ gɒ.'e.θeʃ] = 'I like the cats'
• Used with place names: Bed Charechos Cham [beð ʧ.hæ.reʧ. 'hɒʃ ʧ. 'hæm] = 'The Great Amphitheatre'

Nouns

Nouns have three cases:

• Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
• Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
• Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.

Nominative	Prefix mɒ- mödïm̈ö [mɒ.ðɪ.ˈmuː.ɒ] dog (doing the verb)
Accusative	If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix næ- nadïm̈ö [næ.ðɪ.ˈmuː.ɒ] (verb done to) dog
Genitive	Prefix æ- adïm̈ö [æ.ðɪ.ˈmuː.ɒ] dogʼs

Singular	Prefix gɒ- gödïm̈ö [gɒ.ðɪ.ˈmuː.ɒ] dog
Plural	Prefix ɒ- ödïm̈ö [ɒ.ðɪ.ˈmuː.ɒ] dogs

Pronouns

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive
1st singular	gœ [gœ] I	kï [kɪ] me	fo [fɒ] mine
2nd singular	dœ [ðœ] you	ra [ræ] you	ben [ben] yours
3rd singular	be, ɱno, ir [be, muːnɒ, ər] he, she, it	pœ, hol, ir [pœ, hɒl, ər] him, her, it	fem, cim, irs [fem, ʧəm, ərʃ] his, hers, its
1st plural	de [ðe] we	ï [ɪ] us	bï [bɪ] ours
2nd plural	san [ʃæn] you all	fa [fæ] you all	dö [ðɒ] yours (pl)
3rd plural	ga [gæ] they	ged [geð] them	cha [ʧæ] theirs

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	bï [bɪ] my
2nd singular	dœ [ðœ] your
3rd singular	son [ʃɒn] his, her, its
1st plural	fïd [fɪð] our
2nd plural	ru [ru] your (pl)
3rd plural	pu [pu] their

Verbs

Verbs always come after a word. When verbs are conjugated, the pronoun is placed before the verb.

• I fly: Gœ ɪʜed [gœ ɪ.'hʌ.eð]
• you speak: dœ ɠos [ðœ gɒ.'ɒʃ]
• it moves: ir osɪn [ər 'ɒ.ʃɪn]

When negating, either the word "nœʜis", meaning none or nothing, or "nœʜ", meaning no or not, is placed after the verb.

I do not speak/speak none = Gœ ɠos nœʜ/ɠos nœʜis [gœ gɒ.'ɒʃ nœ.'hʌ/gɒ.'ɒʃ nœ.'hʌ.əʃ]

When using the past or future tense, the verb is marked with a prefix.

	Active	Passive	Example
Past	lin- before vowel li- before consonant	kip-	I spoke: Gœ li ɠos [gœ lə.gɒ.'ɒʃ] ... was spoken: ... kip ɠos [kəp.gɒ.'ɒʃ]
Future	dal- before vowel da- before consonant	zud-	I will speak: Gœ da ɠos [gœ 'ðæ.gɒ.ɒʃ] ... will be spoken: ... zud ɠos [ʒuð.gɒ.'ɒʃ]

Adjectives

Adjectives in sentences or word groups are always positioned before the noun or verb they refer to.

a small bird = lom em esovɪ [lɒm em e.ʃɒ.'vɪ]

In addition, adjectives are increased with the suffix ɱ for first degree and uɱ for second degree.

• Without increase: big = cham [ʧ.'hæm]
• First degree: bigger = cham ɱ [ʧ.'hæm.'muː]
• Second degree: biggest = cham uɱ [ʧ.'hæm.'u.muː]

Derivations

Adjective → adverb	Prefix sa-	quick/quickly = ucho/saucho [uʧ.'hɒ/ʃæ.uʧ.'hɒ]
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj])	Prefix u-	late/lateness = miwum/umiwum [mə.'wum/u.mə.'wum]
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj])	Prefix n- (before vowel) Prefix nɪ- (before consonant)	beautiful/beautify = patœd/nɪpatœd [pæ.'θœð/nɪ.pæ.'θœð]
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun])	Prefix m- (before vowel) Prefix mo- (before consonant)	punctuality/punctual = uzun/muzun ['u.ʒun/'mu.ʒun]
Noun → adjective (relating to [noun])	Prefix f- (before vowel) Prefix fɒ- (before consonant)	economy/economical = rœdaces/förœdaces [rœ.'ðæʧ.eʃ/ fɒ.rœ.'ðæʧ.eʃ]
Noun to verb	Prefix b- (before vowel) Prefix bi- (before consonant)	love/to love = ɠetes/biɠetes [gɒ.'e.θeʃ/bə.gɒ.'e.θeʃ]
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb])	Prefix m- (before vowel) Prefix mœ- (before consonant)	amuse/amusing = ocatɪ/mocatɪ [ɒ.'ʧæ.θɪ/mɒ.'ʧæ.θɪ]
Verb → noun (the act of [verb])	Prefix b- (before vowel) Prefix bɒ- (before consonant)	fly/flight = ɪʜed/bɪʜed [ɪ.'hʌ.eð/'bɪ.hʌ.eð]
Verb → noun (that [verb] produces)	Prefix so-	know/knowledge = ezosa/sozosa [e.ʒɒ.'ʃæ/ʃɒ.'ʒɒ.ʃæ]
One who [verb]s	Prefix y- (before vowel) Prefix ya- (before consonant)	protect/protector = lœnek/yalœnek [lœ.'nek/yæ.lœ.'nek]
Place of	Prefix ɒc- (before vowel) Prefix ɒce- (before consonant)	bake/bakery = ovawa/öcovawa [ɒ.'væ.wæ/ɒ.cɒ.'væ.wæ]

Formation of Sentences and Questions

All sentences are formed in the Subject - (Prepositional phrase) - Object - Verb (SOV).

I shook his hand = Gœ son huzɪ li fiɱə [Gœ ʃɒn hu.'ʒɪ lə fə.muː.'ə]

W-questions are introduced with question words before the verb.

What is your name? = A dœ udos œs [Æ ðœ u.'ðɒʃ œʃ]

Basic Dictionary

These are some of the more important words you will need to make simple sentences. You can find more in the dictionary.

Numbers

Vestim has a base-20 number system:
1 - ba
2 - höd
3 - fu
4 - chad
5 - lam
6 - mudœn
7 - detova
8 - gaved
9 - mu
10 - g’ï
400 - bözad
8000 - g’a

Verbs

be - œ
become - œmun
can - di
do - cö
fly - ɪʜed
give - ayos
have - nuwa
speak - ɠos

Nouns

flight - bɪʜed
home - kɪ
man - ɪdo
woman - bum
angel - ɪmaza
light - ma

Pronouns

I, my - gœ, bï
you, your - dœ
he, she, it - be, ɱno, ir
we, our - de, fïd

Question Words

What - a
Where - nɪ
When - oʜo
Who - ɠas
Why - hom
How - osɪm
To whom - esɠas
Whose - ɠaske

Other Words

and - ɪyɪ
the - bed
a, an, some - lom
much - pad

Important Everyday Phrases

Good day! - Uwe ma!
Greetings - Futœsəm
Welcome - Udocu
How are you doing on this fine day? - Osɪm huwɪvœm ma colodœ
Where am I? - Nɪ Gœ tœ?
How much is ...? - Osɪm œs pad ...?
How do I travel to...? - Osɪm Gœ cohine se ...?
How may I assist you? - Osɪm utgœ dœ rovovɪ?
Please - Kum
Thank you - Gasowe
I appreciate your help - Gœ dœrovovɪ ocotom
Farewell - Poduses
May the Lord give you strength - Uta Ameuses ayos otizod

All of this should give you a great start in learning this language. I wish you the best of luck and uta Ameuses ayos otizod!