Vargtal

Natively known as: vargtal /ˈvɑɹgtɑl/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
orkrd mn brargtalva povargelpyv mn krt orkrd syotchcla mn herf jullvar rtegckty ty
Pronunciation: /oɹkɹd mn ˈbɹɑɹgtɑlvɑ ˈpovɑɹˌgɛlpiv mn kɹt oɹkɹd ˈsiotʧklɑ mn hɛɹf ˈʤʌlvɑɹ ˈɹtɛgkti tɪ/
Vargtalish word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face the wind to

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p b		t d	c	k g	q
Fricative		f v	s				h
Approximant				j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a e i o u y

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e	o
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?
Sound changes (in order of application):

• a → ɑ
• bb → b
• b → b
• ch → ʧ
• c → k
• dd → d
• d → d
• e → ɛ
• ff → f
• f → f
• gg → g
• g → g
• h → h
• i → ɪ
• jj → ʤ
• j → ʤ
• kk → k
• k → k
• ll → l
• l → l
• m → m
• ng → ŋ
• nn → n
• n → n
• o → o
• pp → p
• p → p
• q → k
• rr → ʀ
• r → ɹ
• sh → ʃ
• ss → s
• s → s
• th → θ
• tt → t
• t → t
• u → ʌ
• v → v
• w → w
• x → ks
• y → i
• zz → z
• z → z

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɑ	a
b	b
ʧ	ch
d	d
ɛ	e
f	f
g	g
h	h
i	y
ɪ	i
ʤ	j
k	k
l	l
m	m
ŋ	ng
n	n
o	o
p	p
ɹ	r
ʃ	sh
s	s
θ	th
t	t
ʌ	u
v	v
w	w
x	ks
z	z

---

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: postpositions ?

Nouns

Singular	No affix cavy /ˈkɑvi/ dog
Plural	Suffix -ej cavyej /ˈkɑviɛʤ/ dogs

Articles

Definite	tal /tɑl/ the
Indefinite	yrg /ɪɹg/ a, some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’

Pronouns

1st singular	ndy /ndɪ/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	brrdtal /bʀdtɑl/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	mn /mn/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc)
3rd singular fem	ly /lɪ/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem)
1st plural	otal /ˈotɑl/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	hdm /hdm/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	ylffo /ˈɪlfo/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	ndi /ndɪ/ my
2nd singular	bʀdtal /bʀdtɑl/ your
3rd singular masc	mn /mn/ his
3rd singular fem	li /lɪ/ her
1st plural	otal /ˈotɑl/ our
2nd plural	hdm /hdm/ your (pl)
3rd plural	ilfo /ˈɪlfo/ their

Verbs

	Present	Past	Remote past
1st singular	Suffix -ab rumarkuab /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌɑb/ (I) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -p Else: Suffix -e rumarkup /ˈɹʌmɑɹkʌp/ (I) learned	Prefix bro- brorumarku /ˈbɹoɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (I) learn (long ago)
2nd singular	Prefix rri- rryrumarku /ˈʀɪɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (you) learn	Suffix -yw rumarkuyw /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌiw/ (you) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kr Else: Suffix -i rumarkukr /ˈɹʌmɑɹkʌkɹ/ (you) learn (long ago)
3rd singular	Prefix tha- tharumarku /ˈθɑɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (he/she/it) learns	Prefix gu- gurumarku /ˈgʌɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (he/she/it) learned	Suffix -es rumarkues /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌɛs/ (he/she/it) learns (long ago)
1st plural	Suffix -ogr rumarkuogr /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌogɹ/ (we) learn	Prefix rra- rrarumarku /ˈʀɑɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (we) learned	Prefix je- jerumarku /ˈʤɛɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (we) learn (long ago)
2nd plural	Suffix -ut rumarkuut /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌʌt/ (you all) learn	Prefix gry- gryrumarku /ˈgɹiɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ (you all) learned	Suffix -aj rumarkuaj /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌɑʤ/ (you all) learn (long ago)
3rd plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -q Else: Suffix -a rumarkuq /ˈɹʌmɑɹkʌk/ (they) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -v Else: Suffix -y rumarkuv /ˈɹʌmɑɹkʌv/ (they) learned	Suffix -yb rumarkuyb /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌib/ (they) learn (long ago)

Vargtalish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: raboclu - raboclu rumarku /ˈɹɑboklʌ ˈɹʌmɑɹkʌ/ will learn

Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Vargtalish uses an affix for progressive:

Progressive

Suffix -ad rumarkuad /ˈɹʌmɑɹˌkʌɑd/ is learning

Habitual aspect

The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).
Vargtalish uses an affix for habitual:

Habitual

Prefix ji- jyrumarku /ˈʤɪɹʌˌmɑɹkʌ/ learns

Numbers

Vargtalish has a base-10 number system:
1 - dudmatal
2 - vadgd
3 - as
4 - etkralbrd
5 - rythedotch
6 - qycegrat
7 - hethgra
8 - luytal
9 - osvarelb
10 - anyffks
100 - ysglytchkev
1000 - an

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix thi-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix vu-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix va-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix mi-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -o
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -e
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix kru-
Tending to = Suffix -ym
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ej
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix kre-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -a
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ek
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g
Else: Suffix -a
Augmentative = Prefix mi-

Dictionary

3010 Words.