Áríhwe (ˈɑriʍɛ)

Natively known as: Áríhwe /ˈɑriʍɛ/

Áríhwe is a sylvan language sometimes called simply elvish, although the vast influence of the elves during the Age of Kings means many speak or at least know some Áríhwen words. Since the fall of the elven dynasties, the language is not as ubiquitous as it once was but many cities maintain their Áríhwen names and common Áríhwen phrases can still be heard among populations who do not primarily speak the language.
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
lu kí hávú méma kí aginyí lu simú kí vufá pané ké mépi
Pronunciation: /lʌ ki ˈhɑvʊ ˈmema ki ˈagɪɲi lʌ ˈsɪmʊ ki ˈvʌfɑ ˈpane ke ˈmepɪ/
Áríhwen word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p r s t v w x ŋ ɕ ɲ ʍ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	p b		t d			k g
Fricative		f v	s	ɕ		x	h
Approximant					j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	ʍ w

Vowel inventory: a e i ɑ ɛ ɪ ʊ ʌ

	Front	Back
High	i
Near-high	ɪ	ʊ
High-mid	e
Low-mid	ɛ	ʌ
Low	a	ɑ

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: advanced ?
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ŋ	ng
ɲ	ny
ɕ	ç
x	kh
ʍ	hw
j	y
a	a
ɑ	á
e	é
ɛ	e
i	í
ɪ	i
ʊ	ú
ʌ	u

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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: prepositions ?

Nouns

	Masculine	Feminine
Definite	Prefix ja- yavi /ˈjavɪ/ the man	Prefix hɪ- hivu /ˈhɪvʌ/ the woman
Indefinite	No affix vi /vɪ/ a man	No affix vu /vʌ/ a woman

Articles

Áríhwen encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.

Pronouns

1st singular	tá /tɑ/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	fi /fɪ/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	kí /ki/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc)
3rd singular fem	pe /pɛ/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem)
1st plural	ké /ke/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	nya /ɲa/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	yú /jʊ/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	mú /mʊ/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	tá /tɑ/ my
2nd singular	fi /fɪ/ your
3rd singular masc	kí /ki/ his
3rd singular fem	pe /pɛ/ her
1st plural	ké /ke/ our
2nd plural	nya /ɲa/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	yú /jʊ/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	mú /mʊ/ their (fem)

Verbs

	Future
Singular	Prefix jɛ- yetingu /ˈjɛtɪŋʌ/ (I/you/he/she/it) will learn
Plural	Prefix la- latingu /ˈlatɪŋʌ/ (we/they) will learn

Áríhwen uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: mɑ - má tingu /mɑ ˈtɪŋʌ/ learned

Progressive aspect

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

Progressive

Prefix vi- vítingu /ˈvitɪŋʌ/ 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).
Áríhwen uses a standalone particle word for habitual:

Habitual

Particle before the verb: a - a tingu /a ˈtɪŋʌ/ learns

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.
Áríhwen uses the word for ‘already’ áte for the perfect aspect.

Numbers

Áríhwen has a base-10 number system:
1 - nga
2 - vá
3 - ní
4 - pá
5 - pé
6 - ti
7 - nu
8 - kúku
9 - sá
10 - vúnga
100 - táye
1000 - yélekhí

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix pe-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ʍa
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -hi
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -me
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -gɑ
Noun to verb = Suffix -sʌ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ŋʌ
Tending to = Suffix -ɲɑ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ʍɛ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -pi
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -dɑ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix jʊ-
Diminutive = Suffix -ve
Augmentative = Suffix -mʊ

Dictionary

3068 Words.

Root Languages

• Sylvan