Onkara Röddet

Introduction to the language

The name 'Onkara Röddet' is the endonym by which the Skaura Orohlen refer to their language. Like with other Orohlen, their language is not derived from the original language of the Len, Tamôl. Its origins lie within the Central Eastern Erana language family making it a relative of the Tarrabaenian languages, Duinis Éch, some of the Andaperna languages and the regional outliers of the language family, the Šeljōt Felh languages in northwestern Erana. What can be said with some certainty is that the language is rather old and conservative, since the modern day language only differs slightly from older stages of the language that have been preserved in some places as inscriptions for example.

The Onkara Röddet is an inflected language with a rich morphology. All subcategories of nouns as well as verbs are inflected, while all the other words are particles of different types and cannot be inflected.

The language is spoken exclusively by the Skaura Orohlen in the Skaura Hrís. There might be remnants of the language in smaller communities in the original homelands of the Skaura Orohlen in the Austara Hrís or south or east of that area. As the Skaura Orohlen engage in trade with neighbouring peoples, some non-Skaura-Orohlen know their language to some extent and some vocabulary of the language has made its way into the neighbouring languages. Some Skaura Orohlen who left the Skaura Hrís also live in the diaspora and cultivate and practice their language and elements of their culture together.

Phonetics

Vowels

Onkara Röddet has an eight vowel system and differentiates between a long and a short version of most of them. Here is an overview (in transcription) with the corresponding pronunciation in IPA (in brackets):

short	a (ɑ)	ä (æ) (rare)	e (e/allophone ɛ)	i (i)	o (ɔ)	ö (ø)	u (u)	y (y)
long	á (ɑː)	æ (æː)	é (eː)	í (iː)	ó (ɔː)	œ (øː)	ú (uː)	ý (yː)

Diphthongs

The vowels above can form three diphthongs which are considered to be of long quantity:

au (aʊ̯⁠)

ei (⁠ɛɪ̯)

ey (ɔʏ̯⁠)

Consonants

The consonants of Onkara Röddet are divided in two classes: obstruents and resonants. These fall into subclasses, with the obstruents being divided into plosives, fricatives and - to a very limited degree - affricates. Resonants are divided into nasals, liquids and semivowels. Whereas the plosives have a voiceless and aspirated version opposing an voiced and unaspirated version, some fricatives are voiced, others voiceless and resonants exist only as a voiced version. In addition some of the consonants can also be either labialised and/or palatalised.

		Obstruents
class	voiced	voiceless	labialised or palatalised
plosives	b, d, g		dv, gv, bj, dj, gj
		p, t, k, ʔ	tv, kv, tj, kj, pj
fricatives	ð
		þ, s, h, f	þv, þj, sv, sj, hv, hj
affricates		z, x

	Resonants
class	voiced	labialised or palatalised
nasals	m, n	mj, nj
liquids	r, l	rj, lj
semivowels	j, v

Phonotactics, stress and alternations

Syllable structure
The syllable structure of Onkara Röddet is made up of three parts: onset [O], nucleus [N] and coda [K]. Of these, onset and nucleus are obligatory, the coda may be missing.
This leaves two possible syllable structures: [[O][N]] and [[O][N][K]]. There are specific rules as to how these parts can be occupied.

Onset:
The onset has to be taken by either a single consonant, semivowel or by a consonant cluster. In the written language in the runic script and the transcription there is no letter indicating the glottal stop. It is, however, the onset of every syllable that seemingly starts with a vowel. Otherwise the onset may be constructed as follows:
A single consonant with the exception of ð, but otherwise no restriction as to which consonant it can be (includes labialised and palatalised consonants). Examples: ók (and, also), tjá (dew)
A consonant cluster made up of two consonants with an initial non-palatalised and non-labialised obstruent followed by a resonant which may be palatalised. Examples: knjœ (knee), tré (wood)
A consonant cluster made up of two consonants with an initial s followed by p, t, k, m, n or l, which may be palatalised or labialised. Examples: spjú (foam, bubbles), slavr (slave)
A consonant cluster made up of two consonants with an initial h followed by a nasal or liquid which may be palatalised. Examples: hnéga (to kneel)
A consonant cluster made up of two consonants with an initial f followed by a liquid which may be palatalised. Example: frjár (free)
A consonant cluster made up of three consonants with an initial s followed by p, t or k followed by a nasal or liquid which may be palatalised. Example: sprjekk (pimple)

Nucleus:
The nucleus allows for a long or short vowel or a diphthong without any restrictions.

Coda:
The coda does not allow for palatalisation or labialisation. It may otherwise be taken by any single consonant except þ, h or ʔ.
The coda can also be a consonant cluster following certain rules:
A consonant cluster consisting of a nasal or liquid followed by any consonant except ʔ, þ or h. Example: fjölð (herd (of horses, sheep...) 
When the cluster starts with n, only d, t, g, k, s, f, z or x may follow. Example: drank (beverage, potion) 
When it starts with m, only d, t, b, p or z may follow. Example: imp (a small but dangerous subterranean creature)
A consonant cluster may also start with an obstruent other than ʔ, þ, x or z and be followed by s, r, l or n. Example: sums (sometimes, in parts, by/with some people)
Consonant clusters in the coda position can also be geminated dd, gg, pp, tt, kk, ss. Example: rödd (language)
A consonant cluster consisting of three consonants is either a nasal or liquid followed by any consonant except ʔ, þ or h followed by r or l or it is one of the geminated consonants followed by r or l. Examples: réttr (mediator, referee), gangl (chick, duckling)

Stress

Morphemes in Onkara Röddet can be mono- or disyllabic. Compounds can be made up of up to two roots and thus be di-, tri- or tetrasyllabic. There are two types of stress: primary stress, which is always put on the first syllable of a morpheme and secondary stress, which is put on the first syllable of the second morpheme of a compound, if the first morpheme is disyllabic.

Alternations

Onkara Röddet is rich in alternations, which either occurred diachronically and are now a manifest part of the language or occur synchronically, due to recombinations of sounds. These may also sometimes cancel or add to other alternations, which have occurred diachronically.

Apophonies:
One of the most prevalent features are the apophonies of which there are three:

The i-umlaut is the most prevalent form of the apophonies in Onkara Röddet as it affects the widest array of vowels. The general rule is, that some vowels followed by either i or its allophone j are fronted, resulting in a different vocalism. The i-umlaut is caused by the short as well as long version of the vowel. This may have occurred diachronically, leaving traces evidenced by the presence of reverse umlauts. In general the following vowels umlaut like this:

without i-umlaut	a	á	o	ó	u	ú
with i-umlaut	e	æ	ö	œ	y	ý

Examples: pott (pot; nom./acc. sg. n.) - pött nom./acc. pl. n.) ; hag (grove, bosk; nom./acc. sg. n.) - heg (nom./acc. pl. n.)

The second umlaut is the u-umlaut, which is also very common, though affecting a smaller array of vowels. As with i and j, the u-umlaut may also be caused by v, the allophone of u and by the long ú. Also comparable to the i-umlaut, the u-umlaut might have occured diachronically, potentially causing reverse umlauts in the current language. The following table shows the u-umlauts:

without u-umlaut	a	á	i
with u-umlaut	ö	œ	y

Examples: œs (female sheep; nom. sg. f.) - ás (Gen. Sg. f.) ; ráð (dominion; nom./acc. sg. n.) - rœð (nom./acc. pl. n.)

The third one is the a-umlaut, which occured diachronically and shows as a what seems to be an irregularity in some paradigms of inflectable words. Other than the name suggests, the a-umlaut can not only be caused by a and á, but also be caused by m or n following the affected vowels directly, but only if the nasal is either geminated or followed by an obstruent. The a-umlaut does not take place, if an a that would cause it is preceeded by a semivowel, which then overrides its effects. Only four vowels are affected, as shown here:

without a-umlaut	i	í	u	ú
with a-umlaut	e	é	o	ó

Examples: nemm (to take; imp. sg. of 'nema') - nimó (1. sg. ind. pres. act.) ; ísti (kidney; nom./acc. sg. n.) - éstna (gen. pl. n.)

Under the apophonies also falls a phenomenon called breaking. This is also a diachronical as well as synchronical phenomenon which occurs only in one specific case with two variations. Other than the aforementioned umlauts which in all cases preserve the original quantity of the affected vowel, the effect of breaking is a diphthongisation by palatalisation and thus lengthens a formerly short monophthong. As with the umlauts, the breaking can be reversed, should the causing conditions no longer apply. The breaking occurs as indicated here:

without breaking	e or é
with breaking caused by a	ja
with breaking caused by u	jö

Examples: gjalla (call, shout; infinitive) - gjöllúm (1. sg. ind. pres. pf. act.) ; snjö (snow; nom./acc. sg. n.) - snér* (gen. sg. n.)
*The genitive of snjö is punctually irregular.

Epentheses, other insertions and elisions and articulatory approximations

There are two cases which can be considered epentheses in Onkara Röddet. One is the insertion of a dental occusive (d or t), the other is the insertion of a labial occlusive (b or p). These insertions occur always, when certain consonants get into contact with one another. There is also one case in which preaspiration occurs as well as some elisions. Also sometimes vowels or consonants can be approximated in their manner of articulation or place of articulation to make pronunciation easier. These phenomena are shown in this overview:

s + r > str
n + l > ndl
n + r > ndr
m + f > mpf
m + s > mps
m + r > mbr

There is also preaspiration, but only in front of geminated t and only if the geminated t is a natural part of a morphem and not by combination of two morphemes.

In nominative singular masculinum there is often the ending -r, causing an assimilation in three cases:
l + r > ll
n + r > nn
s + r > ss
  In nominative singular femininum the characteristic -s-ending causes assimilations, too:
n + s > vowel lengthening + s
ð + s > ss
The nominative and accusative singular neutrum are characterised by an ending in -t which causes one assimilation:
n + t > tt
  The three remaining, general assimilations include:
dental assimilations: ðð, dð, ðd > dd; ðt, tð > tt; dt, td > tt 
velar assimilations: nk, gk > kk
approximating consonantic realisation: n + ð > nd
f + t > pt (irregular, depending on speaker/dialect)

Morphology

Onkara Röddet has 10 parts of speech. Nominals and adjacent are one group of parts of speech can be inflected. This includes noun, adjectives, pronouns and articles. The other group of parts of speech that can be inflected are verbs. The participles, which share characteristics of nominals and verbs alike are the third group of parts of speech that can be inflected. The other parts of speech cannot be inflected. These are: adverbs*, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

*adverbs derived from adjectives have a system of comparison, too.

Nominals and adjacent parts of speech and their characteristics

Nominals and adjacent parts of speech in Onkara Röddet have three main grammatical categories for the inflexion: case, number and gender. These categories apply universally to all of these parts of speech.

The case system
Onkara Röddet has a case system consisting of six cases. Their functions and endings are shown here:

case	endings (sg. |du. |pl.)	functions
nominative	-a, -r, -s, -t, -i, -u, -o, -∅ |-o, -e, -i, -é, -ó |-i, -r, -ir, -is, -ja, -és, -u, -∅	agent of sentences in the active voice, patient of sentences in the passive voice
genitive	-a, -é, -s, -és, -el, -ar, -á, -í, -i, -u |-ós, -ór, -ás, -ár, -jó, -já, -jé, -res, -ol |-a, -na, -ra	possession, quality, partitive, (seldom) direct object
dative-locative	-a, -á, -i, -í, -ú, -u, -∅ |-mó, -má, -mé, -ró, -rá, -ré, -ú, -ó, -í |-ju, -jum, -jú, -júm, -ís, -ús	indirect object, benefit, harm, purpose, (seldom) agent, (seldom) direct object, place of existence or occurrence, point in time of existence or occurence
accusative-allative	-a, -i, -an, -en, -in, -on, -un, -nen, -t, -u, -∅ |-a, -o, -e, -é, -sá, -só |-ár, -ír, -és, ós, -ús, -∅	direct object, direction, stretch in time/space, relation, comparison
ablative-instrumental	-a, -i, -að, -ad, -úð, -úd, -án, -ín, -ún, -u |-en, -én, -bjá, -bjé, -ðen, -ðan, -ten, -tan, óz, -áz, -éz |-ód, -úd, -íd, -ðaz, -taz, ðiz, -tiz, ðez, -tez	separation, origin, agent, instrument, cause, manner, (seldom) quality, (seldom) direct object
vocative	-á, -é, -í |-a, -o, -e, -é |-rád, -réd, -ríd, -rás, -rés, -rís, -és	address

Grammatical number

There are three numbers in Onkara Röddet: Singular, Dual and Plural. The paradigms are somewhat defective in regard of numbers though, with the Dual only appearing in nouns and pronouns and - when used as nominals - adverbs. While singular is applied to one and plural to many, the dual is used in a generalised way for pronouns, but almost only for what appears naturally in pairs for nouns.

Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is made up of four categories, which are used as follows:

gender	application
masculinum	exclusively reserved for male beings with the gift of reason, male fictitious characters, male gods and spirits and male animals
femininum	exclusively reserved for female beings with the gift of reason, female fictitious characters, female gods and spirits and female animals
utrum	exclusively used in singular for some collective nouns encompassing animate beings and duals or plurals for groups or pairs of beings with the gift of reason, fictitious characters, gods and spirits and animals with at least one male and one female or neutral in that group or pair and for religious experts in some circumstances
neutrum	exclusively used for all concrete or abstract inanimate objects, some special collective nouns encompassing animate beings as well and beings with the gift of reason, fictitious characters, gods or spirits and animals that cannot be assigned a gender or don't want to be assigned a gender and for religious experts in some circumstances

Noun

Nouns fall into two declension classes: strong and weak. Characteristic of the strong declension class is the variety of endings throughout the whole paradigm, whereas the weak declension class only shows a limited amount of endings, most often with the nominative as the one form differing from the others in the singular. Always with neutra, sometimes with feminina the accusative is identical to the nominative. In dual and plural the case is more complicated with dual forms sharing the same vocalism and weak plural forms sharing the same ending in the nominative, accusative and vocative.
The declension classes have several paradigms, depending on the stem-ending vowel or consonant (which often has been lost diachronically).

strong a-stems (masculine and neutral nouns)
Examples: bóbr (m., boy), lauk (n., plot of land)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	bób-r |lauk-	bób-o |lauk-o	bœb-i |lauk-r
genitive	bób-s |lauk-s	bób-ór |lauk-ór	bób-a |lauk-a
dative-locative	bœb-í |lauk-í	bób-ró |lauk-ró	bób-ís |lauk-ís
accusative-allative	bób-an |lauk-an	bób-o |lauk-o	bób-ár |lauk-r
ablative-instrumental	bób-að |lauk-at	bób-ðan |lauk-tan	bœb-íd |lauk-íd
vocative	bób-á |lauk-á	bób-o |lauk-o	bób-rás |lauk-rás

strong o-stems (feminine)
Examples: meit (f., girl), kvenn (f., woman)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	meit- |kvenn-	meit-o |kvenn-o	meit-és |kvenn-és
genitive	meit-ar |kvenn-ar	meit-ós |kvenn-ós	meit-a |kvenn-a
dative-locative	meit-á |kvenn-á	meit-ó |kvenn-ó	meit-jum |kvenn-jum
accusative-allative	meit-on |kvenn-on	meit-só (> meizó)| kvenn-só (> kvenzó)	meit-és |kvenn-és
ablative-instrumental	meit-ad |kvenn-að	meit-tan |kvenn-tan	meit-ód |kvenn-ód
vocative	meit-á |kvenn-á	meit-o |kvenn-o	meit-és |kvenn-és

strong u-stems (feminine, utrum and neutral)
Examples: œs^ (f., female sheep), fjölð* (u., herd of horses, sheep, cattle or goats), fjó^ (n., cattle, wealth, movable property)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	œ-s |fjölð- |fjó-	é |felð-i |fjœ	œ |fjölð-u |fjó-
genitive	á-r |fjalð-ar |fjó-s°	á-s |fjalð-ás |fjó-ás	á-na |fjalð-na (> fjalna)+ |fjó-na
dative-locative	œ |fjölð-ú |fjó	œ |fjölð-ú |fjó	é-jum |felð-jum |fjœ-jum
accusative-allative	œ-n |fjölð-un |fjó-	á-só |fjölð-só (> fjölzó) |fjó-só	œ-s |fjölð-ús |fjó-
ablative-instrumental	œ |fjölð-ú |fjó-	á-ðan |fjölð-ðan (> fjölðan) |fjó-ðan	œ-d |fjölð-úd |fjó-úd (> fjód)
vocative	á |fjalð-á | fjó-á	á |fjalð-á| fjó-á	é-s |felð-és |fjó-rés

^u-stem nouns with stems ending in a vowel have a tendency to incorporate or assimilate (or diachronically have incorporated or assimilated) following vowels, resulting in a wide variety of vocalisms in the stem, resulting always with long vowels, due to the addition of vowel length
*fjölð shows the typical examples of breaking with endings containing i (or its allophone j) cancelling the effects of original u and endings beginning with a (or á) overriding the u-breaking with an a-breaking
°neutral u-stems ending in a vowel form the genitive singular with -s instead of -ar in analogy to the a-stems
+the a-breaking here is an irregularity and might have resulted as a form of analogy from nasals sometimes causing a-breaking (for the rules see above)

strong i-stems (masculine, feminine and utrum)
Examples: egilir (m., (constricting) snake), egilis (f., (venomous) snake), gleimi (u., a kind of religious specialist)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	egili-r |egili-s |gleimi-	egilj-o |egilj-é |gleimj-e	egilj-és |egilj-és |gleimj-és
genitive	egili-s |egilj-ar |gleimj-u	egilj-ós |egilj-ór |gleimi-res	egilj-a |egili-na |gleimi-na
dative-locative	egilj-ú |egilj-á |gleimi-í (>gleimí)	egilj-ó |egilj-ó |gleimi-ré	egili-ís (>egilís) |egilj-ús |gleimj-ús
accusative-allative	egili-in (>egilín) |egili-in (>egilín) |gleimi-	egilj-on |egilj-é |gleimj-e	egilj-és |egilj-és |gleimj-és
ablative-instrumental	egilj-ún |egilj-án |gleimi-ín (>gleimín)	egili-ðan |egili-ðen |gleimi-bjé	egili-íd (>egilíd) |egilj-úd |gleimj-úd
vocative	egili-í (>egilí) |egilj-é |gleimi-í (>gleimí)	egilj-o |egili-é |gleimj-e	egilj-és |egilj-és |gleimj-és

While the words 'bróðr' (brother) and 'sestr' (sister) do not have the characteristic -i-ending of the stem and 'sestr' ends on an atypical '-r' in the nom. sg., these words are both inflected like strong i-stems. They show another irregularity in that the '-r' ending them is stable in all forms. (Example: gen. dual of 'sestr': 'sestrór')
strong guttural and dental consonant stems (utrum and neutrum)
Examples: flokk (u., swarm of birds or other flying vertebrates), pott (n., pot)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	flokk- |pott-	flokk-o |pott-o	flökk-r |pött-
genitive	flokk-u |pott-s	flokk-jó |pott-jó	flokk-ra |pott-na
dative-locative	flökk-í |pött-í	flokk-ó |pott-ó	flökk-júm |pött-júm
accusative-allative	flokk- |pott-	flokk-só |pott-só	flokk-ós |pött-
ablative-instrumental	flökk-ín |pött-ín	flokk-tan |pott-tan	flokk-ód |pott-ód
vocative	flokk-á |pött-í	flokk-o |pott-o	flokk-rás |pott-és

weak a-stems (neutrum)
Example: lunga (n., lung)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	lung-a	lung-é	lyng-i
genitive	lung-a	lyng-jé	lung-a
dative-locative	lung-a	lung-ré	lyng-ís
accusative-allative	lung-a	lung-é	lung-ár
ablative-instrumental	lung-a	lung-én	lyng-íd
vocative	lung-á	lung-é	lung-rás

weak i-stems (utrum and neutrum)
Examples: þýðja (u., people, inhabitants), gær (n., clothes, attire)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	þýðj-a |gær-	þýðj-é |gær-é	þýðj-és |gær-
genitive	þýð-i |gærj-a	þýðj-jé (>þýðjé) |gær-jé	þýði-na |gær-na
dative-locative	þýð-i |gærj-a	þýð-ré |gær-ré	þýðj-ús |gær-júm
accusative-allative	þýð-i |gær-	þýðj-é |gær-é	þýðj-és |gær-
ablative-instrumental	þýð-i |gærj-a	þýðj-én |gærj-én	þýðj-úd |gærj-úd
vocative	þýð-í |gærj-á	þýðj-é |gærj-é	þýðj-és |gærj-és

weak sigmatic and dental consonant stems (masculine, feminine, utrum, neutral)
Examples: bœndi (m., farmer), kleymunda (f., victress), þómps (u., a special kind of jury), hemps (n., winter, storm)

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	bœnd-i |kleymund-a |þómps- |hemps-	bónd-o |kleymund-o |þómps-é |hemps-é	bónd-és |kleymund-és |þómps-u |hjömps-u
genitive	bónd-a |kleymund-u |þómps-u |hjamps-a	bónd-ór |kleymund-ós |þómps-jé |hemps-jé	bónd-na |kleymund-na |þómps-na |hjamps-na
dative-locative	bónd-a |kleymund-u |þómps-u |hjamps-a	bónd-ró |kleymund-ó |þómps-ré (>þómpstré) |hemps-ré (>hempstré)	bœnd-ju |kleymynd-ju |þómps-ju |hemps-ju
accusative-allative	bónd-a |kleymund-u |þómps-u |hemps-	bónd-o |kleymund-só (> kleymunzó) |þómps-é |hemps-é	bónd-ús |kleymund-és |þómps-ár |hjömps-u
ablative-instrumental	bónd-a |kleymund-u |þómps-u |hjamps-a	bónd-tan (> bóntan) |kleymund-tan (> kleymuntan) |þómps-én |hemps-én	bónd-ód |kleymynd-íd |þómps-úd |hjömps-úd
vocative	bœnd-í |kleymund-á |þómps-á |hjamps-á	bónd-o |kleymund-o |þómps-é |hemps-é	bónd-rés |kleymund-rés | þómps-rés (>þómpstrés) |hemps-rés (>hempstrés)

The article

There is only a definite article in Onkara Röddet which is enclitic, but does not cause any alternations that might otherwise be caused by other elements of inflexion. The paradigm is fixed and - though having some irregularities within itself - does not show irregularities in application.

case	singular	dual	plural
nominative	(h)er |(h)es |(h)et	(d/t)ö |(d/t)ó |(d/t)ö	(i)sir |(i)sis |(i)sja
genitive	(h)és |(h)é |(h)és	(d/t)ojá |(d/t)ojó |(d/t)ojá	(i)ssa |(i)ssa |(i)ssa
dative-locative	(h)a |(h)jö |(h)a	(d/t)omá |(d/t)omó |(d/t)omá	(i)sju |(i)sju |(i)sju
accusative-allative	(h)en |(h)enen |(h)et	(d/t)va |(d/t)ó |(d/t)ö	(i)sír |(i)sír |(i)sja
ablative-instrumental	(h)að |(h)öð |(h)að	(d/t)váz |(d/t)óz |(d/t)váz	(i)stiz |(i)stiz |(i)staz

Adjectives

Adjectives have one paradigm for weak inflections and one for strong inflections. The weak inflection is more frequently used as it applies to all adjectives which serve as attributes to determined nouns. Nouns are considered determined, when they are either accompanied by an article, a possessive pronoun or anaphoric demonstratives. Onkara Röddet is very clear with its distinction between determination and non-determination, so the rules apply with no exception.

It should be noted, that adjectives show up only in singular or plural forms with the plural forms applying to a dual noun as well. This is explained by the dual becoming more and more vestigial and the nouns being sufficiently determined in regard to their grammatical number by the articles and their own endings. Also adjectives with stems ending in a vowel (long or short or a diphthong) never show an umlaut and have a characteristic consonant insertion when getting an ending that starts with a vowel, too.

Paradigm for the strong inflection of adjectives

Examples: angr (daunting, intimidating), véðr (wide, spacious), spár (foreboding, auspicious)

case and number	masculine	feminine	utrum	neutrum
nominative sg.	ang-r véð-r* spá-r	ang- víð- spá-	öng-~ ýð- spá-	ang-t víð-t (> vítt) spá-t
genitive sg.	ang-s véð-s spá-s	ang-ar véð-ar spá-sar^	öngv-ar ýðv-ar spá-r	ang-s víð-s spá-s
dative-locative sg.	eng-í víð-í spá-rí°	ang-á véð-á spá-sá	öng-ú ýð-ú spá-dú#	eng-í víð-í spá-tí%
accusative-allative sg.	ang-an véð-an spá-ran	ang-on víð-on spá-son	öng-un ýð-un spá-dun	ang-t víð-t (> vítt) spá-t
ablative-instrumental sg.	ang-ad véð-ad spá-rad	ang-að véð-að spá-sað	öng-ú ýð-ú spá-dú	ang-at véð-at spá-tat
vocative sg.	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX
nominative pl.	eng-ir víð-ir spá-rir	ang-és víð-és spá-sés	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	eng-r+ víð-r spá-r
genitive pl.	ang-ra véð-ra spá-ra	ang-a véð-a spá-sa	ang-na véð-na spá-na	eng-a víð-a spá-ta
dative-locative pl.	eng-jum víð-jum spá-jum	eng-jum víð-jum spá-jum	eng-jum víð-jum spá-jum	eng-jum víð-jum spá-jum
accusative-allative pl.	ang-ár véð-ár spá-rár	ang-és víð-és spá-sés	öng-ús ýð-ús spá-dús	eng-r víð-r spá-r
ablative-instrumental pl.	ang-ðaz véð-ðaz (>véðaz) spá-ðaz	ang-ód víð-ód spá-sód	öng-úd ýð-úd spá-dúd	eng-íd víð-íd spá-tíd
vocative pl.	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX

*Adjectives in masculine show an a-umlaut in the stem for historical reasons. Every vowel/semivowel that shows up in an ending that could cancel this a-umlaut does so.
°The masculine declension inserts a r in front of an ending starting with a vowel/diphthong.

^Adjectives in feminine show no standard umlaut, except when the ending demands it. They do, however show an unexpected a-umlaut with the right endings. Also the feminine declension inserts a s in front of an ending starting with a vowel/diphthong.
~Adjectives in utrum show an u-umlaut if possible for historical reasons. Utra even conserved the umlaut-causing u as the allophone v in front of endings starting with a vowel. Otherwise the umlaut is overridden if possible. %Adjectives in neutrum show no diachronic, only synchronic umlaut in singular and insert a t in front of endings starting with a vowel.
+Adjectives in neutrum plural always show an i-umlaut if possible that can never be overridden by a vowel of the ending.


Paradigm for the weak inflection of adjectives
Examples: angr (daunting, intimidating), véðr (wide, spacious), spár (foreboding, auspicious)

case	masculine	feminine	utrum	neutrum
nominative sg.	ang-i víð-i spá-ri	ang-a véð-a spá-ra	ang- véð- spá-	ang- véð- spá-
genitive sg.	ang-a véð-a spá-ra	öng-u ýð-u spá-su	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	ang-a véð-a spá-ta
dative-locative sg.	ang-a véð-a spá-ra	öng-u ýð-u spá-su	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	ang-a véð-a spá-ta
accusative-allative sg.	ang-a véð-a spá-ra	öng-u ýð-u spá-su	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	ang- víð- spá-
ablative-instrumental sg.	ang-a véð-a spá-ra	öng-u ýð-u spá-su	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	ang-a véð-a spá-ta
nominative pl.	ang-és víð-és spá-rés	ang-és víð-és spá-sés	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	öng-u ýð-u spá-tu
genitive pl.	ang-na véð-na spá-na	ang-na véð-na spá-na	ang-na véð-na spá-na	ang-na véð-na spá-na
dative-locative pl.	eng-ju víð-ju spá-ju	eng-ju víð-ju spá-ju	eng-ju víð-ju spá-ju	eng-ju víð-ju spá-ju
accusative-allative pl.	öng-ús ýð-ús spá-rús	ang-és víð-és spá-sés	öng-u ýð-u spá-du	öng-u ýð-u spá-tu
ablative-instrumental pl.	ang-ód víð-ód spá-ród	eng-íd víð-íd spá-síd	öng-úd ýð-úd spá-dúd	öng-úd ýð-úd spá-túd

Comparison

Comparison on Onkara Röddet is in most cases expressed with affixes. There are some irregular adjectives (and adverbs) though, which have suppletive paradigms. Onkara Röddet has three degrees of comparison:

1. the basic form called positive with no extra affixes

2. the comparative which either has the affix -ar- (adjectives of class I) or -(i)r- (adjectives of class II) attached to the stem, with the latter causing an i-umlaut if possible

3. the superlative with the affix -(a)st- regardless of adjective class

The inflexion of the comparative and the superlative follows the weak and strong inflexions of the adjectives given above. While all degrees of comparison can be inflected in both ways, there is a distinct difference in meaning when it comes to the comparative and the superlative:

Comparative in weak declension is used to compare two objects with one another. It is also used with determinatives which relate the head the determinative modifies to an object.

Example: minn eldri bróðr - my older brother (eg. a brother older than me)

Comparative in strong declension is used as an intensifier of the quality the adjective expresses.

Example: lopt nýrt - a relatively new house

Superlative in strong declension is used in all situations where the comparison is absolute or in relation to something.

Example: nýst lopt / ella loptna nýst - the newest hut / the newest hut of all

Superlative in weak declension is used like an elative. It must be noted though, that this use is rare and many speakers of Onkara Röddet use the superlative in strong declension to express an elative as well.

Example: nýsta lopt - a very new house

If not otherwise derived from adjectives by suffixes, the accusative singular neutrum of the positive and superlative in strong declension can be used as adverbs. Of comparatives the accusative plural neutrum serves as an adverb, also in strong declension.

Verbs

Verbs in Onkara Röddet can be categorised in different ways. Here they are divided by function as follows:

Copulative verbs: There are three copulative verbs in Onkara Röddet, one of which is durative (era), the second stative (stéra) and the third transformative (bura). While the durative and the stative copula supplete in part each others inflexion paradigms (besides other language-historically caused phenomena and irregularities).

Copulative verbs links the subject of a sentence to a predicative complement. The result is either an equation of the subject and its complement or an attribution of properties to the subject. The complement is called predicative, because in a sense it expresses how the subject behaves or acts.

Auxiliary verbs: Auxiliary verbs bear no meaning on their own (unless they are not used as auxiliaries). There purpose is to convey grammatical information in a sentence. The four auxiliary verbs are the aforementioned, also copulative verbs to express states of being or progressive forms (era and stéra) as well as a verb to form an analytical perfect and pluperfect (hafa) and passive (þola).

Modal verbs: This group of verbs is used to convey different modalities in which the act performed in a sentence takes place. Onkara Röddet only has one mode that can be expressed by inflexion, which is used in a variety of grammatical functions, but modal verbs are the way by which actual modality is shown. These verbs span over a variety of meanings, for example ability (kanna) or intention (vella).

Lexical verbs: Although by definition copulative verbs also include copulative words, the sense here is a bit more narrow so the term only includes verbs with an actual meaning and express some kind of action and also carry the characteristic of having some kind of transitivity (or even intransitivity).

Grammatical categories of verbs

Verbs appear in two states: as infinite forms and as finite forms. Infinite forms of the verb are the infinitive present and infinitive preterite as well as the two participles - present active participle and preterite passive participle. Historically the infinitives used to be substantival. This still shows in the current language with the infinitives being substantivised by adding an article albeit the infinitive itself cannot be inflected.

The uses of the infinite verb forms are shown here:

form	ending and inflexion	function / use
infinitive present	-a no inflexion, except the accompanying article	lexical verb in conjunction with auxiliar verbs after verbs that demand an infinitive predicate in an accusativus cum infinitivo noun (if preceeded by an article)
infinitive preterite	-esa no inflexion, except the accompanying article	lexical verb in conjunction with auxiliar verbs after verbs that demand an infinitive predicate in an accusativus cum infinitivo noun (if preceeded by an article)
present active participle	-nd-i /-nd-a / -nd- /-nd- inflexion follows the weak adjectives or weak dental stems of nouns	lexical verb in conjunction with auxiliar verbs noun adjective
preterite passive participle	-(e)d/t-r inflexion follows the strong adjectives	lexical verb in conjunction with auxiliar verbs noun adjective

The finite forms of verbs encode six grammatical categories: person, number, mode, tense, aspect and voice. Being an inflecting language, these information can be encoded by attaching verbal conjugation endings, sometimes accompanied by modulation of the stem vowel.

Example: laustrum - 3. pers. pl. ind. pres. imperf. act. (from 'laustra' - to listen to, to hearken)

The person deixis, as shown above with the pronouns, is tripartite: 1st, 2nd and 3rd person. The number can be either singular, dual or plural, with the paradigm being defective in dual. Onkara Röddet has three modes: indicative, imperative and optative, with the indicative being mainly used in main clauses and the optative mainly in subordinate clauses, depending on the construction. The two tenses expressed through inflexion are present tense and preterite tense. Verbs also show aspect, with imperfective and perfective being present. Lastly, the voice can be either active or medio-passive.

Functions of the respective categories

Person deixis

The deixis of Onkara Röddet is tripartite not only in the pronouns, but also in the verb inflection. A first person (I, the both of us, we), a second person (you, the two of you, you (all)) and a third person (he, she, it, they) exist and are represented in the verbal endings.

Number

The three numbers present in Onkara Röddet are all represented in the verbal inflection. Most verb forms reflect this with the exeption of the imperative mode which is not present in the first person in general.

Mode

Of the modes, the indicative mode shows in most cases a factual reality in main as well as subordinate clauses. Exceptions will be discussed in the syntax section of this grammar. The optative mode originally was used to express wishes and desires. In contemporary Onkara Röddet it has adapted a wide array of modes, like potentialis, assumptative and others, depending on the construction of a complex sentence (also: see syntax section). The last mode is the imperative mode, which is used to express an order or an instruction. The imperative, as mentioned above, is defective and only present in the 2nd and 3rd person. It can also adapt other functions which will be discussed later as well.

Tense

While the verbal inflection only shows present and past with present and preterite tense respectively, Onkara Röddet also has a future tense, which is formed with a coniugatio periphrastica with an array of auxiliary or modal verbs. Tense plays a pivotal role in the construction of complex sentences and will be discussed in the syntax section as well.

Aspect

Verbal inflection shows two distinct aspects, with the imperfective aspect can take on iterative, durative and ingressive functions. The perfective aspect on the other hand expresses completion of an action, the state reached by this completion or the succesful completion of an action. Onkara Röddet pays meticulous attention to aspect. This will also be discussed later.

Voice

The use of the active voice in Onkara Röddet is quite straightforward. It is used, when the subject of a sentence is likewise the agent of that sentence. This is true for all verbs, intransitive, transitive and ditransitive.
The mediopassive voice has four distinct functions.
(1) It can express the passive voice, when the subject of the sentence is the patient of the verbal action.
(2) It can be used to show reflexiveness of the verbal action with it having an effect on the subject of the sentence itself.
(3) The mediopassive voice also functions to express reciprocity, when the subject are two or more individuals or groups affecting each other with the verbal action.
(4) In conjunction with a noun in dative case it is used to stress someone or something as the beneficiary of an action.
(5) A group of mostly intransitive verbs always has the mediopassive voice but the verb is always used as if it were in the active voice.
All these cases will be discussed in the syntax section as well.

Conjugation classes

In regards to verb conjugation verbs can be divided into four classes with individual characteristics:

Class I - weak verbs:

A characteristic of weak verbs is, that they keep the same stem vowel throughout all paradigms, unless alternations occur. Weak verbs show a special form of preterite, that works with a dental-suffix to form the preterite. Also they inherited different ways of expressing the imperfective or perfective aspect, depending on the subclass, with the imperfective often staying unmarked, but the perfective being expressed by a (subclass a) sigmatic infix or k-infix or (subclass b) reduplication.

Class II - strong verbs:

Strong verbs are characterised by a phenomenon called ablaut. That means, that the stem vowel of the verbs change according to a fixed pattern throughout the paradigm. This ablaut system is enough to express tense as well as aspect. Some of the strong verbs do show a marker for imperfective though.

Class III - preterite-presents:

A small group of verbs are preterite presents, meaning, that they always occur in preterite forms but are used like present verbs. All but one of Onkara Röddets modal verbs belong to this class. They used to be strong verbs, thus showing a different stem vowel in the present tense from the infinitive. To form a preterite form they acquired a secondary preterite that is formed analogous to weak verbs, using the dental-suffix and matching endings.

Class IV - irregular verbs:

There are also five irregular verbs in Onkara Röddet. They show divergences in their inflexions as well as suppletion in parts of their paradigms. Of these five verbs, two are copulative verbs ('era' and 'bura'), the other three are 'réða' (to carry), 'tauja' (to do) and 'aka' (to go). Some other verbs also show punctual irregularities.

Paradigm of the imperfective present active endings for classes I, II and parts of IV

pres. impf. act.	singular	dual	plural
ind. 1st	-m/-am	-vés/-œs	-mr/-umr
ind. 2nd	-r/-ar	-tás/-ás	-ð/-uð
ind. 3rd	-t/-at/-∅	-tés/-és	-n/-un
opt. 1st	(i)-m/(i)-im	(i)-vís/(i)-ís	(i)-mr/(i)-imr
opt. 2nd	(i)-r/(i)-ir	(i)-tjás/(i)-jás	(i)-ð/(i)-ið
opt. 3rd	(i)-t/(i)-it/(i)-∅	(i)-tjés/(i)-jés	(i)-n/-(i)-in
imp. 1st	XXX	XXX	XXX
imp. 2nd	-∅	-tós/-ós	-ð/-uð
imp. 3rd	-to/-eto	XXX	-ten/-eten

(i) indicates an i-umlaut in the stem, if the stem vowel can produce an umlaut, no matter if i is present in the ending or not. In all other cases all apophonies (umlauts and breaking) that would be caused by the vowels in the ending are caused regularly. Examples: gjalla (call, shout; infinitive) - gjöllun (3. pl. ind. pres. impf. act. nága (gnaw; infinitive) - nœgun (3. pl. ind. pres. impf. act.)

Paradigm of the perfective present active endings for classes I, II and parts of IV

pres. pf. act.	singular	dual	plural
ind. 1st	-úm/-súm/-kúm	-ós/-sós/-kós	-ú/-sú/-kú
ind. 2nd	-as/-sas/-kas	-ons/-sons/-kons	-að/-sað/-kað
ind. 3rd	-at/-sat/-kat	-és/-sés/-kés	-er/-ser/-ker
opt. 1st	(i)-in/(i)-sin/(i)-kin	(i)-ýs/(i)-sýs/(i)-kýs	(i)-ý/(i)-sý/(i)-ký
opt. 2nd	(i)-es/(i)-ses/(i)-kes	(i)-jós/(i)-sjós/(i)-kjós	(i)-eð/(i)-seð/(i)-keð
opt. 3rd	(i)-it/(i)-sit/(i)-kit	(i)-jés/(i)-sjés/(i)-kjés	(i)-jer/(i)-sjer/(i)-kjer
imp. 1st	XXX	XXX	XXX
imp. 2nd	-∅	-óse/-sóse/-kóse	-að/-sað/-kað
imp. 3rd	-ato/-sato/-kato	XXX	-ar/-sar/-kar

(i) indicates an i-umlaut in the stem, if the stem vowel can produce an umlaut, no matter if i is present in the ending or not. In all other cases all apophonies (umlauts and breaking) that would be caused by the vowels in the ending are caused regularly. Examples: gjalla (call, shout; infinitive) - gjöllúm (1. sg. ind. pres. pf. act.) ; nága (gnaw; infinitive) - nœkkú (1. pl. ind. pres. pf. act.)

Paradigm of the imperfective preterite active endings for classes I, II and parts of IV

pret. impf. act.	singular	dual	plural
ind. 1st	-n/-en	-∅/-o	-um/-mum
ind. 2nd	-s/-es	-mos/-os	-muð/-umuð
ind. 3rd	-∅/-e	-és/-sés/-kés	-n/-en
opt. 1st	(i)-∅	(i)-é	(i)-im/(i)-mim
opt. 2nd	(i)-ir	(i)-œs/(i)-mœs	(i)-ið/(i)-ðið
opt. 3rd	(i)-i	(i)-ís/(i)-mís	(i)-∅

Paradigm of the perfective preterite active endings for classes I, II and parts of IV

pret. pf. act.	singular	dual	plural
ind. 1st	-ké/-ré -sé/-é	-ko/-ro -so/-o	-kom/-rom -som/-om
ind. 2nd	-ket/-ret -set/-et	-kós/-rós -sós/-ós	-koð/-roð -soð/-oð
ind. 3rd	-ke/-re -se/-e	-kas/-ras -sas/-as	-ké/-ré -sé/-é
opt. 1st	(i)-kim/(i)-rim (i)-sim/(i)-im	(i)-kö/(i)-rö (i)-sö/(i)-ö	(i)-kem/(i)-rem (i)-sem/(i)-em
opt. 2nd	(i)-kis/(i)-ris (i)-sis/(i)-is	(i)-kœs/(i)-rœs (i)-sœs/(i)-œs	(i)-keð/(i)-reð (i)-seð/(i)-eð
opt. 3rd	(i)-kí/(i)-rí (i)-sí/(i)-í	(i)-kes/(i)-res (i)-ses/(i)-es	(i)-kí/(i)-rí (i)-sí/(i)-í