Natively known as: mǎlyouf /ˈmɑːljaʊ̯f/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
bu doû maj shû nârde chib bu bǔr shû mâsh zoi wîk goushe[alt]
Pronunciation: /buː doʊ̯ mæʤ ʃʊ ˈnərde ʧiːb buː bʌr ʃʊ məʃ zɔɪ̯ wɪk ˈgaʊ̯ʃe/
Dwarven word order: and stood holding his hat he and turned his wet face to the wind [/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x z ŋ ʃ ʤ ʧ θ
↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Dental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Uvular |
Glottal |
Nasal |
m |
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n |
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ŋ |
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Stop |
p b |
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t d |
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k g |
q |
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Affricate |
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ʧ ʤ |
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Fricative |
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f v |
θ |
s z |
ʃ |
|
x |
|
h |
Approximant |
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j |
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Trill |
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r |
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Lateral approximant |
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l |
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Co-articulated phonemes
↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: aɪ̯ aʊ̯ e eɪ̯ iː juː o oʊ̯ uː æ ɑː ɔɪ̯ ɔː ə ɪ ɪə̯ ʊ ʌ
Diphthongs: aɪ̯ aʊ̯ eɪ̯ juː oʊ̯ ɔɪ̯ ɪə̯
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
High |
iː |
|
uː |
Near-high |
ɪ |
|
ʊ |
High-mid |
e |
|
o |
Mid |
|
ə |
|
Low-mid |
|
|
ʌ ɔː |
Near-low |
æ |
|
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Low |
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|
ɑː |
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress pattern: advanced
Word initial consonants: b d f g j l m n p q r t v w z ʃ ʧ θ
Mid-word consonants: b bb bn br bt bw bʤ d db dg dm dw dx f ff fm fn fp ft fx g gb gj gk gm gn gr gv gx gz gʃ gʤ gʧ h hb hj hk hl hr hv j jd jf jg jn jr js jt jv jz k kd kj kk km kr kt kw kʧ l lb ld lf lg lh lj lk ll ls lt lv lz m mb mf mh mj mk mn mr ms mt mz mʃ mʤ mʧ n nd nf ng nj nm nt nv nw nʃ nʤ p pf pk pp pz pʃ pʧ q qq qt r rd rg rj rk rl rn rx rz rʧ s sb sd sg sl sr ss st sv t tf tg tp tr ts tv tw tx tz tʧ v vb vg vl vm vn w wd wl wp ww wx wʤ x xd xg xh xm xn xr xv xw xz z zb zk zn zp zv zw ŋ ŋb ŋr ŋt ŋz ŋθ ʃ ʃb ʃk ʃl ʃʧ ʤ ʤl ʤm ʧ ʧg ʧn θ θj θl
Word final consonants: b d f g k l n p q r t v w x z ŋ ʃ ʤ θ
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation |
Spelling |
aɪ̯ |
ie |
aʊ̯ |
ou |
eɪ̯ |
ay |
iː |
i |
uː |
u |
æ |
a |
ɔɪ̯ |
oi |
ɔː |
aw |
ɪə̯ |
ia |
ɪ |
î |
ə |
â |
ʊ |
û |
ɑː |
ǎ |
ʌ |
ǔ |
j |
y |
x |
kh |
ŋ |
ng |
ʃ |
sh |
ʤ |
j |
ʧ |
ch |
θ |
th |
V₁ː |
V₁V₁ |
◌̯ |
|
Grammar
Main word order: Verb Object (Prepositional phrase) Subject. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into
Opened the door with a key Mary.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
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.
Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
Plural |
Particle before the noun: gɪx -
gîkh pûwkho /gɪx ˈpʊwxo/
dogs |
Nominative |
No affix
pûwkho /ˈpʊwxo/
dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ-
Else: Prefix ʃæ-
shapûwkho /ˈʃæpʊwxo/
(verb done to) dog |
Genitive |
Prefix ʊ-
ûpûwkho /ˈʊpʊwxo/
dogʼs |
Articles
Dwarven has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
Genitive |
1st singular |
loûf /loʊ̯f/
I |
nǔr /nʌr/
me |
nuw /nuːw/
mine |
2nd singular |
de /de/
you |
choût /ʧoʊ̯t/
you |
she /ʃe/
yours |
3rd singular masc |
chib /ʧiːb/
he, it |
shǎ /ʃɑː/
him, it |
fî /fɪ/
his, its |
3rd singular fem |
sho /ʃo/
she, it |
ǔp /ʌp/
her, it |
tǔth /tʌθ/
hers, its |
1st plural inclusive |
mu /muː/
we (including you) |
fîj /fɪʤ/
us (including you) |
moiq /mɔɪ̯q/
ours (including you) |
1st plural exclusive |
we /we/
we (excluding you) |
po /po/
us (excluding you) |
gie /gaɪ̯/
ours (excluding you) |
2nd plural |
chia /ʧɪə̯/
you all |
bia /bɪə̯/
you all |
thouz /θaʊ̯z/
yours (pl) |
3rd plural |
bâ /bə/
they |
fow /fow/
them |
shû /ʃʊ/
theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular |
tû /tʊ/
my |
2nd singular |
fyu /fjuː/
your |
3rd singular masc |
shû /ʃʊ/
his |
3rd singular fem |
mi /miː/
her |
1st plural inclusive |
nia /nɪə̯/
our (including you) |
1st plural exclusive |
fu /fuː/
our (excluding you) |
2nd plural |
shoûw /ʃoʊ̯w/
your (pl) |
3rd plural |
bî /bɪ/
their |
Verbs
Present |
No affix
nâk /nək/
learn |
Past |
Prefix nuː-
nunâk /ˈnuːnək/
learned |
Remote past |
If starts with vowel: Prefix f-
Else: Prefix fæ-
fanâk /ˈfænək/
learned (long ago) |
Dwarven uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
Future |
Particle before the verb: bæk -
bak nâk /bæk nək/
will learn |
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).
Dwarven uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective |
Particle before the verb: zeɪ̯ -
zay nâk /zeɪ̯ nək/
learns/is learning |
Numbers
Dwarven has a base-20 number system:
1 -
la
2 -
qîp
3 -
dǔ
4 -
gǔsh
5 -
shǔwwîg
6 -
lap
7 -
dâ
8 -
zak
9 -
mî
10 -
mâ
11 -
newa
12 -
raw
13 -
dîkhwî
14 -
shǎkhoû
15 -
tîpfe
16 -
tâj
17 -
chiaj
18 -
qokh
19 -
moûju
20 -
qiaru
21 -
la bu qiaru “one and twenty”
400 -
la thia “one fourhundred”
401 -
la thia bu la “one fourhundred and one”
800 -
qîp thia “two fourhundred”
8000 -
la zûv “one eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix deɪ̯-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix f-
Else: Prefix fjuː-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix oʊ̯-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix gaɪ̯-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix tjuː-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix dʌ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix f-
Else: Prefix fɔː-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pæ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ʊ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix tɔː-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix oʊ̯-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jə-
Diminutive = Prefix ə-
Augmentative = Prefix be-
Written Form
The text is written typically in a counter clockwise pattern but can be adjusted to fit more sounds in, as long as you can in essence read it left to right.
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