As Olilónien - The Eternal World

The list below is by no means exhaustive and only includes idioms I've heard or seen used, and some I find particularly interesting. The forms presented below are also not the only ones possible, some idioms come in a number of variants (some of which I've included below).

delati/garati kot konj - lit. to work/toil like a horse, ie. to work very hard; eg. Vse dneve dela kot konj, nikoli se ne ustavi. "He works like a horse every day, he never stops."

biti na konju - lit. to be on the horse, ie. to be successful or to reach the goal; eg. Če naredim še zadnji izpit, bom na konju. "If I pass the the final exam, I'll be good to go."

biti na psu - lit. to be on the dog, ie. to be in a terrible situation, especially financially, or to be extremely unlucky; eg. Sosedi so res na psu, ker so vsi izgubili službo. "The neighbours have really hit rock bottom because they've all lost their jobs."

priti/iti s konja na psa/osla/kozo - lit. to go off the horse onto the dog/donkey/goat, ie. to go from a good situation to a bad one; eg. Ne bi se smel vrniti domov, saj sem res šel s konja na kozo. "I shouldn't have returned home because it really took a turn for the worse."

neumen kot konj/bik/pes/tele - lit. (as) dumb as a horse/bull/dog/calf, more commonly neumen kot noč - lit. (as) dumb as the night, ie. to be very stupid; Na tvojem mestu ga ne bi poslušal, neumen je kot konj. "I wouldn't listen to him if I were you, he's as thick as two short planks."

zdrav kot konj - lit. (as) healthy as a horse, more commonly zdrav kot dren - lit. (as) healthy as a cornel; ie. to be in good health; 80 let ima, pa je še vedno zdrav kot konj. "He's 80 but he's still as fit as a fiddle."

gledati kot tele v nova vrata - lit. to stare at the new door door like a calf, ie. to look at something in surprise or to look stupidly at something; eg. Nehaj me gledati kot tele v nova vrata in se spravi k delu! "Stop staring blankly at me and get to work!"

zgrabiti bika za roge - lit. to grab the bull by the horns, ie. to deal decisively with a difficult situation; eg. Ker se ni nihče javil, se je odločila zgrabiti bika za roge in vse organizirati sama. "Because nobody volunteered, she decided to take the bull by the horns and organise everything by herself."

biti lačen kot volk/pes - lit. (as) hungry as a wolf/dog, ie. to be very hungry; eg. Po celodnevnem delu sem lačen kot volk. "After working the whole day I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

(da bo) volk sit in koza cela - lit. (so that) the wolf is full and the goat is whole, ie. to reach a (good) compromise; eg. V trenutni situaciji je to edini način, da bo volk sit in cela. "In the current situation, this is the only way to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds."

iti rakom žvižgat - lit. to go and whistle to the crabs, ie. to die or to be unsccessful, to break down; eg. Stari sosed je končno šel rakom žvižgat. "The old neighbour has finally kicked the bucket."

Thanks to the whole quarantine situation, I was finally able to start working on a new version of my main language, previously known as Lefêvëši, now known as Laefevian in English, and Lefêveši natively. This is effectively the fourth (!!) iteration of the language, although the previous iteration, Lefêvëši, was in use for the longest period and also had by far the largest vocabulary (around nine thousand dictionary entries). 

The fourth iteration, Laefevian, has been wholly overhauled, including phonology, orthography, parts of grammar, and largely vocabulary. The main difference is that Laefevian is now diachronically derived from an ancestor language, known as Proto-Laenkean (eventually I plan to make a whole language family). Laefevian now feels like a more complete and wholesome language, with a lot of history behind its words.

Laefevian has nearly 900 words, which come from about 240 roots (as of writing this post), but the number of both is constantly growing as words are being continuously added. 

I have also finally managed to translate my staple text :The King of Kings! For comparison, the previous version can be found here. Anyhow, the translation is below (side note: <ñ> is pronounced /ŋ/, aka ‘ng’ in ‘sing’).

Eñaht Eñahtas

Men an hulevaddar ossaimi, ejmeš? Va hnohdañweğ? Ompianau ruhnohdañweğ?

Ompian andurrurvas nurnele ôd ollonte sênnurvas hwêltirfêl. Ôlduman saftumad laddakse kau. Lômmain vyn eñaht. Jêr kalla lo eñaht. Stôllava sund, men ah. Os alla Eñaht Eñahtas, huldužêngwi vôrruôn. Uweñahtens alturvas sorjaôn lindirmas ôd suljêt aehtentau, maltaôn jôhtumas ôd ulkudaôn surkumas – vôns-ið as vjau elvent, ogwerse. Kêðej ao veiğ alj, hwaren ôd eai ðêrhos vjauron erğetiron. Nol jønnas, maj le ñarôhka ô tus ynnearêt ôd eavô vallôrul þarwoksi jørkyrad, addo vihvetturvake. Ðahke hwehau eaida mihd hrunwešir, kêddo þittake hwehau kyggau mihd lar.

Vônis minwe as ohlijent – os le idôhkai ôd os lun šohda. Nylent vyn ersorwas ô gwaltir hwallos hlêm vyn alynter. Rokwôin as gwaltiruôn. Men ô min an se, ôspyndel vivô, ejmeš? Hniþ allan ô hniþ hwalôhkaun, maeğ hrannaun, ôdda ohlijent hwallaus imbedekwe ô kwôlpuhdaus hlundade turnau.

Seu as hris ekøhtôtan ô kaltôtan, vjau as spuñihten nurnôtan, mamerwôtan ô mulkudôtan. Kennan njungeda ljôhulad, tê sund le vettake. Miğ kwivintôngwa seude ljôhulgede? Allan lo vjau ðinkeš. Os ah assil dôn eñahtir, alla Eñaht Eñahtas. Vôns lan ymmurvas vynynši. Finaôn eotungwaôn lêstumas lindumas, finaôn irkungwaôn ôrtumas arnaltumas, kulaôn vrøñyl ondumas lêstej urôlul. Vônat niv ô heiþ, rurjew ô rujont ôd ussêlt vynši ymmurvas njungedekwe.

Autumn is in full swing so let’s take a look at some words related to it. (Note: I added feminine and neuter singular forms for adjectives, and either first person singular (ending in -m) or third person singular for verbs).

jesén (f) — autumn

vrême (n) — weather

dèž (m) — rain

deževáti (dežúje) (impfv)  — to rain

meglà (f) — fog

véter (m) — wind

píhati (píha) (impfv)  — to blow

mràz (m) — cold

slána (f) — frost

popláva (f) — flood

lúža (f) — puddle

naráva (f) — nature

drevó (n) — tree

líst (pl: listje) (m) — leaf

jesénska bárva (f) — autumn colour

rjàv (rjáva, rjávo) — brown

rdèč (rdéča, rdéče) — red

rumèn (rumêna, rumêno) — yellow

žêlod (m) — acorn

kôstanj (m) — chestnut

stòrž (m) — (fir/pine) cone

góba (f) — mushroom

véverica (f) — squirrel

jéž (m) — hedgehog

ptíca selívka (f) — migratory bird

játa (f) — flock

kultúra (f) — culture

žétev (f) — harvest (of plants that are reaped)

létina (f) — harvest, yield (crops harvested within one year)

trgátev (f) — vintage (grape harvest)

pridélek (m) — harvest, yield (anything produced by growing plants)

sádež (m) — fruit

zrèl (zréla, zrélo) — ripe, mature

žéti (žánjem) (impfv) — to reap

zoréti(zorí) (impfv) — to ripen

običáji (pl, m) — customs

dán suverénosti — Sovereignty Day (25 October; state holiday, not work-free)

dán reformácije — Reformation Day (31 October, state holiday, work-free)

vsì svéti — All Saints’ Day (1 November; Catholic holiday)

dán mŕtvih¹ — Day of the Dead (1 November; state holiday, work-free)

nóč čarôvnic² — Halloween (literally “Night of the Witches”, not a holiday)

búča (f) — pumpkin

svéča (f) — candle

gròb (m) — grave

krés (m) — bonfire

¹ Officially known as dan spomina na mrtve “Day of Remembrance of the Dead”

As promised in my previous post about Slovene linguistics vocab, here’s a list of Slovene punctuation. I included all common punctuation, and also some less frequently used punctuation and typographical signs. 

ločílo (n) — punctuation

tipografíja (f) — typography

áfna (f) — at-sign (@)

církumfleks (m) / stréšica (f) — circumflex

enačáj (m) — equals sign

klicáj (m) — exclamation mark

kljúčnik¹ (m) — hashtag

kratívec (m) — grave

lójtra (m) — number sign, hash

mínus (m) — minus

narekováj² (m) — quotation mark

navpíčnica (f) — bar, vertical bar

oklepáj (m) — bracket

uklepáj (m) — left bracket

zaklepáj (m) — right bracket

opuščáj / apostróf (m) — apostrophe

ostrívec (m) — acute

píka (f) — full stop

dvópíčje (n) — colon

pòdpíčje (n) — semicolon

trípíčje (n) — ellipsis

plús (m) — plus

podčrtáj³ (m) — underscore

(navádni) pomišljáj (m) — en-dash

dôlgi pomišljáj (m) — em-dash

ponavljáj (m) — ditto mark

pošévnica (f) — slash

désna pošévnica (f) — forward slash

léva pošévnica (f) — backslash

preslédek (m) — space

stopínja (f) — degree

stréšica (f) — caron, háček

vêjica (f) — comma

vezáj (m) — hyphen

vijúga / tílda (f) — tilde

vprašáj (m) — question mark

zvézdica (f) — asterisk

trózvézdje (n) — asterism

  ¹ This is a new term and it hasn’t been fully established yet. Colloquially it’s known simply as hashtag or hešteg. Tbh, I quite like the word “ključnik”.

² Usually used in plural, narekováji. 

Slovene linguists have been busy describing their own language (and others too!), so they had to come up with a bunch of terms. Below is a list of some of these terms, ordered alphabetically. Please note that the words are marked for stress (those graves, acutes and circumflexes above vowels and r), which is normally not written. 

abecéda (m) — alphabet

beséda (f) — word

besédna vŕsta (f) — part of speech

člén* / (spôlnik*) (m) — article

(nè)dolóčni člén (m) — (in)definite article

člének (m) — particle

glágol (m) — verb

fázni glágol (m) — phaseal verb 

modálni glágol (m) — modal verb

polnopoménski glágol (m) — lexical verb

pomóžni glágol (m) — auxiliary verb

(nè)prehódni glágol (m) — (in)transitive verb

mêdmet (m) — interjection

prêdlog (m) — preposition

pridévnik (m) — adjective

kakôvostni pridévnik (m) — qualitative adjective

vŕstni pridévnik (m) — relational adjective

svojílni pridévnik (m) — possessive adjective

prislòv (m) — adverb

samostálnik (m) — noun

štévnik (m) — numeral

glávni štévnik (m) — cardinal numeral

ločílni štévnik (m) — collective numeral

množílni štévnik (m) — multiplicative numeral

vrstílni štévnik (m) — ordinal numeral

véznik (m) — conjunction

zaímek (m) — pronoun

osébni zaímek (m) — personal pronoun

povrátni osébni zaímek (m) — reflexive pronoun

vprašálni zaímek (m) — interrogative pronoun

ozirálni zaímek (m) — relative pronoun

nèdolóčni zaímek (m) — indefinite pronoun

nikálni zaímek (m) — negative pronoun

kazálni zaímek (m) — demonstrative pronoun

besedotvórje (n) — word formation

čàs (m) — tense

prèdpretêklik (m) — pluperfect tense, past perfect tense

pretêklik (m) — past tense

prihódnjik (m) — future tense

sedánjik (m) — present tense

čŕka (f) — letter

dvóčŕkje* (n) — digraph

ênočŕkje* (n) — monograph

tróčŕkje* (n) — trigraph

dêblo (n) — stem

deléžje (n) — gerund / verbal adverb / adverbial participle

deléžnik (m) — participle

foném (m) — phoneme

fonétika (f) — phonetics

glágolnik (m) — gerund / verbal noun

glás (m) — phone, phoneme, sound

dvóglásnik (m) — diphthong

ênoglásnik (m) — monophthong

izglásje (n) — coda

polglásnik (m) — schwa (semivowel?)

samoglásnik (m) — vowel

soglásnik (m) — consonant

tróglásnik* (m) — triphtong

vzglásje (n) — onset

glasoslôvje (n) — phonology, phonetics

gôvor (m) — local speech or local dialect, subdialect

izgovoríti — to pronounce

izgôvor (m), izgovorjáva (f) — pronunciation

jêzik (m) — language

jezikoslôvje (n) — linguistics

jezikoslôvec (m) — linguist (male)

jezikoslôvka (f) — linguist (female)

končníca (f) — ending

korén (m) — root

ločílo (n) — punctuation

I’ll make a separate post for these.

morfém (m) — morpheme

načín (m) — voice

tvórni način / tvórnik (m) — active voice

tŕpni načín / tŕpnik (m) — passive voice

naglás (m) — accent, stress

jákostni naglás (m)  — stress accent (non-pitch)

tonémski naglás (m) — pitch accent

naklòn (m) — mood

pogójni naklòn / pogójnik (m) — conditional

povédni naklòn / povédnik (m) — indicative

velélni naklòn / velélnik (m) — imperative

vézni naklòn* (m) — subjunctive

želélni naklòn / želélnik (m) — optative

namenílnik (m) — supine

naréčje (n) / dialékt (m) — dialect

naslónka (f) — clitic

nèdolóčnik (m) — infinitive

oblikoslôvje (n) — morphology

obrazílo (n) — affix

okrajšáva (f) — abbreviation

oséba (f) — person

osnôva (f) — base

podstáva (f) — stem

póna (f) — affix

medpóna (f) — infix 

predpóna (f) — prefix

pripóna (f) — suffix

povéd (m) — sentence

pregíbati — to inflect

skládnja (f) — syntax

sklánjati — to decline

sklanjátev (f) — declension

sklòn¹ (m) — case

imenoválnik (m) — nominative

rodílnik (m) — genitive

dajálnik (m) — dative

tožílnik (m) — accusative

méstnik (m) — locative

oródnik (m) — instrumental

zválnik* / vókativ* (m) — vocative

ločílnik*/ áblativ* (m) — ablative

spòl (m) — gender

môški spòl (m) — masculine gender

srédnji spòl (m) — neuter gender

žénski spòl (m) — feminine gender

sprégati — to conjugate

spregátev (f) — conjugation

stávčni člén (m) — sentence element

osébek (m) — subject

povédek (m) — predicate

povédkovo določílo (n) — complement

prêdmet (m) — object

prilástek (m) — attribute (modifier)

prislôvno določílo (n) — adverbial

stávek (m) — clause

podrédni stávek (m) / podrédje (n) — subordinate clause

prirédni stávek (m) / prirédje (n) — coordinate clause

števílo (n) — number

dvojína (f) — dual

ednína (f) — singular

množína (f) — plural

víd (m) — aspect

(nè)dovŕšni víd (m) — (im)perfective aspect

zlòg (m) — syllable

dvózlóžna beséda / dvózlóžnica (f) — disyllabic word / disyllable

ênozlóžna beséda / ênozlóžnica — monosyllabic word / monosyllable

* These terms aren’t really applicable to Slovene (ie. Slovene lacks these features) but I included them nonetheless because they commonly appear in neighbouring languages.

Apparently it’s been over 4 years since I last posted a translation of The King of Kings text, the previous translation being in Alfinu, a romlang. Recently I’ve decided to revisit the original text and fix a couple of persistent mistakes, and I made one or two edits to make the text sound better. The original post containing the English text (linked previously) will be updated soon.

In addition, I’ve also made another translation, this time into (Modern) Gutiskar (an a posteriori Germanic conlang). This is the second Gutiskar translation, actually, as the first one was into Old Gutiskar. Most of the words from the Old Gutiskar version have been retained in the new version - and they’ve undergone some important sound changes. Some words have changed, however. As you’ll see, Modern Gutiskar is a bit more concise and somewhat shorter than Old Gutiskar (who needs all those unnecessary syllables, right?).

Kyngar Kyngá

Ƕar ir þú að mínó výrdó tvihón, guma? Mek ní kanir? Míná sýn ní kunir?

Mínó sýnur kurvanó i stæn í an mint nama hritan a vadjum í. Þú blindar veran þarft að hit ní seƕan. Kyngar lisir mir qeþan. Með ék némi kyngar ním. Þir taljá ƕar im. Ék im Kyngar Kyngá, avalgistar av allirá. Mínt kyngdómar þinzist fran lagý bi bergam an jænðré himnihringas, fran nurðræ bi sunðræ an fran øjstræ bi vestræ – alt hit mínt land í, énèh bardæm. Sylar vindruh an ældar vatruh mínir sind að ǽr bivelhan. Dagar qimði ƕæn ín gakalló an nahtar sínir sternøm ménêuh a nahthimnæ ní dar øjgjan ynté farðígar ním. Sam vator ní drinkó své dáþínjær, nøh své ír sam bráð ní etó.

Hælar farhur mínar garða í – ék ín lesó skapjan an ék ǽm ríksó. Himilor mir níþand an fræh mir ansir hnægjæ stáns. Erminera frá ansǽ im. Ƕar ƕatuh ir viþèr mir þú, guma? Þú stubur ir an stubur blíva mant ƕæn gasviltir, mívèl mínar garða man stá ækdyþé an gavina gǽn tíðim mélis.

Þínt í hys us skaljø viðŷuh, mínó í héþjó us stænæ marmaræh gulþæh. Reht alstandan ní lisir jé þir it ní gevó. Eð þíná alstandiþ þuljá? Þú ængèh mínar skalkar ir. Ék fyrstar im yrmið kyngæm, ék im Kyngar Kyngá. Alt hit hér atfalði mir. Fran lítlistam vihtlin malmis bi háhistam bergæ, fran lítlistam drupin regnis bi miklistru veraldí, fran mysi a akræ bi arni háhvé a himnæ. Ƕihrar hundar eƕaruh, an dráhtar sverðuh, an valda sævlôh mir rehtó atfalði.

Ƕar ir þú? Nǽnar ir. An hit mínar garða ir an ék esar kyngas ir, Kyngar Kyngá.

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Previous translations:

English: The King of Kings (to be updated)

Laefêvëši: Báut Báutas (and audio)

Old Gutiskar: Kuningar Kuningans

Lexember is over and so is 2018. I didn’t have enough time to post here much but I did participate in Lexember 2018 over at ConWorkShop. I participated with just one language, namely Gutiskar, an a posteriori Germanic conlang. Overall it was a very productive Lexember with nearly a thousand new words added to the language, whose wordcount currently stands at over 2300 words. 

So, here I’m presenting a selection of the new words, one or two per day. If your computer supports Runes (I recommend the font Noto Sans Runic), you will see how the words look when written in their native script. 

Lexember 1: things that spin (apparently I didn’t use Gutiskar here but Laefêvëši) aljisast [aʎiˈsa:st] n. pinwheel, from alj "wind" and sas "flower, blossom" Lexember 2: verbs from space ᛒᚩᚷᛁᛊᛡᚾ - bágisón [ˈbwaɣiswon] v. to orbit, from bágar "circle", from Proto-Germanic *baugaz "bow, bend, circle, ring"

Lexember 3: urban words ᛊᚳᛨᛌᚳᛚᚬᚷᚨᚾᛞᚨᚱ - skŷklǿgandar [ˈskyjkljøɣandar] masc. skyscraper, from ský "cloud" and klǿgan "cleave"

Lexember 4: rural words ᛅᚱᚦᛡ - érþó [ˈjɛrsɔw] fem. earth, from Proto-Germanic *erþō "earth" (cf. English earth) → ᚷᛇᚱᚦᛂᚾᛚᚨ - gærþínla [ˈgærθjənla] masc. farm, from the collective prefix ga-, the adjective *irþínar "earthen", and the place suffix -la → ᚷᛇᚱᚦᛂᚾᛚᛁᚾᚷᚨᚱ - gærþínlingar [ˈgærθjənliŋgar] masc. farmer, from the previous word and the inhabitant suffix -ingar

Lexember 5: pairs of opposites ᛒᛁᛏᚱᚨᚱ - bitrar [ˈbitrar] adj. sharp, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz "bitter" (whence also English bitter), itself from PG *bītaną "to bite" ᛊᛚᛇᚹᚨᚱ - slævar [ˈslævar] adj. dull, blunt, obtuse, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz "dull, blunt, slow, lazy" (cf. English slow)

Lexember 6: things found in Argentina ᚠᚢᚱᛊᚨᚱ - fursar [ˈfursar] masc. waterfall, from Proto-Germanic *fursaz "waterfall, torrent" (cf. Swedish fors, Faroese fossur) 

Lexember 7: things found in China ᚳᚱᛣᚧ - kryð [kryð] neut. herb, from Proto-Germanic *krūdą "plant, herb" (cf. German Kraut) ᛖᚱᛈᛚᚨᚱ - erplar [ˈerplar] masc. tea, from Proto-Germanic *erpaz "light brown" (cf. Old Norse jarpr)

Lexember 8: methods of torture ᛚᛇᛏᚢᚷ - læstug [ˈlætug] neut. whip, probably from Gothic *𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍄𐍄𐌿𐌲 *laittug "leading rope" 

Lexember 9: reasons to go to the emergency room ᛒᚱᛁᚾᛊᛩᛚ - brinsèl [brinsəl] neut. fever, from brinan "to burn, from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną "to burn, be on fire" (cf. English burn), and the abstract suffix -sèl

Lexember 10: no theme ᛒᚨᛚᚨᚱ - balar [ˈbalar] adj. grey (referring to the hair on one's head), from Proto-Germanic *bala- "shining?" or borrowed from Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐌰- bala- "shining, grey (of body)"

Lexember 11: under the sea ᚦᚨᚱᚺᚨ - þarha [ˈθarha] masc. kelp, from Proto-Germanic *þarhô "kelp (?)" (cf. Old Norse þari "kelp, seaweed")

Lexember 12: creepies, crawlies, pests, and vermin ᛇᛏᚱᚢᛈᚨ - ætrupa [ˈætrupa] masc. spider, a compound noun from Proto-Germanic *aitrą "poison" and *kuppô, a variant of *kuppaz "head" (cf. Old English ātorcoppe "spider", Danish edderkop "spider")

Lexember 13: things on a map ᚷᚨᛊᛚᚢᛏᛚᛁᚦᛩᚱ - gaslutliþèr [gaˈslutliθər] neut. legend, (map) key, from Proto-Germanic *slutilaz "key" (cf. German Schlüssel), the collective prefix ga-, and the tool suffix -þèr

Lexember 14: verbs from your childhood ᚳᚱᚨᛒᛚᛡᚾ - krablón [ˈkrablwɔn] v. to crawl (specifically refers to babies crawling before they're able to walk properly), from Proto-Germanic *krablōną "to crawl, creep" (cf. English crawl)

Lexember 15: agriculture ᚷᛇᚱᚦᛂᚾᛚᛁᛚᛇᚱᛡ - gærþínlilæró [ˈgærθjənlilærɔw] fem. agriculture, from gærþínla "farm" and the suffix -læró "-logy" (cf. English lore)

Lexember 16: legends and mythology ᚺᚨᛚᚦᚨᚱ - halþar [ˈhalθar] masc. hero, from Proto-Germanic *haliþaz "hero" (cf. German Held)

Lexember 17: words found in Pokémon moves ᚠᚨᛚᛒᛁᚦᛩᛚ - falbiþèl [ˈfalbiθəl] neut. guillotine, from fallan "to fall" and biþèl "hatchet" (Proto-Germanic *biþlą, related to English bill (weapon))

Lexember 18: baking ingredients ᛊᛡᛏᛚᚩ - sótlá [ˈswɔtlaw] fem. sugar, from sótur "sweet", from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz "sweet" (cf. English sweet); and presumably the diminutive suffix -lá

Lexember 19: things that could be in your pocket ᚷᚱᚨᛒᛚᚩ - grablá [ˈgrablaw] fem. fishbone, of an unknown origin, although it's possibly a loanword from Proto-Slavic *grabji "rake", and the diminutive suffix -ilǭ

Lexember 20: no theme ᚷᚨᛚᚨᚾ - galan [ˈgalan] v. to do magic, perform magic, from Proto-Germanic *galaną "to charm, sing" (cf. English gale (the verb, not the wind)) → ᚷᚨᛚᛞᚱᚨᚱ - galdrar [ˈgaldrar] masc. magic, from Proto-Germanic *galdraz "charm, incantation, spell" (cf. Icelandic galdur "magic, sorcery, witchcraft")

Lexember 21: along the river ᚺᛚᛂᚦᚱᛡ - hlíþró [ˈhljəθrɔw] fem. tent, from Proto-Germanic *hlīþrō "shelter, covering, tent" (cf. Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌰 hleiþra "hut, tent")

Lexember 22: verbs your body can do ᛁᚾᚨᚾᚨᚾ - inanan [inˈanan] v. to inhale, from in- "in" and anan "to breathe", from Proto-Germanic *ananą "to breathe" ᚢᚱᚨᚾᚨᚾ - uranan [urˈanan] v. to exhale, from ur- "out of, out, from" and anan "to breathe" 

Lexember 23: things that shrink ᛚᛖᚦᛩᚱ - leþèr [ˈleθər] neut. leather, from Proto-Germanic *leþrą "leather"

Lexember 24:geography and landforms ᛇᛚᛞᚠᛖᛚᛚᚨᚱ - ældfellar [ˈæltfetlar] masc. volcano, a compound noun from Proto-Germanic *ailidaz "fire" (Gutiskar ældar "fire") and *felzaz, a variant of *falisaz" rock, cliff" (cf. Icelandic eldfjall "volcano")

Lexember 25: the textile industry ᚹᛨᛚᛚᛡ - výlló [ˈvjytlɔw] fem. wool, from Proto-Germanic *wullō "wool"

Lexember 26: death and the afterlife ᚩᚱᚨᚺᛃᚩ - árahjá [ˈwarahjaw] fem. tomb, a loanword from Gothic *𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐌷𐌾𐍉 *aurahjō "grave"

Lexember 27: sports and competitions ᛡᚹᛃᚨᚾ - óvjan [ˈwɔvjan] v. to do sport, partake in sport, practise sport, from Proto-Germanic *ōbijaną "to perform, practise" (cf. German üben "to practise") → ᛡᚠᚦᚢᚱ - ófþur [ˈwɔfθur] masc. sport, from the verb above and probably based off Proto-Germanic *ōbō "doing, performing, practising"

Lexember 28: beginnings ᚠᛣᚱᛒᛖᚱᚨᚾ - fyrberan [fyrˈberan] v. to conceive, become pregnant, from Proto-Germaic *furi "for" and *beraną "to bear, carry" → ᚠᛣᚱᛒᚨᚱᚦᚢᚱ - fyrbarþur [fyrˈbarθur] fem. conception, from the verb above and the abstract suffix -þur

Lexember 29: something you saw on television  ᛢᛁᚳᛚᚨᚱ - kwiklar [ˈkʷiklar] masc. film (movie), from kwikur "alive" (from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz "alive, lively, quick") and the agent suffix -(i)lar

Lexember 30: no theme ᚷᛚᛇᚾᚦᛚᚩ - glænþlá [ˈglænθlaw] fem. shooting star, originally a diminutive of now lost *glænþur, from the verb glínan "to glint", from Proto-Germanic *glīnaną "to glint, gleam (?)"

So I had a bit of time and I wanted to add a few new words to Laefêvëši and I realised I didn’t have many words for the bones of the human skeleton, so I decided to add some. I also found a nice picture of the human skeleton with the most important bones shown, so obviously I had to make a Laefevian version of that, in both Latin and my conscript. 

Let’s start with the conscript: 

I’m not gonna post another picture with the romanisation but instead I’ll make a list of the words, along with the pronunciation and basic etymology. 

First off, some common words or parts of the words present in the names of the bones:

sōkkōf “vertebrae” is the plural form of sōng [sɔŋg̥] “vertebra”, related to sōnd “neck”

-syd and -jōd are common suffixes added to bone names and typically carry the primary stress as well (so, pronounced [ˈsyːd̥] and [ˈi̯ɔːd̥], respectively), with -syd coming from the word syd [syːd̥] “bone” (the origin of -jōd is unknown)

-ili and -ila are relational adjectival suffixes, with -ili being singular and -ila plural

-a and -af are nominal plural suffixes

With that done, let’s take a look at the rest of the terms, starting on the left side at the top, going down:

taisent [tai̯ˈseːnt] “spine, spinal column”, from tais “back” + -ent “collective suffix”

sōndila sōkkōf [ˈsɔːndila ˈsɔːkkɔf] “cervical vertebrae”, from sōnd “neck”

sašila sōkkōf [ˈsaːʃila ˈsɔːkkɔf] “thoracic vertebrae”, from saš “chest (body part)”

lûŋysila sōkkōf [ˈlyŋysila ˈsɔːkkɔf] “lumbar vertebrae”, from lûŋys “lower back”

luŋyssyd [luŋysˈsyd̥] or [lyŋysˈsyd̥] “sacrum”, from lûŋys “lower back”

vinsyd [ʋinˈsyːd̥] “coccyx, tailbone”, probably from viēn “tail”

Moving on to the right side, again starting at the top and going down:

wēlt [wɛːlt] “skull”

nejili žymlys [ˈneːi̯ili ˈʒyːmlys] “mandible, lower jawbone”, from nejili “lower” and žymël “jaw”

haitjōd [ˈxaːi̯ti̯ɔd̥] “clavicle, collarbone”, from hait “key”

nirjantus [niɾˈi̯aːntus] “manubrium”, from nirja “handle, hilt, haft”, from neir “hand”

nanjōd [nanˈi̯ɔːd̥] “scapula, shoulder blade”, from nani “shovel”

čōba [ˈt͡ɕɔːba] “ribs” (singular: čōhb “rib”)

lijøssyd [lii̯øsˈsyːd̥] “humerus”, from lijød “upper arm”, from lij- “upper” and ød “arm”

warødjōd [waɾødˈi̯ɔːd̥] “ulna”, from war- “big” and ød “arm” (mislabelled in the picture as the radius)

nejøssyd [nei̯øsˈsyːd̥] “radius”, from nejød “forearm”, from nej- “lower” and ød “arm” (mislabelled in the picture as the ulna)

vuðorentus [ʋuˈðoːɾentus] “pelvic girdle”, from vuðor “pelvis” (from vuj “hip”), and possibly the collective suffix -ent (and the nominal suffix -us) (possibly also the origin of the -(a)ntus part in nirjantus)

sōnirjōdaf [sɔniɾˈi̯ɔːdaf] “carpals, wrist bones” (singular: sōnirjōd), from  sōnir “wrist”

igetjōdaf [igetˈi̯ɔːdaf] “metacarpals” (singular: igetjōd), from iget “palm (body part)”

dûggysa [ˈdyːggysa] “phalanges” (singular: dûggys), from dûg “finger”

šaltjōd [ʃaltˈi̯ɔːd̥] “femur, thighbone”, from šalt “thigh”

goissyd [goi̯sˈsyːd̥] “patella, kneecap”, from gois “knee”

sōssyd [sɔsˈsyːd̥] “tibia, shinbone”, from sōd “shin”

pidjōd [pidˈi̯ɔːd̥] “fibula, calf bone”, from pîd “calf”

trisjōdaf [tɾisˈi̯ɔːdaf] “tarsals” (singular: trisjōd), from tris “instep”

lēwjōdaf [lɛu̯ˈi̯ɔːdaf] “metatarsals” (singular: lēwjōd), from lēw “foot” 

dûggysa [ˈdyːggysa] “phalanges” (singular: dûggys), from dûg “finger”

Bonus etymological facts:

the words sōnir “wrist”, sōng “vertebra”, and sōnd “neck” all contain the root sō(n)-, which indicates some kind of rotational movement, as evident by other related words, such as sōnt “vortex”, sōns “rotation”, sōvaj “to spin, rotate” and sōvaej “to spin, rotate, whirl”, sōhd “spin”, sōtty “spiral”, and probably also sōft “door”, sōrt “gate”, sōrur “portal” (whether sōd “calf” is related is unclear)

So I had a bit of time the other day and I decided to do a translation because that’s what one does every so often when one has a bunch of conlangs lying around. The language chosen was, as in my previous post, my Italic conlang Phichene (natively Phichensias [fiˈxɛa̯ʃas]) and the text ... well, you can see the title :P I quite like the story and I might try to translate it to my other conlangs, even though the language used isn’t particularly simple. Oh, have I mentioned that Phichene now comes with its own native script? Yep, it’s derived from the Old Italic alphabet(s) and thus resembles both Latin and Greek, with a few innovations. Honestly, I quite like the end result, it ended up better than I’d hoped. Anyway, let’s move on to the actual purpose of this post - the translation (as a side note, most of the words below have Latin cognates). 

Chavhroniós ieth Sfól

[xamroˈɲɔu̯s jɛ ˈʃɔu̯l] The North Wind and the Sun

Chavhroniós ieth Sfól tisphúrihetiabhandh pothripis holtiós ierédh, pomich in holmódh mantilódh oephvheluthas vhitiáchthor riethremetiasedh. [xamroˈɲɔu̯s jɛ ˈʃɔu̯l t͡ʃifˈfʊɔ̯riet͡ʃamɔf ˈpovripis uˈt͡ʃɔu̯s jɛˈrɛa̯j | ˈpomix in uˈmɔu̯m mɔt͡ʃiˈlɔu̯m jemˈmeluvas miˈt͡ʃɔa̯ʃor ʒɛvreˈmet͡ʃasej] The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveller came along wrapped in a warm cloak.

Oenevhechetiasérh pus pich prímas vhitiáchthoréi mantilam vostholned hachiefádh, isthich holtihmas chonsifasasiádh. [jenemexet͡ʃaˈsɛa̯ʃ pus ˈpix ˈprɯi̯mas mit͡ʃɔʃoˈrɛi̯ ˈmɔa̯t͡ʃilan voˈʃɔu̯ned aʃɛˈfɔa̯j | ˈiʃix uˈtɯi̯mas xusifasaˈʃɔa̯j] They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveller take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other.

Chavhroniós thóm holtitrihme susliáschedh pum phothedh, sepput vamis susliabhadh, vamis vhitiáchthor in mantilódh se oephvheliebhadh. [xamroˈɲɔu̯s tɔu̯n utirˈrɯi̯me suʒˈʒɔ̯ʃej pun ˈfojej | ˈsepput ˈvamis suʒˈʒamaj ˈvamis miˈt͡ʃɔa̯ʃor in mant͡ʃiˈlɔu̯m se jemˈmeʒɛmaj] Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely the traveller wrapped his cloak around him.

Higniters Chavhroniós riettád tatchietedh. Thóm Sfól holmiters vhiesfihenféschedh ieth vhitiáchthor sovham mantilam sthatim vostholnehsedh. [iniˈteʃ xamroˈɲɔu̯s ʒɛtˈtɔa̯d taʃˈʃɛtej || tɔu̯n ˈʃɔu̯l umiˈteʃ mjɛsfiaˈfɛa̯ʃej jɛ miˈt͡ʃɔa̯ʃor ˈsoman ˈmant͡ʃilan ˈsat͡ʃin voʃuˈnɛa̯sej] Finally the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveller took off his cloak.

Ieth thamtam Chavhroniós chon​hathéd iehspsedh pus Sfól tádh isies holtiós ieradh. [jɛ ˈvantan xamroˈɲɔu̯s xunaˈjɛa̯d jasəˈpsej pus ˈʃɔu̯l tɛj ˈiʃɛs uˈt͡ʃɔu̯s ˈjɛraj] And so the North Wind had to admit that the Sun was the stronger of the two.

And that’s that! Oh, and below is a picture of the same text in the native script:

It’s been a while (like, really) but I had a bit of inspiration last night so I made a thing - a compass rose in my Italic conlang, Phichene. 

Well, yeah, it’s already the 16th day of Lexember and I haven’t posted anything yet. The reason - my laptop was being repaired but now I’ve got it back, so it’s time to do this for real. Up to now I’ve only been posting on CWS, and without any pictures since those are a pain to do on a tablet, but I hope I’ll be able to create posts with pictures from now on. Anyway, below you’ll find today’s word (the topic is autumnal verbs), and below it also the words I added previously on CWS. 

Laefêvëši: neikaglaj [nei̯ˈkaːglai̯] (v, ipfv) to become brown, from kagisi "brown" and the imperfective prefix nei- "to become, to be in the process of becoming".

A while ago (well, last December) I made a Lexember post using one of my less developed languages, Onakerese, natively known as Onākerē [ona:keɾe:], and the language was also written in its native script. After that, @tlacamazatl asked me to make a post about the script - and nearly a year later, here it finally is. 

Let’s first take a look at the language, Onakerese. It’s a language that was originally inspired by Austronesian languages, such as Tahitian, Samoan, Maori, etc. The phonology and phonotactics of Onakerese follow those languages fairly closely, with a small set of sounds: /a e i o u/ and its long counterparts, and /m n ŋ p t k ʔ s x l ɾ/. The syllable structure is strictly (C)V. It’s a very isolating language, with barely any inflectional morphology but its derivational morphology is a bit richer. The basic word order is SOV and it could be classified as a (split-)ergative language. Onakerese relies heavily on the use of particles to convey various grammatical properties of the language (case, tense, mood, and so on). I have recently decided to revisit the language and flesh it out a bit more, so it’s now got a much more detailed grammar than before (the vocabulary count is still fairly low, however). You can read more about that here. 

But enough about the language, time to cover the script - it is actually an abugida, which suits its CV-syllable structure very well. The script was supposed to have been developed from another script of mine, the Laefêvëši script. The visual appearance of the script was heavily inspired by the beautifully intricate Javanese script. The picture below illustrates the connection between the two scripts.

Now, as mentioned, the script is an abugida, which means that each consonantal glyph comes with an inherent vowel quality, which is /a/. The other four vowels, /a e i o u/, are added by changing the base glyph. Bare vowels have their own stand-alone glyphs, of course. Since all the vowels can be either long of short, the length is indicated by placing a stroke above the glyph.

That’s basically it about the script. It’s a fairly straight-forward system with a clear link between the written form and the spoken form. 

However, the script has another feature - reduplication glyphs. Due to the CV-phonotactic nature of the language, reduplication of syllables is a common occurrence. Instead of simply repeating the same glyph, the script comes with modified versions of non-reduplicated glyphs to show reduplicated pronunciation. There are several variants possible, depending on the length of the vowel(s). See the table below.

Below is a full set of all possible combinations (all five vowels):

Well, that’s really it. Below is a a bit longer text in the script. I’m not going to post a translation because it’s just an assortment of random sentences I’ve translated into Onakerese so far. 

I have finally made an updated version of the Laefevian Adverbs chart. The new version includes some of the recent changes I made in the language, as well as two common scripts used to write Laefêvëši, one horizontal and one vertical (well, there’s only one horizontal script but three vertical scripts).

The chart shows the basic adverbs: where, when, and how, and their respective answers. Laefêvëši has three different variants of “where”, hence the first three rows. There are three possible answers to each questions based on the location: proximal (here), medial (there), and distal (yonder).