Lan
Lan is one of the oldest attested Drydo-Udraþ languages, second only to Old Udraþ in age. The language itself is very similar to Western Drydic, but glaring differences, such as the intransitive conjugation, Pluperfects/Aorists in as, and the Antilocative case serve to differentiate it widely from that tounge.
Sounds:
i y u
ø «
ē o
æ
ă
ā
Bilabial lab-dnt. Dental alveolar pal.-alv. palatal[1] velar
uvular glottal
Stop p b - - - - t
d - - - - k
g q - /
Nasal -
m - - - - -
n - - - - -
ŋ
Fricative φ β
f v þ ð
s z š ž
ç - x γ - {h}*
Lateral -
- - - -
l λ ł
Rhotic -
- - - -
r
Labialised kw gw
*the phoneme /h/ has two pronounciations: [ћ] before /u/ and after /q/, and
[χ] before all others.
Morphology
a-stems
sg pl
Nominative -as -āi
Genitive -oj -ālu
Ablative -ād -ūros
Accusative -un -ōs
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
o-stems
sg pl
Nominative -os -az
Genitive -ĕk -ōlu
Ablative -ōd -ūros
Accusative -em -ōs
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
uo-stems
sg pl
Nominative -uos
-ijar
Genitive -ĕk
-ūlu
Ablative -uod -ūros
Accusative -[2]
-ijar
Dative -ai
-ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī
-nūs
i-stems
sg pl
Nominative -s -īj
Ablative -īd -ūros
Accusative -im -ī
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
ē-stems
sg pl
Nominative -s -ēj
Ablative -ēd -ūros
Accusative -em -ē
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
n-stems
sg pl
Nominative -ns -eins
Ablative -end -ūros
Accusative -en -ein
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
m-stems
sg pl
Nominative -m -ẽns
Ablative -end -ūros
Accusative -mem -em
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
r-stems
sg pl
Nominative -r -rēr
Ablative -rō* -ūros
Accusative -ĕr -rē
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
* from *-r-ōd
> *-rdō > *-drō > -rō
l-stems
sg pl
Nominative -u[3] -y
Ablative -dl* -ūros
Accusative -il -īl
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
*from *-l-d, assimmilated into a
acceptable consonant cluster.
ū-stems
sg pl
Nominative -us -ūs
Ablative -ūd -ūros
Dative -ai -ĕnŭs
Antilocative -a -ĕn
Locative -ī -nūs
Adjectives
Declension 1
Sg Pl
f m n f m n
Nominative -as -os -uos -ai -az -ijar
Genitive -oi -ĕk - -ālū -ōlū -
Accusative -un -ĕm -[4] -ōs -ōs -ijar
Dative -ai - - -ĕnŭs - -
Antilocative -a - - -ĕn - -
Locative -ī - - -nūs - -
Declension 2
Sg Pl
f m n f m n
Nomimative -s - -en -ai -ūs -ijār
Genitive -io - - -lū - -
Accusative -un -ĕm -uom -ōs -ōs -ijār
Dative -ai - - -ĕnŭs - -
Antilocative -a - - -ĕn - -
Locative -ī - - -nūs - -
Comparitives
-īnna- plus the following endings:
Sg Pl
f m n f m n
Nomimative -s - -en -ai -ūs -ijār
Genitive -io/-eo - - -lū - -
Accusative -un -ĕm -uom -ōs -ōs -ijār
Dative -ai - - -ĕnŭs - -
Antilocative -a - - -ĕn - -
Locative -ī - - -nūs - -
Superlatives
-īrejl- (OL
-īrrel-)
Nominative -as -os -uos -ai -az -ijar
Genitive -oi -ĕk - -ālū -ōlū -
Accusative -un -ĕm -4 -ōs -ōs -ijar
Dative -ai - - -ĕnŭs - -
Antilocative -a - - -ĕn - -
Locative -ī - - -nūs - -
1st Person
Sg. Pl.
Nominative ūla nōs
Genitive mon nōlu
Ablative mål nål
Accusative ūlēm nōis
Dative/Antilocative mū nōū
Locative mū nōnŭs
2nd Person
Sg. Pl.
Nominative sa kōs
Genitive son kōlu
Ablative sål kål
Accusative sūlēm kōis
Dative sū kōū
Locative sūī kōnŭs
3rd Person (stem *tō-)
Sg. Pl.
f m n f m n
Nominative ta tĕ to tai tuī tura
Genitive toi tai - tālu tōlu -
Ablative tål - - tūros
Accusative tun tēm to tōis - tura
Dative/Antilocative tōū - - tĕnŭs - -
Locative tī - - tn8ŭs - -
emphatic
pronoun ('he himself'):
Sg Pl
f m n f m n
Nom. las los luos lai luī lura
Gen. loi lēk - lalū lolū -
Abl. lād lōd - lål - -
Acc. lun lem luom lōs lēs lura
Dat. lai - - lents - -
AntL. la - -m len - -
Loc. lī - - lenūs - -
Correlative
Pronouns
The correlative pronouns are those pronouns that are not personal or emphatic.
(suffix the -el- from the verbal inflection to form “that”; suffix the other evidentiality infixes to form other grades of demonstratives –tī- 'this here', -sī- 'yonder'. Relative clauses can have a participle for the verb, with the mood\tense\person suffixes welded into the pronoun (/pron. stem/-/mood/-/tense/-/person/-/case ending/).
Sg Pl
m/f n m/f n
Nom. or orr orōs orēs
Gen. oror
oror olu oralu
Abl. orål orōd orel orål
Dat. orū orī orū orū
Acc. orem orr orēs orēs
Loc. orī orī ornūs ornūs
Nom ĵvẽ ĵvẽ
Gen ĵvẽk ĵvõlu
Abl ĵvõd ĵvũros
Dat ĵvãi ĵvẽnts
correlative table:
The forms of 'where', 'how', 'how much', 'why' are, respectively, Locative, Ablative-Instrumental, pronominal Dative, and pronominal Instrumental cases of the pronouns (fa-ĵvẽ, xe-ĵvẽ, orr, orel, ttas, kras, and ĵvẽx. obviously, some trends can be discerned here: a prefix fa- directly translating into English as 'some-', cf. Latin ali(-quis); xe-, with a collective meaning (cf. Salanjan a-), and, as a suffix, shows up in the series for 'PRON-ever', ĵvasex, ĵvosex, ĵvuosex.
Verbal conjugation
Levels of evidentiality:
1. -tī- seen by the speaker
2. -ĕl- seen by someone else
3. -sī- not seen, but probable (in opposition with the optative mood, which it cannot occur with.)
Moods:
1. -e- indicative
2. /stem/ imperative
3. -ā- subjunctive
4. -ī- optative (in opposition with the 3rd level of evidentiality, which it cannot
occur with.) The infinitival optative is very common in Old and Middle Lan, but has mostly been replaced by the original optative in -ī-.
Tenses:
1. -Vĕk- Future Simple
2. -ĕkelīV- Future Perfect
3. -bV- Imperfect
4. -elīV- present Perfect
5. elas-/stem/ Aorist (also formed with reduplication, with vowel height raised one step)
Uses:
Tense/Aspect system
Present Past Future
Imperfective Present Imperfect Future
Aoristic (none) Aorist Future
Perfective Perfect Aorist Future Perfect
Narrative system:
Aorist
. |
.
| | Pres. Perf.
Aor. Imperf. Pres Future Future Perfect
| | | | |
Personal Endings:
sg du pl sg du pl sg du pl
1st -m
-su -mūl -mai -swar -mur -mar
-swar -mur
2nd -s -tēl -t«s
-sar -tlar -kwur -sar
-tlar -kwur
3rd -t
-mkw -ntĕ -tai
-mkwur -ntai -tar -mkwur -ntūr
Alternate forms for the Medio-passive pardagrims underlined:
sg du pl
1st -- -swai -mēn
2nd -sai -tlai -tsai
3rd - -ŋkai -
Intransitive:
Active Middle Passive
sg pl sg pl sg pl
1st -i -nī -sui -mī -mir -nīr
2nd -ō -kwū -tlō -tsō -sir -kwuir
3rd -m -ntĕm -ŋk«m -ntī -tir -ntīr
Infinitives:
Present:
Active: -ans
Middle: -eins
Passive: -ēm
Aorist:
Active: elas-/stem/-ans
Middle: elas-/stem/-eins
Passive: elas-/stem/-ēm
(Plu)perfect:
Active:
-elīans
Middle:-elīeins
Passive:-elīēm
Future:
Active: -ekans
Middle: -ekeins
Passive: -ekēm
The Future Perfect infinitive is formed with the Future Infinitive plus the adverb
as.
The Imperfect Infinitive, which is conciously avoided if possible, is constructed
with as + the present infinitive; it is avoided most of the time because of its
extreme ambiguity with the Present Infinitive.
Participles:
Present: /stem/ + -as,
-os, -uos.
Perfect: /perf. stem/ + -þeras,
-þeros, -þeruos.
Aorist: /aor. stem/ + -(e)lis, -(e)lis, -(e)len (3rd
[i-stem] decl.)
Future: /stem/ + -ĕkas, -ĕkos,
-ĕkuos
Verbal affixes:
1. ke- negating prefix
dēns: to give (Preterit d«dæ-, future desĕk-, present participle dēntos)
sg du pl sg pl sg du pl
1st dēm dēsu dēmūl dzēm«i -
dēm«r
dēsw«r
dēmur
2nd dēs dētēl dēt«s - -
dēs«r
dētl«r
dēkwur
3rd dēt dēmkw dēntĕ dzēt«i
dzēnt«i
dēt«r
dēmkwur
dēntūr
Intransitive:
Active Middle Passive
sg pl sg pl sg pl
1st dēj dēni dzēsuj
dzēmi dēmir dēnir
2nd deu dēkwu dzētlo
dzētso dēsir dēkwuir
3rd dēm dēntĕm dzēŋkw«m dzēnti dētir dēntir
garik, rēkun okulenun, dūr teranijār keakunet ĵvãi son.
sleep, girl little, for worries not-does somethingDat yours
'Sleep, little girl, for the troubles of the world are not yours.'
Lexicon
the Lan lexicon is heavy with base Drydo-Udraþ stems, with very few Salanjan borrowings. The forms of Lan are believed to be some of the original words supplanted in Drydic and Udraþ by Salanjan borrowings (cf. English very (Romance), replacing the Germanic sore). 30 words.
nouns
ăădĕkai, ăădĕkālu, m.: the Aadeks
ageinos, -ĕk, m.: lamb
altosas, altosoi, f.: 'stream-augm.',
river
asaqas, -oi, f.: faith
beχĕkeros,
-ĕk, f.: life
beras, -os, -uos:white
dēŭĭdizdomas,
dēŭĭdizdomoi, f.: temple (plural dēŭĭdīludomāi)
dēŭĭr, dēŭĭdis, m.: god (*dz > r)
kreŭxorr, -or, m.: raw flesh
kruçīastorr, -or, m.: Megalania
pāmos,
-ĕk, m.: stream; that which is used for navigation
pronouns
ula, mon :I
sa, son:thou
tas/tos/tuos : he/she/it
nōs, nōlu : we
kōs, kōlu : you
tai :they
las, loa, luos : he himself, she herself, it itself
ĵvẽ : what?
ĵvas, -os, -uos : who/what
orr, oror : this
orel, orelor : that
verbs
aisans/aizans: to go (tr.) (OL pres. Part. łāŋos)
akunans: to do
beχĕkerans:
love
burridans: to cut; cannot take intransitive endings
deidikaunans: tr-
indicate (w/Loc of Showing); intr-
display
deidikosaunans-show, point out (w/Loc of Showing)
degālăstans: attack (give a fight)
dŏkjans:to be
garikans:to sleep
katans: to get: in future, to be about to have
dēns: to give (Preterit d«dæ-, future desĕk-, present participle dēntos)irr
adposititons
«l-beyond, w/Acc. of distance where
«n«- at, along, towards; prep w/loc of
directional movement
«nsírai (prep.)- to deny (w/Abl.)
«ntī-against; prep w/abl of Denial
g«: instrumental postposition, with the Ablative
sĕ: instrumental postposition, with the
Ablative
conjunctions
«ču-and
«ž«-
basic emphatic particle, Ker. oikik, Rus. жэ.
sõn- so that (+subj.); in order to (+opt.)
[1] the digraphs kj and gj represent velar stops [k] and [g] followed by [j], which have developed from earlier palatals [c] and [ï] through the Western Drydic k9 [kj] and ğ [gj].
[2] the uo-stem accusative singular has various forms: most older texts have –uoim, texts from the Middle Udraþ/Lan period have –oim, and the modern language has –ūĭm.
[3] The nominatives in –u are not from the u-stems, but from a simplified cluster –ls, which gives u in Lan. The y of the Plural is from *-ju <*-īu <*-īls, the plural of l-stems.
[4] the uo-stem accusative singular (used for the neuter adjective) has various forms: most older texts have –uoim, texts from the Middle Udraþ/Lan period have –oim, and the modern language has –ūĭm.