Valhalla Conlang

Phonetics

The sounds in the Valhalla Conlang are as follows:

Consonant Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive b d g ɢ ʔ
Nasal m ŋ
Trill r
Fricative f
Approximant j
Ejective fricative ʃ
Implosive ɓ ɗ ɠ
Vowels Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid ø ɘ
Open-mid ʌ
Near-open æ
Open a ɑ

Grammar

Marking the subject

The word order, in the Valhalla Conlang, is very free, as the subject is marked by one of two word-elements: sound-change or a suffix is appended to the word.

Suffix

The subject-marker suffix consists of the sound /i/ being added to nouns, to mark them as being the subject. If the noun already ends in an /i/, a /ʃ/ is added instead, making the suffix /ʃi/.

Sound Change

The subject-marker sound-change compromises of 4 consonant-changes that occur in the [ | first syllable of the] noun that should be marked as the subject of a sentence. This is why the /ɓ/, /ɗ/, /ɠ/ and /ɢ/ sounds is rarely used [in | at the start of] verbs. If these sounds are present, the suffix rules should be used instead

Original sound New sound
b ɓ
d ɗ
g ɠ
j ɢ

Setting the tenses

The word order of the Valhalla Conlang is relatively free, but the context of the sentence and the meaning conveyed is dependent on word order. Tense is the main example of this. The english sentence “I eat bread” has the SVO word order, and the same sentence in the Valhalla Conlang, could be ordered as both SVO, SOV and OSV, as the verb exists after the subject, meaning the sentence is in a form of present tense. Meanwhile the sentence “I ate bread”, which is also SVO ordered, the same sentence would be written in the OVS, VOS or VSO orders.

The Swadesh List

  1. I (Pers.Pron.1.Sg.)
  2. you (2.sg! 1952 thou & ye)
  3. we (1955: inclusive)
  4. this
  5. that
  6. who? (“?” not 1971)
  7. what? (“?” not 1971)
  8. not
  9. all (of a number)
  10. many
  11. one
  12. two
  13. big
  14. long (not wide)
  15. small
  16. woman
  17. man (adult male human)
  18. person (individual human)
  19. fish (noun)
  20. bird
  21. dog
  22. louse
  23. tree (not log)
  24. seed (noun)
  25. leaf (botanics)
  26. root (botanics)
  27. bark (of tree)
  28. skin (1952: person’s)
  29. flesh (1952 meat, flesh)
  30. blood
  31. bone
  32. grease (1952: fat, organic substance)
  33. egg
  34. horn (of bull etc., not 1952)†
  35. tail
  36. feather (large, not down)
  37. hair (on head of humans)
  38. head (anatomic)
  39. ear
  40. eye
  41. nose
  42. mouth
  43. tooth (front, rather than molar)
  44. tongue (anatomical)
  45. claw (not in 1952)†1
  46. foot (not leg)
  47. knee (not 1952)†
  48. hand
  49. belly (lower part of body, abdomen)
  50. neck (not nape)
  51. breasts (female; 1955 still breast)†
  52. heart
  53. liver
  54. drink (verb)
  55. eat (verb)
  56. bite (verb)
  57. see (verb)
  58. hear (verb)
  59. know (facts)
  60. sleep (verb)
  61. die (verb)
  62. kill (verb)
  63. swim (verb)
  64. fly (verb)
  65. walk (verb)
  66. come (verb)
  67. lie (on side, recline)
  68. sit (verb)
  69. stand (verb)
  70. give (verb)
  71. say (verb)†
  72. sun
  73. moon (not 1952)†
  74. star
  75. water (noun)
  76. rain (noun, 1952 verb)
  77. stone
  78. sand
  79. earth (soil)
  80. cloud (not fog)
  81. smoke (noun, of fire)
  82. fire
  83. ash(es)
  84. burn (verb intr.!)
  85. path (1952 road, trail; not street)
  86. mountain (not hill)
  87. red (colour)
  88. green (colour)
  89. yellow (colour)
  90. white (colour)
  91. black (colour)
  92. night
  93. hot (adjective; 1952 warm, of weather)
  94. cold (of weather)
  95. full†
  96. new
  97. good
  98. round (not 1952)†
  99. dry (substance)
  100. name