Ril Siliquænaryirvarinir Hwirdar                                                             (last updated 1st September 2009)
(The ordering of Elfinspeak)

This is Grammar 3.1 (or what exists of it). It's a revised and re-written version of Grammar 3.0.8. It is is still in progress and is by no means complete, today it only consists of the introduction and orthography, but  when it is finished it will replace 3.0.8 as the "Long Description of the Language".

Introduction and origins

What is Siliquænaryirvarina and why did I go to the trouble to create it?
Siliquænaryirvarina (literally "Elfinspeak" or "language of the Elves") is the name for the language I'm creating.

In early 2009, a classmate asked me if I could help her come up with a name for the Elfin race in an epic fantasy she was writing. She also dropped a few hints that she'd be delighted to have a few Elfin sentences. For some time before, I had been thinking about how much fun Tolkien must have had creating his Quenya, Sindarin, Khuzdul etc. so I jumped at the opportunity and decided to go ahead and make an entire language. After spending a few months contemplating grammar and orthography, the language sort of ran away with itself. New words or usages started to suggest themselves, typos began to represent phonological shifts, I started thinking of the abstract underlying meanings of English words, and I started paying very close attention to complex grammatical structures in English sentences. Words and ideas came to me and I recorded them until eventually, the grammar had progressed to a point where I was able to translate the grammar of any English sentence into my made-up language (vocabulary was and is still wanting). That was several months ago, the language has continued to grow and develop since then and has gained some complexity. It will continue to grow with time, but as it is today it's quite functional, and so for the enlightenment and entertainment of those interested, I here set forth what I know of Siliquænaryirvarina.

A Brief Overview

In my opinion the best way to understand the idea of a language is simply to read it. To that end I begin this grammar with a sentence in Siliquænaryirvarina (see the texts section of this site for more of the same).

Tal atalarinya ral silenyar aad þirinyil, aad dælnil þil silenyar arad ænyir ila irinir aad hwinya ril ar.

(English gloss) The girl a star she-did see, she-did think [that] the star he-was pretty and so she-did sing concerning it.

(translation) The girl saw the star, she thought that the star was pretty and so she sang about it.


● All words function as stem+suffix.

● Word stems normally end in consonants and all suffixes begin with vowels, making the combination of them incredibly straightforward.

● There is a suffix for each usage of a noun, such as feminine singular, masculine plural, etc.

● There is a suffix for the verb and another for the adjective.

● Aside from the suffix, there is no difference between nouns, verbs and adjectives; any word can function as any part of speech.

● Third person pronouns are the noun endings used alone. First person pronouns are the words Er (I) and Þrin (we/us). Second person pronouns are constructed by prefixing the syllable roor- to a third person pronoun.

● The pronouns take tense endings to form the conjugation of the verb “to be”.

● Verbs do not change form at all. Instead, a verb is preceded by a "to-be" word to denote the tense and number.

● There are many articles, which take the place of prepositional phrases in English.

● Siliquænaryirvarina is fond of compound words (the word Siliquænaryirvarina itself is a good example of one)

● There are some specific name endings, but any word can be used as a name.

● The adjective always precedes the noun which it modifies, but aside from that word order doesn't really matter that much.

Orthography

The Sounds of Siliquænaryirvarina


Consonants (pronounced as in Modern English unless otherwise noted)

b
c (soft velar ch as in some pronunciations of German "ch", sort of an sh pronounced at the back of the throat)
d
f
g ("hard" g and in "get" or "go", not the J sound)
hw (one sound, not a double consonant. Pronounced just as it's spelled, a sort of wooshing noise)
k
l (pronounced in the front of the mouth as in British English, Siliquænaryirvarina does not have the American velar L)
m
ŋ (eng, pronounced as the English digraph "ng")
p
qu
r
s (never voiced)
sw (pronounced as in English. eg. "swing", "swoosh". The letter "w" never appears on it's own, it is only used in the digraphs hw and sw)
t
ð ("eth"; English voiced "th" as in the words "there" and "the")
þ ("thorn"; English unvoiced "th" as in "thorn" and "thing")
v
y (always used as a consonant, not be be mistaken for a vowel)


Vowels
Please note that there are two ways in which the letters "a" and "i" can be pronounced, I have not yet figured the rules for how a particular instance of "a" or "i" should be pronounced in a certain word, but I suppose if you just use what feels right for precise English you cannot be far wrong.

a (as in "father" OR as in "apple")
e (as in "get")
i (as in "it" OR the "ee" in "eat" or in Spanish "Si")
o (as in "on")
u (as in "up")
æ (as the "ay" in Modern English "hay"; please note that the letter combination "ae" is not a dipthong but two distinct sounds, and should not be used as a representation of the letter æ)

Dipthongs
oo (similar to German ü or the "oo" in English "food")
au (as Modern English "ow")

Nouns Verbs and Adjectives

This section, along with the rest of the grammar, will follow shortly