Dardain
From Langmaker
| Conlang | Dardain |
| Author | Pieter Rottiers |
| Year Began | 2005 |
| Language Type | fictional conlang |
| Lexicon Size | 700 words |
| Etymologies | Yes |
| Grammar | Yes |
| Sample Texts | Yes |
| Primer | No |
Dardain is a fictional conlang created by Pieter Rottiers.
DESCRIPTION
I have developed Dardain as the main language spoken in Dardaniell, the most important country in the story I'm currently writing. It started as a very simple help for designing the toponyms, but soon developed into something quite complex, with first only one case (logically nominative), but at this moment there's already four of them (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative)
VOCABULARY
A word list can be found here: Dardain_Vocabulary.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
1. PRONUNCIATION
- A: like the 'a' in start
- B: like the 'b' in bed
- BH: like the 'v' in vet
- C: like the 'c' in cat (never like 'c' in cent!)
- CH: like the 'ch' in loch
- D: like the 'd' in door
- DH: like the 'th' in that (never like 'th' in think!)
- E: like the 'e' in end (never like 'e' in even!)
- F: like the 'f' in fan
- G: like the 'g' in great (never like 'g' in giant!)
- H: like the 'h' in hat (never like 'h' in hugh!)
- I: like the 'i' in inn (never like 'i' in ireland!)
- J: like the 'y' in yellow (never like 'j' in jest!)
- L: like the 'l' in life
- M: like the 'm' in month
- N: like the 'n' in never
- NG: like the 'ng' in thing
- O: like the 'o' in over
- P: like the 'p' in pet
- R: like the 'r' in roll
- RH: like the 'rh' in rhubarb
- S: like the 's' in sand
- T: like the 't' in tin
- TH: like the 'th' in think (never like 'th' in that!)
- U: like the 'oo' in foot (never like the 'ew' in few or the 'u' in under!)
- V: like the 'v' in vet
- W: like the 'w' in water
- Y: like the 'y' in ivy (always a vowel!)
- Z: like the 'z' in zap
There's also quite some diphtongues: Those are pronounced differently, depending on the region.
In the western regions, in the principality of Gaendyr, they are more or less flattened:
- AE: like the 'a' in base
- AI: like the 'i' in nice (never like 'ai' in bait!)
- AU: like the 'aw' in awe
- EI: like the 'a' in base (never like ei in foreign!)
- EU: like eh-w (never like 'eu' in Europe!)
- OE: like the 'oy' in boy
- OU: like the 'ow' in show
In the eastern regions, in the principality of Barann, they are pronounced rather seperately:
- AE: like ah-ay
- AI: like the 'i' in nice
- AU: like ah-oo
- EI: like eh-ee
- EU: like eh-oo
- OE: like oh-ay
- OU: like oh-oo
2. INTONATION
In Dardain it is always the third-last syllabe of a word that is stressed:
- Dar-DA-ni-ell (garden of Dardan)
- CHAR-a-daen (northern)
- SE-lan (star)
- CANN (lake)
- SU-ith (fast)
- lae-LE-ni-ar (sing)
- CHAE-nir (summer)
3. ARTICLE
That's an easy one. There's only definite articles, and these are only used in very particular situations (names, honour titles). E.g.:
- Charles the Great, Charlemagne: Ceril i Amarnar
- inn the Ram: tafann i ngCerun
4. ECLIPSIS, SANWAEN
In Dardain the first letter of a word might be influenced by the sound of the preceding word (unless of course the considered word is at the beginning of a sentence). Practically this means that voiceless consonants preceded by one of the following consonants - h, l, m, n, r, δ - are affected. They undergo sanwaen, eclipsis.
The changing consonants are: c, X (ch), f, p, t en θ (th). S remains unchanged though: it is considered too strong a letter for sanwaen. Some prepositions like co (as, like) and cai (than) stay voiceless too, whatever the consonant that comes before them. E.g.:
- by the see strait = lem/cal = lem gcal
- in brotherhood = in/faridhinaen = in bhfaridhinaen
- on the tower = sen/picin = sen bpicin
- as far as/to the city = an/teir = an dteir
- on discovery = in/thansilian = in dthansilian
- with glass = nui/tisic = nui dtisic
pronunciation:
- gc = /g/
- gch = /ɢ/
- bhf = /v/ or /w/
- bp = /b/
- dt = /d/
- dth = /δ/
5. RULES OF DECLENSION
Dardain consists of four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive and dative.
Nouns are made accusative by i-umlauting their last syllabe. Words ending in a vowel receive an ending -n.
| CASE | singularis | pluralis | collectivus | dualis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | selan bel cil torn cur | selanir belir cilir tornir curir | selanion belion cilion tornion curion | selantan beltan ciltan torntan curtan |
| accusative | selen bil cil turn cyr | selaner belir cilir tornur curyr | selanyan belyan cilyan tornyan curyan | selentan biltan ciltan turntan cyrtan |
| genitive | selain beil cyl toern cwir | selanair beleir cilyr tornoer curwir | selaneian beleian cileian torneian cureian | selaintan beiltan cyltan toerntan cwirtan |
| dative | selân bêl cîl tôrn cûr | selanâr belêr cilîr tornôr curûr | selanwan belwan cilwan tornwan curwan | selântan bêltan cîltan tôrntan cûrtan |
Vowels with a circumflex are doubled, at least as long as that does not change the intonation of the word:
- â = /ah-ah/ with a weapon = nui samrân /NOO-ee SAHM-rah-ahn/
- ê = /eh-eh/ on the street = in estrêd /een ES-treh-ed/
- î = /ee-ee/ through the gate = lem bperîn /lem PEH-ree-een/
- ô = /ow-ow/ in the dark = in gcarhôn /eeng GAH-rho-on/
- û = /oo-oo/ for the ram = a gcerûn /a GE-roo-oon/
When the circumflexed vowel is preceded by a -i- (for example in the ending -ion), the vowel is not doubled but prolonged:
- iâ = /ee-aah/ with music = nui liliân /NOO-ee LEE-lee-aahn/
- iô = /ee-o-ow/ of worth = nui horniôn /NOO-ee HOR-nee-ohn/
Also when the doubling of the vowel would result in a change of intonation(if the word has three or more syllabes), the vowel is prolonged instead of doubled:
- against the warrior = hin samrenâr /heen SAM-ray-naahr/
- below the prince = undin soronâr /OON-deen SO-ro-naahr/
- for friendship = gin mallinsîn /geen MAHL-lin-seen/
- in the temple = in arliâs /een AR-lee-aas/
6. ADJECTIVES
If there's only one adjective, it's preferably added to the noun as a suffix. E.g.:
the great sea > bel'amar > ocean = belamar
With two adjectives, the determining adjective is handled as said above. The defining adjective will be put apart (e.g.: the great cold sea > belglaes amar or bel'amar laes, depending on whether 'great' (bel) or 'cold (laes) is determining.
(!) note the enclitic -g- that's inserted to seperate both l's.
Adjectives take over the case of the word they accompagny. The number of the noun does not influence the adjective. Genuses simply do not exist in Dardain, so we don't need to bother about them. The only thing that effects the form of the adjective is the meaning of the complex subst-adj in the sentence.
7. CHANGING THE FUNCTION OF A WORD
7.1 verb > noun
To make a substantive out of a verb, we take the stem of the word and add a suffix. This suffix depends on the last consonant in the stem:
- a stem ending in a voiced consonant (except for -n) is given the suffix -rinau
- to know naviar > knowledgenavrinau
- to end dhimbiar > end dhimbrinau
- to vibrate tiruliar > vibration tirurrinau
- to go fariar > walk, corridor farrinau
- a stem ending in an -n is given the suffix -nau
- to mistake falaniar > mistake falannau
- to make love mallaniar > love mallannau
- to battle samreniar > war samrennau
- to think oroniar > thought oronnau
- a stem ending in a voiceless consonant becomes voiced at the end and also receives the suffix -rinau
- to rise/tower ostiar > hill, height osdrinau
- to trust petiar > trust pedrinau
- to split/divide saciar > split/branching/schism sagrinau
(!) note: a more archaic form of this suffix is -aen or, corrupted, -an. It's found quite often in old words like navaen (knowledge) and silfan (speed/swiftness).
Declension of this suffix is quite a bit more complex than usual. In singular (except of course the nominative) the stem of the word is considered ending in -an instead of -au. In plural the stem is considered to be -av. E.g.:
- war > samrennau
- I hate war > casian samrennen
- of war > samrennain
- to war > in samrennân
- hills > osdrinavir
- I see the hills > carimian osdrinaver
- of the hills > osdrinavair
- to the hills > in osdrinavâr
7.2 noun > adjective
To make an adjective out of a noun, we ad a suffix to the noun:
- a noun ending in -o-, -u- receives the suffix -ian
- peace soron > peaceful soronian
- king cur > royal curian
- a noun ending in -aen loses that suffix and receives the ending -an
- anger sachaen > angry sachan
- love (literature) mallanaen > lovely mallanan
- a noun ending in -a-, -e-, -i- receives the suffix -ion
- the west cyran > western cyranion
- power param > powerful paramion
- a noun ending in -oen loses that suffix and receives the ending -on
- hill ostoen (archaic) > hilly oston
7.3 adjective > noun
To make a noun out of an adjective, we add the suffix -rim to the adjective, and make the last consonant of the adjective voiced (if it wasn't already):
- fast suith > speed suidhrim
- strong thoran > strength thorarrim
- soft nanin > softness nanirrim
- great/big amar > greatness, height amarrim
- angry sachan > angriness sacharrim
- lovely mallanan > loveliness mallánarrim
7.4 adjective > personal noun
To make a personal noun out of an adjective, the suffix -(n)ar is added to the stem of the adjective (often the stem is the adjective itself, unless it has a superponed ending like -an, -ion,…)
- fast suith > the fast one suithar
- strong thoran > the strong one thoranar
- soft nanin > the soft one naninar
- great/big amar > the great (one) amarnar
- angry sachan > the angry one sachnar
- western cyranion > the western one cyrannar
- lovely mallanan > the lovely one mallannar (= 'my love')
This same rule goes for unfinished verbformsg
- thinking oronic > the thinking one (the thinker) oronar
- triumphing oswic > the triumphant (the victor) oswar
- singing laelenic > the singing one(singer, bard) laelenar
(!) note: ‘lovely’ and ‘love’ also have shorter, more commmon forms, resp. mallaen (>< mallanan) and manan (>< mallanaen (archaic) or mallannau).
7.5 adjective > adverb
To make an adverb out of an adjective, the suffix -ril is added to the adjective.
- soft nanin > softly nanirril
- strong thoran > strongly thorarril
- fast suith > fastly suithril
(!)remember: a combination of -n- and -r- always results in -rr-.
8. PRONOUNS
8.1 Relative pronoun
Since Dardain does not use genus, the relative pronoun only depends on the case and the number of the thing it is referring to:
| CASE | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | i | ari |
| accusative | ni | nari |
| genitive | ai | arai |
| genitive | aw | araw |
(!) note: all forms ending in -i result in nasalisation. E.g.:
- the man that I see > dahin ni ngcarimian
- the house of which I'm collecting the stones > masar ai mporanian bpetirir
- the boy who conquered the world > gwas i ntregwiot thalem
8.2 Demonstrative pronoun
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| that, that one | in | arin |
| this, this one | lin | larin |
8.3 Personal pronoun
| PERSON | nominative | accusative | genitive | dative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | ne | ni | nei(*) | nen |
| 2nd singular | se | si | sei(*) | sen |
| 3rd singular | the | thi | thei(*) | then |
| 1st plural | nare | nari | narei(*) | naren |
| 2nd plural | sare | sari | sarei(*) | saren |
| 3rd plural | thare | thari | tharei(*) | tharen |
(*) check Possessive pronoun
(!) note: nominative pronouns (the subjects of a sentence) are only used to stress the subject. E.g.:
- I have > hann
- I have > ne hann
8.4 Possessive pronoun
| PERSON | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | nei* | nir/n* |
| 2nd singular | sei* | sir/n* |
| 3rd singular | thei* | thir/n* |
| 1st plural | narei* | narir/n* |
| 2nd singular | sarei* | sarir/n* |
| 3rd singular | tharei* | tharir/n* |
(*) the end of each possessive pronoun is rather a question of style. There are three possibilities:
- the end is kept 'bare'
- a suffix -n is added
- a suffix is added according to the word it belongs to
e.g.:
- my son = ronn nei = ronn nein = ronn neionn
- our victory = oswan narei = oswan narein = oswan nareian
- her rock = petir thei = petir thein = petir theiir
- your (sg) horn = rung sei = rung sein = rung seiung
- your (pl) war = racan sarei = racan sarein = racan sareian
- her hair (pl) = minianir thir = minianir thinir
(!) note: if a matching suffix is added, this suffix also undergoes declension. E.g.:
- I see my son = sichian runn nei = sichian runn nein = sichian runn neiunn
- leader of our victory = torin oswain narei = torin oswain narein = torin oswain narehain
- with your horn = nui rûng sei = nui rûng sein = nui rûng seiûng
- for your gods = a’daennêr sarir = a’daennêr sarêr
- I love your eyes = marhian aunur sei = marhian aunur sein = marhian aunur seiur
9. CONJUGATIONS
Simple Tense (active)
| sichiar (to say) | present simple | past simple | future simple | conditional simple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | sich-ian | sich-ion | sich-arian | sich-arion |
| 2nd singular | sich-is | sich-ior | sich-aris | sich-arior |
| 3rd singular | sich-iat | sich-iot | sich-ariat | sich-ariot |
| 1st plural | sich-orian | sich-urion | sich-asorian | sich-asorion |
| 2nd plural | sich-oris | sich-urior | sich-asoris | sich-asorior |
| 3rd plural | sich-oriat | sich-uriot | sich-asoriat | sich-asoriot |
Perfect Tense (active)
| haniar sichil (have said) | present perfect | past perfect | future perfect | conditional perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | hann sichil | han-ion sichil | han-arian sichil | han-arion sichil |
| 2nd singular | han-is sichil | han-ior sichil | han-aris sichil | han-arior sichil |
| 3rd singular | han-iat sichil | han-iot sichil | han-ariat sichil | han-ariot sichil |
| 1st plural | han-orian sichil | han-urion sichil | han-asorian sichil | han-asorion sichil |
| 2nd plural | han-oris sichil | han-urior sichil | han-asoris sichil | han-asorior sichil |
| 3rd plural | han-oriat sichil | han-uriot sichil | han-asoriat sichil | han-asoriot sichil |
Simple Tense (passive)
| simiar machil (to be chosen) | present simple | past simple | future simple | conditional simple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | sim-ian machil | sim-ion machil | sim-arian machil | sim-arion machil |
| 2nd singular | sim-is machil | sim-ior machil | sim-aris machil | sim-arior machil |
| 3rd singular | sim-iat machil | sim-iot machil | sim-ariat machil | sim-ariot machil |
| 1st plural | sim-orian machil | sim-urion machil | sim-asorian machil | sim-asorion machil |
| 2nd plural | sim-oris machil | sim-urior machil | sim-asoris machil | sim-asorior machil |
| 3rd plural | sim-oriat machil | sim-uriot machil | sim-asoriat machil | sim-asoriot machil |
Perfect Tense (passive)
| simiar machil (to be chosen) | present perfect | past perfect | future perfect | conditional perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | hann simil machil | han-ion simil machil | han-arian simil machil | han-arion simil machil |
| 2nd singular | han-is simil machil | han-ior simil machil | han-aris simil machil | han-arior simil machil |
| 3rd singular | han-iat simil machil | han-iot simil machil | han-ariat simil machil | han-ariot simil machil |
| 1st plural | han-orian simil machil | han-urion simil machil | han-asorian simil machil | han-asorion simil machil |
| 2nd plural | han-oris simil machil | han-urior simil machil | han-asoris simil machil | han-asorior simil machil |
| 3rd plural | han-oriat simil machil | han-uriot simil machil | han-asoriat simil machil | han-asoriot simil machil |
Imperative
ordinary: stem + anin
- to be silent = wiliar > be silent! = wilanin!
- to go = fariar > go! = faranin!
- to sing = laeleniar > sing! = laelenanin!
polite: stem + anion
- to be silent = wiliar > be silent please! = wilanion!
- to go = fariar > go please! = faranion!
- to sing = laeleniar > sing please! = laelenanion!
first person plural: stem + unin
- to be silent = wiliar > let's be silent = wilunin!
- to go = fariar > let's go = farunin!
- to sing = laeleniar > let's sing = laelenunin!
(!) note: a verb with a stem ending in -an/-un receives the suffix -nin instead of -anin or, respectively, -unin. E.g.:
- to muster/gather/assemble = poraniar > muster! = porannin (and not *porananin)
10. COMPARISON
Dardain consists of three 'flights' of comparison: definitive (big, amar), comparative (bigger, mun'amar) and superlative (biggest, mus'amar). Mun (more) and mus (most) are prefixed to the adjective. E.g.:
- a big house: masar’amar
- a higher mountain: radan mun’bpen
- the loveliest girl: faen mus’mallaen
- the swiftest river: widh mur’suith
Exceptions: good-better-best become ban-mumban-murban.
(!) note the -r- in the last example, that replaces the -s- in mus to avoid pronunciation problems.
(!) note: the stress never reaches mun or mus, unless it's the intention of the speaker to stress the fact that it concerns a biggER house, the MOST lovely girl of them all, etc.
11. DIMINUTIVE
A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, intimacy, or endearment. In Dardain words are transformed into the diminutive by assigning them a suffix. This suffix is in all cases -ean. Please note that the adding of a suffix often results in a shift of intonation. E.g.
- house masar > little house masarean (MA-sar > ma-SA-re-an)
- kiss sais > little kiss saisean (SA-is > sa-I-se-an)
- sunmanidh > little sun manidhean (MA-nidh > ma-NI-dhe-an)
- song lilaen > little song lilaenean (LI-laen > li-LAE-ne-an)
- flower nanan > little flower nananean (NA-nan > na-NA-ne-an)
- heart mar > darling marean (MAR > MA-re-an)
LANGUAGE SOURCES
Dardanian is mostly based on Welsh, Gaelic, Dutch and French.
SAMPLE TRANSLATION
run’daerir saran hwi saiar in hornilîn hwi darcharîr nasil simoriat. Tharen hanwil hwi gcinsaen danwil ennoriat, hwi thare in sinhir bhfaridhinain thar araliniar turoriat
all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Hinwan Aranair anviatir!
Let the Council of Lords begin!
Mallanin ni hann a'sen ne nan'dtinian gwadiar
el cariño que te tengo yo no lo puedo negar
(the love I have for you I cannot deny)
| Hathar nareian i in safaêr aeniat onim Sein sinctadil ennitir | Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name, |
Petir aenis, hwi sen lin bpetîr Arlies neies cemarian
Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam
(You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church)
On seniar oswil simasórin win in bhfáridhan gcímginil
We will be conquered by none when united in brotherhood
Énnitir mánan!
Let there be love!
External links
- http://student.vub.ac.be/~prottier/Caenwyr/schrijf_binwalyn.html - Broken link: NO.
(Site author: Pieter Rottiers. Site language: Dutch) - http://www.omniglot.com/writing/dardanian.htm - Broken link: NO.
(Site author: Simon Ager. Site language: English)
