So among the many conlangs and cultures that I have created in "my universe", this language is by far my most developed and among my favourites. I will share some of the grammar and some explanations of their culture with the hopes of receiving feedback and opinions! Now where to begin...
Dryads are tree nymphs from Ancient Greek mythology, so that was obviously my starting inspiration. This main language/dialect is specifically for Meliae Dryads, nymphs of ash trees. Some words in this language have two meanings, the human meaning (for use with humans in the real world), and the dryadian meaning (in the original context of the dryads). The reason of this is because the Dryads have a different life cycle and biology than humans. Basically a dryad starts out as a seedling and begins its first stage of life as an unautonomous small tree. Once a dryad comes of a certain age it gains full autonomy and transforms into a humanoid shape resembling close to that of a female human with plant-like attributes; gaining a conscience, the ability to walk and move around, and the ability to speak and communicate with other. The final stage of a dryads life is when it intentionally gives up its autonomy and conscience to become a larger tree called an arzcydris (literally "tree of the heart/spirit"). How this happens is decided on the role of the dryad within its family unit. The arzcydris translation and equivalent to English for human use is "father", and "mother" is translated from the word ksal. Each dryadian unit has one father, and the mother is the most dominant and eldest autonomous dryad in the unit, which would obviously be in the autonomous stage of its life. The job of the mother is to plant the seeds of the father and to tend and take care of raising the other dryads in the unit; you could also say she is the one in charge of the unit. All the others are simply called ńjuryf (plural is zeńjuryf), which is translated to English for human use as "child" or "kid" or even "daughter". When the father dies in a dryadian unit, the mother must give up her autonomy to become the new father, while the next most dominant daughter becomes the new mother of the unit.
So before I go any further, especially into the language, I should probably put the pronunciation and how it correlates with the romanization I created to write this language. I also have created a writing system for this language which I will discuss later.
Consonants: IPA(Romanization)
*sc and zc become retroflexive when in consonant clusters (i.e. arzcydris = ɑɾʐɘdɾiːs, bzcatc = bʐɑːθ, etc...)
Labial Dental Alveolar Post-Alveolar Retroflexive Palatal Velar Nasal m(m) n̪(n) n(n) ɲ(ńj) ŋ(ń) Stop p(p) b(b) t̪(t) d̪(d) k(k) g(g) Fricative f(f) v(v) θ(tc) ð(dc) s(s) z(z) ʃ(sc) ʒ(zc) ʂ(sc)* ʐ(zc)* x(h) ɣ(gh) Approximant j(j) w(w) Tap ɾ(r) Lateral l(l)
Vowels: IPA(Romanization)
Front Central Back Close i(i) u(u) Mid ɛ(e) ə(y) ɔ(o) Open ɑ(a)
Now to start discussing my favourite part; the grammar!
So first of all, prepositions/postpositions are all expressed through suffixes attached to nouns, and if the verb is transitive then the tense of the verb is expressed on the subject of the sentence. This leaves over 40 noun cases/forms, excluding a noun's "normal" form. So for example, I shall demonstrate this using the word durym meaning "house". (Since the word durym has the vowel "y" on the last syllable, this "y" disappears when attaching suffixes if the word is more than one syllable long. This also applies to the vowel "e".)
-The noun cases can be divided into Location, Motion (ending in -e/-ise for "to"/"from"), and Morphosyntactic.
durma house (absolutive) durmin inside the house durmove to underneath the house durmusise from behind the house durmal house (present subject) durmine into the house durmovise from underneath the house drumatc in front of the house durmas house (imperfect subject) durminise from inside the house durmeh beside the house durmatce to the front of the house durmy of the house durmoh outside the house durmehe to the side of the house durmatcise from the front of the house durmu by means of; with the house durmohe to outside of the house durmehise from the side of the house durmusoh outside the house in the back durmwen without the house durmohise from outside of the house zdurmuń between the houses durmatcoh outside the house in the front durme to the house durmol on top of the house zdurmuńe to between the houses durmusin inside the house in the back durmis off of the house durmole onto the house zdurmuńise from between the houses durmatcin inside the house in the front durmise from the house durmolise from on top of the house durmus behind the house durmae house! (vocative informal) durmav at the house durmov underneath the house durmuse to behind the house durmajoń house! (vocative formal)
-More cases can be formed, such as attaching the motion suffixes to durmusoh, durmatcoh, durmusin, and durmatcin.
-Adjectives are inflected in the same way to agree with the noun they modify.
-The Genitive form of a noun changes as well to agree with the noun it possesses. This is achieved by attaching -i to the end of the noun and then the suffix that agrees with the case of the noun it possesses. The only exception is in the case of -is and -ise in which it becomes -isy and -isie. This does not apply to the present and imperfect subjective forms of nouns; it simply becomes the normal genitive form when modifying such a noun. (i.e. wylfol durmiol = on the roof of the house, nrutcmise pusctisie = from the beauty of the nature, etc...)
-The plural form of a noun is formed by attaching the prefix z- if the noun begins with a single voiced consonant or a vowel, s- if the noun begins with a single unvoiced or nasal consonant, and ze- in all other instances. Genitive nouns and adjectives are not affected by plurality.
Now to discuss verbs! The verbs in the Meliae Dryadian Language are divided among Intransitive and Transitive, and they all end with -tc in their infinitive form. For transitive verbs, the word order of the sentence becomes OVS (the VS must be together at the end of the sentence) and the -tc mutates to a nasal consonant that agrees in pronunciation with the subject that follows the verb. The present and imperfect tense is then expressed on the subject, as well as whether it is affirmative or negative. The mutations are as follows: if the subject starts with t, d, tc, dc, or n then it mutates to -n, if the subject starts with p, b, f, v, or m then it mutates to -m, and if the subject starts with anything else then it mutates to -ń. The verb witc or "to be" is always treated as a transitive verb. Here's some examples using the verb bzcatc (to do): bzcan dal = I do (it), bzcań gal = You do (it), bzcam bal = he/she/it does (it), bzcań zdal = we do (it), bzcań ksalal = the mother does it, bzcan das = I did (it), bzcań zgas = You all did (it), bzcań ksalasen = the mother did not do (it), bzcań zbalen = they do not do (it), etc... For intransitive verbs, the subject is placed in front of the verb in its absolutive form and the present and imperfective tense and the affirmative/negative are expressed on the verb by replacing the -tc with -l, -s, -len, and -sen. In this instance, the subject's placement in the sentence becomes more free, however the intransitive verb must always remain at the end of the sentence. Her are some examples with the verb kretc (to go/come): da krel = I go/come, da kres = I went/came, ga puscte krel = you went to the forest, pusctise mile ksala kresen = the mother did not go from the forest to the sea, fjadcela dia durme krelen = my friend does not go home, etc...
Next, in order to create an interrogative sentence, you simply add the suffix -no to the end of the sentence; to the end of the subject if the verb is transitive, and to the end of the verb if the verb is intransitive (i.e. ga krelno = do you go?, ga kresno = did you go?, bzcań galno = do you do it?, bczam basno = did he do it?, etc...). For imperative, you replace the tense suffix at the end of the sentence with -vu and the negative form of it is -vwen (i.e. ga krevu = go! come!, zga krevwen = you all don't go! don't come!, bzcań zdavu = let's do it!, etc...).
Another suffixed attached after the present/imperfect tense suffix is -ae, which basically emphasizes the verb and can even be used in place of the future tense (since this language does not have a future tense). For example with the verbs bzcatc (to do), gzatc (to see), and kretc (to go/come): gzan dasae = I DID see it, gzan dalae = I DO see it, bzcan dalae = I DO do it/I WILL do it, da krelae = I'm going/I will go, da kresae = I WENT, bzcan dasnae = I did NOT do it, bzcan dalnae = I will NOT do it, ba krelae = he's COMING, etc... And a second similar suffix is -arae which is usually used with the verb ńrutc which means "to know", however it can also be used alone with the ńrutc implied. This suffix is also used to emphasize the verb in a way that one knows this verb takes or took place; it is used when stating something that the other person already knows about you, or that you already know about the other person or something/someone else. This can also be used in place of a future tense. Here's some examples using the same verbs again: gzan dalarae (ńruń gal) = (you know that) I see it, gzan dasarae (ńruń gal) = (you know that) I saw it, gzań gasarae (ńrun dal) = (I know that) you saw it, bzcań galarae (ńrun dal) = (I know that) you (will) do it, bzcan dasnarae (ńruń gal) = (you know that) I didn't do it, bzcań gasnarae (ńrun dal) = (I know that) you didn't do it, bzcan dalnarae (ńruń gal) = (you know that) I will not do it, ba krelarae (ńruń gal/ńrun dal) = (I/you know) he will come, ba krelnarae (ńruń gal/ńrun dal) = (I/you know) he won't come, etc...
Next let's discuss the Perfect and Pluperfect constructions in Dryadian language! Basically you replace the -tc of the verb (both transitive and intransitive) with -s (like in the imperfect tense), and then you add witc (to be) and conjugate accordingly. So gzas witc would be "to have seen", bzcas witc "to have done", kres witc "to have gone", etc. Here some small sentence examples again: ga gzas win dal = I have seen you, ga gzas win das = I had seen you, kres win dal = I have gone/come, kres win das = I had gone/come, puscte kres wiń galno = have you been to the forest?, snuscomu nwetciu swaera sys wim bas* = he had heard the whispers of the wind, be zedrisa stos win dalae** = I have spoken to him, bu zedrisa stos win dalae = I have spoken (conversed) with him, ga smes win dasarae = I had longed for you (as you know), etc...
*swaera sytc literally means "to use one's ears" but is translated to "to listen to" or "to hear", it is used with the instrumental case (-u) when you "hear something" or "listen to something". This also can lead to negation with the privative case (-wen), or even double negation for affirmation by using both the privative case and the negation of the sentence.
**zedrisa stotc literally means "to plant trees" but is used to mean "to speak" or "to converse". It can be used with the allative case (-e) when it is one sided and you are "saying something to someone" or with the instrumental case (-u) when it is both ways and you are "talking with someone". In this instance, the sentence cannot be negated with the privative case. The word zedris, meaning "trees", can also take on the meaning of "words" or "language; hence, the name of the Dryadian Language being Zedris Zedriady or quite literally "Trees of the Dryads". You can then say "Zedrisa zedriadia ston dal" meaning "I speak the Dryadian Language" or literally "I plant the trees of the Dryads".
Next, the verbs "to want to" and "to have to" are expressed as infixes, either on the subject or on the verb depending again on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive. The infix -via- is used to express "to want to" or "would like to", and the infix -ja- is used to express "to have to". Here are some examples: da krevial = I want to go, da krevias = I wanted to go, ga krevialno = do you want to go?, gu zedrisa ston davial = I would like to speak with you, du zedrisa stoń gaviasno = did you want to speak with me?, da krejal = I have to go, da krejas = I had to go, kliva flon dajal = I need to eat/drink something, ge zedrisa ston dajal = I need to speak to you, du zedrisa stoń gajasno = did you need to speak with me?, etc...
Modifying nouns with verbs and verb phrases in this language is also quite interesting. Basically, if the verb modifying the noun is transitive, then the noun being modified becomes like a normal sentence with the verb, and the appropriate case endings are attached after the tense ending of that noun. However, if the verb intransitive, then it is placed in front of the noun being modified and is treated like an adjective and it must be inflected like an adjective to agree with the case of the noun. Here some examples to help demonstrate this: ga hronzen dala hronzeń galno = do you love me who loves you?, drisov dwela fjadcela gzan das = I saw my friend (who was) standing under a tree, kliva flom fjadcelasa gzan das = I saw my friend (who was) eating something, helsa soryń scjeral wiń soral = the sun is a fire that warms up the sky, puscte krele be zedrisa ston das = I spoke to him, who was going to the forest, etc...
Now let's discuss the formation of the passive voice. For the passive voice you take the verb and mutate the ending -tc to -ń to agree with the following verb witc (to be), which is then conjugated normally. The passive voice is always used with the instrumental case for the noun that would be the subject if the voice was active. So some more examples: du bzcań wim bal = it is done by me, du bzcań wim bas = it was done by me, du hronzeń wiń gal = you are loved by me, gu floń wim flomas = the food was eaten by me, vzulu novu hlefyń wiń aeras = the air was cooled by a light snow, etc...
Finally, pertaining to verbs at least, I would like to discuss how to express the verb "to have" and the construction of "can/could" or "to be able to" in Dryadian language. To say you "have" something, you basically put the noun that "has" in the allative form (-e) and the thing that the noun "has" would become the subject, and it would be used with the verb witc. So for example; de win drisal = I have a tree, ge wiń hrosalno = do you have time?, etc. And to express "to be able to", it is basically expressed the same as the construction for "to have", except the subject of the sentence is ev, which means "ability", and you place the verb or verb phrase that you "are able to" do in front of it, mutating the ending to agree with ev, and then in front of all that goes the main verb witc. Maybe it's better to show with examples: de wiń kreń eval = I can/could go(I have the ability to go), de wiń kreń evas = I could have gone (I had the ability to go), de wiń zedrisa zedriadia stoń eval = I can speak the language of the dryads, etc.
Now to discuss the word kliv and it's many many uses depending on how it is inflected. Firstly, kliv alone in it's normal form with the verb witc can mean either "who" or "what" depending on context. In the absolutive form (kliva) it becomes "something/someone" in a statement and "who/what" in an interrogative sentence. klivu means "somehow" in a statement and "how" or "by what means" in an interrogative. klive can mean "to where" or "to somewhere", klivav can mean "where at" or "at somewhere", klivise can mean "from where" or "from somewhere", and etc. For the opposite you just negate the verb; this makes kliv and kliva mean "nothing" and "no one", klive becomes "to nowhere", and etc.
The construction of dco in front of a noun in the absolutive case means "for..." or "in order for...", and in front of a noun in the genitive case it means "because of...". Therefore, dco kliva can mean "why" or "for what" or "for something, and dco klivy can mean "why" or "because of what" or "because of something". To reply to this with "because" and then a whole sentence, you simply put dco at the front of the phrase and then add either -a or -y to the end of the sentence after the tense suffix, depending on what was asked. So for example; dco kliva ga kresno = Why did you go? (For what did you go?), dco klivy ga kresno = What caused you to go?, dco da kreviasa = because I wanted to go, dco da kreviasy = the fact that I wanted to go (caused me), etc.
To say "yes" formally is ńwel, which literally means "so" or "correct", and a formal "no" is simply ńwelen. You can also add -ae and -arae to the end for greater emphasis. However, the most common and informal way to say "yes" and "no" is a bit more complex. You say the subject, in whatever tense the question asked was in, and either say it negated for "no" or affirmed for "yes. If the question was asked using "to want to" or "to have to", then that is included in the response. So for example; ga kresno = did you go?, das = yes, bzcam basno = did he do it?, basen = no, bzcań gavialno = do you want to do it?, davial = yes, etc.
The Dryads also use a base 7 numbering system and it ties into their belief system. Firstly, the dryads have a belief in this thing called narot which can be translated as "negentropy", "the love and appreciation of nature and the universe", or even "life". It is basically the constant struggle to maintain order and to improve over time, and it is also viewed as the point of life; to improve over time and to progress forward, whether by means of evolution, simple adaptation, or the development of new technology. The opposite of narot is gzcurot which is basically like "entropy". So in the Dryadian belief system they have 7 gods that embody the universe, 6 gods of narot and 1 god of gzcurot (aka the seventh god). Since the 7th number is looked at as being associated with the god of gzcurot, a number of a narotian god must be placed in front of it to cancel out the gzcurot. So therefore they developed a base 7 number system. To count with their hands, they use one hand and use their thumb to count each finger on that one hand and the spaces in between, and the other hand can be used to keep track of the seventh's place (and to cancel out that bad god, haha). (If you place your right thumb on your pinkie and fold all your other fingers in, it is consider highly offensive as it refers to the number 7 without a place holder).
The numbers are as follows:
0 zcaet, 1 bza, 2 dcel, 3 hrow, 4 sjun, 5 dcan, 6 raw, 10 bza-vaer, 11 bza-vaebza, 12 bza-vaedcel, 20 dcel-vaer, 30 hrow-vaer, 40 sjum-vaer, 50 dcam-vaer, 60 raw-vaer, 100 bzavel, 1000 bzańjur
Here is a picture of how they are written:
To say "hello" and "goodbye" in Dryadian it is G'narotise. The g' is a contraction of ge (to you) and narotise is narot in the ablative case. So literally it means "to you from narot".
The script is alphabetic and it is written from bottom to top in lines going right to left. Each letter has a name that coincides with a part of a plant. The letters are connected by "stems" to form the "trees". A sentence is called a "garden" or "grove" and a paragraph is a "forest".
And now for some sample texts with pictures of the script:
Dryadian (Romanized): Vzulen wiń smiral. A dco ńwel wim baly, narota nrezytc, vil loha lunysveta hilmav milavy scnytc, scdon dal. Poscte win nrutcmal! Ga palkev krevu, arzcysnwora zeń gavu, vil gus smoven ga gzavwen! Svetu da vseń Artymisal.
English Translation: The world is big. And therefore, I shall begin to explore the universe, and search for the faint moonlight at the end of the ocean. The forest has beauty! Go quickly, laugh (lit. sing your heart's/soul's song), and never look back! Artemis shall guide me with her light.
"Snwor Zedriady"
Lohisie luny-svetisie
Zedrissie zalise zverymise
Nalev nuscon nwetcal,
Nrutcie narotie Artymise.
"Song of the Dryads"
Tis from the trees' gentle
Leaves of moonlight
That the wind softly whispers
To Artemis of beautiful nature.
And here is a picture of journal entries I wrote in this language using the cursive version of the script:
So yeah, there's more to the language than this so far, and I'm still changing things here and there and coming up with new things constantly. I currently have a vocabulary developed of around 800 words and I'm constantly making more. I tried as hard as I could to hit all the important and interesting stuff without making it too long. But this is one of my many languages and cultures, so just give me some feedback and opinions, and if your interested I will be happy to start other threads for some of my other languages too!
I also have some very creative and interesting profanity created for this language if anyone is interestedhaha
Originally Posted by stuck
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