#laefevian

[olilonien]

New Laefevian!

Thanks to the whole quarantine situation, I was finally able to start working on a new version of my main language, previously known as Lefêvëši, now known as Laefevian in English, and Lefêveši natively. This is effectively the fourth (!!) iteration of the language, although the previous iteration, Lefêvëši, was in use for the longest period and also had by far the largest vocabulary (around nine thousand dictionary entries). 

The fourth iteration, Laefevian, has been wholly overhauled, including phonology, orthography, parts of grammar, and largely vocabulary. The main difference is that Laefevian is now diachronically derived from an ancestor language, known as Proto-Laenkean (eventually I plan to make a whole language family). Laefevian now feels like a more complete and wholesome language, with a lot of history behind its words.

Laefevian has nearly 900 words, which come from about 240 roots (as of writing this post), but the number of both is constantly growing as words are being continuously added. 

I have also finally managed to translate my staple text :The King of Kings! For comparison, the previous version can be found here. Anyhow, the translation is below (side note: <ñ> is pronounced /ŋ/, aka ‘ng’ in ‘sing’).

Eñaht Eñahtas

Men an hulevaddar ossaimi, ejmeš? Va hnohdañweğ? Ompianau ruhnohdañweğ?

Ompian andurrurvas nurnele ôd ollonte sênnurvas hwêltirfêl. Ôlduman saftumad laddakse kau. Lômmain vyn eñaht. Jêr kalla lo eñaht. Stôllava sund, men ah. Os alla Eñaht Eñahtas, huldužêngwi vôrruôn. Uweñahtens alturvas sorjaôn lindirmas ôd suljêt aehtentau, maltaôn jôhtumas ôd ulkudaôn surkumas – vôns-ið as vjau elvent, ogwerse. Kêðej ao veiğ alj, hwaren ôd eai ðêrhos vjauron erğetiron. Nol jønnas, maj le ñarôhka ô tus ynnearêt ôd eavô vallôrul þarwoksi jørkyrad, addo vihvetturvake. Ðahke hwehau eaida mihd hrunwešir, kêddo þittake hwehau kyggau mihd lar.

Vônis minwe as ohlijent – os le idôhkai ôd os lun šohda. Nylent vyn ersorwas ô gwaltir hwallos hlêm vyn alynter. Rokwôin as gwaltiruôn. Men ô min an se, ôspyndel vivô, ejmeš? Hniþ allan ô hniþ hwalôhkaun, maeğ hrannaun, ôdda ohlijent hwallaus imbedekwe ô kwôlpuhdaus hlundade turnau.

Seu as hris ekøhtôtan ô kaltôtan, vjau as spuñihten nurnôtan, mamerwôtan ô mulkudôtan. Kennan njungeda ljôhulad, tê sund le vettake. Miğ kwivintôngwa seude ljôhulgede? Allan lo vjau ðinkeš. Os ah assil dôn eñahtir, alla Eñaht Eñahtas. Vôns lan ymmurvas vynynši. Finaôn eotungwaôn lêstumas lindumas, finaôn irkungwaôn ôrtumas arnaltumas, kulaôn vrøñyl ondumas lêstej urôlul. Vônat niv ô heiþ, rurjew ô rujont ôd ussêlt vynši ymmurvas njungedekwe.

Men an? Tommin an. Ô kêð as ohlijent ôd os lun eñahturra, os ah Eñaht Eñahtas.

[olilonien]

Human Skeleton in Laefêvëši

So I had a bit of time and I wanted to add a few new words to Laefêvëši and I realised I didn’t have many words for the bones of the human skeleton, so I decided to add some. I also found a nice picture of the human skeleton with the most important bones shown, so obviously I had to make a Laefevian version of that, in both Latin and my conscript. 

Let’s start with the conscript: 

I’m not gonna post another picture with the romanisation but instead I’ll make a list of the words, along with the pronunciation and basic etymology. 

First off, some common words or parts of the words present in the names of the bones:

sōkkōf “vertebrae” is the plural form of sōng [sɔŋg̥] “vertebra”, related to sōnd “neck”

-syd and -jōd are common suffixes added to bone names and typically carry the primary stress as well (so, pronounced [ˈsyːd̥] and [ˈi̯ɔːd̥], respectively), with -syd coming from the word syd [syːd̥] “bone” (the origin of -jōd is unknown)

-ili and -ila are relational adjectival suffixes, with -ili being singular and -ila plural

-a and -af are nominal plural suffixes

With that done, let’s take a look at the rest of the terms, starting on the left side at the top, going down:

taisent [tai̯ˈseːnt] “spine, spinal column”, from tais “back” + -ent “collective suffix”

sōndila sōkkōf [ˈsɔːndila ˈsɔːkkɔf] “cervical vertebrae”, from sōnd “neck”

sašila sōkkōf [ˈsaːʃila ˈsɔːkkɔf] “thoracic vertebrae”, from saš “chest (body part)”

lûŋysila sōkkōf [ˈlyŋysila ˈsɔːkkɔf] “lumbar vertebrae”, from lûŋys “lower back”

luŋyssyd [luŋysˈsyd̥] or [lyŋysˈsyd̥] “sacrum”, from lûŋys “lower back”

vinsyd [ʋinˈsyːd̥] “coccyx, tailbone”, probably from viēn “tail”

Moving on to the right side, again starting at the top and going down:

wēlt [wɛːlt] “skull”

nejili žymlys [ˈneːi̯ili ˈʒyːmlys] “mandible, lower jawbone”, from nejili “lower” and žymël “jaw”

haitjōd [ˈxaːi̯ti̯ɔd̥] “clavicle, collarbone”, from hait “key”

nirjantus [niɾˈi̯aːntus] “manubrium”, from nirja “handle, hilt, haft”, from neir “hand”

nanjōd [nanˈi̯ɔːd̥] “scapula, shoulder blade”, from nani “shovel”

čōba [ˈt͡ɕɔːba] “ribs” (singular: čōhb “rib”)

lijøssyd [lii̯øsˈsyːd̥] “humerus”, from lijød “upper arm”, from lij- “upper” and ød “arm”

warødjōd [waɾødˈi̯ɔːd̥] “ulna”, from war- “big” and ød “arm” (mislabelled in the picture as the radius)

nejøssyd [nei̯øsˈsyːd̥] “radius”, from nejød “forearm”, from nej- “lower” and ød “arm” (mislabelled in the picture as the ulna)

vuðorentus [ʋuˈðoːɾentus] “pelvic girdle”, from vuðor “pelvis” (from vuj “hip”), and possibly the collective suffix -ent (and the nominal suffix -us) (possibly also the origin of the -(a)ntus part in nirjantus)

sōnirjōdaf [sɔniɾˈi̯ɔːdaf] “carpals, wrist bones” (singular: sōnirjōd), from  sōnir “wrist”

igetjōdaf [igetˈi̯ɔːdaf] “metacarpals” (singular: igetjōd), from iget “palm (body part)”

dûggysa [ˈdyːggysa] “phalanges” (singular: dûggys), from dûg “finger”

šaltjōd [ʃaltˈi̯ɔːd̥] “femur, thighbone”, from šalt “thigh”

goissyd [goi̯sˈsyːd̥] “patella, kneecap”, from gois “knee”

sōssyd [sɔsˈsyːd̥] “tibia, shinbone”, from sōd “shin”

pidjōd [pidˈi̯ɔːd̥] “fibula, calf bone”, from pîd “calf”

trisjōdaf [tɾisˈi̯ɔːdaf] “tarsals” (singular: trisjōd), from tris “instep”

lēwjōdaf [lɛu̯ˈi̯ɔːdaf] “metatarsals” (singular: lēwjōd), from lēw “foot” 

dûggysa [ˈdyːggysa] “phalanges” (singular: dûggys), from dûg “finger”

Bonus etymological facts:

the words sōnir “wrist”, sōng “vertebra”, and sōnd “neck” all contain the root sō(n)-, which indicates some kind of rotational movement, as evident by other related words, such as sōnt “vortex”, sōns “rotation”, sōvaj “to spin, rotate” and sōvaej “to spin, rotate, whirl”, sōhd “spin”, sōtty “spiral”, and probably also sōft “door”, sōrt “gate”, sōrur “portal” (whether sōd “calf” is related is unclear)

the word iget “palm (body part)” contains the root ige-, which indicates a flat surface or flat area, as evident by other related words, such as igeg “level (noun)”, iges “plain, flatland (geography)”, igest “plane (geometry)”, and compounds eaigesis “horizontal” (literally “water-level”), eaigilt “bottom of a body of water” (possibly also gil “bottom”), iggeavij “to regulate”

[olilonien]

Lexember - day 25

Slightly late again but here’s a post nonetheless. Today’s theme is, well, there isn’t one!

Laefêvëši: ummesist [umːeˈsiːst] (n) screen printing, from ummi “sieve” and sist “print”.

————————————————————————————- Previous words: Lexember 24: rōlesvin (Laefêvëši) Lexember 23: unhulþa (Gutiskar) Lexember 22: hallur (Gutiskar) Lexember 21: hrínðran (Gutiskar) Lexember 20: kinþur (Gutiskar) Lexember 19: ostyskynt (Laefêvëši) Lexember 18: nigadalt (Laefêvëši) Lexember 17: šieˊhǩǩõ (Neapmõn) Lexember 16: dziôe (Pióushióubêa) Lexember 15: šöntin (Kälčel) Lexember 14: uimbödäbalm (Saitlaa) Lexember 13: plahwicelf (Gathrírn) Lexember 12: isiš ša (Ememir) Lexember 11: leŋu (Tainiren) Lexember 10: dromiscu (Alfinu) Lexember 9: aplar (Gutiskar) Lexember 8: chorphas (Phichensias) Lexember 7: pūkarēŋa (Onākerē) Lexember 6: teksātar, tsahi (Harākti) Lexember 5: snäg (Karnišna) Lexember 4: skrwnsk (Vateno) Lexember 3: hüskü (Settaka) Lexember 2: ijuw (Irǧeret) Lexember 1: hkōva (Laefêvëši)

[olilonien]

Lexember - day 24

It’s the 24th! Of Lexember, that is. Today’s theme is lighter than air. This may be the last post with a picture for the next couple of days.

Laefêvëši: rōlesvin [ɾɔlesˈʋiːn] (n) hot-air balloon, from rōl “sky” and svin “ball” (cf. minesvin “balloon”, from mîn “air” and svin).

————————————————————————————- Previous words: Lexember 23: unhulþa (Gutiskar) Lexember 22: hallur (Gutiskar) Lexember 21: hrínðran (Gutiskar) Lexember 20: kinþur (Gutiskar) Lexember 19: ostyskynt (Laefêvëši) Lexember 18: nigadalt (Laefêvëši) Lexember 17: šieˊhǩǩõ (Neapmõn) Lexember 16: dziôe (Pióushióubêa) Lexember 15: šöntin (Kälčel) Lexember 14: uimbödäbalm (Saitlaa) Lexember 13: plahwicelf (Gathrírn) Lexember 12: isiš ša (Ememir) Lexember 11: leŋu (Tainiren) Lexember 10: dromiscu (Alfinu) Lexember 9: aplar (Gutiskar) Lexember 8: chorphas (Phichensias) Lexember 7: pūkarēŋa (Onākerē) Lexember 6: teksātar, tsahi (Harākti) Lexember 5: snäg (Karnišna) Lexember 4: skrwnsk (Vateno) Lexember 3: hüskü (Settaka) Lexember 2: ijuw (Irǧeret) Lexember 1: hkōva (Laefêvëši)