Originally posted on Wordpress on 08 November 2021
Introduction
Of the conlangs I created for the the story that eventually became The Book of Immortality, the dragon language was always the most fleshed out. It had to be, as it was used as a magic language and there were going to be passages written in it. I didn't have to expand the grammar much.
Also, this conlang didn't have a real name until earlier this year. Célis zisun means "mountain language", and it's one of the two dragon languages spoken in Greater Meitsung - primarily in East and West Rhécare. The other dragon language, mízha zisun "island language", is spoken on the island of Mízharos.
Phonology
The original dragon language contained /ɲ/, /ɸ/, /β/, /x/, /ɣ, and /ʍ/ in addition to every consonant listed in the table below. The number of fricatives was truly ridiculous, and it made no sense to have /ɸ β/ and /f v/ as well as /h/ and /x/. Those consonants weren't even allophones or anything - they were independent phonemes.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m (ɱ) | n | ||||
| Stop | p | t d | k g | |||
| Fricative | f v | θ ð | s z ʃ ʒ | h | ||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
| Rhotic | ɾ r |
In contrast, I added one vowel - /e/. The original dragon language only had /ɛ/ as a front mid vowel.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | ɪ i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ e | o | |
| Open | a |
Diphthongs are /iu/, /io/, /iɛ/, and /ia/. Syllable structure is CVF, where C is any consonant, V is any vowel, and F is /n/, /l/ or /s/. There are no words that start with vowels. Primary stress falls on the first syllable of a word, and secondary stress falls on following odd syllables.
Orthography
Since this conlang was first developed when I was still obsessed with Irish orthograph, there are some influences - namely, using
| Letter | a | c | d | dh | e | é | f |
| Sound | /a/ | /k/ | /d/ | /ð/ | /ɛ/ | /e/ | /f/ |
| Letter | g | h | i | í | l | m | n |
| Sound | /g/ | /h/ | /ɪ/ | /i/ | /l/ | /m/ | /n/ |
| Letter | o | p | r | rh | s | sh | t |
| Sound | /o/ | /p/ | /ɾ/ | /r/ | /s/ | /ʃ/ | /t/ |
| Letter | th | u | v | w | y | z | zh |
| Sound | /θ/ | /u/ | /v/ | /w/ | /j/ | /z/ | /ʒ/ |
Nouns
Nouns (and adjectives) are marked for case, number, and definiteness; those markers are suffixed in the form case-number-definiteness with the exception of the vocative case, which is a prefix.
There are six cases: nominative, genitive, accusative, dative, instrumental, and vocative. For some strange reason, there were originally separate possessive and genitive cases. I'm genuinely not sure why.
| Case | Marker |
|---|---|
| Nominative | - |
| Genitive | -in |
| Accusative | -ul |
| Dative | -eta |
| Instrumental | -we |
| Vocative | a- |
Célis zisun has two numbers: singular and plural. The singular is unmarked, and the plural suffix is -le. Nouns are assumed to be indefinite by default. The definite ending is -(a)ne.
Why is there even a definite marker in this conlang? I'm not sure. Perhaps I was thinking of the Scandinavian languages at the time.
Pronouns
Pronouns are marked for case and number in the same way nouns are - not definiteness, because...that wouldn't make any sense.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | len | riv |
| 2nd Informal | rhal | rhale |
| 2nd Formal | van | vanle |
| 3rd | dhas | dhasle |
Verbs
Verbs are marked for tense, mood, and person/number. There are three tenses: past, present, future, and three moods: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative. The 2nd person formal and informal are not distinguished in verbs.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||
| Past | Indicative | -esan | -esva | -esica | -esrí | -essi | -esne |
| Subjunctive | -eson | -esonva | -esonica | -esonrí | -esonsi | -esonne | |
| Present | Indicative | -an | -va | -(i)ca | -rí | -si | -ne |
| Subjunctive | -onan | -onva | -onica | -onrí | -onsi | -onne | |
| Imperative | -lion | -liova | -lioca | -liorí | -liosi | -lione | |
| Future | Indicative | -inan | -inva | -inica | -inrí | -insi | -inne |
| Subjunctive | -inonan | -inonva | -inonica | -inonrí | -inonsi | -inonne | |
Numerals
Célis zisun's number system is base ten. To form numbers in the teens, the word lemu "ten" is followed by a numeral. For example, lemu fari is 15. To form multiples of ten, a numeral (2, 3, 4, etc.) is followed by the plural form of ten. Heda lemule is 40 and pel lemule wora is 68.
Other Things
There is a copula, hen, that's much more irregular than other verbs. Adjectives follow nouns, and adverbs follow verbs. Word order is Subject-Object-Verb, and has been through all forms of this conlang.
Despite this conlang being more fleshed out than the previous two, it's still largely a naming language. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll come back and work on it more, but for now this is all there is.