Kavogerim - Dwarven Tongue

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[Helvíl Ypherén]

Kavogerim Phonology:

Consonants:

                         Labial              Alveolar           Post-Alveolar         Palatal            Velar          Glottal
Nasal                    M                    N                                             

Plosive                 P,B                 T,D                                                               K, G                '

Fricative                                       S                    Sy                                                              H

Affricate                                                            Ts, Dy

Trill                                             R 
 
Approximant                                 L                                                 Y

Vowels:

A - open central rounded vowel
E - open mid-front unrounded vowel
I - close front unrounded vowel
O - close mid-back rounded vowel
U - close back rounded vowel

Dipthongs:
Ay, Ey, Iy, Oy, Uy

Kavogerim Alphabet: (Kavogerim adds the vowel "a" when reciting the alphabet)
A Ba Ka Da Dya E Ga Ha I La Ma Na O Pa Ra Sa Sya Ta Tsa U Ya

Word Formation:
Often, morphemes are combined together to create a unique concept.
Example: OKaanAtaUm = O (do) + Kaan (close) + Ata (eye) + Um (ing) = Sleeping
              Bag-oKita= Bag-o (before) + Kita (us) = Older or elder
             

Although double letters rarely exists in the modern Kavogerim tongue, it still does. Words that contains double letters are considered to be from the older form of the modern tongue of the Kavogerim. Consonant clusters are also rare and thus also considered to be from an older form of the modern tongue.
Example: UnSthommErons (he like stone)  -  Dwarven Father

Verb Tenses:
Verb Tenses are created by adding Karet in the beginning of the sentece.
Past Tense: Ter
Immediate Past tense: Ayer
Present Tense: Eber
Future Tense: Are


Thats it for now....

[Mina]

I think in most forms of English, 'charcoal' and 'jar' are pronounced with affricates, not plosives.  And I notice you have a row for affricates, but no affricates listed.  So I suppose it's a mistake of some sort?  On the other hand, it could be interesting to have a postalveolar series. 

[Helvíl Ypherén]

Ooopppssss! Sorry about that! You are right Mina, ts and dy should have been affricates 

I did not observed the movements of the air in my mouth closely 


Also just a question, is it possible to have an alveo-palatal /d/ ?

[Mina]

Well, alveolo-palatal fricatives exist (Mandarin has them, for example), so it's probably not too weird to have alveolo-palatal plosives too.  But since you already have /d/, I don't think it'd be a /d/ as well.  Probably something like /d^j/, if my understanding of what 'palatalized' means is correct. 

[Helvíl Ypherén]

S is suppose to be an alveolar but I think I pronounce it like an alveo-palatal (with the body of my tongue behind the alveolar ridge).

Where is your tongue when you pronounce S?

[Mina]

Hmm...I'd say it's something like the blade of the tongue almost touching the alveolar ridge, with the tip of the tongue barely touching the teeth. 

[Helvíl Ypherén]

Thanks about that Mina, I guess I just pronounce words differently.

Hmmm... I hope Lady Judith would have sent me the Dwarven Files though,,, or maybe she had, but where can it be?

I'll work on the vowels quickly, I will put them last since they confuse me a lot!

[Mina]

Well, looking at what you currently have, it seems your vowel system is something like /i, ɛ, a, ɔ, u/, which should be fine. 

What Dwarven files are you talking about? 

[Bard Judith]

Basic Principles of ThergerimTaal:


Formation of Sentences:  ! DradikTaal Wiralyehyim!   “He’s a frank speaker!” (lit. ‘rough language talk-ing-er’)

Morphemes, or units of meaning, are capitalized, then run together to form a complete concept, often creating compound words in the process.  Capitals and double letters are eliminated from morphemes when the concept forms a name or a complete new word sanctioned by long usage.    YehLithInn  - do + passion + ing   = Yehlithin => lovely, loved one  (often used as an endearment among Dwarven couples) or Enn  -  love, Eninn  -  loving   Enoeuim  (‘en-NOY-oo-eem’ - “beloved”) .   Where capitals still remain in common names it often indicates an archaic usage ( UnSthommErons, those like stone  -  the Dwarven Fathers)    Spaces separate the different parts of speech as necessary to distinguish meaning and provide a visual break:  Ylaoth Khirildrum    -  the Isle of the Glimmering Stones
 (mistranslated.   Literally, “Island - Jewel - Story”, or the Mythical Island of Jewels.)

Tenses and Conjugation:        … Ave Kul Oe Ona Uhny…  “And I will always love you….” (song lyric)

 ThergerimTaal does not conjugate verbs – they remain regular, or in simple root form.  Tenses are formed by adding an  Averet (AveVerEt), ‘time-marker’  at the  front of the sentence, thus immediately clarifying what the dwarf is speaking about.  Past sentences start with Ver,  future sentences start with Ave.  Non-marked sentences are always assumed to be present tense; an action that is actually taking place at the time (present participle, ‘-ing’) has inn added to the verb to emphasise its immediacy.

Questions (Khoalerons):   ? Ver Khotaph Papraz Eenjuvig Huun EenjuvigPuveen?  “Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? (lit: who bad-take small-cake out of small-cake-pot?)

 Khor    -  What    Kholou  -  Where   Khoaver   -   When    Khouhn    -  Who    Khotaph  -  Why    Khohun   -  How     Uu  -  Yes   Paa  -   No      -  Khordispor – Whatever – lit. ‘thing-unknown’

Questions are also indicated by a Koporet (KoPorEt) , ‘doubt marker’, before the subject and verb.  Question words are based on the doubt prefix and the appropriate root; eg : When  -   Khoaver, literally “ unsure - time”. These markers always come after the time-marker, thus:

  ? Ver Khotaph Hu Kaenul ? Question – Past – Why – She – Cry  (Why did she cry?)
? Khouhn Pra Hu Kaenulinn ? Question – (Present )- Who – Towards – She – Crying (For whom is she crying? or, depending on context,  To whom is she crying ?)
? Ave Khordispor Hu Kaenul ?  Question – Future – Whatever – She – Cry  (For what reason will she be crying?)


Punctuation: !Hutpu Duterons!   “Sh-tty Arse-oles!” (curse-word, often heard when accidentally hammering one’s thumb)

Dwarves have their own script, and thus their own punctuation.  As in tenses, punctuation is put at the very beginning of a sentence to indicate with what emotion the sentence should be read.  The convention in translating or transliterating ThergerimTaal is for scribes to use human punctuation marks, but set them at the beginning and end of sentences to more closely approximate dwarven style.

Statement      .   Used to frame ordinary sentences   
Excitement      !   For strong emotion
Question       ?   Unsure, doubt, request   
Joke                 *   meant lightly, amusingly
Emphatic     /    Indicates absolute certainty   
Sarcasm           <   Inverts meaning of sentence

   
People Words( Therge  Aleron):   . Ver Aveveryim Barbartol Korek Som.  “My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf…” (lit ‘Time-er of Grandfather  large-er (than) ledge…’

 Barol  -   Father   Huttol  -   Mother   Eenbar    -  Brother   Eenhu  -  Sister  Thereen  -  Baby     Unbol  - Son   Hunol - Daughter   

Huenbar, Huenhu  -  Aunts   Barenhu,  Barenbar  -  Uncles       Hubarol  -  Grandmother on Father’s Side   Barhutol  -  Grandfather on Mother’s Side  (You can figure out the rest from here., right? Gender of individual usually comes first, then the relationship.)  Huenegrin – ‘aunties’   Barenegrin – ‘uncles’   - an affectionate way to refer to the senior dwarves of the cavern

   Oe  -  I   Uhn   -  you    Uhnegrin   -  you all   Ba  -  he (male)    Hu  -  she (female)  Theh   -  we   Distheh   -  they     Uth  -  us    Negrin  -  all   KoNegrin  -  none   Wi   -  it (thing or genderless)

Yabarrah - Bachelor (unwed male dwarf)  Yehurra -  Maiden (unwed female dwarf)  Lekunn - Child (1 to 10 human-years of age, not yet weaned) Shorr - Adolescent  (young dwarf under the age of Hu/Baregozar)   Kavoninn Yabarrah – Travelling Bachelor
(Yabarerons / Yehurerons / Lekunerons / Shorerons are the appropriate plurals)

Race Titles:      / Konaver Sprukthu UrtBerav Pra Harrenja/  (never waste a good joke on an elf!) – dwarven proverb        

Dwarf      Thergerim – untranslatable, but carries the meaning of ‘our people’, ‘loyalty’ and ‘unbreakable bond’. 
All clan names contain the last morpheme ‘erim’/’arim’ , which is believed to mean ‘the dwarven people’.
Elf       Alaverimin - “Long-Living” .  (Alternately, Harrenja - literally, “Leaf-Eared”,  or  Caorprioon,  “Woods-Dweller”.   
Human       Vothuten - “Sunlover”  or, less courteously, Kegertheren - “Surface Folk”,  even Gerrezt -  “Ground-Scratcher”!
Orc       Dragrum - “Rough-Toothed” or, disparagingly, Covikgrupu -  “Rude Eater”
Hobbit        Barzilmutten – “Halflings” (literally, “half-body”!)
Gnome      Undegolz - “Clever-handed” or  Undwirreli – “Craftsmen/Artificers”
Brownie    Eenwit - “The Smallest Ones” (“small-thing-most”)
Mullog       Anushona - “Swamp-folk”, “Wetlanders” (wet-place-ones)       
Troll      Nedzoluun  - “The Bitterfaced”      

Directions ( Kholou Aleron) : !Shu-Theu Thelonerons!  (By our beards!) – ancient dwarven warcry

Direction words are used as prefixes or suffixes.  Dwarves don’t distinguish between the two in terms of meaning.  Neither do they distinguish prepositions of movement, though we have sorted them separately below. 

Nol   -  north      Sol  -  south      Eol  - east        Wol  -  west   Coincidentally, the acronym for the compass directions is the same as the Human (Morelsche) tongue.  It is believed by scholars that the earliest human settlers borrowed dwarven usages to describe the country around them, and a consonant shift occurred in many words to make the sounds easier on the human tongue.

 Huun  -    out      Pri  -  in     Ke   - over     Tol   -  under  Ber  -  next to Pripra  -  to, towards, into  Shu  - by    Ket -  on    Disket - off

Ner  -  up    Waar   -  down    Av  -  right     Bar  -  left   Wer -  front    Guul   -  back

Dimensional Directions:    !Disvo Ner Hiwi Waarlok!  “Don’t go up the down tunnel!” (signboard in Mithrilite excavation)

These are unique dwarven directions for working in three dimensions, possibly in low - or no-light conditions.  They are relative to the Thergerim body’s ‘earth-sense’ only.

 WerAv  -  for’right (45 degrees to the right of the body’s front )   
WerBar   -  for’left 
 GulAv  -  ast’right (135 degrees to the right of front, or 45 degrees left from the dwarf’s back)
 GulBar  -  ast’left 
 AvWaar -  right (90 degrees) and down 45 degrees
WerAvNer  -  like a straight-arm salute, pointing 45 degrees up and out from the shoulder)
and so on


Numbers(Takeleron): /Gor, Bar, Berbar, Ave Oe Uhny/    One, two, three, I seek thee!  (Dwarven childrens’ counting chant)

0  -  Koneg (Nothing) 1  -  Gor (Onething)  2  -  Bar (Male)  3  -  Berbar (NextToMale)   4  -  Werhut (BeforeWoman  5  -  Hut (Woman) 6  -  Etinn (Marking) 7  -  Den (Holy)  8  -   Thergetyr (Clan)  9 -  Dishun (Incomplete)  10  -  Golzeron (Hands).  Fractions are known as Warzilerons ( from Warzilyeh - to divide, partition equally) .  ½   -  Barzil  1/3  -   Berzil   ¼  -   Werzil  1/8 – Gezil ... and so on.    Numbers must be inferred from context and intonation when spoken, as each number word also has its own meaning.  (For example, does ‘Den Mettotherons’ mean ‘seven books’ or ‘holy books’? ) When written, of course, they are scribed as number runes rather than words and thus this difficulty does not apply.   

Connectors (EenAleron):    !EpEen EpEenwit!  “As small as a Brownie!” (lit. As small as the Smallest Thing!)

 Pe  -  with, -ly     Kul   -  and     Vani  -  or       Muut   -  but     Bari   -  if    Ep -  as       Ze  -   of    Ra – for   Vev - so, therefore
Karnula : from   Ka – away   Re- hold, keep back

Pre- and Suffixes (Alpalerons):   An  alpal  (pre- or suf-fix) modifies the root word.   The only logic of placement appears to be aesthetic - if the word is more euphonious to the dwarven ear by placing the ‘fix’ after the root, thus it shall be done.  Position does not modify meaning. 

ka   away from, from   KaVerOon  -  travel (leaving)        Kavon, to travel
pra   towards, to   Pratheron, to meet       pripra – into
re   hold, keep back   Reardenim  -  waiting     Rearden, to wait
pu   open, release   CoPuGolzeron  -  fists, literally “not-open-hand-plural”
dis   negative, reversed   DisPor  -  lost, literally  “not - located”
huun   remove, out of     HuunGer,  -   dig,        Hunsthomm - excavate
guun   after   as in guul, back.    GuunNolWerfer  -    Gunolwerf - resettle
wehrn   before   as in wer, front      KhorimWehrn  -  old age
ta   again, repeat   TaHuhn  -  forge, strike
ko   do the opposite of   KoThergerim  -  undwarven ways, discourteous
pe   with, together   as in peNegrinUth, surrounding  (lit. “with - all - us”)
tol   below, under   as in tol,  underground
ke   above   as in kerrin, high
un   like, same,  resembling   UnSthommErons  -  those like stone
ber   next to, beside   BerKerryim  -   subordinate (next to high one)
yeh   do, doing   Yeh-Gerinn  -  farming    YehMith  -  metalworking
ek    More, -er   Thus:  unarilek, ekunaril  -  prettier (no ‘than’ is required in a dwarven sentence of comparison)
it    Most, -est   unarilit, itunaril  -  prettiest (no ‘the’ is required in a dwarven sentence of comparison)
yim   One who does something, -er, -ist   a suffix used for a person or title, such as ‘Muryim’, Miner – from ‘mur’, meaning ‘mine’   (also Hunyim, ‘dig-person’)   Unmarzilzor – resembling a bleeding wound        Ungrukor - Devourer

[Helvíl Ypherén]

Thank You Lady Judith!

Any comments on the phonology of the Kavogerim?

[Bard Judith]

Can't comment technically!  But on the Sarvonian continent vowels sound like this:


'i' is always 'ee' as in the end of 'Philistine'

'a' is a deep 'ah' like 'carver' or the Dutch 'taal'

'e' usually as in 'bread'

'o' usually an 'awe' sound as in 'doff' 

'u' an 'oo' like 'duplicitous'.

I hope you can sort that into proper phonology symbols!   The 'th' is always voiced, with a puff of air, as are the 'z' and 's' sounds - and the 'r' is always rolled! 

So 'Thergerim' is properly pronounced "Ttthere-gere-rrreeem" !

[Helvíl Ypherén]

The vowels are pronunced the way you wanted them  they are crisp and pure and only has one sound.

[Bard Judith]

(smooches Helvil)   

[Helvíl Ypherén]

Lady Judith, what do you think among the grammatical rules of the dwarves would change after being sundered from the Tharian Dwarves??

[Bard Judith]

I would look at their environment and geography and culture to decide how the differences might have shaped the tongue.

To take a vocabulary example, KavogerimTaal would not have nearly as many words for different types of rock; the Plains Dwarves are diggers, not miners.   They would doubtless have been influenced by the languages of the people around them more than the comparatively isolationist Sarvonian dwarves.  I'd like to see a more slurred sound, produced both by the hotter climate, influence from outsiders, and the wearing of the veil...   

Their language might be less action-oriented, forming the verbs in different ways (ThergerimTaal makes 'digging' by using 'dig' + 'doing', for example  - perhaps KavogerimTaal instead has extra prefixes (Averet), which they can add at the beginning of the sentence)  that show the sentence is not only in present tense but in present continuous...


Suggestion:   (hey, where is your 'f/v' sound?  Did you eliminate it altogether?  Let's just pretend for now that your guys use 'f' instead of 'v' -  and 'g' for 'k' - giving us a more slurred sound for the plains dwarves...)  which gives us 'fer' for a past prefix, 'af' for future.  Then you can use 'imm' for 'ing' (instead of our 'inn') and move it to the front of the sentence.

This would be the difference:

THERGERIM: Ave Kul Oe Ona Uhny…  “And I will always love you…"
                  Khotaph Paprazinn Eenjuvigerons?  “Who is stealing the cookies?
 
KAVOGERIM: Af Gul We Ona Uhnee  "And I will always love you."
                   Imm Ghotaf Papraz Eenjufigerons?  "Who is stealing the cookies?

Whaddya think?

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