/r/conlangs Chat Network Relay Game - Discord Conlangers Relay the Seventh

#1Sevelian by Persephonë
SevelianEnglish

Léánidas iti šieteruli šienuli tehéllenivanainas sulma mindihyimitreu, iti aundra Medivanaizmenanolli azišursuvolli. Má syei grukisoneu, aide grukanéiu no héllenivanahyilivritzyas sufskulanéiu nyuiš kanifalameu. Eteryus mindéiu, ma marayéiu yaruiš.

Leonidas was zealous because of only these these men of the Hellenes* to send forth, because it had been greatly charged against them that they had Medized**: so he called them to war, wishing to know whether they would send some men or whether they would openly avoid the alliance of the Hellenes. They, though thinking other things, sent them in.

[l̪eˈɔnid̪as ˈit̪i ɕjɛt̪ɛˈruɫi ɕjɛˈn̪uɫi t̪ɛçel̪ːɛn̪ivaˈnaɪnas ˈs̪uɫma min̪d̪içiˈmitɾɛʊ ˈit̪i ˈaʊn̪d̪ɾa mɛdivan̪aɪz̪mɛn̪aˈn̪oɫːi az̪iʃuɾsuˈvoɫːi]
[ˈmɔ ˈɕjɛɪ gɾukiˈs̪on̪ɛʊ ˈaɪd̪ɛ gɾukaˈn̪eju n̪o çel̪ːɛnivan̪açil̪iˈvɾitɕas s̪ufs̪kuɫaˈn̪eju ɲʊɪɕ kan̪ifaˈlamɛʊ]
[ɛˈt̪ɛrʝus̪ min̪ˈd̪eju ma maɾaˈʝeju ˈʝarʊɪɕ]

Leonidas.NOM because this-army-INST this-one-INST all-Greek-ish-PL.GEN.DEF only send-be_restless.3SG.PST, because REL Mede-ish-become-SBJV-3PL.PST.PASS GNO-accuse-PASS.3SG. Thus 3PL.M.ACC fight-invite-3SG.PST, Q fight-SBJV-3PL.PRS or Greek-alliance.ACC.DEF avoid-SBJV.3PL.PRS instantly know-wish-3SG.PST. army.ACC.DEF send.3PL.PST, however think.3PL.PST differently

(words in parentheses were not given to the next in line)

aideY/N question marker, also used in indirect Y/N questions
aundrarelative clause marker - that
enusingle, sole
eteruarmy
falami-to wish
gruki-to wage war
(Héllen)Greek
hyilivritzaalliance
hyimitr-to be anxious, restless
-ivanadenotes an ethnic group, "-ish", "-is", "-ian"
itibecause; with noun in INST - because of
izmen-to become
kani-to know
(Léánidas)Leonidas, lit. "lion-descended"
mahowever
thus
maray-to think
(Med)Medes, a Persian tribe
mind-to send
noor
nyuišwithout hesitation
ši-this, if a noun with this prefix has an agreeing adjective, it is put on it as well
soni-to call to do something, to order
sufskul-to avoid
sulmaonly
šursuv-to accuse
syei3PL.ACC
te-all
yaruišdifferently

If anything is missing please message me immediately.

Sevelian follows a fairly strict SOV word order, though it can be free because of the inflection. Relative clauses generally always follow a subject (or come first if the subject is implied) and precede the main verb. There is a lot of agglutinating, compound words are extremely common and can become quite long. Verb stems are bound morphemes, thus to say "2SG [verb1].2SG to [verb2].INF" (ex. "you like to swim"), the verb which would be in the infinitive is prefixed to the main noun, as "(2SG) [verb2].[verb1].2SG" - ("(ne) vuervak-sel.ŭ" - "(you) swim-enjoy.2SG"). Verbs can also take nouns, like "Šeir-seri-" "to hide spoons". Both direct and indirect yes-or-no questions are introduced by "aide", direct take indicatives, indirect take subjunctives. Helpful hint: note the pronunciation. <é> /e/ and <á> /ɔ/ are fairly rare phonemes outside of the ends of words, this should be kept in mind in translating.

The noun declensions (incomplete but enough)

-a declension nouns

SingularPlural
NominativeSevel-aSevel-aia
GenitiveSevel-aiSevel-ina
AccusativeSevel-yaSevel-yai
InstrumentalSevel-amiSevel-amia

-u declension nouns

SingularPlural
NominativeHasid-uHasid-eiu
GenitiveHasid-ŭiHasid-inu
AccusativeHasid-yuHasid-yui
InstrumentalHasid-uliHasid-uliu

Note: definiteness is marked by -s after case markings, though -s can also be an unmarked nominative, especially in loanwords.

There are a huge number of verb forms but you really only need a few.
Prefix azi- for gnomic aspect
Subjunctives place -an- between the root and the conjugation (ex. Izmen-an-á).

PresentSimple Past
1 SIzmen-áIzmen-aŭ
3 SIzmen-éIzmen-eu
1 PlIzmen-áieIzmen-aiu
3 PlIzmen-éieIzmen-éiu

Passive

1 SIzmen-eIzmen-ei
3 SIzmen-oIzmen-oi
1 PlIzmen-elleIzmen-elli
3 PlIzmen-olleIzmen-olli