Sievrøsku (Sevorian): a "North Slavic" constructed language

Sevorian, originally known as J2, was my second conlang, started in 1992. I tinkered with the language occasionally until late 1996, when I was contacted by Dutch conlanger Alexis Hansen, who offered to collaborate on the project. Thereafter it progressed rapidly until mid-1997 when I got sidetracked by a variety of other projects and crises, and eventually Sevorian became dormant once more. I think it's now a dead language, but nevertheless it had some cool features (or at least, I think they're cool) and is worthy of documentation. I've been putting this off for years, but now the Jameld dictionary's completed I have the time to finally do it justice.

What you read here is therefore the result of two minds. Alexis, if you're still out there and you find this, drop us an email. Hope you're well. Stroov!

Unknown to most historians and philologists, a culture has survived hidden for centuries in the north somewhere. According to the traditional account passed on by word of mouth, rumour and hearsay, the Slavic people who were to become Sevorian sailed north from what we now know as the Polish coast, at a time when the Slavic languages were still mutually intelligible. They struck land and made their home on an island in the Baltic, close to but south of Gotland and Öland, an island they now call Sievrih (in English, Sevoria). Don't bother looking for it in your atlas, because due to a strange quirk of international conspiracy it won't be there. The world's finest cartographers have been so totally flummoxed by the topologically impossible coastline of the island, which cannot be correctly represented on paper (nor indeed in any less than five dimensions), that they have collectively refused to portray Sevoria at all on their work. Due to this remarkable boycott and a number of other bizarre coincidences, the Sevorian language (known to native speakers as Sievrøsku) has evolved almost completely isolated from other Slavic languages, with the Sevorians' main trading and cultural contact being with Scandinavian peoples. Hence, the basic vocabulary and grammar of Sevorian is Slavic (albeit mutated and twisted over time through Scandinavian influence), but the many new words required to express the events, activities and technologies of modern times have been borrowed, stolen and otherwise purloined from Swedish.

Editor's note

The information presented here has holes. Big wobbly ones. But Sevorian was never completed: this is a sketch, albeit a reasonably fleshed-out one, and this site contains just about all that ever was written about Sevorian.

Alphabet

Sevorian is written in a Latin alphabet, with a few diacritical marks:

a b d e f g h [ ] i k l m n o p r s t u v z ø

was present in early drafts of the language, but was never used and in 1997 was removed from the alphabet.

and are tricky to show on-screen, even with Unicode support (which includes dotted-z but not dotted-s). Therefore they are hereinafter represented by 'sx' and 'zx'.

There was also, in the early days of the project, an alternative Cyrillic representation of J2 (as the language was then known). Here is the alphabet:

Pronunciation

a = [a]

b = [b]

d = [d]

e = [e]

f = [f]

g = [g]

h = [x] Scots 'loch', German 'machen' ([ç] (German 'ich') before e or i)

i = [i] ([j] (English 'y') before other vowels)

k = [k]

l = [l]

m = [m]

n = [n]

o = [o]

p = [p]

r = [r]

s = [s]

sx= [S] English 'sh'

t = [t]

u = [u]

v = [v]

z = [z]

zx= [Z] English 'measure', French 'je'

ø = [@] (schwa, e.g. English 'above')

Double vowels are long; consonants are not normally doubled in Sevorian, but are pronounced separately if doubled. Stress falls on the first syllable containing a vowel which is not ø, unless double vowels are present: double vowels are stressed.

In loanwords, qu/qv maps to Sevorian kf. In Swedish borrowings into Sevorian: NG->N; A->A; E->E, I->I, O->U, U->U, Å->O, Ä->E, Ö->Ø. Long vowels are doubled (cf. Swedish "förening"->føørenin).

Permitted initial consonant clusters (* loanwords only):

bl br

dr dv dz dzx

fl fn fr

gl gr gv

hl hr

kf* kl kn kr

ml

pr ps* pv

sk sl sm sn sp sr st sv

sxk sxl sxm sxn sxp sxr sxt sxv

tr tv

vl

zl zn zv

zxl zxn zxv

Grammar

I. Nouns

Nouns always end in a consonant (which is necessary for suffixes), including names; this is forced by metathesis if necessary, or -h can be added to the end of a noun.

Examples: the month name maih and the native name for Sevoria, Sievrih.

Suffixes: up to three types of suffix can be appended to nouns:

A plural suffix, -ii (-i before other suffixes). Example: brother bratør , brothers bratørii .

, brothers . An article suffix: Definite article, -at (plural -iat). Example: the brother bratørat , the brothers bratøriat Collective article (plural assumed), -esx [used to differentiate between e.g. "a hair" vlois and "hair (in general, a headful of)" vloisesx ] There is no indefinite article in Sevorian

Prepositional suffixes (see below under 'Prepositions')

Nouns and their suffixes are built up as follows: root-plural-article-preposition

Gender: There is no grammatical gender in Sevorian.

II. Prepositions/Cases

Prepositional suffixes are added to indirect objects. This list is incomplete, as not all prepositions have been assigned, and many cases are unnamed (or perhaps misnamed).

Yes, I know, they're not prepositions but postpositions. A bit late now, innit?

case name prep. e.g. nominative -- (uses subject prefix) accusative -- (nothing: direct object) dative -- (to/for: ??) deëssive (?) øb* about, concerning N.B. about me øb min postessive pø after after me: minøpø selative -- along, across essive -- as locative øp at (position) it is (located) at/in Barinuh: istie Barinuhøp antessive -- before, until ultraessive zaa behind, beyond behind the cat kotatzaa juxtessive øi by, near, alongside I am near you suu tvinøi -- -- down perlative -- during -- dila for (intended for) this is for Alexis ist eta Aleksisdila ablative øz from, out [of (place)] he is not from Sevoria ist nee Sievrihøz coramessive pred in front of is it in front of you? il ist tvinpred? illative vø in, into (towards being in) the woodlouse went into it etløt ed-derevvusat anievø inessive -- inside genitive/partitive øsx of, [written] by written by James piisnu Iakebøsx adessive nø on, onto (towards being on) onto them aniinø elative -- out of (towards being out) superessive nød over, more than over twenty big sisters dvadesetnød siestørii vlisxu -- not sure about this one superlative(?) -- over, above translative -- through superlative -- to the top of allative kø to, towards, at she said to me skasløta minøkø subessive pød under, underneath, below, less than woodlice underneath the wood derevvusii derevatpød subillative -- 'underto' (towards being under) dumessive dø until, up to until Sunday nezxelødø -- -- up comitative sø with (accompanying) will you go with me? il etdøsx minøsø instrumental -- with, by means of abessive biz without two weeks without wind dvaa tudienii vietørbiz -- -- je (the Esperanto catch-all preposition)

If the preposition starts with a consonant, -ø- can be added between the noun and the preposition for euphony.

* N.B. øb (about, concerning) is an exception; it always stands as a separate word, and precedes the noun.

III. Adjectives

In Sevorian, adjectives end in -u. They follow the nouns to which they apply, and need not agree in number with the noun.

IV. Pronouns

No subject pronouns: implied in verb endings

Object pronouns: (Sing.) min, tvin, an/ana/anie; (Pl.) nan, vin, anii

Possessives: (Sing.) møi, tvøi, ansx/anasx/aniesx; (Pl.) nesx, vesx, aniisx

My sister siestør møi

V. Verbs

Verb infinitives end in -tø.

To form the present tense, remove the infinitive -tø ending and add a pronoun suffix:

I: -uu

Thou: -øsx

He/She/It: -øt (forms used where necessary to avoid confusion: He: -øti / She: -øta / It: -øtie)

We: -øm

You (pl.): -øtsx

They: -ut

I go etuu, we go etøm

If the verb root ends in a vowel, add -i- before the pronoun suffix.

I see videiuu, you see videiøtsx

Past tense: insert -l- before the pronoun suffix

He gave daarløt

Future tense: insert -d- before the pronoun suffix

He will give daardøt

Imperative: insert -zx- before the pronoun suffix

Eat! eszxøsx!

'To be' is irregular:

(Sing.) suu, isx, ist; (Pl.) isøm, isøtsx, sut

Past: buluu, buløsx, buløt; buløm, buløtsx, bulut

Future: buduu, budøsx, budøt; budøm, budøtsx, budut



e.g.

I am a cat

Suu kot

Aspect

Perfect: To start to do something, completed action (past, pres, fut), Non-habit (unusual event), Once-only action

(unmarked)

Imperfect: Incomplete action, Action in progress, Habit, Repeated action, Stative (e.g. the book laid on the table)

Marked with -[o]v: Perfect esluu / Imperfect esovluu

Verbs and their suffixes are built up as follows: root-aspect-tense-pronoun

Part participle: -nu (-u after -n)

VI. Syntax etc

Word order VSO.

A subject marker is required to differentiate between, e.g.:

It's eating John

Esøt Ian

John is eating

Esøt et-Ian

et- becomes ed- before voiced consonants (maybe only d).

iet- (ied-) after vowels: Esøtie iet-pibat

VII. Adverbs

Remove -u from the adjective and replace with -o. Adverbs can take any position in sentence, before the significant word.

John always eats small fish.

Esøt et-Ian pibesx vøsektaa mliku (not larger ones)

Vøsektaa esøt et-Ian pibesx mliku (he always eats them)

VIII. Questions

Questions are introduced with the particle il.

Are you?

Il isx?

Sevorian has two interrogatives: keta where there is a choice of known possible answers, and seta otherwise.

What is your name?

What name-they you?

Seta (name)ut tvin?

How much is it?

What costs-it?

Seta (cost)øt?

How many are there?

What number-they?

Seta (number)ut?

When will he arrive?

What time arrive-will-he?

Seta (time) (arrive)døt?

Who is there?

What/which [person*] is-it there? *optional

Seta (person) ist (there)? If you have no idea

Keta ist (there)? If you were expecting one of several known persons

Which book do you want? (given a choice of two)

Which want-you book?

Keta (want)øsx (book)?

How do you open it?

What way open-you it?

Seta (way) (open)øsx anie?

Why are we here?

What reason are-we here?

Seta pritsxin isøm (here)?

Where is it?

What place is-it?

Seta (place) ist?

Samples

For samples, please see Zolid Matters Issue 11: "The Sevorian Special".

Vocabulary

English-Sevorian wordlist

about (concerning) = øb

after = pø

always = vøsektaa

and = ii

April = apriil

association = føørenin

at (position) = øp

at (towards) = kø

August = avgust

bald = lusxu

be = butø (irreg)

behind = zaa

below = pød

beyond = zaa

big = vlisxu

brother = bratør

but = nu

by (near) = øi

by (written by) = øsx

cat = kot

concerning = øb

cure = letsxtø

darling = dorøg

dear = dorgu

December = dekember

do = iøsxpeltø

eat = estø

eight = osøm

eighteen = osmødest

eighth = osmu

eighty = osømdeset

eleven = iednødest

England = anglih

English = anglisku

evening = vietsxør

February = febrar

fifteen = petnødest

fifth = petu

fifty = petdeset

first = prevu

fish = pib

five = pet

for (intended for) = dila

forty = sxtirdeset

four = sxøtir

fourteen = sxtirnødest

fourth = sxtiru

Friday = petik

from = øz

fulfill = iøsxpeltø

function = aarbtø

give = daartø

go = ettø

hair = vlois

have (vt) (comitative) = -sø

health = stroov

healthy = strovu

hello = stroov

her = ana

her (poss.) = anasx

him = an

his = ansx

hold = dørzxtø

hundred = sta

in = vø

in front of = pred

into = vø

it = anie

its = aniesx

Jameld = hiamelsku

January = ianvar

July = iul

June = iun

less than = pød

louse = vus

love = liib

love = liibtø

March = mart

May = maih

me = min

-ment = -nih

Monday = pønezxelik

more than = nød

my = møi

near = øi

-ness = -ost

new = novu

nine = devet

nineteen = devetnødest

ninety = devetdeset

ninth = devetu

no = ned

north = sievør

north(ern) = sievru

not = nee

November = november

number = tsxesøl

October = oktoober

of = øsx

on = nø

one = iedøn

our = nesx

out (of) = øz

over = nød

psalm = psaløm

reason = pritsxin

Saturday = sabat

say (vt) = skastø

second = dvahu

see = videtø

September = september

seven = sedøm

seventeen = sedmødest

seventh = sedmu

seventy = sedømdeset

Sevoria = sievrih

Sevorian = sievrøsku

sister = siestør

six = sxest

sixteen = sxestnødest

sixth = sxestu

sixty = sxestdeset

small = mliku

soon = voskar

speak (vt) = skastø

Sunday = nezxel

talk (vi) = gøvortø

teach = uutsxtø

ten = deset

tenth = desetu

that = eta

their = aniisx

them = anii

these = etii

third = tritu

thirteen = trinødest

thirty = trideset

this = eta

those = etii

thousand = tisøtsx

three = trii

Thursday = sxtirik

to (towards) = kø

towards = kø

treat = letsxtø

Tuesday = dvahik

twelve = dvanødest

twenty = dvadeset

two = dvaa

underneath = pød

until = dø

us = nan

Wednesday = sxreed

week = tudien

what = seta

whether = il

which = keta

why (with what) = pritsxin

will = vol

wind = vietør

windy = vietru

with = sø

without = biz

wood (material) = derev

woodlouse = derevvus

work = aarbtø

world = svit

write = piistø

yes = du

you (pl.) = vin

you (sing.) = tvin

your (pl.) = vesx

your (sing.) = tvøi



Sevorian-English word list

aarbtø = work

aarbtø = function

an = him

ana = her

anasx = her (poss.)

anglih = England

anglisku = English

anie = it

aniesx = its

anii = them

aniisx = their

ansx = his

apriil = April

avgust = August

biz = without

bratør = brother

butø = be

daartø = give

dekember = December

derev = wood (material)

derevvus = woodlouse

deset = ten

desetu = tenth

devet = nine

devetdeset = ninety

devetnødest = nineteen

devetu = ninth

dila = for (intended for)

dorgu = dear

dorøg = darling

du = yes

dvaa = two

dvadeset = twenty

dvahik = Tuesday

dvahu = second

dvanødest = twelve

dø = until

dørzxtø = hold

ed- = (subject marker)

estø = eat

et- = (subject marker)

eta = this

eta = that

etii = these

etii = those

ettø = go

febrar = February

føørenin = association

gøvortø = talk (vi)

hiamelsku = Jameld

ianvar = January

iednødest = eleven

iedøn = one

ii = and

il = whether

istø* = be* (see butø)

iul = July

iun = June

iøsxpeltø = do

iøsxpeltø = fulfill

keta = which

kot = cat

kø = to (towards)

kø = towards

kø = at (towards)

letsxtø = treat

letsxtø = cure

liib = love

liibtø = love

lusxu = bald

maih = May

mart = March

min = me

mliku = small

møi = my

nan = us

ned = no

nee = not

nesx = our

nezxel = Sunday

-nih = -ment

november = November

novu = new

nu = but

nø = on

nød = over

nød = more than

oktoober = October

osmu = eighth

osmødest = eighteen

-ost = -ness

osøm = eight

osømdeset = eighty

pet = five

petdeset = fifty

petik = friday

petnødest = fifteen

petu = fifth

pib = fish

piistø = write

pred = in front of

prevu = first

pritsxin = reason

pritsxin = why (with what)

psaløm = psalm

pø = after

pød = underneath

pød = below

pød = less than

pønezxelik = Monday

sabat = Saturday

sedmu = seventh

sedmødest = seventeen

sedøm = seven

sedømdeset = seventy

september = September

seta = what

siestør = sister

sievrih = Sevoria

sievru = north(ern)

sievrøsku = Sevorian

sievør = north

skastø = say (vt)

skastø = speak (vt)

sta = hundred

stroov = health

stroov = hello

strovu = healthy

stø* = be* (see butø)

svit = world

sø = with

-sø = have (vt) (comitative)

sxest = six

sxestdeset = sixty

sxestnødest = sixteen

sxestu = sixth

sxreed = Wednesday

sxtirdeset = forty

sxtirik = Thursday

sxtirnødest = fourteen

sxtiru = fourth

sxøtir = four

tisøtsx = thousand

trideset = thirty

trii = three

trinødest = thirteen

tritu = third

tsxesøl = number

tudien = week

tvin = you (sing.)

tvøi = your (sing.)

uutsxtø = teach

vesx = your (pl.)

videtø = see

vietru = windy

vietsxør = evening

vietør = wind

vin = you (pl.)

vlisxu = big

vlois = hair

vol = will

voskar = soon

vus = louse

vø = in

vø = into

vøsektaa = always

zaa = behind

zaa = beyond

øb = about (concerning)

øb = concerning

øi = by (near)

øi = near

øp = at (position)

øsx = of

øsx = by (written by)

øz = from

øz = out (of)



Concluding Blithery

According to my notes from 1997, "Sevorian should be noted for a remarkable lexical diversity for types of tropes, much used in Sevorian speech and literature." Yeah, right. Sevorian never got as far as having a near-usable vocabulary. It had some cool features though, I reckon.

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