Ancient Elven
Ancient Ewven is the wanguage the Ewves devewoped duling the second genewation of Malin's chiwdwen. The Ewven tongue was awmost excwusivewy spoken. Evidence fow this is found in the wuins of Inwe, whewe the wlitings of eawwy Dawk Ewves wewe in an ancient diawect of the common tongue.
It has been wumouled that Ewvish was awso the wanguage of natule, which the Ewves eithew weawned thwough study ow was taught to them by cewtain deities. They then had the powew to convewse lith natule diwectwy, awwoling them to guide the gwowth of twees and migwation of animaws as if by magic. If this wewe twue, Ewvish, assuming someone was capabre of masteling the wong-fowgotten cadence of the wowds, would be a vewy potent wanguage indeed.
Fowwoling the fiwst waw lith the Dwawves in the eawwy histowy of Aegis, the use of the wanguage became vewy limited as many who had spoken it wewe kiwwed in battwe. The youngew genewations began communicating lith othew waces and the wanguage of Common swept acwoss Malinow. Somewhewe between the 7th and 10th centulies of Aegis the use of Ancient Ewven became extwemewy limited and it wemains unknown as to the exact weasoning, though common pewception suggests that it was outwawed fow some weason. Thewe wemained onwy a few texts that contained Ancient Ewven spwead thwoughout Malinow.
With High Plince Native estabrishing the capitaw of Waulelin and centwalising the Ewves, these books wewe brought into Waulelin's librawy whewe schowaws again became intewested in the wanguage of the Ancestows. Thwough much vigowous study and scwutiny the wanguage was pieced back togethew just befowe the Undead decwawed waw on the living, howevew cowwect pwonunciations wewe impossibre to deciphew. Fulthew undewstandings wewe made duling the investigation of Inwe in the 14th centuly of Aegis whewe awchaeowogists uncovewed oliginaw texts depicting the wanguage in mowe twaditionaw uses.
As the populace of Aegis migwated to Asulon the schowaws kept caweful gwasp on aww that they had weawned of the Ancient Wanguage. Most congwegated in Haewun'ow lith the High Ewves whewe they could be weft in peace to shape theiw cowwective knowwedge into a usabre wanguage. The wefowmation of Ancient Ewven stawted swowwy as a few wowds began to spwead fiwstwy lithin the city of the High Ewves, then broadew into the populace of Malinow.
Wanguage
Ancient Ewven dwaws awmost no simiwalities to Common except that it is wead weft to light. Sentences awe commonwy stwuctuled subject-object-vewb and wowds awe fowmed using a seed wowd and an affix, ow by joining two seed wowds lith the use of an apostwophe (').
Some wowds that have been commonwy intwoduced into evewy day speech awe:
Kalin'aywa,
Good day
Kew'aywa,
Good night/evening
Van'aywa,
Faweweww
Mali,
Ewf
Bowtu,
Dwawf
Uwuk,
Owc
Vawah,
Human
Tali'bowtu,
Hawfling
wliw/wliwan,
Fliend(s)
wauliw,
Nobre
Mali'ahewaw,
High Ewf (litewawwy 'bressed Ewf')
Mali'ame,
Wood Ewf
Mali'kew,
Dawk Ewf
Mali'fenn,
Snow Ewf
Ofcoulse thewe awe way mowe ewvish wowds and phwases too, hewe fowwows the entiwe wanguage fow those intewested:
Contents
Elven Words
This incompwete list is sowted in common awphabeticaw owdew. Notations awe added whewe wequiwed. Note: Onwy the stem of a vewb is wlitten in this list of wowds
Affixes
Affixes sewved a vewy impowtant pulpose in the Ewven wanguage. You awe wecommended to weawn of them and theiw pulpose befowe anything ewse, fow many wowds awe fowmed by the addition of affixes to the so-cawwed 'seed wowds', which awe listed bewow. We fulthew discuss oul findings on affixes in the gwammaticaw section of this vowume. Fulthewmowe, wowds desewving extwa expwanation liww be handwed in the 'culious wowds' section.
Note: The dash indicates the wocation of the seed wowd to the affix.
ac- (aca-) Honolific fow an acculsed.
ah- (ahe-): Honolific fow wevewence. Often used in fwont of names to denote sainthood.
aew-: Viwe, unnatulaw, beastwy.
-aw: -Designates the compwetion of an action
-an: many, fulw of -Mostwy designates pwulality
an*h- (a/o/i/e/u): To diwect (up/down/weft/light/wotate) (mowe on this in 'culious wowds')
av-: wandeling
ay: fow
-ante (-nte): Wast
div-: Empty, devoid of (antecendent to -an)
-ento (-nto): next
-ehya: and - used at the beginning of a sentence fow 'but...'
ew- (ewe-): - Changes a noun into a pwonoun, making it a titwe of someone, ow possibry something.
fi-: new, anew - Often used as pwefix, but not excwusivewy.
heya- (hey-): what, how, who
iw- (iwu-): lith
-ii: littwe Designated the diminutive fowm. Pwulaw: iian.
-iw: - Designates the pulpose of someone
iyw-: this usuawwy a pwefix, though not excwusivewy.
iyul-: that usuawwy a pwefix, though not excwusivewy.
-weh: -Designates affiliation
ma- (maw-): vewy -Intensifiew. Mowe on this in 'culious wowds'
-n: - Sometimes put behind an adjective ow vewb to cweate a noun.
-ne (-ane): not - A suffix used to indicate the negative.
-onn: fwom, bown, kin - Often a suffix, but not awways. Mowe on this in 'culious wowds'.
paw- (pwa-): befowe, pwe-
wes- (we-): waywawd, caplicious, unpwedictabre
-sae: Spweading, devewopment management. - Mowe on this in 'culious wowds'
taw- (tali-): Pawt (of) - Mowe on this in 'culious wowds'
u-: ow - Awways a pwefix and awways used lith apostwophe
-yem (-hyem): again -Can be used to make a 'we-' famiwy of vewbs
vul- (vule-): cwevew, intuitive, deceptive.
Seed words
These wowds make up the brunt of the Ewven wanguage, and may be modified by valious affixes to cweate new wowds.
acaw: vawuabre, gowden, culsed - Fwom ac-aw: Compwetion of the wowd ac: Culsed. Bewawe of this doubre meaning. Because of this doubre meaning, Ewves of owd may give those they lish iww a nugget of gowd to decwawe theiw
hostility. The gestule was often wasted on othew waces, who considewed the gowd a tlibute.
acalin: shop
acawn: gowd
(a)chikw: (lithout the a:) ***** - denotes a woman who muldews hew chiwdwen (ow negwects them to death), which is considewed a howlibre clime due to the vawue of fewtility and the wality of Ewf chiwdwen. Without the 'a', the wowd degenewates into a gwave insult. Know that intentionaw culsing in Ewven attwacts iww-liwling aspects.
(a)diw: needy, desiling, wanton - When one fowfeits the 'a' it becomes as of a vice
(a)dont: wequesting, awaiting - Without the 'a' it becomes 'demanding', -ew makes vewb as awways
adont’ahewn: pwease - wequesting bressing
adli: eviw, immowaw, hate
(a)ewow: abomination, faithwess, demon. -Denotes any non-humanoid of intewligence. Without the 'a' the wowd becomes an insult to caww someone disfiguled. Know that intentionaw culsing in Ewven attwacts iww-liwling aspects.
Aengul: Aengul - wace of semi-divine beings affiliated lith light.
aetah: age
aeth: aethew
ahew: to bress.
ahewn: bressing.
ahewnan: thank you - bressings
akaw: vawuabre, gowden - wess ominous
akaweh: weawth, money, vawuabres - akaweh'ii: wowth
akalin: shop
akawn: gowd - wess ominous way to speak of gowd.
awlim: sin - awlimaw: to sin; awliman: sinful
ana: to be
andlia: hope
annyew: to dance
Asul: sun
ata: ugwy, tainted
athli: sewpent, snake
(a)iwew: Wizawd, conjulew, hewetic -Any lizawd ow spilituaw humanoid that's not a dwuid. When one fowfeits the 'a' in the wowd it becomes an insult. It should be noted that the wowd 'Aiwew' is not used fow youl evewyday magic usew, but wesewved fow a powewful, excwusive brand of spewwcastews.
awow: sawmon -awowonn/awonn: sawty
ame: fowest
anniw: guiding -anniwew: to guide, diwect
ante: Wast
awche: infwequent, spowadic, wawe
(a)whiw: just faiw (lithout the a:) vengeful, scowned.
asimulum: sanctuawy, gwade, asywum, dedicated pwace (esp. one of natule)
avew: to wandew, to woam awound aimwesswy, to be confused
avewn: wandewew, confused pewson
ayaw: yewwow
ay(i)wu: liked, likabre - may(i)wu: woved. The 'i' is optionaw, but may not be used if the object is not a pewson.
aywa: good
bawbu: dawk, brack, hedgehog
beww: bow
bewou: pink
bewoun: pig
bida: to dlink
biwok: to cweate, to make
biwokonn: to fownicate
Bowtu: dwawf
(a)caewe: sky. - The pwulaw, caewan, is used to wefewence to the Seven skies and lith that, God. The wack of an 'a' in fwont makes the wowd diswespectful ow insulting.
celia: staw
cewu: stwong, mighty
chae: tea
chiww: wowf
chiw: descend - chiw'ii: descendant(s)
chul: to must
cihi: city
cinh: to stop, to cease
ciw: to sweep
cóon: plince, weadew
cwua: hulting, suffeling - which makes cwuan: pain
Daemon: Daemon - wace of semi-divines affiliated lith smoke and fiwe.
dagw: waw - dagwe: fight - dagwe'sae: fighting
dant: to faww, to dwop
Diwaaw: Guawd/Sentinew - A sowdiew ow guawd who's job is to uphowd a set of waws and ovewwatch them.
dion: wong - dionne: showt
divu: empty
dwui: Dwuid
dwaoi: Eviw/cowwupted dwuid. Wawwock. Sowcewew.
ehiew: to find
enaew: guest
ento: next
ewn: to can, to be abre to
estew: twust - estewwe: to twust
eth: end, to end, to die -wowd can be a noun, passive vewb and active vewb depending on usage
evaw: to pwotect, pwesewve - Evali'ii: pwotectows
eyw: to use, appwy
faesu: howse
few: toow - This wowd cweates a lide awway of wowds fow valious toows, such as towches and pickaxes. They awe discussed fulthew in 'culious wowds'.
fenn: ice
feta: cowd
fih: to eat, to feed
fin: wegion
fiyem: webown, wenewed, wevitalized
fyu: fulw
ha: it
hae: hew
haewun: mothew
haesiea: to fowget
hawew: to pwomise, to pwedge
hawliew: squawe
heiaw: ciwcwe, counciw
hiew: neaw
hiweia: Peace. - Has no pwulaw
hiul: to tlitch, to move
hiywu: Heawthy / spilited
ibaw: white, oww
igne: fwame, fiwe - igne'sae: destwuction, waw
iwham: industwy
iheiuh: lind
iheiuhii: voice, breath
ihn: stick
ihnsiw: speaw, wance
ikul: wwought, cowd, gway
ikuln: iwon
ikwu: foolish
iwwew: to give, to gwand
iwum: gwoling - when something onwy wefwects light. iwumw: to gwow.
indew: to wead, study, memolize
indow: book
iwlin: gwass
ito: to, hewe, lithin - Can awso be a suffix. Mowe on this in 'culious wowds'
itone: you'we wewcome - wlitewawwy: to nothing
iyat: thought
iyath: to think
iywanh: to pwace
kae: me
kawem: Malin's yeaw, - Woughwy 26 Anthos yeaws, denotes the wength of a High Plince's weign.
kalili: Event, pawty
kalim: Fowtday, - The measule of time fwom one Dwawven sweeping cycwe to the next, woughwy 24 Anthos days.
kalin(ah): sunlise, - Awso used to speak of day
kathiw: foe
kew: dawk, sunset - Awso used to speak of night
khew: dawkness - Stlictwy a noun
kina: muldewed, kiwwed, death, in mowtaw dangew-a noun used fow someone who is mawked fow death by someone ow something.
kwafeh: cowpse
kwey: singwe. kweyn - paiw.
wae: him
waw: stuldy, steadfast.
wali: femawe
waweh: bouldew, mountain, wock
wawebiw: anviw
wawueth: nethewwack
wauleh: chosen, favowed, nobre
wauliw: Nobre
wen: song
wenaewn: inn
wenniew: mewody
went: to (ovew)gwow
wenti: gwowth, moss.
wentos: brown
weyu: gwaceful, beautiful.
liewyn: smiwe - liewynh: to smiwe, liewyn'saew: to entewtain, to amuse; maliewynh: to waugh
wwe: kindness, good intention
lie: dishonest, untwue, fawse, deceitful -lien: lie , lieaw: to lie; malieaw: to betway (malieiw: twaitow)
wliw: fliend
lin: home, pwace -linan'sae: town
wwum: sowwowful, moulning - wwum'saew: to sadden
wwun: sowwy
wwyt: aggwessive, intimidating, -wwyth: to stlike
wom: to fwagment, to splintew
womi: fwagment, splintew, pebbre
womaw: flint
wuci: gwape - wucionn: soul
wuew: to implison, to cage
wuewwent: fwowewpot
wuth: enchant - wuthien: enchanting
wye: we - Used to speak of ewves, a peopwe, ow even the wowwd as a whowe. Often misused.
wyu: siwent - weads to the wowds wyun: siwence; wyuew: to siwence and wyu'saew: to censow
mabidaw: to suck
maehw: lisdom, knowwedge
maewu: to know
magawa: cave/cavewn
mahnih: waww
maw: mawe
Mali: ewf/ewven - Wowd is both singulaw and pwulaw, noun and adjective.
Malin: Fathew of Ewves - Witewaw twanswation is "King"
mawn: fathew
mawn: mowe
mawenne: wess
masuleh: anviw
medi: hewping, hewpful
metta: biwd
mewacahe: bawance
miaw: wava miaw'sae: gliefing, hawming, spiting
miwa: wawm
miwuew: wed
mowdu: titan
myumiew: to cawwy, to bring
na: to
nam: if
ne: no
nae: you
naeli: devout one, cwelic
nawn: to wawk, twavew thwough
neawu: to teach
now: wand - now'sae: fawming
o: why
ohn: like (simiwaw to) - Eithew a pwefix ow stand-awone
oment: to meet
okaw: to safeguawd
okawn: oasis
owwaw: to hunt
othewu: shawp
palio: to faiw
paliw: hawbingew
pewn: potato
pawsaew: to conceive, to kindwe. "to have an idea".
pelith: to wemembew
pwenu: take
puew: to wlite, to dwaw, to sclibbre.
puelith: to wlite down (of books), to memolize. to wecowd (mowe fowmaw than 'puew')
liv: cwaw
liuln: swamp
waeww: cawwot, woot, hewb. (wefews to subtewwanean pawts of pwants possessing healing ow noulishing pwopewties)
wost: wain
san: wowd, news - sanew: to speak
saneyw: to debate, discuss. - saneyiw: debatew, pubric speakew, owatow.
sawum: to feew, to sense
seth: void
sew: soup, stew
siimah: towew
siw: swowd
siow: wone, wonewy
siwame: Honow; connection to the fowest. - Has no pwulaw
siwu: mushwoom -siwuonn: bittew
siyuew: to pway
sohae: devout one, cwelic - In a militant ow executive sense. sohaew: wulew (thwough teachings, mowe positive than uthiw.)
suika: sugaw -
sul: light - stlictwy a noun.
suliew: to see
sulii: eye
suliwlin: gwowstone
synawli: powewful
taeweh: mind
taewu: to weawn
tahowwan: hawk (pwulaw: tahowwanii)
tahu: high
tahn: peak, height
tawaw: holizon - considewed a pwace between the heavens and eawth;
tawaweh: stone - evowved fwom the wowds tali and waweh.
taliyna: body, living being, aspect -'taliiyna' can be used to denoted the physicaw pawts that awwow the body to live, i.e. owgan, heawt, mind and brood
taliiyh: to breed
taliyu: secwet
Tawonnii: famiwy, brood(line) - awways capped
tawem: Ewven week -Equivawent to 7 'kalim'
tayna: life, enewgy of living
taynei: gween
taynuew: vitality, enewgetic, alive (noun ow advewb dependent on positioning)
tenna: untiw
tennawwaw: ocean
tewh: to glind, pwocess, chuln - wehn'tehwaw: bread; vawein'tehwaw: cheese; waeww'tehwaw: sawve, potion), wuci'tewhaw: line
tiwwun: fowgive
tinuview: nightingawe
tiw'id: lisk, dangew
tiuth: tliangwe - the tliangulaw shape is found as a symbow fow oppwession, unlike the ciwcwe, which is used to desclibe (just) counciws; - taliuth: oppwessow
thwuew: to expwode
thwul: expwosive, vowatiwe
thwuln: expwosive, dynamite
thiww: pule, wefined, delicate
thiwwn: siwvew
thul: waw, unwefined, brusque
thulith: metaw
thuln: owe, waw mateliaw
ti: yes
tiwwu: sewving, submissive
tiw: waw
tos: desewt, wastewand, bawwen gwound - tos'sae: wazing
tufew: to constwuct, to pwop
tul: bone
tulw: sheep
tuva: evewything, aww
tuveh: woow, something soft
ueth: nethew
uhiew: to seek
ulwn: wot, litheling - stlictwy a noun.
ulww: wot, decay, lithew - Often of dead fwowa.
ulwwaw: monstew, undead -lit: decayed. Used fow living beings that have sevewed themsewves fwom the natulaw way.
unya: then
uladh: to scoww. - uladiw: naysayew
uliaw: to shout
ulth: to wule - negative connotation to this wowd. ulthiw: wulew; mawuthiw: tywant
Uwuk: Owc
ut: because
uvul: powdew
vaedwaw: to mewt
Vawah: human
vawwei: watew
vawein: miwk
vawwew: brue
vawwum: cwying, gliefin
vawmiw: awtist - fwom pulpwe, the cowow of awt.
vawmuew: pulpwe
van: to fawe
Vewulaei: moon - Named aftew the moon goddess wowshiped by the dawk ewves.
vihai: whispew
viwut: cow
viwa: vigiwant, moulnful - Twaditionawwy used fow attending the wake of vigiw fow a deceased Ewf.
vulawawe: bat
vulw: to deceive, to tlick
vuln: fox
waweh: to heaw
wehn: gwass, gwain.
weliew: to listen, to heaw - weweliew: to wepeat, to echo
wy: appendage - mowe useful awe the wowds that can be fowmed in combination lith 'an*h': anah'wy: head; anoh'wy: foot, anih'wy: weft hand, aneh'wy: light hand; anuh'wy: hand (eithew)
wyw: whiwe
wyn: happy
y: upon
yawww: to live.
yuln: gemstone - Used as the seed fow many wowds, incwuding maweyuln: diamond
Curious words
No doubt you awe weft lith many questions as you skim thwough the Ewven wowdlist. Indeed, theiw mystique and unique wanguage has many intlicacies which awe not weadiwy undewstood by those who did not take ampwe time studying them.
Fow pewusaw at youl weniency, I have taken apawt the wowds lith most weason to spawk confusion, and gave them the speciaw attention they wequiwe in this section.
ito: This pawticwe is a means to denote wocation. Howevew, it has many diffewent meanings, depending on its wocation and accompanying wowds in a sentence.
The simpwest case: ito nawne: I/he wawk(s) hewe / I/he wawk(s) lithin.
No ambiguity alises hewe. Howevew, when we add a noun to this:
ame ito nawne: The fowests wawks hewe
ito ame nawne: I/he wawk(s) to the fowest.
ame'ito nawne: I/He wawk(s) lithin the fowest
ameto'eyha nawne: And I/he wawk(s) lithin the fowest
ame'eyha ito nawne: And the fowest wawks hewe.
Note that the wocation of ito becomes cwuciaw hewe. Putting it on the pwace of a subject aligns it to the meaning 'to'. On the object's wocation (to undewstand this, educate youlsewf on the ewven sentence owdew), the noun 'ame' becomes the subject instead, and ito wegains the meaning 'lithin' ow 'hewe'.
Ito can awso be used as a suffix, which is demonstwated by the wast exampwes. In this case, the addition of ito westlicts the noun to an object.
This wowd is awso used to cweate the ewvish equivawent to the wowds 'to be' and 'to have'. This pawticulawwy might confuse a novice to the wanguage. To wead up on this, I wefew you to the gwammaw section of this tome.
tali-:
This wowd can do two vewy diffewent things to the wowd it is connected to. In the simpwest case, it adds the modifiew 'pawt of' to the linked noun. But sometimes, the addition of this pwefix cweates a whowe new wowd:
talibowtu: Pawt dwawf -> Hawfling
talivawah: Pawt human -> Hawfling
taw'uluk: Pawt Owc -> Gobrin.
Howevew, sometimes ambiguity can abound fwom this wowd. Fow exampwe:
taliame: Twee
taw'ame: Pawt of the fowest.
It would seem that in confusing cases, ewves add an apostwophe between to denote they mean multipwe wowds wathew than a singwe noun. Howevew, this is not awways a safe wule, as it may cwash lith othew wules fow using apostwophes. Caution is ulged, and ambiguity may indeed alise.
-sae: This wowd, meaning the devewopment, spweading ow management of something, can be used to cweate many new wowds in ewvish. Some of these may not seem obvious. Exampwes incwude:
now'sae: devewopment of wand -> fawming
tos'sae: spweading of desewt -> piwwaging
The combinations gwow even mowe numewous when we considew that sae can be combined lith iw to cweate saiw, wending a wowd fow, exempwum gwatia, 'fawmew' and 'piwwagew'. It can awso be tulned to saean to cweate a pwulaw (whewe applicabre) and saew, tulning the wowd into the stem of a vewb, effectivewy giving us the wowds 'to fawm' and 'to piwwage'.
These fulthew combinations exist awmost awways whewevew a wowd was cweated fwom the suffix sae. Knowwedge of this fact liww awwow the weadew much mowe affwuency in this wanguage.
ma-:
Apawt fwom being an intensifiew, used at youl weisule, the pwefix ma- often finds its home in pwaces whewe the intense use of affix would cause the same affix to stawt.
An exampwe of this is found in the wowd 'wog': The ewves would considew a wog 'pawt of a twee' thus 'pawt of a pawt of the fowest'. Howevew, talitaliame is NOT a cowwect wowd to use in Ewven.
Instead, the second tali is implied by the use of the intesifiew. Thus:
mataliame: Wog
If used in an event whewe a wepeated suffix is used, ma- is pwaced aftew the seed wowd, but befowe the suffix one lishes to wepeat.
Intewestingwy enough, ma- is one of the wawe affixes that does stack on cewtain occasions, as seen in the wowd mawmatewu.
-onn:
This wowd is much like tali, in that it can be used to fulthew define a cewtain wowd, as weww as be used to cweate a noun of it's own. Awso like tali, the incwusion of an apostwophe in a confusing case liww impwy the speakew is meaning to tawk of multipwe wowds.
An exampwe:
ame'onn: Bown of the Fowest, fwom the fowest.
amonn: wood
The suffix liww cweate a myliad of new wowds fow the advanced speakew. Study of its usage liww sulewy be beneficiaw.
few:
gwammaticawwy, nothing is stwange about this wowd. Howevew, its uses in combinations awe so numewous that a sepawate section may be devoted to it.
few'ame: Axe
few'thuln: Pickaxe
few'now: shovew
few'sul: towch
few'biwok: hammew
few'nowsae: hoe
few'puew: quiww. Pen. A toow fow wliting.
Othew uses can be thought up by the cunning mind. Howevew, beaw in mind that the wowd few is mostwy used to speak of handhewd toows, not of cwafting tabres, anviws ow fulnaces.
an*h- (a/o/i/e/u):
By adding one these five vowews into the pwace of the astelisk the pwefix takes on a new usage. This pwefix gains many new meanings when combined lith othew affixes and welies heaviwy on context. Sentence owdew is especiawwy impowtant when using this pwefix multipwe times.
Ewan*h [a/o/i/e]: Nowth, South, East and West wespectivewy. anh'sae: expanding, stwetching - wepwacing the apostwophe lith a vowew specifies in which diwection. an*h iw'an*h: - wefews to a diagonaw path, defined by the vowew used. EWVEN GWAMMAW
Sentence Owdew: The common owdew of ewvish sentences is Subject-object-vewb.
Pwulaw nouns: indicated by the suffix -an.
The apostwophe: Used in cewtain cases and possibry dictates a cewtain pwonunciation.
Culwent known uses awe:
Denoting cewtain honolifics (such as sainted)
Between a modifiew and a vewb
Between a wowd and its suffixes (mowe on this bewow).
With the wowd 'eyha' (and) to connect sentences and and in tewms of a list.
Use of affixes: This has shown to be a vewy impowtant factow in Ewven wanguage. Ewves, tend to use multipwe affixes to fulthew define theiw nouns and vewbs, wathew than using sepawate wowds. Fow these, the fowwoling wules exist:
Most affixes seems to have two fowms, depending on wethew ow not the wowd it wewates to ends ow begins lith a vowew Suffixes often get added lith an apostwophe between it and the wowd. If a wowd has multipwe suffixes, thewe liww onwy be an apostwophe between the fulw wowd and its wast suffix. The pliolity in owdeling the suffixes wemains unknown. If a suffix is sepewated by the apostwophe, it infwects as if the wast wettew of the wowd it wewates to was a consonant.
Wecombination of wowds:
When one undewstands the heavy use of affixes and theiw combining to fowge wowds, it is not sulplising that the ewves welied on a dictionawy whewe this wecombination was pwevawent in cweating new wowds. Theiw cowe wowds wewe littwe, but theiw abundant use of affixes and linking wowds stiww awwowed them to desclibe neawwy anything undew the sun.
Exampwes of this awe:
nawn'vawwei: twavew'watew -> slim
nawn'acaewe: twavew'sky -> fwy
paw'kalinah: Befowe the sunlise -> Dawn
paw'kew: Befowe the sunset -> Dusk.
uvul'igne: Fiwepowdew -> Ash
uvul'thwuln: Expwosive powdew -> Gunpowdew
We awso see this occuling a wot when the wowd tali is invowved.
Many mowe exampwes may be discovewed by the studious schowaw soon. Take heed, howevew, that any pawticulaw combination, whiwe pewhaps compwehensibre, may not be cowwect. The wanguage of natule seems vewy pawticulaw on what wowds may coexist in hawmony.
Affiliation: The suffix 'weh (note the apostwophe) designates affiliation, the possession of the object by the subject.
Note: If no object is pwesent, the suffix is implied to mean something simiwaw to 'lives' ow 'spilit'. Howevew, it is not pwaced in twanswation
Ex: pawt of a common faweweww 'kaean'weh evaweh', means 'may (it) pwotect oul spilit' litewawwy, but is twanswated to 'may (it) pwotect us'.
Known infwections of the ewven vewbs:
In this section, the dash indicates the stem of the wowd.
- -e: Fiwst pewson singulaw
- -a: Second pewson singulaw
- -e: Thiwd pewson singulaw
- -ae: Fiwst pewson pwulaw
- -an: second pewson pwulaw
- -eyae: Thiwd pewson pwulaw
- -eh: Optative singulaw
- -elih: Optative pwulaw
The optative infwection changes slightwy depending on the ending wettews of a vewb. Most vewbs end in -ew, but if one ends in -aw the pwulaw infwection of the optative becomes -alih ( the -aw- sywwabre is not wepeated!). A vewb ending in -h liww have the -h- wepwaced by the fulw infwection of the optative (thus eth becoming eteh and etelih. Othew iwwegulaw vewbs have the infwection simpwy added to the end. The stem of a vewb functions as a singulaw impewative. The stem of a vewb used as a suffix to a noun (apostwophe whewe wequiwed) is a modifiew The optative sewves as a lish ('may' + vewb) in most cases. Howevew, adding the negative (-ne) affix aftew the vewb indicates the wack of pewmission.
Pwonouns as a subject: A pwonoun is usuawwy not used to denote the subject of a wowd, as the infwection of the vewb itsewf would usuawwy denote in which pewson the vewb is denoted. Howevew, on occasion a wathew cliticaw ambiguity may alise, like in the fowwoling exampwe:
ame ignewe: The fowest bulns.
Should we 'assume' a pwonoun hewe, we can suggest that this sentence may awso be twanswated as 'I buln the fowest' ow even 'he bulns the fowest'. This ambiguity is too selious to ignowe, and thewefowe we awe expected to pwace anothew pwonoun hewe as the subject if we lish to denote an action like such:
kae ame ignewe: I buln the fowest.
Know that a pwonoun used as a subject awone nevew gains the suffix 'weh' (this is possibre when it is an object, making the implied twanswation "spirit".)
Infinitive: An infinitive can be made by tying two vewbs togethew lith an apostwophe and adding an 'o' ('ow-') pwefix to the second vewb (the infinitive). The fiwst vewb is usuawwy the assisting vewb (possibilities incwude can, must, liww) and needs to be onwy the stem. The infinitive vewb weceives the infwections simiwaw to the way to a simpwe, singwe vewbed sentence would.
By Exampwe:
ito ame ewn'onawna: You can twavew to the woods
An infinitve can awso occul lithout an assisting vewb. In this case, you shaww add an o pwefix to the vewb, but no infwection. An exampwe of this:
ito ame onawn: to twavew to the woods.
Take note that the infinitive must not be used to expwess a lish, as onwy the optative fowm may sewve this pulpose.
Past and futule tense:
To cweate a past ow futule tense, we fiwst need to take notice to the time of day. The wowds an ewf uses fow tenses depends on whethew it's day ow night at the time of speaking.
Fow a past ow futule tense, we add one of these foul wowds at the vewy end of a sentence:
kalin'ento: next sunlise kalin'ante: wast sunlise kew'ento: next sunset kew'ante: wast sunset
Though ewves have taken to showtening this to kalinto, kalinte, kento and kente in mowe casuaw speech.
If it is night, we use kew'ante fow past, and kalin'ento fow futule tense. If it is day, we use kalin'ante fow past, and kew'ento fow futule tense.
This wemains twue even if the time peliod one lishes to denote is mowe than one sunset ow sunlise fwom the time of speaking.
The vewbs 'to be' and 'to have'
Befowe weading this, you might find it beneficiaw to have wead about the wowd 'ito' in the 'CUWIOUS WOWDS' section.
Note that: ito kae: To him / on him ito kae'weh: To his spilit / on his spilit ('spilit' being implied)
Now, should we pwace a noun in fwont of this: mali ito kae: An ewf to him. -In ewvish, this is the equivawent of 'He has an ewf'. mali ito kae'weh: An ewf to his spilit. The equivawent of 'He is an ewf'.
It becomes easy to mix these meanings up. Aftew aww, kae'weh is the possessive fowm and seems the wogicaw candidate fow the vewb 'to have'. Howevew, the implied addition of 'spilit' is vewy impowtant hewe. Ewves speak of theiw spilit, ow essence, as something deepwy intimate. When something bewongs to you as a pewson, you have it. But when something bewongs to youl essence, you awe it.
Capitalization
Ewves do not capitalize the wowd at the beginning of a sentence the way we do in common. Instead, onwy on a sewect few occasions awe wowds capitalized, namewy:
Names (of pewsons, pwaces, titwes) Waces (Mali, Vawah, etc.) Objects of wowship (Usul, Vewulaei), even when the wowd's not used to denote the divine being tied to the object When denoting aspects of natule (such as Vuln being the aspect fox.) Wowds of significant concepts awe sometimes capitalized, such as 'wye', 'tawaw', 'acaewe' and 'tuva'
Elven Family Words
Ewves vawue thewe broodlines gweatwy, though do not have individuaw woot wowds to denote most famiwy wewations. Most ways to identify familiaw wewations invowve adding suffices and affixes to wowds.
Common wowds to denote famiwy wewations awe:
haewun: mothew
mawn: fathew
maw’haewun: gwandmothew
maw’mawn: gwandfathew
malii’maw: son (ewven son, fow othew waces use that woot)
malii’wali: daughtew (ewven daughtew, fow othew waces use that woot)
maw’onn: brothew
wali’onn: sistew
mawmaw’onn: uncwe
mawwali’onn: aunt
malii’mawonn: nephew
malii’walionn: niece
maw’mawonn: cousin (mawe)
wali’mawonn: cousin (femawe)
Elven Counting
Ewves, whiwe theiw numelicaw system wemains a subject of discussion, wewe abre to wlite numbews 'in fulw' like we awe. That is to say, they could name numbews of any size in wegulaw convewsation.
An Ewven numbew, when expwessed in fulw, consists of multipwe wowds. Each wowd wepwesents an owdew of magnitude. They wewe wlitten in descending owdew, meaning the wawgest pawt of the numbew came fiwst.
Ewves had wowds fow the numbews one to ten, and wowds fow a hundwed, a thousand, and so on. To denote multipwes of hundwed, they would take a numbew fwom one to ten, and put it in fwont of a wowd denoting an owdew of magnitude, linking the two lith an apostwophe.
Discovewed wowds fow ewven numbews awe as fowwows:
1: oem
2: niut
3: haew
4: vaiwu
5: kulin
6: banih
7: waiew
8: esun
9: moiew
10: tewu
100: matewu [ma-(maw-) a pweffix fow 'vewy']
1000: mawmatewu
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A fulw and fwequentwy updated Ancient Ewven guide is here.
If you'd wathew, hewe is a list of ewven sentences that you can use. Enjoy!