Elven Grammar

Elven Grammar
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The following is a simple guide for the use and creation of the Elvish tongue. This is a work in progress, and as such will have certain "lackings"... should you stumble across one and feel you have a suitable answer for mainstream use, please post PLURALS
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* Denoted r, ea, ie, or, io, and oo. Exact choice is left up to the person creating the plural.
* Use -rim to denote great numbers or respect
Examples:

nimbrethie = birches

Aredhelrim = elf lords

PRONOUNS
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* when used alone pronouns express subjects (amin mela lle - I love you)
* when used in possessive phrases they express possession (melamin - my love)

I (my,mine)	amin	him (his)	ho
we, us (ours)	lye	her (hers)	he
he	ro	they	ron
she	re	them (their)	sen
it (its)	ta	this	sina
you (yours)	lle	that	tanya
you(p) (yours-p)	llie	who	ya

POSSESSIVE PHRASES
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SIMPLE
Subject:possessor
* Append pronoun to end of object.
* Pluralize noun first.
Examples:

irmo = desire, irmoamin = my desire or irmoieamin = my desires

atar = father, atarho = his father

COMPLEX
Subject of Subject:possessor
* Seperate secondary subject (possessed by primary subject) with en from the simple familiar of the primary subject.
Examples:

mela en coiamin = love of the life of = I love of my life

tinu en atarahe = daughter of the mother of her = her mother's daughter

SIMPLE NONFAMILIAR OR PROPER
Subject of Possessor
* use when possessor is expressing distance/separation from object or when possessor is proper.
* Seperate subject from possessor with en.
Examples:

mellon en amin = friend of I = my friend (expresses distance)

megil en Lywnis = sword of Lywnis = Lywnis' sword

ADJECTIVES
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* Append to the front of the object/action they are describing.
Examples:

corialote = purple flower

lashae = wide ocean (last 2 n's from lann dropped)

* when expressing intensities (i.e. bright, brighter, brightest) when stem ends in vowel append -n for -er and -nin for -est
Examples:

tiri = bright/brightly, tirin = brighter, tirinin = brightest

*when stem ends in noun append -in for -er and -inin for -est
Examples:

calen = green, calenin = greener, caleninin = greenest

ADVERBS
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* Follows verb in unchanged form.
* Also see intensity rules listed above.
Examples:

cormamin glina tiri = my heart it gleams bright = my heart gleams brightly

i'aredhelrim quene hodo = the elf lords they spoke wise = the elf lords spoke wisely

VERBS
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* Conjugate to past, present, future, conditional with e,a, uva,

aya

past -e

present -a

future -uva

conditional -aya
Examples:

amin elee = I saw, amin elea = I see, amin eleuva = I shall see, amin eleaya = I would see

* two or more conjugated verbs may exist in one phrase as long as are not strung together.
* use unconjugated verbs when stringing more than one together
Examples:

amin irma quen I desire to speak

lle delotha mel amin You hate to love me

* -ing endings are expressed by appending -ad or -ien to the stem if it ends in a noun or - d if it ends in a vowel.
Example:

amin naa tulien a' i'til = I am coming to the point

* -ed endings are expressed using the past tense conjugation.
Example:

nardane ron kaime e' i'liavea en' ilya n'at entwined they slept in each others arms

CREATION OF NEW WORDS
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* keep it simple, use portions of other words, and try to remain true to the flowing nature of elven
* before using the words you must post them to the Silver Arrow Tavern and have them be confirmed by the the Captain or Chronicler of Tel'Mithrim.
* rationalize your derivation, before using the words that you create. If a suitable words for derivation do not exist than make one up keeping in mind simplicity and the nature of elven.
* when taking a noun from a verb stem:
1) conjugate to present form for direct noun (i.e. ele- to see, elea(v) sees, elea(n) sight
2) for a related term, append either o or u to the stem (i.e. eleo - eye)
3) when ascribing the verb to a person, append ar to the stem (i.e. oht-war, ohtar - warrior)
* when creating words from two or more words, append together and drop enough letters from the appendor to avoid cumbersome letter sequences (see below)

PHRASE CONSTRUCTION
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* Use subject - verb - object (add adverbs and adjectives as above)
* Phrase questions as statements followed by question maker.
* Words such as a, does, would etc. may be inferred from the context of the phrase.
* When appending pronouns or adjectives, you may drop letters from the appendor in order to eliminate awkward sequences of letters. Examples would be avoiding 3 consonants in a row, 3 vowels in a row, or 2 of the same vowel in a row.
Examples:

Amin mela lle. = I love you.

Lye nuquernuva sen e dagor = We will defeat them in battle

Lle anta yulna en alu? = Do you need a drink of water?

Uma, amin naa fauka. = Yes, I am thirsty

Amin sinta thaliolle e dagor = I know your strength in battle.

More Complex Examples:

Amin lastuva ten' aredhelamin quena hodo.= I will listen because my lord (elf) speaks wisely

Llie tula mellonea, vasa ni yulna en mereth en amin. = Come friends, eat and drink of my feast

Il'quen sinta mellonamin Lywnis? = Does everybody know my friend Lywnis?

Uma, lye sinta he. = Yes, we know him.

Peruse the Grammatical rules for the Elven Language.
View our resources for translating Common to Elven
And our tomes on converting Elven to Common
Here is list of common Elven Phrases
Search for a word with our NEW search engine!