Veckhu(Language)

= Veckhu (Language) =
=== Natively known as: Vrehkhoo /ˈʋekhu/ ===
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...eh́ch Vroól paẁp oo̰eh̰̯eḛ̯dKZPKx roóm HGWTáh eh́ch paẁp chhúhrYX súhr FWPuh́t chyeé loo̰eh̰̯eḛ̯́Pronunciation: /éʧ ʋúl paẁp ˈṵḛ̯ḭ̯dʊ̈̀ːʀ̥̰̰ ɺúm ħːɑ́ éʧ paẁp ʧhʏ́ʎ̼ sʏ́ ɧɶ́t xjí lṵḛ̯ḭ̯́/
Veckhu word order: and stood his hat holding he and his wet face turned the wind to
The symbols chosen to represent the pronunciation are from www.VulgarLang.com for simplification. The true IPA may differTop-Bottom-Left-Right is the proper writing style, but some guilds use a Left-Right-Top-Bottom style for official records in order to dissuade a casual over-the-shoulder glance from making quick sense of it.
Veckhu writing also has a concentric style used for signatures and by expert calligraphists. Here are 3 possible ways to write the name “Vinnford”:
Fwp - Imagine if a bird tried to say "f" but can't quite make that sound and some "whoop" type sound results
Gurgle - More of an accent to create a cooing gurgling sound on the next syllable.
Gx - A deep "G" like sound, very guttural
Hgwt - A wood-windish sound, but with a bit of "honk"
Kend - The d might not be so pronounced. Imagine a rising "keh" sound that grows in the throat.
Kx - Similar to the trilling sound of a crow, but shorter
Krix - A hard chirp. Sometimes substituted for a click noise in some dialects.
Kzp - Imagine if a loon had something caught in its throat. It would sound just like that.
Qux - Like quack
Screech - Sometimes like a squeak or reverberating filler noise
Twx - A click noise with a whistle together
Whistle - Just the whistle noise
Yx - A reverberating "yeh" type noise
Basic translations
Man -grgl-uh́s, seh̀
Woman páh, Vruh́
Tree chheè, eh́Br, hàhpàhsàhkrlx, sVreh̀
A man -grgl-uh́s -♪-l
The man -grgl-uh́s aẃ
That man there daẃ -grgl-uh́s doh̀d
That (said) man -♪-eh́krlx keh́k-grgl-uh́s
Sleep v. chàhKx, roh̀d n. chàhKx
The man sleeps chàhKxn (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man slept KxawckàhKxn (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man will sleep GXoh̀Br chàhKxn (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man sees the tree sVreh̀ aẃ ùhr-grgl-n (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man will see the tree sVreh̀ aẃ GXoh̀Br ùhr-grgl-n (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man saw the tree sVreh̀ aẃ Kxawùhr-grgl-n (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man who saw the tree sleeps chàhKxn sVreh̀ aẃ h-ⱺ-́w Kxawùhr-grgl-n -grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man, who saw the tree, sleeps chàhKxn HGWTáh sVreh̀ aẃ h-ⱺ-́w Kxawùhr-grgl-n keh́k-grgl-uh́s aẃ
Does the man see the tree? Vreh́n sVreh̀ aẃ ùhr-grgl-n (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ?
Where did the man see the tree? Kxàh Vreh́n sVreh̀ aẃ Kxawùhr-grgl-n keh́k-grgl-uh́s aẃ?
I know where the man saw the tree. Kxàh sVreh̀ aẃ Kxawùhr-grgl-n keh́k-grgl-uh́s aẃ QXuh́ Kx-ⱺ-́
The tree which the man saw. sVreh̀ aẃ náhBr Kxawùhr-grgl-n -grgl-uh́s aẃ
The man is at the tree. seh́-♪-n keh́k-grgl-uh́s aẃ Breh̀ch sVreh̀ aẃ
The man is tall. QXáhkn -♪--◊-́w (keh́k)-grgl-uh́s aẃ
I Kx-ⱺ-́ You (sing.) krlxKZP, sàhp He HGWTáh, GXKZPw She Br-ⱺ-́, noo̰eh̰̯eḛ̯́YX It Br-ⱺ-́, GXKZPw, HGWTáh, noo̰eh̰̯eḛ̯́YX We (excl.) sáh We (incl.) sáh You (pl.) dáh-grgl-, hOý̯-grgl- They (pl.) Kxoó, -₴₢ꭂȼĦ--◊-̀m The place where the man saw the tree. keh́kwuh̀w aẃ Kxàh sVreh̀ aẃ Kxawùhr-grgl-n keh́k-grgl-uh́s aẃ If I see the tree, I’ll sleep. chl-◊-́ sVreh̀ aẃ ùhr-grgl- Kx-ⱺ-́, (loh́d) GXoh̀Br chàhKx Kx-ⱺ-́. When I sleep, I see the man. -♪-àhBr chàhKx Kx-ⱺ-́, -grgl-uh́s aẃ ùhr-grgl- Kx-ⱺ-́. Had I seen/if I had seen the tree, I would have slept. kVreh̀ cháh-grgl- -♪-l sVreh̀ aẃ Kxawùhr-grgl- Kx-ⱺ-́, náhFWP KxawckàhKx Kx-ⱺ-́. You, sleep! chàhKx sàhp aẃ! I should sleep. (Benefit) chàhKx káh Kx-ⱺ-́ You shouldn’t/won’t sleep. (Precept) sàhp káh uh̀ chàhKx . / uh̀ GXoh̀Br chàhKx sàhp I want to sleep. r-◊-́Kx chàhKxeè Kx-ⱺ-́ My tree is green. QXáhkn chlùhr GXaẃ (keh́k)sVreh̀
Grammar is based on OVS.
Most vowels have a rising or falling tone. If the infinitive refers back to the speaker or their group, it should be a falling tone ee sound, but Glennish Veckhu does not always recognize this rule. The r in Vr and Br is also not always pronounced in Glennish. “Kehk” as a prefix to the subject emphasizes the subject that the original verb is acting upon, but is not always required unless a prepositional phrase occurs or a term of placement would otherwise cause some confusion.
kVreh̀ cháh-grgl- -♪-l means “In a story” which is how Veckhu refers to a hypothetical conditional “if this had happened” situation. “In a story, I saw the tree, so I slept” means that if they had seen the tree, they would have slept.
In cases of instruction, the definite article slides to the end of the verb to become the imperative marker. Sometimes it just appears even if it was not there before to emphasize a command. “Trumpet the horn” HWoh̀áhp aẃ QXaẁp would become HWoh̀áhp QXaẁp aẃ.
=== Spelling & Phonology ===
Consonant inventory: bˠ d h j k k͡ǀ l m n p q s t w x ħː ǁ ǂ ɠ ɧ ɫ ɺ ʀ̥̰̰ ʋ ʎ̼ ʢ ʧ χ ᶢǀː
↓Manner/Place→ 	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal 	m 	 	 	n 	 	 	 	 	 	
Stop 	p bˠ 	 	 	t d 	 	 	k 	q 	 	
Implosive 	 	 	 	 	 	 	ɠ 	 	 	
Affricate 	 	 	 	 	ʧ 	 	 	 	 	
Fricative 	 	 	 	s 	 	 	x 	χ 	ħː 	h
Approximant 	 	ʋ 	 	 	 	j 	 	 	 	
Trill 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	ʀ̥̰̰ 	ʢ 	
Lateral approximant	 	 	 	l 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lateral flap 	 	 	 	ɺ 	 	 	 	 	 	
Click 	 	 	ᶢǀː 	 	 	ǂ 	 	 	 	
Lateral click 	 	 	 	ǁ 	 	 	 	 	 	
Co-articulated phonemes
↓Manner/Place→ 	Labial-velar	Velarized alveolar	Sj-sound
Fricative 	 	 	ɧ
Approximant 	w 	 	
Lateral approximant	 	ɫ 	
Vowel inventory: aw e i o u ṵḛ̯ḭ̯ ɑ ɔɪ̯ ɤ ɶ ʊ̈ː ʌ ʏ
Diphthongs: aw ṵḛ̯ḭ̯ ɔɪ̯
Tones: ́ ̀
 	Front	Central	Back
High 	i 	 	u
Near-high	ʏ 	ʊ̈ː 	
High-mid 	e 	 	ɤ o
Low-mid 	 	 	ʌ
Low 	ɶ 	 	ɑ
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation	Spelling
#x 	ʧ
aw 	a
a 	aw
o 	oh
u 	oo
bˠ 	Br
d 	d
ᶢǀː 	GX
ɠ 	
ħː˩ 	HGWT
ħː 	HGWT
ɧ 	FWP
j 	y
x 	ck
k͡ǀ 	krlx
ɫǁ 	TWX
ɫ 	
q 	Q
ʀ̥̰̰ 	Kx
ɺ 	r
ʧ 	ch
tʃ 	ch
ʋ 	Vr
ǂh 	HW
χ 	X
ɑ́ 	áh
ɑ̀ 	àh
e 	eh
ḛ 	Y
i 	ee
ḭ 	Y
ɪ 	y
ɶ 	uh
ʏ́ 	úhr
ʏ̀ 	ùhr
ɔ 	O
ṵ 	W
ʊ̈̀ː 	KZP
ʊ̈́ː 	KZP
ʎ̼ 	YX
ʢ 	
ʌ 	
ɤ 	
----
=== Grammar ===
Main word order: Object Verb (Prepositional phrase) Subject. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into The door opened with a key Mary.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
=== Verb affixes ===
Comma 	Suffix -ɔɪ̯̀s
syoóQXOý̯dOỳ̯s /ˈsjúqχɔɪ̯dɔɪ̯̀s/
Separate	Suffix -ók͡ǀ
syoóQXOý̯doh́krlx /ˈsjúqχɔɪ̯dók͡ǀ/
Values 	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʧ
Else: Suffix -ʌ́ʧ
syoóQXOý̯d-◊-́ch /ˈsjúqχɔɪ̯dʌ́ʧ/
=== Verb affixes ===
Comma 	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʎ̼
Else: Suffix -ɔɪ̯́ʎ̼
spoh́YX /spóʎ̼/
Separate	Suffix -ɶ̀
spoh́uh̀ /ˈspóɶ̀/
Values 	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɧ
Else: Suffix -éɧ
spoh́FWP /spóɧ/
=== Verb affixes ===
Comma 	Suffix -è
spoh́eh̀ /ˈspóè/
Separate	Suffix -èɺ
spoh́eh̀r /ˈspóèɺ/
Values 	Suffix -ʏ̀d
spoh́ùhrd /ˈspóʏ̀d/
=== Nouns ===
Nouns have two cases:
** Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
** Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
Plural	Particle before the noun: ħːíp -
HGWTeép pOý̯p /ħːíp pɔɪ̯́p/ dogs
Nominative	Prefix kék-
keh́kpOý̯p /ˈkékpɔɪ̯́p/ dog (doing the verb)
Accusative	No affix
pOý̯p /pɔɪ̯́p/ (verb done to) dog
=== Articles ===
Definite 	Particle after the noun: - á
pOý̯p aẃ /pɔɪ̯́p á/ the dog
Indefinite	Particle after the noun: - ɫl
pOý̯p -♪-l /pɔɪ̯́p ɫl/ a dog
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
** Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
** Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
** Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:
** Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’
** Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’
=== Verb affixes ===
Comma 	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -óm
spoh́m /spóm/
Separate	Suffix -ʊ̈́ː
spoh́KZP /ˈspóʊ̈́ː/
Values 	Suffix -ɑ́
spoh́áh /ˈspóɑ́/
=== Pronouns ===
NominativeAccusative1st singularKx-ⱺ-́ /ʀ̥̰̰ɤ́/ I daẃp /daẃp/ me 2nd singularsàhp /sɑ̀p/ you krlxKZP /k͡ǀʊ̈́ː/ you 3rd singular mascHGWTáh /ħːɑ́/ he, it GXKZPw /ᶢǀːʊ̈́ːw/ him, it 3rd singular femBr-ⱺ-́ /bˠɤ́/ she, it noo̰eh̰̯eḛ̯́YX /nṵḛ̯ḭ̯́ʎ̼/ her, it 1st pluralsáh /sɑ́/ we YXoh́Br /ʎ̼óbˠ/ us 2nd pluraldáh-grgl- /dɑ́ɠ/ you all hOý̯-grgl- /hɔɪ̯́ɠ/ you all 3rd pluralKxoó /ʀ̥̰̰ú/ they
=== Possessive determiners ===
1st singular 	GXaẃ /ᶢǀːaẃ/ my
2nd singular 	QXoh̀-₴₢ꭂȼĦ- /qχòʢ/ your
3rd singular masc	paẁp /paẁp/ his
3rd singular fem 	hOý̯-♪- /hɔɪ̯́ɫ/ her
1st plural 	hOỳ̯ /hɔɪ̯̀/ our
2nd plural 	daẃ /daẃ/ your (pl)
3rd plural 	páh /pɑ́/ their
=== Verbs ===
 	Present	Past
Singular	No affix
spoh́ /spó/ (I/you/he/she/it) learn	Prefix ʀ̥̰̰aẁ-
Kxaẁspoh́ /ˈʀ̥̰̰aspó/ (I/you/he/she/it) learned
Plural 	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɠ-
Else: Prefix ɠú-
-grgl-oóspoh́ /ˈɠúspó/ (we/they) learn	If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pò-
poh̀spoh́ /ˈpòspó/ (we/they) learned
Veckhu uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
Future	Particle before the verb: ᶢǀːòbˠ -
GXoh̀Br spoh́ /ᶢǀːòbˠ spó/ will learn
==== Imperfective aspect ====
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).
Veckhu uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective	Particle before the verb: ɺṵḛ̯ḭ̯́ -
roo̰eh̰̯eḛ̯́ spoh́ /ɺṵḛ̯ḭ̯́ spó/ learns/is learning
=== Verb affixes ===
Infinitive	Suffix -í
syoóQXOý̯deé /ˈsjúqχɔɪ̯dí/ to touch
=== Verb person - Neutral suffix ===
3rd person	Suffix -n
yuh́ln /ˈyɶ́ln/ (he/she/it/they/one/someone/something) enters
=== Numbers ===
Veckhu has a base-8 number system:
1 - k-◊-́
2 - -grgl-áhd
3 - -₴₢ꭂȼĦ-eh̀r
4 - FWPuh́
5 - p-ⱺ-́d
6 - peè
7 - -◊-́
8 - QXeé
==== Derivational morphology ====
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʢ-
Else: Prefix ʢɔɪ̯́-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix dʊ̈̀ː-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix k͡ǀɑ́-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ó-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix kí-
Noun to verb = Prefix ʀ̥̰̰ò-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix sʏ́-
Tending to = Prefix haẁ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɫ-
Else: Prefix ɫɑ̀-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix ɔɪ̯́-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ᶢǀː-, Suffix -én
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix kɶ̀-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix bˠ-
Else: Prefix bˠɔɪ̯̀-
Augmentative = Prefix ṵḛ̯ḭ̯̀-