Vientainis

The Vienta language or *Kiepas Vientainis* is the native language of the Vientahti, spoken on the Northern Coast in the country of Vienta.

# Phonology

## Phonotactics

The syllable structure of Vientainis is (C)V(C).
Stress always falls onto the last syllable.
Nasals assimilate to the following consonant.
/h/ is realised as [ç] after front vowels, as [x] after back vowels and /a/.
The following intersyllabic consonant clusters are permitted:

 hP
 RP
 NP

### Vowel Harmony

Vientainis exhibits front-back vowel harmony. /i, y, e, ø/ are in the front class, the back class contains /ɯ, u, ɤ, o/. A single lexeme can only contain vowels and diphthongs from either class. /a/ is considered a neutral vowel and can occur with either front or back harmony. Affixes may change their archetypal vowels I, E, U and O to obey harmony.
Words that only contain /a/ in their base form normally follow front harmony, though there are exceptions to this rule.

# Morphology

## Nouns

Nouns are divided into four classes and decline into ten cases. The noun classes are slightly fusional, the suffixes are modified slightly by the final vowel.

### Class I

Class I nouns end in vowels and show the greatest variety in forms. In the following table the full forms for *varta — horse*, the other vowel types are abbreviated.

There are two strategies to form the plural nominative, essive and equative. The older one is lengthening the final vowel, the newer, in analogy to the other cases, adding a final -n. While many words have adopted the new forms, many commonly used words still use the old forms. The vocative plural however always has a long vowel.

If a word stem ends in a diphthong, it is broken up by a /h/ when conjugated: *güö* — *fish*, *gühijö* — *like a fish*.

### Classes II, III and IV

The other classes are characterised by their final consonant, which is

-n for class II,

-r for class III and

-s for class IV.

Their forms are more consistent that class I. In the following table, C stands for the class Consonant and V for the theme vowel.

Class IV is further divided into IVs and IVt. While forms in IVs behave regularly, IVt actually has an underlying /t/ as stem consonant which only surfaces in the middle of a word and as /s/ at the end. This comes from a sound shift that shifted /t/ > /s/  at the end of words.

### Cases

The **nominative** is used for the subject and direct object of a sentence and the possessor in a possessive construction.

The **vocative** is used with directly addressing someone. It further serves as an expletive. If, for example, one hits their foot at a table (*leha*), they might cry out *Lehe!*.

The **instrumental** indicates the instrument or means by which an action is done. It is also used to express the material an object is made out of, for example:

> uhïë leha
> uhë-ë leha
> Wood-INSTR table
> *a wooden table*
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The **comitative** is used to indicate the equivalent of English *together with*: *Nükösi* — *with my friend.*

The **essive** is used for the state of being. It encompasses both the English constructions *X is Y* and *X as a Y*. Examples are:

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The **equative** fulfills a role similar to English *like/ similar to*: *gühijö* — *like a fish*.

The **benefactive** is used for the beneficiary of an action, where English uses *for* .  It can also express the meaning of a dative.

> Uhtarë nöka üün an gerija.
> uhta-rë köna üün an geri-ja
> 2SG-BEN 1SG book DEF.INAN read-IND.IPFV.DIR
> *I read the book to you/ for you.*
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The adessive is a locative case denoting a location at or near the noun.

The inessive indicates the location inside the noun.

The superessive is used to mark the location on top of or above the noun.

> Aki ha negaterentis lehaisen an tuumësu an raja.
> aki ha negatere<nti>s leha-isen an tuum<ës>u an ra-ja.
> girl DEF.SENT school<IN> table-AD DEF.INAN chair<SUP> DEF.INAN sit-IND.IPFV.DIR
> *The girl sits in school at the table on the chair.*
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### Possessive Construction

Possession is shown with the possessor in the nominatve case followed by the possessee with a possessive prefix.

 2. Person
 3. Person sentient
 3. Person nonsentient

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## Pronouns

### Personal Pronouns

Pronouns have different levels of formality. A pronoun higher in the following table is also higher in the person hierarchy (see Verbs).

*Kö* conveys a sense of self-confidence and sometimes superiority and is preferred by males while *na* has a more collegial and humble tone and is preferred by females. Both forms however are acceptable for males and females.

## Adjectives

Adjectives follow the nouns they describe and agree with them in class, case and number, albeit with merged forms.

### Comparison

For a comparison the particle *niin* — *more* is put after the adjective with the noun phrase compared to in the adessive case.
The superlative is likewise formed with the particle *süvan* — *most*.
The excessive is formed with the particle *eree*.

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## Articles

Vienta has the definite articles *ha* for sentient nouns in the singular and *ran* in the plural, as well as *an* for animate son-sentient and inanimate nouns. The article follows the noun, after potential adjectives or numerals. Indefiniteness and general number are marked by a lack of an article.

> Vuhï ha küü an nintus.
> vuhï ha küü an nintu-s
> man DEF.SENT book DEF.ANIM take[PFV]-IND.PFV.DIR
> *The man takes the book.*
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## Verbs

Vientainis verbs conjugate by five aspects and seven moods. The copula also differentiates by animateness.

# Syntax

## Direct-inverse Alignment

Verbs do not conjugate by person or number, the subject and object of a sentence are rather evident by its direct-invers alignment and the person hierarchy of:

* 3rd person formal
* 2nd person formal
* 1st person
* 2nd person informal
* X
* 3rd person sentient informal
* 3rd person animate
* 3rd person inanimate

In the unmarked direct form a noun or pronoun higher on the hierarchy acts upon a noun/ pronoun lower on the hierarchy. If two nouns are on the same hierarchy level, the first one, the theme, is the subject of the sentence and the second one the object.

> Jukuo ha suntuo an pukuja.
> jukuo ha suntuo an puku-ja
> boy DEF.SENT dog DEF.ANIM see-IND.IPFV.DIR
> *The boy sees the dog.*
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If a noun lower on the hierarchy acts on a noun higher on the hierarchy, this is marked only on the verb with the inverse marker ö/o-, -ke/-kë or -sa.

> Jukuo ha suntuo an opukukë.
> jukuo ha suntuo an o-puku-kë
> boy DEF.SENT dog DEF.ANIM INV-see-IND.IPFC.INV
> *The dog sees the boy.*
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X in the person hierarchy denotes an indefinite person, which is used as a passivity marker. A verb with only a single third person argument is passive by default, the active sense is delivered by the inverse marker in this case:

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