Sevraejan language

**Sevraejan** (**Eńzika Sevraejae**), the national language of Sevraeja, is one of several Slavonian languages that still kept Ѣ (ae) as an independent phoneme, alongside Bujanski.

## History

The first written records on the continent of Darros were from Oruz to the south, using pictograms. Later, the ancient Sevraejan Slavs were visited by merchants and explorers from the land of Madaena (Zarijana) from the west beyond the ocean, who taught them to write in cuneiform. Back then, birch trees were chopped and farmed to make tablets for writing, so the cuneiform was adapted for their birch bark tablets in their language.

It was that ancient Slavic script that enabled a number of Oruzii and Naevaniska pictograms to be understood through all the generations to come, and the names and descriptions of both nations and the minor tribes around them.

The birch bark syllabary was spread eastward to aid traders between the Naevaniskans and other nations, leading to its adoption by other realms. With another new script in Oruz, the scripts enabled records of ancient events, such as the war against the Vampires and Sevraeja's threefold unification, to be remembered for all time.

With the arrival of paper, the Sevraejan script started to become more cursive. However, the angular, birch bark-based writing became the default in later times.

In 200 BT, King Gjurjaton once tried to ban the script and replace it with compulsory Common letters. This angered his people, who ignored his order and smashed porcelain vases with Common letters to represent their language looking more ugly and broken in the new script. It was revoked after two days, and the king was overthrown and locked in prison.

## Features of the script

While Sevraejan is written with three scripts - cuneiform syllabary, Common alphabet ("Cyrillic"), and a local alphabet similar to Bujanski - the cuneiform is the official script for Sevraejan. Furthermore, modern Sevraejan is written with a simplified syllabary, with the actual cuneiform relegated to formal settings.

The cuneiform script in Sevraejan is known locally as Birchform or Birchtype, or **Berjostetsa**. Its language, **Naevaniska** (modern Sevraejan, **Naevansii**), was the oldest ancestor of the modern Sevraejan language, and was the oldest known attested Slavic language in Jerde's history, older than even the first known Oruzii texts. Before those, the Oruzii used to write in pictograms, which were deciphered and transcribed using Naevaniska cuneiform.

In syllabaries, clusters are either shown with the first consonant being a same vowel symbol with a muted mark, or a diacritic for the next sound. For example, "грамота" (book) would be g(a)'-ra-mo-ta, or g-ra-mo-ta in syllabic spelling. Older words with consonant clusters are usually split into syllables.

The only consonants that can end a word in native Sevraejan are -t (in ot, ѿ, "from") and -n (which can make a vowel nasalised). The ot letter is also used to transcribe a final -t in foreign words and names, or double the following consonant, as in Heronoi and Pinogunian (and Japanese).

To transcribe a final consonant that is neither -t or -n, the mark "it" is used. Its name, "it", is a dialectal word for "a stick", spelled in the syllabary as "i-ot".

"J" is considered a consonant, but usually if it starts a word or follows a vowel. If it is after a consonant, it is part of the vowel instead of a cluster or conjunct consonant. For example, in "ajen" (an egg), "j" is a consonant because it comes after "a", a vowel. But in "berjoka" (birch tree), "j" is part of "jo" because it comes after a consonant. Reflected in Sevraejan cuneiform, j-vowels are a separate variety of vowel that are separate from j-syllables, like "r(o)-jo" against syllable "jo".

For the consonant, transcribing j-vowels means it is reflected by a syllable echoing the following vowel. For example, "rjo" is written as "ro, -jo", with ro's o being silenced by the j-vowel.

To transcribe -ǐ syllables, i-syllables are used, but with a small wedge sprouting at their upper right to represent the weak vowel.

The first word younger schoolchildren learn to read the Sevraejan cuneiform syllabary is "sa-ra-sa", referring to a sort of shrub made into sparkly fabric found in the northwestern swamps.

A quarter of Sevraejan words, mostly relegated to urban speech in western ports and aristocratic settings, were from Zarijanian, like "azita" (yazata, angel), "ozeda" (azad, free), "daevon" (daiva, demon), "spanbaro" (spada-bara, "army man" or knight), and "maekho" (maha, month, later feast). The names of the official calendar's months are also from ancient Zarijanian!

To Sevraejan people, writing their language in an alphabet may be annoying or insulting, because alphabets do not perfectly reflect the syllabic structure of their language. They insultingly call the two alphabets used to write Sevraejan as "broken scripts" or "broken letters" (Rozobitejon Berjakjae, Rozobitae). The shortened form became the official name used for the Common alphabet, even as it is grudgingly accepted nowadays.

## Alphabet

Sevraejan is written with three scripts: Common (Cyrillic), its native syllablary influenced by Zarijanian cuneiform, and a "common" script derived from neighbouring Slavic states. Officially, Sevraejan is mostly written in the syllabary.

Some Sevraejans write in futhark - the only major Slavic culture to use it to that often extent - but usually as a decorative script. Another decorative script is a form of Berjostetsa (the cuneiform used to write the language) that uses vowels as the letters, with all consonants as little diacritics to the left or right bottom. Left diacritics are for starting consonants of a syllable, while right diacritics are for ending consonants. In the example, "sarasa" would be "As- Ar- As-", while "saras" would be "As- Ar- a-s".

For example: (D - Darroskei, S - Sevraejan)

D - Ploskov

S - Poloskuo

### Common

* ѣ - ae
* ꙓ - jae
* ѕ - dz
* ꙁ - z
* ꙑ - y
	+ The survival of the ancient letter ъ (known as "jero") in modern Common writing for the Sevraejan language. Sometimes the "i" stroke is written before ъ, forming a common variant that looks like "љ".
	+ The "ъ" in nearly every ancient Slavic word evolved into "o". As it was a common ending in various words, its evolution into "o" in the Sevraejan language made its phonology more closer to a syllabary.
* ꙗ - ja
* ѥ - je
* ѧ - en
* ѫ - on
* ѻ - jo
* ѡ - uo
* ѿ - ot
* ꙙ - an (foreign)
* ꙛ - un (foreign)
* ѵ - in (foreign)
* гв, ѓ - gv
* кв, ќ - kv

## Dialects

### Northeast Sevraejan

Northeast Sevraejan has "th" and "dh" as part of phonemes, replacing šč, and sometimes ts and dz.

### Southern Sevraejan

In the southern border to Rukania and Baniorel, nasal vowels are pronounced as diphthongs, so for example "en" (I) becomes "eu" or "au".

### Eastern Sevraejan

Eastern dialects pronounce "en" as "in" and "on" as "an".

"Tuo" is the dialectal word for "yes".

"It" or "is" are the dialectal words for "and", represented by an extra letter instead of "i-ot".

### Northern Sevraejan

Northern dialects pronounce "ae" as a weak or light "a".

### West Coastal Sevraejan, Drajanaejan Sevraejan

"F", "th", "h", and other foreign sounds are preserved in the western port cities due to Zarijanian influence, while in the rest of Sevraeja they are merged into local sounds (like "v", "s/z/ts", "kh").

## Pronouns

* I - en
* I - eńzo (formal)
* thou - to
* thy - vasǐ
* he - jon
* she - jona
* we - mei
* (to) us - namo, namon (dative)
* you all - vo, von
* they - ante

### Adjective declension

* -aeja - adj, masc
* -aja - adj, fem
* -oje - adj, neut
* -eni - adj, pl masc
* -enen - adj, pl fem
* -ena - adj, pl neut

## Declension

masc: o

plu masc: -jo (-oje if ends in jo)

genitive masc: -a

genitive masc plu: -jon

fem: a

plu fem: -jae (-ajae if ends in ja or jae)

genitive fem: -on

genitive fem plu: -en

## Verbs

In Sevraejan, "imperfective" is for continuous actions or the basic form of a verb, while "perfective" is for actions that are being finished.

For example: "dziščatǐ" means "to read" or "have read". "Rońdziščatǐ" means "is reading".

Furthermore, Sevraejan verbs are inflected by the pronoun or word's grammar they are referring to.

### Examples

* dziščatǐ (to read) - dziščajon - (I: I read)
* mońtǐ (to be able to) - mońže (you: you can)
* vidaetǐ (to see) - vidaeše (you: you see)
* prijaetǐ (to come here) - prijaejon - (I: I arrive)
* En prijaeduo sońtsa. - I will come here.

## Affixes

### Amount

* mjose - all
* -nja, -rja - little
	+ (from -ka)
	+ -ka is still used, but is considered feminine.
* -njo - little
	+ (from -ok)
* dzaelo - very, much, so
* kaele, kaela - whole, complete

### Location

* izo - out of, out
* ot - from
	+ "Ot" is the only phoneme in native Sevraejan that ends with a consonant.
* von - inside, within
* ko - towards
* sońtsa - here
* do, de - until
	+ '(I)Zo zapada, do jutora - from dusk to dawn
* dalaeja - far, distant

### Being

* -nis(s)e - doer (lesser)
	+ (from -nik)
* -njo - doer
	+ (from -nik)
* -ko - a user
* -selǐ, -seljo - doer
	+ bogatyr would be bogoseljo, an agent of the gods.

### Others

* -ii - (demonym)
* sen - with
* -ije - state of being, condition
* -stuo - -ness (default; also for a more general concept, or a specific group)
* -siuo - -ness (classical)
* -(o)ta - -ness, about an aspect (to stress the word it modifies)
	+ E.g. storovije (health, condition of good health)
	+ E.g. storovota (health of a subject, X's good health)
	+ e.g. storovostuo (health in general, health of a town)

## Basics

* da - yes
* naete - no
	+ "ne" in casual speech
* di, ti, te - and
	+ Eastern Sevraejan dialects have an "it" or "is" for "and", adding an extra letter.
* li, le - or
* a - but; however, on the other hand, meanwhile

### Actions

* bytǐ - to be, is
	+ Used to stress the subject of a sentence.
	+ esmǐ - I am
	+ esi - thou art
	+ jestǐ - he, she is
	+ josmo - we are
	+ joste - you all are
	+ sonto - they are
* nasmǐ - am not, is not
	+ naesmǐ - I am not
	+ naesi - thou art not
	+ naestǐ - he, she is not
	+ nosmo - we are not
	+ noste - you all are not
	+ naesonta - they are not

### Greetings

* Privæčajon - (formal) Greetings
* Privjen - Hello
* Storove - (common) Greetings!, Good health to you!
* Prositei - Welcome
* Poklo, Pokolo - Hi !
* Khuola to - thank you
* Khuola, Uola, Uolen - thanks
* Sen doburo ... - may you have a happy ...
	+ Sen doburo Vaetrodjenǐ - Happy Saturday
	+ Sen doburo Kjotsodjenǐ - Happy Caturday
	+ Sen doburo Novikaela - Happy New Year (March 1, Sevraejan)
	+ Sen doburo Novileta - Happy New Year (April 1, International)
* Avaja naete? - Really?; Are you sure? (formal)
* Avaja ne?, Avje ne? - You sure? (casual)
* Padnamezdana, Padnamesta - Good luck
* \* From Zarijanian "Pad nāma-i-Jazdan" ("In the name of God", referring to Ahura Mazda, the Zarijanian name of the one God). Evolved into a phrase that means "good luck to you".

## Sevraejan glossary

See also: Sevraejan glossary

a, ba, cha, dzo, (dzha), da, e, ga, kha, i, ǐ, ja, jae, je, jo, ju, ka, kha, la, ma, na, o, pa, ra, sa, sha, shta/scha, ta, tse, u, uo, va, y, za, zha, ot, ae, an, en, on, kve, gva.

ts is sometimes merged into ch; and dz may sometimes be pronounced as "dzh".

an can be merged into any vowel except e and o, representing a nasal. However, spelling differentiates added nasals with preexisting nasal clusters (an-da vs. a-nda), based on etymology. To differentiate nasal n between a nasal vowel and a vowel, against a normal n that begins the next syllable, n should be transcribed as ń.

ot and n are the only consonants that can end a word, while final consonants must have a vowel or nasal vowel after them. However, consonant clusters are permitted in the middle or start of words.

ot can also be used to double the next consonant in transcribing foreign words (similar to "tsu" in Japanese), like motta or appo (spelled a-t-po).

## Other lists

### Months

The official names of Sevraeja's months were derived from Madaenan.

* Vravarine - March (Fravardin, Angel)
* Ardavische - April (Arda Vahishtam, Best Truth)
* Khavrado - May (Haurvadad, Good Health)
* Tischeri - June (Tishtrija, Burning Star)
* Amondare - July (Amurdad, Immortality)
* Kheshasara [Vaerja] - August (Khshathra Vairja, Pleasant Authority)
* Michaera - September (Mithra, Angel of Friendship)
* Abon - October (Apas, Aban, The Seas)
* Atara, Atora, Ogoneja - November (Atar, Holy Fire)
	+ The birth flower for the month is marigold or saffron.
	+ Saffron, orange, and yellow are the traditional colours of the month, representing hope and wisdom against the cruelty of winter.
* Dason - December (Dathusho, God the Creator)
* Vakonna, Vamonneja - January (Vohu Manah, Excellent Mind, Concentration)
* Rametoja, Ramjeka - February (Armatoisha, Angel of Harmony)
	+ Armatoisha, an angel, was syncretised as a heavenly spirit representing harmony between people.

The Sevraejan New Year begins on 1 March, one month before the International New Year, but at the same time as the traditional Ardeschen New Year.

### Numbers

0; 1-10 - nečeda; jedino, duo, teri, čitre, peńtǐ, šeństi, sedzami, uosmo, deveńtǐ, desońtǐ

dialectal - jendo (1); nuo (2)

## Samples

**Solontse neti pleńsatǐ okolo vasǐ golovon.**

**Солонце неті плѧсать около вась головѫ.**

*Sun not dance-PRES around thy head-fem-GEN.*

The Sun does not dance around your head. (anti-centralist slogan)

**To mońže vidaeše kvaetje?**

**То мѫже відѣше ќѣтѥ?**

[to ˈmɔ̃ʐe vɪˈdæʂe ˈkʋætʲe]

*Thou can-2ndsg see-thou-PRES colour-fem-PLU-acc?*

Can you see the colours?

## Gallery

Differences of "ot" and "o-to".Sen doburo Kjotsodjenj! ("Happy Caturday!")"To mońže vidaeše kvaetje?" (Can you see the colours?)
## Trivia

* Sevraejan was largely based on the Old Novgorodian dialect of Old East Slavic. For various words that were not attested in Old Novgorodian, the author coined new ones with a mixture of Proto-Slavic, Old East Slavic, modern Russian, and Old Church Slavonic.
	+ Sevraejan's nasal vowels could make it sound a bit like Polish.
* Sevraejan is the only Slavic language on Jerde that is written in cuneiform. Said cuneiform is nowadays in the form of a syllabary influenced by birch barks used to write the glyphs.
	+ The author mixed different syllables from Old Persian cuneiform to create his script, while basing them in birch bark style. For example, independent "ja" was "i-a", dependent "ja" was "ja", "on" was "a-ma", and "ot" was "u-ta".
* The foreign words in Sevraejan were from Persian and Avestan, reflecting Zarijanian ("Persian") influence in Sevraejan culture.
	+ Similarly, the historical ancient Slavs may have also borrowed words from Iranic cultures.
	+ The months in the Sevraejan calendar are from the Zoroastrian calendar.
	+ Later and modern Zarijanians would find the Sevraejans to be either honourable or archaic, because they preserved many archaic Madaenan things that are no longer used in modern Zarijana. It would be like Chinese people noting that the Japanese retained Classical Chinese, or Indians noting how much of ancient Hindu culture is preserved in Bali or Thailand.
* The usage of birch barks was a suggestion from a Russian artist from Veliky Novgorod, as the barks were historically used to write the Old Novgorod dialect.
	+ In addition, the author accepted the suggestion as he wanted to "localise" the cuneiform, as it reminded him of how Brahmi evolved into the Tamil script from writing on palm leaves.
* ъ (u) in the ends of Old East Slavic words is usually transcribed as "o" in Sevraejan, adding to the syllabic nature of the language.
	+ Before the Soviet Union, every lone or final consonant in Russian spelling must be followed with a silent ъ.
	+ The syllabic structure of the Sevraejan language may also be influenced by Japanese, where a "-t" mark doubles consonants, and words either end with a vowel or a nasalised n.

## Pronunciation

* ae - [æ~ɛ]
	+ [ʌ] (dialects)
* ch - [t͡ʂ], [t͡ɕ] before i or j-vowels
* dz - [d͡z~d͡ʐ]
* en, eń - [ɛ̃]
* gv - [gʋ~gʷ]
* j - [j]
* kj - [kʰʲ-], [kj]
* kh - [x]
* kv - [kʋ~kʷ]
* ot - [(o)t], [ː] (lengthens consonant after it)
	+ Other final consonants are allowed in foreign words and names, usually by marking an echo-vowel syllable with a vowel-killer mark below, similar to consonant clusters. However, Sevraejans tend to add an echo-vowel after the final consonant in casual speech.
	+ For example, Madaenan "magupaitish" (a wise master) becomes into "mokupoits**o**" (a bishop).
* on, oń - [ɔ̃]
* pj - [pʰʲ-], [pj]
* šč - [ɕ(t)ɕ]
	+ [ɕθ~ɕð] (dialects)
* tj - [tʰʲ-], [tj]
* uo - [wɔ]

## See also

Sevraejan is a Western Slavonian language, like Rukanian. It is considered the Northern branch due to becoming too different from other Slavic languages.

Bujanski is an Eastern Slavonian language, like Darroskei and Pogimmelian. It dropped its nasal vowels or made them solid, while Sevraejan preserved them.

* Rukanian language
* Bujanski language

### Other syllabaries

* Heronoi language
* Pinogunian glossary

### Other topics

* Sevraejan mythology
* Rukanian mythology
* Bujanski folklore

### Zarijanian-influenced languages

* Hothrovian glossary
* Kalambouri glossary