Verdurian language
Encyclopedia
The Verdurian language (known in Verdurian as soa Sfahe, "the Speech") is a constructed language
invented by Mark Rosenfelder in 1995 and hosted at his website, Zompist.com
.
Verdurian is a fictional language
, which in Rosenfelder's constructed world is spoken in the nation of Verduria, on the planet Almea.
Verdurian is the most-developed and best-known of the languages of Almea.
) in the transcription. Verdurian also has its own alphabet.
Verdurian has SVO word order, fusional morphology, and accusative morphosyntactic alignment.
This language has two genders
(masculine and feminine), two numbers
(singular and plural) and four case
s (nominative, genitive, accusative and dative). There are 4 tenses
(present, past, past anterior and future).
aficionado, one Chris Vargas. Vargas introduced Rosenfelder to the game, and Rosenfelder created the wilderness and also the languages for the game. All the players in Vargas and Rosenfelder's Dungeons & Dragons group were given Verdurian names.
The language borrows words and grammar from various languages of Europe
, but has been described as not resembling any one language. Many of the words were inspired directly by French
or Russian
. Others, such as "elir" for life, were a priori
coinages by Rosenfelder.
Verdurian is a member of the Eastern language phylum. This derives from a proto-language
called proto-Eastern, spoken by invaders of the Cadhinorian and Xurnese plains, about 4,000 years before the present time in Rosenfelder's universe. Some of the Eastern invaders were Cuzeian, while others were Cadhinorian. Cadhinorians picked up civilization
from Cuzeians (who left behind such works as the Count of Years, showing the clear influence of Tolkien
). The Cadhinorians spoke a classical language called Cadhinorian (its relationship to Verdurian is analogous of that of Latin to Spanish
). After the fall of the Cadhinorian Empire, Cadhinorian developed into several daughter languages, among them Old Verdurian, which evolved later into Modern Verdurian.
The fictional country of Verduria has an embassy in Linköping
, Sweden
.
.
's "Dog Lover's Mysteries". The character Johanna does linguistic
research with a feminist bent on grammatical gender
"in Hebrew
, Verdurian and various other languages in which verbs as well as nouns are masculine, feminine, or, in some instances, neuter".
.
Translation: Then they said: "Come, let us build a town and a tower, whose top will reach the heavens; and let us get ourselves glory, so that we are not scattered across all the earth."
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
invented by Mark Rosenfelder in 1995 and hosted at his website, Zompist.com
Zompist.com
Zompist.com, also called The Metaverse, is a website created by Mark Rosenfelder, a conlanger. It features essays on comics, politics, language, and science, as well as a detailed description of Rosenfelder's conworld, Almea...
.
Verdurian is a fictional language
Fictional language
Fictional languages are by far the largest group of artistic languages. Fictional languages are intended to be the languages of a fictional world and are often designed with the intent of giving more depth and an appearance of plausibility to the fictional worlds with which they are associated, and...
, which in Rosenfelder's constructed world is spoken in the nation of Verduria, on the planet Almea.
Verdurian is the most-developed and best-known of the languages of Almea.
Phonology and grammar
Verdurian's phonology has eight vowels and twenty-one consonants. Among the most exotic of its sounds is the voiced uvular fricative (ʁ), which is spelt as an R with a háček over it (Ř, řR
R is the eighteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The original Semitic letter may have been inspired by an Egyptian hieroglyph for tp, "head". It was used for by Semites because in their language, the word for "head" was rêš . It developed into Greek Ρ and Latin R...
) in the transcription. Verdurian also has its own alphabet.
Verdurian has SVO word order, fusional morphology, and accusative morphosyntactic alignment.
This language has two genders
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
(masculine and feminine), two numbers
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
(singular and plural) and four case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
s (nominative, genitive, accusative and dative). There are 4 tenses
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
(present, past, past anterior and future).
Real-life history
When Rosenfelder was a freshman in college, his dorm was next to that of a Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
aficionado, one Chris Vargas. Vargas introduced Rosenfelder to the game, and Rosenfelder created the wilderness and also the languages for the game. All the players in Vargas and Rosenfelder's Dungeons & Dragons group were given Verdurian names.
The language borrows words and grammar from various languages of Europe
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, but has been described as not resembling any one language. Many of the words were inspired directly by French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
or Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. Others, such as "elir" for life, were a priori
A priori (languages)
An a priori language is any constructed language whose vocabulary is not based on existing languages, unlike a posteriori constructed languages. Examples of a priori languages include Ro, Solresol, Mirad, Klingon, and Na'vi...
coinages by Rosenfelder.
Fictional history
In Rosenfelder's Almean universe, Verdurian is spoken by about 55 million people in the kingdom of Verduria, as well as nations nearby in Almea's Cadhinorian plain.Verdurian is a member of the Eastern language phylum. This derives from a proto-language
Proto-language
A proto-language in the tree model of historical linguistics is the common ancestor of the languages that form a language family. Occasionally, the German term Ursprache is used instead.Often the proto-language is not known directly...
called proto-Eastern, spoken by invaders of the Cadhinorian and Xurnese plains, about 4,000 years before the present time in Rosenfelder's universe. Some of the Eastern invaders were Cuzeian, while others were Cadhinorian. Cadhinorians picked up civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
from Cuzeians (who left behind such works as the Count of Years, showing the clear influence of Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
). The Cadhinorians spoke a classical language called Cadhinorian (its relationship to Verdurian is analogous of that of Latin to Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
). After the fall of the Cadhinorian Empire, Cadhinorian developed into several daughter languages, among them Old Verdurian, which evolved later into Modern Verdurian.
The fictional country of Verduria has an embassy in Linköping
Linköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Verdurian's popularity
Out of all the languages of Almea, Verdurian is not only the best-developed but the most popular. Rosenfelder has translated texts from other languages into Verdurian and also published short stories and a newspaper in the language. He has also started a Verdurian course due to the requests of Verdurian aficionados, and the language was so popular as to inspire a Zompist.com spin-off Internet forumInternet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
.
Verdurian in popular culture
Verdurian makes an appearance in the novel Gaits of Heaven, one of Susan ConantSusan Conant
Susan Conant is an American mystery writer. She is best known for her "Dog Lover's Mysteries", featuring magazine writer Holly Winter. Conant graduated from Radcliffe College with a degree in social relations, and a doctorate from Harvard in human development. She is active in and is a...
's "Dog Lover's Mysteries". The character Johanna does linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
research with a feminist bent on grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
"in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Verdurian and various other languages in which verbs as well as nouns are masculine, feminine, or, in some instances, neuter".
Samples of the language
Proše mižu: --Žaneno, tan satenam mážula er gorat, kiei finta attróue so syel er tan lažecom brac, pro dy řo ažlädam fne soa pera almea Ekaiei. – From the story of the Tower of BabelTower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
.
Translation: Then they said: "Come, let us build a town and a tower, whose top will reach the heavens; and let us get ourselves glory, so that we are not scattered across all the earth."