Overview of Vulpian
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A basic overview of the Vulpian language
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 18 Aug 2016, 13:20.
[comments] vpn Intro
Vulpian is the native language spoken by the werefoxes of the planet Setek. It makes use primarily of sounds produced by real foxes, combined with some body gestures. While humans can learn to understand, read, and write it, it is difficult for them to speak it. Not only are the sounds awkward to produce, but they lack the ability to make the bodily gestures, as well.Basic Sounds and Gestures
Sounds
Vulpian has fewer phonemes than most languages, but the combinations of those sounds and the use of physical gestures still makes it possible to have millions of unique words.
Vowels
| Written: | a | o | ö | u |
| IPA: | a | o | ø | u |
Consonants
| Written: | b | v | r | k | gw |
| IPA: | b | * | ɾ | k | gw |
All letters always make a single sound. There are no silent letters, and no dipthongs - every letter is pronounced, including repeated vowels. In the case of the same vowel being repeated multiple times, the sound is held longer, with a soft break and re-emphasis of the sound for each letter. The sustained sound isn't completely stopped, however.
Gestures
In addition to sounds, four bodily gestures are used in Vulpian. Gestures are almost always at the end of words.
Gestures
| Written: | ^- | -^ | ^^ | ~ |
| Gesture: | twitch left ear | twitch right ear | twitch both ears | swish tail |
Other Symbols
Apostrophe
The apostrophe is used to separate affixes. Primarily, this is used to separate past and future tense indicators on verbs and to indicate possessiveness on nouns. The apostrophe does not affect or change pronunciation in any way.
Hyphen
The hypen is sometimes used to separate syllables of word. Its main purpose is to make words more readable, and does not affect or change pronunciation in any way.
Word Order
Vulpian uses VOS word order, Verb-Object-Subject. For example, the English sentence "I love you" would be expressed as "Love you I".
Pronouns
Vulpian distinguishes between singular, dual, and plural (3+) objects. This means that there are 9 pronouns, as follows:
| 1st Person, Singular | aau |
| 1st Person, Dual | aaub |
| 1st Person, Plural | aaub~ |
| 2nd Person, Singular | avoo |
| 2nd Person, Dual | avoob |
| 2nd Person, Plural | avoob~ |
| 3rd Person, Singular | öbö |
| 3rd Person, Dual | öböb |
| 3rd Person, Plural | öböb~ |
Noun Phrases
Noun phrases are in NOUN-ADJECTIVE order. For example, instead of saying "red shirt", one would say "shirt red".
Noun Pluralization
Nouns are pluralized in 3 different forms - singular, dual, and plural (3+). This is done by adding a suffix to the singular form of the noun.
| Singular | Dual (ends with vowel) | Dual (ends with consonant) | Plural (ends with vowel) | Plural (ends with consonant) |
| - | -b | -ab | -rb | -arb |
Noun Posession
Possessive nouns are prefixed with an affix to indicate that they are posessing the object of the sentence.
| Posessive Prefix (starts with vowel) | Posessive Prefix (starts with consonant) |
| b'- | ba'- |
Verb Phrases
Verb phrases are in VERB-ADVERB order. For example, instead of saying "quickly run", one would say "run quickly".
Verb Conjugation
Verbs have 9 conjugation forms, corresponding to the 9 plurality forms. The verb is conjugated based on the plurality of the subject. This is done by adding a suffix to the end of the infinitive form of the verb. The ending is different depending on whether the infinitive form of the verb ends in a vowel or a consonant.
| 1st Person, Singular | -au/-kau |
| 1st Person, Dual | -u/-ku |
| 1st Person, Plural | -aub/-kaub |
| 2nd Person, Singular | -oo/-boo |
| 2nd Person, Dual | -o/-bo |
| 2nd Person, Plural | -oov/-boov |
| 3rd Person, Singular | -öu/-vöu |
| 3rd Person, Dual | -ö/-vö |
| 3rd Person, Plural | -öub/-vöub |
For example, the verb "voak" ("to walk"), would be conjugated in the 1st person singular as "voakau".
Verb Tenses
Verb tenses in Vulpian are done by adding a prefix to the conjugated form of the verb, separated by an apostrophe.
| Past Tense (starts with vowel) | Past Tense (starts with consonant) | Future Tense (starts with vowel) | Future Tense (starts with consonant) |
| uv'- | u'- | ab'- | a'- |
For example, the past tense of the verb "voak" ("to walk"), in the 1st person singular, would be "u'voakau". ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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