User:Aegon/High Valyrian Tutorial/W1-1

The High Valyrian Writing System

Introduction

The Valyrian writing system is a mixed script that features an alphabetic component, an iconic component, and a paradigmatic component. All three elements are used simultaneously.

Alphabetic glyphs are used purely for their phonetic value. Most of the time they indicate a single consonant and sometimes they are used for long vowels or sequences of sounds.

Iconic glyphs can stand for whole words, can be augmented to form different words, or inflections of the same word.

Paradigmatic glyphs are glyphs that generally have other functions and are used in specific verbal and nominal paradigms to indicate inflections.

Punctuation

Double dots indicate full stops and separate sentences, regardless of if they are statements, questions, or exclamations.

Single dots separate words. No spaces appear in the High Valyrian sentence. All full words are separated with single dots to clearly state when one word ends and the other begins.

Conjunctive Form

High Valyrian features a conjunctive form where the word "and" does not appear, for example: perzys ānogār. Note how the final vowel gets lengthened--in glyphs, the Targaryen House Words are written FIRE-COMMA-BLOOD-AND. No comma appears between the final conjunct and the AND glyph.

Paradigmatic Glyphs

Grammatical Number

Number	Glyph
Singular	N/A
Plural	MUCH
Paucal	HAND
Collective	PILE

Noun Determinatives

Declension	Gender	Common	Alternative
First	lunar	MAN WOMAN	SNOW (occasional) BAT (flying animals) CEDAR (plants)
	lunar, subtype -ia	OWL
	aquatic	WATER	BLOOD (uncommon)
Second	lunar	HAMMER	FIGHT (violence) PILLAR
	solar	FIRE	DRAKARYS (martial danger; connection to dragons)
Third	lunar	GATE	SEED (small things)
	lunar, subtype -io	RAIN
	solar	SUN	GOD (irregular) SNOUT
	solar, contracting	X
	terrestrial	ICE	IRON (substances; names) ROPE (binding) STONE (sturdiness) TABLE (occasional) BACK (occasional) HOLE (occasional) FURROW MOUNTAIN
	terrestrial, subtype -ion	NIGHTSKY
	aquatic	SHIP
	aquatic, subtype mȳr	Y-WATER
Fourth	lunar	TREE HORSE
	solar	BIRD	DRAGON (dangerous; venerable; dragon names) DOOM (sorcery)
	terrestrial
Fifth	lunar	CAT
	solar	BULL
	aquatic	WORD
Sixth	foreign	ARAKH

WOMAN is a determinative for female animate nouns of any class.

Cases

Case	Glyph
Nominative	N/A
Accusative	J
Genitive	HEFT
Dative	HEFT-T
Locative	A, E, I, Y, HEFT-T
Instrumental	HEFT-S
Comitative	HEFT-M
Vocative	S

For the paucal and collective, the HEFT is dropped from the instrumental and comitative. The glyphs at the end of a noun that represent long vowels or consonants will change according to the vowel or consonant that is required according to the respective declination.

Derivations

LEG is used for the -kio agentive derivational affix. Also, for the ikagon causatives.

SWELL appears to be used for the intensification prefix oz-.

STORM is used for the augmentative -āzma.

HOOK is used for inchoative verbs (eg. obūljagon).

CYCLIC is used for repetitive verbs (eg. ā-).

Adjective Determinatives

Class	Common	Alternative
I	BIG	CURVE
II	CYCLIC	TRUE WIDE
III	CERTAIN

TRUE is a common determinative for superlatives.

EQUAL is used as a determinative for particular possessive pronouns, ñuha, aōha, pōja.

For superlatives, "-(ā)je" becomes -(A)-ZR-TRUE. For comparatives, "-(y)kta" becomes -K-T-EQUAL. For equatives, "-(ā)pa" becomes -(A)-P-Equal.

Word Derivation

Nouns

Source	Noun derivation	Glyph
Noun	Augmentative	STORM (-āzma) L-B-WATER (-albar)
Adjective	Abstract	A-V-BIRD (-āves) V-BRID (-ves; -ives)
Verb	Action	THING (-non)
	Agent	(K)-GATE (-(k)io)
	Implement	V-SUN (-vos)
	Event	N-BIRD (-nes) DO-DOOM(-nes)
	Evidence	CYCLIC-FIRE (-arys)
Noun or verb	Diminutive	PRETTY-CHEST (-ītsos) CARROT (-iapos) NN-(1lun) (-anna)
	Side-product	HONEY (-illa)
Verb, adjective, or noun	Profession	TYS (-tys)
	Place	L-AREA (-(l)ion)

Verb

Source	Verb derivation	Glyph
Verb	Temporary	M-I-(V) (mī(v)-)
	Continuative	IVY-DO-THING (jor-)
	Causative	K-DO-THING (-(i)kagon)
	Auxiliary	(vowel)-B-DO-THING (-(vowel)bagon)
	Intensified	SWELL (os-; oz-)
	Inceptive	COME (mas-; maz-)
Noun	Functional	R-DO-THING (-uragon)
	Transformative	A-K-DO-THING (-ākogon)
Adjective	Inchoative	HOOK-DO-THING (-ūljagon)
Adjective or verb	Factitive	HAVE-DO-THING (-emagon)
Noun or verb	Repetitive	CYCLIC (ā-; ar-)

Adjective

Source	Adjective derivation	Glyph
Noun	Property	SAME (-enka)
	Origin	O-Ñ (-ōñe)
	Lacking	HEFT-DRAIN-(x) (-oqitta; -qtta)
	Locative	I-MOON-(x) (-īha)
Adjective	Augmentative	E-R-G-HIGH (-ēgrie)
	Abstraction	L-LONG (-ila)

Verb Conjugation

	Indicative							Subjunctive							Imperative			Participle		Infinitive
	Singular			Plural				Singular			Plural				Singular	Plural
	1s	2s	3s	1pl	2pl	3pl		1s	2s	3s	1pl	2pl	3pl		2s	2pl
Active
	prs.	√-N	√-A	√-Z	√-MUCH	√-A-T		√-Z-MANY	√-V-N	√-O	√-V-Z	√-V-MUCH	√-O-T		√-V-Z-MUCH	√-A-S		√-A-T-A-S		√-CYCLIC (adj. II)	√-DO-THING
	aor.	√-GO-N	√-?	√-GO-Z	√-GO-MUCH	√-?		√-GO-Z-MUCH	√-GO-V-N	√-?	√-GO-V-Z	√-GO-V-MUCH	√-?		√-GO-V-Z-MUCH	√-GO-A-S		√-GO-A-T-A-S		√-GO-CYCLIC(adj. II)	√-GO-THING
	fut.	√-LIE-N	√-?	√-LIE-Z	√-LIE-MUCH	√-?	√-LIE-Z-MUCH	√-LIE-V-N	√-?	√-LIE-V-Z	√-LIE-V-MUCH	√-?	√-LIE-V-Z-MUCH	√-LIE-A-S	√-LIE-A-T-A-S	√-LIE-CYCLIC adj. II)	√-LIE-THING	—
	npfv.	√-LIE-STORM-N	√-LIE-STORM-E	√-LIE-STORM-Z	√-LIE-STORM-MUCH	√-LIE-STORM-E-T	√-LIE-STORM-Z-MUCH	√-LIE-STORM-V-N	'√-LIE-STORM-O	'√-LIE-STORM-V-Z	'√-LIE-STORM-V-MUCH	'√-LIE-STORM-O-T	'√-LIE-STORM-Z-MUCH	—		—
	pfv.	√P-FINISH-N	√P-FINISH-A	√P-FINISH-Z	√P-FINISH-MUCH	√P-FINISH-A-T	√P-FINISH-Z-MUCH	√P-FINISH-V-N	√P-FINISH-O	√P-FINISH-V-Z	√P-FINISH-V-MUCH	√P-FINISH-O-T	√P-FINISH-V-Z-MUCH	—	see below	√P-DO-THING
	plup.	√P-FINISH--STORM-N	√P-FINISH--STORM-E	√P-FINISH--STORM-Z	√P-FINISH--STORM-MUCH	√P-FINISH--STORM-E-T									—	—
	phab.	√P-FINISH-GO-N	√P-?	√P-FINISH-GO-Z	√P-FINISH-GO-MUCH	√P-?	√P-FINISH-GO-Z-MUCH	√P-FINISH-GO-V-N	√P-?	√P-FINISH-GO-V-Z	√P-FINISH-GO-V-MUCH	√P-?	√P-FINISH-GO-V-Z-MUCH		√P-FINISH-GO-CYCLIC (adj. II)
Passive	prs.	√-EAT	√-A-EAT	√-EAT	√-EAT-MUCH	√-A-EAT	√-EAT-MUCH		√-V-EAT	√-V-A-EAT	√-V-EAT	√-V-EAT-MUCH	√-V-A-EAT	√-V-EAT-MUCH		√-A-EAT			—		√-EAT-THING
	aor.	√-iks	√-iaks	√-iks	√-iksi	√-iaks	√-iksi		√-uks	√-uaks	√-uks	√-uksy	√-uaks	√-uksy		√-iāks			√-GO-EAT-BIG (adj. I)		√-GO-EAT-THING
	fut.	√-LIE-EAT	√-LIE-A-EAT	√-LIE-EAT	√-LIE-EAT-MUCH	√-LIE-A-EAT	√-LIE-EAT-MUCH	√-LIE-V-EAT	√-LIE-V-U-EAT	√-LIE-V-EAT	√-LIE-V-EAT-MUCH	√-LIE-V-U-EAT	√-LIE-V-EAT-MUCH	√-LIE-A-EAT		√-LIE-EAT-BIG (adj. I)	—
	npfv.	√-LIE-STORM-EAT	√-LIE-STORM-E-EAT	√-LIE-STORM-EAT		√-LIE-STORM-E-EAT		√-LIE-STORM-V-EAT	√-LIE-STORM-V-O-EAT	√-LIE-STORM-V-EAT	√-LIE-STORM-V-EAT-MUCH	√-LIE-STORM-V-O-EAT	√-LIE-STORM-V-EAT-MUCH	—		—
	pfv.	√P-FINISH-EAT	√P-FINISH-A-EAT	√P-FINISH-EAT	√P-FINISH-EAT-MUCH	√P-FINISH-A-EAT	√P-FINISH-EAT-MUCH	√P-oks	√P-ōks	√P-oks	√P-oksy	√P-ōks	√P-oksy	—	√P-FINISH-BIG (Adj. I)	√P-EAT-THING
	plup.	√P-FINISH-STORM-EAT	√P-FINISH-STORM-E-EAT	√P-FINISH-STORM-EAT	√P-iks	√P-FINISH-STORM-E-EAT	√P-iks								—	—
	phab.	√P-iks	√P-iaks	√P-iks	√P-iksi	√P-iaks	√P-iksi	√P-uks	√P-uaks	√P-uks	√P-uksy	√P-uaks	√P-uksy		√P-FINISH-GO-BIG (adj. I)

Present

First person singular is N.

First person plural is MUCH.

Third person plural is Z-MUCH.

GO indicates the aorist tense.

GO-NECK indicates the third person aorist agreement.

Future

First person plural is LIE-MUCH.

Perfect

Third person singular is SEVEN-Z.

Third person plural is SEVEN-Z-MUCH.

Third person singular passive is SEVEN-EAT.

Valyrian has a derivation where the perfective form of the verb can be turned into a new stem (so urnegon “to see”; ūndan “I saw”; ūndegon “to catch sight of”). When these repurposed perfectives are spelled, a silent H is used to separate the verb stem from the rest of the inflection. For example, sētegon, of a stem change from sahagon, is written SEVEN-SEVEN-FINISH-H-DO-THING.

J is also used in verbal conjugation for the past tense [e] series.

Z is used for third person inflection.

Verbal Affixes

V marks locative applicatives, like upyghagon, written V-BOUND-DO-THING. It also marks the subjunctive.

GO marks oblique applicatives, like ijiōragon, written GO-GO-STAND-DO-THING.

For instrumental passives, Z and S mark z- and s- respectively. H marks both a- and h-.

The Verb Sagon

SEVEN is the present.

INFANT is the future.

GO-FINISH is the pluperfect.