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 |
| 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 | Q-TT-(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-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-CYCLIC adj. II) | √-LIE-THING | — | ||||
| npfv. | √-LIE-J-N | √-LIE-J-E | √-LIE-J-Z | √-LIE-J-MUCH | √-LIE-J-E-T | √-LIE-Z-MUCH | √-LIE-J-V-N | '√-LIE-J-O | '√-LIE-J-V-Z | '√-LIE-J-V-MUCH | '√-LIE-J-O-T | '√-LIE-J-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-? | √P-? | √P-? | √P-? | √P-? | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| phab. | √P-HALF-GO-N | √P-? | √P-HALF-GO-Z | √P-HALF-GO-MUCH | √P-? | √P-HALF-GO-Z-MUCH | √P-HALF-GO-V-N | √P-? | √P-HALF-GO-V-Z | √P-HALF-GO-V-MUCH | √P-? | √P-HALF-GO-V-Z-MUCH | √P-HALF-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 | — | √-OLDEAT-THING | |||||
| aor. | √-iks | √-iaks | √-iks | √-iksi | √-iaks | √-iksi | √-uks | √-uaks | √-uks | √-uksy | √-uaks | √-uksy | √-iāks | √-iarza (adj. I) | √-GO-OLDEAT-THING | ||||||
| fut. | √-LIE-EAT | √-LIE-A-EAT | √-LIE-EAT | '√-iliks | √-LIE-A-EAT | √-iliks | √-iluks | √-ilūks | √-iluks | √-iluksy | √-ilūks | √-iluksy | √-ilāks | √-COME-OLDEAT-BIG (adj. I) | — | ||||||
| npfv. | √-ileks | √-ilēks | √-ileks | √-ilēks | √-iloks | √-ilōks | √-iloks | √-iloksy | √-ilōks | √-iloksy | — | — | |||||||||
| 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-OLDEAT-THING | ||||||
| plup. | √P-eks | √P-ēks | √P-eks | √P-iks | √P-ēks | √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-iarza (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.