Lavoda (/laˈvoda/)

Lavoda is a linguistic descendant of Lüota, which was brought by halflings to Eden during the First Age. Originally spoken only by the lost halflings who founded the doomsday cult of Ni Hüre Lena, Lavoda now functions as the language of magic in this post-apocalyptic paradise—and is therefore spoken by far more folks than it was originally.

 

Interestingly, the Wemu of Ni Hüre Lena now refuse to speak the language they brought here. They fear that the power summoned by incantations in Lavoda is being supplied by Aiki I—the vengeful god of earth and stillness, who is offering this power as part of his plan to unleash The Four Helmsmen and unmake the world.

 

Sound Changes from Lüota

The following sound changes occurred after the ancestors of the Wemu were separated from the rest of their people and spent several millennia isolated on the continent of Australia during the Earth-665 iteration of reality.

 
  1. Vowels were lost between the letters /p/,/t/,/k/, and /h/ in unstressed syllables.
  2. /h/ was lost between vowels.
  3. /i/ became /ij/ when bordering another vowel.
  4. /u/ became /w/ when bordering another vowel.
  5. /p/ became /b/ when between vowels.
  6. /t/ became /d/ when between vowels.
  7. /k/ became /g/ when between vowels.
  8. When two consonants bordered each other, an /a/ was inserted after the first consonant.
  9. /w/ became /v/ when between vowels.
  10. /ʌ/ became /ʌs/ at the end of words, in order to better distinguish it from the /a/ sound.
  11. When two instances of /b/, /t/, and/or /k/ clustered, the first instance was dropped.
  12. Vowels were lost in unstressed syllables when appearing between a nasal consonant and a stop, except at the beginning of words.
  13. /h/ was lost when appearing between a vowel and a consonant.
  14. At the beginning of a word, if a /ʌ/ appeared before another vowel, a glottal stop /ʔ/ was inserted between the two vowels.
 

Phonology

Consonant Inventory

↓Manner/Place→BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalmn
Stopb pt dk gʔ
Fricativevsh
Approximantjw
Trillr
Lateral approximantl
 

Vowel Inventory

Front Back
High i u
High-mid e o
Low-mid ʌ
Low a
 

Syllable Structure

(C)V(C)

 

Word Initial Consonants

m l n k t b p d g r w h s j

 

Mid-Word Consonants

m k n t g p b l d ʔ r w s v j

 

Word Final Consonants

m k n t g p b l d r s

 

Stress Pattern

Stress falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable.

 

Spelling & Pronunciation

  • ʔ is spelled ‘
  • ʌ is spelled u
  • u is spelled ü
  • j is spelled y
 

Lavoda has no dipthongs. Every vowel is pronounced as an individual syllable. For instance, “hoi” is pronounced hoh-ee.  

Grammar

 

Word Order

The main word order is verb–subject–object. Adjectives come after the noun, adpositions come before the noun (prepositions), and possessors come before possessees.

 

Nouns

There are five grammatical numbers in Lavoda: singular, dual, plural, paucal, and collective. For example:

 
  • ki: person
  • a‘ki: two people
  • o‘ki: people
  • u‘ki: some people
  • e‘ki: all people
 

Nouns also have 7 cases: ablative, accusative, allative, genitive, instrumental, locative, and nominative.

 

There are 3 grammatical genders: feminine, masculine, and neuter. Feminine nouns begin with the vowel ü and masculine nouns begin with the vowel i; all other nouns are considered neuter.

 
Singular Dual Plural Paucal Collective
Nominative ki a‘ki o‘ki u‘ki e‘ki
Ablative ki‘i a‘ki‘i o‘ki‘i u‘ki‘i e‘ki‘i
Accusative ki‘e a‘ki‘e o‘ki‘e u‘ki‘e e‘ki‘e
Allative ki‘a a‘ki‘a o‘ki‘a u‘ki‘a e‘ki‘a
Genitive ki‘u a‘ki‘u o‘ki‘u u‘ki‘u e‘ki‘u
Instrumental ki‘o a‘ki‘o o‘ki‘o u‘ki‘o e‘ki‘o
Locative ki‘ü a‘ki‘ü o‘ki‘ü u‘ki‘ü e‘ki‘ü
 

Verbs

Verbs in Lüota have a past, present, and future tense. For instance, here is how you would conjugate the verb (to walk):

 
Past Present Future
First Person bümus büda büvi
Second Person büdemus büde büdevi
Third Person büdomus büdo büdovi
 

Numbers

Lavoda has a base-10 number system.

 
  1. ha
  2. aa
  3. hüa
  4. kie
  5. tudus
  6. oo
  7. udi
  8. pibo
  9. ago
  10. luli
   

Derivational Morphology

  • Adjective → adverb = add suffix -pe
  • Adjective → noun (the quality of being X) = add suffix -pus
  • Adjective → verb (to make something X) = add prefix pa-
  • Noun → adjective = add suffix -po
  • Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = ra-
  • Noun to verb = add prefix du-
  • Verb → adjective (result of doing X) = add suffix -e
  • Tending to = re-
  • Verb → noun (the act of X) = add suffix -hus
  • Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = add suffix -ho
  • Verb → noun used to accomplish X = add suffix -kus
  • One who Xs (e.g. paint → painter) = add suffix -ki
  • Place where the verb is enacted = add suffix -we
  • Place where things are = add suffix -wa
  • The stuff something is made of = add suffix -ba
  • The smallest unit of X = add prefix hü-
  • Diminutive = add suffix -hü
  • Augmentative = add suffix -dü
  • To form the ordinal number from the cardinal number, add suffix -po
Root Languages
Common Phrases
Na tao‘us, tedire pivep tedire, tül po ko mun igus!
Eye of rabbit, harp string hum, turn this water into rum!
 
Di ta pubo li Kaligi
Love me like a Quadling.
 
Bid ta bevü te üso oadü sü kidabus ingebo
I call upon you great vengeance and furious anger!

Comments

Author's Notes

Some of the sound changes from Lüota to Lavoda were inspired by the video “How to Make a Language - Part 6: Phonological Evolution” by Biblaridion


Please Login in order to comment!
Jul 21, 2024 21:09 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

I love the sound changes the most - it makes it feel like a really lived and natural language. I definitely have to watch that series you linked.

Emy x
Explore Etrea
Jul 22, 2024 00:49 by E. Christopher Clark

That series is really fun. He takes you through the whole process, from beginning to end, including creating a "proto-language" that you can apply the sound changes to.

Enroll in Yesterland Academy today!
Powered by World Anvil