Rovianzian

Rovianzian vocabulary

=Name= Rovianzian is an anglicisation of the native term Rohvianz /roxviant͡s/ which comes from the West Middle Mangeodge phrase rohv ja amev (“language of the land”) which was used to refer to the rural dialect of that time, which became Rovianzian. The shift of final /mv/ to /nz/ is a noted but very infrequent sound change.

=Phonology=

Phonological History

 * o→u/_k
 * o→ɵN
 * V→Ø/N_F
 * r→Ø/_$
 * kv→xb
 * h→x/_{r l n m}
 * h→ç/E_
 * h→x/B_
 * Ch→Cʰ
 * lm→rn
 * ɑ→a
 * a u →e o/_CC
 * tl dl → tɬ dɮ
 * lː rː → ld rd
 * V→Ø/#_{x ç h}
 * eiç→oç/_#
 * ei→oi→wi
 * ux→uː/_#
 * r l→Ø/_w
 * j→i/CC_
 * z→t͡s

Orthography
Heavily unlike its sister language Romoruzian, Rovianzian’s orthography is relatively phonemic due to it being much younger, a fact due to how for a long time, Rovianzian was the language of peasants, being written only when the local nobility switched from Romoruzian to Rovianzian.


 * <ç> /ç/
 *  /x/
 *  /wV/
 *  /jV/

=Pronouns=

Pronouns in West Middle Mangeodge agree to the number and gender of the referent even beyond the 3rd person. Such so that a man and a woman use different pronouns for “I” to refer to him or herself and singular “you” has different forms depending on whether you are speaking to a man or woman. The feminine gender is not marked for 2nd.pl and 1.pl pronouns.

Feminine

Comparative
The comparative is formed with the suffix -iaso (animate), -iasia (fem animate), -iasov (inanimate) or -iasouji (fem inanimate):
 * aretlas (“stubborn”) > aretlesiaso (“more stubborn”)

Very few adjectives have irregular comparatives thanks to suppletive stems:
 * savo (“bad”) > eiuveiaso (“worse”)
 * strehio (“old”) > bvotiaso (“older”)

Superlative
The Superlative is formed by placing nah (“all”) before the comparative adjective:
 * aretlesiaso (“more stubborn”) > nah aretlesiaso (“most stubborn”)
 * eiuveiaso (“worse”) > nah eiuveiaso (“worst”)
 * bvotiaso (“older”) > nah bvotiaso (“oldest”)

=Verbs= Verbs in Rovianzian have a very simple morphology in comparison to other Sumro-Letaeric languages, with most of the conjugation being lost due to sound changes, surviving only in the past tense modal verb and in a handful of irregular verbs. Because of this it is mandatory to always include the subject pronoun.

To form the interrogative in any tense, the interrogative particle hlum is placed at the beginning of the clause:
 * ta ahoç (“you take”) > hlum ta ahoç? (“do you take?”)

The negative present tense is formed by placing a modal before the infinitve verb. This is from the negative form of the West Middle Mangeodge verb nahlt (“to be able, to manage”). When used with the interrogative it asks a question where “yes” is the expected answer.


 * ta ahoç (“you take”) > ta huihmu aht (“you don’t take”)
 * hlum ta ahoç (“do you take?”) > hlum ta huihmu aht (“don’t you take?”

Past Tense
The past tense is shown via a modal verb. When a verb is used with this modal verb it takes its infinitive form. The modal verb is from the inflected forms of the West Middle Mangeodge verb vujaraht (“to pass by”). The various forms agree to the subject and are as follows:

The negative is formed with the suffix -mu on the modal. When attached to the 2nd.sg and 1.pl.exc it causes the shift ç>h: viarhohmu


 * mah ah iam (I take it) “I take it”
 * mah viarh iam aht (I it take-) “I took it”

Word Order
The word order varies depending on whether the verb is finite or non-finite. When the verb is finite then the word order is SVO (verb in bold):


 * ta ahoç iam (you take it) “you take it”

When the verb is non-finite (either infinitive or supine) then the verb is always clause final giving a SOV word order:


 * ta viarhoç iam aht (you it take-) “you took it”

In a subordinate clause however the verb is always first giving a VSO order, although if a modal verb is present then that goes first with the verb at the end giving a MSOV order (M=modal):


 * ...su ahoç ta iam (sub take- you it) “...that you take it”
 * ...su viarhoç ta iam aht (sub you it take-) “...that you took it”

Optative
The optative is marked via the suffix -mgia on a verb. If the verb ends in /ç/ then it will shift to /x/. The optative is most often used in wellwishing and expressions.


 * ta ahohmgia iam (“may you take it”)
 * ta huihmu danihmgia (“may you not starve”)

The optative can also be used as a subjunctive, marking an uncertain action. When a subordinate clause follows it gains the meaning of “if”.
 * mah ahmgia iam (“I might take it”)
 * mah ahmgia iam su huihmu ta iam aht (“I will/might take it if you don’t take it”)

=Preposotions= West Middle Mangeodge has a set of prepositions that mostly descend from Proto-Mangeodge nouns, adjectives and verbs.


 * ja ("from, of, pertaining to")
 * ab ("in")
 * atub ("just outside off, beyond")
 * ziovk ("side")
 * nvk ("on" - cf nvot "to wrap around, to cover")
 * skaelk ("inside" - cf skaelt "to know")
 * auik ("above, up")
 * evsuik ("halfway")
 * bueok ("beside" - cf buev "wing")
 * sateok ("deep inside, in the middle off, amongst" - cf seissatv "belly")
 * struok ("between (temporal)")
 * melk ("from above" - cf melv "arrow")
 * iuzk ("through" - cf uialuiçv "doorway")
 * vntibeok ("between (spacial)" - cf vntib "middle")
 * vaeleok ("by, using, instrumental" - cf vaelv "hand")

The preposition ja is also used to mark possession e.g diariçv ja nro ("the man's nose").