The origin of Siranian is shrouded in mystery. Proto-Siranian (PtS.) is one of the strangest languages on the face of Qurand. Although it shows some basic structural similarities to the Azharian family (specifically its triadic structure), its phonemic inventory, vocabulary, and grammar deviate from everything else known. For a long time, sages believed it was the only language of its kind. However, during the reign of Empress Sirian I, embassies sent to the Far North beyond the mountain ridge of Kaal-Charmat discovered the Chirbet people, who speak a language closely related to Proto-Siranian.
Old Siranian
Old Siranian (OS.) was the language of the tribal communities that, during the Starry Years, came under the leadership of the legendary First Emperor to the forest realm of present-day Sirania. Compared to PtS., OStS. shows few changes. The only characteristic difference is the stabilization of grammar and vocabulary into a firmer form. While in PtS. grammar is handled quite freely with no fixed boundaries between categories of verbs, nouns, genders, and cases, OS. developed a uniform, symmetrical, and complex system. Like PtS., OS. is characterized by an extensive consonant inventory (32 phonemes), laryngeal sounds (h, q, ’, qh), a high frequency of fricatives, a sparse vowel system (4 vowels: a, i, u, ü), and a highly original, complex grammar capable of expressing subtle nuances of suggestion and relationship.
It is also rumored that OS was a magical language and that its speakers could command the world around them through the power of its words alone. True scholars, of course, do not believe such tall tales. Soon after the Strike, the linguistic standard began to decline alongside the cultural ruin. OS quickly fell into oblivion – only few songs and hymns were recorded. There are whispers that a hidden group of those who still speak OS exists somewhere to this day, though their existence has never been scientifically proven. Recently, it has also become fashionable in scholarly circles to learn OS; many are fascinated by the language’s hypnotic sound, as well as its complexity and flexibility.
Middle Siranian
Soon after the Strike, the land fell into the so-called “Dark Period,” during which nearly everything the ancient Siranians had brought with them from their distant northern homeland was forgotten. Most of the old poetry and wisdom vanished, and the dying people were taken in by the Elves, who became their educators and chiefs. Of OS, mostly folk variants survived; these underwent rapid decay and simplification, fueled by a period of bilingualism in which Elvish was used just as frequently as Siranian.
In truth, “Middle Siranian” cannot be spoken of as a single language. At that time, the land was fragmented, divided into dozens of tribal regions, each speaking its own dialect. Some communities adopted Elvish entirely and forgot their own tongue. Sirgon, the capital, was distant, and its power was weak. It was during these Dark Centuries that Siranian transformed the most—it lost virtually all of its original characteristic features and adopted much from Elvish. The primary characteristic of this transformation is the transition from a triadic to a binary language structure (binary oppositions in grammatical categories, lexicon, and phonology).
New Siranian
Under the reign of the so-called Great Empresses (and Great Viziers), the Empire was unified and a firm administration was established. The greatest of the Great, Empress Sirian I, also introduced a unified language for the Empire. This language was the colloquial Siranian spoken in Sirgon. Through her edicts, she essentially codified and reinforced a trend that already existed. Sirgonian was the language of the administration, the army, and the most populous southern region. Soon, the language spread to more distant areas and became the universal communication tongue of the Empire (the second state language was Grey Elvish, which was not abolished until the edict of Empress Siva I).
This language is called New Siranian (NS). NS evolved from the elficized Middle Siranian dialect of the Sirgon region under the influence of Gandharan, Garionian, and the languages of the Sea Peoples. In contrast to the unstable state of the Middle Siranian dialects, its grammar settled into a codified version.
Current Status
Contemporary Siranian is very similar to New Siranian; indeed, it is almost identical to it. We can further divide it into so-called Classical Siranian, which is the literary language and is identical to the language of empress Sirian’s edicts. Classical Siranian is a regular and simple language that functions as a liaison platform and a means of communication across the entire Empire and in other lands—for example, in the Free Land and in certain trade hubs to the west. Especially in recent centuries, Siranian has become a global language with which one can communicate almost anywhere urban civilization exists. Besides Classical Siranian, there is also a colloquial form of the language, which varies from region to region, contains local expressions and slang, and is sometimes pronounced differently under various influences.
Grammar of Classical Siranian
Basic Characteristics
Classical New Siranian is an inflective language with a simple and clear grammar. It is no wonder that it has become a global language. Several characteristic features contribute to its popularity:
– It contains no difficult-to-pronounce sounds.
– Syllables contain only a single peak; they are either forward-open or backward-open.
– Siranian has an aversion to consonant clusters. Consonant groups are frequently resolved through assimilation or elision.
– The vocabulary is 30% inherited from Old Siranian, 40% borrowed from Elvish, and the remaining 30% consists of international loanwords of general renown.
– The language allows for pidginization, maintaining intelligibility even with imperfect grammar and a limited vocabulary.
Furthermore, it is necessary to mention the specific ability of Siranian to create binary oppositions on nearly all levels. Oppositions are formed on phonetic level by i–u, e–o, opening and closing diphthongs, and voiced/voiceless consonants. Oppositions arise on lexical level through the inversion of syllabic openness (ai = forward, ia = back; or = light, ro = darkness; aim = man, mia = woman) etc.
A.) Phonemic Inventory
Siranian possesses the following sounds:
5 Short Vowels – a, e, i, o, u (pronounced as in Czech or Spanish)
6 Opening Diphthongs – ja, wa, we, wi, jo, ju (written as ia, ua, ue, ui, io, iu)
6 Closing Diphthongs – aj, aw, ew, ej, oj, uj (written as ai, au, eu, ei, oi, ui)
6 Constant Diphthongs – ae, ao, eo, ea, oe, oa
Note on Vowel Quantity: There is no opposition of simple length (e.g., a vs. ā). Instead, a lengthened vowel systematically transforms into its corresponding diphthong according to specific rules.
Consonants:
| Labials: | p | b | Fricatives: | f | v |
| Dentals: | t | d | Sibilants: | s | h |
| Velars: | q | g (q is pronounced as [k]) | |||
| Nasals: | m | n (Velar [ŋ] is not specially marked in writing) | |||
| Liquids: | l | r |
Glottal Stop: ’ (The glottal stop is, simply put, a momentary interruption of the airflow by a natural constriction in the throat. It occurs if one attempts to pronounce “ae” not as a single merged diphthong, but such that the “a” ends with a sharp cutoff and the “e” begins directly and without transition = a’e).
The pronunciation of all phonemes corresponds to that of Grey Elvish (which, aside from minor nuances, is similar to Latin, Italian or Czech phonology).
In Siranian, the stress is usually placed on the root syllable.
The phonotactic restrictions of Siranian are considerable:
1.) Siranian does not tolerate two adjacent occlusives (e.g., pt, qt, etc.). With few exceptions, it also forbids combinations of occlusive + fricative or occlusive + sibilant (e.g., pf, ft, ts, ht). Exceptions include the sequence -VsC- (e.g., ast) and a few others, especially in cases of vowels transforming into consonants.
2.) A syllable in Siranian typically has only one boundary, meaning it follows a CV (ta) or VC (at) structure. Only exceptionally does it allow CVC (kat), and essentially only at the end of a word.
3.) A word may only end in a vowel or the consonants m, n, l, r, s, and h.
Conversely, as can be observed, Siranian is almost unlimited in its ability to stack vowels. Expressions such as laea and uaei are common. It should be noted, however, that one must not be misled by the script—many sequences of “vowels” are in fact pronounced (quite naturally) as semi-vowels, creating or dissolving syllables. For instance, uaei is read as [waej].
In cases where two vowels of the same timbre meet (aa, ii, uu, ee, oo), regular transformations occur laa -> lha; rii -> [rji]; suu -> svu [swu]; ree -> rie [rje]; hoo -> huo [hwo]. These changes may or may not be reflected in writing (one may find both laa and lha, both pronounced as [lha]). To complicate matters, dialectal variants exist that strictly pronounce the glottal stop in these cases, such as [la’a] or [su’u].
B.) The Nature of the Siranian Word
Original Old Siranian functioned by deriving various parts of speech from a single root through a complex system of word formation, and subsequently deriving different forms (in the case of inflected words) from those results. Classical New Siranian is no longer capable of such regular derivation across the board, although traces of it remain deeply embedded in the language. For example the root “i” contains the abstract idea of motion, directionality, focus, trajectory, or point-locality. Verb is derived from the bare root and infinitival ending. Therefore, in means “to go.” Noun is derived using prefixes: “s-” for the animate gender and “t-” for the inanimate gender. Thus, si means “expedition, pilgrimage,” while ti means “path, trail.” Nomen Agentis (Agent Noun) is derived using the suffix “-r”. Consequently ir means “one who goes, a walker”, sir means “pilgrim” and tir means “paver, road-worker.” Uninflected Root can function as an adverb or conjunction. In this case, “i” translates to “into,” “in,” or “with” (determined by the grammatical case of the following word). In a similar fashion, adjectives and other parts of speech could be derived from the same root “i” wherever it makes conceptual sense.
However, the average Siranian speaker is often no longer aware of this derivation process—with one key exception. The shifting of verbs into nouns (nominalization) remains a vibrant element of the living language, as it is through this process that the present tense and other essential grammatical categories are formed.
C.) Morphology
The fundamental binary opposition between categories is formed by Content words vs. Functional words. Content words include verbs and nouns (including adjectives), while functional words comprise all other classes.
Within content words, another binary opposition exists: Action-based content words (verbs) vs. State-based content words (nouns and adjectives). Siranian does not distinguish grammatically between adjectives and nouns; therefore, they are treated together.
The Noun (Substantive)
Siranian nouns possess categories of Gender, Number, and Case.
There are two primary genders—Animate and Inanimate. Under Elven influence, an incomplete system for masculine and feminine genders emerged for a limited number of (mostly loan) words. Masculine is marked by the presence of “o” and feminine by “e”.
Two numbers—Singular and Plural. Cases are structured as “two times two”—two Direct cases (Nominative and Accusative) and two Indirect cases (Genitive and Dative).
Examples:
(Animate) mia– = woman, aim– = man, us– = snake, faqa– = soldier (su– = bird; auqa– = idler etc.)
(Inanimate) an– = land, as– = sword, eal– = field, rua– = quarrel (lae– = thicket/trouble; aur– = calm)
Plural is formed for animate nouns by the suffix “-(a)s”, for inanimate nouns by stem reduplication:
mias = women, aias = men, usas = snakes, faqas = soldiers
anen = lands, ases = swords, elel = fields, rura = quarrels
Nominative is the case of the subject and the vocative. Its marker was originally the suffix “-a”, but in script, it is written as “-h” and functions as a semi-vowel (pronounced [h] after vowels and [a] after consonants). In some part of country is pronounced in every case as “a”, elsewhere in every case as “h”.
miah, aimh, ush, faqah, suh, auqah, anh, ash, ealh, ruah, laeh, aurh
Accusative is the binary complement to the Nominative, marking the direct object. It is unmarked (the bare stem). It also functions as the Locative (“in”).
Genitive is the case of origin and direction “from” (Ablative). Formed by the suffix “-u”.
miau, aimu, usu, faqau, svu, auqau, anu, asu, ealu, ruau, laeu, auru
Dative combines the directive “to” and the Instrumental. Formed by the suffix “-i”.
miai, aimi, usi, faqai, sui, auqai, ani, asi, laei, ruai, eali, auri
Case endings in the plural are identical to those in the singular. For animate nouns, the plural “-s” is attached after the case ending. For inanimate nouns, the reduplication remains unchanged regardless of the case.
| mihas (mia’as) | aimas | anena | lalea |
| miaus | aimus | anenu | laleu |
| miais | aimis | aneni | lalei |
| mias | aias | anen | lale |
etc.
Irregular nouns exist in Siranian (especially the ancient, pure vocalic roots a-i-u), but a very strong force of analogy operates within the language, shifting most exceptions toward regular patterns.
A vast majority of Siranian nouns (estimated at 60%) are deverbal in nature (i.e., derived from verbs). This includes most nouns beginning with the prefixes s- and t-.
The Verb
The Siranian verb possesses categories of person, number, tense, voice (both verbal and nominal), and mood.
Suffixes express person, number, and mood. Prefixes express tense and voice. Infixes express grammatical aspect.
Person and Number
Persons in Siranian are structured in “two and two.” The first and second persons are called Subjective, while the two third persons (for animate and inanimate genders) are called Objective. There are two numbers: singular and plural.
| rea | I shall find | era | I shall leave |
| rei | Thou shalt find | eri | Thou shalt leave |
| reu | He/She shall find | eru | He/She shall leave |
| re | It shall find | er | It shall leave |
| rena | We shall find | erna | We shall leave |
| rie | You shall find | ere | You shall leave |
| reo | They (an.) shall find | ero | They (an.) shall leave |
| re | They (in.) shall find | er | They (in.) shall leave |
Tenses
In Siranian, there are only two primary tenses: Past and Future. The Future is the grammatical default; it is used most frequently to express both the future and the current present. The Past tense is formed by the reduplication of the stem vowel.
erea, erei, ereu … (I found, thou foundest, etc.)
eera (->e’era ->eqera), eqeri, eqeru … (I left, thou leftest, etc.)
etea, etei, eteu … (I held, thou heldest, etc.) (from root ten, to hold)
ahaua, ahaui, ahavu … (I sank, thou sankest, etc.) (from root haun, to sink/fall)
The present tense is expressed in several ways:
1.) The Nominal Sentence: A sentence where the subject (usually the verb “to be”) is unexpressed. Example: Iorh gen literally means “Father old,” but is understood as “The father IS old.” It can be said that every noun in the nominative inherently contains the information “is.” For instance, taeh means “table” (from the root ae = “to stand”), but the word taeh itself essentially says “the table is.”
2.) When an action cannot be expressed by a nominal sentence (because the verb is a full lexical verb), the present is expressed using a participle or a verbal noun. Example: Ah rar (literally “I speaking/speaker”) means “I say” or “I am saying.” In written text, the personal pronoun is often joined with the participle (e.g., ahrar), effectively creating a type of prefix.
The Periphrastic Conjugation follows this form:
(Root: laeqo-/laeqon, to write; laeqor = writing/writer)
| sahlaeqor | saslaeqos |
| sihlaeqor | sislaeqos |
| suhlaeqor | suslaeqos |
| talaeqor | tatlaeqos |
Voice (Verbal)
The Passive Voice is formed from all active tenses by using the prefixes “v-“, “u-“, or “va-.”
varea, varei atd. (I shall be found)
vera, veri atd. (I shall be left/abandoned)
verea, verei atd. (I was found)
veqera, veqeri atd. (I was left/abandoned)
vetea, vetei atd. (I was held)
vahaua, vahaui atd. (I have fallen / I was brought low)
Moods (Verbal Variants)
The Siranian verb has several “Moods” or variants of verbal action: Intensive, Causative, Iterative, and Imperative. These moods constitute a defining characteristic of the language. Mastering their use is the key to expressing the finer nuances of Siranian communication.
The Intensive is formed by prolonging (doubling/geminating) the stem consonant. Its meaning is the intensification of the action. E.g. qeren means “to break” and qerren means “to crush”; fasin is “to ignite” and fassin is “to scorch”; ren is “to find” and rren (sometimes written as “hren”) means “to discover”; ern is “to leave” and erran means “to damn/abandon forever” etc.
The Causative is formed by the infix “-n-“, placed between the consonant and the vowel of the stem syllable. Its meaning is “to cause or allow the action of the verb to happen.” E.g. iahan means “to fall”, ianhan is “to drop/throw down”; un is “to have” and unen means “to obtain/acquire”; an is “to be/exist” and anen means “to beget/create”; orn is “to see” and ornan is “to show/reveal” etc.
The Iterative denotes repeated or habitual action (similar to the English “used to” or frequentative verbs). In many cases, it corresponds to the imperfective aspect. It is expressed by reduplicating the root consonant vocalized with “i”. If the root lacks a consonant, only “i” with aspiration is reduplicated. rin = “to cut/hew” and ririn = “to keep cutting/chopping”; nan = “to give” and ninan= “to be giving/hand out”; un = “to have” and hiun = “to habitually have/keep”; etin = “to pour” and tietin = “to be pouring/showering” (teto = “a pancake/crepe” 🙂
Imperative is a commanding form. Two form of imperativ exists – literary or polite, formed with suffixes –ta, –ti, –tu; –tana, –te, –to (similar to future endings, but preceded by “t”). Crucially, these attach to the infinitive! (qerenta! = “May I break!”; qerenti! = “Break! — singular”; qerente! = “Break! — plural” etc.). Second imperativ is colloquial and it is a bare stem or root of the verb without any suffix. (qer! = “Break!”, fas! = “Light it up!”; in Intensives, the stem is extended by “-a”: qerra!, fassa!).
Nominal Forms (Non-finite Forms)
The Infinitive is formed with the suffix “-n”. The vocalization before the “n” is somewhat chaotic; most often, specific type of vowel harmony is applied to create “euphonic” sequences (e.g., e-i, i-a) – specific because harmony is not based on assimilation, but dissimilation. The Verbal Noun (Gerund) is simply derived from the infinitive by attaching the nominative suffix “-h”: gin = “to ring/sound”, ginh = “ringing/sounding”.
The so-called “Present Participle” is essentially also a nomen agentis (agent noun). It is derived from the stem with the suffix “-r” (vocalization follows the rules of the infinitive). It functions in two ways: As a Participle: It retains its verbal emphasis (participiality), e.g. qir = “teaching/while teaching” or as a noun it accepts the noun suffix “-h” and becomes substantivized, e.g. qirh = “teacher”, marh = “advisor/sage.” The Passive Present Participle is created from the passive form of the verb – e.g. vaqin = “to be taught” → vaqir = “one who is currently being taught” → vaqirh = “student/pupil.”
The “Perfect Participles” (corresponding to English past/perfect participles like “having taught” or “learned”) are formed identically to the present participle using the “-r/-rh” suffix, but logically from the perfect (past) stem with its reduplicated root vowel.
Iqir = “having taught”, viqir = “taught/learned”, viqirh = “scholar”. Vo’orir = “seen/beheld”. A’alir = “having remembered”, a’alirh/aqalirh = “witness” (from root aln = to remember by experience), abaur = “having accumulated” (baun = to accumulate) etc.
Frequent Verbs
To conclude, three fundamental verbs must be mentioned, inherited from the most ancient times. Although their morphology has changed several times, they have preserved their original roots and adopted analogical endings for regular conjugation.
The verb with the root “a-” means “to be” in the sense of to exist. It is never used as a copula (e.g., to say “the king is powerful”). In such cases, a nominal sentence is used (“king powerful”). It is used only in the full sense of existence (e.g., “there are animals in the forests” = “animals live/exist in the forests”). In non-standard colloquial Siranian, it is used for the present continuous tense in the construction: (sahar + infinitive) = “I am currently doing.” Conjugation follows the regular pattern: ah, ai, au, a, ana, etc. Present Participle is ar.
The verb with the root “i-” means “to go, to head toward, to aim.” Conjugation follows the regular verb pattern. In spoken Siranian, it is sometimes used periphrastically to express the future tense: (sahir + infinitive) = “I am going to do / I intend to do.”
The verb with the root “u-” means “to have, to possess, to hold.” In spoken Siranian, it is used to describe a resultative past tense: (sahur + infinitive) = “I have [it] done.”
Pronouns
Siranian possesses personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative (which also serve as relative), indefinite, and negative pronouns.
Personal pronouns decline regularly. The only exception compared to nouns is the suffix “-m” for the Accusative case.
| Case | 1st Person (I) | 2nd Person (Thou) | 3rd Pers. An. (He/She) | 3rd Pers. In. (It) |
| Nom. | (s)ah | sih | suh | ta |
| Dat. | sai | sii | sui | ti |
| Gen. | sau | siu | svu | tu |
| Acc. | sam | sim | sum | tam |
Reflexive Pronoun:
| seui – to oneself |
| sevu – from oneself |
| seuam – oneself |
The plural is formed regularly by attaching “-s”. Note that the accusative “m” disappears in the plural (e.g., sas, sais, saus, sas; sis, siis, sius).
Possessive Pronouns are derived from personal pronouns using the suffix “-q” (the same suffix used to derive adjectives, e.g., marqh “advisory/of a counselor” from marh = “advisor”). They are further extended by case endings.
| saqh – my | aseqh – our |
| siqh – thy (your) | iseqh – your (pl.) |
| suqh – his / her | usuqh – their (an.) |
| taqh – its | taseqh – their (in.) |
Demonstrative Pronouns: ith = that, itith = this, uth = he/that, ututh = yon / that one over there. (ath = self / alone).
In Siranian, interrogative pronouns also function as relative pronouns (e.g., “Who?” vs. “The one who…”):
whi? what? = qnah?, qna?
which? (an. / in.) = qinah? qina?
which? (pl. an. / in.) = qinas?, qiqna?
Indefinite Pronouns:
| fah, fa = someone / something |
| finah, fina = some / a certain (an. / in.) |
| palah, pala = everyone / everything (each) |
| anqah, anqa = anyone / anything (whoever / whatever) |
Negative Pronouns:
elfah, elfa = no one, nothing
elpah, elpa = none, no (adj.)
(In almost any situation, negation is regularly formed by the prefix “el-“. In the case of full-meaning (lexical) roots, negation can also be formed by syllable inversion.)
Frequent Pronouns and Adverbs:
such – danih
what kind of – nenih
both – veah
how many times – niesen
so many times – diesen
any number of times – niesenis
also / too- li
/near/, /far/, /Interrogative/, /Indefinite/, /Negative/, /Universal I./, /Universal II./
di-X, tu-X, fa-X, fa-X-ni, el-X, X-hava, X-nies
Location: root = at
| here | there | where | somewhere | nowhere | everywhere | anywhere / wherever |
| diat | tuat | fa’at | fa’atni | elat | athava | atnies |
Ablation: root = ut
| from here (hence) | from there (thence) | from where (whence) | from somewhere | from nowhere | from everywhere | from anywhere |
| diut | tvut | faut | fautni | elut | uthava | utnies |
Adlation: root = it
| to here (hither) | to there (thither) | to where (whither) | to somewhere | to nowhere | to everywhere | whithersoever |
| di’it | tuit | fait | faitni | elit | ithava | itnies |
Time: root = ni
| now | then | when | sometime | never | always | whenever |
| dini | tuni | fani | fanni | elni | nihava | ninies |
Manner: root = o(l)
| so / in this way | in that way | how | somehow | in no way | in every way | anyhow / however |
| dio | tuo | faol | faoni | ello | olhava | olnies |
Route: root = e(s)
| this way / through here | that way / through there | which way / through where | through somewhere | through nowhere | through everywhere | through anywhere |
| die | tue | faes | faeni | eles | essava | ennies |
Most other adverbs in Siranian are expressed by using nouns in the appropriate case—most commonly the Dative or Genitive. E.g. qan = “to do”, vaqar = “done”, vaqarh = “a deed/act”, vaqari = příslovce “in deed / indeed / truly” etc.
Numbers
Siranian uses a decimal system, which was adopted from Garion.
Cardinal numbers are indeclinable (they do not change their form).
ev = one
ve = two
siu = three
nae = four
qen = five
uis = six
lis = seven
aen = eight
sien = nine
euta = ten
(ta) euta, veta, siuta, naeta atd. = ten, twenty, thirty…
(ora) evora, veora, sivora, naeora atd. = hundret, two hundret, three hundret…
(gaos) eugaos, vegaos, siugaos, naegaos atd. = thousand, two thousand…
Siranian derives all other number types regularly from the cardinal base:
Ordinal Numbers (Suffix -q): Used to indicate position in a series (first, second…).
euqh = first
veqh = second
siuqh = third
Distributive Numbers (Prefix ia-): Used to express “one by one” or “in groups of…”.
iaev = one by one / one each
iave = by twos / two each
iasiu = by threes / three each
Multiplicative Numbers (Suffix -taqen): Used to express frequency (once, twice…).
eutaqen = once
vetaqen = twice
siutaqen = thrice / three times
Prepositions
Siranian is a highly elliptical language; it can describe most spatial relationships without standalone prepositions. For example, “To Sirgon” is Sirgoni, “From Sirgon” is Sirgonu, and “In Sirgon” is simply Sirgon, whereas the name “Sirgon” (in nominative) is Sirgonh. The case endings are essentially suffixed prepositions:
a = “in”
i = “into / to”
u = “from / of”
Other prepositions do exist to further specify the nature of a verbal action.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are divided into Coordinating and Subordinating.
Coordinating Conjunctions: m = “and / also”, elm = “nor / neither”, l = “or”, nea = “but / yet”, dale = “therefore / thus”, len = “for / because (explanatory)”
Subordinating Conjunctions: qi = “that / because / since”, lon = “so that / in order to”, ellon = “lest / so that… not”, aqil = “when / while”.
Word Order
In Siranian, word order is neither fixed nor free. It is a tool for fine-tuning the tone of speech, reflecting the relationship between speakers and the solemnity of the occasion.
S = subject, O = object, V = verb.
Order:
VSO = Solemn: legal edicts, official documents, serious poetry.
VOS = Respectful: speaking upward to authorities.
SVO = Common: simple language, interaction between equals.
SOV = Aloof: formal style, speaking to strangers, expressing caution.
OVS = Courtly Mannerism: strained politeness, sycophancy, rhetorical questions.
OSV = Standard Question.
Questions are further marked by the suffix “-n” attached to the verb. This “-n” can also appear on other words in the sentence. If the word order is not the interrogative OSV, the “-n” indicates narrative flair or emphasis.
The standard OSV + “-n” is used only in neutral documents or casual speech. When addressing the Nobility, one must use VOS order accompanied by the interrogative particle alleqen (“whether / if it please you”). Questions to high-ranking individuals are typically phrased in the negative (e.g., “Would your highness not wish…”) and filled with the suffix “-n” to show alertness and attention—or conversely, devoid of them to show extreme modesty.
