Avalèn Lessons

[Ben]

Avalèn Background
Avalèn is a conlang created for my general amusement. It seems there has been a little interest on YouTube about it, so I decided to create this forum and set of lessons.
Note that the name has changed from Avalǽn to Avalèn, as there has been a revamp of grammar/phonology etc. and hopefully this version is a lot less haphazard. Therefore, take as what is written here as the correct version, and pretty much just discard the YouTube videos.
Most of the lexicon has been kept, if a little changed and warped, but the roots are still there.
Ditto with the grammar, I have tried to create one that is much easier than the previous. Soon will come lesson one, I will include exercises at the end for you to do, and depending on demand (I'm fully expecting hardly anyone for ages!) subsequent lessons.
Please feel free to give comments and suggestions (if you're linguistically inclined!) about how to improve Avalèn.
I will also upload (if possible!) a dictionary database which you can download and use with a certain program (I'll post a link) but no doubt that will come later.
Enjoy!

[Ben]

Lesson One: Pronounciation and Nouns
Pronounciation
Following is a list of the sounds of Avalèn, I will give both a rough transliteration of the sounds most English people will be familiar with, and also the X-SAMPA values, for those who understand it.
Vowels
Aa = father (stressed) or arena (unstressed); /a/(stressed) or /@/(unstressed)
Àà = awful, try to say this in an Irish accent and
you’ll get the right sound; “á” in Irish Gaelic; /O/
Ææ = eye; /ai/
Ee = met; /e/
Èè = hay; /Ei/
Ii = hit; /I/
Ìì = bean; /i/
Oo = not; /Q/
Òò = bone; /Qu/
Uu = but; /V/
Ùù = moon (German “ü”; French lune); /u/

Consonants
* = like the English version of that letter
Vv = *; /v/
Ll = *; /l/
Nn = *; /n/
Dd = *; /d/
Cc = always like cat, never like circus; /k/
CHch = human; German “ch”; /x/
Ss = *; /s/
Rr = a “flapped/tapped” r, say “r” but tap or flick your
tongue at the same time; /r`/
Pp = *; /p/
Mm = *; /m/
Bb = *; /b/
Tt = *; /t/
Ff = *; /f/
SHsh = *; /S/
THth = always like thin, never like that; /T/
DHdh = voiced version of “th”, always like that,
never like thin; /D/

Stress
There are no real stress rules at the moment, I have just been going with what feels right. Once I get further along I’ll probably come up with a certain rule, but for now, just use your judgement for what sounds right. You can get a feel for what I mean by the YouTube videos, as they are still pronounced almost the same.

Nouns
All nouns in Avalèn end in a consonant, but can start with either a consonant or a vowel. Plurality is denoted by prefixes on that noun, and articles (the, a/an) by suffixes:
Plural
To get the plural of a noun, you add these prefixes:
For nouns starting with a vowel = æl-
For nouns starting with a consonant = æ-
e.g
dog = mar
dogs = æmar
friend = amìdh
friends = ælamìdh
Articles
Articles are the small words you often see in front of nouns, e.g the, a, or an. In Avalèn, these are not separate words, but are seen as suffixes.
Definite article (the) = -ì
Indefinite article (a/an) = -ò
e.g
a dog = marò
the dog = marì
a friend = amìdhò
the friends = ælamìdhì

Vocabulary
Mar = dog
Amìdh = friend
Cæl = cat
Crèol = pencil
Cabòn = boy
Càlìn = girl
Læn = man
Sedìan = chair

Exercises
Translate into English
1. Cælò
2. Æcàlìnì
3. Sedìanì
4. Ælæn
5. Cabònò
6. Ælamìdhì
7. Lænì
8. Æcrèolì
9. Æmar
10. Sedìanò

Translate into Avalèn
1. The cat
2. A dog
3. The chairs
4. Girls
5. Boys
6. A pencil
7. The dogs
8. The girl
9. Boy
10. A man

Just post your answers here and I’ll mark them for you with corrections if needed. If you think I’ve made a mistake, or if you don’t understand something, just ask me below and I’ll do my best! Any comments are welcome as well! Lesson Two coming soon…

[avematthew]

here are the answers to the exercises, are they correct?

Translate into English
1. Cælò a cat
2. Æcàlìnì the girls
3. Sedìanì the chair
4. Ælæn men
5. Cabònò a boy
6. Ælamìdhì the friends
7. Lænì the man
8. Æcrèolì the pencils
9. Æmar dogs
10. Sedìanò a chair

Translate into Avalèn
1. The cat cælì
2. A dog marò
3. The chairs æsedìanì
4. Girls æcàlìn
5. Boys æcabòn
6. A pencil crèolò
7. The dogs æmarì
8. The girl càlìnì
9. Boy cabònì
10. A man lænò

[Ben]

YAY! Someone replied! Thank you! ;D

They are almost all correct, except for number 9 on the Translate to Avalèn section. What you wrote (cabònì) is correct, but it doesn't mean "boy" it means "the boy". Although I don't think I catered for that option in my explanations, but now you know! I can't really actually think of a scenario of when you would use just "boy", so it doesn't really matter that much. Maybe when you are calling someone you don't know "Hey! Boy! Come 'ere!". That's when you would use cabòn. But anyway...

Very good, well done!

Would you like me post the next lesson?

[Ben]

Lesson Two: Pronouns, The Verb To Be and Adjectives
To Be
In Avalèn, the verb To Be is conjugated differently to other verbs. In this lesson you will learn to use this verb along with pronouns. The word order in Avalèn is also different to English. In English, we usually have the order SVO, or Subject Verb Object, meaning that the person or thing doing the action (the subject) comes first, the verb (or doing word) comes second, and the person or thing receiving the action (object) comes last. In Avalèn, the order is VSO, meaning that the verb comes first, the subject second and the object last.
To Be and the Independent Pronouns
In Avalèn, you use the verb To Be with the independent pronouns, that is, that they are ususally used as an object in the sentence, but in this case also the subject. To Be is conjugated by adding a prefix to the front of an independent pronoun. The independent pronouns are:
I = las
You (singular) = dær
He/She = cìv
It = sa
One/They/You (indefinite) = sèl
We = ràl
You (plural) = nelæ
They = plach
To use the verb To Be with these pronouns, you add è- (if the pronoun is singular, i.e. I/You(sg.)/He/She/It and One) and ù- (if the pronoun is plural, i.e. We/You(pl.)/They). For example:
e.g
I am a boy = èlas cabònò (Lit. am.I boy.a)
You are a girl = èdær càlìnò (Lit. are.you girl.a)
He is a cat = ècìv cælò (Lit. is.he cat.a)
We are dogs = ùràl æmar (Lit. are.we PL.dog)
They are the chairs = ùplach æsedìanì (Lit. are.they PL.chair.the)

To use To Be with other subjects (i.e. The dog/cat/boy is…) you take the prefix (singular or plural, whichever suits), then and apostrophe, then the subject. Objects can then be added afterwards.
e.g
The boy is a man = è’cabònì lænò (Lit. is’boy.the man.a)
The cats are girls = ù’æcælì æcàlìn (Lit. are’PL.cat.the PL.girl)

Adjectives
Adjectives in Avalèn always end in –è. This makes them easy to recognise and not mistake for other parts of speech. Another thing different with adjectives is that they come after the noun they affect, rather than before, as in English.
e.g
Good = adè
I am good = èlas adè
Big = vàsè
We are big = ùràl vàsè
The big cat is good = è’cælì vàsè adè
We are good men = ùràl ælæn adè.

I think this is enough material for today, so here are some exercises:

Vocabulary
Adè = good
Vàsè = big
Sædh = father
Vìad = day
Lùs = cake
Dèasè = nice/pleasant
Tal = language
Velè = beautiful
Trè = very
Bach = person
Here = dhè
There = val
And = a

Exercises
Translate into Avalèn
1. They are nice cakes!
2. We are very beautiful.
3. You (sg.) are a good father.
4. The beautiful language is very pleasant.
5. Fathers are very nice.
6. Good Day! (i.e. Hello!)
7. You (pl.) are beautiful people.
8. The big man is a father.
9. Big dogs are very nice.
10. The day is very beautiful.

Translate into English
1. Ù’æbach velè dèasè.
2. Ù’æmar trè dèasè.
3. È’bachì vàsè las!
4. Èplach æsædh.
5. Èsa talò trè velè.
6. Èdær marò!
7. Vìad Adè! Ù’æbachì trè dèasè dhè!
8. Ù’lùsì trè velè a dèasè.
9. È’marì velè
10. È’sædhò lænò.

Again, post your answers below and I'll mark them! Thanks!