Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Noun cases. Like all languages, Carpathian has many noun cases; the same noun will be “spelled” differently depending on its role in a sentence. The noun cases include nominative (when the noun is the subject of the sentence), accusative (when the noun is a direct object of the verb), dative (indirect object), genitive (or possessive), instrumental, final, suppressive, inessive, elative, terminative and delative.
We will use the possessive (or genitive) case as an example to illustrate how all noun cases in Carpathian involve adding standard suffixes to the noun stems. Thus, expressing possession in Carpathian—“my lifemate,” “your lifemate,” “his lifemate,” “her lifemate,” etc.—involves adding a particular suffix (such as “-am”) to the noun stem (“päläfertiil”) to produce the possessive (“päläfertiilam”—“my lifemate”). Which suffix to use depends on which person (“my,” “your,” “his,” etc.) and whether the noun ends in a consonant or a vowel. The following table shows the suffixes for singular nouns only (not plural), and also shows the similarity to the suffixes used in contemporary Hungarian. (Hungarian is actually a little more complex, in that it also requires “vowel rhyming”: which suffix to use also depends on the last vowel in the noun, hence the multiple choices in the table, where Carpathian has only a single choice.)
Carpathian (proto-Uralic)
Contemporary Hungarian
person
noun ends in vowel
noun ends in consonant
noun ends in vowel
noun ends in consonant
1st singular (my)
-m
-am
-m
-om, -em, -öm
2nd singular (your)
-d
-ad
-d
-od, -ed, -öd
3rd singular (his, her, its)
-ja
-a
-ja/-je
-a, -e
1st plural (our)
-nk
-ank
-nk
-unk, -ünk
2nd plural (your)
-tak
-atak
-tok, -tek, -tök
-otok, -etek, -ötök
3rd plural (their)
-jak
-ak
-juk, -jük
-uk, -ük
Note: As mentioned earlier, vowels often get inserted between the word and its suffix so as to prevent too many consonants from appearing in a row (which would produce unpronounceable words). For example, in the table on the previous page, all nouns that end in a consonant are followed by suffixes beginning with “a.”
Verb conjugation. Like its modern descendants (such as Finnish and Hungarian), Carpathian has many verb tenses, far too many to describe here. We will just focus on the conjugation of the present tense. Again, we will place contemporary Hungarian side by side with Carpathian because of the marked similarity between the two.
As with the possessive case for nouns, the conjugation of verbs is done by adding a suffix onto the verb stem:
Person
Carpathian
(proto-Uralic)
Contemporary
Hungarian
1st singular (I give)
-am (andam), -ak
-ok, -ek, -ök
2nd singular (you give)
-sz (andsz)
-sz
3rd singular (he/she/it gives)
— (and)
—
1st plural (we give)
-ak (andak)
-unk, -ünk
2nd plural (you give)
-tak (andtak)
-tok, -tek, -tök
3rd plural (they give)
-nak (andnak)
-nak, -nek
As with all languages, there are many “irregular verbs” in Carpathian that don’t exactly fit this pattern. But the table is still a useful guide for most verbs.
3. EXAMPLES OF THE CARPATHIAN LANGUAGE
Here are some brief examples of conversational Carpathian, used in the Dark books. We include the literal translation in square brackets. It is interestingly different from the most appropriate English translation.
Susu.
I am home.
[“home/birthplace.” “I am” is understood, as is often the case in Carpathian.]
Möért?
What for?
csitri
little one
[“little slip of a thing,” “little slip of a girl”]
ainaak enyém
forever mine
ainaak sívamet jutta
forever mine (another form)
[“forever to-my-heart connected/fixed”]
sívamet
my love
[“of-my-heart,” “to-my-heart”]
Tet vigyázam.
I love you.
[“you-love-I”]
Sarna Rituaali (The Ritual Words) is a longer example and an example of chanted rather than conversational Carpathian. Note the recurring use of “andam” (“I give”) to give the chant musicality and force through repetition.
Sarna Rituaali (The Ritual Words)
Te avio päläfertiilam.
You are my lifemate.
Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam.
I claim you as my lifemate.
Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed.
I belong to you.
Élidamet andam.
I offer my life for you.
Pesämet andam.
I give you my protection.
Uskolfertiilamet andam.
I give you my allegiance.
Sívamet andam.
I give you my heart.
Sielamet andam.
I give you my soul.
Ainamet andam.
I give you my body.
Sívamet kuuluak kaik että a ted.
I take into my keeping the same that is yours.
Ainaak olenszal sívambin.
Your life will be cherished by me for all my time.
Te élidet ainaak pide minan.
Your life will be placed above my own for all time.
Te avio päläfertiilam.
You are my lifemate.
Ainaak sívamet jutta oleny.
You are bound to me for all eternity.
Ainaak terád vigyázak.
You are always in my care.
To hear these words pronounced (and for more about Carpathian pronunciation altogether), please visit christinefeehan.com/members/.