Lírvaen
Origin Planet
Orthis
Year
2025
Speakers
~ 150,000
Speakers
Spoken by the Lirvian tribes in central Velys, and studied by scholars offworld.
Lirvian developed among the highland dwellers of the Orthean continent of Velys, influenced by the rhythmic patterns of their traditional chants and the geometric art embedded in their culture.
The Lirvian people are mountain dwellers with a strong tradition in oral storytelling and geometric symbolic art. Their language reflects their reverence for nature, the cyclical view of time, and communal living.
Stress pattern
Stress typically falls on the first syllable of a word.
Style description
The Lirvian script is a syllabary derived from geometric glyphs, each representing a syllable. Characters are composed of angular strokes enclosed in circle motifs.
Noun system
Nouns are unmarked for case but marked for plurality via suffix '-un'. No gender system.
Verb system
Verbs are conjugated for aspect (perfective/imperfective) and mood (indicative/volitive). Tense is inferred by aspect and context.
Adjective rules
Adjectives precede nouns. They do not agree in number or case.
Number rules
Cardinal numbers are independent words. Plurality is marked on nouns using suffixes.
| Phrase | Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| shena luron | They speak | ˈʃe.na ˈlu.ron |
| ziri tu velan | You see the stone | ˈzi.ri tu ˈve.lan |
| Question | Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| ko ziri tu? | Do you see? | ko ˈzi.ri tu |
| pira lu shena? | Can he/she speak? | ˈpi.ra lu ˈʃe.na |
| English | Translation | Literal meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| I see the bright river. | Ziri ni vala kiven. | See I bright river. | ˈzi.ri ni ˈva.la ˈki.ven |
| They give songs. | Volu luron livaun. | Give they songs. | ˈvo.lu ˈlu.ron ˈli.va.un |
River Blessing Ceremony
A springtime ritual where offerings are made to the river spirits for safe travels and bountiful catches.
During ‘kiver’ festival, families float handcrafted lanterns down the river.
Songweaving
Lirvians encode traditional knowledge in songs that match the patterns of woven cloths.
Elders teach young weavers by singing while they work at the looms.
Final vowels are slightly lengthened if followed by a pause.
Example: ‘ni’ becomes [niː] at the end of a sentence.
Stress on the first syllable is strong and marked by a slight pitch rise.
Example: In ‘ziri’ [ˈzi.ri], the ‘zi’ has a higher pitch.