Safeive [sɑfeɪˈivˈeɪ]

Safeive is a conlang for the Eonian lore project. In the lore, its descendants first began to be spoken in nomadic hunter-gathering tribes in the empty plains of Midoi. Modern Safeive came about around 500-600 years ago. It is one of the most popular languages on all of Ion, up there with Pagish languages like "gug."

Basics

Safeive has 4 noun classes, 5 tenses, and 3 genders. The language follows the SVO (subject, verb, object) sentence structure for normal sentences, and SVO for both yes/no questions and question word questions. For questions, all questions begin with "i ", a now redundant leftover particle from when the language was younger. One thing that somewhat sets the language apart is that it only has one main indefinite article. There is no "a" or "some," the only one that exists is "it." Definite articles like "the" still exist.

Sounds

There are quite a few sounds indeed, but I'd rather go over the ones which are missing from it. From the standpoint of English, it is missing most implosives, with no p or b. Combinations like sh and th are also absent, but ch is present. Z and X are also absent. Something which Safeive has that English does not is the sound made by "ll" in Spanish, or [j͡j]

Vowels

æ,ɑ,eɪ,i,u,ɚ,ɔ,ɛ

Consonants

really dont feel like doing this right now... i'll get to it later...

Noun Classes

As stated above, there are four noun classes. Within each noun class, there are three variants.

Class Form
Animate Objects -(a)d (neuter) -(a)di (masc) -(a)de (fem)
Animate Objects With Negative Connotation -(a)k (neuter) -(a)ki (masc) -(a)ke (fem)
Inanimate Objects -(a)l (neuter) -(a)li (masc) -(a)le (fem)
Inanimate Objects With Negative Connotation -(a)g (neuter) -(a)gi (masc) -(a)ge (fem))

If the noun already ends in a vowel, it will NOT be replaced with a. Nouns like "possibility" and "tranquility" do not have to abide by these noun classes, instead always ending in -ale.

These noun classes are not necessary to be used, mainly just added to dramatize specific words or clarify one’s opinion on a statement. For example, a normal person would say “serfied,” nature (animate,) while a discord mod who is scared of touching grass would say “serfiek.” In formal writing of some dialects, these are required.

In certain dialects, the normal noun classes (-al and -ad) give positive connotation, while no noun class gives no connotation.

Conjugation

There are five tenses. Present/absolute (absolute as in "cats are animals," they will always be animals,) past, future, ability (I can), and might (I may). All of these are prefixes which attach on to verbs. Verbs must begin with E or A and end with N or M. There are few exceptions to the ending with A rule. Ej (to have), Eula (to use).

To say something like “The cat is missed,” write the subject, then the pronoun (lu [3rd p. neuter], li [3rd p. fem.], le [3rd p. masc.], mu [2nd p], su [1st p.]) and then the unconjugated form of the verb. The cat is missed - Va selid le agejan.

Present/Absolute Tense

Singular Plural
First Person Se Si
Second Person Me Mi
Third Person Le Li

Past Tense

Singular Plural
First Person Ise Isi
Second Person Ime Imi
Third Person Ile Ili

Future

Singular Plural
First Person Ase Asi
Second Person Ame Ami
Third Person Ale Ali

Ability Tense

Singular Plural
First Person Fase Fasi
Second Person Fame Fami
Third Person Fale Fali

?? Tense

Singular Plural
First Person Mise Misi
Second Person Mime Mimi
Third Person Mile Mili

Pluralization

Add -o to the end of the word. If the word already ends in o, add -gwo.

Posessives

Possesives take the form of prefixes which go in front of nouns.

Singular Plural
My/Our Sa So
Yours Ma Mo
Theirs/His/Hers La Lo

Inversion

For verbs, place ag (meaning no) in front of the verb. Ex, Semelen, I work. Ag semelen, I don't work.

For everything else, put i'- in front of it. Ex, Nale, motion, I'nale, stop (as in a bus stop).

Adjectives

Adjectives can only start with the letters d, h, f, y, or i. Like Spanish, the adjective comes after the noun, not before, but unlike spanish, adjectives do not have to agree in gender with the noun, as there are no gendered forms of adjectives.

To turn something into an adverb, add -ya to the end, similar to English's -ly. Ex. Dir = true, dirya = truly.

Numbers

For numbers like two thousand or five hundred, add a hyphen in between the two digits. Ex. 500 = wen-refus. For multiple of these in the same number, put an apostrophe in between the different sections. 528 = wen-refus’io-ierio. 54,194 = wen-ierio-valin’refus’ier-ierio’dar. For decimals, add -li- in between the whole number and decimal. To get something like “first” add d’- to the start of the number.

Other

E usually make the eɪ sound, but when at the start of the word (usually,) this switches to the ɛ sound.

When "l" is surrounded by vowels on both sides (unless the preceeding vowel is a,) the sound will switchs from l to[j͡j].

To say things like "themselves," take the verb to be (eln), remove the ending N and add an N to the start (nel.) Then, add a dash and the proper form of lu. Himself = Nel-li. For yourself and myself, those are nel-mu and nel-su respectively.

To say that something does something, like “ethan is a hater of zuhair,” you take the necessary verb or noun and er’- to the start, and do NOT conjugate the original verb. “Ethan is a hater of Zuhair” would become “Ehan lel va er’akigil cha Y’Suher.” This applies to nouns, too. For something like “jerry is catting it” it would become “Jeri lel er’selid fa.”

Names of important places or people have y’- added. For example, Zuhair → Y’Suher. Pronounced like [i].

To say that something is more than another thing, like smart vs. smarter, add the prefix ro’-.

\

Most adjectives that end in -able in English end in -uv in Safeive.

When an L is surrounded by vowels on both sides, it sometimes changes to the j͡j sound found the “ll” structure of Spanish. It will not change if the preceding vowel is an A, however.