Ariven

Ariven is the ancestral language of the Light Elves. Once spoken primarily in the glittering cities of the Elvari Union, Ariven is now spoken almost exclusively among the Light Elven diaspora within the Araxian Empire and beyond.

Names

Ariven names interact with the language's phonotactics as well as the unique nature of Light Elf gender. Some example names are given below to provide an overall feel for what these names are like.

Dawn Names		Daylight Names		Dusk Names		Midnight Names
Name	Meaning	Name	Meaning	Name	Meaning	Name	Meaning
Elinel	dewdrop	Arnas	fire	Fanalor	autumn	Aradun	hero
Sirelin	birdsong	Darinar	blaze	Uranon	harvest	Marus	dream
Terine	morning	Carana	grassland	Nolunor	wisdom	Unarun	wish
Cirile	spark	Aria	light	Vanuros	silence	Umun	memory
Cilpe	seed	Cintalna	summer	Sulano	evening	Orunur	patience

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n	/ng/ (ŋ)
Stop	p, b	t, d	k, g
Fricative	f, v	s		h
Tap/Flap		/r/ (ɾ)
Semivowel	w
Liquid		l

Note: ng occurs only between n and g or n and k.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Note: Ariven features front/back vowel harmony, with a being considered neutral.

Phonotactics

Ariven has a generally (C)V(r/l/n/s) structure.

Grammar

SOV word order

(TODO)

Example

Mer-r-in	risil	tecitar-en	cirte	sormun-ar-un.
Person-PL-DEF	Wryth-GEN	writing-OBJ	first	invent-PL-PST
The people of Wryth		were the first to invent writing.

Vocabulary

Word	POS	Definition
arna	n	fire
cilpe	n	seed
cirile	n	spark
delgar	n	land / earth / world / platform
delga	v	to hold up / support / lift
ilne	n	water
lin	n	song
minta	n	tree
milna	v	to grow
mer	n	person
pelar	n	letter / symbol / rune
pela	v	to mark
ris	n	Wryth
sire	n	bird
sirelin	n	birdsong
sirna	n	leaf
sormun	v	to invent or conjure (cognate with summon)
sormunar	n	invention / conjuration
tecita	v	to write
tecitar	n	writing