Graedjoan Giantish Phonetic Inventory

Pulnomic consonents	Bi-Labial	Labio-dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	b “b”		d “d”	ɖ “dh”	ɟ “c”	g “g”
Nasal	m “m”		n “n”
Trill			r “rr”
Fricative		v“v”	z~ʒ “z”
Lateral Fricative				Ȥ “zh”
Approximant			ɹ “r”		j “j”	x~ɣ “x”
Lateral Approximant			l “l”

Other Consonents

Affricates: dz~dʒ “dz” ; ɖȤ “dzh”

Approximant: w “w”

Vowels (Monophthongs)	Front	Back
High	i “i”	u “u”
Middle	e “e”	o “o” ; ʌ “y”
Low	a “a”

Diphthongs

oi “oi”

Grammatical Case of Graedjoan Giantish

Grammatical Case of Graedjoan Giantish

Graedjoan Giantish is a full-tripartite language, meaning that it distinguishes both between the agent of a transitive sentence, other nouns in a transitive sentence, and the subject of an intransitive sentence.

The cases of Graedjoan Giantish are:

The Absolutive Case, which is marked with the affix "be-" The Absolutive Case is given to nouns that are the subject of an intransitive sentence. Take for example, "The door opened." Door would be in the absolutive case.

The Accusative Case, which is marked with the affix "-ed" The Accusative Case is given to nouns that are the direct object of a transitive sentence. Take for example, "She hit him." Him would be in the accusative case.

The Ergative Case, which is marked with the affix "-∅" a zero morpheme. The Ergative Case is given nouns that are the agent of a transitive sentence. Take for example, "She hit him." She would be in the ergative case.

The Adessive Case, which is marked with the affix "-irr" The Adessive Case is a locative case, denoting that an action is occurring on a location--meaning something equivalent to, "The person is on the lake." Lake would be in the adessive case.

The Inessive Case, which is marked with the affix "dzi-" The Inessive Case is a locative case, denoting that an action is occurring in a location--meaning something equivalent to, "The man was in the house." House would be in the inessive case.

The Intrative Case, which is marked with the affix "ma-WORD-am" The Intrative Case is a locative case, denoting that an action is occurring between two locations--meaning something equivalent to, "The dog played between the house and the fence." House and fence would both be in the intrative case.

The Subessive Case, which is marked with the affix "-lom" The Subessive Case is a locative case, denoting that an action is occurring below the noun--meaning something equivalent to, "He lived below the bridge." Bridge would be in the subessive case

The Superessive Case,  which is marked with the affix "-iz" The Superessive Case is a locative case, denoting that an action is occurring above the noun--meaning something equivalent to, "The fox jumped over the fence." Fence would be in the superessive Case.

The Instrumental Case, which is marked with the affix "-urr" The Instrumental Case is given to nouns that are being used as an instrument for the performance of another action. In the sentence, "She played the piano with chopsticks," Chopsticks would be in the instrumental case.

The Dative Case, which is marked with the affix "-un" The Dative Case is given to nouns that are the indirect object of a transitive sentence. Take for example the sentence, "The cat gave the man a dead mouse." In this sentence, the man would be in the dative case.

The Possessive Case, which is marked with the affix "-yv" The Possessive Case is given to nouns that are possessing another noun. Take for example the sentence, "Those are John's books." In this sentence, John would be in the possessive case.

The Possessed Case, which is marked with the affix "gyl-" The Possessed Case is given to nouns that are possessed by another noun. Take for example the sentence, "Those are John's books." In this sentence, books would be in the possessed case.

The Genitive Case, which is marked with the affix "cy-" The Genitive Case in Graedjoan Giantish is different than most genitive cases found in other languages, as Graedjoan Giantish has a possessive case marking, which the genitive usually functions as. In Graedjoan Giantish, the genitive indicates that a noun is modifying another noun in a non-possessive manner. Take for example the phrase, "The glory of Rome." In this sentence, Rome would be in the genitive, and glory would be in the accusative.

Graedjoan Giantish Sentence and Constituent Structure

Graedjoan Giantish is a Subject Verb Object  (SVO) language. However, there is some freedom in how words are arranged due to the case marking in the language.

A Noun Phrase (NP) in Graedjoan Giantish is comprised of an optional determiner, a mandatory noun, an optional conjunction, an optional secondary noun, and an optional adjectival phrase.

NP --> (DET) N (CONJ) (N) (ADJP)

An Adjectival Phrase (ADJP) in Graedjoan Giantish is comprised of a mandatory adjective, and optional conjunction, and optional secondary adjective (*this may repeat ad infinituum) and an optional adverb.

ADJP --> ADJ (*CONJ) (*ADJ) (ADV)

A Verb Phrase (VP) in Graedjoan Giantish is comprised of an optional auxiliary, a mandatory verb, an optional conjunction, an optional secondary verb, and an optional adverb for intransitive verbs. For transitive verbs, there would also be after the adverb an optional adpositional phrase, and a mandatory noun phrase. For ditransitive verbs, there would be another optional adpositional phrase, and a mandatory noun phrase.

Intransitive VP --> (AUX) V (CONJ) (V) (ADV)

Transitive VP --> (AUX) V (CONJ) (V) (ADV) (APP) NP

Ditransitive VP --> (AUX) V (CONJ) (V) (ADV) (APP) NP (APP) NP

An Adpositional Phrase (APP) is comprised of a mandatory adposition and a mandatory noun phrase. However, due to the case marking in Graedjoan Giantish, adpositional phrases are rare. When they do occur, the order of the adposition and noun depend on the adposition in question.

APP --> P NP

APP --> NP P

A Sentence (S) in Graedjoan Giantish is comprised of an optional noun phrase, and a mandatory verb phrase.

S --> (NP) VP

Common Graedjoan Giantish Derivavational Affixes

Graedjoan Giantish has a set of common derivational affixes that it employs for the creation of new lexemes. There are as follows:;

The Person Affix: "wa-"

When "wa-" is applied on a root that starts with a vowel, it takes the form of "wad-"

wa- --> wad-/_V

This acts similarly to the English affix "-er."

Take for example the word "nul," which means both "river" and "a path between places." By adding the affix "wa-" one gets the word "wanul," which means either: "A person who lives on the river," "A traveler," and "A wanderer."

The Place Affix: "-orr"

When "-orr" is applied on a root, it takes the root and changes it into something that means, a place of the root. Take for example the world "zun," which means "sun." By adding the affix "-orr" one gets the word "zunorr," which translates into "the daytime sky."

Note: When you have a word ending in "-orr" that is then put in the adessive case (by adding the affix "-irr"), then the place affix and the adessive case marking combine into the affix "-oirr."

-orr --> -o/_-irr

o --> oi/_-i

The Collection Affix: "bu-WORD-zi"

When "bu-WORD-zi" is applied on a root, it takes the root and changes it into something that means a collection of the root. Take for example to word "zil," meaning "sand." By adding the affix "bu-WORD-zi" one gets the word "buzilzi," meaning "desert."

The Tool Affix: "me-"

When "me-" is applied on a root, it takes the root and changes it into something that means a tool of the root. Take for example the word "nul," meaning "river." By adding the affix "me-" one gets the word "menul," meaning a "riverboat," "a raft," and/or "a vehicle for transportation between two or more places."

The Adjectival Affix: "-jud"

When "-jud" is applied on a root, it takes the root and changes it into something that acts as a adjectival form of the root. Take for example the word "con," meaning "tree" and "beauty." By adding the affix "-jud" to the root, one gets the word "conjud," meaning both "beautiful" and "wooden."

The Augmentative Affix: "viz-"

When "viz-" is applied on a root, it takes the root and changes it into something that is a larger form of the root. Take for example the word "nul," meaning "river." By adding the affix "viz-" to the root, one gets the word "viznul," meaning literally "a big river," but also, through metaphorical extension "life" and "a bloodline."

The Diminutive Affix: "-al"

When "-al" is applied on a root, it takes the root and changes it into something that is smaller than the root. Take for example the word "gul," meaning "mountain." By adding the affix "-al" to the root, one gets the word "gulal," meaning "hill."

The Verbalizing Affix: "-ax"

When "-ax" is applied on a non-verbal root, it takes the root and changes it into a verb. Take for example the word "wic," meaning "light." By adding the affix "-ax" to the root, one gets the word "wicax," meaning "to light" or "to shine."

The Nominalizing Affix "-ox"

When "-ox" is applied on a non-nominal root, it takes the root and changes it into a noun. Take for example the word "umb" meaning "high." By adding the affix "-ox" to the root, one gets the word "umbox" meaning "to rise" and "to lift."

Denoting Plurality in Nouns

To denote plurality in nouns, one must simply reduplicate the first consonant cluster and vowel of the root, adjacent to said root. Take for example the English sentence,

"In the hills, the sun shines on the river."

In Graedjoan Giantish, that sentence would be:

"dzigugulal, zun wicax nulirr."

It is in the word "dzigugulal" that we see plurality at work in Graedjoan Giantish. The root of this word is "gul," meaning mountain. The suffix "-al" is the diminutive. Thus, "gulal" is a hill. To make the word mean hills, we duplicate the first consonant cluster and vowel of "gulal," which in this case would be "gu." Thus, we have "gugulal" or, "hills." Lastly, there is the "dzi-" meaning "in." Thus, we have "dzigugulal," meaning, "In the hills."

Denoting that a verb is being redone.

In English, when an action is repeated, we could say that, for example, "She stated again that..." We could also say, "She restated that..." This "re-" prefix, in Graedjoan Giantish, is created by the same process that the language creates plurality in nouns. Take for example the word "brul," meaning to meet. When the first consonant cluster and vowel (being "bru") are reduplicated, then you have the word "brubrul," which means "to meet again."

Graedjoan Giantish Verbs: Tenses and Aspects

In Graedjoan Giantish, verbs are marked for both tense and aspect.

There are three tenses in Graedjoan Giantish: the nonpast, the simple past, and the imperfect past. Verbs do not have an infinitive form.

The nonpast is marked on verbs with a zero morpheme ("-∅"). The nonpast is used for all actions that are occurring in either the present or the future.

The simple past is marked with the affix "-va." The simple past is used for all actions that are occurring in the past.

The imperfect past is marked with the affix "-iz." The imperfect past is used for all actions that are occurring in the past but that are not considered complete by the speaker.

There are simple verbal aspects in Graedjoan Giantish: "the simple", the perfect, and the progressive.

"The simple" aspect is marked on verbs with a zero morpheme ("-∅"). Verbs that are not marked for the perfect, meaning that they have been completed, or that are not marked for the progressive, meaning that they are ongoing, are in "the simple."

The perfect is marked on verbs with the affix "-yrd." Verbs are marked for the perfect if they are viewed by the speaker as having been completed*.

*NOTE: The affix "-yrd" has an alternate form of "-dyrd" which appears when the affix is applied to a verb ending in a vowel.

-yrd --> -dyrd/V__

The progressive is marked with the affix "-guv." Verbs are marked for the progressive if they are viewed as ongoing by the speaker*.

*NOTE: The affix "-guv" has an alternate form of "-eguv" which appears when the affix is applied to a verb ending with the consonants "c" or "x."

-guv --> -eguv/C1__ {where C1 is "c" and "x"}

Graedjoan Giantish Pronouns

Graedjoan Giantish has six different pronouns. Pronouns in Graedjoan Giantish do not change based off of their syntactic or their semantic role in the sentence, as they instead adopt case markings. The pronouns of Graedjoan Giantish are:

Person	Singular	Plural
1	zo	zozo
2	dje	dede
3	dzja	dzadza

Graedjoan Giantish indicates reflexivity not through separate pronouns, but through affixes on the verb. The reflexive affixes of Graedjoan Giantish are:

Person	Singular	Plural
1	azo	azozo
2	adje	adede
3	adzja	adzadza

NOTE: The second person singular and the third person singular forms of the reflexive affix and pronoun are irregular. This is due to a sound change that occurred in the transition from Early Graedjoan Giantish, where short words ending with a "d" or "dz" and a front vowel had the "d" or "dz" palatalized. 

d, dz --> dj, dzj/__V[+front]#

Graedjoan Giantish Basic Intransitive Sentences 1

Here are some basic intransitive sentences in Graedjoan Giantish. In all of the examples used below, the sentences will be about the sun shining.

The sun shines.

ABS.sun light.VBZ.NPST

bezun wicax.

The sun is shining

ASB.sun light.VBZ.NPST.PROG

bezun wicaxeguv

The sun shone.

ABS.sun light.VBZ.PST.

bezun wicaxiva

The sun will shine

ABS.sun fated.NPST light.VBZ.NPST

bezun zol wicax

The sun has been shining

ABS.sun light.VBZ.PST.PROG

bezun wicaxivaguv.

The sun is shining again.

ABS.sun relight.VBZ.NPST.PROG

bezun wiwicaxeguv.

The sun will shine tomorrow.

ABS.sun fated.NPST light.VBZ.NPST INE.tomorrow

bezun zol wicax dzigwyrm

The sun shines brightly.

ABS.sun light.VBZ.NPST sun.ADJZ

bezun wicax zunjud.

The bright sun shines.

ABS.sun sun.ADJZ light.VBZ.NPST

bezun zunjud wicax.*

*However, this is redundant, as the sun is bright, and is considered bright alright, hence bright being derived from the word for sun. thus, you would likely just say “the sun shines.” A better example of what this sentence is trying to show, which is an intransitive sentence with the NP having an adjective, would the be following sentence:

The purple sun shines

ABS.sun purple light.VBZ.NPST

bezun balden wicax

The sun is rising now**

ABS.sun REFL.high.VBZ.NPST.PROG

bezun adzjadumboxeguv oiv.

**If you notice, the reflexive is used here. This is because, even though the sun is in the absolutive case due to the verb being intransitive, the sun is viewed as raising itself up, as opposed to a thing that happens to it. This is because the giants view the sun as acting on its own volition.

Mival, Waguled Cycov Balden, A Giant's Fable

Here is a giant fable, written originally in Giantish, and then translated into English.

mival, waguled cycov balden

bewagul angova, mival uvenaxiva, ce dzadyv gylcov balden.

baba uzg mumu cydza birraxiva viz dzaged,

idzh, oce wagygyval gax birraxiva dzaged.

uzg dzibove, dzadza gwaxiva dzaged evozurr uzg meconurr.

bemival mumax, idzh dza gax yrnva babaged uzg mumuged cydza,

ce mival birraxiva wagwagwax, uzg dza vodva avaled cydza dzadzarun.

uzg zhe bexon cydzadza gedzva,

bemival warniva dziindalorr

uzg bewagwagwax cydza warniva dzimjegunezlorr.

dzivo dzadzaged bwalva cem memezded gind,

loiv dzadza bolva dzadzaged zvadvadyrd bebezun mjeg

uzg evyn bolva, dzadza bwaviva dziwondulorr

dzivo dzadza dlinva indoxed uzg birred

uzg evyn juv, dzadza bwaviva dziindalorr

uzg vo, dzadza bizgava mivaled vodva avalun cydza dzadzarun

idzh, mival yrnva dzadzaged gax

ce gax dzadyv gylaval dzadzaged.

bedzadza adzadzagombva il bewabibirral

Indal yrn gax bax dzizilorrr, ce djedyv gylzilorr zol zunremax baxorred

Gloss:

fruit.DIM giant GEN.skin purple

ABS.giant borne.PST, fruit.DIM name.VBZ.PST because 3SG.POSS POSD.skin purple.

father.ERG CONJ mother.ERG GEN.3SG love.VBZ.PST great 3SG.ACC.

but other PL.child NEG love.VBZ.PST 3SG.ACC

CONJ 3PL.ERG INE.secret, injure.PST 3SG.ACC fire.INSTR CONJ club.INSTR.

ABS.fruit.DIM cry.PST, but 3SG.ERG NEG speak.PST father.ACC CONJ mother.ACC GEN.3SG

because fruit.DIM.ERG love.PAST PL.injuror, CONJ 3SG.ERG end.PST judgement.ACC GEN.3SG
3PL.DAT.

CONJ when ABS.all GEN.3PL die.PST

ABS.fruit.DIM arrive.PST INE.indalor

CONJ ABS.PL.injurer GEN.3SG arrive.PST INE.mjegunezlorr

INE.there 3PL.ACC stay.PST for PL.year.ACC many

until 3PL.ERG know.PAST 3PL.ACC do.PST.PERF PL.thing.DAT evil

CONJ after know.PST, 3PL.ERG go.PST INE.wondulorr

INE.there 3PL.ERG learn.PST good.NMZ.ACC CONJ love.ACC

CONJ after this, 3PL.ERG go.PST INE.indalorr

CONJ there, 3PL.ERG ask.PST fruit.DIM.ACC end.PST judgement.DAT GEN.3SG 3PL.DAT

however, fruit.DIM speak.PST 3PL.ACC NEG

because, NEG 3SG.PSS PSD.judgement 3PL.ACC

ABS.3PL REFL.embrace.PST like ABS.PL.friend.

indal.ERG say.NPST NEG hate.NPST INE.love-place because you.PSS PSD.love-place fated.NPST fade.NPST hate-place.ACC

Translation:

Mival, the Purple Giant

A giant was born, named Mival, because of his purple skin*.

His father and his mother loved him very much,

But the other children did not love him.

In secret, they injured him with fire and club.

Mival cried, but he did not tell his father and his mother,

Because Mival loved his attackers, and forgave them.

And when they all died,

Mival went to Indalorr,

And his attackers went to Mjegunezlorr.

There they stayed for many years,

Until they understood that they had done evil things.

And after they understood, they went to Wondulorr.

There, they learned goodness and love,

And after this, they went to Indalorr.

And there, they begged Mival to forgive them.

But Mival said no,

Because he did not judge them.

They embraced as friends.

Indal says not to hate in your heart**, because your heart will become a place of hate***

*This does not make sense in English, but “Mival” translates directly to “little fruit,” which could be purple.

**Heart translated directly into “love-place,” which makes more sense in the original Giantish.

***The direct translation would be “hate-place,” however, this does not conform to standard English.

The Creation of the World, the First Giants, the Betrayal, and the Coming of the Young Giants

The Creation of the World, the First Giants, the Betrayal, and the Coming of the Young Giants

In the beginning, there was Indal, the Great Mother, who lived alone in the waters of chaos. The waters filled her, and after a time, she gave birth the Great Mountain, known as Vizgul, the moon, Rem, the sun, Zun, and the stars. But Vizgul was made without anything on it. It was empty, devoid life or form. This saddened Indal, and she cried, her tears falling to the world. As they fell, the waters of chaos infused themselves with them, and as they hit the world, they created all of the mountains and valleys, the rivers and oceans, the plants and animals. This filled Indal with joy, as she was able to see her children thrive. However, with time, she grew tired of not being able to speak with anyone. She could not have discussions about life, or love, or the beauty of the world. There was no sentient life on Vizgul. Absent from this world were giantoids.

So, Indal decided to change this. She went down to Vizgul, and in a river valley, she took a mountain, and shrunk it down to the size of a giant. She shaped it to look like her, in her glorious form. But her child did not have any limbs, only a frame. She looked around her, thinking of what to do, and looked at a small tree. She took from it four branches, which she affixed to her child, creating arms and legs. She then took leaves from the tree, and created fingers and toes. Finally, fully formed, she kissed her child upon her brow, and poured her love into her, giving her life. Thus was how Wondul, the Good Daughter, was born.

Indal loved Wondul greatly, and they lived for a long time together on Vizgul. However, Wondul was unhappy. She loved her mother, but she did not have any brothers or sisters to play with or to talk to. After many years, she finally told her mother about her sadness. Indal told Wondul that she had not considered having more children, but she was at once filled with gaiety at the thought of having even more children in which to converse with and to love. So, Indal set to work, and created the first giants, the Indaled Cynoigyn. Chief among these first giants was Mjegunezyl.

The first giants lived for many years together, and they built a great civilization, with the Great Mother as their leader. However, ambition had rooted itself in the heart of Mjegunezyl. He grew envious of his mother and the power that she had. So he began to plot against her. He talked about all of the great things that he could bring to the world, and to the Indaled Cynoigyn if he had the power of Indal. Soon, he was able to win several other first giants to his side, known as the Mjegunezyled Cynoigyn and when he thought his power was enough, he moved to take power away from Indal.

Mjegunezyl and his followers came to the palace of Indal in the night, and while she was asleep, he killed her. The next morning, he declared himself Vizbaba, the Great Father. But save for his followers, his brothers and sisters rejected Mjegunezyl’s rule. Led by Wondul, those first giants still loyal to Indal fought back against the tyranny of the Vizbaba. This led to time of great strife, known as Vizgwax, or the Great Injury.

At the end of this time, all but Wondul and Mjegunezyl. Mjegunezyl had just slain the last of the free first giants, and had Wondul on the ground, and the mercy of his blade. Filled with cruelty and malice, he raped Wondul, filling her with his seed, and impregnating her. For the next nine months, Wondul lived as Mjegunezyl’s slave, until it came time for her to give birth. After a month of labor, Wondul gave birth to a hundred children, the first of the current giants, the Wagugul Gyval. During the final hours of her giving birth, Wondul knew that she would not live through the process, and thus, plotted to kill her brother. She waited for him to grab the last child, and as she pushed it out, she pushed a blade of stone that she had made in secret into the back of Mjegunezyl, killing him.

As both Mjegunezyl and Wondul left Vizgul, they arrived in the world after the world, Indalorr, where Indal awaited them. They stood before her, in Indalorr, and she cried before them. Indal told Mjegunezyl that he had done awful things, and asked him why he had been so evil. Mjegunezyl spat at her, and told her that it was her fault for making the world unequal. Taken aback, Indal split the world after the world in two, and cast Mjegunezyl, the Fallen Son, into the lower reaches, now known as Mjegunezlorr. She bound him there, and told him that his task was to take those who had strayed as he had, and to help them understand the wrongs that they had done. If he did this, then he would eventually be able to return to Indalorr.

Then, Indal turned to her daughter, Wondul. Again, she cried, embracing her daughter. She told her daughter how much she loved her, and how sorry she was that Wondul had to undergo the horrific things that Mjegunezyl did to her. In return for her devotion and goodness, Indal split Indalorr again, created another realm for Wondul, now known as Wondulorr. It would be Wondul’s to rule over for all of time. She was tasked by Indal to help those who had done wrong, who acknowledged their wrongdoing, and were wanting to make amends to do so, so that they might one day rejoin the Great Mother in Indalorr.

Back down on Vizgul, the Wagugul Gyval spread, given protection by Indal and Wondul. Unlike their first giant foremothers, the Wagugul Gyval did not have immortal lives. Still blessed with longevity, they were still fated a mortal existence. Those that were rightious, that were loving and good, were to rejoin Indal in the afterlife. Those who had done awful things, but wanted to redeem themselves would go to Wondul. And those who were wicked and held no remorse for their actions, those few would go to Mjegunezyl.

Thus is how the world was made, and what happens to us when we die.

Graedjoan Giantish Kinship Terms 1

Here are (some of) the kinship terms of Graedjoan Giantish:

baba - A Father

mumu -- A Mother

cel -- A Brother; A male first cousin.

muz -- A Sister; A female first cousin.

ica -- A grandmother

djav -- A  grandfather.

nim -- An aunt; A related woman of the same generation as the parents of the speaker.

girr -- An uncle; A related man of the same generation as the parents of the speaker.

vordz -- A non-first cousin of the same generation as the speaker.

viznim -- A great aunt; A genetically related woman of the same generation as the grandparents of the speaker.

vizgirr -- A great uncle; A related man of the same generation as the grandparents of the speaker.

bwoga -- A child; A pet*; A person, regardless of relationship status to the speaker, that is younger than the speaker, typically of a younger generation.

nevyr -- A son.

mizyr -- A daughter.

mizyral -- A granddaughter.

nevyral -- A grandson.

vordzal -- A related person of the generation after the speaker's generation that is not the child, niece, nor nephew of the speaker.

bwogal -- A niece; A nephew; The child of the speaker's siblings.

aldym -- A spouse.

uvale -- A sibling.

cunz -- A caretaker; A guardian.

bubirrzi -- A family. Literally, a collection of love.

*The term for child and pet are the same not because children are seen as pets, but because pets are seen as children.