Ruskan Language

Ruskan, also known asNeo-Menaphite, is a revived language derived from the tongue of the ancient people of pre-Huitcan western Ummarnu, particularly surrounding what is now the Gulf of Shelby. It is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the Lordship of Ruska, second only to Traveller's Tongue, and serves as a minority language in nearby regions.

Letters
There are 44 letters in the Ruskan alphabet, although some are considered "unused" in the primarily dialect from Menaphos (Ummarnu). Acute accents may also be placed on these letters, but they are not considered separate characters. The characters are represented in their own alphabet, but within this wiki will be spelled using the Latin script, except in images of the conlang, which use the Ruskan alphabet.

Phonemes and Characters
Letters in the Ruskan language typically use the same structure as the 44 Phonemes table, which English uses, except that "Ī" can make the "Ē" sound in addition to its own, depending on its usage (Ī is more common in the Menaphite dialect, whereas Ē is more common in the northern dialects). "Y" does not (usually) make the "Ē" or "Ī" sound, only its own consonant sound (although this is occasionally broken). Notice: There are no symbols for the letters C, Q, or X. Instead, (when referring to certain proper nouns from other languages that must be transcribed), they are spelled as K/S, KW/KY, and KS. Double letters are extremely uncommon, if even used at all.

Ruskan words are pronounced as written and spelled as they sound. This means that the confusing spelling rules used in English are not included (such as "ee", "a_e", and the infamous "I before E, except after C..." Except when your for ei gn n ei ghbor K ei th rec ei ves ei ght counterf ei t b ei ge sl ei ghs from f ei sty caff ei nated w ei ghtlifters... w ei rd.)

Names and proper nouns from other languages are sometimes difficult to transcribe into Ruskan, such as if the word contains a letter that doesn't exist in Ruskan, or if the letters are formed in such a way that does not make sense with Ruskan spelling or grammar. Example: Froby Von Aqule would be Frōbī Von Akyūl in Menaphite, but northerners might tend to call him Frobē Von Akyōōl, as the o/ō sound is often confused in his first name, and the "Ī" and "Ē" sounds are used differently.

For possessive terms, instead of adding an -'s at the end of a name or pronoun such as in English, it would be "[noun] of [person]" (e.g. "Vívlī tóū Belōrin). There is also no pronoun differences such as He VS Him, or She VS Her, as well as any other pronoun. He and Him would be the same word, etc.

Present tense verbs are used differently than English. This means that the terms "(to) chase", "chases", and "chasing" are all the same word, as with other verbs. For past tense verbs, there is a suffix: "-ōt". As opposed to saying "will chase", future tense words have their own suffix: "-yī". Because of the differences of present tense, the word for "is" (and "are") would be used less common. For example, "The person is throwing the ball" would be replaced with "The person throws the ball". However, "The ball is on the table" would remain the same.

Prefixes and Suffixes
When a word is pluralized, it ends with the suffix "-āe" similarly to Latin. Another example is in the form of "pertaining to ___" in which case it will end with "-īl". "One who ___s" is "-ōr". For adverbs, such as "quickly", "annoyingly", "always", and "here", one is to add the suffix "-ūí" to the base words (if it has one). If there is no base word (such as the last two examples), it is typically its own word.