Alternian... 2!

A fan-conlang (fanlang?) of questionable quality, based on whatever the standard(?) language of Alternia from Andrew Hussie's Homestuck may or may not be. Now undergoing significant revisions! (Again.)

Obviously, I do not own Homestuck or Hiveswap. This is a transformative work, done purely for fun.

The Alternian script used here is from Hiveswap, made by Hussie and What Pumpkin, and the font itself was compiled by OrangeyPeels on DeviantArt. The alphabet belongs to Hiveswap/What Pumpkin and Hussie, not me. Further information can be found on the "Credits" page via the sidebar.

Phonology

Vowels: a ɛ e i ə u o
Dipthongs: aɪ
Consonants: r k t z ʒ s m l g f b p n d v h ħ j ʒ* ʃ* ŋ* x*
(Sounds marked with an asterisk are allophones of other sounds.)

Syllable structure: mostly (C(C))V(C), but a bit more limited. Still hashing it out.

Some common/general rules:
/n/ becomes /ŋ/ before /k/ and /g/.
/s/ becomes /ʒ/ before /m/ and /ʃ/ before /k/.
/aɪ/ cannot be combined with other dipthongs.
/f/ following /m/ usually becomes /p/.
A /r/ surrounded by only vowels sometimes becomes an /x/.
A final /t/ followed by an /r/ sometimes becomes a /tʃ/.
A final /ri/ sometimes becomes /əori/.
A doubled /k/ or /t/ usually becomes a single /g/ or /d/, respectively.
/o/ sometimes turns unvoiced consonants after into into voiced consonants (ex. /ot/ -> /od/).
/ħ/ and /ʒ/ are rarer sounds, limited mostly to names, loanwords, and particularly archaic terms.

Troll Alphabet

(If this isn't showing up for you as Hiveswap troll script, there's a problem, and this page won't be nearly as fun.)

a b ch d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v x y z

Alternian	a	b	ch	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	k	l	m	n	o
IPA	a, ə	b	tʃ	d	ɛ	f	g	h	i, ə	ʒ	k	l	m	n	o
Romanization	a	b	ch	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	k	l	m	n	o

Alternian	p	r	s	t	u	v	x	y	z	qu	hh
IPA	p	r	s	t, tʃ	u	v	z, ks	j, aɪ	z	kw	ħ
Romanization	p	r	s	t	u	v	x	y	z	qu	hh

Doubled letters are also meaningful. Normally they represent consonant gemination (making a consonant longer than normal), with two notable exceptions. One, "hh" (/ħ/), is indicated above. The other, "ee", is pronounced as /iː/.

Orthography

tba

Grammar and Syntax

Basics

Alternian is agglutinative and heavy on prefixes. Descriptors and adjectives both precede their nouns. Word order is typically SOV, but flips to VOS for binary (yes/no) questions.

It has four noun classes: low (or "warm"), high (or "cool"), neutral (or "green"), and wild. It also has four-ish cases (nominative, accusative, dative/lative, genitive/ablative), marked by prepositional particles which agree with the noun's class (with the exception of pronouns, which are classes by implicit status -- blood caste, the speaker's opinion, etc.)

Verbs conjugate by tense (past, present, future), number (singular versus plural), and five different registers of formality: honorific, humble, formal, informal, and intimate.

Verb Conjugation

Conjugation of verbs is fairly complex, involving tense, subject or actor noun class, and level of familiarity/formality.

Alternian has five commonly used registers of formality/intimacy:

• Honorific: used to respectfully describe actions of individuals significantly higher caste than the speaker
• Humble: used to describe the speaker's own actions or actions of other lower-caste participants when addressing those of notably higher caste
• Formal or "default": used formally when addressing mixed-caste groups or those of unknown caste, as well as between individuals with little or no caste disparity
• Informal or "plain": used in casual contexts, particularly among frenemies, or by high-caste speakers to low-caste listeners
• Intimate or "close casual": used primarily between quandrantmates, or sometimes other very close individuals.

For convenience of fitting on the page, conjugation has been split across three tables by tense. It was either that, or noun class/negativity. Tables are hard to edit. :sobs:

Past Tense

Register	Noun Class (or Negation)
	Low	High	Neg.
Honorific	nya-	makya-	(tom)vekya-
Humble	nika-	maka-	tomveka-
Formal	nik-	mak-	(tom)vek-
Informal	ny-	ma-	(tom)v(e)-
Intimate	ne-	ne-	(t)v(e)-

Present Tense

Register	Noun Class (or Negation)
	Low	High	Neg.
Honorific	nya-(...)-a*	makya-(...)-a	vekya-(...)-a
Humble	sam-	simak-	sivek-
Formal	-a	mak-(...)-a	vek-(...)-a
Informal	-a	-a	v(e)-(...)-a
Intimate	-	-	v(e)-

*Instead of an affix, /a/ replaces the final vowel of the verb.

Future Tense

Register	Noun Class (or Negation)
	Low	High	Neg.
Honorific	dya-	takya-	vekya-
Humble	dima-	timak-	veka-
Formal	dim-	tak-	vek-
Informal	dy-	ta-	v(e)-
Intimate	te-	te-	v(e)-

Vocabulary

Particles

CLASS	Low	High	Neutral	Wild
Nominative	sa	va	ta
Accusative	sum	vo	to
Dative	xi	vi	ti	il
Genitive	xa	a		o

Pronouns

Alternian has a large collection of personal pronouns with varying implications, not entirely unlike, say, Japanese or Thai.

meaning
I (very humble)
I (generic, usually a safe bet)
I (casual, somewhat feminine)
I (casual)
I (very casual, intimate register)
I (arrogant, high-status)
I (formal, higher-status)

you (honorific)
you (respectful, generic)
you (casual)
you (casual, crude)
you (intimate, usually reserved for quadrants)

he (formal)
he (informal)
she (respectful, implies danger)
she (formal)
she (informal)
he/she/they (unfamiliar, dangerous)
he/she/they (formal)
he/she/they (familiar, friendly)
he/she/they (informal)

it

this (one)
that (one)
that (one) over there

who
what
why

Nouns

All nouns pluralize with the prefix /va/ or /vat/, added to the head/root word.

For example:

/uspe/ (shirt) --> /vatuspe/ (shirts)
/karo/ (beast) --> /vakaro/ (beasts)
/miakaro/ (meowbeast) --> /miavakaro/ (meowbeasts)

Low/Warm

thing, tool
temperature, heat
refrigerator ("thermal hull")
thief (common, low)
coffee (beans)
friend*
beast, animal
name
bone
hatred (platonic)
hatred (romantic)
wheel (archaic), circle
friend, hatefriend*
bicycle
bottom, backside
woofbeast, dog
day
sun
end, back, after
friendship (relationship)
friend* (most literal English translation)
cartilage, gristle
fire, storm, cataclysm
wind
storm, windstorm
psychic, psionic (troll)
fat
room, space, "block"
tube, chute
house, hive
vessel, container, cooking pan
mask
rope
cloth, shirt

High/Cool

person, enemy, friend* (rarely)
device, machine
troll (species)
Alternia ("troll planet")
strength, (physical) power
pain
rage, wrath
leg, frond (of a plant)
fish (animal)
poem
moon
sea (archaic)
seadweller
pirate
night
mirror
deity, god (non-specific)**
a period of time, life (a person's past)
beginning, front, future
thief (noble, implies cleverness, trickery)
vehicle

Neutral/Green

organ, brain
wriggler (juvenile troll)
worth, value
coin
Caegar (traditional Alternian currency)
cloak, hood
mother***
leaf
cat (meowbeast)
hand, foot
stone
head
horn
capacity, ability
planet, world
grub, livestock animal (generic)
language
tube, sphincter, throat

Wild

fear
caretaker beast, guardian
mother, matron
(the) north
game
nub, stump, stub
protrusion, feeler
feeling, emotion
(the) south
troll (person)
archaic form of tirol
ally
thing (generic)

* The words for things like "enemy" or "friend" in Alternian are... complex. Any troll who isn't a quadrant or extremely close (and indeed, even those who are) can be classified as "enemy" due to Alternia's constantly hostile social scene. The terms often translated as "friend" and/or "enemy" identify connections to other trolls not by positive or negative relationship, but by familiarity and attachment. In a society rife with hate-romance and rule by intimidation, the strength of connection is considered more important than whether or not the other party means one well -- assumption is that any relationship could easily flip to hostile, under the right circumstances.

Additionally, and tying slightly into the psychology behind kismessitude: a personally known enemy is considered a very different kind of dangerous than an unknown one. While considering it safer is not strictly accurate, it is often seen more favorably, leading to a tendency to translate known enemy terms as more positive than unknown ones. Thus "akyon ho muxa" (my enemy) becomes a descriptor for someone probably (but not guaranteed!) more friendly -- this is your enemy in particular, one you know and can deal with, but "sotan akyo" (that enemy over there) becoming a term for a more potentially threatening individual -- a distant enemy, less easily identified and known.

Basically, troll relationship terms run a very different set of priorities, and so there are a number of troll words encompassing various degrees of familiarity, tolerance, wariness, and percieved threat, many of which translate as "friend" as easily as they do "enemy".

/end elaborate worldbuilding section

** This word (jegok) is actually an old loanword, now used primarily for obscenities, metaphor, and general reference to higher powers. Alternian culture is largely secular in the current era -- religion tends to be restricted to small movements and cults, most notable the indigo-caste clown cults. Most trolls consider the two concepts synonymous.

Verbs

to construct, to assemble
to mock, to imitate
to feel neutral toward
to copulate (for mammals, obscene)
to pick over, to examine
to meet
to have (a trait), to possess (something)
to copulate (for trolls)
to demand
to arrive
to search
to argue
to like, to be comfortable around
to sleep
to touch, to sense
to say
to blow (on), to push (for inanimate actor)
to wear (under something, or closely fitted)
to cause
to hate
to come
to use
to stab, to cut (with the point of a blade)
to sell, to trade away
to give (a gift)
to cut up, to divide, to split
to call out, to scream
to be fond of, to pity
to die
to be
to buy, to trade for (something)
to kill
to speak (generic)
to wear (outer layer, or loosely)
to craft, to produce
to be lively, to be in good health
to give (something), to surrender
to do
to speak (with)
to dwell, to live (in)
to see, to observe, to pay attention to
to cut (with a flat cutting blade)
to strike, to stab
to fight
to agree, to accept
to watch
to imagine, to picture
to dislike but tolerate
to know (of), to speak (a language)
to make, to cook
to run
to write
to travel (a long distance)
to increase
to follow
to steal, to rob
to go
to be greater than (comparator)
to remove, to doff
to be related to, to be associated with
to eat

Verb Modifiers

(prefix indicating a gerund)
(prefix for passive voice) (uncommon)
(prefix for continuous action)
(prefix for perfect tense, used like 'yet')

Adjectives

Adjectives are negated with prefix /vek/. Verbs can become adjectives/modifiers by conjugating the final /i/ as /ot/. Nouns can be adjective-ified by the verb /di/ (to possess a trait or quality) or /yi/ (relating to.)

General

whole, complete
small
true, real
big, great
narrow, closed (space or opening), cramped (space)
all
broad, open (space or opening)

Colors (vater)

color
red (usually dark); warm
brown, orange
yellow
light/yellow green
mid-green/"olive"
jade
teal
cerulean, greener blue (from /xa iquv/, "blue (low)")
indigo, purpler blue (from /kraro iquv/, "true blue")
purple
violet, "royal purple" (from /harum ter/ "sea color"); cold
pink (tyrian)
rust (from /ta nivrot ter/, "metal decay color")
yellow-green (spectrum)
green (generic)
blue (generic)

Adverbs

very, extremely
already
eventually, at last
probably
ideally, perhaps, if (one is) lucky
only

Conjunctions, Etc

but, however
with, at (for high or neutral nouns)
with, at (for low or wild nouns)
and then
and
about

Interjections, Etc.

hey, oy

Numbers

one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten

Translations

Currently getting their own page I guess?

Bonus

Because I felt like it, I'm trying out some different homebrewed Alternian script fonts. You can see the test page here.