Ancient Tevvic

Ancient Tevvic
चैवांता॔ण (cēvạ̄tā́ṇa)
Pronunciation	[t͡ɕɛː.ʋəː.ˈtɑː.ɳɑ]
Created by	Melinoë
Date	May, 2026
Native to	Uttarakhand
Ethnicity	Tevvics
Era	Spoken from the 8th century to the mid 12th century AD, developed into Middle Tevvic by the mid 13th century AD.
Language family	Indo-European Para-Germanic ? Tevvic Ancient Tevvic
Early form	Proto-Chlesamnic
Writing system	Devanagari

Ancient Tevvic (Autonym: चैवांता॔ण (cēvạ̄tā́ṇa), /t͡ɕɛː.ʋəː.ˈtɑː.ɳɑ/) was a language spoken in northern India, largely around the modern state of Uttarakhand. It is seemingly a member of the Chlesamnic family, making it part of the so-called "Para-Germanic" branch of languages. Ancient Tevvic is immensely divergent, to the point it had become unintelligible to its closest relatives by at most 300 years after splitting from them. Being among the many colloquial languages spoken throughout India, Ancient Tevvic was considered a Prakrit, despite not being Indo-Aryan in the slightest, and though it would receive large influence from Sanskrit, much like the other languages of India, it would largely avoid Sanskritization.

Ancient Tevvic is the primary ancestor of the Tevvic branch of languages, which is comprised of a small group of relatively distantly related languages from across southeast Asia, largely focused on the Indian subcontinent.

History

Ancient Tevvic split off from its relatives by about 750AD, the peoples having begun migrating to India likely due to the Turkic migrations into the lands.

Development

• /ə/ > /i/
• /x/ > /h/
• /r/ > /ɹ~ɻ/
• /c, ɟ/ > /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/
• /wu/ > /u/
• /VjV, VwV/ > /V:/
• unstressed /i, u, ɑ/ > /ə/, leaving /ʲ, ʷ/ on following consonant, with the last turning consonants retroflex (doesn't affect approximants)
  • this palatal/labialization often affects the vowel and is then dropped
• /ə/ lost where new clusters are easy
• /f, v, θ, ð, x, ɣ/ > /pʰ, bʰ, tʰ, dʰ, kʰ, ɡʰ/ (/x/ only existed marginally within certain positions)
• diphthongs simplify
• /NC/ > /C:/ when of the same place, when not then place assimilation occurs, thus /nt/ > /t:/ but /mt/ > /nt/ (all the apicals are treated the same)
• coda nasals to nasalization where possible
• word final /s, ʂ, ʃ/ > /h/
• /ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ > /ɕ, ʑ, t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ/
• word final /Vh{ʲ,ʷ}/ > /V{ʲ,ʷ}h/
• /ĩ, ũ, ɛ̃, ɔ̃, ɑ̃, ə̃/ > /ɨ, ɨ, ə, ə, ə, ɑ/
• overlong vowels to plain long
• /w, hw/ > /ʋ, ʋ̥/
• /{rt,tr,rc,cr,rk,kr}, {rd,dr,rɟ,ɟr}, {rn,nr,rm,mr}, {rs,sr,rʃ,ʃr}, {rz,zr,rʒ,ʒr}/ > /ʈ, ɖ, ɳ, ʂ, ʐ/, /rk, kr/ only occurs for some areas
• coda geminates to /Cʰ/

Phonology

Vowels

This first table is the set of "primary" vowels. The stressed variants take an scute marking, thus "प॔" for [ˈpɑ].

independent	transliteration	IPA	dependent		Independent	transliteration	IPA	dependent
	a	[ɑ]				ā	[ɑː]
	i	[i]				ī	[iː]
	u	[u]				ū	[uː]
	e	[ɛ]				ē	[ɛː]
	ei	[e]				ēi	[eː]
	o	[ɔ]				ō	[ɔː]
	ou	[o]				ōu	[oː]

This second table is the set of "altered" vowels, containing the front rounds and central vowels. These repurpose the anusvara as a quality modifier, and their stressed variants take a grave marking in devanagari, rather than anusvara + acute, thus "प॓" for [ˈpə].

independent	transliteration	IPA	dependent		Independent	transliteration	IPA	dependent
	ạ	[ə]				ạ̄	[əː]
	ị	[y]				ị̄	[yː]
	ụ	[ɨ]				ụ̄	[ɨː]
	ẹ	[œ]				ẹ̄	[œː]
	ẹi	[ø]				ẹ̄i	[øː]

Consonants

Phonetics →	Occlusive								Nasal		Approximant		Fricative
Voicing →	voiceless				voiced								voiceless		voiced
Aspiration →	unaspirated		aspirated		unaspirated		aspirated		unaspirated		aspirated		unaspirated
Velar		ka [k]		kha [kʰ]		ga [ɡ]		gha [ɡʱ]						ha [h]
Palatal		ca [tɕ]		cha [tɕʰ]		ja [dʑ]		jha [dʑʱ]		ña [ɲ]		ya [j]		śa [ɕ]		źa [ʑ]
Retroflex		ṭa [ʈ]		ṭha [ʈʰ]		ḍa [ɖ]		ḍha [ɖʱ]		ṇa [ɳ]		ra [ɻ]		ṣa [ʂ]		ẓa [ʐ]
Dental		ta [t̪]		tha [t̪ʰ]		da [d̪]		dha [d̪ʱ]		na [n̪]		la [l]		sa [s]		za [z]
Labial		pa [p]		pha [pʰ]		ba [b]		bha [bʱ]		ma [m]		va [ʋ]

Morphology

All inflectable terms follow one of three stress patterns, acrostatic (initial stress), mesostatic (stressed ending), or kinetic. kinetic stress originally entailed a moving stress, where it was acrostatic in some forms, but mesostatic in others, this "moving" stress has been leveled out, but the phonological effects remain, as in मंह॔ः (mạháh) but मंग॔ः (mạgáh).

Nominals

Nominals decline based on roughly 4 categories, those being number, case, gender (adjectives), and possessor (nouns). Noun roots may be derived for different genders, often for a semantic change.

Nouns

Possessive endings

		singular	plural
1st		-मै ((-mē))	-अंः ((-ạh))
2nd		-तै ((-tē))	-ऑः ((-oh))
3rd	masc./neut.	-णंः ((-ṇạh))	-नैसां ((-nēsạ̄))
	fem.	-णंष्याः ((-nạsjāh))	-नीसां ((-nīsạ̄))

Masculines

a-stem

a-stem masculine nouns (acrostatic)

	उ॔ल्फंः (úlphạh, "wolf")		फ॔ह्रंः (pháhrạh, "riverbank")		[script needed]
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	उ॔ल्फंः (úlphạh)	उ॔ल्फॉः (úlphoh)	फ॔ह्रंः (pháhrạh)	फ॔ह्रॉः (pháhroh)	()	()
vocative	उ॔ल्फ् (úlph)	उ॔ल्फॉः (úlphoh)	फ॔ह्र् (pháhr)	फ॔ह्रॉः (pháhroh)	()	()
accusative	उ॔ल्फ (úlpha)	उ॔ल्फः (úlphah)	फ॔ह्र (pháhra)	फ॔ह्रः (pháhrah)	()	()
allative	उ॔ल्फौर् (úlphōr)	उ॔ल्फह्र्(úlphahr)	फ॔ह्रौर् (pháhrōr)	फ॔ह्रह्र् (pháhrahr)	()	()
genitive	उ॔ल्फंः (úlphạh)	उ॔ल्फां (úlphạ̄)	फ॔ह्रंः (pháhrạh)	फ॔ह्रां (pháhrạ̄h)	()	()
ablative	उ॔ल्फॅच् (úlphec)	उ॔ल्फः (úlphah)	फ॔ह्रॅच् (pháhrec)	फ॔ह्रः (pháhrah)	()	()
dative	उ॔ल्फै (úlphē)	उ॔ल्फैसॉ (úlphēso)	फ॔ह्रै (pháhrē)	फ॔ह्रैसॉ (pháhrēso)	()	()
instrumental	उ॔ल्फॉ (úlpho)	उ॔ल्फंः (úlphạh)	फ॔ह्रॉ (pháhro)	फ॔ह्रंः (pháhrạh)	()	()

Texts

UDHR Article 1

Original (English)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Cold Winter is Near

Tevvotanva		English
		The cold winter is near, a blizzard will come.
		Come in my warm house, o' friend.
		Welcome! Come here, sing and dance, eat and drink!
		That is my plan.
		We have water, beer, and fresh milk from the cow.
		Oh, and warm soup!

Vocabulary

Phrasebook

Greetings
Tevvotanva	English	Usage notes
	welcome
	good morning	must agree for gender
	good evening
	good day, (formal) hello
	farewell, goodbye
	hello, hi	casual
	(good)bye

Introductions
Tevvotanva	English
	what is your name?
	my name is...
	how are you?
	I am [adj], and you?
	where are you from?
	I am from...

Numerals

1	ऐ॔णंः (ḗṇạh)
2	थ्वॅ॔ः (thvéh)
3	ठा॔ः (ṭhā́h)
4	ष्ट्वा॔र् (ṣṭvā́r)
5
6	स॔ख्श् (sákhś)
7	[Term?]
8	[Term?]
9	[Term?]
10	[Term?]
11	[Term?]
12	[Term?]

Colors

Colors in Ancient Tevvic · र॑न्गंः (rángạh) (layout · text)

लौग्झ़ः॑ (lōgźáh), फ्ले॑कंः (phlḗikạh)	फी॑मंः (phī́mạh), फ्रु॑णंः (phrúṇạh), मॉश्ग्वः॑ (mośgváh), फ्रौध्धॉ॑णंः (phrōdhdhóṇạh); अ॑स्काथंः (áskāthạh)	स्व॑र्ठंः (svárṭhạh)
रौधः॑ (rōdháh), ऑण्धॉ॑णंः (oṇdhóṇạh)	तुंः॑ (tụ́h); अंणः॑ (ạṇáh)	फ्लॅवः॑ (phleváh), फै॑तातंः (phḗtātạh)
ह्रॉनिः॑ (hroníh)	षंल्ग्वः॑ (ṣạlgváh), ह॑रितः (háritah)	नी॑ल (nī́la)
अ॑माथंः (ámāthạh)	हाज़्वः॑ (hāzváh)	मॅ॑चक (mécaka)
शौ॑ण (śṓṇa)	शौ॑ण (śṓṇa)	पाटलः॑ (pāṭaláh)

Lexical comparison

Leipzig-Jakarta

Leipzig-Jakarta List
Rank	English	Proto-?	Tevvotanva
1	fire		[Term?]
2	nose		[Term?]
3	to go		[Term?]
4	water		[Term?]
5	mouth (body) (river)		[Term?]
6	tongue		[Term?]
7	blood		[Term?]
8	bone		[Term?]
9	2sg pronoun (you)		[Term?]
10	root		[Term?]
11	to come (move)		[Term?]
12	breast		[Term?]
13	rain		[Term?]
14	1sg pronoun (I)		[Term?]
15	name		[Term?]
16	louse (Phthirapteron)		[Term?]
17	wing		[Term?]
18	flesh/meat		[Term?]
19	arm/hand		[Term?]
20	fly (Dipteron)		[Term?]
21	night (time)		[Term?]
22	ear		[Term?]
23	neck		[Term?]
24	far (prep.)		[Term?]
25	to do/make		[Term?]
26	house/structure		[Term?]
27	stone/rock (singular)		[Term?]
28	bitter		[Term?]
29	to say		[Term?]
30	tooth		[Term?]
31	hair		[Term?]
32	big		[Term?]
33	one (number)		[Term?]
34	who?		[Term?]
35	3sg pronoun (they) (m) (f) (n)		[Term?]
36	to hit/beat		[Term?]
37	leg/foot		[Term?]
38	horn		[Term?]
39	this (pron.)		[Term?]
40	fish		[Term?]
41	yesterday		[Term?]
42	to drink		[Term?]
43	black (color)		[Term?]
44	navel		[Term?]
45	to stand		[Term?]
46	to bite		[Term?]
47	back (body)		[Term?]
48	wind		[Term?]
49	smoke (substance)		[Term?]
50	what?		[Term?]
51	child (kin term)		[Term?]
52	egg		[Term?]
53	to give		[Term?]
54	new (adj.)		[Term?]
55	to burn (intr.)		[Term?]
56	not (adj./adv.)		[Term?]
57	good	[Term?]
58	to know		[Term?]
59	knee		[Term?]
60	sand		[Term?]
61	to laugh		[Term?]
62	to hear		[Term?]
63	soil		[Term?]
64	leaf		[Term?]
65	red (color)		[Term?]
66	liver (organ)		[Term?]
67	to hide		[Term?]
68	skin/hide (animal) (general)		[Term?]
69	to suck		[Term?]
70	to carry		[Term?]
71	ant (Formid)		[Term?]
72	heavy		[Term?]
73	to take		[Term?]
74	old		[Term?]
75	to eat		[Term?]
76	thigh		[Term?]
77	thick		[Term?]
78	long (spacially)		[Term?]
79	to blow		[Term?]
80	wood		[Term?]
81	to run		[Term?]
82	to fall		[Term?]
83	eye (body-part)		[Term?]
84	ash		[Term?]
85	tail		[Term?]
86	dog		[Term?]
87	to cry/weep		[Term?]
88	to tie		[Term?]
89	to see		[Term?]
90	sweet		[Term?]
91	rope		[Term?]
92	shade/shadow		[Term?]
93	bird		[Term?]
94	salt		[Term?]
95	small		[Term?]
96	wide		[Term?]
97	star		[Term?]
98	in		[Term?]
99	hard (materially)		[Term?]
100	to crush/grind		[Term?]

See also

• Ancient Tevvic dictionary