User:The Glossophile/Currently unnamed

Setting
This language (currently unnamed) is a simple (grammatically and phonetically) language with a strong "polynesian" flavour in it.

A proper name for it will be given in the near future. No setting has been given yet either. More of it is given below.

Consonants
A simple system of nine consonants. Two of them are semi-vowels /w ~ y/.

The palatal approximant /j/ is written as [y].

Vowels
Yet another simple system of five vowels. Each one of them has a short and a long counterpart.

The long vowels /i:/, /e:/, /a:/, /o:/ and /u:/ are written as [ī], [ē], [ā], [ō] and [ū] respectively.

Diphthongs
Generally speaking, every diphthong is possible in this language as long as both of its vowels are short (never one or both of them long) and never duplicated. Below there are all the possible diphthongs (falling [f] and rising [r]).

It should be noted that diphthongs work as actual diphthongs only when they are placed in the second-to-the-last (penultimate) syllable. When a diphthong is placed anywhere else in a word it no longer acts as a diphthong, but as two different and unattached vowels forming two different and unattached syllables.

For example, the word moana ('mountain') is pronounced [mo'a.na], having a rising diphthong (as the diphtong /oa/ always is), but the word moa ('mouth') is pronounced ['mo.a], preserving its primary stress, acting as a two-vowel word (and not a one-diphthong word) since its "loose diphthong" is not placed in the penultimate syllable. Additional examples of words establish this rule: nieta ('stoat/ermine') is pronounced [ni'e.ta] or ['nje.ta], while nie ('human nail') is pronounced ['ni.e] and tuoto ('idiot/fool') is pronounced [tu'o.to] or ['two.to], but tuo ('to punch') is pronounced ['tu.o].

Phonotactics
The structure of the syllable in this language is (C)V(V). At least one vowel per syllable is obligatory (either it is short or long). The maximum number of vowels per syllable is two, as long as these two vowels form a diphthong (see above). If they don't form a diphthong, then they are counted as two syllables, not one.

Any vowel can form a syllable and it can be preceded by any possible consonant, as long as it is only one. In this language there isn't any possibility of a word (or simple syllable) formation of two (or more) consonants side by side. They have to be divided by at least one vowel. The number of vowels that can be put together to form a word is basically infinite, though the longest words with continuous vowels never happen to have more than five of them (short or long).

The following four syllables are the only ones never allowed in this language: yi and yī, wu and wū.

Stress
Word stress is very predictable in this language. The penultimate syllable is the stressed one. When a diphthong is placed in the penultimate syllable, it is stressed accordingly, either it is a falling or a rising diphthong, with the stress still on the penultimate. Long vowels don't affect the stressing rule whatsoever.

For example, the word kāma ('father') is pronounced ['ka:ma] and the word kōmao ('talk with/chat') is pronounced [ko:'ma.o].

Secondary stress (in words with more than three syllables) is less predictable, but not quite important.

Grammar
This language is an isolating (analytic) type language, with some (relatively small, but useful) signs of inflection. Most grammatical meanings of words are marked by adjacent particles, placed either before (preceding) or after (following) the word they mark.

Morphosyntactically speaking, it is a nominative-accusative language (accusative alignment).

Syntax
This language has a predominant SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) word order, but it can be quite variable, with SOV or VSO used sometimes. Within the noun phrase, adjectives predece the noun (for example, lao pua ['la.o 'pu.a], red flower), possessors precede the noun and the adjective (for example, mo lao pua [mo 'la.o 'pu.a], my red flower) and articles precede the noun and the adjective, too (for example, o lao pua [o 'la.o 'pu.a], the red flower). An article can never be used alongside a possessor. An article marks number and case. So does a possessor, which means there is no need (and it is grammatically wrong) to use an article with a possessor (for example, o mo lao pua [o mo 'la.o 'pu.a], the my red flower - wrong!).

This language is a non-pro-drop language.

Articles
In this language the noun does not change its form to determine the number (singular and plural). The article is the one changing to do this job. It also changes its form to determine the noun's case. There are two types of articles: definite and indefinite.