Pøplish

Setting
Pøplish is language spoken by a poor tribe which is ruled by a despotic queen. There is a myth that the language was ordered by the queen and designed by the ancient ministry of language. The Pøplish people are very polite in a strange way. They respect each others and strangers, but they do not hesitate to give orders to strangers and beloved ones. In adition they like to sing and dance, to play games and to listen to music. Some might see a childish nuance in this, but their earnestness is rather fascinating.

Recent sound changes
There were some recent sound changes which reduced the phonetic inventory of the language.
 * ä [ɛ] -> e [ɛ] ; e.g. jä -> je
 * e [e] -> e [ɛ] ;
 * w [ʋ] -> v [v] ; e.g. wo -> vo

Diphthongs
ao [ɑo̯] oy [ɔʏ̯]

Syllabic Consonants
[l] and [r] can act as Vowels in some situations.

Alphabet
AB(C)DEFGHIJKLMNOØP(Q)RSTUV(W)XY(Z) ab(c)dfghijklmnoøp(q)rstuv(w)xy(z)

All letters are pronounced according to their IPA equivalents except for:

x [ks]; e [ɛ], o [ɔ], s [z]/[s]

The glottal stop [ʔ] is not written, but automatically pronounced before a word beginning with a vowel.

C, Q, W, Z are used only for foreign names.

Digraphs and Trigraphs:
ts [ts], tsh [tʃ], ao [ɑo̯], oy [ɔʏ̯]

Phonotactics
C: Any Consonant except for [l], [r], [v], [n] or [m]

W: Vowel or Diphthong

V: Vowel, [r̩] or [l̩]

L: [l], [r] or [v]

G: [l], [r], [v], [n] or [m]

(C)(L)W(G)(C)(V)(C)

So there are possibilities like:

CLWGCWC, CWCV, CLWC, WCVC, CW, WC, CWNP, CWCVC

but never:

WGCC, or CLWGCC

Grammar
Pøplish grammar is very analytic, although some compunds exist.

Tenses
Verbs are not conjugated in the "normal" way. Particles indicate the tenses:

"je" - past; e.g. "Ne je nol. " means: "I went. "

"jo" - present; e.g. "Alar jo tosh. " means: "The king sings"

"vo" - future; e.g. "Ak vo gram (ta ne). " means: "You will thank (me). "

The use of this particles is not mandatory.

Mood
A polite imperative mood is formed using reduplication:

"Nol-nol" means: "Please, go away" or "Good bye"

Some forms are slightly irregular; e.g.:

"gram" - to thank -> "gram-"gram" - I thank you.

"klun" - to be sorry -> "klun-klun" - I am sorry.

Negation
A verbs meaning is changed from positive to negative by inserting the particle "tship", e.g.:

"Ne fush ta ak" means: "I understand you"

"Ne tship fush ta ak" means: I don't understand you"

Voice
A possible substitution for the passive voice is formed with the 3rd person singular personal pronoun "trosh".

"Trosh je trao ta ne. " means: "I was found. " (lit: "He/She/It found me. ")

Nouns
Nouns are not declined.

Numerus
If necessary the plural can be indicated by the particle "suk", eg:

"alar suk" means: "The kings"

Sexus
If necessary the sexus can be indicated by the following particles.

"ma" - feminime; e.g. "ma alar" means: "the queen"

"pa" - masculine; e.g. "pa Alar" means:"the (male) king"

Cases
The object can be indicated by the particle "ta" meaning "to". e.g.

"Ne gram ta ak. " means: "I thank you. "

"Ne tship fush ta ak" means: "I don't understand you"

The genitive or possesive case can be indicated by the particle "fad" meaning "of" e.g.

"Ma alar fad ne. " meand " My queen" (lit: "The queen of me. ")

Compound nouns
Phonotacticly compunds are treated as three separate words. Pöplish uses two kinds of compunds:

Compounds of the first kind
These compounds are formed by the following scheme:

Agent/Verb - "ta" - Patient/Object; e.g.:

"Rø-ta-trale" means "Barbeque" (lit: Fire-to-meat.)

Compounds of the second kind
These compound are much less used and formed by the following scheme:

"Noun - "fad" - Attribut"; e.g.

"Pøpl-fad-alar" means "The kings people"

Pronouns
Pöplish pronouns are rarely used. Repetition is found much more often.

Adjectives and Adverbs
There are only very few Adjectives and Adverbs in Pøplish. An Adjective can change to an Adverb by changing it's position. Adjectives stand in front of the noun they modify, Adverbs always appear at the end of the sentence.

Syntax
The Pøplish syntax is vey strict: SV(dOiO). Adverbial modifiers always go at the end of the sentence.

Infinitive Clauses
There are two kinds of infinitive clauses. The direct one, e.g.:

"Ne raut tosh. " means "I want to sing" (lit: "I want sing. ")

and the indirect one, marked with "ta" e.g.:

"Ak je var ta shlipa. " means "You came to speak" (lit: "You was come to speak. ")

There is a slight difference in meaning. A direct infinitive clause does not state any specific relation between the verbs. An indirect infinitive clause states that the second verb is the purpose of the first verb.

Beginning of the Babel Text
Pøpl suk je shlipa vøk. Tum truk je var ta enoy, truk je trao ta pe plek dent plek "Shinear" tis truk je bola dent trosh. Truk shlipa ta truk: "Var-var,

Once all people spoke equally. When they came to the East, they found a flat landscape in the country "Shinear" and they settled down there. They spoke to each other:"Let's go ....