Elene

Elene (Sprottu Elene /sprotːu eleɲe/) is a language isolate. It is written in Latin script, of which it uses 24 characters; Ń, Õ, and Ÿ are regarded as separate letters. Verbs are conjugated according to person, tense, and number. Nouns are declined according to number.

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General information
In a real world setting, Elene would be spoken in northwestern Russia and around the southeastern Baltic coast. Liguistically, some of the lexicon could be tied to other languages but the proposal is too weak to relate it to any existing language family.

Its phoneme inventory is reminiscent to those of Romance languages, following similar allophonic structure as well. Syntax is also similar, along with conjugation, but the usage of grammatical particles to express some tenses and emotions differ from many Indo-European languages.

Allophones
Before e, i, or j some consonants change:


 * t→[t͡ʃ]
 * d→[d͡ʒ]
 * n→[ɲ]
 * s→[ʃ]
 * h→[ç]

Before a velar consonant, n becomes ŋ:
 * ng→[ŋ]
 * ngg→[ŋgː]
 * nq→[ŋk]
 * nh→[ŋk͡x]

Phonotactics
Consonants /m, p, b, n, t, d, s, l, ɫ, ʃ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, ɲ, ŋ, k, g/ can be geminated. This is achieved orthographically by doubling the consonant grapheme, or in the case of the nasals and lateral approximates, preceding it by the letter v.

Words can begin with any consonant besides the glottal stop /ʔ/. Syllables can begin with two-consonant clusters so long as they (a) begin /s/, or (b) end with /r/; if they follow both of said conditions, a cluster can feature a maximum of three consonants. In addition, any consonant following /s/ in a cluster must be voiceless. Nasals and approximates cannot precede /r/ within a cluster. For example: /sn/-, /kr/-, and /skr/- are all acceptable clusters, while /ks/-, /sd/-, and /snr/- are unnacceptable.

Native words can end in /m, p, b, n, t, d, s, r, ɫ, ʝ, ŋ, k, g/. Consonant clusters are not permitted in syllable codas.

Vowels can exist in any combination of up to three morae, so long as no two identical vowel sounds occure adjacent to one another. For example, /ae/, /aoɪ̯/, and /uɤe/ are all acceptable clusters, while /aa/, /uue/, and /iiː/ are not. Diphthongs and long vowels count as two morae. Vowels /e/, /i/, and /o/ can be lengthened—written as ei, ÿi, and ou, respectively.

Unit 1

 * 1.1
 * 1.2
 * 1.3
 * 1.4

Alphabet
A consonant is considered wide if it is followed by a, o, õ, u or ÿ. Consonants followed by e, i, or j are considered narrow. If a letter only fills one box, it maintains that pronunciation for both instances.
 * Letters C, K, W, X, and Z are not used in native words, but are used in loan words, names, etc.

Conjugation
Verbs are only conjugated according to person and basic tense (past, present, future). The other tenses are formed by use of auxiliary verbs. All infinitives, the unconjugated verbs, get grave diacritics and end in à, è, ì, ò, ȍ, or ù. Conjugated verbs get a circumflex diacritic.

- à
Present Past Future

- è
Present Past Future

- ì
Present Past Future

- ò
Present Past Future

- ȍ
Present Past Future

- ù
Present Past Future

È: to be
Present Past Future

Hjuè: to have
Present Past Future

Anù: to be able
Present Past Future

Yè: to go
Present Past Future

Syntax
The usual syntax of Elene is SVs(O). Conjugated verbs, however, show person so that the subject is implied. Both SVs(O) and Vs(O) are allowed.

Number
Plurals in Elene are expressed depending on noun endings.

Ending in a Vowel

 * a, o, õ, or u.
 * -v
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * style="text-align:center;"|vuttja
 * style="text-align:center;"|vuttjav
 * style="text-align:center;"|bird
 * style="text-align:center;"|birds
 * }
 * Some proper nouns such as names or demonyms can end in i or e.
 * -'v
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * i armeni
 * iv armeni'v
 * an armenian
 * some armenians
 * }
 * }

Ending in a Consonant
Singlular nouns can also end in all consonants, except for f, h, j, n, ń, or v. What makes the words plural depends on endings:
 * b, d, g, y, ÿ
 * -ev is added
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * style="text-align:center;"|e ÿ
 * style="text-align:center;"|e ÿev
 * style="text-align:center;"|egg
 * style="text-align:center;"|eggs
 * }
 * l, r
 * -ov
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * style="text-align:center;"|toral
 * style="text-align:center;"|toralov
 * style="text-align:center;"|back
 * style="text-align:center;"|backs
 * }
 * m
 * ń is placed in front of the m
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * style="text-align:center;"|asastam
 * style="text-align:center;"|asasta ńm
 * style="text-align:center;"|stick
 * style="text-align:center;"|sticks
 * }
 * ng
 * ń replaces the n
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * style="text-align:center;"|lõng
 * style="text-align:center;"|lõńg
 * style="text-align:center;"|ash
 * style="text-align:center;"|ashes
 * }
 * p, q, s, t
 * -jav
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table" style="width: 500px;"


 * style="text-align:center;"|omboit
 * style="text-align:center;"|omboitjav
 * style="text-align:center;"|belly
 * style="text-align:center;"|bellies
 * }
 * If a noun, in loan words or proper nouns such as names, ends in f, h, j, n, ń, or v
 * -'ov
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table article-table-selected" style="width: 500px;"
 * {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table article-table-selected" style="width: 500px;"


 * e iv
 * e iv'ov
 * the eve
 * the eves
 * }
 * }

Questions
Syntax does not change if a sentence becomes interrogative. The distiguishing features are:
 * Rising pitch on the main verb.
 * The diacritic on the first conjugated verb is changed to an acute (or double acute in the case of ỗ).

Particles
In Elene, separate words, or particles, are added to a sentence to express additional grammatical information.

Tense
Tense particles follow a verb to add a tense that can't be conjugated. These get the same diacritics as verbs, however they remain unconjugated and can end in consonants. They follow the verb/verb phrase that they modify.

Emotion
To emphasize the emotion the subject is feeling, particles are sometimes used in informal and archaic speech and writings. These are usually used at the end of a sentence or phrase. These get the cedilla (¸) diacritic. In modern usage, the cedilla can be used to express emotion in informal writing and speech.

Vocabulary
Some words can double as verbs.

Example text
In a real world setting, Elene would be spoken in northwestern Russia and around the southeastern Baltic coast. Liguistically, some of the lexicon could be tied to other languages but the proposal is too weak to relate it to any existing language family.

On i fasse sqotjo lata, Elene õssỗus è falè dà on njovese Rossja ol gaula e sjoese Balte soqta. Sprotsa o, iv o e hortu anûase è toltimivnà on metten sprottuv vet e haltava ês mette vose ula toltausao on uam elemen yia o sprottu.

Its phoneme inventory is reminiscent to those of Romance languages, following similar allophonic structure as well. Syntax is also similar, along with conjugation, but the usage of grammatical particles to express some tenses and emotions differ from many Indo-European languages.

Sai baga o fonema ês toltue o nav o sprottuv o Romantja, sonmỗus lȍn toltu futiq o alofona mette. Sai sintaqsa ês mette toltai, mette ne vamanattasao, vet e soma o usubbav ula fottusao iv olosav ol mautalov sellanêus ula mette sprottuv o Indi-Oropi.