Konai lingua

Consonants

 * Phonemes marked by asterisk (/ɸ, ʑ, ɣ/) are marginal. Generally they do not occur in native Konai words.
 * /c, ɟ/ before /i/ can become affricates [tɕ, dʑ].
 * Before /i/, alveolar /t, d, n, s/ become palatal [c~tɕ, ɟ~dʑ, nʲ, ɕ].
 * Lateral approximant /l/ is palatal [ʎ] before /i/, /e/; velar [L] or labio-velar [ɰ~ɰʷ] before /u, o/; velarized [ɫ] before /a/.


 * /z/ and marginal /ʑ/ can have a variation of a palatal affricate [dʑ], especially before /i/.
 * Voiceless /p, t, c~tɕ, k, ts/ can be slightly aspirated.
 * /r/ is apical flap. It may be pronounced similar to English flapped d.
 * /w/ is compressed voiced labio-velar approximant. It may vary between [ɰ] and [β] or [ɰʷ].
 * /h/ may have variants [ç] before /i, e/; velar [x] before /a/; labialized [xʷ~hʷ] before /u, o/.

Vowels

 * /a/ is an open central vowel;
 * /e/ is a close-mid front vowel, similar to English e in bed;
 * /i/ is a close front vowel;
 * /o/ is close-mid rounded back vowel;
 * /u/ is close back compressed vowel, similar to Japanese 'u'.

Orthography
The following letters of Latin alphabet are used to write Konai:

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Ww Yy Zz

The following rules apply:
 * /c/ is written a 'ch'; this is the only context when 'c' is used;
 * /ɟ/ is written as 'j'; 'j' is always pronounced as /ɟ/, never as /y/;
 * /ɕ/ is written 'sh';


 * /ʑ/ is written 'zh';


 * /j/ is written 'y'; 'y' is always used for 'j' consonant sound, never for 'i' or 'y' vowels.

Long vowels are written as follows: To distinguish between long vowels /o:/, /e:/ and vowel sequences /ou/, /ei/ diaeresis on second letter can be used.
 * /a:/ is written 'aa';
 * /o:/ is written 'ou';
 * /u:/ is written 'uu';
 * /e:/ is written 'ei';
 * /i:/ is written 'ii'.

Primary forms

 * U-stem stands for the non-past/present tense. It is also a dictionary form for verbs.
 * A-stem is used to append past tense, voice and negative markers. It cannot be used on its own.
 * E-stem is a gerund stem; it is used mainly for building compound verbs and build derived gerunds. It can be used as a predicate of a clause.
 * O-stem is used to append conditional and mood markers. It cannot be used on its own.
 * I-stem is an attributive form which is used as a noun modifier. It is the only form which can be used as noun modifier. It is the dictionary form for adjectives.

Origins of verb suffices

 * Usage of -r- for vowel stem verb comes from Japanese -ru for ichidan verbs.


 * Negative ne-ku, n-u comes from Indo-European  n-, and also Japanese -nai, -nu.
 * Past tense -t- comes mostly from Japanese -ta, and also from German dental past tense marker.
 * Passive -re- comes from Japanese -(ra)-re-(ru) and for less extent from Latin -r.
 * Causative -sa- comes from Japanese -(sa)-se-(ru).
 * Gerund II -te comes from Japanese -te.
 * Conditional -shi, -kanno come from Latin si, quando.

Noun particles
Origin: jap., kor. ga Marks a subject of a clause.
 * ga

Origin: lat. -mMarks a direct object of a transitive verb. Origin: lat. -iMarks an attribute of a noun. It can also be used as a subject of a embedded clause instead of ga. Marks an attribute of a noun. It's always written together with preceding noun. Marks an instrument; marks a passive verb agent. Marks an indirect object. Origin of a movement. Movement direction. Marks a companion or an instrument. With -i and na markers it can be used as an attribute of noun. This case has a slightly different meaning than an attribute clause with esu verb. E.g. esu-clause can be in past tense, though ko-clause does not convey any tense meaning. ''I ga mashigan koi womo esu. ''"This is a man with a machine gun." ''I ga mashigan kona womo esu. ''"This is a machinegunner." (cf. Iga mashingan ko womo esu. "This is a man and a machine gun.") I ga mashingan ga eshi womo esu. "This is a man who has a machine gun." I ga mashingan ga achi womo esu. "This is a man who had a machine gun." Absence of a companion or an instrument. With -i and na markers it can be used as an attribute of noun; as with ko, it has a slightly different meaning than an attribute clause with neku verb: I ga domu shinei kani esu. "This is a dog without a home." I ga domu shine na kani esu. "This is a homeless dog" I ga domu ga nei kani esu. "This is a dog who has no home." I ga domu ga necchi kani esu. "This is a dog who had no home."
 * nen, -en after -n
 * -i
 * na
 * de
 * ni
 * e
 * da
 * ko
 * shine

Dictionary
Word roots are mainly devised from European language roots with necessary sound changes. Sounds are changed according to the following scheme:
 * consonant clusters are broken by inserting between the consonants the vowel which follows the cluster; the vowel which followed the cluster is doubled: Lat. arbor (from Old Lat. arbos) > arobousi; Lat. grex, gregis > geregi;
 * if root end in a consonant over than /n/, /u/ is added after labial consonants, /i/ after all other: Lat. urbs, urbis > urubu.

Latin roots
For core vocabulary, Latin roots are mainly used. The following rules apply:
 * Nouns of 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Latin declentions, root with thematic vowel is used;
 * For the third declention, pure root (as it's seen is genetive case) is used;
 * -r- which evolved from -s- due to rhotacism, is transfered as -s-.
 * Root may be cut in case it is longer than 3 syllables.

Samples:
 * 1st: aqua > akua
 * 2nd: hortus > horotou (with -o- insertion to keep CV syllable structure, final o is made long); filius > wili
 * 3rd: homo, hominis > homin
 * 4th: domus > domu; manus > manu
 * 5th: dies > jie; facies > wakie

Example text
''Keipisa ni Deo ga keilo ko tera nen kereiwata. '' 'In principio Deus creavit caelum et terram. &nbsp
 * keipisa from keipiru from Lat. coepi 'to being'
 * deo from Lat. deus 'god'
 * tera from Lat. terra 'earth'
 * keilo from Lat. caelum 'heaven'