Lili

Lili is an engineered language that aims to let the speaker decide how ambiguous or unambiguous to be. It offers many resources to ambiguate or disambiguate a word or a sentence.

Vowels
a: /a

e: /ɛ

i: /i

o: /ɔ

u: /u

Consonants
b: /b

c: /ʃ

d: /d

f: /f

g: /ɡ

j: /ʒ

k: /k

l: /l

m: /m

n: /n

p: /p

r: /r

s: /s

t: /t

v: /v

x: /x

y: /ɣ

z: /z

Morphology
Hyphenated words like "z-c" are degree words. "z-c" means "sadness-happiness" and is inflected this way:

zuoc: very sad (-3)

zuec: sad (-2)

zuac: a bit sad (-1)

zuc: neutral (0)

zoc: a bit happy (1)

zec: happy (2)

zac: very happy (3)

Also:

zoec: sadder

zoac: happier

zeuc: saddest

zeac: happiest

Syntax
Lili has a SOV, SVO or VSO word order for non-switch sentences, and has a unusual way of forming sentences. Lili's sentences always start and end with an operand, alternating between operands and operators. Ignoring "p" and "t", the elements that occupy the odd positions of a sentence are operands, while the elements that occupy the even positions of a sentence are operators. There is always an odd number of elements in a sentence. For example, consider the following sentence: "The dog eats (some) food": kurki naki jemo "kurk" is the dog, "nak" means "to eat" and "jemo" means "food". "kurk" and "jemo" are operands, while "nak" is an operator. Every element is separated by an "l" or an "i", and the spaces are totally arbitrary. The sample sentence could have been written as: kurkinakijemo Or kurkina kijemo Or anything you want. Spaces are irrelevant. Everything is lowercase and there is no punctuation. Since non-switch sentences can have a SOV, SVO or VSO word order, "The dog eats (some) food" can be written as: kurki jemol nak kurki naki jemo OR naki kurki jemo

Now, consider the following sentence: "The dog eats" kurkidalnak Now, "nak" ("to eat") is an operand. What is the relationship between the dog and "to eat"? The dog eats. "da" is the operator that connects a subject to a verb. "kurki nak" is not a grammatically valid sentence.

Parentheses
Consider the following sentence: "I feed my dog" cifcalpi cisel kurk "c" means "I (first person singular)", "fca" means "to feed", "p" is the start of the parenthesis, "c" means "I" again, "se" is the possessive, and "kurk" means "dog". Basically, the parenthesis indicates that "cisel kurk" ("my dog") is to be considered one element. Without the parenthesis, "cifcai cisel kurk" would have meant "The dog of the fact I feed myself", which makes no sense. A parenthesis is closed by "t" BUT it cannot appear at the end of a speech.

Switch
Adding an e- before an operator switches A and B. So that: jemole naki kurk Means "The dog eats (some) food". Switch sentences can have a OSV, OVS or VOS word order.

Basic sentences
The most basic sentence is made by a subject, a verb, and an object, not necessarily in this order. For example, "I love you" is: civarij "c" means "I", "v-r" means "hate-love" ("love" in a non-romantic way), and "j" means "you". Another type of basic sentence is subject + da + verb. For example: cidalnak That means "I eat". This works for both transitive and intransitive verbs.

Basic sentences with a parenthesis
Without a parenthesis, the last operand modifies the whole thing that was said before. For example, if you want to say:"I eat a red apple", you have to say: cinakipi rendi kickau "c" means "I", "nak" means "to eat", "p" is the start of a parenthesis, "rend" means "apple", "k" connects a noun to an adjective, and "ckau" means "red". Without the parenthesis: "cinaki rendi kickau" would mean "The fact that I eat an apple is red", because "ckau" ("red") would modify everything that was said before, instead of just "apple".

Verbal tenses
Verbal tenses are indicated with the operand "p-f" ("past-future") after the operator "z". For example: cidalnaki zipuf That means "I'm eating". "p-f" ranges from "puof" (distant past) to "paf" (distant future). "puf" is the present.

Evidentiality
After the operator "k", the following operands act as evidential markers:

veo: experienced event

veu: hearsay

vez: inference (for example, saying:"Someone took my mobile phone" if you don't see it in the place you left it)

voz: speculation (when you have no idea what you're talking about, similar to see word "might")

Example sentence: "he/she might be sleeping". reldai cfaulki voz

Singular and plural markers
"sn" is the singular marker", "pn" is the plural marker. They go after the operator "k". rend: apple(s) rendi kisn: an apple rendi kipn: more than one apple "gn" is the marker for generalizations (it's optional, though): rendi kignigel baga: apples are good "ge" is the copula, which is the verb "to be" in English.

Genders
After the operator "k", the operands "na" means "female" and "vu" means "male" cidalnak: I eat ciki naldalnak: I (female) eat ciki vuldalnak: I (male) eat

Prepositions
There are a lot of operators that can be used as prepositions that function like cases. For example "cm" is the comitative operator, that means "in company of", "with". cidal pajb icmij: I walk with you "pajb" means "to walk". "ns" is the instrumental preposition. cidalna kinsiopko: I eat with a fork

Negative and interrogative sentences
After the operator "k", "nau" turns something negative, and "ba" turns something interrogative. For example: ji naki rendi zipeda: you ate an apple/some apples today ji naki rendi zipedal kinau: you didn't eat any apple today ji naki rendi zipedal kiba: did you eat any apple today? It is possible to only turn a part of the sentence interrogative or negative to express some nuances: ji kibal naki rendi zipeda: was it you who ate an apple today? ji nakipi rendi kibalti zipeda: was it an apple the thing you ate today? ji naki rendi zipi pedal kiba: was it today that you ate an apple? ji kinaul naki rendi zipeda: it was not you who ate an apple today ji nakipi rendi kinaulti zipeda: you ate something that was not an apple today ji naki rendi zipi pedal kinau: it was not today when you ate an apple

Types of questions
"ba" is the standard yes/no interrogative, while "be" implies something more is happening than just having to answer the question. Compare: jigelpi aboti kibegal kiba: are you a good person? (not implying anything) jigelpi aboti kibegal kibe: are you a good person? (implying something) The second question is usually used when the listener is doing something bad.

Other types of interrogatives are "ab" and "ub". "ab" means the speaker prefers the answer to be a "yes", while "ub" means the speaker prefers the answer to be a "no". Compare: jlabo cici zipefi kiab: will you hug me? (I hope yes) jlabo cici zipefi kiub: will you hug me? (I hope not) These questions can be used as an implicit imperative in the future form, but can be used in the past as well. jlabo cirel zipuefi kiab: did you hug that person? (I hope yes) jlabo cirel zipuefi kiub: did you hug that person? (I hope not)

Generic and specific bad and good
b-ga means "bad-good" (specific), while b-ge means "bad-good" (generic). Here is the difference: cutal kibegal dalnak: there's a good cat who eats cutal kibegel dalnak: there's a cat (cats are good) who eats The specific form indicates that it's the cat of the sentence that is good, while the generic form indicates that cats in general are good.

Relative pronoun
"zeu" is the relative pronoun, that means "that/who/which". For example: aboti zeulpi kacalkoi xuxo: (lit.) a person who causes death (a killer) Yes, that's the way to say "killer" in Lili. There is no "-er" suffix like in English, so you need to say "a person who [does something]".

"Like"
There are three ways to say "like" to compare something to something else.

"kak": A does something, B does that as well jidal fauki kak ikbac: you smell like a goat (you smell, and a goat smells too) "kek": A does something in the same manner as B jidal fauki kek ikbac: you smell like a goat (the smell is similar) "kok": A does something in the same intensity as B jidal fauki kok ikbac: you smell like a goat (the intensity is similar) "kuk": A does something in the same manner and intensity as B jidal fauki kuk ikbac: you smell like a goat (smell and intensity are similar)

From an individual to a group
"koze" modifies a noun to indicate the collection of every individual. Most English words don't have a translation. abot: human aboti kikoze: humankind jemo: food jemol kikoze: all the food that exists, as a whole

A couple ambiguous sentences
"I don't like you because you're smart", and "Everyday, a person gets hit by a car".

The first sentence can be translated in two ways: civueriji eragipi jigel dest: the reason I don't like you is because you're smart civeriji eragipi jigel destiti kinau: I like you, but not because you're smart The second sentence can be even funnier: zatelki vok lezipi aboti dani xamu This sentence can either (unlikely) mean that the same person gets hit by a car everyday, or that it can be a different person every time. To disambiguate, use "fuz" after "abot" to indicate that it's always the same person, or "faz" to indicate that the person might change everytime (though the same person can get hit by a car twice in their life). zatelki vok lezipi aboti kifuzi dani xamu There is a person who gets hit by a car everyday. (Poor thing, I would add). zatelki vok lezipi aboti kifazi dani xamu Everyday, a person (usually a different one each time) gets hit by a car.

Expectations
"To expect" in English has two meanings: "to want", and "to think something will happen". They are translated as "casu" and "keco" respectively. cicasul ovto: I expect (want) an answer cikecol ovto: I expect (think that will happen) an answer

Requests
After the operator "k", "rob" indicates that it's a request. jlabo cici kirob: please hug me

Emotions and tones of voice
After the operator "m", a word that indicates emotion or tone of voice, indicates that the sentence is said with that emotion or tone or voice. cicasulpi clabo ciji timiu rub "I want to hug you" (said with a smile).

You can also use "m" as an operand, after the operator "k", to use the emotion as a spoken emoticon. urubikim: (smile emoticon)

Conditionals
"rag" means "therefore", and "erag" is the passive voice of "rag", it means "because". jlabo cici ragipi cidalzac: you hug me, therefore I'm very happy cidalzaci eragipi jlabocic: I'm very happy, because you hug me "rok" means "if A, then B". It's passive "erok" is a bit difficult to translate in English, but it's something like:"it would be A, if B" jlabo cici rokipi cidalzac: if you hug me, then I'm very happy cidalzaci erokipi jlabocic: I would be very happy if you hug me "rer" can either mean "rag" or "rok" jlabo cici reripi cidalzac It's not specified whether the listener hugs the speaker.

Affirmative or negative
"fua" after the operator "k" ambiguates the sentence, rendering it affirmative or negative. relabo cici kifua: he/she hugs me, OR he/she doesn't hug me. Can be translated in English approximately as "He/she doesn't necessarily hug me", but without the awkwardness. Useful when you don't want to answer a question.

Yes/no
a: yes

au: yes OR no (when you don't want to answer)

u: no

Weather
Usually, saying "rejd" (rain) or "kave" (snow) is enough to say "it rains" or "it snows". If you want to specify it's unambiguously a verb, then say "weather event" + "da" + "suba", for example: rejdidal suba: it rains But it's really unnecessary. "rejd" is enough, even though it can be either a noun or a verb if alone. If you want to specify "rain" as a noun, use the noun suffix "un" after the operator "k". rejd: rain/it rains rejdidal suba: it rains rejdi klun: rain

Reflexives
"caj" is the reflexive pronoun, and can be used interchangeably with normal pronouns. clabo cic = clabo cicaj = I hug myself

Examples of sentences
"I just ate a red apple (I like apples) because I was hungry (said with a slightly happy tone)": cinakipi rendiki begelki ckaulti zipuafi eragipi cidai jayal zipuafi timizoc

Sexual orientations and fetishes
There are two words to describe your sexual preferences: "roza" and "fama". "roza" means you want to have sex with someone, while "fama" is a fetish. "Towards" is "ko". They can be either operands or operators. rozalkolfos: homosexuality rozalkolvuz: heterosexuality rozalkolnav: bisexuality rozalkoiyuedo: pedophilia famalkolgava: foot fetish cirozalfos: I'm gay cirozalvuz: I'm straight cifamalgava: I have a foot fetish aboti zeulpi rozalkolfos: gay person

The first time
"The first time she hugged me, I was very happy". Let's see how to translate this.

"Time" (in the sense of "occurrence") is "raop". "One" is "ras". To turn a cardinal number into an ordinal number, use "rod". "First" is "rasikirod". "The first time" is "raopikipi rasikirod(iti)". "She hugged me" is "relkinal abocic". To connect these two sentences, we must use the operator "dac". "raopikipi rasikiroditi dacipi relkinal abocic(iti)" means "the first time she hugged me". "I was very happy" is "cidalzac". To connect these two sentences, we must use the operator "ez", which is the passive of "z". The complete sentence will be: raopikipi rasikiroditi dacipi relkinal aboci citi ezipi cidalzac

Expressing your opinion about something
Use the operand "b-ga" (bad-good) and refer to the whole sentence. For example: jidai zbefi kibuega: you're fat (I don't like it) jidai zbefi kibuga: you're fat (I have a neutral opinion about it) jidai zbefi kibega: you're fat (I like it)

No offense, but...
When people say "no offense" in English, they usually don't mean it at all, but in Lili, it's different. The operand "sna" (after the operator "m", this time) helps clarify that the intention of the speaker is not to offend. The operand "snu", on the other hand, means that it's an insult, or that the listener is annoying the speaker. Using the operand "sna" indicates that the listener is not annoying the speaker. Fun fact: "snu" can be used as a generic insult, although with no exact meaning. jidaisnu: you are [generic insult here]

Politeness
"farb" is an operand that turns a word or a sentence into a honorific, the highest degree of politeness

"ferb" is polite

"forb" is informal

"furb" is vulgar, like the "f word" in English.

Not using these means the sentence is neutral. For example: rend: an apple rendi kifurb: a f-ing apple. ji lotupi akomi kiab: can you please open a window? (neutral) ji kiferbi lotupi akomi kiab: can you (polite) please open a window? ji lotupi akomi kiabi kiferb: can you please open a window? (all sentence polite) ji lotupi piakomi kifurbiti kiab: can you please open a f-ing window? Funny thing: ji lotupi piakomi kifurbiti kiabi kiferb: "Can you please open a f-ing window? (polite)". Yes, you can say one word in a vulgar way and the whole sentence in a polite way at the same time.

True and false insults
As we saw before, "snu" is used to insult someone, but it only works if something is true. "spu" is the metaphorical insult. For example: jigei pcuci mispu: you are an excrement It's not true that the listener is an excrement, but the speaker says it as an insult. Every word becomes an insult with "spu", so a lot of creative insults can be made. It can be disambiguated in "spub" and "spuc". "spub" is an actual insult, it means the speaker is angry at the listener, while "spuc" is a playful insult. Same thing goes for "snu" (the insult for true sentences), it can be disambiguated in "snub" (angry insult) and "snuc" (playful insult). "spu" and "snu" can be ambiguated into "stu", which is the most generic insult, irrespective if the sentence is true or not. "stu" can be disambiguated into "stub" (angry insult) and "stuc" (playful insult).

Birth and death
There are no direct translations for "birth" and "death". We must use the word "cebe", which means "becoming, transition". "Birth" is translated as "fafulkicebe" ("fafu" = "life", and "cebe" = "becoming"). Basically, it means that something that was not alive becomes alive. "Death" is the same thing. "xuxo" means "death", but only as a state. The transition from life to death is called "xuxoikicebe". Bizarre words can be created with "cebe", for example "ckaulkicebe", "the process of becoming red". It can be used as an operator as well, for example: cicebelzueci zipuf: I'm becoming sad now.

Sarcasm and metaphors
After the operator "m", "sra" is the operand that indicates that something is sarcastic, "sru" indicates that it's not sarcastic, "nta" indicates that it's a metaphor, while "ntu" indicates that it's meant to be taken literally. Sarcasm and metaphors can be combined with each other. cicebeixuxo: I'm dying (can be metaphorical or literal) cicebeixuxoi minta: I'm dying (metaphorically, i.e. the speaker is uncomfortable) cicebeixuxoi mintu: I'm dying (literally, i.e. the speaker is dying)

My book
"se" is the possessive, but it's ambiguous. ciselonda: my book Did I buy it? Did I write it? It's unspecified. cisebionda: my book (I bought it, but someone else wrote it) cisekionda: my book (the one I wrote) Note that this distinction isn't valid for every word. In doubt, use "se".

Ambiguate the value of a degree word
There is no direct translation of the word "temperature". Instead, we must use k-ta ("cold-hot"), put a "u" instead of the hyphen ("kuta"), and use the operand "van" after that. "kutalkivan" means "unspecified value of cold-hot", and truly means "temperature". Something like "cidalpi vurikivaniti kolji" can mean "I love you", "I hate you", or anything in between. "kutalkivani kibega" means "a pleasant temperature".

A place where they sell food
"jemo" is "food". "sera" is "to sell". "seralkoi jemo" is "to sell food". "vems" is a place for activities. "vemsi kipi seralkoi jemo" is "a place where they sell food".

Meat
"cvuv" is the animal meat for human consumption. "[animal]" + "se" + "cvuv" means "the meat of [that animal] as food". For example, "akro" is chicken, but doesn't usually refer to its meat as food (unless it's obvious by the context). To refer to its meat as food, say "akrolsei cvuv".

Days of the week
aveb: Sunday

avec: Monday

aved: Tuesday

avef: Wednesday

aveg: Thursday

avej: Friday

avek: Saturday

Permissions and prohibitions
orab: compulsory

orac: encouraged

orad: permitted

oraf: discouraged

orag: prohibited smoki kioradi kiba: is smoking [here] permitted?

Vocabulary (work in progress) (200 words)
ab: interrogative marker (the speaker hopes for an affirmative answer)

aboc: hug

abot: human

abuf: mouse (animal)

abuv: vertebrate

abzu: truth

acko: flower

ad-n: old-new

afef: sailor

agoc: salmon

akom: window

akro: chicken

amda: table

anab: to drink (implies alcohol)

anam: cartoon

anamu: anime (Japanese-style cartoon)

ananas: ananas

antar: Antarctica

apun: wine

artuk: the Arctic

asmar: to whisper

asob: to play (a game), game

ateb: pizza

ausk: ice-cream

autus: autism

aveb: Sunday

avec: Monday

aved: Tuesday

avef: Wednesday

aveg: Thursday

avej: Friday

avek: Saturday

avub: vehicle

avut: car

avutbez: bus

axob: exit (of a building)

axud: entry (of a building)

ba: interrogative marker

banana: banana

baru: to bring

basa: sibling

barza: to stutter

b-nt: boring-interesting

b-ga: bad-good (specific)

b-ge: bad-good (generic)

b-ra: rude-friendly

c: I (first person singular pronoun)

caj: (reflexive)

cebe: the act of becoming

cfau: to sleep

cfuf: to run

ckau: red

ctao: the Sun

cund: day (bright part of the 24 hours)

cvuv: meat

cuta: cat

d-st: dumb-smart

fos: same sex

fafu: life

fama: fetish

fauk: to have a smell

faz: always the same (see "a couple ambiguous sentences")

fbab: feeling (touch), to feel

fbac: smell (sense), to smell

fbaca: actively smelling something

fbacu: passively smelling something

fbad: to see, to watch

fbada: to watch

fbadu: to see

fbaf: to hear, listen

fbafa: to listen

fbafu: to hear

fbag: to taste

feda: the future part of today

fua: affirmative or negative marker

fuz: variable (see "a couple ambiguous sentences")

kaca: to cause

kave: snow

kebab: kebab

koze: turns words like "human" into "humankind"

kbac: goat

kcum: heart (organ)

kevk: house

kork: heart (metaphorical)

kurk: dog

k-ta: cold-hot

j: you

jaya: hunger

jemo: food

gava: foot

gn: generalization marker

m: emotion or tone of voice

nta: (metaphor)

ntu: (literal interpretation)

na: female

nab: to drink (doesn't necessarily imply alcohol)

nak: to eat

nau: negative marker

nav: male or female

ndae: to interact

onda: book

opko: fork

opto: question

orab: compulsory

orac: encouraged

orad: permitted

oraf: discouraged

orag: prohibited

ovov: eye

ovto: answer

pasta: pasta

farb: (honorific)

panda: panda

pcuc: excrement

peda: the past part of today

ferb: (polite)

p-f: past-future

poda: weather

forb: (informal)

furb: (vulgar)

raop: time (occurrence of an event)

ras: one

rend: apple

rejd: rain

rkao: arm

rod: (turns a cardinal number into an ordinal number)

roza: sexual orientation

runa: the Moon

rung: to feel uncomfortable

sera: to sell

smok: to smoke (cigarettes)

spu: metaphorical insult

spub: metaphorical angry insult

spuc: metaphorical playful insult

sra: (sarcasm)

sru: (non-sarcasm)

suba: to be (weather)

sucu: sushi

tazb: day (period of 24 hours)

teda: today

t-st: dirty-clean

z-c: sadness-happiness, sad-happy

van: (unspecified value)

veo: (experienced event)

veu: (hearsay evidentiality)

vez: (inference)

vok: every

voz: (speculation)

vuz: different sex

pn: plural marker

re: he/she

sn: singular marker

sna: non-offending

snu: offending, insult

snub: angry insult

snuc: playful insult

stu: generic insult (true or false)

stub: generic angry insult

stuc: generic playful insult

ub: interrogative marker (the speaker hopes for a negative answer)

urub: smile

un: noun suffix

vu: male

vabe: night (dark part of the 24 hours)

vcux: weapon

vems: a place for activities (hotel, park, hospital, restaurant, school etc.)

xamu: to hit with a car xuxo: death

zate: day (period of time from 00:00:00 to 23:59:59)

zb-f: slim-fat

pajb: walk

y-do: young-old

ab-n: relationship refusal/romantic love

abku: to ruin, make unpleasant

baru: to bring

cebe: to become

cm: comitative preposition

da: (connects a subject to a verb)

dac: that (see "the first time")

dan: (connects a subject do a passive verb)

fca: to feed

k: (usually connects a noun to an adjective)

kak: "like" (A does something, B does that as well)

kek: "like" (A does something in the same manner as B)

kok: "like" (A does something in the same intensity as B)

kuk: "like" (A does something in the same manner and intensity as B)

ko: (usually connects a verb to an object)

m: (introduces an emotion or tone of voice)

narb: to stop (doing something)

ndae: to interact with

ns: instrumental preposition

rag: therefore

rer: can mean "rag" or "rok"

rok: if A, then B

otup: to open (something)

se: possessive (similar to 's in English)

seb: non-creative possessive

sek: creative possessive

v-r: hate-love (non-romantic)

z: (introduces time)

zeu: (relative pronoun)

ge: copula