9 (old)



About
"9" is just a placeholder name until I come up with an actual name. I will attempt to create word roots completely from scratch. I know English and am studying Japanese. Since those two are very different, it's helpful in trying to not make just another English-based language. Also, I have not looked at any other conlangs. All ideas presented here were independently created by myself.

This is a work in progress. Everything is subject to change.

Alphabet
Note that Group 1 consonants are coronal, group 2 consonants are labial, group 3 consonants are velar.

The order for collation starts at the top-left of the grid, going left to right, then up to down.

Phonology
The consonants, , and represent their IPA equivalents. As for the other vowels,
 *  ranges from [a] to [ɑ]
 *  ranges from [e] to [ɛ]
 *  ranges from [o] to [ɔ]
 *  is a rhoticized schwa [ɚ]

The pronunciation of the consonants by themselves, such as when spelling something out, is formed by taking the letter and combining it with the vowel /a/.

The penultimate syllable of each word is stressed.

Syllable Structure
The syllable structure is (C)V(N), where
 * (C) is an optional consonant.
 * V is one or more vowels.
 * (N) is an optional nasal.

There are rules for which nasal can be used. Taking a sample word with structure C1V1(N1)C2V2N2,


 * N1 must match the group of C2.
 * (word final) N2 must match the group of V2.
 * There can only be one nasal between V1 and V2. It will be analyzed as being C2.

Other restrictions are as follows:


 * /j/ may not follow or precede /i/.
 * /w/ may not follow or precede /u/.
 * /i/ may not follow /e/.
 * /u/ may not follow /o/.

Sentence Structure
The word order of the language is SOV. Its morphological type is agglunative. Its morphosyntactic alignment is nominative-accusitive.

Basic Numbers
This language will use a dozenal base.

The symbols for the numerals use an underlined letter. Reading out a string of digits is as simple as reading out the letter with the vowel /o/. The word for "zero" has two possible pronunciations. It is normally /o/, but if an ambiguity can occur between the number < o > and the letter , then the pronunciation /uo/ is used.

Larger Numbers
 is "dozen" and  is "gross". You need to explicitly say "one dozen" and "one gross" instead of simply "dozen" and "gross".

Nouns
Nouns do not decline. A noun can represent one of any number or gender. Particles will be used to indicate the case of nouns.  marks the subject of a sentence and <ŋr> marks the object of a sentence.

Personal Pronouns
The most general way to refer to a person is by using their name, even when talking directly to them. While second- and third-person pronouns exist, it is more respectful to use their name than to replace them with a pronoun. Second- and third-person pronouns are to be used if you don't know the name of who you are speaking to/about. However, using your own name to speak about yourself is considered childish or egotistic, so only the first-person pronoun sees general use. The suffix <-koi> is added to indicate a group including the person you are talking about. This can be used to pluralize the pronouns, but it is not limited to being added to pronouns. e.g. = we, = they,  = Smith and his group.

Adjectives
All adjectives will be gradable. All other adjectives as we know them in English will be expressed by stative verbs.

Each adjective has a root that may not use  as its final consonant. The nominal form will have <-la> appended to the root. Words toward the positive direction end with <-li>; toward the negative direction, <-lu>. (Positive/Negative here does not necessarily correlate to desirable/undesirable.) Neutrality is formed with <-lr>. Reduplicating the last syllable forms a greater degree. It is possible to reduplicate the last syllable multiple times, but it is discouraged in non-casual situations.

The suffixes <-le> and <-lo> are used to say that you want it toward the direction of the <-li> word and the <-lu> word, respectively. Depending on which word it is used with, it will form constructions such as the comparative and excessive degree. means "it is neutral and I want it toward the direction of hot", basically meaning "hotter". means "it is cold and I want it toward the direction of hot", basically meaning "too cold".

Adding <-lele> and <-lolo> to the root forms the superlative.

Adjectives can be placed directly before a noun to modify it. e.g. = "small thing".

Verbs
Verbs conjugate according to mood and tense.

Copula
The copula is . It is used to say that a noun is another noun.

In order to use an adjective in the predicate position, you need to attach the adjective to a general noun, such as = "thing".