Lupaniol

Classification
Lupaniol is an artlang created for fun, my purpose is to experiment with grammatical features related to isolating languages, also how well can words be phonologically reduced into a small inventory while still being recognisable.

Lupaniol's only source language is Spanish, specifically Rioplatense Spanish, since that is my native language and that will make vocabulary a streamlined, fast process.

I may in the future reuse Lupaniol's grammar for a proper IAL that takes vocabulary from more languages.

Lupaniol is an a posteriori isolating SVO language.

Phonology
Lupaniol uses 16 letters of the basic Latin alphabet.

Writing System
Their names are a, ce, e, fe, he, i, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, se, te, u, ye.

Stress
Stress falls on the vowel or diphthong before the last consonant, unless that consonant is s. If there is no vowel before the last consonant, stress falls on the first vowel or diphthong. (See diphthongs below.)
 * kasas = /ka'sas/
 * palo = /'pa.lo/
 * kaita = /'kai.ta/
 * paia = /'pa.ja/

Phonotactics
I was inspired to make Lupaniol mostly by CV languages, but it's not one of them, there are some consonant clusters allowed for the onset and some codas.

Onset:

 * c, f, j, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, y, -

Nucleus:

 * a, e, i, o, u

Coda:
The coda is limited to what the following onset is, only the following combinations can happen (ignoring that nuclei containing diphthongs can cause palatalization or labialization):
 * l, m, n, s, y
 * lf, lp, lk, lt, lm, ln, ls, ly, sp, sk, st, nf, mp, nk, nt, ns, yp, yk, yt; (the ones with y are rare)

Diphthongs
Diphthongs are not phonemic in Lupaniol. The letters i and u might be pronounced as the nucleus of their own syllables, palatalizing/labializing the previous consonant, or forming a diphthong with another vowel. When u and i come after one of the other vowels (a, e, o), they cannot take the stress, instead the strass is moved to that other vowel (if i is preceded by u or viceversa, the stress doesn't move).

For instance something like "alia" might be pronounced in several ways: /'a.li.a/, /'al.ja/, /'a.lʲa/ (all vowels on their own, i as a consonant to a, or i palatalizing l). Similarly "pauta" would be pronounced /'pa.u.ta/ or /'paw.ta/. Note that stress doesn't move however you pronounce i and u.

Pronouns
Plural pronouns are created adding -me.

The impersonal pronoun
The impersonal pronoun "une" is in fact the word "one", and according to context it can be used like the English pronoun "one", although English also uses "you" and "they" sometimes instead of "one". This pronoun represents an unimportant or generalized person.
 * une tepe kome si une kele pipi = one has to eat if one wants to live (generalized person)
 * une pente pan en pelasa = they sell bread in the square (unimportant person)

The reflexive pronoun
Lupaniol has the reflexive pronoun "se" which can be used as the reflexive pronoun for all other grammatical persons (not just 3rd person as in some languages). These are its uses:

To make the sentence reflexive for any subject (not mandatory): To specify or emphasize who is the owner of something:
 * mi limpia misme = I wash/bath myself
 * tu ta kome a misme = You feed yourself
 * kate pe misme = The cat sees itself
 * eye pe misme su kasa = He saw his own house
 * mi ama misme su elmane = I love my sister

The dummy pronoun
The dummy pronoun, also known as expletive or pleonastic pronoun, is a pronoun that carries no meaning, instead it is used as a placeholder when the grammar requires a pronoun but a verb or expression does not. In English the pronoun "it" and the word "there" are sometimes used as dummy pronouns in sentences such as "it rains", "it appears that ...", "there is bread", etc. In Lupaniol the pronoun "eso" is used, but it's not required:

The verb takes no argument, it carries all the meaning by itself: The verb takes arguments but requires a dummy pronoun (appears, seems, turns out, happens): The argument is a phrase that is displaced syntactically:
 * (eso) yupia = it rains
 * (eso) niepe = it snows
 * (eso) ola = it is time
 * (eso) palese tu kome muce = it looks like you ate a lot
 * (eso) lesulta eyes tolmi = it turns out they were sleeping
 * (eso) okuli mi no pote ase eso = it happens that I can't do it
 * (eso) sona komo es animales fuela = it sounds like there are animals outside
 * (eso) puene ke tu ase eso = it's good that you did that (that you did that is good)
 * (eso) mui linte kole = it is very beautiful to run (running is very beautiful)

Nouns
Nouns do not express number, but plural number may be shown adding -s after a vowel or -es after a consonant.

Adjectives and adverbs
Unchanged words can be used as adjectives without change if context is clear, otherwise adjectives end in -na and adverbs end in -mo. They don't change for number.

Verbs
There are some particles that can clarify meaning in time, mood or voice, but infinitive verbs may be used instead of them whenever it's clear. Aspect particles can go after one of the tense particles or the conditional particle: Particles and their combinations should not be overused when context allows the use of the bare verb.
 * Perfective aspect + tense
 * Mi es ya manca = I have eaten
 * Mi fue ya manca = I had eaten
 * Mi pa ya manca = I will have eaten
 * Mi fuese ya manca = I would have eaten
 * Prospective aspect + tense
 * Mi es pol manca = I am about to eat
 * Mi fue pol manca = I was about to eat
 * Mi pa pol manca = I will be about to eat
 * Mi fuese pol manca = I would be about to eat
 * Habitual aspect + tense
 * Mi es sole manca = I usually eat
 * Mi fue sole manca = I used to eat
 * Mi pa sole manca = I will usually eat
 * Mi fuese sole manca = I would usually eat
 * Progressive aspect + tense
 * Mi es ento manca = I am eating
 * Mi fue ento manca = I was eating
 * Mi pa ento manca = I will be eating
 * Mi fuese ento manca = I would be eating

Nouns
Nouns add -s (-es after consonants) for plurality.

Verbs
Verbs don’t change, when alone they can be interpreted in many ways according to context, so for example, one would say “mi es umane” to mean “I am a human”, although in some context that might mean “I was a human” or “I will be a human”.

There are words that can specify different information about a verb’s meaning: adverbs, pronouns, other verbs, etc. For instance, some verbs like “limpia” (to clean) can be transitive or reflexive (just like some English verbs), so a sentences like “mi limpia” can either mean “I clean” or “I clean myself”, but adding the reflexive pronoun “misme” makes it only mean “I clean myself”, “mi limpia misme”.

These are some words that can add context to a verb’s meaning, this is a very incomplete list of them:
 * ya: this is a verb that means “finish” or “end”, and it can be used before another verb to mean that that action or state has finished. This can be used to mean “no longer ...”, “finished ...”, “did ...”, “have ...ed”, etc.
 * wo fìn zù hu = I am no longer human
 * tā fìn līm si = She has cleaned herself
 * misme: as mentioned before, the reflexive pronoun can be used after a verb to clarify that it has a reflexive meaning. It can be used no matter what the subject of the verb is. When context is clear enough, it can be dropped, and the transitive verb can be understood as intransitive or reflexive.
 * ni līm (si) = you clean yourself
 * klás fìn (si) = the class is over
 * ya: this adverb means "already" and can be used to express the perfect aspect (have ...ed).
 * wo ya dór = I (already) slept
 * wo ya kòx wo xū = I've found my book
 * ento: this verb means “to continue” or "still" and can be used to make a represent a continuous action.
 * wo kōn līm = I am cleaning
 * pa: this verb means “to go” and can also represent the future tense.
 * wo cù līm = I will clean
 * ase: this verb means “to do” and can used for the structure “make s-one do x-action”
 * wo dú ni cī = I make you eat (i.e. I feed you)
 * ayuda: this verb means “to help” and can be used similarly to “dú” but with less “forceful” connotations
 * wo hēl ni cī = I help you eat (i.e. I feed you)
 * polpe: this verb means to become, and is used in a similar way
 * lesien: just, recently
 * ni kān cī = you (just) ate
 * es: this verb means "to get/receive", but it is also used to make sentences in passive voice
 * wo gè nóm Lū = I get called "Lu"
 * só gè dú = it gets done / it is done
 * dà xū gè lé = that book is being read
 * These words can be combined.
 * wo cù kōn līm si = I will be cleaning myself
 * Time word. Words like "dà tēm" (then), "cè tēm" (now), etc. Can be used to specify the time in which the action happens. This usually makes other markers unnecessary.

The conditional structure
This mood is expressed with the structure “sē (condition) den (cause)” which corresponds to English “if (condition) then/, (cause)”. Additional information can be added to clarify it's talking about a past condition, a future one, etc.

Present: Past: However, in other languages this "past conditional mood" is used outside conditions too, used to express something that could or should have been done, bat wasn't. In this cases, Bumlan usually uses the bare verb if context allows, or adds a word to indicate past if necessary (such as "dà tēm").
 * sē wo nów den wo wèr = If I knew how, I would work.
 * sē wo (dà tēm) nów den wo wèr = If I had known how, I would have worked.
 * wo dwā nō cī só, tàn wo cī = I shouldn't have eaten it, but I did
 * wo (dà tēm) kàn kúr, tàn wo nō kúr = I could have run, but I didn't

Participles
There are no participles per se in Bumlan, but let's see some ways in which it covers the same functionalities: We will learn more about that "po" and "wey" later. "be" simply means person/being/individual.

Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives and adverb are basically the same, the only difference being that adjectives modify a noun while adverbs modify a verb or another adjective. Because of this, in Bumlan the same word can be used for both functions. They go strictly before what they modify: Unless they are the argument of a verb. When there is a chain of adjectives/adverbs, they are interpreted to modify the same noun/verb: If you want to say something like "beautifully big" instead, use the word "wey" (way) to make the first adjective modify the second one: This "wey" can also be used to make adverbs out of verbs, nouns and phrases:
 * bén mā = good parent
 * fàs kúr = run fast
 * wo kām fàs = I became fast
 * bén fàs āw = a good fast car
 * mey tà māw = a beautiful big cat
 * mey wey tà māw = a beautifully big cat
 * wo hēl wey dú = I act helpfully
 * wo kām nán mā wey = I become fatherly

Possession
Possession is shown using the "te" particle, which comes from the Chinese particle "de" and works pretty much like it works for possession ("de" has other uses in Chinese that "te" in Bumlandoesn't, though), it's similar to 's in the English language, but also used with pronouns. For example: The particle "te" can be omitted if context allows:
 * wo te āw = My car
 * tā zù Lū te mí = She/He is Lucas' friend
 * dōm zù ni rē te = The house is yours
 * po dōm zù tà be zù wo te mí = The person, whose house is big, is my friend.
 * wo āw = my car
 * tā zù Lū mí = she is Lucas' friend
 * ni nów tā fē mā = you know his mother

Questions
Yes/No questions (or questions that give you a definite amount of answers) are created adding the particle "ma" at the end of the sentence.
 * ni zù bén = You are good

Ma can also be used in negative sentences. Questions that give you the possible answer usually use the "o" (or) connector. Examples: Another example: Other questions are made with "ké", in these questions "ma" is not necessary. Unlike many languages but like Chinese, the order of the sentence does not change (although it is allowed) when asking questions, the ké word​ is in the place where the answer will be. For example:
 * ni zù bén ma? = Are you good?
 * ni nō zù nán mā ma? = You're not a father?
 * ni dēs kaf o cá ma? = Do you want coffee or tea.
 * (Hày,) kaf. = (Yes,) coffee.
 * (Hày,) cá. = (Yes,) tea.
 * Nu, xyè. = None, thanks.
 * ni dēs míl, kàr o èy ma? = Do you want milk, sugar or something else in your coffee?
 * Hày, míl. = Yes. milk.
 * Nō, nu. = No, nothing.
 * Hày, dù tin = Yes, both.
 * ni cī ké? = What are you eating? (You eat what?)
 * ni nóm ké? = What is your name?
 * só zù ké lù? = Where is it? (It is where?)
 * ni zù ké be te fē mā? = Whose mother are you? (You are whose mother?)

Imperative marker
The word "pa" is used to express the imperative mood, which is used to make requests or commands. The marker is not mandatory. In English the imperative mood is usually expressed dropping the pronoun "you", "you clean the house" becomes "clean the house". In Bumlan the pronoun is not dropped, this is because many verbs can be interpreted as adjectives or nouns if there is no subject before them, instead, the marker "pa" can be used.
 * ni līm dōm = you clean the house ➜ ni līm dōm pa = clean the house
 * ni rē cī sāy = you all eat vegetables ➜ ni rē cī sāy pa = eat vegetables

Basic word order
Terwene follows the order SVO, but in some cases (if context allows) it is also possible to use OSV (Yoda's order) and VSO. These three orders are allowed because out of the six possible orders one can only choose three and still be able to differentiate subject from object. The one-phrase rule is "the nearer to the left of the verb, is the subject", in SVO and OSV the subject is already to the left of the verb, and in VSO the subject is closer to the left of the verb than the object.

SVO was chosen because it's the most widespread order in the world (in number of speakers), which includes English, Spanish and Chinese, the three most spoken languages. It's also helpful to have the verb separate the subject from the object, which makes understanding the sentence much easier.

Apart from order, there is nothing differentiating subject from object, so even pronouns stay the same when they are the object of the sentence:
 * wo ày ni = I love you
 * tā ày tā = She/He loves him/her
 * wo rē sī tā rē = We saw them