Alegna

General information
Aleña (/aleɲa/) is a Romance language spoken in modern day Portuagal, Spain, and Southern France. It is regulated by the Academy of Aleñal Culture and Language. (AACL). Because it divereges directly from Classical Latin, it is closer to Latin than many languages. An interesting feature of Aleña is that it allows for almost no consonant clusters, except in loanwords, or the resulting word would be awkward.

Consonants
/k, g/ turn into [s, ʒ] before /i, e, ɛ/

Alphabet
-Accented vowels are represented by an acute accent (´)

Phonotactics
Aleña prohibits consonant clusters, except in loan words. This has led to the /je/ being a very common sound.

Stress falls on the penultimate vowel in Aleña, unless otherwise indicated by a accented vowel. Due to Aleña's policy of preventing consonent clusters, the maximum syllable (except in loan words) is CVC.

Nouns
In the transition from Latin to Aleña, the neuter gender merged with the masculine gender, resulting in many masculine nouns. Nouns maintined some cases, but not to the extent found in Latin. The accusative and dative cases merged to form the oblique case and the genitive case disappeared. The vocative case developed its own marking, but its use has been limited. Nouns can be singular or plural, though some nouns are inheriently singular or plural. Not all noun can decline for all cases.

First Declension Nouns
First declension nouns are usually feminine and end in -è'''. '''These nouns include Latin 1st declensions. Example: tè (land)

Pronouns
Aleña makes no T-V distinction. There are distinct pronoun forms of the nominative, accusative, dative, and reflexive cases (though reflexive and dative pronouns are the same). Aleña is pro-drop language meaning pronouns are always optional, but can be added for emphasis There are also distinct possesive pronouns. Personal pronouns have a special form when with the preposition con (with). They are listed below (note the object of a preposition is the same as the dative case). Aleña's interrogative pronouns are listed below. Aleña's pronouns maintain a higher level of case than other pronouns, with some maintaining four cases. Some of the interrogative pronouns are loan words from other romance langs. Aleña also has demonstrative pronouns. The equivalent of that one is listed below When preceding a word with a vowel, the e and a in èle and èla are often not pronunced, but are still written. The equivalent of this one is listed below.
 * Use the nominative when you are asking how many of the subject (i.e. How many are there - Cuió abrié?), and use the accuative when you are talking about an object (i.e. How many did you give to your friend - Cuié ili den e su/sa amigo/amiga?).

Adjectives
Adjectives in Aleña agree in gender and number with the nounn they are modifying. The gender and number of an adjective is indicated in the same fashion as nouns. To agree with a masculine noun, and adjective takes on -u  in the singular form, and an -i in the plural form. To agree with a feminine noun, and adjective takes on an -a in the singular form, and an -o in the plural form. The only adjectives that do not follow these patterns are adjectives that end in -n or -s.

Ex. bonon (good) Ex. lasos (tired) Comparatives are formed using mañi cuan (more than) or ''mino cuan (less than). ''

Ex. He is taller than you -> (Ile) ie mañie ietu cuan tu.

Ex. She is shorter than you -> (Ila) ie mino ieta cuan tu.

Ex. This one is better than that one -> Es ie mañi bonun cuan èle or ''Ès ie mañie bonan cuan èla. ''

Superlatives are formed using an article + mañi/mino + adjective

Ex. He is the tallest -> (Ile) ie li 'mañi ietu

Ex. She is the shortest -> (Ila) ie la mino ieta.

Ex. This one is the best -> ''Es ie li mañi bonun. or Ès ie la mañie bonan.''

Articles
Aleña has 4 definite and 4 indefinite articles that agree in gender and number with nouns. They are listed below

Indefinite Definite Articles in Aleña form special contractions withe the prepositions con (with), des (of/from), and è (to). Thesy are listed below.

Adverbs
Any Aleña adjective can be turned into an adverb. If the adjective ends in a vowel, add -shèr, e.g. ieta --> ietashèr. If the adjective ends in a consonant, add ''-èr. ''Always use the feminine form of the adjective when converting an adverb

Prepositions and Conjunctions
Aleña has many prepositions. 3 have already been introduced. A select number of prepositions are shown below. Note, many prepositions can be combined with des, and some prepositions are always combined with des. Aleña also has many different conjunctions. Some conjunctions in Aleña require the use of the subjunctive. Conjunctions in Aleña are listed below, along with the mood required. Whether or not a conjunction needs the subjunctive is different in Aleña than in other romance languages. Subjunctive is used when the outcome of an event is unknown, though it is always used after something conjunctions. Any conjunction + si (conjunction + if) always requires the subjunctive, e.g. ''A si ilos mieques, morerés (And if you eat it, you will die). ''

Verbs
There are 3 possible verb endings in Aleña, -air, -er, and -ir. There are 4 tenses in Aleña: present, past preterite, past imperfect, future. Aleña also makes no distinction between the simple and continuous aspects. Therefore there are no present participles in Aleña. Sound changes have created many irregular verbs, especially verbs with e in the stem (such as mecair). While Aleña no longer indicates the passive voice on the verb conjugation, it uses the imperfect passive subjunctive as the Moden Aleña imperfect subjunctive. It developed a future tense derived from aber + the infinitve and a conditional  from aber + the infinitive. It formed a new future subjunctive from èser + the io stem

Like other Romance languages, Aleña forms perfect tenses by using aber + the past participle (derived from the perfect participle). The past participle also serves as the adjective form of a verb. Note that in all conjugations, the present subjunctive and imperfect subjunctive comes from the io stem. Unlike other romance languages, the subjunctive future has a significant use and the subjunctive is generally used more often than other romance languages.

First conjugation (-air stems) ex. amair - to love There are many irregualr -air verbs; however, the most common ones are -cair, -gair, and -lair verbs, which experiece stem changes in the Present indicative (only ile and iles forms), Present Subjunctive (except io form), Future Subjunctive, and Imperative conjugations.

-cair --> -qu-

-gair --> -gu- -lair --> -ll-

Second conjugation (-er stems) ex. eñer - to need

Third conjugation (-ir stems) ex. edir - to hear There are two auxiliar verbs in Aleña, èser (to be) and aber (~to have, similar to haber in Spanish). Their conjugations must be memorized, and are listed below

èser (to be) aber (to have)

Passive Voice
Passive voice is expressed in a simple manner. A conjugated verb of èser + the past participle. The conjugation agrees with the patient of the verb. For example, He was loved by me = Ie amaidon pèr mi. This is true except for some verb concepts such as cuoyer (to like, a German loan word) is always passive (I like it = Cuoyin pèr mi, it is liked by me). Then èser is not needed in that case.

Reflexivity
A verb can be made reflexive by placing the appropriate pronoun with the verb. (I wash myself = Mi lavo). Some words change meaning when becoming reflexive, for example demir (to sleep) becomes demirili (to go to bed). The infinitive form always uses ili to indicate it is a reflexive verb.

Perfect Tenses
The perfect tenses are formed using aber + the past participle.

Nominal Phrases
Aleña is a head initial language, nouns go at the head a noun phrase. Adjectives usually go after the noun. (The exception to this are articles). For example, The good house = ''Li sièco bonun. ''Despite being head intial, prepositions go before the noun phrase, e.g. To the good house = Èn li sièco bonun.

The genitive case is expressed using prepositions (de) or using possesive pronuns. The possesed noun goes first in a "de" phrase or second in a phrase with possesive pronouns (note de + li  combine to form dil in the example). For example, the cat's house = Li sièco dil çèlo vs. His house = Su sièco.

Verbal Phrases
Pronouns always appear before a conjugated verb or attatched to the end of the infitive. A personal pronoun is not necesessary, but can be added for emphasis.

Object pronouns appear in a set order. Person + Direct + Indirect + Reflexive + Conjugated Verb or '''Infinitive + Reflexive + Indirect + Direct. 'Example: I give it to her = Ilos ili do. Example 2: *I* made it = Io ilos çaso. ''

Negation of any verb can be done by placing the negation particle, non before the verb. Note that all pronouns come before the negation particle. Example: Jack, Don't give it to her. I may not need it, but I love it = ''Jac, ilos ili non des. Fiu non idiñan, cuia ilos amo!''

Adverbs may appear before or after verb, e.g. Run more slowly = Mañi liene ciures or Ciures mañi liene.

Use of the subjunctive

The subjunctive is used more often in Aleña than some languages, as it often appears by itself in a sentence. The present subjunctive is always used with certain expressions, or when the outcome of a certain event isn't known. It is always used after certain conjunctions. The future subjunctive is used for speculatin about the future. The imperfect subjunctive is used with certain "si" clauses. However, the rules governing the subjunctive are often hazy and up to the speaker. It is useful to know that the indicative always indicates a fact and the subjunctive indicates speculation/uncertanty/doubt.

An example of the subjunctive not in a clause is I failed my test (outcome is unknown) = Deliecan mi tiémon vs. I failed my test (outcome is known) = Delicáivi mi t'iémon. Si and cuin clauses

Cuin clauses often trigger the use of the subjunctive, e.g. It is important that he go to sleep ='' Ie eravu cuin ili diemen. ''

It is also used to express wonder, shock, or surpirse, e.g. How wonderful! = ''Cuin miralu! ''

Si clauses sometimes require the use of the subjunctive if they are coupled with the conditional, e.g. If you went to sleep, you could have died = ''Si ti diemais, morerés. However, si plus the future always triggers the indicative, e.g. If you go to sleep, you will die = Si ti diemis, miores. ''

Word Order
Word order is somewhat free, the main requirement is that the subject be first when it is present. After that the word order can be SVO or SOV; however, word order is usually SVO.

Cuin also serves as the relative conjugation. Unlike in English, it is never omitted.

Example text
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article I)