Lefaneie

Lefaneie ([lɛfaɲɛ:]) is a personal artlang created by Hope C. Dixon for her Einea science-fantasy setting, spoken in various forms by different Lefan-descended peoples throughout Einean history. Earlier and later forms will be touched on, but the majority of what will be discussed here concerns Old Lefan, spoken from the late days of Einea's middle age until the cataclysm of the Sudden Shock which began the Lus Desper movement and the current, modern era.

Consonants

 * 1) /n/ becomes [ɲ] before long frontal vowels /y ɪ ɛ/.
 * 2) All stops are slightly aspirated - less so than English, but more so than Spanish.
 * 3) /k/ becomes [x] after back vowels [u, ɒ].
 * 4) /s/ becomes [ʃ] before the lateral approximant [l].

Vowels

 * 1) The vowel clusters, , , , <üiü>, and the  cluster equivalent, <ï>, sound as [ɛʔjɛ], [aʔja], [ɒʔjɒ], [uʔju], [yʔjy] and [ɪʔjɪ] respectively. These are known as 'person clusters,' after , meaning 'person.'
 * This differs in final position, when person clusters become long versions of the first vowel, e.g. is pronounced [ɛ:].
 * Central vowels /a, ɐ, ə/ that occur after frontal person clusters -, <üiü> and <ï> - are reduced.
 * Vowels at least two syllables away from the stress in a given word often reduce into a schwa.
 *  becomes /j/ intervocalically.
 * Word stress is usually on the penultimate syllable, and here the vowel is lengthened and can change character:
 * [ɪ] becomes [i:].
 * [ɒ] becomes [o:]
 * [ɐ] becomes [a:]
 * [ʊ] becomes [u:]
 * /y ɛ/ keep their vowel sound and lengthen.

Phonotactics
Lefaneie syllables follow a (C) V (C) structure, with these stipulations:
 * Onset (C) can be any consonant.
 * V can be any vowel.
 * Coda (C) can be nasals /m n/, fricatives /f v s z ʃ ʒ/ and stops /t d/.

Reverent Speech
In Old Lefaneie, the kind of Lefaneie written of on this page, voiced consonants (barring nasals and the lateral approximant) are not used in every day speech. These are generally reserved for a formal register known as Reverent Speech. In Reverent Speech, often shortened to Reverent, all non-nasal consonants that are unvoiced in the normal register gain voicing, and many archaic features of Ancient Lefaneie have been preserved, including individually pronouncing the phonemes in person clusters as written, and devoicing nasals intervocalically. Reverent Speech also uses older, 'fancier' pronouns, and in general doesn't reflect many of the changes that have affected Lefaneie between the First Empire and the Second.

Adjectives
The infix -ipe- will transform a noun into an adjective, e.g. xaie,  'injury,' becomes xaipe,  'in an injured state.' This can be combined with the past-tense suffix -ele to create xaipele, meaning 'the state of being injured in the past.'

Adverbs
The -ipe- infix can also be used to convert nouns that represent numbers (e.g. one, four) into quantitative adverbs - for example, fa,  'one,' with an adjectivising infix, becomes fipea,  'once.'

Verbs
The prefix i- will transform a noun into a verb. For example, ren,  'thought, wish,' becomes iren,  'to think.'

Syntax
Lefaneie is typically SOV, but due to the fact that it has subject and object markers and a consistent placement of adjectives/adverbs relative to nouns/verbs, Lefaneie syntax can be quite fluid within clauses. The SOV format is broken in order to place emphasis on different parts of a clause.

Here is an example of syntax shifting within a glossed sentence.

Aurin    ła     ukaxa     e        po       leos-ele       łatese   oine.

Aurin   SBJ  musket   DEF  OBJ    shoot-PST   sky       within.

Aurin ła ukaxa e po leosele łatese oine.

Aurin fired the musket into the air.

Ukaxa e po Aurin ła leosele łatese oine.

Aurin fired the musket into the air.

Leosele łatese oine Aurin ła ukaxa e po.

Aurin fired the musket into the air.

Example text
Leie łe osren om po luele fipea lapexin tü eine xaipeiem om.

‘Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me.’

Leie       ła       os-ren                     om           po       lu-ele

person   SBJ   unknown-thought   1.SG        OBJ   tell-PST

f a            lapexin   tü      eine      xa ie-m               om.

one     roll          of     land      injure-FUT    1.SG.

Om ło lüri sumita tü nakosake roxiperelo pe iren!

‘I wish you all a wonderful Pride Month!’

om      ła      lüri    sumi-ta         tü  nako-sake                        rox relo              po    i-ren!

1.SG  SBJ   2.PL  moon-travel  of  powerful-justification    strongbeauty OBJ VERBZ.wish

Metene łe meiperosele po reneramele niuiren tü łonos ło e.

‘He felt uneasy when thinking of the void.’

Metene    łe      me ros-ele          po        rene-ram-ele

man       SBJ     unease.ADJZ-PST    OBJ      thought-heart-PST

niu  -  i-          -ren            tü     łonos        ło      e.

TRA-VBLZ*  thought       of     void        OBJ  DEF

‘He writes in the dark.’

Metene łe osmoło po oine sunułumu.

‘I saw a merchant while travelling.’

Om ło temeie pe foafoinele silimiunele.

‘I ate beans in the shade of a tree.’

Om ło bini pü lomele oine tomos tü asulenere.