Būm lán

Classification
Bumlan (büm lán) is an IAL (International Auxiliary Language) based partly on chinese, in fact it's isolating and tonal just like chinese. It also has influence from European languages and Esperanto. Its words originate mainly in the world's five most spoken languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, Spanish, Hindi and Arabic, but there are also many a priori words.

I only recently started this project, so the language may still change a lot. I'm still discovering what I want to do with it, though the main purpose is to create a functional tonal IAL that is mostly monosyllabic (I may add 2 or 3 syllable words made by word combinations, but roots will always be monosyllabic).

In short: it is an a posteriori isolating tonal SVO IAL.

Phonology
Bumlan uses letters of the basic Latin alphabet. Additionally, it uses three markers on vowels to show tones (the lack of a marker is the fourth tone).

Bumlan has four tones: high, falling, low, rising, which largely correspond to Chinese first, fourth, third/lacking, second tones, respectively.

Writing System
The tones are shown with diacritics:

The ideal pronunciation for r is the tapped r, but any similar sound that's distinguishable from the rest of the alphabet is ok.

Notice that apart from tones, the phonology is very much not Chinese in nature, this is because my purpose is not to create a Chinese clone, but to use some interesting features of Chinese. It's likely that the end result will sound a lot like Chinese, but this is because the tonal system is very similar.

Phonotactics
Words can end in vowels, semivowels, or the following consonants: m, n, f, s, x, h, r, l (i.e. nasals, fricatives and liquids).

Allowed consonant clusters for the "onset" (o as example vowel): Allowed diphthongs:

Allowed triphthongs: Overall structure:

FL = [fl,pl,kl,fr,pr,kr,tr,br,dr,gr]

C =[f,p,k,t,b,d,g,h,s,x,m,n,c,l,r]

A = [a,e,o]

W = [w,y]

I = [u,i,uy]

U =[i,u,uy,wi,yu]

N = [f,h,s,x,m,n,l,r]

FL-A-WN, FL-I-N, CW-A-WN, C-U-N. (onset-nucleus-coda)

Including tones, this phonology allows for 24 000 different syllables.

Pronouns
In the third person there is no distinction of gender, but there is distinction of animate or inanimate things. This can be interpreted in many ways. Usually, one would use "tä" for humans and "só" for any other thing. But more generally "tä" can be used for anything that is capable of communicating, however it can be used for animals, plants or inanimate things for stylistic reasons, such as speaking to or about pets.

Plural pronouns are created adding the word "rë" which means "group". "wo", "ni" and "tä" come from Chinese. "só" comes from "eso" in Spanish.

Nouns
Nouns don’t change according to number, tough one can specify plurality adding "rë" after the noun (this should not be overused).

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

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

These are some words that can add context to a verb’s meaning:
 * fìn: 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
 * tä fìn lïm dì = She has cleaned herself
 * dì: 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.
 * ni lïm dì = you clean yourself
 * klás fìn dì = the class is over
 * kön: this verb means “to continue” and can be used to make a progressive tense.
 * wo kön lïm = I am cleaning
 * cù: this verb means “to go” and can also represent the future tense.
 * wo cù lïm = I will clean
 * dú: this verb means “to do” and can used for the structure “make s-one do x-action”
 * wo dú ni cï = I make you eat (i.e. I feed you)
 * hël: this verb means “to help” and can be used similarly to “dú” but with less “forceful” connotations
 * wo hël ni cï = I help you eat (i.e. I feed you)
 * käm: this verb means to become, and is used in a similar way
 * These words can be combined.
 * wo cù kön lïm dì = I will be cleaning myself
 * Time word. Words like "dà tëm" (then), "cè tëm" (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 “së (condition) dén (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 tëm").
 * së wo nów dén wo wèr = If I knew how, I would work.
 * së wo (dà tëm) nów dén wo wèr = If I had known how, I would have worked.
 * wo dwä nö cï só, tàn wo cï = I shouldn't have eaten it, but I did
 * wo (dà tëm) kàn kúr, tàn wo nö 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 that "wey" later. "hu" simply means person/human.

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:
 * bú mä = good parent
 * fàs kúr = run fast
 * wo käm fàs = I become fast
 * bú fàs äw = a good fast car
 * mey grän mäw = a beautiful big cat
 * mey wey grän mäw = a beautifully big cat
 * wo hël wey dú = I act helpfully
 * wo käm nán mä 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 äw = My car
 * tä zù lü te mí = She/He is Lucas' friend
 * döm zù ni rë te = The house is yours
 * po döm zù grän hu zù wo te mí = The person, whose house is big, is my friend.
 * wo äw = my car
 * tä zù lü mí = she is Lucas's friend
 * ni nów tä fë mä = you know his mother

Questions
Yes/No questions (or questions that give you a definite amount of answers) are created adding the particle "má" at the end of the sentence.
 * ni zù bú = 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 "má" 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 xen- word​ is in the place where the answer will be. For example:
 * ni zù bú má? = Are you good?
 * ni nö zù nán mä má? = You're not a father?
 * ni dës kaf o cá má? = Do you want coffee or tea.
 * (Xè,) kaf. = (Yes,) coffee.
 * (Xè,) cá. = (Yes,) tea.
 * Nu, xyè. = None, thanks.
 * ni dës míl, kàr o èy má? = Do you want milk, sugar or something else in your coffee?
 * Xè, míl. = Yes. milk.
 * Nö, nu. = No, nothing.
 * Xè, dù tin = Yes, both.
 * ni cï 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 hu te fë mä? = Whose mother are you? (You are whose mother?)

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
 * tä ày tä = She/He loves him/her
 * wo rë sï tä rë = We saw them

Adjectives and other modifiers
As explained before, adjectives and adverbs go before what they modify unless they are the argument of a verb.

In general modifiers are written before what they modify. This means that, for instance, the word "nö" (no/not) can be placed before the word that it wants to negate. If it is placed before the main verb, the sentence is negated. If it is placed before the subject, only the subject is negated:
 * nö wo cï só = I didn't eat that (someone else did)
 * wo nö cï só = I didn't eat that (maybe someone else did, maybe I ate something else, doesn't matter)
 * wo cï nö só = I didn't eat that (I ate something else)
 * wo nö dwä cï só = I do not have to eat that (I could, but I am not obligated)
 * wo dwä nö cï só = I must not eat that (it is my obligation not to eat that)

Articles
There is no definite (the) or indefinite article (a, an) but the number "ün" (one) can be used as a quantifier if necessary, for example there are words which can be either countable or uncountable, adding "ün" states that it is being used as countable: Instead there are words that can't be either countable or uncountable, in those cases "wan" should be avoided: The definite article does not exist because its usage would vary depending on the speaker's mother tongue, it doesn't exist in very important languages such as Chinese and Russian, so for the sake of simplicity Bumlan doesn't have it either.
 * wo cï pòm = I eat apple (maybe one, maybe a slice, maybe mashed, maybe many)
 * wo cï ün pòm = I eat an apple
 * wo cï pòm rë = I eat (the) apples
 * wo zù hu = I am a/the person

Numbers
Numbers are combined just like in Chinese: After 999 999 there are words created in a similar way to "million", "billion", "trillion": *I haven't decided about them yet*. Terwene follows the same scale English does, each new word after thousand adds 3 zeros. Unlike English, the word "ün" can be omitted just like it is done for "deg", "pay" and "mil". It's also allowed to simply read the numbers, like Chinese speakers do for years and phone numbers. This can also be combined with the words “pay”, “mïl”, etc. to be able to speak faster when there are many zeroes. This is only when context allows it. For instance: Ordinal numbers are created adding the word "pòs" which means "position".
 * 10: déu
 * 20: dù tén
 * 30: sän tén
 * 400: yòn pay
 * 800: cö pay
 * 9 000: ná mïl
 * 323 456: sän pay dù tén sän mïl yòn pay fí tén lò
 * pay = one hundred
 * mïl = one thousand
 * = one million
 *  = two million
 * = seven billion
 * 1998 = ün ná ná cö
 * 2001 = dù nu nu ün
 * 1300 = ün sän pay
 * 23 000 = dù sän mïl
 * 233445 = dù sän sän yòn yòn fí
 * ün pòs = first
 * pay dù tén cö pòs = one hundred twenty eighth
 * ün pòs wey = firstly / in the first place
 * dù wey = in pair/s
 * tén wey = in groups of ten
 * dù rë = a pair, a duet

The reflexive pronoun
* I am using the page of my most developed conlang (Terwene) as a guide, as a result, everything beyond this is about that language because I haven't reached this far yet*

Bumlan has the reflexive pronoun "dì" which is used for all other grammatical persons. These are its uses:
 * To make the sentence reflexive for any subject (although it's also possible to use the same subject twice in the sentence to make it reflexive, for example "wo lïm wo"):
 * wo lïm dì = I wash/bath myself
 * ni hël dì cï = You feed yourself
 * mäw sï dì = The cat sees itself
 * To specify or emphasize who is the owner of something:
 * tä sï dì te döm = He saw his own house
 * wo ày dì te méy = I love my own sister

Comparison

 * Comparative: the comparative uses "mò" (more) or "lés" (less) plus "dan" (than).
 * tä zù mò bú dan ni = He is better than you
 * tä zù lés tól dan ni = He is less tall than you
 * Superlative: the superlative uses "màx" (most/maximum) or "mïn" (least/minimum).
 * tä zù màx bú = She is the best one
 * tä zù mïn tól = She is the least tall
 * Equals: equality is expressed using either "wey" after the second subject being compared, or by connecting the two phrases with "dà wey".
 * tä zù mey ni wey / tä zù mey dà wey ni zù = She is beautiful like you (lit. she is beautiful in your way / she is beautiful in that way you are)
 * tä fàs kúr ni wey / tä fàs kúr dà wey ni kúr / tä fàs kúr dà wey ni dú = He runs fast like you

Subordinate sentences
Subordinate sentences that refer to a question are simply added as such (the "ké" word has to respect word order, when possible, it's usually at the beginning, but when it's the object of the subordinate sentence, it has to respect it's place; the má word goes at the end as always). To connect sentences that do not refer to a question just place them after the verb, or add the word "dà" (that) Subordinate sentences that through a phrase add information to (modify) a noun, use the word "po" (in this case the subject is omitted, "po" represents the noun/subject/pronoun that it's giving information about, the "te" particle can also be omitted)
 * wo nö nów ké lù tä zù = I don't know where he is
 * wo tën ké káw tä dú dà  = I understand why he did that
 * ni nów wo cï ké pòm má = Do you know which apple I ate
 * wo nö nów tä zày dì döm má = I don't know whether he is in his home
 * wo kwés tä xwö büm lán má = I ask whether she speaks Bumlan
 * wo nów (dà) tä zày dì döm = I know he's in his own house
 * wo tën (dà) só nö bèl = I understand that's not possible
 * wo pì (dà) tä kú èy = I ask that he cook something else
 * tä zù po (te) döm zù ròh hu  = She is the person whose house is red (here "po" adds information to "hu")
 * po döm zù grän fë zù wo te mí = The woman, whose house is big, is my friend. (here "po" relates to "fë")

Mood markers
Because Bumlan uses tones for lexical meaning, it can not use tones in the same way some other languages use it, namely, to express non-lexical meaning. That is, many languages use tones/pitch in a sentence or word to express things like doubt, anger, happiness, cuteness, fear, etc. Bumlan finds other ways to express these meanings, chiefly by adding words at the end of a sentence that expresses that information. These are the most important ones:
 * fù: expresses surprise or anger
 * ni cï wo te cï fù! = you ate my food!
 * wo dú nu fù! = I did nothing!
 * wo hèy tä fù! = I hate him!
 * më: expresses happiness or euphoria
 * wo twö ày ni më! I love you a lot!
 * tä zù mey më = she is so beautiful
 * ni bú dú më! = you did well!
 * mo: expresses cuteness, softness
 * wo twö ày ni mo = I love you a lot
 * hël wo mo = could you please help me?

The many uses of words
In Bumlan, words are not strictly verbs, strictly prepositions, etc. Instead, they usually have a main meaning or function, but according to the position and context it finds itself in, it can take different functions (a preposition might be used as a verb, a noun might be used as an adjective, etc.). Let's see some common examples: Additionally, many words in Bumlan have wider meaning than their English counterparts. For instance, let's see the different meanings of "xwö":
 * zày
 * As verb: wo zày döm = I am home (to be at a place)
 * As preposition: wo cï zày döm = I eat at home (at)
 * hë
 * As verb: wo hë cá = I drink tea (drink)
 * As noun: ni hà hë má? = do you have drinks? (drinks)
 * As adjective: só zù hë kwá = it is drinkable water (drinkable, for drinking)
 * mey
 * As adjective: ni zù mey = you are beautiful
 * As verb: ni mey = you are beautiful
 * As noun: mey zù bú = beauty is good
 * wo xwö büm lán = I speak büm lán
 * wo xwö xyè = I say thank you
 * wo e ni xwö = You and I talk

Correlatives
Correlatives are special words which consist of certain beginnings and endings and are ordered in a table.

Notice that the correlatives for "things" are the same as the basic ones, just like the word "what" in English can represent a thing ("what is that?") or be an adjective that means "which" ("What dog is that?"). In Bumlan the same happens for all the basic correlatives (the ones in the column "CORR."), however, the word "tin" (thing) can be used for the specific "unknown thing" correlatives: The same structure used to create correlatives like "dà lù" can be used to create more correlatives, for instance, using the word "mò" (more) at the beginning, you can get correlatives like "mò tëm" (more times), "mò hu" (more people), etc. Adding a word at the end, such as "fru" (fruit), you can get words like "ké fru" (which fruit), "öl fru" (all of the fruit), etc.
 * ké tin? = what (thing)?
 * dà tin mey = that (thing) is nice

All of that is possible because the correlatives are created using the same rules as the rest of the language uses, the first word is an adjective that modifies the second word.

* I am using the page of my most developed conlang (Terwene) as a guide, as a result, everything beyond this is about that language because I haven't reached this far yet*

Examples of correlatives in use

 * Bare as adjective:
 * ni lé ké xü? = Which book are you reading?
 * dà döm zù wo te = That house is mine
 * ni lé cè xü má? = Have you read this book?
 * ni cù lé som xü má? = Will you read some book?
 * nu an dú dà = No animal would do that
 * së bél wo lé öl xü = I would read every book
 * twö an cï ròw = Many animals eat meat
 * fyú xü bú = Few books are good
 * wo dës èy xü = I want another book
 * wo dës lé kü xü = I want to read any book
 * Bare as noun:
 * dà zù ké? = What is that?
 * cè zù äw = This is a car
 * som ay on tá má? = Is there something on the table?
 * wo dú nu fù! = I did nothing!
 * öl pù bú cè lù = Everything is bad here
 * wo dës twö = I want many things
 * wo dës fyú = I want few things
 * ni dës èy má? = Do you want another thing?
 * kü zù bú = Anything would be good now
 * + tëm
 * wo rë cï ké lù? = When will we eat?
 * wo dà tëm nów = Then I knew
 * láy cè tëm! = Come now!
 * ni som tëm cù Argentïn má? = Have you ever come to Argentina?
 * wo nu tëm dór = I never sleep
 * wo öl tëm ày ni = I'll always love you
 * wo cù dà lù twö tëm = I've gone there many times
 * wo cù dà lù fyú tëm = I've gone there few times
 * tä cù cù èy tëm = She will go in other moment
 * láy cè lù kü tëm = Come here at any time
 * + lù
 * wo äw zày ké lù? = Where is my car?
 * wo na dà lù = I was born there
 * pän ay cè lù = There is bread here
 * Mi sercenday mi te kitabe somer = I'll find my book somewhere
 * Mi te kitabe swan kituter = My book is nowhere
 * Mi dormel tuter = I've slept everywhere
 * Mi canel baher = I've gone to many places
 * Mi ablod canar (to) kibaher = I could go to few places
 * Mi bolan canar otrer = I want to go to other place
 * Dormay renher = Sleep anywhere
 * + káw
 * Kos xene tusu karel date? = Why did you do that?
 * Kos date mi canod to Mehike = Because of that I would go to Mexico
 * Mi no dormel bono kos hoe = I didn't sleep well because of this
 * Mi kos some no sercendel mi te awte = For some reason I haven't found my car
 * Kos kitute mi karod date = For no reason I'd do that
 * Mi aman hi kos tute = I love her for every reason
 * Mi aman hi kos bahe = I love him for many reasons
 * Mi canod kos kibahe = I'd go for few reasons
 * Mi karod date kos otre, no kos date = I'd do that for another reason, but not because of that
 * Hi mancan kos renhe = He eats for any reason
 * + wey
 * Tusu xeno karel date? = How did you do that?
 * Hi swan dato tala xeno os te aytire = He is as tall as his father
 * Hoo oni karan keykes = This is how one makes cakes
 * Somo hi no tafahel = Somehow he didn't understand
 * Kituto mi karod date = No way I would do that
 * Mi dormel tuto = I've slept in every way
 * Mi ablan canar baho = I can go in many ways
 * Mi ablod canar kibaho = I could go in few ways
 * Misu ablan canar otro ma? = Can we go in another way?
 * Tu ablan hocanar renho, tan hocanay = You can come in any way, but come
 * + kwän
 * Tu mayel xenun pane? = How much bread did you buy?
 * Mi necesan datun = I need that amount
 * Houn kafe no swan sufica = This amount of coffee is not enough
 * Mi necesan somun kafe = I need some coffee
 * Mi han kitutun kafe = I have no coffee
 * Mi han tutun kafe = I have all the coffee
 * Mi han bahun kafe = I have a great amount of coffee
 * Mi han kibahun kafe = I have a small amount of coffee
 * Mi han otrun kafe, no datun = I have another amount of coffee, not that amount
 * Mi xihwod renhun date = I'd like any amount of that
 * + hu
 * Xenules swan datules? = Who are those?
 * Datule swan mi te erme = That one is my brother
 * Houles swan mi te penges = These ones are my friends
 * Somule karel date = Someone did that
 * Kitutule karod date = Nobody would do that
 * Mi aman tutule(s) = I love everyone
 * Bahules mancan pane = Many people eat bread
 * Kibahules konan mi = Few people know me
 * Otrule hocanendel, no hi = Someone else arrived (here), not her
 * Renhule ablan karar date = Anyone can do that
 * + lèy
 * Tu han xena leye de awte? = What type of car do you have?
 * Tu han data leye de awte ma? = Do you have that type of car?
 * Tu konan tuta hoa leyes de pane ma? = Do you know every one of these types of bread?
 * Soma leyes de dyeres mancan rowe = Some types of animals eat meat
 * Mi han kituta leye de pane = I have no type of bread
 * Mi han tuta leye de pane = I have every kind of bread
 * Mi han baha leyes de cate = I have many types of tea
 * Mi han kibaha leyes de kafe = I have few types of coffee
 * Mi no han data leye, tan mi han otra leye = I don't have that type, but I have another type
 * Renha leye swon sufica = Any type will be enough

The useful word "ke"
"Ke" has many uses, most of them are designed to make our lives easier, sometimes by replacing longer or more specific words when they are not really necessary.

"Ke" for comparisons
As seen previously, "ke" is used as the word "than" for comparisons:
 * Hi swan mas bona ke tu = He is better than you
 * Hi swan kimas tala ke tu = He is less tall than you

"Ke" in subordinate sentences
As seen previously, "ke" can be used to connect sentences when they can't be connected with xen- correlatives:
 * Mi sian ke hi swan en os te dome = I know he's in his own house
 * Mi tafahan ke date no swan ibla = I understand that's not possible
 * Mi no siel ke hi swel en os te dome = I didn't know that she was in her house

"Ke" replacing xen- words
When context allows and xen- words are either long, obvious, or simply make a sentence ugly, they can be replaced with "ke":
 * Hi swan wome ke dorman hoer (instead of "xenule") = He is the person who sleeps here
 * Data womire, ke te dome swan ega, swan mi te penge (instead of "xenule") = That man, whose house is big, is my friend
 * Tu swan ke te aytise? (instead of "xenule") = Whose mother are you?
 * Tu legan ke kitabe? (instead of "xena") = What book are you reading?
 * Date swan ke? (instead of "xene") = What is that?
 * Mi te awte swan ke? (instead of "xener") = Where is my car?
 * Kos ke tusu karel date? (instead of "xene") = Why did you do that?

Days, months and years
The names of the days is created in a similar way to Chinese and Portuguese, with numbers. Months too. Monday is considered the first day of the week. The system is really simple: number + a (for ordinal number) + rote. There are two words for "day" in Terwene, one with the meaning of "rotation" for the 24 h day (rote), and one which represents the hours of light of one day (sole), which also means "Sun". Months are created the same way but with the word "lune" which means both "moon" and "month". And weeks are lun+ab+e, meaning "a fraction of moon". The word for year is "yare". The order of dates is dd/mm/yyyy, let's see some examples: You may wonder "what happens between 1st and 7th of every month? because "Wanarote" is "Monday", not "first day of the month"". Well, most probably one would say just "wana" (first) to refer to the date and "Wanarote" to say "Monday", but also one could put the adjective after the word "rote wana" to make it clear that it's not "Wanarote", or hope context would clarify it, for example if you say "wana rote de Kwaralune", it clearly doesn't mean "Monday of April", it can only mean "April 1st".
 * Mi naskel ces sana hore he dosabe dosarote degwana (rote) de kwaralune wan naw naw co
 * I was born at 3:30 Tuesday the 20th of April 1998
 * Mi dormel dur lunabe = I slept during one week

Common phrases

 * Haye = Hi/Hello
 * Bona rote = Good day (at any time)
 * Bona sole = Good day (during daytime)
 * Bona kisole = Good night
 * Bona morne = Good morning
 * Bona kimorne = Good afternoon
 * Til sun = See you soon
 * Til posrote = See you tomorrow
 * Kihaye = Bye
 * Xyexe = Thank you
 * Kixyexe = You're welcome
 * Preye = Please
 * Ihane = Sorry
 * Bonhocanende = Welcome
 * (Tu swan) xeno? = How are you? (sing.)
 * (Tusu swan) xeno? = How are you? (pl.)
 * Bono, he tu(su)? = Good, and you?
 * Bona mancare! = Bon appetit!
 * Bona boyage! = Bon voyage! (Good trip!)
 * Helse! = Health!

Prepositions
Important note: when prepositions are used alone (they are not working as prepositions), it is recommended to place them at the end of the sentence or in the place where they create the least misunderstandings, or a comma is placed after them to represent a silence.

To “to” direction
 * Hi hocanon to urbe = she will come to the city

Ces “at” relatively in the same position but not exactly Fro “from/since”, position or time Te “ 's ” possession De “of” shows some relation or expreses quantity Dur “during/while” En “in” necessarily inside, can be metaphorical or figurative Kien "outside" Til "until” both for time and place Ko “with” Kiko “without” Par “for” Kos “because (of)” Xya “under” Sor “on” Super "over" over something but not touching it Tayti “instead” Amam "in front of" place Kiamam "behind" Pre "before" only for time Pos "after" only for time Pas "next to" Far "far from/far/away" Kifar "near/nearby" Haw "about" Tra "through" Cirki "around" Inter "between/among" Anti "against" Per "by/using" Kiper "without" without an instrument Tran "crossing/at the other side of" Bey "beyond" Exeti "except, appart from, other than"
 * Hi kahadan to hisu = he speakes to them
 * Mi te penge swan ces porde = my friend is at the door
 * Mi te erme swan ces tawile = mi brother is at the table
 * Hi swan ces angle = she is at the corner
 * Mi canel fro ange to mi te dome = I went from the corner to my house
 * Hisu swan kronules fro wan naw naw co = They are kings since 1998
 * Hi swan fro Argentine = She is from Argentina
 * So swan fro arbaxe = It is made of wood
 * Lukas te kitabe = Luke's book
 * Hoa awte swan egikere te = This is the university's car
 * Kitaboteke de urbe (Urbe te kitaboteke) = the city's library (not necessarily owned by the city)
 * Peye de kafe = a cup of coffee (a cup full of coffee)
 * Dur mi mancel, hi trinkel = While I was eating, he was drinking
 * Mi no futan dur mornes = I don't walk in the morning
 * Mi residan en data dome = I live in that house
 * Mi ikan en egikere = I study in a university
 * Tu swan en xor kien ma? = Are you inside or outside?
 * Tu swan kien dome ma? = Are you out of the house?
 * Misu canay (to) kien = Let's go outside
 * Mi mancel til nawa hore = I ate until 9:00
 * Misu ranay til dome! = Let's run up to the house!
 * Mi mancan mafes ko frutakwe = I eat apples with juice
 * Ko tu mi swan mas bono = With you I feel better
 * Hi residan ko hi te ermes = He lives with his siblings
 * Mi trinkan kafe kiko late = I drink coffee without milk
 * Mi karel hoe par tu = I did this for you
 * Hi karan keykes par kimayar = I make cakes for selling
 * Peye par ubalkole = a cup/glass for wine
 * Kos date mi no mayan mafes = Because of that I don't buy apples
 * Hi no hocanon kos os te kihelse = She won't come because of her illnes
 * Mi no mancan kos mi ne xihwan date = I'm not eating because I don't like that
 * Womihe swan xya tawile = A child is under the table
 * Mi canel (to) xya awte = I went under the car
 * Hi swan xya = He is below
 * Swan mafes sor tawile = There are apples on the table
 * Tayres udanan super misu te awte = Birds fly over our car
 * Mi trinkan tayti tu = I drink instead of you
 * Mi trinkan tayti mancar = I drink instead of eating
 * Tayti, tu mancan = Instead, you eat
 * Mi swan amam tu te dome = I am in front of your house
 * Mi swan kiamam tu = I'm behind you
 * Premorne = early morning
 * Mi naskel pre baha tempe = I was born a long time ago
 * Pre mi dormekel mi mancel = Before I fell asleep, I ate
 * Pre dormekar mi mancel = Before falling asleep, I ate
 * Mi kitutim sentel date pre = I'd never felt that before
 * Pos dormendar mi mancel = After waking up, I ate
 * Pos mi dormendel mi mancel = After I woke up, I ate
 * Mi karon date pos = I'll do that after/later
 * Mi swan pas awte = I am next to a car
 * Xene swan pas tu? = What is next to you?
 * Mi swan far = I am far
 * Date swan far misu = That is far from us
 * Canay far! = Go away!
 * Mi swan kifar tu = I'm near you
 * Misu canay somer kifar = Let's go somwhere nearby
 * Data kifara kafere swan bona = That nearby cafe is good
 * Tu sian haw xene? = What do you know about?
 * Tra winteporde encanan winte = Through the window enters wind
 * Cirki sandeg = around thirty
 * Cirkicanar = to go around
 * Cirki dome swan awtes = Around the house there are cars
 * Internatyona = international
 * Mi swan inter arbes = I'm between the trees
 * Anti kihelse = against (for) an illnes
 * Anti mure = against the wall
 * Mi swan anti tu = I'm against you
 * Hi hocanon per awte = He'll come by car
 * Mi martilan per martile = I hit with a hammer
 * Mi martilan kiper martile = I hit without hammer
 * Mi te dome swan tran sadake = My house is at the other side of the street
 * Tran data nade swan otra lande = Crossing that river it's another country
 * Misu canay (to) bey urbe = Let's go beyond the city
 * Womoge kitutim canel bey Lune = Humankind has never gone beyond the moon
 * Mi mancan tute exeti mafes = I eat everything except apples
 * Tutules hocanel exeti tu = Everyone came except you

Preffixes

 * Ho- from ho- correlatives, this particle can also be used to show proximity, usually meaning "here". All of its uses are optional, for example, one may use "canar" as "to come" but to be more clear it's possible to use "hocanar"
 * canar = to go ➜ hocanar = to come
 * canendar = to arrive ➜ hocanendar = to arrive here (usually the listener's "here" because the speaker is always in its own "here")
 * lenar = to take (from one place to another) ➜ holenar = to bring (from one place to here)
 * Law- from lawa = law shows relation by marriage or similar relationship
 * aytise = mother ➜ lawaytise = mother in law
 * lawe = law
 * Disi- disseminating, separately
 * denar = to give ➜ disidenar = distribute
 * disio = disseminatingly
 * disiar = disseminate
 * Ex- ex-, former
 * presidante = president ➜ expresidante = expresident
 * exa = former
 * Ki- "un-" the opposite meaning or the closest approximation of it
 * mayar = to buy ➜ kimayar = to sell
 * tonge = east ➜ kitonge = west
 * nore = north ➜ kinore = south
 * kia = opposite (adj)
 * kio = contrarily
 * sendar = to send ➜ kisendar = to receive
 * Pre- before, pre-, long ago in time
 * histore = history ➜ prehistore = prehistory
 * bisar = to see ➜ prebisar = to anticipate (to have a vision)
 * morne = morning ➜ premorne = early morning
 * ayte = parent ➜ preayte = ancestor
 * Re- to repeat, to do again
 * sendar = to send ➜ resendar = to resend
 * kahar = to say ➜ rekahar = to repeat
 * reo ➜ again
 * Mis- to do incorrectly
 * tafahar = to understand ➜ mistafahar = misunderstand
 * usar = tu use ➜ misusar ➜ to misuse
 * miso = mistakenly/wrongly
 * Far- from afar
 * bisar = to see ➜ farbisatore = television (the object)
 * farbise = television
 * Dosab(a)- half-, semi-
 * hore = hour ➜ dosabahore = half an hour
 * Kwasi- almost, quasi-, pseudo
 * nome = name ➜ kwasinome = pseudnim
 * dyose = god ➜ kwasidyose = demigod
 * ihe = son/daughter ➜ kwasiihe = stepson/daughter

Suffixes
I won't repeat the five verb suffixes, they are explained in the Verbs section
 * -abl- capable
 * bisar = to see ➜ kibisabla = blind
 * swimar = to swim ➜ swimabla = that can swim
 * ablar = to be able, can
 * abla = capable
 * -ibl- possible, the passive counterpart of abl
 * bisibla = visible
 * mancar = to eat ➜ mancibla = edible
 * ibla = possible
 * -ul- individual characterized by the root
 * Argentine = Argentina ➜ argentinule = an argentine
 * anti = against ➜ antiule = an oppositor
 * fenfa = rich ➜ fenfule = a rich person
 * krone = crown ➜ kronule = king/queen
 * kimayar = sell ➜ kimayule = sales person
 * -wen- language
 * Enge = England ➜ Engewene = English (lang)
 * Franse = France ➜ Franswene = French (lang)
 * Cine = China ➜ Cinwene = Chinese (lang)
 * Israele = Israel ➜ Israelwene = Hebrew
 * Some languages that can not be derived from a place or people may not take -wen- and may not take the -e ending at all
 * Esperanto = Esperanto
 * Latine = Latin
 * Klingon(e) = Klingon
 * -ax- concrete thing or material related to the root
 * mancar = to eat; mance = meal ➜ mancaxe = food
 * dulca = sweet ➜ dulcaxe = a sweet/candy
 * arbe = tree ➜ arbaxe = wood
 * en = in ➜ enaxe = content
 * -es- state or abstract quality related to the root
 * bela = beautiful ➜ belese = beauty
 * gara = warm; gare = warmth ➜ garese = temperature
 * ekwala = equal ➜ ekwalese = equality
 * libra = free ➜ librese = freedom
 * ule = an individual; ulese = individuality
 * When you turn an adjective into noun and it already means the quality, -es- is not necessary:
 * fasta = fast ➜ faste = velocity (=fastese)
 * -il- tool to do the verb of the root or related to it
 * tingaxarte = music ➜ tingaxartile = a musical instrument
 * ile = tool
 * -og- group of the root
 * arbe = tree ➜ arboge = forest
 * bede = sheep ➜ bedoge = a flock of sheep
 * wome = wome ➜ womoge = humankind
 * -ib- tendency or inclination to do somthing (not all -ive English words end with this!)
 * krear = to create ➜ kreiba = creative
 * kahadar = to talk ➜ kahadiba = talkative
 * rekahar = to repeat ➜ rekahiba = repetitive
 * imaginar = to imagine ➜ imaginiba = imaginative
 * -ind- worthy
 * legar = to read ➜ leginda = read-worthy
 * acetar = to accept ➜ acetinda = acceptable (worthy of acceptance)
 * xyexar = to thank ➜ xyexinda = worthy of being thanked
 * -eyn- recipient or container of the thing or characterized by the root
 * male = money ➜ maleyne = wallet
 * kigara = cool/cold ➜ kigareyne = fridge
 * eyne = recipient
 * -ist- professional of follower of a doctrine (can be interchangeable with -ul- in some words)
 * dente = tooth ➜ dentiste = dentist
 * helsar = to treat/cure ➜ helsiste = physician/doctor
 * pyane = piano ➜ pyaniste = pianist
 * Budha (or Budhe) = Buddha ➜ budhiste = buddhist
 * -ism- doctrine, idea, religion
 * Kristo = Christ ➜ kristisme = christianity
 * Budha = Buddha ➜ budhisme = buddhism
 * Marx(e) = Marx ➜ marxisme = marxism
 * socie = society ➜ sociisme = socialism
 * -ator- machine, part of machine, or system that does the verb of the root (it's NOT used for people who do a work, -ist- or -ul- are used instead, not even roots should end with -ator if it's for people, in the rare case there is a profession that needs its own root then it may end in -ador, but preferably with -ist)
 * faste = velocity; baryar = to change; fastebaryar = to accelerate ➜ fastebaryatore = accelerator
 * udanar = to fly ➜ udanatore = flying machine, aircraft
 * winge = wing ➜ wingudanatore = plane, aircraft with wings
 * aspe = blade ➜ aspudanatore = helicopter
 * ciswar = to calculate ➜ ciswatore = calculator
 * -obl- multiplication
 * dosobla = double
 * sanoblar = to triple
 * kwarobla = quadruple
 * oblar = to multiply
 * -ab- fraction
 * dosabe = a half
 * sanabar = to divide in three parts
 * kwarabe = a quarter
 * lune = moon/month ➜ lunabe = week
 * abar = to divide
 * abe = fraction
 * -al- color
 * blode = blood ➜ blodala = red
 * banane = banana ➜ bananala = yellow
 * akaxe = sky ➜ akaxala = blue
 * orange = orange ➜ orangala = orange
 * plante = plant ➜ plantala = green
 * ube = grape ➜ ubala = purple/violet
 * lume = light ➜ lumala = white
 * kilume = darkness ➜ kilumala = black
 * rake = ashes ➜ rakala = grey
 * kafe = coffee ➜ kafala = brown
 * ale = color
 * By the way, to say "light blue" or "dark blue" and similar combinations, the word (ki)luma or the prefix (ki)lum- are used:
 * lumakaxala = light blue
 * kilumakaxala = dark blue
 * lumrakala = light grey
 * lum(a)blodala = pink
 * -eg- a bigger or stronger counterpart of the root
 * lafar = to laugh ➜ lafegar = to laugh a lot or very hard
 * winte = wind ➜ wintege = a very strong wind
 * gara = warm ➜ garega = hot
 * kigara = cool ➜ kigarega = cold
 * ega = big
 * -it- a smaller or softer counterpart of the root
 * lafar = to lough ➜ lafitar = to smile
 * winte = wind ➜ wintite = a breeze
 * lage = lake ➜ lagite = lagoon
 * nade = river ➜ nadite = stream/creek
 * gara = warm ➜ garita = warm but more temperate
 * kigara = cool ➜ kigarita = cool but more temperate
 * safine = ship ➜ safinite = boat
 * ita = small
 * -er- place
 * mayar = to buy ➜ mayere = store
 * mancar = to eat ➜ mancere = restaurant
 * -otek- a place to save lots of the same thing
 * kitabe = book ➜ kitaboteke = library
 * male = money ➜ maloteke = bank
 * -im- time, moment, season
 * gara = warm ➜ garime = sommer
 * kigara = cool ➜ kigarime = winter
 * flore = flour ➜ florime = spring
 * foyle = leaf ➜ foylime = autumn
 * -ar- this infinitive ending can also be used with other endings representing the meaning of the verb if the root itself doesn't express it well (thus the root is rather a noun or adjective than a verb)
 * "krone" means "crown", and "kronar" is "to crown", but to say the name of the action one can't go back to "krone" to mean coronation, so one leaves the infinitive ending, thus "kronare" is "coronation".
 * martile = hammer; martilar = to hammer ➜ martilare = hammering (the name of the action)
 * -ic- a part or particle of the whole or of the material
 * sande = sand ➜ sandice = a grain of sand
 * sale = salt ➜ salice = a grain of salt
 * himpate = snow ➜ himpatice = a snowflake
 * towfe = hair (the whole) ➜ towfice = a single hair
 * -idr- leader, ruler, boss
 * urbe = city ➜ urbidre = mayor
 * probince = province/state ➜ probincidre = gobernor
 * lande = country ➜ landidre = president or prime minister
 * safine = ship ➜ safinidre = captain
 * -ih- offspring, son
 * wome = person/human ➜ womihe = child
 * myawe = cat ➜ myawihe ➜ kitten
 * faraxe = butterfly ➜ faraxihe = caterpillar
 * kronule = king/queen ➜ kronulihe = prince/princess
 * -is- -ir- -ip- the first one is for women the second one for men and the third one is for non-binary people
 * ayte = parent ➜ aytise = mother; aytire = father; aytipe = non-binary parent
 * ampenge = boy/girlfriend ➜ ampengise = girlfriend; ampengire = boyfriend
 * ihe = son/daughter ➜ ihise = daughter; ihire = son
 * ise = a woman (for humans, female for other living beings)
 * ire = a man (for humans, male for other living beings)
 * ipe = non-binary person
 * These suffixes should not be used in excess, only when it's really necessary to mention gender/sex of the person/living being in question.
 * -ik- means science or pseudoscience that studies X field (most words that in English end in -ics and -logy)
 * ike = science
 * nume = number ➜ numike = mathematics
 * wene = language ➜ wenike = linguistics
 * dyose = god ➜ dyosike = theology
 * helse = health ➜ helsike = medicine
 * bite = life ➜ bitike = biology

Ki- and no-
The word no can be used in a similar way to ki- but they are not the same, the first one is the negation of the meaning, while the second one is the opposite meaning. Sometimes both arrive at the same meaning, in those cases ki should be used, but no may be used when ki does not create the correct meaning or doesn't make sense at all.

There are words that could have been created through ki, but two separate roots have been chosen because either a shorter word was needed (such as for prepositions), a root that started in a vowel was needed (for suffixes such as eg and it), or the two words should be different for better understanding (such as pre and pos).

Family words
There are four main family words: With those, the -is-/-ir-/-ip- suffixes for gender, and the -it-/-eg- suffixes for age, we can create most of the family words that a culture may need. For example:
 * ayte = parent
 * ihe = offspring (son/daughter)
 * erme = sibling
 * espe = spouse
 * aytayte = grandparent
 * aytiraytise = the mother of my father
 * ermihe = nephew/niece
 * ayterme = uncle/aunt
 * aytermespe = uncle's/aunt's spouse
 * aytermihe = cousin
 * ihihe = grandson/granddaughter
 * ermisite = younger sister
 * ermirege = older brother
 * ermespire = a sibling's husband
 * and many many more...

Short words not worthy of being classified
Some words and phrases in many languages like "very", "too", "and", "but", "al least", "still" and so on, are difficult to classify and usually don't follow the same rules. In Terwene that means that these words don't take any ending in their usual form. Here is a list:
 * He and
 * Mi mancan pane he trinkan cate = I eat bread and drink tea
 * Or inclusive or
 * Xor exclusive or
 * Tan but
 * Hen very
 * Tu swan hen bela = You are very beautiful
 * Tay too (in the sense of too much)
 * Data swan tay ega = That one is too big
 * Amba both
 * Ye also, too
 * Mi aman wofes, mi aman ye myawes = I love dogs, I love cats too
 * Tu mancan pane, ye mi mancan pane = You eat bread, I also eat bread
 * Mas plus, more, anymore
 * Plus in maths: Wan mas dos swan san =One plus two is three
 * More: Mi bolan mas pane = I want more bread
 * More and -er in comparisons: Tu swan mas tala ke mi = You are taller than me
 * Anymore when with no: Mi no mas dorman bono = I don't sleep well anymore
 * Mos
 * Most and -est in comparison
 * Mose maximum (noun): Xenun swan mose? = How much is the maximum?
 * Mosa maximum (adj): Kimosa ose swan deg = The maximum amount is ten
 * Moso at most: Mi bolan moso deg = I want at most ten
 * Kimas
 * Minus in math: san kimas dos swan wan = three minus two is one
 * Less: mi xihwan ko kimas sukare = I like it with less sugar
 * Less in comparison: hi swan kimas tala ke tu = she is less tall than you
 * Kimos
 * Least in comparison: Tu swan kimos teliga = You are the least intelligent
 * Kimose Minimum (noun): Xenus swan kimose? = How much is the minimum?
 * Kimosa minimum (adj): Kimosa ose swan deg = The minimum amount is ten
 * Kimoso at least: Kimoso deg womes hocanel = At least ten people came
 * Kwasi
 * Almost: Mi kwasi canendan = I'm almost arriving
 * + no barely: Mi kwasi no dorman = I barely sleep
 * Ankor
 * Still: Hi ankor mancan = He's still eating
 * + no yet: Tu ankor no mancel = You haven't eaten yet
 * Yam
 * Already: Mi yam tafahan = I already understand
 * Yet: Tu yam mancel hoer ma? = Have you eaten here yet?
 * + no no longer: Mi yam no mancan rowe = I no longer eat meat
 * Sun soon
 * Preroto yesterday
 * Horoto today
 * Posroto tomorrow
 * Roto daily
 * Lunabo weekly
 * Luno monthly
 * Yaro annualy
 * Iben even
 * Iben tu tafahan date = Even you understand that
 * Hus just (recently)
 * Mi hus karel so = I just made it
 * Tuy immediately
 * Hocanay tuy! = Come immediately

Animal and human parts

 * Kepe = extremity, limb (arms, legs, tails, trunks)
 * Sorkepe = arm
 * Xyakepe = leg
 * Kiamamkepe = tail
 * Olar = to smell ➜ olile = nose ➜ olilkepe = trunk
 * Bisar = to see ➜ bisile = eye
 * Olar = to smell ➜ olile = nose
 * Tingar = to hear ➜ tingile = ear
 * Onte = lip
 * Ontoge = mouth
 * Oste = bone
 * Towfe = hair
 * Bisiltowfe = eyelash
 * Frente = forehead
 * Bisilfrente = eyebrow
 * Pyele = skin
 * Xente = body
 * Mane = hand
 * Kepite = finger, toe
 * Fute = foot
 * Kepitedire = nail (dire = shield)
 * Neke = neck
 * Maneneke = wrist
 * Pensar = to think ➜ pensile = brain
 * Towe = head
 * Towmyene = face
 * Dile = heart
 * Dente = tooth

Rooms

 * Rume = room
 * Cefar = to cook ➜ cefrume = kitchen
 * Dormar = to sleep ➜ dormerume = bedroom
 * Mancar = to eat ➜ mancerume = dining room
 * Limpar = to wash ➜ limperume = washing room
 * Banar = to take a bath ➜ banerume = bathroom (with shower)
 * Necesar = to need ➜ necesrume = bathroom (with or without a shower)
 * Bite = life ➜ bitrume = living room

Person, human, man and woman
The word for human, man and woman is "wome" which may take a suffix to specify gender. However, even though some languages, like Chinese, have only one word for person/human, I decided to have a separate word for person, since humans are a species, while person is more like an intelligent being. Think about it, would you rather call an Artificial Intelligence which is as smart and concious as a us a human or a person? Would you rather call an intelligent alien a human or a person? Also the word "person" is used for other meanings, such as "juridical person". So, the word for person is "persone".

IUPAC nomenclature
Alkanes (alkanes), alkenes (alkenes) and alcynes (alkines) use Terwene numbers as prefixes. Similar prefixes and suffixes are usually created from Terwene's own words to create a scientific vocabulary much more comprehensible to common people, not just scientists who studied for years.
 * Wanalkane = methane
 * Dosalkene = ethene
 * Degwanalkine = undecyne

Example text
Mars (planet) Wikipedia article

"Marse (planete).

Marse swan kwara planete fro Sole he dosa mas ita planete en Sola Sisteme pos Merkure. So han nome de roma dyose de harbe, he so plurimo swan nomeda "Blodala Planete" kos blodaloyda fera oxigaxe sor os te myene denan to so blodaloyda oyde xena swan kibehifa inter astes bisibla to akela bisile. Marse swan petra planete ko kidensa ayreparate, so han myena myases oyda to Lune te krateres he to Tere te bales, sahares, he pola barfa parates.

Marse te rota imege he gara cikle ye swan oyda to Tere te, xeno swan kline xena kosan gara cikle. Sor Marse swan Olimpus Monte, mos ega hwomonte he dosa mos tala koneda monte en Sola Sisteme, he ye swan Bale Marineris xena swan wan de mos ega bales en Sola Sisteme. Kirofa Norapola Diprese en nora dosabesfire okupan kwardeg interpaye de planete he iblo swan egega kratere. Marse han dos lunes: Fobose he Deymose, xena swan ita he ko kiregula morfe. Sosu iblo swan kapteda astites, xeno 5261 Eureka, wan Marsa troyane."