By all means, please either help fix spelling, grammar and organization problems or contact the author about them. Thank you.
By all means, take a look around. Thank you.
About[]
"9" is just a placeholder name until I come up with an actual name. I know English and am studying Japanese. We have too many conlangs based off of Western European languages, so I will make this language closer to Japanese, though I will attempt to create word roots completely from scratch. I plan to use some symmetry with the letters.
This is a work in progress. Everything is subject to change.
Phonology[]
Alphabet[]
| i | u | |
| e | o | |
| a |
| x | s/z | β |
| k/g | t/d | p/b |
| ŋ | n/l | m |
Script[]
| i | e | a | o | u | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| x | s | β | ||||||||||||||||||||
| k | t | p | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ŋ | n | m | ||||||||||||||||||||
| z | g | d | b | l | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 /e/.
The order for collation starts at the top-left of the grid, going left to right, then up to down. Letters listed in pairs are collated together, with the left one of the set coming first.
Sounds[]
- <i> is the close front unrounded vowel [i].
- <e> is a mid to open-mid front unrounded vowel - ranging from [e̞] to [ɛ]
- <a> is an open unrounded vowel - ranging from [a] to [ɑ].
- <o> is a mid to open-mid back rounded vowel - ranging from [o̞] to [ɔ].
- <u> is the close back rounded vowel [u].
- Consonants represent their IPA equivalents. Plosives <k>, <t>, and <p> are normally aspirated, but are unaspirated following <s>.
- Affricates [ts] and [dz] are used.
- [j] and [w] are used between vowels, noted in the chart below.
|
Second Vowel → First Vowel ↓ |
i | e | a | o | u |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | N/A | [ije] | [ija] | [ijo] | [iju] |
| e | [eji] | N/A | [eja] | [ejo] | [eju] |
| a | [aji] | [aje] | N/A | [awo] | [awu] |
| o | [owi] | [owe] | [owa] | N/A | [owu] |
| u | [uwi] | [uwe] | [uwa] | [uwo] | N/A |
Structure[]
Syllable Structure[]
The syllable structure is (C)V(n,s,t), where
- (C) is an optional consonant.
- V is a vowel (or diphthong).
- Final <n>, <s>, and <t> are used for verb conjugations and loanwords only. Final <t> is unreleased [t̚].
- /n/ assimilates to the next consonant.
- Allowable medial consonant clusters are [mp], [mb], [nt], [nd], [ns], [nz], [nɾ], [ŋk], [ŋg], [sp], [st], and [sk].
Sentence Structure[]
The unmarked word order of the language is (S)(O)V. A sentence only needs a verb to be grammatically correct. In these cases, the subject (and object, if applicable) is determined by context.
Stress[]
For nouns, the penultimate syllable is stressed. For verbs, the final syllable is stressed.
Numbers[]
Basic Numbers[]
This language will use a dozenal base.
| Name | Symbol | English Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| o/no | o | zero |
| ko | k | one |
| ho | h | two |
| to | t | three |
| so | s | four |
| po | p | five |
| ɾo | ɾ | six |
| go | g | seven |
| zo | z | eight |
| do | d | nine |
| ɸo | ɸ | ten |
| bo | b | eleven |
The symbols for the digits are simply an underlined letter. With this system, 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 in certain cases such as when an ambiguity can occur between the number <o> and the letter <o>, then /no/ is used instead.
Larger Numbers[]
<mi> is "dozen" and <mu> is "gross". When counting, you need to explicitly say "one dozen" and "one gross" instead of simply "dozen" and "gross".
| Name | Symbol | English Equivalent | Base 10 Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| komi | ko | one dozen | 12 |
| komi-ko | kk | one dozen and one | 13 |
| homi | ho | two dozen | 24 |
| komu | koo | one gross | 144 |
| komu-to | kot | one gross and three | 147 |
| komu-homi-to | kht | one gross, two dozen, and three | 171 |
| bomu-bomi-bo | bbb | eleven gross, eleven dozen, and eleven | 1727 |
A dash may be inserted between place boundaries for easier readability.
Nouns[]
Nouns do not decline. A noun can represent one of any number, gender, or definiteness.
Case Particles[]
Particles will be used to indicate the case of nouns. They are placed after the noun they modify.
| Particle | Case | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| na | Nominative | Subject |
| ia | Accusative | Direct object |
| ua | Dative | Indirect object |
| di | Genitive | Relationship/possession |
| do | Attributive | |
| ka | Locative/Temporal | A specific location/time |
| ki | Ablative/Egressive | A starting location/time |
| ku | Lative/Terminative | An ending location/time |
| br | Instrumental | Means by which an action is accomplished |
Noun Classes[]
Every noun falls into one of four main classes. Of course, the classes themselves are nouns in their own right.
| Noun Class | Group |
|---|---|
| tana | Animate |
| tama | Inanimate |
| taŋa | Abstract |
| taba | Descriptive |
The Descriptive class will be covered in a later section. The other three classes have sub-classes for extra precision. Some of the more important sub-classes are shown below.
| Noun Class | Sub-class | Group |
|---|---|---|
| tana | taʃi | Human |
| tasu | Non-human animal | |
| taŋa | kavi | Time |
| kavu | Location |
Determiners[]
The demonstrative determiners are <he->, <ha->, and <ho->, respectively meaning "which", "this", and "that". They are used before a noun class word.
| Determiner | he- which |
ha- this |
ho- that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animate Thing | hetana | hatana | hotana |
| Inanimate Thing | hetama | hatama | hotama |
| Abstract Concept | hetaŋa | hataŋa | hotaŋa |
To use determiners with a specific noun, use the prefix, followed by a class word, followed by the noun. For example, <hatama PIANO> means "this piano". While <hatana tasi> can be used to mean "which person", certain common nouns may take the determiner prefixes directly.
| Determiner | he- which |
ha- this |
ho- that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | hetaʃi who |
hataʃi this person |
hotaʃi that person |
| Time | hekavi when |
hakavi now |
hokavi that time |
| Location | hekavu where |
hakavu here |
hokavu there |
| Reason | ? why |
? this reason |
? that reason |
| Amount (for count nouns) | ? how many |
? this many |
? that many |
| Amount (for mass nouns) | ? how much |
? this much |
? that much |
| Determiner | ? any |
e- all |
? some |
o- none |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | ? anybody |
etaʃi everybody |
? somebody |
otaʃi nobody |
| Thing | ? anything |
etana everything |
? something |
otana nothing |
| Time | ? anytime |
etaki always |
? sometime |
otaki never |
| Location | ? anywhere |
etaku everywhere |
? somewhere |
otaku nowhere |
Note that the determiner for non-existence uses the word for "zero", so that <otasi> literally means "zero people".
Personal Pronouns[]
The most general way to refer to a person is by using their name, even when talking directly to them. A second-person pronoun exists, but it is mainly to be used if you don't know the name of who you are speaking to. However, using your own name to speak about yourself is considered childish or egotistic, so only the first-person pronoun sees general use.
| First Person | ai |
|---|---|
| Second Person | au |
Note that there is no third person pronoun. Again, the name of who you are talking about is to be used if it is known. Otherwise, use the phrase <hotasi>; "that person".
The suffix <mo> 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. <aimo> = we, <aumo> = you (plural), <Alice-mo> = Alice and her group.
Adjectives[]
The base form of adjectives ends in <-lr> or <-hr> and represent something neutral. Words toward the negative direction end with <-i> and <-e>; toward the positive direction, <o> and <-u>. (Positive/Negative here does not necessarily correlate to desirable/undesirable.) The nominal form ends in <-a>.
| -a nominal |
-i << |
-e < |
-r Neutral |
-o > |
-u >> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tala quality |
tali very bad |
tale bad |
talr average |
talo good |
talu very good |
| mola quantity |
moli very few |
mole few |
molr not many or few |
molo many |
molu a lot |
Verbs[]
Verbs conjugate for tense and polarity. Aspect is determined by auxiliary words placed before the verb. Mood is determined by auxiliary verbs placed after the main verb. A basic verb ends in <-ta>, <-da>, <-pa>, <-ba>, <-ka>, or <-ga>.
Copula[]
The copula is <da>. It is used to say that a noun is another noun or has the properties of a certain adjective.
Sentence
|
ai na tasi da. |
|---|---|
Gloss
|
1 NOM human be |
| Translation | I am human. |
Existence[]
The verb to show existence is <naba>. This can be translated to English verbs such as "to exist", "to be located", "to happen", or "to have" depending on how it is used.
Sentence
|
miua na hitaku ka naba. |
|---|---|
Gloss
|
cat NOM here LOC exist |
| Translation | There is a cat here. |
Sentence
|
ai di guo na naba. |
|---|---|
Gloss
|
1 GEN dog NOM exist |
| Translation | I have a dog. |
Note that this construction uses the genitive case, so it literally means "A 'my dog' exists".
Tense and Polarity[]
To create the past tense, change <-a> to <-e>. To create the future tense, change <-a> to <-o>. To make verbs negative, add the appropriate nasal at the end. The copula conjugates irregularly.
| to be | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Past | ade was/were/was |
aden wasn't/weren't/wasn't |
| Present | da am/are/is |
daŋ am not/aren't/isn't |
| Future | ado will be |
adom won't be |
| to see | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Past | nabe existed |
naben didn't exist |
| Present | naba exist |
nabaŋ doesn't exist |
| Future | nabo will exist |
nabom won't exist |
Sentence
|
Santa Claus na nabaŋ. |
|---|---|
Gloss
|
Santa Claus NOM exist-NEG |
| Translation | Santa Claus isn't real. |
Aspect[]
Placing the word <havi> before a verb forms the progressive aspect.
