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Name: Aalmok
Type: Compositionally polysynthetic Alignment: Nominative-Accusative Head Direction: Final Number of genders: None Declensions: Yes Conjugations: Yes
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General information[]
- Aalmok is intended to be an International Auxiliary Language that takes a different route to its creation than most of its counterparts. It's an a priori language with a more complex grammar system. The more complex grammar and phonemic inventory are intended as a tool for introducing learners to concepts and sounds they may be unfamiliar with. With it's extremely high regularity, it is also intended to be relatively easy to learn.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | (n̪) | n | (n̠) | ŋ | |||
Plosive | p b | (t̪) (d̪) | t d | k g | ʔ | |||
Fricative | ɸ β | θ ð | s z | ʃ ʒ | ç ʝ | x ɣ | h | |
Affricate | p͡ɸ1 b͡β1 | t̪͡θ1 d̪͡ð1 | t͡s1 d͡z1 | t͡ʃ d͡ʒ | k͡x1 g͡ɣ1 | |||
Approximant | β̞ | ɻ | j | |||||
Trill | r | |||||||
Flap or tap | ɾ | |||||||
Lateral fric. | ɬ | |||||||
Lateral app. | l |
1. /pɸ, bβ, t̪θ, d̪ð, ts, dz, kx, gɣ/ appear as digraphs in written Aalsen.
[n̪], [n̠], [t̪] and [d̪] are allophones of [n], [t] and [d] when they occur clustered with consonants of those points or articulation.
Vowels[]
Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː y1 yː1 | u uː | |||
Near-close | ɪ ɪː | ʊ ʊː | |||
Close-mid | e1 eː1 | o oː | |||
Mid | ə əː | ||||
Open-mid | ɛ ɛː œ1 œː1 | ||||
Near-open | æ1 æː1 | ||||
Open | a aː |
1. /y, yː, e, eː, œ, œː, æ, æː/ appear as digraphs in written Aalsen
Alphabet[]
The romanization of Aalšik (the Aalsen orthography) is as follows:
a | aa | â | ââ | b | c | d | ď | e | ee | f | g | ǧ | h | ħ | i | ii | î | îî | j | k | ǩ | l | ľ | m | n | ň | o | oo | p | q | r | ř | s | š | t | ť | u | uu | û | ûû | v | w | x | y | z | ž |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
a | aː | ə | əː | b | t͡ʃ | d | ð | ɛ | ɛː | ɸ | g | ʝ | h | ʔ | i | iː | ɪ | ɪː | d͡ʒ | k | ç | l | r | m | n | ŋ | o | oː | p | ɣ | ɾ | ɻ | s | ʃ | t | θ | u | uː | ʊ | ʊː | β | β̞ | x | j | z | ʒ |
The digraphs mentioned in the earlier section are as follows:
pf | bv | tť | dď | ts | dz | kx | gq | eu | euu | ei | eii | ea | eaa | eo | eoo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
p͡ɸ | b͡β | t̪͡θ | d̪͡ð | t͡s | d͡z | k͡x | g͡ɣ | y | yː | e | eː | æ | æː | œ |
œː |
Finally, there are two "oddball" digraphs: "hl" is pronounced /ɬ/ and "hw" is pronounced /ʍ/.
Phonotactics[]
The phonology of words is equivalent to their spelling, excepting the changes listed below the consonants table. It is recommended that the learner simply learns the words, as the phonotactics are unlikely to be codified.
Grammar[]
Gender | Cases | Numbers | Tenses | Persons | Moods | Voices | Aspects | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Verb | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Nouns | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Adjectives | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Numbers | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Participles | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Adverb | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Pronouns | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Adpositions | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Article | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Particle | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
General[]
The sentence structure in Aalmok is generally free, with the only exceptions being the location of adjectives, adverbs, and genetive case nouns (These will be discussed in their individual sections).
Primary stress falls on the final syllable of a word, not including case or verb endings, unless there are one or more long vowels; in which case, primary stress would fall on the first long vowel and secondary stress would fall on all subsequent long vowels. Secondary stress radiates out from a fixed stress source to every other syllable in either direction. For example: /hampesak/ (companion) is pronounced [ˌham.pes.ˈak] and /seeišmaguk/ (weekly news) is pronounced [ˈseːʃ.ma.ˌguk]
This overview will begin with nouns.
Nouns[]
For the most part, Aalmok can be said to revolve around the nouns. Verbs, adjectives and adverbs are derived from them. In fact, nouns even function as the primary descriptors, as, as you will later find out, there are an extremely small number of adjectives. The first things a learner should know is, that nouns always end in a consonant and that nouns decline for 7 cases and 2 numbers in a wholly regular pattern. This is shown in the following table:
Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Locative | Allative | Genetive | Adverbial | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | -Ø | -â | -i | -oi | -au | -al | -âs |
Plural | -(î)š, -ž | -(e)na | -(e)sa, -za | -(e)ši, -ži | -(a)žu, -šu | -el | -iř |
The plural ending used is determined by whether or not the final consonant of the noun is voiced. If the noun ends with /y, w, h/ then the full ending must be used. /s, z, š, ž/ also require that the full Nominative, Dative, Locative and Orientative endings are used and /n/ requires the full Accusative ending; although, in these situations, in informal speach, the ending's first vowel can be dropped if the word's final consonant is replaced by /ħ/.
Each of these cases has an underlying concept behind them, although it is preferred that the Locative and Orientative not be used without an accompanying preposition. The Nominative is used for nouns taking the subject role in verb constructions. The Accusative marks the direct object of a verb and the Dative, the indirect object. The Locative indicates that the preposition modifying the noun is expressing a location in relation to something else and the Orientative indicates direction in relation to something else.
The Genetive is rather unique among the cases. It takes its position within the other cases and generally functions as the language's adjective. It indicated that the preceding noun possesses the genetive noun's qualities, or that the preceding noun is possessed by the genetive noun. The Genetive does not modify to agree with the case in which it lies. There is, however, one exception to the preceding sentence; if the Genetive is refering back to a noun already in the genetive, then /u/ is added on to the basic genetive ending; if the Genetive is refering back to a word already in the second level of Genetive, then it adds /o/; then /a/; then /e/; and finally /i/; if further levels of the Genetive are used for whatever reason, then the final vowel progression is restarted. In discussion, these Genetive forms are referred to as “levels of Genetive”, and, in glossing, are written as “GEN2”, “GEN3”, “GEN4” and so on.
The Adverbial is used to express modification of the Genetive as well as verbs and other Adverbial nouns in a way that answers the questions “how?”, ”by what means?”, ”in terms of what?”, “what with?”, and “for what?”. It acts the same way as the Genetive. The Adverbial is also used to for the Vocative sense.
Pronouns[]
This section is quite brief. How about a table to sum it up?:
Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Locative | Orientative | Genetive | Adverbial | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | to | go | do | jo | co | twal | twâs |
You (Singular) | we | gwe | dwe | žwe | šwe | wal | wâs |
It | la | ga | ze | cei | cau | lal | lâs |
We (Exclusive) | toš | gon | dos | joť | coď | jel | jir |
We (Inclusive) | teš | gen | des | jeť | ceď | cel | cir |
You (Plural) | weš | gwen | dwes | žweť | šweď | šel | šir |
They | laš | gan | zes | ceiť | cauď | hlel | hlir |
If the learner doesn't know the difference between “We (Exclusive)” and “We (Inclusive)”, then the learner should check here.
Also, keep in mind that, in Aalmok, it's perfectly alright to refer to humans of either gender as "it".
Adjectives[]
Curiously enough, there are only 18 adjectives in the entire language of Aalmok. Adjectives are placed before what they modify
Here's another table:
Aalmok | English |
---|---|
na | a (indefinite article) |
ta | the (definite article) |
teta | every, all, each |
sota | no, none of |
kepa | many, much, a lot of |
nata | some, a few, several, a couple |
gopa | few, little, a little bit of |
eipa | another, the other |
fara | whole, entire, complete |
mima | the same |
kwoda | most, the majority of |
mepa | the last, the final, the ultimate |
iiťa | this |
aaťa | that |
uuťa | that(over there), yonder |
dina | half of, half of all of |
keta | some, the minority of |
kapa | part of, part of all of |
“Mepa” can be modified to “lamepa”, meaning “penultimate, the second to last”, technically meaning that there are 19 adjectives.
Verbs[]
Declension[]
Starting right off with the declension:
Pronoun | General Verb Ending | Command Forms |
---|---|---|
to | -o | -oa |
we | -e | -ea |
la | -ai | |
toš | -os | -oas |
teš | -eos | -as |
weš | -es | -eas |
laš | -ais |
Oh dear! What's this? A first person command form?? What does that even mean?
Well, It's really not that complex. Sometimes the learner may find themself stuck on a school or work assignment, and in English, it's not uncommon for people to try to energize themselves by giving themselves commands. The only difference in Aalmok is, that you use the 1st. person command instead of the 2nd. person command. The 1st. person singular and plural also have another use in conversational speaking. If you or you and you're group are in a confrontation with one or more others, a 1st. person command can be used to call for an action from you and/or your group against the opposition in a fashion that is pretentious or debasing to the opposition.
The “-as” command is essentially the same as the “let's” formation in English.
Tense, Mood and Aspect[]
The tense, mood, aspect and other qualities of verbs can be modified through the use of a pretty good sized list of prefixes and suffixes. The extent to which these affixes are used has an effect on register, but that's a story for another section. Here's a list of the affixes along with the effect they have:
Prefix | Meaning | Suffix | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
aa(y)- | causative aspect | -iy | future tense |
mes/mez/meħ- | decausative aspect | -uw | past tense |
no(k)- | reversive aspect | -ar | hypothetical tense |
klo(t)- | reversive causative aspect | -ob | potential modality |
xu(f)- | reversive decausative aspect | -eň | desiderative modality |
ne(y)- | iterative aspect | -ur | optative mood |
he(r)- | perfective aspect | -eits | amative modality |
ho(r)- | imperfective aspect | -ask | pavitative modality |
ta(s)- | temptative aspect | -ol | permissive modality |
ka(p)- | disintegrative aspect | -adz | jussive mood |
fo(r)- | reventive aspect | -eg | necessitative mood |
spa(s)- | durative aspect | -ešt | inclinative aspect |
ďa(s)- | artificial aspect | ||
oo(w)- | negative aspect | ||
ki(x)- | progressive aspect | ||
la(z)- | ingressive aspect | ||
ze(g)- | cessative aspect | ||
me(d)- | continuative aspect | ||
ľi(y)- | frequentative aspect | ||
de(n)- | reflexive aspect | ||
hâ(m)- | interrogative mood | ||
ee(k)- | intensive aspect | ||
uu(g)- | attenuative aspect | ||
ťi(y)- | scitive aspect | ||
ďu(w)- | inscitive aspect | ||
is/iz/iħ- | ventive aspect | ||
uň/um/un/uħ- | itive aspect |
1. these prefixes are determined by the onset consonant of the root word, if there is no onset consonant, then the first form is used. the ventive and itive prefixes can also have any of the other prefixes attached to them without using those prefixes' consonants.
Affixes can be stacked if sensible.
All suffixes are treated as part of the root and the basic verb ending is added to the end of the last suffix.
Polite requests are formed by adding the proper command form onto a hypothetical stem with "myekâs" (please) starting off the sentence. For example: ".myekâs segarea." means "Could you please move?".
If the learner doesn't know the meaning of any of the terms in the above table, they can be found explained in Wikipedia's mood and aspect pages.
The passive voice is formed by switching the cases on the subject and direct object and adding the "-us" suffix to the verb.
Prepositions[]
This is a tough bit here. The prepositions have many meaning and the prevailing one is dependent on which case it is used with. As per their name, prepositions are placed before that which the modify. Prepositions of the same case can be combined into one to combine their meanings. Prepositions can also be used as prefixes. This section will be divided into cases.
Nominative[]
Only one preposition can use this case: "pu". when used with this case, "pu" means "per, for each". It is used in the expressions "pu dumoks" and "pu zamoks" meaning "percent" and " permille".
Accusative[]
A table of the preposition that can be used with this case and their meaning in such a case:
Aalmok | English |
---|---|
wi | greater than, of a higher order than, to a greater degree than |
yu | less than, of a lower order than, to a lesser degree than |
mi | equal to, of the same order as, to the same degree as |
kwi | about, on the subject of |
kwa | on a different subject than |
ci | by, by the hands of |
Dative[]
A table of the preposition that can be used with this case and their meaning in such a case:
Aalmok | English |
---|---|
ni | with, in concourse with, plus, added to, using, including |
nimo | without, minus, removed from, without using, excluding, other than |
ša | for, with the intent to give to, having in mind |
bu | from, gifted by, from the intent of |
mi |
like, similar to |
This case can also use the Locative prepositions, giving them a metaphoricle sense. E.g.: ”go” means “against, opposing” when used with the Dative case.
Locative[]
A table of the preposition that can be used with this case and their meaning in such a case:
Aalmok | English |
---|---|
ša | facing, facing towards, pointing to |
bu | facing away from, pointing away from |
ku | in, inside of, on the inside of, within |
ma | out of, outside of, on the outside of |
wi | above, in the space above, over |
yu | beneath, below, in the space below |
fa | in front of, before, on the near side of |
go | behind, on the far side of |
tuu | near to, close to, nearby, close by, in the vicinity of |
gaa | far from, far away, nowhere near |
kyo | on, attached to, attached to the outer side of |
ci | at, by, in close proximity to, at the position of |
so | in between, in the space between, between |
kwi | around, surrounding, all around, in every direction |
ge | on top of |
keu | on the underside of, underneath |
we | left of, on the left of, on the left side of |
yo | right of, on the right of, on the right side of |
yau | to the side of, beside, next to |
kwa | apart from, separate from |
jo | across from, on the other side of |
di | along the side of, alongside, stretched across the edge of |
kosi | north of, to the north of |
kozu | south of, to the south of |
kowe | west of, to the west of |
koyo | east of, to the east of |
lu | during, within the time of, while |
ľe | at, at about, at around, around, about (time expressions) |
šu | before, preceding (time expressions) |
la | after, afterward |
na | to, close| to, almost (time expressions |
li | from, far away| from (time expressions) |
pu | from ... to, stretched between, reaching between |
Allative[]
A table of the preposition that can be used with this case and their meaning in such a case:
Aalmok | English |
---|---|
ša | to, towards, in the direction of |
bu | away from, in the direction opposite of |
ku | into, form the outside to the inside of, from the outside inwards |
ma | out of, from the inside to the outside of, from the inside outwards |
kyo | onto, from away from to a position attached to |
tsa | off of, from a position attached to a position away from |
wi | up from, upwards from, from above upwards |
yu | down from, downwards from, from beneath downwards |
fa | to the front of, to the front side of, from elsewhere to the front of |
go | behind, to the far side of, from elsewhere to the far side of |
tuu | nearby, passing near |
gaa | far away from, passing far from |
ci | in the same direction and position as |
kwa | in a different direction from, away from |
we | to the left side of, from elsewhere to the left side of |
yo | to the right side of, from elsewhere to the right side of |
so | through, from one side through to the other side of |
jo | across, from one side to the other of |
pu | between, from ... to, across the space between |
di | along, alongside, along the side of |
kwi | around, in every direction from, outwards from |
yau | to the side of, from elsewhere to the side of, from every direction to |
kosi | northwards from, to the north of |
kozu | southwards from, to the south of |
kowe | westwards from, to the west of |
koyo | eastwards from, to the east of |
ge | over, from one side above to the other side of |
keu | below, from one side underneath to the other side of |
lu | during, throughout the duration of |
ľe | until |
šu | into the past before |
la | since |
Genetive[]
Only two prepositions can be used with the Genetive: “ša“ and “bu“. “ša“ means “owned by“ in this case and “bu“ means “made out of“.
Comparisons With Only One item[]
There are 4 suffixes used to make comparisons without that which the object is being compared to: “-ab”, the positive comparative (more); “-af”, the negative comparative (less); “-uat”, the positive superlative (the most); and “-iad”, the negative superlative (the least). These are always used in the Genetive. Example sentence: “.iiňglîsmok aanai ťikal;dooicmok aanai ťikabal;o aalmok aanai ťikuatal.”, meaning “English is good, German is better, but Aalmok is the best.”.
Vocabulary[]
No. | English | Aalmok |
---|---|---|
1 | I | to |
2 | you (singular) | we |
3 | he | la |
4 | we | toš, teš |
5 | you (plural) | weš |
6 | they | laš |
7 | this | iiťa |
8 | that | aaťa, uuťa |
9 | here | iiťoi, ci iiťoi, ša iiťau |
10 | there | aaťoi, ci aaťoi, ša aaťau, uuťoi, ci uuťoi, ša uuťau |
11 | who | haď, wa, we |
12 | what | hân, hânal |
13 | where | hânoi, ci hânoi, ša hânau |
14 | when | ľe hânoi |
15 | how | haikâs |
16 | not | mo |
17 | all | teta |
18 | many | kepa |
19 | some | nata |
20 | few | gopa |
21 | other | eipa |
22 | one | nâ, nâks |
23 | two | du, duks |
24 | three | za, zaks |
25 | four | koi, koiks |
26 | five | po, poks |
27 | big | buwal |
28 | long | xunal |
29 | wide | sposal |
30 | thick | sposal |
31 | heavy | — |
32 | small | piyal |
33 | short | linal |
34 | narrow | klipal |
35 | thin | klipal |
36 | woman | aď, aďim |
37 | man (adult male) | aď, aďun |
38 | man (human being) | aď |
39 | child | pyav |
40 | wife | seif, seifim |
41 | husband | seif, seifun |
42 | mother | šud, šudim |
43 | father | šud, šudun |
44 | animal | ľož |
45 | fish | — |
46 | bird | — |
47 | dog | wûf |
48 | louse | — |
49 | snake | — |
50 | worm | — |
51 | tree | šen |
52 | forest | šeniť |
53 | stick | — |
54 | fruit | — |
55 | seed | — |
56 | leaf | — |
57 | root | — |
58 | bark | — |
59 | flower | ťfin |
60 | grass | sis |
61 | rope | — |
62 | skin | — |
63 | meat | — |
64 | blood | weif |
65 | bone | — |
66 | fat | — |
67 | egg | — |
68 | horn | — |
69 | tail | lep |
70 | feather | — |
71 | hair | šiy |
72 | head | mas |
73 | ear | ol |
74 | eye | piťk |
75 | nose | ťniħ |
76 | mouth | maiy |
77 | tooth | tťet |
78 | tongue | ťlek |
79 | fingernail | — |
80 | foot | was |
81 | leg | — |
82 | knee | — |
83 | hand | yaoľ |
84 | wing | — |
85 | belly | bad |
86 | guts | — |
87 | neck | gak |
88 | back | glaz |
89 | breast | — |
90 | heart | toodow |
91 | liver | — |
92 | drink | šiifon, šiif, šiifuek |
93 | eat | teepon |
94 | bite | — |
95 | suck | — |
96 | spit | pťan, pťanon |
97 | vomit | — |
98 | blow | — |
99 | breathe | hâhon |
100 | laugh | hahon |
101 | see | bizon |
102 | hear | lunon |
103 | know | kuton, zuton |
104 | think | glanon, zânon, gaznon, kwazon, skazon |
105 | smell | feunon |
106 | fear | sask, saskon |
107 | sleep | siin, siinon |
108 | live | wiimon, kyudon, wiimisal |
109 | die | guuzon |
110 | kill | dubon, aguuzon, caguuzon, gobeiyon |
111 | fight | kepon, dekepon, pukepon, pukep |
112 | hunt | — |
113 | hit | bok, bokon |
114 | cut | žaaikon, žaaik |
115 | split | ftenon, kasiijon, kašadďon |
116 | stab | — |
117 | scratch | — |
118 | dig | — |
119 | swim | dazdon, dazd |
120 | fly | šuumon |
121 | walk | cegon, ceg |
122 | come | byubon |
123 | lie | boď, boďon |
124 | sit | gwaapon, gauzon |
125 | stand | kaikon, gaizon, peťikson, umyekon, ewwimon, |
126 | turn | denson, dens |
127 | fall | yuzon, yuz, šejun |
128 | give | diňkson |
129 | hold | — |
130 | squeeze | — |
131 | rub | — |
132 | wash | — |
133 | wipe | — |
134 | pull | — |
135 | push | saškon, sašk |
136 | throw | — |
137 | tie | — |
138 | sew | — |
139 | count | dwezon, dwezed |
140 | say | kugon, syamon |
141 | sing | — |
142 | play | hlikson |
143 | float | — |
144 | flow | fsadon, fsad |
145 | freeze | ciňkon, ciňk |
146 | swell | — |
147 | sun | xam |
148 | moon | uuv |
149 | star | ňip |
150 | water | dďoog |
151 | rain | šeuuk |
152 | river | fsad |
153 | lake | klos |
154 | sea | — |
155 | salt | — |
156 | stone | koc |
157 | sand | — |
158 | dust | — |
159 | earth | kof |
160 | cloud | stap |
161 | fog | — |
162 | sky | fum |
163 | wind | šuuw |
164 | snow | cook |
165 | ice | cik |
166 | smoke | — |
167 | fire | žaf |
168 | ash | hlat |
169 | burn | žafon, žafed |
170 | road | radz |
171 | mountain | ham |
172 | red | wilt, wiltal |
173 | green | šelt, šeltal |
174 | yellow | xalt, xaltal |
175 | white | telt, teltal |
176 | black | molt, moltal |
177 | night | skuv |
178 | day | jam, skam |
179 | year | škaf |
180 | warm | — |
181 | cold | — |
182 | full | — |
183 | new | tuuštal |
184 | old | gaaštal, buňkal |
185 | good | ťikal, cakal |
186 | bad | ďugal, jugal |
187 | rotten | — |
188 | dirty | supal |
189 | straight | — |
190 | round | — |
191 | sharp | — |
192 | dull | — |
193 | smooth | — |
194 | wet | nyûkal, anyûkon, canyûkon |
195 | dry | neekal, aneekon, caneekon |
196 | correct | peťal, apeťon, capeťon, impeťon |
197 | near | tuu, na |
198 | far | gaa, li |
199 | right | yo, yon |
200 | left | we, wen |
201 | at | ci, ľe |
202 | in | ku |
203 | with | ni |
204 | and | e |
205 | if | ai |
206 | because | zee |
207 | name | jeoon |
To be updated