Elene

Elene (Sprottu Elene /sprotːu eleɲe/) is an a priori conlang spoken in Northern Amortunańm. Verbs are conjugated according to person, tense, and number. Nouns are declined according to number. 

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Elene Sprottu Elene
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative–accusative
Head direction
Initial
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m		n		ɲ	ŋ	ɴ
Plosive	p b		t d			g	q	ʔ
Fricative		f v	s	ʃ	ç ʝ		χ
Affricate				t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Approximant	w				j ɥ
Trill			r
Lateral app.			l ɫ

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
Mid	e	ɤ o
Low	a

Allophones

Before e, i, or j some consonants change:

t→[t͡ʃ]

d→[d͡ʒ]

n→[ɲ]

s→[ʃ]

h→[ç]

Before a velar consonant, n becomes ŋ:

ng→[ŋ]

ngg→[ŋgː]

Before a uvular consonant, n becomes ɴ:

nq→[ɴq]

nh→[ɴq͡χ]

Phonotactics

Consonants /m, p, b, n, t, d, s, l, ɫ, ʃ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, ɲ, ŋ, g, q/ can be geminated. This is achieved orthographically by doubling the consonant grapheme, or in the case of the nasals and lateral approximates, preceding it by the letter v.

Consonant	Length	Written	IPA	Meaning
/m/	Short	somà	/soma/	"to use"
	Long	sovma	/somːa/	"flower bud"
/d/	Short	edu	/edu/	"poem"
	Long	eddù	/edːu/	"to gather up"
/t͡ʃ/	Short	mete	/met͡ʃe/	"smooth"
	Long	mette	/met͡ʃːe/	"very"
/ŋ/	Short	enga	/eŋa/	"clover"
	Long	evnga	/eŋːa/	"breeze"

Words can begin with any consonant besides the glottal stop /ʔ/. Syllables can begin with two-consonant clusters so long as they (a) begin /s/, or (b) end with /r/; if they follow both of said conditions, a cluster can feature a maximum of three consonants. In addition, any consonant following /s/ in a cluster must be voiceless. Nasals and approximates cannot precede /r/ within a cluster. For example: /sn/-, /qr/-, and /sqr/- are all acceptable clusters, while /qs/-, /sd/-, and /snr/- are unnacceptable.

Native words can end in /m, p, b, n, t, d, s, r, ɫ, ʝ, ŋ, g, q/. Consonant clusters are not permitted in syllable codas.

Vowels can exist in any combination of up to three morae, so long as no two identical vowel sounds occure adjacent to one another. For example, /ae/, /aoɪ̯/, and /uɤe/ are all acceptable clusters, while /aa/, /uue/, and /iiː/ are not. Diphthongs and long vowels count as two morae. Vowels /e/, /i/, and /o/ can be lengthened—written as ei, ÿi, and ou, respectively.

Diphthongs

	+/i/	+/u/
/a/	/aɪ̯/	/aʊ̯/
/e/	/eː/	/eʊ̯/
/i/	∅	/jy/
/o/	/oɪ̯/	/oː/
/ɤ/	/ɤɪ̯/	/ɤʊ̯/
/u/	/ɥi/	∅

Unit 1

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

Alphabet

A consonant is considered wide if it is followed by a, o, õ, u or ÿ. Consonants followed by e, i, or j are considered narrow. If a letter only fills one box, it maintains that pronunciation for both instances.

Letter	Wide	Long
A	/a/
B	/b/
C	/q/ or /t͡s/	/ʃ/
D	/d/	/d͡ʒ/
E		/e/
F	/f/
G	/g/
H	/χ/	/ç/
I		/i/
J		/j/
K	/q/
L	/ɫ/	/l/
M	/m/
N	/n/	/ɲ/
Ń	/ʔn/	/ʔɲ/
O	/o/
Õ	/ɤ/
P	/p/
Q	/q/
R	/r/
S	/s/	/ʃ/
T	/t/	/t͡ʃ/
U	/u/ or /y/	/ɥ/
V	/v/
W	/w/	/ɥ/
X	/ʃ/
Y	/ʝ/
Ÿ		/j/
Z	/d͡z/	/d͡ʒ/

Letters C, K, W, X, and Z are not used in native words, but are used in loan words, names, etc.

Grammar

Pronouns

Personal

Person	Type	Singular	Plural
1	General	eme	emite
	Formal	Eo	Eov
2	General	ette	etitte
	Formal	Ete	Etev
3	General	assa	asitta
	Formal	Asa	Asav

Possessive

Person	Singular	Plural
1	mei	mevi
2	tei	tevi
3	sai	savi

Demonstrative

	Singular		Plural
	Object	Location	Object	Location
Proximal	ÿa	ÿata	ÿav
Mesial	na	nata	nav
Distal	la	lata	lav
Interrogative	ale	alat

Conjugation

Verbs are only conjugated according to person and basic tense (past, present, future). The other tenses are formed by use of auxiliary verbs. All infinitives, the unconjugated verbs, get grave diacritics and end in à, è, ì, ò, ȍ, or ù. Conjugated verbs get a circumflex diacritic.

Regular Verbs

-à

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	â	âi
2	ât	âte
3	âus	âuse

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	âta	âti
2	âtta	âtti
3	âusta	âuti

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	âl	âlo
2	âto	âtjo
3	âuso	âusjo

-è

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ê	êi
2	êt	ête
3	âis	âise

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	êta	êti
2	êtta	êtti
3	âista	âiti

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	êl	êlo
2	êto	êtjo
3	âiso	âisjo

-ì

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	î	îe
2	ît	îte
3	êis	êise

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	îta	îti
2	îtta	îtti
3	êista	êiti

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	îu	îlo
2	îto	îtjo
3	êiso	êisjo

-ò

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ô	ôi
2	ôt	ôte
3	êus	êuse

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ôta	ôti
2	ôtta	ôtti
3	êusta	êuti

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ôu	ôlo
2	ôto	ôtjo
3	êuso	êusjo

-ȍ

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ỗ	ỗe
2	ỗt	ỗte
3	ỗus	ỗuse

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ỗta	ỗtei
2	ỗtta	ỗttei
3	ỗusta	ỗutei

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ỗr	ỗro
2	ỗto	ỗtjo
3	ỗuso	ỗusjo

-ù

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	û	ûe
2	ût	ûte
3	ûos	ûose

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ûta	ûtei
2	ûtta	ûttei
3	ûosta	ûotei

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	ûõ	ûlo
2	ûto	ûtjo
3	ûoso	ûosjo

Irregular Verbs

È: to be

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	êe	êi
2	êt	ête
3	ês	êse

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	êta	êti
2	êtta	êtti
3	êsta	êsi

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	êl	êlou
2	êtou	êtjou
3	êsou	êsjou

Hjuè: to have

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	hjuê	hêe
2	hjuêt	hête
3	hjuês	hêse

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	hjuêta	hêti
2	hjuêtta	hêtti
3	hjuêsta	hêsi

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	hjuêl	hêlo
2	hjuêto	hêtjo
3	hjuêso	hêsjo

Anù: to be able

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	anûa	anûe
2	anûat	anûate
3	anûas	anûase

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	anûta	anûti
2	anûtta	anûtti
3	anûsta	anûsi

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	anûal	anûlo
2	anûatto	anûtjo
3	anûasso	anûsjo

Yè: to go

Present

Person	Singular	Plural
1	yêe	yêi
2	yêt	yête
3	yês	yêse

Past

Person	Singular	Plural
1	yêta	yêti
2	yêtta	yêtti
3	yêsta	yêsi

Future

Person	Singular	Plural
1	yêl	yêlou
2	yêtou	yêtjou
3	yêsou	yêsjou

Syntax

The usual syntax of Elene is SVs(O). Conjugated verbs, however, show person so that the subject is implied. Both SVs(O) and Vs(O) are allowed.

Eme oî ette.	Anûate rotì.
[eme oj et͡ʃːe]	[anuat͡ʃe rot͡ʃi]
S Vs O	Vs O
1s love(1s,pr) 2s	able(2pl,pr) eat(inf)
I love you.	You all can eat.

Number

Plurals in Elene are expressed depending on noun endings.

Ending in a Vowel

• a, o, õ, or u. 

-v

vuttja	vuttjav
bird	birds

• Some proper nouns such as names or demonyms can end in i or e.

-'v

i armeni	iv armeni'v
an armenian	some armenians

Ending in a Consonant

Singlular nouns can also end in all consonants, except for f, h, j, n, ń, or v. What makes the words plural depends on endings:

• b, d, g, y, ÿ

-ev is added

eÿ	eÿev
egg	eggs

• l, r

-ov

toral	toralov
back	backs

• m

ń is placed in front of the m

asastam	asastańm
stick	sticks

• ng

ń replaces the n

lõng	lõńg
ash	ashes

• p, q, s, t

-jav

omboit	omboitjav
belly	bellies

• If a noun, in loan words or proper nouns such as names, ends in f, h, j, n, ń, or v

-'ov

e iv	e iv'ov
the eve	the eves

Questions

Syntax does not change if a sentence becomes interrogative. The distiguishing features are:

• Rising pitch on the main verb.
• The diacritic on the first conjugated verb is changed to an acute (or double acute in the case of ỗ).

Yêtou.	Yétou?
[ʝetoː]	[↗ʝetoː]
go(2s,f)	go(2s,f,?)
You will go.	Will you go?

Hjỗt inè.	Hjőt inè?
[çʊt iɲe]	[↗çʊt iɲe]
drink(2s,pr) not	drink(2s,pr,?) not
You don't drink.	You don't drink?

Particles

In Elene, separate words, or particles, are added to a sentence to express additional grammatical information.

Tense

Tense particles follow a verb to add a tense that can't be conjugated. These get the same diacritics as verbs, however they remain unconjugated and can end in consonants. They follow the verb/verb phrase that they modify.

	Particle	Meaning	Example Elene	Example English
Negative	inè	not	Santtâusta inè assa.	He did not hit him.
Imperative	tèt	command	Santtâus tèt assa.	Hit him.
Perfect	dà	completion	Santtâuso dà assa.	He will have hit him.
Participle	lȍn	currently occuring	Ês santtà lȍn assa.	He is hitting him.

Emotion

To emphasize the emotion the subject is feeling, particles are sometimes used in informal and archaic speech and writings. These are usually used at the end of a sentence or phrase.

	Particle	Example Elene	Example English
Joy	e	Yêi e!	Let's go!
Sadness	lo	Lolouâ lo.	I'm sorry.
Anger	sa	Yêt tèt sa!	Go away!
Sencerity	la	Altaggâ la.	Thank you very much.
Pain	ai	Satâ ai!	It burns!

Vocabulary Some words can double as verbs.

No.	English	Elene
1	I	eme
2	you (singular)	ette
3	he	assa
4	we	emite
5	you (plural)	etitte
6	they	asitta
7	this	ÿa
8	that	na
9	here	ÿata
10	there	nata
11	who	alan
12	what	ale
13	where	alat
14	when	alehe
15	how	alotte
16	not	inè
17	all	oto
18	many	men
19	some	dale
20	few	iman
21	other	torotte
22	one	eno
23	two	teto
24	three	yain
25	four	bõn
26	five	arato
27	big	doi
28	long	anoi
29	wide	vatte
30	thick	pottõi
31	heavy	homon
32	small	satin
33	short	butin
34	narrow	imatin
35	thin	vostin
36	woman	umula
37	man (adult male)	votta
38	man (human being)	vamana
39	child	sjo
40	wife	tumutta
41	husband	votatta
42	mother	ama
43	father	aba
44	animal	solstamina
45	fish	ostina
46	bird	vuttja
47	dog	hõ
48	louse	bomnatta
49	snake	verella
50	worm	outoa
51	tree	qiu
52	forest	mõriu
53	stick	asastam
54	fruit	avru
55	seed	tuno
56	leaf	la
57	root	sustauna
58	bark	mõt
59	flower	avalla
60	grass	mittia
61	rope	hompa
62	skin	sal
63	meat	ańo
64	blood	tinim
65	bone	omno
66	fat	ittant
67	egg	eÿ
68	horn	faltu
69	tail	entena
70	feather	alfu
71	hair	peÿu
72	head	namasta
73	ear	allam
74	eye	yoÿo
75	nose	oppom
76	mouth	qou
77	tooth	itit
78	tongue	aglompu
79	fingernail	himtina
80	foot	upevma
81	leg	apalma
82	knee	untja
83	hand	mona
84	wing	avaya
85	belly	omboit
86	guts	tantu
87	neck	assona
88	back	toral
89	breast	mÿõ
90	heart	toqqtõqa
91	liver	dolmate
92	drink	hjõlla / hjȍ
93	eat	rotì
94	bite	rutatta / rutattì
95	suck	govmò
96	spit	hamò
97	vomit	ququa / ququettà
98	blow	hafù
99	breathe	hasà
100	laugh	auaran / auarà
101	see	omittȍ
102	hear	ohollà
103	know	qenȍ
104	think	somnà
105	smell	assoto / asottù
106	fear	nala / nalamè
107	sleep	tomunat / tomì
108	live	trivù
109	die	gattè
110	kill	gattandà
111	fight	suassam
112	hunt	timittò
113	hit	santtà
114	cut	iti / itì
115	split	qurutì
116	stab	amatì
117	scratch	dordutja / dordusatì
118	dig	migyì
119	swim	plottù
120	fly	bassjap / saltȍ
121	walk	satsà
122	come	gassà
123	lie	umonet / umossȍ
124	sit	sauÿò
125	stand	daneà
126	turn	sortì
127	fall	onmo / dallè
128	give	fittù
129	hold	yaÿà
130	squeeze	sjotù
131	rub	povmì
132	wash	bamnuà
133	wipe	hafò
134	pull	tontalù
135	push	gotjù
136	throw	oyattè
137	tie	tolttu / toltimivnà
138	sew	tuatì
139	count	qettaì
140	say	falè
141	sing	hotanè
142	play	unggà
143	float	obloà
144	flow	huttè
145	freeze	hulassjà
146	swell	soltȍ
147	sun	hia
148	moon	ÿuõ
149	star	sjõya
150	water	sjaÿ
151	rain	amet / amettè
152	river	suo
153	lake	lag
154	sea	osoq
155	salt	humal
156	stone	ortunam
157	sand	dovnaq
158	dust	uttupa
159	earth	sotjo / Talmer
160	cloud	do
161	fog	vamaillo
162	sky	tjem
163	wind	ossab
164	snow	ugia / ugì
165	ice	ugattja
166	smoke	mostom / tigarrà
167	fire	fo
168	ash	lõng
169	burn	satà
170	road	sõ
171	mountain	anja
172	red	ohesõi
173	green	eltesõi
174	yellow	iyosõi
175	white	angosõi
176	black	eqrosõi
177	night	duallem
178	day	tiõ
179	year	õnea
180	warm	mitti
181	cold	huroi
182	full	uli
183	new	uvoi
184	old	ehe
185	good	imi
186	bad	emÿe
187	rotten	uqqse
188	dirty	sosson
189	straight	gratan
190	round	sate
191	sharp	tan
192	dull	õne
193	smooth	suli
194	wet	suen
195	dry	sasi
196	correct	hasse
197	near	dayan
198	far	eyon
199	right	alte
200	left	dane
201	at	on
202	in	on
203	with	ne
204	and	ol
205	if	as
206	because	leto
207	name	lang