Kandese

Kandese Kubsun dem pä Käntes
Type	Analytic
Alignment	Nominative-accusative
Head direction	Head-final
Tonal	No
Declensions	No
Conjugations	No
Genders	Masculine, feminine and neuter
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect
Meta-information
Progress	0%
Statistics Nouns 0% Verbs 0% Adjectives 0% Syntax 0% Words 153 of 1500
Creator	Camrenzza

Kandese is an artificial constructed language created by Cammzy Armster on October 26, 2024. It is his second (successfully developed) constructed language, following his first language, Kalennian. A dictionary for Kandese was published on October 18, 2025.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants

Bilabial

Labio- dental

Alveolar

Post- Alveolar

Palatal

Labio- velar

Velar

Glottal

Nasal

m

n

Plosive

p

b

t

d

k

g

Fricative

f

v

s

z

ʃ

ʒ

x

h

Affricate

t͡ʃ

Lateral approximant

l

Approximant

ɾ

(ɹ)

j

w

Vowels

Vowels	Front		Back
Close	i	ɪ	u
Close-mid			o
Near-open	æ
Open-mid	ɛ
Open	a

Phonology notes

• /ɪ/ is not pronounced word-final, but it can be optionally pronounced for emphasis. And when a consonant cluster is in the middle of a word and has /ɪ/ at the end (e,g. “losny”, a word that has a cluster, “sn”, and “y” at the very end), /ɪ/ is obligatorily pronounced.
• /h/ occurs only initially; only gets pronounced as /x/ both word-medially and word-finally.
• /ʒ/ gets pronounced as /ʃ/ word-initial and word-final only.
• /ɾ/ is mainly a flap intervocalically, but it is also pronounced /ɹ/ word-final.

Orthography

ä /æ/

a /a/

b /b/

c /t͡ʃ/

d /d/

e /ɛ/

f /f/

g /g/

h /x/, /h/

i /i/

j /j/

k /k/

l /l/

m /m/

n /n/

o /o/

p /p/

r /ɾ/

s /ʃ/, /s/

t /t/

u /u/

v /v/

x /ʃ/, /ʒ/

y /ɪ/

z /z/

Phonotactics

• Words can be short and simple. Examples: sem (one), lom (eight), cu (seven).
• Consonant-final words are common. Examples: "bekoty" (even though it ends with "y", "y" is pronounced /ɪ/ and is never pronounced word-finally (as mentioned above), so as a result the spoken form ends in /t/, which makes it consonant-final), "jasädik", "totek".
• Kandese also allows both vowel-final words. Examples: "girä", "gebrä", "miralä", "lämä".
• Kandese's syllable structure is (C)V(C). Examples: "dojän" (CVCVC), "kubsun" (CVCCVC), "räbi" (CVCV), "ägezun" (VCVCVC).
• Initial clusters do not appear unless the word is a posteriori. Example: “kronikä” (CCVCVCV)
• Medial clusters are rare, but very much allowed, usually involving nasals or liquids. Examples: the words "dystä" (CVCCV) and "medräm" (CVCCVC).
• Diphthongs (like medial clusters) are also allowed, but cannot be at the ends of words. Triphthongs and any vowel cluster involving "ä" (/æ/) are not allowed. Examples: “autizä” (VVCVCV), “kueläxy” (CVVCVCV), and “kauxä” (CVVCV)
• Kandese does not allow onset clusters such as "st", "br", or "kl", nor does it permit complex codas like "-st" or "-mp".
• Stress placement and gemination in Kandese are always optional, allowing any consonant to lengthen for casual emphasis, poetic speech, or during word collisions in fast speech, while unmarked stress defaults to the penultimate syllable. Speakers can shift stress for emphasis or rhythmic flow. Example: "sojukä" (optionally pronounced as /sojuːkæ/ or /sojkæ/) may be pronounced as "SOjukä" (/soːjukæ/) for added intensity.

Vocabulary

Kandese vocabulary is broad and highly flexible, with most words covering wide semantic ranges; all of them are called "content words". A single content word can serve as a verb, noun, adverb, or adjective depending on context. For instance, “bekoty” can mean “to go”, “to move”, “to run”, but also “movement” or even “to bring life to something”. This polysemous nature makes Kandese concise and context-driven; Kandese does not rely on morphological conjugation or inflection, but instead on particles and surrounding words to narrow down the intended meaning. Many of Kandese’s words in the lexicon are a priori.

And because of Kandese’s strong polysemy, most words can be used together to form compound words and express simple or abstract concepts. For example, “sämä bekoty” is a compound word, made up of the words “sämä” (meaning “thing”, “device”, “tool”, “machine”, or “instrument”) and “bekoty” (meaning “to move”, “to run”, or “movement”). It can be interpreted as a word referring to a specific type of vehicle, like “car” or “bike”, or a robot (like a wind-up toy, like “moving device”).

Semantically, the vocabulary is rich in expressive and emotional terms, suggesting a language well-suited for storytelling and personal expression. Words like “oläjem” (“cringe, awkwardness, self-consciousness”), “mädeke” (“weird, crazy, unusual, intoxicated”), and “ägezun” (“romance, love, to kiss”) show a strong orientation toward human experience. Even humorous and colloquial concepts appear, like “hygädu” (“joke, to mess with”) and “josobe” (“to have sex, sexuality”), giving Kandese a lively, natural feel, despite its constructed origins.

Despite Kandese being highly analytic and forming grammatical structures periphrastically, it also uses suffixes for deriving words that expand the vocabulary. Kandese has a limited set of 5 derivational suffixes to build new words and do not carry any inflectional or grammatical information. "-mäk" is a derivational suffix used to turn a content word (when initially used as a verb/concrete noun/adjective) into one that expresses an abstract or conceptual noun, "-inje" (which becomes "-nje" when paired with a vowel-final word) is a diminutive suffix used to express the smallness/diminished or reduced value/endearment of a noun, "-ci" is an augmentative suffix used to intensify the greatness/large size of a noun or to intensify an affectionate or negative connotation, "-li" is a derivational suffix used to turn a content word (when initially used as an adjective/verb) into an adverb, despite Kandese content words on their own when used as adverbs are expressed via context or particles, "-sär" is an agentive suffix used to form nouns that denote the person or thing performing the action, and “-äny” (which becomes "-väny" when paired with a vowel-final word) is an antonymic suffix used to turn the initial meaning of a content word (usually something with a positive or negative connotation) into its completely opposite meaning, and therefore, make it an antonym. The various combinations of each suffix is possible through suffix stacking, but this quirk is usually reserved for emphasis, expressive nuance, or poetic effect rather than regular derivation.

Another use of Kandese is its ability to create grammatical changes to sentences with auxiliary verbs. Each content word in Kandese’s lexicon can be used as a verb/auxiliary verb, and they are always placed before the verb they are modifying. Each auxiliary verb serves an integral purpose for forming a grammatical concept (some examples of auxiliary verbs serving grammatical roles include: “lobät” (meaning “future/to come/to arrive) serving to express future actions, “kizem” (meaning “past/old/dried up/former”) expressing past actions, and “siduxä” (meaning “cause/seed/source/kernel”) expressing causative actions). Sometimes auxiliary ellipsis can occur (usually to avoid repetition), but unlike in English, where the auxiliary verb in question is completely omitted, the verb initially modified by the auxiliary verb is omitted, leaving just the auxiliary verb.

Grammar

Kandese is analytic. Word order is narrowly subject-verb-object (SVO).

Nouns

Kandese “inflects” nouns with particles and auxiliaries.

Kandese has nominative-accusative alignment. It marks subjects of transitive verbs with the nominative case (with the particle “pä”), and it marks objects of transitive verbs with the accusative case (with the particle “sä”). Both particles are always placed before pronouns.

For specifying quantities of nouns or noun phrases, Kandese uses 2 quantifier particles: one is “alä”, called the “broad” quantifier particle (describes a large indefinite amount or exhaustive amount, encompasses English “all”, “many”, “much”, or “every”), and the other is “kelä”, called the “narrow” quantifier particle (describes a small or indefinite amount, encompasses “some”, “any”, “few”, ”little”, or “a bit” in English).

Sometimes, “kelä” can be reduplicated for emphasizing the “smallness” of a quantity. The plural particle (“ny”) can be used when “kelä” is reduplicated, but “alä” cannot be reduplicated. However, both “kelä” and “alä” can be added to a noun to indicate a sufficient quantity. “kelä-alä” (the sufficient quantifier) merges into “kalä” in quick speech.

“Pä mi sojukä räbi kelä kejerän ny.”

NOM 1S do see NARROW book PL

“I’m reading some books.”

“Pä mi kizem bisodän girä kelä-kelä kejerän ny.”

NOM 1S past normal have NARROW-NARROW book PL

“I used to have very little/few books.”

“Pä mi girä kelä-alä kejerän ny”

NOM 1S have NARROW-BROAD book PL

“I already have enough books”

“Pä mi nä girä nä kelä-alä okäne kedosä kejerän ny”

NOM 1S NEG have NEG NARROW-BROAD money buy book PL

“I don’t have enough money to buy books.”

When Kandese expresses reflexive pronouns, “xä”, which marks the direct/indirect object of a sentence, is used. Don't think of “xä” as just a reflexive marker, however. It is also a direct object/indirect object marker that goes on nouns as well, and reflexivity only arises when the direct object/indirect object is the same as the subject.

“Pä mi ägyraxa xä mi.”

NOM 1S hate D.OBJ 1S

“I hate myself.”

Coming back to pluralization in Kandese, "ny" (plural particle) typically pluralizes nouns, but it can also be used on personal pronouns to indicate plural number.

"Pä mi ny gyjäxe nä räbi sä däb ny."

NOM 1S PL can NEG see ACC 2S PL

"We can't see y'all."

Sometimes, “ny” can act as an enclitic when it is used with capitalized nouns to make it more readable, and therefore less unnatural to read when the noun and plural marker are both spaced out.

”Losyntä Jähusaxiny”

unite kingdom-SUBORD-PL

“United States”

Kandese lacks a dedicated singular particle, however, the lexical numeral "sem" (one) can be used (informally) to indicate the singularity.

Pronouns like "hen" (“he/she/it”) can already mean any single entity (as "hen" serves as a universal third person singular pronoun), but ambiguity can arise because "hen" might also refer to a collective or indefinite referent when used loosely, especially if "kosä" already fills the role for expressing the third person singular and is not used nearby.

"Pä mi xykäzi räbi sem hen."

NOM 1S already see one 3S

"I already see them (singular)."

Cases

Kandese has 8 grammatical cases: nominative, accusative (as mentioned above), genitive, abessive, locative, equative, benefactive, and comitative.

The locative, which is represented by the particle “lop”, can cover all types of locative cases, but mostly it is just translated to English as “in”, “at”, “on”, or “by”.

“Pä mi lop dem mi alä täko.”

NOM 1S LOC GEN 1S BROAD house

“I am at every one of my houses.”

The genitive, which is represented by the particle “dem”, indicates possession (i.e. an attributive relationship of one noun to another noun). This particle is always placed before nouns and pronouns, but the target noun/noun phrase can be put before “dem” for stylistic/poetic purposes.

“Pä mi kizem jäly dem mi täko.”

NOM 1S past destruction GEN 1S house

“I destroyed my house.”

The comitative, represented by the particle “vä”, indicates accompaniment. The comitative also indicates the noun is used as an “instrument” when the verb “girä” (which means “to have”) is used, specifically in the context of “using” or “utilizing” something.

“Pä mi girä vä ho sämä bekoty.”

NOM 1S use COM DEF thing movement

“I use the car/bike.”

The abessive case, represented by “äni”, expresses the lack of a certain noun.

“Pä mi äni sämä bekoty.”

NOM 1S ABB thing movement

“I don't have my car/bike.”

The equative case, represented by “spä”, expresses the standard of comparison of equal values (an English equivalent of “sikä” would be “like”).

“Mikä josobe pä mi sojukä lämä spä losny dakuky?!

INT f*ck NOM 1S do procrastination EQU slow animal

“Why the f*ck am I slacking off like a sloth?!”

The benefactive case, represented by “istä”, expresses an action that is performed on behalf of someone else, and is usually paired with pronouns/nouns without accusative marking, because the object/indirect object of a sentence can be identified in the context of using the benefactive case with pronouns/nouns).

“Mi hyzäm nahämy raväko istä Tomus.”

1S RECENT open door BEN Thomas

“I opened the door for Thomas”

Gender

Kandese has 3 grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, which are all represented by “mesä”, “finä” and “äsi” (and are placed before pronouns/nouns. All 3 are used to define nouns/pronouns referring to animals or types of individuals and names that are explicitly “male”, “female” or “neuter”. This system is unlike most typical grammatical gender systems found in natural languages such as German or Portuguese, which not only assign gender to words referring to animals or people but also to nouns denoting inanimate objects and even to adjectives.

The gender neutral singular pronoun, “hen” (meaning “he/she/it”) is always used with grammatical gender to specify the actual gender of the person the speaker is referring to (in order to avoid ambiguity in conversations with multiple people). However, grammatical gender is not always used with “hen”, as the pronoun is sometimes used on its own for context.

“Pä finä hen nä binäsan iseläm.”

NOM FEM 3S NEG want forget

“She doesn’t want to forget.”

”Ho finä kovelu kijä ho mesä jemy.”

DEF FEM dog CONJ DEF MASC cat

“The female dog and the male cat.”

Not only are gender particles used on “hen”, but they can also be used on the second person and first person pronouns “däb” and “mi” (usually without nominative marking with “pä”) to specify the gender of said person the speaker wants to address or address themselves as.

”Finä mi nä sojukä räbi ajäm pontäsy.”

FEM 1S NEG do see DEM letter

”I am not reading that letter.”

Animacy

As said before, Kandese does not assign grammatical gender to nouns referring to inanimate entities; the only appropriate way to assign gender to an inanimate object is by using “tän”, an animacy particle, before the noun to show that it is inanimate (as most sentences with nouns referring to inanimate things are marked with “tän”). This can get confusing, since “tän” covers both inanimate and animate entities, but it can be made more unambiguous when “tän” is used with a noun that refers to a living entity to make it animate (e.g. “winä” is a content word in Kandese that means “human”, “person” or “being”), but at most times “tän” is dropped because animate nouns’ lexical semantics already imply animacy.

”Ho pä mesä winä sojukä räbi ho sä tän kejerän.”

DEF NOM MASC person do read DEF ACC INAN book

”The man is reading the book.”

In this sentence, since "kejerän" mainly functions as a noun and refers to a non-living thing ("book/diary/notebook/notepad"), "tänyt" can be dropped if the content word in question is already lexically "inanimate".

Other than “tän” being able to mark inanimate nouns, it is also mainly used to disambiguate when a content word is being pressed into service as a noun. But without “tänyt”, the phrase risks being read as a verb phrase (“drink strangely”) instead of a noun phrase (“strange drink”).

“O nä maknalä (tän) mädeke maknalä ny kijä sojukä sicaräm!

DISC NEG drink (INAN) weird drink PL SEQ do drive

“Don’t drink and drive!”

In this sentence, “mädeke” (meaning “weird/silly/peculiar/strange”) serves as a modifier for “maknalä” (meaning “drink/liquid/to drink”), which was just used as a verb for the imperative clause (“O nä maknalä”; “o” is a discourse particle, used in this sentence as an imperative marker). Let’s break this down:

• The phrase “mädeke maknalä” is clearly intended to be read as a full noun/noun phrase rather than a verb/adverb/adjective phrase (like "drink strangely/weirdly" or "drink the weird").
• Literally, it means “strange/weird drink” or “strange/weird liquid.”
• A more natural English translation for “mädeke maknalä” would be “alcohol” or “beer.”

Verbs

Tense, aspect, mood and personal affixes do not exist as a result of Kandese being an analytical language, so instead Kandese “inflects” verbs via auxiliary verbs and particles. Verbs also do not conjugate for tense, aspect, mood, person or number.

Infinitive

Infinitive forms of Kandese verbs are indicated by placing the relative clause particle “gän”, (importantly) being used as an adverb similar to English “how”, before the verb or after the auxiliary verb that precedes said verb, however, the usage of “gän” is never used after auxiliaries in this way. Kandese infinitive verbs are always unmarked.

“Mi kizem iseläm (gän) sarantä.”

1S past forget (RELV) think

”I forgot how to think.”

Tense

Present tense

The present tense in Kandese is not expressed with any words in the language, as most sentences are left unmarked for the most part.

“Pä mi räbi sä hen”

NOM 1S see ACC 3S

“I see it/him/her.”

Past tense

The past tense in Kandese is expressed with “kizem”, a word meaning “old/dried up/elderly/past” and used as an auxiliary verb. It is important to note that auxiliary verbs in Kandese are always placed before the actual verb.

“kizem” is also used in this context to express the perfect aspect along with “hyzäm”.

“Pä mi nä kizem räbi sä hen”

NOM 1S NEG past see ACC 3S

“I didn't see it/him/her.”

Future tense

The future tense is expressed with the word “lobät” (meaning “come/arrive/future”). Similar to the "going to"/"about to" future in English

“Pä mi lobät räbi sä däb”

NOM 1S come see ACC 2S

“I will see you.”

Mood

Indicative

Same as the present tense; unmarked.

Negative

Expressed with the versatile negative particle “nä”. It can be used twice or thrice to emphasize the negative. For clarity, using "nä" emphasizes the polarity, but not the quantity; when you use "nä" with the selective quantifier "kelä", you are able to specify both negative polarity and quantity, thus creating the sense of "total absence".

“Pä mi nä girä nä kelä burynkä-sär ny vä sä mi.”

NOM 1S NEG have NEG NARROW collaborate-AGN PL COM ACC 1S

“I don’t have any collaborators with me.”

Inceptive

The inceptive mood is expressed with the word “nahämy” (meaning “begin/start”).

“Pä mi binäsan nahämy sojukä dem mi yziki ny”

NOM 1S want start do GEN 1S assignment PL

“I want to start doing my assignments.”

Conditional

Expressed with "kontä", a particle that expresses the hypothetical state of affairs or uncertain event contingent on it. Unlike most auxiliary verbs, “kontä” is always placed before pronouns.

"Kontä pä däb kizem binäsan supentä alä somäly vä sä mi, pä mi lobät ägezun sä däb.”

HYP NOM 2S past want spend BROAD day COM ACC 1S, NOM 1S future love ACC 2S

“If you spent the whole day with me, I would love you”

Obligative

Expressed with “bikä” (meaning “require/need/should”)

“Pä däb bikä nä sojukä dem däb yziki ny”

NOM 2S need NEG do GEN 2S assignment PL

“You shouldn't do your assignments.”

Imperative

Expressed with the discourse particle “o”; it functions as a vocative case, intensifier particle, a mirative mood and an interjectional particle.

“O räbi ho sinälo!”

INTJ see DEF video

“Watch the video!”

Desiderative

Expressed with the word “binäsan” (meaning “wish/desire/want/should”).

“Pä mi binäsan maknalä”

NOM 1S want drink

“I want to drink.”

Abilitative

Expressed with the word “gyjäxe” (meaning “able/can/capable/ability/capability”).

“Pä mi nä gyjäxe räbi sä hen”

NOM 1S NEG capable see ACC 3S

“I can’t see him.”

Potential

Expressed with “gydäsi”

"Pä mi girä gydäsi gän bekoty äkis somäly.”

NOM 1S have probability RELV walk DEM day

“I might walk today.”

Interrogative

Expressed with the interrogative particle “mikä” (which acts as a universal interrogative pronoun), placed at the start for “what/who/why/how” questions, and placed at the end for yes/no questions. “Mikä” can also be paired with "o" (a discourse particle that can also be used as a mirative marker) to form an exclamative.

“Pä mi ny gyjäxe kubsun vä sä däb mikä?”

NOM 1S PL capable speak COM ACC 2S INT

“Can we talk with you?”

“Mikä däb sojukä jemälyn lop xä däb?”

INT 2S do touch LOC D.OBJ 2S

“What (are) you feeling in yourself?”

“O mikä gebrä jemälyn!”

DISC INT good touch

“What (a) great feeling!”

Sometimes, "mikä" is often dropped when expressing polar (yes/no) questions, which leads to the auxiliary verb modifying the main verb or the main verb itself getting shifted to the very end of the sentence; either one is used based on the situation.

“Pä däb bekoty sojukä?”

NOM 2S walk do

“(Are) you walking?”

”Mädeke däb jä?!”

crazy 2S be

”Are you crazy?!”

”Pä mi ny kubsun vä sä däb gyjäxe?”

NOM 1S PL speak COM ACC 2S capable

“Can we talk with you?”

Causative

Expressed with the word “siduxä” (meaning “to cause/reason/seed/source”).

”Pä däb (kizem) siduxä jäly in winä sä kosä.”

NOM 2S (past) cause kill INDEF person ACC 3P

”You made them kill someone.”

”Pä däb siduxä konäc dem mi sälety dekäbe.”

NOM 2S cause cut_off GEN 1S hand subordinate

”You caused me to cut off my finger.”

Aspect

Habitual

Expressed with the word “bisodän” (meaning “normal/traditional/conventional”).

“Pä mi bisodän maknalä lop somäly ny.”

NOM 1S normal drink LOC morning PL

“I usually drink in the mornings.”

Progressive

Expressed with “sojukä” (meaning “do/perform”). Sometimes an adverbial phrase like “lop kelä dystä” (meaning “for some period [of time]”) carries the sentence, and sometimes “rekät” (meaning “repeat/continue/frequent”) is used for actions that are ‘still’ happening. If context is anything to go by (i.e. leaving the verb by itself to express either a present or ongoing action, which the former can be unmarked), then neither “sojukä” nor “rekät” are used.

It is important to note that while “sojukä” (used as an auxiliary) can be used to express the progressive, durative and continuative aspects, it does not function in the way English uses the verb “do” (usually for syntactic support when it adds nothing to the sentence, like “I do not know”). In Kandese, “sojukä” always contributes something, either lexically (“Pä mi gebräli sojukä dem mi ädury”, literally meaning “I do my job correctly/right”) or aspectually (“Pä mi sojukä bekoty”, literally meaning “I am doing walking”); it keeps its semantic load but broadens into an aspect marker when paired with another verb.

“Pä mi nä sojukä maknalä”

NOM 1S NEG do drink

“I am not drinking.”

“Pä mi kizem rekät räbi sä hen lop kelä dystä.”

NOM 1S past continue see ACC 3S LOC NARROW period

“I kept watching him for a while.”

Perfect

Expressed with “kizem”, except that the temporal particle that indicates a recent action, “hyzäm”, is added right at the end of the sentence in when expressing the present perfect in order to differentiate it from how the past tense is normally formed (which does not use “hyzäm” or “edäly”).

“Pä mi kizem sojukä ho sä yziki hyzäm.”

NOM 1S past do DEF ACC assignment RECENT

“I have just done the assignment.”

“Pä mi kizem sojukä ho sä yziki edäly.”

NOM 1S past do DEF ACC assignment DISTANT

“I have done the assignment before.”

“Pä mi lobät kizem sojukä ho sä yziki.”

NOM 1S come past do DEF ACC assignment

“I will have done the assignment.”

Conative

The conative aspect is expressed with the word “istopä” (used as an auxiliary), meaning “attempt/try/strive/venture/endeavor”.

“Pä mi nä kizem istopä konäc sä finä hen.”

NOM 1S NEG past try stop ACC FEM 3S

”I didn’t try to stop her.”

Participles

Participles are formed by using the participle marker "äke". "äke" always goes before the verb/verbal phrase it's derived from, and no tense marking is seen on the participle itself. If needed, "äke" combines with the usual auxiliaries ("kizem", "lobät", etc.) to form "kizem äke" (past participle), "lobät äke", etc. Phrases marked with "äke" as a participle verb can be used as adjectives, nouns, or adverbs depending on where they are in position and case. Adverbs, and otherwise modifiers (which are optional when forming participles), also come before the participle verb.

"Pä mi gebrä äke bekoty losn-äny."

NOM 1S like PTCP walk slow-ANTONYM

"I like running."

"Ho mesä winä losnäny äke bekoty."

DEF MASC person slow-ANTO PTCP walk

"The running man."

"Mi gydäsi gän xä kizem äke kymäly dakuky ny sojukä jäkym ländasy."

1S assume RELV D.OBJ past PTCP sharp animal PL do eat plant

"I assume (the) goats might be eating grass."

Numerical system

Similar to Kalennian, Kandese uses a base-10 system. The number system of Kandese consists of a basic base-10 system (numerals 0-9). All of the lexical numerals can also be used as ordinal numbers depending on context.

sem (one)

xäk (two)

tor (three)

felä (four)

buc (five)

zän (six)

cu (seven)

lom (eight)

väk (nine)

das (ten)

Kandese forms teen numbers by affixing "das" onto any of the basic lexical numerals, multiples of ten are expressed by putting the multiplication particle "muty" before "das", and for specifying larger values (like hundreds, thousands, and millions), "hunä", "hizä" and "milä" are used. The use of "muty" can also be helpful for differentiating between tens and multiples of ten.

However, when numerals are paired with nouns, they are to be placed before the noun (with the noun being plurally unmarked or not depending if you want to specify plural based on context).

Sentence examples:

"Mi girä dystä lom-muty-das."

1S have year eight-multiple-ten

"I am 80 years old."

"Mi girä dystä lom-das"

1S have year eight-ten

"I am 18 years old."

"Mi nä girä okäne sem-hunä."

1S NEG have money one-hundred

"I don't have a hundred dollars."

Sample text

The following sample text shown is a Kandese translation of the 1st Article of the United Declaration of Human Rights:

Alä winä ny jä mähu vä foräc kä lisäki lop docity kä kocäja ny. Pä kosä guräxa anteby kä mäläja, kä pä kosä bikä kysäny i xä kosä lop mäklezä dem losyntä.

Gloss

NARROW person PL be birth COM strength SUBJ equality LOC dignity SUBJ right PL. NOM 3P give rationale SUBJ truth, SUBJ NOM 3P should PREP D.OBJ 3P LOC behavior GEN unity.

IPA

/alæ winæ n(ɪ) jæ mæχu væ foɾæt͡ʃ kæ lisæki lo(p) dot͡ʃit(ɪ) kæ kot͡ʃæja n(ɪ) pæ kosæ guɾæʒa antɛb(ɪ) kæ mælæja kæ pæ kosæ bikæ kɪsæn i ʒæ kosæ lo(p) mæklɛzæ dɛm losɪntæ/

Literal translation

"All people are born with freedom and equality in dignity and entitlement. They (are) given logical thinking and truth, and they should act towards each other in a spirit of union."

Trivia

• Kandese was originally analytic in its early phase (in 2024), but then its structure was replaced with a heavily agglutinative structure in January 2025. It was then scrapped and put on hiatus by Armster somewhere in April 2025, due to him being disillusioned by the agglutinative focus he had on Kandese and focusing on Kalennian more. And on August 26, 2025, Cammzy started re-developing Kandese and its structure.
• Additionally, Kandese serves as a late successor to Cammzy’s constructed language Minese, which was created in 2023 and was originally inspired by the constructed language Toki Pona by Sonja Lang. Despite the fact Minese was later cancelled/discontinued in 2024, Minese’s dictionary is still available.
• Kandese was used by Armster for a cover of the song "Aberdeen Dream Sequence" by Venturing, which was a fictional band/side project created by American musician/singer-songwriter Jane Remover that was later scrapped due to the advent of the project's debut studio album, "Ghostholding", which released on February 14, 2025. The cover was first released on Cammzy's YouTube channel as a lyric video on October 26, 2025 and later uploaded on his SoundCloud on October 30, 2025. The cover over on SoundCloud also included a link that breaks down the song's lyrics via a public Google Docs page, along with an English translation of said lyrics. The lyrics were all sung by Cammzy himself and translated into Kandese, and subsequently altered through an AI female filter.