Linge

Progress 83%
	Stats Nouns 100% Verbs 72% Adjectives 100% Syntax 75% Words 500 of 1500

Linge Ul linkve meli
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

General information

Linge [ˈlinge] is a language created by me and an old friend of mine in 2008, when we were students. At the beginning, our goal was to create a language which could express ideas briefly and meld Latin, German and English. I continued this project on my own, adding terms from Slavic languages (in particular from Serbo-Croatian) and from Ancient Greek. Linge originally had definite articles, but then they turned into suffixes because it was more practical to use them in writing.

Phonology

Alphabeth and Phonemes

Letter	IPA	Examples
A a	/a/	atme (soul), eskate (end), pera (around)
B b	/b/	ban (to go), uba (where)
C c	/t͡s/	cele (sky), lice (stone)
CH ch	/t͡ʃ/	chove (man, person), kachke (way)
D d	/d/	dan (day), ladi (beautiful)
E e	/ɛ/ /e/	ene (nine), temne (darkness) eteri (different), felice (happiness)
F f	/f/	foire (fire), kafe (coffee)
G g	/g/	gee (earth), ige (this)
I i	/i/ /ɛɪ/ - /ɔɪ/	ikte (fish), vine (wine) kroine (time), rei (to flow)
J j	/j/	juvice (youth), nijuta (never)
K k	/k/	kadre (chair), komsa (how), deke (roof)
L l	/l/	legen (pick), ile (that)
M m	/m/	mashin (car), naume (law)
N n	/n/	nauce (nose), ani (single)
NJ nj	/ɲ/	njezhe (prince), panje (all)
O o	/ɔ/ /ɔ̃/ /o/ - (rarery)	opte (eye), gor (to die) lonzhi (long), vonzhi (dirty) pome (apple)
P p	/p/	pola [much (adv.)], ypo (down)
R r	/r/	rane (early), garpe (fruit), kir (hand)
Zh zh	/ʒ/	zheca (why, because), duzhi (very)
S s	/s/s/	sate (thought), nosie (night)
SH sh	/ʃ/	ish (my)
T t	/t/	talase (sea), uta (when), pat (suffer)to
U u	/u/	usku (wives), drugu (friends)
Y y	/y/	gyne (woman), ydor (water)
V v	/v/	vepre (evening), brevi (short)
Z z	/z/	zou (animal), zag (to bring)

Approximants

When the letter i [i] is followed by another vowel, it is pronounced [j].

biali /ˈbjali/

pedie /ˈpɛdje/

kioske /ˈkjɔske/

aviu /ˈavju/

Grammar

Persons

Linge Persons

Persons in Linge are not always explicit. Sometimes they turn into a simple suffix at the end of the verb (see interrogative form and past participle) and other times they are implied. This will be explained better in the next chapters.

Person	IPA	Translation
i	/i:/	I
ju	/ju/	you
je	/je/	he
ći	/t͡ʃi/	she
ja	/ja/	it
da	/da/	we
ju	/ju/	you
o	/ɔ/	they

Nominative (Subject)	Accusative (Object)	Dative (Indirect Object)	Genitive (Possessive)
i	im	ir	iş
ju	um, jum	jur	juş
je	em, jem	jer	jeş
ći	ić	sir	ćići
ja	am, jam	jar	jaş
da	dam/sam*	dar/sar*	daş
ju	um, jum	jur	juş
o	om, jom	jor	joş

[after the letters ‘d’, ‘t’, ‘m’]

Examples:

I soj Mark. = I am Mark.

Ju paz im. = You love me.

Ju gibu pome za ir. = You give me the apple (litt. You give the apple to me)

Ige soj iş dom = This is my house.

Verbs

One of the peculiarities of Linge is that a large part of its verbs are monosyllabic.

Plus, some of them, derive from germanic languages (English and German especially); some examples are: liv/lif (eng. leave), kel (eng. kill), blib (ger. bleiben), jit (eng. hit). Although a lot of them are inspired by Greek verbs (dydask, akust, grafen, etc.)

Sometimes verbs are combined with particular prepositions that change their meaning. 

Examples:

enda po ban = to come in; to get in

eza po ban = to get out transa po ban = to cross

Conjugation of the Verb “Soj” (to be)

In Linge the verb “to be” is somewhat atypical because it is never inflected in the present tense. So the conjugation is the same for each person.

i soj	I am
ju soj	you are
je/ći/ja soj	he/she/it is
da soj	we are
ju soj	you are
o soj	they are

Sometimes you can find just “soj”, without any subject. In that case, the implied subject is “i”. This happens when someone talks in the first person singular introducing himself/herself: Mire! Soj Mark. (Hello! I’m Mark).

Conjugation of Regular Verbs

Example: ban [ba:n], (to go, to walk)

Base form	Inflected form	Translation
i ban	i bani	I go
ju ban	ju banu	you go
je ban	je bane	he goes
ći ban	ći bani	she goes
ja ban	je bane	it goes
da ban	da bana	we go
ju ban	ju banu	you go
o ban	o bano	they go

The regular conjugation of verbs in Linkve shows two forms: the first one never changes; the second one is conjugated and different for every person.

Generally we use the first form (base form) when a verb is at the end of the sentence (i ban!: I'll go! || Ige soj place uba i ban: this is the place where I go);  or in when verbs are followed by personal pronouns (i kon am: I know it); whereas the second form (inflected) in all the other cases, for example when a verb is followed by any kind of complement: i gobi pome (I eat the apple), ju banu za kine (You go to the cinema), etc...

An Irregular Verb: "Na" (to have)

i na / i nai	I have
ju na / ju naju	you have
je na / je naje	he has
ći na / ći nai	she has
ja na / ja naja	it has
da na / da naja	we have
ju na / ju naju	you have
o na / o najo	they have

Other verbs in Linkve behave like “na”, for example “rei”(to flow). Also in that case a j is added (i rei, ju reju, ja reje, ći rei...).  This happens when we have a vowel instead of a consonant at the end of the verb. 

Verbs Coupling

In Linkve there are no modal verbs. Therefore, a normal verb can’t be followed by an infinitive. For this reason, verbs are connected by a preposition, which is po (“that”).  Here some examples:

Zarì po lerż = I can read

Nie kratù po drum = you must not smoke

Najaşkì po ban = I should go

Nie volì jum po gor = I don't want you to die 

Cases

Differently than English language, there are no articles in Linkve, either definite and undefinite:

Dom can mean: the house, a house, house

The context of the sentence will show you how to translate a noun.

Nouns are declined in order to the group they belong (first, second), the number (singular, plural) and the function they have in the sentence. This function is expressed by three cases:

• nominative, the case of the subject

• accusative, the case of the object

• locative, the case of location

Numerals and demonstratives are declined as nouns.

Personal pronouns are also declined using two adding cases:

• genitive, the case of possesion
• dative, the case of the indirect object

Nouns

Nouns are divided in two main groups:

• nouns ending in consonant (1^st group)

dom	the house
kir	the hand
maşin	the car

• nouns enging in -e (2^nd group)

paze	the love
kardie	the heart
talase	the sea

Accents (nouns)

First group accents

	Accent position
Monosyllabic	-	dòm, kìr, puèr
Disyllabic	on the last syllab	ma-şìn ci-gàr ko-pìn

Second group accents

	Accents position
Disyllabic	on the 1st syllab	kiò-ske kì-ne pò-me
Polysyllabic	on the 3rd last syllab	tà-la-se ò-ku-le aimè-ti-ke

First Declension (nouns ending in consonant)

Example: dom (house, home);

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dom	domu
Accusative	dome	domu
Locative	domu	domivu

• Nominative case - This is the case of the subject, for example: Dom soj manji (The house is big).
• Accusative case - This is the case of the object; it answers to the question kelse (who? / what?), for example: i keni dome (I see the house).
• Locative - This is the case which indicates a location; it’s often preceded by the preposition ne (in, at): Stazì ne domu (I’m at home) or i vidi ne Romu (I live in Rome); but also by other prepositions of beeing in place.

Second Declension (nouns ending in -e)

Example: kioske (cafe, coffee shop);

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	kioske	kiosku
Accusative	kioske	kiosku
Locative	kioski	kioskivi

Some esamples:

Kioske soj manji = The cafe is big

Kiosku soj ladi = The cafes are nice

I keni kioske = I see the cafe

Pazì kiosku = I love cafes

Stazì ne kioski = I’m in the cafe

Talà ne kioskivi zimpera = We always talk in the cafes

Attention! The declension of nouns ending in -ie is a bit different.

Example: bibie [ˈbibje], (book):

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bibie	bibiu
Accusative	bibie	bibiu
Locative	bibi	bibivi

Adjectives

Adjectives in Linkve are never inflected. They maintain always the same desinence, which is -i: omali (good), ladi (nice), manji (big), parvusi (small, little), etc.

Accents (adjectives)

Talking about adjectives, the position of the accent is always on the penultimate syllab (mànji, làdi, parvùsi), except for adjectives which begin with a vowel (òmali, éteri, etc...).

Comparative and Superlative

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
ladi (nice)	mezma ladi od/o (as pretty as) pluz ladi od/o (prettier than)	ladićni (the prettiest)

Sarae soj ladi. (Sarah is pretty)

Sarae soj mezma ladi od Anae / o Marije. (Sarah is as pretty as Anne/Mary).

Sarae soj pluz ladi od Anae / o Marije. (Sarah is prettier than Anne/Mary).

Sarae soj ladićni puele ne skoli. (Sarah is the prettiest girl in the school).

Negative Form

Forming negative sentences is quite easy. It is needed just to put the adverb nie before the verb:

i soj Mark. (I am Mark) > i nie soj Mark (I am not Mark)

i nai druge (I have a friend) > i nie nai druge (I don't have a friend)

i pazi kiosku (I love cafes) > i nie pazi kiosku (I don't love cafes)

Interrogative Form

Interrogative form is quite unusual in Linkve, because it's built removing the subject and inflecting the verb (saving the 1st person plural, where it needs a simple inversion). Plus, it's added the particle "ve".

GRAMMAR RULE! If the question begins with an adverb, this construction must not be used; e.g. Uba ju ban? (Where do you go?). 

Affermative	Interrogative
i ban (I go)	Bani ve? (Do I go?)
ju ban (you go)	Banu ve? (Do you go?)
je ban (he goes)	Bane ve? (Does he go?)
ći ban (she goes)	Banić ve? (Does she go?)
ja ban (it goes)	Bana ve? (Does it go?)
da ban (we go)	Ban da ve? (Do we go?) Lud sa* ve? (Do we play?)
ju ban (you go)	Banu ve? (Do you go?)
o ban (they go)	Bano ve? (Do they go?)

Main Prepositions

Preposition	Translation	Case	Uses	Translation
ne	in, at	LOC	i stazi ne domu, i soj ne skoli	I stay at home, I'm at school
za	to	ACC, DAT (persons)	i bani za skoli, i bani za kioske, i komi za jur	I go to school, I go to the café, I come to you
ada	from	ACC	I komi ada Italie.	I come from Italy.
od	of	ACC, GEN (persons)	dom o Markae, dom od Anae, dom o juş, krome o derme	Mark's house, Anne's house, your house, the colour of the skin
de	about, concerning	ACC	Igi bibie tala de punje.	This book tells about war.
pro	for	ACC	Ige soj daranje pro Markae!	This is a present for Mark!
pre	for	ACC	Ja giba pome pre omni pedie.	There is an apple for each child.
kum	with (company)	ACC, DAT (persons)	I bani za kine kum ani druge. Ju krat po komu kum sir.	I go to the cinema with a friend.  You can come with her.
ipre	on, over	LOC/ACC	Kopie soj ipre kubini. Kopie bana ipre kubine.	The dog is on the bed. The dog goes on the bed.
ipo	under	LOC/ACC	Kopie soj ipo kubini. Kopie bana ipo kubine.	The dog is under the bed. The dog goes under the bed.

Adverbs

Generally, adverbs are ending in -a and they are positioned at the beginning of a sentence or at the end of it.

Omala ju tun. = You do well/in the right way.

Odana i bani za skole. = Today I'll go to school.

I lerżi bibiu zimpera.= I always read books.

Pola i na gegobi = I ate so much.

Adverbs Construction

• First construction: omal-e (noun) > omal-i (adj.) > omal-a (adv.) || the good (noun) > good (adj) > well (adv.)
• Second construction (adverbs of manner): felic-e > feli > felic-ita || the happinness > happy > happily
• Third construction (kum + adj.); actually Linkve doesn't use many adverbs, so they are often translated with the following form: Ći zmakari jem kum paze = She kissed him lovingly (litt. She kissed him with love).

Tenses

Imperfect	Perfect	Present	Future
i skribari	nai geskribi	i skrib, -i	i skribereći*
ju skribaru	naju geskribi	ju skrib, -u	ju skribereću
je skribare	naje geskribi	je skrib, -e	je skribereće
ći skribari	naći geskribi	ći skrib, -i	ći skribereći
ja skribara	naja geskribi	ja skrib, -a	ja skribereća
da skribara	da na geskribi	da skrib, -a	da skribereća
ju skribaru	naju geskribi	ju skrib, -u	ju skribereću
o skribaro	najo geskribi	o skrib, -o	o skriberećo

=== 

• Sometimes future tense can be contracted: i skribereć am! (I will write it).

===

No.	English	Linkve
1	I	i
2	you (singular)	ju
3	he	je
4	we	da
5	you (plural)	ju
6	they	o
7	this	ige/igi
8	that	ile/ili
9	here	da
10	there	—
11	who	kelse
12	what	kelse
13	where	uba
14	when	uta
15	how	komse
16	not	nie
17	all	panje
18	many	pole (n.), poli (adj.), pola (adv.)
19	some	—
20	few	olige (n.) / oligi (adj.) / oliga (adv.)
21	other	alie (n.), ali (adj.)
22	one	mone
23	two	bïe
24	three	trïe
25	four	ćetra
26	five	penta
27	big	manji
28	long	lonrżi
29	wide	—
30	thick	—
31	heavy	grevi
32	small	parvusi, parvi
33	short	brevi
34	narrow	—
35	thin	—
36	woman	gine / uske
37	man (adult male)	meske
38	man (human being)	ćove
39	child	pedie
40	wife	uske
41	husband	meske
42	mother	mame
43	father	tade
44	animal	—
45	fish	ikte
46	bird	avie
47	dog	kopie
48	louse	—
49	snake	—
50	worm	—
51	tree	trever
52	forest	—
53	stick	—
54	fruit	garpe
55	seed	—
56	leaf	—
57	root	—
58	bark	—
59	flower	—
60	grass	—
61	rope	—
62	skin	derme
63	meat	—
64	blood	aime
65	bone	—
66	fat	—
67	egg	—
68	horn	—
69	tail	tale
70	feather	—
71	hair	kavelu (pl.)
72	head	kefale
73	ear	otie
74	eye	okule
75	nose	nauce
76	mouth	orise
77	tooth	—
78	tongue	—
79	fingernail	—
80	foot	podie
81	leg	podie
82	knee	—
83	hand	kir
84	wing	—
85	belly	bulige
86	guts	—
87	neck	kopin
88	back	—
89	breast	—
90	heart	kardie
91	liver	—
92	drink	luk
93	eat	gob
94	bite	—
95	suck	—
96	spit	—
97	vomit	şbrate
98	blow	—
99	breathe	—
100	laugh	—
101	see	ken
102	hear	—
103	know	kon / gnos
104	think	sat
105	smell	—
106	fear	fobie
107	sleep	rem
108	live	vid
109	die	gor
110	kill	kel
111	fight	—
112	hunt	—
113	hit	jit
114	cut	—
115	split	—
116	stab	—
117	scratch	—
118	dig	—
119	swim	—
120	fly	—
121	walk	ban
122	come	kom
123	lie	—
124	sit	sied
125	stand	—
126	turn	—
127	fall	—
128	give	gib
129	hold	—
130	squeeze	—
131	rub	—
132	wash	—
133	wipe	—
134	pull	—
135	push	—
136	throw	jekt
137	tie	kravate
138	sew	—
139	count	—
140	say	tal
141	sing	mel
142	play	lud
143	float	—
144	flow	rei
145	freeze	—
146	swell	—
147	sun	zimne
148	moon	—
149	star	astire
150	water	idre
151	rain	—
152	river	potame
153	lake	—
154	sea	talase
155	salt	tuzle
156	stone	lice
157	sand	—
158	dust	—
159	earth	gee
160	cloud	nefele
161	fog	—
162	sky	cele
163	wind	vetare
164	snow	—
165	ice	glaće
166	smoke	drumanje
167	fire	foire
168	ash	—
169	burn	—
170	road	—
171	mountain	orie
172	red	rurżi
173	green	—
174	yellow	—
175	white	biali
176	black	—
177	night	nosie
178	day	dan
179	year	—
180	warm	—
181	cold	—
182	full	—
183	new	novi
184	old	prezbi
185	good	omali
186	bad	—
187	rotten	putri
188	dirty	vonrżi
189	straight	—
190	round	—
191	sharp	—
192	dull	—
193	smooth	—
194	wet	—
195	dry	—
196	correct	—
197	near	şto
198	far	teli (adj.) tela (adv.)
199	right	—
200	left	—
201	at	za
202	in	ne
203	with	kum
204	and	kaj
205	if	—
206	because	rżeca
207	name	naume

Vocabulary

Example text

Pojetike ne lingi: "Atmu ipso vetare"  Da soj atmu gemot ipso vetare                   We are souls moved by the windAni kaire tunò mezma Ikare                        Just one flight we do, like IcarusAmsa oraì ipre decivi bore                          And while I see the snow on the rooftopsmish optu kaptò duzh mirita gore                so peacefully my eyes understand the death