Conlang
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--Tolko is a constructed language designed for fun. It is a full member of the Indo-European language family, designed to be close to Italic, Germanic and Celtic branches. It is derived from Proto-Indo-European using formal sound laws either unique to its branch, or shared with its closest sibling languages.

Basic Grammar[]

Tolko is a typical member of the indo-European family, with a grammar very similar to Late Latin or present day German (member of the North-West European Sprachbund). Typologically, it a semi-synthetic language (with emerging analytic features), with a SVO word order and an accusative alignment.

Phonology[]

Tolko uses Latin alphabet as its primary script. Here is the consonant inventory in the native orthography. The "/" denotes phonemic voicing contrast (voiceless/voiced). Phonetic values are given in ASCII IPA.


Tolko consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar
Nasals m [m] n [n]
Plosives p/b [p]/[b] t/d [t]/[d] k/g [k]/[g] q [k<w>,g<w>]
Fricatives f [f,v] s/z [s]/[z] c [C,J]
Approximants i [j]
Taps r [*]
Lateral appr. l [l]


There are six vowels and three closing diphthongs : ai, ei, oi. Neither vowel length nor word stress are phonemic.

Tolko vowels
Front Central Back
Close i [i] u [u]
Mid e [e,E] ë [@] o [o,O]
Open a [a]


Morphology[]

Nouns and adjectives[]

The nouns are inflected in gender, number and case.

There are :


  • 3 genders : masculine, feminine and neuter
  • 2 numbers : singular and plural
  • 3 cases : nominative, accusative and oblique
  • Nominative is used for the subject of a finite verb,  for the subject complement and as locative in time and space.
  • Accusative is used for direct objects, direct object complements and for duration in time/destination in space.
  • Oblique case is used for indirect objects, as a surrogate genitive and for spatial provenance.

Nouns are declined according to their final letter in nominative singular (a, o, e, or any consonant). Neuter nouns share the same declension as the masculine or feminine nouns, except that they always share the same form for nominative and accusative cases, and for their -a suffix in the nominative/accusative plural form.


Adjectives are declined in the same way as the noun they refer to, and follow the same declination pattern. New adverbs can be formed from adjectives with the ë ending (historically, a fossilized locative singular ending).


Nouns ending in -o

Singular Plural
Nominative fulk o fulk os
Accusative fulk o(n) fulk o(n)s
Oblique fulk oi fulk om

The accusative has two forms :

  • whether the determiner exhibits a form constrasting with the nominative : in such a case, the bracketed (n) are dropped.
  • whether there is no determiner or its form is identical in the nominative : the (n) is then retained.

Nouns ending in -a

Singular Plural
Nominative qen a qen as
Accusative qen a(n) qen a(n)s
Oblique qen ai qen om

The accusative has two forms :

  • whether the determiner exhibits a form constrasting with the nominative : in such a case, the bracketed (n) are dropped.
  • whether there is no determiner or its form is identical in the nominative : the (n) is then retained.

Nouns ending in -e

Singular Plural
Nominative kun e kun es
Accusative kun e(n) kun e(n)s
Oblique kun ei kun iom

The accusative has two forms :

  • whether the determiner exhibits a form constrasting with the nominative : in such a case, the bracketed (n) are dropped.
  • whether there is no determiner or its form is identical in the nominative : the (n) is then retained.

Nouns ending in -u


Singular Plural
Nominative lonc u lonc us
Accusative lonc u(n) lonc u(n)s
Oblique lonc oi lonc um

The accusative has two forms :

  • whether the determiner exhibits a form constrasting with the nominative : in such a case, the bracketed (n) are dropped.
  • whether there is no determiner or its form is identical in the nominative : the (n) is then retained.

Nouns ending with any consonant

They often exhibit a different stem for nominative singular and all other cases


Singular Plural
Nominative mëter mëtr es
Accusative mëtr a(n) mëtr a(n)s
Oblique mëtr e mëtr om

The accusative has two forms :

  • whether the determiner exhibits a form constrasting with the nominative : in such a case, the bracketed (n) are dropped.
  • whether there is no determiner or its form is identical in the nominative : the (n) is then retained.

Pronouns and determinatives[]

Articles[]

There are definite and indefinite articles. Here is the flexion of the definite article (animate/neuter)

Singular Plural
Nominative ki/kid kis/kia
Accusative ken/kid kes/kia
Oblique kei/kei kiom/kiom

The indefinite article ëno,ëna,ën behaves as a regular adjective. It has no plural form.


Personal pronouns[]

1st pers. sg 2nd pers. sg 3rd pers. sg 1st pers. pl 2nd pers. pl 3rd pers. pl 3rd pers. reflexive
Nominative ec tu i/ia/id fei iu is/ias/ia
Accusative me te en/ian/id nos fos ens/ians/ia se
Oblique moi toi ez/ezas/ez nozer iuzer em soi

The third person form is the only one marked for gender (masc/fem/neuter).

Relative pronoun[]

The relative pronouns agrees in gender (animate/inanimate) and number with its determiner, and agrees in case according to its function within the relative proposition.


Singular Plural
Nominative iqi/iqid iqes/iqia
Accusative iqen/iqid iqens/iqia
Oblique iqez iqezom


Verbs[]

Verbs are conjugated in tense, voice, mode, and as for finite modes in number and person.

  • There are three grammatical persons, with no inclusive/exclusive distinction
  • The are two grammatical voices : active and passive
  • There are two simple tenses : present and past
  • There are five modes : indicative, subjunctive, optative/imperative (finite) ; infinitive, participle (non-finite)

The sole auxiliaries verb is ezon (to be), and exhibits the sole fully irregular conjugation. All other verbs all fall into several classes, whose conjugation is given below.


  • ezon + past participle is used for the passive voice conjugation

Subjects pronouns can be indicated to alleviate ambiguities, especially in oral speech, but they can normally be safely dropped.

Uses of Tenses and Moods[]

  • Indicative is used for declarative and interrogative statements (in whiche cas word order switches to VSO instead of usual SVO). Subjunctive is used to express hypothetical statements (overlaps subjunctive and conditional moods of Germanic and Romance languages), whereas Optative is used to express wishes and/or commands. As forthe non-finite moods, grossly, infinitive can be seen as the nominal form of the verb, and participle as its adjectival form.

Past and Present are the only tenses marked in the verb morphology. Analytical periphrases can be used if needed to add for more precision. Specifically:

  • Future tense can be expressed using the subjunctive mood if the outcome is uncertain. When the outcome is certain, indicative is most commonly used. To avoid ambiguities, the construction qemon +infinitive is used as a periphrastic future tense (much akin to English will auxiliary).
  • Relative anteriority can be expressed using compoind tenses formed with cabon + past participle, similarly e.g. to French
  • ezon + present participle is used to emphasize to progressive nature of the action, similar to English continuous tenses : Esen menont (I am thinking)

Conjugations[]

Esen, bum, buno

Ind. Pres. Ind. Past Subj. Pres. Subj. Past Opt. Pres. Opt. Past
1st person sg. esen bum ezo buom ezëm buëm
2nd person sg. es bus ezez bues ezëz / siz ! buës
3rd person sg. ezd but ezed buet ezëd buët
1st person pl. sens bume ezom buom ezëme buëm
2nd person pl. ste bute ezet buete ezëte / site ! buët
3rd person pl. send bunt ezond buont ezënd buënd


Participles : ezont (present active), bus (past active), buno (past passive)

Infinitives : ezon (present), buon (past)


Class I (most common class) : meno, mana, manto (to think)

Ind. Pres. Ind. Past Subj. Pres. Subj. Past Opt. Pres. Opt. Past
1st person sg. men o man a men u man om men ëm man ëm
2nd person sg. men ez man ta men iz man is men ëz / men ! man ës / man !
3rd person sg. men ed man e men id man it men ëd man ët
1st person pl. men om man am men um man um men ëme man ëm
2nd person pl. men et man te men it man it men ëte / men t ! man ët / man t !
3rd person pl. men ond man er men und man unt men ënd man ënt

Note : the alternative form of the 2nd person of the Optative is used as an imperative in main clauses.


Participles : menont (present), manus (past active), manto (past passive)

Infinitives : menon (present), manon (past)



Class II (infinitive ending in -cun/gun/-kun) : liku, leleqa, lecto (to lie, as on a bed)

Ind. Pres. Ind. Past Subj. Pres. Subj. Past Opt. Pres. Opt. Past
1st person sg. lik u leleq a lik u lelek um liq ëm leleq ëm
2nd person sg. liq ez lelec ta liq iz leleq is liq ëz / liku ! leleq ës / leleku !
3rd person sg. liq ed leleq e liq id leleq it liq ëd leleq ët
1st person pl. lik um lelek um lik um lelek um liq ëme leleq ëm
2nd person pl. liq et lelec te liq it leleq it liq ëte / liku t ! leleq ët / leleku t !
3rd person pl. lik und leleq er lik und lelek unt liq ënd leleq ënt

Note : the alternative form of the 2nd person of the Optative is used as an imperative in main clauses.


Participles : likunt (present), lekus (past active), lecto (past passive)

Infinitives : likun (present), lelekun (past)


Class III (other infinitive ending in -un) : du, deda, doto (to give)

Ind. Pres. Ind. Past Subj. Pres. Subj. Past Opt. Pres. Opt. Past
1st person sg. d u ded a d u ded um d ëm ded ëm
2nd person sg. do z de sa do iz ded is d ëz / do ! ded ës / ded !
3rd person sg. do d ded e do id ded it d ëd ded ët
1st person pl. d um ded um d um ded um d ëme ded ëm
2nd person pl. do t de se do it ded it d ëte / do t ! ded ët / ded at !
3rd person pl. d und ded er d und ded unt d ënd ded ënt

Note : the alternative form of the 2nd person of the Optative is used as an imperative in main clauses.


Participles : dunt (present), dus (past active), doto (past passive)

Infinitives : dun (present), dedon (past)

Dictionary[]

Swadesh list[]

English Tolko IPA
1 I eg, ec /eg/, /eJ/
2 thou
(singular)
tu /tu/
3 he i /i/
4 we fi /vi/
5 you
(plural)
iu /ju/
6 they is /is/
7 this kio /kjo/
8 that to /to/
9 here cekë /Jek@/
10 there cetë /Jet@/
11 who qi /g<w>i/
12 what kud /kud/
13 where enkë /eNk@/
14 when qen /g<w>en/
15 how kunkud /kuNkud/
16 not ni /ni/
17 all olios /oljos/
18 many pelos /pelos/
19 some ënos /@nos/
20 few pofos /povos/
21 other alo /al(o)/
22 one ëno /@n(o)/
23 two du /du/
24 three tri /t*i/
25 four qetur /g<w>etu*/
26 five qenku /q<w>eNk(u)/
27 big mego /meg(o)/
28 long loncu /loNJu/
29 wide fazdo /vazdo/
30 thick tego /teg(o)/
31 heavy guro /gu*(o)/
32 small mino /min(o)/
33 short merco /me*Co/
34 narrow ancto /aNCto/
35 thin teno /ten(o)/
36 woman qena /g<w>en(a)/
37 man
(adult male)
firo /vi*(o)/
38 man
(human being)
lëzo, como /l@z(o), Jom(o)/
39 child
(a youth)
zilo /zil(o)/
40 wife qena /g<w>en(a)/
41 husband firo /vi*(o)/
42 mother mëter /m@te*/
43 father patir /pati*/
44 animal zëzo /z@z(o)/
45 fish pisko /pisko/
46 bird afe /av(e)/
47 dog kune /kun(e)/
48 louse lëfo /l@v(o)/
49 snake nitro /nitro/
50 worm furme /vu*me/
51 tree derfo /de*vo/
52 forest fizo /viz(o)/
53 stick
(of wood)
bako /bak(o)/
54 fruit amel /amel/
55 seed sege /seg(e)/
56 leaf bluzo /bluz(o)/
57 root frado /f*ad(o)/
58 bark
(of tree)
lubo /lub(o)/
59 flower blozo /bloz(o)/
60 grass cert /Je*t/
61 rope strango /st*aNg(o)/
62 skin
(of a person)
plim /plim/
63 meat
(as in flesh)
mense /mense/
64 blood kref /k*ev/
65 bone koste /kost(e)/
66 fat
(noun)
tuk /tuk/
67 egg uio /uj(o)/
68 horn kurn /ku*n/
69 tail stil /stil/
70 feather
(rather not down)
plun /plun/
71 hair plefo /plev(o)/
72 head kapot /kapot/
73 ear uso /us(o)/
74 eye oqe /og<w>e/
75 nose nas /nas/
76 mouth mant /mant/
77 tooth
(rather not molar)
dont /dont/
78 tongue dancu /daNJu/
79 fingernail anqel /aNg<w>el/
80 foot pet /pet/
81 leg lak /lak/
82 knee geno /geno/
83 hand kont /kont/
84 wing akil /akil/
85 belly kurpo /ku*po/
86 guts fiska /viska/
87 neck kol /kol/
88 back kul /kul/
89 breast spen /spen/
90 heart kerd /ke*(d)/
91 liver lepro /lep*o/
92 to drink puion /pujon/
93 to eat edon /edon/
94 to bite mandon /mandon/
95 to suck zilon /zilon/
96 to spit ftion /ftjon/
97 to vomit femon /vemon/
98 to blow
(as wind)
fendon /vendon/
99 to breathe anion /anjon/
100 to laugh smilon /smilon/
101 to see fidon /vidon/
102 to hear klefon /klevon/
103 to know
(a fact)
genon /genon/
104 to think menon /menon/
105 to smell
(sense odor)
sëgon /s@gon/
106 to fear terson /te*son/
107 to sleep sëfnon /s@fnon/
108 to live qifon /g<w>ivon/
109 to die merfon /me*von/
110 to kill qelion /g<w>eljon/
111 to fight bozun /bozun/
112 to hunt
(transitive)
sënzon /s@nzon/
113 to hit cenon /Jenon/
114 to cut skelion /skeljon/
115 to split skidon /skidon/
116 to stab
(or stick)
zigun /zigun/
117 to scratch
(an itch)
skribon /skribon/
118 to dig bozon /bozon/
119 to swim nëron /n@*on/
120 to fly peton /peton/
121 to walk sticon /stiJon/
122 to come qemon /g<w>emon/
123 to lie
(as on one's side)
lecon /leJon/
124 to sit sedon /sedon/
125 to stand stënon /st@non/
126 to turn
(change direction)
ferton /ve*ton/
127 to fall
(as in drop)
kidon /kidon/
128 to give dun /dun/
129 to hold
(in one's hand)
glipon /glipon/
130 to squeeze grudon /g*udon/
131 to rub trilon /t*ilon/
132 to wash lafon /lavon/
133 to wipe klofon /klovon/
134 to pull tenun /tenun/
135 to push sefion /sevjon/
136 to throw slakon /slakon/
137 to tie benzon /benzon/
138 to sew sifon /sivon/
139 to count rimon /*imon/
140 to say segun /segun/
141 to sing kanon /kanon/
142 to play iekun /jekun/
143 to float peton /peton/
144 to flow reion /rejon/
145 to freeze prëson /p*@son/
146 to swell buzon /buzon/
147 sun sul /sul/
148 moon mins /min(s)/
149 star ster /ste*/
150 water fodor /vodo*/
151 to rain plufon /pluvon/
152 river aper /ape*/
153 lake lako /lak(o)/
154 sea
(as in ocean)
mar /ma*/
155 salt sal /sal/
156 stone këmo /k@m(o)/
157 sand grefio /g*evjo/
158 dust pelne /peln(e)/
159 earth
(as in soil)
bodan /bodan/
160 cloud nebal /nebal/
161 fog bodanbal /bodanbal/
162 sky skef /skev/
163 wind
(as in breeze)
fento /vent(o)/
164 snow sniqe /snig<w>e/
165 ice prësto /p*@st(o)/
166 smoke zumo /zum(o)/
167 fire pur /pu*/
168 ashes kenia /kenja/
169 to burn
(intransitive)
qerion /g<w>erjon/
170 road pento /pent(o)/
171 mountain mone /mone/
172 red rëzo /*@z(o)/
173 green cerano /Je*an(o)/
174 yellow celfo /Jelvo/
175 white qito /g<w>it(o)/
176 black melo /mel(o)/
177 night noct /noCt/
178 day
(daytime)
din /din/
179 year iurno /ju*n(o)/
180 warm
(as in weather)
tepo,kalfe /tep(o)/, /kalve/
181 cold
(as in weather)
gelo /gel(o)/
182 full plino /plin(o)/
183 new nefo /nev(o)/
184 old seno /sen(o)/
185 good efezo /evez(o)/
186 bad fitalo /vital(o)/
187 rotten
(as, a log)
pulo /pul(o)/
188 dirty surdo /su*d(o)/
189 straight stipo /stip(o)/
190 round qekulo /g<w>ekul(o)/
191 sharp
(as a knife)
akro /ak*o/
192 dull
(as a knife)
nakro /nak*o/
193 smooth glëzo /gl@z(o)/
194 wet fliku /fliku/
195 dry
(adjective)
sesko /sesko/
196 right
(correct)
recto /*eCt(o)/
197 near per /pe*/
198 far akenta /akenta/
199 right
(side)
decto /deCt(o)/
200 left
(side)
lefo /lev(o)/
201 at ad /ad/
202 in en /en/
203 with
(accompanying)
kom /kom/
204 and ed /ed/
205 if qen /g<w>en/
206 because perkud /pe*kud/
207 name numan /numan/

==

Example text[]

Ëmos comos send gantos prios dekil' ed rectom. Arement ed soiment send datos em ; is skelond agon soi-aloi bratellë.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Derivation from PIE[]

Sound laws[]

Consonants[]

PIE *b, *d, *g are preserved before non-stop consonants

PIE *bh and *b are merged to b.

PIE *dh became *ð/θthen merged with s/z

PIE *gh became /ç/ (before front vowels) or /x/ before back vowels or consonants, both allophones written c.

PIE labio-velars *gw, *gwh and *kw merged to q /g<w>/ before vowels. Before consonants, they expanded into *gu, *ghu and *ku before further evolution.

PIE *dt* or *tt became *ss, then s (with no intervocalic voicing).

PIE *s is preserved, except between vowels where it voiced into z, or word-finally where it is deleted (hardening the previous consonant if any). E.g.: PIE *w°lkwos > fulku

PIE *r and *l are preserved.

PIE *w became f  at syllable onset (turning o to u), else undergoes metathesis with the following vowel and further change. E.g.: PIE *sweks > *sewks > sëk. Intervocalic *w is deleted after coloring the following vowel if possible.

PIE *j is preserved.

If a stop consonant is followed by another, the first one is fricativized (b/p > f, t/d > s or z, g/k > c) and its voicing assimilated to the next consonant. Two consecitive dentals merge into *ss, then s. E.g.: PIE *sept°m > seftan

PIE *n and *m at the end of a syllable first nasalized the previous vowel into ã (central vowels a and ë), ẽ (front vowels e and i), õ (back vowels o and u). Nasal vowels were subsequently lost at a later stage, restoring a syllable final an, en, on.

Vowels[]

PIE word accent disappears with compensating lengthening of the accented vowel before further evolution.

PIE length contrast became an height contrast, with long vowels becoming more closed. Thus, PIE long *e/*i became i, short *e/*i became e, lon *o/*u became u, short *o/*u became o, long *a/*@ became ë and short *a/*@ became a.

PIE schwa *@ is deleted if possible, else turned into a short a (like on other western IE languages), i after the glide *i or u after the glide *w.

PIE sonorants *°r, *°l, *°m and °n turned into *@r, *@l, *@m, *@n before further evolution.

i-ending diphthongs with a long first element where preserved. Short first element diphthongs underwent monophthongization: *ai > e, *oi > ë, *ei > i

u-ending diphthongs always underwent monophthongization: *au > o, *eu > ë, *ou > u.

PIE final long vowels became short vowels before further evolution. PIE final short front vowels are deleted (eventually voicing the previous consonant if possible. E.g.: PIE 3rd singular ending *-eti > -ed), PIE final short back vowels are deleted (evtentually devoicing the previous consonant).

Examples : from PIE to Tolko[]

  • 1: PIE *oinos,a > *oino,a > Tolko ëno,ëna
  • 2: PIE *duwo > *duwu > Tolko du
  • 3: PIE *treies > *treie > *trie > Tolko tri
  • 4: PIE *kwetwor > Tolko qetur
  • 5: PIE *penkwe > *kwenkwe (as in Italic and Celtic) > *kwenku > Tolko qenku
  • 6: PIE *sweks > *sewks > *sewk > Tolko sëk
  • 7: PIE *sept°m > *septã > *septan > Tolko seftan
  • 8: PIE *okto > *oktu > Tolko oct
  • 9: PIE *new°n > Tolko nefun
  • 10: PIE *dek°m > *dekã > Tolko dekan
  • Father: PIE *p@ter > Tolko patir
  • Mother: PIE *mater > Tolko mëter
  • Brother: PIE *bhrater > Tolko bratir
  • Sister: PIE *swesor > *sewsur > Tolko sësur
  • Daughter: PIE *dhug@ter > *ðogtir > Tolko zoctir
  • Fingernail: PIE *@negwhe-los > Tolko anqilo
  • Tongue: PIE *d@ngwhes > Tolko dancu
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