Creating an auxlang

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Squall
greek
greek
Posts: 526
Joined: 28 Nov 2013 14:47

Creating an auxlang

Post by Squall »

This thread is not about auxlangs; it is about this conlang.

This an auxlang designed to be as easy as possible to learn. It is a challenge because I am not a linguist, so feel free to attack this conlang.

Phonology
Vowels: /a ə i u/
Diphthongs: /aj aw/ /e̞w o̞j/
Consonants: /p t k m n l s tʃ/
Coda: /ɸ~f s ŋ/
Allophones: /i~j u~w/

In each of the following lists, there are alternate pronunciations of a letter. The most preferred phoneme is the first one. The least preferred phoneme is the last one. If the learner has problems with the first one, they should try the second one and so on.

Vowels
A: ä ɐ a æ ɒ
E: e̞ e ej/eɪ - Removed
I: i ɪ y ɨ
O: ̞o̞ o ow/ʊ - Removed
U: u ʊ ɯ ʉ
E: ə e̞ e

Consonants
M: m
N: n
L: l ɺ ɾ ɫ
P: p pʰ b
T: t tʰ d
K: k kʰ g
S: s z ɕ ʃ
C: tʃ tɕ ts
H: h x χ ʁ - Removed

Allowed clusters: /pl kl/

Coda consonants
S
F: f ɸ pɸ
Ñ: nasal-assimilation hum ŋ m ũ

Stress
Always in the penultimate vowel (Paroxytone).

j/w
/i u/ are often simplified into /j w/ in the beginning of the word, between vowels and near some consonants (/kj kw nj lj/).

Rules
A vowel cannot be adjacent to the same vowel.
The sequences ei ie ou uo are not allowed.
To avoid problems with the allophones and stress, i and u cannot be the penultimate letter of a word.

Syllables
CV(C): 8*4*4 = 128
CVd: 8*2 = 16
ClV(C): 2*4*4 = 32
ClVd: 2*2 = 4

180 syllables

Grammar
The language is mostly isolating and the words are integer.
Adjectives are stative verbs.

Suffixes
The last letters tell the role of the word.
-a: verb
-aŋ:
-as:
-e:
-eŋ: adverb
-es:
-i: grammatical particles
-iŋ:
-is:
-u: native nouns
-uŋ:
-us: numbers
-ai: grammatical particles
-au:

Particles
Definite article: li (before the noun)
Plural particle: si (used where you would use a number)
Negation: nai (inserted before the verb)
Imperative: kai (inserted before the verb)
Interrogative: lai (inserted in the end of the sentence)

Prepositions
Locative: ni
Allative: ti
Ablative: pi
Instrumental: mi
Relative clause: ki
Subordinating conjunction: ci
Genitive: tai

Word order
Either SVO or OSV.

Tenses / Aspect
Since the verbs are invariable, an adverb is required in the sentence in order to tell the tense. The lack of adverb means present.
-yesterday, tomorrow
-before
-later
-already
-just now
-so far

Special verbs
sa - to be a
sa li - to be the
la ni - to be in
kauka ci X VERB Y - causative: make X VERB Y

Changing the word class
The hyphen is kept when a suffix is added.

A noun can be turned into a verb by using the suffix "-ta", which means "do, perform".
Ex: masku (mess) -> masku-ta (to mess)

A noun can be turned into an adjective verb by using the suffix "-pa"
Ex: masku (mess) -> masku-pa (messed; in a mess)

Examples
Li inu acusa sunen li si sepanu ni li camu ki masku-pa.
DEF dog find just_now DEF PL book LOC DEF room REL mess be.
The dog has just found the books in the messed room.
English is not my native language. Sorry for any mistakes or lack of knowledge when I discuss this language.
:bra: :mrgreen: | :uk: [:D] | :esp: [:)] | :epo: [:|] | :lat: [:S] | :jpn: [:'(]
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