Natively known as: Lénn /ɫeːn̪ˠ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
pí brú ol glag fa ítha pí nuas fa far iluart grist ceas
Pronunciation: /pˠiː bʲɾʲuː ɔlʲ gɫag fˠa iːˈha pˠiː n̪ˠuəʃ fˠa fˠaɾʲ ɪˈlʲuəɾˠtʲ gɾˠɪsˠt̪ˠ casˠ/
Lénn word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /bʲ bˠ c dʲ d̪ˠ fʲ fˠ g h k lʲ mʲ mˠ nʲ n̪ˠ pʲ pˠ sˠ tʲ t̪ˠ vʲ vˠ x ç ŋ ɟ ɫ ɲ ɾʲ ɾˠ ʃ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
mˠ mʲ |
|
n̪ˠ nʲ |
|
ɲ |
ŋ |
|
| Stop |
pˠ pʲ bˠ bʲ |
|
t̪ˠ tʲ d̪ˠ dʲ |
|
c ɟ |
k g |
|
| Fricative |
|
fˠ fʲ vʲ vˠ |
sˠ |
ʃ |
ç |
x |
h |
| Tap |
|
|
ɾˠ ɾʲ |
|
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
lʲ |
|
|
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Velarized alveolar |
| Lateral approximant |
ɫ |
Vowel inventory: /a eː ia iə iː oː uə uː ɑː ɔ əi əu ɛ ɪ ʊ/
Diphthongs: ia, iə, uə, əi, əu
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
iː |
uː |
| Near-high |
ɪ |
ʊ |
| High-mid |
eː |
oː |
| Low-mid |
ɛ |
ɔ |
| Low |
a |
ɑː |
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: bʲ, bʲɾʲ, bˠ, bˠɾˠ, c, cɾʲ, dʲ, dʲɾʲ, d̪ˠ, fʲ, fʲɾʲ, fˠ, g, gɫ, gɾˠ, h, k, kɫ, kɾˠ, lʲ, mʲ, mˠ, n̪ˠ, pʲ, pˠ, sˠ, sˠk, sˠt̪ˠ, sˠɾˠ, tʲ, tʲɾʲ, t̪ˠ, t̪ˠɾˠ, vʲ, x, xɫ, ç, ɟ, ɫ, ɾˠ, ʃ, ʃc, ʃcɾʲ
Mid-word consonants: bˠ, c, dʲ, d̪ˠ, fʲ, fˠ, g, gɫ, h, hɾˠ, k, lʲ, mʲ, mˠ, mˠpˠ, nʲ, nʲʃ, n̪ˠ, n̪ˠt̪ˠ, pˠ, sˠ, sˠk, sˠt̪ˠ, tʲ, t̪ˠ, vʲ, vˠ, x, xt̪ˠ, ŋ, ɟ, ɫ, ɫt̪ˠ, ɲ, ɾʲ, ɾˠ, ɾˠsˠ, ɾˠɫ, ʃ, ʃtʲ
Word final consonants: dʲ, d̪ˠ, g, h, k, lʲ, mʲ, mˠ, nʲ, nʲtʲ, n̪ˠ, sˠ, sˠt̪ˠ, tʲ, vʲ, vˠ, x, xt̪ˠ, ŋg, ɟ, ɫ, ɲ, ɾʲ, ɾʲtʲ, ɾˠ, ɾˠd̪ˠ, ɾˠtʲ, ɾˠt̪ˠ, ʃ, ʃtʲ
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- g → w / V_
- ŋ → w / C_
- ŋ → w / _C
- a → aː / _C#
- h → j / _E
- L → d / #_
- {k,g} → [+palato-alveolar] / _E
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ^n̪ˠ |
n |
| bʲ |
b |
| bˠ |
b |
| ca |
cea |
| coː |
ceo |
| cu |
ciu |
| dʲ |
d |
| d̪ˠ |
d |
| eː |
é |
| eːɾˠ |
éar |
| fʲ |
f |
| fˠ |
f |
| fˠi |
faoi |
| fˠuː |
fiú |
| fˠɪ |
fui |
| h |
th |
| iə |
ia |
| iː |
í |
| k |
c |
| kɪ |
coi | cai | cui |
| lʲ |
l |
| mʲ |
m |
| mˠ |
m |
| nʲ |
n |
| n̪ˠ |
nn |
| oː |
ó |
| pʲ |
p |
| pˠ |
p |
| sˠ |
s |
| sˠeː |
sao |
| sˠi |
suí |
| sˠɪ |
sai |
| tʲ(?=a|ɑː) |
te |
| tʲ |
t |
| tʲu |
tiu |
| t̪ˠ |
t |
| t̪ˠoː |
teo |
| t̪ˠɛ |
te |
| uə |
ua |
| uː |
ú |
| vʲ |
bh |
| vˠ |
bh | mh |
| x |
ch |
| ç |
ch |
| ŋ |
ng |
| ŋg |
ng |
| ɑː |
á |
| ɔ |
o |
| əi |
a |
| əu |
ai |
| ɛ |
ei |
| ɟ |
g |
| ɪ |
i |
| ɫ |
l |
| ɲ |
nn |
| ɾʲ |
r |
| ɾˠ |
r |
| ʃ |
s |
| ʃa |
sea |
| ʃo |
seo |
| ʃu |
siu |
| ʃɔ |
seo | sio |
| ʊ |
u |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
Nouns
| Singular |
No affix
scainn /sˠkɪn̪ˠ/
dog |
| Plural |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʃ
Else: Suffix -aʃ
scoinnas /ˈsˠkɪn̪ˠaʃ/
dogs |
Articles
Lénn has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
| 1st singular |
brei /bˠɾˠɛ/
I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular |
dria /dʲɾʲiə/
you, yours |
| 3rd singular masc |
brú /bʲɾʲuː/
he, him, his |
| 3rd singular fem |
ca /ka/
she, her, hers |
| 1st plural |
é /eː/
we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural |
ba /bʲa/
you (all), yours |
| 3rd plural |
súg /sˠuːɟ/
they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
tea /tʲa/
my |
| 2nd singular |
nuang /n̪ˠuəŋg/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
fa /fˠa/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
miag /mʲiaɟ/
her |
| 1st plural |
dál /d̪ˠɑːɫ/
our |
| 2nd plural |
tiacht /tʲiaxt̪ˠ/
your |
| 3rd plural |
coi /kɪ/
their |
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
tai /t̪ˠəu/
study |
| Past |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -fˠɪ
Else: Suffix -ɪfˠɪ
taifui /t̪ˠəuˈfˠɪ/
studied |
| Remote past |
If starts with vowel: Prefix bʲ-
Else: Prefix bʲa-
batai /ˈbʲat̪ˠəu/
studied (long ago) |
| Future |
Prefix pʲəu-
paitai /ˈpʲəut̪ˠəu/
will study |
Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as
I am studying and habitual actions, such as
I study (every night).
Lénn uses an affix for imperfective:
| Imperfective |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾˠtʲ
Else: Suffix -ɪɾˠtʲ
tairt /t̪ˠəuɾˠtʲ/
is studying |
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Lénn uses the word for ‘already’ scra for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Lénn has a base-10 number system:
1 - siú
2 - pai
3 - fa
4 - líl
5 - cui
6 - gi
7 - cha
8 - thei
9 - pí
10 - ba
11 - basiú “ten-one”
100 - gid “hundred”
101 - gid pí siú “hundred and one”
200 - pai gid
1000 - ar “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix t̪ˠ-
Else: Prefix t̪ˠa-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix a-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix iavʲ-
Else: Prefix iavʲuə-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix uəgɫ-
Else: Prefix uəgɫɑː-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix a-
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Prefix bʲa-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix uə-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix xɫ-
Else: Prefix xɫiə-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix lʲɑː-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Prefix uː-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix an̪ˠ-
Else: Prefix an̪ˠɪ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix tʲia-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xɪ-
Augmentative = Prefix d̪ˠɑː-
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