ŋaren crîþa 9 vlefto: Ŋarâþ Crîþ v9

The ECL0 language

Experimental Conlang 0 (tentative name).

Orthography and phonology

LetterIPA
aa
b*b
dd
ee
f*f
gg
hh (+ ʲ → ç)
ii
kk
lr (word-initially) ~ l (elsewhere)
mm
nn (+ ʲ → ɲ)
oo
p*p
rɹ (+ ʲ → j)
ss (+ ʲ → ʃ)
tt
uu
v*v
xɬ
zz (+ ʲ → ʒ)
Table 1: Alphabet of ECL0 with IPA values. Asterisks indicate letters used only in loanwords.

Syllable structure is (C)(C)V(V)(N), where

Nouns

ECL0 nouns have eight cases as outlined by Table 2.

NameUse
DirectThe unmarked form of the noun: S in intransitive clauses, A in accusative clauses, and O in ergative clauses.
AccusativeO in accusative clauses.
ErgativeA in ergative clauses.
DativeThe R argument of a ditransitive verb.
PossessiveIndicates possession. Not used for composition or description (uses derived adjectives instead) or for kinship relationships (uses a dedicated preposition).
PartitiveUsed to indicate a whole from which a part is derived (e.g. many of the people) or something that is measured (e.g. a cup of tea, a group of men). Also used in place of the accusative when the action is irresultative, O is nonspecific, or O is modified by a small numeral.
LocativeIndicates the location of something.
VocativeUsed for addressing something or someone. This form is often identical to the nominative form.
Table 2: The cases of ECL0.

Across all paradigms, most nouns are pluralized by prepending the vowel of the initial syllable if the root is consonant-initial or prepending x if vowel-initial. A few nouns, however, have suppletive forms.

Declension class I (vowel-final nouns)

CaseIaIbIc
Direct-a-ia-u
Accusative-e-ie-on
Ergative-ak-ek-uk
Dative-an-in-un
Possessive-o-o-o
Partitive-i-i-ui
Locative-az-iz-uz
Vocative-∅*-e-u
Table 3: Declensions for class I.

For class Ia nouns, the vocative form has a null affix if phonotactics permit; otherwise, it has the same affix as the direct case.

Declension class II (non-vowel-final nouns)

The final consonant of the stem has two variants: one used for the direct and vocative forms and the other used for the rest.

LabelDir/VocOthers
anm
bnn
ctd
dst
esst
fkh
gkg
hzr
ill
jh
Table 4: Consonant grades in ECL0.
CaseSuffix
Direct-∅
Accusative-a
Ergative-u
Dative-ui
Possessive-e
Partitive-ai
Locative-ez
Vocative-∅
Table 5: Declensions for class II.

Verbs

Verbs are conjugated for person, number, alignment, tense, polarity, and evidentiality. Direct evidentiality is unmarked, while indirect evidentiality is marked with the affix -og- after the verb stem. Imperatives require specifying the purported beneficiary of the desired action: A for the speaker, B for the listener, or C for a third party.

Polarity / Number
AffirmativeNegative
MoodTenseAlignmentPersonSingularPluralSingularPlural
IndicativePresentAccusative1-az-at-azmai-asmai
2-ak-at-akmai-asmai
3-e-ei-emai-imai
Ergative*-a-ai-amai-amai
PastErgative*-ar-air-armai-armai
SubjunctivePresentAccusative1-uz-uiz-uzrai-uzrei
2-uk-ui-ukrai-urei
3-ui-ut-urei-ukrai
Ergative*-el-eil-elai-elei
PastErgative*-as-ais-atrai-atrei
ImperativePresentAccusativeA-ok-ake-okrai-akerai
B-on-eke-onnai-ekerai
C-at-uke-atrai-ukerai
Table 6: Conjugation of verbs in ECL0.

Lexicon

znaha, znahe
n. sun