Ke Maña (my language) has been a project of mine for several years. It began as nothing more than a coded alphabet for English with a handful of new words, and has since evolved through dozens of iternations into what you'll see below. Since I began studying linguistics, it became the place for me to practice applying the things I've been learning. As a result, it's constantly changing. Usually very drastically as I chuck out whole sections or start work on whole other sections. More than once, I've chucked out the entire language. Ke Maña is hardly the first name this language has born, and I don't expect it to be the last.
This language does not have much of a vocabulary, as most of my emphasis has been on
building a solid grammar. Earlier drafts of the language had extensive vocabularys that I
had to keep throwing out when changes to the grammar made them non-feasible. So, until
I can find a syntatic structure that I'm happy with, don't expect this language to start getting
words.
Phonology
Verbal Suffixes & Conjugations
Nominal Cases
Pronouns
Articles and Pluralisation
Adjectives and Adverbs
Relative Clauses
Derivational Morphology
Vocabulary
Example #1
Consonants
bilabial inter- alveolar palatal velar glottal
dental
stops p b t d k g ?
fricatives þ ð s z S Z x h
affricates c C J
nasals m n ñ N
Vowels
front central back
high i I î u
middle e E o
low æ a
î = ay dipthong
Phonological Rules
? --> tl / #__
Other Information
All words have the pattern CV(n), where n is one of the sounds [m, n, N].
Primary stress falls on the penultimate syllable. The vowel in this syllable is longer than the others. Stress is trochaic, left to right. Deep sentence structure is VSO, however nouns must conform to a person hierarchy that takes precendence over word order.
Verbal Suffixes and Conjugations
Suffixes
The conjugated verb carries two suffixes.
ROOT + 1 + 2
1 marks whether the verb is positive or negative
-m- postive
-C- negative
2 marks tense: simple past, simple present, or simple future
-o- simple past
-u- simple present
-a- simple future
Conjugations
| Infinitive | ho- | hoCEnE = to pass | h --> 0 / C(#)_V |
| Perfect | zo | zo CEnEmo kî = I had passed zo CEnEmu kî = I have passed |
|
| Conditional | þu | þu CEnEmu tî = If you pass... | |
| Passive | -ta | zoxamo kutsesEn = the sword broke zoxamota kuteSEn = the sword was broken |
|
| Progressive | -N | zoxamuN kutesEn = the sword is breaking zoxamoN kutesEn = the sword was breaking |
|
| Imperative | zoxami tî po = break it! | V [+back]# --> V [+front]# |
Nouns and pronouns have to adhere to a person hierarchy.
1st > 2nd > 3rd
singular > plural
animate > inanimate
geZi = dog
sozu = house
geZInî sozu = dog house 'house of the dog'
geZI sozunî = house dog 'dog of the house'
| Nominative: | 0 | coña = forge [subject] |
| Agentive: | a- -þa | acoñaþa = forger |
| Paitent: | -ðe | coñaðe = forgee |
| Dative: | -bu | coñabu = to/for (the) forge |
| Accusative: | -sE | coñasE = forge [object] |
| Genetive: | -nî | coñanî = forge's |
| Ablative: | -zi | coñazi = from (the) forge |
1st person singular: k-
2nd person singular: t-
3rd person singular: p-
relativizer: d-
nominative: -î
accusative: -o
dative: -æ
genetive: -e
ablative: -i
Articles
| indefinite, singular: | -(i)b | kuteb = a sword bEnib = a time |
| definite, singular: | -(i)n | kuten = the sword bEnin = the time |
| definite, singular, near: | -(i)t | kutet = this sword bEnit = this time |
| definite, singular, far: | -(i)m | kutem = that sword bEnim = that time |
Pluralisation
To make a noun plural, reduplicate the first syllable.
kute = sword
kukuteb = swords
kukuten = the swords
kukutet = these swords
kukutem = those swords
To make a pronoun plural, reduplicate the syllable.
1st person plural nominative: kîkî
2nd person plural nominative: kîkî
3rd person plural nominative: kîkî
modifies verb: -na
modifies noun: -?a
comparative: -?e
superlative: -?i
Cana = well
Ca?a = good
Ca?e = better
Ca?i = best
Relative clauses are formed by case marking the relativizer to agree with the case of the part of speech it is modifying. These clauses are appended to the end of the sentence rather than infixed by the word or words being modified. Resumptive pronouns are required. There are no restrictions on what can be relativized.
kaN kuten bata dî coñamo kî po
is sword-NOM-DEF.ARTICLE sharp that-NOM forge-POS-PAST 1st-SING-NOM 3rd-SING-ACC
is the sword sharp that forged I it
'the sword that I forged is sharp'
kaN kukuten bata dî coñamo kî popo
is sword-PLURAL-NOM-DEF.ARTICLE sharp that-NOM forge-POS-PAST 1st-SING-NOM 3rd-PLURAL-ACC
is the swords sharp that forged I them
'the swords that I forged are sharp'
| -sota | N > V, Adj | action or process associated or connected with | setho 'death' / sethosota 'dying' |
| san- | around | kESE 'circle' / sankESE 'encircle' |
| #C --> #C [+round] | not, opposite of | setho 'death' / swetho 'undeath' |
| da- | intensifier | setho 'death' / dasetho 'very dead' |
Forge Me A Sword
by Noah Johnson
Used with permission
Forge me a sword, and I want you to try
to sharpen it well when you're done.
For I learned yesterday that I cannot die
and they say there can be only one.
Forge me a sword, I will need to defend
against those who come seeking my head.
And we'll fight till the inescapable end
that leaves one alive; the others dead.
Forge me a sword, there can be only one
and too much time already has passed.
Tho we all must fall ere the game can be done,
I'll be damned if I won't be the last.
coñamud kæ tî kutesEb
coñami kæ tî kutesEb ne beðimu kî po do
bIñamu hoSu?e tî po Cana mu þitamu tî
namamo tedana kî po do seðoCu kî
ne mî?emu pîpî po do kaNma su ?o.
coñami kæ tî kutesEb, besoma hoxîba kî
sIm popot do Jagama hoZîde ke ðEnansEn
ne katama kîkî taþabun Jabe?o
dæ deNoma pî ?o zoðE?a; gugun seðo?a.
coñami kæ tî kutesEb, kaNma su ?o
ne zo CEnEmu bEn da Ji
Ja seðomæ pîpî tîn taþama tumon
haþIma kî þu kaNCa kî ?osen.