Chreyentae

Chreyentae (chreyentae, IPA: [ˈxreɪəntaɪ]) is a constructed language which came under creation during November, 2010. The name of the conlang literally means "created language," or "made-up language." Chreientae is a priori language, despite few loan words from languages such as English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic.

Phonology & Orthography

The phonology and orthography are quite different than most other languages. There a quite a bit of various sounds in this languages, which makes it unique in a way. Both the phonology and orthography are not based off of any natural language.

Consonants

PHONOLOGY:

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Labial-Palatal	Velar	Labaial-Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	/p/ /b/			/t/ /d/				/k/ /g/		/q/ /ɢ/	/ʔ/
Nasal	/m/			/n/		/ɲ/		/ŋ/
Trill				/r/						/ʀ/
Fricative		/f/ /v/	/θ/ /ð/	/s/ /z/	/ʃ/ /ʒ/			/x/ /ɣ/
Lateral Fricative				/ɬ/ /ɮ/
Approximant						/j/	/ɥ/		/w/
Lateral Approximant				/l/			/ʎ/

ORTHOGRAPHY:

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Labial-Palatal	Velar	Labaial-Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	p b			t d				k g		q c	w
Nasal	m			n		gn**		ng**
Trill				r						r*
Fricative		f v	th** ð	s s*	ş z			ch** h
Lateral Fricative				tl** dl**
Approximant						j	ȳ		ł
Lateral Approximant				l			gl**

* The times when these consonants take this pronunciation must be memorized

** The times when these consonants are pronounced exactly the way they look must be memorized

Vowels

PHONOLOGY:

	Front		Central		Back
Close	/i/ /y/				/u/
		/ɪ/ /ʏ/		/ʊ/
Close-Mid	/e/ /ø/				/o/
			/ə/
Open-Mid	/ɛ/ /œ/				/ɔ/
	/æ/
Open	/a/

ORTHOGRAPHY:

	Front		Central		Back
Close	i* y*				u*
		i** y**		u**
Close-Mid	e* ø*				o*
			e***
Open-Mid	e** ø**				o**
	a**
Open	a*

* These vowels are called "long vowels" and are pronounced this way when before one consonant, another vowel, or at the end of a word. These vowels are actually elongated when doubled or when there's an acute accent on the letter (which also makes that vowel's syllable stressed).

** These vowels are called "short vowels" and are pronounced this way when before two or more consonants, which included digraphs.

*** This vowel is pronounced this way when unstressed in most situations

Diphthongs

PHONOLOGY:

	Front	Back
Close-Mid	/eɪ/ /eʊ/ /øʏ/	/oɪ/ /oʊ/
Open	/aɪ/ /aʊ/

ORTHOGRAPHY:

	Front	Back
Close-Mid	ey eu øy	oe ou
Open	ae au

* All of these diphthongs' sounds are lengthened when an acute accent is added on the first letter. This also puts the stress on that diphthong's syllable.

** When a diaeresis is placed on the second letter of a supposed diphthong, it tells you that each vowel is pronounced separately. Also, if there is an acute accent on the second letter in a supposed diphthong, it tells you that each letter is pronounced separately and the vowel with the acute accent's syllable is stressed.

Stress

Stress is usually on the second to last syllable of a word. The stress of a certain syllable can be changed when that syllable's vowel or diphthong has an acute on it. Another exception is when adding the definite article suffix; even though another syllable may be added, the stress is the same as if that suffix was not there. There are few other exception, but when there are, those must me memorized.

Grammar

The grammar of Chreyentae is quite similar to that of Indo-European languages. However, there are some unique qualities the language.

Nouns

The way nouns work in Chreyentae are very similar to many Indo-European languages. There are three genders, two numbers, one article, three persons, and eight cases.

Gender

Three genders exist in Chreyentae. A noun's gender is important is seeing which article it takes, how it declines, etc. A noun's gender usually just must be memorized, however, there are a few tricks that makes memorizing or guessing a noun's gender.

Masculine

Most masculine nouns ends in a consonant, however consonant-ending nouns may also be feminine or neuter. Nouns that end in -ta, a vowel with an acute accent on it, or any diphthong are always masculine. Also, any noun that depicts a male person is always masculine.

EXAMPLES:

Chreyentae	English
amsa	man
loch	book
sahóm	bag
brota	brother
balachá	floor
galostae	sadness

Feminine

Most feminine nouns end in -a, however, there are many feminine nouns that end in a consonant. Nouns that end in -i or -ach are always feminine. Any noun that depicts a female person is always feminine.

EXAMPLES:

Chreyentae	English
fymma	woman
kiasa	cat
gítari	guitar
máðraas	school
faðach	marker
fjaeða	faith

Neuter

Most neuter nouns end in -o, however, there are many neuter nouns that end in a consonant. Nouns that end in -j, -ł, -ȳ, and any doubled vowel are always neuter.

Chreyentae	English
bawan	child
siato	dog
neh	evening
kangee	store
dafáej	nail
waan	house

Articles

There is only one article in Chreyentae. Other articles used to be used, however they have been taken out of the language completely.

Definite Article

In Chreyentae, the definite article is a suffix added to the noun based on gender, but not number nor case. It comes after the declension of the noun. The suffix also depends on whether or not the word ends in a vowel or consonant. Another important thing to note is that when the definite article has its own syllable, it doesn't change the original stress of the word.

	vowel ending	consonant ending
m.	-n	-en
f.	-m	-am
n.	-ð	-ið

EXAMPLES:

	No Article	Definite Article
m.	amsa	amsan
m.	loch	lochen
f.	fymma	fymmam
f.	máðraas	máðraasam
n.	siato	siatoð
n.	bawan	bawanið

Cases

Nouns decline based on case. There are eight cases in Chreyentae, and the endings are different depending on the gender and number. Some verbs make the noun proceeding it take a certain case, and sometimes one verb can change meaning depending on which case the noun proceeding it is in. Also, all propositions have a certain case.

Nominative

The nominative case is used when the noun is the subject of the sentence. Also, certain verbs like vaera (to be), ðiałara (to become), etc. take the nominative case. Since the dictionary form of a noun and the nominative singular are exactly the same, in the chart below, the ending will appear as blank. In future reference, if an ending is blank, it just means that the dictionary form is used in that particular instance. One thing good to note is that when masculine nouns end in a vowel, the vowel is never dropped. This goes the same for neuter nouns that end in a double vowel. However, the vowel ending on any other feminine and neuter nouns must be dropped. The letters in parenthesis represent an extra letter that must be added to the end if the word end in a vowel (m.) or a doubled vowel (n.).

	Singular	Plural
m.	-	-(j)ii
f.	-	-i
n.	-	-(ł)a

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	loch	lochii
m.	amsa	amsajii
f.	fymma	fymmi
f.	opsjat	opsjati
n.	bawan	bawana
n.	kangee	kangeeła

Accusative

The accusative is used to mark the direct object of a verb. There are many verbs that take the accusative cases. Also, there are a few prepositions that take it.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-	-(j)ii
f.	-	-i
n.	-(ł)oth	-(ł)aa

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	loch	lochii
m.	amsa	amsajii
f.	fymma	fymmi
f.	opsjat	opsjati
n.	bawanoth	bawanaa
n.	kangeełoth	kangeełaa

Genitive

The genitive is used when showing something's possession of the something else. There are few verbs that take the genitive case, but there are more prepositions that do. The genitive case is also used in place of the accusative (and occasionally nominative) when the verb directly affecting the noun is in the negative. When declining a neuter noun in the genitive, if the noun ends in a consonant, add the letters in the parenthesis.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-(j)a	-(j)ae
f.	-acute accent on the first syllable	-acute accent on the first syllable+i
n.	-(e)n	-(i)ng

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	locha	lochae
m.	amsaja	amsajae
f.	fýmm	fýmmi
f.	ópsjat	ópsjati
n.	bawanen	bawaning
n.	kangeen	kangeeng

Dative

The dative is used to show the indirect object of an action or direction towards somewhere. Also, certain prepositions and verbs take this case.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-(j)e	-(j)ee
f.	-no ending	-as
n.	-(ł)o	-(ł)ou

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	loche	lochee
m.	amsaje	amsajee
f.	fymm	fymmas
f.	opsjat	opsjatas
n.	bawano	bawanou
n.	kangeeło	kangeełou

Ablative

The ablative case is a prepositional case, meaning it's only used after a preposition. In same cases, however, the preposition is implied and can either be left in or dropped. It's used to show something moving away from something else.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-s	-(j)os
f.	-ør	-øtt
n.	-s	-(ł)os

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	lochs	lochos
m.	amsas	amsajos
f.	fymmør	fymmøtt
f.	opsjatør	opsjatøtt
n.	bawans	bawanos
n.	kangees	kangeełos

Instrumental

The instrumental case is another prepositional case. In Chreyentae, it's used to show not only how someone does something, but also with time words.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-(j)ó	-t
f.	-á	-ach
n.	-(ł)é	-(ł)ith

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	lochó	locht
m.	amsajó	amsat
f.	fymmá	fymmach
f.	opsjatá	opsjatach
n.	bawané	bawanith
n.	kangeełé	kangeełith

Locative

The locative case is used to express where something is and it is also a prepositional case.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-(j)u	-(j)u
f.	-u	-u
n.	-(ł)u	-(ł)u

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	lochu	lochu
m.	amsaju	amsaju
f.	fymmu	fymmu
f.	opsjatu	opsjatu
n.	bawanu	bawanu
n.	kangeełu	kangeełu

Vocative

The vocative case is used when identifying someone or something directly. One odd aspect of this case is that when nouns are in the vocative case, they never had the definite article suffix.

	Singular	Plural
m.	-(j)ij	-(j)oe
f.	-ij	-oe
n.	-(ł)ij	-(ł)oe

EXAMPLES:

	Singular	Plural
m.	lochij	lochoe
m.	amsajij	amsajoe
f.	fymmij	fymmoe
f.	opsjatij	opsjatoe
n.	bawanij	bawanoe
n.	kangeełij	kangeełoe

Pronouns

Pronouns in Chreyentae aren't too complex. They're quite similar to those of other European languages.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns decline based on number and person, and in the third person, gender. They also decline based on case.

Nominative

	Singular	Plural
1st	vá	wi
2nd	thu	ju
3rd, m.	onn	ott
3rd, f.	an	at
3rd, n.	eðð	ét

Accusative

	Singular	Plural
1st	vich	wich
2nd	ðich	jich
3rd, m.	in	en
3rd, f.	im	em
3rd, n.	ið	eð

Genetive

see possessive pronouns

Dative

	Singular	Plural
1st	vi	wi
2nd	ði	ji
3rd, m.	sjo	sjo
3rd, f.	şjo	zjo
3rd, n.	ljo	rjo

Ablative

	Singular	Plural
1st	vos	wos
2nd	ðos	jos
3rd, m.	sos	sos
3rd, f.	şos	zos
3rd, n.	los	ros

Instrumental

	Singular	Plural
1st	váð	wíð
2nd	ðúð	júð
3rd, m.	súð	súð
3rd, f.	şúð	zúð
3rd, n.	lúð	rúð

Locative

	Singular	Plural
1st	vu	wu
2nd	ðu	ju
3rd, m.	su	su
3rd, f.	şu	zu
3rd, n.	lu	ru

Vocative

	Singular	Plural
1st	vij	wij
2nd	ðij	jij
3rd, m.	sij	sij
3rd, f.	şij	zij
3rd, n.	lij	rij

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns only change based on person, number, and gender, but not case.

Singular

	m.	f.	n.
1st, sing.	voe	vae	vey
2nd, sing.	ðoe	ðae	ðey
3rd, m., sing.	soe	sae	sey
3rd, f., sing.	şoe	şae	şey
3rd, n., sing.	loe	lae	ley
1st, pl.	woe	wae	wey
2nd, pl.	joe	jae	jey
3rd, m., pl.	soe	sae	sey
3rd, f., pl.	zoe	zae	zey
3rd, n., pl.	roe	rae	rey

Plural

	m.	f.	n.
1st, sing.	vii	vi	va
2nd, sing.	ðii	ði	ða
3rd, m., sing.	sii	si	sa
3rd, f., sing.	şii	şi	şa
3rd, n., sing.	lii	li	la
1st, pl.	wii	wi	wa
2nd, pl.	jii	ji	ja
3rd, m., pl.	sii	si	sa
3rd, f., pl.	zii	zi	za
3rd, n., pl.	rii	ri	ra

Verbs

Verbs, as in many other languages, conjugate according to the subject of the sentence. Verb are conjugated based on aspect, evidentiality, mood, polarity, tense, transitivity, and voice. There are 6 classes of verbs that end in/are: (1) -a, (2) -ta/-da/-tha-/-ða, (3) -consonant+ja, (4) -consonant+ła, (5) -consonant+ȳa, and (6) a vowel with any acute accent on it anywhere in the word+a. There are also, of course, irregular verbs which don't follow the rules.

Tense

Two tenses exist in Chreyentae.

Present Tense

The present tense is used to express what one is doing currently or habitually. Also, since Chreyentae has no future tense, it is also used when talking about future actions. Words such as "tomorrow", "later", etc. can give context clues to whether or not what the speaker is talking about is in the future.

CLASS 1:

	Ending
vá	–no ending
thu	–ð
onn/an/eðð	–acute accent on last syllable
wi	-enn
ju	-t
ott/at/ét	–á

CLASS 2:

	Ending
vá	–no ending
thu	–no ending
onn/an/eðð	–acute accent on last syllable
wi	-enn
ju	-no ending
ott/at/ét	–á

CLASS 3 (take off the -j, too):

	Ending
vá	–i
thu	–iðð
onn/an/eðð	–í
wi	-jenn
ju	-itt
ott/at/ét	–já

CLASS 4 (take off the -ł, too):

	Ending
vá	–u
thu	–uðð
onn/an/eðð	–ú
wi	-łenn
ju	-utt
ott/at/ét	–łá

CLASS 5 (take off the -ȳ, too):

	Ending
vá	–y
thu	–yðð
onn/an/eðð	–ý
wi	-ȳenn
ju	-ytt
ott/at/ét	–ȳá

CLASS 6:

	Ending
vá	–no ending
thu	–ð
onn/an/eðð	–change accented vowel to a double vowel (or if diphthong, just take the accent off)+add acute accent to the last syllable
wi	-enn
ju	-t
ott/at/ét	–change accented vowel to a double vowel (or if diphthong, just take the accent off)+á

EXAMPLES:

	mara	bechta	chabja	volła	lasȳa	mémorina
vá	mar	becht	chabi	volu	lasy	mémorin
thu	marð	becht	chabiðð	voluðð	lasyðð	mémorinð
onn/an/eðð	már	bécht	chabí	volú	lasý	meemorín
wi	marenn	bechtenn	chabjenn	volłenn	lasȳenn	mémorinenn
ju	mart	becht	chabitt	volutt	lasytt	mémorint
ott/at/ét	mará	bechtá	chabjá	volłá	lasȳá	meemoriná

Past Tense

The past tense is used to talk about what one did in the past.

CLASS 1, 2, 3, 4, AND 5:

	Ending
vá	–ee
thu	–að
onn/an/eðð	–é
wi	-acute accent on the first syllable+amo
ju	-acute accent on the first syllable+ath
ott/at/ét	–ár

CLASS 6:

	Ending
vá	–ee
thu	–að
onn/an/eðð	–change accented vowel to a double vowel (or if diphthong, just take the accent off)+é
wi	-acute accent on the first syllable+amo
ju	-acute accent on the first syllable+ath
ott/at/ét	–change accented vowel to a double vowel (or if diphthong, just take the accent off)+ár

EXAMPLES:

	mara	bechta	chabja	volła	lasȳa	mémorina
vá	maree	bechtee	chabjee	volłee	lasȳee	mémorinee
thu	marað	bechtað	chabjað	volłað	lasȳað	mémorinað
onn/an/eðð	maré	bechté	chabjé	volłé	lasȳé	meemoriné
wi	máramo	béchtamo	chábjamo	vólłamo	lásȳamo	mémorinamo
ju	márath	béchtath	chábjath	vólłath	lásȳath	mémorinath
ott/at/ét	marár	bechtár	chabjár	volłár	lasȳár	meemorinár

Polarity

Polarity marks if the sentence is negative or positive in meaning.

Positive

One needs not add anything to the first, as it is normally affirmative.

Negative

In order to make the verb nagative, one must add the suffix -saa to the infinitive of the verb. When dealing with a conjugated verb, one must just add the appropriate suffix to the conjugated verb. Also, it should be noted that when a verb is negated, if there is a noun in the accusative or nominative directly after the verb (or that if being affected by the verb), its case changes to genitive.

	Ending
vá	–si
thu	–oss
onn/an/eðð	–sa
wi	-son
ju	-s
ott/at/ét	–soe

EXAMPLES:

	marasaa	bechtasaa	chabjasaa	volłasaa	lasȳasaa	mémorinasaa
vá	marsi	bechtsi	chabisi	volusi	lasysi	mémorinsi
thu	marðoss	bechtoss	chabiððoss	voluððoss	lasyððoss	mémorinðoss
onn/an/eðð	mársa	béchtsa	chabísa	volúsa	lasýsa	meemorínsa
wi	marennson	bechtennson	chabjennson	volłennson	lasȳennson	mémorinennson
ju	marts	bechts	chabitts	volutts	lasytts	mémorints
ott/at/ét	marásoe	bechtásoe	chabjásoe	volłásoe	lasȳásoe	meemorinásoe

Aspect

Present Perfect

The present perfect is a combination of the present tense and the perfect aspect in order to make an event that happened in the past that affects the present. Also, this form can be used for an event that happened in the past that will affect the future. In order to form this, you take the gerund form of the verb (which is formed by taking off the -a of a verb and then adding -en then put that directly before the subject of the sentence. Then, use the conjugated form of øðða

EXAMPLES:

mara	subject	øðða
maren	va w	ee
maren	thu	að
maren	onn/an/eðð	é
maren	wi	ønn
maren	ju	øt
maren	ott/at/ét	ó

Past Perfect

The past perfect is used to show an event that has continuing relevance to a time in the past. It is form by adding the gerund form of the verb right before the subject and then adding the conjugated past form of øðða after the subject.

EXAMPLES:

mara	subject	øðða
maren	va w	ae
maren	thu	aeð
maren	onn/an/eðð	áe
maren	wi	aenn
maren	ju	aet
maren	ott/at/ét	ajá

Imperfect

	Ending
vá	–ia
thu	–iað
onn/an/eðð	–iá
wi	-jann
ju	-jat
ott/at/ét	–já

Mood

Conditional

	Ending
vá	–acute acent on the first syllable+ia
thu	–acute acent on the first syllable+iað
onn/an/eðð	–acute acent on the first syllable+iaa
wi	-acute acent on the first syllable+jann
ju	-acute acent on the first syllable+jat
ott/at/ét	–acute acent on the first syllable+jaa

Subjunctive

	Ending
vá	–(e)m
thu	–t
onn/an/eðð	–acute acent on the last syllable+k
wi	-am
ju	-at
ott/at/ét	–ák

Adjectives

One interesting aspect about Chreyentae is how its adjectives work. Adjectives always proceed the noun it is describing and must agree with it based on gender and number, but not case. In the case where one would is to verb to be in English + an adjective, in Chreyentae, one would just put the adjective. It should be noted as well that when used in this way, the adjective does not agree and uses its dictionary form.

Sentence Order

The sentence order in Chreyentae is a SVO language. In more complex sentences, it's rather: SUBJECT+VERB+ADVERB+ADJECTIVE+OBJECT+PREPOSITION+INDIRECT OBJECT+TIME EXPRESSION (if all of those were to be needed in the sentence). There are special cases that don't follow this rule or have special rules of their own. For example, relative clauses and aspects. Here are some basic sentences to display the sentence order in effect:

I quickly give the big book to my friend at 3:00. - Vá rae váriit hranðen lochen ú voe froente a thrá øtrá.

I don't know who that is. - Chvi holam já jo vá søsi.

I have eaten an apple. - Maren va w ee rafáes.

Relative Clauses / Adjective Clauses

Relative clauses in Chreientae is a bit unique. The relative pronoun usually comes first in the sentence, followed by the dependent clause, followed by the word jo, then finally followed by the independent clause. However, when it's an adjective clause, the pattern is as in English: independent clause + pronoun + verb/adjective.

Here is the list of relative and adjective pronouns with examples:

1.thi … jo - that (Thi thu jerð voe froent jo vá sø. - I know that you are my friend.)

2. chvi … jo – who (Chvi thu jerð jo vá sø. - I know who you are.)

3. chvo … jo - what (Chvo thu fuuð jo vá søsi. - I don't know what you're doing.)

4. chvu … jo – where (Chvu ott hó jo sonaté onn ði? - Did he tell you where they're going?)

5. chvan … jo – when (Chvan thu lant jo sonate vi. - Tell me when you're leaving.)

6. chvaren … jo – why (Chvaren onn már zo rafáes jo vá søsi. - I don't know why he's eating that apple.)

7. fóran … jo – how (Fóran thu arjavað váriit ja jo vá søsi. - I don't know how you got here so quickly.)

8. th(a) – that/who (Pirónið tha már já voe froent. - The person who 's eating is my friend./Pirónið th ár ú máðraasum já voe froent. - The person who 's at school is my friend.)

Numbers / Counting

Numbers and counting is pretty easy in Chreyentae. Counting and numbers themselves are similar to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc., counting isn't too difficult, but both are kind of unique to Chreyentae.

#	Number
1	øth
2	tsáe
3	thrá
4	kvøð
5	jut
6	sech
7	şja
8	eyj
9	nu
10	jont
100	chaek
1,000,000	mijon
10,000,000	mánion
100,000,00	sennen

Those are all the "true" number in Chreyentae. To make number 11 - 99 is quite simple. For number 11 - 19, you just add "10" and then the corresponding number. For example, 11 would be jontøth (10-1). One thing to note is that if the number coming after "jont" (and "chaek") starts with a consonant, it turns into "jonte" (and "chaeke) (ex: jontetsáe - 12, chaeketsáe). However, when the consonant is "j", you don't add an "e".

One feature that is a bit unique to Chreyentae is that there is technically no word for 1000. Instead, you say 10-100, which is written irregularly as jóntechaek. Thus, 10000 would be jont-jóntechaek, and 100000 would be chaek-jóntechaek

Example Numbers

14 - jontekvøð

278 - tsáechaekeşjajonteyj

3,231 - thrájóntechaeketsáechaekethrájontøth

59,481 - jutjontenujóntechaekekvøðchaekeyjjontøth

999,999 - nuchaekenujontenujóntechaekenuchaekenujontenu

In chreyentae, when you counting an item, the order is as follows: WORD+definite.article i (or "j" if the number starts with a vowel) NUMBER. So, for example, if you wanted to say "one apple," it would be "rafáesen j øth", three apples" would be "rafáesiin i thrá".