Amal

See also:

• lexicon
  • thematic lexicon
• phrases

Introduction

Amal is meant to be a simple and euphonic personal conlang.

Phonology

p b t d k g m n s sh h w y l r a e i o u

Word Order

SOV

Determiners

Determiners in Amal precede the noun they modify. There is one article: al (the), used similar to English:

• al muj, cuma, u ayelim — the man, a woman, and children

Other words function similarly:

• an - that [over there]
• anta - such
• anyi - same
• ayam - whatever, whichever; any
• aza - few, little
• cok - many; much
• hacok - more
• haza - less; fewer
• kon - this [by me]
• kul - all; every; each
• ne - no; zero
• nek - some; several; a few
• son - that [by you]
• ukra - other

Pronouns

Pronouns in Amal are marked for number and case. There are three persons. Gender is not marked unless necessary for disambiguation. The stand-alone personal pronouns are not used widely as the person is evident from the personal verb ending. They are used for emphasis only in their simple form as the verb form itself already points to the person. This is similar to Spanish where a person will say comprendo - I understand instead of Yo comprendo - I understand.

• The irregular declensions should be apparent.

Pronoun Declension

	NOM	ACC	GEN	DAT/LOC	ABL/COMP	COM	INS
1sg	na / -an	ni	nai	naye	nac	nale	nun
2sg	te / -at	ti	tai	taye	tac	tele	tun
3sg	il(a/u) / -a	ili	(i)lai	ilye	ilac	ile	ilun
1pl	nuk / -uk	inuk	nika	danuk	nukac	nukle	nukun
2pl	tum / -ut	itum	tima	tumda	tumac	tumle	tumun
3pl	hum / -um	ihum/ihma	hima	humda	humac	humle	humun

Verbs

tense

The future tense is marked with -as-/-s(a)-. Past tense is marked with -ar-/-r(a)-. The present tense is unmarked. There are two aspects in Amal, progressive/continuous -i(y)-, and perfective -u(y)-. They are marked in the conjugation of the verb.

• yem-an - I eat
• yem-r-an - I did eat
• yem-s-an - I will eat
• yem-iy-an - I am eating
• yem-ir-an - I was eating
• yem-is-an - I will be eating
• yem-uy-an - I ate
• yem-ur-an - I have eaten
• yem-us-an - I will have eaten

Stories often describe events that take place in the past (or an imagined past), or whose location in time is of no concern to the reader. In such cases, the -ar-/-r(a)- may be omitted.