Tzenejri
Tzenejri is an analytic conlang.
History
Phonology
Consonants
| Transliteration | IPA symbol(s) |
|---|---|
| ch | tʃ |
| d | d |
| f | f |
| g | ɡ |
| h | X |
| j | dʒ, ʒ |
| k | k, x |
| l | l |
| m | m |
| n | n |
| p | p |
| r | ɹ |
| s | s |
| sh | ʃ |
| t | t |
| tz | ts |
| v | v |
| w | w, ʍ |
| y | j |
| z | z |
| ' | ʔ |
ch: as in "chip".
h: more pronounced than in English, used in Hebrew and Arabic.
j: usually pronounced like 'j', as in "jump", but sometimes pronounced like the 's' in "treasure".
k: usually pronounced like a normal 'k', but rarely pronounced like the 'ch' in "loch".
sh: as in "shop".
tz: like the 'ts' in "tsunami".
': glottal stop, found in the middle of the term "uh-oh".
All other consonants are pronounced the same as in English.
Vowels
| Transliteration | IPA symbols (s) |
|---|---|
| a | æ |
| â | e |
| e | ɛ |
| i | i |
| o | ɒ |
| ô | o |
| u | ə, ʌ |
| û | u |
a: as in "attic"
â: as in "maze"
e: as in "met"
i: as in "mania"
o: as is "top"
ô: as is "zone"
u: as in "bun"
û: like the oo in "boot"
Grammar
Tzenejri is an analytic (isolating) language, even though affixes are often used, because those affixes make sense when written on their own. There is no case system, no grammatical genders and no definite or indefinite articles. To negate a word, the prefix 'di-' is used (e.g. 'ditzili', meaning 'no people'), while indefiniteness of a word is expressed by the prefix 'zi-' (e.g. 'zitzili, meaning 'some people'). As with English, syllable stress in Tzenejri words are unpredicatble, although it rarely matters much.
Verbs
All verbs are derived a noun by adding the suffix '-ti' (meaning "to do"). For example, the Tzenejri word for movement is 'nef', and it is altered to the verb 'nefti', meaning 'to move'.
Tenses
Tzenejri has four tenses: present, past, future and continuous. The latter three are added as suffixes to a verb as follows:
Past tense: '-che'
Future tense: '-lan'
Continuous tense: '-le'
Perfect tense is not used.
Questions
The basic word order is Verb Subject Object, however this changes to Verb Object Subject in a question. Questions take the form of a statement with an emphasis on the word being questioned (two analogous examples in English would be "you said what?" or "they went shopping?").
Grammatical numbers
There are three grammatical numbers in Tzenejri: singular, specific plural (for a specific number of things) and unspecific plural (for an unspecific number of things). They are indicating as suffixes to a noun as follows:
Specific plural: '-vi'
Unspecific plural: '-li'
Note: even if the number of things is not mentioned, a specific plural is still used if the number is known by the speaker, e.g. "the cat's legs"- I know a cat has 4 legs, so I would use the '-vi' suffix.
Sample text
English: The only free cheese is in the mouse trap
Tzenejri: enti vijâ unajcho'zik sôh maûs zirok
Literal meaning: is one free-cheese in mouse trap
Note that the word mouse (maûs) is just translated to the letters that make the same pronounication here- mice don't exist on Jen.
