Dofleini

Dofleini^listen is the language spoken by the doflein in the Confederation of Doflein Realms. The language is speakable by non-doflein, though it can be difficult on the throat and doflein tend to claim speakers speak with an accent that makes them sound unintelligent (the examples in this article are of a human speaker).

Natively known as: Drelpst /dʁelpst/^listen

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
shtě blii kipt aǔntle jii juuktǎ shtě igy aǔ kipt oopt shnytùaǔ igy^listen
Pronunciation: /ʃtɛ bliː kipt aʊnˈtle ʤiː ʤuːkˈtɐ ʃtɛ ˈigyː aʊ kipt oːpt ˈʃnyːtʏaʊ ˈigyː/
Dofleini word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t v x z ŋ ʁ ʃ ʔ ʤ ʦ χ/

↓Manner/ Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p b		t d
Affricate			ʦ	ʤ
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ
Approximant
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l
↓Manner/ Place→	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		ŋ
Stop	c	k g		ʔ
Fricative		x	χ ʁ	h
Approximant	j

Vowel inventory: /a aɪ aʊ aː e eː i iː o oː u uː yː øː œ ɐ ɔ ɔɪ ɔʏ ə ɛ ɛɐ ɛː ɪ ʊ ʏ/
Diphthongs: aɪ, aʊ, ɔɪ, ɔʏ, ɛɐ

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː yː		u uː
Near-high	ɪ ʏ		ʊ
High-mid	e eː øː		o oː
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ ɛː œ		ɔ
Near-low		ɐ
Low	a aː

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: b, bl, br, d, dʁ, f, fʁ, g, gl, gʁ, h, j, k, kl, l, m, n, p, pʁ, s, t, v, z, ʁ, ʃ, ʃn, ʃpʁ, ʃt, ʔ, ʤ, ʦ, ʦv
Mid-word consonants: b, bl, c, d, f, fl, g, h, k, kt, l, lf, lt, lz, m, n, nd, nt, ntl, nts, nz, r, rt, s, sc, st, t, tc, tst, tv, x, z, ŋ, ŋk, ʁ, ʁb, ʁdn, ʁg, ʁkl, ʁt, ʦ, χ
Word final consonants: c, f, g, k, kt, l, lpst, ls, lst, lt, m, mt, n, ns, nst, nt, p, pf, pt, r, s, st, t, ts, x, xst, xt, ŋ, ŋk, ŋs, ŋst, ʁ, ʁc, ʁl, ʁn, ʁst, ʁt, ʦ, ʦt

Phonological rules (in order of application):

• i→Ø / _#
• k→ʧ / _E
• j→i / C_
• a→aː / _C#
• ʔ→Ø / _#
• v→u / V_V
• j→ð / V_

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
aɪ	ie
aʊ	ou
c	chj
j	y
ŋ	ng
ɐ	ǎ
ɔ	aw
ɔɪ	oi
ə	ǒ
ɛ	ě
ɪ	ǐ
ʁ	r
ʃ	sh
ʊ	ǔ
ʏ	ù
ʔ	’
ʤ	j
ʦ	ts
χ	x
ː	double vowel

Grammar

Main word order: Subject-Oblique-Object-Verb. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions

Noun

Nouns have four cases:
Ergative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man
The ergative affix only appears if there is an absolutive in the sentence
Absolutive is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog
Absolutives are always no affix
Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man
Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog

Masculine

	Singular	Plural
Ergative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -bleː Else: Suffix -ɐbleː angǎblee /ˈaŋɐbleː/	Suffix -aɪc angaǐchy /ˈaŋaɪc/
Absolutive	No affix ang /aŋ/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ktoː Else: Suffix -uktoː anguktoo /aˈŋuktoː/
Genitive	Suffix -ʊ angǔ /ˈaŋʊ/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁgɪ Else: Suffix -øːʁgɪ angørgǐ /aˈŋøːʁgɪ/
Dative	Suffix -oːp angoop /ˈaŋoːp/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ntsɔɪ Else: Suffix -ɛntsɔɪ angěntsawǐ /ˈaŋɛntsɔɪ/

Feminine

	Singular	Plural
Ergative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -p Else: Suffix -op angop /ˈaŋop/	Suffix -alt angalt /ˈaŋalt/
Absolutive	No affix ang /aŋ/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁ Else: Suffix -uʁ angur /aˈŋuʁ/
Genitive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -st Else: Suffix -ast angast /ˈaŋast/	Suffix -ɔ angaw /ˈaŋɔ/
Dative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -ɛɐs angěǎs /ˈaŋɛɐs/	Suffix -aː angaa /aˈŋaː/

Neuter

	Singular	Plural
Ergative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋe Else: Suffix -oːŋe angoonge /ˈaŋoːŋe/	Suffix -iː angii /ˈaŋiː/
Absolutive	No affix ang /aŋ/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -nzɛ Else: Suffix -aːnzɛ angaanzě /aˈŋaːnzɛ/
Genitive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -xst Else: Suffix -uxst anguxst /ˈaŋuxst/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -gi Else: Suffix -agi angagi /ˈaŋagi/
Dative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -lt Else: Suffix -ult angult /ˈaŋult/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -pt Else: Suffix -upt angupt /aˈŋupt/

Articles

Definite	be /be/ the
Indefinite	glaǔrl /glaʊʁl/ a, some

Pronouns

	Ergative	Absolutive	Genitive	Dative
1st singular	jup /ʤup/ I	kii /kiː/ me	kluuchy /kluːc/ my, mine	pa /pa/ to me
2nd singular	uuns /uːns/ you	oo /oː/ you	da /da/ your, yours	yaǔ /jaʊ/ to you
3rd singular masc	blii /bliː/ he, it	’ě /ʔɛː/ him, it	kipt /kipt/ his, its	too /toː/ to him
3rd singular fem	fø /føː/ she, it	frǔr /fʁʊʁ/ her, it	zùchy /zʏc/ her, hers, its	kloo /kloː/ to her
1st plural inclusive	baǐxst /baɪxst/ we (including you)	mawǐlst /mɔɪlst/ us (including you)	tsuunt /ʦuːnt/ our, ours (including you)	tumt /tumt/ to us (including you)
1st plural exclusive	birl /biʁl/ we (excluding you)	beet /beːt/ us (excluding you)	kluulst /kluːlst/ our, ours (excluding you)	shtěǎ /ʃtɛɐ/ to us (excluding you)
2nd plural	nǐts /nɪʦ/ you (all)	ǐr /ɪr/ you (all)	shoo /ʃoː/ your, yours (all)	yaa /jaː/ to you (all)
3rd plural masc	yaǐrst /jaɪʁst/ they (masculine)	shprawns /ʃpʁɔns/ them (masculine)	œ /œ/ their, theirs (masculine)	aǐ /aɪ/ to them (masculine)
3rd plural fem	glaa /glaː/ they (feminine)	měǎ /mɛɐ/ them (feminine)	to /to/ their, theirs (feminine)	frawù /fʁɔʏ/ to them (feminine)

Verbs

Past tense may be indicated with the word:

Past particle

a /a/ past tense particle

Future tense is indicated with the word:

Future particle

daǐ /daɪ/ future tense particle

1st singular	Suffix -ɐnt shprawǐkaaǎnt /ʃpʁɔɪˈkaːɐnt/
2nd singular	Suffix -øːl shprawǐkaaøl /ʃpʁɔɪˈkaːøːl/
3rd singular masc	Suffix -ʏ shprawǐkaaù /ʃpʁɔɪˈkaːʏ/
3rd singular fem	Suffix -aʊts shprawǐkaaaǔts /ˈʃpʁɔɪkaːaʊts/
1st plural inclusive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -fɛː Else: Suffix -oːfɛː shprawǐkaafě /ˈʃpʁɔɪkaːfɛː/
1st plural exclusive	Suffix -aːlpst shprawǐkaaaalpst /ˈʃpʁɔɪkaːaːlpst/
2nd plural	Suffix -aː shprawǐkaaaa /ˈʃpʁɔɪkaːaː/
3rd plural masc	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁgɛɐ Else: Suffix -iːʁgɛɐ shprawǐkaargěǎ /ˈʃpʁɔɪkaːʁgɛɐ/
3rd plural fem	Suffix -ɔʏ shprawǐkaaawù /ʃpʁɔɪˈkaːɔʏ/

Imperfective aspect

The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am studying,
and habitual actions, such as I study (every night).

It is indicated with the word:

Imperfect particle

fœ /fœ/ imperfect particle

Perfect aspect

Perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’,
which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken
but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.

In Dofleini, the perfect is constructed with an affix

Perfect

If ends with vowel: Suffix -dyː Else: Suffix -adyː shprawǐkaady /ʃpʁɔɪˈkaːdyː/

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ɔ
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ɔʏʁn
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -eːʦt
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -xst
Else: Suffix -uxst
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lpst
Else: Suffix -alpst
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -dɐ
Else: Suffix -uːdɐ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ba
Else: Suffix -aɪba
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʁtɔɪ
Else: Suffix -ɛːʁtɔɪ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -aːkt
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Suffix -aːm
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -uːʁn
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -xst
Else: Suffix -uxst
Diminutive = Suffix -ɛɐ
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -st
Else: Suffix -ʊst

Dictionary

4347 Words.