Denglen

Natively known as: dengle /ˈdengle/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
nye kec bucopa lɔ di cër nye cɛc di gɔ̈ lik ɣa nhɔth
Pronunciation: /ɲe kec ˈbucopa lɔ di ce̤ɾ ɲe cɛc di gɔ̈ lik ɣa n̪ɔt̪/
Denglen word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b c d d̪ f g h j k l m n n̪ p t t̪ w x ŋ ɟ ɣ ɲ ɾ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n̪	n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop	b p		t̪ d̪	d t	c ɟ	k g
Fricative		f				ɣ x	h
Approximant					j
Tap				ɾ
Lateral approximant				l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a a̤ e e̤ i i̤ o o̤ u ɔ ɔ̈ ɔ̤ ɛ ɛ̈ ɛ̤

	Front	Back
High	i i̤	u
High-mid	e e̤	o o̤
Low-mid	ɛ ɛ̤	ɔ ɔ̤
Low	a a̤

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
n̪	nh
ɲ	ny
t̪	th
d̪	dh
j	y
ɟ	j
ɾ	r
i̤	ï
e̤	ë
o̤	ö
ɛ̤	ɛ̈
ɔ̤	ɔ̈
a̤	ä

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Grammar

Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Nouns

Singular	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ki Else: Suffix -ɛki ketɛki /ˈketɛki/ dog
Plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -in ketin /ˈketin/ dogs

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	cäl /ca̤l/ the	rɛn /ɾɛn/ a
Plural	wë /we̤/ the	dɛ /dɛ/ some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’

Pronouns

1st singular	bin /bin/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	tö /to̤/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	kec /kec/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc)
3rd singular fem	ke /ke/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem)
1st plural	ɣi /ɣi/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	yec /jec/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	rath /ɾat̪/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	be /be/ my
2nd singular	ä /a̤/ your
3rd singular masc	di /di/ his
3rd singular fem	këc /ke̤c/ her
1st plural	cɔ /cɔ/ our
2nd plural	tha /t̪a/ your (pl)
3rd plural	yɛ /jɛ/ their

Verbs

	Future
1st singular	If ends with vowel: Suffix -le̤ Else: Suffix -e̤le̤ yɛlëlë /ˈjɛle̤le̤/ (I) will learn
2nd singular	Suffix -in yɛlin /ˈjɛlin/ (you) will learn
3rd singular	Suffix -a̤ yɛlä /ˈjɛla̤/ (he/she/it) will learn
1st plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ɛk yɛlɛk /ˈjɛlɛk/ (we) will learn
2nd plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -jɔ Else: Suffix -ɛjɔ yɛlɛyɔ /ˈjɛlɛjɔ/ (you all) will learn
3rd plural	Suffix -ɛn yɛlɛn /ˈjɛlɛn/ (they) will learn

Denglen uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: cac - cac yɛl /cac jɛl/ learned

Perfect aspect

The 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.
Denglen uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

If ends with vowel: Suffix -po̤ Else: Suffix -apo̤ yɛlapö /ˈjɛlapo̤/ have learned

Numbers

Denglen has a base-12 number system:
1 - ni
2 - ku
3 - ɣu
4 - cë
5 - cɔ̈
6 - ka
7 - ye
8 - kɔ̈
9 - dïn
10 - kaca
11 - ɣëŋ
12 - no
144 - ben
1728 - lär

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ol
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -i̤
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -o̤t
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -eɾ
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾ
Else: Suffix -eɾ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -e̤
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -c
Else: Suffix -ac
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -c
Else: Suffix -ec
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -c
Else: Suffix -uc
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -o̤l
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ɛn
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -jɛ
Else: Suffix -ujɛ
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -c
Else: Suffix -i̤c

Dictionary

3082 Words.