Re: re-phonologization

I tried such a thing once; what do you think?

Here is the sketch:

The alphabet is as follows: a, b, d, e, ë, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r,
s, sh, t, u, v, w, y, z. The consonants not pronounced as in English are as
follows: g (always hard), j (‘s’ as in ‘vision’), l (never ‘dark’), and s
(always voiceless). The six vowels are pronounced as follows: a (‘fall’), e
(‘set’), ë (‘America’), i (‘meet’), o (‘boat’), u (‘rule’).

The indefinite article is on 'a/an'. The definite article is dë 'the'.

The plural is formed with -(ë)s: kan 'dog' > kanës 'dogs', auto 'car' >
autos 'cars'.

The demonstratives are dis 'this' and das 'that'.

Abstract nouns are formed with the suffix -(i)shen, e.g. sëkyurë 'safe' >
sëkyurëshen 'safety', hot 'hot' > hotishen 'heat', posible 'possible/likely' >
posibleshen 'possibility/likeliness'.

Adjectives end in -(a)l: muzik 'music' > muzikal 'musical', historia 'history'
> historial 'historical', kadi 'heart' > kadial 'cardial'. Some adjectives can
be negated, with the prefix nei(r)-: konten 'happy' > neikonten 'sad'.

Comparatives are formed with mo 'more' and neimo 'less'. Superlatives are
formed with sto 'most' and neisto 'least'.

The numerals are as follows: on 'one', tu 'two', tri 'three', fo 'four',
fif 'five', sis 'six', sev 'seven', eit 'eight', nain 'nine', ten 'ten', ten-an-
on 'eleven', ten-an-tu 'twelve', ten-an-tri 'thirteen', tuten 'twenty',
tutri 'thirty', tufo 'forty', tufif 'fifty', tusis 'sixty', tusev 'seventy',
tueit 'eighty', tunain 'ninety', ten grup ten 'hundred', tusend 'thousand',
milon 'million'. The ordinal is formed with -të. The multiple is formed with -
son. The -some is formed with -sum. The group is formed with grup.

Adverbs end in -(e)le, e.g. rapide 'quick' > rapidele 'fast'.

The personal pronouns are as follows: mi 'I', yu 'you', i 'he/she', vi 'we',
yus 'you-plural', em 'they'. The possessive forms end in -(a)l.

Present tense is formed with -ing: kam ‘to come’ > i kaming ‘he/she comes’.
Past tense is formed with -t: senda 'to send' > sendat 'sent', kam 'to come' >
kamt 'came', sing 'to sing' > singt 'sang', aprendife ‘to teach’ >
aprendifet ‘taught’.

Repetition is shown with rei--.

Ability is shown with ken--.

Causatives are formed with the suffix -aiz: aprend ‘to learn’ > aprendaiz ‘to
teach’, manja ‘to eat’ > manjaiz ‘to feed’, seri ‘to sit’ > seriaiz ‘to seat’.

The Present participle is formed with -and: kur 'to run' > kurand 'running'.
The past participle is formed with -edon: sing 'to sing' > singedon 'sung'.

The word order is Subject - Verb - Direct Object - Indirect Object. The
indirect object is preceded by a 'to/for'. Questions are formed by inverting
the subject: mi hav on auto ‘I have a car’ > hav mi on auto ‘Do I have a car?
(lit.: Have I a car?)’. Relative clauses are formed with ta. Conditional
clauses are formed with kondi ‘if’.

--Robert