Lanissonin! Amélaunn is an a priori language intended for an elvish race with inspiration from Finnish, the Celtic languages, and Ancient Greek. Its writing system is best described as an alphabet. Amélaunn has 17 consonants and 11 vowels, with a 3-tone pitch accent system represented by the grave, acute, and circumflex diacritics. Like English, Amélaunn spelling does not necessarily correlate with the proper pronunciation of the word.
Basic Morphology
Amélaunn is a highly inflected language, strongly preferring suffixes to prefixes and rare usage of particles. Nouns have eight classes (five common and three neuter), which decline for eleven cases. Verbs have three declensions, with the third being characterized by lenition of the root. Amélaunn verbs lack a tense system, requiring speakers to utilize context, aspect, temporal words, or a combination of those to express tense. Verbs do not differentiate between person and number; however, they are distinguished by whether the subject is personal (a person, such as an Elf or human), a common noun, or a neuter noun.
Basic Syntax
The basic word order in Amélaunn is SOV, with oblique phrases typically appearing before the verb. Word order is not tightly regulated, as nominal cases directly mark the subject and object of the sentence, though there are some restrictions. Adjectives and prepositions follow the words they describe, while adverbs typically appear before the verb.
Common Words
human: bíncnoth
animal: ánthuɯlul
work: paílluɯdi
play: annenn
big: ten
small: io
one: lhot
two: beú
many: lat
some: aú
who: úm
what: òl
yes: vaù
no: seú
animal: ánthuɯlul
work: paílluɯdi
play: annenn
big: ten
small: io
one: lhot
two: beú
many: lat
some: aú
who: úm
what: òl
yes: vaù
no: seú
Example Sentences
Li Amélaunn áthemm ava?
2SG Amélaunn speak-PERS.PROG Q
Do you speak Amélaunn?
2SG Amélaunn speak-PERS.PROG Q
Do you speak Amélaunn?
I mɯy Mark ùntanemm.
1SG REFL Mark call-PERS.PROG
My name is Mark.
1SG REFL Mark call-PERS.PROG
My name is Mark.
Te et ûgduth seú aìmoimai.
he the show-ACC.SG if no see-OPT.PFV.PERS
He might not have seen the show.
he the show-ACC.SG if no see-OPT.PFV.PERS
He might not have seen the show.
Setting & Usage
Unknown.
