Elko
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[edit] ELKO : the language from gods
Elko is a logical and symbolic conlang, created in 2002 by Ziecken Azuris. Elko is fast easy to learn. This conlang will open to you the doors of the elkan conworld : the Losda.
[edit] Elko Babel Text
1. Nanta Telo niti’za wopa asko to ikeno. 2. Wakia kere, mandao peki to peli lepo Shinear gare. 3. Kize kowi: "Bau mawi ikito to kani ho kakore". Ikito woti gono to linna hi nutna. 4. "Ig Kowa : bau keti tewo to gedo iri ! Hoa muno dasi rano. Keni iri po ne rona geinnana Tele". 5. Eltio kaapi lambai tewo to gedo, Oketa iwido keta ho. 6. "Eltio kowa a ! Ig diba manda to asko, ko keta diwo ! Nunta wudu dasua igi ! 7. Bau kaapi to kimi iga asko dane kize teki ! " 8. Eltio kimroni igi nantele to betu kiti tewo. 9. Keni ka tewo Babel weno Eltio askimi to mankimi nantele.
[edit] Alphabet
The first alphabet used for elko was the runic one called too ‘futhark’. But today the latin transciption seems bette rand most widespread. So the Elkan alphabet contains 22 letters (16 consonants ans 6 vowels).
A B D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U W Y Z
[edit] Pronunciation
A called a : like ‘a’ in car B called ba : like ‘b’ in bottle D called da : like ‘d’ in dog E called e : like ‘e’ in pet F called fa : like ‘f’ in fib G called ga : like ‘g’ in gag H called ha : like ‘h’ in hello I called i : like ‘i’ in big J called ja : like ‘y’ in yes K called ka : like ‘k’ in key L called la : like ‘l’ in light M called ma : like ‘m’ in mama N called na : like ‘n’ in nothing O called o : like ‘o’ in born P called pa : like ‘p’ in pain R called ra : like ‘r’ in right S called sa : like ‘s’ in sun T called ta : like ‘t’ in tower U called u : like ‘oo’ in put W called wa : like ‘w’ in wet Y called y : like ‘u’ in burn Z called za : like ‘z’ in his
[edit] Morphology
Each elkan word is composed with two elements : a key and an affix.
[edit] The keys
Nowadays, more of 700 keys are available on the 1014 possible. But the are just 22 affixes. The keysare always showed on the same way :
TAN (tree) wood, forest, log, …
TAN : is the key, always presented in capital letters.
(tree) : is the meaning of the key, always presented in brackets.
wood, forest, log, … : are the words built with the key.
[edit] The affixes
The elkan affixes are optional and distributed in 4 families :
- Prefixes (6) : gender & number
a- : feminine e- : neutral i- : plural o- : masculine u- : singular y- : dual
- Infixes (4) : semantic nuances
-a- : antonyms -e- : less -i- : more -o- : synonyms
- Suffixes (4) : nature & function
-a : adjectives, participles -e : adverbs, prepositions -i : verbs -o : nouns, pronouns, conjunction
- Special affixes (8) :
-u : ‘linker’ and used for the auxiliaries -y : ‘respecter’ for marks rexpect and politeness
[edit] Congregation
To build elkan vocabulary you have to stick the keys together. The key located to right of the word show its category but the key located to the left clarifies the meaning of word.
TAN (tree, wood) + DUL (stick) = tandul woodstick
TAN (tree) + DOW (profession) = tando* forestry worker
- the ‘w’ dispears with the congregation
[edit] Syntax
The elkan syntax is fixed. The syntaxic elements follow always the same order : Subject, Verb Object, adverbial complement.
Kereko wami babo dene the dog is eating a bone in the garden
S : kereko the dog V : wami is eating O : babo a bone C : dene in the garden
[edit] Sammito : the short grammar
Sammito is like the Esperanto Fundamento. It’s a kind of rulement showing the 22 basic rules of elko Grammar.
When you'll know them you will reached the second level (on four), it will be possible to translate and understand everything !
The SAMMITO
rule n°1 ALPHABET
Elkan alphabet contains 22 letters, 14 consonants (b d f g h k l m n p r s t z), 5 vowels (a e i o u), 2 glides (j w) and 1 diphtong (ei)
a b d e ei f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u w z
rule n°2 PRONOUNCIATION
Elkan pronouciation doesn’t seem very hard for english speakers. The phonetics are similar, but some sounds need to be detailed:
a like bad, e like let, ei like say, g like guitar, h like hello, i like pig, j in yes, o like cover, u like human
Just the ‘r’ is different from English : It is rolled
rule n°3 TONIC STRESS
There is no stress in elko for the moment, but it’s important to separate sounds from the others, to avoid some misunderstanding.
kalla [kal-la] the weather is well kala [kala] beautiful, cute
rule n°4 NUMBERS
Elkan numbers are : nunta (0), narta (1), nutta (2), asta (3), elta (4), akta (5), matta (6), tista (7), alta (8), tamta (9). To make numbers just to have to spell them. Don’t forget to put the affixe ‘ta’ on the end of the word. ‘ta’ from TAW means ‘number’
narnutnunta 120
rule n°5 GENDER
Elko coutains three optionnal genders : maculine ‘o-‘, feminine ‘a-‘ and neuter ‘e-‘. We use them just for distinguishing male from female beings.
mano human being amano female, woman
rule n°6 NUMBER
Elko coutains three optionnal numbers : singular ‘u-‘, le plural ‘a-‘ and dual ‘ei-‘. We use them just for distinguishing in case of misunderstanding.
mano human being imano people
rule n°7 ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are built with the suffix ‘-a’. They are invariable.
mano human being mana human
rule n°8 ADJECTIVES
Adverbs are built with the suffix ‘-e’. They are invariable.
mano human being mane humanly
rule n°9 VERBS
Verbs are built with the suffix ‘-I’. They are invariable because of no conjugation.
mano human being mani to humanize
rule n°10 COMMON NOUNS
Common nouns are built with the suffix « -o ».
TEW (town) tewo town, city
rule n°11 PRONOUNS
Pronouns are buit with the suffi ‘-o’ too. Elko counts four persons : ro (first person), lo (second person), go (third person) et ko (demonstrative one). To make pronouns, just have to put the right prefix.
ero I ago she iro we oigo They (for men)
rule n°12 PROPER NOUNS
Proper nous are phonetically tranliterated and use an auxiliary which indicate the type of place.
Tuluz tewo Toulouse
rule n°13 LIGATIVE
Ligative is used to avoid justaposition of word with the same final. It is built with the suffix ‘-u’ fixed at the first word called ‘auxiliary’.
rosu wami want to eat
rule n°14 CONJUGATION
There is no conjugation in Elko. We use auxiliaries instead: past (wedu), present (wodu) future (wudu) and conditional (wadu).
ego wami he eats ego wedu wami he was eating
rule n°15 PARTICIPLES
There are two participles in Elko, each one is built with a suffix : the past participle ‘-a’ and the present one ‘-ia’. diwa done diwia doing
rule n°16 LES PREPOSITIONS
Les prépositions se marquent en elko au moyen du suffixe ‘-e ‘.
WUT (outside) wute out
rule n°17 CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are built with the suffix ‘ -o ‘ like nouns and pronouns, the syntax helps to distinguish them.
nuto link nuto and
rule n°18 NEGATION
To express the negation, you have to use the particle ‘ne’.
Ero ne wami I don’t eat
rule n°19 ARTICLE
There is no article in Elko, but sometimes the definite one ‘the‘ is expressed with the particle ‘o’.
tano tree, a tree, the tree oro tano the tree
rule n°20 KEYS
Elko works with 1012 keys. You’ll always meet them on the same way : KEY (meaning) paradigm
TAN (tree) tree, shrub, wood,…
rule n°21 AGGLUTINATION
The words are built with the agglutination of them. Take car of the order of the keys.
KAN (fire) + DUL (stick) = kandulo torch
rule n°22 SYNTAX
The elkan synatx never moves and contains four elements : the subject (S) the verb (V), the object complement (Co) and the adverbial complement (Ci).
The dog (S) eats (V) a bone (O) in the garde (Ci)
[edit] external links
To learn more about elko
- Elko's website Enter the elko's world
- the forum To talk about elko and Losda
- Video on Youtube To see what elko looks like
- Elko's blog To know the news about the conlang and conworld
