Elko
-
the conlang -
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
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
morphology
Each elkan word is composed with two
elements : a key and an affix.
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.
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
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
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