Lhueslue

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Lhueslue
Lhueslue
Spoken in:
Conworld:
Total speakers:
Genealogical classification:
Lhueslue
Basic word order: VOS
Morphological type: agglutinative
Morphosyntactic alignment: nominative-accusative
Writing system:
Created by:
Qwynegold


Phonology

Phoneme inventory

Consonants

Consonants
Bilabial Labiod. Dental Alveolar Post-alv. Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasals m n ŋ
Plosives p b t d k g q
Affricates
Fricatives f v θ s z ʃ ʒ ɕ x χ h
Trills r
Approximants ɻ j w
Lateral Approximant ɬ̪͆ l

Vowels


Vowels
Front Central Back
High i y u
High-mid e ø ɘ o
Low-mid ɛ
Near-low æ
Low ɑ

Lhueslue features vowel harmony. Each vowel belongs to one of two groups: tense (marked in red in the table above) or lax (marked with blue).

Tones

Lhueslue has three tones: low, mid and high. The mid tone is the most common one. The low tone may be realized as falling, and high can be realized as rising.

Allophony

Length

The high tone turns its vowel long, and the low tone turns it half-long. If a word has only mid tones, the final syllable will have a long vowel on two conditions.

  1. It must be a monophthong.
  2. The syllable must be open or end with one of the following consonants: /b, d, ɡ, ʒ, l, ɻ, s, v, w, x/.

Vowel harmony

The lax vowels are paired together with the tense vowels in the following way:

Tense Lax
i ɘ
u y
e ɛ
o ø
ɑ æ

Some words, or combinations of words and affixes have so called broken vowel harmony. It means that the word contains both tense and lax vowels, but that the allophony treat the boundary between tense and lax as a word boundary (this boundary is marked with a dash in the romanization). One example of a word with broken vowel harmony is oe-i (old). This word is pronunced [øː.iː]. Note how the two vowels do not form a diphthong, and both are long as if both appeared at the end of a word.

Vowel quality

The front high-mid vowels /e, ø/ become mid [e̞, ø̞] when followed by a uvular consonant that is in the same syllable. In that same environment the front high vowels /i, y/ become near-high [ɪ, ʏ].

Consonant quality

The alveolar lateral approximant /l/ becomes velarized [ɫ] in the environment /ɻ(V(V))_/.

Writing

Romanization

Letter Pronunciation Semantic association
A a ɑ Beginning
Ae ae æ End
B b b Soft
C c ɕ Feminine
Ch ch Part, divide
D d d Left
E e e Active, fast, moving
Ee ee ɛ Passive, slow, still
F f f Fire
G g g Machine
H h h Air
I i i Life
Ie ie ɘ Death
J j ʒ Middle, present
K k k Metal
L l l Humanoid
Lh lh ɬ̪͆ Magic, religion
M m m Earth
N n n Nose, mouth, smell, taste
Ng ng ŋ Place
O o o Big
Oe oe ø Small
P p p Hard
Q q q Back, past
R r r Masculine
Rh rh ɻ Animal
S s s Ear, sound
Sh sh ʃ Water
T t t Right
Th th θ Wood, plant
U u u Material
Ue ue y Abstract
V v v Give
W w w Eye, vision
X x χ Hand, touch
Xh xh x Front, future
Y y j Upper
Z z z Lower

High tone is marked with an acute accent, and low tone with a grave. In digraphs, the accent mark is placed on the first letter. Mid tone is unmarked. Diaeresis is used on e to mark that it is not part of a digraph.

Grammar

Morphology

Nouns

Lhueslue has no noun case affixes; instead, postpositions are used. Lhueslue also lacks grammatical number. If there is some dire need to mark singularity or plurality however, the words oeue (one) and o (many) may be used.

Noun class

There are eleven different noun classes in Lhueslue. Nouns are assigned into classes semantically, according to the following table.

Noun class Association
Masculine Male humans, kinship terms and animals.
Feminine Female humans, kinship terms and animals.
Earth Minerals (except for metals), animals that don't belong to the other classes.
Water Things related to water, snow and ice, water-living creatures.
Fire Items related to fire-making.
Air Things that appear in the sky, flying animals.
Metal Things made out of metal.
Wood Plants and things made out of plant material.
Aether Things related to magic and religion.
Light Light-emitting objects and good (benevolent) things.
Dark Things related to darkness, death, non-existance and evil.

Pronouns

Lhueslue has several pronouns, each agreeing in noun class with the person or thing it refers to.

Personal pronouns
1st person 2nd person 3rd person/inanimate
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
Neuter laj lajlaj lixh lixhlixh long
Masculine raj rajraj rixh rixhrixh rong
Feminine caj cajcaj cixh cixhcixh cong
Earth mong
Water shong
Fire fong
Air hong
Metal kong
Wood thong
Aether uej uexh lhueng
Light ding
Dark tieng

The aether first person pronoun is used by gods, or by god roles in written dialogue or in plays. Likewise the aether second person pronoun is only used when addressing gods. The neuter singular first and second person pronouns are seldomly used. When they are used, it is usually in formal situations. The neuter singular second person pronoun is best avoided in all situations except for the very formal, because otherwise it may be taken as an insult. The neuter third person pronoun is likewise used in formal situations, but also when referring to a hypothetical or unknown person. When referring to a mixed group of people, the plural third person pronouns are always used.

Demonstratives

The demonstratives in Lhueslue can be used as both pronouns and determiners.

1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Neuter xhaeeel luong
Masculine aur xhaeeer ruong
Feminine auc xhaeeec cuong
Earth aum xhaeeem muong
Water aush xhaeeesh shuong
Fire auf xhaeeef fuong
Metal auk xhaeeek kuong
Wood auth xhaeeeth thuong
Aether uelh xhaeue lhue
Light aid xhaeeed iong
Dark iet xhaeie tie

Verbs

Transitivity

Some verbs are by default intransitive, while others are transitive. But intransitive verbs can be derived from transitive ones by adding a suffix that agrees with the subject's noun class.

Noun class Suffix with tense vowel harmony,
following a consonant
Suffix with tense vowel harmony,
following a vowel
Suffix with lax vowel harmony,
following a consonant
Suffix with lax vowel harmony,
following a vowel
Masculine -ar -ra -eer -ree
Feminine -ac -ca -eec -cee
Earth -am -ma -eem -mee
Water -ash -sha -eesh -shee
Fire -af -fa -eef -fee
Air -ah -ha -eeh -hee
Metal -ak -ka -eek -kee
Wood -ath -tha -eeth -thee
Aether -alh -lha -ue -lhue
Light -ai -ti -eet -tee
Dark -ad -da -ie -die
Tense

The verbs have three tenses: past, present and future. The present tense is unmarked while past and future are marked with suffixes.

Verb class Suffix Example
Tense or lax, ends with -e or -ee -q eze (move) > ezeq (moved); chyuelee (think) > chyueleeq (thought)
Tense, ends with anything else than -e -eq buzeyted (roll) > buzeytedeq (rolled)
Lax, ends with anything else than -ee -eeq eelùe (sleep) > eelùeeeq (sleeped)


The future tense is formed similarly, except with -xh instead of -q as the final consonant.

Verb class Suffix Example
Tense or lax, ends with -e or -ee -xh eze (move) > ezexh (will move); chyuelee (think) > chyueleexh (will think)
Tense, ends with anything else than -e -exh buzeyted (roll) > buzeytedexh (will roll)
Lax, ends with anything else than -ee -eexh eelùe (sleep) > eelùeeexh (will sleep)


Aspect

Aspect in Lhueslue is not marked by affixes but with different adverbs. The progressive aspect is expressed with the adverb je (still), which is placed after the verb. The perfect aspect is marked witt xha (then) in the past and future tenses, and qae (already) in the present tense. Xha is placed at the beginning of the sentence while qae is placed after the verb. Habitual aspect is expressed by placing óvulh (usually) after the verb. There are also three kinds of frequentative adverbs. Óche (frequentative 1) is used about actions where it is possible to count the number of times is happens. Oche (frequentative 2) is similar to frequentative 1, except that it describes a random or aimless action. Olhe (frequentative 3) is used about actions that are uncountable, either because they are so many or quick, or because it is hard to say where one instance of an action ends and another begins. All frequentatives are placed after the verb. The following table displays examples of all aspects and all possible combinations of aspects.

Past Present Future
Progressive Nezeq je níthippub laj
I was eating apples
Nez je níthippub laj
I am eating apples
Nezexh je níthippub laj
I will be eating apples
Perfect Xha nezeq níthippub laj
I had eaten an apple
Nez qae níthippub laj
I have eaten an apple
Xha nezexh níthippub laj
I will have eaten an apple
Habitual Nezeq óvulh níthippub laj
I used to eat apples
Nez óvulh níthippub laj
I usually eat apples
Nezexh óvulh níthippub laj
I intend to usually eat apples
Frequentative 1 Yae-eq óche laj
I jumped up and down
Yae-e óche laj
I jump up and down
Yae-exh óche laj
I will jump up and down
Frequentative 2 Yae-eq oche laj
I jumped around
Yae-e oche laj
I jump around
Yae-exh oche laj
I will jump around
Frequentative 3 Xengameq olhe mu
The ground was shaking
Xengam olhe mu
The ground is shaking
Xengamexh olhe mu
The ground will be shaking
Perfect-Habitual Xha nezeq óvulh níthippub laj
I used to have eaten an apple
Nez óvulh qae níthippub laj
I usually have eaten an apple
Xha nezexh óvulh níthippub laj
I will usually have eaten an apple
Perfect-Frequentative 1 Xha yae-eq óche laj
I had jumped up and down
Yae-e óche qae laj
I have jumped up and down
Xha yae-exh óche laj
I will have jumped up and down
Perfect-Frequentative 2 Xha yae-eq oche laj
I had jumped around
Yae-e oche qae laj
I have jumped around
Xha yae-exh oche laj
I will have jumped around
Perfect-Frequentative 3 Xha xengameq olhe mu
The ground had been shaking
Xengam olhe qae mu
The ground have been shaking
Xha xengamexh olhe mu
The ground will have been shaking
Habitual-Frequentative 1 Yae-eq óche óvulh laj
I used to jump up and down
Yae-e óche óvulh laj
I usually jump up and down
Yae-exh óche óvulh laj
I intend to usually jump up and down
Habitual-Frequentative 2 Yae-eq oche óvulh laj
I used to jump around
Yae-e oche óvulh laj
I usually jump around
Yae-exh oche óvulh laj
I intend to usually jump around
Habitual-Frequentative 3 Xengameq olhe óvulh mu
The ground used to be shaking
Xengam olhe óvulh mu
The ground is usually shaking
Xengamexh olhe óvulh mu
The ground will be usually shaking
Voice

Lhueslue has passive and active voice. Active voice is unmarked while passive voice is marked by a circumfix on the verb. The first part (prefix) of the circumfix agrees with the object's noun class, and the last part (suffix) agrees with the subject. But if the verb is intransitive, the prefix is dropped.

Noun class Prefix preceding a consonant Prefix preceding a vowel
Masculine ree- r-
Feminine cee- c-
Earth mee- m-
Water shee- sh-
Fire fee- f-
Air hee- h-
Metal kee- k-
Wood thee- th-
Aether ue- uelh-
Light i- t-
Dark ie- d-


Noun class Suffix following a consonant Suffix following a vowel
Masculine -eer -r
Feminine -eec -c
Earth -eem -m
Water -eesh -sh
Fire -eef -f
Air -eeh -h
Metal -eek -k
Wood -eeth -th
Aether -ue -lhue
Light -i -t(i)
Dark -ie -d(ie)

If the affix has a tense vowel while the verb is lax, or vice versa, it results in broken vowel harmony. But in the case of the light and dark suffixes following a vowel, the vowel in the suffix is skipped if it's not in the same vowel harmony group as the verb. For example eze (move) becomes tezed if the object is light and subject dark, but eelùe (sleep) becomes teelùedie.

Order of affixes

The order of affixes on the verb is PASS-VERB-INTR-PASS-TENSE. An example of a fully inflected verb is:

Aëmameq
ma m eq
begin INTR.EARTH PASS.EARTH PAST
(Something) was made to begin.

Adpositions and particles

Word Type Meaning Example
al postp. with (comitative, human) Nezeq neez-qaxhzif tcue al raj.
eat-PAST dinner wife COM 1SG.M
I ate dinner with my wife.
arh postp. with (comitative, animal)
av postp. from (a person)
aed postp. as opposed to smth else Nyeq aq rhiu-beeptoed Bil aed.
smell-PAST first bacon Bill as.opposed.to.someone.else
It was Bill who smelled the bacon first.
aelh prep. into (translative) Lhaeq uey aelh yùesh Maerie.
become-PAST mood TRANSL sad Mary
Mary became sad.
aeng postp. to (a place) Sheq gthesh aeng Djon.
swim-PAST raft to John
John swam to the raft.
eeg postp. with (instrumental) Peq núco-btheef kup eeg neezael.
cut-PAST cake knife INS cook
The cook cut the cake with a knife.
ív postp. for (benefactive) Kvaeeeq gbuzuyheth lí ív Djon.
sell-PAST wagon friend BEN John
John sold the wagon for a friend.
ie prep? not
juelh as
nga postp. from (a place)
sùej part. interrogative
vae postp. to (a person) Véq xhongéj au Maerie vae Djon.
give-PAST book new Mary to John
John gave Mary a new book.

Al is used together with human nouns and arh together with animals. In case of groups, al is used. Aed functions as a topicalizing postposition, or like the word "however" in English. Ív is used for expressing who's or what sake something is done for. Lhueslue doesn't have distinction between illative and allative or elative and ablative, but there is a distinction between if something is going to our from a place (aeng and nga) or person (av and vae). Av and vae are used for expressing that something is delivered to or from someone, or that someone is visiting that person. To express that something enters or exits someone's body, aeng and nga are used however.

Syntax

The normal word order in Lhueslue is VOS.

Genitive

The genitive is expressed with the particle eev. The order is possessed noun - eev - possessor.

Su eev rong.
su eev rong
ear GEN 3.SG.M
His ear.

Imperative

Imperative sentences have always a subject, which is the person who is requested to do something. The subject is moved to the beginning of the sentence while everything else follows the normal word order.

Rixh zexh chuloung aeng!
rixh zexh chuloung aeng
2.SG.M walk room toward
Go to your room!

The verb can be in either present or future tense. Using future tense is more polite, because it implies that the speaker understands that the action can't be carried out immediately.

Hortative

The hortative mood is formed exactly the same way as the imperative, but the pronoun that is used must be a first person plural.

Lajlaj sluesoexeexh thtoedsvue
lajlaj sluesoex-eexh thtoedsvue
1.PL.N write-FUT note
Let's write a note, shall we?

Time

For indicating duration, a temporal adverb is placed after the verb. A temporal adverb anywhere else indicates when something happened.

Zexhéheq raj qae-yif.
zexhéh-eq raj qae.yif
run-PAST 1.SG.M yesterday
I ran yesterday.


Zexhéheq qae-yif raj.
zexhéh-eq qae.yif raj
run-PAST yesterday 1.SG.M
I ran the whole day yesterday.

When indicating when something happened, the temporal adverb can be placed after any object or subject. It is preferrably placed after whichever core argument that has the smallest amount of other words referring to it (adjectives, spatial particles, etc.) after it. If there are several word that qualify as "the core argument with least amount of referents following it", the temporal adverb is placed as close to the beginning of the sentence as possible if the time reference is seen as something important, and as close to the end as possible if it's seen as something unimportant. The temporal adverb can also be placed at the beginning of a sentence, in which case it indicates topicality.

Interrogative

The particle sùej is placed at the beginning of a sentence, no matter what type of question it is.

See also

Body Parts in Your Conlangs/Lhueslue