Limqefa

this is the second public draft of my (rebecca^talk's) conlang, which is currently called limqefa. it is not yet in a particularly speakable state, requiring mostly more vocabulary at this point.

eventually i would like limqefa to be fun to speak fluently.

Phonology & Orthography

• m n f t k q/kʷ/ s sh/ʃ/ w l lh/ɬ/ y/j/
• i o e a
• cvc or cv(v+)
• no(t many) consonant clusters within morphemes

TODO put this in a table

Alphabet

(TODO put a picture of the alphabet here)

Grammar

basic syntax is SUBJECT (sa/eka) VERB [e OBJECT] [aq INDIRECT_OBJECT]

• le sa naqje e lhoni kishoshek aq yashaflek: i get rid of the broken computer using my container

Indirect Object

the indirect object (introduced with aq can be a location, tool, or any additional context about the sentece's action. if you know toki pona, aq generalizes kepeken, lon, tawa, etc; limqefa has no other prepositions.

Aspect: sa/eka

the choice of word between subject and verb indicates the aspect of the sentence

• sa indicates an imperfective aspect, for continuous processes or ongoing events
  • le sa ko e komis: i'm making food/ i was making food
• eka indicates a perfective aspect, for instantaneous events or changes of state, or focusing more on the outcome than the process
  • le eka ko e komis: i've made food/ dinner's ready

Pronouns

• le: i, me, we, us
  • leek: my, our
• sowa: you
  • sowek: your
• on: she, it, he, they, her, him, them
  • on is used only for people and things that are very familiar to the speaker or listener. much of the time a noun suffixed with -te can be used where 'it' would be used in english.
• (TODO) third person posession

Illocution

• begin a sentence with ya followed by the main verb to form the imperative
  • ya lim aq limqefa: speak limqefa!
• follow a sentence with ansem to form a yes/no question
  • lhoni sa qo aq sowa ansem?: do you like computers?
• (TODO) other kinds of questions

Suffixes

when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel to a word that ends in a vowel, remove the final vowel of that word first.

-ek: adjectivizor

-ek turns a noun N into an adjective meaning "like or pertaining to N". it also turns a transitive verb V into an adjective meaning "having had V done to it", similar to a detransitivizor or participle.

• komis: food → komisek: pertaining to food, foodlike
• kishosh: break, destroy → kishoshek: broken, destroyed
• le eka kishosh e lhoni: i destroyed the computer → lhoni kishoshek sa qo: the destroyed computer is good

-is: patientivizor

-is turns a transitive verb V into a noun meaning "patient/object of V", similar to -ee in english or Rey in vötgil.

• koma: to eat → komis: food
• qoye: to improve (sth) → qoyis: improved thing

-alh: gerundizor

-alh turns a verb V into a noun meaning "action, process, state, or result of V happening", similar to -ing or -tion in english.

• lim: talk → limalh: conversation, communication
• le eka qoy'e lhoni. qoyelhte sa qo: i fixed the computer. this fixing is good

-ye: verbalizor

-ye turns an adjective A into a verb meaning "cause (sth) to become A".

• qo: good → qoye: make sth good; improve; help; heal

when -ye is immediately followed by the object marker e, then is contracted to -y'e.

-te: definite article

appending -te to a noun N indicates that this N is the same N as the one we are already talking about, or is salient to the conversation.

-o-: object incorporation

for a verb V and a noun-phrase N, NoV is a verb meaning "to do V to N" (or "to do V in a way associated with/pertaining to N? maybe?). it is often used with -alh.

• efonolimalh: saying numbers
• efonolimalh sa qo aq le: i like saying numbers
• maeshleoqoyalh: improvement of one's sensory environment

(TODO this feature is still a little half baked and i may yet change or remove it. i want to have a way to make lexicalized compounds seem distinctive from ad-hoc juxtapositions but i don't know how much i want this)

Vocabulary

the most TODO part of the language becuase i need to actually make some words.

stems

some words have a long and short form. the short form is used in compounds and the longer form can be used for emphasis. in dictionary entries they are listed together separated by a comma.

ilesh,naq: verbs of motion

ilesh and naq are intransitive verbs meaning "come (towards sth)" and "go (away from sth)" respectively. therefore ileshye and naqye are transitive verbs meaning "bring/get/fetch" and "throw away/get rid of/weka" respectively.

(TODO: need examples, including sa/eka)

other words that i can remember

• lhoni: n. computer
• kishosh: vtr. destroy, break
• kom: vtr. eat
  • komis: n. food
• qo, qowa: adj. good
• ishe: adj. bad
• yashaf: n. vessel, container, cup, box
• ma, malhis: n. environment, context, surroundings, circumstances
• oqay: v. work, perform, do (sth)
  • oqayis: n. activity, undertaking, task
• qitak: n. tool, implement, utensil
• if: n. thing
• lim: v. speak, talk, communicate
  • limalh: n. conversation, communication
• efon: n. number
• felom: n. house, home, residence, domicile
• eshle: adj. pertaining to the senses (TODO)

other words that i couldn't remember and i had to look them up just now

(TODO) put this in a sensible order

• ko: vtr. create, make (artistically)
  • kois: n. art
  • koalh: n. making, creation, construction
• jama: n. time
• kina: v. exist
  • kinaye: vtr. cause (sth) to exist, bring into existence
  • kinalh: n. existence
• ila: v. happen, occur
  • ilaye: vtr. cause to happen, enact
  • ilalh: n. instance, occurence
• tos: adj. same, such, as mentioned
• ame: adj. varied, disparate, many
• wen: n. person
• kolo: vtr. arrange, order, keep track of, manage
• kolwesh: n. pain

Numbers

limqefa uses a seximal (base six) numerical system by default, but there is an option to use a decimal (base ten) system with a pentimal (base 5) sub-base.

Caption text

value (base six)	word
1	ak
2	siw
3	fom
4	mis
5	lok
10	kef
11	kef ak
...	...
15	kef lok
20	siw kef
23	siw kef fom
55	lok kef lok
100	nif
2354	siw kef fom nif lok kef mis

Caption text

value (base ten)	word
6	lokak
7	loksiw
...	...
10	silok
100	shifalo
7896	loksiw silok lokfom shifalo lokmis silok lokak

TODO

• verbal prefixes to switch round the function of S, O and IO, and to impart more specific meanings upon IO
• sensory and emotional words
• bring back evidentials?
• moods (-pin (and friends?))
• can you use verbs as nouns (etc) without explicit derivation, like in toki pona, or do you need to use suffixes for that?