Seńru

seńru is a constructed language intended to be expressive, enjoyable to use, and simple to learn. its grammar is somewhat unique and may require some adjustment, but it is designed to be exceptionally consistent and flexible.

writing and pronunciation

seńru is simple to pronounce, and it has a regular writing system. tables follow of each phoneme (sound) in the language and the letter used to write it.

consonants

letter	IPA	guide
p	/p/	like spin
t	/t/	like stop
k	/k/	like skirt
b	/b/	like bat
d	/d/	like dog
g	/g/	like go
s	/s/	like see
z	/z/	like zoo
ts	/ts/	like cats
sh	/ʃ/	like ship
j	/ʒ/	like measure
h	/h/	like hat
w	/w/	like we
r	/ɾ/	like spanish pero
y	/j/	like yes
m	/m/	like man
n	/n/	like net
ń	/ŋ/	like sing

vowels

letter	IPA	guide
a	/a/	like father
e	/e/	like they
i	/i/	like see
o	/o/	like go
u	/u/	like boot

the pronunciation guides are not to be taken too seriously. there is a lot of variation in how these english words are pronounced, especially with the vowels.

one particular difference between english and seńru (and many other languages in the world) is that the plosives (like, p, t, or k) in english are often pronounced with what is called aspiration. if you say the word cat and hold your hand in front of your face, you may feel a burst of air. the word skirt has a similar sound, but if you hold your hand to your mouth, it won't feel the same way. this is because in the word skirt, the sound is not aspirated. one should try to pronounce the plosives in seńru like this.

another particularity is that the vowels in seńru are "pure" vowels. the vowels in the words go and they are often pronounced as diphthongs, meaning that they start out as one vowel and end at another. one should try to pronounce a single, unchanging vowel.

the consonants p, t, k, s, and sh may be geminated. this simply means that they pronounced for longer. this is written by repeating the consonant (p -> pp). geminated sh is written as ssh.

pronouns

pronoun	kind	meaning
ka	first person singular	I, me
ki	first person plural	we, us
ta	second person singular	you
ti	second person plural	y'all, youse
na	third person singular	she, he, they (singular), her, him, them, it
ni	third person plural	they, them
ro	reflexive	myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves, itself, themselves
ru	demonstrative	this, that, these, those
toshu	interrogative	who, what

pronouns are the simplest kind of word in seńru. they are not inflected, with the exception of toshu and ru. they may act as the subject or object of a verb.

ru is specifically a pronoun. it is not an article, like the, and it is used in the sense of this is good, or I like that. however, it may be inflected into ri and act similarly to an article by means of being a modifier, to be used in the sense of this dog, or that house.

sentence structure

seńru has one main part of speech, content word, which acts as a verb, but it is used anywhere a noun, adjective, or adverb would be. it is inflected with different suffixes to do different tasks.

suffixes

	regular	infinitive	imperative	adverbial
		-u
intransitive	-i	-ui	-e	-iń
transitive	-a	-ua	-ea	-ań

the word order of a sentence is verb, then object, then subject. the subject of a verb is who is doing or being it, and the object of a verb is what it is being done to.

when a content word is intransitive, it is followed by a subject but no object. when a content word is transitive, it is followed by an object, then a subject.

when a content word is infinitive, it is being used as a subject or object. otherwise, it is being used as a verb.

the imperative form is used for commands. the intransitive imperative form has no explicit subject because the subject is whoever you're talking to. the transitive imperative form has only an explicit object.

tti ka

eat-INTRANS 1s

"I'm eating"

verbs are independent of tense, so this could also mean "I've eaten" or "I will eat". the time that something occurs may be specified with other words when it is relevant.

tta kinu ka

eat-TRANS plant-INF 1s

"I'm eating a plant"

ttea kinu

eat-IMP.TRANS plant-INF

"eat a plant"

seńru does not have a word for "be" or "is". instead, seńru expresses states of being in the same manner as actions. rather than to say "the house is blue", one says "the house blues" (reki tomu). it's not that "you are a person"— instead, "you person" (ssha ta).

rezi ttu

good-INTRANS eat-INF

"eating is good"

kini ka

plant-INTRANS 1s

"I am a plant"

if a word refers to a state of being, then using that word transitively means to cause or inflict that state in something else.

reza ro ka

good-TRANS REFL 1s

"I'm improving myself"

the subject and object of a verb can be the subject of other verbs (called modifiers), which act much like adjectives. the grammar is the same as if it were its own sentence, just inside a larger sentence.

tta rezi kinu ka

eat-TRANS good-INTRANS plant-INF 1s

"I'm eating a good plant"

batsa sa zegatsi seku sshu ka

find-TRANS have-TRANS fuchsia-INTRANS hair-INF person-INF 1s

"I'm looking for the person with fuchsia hair"

infinitives can have a subject and object via their transitive/intransitive forms.

kuhama mati mitui ta hadua zarui ta ta

reveal-TRANS bad-INTRANS think-INF.INTRANS 2s advocate-INF.TRANS leader-INF.INTRANS 2s 2s`

"your presidential campaign has revealed poor thinking on your part"

verbs can themselves be the subject of adverbs, which use the adverbial form.

dońmiń mazi ka

fast-INTRANS.ADV move-INTRANS 1s

"I walk quickly"

hikań ońyi temu suti ka

use-TRANS.ADV many-INTRANS word-INF talk-INTRANS 1s

"I talk using a lot of words"

all additional suffixes of a content word occur after the suffixes described above.

content word suffixes

suffixes are added to the end of content words to perform various grammatical functions.

mood

despite being irrespective of tense, seńru verbs they are either of a realis or irrealis mood. verbs are normally realis. irrealis verbs are suffixed with -tese.

the irrealis mood is used for anything that hasn't happened, isn't happening, and isn't guaranteed to happen.

kamiń erań kimu mazitese apiu

possible-INTRANS.ADV toward-TRANS.ADV flower-inf move-TRANS-IRR bee-INF

"the bee might go onto the flower"

additional inflections

suffix	name	meaning
-so	negative	not; the content word is negated
-ko	passive	the subject and object of the verb are swapped
-domo	comparative	-er, more
-ppo	excessive	too [much]

tsurińppo bediko ka

often-INTRANS.ADV-TOO need-INTRANS 1s

"I'm relied on too often"

tsekkaso ońyippo rittu ka

buy-TRANS-NEG many-INTRANS-TOO dress-INF 1s

"I didn't buy too many dresses"

coordinators

coordinator	meaning
-mo	and
-go	or

coordinators are another kind of suffix which can be added to a content word. typically, a verb can have one subject and one object, and a subject can have one verb/modifier/adverb. however, multiple content words can occupy these positions using coordinating suffixes.

ya ya ka oku dayu ppudumo

in-TRANS in-TRANS 1s mouth-INF tooth-INF tongue-INF-AND

"there are teeth and a tongue in my mouth"

conjunctions

conjunctions are a part of speech other than pronouns or content words. conjunctions join together entire sentences, rather than just subjects or objects.

conjunction	meaning
imo	and
igo	or
iti	because
koń	so/and thus
iso	yet/but
emo	if ... then

końra renu ka, emo reziń gańki ka

see-TRANS animal-INF 1s THEN good-INTRANS.ADV feel-INTRANS 1s

"if I see an animal, I feel good"

questions

the suffix -to on the verb of a sentence indicates a yes or no question.

eńsato goju ta?

enjoy-TRANS-Q bean-INF 2s

"do you like beans?"

the interrogative pronoun toshu performs the functions of wh- words, like who, what, where, when, or why. it replaces what is being asked about; it is like a blank space to be filled. unlike the other pronouns, it is inflected like a normal content word.

tta goju toshu?

eat-TRANS bean-INF WH-INF`

"who ate the beans?"

tosha goju ta?

WH-TRANS bean-INF 2s

"what are you doing to the beans?"

ya toshu goju?

in-TRANS WH-INF bean-INF

"where are the beans?"

prepositions

prepositions in seńru are not a separate class of words. they are used and inflected like any other word, usually transitively.

preposition-like words

word	meaning
yu	in, on, at
ju	during, while
eru	to, toward
ihu	from
zeu	for
hiku	via, using
roku	about
ketu	with

dońmiń jańmo neru erańmo ta mazi ka

fast-INTRANS.ADV during-TRANS.ADV-AND night toward-TRANS.ADV-AND 2s move-INTRANS 1s

"I am quickly heading toward you in the night"

numbers

0	zeru
1	tsu
2	bu
3	wu
4	kku
5	gu
6	shu
7	raku
8	mu
9	jiu
10	deku
100	hoku
1000	dehu
10000	yohu
100000	deyohu
1000000	iyaru

there are words for each of the 1s place, as well as powers of 10. to express place value, the number for that place is modified by its place value. the digits are coordinated together with -mo, such that for instance, 13, is deku wumo, "ten and three".

shi dehu kki hokumo mi dekumo jiumo

three-INTRANS thousand-INF four-INTRANS hundred-INF-AND eight-INTRANS ten-INF-AND nine-INF-AND

"three thousand four hundred eighty nine"

prosody

a major element of speech is its rhythms and intonation.

a unit of time in speech is known as a mora. each mora is pronounced the same amount of time. a single mora in seńru is:

• a syllable with no consonant or a non-geminated consonant
• the geminated consonant at the start of a syllable
• ń

here is a sentence, with each mora split on ..

tse.k.ka.so. o.ń.yi.p.po. ri.t.tu. ka

t.te.a. ki.nu

ko.ń.ra. re.nu. ka. e.mo. re.zi.ń. ga.ń.ki. ka

the pitch of a sentence generally starts high and then falls low. the pitch of each word in a sentence does the same. questions do also have falling pitch, but they end at a higher pitch than normal. the cadence of the pitch should be that of the morae.

the most important thing is just to try to speak naturally and fluidly. the words should flow into each other. if the prosody is not exactly correct, this will not prevent understanding.

creating and adapting words

words in seńru have been created in a certain way. most words in seńru are a priori, which means that they don't come from any existing words from any language. this is preferred unless it's more appropriate, in such cases as the names of people and places (which in both cases should be that which those people call themselves).

when words are incorporated into seńru, they are made to conform to the following phonemic rules:

1. a word may not have two consonants in a row, unless one of those consonants is ń.
2. ń must only ever come immediately after a vowel.

additionally, words must be made to conform to the grammatical structure of content words, with the infinitive form ending in -u.

the lexicon of the language is expected to grow and evolve in an open manner. the seńru dictionary (ikiusu) is implemented as a page on this wiki and is open to contributions.

extra letters

there are a few letters of the latin alphabet that are unused in seńra's romanization. they may be used in loanwords but are simply pronounced as existing sounds in the language.

foreign letters

letter	is the same as
c	k
f	h
q(u)	k
v	b
x	sh