Jangli is a simple
constructed language invented for the
2011 Eton College King's Scholarship Examination.
Parts of speech
There are N parts of speech: nouns, determiners, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions.
Nouns
Nouns are singular by default. They can be made plural by adding the suffix -tin, e.g. waldantin, "writers."
Determiners
Had is like "the."
Pronouns
Verbs
Verbs have suffixes to agree with the person.
| |
1st person |
2nd person |
3rd person
|
| Singular |
-u |
-o |
-a
|
| Dual |
-um |
-om |
-am
|
| Plural |
-un |
-on |
-an
|
Tenses are formed by markers after the verb. A verb by itself, without any marker, is in the present indefinite tense, e.g. razu, "I write."
| |
Simple |
Habitual |
Progressive |
Perfect |
Perfect progressive
|
| Past |
ga ("I wrote") |
ga la ("I used to write") |
gan ("I was writing") |
ga lo ("I had written") |
gan lo ("I had been writing")
|
| Present |
ka ("I write") |
ka la ("I write") |
kan ("I am writing") |
ka lo ("I have written") |
kan lo ("I have been writing")
|
| Future |
fa ("I will write") |
fa la ("I will write") |
fan ("I will be writing") |
fa lo ("I will have written") |
fan lo ("I will have been writing")
|
We need markers for modality (allowed to = may, supposed to = must/should, conditional = would, possible = could, necessary = need/have to, desire = want to, responsibility = allow/cause to, etc).
Adjectives
Adjectives come after the determiner and before the noun, e.g. had dek man, "the tall man."
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Morphology
- wal + dan = write + do-er = writer
- wal + om = write + thing = book
- ba + wal = place + write = office
- ba + wal + om = place + write + thing = library
Negation
Clause and sentence structure
Jangli is a SOV (
subject–object–verb) language. It is also
pro-drop; subject pronouns can be omitted when they can be inferred from the verb's conjugation.
Questions
Dependent clauses
Dependent clauses come after the determiner and adjectives, but before the noun, and are introduced by ko, which is like "that;" e.g. had dek ko walom wala ga man, "the tall man that wrote a book." Or: Had ko Jane pe it lata ga la at balat maku, "I work at the school that Jane used to teach in."
Imperatives
Vocabulary
Primitive vocabulary:
http://www.percepp.com/primvoc.htm
5000 most common words:
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/common-words-5000.htm
Basic English:
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Basic_English_ordered_wordlist
We'll need: numbers, days/months/seasons, family relations, common locations and actions, food, etc.
Shapes and things
Primary visual
- dot: ?
- point: ?
- line: ?
- edge: ?
- curve: ?
- angle: ?
- corner: ?
- square: ?
- triangle: ?
- circle: ?
- hole: ?
|
- bit: ?
- part: ?
- piece: ?
- thing: om
- surface: ?
- layer: ?
- frame: ?
- shape: ?
- form: ?
- size: ?
- lump: ?
|
- heap: ?
- pile: ?
- ball: ?
- block: ?
- pole: ?
- tube: ?
- brick: ?
- colour: ?
- shadow: ?
- space: ?
- mirror: ?
|
Body parts
- arm: ?
- back: ?
- beard: ?
- belly: ?
- body: ?
- breast: ?
- cheek: ?
- chest: ?
- chin: ?
- ear: ?
- elbow: ?
- eye: ?
|
- face: ?
- finger: ?
- foot: ?
- forehead: ?
- hair: ?
- hand: ?
- head: ?
- knee: ?
- leg: ?
- lip: ?
- mouth: ?
|
- nail: ?
- neck: ?
- nose: ?
- shin: ?
- skin: ?
- thigh: ?
- thumb: ?
- toes: ?
- tongue: ?
- tooth: ?
- wrist: ?
|
Animate
- animal: ?
- ant: ?
- baby: ?
- bee: ?
- bird: ?
- boy: ?
- brother: ?
- cat: ?
- child: ?
- claw: ?
- cow: ?
|
- do-er: dan
- dog: ?
- father: ?
- feather: ?
- fly: ?
- frog: ?
- fur: ?
- girl: ?
- hen: ?
- horn: ?
- horse: ?
|
- man: man
- mother: ?
- people: ?
- person: ?
- pig: ?
- sheep: ?
- sister: ?
- snake: ?
- tail: ?
- woman: ?
- worm: ?
|
Food
- apple: ?
- biscuit: ?
- bread: ?
- butter: ?
- core: ?
- egg: ?
|
- fruit: ?
- meat: ?
- milk: ?
- nut: ?
- orange: ?
- peel: ?
|
- potato: ?
- salt: ?
- soup: ?
- sugar: ?
- water: ?
|
Near objects
- ash: ?
- axe: ?
- bag: ?
- basket: ?
- bath: ?
- bed: ?
- boat: ?
- book: ?
- bottle: ?
- box: ?
- brush: ?
- bucket: ?
- button: ?
- car: ?
- ceiling: ?
- chair: ?
- cloth: ?
- clothes: ?
- coal: ?
- coat: ?
- cup: ?
- door: ?
- dress: ?
|
- fire: ?
- flame: ?
- floor: ?
- fork: ?
- hammer: ?
- handle: ?
- hat: ?
- hook: ?
- knife: ?
- knob: ?
- lamp: ?
- leaf: ?
- money: ?
- needle: ?
- net: ?
- pan: ?
- paper: ?
- pen: ?
- pencil: ?
- pin: ?
- plate: ?
- pot: ?
|
- ring: ?
- room: ?
- root: ?
- rope: ?
- sail: ?
- saucer: ?
- scissors: ?
- ship: ?
- shirt: ?
- shoe: ?
- sock: ?
- spade: ?
- spoon: ?
- stairs: ?
- stone: ?
- stool: ?
- string: ?
- table: ?
- towel: ?
- wall: ?
- wheel: ?
- window: ?
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Larger scale objects
- arch: ?
- berry: ?
- branch: ?
- bridge: ?
- cloud: ?
- dark: ?
- day: ?
- earth: ?
- field: ?
- flower: ?
- garden: ?
- grass: ?
- house: ?
|
- island: ?
- lake: ?
- light: ?
- mist: ?
- moon: ?
- night: ?
- path: ?
- place: ba
- plant: ?
- rain: ?
- river: ?
- road: ?
- sand: ?
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- seed: ?
- sky: ?
- smoke: ?
- star: ?
- steam: ?
- stem: ?
- street: ?
- sun: ?
- tree: ?
- wave: ?
- way: ?
- wood: ?
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Auditory
Temporal
- after: ?
- before: ?
- future: fa
|
|
- sudden: ?
- then: ?
- time: ?
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Movements, actions, qualities, and relations
Primary
- begin: ?
- change: ?
- end: ?
- find: ?
- flow: ?
- hear: ?
|
- is: raz
- join: ?
- listen: ?
- look: ?
- lose: ?
- move: ?
|
- search: ?
- see: ?
- smell: ?
- start: ?
- stop: ?
- taste: ?
|
Body parts
- ask: ?
- bite: ?
- blow: ?
- breathe: ?
- call: ?
- chew: ?
- cough: ?
- cry: ?
|
- drink: ?
- eat: kaw
- kiss: ?
- laugh: ?
- lick: ?
- say: ?
- shout: ?
- sing: ?
|
- smile: ?
- sneeze: ?
- speak: ?
- suck: ?
- swell: ?
- talk: ?
- tell: ?
- yawn: ?
|
Arm
- break: ?
- bring: ?
- carry: ?
- crack: ?
- crush: ?
- cut: ?
- fold: ?
- get: ?
- give: ?
- grasp: ?
- grip: ?
|
- have: ?
- hit: ?
- hold: ?
- keep: ?
- let: ?
- lift: ?
- mix: ?
- pierce: ?
- prick: ?
- pull: ?
- push: ?
|
- put: ?
- rub: ?
- shake: ?
- smash: ?
- split: ?
- spread: ?
- stretch: ?
- take: ?
- throw: ?
- touch: ?
- twist: ?
|
Whole body
- act: ?
- attack: ?
- catch: ?
- climb: ?
- come: ?
- dance: ?
- drive: ?
- drop: ?
- fall: ?
- fight: ?
|
- go: ?
- jump: ?
- kick: ?
- lead: ?
- lie: ?
- meet: ?
- rest: ?
- roll: ?
- run: nar
- sit: ?
|
- skip: ?
- sleep: ?
- slip: ?
- stand: ?
- step: ?
- swim: ?
- teach: lat
- turn: ?
- wait: ?
- walk: ?
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Complex
- choose: ?
- cook: ?
- copy: ?
- cover: ?
- draw: ?
- fear: ?
- hurt: ?
- know: ?
- like: ?
|
- love: ?
- make: ?
- may: ?
- must: ?
- need: ?
- pain: ?
- play: ?
- read: ?
- send: ?
|
- sew: ?
- think: ?
- try: ?
- want: ?
- wash: ?
- will: ?
- work: mak
- write: wal
|
Visual
- bent: ?
- big: ?
- black: ?
- blue: ?
- bright: ?
- brown: ?
- clean: ?
- dark: ?
- deep: ?
- dirty: ?
- flat: ?
|
- full: ?
- green: ?
- grey: ?
- high: ?
- hollow: ?
- long: ?
- low: ?
- narrow: ?
- pointed: ?
- red: ?
- round: ?
|
- sharp: ?
- short: ?
- small: ?
- straight: ?
- tall: dek
- thick: ?
- thin: ?
- white: ?
- wide: ?
- yellow: ?
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Other
- bad: ?
- bitter: ?
- cold: ?
- dry: ?
- good: ?
- hard: ?
- heavy: ?
- hot: ?
- hungry: ?
- light: ?
- loose: ?
|
- loud: ?
- old: ?
- quick: ?
- quiet: ?
- rough: ?
- sick: ?
- slow: ?
- smooth: ?
- soft: ?
- solid: ?
|
- sour: ?
- sticky: ?
- stiff: ?
- still: ?
- strong: ?
- sweet: ?
- tired: ?
- weak: ?
- wet: ?
- young: ?
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Relational
- a: ?
- about: ?
- across: ?
- against: ?
- all: ?
- among: ?
- and: sa
- at: ?
- back: ?
- behind: ?
- between: ?
- bottom: ?
- by: ?
- different: ?
- down: ?
- far: ?
- from: ?
- front: ?
- he: ?
- here: ?
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- how: ?
- in: pe
- it: ?
- left: ?
- like: ?
- many: ?
- me: ?
- middle: ?
- near: ?
- of: ?
- off: ?
- on: ?
- one: ?
- opposite: ?
- out: ?
- over: ?
- parallel: ?
- right: ?
- same: ?
- several: ?
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- she: ?
- side: ?
- some: ?
- that: ?
- the: had
- there: ?
- they: ?
- this: ?
- through: ?
- to: ?
- top: ?
- two: ?
- under: ?
- up: ?
- we: ?
- what: ?
- who: ?
- why: ?
- with: ?
- you: ?
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