Ikanirae Seru
I recently (Mar. 2003) decided to begin working again on my first conlang. However, it now has a new fictional setting: it is a language created by a group of children to be the official language of their own "kingdom", an organization of theirs which has a king, twelve advisors, citizens, laws, a court etc.
Words
Most of the words of my first conlang survive into Ikanirae Seru.
Nouns:
Plurals are formed by adding "y-" before a vowel and "i-" before a consonant.
| WORD | ENGLISH |
| manikoso | man |
| kosama | woman |
| rao | boy |
| kao | girl |
| rasio | father |
| kasio | mother |
| asio | parent |
| kaki | baby |
| koku | child | siti-su | teenager |
| siti | adult |
| kasitu | hammock |
| kasi | house |
| taka | pencil |
| kuma | eraser |
| temeti | food |
| toku | silence,silent |
| seru | speech, language |
| ketu | meat |
| sakito | liquid food that has pieces in it [e.g. noodle soup] |
| takaku | liquid food that has no pieces in it [e.g. custard] |
| tee | solid food |
| tiuu | friend |
| ataya | god |
| nakira | idol |
| enari | name |
| samata | sabbath |
| nome | day |
| naera | truth |
| eriha | court |
| kinera | neighbour |
| yera | moon |
| ariya | sun |
| ikani | king |
| ikanirae | kingdom |
| tei | tea |
| kesita | thing (not as in "object") |
| ekisi | city |
| karisu | road |
| metiya | coat |
| heheo | wind |
| sani | sea |
Verbs:
Verbs are not inflected at all.
| WORD | ENGLISH |
| tu | be |
| ki | have |
| ku | erase |
| seru | speak, talk |
| moma | will (used before another verb to indicate future) |
| takiku | want |
| kaimo | look |
| rokiya | make |
| neosa | use | ikemahi | remember |
| nikaro | keep (a promise/secret/law etc.) |
| kosaha | break (a promise/secret/law etc.) |
| tira | honour |
| mikoru | kill |
| tareko | steal |
| imami | envy |
| isai | shine |
| seru | speak, talk |
| roesi (na) | think (about) |
| mekino | plan, make plans |
| ira | go |
| somika | wear |
| ha | did (used before another verb to indicate past) |
| tame | eat |
Pronouns:
Plurals of pronouns are formed just as for nouns. In the third person, 4 classes (like genders) are distinguished, corresponding roughly (but not exactly) to personal, animate, inanimate living, and nonliving.
| singular | plural | |
| 1st person | uti | yuti |
| 2nd person | otu | yotu |
| 3rd "personal" | eki | yeki |
| 3rd "animate" | aku | yaku |
| 3rd "living" | sera | isera |
| 3rd "nonliving" | roha | iroha |
Adjectives and adverbs:
| WORD | ENGLISH |
| sau | now |
| nairu | low |
| kora | warm |
| risa | most (used before adjectives/adverbs to indicate superlative) |
| sora | other |
| sekaso | wrong(ly) |
| reona | holy |
| koriko | fierce |
Other words:
| WORD | ENGLISH |
| kata | in |
| kana | out |
| hira | up |
| kama | down |
| ti | and |
| ko | or |
| noti | please |
| uki | thankyou |
| ka | not (negation marker placed before verb) | ya | (emphasis marker placed before verb) |
| yati | yes |
| kami | no |
| kaka | certainly no |
| tiki | certainly yes |
| osa | besides, apart from |
| ro | of |
| na | about |
| a | (statement marker) |
| i | (question marker) |
| o | (order/request marker) |
| e | (exclamation marker) |
| u | (formal statement marker) |
| kea | one |
| noa | two |
| teka | three |
| sima | four |
Syntax:
Word order is strictly SVO. Questions and commands are not indicated by any modification of word order or leaving out of the subject. Instead, they are indicated by different "sentence-type markers" placed at the end of the sentence. Questions are indicated by the question marker "i", while orders (and requests) are indicated by the order/request marker "o". All sentences, even statements, must end with one of these sentence-type markers. "a" indicates statements and "e" indicates exclamations. "u", the formal statement marker, is hardest to explain. One of its uses is in the ceremonies of the kingdom. It is also the marker used to indicate promises, as distinct from predictions. Let's take the sentence "I will remember your name." In English, this could be a simple prediction, meaning "I'm sure I'll remember your name. I'm good with names.", or it could be a promise, meaning, "I'll make sure I remember your name." In Ikanirae Seru, this sentence as a prediction would be "uti moma ikemahi enari ro otu a.", using the statement marker. As a promise, it would be "uti moma ikemahi enari ro otu u.", using the formal statement marker.
Texts:
The 10 commandments
Ikanirae Seru text from Conlang Relay 8