The Language of Argenta

Natively known as: àrjentà /ˈɑɹʤentɑ/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
en si kego go nì nolù en ni nì terow sut nàk
Pronunciation: /ɛn si ˈkɛgʊ gʊ nɪ ˈnʊlʌ ɛn ni nɪ ˈtɛɹʊw sut nɑk/
Argenta word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d g gɹ h k l lk lt n nt r s sp st t v w ɹ ɹk ɹl ɹn ɹʤ ʧ θ

↓Manner/Place→ BilabialLabiodentalDentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarVelarGlottal
Nasaln
Stopbt dk g
Affricateʧ
Fricativevθsh
Approximantɹ
Trillr
Lateral approximantl

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→ Labial-velar
Approximantw

Vowel inventory: i æ ɑ ə ɛ ɪ ʊ ʌ


FrontCentralBack
Highi
Near-highɪʊ
Midə
Low-midɛʌ
Near-lowæ
Lowɑ
Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C)(C) ?
Stress pattern: No fixed stress ?
Spelling rules:

PronunciationSpelling
ʊ o
ɛ e
ɑ
æ a
ə e
eɪ̯ ay
ɪ
ʌ ù
ʤ j
ʧ ch
θ th
ɹ r

Grammar

Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Nouns

Singular No affix
ilkù /ˈilkʌ/
dog
Plural Suffix -ɪ
ilkùì /ˈilkʌɪ/
dogs


Articles

Definite ta /ta/
the
Indefinite ar /aɹ/
a, some


Uses of definite article that differ from English:

  • Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

  • Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’

Pronouns

1st singular tà /tɑ/
I, me, mine
2nd singular hìn /hɪn/
you, yours
3rd singular masc si /si/
he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem gur /guɹ/
she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural sok /sʊk/
we, us, ours
2nd plural /sʌ/
you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural hùr /hʌɹ/
they, them, theirs


Possessive determiners

1st singular le /lɛ/
my
2nd singular tu /tu/
your
3rd singular masc nì /nɪ/
his
3rd singular fem rùn /rʌn/
her
1st plural verk /vɛɹk/
our
2nd plural si /si/
your (pl)
3rd plural ge /gɛ/
their


Verbs

Present No affix
kes /kɛs/
learn
Past Suffix -a
kesa /ˈkɛsa/
learned
Remote past If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹl
Else: Suffix -ʌɹl

kesùrl /ˈkɛsʌɹl/
learned (long ago)


Argenta uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future Particle before the verb: su -
su kes /su kɛs/
will learn



Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.

Argenta uses an affix for progressive:

Progressive If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹ
Else: Suffix -ɪɹ

kesìr /ˈkɛsɪɹ/
is learning


Habitual aspect

The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).

Argenta uses an affix for habitual:

Habitual Suffix -ʌ
kesù /kɛˈsʌ/
learns


Numbers

Argenta has a base-10 number system:

1 -
2 - es
3 - tà
4 - nabùr
5 - dàvest
6 - e
7 -
8 - e
9 - iki
10 - gi
11 - en gi “one and ten”
100 - ogro “one hundred”
101 - ogro en “one hundred and one”
200 - es ogro
1000 - va “one thousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Prefix akt-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -en
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹn
Else: Suffix -uɹn

Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ntɑ
Else: Suffix -ɛntɑ

Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ik
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -ʊl

Tending to = Suffix -ik
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ɛ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -ʌθ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -x
Else: Suffix -ox

Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -as
Diminutive = Suffix -it
Augmentative = Suffix -ɑ
Power over = Suffix -nos
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -tex
Opposite = Prefix us-

Argenta - English Dictionary

Key: spelling /pronunciation/ part of speech. definition(s)

adj. adjective | adv. adverb | art. article | conj. conjunction | det. determiner | interj. interjection | n. noun | num. numeral | prep. preposition | pron. pronoun | v. verb