Tukren, tongue of stone, is a fictional, naturalistic constructed language I designed for the Rohīren people of the planet Maalima. It is the first of my constructed languages, a fact that no doubt makes itself apparent in this documentation. As a proto-language, Tukren serves only as a basis for the dialects spoken in my novels. For instance, the Hĭbord dialect used in my first novel will be a derivation of a blend of proto-Tukren and the language of the neighboring Hanatu. This document details the phonology, syntax, and grammar of proto-Tukren, and explains how to write and speak the language for any seeking to learn.
It serves as a root to all of the Tukren dialects, before the Rohīren colonies spread across the planet's surface. My goal in developing the language was to convey the generic culture of the Rohīren. They are a traditionally xenophobic and religious people, largely content to live out their days in the stone halls of their colonies, working as a collective to further their species. This is represented in the language in a number of ways:
Tukren contains 21 consonants, 6 vowels and long vowels, and 4 diphthongs.
These phonemes are based on the International Phonetic Alphabet, a collection of all the sounds producable by human anatomy. If you would like to learn more about the IPA and how to pronounce these sounds, visit the IPA Chart for an excellent source on pronounciation.
Some of these sounds have been latinized for the sake of a Western audience. Letters like ɮ are displayed with their latinized pronounciation first and their IPA symbol marked second (e.g. zl /ɮ/).
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Guttural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | b | p | t | d | c | kd/ɟ/ | k | q | g/ɢ/ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Fricative | f | s | z | h | ||||||
| Lat. Fricative | hl/ɬ/ | zl/ɮ/ | ||||||||
| Liquid | l | r/ɹ/ | j | w | ||||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ĩ/i:/ | uh/ɯ/ | ũh/ɯ:/ | u | ũ/u:/ | ||||||
| Middle | e/ø/ | eh/ø:/ | o | õ/o:/ | ||||||||
| Low | a | ã/a:/ | ||||||||||
(C)V(C)(C)
The last syllable is always stressed, except in the case of irregular words. One such cause of irregularity can be seen in words with a long vowel in their second to last syllable. The stress in such words is placed on the second-to-last syllable. For example: Hīren will be pronounced as /HEE/-/ren/ rather than /hee/-/REN/.
Tukren has a default word order of S-O-V, or subject-object-verb. Tukren also allows for topicalized sentences, in which the word order is switched to place emphasis on the topic of the sentence instead of the subject. In such cases, the articulation of each nouns differentiates between a topic and subject. Additionally, Tukren is primarily Head-Final, meaning that the head of a noun or verb phrase follows its complements.
When dealing with multiple objects, like in sentences with an indirect-object, the sentence order becomes S-IDO-DO-V.
Interrogative word order becomes V-S-O.
Note that formal speech always places the Hīren God Radren as the topic of a statement so that his name is always spoken first. Breaking this rule is a social taboo in any colony.
The person sees the fish
Di'fam dai'rĩbik kim
The king hears God
Do'radren di'barnakim mis
Adjectives always precede the head of the noun phrase.
The person sees the big fish
Di'fam tazk kul'ribik kim
The person sees the fishy big thing
Di'fam ribik sau'tazk kim
Tukren uses post-position/post-positional phrases. In the case of multiple postpositions, they are placed in the order of Time->Manner->Place.
The moon shines above the river
Ku'kailrog qib sau'maruz sazl
The moon shines above the river at night.
Ku'kailrog wod con qib sau'maruz sazl
The possessor precedes the possessee when showing possession. The possessor is marked with its corrosponding gentitive article, while the possessee is either left without an article or marked with its normal case.
The King's chamber
Mi'barnakim zlat
The path of the Temple.
Dom'yirtal si'biwar
Adverbs can be positioned somewhat freely: before or after the subject or before the verb.
Bordekya is very large.
Bordekya tazk sit yen.
The river is very long.
Maruz sit zun yen.
Proto-Tukren has a small set of conjunctions, used to combine ideas and compare sentences.
'And' has two forms.
Ta: marking the end item of a list. (e.g. Fire and stone: Kezl ta ren).
Tam: combines two complete statements. (e.g. EXAMPLE HERE)
The word 'Kot' is used as Enlgish uses 'but' to contrast two ideas.
Proto-Tukren does not differentiate between definite and indefinite articles. Instead articulation is broken down into six cases: nominative, accussative, genative, dative, locative, and instrumental. It is further divided into the genders of Neutral, Unfamiliar/Alien, Inanimate, and Formal/Religious.
Due to its complexity, much of the articulation system is neglected in informal speech. Formal speech and irregular sentences however, rely on articulation to convey correct meaning.
| Nom. | Acc. | Gen. | Dat. | Loc. | Instr. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | Di | Dai | Mi | Dim | Baf | Nan |
| Unfamiliar | Ku | Kul | Kim | Kib | Kab | Kan |
| Inanimate | Si | Sau | Sim | Sob | Saf | Sun |
| Formal | O | Do | Dom | Doc | Dei | No |
Pronouns are separated into five cases, and then further divided into eight points of view. Most of these cases are shared with those used in articulation. An important disctinction is the difference between a possessive pronoun and a genitive pronoun. A possessive pronoun is like 'my' in English. "My home" or "Yani dek". A genitive pronoun is like "mine". "That is mine" or "Birm fuyo yen".
| POV | Nom. | Acc. | Poss. | Gen. | Reflex. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Y | Yo | Yani | Fuyo | Yarwon |
| 2 | Bos | Bul | Boni | Foben | Rabon |
| 3F | Fi | Fim | Fimi | Fufami | Rafin |
| 3M | Fo | Fom | Fomi | Fufoma | Rafon |
| 3N | Sen | Selt | Sani | Fensi | Rafeim |
| 1Co | Kai | Kaiz | Kaizli | Fukai | Rakasl |
| 2Co | Bi | Biz | Bizi | Fubiza | Rafu |
| 3Co | Ned | Neida | Nedi | Funol | Rafna |
Determiners go before the noun they describe
| English | Nom. (who) | Acc. (whom) | Gen. (whose) | Dativ. (to whom) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who | hes | hon | hosi | hen |
| Where At | Where To | Where From | |
|---|---|---|---|
| his | hisep | hiser |
How to : wasep
Plurality is marked by the ro- prefix. This is where the word Rohīren comes from: Ro means many, Hīren means a person of stone
--A person associated with-- is marked by the na- prefix. In English this is done with the -er suffix, as in "hunter".
Nouns are negated with the ha- prefix.
Objects can be marked as tools of a craft with the sun- or suns- prefix. A fishing rod for instance, would be called suribec.
| Perfective | Imperfective | Habitual | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colony Past | Nodof | Nodin | Noduk |
| Lifetime Past | Gof | Binof | Goden |
| Recent Past | Sahil | Bin | Sudan |
| Present | - | - | - |
| Future | Nat | Nabi | Nadun |
| Colony Future | Kob | Koben | Dunekta |
The tense of a verb is indicated with a tense marker following the full verb phrase.
The First King carved Bordekya.
O'tadin barakim sau'bordekya gosuhf nodof.
The carving guild was congregating.
Di'roheihli motpar nodin
The colony searched.
Di'famot damis noduk.
A linking verb links the subject of a sentence to its subject complement. This is used to describe or re-identify the noun. In Tukren, there are three linking verbs: tec for first person, doc for second person, and yen for third person.
I am unmoving
Haket y tec
He is angry
Gakep bos doc
That is not a fish
Ku'haribik birm yen
Passive verbs are recieved by the subject, rather than by the object.
In Tukren, passive verbs are marked with the suffix -par.
The fish is eaten
Ku'ribik gormpar
A transitive verb requires a object to receive the verb. In English, this is seen in verbs like 'give' and 'need'.
In Tukren, transitive verb phrases are ended with the auxilliary verb atiz.
She eats the fish
Fi kul'ribik gorm atiz
Work in progress
| Tukren | Part of Speech | English |
|---|---|---|
| Bar | Noun | Head |
| Baram | Noun | Horn |
| Barnakim | Noun | King |