Kwanyani Lexember 2025

1.1. New Words

• âfumbâ n. island, land, earth

1.2. Example

2.1. New Words

• chikâfumbâ n. islet, holm, skerry, rock (in the sea); usually uninhabited

This is just last day’s word with the diminutive prefix che(k)-/chi(k)-. The allomorphs are due to vowel harmony and historical sound changes that turned all syllables into CV.

• che- for consonant-initial words with low/-ATR vowels a, e, o

• chi- for consonant-initial words with high/+ATR vowel â [ə], i, u

• chek- for vowel-initial words with low/-ATR vowels

• chik- for vowel-initial words with high/+ATR vowel

Most words are consonant-initial. My plan is for the historical k coda to disappear leaving a high tone, but I haven’t finished the tone system yet.

2.2. Example

2.3. Grammar

The rh can be pronounced as the Czech fricative trill “ř” [r̝], as a flap with fricative release [ɾʑ] or as a voiced alveolo-palatal fricative [ʑ].

When s is prenazalised to ns, it’s pronounced with an affricate [ⁿts].

Adjectives function as (static) verbs. When used predicatively they go where the a verb would normally go in a clause. When used attributively they are prefixed with the attributive particle/genitive preposition/relativizer n- and are indistinguishable from relative clauses.

Kwanyani nouns are not marked for gender or case, but may optionally be marked as plural using full reduplication.

3.1. New Words

• tekwa n. streetlight, watchfire, fire for light

• chetekwa n. flashlight, lamp, torch

• watekwa n. floodlight, signal fire, beacon

• renya v. attract, invite, beckon

• watekwa renya n. lighthouse

3.2. Example

3.3. Grammar

• The wa-/wâ- prefix is the augmentative.

• Before r and nasals, the atributive clitic n- disappears.

• The u(h)-/o(h)- “neutral voice” verbal prefix is a difficult one to explain. It causes the word order to change from SVO to VSO, it marks that the subject is indefinite, and is used to introduce a new subject. Basically it turns “the X Y-s” to “there’s an X Y-ing”.

• Kwanyani has few prepositions, but many “compound prepositions”. Insead of saying “onto something”, you say “to the overside of something”.

4.1. New Words

• kele n. side

• rawe adj. second, other

• kelerawe n. other side, opposite side

• hwingâ n. sound, straight

4.2. Example

4.3. Grammar

• The subject may be dropped if it matches the subject of a previous sentence or it’s clear from context in a new discourse.

• The an-/ân- prefix indicates transitivity, active voice, and definiteness of the subject/agent.

• Imperfective aspect is indicated with reduplication of the first syllable of the verb stem (for regular verbs). Some verbs have different stems (suppletion) for the perfective and imperfective aspects (or will have, because I haven’t work on that yet).

• The attributive clitic n- signifies that the preposition phrase “on the other side of the sound” describes the location of the noun (where the lights are), not the action (where the seeing happens).

5.1. New Words

• tunyu n. beach, shore, riverbank

• fundâ n. dune

5.2. Example

5.3. Grammar

• Third person pronouns distinguish number and animacy, but not gender or case.

• The complementizer (“that”) appears as an s- before vowels and causes a devoicing/fritivization (like Grimm’s Law) on initial consonants.

• For subordinate clauses the active voice prefix an-/ân- also indicates that the subordinate clause subject is the same as the main clause subject. To mark that the subordinate clause has a “different he”, the “neutral voice” / “different subject” prefix oh-/uh- is used instead (along with a switch from SVO to VSO word order).

6.1. New Words

• koke n. Anatomy: head, Geography: cape, headland

• koke nâfumbâ n. cape, headland

6.2. Example

6.3. Grammar

The imperative uses the irrealis stem of the verb. The realis stem is most often formed from the irrealis stem by some combination of prenasalizing and palatalizing the second consant of the CVC root, as well as lowering the root vowel. The realis stem usually ends in the vowel -a and the irrealis stem in -u. As an example, the irrealis stem of drive is kudu and the realis stem is konja.

7.1. New Words

• bungu n. Anatomy: neck, Geography: isthmus, neck of land

• bungu nâfumbâ n. isthmus, neck of land (more explicitly the geographic sense)

7.2. Example

7.3. Grammar

• The verbal complement of nanja to want is not an infinitive, but a subordinate clause with a finite verb, like in Modern Greek.

• Stative verbs do not have a distinction between perfective and imperfective aspect and always use the unmarked “perfective” form, even though they theoretically could be considered more imperfective in meaning.

8.1. New Words

• bilunu n. river, flow, current

• naha n. city

8.2. Example

8.3. Grammar

An adverbial may be moved to the very beginning of the sentence (before the subject, if it precedes the verb) to turn it into a “frame setter”, which introduces the setting of the sentence in time or space. (Learn more about frame setters in Conlangery episode 153, Information Structure with Aidan Aannestad, at 44:00.)

9.1. New Words

• bumu n. mouth, lip, opening, river mouth

• bumu mbilunu n. river mouth (more explicitly the geographic sense)

I couldn’t come up with an interesting example today. :-)

But I’ll share something about word building. It was not my plan to make up a conculture for the conlang, but I have spent some time thinking about where this conlang would belong geographically. I’ve drawn influence from Bantu and Austronesian languages, so I’ve started to imagine something like “What if there were another Madagascar (but smaller)?”. Some granite (non-volcanic) island in the Indian Ocean, similar to the Mahé island of the Seychelles, maybe?

10.1. New Words

• loga n. help, aid, auxiliary, supplement

• bilunu ndoga n. tributary

• benda v. to flow

• lâ kugi n- prep. through, via

10.2. Example

10.3. Grammar

When non-obstruent consonants are prenasalized, they mutate like this:

• nasal and prenasalized consonants remain unchanged

• r and rh are unchanged (the nasal disappears)

• l fortifies into nd

• ly and y nasalize into ny

• w fortifies into ngw

11.1. New Words

• embo n. corner

• jiku num. three

• jekwembo n. triangle

• jekwembo mbumu n. river delta

• gega n. mud, clay, silt

11.2. Example

11.3. Grammar

The imperfective stem of the verb is used for actions occurring habitually and for general truths.

12.1. New Words

gwânshâ n. lake

12.2. Example

A translation of a line from the song “Slåttervisa”, performed by the acapella group Viba Femba (you can find it on Spotify and YouTube).

13.1. New Words

• kwere n. tarn, mountain lake, pond

• belya v. bathe, spend time in water for leisurely pleasure, to swim (when not going anywheree)

13.2. Example

13.3. Grammar

The personal pronouns of Kwanyani distinguishes between first person exclusive and inclusive. First exclusive, second, and third persons pronouns have singular and plural forms. The first person inclusive have dual and plural forms, and this is the only part of the grammar where the dual shows up. The table of pronoun forms becomes more regular if one thinks of minimal vs augmented (instead of singular vs plural) for four persons: 1, 1+2, 2, and 3.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_number#Minimal,_unit_augmented,_and_augmented

Minimal personal pronouns (independent and clitic forms):

• 1SG: komo, =MU

• 1DU.INCL: yumbâ, =MBA

• 2SG: wende, =NDE

• 3SG.AN: eyo, =YO

• 3SG.IN: oha, =HA

Augmented personal pronouns (independent forms only):

• 1PL.EXCL: hintâ

• 1PL.INCL: binsi

• 2PL: dulu

• 3PL.AN: kirumu

• 3PL.IN: asahe

14.1. New Words

• desa n. underside, low

• cha desa n- prep. under

• âfumbâ ndesa n. lowland, Capitalized: the Netherlands

14.2. Example

15.1. New Words

• kengo n. overside, height

• cha kengo n- prep. over

• âfumbâ nkengo n. highland

16.1. New Words

• kâtu n. ridge, Anatomy: back, Geography: mountain ridge

• teme n. mountain

• kâtu nteme n. mountain ridge (more explicitly the geographic sense)

16.2. Flag

A while ago I played with https://flag-creator.com/ and made a flag for the fictitious island where Kwanyani is spoken.

17.1. New Words

• jumâ n.

  1. hollow, hole, pocket

  2. lap, bosom, embrace, arms

  3. den, (hollow of a) bird’s nest

  4. bay, gulf

• jumâ ntunyu n. bay, gulf (more explicitly the geographic sense)

17.2. Example

18.1. New Words

• dânku n. sand

• kâtu ndânku n. sandbank

• tunyu ndânku n. beach, sandy shore, sandy riverbank

19.1. New Words

• halacha n. sea (from where you can see the coast)

• panka n. ocean, sea (from where you can’t see the coast)

• sindâ n. breadth, extent from side to side

• lâ sindâ n- prep. across (the breadth)

19.2. Example

19.3. Grammar

The meanings of the preposition lâ include:

• Comitative: in company with (someone)

• Instrumental: using (something)

• Perlative: through, across, along [new meaning from today]

Lâ is also the conjuction “and”.

20.1. New Words

• rhimbi n. sky, heaven

• tunyu rhimbi n. horizon (literally: “sky shore”)

• degwe n inside

• ko degwe n- prep. into

20.2. Example

20.3. Inspiration

Tuny rhimbi is a calque of the Finnish word taivaanranta.

21.1. New Words

• ondofo n. harbor, port

21.2. Grammar

The letters/phones f [ɸ], h [x̞], and hw [x̞ʷ] are allophones of “one and a half” phoneme: a non-sibilant fricative, with labialization only phonemic before non-rounded vowels.

Valid combinations:

• he, hi, hwe, hwi

• ha, hâ, hwa, hwâ

• fo, fu

If f appears before a non-roubded vowel it turns into hw, and if h or hw appear before a rounded vowel they turn into f.

22.1. New Words

• kolyo n. contained fire (like in a stove, oven, kiln or furnace; not for light, or in the open like in a campfire or bonfire)

• henga n. oven

• wahenga n. kiln

• teme ngwahenga n. volcano (literally “kiln mountain”)

• teme ngwahenga lâ kolyo n. erupting volcano (“kiln mountain ablaze”)

23.1. New Words

• tumunu n. coating, (non-rigid) cover, blanket (metaphorically)

• boro n. snow, ice

• tumunu mboro n. ice cap

24.1. New Words

• bilunu mboro n. glacier

24.2. Example

25.1. New Words

• kekonsa adj. constructed, man-made, artificial (actually passive voice of the verb konsa make, build, construct)

• bilunu nkekonsa n. canal (“man-made river”)

• kwânyâ n. tongue, language

• kwânyâ nkekonsa n. conlang ❤️

26.1. New Words

• tibunu n. an instance of the act dropping, the distance which something drops, very steep or nearly vertical rock face

• tibunu nâfumbâ n. rock face, cliff (more explicitly the geographic sense)

26.2. Example

27.1. New Words

• kwidunu n. view, visual perception, act of seeing

• kwidunu nâfumbâ n. landscape, scenerey, view

27.2. Example

Now all 26 words in the “landscape” visual dictionary are finished as well as the title itself. I originally committed to these 27 days, and I haven’t decided yet what to do with the remaining four of Lexember.