Dunja Kel

Dunja Kel (literally: world language) is an international auxiliary language created in 2023 by the Dunja Kel association. The language has a simple phonology with 15 consonants, 5 vowels and 2 diphthongs, with a syllable structure of an optional consonant before and after a mandatory vowel or diphthong. The vocabulary of Dunja Kel is, in theory, derived from ⅓ false cognates, similarly to Cokkel, ⅓ from the ten most commonly spoken languages of unique language family branches (such as Spanish for Romance and English for Germanic) and ⅓ of onomatopoeic or made up origins. The word order is SVO.

Phonology

Consonants

CONSONANTS Labial Coronal Dorsal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Fricative f s h
Approximant w~v l~r j

Vowels

Dunjakel has five monophthongs and two diphthongs. For phonotactical reasons both monophthongs and diphthongs are considered single vowels each.

MONOPHTH Front Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a
DIPHTH Center-Front Center-Back
Open-Close ai au

Phonotactics

With a (C)V(C) syllable structure, syllables may not begin with /ŋ/ nor may they end with voiced plosives, /w/, /j/ or /h/.

Lexicon

The lexicon of Dunja Kel is derived from false cognates (e.g. "kajak" from Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (kayak) and Turkish kayık (caïque, type of fishing boat)), vocabulary from 10 source languages chosen to each represent a unique linguistic branch and based on prevalence of most commonly spoken languages, and original vocabulary mostly derived from onomatopoeia. Words that are loaned extensively in the source languages should be used, even if they aren't originally from that language (e.g. metro, which is a common term for subway systems worldwide). These sources of lexicon are planned to stand at about 33% each, so that there's an equal amount of false cognates, material from Dunja Kel's source languages and a priori word creations.

Color Wheel

Dunjakel recognizes 8 colors, 6 of which are cyclical so that either the first letter or anything but the first letter stays the same through each iteration. These cyclical colors are: let - het - hang - nang - nila - lila. The source of the names of the primary colors were derived from English (red), Mandarin (yellow/黄) and Hindi (blue/नीला). Purple being "lila", which is a common word for purple in some languages is coincidental. The two non-cyclical colors are white and black which ar bel and sut respectively. Gray is "bel sut" or "sut bel".

Grammar

Sentence Structure

The sentence structure is SPO, though more context may be added sentence initially using the -wa suffix on words, so that place, time and indirect objects may be included. Predicates can be any part of speech though they behave syntactically similarly to verbs so that for instance "mi bisis" becomes "I am a bee" where "bisi" is bee and the "-s" suffix marks the predicate (in other words "bisis" is a stative verb meaning "to be a bee". Transitive verbs can similary be created so that "mi kikis te" can mean "I stab you/I cut you" from "kiki" (sharp, pointy) becoming "kikis" (to be sharp/pointy OR to use something pointy on something or somone). Adjectives are initial to nouns (on the left side) and generally unmarked except to show intensity. Syntactically, personal pronouns may behave as adjectives so you can say "mi bisi" for "my bee".

Personal Pronouns

PERSON 1st 2nd 3rd
Singular mi te on
Plural mimi tete onon