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|creator=Sylvia Sotomayor
|creator=Sylvia Sotomayor
|setting=alien species (the Kēleñi)
|setting=alien species (the Kēleñi)
|fam2=[[artistic language]]
|familycolor=green
|fam1=[[artistic language]]
|posteriori=[[a priori language]], consciously rejecting [[linguistic universal]]s to create an ''alien'' language
|posteriori=[[a priori language]], consciously rejecting [[linguistic universal]]s to create an ''alien'' language
|iso3=none
|clcr=qke
|glotto=none
}}
}}


'''Kēlen''' is a [[constructed language]] created by Sylvia Sotomayor.  It is an attempt to create a truly [[w:alien language|''alien'' language]] by violating a key [[w:linguistic universal|linguistic universal]]—namely that all human languages have verbs.  In Kēlen, relationships between the noun phrases making up the sentence are expressed by one of four ''relationals''.  Despite this, Kēlen is an expressive and intelligible language; texts written in Kēlen have been translated into other languages by several people other than the creator of the language, as may be seen [http://steen.free.fr/relay10/old_relays.html here].  In [http://podcast.conlang.org/2009/02/lcs-podcast-interview-with-sylvia-sotomayor/ this interview] Sotomayor states that she aims for Kēlen to be naturalistic apart from its verblessness, and that to achieve this she employs the principle "change one thing and keep everything else the same".
'''Kēlen''', [ˈkeːlen], is a [[constructed language]] created by Sylvia Sotomayor.  It is an attempt to create a truly [[w:alien language|''alien'' language]] by violating a key [[w:linguistic universal|linguistic universal]]—namely that all human languages have verbs.  In Kēlen, relationships between the noun phrases making up the sentence are expressed by one of four ''relationals''.  Despite this, Kēlen is an expressive and intelligible language; texts written in Kēlen have been translated into other languages by several people other than the creator of the language, as may be seen [http://steen.free.fr/relay10/old_relays.html here].  In [http://podcast.conlang.org/2009/02/lcs-podcast-interview-with-sylvia-sotomayor/ this interview] Sotomayor states that she aims for Kēlen to be naturalistic apart from its verblessness, and that to achieve this she employs the principle "change one thing and keep everything else the same".


In its concultural setting, Kēlen is spoken by an alien species (the Kēleñi).
In its concultural setting, Kēlen is spoken by an alien species (the Kēleñi).


==Introduction==
==Introduction==
Kēlen is mentioned prominently by [[w:Sally Caves|Sarah L. Higley]] in her book ''Hildegard of Bingen's Unknown Language: An edition, translation and discussion'' (Palgrave Macmillan 2007, ''The New Middle Ages'') where she discusses [[Lingua Ignota]] in the context of constructed languages up to the present day. She describes it as an example of the desire for originality in contemporary conlanging, by virtue of its verbless grammar, and notes that it is a prominent example of a conlang created by a woman. She also says that "fellow conlangers consider Kēlen to be efficient, elegant, strange and innovative, and its writing system is greatly admired."
Kēlen is mentioned prominently by [[w:Sally Caves|Sarah L. Higley]] in her book ''Hildegard of Bingen's Unknown Language: An edition, translation and discussion'' (Palgrave Macmillan 2007, ''The New Middle Ages'') where she discusses [[w:Lingua Ignota|Lingua Ignota]] in the context of constructed languages up to the present day. She describes it as an example of the desire for originality in contemporary conlanging, by virtue of its verbless grammar, and notes that it is a prominent example of a conlang created by a woman. She also says that "fellow conlangers consider Kēlen to be efficient, elegant, strange and innovative, and its writing system is greatly admired."
Kēlen is also discussed at length in [http://www.philol.msu.ru/~sidorova/files/conlangs.pdf this paper] by  M. Yu. Sidorova and O.N. Shuvalova,
Kēlen is also discussed at length in [http://www.philol.msu.ru/~sidorova/files/conlangs.pdf this paper] by  M. Yu. Sidorova and O.N. Shuvalova,
Several glossed examples are given.
Several glossed examples are given.


At the third Language Creation Conference [[w:David J. Peterson|David J. Peterson]] awarded the ''Smiley Award'' to Kēlen, describing it as "an [[w:engineered language|engineered language]] with the soul of an [[artistic language]]". He explains that while its experimental structure is in many ways similar to an engineered language, the amount of linguistic and concultural detail given by Sotomayor (including inflection of the relationals, three different scripts, and information on Kēleñi culture and society such as a calendar and a method of divination) make it a fully fledged artistic project rather than a simple experiment.<ref>[http://dedalvs.conlang.org/smileys/2009.html David J. Peterson, ''The 2009 Smiley Award Winner: Kēlen'']</ref> Kēlen also comes with its own writing system, which bears a superficial resemblance to [[w:Devanagari|Devanagari]].
At the third Language Creation Conference [[w:David J. Peterson|David J. Peterson]] awarded the ''Smiley Award'' to Kēlen, describing it as "an [[w:engineered language|engineered language]] with the soul of an [[artistic language]]". He explains that while its experimental structure is in many ways similar to an engineered language, the amount of linguistic and concultural detail given by Sotomayor (including inflection of the relationals, three different scripts, and information on Kēleñi culture and society such as a calendar and a method of divination) make it a fully fledged artistic project rather than a simple experiment.<ref>[http://dedalvs.conlang.org/smileys/2009.html David J. Peterson, ''The 2009 Smiley Award Winner: Kēlen'']</ref> Kēlen also comes with its own writing system, which bears a superficial resemblance to [[w:Devanagari|Devanagari]].
==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Kēlen has 17 consonants and 16 vowels.
Kēlen has 17 consonants and 16 vowels.
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: '''sū''', '''rū''', '''rā''' These are all locative phrase markers
: '''sū''', '''rū''', '''rā''' These are all locative phrase markers


===Verb phrase===
==== λi ====
The '''λi'''- prefix is used as a status marker when referring to personal names. It primarily occurs when the name is in the topic position. It can occur in front of any name that speaker wishes to show respect for.
 
:'''sele        lewēra    λi-mālren;'''
:SE+1p.sg.ben N.1p(name) LI Mālren
:'I am called Mālren.'
 
:'''ōrra ñamma      λi ānenānte maλāta          ā λi xējelke;'''
:PAST NI+3p.sg.a LI Ānenānte N.an.sg(killed) A LI Xējelke
:'Xējelke killed Ānenānte.'
 
:'''tō jāo sete        sawēra    λi waxāon    tō  ōrra ñamma      anwaxāon        antaxōni      tēna    sū  āke      ā λi ārōn;'''
:CONJ  SE+3p.pc.ben N.1p(name) LI Confusion CONJ PAST NI+3p.sg.a N.st(confusion) N.co(language) MOD(all) PREP PN(there) A LI Lord
:'Thus their name is Confusion, for the Lord made confusion of all languages there.'
 
==== jē ====
'''jē''' is used for associating an animate noun with another animate noun. It inflects for person as follows:
 
{|
|-
|'''maxāna jē liēn''' ||'my friend'
|-
|'''maxāna jē riēn'''|| 'your friend'
|-
|'''maxāna jē sāen''' ||'his/her friend'
|-
|'''maxāna jē sāim''' ||'their friend'
|-
|'''maxāna jē maxāna''' || 'a friend's friend'
|-
|}
 
This particular associative relationship can be abbreviated using the set of reduced pronouns:
 
{|
|-
|'''maxāna jē liēn ||→ ''maxāna jē le ||→ '''''maxān-ēle'''
|-
|'''maxāna jē riēn ||→ ''maxāna jē ri ||→ '''''maxān-ēri'''
|-
|'''maxāna jē sāen ||→ ''maxāna jē ma ||→ '''''maxān-ēma'''
|-
|'''maxāna jē sāim ||→ ''maxāna jē ma ||→ '''''sāim maxān-ēma'''
|-
|'''maxāna jē maxāna || → ''maxāna maxān-ēma ||'''
|-
|}
Note that the word order changes with the use of an abbreviated form and a redundant modifying noun phrase.
 
'''jē''' can also be used to associate an animate with a proper-name location, as in '''makerāon''' '''jē sarāpa''' 'ruler of Sarāpa'.
 
==== nīkan ====
'''nīkan''' is an inflecting preposition and is used when associating an animate with a stative or an inanimate. It inflects for person as follows:
 
{|
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkanle'''|| 'my door'
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkanrie|| 'your door''''
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkamma|| 'his/her door''''
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkamma sāim|| 'their door''''
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkan maxāna|| 'a friend's door''''
|}
 
This particular associative relationship can also be abbreviated:
 
{|
|-
| '''jaxūra nīkanle''' ||→ '''''jaxūra-nle
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkanrie ||→ '''''jaxūra-nrie'''
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkamma|| → '''''jaxūra-mma'''
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkamma sāim ||→ '''''sāim jaxūra-mma'''
|-
|'''jaxūra nīkan maxāna ||→ ''''''maxāna jaxūra-mma'''
|}
 
Again, note that the word order changes with the use of an abbreviated form and a redundant modifying noun phrase.
 
==== ānen ====
'''ānen''' is used to associate two nouns that are not in a WHOLE:PART relationship. It is generally used as a comitative preposition.
 
:'''jatēwa ānen jacūti'''
:'table with cups'
 
'''ānen''' modified by '''wā''' is negative:
 
:'''jatēwa ānen jacūti wā'''
:'table without cups'
 
'''ānen''' modified by '''ēmma''' means 'except (for)':
 
:'''ancēli ānen jacūti ēmma'''
:'the dishes except for cups'
 
==== sū, rū, and rā ====
Location is marked by these three prepositions. The locative phrase can then be further elaborated with a set of locative modifiers.
 
:LOC NP [MOD]
 
'''sū''' marks location at a place, '''rā''' marks direction to a place, and '''rū''' marks direction from a place.
 
'''sū jatāsa''' 'at the market-square'
'''rā jatāsa''' 'to the market-square'
'''rū jatāsa''' 'from the market-square'
 
Modifiers can be used to add more information. Locative phrases with modifiers can reduce the NP to '''ja''' and make the phrase into a single word.
 
===Sentence phrase===
===Sentence phrase===
===Dependent clauses===
===Dependent clauses===
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[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Alien languages]]
[[Category:Smiley Award winners]]
{{art}}
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