Omaatje:

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{{Infobox language|country=[[Hárǝsi]] (national), <br> [[Coldba]] (recognised)|family=[[Hakhpha]]|lang-code=LEN|name=Léna|scripts=Latin Alphabet,<br> Cyrillic Alphabet (sporadic)|regulator=[[Hárǝsi Xánǝc uwArássezú]] (Hárǝsi Ministry of Culture)|number=unknown|demonym=Léna, Énnga uLéna}}
</div>

'''Léna''' /lé.na/ is a Western Hakhpha language spoken primarily in Hárǝsi, where it is the majority and only national language. It is also a recognised minority language in the Empire of Coldba.

== Classification ==
<div style="position:relative; margin-right:-20%;">
[[File:Lena dialects.png|thumb|the dialects of Léna spoken in Hárǝsi]]
</div>
The Hakhpha language family comprises two main branches, Eastern and Western, the latter containing both Léna and the [[Kkeṛhaqom]] language spoken in central and eastern Coldba. Léna itself is a polydialectal language with four main dialect groups spoken throughout the urheimat (i.e. Hárǝsi and the small amount of overspill across the border into Coldba), with the standard variety being based on the dialect of the largest city [[Ƨxeylá]]. The most widely spoken dialect other than this is that of the second city, [[Yorómenngwe]], and its surrounding area. This dialect is known as [[Western Léna]] (''Efféstinó Léna''), or natively ''Ijhenggínga''.

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
Standard Léna has 30 phonemic consonants.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
! colspan="2" |
!Labial
!Alveolar
!Palatal
!Velar
!Glottal
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Nasal
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| m
| n
|
| ŋ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
|
|
|
| ŋʷ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Plosive
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| p b
| t d
|
| k ɡ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
|
|
|
| kʷ ɡʷ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Affricate
|
| t͡s d͡z
| c͡ɕ ɟ͡ʑ
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Fricative
| f
| s z
| ɕ ʑ
| x ɣ
| h
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Liquid
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" | w
| r
| j
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" | (w)
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
| rʷ
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Lateral
|
| l
| ʎ
|
|
|}
All consonants except /ʎ/ and /h/ can be geminated and are pronounced longer than their non-geminated counterparts. Geminated /w/ is very rare however.

Velar fricatives /x, ɣ/ are realised advanced [x̟, ɣ̟] or occasionally as palatalised [ç, ʝ] around front vowels /e, i/.

=== Vowels ===
Standard Léna has 7 phonemic vowel qualities and distinguishes two phonemic tones.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
!
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | High
| i
| ɨ
| u
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Mid
| e
| ǝ
| o
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Low
| colspan="2" | a
|
|}

Mid vowels /e, o/ have been tending much more towards [ɛ, ɔ] in recent generations. Additionally, central vowels /ɨ, ǝ/ are often pronounced as [ɪ, ʌ] by younger speakers or in informal speech.

Léna also has some diphthongs, namely vowels followed by /u̯/ or /i̯/. Sequences of two vowels are also permitted, but are usually analysed as two syllables. There is no standard orthographic distinction between, for example, /a.i/ and /ai̯/. This is sometimes remedied with diaeresis (ie. ⟨aï⟩) or with apostrophe (⟨a'i⟩).

The tone levels are high /a˦/ and mid /a˧/, though the mid tone is often described as a low tone in literature. In Léna they are called ''xéggwo eili'' 'narrow voice' and ''mox eili'' 'wide voice' respectively.

=== Syllable Structure and Phonotactics ===
Léna has a fairly simple syllable structure of (C)V(C), where C is any consonant or affricate and V is any vowel or diphthong. However, fricatives and plosives/affricates (together 'stops') may not cluster with themselves, so the only clusters permitted are Fricative-Stop and Stop-Fricative. Approximants /w/, /r/ and /j/ can cluster in any order with most any consonant, but /w/ and /j/ cannot cluster with each other (see below). Additionally, laterals do not cluster with other consonants, labialised consonants cannot occur in initial position of a cluster, and nasals cannot occur in final position.

There is a broad phonotactic rule that labials and palatals cannot interact, and whenever a labial consonant and a palatal consonant would occur in sequence, an epenthetic vowel (usually /e/) is inserted between them, compare sentences (4a) and (4b) below. In the same vein, labial consonants cannot usually precede high vowels /i, u/, except in some very rare cases where they would cluster with /j/ and the vowel /i/ is inserted, such as in the name of the town ''[[Gwiyƨxxǝp]]''. There is an increasing tendency among speakers to also do away with this, rendering that word instead ''*Gweyƨxxǝp''.

Geminates can also only occur inbetween vowels.

Typically, sequences of two vowels cannot occur in closed-syllable environments, i.e. CVVC. As always in language, there are some limited exceptions to this, such as the word ''gauk'' 'to search' - this is notably not a diphthong /au̯/ but two vowels in sequence, /a.u/. Additionally, like vowels are not usually permitted in sequence.

==== ɣ-Affection ====
Many verb roots, particularly older and more commonly-used ones, exhibit a kind of internal mutation caused by a historical /ɣ/ sound. This changes the form of suffixes attached to this root, most notably object suffixes as these tend to come directly after the root (see Verb Template below). Below are a non-ɣ-affected root and a ɣ-affected root.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(1a) ''Bƨzzúw-e enn-í ƨzélye-<u>ksi</u>-xe''<br>
    axe–PL 2SG–destined_for send–INAN2.PL–PST<br>
    /bɨz.zú.we en.ní ɨ.zé.ʎek.si.xe/<br>
    'I sent you axes.'<br>

(1b) ''Bƨzzúw-e enn-í ǝxƨ́-<u>ssi</u>-xe.''<br>
    axe–PL 2SG–destined_for give–INAN2.PL–PST<br>
    /bɨz.zú.we en.ní ǝ.xɨ́s.si.xe/<br>
    'I gave you axes.'<br>
</div>
There is no way to predict this phenomenon, so the individual roots that trigger it must be learnt by heart. Additionally, the third person singular possessive prefix ƨ(gh)- triggers ɣ-affection, resulting in a mutation to the initial consonant.

== Orthography ==
As it was primarily an oral language prior to prolonged contact with other [[Ŋation|Ŋations]], there is no native writing system for Léna, though some modern attempts have gained traction in recent years. Instead, Léna is nowadays usually written in the Latin alphabet, though it did formerly use the Cyrillic alphabet.

=== Official Systems ===
The Latin-based system used most commonly in the modern day for Léna was developed in 122/3 (of the [[Ngweská Calendar]]) by Prof. Umikyázéc Mimeghá, an anthropologist, linguist and later leader of the Socialist Worker's Party (Léna: ''Lyessǝkwo Fǝrǝ́kyaha iRaskwƨch'') at the university of Oergafa. It was created in order to be better mutually understood by interŋational English speakers.
{| style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; border:none;"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="width:20%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-right:4%;"
|+
!Léna (Latin)
!IPA
!Léna (Latin)
!IPA
|-
|a
|/a/
|l
|/l/
|-
|b
|/b/
|ly
|/ʎ/
|-
|c
|/c͡ɕ/
|m
|/m/
|-
|ch
|/ɕ/
|n
|/n/
|-
|d
|/d/
|ng
|/ŋ/
|-
|dz
|/d͡z/
|ngw
|/ŋʷ/
|-
|e
|/e/
|o
|/o/
|-
|ǝ
|/ǝ/
|p
|/p/
|-
|f
|/f/
|r
|/r/
|-
|g
|/ɡ/
|rw
|/rʷ/
|-
|gh
|/ɣ/
|s
|/s/
|-
|gw
|/gʷ/
|t
|/t/
|-
|h
|/h/
|ts
|/t͡s/
|-
|i
|/i/
|u
|/u/
|-
|ƨ
|/ɨ/
|w
|/w/
|-
|j
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|x
|/x/
|-
|jh
|/ʑ/
|y
|/j/
|-
|k
|/k/
|z
|/z/
|-
|kw
|/kʷ/
! colspan="2" |
|}
| style="width:48%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Léna (Cyrillic)
! IPA
! Léna (Cyrillic)
! IPA
|-
| а
| /a/
| н
| /n/
|-
| б
| /b/
| ң
| /ŋ/
|-
|в
|/w/
|ңв
|/ŋʷ/
|-
|г
|/ɣ/
|о
|/o/
|-
|ґ
|/ɡ/
|п
|/p/
|-
|ґв
|/gʷ/
|р
|/r/
|-
|д
|/d/
|рв
|/rʷ/
|-
|е
|/e/
|с
|/s/
|-
|ж
|/ʑ/
|ц
|/t͡s/
|-
|џ
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|т
|/t/
|-
|з
|/z/
|у / ў
|/u/
|-
|ѕ
|/d͡z/
|ф
|/f/
|-
|и / й
|/i/
|х
|/x/
|-
|і / ј
|/j/
|ҳ
|/h/
|-
|к
|/k/
|ш
|/ɕ/
|-
|кв
|/kʷ/
|ч
|/c͡ɕ/
|-
|л
|/l/
|ъ
|/ǝ/
|-
|љ
|/ʎ/
|ы
|/ɨ/
|-
|м
|/m/
! colspan="2" |
|}
|}

High tone is represented by an acute accent over the vowel; ⟨á, é, ǝ́, í, ƨ́, ó, ú⟩, or ⟨а́, е́, и́, о́, у́, ъ́, ы́⟩.

Gemination is represented by doubling the consonant.

In polygraphs, only the first element is capitalised, and only the first element is doubled to represent gemination, e.g. '''⟨'''Ch, nngw'''⟩'''. Additionally, an apostrophe marks where a sequence of two consonant letters is not a digraph, in words such as ''zír'woch'' 'brother' (/zír.woɕ/ not /zí.rʷoɕ/).

The Cyrillic glyphs '''⟨'''й'''⟩''' and '''⟨'''ў'''⟩''' are used in phonemic diphthongs such as /ai̯/, /au̯/ to contrast them from /a.i/, /a.u/; this is achieved with either diaeresis or apostrophe in the Latin script (see [[Léna Language#Vowels|Vowels]] above). There is no difference in pronunciation between '''⟨'''і'''⟩''' and '''⟨'''ј'''⟩''', the only distinguishing feature is that '''⟨'''ј'''⟩''' tends to be used at the beginnings and ends of words, whereas ⟨і⟩ is typically used word-internally.

=== Capitalisation of Prefixes ===
Léna employs a number of gender- and number-agreement prefixes on nouns. When these are placed before proper nouns, they do not take capitalisation, and instead the first consonant of the word takes the capitalisation. If the whole word would be capitalised anyway, for example it is at the beginning of a sentence or in title case, then both the prefix and the head word would be capitalised.

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(2) ''Hárǝsi ƨx-Xízzí-a''<br>
    Hárǝsi HUM.SG.POSS–person–PL<br>
    /há.rǝ.si ɨx.xíz.zí.a/<br>
    'The People of Hárǝsi'
</div>
NB: the root in the word ''ƨxXízzía'' is ''kízzí'' (see [[Léna Language#ɣ-Affection|ɣ-Affection]])
== Syntax and Sentence Structure ==
The syntactic system of Léna is primarily oriented around the prominence of phrasal heads. It also relies heavily on the verb form called the Null Form, which functions similarly to a converb, for clause chaining (see [[Léna Language#The Null Form|Null Form]]).

=== Phrase Structure ===

==== Noun Phrase ====
The Noun Phrase in Léna comprises a minimum of a noun and a maximum of a demonstrative/possessor + a quantifier + an adjective + a noun, in that order. A possessed noun must agree with its possessor in gender and number by means of a prefix, such as in (3b). Additionally, a noun modified by a numeral must take a prefix that agrees with itself in gender and number, as in (3c) to (3e).
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(3a) ''hí''<br>
    egg<br>
    /hí/<br>
    'an egg / the egg'<br>

(3b) ''o-hí''<br>
    1SG.POSS-egg<br>
    /o.hí/<br>
    'my egg'<br>

(3c) ''oh-ifi chi-hím-i''<br>
    1SG.POSS–three INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /o.hi.fi ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'my three eggs'<br>

(3d) ''oh-ifi wǝc chi-hím-i''<br>
    1SG.POSS–three large INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /o.hi.fi wǝc͡ɕ ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'my three large eggs'<br>

(3e) ''gwezí ak-ifi wǝc chi-hím-i''<br>
    albatross ANI.SG.POSS–three large INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /ɡʷe.zí a.ki.fi wǝc͡ɕ ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'the albatross' three large eggs'<br>
</div>

It is helpful to think of the sentences such as (3c) as meaning more literally something like 'my trio of eggs', as numerals are treated largely as nouns in their own right.

==== Verb Phrase ====
A verb is the only part of a sentence fundamentally required to make it so. This is because subjects can most often be inferred through context and objects are marked on the verb; Léna is as a result a fairly heavily pro-drop language, and sentences such as that in (4d) would be fairly uncommon unless expressly emphasising the subject. Because Léna does not employ case marking, role-marking is done by means of verbal object suffixes.

With just a lone verb as the minimum, a maximal verb phrase can consist of the subject + the predicate + any adjuncts/adverbials, and these can be placed virtually anywhere in the VP, though placing them after the verb is uncommon.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(4a) ''ǝchékw-eye.''<br>
    cook-PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝ.ɕé.kʷe.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking.'<br>

(4b) ''ǝchékw-ǝwǝ-ye.''<br>
    cook–ABST–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝ.ɕé.kʷǝ.wǝ.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking something.'<br>

(4c) ''lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking meat.'<br>

(4d) ''ǝch lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    1SG meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝɕ ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    'I'm cooking meat.'<br>

(4e) ''ǝch rói rúc lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    1SG here1 now meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝɕ rói̯ rúc͡ɕ ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    'I'm cooking meat right now.'

</div>
A very common type of adverbial is another verb in the Null Form (explained in more detail below) which is used to combine two or more syntactically-related verbs into one clause.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(5a) ''za chíakƨ́x an-ngi ikongá-e-che.''<br>
    1PL forest INAN.SG–through walk–INAN3.SG–PST.PROG<br>
    /za ɕí.a.kɨ́x aŋ.ŋi i.ko.ŋá.e.ɕe/<br>
    'we walked through the forest.'<br>

(5b) ''za chíakƨ́x an-ngi uwóin-i-ke ikongá-e-che.''<br>
    1PL forest INAN.SG–through sing–PROG–NULL walk–INAN3.SG–PST.PROG<br>
    /za ɕí.a.kɨ́x aŋ.ŋi u.wói̯.ni.ke i.ko.ŋá.e.ɕe/<br>
    'we walked singing through the forest.'<br>
</div>
The Null Form can also be used where a verbal infinitive might be used in Indo-European languages:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(6) ''gégwez-á áhpewaly-ifa-rwe-ke zé-innekw.''<br>
    child–PL teach–PASS–PRES.INCH–NULL REFL–jump<br>
    /ɡé.ɡʷe.zá áh.pe.wa.ʎi.fa.rʷe.ke zé.in.nekʷ/<br>
    'the children are excited to learn.'
</div>

==== Adjectival and Possessive Phrases ====
As above, adjectives and possessives in Léna are usually placed before the noun, with pronominal possessives being a simple prefix (see [[Léna Language#Possession|Possession]]). Quantifiers such as ''kép'' 'rather, quite' may be placed before adjectives.

==== Subject and Object Complements ====
These are arguments such as 'the party was <u>nice</u>' (subject complement to party) or 'my girlfriend is called <u>Emily</u>' (object complement to girlfriend). In Léna, these are usually just placed after their complemented word, but in some careful or formal speech the complement may be prefixed with a possessive prefix.

=== Word Order ===
Léna is transparently an SOV language, with all indicative sentences taking this basic shape - though when personal pronouns are introduced into sentences with extended clausal or sub-clausal structures (relative clauses, prepositional phrases, time phrases), these often come just before the verb and are treated sometimes more like clitics to re-emphasise the subject. This has the consequence of sometimes making the word order seem OSV.

The imperative mood is marked by inverting this word order to VOS, though the subject is not strictly necessary in most imperative statements.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(7a) ''ne gwowoijh-í kwǝ-lle-rwe.''<br>
    2SG mushroom–PL eat–INAN3.PL–PRES.INCH<br>
    /ne ɡʷo.woi̯.ʑí kʷəl.le.rʷe/<br>
    'you eat (the) mushrooms.'<br>

(7b) ''kwǝ-lle-rwe gwowoijh-í (ne)!''<br>
    eat–INAN3.PL–PRES.INCH mushroom–PL 2SG<br>
    /kʷəl.le.rʷe ɡʷo.woi̯.ʑí (ne)/<br>
    'eat (the) mushrooms(, you)!'
</div>

=== Questions ===

==== Polar Questions ====
The type of polar question morphology used in Léna depends on the social context. In most informal speech, they are usually expressed by a change in the pitch of the final syllable of the question utterance, though this does change depending on the tone of the final syllable of the word involved.

Words with high tone:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(8a) ''Ló ax-xoi ǝjjix-xa-nái.''<br>
    house INAN–inside stay–INAN2.SG–FUT.PROG<br>
    /ló ax.xoi̯ ǝɟ.ɟ͡ʑix.xa.nái̯/ […nai̯˦]<br>
    'You will be staying at home.'<br>

(8b) ''Ló ax-xoi ǝjjix-xa-nái?''<br>
    house INAN–inside stay–INAN2.SG–FUT.PROG<br>
    /ló ax.xoi̯ ǝɟ.ɟ͡ʑix.xa.nái̯/ […nai̯˥˩˧]<br>
    'Will you be staying at home?'<br>
</div>
And words with mid tone:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(9a) ''Ezíghekw oggwe-s-se.''<br>
    squid touch–ANI2.SG–PST<br>
    /e.zí.ɣekʷ og.gʷes.se/ […se˧]<br>
    'You touched the squid.'<br>

(9b) ''Ezíghekw oggwe-s-se?''<br>
    squid touch–ANI2.SG–PST<br>
    /e.zí.ɣekʷ oɡ.ɡʷes.se/ […se˩˦]<br>
    'Did you touch the squid?'<br>
</div>
If a word has a continuous phonemic tone before the final syllable the first phonetic tone will be held for the duration of that tone throughout the whole word.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(10) ''Ichaza-kch-u-ke ikéké-ná-hé?''<br>
    arrive–TEL.APPL–ABST.SG–NULL persevere–FUT–OPT<br>
    /i.ɕa.zak.ɕu.ke i.ké.ké.ná.hé/ […ke˥.ke˥.na˥.he˥˩˧]<br>
    'Will you reach the end?'<br>
</div>However, in formal or official speech, questions make use of the negative copular auxiliary ''sak'' to turn the statement into a question.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(11) ''Kwǝ-gghǝ-ghan ne-ifettǝk chowƨj-jhá sak?''<br>
    eat–ABST–IRR.GER 2SG.POSS–preference know–ACT.PTCP NEG_COP<br>
    /kʷəɣ.ɣə.ɣan ne.i.fet.tək ɕo.wɨʑ.ʑá sak/<br>
    'Do you know what you want to eat?'<br>
</div>
The reason this can work unambiguously is that usually if a verb was actually negated, the suffix -(y)ekw would be added to said verb.
==== Questions with a Qualifier ====
These kinds of questions are very simple; the question word goes at the beginning of the phrase being turned into a question. However, further detail can be specified for transitive verbs by changing the object suffix on the verb to reflect qualities of the interrogated argument, as below.

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(12a) ''Kweffohex ie ne dúyƨp-<u>ǝw</u>-ná?''<br>
    dinner what 2SG prepare_food–ABST–FUT<br>
    /kʷef.fo.hex i.e ne dú.jɨ.pəw.ná/<br>
    'What will you make for dinner?'<br>

(12b) ''Kweffohex ie ne dúyƨp-<u>re</u>-ná?''<br>
    dinner what 2SG prepare_food–INAN3.PL–FUT<br>
    /kʷef.fo.hex i.e ne dú.jɨp.re.ná/<br>
    'What (vegetables) will you make for dinner?'<br>

== Grammar and Morphology ==
</div>

The grammar of Léna contains most standard features of the Hakhpha languages: a diverse gender system, verbal object agreement and a general tendency towards being head-marking. It is largely suffixing, but does make some use of prefixes (notably for gender agreement on possessed arguments) and there is also a great deal of stem-internal morphology. There is no case marking present, and role-marking is entirely based on verb agreement and word order.

Morphologically, Standard Léna is characterised by being quite fusional in terms of its affixation, but remains underlyingly agglutinative as other Hakhpha languages. This fusionality is mainly expressed in inflectional suffixes but some derivational affixes also exhibit fusional behaviour, e.g. ''míé-'', the reflexive+causative verbal prefix.

=== Nouns ===
Nouns in Léna undergo two main morphological processes; pluralisation and possession, which also includes being the subject of a postposition. There is no marker for definiteness or indefiniteness and grammatical case is entirely not present. Each noun is also assigned a gender, of which there are 8, though these are divided into 4 groups. The two levels of gender distinction are referred to as 'broad gender' and 'narrow gender'. The 4 broad and 8 narrow genders, as well as an example word for each, are displayed below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |Human
! colspan="2" |Animal
! colspan="3" |Inanimate
! rowspan="2" |Abstract
|-
!1
!2
!1
!2
!1
!2
!3
|-
|''mór''
|''lehéccho''
|''ilengweu''
|''ekw''
|''ló''
|''ezík''
|''chaxa''
|''waly''
|-
|mother
|council
|bear
|mouse
|house
|sack
|water
|command
|}<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
</div>
==== Possession ====
Possessive prefixes as well as plural suffixes correspond to the broad gender of a noun, whereas verbal object agreement suffixes (see below) correspond to its narrow gender. The possessive prefixes also agree in number with the possessor argument. Again note that the 3rd person singular possessive prefix triggers ɣ-affection.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |1st Person
! rowspan="2" |2nd Person
! colspan="4" |3rd Person
|-
!Human
!Animal
!Inanimate
!Abstract
|-
!Singular
|o(h)-
|n(e)-
|ƨ(gh)-*
| colspan="2" |ak-
| rowspan="2" |u(w)-
|-
!Plural
|lé-
|d(e)-
|i(m)-
|ki(y)-
|chi(y)-
|}Possessed arguments go after their possessor noun:<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(13a) ''Eyú ƨt-táengú''<br>
    woman HUM.SG–dog<br>
    /e.jú ɨt.ta.e.ŋú/<br>
    'the woman's dog'
</div>

==== Pluralisation ====
Pluralisation in Léna is highly complex. On top of the gender-determined plural suffixes, there is often a high degree of stem volatility when nouns are declined as plural, such that the singular and plural forms of a noun are often very different. The plural suffixes are:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Human
!Animal
!Inanimate
|-
| -a / -ya
| -si
| -i / -e / -ya
|}
Broadly, if a Human or Inanimate noun ends in more than a simple vowel (i.e. a diphthong or two vowel syllables), or if a Human noun ends in the vowel -a, then the plural suffix will be -ya. If an inanimate noun ends in a labialised consonant, a nasal or /ʎ/, the plural suffix will be -e, though some other nouns take -e plurals unpredictably. Abstract nouns do not pluralise.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(13b) ''Eyúgh-a i-táengú-si''<br>
    woman–PL HUM.PL–dog–PL<br>
    /e.jú.ɣa i.ta.e.ŋú.si/<br>
    'the women's dogs'<br>
</div>

===== Stem Change =====
Stem change, such as between ''eyú/eyúgha'' in (13a) and (13b), is a pervasive feature of Léna plural morphology. There are five broad types of stem change: vowel alternation, diphthongisation, consonant alternation, consonant insertion and 'alternate' stem change, which is just a basket of minor phonological processes not pervasive enough to warrant their own category. Of these, consonant alternation is probably the most common. Additionally, some stem change also triggers a high tone in the following vowel, most often vowel alternation. Examples of each follow:
<div style="width:100%;">

<div style="white-space:nowrap; line-height:0;">

<div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0 1% 0 0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Vowel Alternation
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''áng''
| ''ónga''
| spirit
|-
|''ficƨw''
|''ficiwé''
|gap
|-
| ''irhǝk''
| ''irhaká''
| villager
|-
| ''uhóly''
| ''uhálye''
| lake
|}
</div><div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Diphthongisation
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''achǝlye''
| ''achielye''
| noise
|-
|''lyajjhérw''
|''lyajjhóerwe''
|speck, stain
|-
| ''lyéc''
| ''lyéici''
| mountain
|-
| ''ngip''
| ''ngiapi''
| woodblock
|}
</div>

</div>

<div style="white-space:nowrap; line-height:0; margin-top:0.4em;">

<div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0 1% 0 0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Consonant Insertion
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''fu''
| ''funa''
| heart
|-
| ''gwa''
| ''gwami''
| rock
|-
| ''kala''
| ''kalangi''
| droplet
|}
</div><div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Consonant Alteration
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''ngwech''
| ''ngweza''
| coast
|-
| ''súcáp''
| ''súcábe''
| pelt, fur
|-
| ''ucchijúc''
| ''ucchijúzi''
| warbler
|}
</div>

</div>

<div style="margin-top:0.4em; width:30%;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Alternate
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''kwehé''
| ''kwehía''
| fight
|-
| ''oxínen''
| ''oxína''
| lower leg
|-
| ''rajály''
| ''rajáliha''
| councilman
|-
| ''tughau''
| ''tughá''
| name
|-
| ''uké''
| ''ukéyǝi''
| parchment
|-
| ''ƨlǝ́''
| ''ƨlá''
| man
|}
</div>

There are also instances where several of these processes happen simultaneously, as below:

<div style="margin-top:0.4em; width:30%;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Mixed-Type
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''bƨch''
| ''bezí''
| flint
|-
| ''dǝ''
| ''demá''
| father
|-
| ''gégwech''
| ''gégweuzá''
| child
|-
| ''ok''
| ''ukí''
| path
|-
| ''pƨ́ch''
| ''písá''
| lip
|-
| ''rikw''
| ''riagwe''
| local shrine
|}
</div>

This stem change is largely unpredictable, though there are a few derivational suffixes (-au, -i/-ya, -(h)ǝ́, etc.) which reliably display irregularity. Additionally, there are a handful of plurales tanta, most notably nouns ending in -ea as well as words like ''xibá'' 'finger' and the name of Hárǝsi's largest city Ƨxeylá.

=== Postpositions ===
Léna is an entirely postpositional language and relies on them to express relationships between nouns. Léna's postpositions of position and motion have a high degree of semantic content and are very diverse, having many distinct postpositions for variations in spatial meaning that would be covered by only one or two terms in other languages. For example, ''ƨngi'' 'into and continuing through' VS ''ƨwé'' 'into and stopping once inside'.

==== Inflected Postpositions ====
Postpositions in Léna must agree with the nouns they modify in gender by the same prefixes that govern possession. Some examples of sentences with postpositions follow:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">

(14a) ''Róssǝp cháyu-si k-<u>yé</u> chie jhesó-ja pá-kwe?''<br>
    this2 goat–PL ANI.PL–on why paint–PASS.PTCP LOC–REAL.COP<br>
    /rós.sǝp ɕá.ju.si kjé ɕi.e ʑe.só.ɟ͡ʑa pá.kʷe/<br>
    'Why are there things painted on these goats?'<br>

(14b) ''Ƨkkukw ƨt-<u>tsá</u> kwohéhke de-máráu ƨl-ló ax-<u>í</u> ikongá-hóu-ná.''<br>
    Ƨkkukw HUM.SG–with together 2PL.POSS–grandmother HUM.SG.POSS–house INAN.SG–destined_for walk–INAN1.SG–FUT<br>
    /ɨk.kukʷ ɨt.t͡sá kʷo.héh.ke de.má.ráu̯ ɨl.ló a.xí i.ko.ŋá.hóu̯.ná/<br>
    'You're going to go to grandma's with Ƨkkukw.'<br>

(14c) ''Za nez-í chiy-<u>ƨxme</u> kwehu-le-ye.''<br>
    1PL tree–PL INAN.PL–underneath lie–INAN3.PL–PRES.PROG<br>
    /za ne.zí ɕi.jɨx.me kʷe.hu.le.je/<br>
    'We're lying between the trees.'<br>

(14d) ''Xoccho ƨkkágwe ak-<u>ajhe</u> ar'wo-xe.''<br>
    boat iceberg INAN.SG–past sail–PST<br>
    /xoɕ.ɕo ɨk.ká.ɡʷe a.ka.ʑe ar.wo.xe/<br>
    'The boat sailed past an iceberg.'<br>
</div>Many postpositions have irregular combining forms, such as ''wé'' 'on' in (14a) and ''í'' 'destined for, up to, until' (famously difficult to accurately translate) in (14b). Other irregular postpositions include ''ye'' 'towards', ''yák'' 'under' and ''ar'' 'from'.

==== Uninflected Postpositions ====
Postpositions, when uninflected, can also serve as semantic particles not unlike adverbs. For example,

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(15) ''Heyuk ak-wé <u>uyui</u> gín-yék-kwe za mé-fóf-fe.''<br>
    hall INAN-entering_into separate_from talk-FREQ.APPL-NULL 1PL go-INAN1.SG-PST<br>
    /he.juk a.kʷe u.jui̯ ɡín.jék.kʷe za mé.fóf.fe/<br>
    'We went out into the hall to chat.'<br>
</div>
Here, the uninflected postposition ''uyui'' 'separate from, apart, outside of' serves as a particle reinforcing that the conversation will occur privately, separate from that which is presumably going on inside the room.

=== Verbs ===
Verbs in Léna are easily the most expansive and complex word class. They can conjugate for tense, object marking, can be modified by two kinds of applicatives, and can enter a state entirely unique to Léna called the Null Form.

==== The Verbal Template ====
All of the affixes in a verb will come in a predictable order, according to a standard template. Some slots can only be filled with one of two options, limiting the possible scope of the verb. The slots of the verbal template are as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |Prefixes
| rowspan="2" |'''STEM'''
! colspan="7" |Suffixes
|-
|Causative
|Reflexive
|Applicative 1
|Object
|Applicative 2
|Passive
|Tense / Participle
|Negative / Optative
|Null Form
|}
There are a total of 9 slots which may be filled by the 11 affix types.

When occurring together, the causative (''mú-'') and reflexive (''zé-'') prefixes have a combined form ''míé-'' which occupies both prefix slots.

==== Object Marking ====
The Léna verb exhibits personal agreement in only objects, something that sets it apart from the vast majority of languages with such agreement. The suffixes that mark verbal objects agree with narrow gender (see [[Léna Language#Possession|Possession]]) and have various forms depending on their position in the word (whether the other slots are filled).
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Object
Agreement
! rowspan="2" |1st
! rowspan="2" |2nd
! colspan="2" |3rd HUM
! colspan="2" |3rd ANI
! colspan="3" |3rd INAN
! rowspan="2" |3rd ABST
|-
!2
!1
!1
!2
!1
!2
!3
|-
! rowspan="2" |sg
!medial
| rowspan="2" | -(o)y
| rowspan="2" | -(e)n(e)
| rowspan="2" | -(o)m(o)
| rowspan="2" | -k(ǝ)
| -k(i)-
| -s(i)-
| rowspan="2" | -hóu
| rowspan="2" | -ka
| rowspan="2" | -e
| -u- / -o- / -(ə)w(ə)-
|-
!final
| -ki
| -ch
| -(ǝ/o)wǝ
|-
! rowspan="2" |pl
!medial
| -(ǝ)lí-
| -(ǝ)z(e)-
| rowspan="2" | -(o)m(o)
| rowspan="2" | -yá
| rowspan="2" | -kei
| rowspan="2" | -sei
| rowspan="2" | -hóx
| rowspan="2" | -ksi
| rowspan="2" | -le
| rowspan="2" |(ABST nouns
do not pluralise)
|-
!final
| -(ǝ)líe
| -(ǝ)c
|}
Léna extends the role of verbal object to some things which are not canonically syntactic objects. Namely, the object of a verb of motion or position will often be the destination/location relating to the verb. This can be extended to other verbs by means of the locative applicative (see [[Léna Language#Applicatives|Applicatives]]).

<div style=""margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;"">
(16) ''Kalaccha xíp-pǝ́f-fóu-ch-ke ló Mikyéc méyyu-hóf-fe.''<br>
    Kalaccha sew–LOC.APPL–INAN1.SG–PST.PROG–NULL house Mikyéc go(–INTR.APPL)–INAN1.SG–PST<br>
    /ka.laɕ.ɕa xíp.pə́f.fóu̯ɕ.ke ló mi.kjéc͡ɕ méj.ju.hóf.fe/<br>
    'Mikyéc went into the house where Kalaccha was sewing.'

===== Passive Voice =====
</div>

If a verb is placed in the passive voice, by means of the ''-if(a)'' suffix, it will take its passive subject (which would be the object in an active voice sentence) as the verbal object.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(17a) ''Kajhéw ekw ga-pǝ́w-ech.''<br>
    eagle mouse see–LOC.APPL–ANI2.SG<br>
    /ka.ʑéw ekʷ ga.pə́.weɕ/<br>
    'The eagle spots the mouse.'<br>

(17b) ''Kajhéw tǝchki ekw ga-pǝ́w-s-ifa.''<br>
    eagle AUX–ANI1.SG mouse see–LOC.APPL mouse see–LOC.APPL–ANI2.SG–PASS<br>
    /ka.ʑéw tǝɕ.ki ekʷ ga.pə́w.si.fa/<br>
    'The mouse is spotted by the eagle.'<br>
</div>

==== Tense and Aspect Marking ====
==== Applicatives ====
==== The Null Form ====
==== Modal Copulae ====
==== Gerundives ====
</div>

Hárǝsi

2026-07-24T14:51:01Z

Omaatje:

Léna Language

2026-07-24T14:50:42Z

Omaatje:

<div style="
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<div style="position:relative; margin-right:-20%;">
{{Infobox language|country=[[Hárǝsi]] (national), <br> [[Coldba]] (recognised)|family=[[Hakhpha]]|lang-code=LEN|name=Léna|scripts=Latin Alphabet,<br> Cyrillic Alphabet (sporadic)|regulator=[[Hárǝsi Xánǝc uwArássezú]] (Hárǝsi Ministry of Culture)|number=unknown|demonym=Léna, Énnga uLéna}}
</div>

'''Léna''' /lé.na/ is a Western Hakhpha language spoken primarily in Hárǝsi, where it is the majority and only national language. It is also a recognised minority language in the Empire of Coldba.

== Classification ==
<div style="position:relative; margin-right:-20%;">
[[File:Lena dialects.png|thumb|the dialects of Léna spoken in Hárǝsi]]
</div>
The Hakhpha language family comprises two main branches, Eastern and Western, the latter containing both Léna and the [[Kkeṛhaqom]] language spoken in central and eastern Coldba. Léna itself is a polydialectal language with four main dialect groups spoken throughout the urheimat (i.e. Hárǝsi and the small amount of overspill across the border into Coldba), with the standard variety being based on the dialect of the largest city [[Ƨxeylá]]. The most widely spoken dialect other than this is that of the second city, [[Yorómenngwe]], and its surrounding area. This dialect is known as [[Western Léna]] (''Efféstinó Léna''), or natively ''Ijhenggínga''.

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
Standard Léna has 30 phonemic consonants.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
! colspan="2" |
!Labial
!Alveolar
!Palatal
!Velar
!Glottal
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Nasal
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| m
| n
|
| ŋ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
|
|
|
| ŋʷ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Plosive
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| p b
| t d
|
| k ɡ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
|
|
|
| kʷ ɡʷ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Affricate
|
| t͡s d͡z
| c͡ɕ ɟ͡ʑ
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Fricative
| f
| s z
| ɕ ʑ
| x ɣ
| h
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Liquid
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" | w
| r
| j
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" | (w)
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
| rʷ
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Lateral
|
| l
| ʎ
|
|
|}
All consonants except /ʎ/ and /h/ can be geminated and are pronounced longer than their non-geminated counterparts. Geminated /w/ is very rare however.

Velar fricatives /x, ɣ/ are realised advanced [x̟, ɣ̟] or occasionally as palatalised [ç, ʝ] around front vowels /e, i/.

=== Vowels ===
Standard Léna has 7 phonemic vowel qualities and distinguishes two phonemic tones.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
!
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | High
| i
| ɨ
| u
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Mid
| e
| ǝ
| o
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Low
| colspan="2" | a
|
|}

Mid vowels /e, o/ have been tending much more towards [ɛ, ɔ] in recent generations. Additionally, central vowels /ɨ, ǝ/ are often pronounced as [ɪ, ʌ] by younger speakers or in informal speech.

Léna also has some diphthongs, namely vowels followed by /u̯/ or /i̯/. Sequences of two vowels are also permitted, but are usually analysed as two syllables. There is no standard orthographic distinction between, for example, /a.i/ and /ai̯/. This is sometimes remedied with diaeresis (ie. ⟨aï⟩) or with apostrophe (⟨a'i⟩).

The tone levels are high /a˦/ and mid /a˧/, though the mid tone is often described as a low tone in literature. In Léna they are called ''xéggwo eili'' 'narrow voice' and ''mox eili'' 'wide voice' respectively.

=== Syllable Structure and Phonotactics ===
Léna has a fairly simple syllable structure of (C)V(C), where C is any consonant or affricate and V is any vowel or diphthong. However, fricatives and plosives/affricates (together 'stops') may not cluster with themselves, so the only clusters permitted are Fricative-Stop and Stop-Fricative. Approximants /w/, /r/ and /j/ can cluster in any order with most any consonant, but /w/ and /j/ cannot cluster with each other (see below). Additionally, laterals do not cluster with other consonants, labialised consonants cannot occur in initial position of a cluster, and nasals cannot occur in final position.

There is a broad phonotactic rule that labials and palatals cannot interact, and whenever a labial consonant and a palatal consonant would occur in sequence, an epenthetic vowel (usually /e/) is inserted between them, compare sentences (4a) and (4b) below. In the same vein, labial consonants cannot usually precede high vowels /i, u/, except in some very rare cases where they would cluster with /j/ and the vowel /i/ is inserted, such as in the name of the town ''[[Gwiyƨxxǝp]]''. There is an increasing tendency among speakers to also do away with this, rendering that word instead ''*Gweyƨxxǝp''.

Geminates can also only occur inbetween vowels.

Typically, sequences of two vowels cannot occur in closed-syllable environments, i.e. CVVC. As always in language, there are some limited exceptions to this, such as the word ''gauk'' 'to search' - this is notably not a diphthong /au̯/ but two vowels in sequence, /a.u/. Additionally, like vowels are not usually permitted in sequence.

==== ɣ-Affection ====
Many verb roots, particularly older and more commonly-used ones, exhibit a kind of internal mutation caused by a historical /ɣ/ sound. This changes the form of suffixes attached to this root, most notably object suffixes as these tend to come directly after the root (see Verb Template below). Below are a non-ɣ-affected root and a ɣ-affected root.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(1a) ''Bƨzzúw-e enn-í ƨzélye-<u>ksi</u>-xe''<br>
    axe–PL 2SG–destined_for send–INAN2.PL–PST<br>
    /bɨz.zú.we en.ní ɨ.zé.ʎek.si.xe/<br>
    'I sent you axes.'<br>

(1b) ''Bƨzzúw-e enn-í ǝxƨ́-<u>ssi</u>-xe.''<br>
    axe–PL 2SG–destined_for give–INAN2.PL–PST<br>
    /bɨz.zú.we en.ní ǝ.xɨ́s.si.xe/<br>
    'I gave you axes.'<br>
</div>
There is no way to predict this phenomenon, so the individual roots that trigger it must be learnt by heart. Additionally, the third person singular possessive prefix ƨ(gh)- triggers ɣ-affection, resulting in a mutation to the initial consonant.

== Orthography ==
As it was primarily an oral language prior to prolonged contact with other [[Ŋation|Ŋations]], there is no native writing system for Léna, though some modern attempts have gained traction in recent years. Instead, Léna is nowadays usually written in the Latin alphabet, though it did formerly use the Cyrillic alphabet.

=== Official Systems ===
The Latin-based system used most commonly in the modern day for Léna was developed in 122/3 (of the [[Ngweská Calendar]]) by Prof. Umikyázéc Mimeghá, an anthropologist, linguist and later leader of the Socialist Worker's Party (Léna: ''Lyessǝkwo Fǝrǝ́kyaha iRaskwƨch'') at the university of Oergafa. It was created in order to be better mutually understood by interŋational English speakers.
{| style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; border:none;"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="width:20%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-right:4%;"
|+
!Léna (Latin)
!IPA
!Léna (Latin)
!IPA
|-
|a
|/a/
|l
|/l/
|-
|b
|/b/
|ly
|/ʎ/
|-
|c
|/c͡ɕ/
|m
|/m/
|-
|ch
|/ɕ/
|n
|/n/
|-
|d
|/d/
|ng
|/ŋ/
|-
|dz
|/d͡z/
|ngw
|/ŋʷ/
|-
|e
|/e/
|o
|/o/
|-
|ǝ
|/ǝ/
|p
|/p/
|-
|f
|/f/
|r
|/r/
|-
|g
|/ɡ/
|rw
|/rʷ/
|-
|gh
|/ɣ/
|s
|/s/
|-
|gw
|/gʷ/
|t
|/t/
|-
|h
|/h/
|ts
|/t͡s/
|-
|i
|/i/
|u
|/u/
|-
|ƨ
|/ɨ/
|w
|/w/
|-
|j
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|x
|/x/
|-
|jh
|/ʑ/
|y
|/j/
|-
|k
|/k/
|z
|/z/
|-
|kw
|/kʷ/
! colspan="2" |
|}
| style="width:48%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Léna (Cyrillic)
! IPA
! Léna (Cyrillic)
! IPA
|-
| а
| /a/
| н
| /n/
|-
| б
| /b/
| ң
| /ŋ/
|-
|в
|/w/
|ңв
|/ŋʷ/
|-
|г
|/ɣ/
|о
|/o/
|-
|ґ
|/ɡ/
|п
|/p/
|-
|ґв
|/gʷ/
|р
|/r/
|-
|д
|/d/
|рв
|/rʷ/
|-
|е
|/e/
|с
|/s/
|-
|ж
|/ʑ/
|ц
|/t͡s/
|-
|џ
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|т
|/t/
|-
|з
|/z/
|у / ў
|/u/
|-
|ѕ
|/d͡z/
|ф
|/f/
|-
|и / й
|/i/
|х
|/x/
|-
|і / ј
|/j/
|ҳ
|/h/
|-
|к
|/k/
|ш
|/ɕ/
|-
|кв
|/kʷ/
|ч
|/c͡ɕ/
|-
|л
|/l/
|ъ
|/ǝ/
|-
|љ
|/ʎ/
|ы
|/ɨ/
|-
|м
|/m/
! colspan="2" |
|}
|}

High tone is represented by an acute accent over the vowel; ⟨á, é, ǝ́, í, ƨ́, ó, ú⟩, or ⟨а́, е́, и́, о́, у́, ъ́, ы́⟩.

Gemination is represented by doubling the consonant.

In polygraphs, only the first element is capitalised, and only the first element is doubled to represent gemination, e.g. '''⟨'''Ch, nngw'''⟩'''. Additionally, an apostrophe marks where a sequence of two consonant letters is not a digraph, in words such as ''zír'woch'' 'brother' (/zír.woɕ/ not /zí.rʷoɕ/).

The Cyrillic glyphs '''⟨'''й'''⟩''' and '''⟨'''ў'''⟩''' are used in phonemic diphthongs such as /ai̯/, /au̯/ to contrast them from /a.i/, /a.u/; this is achieved with either diaeresis or apostrophe in the Latin script (see [[Léna Language#Vowels|Vowels]] above). There is no difference in pronunciation between '''⟨'''і'''⟩''' and '''⟨'''ј'''⟩''', the only distinguishing feature is that '''⟨'''ј'''⟩''' tends to be used at the beginnings and ends of words, whereas ⟨і⟩ is typically used word-internally.

=== Capitalisation of Prefixes ===
Léna employs a number of gender- and number-agreement prefixes on nouns. When these are placed before proper nouns, they do not take capitalisation, and instead the first consonant of the word takes the capitalisation. If the whole word would be capitalised anyway, for example it is at the beginning of a sentence or in title case, then both the prefix and the head word would be capitalised.

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(2) ''Hárǝsi ƨx-Xízzí-a''<br>
    Hárǝsi HUM.SG.POSS–person–PL<br>
    /há.rǝ.si ɨx.xíz.zí.a/<br>
    'The People of Hárǝsi'
</div>
NB: the root in the word ''ƨxXízzía'' is ''kízzí'' (see [[Léna Language#ɣ-Affection|ɣ-Affection]])
== Syntax and Sentence Structure ==
The syntactic system of Léna is primarily oriented around the prominence of phrasal heads. It also relies heavily on the verb form called the Null Form, which functions similarly to a converb, for clause chaining (see [[Léna Language#The Null Form|Null Form]]).

=== Phrase Structure ===

==== Noun Phrase ====
The Noun Phrase in Léna comprises a minimum of a noun and a maximum of a demonstrative/possessor + a quantifier + an adjective + a noun, in that order. A possessed noun must agree with its possessor in gender and number by means of a prefix, such as in (3b). Additionally, a noun modified by a numeral must take a prefix that agrees with itself in gender and number, as in (3c) to (3e).
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(3a) ''hí''<br>
    egg<br>
    /hí/<br>
    'an egg / the egg'<br>

(3b) ''o-hí''<br>
    1SG.POSS-egg<br>
    /o.hí/<br>
    'my egg'<br>

(3c) ''oh-ifi chi-hím-i''<br>
    1SG.POSS–three INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /o.hi.fi ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'my three eggs'<br>

(3d) ''oh-ifi wǝc chi-hím-i''<br>
    1SG.POSS–three large INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /o.hi.fi wǝc͡ɕ ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'my three large eggs'<br>

(3e) ''gwezí ak-ifi wǝc chi-hím-i''<br>
    albatross ANI.SG.POSS–three large INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /ɡʷe.zí a.ki.fi wǝc͡ɕ ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'the albatross' three large eggs'<br>
</div>

It is helpful to think of the sentences such as (3c) as meaning more literally something like 'my trio of eggs', as numerals are treated largely as nouns in their own right.

==== Verb Phrase ====
A verb is the only part of a sentence fundamentally required to make it so. This is because subjects can most often be inferred through context and objects are marked on the verb; Léna is as a result a fairly heavily pro-drop language, and sentences such as that in (4d) would be fairly uncommon unless expressly emphasising the subject. Because Léna does not employ case marking, role-marking is done by means of verbal object suffixes.

With just a lone verb as the minimum, a maximal verb phrase can consist of the subject + the predicate + any adjuncts/adverbials, and these can be placed virtually anywhere in the VP, though placing them after the verb is uncommon.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(4a) ''ǝchékw-eye.''<br>
    cook-PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝ.ɕé.kʷe.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking.'<br>

(4b) ''ǝchékw-ǝwǝ-ye.''<br>
    cook–ABST–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝ.ɕé.kʷǝ.wǝ.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking something.'<br>

(4c) ''lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking meat.'<br>

(4d) ''ǝch lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    1SG meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝɕ ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    'I'm cooking meat.'<br>

(4e) ''ǝch rói rúc lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    1SG here1 now meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝɕ rói̯ rúc͡ɕ ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    'I'm cooking meat right now.'

</div>
A very common type of adverbial is another verb in the Null Form (explained in more detail below) which is used to combine two or more syntactically-related verbs into one clause.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(5a) ''za chíakƨ́x an-ngi ikongá-e-che.''<br>
    1PL forest INAN.SG–through walk–INAN3.SG–PST.PROG<br>
    /za ɕí.a.kɨ́x aŋ.ŋi i.ko.ŋá.e.ɕe/<br>
    'we walked through the forest.'<br>

(5b) ''za chíakƨ́x an-ngi uwóin-i-ke ikongá-e-che.''<br>
    1PL forest INAN.SG–through sing–PROG–NULL walk–INAN3.SG–PST.PROG<br>
    /za ɕí.a.kɨ́x aŋ.ŋi u.wói̯.ni.ke i.ko.ŋá.e.ɕe/<br>
    'we walked singing through the forest.'<br>
</div>
The Null Form can also be used where a verbal infinitive might be used in Indo-European languages:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(6) ''gégwez-á áhpewaly-ifa-rwe-ke zé-innekw.''<br>
    child–PL teach–PASS–PRES.INCH–NULL REFL–jump<br>
    /ɡé.ɡʷe.zá áh.pe.wa.ʎi.fa.rʷe.ke zé.in.nekʷ/<br>
    'the children are excited to learn.'
</div>

==== Adjectival and Possessive Phrases ====
As above, adjectives and possessives in Léna are usually placed before the noun, with pronominal possessives being a simple prefix (see [[Léna Language#Possession|Possession]]). Quantifiers such as ''kép'' 'rather, quite' may be placed before adjectives.

==== Subject and Object Complements ====
These are arguments such as 'the party was <u>nice</u>' (subject complement to party) or 'my girlfriend is called <u>Emily</u>' (object complement to girlfriend). In Léna, these are usually just placed after their complemented word, but in some careful or formal speech the complement may be prefixed with a possessive prefix.

=== Word Order ===
Léna is transparently an SOV language, with all indicative sentences taking this basic shape - though when personal pronouns are introduced into sentences with extended clausal or sub-clausal structures (relative clauses, prepositional phrases, time phrases), these often come just before the verb and are treated sometimes more like clitics to re-emphasise the subject. This has the consequence of sometimes making the word order seem OSV.

The imperative mood is marked by inverting this word order to VOS, though the subject is not strictly necessary in most imperative statements.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(7a) ''ne gwowoijh-í kwǝ-lle-rwe.''<br>
    2SG mushroom–PL eat–INAN3.PL–PRES.INCH<br>
    /ne ɡʷo.woi̯.ʑí kʷəl.le.rʷe/<br>
    'you eat (the) mushrooms.'<br>

(7b) ''kwǝ-lle-rwe gwowoijh-í (ne)!''<br>
    eat–INAN3.PL–PRES.INCH mushroom–PL 2SG<br>
    /kʷəl.le.rʷe ɡʷo.woi̯.ʑí (ne)/<br>
    'eat (the) mushrooms(, you)!'
</div>

=== Questions ===

==== Polar Questions ====
The type of polar question morphology used in Léna depends on the social context. In most informal speech, they are usually expressed by a change in the pitch of the final syllable of the question utterance, though this does change depending on the tone of the final syllable of the word involved.

Words with high tone:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(8a) ''Ló ax-xoi ǝjjix-xa-nái.''<br>
    house INAN–inside stay–INAN2.SG–FUT.PROG<br>
    /ló ax.xoi̯ ǝɟ.ɟ͡ʑix.xa.nái̯/ […nai̯˦]<br>
    'You will be staying at home.'<br>

(8b) ''Ló ax-xoi ǝjjix-xa-nái?''<br>
    house INAN–inside stay–INAN2.SG–FUT.PROG<br>
    /ló ax.xoi̯ ǝɟ.ɟ͡ʑix.xa.nái̯/ […nai̯˥˩˧]<br>
    'Will you be staying at home?'<br>
</div>
And words with mid tone:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(9a) ''Ezíghekw oggwe-s-se.''<br>
    squid touch–ANI2.SG–PST<br>
    /e.zí.ɣekʷ og.gʷes.se/ […se˧]<br>
    'You touched the squid.'<br>

(9b) ''Ezíghekw oggwe-s-se?''<br>
    squid touch–ANI2.SG–PST<br>
    /e.zí.ɣekʷ oɡ.ɡʷes.se/ […se˩˦]<br>
    'Did you touch the squid?'<br>
</div>
If a word has a continuous phonemic tone before the final syllable the first phonetic tone will be held for the duration of that tone throughout the whole word.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(10) ''Ichaza-kch-u-ke ikéké-ná-hé?''<br>
    arrive–TEL.APPL–ABST.SG–NULL persevere–FUT–OPT<br>
    /i.ɕa.zak.ɕu.ke i.ké.ké.ná.hé/ […ke˥.ke˥.na˥.he˥˩˧]<br>
    'Will you reach the end?'<br>
</div>However, in formal or official speech, questions make use of the negative copular auxiliary ''sak'' to turn the statement into a question.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(11) ''Kwǝ-gghǝ-ghan ne-ifettǝk chowƨj-jhá sak?''<br>
    eat–ABST–IRR.GER 2SG.POSS–preference know–ACT.PTCP NEG_COP<br>
    /kʷəɣ.ɣə.ɣan ne.i.fet.tək ɕo.wɨʑ.ʑá sak/<br>
    'Do you know what you want to eat?'<br>
</div>
The reason this can work unambiguously is that usually if a verb was actually negated, the suffix -(y)ekw would be added to said verb.
==== Questions with a Qualifier ====
These kinds of questions are very simple; the question word goes at the beginning of the phrase being turned into a question. However, further detail can be specified for transitive verbs by changing the object suffix on the verb to reflect qualities of the interrogated argument, as below.

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(12a) ''Kweffohex ie ne dúyƨp-<u>ǝw</u>-ná?''<br>
    dinner what 2SG prepare_food–ABST–FUT<br>
    /kʷef.fo.hex i.e ne dú.jɨ.pəw.ná/<br>
    'What will you make for dinner?'<br>

(12b) ''Kweffohex ie ne dúyƨp-<u>re</u>-ná?''<br>
    dinner what 2SG prepare_food–INAN3.PL–FUT<br>
    /kʷef.fo.hex i.e ne dú.jɨp.re.ná/<br>
    'What (vegetables) will you make for dinner?'<br>

== Grammar and Morphology ==
</div>

The grammar of Léna contains most standard features of the Hakhpha languages: a diverse gender system, verbal object agreement and a general tendency towards being head-marking. It is largely suffixing, but does make some use of prefixes (notably for gender agreement on possessed arguments) and there is also a great deal of stem-internal morphology. There is no case marking present, and role-marking is entirely based on verb agreement and word order.

Morphologically, Standard Léna is characterised by being quite fusional in terms of its affixation, but remains underlyingly agglutinative as other Hakhpha languages. This fusionality is mainly expressed in inflectional suffixes but some derivational affixes also exhibit fusional behaviour, e.g. ''míé-'', the reflexive+causative verbal prefix.

=== Nouns ===
Nouns in Léna undergo two main morphological processes; pluralisation and possession, which also includes being the subject of a postposition. There is no marker for definiteness or indefiniteness and grammatical case is entirely not present. Each noun is also assigned a gender, of which there are 8, though these are divided into 4 groups. The two levels of gender distinction are referred to as 'broad gender' and 'narrow gender'. The 4 broad and 8 narrow genders, as well as an example word for each, are displayed below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |Human
! colspan="2" |Animal
! colspan="3" |Inanimate
! rowspan="2" |Abstract
|-
!1
!2
!1
!2
!1
!2
!3
|-
|''mór''
|''lehéccho''
|''ilengweu''
|''ekw''
|''ló''
|''ezík''
|''chaxa''
|''waly''
|-
|mother
|council
|bear
|mouse
|house
|sack
|water
|command
|}<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
</div>
==== Possession ====
Possessive prefixes as well as plural suffixes correspond to the broad gender of a noun, whereas verbal object agreement suffixes (see below) correspond to its narrow gender. The possessive prefixes also agree in number with the possessor argument. Again note that the 3rd person singular possessive prefix triggers ɣ-affection.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |1st Person
! rowspan="2" |2nd Person
! colspan="4" |3rd Person
|-
!Human
!Animal
!Inanimate
!Abstract
|-
!Singular
|o(h)-
|n(e)-
|ƨ(gh)-*
| colspan="2" |ak-
| rowspan="2" |u(w)-
|-
!Plural
|lé-
|d(e)-
|i(m)-
|ki(y)-
|chi(y)-
|}Possessed arguments go after their possessor noun:<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(13a) ''Eyú ƨt-táengú''<br>
    woman HUM.SG–dog<br>
    /e.jú ɨt.ta.e.ŋú/<br>
    'the woman's dog'
</div>

==== Pluralisation ====
Pluralisation in Léna is highly complex. On top of the gender-determined plural suffixes, there is often a high degree of stem volatility when nouns are declined as plural, such that the singular and plural forms of a noun are often very different. The plural suffixes are:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Human
!Animal
!Inanimate
|-
| -a / -ya
| -si
| -i / -e / -ya
|}
Broadly, if a Human or Inanimate noun ends in more than a simple vowel (i.e. a diphthong or two vowel syllables), or if a Human noun ends in the vowel -a, then the plural suffix will be -ya. If an inanimate noun ends in a labialised consonant, a nasal or /ʎ/, the plural suffix will be -e, though some other nouns take -e plurals unpredictably. Abstract nouns do not pluralise.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(13b) ''Eyúgh-a i-táengú-si''<br>
    woman–PL HUM.PL–dog–PL<br>
    /e.jú.ɣa i.ta.e.ŋú.si/<br>
    'the women's dogs'<br>
</div>

===== Stem Change =====
Stem change, such as between ''eyú/eyúgha'' in (13a) and (13b), is a pervasive feature of Léna plural morphology. There are five broad types of stem change: vowel alternation, diphthongisation, consonant alternation, consonant insertion and 'alternate' stem change, which is just a basket of minor phonological processes not pervasive enough to warrant their own category. Of these, consonant alternation is probably the most common. Additionally, some stem change also triggers a high tone in the following vowel, most often vowel alternation. Examples of each follow:
<div style="width:100%;">

<div style="white-space:nowrap; line-height:0;">

<div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0 1% 0 0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Vowel Alternation
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''áng''
| ''ónga''
| spirit
|-
|''ficƨw''
|''ficiwé''
|gap
|-
| ''irhǝk''
| ''irhaká''
| villager
|-
| ''uhóly''
| ''uhálye''
| lake
|}
</div><div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Diphthongisation
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''achǝlye''
| ''achielye''
| noise
|-
|''lyajjhérw''
|''lyajjhóerwe''
|speck, stain
|-
| ''lyéc''
| ''lyéici''
| mountain
|-
| ''ngip''
| ''ngiapi''
| woodblock
|}
</div>

</div>

<div style="white-space:nowrap; line-height:0; margin-top:0.4em;">

<div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0 1% 0 0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Consonant Insertion
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''fu''
| ''funa''
| heart
|-
| ''gwa''
| ''gwami''
| rock
|-
| ''kala''
| ''kalangi''
| droplet
|}
</div><div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Consonant Alteration
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''ngwech''
| ''ngweza''
| coast
|-
| ''súcáp''
| ''súcábe''
| pelt, fur
|-
| ''ucchijúc''
| ''ucchijúzi''
| warbler
|}
</div>

</div>

<div style="margin-top:0.4em; width:30%;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Alternate
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''kwehé''
| ''kwehía''
| fight
|-
| ''oxínen''
| ''oxína''
| lower leg
|-
| ''rajály''
| ''rajáliha''
| councilman
|-
| ''tughau''
| ''tughá''
| name
|-
| ''uké''
| ''ukéyǝi''
| parchment
|-
| ''ƨlǝ́''
| ''ƨlá''
| man
|}
</div>

There are also instances where several of these processes happen simultaneously, as below:

<div style="margin-top:0.4em; width:30%;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Mixed-Type
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''bƨch''
| ''bezí''
| flint
|-
| ''dǝ''
| ''demá''
| father
|-
| ''gégwech''
| ''gégweuzá''
| child
|-
| ''ok''
| ''ukí''
| path
|-
| ''pƨ́ch''
| ''písá''
| lip
|-
| ''rikw''
| ''riagwe''
| local shrine
|}
</div>

This stem change is largely unpredictable, though there are a few derivational suffixes (-au, -i/-ya, -(h)ǝ́, etc.) which reliably display irregularity. Additionally, there are a handful of plurales tanta, most notably nouns ending in -ea as well as words like ''xibá'' 'finger' and the name of Hárǝsi's largest city Ƨxeylá.

=== Postpositions ===
Léna is an entirely postpositional language and relies on them to express relationships between nouns. Léna's postpositions of position and motion have a high degree of semantic content and are very diverse, having many distinct postpositions for variations in spatial meaning that would be covered by only one or two terms in other languages. For example, ''ƨngi'' 'into and continuing through' VS ''ƨwé'' 'into and stopping once inside'.

==== Inflected Postpositions ====
Postpositions in Léna must agree with the nouns they modify in gender by the same prefixes that govern possession. Some examples of sentences with postpositions follow:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">

(14a) ''Róssǝp cháyu-si k-<u>yé</u> chie jhesó-ja pá-kwe?''<br>
    this2 goat–PL ANI.PL–on why paint–PASS.PTCP LOC–REAL.COP<br>
    /rós.sǝp ɕá.ju.si kjé ɕi.e ʑe.só.ɟ͡ʑa pá.kʷe/<br>
    'Why are there things painted on these goats?'<br>

(14b) ''Ƨkkukw ƨt-<u>tsá</u> kwohéhke de-máráu ƨl-ló ax-<u>í</u> ikongá-hóu-ná.''<br>
    Ƨkkukw HUM.SG–with together 2PL.POSS–grandmother HUM.SG.POSS–house INAN.SG–destined_for walk–INAN1.SG–FUT<br>
    /ɨk.kukʷ ɨt.t͡sá kʷo.héh.ke de.má.ráu̯ ɨl.ló a.xí i.ko.ŋá.hóu̯.ná/<br>
    'You're going to go to grandma's with Ƨkkukw.'<br>

(14c) ''Za nez-í chiy-<u>ƨxme</u> kwehu-le-ye.''<br>
    1PL tree–PL INAN.PL–underneath lie–INAN3.PL–PRES.PROG<br>
    /za ne.zí ɕi.jɨx.me kʷe.hu.le.je/<br>
    'We're lying between the trees.'<br>

(14d) ''Xoccho ƨkkágwe ak-<u>ajhe</u> ar'wo-xe.''<br>
    boat iceberg INAN.SG–past sail–PST<br>
    /xoɕ.ɕo ɨk.ká.ɡʷe a.ka.ʑe ar.wo.xe/<br>
    'The boat sailed past an iceberg.'<br>
</div>Many postpositions have irregular combining forms, such as ''wé'' 'on' in (14a) and ''í'' 'destined for, up to, until' (famously difficult to accurately translate) in (14b). Other irregular postpositions include ''ye'' 'towards', ''yák'' 'under' and ''ar'' 'from'.

==== Uninflected Postpositions ====
Postpositions, when uninflected, can also serve as semantic particles not unlike adverbs. For example,

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(15) ''Heyuk ak-wé <u>uyui</u> gín-yék-kwe za mé-fóf-fe.''<br>
    hall INAN-entering_into separate_from talk-FREQ.APPL-NULL 1PL go-INAN1.SG-PST<br>
    /he.juk a.kʷe u.jui̯ ɡín.jék.kʷe za mé.fóf.fe/<br>
    'We went out into the hall to chat.'<br>
</div>
Here, the uninflected postposition ''uyui'' 'separate from, apart, outside of' serves as a particle reinforcing that the conversation will occur privately, separate from that which is presumably going on inside the room.

=== Verbs ===
Verbs in Léna are easily the most expansive and complex word class. They can conjugate for tense, object marking, can be modified by two kinds of applicatives, and can enter a state entirely unique to Léna called the Null Form.

==== The Verbal Template ====
All of the affixes in a verb will come in a predictable order, according to a standard template. Some slots can only be filled with one of two options, limiting the possible scope of the verb. The slots of the verbal template are as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |Prefixes
| rowspan="2" |'''STEM'''
! colspan="7" |Suffixes
|-
|Causative
|Reflexive
|Applicative 1
|Object
|Applicative 2
|Passive
|Tense / Participle
|Negative / Optative
|Null Form
|}
There are a total of 9 slots which may be filled by the 11 affix types.

When occurring together, the causative (''mú-'') and reflexive (''zé-'') prefixes have a combined form ''míé-'' which occupies both prefix slots.

==== Object Marking ====
The Léna verb exhibits personal agreement in only objects, something that sets it apart from the vast majority of languages with such agreement. The suffixes that mark verbal objects agree with narrow gender (see [[Léna Language#Possession|Possession]]) and have various forms depending on their position in the word (whether the other slots are filled).
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Object
Agreement
! rowspan="2" |1st
! rowspan="2" |2nd
! colspan="2" |3rd HUM
! colspan="2" |3rd ANI
! colspan="3" |3rd INAN
! rowspan="2" |3rd ABST
|-
!2
!1
!1
!2
!1
!2
!3
|-
! rowspan="2" |sg
!medial
| rowspan="2" | -(o)y
| rowspan="2" | -(e)n(e)
| rowspan="2" | -(o)m(o)
| rowspan="2" | -k(ǝ)
| -k(i)-
| -s(i)-
| rowspan="2" | -hóu
| rowspan="2" | -ka
| rowspan="2" | -e
| -u- / -o- / -(ə)w(ə)-
|-
!final
| -ki
| -ch
| -(ǝ/o)wǝ
|-
! rowspan="2" |pl
!medial
| -(ǝ)lí-
| -(ǝ)z(e)-
| rowspan="2" | -(o)m(o)
| rowspan="2" | -yá
| rowspan="2" | -kei
| rowspan="2" | -sei
| rowspan="2" | -hóx
| rowspan="2" | -ksi
| rowspan="2" | -le
| rowspan="2" |(ABST nouns
do not pluralise)
|-
!final
| -(ǝ)líe
| -(ǝ)c
|}
Léna extends the role of verbal object to some things which are not canonically syntactic objects. Namely, the object of a verb of motion or position will often be the destination/location relating to the verb. This can be extended to other verbs by means of the locative applicative (see [[Léna Language#Applicatives|Applicatives]]).

<div style=""margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;"">
(16) ''Kalaccha xíp-pǝ́f-fóu-ch-ke ló Mikyéc méyyu-hóf-fe.''<br>
    Kalaccha sew–LOC.APPL–INAN1.SG–PST.PROG–NULL house Mikyéc go(–INTR.APPL)–INAN1.SG–PST<br>
    /ka.laɕ.ɕa xíp.pə́f.fóu̯ɕ.ke ló mi.kjéc͡ɕ méj.ju.hóf.fe/<br>
    'Mikyéc went into the house where Kalaccha was sewing.'

===== Passive Voice =====
</div>

If a verb is placed in the passive voice, by means of the ''-if(a)'' suffix, it will take its passive subject (which would be the object in an active voice sentence) as the verbal object.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(17a) ''Kajhéw ekw ga-pǝ́w-ech.''<br>
    eagle mouse see–LOC.APPL–ANI2.SG<br>
    /ka.ʑéw ekʷ ga.pə́.weɕ/<br>
    'The eagle spots the mouse.'<br>

(17b) ''Kajhéw tǝchki ekw ga-pǝ́w-s-ifa.''<br>
    eagle AUX–ANI1.SG mouse see–LOC.APPL mouse see–LOC.APPL–ANI2.SG–PASS<br>
    /ka.ʑéw tǝɕ.ki ekʷ ga.pə́w.si.fa/<br>
    'The mouse is spotted by the eagle.'<br>
</div>

==== Tense and Aspect Marking ====
==== Applicatives ====
==== The Null Form ====
==== Modal Copulae ====
==== Gerundives ====
</div>

2026-07-23T11:40:09Z

Omaatje: /* Language Policy and Controversy */

Hárǝsi

2026-07-23T11:36:28Z

Omaatje: /* Religion */

Hárǝsi

2026-07-23T11:34:29Z

Omaatje: /* Religion */

2026-07-18T12:50:55Z

Omaatje: /* Adjectival and Possessive Phrases */

<div style="
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<div style="position:relative; margin-right:-20%;">
{{Infobox language|country=[[Hárǝsi]] (national), <br> [[Coldba]] (recognised)|family=[[Hakhpha]]|lang-code=LEN|name=Léna|scripts=Latin Alphabet,<br> Cyrillic Alphabet (sporadic)|regulator=[[Hárǝsi Xánǝc uwArássezú]] (Hárǝsi Ministry of Culture)|number=unknown|demonym=Léna, Énnga uLéna}}
</div>

'''Léna''' /lé.na/ is a Western Hakhpha language spoken primarily in Hárǝsi, where it is the majority and only national language. It is also a recognised minority language in the Empire of Coldba.

== Classification ==
<div style="position:relative; margin-right:-20%;">
[[File:Lena dialects.png|thumb|the dialects of Léna spoken in Hárǝsi]]
</div>
The Hakhpha language family comprises two main branches, Eastern and Western, the latter containing both Léna and the [[Kkeṛhaqom]] language spoken in central and eastern Coldba. Léna itself is a polydialectal language with four main dialect groups spoken throughout the urheimat (i.e. Hárǝsi and the small amount of overspill across the border into Coldba), with the standard variety being based on the dialect of the largest city [[Ƨxeylá]]. The most widely spoken dialect other than this is that of the second city, [[Yorómenngwe]], and its surrounding area. This dialect is known as [[Western Léna]] (''Efféstinó Léna''), or natively ''Ijhenggínga''.

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
Standard Léna has 30 phonemic consonants.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
! colspan="2" |
!Labial
!Alveolar
!Palatal
!Velar
!Glottal
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Nasal
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| m
| n
|
| ŋ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
|
|
|
| ŋʷ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Plosive
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| p b
| t d
|
| k ɡ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
|
|
|
| kʷ ɡʷ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Affricate
|
| t͡s d͡z
| c͡ɕ ɟ͡ʑ
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Fricative
| f
| s z
| ɕ ʑ
| x ɣ
| h
|-
! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Liquid
! style="text-align:left;" | plain
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" | w
| r
| j
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" | (w)
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | labialised
| rʷ
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Lateral
|
| l
| ʎ
|
|
|}
All consonants except /ʎ/ and /h/ can be geminated and are pronounced longer than their non-geminated counterparts. Geminated /w/ is very rare however.

Velar fricatives /x, ɣ/ are realised advanced [x̟, ɣ̟] or occasionally as palatalised [ç, ʝ] around front vowels /e, i/.

=== Vowels ===
Standard Léna has 7 phonemic vowel qualities and distinguishes two phonemic tones.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
!
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | High
| i
| ɨ
| u
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Mid
| e
| ǝ
| o
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Low
| colspan="2" | a
|
|}

Mid vowels /e, o/ have been tending much more towards [ɛ, ɔ] in recent generations. Additionally, central vowels /ɨ, ǝ/ are often pronounced as [ɪ, ʌ] by younger speakers or in informal speech.

Léna also has some diphthongs, namely vowels followed by /u̯/ or /i̯/. Sequences of two vowels are also permitted, but are usually analysed as two syllables. There is no standard orthographic distinction between, for example, /a.i/ and /ai̯/. This is sometimes remedied with diaeresis (ie. ⟨aï⟩) or with apostrophe (⟨a'i⟩).

The tone levels are high /a˦/ and mid /a˧/, though the mid tone is often described as a low tone in literature. In Léna they are called ''xéggwo eili'' 'narrow voice' and ''mox eili'' 'wide voice' respectively.

=== Syllable Structure and Phonotactics ===
Léna has a fairly simple syllable structure of (C)V(C), where C is any consonant or affricate and V is any vowel or diphthong. However, fricatives and plosives/affricates (together 'stops') may not cluster with themselves, so the only clusters permitted are Fricative-Stop and Stop-Fricative. Approximants /w/, /r/ and /j/ can cluster in any order with most any consonant, but /w/ and /j/ cannot cluster with each other (see below). Additionally, laterals do not cluster with other consonants, labialised consonants cannot occur in initial position of a cluster, and nasals cannot occur in final position.

There is a broad phonotactic rule that labials and palatals cannot interact, and whenever a labial consonant and a palatal consonant would occur in sequence, an epenthetic vowel (usually /e/) is inserted between them, compare sentences (4a) and (4b) below. In the same vein, labial consonants cannot usually precede high vowels /i, u/, except in some very rare cases where they would cluster with /j/ and the vowel /i/ is inserted, such as in the name of the town ''[[Gwiyƨxxǝp]]''. There is an increasing tendency among speakers to also do away with this, rendering that word instead ''*Gweyƨxxǝp''.

Geminates can also only occur inbetween vowels.

Typically, sequences of two vowels cannot occur in closed-syllable environments, i.e. CVVC. As always in language, there are some limited exceptions to this, such as the word ''gauk'' 'to search' - this is notably not a diphthong /au̯/ but two vowels in sequence, /a.u/. Additionally, like vowels are not usually permitted in sequence.

==== ɣ-Affection ====
Many verb roots, particularly older and more commonly-used ones, exhibit a kind of internal mutation caused by a historical /ɣ/ sound. This changes the form of suffixes attached to this root, most notably object suffixes as these tend to come directly after the root (see Verb Template below). Below are a non-ɣ-affected root and a ɣ-affected root.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(1a) ''Bƨzzúw-e enn-í ƨzélye-<u>ksi</u>-xe''<br>
    axe–PL 2SG–destined_for send–INAN2.PL–PST<br>
    /bɨz.zú.we en.ní ɨ.zé.ʎek.si.xe/<br>
    'I sent you axes.'<br>

(1b) ''Bƨzzúw-e enn-í ǝxƨ́-<u>ssi</u>-xe.''<br>
    axe–PL 2SG–destined_for give–INAN2.PL–PST<br>
    /bɨz.zú.we en.ní ǝ.xɨ́s.si.xe/<br>
    'I gave you axes.'<br>
</div>
There is no way to predict this phenomenon, so the individual roots that trigger it must be learnt by heart. Additionally, the third person singular possessive prefix ƨ(gh)- triggers ɣ-affection, resulting in a mutation to the initial consonant.

== Orthography ==
As it was primarily an oral language prior to prolonged contact with other Ŋations, there is no native writing system for Léna, though some modern attempts have gained traction in recent years. Instead, a modified Latin alphabet is used, as below. Additionally, since a Cyrillic variant has been used in some limited unofficial capacity, it is displayed as well.
{| style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; border:none;"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="width:20%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-right:4%;"
|+
!Léna (Latin)
!IPA
!Léna (Latin)
!IPA
|-
|a
|/a/
|l
|/l/
|-
|b
|/b/
|ly
|/ʎ/
|-
|c
|/c͡ɕ/
|m
|/m/
|-
|ch
|/ɕ/
|n
|/n/
|-
|d
|/d/
|ng
|/ŋ/
|-
|dz
|/d͡z/
|ngw
|/ŋʷ/
|-
|e
|/e/
|o
|/o/
|-
|ǝ
|/ǝ/
|p
|/p/
|-
|f
|/f/
|r
|/r/
|-
|g
|/ɡ/
|rw
|/rʷ/
|-
|gh
|/ɣ/
|s
|/s/
|-
|gw
|/gʷ/
|t
|/t/
|-
|h
|/h/
|ts
|/t͡s/
|-
|i
|/i/
|u
|/u/
|-
|ƨ
|/ɨ/
|w
|/w/
|-
|j
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|x
|/x/
|-
|jh
|/ʑ/
|y
|/j/
|-
|k
|/k/
|z
|/z/
|-
|kw
|/kʷ/
! colspan="2" |
|}
| style="width:48%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Léna (Cyrillic)
! IPA
! Léna (Cyrillic)
! IPA
|-
| а
| /a/
| н
| /n/
|-
| б
| /b/
| ң
| /ŋ/
|-
|в
|/w/
|ңв
|/ŋʷ/
|-
|г
|/ɣ/
|о
|/o/
|-
|ґ
|/ɡ/
|п
|/p/
|-
|ґв
|/gʷ/
|р
|/r/
|-
|д
|/d/
|рв
|/rʷ/
|-
|е
|/e/
|с
|/s/
|-
|ж
|/ʑ/
|ц
|/t͡s/
|-
|џ
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|т
|/t/
|-
|з
|/z/
|у / ў
|/u/
|-
|ѕ
|/d͡z/
|ф
|/f/
|-
|и / й
|/i/
|х
|/x/
|-
|і / ј
|/j/
|ҳ
|/h/
|-
|к
|/k/
|ш
|/ɕ/
|-
|кв
|/kʷ/
|ч
|/c͡ɕ/
|-
|л
|/l/
|ъ
|/ǝ/
|-
|љ
|/ʎ/
|ы
|/ɨ/
|-
|м
|/m/
! colspan="2" |
|}
|}

High tone is represented by an acute accent over the vowel; ⟨á, é, ǝ́, í, ƨ́, ó, ú⟩, or ⟨а́, е́, и́, о́, у́, ъ́, ы́⟩.

Gemination is represented by doubling the consonant.

In polygraphs, only the first element is capitalised, and only the first element is doubled to represent gemination, e.g. '''⟨'''Ch, nngw'''⟩'''. Additionally, an apostrophe marks where a sequence of two consonant letters is not a digraph, in words such as ''zír'woch'' 'brother'.

The Cyrillic glyphs '''⟨'''й'''⟩''' and '''⟨'''ў'''⟩''' are used in phonemic diphthongs such as /ai̯/, /au̯/ to contrast them from /a.i/, /a.u/. There is no difference in pronunciation between '''⟨'''і'''⟩''' and '''⟨'''ј'''⟩''', the only distinguishing feature is that '''⟨'''ј'''⟩''' tends to be used at the beginnings and ends of words, whereas ⟨і⟩ is typically used word-internally.

=== Capitalisation of Prefixes ===
Léna employs a number of gender- and number-agreement prefixes on nouns. When these are placed before proper nouns, they do not take capitalisation, and instead the first consonant of the word takes the capitalisation. If the whole word would be capitalised anyway, for example it is at the beginning of a sentence or in title case, then both the prefix and the head word would be capitalised.

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(2) ''Hárǝsi ƨx-Xízzí-a''<br>
    Hárǝsi HUM.SG.POSS–person–PL<br>
    /há.rǝ.si ɨx.xíz.zí.a/<br>
    'The People of Hárǝsi'
</div>
NB: the root in the word ''ƨxXízzía'' is ''kízzí'' (see [[Léna Language#ɣ-Affection|ɣ-Affection]])
== Syntax and Sentence Structure ==
The syntactic system of Léna is primarily oriented around the prominence of phrasal heads. It also relies heavily on the verb form called the Null Form, which functions similarly to a converb, for clause chaining.

=== Phrase Structure ===

==== Noun Phrase ====
The Noun Phrase in Léna comprises a minimum of a noun and a maximum of a demonstrative/possessor + a quantifier + an adjective + a noun, in that order. A possessed noun must agree with its possessor in gender and number by means of a prefix, such as in (3b). Additionally, a noun modified by a numeral must take a prefix that agrees with itself in gender and number, as in (3c) to (3e).
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(3a) ''hí''<br>
    egg<br>
    /hí/<br>
    'an egg / the egg'<br>

(3b) ''o-hí''<br>
    1SG.POSS-egg<br>
    /o.hí/<br>
    'my egg'<br>

(3c) ''oh-ifi chi-hím-i''<br>
    1SG.POSS–three INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /o.hi.fi ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'my three eggs'<br>

(3d) ''oh-ifi wǝc chi-hím-i''<br>
    1SG.POSS–three large INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /o.hi.fi wǝc͡ɕ ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'my three large eggs'<br>

(3e) ''gwezí ak-ifi wǝc chi-hím-i''<br>
    albatross ANI.SG.POSS–three large INAN.PL.POSS–egg–PL<br>
    /ɡʷe.zí a.ki.fi wǝc͡ɕ ɕi.hí.mi/<br>
    'the albatross' three large eggs'<br>
</div>

It is helpful to think of the sentences such as (3c) as meaning more literally something like 'my trio of eggs', as numerals are treated largely as nouns in their own right.

==== Verb Phrase ====
A verb is the only part of a sentence fundamentally required to make it so. This is because subjects can most often be inferred through context and objects are marked on the verb; Léna is as a result a fairly heavily pro-drop language, and sentences such as that in (4d) would be fairly uncommon unless expressly emphasising the subject. Because Léna does not employ case marking, role-marking is done by means of verbal object suffixes.

With just a lone verb as the minimum, a maximal verb phrase can consist of the subject + the predicate + any adjuncts/adverbials, and these can be placed virtually anywhere in the VP, though placing them after the verb is uncommon.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(4a) ''ǝchékw-eye.''<br>
    cook-PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝ.ɕé.kʷe.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking.'<br>

(4b) ''ǝchékw-ǝwǝ-ye.''<br>
    cook–ABST–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝ.ɕé.kʷǝ.wǝ.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking something.'<br>

(4c) ''lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    '(I'm) cooking meat.'<br>

(4d) ''ǝch lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    1SG meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝɕ ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    'I'm cooking meat.'<br>

(4e) ''ǝch rói rúc lyew ǝchék-fóu-ye.''<br>
    1SG here1 now meat cook–INAN2.SG–PRES.PROG<br>
    /ǝɕ rói̯ rúc͡ɕ ʎew ǝ.ɕék.fóu̯.je/<br>
    'I'm cooking meat right now.'

</div>
A very common type of adverbial is another verb in the Null Form (explained in more detail below) which is used to combine two or more syntactically-related verbs into one clause.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(5a) ''za chíakƨ́x an-ngi ikongá-e-che.''<br>
    1PL forest INAN.SG–through walk–INAN3.SG–PST.PROG<br>
    /za ɕí.a.kɨ́x aŋ.ŋi i.ko.ŋá.e.ɕe/<br>
    'we walked through the forest.'<br>

(5b) ''za chíakƨ́x an-ngi uwóin-i-ke ikongá-e-che.''<br>
    1PL forest INAN.SG–through sing–PROG–NULL walk–INAN3.SG–PST.PROG<br>
    /za ɕí.a.kɨ́x aŋ.ŋi u.wói̯.ni.ke i.ko.ŋá.e.ɕe/<br>
    'we walked singing through the forest.'<br>
</div>
The Null Form can also be used where a verbal infinitive might be used in Indo-European languages:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(6) ''gégwez-á áhpewaly-ifa-rwe-ke zé-innekw.''<br>
    child–PL teach–PASS–PRES.INCH–NULL REFL–jump<br>
    /ɡé.ɡʷe.zá áh.pe.wa.ʎi.fa.rʷe.ke zé.in.nekʷ/<br>
    'the children are excited to learn.'
</div>

==== Adjectival and Possessive Phrases ====
As above, Adjectives and Possessives in Léna are usually placed before the noun, with pronominal Possessives being a simple prefix (see [[Léna Language#Possession|Possession]]). Quantifiers such as ''kép'' 'rather, quite' may be placed before Adjectives.

==== Subject and Object Complements ====
These are arguments such as 'the party was <u>nice</u>' (subject complement to party) or 'my girlfriend is called <u>Emily</u>' (object complement to girlfriend). In Léna, these are often

=== Word Order ===
Léna is transparently an SOV language, with all indicative sentences taking this basic shape - though when personal pronouns are introduced into sentences with extended clausal or sub-clausal structures (relative clauses, prepositional phrases, time phrases), these often come just before the verb and are treated sometimes more like clitics to re-emphasise the subject. This has the consequence of sometimes making the word order seem OSV.

The imperative mood is marked by inverting this word order to VOS, though the subject is not strictly necessary in most imperative statements.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(7a) ''ne gwowoijh-í kwǝ-lle-rwe.''<br>
    2SG mushroom–PL eat–INAN3.PL–PRES.INCH<br>
    /ne ɡʷo.woi̯.ʑí kʷəl.le.rʷe/<br>
    'you eat (the) mushrooms.'<br>

(7b) ''kwǝ-lle-rwe gwowoijh-í (ne)!''<br>
    eat–INAN3.PL–PRES.INCH mushroom–PL 2SG<br>
    /kʷəl.le.rʷe ɡʷo.woi̯.ʑí (ne)/<br>
    'eat (the) mushrooms(, you)!'
</div>

=== Questions ===

==== Polar Questions ====
The type of polar question morphology used in Léna depends on the social context. In most informal speech, they are usually expressed by a change in the pitch of the final syllable of the question utterance, though this does change depending on the tone of the final syllable of the word involved.

Words with high tone:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(8a) ''Ló ax-xoi ǝjjix-xa-nái.''<br>
    house INAN–inside stay–INAN2.SG–FUT.PROG<br>
    /ló ax.xoi̯ ǝɟ.ɟ͡ʑix.xa.nái̯/ […nai̯˦]<br>
    'You will be staying at home.'<br>

(8b) ''Ló ax-xoi ǝjjix-xa-nái?''<br>
    house INAN–inside stay–INAN2.SG–FUT.PROG<br>
    /ló ax.xoi̯ ǝɟ.ɟ͡ʑix.xa.nái̯/ […nai̯˥˩˧]<br>
    'Will you be staying at home?'<br>
</div>
And words with mid tone:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(9a) ''Ezíghekw oggwe-s-se.''<br>
    squid touch–ANI2.SG–PST<br>
    /e.zí.ɣekʷ og.gʷes.se/ […se˧]<br>
    'You touched the squid.'<br>

(9b) ''Ezíghekw oggwe-s-se?''<br>
    squid touch–ANI2.SG–PST<br>
    /e.zí.ɣekʷ oɡ.ɡʷes.se/ […se˩˦]<br>
    'Did you touch the squid?'<br>
</div>
If a word has a continuous phonemic tone before the final syllable the first phonetic tone will be held for the duration of that tone throughout the whole word.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(10) ''Ichaza-kch-u-ke ikéké-ná-hé?''<br>
    arrive–TEL.APPL–ABST.SG–NULL persevere–FUT–OPT<br>
    /i.ɕa.zak.ɕu.ke i.ké.ké.ná.hé/ […ke˥.ke˥.na˥.he˥˩˧]<br>
    'Will you reach the end?'<br>
</div>However, in formal or official speech, questions make use of the negative copular auxiliary ''sak'' to turn the statement into a question.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(11) ''Kwǝ-gghǝ-ghan ne-ifettǝk chowƨj-jhá sak?''<br>
    eat–ABST–IRR.GER 2SG.POSS–preference know–ACT.PTCP NEG_COP<br>
    /kʷəɣ.ɣə.ɣan ne.i.fet.tək ɕo.wɨʑ.ʑá sak/<br>
    'Do you know what you want to eat?'<br>
</div>
The reason this can work unambiguously is that usually if a verb was actually negated, the suffix -(y)ekw would be added to said verb.
==== Questions with a Qualifier ====
These kinds of questions are very simple; the question word goes at the beginning of the phrase being turned into a question. However, further detail can be specified for transitive verbs by changing the object suffix on the verb to reflect qualities of the interrogated argument, as below.

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(12a) ''Kweffohex ie ne dúyƨp-<u>ǝw</u>-ná?''<br>
    dinner what 2SG prepare_food–ABST–FUT<br>
    /kʷef.fo.hex i.e ne dú.jɨ.pəw.ná/<br>
    'What will you make for dinner?'<br>

(12b) ''Kweffohex ie ne dúyƨp-<u>re</u>-ná?''<br>
    dinner what 2SG prepare_food–INAN3.PL–FUT<br>
    /kʷef.fo.hex i.e ne dú.jɨp.re.ná/<br>
    'What (vegetables) will you make for dinner?'<br>

== Grammar and Morphology ==
</div>

The grammar of Léna contains most standard features of the Hakhpha languages: a diverse gender system, verbal object agreement and a general tendency towards being head-marking. It is largely suffixing, but does make some use of prefixes (notably for gender agreement on possessed arguments) and there is also a great deal of stem-internal morphology. There is no case marking present, and role-marking is entirely based on verb agreement and word order.

Morphologically, Standard Léna is characterised by being quite fusional in terms of its affixation, but remains underlyingly agglutinative as other Hakhpha languages. This fusionality is mainly expressed in inflectional suffixes but some derivational affixes also exhibit fusional behaviour, e.g. ''míé-'', the reflexive+causative verbal prefix.

=== Nouns ===
Nouns in Léna undergo two main morphological processes; pluralisation and possession, which also includes being the subject of a postposition. There is no marker for definiteness or indefiniteness and grammatical case is entirely not present. Each noun is also assigned a gender, of which there are 8, though these are divided into 4 groups. The two levels of gender distinction are referred to as 'broad gender' and 'narrow gender'. The 4 broad and 8 narrow genders, as well as an example word for each, are displayed below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |Human
! colspan="2" |Animal
! colspan="3" |Inanimate
! rowspan="2" |Abstract
|-
!1
!2
!1
!2
!1
!2
!3
|-
|''mór''
|''lehéccho''
|''ilengweu''
|''ekw''
|''ló''
|''ezík''
|''chaxa''
|''waly''
|-
|mother
|council
|bear
|mouse
|house
|sack
|water
|command
|}<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
</div>
==== Possession ====
Possessive prefixes as well as plural suffixes correspond to the broad gender of a noun, whereas verbal object agreement suffixes (see below) correspond to its narrow gender. The possessive prefixes also agree in number with the possessor argument. Again note that the 3rd person singular possessive prefix triggers ɣ-affection.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |1st Person
! rowspan="2" |2nd Person
! colspan="4" |3rd Person
|-
!Human
!Animal
!Inanimate
!Abstract
|-
!Singular
|o(h)-
|n(e)-
|ƨ(gh)-*
| colspan="2" |ak-
| rowspan="2" |u(w)-
|-
!Plural
|lé-
|d(e)-
|i(m)-
|ki(y)-
|chi(y)-
|}Possessed arguments go after their possessor noun:<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(13a) ''Eyú ƨt-táengú''<br>
    woman HUM.SG–dog<br>
    /e.jú ɨt.ta.e.ŋú/<br>
    'the woman's dog'
</div>

==== Pluralisation ====
Pluralisation in Léna is highly complex. On top of the gender-determined plural suffixes, there is often a high degree of stem volatility when nouns are declined as plural, such that the singular and plural forms of a noun are often very different. The plural suffixes are:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Human
!Animal
!Inanimate
|-
| -a / -ya
| -si
| -i / -e / -ya
|}
Broadly, if a Human or Inanimate noun ends in more than a simple vowel (i.e. a diphthong or two vowel syllables), or if a Human noun ends in the vowel -a, then the plural suffix will be -ya. If an inanimate noun ends in a labialised consonant, a nasal or /ʎ/, the plural suffix will be -e, though some other nouns take -e plurals unpredictably. Abstract nouns do not pluralise.
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(13b) ''Eyúgh-a i-táengú-si''<br>
    woman–PL HUM.PL–dog–PL<br>
    /e.jú.ɣa i.ta.e.ŋú.si/<br>
    'the women's dogs'<br>
</div>

Stem change, such as between ''eyú/eyúgha'' in (13a) and (13b), is a pervasive feature of Léna plural morphology. There are five broad types of stem change: vowel alternation, diphthongisation, consonant alternation, consonant insertion and 'alternate' stem change, which is just a basket of minor phonological processes not pervasive enough to warrant their own category. Of these, consonant alternation is probably the most common. Additionally, some stem change also triggers a high tone in the following vowel, most often vowel alternation. Examples of each follow:
<div style="width:100%;">

<div style="white-space:nowrap; line-height:0;">

<div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0 1% 0 0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Vowel Alternation
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''áng''
| ''ónga''
| spirit
|-
|''ficƨw''
|''ficiwé''
|gap
|-
| ''irhǝk''
| ''irhaká''
| villager
|-
| ''uhóly''
| ''uhálye''
| lake
|}
</div><div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Diphthongisation
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''achǝlye''
| ''achielye''
| noise
|-
|''lyajjhérw''
|''lyajjhóerwe''
|speck, stain
|-
| ''lyéc''
| ''lyéici''
| mountain
|-
| ''ngip''
| ''ngiapi''
| woodblock
|}
</div>

</div>

<div style="white-space:nowrap; line-height:0; margin-top:0.4em;">

<div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0 1% 0 0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Consonant Insertion
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''fu''
| ''funa''
| heart
|-
| ''gwa''
| ''gwami''
| rock
|-
| ''kala''
| ''kalangi''
| droplet
|}
</div><div style="display:inline-block; vertical-align:top; width:30%; margin:0; line-height:normal;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Consonant Alteration
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''ngwech''
| ''ngweza''
| coast
|-
| ''súcáp''
| ''súcábe''
| pelt, fur
|-
| ''ucchijúc''
| ''ucchijúzi''
| warbler
|}
</div>

</div>

<div style="margin-top:0.4em; width:30%;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Alternate
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''kwehé''
| ''kwehía''
| fight
|-
| ''oxínen''
| ''oxína''
| lower leg
|-
| ''rajály''
| ''rajáliha''
| councilman
|-
| ''tughau''
| ''tughá''
| name
|-
| ''uké''
| ''ukéyǝi''
| parchment
|-
| ''ƨlǝ́''
| ''ƨlá''
| man
|}
</div>

There are also instances where several of these processes happen simultaneously, as below:

<div style="margin-top:0.4em; width:30%;">
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0; width:100%; white-space:nowrap; hyphens:none;"
|+
! colspan="3" | Mixed-Type
|-
! sg.
! pl.
! meaning
|-
| ''bƨch''
| ''bezí''
| flint
|-
| ''dǝ''
| ''demá''
| father
|-
| ''gégwech''
| ''gégweuzá''
| child
|-
| ''ok''
| ''ukí''
| path
|-
| ''pƨ́ch''
| ''písá''
| lip
|-
| ''rikw''
| ''riagwe''
| local shrine
|}
</div>

This stem change is largely unpredictable, though there are a few derivational suffixes (-au, -i/-ya, -(h)ǝ́, etc.) which reliably display irregularity. Additionally, there are a handful of plurales tanta, most notably nouns ending in -ea as well as words like ''xibá'' 'finger' and the name of Hárǝsi's largest city Ƨxeylá.

=== Postpositions ===
Léna is an entirely postpositional language and relies on them to express relationships between nouns. Léna's postpositions of position and motion have a high degree of semantic content and are very diverse, having many distinct postpositions for variations in spatial meaning that would be covered by only one or two terms in other languages. For example, ''ƨngi'' 'into and continuing through' VS ''ƨwé'' 'into and stopping once inside'.

==== Inflected Postpositions ====
Postpositions in Léna must agree with the nouns they modify in gender by the same prefixes that govern possession. Some examples of sentences with postpositions follow:
<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">

(14a) ''Róssǝp cháyu-si k-<u>yé</u> chie jhesó-ja pá-kwe?''<br>
    this2 goat–PL ANI.PL–on why paint–PASS.PTCP LOC–REAL.COP<br>
    /rós.sǝp ɕá.ju.si kjé ɕi.e ʑe.só.ɟ͡ʑa pá.kʷe/<br>
    'Why are there things painted on these goats?'<br>

(14b) ''Ƨkkukw ƨt-<u>tsá</u> kwohéhke de-máráu ƨl-ló ax-<u>í</u> ikongá-hóu-ná.''<br>
    Ƨkkukw HUM.SG–with together 2PL.POSS–grandmother HUM.SG.POSS–house INAN.SG–destined_for walk–INAN1.SG–FUT<br>
    /ɨk.kukʷ ɨt.t͡sá kʷo.héh.ke de.má.ráu̯ ɨl.ló a.xí i.ko.ŋá.hóu̯.ná/<br>
    'You're going to go to grandma's with Ƨkkukw.'<br>

(14c) ''Za nez-í chiy-<u>ƨxme</u> kwehu-le-ye.''<br>
    1PL tree–PL INAN.PL–underneath lie–INAN3.PL–PRES.PROG<br>
    /za ne.zí ɕi.jɨx.me kʷe.hu.le.je/<br>
    'We're lying between the trees.'<br>

(14d) ''Xoccho ƨkkágwe ak-<u>ajhe</u> ar'wo-xe.''<br>
    boat iceberg INAN.SG–past sail–PST<br>
    /xoɕ.ɕo ɨk.ká.ɡʷe a.ka.ʑe ar.wo.xe/<br>
    'The boat sailed past an iceberg.'<br>
</div>Many postpositions have irregular combining forms, such as ''wé'' 'on' in (14a) and ''í'' 'destined for, up to, until' (famously difficult to accurately translate) in (14b). Other irregular postpositions include ''ye'' 'towards', ''yák'' 'under' and ''ar'' 'from'.

==== Uninflected Postpositions ====
Postpositions, when uninflected, can also serve as semantic particles not unlike adverbs. For example,

<div style="margin-left:2em; line-height:1.5;">
(15) ''Heyuk ak-wé uyui za mé-fóf-fe.''<br>
    hall INAN-entering_into separate_from 1PL go-INAN1.SG-PST<br>
    /he.juk a.kʷe u.jui̯ za mé.fóf.fe/<br>
    'We went out into the hall to talk.'<br>
</div>
Here, the uninflected postposition ''uyui'' 'separate from, apart, outside of' serves as a particle reinforcing that the conversation will occur privately, separate from that which is presumably going on inside the room.

=== Verbs ===
Verbs in Léna are easily the most expansive and complex word class.
</div>

Western Léna

2026-07-14T23:12:12Z

Omaatje: /* Vowels */

{{Infobox language|country=[[Hárǝsi]], [[Cékwely Kwojongoka]] (unofficial minority language)|family=[[Hakhpha]]|lang-code=GIG|name=Western Léna|scripts=Latin Alphabet<br> Cyrillic Alphabet|number=unknown|demonym=Ijhenggínga, Lénga Offéstǝnóm}}
Western Léna, natively ''Ijhenggínga'', is a Western Hakhpha language or dialect spoken in on the western coast of Hárǝsi. It is hotly debated whether this is a separate language from [[Léna Language|Standard Léna]], though external linguists tend to conclude that they are closely-related (but ultimately not mutually intelligible) languages. Ijhenggínga is primarily spoken in the [[Cékwely Kwojongoka]] (Ijh.: ''Qunjongok aihá Céqele'').

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
Western Léna has 24 phonemic consonants, 6 less than Standard Léna. It is notable for its uvular series.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
!Labial
!Alveolar
!Palatal
!Velar
!Uvular
!Glottal
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Nasal
|m
|n
|
| colspan="2" |ŋ ~ ɴ
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Plosive
|p b
|t
|
|k g
|q
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Affricate
|
|
|c͡ɕ ɟ͡ʑ
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Fricative
|f
|s z
|ɕ ʑ
|
|χ ʁ
|h
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Liquid
| colspan="1" |ʋ
|r
|j
| colspan="1" |(w)
|
|
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Lateral
|
|l
|
|
|
|
|}
/q/ is most often pronounced [χ] when not in word-initial position.

=== Vowels ===
Western Léna has 6 phonemic vowels, one less than standard Léna, having fused /ɨ/ and /ǝ/ together. Additionally, the backed /ɑ/ is present rather than the fronted /a/ seen in most other dialects of Léna, and the high-mid vowels /e, o/ present in Standard Léna are phonemically low-mid /ɛ, ɔ/ here, though this is a change that has been spreading to the rest of Hárǝsi.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
!Front
!Central
!Back
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |High
|i
| rowspan="2" |ǝ
|u
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Mid
|ɛ
|ɔ
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Low
|
|
|ɑ
|}
Western Léna is notable for containing far fewer diphthongs than Standard Léna, even in plurals (see below).

=== Syllable Structure and Phonotactics ===
There fairly few differences between the overall phonotactics of Standard Léna and Ijhenggínga. There is a stronger prevalence of nasal codas and more consonant clusters, but it is largely comparable. There is also no restriction on fricatives clustering with unlike fricatives.

== Orthography ==
The writing system for Western Léna is based on that of Standard Léna, with some small differences.
{| style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; border:none;"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="width:20%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-right:4%;"
|+
!Ijhenggínga
(Latin)
!IPA
!Ijhenggínga
(Latin)
!IPA
|-
|a
|/ɑ/
|l
|/l/
|-
|b
|/b/
|m
|/m/
|-
|c
|/c͡ɕ/
|n
|/n/
|-
|ch
|/ɕ/
|ng
|/ŋ/
|-
|e
|/ɛ/
|o
|/ɔ/
|-
|ǝ
|/ǝ/
|p
|/p/
|-
|f
|/f/
|q
|/q/
|-
|g
|/g/
|r
|/r/
|-
|gh
|/ʁ/
|s
|/s/
|-
|h
|/h/
|t
|/t/
|-
|i
|/i/
|u
|/u/
|-
|j
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|w
|/ʋ/
|-
|jh
|/ʑ/
|y
|/j/
|-
|k
|/k/
|z
|/z/
|-
|kh
|/χ/
! colspan="2" |
|}
| style="width:48%; padding:0;" |
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Ijhenggínga
(Cyrillic)
!IPA
!Ijhenggínga
(Cyrillic)
!IPA
|-
|а
|/ɑ/
|н
|/n/
|-
|б
|/b/
|ң
|/ŋ/
|-
|в
|/ʋ/
|о
|/ɔ/
|-
|г
|/ʁ/
|п
|/p/
|-
|ґ
|/g/
|р
|/r/
|-
|е
|/ɛ/
|с
|/s/
|-
|ж
|/ʑ/
|т
|/t/
|-
|џ
|/ɟ͡ʑ/
|у / ў
|/u/
|-
|з
|/z/
|ф
|/f/
|-
|и / й
|/i/
|х
|/χ/
|-
|і / ј
|/j/
|ҳ
|/h/
|-
|к
|/k/
|ш
|/ɕ/
|-
|қ
|/q/
|ч
|/c͡ɕ/
|-
|л
|/l/
|ъ
|/ǝ/
|-
|м
|/m/
! colspan="2" |
|}
|}
Cyrillic is used for Western Léna much more often than it is used for Standard Léna, likely in an effort to distinguish it from the standard language.