Tono is a constructed language.
Version: 4.
Stability: Approaching stability.
Contents:
Tono uses 19 letters:
The names of the vowels are the same as the pronunciation. For the consonants add an “a”:
The pronunciation is as follows, precise pronunciation is not needed:
Every word is stressed on the second to last syllable. Compounds are stressed on the last syllable.
For any reason, you may choose to elide the pronunciation of “w”, “u”, once per word (compounds are one word). You may not elide “u” if it is preceded by “w”. Some examples:
The order is subject, verb, object (SVO). Let’s see a simple example:
Every word works as any type, the type is determined by the position in the sentence and a suffix. Verbs are marked by the suffix “n”; “kuhan” means to eat. Before the verb we have a subject which is a noun or something that works like one; in this case the name Leno. “kuha” after the verb is the object, which is a noun or something that works like a noun: “kuha” means food.
In Tono, the verb and noun are central. Everything else is treated as a modifier. Depending on what is being modified—a whole sentence, a noun, a verb, another modifier—they are marked differently.
To describe nouns, use any word before a noun or something that works like one:
You can also use more than one modifier by just chaining them:
The word “wa” can be used to establish any type of context for the sentences that follow:
You may establish long and complex contexts with full sentences. You may also establish multiple contexts for one sentence.
The word “wa” followed by another word sets the mood of the following sentences. This can be at the start or end of the sentence, but it should always be split from the main sentence with a comma (,):
In the specific case of adverbs that modify the verb, they can be before the verb:
Do prefer using “wa” at the start of the sentence.
Verbs are denoted by the “n” suffix. Tense and aspect is set by using “wa” and one or more words. If the tense has been set in a previous sentence, it does not need to be set in a future sentence if it matches. For example:
The second sentence is also in the past with just one usage of “wa” in the first sentence. Optionally, for emphasis you may set the tense in every sentence.
Do feel free to simplify tenses if coming from another language.
Simple present:
Present progressive:
Simple past:
Future:
Imperative:
In general, prefer using simple tenses. But if needed, you may use the more complex versions.
Past progressive:
Present perfect simple:
Present perfect progressive:
Past perfect simple:
Past perfect progressive:
Future progressive:
Future perfect simple:
Future perfect progressive:
Others:
As usual, “wa” marks a modifier as a preposition. In this case, it can be used before or after the sentence, or even before or after the word being modified.
When listing things, if the relation is obvious, not really important or left ambiguous for some reason, you may just not use a conjunction:
Notice there is no “and” nor any type of context marking the relation between the two object that are owned by Leno. This rule is followed by anything that would use conjunctions in other languages: sentences, nouns, adjectives, adverbs.
Like many things in Tono, conjunctions are just like any other word, for joining things they are used as context and follow the same rules:
When using words that denote a sentiment, “wa” sets the mood for the following sentences. One can see them as emoji:
You can mix and match for more complex emotions:
Tono allows setting words and meanings in the middle of speech. This is useful when working with uncommon, foreign, technical words. Any pronounceable (and writable) word (or more than one) may be set. Let’s see an example:
In a sentence like this, you are saying that “yutu” means whatever is after the colon (:). You can use any word in any language after the colon (:). You may also use full and complex descriptions in Tono. You may see it as a mini dictionary that is valid during the duration of that conversation (or text). You may set as many words you like and you may even redefine Tono words. You may also use words in any language before the colon. Useful for foreign names that use letters that are not in Tono.
To ask a simple yes or no question, just set the question context with “wa vefi”:
Notice that in Tono no question mark is needed. Some languages change the intonation or pitch when saying a question, in Tono it is not needed, but also it is not forbidden.
For open questions, “vefi” modifies other words:
You can always use the context version for questions. They even follow the same rules so you can add “wa vefi…” at the end of the sentence or in the middle.
These are the numbers:
They work like any other word in Tono; just modify a noun to establish the amount:
Bigger numbers are read digit by digit:
You can also use scientific notation for numbers with too many zeroes:
Tono uses a few symbols for punctuation:
Tono may have parts of sentences elided if it is clear from context, a shorter version is required, the author or speaker may want to be ambiguous or any other reason.
You may remove the marker “wa”. This includes any usage of “wa”.
You may not need to specify the tense.
You may elide the subject.
You may also elide the object.
If a noun is clear, you may elide it and just use modifiers in the sentence.
Feel free to mix and match.
Compound words are a way for anyone to create new words using base words from the dictionary. Compounds behave like any other word in Tono. To make a new compound: Take the main concept and put it at the end of the new word. Prepend modifying words using a dot (.). The new word is stressed on the last syllable. Let’s see some examples:
There are some concepts that work with either order on the words. In that case just choose one. When making compounds, if you feel like the concept is not fully clear, you may set it. Finally, do prefer compounds already in the dictionary over making new ones.
Tono can be mixed with other languages. You may use Tono words and grammar features in other languages. Feel free to customize them as you see fit.
Feel free to use words from other languages in Tono. For this you have two options.
To transform a foreign word into Tono follow these rules:
Some examples:
Given that this transformation relies on pronunciation and that may vary from place to place, there is no one correct transformation for words that have many variants. If one pronunciation is clearly—clearly—more used, transform that one. If not, just pick one. There can be more than one word per meaning.
Map for sounds to Tono letters when transforming foreign words into Tono.
Tono does not have pronouns. Instead, you always use the name of the thing you are talking about. If you don’t have enough information to form a sentence, you can use “fene” as a universal placeholder:
If you have some information on what could be you are talking about, for example a person, you may use a noun that describes it:
Abbreviations in Tono are written in either all lowercase or the original case of the source language:
Feel free to set any abbreviations.
Lastly, there are no rules for building abbreviations in Tono. Feel free to build them however you like but do prefer ones that follow the consonant-vowel rule so they are easy to say.
Every verb is both intransitive and transitive (and, if possible, with more than one object). The transitivity is the result of an object being present in the sentence:
Remember that due to elision, a verb may be missing its object. In that case, it would still be transitive:
For multiple transitivity use context:
I would like to thank the awesome Mini language and its creator S.C. Gruget for inspiring me to work on Tono.