Lerle

Lerle is a constructed language (conlang) created for linguistic experimentation and collaborative storytelling. Originating in online hobbyist communities in the 2010s, lerle is designed to be expressive yet approachable for learners, with a focus on regular pronunciation, transparent morphology, and relatively simple syntax. The language has a dedicated but small audience and published reference materials, dictionaries, and example texts that are used by enthusiasts worldwide.

Phonology of lerle features a modest Latin-based inventory. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u, with occasional nasalized variants in some dialects. Consonants include p, t, k, m, n, l, r, s, h, f, and j, with occasional digraphs such as ch and sh. Syllables are typically CV or CVC, and stress falls on the penultimate syllable in most words. The language is not tonal.

Grammatically, lerle is primarily head-final and agglutinative. The default order is SOV, with flexibility for focus. Nouns inflect for number and case by suffixes (nominative, accusative, locative, genitive). Verbs encode tense, aspect, and mood through suffixes and auxiliary particles; evidentiality is expressed via particles. Adjectives follow nouns and show concord in number.

Orthography uses a Latin-based alphabet with a few diacritics to mark stress, vowel quality, and vowel length. Digraphs such as ch and sh are common, and optional diacritics aid disambiguation in long texts. Punctuation mirrors conventions in contemporary conlangs, with period, comma, and quotation marks.

Lerle has periodic online publications, language-learning guides, and a growing lexicon contributed by volunteers. While it has no official speakers outside its creator community, learners use it for practice, translation exercises, and fictional world-building.