Kelenala

You may have noticed that the name of this language has changed—specifically, a -nala was added. This is because there is an actual language called Kele. Further, it appears I inadvertantly confused someone who was looking for information on the Austronesian (not Bantu like I originally thought. We all make mistakes) language called Kele. Thus, the name has changed.

The New and Improved Kelenala is the product of an idea I had while teaching a De-CAL at Berkeley in which the students used a word list to create an impromptu pidgin over the course of the semester (here's a link to the Babel Text they created, in case you're interested). The word list had no grammar; the students had to supply it themselves. While this was going on, I always wished that I could get in there and help create. But, I was the one running the experiment; I couldn't contaminate it. So, I came up with the idea for Kelenala. I created a basic word list (see below) from which I was going to create the creole, and then I, well, created it. The design principles were: (1) Not to create any new word forms; (2) to create a grammar that reflected a real creole; and (3) to have fun with it. And that I did. So, below you'll find the original word list I used, and what I did with it. Enjoy!

This page was last modified on Thursday, August 2, 2018.
This website was last modified on .
This page can be viewed normally, as a milk or dark chocolate bar, in sleek black and white, or in many other ways!
All languages, fonts, pictures, and other materials copyright © 2003- David J. Peterson.

free counters