About the project

Senatola is an invented language, a constructed language. It aims to be as logical and easy to learn as possible, and to sound soft and melodic. The name is itself a Senatola word: speak (sen) + clear (tol), the clear language.

The principles

No exceptions. Every rule always applies.
One spelling, one pronunciation. Every word can be pronounced correctly the first time you read it.
A soft sound. Every syllable is consonant + vowel: namalima, Senatola.
Related ideas share a root. If you know nam (eat), you understand nama (food), namara (eater) and nameva (dining room).
What is frequent is short. The most important little words have one syllable, frequent words two.
One idea, one word. There are never two words for the same thing.
Paraphrase before a new rule. A simple, longer sentence is better than an extra rule.

How the language is made

Senatola is developed by Marc Scheuer. Every rule is recorded with its date and reasoning in a decision log; new rules are checked against all existing ones so that no exception arises. Work on proposals, checks, lessons and translations is done with the help of Claude, an AI by Anthropic. Marc makes the decisions.

With every change, a checking program tests all words, word formations, example sentences, lessons and translations against the rules. Only when it finds no error is this website rebuilt and uploaded.

What you will find here

Learn: lessons in five parts, with flashcards and quizzes
Rules at a glance and the alphabet with a syllable chart
Dictionary with formation, stress and examples for every word
Texts: public-domain fairy tales, fables, poems and Bible passages, translated sentence by sentence
Practice: quiz yourself on words and sentences

Senatola is still growing: new words, lessons and texts are added all the time.

Get involved

Questions, mistakes or ideas? Write to senatola@mc4r.at. All content is licensed under CC BY 4.0: you may use and share it freely if you credit “Senatola, Marc Scheuer” as the source (see Legal notice).