Conlang lesson : Deyryck

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Threr
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Conlang lesson : Deyryck

Post by Threr »

Hi there! You've probably never heard of my conlang (Deyryck) for I merely presented it. Yet I'm starting these lessons.
I'm doing so because I have time to do so and because I actually want to train my English by practicing it. So if you intend to read me and see mistakes that I could avoid, please tell me! And, of course, I'd be glad if you could do the exercises too. (Who wouldn't? ^^)
Oh and if you have suggestions about the actual lessons, or if you just want to tell me that this is useless, well I'm listening too. xD

So...

Lesson 1 : Phonology

Introduction :

As this is the first lesson, this is an introduction for both the language and this lesson.
Deyryck is a language that, in my conworld, is meant to be talked in a whole universe. It is supposed to be a very easy to learn language, yet I've been told it wasn't, so let's put this information aside. The first lessons will be there to explain the very main principle in the language. As you'll follow them, you can see that many of the thing that you were told in the previous lessons can actually change a lot. I believe this is necessary in order to truly understand the way the language works.
Now, this lesson will talk about the Deyryck's phonology. It will not show the writing system, just the usual transcription on the keyboard. This isn't a very hard lesson. Although it might be hard to understand me.
Even though this isn't the real writing system of the Deyryck, I'll refer to it with the same name : Ryck.


Consonants :

In Deyryck consonants are divided into five groups. There's the main group : the strong-ones. And then the four other groups : the weak-ones, the weakest-ones, the accesses and the auxiliaries.
A consonant from one of those four groups is always belonging to a strong-one. Example : Z (/z/) is the weak-one of the S (/s/).

For these two groups (strong and weak) we have the following characters :
  • Strong : R /ʁ/ ; Weak : L /l/
  • Strong : S /s/ ; Weak : Z /z/
  • Strong : F /f/ ; Weak : V /v/
  • Strong : T /t/ ; Weak : D /d/
  • Strong : P /p/ ; Weak : B /b/
  • Strong : K /k/ ; Weak : G /g/
  • Strong : C /ʃ/ ; Weak : J /ʒ/
  • Strong : M /m/ ; Weak : none
  • Strong : N /n/ ; Weak : none
  • Strong : Y /j/ ; Weak : none
  • Strong : H /h/ ; Weak : none
Now, the weakest-ones and the accesses. They're basically just other characters. We'll see why they're in separate categories later, for now let's just consider them as other strong-ones.

Here they are :
  • µ /x/ (access of the R)
  • W /w/ (weakest-one of the R)
  • Q /ð/ (weakest-one of the T)
(There are more of them, but they're useless for now)

And finally the auxiliaries. These are only a matter of dialog precision. Each consonant has in fact many ways of being pronounced. An auxiliary of a consonant is another way to pronounce it.
Here are some of them (it is useless to remind the character used to represent them) :
  • £ /r/ auxiliary of the R.
  • ç /θ/ auxiliary of the S.
  • :w /ɹ/ auxiliary of the W.
Well, that was the only difficulty in the lesson. Make sure you've understand everything that have been said and you're good to go.

Vowels :

There's nothing to say, here they are :
  • a : /a/
  • â : /ɑ/
  • o : /o/
  • ô : /ɔ/
  • i : /i/
  • î : /ɪ/
  • u : /y/
  • û : /u/
  • ù : /ʊ/
  • é : /e/
  • è : /ɛ/
  • e : /ø , ə/
  • ê : /œ/
  • à : /ɑ̃/
  • ò : /ɔ̃/
  • ì : /ɛ̃ , œ̃/
Now, how to write Deyryck in Deyryck? This way : "Dèyrik". You might have a better idea of how to pronounce it now.

Other rules :

You know almost everything, but there are some little rules to know. They're about a phenomenon that occurs when two identical consonants are next to each others.
If they're strong-ones, the first one will be pronounced /t/, if they were Ts it is pronounced /k/ instead.
If they're weak-ones,, the first one will be pronounced /d/, if they were Ds it is pronounced /g/ instead.

Examples :

ékko is pronounced /etko/.
étto is pronounced /ekto/.
ézzo is pronounced /edzo/.
éddo is pronounced /egdo/.

And that's it for this lesson.


Exercises :

I will try to make exercises more and more consequent as lessons goes. But, you don't have to do them entirely. (Well you don't have to them at all, but you got my point... at least I hope so^^)

Try to write the following English sentences using the Ryck.
  • I believe there's a better world waiting for us and I'll be waiting for you there.
  • Don't try to pull the mushrooms, they're toxic!
  • Don't you dare talking to me this way!
  • Dad is home.
  • No one can match me.
  • Oh look, a butterfly!
Example :

I won't go with you tonight.
Ây wònt go wiq yû tûnayt.


Write the pronunciation of the following Deyryck's words using the IPA.

  • kéno
  • ékto
  • ramassé
  • àgaqi
  • èlôja
  • alissiksitahas

Hope, it wasn't too bad! :p
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Re: Conlang lesson : Deyryck

Post by Jonnyboi17 »

It was really good, I hope to see the next lesson!
Hanerawi dulekiay
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Threr
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Re: Conlang lesson : Deyryck

Post by Threr »

Merry Christmas!! (Just in case~)
Ah feels like it's been a whole year since the first lesson... Oh wait!

Lesson 2 : Composition

Introduction :

In deyryck, the composition is almost the same thing as the syntax. So why do I call it differently? First of all, because I try to use the words that are used in the deyryck language instead of ours. And also because the way it works is a little different.
So how does it work? It's simply an addition of the following "zones" : the context, the target, the heart, the goal and, possibly, the reaction.
Let's see in details what these are.

This might not be easy. ^^

Context (optional) :


The context is an optional zone indicating the context of the action.

Here's an exemple in English :

No matter what, if you try to help during his exams, I'm sure he'll be happy for a long time.

As you can see, most of the sentence is part of the context here. The part at the end is a leveled context, it's a context for an action that isn't the main action.

You might want to try :
  1. When I hear music, I just can't help dancing.
  2. I want a rabbit for Christmas.
  3. This lesson is in English.
  4. My brother was annoying yesterday.
  5. I hope you enjoyed the meal at the restaurant.
  6. Why do you cry every time he leaves?
  7. I can't hear when I eat.
  8. If you look at him this way, he'll think you're weird.
  9. What a pain!
  10. As your father, I should listen to you.
  11. Once you're done, come and talk to the one who was there before you.
Spoiler:
When I hear music, I just can't help dancing. (you might also add just, it will depend on the deyryck sentence)
I want a rabbit for Christmas.
This lesson is in English. (no context here)
My brother was annoying yesterday.
I hope you enjoyed the meal at the restaurant. (It's a leveled context!)
Why do you cry every time he leaves? (If you can't see why would "why" be part of the context, just admit it for now and wait for the lesson that will explain why, or insist for information if you really want to know.)
I can't hear when I eat.
If you look at him this way, he'll think you're weird.
What a pain! (this is a tough one, most of the time, it will be a context. Yet sometimes it'll be the heart)
As your father, I should listen to you.
Once you're done, come and talk to the one who was there before you.

Target (optional) :

The target is an optional zone indicating the target of the action.

Here's an exemple in English :

I'm talking to you.

There might be leveled targets as well. What's new is that there are contextual target. It's simply a context inner target :

While you're on your way home, please call me.



You might want to try :
  1. When I hear music, I just can't help dancing.
  2. He's mad at me.
  3. This lesson is in English.
  4. It's raining over Paris.
  5. I hope you enjoyed the meal at the restaurant.
  6. It's becoming powerful.
  7. I can't hear when I eat.
  8. My friends are weird with my mother.
  9. Don't worry about me.
  10. As your father, I should listen to you.
  11. Do you think I'm pretty?
Spoiler:
When I hear music, I just can't help dancing. (You might have include "dancing". You're not totally wrong, you'll soon see why it's not.)
He's mad at me.
This lesson is in English. (no target here)
It's raining over Paris.
I hope you enjoyed the meal at the restaurant.
It's becoming powerful. (no target here)
I can't hear when I eat. (no target here)
My friends are weird with my mother.
Don't worry about me.
As your father, I should listen to you.
Do you think I'm pretty? (no target)

Heart :

The heart is the essential part of the sentence. It's the heart that contain the action of the sentence. In deyryck, the subject of the action is basically an adjective to the action itself. So it is part of the heart.
So, most of the time, the heart is the subject of the sentence plus all the verbs.

Example :

You and I are happy to help you.

As you can see, most of the sentence is part of the heart here.
There might have been some answers in the previous exercises that you found weird are inappropriate. That's because the heart can take a lot of forms.
Especially when it come to the verb "to be". You almost never use this verb in deyryck, which means that every sentence containing it includes both this verb and what comes after in the heart.

Example :

I'm a raccoon.

You can also have contextual heart, such as :

When you leave, the door often stays open.

And the leveled heart is a little different but easy to understand :

I want you to go.


You might want to try :

  1. When I hear music, I just can't help dancing.
  2. He's mad at me.
  3. This lesson is in English.
  4. It's raining over Paris.
  5. I hope you enjoyed the meal at the restaurant.
  6. It's becoming powerful.
  7. I can't hear when I eat.
  8. My friends are weird with my mother.
  9. Don't worry about me.
  10. As your father, I should listen to you.
  11. Do you think I'm pretty?
Spoiler:
When I hear music, I just can't help dancing. (You may not include "just")
He's mad at me.
This lesson is in English.
It's raining over Paris.
I hope you enjoyed the meal at the restaurant.
It's becoming powerful.
I can't hear when I eat.
My friends are weird with my mother.
Don't worry about me.
As your father, I should listen to you.
Do you think I'm pretty?


Goal :

If you understood every other part of the composition you might wonder what's left. Yet, the goal is not an optional part of the composition.
In fact, a correct sentence in deyryck is supposed to be at least heart+goal. So what is it?
The goal is something, at the end of the sentence, indicating the goal you have in saying this or the goal of the action itself (rarely). Most of the time it'll juste be "a".
"A" is a neutral goal indicating you're saying this sentence simply in order to say it. You don't really clarify any goal. But you will see that there are many many different possible goals.
For now, let's just say that the goal is the ponctuation of the sentence.



Reaction (optional) :

Reaction in an optional and quite rare part of the composition. It is introduced by marrying the goal (which means nothing to you right now, that's normal).
It's there to introduce the reaction to the action of what's out of the action. There's no proper equivalent in English.



Composing :

Now that we know how the composition of the sentence work, I'll take an English sentence and rearrange the words in deyryck way :


While you weren't there, I tried to understand her.

While there you weren't, her understand I tried to.


I'm not giving any exercises for this as it is pointless once we'll work with deyryck words.
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Re: Conlang lesson : Deyryck

Post by Threr »

Lesson 3 : Components

Introduction :

Deyryck doesn't make differentiation between verbs, adjectives, nouns etc... I used to refer some words this way a long time ago in order to help people understand their use, but they shouldn't be referred this way. "Words", which we'll refer to as components, will be divided into component types. These component types are also divided into levels. I will not explained these in detail right now, but here is the global idea : the lower the level is, the less precise a component is. This lesson will cover rapidly the most common of the component types.


Keys (level 1) :

Keys are really important in deyryck as they can be used to dynamically create new components. They represent idea to their lowest possible precision. For exemple "vaalz" is the key for "sky", but, depending on the context, it might as well refer to the roof or to someone's boss. Because of that, at first, we will avoid using keys.

You can only identify them by not being another component which isn't a little convenient at first. Sometimes they'll be followed by an apostrophe to make it clearer, but there is no specific rule about it. There are different types of keys. The primary keys are more easily recognized as they always consist in a combination of three characters (LAG, RAM, KEN, ...).


Filian words (level 3) :

Filian words are the most common components you will find and are quite easy to understand and recognize. Their basic form always end with an "a". Contrary to other types of component, you can precise if you're talking about an action, a description, a person or something.

Example:

Rama: action => to look at, to be looking at, to watch, to be watching
Rami: description => watching, watched
Ramam: thing => look, face
Ramis: person => public, watcher, guard, someone who watch

Now, you might be thinking that "a" is the ending for both the imprecise form and the action form. Well you're correct, there is no distinction. Fact is, the more your way of speaking indicates you prefer using precise form, the more the one you're talking to will assume you're using the action form.

"Pronouns": (level 4)

They're not exactly pronouns but they'll assume all of their roles. There isn't much of them so I'll list them here :
  • I: I, me, my, mine
  • Ti: You (thou), you, your, yours
  • Aro: He/She, him/her, his/her, his/hers
  • 'Cèr: We, us, our, ours
  • Lo: You, you, your, yours
  • Arès: They, them, their, theirs
  • : It (impersonal)
  • Idéta: It (thing)
  • Mi: Explained later
Okay! Now we have almost everything we need for our first sentence.

Goals (level 4) :

I'll cover only two goals here : a and o.
As a reminder, goal is the part of the sentence where you explain why you're saying it. A goal component is component that is only meant to be used in this part.

Goal A: It is simply there to indicate you finished your sentence and didn't want to precise why you said what you said or that you said it without any peculiar intention.

Goal O: It is there to precise what you said is part of something else and that something else should be expected. It's often translated as a simple comma.



Fact (level ?) :

Okay, this one might sound a little bit odd. We will try to avoid the word sentence in deyryck, we will talk about "facts" and these are actually considered a type of component. The level of this component will depend on its composition.
We've already seen enough component to create our first "fact" : Aro irama a (I'm watching him.)
As you can see "aro"(he) is the target of the heart "irama"(I'm watching) and our goal is nothing.

Let's use the filian words "métapa" (yesterday) to add a context to our fact :
Métapa aro irama a
You might have been expecting :
Métapam aro irama a
This would also be correct.



Exercises :

You might want to try it for yourselves, if so (vocabulary at the end):

Try and translate these into English:
  • Ti ilaka a
  • Aro tirama o gûmyoki a
  • Séda idajarki a
  • Lo aromaya a
  • ôr'tomata ibéléna a
  • Idéta isari a
Then translate these into Deyryck:
  • He's here.
  • I'm waiting you here.
  • She loves me.
  • He's looking at me, I'm watching you.
  • I'm eating a tomato at home.
  • I'm watching you waiting for them.
Answers aren't necessarily obvious, use your intuition. ^^

Vocabulary (themes and basic forms only are given):
  • laka : love
  • myoka : obvious
  • séda : here
  • maya : wait
  • béléna : eat
  • ôr'tomata : tomato
  • sara : fear
  • dajarka : home
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Re: Conlang lesson : Deyryck

Post by GamerGeek »

So, will the next lesson be in 2018?
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Re: Conlang lesson : Deyryck

Post by Threr »

GamerGeek wrote:So, will the next lesson be in 2018?
Hahaha, so sorry about that. So much happened!
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