Welcome to my conlang

If you're new to these arts, this is the place to ask "stupid" questions and get directions!
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

This is the more evolved version of my writing system. In Mongolian there are different symbols for if the sound starts at a word, is in the middle, or ends one. for Mine, there's only two for each, and they're extremely similar. I have a question on your opinion for the characters for /t/, /w/, /j/, /θ/, and /ɛ/. do they look ok? I feel like they don't quite fin... what's your opinion?

I've also got an image for my Phonotactics and text examples.
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

Very slightly edited, and now on only one paper, this is everything you need to know about my writing system. Not the language itself, just the writing system that it uses.
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Ebon
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Ebon »

Taurenzine wrote:Very slightly edited, and now on only one paper, this is everything you need to know about my writing system. Not the language itself, just the writing system that it uses.
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I'm digging it. Really beautiful script.
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Frislander
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Frislander »

Ebon wrote:
Taurenzine wrote:Very slightly edited, and now on only one paper, this is everything you need to know about my writing system. Not the language itself, just the writing system that it uses.
Spoiler:
Image
I'm digging it. Really beautiful script.
Yeah, totally. I wonder whether it would look even nicer if done with a brush pen, à la Mongolian.
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Nachtuil »

I agree that what you're making here is starting to look quite lovely. I wonder if for the comma diacritic you couldn't use an angular dash to further differentiate it from the quotation mark diacritics.
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

Nachtuil wrote:I agree that what you're making here is starting to look quite lovely. I wonder if for the comma diacritic you couldn't use an angular dash to further differentiate it from the quotation mark diacritics.
I agree. but what I'm not quite sure about is if it should be written with a brush like in Mongolian... I feel like it could be written with a calligraphy pen like those found in Arabic, or something like that. however I don't have the tools to test how that would look or which one I would prefer. and although I do have a brush (one is korean, and on is japanese, although both seem to have been bought in america) I don't have the skills to write something with them that could be considered as a contestant for the battle between writing utensils.... so I guess im just indecisive right now? who knows, I might end up loving the brush.
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elemtilas
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by elemtilas »

Taurenzine wrote:
Nachtuil wrote:I agree that what you're making here is starting to look quite lovely. I wonder if for the comma diacritic you couldn't use an angular dash to further differentiate it from the quotation mark diacritics.
I agree. but what I'm not quite sure about is if it should be written with a brush like in Mongolian... I feel like it could be written with a calligraphy pen like those found in Arabic, or something like that. however I don't have the tools to test how that would look or which one I would prefer. and although I do have a brush (one is korean, and on is japanese, although both seem to have been bought in america) I don't have the skills to write something with them that could be considered as a contestant for the battle between writing utensils.... so I guess im just indecisive right now? who knows, I might end up loving the brush.
Just keep at it! Just like when you were in grammar school and had to write letters over and over again on that horrible newsprint-like paper with the lines an inch apart. Tincture of time & pills of practice! You'll soon not only get the hang of the nibs & brushes, but will also be able to determine which tool, if either of them, is better suited for the script.

If you have any access to Ebay or Amazon or have a Michaels or B&N near you or any kind of halfway decent art supply shop or uni book store, you can easily obtain an el cheapo calligraphy pen, ink and different size and configuration nibs for it. As for brushes, they also make brush-pens --- bristleless brushes you don't have to dip in ink. That's what I used for the Queranaran tree-script. I do have a set of actual brushes, but haven't had a go with them yet.

Just looking at your letterforms, I'd hazard the guess that brushes will probably not be the best way to go. Too many fine little circlets & squiggles. A calligraphic pen might make this script pop, however.
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

elemtilas wrote:
Taurenzine wrote:
Nachtuil wrote:I agree that what you're making here is starting to look quite lovely. I wonder if for the comma diacritic you couldn't use an angular dash to further differentiate it from the quotation mark diacritics.
I agree. but what I'm not quite sure about is if it should be written with a brush like in Mongolian... I feel like it could be written with a calligraphy pen like those found in Arabic, or something like that. however I don't have the tools to test how that would look or which one I would prefer. and although I do have a brush (one is korean, and on is japanese, although both seem to have been bought in america) I don't have the skills to write something with them that could be considered as a contestant for the battle between writing utensils.... so I guess im just indecisive right now? who knows, I might end up loving the brush.
Just keep at it! Just like when you were in grammar school and had to write letters over and over again on that horrible newsprint-like paper with the lines an inch apart. Tincture of time & pills of practice! You'll soon not only get the hang of the nibs & brushes, but will also be able to determine which tool, if either of them, is better suited for the script.

If you have any access to Ebay or Amazon or have a Michaels or B&N near you or any kind of halfway decent art supply shop or uni book store, you can easily obtain an el cheapo calligraphy pen, ink and different size and configuration nibs for it. As for brushes, they also make brush-pens --- bristleless brushes you don't have to dip in ink. That's what I used for the Queranaran tree-script. I do have a set of actual brushes, but haven't had a go with them yet.

Just looking at your letterforms, I'd hazard the guess that brushes will probably not be the best way to go. Too many fine little circlets & squiggles. A calligraphic pen might make this script pop, however.
I completely agree. thanks for the motivation, If I ever make a conscript with a brush, I'll make sure to practice using it. and good luck with your language ! [:D]
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

I've started to dislike some sounds in my language, so from here on out, I've gotten rid of /ɾ̥/, and /r/. I'm keeping /ɾ/, and /r̥/.
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mira
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by mira »

Taurenzine wrote:I've started to dislike some sounds in my language, so from here on out, I've gotten rid of /ɾ̥/, and /r/. I'm keeping /ɾ/, and /r̥/.
Cool. I'm a big fan of /ɾ/, especially after unvoiced plosives, /p/ in particular, which is interesting as I'm not a big fan of /p/ by itself.
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

OTʜᴇB wrote:
Taurenzine wrote:I've started to dislike some sounds in my language, so from here on out, I've gotten rid of /ɾ̥/, and /r/. I'm keeping /ɾ/, and /r̥/.
Cool. I'm a big fan of /ɾ/, especially after unvoiced plosives, /p/ in particular, which is interesting as I'm not a big fan of /p/ by itself.
I can see where you're coming from with that
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

So I am a total newbie when it comes to grammar and things like that, so I'm trying to get verb tenses out of the way. Because I'm such a noob, I just want to know if this even makes sense. I mean, does it? or do I have tenses all wrong? please help...
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mira
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by mira »

Taurenzine wrote:So I am a total newbie when it comes to grammar and things like that, so I'm trying to get verb tenses out of the way. Because I'm such a noob, I just want to know if this even makes sense. I mean, does it? or do I have tenses all wrong? please help...
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This looks good. I remember when I saw it like this. It works, but if you really look into it then there is so much you can do. What you're looking for is "Tense and aspect". Tense defined past, present, future as you'd expect, but aspect defines how the tense is used in a way. For instance:
Present Simple = I do
Present Progressive = I am doing
Present Perfect = I have done
Past Perfect = I had done
The Wikipedia page on aspects is very useful and outlines most of them with an example. I suggest going through it, reading what they all are, and picking the ones you see useful for the language.
Good luck [:)]
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

OTʜᴇB wrote:
Taurenzine wrote:So I am a total newbie when it comes to grammar and things like that, so I'm trying to get verb tenses out of the way. Because I'm such a noob, I just want to know if this even makes sense. I mean, does it? or do I have tenses all wrong? please help...
Spoiler:
Image
This looks good. I remember when I saw it like this. It works, but if you really look into it then there is so much you can do. What you're looking for is "Tense and aspect". Tense defined past, present, future as you'd expect, but aspect defines how the tense is used in a way. For instance:
Present Simple = I do
Present Progressive = I am doing
Present Perfect = I have done
Past Perfect = I had done
The Wikipedia page on aspects is very useful and outlines most of them with an example. I suggest going through it, reading what they all are, and picking the ones you see useful for the language.
Good luck [:)]
Thank you, this is very helpful :)
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

So there is one big issue that I have recently discovered about my writing system. when written out, even a simple sentence can seem as though its quite a bit longer than its English equivalent. My assumption is that my characters are too large in terms of length from top to bottom (as it is a top to bottom, then right to left system) so it's just basically... too big. I mean in English it's quite a bit easier. the entire alphabet is made of of in general, lots of vertical lines. and since those lines are perpendicular to the direction of text it gets east. like piling up a whole bunch of lines next to each other. but for my language it just gets long. So i'm gonna try and make it simpler... Wish me luck I dunno how this is gonna turn out. As an example, I'll give you some images. they both say the same thing, but one is quite a bit longer than the other.
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mira
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by mira »

English:
The fox Jumps
Malayan (Google's attempt at it):
കുറുക്കൻ ജമ്പുകളിൽ
Trad. Chinese (Google again):
狐狸跳

Writing systems don't need to be short. Chinese is very efficient, Malayan isn't so much, but I'm sure they both do their job very well. I think what you have is really good and doesn't need shortening. Move on to another thing for now. Maybe show us some vocab or basic grammar for us to be interested in. Then once the language starts to function, any required changes to the writing system will likely reveal themselves.
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

Thank you, that made me feel quite a bit better about what I was creating. I'll start working on grammar and stuff like that ASAP.
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Sglod »

OTʜᴇB wrote: Malayan (Google's attempt at it):
കുറുക്കൻ ജമ്പുകളിൽ
That's Malayalam, spoken in Southern India. The Malayan languages are part of the Austronesian family and spoken in Southeast Asia.
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mira
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by mira »

Sglod wrote:
OTʜᴇB wrote: Malayan (Google's attempt at it):
കുറുക്കൻ ജമ്പുകളിൽ
That's Malayalam, spoken in Southern India. The Malayan languages are part of the Austronesian family and spoken in Southeast Asia.
Thanks for the correction - though I did just put the sentence in google translate and found some particularly long and short ones as examples.
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Taurenzine
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Re: Welcome to my conlang

Post by Taurenzine »

So this is a whole bunch of crap about my language
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Last edited by Taurenzine on 10 Dec 2016 19:08, edited 1 time in total.
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