Going by the name "Project Mimal" for now (It mas "Mimil", but then *il became invalid in phonotactics :/), this language is an almost completely isolating a priori personal language. I'm describing it as Minimalist/Overkill as it is both of these in different areas. The phonology and grammar are relatively minimal and simplistic, where the actual content is somewhat overkill. The point of the language is mainly for personal use and to maybe teach it to a few friends, but I also wanted to see how compact and uniform I could make presentation of information in clauses. Put simply, I wanted it to be uniform but versatile - just not in an auxlang-y way, in a LEGO-y way maybe, but as I've been working on it, I have found I can produce pretty much every clause I could need by switching vocab or throwing in an extra word which was a very satisfying discovery. The phonology is where most of the inspiration took effect, and it uses Toki Pona's small phonology idea and general timbre, whilst taking quite a bit of phonotactics from Japanese, but the overall language is original and puts no emphasis on realism at all.
As is the norm, I'm always open to suggestions, corrections, or questions about what I have posted of the language so far. I'm going to put everything in this post in spoilers with headings so nothing gets lost, and use the rest of the thread for discussion and questions etc.
Phonology, Orthography, Phonotactics
/ p b t d k ɡ / 〈 p b t d k g 〉
/ m w n ɾ l~ɫ ŋ j / 〈 m w n r l ŋ j 〉
/ i ɯ e o æ / 〈 i u e o a 〉
- Syllable structure is CV(N/l) where C is any consonant, V is any vowel, and N is any nasal.
- l > ɫ when in the coda
- Onset is optional at the start of a word
- Vowels are devoiced when between unvoiced consonants – e.g. 〈paten〉 is pronounced /pæ̥ten/.
- Vowels at the end of words are devoiced following an unvoiced consonant – e.g. date is pronounced /dæte̥/
- *wu, *uw, *ji, *ij, and *il are all invalid - ilV is though, as the l is in a different syllable.
Word order is (C), (O)S(VA) where C is the context noun, O is the object, S is the subject, V is the standard verb, and A is the action noun. There are 7 word types: Noun, Adjective, Adverb, and Case markers for Location, Motion to/from/via, Time, and Relation – but there is also the standard verb, article, and plural markers. When all types of words are in use, a sentence is as follows:
[ Loc/Time/Rel Art Noun Pl Adj(s) ], [ Art Noun Pl Adj(s) ] [ Loc Art Noun Pl Adj(s) ] [ StdVerb ] [ Mot Art Noun Adv(s) ]
The smallest sentence contains only the subject, and is used to declare its existence or gather its attention – for instance when calling the name of a friend. The Action is required for there to be an object. Single-word sentences might also be an action. In this case, it might indicate an action being done, or an informal command.
Noun Case
Noun cases take 4 forms and provide extra information on how actions were done, or extra context for an action, such as when or where it was done.
Location Cases
These can be placed on either the Context, or the Subject. On the Context, it shows where an event occurred relative to its accompanying noun. On the subject, it shows the position of the subject, relative to the object during the event.
- Adessive —— “near” —— lan
- Apudessive —— “beside” —— len
- Inessive —— “within” —— lu
- Intrative —— “between” —— ul
- Locative —— “at” —— la
- Pertingent —— “against/touching” —— lon
- Subessive —— “underneath” —— lo
- Superessive —— “on top of” —— ol
These are placed on the Action and describe in what manner the action is done. Where no case is used, it is assumed the action is done to the object. Only motion related actions can accept a motion case. There are however 2 exceptions. The Initiative and Terminative cases may be placed on the context as if they are location cases. When this is done, the "m" in the case marker becomes an "l".
- Ablative —— “away from” —— em
- Elative —— “out of” —— kuma
- Initiative —— “starting from” —— maŋ
- Allative —— “to” —— me
- Illative —— “into” —— muka
- Terminative —— “finishing at” —— ŋam
- Perlative —— “through” —— mukuma
- Prolative —— “past” —— mulenku
These are placed on the Context and describe when an action was done. This then opens up the possibility for the Context to contain an action or an entire clause. In either of these situations, the time case is placed at the very beginning of the whole sentence.
- Pre —— “before _” —— to
- Post —— “after _” —— tu
- Trans —— “during _” —— oti
- Accusative —— “for _ time” —— ten
- Limitative —— “finishing by _” —— taŋ
- Temporal —— “at _ (time)” —— ti
These are placed on the Context, and describe a relationship between the Context and Subject. This can include something being done for someone/thing, something being done with the help of someone/thing, or something being done using a particular implement.
- Aversive —— “avoiding” —— rem
- Benefactive —— “for the benefit of” —— ratora
- Causal —— “because of” —— ruto
- Comitative —— “with (help of)” —— rate
- Instrumental —— “using” —— ro
- Possessive —— “owned by” —— ruŋ —— Object Required
- Privative —— “without” —— ora
- Semblative —— “like _” —— ral
- Instructive —— "by means of" —— rato
Articles denote the scope of a noun. There are 8:
- Indefinite —— “a” —— _
- Definite —— “the” —— te
- Near definite —— “this” —— ku
- Far definite —— “that” —— ka
- Separate indefinite —— “another” —— oti
- Separate definite —— “the other” —— etoti
- General —— “_ in general” —— gen
- Universal —— “all” —— al
There are 4 plural markers that denote not only quantity, but also behaviour:
- Singular —— one thing behaving as one thing - e.g. "A (single) cat eats a melon" —— _
- Merged singular —— many things behaving as a single thing - e.g. "A family of cats eat a melon" —— kejeŋ
- Collective plural —— many things doing the same thing together - e.g. "The cats eat a melon" —— jeŋ
- Distinct Plural —— many things doing something each - e.g. "The cats eat a melon each" —— keke
The standard verb is a single word that describes the nature of the action. This includes grammatical tense, aspect, and mood.
Tense
- Past —— referring to past actions. —— pa(n)
- Hodiernal —— referring to an action on the same day irrespective of relative time. —— pat(u)
- Present —— referring to a current action. —— _
- Future —— referring to future actions. —— t(u)
- Retelling —— referring to a retelling of events that happened in the past, but are being described in the present. —— wap(e)
- Simple —— “did”, “do/does”, “will do.”
- Perfect —— “had done”, “has done”, “will have done.”
- Prospective —— “was about to”, “is about to”, “will be about to.”
- Habitual —— “used to do”, “does”, “will do.”
- Progressive —— “was doing”, “is doing”, “will be doing.”
- Stative —— “used to”, “does”, “will do.”
- Gnomic —— “does”, only present tense form.
- Inceptive —— “started to do”, “starting to do”, “will start to do.”
- Resumptive —— “continued to do”, “am continuing to do”, “will continue to do.”
- Terminative —— “stopped”, “am stopping”, “will stop.”
- Continuative —— “was still doing”, “am still doing”, “will still be doing.”
- Defective —— “almost did”, “almost does”
- Accidental —— “accidentally did”, “accidentally does”, “will accidentally do.”
- Fact realis —— “this happened, certainly”
- Assumed realis —— “this most likely happened, but I have no evidence it did”
- Indifferent realis —— “this is said to have happened, but I have no evidence either way”
- Assumed false realis —— “this most likely didn’t happen, but I have no evidence it didn’t”
- False realis —— “this didn’t happen, certainly”
- Subjunctive —— “this should happen”
- Conditional —— “this would happen if _”
- Imperative —— “I/you must do this”
- Jussive —— “he/she/it/they must do this”
- Potential —— “this might happen”
- Allowed —— “this may happen”
- Capable —— “this can happen”
Code: Select all
│ Simple │ Perfect │ Prospe. │ Hab. │ Prog. │ Stative │ Gnomic │ Incep. │ Res. │ Term. │ Cont. │ Def. │ Accidental
Fact R. │ re │ reku │ repa │ regi │ reke │ reki │ rege │ rete │ reti │ tere │ rede │ pare │ redu
│ oo-oo │ ooooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ --o-- │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ o---o │ o---o
Assumed R. │ ri │ riku │ ripa │ rigi │ rike │ riki │ rige │ rite │ riti │ teri │ ride │ pari │ ridu
│ oo-oo │ ooooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ --o-- │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ o---o │ o---o
Indifferent R. │ o │ ku │ pa │ gi │ ke │ ki │ ge │ te │ ti │ eto │ de │ apo │ du
│ oo-oo │ ooooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ --o-- │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ o---o │ o---o
Assumed F. R. │ li │ liku │ lipa │ ligi │ like │ liki │ lige │ lite │ liti │ teli │ lide │ pali │ lidu
│ oo-oo │ ooooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ --o-- │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ o---o │ o---o
False R. │ le │ leku │ lepa │ legi │ kel │ leki │ gel │ tel │ leti │ tele │ del │ pale │ ledu
│ oo-oo │ ooooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ o-ooo │ --o-- │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ ooooo │ o---o │ o---o
Subjunctive │ jo │ joku │ │ jogi │ joke │ joki │ │ jote │ joti │ tejo │ jode │ │
│ -ooo- │ o-o-- │ │ --oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ │
Conditional │ je │ jeku │ │ jegi │ jeke │ jeki │ │ jete │ jeti │ teje │ jede │ │
│ -ooo- │ o-o-- │ │ --oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ │
Imperative │ ma │ waku │ │ wagi │ wake │ waki │ │ wate │ wati │ tewa │ wade │ │
│ -ooo- │ o-o-- │ │ --oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ │
Jussive │ wo │ woku │ │ wogi │ woke │ woki │ │ wote │ woti │ tewo │ wode │ │
│ -ooo- │ o-o-- │ │ --oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ │
Potential │ no │ noku │ │ nogi │ noke │ noki │ │ note │ noti │ teno │ node │ │
│ -ooo- │ o-o-- │ │ --oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ oooo- │ │
Allowed │ ŋa │ ŋaku │ │ ŋagi │ │ │ │ ŋate │ ŋati │ teŋa │ ŋade │ │
│ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ o-oo- │ │ │ │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │
Capable │ ni │ niku │ │ gin │ │ │ │ nite │ tin │ teni │ nide │ │
│ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │ o-oo- │ │ │ │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ o-oo- │ │
wel, jal, and rol
wel is a basic word that is analogous to “of”. It is used to show the makeup of a collective plural noun – e.g. “herd of sheep.” jal is similar, but instead shows the origin or association of a noun – e.g. “Steve from England.” It is also used for families or places of work. These are simply placed between nouns in the Noun section of either the Context, Object, or Subject. rol is a possessive and would go after the object and before the owner.
Questions
There are 7 question forms, each that request different information. The most basic of these is the confirmation question or yes/no question. This is formed by simply placing "kan" on the very end of a clause. The other 5 are the content questions:
The most basic of the content questions are achieved by simply substituting the question word in where the wanted information would go. Multiple substitutions can be put inn the same clause, and the response should simply be a repeat of the clause with all known information substituted in. If there is only one question word, the response can simply be the one noun needed.
Who (human) —— kante
What (animate) —— kanje
What (inanimate) —— kando
What (action) —— kanton
The next questions ask for context on a clause, and so are used in the context section of the clause, along with the appropriate noun case.
When —— kanja —— Temporal case.
Where —— kanri —— Locative case.
Why —— kanlin —— Causal case.
How —— kanlam —— Instructive case.
Pronouns
Some article markers can be used as pronouns. These include:
- PROX.DEM —— “this” —— ku
- DIST.DEM —— “that” —— ka
- "everything" —— al
The main pronouns have no associated gender at all, and only come in singular form - being made plural with the marker. There is however a human/non-human distinction in the 2nd and 3rd persons. The 1PL is always exclusive, and the listener can be included by saying the equivalent of "Us and you".
- 1 —— "I (exclusive on plural)" —— en
- 2HUM —— "You (Human)" —— amwe
- 2NHUM —— "You (Not human)" —— amije
- 3HUM —— "He/She" —— uŋwe
- 3NHUM —— "It" —— uŋije