Conlang mini-ideas

[k1234567890y]

Lots of great ideas here, as usual.

Lately I think I've caught the a posteriori bug, so to speak. More specifically, I've caught the Germlang bug. In addition to continuing Visigothic, I've been giving a lot more thought to the South Germanic branch idea I mentioned earlier in this thread, and I've come up with the idea for a Northeast Germanic branch because I've begun taking Finnish.

nice ideas, 霜勇士 (:

btw, I still think of a language which is hard if not impossible to describe things in a more "objective", "impersona" way...

maybe the combination of the following grammatical features can have such an effect to some extent(not going to talk about semantics here):

1. the use of subject personal pronouns is obliged like most Germanic languages.
2. passive voice sentences are used in the bad circumstances only like Thai does.
3. an extensive use of evidentials.

maybe we still need other factors to make such a language?

[wintiver]

I had an idea for numeracy amongst a humanoid alien species co-habiting my conworld.

There are separate bases depending on what one's counting.

I'm thinking there will be 3 or 4 bases:

• Base 27 counting their own species, used in their census, head counting for their military operations, or just if you were trying to figure out how many of their family members were coming over. The species uses a form of body counting similar to some lanaguages here on Earth.
• Base 12 used for counting animates in general (pretty easy for them since they have 6 digits per hand.
• Base 5 used for counting small quantities of inanimate objects
• Base 78 used for counting large quantities of inanimate objects (here there is also used a body counting style but it's more particular and pedantic)

The list is arranged by the species' animacy hierarchy (with themselves at the top, animates below, and inanimates on the bottom - a very non-exotic animacy hierarchy)

Each number system has different phonemes for counting as well. For Base 78 counting, there will be a sub-base 13 in which 6 groups of 13 can be counted or marked off easier. In some other languages of the species there are different counting systems but these 4 are very common. A large minority of the languages spoken by the species also have Sub-Base 13/Base 169 (something like 8% of languages or so have this)

[k1234567890y]

I had an idea for numeracy amongst a humanoid alien species co-habiting my conworld.

There are separate bases depending on what one's counting.

I'm thinking there will be 3 or 4 bases:

• Base 27 counting their own species, used in their census, head counting for their military operations, or just if you were trying to figure out how many of their family members were coming over. The species uses a form of body counting similar to some lanaguages here on Earth.
• Base 12 used for counting animates in general (pretty easy for them since they have 6 digits per hand.
• Base 5 used for counting small quantities of inanimate objects
• Base 78 used for counting large quantities of inanimate objects (here there is also used a body counting style but it's more particular and pedantic)

The list is arranged by the species' animacy hierarchy (with themselves at the top, animates below, and inanimates on the bottom - a very non-exotic animacy hierarchy)

Each number system has different phonemes for counting as well. For Base 78 counting, there will be a sub-base 13 in which 6 groups of 13 can be counted or marked off easier. In some other languages of the species there are different counting systems but these 4 are very common. A large minority of the languages spoken by the species also have Sub-Base 13/Base 169 (something like 8% of languages or so have this)

that sounds interesting (:

maybe you can also draw inspirations from the so-called "extended body-part system"( http://wals.info/chapter/131 )? (:

speaking of the extended body-part system, maybe we can go for something like a (x+1)+xn system without having 0, where x is the supposed base, which can be a natural extension of the Kobon-like extended body-part system.

[Creyeditor]

Lots of great ideas here, as usual.

Lately I think I've caught the a posteriori bug, so to speak. More specifically, I've caught the Germlang bug. In addition to continuing Visigothic, I've been giving a lot more thought to the South Germanic branch idea I mentioned earlier in this thread, and I've come up with the idea for a Northeast Germanic branch because I've begun taking Finnish.

nice ideas, 霜勇士 (:

btw, I still think of a language which is hard if not impossible to describe things in a more "objective", "impersona" way...

maybe the combination of the following grammatical features can have such an effect to some extent(not going to talk about semantics here):

1. the use of subject personal pronouns is obliged like most Germanic languages.
2. passive voice sentences are used in the bad circumstances only like Thai does.
3. an extensive use of evidentials.

maybe we still need other factors to make such a language?

I think (almost) untranslatable modal particles like in German or Indonesian might be the way to go. The passive voice you mentioned is often called an adversative passive. You might want to look at different constructions that have been labeled passive voice in Indonesian.
There is the ter-V construction, that implies a low degree of volition. Examples: tertutup (PASS-close) to close unwanted (like a window because of wind), tertancap (PASS-stick_into_ground) stuck in the ground, not able to be moved
There is also the ke-V-an construction. It generally expresses something that happened against someone's wishes. Examples: ketahuan (PASS-know-PASS) to reveal, to give s.th away, kehujanan (PASS-rain-PASS) to get wet because you were surprised by rain
Also note that Standard Indonesian has another passive voice, that is used in other contexts, the di-V construction.

[k1234567890y]

I think (almost) untranslatable modal particles like in German or Indonesian might be the way to go. The passive voice you mentioned is often called an adversative passive. You might want to look at different constructions that have been labeled passive voice in Indonesian.
There is the ter-V construction, that implies a low degree of volition. Examples: tertutup (PASS-close) to close unwanted (like a window because of wind), tertancap (PASS-stick_into_ground) stuck in the ground, not able to be moved
There is also the ke-V-an construction. It generally expresses something that happened against someone's wishes. Examples: ketahuan (PASS-know-PASS) to reveal, to give s.th away, kehujanan (PASS-rain-PASS) to get wet because you were surprised by rain
Also note that Standard Indonesian has another passive voice, that is used in other contexts, the di-V construction.

thank you Creyeditor! I have heard the Indonesian ter-prefix before (:

How about having a language with a small amount of verbs but all of its verbs are irregular?

[Nachtuil]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.
"Cuxe rernos!"

[mira]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.

That's an interesting idea, but how would one pronounce "Uuo"?

[Ebon]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.

That's an interesting idea, but how would one pronounce "Uuo"?

/uːɔ/ or something?

[k1234567890y]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.
"Cuxe rernos!"

lol nice (: and F*** is a valid word of that language XD as we have Carbon, Fluorine, Potassium, Uranium

al-znop al-upak fecuta

btw, speaking of periodic table, I have ever thought that the Periodic table can be used to encrypt message...

[Ebon]

So I've done what I suggested in the odd glossing thread: I started working on My Immortalese.

I went with what I said then, there are two noun classes (goff and prep) and absolutely everything has to be marked, because obviously it's vital that you know if you're dealing with a filthy prep. Even verbs get a marker according to what's verbing. Furthermore, nouns may be marked by what they're wearing- this is optional, but highly encouraged.

I'm not done with the phonology yet, but I'll be basing it on the names in My Immortal, with a more regular orthography than English. (One thing I do know is that /n b v g/ will be in free variation, to account for Ebony=Evony=Egogy=Enoby etc. I'll probably be adding pseudo-Japanese grammar to it as well, since Enoby is a weeaboo.

Jokelangs are fun.

[Nachtuil]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.
"Cuxe rernos!"

lol nice (: and F*** is a valid word of that language XD as we have Carbon, Fluorine, Potassium, Uranium

al-znop al-upak fecuta

btw, speaking of periodic table, I have ever thought that the Periodic table can be used to encrypt message...

It might have to be a word for something given how few vowels and such there are :P It could be used for encryption I imagine!

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.

That's an interesting idea, but how would one pronounce "Uuo"?

/uːɔ/ or something?

That seems like a solid way to do it to me!

I want to give such a language a shot sooner or later. It'd be fun. Obviously most of the element segments would need to be split between syllables though maybe some can be used as digraphs for other sounds! There certainly are enough segments to have a language though!

Ebon, you should definitely do that! I love the goff and prep genders.

[mira]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.
"Cuxe rernos!"

lol nice (: and F*** is a valid word of that language XD as we have Carbon, Fluorine, Potassium, Uranium

al-znop al-upak fecuta

btw, speaking of periodic table, I have ever thought that the Periodic table can be used to encrypt message...

It might have to be a word for something given how few vowels and such there are :P It could be used for encryption I imagine!

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.

That's an interesting idea, but how would one pronounce "Uuo"?

/uːɔ/ or something?

That seems like a solid way to do it to me!

I want to give such a language a shot sooner or later. It'd be fun. Obviously most of the element segments would need to be split between syllables though maybe some can be used as digraphs for other sounds! There certainly are enough segments to have a language though!

Here's an interesting idea:
As you're using elements, you could send messages in little vials by adding different amounts of each element to a mixture. The recipient would put it in an analyser of sorts and be able to read the message by ordering the element symbols by quantity. The only problem these is Uranium, Plutonium, Francium... oh and you'd only be able to use each sound once or the person will get confused.

[Nachtuil]

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.
"Cuxe rernos!"

lol nice (: and F*** is a valid word of that language XD as we have Carbon, Fluorine, Potassium, Uranium

al-znop al-upak fecuta

btw, speaking of periodic table, I have ever thought that the Periodic table can be used to encrypt message...

It might have to be a word for something given how few vowels and such there are :P It could be used for encryption I imagine!

A language which can only use letter segments as those that appear in the periodic table.

That's an interesting idea, but how would one pronounce "Uuo"?

/uːɔ/ or something?

That seems like a solid way to do it to me!

I want to give such a language a shot sooner or later. It'd be fun. Obviously most of the element segments would need to be split between syllables though maybe some can be used as digraphs for other sounds! There certainly are enough segments to have a language though!

Here's an interesting idea:
As you're using elements, you could send messages in little vials by adding different amounts of each element to a mixture. The recipient would put it in an analyser of sorts and be able to read the message by ordering the element symbols by quantity. The only problem these is Uranium, Plutonium, Francium... oh and you'd only be able to use each sound once or the person will get confused.

Yes, the short lived elements would be unusable too. It'd be tricky if the chemicals are in direct contact as most of them would react. Perhaps a cipher could be made where each segment represents a ascii characters by their atomic number so you could have a string of characters that represent numbers that represent letters. Not really a very tough code but something that would foil the casual observer.

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, if someone wants to take this idea and run with it, go for it!

[zyma]

Lots of great ideas here, as usual.

Lately I think I've caught the a posteriori bug, so to speak. More specifically, I've caught the Germlang bug. In addition to continuing Visigothic, I've been giving a lot more thought to the South Germanic branch idea I mentioned earlier in this thread, and I've come up with the idea for a Northeast Germanic branch because I've begun taking Finnish.

nice ideas, 霜勇士 (:

Thank you!

[Ælfwine]

I really want to do an agglutinating Norse-Greenlandic language, but I am already working on two other Germanic conlangs.

I've sort of recently dabbled with this idea.

Starting with these forms of the strong masculine a-stem "hest" (meaning horse):

Code: Select all

NOM  hest-r  hest-r-in   hest-Ø-ar  hest-Ø-ar-nir
ACC  hest-Ø  hest-Ø-in   hest-Ø-ar  hest-Ø-ar-nar
DAT  hest-i  hest-i-num  hest-um    hest-un-um?
GEN  hest-s  hest-s-ins  hest-ar    hest-ar-nar

Regularized to:

Code: Select all

        SG -Ø        SG -Ø        PL -ar       PL -ar
        INDEF -Ø     DEF -in      INDEF -Ø     DEF -in
NOM -r  hest-r-Ø-Ø   hest-r-Ø-in  hest-r-ar-Ø  hest-r-ar-in
ACC -Ø  hest-Ø-Ø-Ø   hest-Ø-Ø-in  hest-Ø-ar-Ø  hest-Ø-ar-in
DAT -i  hest-i-Ø-Ø   hest-i-Ø-in  hest-i-ar-Ø  hest-i-ar-in
GEN -s  hest-s-Ø-Ø   hest-s-Ø-in  hest-s-ar-Ø  hest-s-ar-in

This is the most "realistic" way to go via regularization, but from an aesthetic point I dislike <rar> and the use of <i> for the dative, so I am conflicted. The dative plural /um/ was strong enough to survive in Icelandic, Faroese and Norn (as /un/), and in several Swedish/Norwegian dialects that still use it, I just find it more intuitive to use /um/ instead of /i/, even though it destroys the regularization I have working. On the other hand, it's not too unlikely that -i may be extended in analogy with both the nominative and genitive.

[Wario Toad 32]

I would love to combine two of my favourite hobbies. Playing Nintendo and Conlanging. Likely the Hylian Language from the Legend of Zelda exists but sadly only fragments of the language can be found. Not only do I want to contribute to the Hylian Language I also have wanted for a long time wanted to make a language for the Mushroom Kingdom of Super Mario that's related to Hylian.

Ballad of the Goddes song.

Hylian Lyrics:
/en daʃeʋu nobe̞ ʃʊndu/
/tye̞ ʃʊtu ke̞wɛnu sale̞/
/en daʃeʋu nobe̞ dʊʃu/
/tye̞ ʃʊtu nobe̞ dezu dotʃe̞/

Mushish Lyrics: (Through some sound changes)
/en daxefo nobai xœndo/
/tjai xœto kaiwɛno salai/
/en daxefo nobai dœxo/
/tjai xœto nobai detso dotxai/

English Translation:
Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land.

Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower...and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear.

[Keenir]

I would love to combine two of my favourite hobbies. Playing Nintendo and Conlanging. Likely the Hylian Language from the Legend of Zelda exists but sadly only fragments of the language can be found. Not only do I want to contribute to the Hylian Language I also have wanted for a long time wanted to make a language for the Mushroom Kingdom of Super Mario that's related to Hylian.

maybe make a conlang based on the Hylian and Mushroom languages, something that you feel could be spoken by the speakers of Hylian and Mushroom - if they were real.

that way, you avoid things like copywrite.

[protondonor]

For sale free, conlang ideas, never realized:

• Bantu language spoken in Madagascar and influenced heavily by Malagasy (possibly ultimately replacing it)
• Aleut language spoken in the Pacific Northwest and fully participating in the PNW Sprachbund
• Language spoken by an amphibious species with spoken and signed components and a "writing" system in which shells are arranged on strings
• Language spoken in a biome similar to the outlying Antarctic islands (e.g. Kerguelen, South Georgia, Bouvet)
• Ancient Nilotic language written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and later in Coptic

[Ælfwine]

[*]Aleut language spoken in the Pacific Northwest and fully participating in the PNW Sprachbund

I'll take it!

[Frislander]

[*]Aleut language spoken in the Pacific Northwest and fully participating in the PNW Sprachbund

I'll take it!

Go for it!