raleni have decided to focus on this idea and develop it further. i have refined my phonetical inventory and discovered some concepts i should
learn more about.
so, now we only have [cv]*[vc]* words, cv part for meaning, vc - for grammar. this will be an agglutinative language with as long words as you want, but usually around 3 cv + 2-4 vc
now, about phonetics. now its more structured:
sounds using english alphabet:
stop - nasal - fricative - approximant
back: k - ng - kh - y
palatal: ch - ny - sh - l
front: t - n - s - r
labial: p - m - f - w
one-letter representation with an accessible latin-based alphabet:
stop - nasal - fricative - approximant
back: k - q - h - j
palatal: c - y - x - l
front: t - n - s - r
labial: p - m - f - w
my custom abugida:
stop - nasal - fricative - approximant
back: < - c - b - ɛ
palatal: ʌ - n - d - m
front: v - u - p - w
labial: > - ɔ - q - ɜ
vowels - opennes and roundness (a open unrounded, i close unrounded, o open rounded, u close rounded, e middle). in the conscript with diacritics - open on top, close on bottom, unrounded - line, rounded - v-shape, e not written
then ive descovered a concept of semantic primes and natural semantic metalanguage by anna wierzbicka and cliff goddart, and longman dictionary of contemporary english. these studies will help me to map necesary semantics to my cv and vc syllables, and will help me to build my dictionary, first defining short words that are close to semantic primes, then developing vocabulary explaining it with these short words, as that is done in the longman dictionary
semantic primes are universal for every language, so my conlang will be equally accessible to everyone. phonetic is not that hard, but rich enough for the language. it has four nasals tho (english ng as in playiNG, spanish n~ as in aN~o, english n as in Nasal, and english m as in Mouse). first three might be hard to distinguish for someone, but they can be said as consonant clusters (ng, n~k', nd, and mb) for easier distinction. other phonemes are pretty much easy for everyone (r can be any r that is not l, h or y, both english and spanish can suffice)
all semantic primes will be 1-2 cv long, and molecules - 2-3 cv long. some can be vc, additionally or exceptionally. more complex words - 3-4 (potentially longer) cv, but words longer than 3 cv are rarely used in daily conversations
next step for me is to read books of anna w and cliff g and learn more about their concept, and research the longman dictionary
discovery of these authors and concepts made my belief in the possibility of the language, and the determination to actually create it, stronger
ps btw there are conlangs based on this natural semantic metalanguage, like minimal english, minimal french, and others like 65 finnish
#apriory #conlanging #conlang #linguistics #languages #language #tokipona #esperanto
(for my russian readers, перевод через гугл сразу под постом)
so today im explaining you the first idea, the older one. this #apriory #conlang is based on matrices (spoiler, the seconed idea is based on trees). first, you have 4 places in your mouth (back, like "k"; middle, like "l"; front, or teeth, like "s" and "n"; and lips, like "p"). next, you have 4 ways of interacting with them (nasal, like "n"; tap, like "t"; approximation, like "s" (or "j" i meah "y", й, in the back's case), friction, like "th")
so, the matrix of consonants is:
g k j h
l r c x
n t s z
m p v f
which sounds:
ng k y gh
l r ch sh
n t (t)s th
m p w f
ts - th is my weakest place but i cant come up with anything better :(
then we have standard five vowels (a e i o u), which results in 80 syllables total
ideally, each place, way of interaction and vowel all contribute to the final meaning of a syllable. four categories for the place, four categories for the way, five - for the vowel, and they sum into meaning. like if the back would mean "human", tap - "action" and o - "group" (theoretically), then "ko" would be something like "contact" (idk). then, with the similar syllable, like "to", when teeth-place mean "feeling", that would be smth like "rough". (i dont actually know how it would be better to assign categories, probably need more research in philosophy, psychology and linguistics. for the places, i propose: back-human - middle-nature - teeth-feelinss - lips-abstract)
so now we have a syllable! do we communicate with syllables? no! we communicate with three categories: meanings; role in the text; our attitude or filling words, like "like", "idk", "ну", "типа"
for meanings, we combine three forward (consonant-vowel, or CV) syllables, like koselu. first, "ko" is the most important, it gives you an idea of about what are we talking. second narrows it to a smaller group of things. and the third identifies the very thing we're talking about. and no, we do not construct them as we speak, thats not #ithkuil - the creators create words once, write them into the dictionary, and learner only has to see it there, learn what it means, and it's structure should help in memorising very much. similar (in meaning) things sound similar. different things sound different. there is (should be) logic in how the word is built. ordering words alphabetically (the alphabet order is [g k j h l r c x n t s z m p v f a e i o u]) also categorizes them in meaning, spheres, so searching the word by meaning is almost as easy as searching it by sound!
there are 80 syllables, and 80**3=512000 possible meanings, which should be enough to create words for any possible topic in humanity, and there will be free ones for future
now, lets talk about grammar. for it, we use backward (VC - vowel consonant, like "on") syllables. we can have as many as we want, and we can even build sentences in different paradigms. for example, Theme and Information (T-cat I-black = the cat is black), Subject Verb Object (S-cat V-eating O-fish - the cat eats a fish), Object and Descriptor (O-cat D-black - the cat is black), combine them (subject-object-theme cat descriptor-info black object-object-theme fish descriptor-theme wet object-verb-info eating descriptor-info fast = the cat is black and quickly eats that one fish which is wet, you know)
there are 80 grammar syllables, and they are also 4-4-5 cross, but place interaction and vowel mean different things, not [human - nature - feeling - abstract], but grammar related stuff. should study different (all possible, in fact) languages to figure out how to distribute these grammar syllables
and, the concept from #lojban (but used in all sorts of languages in fact, in all sorts of waysp, attitudinals - VCV structure, 400 possibilities. ideally they combine meanings of a grammar and content syllables, but here we have only one consonant, and im not really sure should it be unique, or have a meaning like in content word, then we have two vowels - first means same as in grammar words, second means same as in content words. one attitudinal may replace a whole sentence, like "i agree with that" we replace with "ok"
there should be a list of predefined attitudinals to use, like with content words, but the list is much shorter and constant (5*16*5 = 400 entries)
aalsoo.. a very cool way to write the language may be created. like content words - pictures, combined from three parts (first syllable in the middle, the object of picture. second - some details, and third - some tint to it, or outline but part of picture), grammar - arrors and/or/combined borders (outlines) between and/or/combined around these picture, and attitudinal - an outline around the whole sentence (or empty space if alone)
so thats it - my first little conlang idea, tell my where im wrong, or what you like about it or if you want to see that conlang actually created or if you even can help that happen
#conlanging #esperanto #tokipona #language #languages #linguistics
so today im explaining you the first idea, the older one. this #apriory #conlang is based on matrices (spoiler, the seconed idea is based on trees). first, you have 4 places in your mouth (back, like "k"; middle, like "l"; front, or teeth, like "s" and "n"; and lips, like "p"). next, you have 4 ways of interacting with them (nasal, like "n"; tap, like "t"; approximation, like "s" (or "j" i meah "y", й, in the back's case), friction, like "th")
so, the matrix of consonants is:
g k j h
l r c x
n t s z
m p v f
which sounds:
ng k y gh
l r ch sh
n t (t)s th
m p w f
ts - th is my weakest place but i cant come up with anything better :(
then we have standard five vowels (a e i o u), which results in 80 syllables total
ideally, each place, way of interaction and vowel all contribute to the final meaning of a syllable. four categories for the place, four categories for the way, five - for the vowel, and they sum into meaning. like if the back would mean "human", tap - "action" and o - "group" (theoretically), then "ko" would be something like "contact" (idk). then, with the similar syllable, like "to", when teeth-place mean "feeling", that would be smth like "rough". (i dont actually know how it would be better to assign categories, probably need more research in philosophy, psychology and linguistics. for the places, i propose: back-human - middle-nature - teeth-feelinss - lips-abstract)
so now we have a syllable! do we communicate with syllables? no! we communicate with three categories: meanings; role in the text; our attitude or filling words, like "like", "idk", "ну", "типа"
for meanings, we combine three forward (consonant-vowel, or CV) syllables, like koselu. first, "ko" is the most important, it gives you an idea of about what are we talking. second narrows it to a smaller group of things. and the third identifies the very thing we're talking about. and no, we do not construct them as we speak, thats not #ithkuil - the creators create words once, write them into the dictionary, and learner only has to see it there, learn what it means, and it's structure should help in memorising very much. similar (in meaning) things sound similar. different things sound different. there is (should be) logic in how the word is built. ordering words alphabetically (the alphabet order is [g k j h l r c x n t s z m p v f a e i o u]) also categorizes them in meaning, spheres, so searching the word by meaning is almost as easy as searching it by sound!
there are 80 syllables, and 80**3=512000 possible meanings, which should be enough to create words for any possible topic in humanity, and there will be free ones for future
now, lets talk about grammar. for it, we use backward (VC - vowel consonant, like "on") syllables. we can have as many as we want, and we can even build sentences in different paradigms. for example, Theme and Information (T-cat I-black = the cat is black), Subject Verb Object (S-cat V-eating O-fish - the cat eats a fish), Object and Descriptor (O-cat D-black - the cat is black), combine them (subject-object-theme cat descriptor-info black object-object-theme fish descriptor-theme wet object-verb-info eating descriptor-info fast = the cat is black and quickly eats that one fish which is wet, you know)
there are 80 grammar syllables, and they are also 4-4-5 cross, but place interaction and vowel mean different things, not [human - nature - feeling - abstract], but grammar related stuff. should study different (all possible, in fact) languages to figure out how to distribute these grammar syllables
and, the concept from #lojban (but used in all sorts of languages in fact, in all sorts of waysp, attitudinals - VCV structure, 400 possibilities. ideally they combine meanings of a grammar and content syllables, but here we have only one consonant, and im not really sure should it be unique, or have a meaning like in content word, then we have two vowels - first means same as in grammar words, second means same as in content words. one attitudinal may replace a whole sentence, like "i agree with that" we replace with "ok"
there should be a list of predefined attitudinals to use, like with content words, but the list is much shorter and constant (5*16*5 = 400 entries)
aalsoo.. a very cool way to write the language may be created. like content words - pictures, combined from three parts (first syllable in the middle, the object of picture. second - some details, and third - some tint to it, or outline but part of picture), grammar - arrors and/or/combined borders (outlines) between and/or/combined around these picture, and attitudinal - an outline around the whole sentence (or empty space if alone)
so thats it - my first little conlang idea, tell my where im wrong, or what you like about it or if you want to see that conlang actually created or if you even can help that happen
#conlanging #esperanto #tokipona #language #languages #linguistics