conlang | explaining that table [1]
the – before the letters just means that it's a suffix (they're all suffixes)
following that is the optional vowel. This vowel is inserted in between the verb and the rest of the suffix, but ONLY if the vowel's absence would break the pronounciation rules.
Each of the optional vowels has an acute accent above it, which means that it is associated with a high tone. Any vowels without an accent above them have a low tone.
conlang | explaining that table [2]
after the optional vowel comes the actual suffix, which (with the exception of the "surprised but believe it's true" form of the Reported evidential ending) is a consonant cluster.
tɬ and ʈʂ are single consonants rather than 2 (voiecless alveolar lateral affricate and voiceless retroflex affricate)
conlang | a very early draft
A very early draft describing the language is available here:
https://averylychee.neocities.org/languages/lang3/
(this link is not a permalink! Once I come up with a name for the language, it will move to a different address – if you're reading this in the future, scroll down this thread to find the more up to date link)
Let me know if I've made any mistakes or if there are any things that need clarifying ♥
conlang | request for resources/help
hmm... I'm concerned that my tense/aspect/mode system is unconciously tending towards the way Germanic languages work.
Does anyone have any good references for Tense and Aspect systems that aren't like English? Either from the perspective of creating a conlang, or from grammars of real languages.
conlang | "how do I make my own conlang?"
Since I was asked "how do you even manage to start a conlang?", here's my answer:
It's kind of like worldbuilding, in that you can either do a vague overview and just give the impression of a language, or you can delve into the depths and build a complex beast.
The way I started was with this guide: http://zompist.com/kit.html
(the first paragraph-ish is just an add for future books, the actual guide starts with the italics text)
conlang | naming
part of why my current language doesn't have a name is because it's very difficult to come up with a name that works in both the language itself and in English, since the sounds they have in common are:
/p/, /m/, /i/, /a/
And while I could name it something like "pami", I feel like this language would have a much longer name.
conlang | now named (new link)
The language has been named and moved to a new page:
https://averylychee.neocities.org/languages/tlueqto/
I don't yet know what tɬɯ́qʈɤ means (if it even means anything at all), but that's what it's called!
conlang (Tlueqto) | grammatical vowel harmony
So tɬɯ́qtɤ has vowel harmony (meaning there are 2 categories of vowels, and a word can only ever contain vowels form one category or the other, not from both) but unlike real world languages the vowel harmony actually has a grammatical effect on the word.
So for example, pɛɬá is cat (all vowels are front vowels), and pɤɬʌ́ is cats (all vowels are back vowels).
But, this is not particularly realistic...
(continued)
conlang (Tlueqto) | grammatical vowel harmony
In real life languages with complex vowel changes, these were historically created by a affix that, after several sound changes, was dropped at some point.
So, in order for my vowel harmony system to actually exist, it can't have occurred intentionally – it must have been the consequence of a historical affix.
(continued)
conlang (Tlueqto) | grammatical vowel harmony
So, here's my idea: historically, the affix /nɯ-/ was attached to the front of nouns to form the plural, and because this contains /ɯ/ (a back vowel) the rest of the word is forced to be all back vowels (because of vowel harmony).
so (originally), to pluralise /pɛɬá/, you would say /nɯpɤɬʌ́/
But hundreds of years of language change meant that the /nɯ/ ended up being dropped, and the only difference between singular and plural is the vowels inside.
conlang (Tlueqto)
My main problem is inventing words.
Coming up with grammar rules is easy. But words? They're just arbitrary collections of sounds. It's really hard to come up with sounds to associate with a concept.
Like, consider these words in English, Chinese, Arabic, and Tlueqto:
book — shū — kitab — wátɬym
rice — báifàn — 'arz — sø
lizard — xīyì — sahalia — çɛɻtɛɬá
It's all arbitrary sounds that we've decided means the thing it means! There's no reason for them to be like that!
re: conlang (Tlueqto)
@lizardsquid There's the historical reason, and relations to other things. Arabic and other Semitic languages in particular are pretty explicit with that, with triliteral roots
re: conlang (Tlueqto)
@Rosemary well sure, you can trace back the history of the word and related words in a language.
But there's nothing in the real world that indicates that a book should be associated with the sounds "kitab".
re: conlang (Tlueqto)
@lizardsquid There's actually some debate on that topic, I believe. Onomatopoeic words are a good counterexample, and some people think that there's some actual connection between sounds and traits. Have you heard of the bouba-kiki effect?
re: conlang (Tlueqto)
@Rosemary yes, bouba-kiki is interesting!
But the effect isn't very strong - if it was, every language's vocabulary would sound somewhat similar.
re: conlang (Tlueqto)
@Rosemary I guess my point is "onomatopoeia doesn't help me if I'm coming up with words for things that aren't sounds, and word history doesn't help me when I have to actually invent that history myself"