Twin Aster

[Man in Space]

This is going to be a potpourri of ideas because I’ve wanted to get something done for Twin Aster but for various reasons have not really had much opportunity to do these things.

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The first one looks the most original to me, with the circular arrangement.

One of the conceits of CT cuneiform is that lines cannot cross. They can intersect, but they can't pass through.

Interesting as always.

it is uncanny how much I adore the aesthetic of these kinds of glyphs, and you've certainly done a good job of recreating the same vibe here.

Thank you!

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Returning to XTC (Xı̋xǒcq Tlar Canà) for a bit…

/m n ɲ ŋ/
/p b t d c ɟ k/
/ɸ β s z ʃ ʒ h/
/l ~ ɹ/ l ~ r (realized as a rhotic in the coda)

/u o ɔ a ɛ e i/
/oi̯ ai̯/
/u̯V i̯V/ (/u̯u i̯i/ disallowed)

Male and female speech differ:

Phonetic	Female	Male
/tl/	[tl, dl]	[tɬ, ts, tt]
/dl/	[dl]	[dɮ, dz, dd]
/kl/	[kl, gl, ʎ]	[kʃ, ks, kk, l, ll]

The syllable structure is basically:

(C/YZ)(u/i)V^T(^N)(K)

where:

• C is any consonant,
• YZ is one of the several permissible onset clusters (/tl- dl- kl- mɲ- pʃ- bʒ- ɸʃ- βʒ-/),
• (u/i) is an onglide /u̯ i̯/,
• V is any vowel, including diphthongs,
• ^T is the obligatory tone,
• ^N is optional nasality, and
• K is one of the coda consonants /m n t~ʔ c k s~ʃ ʃ~x β ɹ/.

Writing the consonants is thus:

• In the onset:
  • /m n ɲ ŋ/ in the onset are m n gn g: mûytàe /moi̯^B2tɛ^A2/, nạrn /nãɹ^D2/, gnáolǎng /ɲɔ^C1lã^B1/, gȧych /ŋai̯ʃ^D1 ~ ŋai̯x^D1/.
  • /p b t d ɟ/ in the onset are p b t d j: pȧyrù /pai̯^D1ʒu^A2/, buịch /bu̯iʃ^D2 ~ bu̯ix^D2/, tiâong /ti̯ɔ̃^B2/, duérng /du̯ẽ^C1/, ja̋ont /ɟɔ̃t^C2 ~ ɟɔ̃ʔ^C2/.
  • The behavior of onset /c k/ warrants further detail:
    • Before e i, /c k/ c qu: cěb /ceβ^B1 ~ cem^B1/, cirn /cĩɹ^A1/; quèc /kec^A2/, quînch /kĩʃ^B2 ~ kĩx^B2/. The sequences /ku̯e ku̯i/ are written coe coı: coêr /ku̯eɹ^B2/, coich /ku̯iʃ^D1 ~ ku̯ix^D1/.
    • Before a o u (except uy), /c k/ ch c: châeng /cɛ̃^B2/, charng /cãɹ^A1/, chȧoc /cɔc^A2/, chòb /coβ^A2/, chǔmb /cũβ^B1/; cáer /kɛɹ^C1/, cạncq /kãk^D2/, càox /kɔs^A2/, cő /ko^C2/, cur /kur^A1/.
    • Before diphthongs or vowels with onglides, /c k/ ch q(u): chuêng /cu̯ẽ^B2/, chia̋oncq /ci̯ɔ̃k^C2/, chuych /coi̯ʃ^A1 ~ coi̯x^A1/, chȧyr /cai̯ɹ^D1/; quǔy /ku̯oi̯^B1/, quạyn /ku̯ãi̯^D2/, quiúch /ki̯uʃ^C1/, quiám /ki̯am^C1/.
  • /ɸ β s z ʃ ʒ/ in the onset are f v x z s r: fàevė /ɸɛ^A2βe^D1/, viőnt /βi̯õt^C2 ~ βi̯õʔ^C2/, xạoch /sɔʃ^D2 ~ sɔx^D2/, zûyng /zõi̯^B2/, suám /ʃu̯ãm^C1/, rónà /ʒõ^C1na^A2/.
  • /h/ is only ever word-initial; otherwise, it marks hiatus: húhòr /hu^C1oɹ^A2/.
  • /l/ is l and only appears as such in the onset (luuyt /lu̯oi̯t^A1 ~ lu̯oi̯ʔ^A1/, hǒlǒ /ho^B1lo^B1/); the coda allophone (q.v.) of /l/ is [ɹ] r.
  • /mɲ- pʃ- bʒ-/ mj- ps- bs-: mjǔy /mɲoi̯^B1/, psionch /pʃi̯õʃ ~ pʃi̯õx/, bsuâeng /bʒu̯ɛ̃^B2/.
  • /ɸʃ- βʒ-/ fj- bj-: fjuòɹ /ɸʃu̯oɹ^A2/, bja̋c /βʒac^C2/.
  • /ʎ-/ ll-: lluynx /ʎõi̯s^A1/.
• For the nucleus:
  • Almost any vowel can have an onglide /u̯ i̯/, written u i. (/u̯u i̯i/ are disallowed sequences.)
  • The monophthongal vowel orthography is pretty straightforward; the only curveballs are the mid-open vowels /ɔ ɛ/, which are written ao ae and for which only the a component takes a diacritic (if any), and default-tone /i/ is represented ı as tone D2 is written with a dot above. Else, a e o u /a e o u/.
  • There diphthongs /oi̯ ai̯/ are written uy ay. Only the first character takes a diacritic.
  • The tones are divisible into two registers:
    • Register 1: A a, B ǎ, C á, D ȧ
    • Register 2: A à, B â, C a̋, D ạ
  • Nasalization is indicated in one of the following ways:
    • Open syllables append -ng (or -ngh if the next syllable has no onset): bıng /bĩ^A1/, bıngho /bĩ^A1o^A1/.
    • Syllables ending in a nasal consonant are obligatorily nasalized; the presence of the nasal grapheme is sufficient: bın /bĩn^A1/, bıngo [bĩn^A1ŋo^A1/ vs. bıgo /bi^A1ŋo^A1/.
    • If the syllable ends in [-ɹ], the nasalization precedes the [ɹ]: bjáorng /βʒɔ̃ɹ^C1/.
• In the coda:
  • /l/ shows up as its allophone [ɹ] and is written r: tlar /tlaɹ^A1/, lliûyr /kli̯oi̯ɹ^B2/. (/ʒ/ cannot appear in coda position so there is no ”hash collision” with it.) As a corollary, /-lʒ-/ [-ɹʒ-] rr.
  • If a nasal vowel precedes another vowel with no onset, the nasal is written ngh: gàonghí /ŋɔ̃^A2i^C1/. If a nasal-vowel-plus-[ɹ] sequence precedes a vowel with no onset, it is written rnh, with rn instead standing for a sequence [-ɹn-]: tâornha̋ /tɔ̃ɹ^B2a^C2/ vs. tâorna̋ /tɔɹ^B2na^C2/.
  • /-s -ʃ~-x/ are typically written -x -ch: bòx /bos^A2/, tėch /teʃ^D1 ~ tex^D1/. In cases where disambiguation is necessary (typically relating to derivation or compounding), /-ʃ~-x/ can be written -s: cáshôcq /kaʃ^C1ok^B2 ~ kax^C1ok^B2/.
  • /-t/ varies with /-ʔ/ but is written t regardless: bsàt /bʒat^A2 ~ bʒaʔ^A2/.

The tones with diacritics:

A1	a e ı o u	A2	à è ì ò ù
B1	ǎ ě ǐ ǒ ǔ	B2	â ê î ô û
C1	á é í ó ú	C2	a̋ e̋ ı̋ ő ű
D1	ȧ ė i ȯ u̇	D2	ạ ẹ ị ọ ụ

duóno

Here’s what the tones correspond to:

Tone	Diacritic	Mjǔy Bâong	Gùynâ	Gnîcúhȧr
A1	a	normal	high	low
A2	à	dropping	mid	laryngeal
B1	ǎ	rising	low	laryngeal
B2	â	low laryngeal	low	peaking
C1	á	dipping	rising	high
C2	a̋	high laryngeal	rising laryngeal	mid
D1	ȧ	rising	low	mid
D2	ạ	low laryngeal	low	mid

Put another way:

Tone	Diacritic	Mjǔy Bâong	Gùynâ	Gnîcúhȧr
A1	a	/a˧/	/a˥/	/a˩/
A2	à	/a˥˩/	/a˧/	/aˀ˩/
B1	ǎ	/a˩˥/	/a˩ ~ a˧/	/aˀ˩/
B2	â	/aˀ˧˩ ~ a˩/	/a˩ ~ a˧/	/aˀ˨˥˦/
C1	á	/a˦˩˧/	/a˨˥/	/a˥/
C2	a̋	/aˀ˩˦ ~ a˥/	/aˀ˦˥/	/a˧/
D1	ȧ	/a˩˥/	/a˩ ~ a˧/	/a˧/
D2	ạ	/aˀ˧˩ ~ a˩/	/a˩ ~ a˧/	/a˧/

Time for some personal pronouns!

	SG	DL	PL
1.INCL	—	hȯ	cha̋e
1.EXCL	hicq	vò	vű
2.M	cùlày	càytû	kőng
2.F	gı̋ng	bâeng	hiùyng
2.F.HON	coelle	gnǔr	gnûylàe
3.M	cae	tlàocq	bje̋
3.F	bsìn	xǐng	fjėncq
3.OBV	quúyc	—	—

Mjǔy Bâong /mɲoi̯^B1 bɔ̃^B2/ : MB [mjyi̯˩˥ bã˩] : Gu [mɲac˩ bõː˩] : Gn [mnei̯ˀ˩ bɑ̃ˀ˨˥˦]
Gùynâ /ŋoi̯^A2na^B2/ : MB [gyi̯˥˩na˩] : Gu [ŋac˧na˩] : Gn [nei̯ˀ˩næˀ˨˥˦]
Gnîcúhȧr /ɲi^B2ku^C1aɹ^D1/ : MB [dʒi˩ku˦˩˧au̯˩˥] : Gu [ɲi˧ku˨˥at˧] : Gn [niˀ˨˥˦ku˥æɹ˧]

More: show

For future reference
A1 a /a˧/ /a˥/ /a˩/
A2 à /a˥˩/ /a˧/ /aˀ˩/
B1 ǎ /a˩˥/ /a˩ ~ a˧/ /aˀ˩/
B2 â /aˀ˧˩ ~ a˩/ /a˩ ~ a˧/ /aˀ˨˥˦/
C1 á /a˦˩˧/ /a˨˥/ /a˥/
C2 a̋ /aˀ˩˦ ~ a˥/ /aˀ˦˥/ /a˧/
D1 ȧ /a˩˥/ /a˩ ~ a˧/ /a˧/
D2 ă /aˀ˧˩ ~ a˩/ /a˩ ~ a˧/ /a˧/

mûytàe /moi̯


apsacq /ap^A1ʃak^A1/ [ap˧ ʃa˧k] [ap˥ ʃak˥] [ap˩ ʃak˩]
da̋oxtinc /dɔs^C2tĩc^D1/ [dɔˀs˩˥ tĩc˩˥] [dɔˀs˦˥ tĩc˧] [dɔˀs˧ tĩc˧]
bsĕquâeng /bʒe^D2ku̯ɛ̃^B2/ [bʒe˧ ku̯ɛ̃ˀ˧˩] [bʒe˧ ku̯ɛ̃˩] [bʒe˧ ku̯ɛ̃ˀ˨˥˦]

A1 aeıou A2 àèìòù
B1 ǎěǐǒǔ B2 âêîôû
C1 áéíóú C2 a̋e̋ı̋őű
D1 ȧėiȯu̇ D2 ạẹịọụ



1SG *hiw A → hicq
1DL.INCL *hɾwo D → hȯ
1DL.EXCL *βo A → vò
1PL.INCL *kjɛ C → ca̋e
1PL.EXCL *βu C → vű

2SG.M *gu A ɾij A → kùlày
2DL.M *kej A tu B → kàytû
2PL.M *gom D → kőng

2SG.F *ŋim C → gı̋ng
2DL.F *ⁿbwɛb B → bâe
2PL.F *ɣɔj A → hiùy

3SG.M *kɾɛ A → kae
3DL.M *dljɔⁿg A → tlàocq
3PL.M *βje C → bje̋

3SG.F *ⁿbji A → bsì
3DL.F *sin B → xǐng
3PL.F *ɸjew D → fjėcq

The dialectical differences between the dialects and standard:

• Mjǔy Bâong
  • ɲ ŋ → ɟ g / %_
  • oi̯ ai̯ → yi̯ ei̯
  • mɲ pʃ bʒ ɸʃ βʒ → mj pj bj ɸc βɟ
  • b d ɟ → β z ʒ / #_[-cons +hi +fr]
  • u o ɔ a → y ø œ æ / Ḱ_
  • -c → -t
  • c ɟ → tʃ dʒ
  • ɹ ʃ → u̯ i̯ / _%
  • õ {ɔ̃,ɛ̃} æ̃ ẽ → ũ ã ẽ ĩ
• Gùynâ
  • ɔ̃ ɛ̃ → õ ẽ
  • oi̯ → ai̯
  • t d → ts dz / _[-cons +hi]
  • ɸʃ- βʒ- → j- bj-
  • ũ ĩ → õ ẽ
  • tl dl → kj gj / _[-cons +hi] (this new [j] deletes when _i̯)
  • -i̯ -ɹ → -c -t
  • V → Vː / _%
• Gnîcúhȧr
  • {ɲ,ŋ} → n / %(C)_
  • oi̯ → ei̯
  • pʃ bʒ ɸʃ βʒ → ps bz ɸc βɟ
  • {p,k}i̯ → h
  • {m,n} → ʔ / _%
  • ʃ ʒ → x ɣ
  • ai̯ → oi̯
  • {a,ɛ} {ã,ɛ̃} ɔ ɔ̃ → æ æ̃ ɑ ɑ̃

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Anyway…a while back, in another thread I posted, there was a thing about using the phonemes in your name to make a conlang. Originally I came up with this:

/n/
/b t d c ɟ k g ʔ/
/v s/
/ɾ/
/w l l̴ j/

/a ɛ e i ə ɨ o (u)/

/d ɟ/ were my “freebies”…but I'm thinking I can get rid of them wholesale: /ɾ j/ [d ɟ] in certain situations. I initially had /u/ as marginal, but I’ve come to think it better as a fully-fledged phoneme in its own right.

/n/ n
/b t c k g ʔ/ b t c k g ’
/v s/ v s
/ɾ/ r
/w l l̴ j/ w l ł y

/ɛ e i ə ɨ ɑ o u/ è e i â î a o u
/n̩/ n

/nw nɾ nl nł nj/ [mb nd nd ng nɟ]

(planning to do more of this later but I wanted to get this post out before it aged)

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I'd love to see more of CT's hieroglyphs!

Stay tuned.

[Man in Space]

You may have noticed one of my Lexember languages is Çuvvaccoçim. Çuvvaccoçim (/çuvvaccoçim/), in a much different form, was the first language I ever tried posting to any board, including the ZBB, back before the Late Bronze Age Collapse (i.e., 2009). It has since undergone significant revision; in particular, the consonant inventory and romanization thereof are wildly different from the original. The vowel inventory is more or less as in the original, with the only real changes since then being the harmonization of the diphthongal offgllides and the installation of a vowel harmony system. The lack of coronals came later; I saw someone remark on the commonality of /t/ in the world’s languages and I went the opposite extreme: no alveolars, dentals, palatoalveolars, or postalveolars—the only coronals are the palatals. A more recent addition still: adjectives as a closed class—a concept I ran with when I saw someone on here did it with their conlang and Torco commented thereon—with lots of what we might handle with adjectives instead expressed as clauses, descriptions, or circumlocutions (perhaps advanced speakers would end up doing a sort of lower-scale-lower-stakes Darmok and Jalad, but a restricted register, only for the initiated…).

The name is from çuvvac ‘agree (on s.t.)’ + -:oç RESULTATIVE + =im DEFINITE. Based on its name, I’m wondering if this wouldn’t be the lingua franca of the Patchwork States…it’d save them a lot of hassle on what the “official” standard is without giving anyone too much influence/prestige. They may also, for whatever portion of it is placebo or not, find it more consistent as the general lack of adjectives requires alternate methods of (so to speak) spelling things out.

Phonology

Consonants

/m ɲ ŋ/ m nǵ ng
/b c ɟ k g ʔ/ b c ǵ k g ’
/v ç ʝ x ɣ h/ v ç ý j r h
/ʎ ʟ/ ǵl gl (/cʎ ɟʎ kʟ gʟ/ cl ǵll kl gll)
/j ɰ w/ y ÿ w

For the behavior of /j ɰ/, q.v.

Vowels

/u ɯ o ɤ a e i/ u ï o ë a e i
/oɪ̯~oɯ̯ aʊ̯ aɪ̯~aɯ̯ eʊ̯~ɤʊ̯/ oe/oë ao ae/aë eo/ëo

I love these at-times-hideous romanizations.

Vowel Harmony

Together, the nonlow unrounded vowels and the unrounded semivowels /j ɰ/ are separable into two harmonically altering sets (fronted and retracted), differentiated with an umlaut:

y	j	~	ɰ	ÿ
i	i	~	ɯ	ï
e	e	~	ɤ	ë
oe	oɪ̯	~	oɯ̯	oë
ae	ae̯	~	aɤ	aë
eo	eʊ̯	~	ɤʊ̯	ëo

All nonlow unrounded (Ø-/semi-)vowels within a single phonological unit will either be from the fronted set xor the retracted set; consequently, only the first umlaut in a word is written as the rest can be inferred.

nǵǵïmiwigwae /ɲɟɯmɯwɯgwaɯ̯/

/a/ is low, and so exempt; /o u/ are rounded, and are also excused.

Syllable Structure

The Çuvvaccoçim syllable structure is thus:

( C / NZ / vZ / Db ) ( R ) V ( ( L ) ( N ) C / R ( ʔ ) )

where:

• C is any consonant,
• N is any nasal,
• Z is any voiced stop,
• D is one of the voiced dorsal stops /ɟ g/,
• R is any resonant (i.e., a nasal, a lateral, or semivowel),
• V is any vowel or diphthong,
• L is any lateral, and
• v b ʔ correspond to those phonemes.

Adjectives

…are a closed class. I am not yet sure if this is the exhaustive list but here’s what I have so far.

/ʔeɣeh/ ’ereh ‘old’ : /ʟeʊ̯h/ gleoh ‘new’
/ʔo/ ’o ‘beautiful’ : /ɲɟjoʎ/ nǵǵyogl ‘ugly’
/bnaɪ̯m/ bnaem’ ‘good’ : /ɰamma/ ÿamma 'bad, evil'
/iɲ/ inǵ ‘small’ : /vʎɯç/ vǵlïç ‘big, large’
/hɤgu/ hëgu ‘male’ : /weʝʝu/ weýýu ‘female’
/ɣaŋʔ/ rang’ ‘familiar’ : /mgoɯ̯ɣ/ mgoër ‘other, weird, odd, strange’
/kɤɰom/ këyom ‘wise, smart, shrewd, perceptive, diligent’ : /çɯbbɤk/ çïbbek ‘foolish, unwise, ill-advised, stupid, lazy’
/aɪ̯ɲɲiŋ/ aennǵing ‘white’ : /oɟu/ oǵu ‘red, yellow’ : /xɯŋ/ jïng ‘green, blue’ : /hɯgʟɤʝ/ hïglleý ‘black’
/çaŋɤv/ çangëv ‘great, magnificent, mighty, terrible’ : /vjaɪ̯ŋ/ vyaeng ‘pathetic, pitiable, unfortunate, lowly’ : /ɟbocco/ ǵbocco ‘pathetic, disgraceful, detestable, risible’
/guʝe/ guýe ‘true’ : /ŋɤçwɯ/ ngëçwi ‘false’ : /vbjoc/ vbyoc ‘conditionally true’ : /gʟaʊ̯mʔ/ gllaom’ ‘mu, founded in incorrect assumptions’ : /gmɤʊ̯/ gmëo ‘contradictory, paradoxical, oxymoronic’ : /vgʟoɯ̯cɯ/ vglloëci ‘knowable, fathomable, identifiable, determinable’ : /ŋgʟuk/ ngglluk ‘unfathomable, indeterminable, unfathomable, beyond understanding or conception’

This includes the numbers:

/mɰɯŋ/ mÿing ‘one’
/ɤgʟaʊ̯/ ëgllao ‘two’
/mbɤɣɣɯ/ mbërri ‘three’
/ɣɤgɰɤ/ rëgye ‘four’
/ɲjeʔ/ nǵye’ ‘five’
/ʝoɪ̯ham/ ýoeham ‘six’
/mgjaʊ̯ʎo/ mgyaoǵlo ‘thirty-six’
/ʝiɟɟehe/ ýiǵǵehe ‘two hundred sixteen’
/ceʔŋga/ ce’ngga ‘one thousand two hundred ninety-six’

And the determiners:

/uçuv/ uçuv ‘none, no’
/hɤkkɤ/ hëkke ‘certain’
/ʔau̯/ ’ao ‘some’
/wɯxɤç/ wïjeç ‘each’
/ɲbe/ nǵbe ‘every, all’

And the rest:

/waɪ̯xxa/ waejja ‘other, remnants’

[WeepingElf]

I like the vowel harmony system - a kind of mirror image of the familiar Uralic systems.

[Travis B.]

Adjectives

…are a closed class. I am not yet sure if this is the exhaustive list but here’s what I have so far.

[snip]

This includes the numbers:

[snip]
/ceʔŋga/ ce’ngga ‘one thousand two hundred ninety-six’

That's a... very specific number to have in a closed class of adjectives...

[Man in Space]

Adjectives

…are a closed class. I am not yet sure if this is the exhaustive list but here’s what I have so far.

[snip]

This includes the numbers:

[snip]
/ceʔŋga/ ce’ngga ‘one thousand two hundred ninety-six’

That's a... very specific number to have in a closed class of adjectives...

This language, as most on Íröd do, counts in base-6. 1’296 = 6⁴.

[Axas mlö]

I like the closed class of adjectives and I'm curious to see how it plays out.

[Man in Space]

The Magmadrome

Adakdáğ síğna ü Kandá Éden Ğuíł síğna
/àθàkθáʕ síʕnà ỳ kànθá éθèn ʕùíɬ síʕnà/
[àðàkθáʕ síʕnà ỳ kàn̪d̪ðá éðèn ʕùíɬ‿t‿síʕnà]

\dáğ

PL.route

-dáğ

route

siğna

RE:

ü

DEF

kandá

AGN

éden

direct

ğuíł

lava

siğna

RE:

‘Magmadrome’ (more lit. ‘the Great Conduit System for Directing Lava’)

The creation of the Magmadrome (CT: Adağdág siğna ü Kandá Éden Ğuíł siğna was one of the crowning achievements of dahsar engineering. It was mostly a Tim Ar project—with a significant contingent specifically from Oqsh and, at the insistence of the Caber, much consultation of the druids—but had global implications, namely significantly mitigating the otherwise-massive volcanic¹ activity on Íröd. Official counts² report that 21’911 adasar died during the construction of it. It is credited with “taming the planet” and making it easier for life and civilization to exist. The Magmadrome itself involves thousands of miles of conduits, pipes, valves, geothermal engines, volcanoes, geysers, boreholes, underground voids, oceanic termini, and hydrothermal outlets.

Location of the Arogí on Íröd.

arogi.png (119.72 KiB) Viewed 4652 times

One of the unexpected effects of the Magmadrome’s operation was much of an unknown unknown at the time. The Arogí, a confounding mountain/valley complex in eastern Maranhír, has been largely unexplored by ”civilized” peoples; it is believed to be the origin point for dahsar-kind and is roughly analogous to how New Guinea is to Earth—lots of forbidding geography and topography keeping people isolated and making travel therethrough difficult. The issue was that the indigenous populations had been used to living in the shadow of the unaltered activity of the Burning Mountains, so after the Magmadrome began operation, the change in volcanic activity had significant effects on the denizens therein, with massive death tolls and displacements of local populations as a result.

The general estimation of the Arogí is ”all hope abandon, ye who enter here” and those within it are pretty much left to their own devices. Most outsiders, with particular attention to world governments, just cordon it off and avoid it; its geography, on the south side of the Burning Mountains, helps with this. It is, however, a hotspot for those engaged in illegal activities, and conflicts between denizens and those living near the border, though infrequent, happen often enough to instigate countermeasures.

1. And, to an extent, tectonic activity generally, though that was more of a knock-on effect with the volcanic aspect being the primary issue.
2. I had a random number generator pick a random value between 8’000 and 56’000. As a baseline comparison, the figure I found for the number of deaths during the construction of the Panama Canal was ~25’000.

[Axas mlö]

The Magmadrome is a very interesting concept.

[Man in Space]

Bits and Bobs about Common Caber

The Seven Kill Stele, rev. 2026

Updating the CC Seven Kill Stele for more modern¹ sensibilities:

Hŭvdex bŭf avdex qeççe bŭfec rŭi trosod, Joso har bŭf hardre bar caber.
[xɨˈvɾɛks bɨf aˈvdɛks tɕɛɕˈɕɛ bɨˈfɛk ɾɨˈi tsɔˈsɔd | dʑɔˈsɔ xaɾ bɨf xaɾˈdzɛ baɾ kaˈbɛɾ]
Caber gat ec not ŭdro, actrevu i, ŏr do Joso tama.
[kaˈbɛɾ gat ɛk nɔt ɨˈdɾɔ | aktsɛˈvu i | əɾ dɔ dʑɔˈsɔ taˈma]
Rdgin. Rdgin. Rdgin. Rdgin. Rdgin. Rdgin. Rdgin.
[rdʑin ‖ rdʑin ‖ rdʑin ‖ rdʑin ‖ rdʑin ‖ rdʑin ‖ rdʑin]

hŭ-

NPST.ACT.CIRC

vdex

produce

bŭf

and

a-

PST.ACT.CIRC

vdex

provide

qeççe

for_purpose

bŭfec

without

rŭi

number

trosod

thing.PL

Joso

heaven

har

nurture

-Ø

PRES

bŭf

and

har

nurture

-qe

PST

ba

DEF

=r

COLL

cabe

person

=r

COLL

cabe

person

=r

COLL

gat

have

-Ø

PRES

ec

NEG

not

good

ŭdro

anything

a-

NPST.ACT.CIRC

ctrevu

make_use_of

i

REL

ŏr

3PL.M

do

DAT

Joso

heaven

tama

give_back

-Ø

PRES

rdgin

kill

rdgin

kill

rdgin

kill

rdgin

kill

rdgin

kill

rdgin

kill

rdgin

kill

Note here we have verbs and circumstantial particles in a pattern of nonpast-‘and’-past. The implicature here is that the activity is going on and has been for some time.

On Phonological Surfacing of Complex Clusters (and /v~w/)

The Initial in /w-~v-/

Simply put, v tends to surface as [v] before a stressed vowel and [w] otherwise.

Complex Initials

So a lot of these have two or three allophones. As a refresher, I’m reproducing the valid onset clusters below, with the relevant ones indicated:

/bd-~bɾ- tɾ-~ts- dɾ-~dz- ɾs- ks- kɾ-~kj- gɾ-~gj/ bd tr dr rs x cr gr
/ft- fk- fɾ-~fs- vd-~vɾ- ɾd- kt- gd-/ vt vc vr vd rd ct gd
/bn- vn- dn- dʑn- gn- ksn-~gzn-/ bn vn dn jn gn xn
/bɣ-~bj- vg-~vɣ-~vj- tx- dɣ-~dj- ɾg-~ɾj- tɕk- dʑg-/ bg vg tg dg rg qg jg
/mw- vw-~bw-~bv- nw- ɾw-~dɾw-~dzv-/ mv bv nv dv
/tɕw-~tɕv- dʑw-~dʑv- kw- gw-/ qv jv cv gv
/ɾdw-~ɾdv- ɾdg-~ɾdʑ- kst- ktɾ-~kts-~ktj- ktn-~kɾn- ktj-~ktɕ-/ rdv rdg xt ctr crn ctg(i)

The pairs in red are given in the order default form ~ before front vowels.
The pairs in green are given in the order unstressed ~ stressed².
The pairs in blue are given in the order medial unstressed ~ initial unstressed ~ stressed².

/-r/ + Certain Suffixes

Final -r sometimes induces changes in a following consonant. For instance, the past marker -qe, normally /-tɕɛ/, becomes [-dzɛ] following terminal -r, e.g. hardre above (har ‘to nurture’ + -qe ‘PAST’).

Caber Diachronics Reconsidered

I am thinking that these will be the major signifiers of Caber dialectology, similar to the centum/śatem framework and...whatever Anatolian is to the rest of IE.

On Zeta-Reflexes

The Caber dialects were, to a first order, treated in their reflex of r. However, it’s occurred to me that the real odd consonant out is z—gi is not really a correspondent given that it varies [ʑ~dʑ~dj~j] (and in a few pockets, it could even be found as [z]), and none of the other fricatives are voiced. So, what can we do with this?

1. Debuccalization: [h] or [ʔ].
2. Gemination: Contact with another consonant instigates the gemination of that consonant.
3. Phonation: Affects the voicing or phonation mechanism of an adjacent consonant (could be slack, creaky, breathy, aspirated, voiced...).
4. Retention: [z].
5. Rhotacism: [ɾ]. The situation can be complicated:
   1. Merge: Previous r itself stays [ɾ].
   2. Chain shift: Previous r moves to pretty much anything else—[w], [j], [ɹ], [l], [ð], [s], [z], [ts], [dz], [ɕ], [ʑ], [tɕ], [dʑ], [x], [ɣ], [χ], [ʁ], [ʀ], [ħ], [ʕ], [h], [ʔ], [n]...and if it labializes then it might even change later to [b].
6. Tonal depression: Might be an option for Mute Caber.

O Broth=r, Where =rt Thou

The collective clitic =r saw widespread usage in CC. This affected development of the number schema in one of several ways:

1. Associative -r: An associative plural—think ‘X and all the rest’, ‘X and its ilk’, ‘X and everyone/everything with him/her/it’, ‘X and company’, ‘X and the gang’...
2. Avoidance -r: Used as an alternative to the plural in certain situations out of deference, respect, taboo, or avoidance.
3. Gnomic -r: Used to make general statements about blanket groups.
4. Honorific -r: Employed when talking with superiors or someone you want to flatter.
5. Obviative -r: Generalizes into an obviative, distal, “fourth-person” signifier.
6. Omnitenant -r: Generalization to the default plural. The original -oc/-a plural may remain with a paucal force.
7. Popular -r: Refers to specific (sub)populations grouped by some salient classification, e.g. the inhabitants of a specific apartment building, citizens of a nation, population of a continent, hobbyists in a given hobby, experts in a given field, &c..
8. Static -r: So called because it refers to inanimates, with animate nouns retaining the -(o)c/-a plural.

On a CC Etymon

bŭfec [bɨˈfɛk] ‘without’, univerbation of bŭf ‘and’ + ec ‘NEG’.

---

.

1. In the sense of “the state of the language as it has evolved into of late”.
2. For the purposes of these allophonic realizations, every second syllable from the ultima leftward is considered to be “stressed”.

[Man in Space]

I like the closed class of adjectives and I'm curious to see how it plays out.

Thank you! As am I. It is somewhat alien to me as a concept but some natlangs have it.

The Magmadrome is a very interesting concept.

For the story I am intending to write with Twin Aster, the creation of the Magmadrome was the crowning achievement of one of the incumbent emperor’s ancestors, and he (the incumbent) was suffering a midlife crisis because he felt he had nothing to his name. Another of his related predecessors was known for the Conquest of the Second Sun, which led to the clean energy boom (and significant helium supplies).

[Lērisama]

I have nothing particular to say other than I really like your Caber notes, and CC in general. In the seven kill stele, ‘kill’ is glossed as dgin but written as rdgin. I assume one of these is a typo, presumably the former?

[Man in Space]

I have nothing particular to say other than I really like your Caber notes, and CC in general.

Thank you!

In the seven kill stele, ‘kill’ is glossed as dgin but written as rdgin. I assume one of these is a typo, presumably the former?

Correct. Thank you for pointing that out; it has been fixed.

[Man in Space]

The Tim Ar captured an asteroid of nontrivial size and placed it into Íröd-geosynchronous orbit. They call it Kóro ü ‘the Face’ because it sees, hears, monitors, and speaks to all. The asteroid has been considerably hollowed out and, in addition to the spacecraft bays and installation architecture, some massive radio arrays¹ installed. The outward side was levelled and flattened, with the aim of peace by superior firepower—that is to say, in an absolute worst-case scenario they'd detonate a few nuclear bombs above the flattened side to kick it out of orbit and deliberately crash it into the planet.

Several noteworthy programs or teams operate on and/or through the Face:

Kandá Nerem ⅁ Kîs Déskr

kandá

PROP.A

nerem

control

n

GEN

kîs

ABST.NMLZ

déskr

go_place_to_place

‘Traffic Control’

Traffic Control is exactly what it sounds like: it coördinates the spacefaring activities within the vicinity of Íröd and, in some cases, beyond (for instance, it handles the tanker route runs between Íröd and Xi Boötes B. The sizable radar arrays are the primary driver when it comes to this sort of operation, though these are augmented by other means (primarily observation by sight/visible light, infrared sensors, and particle detectors, particularly with respect to neutrons).

Sêm Ğenr Tó Da En łá M

sêm

LOC.NMLZ

ğenr

observe

tó

DET.TOP

da

thing

en

all.PROX

łá

and.N

m

all.DIST

‘the Watchtower That Espies All Near & Far’

Geosynchronous orbit makes a fantastic vantage point, especially considering as much of Íröd is on a single lateral hemisphere of the planet. All sorts of monitoring and recording equipment is parked up there.

Káudkáud Diú

~

AUG

káud

TOOL

diú

relay_information

‘the Great Relay’

Tim Ar communication infrastructure is a lot less space-based than that of, say, the modern United States because the Tim Ar have both a large contiguous territory and well-developed physical and environmental engineering². When they do seek recourse to wireless communications to get across the planet, they turn to the Great Relay.

⅁ełïr ⅁uáí Üğór Hio Giłám

⅁ełïr

CONTRAPTION.NMLZ

⅁uáí

target

ügór

attack

Ø

RSLT

hio

orbit

giłám

from.ATEL

‘Orbital Strike Platform’³

Exactly what it sounds like: an in-orbit weapons presence. It both has offensive and defensive capabilities of its own and can coördinate other space-based weapons platforms.

---

1. Think the Duga array.
2. Really, it could be said that they have a decidedly analog ethos, especially when it comes to military matters, but that's a whole nother discussion. They also have considerable infrastructure related to VLF and ELF radio waves, again because of their geoengineering expertise.
3. Note the nominalized serial verb construction.

[Man in Space]

First, I had occasion to do some long-ranging searches for things in Conlangery yesterday. I was reminded of this and will be porting the date over for central access. I'm sure I had some more in-depth ideas somewhere but this is being updated. There's more coming but I wanted to get this draft out in a reasonable timeframe.

There are seven basic verbal forms:

1. Normal
2. Emphatic
3. Middle
4. Chaotic
5. Transitive
6. Desiderative
7. Metamorphic

In the sections below the verbal citation form is (1SG, 3). The phase vowel is handled with the placeholder i because otherwise the capital "V"s are ugly as sin. In all cases, the person vowel is u for 1SG, ə for 1PL, and a for the second person.

Normally /i/ is written with a dotless i ı. When you do see an i with a dot, this is the citation form of an alternating form (so far, principally phase vowels). The phase vowel is generally one of /a i/ (or their long counterparts). The ı-phase and a-phase are most often encountered in the default affirmative form and a negative form, respectively, but it's a bit deeper than that. It might be better to analyze them as, broadly, a realis and an irrealis. Admittedly, a bare irrealis often does function as a negative when it is in the same tense as the relevant context without further qualification, but you also see it in subordinate clauses, counterfactuals, and questions; these last deserve elaboration--Q.RLS expects or wants confirmation, whereas Q.IRR expects that the thing inquired about isn't true. I guess you find it a lot in the sequence of tenses...IDK, I still have to work it all out. The example here uses the root √g̃-s-’ ‘impart knowledge, transmit information, make aware, mastery through practice/study/revision’.

1. The normal (g̃isu’, g̃si’) ‘to teach s.t. (as a topic)’ # The so-called normal form is so called because its semantic and phonetic aspects set the norm for what possible elaborations thereon could or couldn't be. Ordinarily one would've expected the second-person to be g̃Vs’a but this changed due to analogical pressure from the general trend for the emphatic form (q.v.).
2. The emphatic (g̃is’u, g̃əs’i) ‘to instill s.t.; to inspire s.o.’ # This might just be called an intensive in less pretentious circumstances. This has the force of intensity, iteration, protraction, accomplishment...
3. The middle (g̃i:su’, g̃i:si’) ‘to study, to learn’ # For all your autobenefactive needs.
4. The chaotic (g̃i:su:’, g̃ı:si:’) ‘to spread propaganda; to discredit, to disprove, to refute’
5. The transitive (i:g̃su’, ug̃si:’) ‘to educate s.o.; to correspond or communicate (with s.o. via, e.g., mail)’ # In a world with less of my caprice this would simply be called the causative. The second direct object treated dechticaetiatively).
6. The desiderative (di:g̃su’, dug̃si:’) ‘to be curious about/interested in s.t.’ # Again, a needlessly snobby way to refer to a form, though in this case it's more open-ended and like seeking or desiring something (cf. Arabic Form X).
7. The metamorphic (dig̃su’, dug̃si’) ‘to reason’

I was there, Gandalf Janko (though I don't have any numbers yet--I'll let you know when I do). I was there, three thousand seven and a half years ago. I was there when the resolve imagination of men Man in Space failed tried doing diachronics with this.

I do remember some of what the intended aims of it were meant to be. It had the bizarre stem deformations for person-marking that many of my tricons seem to end up with, and I came up with that because it seemed like a fairly obvious but legitimate way to end up with consonant shuffling that marks a True Tricon™, and its seeming strangeness appealed to me. One thing I have seen bandied about in the literature is that a lot of the "intensive" derivations come from reduplication. I wanted to try to do something a little different and, while what I ended up with was closer to the trend than I'd expected, I think it still kind of started out in an interesting way.

[Travis B.]

Is there any reason you opted for dot-less <ı> over, say, <ï>-with-trema?

[Man in Space]

Is there any reason you opted for dot-less <ı> over, say, <ï>-with-trema?

It was the first thing I thought of. I've surprisingly grown sort of fond of the <ı>. Practically, for the language, capital <I> represents the full vowel and <İ> the abstracted phase vowel when written in all caps (though I don't know why I'd do that, at least at this juncture).

[Raholeun]

Whenever I am stuck creatively, when the inspiration won't flow and the muses stay mute, I come back to Mr. Man's Twin Aster thread.

[Man in Space]

Whenever I am stuck creatively, when the inspiration won't flow and the muses stay mute, I come back to Mr. Man's Twin Aster thread.

That is extremely high praise. Thank you.

[Man in Space]

The Burning Mountains are supermountains, a feature Earth used to have a few of; Íröd still has its. The highest mountain on Íröd tops out a bit over 47’500 ft, which is just over nine miles (in saner units it’s just below 14 and a half kilometers). I justify this by having seen it explained that the maximum physical size a mountain on Earth can achieve is around 15 km; for its part, Íröd has slightly lower gravity than we do here on Earth, at 9.61 m/s² (so ~98% of ours), allowing things to build up just a bit more. The mountain is, of course, part of the Burning Mountains, and it’s pretty much right at the “kink” in the range located in eastern Maramhír, north (and slightly west) of the twin seas. Official names for the peak peak and the twin seas have not been decided on yet.

Rgalhír, the shamrock-shaped landmass in the northwestern corner of the map, is the home of the Irghal peoples. I only have a few toponyms yet, basically just the lowlands on the southern lobe (the Issuln) and the river valley on the western lobe (the Sôa Valley).

[Man in Space]

The Confederacy of the Blood Sun

The Confederacy of the Blood Sun (CBS) is sort of Íröd’s answer to the Third World (in the original sense, not the modern sense of “backwater”). They are the fifth member of the Pentadial Council, which is kind of a dahsari United Nations Security Council that acts like the they’re the whole United Nations, comprising the Tim Ar, the Tlar Canà, one crony state each therefor (respectively, a pan-Caber representative and the Baôigas¹)² and then the CBS. The CBS itself is kind of between the USSR model of constituent member states and the European Union. Technologically, they’re a powerhouse; among other things, the mute-voice³ was perfected there. As you can see, their flag is something else. Recall that dahsari blood is violet-ish in color⁴, so this abominable assault on the eyes is terrible to the adasar as well, but for a different reason. The large, narrow gold ring on the flag symbolizes Xi Boötis A but also the Blood Sun⁵, and the three horizontal bands represent the three nations that started the alliance: the Tilatlak, the Bakay Terlyi, and the Åü.

I’m debating whether I want to shoehorn in a theocratic angle or not. What I’ve got so far is literal state worship. As in, they do not⁶ worship the governors, they worship the concept of statehood and the state itself. This can, of course, be twisted to justify just about anything; for its own part, the CBS has been spinning it as a defense⁷ of the life force of the CBS itself and the unique shadow entity that embodies it. This is also used as justification for expansion (adasar together stronk). Supposedly (supposedly), logic is supreme and the state claims the right to tell its subjects what their job is and where they live. Bureaucrat clergy? Check. Secret police? Of course. General corruption? Rampant. Individuals’ rights and lives? Who needs ’em? Inconsistently enforced? Duh! Insider trading? Surprisingly, that’s one thing they will get you on.

1. I really need to do more work on them. They’re one of the oldest elements of Twin Aster.
2. The Tim Ar and Tlar Canà are, famously, on opposing sides of the Messerini Line, in the patriarchal and matriarchal corners respectively. The Tim Ar pegged the Caber as their most beneficial ally, but the Caber have always sent a female representative, as the druids were culturally viewed to be wiser than anyone else and therefore better suited to politics on a world scale. The Tlar Canà, for their part, found the Baôigas to be of greatest utility as a buffer state/intermediary/meat shield/pawn, but the Baôigas have it sort of like Starship Troopers where the only real path to the government is through the military because of the constant juntas, revolutions, blood feuds, skirmishes, &c., and that is a far more common criterion for males to fit.
3. Mute-voices are simultaneous translation devices, sort of like the one the Spacing Guild dude uses at the beginning of Lynch’s Dune.
4. Dahsari urine is usually red; vin rose is generally a bad thing for humans. Xenchromatonuria is, to the adasar, a disease, while to us it’s a positive indicator of health.
5. For a peek behind the curtain, the CBS is a nod to my mentor, Jack King-Spooner. He created a video game series called Sluggish Morss, one of the games of which is subtitled “Days of the Purple Sun”. When I determined dahsari blood was purple, the association clicked.
6. Officially, anyway.
7. I spelt that as “defence” twice before getting it right!