Zompist Bboard Again

doctor shark wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 1:18 pm

quinterbeck wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 5:49 am

doctor shark wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2023 6:34 pm Took long enough, but did a rewrite of a short intro to a script for a conlang of mine.

This is great! I like the use of miniature n, j, w as finals. What's the main writing implement, would you say? Most writing implements create fairly uniform thicknesses, so I wonder if writers would modify the finals' shapes slightly to preserve their legibility.

Thanks! I'd imagine mostly the use of brushes and brush pens traditionally, where there can be some thickness control in terms of line width and the like. That said, I do need to work a bit more on the handwritten forms (I have things bubbling, but nothing too concrete), but there of course would be some abbreviations and simplifications when writing with a pen.

You should consider the use of styli to write on palm leaves, as many scripts like these were common written in Real Life (hence the characteristic shape of many an Indic script).

Came up with two prefixes that are used depending on if the dependent noun is animate or inanimate.

kafâ ḫa-lumbu "woman's water" (dependent is feminine)
kafâ ḫa-rābi "man's water" (dependent is masculine)
kafâ ḫa-mazâr "sea's water" (dependent is neuter animate)
kafâ ra-ˀarśas "water of vessel" (dependent is neuter inanimate)

Parḫatti rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas
"The man speaks Vrkhazhian"

Lābatti rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas parruḫti azmar
"The man who speaks Vrkhazhian has a falcon"

Parḫattar ūtu azma ḫa-rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas
"The man's falcon does not speak Vrkhazhian"

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 11:22 am Came up with two prefixes that are used depending on if the dependent noun is animate or inanimate.

kafâ ḫa-lumbu "woman's water" (dependent is feminine)
kafâ ḫa-rābi "man's water" (dependent is masculine)
kafâ ḫa-mazâr "sea's water" (dependent is neuter animate)
kafâ ra-ˀarśas "water of vessel" (dependent is neuter inanimate)

Parḫatti rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas
"The man speaks Vrkhazhian"

Lābatti rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas parruḫti azmar
"The man who speaks Vrkhazhian has a falcon"

Parḫattar ūtu azma ḫa-rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas
"The man's falcon does not speak Vrkhazhian"

Always nice to see more of Vrkhazhian.

Since I gave away my old VR trackers, and the straps I wore them with, I needed to get some new ones for my newer set of trackers. I just finished sewing them from elastic fabric and some mount plates my friend printed for me.

Man in Space wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:39 pm

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 11:22 am Came up with two prefixes that are used depending on if the dependent noun is animate or inanimate.

kafâ ḫa-lumbu "woman's water" (dependent is feminine)
kafâ ḫa-rābi "man's water" (dependent is masculine)
kafâ ḫa-mazâr "sea's water" (dependent is neuter animate)
kafâ ra-ˀarśas "water of vessel" (dependent is neuter inanimate)

Parḫatti rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas
"The man speaks Vrkhazhian"

Lābatti rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas parruḫti azmar
"The man who speaks Vrkhazhian has a falcon"

Parḫattar ūtu azma ḫa-rābi śada ra-Warḫāsas
"The man's falcon does not speak Vrkhazhian"

Always nice to see more of Vrkhazhian.

I must say that I too like Vrkhazian, particularly its aesthetic.

The case system frustrates me to no end. Even having no case or no gender/class is unsatisfying.

And then when I think the issue has heen resolved for the time being, I proceed to become frustrated by the verb system instead.

I have played this song and dance--and taken breaks--for almost 10 years. I will never win and I'm not sure I'll ever proceed.

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Sat Jul 08, 2023 11:05 pmThe case system frustrates me to no end. Even having no case or no gender/class is unsatisfying.

And then when I think the issue has heen resolved for the time being, I proceed to become frustrated by the verb system instead.

maybe have one dialect(?) of it with no cases, one with a simplified verb system, etc? Though that sounds like a Punnet(sp) Square, and would be even more work, which probably isn't what the best solution would be; sorry.
(bennet square? the thing to show what genes get passed down)

Not sure what to suggest about proceeding...is your conlang asking for a quiet retirement, or for you to focus elsewhere for a while? I admit, I'm a bad person to try to answer this, as mine don't last a year before keeling over; you've done fantastic for ten years, and I don't doubt you'll do just as great (at least) for the next ten and more, whether on this conlang or others.

Explored some ideas for a new language:

Smúx yansaŋ-wjimaksab.

/ˈsmuxjanˌsaŋwd͡ʒimakˈsab/
s-mux ∅-yan-saŋ-wji-m⟨ak⟩sab
this-thing 3s-only-DEF-seem-different⟨DIM⟩

This thing seems a bit different.

(Of course, knowing me, the final version will probably look nothing like that sample.)

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:21 am Explored some ideas for a new language:

Smúx yansaŋ-wjimaksab.

/ˈsmuxjanˌsaŋwd͡ʒimakˈsab/
s-mux ∅-yan-saŋ-wji-m⟨ak⟩sab
this-thing 3s-only-DEF-seem-different⟨DIM⟩

This thing seems a bit different.

(Of course, knowing me, the final version will probably look nothing like that sample.)

Interesting and pleasant phonology and morphology!

Raphael wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:30 am

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:21 am Explored some ideas for a new language:

Smúx yansaŋ-wjimaksab.

/ˈsmuxjanˌsaŋwd͡ʒimakˈsab/
s-mux ∅-yan-saŋ-wji-m⟨ak⟩sab
this-thing 3s-only-DEF-seem-different⟨DIM⟩

This thing seems a bit different.

(Of course, knowing me, the final version will probably look nothing like that sample.)

Interesting and pleasant phonology and morphology!

Yes, this sentence happened to turn out particularly euphonous. Don’t count on it staying that way.

(Or, as they could say, w-ɨcaʔeŋed mbəj-wdəndaŋwaʔwnaŋ…)

Trying to make it even more cursed…

Smɨx yansaŋ-bgimakcaw.
B-ɨcaʔeŋed mbəg-bdindambaʔbnaŋ.

On the one hand, the aesthetic is starting to approach what I want. (Before it felt a bit too much like Nishnaabemwin, which is prettier than I’d like this to be. To be honest, there’s still some resemblance.) On the other hand, the consonant clusters are now positively anodyne. What to do, what to do…

Even better:

Rmuk yanto-wgimesab.
B-isaʔeŋed mbir-wrendownaŋ

Alas, no matter what sound changes I use to try and mangle these sentences, they remain disappointingly nice to the ear. At least I can console myself with the fact that other perfectly ordinary sentences like bresfwes warfin ‘I am making this language’ and iŋimbtow siwseso ‘But I heard they wanted it’ turn out interestingly perverse. And rmuk alone is sufficiently odd that I consider my time not entirely wasted.

I still like money.

Is that a decimal currency?

hwhatting wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 2:46 am Is that a decimal currency?

It is! One shilling is 100 cents, with a rough exchange rate of PIS 8.29 per euro (PIS 7.52/USD, PIS 8.62/CHF, or PIS 9.59/GBP). That said, due to eroded value and inflation, most prices anywhere except supermarkets, petrol stations, or bigger retailers typically are expressed in whole or sometimes half shillings, so cent-denominated coins (and especially the 5- and 10-cent coins) are falling out of use.

I see. I was wondering why there are so many shilling-denominated coins, but now it makes sense.

It would be strange to name the smaller unit cent if it wasn't 1/100 of a shilling.

But having a shilling as the largest denomination is odd, no? IIRC the term shilling refers to the shaving off of metal from more valuable coins - in the UK that would be the pound - of which a shilling was one-twentieth. The shilling ought to be the smaller, or middle, denomination if it is a 'shaving' of a more valuable coin.

Jonlang wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:55 pm But having a shilling as the largest denomination is odd, no? IIRC the term shilling refers to the shaving off of metal from more valuable coins - in the UK that would be the pound - of which a shilling was one-twentieth. The shilling ought to be the smaller, or middle, denomination if it is a 'shaving' of a more valuable coin.

Maybe it used to be the smallest, but was renamed to one of the larger units of currency.

Granted, isn't saying that a shilling must be a tiny-valued currency, because it means "shaving"...isn't that like saying that dollars can't be what they're presently worth, because one "buck" costs more than that - be it a deer or a cow.

Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia all use shillings as their main currency like this in real life, and all legally divided into cents (though inflation has made it so cents are no longer used in practice). Uganda did the same until 2013, when it legally abolished cents.