A Minecraft Protolang

[KadenVanciel]

This is for a protolang spoken by a fictional population of humanoid and villager-like NPCs in a modded Minecraft server, these people residing in a jungle on an island. The protolang would split in two via sound and grammar changes.

It's an idea I thought up for a Minecraft SMP series idea I posted about here a while back in the small discussions. A series played by myself, Life series players like Grian, SolidarityGaming, Martyn, Skizzleman, SmallishBeans, PearlescentMoon, ZombieCleo, Mumbo Jumbo, LDShadowLady, etc. some Hermits from the Hermitcraft server, and Minecraft players like Dracheneks and Agma Schwa, and some friends of theirs, given their experience with conlangs.

In this series, inspired by NativLang's video about first contact with foreign speakers in their territory, each season finds the players crashed or shipwrecked "on an island, in a rainforest, or up in the mountains" and, while trying to survive and rebuild civilization, are challenged with figuring out the language(s) and customs of the native speakers nearby them. For each season, it's (a) new location(s), (a) new people(s), and (a) new language(s). This language is the common ancestor of the two for the first season.

Consonants: m, n, p, t, k, q, ʔ('), ts, tɬ(tl), s, ɬ(hl), ħ(hh), ʕ(hq), h, r, l, j, w

Vowels: a, aː(aa), e, eː(ee), i, iː(ii), o, oː(oo), u, uː(uu)

Syllables and stress are the same as Simatsan, with the structure being (C)V, and stress falling on the antepenult by default, the only exception being if the penult has a long vowel, in which that one is stressed instead.

The script would start out as a logography, the speakers using flint or arrows to carve glyphs into trees, leading to logographs with thick vertical lines and thin horizontal ones. Eventually, they'd transition their writing to paper(invented from sugar cane) with ink written on it via feathers.

Nouns:
animal: tahli
tree: petlee
food: tsohhe
water: tuuhha
fire: qi'i
sheep: ketlaa
pig: tiike
chicken: teqi
cow: napaa
bird(parrot): wuhee
bear(panda): tse
ocelot/cat: riikii
creeper: qee
phantom: hhu
turtle(sea turtle): tli
cocoa beans: sote
melon: sa
bamboo: hleqitse
frog: hlu
sword: hunt+tool
bow: string+tool
arrow: 'eequ
string: spider+stuff
spider: qaatli
person: ohu
bone: maate
stuff: qatsuu
leaf: lera
plant: tle
slime: mohlu
squid: hhe
sun: tso
moon: ka
light: qoohqu
dark: hheeri
ground: qii
grass: nela
dirt: setsii
stone/cobblestone: quuhle
pickaxe: mine+tool
shovel: dig+tool
cave: hqaako
zombie: cave+person
tiny zombie: person+small
witch: hqihi
enderman: person+big
rotten flesh: cave+person+stuff
crafting table: craft+tool
furnace: cook+place
chest: hiitse
place: teehho
home: hetaa
jungle: tree+place
ink: squid+stuff
fish: 'utla
tool: loraa
weapon: hunt+ tool
ax: tree+tool
sheers: sheer+tool
wool: sheep+stuff
leather: cow+stuff
redstone: tlaka
lead: animal+tool
gunpowder: creeper+stuff
gravel: haqa
flint: gravel+unit
rain: retse
lightning: hqo
stair: hla'e
slab: te
sand: 'uu
glass: tlahho
sugar cane: nuure
path: kute
unit/piece: leequ
feather: roohhe
egg: hli'o
fishing rod: fish+tool
bottle/container: 'ootse
bowl: woluu
day: hharu
night: hqiitso
lever: luji
door: jaa'e
house: hhooki
steak: cow+food
mutton: sheep+food
chicken(food): chicken+food
feather: chicken+stuff
porkchop: pig+food
farm: tsetli
up: tlesa
down: 'itlu

Those certain mobs are chosen if the series starts with a cheap budget and cheap storage space. Those mobs spawn in jungle biomes in normal Minecraft, and besides, it could be nice to start with something familiar. More modifications would need to be accommodated.

Verbs:
kill: 'ehle
hunt: konee
craft: noota
build: nisuu
see: pitle
eat: siro
drink: he'o
stand: tluu
swim: tsi'u
crawl: 'aati
dig: 'ii
punch: hqu
mine: tliiqo
cook/smelt: saaquu
give: kiihha
take: quusa
stay: qitlee
go: 'oo
move: tlo'a
stop: hhila
sit: sooki
exist: hha
live/dwell/reside: e
lack: iqo
eventual successor word for "lack": mau
speak: taare
tell: oko
ask: tleehqi
come: jo'o
arrive: suuki
draw: 'ihlu
write: hhako
cause: muqa
milk: keehqo
plant: puhlii
sheer: qaahla
finish: iiho
complete: so
want/need: hhoo
possess/have: tloo'i
gain: tehqii
command: koose
push: waqo
pull: 'eena
enter: hqoone
exit: uhlii
proceed: hhaatsi
squat: hlutsaa
harvest: uro
know: qetlu
contain: 'iipo

Adjectives(derived from nouns):
big: paku
small: sutli
large/huge: pee'o
little/tiny: kiqii
empty: qosaa
half full: tlo
full: 'akee
raw: 'iitu
cooked: 'ete
before: tloka
during: tehla
after: tsihquu
some: wehhi
many: posaa
all: jooru
earlier: ke
later/then: pe
alive: too
dead: qaa

Adpositions(derived from both nouns and verbs):
at/on: derived from "sit"
inside: tihle
outside: so'u
into: derived from "enter"
out of: derived from "exit"
above: a(derived from "up")
beneath: ju(derived from "down")
from: mo
to: derived from "go", despite it being the future tense marker(Should I use something different to derive "to" from?)
of: tsee
with: roo
around: tsii
about: ni

Pronouns:
I/me: kaa
You(singular): hlii
You(plural): nu
He/She/It: ree
We/Us: tlaa
They/Them: hqii

Interjections:
to call someone's attention: 'uusi
yes: derived from "possess"
no: derived from "lack"
unknown answer: neehho
maybe: saahla
surprise/fear: hhohi

Color Terms(tied to taxonomy):
red: derived from "redstone"
yellow: derived from "fire"
green: derived from "leaf"
blue: derived from "water"
white: derived from "light"
black: derived from "dark"

Demonstratives:
this: hoo
that: la

Question terms: There are no tutorials about question words in conlangs and languages compared to English, so I decided to improvise, even for the interjections.
interrogative marker: hqatlo
What: koo
When: 'a
How: tsiqe
Where: 'uupo
Why: hle

Negation marker: derived from "lack"

Conjunctions:
and: ji
or: mi

Valency:
passive/mediopassive: take +
causative: cause +

Numbers(the system is base-16):
zero: maybe derived from "empty"?
one: hlo
two: tsaahli
three: qo
four: komo
five: tsutaa
six: totse
seven: rahli
eight: wiruu
nine: rutsi
ten: jeta
eleven: litsu
twelve: meetu
thirteen: hqeko
fourteen: eru
fifteen: hutlo

Word order: VOS


Grammatical Number: singular(unmarked), plural(many), distributive(some)

Tenses: past, present(unmarked), future(go +)

Aspects: perfective(finish +), imperfective(unmarked), cessative(stop +)

A distinction between perfective and cessative would exist as long as the perfective means the verb was performed and completed, and the cessative means the verb was performed but not completed.

Copulae:
standard: derived from "exist"
locative: derived from "live/dwell/reside"
???: derived from "stand"

Idioms: the following ones below...
???: (LIT. to fall off a very high place with no slime blocks or water underneath) to pursue a goal that would end at the cost of one's own life
???: (LIT. (leave) to combat without a weapon) to make a mistake before starting a task

I might need some idioms and metaphors about learning and experience. Swimming is out of the question since the world is close to normal Minecraft, and IDK about crafting, which would be a boring association for some reason. Maybe you guys could come up with something from looking at the lexicon.

Conceptual Metaphors: The flow of time is perceived the same way as in Mandarin, with "up" being related to the past, and "down" to the future. Fire could be associated with anger, pain, and death(if playing on modes where a person would die without the ability to respawn and thus be out of the game). Rain could be associated with sadness. Sunlight could be associated with happiness. Players and NPCs can drown in water, and fire is useful for lighting places, at least until the invention of torches.

They could learn farming by figuring out how to plant and harvest melons, thus associating moist dirt(tilled) with strength or wellness and dry dirt(while still tilled) with weakness or sickness, or whatever is similar to the latter if players and NPCs can't receive sicknesses unless mods are utilized.

What do you guys think?

[KadenVanciel]

I have ideas for applying sounds and grammar changes leading to two descendant languages. For one of the language families, I want to include trilled affricates(or post-trilled consonants) and pharyngealized ones. I settled on a jungle island big enough to house two or more distinct languages.

That one with the post-trilled and pharyngealized consonants, I plan for some interesting stress systems and articles. For the stress, I'm thinking of taking a similar direction to Biblaridion's original tutorial conlang, with the system becoming one where stress still falls on the antepenult by default, with one exception being the penult being the one that's stressed if the final syllable is closed and with a short vowel, the other exception being the final one being stressed if it is closed but with a long vowel. Or maybe a diphthong? IDK. I'm also thinking of evolving an indefinite and definite article from the words "one" and "this" respectively.

I'm also thinking of the lateral obstruents de-lateralizing to their corresponding non-sibilant alveolar consonants, with clusters between [t] and [l] allowing for the reemergence of /tl/, and those of [h] and [l] leading to /hl/ returning, the same story for clusters of [s] and [l]. And I'm thinking of syllables like /yi/ and /wu/ becoming /ii/ and /uu/, to experiment with assimilation. Maybe a similar story for /ij/ and /uw/. I don't want triphthongs even in the protolang, or double-length vowels.

I might give the protolang a simple system of comparatives, superlatives, diminutives, etc, evolving it into two different systems, the descendant with the trilled affricates including a system mimicking the one for Classical Oqolaawak(albeit representing equatives and whatnot via auxiliaries), the other descendant including a system similar to that of Taqva-miir.

For the second descendant of the protolang, I'm thinking of turning the stress system into the same one that Classical Oqolaawak has, which is based on morae. Open syllables with short vowels in that dialect are one mora, open ones with long vowels or diphthongs closed ones with short vowels are two morae, and closed ones with long vowels or diphthongs are three morae. Stress in the classical dialect with this system would always fall on the third-to-last mora, the third one from the end of the word. For articles, I'm thinking of just a definite article from the word for "that".

I'm also thinking of [w], when bordering and in the proper environments, fortifying to a velarized [βˠ] and/or a labialized [ɣʷ] that may or may not lose their secondary articulation, or the plain versions, or all four, depending on varying environments. I'm thinking of the same story for [j], fortifying into [ʝ] when bordering , also in the proper environments. I'm thinking of those fricatives becoming phonemic.

And with my choices for the copulae and the tenses and aspects, I'm wondering what they could eventually be reinterpreted as...

What do you guys think?

[zompist]

Do you actually know the Hermits or you're just wishing you did? (I wish I did myself!)

The Minecraft-centered vocabulary sounds like fun, and I think you should lean into that more. E.g. spiders and sheep produce the same sort of thing (string > wool).

My big suggestion would be to think more about when you can re-use words. E.g. you have "come" and "arrive" as separate roots... why do you need both? You have some words as roots that would be probably better to derive: enter, complete, proceed, write, command. There are base-16 languages, but normally the higher digits are formed from the lower ones (e.g. "nine" from 'eight-one').

I'd also note that a Minecrafter will see red things long before seeing redstone! Sunsets, salmon, raw meat, mangrove.

[KadenVanciel]

Thanks for the advice. Though the word for "come" would be there to distinguish from "go", as well as "leave" and "arrive". Of course, there might've been redstone in advance somehow(maybe from slaughtering witches), and those extra items are other colors than just red, and I wouldn't call the red "pure red". And the indigenous inhabitants might've found and mined some without going too deep in caves. Plus, sunsets in Minecraft are orange. I haven't really met any of the Hermits, or the Life series players though.

[keenir]

I might need some idioms and metaphors about learning and experience. Swimming is out of the question since the world is close to normal Minecraft, and IDK about crafting, which would be a boring association for some reason.

why is swimming out of the question?

Conceptual Metaphors: The flow of time is perceived the same way as in Mandarin, with "up" being related to the past, and "down" to the future. Fire could be associated with anger, pain, and death(if playing on modes where a person would die without the ability to respawn and thus be out of the game). Rain could be associated with sadness. Sunlight could be associated with happiness. Players and NPCs can drown in water, and fire is useful for lighting places, at least until the invention of torches.

if the future is down, then maybe use water for focusing tooo much on planning for the future?

What do you guys think?

most interesting!

Thanks for the advice. Though the word for "come" would be there to distinguish from "go", as well as "leave" and "arrive".

soooo...why do you need four words, when one, maybe one and a modifier, would be sufficient?
("oh no, the zombie archer's arrow is MADAT to/at me!" would likely be coming, approaching, or striking/arriving, rather than the arrow going in the other direction from me...yes?)

you're welcome to use four words, but I wanted to ask.

Of course, there might've been redstone in advance somehow(maybe from slaughtering witches), and those extra items are other colors than just red, and I wouldn't call the red "pure red".

Most things in nature are rarely a pure color...and yet we use them as mental references for those colors. (don't believe me? quick word association...what color do you associate with
Apple
Banana
Bamboo)

[KadenVanciel]

Swimming is out of the question as long as Minecraft models don't have fingers or toes at all, and if episode 5 of Biblaridion's tutorial, which I hope the improved remake is posted, is anything to go off of. Indeed, many items are not fully pure colors due to also comprising others, though one of an item's colors could pretty much serve as the dominant color, meaning most of it is that color. I could've used blood, but I don't think I want the SMP to be that gory. I might consider saving this information for another time. Also, the logography could descend from pictograms, on places like cave walls. The invention of tools like crafting tables and pickaxes (from there) could've led to the discovery of redstone at some point. It is stated that redstone ore naturally spawns 16 levels below the map(I'm thinking ground level.), though could there be rare exceptions of where they would normally spawn?

Also, I think I was originally, though I forgot, going to use come or arrive for valency-changing operations and let one of the words replace them in case the other one becomes grammaticalized.