Emok Scratchpad & Questions
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 2:12 pm
Hello!
I'm new to conlang and trying something out for a world I've been working on.
I decided to start with the proto-language of the world for a couple reasons:
1) If I make something weird it will actually be used less
2) It gives me a starting point for other languages
3) Because it's the literal language of the literal god and the first of everything, it can actually be a little bit more logical/artificial sounding rather than messy and inconsistent (at least in my head)
Here's some basic info, some examples of what I have so far and some questions I'd like feedback on before I dive further in, because I'm getting cold feet standing on the edge of this high dive.
(PS. I literally just start learning a lot of the more advanced grammar vocab recently, so I would really, really appreciate it if people notice I have the incorrect name for something (or just a name I made up) that it gets pointed out with like a sentence of explanation? Pretty please!)
Premise/Background
Everything was once "one" big combo of energy and matter which then split, a la Big Bang. Different flavors of energy and of matter now make up a "physical world" and a "spiritual/energetic world" and shards/souls which remained intact enough hold dominion over the other, smaller pieces which are similar to them -> these are the gods and their domains.
Goals
Vowels
Consonants
p,b,d,t,g,h,l,m,k,glottal stop (')
Verb Tenses
Verbs are conjugated for tense by adding a tense suffix to the end of the verb, directly after the stem.
Verbs are given a mood by adding a mood suffix directly after the tense suffix. These can convey the speakers perception of the events in terms of certainty that a thing has/will happen or their desire for it to happen.
Reflexive/Imperative
This can be created by adding a pronoun as a prefix to the verb. Imperatives will often have the desire (-hu) or the conviction (-la) mood as well as the immediate present tense (-eme-), if no other tense is important to meaning. An exception might be an order for something to be completed in the far future. Example (speaking to a singular listener): uk-STEM-ahala -> uk’oahala (you will have done…)
Demonstratives/Articles and Pronouns
Articles & quantifiers are attached to the end and beginning of the noun they modify (subj or obj). Demonstratives are attached as a prefix to the verb they are object to (much like pronouns in the reflexive/imperative situations.
Note: Demonstratives are only used for inanimate things.
Pronouns can be used independently as the subject or object of a verb. They can stand alone or prefix the verb which they are object to in the imperative/reflexive situation.
They can also be used to modify a noun being possessed by suffixing them to -hi’(pronoun).
Example: My money = bahi’el (wealth of me). This could further be modified to abahi’el (some of my wealth), ebahi’el (all of my wealth) or obahi’el (none of my wealth)
I'm new to conlang and trying something out for a world I've been working on.
I decided to start with the proto-language of the world for a couple reasons:
1) If I make something weird it will actually be used less
2) It gives me a starting point for other languages
3) Because it's the literal language of the literal god and the first of everything, it can actually be a little bit more logical/artificial sounding rather than messy and inconsistent (at least in my head)
Here's some basic info, some examples of what I have so far and some questions I'd like feedback on before I dive further in, because I'm getting cold feet standing on the edge of this high dive.
(PS. I literally just start learning a lot of the more advanced grammar vocab recently, so I would really, really appreciate it if people notice I have the incorrect name for something (or just a name I made up) that it gets pointed out with like a sentence of explanation? Pretty please!)
Premise/Background
Everything was once "one" big combo of energy and matter which then split, a la Big Bang. Different flavors of energy and of matter now make up a "physical world" and a "spiritual/energetic world" and shards/souls which remained intact enough hold dominion over the other, smaller pieces which are similar to them -> these are the gods and their domains.
Goals
- I wanted a very simple phonology and was interested in getting a Polynesian sound, but a little harsher.
- I wanted an agglutinative language where some core ideas and concepts could be easily combined to express other ideas
- I wanted to have a lot of control over how perception, time, certainty are described, as well as ways to express the sense of completeness/isolation/part of a whole. All of these concepts seemed like they might be foremost in the main speakers' minds
What I have so Far
PhonologyVowels
Written | Pronounced | English Exampled |
a | ah | saw |
e | ay | say |
i | ih | big |
o | oh | mow, sew |
u | oo | moo, glue[/cell |
y | ee | glee, tea |
p,b,d,t,g,h,l,m,k,glottal stop (')
Verb Tenses
Verbs are conjugated for tense by adding a tense suffix to the end of the verb, directly after the stem.
Tense Relative To Present | Continuing | Simple | Perfect |
Far Past | -oga- | -oma- | -oha- |
Undetermined/Intermediate Past | -ogi- | -omi- | -ohi- |
Immediate Past | -ogo- | -omo- | -oho- |
Permanent Present | -ego- (never was) -ega- (always is) | ||
Now | -ege- | -eme- | -ehe- |
Fleeting | -egi- | ||
Immediate Future | -ago- | -amo- | -aho- |
Undetermined/Intermediate Future | -agi- | -ami- | -ahi- |
Far Future | -aga- | -ama- | -aha- |
Verbal Mood | Suffix | English Implication |
Potential | -gi | That may happen/ That may have happened |
Belief | -ga | I think that will happen/ I think that happened |
Probable | -ha | That probably will happen/That probably happened |
Unprobable | -ho | That probably did not happen/ That probably will not |
Desire | -hu | I hope that happens/She hopes that is what happened |
Conviction | -la | I know that happened/ They know that will happen |
Positive Certainty | -le | That definitely happened |
Negative Certainty | -lo | That definitely did not happen |
Uncertainty (Lacking Conviction) | -lu | I’m not sure that happened |
This can be created by adding a pronoun as a prefix to the verb. Imperatives will often have the desire (-hu) or the conviction (-la) mood as well as the immediate present tense (-eme-), if no other tense is important to meaning. An exception might be an order for something to be completed in the far future. Example (speaking to a singular listener): uk-STEM-ahala -> uk’oahala (you will have done…)
Demonstratives/Articles and Pronouns
Articles & quantifiers are attached to the end and beginning of the noun they modify (subj or obj). Demonstratives are attached as a prefix to the verb they are object to (much like pronouns in the reflexive/imperative situations.
Note: Demonstratives are only used for inanimate things.
Article | Quantifier | Demonstrative (proximal) |
Demonstrative (distal) | |
Some | A- (some/portion of) |
-a (part/incomplete) |
Ay- (some of this) |
Y’a- (some of that) |
All/Every |
E- (the, one, every___) |
-e (complete/whole, -full) |
Ey- (all of this) |
Y’e- (all of that) |
Singular |
I- (the, a, an) |
-I (alone, singular) |
Iy- (this) |
Y’I- (that) |
Plural |
U- (the, a, an, any) |
-u (many, plural, multitudinous, -full) |
Uy- (these) |
Y’u- (those) |
Negative |
O- (no, not, un, none) |
-o (none, zero, lacking, -less) |
Oy- (none of this/these) |
Y’o- (none of that/those) |
Pronouns can be used independently as the subject or object of a verb. They can stand alone or prefix the verb which they are object to in the imperative/reflexive situation.
They can also be used to modify a noun being possessed by suffixing them to -hi’(pronoun).
Example: My money = bahi’el (wealth of me). This could further be modified to abahi’el (some of my wealth), ebahi’el (all of my wealth) or obahi’el (none of my wealth)
1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person | |||
Inclusvie | Exclusive | Animate | Inanimate | ||
Singular | ek | uk | ak | ok | |
Plural | el | et | ul | al | ol |