#ConlangApril
Most speakers of Kalanifa do so as their second language. However, there’s quite a lot of other native fae languages so it’s difficult to go through everything that impacts on the way it is spoken.
#ConlangApril 21
Messuk has two superstrata, Arhenese and Caolsuq, contributing 80% and 20% of the lexicon, respectively. Its substrata are the indigenous languages of West Canyon. These influenced Messuk grammar and phonetic patterns. Creolization has simplified some grammar systems as well.
#ConlangApril 22
Jim's focused on learning Lihnahchoo; teasing out its evolution is a lower priority than survival. There're plenty of words & linguistic features he can tell do *not* come from PIE - especially the handful with consecutive consonants, or the strict consonant-vowel pattern.
#SciFi
#ConlangApril 22. What other languages have the speakers of your language interacted with, and how have these other languages influenced it? What words has your language borrowed from them? Have these other languages left their mark on it in other ways? hosted by @miwwdu-sitsom.bsky.social
#ConlangApril 22: What other languages have the speakers of your language interacted with, and how have these other languages influenced it? What words has your language borrowed from them? Or other ways they've left their mark on it?
#Writing #WritingPrompt #Conlangs #Worldbuilding
#ConlangApril 21
I decided to be really extra today and translate a bit of dialogue from an unfinished side story, "A Game of Paaset," in which the 3rd Sea Mother plays a high-stakes board game with the trickster god Abaaxita in disguise 😁
This is how Abaaxita & Mu'u became friends 😂
#ConlangApril 21:
Messuk speaking lands have a really rigorous kitchen culture. Many chefs in the Castlelands are Messuk or trained in West Canyon. The affix -in means “cooked with”, from the Arhenese case -in “with”
Malajosotà qo pàttarekin
“I play with flavors like bread cooked with cheese”
#ConlangApril 21:
#Conlangs are often worldbuilding 'decoration & spice' in fiction - because many (most?) readers don't have patience for linguistic niceties. Generally someone's bilingual, or there's 'universal translators,' or whatever.
I wanted to avoid shortcuts. No convenience tropes.
1/3
#ConlangApril 21. This week's prompt is 'play'. It's your choice how to interpret this prompt. You could give the translation, use it in a sentence in your conlang, or just take it as a starting point for inspiration for something conlang-related to discuss. hosted by @miwwdu-sitsom.bsky.social
#ConlangApril 21: This week's prompt is 'play'. Interpret however you like!
#Writing #WritingPrompt #Conlangs #Worldbuilding
#ConlangApril 20: The Lodbau word for 'hello' is 'guhi', which comes from 'gudri' (to greet), followed by the name of whoever you're greeting, or 'do' (you) if you don't wish to specify.
Guhi la Marko!
Hello, Marko!
Guhi do!
Hello!
(1/3)
#ConlangApril 20: Messuk conversational words. Messuk is very verb-heavy, so these words are verbs unlike English’s interjections.
Lumehime [lumɪ̯ɯɣimɪ̯ɯ] - hello, or really, “I greet you”
Kahhana [kaɣːana] - goodbye, “stay well”
Kalihime [kaliɣimɪ̯ɯ] - sorry, “I make peace with you”
#ConlangApril 20
Na'aqal greetings:
Haad dua'ab = "good morning"
Haad muxaaji = "good afternoon"
Haad ka'ar = "good night"
Haad faaroza = "good hours" (any time of day)
Laaiso ["with grace"] is used like "please"
"Yaiaku?" means "do you catch it?", asking for understanding. Response: "Yaiaki!"
#ConlangApril
To start with the simpler ones:
Yes is “tu” (ty), no is “vos” (vɔs). Maybe/perhaps is “veranti” (vɛ.ɾan.ti).
Sorry/apologies are officially “tamanu” (tæ.mæ.nu) however that’s usually seen as overly formal and often insincere. Most people use “tamie” (tæ.mɪɛ).
#ConlangApril 20
There's a few. Their 'good night' means 'restful slumber,' and 'good morning' means 'bright beginning (to your day)'.
An aphorism Jim hears is "ziDoiseemay ray doilo ray doisapi, seeda doikicho tamu.” Roughly, ‘Hunger, thirst, and weariness give poor advice.’
1/4
#ConlangApril 20. What are some common expressions in your language? Hello, goodbye, please, thank you, you're welcome, sorry, yes, no. If I were traveling to a place that speaks your language, what expressions would I need to know? hosted by @miwwdu-sitsom.bsky.social
#ConlangApril 20: What are some common expressions in your language? Hello, goodbye, please, thank you, you're welcome, sorry, yes, no. If I were traveling to a place that speaks your language, what expressions would I need to know?
#Writing #WritingPrompt #Conlangs #Worldbuilding
#ConlangApril 19: Since Lodbau isn't a natural language, it hasn't evolved like natural languages have. But what I can talk about are the differences from Lojban.
My main reason for creating Lodbau was to simplify the phonotactics of Lojban. (1/11)
#ConlangApril 19
Oh I do have some examples of this in Na'aqal! 😁
There are some common negated verbs that got contracted so often, over time they evolved into their own verbs & are conjugated as such:
niikdhek -> niiek ("don't")
niikzura -> niira ("can't")
niikefe -> niife ("mustn't")
🧵1/2
#ConlangApril 19: Language evolution
The *idea* is everywhere, though few specifics are covered. Lihnahchoo has some PIE influences, but has developed in different directions, and had influences from languages that went extinct in our timeline.
The radical contingency of history's a central theme.
#ConlangApril 19. How has your language evolved over time? What systematic changes to the sounds, gestures or other components of your language have taken place? What about semantic drift; what words have changed meaning over time? And what words have been replaced entirely by another word? hosted by @miwwdu-sitsom.bsky.social
#ConlangApril 19: How has your language evolved over time? What systematic changes to the sounds, gestures or other components of your language have taken place? What words have changed meaning or been replaced by another word?
#Writing #WritingPrompt #Conlangs #Worldbuilding
#ConlangApril 18: This isn't really a thing in Lodbau, at least as I have it at the moment, and I'm not sure there is officially in Lojban either. Should Lodbau ever become a language that more people speak than just me, it's possible that different registers would develop. (1/3)
#ConlangApril 18; Given how some characters in the novel speak more formally or archaically (in the English "translation") than others, there ought to be such constructs in Tëilachelst. But I've made only one, simple construct for the conlang 🧵
#ConlangApril 16; I can talk about orders. The imperative mood forms an affirmative command; the verb is prefixed with *to* /tɔ/
- *toscil hjë* 'she shall write'
- *toldim hý* 'it shall shine'
🧵
#ConlangApril 15; It would be neat if I could detail out Tëilachelst prosody enough to make rules (to follow or break) for Tëilachelst poetry, since they'd love poetry. But that's a bit too much work 😅🧵
#ConlangApril 18
The main thing that comes to mind is addresses. In Na'aqal, for someone who's your social equal or superior, you'd call them "jah" (like Mr/Ms, but gender neutral). For children & social inferiors, it's "sah." For members of the elite/royal class, it's "nesu."
With pronouns...🧵1/3
#ConlangApril 18. Formality and registers
Lihnahchoo has formal and familiar address. Nothing too special there. Although, there's a minor linguistic joke in a footnote about that very thing... 😀
#SciFi #Conlangs
#ConlangApril
Kalanifa originally evolved for use by Royals and official governmental communications.
It’s fair to say that very few people outside of government actually speak the “official” way.
#ConlangApril 18. I've mentioned on the first day or so that Tió'aê is a language with degrees of formality, so yes, we have different ways of speaking. I haven't really delved much into this, but something that I do use in the story are the different ways to refer to (1/4)
#ChroniclesOfTheRealms
#ConlangApril 18. Today, we're talking about formality and registers. Are there different varieties of your language used in different situations or by people of different social groups? For example, are there ways of speaking that are more formal or more casual than others, such as using a different set of pronouns? Is there a distinction between the ways of speaking of the working class and academics? When would you use the various varieties, and how are they perceived by society? hosted by @miwwdu-sitsom.bsky.social
#ConlangApril 18: Today, we're talking about formality and registers. Are there different varieties of your language used in different situations or by people of different classes? When would you use them, and how are they perceived by society?
#Writing #WritingPrompt #Conlangs #Worldbuilding
#ConlangApril 17: Relative clauses in Lodbau are marked with 'po', and 'pe' is used to refer back to the antecedent.
Lo dalge po mi pu sirna pe laske.
The dog I saw was black.
The 'po' phrase can also come immediately after 'lo':
(1/8)
#ConlangApril Day 17
I actually can't speak to this one. I've been developing the language as non-speakers hear it and learn it and the native speakers have been careful to use simple sentences. By the end of the next novel, however, I'm sure I will have had occasion to create these rules.
#ConlangApril 17
I didn't get too creative for this in Na'aqal; they tend to be similar to English.
You have a few subordinating conjunctions like yaajif (because), tetla (though), sebet (when/while/as)
Tetla maula zui du, niikhaanum'wa niimo = "Though many shall love me, never will I be tamed"
🧵
