I'm Making a Language

Started by Täftxuyu Aylì'uä, May 09, 2010, 01:21:12 PM

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Täftxuyu Aylì'uä

I'm making a language for a book series I'm writing and am very excited to get digging in on grammar and other such things. unlike verb conjugations in Na'vi, I have verbs set to conjugate per person "I, He/She, You, We, They" but I'm undecided on how the verbs should be conjugated to tense... any ideas?

also I'm undecided on plurality and possession. the only other language that i speak (besides English and some Na'vi) is French so i was thinking about something like "de la" or "of the" which would be like "le côte de la mèr" meaning "the coast of the sea" which would leave the speaker not stuck with saying "the sea's coast" this would be only for second or third person possession because first person possession in french exists as "mon" or "my" being used as "mon chapeau" or "my hat" though i dont have to be constricted to french rules i could very well say "le Chapeau de moi" (in my language) and be perfectly correct... what do you think?

also this is the first language ive ever made and im using a kit i found online that got me into linguistics in the first place so any input at all would be extremly helpful! i want a language that's unique but at the same time rather familiar... the sounds ive placed are almost exactly as i would want them to sound like a mix between Basque and Hebrew and Italian which is a very VERY odd mix but its for an elf culture so i think it works x]

wm.annis

#1
Which online kit are you using?  If it's Mark Rosenfelder's Language Constructino Kit I recommend the print edition if you can get it.  It really is a great introduction to all sorts of interesting things in linguistics.

Quotealso this is the first language ive ever made

Welcome to a lifelong hobby!  :)

In terms of verb tense, there are just so many ways you could do this.  Ancient Hebrew didn't even have tense, but only aspect (sort of like only having Na'vi ‹ol› and ‹er›).  Basque is very funky — except for a few helping verbs, most are never conjugated directly, but pair up with the helping verbs.  I will also add that Basque conjugates verbs not just for the subject, but also the direct object (which Ancient Hebrew also could do).

In any case, a few possibilities for tense:

  • helping verbs (I will go, je vais partir)
  • alter the verb stem with a suffix (Esperanto parolas "speak", parolis "spoke", Turkish yapıyorum "I am shopping")
  • alter the verb stem with a prefix (Swahili ni-na-lala "I am sleeping", ni-ta-lala "I will sleep" — note that the conjugation marker is ni-, also a prefix)
  • alter the verb stem in some other way (Ancient Greek pheug-o: "I flee", e-phug-on "I fled," which also gets a prefix)
  • don't mark tense at all, but rely on adverbs (languages that do this might still have a special way to indicate the future)
If you are aiming for a naturalistic language, I beg you not to reproduce what Esperanto did here, which is just to change the vowel of the verb ending for past, present and future (parol-i-, parol-a-, parol-o-).  It's not completely unheard of, but screams "I've run out of ideas!"

Täftxuyu Aylì'uä

thank you so much! thats the exact kit im using x] do you know where i can get it in print? ive printed it out but im sure thats not the same lol im glad to have joined such a hobby hahaha! ill take all of your suggestions to heart! 

what do you think about my possession problem? do you speak Basque? ive always wanted to learn!

wm.annis

Quote from: Täftxuyu Aylì'uä on May 09, 2010, 05:21:03 PM
thank you so much! thats the exact kit im using x] do you know where i can get it in print? ive printed it out but im sure thats not the same

It's advertised all over his web site these days, zompist.com

Quotewhat do you think about my possession problem? do you speak Basque? ive always wanted to learn!

I don't speak Basque, but like every language inventor, I've stared at it in awe and horror from time to time.

As for possession... I'm very fond of cases in my own languages, so I usually have a genitive.  In those languages that do not, I tend to follow the behavior of Chinese (which uses a particle that's a lot like 's, farmer's etc., but even with pronouns, like "I's book" for "my book").  But, whatever you can get to work appropriately for you everywhere is up to you.  :)

Täftxuyu Aylì'uä

true that! basque is intense! my choir sang a song in it once... we were quite dumbfounded for a wile, but then we found a pronunciation guide in the back of the music and used that! haha!

thanks for the advice! ill continue to experiment till i find exactly what i think sounds the best! i looked up that book and im probably going to buy it! the guy who wrote it has me with his comedy...

Nìkllas

As wm.annis very well says you have lots of options. It's good that you follow his advise, he's a great conlanger.

In regards to possession you can always relay on a case marking for genitive, or a preposition as in the case of French. But you could also try other ideas:

1. You could use position as a possession marker. For instance X of Y, so "moon gate" would mean "moon of the gate" or the other way around "gate of the moon". And you wouldn't need either case nor preposition.
2. You can use possessive pronouns as in many Aztec languages. For instance me-gate "my gate" or gate-me. You could always use the 3rd person plus name to denote possession of some person, ex.: John his-gate = John's gate.
3. You could use a construct case marker, this is the opposite of genitive, instead of "John's gate" you would have "Gate-of John", construct marks the possessed rather than the possessor.

So this are my main ideas for your situation. You could always pick your favorite or mix them and divide them in types of possession.

Hope that helped!