Vok language

Started by Vawmataw, September 10, 2015, 06:16:04 PM

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Vawmataw

Yes, another conlang. But this time it's a language I would learn if it was a natural one. The language is still developping, but you can help.

The Vok language intends to be an arboriginal language. It would have been spoken either during prehistory or on Pandora.

Alphabet and pronounciation

a (/a/), á (/ɑ̃/), v (/β/), ts (/t͡s/), t (/t/), e (/e/, /ɛ/), j (/ʃ/), h (/x/), i (/i/, /j/), k (/k/), k' (/kʼ/), l (/l/), ll (/lˌ/), m (/m/), 'm (/mˌ/), n (/n/), nn (/ŋ/, o (/ɔ/), p (/p/), r (/r/), th (/θ/), th' (/θˌ/), u (/w/, /y/)
K' are th' are the ejective consonants. There are two pseudovowels: ll and 'm. You can use them without a consonant.

Grammar
There is no genitive, but for possessions, you can transform the word into an adjective, and the adjective particle is -en- or -n (after e).
There is the accusative, which is strictly for direct objects: -ve
Finally, the dative is -r.

The Vok language has the particularity to have the feminine (a) and the plural (ká). The agreement must be made to the adjectives. (I love Französisch)
How to deal with it: [word][en][a][ká][case]

Syntax
The fun thing is the syntax. First, the verbs to have and to be are not needed (ex.: Orth'aenuo = The Earth is beautiful/Orth'araua = The Earth has water [To Earth water]). Second, as you can see in the examples, the subject, the object and the verb are merged into a single ''word'', we do this for every clause. The complements are out of the ''word''.
This way I think we can give the information more efficiently.

Vocabulary

I = e
thou = ju
he = i
she = ia
we = eká (feminine: eaká)
you = juká (feminine: juaká)
they = iká (feminine: iaká)

aua = Water
eua = Gaia
orth'a = Mother Earth
or = mother [feminine]
vok = People
uelu = hello, greeting
tha = house
vla = speak
án- = like
a = and
'mua = thank you
hom = dance (v.)
home = dance (n.) [feminine]
ja  - no (int. + det.) , not, without, -less, -free
je - yes,  with, -ful
o = because, because of
áun = hunt

th'- = the imperfective
tha = the past

-l = imperative
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Toliman


Tirea Aean

Hey this is pretty awesome!  What would a bunch of random example sentences be like?   :ikran:

Vawmataw

Hmmm... I have like no vocabulary atm. I will try to create a few words below.

Kueu, Vawmataw-e. Eiuaevengentha a Ánvokevla.
Hello, I Vawmataw. Pandora my house and like a Vok I speak.
Eiuaveveng is a loan from the Na'vi language. I try to avoid loans though.
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Toliman

wow

it sounds really interesting  :)

Tirea Aean

Quote from: Kamailehope on September 10, 2015, 06:48:31 PM
wow

it sounds really interesting  :)

Definitely!

I like it. And as I look at it more and more and read it, I see what you did there :D

Vawmataw

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Tirea Aean

I have a question because I've just noticed something: If f k' and 'm are the only alphabet letters defined to contain ' in their digraph, then how does the word orth'a = Mother Earth exist as it does? what is h' or 'a ? :)

Vawmataw

It's actually th'. It's an ejective that already existed, but doesn't exist anymore except in the word orth'a.
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Tirea Aean

I see what you did there.. ;)

th'. That's very interesting

Vawmataw

Quoteeua = Gaia
orth'a = Mother Earth
I want to precise the meanings. Both words are related to the spiritualities. Eua is the Mother of the Vok while Orth'a can designate the world they live in and the Great Mother of the Spirits of the world.
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Plumps

Ejective th is indeed very interesting :o
Sometimes you don't think something like this is possible ... unless you try ... and it is  ;D


I had a quick listen to the example on the Wiki ... but I think the sound example is wrong, isn't it? It sounds like too much air

Vawmataw

#12
Yes it is. I think I will add it to the modern Vok.
P.S.: I think the first θʼ in the example is correct, but maybe the second is not very good.



Well, I totally forgot the negation. O_O
Now it exists. :D

ja  - no (int. + det.) , not, without, -less, -free
It goes at the end of the word which it describes.

je - yes,  with, -ful

Imperative/subjunctive is marked with -l. However, it's not an excuse to omit the subject.
(It is sometimes possible to have a syllable consisting of consonants only.)

Example: Jjjjj, ejehoml (Shut up and dance with me)

In case of a negative command, the -l goes after ja.
Example: Jukávlajal o ekááun ánkti. (Be quiet! We're hunting!)
o = because, because of
th' = the imperfective/tha = the past (perfective or not)
áun = hunt

Note that except for the imperative and the imperfective, all the tense markers go before the clause.
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Tirea Aean

This just gets more and more interesting every day. :D

Vawmataw

I might also create a special register (ex.: a ceremonial register or a polite register), add a new word class for inanimate things/beings, think about the numbers, etc.

I will try to create some exceptions.

There's still a lot to do yet.
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Vawmataw

#15
The day and the night
There are two main words:

thira - day (also the Sun)
thiro - night (also the Moon)

With those words you can create words about other times of the day:

thiralará = sunrise, dawn
thiranarll = noon, middle of the day
thiromelke = evening
thirolará = sunset, dusk
thironarll = midnight, middle of the night

Lará is to arrive and narll is the middle, the high point.

The numbers
Numbers from 1 to 10 act like noun suffixes. The other numbers go before the noun.
All the numbers beyond a milion can be represented with the word vármile.

-thi = one
-nak = two
-nakthi = three
-thiuak = four
-thak = five
-thakthi = six
-thanak = seven
-thanakthi = eight
-thiuatu = nine
-uatu = ten


nuatun = eleven
nukua = twelve
nasuak = thirteen
uatuakthi = fourteen
uatuak = fifteen
uat[...] = [...]teen
...
nakuatu = twenty
nakuatuthi = twenty-one
nakuatunak = twenty-two
...
nakthiuatu = thirty
thiuaktu = forty
uakatu = fifty
uakthiuatu = sixty
uanakuatu = seventy
uanakthiuatu = eighty
thiuatuatu = ninety

uak' = one hundred

lak' = one thousand
ualak = ten thousand


New word class
There will be a third ''gender'': the non-humans. It consists of adding -pu to the adjective.
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Toliman


Vawmataw

#17
Here is some new vocabulary:

Tua - Interrogative particle
Jeja - Equivalent of srak (not srake) and kefyak
Thokatua - Which (Or ''what'', but there's no ''what'')
Kitaktua - When
Orth'amutua - Where
Tuktutua - Who
Naueiutua - How
Nah'mtua - Why

Tua is the only word that differenciates an interrogative sentence from another kind of sentence. It begins every interrogative sentence, because for them it is important to announce the question before saying it. Of course, it's separated from the rest of the sentence, because overloading the clauses is not the target.

We can see it within the sentence if it's a question word. Then, is the only time when tua can appear twice in a sentence. If an ending case is needed, then it's right before tua. Example: Tuktuakávetua (Whom [women]).

Example of an interrogative sentence: Tua jutuktuakártuathavlá. To whom (which women) did you speak?
(How can a neolithic people know punctuation? ;))

And what does the rest mean?

Thoka - Thing, object
Kitak - Moment, time
Mu - On
Tuktu - Person
Naueiu - Manner, way
Nah'm - Cause

Well, how about the imperative and the exclamative sentences?

Nnaha - Exclamative particle
Like tua, it begins every exclamative sentence.

Example: Nnaha Orth'aenuo. How beautiful the Earth is!

The imperative sentence, like the declarative sentence, has no particular particle. However, the verb is in the imperative form.

Note about kueu: After some thinking, kueu might be a small sentence that became a word. The two words are a bit dated, but rhey're neither obsolete nor misunderstood by the Vok. It might simply mean ''[Your/The] heart be respected''.
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Toliman

Txantsan  :)

Some words sounds really nice and interesting.

Vawmataw

Quote from: Kamailehope on November 05, 2015, 07:27:04 AM
Some words sounds really nice and interesting.
Especially Thokatua ;D
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