zompist bboard

I have this lang with several dialects which differ in palatalisation of velars (The velar inventory is limited to /k ɣ/ with [x] allophonically), but I'm not sure what to do with several clusters: Standard: [k] -> [s] [sk] -> [s] initially or [ss] internally [ɣ] -> [j] [x] -> [x]? [j]? [ʃ]?? [sx] -...

This is basically a thought experiment: the conworld itself is in all aspects similar to Earth (Climate, star, size etc., etc.) but the crucial difference is that the dominant species (a kind of humanoids I shall from hereon refer to as "humans" or "humanoids") are hermaphrodites. They basically loo...

Consonants: /p t c k kʷ ʔ ʔʷ/ <p t c k qu ' 'u> /s ʃ h hʷ/ <s sh h hu> /z l j w/ <z l y w> /m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/ <m n j g gu> Vowels: æ a e œ o i ɨə ʉ ə <ae a e oe o i ia u e> /e ə/ are contrasted (as are roundedness and ʉ) by their accents for tone; /ə/ is always toneless except in diphthongs (I believe). e...

Riktas Rammay faḍazaci [ɸaɖazatsi] :> Proto *fadasatsi [ɸadasatsi] :> YUC (Yet Unnamed Conlang) fadazasti [fadazas'ti] Riktas Rammay zip'aci [zipʼatsi] :> Proto *siphatsi [sipʰatsi] :> YUC siphasti [sipʰas'ti] Riktas Rammay zap'awa [zapʼawa] :> Proto *saphawa [sapʰawa] :> YUC sapha ['sapʰa] Riktas R...

I recently discovered the Flemish name "Lieve" can also be masculine... It was originally a feminine name "Godelieve", a variant of masculine Germanic Goteleib. I have no idea how this shift occurred, because "lieve" as an adjective means "kind, lovely, sweet", which doesn't really sound like the ki...

Yēdo gāṛe [gaːɻɛ] Proto *gale Yet Unnamed Conlang gara ['ga:ra]
Yēdo ṛèxêṛe [ɻɛ̤xɛ̤ːɻɛ] Proto *lexele YUC oshara [ɯ'ʃa:ra]
Yēdo nêde [nɛ̤ːd̪ɛ] Proto *nede YUC nada ['nada]
Yēdo gāge [gaːgɛ] Proto *gage YUC gaja ['gaɟa]

On the other hand, why would anyone be that interested in the language of "the barbarians"? That's the whole point of the word "barbarian".

I think there won't be full lines of the language in the story though (maybe in an appendix of sorts): basically a well-developed naming language - characters, cities and some unearthly concepts relating to magic and stuff. The first sketch had too plain a consonantal system (Basically English witho...

The story is going to be written in English. The effect on speakers of French, German or whatever other language would be completely different (Well, not completely. You can safely use <sh> for /S/ in conlangs targeted at speakers of one of those two languages even though they are written <ch> and <...

I am not looking for them to distinguish between retroflex/postalveolars and alveolopalatals: it's more like finding an alternative way to spell <sh zh ch j>. <sy zy ty dy> has the drawback that people will tend to vocalize the <y>. Maybe use <sch> for /ɕ/? (I saw this one in a transliteration for R...

- It is not very clear how <x q> should be pronounced (On the other hand, it may be the best option without resorting to <ś ć>) Just a note here, this argument always strikes me as somewhat stupid. First off, <x> has a long history as a sibilant letter and if I am any sort of example there are even...

Isiworian (A redone version of an earlier sketch, Fulgar. I wasn't too happy with the rather plain consonantal inventory and the completely irregular oddball verbs, so I decided to redo it). As it is intended for a story, I would like a transliteration without diacritics: /p b t d k g/ <p b t d k g>...

Late Marsuna: tägee [tägeː] Protolang Withoutaname tage [tage] Fulgar tar [tæɹ] (Capital dialect) [tɑɾ] (Northern dialect) [taʐ] (Eastern dialect)

Err... I was going to object too, but then I realized I have some remote (remote as in "we know of their existence only because they are mentioned somewhere in the family tree") cousins who moved to Michigan three or four generations ago. They'll probably have Californian relatives...

Dutch "jullie" (You-plural) is a compound of "je-lui" of "je-lieden" (both meaning you-people). Admittedly, it incorporates another personal pronoun, but I think a second person pronoun based on "people" alone is not inconceivable. (The disappearing Dutch pronoun "men" (one), seems to be a parallel ...

Boe! ("Boo!")

Very well. Want a throat sweet? :P I'm just joking.... I don't know enough about Dutch to know what to ask. What Tenses, Aspects, Moods and Persons do Dutch verbs mark? Tenses and aspects Ok, here I go. I just try to translate the English names literally to English. Onvoltooid Tegenwoordig (present...

Ketas tahtowa [tɑχtəʢɑ] Fulgar taktoga ['tæktowgɑ]

Arve stopestus [ˌçøpɪˈçus] Fulgar öpikyus ['øʏpɪkjʊs] or ['øʏpɛkjɔs] (Pick your dialect)

My point is that both languages use a similar verb (iru= to exist (animate)). So I was wondering why this verb was chosen and not some other.

I like those Basque auxiliaries. Exactly what I was looking for.

Does anyone know the etymology of Japanese -iru-forms (as in mite iru (is seeing) and matte iru (is waiting) They look suspiciously much like their English equivalent.

Does anyone have any good resources on auxiliary verbs in a non-IE language?

Mice say "piep" [pip] in Dutch, and "chu" in Japanese (if my memory serves me right.)

Currently nameless lang: Stops: /b d g/ Fricatives~Approximants: /β ð ɹ~z ɰ~ɣ/ Nasals: /m n/ Liquids: /r l/ Vowels: /i e a o u/ Length is contrastive, as are five level tones (with very little to no tone sandhi): /a˥ a˦ a˧ a˨ a˩/ Most of this doesn't cause any problems, but I'm a little uncertain ab...

Why not conjunctions and interjections?