zompist bboard

Worked for Hanheliubl, so now time to work on my conworld's langs.

Pre-Proto-Hathic phonology:

Initials:
p t c k ʔp ʔt ʔc ʔk ʔ
b d ɟ g ʔb ʔd ʔɟ ʔg
m n ɲ ŋ
f s h
l j w ʔl ʔj ʔw
ʘ ! ǁ ǂ ʔʘ ʔ! ʔǁ ʔǂ nʘ n! nǁ nǂ

Rimes:
a e o i u + length
ai au oi eu

Two suprasegmentals: vowel retroflexion (spreading over to coronals, which turn to retroflexes) written with -r, and 'retraction' applying to a syllable as a whole, written with an underdot on the vowel.

Strict CV syllable structure.

From Pre-Proto-Hathic to Proto-Hathic:
Retraction:
In retracted syllables:
* velars retract to uvulars
* h > ħ
* labials become labial-velars
* coronals retract to retroflexes
* y w lower to e̯ o̯
* a e o i u ay aw oy ew lower to ɑ ɛ ɒ ɪ ʊ ɑɛ ɑɔ ɒe ɛo
* aa ee oo ii uu diphthongize to ɑɑ əe əo əɪ əʊ
* in syllables containing uvulars, ɪ ʊ ɒe ɛo lower further to ɛ ɒ ɑɛ ɑɔ

Loss of glottalized consonants:
p t c k > ph th ch kh
ʔp ʔt ʔc ʔk > p t c k (these two changes also apply to clicks)
ʔb ʔd ʔɟ ʔg > ɓ ɗ j ɣ (note that this /j/ doesn't change in retraction! and it retains some frication, so I'll write it ʝ in retracted syllables)
ʔl ʔj ʔw > tɬ ɕ fʷ (which merges with [fʷ] from /f/ in retracted syllables)

Loss of palatals
c ɟ ch ɲ > t d s n in retracted syllables (kept distinct: alveolar, not dental)
c ɟ ch ɲ > i̯t i̯d i̯s i̯n except initially
c ɟ ch ɲ > ti̯ di̯ si̯ ni̯ initially, i̯ metathesizes to follow the vowel

not yet -- palatalization first!

Proto-Hathic phonology
In what follows, there are two groups, descending from the unretracted and retracted sets in Pre-Proto-Hathic. The first group of initials can only take the first group of rimes, and the second group of initials can only take the second group of rimes.

Initials:
ph th kh p t k
b d g ɓ ɗ j ɣ
m n ŋ
f s h
l j w tɬ ɕ fʷ
ʘh !h ǁh ǂh ʘ ! ǁ ǂ nʘ n! nǁ nǂ

p̃h ʈh qh p̃ ʈ t̠ q
b̃ ɖ d̠ ɢ ɓ̃ ɗ̠ ʝ ʁ
m̃ ɳ n̠ ɴ
fʷ ʂ s̠ ħ
ɭ e̯ o̯ ʈɬ ɕ fʷ
ʘh !˞h ǁh ǂh ʘ !˞ ǁ ǂ nʘ n!˞ nǁ nǂ

Rimes:
a e i o u
au eu
ai ei oi ui
a:i e:i o:i u:i
a˞i e˞i o˞i i˞i u˞i
a˞:i e˞:i o˞:i i˞:i u˞:i
diphthongs in -i, except ai oi, can only precede coronals

ɑ ɛ ɒ ɪ ʊ ɑɛ ɑɔ ɒe ɛo
ɑɑ əe əo əɪ əʊ
ɪ ʊ ɒe ɛo don't contrast with to ɛ ɒ ɑɛ ɑɔ after uvulars

Palatalization
Coronals and velars merge as palatals before /a ɛ e ɨ i/, and any diphthong beginning in any of those.
Velars shift to palatals before /ar ɛr er ɨr ir/. (Not all of those would appear, but.)

Final vowels drop:
If it's retracted, retraction spreads to the preceding syllable.

Collapse of retracted vowels
ɑ ɛ ɒ ɪ ʊ > a ɛ ɔ ɨ u
ɑi ɛi ɒi ɪi ʊi > ɛ ɛ ɛ ɨ ɨ
ɑɛ ɑɔ ɒe ɛo > ɛɛ ɔɔ ɨɨ ɨɨ
ɑɑ əe əo əɪ əʊ > aa ɛɛ ɔɔ ɨɨi ɨɨu

Collapse of retracted consonants
Retracted alveolars merge into dentals, or palatalize.
Retroflexes retract /ɛ/ to /ə/ and merge into dentals.
Uvulars lower /ɨ u/ to /ə o/ and merge into velars, except ɢ, which merges into ɣ, and qh, which > x.

Front-back split:
ɕ shifts following high nonfront vowels to /i/.

Retraction table:
PPH form - PH unret. form - PH ret. form

p - pʰ - kpʰ
t - tʰ - ʈʰ
c - s - s̠
k - kʰ - qʰ
ʔp - p - kp
ʔt - t - ʈ
ʔc - t - t̠
ʔk - k - q
ʔ - ʔ - ʔˤ
b - b - gb
d - d - ɖ
ɟ - d - d̠
g - g - ɢ
ʔb - ɓ - gɓ
ʔd - ɗ - ᶑ
ʔɟ - j - ʝ
ʔg - ɣ - ʁ
m - m - ŋm
n - n - ɳ
ɲ - ɲ - n̠
ŋ - ŋ - ɴ
f - f - fʷ
s - s - ʂ
h - h - ħ
l - l - ɭ
j - j - e̯
w - w - o̯
ʔl - tɬ - ʈɬ
ʔj - ɕ - ɕ
ʔw - fʷ - fʷ

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

This is, of course, unstable as hell. But it'll get simplified.

Notation to keep separate vowels that go different ways in the two langs -- this way I can have a unified Proto-Hathic:
ɛ becomes ɛ in Cherun and a in Ngmwragh.
ɔ becomes a in Cherun and o in Ngmwragh.
ə becomes o in Cherun and ɤ in Ngmwragh.
ɨ becomes ɯ in Cherun and ɤ in Ngmwragh.

Palatalization
Coronals and velars merge as palatals before /a ɛ e ɨ i/, and any diphthong beginning in any of those.
Velars shift to palatals before /ar ɛr er ɨr ir/. (Not all of those would appear, but.)

Final vowels drop:
If it's retracted, retraction spreads to the preceding syllable.

Collapse of retracted vowels
ɑ ɛ ɒ ɪ ʊ > a ɛ ɔ ɨ u
ɑi ɛi ɒi ɪi ʊi > ɛ ɛ ɛ ɨ ɨ
ɑɛ ɑɔ ɒe ɛo > ɛɛ ɔɔ ɨɨ ɨɨ
ɑɑ əe əo əɪ əʊ > aa ɛɛ ɔɔ ɨɨi ɨɨu

Collapse of retracted consonants
Retracted alveolars merge into dentals, or palatalize.
Retroflexes retract /ɛ/ to /ə/ and merge into dentals.
Uvulars lower /ɨ u/ to /ə o/ and merge into velars, except ɢ, which merges into ɣ, and qh, which > x.

Front-back split:
ɕ shifts following high nonfront vowels to /i/.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Introduction to Proto-Hathic verbs

Proto-Hathic had no ditransitive verbs, and only a few transitive ones. To express transitivity and ditransitivity, serial verb constructions were used. For example:

*suʔkạạ > suka '1S'
*fene > feñ 'pick up' TR
*mʘetu > mʘet 'break' INTR
*ʔ!apa > !ap '3S'

suka feñ !ap mʘet

'I broke it' -- lit. 'I picked it up and it broke'

*da > ja 'go' INTR
*mụ > m̃u 'get closer' INTR
*ǂaʔgạ > ǂhaɣ 'market'

suka da m̃u ǂhaɣ

'I go to the market' -- lit. 'I go and the market gets closer'

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

The typical serial verb construction is causative: N1 V1 V2 N2 normally means that N1 did V1, resulting in N2 doing V2. But serial verb constructions can also express one compound action by one agent, with the 'subjectizer' marker *lẹ > lə.

* moʔja > m̃oɕ 'man' N
* ʔguuhụ > ɣooħ 'spear' N
* tẹmi > tɛm 'hit' INTR
* se > ɕe 'at' PRE
* ŋuʔgo > ŋuɣ 'die'

m̃oɕ tɛm ŋuɣ lə ɕe ɣooħ

The man hit the spear and died. (lit. The man was hit at the spear and died.)

Note that Proto-Hathic intransitive verbs usually translate as passive. They're best understood as middle voice(?): the verb happens to the argument.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Since glottalized consonants are so common, I might reanalyze them as picking up their glottalization from the following vowel. Fricatives can obviously just lose glottalization, but I don't want glottalized nasals. What can happen to them?

Alternatively, I could leave them in Proto-Hathic, have them spread creaky voice onto the following vowel in Cherun, and merge them into the plain nasals in Ngmwragh.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Is there any verbal inflection?

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Possession: Alienable/inalienable distinction. Alienable uses ɗe 'at' (note that implosives don't palatalize):

ɣooħ ɗe suka

my spear

Inalienable uses compounding, but only takes the familiar pronouns:

*nʘama > nʘam 'mother'
*yani > yañ '1S.FAM'

nʘamayañ

my mother

Most, but not all, roots in Pre-Proto-Hathic were of the form C1 V1 C2 V1, possibly with different registers on the vowels -- and the registers, except glottalization, carried over to the first vowel when the second dropped. Proto-Hathic doesn't like consonant clusters, so it epenthesizes the first vowel between the word and the possessive affix, but as a short vowel:

*lạcû > ḷɛt 'father'

ḷɛtɛyañ
ḷɛt-ɛ-yañ

my father

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Gonna have to edit a bunch of shit after this, but.

Locative verbs:

Proto-Hathic doesn't have prepositions for location; instead, it has transitive verbs.

ɣooħ ɗe suka

my spear

suka da ɗe ǂhaɣ

I went to the market

Note that serial verbs imply temporality: the second verb happens as a result of the first.

m̃oɕ tɛm ɕe ŋuɣ lə ɣooħ

The man hit the spear and died.

The difference between ɗe and ɕe is that the latter implies motion and the former implies no motion. If I went to the market and walked around the whole time, or if, for whatever strange reason, the market was moving while I was at it, I'd say suka da ɕe ǂhaɣ. This reflects a consistent distinction in locative verbs between essive and lative, which I'll gloss as and .

Essive verbs can serialize without implying temporality:

*gûlụụ > ɣuḷɨɨw 'be under'
*!âŋâ > !añ 'tree'

suka ɗe ɣuḷɨɨw !añ

I am under the tree

ɗe serialized with another essive verb adds a degree of generality: I'm not literally under the tree, the way roots are under a tree. Similarly:

*cîwî > cifʷ 'bird'
*nǁaya > nǁay 'be over'

cifʷ ɗe nǁay !añ

The bird is higher in the air than the top of the tree.

cifʷ nǁay !añ

The bird is literally above the tree.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Stress is irregular, but predictable from the Pre-Proto-Hathic form: it's attracted to the rightmost PPH long vowel. So:

ḷɛtɛyañ
suka < *suʔkạạ
ɣuḷɨɨw < *gûlụụ

also: diphthongs were long in PPH, written as VVS clusters in PH, so *tai > taay

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Conjuctions:

Don't exist. 'And' is a verb -- or rather two verbs, one essive and one lative.

* da > ja and.ESS
* sar > sar and.LAT
* gâi > ɣaay eat in the morning (intr)

suka da ḷɛtɛyañ

me and my father

suka da ɣaay ḷɛtɛyañ

me and my father ate breakfast

suka sar ḷɛtɛyañ da ɗe ǂhaɣ

me and my father went to the market

suka da ḷɛtɛyañ ɗe ǂhaɣ

me and my father are at the market

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

This language is beautifully exotic. Much bolder than anything I have seriously tried yet! Yet, everything seems to make sense to me.

_________________
...brought to you by the Weeping Elf
Tha cvastam émi cvastam santham amal phelsa. -- Friedrich Schiller
ESTAR-3SG:P human-OBJ only human-OBJ true-OBJ REL-LOC play-3SG:A

bump, gonna get back to this once finals season ends

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Decided to add voiced clicks, but they'll be rare and mostly on classifiers.

Classifiers.

Inflect for number: singular, dual, paucal, plural.
Classifier has to be learned with the word.
Usually pattern in PPH is:

CV = sg
CVr = du
CVgọ = pa
CVi = pl

But many are irregular, and some end in consonants. Possession is also marked this way, with CVyî sg, CVryîr du, CVgọi pa, CViyî pl.

Start on cat dialogue.

I've decided I like the pre-proto form more, since it doesn't have all the messy theoretical shit like /f_w_j/ that I need to get things working, so I'll probably use both.

Lexicon:
*nehụ ñɛħ = cat
*n|a nǂa[b] = cat.CLF
*nʘọhọ [b]nʘoħ = be black
*ǁââr ǁaar = tail
*d!ị d!ɨ = tail.CLF
*!oi !həəy = talk
*yê še = together.ESS
*wâ fa = think of, mean (transitive)

Attributive verbs:

nǂa ñɛħ nʘoħ

The cat is black.

nǂa ñɛħ nʘoħ nǂa !həəy

The black cat is talking.

So:

n!ar ñɛħ nʘoħ n!ar še !həəy

Two black cats are talking.

Note that nonhigh rhotic vowels don't palatalize the preceding consonant, but instead back dental clicks to alveolars.

n!ar ñɛħ nʘoħ n!ar še fa !həəy n!arš d!ɨ ǁaar


Tail is singular. d!ɨr ǁaar would've implied that they have two tails.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Inventory and orthographies:

As is usual with my conlangs, there's a diacriticked version and a keyboard-plus-a-few-alt-codes version.

pʰ pʷʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ <ph p̃h/phʷ th ch kh>
p pʷ t c k ʔ <p p̃/pʷ t c k ʔ>
b bʷ d ɟ g ɓ ɓʷ ɗ ʄ <b b̃/bʷ d j g ɓ ɓ̃/ɓʷ ɗ ʄ>
m n ɲ ŋ <m n ñ ŋ>
f fʷ s ɕ x ħ h <f fʷ s š x ħ h>
l ʎ ɭ tɬ <l ʎ ḷ tl>
j ɰ wʲ w <j ɣ ẅ w>
ʘh |h !h ǁh ǂh <ʘh |h !h ǁh ǂh>
ʘ | ! ǁ ǂ <ʘ | ! ǁ ǂ>
nʘ n| n! nǁ nǂ <mʘ n| n! nǁ nǂ>
gʘ g| g! gǁ gǂ <bʘ d| d! dǁ jǂ> (gʘ will probably merge with ɓʷ since I can't distinguish them)
a ɛ ə ɔ e o i ɨ u <a ɛ ə ɔ e o i ɨ u>

----

pʰ pʷʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ <ph pwh th ch kh>
p pʷ t c k ʔ <p pw t c k '>
b bʷ d ɟ g ɓ ɓʷ ɗ ʄ <b bw d j g b' bw' d' j'>
m n ɲ ŋ <m n ñ ŋ> <m n ñ ng>
f fʷ s ɕ x ħ h <f fw s sh x xh h>
l ʎ ɭ tɬ <l ly r tl>
j ɰ wʲ w <j gh yw w>
ʘh |h !h ǁh ǂh <p!h t!h r!h l!h c!h>
ʘ | ! ǁ ǂ <p! t! r! l! c!>
nʘ n| n! nǁ nǂ <m! n!t n!r n!l n!c>
gʘ g| g! gǁ gǂ <b! d!t d!r d!l d!j>
a ɛ ə ɔ e o i ɨ u <a ae ë oa e o i ü u>

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Comparatives and superlatives:

The bowl is red.
n!or hwarħ xɛ ḷɨg


The bowl is redder than that one.
n!or hwarħ xɛ ḷɨg nǁay n!orħ xɛ


The bowl is the reddest of all those bowls.
n!or hwarħ xɛ ḷɨg nǁay n!orħ dɨɨy xɛ


This bowl is as red as that one.
n!or hwarħ xɛ ḷɨg ɗe n!orħ xɛ


Lexicon:
hwarħ - bowl
n!or - bowl classifier
nǁay - exceed, be over
ḷɨg - red
xɛ - have
-ħ on classifier - distal
dɨɨy - all

(In Cherun, nǁay grammaticalizes into a comparative verb, forcing locative constructions to use whatever the reflex of ɗe nǁay is... but in Ngmwragh, or maybe Arve, the 'metaphorical' function of ɗe kicks in and it gets grammaticalized into the comparative.)

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Obligation:

I have to go to the market.
yaʔ n!ɨɨ suka da m̃u ǂhaɣ


I have to go to the market because I'm out of fish.
nǂe ŋa basɛʔ ɗe yañ yaʔ n!ɨɨ suka da m̃u ǂhaɣ


Note that, outside the most formal of contexts, possession always takes the familiar pronouns.

Lexicon:
*yaʔe yaʔ do to (transitive)
*n|ẹu n!ɨɨ be required
*basẹʔe basɛʔ fish
*n|e nǂe fish CLF
*ŋạ ŋa NEG

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Semantics of size: (using graves for retracted vowels because lazy)

large in one dimension: *yone yoñ
large in two dimensions: *tèku tɛk
large in three dimensions: *wââ hwaa
small in one dimension: *weyû hwey
small in two dimensions: *mììngu mɨɨng
small in three dimensions: *dìhà diħ

These have fossilized comparative forms in -*hù: yoñeħ, tɛkuħ, hwaaħ, weyuħ, mɨɨnguħ, weɕuħ, mɨɨnguħ, diwħ ~ juħ. Preserved in Cherun, not in Ngmwragh.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

shameless bump, going to iceland for a week and don't want this to die

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Classifiers so far. Should be calling them articles.

*n|a n|ar n|agọ n|ayi nǂa n!ar n!aɣ n|ay - small animals
*d!ị d!ịr d!ịgọ d!ịyi d!ɨ d!ɨr d!ɨɣ d!ɨy - body parts, esp. of animals
*n!o n!or n!ogọ n!oyi n!o n!or n!ɔɣ n!oy - containers
*n|e n|er n|egọ n|eyi nǂe n!er nǂɛɣ nǂey - related to sea (fish etc)
*d|e d|er d|egọ d|eyi dǂe d!er dǂɛɣ dǂey - humans

How did this evolve? Presumably there were two words: n|V and d|V, that attached to following words -- or maybe one, d|V with nasalization from nasal initial consonants -- I like that better. So: the classifier morpheme was d|V -- definite article, say. And then the generic classifier would be -- give it a vowel -- *d|u d|ur d|ugọ d|uyi d|u d!ur d!ɨɣ d|uy (retracted u > ɨ, why not)

welp i'm bored now

edit: plenty of potential insanity to add later: could have the two elements split or only one be used in certain circumstances. also maybe add other second elements with other number marking patterns

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

Reworking sound changes since I changed the PPH phonology. Work in progress.

Before I continue, I need to clean up the phonology.

Consonants:
p t c k (ʔ)
b d j g (h)
m n ɲ ŋ
f s h
l y w
ʘ ! ǁ ǂ nʘ n! nǁ nǂ

Vowels:
a e o i u + length
ai au oi eu

Phonotactics:
Syllable structure is CV. Could be analyzed as (C)V, with null vowels ejecting ʔ if glottalized and h otherwise.
Most roots are CVCV. Some are CV. No CVCVCV or above.
Clicks can only occur word-initially.

Vowel modifiers:
1. Retroflexion [ret] of the vowel, turning preceding alveolars into retroflexes. Does not appear after palatal consonants. Written with a following <r>.
2. Retraction [RTR] on the vowel, lowering and backing it and backing (velarizing or pharyngealizing) the preceding consonant. Does not appear after palatal consonants. Written with an underdot or grave.
3. Glottalization [glot] of the vowel and the preceding consonant. Does not appear after nasals or nasal clicks. Written with a circumflex.

Diachronics:

1. First uvular lowering.
ị ụ ọi ẹu > ẹ ọ ại ạu / [vel]_

2. First palatalization.
c j > ts y
[cor] [vel] > [pal] / _{a e i ai}[-RTR][-ret], sometimes _er

3. Modifier harmony.
V[-ret -RTR -glot] > V[RTR] / _CV[RTR]
V[-ret -RTR -glot] > V[glot] / _C[-plosive]V[glot]

V[-long] > 0 / _#, with any modifier spreading to a preceding short vowel.
V[long] > V[-long] / _#.

4. Loss of glottalization.
V[glot] > ʔV
p t c k ʘ ! ǁ ǂ > pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ ʘʰ !ʰ ǁʰ ǂʰ
ʔb ʔd ʔj ʔg > ɓ ɗ y ɣ
ʔl ʔy ʔw > ɬ ɕ fʷ
ʔ > 0

5. Esh fronting.
ɕ > s / _V[ret] _V[RTR]
u > i / ɕ_

_________________
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

I seem to remember, some time back, Nortaneous saying that he had difficulty with syntax (or something in that ballpark). I think we all know better now.

This is very, very, very cool stuff. Perhaps some natlangs do it that I'm not aware of, but making conjunctions and prepositions into verbs is cool. The way they serialize to convey different static vs dynamic meanings is even cooler. I'm taking notes for future conlanging endeavors.

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- My own ergative "dwarf-lang"

- An expansion of J.R.R. Tolkien's Dwarvish language from The Lord of the Rings