CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23 - VOTE!

Substantial postings about constructed languages and constructed worlds in general. Good place to mention your own or evaluate someone else's. Put quick questions in C&C Quickies instead.
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Hydroeccentricity
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by Hydroeccentricity »

Ars: let's kill all the humans in Ceson. Just for fun.
"I'm sorry, when you have all As in every class in every semester, it's not easy to treat the idea that your views are fundamentally incoherent as a serious proposition."

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by CatDoom »

finlay wrote:Cat, if you wanna write something for the dragon culture feel free, eg their reasons for wanting to go over the sea, or the effects of doing so and conflict with your culture. I didn't really flesh it out that much as it is.
I'd be happy to, thanks!

I've actually been imaging the period of southward dragon expansion becoming the "epic" or "heroic" period in the region, with the (post-)Ngoor of following centuries composing mythologized accounts of their conflicts with the dragons analogous to the Mahabharata or the Illiad.

Incidentally, how do you imagine "Dek'ame" being pronounced? I'm sure I'll want to render it into my Ngooric language.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by finlay »

[deˈkʼame] or so

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by CatDoom »

That's what I figured, but it never hurts to ask. :P

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by finlay »

i'm not one for subtlety in orthographies.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by Matrix »

Mecongai Language

Phonology:

Image

Syllable structure is mostly (C)V, with very limited (C)VC.
The only possible coda consonant is [ʟ]
/i/ is [ʟ] after /a/ and /o/
/u/ is [ʟ] after /a/ and /e/
/ain/ and /aun/ are [ɑ̃ʟ]
/oin/ and /eun/ are [õʟ]

Stress is always placed on the second syllable of a multisyllabic word. For monosyllabic words, lexical words are stressed while grammatical words are not, unless two or more such lexical words are adjacent, in which case every second word is stressed.

Script:

Image
I'm half-seriously considering calling it mecokana in English.

Both the romanisation and script suggest that there was sound change at one point, and this is indeed the case - the Mecongai found it proper to reform the script to match. Therefore, older examples of Mecongai writing will use kana that are no longer in use by the 2500 - 4000 period. Such small change over such long periods of time is typical of a Golem language.

Typology:

Mecongai is a very typologically strange language because it does not use the same argument structures as a human language would. That is to say, instead of subjects, objects, and verbs, there are experiencers, mentals, physicals, locators, and verbs, in that order.

What these mean can be shown as such:
What was affected? (experiencer)
What is the mental state of the experiencer? (mental)
What is the physical state of the experiencer? (physical)
Where did it happen? (locator)
What happened? (verb)

The lack of something similar to a subject/object distinction makes transitive phrases clunky to express. However, an experiencer in Mecongai can translate to either a subject or an object in a human language, depending on the context.

Morphologically, it is rather analytical, though with a certain tendency to construct compound words.

Place Names:

Taonpheon [tɑ̃õ̯ˈpʰø̃] "Great Forge"
Shauntaon [ʃɑ̃ʟˈtɑ̃õ̯] "Sun Forge"
Laten [ʟɑˈtɛ̃] "Five Stars"
Aenmeco [ɑ̃ːˈmɛ.ko] "Bronze History Tower"

Translations:

Sha z leippzzn o ngoca pa ccoun z ngoca o pa.
sha
1
z
EX
leippzzn
appreciation.of.art
o
MENT
ngoca
hate
pa
SUB
ccoun
3
z
EX
ngoca
hate
o
MENT
pa
SUB

I appreciate their art, but they hate me.

Mecolen z note ca len ne.
Mecolen
Mecolen
z
EX
note
difference
ca
GEN
len
land
ne
PHYS

Mecolen is a land of contrasts.

Peto z ngai cai ha she cai.
peto
human
z
EX
ngai
golem
cai
NEG
ha
LOC
she
eat
cai
NEG

The humans are not eaten by the golem.


Mecongai History, 2500 - 4000

In this time, termed the Expansion Period, there was a large incidence of breaking of ppon due to conflicts of aesthetics. These golems first headed east, towards Ataccoupha, and made it into a proper settlement, where the wondrous tower was examined and studied. The Ataccouphan settlers were the first Mecongai to build their homes instead of carving them out. More waves of dissidents were pushed farther and farther east as time went on, until they reached the southwestern low mountains of Lyranis. These mountains became the first majorly settled Mecongai territory outside of Mecolen. It is also in these mountains that the Mecongai, in about 3100 or so, discovered major deposits of iron. This iron happened to be more easily accessible than the area's copper, and so they began to use it in their art and tools. Within the next few hundred years, they found out that it could be a tougher material than bronze, creating smelting methods to perfect it more and more. However, iron was not universally accepted - the more conservative golems of Mecolen proper disparaged it in favour of their traditional bronze, at least when it came to art. Even they did not dispute its superiority in the construction of tools - all the better to mine the components of bronze. However, this does still set the east and west apart. While the individual aesthetic conflicts that originally spurred the expansion were as varied as the golems who held the views, there came to be certain widespread aesthetic values. The more conservative western golems preferred bronze and abstract designs. The exodus cemented these values among those who remained, and great masters and philosphers emerged who even codified them. The eastern golems, due to their origin, were more individualistic and proud, preferring the iron they discovered over the old ways of bronze. They also, in response to the emergence of western Abstractist thought, began formulating their own artistic philosophies. The most major of these were the Portraitists, Landscapists, and the Calligraphists. The Portraitists increasingly depicted golems in their art, until golems were all they depicted. The Landscapists made sculptures of various parts of the landscape and eventually even added to actual landscapes in nearly imperceptible ways. The Callighraphists advanced the art of carving kana, creating some of the most beautiful history towers ever known.
Image

Adúljôžal ônal kol ví éža únah kex yaxlr gmlĥ hôga jô ônal kru ansu frú.
Ansu frú ônal savel zaš gmlĥ a vek Adúljôžal vé jaga čaþ kex.
Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by clawgrip »

Matrix, I'd like to make En Soki and Ďomün scripts based off of your Mecokana. I don't quite know what will happen, but I figure the best guess is that that use of Mecokana will spread along the east coast of Lyra's continent, and maybe the En Soki will sail along the chain of islands in the middle and eventually encounter that script, which they will bring back and adapt to the En language. Then this one will spread north to the Ďomün. I can make a whole family based off of your script. It seems much more realistic and enjoyable than just having every culture make up their own script.

Edit: I guess I will make a progression of about six scripts based of of yours and supposedly used by whatever cultures live along the east coast and islands (I'll just pull some random phonologies off Wikipedia to stand for these intermediate languages). The sixth one will be the En script, and maybe the seventh or eighth will be the Ďomün one.

Edit 2: I don't quite get the Mecongai phonology. You say /i/ is [ʟ] after /a/, so I guess this includes Mecongai, but you haven't included /i/ (or /u/) in your vowel list. I see <ei> in your sample sentence, so is that /ɛi/? Also what is the Z column in your script? is /z/ syllabic?

Oh yeah also, what is the direction of writing?
Last edited by clawgrip on Wed Mar 12, 2014 4:44 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by احمکي ارش-ھجن »

My ISP suspended my internet for nearly two weeks...
It might be awhile to start the language, but it's gonna be known as Sed'Ashiran
ʾAšol ḵavad pulqam ʾifbižen lav ʾifšimeḻ lit maseḡrad lav lit n͛ubad. ʾUpulasim ṗal sa-panžun lav sa-ḥadṇ lav ṗal šarmaḵeš lit ʾaẏṭ waẏyadanun wižqanam.
- Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by Matrix »

clawgrip wrote:Edit 2: I don't quite get the Mecongai phonology. You say /i/ is [ʟ] after /a/, so I guess this includes Mecongai, but you haven't included /i/ (or /u/) in your vowel list. I see <ei> in your sample sentence, so is that /ɛi/? Also what is the Z column in your script? is /z/ syllabic?
Neither nor appear in the Mecongai language as shown. But they were there, historically. The idea is that the high monophthong vowels merged down into the middle at some point (or fricated), and in diphthongs they either merged into the adjacent vowel, elongating it, or became approximants that eventually merged with [ʟ]. So, <ei> is [ɛː], as can be seen in the phonological inventory. And yes, /z/ is syllabic, as can also be seen in the inventory. So, leippzzn is [ʟɛːˈp’z̩̃ː].
Image

Adúljôžal ônal kol ví éža únah kex yaxlr gmlĥ hôga jô ônal kru ansu frú.
Ansu frú ônal savel zaš gmlĥ a vek Adúljôžal vé jaga čaþ kex.
Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by ol bofosh »

Guop History
The Guop orcs had started to domesticate the urnp more and more, in time developing two strains: one for transport and one for meat (through a process of centuries) This made life easier, taking them away from a life of hunting, scavenging and even cannibalism. However, around the turn of the millennium (3000) they suffered famine and drought, which drove many of them west, until they reached the sea, where they began fishing to supplement their diet. After the worst of the famines and droughts were over some fishing villages appeared along the coast, though they were plagued by nomad raids. Many nomads could be bribed away or paid with “taxes”, and some even hired for village protection. Orc numbers multiplied and they expanded east once again, reaching back into the desert and towards the Forbidden Pyramids. Village territories began developing, ruled over by the nomads. Fishing techniques and craft were improved, increasing the wealth of the villages and their nomad patrons. In time these territories became kingdoms, exercising power over the villages. Towards the year 4000 a king became powerful enough to conquer several kingdoms and created the first empire, though it lasted only a year before the king was assassinated. A secret group had formed, a group of those that could teleport, and they used their skills for spying and assassination, hiring themselves to whoever could afford them. They carried strange weapons that some say were taken from the Forbidden Pyramids.

Guopish Language
There are many Guopish dialects. What I describe here represents the Druormpa kingdom’s dialect, a very powerful and influential kingdom, found along the coast; the first to create an empire.

Phonology
/m m̥ n n̥/ <m hm n hn>
/p pʼ t tʼ k kʼ q qʼ/ <b p d t g k q c>
/p͡ɸ p͡ɸʼ t͡s t͡sʼ k͡x k͡xʼ/ <pp bb tt dd kk gg>
/l ɹ/ <l r>
/æ e ɨ o ʉ/ <a e i o u>
/ aː ɛː iː ɔː uː/ <â ê î ô û>

CCVCCC
Clusters allowed
CC: plosive-approximant
CCC: approximant-nasal-plosive

Typology
- The word order is SVO, though in the subordinate clauses of subjective statements (I think/feel/believe that…) this changes to VSO.
- Guompish is heavily agglutinating.
- Verbs inflect for distance that I shall call proximal (here), mesioproximal (near here), mesiodistal (somewhere (else)/anywhere), distal (far away).
- The verb ddorq (‘to do’), can be used as an auxiliary, which, when used in conjunction with a verb’s gerund forms, expresses the aspect categories of perfect and prospective.
- Nouns inflect for gender (wet and dry), number and definiteness.
- Normally they are mass nouns, though number can be indicated by a cardinal number or quantifier suffix.
- Definiteness and adjectives are inflected to agree with gender.

Place Names
Guop – The Desert
Klîu – The Sea
Druormpa – Sand Fish (name of kingdom, nickname of its king)
Hmuilm – Big Oasis
Ôomq mia - Forbidden Pyramids

Translations
Ôna klîepro âuna, tli âuna hnôepro ôna.
/ˈɔː.næ ˈkˈliː.e.pˈɹo ˈaː.ʉ.na | tˈlɨ ˈaː.ʉ.na ˈn̥ɔː.epˈ.ɹo ˈɔː.næ/
Ô-na klîe-pro âu-na, tlî âu-na hnôepro ô-na
1-one love-MDIST 3-one, but 3-one hate-MDIST 1-one

I love her, but she hates me.

Guop brutt bbâna ne gokk.
/ˈkʉ.op bɹʉt͡sˈ ˈp͡ɸaː.næ ne kok͡xˈ/
Gu-op bru-tt bbâ-na ne gokku.
Desert.DRY be-PROX land.DRY-one of contrast

Guom is a land of contrasts.

Numqreomna im ourmtor daqreom.
/ˈnʉm.qɹe.om.na ɨm ˈo.ʉɹm.tˈoɹ ˈtæ.qˈe.om/
Num-qre-om-na im ourm-tor da-qre.
Stone-ork.WET-DEF.WET-one NEG eat-MPROX weak-orc.WET

The golem does not eat humans.
It was about time I changed this.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by CatDoom »

Epic Ngmi'
Ngmi43 Yi4 [ŋ͡mu˨˧ ɰɯ˨]

"Epic Ngmi'" is a scholarly reconstruction of a prestigious variety of Ngooric spoken around the year 4,000, based based primarily on internal evidence from the language of the Ngi43, the oldest surviving texts in the Ngooric epic tradition. Most prominent among these is the He4 Wa42 Ngi43, which recounts the adventures of the heroine He4 Ra32 (“Bright Glory” or “White Glory”) and her conflict with the legendary dragon king Ni’34 ‘i5 ‘eh43 (“Ni’34 (northern continent) Black Sky”), who murdered her companion and lover Ngi4 Tra23 (“red hunter”).

Phonology:

Consonants

Epic Ngmi' has a moderately small inventory of 18 consonant phonemes, including co-articulated labial-alveolars and labial-velars. The "dental" series is, properly speaking, post-dental, corresponding roughly to the alveolar place of articulation in languages spoken by species with more primate-like mouths. Likewise, the "dorsal" place of articulation corresponds to the velar PoA in primatoid species, though due to the shape of the cynocephalus palate they are more acoustically similar to palatal consonants. Diachronically, the retroflex series is believed to have originated as a series of dorsalized dental consonants, based on their conditioning of back vowels and interaction with the genitive case marker (see below).

Image

Vowels

Epic Ngmi' has a vertical vowel system consisting of four oral and four nasal vowels distinguished only by height. The backness and roundedness of each vowel is phonetically conditioned by the preceding consonant, as shown on the following table. Rounded vowels are uniformly formed through lip compression. Nasal vowels pattern identically with their oral counterparts, and are represented orthographically as the corresponding oral vowel followed by an <n> (<in>, <en>, etc.)

Image

Phonation and Tone

All eight phonemic vowels in Epic Ngmi' contrast according to four phonation types: modal, creaky (constricted glottis), breathy (opened glottis), and strident or "growled" (co-articulated with an epiglottal trill). Orthographically, creaky, breathy, and strident phonation are represented by a word-final <'>, <h>, or <r>, respectively.

Epic Ngmi' has an exceptionally complex tone system, with tones distinguishing five phonemic levels of pitch, numbered 1-5, with 1 being the highest and 5 the lowest. Nouns and function words normally distinguish a total of 11 tones:

Level tones: 2, 3, 4, 5
Rising tones: 21, 32, 43
Falling tones: 12, 23, 34, 45

Verbs, in contrast, are inherently toneless, but must take at least one of seven tones indicating grammatical mood. The tones used in verbs constitute a subset of those found in nouns:

Level: 2, 3, 4, 5
Rising: 21, 32
Falling: 35 (considered an allotone of 34)

This system is further complicated by the formation of "tone clusters" in certain morphological contexts. These are complex contour tones that are generally analyzed as sequences of two regular tones on the same syllable.

Tones are indicated in the orthography through the use of superscript pitch numbers following the syllable.

Phonotactics

Syllables in Epic Ngmi' conform strictly to the pattern CV. Loanwords with vowel-initial syllables generally take a prosthetic nasal consonant whose place of articulation is conditioned by the backness and roundedness of the syllable nucleus. For borrowed syllables beginning in a central vowel, a prosthetic glottal stop is used instead.

Typology and Distinctive Features

-Epic Ngmi' is a nominative-accusative language which conforms strictly to SVO word order in normal discourse.

-With the exception of polysyllabic loanwords, all morphemes in Epic Ngmi' are monosyllabic. Some compounding is permitted in nouns (though genitive constructions are generally preferred), but as word boundaries are not usually strongly marked, Epic Ngmi' may be analyzed as having either verbal compounds or serial verb constructions

-Verbs inflect for seven basic grammatical moods (indicative, imperative, interrogative, mirative/inferential [similar to the albanian 'admirative'], optative, potential, and conditional), each of which implicitly marks either the future or non-future tense. Each mood is distinguished by a different tone on the verb stem, and other TAM constructions are formed using tone clusters and adverbial particles.

-Nouns inflect for two cases, an unmarked "direct" case and a genitive case (used for nouns that modify other nouns), which is marked by adding a labial co-articulation to plain initials and a clustered level 4 tone before the noun's inherent tone.

-Nouns and pronouns are marked for the plural number through full reduplication, with more specific numbers being marked with numerals and indefinite quantifier particles.

-Epic Ngmi' makes use of an extremely complex set of personal pronouns which, in addition to person, mark the biological sex of the referent and the age and social status of their referent (or hearer, in the case of first person pronouns) relative to the speaker. Conversely, Epic Ngmi' demonstratives mark a simple two-way distinction between proximal and distal referents, and the langauge has no articles, with definiteness being inferred from context.

-Epig Ngmi' has three basic color terms (corresponding roughly to black, white, and red), which are semantically unusual in that they are also used to refer to categories of concrete nouns. Plants, inanimate objects, and sea creatures are classified as "black," people and terrestrial animals as "red," and birds, celestial objects, and weather phenomena as "white."

Important Terms

(Since the speakers of Epic Ngmi' inhabit mostly autonomous communities scatted among a large number of islands, I thought it would be more useful to include some names for species, cultures, and time periods, rather than keeping strictly to geographical terms)

benr5 [bɵ̃ʢ˩] - munkee

Hin32 Minh42 Ngmu41 Ngi4 ‘i5 [hɨ̃˧˦ mʉ̤̃˨˦ ŋ͡mɔ˨˥ ŋɯ˨ ʔɨ˩] - roughly ‘the long years of the struggle of red and black,’ a period of conflict between the inhabitants of Ngi’32 and a migrating population of dragons, which became the setting for the epic poetry of later centuries

ken’4 [kɤ̰̃˨] - golem

kpenr4 [k͡põʢ˨] - human

nenr34[nẽʢ˧˨] - dragon

Ne4 se3 te'4 [ne˨ ʂɤ˧ tḛ˨] - A culture of humans living to the west of Ngi’32

ngenr4 [ŋɤ̃ʢ˨] - person, cynocephalus

Ngi’32 [ŋɯ̰˧˦] - a geographic term roughly encompassing the region inhabited by cynocephali speaking Ngooric languages

Nmi’434 ‘I’5 [n͡my̰˨˧˨ ʔɨ̰˩] - The northern continent

Rah5 Nmenr434 ‘I’5 [ɻɑ̤˩ n͡mø̃ʢ˨˧˨ ʔɨ̰˩] - A large island east of Ngi’32 settled by the dragons of Te4 Ka’3 Ne4 at the end of their southward migration

Te3 Ka’4 [te˧ kɑ̰˨] - the most prominent culture of dragons involved in the Hin32 Minh42 Ngmu41 Ngi4 ‘i5

Translations

Yih4 ku4 ‘inr23 si34 ‘inr23 kih4 yih4
[ɰɯ̤˨ kʌ˨ ʔɨ̃ʢ˦˧ ʂɯ˧˨ ʔɨ̃ʢ˦˧ kɯ̤˨ ɰɯ̤˨]
1SG.peer IND/love 3SG.F.deferential but 3SG.F.deferential hate 1SG.peer
“I love her (a higher-status woman of similar age), but she hates me”

Ngi’32 ‘u4 hi’45 hmi’45 ‘i’5
[ŋɯ̰˧˦ ʔɜ˨ hɨ̰˨˩ m̥ʉ̰˨˩ ʔɨ̰˩]
Ngi’ IND/be PL~GEN/difference land
“Ngi’ is the/a land of contrasts”

Ken’4 hi21 nin354 yan5 kpenr4
[kɤ̰̃˨ hɨ˦˥ nĩ˧˩˨ ɰɑ̃˩ k͡põʢ˨]
golem NEG MIR-IND/eat* any human
“(It is said that) The/a golem doesn’t eat any humans”

*The mirative and indicative moods combined in this order form a gnomic mood

History of the Ngooric peoples (2,500 - 4,000)

2,500 - 3,500: Intermediate Horizon ("Epic Period")

The end of the Ngoor archaeological culture is marked not by any sudden collapse or replacement by invaders, but rather by a gradual transition into a diverse group of distinctive local traditions. This transition is generally considered to have coincided with the diversification of the late Proto-Ngooric dialect continuum into a true language family, and to have been driven, in part, by the rapid outward expansion of Ngooric-speaking peoples that began in the late period.

Due to the relatively smooth transition from late Ngoor into its descendant cultures, fixing a date for that transition, even on a purely local scale, is problematic. As a compromise between several competing culture-historical models, an “intermediate horizon” has been posited, lasting roughly a thousand years (depending on the region) and separating the late Ngoor from their more well-attested successors. Several important developments took place during this period which would define the course of the later history of the Ngooric-speaking peoples, each triggered by contact with cultures outside the Ngooric sphere of influence.

The first of these developments was primarily linguistic in nature. As the speakers of the early Ngooric languges expanded outward, they increasingly came into close contact with a wide variety of other cultures made up of sentients other than cynocephali, predominantly munkees and humans. Although there is ample reason to believe that these encounters were frequently violent in nature, evidence of trade and even peaceful co-habitation between cultures and species becomes increasingly prevalent during the intermediate horizon. It is hypothesized that multilingualism become relatively common, particularly in the areas of post-Ngoor expansion outside of the original boundaries of Ngoor Ÿ, as all attested Ngooric languages show signs of deep substratal influences likely dating to approximately this period. Indeed, language contact is believed to have been one of the most significant forces driving the early diversification of the Ngooric languages.

The second major development of the intermediate horizon was the introduction of the sail. Oceangoing vessels built by the Ngoor seem to have relied entirely on muscle power for propulsion, and even the largest of their plank-built war canoes likely had a relatively limited practical range. It is difficult to pinpoint the first instances of sailmaking (as most of the relevant artifacts would have been made from perishable materials), but it is believed that the technology was introduced by human settlers descended from the people of Nespek, who crossed the western ocean in one of the ancient world’s most remarkable feats of seamanship. Much as their ancestors had with the bow, the Ngooric-speaking peoples of the intermediate horizon embraced this foreign invention with gusto, and sailed vessels became ubiquitous in the region by the late intermediate.

Finally, the intermediate period seems to have witnessed an unprecedented flowering of new artwork and oral literature, most of which owes its existence to a time of great violence and uncertainty. The outward expansion of Ngooric-speakers during the intermediate horizon coincided with another major population movement, remembered in Epic Ngmi’ as the Hin32 Minh42 Ngmu41 Ngi4 ‘i5. This era of conflict is represented in the Ngooric epic tradition as a single, generations-long war fought between the tribes of old Ngi’32 and the dragons of Nmi’434 ‘I’5. Numerous heroes and supernatural beings are ascribed roles in the conflict, such as the adventurer-queen He4 Ra32, whose father was said to have been a fallen star, the cunning trickster Hu'4 Ngenr4 (literally "nobody"), who escaped his enemies by trading away his name, and the terrible sea-serpent Ti21 'in43 'in43, who mothered the thousand monstrous sons of the dragon king Tra12 Ran5.

In the centuries following the intermediate horizon, the Hin32 Minh42 Ngmu41 Ngi4 ‘i5 became a sort of stock backdrop for all manner of larger-than-life stories. The archaeological record, on the other hand, paints a somewhat more prosaic picture of the time. It appears that there was, in fact, a large scale southward migration of dragons from the west coast of Nmi’434 ‘I’5, most prominently from the ancient kingdom known as Dek’ame in draconic histories and Te3 Ka’4 ‘I’5 in the epics. The migrants practiced an intensive maritime subsistence strategy, and as they moved south they placed additional stress on the fisheries that supported the settlements in northern Ngi’32. It was, perhaps, inevitable that they would come into conflict with the descendants of the Ngoor, and as several successive waves of migrants moved south these conflicts spread throughout the better part of Ngooric-speaking territory.

One can only speculate about the terror felt by the warriors of the isles when confronted by foes with the strength to capsize a laden war canoe and the power to strike from underwater with the speed of a leopard seal and to disappear just as quickly. Nevertheless, actual battles between the two peoples were likely fairly local and small in scale, though evidence from a few sites does suggest that some whole communities were displaced along the northern periphery of Ngi’32. In the end, perhaps by virtue of their superior numbers and familiarity with the terrain of their island homes, the people of Ngi’32 were able to repel the invaders from their territory. The majority of the surviving migrants ultimately settled on the large island of Rah5 Nmenr434 ‘I’5 under the leadership of the dragons from Dek’ame.

The causes of the draconic migration are not well understood, but one leading theory suggests that the expansion of both the Ngooric and draconic civilizations of the intermediate horizon was aided by a shift in ocean temperatures favorable to the fisheries of the region. Over the course of the period populations in the region increased, placing additional pressure on wild food resources and encouraging the migrations that brought the two cultures into conflict. Furthermore, this climatic change may have favored certain groups within the Dek’ame kingdom over others, as the kingdom encompassed dragons living in a variety of terrains and practicing a diverse array of subsistence strategies. As some of these groups prospered while others struggled, internecine conflicts may have arisen that further encouraged the coastal members of the polity to seek out greener pastures.

3,500 - 4,000: Early Birch Bark Period

Around the year 3,500 a culture arose in the northern islands of Ngi’32 closest to Nmi’434 ‘I’5. The period marks the first appearance of the birch bark codices that would become characteristic of of later archaeological periods in the region. Although relatively few in number due to their perishable nature, codices dating to this period have been found in sites throughout northern Ngi’32.

Folded to form panels that are then painted with elaborate vignettes, the codices do not contain any inscriptions that can be interpreted as true writing. The iconography making up the illustrations does, however, appear to obey a complex set of formalized conventions, suggesting that each image would likely have had a consistent, fairly specific interpretation. These were clearly prestige items, as their production demonstrates considerable skill and a significant investment of time, likely by specialists attached to prestigious community leaders. The illustrations have also been shown to contain pigments that would have been difficult to manufacture and, in some cases, must have been traded from distant sources.

The specific purpose of these documents is unclear, though it is probable that they were used as mnemonic aids for storytellers and to enhance the impact of their performances. At least some of the codices appear to be genealogical records, which would become one of the major "genres" of codex in later periods. Perhaps most remarkably, many of the early codices depict episodes preserved centuries later in the earliest written versions of the Ngooric epics. This has been proposed as one piece of evidence supporting the hypothesis that Epic Ngi’ was spoken during the early birch bark period.

As indicated by the use of exotic pigments in the early birch bark codices, this period also marks a flowering of long-distance trade in the great western archipelago. Other important trade items attested in the archaeological record include obsidian, copper, and various precious stones; valuable feathers, shells, and woods from the south; honey, amber, and decorative furs from the north; and various exotic artifacts manufactured by the humans to the west. There is some evidence that slavery was practiced in Ngi’32 at this time, and possibly even as early as the late period of the Ngoor, but it seems to have taken place on a much smaller scale than it would in later periods. The complex web of trade relationships that emerged during the early birch bark is believed to have laid the groundwork for the Ngooric-speaking thalassocracies that would take shape in following eras.
Last edited by CatDoom on Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:06 pm, edited 11 times in total.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by zompist »

Torc sign

The main Torc polity of the imperial period is the Threat Empire, based on the Plantain Plateau at W11, south of the Torc homeland. The Torcs are isolated and the Threat Empire even more so; perhaps because of this, the primary modality of Torc language continues to be Sign.

Cheremic inventory

Torcs can sign using the hands or feet; when I refer to ‘hand’ below, understand that the feet are an alternative. Some nuances involving body location are lost, however.

Most signs have a hand component, and can be divided into handshape, movement, and location. E.g. the sign for COMFORT is made by holding one fist within the other hand and rocking it back and forth in front of the chest. The sign for NECKLACE is made by making a finger-grabbing gesture while moving the hand in front of the throat.

We can also separate out style of motion— largely speed, emphasis, and repetition— which is typically used to express aspect (for verbs) and quantity (for nouns).

Signs often have a head or shoulder component: facial expression, eye direction, tilt of head, tongue extension, various vocalizations. This may be part of the sign— e.g. the sign for ANGER includes a furrowed brow— but more typically these cheremes are used for grammatical indications (e.g. tilting head up = question; hunching shoulders = negative). The head gesture may encompass multiple hand signs.

The head is also used for derivations. E.g. the upper lip is tensed and extended for ‘upper’, the lower for ‘lower’. This combines with the sign for HAND/FOOT (touching one hand with the other) to specialize the sign to HAND or FOOT. Pursing the lips means ‘female’, while a big grin is ‘male’.

The tail can be used to indicate emotional reactions— indeed, it can be said that the only way for a Torc to keep its emotions to itself is to tie down its tail. When a Torc is describing something, the tail alone will give idea of the size, importance, and attitude of the referent.

Distinctive points

As in terrestrial sign languages, Torc signs are frequently iconic. Nonetheless many are opaque, or differ by region; signs cited here are those of the Threat Empire.

Important participants in a scene are marked by vibrating the hand slightly; they may then be referred to by glancing at the indicated location. Standalone ‘you’ and ‘I’ are indicated by pointing; note that Torcs point with the middle, not the index finger.

Location and movement may be indicated iconically. E.g. the sign for ‘branch’ is two fingers held out; that for ‘tree frog’ is formed by holding the hand palm down, curling all the fingers inward. You can indicate ‘the frog is on the branch’ by holding the ‘frog’ sign over the ‘branch’ sign, and indicate things like ‘the frog fell off the branch’ or ‘the frog jumped over the branch’ by miming the movement.

Simply listing signs makes Torc Sign look like a pidgin: e.g. TIGER CAT ATTACK. But TIGER and CAT would be accompanied by head and tail gestures that indicate their size and attitude as well as assign loci; and ATTACK by gestures indicating modality, aspect, and intensity— so this sentence would really communicate all of ‘A big angry tiger was here; a small cute frightened cat was there; the tiger repeatedly and fiercely attacked the cat until it was finished.’

Normally you indicate the participants, then the action— that is, the normal sentence order is SOV. Modifiers to a noun, if not simultaneous, follow it.

There are no modification gestures for tense; placement in time must be indicated by separate constituents. However, these may be modified for more precision. E.g. YESTERDAY is made with a cupped hand pointing to one’s left; if you move the whole arm further leftward it moves the day further into the past.

Place names

The Threat Empire is indicated by these signs:
torc-signs-threat.png
torc-signs-threat.png (15.37 KiB) Viewed 7494 times
THREAT – both hands palm out, claws curled forward; raised eyebrows and a waver of the hands amplify the threat— we could also transcribe this ‘The Big Serious Threat’

EMPIRE – pointing shape with both hands, moving from center of brows outward (indicating a crown). This is CROWN; an extended pinky indicates a domain, thus KINGDOM, and raised eyebrows make it larger, thus EMPIRE.

The empire is located on the Plantain Plateau.

PLANTAIN – two fingers held together tracing a sickle shape

PLATEAU – hands held in a Γ shape, moving apart— this is PLATFORM; pinkies extended to turn it into PLATEAU

The Torc homeland is the Rich Forest to the north.

RICH – multiple grabbing motions, as if choosing between dainty foods

FOREST – a cupped hand shape is TREE; the hand jumps around a bit to make it a collective, FOREST

As noted before, the sign for TORC is the hands clasped together, one pinky extended representing the tail.


Translations

“I love her, but she hates me.”
torc-signs-love.png
torc-signs-love.png (10.9 KiB) Viewed 7494 times
LOVE – hands clasping each other; movement from chest (‘I’) toward locus representing ‘her’; movement is slow and graceful to indicate a habitual condition; pursed lips may be added to emphasize that the object is female

HATE – shaken fist, with a sharp exhalation; movement is of course the reverse of the last; a sadly waving tail expresses disappointment (the ‘but’)

“The Threat Empire is a land of contrasts.”

THREAT EMPIRE as above, but with the mouth held in a big O for topicalization.

Slight pause to indicate the copula.

LAND – both hands form a cupola shape: HOUSE; spreading apart with raised brows = LAND.

CONTRAST – whole right hand points right, then left. The head tilts forward during LAND CONTRAST to group them together.

“The golem does not eat humans.”

GOLEM – two fists with knuckles touching (related to the sign for ROCK).

HUMAN – hands clasped together, held high to indicate their height compared to Torcs. Optionally, dance the hands about a bit to indicate plurality.

EAT – make a chewing motion— a rare non-manual sign. Extended to indicate habituality.

Shoulders are hunched throughout the sentence, or just on EAT, to indicate the negative.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by ol bofosh »

Dragolm History
Around the year 2500, new golems were being designed, ones to understand and better manipulate sapient species. Unfortunately they came with a defect: their understanding of sapience led them to compassion and “humanist” leanings. They objected to the slavery of the dragons, which began a century long civil war between the "Slavers" and "Humanists". Freed and wild dragons rallied, rebelling against the slavers. Finally, the slavers were driven into the tunnels and chambers of the mountains from which the golems first came, with the few dragon slaves that remained. The Humanists and freedragons settled down to a peaceful, though somewhat tense, existence that barely changed, apart from spreading east, away from another strange type of golem that appeared in the west, one that caged humans and monkees in its torso. Some of these humans and monkees immigrated, looking for a freer existence, from over-protective golems to Humanist golems.
But for the Slavers things were different. They arrived from their tunnels on the other side of the mountains and found a lake with a population of humans, a weak-willed species, easier to enslave than the dragons. Even the golden crowns, used for controlling the dragons, were not needed. From there the Slavers carried on their compulsive building works. They too encountered a new type of golem in the west. The Lulweon golems they identified as “having a mission” and so they molested them not. But all golems they identified as “without mission,” groups and individuals wandering around the north of the continent, were assimilated. Monkees were also assimilated, but their limits soon discovered: they lived in tree communities, but trees were building materials, not homes. Humans fared better without trees, and the monkees were discarded. The Slavers spread east, destroying ecosystems and assimilating humans and golems, leaving an organised network of big golem cities in their wake, inhabited by small groups of “maintenance golems”. For the moment, many of the Slavers' golem neighbours are viewed as "with a mission", and so are not interfered with, their territories respected. The Humanists and Slavers have encountered each other again in the east of their territories, but it's only a matter of time when the Slavers will make their push.

Slaver Language: Eight-Beat
Slavers can and do learn the languages of their slaves, though they give no importance to this beyond assimilation of a species, and these languages are as disposable as the frail creatures that speak them. Between themselves, the Slavers have a far more efficient language that works with a complex system of tempo and number of beats. Golem mouths are created with the equipment to produce this sound, though this language can be produced through any medium that conveys beats. However, "speaking" Slaver language through a drum is done at a slower rate than a mouth, for example. Slavers can even "speak" through several mediums at once. Humanists were created for this speech, but because of its association, and their sympathies towards sapient species, they prefer to speak the languages of the humans, dragons and monkees.

Throughout a Slaver community, continuous clicks, buzzes and whirs may be heard, since they must continuously communicate and coordinate in their work. The first structure of a city is a giant, immobile golem that is used as a centre for golem communication. It is often fitted with several mouths in several directions, with amplifiers allowing long-range communication. It is from these "Golem-towers" that a city's information is uploaded, downloaded and stored. Communication between these towers can happen directly if they are close enough, or through relays of golems, though city's are usually built close together. In this way all Slavers across the continent are well coordinated.

Tempo and Beats
Tempo is relative, so the same piece of information can be communicated from 8BPM up to 512BPM. However, there are several BPM brackets within which there are BPM slots, working on multiples of eight:
8-64, 72-128, 136-192, etc.
Conversational BPM is usually within the 264-320 bracket - within a phrase the bracket will not change.
An example of the slots between 264-320BPM.
1 - 264
2 - 272
3 - 280
4 - 288
5 - 296
6 - 304
7 - 312
8 - 320

Sentences, Words and Syllables
A syllable can be written like this: 8a
A word, like this: 8a·8a
And a sentence like this: 8a·8a-8a
Two sentences, like this: 8a·8a-8a | 8a·8a-8a

The number signifies the BPM slot, and the letter, the number of beats (a-p = 1-16). Interpunct separates syllables, hyphen separates words and vertical bar separates sentences.

Grammar
- Sentences are separated into two types: statement and proposal, roughly corresponding to realis and irrealis moods.
- Statements simply convey information as fact, and are further marked by two forms: directly observed and relayed (evidentiality).
- Proposals roughly correspond to questions, commands and suggestions, though there is no formal difference between them.
- verbs are not "done", they "happen". Cause and even intention can be recognised and mentioned, but it is not essential.
- words are arbitrarily assigned their meanings, with little or no connection between related concepts.

Place Names
Place names do not exist. Instead, Slavers begin with their reference of "here" and then describe the direction and distance of place. Though types of place are described for extra references:
city - 6b·7b·6b
building - 6f
river mouth - 8b·2j·2h
sea - 6d·4e·4k·4i
forest - 5f·6h·3c·5i·3n

Translations
8m·8m-1d-6f·7k·4o-2h·4g-8b | 8m·8m-(a·8p-)1d-3c·3c-4o·5p-7f·2g
statement.observed to.happen assimilation DAT.female.mentioned CAUS.unit.this | statement.observed (contrast) to.happen destruction DAT.unit.this CAUS.female.mentioned
I love her, but she hates me. (no emotional paradigms: lit. assimilation happens to her because of me; destruction happens to me because of her)

8m·8m-1d-a·8p-7g·3g·6j·6f·5d
statement.observed contrast LOC.land.dominated
The Dominated Land is a land of contrasts.

8m·8m***1d-5m·2n·7n·8g.5g-8f·3f·6d·8l-5m·5b·2p·3p
statement.observed NEG to.happen consumption CAUS.golem DAT.human
The golem does not eat humans.
<***> represents negatives, and is spoken as a static sound.
It was about time I changed this.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by zompist »

Torc history 2500-4000

We left the Torcs exhausted by a huge war culminating in the destruction of the Hill City [Réib], 2400. Overpopulation, tyranny, and now war accelerated the tendency of Torc culture to spread east and south, displacing or absorbing the munkees they found there. (Or munches, as autocorrect suggests to me.)

In the east, this migration was facilitated by the Sons of Dáe. Males had traditionally been devoted to a plethora of hékés, females to the spirit of the forest, Dáe; the new cult combined the energy of héké worship, the male propensity to wander, and the standardization of Dáe-worship. More importantly, it provided a reason to go east (convert the primitive munkees) with a social, trading, and banking network in the form of huge, highly organized temples. This led in time to the first stable kingdom-level state (in W1r), known as the Sunrise Kingdom, which emerged in 2750. The titular ruler was the chief prophetess of Dáe, while actual power lay in a congress of priests from the geographically dispersed temples; this made for messy, intrigue-filled, theologically-tinged politics, but stability at the top— there was only one dynasty of prophetesses as long as the cult existed

In its last centuries it outgrew the temple network— there were cities and merchants and large landowners who were left out of the official power structures. These finally succeeded in seizing power around 3300, though the temples retained power for a century longer in some areas. The new power structure was promptly destroyed (~3400) by an invasion of "Forest Torcs"— loose tribes that surrounded the organized kingdoms in the rain forest; as every adult in these tribes could fight, and the tribes coveted the wealth of the kingdoms, they were a perennial military threat. A cycle of Forest Torc invasions, assimilations, and re-invasions occupied the remainder of the period in the coastal region.

In the south (W-1) was the huge Plantain Plateau, much less densely forested, but offering new resources, including rich ores and gems. The traditional Torc lifestyle was impossible here; colonization required organization: irrigation, planting of traditional crops, walls to protect against predators, lines of posts that served as roads for the brachiating Torcs. A confused period of city-states (2800-3200) culminated in the first large, stable Torc empire— the Threat Empire. On the plateau, warfare was dominated by archery, often from Torcs mounted in large flightless birds. A new religion developed, with ten gods— Dáe plus what were essentially nine promoted hékés.

The threat of the Threat Empire was directed against early rivals, and to some extent toward the kingdoms of the coast; on the whole the Torcs remain unusually isolated. As their major state is landlocked, they have not developed oceangoing ships— though they've been visited by others, and have learned that there are major human/golem/munkee civilizations on the islands to the north. Torcs are curious beings and like to know about foreign doings, but nothing has suggested that they need to take them seriously. They have also discovered golem ruins on the Plateau, which they treat as holy sites for the new religion.

The Sunrise Kingdom pioneered accounting, with a system of tokens and marks made on large leaves. The Threat Kingdom adapted this, but also recorded signed speeches using a series of statues. This led (by the end of our period) to a shorthand which can represent the basics of Torc Sign, though entirely skipping its modulations of mood, aspect, emotion, and intensity. Not coincidentally, the shorthand also maps to the spoken pidgin.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by KathTheDragon »

Zalar Language
Note that while there are many languages throughout the Zalar peoples, this is the most prominent, and thus is the lingua franca of their civilisation.

Konox lū naŘizler
/kʌ:nɤx lɯ: na:ʁizleɹ/

Inventory
/p t ʧ c k q Ɂ/ <p t č c k q Ɂ>
/ɸ β θ s ɬ z ʃ ç x χ/ <f v þ s z š ç x χ>
/l r j ɰ ʁ ɦ/ <l r j w ř h>
/m n/ <m n>

/i ɨ ɯ/ <i y u>
/e~ɛ: ɘ~ə: ɤ~ʌ:/ <e ø o>
/ɜ~ɐ: ɑ~a:/ <ə a>
/i: ɨ: ɯ:/ <ī ȳ ū>
/e: ɘ: ɤ:/ <ē ø̄ ō>
/ɑ:/ <ā>

Distinctive Features
Poly-consonantal root system
Unusual morphosyntactic alignment
Total lack of roundedness

Place Names
Qoc-Tavar lū Notəlerilir
near home[PL]-PL of AGNT-go.before{-one.who}[AGNT.PL]-PL
Near the Homes of the Ancestors

Jaq lū Lheçīp
land of PATNT-sun[PATNT]
Land of the Sun

Sample Sentences (3rd pending some region names)
lyttiw haχə, sen hacacšā lyχə
1st=love[1st.STAT] 3rd=PRON[] but 3rd=hate[3rd.STAT] 1st=PRON[]
I love her, but she hates me.

lher heřəçješā kolem* hymner*
not 3rd=eat[3rd.HAB]-HAB golem human[PL]-PL
The golem does not eat humans.

*Borrowings from English, since the Zalar likely won't encounter either for another thousand years or so yet. If you're wondering, the singular form of hymner is homan

Zalar History (2500 - 4000)
The next few hundred years saw many the culture of many neighbouring settlements in various regions becoming more and more similar, likely due to the effect of trade, and males travelling between these settlements. These could possibly be considered the first Zalar proto-nations. In each of these regional cultures, one settlement became identified with that culture - these could be considered the capitals for each region. They grew much faster than other settlements, and became increasingly dependant on the coastal settlements at the mouths of the rivers they were situated on for food. This led to these fishing based settlements growing faster than average too. However, given the importance of the mountain ruins to the now-numerous Zalar peoples, the growth of the settlements closest to the ruins far outstripped all others, making the proto-capital for that region the most prestigious place on the entire island.
By these centuries, boats had spread over the entire island, and were now more widely used by the coastal settlements for fishing than by the river traders. A number of islands were discovered to the east, and were quickly settled as they had large populations of the various game animals that the Zalar depended on. These colonies quickly grew, but were still closely tied to the regions on the homeland. Also during this period, the traders developed and popularised a ideographic notation for recording trades. This would directly inspire later writing across the archipelago.

The third millenium saw the regions becoming distinct nations. The now-city of Qoc-Tavar lū Notəlerilir (Near the Homes of the Ancestors) spontaneously elevated its local matriarch to the matriarch of the entire region, with the matriarchs of all the other settlements forming a council over which she presided. The system took a number of years to become accepted, but even the most vocal dissenters relented once the quality of life for all Zalar improved. The nation was named Jaq lū Lheçīp (Land of the Sun) on account of the sun being at its highest in the northern sky, and the region occupies much of the north of the island. Other regions followed suit over the next century, and the Matriarchs of the various nations all agreed upon boundaries for the nations. The language of Qoc-Tavar lū Notəlerilir, historically the lingua franca of the Zalar, was given the status of common tongue over the entirety of the Zalar civilisation, although the local languages were used as the language of each nation.
It is unknown what triggered this transition from common-culture settlements to distinct nations, but many believe that the Ancestors sent a messenger from beyond the northern sea, who then taught the people of Qoc-Tavar lū Notəlerilir the ways of cities and nations. The Matriarch refused to say anything on the matter, beyond that she was the first Zalar to have the concept of cities and nations.

A few generations down the line, not much had changed. The first of the isles beyond the Eastern Sea had been fully settled by all the nations of the Western Isle (the homeland), and expeditions to isles beyond had been made. However, this period saw unrest in the Eastern Isles, as they were unhappy at being ruled from so far away. Though no motion for independence had yet been made, the unrest persisted. After another few hundred years, however, it was realised by some on the Western Isle that they could not hold onto the Eastern Isles forever, especially now that another island had been settled. The nations on the western half of the isle made a very unprecedented move and granted their colonies independent rule, something which the eastern nations did not approve of. The eastern nations then went on to tighten their grip on their colonies, solidifying this new cultural divide between east and west on the Western Isle. By now, true writing had appeared in multiple nations, and quickly spread to the rest of Zalar civilisation.

By the end of the third millenium, while not in outright war, the east and west were strongly at odds. By now, the western nations and their former colonies had more or less formed a UN-like group, though without all the international policing-y stuff. Mostly just international trade, and the agreement to help each other out. The eastern nations also formed a similar group, but their colonies were still colonies. However, there were high levels of unrest and protest. The western nations wanted to step in and free the colonies from the iron grip of the eastern nations, but were very uncertain about doing so, as it would mean war. The eastern nations, meanwhile, had been mustering military might to suppress the colonies' ability to fight.
Last edited by KathTheDragon on Sun Mar 23, 2014 3:48 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by finlay »

shit ... i keep putting this off.

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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by Matrix »

Tsargoki Language

Phonology:


Image

Syllable structure is (C)(C)V(C).
/o/ may not be present without an onset.
Only /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, and /s/ are allowed as codas.
Possible onset clusters are /tk/, /dg/, /st/, and /sk/.

Typology:

Tsargoki is VSO, rather agglutinative, and rather head-marking.

Place Names:

Saraskok [sa˞.a.skək] "Great City"

Translations:

Start ata kato, kli gird adi.
[st̪a˞t̪ a.t̪a ka.t̪ə | kˡi gi˞d̪ a.d̪i]
start
love
ata
1SG.NOM
kato
3SG.FEM.HON.ACC
kli
hate
gird
3SG.FEM.HON.NOM
adi
1SG.ACC

I love her, but she hates me.
Note: The feminine pronouns used are honourific pronouns, suggesting that the loved woman is of a higher caste than the speaker.

Ksatgirgirgo Saraskok.
[k͡xat̪.gi˞.gi˞.gə sa˞.a.skək]
ksat
be.place
-girgir
-many
-go
-GEN
Saraskok
Great City

Saraskok is a place of many things.
Note: girgir, "many" is a reduplication of gir, "a few".

Dgatokatot koko dasir.
[d̪ga.t̪ə.ka.t̪ət̪ kə.kə d̪a.si˞]
dgat
eat
-o
-NEG
-kat
-ACC
-ot
-PL
koko
golem
dasir
human


Tsargoki History, 2500 - 4000

The Tsargoki have made certain advances that have allowed them to expand much farther than in the previous period, advancing the borders of the city-state, Saraskok, far inland, to the low eastern mountains of Matrixia. First, with the initial difficult slog of expansion, the elites of Saraskok began focusing more and more on the sea, and boat technology was gradually improved as more resources and effort were put into their construction. Tsargoki boats became good enough to even circumnavigate Matrixia. [Logically, the Tsargoki would make contact with vec and zontas' cultures, but they have not submitted anything yet, so such is TBD. They might also be able to make contact with the Guop kingdoms and risla's potential culture.] However, they couldn't yet go so far as to settle on the west. Tsargoki mass passenger and cargo shipping capabilities remained on the east side. They used this capability to mount an amphibious assault on the northeastern mountainous peninsula (E-7r), carving out a safe area on which to settle and prospect in the mountains in the 2700s. This expedition was successful, and they started bronze production as soon as possible. This allowed a very large majority of warriors, both Munkee and Ksinesir, to equip bronze gear. Combined with new effective anti-Golem fighting techniques developed over the centuries, the borders of Saraskok exploded, starting in the 3300s, and by the 3900s, Saraskok controlled everything on the southeastern side of the eastern mountains. The Tsargoki have yet to develop writing, though they have, by 4000, a symbolic accounting system that could, if left undisturbed, develop into a writing system.
Image

Adúljôžal ônal kol ví éža únah kex yaxlr gmlĥ hôga jô ônal kru ansu frú.
Ansu frú ônal savel zaš gmlĥ a vek Adúljôžal vé jaga čaþ kex.
Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh. Ônal zeh.

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finlay
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by finlay »

Nespek language

Phonological inventory:
p b t d tʃ (č, ch) dʒ (j) k q ʔ (ʔ, ')
m n
f s z ʃ (š, sh) x (x, kh) χ (g, gh) ħ (ħ, hh) h (h)
ʋ (v) ɾ (r/l, l) r (rr/r, r) j (y)
a e i o u

Basic syllables: (C)V(V)(C)

Allowed diphthongs: ai, au, ae, eu, oi, ou, ui, ua, ia, iu, ie
More: show
/ɾ/ is underspecified for laterality and can be pronounced as [l]. In the romanization, we will use L as the first letter of a word and r in the middle. This distinguishes it from /r/, which uses R as the first letter and double r in the middle. Eg the city name Leurét is pronounced /ɾeuˈɾet/, whereas the non-existant name Reurrét would be /reuˈret/. Golems can't pronounce the trilled R easily, and in limited circumstances this can be used as a shibboleth. In some circumstances, a geminated tap will become a trill.

Some letters have two romanizations, one for internal use and one that includes no diacritics or strange characters.

Vowels may be written with an acute accent to mark word stress. This is generally unpredictable and thus compulsory on multi-syllable words. In the dictionary, if a word doesn't have stress, its suffix generally takes the stress. In a compound, the first component with stress takes precedence.

There is voicing assimilation on obstruents – this is reflected in the spelling in cases where this changes the phoneme (eg p→b, ch→j).

Nasals assimilate for place of articulation. Before glottals and pharyngeals, this manifests as a nasalization of the previous vowel.

The voiceless plosives are pronounced with slight aspiration in the pre-stress position, and relatively strong preaspiration in the syllable-final and intervocalic positions (in other syllable-initial positions, eg in the middle of a word, there is no aspiration). Golem speech normally doesn't contain any aspiration, however. They also tend to pronounce /b d k q/ as ejectives. This time it is actually a sociological rather than physiological difference (probably a holdover from a previous period), although there is a belief that golems "can't" pronounce sounds the same as humans, and this belief is self-reinforcing. Golems are slower to evolve their language naturally, but when they interact with humans they realize that they have to keep up with the emerging language in order to continue communicating – but they end up with strange pronunciations and use more archaisms than humans.

Consonants can be geminated. In some dialects, this is accompanied by glottalization (blocking preaspiration).

Vowels change in quality next to uvulars and pharyngeals: [ɑ ə ɨ o u] and next to palatals: [æ e i ə ɨ] (the backing takes precedence over the fronting in this case).

In the case where there is a consonant cluster ending a word with no suffix, an epenthetic -a is added.
Néspek /ˈnespek/ [ˈnespeʰk] is the name of the island. Its true meaning has been lost, but it is often used to mean "Homeland", and the suffix -ek is often used for the names of countries.
Káikeš /ˈkaikeʃ/ [ˈkʰaiʰkeʃ] is the name of the capital. It means "Golden River".
Čanħát /tʃanˈħat/ [tʃæ̃ˈħɑʰt] is the second largest city. It means "Green Hill".
Arinqéš /aɾinˈqeʃ/ [aɾiɴˈqəʃ] is the third largest city. It means "Happy River".

Quick grammar outline:
SOV with topic fronting
Ergative alignment
Tends towards fusional suffixing inflection
Nouns inflect for case and definiteness but not number (however, pronouns mark number, and the verbs inflect for number). Proper nouns don't inflect for definiteness.
Pronouns mark gender and deference. It is technically a misconception that the pronouns mark species, but in pragmatic terms, the highest level of deference is usually used by humans to refer to golems, and the lowest level of deference is used by golems to refer to humans. When referring to oneself, it is customary to use a humble form.
Verbs inflect for realis and irrealis moods, past versus non-past tense, imperfective versus perfective aspect, and the person and number of the subject and object. They can get complicated, shall we say. There is less fusion in the verbs, but generally the tense/aspect/mood meanings combine together and the person/number meanings combine together. Sometimes the subject and object suffixes also fuse together.
Using auxiliary verbs, future tense and some other aspects can also be expressed.
Negatives are expressed with a sentence-final particle.
Compounds and adjectives are head-final.

Yáttun mókša čairnéuħ, miʔ mókšun yáttua sánigunħa.
yáttu-un mókš-a čair-neu-ħ, miʔ mókš-un yáttu-a sáni-gun-ħ.
1S.humble-DEF.ERG 3S.F.deferent-DEF.ABS love-1S.SBJ.3S.OBJ-REA.NPAST.IPFV, but 3S.F.deferent-DEF.ERG 1S.humble-DEF.ABS hate-3S.SBJ.1S.OBJ-REA.NPAST.IPFV
I love her, but she hates me.

Néspek šamporróʔ ek zau.
Néspek-0 šamporr-oʔ ek-0 zau.
Nespek-IND.ABS contrast-IND.GEN land-IND.ABS COP.3S.SBJ.REA.NPAST.IPFV
Nespek is a land of contrasts.

Zuríun šondén maqgumíħ leʔ.
zurí-un šondén-0 maq-gu-mi-ħ leʔ.
golem-DEF.ERG human-IND.ABS eat-3S.SBJ-3P.OBJ-REA.NPAST.IPFV NEG.
The golem does not eat humans.

Vocabulary:
arinq - happy
čair - love
čan - green
ek - land, country
eš - river
ħat - hill
káik - gold
leʔ - not, no
maq - eat
miʔ - but
mókš - deferential 3rd person female pronoun
sáni - hate
šamporr - contrast
šondén - human
yáttu - humble 1st person pronoun
zurí - golem

zompist
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru 3/21 or so

Post by zompist »

I've had one request for an extension... might as well give y'all the weekend.

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clawgrip
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23

Post by clawgrip »

Thank you. I was afraid to ask for an extension because we already had a long time to work on this, but this will work out great for me. I've been extremely busy this week and haven't had time to finish everything (I've got three cultures to work on here, plus a fourth one I haven't even thought about yet).

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ol bofosh
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23

Post by ol bofosh »

Hm, might even have time to work on Gaak.
It was about time I changed this.

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احمکي ارش-ھجن
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23

Post by احمکي ارش-ھجن »

I've been extremely busy with my school work that I've kept forgetting about this.
I hope to take the weekend to develop a language...
But, what happens if I miss the mark?
ʾAšol ḵavad pulqam ʾifbižen lav ʾifšimeḻ lit maseḡrad lav lit n͛ubad. ʾUpulasim ṗal sa-panžun lav sa-ḥadṇ lav ṗal šarmaḵeš lit ʾaẏṭ waẏyadanun wižqanam.
- Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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ol bofosh
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23

Post by ol bofosh »

Have a go next round. You don't lose your culture if you miss a stage, it's just considered "stagnant". If I don't do a naming language for Gaak, it doesn't matter, I'll probably do something for them next time.
It was about time I changed this.

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Lyhoko Leaci
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23

Post by Lyhoko Leaci »

I've been busy recently, so I'll probably just work on the Nggwoo and let the ice golems stagnate for awhile.
Zain pazitovcor, sio? Sio, tovcor.
You can't read that, right? Yes, it says that.
Shinali Sishi wrote:"Have I spoken unclearly? I meant electric catfish not electric onions."

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Hydroeccentricity
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Re: CCC Naming languages - Thru SUN 3/23

Post by Hydroeccentricity »

[doublepost]
Last edited by Hydroeccentricity on Fri Mar 21, 2014 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"I'm sorry, when you have all As in every class in every semester, it's not easy to treat the idea that your views are fundamentally incoherent as a serious proposition."

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