Kurdalás

[Individuo]

Hey all!

About a year ago I was planning to start a Minecraft roleplaying server set on a fictional fantasy world (a bit medieval-themed).
Although this server will probably never see the light of Málcatór (or day), I did develop a conlang for it.
It's called Kurdalás (which kinda means 'goodspeak' – I know, very original! :p) and it's made to be simple enough to learn quickly,
although some of it's grammar is quite unusual (at least for speakers of western languages).

I would really like to hear what you guys think about it! As it's my first conlang there will probably be some important things missing that I haven't noticed.
The sentence structure is quite tricky for example, any tips on that?

Below is a compact summary of the language and it's grammar. If you want to read everything in as much detail as available, you can download the 'official' PDF: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ctvn7gbz45ymi ... 4.pdf?dl=0

When a pre- or suffix has a letter between brackets, that means that you only use that letter to separate vowels from consonants. For example: mu(l)- indicates plurality. You only use the 'l' when the word that follows it begins with a vowel.


Pronunciation

Consonants
b [ b ]
c [ k ]
d [ d ]
f [ f ]
g [ ɣ ]
h [ ɦ ]
k [ k ]
l [ l ]
m [ m ]
n [ n ]
p [ p ]
r [ ɾ ]
s [ s ]
t [ t ]
v [ v ]
w [ ʋ ] (the same as 'v' but without the 'f' sound, like in German or Dutch)
y [ j ]
z [ z ]
ng [ ŋ ]

Vowels
a [ a ]
e [ e ] or [ ɛ ] (always 'e' except in the last syllables of words if the vowel comes before a consonant)
i [ i ]
o [ o ]
u [ u ]
ú [ ʏ ]
ó [ ɔ ]
á [ ɑ ]

For example:
Murenók vekór Kurdalás unaderág
muɾenɔk vekɔɾ kuɾdalɑs unaderɑɣ

The accentuation is always on the first syllable excluding any prefixes.



Verbs
Verbs consist of a stem and pre-, in- and suffixes.

Persons (infixes) (actually a first-order suffix)
I -i-
you (s) -u-
he/it -á-
she -ig-
we -e-
you (p) -en-
they -ág-

(only use á for obviously female nouns like 'mother')

Tenses (suffixes) (actually a second-order suffix)
Present -
Present perfect -(z)ús
Past -but
Past plus (ages ago) -sót (used in myths and such)
Future -mer
Future plus (some day) -sór

Prefixes
Wish una(t)- (When you wish something happens/happened/will happen)
Imperative pa(r)-

Special suffixes
These are stand-alone suffixes, don't use any other pre-, in- or suffixes in the same verb.
-as make the verb into a noun or adjective
-eg make the verb into an 'executor noun', for example: nomeg = worker
-es the 'whole verb' (in English: 'to work'), for example: hekes = to go



Nouns
The only suffixes and prefixes are used to indicate possession and plurality, respectively.

Possession suffixes:
I -iro
you (s) -uno
he/it -áno
she -igo
we -ero
you (p) -eno
they -ágo

Prefixes:
plural mu(l)-

There are no definite or indefinite articles in Kurdalás.



Adjectives
Adjectives are placed after the noun they refer to.
If you want multiple adjectives describing a single noun, add 'ti' (= 'and') in between.
If you don't use 'ti', every adjective will refer to the word before it.

For example:
- rát = creature
- rát tóren ti itanán = beautiful and mysterious creature
- rát tóren itanán = beautifully mysterious creature

To change an adjective into a noun, add the prefix z(a)-.
For example:
- itanán = beautiful
- zitanán = beauty

The meaning of such a noun can be described as "the property that makes something possess the adjective".



Postpositions
Postpositions are words used to indicate connection between various parts of a sentence. They are added to the end of the noun they refer to with a hyphen.

For example: ratukón-sul = on [the/a] horse



Adverbs
Adverbs are words that say something about any part of a sentence that is not a noun (including subclauses!)
They always come before or after the sentence they refer to. An adverbs always precedes the subclause it refers to, thus following the same 'sentence order' as in English.

For example:
Ág abótázús <u>kúl</u> igalábut? = He has made it <u>because</u> he wanted to.



Sentences
(it's recommended to read the PDF about this!)
Kurdalás sentences are ordered SOV.
'Conditions' are added after the subject, object or verb they refer to.
For example:

[subject] [object] [verb] = [people] [good very] [they are] always

Subclauses are indicated by the word 'pa' preceding AND following the subclause, except when there is already an adverb there. Don't use 'pa' at the beginning or ending of a sentence (when the sentence begins or ends with the subclause).

For example:
Peter is proud to say that he won
Peter proud that he won he is

Peter proud that he won pa he is
Peter nuzi gur kórá pa ganá



For numerals, dates, 'myself, yourself, himself', simultaneousness of subclauses, comparatives and superlatives, rules for making new words and an extensive word list (simple two-way dictionary), check the PDF. There's also a whole script to write Kurdalás in if you really want to xD

If you like a challenge, try to translate these sentences (I hope I didn't make any mistakes!):
Murenók kóy ayún ti yár icár-wa ti muzulák-wa varókág.
Tonóg ti zanók patág ti murenók samár mutóg-ran lakóves utanág.


Greetings!
- Niels a.k.a. Individuo

[Dē Graut Bʉr]

The pronunciation is pretty straightforward.

I'd advise you to describe all phonemes your conlang has rather than just making a claim like this one. "Straightforward" is a very useless word when describing languages, as what one may find straightforward may make no sense at all to someone else.

[Individuo]

The pronunciation is pretty straightforward.

I'd advise you to describe all phonemes your conlang has rather than just making a claim like this one. "Straightforward" is a very useless word when describing languages, as what one may find straightforward may make no sense at all to someone else.

That's true, I removed that line from the description
I did describe all phonemes in the PDF though, although, like I said, all pronunciation that I didn't write about here should be the same as in English.

[Vardelm]

...like I said, all pronunciation that I didn't write about here should be the same as in English.

What dialect of English?

The pronunciation of various dialects can vary a lot. Even if you specify which one, not everyone knows exactly how a given dialect pronounces something. It's easier to just specify everything up front.

[Individuo]

Okay, I've added all pronunciations.

[communistplot]

c [ k ]
...
k [ k ]

Why? This is all very Yurop. I mean unless there's a reason to have the same phoneme represented with two different graphemes you shouldn't do it.

[Individuo]

c [ k ]
...
k [ k ]

Why? This is all very Yurop. I mean unless there's a reason to have the same phoneme represented with two different graphemes you shouldn't do it.

Yeah you're probably right, I might change the pronunciation of 'c' it to [ tʃ ] or [ ʒ ] later.
Although I don't agree with that I shouldn't do it. It might not be very useful, but so are many features in many of the world's languages :p

[communistplot]

c [ k ]
...
k [ k ]

Why? This is all very Yurop. I mean unless there's a reason to have the same phoneme represented with two different graphemes you shouldn't do it.

Yeah you're probably right, I might change the pronunciation of 'c' it to [ tʃ ] or [ ʒ ] later.
Although I don't agree with that I shouldn't do it. It might not be very useful, but so are many features in many of the world's languages :p

I wouldn't argue that orthography is a feature of a language. There should be a reason behind your orthography, diachronic or otherwise, else it just ends up looking like a Euroclone, which isn't a bad thing if that's the aesthetic you want.

[Individuo]

...

I wouldn't argue that orthography is a feature of a language. There should be a reason behind your orthography, diachronic or otherwise, else it just ends up looking like a Euroclone, which isn't a bad thing if that's the aesthetic you want.

It kinda is, haha. But it's true that I didn't pay much attention to it when I started creating the language months ago. The idea behind the whole thing was to have a 'secret language' that the old people of the fantasy world spoke and which myths and stuff were written in. So I tried mostly to make it look like a 'harsh' but recognizable language.

[communistplot]

...

I wouldn't argue that orthography is a feature of a language. There should be a reason behind your orthography, diachronic or otherwise, else it just ends up looking like a Euroclone, which isn't a bad thing if that's the aesthetic you want.

It kinda is, haha. But it's true that I didn't pay much attention to it when I started creating the language months ago. The idea behind the whole thing was to have a 'secret language' that the old people of the fantasy world spoke and which myths and stuff were written in. So I tried mostly to make it look like a 'harsh' but recognizable language.

As I said, it's a fine thing if that's the aesthetic you were going for. Just a little bit of advice is all.

[Xosrov Aparviz]

Ah I like it very much I think its nice Id like to do something like it some day