Rangyayo - an East Asian language of the elixir of life

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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Post by Nortaneous »

sure

morpheme boundaries don't always have to fall on syllable boundaries
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
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Post by TzirTzi »

Indeed, had you proposed syllabifying it the other way (VC.VC.VC), that would have been really quite unnatural :). Languages (with a very small number of debatable exceptions) strongly prefer onsets to codas.
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Post by desmond »

Nouns

Rangyan has no grammatical number, gender or articles. Thus, Rangyan nouns are non-inflecting. The noun iku (犬; /i.ku/) can be translated as "dog", "dogs", "a dog", "the dog", "some dogs" and so forth, depending on context. However, as part of the extensive pair of grammatical systems that Rangyan possesses for honorification and politeness, nouns too can be modified. Nouns take politeness prefix a- (아; /a/) to produce their respectful forms. A few examples are given in the following table.

Rangyan does not differentiate between count and mass nouns. A small number of nouns have collectives formed by reduplication, for example, oro (人; /ɔ.ɾɔ/) "person" and orooro (人々; /ɔ.ɾɔ.ɔ.ɾɔ/) "people". However, reduplication is not productive. Words in Rangyan referring to more than one of something are collectives, not plurals. Orooro, for example, means "a lot of people" or "people in general". It is never used to mean "two people". A phrase like rangya ke orooro (琅冶거人々; /ɾaŋ.ja.kɛ.ɔ.ɾɔ.ɔ.ɾɔ/) would be taken to mean "the people of Rangya", or "the population of Rangya", not "two people from Rangya" or even "a few people from Rangya".

Lacking grammatical number, the noun hapi (鳥; /ha.pi/) may refer to a single bird or several birds. Where number is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word). For example, hapi ho ik (鳥八翼; /ha.pi.hɔ.ɪk̚/) means eight birds.
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Post by desmond »

Reflexive Pronouns

Rangyan has three reflexive pronouns jishin, jiki and osu, all meaning "self". However, there are subtle differences in usage among the three reflexive pronouns.

* jishin (自身; /dʑi.ɕin/) tends to take a local antecedent and is used more often for first person antecedents;
* jiki (自己; /dʑi.ki/) takes long-distance antecedents much more than local ones;
* osu (己; /ɔ.su/) is less used than the other two and takes local and long-distance antecedents equally well. The antecedent to which it refers can be inferred by context, which is generally the subject of the sentence.
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Post by Silk »

TzirTzi wrote:Indeed, had you proposed syllabifying it the other way (VC.VC.VC), that would have been really quite unnatural :). Languages (with a very small number of debatable exceptions) strongly prefer onsets to codas.
Yeah, I think French is a good example of this, so it should be fine.

Keep up the good work with your conlang, desmond!

I've wanted to do a conlang involving hanzi, but I have very little knowledge of Chinese or Chinese characters.

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Post by Nortaneous »

TzirTzi wrote:Languages (with a very small number of debatable exceptions) strongly prefer onsets to codas.
...I thought VC was pretty strongly attested in Australia. Arrernte is a good example, although its orthography makes it look VC (/əkəl/ is written <kele>, I think, and Wikipedia says "Arrernte orthography does not write word-initial /ə/, and adds an e to the end of every word.") So if you wanted to analyze it as CV, you'd have to say words can start with a null consonant and there's an underlying /ə/ at the end of every word.
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

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Post by Kaenif »

desmond wrote:Reflexive Pronouns

Rangyan has three reflexive pronouns jishin, jiki and osu, all meaning "self". However, there are subtle differences in usage among the three reflexive pronouns.

* jishin (自身; /dʑi.ɕin/) tends to take a local antecedent and is used more often for first person antecedents;
* jiki (自己; /dʑi.ki/) takes long-distance antecedents much more than local ones;
* osu (己; /ɔ.su/) is less used than the other two and takes local and long-distance antecedents equally well. The antecedent to which it refers can be inferred by context, which is generally the subject of the sentence.
Are there differences among the three pronouns in the aspect of politeness? :P
疏我啲英文同語言學一樣咁屎!
[sɔː˥ ŋɔː˩˧ tiː˥ jɪŋ˥mɐn˧˥ tʰʊŋ˩ jyː˩˧jiːn˩hɔk̚˨ jɐt̚˥jœːŋ˧ kɐm˧ siː˧˥]
sor(ry) 1.SG POSS English and linguistics same DEM.ADJ shit

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Post by desmond »

kaenif wrote:
desmond wrote:Reflexive Pronouns

Rangyan has three reflexive pronouns jishin, jiki and osu, all meaning "self". However, there are subtle differences in usage among the three reflexive pronouns.

* jishin (自身; /dʑi.ɕin/) tends to take a local antecedent and is used more often for first person antecedents;
* jiki (自己; /dʑi.ki/) takes long-distance antecedents much more than local ones;
* osu (己; /ɔ.su/) is less used than the other two and takes local and long-distance antecedents equally well. The antecedent to which it refers can be inferred by context, which is generally the subject of the sentence.
Are there differences among the three pronouns in the aspect of politeness? :P
Yes, but the difference is subtle. Rangyans tend to use native words in casual situation (among close friends) and use Chinese derived loanwords in more formal situation (addressing to the elders). In this case, jiki 自己 is more polite than osu 己.
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

Some sample words in a table to give you a taste of the Rangyan Vocabulary.
The columns in aqua contain native Rangyan words, and the columns in orange contain loanwords borrowed from Middle Chinese / Sino-derived words coined by the Rangyan people.

Image
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by Bristel »

Very nice!

Rangyayo is very Japanese-esque.

I really like how it uses native and Sinitic doublets.

How would one say "was this man killed by that bear?" Is it:

i oro-no ne fupi-yo khenitushi mo? 이人너熊요殺니두시모 ?

(I might be using the wrong particle... but it would be に in Japanese, I think)

Also forgive me for using the wrong hanzi if "khen-" is incorrect... I used the Japanese "殺" from 殺ろす (to kill)
[bɹ̠ˤʷɪs.təɫ]
Nōn quālibet inīquā cupiditāte illectus hoc agō
Yo te pongo en tu lugar...
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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

Thank you! I'm so happy that you like my project.
I start worrying that Rangyayo is a bit too Japanese-look-alike. I will see if I can introduce new native words with more complex phonotactics (syllables allowed up to CgVC where g is a glide /j/ or /w/) in order to give the language a more unique taste. However Sino-Rangyan words sound significantly different to their Sino-Japanese equivalents because Rangyayo has a richer set of coda (-m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k) than Japanese does.

So far the only sample that uses both native and Sinitic words in the same sentence is,

ne iku no itban'in ko'i karü (너犬노一番인大이가르; /nɛ.i.ku.nɔ.it̚.ban.in.kɔ.i.ka.ɾɨ/)
"That dog is the biggest."

where itban is a Sino-Rangyan word which means "No.1"

The Rangyan people tend to use Sinitic words in formal situation (talking to the elders) / technical papers (pen*s instead of d*ck) / religious rituals... as Sinitic words carry a formal, polite and educated feel where native words are more casual, colloquial and vulgar. That's why I once said in a previous post,
Rangyans tend to use native words in casual situation (among close friends) and use Chinese derived loanwords in more formal situation (addressing to the elders). In this case, jiki 自己 is more polite than osu 己.
I would translate "was this man killed by that bear?" to Rangyayo as,

i oro-no ne fupi khenitushi mo? 이人노너熊으殺니두시모。 (as in this case, bear is an accusative noun)

Yup, the correct hanji for "khen-" is 殺. You are quite good at Japanese kanji. :) (Notice that hanji /han.dʑi/ is for Rangyan, kanji for Japanese, hanja for Korean and hanzi for Chinese)
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by langover94 »

This is really awesome! I love love LOVE your verb morphology. Mine never seem to turn out quite right.

Lé lílaȟči khilí! Morphology wóškaŋ nitȟáwa kiŋ thewáȟila, thewáȟila, thewáȟila. Mitȟáwa kiŋ tóhaŋni sʼeléčheča šni ečhétu úŋ.
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Economic Left/Right: -4.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by WeepingElf »

I don't know how I managed to miss this project so far, but now as I look at it, it looks cool! It also fits the conlocation nicely.
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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

Image

khitu o iku no buyudungmut kirü mo (; /kʰitu.ɔ.iku.nɔ.bu.ju.dʊŋ.mut̚.ki.ɾɨ.mɔ/)
"Are cats and dogs mammals?"

khitu - cat (native noun)
o - conjunction
iku - dog (native noun)
no - topic particle
buyudungmut - mammal (Sino-Rangyan noun)
kirü - copula
mo - interrogation particle
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

Economy of Rangya
Image
Image
The Rangyan wen (圓 wen) (code: RYW) is the official currency of Rangya.
The table below shows the exchange rates of wen against other main currencies in the world.

USD 1 = 163.65 RYW
EUR 1 = 225.51
GBP 1 = 264.64
AUD 1 = 164.72
CAD 1 = 166.40
JPY 100 = 200.00
KRW 1000 = 144.20
CNY 1 = 24.88
HKD 1 = 21.00
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by WeepingElf »

desmond wrote:JPY 100 = 200.00
So the wen is pegged to the yen at a 2:1 rate?
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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by roninbodhisattva »

Could you explain how the tense/aspect system works? It seems really similar to English from a cursory glance.

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

WeepingElf wrote:
desmond wrote:JPY 100 = 200.00
So the wen is pegged to the yen at a 2:1 rate?
It's just an incidence that the exchange rate of Rangyan wen against Japanese yen is 2:1. :)
I have no intention to peg Rangyan wen to any existing currencies in the world. Instead, a currency basket is used to determine the value of Rangyan wen to minimize the risk of currency fluctuations.
Based on the value of foreign trade with the main import partners of Rangya, the portfolio of selected currencies with different weightings for Rangyan wen looks as below:

Code: Select all

Foreign    % of     1 USD       Weighting
Currency   Import   Equivalent  (% of Import x 1 USD Equivalent)

USD        37%      1            0.37
JPY        31%     81.8285      25.366835
CNY        12%      6.57655      0.789186
KRW        12%   1134.88       136.1856
AUD         5%      0.99284      0.049642
TWD         3%     29.759        0.89277

                           Sum 163.654033
Rangyan wen is then assigned to USD 1 = RYW 163.65
As I don't know much about economics, I'm quite sure that I've violated many rules by doing this. :)
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

roninbodhisattva wrote:Could you explain how the tense/aspect system works? It seems really similar to English from a cursory glance.
Rangyayo is an SOV agglutinative language so tense/aspect is expressed by attaching suffixes to the verb stem.
The suffixes of 2 aspects and 3 tenses are:

Aspect

-an- (progressive)
-ets- (perfect)

Tense

(present)
-uwei (past)
-ioi (future)

For example we have a Rangyan verb stem yab- (eat), the aspect/tense conjugations are:

yab (eat; present)
yab-uwei (ate; past)
yab-ioi (will eat; future)

yab-an-ü (is eating; present progressive)
yab-an-uwei (was eating; past progressive)
yab-an-ioi (will be eating; future progressive)

yab-ets-ü (has eaten; present perfect)
yab-ets-uwei (had eaten; past perfect)
yab-ets-ioi (will have eaten; future perfect)

The formula of verb conjugation for tense/aspect is verb stem + aspect suffix + tense suffix.

(P.S. I've revised and changed many of the verb conjugation suffixes to give Rangyayo a more unique taste and less Japanese-esque)
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

The issue of banknotes of the Rangyan wen is handled exclusively by the Bank of Rangya.
Rangyan banknotes in everyday circulation are 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000.
Below is the latest series issued by the Bank of Rangya in 2010.

Image
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by roninbodhisattva »

desmond wrote:Rangyayo is an SOV agglutinative language so tense/aspect is expressed by attaching suffixes to the verb stem.
The suffixes of 2 aspects and 3 tenses are:

Aspect

-an- (progressive)
-ets- (perfect)

Tense

-ü (present)
-uwei (past)
-ioi (future)
Right, I got they were marked with suffixes on the verb stem, but what I was asking is how the system works semantically and whatnot. You have three tenses and two aspects that are basically the same as in English...does the system differ? Do they have different uses than English tenses and aspects? Can they / can they not cooccur with different types of verbs? That's what I was asking.

Also, the money looks really damn cool.

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by WeepingElf »

Those banknotes are awesome.
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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by desmond »

roninbodhisattva wrote:
desmond wrote:Rangyayo is an SOV agglutinative language so tense/aspect is expressed by attaching suffixes to the verb stem.
The suffixes of 2 aspects and 3 tenses are:

Aspect

-an- (progressive)
-ets- (perfect)

Tense

-ü (present)
-uwei (past)
-ioi (future)
Right, I got they were marked with suffixes on the verb stem, but what I was asking is how the system works semantically and whatnot. You have three tenses and two aspects that are basically the same as in English...does the system differ? Do they have different uses than English tenses and aspects? Can they / can they not cooccur with different types of verbs? That's what I was asking.

Also, the money looks really damn cool.
Your question is very hard to answer :) I've never yet taken that into account. :(
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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Re: Rangyayo - spoken on the islands of the elixir of life

Post by roninbodhisattva »

desmond wrote:Your question is very hard to answer I've never yet taken that into account.
You should!

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The audio sample of Rangyayo

Post by desmond »

The audio sample of Rangyayo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayVrS-Wkizo

Below is the transcript:

Do you speak English?
英語위言리모스야모。 Yengyo wi yerimoshüya mo?
Do you understand?
識르야모。 narüya mo?
I understand.
ㅇ、識르야。 ng, narüya.
I don't understand.
識로므야。 naromüya.
How do you pronounce this?
이고워마너発音느야모。 iko we mane pat'imnüya mo?

What time is it?
마時르야모。 mazhi rüya mo?
It's (one) o'clock.
1時르야。 mezhi rüya.
Quarter past (one).
1時15分르야。 mezhi zhip'upun rüya.
Half past (one).
1時半르야。 mezhi pan rüya.

What's the weather like?
天气워마너르야모。 thenkhi we mane rüya mo?
It's cold.
寒지르야。 ütsi rüya.
[b]Desmond[/b] - [url=http://conlang.wikia.com/Rangyayo][b]Rangyayo[/b][/url], spoken on the islands of elixir of life

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