"Community" Conlang Project

(inb4shadowsayshowpointlessthisis)

If you've been in the chat, you've no doubt seen us discussing this.  Shadow and I thought that developing a/some conlang/s would be a great way for the community of ZEJ to be revitalized.  I will do my best to explain things, so try to bear with me.

Spoiler: Conlang Information and "FAQ"

What is a conlang?
The word "conlang" stands for "constructed language;" what this means is simply a fictional language.  Many conlangs that are encountered are simply "word replacement" conlangs, in that the creator simply takes an already existing language and replaces the words with others.  Most people that are into conlanging, however, highly discourage this form of construction, and suggest to build a conlang from scratch.

How is a conlang built?
When built from scratch, conlangs usually have a procedure that is rarely rearranged.

1. Decide on the sounds that will go into the conlang.
2. Make words for the conlang.
3. Make a grammar system for the conlang.
4. Make a writing system for the conlang.

Of course, this is merely the most commonly used order.  Many beginner conlangers (including myself) tend to make a writing system before even making words, which can be unwise considering that it makes it difficult to make a history for the writing system.

Sounds of Languages
On the planet earth, there exist hundreds of languages.  Each of these tend to sound completely different from each other, and the first part of that differentiation is the sounds that exist in the languages.  English contains an estimated 40 sounds (give or take some due to accents, morphological realization, etc.).  Some of the sounds of English are found in few languages (such as the sound the th makes in "thin"), and many languages have sounds that don't exist in English (such as the ö in German "Hölle," or the rr in Spanish "perro").  Sounds are separated into two primary categories, and I'm sure everyone knows those two categories, and I shouldn't have to explain them -- consonants and vowels.

The fact that the world's languages have such a variety of sounds led linguists to create what is known as the "International Phonetic Alphabet," or IPA, as it is usually called.  A good IPA chart can be found on Wikipedia here.  As much as I'd like to explain every aspect of the chart, I'm sure that you can click on things and read explanations there.

Words in Languages
Words are what make languages what they are, though they are simply sounds grouped together, they hold great power in that they have meaning.  If it weren't for the learning we go through "cat" and "dog" would simply be sounds, like what people think when they hear a language they do not know.

Words are made up of two primary things -- sounds and syllables.  We've already discussed sounds, but syllables are the separations that usually occur between vowels (Yes, sometimes two vowels can become one sound and sometimes consonants can be syllabic in and of themselves, but I'm talking for simplicity's sake).  For example, the word "language" has two syllables -- "lang" and "(g)uage"(which sounds like "gwij").

Many languages have rules for how the syllables in words are made up, though English is quite possibly the most free in this regard.  An example of a language with restrictions as to how its words' syllables are put together is Japanese, the syllable pattern of which could be written as (C )(j)V(N) (And before anyone(Shadow) comments, I know it could be seen as a little more complicated, but I'm making an example). The C stands for "Any consonant in the Japanese language," the j stands for the y sound as in English "yell," the V stands for "any vowel in the Japanese language, and the N is just that -- an n (slightly more complicated than that but I won't go into that).  Anything inside parentheses in that pattern is optional.  This means that, if English had this same pattern, the word "play" might be written "pulay" instead.  In general, any pattern of sounds in a language is called "phonotactics."


IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS: Please, feel free to ask on this thread, via PM, or in the chat if I'm there.  I will do my best to explain.  Shadow might be able to help too.
(This section will probably get bigger as time goes by and I get asked more questions/think of more things to explain.

Current Conlang
The current conlang that is being worked on is the unnamed language for the Erevan race, to which, notably, Tascera Szaufer and Fang Szaufer belong.


Current Suggestions:

As an Asian-inspired language, it will have the following phonemes (subject to changes)

Spoiler

Unless shown below, the sounds are as their representative letters in English.
CONSONANTS:
ŋ = The ng in "ring;" transcribed as "ng"
ɸ = Similar to blowing out a candle; transcribed as "f"
ɕ = Similar to the sh in "shun," except that the tongue is flatter against the roof of the mouth; transcribed as "sh"
ʑ = Similar to the si in "vision," with the same comment as above; transcribed as "zh"
j = the y in "yell;" transcribed as "y"
ɰ = similar to english w, as in "water," except without the lips rounded.  Transcribed as "w"
ts = A digraph, as in Russian "tsar;" transcribed as "z"
tɕ = A digraph, similar to the ch in "chip," tongue flatter against roof of mouth; transcribed as "ch"
dʑ = a digraph, as the j in "jam," tongue flatter against roof of mouth; transcribed as "j"
ɽ = Similar to what I call a "Spanish r," thr closest English equivalent would be the reduction of the tt in "butter" in most accents, only in this phoneme, the tongue would be more raised.

All consonants with an asterisk are used at the ends of sentences with an emotional tie-in.
ʁ = what I call a "French R," and which I personally have difficulty pronouncing.  Please look at its article on Wikipedia for more information.  Transcription undecided as far as I know, and I usually use "rrh."
ɻ = similar to the r as in "red," except the tongue is pointed straight up, almost a little backward.  Transcription undecided as far as I know
π = an impossible-for-humans sound ("glottal nasal").  I have been considering changing it to ɴ͜m, which I can describe as "bring your tongue as far back as possible and pronounce ŋ ("ng") (for the phoneme ɴ) as such, but close your mouth as in m while doing so."

VOWELS:
(transcribed as IPA unless otherwise noted)
i = ee in "sheen."
e = similar to the ey in "hey," only without the "ee" sound at the end.
a  = a in "father"
u = oo in moon
o = o in bone
ɯ and ʌ = These sounds are allophones for me (as in I can only notice the difference between the two when I pronounce one on purpose), so I consider them the same unless enough people want to do otherwise, and I would even suggest removing one as such.  The ɯ is like the u above, only don't round your lips.  ʌ is the u in "run;" currently transcribed as "eu"

NOTE:
All of these transcriptions are not only subject to change, but are likely to.

~Nate/Shadow
Official but discussable and very likely to change.​

Syllable pattern of ( C)(G)V(N), where...
C is any consonant other than ng, y, or w; G is a "glide," that is, y or w; V is any vowel; and N is any nasal consonant (m, n, or ng). ~Nate/Shadow
Official but discussable and likely to change

A monosyllable root system, where words would be comprised of single syllable roots. ie, if "hyi" meant "to speak," "jem" meant "heavy," and "ang" meant "noise," "hyijemang" might mean to yell, with the structure of hyi-jemang, where "jemang" would mean "loud." Maybe "hyijem" could mean "to talk with great gravitas" or something. List of monosyllables with some meanings I personally inputted here. Feel free to suggest meanings/changes to meaning. ~ Nate
Unofficial suggestion

Another thing we could do is use the English grammar system and replace the word system with the monosyllable word structure you mentioned, or maybe just use words from other languages to substitute. ~ Turbotaxer
Unofficial suggestion

Things that are currently needed

• Morphology (the way sounds change when used in spoken language, if any change)
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Writing system(s)

If I forgot something, just inform me, I did much of this on the phone in the car, thus feeling kinda sick from what was probably sun/heatstroke. Feel free to ask questions too.

 

A suggestion from little old me.


A monosyllable root system, where words would be comprised of single syllable roots.  ie, if "hyi" meant "to speak," "jem" meant "heavy," and "ang" meant "noise," "hyijemang" might mean to yell, with the structure of hyi-jemang, where "jemang" would mean "loud."  Maybe "hyijem" could mean "to talk with great gravitas" or something.  List of monosyllables with some meanings I personally inputted here.  Feel free to suggest meanings/changes to meaning.

Also restructured the "Current Conlang" section to keep track of major suggestions.

Comments and stuff please ~

 

I will say that the language is inspired by Asian languages in general, mostly Khmer and Japanese. I know that I, and probably others, would rather not go for a Chinese feel, if only because tones are hell in language. Also, I'd rather have the grammar and vocabulary be made from scratch, so while it could match another language, it would just be for pure coincidence.

Either way, I will put it up with the suggestions.

 

Just added a few things to the thread for minor organization stuff. No changes with the conlang yet. =<

(I'm looking at Kuda and Starr for some stuff -- you both were decided to be on the main team for making this conlang, and yet you have contributed... well, nothing. Comments, suggestions, things that you don't like.... etc.)

Anyway, I think that the primary focus right now should be making a vocabulary more than anything. Anyone that has ideas, post them here.