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+--- Thread: Preliminary data on language "Eastern" [For Valles' fantasy project] (/showthread.php?tid=8045)
Preliminary data on language "Eastern" [For Valles' fantasy project] - Foxboy - 08-05-2009
Most consonants are as in English.
Vowels are as in Japanese and Italian.
Eastern does not have and/or distingush h, x, q, c, f, v, or j. F and V are heard as the same as TH and DH.
Special
consonants:
th "“
as "th" in English "think, thin, thought"
dh "“
as "th" in English "this, that, mother"
' "“
not really a consonant so much as a boundary between syllables
perhaps for one of us to tell the difference between banana
[ba-na-na: loanword for the fruit] and ban'ana
[ban-a-na:Made up of smaller words ban
and ana
Current
extant vocabulary:
From
Asima's family motto:
"Neso
polamon, dhara rilusi." "“ "Because I've done this, I cannot
run."
dhara
"“ pronoun "I" (first person singular, formal/feminine)
neso
"“ pronoun
"this" (inanimate thing/action)
pol-
"“ verb
"to do" (only a person or animal can be the subject of "pol-")
ril-
"“ verb
"to run, to flee, to retreat"
extant
conjugations of "ril-":
[For
convenience, the English translation will use "he" as the
subject]
rilu "“
He runs. [Present tense, stative.]
rila "“
He ran. [Past tense, stative.]
rilusi "“
He cannot run. [Present tense, negative potential.]
rilasi "“
he could not run. [Past tense, negative potential.]
rilumon "“
because he runs [Subordinate present tense, causative]
rilamon "“
because he ran [Subordinate past tense, causative]
So,
for the verbs that conjugate like "ril-" and "pol-" we have a
model to work from.
-u "“
Simple present
-a "“
Simple past
-si "“
negative potential modifier
-mon "“
causative modifier
Thus,
there's a potential for "rilasimon" as "because he could not
run."
Numbers
One "“ es
two "“
lu
three
"“ de
four
"“ tan
five
"“ kos
six "“
ri
seven
"“ ma
eight
"“ hu
nine
"“ nom
ten "“
gin
eleven
"“ gin-es
twenty
"“ lu-gin
twenty-three
"“ lu-gin-de
hundred
"“ ken
thousand
"“ gin-ken
ten
thousand "“ pas
hundred
thousand "“ gin-pas
million
"“ ken-pas
*Snips wordfoam of 650 protoforms (i.e., "Words" that have no meanings, but fit word patterns), available in RTF file on request*
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
- Foxboy - 08-13-2009
Okay, getting this written down in a somewhat public space.
We've added a new phrase, or at least a proto-phrase:
Das Dheda: Luko! Dhera za gazera alu!
Darth Vader: Luke! I (Formal, male) your father am/is!
Darth Vader: Luke! I am your father!
New Vocabulary
dhera -- I (formal, male)
gazera -- father
za -- your (intimate/condescending)
al- -- to be
thisera -- mother
nirau -- cat
dadhagi -- a type of drum, either a bodhran or tympani
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
- Foxboy - 12-19-2009
Played with a new phrase...
Thisima pim boduri. -- "Her Highness is fretting, again."
Thisima -- n. "Princess, Her Highness."
pim -- adv. "again"
bod- -- v. "to fret/worry"
-ri -- conjugal verb suffix indicating continual action.
This is perhaps a bit formal, as "Pim bodu," can get across "You're fretting again," more normally.
*sigh* Part of the perils of developing a language whose canon speakers are by and large formal speakers.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
- Foxboy - 04-17-2010
Happy Birthday, V. Sorry I'm late.
Zera sosori yonumon, su thara tuda. -- "Come with me if you want to live." or, more literally, "Because you want to continue to breathe, come with me."
zera -- pron. "you," lit. "your person"
sos- -- v. "to breathe, to live"
yon- -- v. "to want (something)"
t- -- v. "to come, to travel" (subject to tweaking)
su -- 'prep.' "with"
thara -- pron. "I" feminine, mid-level formality
-da -- verb suffix for imperative statements
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll