Today I created a little excercise in zen conlanging: a conlang with 7 phonemes. It's only a short sketch, but I'll share it anyways.
Phonemes (I'll use Z-Sampa, since the explorer I use at work doesn't get along very well with unicode)
t k ' n s /t k ? n s/
e a /@ a/
Syllabic structure: (C)(C)V(C)(C)
Stress: falls on the penultimate syllable in it's closed and on the last syllable if not
E.g.
katenke /kA."din.kU/
kateke /kA.dI."gu/
Phonotactics
@[+str] -> i / [t,n,s]_(*C)@
@[-str] -> I / [t,n,s]_(*C)@
@[+str] -> u / [k,?]_
@[-str] -> U / [k,?]_
@[+str] -> e
a -> O / [k,?]_[k,?]@
a -> A / [k,?]_
a -> { / [t,n,s]_
nt -> nd / #_
nk -> Ng / #_
[t,k] -> [d,g] / V_V
[?t,?k] -> [t_>,k_>]
s -> 4 / V_V
n -> 4 / _t
Some examples:
nekente /n@."k@n.t@/ [nI."gu4.t@]
nka'esa /nka.?@."sa/ [NgO.?U."r{]
a'taseske /a?.ta."s@s.k@/ [a.t_>{."4is.kU]
That's it for now. I'll come back when I have some morphosyntax going on.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Ok. Why I hate being like this, for real
So, ADHD or not, I was going to write about something completely different and got sidetracked. That happens a lot to me, not lately but since ever, which is why I ended up writing that awful rant.
I wanted to talk about my earlier posts.
The first one talked about my progress in Proto Pekemí-Aescal (poem included). Proto Pekemí-Aescal is the parent of a whole family of conlangs (17 to be precise).
The second discussed my difficulties in working on the diachronics for the Noshal family of languages. The Noshal family consists of more than two dozens of conlangs (26 to be precise).
In the third post I confessed my conlanger's block (apparently a common problem in the community). So instead of focussing on either Proto Noshal or Proto Pekemí-Aescal, I began a reading marathon...
Which ended around my fourth post, when I started writing my novel for NaNoWriMo. That was cool. I didn't win, but I got to write some of my best 30000 words ever. I was on fire, writing up to 6000 words per day. So why oh why didn't I write the fucking 50000 words? Let me talk about something else first.
In that same post I said I had an unpublished post, interrupted by work. It's true; it's at work. Honestly, I have no clue as to its contents, but I believe it was juicy. I'll see what I can do about it. Stupid 56k dial-up connection at work makes it kinda hard, though.
So, NaNoWriMo. I had a hell of a start. During the first week, everything around me was a notebook. I wrote on napkins, books, photocopies, old notepads... I wrote in class, at work, in my bed, while having dinner, well going to the bathroom. Then I saw the link to the zbb at my browser's bookmarks. I had not been there for months -I think- and in fact I felt no urge to go back; not that I was upset with someone there or anything, I just didn't get cold turkey. And that was remarkable, really. Me, feeling no need to visit the zbb? Out of curiosity I clicked the link and, almost instantly, got hooked to that precious, addictive forum. Again.
Long story short, I'm working on Proto Pekemí-Aescal once again, doing some syntax and the soundchanges for its two daughters: Proto Pekemí and Proto Aescal (duh).
I'm also doing some mapping, after almost a year. Feels nice to be back.
I just wish I could open Word and finish that damned novel.
In other news, I'm sitting here writing this post which no one but me will ever read, while I have a final tomorrow.
Fuck, I hate being me.
I wanted to talk about my earlier posts.
The first one talked about my progress in Proto Pekemí-Aescal (poem included). Proto Pekemí-Aescal is the parent of a whole family of conlangs (17 to be precise).
The second discussed my difficulties in working on the diachronics for the Noshal family of languages. The Noshal family consists of more than two dozens of conlangs (26 to be precise).
In the third post I confessed my conlanger's block (apparently a common problem in the community). So instead of focussing on either Proto Noshal or Proto Pekemí-Aescal, I began a reading marathon...
Which ended around my fourth post, when I started writing my novel for NaNoWriMo. That was cool. I didn't win, but I got to write some of my best 30000 words ever. I was on fire, writing up to 6000 words per day. So why oh why didn't I write the fucking 50000 words? Let me talk about something else first.
In that same post I said I had an unpublished post, interrupted by work. It's true; it's at work. Honestly, I have no clue as to its contents, but I believe it was juicy. I'll see what I can do about it. Stupid 56k dial-up connection at work makes it kinda hard, though.
So, NaNoWriMo. I had a hell of a start. During the first week, everything around me was a notebook. I wrote on napkins, books, photocopies, old notepads... I wrote in class, at work, in my bed, while having dinner, well going to the bathroom. Then I saw the link to the zbb at my browser's bookmarks. I had not been there for months -I think- and in fact I felt no urge to go back; not that I was upset with someone there or anything, I just didn't get cold turkey. And that was remarkable, really. Me, feeling no need to visit the zbb? Out of curiosity I clicked the link and, almost instantly, got hooked to that precious, addictive forum. Again.
Long story short, I'm working on Proto Pekemí-Aescal once again, doing some syntax and the soundchanges for its two daughters: Proto Pekemí and Proto Aescal (duh).
I'm also doing some mapping, after almost a year. Feels nice to be back.
I just wish I could open Word and finish that damned novel.
In other news, I'm sitting here writing this post which no one but me will ever read, while I have a final tomorrow.
Fuck, I hate being me.
Why I hate being like this
Everyone has ADHD.
Let me rephrase
Everyone on the internet has ADHD.
Wait.
Everyone on the internet is self-diagnosed with ADHD.
Almost evryone on the internet is self-diagnosed with ADHD.
There. Better.
The problem is, I really think everyone's exaggerating. Well, not everyone -listen, I'm not doing the little "Psalms" exercise I did above all over again; you get what I mean- but many people feel, in my opinion, they need an excuse to be fucking lazy. Or to excuse their children attitudes. I mean, both you and your partner work and your kids were raised and spoiled by your mother, I know. Why give it a name and prescribe fucking Ritalin?
The readines to diagnose ADHD in the US is truly alarming. 10% of males and 4%percent of females are diagnosed with ADHD there. I invite you to read for a while and find the criteria used to diagnose ADHD. According to it, we ALL have ADHD.
Not related to ADHD, but to american psychiatry: The other day I laughed my ass out at the movies. I went with my girlfriend to see The Invasion. Nicole Kidman play a shrink who is visited by a woman who says her husband is not her husband. So, what does she do? Ten seconds after hearing the poor woman's story, she prescribes an anti-psychotic and sends her home. If that's how psychotherapy's done over there, please leave me here with all these Lacanians!
Hmmf. I wasn't going to write about this. I was about to do that paper for college. Damned ADHD! I don't think any of this made sense.
Let me rephrase
Everyone on the internet has ADHD.
Wait.
Everyone on the internet is self-diagnosed with ADHD.
Almost evryone on the internet is self-diagnosed with ADHD.
There. Better.
The problem is, I really think everyone's exaggerating. Well, not everyone -listen, I'm not doing the little "Psalms" exercise I did above all over again; you get what I mean- but many people feel, in my opinion, they need an excuse to be fucking lazy. Or to excuse their children attitudes. I mean, both you and your partner work and your kids were raised and spoiled by your mother, I know. Why give it a name and prescribe fucking Ritalin?
The readines to diagnose ADHD in the US is truly alarming. 10% of males and 4%percent of females are diagnosed with ADHD there. I invite you to read for a while and find the criteria used to diagnose ADHD. According to it, we ALL have ADHD.
Not related to ADHD, but to american psychiatry: The other day I laughed my ass out at the movies. I went with my girlfriend to see The Invasion. Nicole Kidman play a shrink who is visited by a woman who says her husband is not her husband. So, what does she do? Ten seconds after hearing the poor woman's story, she prescribes an anti-psychotic and sends her home. If that's how psychotherapy's done over there, please leave me here with all these Lacanians!
Hmmf. I wasn't going to write about this. I was about to do that paper for college. Damned ADHD! I don't think any of this made sense.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
NaNoWriMo
Yep. In two days starts the National Novel Writing Month and I'm pretty excited about it, since it's my first.
After a little thinking, I decided I'll be writing in spanish instead of english, so I can tap into my mutant writing skills, plus my uber-fantabulous porteño spanish. Well, not really; it's just that I'm more confident in my mother tongue when it comes to writing 1667 words per day.
The other thing is what I'll be writing about. Frankly, I have no idea. Not that I'm worried; I believe the best part of NaNoWriMo is exactly that: working on the fly.
So... wish me luck!
PS: I was writing a post the other day at work but was interrupted by, well, work. If I can, I'll post it tomorrow.
After a little thinking, I decided I'll be writing in spanish instead of english, so I can tap into my mutant writing skills, plus my uber-fantabulous porteño spanish. Well, not really; it's just that I'm more confident in my mother tongue when it comes to writing 1667 words per day.
The other thing is what I'll be writing about. Frankly, I have no idea. Not that I'm worried; I believe the best part of NaNoWriMo is exactly that: working on the fly.
So... wish me luck!
PS: I was writing a post the other day at work but was interrupted by, well, work. If I can, I'll post it tomorrow.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Just passing through
It's been a while...
Lately I seem unable to focus on linguistics, at all.
Work and college consume almost all of my time, and the little I have to spare I'm using to finish reading some books I started some 3 or 4 months ago. One of them, Conan the Cimmerian, is the best read I've had in a long time. Robert E. Howard was truly a master of pulp fantasy, or sword and sorcery, as some call the genre. His stories are dark, rich, full of descriptions and, most interestingly for a conworlder, deep. Aparently, after writting two or three stories set in Hyboria, Howard wrote a short (some 4000 words iirc) essay called the Hyborian Age, where he set all the background he needed to tie the stories in a cohesive way.
An appendix in that book names a book by one Thomas Bulfinch; perhaps it's worth further reading...
Lately I seem unable to focus on linguistics, at all.
Work and college consume almost all of my time, and the little I have to spare I'm using to finish reading some books I started some 3 or 4 months ago. One of them, Conan the Cimmerian, is the best read I've had in a long time. Robert E. Howard was truly a master of pulp fantasy, or sword and sorcery, as some call the genre. His stories are dark, rich, full of descriptions and, most interestingly for a conworlder, deep. Aparently, after writting two or three stories set in Hyboria, Howard wrote a short (some 4000 words iirc) essay called the Hyborian Age, where he set all the background he needed to tie the stories in a cohesive way.
An appendix in that book names a book by one Thomas Bulfinch; perhaps it's worth further reading...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
PN Diachronics
I've been working (almost) exclusively on Noshal language family diachronics lately, starting from Proto Noshal (duh) and moving forward, through Common Noshal to the Noshal and Eilart branches, and through Proto Doniani to the Doniani branch, and its proving to be a very difficult process.
First, I can't decide which 'flavor' I want for each branch. I know I want Kail to very very consonantal and Nêke more flowing. On the side of the Doniani branch, the tribes that speak it migrate west to an area were I want to establish a sprachbund which includes, among other quirks, prenasalized consonants.
Second, I feel on one hand that the branches look too similar to each other, and on the other that the changes are too far-fetched, or perhaps too fast for the history I have planned.
Some things I'm toying with right now are adding a series of labialized stops to Noshal, and syllabic consonants for Proto Eilart.
We'll see, we'll see...
First, I can't decide which 'flavor' I want for each branch. I know I want Kail to very very consonantal and Nêke more flowing. On the side of the Doniani branch, the tribes that speak it migrate west to an area were I want to establish a sprachbund which includes, among other quirks, prenasalized consonants.
Second, I feel on one hand that the branches look too similar to each other, and on the other that the changes are too far-fetched, or perhaps too fast for the history I have planned.
Some things I'm toying with right now are adding a series of labialized stops to Noshal, and syllabic consonants for Proto Eilart.
We'll see, we'll see...
Thursday, June 21, 2007
PPA comes full circle
...well, not really.
Last week I translated Elly Sherman's poem Full Circle into Proto Pekemí-Aescal, as an exercise to build up some vocabulary to provide examples to its grammar (in-progress). Here it is:
Original Poem:
I am made of
Sun Fire
Dinosaur Dust
Star Light
Volcano Flames
Unknown Lives
Comet Tails
And all the future
Beasts and things
Shall also be
Me.
PPA Version:
E
1S.ABS
tseŋsekhas
sun-fire-OBL
phaŋpehaktur maras
big-foot-bad-ANIMAL-GEN dust-OBL
nikir sewas
star-GEN light-OBL
sektawkar sekhwasen
volcano-GEN flame-OBL-PL
akanren mitetre
NEG-known-ANIM-PL life-OBL-PL
lunikir kekwasenmu
comet-GEN tail-OBL-PL-and
takune
be_made_of-PRES-1S.ABS
ene khatiŋir
and future-GEN
watukenimu lewakenimu
animal-ERG-PL-DEF-and thing-ERG-PL-DEF-and
e uŋuŋena
1S.ABS RED(FUT).be.1S.PF
I took the poem from a translation challenge held at the ZBB before I joined.
Last week I translated Elly Sherman's poem Full Circle into Proto Pekemí-Aescal, as an exercise to build up some vocabulary to provide examples to its grammar (in-progress). Here it is:
Original Poem:
I am made of
Sun Fire
Dinosaur Dust
Star Light
Volcano Flames
Unknown Lives
Comet Tails
And all the future
Beasts and things
Shall also be
Me.
PPA Version:
E
1S.ABS
tseŋsekhas
sun-fire-OBL
phaŋpehaktur maras
big-foot-bad-ANIMAL-GEN dust-OBL
nikir sewas
star-GEN light-OBL
sektawkar sekhwasen
volcano-GEN flame-OBL-PL
akanren mitetre
NEG-known-ANIM-PL life-OBL-PL
lunikir kekwasenmu
comet-GEN tail-OBL-PL-and
takune
be_made_of-PRES-1S.ABS
ene khatiŋir
and future-GEN
watukenimu lewakenimu
animal-ERG-PL-DEF-and thing-ERG-PL-DEF-and
e uŋuŋena
1S.ABS RED(FUT).be.1S.PF
I took the poem from a translation challenge held at the ZBB before I joined.
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