Thursday, September 14, 2000

New Language Project, 04.20.00.09.14.19.15

I suppose i should start thinking about exactly what sorts of letters i am going to be using for this language. I will type up the preliminary structure of course in latin letters, but the language itself will almost certainly be runic, and i need to figure out what sounds i will be using.

AfAthera
B Boy b
C Cold k
D Dog d
Ð THen ð
E Elf, dAY ɛ, e
F Frog f
G Gourd g
H εύΧαριστώ χ
I machIne i
J viSion ʒ
K Kite k
L Love, littLe l (no distinction between narrow and broad)
M Man m
N Need n
O Open o
P Pig p
R thRough r (slightly trilled)
S See s
§ SHe ʃ
T Ten t
Þ THing θ
U dOOm u
V Very v
W We w
Y If, Yet ɪ, j
Z Zoo z

I'll probably also have a couple of runes for combination sounds like ts, t§, ks, dz, dj, gz, and perhaps more.

I was planning to use y as a glide as in english, but i needed something to represent a short i (like in pig), so i'm going to have to find something else. I've already used j too, so that's ruled out. What's left? Q? X? No, that would just be wrong. I guess i'll also use y, and i suppose it should be obvious. After all, i don't think the short i sound would very often be found preceding another vowel. In fact, i can't even make that sound except maybe "Iu" which i guess would be roughly equivalent to the ever-disgusting "eew." I'll risk it for now, and if it shows up later i'll find another way around it. There will be two separate runes, in any case. I think, however, i will use only one rune for e, even though it can be short or long.

I like the word ðac. I think it will mean "to say" or "to tell."

Question words. Already feeling my feet slip on dangerous ground. I want an interrogative particle that will signify that a sentence is a question, like 嗎 in chinese or "ĉu" in esperanto. Chinese puts it at the end. Esperanto puts it at the beginning. I'm not going to have anyone say i'm just mimicking either of them, so i'm going to put it in the middle. How do you feel about the word "§ylþ"? I like it myself. It sounds almost dirty!

"Did you tell her about the book he saw on my table?"
"Melem dyd §ylþ ðac pulað klageloiul..."

Grammar alert! Okay, do i want a subordinate conjunction there or not? I think i do. Henceforth shall the word "which" or "that" be "calc." Thank you.

"...calcað pul dyd culm jaagul teflðapul?"

Speaking of subordinate conjunctions, i propose to make the other "that" "cleg." E.g. "I had thought (that) you told her about the book (which) he saw on my table." "Jaag dyd cwarþ bliv cleg melem dyd ðac pulað klageloiul calcað pul dyd clum jagul teflðapul."

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