Monday, October 13, 2003

04.20.03.10.12.23.50

And another while. I have made progress, though, having added quite a few new words due to translating parts of my website into maltжέgj, dlatci, norðısca, latinovesa, and various other languages. Rather than embarking on a long discussion of it now, i would rather just paste it in here and refer to the updated lexicon any changes.

The above images of the ginkgo are from the 本草綱目 (Běn Cǎo Gāng Mù, Pen Ts’ao Kang Mu), or the Great Catalogue of Herbs, still used in Chinese Medicine today. Compiled by 李時珍 (Lǐ Shízhēn, Li Shih-chen) in 1578, it is among the most invaluable extant books on Chinese herbalism. The ginkgo is a remarkable tree, being in its own class of gymnosperms (Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Spermatophyta, Subdivision: Gymnospermae, Class: Ginkgoopsida, Order: Ginkgoales, Family: Ginkgoaceae, Genus: Ginkgo, Species: biloba), and is not closely related to any other plant species. It is unique among trees, being neither deciduous nor evergreen (hence Goethe’s reference in the second verse, above). It is also known in chinese as the silver apricot (銀杏, yín xìng, yin hsing).

Below is Goethe’s original manuscript of the poem above, which can be found today in the Goethe Museum in Düsseldorf, complete with the two leaves he pasted on it himself from a ginkgo tree in the garden at the castle in Heidelberg.

εc ul ac imbiláj ul gγ́nco u ul 本草綱目o, rélεb ul bórga clag ac жarc u, εc rac ðroж calc úli nad scan djungwó жtral ðrax oc. rac scrav lìжudjέn íli avíl 1578 oж, e εc paj am ac narán жal oc blai εc clag u djungwó жarc жtral ðrax έloì. εc ul gγ́nco am gráva víctro, εc calc mεs frantж i ac bwílio dat u (djεжt arán: Plantae, cεrðíð: Spermatophyta, cεrðíðilà: Gymnospermae, frantж: Ginkgoopsida, cwaðrat: Ginkgoales, mávilà: Ginkgoaceae, djip: Ginkgo, pγtá: biloba), εc blεg paj ðέfni fórwið ac pγtá íli жarc u. εc paj ac víctro u ámεst, ðrímiέm εc blεg bláca-жafát blεg gwéðul-gnir, (ðrímiέm εm guþa o ul sàpatál ul gji dai bjir e). blγnþ xányu glơd paj að ul ђέbna zaníж.

iþ εc ul urál narám nascáj guþa u ul em cveð u, rac culóm calc úli nad ul guþa nascáj arán e, εc calc dísλdorf e, dai bláca oc, dγd fástnar gúþa calc að, am gγ́nco víctro o ul gwárxo e ul bórga márga a háidλbεrg e.

Also...

Below is a painting of the ginkgo by Minneapolis-based artist Michelle Layland. More examples of her work can be found on her website at:

iþ εc am zεndj nascáj ul gγ́nco víctro u, nascáj lað mγжέl léland íli mγ́niápolγs o. patáx rac cúlεn ac εlέђam nascáj u pεl u wέbsait alx pεl u:

http://msfledermaus.whosiswhatsis.com
[Editor's Note: whosiswhatsis.com is no more, but Michelle's work can still be found today by visiting http://www.msfledermaus.com/]

Friday, January 31, 2003

04.20.03.01.31.07.56

So it's been a while. Most of the past year has been spent working on τsœɧısca, and little progress has been made in maltжέgj except, as you can see, i did away with § and replaced it with ж.

I think i mentioned this before, perhaps when i was talking about those locative adverbs (up, down, in, out, off, on, &c), but just to stress in case i haven't: Infinitives must directly follow any verb that modifies them, i.e. djogóж tжoc jơg.

Monday, March 4, 2002

04.20.02.03.04.12.38

One slight revision that’s been bothering me: I have changed the broad l to λ. It only occurs in the words tέfλðu and §λþ, but it was annoying me.

Just for fun, i’m going to have another go at translating the Vǫluspá. Here goes:

[Old Norse]
Hlióðs bið ec allar helgar kindir,
meiri oc minni, mǫgo Heimdalar.
vildo at ec, Valfǫðr, vel fyrtelia
forn spiǫll fira, þau er fremst um man.

[My original translation]
Aþ bad jơg cúluì bjólεt ac-rata,
bórga e íla ac-hanác-ráta Hémdal-u
dγd-gjot clεg jơg, Válfóðr, bjólεt ðac
vεlc ac-gú§e ac-hanác-u, calc εc narán tεmtíð clεg glácsi-jơg.

[My current translation]
Bad jơg aþ að mέlεm o, cúluì ac ráta bjólεt
bórga e íla, mέlεm hanác ac ráta Hémdal u.
Dγd gjot mέlεm clεg ðac bjólεt jơg, Válfơðr, mέlεm a
ac gú§e að ac hanác u, calc εc narán tεmtíð clεg glácsi jơg.

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

04.20.02.01.30.14.41

I’ve noticed that i’ve had some confusion as to the order of genitive constructs when eliminating the preposition. I see that i’ve used both áran clag (library) and djε§t lað (king). In keeping with the order that makes the most sense to me and the correlatives, the official rule shall now be: genetive particle first followed by subject. Hence:

library – clag arán ruler – djε§t lað dlatci – dlát§i glơd bedtime – caiþ ðlai
school – bul arán student – bul lað german – doit§ glơd morning – tεmέt (ðlai)

and so on... And note the invention of caiþ, the word for sleep.

Well, time to revise the lexicon again.

Saturday, January 19, 2002

04.20.02.01.19.10.43

Just some words i’ve been tossing around in my head. Let’s see if we can come up with something for them to mean... What words do i still need? Prepositional adverbs might be good; i have a few, but i’m not sure if i like them. Then again nothing beats good old fashioned nouns and adjectives. Then again, probably i should just hold onto them until i come up with something i need.

caiþ
mεc
brau
stax
vlaið

Anyway, moving on, i foresee a sort of revolution coming on for malt§έgj... i’m thinking of merging the language, at least language family-wise, with barac. Of course the grammar is completely different, but i think a few cognates would help along barac’s development as well as give an interesting sense of history for the two. Of course, this won’t really affect malt§έgj very much, but i thought i’d bring it up anyway.

Thursday, January 10, 2002

04.20.02.01.10.11.52

A couple new words spawned from an email i wrote to a friend about malt§έgj:

vlag = to teach (hence,
lað vlag = teacher,
lað rac vlag = student, &c.)
jiv = beer
nac = now (see above)

nos dyd ðac almítra, “mεn ðac jalc að ðblεucþ έloi.” e dyd bran pul mεs talp e dyd culóm ut ul ga§ág a, e dyd t§ơ§ am wára parþ ap. e dyd ðac pul am harέc bórga oc: lơ bad t§ơ§ ðblεucþ naur o§ mέlεm að, mεn grol§ pul it, mal lơ εc pul u ac bweð xa§ e tεlx. e lơ t§ơ§ pul u ac fwi naur o§ mέlεm εð, mεn gεlc mέlεm pul a, mal lơ dyd nag patáx ul styx huct mέlεm að, úla, rac stáfad calc pul u ac áro§ e. e ðac pul naur o§ mέlεm a, cwégir pul a, mal lơ dyd nag patáx pul u harέc naxád a§ mέlεm u ac vlaj, lεf naxád a§ batár yen u gwárxo. ðrímiὲm lεf anácne ðblεucþ mέlεm að, t§a nag clớgεx pul mέlεm að. lεf εc pul mέlεm u dúmbwe i, t§a εc pul mέlεm u xóre§à i. lεf t§ơc mεs pul mέlεm u ac §ála a, e §adé pul ul ac ro§ að narán javlé jadío iþ (calc?) rac báralà, t§a nag t§ơc na§ pul mέlεm u ac rεnáþ a, e báralà a§ parþ að parþ u fástnar o mó§arà a. nag scrav ðblεucþ úli ac ðrax cúluì að mέlεm a, ðrímiεm nag patáx mέlεm apþan ac jomεn að mεs baxέf u, e, úla apþan oc, cleg nag patáx mέlεm ðráupnir am þrε§ að báldrεf u baxέf u. rεb §él, mέlεm u §ax vul, lơ nag cúlεn mέlεm tárεx ðblεucþ u wára e ðblεucþ u bjólεt að, ðrímiεm εc nan bjólεt, clεg lơ blánaþ mέlεm mεs bwíliò að e t§ơc ut ðblεucþ u lacþ §afát o, som alm múndi e, ùlarán e nag hahár mέlεm, rεb blεg mέlεm u hahár cúluì að, e nag wahár, rεb blεg mέlεm u ac §iþ cúluì að.

Yay! Well, now that that’s all over with, and the new words have been added to the lexicon, we can finally move on...

04.20.02.01.10.01.40

I’m again starting to feel the need for some sort of alphabet for malt§έgj. Don’t worry though, i’ll try to keep it to myself for as long as possible.

I think the word mεs should be considered an article of some sort. A reflexive demonstrative adjective, if you will. Something like the difference between hennes and sin in swedish or hæra and sǽna in τsœxısca. Only it can apply to any pronoun, no matter the person, because it is only used in conjunction with the pronoun it modifies if that pronoun is the subject. Hence,

I saw my sister = Dγd culóm jơg mεs adína að. But,

He saw my sister = Dγd culóm pul jơg u adína að.

Okay, i’m feeling better about that one now. So what’s next? I am still a bit concerned about clauses regarding this latest nutso sentence structure craze. But that’s probably something i’m going to have to worry about later when [REDACTED].

I need some simple words to break down some complex ideas. At first i was all about compound words like “úla ðlai o§” to mean “when” and such, but it’s getting really annoying. Some new words that i need:

who- - the other person the same person everyone anyone someone noöne
whatthisthatthe other thingthe same thingeverythinganythingsomethingnothing
whennowthenthe other timethe same timealwaysanytimesometimenever
whereherethereyonderthe same placeeverywhereanywheresomewherenowhere
whyhereforetherefore------
how-----anywaysomehowno way
how muchthis muchthat much-the same amount-anysomenone

Of course i modified the traditional esperantoèsqueness of this table, which i actually worked out quite nicely in dlatci, but i don’t think that malt§έgj, being a more random and a priori language, really requires too many words. By the way, can i mention just in passing that I actually came up with this table for dlatci and had it all worked out long before i ever heard of the esperanto correlatives, and it really pissed me off when i found out about them. Fortunately not too much, however, since mine are better! Therefore:

mlau lað, mlað- - úlot lað, uláð
the same person everyone anyone someone blεg lað, blað
mlau ðrax, mlaxúli (ðrax)úla (ðrax)úlot (ðrax)the same thingeverythinganythingsomethingblεg ðrax, blax
mlau ðlai, mlaiúli ðlai, nacúla ðlai, naurúlot ðlaithe same timealwaysanytimesometimenever
mlau arán, mlaránúli aránúla aránúlot aránthe same placeeverywhereanywheresomewhereblarán
mlímiὲmðrímiὲm-----blímiὲm
mlau cþiðúli cþiðúla cþið---anywaysomehowblεg cþið
mlau máraúli máraúla mára-the same amount-anysomeblára

Wednesday, January 9, 2002

04.20.02.01.09.14.35

04.20.02.01.09.14.35

I believe i need to rethink the way certain words are put together, and really come up with something solid as far as sentence structure goes. I’m not sure why, but it’s really been bothering me the last couple of days. I think partly it has to do with adjectives: in particular, the demonstrative kind. So let’s analyze that for moment, if we can...

Let’s see... demon adjectives consist of:

am(a)
ul(the)
úli(this)
úla(that)
úlot(the other)
calc(that, which)
mlau(what, which)
blεg(no, none)
jơg u(my, mine)
mέlεm u(your, yours)
mεlmíne u(your, yours)
pul u(his)
pεl u(her, hers)
paj u(its)
jalc u(our, ours)
parþ u(their, theirs)

My brain is foggy today, and i think i might be coming down with some malevolent virus, so if i don’t make a whole lot of sense, or if i overlook something fundamental, forgive me. However, thinking on a much lower level like this actually opens me up to interesting new ideas, which i’ll most likely have to undo as soon as i’m well again.

My confusion lies herein: if we are to treat these words as adjectives, they should, naturally, follow the noun they modify. However, i have been preceding the noun with most of these, which is fine as long as we can establish a decent rule for it. The problem with the possessives, in particular, is that they contain a pseudo-suffixed preposition, which conflicts with any preposition the noun might be using. So my initial solution is to declare that all demonstrative adjectives precede the noun they modify. So using that idea, let me see what still bothers me about changing around this translation...

nos dyd ðac almítra, “mεn ðac jalc að ðblεucþ έloi.” e dyd bran pul mεs ul talp mεs e dyd culóm ut ul ga§ág a, e dyd t§ơ§ am wára parþ ap. e dyd ðac pul am harέc bórga oc: lơ bad t§ơ§ ðblεucþ úla ðlai o§ mέlεm að, mεn grol§ pul it, mal lơ εc pul u ac bweð pul u xa§ e tεlx. e lơ t§ơ§ pul u ac fwi pul u úla ðlai o§ mέlεm εð, mεn gεlc mέlεm pul a, mal lơ dyd nag patáx ul styx huct mέlεm að, úla, rac stáfad calc pul u ac áro§ e. e ðac pul úla ðlai o§ mέlεm a, cwégir pul a, mal lơ dyd nag patáx pul u harέc pul u naxád a§ mέlεm u ac vlaj mέlεm u a§, lεf naxád batár yen u gwárxo . ðrímiὲm lεf anácne ðblεucþ mέlεm að, t§a nag clớgεx pul mέlεm að. lεf εc pul mέlεm u dúmbwe i mέlεm u, t§a εc pul mέlεm u xóre§à i mέlεm u. lεf t§ơc mεs pul mεs mέlεm u ac §ála a mέlεm u, e §adé pul ul ac ro§ narán javlé jadío iþ (calc?) rac báralà, t§a nag t§ơc na§ pul na§ mέlεm u ac rεnáþ a mέlεm u, e báralà parþ að parþ u fástnar o mó§arà a parþ u...

Well, that looks a little different. New rules: adverbial particles (gads, i can’t even think of the proper names for things... those little end-of-the-sentence things that aren’t quite prepositions) will now DIRECTLY FOLLOW the verb they modify. This being a language with no changeable words, we have to stick related things as close together as possible so we can keep track of them!

Here’s an idea that just seeped out of my addled brain. It might be interesting one day to create an alternative malt§έgj language that would actually incorporate all the adverbs and particles and prepositions into their respective nouns and verbs and pronouns and such... the pronunciation would remain the same, but the orthography would change significantly... for instance instead of

e dyd bran mεs pul ul talp e dyd culóm ut ul ga§ág a, e dyd t§ơ§ am wára parþ ap.

one might write

e dydbran mεspul ultalp e dydculomut ulga§aga, e dydt§ơ§ amwara parþap.

or something vaguely similar that would allow for a slightly less rigid sentence structure. But that’s a project for a different day.

The other thing i wanted to take care of was a standardization of the orthography concerning diphthongs. I’ve been rather wishy-washy about it and i’d like to get something set in stone. I’m just not sure what. I think i’d feel a lot better about it if i had some other vowel that i could use for “y,” because right now it’s [ɪ] and [j] and [i]. The trouble is, i need something that has a full range of diacritics so i can indicate if it’s stressed or not. Perhaps ι? That would at least give me ι, ί, and ὶ, but it looks a little too similar to i, í, and ì. и, и́, ѝ? No. I can use some random character and play around with combining diacritics, too, i suppose. Then again there’s also ê, ế, and ề, but that seems a little excessive on the diacritic front. η, ή, ὴ? Maybe... or υ, ύ, ὺ. Yes, that does bring out that lovely welsh feel to it, even though it’s a greek letter.

Ευρηκα! How about i break a couple rules of what’s supposed to be a consonant and what’s supposed to be a vowel and i just use γ? Perfect.

So... γ will now represent the short i [ɪ], diphthongs will be formed with i, and glides will remain y. Similarly, although this isn’t as i’d planned it, diphthongs will be formed with u and glides with w. So mote it be!

Which means i have to go mess with the lexica again.

Ack. I forgot about the voiced velar fricative. That’s y too, and by rights it should have the first stab at γ. Too late now... that shall become...um...ђ? ג? That might look a little weird. But since i haven’t really used that letter yet that i can remember, i’ll just say that theoretically, should i ever use it, it will be ђ, just because i kinda like that letter. Then again, since it’s a consonant and i really don’t have to worry about diacritics and such, it could be just about anything. ğ perhaps. Actually, i’m not going to worry about it until i have a need for it.

Monday, January 7, 2002

04.20.02.01.07.13.08

A few rules to review, which i’m not sure if i’ve made rules before, or if i’m just breaking them now:

The plural particle ac shall now and evermore directly precede the noun it modifies.

The following rigid sentence structure shall hereby be adhered to:

– conjucntion – particle [§lþ – lơ – dyd – nag – cwarþ – blai – rac] – verb – adverb – (ac) subject (adjective) – (ac) temporal or spatial clause (adjective) (preposition) – secondary verb – (ac) direct object (adjective) (preposition) –

I think there are a few more things that will eventually fit into that diagram as well, but for now, let that serve as a model for all sentences until i can find something to add to it.

...ðrímiὲm lεf anácne ðblεucþ mέlεm að, t§a nag clớgεx pul mέlεm að. lεf εc pul dúmbwe i mέlεm u, t§a εc pul xóre§à i mέlεm u. lεf t§ơc pul mεs ac §ála a mέlεm u, e §adé pul ul ac ro§ narán javlé jadío iþ rac báralà, t§a nag t§ơc pul na§ ac rεnáþ a mέlεm u, e báralà parþ að fástnar a§ mó§arà a parþ u...

Thursday, November 22, 2001

04.20.01.11.22.01.41

Okay, i’m back. I’ve updated the lexicon thus far and made a few slight corrections. Since the malt§έgj orthography is now pretty firmly established in somewhat standard characters, i see no reason to continue using the Chrysanthi Unicode font, as proud as i may be thereof; Times New Roman is capable of producing all the characters i need, and is somewhat more compact.

So, to continue...

...e ðac pul úla ðlai o§ mέlεm a, cwégir pul a, mal lơ dyd nag patáx harέc pul u naxád ac vlaj mέlεm u a§, lεf naxád batár yen u gwárxo a§.

04.20.01.11.21.21.52

Malt§έgj Project Part IV

I’ve gotten a bit caught up in Baraq lately, so i figured it would be a nice change to revisit malt§έgj for a bit. I figured a good start would be a translation, so here, from Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, “On Love:”

On Love


Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love." And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said: When love beckons to you follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your heights and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. ... All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart. But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears... [abridged]

nos dyd ðac almítra, “mεn ðac jalc að ðblεucþ έloi.” e dyd bran pul ul talp mεs e dyd culóm ut ul ga§ág a, e dyd t§ơ§ am wára parþ ap. e dyd ðac pul am harέc bórga oc: lơ bad t§ơ§ ðblεucþ úla ðlai o§ mέlεm að, mεn grol§ pul it, mal lơ εc ac bweð pul u xa§ e tεlx. e lơ t§ơ§ ac fwi pul u úla ðlai o§ mέlεm εð, mεn gεlc mέlεm pul a, mal lơ dyd nag patáx ul styx huct mέlεm að, úla, rac stáfad calc pul u ac áro§ e.

Okay, i’m already exhausted from that. But i’ve made up quite a few new words, and possibly encountered some new grammar to talk about and rearrange and ponder, so i’ll be back later.

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

[Editor's Notes]

That brings us to the end of "Section III" of the project, as well as the end of the files that were preserved in PDF format.  Part IV remains only as a word document, and as such may contain some errors where fonts and certain characters are concerned (if any were used there).

Monday, October 22, 2001

04.20.01.10.22.12.40

Just a few comments. I attempted to make a malt§έgj version of my website, which generated a few new words:

clyc click (as in “click here”)
mlacþ ready, finished
dwεg new
blími word

I also updated the website on malt§έgj verbs, which may be useful to include here. Most of this has already been stated, but it can’t hurt to clarify:

[Editor's Note: I'm really not going to bother to try to recreate the website's style sheets and special effects here on my blog. I was just excited at the time to have learned how to do it. I'm fairly over it now.]


ul iþ T§έcmað Malt§έgj u Scrav u ac Blími

The title of this page is actually somewhat inaccurate, as verbs are not conjugated in the malt§έgj language, but a brief explanation of verbs is in order in any case.

There are no special endings to indicate person, tense, or number in malt§έgj, however there are certain particles as in asian languages which denote tense. Number and person are indicated by the pronoun (which is not optional as it is in some languages where person and number are indicated by a suffix).

nagfuture(equivalent to “will do” or “shall do”)Nag bliv jơg paj έloì.I will think about it.
dydpast(roughly equivalent to “did” or “did do”)Dyd bliv jơg paj έloì.I thought/did think about it.
cwarþperfect(equivalent to “have done”)Cwarþ bliv jơg paj έloì.I have thought about it.
blaiprogressive(equivalent to “to be doing”)Blai bliv jơg paj έloì.I am thinking about it.
subjunctive(roughly equivalent to “should do” or “would do”)Ec paj lơt§έg clεg lơ bliv jơg paj έloì.It is important that i think about it.
racpassive(changes a verb to the passive voice)Rac blai bliv paj έloì.It is being thought about.
§lþinterrogative(changes the sentence into a question)§lþ nag bliv mέlεm paj έloì.Will you think about it?
acplural(makes a noun plural - this does not affect verbs)Blai bliv jơg ac clag έloì.I’m thinking about books.
These particles can be used alone or in combination to create a wide variety of tenses. The most common combinations are shown here:

nag + cwarþ =future perfect("will have done")Nag cwarþ bliv jơg paj έloì.I will have thought about it.
nag + blai =future progressive(“will be doing”)Nag blai bliv jơg paj έloì.I will be thinking about it.
nag + lơ =future subjunctive(“would do”)Glơca jơg cleg nag lơ bliv pul paj έloì.I hope that he will think about it.
dyd + nag =conditional(“would do”)Dyd nag bliv jơg paj έloì.I would think about it.
dyd + cwarþ =pluperfect(“had done”)Dyd cwarþ bliv jơg paj έloì.I had thought about it.
dyd + blai =imperfect(“was doing”)Dyd blai bliv jơg paj έloì.I was thinking about it.
dyd + lơ =past subjunctive(“were doing”)Glơca jơg cleg dyd lơ bliv pul paj έloì.I hope that he thought about it.
dyd + nag + cwarþ =conditional perfect(“would have done”)Dyd nag cwarþ bliv jơg paj έloì.I would have thought about it.

When particles are used in combination, there is a set order to them, most of which is common sense. You may use the table below to remember the order.

dyd - nag - cwarþ - blai - rac - lơ - §lþ

Wow, it’s nice to know that I can do that with my web pages in case I need to PDFify them. Anyway, the malt§έgj version of the webpage itself was a brutal disaster, so I’ll spare you that one. Why is this thing suddenly back on auto-correct? Grrr… Remind me to start beating my lab monitors.

Oh, i’m not sure if i ever put the word lơt§εg in the lexicon. It means “important.”

Okay, we’re almost twice the length we should be here, so it’s time to wrap up chapter three of the malt§έgj project. Bjólεt nad mέlεm a!