Re: CHAT: Conlanging has the Hacker nature? (was Re: CHAT: music // was Leaf script)

Paul Bennett wrote:

> Interestingly, you've nailed the much more verbose description by Eric S
> Raymond of what makes a truly great computer programmer/hacker. Also
> listed among the traits are a tendency to be more liberal in sexual
> attitudes,
[I'm tired, but I *HOPE* there are no mistakes]

No comment (short answer: depends both on context and on who compared
to), but the word for sex is one of the words that I'm most pleased
with in my conlang. It's [a5'KE8], which I think is just the right
sound (for a start, it has no unvoiced stops, which I consider quite
out of place).

Besides, it fits into the language. The sound [a5] is considered to
have a masculine quality, because it features in the masculine
familiar pronouns, etc, whereas the sound [E8] is considered to have a
feminine quality for the same reason (which means that [a5'Ka5] and
[E8'KE8] are probably slang terms for homosexual sex but that's not
official).

The forms for "Will you ... with me?" (I'm assuming familiarity) are:

(male to female) Teqneqc alhleq li-man?
                 /'tE8nE8S a5'KE8 l@man/
(female to male) Talneqc alhleq li-men?
                 /'ta5nE8S a5'KE8 l@mEn/

taln/teqn = 2nd person* singular familiar (masc/fem)
-eqc      = nominative** future (-eq) question (-c)
li-       = with (in the sense of subject and object partaking equally
            and symmetrically in an action)
man/men   = 1st person* singular (masc/fem)

*  Call it a pronoun, article, determiner, whatever - the distinction
   doesn't exist but all noun phrases have one.
** Nominative determiner is marked by tense/mood suffix (nominative
   noun phrase, not verb, therefore carries primary tense info).

The forms for "I desire that you ... with me. Will you?" are:

(male to female) Maniu yara ad teqneqhs alhleq li-man. Teqneqc kket?
                 /'mano 'jara ad 'tE8nE8T a5'KE8 l@man 'tE8nE8S xEt/
(female to male) Meniu yara ad talneqhs alhleq li-men. Talneqc kket?
                 /'mEno 'jara ad 'ta5nE8T a5'KE8 l@mEn 'ta5nE8S xEt/

man/men   = 1st person singular (masc/fem)
-iu       = nominative present
yara      = desire (the root is 'ya' meaning "want" - the infix 'r' in
            theory marks the persistent aspect ("persistently want")
            but in this and some other contexts has come to indicate
            an intensifying of meaning as in want->desire
ad        = subordinator for a subclause representing the object of
            a verb. Incidentally, if the verb ends with a consonant
            then this is attached as a suffix.
taln/teqn = 2nd person singular familiar (masc/fem)
-eqhs     = nominative future (-eq) hypothetical scenario (-hs)
kket      = "do so" in this context, but there is no direct
            translation; think of it as a pronoun for verbs. Note that
            /E/ is realised as [&] after /x/.

Adrian.

P.S. Persistent aspect = _alhleraa_ /al'KEra:/ :-)

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