Re: new lang: karath

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert B Wilson" <han_solo55@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: new lang: karath


> > Are these examples the only labialized and palatalized consonants?
> > For
> > example, could I have "gw" or "dnj"?
>
> no, they are not the only labialized and palatalized consonants.
> there can be "gw", "dnj", or even "tnwj" (a labialized palatalized
> voiceless nasal... i bet no natlang has that :))
I've certainly never seen tnwj in any language before!  Having these markers
for various phonetic functions is a nice way to expand the wealth of your
spelling system.

> > > direct article: -h-
> > >         _geb_ 'word', _gheb_ 'the word'
> > >         _kar_ 'person', _khar_ 'the person
> >
> > How do you know where to put the "-h-"?  Is it always after the first
> > consonant, or before the last vowel?  If "kobîln" means "cowboy",
> > then is
> > "the cowboy" : "khobîln" or "kobhîln"?
>
> usually before the last vowel.  in compounds the -h- goes before the last
> vowel of the head word.
And just to make sure I've got your transcription right, "dha tigr grolnd"
would sound a lot like "the tiger growled", right?

> usually after the last vowel, after the last vowel of the head word in
> compounds.
This makes sense.

> the two that are prefixes were originally independent words. _bnâ_ is
> related to the verb _bnâl_ meaning 'to be able'. _wô_ is the
> interrogative pronoun.
> _-tnukh_ and _-(e)tnkhetn_ were originally phrases.
> the (e) is required when a cluster of four consonants (nasals,
> fricatives, labialized, and palatalized consonants each count as one
> consonant) would result or when a cluster CRC (C=any consonand, R='r',
> 'l', or any nasal) would result.
Neat.  I like it.  Giving the language some history is the best way to make
it seem a little more real, at least to me.

> the vowel prefix is used to show what noun and adjective go together.
> the prefix can be any vowel as long as the same vowel is prefixed to the
> adjective and the noun.
> this can also be used with verbs and nouns to avoid possible ambiguity.
Now this is a cool feature!  Disambiguation affixes that are unrelated to
any case/gender/etc.  I like it.  Would you mind if I use it in one of my
languages?

> here's a sample:
>
> bhaêrg murkat ral ghaerdn othadn khaêrg ethak etal ekea êdnadn otor
> obnabnar phaldnhlô bno kae e arathlô abhilnathen
>
> love.PAST.3sg God.AGNT so_much world.DEF.PAT therefore give.PAT.3sg
> e.son.PAT e.only 3.3sg.GEN so_that o.one_who o.beleive die.FUT.SUBJ not
> that.PAT and a.live.FUT.SUBJ a.forever
I like the sound of it, presuming I'm reading it correctly.  It has a very
nice feel to it.  If you've got any more interesting stuff like this, please
post it.  Even if no one else would be interested, I sure would be.

Joe Fatula


And if you'd like, take a look at the language I just posted a description
of yesterday, Tácakta.