Re: Tiny lexicon languages

On 16 Jun 99, at 10:40, Charles wrote:

> Boudewijn Rempt wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Jim Henry wrote:
> > > This reminds me: in re-reading the old conlang archives
(1991-
> > > 1993) I found an intriguing message about a challenge to create the
> > > most expressive isolating language with only 20 words.  Would
> > > anyone care to try this in the list now?  (Perhaps we should wait till
> > > the translation relay is over.)
>
> I can't wait. Here are mine:
<snip>

Might be a useful vocabulary, but what's its grammar? Any sample
texts?  Please post more a bit later...

I'm inspired to start on my attempt right away.... OK, 20 roots
suggests 5 consonants x 4 vowels.

Word shape:
/p m s ! r/ + /a i o u/
p is any stop, m any nasal, s any fricative, ! any click, r any liquid
or approximant... similar allophony  with the vowels.

Grammar:
Most base roots are nouns.  "pa" means the next word or phrase is
being used as a verb, state, process in a sentence.  "!u" means
the  next word (or phrase) is an agent, "so" means the next word
(or phrase) is a patient.  They all have noun meanings as well:  "a
process", "an actor", "a thing acted upon".

Modifiers precede heads, with the aforementioned role-markers
delimiting the parts of the sentence.

The Other 17 root words:

pi - the speaker; I, me; (modifying) mine, of me, near me, this

po - harm, damage, injury

!a  - knowledge; certainty, lack of doubt, (at start of sentence)
indicative mood

mu - to use, to eat, to exploit, etc.

sa - lack, absence; negating particle

!i - reversal, complement, the other of a pair; can be used like
Esperanto "mal-"

A pause to demonstrate some derivation:

!i mu - being used, eaten, exploited by someone...

sa !a - subjunctive, irrealis mood marker

More words...

ru - power, ability, know-how, ...

!o - physical, non-abstractness; (modifier) physical manifestation of
something.  e.g. !o ru - hands, !o mu mouth, etc.

ra - glass.  (You know where this is going... :)

ma - generality, broad class or category (e.g: ma pi, humans; ma
ra, substances; ma pa, events; etc. )

Already we can write a sample text:

!u pi so ra pa ru mu.
agent I patient glass verb can eat/use

pa sa po !u ra so pi.
verb not hurt agent glass patient me

I can eat glass, it does not not hurt me.
(We don't have any pronoun besides "pi" so just repeat "ra" (glass)
in the second sentences.)

And still six words to go!  Shall I try for the Babel text next? :)

Not yet, I think I'll name the language.

ri - one, unity, uniqueness - repeat for other numbers, e.g. ri ri =
two, ri ri ri = three, etc......

su - speech, talking, communication

So this language can be called:

ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ri ma su
twenty general speech

Await the next exciting installment....

Jim Henry III
Jim.Henry@pobox.com
http://www.pobox.com/~jim.henry/gzb/gzb.htm
*gjax zaxnq-box baxm-box goq.