Re: A Conlang, created by the group?

Pablo wrote :

> (Just an idea) Why not use different consonants as stem endings when we
> have to add one? We could have nasal harmony (i. e. if there's a nasal
> in the penult syllable of the stem, use -n, else use -h or -l or whatever).
>
Ok. Although nasals will be difficult for some. But I think Herman wanted to
ensure parseability so he was proposing -h- as end of vowel-ending roots.


> SOV is fine. The only disadvantage, of course, is that you can pile up
> a lot of stuff before getting to the verb. The advantage is the same.
> I remember something about a Japanese joke where you go on and on with
> modifiers for several minutes, and then you get to the verb, but it's in
> the negative form, so everything you said is reversed. ;)
>
> Well, Mathias pointed out that should be decided. I vote for a non-rigid
> SOV order. I mean, let's use case to make word order free, but then let's
> prefer SOV as the standard order.
> Also, it'd be a bit confusing to have different case endings for adjectives
> and for nouns.
Ok. I'm used to SVO and SOV : either is fine.

However, just in case I've a suggestion that may make the word order very souple and
also make happy both who like prefixes and who like suffixes but I don't know
how to explain it so I give a mock example below just to show the structure.
I make it 'Esperanto-like' to be better understood (no vocabulary or modifier is
proposed below). Please forgive me that the words sound strange, it's only
because tags usually put at the end of the words in European languages are in
front of them here :

Let's take the silly following words :

oman = man (o- = noun)
ovil = town
abig = big (a- = adj)
akom = arriving
ekwik = quickly
efin = in the past
ikom = to arrive (i- = verb)

- = nominative
-(y)n = accusative
-(y)s = genitive
-(y)m = directive

oman ibig = ibig oman = (the) man is big
oman abig = o abig man = the big man
oman ikom ovil-ym = ovil-ym oman ikom = ikom oman ovil-ym = the man arrives in town
o ovil-ym ekwik ikom man = o ovil-ym ikom man = oman a ovil-ym ekwik efin kom =
the man who came quickly to town

For those who want only prefixes :
oman ikom o abig vil-ym > oman ikom o-m abig vil = the man arrives in the town

etc.

Actually I realize it sounds very stupid, and maybe difficult to understand. But
anyway, I'm not Zamenhof :-)

This is not as a proposal, only a way to show that a same language could allow
people to put words wherever they like without heavy flexion provided you
identify the parts of speach with a little tag ahead (or tail if you reverse
the system). Maybe it's stupid. I don't know. I've never seen this in a
language I know. Be nice and cool. Thanks for your attention. I won't bother
you anymore with that :-)


> Also, Mathias M. Lasailly wrote:
> >Actually, I'd like different suspensive forms for concomitant and successive actions.
>
> Could you explain that? I have an idea about the -te form in Japanese,
> but haven't actually seen it used; -i/ri is new for me. It seems a good idea,
> but what exactly do you have in mind?
>
> --Pablo Flores
>
Very trivial things, a question of survival and mental health you quickly learn
when speaking SOV languages ;-) : 'simple' languages split one European
sentence into short sequences : 'I bring' = 'I take, I carry, go'.
-te is originally made for that :
'I bring it to you' = 'motte itte ageru'
This is how Japanese speak 90% of the time : no long sentence, only successive,
short sequences usually introduced with a topic referring to the preceding
verb, sentence, noun, etc. : nothing to do with endless left-branching written
sentences. Nothing difficult at all.

However :

Dete itte kaeru (= detekara iku, soshite kaeru) = I get out, then I go, then I come
back (-te = successive)

Hasitte hanasu (= hishinagara hanasu) = I speak while running (-te = concomitant)

Oshite akeru (= oshitara akeru) = (if) you push, it opens (-te = causal)

You see ? -te is used to show concomitant, successive or causative actions. You
only guess what happens because you get it from the context and the semantic
meaning of the words (you usually don't speak then run, pushing a button
usually starts something, etc.)

I'm European and I like to know whether actions are concomitant, successive or causal.

e/i form is of no importance : it's used the same way as -te but in adverbs, fixed
expressions, compound verbs and in case you want to be pedantic :-) :

totte kesu = take and cancel
tori-kesu = to cancel (an operation)

Mathias


-----
See the original message at http://www.egroups.com/list/conlang/?start=17064
--
Free e-mail group hosting at http://www.eGroups.com/