Re: A new langauge model?

Walter Mack <z1254398@...> wrote:

> Hi all,
>=20
> At the moment I'm attempting to create my first conlang (actually it's
> more an artlang, I'm making it for a book I'm writing). So far I've
> got a few ideas written down, and I thought I'd share them with you, so=
 I
> can hear your comments & thoughts on how to change it, improve it, etc.
Welcome to the list and to the secret vice! I'll comment on some things
I noticed in your phonology. Bear with me, I'm merciless. :)

>=20
> Vowels: a, e, i, o and u (as pronounced in German) as well as
>         ae, oe and ue (German vowels with umlauts)
Just curious, do you write them like that, or with the actual
Umlaut dots, =E4 =F6 =FC? If the former, isn't there ambiguity between
'ae' and 'a' + 'e', or don't those combinations of vowels occur?

> Consonants: d, k, s, p, pf, j, sh, ch, zh, f, t, m, n, r.
Well, Nik already asked you about the <j>. What's the <r>
pronounced like? Besides that, I only have to point out that
you have a <d> but no <b> or <g> (voiced stops), and you have
<sh> and <zh>, but <f> and no <v>. These are not flaws, of
course. But it turns out that in natural languages, when there's
one of a kind of sounds, there are others. Having <d> as the
only voiced stop, and <zh> as the only voiced fricative, is
not that common.

>=20
> Grammar:
>=20
> Consonants can generally be grouped together without vowels separating
> them (?) however only "s", "sh" and "zh" can be placed after "pf".
> No more than 3 consecutive vowels are allowed.
Pfsh? You might try a more specific syllable structure setting.
For a start, if you don't want to get technical, you could list
some possible syllables, by increasing order of consonants.

> I was planning to use a grammatical system similar to Latin,
> (with its numerous conjugations and declensions), so that subject, verb
> and object could be placed in any order.
As far as you can keep track... :-)
Be aware, though, that many declensions are not needed for free
order, only cases; and not even them. Many languages mark subject
and object with particles, resort to context, or inflect *the verb*
while leaving nouns relatively alone.

>=20
> Vocabulary: I haven't developed many words so far. Anyone know of any
>             software that could help me out here?
LangMaker was already recommended. I can add WordGen, which is
simpler and just works with words, not sound changes.

        http://www5.palmnet.net/~black/prog/wordgen32.zip

Good luck!


--Pablo Flores
  http://draseleq.conlang.org/pablo-david/