Search found 232 matches

by Ralph
16 May 2013 23:15
Forum: Games
Topic: Guess The Language!!!
Replies: 5400
Views: 668062

Re: Guess The Language!!!

2-4 wrote:lúūgg ɛ́ ɟɔ̂gg ɟɔ̄gg lùùgg ɟādɛ̪ ɛ̀ ā wár-sá kāŋ ɛ̄ mād̪ā ɟɛ̄n ɲə́mə̄ns ə̄nə́ ɟāā n ɛ̄ párɛ́ ɛ́ á wárs ɛ̀
Probably a wild guess, but that's not Punjabi is it?
by Ralph
16 May 2013 23:05
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Katamna
Replies: 10
Views: 2953

Re: Katamna

I was going to say zero points for imagination on the consonants, but woah those vowels! I would never have though of having advanced and retracted versions of the same basic vowel as separate vowels phonemically. It's actually fairly common in African languages, which is where I got the idea. I'm ...
by Ralph
16 May 2013 14:51
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Katamna
Replies: 10
Views: 2953

Re: Katamna

Starting work on coming up with a Katamna writing system. On the basis that most scripts tend to start out with pictograms/logograms, and then develop phonetic/phonemic writing from there, I've been making some logograms (this is also a nice opportunity to make some vocabulary!) Here's the set I've ...
by Ralph
09 May 2013 12:38
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Sakat'a Language
Replies: 24
Views: 5286

Re: Sakat'a Language

Here are some thoughts on Sakata intonation I had this morning: A declarative sentence is marked by a lower relative pitch on the foot phrase of the utterance. E.g.: Chí sán Mípěk nú tanták ká. [t͡ʃí sã́ː míːɸě nú ↘tã̀ːdá ká] 'Mipek was reading that book.' A higher pitch on the last foot typically i...
by Ralph
08 May 2013 09:22
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Siųa
Replies: 391
Views: 74576

Re: Siųa

Visinoid wrote:Il lit souvent les livres. = He often reads THE books.
Il lit souvent DES livres. = He often reads books.
Thanks for the correction! (It's been far too long since I've written or spoken any French, so there was bound to be a mistake in there somewher [:)] ).
by Ralph
08 May 2013 00:43
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Siųa
Replies: 391
Views: 74576

Re: Siųa

Admittedly I'm not too familiar with that many VOS languages, but those I do know a fair bit about (mainly Chol) don't like to separate the verb and object when the word order is VOS (Chol is a bit complicated because it alternates between VOS and VSO depending on whether there's a determiner in the...
by Ralph
07 May 2013 23:20
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Proto-Kataic
Replies: 1
Views: 992

Re: Proto-Kataic

Sakata and Katamna actually both belong to the Southern sub-group of the family. When I finally get round to writing something up about Proto-Kataic morphology, I'll probably discuss Proto-Kataic proper and Proto-South-Kataic together. As a prelude to that, here are the sound changes: Consonants: *l...
by Ralph
07 May 2013 22:29
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Siųa
Replies: 391
Views: 74576

Re: Siųa

As far as I'm aware, you wouldn't normally expect a VOS language to allow locatives to appear between the verb and the object (VO languages in general don't tend to allow very much to come between the verb and the object, although there are some exceptions [like French]).
by Ralph
06 May 2013 18:46
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2019]
Replies: 7086
Views: 1317966

Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

Micamo wrote:Did the research happen to look anything like this? I have a copy of it somewhere but I can't for the life of me find another link. I believe I got it from this page but it has since been taken down.
It wasn't that, but that seems to be coming at the issue from a similar angle.
by Ralph
06 May 2013 18:30
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2019]
Replies: 7086
Views: 1317966

Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

Micamo wrote:Here. This paper is probably also of interest. Reading both now.
That paper certainly is of interest! Thanks for the link!

We looked at another paper that offered an explanation based on which structures are easier to parse, but unfortunately it doesn't look like it's been published yet.
by Ralph
06 May 2013 18:02
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2019]
Replies: 7086
Views: 1317966

Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

Greenberg's Universal 20 (in the first source), states that "When any or all of the items (demonstrative, numeral, and descriptive adjective) precede the noun, they are always found in that order. If they follow, the order is either the same or its exact opposite." (copied verbatim from th...
by Ralph
06 May 2013 17:43
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2019]
Replies: 7086
Views: 1317966

Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

nmn wrote:I wanted an order of NOUN NUM ADJ DET, but it looks like I'll have to satisfy with NOUN ADJ NUM DET. ~̈
NOUN NUM ADJ DET is an order that is attested in natural languages, as far as I know (apparently it's attested in Gabra, Logoli, Luo, Lango, Kele, Buma and Manam).
by Ralph
06 May 2013 17:04
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2019]
Replies: 7086
Views: 1317966

Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

Are there any languages in which in the NP the numerals and quantifiers come before adjectives? I.E. saying big five tree.PL and small some city.PL instead of five big tree.PL and some small city.PL or the mirrored word order in case of head-initial languages. Orders like 'big five tree.PL' and 'sm...
by Ralph
06 May 2013 12:48
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread [2011–2018]
Replies: 5100
Views: 1035876

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Here's an idea for an alien phonology I thought up the other day. The premise is that the speakers of this lang' have comparatively narrow tongues, and therefore can't make a complete closure with the sides of their mouths. The consequence of this is that most sounds have to be lateral: /m l̪ l̠ ʟ/ ...
by Ralph
06 May 2013 12:40
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Conlang Conversation Thread [2010–2019]
Replies: 8666
Views: 1442492

Re: Conlang Conversation Thread

decemarietis wrote:Achuram janiam \o/
achur-am ja-ni-am
beach-LAT FUT-go-1SG.PL.EXC
[a'xu:ram 'jani.am]

We're going to the beach \o/
Shi wakâw nawaw!
IMP enjoy-2PL self-PL
[ʃì wàːxâw nàːwàw]
Enjoy yourselves!
by Ralph
05 May 2013 20:03
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: Roleplaying Discussion Thread - Eratjovak
Replies: 204
Views: 35178

Re: Roleplaying Discussion Thread - Eratjovak

Ossicone wrote:I always wondered if non-participants read the thread.
I actually decided to read through it today out of curiosity, as it turns out. Looks like you've got a pretty good story going!

(If another of these starts at any time I might have to consider joining in...)
by Ralph
05 May 2013 12:30
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Sakat'a Language
Replies: 24
Views: 5286

Re: Sakat'a Language

I loved Sakata so much that I read all the way through this thread in one sitting. Good job. And I love that you've gotten a Latin American sound going and borrow from the Mayans, because the Mayans are one cool people. Thanks! (It's funny that this language started out as basically an imitation of...
by Ralph
29 Apr 2013 09:07
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Mętri
Replies: 6
Views: 1672

Re: Mętri

How naturalistic a language are you going for? If you are going for something naturalistic, might I suggest you make your consonant allophones a little more 'consistent' (for want of a better word). To give an example of what I mean, you have /b/ and /d/ devoice finally, while it would be more natur...
by Ralph
28 Apr 2013 23:31
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Proto-Kataic
Replies: 1
Views: 992

Proto-Kataic

I've decided to actually properly work out a proto-lang for Sakata and Katamna (and any other relatives of those two I want to make) to descend from. Primarily because I think I'll do a better job of working out Katamna's morphology if I know what the morphology in the proto-lang looks like. It's na...
by Ralph
27 Apr 2013 14:37
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2020]
Replies: 11605
Views: 2044152

Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

Does anyone have an opinion on how plausible the following set of sound changes are:

z > ɣ
s > x
dz > z
ts > s