bubba-langs

[bubba-langs]

This year we are doing something a little different and using Lexember to introduce you to Okoki, a conlang Jessie created while writing her conlang textbook. Okoki is a language for squirrel speakers, and very appropriately, the Lexember 1st entry is “ko,” which means “squirrel” and comes from the proto-form *kau. “Ko ilamanu” means “The squirrel scampers.”

[bubba-langs]

Here is my proto-phonology for the chipmunk language I will be working on, this is what I am starting out with and will be evolving the language to add some quirks.

A syllable can, at maximum, be a CVC but ejectives aren't allowed in the end of a syllable. Also at proto, there is vowel harmony where a word can have either all high vowels, are all "low" vowels (labeled here as non-high)

[bubba-langs]

I will be posting about my newest project soon, a chipmunk language, tomorrow morning I will post the phonology.

So until then here is a picture of a chipmunk.

[bubba-langs]

Has it been 2½ months since my last post? Maybe

Is there a reason why? Yes

Is the reason because I procrastinated? Geez now you sound like my mom 🙄

[bubba-langs]

Sound Changes: Days 26-31

(these are not in order of how they will appear in the conlang)

Assimilatory

Approximant devoicing: A > A[-voice] / h_

Approximants devoice when following the sound /h/. /w l ɹ j/ > /ʍ ɬ ɹ̥ j̊/

Ungemination:

Two identical consonants following each other will reduce to no longer be a geminate

Deletion

H-deletion: h > / _#

The glottal fricative, /h/, is deleted at the end of words.

Lenition: C[+stop] > C[+fricative] / V[+stress]_V

Plosives go to fricatives when processed by a stressed vowel and followed by an unstressed vowel

Final ejective deletion: C[+ejective] > / _#

Ejective consonants are eroded at the end of words

Vowel culling: V[+mid, -stress] > / _#

All unstressed Schwas (yes I know a true Schwa can't be stressed according to some) are deleted at the end of a word.

Rhotic deletion: C[+rhotic, +approx] > C[+fricative, +velar] /

The rhotic approximants /ɹ ɹ̥/ become the velar fricatives /x ɣ/ in all place; because I hate rhotics

Fortification

Placement Assimilation:

An assimilatory plumanic stop will be added between a nasal and a plosive of unmatched places of articulation.

Fricative fortification: C[+fricative] > C[+affricate] / C[+nasal]_

The fricatives /f s ɬ x/ become affricates /pf ts tɬ kx/ when following a nasal of unmatched places of articulation.

Vowels

Vowel lowering: V[+high] > V[-high] / _C[+nasal]

High vowels /i u/ become mid vowels /e o/ when followed by a nasal consonant

Nasalization: əC[+nasal] > ə̃ / _$

Schwa nasalizes when followed by a nasal consonant.

Swcha deletion: V[+mid, +stress] > V[+low] / C_($/C)

All stressed schwas become the low central vowel /a/ when processed by a consonant and either at the end of a syllable or followed by a consonant

Diphthong simplification:

[bubba-langs]

Proto-forms: Days 19-25

Body terms: Day 19

These are the proto-forms for the following body parts

Head - *hla

Arm - *fau

Leg - *jri

Torso - *k’wət

Mouth - *jafkuh

Terrain terms: Day 20

These are the proto-forms for the following terrain features

Mountain - *sutʼ

Water - *k’uam

Rock - *njə

Cave - *jlap

Sand - *mrah

Valley - *tʼus

Weather terms: Day 21

These are the proto-forms for the following weather occurrence

Snow - *waif

Cloud - *pwu

Fog - *kri

Wind -*hwuuh

Thunder - *krah

Flora terms: Day 22

These are the proto-forms for the following plants

Tree - *mrə

Moss - *huep’

Grass - *kuj

Ivy - *mlihwat

Flower - *nia

Fauna terms: Day 23

These are the proto-forms for the following animals

Moose - *juti

Wolf - *kiifa

Lynx - *pjə

Song bird - *hlud

Fish (generic) - *rwap’

Transitive verbs: Day 24

These are the proto-forms for the following transitive verbs

To hunt - *twəs

To plant - *sjij

To cut - *səa

To hold - *huk

To tie - *wrah

Intransitive verbs: Day 25

These are the proto-forms for the following intransitive verbs

To walk - *mwupʼ

To stand - *pjəf

To sleep - *mih

To talk - *jap

To laugh - *pəhpə

[bubba-langs]

Phonology: Days 10-18

Consonants:

Myconlang, in the proto stage will have sounds in every Manner and every *major* Place of Articulation. The manners being nasal, plosive, fricative, and approximant. The places being labial, alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal. 

There will be no voicing distinction in the proto stage of MyConlang.

There will be no secondary articulation, excluding the great sound /w/, in the proto stage of MyConlang. This conlang will include ejective consonants in all non-Glottal, plosive and fricative sounds

Vowels:

The vowel system of MyConlang will be a 4 vowel system, /i u a ə/, in the proto stage.

There will be VV sequences allowed in the proto stage to allow for diphthong.

Day 16: Syllable Structure 

The maximum syllable structure of MyConlang will be C(A/V)V(C) where C is any consonant, V is any vowel, and A is any Approximant. The parenthesis indicate that sound is not necessary for meaning at the bare minimum a syllable must be CV. The forward slash indicates it can be either of those 2 sounds so a would could either be CAV(C) or CVV(C); notice again C in either set of parenthesei. 

Day 17: Stress

The stress of this conlang will come in the grammar. The stress system of MyConlang will be based on syllable weight, stress will appear on the ultimate (final) closed syllable in a word. This means the stress needs a final consonant to exist. This will lead to unstressed single-syllable words that are open.

[bubba-langs]

Speakers and the World: Days 3-9

The speakers of the conlang are a group that originated in a mountain range but later split and moved to new areas, one group went to a desert, one stayed in the mountains, and one went to a plains style biome. There may’ve been more splits that will be discovered in the future. The best way to think about the movement of these people is one of two ways: A.) These people originated in the Caucasian Mountains of Earth, one group went northwest to the plains of Europe, while the other agent south to the Arabian Desert. B.) These people originated in the southern Appalachian Mountains, one group went southwest-west to the Sonora Desert of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico; while the other group went northwest to the American Great Plains. There are other possible explanations and examples I may could produce, but due to my limited knowledge of South American, East Asian, and African Geography, I would attempt to get this wrong and embarrass myself or offend any group of people.

The speakers are humanoids that are practically, for all intents and purposes, human.

The world the speakers call home is Earth-like.

The primary language I will be focused on is in a mountainous region of the world. The mountains are covered in a temperate rainforest like that found in the Pacific Northwest. Due to the rain and the valleys of the region, there is a fog that sets in the lower parts of the range that is dense and thick. This will be the main focus of this project with secondary and thirdary goals. 

For Day 7 here, I will focus on the main project. The main flora of these mountains will be twain-split into a canopy and ground level flora. The canopy level will mostly be split into broad-leaf and needle-leaf trees. There is also moss and vines that crawl up the trees, but these will be mostly along the floor of the forest. The flora of the floor is most bushes and single stalk plants. On the lowest level is moss and creeping vines that, as aforementioned, climb the trees to increase their area.

Here for Day 8, I will again focus on the main peoples. The fauna of the mountains is too must to go into detail. There are many mammals and birds. There are aquatic animals in the streams and lakes as well. There are both predators and prey that are both loved and feared for the animals they are.

To Summarize this week just read the previous six entries, these humanoids on this Earth-like planet live in an Appalachi-Caucasian style mountain range. There is a plethora of animals and plants for these people to eat, study, and use. The rainforest of the region allows for a humid climate and for bright green, almost emerald vegetarian albeit with a oft gray sky.

[bubba-langs]

Conlang Year "Day" 2:

Intentions:

Intended Audience? Myself

This conlang will be for mine own self with a near, but not negative chance (if this was a fraction, the denominator would be a factorial) this to be in a published book. This being for me means I won't look for approval from others to craft this language. Approval is different from advice however.

Share-ees? Friends

Those that I will share with will be discord friends and other conlang social media places just to keep me on track.

[bubba-langs]

Conlang Year Day 1

Goals:

Completeness

With this conlang, my first and ultimate goal is to have it as complete as a conlang can be, as no conlang project is ever complete in some senses of the word, but it can but unfinished in my mind. I have never gotten a conlang to a level that is writable hence my third goal here. To accomplish this goal, I should in theory be able to participate in a Relay one a friendly, if not “professional” level 

Uniqueness

Secondly, I want a conlang that is not a cut and paste of a previous sketch or of a natlang dead or living. While I will most definitely use natlangs as inspiration, I don't want to make a Hungarian 2.0 or anything like that. (Although Hungarian is one of the perfect languages, therefore not improvable.) This goal will be fulfilled when I can be 83% sure I'm not knowingly ripping off a nat- or conlang.

Writability

Thirdarily, I want this conlang to be easily written in the Latin alphabet but also one that can be use to translate stories. This should be an easily goal but goes in-hand with the first one. This goal will be checked off when I'm able to write no less than 3 stories of either original or translated  content in this language. 

Satisfactory

Quaternary, this language should be satisfactory to me with approval from others on if my decisions were bad or weird. I will take opinions, but these are not a rating system to make me change my mind.