gobahai

[gobahai]

Whoa, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here! But what with the huge Lexiconga update, I figured now would be a good time to revisit Gobahai, update the dictionary to take advantage of the new features, and finally think about the alphasyllabary again!

This time, I’m going for a much simpler approach: using the characters that 'Oayhàoù used for its characters as a starting point, I came up with pieces representing the different phonetic sounds that could be organized together in predictable ways to construct syllables. This is inspired by a horrifyingly incomplete understanding of the writing system that Korean uses, but hey, it works for this case!

Depending on the direction that any “tails” or other features of the first phoneme’s character might be pointing, the organization has 4 different orientations, pictured with the 4 boxes. Using this, you always know what the first sound is and what the following sounds are just by looking! This way, I don’t have to build out each and every different symbol in the alphasyllabary; I just build them instead!

Now I just have to fill out the vocabulary of the language a bit more and come up with interesting sentences that would be worth writing... The first step to take is probably to finish the conlang syntax test sentence list, but that’s gonna take a while. Oh well, I guess I’ll just work on that and update if I come up with anything interesting along the way!

[gobahai]

This is a little bit inspiring for the Gobahai alphasyllabary... makes me want to try to get back to completing it by simplifying the process of creating each syllable into a simple grid that overlays each sound piece.

The Art of Writing in the Dark: A Fire-Lit Alphabet, 1808. Communication before the telegraph via light sources. #code

[gobahai]

Here’s a blog I just started for a project I’ve been working on for a while! Follow it if you want more diverse conlanging info and/or updates about the Lexiconga tool!

About Lexiconga, the blog AND the tool

Hello to all linguists and conlangers, whether professional or hobbyist! I’m Robbie, the creator, developer, and maintainer of Lexiconga, a free and easy tool for quickly building dictionaries/lexicons made for building conlangs. This is a blog about conlangs, conlanging, and how to create conlangs more effectively.

Lexiconga has been online since the end of 2015. It’s had several major updates to improve its usefulness, and it’s just one of many amazing tools out there that help lots of conlangers create their languages. Earlier this year, I started rewriting the code for the app from scratch, and the rewrite is including several big, helpful changes that I’ll share a little later as they’re more complete. But I’m hoping that by the end of this year or early next year the new version of Lexiconga will be released! So in addition to cool conlang and linguistics stuff, this blog will keep a public record of changes and updates that I make so you can see what’s coming.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, the Ask page is open, or if you want to submit your own conlang posts, you can use the Submit page! I’ll try to be as active as possible on here, but there may be some stagnation as I juggle other things in my life.

[gobahai]

I conlang for fun, though I’m not terribly active. I’ve created about half of Gobahai (this blog) and a small portion of Gobahai’s protolanguage, ‘Oayhàoù. I also made a codelang that I’ve been developing on and off for about 13 years called Zirka (but that's kinda misleading—I started it in 8th grade but didn't do much with it until a few years ago).

I’ve also been maintaining Lexiconga, a fast and easy lexicon builder, since the end of 2015, and I’m currently in the process of rebuilding it so it’s easier to maintain and improve! That’s been taking most of my attention, but I’m also working on a new conlang to help myself develop the new version!

Reblog This With a Note If You Conlang

A fellow tumblorg asked if there are any conlang groups on Tumblr. Of course, there are not, because there are no groups period on Tumblr (it doesn’t do groups). But there are conlangers here!

So I had a thought: If you’re a language creator, reblog this post and add the name of a language you’re working on. You can do more than one language; you can add links to your work if applicable. Whatever. This is just to get a nice long list of conlangers on Tumblr. If you’re not a conlanger, feel free to reblog without adding anything, if you have conlangers who follow you.

Starting off: I’ve been creating languages for 17 years, and one language I created is Kamakawi.

<3

[gobahai]

Seriously, once you learn it, it makes communicating different sounds so much easier! And it's also interesting and fun to realize how many vowels English actually has. :)

PSA to aspiring polyglots

If you’re a somewhat new polyglot and you haven’t learned IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) yet, please do so, because honestly it’s the greatest gift you can give yourself. Here are some resources, just for u

This site allows you to click on the different symbols and hear them. Try finding the sounds of your native/target language(s)!

The wikipedia page is very thorough and you can find info about its history and usage 

This youtube video series explains the basic concept using english as the example language, and does so in a very simple and non-intimidating way

Have fun my dudes!

[gobahai]

Sorry, this is why my Lexember ended early.

I haven’t been working on anything because I just got a new job as a web developer and am happy at work for the first time in years!

[gobahai]

Lexember 12–13, 2016

Oops, I’m bad at this and am behind again. Don’t worry though, I’ll catch up!

semika [ˈse-mi-ka] (Noun) : idea

Roots: kela and simat

semiko [ˈse-mi-ko] (Noun) : scheme, plot

Roots: semika and okuro

yatam [ja-ˈtam] (Interjection) : I think, I believe

This phrase is usually said at the beginning or the end of a sentence to express either unsureness or humility. It can be used as in Yatam hai semika okuro (“I think this is a bad idea”) or as an unsure affirmation as in Yatam ùhù (“I think so”, literally I think yes).

Root: yatas and mai

[gobahai]

Lexember 8–11, 2016

Oops, I accidentally forgot to post anything for 4 days! Well, here’s what I’ve been working on—my first “gross” words! :O

shùko [ʃʌ-ˈko] (Noun) : trash, garbage, waste

shokor [ʃo-ˈkoɾ] (Noun) : excrement, castoff

Root: shùko

shukosh [ˈʃu-koʃ] (Verb) : defecate

A technical, exacting word for “poop” that is considered to be more polite.

Root: shoko

shosh [ˈʃoːʃ] (Noun/Verb/Interjection) : poop, shit

Slang. Crude/childish way of saying shukosh (defecate), but also used as a curse in the same way “shit” is used.

shukùsho [ʃu-ˈkʌ-ʃo] (Verb) : urinate

A technical, exacting word for “pee” that is considered to be more polite.

Root: shoko

shush [ˈʃuːʃ] (Noun/Verb/Interjection) : pee, piss

Slang. Crude/childish way of saying shukùsho (urinate), but also used as a curse in the same way “piss” is used.

Here, we see the first instances of both slang and specifically-lengthened vowels in Gobahai! Shosh and shush are both just shortened versions of their respective words, but with lengthened vowel sounds that help differentiate other uses of those letter combinations. It is more common to hear these two words used among chilidren (i.e. “Mom, I have to go pee!” –> “Heia ama! Figuko mai shush!”), but they are also heard as more “harsh” words for the more clinical terms used, for example, in surprise: “No! I stepped in dog shit!” –> “Oro! Aía mai guo shoshib leraf!” or more realistically “Oro! Aía guo shosh!” (Literally “Noo! I walked into shit!”), because nobody who’s angry about stepping in dog poop wants to conjugate what kind of poop it was

Also, that last “realistic” reading showcases the newest grammar rule of Gobahai: implied “I”! Sentence structure in Gobahai is important for understanding context, but if a speaker leaves out the subject, then the speaker is implied to be the subject.

[gobahai]

Lexember 7, 2016

We’re going with the “flow” from yesterday (*sarcastic lol*), let’s get some more water themes going.

sefu [ˈse-fu] (Noun) : river, stream, creak

Any naturally flowing water from a natural source.

Roots: fe and sù

Literally “Fast Water”

subù [ˈsu-bʌ] (Noun) : body of water, lake, pond

Any naturally formed body of water larger than a puddle.

Roots: gubù and sù

Literally “Big Water”

subùgu [ˈsu-bʌ-ˌgu] (Noun) : ocean, sea

Roots: subù and gubù

Literally “Big Lake”

[gobahai]

Lexember 6, 2016

You get a 2-fer today! Not terribly interesting unless you consider word morphs to be interesting (which they kind of are, I guess).

susai [su-ˈsai] (Adjective) : graceful

Root:  sùsu

sùsu [sʌ-ˈsu] (Verb) : flow

Root:  sù (water)

[gobahai]

Lexember 5,2016

This word came as a result of me liking the sound I was making and mapping the emotions for each of the letters onto the word:

airo [ˈai-ɾo] (Noun) : righteous anger, activism, vigilantism

The act of taking matters into one’s own hands to right a perceived wrong by any means necessary. The means are often minimal (simply speaking against the problem) but can also be extreme (sometimes even reaching varying levels of violence to physically stop a threatening situation).

In Gobahai, the letter ‘ai’ has a “positive” emotion, ‘r’ has a “angry” emotion, and 'o’ has a “violent” emotion. While these emotions are mainly just helpful generalizations for shortcuts to interpret the general tone of a sentence, they are also helpful tools for coming up with definitions! :)

[gobahai]

Lexember 4, 2016

Ok, so this one doesn’t have any roots, but it’s at least a brand new word. Still have a lot of basic words that I’m missing:

kugum [ku-ˈgum] (Noun) : thunder

Onomatopoeic word for "big booming sound", which can also be used to describe the sound of a waterfall or other booming sound. Typically only natural sounds like these fit this description in cultures that speak Gobahai (i.e. most Gobahai speakers do not have explosive technology)

[gobahai]

Lexember 3, 2016

This one isn’t new, but I like the sound of it and the literal breakdown of the word.

shalubù [ʃa-ˈlu-bʌ] (Noun) : boulder, large rock (Literally “Big rock” or “Big small ground”. Haha)

Roots:

shalum [ˈʃa-lum] (Noun) : rock, stone (Literally “Small ground”)

gubù [ˈgu-bʌ] (Adjective) : big, large, great

[gobahai]

Lexember 2, 2016

hilutam [ˈhi-lu-ˌtam] (Noun) : music

Roots:

hitole [hi-ˈto-le] (Noun) : sound, noise

lukam [lu-ˈkam] (Adjective) : beautiful

[gobahai]

Lexember 1, 2016

Maybe this will help me actually work on conlanging. I’m going to try to use this Lexember to showcase Gobahai words that have more than one root, and then also share the root words! So let’s get started off right with...

fahaibe [fa-ˈhai-be] (Noun) : friend

Roots:

fare [ˈfa-re] (Noun) : human, person

hahai [ha-ˈhai] (Adjective) : happy, joyful, glad

habe [ˈha-be] (Adjective) : good, positive

[gobahai]

A long-needed improvement to my Zirka con/codelang!

Phonology Change

I’ve been thinking about how I could improve this Zirka, and two specific things always come to mind: the sounds and the “smoothing letters”.

First of all, I developed Zirka long before I knew anything about linguistics and standard linguistic tools like the IPA and other helpful things like that, so I have a low-level layman presentation of how to use Zirka. While I do definitely want to keep it accessible to the layman, I would also like a bit more precision, so I’m going to at least update the Usage page to also include IPA explanations. This should help better explain the confusing fact that translating /a/ and /æ/ produce the same Zirka character, resulting in the words “bat” and “bot” both translating into the same ([kut]) spelling and pronunciation.

Second, the smoothing letters (a.k.a. digraphs, if you’re in the linguistics camp) that have been available are not sufficient, and at least one (“ly”) is completely useless thanks to /li/ just plain making more sense to use. This plus the fact that I want more and more interesting sounds like /t͡s/ to exist in Zirka, I am going to update this list and some letters.

Here is what I am thinking for the updated full codex (including digraphs), written in IPA:

A ( /a/, /æ/, /ɑ/, etc.) => U /u/

B ( /b/ ) => K /k/

Ch ( /t͡ʃ/ )   => Th /ð/

D ( /d/ ) => B /b/

Dr ( /dɹ/, /dɻ/ ) => Bis /bɪs/

E ( /e/, /ɛ/, /ɜ/, etc. ) => O /o/

F ( /f/ ) => Sh /ʃ/

Fl ( /fl/ ) => Shr /ʃɹ/

Fr ( /fɹ/, /fɻ/ ) => Z /z/

G ( /g/ ) => P /p/

Gr ( /gɹ/, /gɻ/ ) => Pas /pæs/

H ( /h/ ) => N /n/

I ( /i/, /ɪ/ ) => A /a/

K ( /k/ ) => T /t/

Kr ( /kɹ/, /kɻ/ ) => Ts /t͡s/

L ( /l/ ) => R /ɾ/

M ( /m/ ) => D /d/

N ( /n/ ) => F /f/

O ( /o/ ) => E /e/

P ( /p/ ) => M /m/

Pr ( /pɹ/, /pɻ/ ) => Mus /məs/

R ( /ɹ/, /ɻ/ ) => S /s/

S ( /s/ ) => L /l/

Sh ( /ʃ/ ) => Kl /kl/

Sk ( /sk/ ) => Lat /lat/

Sl ( /sl/ ) => Lr /lɞɾ/

Sm ( /sm/ ) => Led /lɛd/

Sn ( /sm/ ) => Luf /ləf/

Sp ( /sp/ ) => Lum /ləm/

St ( /st/ ) => Lag /lag/

Sw ( /sw/ ) => Luv /ləv/

T ( /t/ ) => G /g/

Th ( /θ/, /ð/ ) => J /d͡ʒ/

Tr ( /tɹ/ ) => Gis /gɪs/

Tw ( /tw/ ) => Giv /gɪv/

U ( /u/, /ə/, /ʌ/, /ɞ/, etc.) => I /i/

V/W ( /v/ or /w/ ) => V /v/

Y ( /j/ ) => Ch /t͡ʃ/

J/Z ( /d͡ʒ/ or /z/ ) => W /w/

For reference, the word to be translated is stripped down to its most basic sounds, for example “clever” changes to klevur [klɛ vɞr], which would then be translated to tsovis [tso vis], and “pulley” breaks down to puli [pɞ li], which translates to mira [mi ɾa].

I will obviously need to revamp the alphabet a bit to account for the new digraphs, but I think this change will allow for a much more usable experience when translating from English into Zirka, plus I get to have some of my favorite IPA sounds in the language, so it’s a big win overall!

Dith ishot’klif, -Robbie :)

[gobahai]

I'm finally working on questions in Gobahai. I've had it kind of thrown into the grammar rules as "Interrogative questions take the form object-preposition-subject-question word-verb" for a while now, but I finally made the basic question words and started actually thinking about how to handle questions. So far I have the basic idea down, but am still working on complex questions like "What do you want me to do with them?" or "Where can I go to get away from the monster under my bed?" because I'm struggling to actually break apart those kinds of sentences to see what each part actually is. That's some advanced diagramming or something, I'm sure.

Anyway, I'm basically sticking with the above word order, so something like "What are you doing?" renders into "You what do?" (Tak kela skik?) while "Can you help me?" becomes "You me can help?" (Tak mai kolo risha?). I also solved the annoying can/may problem in English ("Can I go to the bathroom?" "I don't know, can you?") by putting "can" as in "able" (kolo) into a different word than "can" as in "are allowed to" (kila). Because nobody should suffer that stupid annoyance. :P

And because it's fun to see conlang words, here are the question words:

who = tash [ˈtaʃ]

what = shik [ˈʃik]

when = gìsh [ˈgɪʃ]

where = fùsh [ˈfʌʃ]

why = aish [ˈaiʃ]

how = kesh [ˈkeʃ]

I'll probably end up splitting "what" and "how" into a couple more words for specificity, but that's what I've got time for now.

So yeah! Finally some more progress! :)