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[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-13

cīmri = thirteen <- temi (to exceed, go beyond) + -zi

hāciri = fourteen <- ha (two) + temi-zi

pswāciri = fifteen <- pho (three) + temi-zi

Thirteen is called cīmri since it is the first number to go beyond the base twelve. Similarly to real world western culture, this also makes it an unlucky number in Magwa superstition. For example, being a nomadic people, the Magwa avoid staying in one place for more than twelve days (at those who still lead a traditional life).

On the thirteenth day of the year, a great bonfire is lit and people play very loud and dissonant music to ward off evil spirits. This tradition also spread to Magwan music in general, making it, at times, very uncomfortable to foreign ears. As a result, many neighbouring cultures use Magwan music as a metaphor for unpleasant sounds.

Hāciri and pswāciri, meaning “ going two/three beyond”, while not being perceived as unlucky in general, are sometimes used humourously as extra unlucky numbers, espeacially in the term “fourteenth child”, which refers to an unusually unlucky person.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-12

nūrti = language <- nuzi (tongue) + te (sound)

This post is a bit smaller because I want to catch up, and also because my current more extensive idea is better fitted for the next post.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-11

yah~srīpi = to understand (a concept/thing) <- ehu (to see) + sizípi (to bring together)

bit~bīti = to understand (what someone said, a language) <- bitu (to know)

Bit nurīt sipār bīti syābu-xa. (literally: They don't understand [two languages](genitive).) = They only understand two languages.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-10

hāri = two (animate) <- ha (two) + -zi (animate suffix)

sīpra = two (inanimate) <- sipu (pair) + -za (inanimate suffix)

Tāhu hāri ku nāñi-mi na sabyār sīpar ñīkastuk-yu. = If two people are coming, two apples will be eaten.

The way numbers are used varies substantially between animate and inanimate nouns. The animate numbers are undeclinable. Inanimate nouns are instead put in the genitive and the declension is shifted to the number, so sabyār is the genitive of sābra (apple) and sīpar is the oblique of sīpra. Also note that sabyār is the genitive singular, as the plural is optional for inanimate nouns followed by a numeral. In general, if the number is perceived as small, the singular is used.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-9

ñūkri / ñūkra = sixty <- ñuka (hand) + -zi (animate) / -za (inanimate)

Magwa uses mixed bases for its numbers, the units are in base twelve, everything after that is alternately in base five and base twenty. The numbers are counted on the fingers of both hands in base ten, but the words for the numbers are based on the number of single hands, yielding base five, then 20 hands are counted to keep up with the base ten system.

Sixty is 5*12, that is one full hand of dozens, which is where the word ñūkra/i comes from.

Psīstun tāhu ñūkri. = There are sixty people at the party.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-8

hūmwa (sg.) / ūtu (pl.)

This is what the Magwa call the Humua or Uto people, who are one of the dominant population groups on the continent of Notalia, where most of my conlangs are spoken. Humua is what they are called by the Edua, another influential people, while Uto is what they call themselves.

The Magwa borrowed both words and started to use ūtu as a suppletive plural of hūmwa, since the Uto languages tend to often use it as a collective term.

(Sidenote: Uto and Edua are cognates; both groups have a common ancestor who called themselves O'edhowa.)

Hūmwa jūri — wārya ūtu = one Uto — many Uto

While inanimate nouns take the fairly regular plural suffix -ka/-ki, animate nouns form their plural with a variety of unpredictable prefixes (māgwa/wmāgwa; īdwa/tahīdwa) or, as above, even suppletion.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-7

swakpūkrusa = secret; nominalization of

swak~pūkru = to hide <- spok'i (to cover) + pok'uzu (to hide); both from the root pok'i

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-6

mārsa = face, emotion <- mazutha (feeling, sensation)

wanā = head <- mona (face)

gwasā = back of the head <- gotha (head)

For today's Lexember you get three words for the price of one, because I wanted to show off this semantic chain shift.

Jāmri marāsar tas ak gwāsa stātuk-ña. (literally: They hit me over the back of my head with emotions.) = I crushed on them hard.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-5

āypa = finger

yāp = no

yap = negation particle

All of these words come from “aepa” (finger). The latter two meanings derive from the use of “aepa” as a small unit of length, like in “not an inch”.

The negation particle yap forms a pair with the negation verb syābu, similar to “ne...pas” in French. It always stands between the topic and the rest of the sentence; if there is no explicit topic, yap is optional and can be added to the beginning for emphasis.

Ākta yap na dūwag ñīkast syābu-xa. = I don't enjoy eating meat.

(Note: x is pronounced as [ks], not as a velar fricative.)

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-4

psīsti = party, celebration <- phithute (music performed together at a gathering) <- phithu (gathering) + te (sound)

su~psīsi = to meet <- suo (greet) + phithi (gather, come together)

phithu <—> phithi is a common kind of verb-noun-pair in the protolanguage.

Noun inflection includes a lot of shifting around vowels and stress within the root:

nom: psīsti

obl: psīsit

gen: psisīt

loc: psīstun

ins: psisītar

abl: psisīti

Psīstun su jāmir psīsuk-ña. = I met them at the party.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-3

nāsam = beautyful <- na (big) + thama (beauty)

sāmar = to get ready <- thamazu (to adorn oneself)

ku~sāmar = to prepare (an event) <- k'uo (to go) + thamazu

ku~sāmar originally meant “to get ready to go somewhere”, but then shifted in meaning to refer to the act of preparing the event. The original meaning is now more commonly expressed as “sāmar ku~kūwa” (to get ready and go).

Ku psīsit sāmar-ña. = I'm preparing the party.

Sāmar ku psīsit kūwa-ña. = I'm getting ready for the party.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-2

jāmri = person <- game + izi (person)

jāntya = name <- game + te (sound)

“game” meant name, but was also used as a polite way to refer to a person.

jāmri is used as the 3rd person singular pronoun for people. Some speakers also use jāntya as a formal 2nd and 3rd person pronoun, similarly to how “game” had come to mean “person” in the protolanguage.

[hixeeno]

Lexember 2019-1

three words in Magwa for “eat”

na~ñīkast = to eat (with enjoyment) <- ñikastu (to enjoy)

na~nīsu = to eat (neutral) <- nithu (to take)

na~siyām = to eat (without enjoyment), to take medicine <- sidámi (to accept)

na~ <- nabu (to eat)

na~ is a “preverb”, a kind of seperable prefix that all transitive verbs in Magwa have. The object is placed between the preverb and the stem. This system is derived from a serial verb construction in the protolanguage.

[hixeeno]

Western and Eastern Midrhaian are two languages related to Ppacs. They are mutually intelligible but have vastly different orthographies. While EM uses almost phonetic spelling, WM orthography hasn't changed much since the time of Midrhaian and Ppacs's common ancestor. For example, this sentence means "I speak Midrhaian.":

EM: Pe Melpheihil liblauvi. /pe melfei'çil liblau'vi/

WM: Pi Midlhaikil livluivis. /pi 'miwfi:kiw 'łibłø:vi/

(Ppacs: Pi al-yeblub de Midraics.)

[hixeeno]

The northern dialect of Ppacs has an unusual feature that is often mocked by speakers of other dialects: the final sound of a phrase is lengthened and pronounced with creaky voice. This can become quite extreme in casual conversation, where these extended sounds are used instead of filler words.

P'al-yegliessssssssssss de Somneeeee... = I saw... uhm... Somne, I think...

[hixeeno]

Regarding this, you might want to look into the concept of non linear writing systems, those are pretty interesting

ok but a conlang designed only to be written/read, never spoken

[hixeeno]

This is just a sketch, so it might look a little messy, but this is a conlang that can't be spoken. Note the use of diacritics to mark questions and negation, and the horizontal line below a word to turn it into a transitive verb. (Read right to left)

ok but a conlang designed only to be written/read, never spoken