Conlangers

In response to a request from nyxelestia, here's the full Ongul pronominal system.

Ongul pronouns exhibit three persons and four classes: male human, female human, animal, and inanimate/abstract. The plural forms are simple reduplications of the singular forms, so l₁a "I, me (male or female human)", l₁al₁a "we, us (male and/or female humans)".

	Male human	Female human	Animal	Other
1st person	l1a		ma
2nd person, neutral	θ2a	ð2a	l2a
2nd person, respectful	θ2al2	ð2al2	l2al2	ŋal2
2nd person, endearing	ta	da	na	–
2nd person, ritual	ɣwə		ɣa	θ2ə
2nd person, romantic	θ1ja	və	–	–
2nd person, dismissive	ɣə
2nd person, punitive	kə	gə	ŋə
3rd person, neutral	a	a ~ va	ŋa
3rd person, respectful	al2	val2	ŋal2
3rd person, endearing	tja	dja	l2ja	–
3rd person, ritual	ɣwəθ1	ɣwəv	maŋ	θ2əŋ
3rd person, dismissive	aɣ		ŋaɣ
3rd person, punitive	ka	ga	ɰa

Most of these are pretty self-explanatory. The dismissive pronouns are used when you're talking down to someone, or meaning to imply that they are wasting your time. The punitive pronouns are used when you're reprimanding or punishing someone for something. The ritual pronouns are used in prayer and in ceremonies.

The gaps are mostly pretty logical, as well. There's no such thing as an endearing pronoun for inanimate/abstract nouns, and similarly there's no romantic pronoun for animals or inanimate/abstract nouns, both for obvious reasons. The first- and second-person pronouns of the inanimate/abstract class tend only to be used in folk tales involving anthropomorphised inanimate objects, and are quite rare otherwise, with the exception of the second-person ritual inanimate/abstract pronoun; it's not uncommon to directly address inanimate objects during Ongul ritual or ceremonial procedures. There's also no set of romantic pronouns in the third person, since in Ongul society romantic love is considered to be a feeling exclusive to the people involved and so is fairly private; to refer to a romantic partner in the third person when talking about them with someone else, the endearing pronouns are used instead.

I'll talk soon about the closed class of verbs in Ongul - I could use some advice on whether a language with only six verbs can actually work!

simím (noun): shy, timid.

racát civa simímb-es Eválund-úrturvem lecá máca musanderc nindár
enemy become.COMPL timid-ESS Eoleon-mighty.GEN.DEF so.that they vanquish.PASS simple.GEN
“the might of Eoleon makes [its] enemies timid, and thus [it] can crush [them] easily”

This is a phonology I thought up last night, intended for a close-to-monosyllabic isolating language I’m thinking about making. The consonants are shown below:


There are five simple vowels: /i e a u o/ which may occur short or long. The high vowels /i u/ may occur as glides, yielding both rising and falling diphthongs, as well as triphthongs. These are shown below:


The glides /i u/ are spelled <j> and <w> after a vowel and word initially, respectively.

All morphemes are mono- or bisyllabic. Monosyllables have the form V, VC, CV, or CVC where C is a consonant and V is a vowel or diphthong or triphthong. The initial C slot may be filled by any consonant, though there are some restrictions based on the following V. The labial fricative /f/ may only precede a rounded vowel or glide [u̯]. Before glide [i̯], the sibilant fricatives have all palatalized historically, leaving only /tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ/. This does not occur before vowel [i].

Codas are much more restricted: only /h t k n ŋ/ occur. The voiceless finals /h t k/ only occur after the short vowels and rising diphthongs. The nasal finals may occur after the short, long, and rising diphthongs. The falling diphthongs and triphthongs only occur in open syllables. The glottal fricative does not surface as an actual coda, but instead lowers the tone of the preceding syllable nucleus. This is written as a grave over the vowel: kiè ‘room’ is /kieh/ [ki̯e˨].

Bisyllabic words consist of a main syllable of the form CV or CVC (limited by the above form rules) and a presyllable of the form (C)V(h, N), where C and V are both extremely limited. Only three underlying vowels occur in presyllables: /e u a/. These are realized [ɛ ʉ a], respectively, except before main syllables containing [i] or on-glide [i̯], in which case /u/ > [ɨ]. Presyllables may be open or begin in a consonant from the following set: /p t k s h m n l/. Presyllables may be open or closed by /h/ or a placeless nasal /N/. After open presyllables, all initials occur. After /h/, an obstruent must be voiceless. After a nasal presyllable obstruents must be voiced or /h/. The nasal assimilates to the following place of articulation.

This is a phonology I thought up last night, intended for a close-to-monosyllabic isolating language I’m thinking about making. The consonants are shown below:


There are five simple vowels: /i e a u o/ which may occur short or long. The high vowels /i u/ may occur as glides, yielding both rising and falling diphthongs, as well as triphthongs. These are shown below:


The glides /i u/ are spelled <j> and <w> after a vowel and word initially, respectively.

All morphemes are mono- or bisyllabic. Monosyllables have the form V, VC, CV, or CVC where C is a consonant and V is a vowel or diphthong or triphthong. The initial C slot may be filled by any consonant, though there are some restrictions based on the following V. The labial fricative /f/ may only precede a rounded vowel or glide [u̯]. Before glide [i̯], the sibilant fricatives have all palatalized historically, leaving only /tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ/. This does not occur before vowel [i].

Codas are much more restricted: only /h t k n ŋ/ occur. The voiceless finals /h t k/ only occur after the short vowels and rising diphthongs. The nasal finals may occur after the short, long, and rising diphthongs. The falling diphthongs and triphthongs only occur in open syllables. The glottal fricative does not surface as an actual coda, but instead lowers the tone of the preceding syllable nucleus. This is written as a grave over the vowel: kiè ‘room’ is /kieh/ [ki̯e˨].

Bisyllabic words consist of a main syllable of the form CV or CVC (limited by the above form rules) and a presyllable of the form (C)V(h, N), where C and V are both extremely limited. Only three underlying vowels occur in presyllables: /e u a/. These are realized [ɛ ʉ a], respectively, except before main syllables containing [i] or on-glide [i̯], in which case /u/ > [ɨ]. Presyllables may be open or begin in a consonant from the following set: /p t k s h m n l/. Presyllables may be open or closed by /h/ or a placeless nasal /N/. After open presyllables, all initials occur. After /h/, an obstruent must be voiceless. After a nasal presyllable obstruents must be voiced or /h/. The nasal assimilates to the following place of articulation.

elga = to be (verb "to be/to stay" - to be - infinitive) (some things Google found for "elga": a common term; an uncommon feminine first name related to the name Helga; ELGA Credit Union in Michigan; ELGA LabWater water purification systems; an uncommon last name; "Mucho Mungo / Mt. Elga" is a song by Harry Nilsson co-written with John Lennon)

Word derivation for "to be/to stay":
Basque = egon, Finnish = olla
Miresua = elga

This is the verb, the infinitive form of the verb "to be/to stay". The verb elga, like the Basque verb egon, is used for more temporary states of being, such as "I am in the house". Usage will be similar to the Spanish verb estar. Previously this Miresua word was algo. I changed this word to start with E, to be like most conjugations.