NaCoWriMo Entry

Woooooooooooooooo! NaCoWriMo (see #Conlangers) entry complete AND submitted before December 1st! Go procrastination motivation!

A lot of people don't know what a Conlang is. It stands for "constructed language," and it's a great hobby of mine! This is a submission for a month-long challenge hosted by #Conlangers in my newest conlang.

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Conlanger Jargon

Oh. My. God. This took forever. It looks simple, right? NO!
I made the orthography purposely convoluted. It's a type of an abugida, where each consonant is inherently followed by an "a," unless noted otherwise. I also made it so that some letters are used in special cases (the symbol for "s" is the same as the symbol for "z" when the word is s-final)....I made it confusing because I feel like having an alphabet for a language often makes the language drift away from it. (ENGLISH IS A CASE LIKE THIS!)

And, on top of that, I transcribed the passage for THREE HOURS, and wanted a burnt effect. All went well until it went up in flames.

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What does it say? ]


Íŋ xeorís tsalu mi ghutsu. Loimezís yem mi ghutsu? Vimezís tsalu la mi vraemla slaxlavrana seŋwinvra? Tsuvuzís tsalu mi xaghutsu su yem xeorís lĩ loimezís tsalu? ghalu.
Aŋiŋ ŋuoxuzís vrala la mi ghavrasemla tsalu la. Ghavras slayuvras yaza zamza.
Ralaŋís mi ghutsu. Oxuzís tsalu zĩs ghutsumĩs su yalxotso mi vraxazlem urxazl. Theyalweru memem me seŋghu slaghughi eoa gho vrala tsalu la me Xawayen uras yalme esme gho vrala tsalu la yalme Eŋlísavra Yurmanavraghi.
Íŋ tsenemís weruzís tsalu mi loghutsu, tsalu oxuzís zĩs vraxazlĩs. Lo veŋlo. Gho vrala tsalu la viyalxeo yalme Yurmanavra Eŋlísavraghi zuvuvra? Viyaltha gho yem vraxazlĩs yalme Eŋlísvra Tsayínizivrana ĩs. Tsalu oxuzís mi yem ghumeyem. Gho ĩs vraxazlĩs yalghume mi Eŋlísvra. Ghu azuzís tsalu do!
Íŋ mozatazís tsunumís tsalu. Yazazís mi ĩgh tsalu su tsalu nuvĩzís. Viŋumís oxuzís mi xazli tsuvumzli? Mi vrala tsalu la eotseozís.
Íŋ tsenemís tsalu.


But what does it translate into?! Well, I wrote a passage about "how to make a language".

How to Create a Language
Oxavioxuzas mi vrasem tsalu?
First, you need to decide on what sounds you like. Do you want your language to flow? Do you like harsh-sounding languages like German? Listen to some sound clips to see what you prefer.

Íŋ xeorís tsalu mi ghutsu. Loimezís yem mi ghutsu? Vimezís tsalu la mi vraemla slaxlavrana seŋwinvra? Tsuvuzís tsalu mi xaghutsu su yem xeorís lĩ loimezís tsalu? ghalu.

at once examine-pn. you obj.-sounds. Which-like-pn. (you) obj.sounds? Interr.-like-pn. you gen. obj.-language.-sing.-gen. calm-adj.-or rasp-adj.? Listen-pn. you obj.-dim.-sound and (you) examine-pn. < which-like-pn. you? >-adj.

Second, you need to create a document to house your
conlang. Digital documents are easier to keep track of.

Aŋiŋ ŋuoxuzís vrala la mi ghavrasemla tsalu la. Ghavras slayuvras yaza zamza.

next obl.-create-pn. language-gen. gen. obj.-written record-sing.-gen. you gen. Documents electric-adj. find easy-adv.

Write down your sounds! Develop phonological rules to govern syllables. Having a consonant-vowel syllable structure will make your language like Hawaiian. Having a more complex one will make it more similar to English or German.

Ralaŋís mi ghutsu. Oxuzís tsalu zĩs ghutsumĩs su yalxotso mi vraxazlem urxazl. Theyalweru memem me seŋghu slaghughi eoa gho vrala tsalu la me Xawayen uras yalme esme gho vrala tsalu la yalme Eŋlísavra Yurmanavraghi.

write-pn. obj. sounds. create-pn. you obj. rules sound-adj. (phonological rules) and i.o.-control obj. word stop-adj. (syllable). if-i.o.-use pattern-sing. resemble consonant vowel-and. then subj.-language-gen. you gen. resemble Hawaiian but resembles complex-adj. subj.-language-gen. you gen. resemble English German-and.

After you know what sounds to use, you need to determine some grammar. Here is the hard part! Does your language mark its nouns like German or Old English? Perhaps it relies only on syntax for meaning, like English or Chinese. You can get creative. Do you use suffixes, prefixes, or particles? Be sure to try and make it unique. Word order might be different from English’s. Don’t just copy!

Íŋ tsenemís weruzís tsalu mi loghutsu, tsalu oxuzís zĩs vraxazlĩs. Lo veŋlo. Gho vrala tsalu la viyalxeo yalme Yurmanavra Eŋlísavraghi zuvuvra? Viyaltha gho yem vraxazlĩs yalme Eŋlísvra Tsayínizivrana ĩs. Tsalu oxuzís mi yem ghumeyem. Gho ĩs vraxazlĩs yalghume mi Eŋlísvra. Ghu azuzís tsalu do!

next know-pn. use-pn. you obj.-sounds, you create-pn. obj.-rules. word-adj. this difficult.-adj. subj. language-gen. you gen. interr.-io.-decline words io.-like German-lang. English-lang.-and old-adj.? interr.-io.-rely subj. (language) words-adj. io.-resemble English Chinese-or. rules. You make-pn. obj. (language) different-adj. Subj. rules word-adj. io.-disimilar to obj.-English. Neg. steal-pn. you exclamatory!

After you have that, you are ready to start translating. You will naturally find problems that you can correct. Create passages to translate, if you like. Just develop it as much as possible!

That’s how to do it.

Íŋ mozatazís tsunumís tsalu. Yazazís mi ĩgh tsalu su tsalu nuvĩzís. Viŋumís oxuzís mi xazli tsuvumzli? Mi vraemla tsalu la eotseozís.

Íŋ tsenemís tsalu.

next be able to-pn. translate-pn. you. Find-pn. obj. problems you and you fix-pn. Interr.-want-pn. obj. paragraphs translate-adj.? Obj language-gen. you gen. develop-pn.

now know-pn. you.


I guarantee that I either: a) messed up the writing; or b) translated something wrong. This has helped because I have had to iron out kinks and develop new patterns. Um....

I promise, I will upload a sound byte of myself reading it tomorrow or the day after.....

Questions?! YAY! I'M DONE!