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Bright languages are constructed languages intended to be aesthetically pleasing, predictable, and stable in utterance.
{{Construction}}


Bright languages are constructed languages often intended to be aesthetically pleasing, predictable, and phonologically stable. Examples are the elvish languages from J R. R. Tolkien's [[w:Middle-earth|Middle-earth]].


==Introduction==
==Introduction==


Bright Tongue vs Dark Tongue<br>
*lack of gutturals vs lack of labials
*synthesis vs anathesis
*words don't repeat vs words repeat
*diphthongs allowed vs diphthongs forbidden
*only sonorants as free coda vs only stops as free coda
*constraints...




'''The catch is that no Bright or Dark Tongue is fully understood. The former is far too complicated (though steady) to be learned by Men, while the latter is easily taught in vain, as its dialects change rapidly compared to a human's life span.'''




==Phonology==
Dark tongues may access /ɥ/


4 vowels and 8 consonants.


{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="width: 396px; text-align:center;"
K [associated with choking
! style="width: 66px; " |
! style="width: 66px; " |Coronal
! style="width: 66px; " |Labial
|-
! Sonorant
| l r
| n m
|-
! Non-Sonorant
| s z d
| f b
|}


===Sound Laws===
P [associated with kissing




In Veno's Dark Tongue
''gog yoguguluk'' "X speaks"


*Voicing: consonants between vowels are voiced.
''yo-'' "X" + ''-gu-'' [X] + ''-g-'' [X] +''-ul-'' [X] + ''-uk'' [X]
*Devoicing: initial and final consonants are voiceless.
*Lenition: if two bordering syllables/syllable portions possess the same consonant, the consonant of the weakest syllable (portion) disappears.<br>
EX: The Adamic or Babelic forms ''vāl'' "person" and ''vār'' "people" become ''alf'' and ''elbë'' respectively in the Bright Tongue [''alp'' instead of ''*falf''].<br>
*Assimilation:
alba-alp > albabelë; silma-alp > silmemalë; ...
*Harmony: [a > e > i] or [i > e > a]<br>
*Mutation: consonants extend grade until there is only one.<br>
m/n + p -mb [extension of p]<br>
m/n + t -nd [extension of t]<br>
r/l + f -lb [extension of l]<br>
r/l + c -rd [extension of r]<br>
r/l + m = -lm [extension of m]<br>
r/l + n = -rn [extension of n]<br>
*/t/ can only happen before /a/ and/or /ə/.


Because final consonants are easily lost in Typology, /r/ /l/ /m/ and /n/ always mutate


C̥VC̬VC̥
sebeze paddaen adres nirdasbar vs zhogodosh kaktatona atrosh nurtaskara


anë
''ídrā naiaris'' "I was bitten by a serpent", ''siverae aebidis'' "I was bitten by a mosquito" ...


nazil "flower", naevalla "sword"


[the dorsal column was deleted and the distinction of voice lost] ...plus, m and n are added and f and s lost
belep (nom) bellī (pl) albā (col)<br>
m, l, p, b
bel (acc) parabel (pl) ambī (col)<br>
n, r, t, d
elbī (gen) il (pl) pasadarvā (col)<br>
vs
gog, gog-nagog<br>
gogash, gog-nagogash<br>
gogu, gog-nagogu<br>


alma > almi > ilmi
*Belep vs gog
ilmi nae
*Balardemea vs kalaradunga
ilmi tae
ilmi ae
alba "people" [alp, elbë]
arda "things" [art, erdë]
alma "high faculties" [al, elmë]
arna "emotions, sensations" [ar, ernë]
amba "time" [amp, embë]
anda "space" [ant, endë]
-
endar "land", anderë "lands"
embal (amba + arda/alba) "celestial body~god", ambelë...
endar
tirya
arni, ernyë




NA > ni [0], nae [1]
Mixed Breed Dark Tongue:
alba enir
''gog yoguguluk dash'' /ɠɔɠ ɥoɠuɠuɠuluk daʃ/
ni, pe, ae
MA
NA
PA
TA
LA
RA
-
ALBA
ARDA
AMBA
ANDA
ALMA
ARNA


nua vāl / nua valár = ni erec alf ... ni
*analytic
*no articles
*no declension
*context and syntax play important role


iru > erdi
Pure Breed Dark Tongue:
erda alf
''kꜣ̥k yꜣ̥kwkwlwk tsh'' /ƙħ̩ƙ ɥ̊ħ̩ƙʷƙʷlʷƙ tʃ/
avâla iku


Adamic verb
Vocabulary drawn from the Lovecraft Mythos, Tolkien's Legendarium  ...
arú > erec
ārú > irida


nua sit, askút
''rꜣlyẙh khlw̥hllw'' "city", ''kl̥ rꜣ̥k'' "demon", ''ns̥k kw̥l'' "ghost", ''shw̥k nw̥kwrth'' "goat"
ni ereden
-
ísit ārú
ni irida ederen


sikt > ciren
hal > cilma




cilm


sikt niru
Laiberim
nae ciren
Ungrauzuru
Trizandir
Naevalla


ciren


If without D-equilibrium:
*Language rich in consonants and no vowels
*Language rich in vowels and no consonants


nicae
*Language rich in intersegmentals and no metasegmentals
ec
icae


anu/nua > ni
''wl̥krꜣn'' /w̥l̩krħn̥/, ''kl̥x'' /kl̩ks/, ''wr̥l'' /w̥r̩l/, ''kr̥kt'' /kr̩kt/, ''tn̥c'' /tn̩ts/, ''tn̥k'' /tn̩k/ ''nẙx'' /n̥ĭks/, ''lw̥kwky'' /l̥ŭkʷkʲ/, ''sꜣ̥t'' /sʕ̩t/.
ani/nia > nae
ana/nā > na


''Elbë irida indili na''
= ''Ara avâla ana ahalâ''


/jɪee̞ɛæa īi̯/


Ni irida ereden, ec cilma
īy ay "the man", ī īnain "the mountain"
Tua hícal, rī askút


hil > ciren
A pure anathetic language would rather focus on the combinations of words than the words themselves (meaningless individually in this case): In Veno's Dark Tongue, associations strike as grammatical in zodrak hu "dog" versus hu zodrak "cat".
-h-c-l- > indili
hácal > andal


A pure magis-synthetic language focuses instead on words of a variety of meanings. In Veno's Bright Tongue, elbī is a genitive of "person".


ni irida andal


erec & irida > -c-


ni, idae
fe, ec
ae, cae


fe erec >  ec
ae erec > icae


indili (v), andal (p)


bcr
Anathesis: In Portuguese, ''ca'' alone means nothing, as does ''sa'', yet ''casa'' means "house". Synthesis: In Latin, the particle ''-orum'' means not only [genitive], but also [plural] and [masculine]/[neuter]. Agglutination, on the other hand, is the neutral morphological nature.


degrees of purity


Ni, nicae
important remark: anathesis is not that the components don't have meaning, but that the composition has a novel meaning because of them


Feam, ec
==Phonology==


Ae, icae


Ci, ciae


 
===Sound Laws===
ciren (n), ederen (v)
cilma (n), indili (v)
 
-s-k-t- > ciren, cirendë
h/q > n
s/z > c
k/g > r
-
t/d > nd
 
 
h/q>
 
z >
g > l
d > mb
 
n r c
 
 
 
 
Velar stops such as /k/ are problematic, therefore removed. Palatalization /ku/ for example has the tendence to inevitably change to /kʷ/ and /b/, whereas /ki/ will lead to /t͡ʃi/ and /ʃi/.
 
Back vowels are totally erased, to contrast with dark tongues, plus to avoid the sound change /du/ > /dʷ/ > /b/
 
===Consonants===
 
 
===Vowels===
===Prosody===
====Stress====
====Intonation====
 
===Phonotactics===
<!-- Explain the consonant clusters and vowel clusters that are permissible for use in the language. For example, "st" is an allowed consonant cluster in English while onset "ng" isn't. -->
===Morphophonology===
 
==Morphology==
The Bright Tongue is composed of stems, which modify roots.
 
ALMA > ELEME
eldar (alba-endar)
erbal (arda-elbar)
arbelë
ilben, ilbini
eleben, af
lef, felin
ilmen, ilmini
elemen, am
lem, melin
 
irdem, irdimi
eredem, erc
rec, cerin


==Syntax==
==Syntax==

Latest revision as of 13:48, 30 December 2024


Bright languages are constructed languages often intended to be aesthetically pleasing, predictable, and phonologically stable. Examples are the elvish languages from J R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

Introduction

Bright Tongue vs Dark Tongue

  • lack of gutturals vs lack of labials
  • synthesis vs anathesis
  • words don't repeat vs words repeat
  • diphthongs allowed vs diphthongs forbidden
  • only sonorants as free coda vs only stops as free coda
  • constraints...


The catch is that no Bright or Dark Tongue is fully understood. The former is far too complicated (though steady) to be learned by Men, while the latter is easily taught in vain, as its dialects change rapidly compared to a human's life span.


Dark tongues may access /ɥ/


K [associated with choking

P [associated with kissing


In Veno's Dark Tongue gog yoguguluk "X speaks"

yo- "X" + -gu- [X] + -g- [X] +-ul- [X] + -uk [X]


sebeze paddaen adres nirdasbar vs zhogodosh kaktatona atrosh nurtaskara

ídrā naiaris "I was bitten by a serpent", siverae aebidis "I was bitten by a mosquito" ...

nazil "flower", naevalla "sword"

belep (nom) bellī (pl) albā (col)
bel (acc) parabel (pl) ambī (col)
elbī (gen) il (pl) pasadarvā (col)
vs gog, gog-nagog
gogash, gog-nagogash
gogu, gog-nagogu

  • Belep vs gog
  • Balardemea vs kalaradunga


Mixed Breed Dark Tongue: gog yoguguluk dash /ɠɔɠ ɥoɠuɠuɠuluk daʃ/


Pure Breed Dark Tongue: kꜣ̥k yꜣ̥kwkwlwk tsh /ƙħ̩ƙ ɥ̊ħ̩ƙʷƙʷlʷƙ tʃ/

Vocabulary drawn from the Lovecraft Mythos, Tolkien's Legendarium ...

rꜣlyẙh khlw̥hllw "city", kl̥ rꜣ̥k "demon", ns̥k kw̥l "ghost", shw̥k nw̥kwrth "goat"



Laiberim Ungrauzuru Trizandir Naevalla


If without D-equilibrium:

  • Language rich in consonants and no vowels
  • Language rich in vowels and no consonants
  • Language rich in intersegmentals and no metasegmentals

wl̥krꜣn /w̥l̩krħn̥/, kl̥x /kl̩ks/, wr̥l /w̥r̩l/, kr̥kt /kr̩kt/, tn̥c /tn̩ts/, tn̥k /tn̩k/ nẙx /n̥ĭks/, lw̥kwky /l̥ŭkʷkʲ/, sꜣ̥t /sʕ̩t/.


/jɪee̞ɛæa īi̯/

īy ay "the man", ī īnain "the mountain"

A pure anathetic language would rather focus on the combinations of words than the words themselves (meaningless individually in this case): In Veno's Dark Tongue, associations strike as grammatical in zodrak hu "dog" versus hu zodrak "cat".

A pure magis-synthetic language focuses instead on words of a variety of meanings. In Veno's Bright Tongue, elbī is a genitive of "person".




Anathesis: In Portuguese, ca alone means nothing, as does sa, yet casa means "house". Synthesis: In Latin, the particle -orum means not only [genitive], but also [plural] and [masculine]/[neuter]. Agglutination, on the other hand, is the neutral morphological nature.

degrees of purity

important remark: anathesis is not that the components don't have meaning, but that the composition has a novel meaning because of them

Phonology

Sound Laws

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources

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