Bright languages: Difference between revisions

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{{Construction}}
{{Construction}}


Bright languages are constructed languages intended to be aesthetically pleasing, predictable, and stable in utterance.
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/
The bright version of Adamic has 3 vowels (4 with the diphthong) and 8 consonants, with the reason being that as a bright language strives to contain the most stable and distinct phonetic features, many possibilities are consciously deleted (mostly dorsal ones). For example, velar stops such as /k/ are problematic, as forms akin to /ku/ and /ki/ have the tendence to inevitably change to /kʷ/~/b/ or /kʲ/~/t͡ʃ/. Likewise, back vowels are totally erased, not only to contrast with dark tongues (which do not accept front vowels), but to avoid the sound change /du/ > /dʷ/~/b/.


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


The
K [associated with choking


{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="width: 198px; text-align:center;"
P [associated with kissing
! style="width: 66px; " |
! style="width: 66px; " |Front
! style="width: 66px; " |Center
|-
!
| i ɛ
| a ae̯
|}


===Sound Laws===


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


*Voicing [C̥VC̬VC̥]: due the influence of vocalic weight, consonants between vowels are voiced while initial and final consonants are voiceless
''yo-'' "X" + ''-gu-'' [X] + ''-g-'' [X] +''-ul-'' [X] + ''-uk'' [X]
*Lenition/Dissimilation: due the displeasure of mimesis, if two bordering syllables/syllable portions possess the same consonant, the consonant of the weakest syllable (portion) disappears.<br>
EX: Adamic  ''vāl'' "person" and ''vār'' "people" become ''al'' and ''elvi'' respectively in the Bright Tongue [''alf'' instead of ''*falf''].<br>
*Assimilation:
*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>
*/s/ and /d/ can only happen before /a/, and if the opposite were to happen, the nucleus would be dropped.
EX: The hypothetical ''iridin'' becomes ''eren''
*Due the tendence of final consonants to be easily lost, only consonant clusters and sonorants are allowed as final codas. Also, final /m/ and /n/ disappear as the precedent vowel is nasalized.




/s/ > /h/ > /∅/
sebeze paddaen adres nirdasbar vs zhogodosh kaktatona atrosh nurtaskara
/d/ > /dʲ/ > /ʒ/
ni ere, ni irija


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


alba "people" [alf, elbi]
nazil "flower", naevalla "sword"
arda "things" [arc, irida]
alma "high faculties" [a, elmi]
arna "emotions, sensations" [an, erni]
amba "time" [amf, embi]
anda "space" [anc, inida]
-
endar "land", arni "lands"
embal "celestial body", ambeli...


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


NA > ni [0], nae [1]
*Belep vs gog
alba enir
*Balardemea vs kalaradunga
ni, pe, ae
MA
NA
PA
TA
LA
RA
-
ALBA
ARDA
AMBA
ANDA
ALMA
ARNA




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


nao aocar i


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


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


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


*analytic
*one article
*no declension
*context and syntax play important role


ni arc alber
ni erec alber =/= ni erec er alf
ni irida alber


mi irida elbi


er alf, alber
Laiberim
Ungrauzuru
Trizandir
Naevalla


er enc, endar


er ec, edar
If without D-equilibrium:
*Language rich in consonants and no vowels
*Language rich in vowels and no consonants


mer endar
*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/.




ird
/jɪee̞ɛæa īi̯/
iru er


ni, mi
īy ay "the man", ī īnain "the mountain"
ec, fe
al, ar


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".


mi irida ilmini ec


iridin


elbi


ci




alber
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.


Adamic verb
degrees of purity
rā > ar
arú > erec
ārú > irida


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


iru > eri
==Phonology==


il ere


ar ereC iriCV


 
===Sound Laws===
 
 
 
 
anu/nua > ni
ani/nia > ne
ana/nā > na
 
''Elbi irida ni indili'' = ''Ara avâla ana ahalâ''
 
 
Ni irida eren, ec cilma
Tua hícal, rī askút
 
iku [Adamic] > ihu (canon law) > *ehi (enlightment of vowels) > *ei (enlightment of consonants) > ae (enlightment of vowels)
 
 
/h/ > /∅/
 
ihu
 
ehi
 
ae
 
e
 
 
 
 
ni irida andal
 
ere & irida > -c-
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Canon Sound Laws:
 
/g/ > /z/ when next to /i/
Ex: gīg > zīl "giant"
 
/g/ > /Q/ when next to /u/
Ex:
 
/k/ > /s/ when next to /i/
Ex: saíkat > sesal
 
/k/ > /h/ when next to /u/
Ex: kun > hul "dog"
 
/t/ > /ts/ when next to /i/
Ex: daítas > ecal
 
/t/ > /l/ when next to /u/
Ex: tu > lu
 
/d/ > /ʔ/ when next to /i/
Ex: dîts > īl
 
/d/ > /r/ when nex to /u/
Ex: dûts > rūl
 
/p/ > /f/ when next to /u/
Ex:
 
/p/ > /n/ when next to /i/
Ex:
 
/b/ > /v/ when next to /u/
Ex: bûl > vūl
 
/b/ > /m/ when next to /i/
Ex: bîbl > mīl
 
*last consonant / consonantal cluster is lost
 
*first unprotected vowel is lost
 
datasyú > datasyl, daítas > ecal
 
avâla > vāl
 
 
 
 
 
sēqur
 
===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 mostly composed of stems, which modify roots.
 
ni irida eren...
 
From one root, many stems are forged
 
ncl > ner (*nendir), cilba, arnic, nalbi (*nadelbi)...
 
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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