Lortho: Difference between revisions

==Goals==

The goal is to create the gradual progression of Lortho which will lead to the development of daughter languages and, eventually, create sister languages which have developed on different parts of the planet.

==Phonology==

===Consonants===

===Vowels===

'''Monophthongs'''<ref name="IPA" />

===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. -->

'''Syllable Structure'''

===Prosody===

'''Stress'''

==Orthography==

===Writing System===

The Lortho [[w:alphabet|alphabet]] contains 21 letters, one of which is a vowel. The writing system behaves in a similar manner to an [[w:abugida|abugida]]; however, there are no conjunct consonants and vowels are given equal status as consonants. Ligatures are formed by consonant + vowel (other than the vowel [i]). Lortho's script was inspired by the [[w:Devanagari|Devanagari]], [[w:Uchen_script|Uchen]], and [[w:Tengwar|Tengwar]] writing systems.

===Vowels and Vowel Constructs===

'''Monophthongs'''

===Word-Initial Vowels and Diphthongs===

For word-initial vowels, the letter [i] will be used as the place holder (unless the [i] is the vowel) and the additional vowel will be added as one would on a consonant-vowel ligature.

===Romanized Text===

Since Lortho has its own script, a romanized version has been set up to make it easy to read and pronounce as shown in the tables below.

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===Nouns===

====Introduction====

[[w:noun|Nouns]] in Lortho have three distinct features:

====Gender====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

====Grammatical Case====

Lortho has ten [[wikipedia:grammatical case|cases]]. The vowels in parentheses are added if the word ends in a consonant. The following word will be used for demonstration:

====Possessive====

The personal [[w:Possession_(linguistics)|possessive]] is formed using a prefix which is gender and [[w:Grammatical_number|number]] specific. We will use the following word:

====Pluralization====

Each noun is [[w:Plural|pluralized]] by adding a suffix:

===Personal Pronouns===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width=50%

====Introduction====

Verbs are [[wikipedia:grammatical conjugation|conjugated]] in gender and in number which are governed by the subject (written or implied). For the most part the conjugations are simple and are formed through agglutination; however, there are slight fusional changes that occur when denoting aspect.

====Conjugation====

'''Regular Verbs'''

'''-t verbs'''

The root is formed by changing the final "'''t'''" to a "'''d'''."

'''-n verbs'''

The root is the same as the infinitive.

'''Irregular Verbs'''

Although labelled irregular, the verbs still have a regular feel in that they still use the same personal endings; however, the root is derived slightly differently. One example is the verb '''''harlan'''''.

====Moods====

'''Indicative'''

'''Subjunctive'''

The subjunctive mood has many different facets. For now, we will talk about wants/wishes.

====Passive Voice====

The [[w:Passive_voice|passive voice]] is formed by adding the suffix -'''im''' after the root before any other additional suffixes. The passive voice does not apply to the present tense at this moment.

====Negation====

Negation is accomplished by adding the prefix '''dha(k)'''-. The phoneme /k/ is added before verbs with either initial vowel or initial /h/, which in turn morphs into /kʰ/.

===Adjectives===

[[w:Adjective|Adjectives]] behave a little differently than most natural languages. All adjectives are roots since they must agree in gender with the noun which they modify. For placement, adjectives must be placed in front of the noun which they modify.

===Morphosyntactic Alignment===

The [[w:Morphosyntactic_alignment|morphosyntactic alignment]] of Lortho is [[w:Nominative-accusative_language|Nominative - Accusative]].

===Word Order===

The basic word order is [[w:Verb-subject-object|Verb-Subject-Object]] (VSO). Lortho contains a lot of information in the verb and the noun or noun phrase. The verb is conjugated by person and gender and thus pronouns are largely unnecessary except for emphasis or clarification. The nouns are altered to denote case, greatly diminishing the need for prepositions. In addition, below are the basic syntax rules for word order:

In Lortho, the word order is verb, (subject), object. Lortho contains a lot of information in the verb and the noun or noun phrase. The verb is conjugated by person and gender and thus pronouns are unnecessary except for emphasis. The nouns are altered to denote case, removing almost entirely the need for prepositions.-->

There are four basic rules which govern agreement between words:

==Example texts==

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsed mw-collapsible"

===Writing Samples===

{| style="text-align:center;" class="wikitable"

|-

|}

| The people are known as people of the<br /> lanterns and they lived in that forest.

|}

{| class="wikitable"

===Folklore===

{|

| I know this story is a little morbid; however, I was compelled to write a backstory as to why in Lorthoan culture calling someone a "fox" is considered derogatory, as in someone who is utterly unlucky or who has amassed misfortune.

|}

==Resources==

===Linguistics===

[https://www.youtube.com/user/timbrookesxi Endangered Alphabets] - YouTube channel about 14 of the world's writing systems threatened with extinction<br />

[http://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org International Phonetic Alphabet]<br />

===Constructed Languages===

[http://cals.info Conlang Atlas of Language Structures (CALS)]<br />

[http://www.aveneca.com/cbb Conlang Bulletin Board (CBB)]<br />

===Lortho===

[http://cals.info/language/lortho Lortho on CALS]<br />

[http://relaymuseum.cals.info/relay/24 Lortho in the 24th Conlang Relay (8th Position)]<br />

===Miscellaneous===

[https://discord.gg/3CWdJ9 Sajem Tan (Common Honey) Collaborative Conlang Discord Server]<br/>

[https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bbbourq Brian on Instagram]<br/>