Hololang

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Hololang
Holo
Pronunciation[[hɔ.lɔː]]
Created byMadoka
DateAug 2021
SettingAlt-Earth
EthnicityHoloCouncil
Native speakers5 (2021)
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Introduction

Goals

The goal of this artlang is to create a fun and simple experiment, making the members of HoloCouncil actually react to it and maybe create a memrise course when everything is 100% ready to be launched.

To Do List

  • Lexicon
  • Translation of texts

Setting

Hololang is the language that used to be spoken by the members of the HoloCouncil (if you know the Hololive english second generation), since they have been here on the universe before the appearance of the human race and therefore the surgiment of human language. This is the language that was used during the meetings of the Council.

Phonology

Consonants

→ PoA
↓ Manner
Labial Labiodental Alveolar Alveolopalatal Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasals m m n n ny ɲ ng ŋ
Plosives Voiceless p p t t c k q
Voiced b b d d g ɡ
Affricates Voiceless ts ts ch
Voiced dz dz dj d͡ʒ
Fricatives Voiceless f f s s sh/ss ʃ h h
Voiced v v z z j ʒ rr ʁ
Approximant y j
Trill r r
Tap or flap <r ɾ>
Lateral Approximants l l ly ʎ

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i i u u
Mid e ɛ o ɔ
Low a a

Orthography

Hololang's orthography is very recent since it was mostly a spoken language before the existence of the writing systems, after observing the humans for hundred of times, HoloCouncil adopted the Latin alphabet as the main script for the language. The graphemes of each phoneme are written in bold on the respective tables, but the things that grab attention are mostly the voiced postalveolar fricative being written as j and the voiced palatal approximant being written as y. The voiceless velar plosive is normally written as c but in loan words it is written as k. The voiceless postalveolar fricative has two written methods, one when this phoneme is at the beginning of a word sh and the other when the sound is found at the middle or end of a word ss.

Letter Names and pronunciations

Letter Name (in IPA) Sound (in IPA) English equivalent
a ā (/a:/) /a/ a as in hat
b bē (/bɛ:/) /b/ b as in aback
c cē (/kɛ:/) /k/ k as in bake
ch chē (/tʃɛ:/) /tʃ/ tch as in batch
d dē (/dɛ:/) /d/ d as in dive
dz dzā (/dza:/) /dz/ Polish dz as in dzwon
e e (/ɛ:/) /ɛ/ e as in bed
f ef (/ef/) /f/ f as in fine
g eg (/eg/) /g/ g as in go
h hā (/ha:/) /h/ h as in honey
i ī (/i:/) /i/ ee as in free
j jē (/ʒɛ:/) /ʒ/ si as in vision
k kapā (/kapa:/) /k/ k as in bake
only appears in loanwords
l el (/el/) /l/ l as in line
ly lyī (/ʎi:/) /ʎ/ Portuguese lh as in ralho
m mā (/ma:/) /m/ m as in mine
n nā (/na:/) /n/ n as in nice
ng ēng (/ɛ:ŋ/) /ŋ/ ng as in sing
ny nyī (/ɲi/) /ɲ/ Spanish ñ as in español
o ō (/ɔ:/) /ɔ/ o as in not
p pē (/pɛ:/) /p/ p as in pill
q qī (/kʷi:/)
qē (/kʷɛ:/)
/kʷ/ labialized /k/
r rā (/ra:/)
arā (/aɾa:/)
/r/
/ɾ/
Spanish rr as in perro
Spanish r as in caro
rr tvuārrū rā (/tvua:ʁu: ra:/) /ʁ/ German r as in rost
s esē (/ɛsɛ:/) /s/ s as in song
ss
sh
tvuārrū esē (/tvua:ʁu: ɛsɛ:/)
shā (/ʃa:/)
/ʃ/ sh as in sheep
t tē (/tɛ:/) /t/ t as in ten
ts tsā (/tsa:/) /ts/ German z as in zeit
u ū (/u:/) /u/ oo as in boot
v vē (/vɛ:/) /v/ v as in vine
y yaī (/jai:/ /j/ y as in yes
z zē (/zɛ:/) /z/ z as in zoo

Diacritics

The macron (ˉ) is the only diacritic used in Hololang and it's only used on vowels, its function is to increase the lenght of the vowel sound.

Phonotactics

Most of the consonant clusters are allowed in Hololang. Other rules that apply to Hololang:

  • r becomes ɾ between vowels or between a plosive and a vowel
  • Vowels get longer when placed at the end of a word, in a diphthong or between a vowel and a nasal consonant for example in the words vē vɛː (english: we), sofēng sɔfɛːŋ (english: seven) and Havaī havaiː (english: Hawaii}}
  • In cases where the last syllable ends in "n" or "m", the vowel that is before this sound becomes nasalized and longer.

Example: mūmān mu:.mã: (civilization)

  • s becomes ʃ at the end of the last syllable

Morphology

There are cases but the words doesn't suffer change. Hololang doesn't have a grammatical gender.

Nouns

Nouns deflect on number,singular and plural, and degree (augmentative, normal and diminutive)

kores = planet rozē = rose
Augmentative Normal Diminutive Augmentative Normal Diminutive
Singular koresān kores koresīn rozēnyān rozē rozeīn
Plural koresāns koress koresīns rozēnyāns rozes rozeīns

Nouns are divided in three families: common, colective and proper.

Common Nouns

Common nouns are the only nouns that can inflect in degree. It includes all nouns (including the abstract ones, which are the exception to the degree inflection).

Proper Nouns

Only words that use the upper case (or not) orthographically. They describe people, gods, pets, countries, geographical or astronomical places nouns.

Collective Nouns

This type of nouns are done from the common nouns, using the prefix joī-. Only nouns that describe things that can be grouped have a collective noun form.

Pronouns

Personal and Possessive pronouns are related to each other they only inflect in person.

Personal Possessive
1SG moī
2SG tuī
3SG jaī jaī
1PL venyī
2PL tiss tissuī
3PL jaīs jaīs

There's also the demonstratives, the relatives and the indefinites

Demonstrative Pronouns

Proximal Distant
Singular djā tsā
Plural djas tsas

Relative Pronouns

Refering to People qāng
Refering to Living Things qāny
Refering to Things qām
Refering to Places qarū
Refering to Time qacē
Refering to Possession qatsī

Interrogative Pronouns are based on the relative pronouns.

Indefinite Pronouns

All Part of Any No
People chāmal chānil chānyol charraj
Living Things rūmal rūnil rūnyol rurraj
Things rīmal rīnil rīnyol rīrraj
Places qāmal qānil qānyol qārraj
Time nyēmal nyēnil nēnyol nyerraj

Articles

Singular Plural
Definite lyā
Indefinite yas lyas

Verbs

for list of verbs check Hololang/Verbs

There are 5 tenses in Hololang: present, past, future, neutral and infinitive. The later one usually appears in negative and imperative sentences. Neutral tense has a gnotic aspect, using this tense normally refers to a absence of time. The verb used in the examplification is tēnē (to have)

Present Past Future Gnotic/Neutral
te terrū te tēnē
tetos nyus teras tess
jaī te nyū terāng tes
tefos tehus tedjas tedzē
tiss tefoīss tehuīs tedjaīs tedzes
jaīs tetoīs nyuīs teraīs tez

Adjectives

for list of adjectives check Hololang/Adjectives

Adjectives inflect in number, degree and politeness. The following table showcases the inflection of three adjectives by degree and politeness.

bōnyij = beautiful, handsome niēsij = nice vīnij = thin
Complimentary Pejorative Complimentary Pejorative Complimentary Pejorative
Normal bōnyij habōnyij niēsij haniēsij vīnij havīnij
Comparative bōnyān habōnyān niēsān haniēsān vīnān havīnān
Superlative Relative bōnyoqū habōnyoqū niēsoqū haniēsoqū vīnoqū havīnoqū
Superlative Analytic bōnyetsū habōnyetsū niēsetsū haniēsetsū vīnetsū havīnetsū
Superlative Synthetic bōnyirrēn habōnyirrēn niēsirrēn haniēsirrēn vīnirrēn havīnirrēn

Note that habōnyij is an adjective in his insult form, doesn't mean "ugly" it means "beautiful" in an evil/pejorative manner.

Contraditory Prefix

a- is the prefix used to give the opposite of the mentioned adjective. The following table will showcase three adjectives on the normal degree and complimentary manner with the contraditory prefix.

Original Adjective Contraditory Meaning
bōnyij abōnyij 'not beautiful'
niēsij āniēsij 'not nice'
vīnij avīnij 'not thin'

Note that "abōnyij" can mean "ugly" but the literal/most used meaning is "not beautiful". In pejorative manner, the prefix becomes before the pejorative prefix. For example:
bōnyij (beautiful, complimentary) -> abōnyij (not beautiful, complimentary)
habōnyij (beautiful, pejorative) -> ahabōnyij (not beautiful, pejorative)

Exceptions

The adjectives like bōnē (good), malē (evil, bad), ricō (rich), paūbris (poor) doesn't have a regular degree format and doesn't have a contraditory form.

Adjective Subclasses

  • Qualifying - give a quality to the subject
  • Numeral - check the number table (ordinal section)
  • Relative / Relational - establishes a relationship

A relational adjective comes from an already exisisting name, using the suffix -n, in names that end in consoant the suffix changes to -ēn. Examples:

labū (lip) -> labūn (labial)
corpū (body) -> corpūn (body)
kores (planet) -> koresēn (planetary)

Nationalities are the most known example of relational adjectives

Adverbs

for list of adverbs check Hololang/Adverbs

Most of the adverbs come from adjectives, to know which adverb you are looking at, you need to understand the suffixes for formation of adverbs. Adverbs are, like adjectives, flexible by degree but only in the superlative, there's no comparative degree in adverbs.

Adverbs formation from adjectives

In order to create an adverb, the adjective in case must be:

  • in the Normal or Superlative degree;
  • in the Complimentary form;
  • without the contraditory preffix

bōnyij (beautiful) can be used to form an adverb, meanwhile abōnyij (not beautiful) cannot be used neither ahabōnyij or habōnyij (pejorative forms of beautiful and not beautiful).

After checking this, we need to check the suffix of the adjective in order to classify the sub-class, if the adjective ends in -ij then we have a qualifying adjective. If the adjetive ends in -n we have a relational adjective, if we have an ordinal numeral (a numeral which suffix is -īng) then we have a numeral adjective.

Qualifying Adjectives
Adjective Adverb Meaning
bōnyij bōnyidjī beautifully
niēsij niēsidjī nicely
vīnij vīnidjī thinly
Numeral Adjectives
Adjective Adverb Meaning
tvuīng tvuīnyī secondly
foīng foīnyī thirdly
utajīng utajīnyī hundrethly
Relational Adjectives
Adjective Adverb Meaning
labūn labūng labially
corpūn corpūng bodily
koresēn koresēng planetary
Exceptions
Adjective Adverb Meaning
bōnē bōnēdjē goodly
malē maledjē evilly, badly
ricō ricodjū richly
paūbris paūbrisijī poorly
ōnyīng ōnyīngī firstly
īnfussīng īnfussēny infinitely order
nān nānej negatively
shān shānej affirmatively, certainly

Adverb Subclasses

There are 4 subclasses of adverbs, those 4 subclasses are based on the adjective-adverb relation. The subclasses are:

  • Qualifying adverbs - adverbs that came from qualifying adjectives;
  • Numeral adverbs - adverbs that came from ordinal numerals / numeral adjectives;
  • Relational adverbs - adverbs that came from relative / relational adjectives;
  • Special adverbs - Umbrella term for all adverbs that doesn't come from an adjective.
Special Adverbs

The special adverbs are a very large subclass, they include the:

  • Time adverbs
  • Place adverbs
  • Negation / Affirmation / Doubt adverbs
  • Quantity adverbs (quantifierial adverb)

Quantity adverbs express quantitiy.

ēm means normal quantity and it's the initial word for the rest of the quantity adverbs. Starting with bigger quantities, if you want to say more/plus you say ēmān, but if you want to say plus in maths or hours you say pus which is also on this sub-subclass. If you want to say much/ a lot/quite you say ēmānī and if you want to say too much you say ēmānidjī. With fewer quantities, if you want to say less/minus you say ēmī, note that in maths or hours case, for saying minus you say mipus which is also a word of this sub-subclass. If you want to say few/little bit you say ēmij and if you want to say none/very little bit/very few you say ēmijī.

Time adverbs express timelines, normally related with numerals (check numerals table on day and month).

This adverbs are stricly related to the verbal tenses, the presence of one of these adverbs can help the speaker in choosing the proper verbal tense.

Place adverbs express location, this adverbs replace the need of prepositions.

Normally these adverbs are used to give directions or to locate something in the universe.

NAD (negation, affirmation, doubt) adverbs are used to express the respective ideas mentioned, negation adverbs are the triggers for negative sentences.

The negation adverbs are: nān (no), nānyer (never), nānej (negatively).
The affirmation adverbs are: shān (yes), sānyer (right, correct), shānej (affirmatively, certainly).
The doubt adverbs are: yān (maybe), yānjer (probably), yānjerij (possibly).

Prepositions

Hololang doesn't have prepositions. Pronouns, adverbs and relational adjectives are replacements

Numerals

Numerals are an extra word class, there are several suffixes for the meaning of the numeral. There's the cardinals, the ordinals, the multiplicatives, the dividers, the days, the months.

Cardinal Ordinal Multiplicative Divider Day Month
0 zerō zeroīng N/A N/A N/A N/A
1 ōny ōnyīng ōnyarrū ōnyirā ōnyidraī ōnyimōnf
2 tvū tvuīng tvuārrū tvuīrā tvuīdraī tvuīmōnf
3 tarē tareīng tareārrū tareīrā tareīdraī tareīmōnf
4 foīng foārrū foīrā foīdraī foīmōnf
5 siqē siqeīng siqeārrū siqeīrā siqeīdraī siqeīmōnf
6 shiz shizīng shizarrū shizirā shizidraī shizimōnf
7 sofēng sofēngīng sofēngarrū sofēngirā sofēngidraī sofēngimōnf
8 hutā hutaīng hutārrū hutaīrā hutaīdraī hutaīmōnf
9 nīnē nīneīng nīneārrū nīneīrā nīneīdraī nīneīmōnf
10 taj tajīng tajarrū tajirā tajidraī tajimōnf
11 tajōny tajōnyīng tajōnyarrū tajōnyirā tajōnyidraī tajōnyimōnf
100 ōnyitaj ōnyitajīng ōnyitajarrū ōnyitajirā ōnyitajidraī N/A
1000 utaj utajīng utajarrū utajirā N/A N/A
īnfuss īnfussīng N/A N/A īnfussidraī īnfussimōnf

Syntax

Constituent order

The normal word order for a sentence in Hololag is SOV. In interrogative and negative sentences this changes to a OSV order. Sentences of commands and requests are in SOV excluding negative commands.

Negative Sentences

Negative sentences follow an OSV order. In negation, verbal tenses happen to change. Normally it only happens with the Neutral tense. But:

  • Neutral tense will always change into Infinitive
  • Future tense might change into Present tense if only the speaker is sure that the action in the future won't really happen

Orders/Requests - Imperative Sentence

There's no imperative mode for the verbs in Hololang, the infinitive is used to give orders. SOV order except negative order or requests (interrogative orders), that is the OSV order.

Give me diamonds! - moī djaīmōnes derē!
Can you give me diamonds? - djaīmōnes moī derē?

Trivia

The names of the members of HoloCouncil means their element in Hololang, of course the name in English and in Holo might be completly different:

Hololang IPA Meaning Council Name
hacoūs ha.kou:ʃ "chaos" Hakos Baelz
mūmān mu:.mã: "humanity, civilization" Nanashi Mumei
qorrī kʷɔ.ʁi: "time" Ouro Kronii
sāna sa:.na "space, universe" Tsukumo Sana
seres sɛ.ɾɛʃ "nature" Ceres Fauna

Example texts

Vocabulary & Sentences

for list of basic sentences check Hololang/Basic Sentences
for list of some vocabulary check Hololang/Basic Vocabulary