User:Bpnjohnson: Difference between revisions

From Linguifex
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(34 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
BenJamin P. Johnson (“Jamin” - /ʤəˈmɪn/) was born in upstate New York some decades ago, and studied many various languages before focusing on linguistics more broadly. He currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his husband Terrence. He was a member of the Language Creation Society’s Board of Directors from 2015‒2019, and the LCS’s Minister of Memberships from 2016‒2019. He made a brief appearance in the 2017 film ''[http://conlangingfilm.com/ Conlanging: The Art of Crafting Tongues]'', right around the 44-minute mark.
[[Category: BPNJ]]
'''BenJamin P. Johnson''' (“Jamin” - /ʤəˈmɪn/) was born in upstate New York some decades ago, and studied many various languages and linguistics. He currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his husband Terrence. He has been a member of the Language Creation Society’s Board of Directors since 2015 (with a hiatus from 2019-2021), and the LCS’s Minister of Memberships from 2016‒2019 and again since the spring of 2023. He made a brief appearance in the 2017 film ''[http://conlangingfilm.com/ Conlanging: The Art of Crafting Tongues]'', right around the 44-minute mark.


==Conlangs==
==Conlangs==
===[[Ox-Yew|Adzaay (a.k.a. Ox-Yew)]]===
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Ox-Yew|Adzaay]], also know as [[Ox-Yew]], is an [[:Category: A priori|a priori]] language that is still very much under construction, without much to look at yet. It has a fairly limited but unconventional phonology (involving several types of affricates and liquids), and most of its infrastructure can be broken down into groups of three. (E.g. 3 vowels, stops, nasals, liquids, 3 genders, moods, types of cases, nonal number system (based on an earlier trinary base), tripartite morphosyntactic alignment… you get the idea.)</div>
===[[Aterran|The Aterran Languages]]===
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">The [[Aterran|Aterran Languages]] are a group of languages created for Anthony Gutierrez for his upcoming graphic novel series ''The Lost Children''.
====[[Aterran Northern|Alderxmanuvgöm (Northern)]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Alderxmanuvgöm, also known as Dhënuvgöm or simply Northern, is a language spoken in Aterra (particularly on the Northern continent).</div>
====[[Arbulian|Arbulian]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Arbulian is alone among the Aterran languages in that it is not presently spoken on the planet of Aterra, nor indeed even from the same planet. It is highly fusional, and is spoken by an extra-aterrestrial race of deities.</div>
====[[Aterran Imperial|Drikva Yakke (Modern Standard Imperial)]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Modern Standard Imperial is the official language of much of Aterra. Descended from a very formal fusional language, modern Imperial is very analytic, and is arguably moderately creolized, though not to the extent that would rise to the definition of a true creole. It retains a somewhat deep orthography harkening back to its ancient predecessor.</div>
====[[Hakdor|Hakdor]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Hakdor is a dialect continuum spoken by the Hakdor, a non-human, engineered race on Aterra (also know as The Blighted).</div>
====[[Ashian|Kéðryňa (Ashian)]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Ashian is an ancient language spoken in Aterra with some influence from some pesky space-faring Old Norse speakers called the Orka.</div>
====[[Aterran Western|Western]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Western is a language spoken on the western continent on Aterra.</div></div>
===[[Braereth]]===
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Braereth was a Western Romance language created for CJ Kavanaugh’s upcoming Kindle Vella series ''The Chronicles of Braereth''. The Classical language died out in the sixteenth century, but four modern dialects survive.
====[[Tenibvreth (dialect)|Tenibvreth]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Tenibvreth is a dialect of Braereth spoken by the vampire clans.</div>
====[[Eomentesa (dialect)|Eomentesa]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Eomentesa is a dialect of Braereth spoken by the witch clans.</div>
====[[Merineth (dialect)|Merineth]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Merineth is a dialect of Braereth spoken by the mer-folk and shape-shifters.</div></div>
===[[Brooding|Brooding (Baus Broodingee)]]===
===[[Brooding|Brooding (Baus Broodingee)]]===
Brooding (ISO-639-3:qbd; BRCL:brdg) is an a priori language originally created by Veronica Hamilton for the [https://www.riddlesbrood.com/ Riddlesbrood Touring Theater Company]. Brooding is used in the company's theme song and logo, and was used in their 2012 production of ''The Dark Side Show'', the 2015 and 2017 productions of ''Harken'', and 2016 book ''[http://a.co/a99TS0G Riddlesbrood: The Greatest Brochure in the World]''. Jamin has been curating and expanding the language on behalf of Riddlesbrood since the fall of 2014.
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Brooding]] (ISO-639-3:qbd; BRCL:brdg) is an [[:Category: A priori|a priori]] language originally created by Veronica Hamilton for the [https://www.riddlesbrood.com/ Riddlesbrood Touring Theater Company]. Brooding is used in the company's theme song and logo, and was used in their 2012 production of ''The Dark Side Show'', the 2015 and 2017 productions of ''Harken'', and 2016 book ''[http://a.co/a99TS0G Riddlesbrood: The Greatest Brochure in the World]''. Jamin has been curating and expanding the language on behalf of Riddlesbrood since the fall of 2014.</div>


===[[Dlatci]]===
===[[Dlatci]]===
Dlatci is an a priori language that Jamin has been working on since 1994. It has undergone some massive changes over the years, though, and is currently in a state that isn’t entirely “presentable.”  He hopes to fix this soon.
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Dlatci]] is an [[:Category: A priori|a priori]] language that Jamin has been working on since 1994. It has undergone some massive changes over the years, though, and barely resembles its former self.</div>
 
===[[Gothic Romance]]===
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Building off of the original idea of what [[Valthungian]] was supposed to be, before it became what it is instead, [[Gothic Romance]] is actually a collection of three languages in several stages. It starts with the idea that the Goths who sacked Rome in 410ᴀᴅ continued to speak [[w:Gothic_language|Gothic]] (or a close relative thereof) in parallel with Latin, rather than just switching to Latin completely as they did. This gave way to [[Old Valthungian]], much as described, but from there, the development changes course from what eventually leads to [[Middle Valthungian]], and by around 1200ᴀᴅ we find ourselves in a remote northern Italian town where the locals all speak both a form of Gothic and a form of [[Extemplar Latin]] which come to have a roughly equivalent phonology. From this point, the two languages exist in tandem, borrowing words back and forth between them until eventually we end up with [[Gothic Romance]]. Is it a [[w:Romance_languages|Romance language]] with a lot of [[w:Gothic_language|Gothic]] vocabulary? Maybe. Is it a [[w:Germanic_languages|Germanic language]] with a lot of [[w:Latin|Latin]] vocabulary? Maybe. Is it a creole? Probably not, but also maybe. Is it dark and spooky and probably something that vampires would speak if they were feeling particularly poetic? Definitely.
 
[[Gothic Romance]] is the result of the evolution and gradual merging of two historic languages, [[Italian Gothic]] (a 13ᵗʰ-century descendant of [[Old Valthungian]]) and [[Bad Romance]] (a 13ᵗʰ-century descendant of [[Extemplar Latin]]):
 
====[[Italian Gothic]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Italian Gothic]] is the direct [[:Category: Germanic languages|Germanic]] ancestor of [[Gothic Romance]], descended in turn from [[Old Valthungian]]. This isn’t really a conlang so much as a snapshot of various sound changes leading to [[Gothic Romance]].</div>
 
====[[Bad Romance]]====
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Like [[Italian Gothic]] above, [[Bad Romance]] is the direct Italic ancestor of [[Gothic Romance]], descended from [[Extemplar Latin]]. This isn’t really a conlang so much as a snapshot of various sound changes leading to [[Gothic Romance]], though it might actually make for an interesting [[:Category: Romance|Romlang]] one day.</div></div>


===[[Grayis]]===
===[[Grayis]]===
Grayis is an a priori language commissioned by [https://www.infinitemind.pictures/ Infinite Mind Pictures, Inc.], spoken by a race of aliens called the Grayis Kin.
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Grayis]] is an [[:Category: A priori|a priori]] language commissioned by [https://www.infinitemind.pictures/ Infinite Mind Pictures, Inc.], spoken by a race of aliens called the Grayis Kin. It is featured in the board-game ''Pilots of Gallaxia'', released in January of 2020.</div>


===[[Maltcégj]]===
===[[Maltcégj]]===
Maltcégj (BRCL:mltj) is an a priori language created out of boredom and full of vicious puns. Maltcégj started as a sort of blog, before there were blogs, and has been subsequently transferred to https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com (keyword Maltcégj).
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Maltcégj]] (BRCL:mltj) (that’s [malˈʧɛɡʒ], in case you’re wondering) is an [[:Category: A priori|a priori]] language created out of boredom and full of vicious puns. Maltcégj started as a sort of blog, before there were blogs, and has been subsequently transferred to [https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com/search/label/Maltc%C3%A9gj https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com (keyword Maltcégj)].</div>


===[[Northeadish|Northeadish (Druðþþȳðesc)]]===
===[[Northeadish|Northeadish (Druðþþȳðesc)]]===
Northeadish (BRCL:nthd) is an a posteriori Germanic language with some medievalist flair.
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Northeadish]] (BRCL:nthd) is an [[:Category: A posteriori|a posteriori]] [[:Category: Germanic languages|Germanic language]] with some medievalist flair. Work on the language has ceased, and it is gradually being subsumed into [[Middle Valthungian]].</div>
 
===[[Nymeran]]===
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Nymeran]] is an [[:Category: A priori|a priori]] language originally created by Niamh Doyle for Mythworks' comic ''[https://myth.works/pages/glow Glow]''. Jamin has been curating and expanding the language on behalf of Mythworks (formerly Mythopoeia) since the spring of 2021.</div>


===[[Valthungian|Valthungian (Sō Grējuga Tunga)]]===
===[[Valthungian|Valthungian (Sō Grējuga Tunga)]]===
Valthungian, or the Grey Tongue (ISO-639-3:qgt, BRCL:grey), another Germanic a posteriori, this time a close relative of Gothic. Not directly descended from Gothic, as such, but maybe a great-great-nephew. Jamin aspired to maintain a blog about it as it developed, but as you know, he’s seriously bad at that: https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com (keyword Valthungian). Jamin formally presented Valthungian as a theoretical descendant of Gothic at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in 2018, which was attended by twos or even threes of people.
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Valthungian]], or the Grey Tongue (ISO-639-3:qgt, BRCL:grey), another [[:Category: Germanic languages|Germanic]] [[:Category: A posteriori|a posteriori]], this time a close relative of Gothic. Not directly descended from [[w:Gothic_language|Gothic]], as such, but maybe a great-great-nephew. Jamin aspired to maintain a blog about it as it developed, but as you know, he’s seriously bad at that: [https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com/search/label/Valthungian https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com (keyword Valthungian)]. Jamin formally presented Valthungian as a theoretical descendant of Gothic at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in 2018, which was attended by twos or even threes of people.
 
In the process of creating Valthungian, it became necessary to create some intermediate steps as well. These aren't fully-fledged conlangs, but more like synchronic snapshots of a two millennia long diachronic process.


====[[Middle Valthungian]]====
====[[Middle Valthungian]]====
[[Middle Valthungian]] represents a period in the development of [[Valthungian]] lasting from around 1200‒1600<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span> marked mainly by palatalization of a great many consonants as well as some minor reduction to unstressed vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Middle Valthungian” is the language as captured by the suddenly-prolific Valthungian writers at the beginning of the Renaissance, circa 1450‒1500<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span>
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Like [[Italian Gothic]] and [[Bad Romance]], [[Middle Valthungian]] isn’t so much a conlang as a snapshot in the development of [[Valthungian]], though it is actually fairly well-developed and could be coerced into a functional conlang in a pinch. [[Middle Valthungian]] represents a period in the development of [[Valthungian]] lasting from around 1200‒1600<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span> marked mainly by palatalization of a great many consonants as well as some minor reduction to unstressed vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Middle Valthungian” is the language as captured by the suddenly-prolific Valthungian writers at the beginning of the Renaissance, circa 1450‒1500<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span></div>


====[[Old Valthungian]]====
====[[Old Valthungian]]====
[[Old Valthungian]] represents a period in the development of [[Valthungian]] lasting from around 800‒1200<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span> marked mainly by changes to geminates and intervocalic consonants, as well as the introduction of Germanic ī/j-umlaut and some small but important changes to all of the vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Old Valthungian” is the language as captured in a few surviving texts believed to date to around 950‒975<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span>
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Like [[Middle Valthungian]], [[Old Valthungian]] isn’t so much a conlang as a snapshot in the development of [[Valthungian]]. To the casual observer it probably looks like a Roman spelling Gothic badly, which would not be entirely inaccurate. [[Old Valthungian]] represents a period in the development of [[Valthungian]] lasting from around 800‒1200<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span> marked mainly by changes to geminates and intervocalic consonants, as well as the introduction of Germanic ī/j-umlaut and some small but important changes to all of the vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Old Valthungian” is the language as captured in a few surviving texts believed to date to around 950‒975<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span></div>


====[[Griutungi]]====
====[[Griutungi]]====
[[Griutungi]] is the theoretical ancestor of [[Valthungian]] which was likely a dialect of, or at least mutually intelligible with, [[w:Gothic_language|Gothic]].
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">[[Griutungi]] is the theoretical ancestor of [[Valthungian]] which was likely a dialect of, or at least mutually intelligible with, [[w:Gothic_language|Gothic]]. Griutungi isn’t so much a conlang as it is just Gothic, but not so much how Gothic really was as how I wish Gothic had been.</div></div>


===[[Ox-Yew|Adzaay/Adɮāλ(a.k.a. Ox-Yew)]]===
===Others===
This is a language that is very much under construction, with not much to look at yet.
<div style="margin-left: 13px;">Over the years Jamin has invented dozens of other languages to various states of completion ranging from a few scribbled notes to monstrosities like '''Latinovesa''', his first and only Aux-Rom-Lang, ''de quo nui ne parlaramu ĵamai plui''. Most of them didn't have names. Some of them had ridiculous names, like '''ɮaxu''' or '''Baraqesh''' or '''Iatu Nukta Amat'''. Still others have been created for authors and can’t be discussed publicly yet: The latter will appear here at such time as that is feasible; the former will likely not!</div>
 
===[[Gothic Romance]]===
Building off of the original idea of what [[Valthungian]] was supposed to be, before it became what it is instead, [[Gothic Romance]] is actually a collection of three languages in several stages. It starts with the idea that the Goths who sacked Rome in 410ᴀᴅ continued to speak Gothic (or a close relative thereof) in parallel with Latin, rather than just switching to Latin completely as they did. This gave way to [[Old Valthungian]], much as described, but from there, the development changes course from what eventually leads to [[Middle Valthungian]], and by around 1200ᴀᴅ we find ourselves in a remote northern Italian town where the locals all speak both a form of Gothic and a form of post-Vulgar Latin which come to have a roughly equivalent phonology. From this point, the two languages exist in tandem, borrowing words back and forth between them until eventually we end up with [[Gothic Romance]]. Is it a Romance language with a lot of Gothic vocabulary? Maybe. Is it a Germanic language with a lot of Latin vocabulary? Maybe. Is it a creole? Probably not, but also maybe. Is it dark and spooky and probably something that vampires would speak if they were feeling particularly poetic? Definitely.
 
[[Gothic Romance]] is the result of the evolution and gradual merging of two historic languages, [[Italian Gothic]] (a 13ᵗʰ-century descendant of [[Old Valthungian]]) and a yet-unnamed Romance language (possibly of the Rhaeto-Romance or Gallo-Italic persuasion; a 13ᵗʰ-century descendant of Vulgar Latin):


====[[Italian Gothic]]====
==Contact==
Stay tuned, because I have no idea where this is going!...
{|
 
|-
====Some Vague 13ᵗʰ-Century Post-Vulgar Latin Romlang====
|align="right" width=100| '''Twitter: '''
See above.
|width=200| [https://twitter.com/bpnjohnson bpnjohnson... for now.]
 
|align="right" width=100| '''Facebook: '''
===Others===
|width=200| [https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.paul.johnson/ benjamin.paul.johnson]
Over the years Jamin has invented dozens of other languages to various states of completion ranging from a few scribbled notes to monstrosities like '''Latinovesa''', his first and only Aux-Rom-Lang, of which we shall never speak again. Most of them didn't have names. Some of them had ridiculous names, like '''ɮaxu''' or '''Baraqesh''' or '''Iatu Nukta Amat'''.
|align="right" width=100| '''YouTube: '''
|width=200| [https://www.youtube.com/@lingufacture @lingufacture]
|-
|align="right" width=100| '''Instagram: '''
|width=200| [https://www.instagram.com/bpnjohnson/ bpnjohnson]
|align="right" width=100| '''Discord: '''
|width=200| [https://discordapp.com/users/jamin#8101/ jamin#8101]
|align="right" width=100| '''LinkedIn:
|width=200| [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminpauljohnson/ benjaminpauljohnson]
|-
|align="right" width=100| '''Website: '''
|width=200| [https://www.benjaminpauljohnson.com/ benjaminpauljohnson.com]
|align="right" width=100| '''Email: '''
|width=200| [mailto:jamin@benjaminpauljohnson.com jamin@benjaminpauljohnson.com]
|align="right" width=100| '''Blog: '''
|width=200| [https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com/ blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com]
|-
|align="right" width=100| '''Mastodon: '''
|width=200| [https://wandering.shop/@bpnjohnson @bpnjohnson@wandering.shop]
|align="right" width=100| '''Threads: '''
|width=200| [https://www.threads.net/@bpnjohnson @bpnjohnson]
|align="right" width=100| '''Bluesky: '''
|width=200| [https://bsky.app/profile/bpnjohnson.bsky.social @bpnjohnson.bsky.social]
|}

Latest revision as of 15:00, 1 December 2023

BenJamin P. Johnson (“Jamin” - /ʤəˈmɪn/) was born in upstate New York some decades ago, and studied many various languages and linguistics. He currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his husband Terrence. He has been a member of the Language Creation Society’s Board of Directors since 2015 (with a hiatus from 2019-2021), and the LCS’s Minister of Memberships from 2016‒2019 and again since the spring of 2023. He made a brief appearance in the 2017 film Conlanging: The Art of Crafting Tongues, right around the 44-minute mark.

Conlangs

Adzaay (a.k.a. Ox-Yew)

Adzaay, also know as Ox-Yew, is an a priori language that is still very much under construction, without much to look at yet. It has a fairly limited but unconventional phonology (involving several types of affricates and liquids), and most of its infrastructure can be broken down into groups of three. (E.g. 3 vowels, stops, nasals, liquids, 3 genders, moods, types of cases, nonal number system (based on an earlier trinary base), tripartite morphosyntactic alignment… you get the idea.)

The Aterran Languages

The Aterran Languages are a group of languages created for Anthony Gutierrez for his upcoming graphic novel series The Lost Children.

Alderxmanuvgöm (Northern)

Alderxmanuvgöm, also known as Dhënuvgöm or simply Northern, is a language spoken in Aterra (particularly on the Northern continent).

Arbulian

Arbulian is alone among the Aterran languages in that it is not presently spoken on the planet of Aterra, nor indeed even from the same planet. It is highly fusional, and is spoken by an extra-aterrestrial race of deities.

Drikva Yakke (Modern Standard Imperial)

Modern Standard Imperial is the official language of much of Aterra. Descended from a very formal fusional language, modern Imperial is very analytic, and is arguably moderately creolized, though not to the extent that would rise to the definition of a true creole. It retains a somewhat deep orthography harkening back to its ancient predecessor.

Hakdor

Hakdor is a dialect continuum spoken by the Hakdor, a non-human, engineered race on Aterra (also know as The Blighted).

Kéðryňa (Ashian)

Ashian is an ancient language spoken in Aterra with some influence from some pesky space-faring Old Norse speakers called the Orka.

Western

Western is a language spoken on the western continent on Aterra.

Braereth

Braereth was a Western Romance language created for CJ Kavanaugh’s upcoming Kindle Vella series The Chronicles of Braereth. The Classical language died out in the sixteenth century, but four modern dialects survive.

Tenibvreth

Tenibvreth is a dialect of Braereth spoken by the vampire clans.

Eomentesa

Eomentesa is a dialect of Braereth spoken by the witch clans.

Merineth

Merineth is a dialect of Braereth spoken by the mer-folk and shape-shifters.

Brooding (Baus Broodingee)

Brooding (ISO-639-3:qbd; BRCL:brdg) is an a priori language originally created by Veronica Hamilton for the Riddlesbrood Touring Theater Company. Brooding is used in the company's theme song and logo, and was used in their 2012 production of The Dark Side Show, the 2015 and 2017 productions of Harken, and 2016 book Riddlesbrood: The Greatest Brochure in the World. Jamin has been curating and expanding the language on behalf of Riddlesbrood since the fall of 2014.

Dlatci

Dlatci is an a priori language that Jamin has been working on since 1994. It has undergone some massive changes over the years, though, and barely resembles its former self.

Gothic Romance

Building off of the original idea of what Valthungian was supposed to be, before it became what it is instead, Gothic Romance is actually a collection of three languages in several stages. It starts with the idea that the Goths who sacked Rome in 410ᴀᴅ continued to speak Gothic (or a close relative thereof) in parallel with Latin, rather than just switching to Latin completely as they did. This gave way to Old Valthungian, much as described, but from there, the development changes course from what eventually leads to Middle Valthungian, and by around 1200ᴀᴅ we find ourselves in a remote northern Italian town where the locals all speak both a form of Gothic and a form of Extemplar Latin which come to have a roughly equivalent phonology. From this point, the two languages exist in tandem, borrowing words back and forth between them until eventually we end up with Gothic Romance. Is it a Romance language with a lot of Gothic vocabulary? Maybe. Is it a Germanic language with a lot of Latin vocabulary? Maybe. Is it a creole? Probably not, but also maybe. Is it dark and spooky and probably something that vampires would speak if they were feeling particularly poetic? Definitely.

Gothic Romance is the result of the evolution and gradual merging of two historic languages, Italian Gothic (a 13ᵗʰ-century descendant of Old Valthungian) and Bad Romance (a 13ᵗʰ-century descendant of Extemplar Latin):

Italian Gothic

Italian Gothic is the direct Germanic ancestor of Gothic Romance, descended in turn from Old Valthungian. This isn’t really a conlang so much as a snapshot of various sound changes leading to Gothic Romance.

Bad Romance

Like Italian Gothic above, Bad Romance is the direct Italic ancestor of Gothic Romance, descended from Extemplar Latin. This isn’t really a conlang so much as a snapshot of various sound changes leading to Gothic Romance, though it might actually make for an interesting Romlang one day.

Grayis

Grayis is an a priori language commissioned by Infinite Mind Pictures, Inc., spoken by a race of aliens called the Grayis Kin. It is featured in the board-game Pilots of Gallaxia, released in January of 2020.

Maltcégj

Maltcégj (BRCL:mltj) (that’s [malˈʧɛɡʒ], in case you’re wondering) is an a priori language created out of boredom and full of vicious puns. Maltcégj started as a sort of blog, before there were blogs, and has been subsequently transferred to https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com (keyword Maltcégj).

Northeadish (Druðþþȳðesc)

Northeadish (BRCL:nthd) is an a posteriori Germanic language with some medievalist flair. Work on the language has ceased, and it is gradually being subsumed into Middle Valthungian.

Nymeran

Nymeran is an a priori language originally created by Niamh Doyle for Mythworks' comic Glow. Jamin has been curating and expanding the language on behalf of Mythworks (formerly Mythopoeia) since the spring of 2021.

Valthungian (Sō Grējuga Tunga)

Valthungian, or the Grey Tongue (ISO-639-3:qgt, BRCL:grey), another Germanic a posteriori, this time a close relative of Gothic. Not directly descended from Gothic, as such, but maybe a great-great-nephew. Jamin aspired to maintain a blog about it as it developed, but as you know, he’s seriously bad at that: https://blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com (keyword Valthungian). Jamin formally presented Valthungian as a theoretical descendant of Gothic at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in 2018, which was attended by twos or even threes of people.

Middle Valthungian

Like Italian Gothic and Bad Romance, Middle Valthungian isn’t so much a conlang as a snapshot in the development of Valthungian, though it is actually fairly well-developed and could be coerced into a functional conlang in a pinch. Middle Valthungian represents a period in the development of Valthungian lasting from around 1200‒1600ad marked mainly by palatalization of a great many consonants as well as some minor reduction to unstressed vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Middle Valthungian” is the language as captured by the suddenly-prolific Valthungian writers at the beginning of the Renaissance, circa 1450‒1500ad

Old Valthungian

Like Middle Valthungian, Old Valthungian isn’t so much a conlang as a snapshot in the development of Valthungian. To the casual observer it probably looks like a Roman spelling Gothic badly, which would not be entirely inaccurate. Old Valthungian represents a period in the development of Valthungian lasting from around 800‒1200ad marked mainly by changes to geminates and intervocalic consonants, as well as the introduction of Germanic ī/j-umlaut and some small but important changes to all of the vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Old Valthungian” is the language as captured in a few surviving texts believed to date to around 950‒975ad

Griutungi

Griutungi is the theoretical ancestor of Valthungian which was likely a dialect of, or at least mutually intelligible with, Gothic. Griutungi isn’t so much a conlang as it is just Gothic, but not so much how Gothic really was as how I wish Gothic had been.

Others

Over the years Jamin has invented dozens of other languages to various states of completion ranging from a few scribbled notes to monstrosities like Latinovesa, his first and only Aux-Rom-Lang, de quo nui ne parlaramu ĵamai plui. Most of them didn't have names. Some of them had ridiculous names, like ɮaxu or Baraqesh or Iatu Nukta Amat. Still others have been created for authors and can’t be discussed publicly yet: The latter will appear here at such time as that is feasible; the former will likely not!

Contact

Twitter: bpnjohnson... for now. Facebook: benjamin.paul.johnson YouTube: @lingufacture
Instagram: bpnjohnson Discord: jamin#8101 LinkedIn: benjaminpauljohnson
Website: benjaminpauljohnson.com Email: jamin@benjaminpauljohnson.com Blog: blog.benjaminpauljohnson.com
Mastodon: @bpnjohnson@wandering.shop Threads: @bpnjohnson Bluesky: @bpnjohnson.bsky.social