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Lemizh: Difference between revisions
Translation of The Legend of the Seventh Planet, letter forms, etc.
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'''Lemizh''' (<span style="font-family:Gentium,'DejaVu Sans','Segoe UI',sans-serif">[[Help:IPA|[ | '''Lemizh''' (<span style="font-family:Gentium,'DejaVu Sans','Segoe UI',sans-serif">[[Help:IPA|[lεmˈiʒ]]]</span>, <small>native pronunciation:</small> <span style="font-family:Gentium,'DejaVu Sans','Segoe UI',sans-serif">[[Help:IPA|[lɛmˈɯ̀ʒ]]]</span>) is a language I invented with the aim of creating a grammar as regular and simple as possible. It was originally intended as an [[w:international auxiliary language|international auxiliary language]]. However, it turned out that a simple grammar is not necessarily a grammar that is easy to learn: the more ways of simplification I discovered, the further away it moved from [[w:Indo-European|Indo-European]] and probably all other familiar language structures. Expecting anyone to learn Lemizh, at this point, would be completely unrealistic. | ||
So I needed a new justification for the language: enter the Lemizh, a people living to the west and north of the [[w:Black Sea|Black Sea]] in an alternate history that drifted away from ours between two and eight millennia ago. Of course, it is extremely unlikely that they would speak a language that was completely without exceptions. To be precise, the chances are two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand seven hundred and nine to one against. But they say that everything has to happen somewhere in the Multiverse. And everything happens only once. | So I needed a new justification for the language: enter the Lemizh, a people living to the west and north of the [[w:Black Sea|Black Sea]] in an alternate history that slowly drifted away from ours between two and eight millennia ago. Of course, it is extremely unlikely that they would speak a language that was completely without exceptions. To be precise, the chances are two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand seven hundred and nine to one against. But they say that everything has to happen somewhere in the Multiverse. And everything happens only once. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
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The Gheans discouraged the use of the natives' language, but obviously tolerated Lemizh words (or rather word stems) to stand in for unfamiliar Ghean ones. The grammar of simple sentences was easy enough to learn for the Lemizh, as they were used to inflection and head-first phrases, and likely still knew VSO sentences from poetry. After two or three generations, the natives must have spoken a [[w:creole language|creole]] with a more or less Ghean grammar but an abundance of Lemizh words, especially outside the core vocabulary. This is a quite unusual development as most creoles draw their lexicon mainly from the dominant group, and tend to be grammatically more innovative. (The Tanzanian language [[w:Mbugu|Mbugu]] might have had a somewhat similar development with more or less analogous outcomes.) After the disappearance of the Gheans, Lemizh patriots tried to revive their old language, which failed spectacularly for the grammar but reintroduced many Lemizh words of the core vocabulary. | The Gheans discouraged the use of the natives' language, but obviously tolerated Lemizh words (or rather word stems) to stand in for unfamiliar Ghean ones. The grammar of simple sentences was easy enough to learn for the Lemizh, as they were used to inflection and head-first phrases, and likely still knew VSO sentences from poetry. After two or three generations, the natives must have spoken a [[w:creole language|creole]] with a more or less Ghean grammar but an abundance of Lemizh words, especially outside the core vocabulary. This is a quite unusual development as most creoles draw their lexicon mainly from the dominant group, and tend to be grammatically more innovative. (The Tanzanian language [[w:Mbugu|Mbugu]] might have had a somewhat similar development with more or less analogous outcomes.) After the disappearance of the Gheans, Lemizh patriots tried to revive their old language, which failed spectacularly for the grammar but reintroduced many Lemizh words of the core vocabulary. | ||
===The last three millennia=== | |||
==Orthography and phonology== | ==Orthography and phonology== | ||
The alphabet is [[w:phonetic orthography|phonetic]]: each letter corresponds to a certain sound, and each sound is represented by a single letter. This article uses the standard transcription of the native Lemizh alphabet. | The alphabet is [[w:phonetic orthography|phonetic]]: each letter corresponds to a certain sound, and each sound is represented by a single letter. The direction of writing is left to right. This article uses the standard transcription of the native Lemizh alphabet. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 800px; table-layout: fixed; text-align: center" | |||
! colspan="29" | Letters of the Lemizh alphabet | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |- | ||
! colspan="29" | Letters of the Lemizh alphabet | | colspan="29" style="padding: 0" | [[File:Lemizh alphabet.png|796px]] | ||
|- | |- | ||
| a || e || y || i || o || ö || u || ü || l || rh || r || ng || m || g || d || b || k || t || p || gh || zh || z || dh || w || x || sh || s || th || f | | a || e || y || i || o || ö || u || ü || l || rh || r || ng || m || g || d || b || k || t || p || gh || zh || z || dh || w || x || sh || s || th || f | ||
|} | |} | ||
===Consonants=== | ===Consonants=== | ||
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! colspan="2" | !! bilabial !! dental !! alveolar !! postalveolar !! velar | ! colspan="2" | !! bilabial !! dental !! alveolar !! postalveolar !! velar | ||
|- | |- | ||
! colspan="2" | nasals | |||
| m <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced bilabial nasal|m]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || || || || ng <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced velar nasal|ŋ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> | |||
|- | |- | ||
! colspan="2" | plosives | |||
| p <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless bilabial plosive|p]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • b <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced bilabial plosive|b]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || || t <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless alveolar plosive|t]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • d <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced alveolar plosive|d]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || || k <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless velar plosive|k]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • g <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced velar plosive|g]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> | |||
|- | |- | ||
! colspan="2" | fricatives | |||
| f <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless bilabial fricative|ɸ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • w <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced bilabial fricative|β]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || th <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless dental fricative|θ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • dh <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced dental fricative|ð]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || s <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless alveolar sibilant|s]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • z <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced alveolar sibilant|z]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || sh <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative|ʃ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • zh <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced palato-alveolar fricative|ʒ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || x <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiceless velar fricative|x]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • gh <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced velar fricative|ɣ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> | |||
|- | |- | ||
! rowspan="3" | liquids || lateral approximant | |||
| || || l <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced alveolar lateral approximant|l]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || || | |||
|- | |- | ||
! approximant | |||
| || || rh <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced alveolar approximant|ɹ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || || | |||
|- | |- | ||
! trill | |||
| || || r <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Voiced alveolar trill|r]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || || | |||
|} | |} | ||
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! !! front !! back | ! !! front !! back | ||
|- | |- | ||
! close | |||
| i <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Close front unrounded vowel|i]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • ü <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Close front rounded vowel|y]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || y <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Close back unrounded vowel|ɯ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • u <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Close back rounded vowel|u]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> | |||
|- | |- | ||
! open-mid | |||
| e <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Open-mid front unrounded vowel|ɛ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • ö <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Open-mid front rounded vowel|œ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> || a <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Open-mid back unrounded vowel|ʌ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> • o <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[w:Open-mid back rounded vowel|ɔ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> | |||
|} | |} | ||
Two consecutive different vowels are pronounced as a [[w:diphthong|diphthong]]; two consecutive identical vowels as a long one. Single vowels are always short. | Two consecutive different vowels are pronounced as a [[w:diphthong|diphthong]]; two consecutive identical vowels as a long one. Single vowels are always short. | ||
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===Accent=== | ===Accent=== | ||
Lemizh has got a two-way [[w:pitch-accent language|pitch-accent]] system, in that accented moræ are not only spoken louder (as in English), but also have either a lower or a higher pitch than the surrounding unaccented ones. The vowel at the centre of a low-pitch accented mora is transcribed with a grave accent | Lemizh has got a two-way [[w:pitch-accent language|pitch-accent]] system, in that accented moræ are not only spoken louder (as in English), but also have either a lower or a higher pitch than the surrounding unaccented ones. The vowel at the centre of a low-pitch accented mora is transcribed with a grave accent, the vowel at the centre of a high-pitch accented mora with an acute accent. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 220px; table-layout: fixed; text-align: center" | |||
! colspan="8" | Accented vowel letters | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="8" style="padding: 0" | [[File:Lemizh accented vowels.png|216px]] | |||
|- | |||
| à || è || ỳ || ì || ò || ö̀ || ù || ǜ | |||
|- | |||
| á || é || ý || í || ó || ö́ || ú || ǘ | |||
|} | |||
===Phonotactics=== | ===Phonotactics=== | ||
===Sample text=== | ===Sample text=== | ||
[[File:Lemizh text sample.png|thumb| | [[File:Lemizh text sample.png|thumb|left|upright=2|''The Legend of the Seventh Planet'' in native script]] | ||
'''The Legend of the Seventh Planet''' | |||
A long time ago there was a tribe of nomads. They possessed neither writing nor houses nor horses. But they were truly human. They were curious; this means, above all, that they took interest in the useless, for the celestial objects were of no use to them yet. They looked at the Sun and the Moon. They had named the constellations and the six planets moving across the sky like the humans across the earth. They knew dim Mercury, who liked to hide in the glare of the Sun; Venus, the brightest of all; reddish and angry Mars; majestic father Jupiter; Saturn, who seemed to stand still for weeks; and even Uranus had been caught by their keen eyes. Six planets, and the legend of a seventh. Maybe it had been the minor planet Vesta, or a comet centuries or millennia earlier. Maybe it was the attraction of the number seven. For Neptune is invisible to the naked eye. | |||
One youngster thought to himself that he could not live without seeing the seventh planet. He lay awake searching the sky for many nights, neglected his duties, and became thinner and thinner. And one night, lying with the Earth behind his back, and with the looping planets and the stars above him, he saw the depth of the sky and the planets circling the Sun, and among them the Earth. | |||
{{clear}} | |||
==Morphology== | ==Morphology== | ||
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<!-- etc. etc. --> | <!-- etc. etc. --> | ||
==Example texts== | |||
An example of a translated or unique text written in your language. Again, it is recommended that you make sure that the phonology, constraints, phonotactics and grammar are more or less finished before writing. --> | <!-- An example of a translated or unique text written in your language. Again, it is recommended that you make sure that the phonology, constraints, phonotactics and grammar are more or less finished before writing. --> | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||