Hi guys, I made another tool for my own conlang, Danetian, and thought it might be useful to anyone else working on an Indo-European conlang.

It’s called PIESCA, or Proto-Indo-European Sound Change Applier. It’s basically a searchable PIE dictionary with Mark Rosenfelder’s SCA2 built into it. You enter your sound changes, and it applies them to every headword and recorded inflection in the dictionary.

You can try it here.

The idea is that you can browse what your sound changes would produce across both vocabulary and inflection tables, without having to copy individual forms into a sound change applier. You can search by English meaning or by the resulting forms, so it also works as a dictionary for the vocabulary you’ve evolved.

I’d appreciate feedback, especially from anyone working on an Indo-European conlang. Let me know if you run into any problems or find something you’d want it to handle.

Thank you!

Like some of you out there, I like to conlang as part of the worldbuilding process for my D&D settings. Recently, I have been working on some new hand-drawn battlemaps for my current campaign, set in my homebrew world the Myriad Isles. As part of that, I made some generic sprites for the basic races common to the central isles, where the party is currently located. I realised this might be a fun opportunity to create names for these races in Tovan, so I put together this little graphic.

I've tagged this as an activity to encourage everyone who uses their conlangs for TTRPGs or other works of fiction with fantasy races to share their own terminology, and the histories behind them!

I can somewhat read Hebrew, so I tried to preserve the original word order, verb aspects, and phrases (as much as my limited understanding permits). Nevertheless I tried to maintain good practice prose in Ḫārūwian. For example, you may notice some hyperbaton (e.g. separating adjectives or genitives from nouns) since that is generally considered in Ḫārūwian to be less clumsy writing.

Gloss:

imruq-a   imtē-na,         še     nunnuš-ā 
im.ru.qa  im.teː.na        ʃe     nun.nu.ʃa
lord-NOM  shepherd-1SG     not    NPFV.lack-1SG.

ḫūz-u         ruaššā-tu       ta-zāq-mi-na;     zūm-u 
χuː.zu        ru.aʃ.ʃaː.tu    ta.zaːq.mi.na     zuː.mu 
pasture-GEN   PL.abode-PREP   CAUS-lie-3SG-1SG  peace-GEN

wa       annāb-tu         ḫuḫḫul-mi-na.
wa       an.naːb.tu       χuχ.χul.mi.na
above    PL.water-PREP    NPFV.lead-3SG-1SG

rās-na       ta-dū-mi;         geggeš-mi-na         ām-u     mualleq-tu, 
raːs.na      ta.duː.mi         geg.geʃ.mi.na        aː.mu    mu.al.leq.tu 
spirit-1SG   CAUS-return-3SG   NPFV.teach-3SG-1SG   law-GEN  PL.road-PREP


qub       ṭāk-t-ūm. 
qub       t'aːk.tuːm
serving   name-3SG-DAT

nu sū-laq-tu         ṭiw-a     rāt-tu,       še   daddan-ā       bur, 
nu suː laq.tu        t'i.wa    raːt.tu       ʃe   dad.da.naː     bur
and dead-dark-PREP   go-NOM    valley-PREP   not  NPFV.fear-1SG  evil

lū           ka-ru-ša-tu             ānu,
luː          ka.ru.ʃa.tu             aː.nu
because of   be with-GER-2SG-PREP    me-PREP

urqa     urkir-š-ā         awattu     muttanā-min-na.
ur.qa    ur.kir.ʃaː        a.wat.tu   mut.ta.naː.min.na
scepter  staff-2SG-NOM     they.NOM   console-3PL-1SG

kikkī-ši           sīm-na-tu           ilkāš    ba         miarri-na.
kik.kiː.ʃi         siːm.na.tu          il.kaːʃ  ba         mi.ar.ri.na
NPFV.prepare-2SG   presence-1SG-PREP   table    towards    PL.enemy-1SG

ta-nāb-ši     išpag-tu   lūk-na,   ētum-n-ā     rirriq-mi. 
ta.naːb.ʃi    iʃ.pag.tu  luːk.na   eː.tum.naː   rir.riq.mi
CAUS-wet-2SG  oil-PREP   head-1SG  cup-1SG-NOM  NPFV.abundant-3SG

ulū      kur   zēra       šiššib-min-na,       aḫḫur-u   
u.luː    kur   zeː.ra     ʃiʃ.ʃib.min.na       aχ.χu.ru
indeed   good  mercy-NOM  NPFV.pursue-3PL-1SG  PL.all-GEN  


dām-n-ū         assūy-u, 
daːm.nuː        as.suː.ju
life-1SG-GEN    PL.day-GEN

nu   duw-ā         imruq-u   uršā-tu       assūy-u     bīt-um. 
nu   du.waː        im.ru.qu  ur.ʃaː.tu     as.suː.ju   biː.tum
and  return-1SG    lord-GEN  abode-PREP    PL.day-GEN  length-DAT

Diagram to show some vocabulary in ᵹoqhoᵹ !

I made the illustration on illustrator, and you are free to use it, as long as you don't remove my watermark (and mention me if you post it, i'd love to see the results!)

2nd slide is the version with only the natively written words, 3rd slide are the vaoskianizations (romanizations) only.

Template is in the fourth slide.

Get to know ᵹoqhoᵹ more - More about the script

Mine have Semitic, Indo-European, Iranian and Altaic cognates or loanwords. Most of those words were loaned through exploring other lands or influence, while others are direct cognates.

Do your languages have any kind of connection to other existing languages that belong in the same family, or did they gain the cognates through unrelated languages? Let me know, I'd like to hear!!!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Mo’r ba m Pyun,
Tw’r nam gwl,
Tw’r gwot zum ter,
Tw’r wufets zum asnin,
M po mrts, Tertc zum sim Pyun.
Tcit, dar mo mo’r tyen’r paf.
Dort mo l mo’r zyamxiks,
Sim mo mwl dort mo’r zyamjyts.
No win mo l ungwl wufets,
Am win mo ar granjyd.

1PL=GEN father LOC heaven
2SG=GEN name venerable
2SG=GEN state FUT come
2SG=GEN want-NMZ-PL FUT PASS-achieve
LOC these way-PL earth FUT similar heaven
today [IMP] give 1PL 1PL=GEN day=GEN bread
[IMP] forgive 1PL DAT 1PL=GEN owe-NMZ-PL
similar 1PL PST.PRF forgive 1PL=GEN debt-person-PL
[IMP] NEG lead 1PL DAT NEG-venerable want-NMZ-PL
but [IMP] lead 1PL ABL evil-person.DEF

/mor bɑ əm pjən
tʰur nɑm ɡul
tʰur ɡwot zəm tʰer
tʰur wəfets zəm asnɪn
əm pʰo mɚts tʰerθ zəm sɪm pʰjən
θɪt dɑr mo mor tʰjenɚ pʰɑf
dort mo ʊl mor zjɑmʃɪks
sɪm mo mul dort mor zjɑmʒits
no wɪn mo ʊl ənɡul wəfets
ɑm wɪn mo ɑr ɡrɑnʒiːd/

kɑ-lib-yç ɑllo ɑntɑɹ-ɑn dɑn mjylɪ xʷɪ kʏ-ɲɛm fun-un ɲɪk-ɯn dæçɛ xʷɪ kɑj-yç mjæɣr-yç dæmjɛ ɑbodzoʃt-ɑs dɪ wɑr mɑɹ-tjɛt nɑ mɯd wɑr kʷyjæ-ʋ mæŋɡɪ-ʋ ʋʏjɛt

PAST-love-INCH god world-ACC 3SG.ACC much.DAT which PST-give son-ACC only-ACC 3SG.M.GEN which person-PLR all-PLR 3SG.M.DAT believe-PLR 3PL.M will die-INF not but will life-INST eternal-INST COP.INF

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16 being spoken in Kaiyuma

Here are the personal pronouns in Danetian, my Indo-European conlang. What do you think?

Background

Etvétēsu is the language of one of the "nations" of my world. It has no /b/.

Its substrate, Old Settled Tongue (OST), split into an eastern and a western variety, and the ancestral stage did have /b/. OST was split because of the geografy of the area at the time of migration of speakers of "Proto-Etvétēsu".

These people borrowed its farming calendar from OST, which is where the five season names come from (spring, summer, autumn, harvest, winter; five being a sacred number there).

In the eastern and western "provinces" some OST (evolved) is still spoken to this day, though not officially.

Argument

Take *berinoti. In the east /b/ survives (/berinota/), in the west it devoices (/perinot/), and in Etvétēsu it comes out as /v/ (/verinot/). I read this as a dated borrowing.
The word was taken from the ancestral form before the east/west split, while Etvétēsu's ancestor still had /b/, and the native shift /b/ > /v/ then swept it along with the inherited lexicon.

There is a counter-case that I think supports this. *buta "pig" reached Etvétēsu through the west provinces, which had already devoiced (centuries of intermingling), so it arrived as /put'aːt/ with /p/ ready-made. So the /v/ words date from before the split and the /p/ word from after it.

Wear

The loans have had thousands of years to wear down, so I let them. A loan loses the vowel before its stressed final syllable only if the resulting cluster already exists in the language: *nt* and *rt* do, so *manitar > /mantar/ and *peritar > /pertar/. *rn*, *vn* and *ln* are unattested, so *verinot*, *revenir* and *kalinir* keep all three vowels.

In the west, *r...r* words sporadically dissimilate (*peritari > /peltar/).

Questions

I was going thorugh a few loans from other languages and I thought I was being too prescriptive with my changes, so... help me please.

1. If a later loan arrives with /b/ after the merger is over, I'm planning /p/. The language has /d/ and /g/ but nothing at the labial, so devoicing seems natural. Would you expect /v/ instead, given the native shift?
2. Can you get this pattern without two strata, for example through perceptual adaptation alone?
3. Does blocking syncope on cluster legality read as a believable cause for partial wear, or does it look ad hoc?

This is a weekly thread for people who have cool things they want to share from their languages, but don't want to make a whole post. It can also function as a resource for future conlangers who are looking for cool things to add!

So, what cool things have you added (or do you plan to add soon)?

I've also written up some brainstorming tips for conlang features if you'd like additional inspiration. Also here’s my article on using conlangs as a cognitive framework (can be useful for embedding your conculture into the language).

If naturalism wasn't a concern, what noun classes would you wanna see a conlang experiment with and why? Bonus question: what would the culture of the speakers be like for that distinction to occur?

Ich erfinde eine Conlang für Weltweite Kommunikation ähnlich wie Esperanto aber ich versuche meine viel weniger europäisch wirken zu lassen weil ich finde Esperanto ist viel einfache für Europäer als für z.b. einen Japaner. Deswegen versuche ich Laute zu nehmen die fast jede Sprache hat und oder einfach zu sprechen sind.
Deswegen dachte ich mir Klicks wären eine gute Idee weil jeder kann Klicks machen (ich kenn zumindestens keinen der keine machen kann) außerdem ich nutzte nur 3 keine nasalierten oder stimmhaften nur drei normale Klicks. Die silbenstruktur ist (C)V(C) und Klicks haben nie einen Konsonanten davor oder danach. Ich denke mir deswegen das es eigentlich keine schlechte Idee wäre. Was denkt ihr?

Gendered or classed 3rd-person pronouns can be useful for clarity when you have multiple things to refer to (though only if they have different genders/classes). For a conlang I'm making, which has no class system, I decided to make two different 3rd-person pronouns. The "primary" one is used for the first referent that was mentioned, and the "secondary" for subsequent referents. I know some languages use switch-reference for a similar purpose, but I was wondering if any natlangs or conlangs did anything like this.

A while ago, I've decided that my conlang Leturi will do pronouns similarly to Indonesian. So they function as subject, object, and possessive pronouns. For example:

Si k'en - I speak (lit. I speak)

Then k'en si - You speak (to) me (lit. You speak I)

K'enoken si - My language (lit. language I)

I've already decided that's how it works but I just had an idea. Is it possible for Leturi to have a separate set of possessive pronouns (preferably suffixes) which are separate from the main pronouns?

These pronouns would only be used for certain words or phrases such as family terms or certain inalienable nouns. These suffixes would no longer be productive (i.e. you can't make new words with them) in modern Leturi.

An example:

K'enoken si - My language (lit. language I)

BUT:

Majolta - My son (lit. son-my) In this, -ta means "my" and is from a diferent set of pronouns.

I am aware that Indonesian does have suffixing possessive pronouns (bunga-ku means "my flower) but they're pretty much the same as the standard pronouns (Aku berbicara means "I speak")

Hey guys, here is my rendition of Schleicher's fable in my Indo-European conlang, Danetian.

One interesting thing about Danetian is that instead of using a verb to denote possession, it prefers to use a dative construction. Thus, you would say Ovis, jasmai launa ne est "A sheep, to whom wool not was".

Another interesting thing you will see is that adverbs are simply made from their corresponding adjective in the instrumental case, plus the word djystre, which is the instrumental of "hand". Thus, bire djystre "quickly" literally translates to "with a quick hand". This is similar to Latin's usage of the word mente, if you are familiar with it.

You can read this text and others on my website.

So, I've been working on a conlang for quite some time now, and I've devised a gramattical "alignment" of sorts, the likes of which I have not seen anywhere. I have grown to give it the name "noun-dependent valency", or, slightly more narcissistically, the "Meonic Alignment"

Basically, the idea is that agency can be given to any noun phrase regardless of its actual case role. The agent is always the first noun phrase after the verb.

For example, we have the sentence "J'toka al takep", which means "We're visiting the lake". J'toka "to visit" has no marking, taking on a present continuous tense. "al", "we", is the subject, so it takes no marking as well. "kep" takes the accusative prefix "ta". The first noun phrase is the semantic agent, as well as the grammatical subject, so we get an active voice. Easy.

However, if we were to swap the second and third word, we would get "J'toka takep al". The grammatical object, is now the semantic agent, so we get a passive voice! The sentence now means "it is the lake that we're visiting", or simply "The lake is being visited by us", the distinction only made by swapping the words around - no verb modification required!

This system can be used in a lot more ways than you think. For example, the language has no verb for "to have". Instead, you promote the phrase "of x" to the agent. As an example: "O ś'rel tola" means "The house is mine" (literally "Is house of-me"). But, if we were to shift the ourselves to agent position, we get the sentence "O tola ś'rel", which literally means something like "It is of me that the house is", or simply "I own the house"!

The examples are countless. By agent-ifying the noun phrase "because of x", we get a meaning akin to a causative ("it is because of x that this is happening"). By rearranging the sentence "We are inside the house" to make "house" the agent, the sentence takes on a new meaning! "Being the thing we're inside of" is now a conscious (?) action, which the house is performing!

I'm really proud of this system, but, again, I have seen no language, real or not, utilising it. Could someone help me put a label on this? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

So, my main conlang has base-9 counting, but 9 itself is a single-digit number in the language, so their counting would go 7 8 9 11 12...

i know this is a primitive system of counting in our world, but i can't find any real-life examples of it, nor if there is any named distinction between systems with and without "sets of zeros" like how we count to 10s. So i was wondering if anyone here knows what that's called, a system where the highest number in any set is treated as a single-digit like the rest of the numbers...

This is a game of borrowing and loaning words! To give our conlangs a more naturalistic flair, this game can help us get realistic loans into our language by giving us an artificial-ish "world" to pull words from!

The Telephone Game will be posted every Monday and Friday, hopefully.

Rules

1) Post a word in your language, with IPA and a definition.

Note: try to show your word inflected, as it would appear in a typical sentence. This can be the source of many interesting borrowings in natlangs (like how so many Arabic words were borrowed with the definite article fossilized onto it! algebra, alcohol, etc.)

2) Respond to a post by adapting the word to your language's phonology, and consider shifting the meaning of the word a bit!

3) Sometimes, you may see an interesting phrase or construction in a language. Instead of adopting the word as a loan word, you are welcome to calque the phrase -- for example, taking skyscraper by using your language's native words for sky and scraper. If you do this, please label the post at the start as Calque so people don't get confused about your path of adopting/loaning.

Last Time...

Nambano by /u/gupdoo3

xabe /ʃabe/ (noun) key

puribado /pɯɾibado/ (adjective) private

Take care of yourselves and each other

Peace, Love, & Conlanging ❤️

I’m using my goblin language in a faux academia project that also involves Edgar Allan Poe. Basically, how would Poe’s stories differ in a world where goblins were real. I’d like to get some reactions to what I’ve written so far. It’s something like 4,000 words (only a few lines of Goblin. No translation to worry about). Would anyone be interested in reading it and giving feedback?

Hey guys, here are the declension paradigms for my Indo-European conlang, Danetian. You can read more about the language over here.

You will see that the language is very conservative, preserving the PIE ablaut in words that used to have it.

Do these forms feel familiar to you?