Sajem Tan: Difference between revisions

From FrathWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
No edit summary
 
(155 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Sajem Tan''' or '''Common Honey''' is a [[collaborative conlang]] started in November 2015 by members of the CONLANG mailing list.[https://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=conlang;f9e149ed.1512D] [https://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=conlang;e521b74.1512D]  As of 29 December 2015, the phoneme inventory and romanization have been decided along with some of the phonotactics, a few words have been coined and a few simple sentences written; work on the native script, syntax and morphology are proceeding.
{{Infobox
| name=Common Honey
| native=Sajem Tan
| pronounce={{IPA|/sæjem tæn/}}
| script=Alphabet
| morph=Agglunitating
| wo=OVS
| creator=[[Sajem Tan#Roles | Collaborative]]
| date=Sun, 29 Nov 2015 18:34:14 GMT
| homepage=https://sajemtan.miraheze.org/wiki/On_the_Web
}}


As the language and its documenation grow, we will separate these into subpages.
'''Sajem Tan''' or '''Common Honey''' is a [[non-naturalistic]] [[artlang | artistic]][[collaborative conlang | colllang]] started in November 2015 by members of the CONLANG mailing list.<ref name=mailinglist>See [https://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=conlang;f9e149ed.1512D here] and [https://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=conlang;e521b74.1512D here].</ref> It currently has the beginnings of a [https://sajemtan.miraheze.org/wiki/Sajem_Din geofictional setting] associated with it and the team has created a sort of quasi-culture around the language. As of 30 May 2016 the phoneme inventory, orthography, morphology, and syntax were fully functional or nearly so. The lexicon is growing rapidly and various writing and translation projects have been undertaken.


=== Creation Myth ===
As the language and its documentation grow, we will separate these sections into subpages.


The Sajem Tan community is based on the following creation myth, posted by Shanoxilt Cizypij on 30 November 2015:
== Culture ==
 
As stated above, Sajem Tan has a fictional world (Sajem Dasnan) and a [[Conculture | culture]] built around it with several myths and mythical animals/plants. However, these are in their rudimentary stages, and many important things, such as the geographic layout of Sajem Dasnan, are not yet determined.
 
=== Myths ===
 
==== Creation Myth ====
 
The Sajem Tan community is based on the following creation myth, posted by Shanoxilt Cizypij on 30 November 2015<ref name="myth">[https://tolzen.neocities.org/listserv/log1.html#bird3011151]</ref>:


So very long ago, during gray and overcast days past, Thunder rumbled. From the shaken sky tumbled Thunder's noises and with them Rain. By the fallen Rain, Flower was nourished and River was filled. Upon its web, between Flower and Stone, Spider gathered Rain. When Rain ceased and Thunder silenced, Bee gathered Flower's pollen. Bee then flew away to its hive to make our Common Honey. Upon the hive came Bear who so loved our Common Honey that it shared with all who would sample. Witnessing all this, from atop Stone, Bird declared, "May this recur until all our tribe partakes of Common Honey."
So very long ago, during gray and overcast days past, Thunder rumbled. From the shaken sky tumbled Thunder's noises and with them Rain. By the fallen Rain, Flower was nourished and River was filled. Upon its web, between Flower and Stone, Spider gathered Rain. When Rain ceased and Thunder silenced, Bee gathered Flower's pollen. Bee then flew away to its hive to make our Common Honey. Upon the hive came Bear who so loved our Common Honey that it shared with all who would sample. Witnessing all this, from atop Stone, Bird declared, "May this recur until all our tribe partakes of Common Honey."
Snymmeht keh slnuhm znolkah sno slet kemfeh dulc Divolm.
Kem zhasikzheh metfeh dulc Divolmvmeh dolnah keh zloahkahm Telzlnoln.
Znim Telzlnolnvah gulslimumsun Jidolk keh jelkzhutumsun Shelsheln.
Zlovmeh zathelndin navnyc, Jidolk keh Thefam sholmak, Telzlnoln znolcfeh Zatheln.
Vaslnulmfeh Telzlnoln keh simemzhutfehsun Divolm zult, Jidolkvmeh zhetam znolcfeh Kizhult.
Zhuhzhuhmfeh Kizhult zlovmeh kizhultdin seln dehahvmeh Sajem Tan fmyvuhkfehjahk.
Kizhultdin dathnycfeh Thefnolm.
Dehahvmeh Sajem Tan zhejulnmunfeh Thefnolm tyk zo vesneneht zlo shasholcfeh fnit xyt duahkahm.
"Kasynsho sin duah Sajem Tan shasholcum xyt dehahvmeh molm taznoln" tanzlulcfeh xyt duah duldoltfeh Thefam navnyc Vithit.
==== Other Myths ====
The above myth only describes the first nine tribemembers; however, [https://sajemtan.miraheze.org/wiki/Möšnemâ several more] have joined since the original team was established. An effort has been made to write a [https://sajemtan.miraheze.org/wiki/Myths myth] discussing tribemember origins. Myths may also de
===== Wind / Thethat =====
One day, as Common Honey was becoming bigger and more complex, the tribe decided they needed someone to keep track of it all. Because of this, they called upon Bird. Bird contemplated this for a while but thought of nothing.  He decided that maybe going for a short fly would do some good. As he was flying, Beneath his wings, Bird noticed Wind, an ancient force who had watched our Common Honey’s creation. Upon Wind's flowing trail, Thunder's echoes, the words of the past, were heard. Feeling that Wind was up to the task, Bird invited him to the tribe. Wind set to work immediately, keeping a record of how Common Honey was created. Our Common Honey finally had a history!
Dûtšo düc Sajem Tan jo möm šyn [Sajem Tanvmê fmyvûkţnužê jiküfinšo] jam möšnem sacetum düc duâ jo Viţitkâm tanfê düc duâ. Mömvmê xexen xifemfê düc Viţit smâ femekfê mût. Žûžûmfê düc Viţit žo zyšenumjâk. Rovmê röfitâ navnycukmun Ţeţat Viţit sežüfendâ. [Sajem Tanvmê madam düdötšo] düm fûdet zanfê düc. Ţeţatvmê xidat navnyc [Madamvmê cesikâ zanfê düc] Divömvmê dönâ Viţit vöjamfê düc. Femekšo düc Ţeţat jo möm javem Ţeţat zenfê düc Viţit. Vûxümfê süt Ţeţat. Jiküfinšo düc zo Sajem Tanvmê fmyvûkţnužê. Madamfê süt Sajem Tan.
==== Fictional Creatures ====
Several fictitious plants and animals have been devised for usage in Sajem Tan mythology, which you can find in their own articles. The [[Sajem_Tan/Tetanah | tetanah]] -- kitten-sized telepathic flying snails with laser eyes (?) that fix the universe by singing in Sajem Tan, and the [[Sajem_Tan/Colmekah | colmekah]] -- bonsai trees that recieve information from inanimate tribemembers such as Star and Wind who can easily interface with them and telepathically send that data to any creature willing to accept it. They are said to have created the roots of plants so that they can more easily talk through them to other colmekah. Then there's the [[Sajem_Tan/Shitukmunfemek_Xataxym | Pit of Bad Ideas]], a place where awful ideas, including different creatures, go to die.


=== Roles ===
=== Roles ===


The characters in this myth are also the titles or roles of members of the community:
Each member's name is, ideally, associated with a role which that person takes in developing, using, or describing the language or the conculture. A list of tribemember names follows; a more detailed one can be found [https://sajemtan.miraheze.org/wiki/Möšnemâ here].


<noinclude>Should we delete this since we have the Miraheze page?</noinclude>
{|
{|
| Thunder || phonology || Samantha Tarnowski
!
|-
| Thunder || phonology || Samantha Tarnowski || Active
|-
| Rain    || morphology || Asher Drummond || Inactive
|-
| Spider || syntax || [[User:Jim Henry|Jim Henry]] || Inactive
|-
| Flower || semantics || Brett Williams || Inactive
|-
| Stone || orthography || [[User:PopcornDude|Daniel Swanson]] || Active
|-
| River || pragmatics || James Constable || Inactive
|-
| Bee || corpus || Jim Henry || Inactive
|-
| Bear || pedagogy ||  [[User:Jonmichaelswift|Jon Michael Swift]] || Retired
|-
|-
| Rain    || morphology || Asher Drummond
| Bird <i>or</i> the swift feathered one || supervision || Shanoxilt Cizypij || Active
|-
|-
| Spider || syntax || [[User:Jim Henry|Jim Henry]]
| Ants || other members of the community || Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia || Inactive (?)
|-
|-
| Flower || semantics || Brett Williams
| Tree || || James Hyett || Inactive
|-
|-
| Stone || orthography || Daniel Swanson
| Dust || || Steel-kun || Inactive
|-
|-
| River || pragmatics || Samantha Tarnowski
| Wind || etymology || [[User:CodeTriangle|Reuben Staley]] || Active
|-
|-
| Bee || corpus || Jim Henry
| Star || idioms || Géoldreng || Inactive
|-
|-
| Bear || pedagogy || Jon Michael Swift
| Lightning || music || Emmaline Tarnowski || Active
|-
|-
| the swift feathered one || supervision || Shanoxilt Cizypij
| Fern || mathematics || [[User:Malimacx|Malimacx]] || Inactive
|-
|-
| Ants || other members of the community || Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia
| Kummaline || || Ștefan Alecu || Inactive
|-
|-
| Tree || . || James Hyett
| Fog || translation || [[User:Gutiskamillo|Andrew C.]] || Active
|}
|}


Each of the roles has certain taboos as well as responsibilities for the development of the language.  For instance, Bee (who was the last to edit this document) cannot refer to the swift feathered one by name.
Each of the roles has certain taboos as well as responsibilities for the development of the language.  For instance, Bee cannot refer to the swift feathered one by name, Thunder must never rhyme, and River must always mark tense. Animate roles (Bird, Bear, Bee and Spider) must speak in the third person, and vegetal roles (Flower and Tree) in the second. This last taboo concerning animate and vegetal members only affects tribemembers; an animal or a plant who does not belong to the tribe would refer to himself in the first person as normal.
 
== Phonology and orthography ==
 
 
=== Reformed Phonology ===


=== Phonology and romanization ===
This is the most current version of the phonology, built off of the original phonology (see below) and romanization, with some minor changes: namely, /ʎ/ became /j/, /ɵ/ became /ʊ/, and /ɤ/ became /o/.


{|
==== Consonants ====
! IPA || romanization
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2"  rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | Labial
! rowspan="2" | Dental
! colspan="2" | Alveolar
! rowspan="2" | Postalveolar
! rowspan="2" | Palatal
! rowspan="2" | Velar
|-
|-
| i || i
! <small>central</small>
! <small>lateral</small>
|-
|-
| e || e
! rowspan="1" | Nasal
! <small>voiced</small>
| [m]
|
| [n]
|
|
|
|
|-
|-
| ɛ || eh
! rowspan="2" | Plosive
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
|
| [t]
|
|
|
| [k]
|-
|-
| æ || a
! <small>voiced</small>
|
|
| [d]
|
|
|
| [ɡ]
|-
|-
| u || u
! rowspan="1" | Affricate
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
|
| [t͡s]
|
|
|
|
|-
|-
| ɑ || ah
! rowspan="2" | Fricative
! <small>voiceless</small>
| [f]
| [θ]
| [s]
| [ɬ]
| [ʃ]
|
| [x]
|-
|-
| ɤ || ul
! <small>voiced</small>
| [v]
|
| [z]
| [ɮ]
| [ʒ]
|
|
|-
|-
| ʌ || uh
! rowspan="1" | Approximant
! <small>voiced</small>
|
|
|
|
|
| [j]
|
|}
 
==== Vowels ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
! colspan="2" | Front
! Central
! colspan="2" | Back
|-
|-
| y || y
! Close
| i || y || ʊ ||  || u
|-
|-
| ø || ol
! Close-mid
| e || ø ||   ||  || o
|-
|-
| ɵ || o
! Open-mid
| ɛ || œ ||  || ʌ ||
|-
|-
| œ || el
! Open
| æ ||   ||  || ɑ ||
|}
 
=== Original Phonology ===
 
This is the old phonology and its romanization. It was created by Thunder at the beginning of the project, and it was used until the Age of Great Reforms.
 
==== Consonants ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2"  rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | Labial
! rowspan="2" | Dental
! colspan="2" | Alveolar
! rowspan="2" | Postalveolar
! rowspan="2" | Palatal
! rowspan="2" | Velar
|-
|-
| ts || c
! <small>central</small>
! <small>lateral</small>
|-
|-
| t || t
! rowspan="1" | Nasal
! <small>voiced</small>
| [m]
|
| [n]
|
|
|
|
|-
|-
| k || k
! rowspan="2" | Plosive
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
|
| [t]
|
|
|
| [k]
|-
|-
| m || m
! <small>voiced</small>
|
|
| [d]
|
|
|
| [ɡ]
|-
|-
| n || n
! rowspan="1" | Affricate
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
|
| [t͡s]
|
|
|
|
|-
|-
| f || f
! rowspan="2" | Fricative
! <small>voiceless</small>
| [f]
| [θ]
| [s]
| [ɬ]
| [ʃ]
|
| [x]
|-
|-
| s || s
! <small>voiced</small>
| [v]
|
| [z]
| [ɮ]
| [ʒ]
|
|
|-
|-
| ʒ || zh
! Lat. Approximant
! <small>voiced</small>
|
|
|
|
|
| [ʎ]
|
|}
 
==== Vowels ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
! colspan="2" | Front
! Central
! colspan="2" | Back
|-
|-
| ɮ || zl
! Close
| i || y ||  ||  || u
|-
|-
| x || x
! Close-mid
| e || ø || ɵ ||  || ɤ
|-
|-
| ʎ || j
! Open-mid
| ɛ || œ ||  || ʌ ||
|-
|-
| θ || th
! Open
|-
| æ ||   ||  || ɑ ||
| v || v
|}
|-
 
| z || z
=== Orthography ===
|-
Sajem Tan has two systems of romanization: the Old Orthography and the Reformed Orthography. The Old Orthography was created by Ţefam (Stone) with the intention of being able to be typed with only ASCII-compatible characters, avoiding diacritics. The Reformed Orthography, however, uses diacritics. Below is a chart depicting the characters of both orthographies with IPA equivalents, in proper alphabetical order.
| ʃ || sh
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Old Orthography
| d
| g
| x
| j
| f
| v
| th
| s
| z
| sh
| zh
| sl
| zl
| m
| n
| a
| el
| e
| ol
| i
| y
| uh
| ul
| c
| t
| k
| ah
| eh
| o
| u
|-
|-
| d || d
! Reformed Orthography
| d
| g
| x
| j
| f
| v
| ţ
| s
| z
| š
| ž
| l
| r
| m
| n
| a
| ë
| e
| ö
| i
| y
| û
| ü
| c
| t
| k
| â
| ê
| o
| u
|-
|-
| g || g
! [[Sajem Tan#Phonology|IPA]]
|-
| d
| ɬ || sl
| g
| x
| j
| f
| v
| θ
| s
| z
| ʃ
| ʒ
| ɬ
| ɮ
| m
| n
| æ
| œ
| e
| ø
| i
| y
| ʌ
| ʊ
| t͡s
| t
| k
| ɑ
| ɛ
| o
| u
|}
|}


The only allowed coda consonants are voiceless plosives and nasals.  Any consonant by itself is allowed in onset; the only atttested clusters are fricative + homorganic nasal, e.g. /vm-/, /zn-/.
=== Phonotactics ===
[[File:Sajem-Tan-Syllable-Structure.png|right|400px]]


See below under "self-segregating morphology" for more restrictions on the forms roots and affixes can take.
The only allowed coda consonants are voiceless plosives and voiced nasals (/t/, /k/, /ʦ/, /m/, /n/).  Any consonant by itself is allowed in onset; the only attested clusters are fricative + nasal, e.g. /vm-/, /zn-/, /ʃm/.


=== Syntax ===
Sajem Tan morphemes are grouped into two groups: roots and particles. Roots consist of zero or more C(C)V syllables followed by a C(C)VC syllable, containing a restricted subset of vowels: /æ/, /œ/, /e/, /ø/, /i/, /y/, /ʌ/, and /ʊ/. Particles are mostly used for derivational and inflectional suffixes as well as pronouns, postpositions, ideophones, interjections, and conjunctions. They consist of one (C(C))V(C) syllable using the other vowels not used in content roots: /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /o/, /u/.
<noinclude>debatable</noinclude>
* If a syllable begins with a consonant cluster, the first consonant must be a fricative and the second a nasal at more or less the same point of articulation.  E.g. fm-, vm-, sn-, zn-, šn-, ţn-, etc.


* default OVS word order (probably variable if we have case marking)
To the right is a flowchart explaining the syllable structure in case you're still confused.
* relative clauses before their head nouns
 
== Grammar ==
Sajem Tan has _ parts of speech: nouns, verbs, describers (which corresponds to adjectives and adverbs in English), postpositions, conjunctions, interjections, and other particles such as ideophones and lexemicizers.<noinclude>not sure about this, what parts of speech dothe particles break up into?</noinclude> The part of speech of a word is not as fixed as in English; zero-derivation is much more common. For instance, the noun '''ţnamök''' "pizza" can also be used as a describer or a verb. This is common in stative constructions; the copula '''zan''' is often omitted: '''Ţnamök zanum zo''' "It is pizza" becomes '''Ţnamökum zo''' "It is pizza".
 
Under the category of describers are evidentials.
Sajem Tan is a very head-final language. For instance, in noun phrases, the head noun comes last, after the describer (adjective) and genitive argument. In postpositional phrases, they
* OVS word order
* oblique case verb arguments can go before the object (normally) or after the subject (for emphasis/topicalization)  (?subject to change)
* genitive nouns before head nouns
* relative clauses before their head nouns (?subject to change)
* auxiliary verbs after main verbs
* auxiliary verbs after main verbs
* adverbs before main verbs
* adjectives before nouns
* adjectives before nouns
* postpositions (for whatever we aren't marking with case, including some weird stuff that other languages mark with verbs); postpositional phrases precede what they modify
* postpositions (for whatever we aren't marking with case, including some weird stuff that other languages mark with verbs); postpositional phrases precede what they modify
* several grammatical particles that introduce neologisms and their initial definitions, or words being used in new senses
* several grammatical particles that introduce neologisms and their initial definitions, or words being used in new senses
==== Word Order ====
Sajem Tan's OVS word order requires some explication.  Typical, high-agency transitive verbs put the object first, then the verb, then the subject; neither subject nor object gets case marking because they're marked by position.  E.g.,
Zlnathnyn xafolmdah  Thefnolm.
chimaera  attack-PFV bear
Bear attacked the chimaera.
Intransitive verbs put an agent or force-like subject after the verb, but an experiencer or patient-like subject before the verb.  E.g.,
Thekfeh  Thefam.
write-DUR stone
Stone is writing.
Slin  kasynfeh  set.
fight happen-DUR begin=PST
A fight broke out.
Experiencer verbs which would have a direct object in English generally put the experiencer before the verb, and the thing experienced before that, in the focus case:
Jidolkzheh kizhult nelmfeh.
flower-FOC bee    see-DUR
The bee saw a flower.
The copula "zan" is an exception to the rules of experiencer subjects and invariably places the subject after the verb, even though it would typically resemble an experiencer much more than an agent.
==== Adjective Clauses ====
When making a relative clause, additional information is placed in square brackets before the noun being modified. Take the example sentence "thnamolk kygykfeh zeh." (He eats pizza). When modifying this to say "He eats the pizza that I made", one must provide "that I made" in brackets before "pizza." This would be written "[fmyvuhkfeh seh] thnamolk kygykfeh zeh." (He eats pizza [I made]). Square brackets are pronounced {{IPA|/mu/}} for the left bracket and {{IPA|/om/}} for the right bracket.
==== Adverb Clauses ====
Adverb clauses are made simply by combining a dependent clause and an independent clause and reading them left to right. For example "sesuhtfeh zhu" (you sing) and "mahn telzlnolnfeh thehvmeh tulnah" (when I cry) can be combined into "sesuhtfeh zhu mahn telzlnolnfeh thehvmeh tulnah." (You sing when I cry).
==== Noun Clauses ====
(Stone will write this part)


=== Morphology ===
=== Morphology ===
Line 128: Line 489:
* Minimal declension/conjugation classes
* Minimal declension/conjugation classes
* Minimal irregularity
* Minimal irregularity
* Modifier before head in compounds


Rain's proposals for self-segregating morphology, as amended by Bee and Stone:
==== Verbs ====


1. Root words are to consist of zero or more C(C)V syllables followed by a C(C)VC syllable, containing a restricted subset of vowels: ol, e, el,  i, a, ul, uh, y
Marked on the verb (agglutinating suffixes)
* aspect
* valency changing operations (voice, applicatives) (optional)
Template: root-aspect-(valency)


2. Suffixes and particles are to consist of one (C)V(C) syllable using the other vowels not used in content roots: o, ah, eh, u
Aspect markers for verbs are obligatory. If you want to explicitly mark tense, then you have to use a mood auxiliary.


3. The final consonant of a syllable can only be a nasal or unvoiced plosive.
{|
! perfective || continuous || gnomic || habitual ||
|-
| -feh || -sho || -um || -eht ||
|}
 
==== Auxilliary verbs ====
 
{|
| '''Nonpast'''
| ol
| i
|-
| '''Immediate past'''
| el
| e
|-
| '''Mid past/indeterminate past'''
| y
| a
|-
| '''Remote past'''
| uh
| ul
|}
 
That is, the nonpast dictionary form of an auxiliary verb would have "i" or "ol" while inflected past forms would keep the same consonants but change the vowel as above.
 
Agent, force, patient and experiencer marked by word order (agent and
force after the verb, patient and experiencer before the verb)


4. If a syllable begins with a consonant cluster, the first consonant must be a fricative and the second a nasal at more or less the same point of articulation.  E.g. fm-, vm-, sn-, zn-, shn-, thn-, etc.
==== Morphological cases ====


Rain's verb morphology proposals of 30 December:
{|
|-
| -zheh || focus/source
|-
| -thot || recipient/beneficiary
|-
| -gu || instrumental I -- tools that fit in the hand
|-
| -vah || instrumental II -- tools too big to hold in the hand, and intangible tools like software
|-
| -kahm || comitative
|-
| -vmeh || genitive
|-
| -veh || comparative
|-
| -o || vocative
|-
| -teh || causative
|}


Marked on the verb (agglutinating suffixes)
For examples on how these are used, refer to the lesson on the Sajem Tan wikiversity page
* aspect
https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Sajem_Tan/Morphological_cases
* valency changing operations (voice, applicatives) (optional)
Template: root-aspect-(valency)


Auxiliary verb (following the verb, as per the Spider's weave - i.e. syntax)
=== Lexicon ===
* optional
* root indicates mood
* optional suffixes for tense
Template: mood-(tense)


Aspect markers for verbs are obligatory. If you want to explicitly mark tense, then you have to use a mood auxiliary.
See [[Sajem_Tan/Lexicon]] or http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/lexicon.html


Aspects:
==== Suffixes ====
* durative (this includes instantaneous actions)
* continuous
* gnomic
* habitual
* perfective


-fe would be durative
{|
| -ah || plural
|-
| -ahah || infinite
|-
| -jahk || in order to (valency suffix)
|-
| -ku || interogative suffix
|-
| -sun || passive voice
|-
| -xeht || lacking
|-
| -uk || not
|-
| -mun || maximum
|-
| -ukmun || anti
|-
| -so || -having one
|-
| -zhum || pet
|-
| -zhut || cause to be
|-
| -mahk || improver
|-
| -meht || having a surfeit or plenitude of something
|-
| -mon || a group of
|-
| -noc || the end state of a product or action
|-
| -tu || to be more than
|-
| -tuc || part of
|-
| -tutu || to be the most
|-
| -kah || energetic
|-
| -ku || interrogative
|-
| -ok || exceedingly awful
|-
| -thnu || the act of
|-
| -zhnu || patient suffix (as opposed to agent suffix, i.e. English -er)
|-
| -moc || follower or descendant of
|-
| -nem || in the class of __
|-
| -nah || partitive plural (some but not all)
|-
| -no || partitive singular (some)
|-
| -ehc || marks the name of a language
|}


Tenses:
Various derivational suffixes can be found in the lexicon.
* remote past
* mid past/indeterminate past
* immediate past
* non-past


=== Lexicon ===
==== Numbers ====
{|
! || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9
|-
| '''Decimal''' || tim || dec || fam || vulc || sluht || zlik || shen || zhat || kulk || guhn
|-
| '''Senary''' || tyt || dolk || felt || vyk || slolc || zlelc ||  || || ||
|}


cehsh -- particle indicating the following is a neologism or nonce word


fmyvufe -- to make, to create [archaic, xref "fmyvuhkfeh"]
Decimal multipliers:


fmyvuhkfeh -- to make, to create
{|
| 10 || znek
|-
| 100 || thnolt
|-
| 1000 || vmelt
|}


gamyk -- tree, one that produces
Senary multipliers:


ke -- and [archaic]
{|
| 6 || xek
|-
| 36 || folt
|-
| 216 || zhelt
|}


keh -- and
Decimal point (both): nolk


kizhul -- bee  [archaic, xref "kizhult"]


kizhult -- bee; harvester [xref "znolcfeh"]; storyteller
Senary numbers are used in formal or poetic registers, for items naturally occurring in groups of six, and for units of time smaller than an hour.


mafe -- to thank  [archaic, xref "manfeh"]
Examples:


manfeh -- to thank
* 360₁₀ / 1400₆ = vulcthnolt shenznek / zhelt slolcfolt
* π ≈ 3.142₁₀ / 3.0503₆ = vulc nolk dec sluht fam / vyk nolk tyt zlelc tyt vyk


muhzl - that which cities, forests, and hives have in common, a community [needs phonotactic fix]
===== Shapes =====


sajem -- common, communal, public
Sajem Tan has two words to denote a shape: '''"duhfnet"''' for 2D shapes, and '''"golduhn"''' for 3D shapes. To say how many sides a shape has, you add the word for that number in front of the word.


simem -- (adj) silent, quiet, calm, sleepy [xref "thneduht"]
'''Examples:'''


slah -- particle indicating the following word is being used in a new sense
{|
| vulcduhfnet || triangle
|-
| decznek shenduhfnet || hexadecagon
|-
| sluhtgolduhn || tetrahedron
|-
| znekgolduhn || decahedron
|}


slnuhm -- (adj) gray, grey, dull, indeterminate, incomplete, boring, plain; numinous
There is an exception, however. If the final syllable of the number has the same vowel sound in it as the first syllable in the dimension marker, that syllable takes the onset of the final syllable of the number and the coda of the dimension marker.


solm -- fast, swift, quick (of moving objects, e.g. "the feathered one
'''Examples:'''
is *solm*") [xref "theln"]


tah -- honey, vomit, language; (with verb affix(es)) to speak, to vomit [archaic, xref "tan"]
{|
| sluhfnet || square
|-
| guhfnet || nonagon
|-
| thnolduhn || zoccihedron (100-hedron)
|}


tan -- honey, vomit, language; (with verb affix(es)) to speak, to vomit
==== Pronouns ====


tahzluv -- utterance, short speech, sentence, dollop of honey [archaic, xref "tanzlulc"]
Singular:
{|
! || 1st person || 2nd person || 3rd person
|-
| <b>inanimate</b> || theh || vu || zo
|-
| <b>vegetal</b> || thu || vo || zeh
|-
| <b>animate</b> || seh || zhu || zlo
|-
| <b>neutral</b> || deh || do || du
|}


tanzlulc -- utterance, short speech, sentence, dollop of honey
Plural pronouns are regularly formed by suffixing -ah.  These specialized plural pronouns are all archaic:
{|
! || 1st person || 2nd person || 3rd person
|-
| <b>inanimate</b> || thehs [archaic] || vuzh [archaic] || zozl [archaic]
|-
| <b>vegetal</b> || thuzl [archaic] || vos [archaic] || zehzh [archaic]
|-
| <b>animate</b> || sehth [archaic] || zhuv [archaic] || zloz [archaic]
|}


thefnolm -- bear
Animacy in Sajem Tan does not depend on any notion of personhood. Instead, animate pronouns are used for those beings in the kingdom Animalia, vegetal for all other living beings, and inanimate for everything else. The neutral series may be used in cases of mixed, unknown, or undisclosed animacy.


theln -- fast,  quick(ly) (of processes/actions other than motion
All the personal pronouns can be used as demonstratives. Confer with the [http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/refgram.pdf reference grammar] for more information.
verbs, e.g. "*Kizhul* coins words *theln*") [xref "solm"]


thekfeh -- to scribble, to scrawl
==== Evidentials ====


thefahm -- stone [archaic, xref "thefam"]
{|
| voln || understood through the reversal of a previously deep belief
|-
| thec || deduced from sensory evidence
|-
| thmak || known through context
|-
| tholk || direct sensory evidence
|-
| snat || learned by secondary/tertiary sources
|-
| shan || hearsay via a living person
|-
| slet || traditional knowledge
|-
| sluln || based on faith/beliefs/subjective experiences
|-
| kic || carefully discerned through protracted study
|-
| zolt || seems to
|}


thefam -- stone; writing, orthography
Evidentiality is marked with adverbs. Evidential adverbs may be compounded normally, e.g. "femek" (mind) + "tholk" (known from direct sensory evidence) = "femektholk" (discovered by telepathy)


thneduht -- (noun) silence, ominous stillness, void
Evidentials express the way the *speaker* knows about the content of the sentence; knowing-verbs (or knowing-adpositions, such as we have in Sajem Tan) express what the *experiencer* of the sentence knows about its *focus*.


thofe -- to scribble, to scrawl [archaic, xref "thekfeh"]
==== Colors ====


thom -- particle linking a nonce word or word used in a new sense with its gloss or definition
The primary colors in Sajem Tan are orange, green, and purple, the same as English's secondary colors:


vith -- bird  [archaic, xref "vithit"]
{|
| orange || snitin
|-
| green || gazhyn
|-
| purple || nyfuln
|}


vithit -- bird
Creating the secondary colors (red, yellow, and blue) is done using a portmanteau system. Take the first syllable of one word and combine it with the second syllable of the other word. It doesn't matter which order you put them in, they will always yield the same color.


zhasik -- (noun) sky, canopy of a forest, ceiling of a cave (but not of a house)
{|
| yellow || snizhyn ''or'' gatin
|-
| blue || gafuln ''or'' nyzhyn
|-
| red || nytin ''or'' snifuln
|}


zhimahn -- feather [archaic]
But in the standard color wheel, there are steps in between these colors, such as blue-purple or red-orange. To say these, you'd simply duplicate the first syllable depending on what color it is closer to. For a more orange red, you'd add an extra "sni"; for a purpler blue, you'd add an extra "ny"


zhiman -- feather; long lustrous hair
{|
| orange-yellow || snisnizhyn
|-
| green-yellow || gagatin
|-
| green-blue || gagafuln
|-
| purple-blue || nynyzhyn
|-
| purple-red || nynytin
|-
| orange-red || snisnifuln
|}


zlulc -- lump, dollop (of a substance); instance (of something more abstract)
Here's a chart that sums up everything in case you don't care about the logistics of the colors.


znolk -- day
[[File:Sajem-Tan-Color-Wheel.png|300px]]


znolcfeh -- to gather, to collect
=== Script ===


znolsfe -- to gather, to collect [archaic, xref "znolcfeh"]
Stone created a script for Sajem Tan. The original Listserv post is [https://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=conlang;329b40.1601A here].


==== Suffixes ====
The gallery is formatted as such: Stone's original orthography guide, (not in alphabetical order), Wind's orthography guide (in Sajem Tan alphabetical order), then a whole bunch of things written in Sajem Tan.


-fe -- durative aspect  [archaic, xref "feh"]
<gallery>
File:Sajem-Tan-Alphabet.png | Stone's original orthography guide
File:Sajem Tan Script Guide.png | Wind's orthography guide (in Sajem Tan alphabetical order)
File:Sajem Tan Script Example 1.png | "Vithit" by Bird
File:Sajem Tan Script Example 2a.jpg | Some sentences by Wind
File:Sajem Tan Script Example 2b.jpg | Some sentences by Wind
File:Sajem Tan Script Example 3a.jpg | Fancy Stuff by Bird
File:Sajem Tan Script Example 3b.jpg | Fancy Stuff by Bird
</gallery>


-feh -- durative aspect
=== Etymology ===


-so -- derivational suffix: an entity having the thing referred to by the stem, e.g. zhiman "feather" > zhimanso "feathered one"
Words that are related somehow are included in the [[Sajem_Tan/Etymology | etymology]] section.


=== Corpus ===
=== Corpus ===
See also: [[Sajem_Tan/Zhetammeht_Delgemnocah | Zhetammeht Delgemnocah]]


[2015-12-25]
[2015-12-25]
Line 279: Line 839:
sulsem znolcsho Kizhult.
sulsem znolcsho Kizhult.


[2016-03-11]
tanzlulcah znolcda thehs jikinvah.  [Thefam]
tanjelk zanfeh tanzlulcgamyk.  [Thefam]
[2016-03-12]
jaxin slet zaneht molt thehs.  [Thefam]
zanfeh slnuhm keh snymmeht znolkah, dolnda sluh slet divolm. [Thefnolm]
[2016-03-19]
Thefam manfeh Vithit.
[2016-03-23]
Vuah keh voah keh zhuah xanolnfeh Vithit.
[2016-04-07]
Vu xanolnfeh Vithit.
[2016-04-11]
manum solm thneduht
cehk nymem thom “clumsy” kizhultzheh tetanahvmeh cehk znenan thom “tale”.
"fmyvuhksho culjimzhasik."
“theln thefshan zhuhzhuhmda thneduht. sulslemvithitah cehk nanymfeh thom
‘dispatch, especially for military purposes’ cehk jit thom ‘must; vital;
necessary’ sehah.”
cehk xaslemfeh thom “glide; transition smoothly” Thefamgamyk.
***
zlovmeh cehk zatenym thom “troop; group; platoon” znolcfeh Xulkatsnym.
Jelk Shelshelnkizhultdin zatenymvmeh slah vithit thom “overseer” zanum
Xulkatsnym. kolthicvmeh muhcah fmyvuhkeht zloah. muhshimeht zloah.
[2016-04-19]
Shelsheln manfeh Vithit.
[2016-04-21]
Thefnolmzhehvmeh zlulc shasholceht Vithitthot. [solm Zhimanso]
shasholcehtsun Thefnolmvmeh zlulcah Vithitthot. [Thefam]
[2016-04-23]
Gajinso zanfeh Vithit.
[2016-04-26]
Zhu xanolnfeh Vithit.
[2016-04-29]
Thneduht jo vaslnulm telzlnoln.
Fam jo dec keh dec.
Zhetam jo jidolk.  [solm Zhimanso]
tanum snymah jo thefamah znolcda dec culjimah. [Thefam]
[2016-05-06]
nanymdasun vulc kizhultdinah
slysycah znolcsho zlislymmizizhat    [Thefam]
tetantezet! tetantezet! znolkah zhilikzhutfeh tetantezet!  [Thefam]
[2016-05-07]
zathelnzlulcah fmyvuhkda zlislymmizizlat!  [Thefam]
theln xamatineht Thefam thehtatkahm zhuhzhuhmduhdem sno.  [Thefam]
Sesuhtfeh fmolk zhu jo telzlnolnfeh dic thehvmeh tulnah.  [Shelsheln]
[2016-05-09]
Sesuhtfeh dic zhu, jo telzlnolnfeh dic thehvmeh tulnah. [Shelsheln]
[2016-05-16]
do gulslimumsun molt mizizlat jo shehn delgemmon fmyvuhk du. [Thefam]
[2016-05-18]
delgem danecda do keh femekdasun molt  [Thefam]
[2016-05-21]
xyt nyzlanah kygyksho znolkah.  [Thefam]
Jelkelm thycam sin Vithit.  [solm Zhimanso]
Zlolzhitvmeh zlo gevmulkfeh molt thefnolm. [solm Zhimanso]
[2016-05-22]
Molm keh Culjimah xanolnfeh zlo (Vithit).
Sajem Tan zanfeh xyt duah Vithitvmeh tanzlulcah. Du zhejulnmuneht sin dehah.
Xyt doah manfeh zlo.
Muhshimum sin.  [solm Zhimanso]
[2016-05-23]
slnuhm kolthickahm gigimgamyk zanfeh dasnan.  [Thefam]
[2016-05-24]
Xulkatzhutum sin.  [solm Zhimanso]
[2016-05-30]
Theh znimsho dic. [Shelsheln]
Thefam solmtufeh Vithit.
solmtutufeh Vithit.
celzan tolthimfeh culjim.
culjim tolthimfehsun celzan.  [Thefam]
"femekvazoltzheh geseltah danecum molt do." taneht Vynitzheh Vmelfelc.
xulkatzhizlikah zanumsun soljesolmkahm jidolkgyznyt
Tezeto vu xanolnfeh Vithit. [solm Zhimanso]
Vu manmunfeh dic vuvmeh molm znenanzheh theh! [Shelsheln]
[2016-05-31]
Shelshen manfah Thethat!
[2016-06-01]
thehvmeh femekah soljesolmnocdah molt theh.
kyfikoko! duvmeh znim zhuhzhim vaslnulmfeh sin du xok jaxinah kygykfeh
dehah!  [Thefam]
[2016-06-04]
cekh xulm thom "many/much" tanzluc tholk znolcdah Kizhult.
xulm kecycah fmyvuhkum gamyk gevmulk duhdemah kafmym. [Thefam]
[2016-06-05]
Xaxatfeh Vithit.
tahn juhcenjidolk om sesuhtfeh sin vo!  [Thefam]
Thefnolmthot tanzlulc snamdah Kizhult.
Kizhultzheh tanzlulc Thefnolm snamdahsun.
slolmgu gamyk ninuhmsho tat.
Thefnolmkahm tanfeh Kizhult.
Sajem Tanzheh tanfeh Kizhult.
Kizhultveh Thefnolm duhttuum.
Thefnolmo, xanolnfeh Kizhult.
tethnymfeh zlo.
tethnymdah zlo.
tethnymdah cehk sat [sit] thom "to begin, start" zlo.
Vithit xafolmfeh theh.
Vithitvmeh zhan xafolmfeh theh.
Zhanah fmyvuhkeht theh.
Dafmuhmgu Divolm xafolmsho Shesheln.
Vithitthot dacokah snamdah Zhuhzhim.  [Thethat]
[2016-06-06]
Muhshimfeh Thethat.  Cehk jam thom "new" tanzlulc znolcfeh Kizhult.
solm Zhimanso xafolmdah Thethat.
Thefnolmvmeh zhangu xafolmdah Thethat.
Thefnolmvmeh zhangu solm Zhimanso xafolmdah Thethat.
Zathelnveh Kizhult cimuht duhtum.
kixikolmvah jeltfeh Zhuhzhim. [Kizhult]
[2016-06-09]
kygykumsun golm kixikolmah. [Thefam]
zluhznyk tuhn zanfeh Thefnolm.
jekelm thekfeh zluhznyk tuhn Thethat.
Thnoln tuhn zanum xyt femekso mahn thethnymumsun du. [Kizhult]
Tanum dehah jikinvah. [Thefam]
[2016-06-12]
Duhdenxehtzhut zaneht Shesheln. [Kizhult]
[2016-06-13]
zlikthnolt dec kecycnanymnoc thekfeh dic theh.
melsulmvmeh vmelfelcvmeh tanzlulcah thekfeh sat zlo dasnanvah. [Thefam]
[2016-06-16]
solm thneduht xafolmfeh kolk zhu decekgu?
solm thneduht xafolmfeh moltmun sin zhu decekgu. [Thefam]
[2016-06-18]
Xykuhkgu keh zhangu zlnathnyn xafolmdah Thethat.
Dyznekvah xok zhangu zlnathnyn xafolmdah Thethat.
Xafolmfeh sin xok vaslnulmfeh sin!
Vaslnulmdah zlnathnyn mahn xafolmdah Thethat.
Xaxatum sin xyt dehah mahn sesuhtum tetan.
Sesuhtfeh tetan, tyk xaxatfeh xyt dehah.  [Kizhult]
duhden xafolmfeh dac zeh duht divolmdyznekgu. [Thefam]
Zelvet selnuk kishnulmsho Xytmolmahvmehdin mahn do seln kishnulmfeh
deh. dehah xanolnfeh jinxehtmeht.
[2016-06-19]
Zlnathnyn xafolmdah Thefnolm.
Slin kasynfeh set.
Jidolkzheh kizhult nelmfeh.
Zatheln shyn Thefam zanfeh.
Duvmeh slah fmolthytzheh thom "domain, specialization" slet tanslinfeh dulc Zatheln keh Telzlnoln.
[2016-06-20]
Zatheln feln Thefam zanum.
[2016-06-21]
cehk mehn thom "some/any" tult gafmulkfeh melt do.
telzlnolnfeh sat Thneduhtvmeh tulnah.
=== Tools ===
A Github repository of tools can be found at https://github.com/mr-martian/Sajem_Tan
Root/Particle Generator for instantly creating new words http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/findroot.html
An index of Github tools: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/index.html
Phonotactics Checker: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/check.html
Random text/sentence generator: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/randsen.html
Root lists: http://pastebin.com/0S5GsiqP http://pastebin.com/mVr9trze
Interactive Lexicon: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/lexicon.html
The Wikiversity Courses on Sajem Tan are available to practice basic skills! https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Sajem_Tan
Automatic Glosser: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/gloss.html
Sajem Tan full color wheel: http://i.imgur.com/gT1GrKZ.png
Sajem Tan syllable structure flowchart: http://i.imgur.com/7kFG9sQ.png
=== On The Web ===


Click [https://sajemtan.miraheze.org/wiki/On_the_Web here] for a list of other Sajem Tan affiliated sites.


== References ==
<References/>
[[Category:Colllangs]]
[[Category:Colllangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Artlangs]]

Latest revision as of 17:30, 4 June 2020




Common Honey
Sajem Tan
Pronounced: /sæjem tæn/
Writing system: Alphabet
Typology
Morphological type: Agglunitating
Basic word order: OVS
Credits
Creator: Collaborative
Created: Sun, 29 Nov 2015 18:34:14 GMT
Links
homepage

Sajem Tan or Common Honey is a non-naturalistic artistic colllang started in November 2015 by members of the CONLANG mailing list.[1] It currently has the beginnings of a geofictional setting associated with it and the team has created a sort of quasi-culture around the language. As of 30 May 2016 the phoneme inventory, orthography, morphology, and syntax were fully functional or nearly so. The lexicon is growing rapidly and various writing and translation projects have been undertaken.

As the language and its documentation grow, we will separate these sections into subpages.

Culture

As stated above, Sajem Tan has a fictional world (Sajem Dasnan) and a culture built around it with several myths and mythical animals/plants. However, these are in their rudimentary stages, and many important things, such as the geographic layout of Sajem Dasnan, are not yet determined.

Myths

Creation Myth

The Sajem Tan community is based on the following creation myth, posted by Shanoxilt Cizypij on 30 November 2015[2]:

So very long ago, during gray and overcast days past, Thunder rumbled. From the shaken sky tumbled Thunder's noises and with them Rain. By the fallen Rain, Flower was nourished and River was filled. Upon its web, between Flower and Stone, Spider gathered Rain. When Rain ceased and Thunder silenced, Bee gathered Flower's pollen. Bee then flew away to its hive to make our Common Honey. Upon the hive came Bear who so loved our Common Honey that it shared with all who would sample. Witnessing all this, from atop Stone, Bird declared, "May this recur until all our tribe partakes of Common Honey."

Snymmeht keh slnuhm znolkah sno slet kemfeh dulc Divolm. Kem zhasikzheh metfeh dulc Divolmvmeh dolnah keh zloahkahm Telzlnoln. Znim Telzlnolnvah gulslimumsun Jidolk keh jelkzhutumsun Shelsheln. Zlovmeh zathelndin navnyc, Jidolk keh Thefam sholmak, Telzlnoln znolcfeh Zatheln. Vaslnulmfeh Telzlnoln keh simemzhutfehsun Divolm zult, Jidolkvmeh zhetam znolcfeh Kizhult. Zhuhzhuhmfeh Kizhult zlovmeh kizhultdin seln dehahvmeh Sajem Tan fmyvuhkfehjahk. Kizhultdin dathnycfeh Thefnolm. Dehahvmeh Sajem Tan zhejulnmunfeh Thefnolm tyk zo vesneneht zlo shasholcfeh fnit xyt duahkahm. "Kasynsho sin duah Sajem Tan shasholcum xyt dehahvmeh molm taznoln" tanzlulcfeh xyt duah duldoltfeh Thefam navnyc Vithit.

Other Myths

The above myth only describes the first nine tribemembers; however, several more have joined since the original team was established. An effort has been made to write a myth discussing tribemember origins. Myths may also de

Wind / Thethat

One day, as Common Honey was becoming bigger and more complex, the tribe decided they needed someone to keep track of it all. Because of this, they called upon Bird. Bird contemplated this for a while but thought of nothing. He decided that maybe going for a short fly would do some good. As he was flying, Beneath his wings, Bird noticed Wind, an ancient force who had watched our Common Honey’s creation. Upon Wind's flowing trail, Thunder's echoes, the words of the past, were heard. Feeling that Wind was up to the task, Bird invited him to the tribe. Wind set to work immediately, keeping a record of how Common Honey was created. Our Common Honey finally had a history!


Dûtšo düc Sajem Tan jo möm šyn [Sajem Tanvmê fmyvûkţnužê jiküfinšo] jam möšnem sacetum düc duâ jo Viţitkâm tanfê düc duâ. Mömvmê xexen xifemfê düc Viţit smâ femekfê mût. Žûžûmfê düc Viţit žo zyšenumjâk. Rovmê röfitâ navnycukmun Ţeţat Viţit sežüfendâ. [Sajem Tanvmê madam düdötšo] düm fûdet zanfê düc. Ţeţatvmê xidat navnyc [Madamvmê cesikâ zanfê düc] Divömvmê dönâ Viţit vöjamfê düc. Femekšo düc Ţeţat jo möm javem Ţeţat zenfê düc Viţit. Vûxümfê süt Ţeţat. Jiküfinšo düc zo Sajem Tanvmê fmyvûkţnužê. Madamfê süt Sajem Tan.

Fictional Creatures

Several fictitious plants and animals have been devised for usage in Sajem Tan mythology, which you can find in their own articles. The tetanah -- kitten-sized telepathic flying snails with laser eyes (?) that fix the universe by singing in Sajem Tan, and the colmekah -- bonsai trees that recieve information from inanimate tribemembers such as Star and Wind who can easily interface with them and telepathically send that data to any creature willing to accept it. They are said to have created the roots of plants so that they can more easily talk through them to other colmekah. Then there's the Pit of Bad Ideas, a place where awful ideas, including different creatures, go to die.

Roles

Each member's name is, ideally, associated with a role which that person takes in developing, using, or describing the language or the conculture. A list of tribemember names follows; a more detailed one can be found here.

Should we delete this since we have the Miraheze page?

Thunder phonology Samantha Tarnowski Active
Rain morphology Asher Drummond Inactive
Spider syntax Jim Henry Inactive
Flower semantics Brett Williams Inactive
Stone orthography Daniel Swanson Active
River pragmatics James Constable Inactive
Bee corpus Jim Henry Inactive
Bear pedagogy Jon Michael Swift Retired
Bird or the swift feathered one supervision Shanoxilt Cizypij Active
Ants other members of the community Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia Inactive (?)
Tree James Hyett Inactive
Dust Steel-kun Inactive
Wind etymology Reuben Staley Active
Star idioms Géoldreng Inactive
Lightning music Emmaline Tarnowski Active
Fern mathematics Malimacx Inactive
Kummaline Ștefan Alecu Inactive
Fog translation Andrew C. Active

Each of the roles has certain taboos as well as responsibilities for the development of the language. For instance, Bee cannot refer to the swift feathered one by name, Thunder must never rhyme, and River must always mark tense. Animate roles (Bird, Bear, Bee and Spider) must speak in the third person, and vegetal roles (Flower and Tree) in the second. This last taboo concerning animate and vegetal members only affects tribemembers; an animal or a plant who does not belong to the tribe would refer to himself in the first person as normal.

Phonology and orthography

Reformed Phonology

This is the most current version of the phonology, built off of the original phonology (see below) and romanization, with some minor changes: namely, /ʎ/ became /j/, /ɵ/ became /ʊ/, and /ɤ/ became /o/.

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar
central lateral
Nasal voiced [m] [n]
Plosive voiceless [t] [k]
voiced [d] [ɡ]
Affricate voiceless [t͡s]
Fricative voiceless [f] [θ] [s] [ɬ] [ʃ] [x]
voiced [v] [z] [ɮ] [ʒ]
Approximant voiced [j]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i y ʊ u
Close-mid e ø o
Open-mid ɛ œ ʌ
Open æ ɑ

Original Phonology

This is the old phonology and its romanization. It was created by Thunder at the beginning of the project, and it was used until the Age of Great Reforms.

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar
central lateral
Nasal voiced [m] [n]
Plosive voiceless [t] [k]
voiced [d] [ɡ]
Affricate voiceless [t͡s]
Fricative voiceless [f] [θ] [s] [ɬ] [ʃ] [x]
voiced [v] [z] [ɮ] [ʒ]
Lat. Approximant voiced [ʎ]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i y u
Close-mid e ø ɵ ɤ
Open-mid ɛ œ ʌ
Open æ ɑ

Orthography

Sajem Tan has two systems of romanization: the Old Orthography and the Reformed Orthography. The Old Orthography was created by Ţefam (Stone) with the intention of being able to be typed with only ASCII-compatible characters, avoiding diacritics. The Reformed Orthography, however, uses diacritics. Below is a chart depicting the characters of both orthographies with IPA equivalents, in proper alphabetical order.

Old Orthography d g x j f v th s z sh zh sl zl m n a el e ol i y uh ul c t k ah eh o u
Reformed Orthography d g x j f v ţ s z š ž l r m n a ë e ö i y û ü c t k â ê o u
IPA d g x j f v θ s z ʃ ʒ ɬ ɮ m n æ œ e ø i y ʌ ʊ t͡s t k ɑ ɛ o u

Phonotactics

Sajem-Tan-Syllable-Structure.png

The only allowed coda consonants are voiceless plosives and voiced nasals (/t/, /k/, /ʦ/, /m/, /n/). Any consonant by itself is allowed in onset; the only attested clusters are fricative + nasal, e.g. /vm-/, /zn-/, /ʃm/.

Sajem Tan morphemes are grouped into two groups: roots and particles. Roots consist of zero or more C(C)V syllables followed by a C(C)VC syllable, containing a restricted subset of vowels: /æ/, /œ/, /e/, /ø/, /i/, /y/, /ʌ/, and /ʊ/. Particles are mostly used for derivational and inflectional suffixes as well as pronouns, postpositions, ideophones, interjections, and conjunctions. They consist of one (C(C))V(C) syllable using the other vowels not used in content roots: /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /o/, /u/. debatable

  • If a syllable begins with a consonant cluster, the first consonant must be a fricative and the second a nasal at more or less the same point of articulation. E.g. fm-, vm-, sn-, zn-, šn-, ţn-, etc.

To the right is a flowchart explaining the syllable structure in case you're still confused.

Grammar

Sajem Tan has _ parts of speech: nouns, verbs, describers (which corresponds to adjectives and adverbs in English), postpositions, conjunctions, interjections, and other particles such as ideophones and lexemicizers.not sure about this, what parts of speech dothe particles break up into? The part of speech of a word is not as fixed as in English; zero-derivation is much more common. For instance, the noun ţnamök "pizza" can also be used as a describer or a verb. This is common in stative constructions; the copula zan is often omitted: Ţnamök zanum zo "It is pizza" becomes Ţnamökum zo "It is pizza".

Under the category of describers are evidentials. Sajem Tan is a very head-final language. For instance, in noun phrases, the head noun comes last, after the describer (adjective) and genitive argument. In postpositional phrases, they

  • OVS word order
  • oblique case verb arguments can go before the object (normally) or after the subject (for emphasis/topicalization) (?subject to change)
  • genitive nouns before head nouns
  • relative clauses before their head nouns (?subject to change)
  • auxiliary verbs after main verbs
  • adverbs before main verbs
  • adjectives before nouns
  • postpositions (for whatever we aren't marking with case, including some weird stuff that other languages mark with verbs); postpositional phrases precede what they modify
  • several grammatical particles that introduce neologisms and their initial definitions, or words being used in new senses

Word Order

Sajem Tan's OVS word order requires some explication. Typical, high-agency transitive verbs put the object first, then the verb, then the subject; neither subject nor object gets case marking because they're marked by position. E.g.,

Zlnathnyn xafolmdah  Thefnolm.
chimaera  attack-PFV bear
Bear attacked the chimaera.

Intransitive verbs put an agent or force-like subject after the verb, but an experiencer or patient-like subject before the verb. E.g.,

Thekfeh   Thefam.
write-DUR stone
Stone is writing.
Slin  kasynfeh   set.
fight happen-DUR begin=PST
A fight broke out.

Experiencer verbs which would have a direct object in English generally put the experiencer before the verb, and the thing experienced before that, in the focus case:

Jidolkzheh kizhult nelmfeh.
flower-FOC bee     see-DUR
The bee saw a flower.


The copula "zan" is an exception to the rules of experiencer subjects and invariably places the subject after the verb, even though it would typically resemble an experiencer much more than an agent.

Adjective Clauses

When making a relative clause, additional information is placed in square brackets before the noun being modified. Take the example sentence "thnamolk kygykfeh zeh." (He eats pizza). When modifying this to say "He eats the pizza that I made", one must provide "that I made" in brackets before "pizza." This would be written "[fmyvuhkfeh seh] thnamolk kygykfeh zeh." (He eats pizza [I made]). Square brackets are pronounced /mu/ for the left bracket and /om/ for the right bracket.

Adverb Clauses

Adverb clauses are made simply by combining a dependent clause and an independent clause and reading them left to right. For example "sesuhtfeh zhu" (you sing) and "mahn telzlnolnfeh thehvmeh tulnah" (when I cry) can be combined into "sesuhtfeh zhu mahn telzlnolnfeh thehvmeh tulnah." (You sing when I cry).

Noun Clauses

(Stone will write this part)

Morphology

  • Self-segmenting morphology
  • Agglutinating
  • Dependent marking
  • Case endings for oblique roles
  • Lots of applicatives
  • No noun classes
  • Minimal declension/conjugation classes
  • Minimal irregularity
  • Modifier before head in compounds

Verbs

Marked on the verb (agglutinating suffixes)

  • aspect
  • valency changing operations (voice, applicatives) (optional)

Template: root-aspect-(valency)

Aspect markers for verbs are obligatory. If you want to explicitly mark tense, then you have to use a mood auxiliary.

perfective continuous gnomic habitual
-feh -sho -um -eht

Auxilliary verbs

Nonpast ol i
Immediate past el e
Mid past/indeterminate past y a
Remote past uh ul

That is, the nonpast dictionary form of an auxiliary verb would have "i" or "ol" while inflected past forms would keep the same consonants but change the vowel as above.

Agent, force, patient and experiencer marked by word order (agent and force after the verb, patient and experiencer before the verb)

Morphological cases

-zheh focus/source
-thot recipient/beneficiary
-gu instrumental I -- tools that fit in the hand
-vah instrumental II -- tools too big to hold in the hand, and intangible tools like software
-kahm comitative
-vmeh genitive
-veh comparative
-o vocative
-teh causative

For examples on how these are used, refer to the lesson on the Sajem Tan wikiversity page https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Sajem_Tan/Morphological_cases

Lexicon

See Sajem_Tan/Lexicon or http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/lexicon.html

Suffixes

-ah plural
-ahah infinite
-jahk in order to (valency suffix)
-ku interogative suffix
-sun passive voice
-xeht lacking
-uk not
-mun maximum
-ukmun anti
-so -having one
-zhum pet
-zhut cause to be
-mahk improver
-meht having a surfeit or plenitude of something
-mon a group of
-noc the end state of a product or action
-tu to be more than
-tuc part of
-tutu to be the most
-kah energetic
-ku interrogative
-ok exceedingly awful
-thnu the act of
-zhnu patient suffix (as opposed to agent suffix, i.e. English -er)
-moc follower or descendant of
-nem in the class of __
-nah partitive plural (some but not all)
-no partitive singular (some)
-ehc marks the name of a language

Various derivational suffixes can be found in the lexicon.

Numbers

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Decimal tim dec fam vulc sluht zlik shen zhat kulk guhn
Senary tyt dolk felt vyk slolc zlelc


Decimal multipliers:

10 znek
100 thnolt
1000 vmelt

Senary multipliers:

6 xek
36 folt
216 zhelt

Decimal point (both): nolk


Senary numbers are used in formal or poetic registers, for items naturally occurring in groups of six, and for units of time smaller than an hour.

Examples:

  • 360₁₀ / 1400₆ = vulcthnolt shenznek / zhelt slolcfolt
  • π ≈ 3.142₁₀ / 3.0503₆ = vulc nolk dec sluht fam / vyk nolk tyt zlelc tyt vyk
Shapes

Sajem Tan has two words to denote a shape: "duhfnet" for 2D shapes, and "golduhn" for 3D shapes. To say how many sides a shape has, you add the word for that number in front of the word.

Examples:

vulcduhfnet triangle
decznek shenduhfnet hexadecagon
sluhtgolduhn tetrahedron
znekgolduhn decahedron

There is an exception, however. If the final syllable of the number has the same vowel sound in it as the first syllable in the dimension marker, that syllable takes the onset of the final syllable of the number and the coda of the dimension marker.

Examples:

sluhfnet square
guhfnet nonagon
thnolduhn zoccihedron (100-hedron)

Pronouns

Singular:

1st person 2nd person 3rd person
inanimate theh vu zo
vegetal thu vo zeh
animate seh zhu zlo
neutral deh do du

Plural pronouns are regularly formed by suffixing -ah. These specialized plural pronouns are all archaic:

1st person 2nd person 3rd person
inanimate thehs [archaic] vuzh [archaic] zozl [archaic]
vegetal thuzl [archaic] vos [archaic] zehzh [archaic]
animate sehth [archaic] zhuv [archaic] zloz [archaic]

Animacy in Sajem Tan does not depend on any notion of personhood. Instead, animate pronouns are used for those beings in the kingdom Animalia, vegetal for all other living beings, and inanimate for everything else. The neutral series may be used in cases of mixed, unknown, or undisclosed animacy.

All the personal pronouns can be used as demonstratives. Confer with the reference grammar for more information.

Evidentials

voln understood through the reversal of a previously deep belief
thec deduced from sensory evidence
thmak known through context
tholk direct sensory evidence
snat learned by secondary/tertiary sources
shan hearsay via a living person
slet traditional knowledge
sluln based on faith/beliefs/subjective experiences
kic carefully discerned through protracted study
zolt seems to

Evidentiality is marked with adverbs. Evidential adverbs may be compounded normally, e.g. "femek" (mind) + "tholk" (known from direct sensory evidence) = "femektholk" (discovered by telepathy)

Evidentials express the way the *speaker* knows about the content of the sentence; knowing-verbs (or knowing-adpositions, such as we have in Sajem Tan) express what the *experiencer* of the sentence knows about its *focus*.

Colors

The primary colors in Sajem Tan are orange, green, and purple, the same as English's secondary colors:

orange snitin
green gazhyn
purple nyfuln

Creating the secondary colors (red, yellow, and blue) is done using a portmanteau system. Take the first syllable of one word and combine it with the second syllable of the other word. It doesn't matter which order you put them in, they will always yield the same color.

yellow snizhyn or gatin
blue gafuln or nyzhyn
red nytin or snifuln

But in the standard color wheel, there are steps in between these colors, such as blue-purple or red-orange. To say these, you'd simply duplicate the first syllable depending on what color it is closer to. For a more orange red, you'd add an extra "sni"; for a purpler blue, you'd add an extra "ny"

orange-yellow snisnizhyn
green-yellow gagatin
green-blue gagafuln
purple-blue nynyzhyn
purple-red nynytin
orange-red snisnifuln

Here's a chart that sums up everything in case you don't care about the logistics of the colors.

Sajem-Tan-Color-Wheel.png

Script

Stone created a script for Sajem Tan. The original Listserv post is here.

The gallery is formatted as such: Stone's original orthography guide, (not in alphabetical order), Wind's orthography guide (in Sajem Tan alphabetical order), then a whole bunch of things written in Sajem Tan.

Etymology

Words that are related somehow are included in the etymology section.

Corpus

See also: Zhetammeht Delgemnocah

[2015-12-25]

Kizhul mafe Vith.

ke solm Zhimahnso mafe Kizhul.

tahzluv znolsfe Kizhul.

[2015-12-29]

sajem tah thofe thefahm.

[2016-01-08]

cehsh sulslem thom "nectar" znolcfeh kizhult.

[2016-01-12]

thekeht Thefam.

sulsem znolcsho Kizhult.

[2016-03-11]

tanzlulcah znolcda thehs jikinvah. [Thefam]

tanjelk zanfeh tanzlulcgamyk. [Thefam]

[2016-03-12]

jaxin slet zaneht molt thehs. [Thefam]

zanfeh slnuhm keh snymmeht znolkah, dolnda sluh slet divolm. [Thefnolm]

[2016-03-19]

Thefam manfeh Vithit.

[2016-03-23]

Vuah keh voah keh zhuah xanolnfeh Vithit.

[2016-04-07]

Vu xanolnfeh Vithit.

[2016-04-11]

manum solm thneduht

cehk nymem thom “clumsy” kizhultzheh tetanahvmeh cehk znenan thom “tale”.

"fmyvuhksho culjimzhasik."

“theln thefshan zhuhzhuhmda thneduht. sulslemvithitah cehk nanymfeh thom ‘dispatch, especially for military purposes’ cehk jit thom ‘must; vital; necessary’ sehah.”

cehk xaslemfeh thom “glide; transition smoothly” Thefamgamyk.

zlovmeh cehk zatenym thom “troop; group; platoon” znolcfeh Xulkatsnym.

Jelk Shelshelnkizhultdin zatenymvmeh slah vithit thom “overseer” zanum Xulkatsnym. kolthicvmeh muhcah fmyvuhkeht zloah. muhshimeht zloah.

[2016-04-19]

Shelsheln manfeh Vithit.

[2016-04-21]

Thefnolmzhehvmeh zlulc shasholceht Vithitthot. [solm Zhimanso]

shasholcehtsun Thefnolmvmeh zlulcah Vithitthot. [Thefam]

[2016-04-23]

Gajinso zanfeh Vithit.

[2016-04-26]

Zhu xanolnfeh Vithit.

[2016-04-29]

Thneduht jo vaslnulm telzlnoln.

Fam jo dec keh dec.

Zhetam jo jidolk. [solm Zhimanso]

tanum snymah jo thefamah znolcda dec culjimah. [Thefam]

[2016-05-06]

nanymdasun vulc kizhultdinah slysycah znolcsho zlislymmizizhat [Thefam]

tetantezet! tetantezet! znolkah zhilikzhutfeh tetantezet! [Thefam]

[2016-05-07]

zathelnzlulcah fmyvuhkda zlislymmizizlat! [Thefam]

theln xamatineht Thefam thehtatkahm zhuhzhuhmduhdem sno. [Thefam]

Sesuhtfeh fmolk zhu jo telzlnolnfeh dic thehvmeh tulnah. [Shelsheln]

[2016-05-09]

Sesuhtfeh dic zhu, jo telzlnolnfeh dic thehvmeh tulnah. [Shelsheln]

[2016-05-16]

do gulslimumsun molt mizizlat jo shehn delgemmon fmyvuhk du. [Thefam]

[2016-05-18]

delgem danecda do keh femekdasun molt [Thefam]

[2016-05-21]

xyt nyzlanah kygyksho znolkah. [Thefam]

Jelkelm thycam sin Vithit. [solm Zhimanso]

Zlolzhitvmeh zlo gevmulkfeh molt thefnolm. [solm Zhimanso]

[2016-05-22]

Molm keh Culjimah xanolnfeh zlo (Vithit).

Sajem Tan zanfeh xyt duah Vithitvmeh tanzlulcah. Du zhejulnmuneht sin dehah.

Xyt doah manfeh zlo.

Muhshimum sin. [solm Zhimanso]

[2016-05-23]

slnuhm kolthickahm gigimgamyk zanfeh dasnan. [Thefam]

[2016-05-24]

Xulkatzhutum sin. [solm Zhimanso]

[2016-05-30]

Theh znimsho dic. [Shelsheln]

Thefam solmtufeh Vithit.

solmtutufeh Vithit.

celzan tolthimfeh culjim.

culjim tolthimfehsun celzan. [Thefam]

"femekvazoltzheh geseltah danecum molt do." taneht Vynitzheh Vmelfelc.

xulkatzhizlikah zanumsun soljesolmkahm jidolkgyznyt

Tezeto vu xanolnfeh Vithit. [solm Zhimanso]

Vu manmunfeh dic vuvmeh molm znenanzheh theh! [Shelsheln]

[2016-05-31]

Shelshen manfah Thethat!

[2016-06-01]

thehvmeh femekah soljesolmnocdah molt theh.

kyfikoko! duvmeh znim zhuhzhim vaslnulmfeh sin du xok jaxinah kygykfeh dehah! [Thefam]

[2016-06-04]

cekh xulm thom "many/much" tanzluc tholk znolcdah Kizhult.

xulm kecycah fmyvuhkum gamyk gevmulk duhdemah kafmym. [Thefam]

[2016-06-05]

Xaxatfeh Vithit.

tahn juhcenjidolk om sesuhtfeh sin vo! [Thefam]

Thefnolmthot tanzlulc snamdah Kizhult.

Kizhultzheh tanzlulc Thefnolm snamdahsun.

slolmgu gamyk ninuhmsho tat.

Thefnolmkahm tanfeh Kizhult.

Sajem Tanzheh tanfeh Kizhult.

Kizhultveh Thefnolm duhttuum.

Thefnolmo, xanolnfeh Kizhult.

tethnymfeh zlo.

tethnymdah zlo.

tethnymdah cehk sat [sit] thom "to begin, start" zlo.

Vithit xafolmfeh theh.

Vithitvmeh zhan xafolmfeh theh.

Zhanah fmyvuhkeht theh.

Dafmuhmgu Divolm xafolmsho Shesheln.

Vithitthot dacokah snamdah Zhuhzhim. [Thethat]

[2016-06-06]

Muhshimfeh Thethat. Cehk jam thom "new" tanzlulc znolcfeh Kizhult.

solm Zhimanso xafolmdah Thethat.

Thefnolmvmeh zhangu xafolmdah Thethat.

Thefnolmvmeh zhangu solm Zhimanso xafolmdah Thethat.

Zathelnveh Kizhult cimuht duhtum.

kixikolmvah jeltfeh Zhuhzhim. [Kizhult]

[2016-06-09]

kygykumsun golm kixikolmah. [Thefam]

zluhznyk tuhn zanfeh Thefnolm.

jekelm thekfeh zluhznyk tuhn Thethat.

Thnoln tuhn zanum xyt femekso mahn thethnymumsun du. [Kizhult]

Tanum dehah jikinvah. [Thefam]

[2016-06-12]

Duhdenxehtzhut zaneht Shesheln. [Kizhult]

[2016-06-13]

zlikthnolt dec kecycnanymnoc thekfeh dic theh.

melsulmvmeh vmelfelcvmeh tanzlulcah thekfeh sat zlo dasnanvah. [Thefam]

[2016-06-16]

solm thneduht xafolmfeh kolk zhu decekgu?

solm thneduht xafolmfeh moltmun sin zhu decekgu. [Thefam]

[2016-06-18]

Xykuhkgu keh zhangu zlnathnyn xafolmdah Thethat.

Dyznekvah xok zhangu zlnathnyn xafolmdah Thethat.

Xafolmfeh sin xok vaslnulmfeh sin!

Vaslnulmdah zlnathnyn mahn xafolmdah Thethat.

Xaxatum sin xyt dehah mahn sesuhtum tetan.

Sesuhtfeh tetan, tyk xaxatfeh xyt dehah. [Kizhult]

duhden xafolmfeh dac zeh duht divolmdyznekgu. [Thefam]

Zelvet selnuk kishnulmsho Xytmolmahvmehdin mahn do seln kishnulmfeh deh. dehah xanolnfeh jinxehtmeht.

[2016-06-19]

Zlnathnyn xafolmdah Thefnolm.

Slin kasynfeh set.

Jidolkzheh kizhult nelmfeh.

Zatheln shyn Thefam zanfeh.

Duvmeh slah fmolthytzheh thom "domain, specialization" slet tanslinfeh dulc Zatheln keh Telzlnoln.

[2016-06-20]

Zatheln feln Thefam zanum.

[2016-06-21]

cehk mehn thom "some/any" tult gafmulkfeh melt do.

telzlnolnfeh sat Thneduhtvmeh tulnah.

Tools

A Github repository of tools can be found at https://github.com/mr-martian/Sajem_Tan

Root/Particle Generator for instantly creating new words http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/findroot.html

An index of Github tools: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/index.html

Phonotactics Checker: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/check.html

Random text/sentence generator: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/randsen.html

Root lists: http://pastebin.com/0S5GsiqP http://pastebin.com/mVr9trze

Interactive Lexicon: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/lexicon.html

The Wikiversity Courses on Sajem Tan are available to practice basic skills! https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Sajem_Tan

Automatic Glosser: http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/gloss.html

Sajem Tan full color wheel: http://i.imgur.com/gT1GrKZ.png

Sajem Tan syllable structure flowchart: http://i.imgur.com/7kFG9sQ.png

On The Web

Click here for a list of other Sajem Tan affiliated sites.

References

  1. See here and here.
  2. [1]