Kharos S'fik

About

Kharos S'fik was created 1/2006 by Pascal A. Kramm.

It is used in Conlang Relay 13.

Culture

The speakers of Kharos S'fik, the Hoka, are living majorly on Hokkaido (Japan's northern-most island), but a good amount of them also live on Honshû (the Japanese main island), and there mostly in the Kantô region. A small amount is still living on the Russian island Sakhalin north of Hokkaido.
Their name stems back from the late 16th century, when they first made contact with westerners (most likely Portuguese) who named them "Hocaidoes". They eventually adapted the name for themselves, but shortened it to "Hoka".

Origin

When analyzing their language, and also judging from their original Phoenician-derived script, it seems most likely that the Hoka were originally tribes coming from today's Germany and Scandinavia, as you can still find Germanic-sounding words in their vocabulary. From their original habitat, they moved more and more eastwards, crossing all of Russia on the way (which had quite an impact on their language), always looking for a good place to stay. They eventually set over to Sakhalin, and from there to Hokkaido, where they finally started settling down, while some moved on to Honshû and settled mostly in the Kantô region. Their language became significantly influenced by Japanese over time.

Grammar

Sentences have SOV order. All words consist of sound units which are usually made up of CV (consonant-vowel) pairs, though vowel-only or consonant-only units are also possible.
Final consonants are tacked onto the preceding unit. Every unit takes the same time to pronounce.
The stress lies on the first consonant-only unit or otherwise on the last unit.

Script

Kharos S'fik has three scripts, two of which are still used today.
The transcriptions into the roman script for all three scripts were devised by a German merchant around the 1870s to faciliate trade, after Japan had ended its period of isolation with the Meiji Revolution in 1868 and opened itself to trade with foreigners again.

Fenix script

Fenix Script

The Fenix script is the original and oldest script. Like many other scripts (including our roman script), it probably developed from the phoenician script.

Its use today is limited to formal occassions, for headlines, or to express special emphasis (where the roman script would use bold or italic text).

Khaful script

Khaful Script

The Khaful script appeared some time after the Fenix script. It uses the same vowels and vowel marks, but completely different chars for all consonants.

It was apparently only used for a short time period alongside with the Fenix script and disappeared again soon.
It is not used at all anymore today.

Tifet script

Tifet Script

When Buddhist scriptures arrived, people were very fond of the Tibetan handwriting the scriptures were composed in. Compared to the Fenix script, it seemed much more practical as letters were connected, and thus it could be written more fluently.

Aesthetical considerations probably further helped it to eventually replace the Fenix script as the everyday purpose script.
Today, this is still the main script used for most occassions, with few exceptions where the Fenix script is still used.

Phonology

This table presents the alphabet (khakra) in its proper order.

Sound	Ipa	Initial	Medial	Final	Unit by itself
a	a,ʌ	O	O	O	O
ä	æ	O	O	O	O
i	i,ɪ	O	O	O	O
u	u,ʊ	O	O	O	O
au	aʊ	O	O	O	O
e	e,ɛ	O	O	O	O
ei	aɪ	O	O	O	O
o	o,ɔ	O	O	O	O
eu	oɪ	O	O	O	O
k	k	-	O	O	-
kh	ç	O	-/-	-/-	-/-
kh	x	-/-	O	O	-
kr	kʁ	O	O	O	O
ch	ç	O	O	O	O
cj	ʝ	O	O	-	-
nj	ɲ	O	O	-	-
t	t	O	O	O	-
d	d	O	O	-	-
n	n	O	O	O	-
p	p	-	O	O	-
f	f	O	O	O	O
w	v	O	O	-	-
m	m	O	O	O	-
ts	ts	O	O	O	-
j	j	O	O	-	-
r	ʁ	O	O	-	-
l	l	O	O	O	-
q	kw	O	O	-	-
x	ks	O	O	O	-
sh	ʃ	O	O	O	O
s	s	O	O	O	O
h	h	O	O	-	-

• kr is regarded as a single consonant
• vowel-less h is used to indicate long vowels

Human Rights

Human Rights (Art. 1) in Fenix script

Human Rights (Art. 1) in Khaful script

Human Rights (Art. 1) in Tifet script

F'seuwash Dekrarats af Uman F'rawi, Atikhal 1.

S'fet uman f'ri ta kha tanakh okh ch'tosh ikren okh f'rawi ha. Etin rikhuts okh krefis kha aus'tat okh s'jäl khom f'rat s'kal letsit.

Original text:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Babel text

Note:

• An apostrophe (') after a consonant signifies that the consonant has to be pronounced long (consonant-only unit).
• The midpoint (·) is used in order to indicate unit boundaries. Treat it like a glottal stop.

Bereshit (Book of Genesis) Chapter 11, 1-9

• 1 Tep khanats mira en s'parakh sam khotop de ta ha.
• 2 Osot e in futesh ch'mas, umanen Shinara ni falakh ta tarof okh dä nifik ta ch'mas.
• 3 Etin s'jäl ni ta tal: "Jo f'rokhot! Fokin tikhel jo ch'mas okh taxan etin jo s'cjikrat!" Etin tikhel f'samen ishi okh tajäl f'samen morat ta nits.
• 4 Tokrat etin ta tal: "Jo f'rokhot! S'tat toran de newo e fokin fa jo s'dani, s'da fokin khanats jorat s'fa nei s'ka kha s'farak."
• 5 Awa HaShem ch'ta ta f'rokhot fa s'tat okh toran fidet som ch'toen in ta s'dani.
• 6 HaShem ta tal: "Fal khom en ch'toen de en s'parakh etin khon tata fechin ch'mas, nada etin khikak ch'mas nei wo·s'mos etin fa s'ka ilu.
• 7 Jo f'rokhot! Fokin ch'ta jo iti okh s'parakh af etin jo s'mu·s'jen, s'da etin s'jäl nei s'ka f'seh."
• 8 S' HaShem etin khanats jorat s'fa ta s'farak, okh etin s'tat ta f'rek s'dani.
• 9 Dakha s'tat Fafel ta kha nam, khara HaShem dä s'parakh af khanats mira s'mu·s'jen; dä khal, HaShem etin khanats jorat s'fa ta s'farak.

Literal: (word-by-word)

• 1 now whole world one language same word with *past* have.
• 2 east towards *continuous* travel make, human-*plural* Shinar in flat *past* find and there settlement *past* make.
• 3 they self to *past* say: "*cohortive* come! We brick *cohortive* make and much they *cohortive* burn!" they brick instead-of stone and tar instead-of mortar *past* use.
• 4 then they *past* say: "*cohortive* come! city tower with sky towards we for *cohortive* build, so-that we over whole earth not *future* *passive* scatter."
• 5 but HaShem down *past* come for city and tower see that man-*plural* *continuous* *past* build.
• 6 HaShem *past* say: "if as one people with one language they this *perfect* begin do, nothing they plan do not-possible they for *future* be.
• 7 *cohortive* come! we down *cohortive* go and language of they *cohortive* confuse, so-that they self not *future* understand."
• 8 so HaShem they whole world over *past* scatter, and they city *past* stop build.
• 9 therefore city Babel *past* passive* name, because HaShem there language of whole world confuse; there from, HaShem they whole earth over *past* scatter.

Translation:

• 1 Now the whole world had one language with the same words.
• 2 Journeying eastwards, men found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
• 3 They said to one another: "Come! Let's make brick and burn it thorougly!" They used bricks instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.
• 4 Then they said: "Come! Let's build a city for us with a tower up to the sky, to make a name for us, so that we are not scattered over the whole earth."
• 5 But HaShem came down to see the city and the tower men were building.
• 6 HaShem said: "If as one people with one language they have begun doing this, nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
• 7 Come! Let's go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand each other."
• 8 So HaShem scattered them over the whole earth, and they stopped building the city.
• 9 Therefore the city was named Babel, because there HaShem confused the language of the whole world; from there HaShem scattered them over the whole earth.

Lexicon

Kharos S'fik	Ipa	English
A
af	[ʌf]	of
atikhal	[atixʌl]	article
au·s'tat	[aʊ'sːtat]	equip; equipment
awa	[avʌ]	but
CH
ch'mas	[çːmas]	to make, to do
ch'ta	[çːta]	down, downwards
ch'to	[çːto]	man, person
ch'tosh	[çːtoʃ]	same
D
dä	[dæ]	there
dakha	[daxʌ]	therefore
de	[de]	with
dekrarats	[dekʁaʁʌts]	declaration
E
e	[e]	to, towards
-en	[ɛn]	plural suffix (infrequently used)
en	[en]	one
et	[ɛt]	it
etin	[etɪn]	they (mixed gender)
F
fa	[fa]	for
fal	[fʌl]	if
falakh	[falʌx]	flat; a plain
fechin	[feçɪn]	begin; beginning
fidet	[fidɛt]	see; view, sight (what is visible)
fok	[fɔk]	I
fokin	[fokɪn]	we
f'rat	[fːʁat]	brother
f'rawi	[fːʁavi]	right (as in "human rights")
f'ri	[fːʁi]	free; freedom
f'rek	[fːʁek]	stop
f'rokhot	[fːʁoxot]	come
f'samen	[fːsamen]	instead (of)
f'seh	[fːseː]	understand; understanding
f'seuwash	[fːsoɪvaʃ]	universal
futesh	[futeʃ]	journey
H
ha	[hʌ]	have (possession of material+immaterial things)
I
ikren	[ikʁɛn]	dignity
ilu	[ilʊ]	to be; being
in	[ɪn]	continuous action particle
ishi	[iʃɪ]	stone
iti	[itɪ]	go
J
jo	[jo]	cohortive particle
jorat	[joʁʌt]	earth
KH
kha	[ça]	passive particle
khakra	[çakʁʌ]	alphabet (derived from the first two consonants)
khanats	[çanʌts]	whole
khara	[çaʁʌ]	because (of)
khikak	[çikʌk]	plan
khom	[çɔm]	as
khomput	[çompʊt]	computer; compute, calculate
khon	[çon]	this
khotop	[çotɔp]	word
KR
krefis	[kʁefɪs]	conscience
L
lat	[lʌt]	let
letsit	[letsɪt]	treat
M
mira	[miʁʌ]	world
morat	[moʁʌt]	mortar
N
nada	[nadʌ]	nothing
nam	[nam]	name
newo	[nevɔ]	sky
nei	[naɪ]	not
ni	[ni]	in
nifik	[nifɪk]	settlement
nits	[nɪts]	use
O
okh	[ɔx]	and
osot	[osɔt]	east
R
rikhuts	[ʁixʊts]	reason (as in "reasonable")
S
sam	[sʌm]	same
s'cjikrat	[sːʝikʁat]	burn; fire
s'da	[sːda]	so that
s'dani	[sːdani]	build; building
s'fa	[sːfa]	over
s'farak	[sːfaʁak]	spread, scatter
s'fet	[sːfet]	all
s'jäl	[sːjæl]	self, oneself, one another
s'ka	[sːka]	future particle
s'kal	[sːkal]	should, ought to
s'mu·s'jen	[sːmu'sːjen]	confuse; confusion
som	[sɔm]	that, that which
s'parakh	[sːpaʁax]	language
s'tat	[sːtat]	city, town
T
ta	[ta]	past particle
tata	[tatʌ]	perferct particle
tajäl	[tajæl]	tar
tal	[tʌl]	say
tanakh	[tanʌx]	birth; (creation)
tarof	[taʁɔf]	find
taxan	[taksʌn]	much, many, a lot
tep	[tɛp]	now
tikhel	[tixɛl]	brick
tokrat	[tokʁʌt]	then
U
uman	[umʌn]	man, human
W
wo·s'mos	[vo'sːmos]	possible

Numbers

 1 en
 2 dua
 3 tari
 4 fea
 5 fif
 6 ches
 7 sem
 8 hach
 9 kiu
10 des
11 des en
12 des dua
13 des tari
14 des fea
...
20 dua des
30 tari des
42 fea des dua
...
99 kiu des kiu

100 chak
1,000 sen
10,000 man

100,000 des man
1,000,000 chak man
10,000,000 sen man
100,000,000 man man

As they originally didn't have separate numbers for 8 and 9, they adopted those from Japanese into their language.
Same goes for the words for 100, 1,000 and 10,000.