Sajem Tan: Difference between revisions

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| Ants || other members of the community || Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia
| Ants || other members of the community || Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia
|-
|-
| Tree || . || James Hyett
| Tree || || James Hyett
|-
|-
| Dust || . || Steel-kun
| Dust || || Steel-kun
|}
|}


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=== Lexicon ===
=== Lexicon ===


==== duhdem (d) ====
See [[Sajem_Tan/Lexicon]] or http://mr-martian.github.io/Sajem_Tan/lexicon.html
 
dathnyc -- encounter; stumble upon
 
danec -- borrowed; copied; imitated
 
delgem -- select; curate; anthologize
 
delgemzhum -- Pokemon
 
dec -- decimal 1
 
doln -- to make a loud, deep sound; to grumble; to rumble
 
dolk -- senary 1
 
divolm -- thunder; phonology
 
din -- home; hive; etc.
 
dic -- auxiliary verb: indicative
 
duhdem -- dam; swamp
 
duldolt -- witness; observe; notice
 
don -- sounds like the phoneme sequence, e.g. don zelzeln = sound of a bee
 
==== gigim (g) ====
 
gajin -- pure awe
 
gamyk -- tree; one that produces
 
golm -- auxiliary verb: be obligated to
 
gigim -- flipper; fin
 
gyznyt -- nose
 
gyn -- worker
 
guhn -- decimal 9
 
gulslim -- nourish; feed; sustain
 
==== xataxym (x) ====
 
xaxat -- to laugh
 
xaslem -- glide; transition smoothly; move forward on a thin cusion of fluid (air, ketchup, slime, etc.)
 
xamatin -- the frustration of realizing that one has inadvertently invalidated or undone an accomplisment
 
xanoln -- to greet
 
xataxym -- hole; pit; ditch
 
xelteln -- cliff
 
xen -- no; incorrect; thumbs-down
 
xek -- senary 6
 
xyt -- all; each; every
 
xulkat -- fun; grammar; climbing; the enjoyment of challenges
 
xo -- particle indicating that the following word is archaic
 
==== jegen (j) ====
 
jaxin -- plastic or wooden chair, especially one that has been mass-produced; schoolroom desk
 
jafin -- melodrama
 
jafinmeht -- melodramatic
 
jelk -- full
 
jegen -- hook
 
jidolk -- Flower
 
jizlet -- Quizlet
 
jit -- auxiliary verb: must; vital; necessary
 
jikin -- wiki; notebook; bulletin board
 
jo -- so; therefore; implies; if-then (placed between antecedent and consequent)
 
==== fijyc (f) ====
 
fmolk -- auxiliary verb: irrealis mood
 
fmyvuhk -- to make; to create
 
fmyvu -- to make; to create [archaic, xref "fmyvuhk"]
 
fnit -- auxiliary verb: to be willing to
 
fam -- decimal 2
 
felt -- senary 2
 
femek -- mind; thought; noetic; deduce; realize; Sherlock Holmes; exclaim "Elementary, my dear Watson!"
 
femektholk -- discovered by telepathy
 
folt -- senary 36
 
fijyc -- rainbow
 
==== voljam (v) ====
 
vmelfelc -- wisdom; silliness
 
vmelt -- decimal 1000
 
vmyn -- mouth
 
vaslnulm -- cease; flee
 
vakult -- parent; parent figure; teacher; older relative
 
vesnen -- share
 
voljam -- ear
 
voln -- understood through the reversal of a previously deep belief (evidential adverb)
 
vith -- bird  [archaic, xref "vithit"]
 
vithit -- bird; overseer
 
vithitdin -- twig-woven home of the swift feathered one
 
vynit -- long (time); slow; delayed
 
vyk -- senary 3
 
vulc -- decimal 3
 
==== thethat (th) ====
 
thneduht -- (noun) silence; ominous stillness; void
 
thnolt -- decimal 100
 
thnuhduhk -- elephant
 
theln -- fast; quick(ly) (of processes/actions other than motion verbs, e.g. "*Kizhul* coins words *theln*") [xref "solm"]
 
thefnolm -- bear
 
thefam -- stone; writing; orthography
 
thefammeht -- stony; rocky
 
thefahm -- stone [archaic, xref "thefam"]
 
thethat -- wind; breeze
 
thek -- to scribble; to scrawl
 
tholk -- direct sensory evidence (evidential adverb)
 
thishnim -- sleep
 
tho -- to scribble; to scrawl [archaic, xref "thek"]
 
thom -- particle linking a nonce word or word used in a new sense with its gloss or definition
 
==== sekelt (s) ====
 
snat -- learned via seconday/tertiary/etc. sources, especially writings (evidential adverb)
 
snolzem -- knot
 
snym -- cloud
 
snymmeht -- cloudy; overcast
 
sno -- postposition: in the time of; during
 
sajem -- common; communal; public
 
seln -- to; towards
 
sesuht -- to sing boisterously, especially music that is disliked; to sing Let It Go
 
sekelt -- valley
 
soljesolm -- multimodal; multipurpose; proceding in many manners; manifold; chromesthesia; color-code; organize by color
 
solm -- fast; swift; quick (of moving objects, e.g. "the feathered one is *solm*") [xref "theln"]
 
simem -- (adj) silent, quiet, calm, sleepy [xref "thneduht"]
 
sin -- auxiliary verb: may; let it be that
 
suhzhnolm -- pleasant
 
sulfekaslifazhislitikesixasloldolshyc -- cookie
 
sulfekahslifazhislitikesixahsloldolshyc -- cookie [archaic, xref "sulfekaslifazhislitikesixasloldolshyc"]
 
sulslem -- nectar
 
==== zuhzuhmelt (z) ====
 
znenan -- tale; story
 
znek -- decimal 10
 
znols -- to gather; to collect [archaic, xref "znolc"]
 
znolc -- to gather; to collect
 
znolk -- day
 
znim -- falling; to fall (unconstrained motion under influence of gravity)
 
zatheln -- spider; silkworm
 
zamen -- to hope
 
zan -- to be
 
zatenym -- troop; group; platoon
 
zuhzuhmelt -- ladle; dipper
 
zult -- after; once; soon after
 
==== shuhzhik (sh) ====
 
shnuhk -- lips
 
shasholc -- to partake
 
shan -- hearsay (via a living person) (evidential adverb)
 
shelgin -- to perceive
 
shelsheln -- River; pragmatics
 
shen -- decimal 6
 
sholmak -- between
 
shik -- auxiliary verb: be able to
 
shuhzhik -- tear; drop
 
shehn -- feels like, e.g. shehn simem = the feeling of peace, quiet
 
==== zhizlik (zh) ====
 
zhasik -- (noun) sky; canopy of a forest; ceiling of a cave (but not of a house)
 
zhat -- decimal 7
 
zhelt -- senary 216
 
zhejuln -- enjoy
 
zhetam -- pollen; semen
 
zhetamvakult -- biological father
 
zhizlik -- fish
 
zhiman -- feather; long lustrous hair
 
zhimahn -- feather [archaic]
 
zhuhzhim -- dust; a floating particle; something that settles down or doesn't
 
zhuhzhuhm -- to fly in a straight line / like a bird
 
==== slik (sl) ====
 
slnuhm -- (adj) gray; grey; dull; indeterminate; incomplete; boring; plain; numinous
 
slet -- traditional knowledge; lore (evidential adverb)
 
slolc -- senary 4
 
slin -- fight
 
slingyn -- warrior; Klingon
 
slik -- yes; thumbs-up; okay; correct
 
slysyc -- snake
 
sluht -- decimal 4
 
sluln -- based on faith/beliefs/subjective experiences (evidential adverb)
 
slah -- particle indicating the following word is being used in a new sense
 
==== zlolfit (zl) ====
 
zlnanic -- chameleon
 
zlelc -- senary 5
 
zlolfit -- wing
 
zlolzhit -- poop (thanks, thunder's sister)
 
zlislym -- creepy; skeleton
 
zlik -- decimal 5
 
zlulc -- lump; dollop (of a substance); instance (of something more abstract)
 
==== molmelc (m) ====
 
ma -- to thank  [archaic, xref "man"]
 
man -- to thank
 
met -- falling, collapsing, tumbling (chaotic falling, like an stone bouncing many times as it falls down a hill, or a vase breaking when it hits after a simple ballistic fall)
 
molm -- tribe
 
molmvakult -- legal/adoptive parent
 
molmelc -- roof; shelter
 
molt -- auxiliary verb: not
 
mizizlat -- wheelbarrow; cart; trolley; pram
 
muhshim -- to be cool/awesome
 
muhzl -- that which cities, forests, and hives have in common, a community [archaic, xref "muhc"]
 
muhc -- that which cities, forests, and hives have in common, a community
 
==== nyzlan (n) ====
 
navnyc -- upon
 
nasham -- wave
 
nanym -- dispatch, especially for military purposes; send a letter
 
nacen -- also
 
nolk -- decimal point (both bases)
 
nyzlan -- snail
 
nymem -- clumsy
 
==== nasham (a) ====
 
==== xelteln (el) ====
 
==== tezet (e) ====
 
==== tolmolm (ol) ====
 
==== mizizlat (i) ====
 
==== slysyc (y) ====
 
==== shnuhk (uh) ====
 
==== tuln (ul) ====
 
==== cuhc (c) ====
 
cejym -- OCD; to obsessively organize minute details
 
coltan -- remote-/telekinetically-controlled item; zombie
 
cuhc -- foot
 
culjim -- ant
 
culjimdin -- anthill
 
cehsh -- particle indicating the following is a neologism or nonce word [archaic, xref "cehk"]
 
cehk -- particle indicating the following is a neologism or nonce word
 
con -- particle indicated that the following word is a transliteration and may not be phonotactically valid
 
==== tytyt (t) ====
 
taznoln -- until
 
tan -- honey; vomit; language; (with verb affix(es)) to speak; to vomit
 
tanzlulc -- utterance; short speech; sentence; dollop of honey
 
tat -- dad
 
telzlnoln -- Rain
 
tezet -- lightening
 
tetan -- flying snail ([http://imgur.com/a/BzBfL picture])
 
tolthim -- majestic
 
tolmolm -- slope
 
tim -- decimal 0
 
tyt -- senary 0
 
tytyt -- clover
 
tyk -- conjunction: so; as a result
 
tuln -- eye; camera; telescope
 
tah -- honey; vomit; language; (with verb affix(es)) to speak; to vomit [archaic, xref "tan"]
 
tahzluv -- utterance; short speech; sentence; dollop of honey [archaic, xref "tanzlulc"]
 
tahn -- sounds like, e.g. tahn divolm = the sound of thunder
 
==== kyfik (k) ====
 
kagan -- hoola-hoop; donut
 
kasyn -- recur
 
kasyn -- repeat; rerun a TV episode
 
ke -- and [archaic]
 
kem -- to shake; to cause to vibrate; (with no explicit subject) to shake; to vibrate (intransitive)
 
kecyc -- Internet; cyberspace; virtual reality; dream; Holodeck; multiplayer game mode; Second Life; Tron
 
kolthic -- the joy and exhaustion that comes after final exams are over
 
kolk -- auxiliary verb: polar interogative (yes-no question)
 
kizhul -- bee  [archaic, xref "kizhult"]
 
kizhult -- bee; harvester [xref "znolc"]; storyteller
 
kizhultdin -- beehive
 
kic -- carefully discerned through protracted study (evidential adverb)
 
kyfik -- arm
 
kuhc -- letter
 
kulk -- decimal 8
 
keh -- and
 
kut -- feels like the phoneme sequence, e.g. kut xigeldifigeldit = all over the place, higgledy-piggledy
 
==== zlnanic (ah) ====
 
==== thnuhduhk (eh) ====
 
==== snolzem (o) ====
 
om -- particle to carry conjugations for con, don, kut, shehn, and tahn, e.g. kut xigeldifigeldit omum culjimah = the ants are all over the place / disorganised
 
==== vmyn (u) ====


==== Suffixes ====
==== Suffixes ====
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-sun -- passive voice
-sun -- passive voice
-tuc -- part of


-um -- gnomic aspect
-um -- gnomic aspect
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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.
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.
The third person pronouns, particularly du, also function as demonstratives.


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


[[Category:Colllangs]]
[[Category:Colllangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]

Revision as of 16:49, 23 May 2016

Sajem Tan or Common Honey is a collaborative conlang started in November 2015 by members of the CONLANG mailing list.[1] [2] 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.

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

Creation Myth

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

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 kemfeh dulc Divolm. kem zhasikzheh metfeh dulc Divolmvmeh dolnah keh zloahkahm Telzlnoln. znim Telzlnolnvah gulslimumsun Jidolk keh jelkzhutumsun Shelsheln. sehvmeh 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.

Roles

The characters in this myth are also the titles or roles of members of the community:

Thunder phonology Samantha Tarnowski
Rain morphology Asher Drummond
Spider syntax Jim Henry
Flower semantics Brett Williams
Stone orthography Daniel Swanson
River pragmatics James Constable
Bee corpus Jim Henry
Bear pedagogy Jon Michael Swift
Bird or the swift feathered one supervision Shanoxilt Cizypij
Ants other members of the community Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia
Tree James Hyett
Dust Steel-kun

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) in the second.

Phonology and romanization

Vowels:
IPA            i  e   ɛ  æ  u   ɑ   ɤ   ʌ  y   ø  ɵ   œ
romanization   i  e  eh  a  u  ah  ul  uh  y  ol  o  el
Consonants:
IPA            ts  t  k  d  g  m  n  f  v   θ  s  z   ʃ   ʒ   ɬ   ɮ  x  ʎ
romanization    c  t  k  d  g  m  n  f  v  th  s  z  sh  zh  sl  zl  x  j

The proper alphabetical order is: 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

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-/.

1. Root words 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

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

3. The final consonant of a syllable can only be a nasal or unvoiced plosive (t, k, c, m, n).

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.

Syntax

  • default OVS word order
  • relative clauses before their head nouns
  • auxiliary verbs after 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

Morphology

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

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.

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

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 instrmental 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

Lexicon

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

Suffixes

-ah -- plural

-da -- perfective aspect [archaic, xref "dah"]

-dah -- perfective aspect

-eht -- habitual aspect

-fe -- durative aspect [archaic, xref "feh"]

-feh -- durative aspect

-jahk -- in order to (valency suffix)

-kah -- suffix for "energetic" and/or "coffee"

-kahf -- suffix for "energetic" and/or "coffee" [archaic, xref "kah"]

-ku -- interogative suffix

-meht -- having a surfeit or plenitude of something

-mon -- collective noun; a group of something

-mun -- very; extremely; maximal intensification

-noc -- the end state or product of an action (suffixes to verb root, not to inflected verb)

-ok -- horrendous; excedingly awful

-so -- derivational suffix: an entity having the thing referred to by the stem, e.g. zhiman "feather" > zhimanso "feathered one"

-sho -- continuous aspect

-sun -- passive voice

-tuc -- part of

-um -- gnomic aspect

-zhum -- noun derivational suffix, indicates a pet

-zhut -- to cause to be

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

Pronouns

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

The third person pronouns, particularly du, also function as demonstratives.

Evidentials

Evidentials are declared as adverbs. Nouns may be agglutinated before the adverb to create compound evidentials with more specific meaning (e.g. "femektholk").

slet -- traditional lore, known by many subjects or ascertained from a now-dead person

shan -- hearsay via a living person

tholk -- direct sensory evidence

thec -- deduced from sensory evidence

thef -- deduced from sensory evidence [archaic, xref "thec"]

snat -- learned via seconday/tertiary/etc. sources, especially writings

voln -- understood through the reversal of a previously deep belief

sluln -- based on faith/beliefs/subjective experiences

kic -- carefully discerned through protracted study

femektholk -- discovered by telepathy

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.

[2016-04-07]

Vu xanolnfeh Vithit.

Tools

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

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