Ɬiʔa

Goals

1. Endgoal - A truly verbless language I can use
2. Vague phrases
   1. Glacial pace
   2. Navajo-of-nouns
   3. lazy but clever
   4. carved in stone
   5. complicated rituals
3. Naturalism - 6/10
   • I want some naturalistic elements
   • Different setting (parallel Earth)
   • Different nature (immortal humans)
   • Irregularities but not many
   • Idioms within reason
4. Complexity - insane. Navajo but with only nouns
5. Derivation - clear. Agglutinative, basically
6. Features
   1. Phonology
      1. Vowel harmony
      2. A couple of clicks, and ejectives (un-earth-like)
      3. CV, and CVC
   2. Grammar
      1. No verbs at all
      2. assumed copular between topic and subject
      3. 6 nouns classes (genders), like animacy
      4. Many cases (12?)
      5. Case-stacking
      6. word glue, like German
      7. mostly agglutinative, touch of fusional
   3. Culture
      1. things happen, not because someone does them, but because the world unfolds in prescribed patterns
      2. discourse is formulaic, ceremonial, or sacred: more on set relational expressions and fixed semantic roles, rather than on active description of novel events
      3. agency is less linguistically salient, so predicates assigning blame, initiative, or creativity are avoided
      4. Tidally Locked Planet
         1. The sun never moves in the sky.
         2. The world is divided into zones of permanent day, eternal night, and a narrow habitable twilight ring.
         3. People live in a stable band where temperature and light are forever the same.
      5. Mountain life
         1. Isolated communities → heavy internal consistency, less external pressure to simplify
         2. Thin air → favoring sharp, closed articulation: ejectives, glottalization, voiceless stops
         3. Cultural inwardness → deep philosophies of stasis and permanence
      6. Time is measured in generations, epochs, weathering of stone, growth cycles of ultra-slow plants

Conworlding

Star

Our star is a red-dwarf.

1. Type: M5V
   1. M: This indicates it's a cool, red star with a surface temperature less than 3,500ºK
   2. 5: Within the M class, stars are further divided into subclasses 0-9, with 0 being the hottest and 9 the coolest. An M5 star is in the middle of this range.
   3. V: Denotes that it's a main sequence star, also known as a dwarf star
2. Stellar luminosity (L*) ≈ 0.01 𝐿⊙
3. Stellar mass (M*) ≈ 0.2 𝑀⊙
4. Stellar radius (R*) ≈ 0.25 𝑅⊙
5. Effective temperature (T*) ≈ 3000 K

​The habitable zone (a) is about square root of L* over L⊙, so ~0.1 AU.

Planet

Orbital period squared = 4 pi-squared times a-cubed over (G times M*). For us that is 10.3 days. Assuming tidal locking (as is common for planets at this distance), the rotation period is the same. If it were an Earth-like planet, we could calculate the global average, using the effective temperature approximation.

• For our planet, assuming an albedo of 0.3 (Earth's), we get 223ºK
• Assuming an albedo of 0.2, we get 263
• For an albedo of 0.1, we get 271

With a modest greenhouse effect, surface temperatures could rise.

1. Mass: 1.5M⊕
2. Gravity: 1g⊕
3. Radius = 1.225⊕, or 7805km

The area of the terminator is hard to predict

1. +/-10º Guess: 4.253 E 13 m^2, 4.253E7km^2 (much bigger than Africa)
2. +/-30º Guess: 1.28 E8 km^2 (slightly less than the land of the Earth)

The thicker the atmosphere, the thicker the band.

1. Escape velocity is 12.4km/s, 11% higher than Earth
2. Orbital velocity is 8.79km/s

Atmosphere

Water content is low becaue

• Water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas; vast surface water can trap too much heat, especially near the substellar point.
• Water leads to climate homogenization
• Lack of exposed silicate rock: Necessary for carbon-silicate weathering feedback, which stabilizes climate on geological timescales.

Earth has ~1.4 billion km³ of water. In our habitable zone, we have no more than 10% of that, or 100 million km³.

Factor	Ɬiʔa atm	Ɬiʔa %	Earth atm	Earth %	Notes
Total Pressure	1.6 atm		1.0 atm		Enhanced convective heat transfer, increased IR trapping
Nitrogen (N₂)	1.00	62.50%	0.7808	78.08%	Reduced; still inert, still dominant
Oxygen (O₂)	0.21	13.13%	0.2095	20.95%	Earth-normal partial pressure
Argon (Ar)	0.40	25.00%	0.0093	0.93%	Major heat distribution enhancement, inert
Krypton + Xenon	0.005	0.31%	trace	trace	High molecular mass → improved heat retention, still safe
CO₂	0.005	0.31%	0.004	0.04%	slighly elevated; sub-greenhouse threshold
H₂O vapor	0.015	~1%		0-4%	Maintains greenhouse without excess moisture

Atmospheric Effects on Clouds

1. Increased Pressure (1.6 atm) compresses gases, raising the dew point at which water vapor condenses. Cloudsform closer to the surface, and are denser than similar altitudes compared to Earth.
2. Low Water Inventory (10% of Earth's): There will be less frequent and less massive cloud systems than on Earth, but still present—especially over "hotspots" on the day side.
3. Tidally Locked Climate: Cloud formation concentrate along the substellar point, where warm, moist air rises and cools.
   • A permanent “eyewall” storm system has formed at the subsolar point, like a giant hurricane.
   • As air rises and is advected to the night side, thin cloud bands or ice hazes form as it descends and cools.

Appearance:

• The presence of noble gases (Ar, Kr, Xe) and higher pressure enhance Mie scattering, making clouds appear whiter and more silvered, especially at sunrise/sunset boundaries.
• Night side clouds are thin, high-altitude icy sheets, glowing faintly in aurorae or thermal emissions.

Sky Color

The color of the sky is shaped by Rayleigh scattering, which depends on:

1. Molecular composition: Heavier gases like Ar, Kr, and Xe scatter light less efficiently than N₂.
2. Spectral output of the star: the red dwarf emits predominantly infrared and red light, with very little blue or violet.

Consequence:

• Even with atmospheric scattering, there is insufficient blue light in the stellar spectrum to produce a blue sky.
• Day sky would likely appear:
  • Dark peach, dusky rose, or reddish beige near zenith,
  • Grading to deep salmon or mauve near the horizon,
  • A slight metallic sheen due to noble gas content and high pressure.

Twilight & Limb Scattering:

• The terminator (twilight zone) sees a diffuse, ruddy light, scattering through haze and clouds into luminous reds, purples, and copper tones.
• Aurorae are spectacular on the night side, especially since stellar flares are frequent.

Sound Propagation

Sound is profoundly affected by atmospheric pressure and composition.

Compared to Earth:

• Higher pressure → greater air density → faster transmission of sound and less attenuation.
• Argon and Xenon are heavy gases, which:
  • Lower the speed of sound relative to air at the same pressure (despite the pressure increase).
  • Shift resonance frequencies downward, resulting in deeper, rounder sounds.

Consequences:

• Voices sound subtly lower-pitched and richer, especially for consonants and low vowels.
• Ambient sounds (wind, water, animals) would carry farther and sound more muffled or sonorous.
• Music or speech would resonate more warmly, especially indoors or in enclosed spaces.

In short: it sounds like it’s wrapped in velvet.

Heat Transport to the Night Side

Mechanisms:

1. Thick Atmosphere (1.6 atm) increases:
   • Advection efficiency: Warm air masses can move more heat horizontally.
   • Radiative time constant: The atmosphere holds heat longer before releasing it.
2. Noble Gases (especially Kr/Xe):
   • High molecular mass → more IR opacity → trapping and radiating heat more evenly.
3. Slow Rotation / Tidal Locking:
   • Global Hadley-like cells may dominate circulation, carrying warm air from the day side to the night side and descending it there.

Result:

• The night side is not freezing. Temperatures differ by tens of degrees, not hundreds.
• There are still ice caps and a cold deserts at the anti-stellar point, but not a glaciated wasteland.

Magnetosphere

• Larger mass --> larger iron core, generating more internal heat
• Larger radius --> Vigorous convection in the core
• Tidal Flexing --> still drives magnetic activity

1. Aurorae at lower latitudes
   1. higher magnetic rigidity, wider magnetotail, and greater reconnection energy.
   2. Combined with a higher flux of stellar particles, this means:
      1. Auroral ovals expand, reaching mid-latitudes sometimes equator.
      2. The skies are alive with rippling green, violet, and crimson aurorae, especially on the night side.
      3. Daily auroral activity occur during stellar flare cycles.
2. Compasses
   1. compasses respond more sharply, with:
      1. Faster alignment.
      2. Greater resistance to local perturbations.
   2. However, frequent magnetic storms from stellar activity cause sudden declinations, reversals, or local anomalies. In short, lots of aurorae equals dead compasses at the same time.
3. Magnetic Field Strength > 100 μT
4. Electromagnetism is more basic than chemistry or almost any other natural philosophy

Substellar Point

The maximum incoming flux is very nearly the same as Earth's solar constant (≈1361 W/m²), but concentrated over one point rather than averaged over a rotating sphere. Temperatures should be above 500ºK most of the time.

The magnetic north is also here, The thick atmosphere prevents too much loss here, but

• Charged particle influx
  • Maximized at the substellar point—intense auroral and energetic particle precipitation
• Atmospheric ionization
  • Constant production of high-energy ions and NOx compounds—possible UV fluorescence in upper sky
• Localized heating
  • Augments already extreme temperatures—600–700 K surface possible

Artificially Tethered Moon

• 670,000 km up
• 7805 km in radius = same as the planet
• 1.33º of the sky, same as the sun

A network of tethers/tension lines from the moon to multiple anchor points on the planet’s surface (a tripod or hexapod structure), woven like hair

• Uses active tension management and orbital station-keeping to stabilize the moon
• Counterweights and inward-pointing mass drivers on the moon to oppose drift

The tethers are not bearing the full weight, but merely damping drift, providing restoring force, and enabling long-term stability through active compensation. The moon

• Blocks the worst of the heat
• Blocks the worst of the solar radiation

The moon has

• low mass
• high albedo - enormous reflectivity
• scatters charges particles, UV, X-rays, auroral flux tubes
• sunward - crazy hot, high emissivity
• earthward - crazy cool, low emissivity

Morphology

Existential cases

Case	Function	Gloss	Ending
Topical	Frames the referent of the utterance	“As for…”	-Mp'a
Identity	Category, essence, nominal predicate	“is a…” / “equals…”	-
Possessive	ownership, authorship, kinship, part-whole	“X’s Y”	-rkI
Genitive	association, content, theme, objective, attribution	“Y of X”	-ł(Ɛ)

Where/When Cases

Case	Function	Typical gloss	Ending
Locative	Place, state, context of being, time-within	“in,” “at,” “on”, "during"	-f'
Dative	Target, direction	“to,” “for,” “until", "as far as"	-Mk'O
Ablative	Source, cause, origin	“from,” “because of,” “due to”	-bdI
Benefactive	Advantage, interest, concern	“for the benefit of…”, "at the behest of"	-aI
Abessive	Absence, privation, “lacking”	“without,” “lacking,” “free from”, "exclude"	-st'Ɛ

How Cases

Case	Function	Typical gloss	Ending
Instrumental	Means, medium, material	“by (means of)”, “through,” “with”, "using"	-fla
Adverbial	Role/state modifier, part of speech shift	“as (a) X,” “in a X way”, "like"	-Oad
Translative	Change of state, transform/manifestation	“becoming,” “into,” “turning into”	-k'(I)

Noun Classes

	Not "Container" (mass: ?, ??)	"Container" (count: ?, ??)
Idea + Matter	Animals (also temperaments)	Persons / Gods
Matter only	(Diffuse) Substances: air, fire	Tools , "rocks"
Idea only	Actions	Abstracts, Categories, Sets

Number: Containers are unmarked for number, as in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. Non-containers default to a collective/mass-noun number, but can take a partitive (which can mean as few as one).

Polypersonal pronouns:

Phonology/Orthography

	Labial	Labiolingual	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	/m/ m	/n̼/ n	/n/ n	/ŋ/ ŋ
Click	(/ᵐʘ/ mx)		(/ŋǃ/ nc)
Voiced Stop	b		d	g
Eject. Stop	/pʼ/ pq		/t’/ tq	/k’/ kq	/ʔ/ '
Unvoiced Stop	p		t	/k~x/ k
Plain Fricative	/ɸ~β/ f	/θ̼~ð̼/ þ	/s~z/ s	(/ʒ/ ž)
Eject. Fricative	/fʼ/ fq	/θ̼ʼ/ þq	/s’~ts’/ sq
Approx./Trill	w		r	j	/h~ɦ/ h
Laterals		/l̼/ l	/ɬ/ ł

	Front	Back	Underspecified
High	i	u	I
High-Mid	e	o	O
Low-Mid	/ɛ/ ë	/ɔ/ ö	Ö
Low	/ä/ a

Allophony:

• nasal + labial ejective -> [m͡ʘ]
• nasal + non-labial ejective -> [ŋ͡ǃ]

Phonotactics are (C)(G)V(C₂):

• any consonant or none can a syllable
• Glides (/j/ or /w/) after anything
• hiatus allowed, diphthongs not
• any coda, except glides

Sentences

1. The storm scared people
   • k’ɛthu-Mp’a ʔusɛk närgo-f’
   • kqëthumxa ’usëk närgofq
   • As for the storm, (there is) fear in people.