Sajem Tan
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."
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 | Samantha Tarnowski |
Bee | corpus | Jim Henry |
Bear | pedagogy | Jon Michael Swift |
the swift feathered one | supervision | Shanoxilt Cizypij |
Ants | other members of the community | Scott Hamilton, Mia DeSanzo, Noelle Morris et alia |
Tree | . | James Hyett |
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. Bear and Bird must speak in the third person, and Flower in the second.
Phonology and romanization
IPA | romanization |
---|---|
i | i |
e | e |
ɛ | eh |
æ | a |
u | u |
ɑ | ah |
ɤ | ul |
ʌ | uh |
y | y |
ø | ol |
ɵ | o |
œ | el |
ts | c |
t | t |
k | k |
m | m |
n | n |
f | f |
s | s |
ʒ | zh |
ɮ | zl |
x | x |
ʎ | j |
θ | th |
v | v |
z | z |
ʃ | sh |
d | d |
g | g |
ɬ | sl |
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-/.
See below under "self-segregating morphology" for more restrictions on the forms roots and affixes can take.
Syntax
- default OVS word order (probably variable if we have case marking)
- 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
Rain's proposals for self-segregating morphology, as amended by Bee and Stone:
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
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.
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.
Rain's verb morphology proposals of 30 December:
Marked on the verb (agglutinating suffixes)
- aspect
- valency changing operations (voice, applicatives) (optional)
Template: root-aspect-(valency)
Auxiliary verb (following the verb, as per the Spider's weave - i.e. syntax)
- 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.
Aspects:
- durative (this includes instantaneous actions)
- continuous
- gnomic
- habitual
- perfective
-fe would be durative
Tenses:
- remote past
- mid past/indeterminate past
- immediate past
- non-past
Later, the swift feathered one proposed vowel mutation for tense. Bee suggested this vowel mutation chart:
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:
- focus/source
-zheh
- recipient/beneficiary
-thot
- instrmental I -- tools that fit in the hand
-gu
- instrumental II -- tools too big to hold in the hand, and intangible tools like software
-vah
- comitative
-kahm
- genitive
-vmeh
Lexicon
cehsh -- particle indicating the following is a neologism or nonce word
culjim -- ant
culjimdin -- anthill
din -- home, hive, etc.
divolm -- thunder, phonology
doln -- to make a loud, deep sound; to grumble, to rumble
fmyvu -- to make, to create [archaic, xref "fmyvuhk"]
fmyvuhk -- to make, to create
gajin -- pure awe
gamyk -- tree, one that produces
jafin - melodrama
jafinmeht -- melodramatic
jelk -- full
jikin -- wiki
ke -- and [archaic]
keh -- and
kem -- to shake, to cause to vibrate; (with no explicit subject) to shake, to vibrate (intransitive)
kizhul -- bee [archaic, xref "kizhult"]
kizhult -- bee; harvester [xref "znolc"]; storyteller
kizhultdin -- beehive
kolthic -- the joy and exhaustion that comes after final exams are over
ma -- to thank [archaic, xref "man"]
man -- to thank
muhc -- that which cities, forests, and hives have in common, a community
muhshim -- to be cool/awesome (v)
muhzl -- that which cities, forests, and hives have in common, a community [archaic, xref "muhc"]
shasholc -- to partake
shelsheln -- River, pragmatics
sajem -- common, communal, public
simem -- (adj) silent, quiet, calm, sleepy [xref "thneduht"]
slah -- particle indicating the following word is being used in a new sense
slnuhm -- (adj) gray, grey, dull, indeterminate, incomplete, boring, plain; numinous
slet -- traditional knowledge, lore (evidential adverb)
shan -- hearsay (via a living person) (evidential adverb)
snym -- cloud
snymmeht -- cloudy, overcast
solm -- fast, swift, quick (of moving objects, e.g. "the feathered one is *solm*") [xref "theln"]
sulslem -- nectar
tah -- honey, vomit, language; (with verb affix(es)) to speak, to vomit [archaic, xref "tan"]
tan -- honey, vomit, language; (with verb affix(es)) to speak, to vomit
tahzluv -- utterance, short speech, sentence, dollop of honey [archaic, xref "tanzlulc"]
tanzlulc -- utterance, short speech, sentence, dollop of honey
thefahm -- stone [archaic, xref "thefam"]
thefam -- stone; writing, orthography
thefammeht -- stony, rocky
thefnolm -- bear
theln -- fast, quick(ly) (of processes/actions other than motion verbs, e.g. "*Kizhul* coins words *theln*") [xref "solm"]
thek -- to scribble, to scrawl
thneduht -- (noun) silence, ominous stillness, void
tho -- to scribble, to scrawl [archaic, xref "thek"]
tholk -- direct sensory evidence (evidential adverb)
thom -- particle linking a nonce word or word used in a new sense with its gloss or definition
vith -- bird [archaic, xref "vithit"]
vithit -- bird
vithitdin -- twig-woven home of the swift feathered one
vynit -- long (time); slow; delayed
xanoln -- to greet
xulkat -- fun; grammar; climbing; the enjoyment of challenges
zan -- to be
zhasik -- (noun) sky, canopy of a forest, ceiling of a cave (but not of a house)
zhetam -- pollen, semen
zhimahn -- feather [archaic]
zhiman -- feather; long lustrous hair
zhuzh -- particle, indicating things that float or are airborn
zhuhzhuhm -- to fly
zlislym -- creepy; skeleton
zlulc -- lump, dollop (of a substance); instance (of something more abstract)
zlolzhit -- poop (thanks, thunder's sister)
znolk -- day
znolc -- to gather, to collect
znols -- to gather, to collect [archaic, xref "znolc"]
Suffixes
-ah -- plural
-da -- perfective aspect
-eht -- habitual aspect
-fe -- durative aspect [archaic, xref "feh"]
-feh -- durative aspect
-kahf -- suffix for "energetic" and/or "coffee"
-meht -- having a surfeit or plenitude of something
-noc -- the end state or product of an action (suffixes to verb root, not to inflected verb)
-so -- derivational suffix: an entity having the thing referred to by the stem, e.g. zhiman "feather" > zhimanso "feathered one"
-sho -- continuous aspect
-um -- gnomic aspect
-zhum -- noun derivational suffix, indicates a pet
Pronouns
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
---|---|---|---|
inanimate | theh | vu | zo |
vegetal | thu | vo | zeh |
animate | seh | zhu | zlo |
[archaic, see above table]
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
---|---|---|---|
inanimate | thehs | vuzh | zozl |
vegetal | thuzl | vos | zehzh |
animate | sehth | zhuv | zloz |
Corpus
[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.
Tools
Phonotactics Checker: http://jsfiddle.net/g0sg2wzq/4/embedded/result/ Random text/sentence generator: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8cDjY-1MQkMYnRwYVgtV3J0ekk Root lists http://pastebin.com/0S5GsiqP http://pastebin.com/mVr9trze