Thropoi

Thropoi is the (temporary?) name for my new 'artlang' (artistic language). It is derived from the first word that sprang to mind when coming up with this lang, which was "thropos". It means 'bull', though I'm not quite sure what effects that has on the meaning of 'Thropoi'.

Anyhow, let's look at a couple of sentences I assembled:

Anthonos sín darëthi prádo. Tas mano vesem mannin akot shánide. Tasta të tamen të rapu etet nají Frankarërne, jatem ain rutarevt.

It's supposed to mean the following:

Anthony is my friend. He has a great house near the sea. His mother and father went to France, but have not returned.

 Let's disect that, shall we?

• Anthonos - "Anthony" [name, masc. nom. sg., o-base] from Anthonos
• sín - "is" [verb, 3rd sg. act., present simple, indi.] from sín
• darëthi - "my" [pronoun, general possessive sg., consonant-base] from dar
• prádo - "friend" [n., general predicative sg., o-base] from prádo
• tas - "he" [pn., masc. nom. sg., a-base] from tas
• mano - "have" [v., 3rd sg. act., present simple, indi.] from mano
• vesem - "house" [n., neuter acc. sg., c.-base] from ves
• mannin - "big" [adjective, neut. acc. sg., o-base] from manno
• akot - "near" [preposition]
• shánide - "sea" [n., neut. locative sg., o-base] from sháno
• tasta - "his" [pn., masc. poss. sg., a-base] from tas
• të - "and" [conjunction] (always appears in pairs or groups)
• tamen - "mother" [n., fem. nom. sg., e-base] from tamen
• të - "and" [conjunction]
• rapu - "father" [n., masc. nom. sg, u-base] from rapu
• etet - "went" [v., 3rd pl. monovalent, past simple, indi.] from eta
• nají - "to" [preposition]
• Frankarërne - "France" [nm., neut. lative sg., c.-base] from Frankar
• jatem - "but" [conjunction]
• ain - "not" [adverb]
• rutarevt - "have returned" [v., 3rd pl. mon., present perfect] from rutaro

Phew, that's quite a list.

As you might have noticed, Thropoi has a lot of different conjugations: there are 4 genders, 13 cases, 4 numbers and 5 bases (leaving you with 1040 noun-conjugations), 3 tenses, 3 aspects, 4 voices, 8 persons and 8 moods (resulting in 2304 verb-conjugations, although some are impossible).

This is of course on purpose. The aim of this particular lang is purely art; I want to have a language that one can only interpret and produce with a dictionary at hand. Where my other langs are often quite simple, this is a language that is ridiculously complex, just for the sake of it.

Cupboard Utopia

Єтι Καтαᴧυ!

I've been working on some diachronics of some sort; it started with noun conjugations, but I will develop it to a couple of dialects. I'll probably put some of those into my conworld. You might just see something about all this sometime soon.

Δακрι мнεc xтωнc εмοнε οᴧβκε?

Back.dat is.3pl lands happiness.gen wealth.gen-and?

Are there lands of happiness and wealth on the other side?

Noortje was quite jumpy at that moment. Strolling across my table as if I weren't trying to get something done on my pc. I guess she noticed it was almost time for dinner, demanding some extra attention in the meantime.

And yes, both the ευтιε καтαᴧυ and The Sentence were written in a dialect of some sort. This one was created after first applying 'elesion' and then 'contraction'. Well, I haven't worked that out, really.

Verbal Vowel Assimilation (part 2)

Let's take a look at the verb stems alone:

Indi.: мεн-, нοιмε-, οιδα-, παнxο-, δεικн-
Con.: мεнe-, нοιмe-, οιδά-, παнxό-, δεικнύ-
Opt.: мεнε͂ι-, нοιмε͂ι-, οιδᾶι-, παнxο͂ι-, δεικнῦι-

There are five different verb types: verbs without a thematic vowel and ε-, α-, o- and υ-thematic verbs. υ-thematic vowels do not appear in the indicative.

In the coniunctive, the thematic vowel is prolongued. ε>e; α>ά; ο>ό, υ>ύ.
Verb stems without a thematic vowel get an -e- added.

In the optative, -ε͂ι- is added to the verb stem.

Verbal Vowel Assimilation

As a response to yesterday's comment, I will run through the examples given their again, this time with pre- and post-assimilation forms.

If you haven't read seen the TALVAC yet, please 'tab' it as a reference.

The Lurioneski verbs have the following suffices for person and number:

1sg (I) -ω
2sg (you) -ὶc
3sg (he) -ὶ
1pl (we) -ὸмα
2pl (you) -ὶтε
3pl (they) -εc

For instance, "I am" is мεнω and "you are" (pl) is мεнιтε.

However, most verbs also have a thematic vowel, which is either -ε, -α, -ο or -υ.
Ignoring the last one (as it is a rather tricky one), they assimilate as usual, meaning they combine with other vowels (in this case those of the verb suffices).

ε+ω > ω; ε+ὶ > ε͂ι*; ε+ὸ > ω; ε+ε > ε
E.g.: нοιмεὶc > нοιмε͂ιc ("you name"); нοιмεὸмα > нοιмωмα ("we name").

α+ω > ῶ; α+ὶ > ὶ; α+ὸ > ῶ; α+ε > α
E.g.: οιδαω > οιδῶ ("I know"); οιδαὶтε > οιδὶтε ("you know" (pl)).

ο+ω > ω; ο+ὶ > ὶ; ο+ὸ > ω; ο+ε > ο
E.g.: παнxοὶ > παнxὶ ("he eats"); παнxοεc > παнxοc ("they eat");

Got it? Great, 'cause it only gets harder.


The Optative is quite easy. It just puts -ε͂ι- between the verb root and the suffix. But again, the vowels assimilate (when possible).

ε+ε͂ι > ε͂ι; α+ε͂ι > ᾶι; ο+ε͂ι > ο͂ι;
E.g.: οιδαε͂ιω > οιδᾶιω ("may I know"); παнxοε͂ιεc > παнxο͂ιεc > παнxο͂ιc ("may they eat").


The Coniunctive does something tricky. When verbs have a thematic vowel, it lengthens it, causing it to assimilate differently. (When there is no thematic vowel, it simply puts -e- in between.) Let's take the same examples as before, but this time in the coniunctive:

e+ω > eω; e+ὶ > eὶ; e+ὸ > eὸ; e+ε > e

E.g.: нοιмeὶc > нοιмeὶc ("you could name"); нοιмeὸмα > нοιмeὸмα ("we could name").

ά+ω > άω; ά+ὶ > άὶ; ά+ὸ > άὸ; ά+ε > ά

E.g.: οιδάω > οιδάω ("I could know"); οιδάὶтε > οιδάὶтε ("you could know" (pl)).

ό+ω > όω; ο+ὶ > όὶ; ό+ὸ > όὸ; ό+ε > ό

E.g.: παнxόὶ > παнxόὶ ("he eats"); παнxόεc > παнxόc ("they eat");

There is no visual distinction between the indicative 3pl and coniunctive 3pl of a verb (e.g. between παнxοc and παнxοc), as accents are rarely used. They are pronounced differently: [pɐnxɔs] and [pɐnxos] respectively.

(* I changed this one, but the chart still says ε+ὶ > ὶ.)

So there you have it.

The Dual

I said I'd explain about the dual some time ago, but I totally forgot. Therefore, here it is.

Form

- υc
- ουc
- ευ
- αc

Use

The dual is used for pairs, thus not just for any 2 items. A good example is οπυc (eyes / a pair of eyes), e.g. αнтрωπec οπευ ειδεc, "humans look with their eyes" (lit: humans with-pair-of-eyes look).
Other examples are other body (ακeυc, 'a pair of ears') or φeᴧυc, 'a pair of lovers/partners.
(It would be nonsense to say αмβрυc, 'a pair of apples', or δцοc οπυc, 'a pair of two eyes'.)

Verb moods: Imperative, Infinitive and Coniunctive

Verb have a number of moods, including the indicative, imperative, infinitive and coniunctive. I will go through these four here.

Indicative

No specific affix.

Is used to state actions in the present, past or future. Also used to describe habits.

Imperative

-εтι for singular and dual;
-εтε for plural;
-υcтε for general advise

Is used to give orders or give advise. The plural form is used for all groups (thus more than one person/object), except when the subject is dual, e.g. (a pair of) eyes, legs, partners etc. The general form is used to advise people unknown to the speaker/writer, for instance in manuals or cooking books.

Infinitive

-ειн

Is used to describe the action on itself, e.g. Нιтω παнxοιн. - "I like to eat". The infinitive is actually a participle noun. (Also have a look at this post.)

Coniunctive

-e- or lengthening the root-vowel; e.g.: ἁπтω > ἁπтeω and cтω > cтαω (resp.)

Is used to state wishes, irrealities and possibilities.

Verb tenses

There are 9 tenses in Lurion, combining 2 elements, time and state.

Praesens, Aorist and Futurum (Present, Past and Future)
Simple, Imperfect and Perfect

The time-part is very easy; praesens is used for actions in the present, aorist in the past and futurum for actions that will (or might) happen in the future.

The state-part is a bit more complicated. Simple is used for describing (consecutive) actions, imperfect for continuous actions and perfect for completed actions.

Praesens and Simple have no affices.
Aorist adds the prefix e-, futurum the suffix -εc.
Imperfect adds the suffix -εн, perfect a reduplication of the first syllable (e.g. δω > δεδω).

E.g.:
eδεδω - "I had given" (past perfect)
οιοιcιc - "You (sg) will have thought" (future perfect)
eοιδαнιтε - "You (pl) were knowing" (past imperfect)
It must be noted that the latter is highly unusual, because it is quite odd to 'know continuously'. Something like "although you knew" would be translated as цαᴧтε eοιδιтε.

Lets look at the semantical differences between the tenses:

Λeгω, δω e φεᴧιω. - "I speak, I give and I (make) love."; these are all habits.
Eᴧeгω, eδω e eφεᴧιω. - "I spoke, I gave and I loved."; these are 3 actions in chronological order.
Λeгω e οιнω. - "I speak and I am thinking"; i.e. 'I speak while I am thinking'.
Δεδωмι ᴧυβрεн e ᴧeгω. - "I have been given a book and I speak"; i.e. 'I speak, (while) having/owning a book'.

Noun and Adjective Conjugations

The conjugations of nouns and adjectives are pretty much the same, with a couple of exeptions.

		g	m	f	n
sg	nom	ιc/ι	ο	α	-/ε
	acc	ιн	οн	αн	εн
	gen	ου	ου	α	ου
	dat	ει	oι	αι	ει
pl	nom	ec	oc	αc	εc
	acc	εc	oc	αc	εc
	gen	ωc	ωc	ωc	ωc
	dat	οιc	οιc	αιc	ειc

The general singular nominative nouns end in -ιc, adjectives in -ι, neuter sg. nom. nouns can end in a lot of ways, adj. in -ε.
The genitive is stressed, e.g. гυнα as in gúna is nominative, as in guná, it is genitive.

Also, all adjectives can be formed from nouns by adding the infix -ι-. E.g.: гυнα (woman) > гυнιι (female, feminine).
Where conjugations overlap, for instance in the plural genitive -ωc, and the gender must be specified, an infix can be added to nouns, being -ο- for masculine, -α- for feminine and -e- for neuter words. E.g.: гυнοωc, meaning 'male woman', i.e. a very feminine man, a 'queer' (as an insult to homosexuals, although my conpeople are most unlikely to make such an insult) or sometimes a transvestite.

Common neuter nom. sg. conjugations are -ε, -υ and -εр. The latter turns into -р in all cases except the nom. sg., e.g. ᴧυβεр, ᴧυβрεн (book).

There is also a dual, which has for all genders the same 4 suffices. More on the dual later, as it also involves some explanation.

Vowel Assimilation

Vowels may assimilate, depending on their length.
The following types can be distinguished:

α, α:, ο, ω, ε, e, ι, ι:, ι., υ, υ:, ει, οι, αι, υι, ου, αυ, ευ

Here the : marks longer vowels. The ι. is a special type, as it is short but strong; it is used e.g. in the verb suffices -ιc, -ι and -ιтε.

They can be categorised according to their length/strength:

ε
α, ι, υ
o
α:, ω, e, υ:, ει, οι, αι, υι, ου, αυ, ευ
ι:, ι.

The first two rows are weak, the last two are strong.

Assimilation occurs when a weak and a strong vowel meet.
(This is only a rule of thumb, though.)

E.g.:
αα - αα
α:ε - α:
α:ω - α:ω
αει - αι

The ο is medially strong, e.g.: αο - ω or eο - eο (both strong), but οω - ω (weak).
The ι: never assimilates (e.g.: ι:α - ι:α), and the ι. 'eats' all weak vowels, including the ο (e.g.: αι. - ι. or ωι. - ωι.).

Verb declensions

The verb declensions are the same for all tenses. Here are the active and passive declensions:

Active
-ω
-ιc
-ι
-οмα
-ιтε
-εc

Passive
-οмι
-εтαc
-εтα
-εтοн
-εтαтε
-εтοн

For instance, the 3rd person singular passive of ᴧεгειн ("to say"; root: ᴧεг-) is ᴧεгεтα ("he is said"), and the 2nd person plural active of мεнειн ("to be"; root: мεн-) is мεнιтε ("you are" (pl.)).