The Þog of 2023-04-23 — Voot, Nooby Artlang #1

Phonology

Consonants

┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐
│   │ n │   │   │   │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ p │ t │   │ k │   │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ ʋ │ s │(ç)│x ɣ│ ʍ │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│   │ ɾ │   │   │   │
└───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘

• /ç/ is an allophone of /x/ when pronounced after /i/
• /v/ is an allophone of /ʋ/ for some speakers
• /ʍ/ can be pronounced [hʷ], [xʷ] or [hw]

Vowels

┌─────┬─────┐
│i, iː│o, oː│
├─────┼─────┤
│a, aː│     │
└─────┴─────┘

These allophones also apply, to both short and long vowels:

• /ɪ/ is an allophone of /i/
• /ʊ/ is an allophone of /o/
• /ɑ/ is an allophone of /a/

Rules

• (C)(C)V(C)(C) syllable structure
• /x/ cannot appear in a segment of stress containing /ɣ/
• /ɾ/ cannot appear at the start or end of a word
• /ʍ/ must be at the start or end of a word
• /ʋ/ cannot appear at the end of a word

Orthography

┌─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┐
│ IPA │Orth.│ IPA │Orth.│
╞═════╪═════╪═════╪═════╡
│ /n/ │  n  │ /t/ │  t  │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ /s/ │  s  │ /x/ │  h  │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ /k/ │  c  │ /ɣ/ │  g  │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ /ʋ/ │  v  │ /p/ │  p  │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ /ɾ/ │  d  │ /hʷ/│  w  │
╞═════╪═════╪═════╪═════╡
│ /i/ │  i  │ /iː/│  ii │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ /o/ │  o  │ /oː/│  oo │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ /a/ │  a  │ /aː/│  aa │
└─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘

Grammar

• SOV word order
• Stress falls on the first syllable with a long vowel, or the first syllable if there are none
• Plural forms are formed by suffixing ⟨on⟩, e.g. ⟨Wos⟩ → ⟨Woson⟩
• The progressive aspect is formed by suffixing with ⟨ig⟩, e.g. ⟨gan⟩ → ⟨ganig⟩
• The perfective aspect is formed by prefixing with ⟨ga⟩, e.g. ⟨gan⟩ → ⟨gagan⟩
• The future aspect is formed by prefixing with ⟨viv⟩, e.g., ⟨gan⟩ → ⟨vivgan⟩
• Agent nouns are formed by suffixing with ⟨iit⟩, e.g., ⟨gan⟩ → ⟨ganiit⟩
• Adjectives are negated by prefixing with ⟨na⟩, e.g., ⟨siiga⟩ → ⟨nasiiga⟩
• If a suffix adds a vowel to a word already ending in a vowel, the suffix replaces the final vowel.

Vocabulary

Ortho.     Broad      Narrow        Meaning/Section

                                    Pronouns
⟨hi⟩       /xi/       [ˈxi]         me, myself, I, 1st person singular pronoun
⟨higon⟩    /xiɣon/    [ˈxiɣːˌon]    us, we, 1st person plural pronoun
⟨to⟩       /to/       [ˈto]         you, 2nd person familiar singular pronoun
⟨tohon⟩    /toxon/    [ˈtoxːˌon]    y'all, 2nd person familiar plural pronoun
⟨woo⟩      /ʍoː/      [ˈʍoː]        you, 2nd person formal singular pronoun
⟨vii⟩      /ʋiː/      [ˈʋiː]        it, 3rd person singular pronoun
⟨viigon⟩   /ʋiːɣon/   [ˈʋiːɣon]     they, 3rd person plural pronoun
⟨viipi⟩    /ʋiːpi/    [ˈʋiːpi]      this
⟨viipipon⟩ /ʋiːpipon/ [ˈʋiːpipːon]  these
⟨viic⟩     /ʋiːk/     [ˈʋiːk]       that
⟨viicon⟩   /ʋiːkon/   [ˈʋiːkːon]    those

                                    Verbs
⟨gan⟩      /ɣan/      [ˈɣan]        to travel by own feet, to walk
⟨sogan⟩    /soɣan/    [ˈsoˌɣan]     to travel with assistance, to ride
⟨caag⟩     /kaːɣ/     [ˈkaːɣ]       to swim
⟨aac⟩      /aːk/      [ˈaːk]        to use, to be aided by
⟨haatsa⟩   /xaːtsa/   [ˈxaːtsa]     to call out, to give a name
⟨tisc⟩     /tisk/     [ˈtisk]       to hold, to contain, to protect
⟨voot⟩     /ʋoːt/     [ˈʋoːt]       to speak, to write
⟨cooca⟩    /koːka/    [ˈkoːka]      to cook
⟨ocoo⟩     /okoː/     [ˌoˈkoː]      to search
⟨xant⟩     /xant/     [ˈxant]       to hunt
⟨cist⟩     /kist/     [ˈkist]       to kill

                                    Nouns (capitalised in the orthography)
⟨Wos⟩      /ʍos/      [ˈʍos]        home, preferred dwelling place
⟨Hot⟩      /xot/      [ˈxot]        building
⟨Asag⟩     /asaɣ/     [ˈa.saɣ]      place, area, zone
⟨Poon⟩     /poːn/     [ˈpoːn]       plant, bush, shrub
⟨Poodas⟩   /poːɾas/   [ˈpoːˌɾas]    tree
⟨Todoon⟩   /toɾoːn/   [ˌtoˈɾoːn]    grass, moss
⟨Pas⟩      /pas/      [ˈpas]        fruit, vegetable, edible plant part
⟨Tii⟩      /tiː/      [ˈtiː]        animal, creature
⟨Vootiit⟩  /ʋoːtiːt/  [ˈʋoːtiːt]    speaker of Voot, person
⟨Wiit⟩     /ʍiːt/     [ˈʍiːt]       scrap, waste
⟨Aga⟩      /aɣa/      [ˈa.ɣa]       mistake, accident

                                    Adjectives
⟨cada⟩     /kaɾa/     [ˈkaɾa]       NOUN-colored
⟨siic⟩     /siːk/     [ˈsiːk]       NOUN-like
⟨tagi⟩     /taɣi/     [ˈta.ɣi]      dry, dead
⟨sat⟩      /sat/      [ˈsat]        wet
⟨siiga⟩    /siiɣa/    [ˈsiː.ɣa]     tasty, sweet
⟨ast⟩      /ast/      [ˈast]        old, derelict (for inanimate objects)
⟨atsa⟩     /atsa/     [ˈaˌtsa]      old (for people and creatures)

                                    Auxillaries/Particles/Adverbs
⟨i⟩        /i/        [ˈʔi]         distress marker
⟨ca⟩       /ka/       [ˈka]         what
⟨po⟩       /po/       [ˈpo]         for

Idioms

Orthography  Literal              Translation

⟨po ca?⟩     {for what}            Why?
⟨i!⟩         (distress, loud)      Look out!
⟨i...⟩       (distress, sad)       Aw...
⟨ca?⟩        {for}                 Hm? (Requesting the speaker to repeat)

Examples

The examples below are written in the order of orthography, phonetic notation, interlinear gloss, literal meaning, and colloqueal meaning in English, if applicable.

 ⟨To   hi   Aat   vivhaatsig.⟩
[ˈto   xi  ˈaːt  ˌʋiʋˈxaːtsiɣ]
  2PS  1PS  NAME  FUT-PRG-call
  You are going to call me Aat.

 ⟨Higon  to  gahaatsa  i!    To  gagan  po  ca?⟩
[ˈxi.ɣon to ˌɣaˈxaːtsa ʔi | ˈto ˈɣa.ɣan po ˈka]
  1PP 2PS PRF-call DISTRESS, 2PS PRF-walk for QUESTION
  We called out for you! Where were you?

Changelog

• 2023-04-23: Start, document created
• 2023-04-27: Initial incomplete draft posted
• 2023-04-27: Corrected orthography errors, added more vocab
• 2023-04-30: Allow [hw] for /ʍ/