Essentials of World Language
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Phonology, vocabulary and grammar
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 14 Apr 2024, 10:21.
[comments] wamtphonologyvocabularygrammar
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
World Language is my attempt at an International Auxiliary Language that uses the principles of Toki Pona, intended to be as simple for anyone regardless of background to learn at all, yet be able to describe concepts in as much detail as one would like.
Phonology
Its alphabet is: a, i, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, u, w, y. All letters are theoretically pronounced as they would be in the IPA, except <y> is /j/. Realistically, variations in pronunciations are acceptable, as due to the small phonology, deviations will not cause much confusion.
It has two diphthongs, "ai" and "au". I figured these should be easy enough for anyone to pronounce.
Every syllable is restricted to (C)V(N), but no two vowels may be next to each other, save for the two diphthongs above. "iya", "iyu", "uwa" and "uwi" will result from "*ia", "*iu", "*ua" and "*ui".
Consonant clusters in loanwords or final consonants have the main vowel of the syllable inserted after. For example, "Strasbourg" would be fully translated as "Satalasapuku", and "Christmas" as "Kilisi(ti)masa".
Vocabulary
Like in a "good" IAL, I try to derive vocabulary from as diverse source language (families) as I can. Sometimes, if it is possible to coincide multiple source language families, that will be done. For example, "kalu" (walk, move, leg) comes from Armenian "քայլել (kʿaylel)" (walk), Korean "갈 (gal)" (will go), Min Nan "行路 (kiâⁿ-lō͘)" (walk), Proto-Dravidian "*kāl" (leg), Proto-Austronesian "*qaqay" (leg), Proto-Germanic "*gāną" (go), Proto-Mongolic "*köl" (leg), Proto-Tai "*p.qaːᴬ" (leg), and Sino-Xenic "腳/脚 (MC: kjak)" (leg).
Words tend to serve several similar meanings sometimes, but the context based on where they are placed in a sentence may help to tell them apart. For example, for the previous word, "kalu" in the subject or object position would mean "leg", but mean "move" or "walk" in the verb position.
Compound words are very common, except they are fixed compounds such as in a natural language like German, unlike in Toki Pona where they may be subjective. For example, "ala kalu" (literally, "tool move/walk/leg", but World Language is head-first so this is really more like "moving tool") is a fixed combination meaning "vehicle". It could theoretically also mean "wheelchair", so that is disambiguated by coining a new term "siti kalu" ("moving seat").
The opposite meaning of any word can be formed by adding "an-" in front of it, so many words come in pairs. For example, "ankalu" would be the opposite of "to go": "to stop". Very generally speaking, in a pair, the one that comes without the "an-" has a positive-ish or outward meaning, like "pun" ("good") or "tau" ("give"), while the one that comes with the "an-" has a negative-ish or inward meaning, like "anpun" ("bad") or "antau" ("take"). It is very important to note, however, that "an-" inherently has no negative meaning, and that words prefixed with it are not necessarily seen as any more "undesirable".
Grammar
World Language is a highly analytic, head-first language. Plurals are formed by reduplicating the noun, and all inflections of verbs and adjectives are formed by adding auxiliary words after.
kalu (leg) "leg"
kalu kalu (leg leg) "legs"
kalu ini (leg this) "this leg"
kalu itu (leg that) "that leg"
kalu mi (leg 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I) "my leg"
kalu kanta (leg big) "long leg"
kalu (walk) "walk"
kalu na (walk NEGNegative (polarity)
not) "not walk"
kalu yaka (walk CONTContinuative (tense/aspect)
continuous or durational action) "walking"
kalu ata (walk PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech) "walked"
kalu ata yaka (walk PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech CONTContinuative (tense/aspect)
continuous or durational action) "was walking"
kalu anata (walk NEGNegative (polarity)
not.PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech) "will walk"
kalu uli (walk VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident) "want to / please walk"
kalu musu (walk OBLGObligatory mood (mood)
must ; not imperative) "must / need to walk"
kalu musu uli (walk OBLGObligatory mood (mood)
must ; not imperative VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident) "should walk"
kalu anata yaka musu uli na (walk NEGNegative (polarity)
not.PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech CONTContinuative (tense/aspect)
continuous or durational action OBLGObligatory mood (mood)
must ; not imperative VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident NEGNegative (polarity)
not) "should not be walking (at a particular time in the future)"
Every clause follows, at most, the following structure:
[subject] ka [verb] ni [object] [in [time] / in [place]
The particles "ka" and "ni" is usually dropped when it is after a pronoun or when the verb is the copula "si", but it is mandatory to always include it elsewhere for clarity.
For example:
mi imi ni nin pun.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I have OBJObject (argument) person good.
I have a friend.
mi ai ni ta.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I like OBJObject (argument) 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.
I like them.
ta mata ata nin in tin ata in pina sapi.
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee see PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech person TEMPTemporal (case)
specifying time (at one, on Monday, etc.) day past LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc building knowledge.
They saw a person yesterday in school.
mi mi kalu anmin pina sapi itu
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I REDUPReduplication
full or partial reduplication of a word, stem, root, or morpheme go NEGNegative (polarity)
not.from building knowledge that.
We go to that school.
nin itu ka kimi ata ni kimi kapu lupi.
person that SUBSubject (argument) wear PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech OBJObject (argument) clothing head red.
The person was wearing a red hat.
nin pun mi sapi ata na ni ta.
person good 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I know PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech NEGNegative (polarity)
not OBJObject (argument) 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.
My friend did not know them.
Each of the blanks in the sentence template may also theoretically be expanded into its own clause through the particle "ki" if desired. Pauses should be placed before and after for clarify, indicated through writing by commas. This allows us to condense the previous sentences into one, albeit slightly unwieldy, but theoretically possible:
nin pun mi, ki mi ai, ka mata ata ama sapi ata na ni nin, ki ka kimi ata ni kimi kapu lupi, in tin ata in pina sapi ki mi mi kalu.
person good 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I, CMPComplementiser (syntactic)
[clause] that [clause] 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I like, SUBSubject (argument) see PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech but know PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech NEGNegative (polarity)
not OBJObject (argument) person, CMPComplementiser (syntactic)
[clause] that [clause] SUBSubject (argument) wear PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech [null-subject] OBJObject (argument) clothing head red, TEMPTemporal (case)
specifying time (at one, on Monday, etc.) day past LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc building knowledge CMPComplementiser (syntactic)
[clause] that [clause] 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I REDUPReduplication
full or partial reduplication of a word, stem, root, or morpheme go.
"My friend, whom I like, saw but did not know the person who was wearing a red hat yesterday at the school we go to." ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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