niselak

This is my conlang (specifically an engilang), niselak, that started its life in a random TXT file on my desktop on November 7, 2018.

Hover over or tap any niselak text to see a romanization. Warning: Though the page itself is not under construction, the content sure is. Get in touch if you have anything to say!

Table of Contents

Phonetics

All pronunciations are listed in "<IPA> or <X-SAMPA>".

Vowels

Other letters

Orthography

Letters: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Numbers 0-9: 0123456789

Morphology and Syntax

Each word is made of:

  1. one-letter part of speech
  2. one-letter root category
  3. multisyllabic root (one consonant and one vowel per syllable)
  4. one-letter terminator
  5. optional syllabic suffixes (one vowel and one consonant per syllable)

Parts of speech

Words starting with <prefix> are <part of speech>

Root categories

After the prefix comes the root. Roots are described next section, but they fall into six prefixed categories - roots that start with <letter> are categorized as <category>:

Root termination

All roots are terminated by k. Before the k, all syllables are C-V; after the k, all syllables are V-C. It is up to the speaker to decide whether the k is the start or end of the single C-V-C syllable (though this is really only relevant in singing).

Suffixes

All suffixes are optional unless otherwise noted.

Legal suffixes and their default order
Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
Adverbs
Conjunctions

Tense

eb can be added after any previous tense to signify the perfect:

SuffixTense it signifiesEnglish example
ebebpast perfect"had done"
enebpresent perfect"have done"
efebfuture perfect"will have done"

ec signifies the continuous of the entire tense before it:

SuffixTense it signifiesEnglish exampleSuffixTense it signifiesEnglish example
ebecpast continuous"was doing"ebebecpast perfect continuous"had been doing"
enecpresent continuous"is doing"enebecpresent perfect continuous"have been doing"
efecfuture continuous"will be doing"efebecfuture perfect continuous"will have been doing"

Finally, the special case ebenef (past, present, and future) signifies gnomic tense - it did in the past, it does in the present, and it will in the future.

Case

When unspecified, word order is:

  1. [adverb(s)] verb
  2. [possessive(s)] [adjective(s)] subject
  3. [possessive(s)] [adjective(s)] object
  4. [possessive(s)] [adjective(s)] parameter 1
  5. [possessive(s)] [adjective(s)] parameter 2

All items after the verb are optional. Cases specified on adjectives or after the up suffix for possessive nouns mark the noun they modify, which allows them to be emphasized. The possessive suffix can be repeated (including after other case suffixes) to mark nested possession.

Examples of case marking mechanics
Sequence of case markingsRendered sequence of casesExplanation
(verb)
(unmarked)
(unmarked)		verb
subject
object		This is the default word order.
(unmarked)
(verb)
(marked as subject)
(marked as parameter 2)
(unmarked)		object
verb
subject
parameter 2
parameter 1		Since the subject has already been taken by the second noun, the first unmarked noun must be the object, since that's next in the word order chain. The second unmarked noun is parameter 1, since that's after the object in the word order chain. In this word ordering, the object is the most emphasized.
(verb)
(marked as object)		verb
object		The markings are all explicit here. This is how you specify imperative voice - omit the subject.

Case can be specified on adjectives too, to mark which noun they describe. This allows adjectives to be emphasized as well. (Adverbs need no case markings - there is only one verb in a sentence. They can be put whereever.)

Case on noun or verb expression starting markers marks what case the whole expression takes. Case on (only) noun expression ending markers marks which of the expressions inside gets returned.

Count

Intensity

def intensity(suffix_string):
	"""Example: 'onop' and 'oton' both produce -0.5"""
	result = 0
	power = 1
	last_suffix = None
	for i in range(0, len(suffix_string), 2):
		suffix = suffix_string[i:i+2]
		if last_suffix != suffix:
			power -= 1
		last_suffix = suffix
		if suffix == 'on': # lower intensity than previous level
			result -= 2 ** power
		elif suffix == 'ot': # same intensity
			pass # doesn't change result, but could change power
		elif suffix == 'op': # higher intensity than previous level
			result += 2 ** power
	return result

Direction

This is used to condense vocabulary. A lot of words in other languages basically mean the same thing, but are in different directions. In niselak, instead of using two words like "enter" and "exit", just use one word vupak and add a direction suffix - vupakep is "exit" (because ep is outwards), and vupakeg is "enter" (because eg is inwards).

The es suffix exists because some words have inherent non-nullable direction, so es negates its default.

Opinion

Also used to condense vocabulary. Use the same Python function as before, but with ap, at, and ag instead of op, ot, and on, to compute an opinion value.

Combined with direction and intensity, this collapses words like "large" (outwards), "fat" (outwards negative), "small" (inwards), "tiny" (intense inwards) into one single root for "size" - each of the previous is respectively translated to dasikep, dasikepag, dasikeg, and dasikopeg, all with the same root asi.

Noun expressions

A sentence with kynakeg before it and kynakep after it marks the whole sentence as one noun expression. In a noun expression, the return value of the expression is the subject of the sentence by default.

Usage of noun expressions
SentenceMeaningExplanation
kynakeg dog threw ball kynakep"the dog that threw the ball"By default, the subject of the sentence is the return value.
kynakeg ball threw dog kynakep"the ball that threw the dog"By default, the subject of the sentence is the return value.
kynakeg dog threw ball kynakepub"the ball that was thrown by the dog"The ub suffix on the closing kynakep marks the object of the sub-sentence as the return value.
(verb) kynakegub dog threw ball kynakep (subject)(subject) (verb) "the dog that threw the ball"Normally, "the dog that threw the ball" would have been the subject of the sentence, and so would have come first in English. However, the ub suffix on the opening kynakeg marked the whole noun expression as the object of the sentence.

Verb expressions

A sentence with kyvakeg before it and kyvakep after it marks the whole sentence as one verb expression. In a verb expression, the return value of the expression is the action that was performed.

Usage of verb expressions
SentenceMeaningExplanation
kyvakeg dog throw ball kyvakep"the act of the dog throwing the ball"The return value of a verb expression is the action performed.
(verb) kyvakegub dog throw ball kyvakep (subject)(subject) (verb) "the dog throwing the ball"Normally, it would have been the subject of the sentence, but the ub suffix on the opening kyvakeg marked the whole verb expression as the object instead.
kyvakeg dog throw ball kyvakepub(syntactically invalid)The closing kyvakep takes no case.
kyvakeg (no subject) throw ball kyvakep"the act of throwing balls/a ball"Subjects and other nouns can be omitted as with regular sentences, the action is what is returned.

Grammar

_			= 1*WSP
toplevel	= question / statement
question	= flow "?"
statement	= flow ("." / %x0a)
flow		= 1*([controlflow] (sentence / expression))
sentence	= {verbexp [_ expression / expression _] [_ expression / expression _] [_ expression / expression _] [_ expression / expression _]}
expression	= nounexpr / verbexpr / nounexp
verbexp		= *([controlflow] adverb _) verb *(_ "kycak" _ verbexp)
nounexp		= *(possessive _) (*[controlflow] adjective _) noun *(_ "kycak" _ nounexp)
verbexpr	= "kyvakeg" [nounsuffixes] _ sentence _ "kyvakep"
nounexpr 	= "kynakeg" [nounsuffixes] _ sentence _ "kynakep" [case] [gender]
posessive	= expression
adjective	= "d" vocabulary terminator [adjsuffixes]
noun		= "n" vocabulary terminator [nounsuffixes]
adverb		= "b" vocabulary terminator [advsuffixes]
verb 		= "v" vocabulary terminator [verbsuffixes]
controlflow	= "k" vocabulary terminator [direction] [case] [count]
terminator	= "k"
vocabulary	= [vowels] *([consonants] [vowels])
vowels		= "a" / "e" / "i" / "o" / "u" / "y"
consonants	= "b" / "c" / "d" / "f" / "g" / "h" / "j" / "l" / "m" / "n" / "p" / "q" / "r" / "s" / "t" / "v" / "w" / "x" / "z"
nounsuffixes= case [count] [advsuffixes]
verbsuffixes= tense [advsuffixes]
adjsuffixes	= case [advsuffixes]
advsuffixes	= intensity [direction] [opinion]
case		= "us" / "ub" / "un" / "ut" / ([case] "up")
count		= ["as"] *("an" "as") ["an"]
gender		= "im" / "if" / "in"
tense		= 1*("eb" / "en" / "ef") ["ec"]
intensity	= 1*("on" / "ot" / "op")
direction	= "ep" / "eg" / "es"
opinion		= 1*("ap" / "at" / "ag")

Vocabulary

Lists in big <pre>s are that way because I can't be bothered to format them yet.

General notes:

a: adjectives

The base category can also be used as a vehicle for suffixes, e.g. dakopag (adjective intense negative) for "very bad".

e: food/nature

i: abstract concepts

o: objects

u: words of motion

y: control flow

Examples

WIP, a lot of changes in progress. This is also mostly only understandable to myself at the moment.

In the glosses that follow,

Demonstrating if-then-end

Glossed sentence
kyfikvilakebapnopepuknimanibamenikopepag,
pos.conj cat.y if; pos.v cat.abstract describability-by; past +opn pos.n cat.object 2p; pos.n cat.abstract m3; +int +dir -opn,
ifwere (good)youvery more volume (bad),
kyxeknupakubopepvibikebagnopepukkynek.
pos.conj cat.y then; pos.n cat.movement pass-doorway; acc +int +dir pos.v cat.abstract ability; past -opn pos.n cat.object 2p; pos.conj cat.y end-if;.
then_intense exit_unableyou[end].

MeaningLiterallyCode

if you were fat, you couldn't escape

 if you were very badly voluminous, then you were unable to intensely exit. 
if describability(you, m3(dir=+1, intensity=+1, opinion=-1), tense=past, opinion=+1)
then ability(object=passDoorway(dir=+1, intensity=+1), you, tense=past, opinion=-1)

Demonstrating numbers

Glossed sentence
dinunajajikdilikegdirebicicaknilepekop
pos.adj cat.abstract 19Bdozenal; pos.adj cat.abstract life; -dir pos.adj cat.abstract Catholicism; pos.n cat.abstract leader; +int
263deadCatholicintense leader

MeaningLiterallyCode

263 dead Popes

 263 nonliving Catholic high-leader 
leader(modifiers=(number(263), livingness(dir=-1), Christian()), intensity=+1)

Demonstrating all parts of speech

bigikopegagvipokebegagnopepikdinikupegagnitipekupegnilikep
pos.adv cat.abstract violence; +int -dir -opn pos.v cat.abstract possession; past -dir -opn pos.n cat.object 1p; pos.adj cat.abstract intelligence; gen -dir -opn pos.n cat.abstract info-transferer; gen -dir pos.n cat.abstract life; +dir
violently (bad)took away (bad)Inonintelligent (bad)information receiver'slife

MeaningLiterallyCode

I brutally killed an idiotic student

 I very-violently took stupid information-receiver's life 
changeHands(
	modifiers=(violence(
		intensity=+1,
		dir=-1,
		opinion=-1
	),), I, life(owner=infoTransferEr(
		modifiers=(intelligence(
			dir=-1,
			opinion=-1
		),),
		dir=-1
	))
)

Demonstrating all root categories, as well as noun-expressions

vilakepkynakegvutokebepnenicalufakus
pos.v cat.abstract describability-by; +dir pos.conj cat.y noun-expression; -dir pos.v cat.movement throw/catch; past +dir pos.n cat.nature canis-lupus-familiaris; nom
is[noun start]threwdog
darokepnokkynakepninekepeg
pos.adj cat.adjective roundness; +dir pos.n cat.object; pos.conj cat.y noun-expression; +dir pos.n cat.abstract intelligence; +dir +opn
roundobject[noun end]smartness

MeaningLiterallyCode

the dog that threw the ball is smart

 [dog threw round object] is smartness 
describability(
	subjectOf(throwOrCatch(
		dog, object(
			modifiers=(roundness(dir=+1),)
		)
	)),
	intelligence(dir=+1, opinion=+1),
	dir=+1
)

Demonstrating verb-expressions

vilakepkyvakegvutokepnopekubkyvakepnakag
pos.v cat.abstract describability-by; +dir pos.conj cat.y verb-expression; -dir pos.v cat.movement throw/catch; +dir pos.n cat.object person; acc pos.conj cat.y verb-expression; +dir pos.n cat.adjective; -opn
is[verb start]throwperson[verb end]badness

MeaningLiterallyCode

throwing people is bad

 [throw person] is badness 
describability(verbOf(throwOrCatch(person, dir=+1)), adjective(opinion=-1))

Miscellaneous

visiknopepiknopepukdakapnitanik
pos.v cat.abstract hope; pos.n cat.object 1p; pos.n cat.object 2p; pos.adj cat.adjective; +opn pos.n cat.abstract nighttime;
hopeIyougoodnighttime

MeaningLiterallyCode

I wish you a good night

 I hope you good night 
hope(I, you, night(modifiers=(adjective(opinion=+1),)))
vimapocekebenefkyvakegvimapopokepnimanupekkyvakeg
pos.v cat.abstract equals; gnomic pos.conj cat.y verb-expression; -dir pos.v cat.abstract exponent; +dir pos.n cat.abstract e; pos.conj cat.y verb-expression; -dir
=[verb start]^e[verb start]
vimapomukepnimanupiknimanupokkyvakepkyvakepnimanunakeg
pos.v cat.abstract multiplication; +dir pos.n cat.abstract π; pos.n cat.abstract i; pos.conj cat.abstract verb-expression; +dir pos.conj cat.abstract verb-expression; +dir pos.n cat.abstract 1; -dir
×πi[verb end][verb end]-1

MeaningLiterallyCode

eπi = -1

 [e exponentiate [π multiply i]] always equals -1 
equals(
	verbOf(power(
		e, verbOf(multiply(
			pi, i
		))
	)),
	one(dir=-1)
)
vilapoknowakkyvakegupvudapakonepnopepukupnoxikannopekupan
pos.v cat.abstract identicality-to; pos.n cat.object what; pos.conj cat.y verb-expression; -dir gen pos.v cat.motion vertical; -int +dir pos.n cat.object 2p; gen pos.n cat.object thing; pl pos.n cat.object person; gen pl
iswhat[verb start]'sare aboveyourthingspeople's
dicitiniknocokupnocofokkyvakepnilok?
pos.adj cat.abstract nighttime; pos.n cat.object container; gen pos.n cat.object floor; pos.conj cat.y verb-expression; +dir pos.n cat.abstract reason;?
nighttimecontainer'sfloor[verb end]reason?

MeaningLiterallyCode

why are your things on the bedroom floor?

 what is [your things are above people's nighttime container's floor]'s reason? 
?identicality(
    what,
    reason(modifiers=(verbOf(vertical(
        things(modifiers=(your,)),
        floor(modifiers=(people's, night, container's))
    )),))
)

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