From 3547d569d1b46fc8aa690d6989ee9121eaa5a431 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Christine Dodrill Date: Mon, 25 May 2020 23:20:33 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] reconlangmo 7: discourse (#155) * reconlangmo 7: discourse * Update reconlangmo-7-discourse-2020-05-25.markdown --- ...econlangmo-7-discourse-2020-05-25.markdown | 285 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 285 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/reconlangmo-7-discourse-2020-05-25.markdown diff --git a/blog/reconlangmo-7-discourse-2020-05-25.markdown b/blog/reconlangmo-7-discourse-2020-05-25.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d1b321 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/reconlangmo-7-discourse-2020-05-25.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,285 @@ +--- +title: "ReConLangMo 7: Discourse" +date: 2020-05-25 +series: reconlangmo +tags: + - conlang + - lewa +--- + +# ReConLangMo 7: Discourse + +Previously on [ReConLangMo][reconlangmo], we covered a lot of new words for the +lexicon of L'ewa. This helps to flesh out a lot of what can be said, but +conversations themselves can be entirely different from formal sentences. +Conversations flow and ebb based on the needs/wants of the interlocutors. This +post will start to cover a lot of the softer skills behind L'ewa as well as +cover some other changes I'm making under the hood. This is a response to [this +prompt][rclm7]. + +[reconlangmo]: https://christine.website/blog/series/reconlangmo +[rclm7]: https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/gqo8jn/reconlangmo_7_discourse/ + +## Information Structure + +L'ewa doesn't have any particular structure for marking previously known +information, as normal sentences should suffice in most cases. Consider this +paragraph: + +``` +I saw you eat an apple. Was it tasty? +``` + +Since `an apple` was the last thing mentioned in the paragraph, the vague "it" +pronoun in the second sentence can be interpreted as "the apple". + +L'ewa doesn't have a way to mark the topic of a sentence, that should be obvious +from context (additional clauses to describe things will help here). In most +cases the subject should be equivalent to the topic of a sentence. + +L'ewa doesn't directly offer ways to emphasize parts of sentences with phonemic +stress like English does (eg: "I THOUGHT you ate an apple" vs "I thought you ATE +an apple"), but emotion words can be used to help indicate feelings about +things, which should suffice as far as emphasis goes. + +## Discourse Structure + +Conversationally, a lot of things in L'ewa grammar get dropped unless it's +ambiguous. The I/yous that get tacked on in English are completely unneeded. A +completely valid conversation could look something like this: + +``` + xoi + xoi + xoi madsa? + lo spalo +``` + +And it would roughly equate to: + +``` + Hi + Hi, you doing okay? + Yes, have you eaten? + Yes, I ate an apple +``` + +People know when they can speak after a sufficient pause between utterances. +Interrupting is not common but not a social faux-pas, and can be used to stop a +false assumption from being said. + +## Utterances + +An utterance in L'ewa is anything from a single content word all the way up to +an entire paragraph of sentences. An emotion particle can be a complete +utterance. A question particle can be a complete utterance, anything can be an +utterance. A speaker may want to choose more succinct options when the other +detail is already contextually known or simply not relevant to the listener. + +L'ewa has a few discourse particles, here are a few of the more significant +ones: + +| L'ewa | Function | +|-------|------------------------------------------------------| +| xi | signals that the verb of the sentence is coming next | +| ko | ends a noun phrase | +| ka | marks something as the subject of the sentence | +| ke | marks something as the verb of the sentence | +| ku | marks something as the object of the sentence | + +## Formality + +The informal dialect of L'ewa drops everything it can. The formal dialect +retains everything it can, to the point where it includes noun phrase endings, +the verb signaler, ka/ke/ku and every single optional particle in the language. +The formal dialect will end up sounding rather wordy compared to informal slangy +speech. Consider the differences between informal and formal versions of "I eat +an apple": + +``` +mi madsa lo spalo. +``` + +``` +ka mi ko xi ke madsa ku lo spalo ko. +``` + +Nearly all of those particles are not required in informal speech (you could +even get away with `madsa lo spalo` depending on context), but are required in +formal speech to ensure there is as little contextual confusion as possible. +Things like laws or legal rulings would be written out in the formal register. + +## Greetings and Farewell + +"Hello" in L'ewa is said using `xoi`. It can also be used as a reply to hello +similar to «ça va» in French. It is possible to have an entire conversation with +just `xoi`: + +``` + xoi + xoi + xoi +``` + +The other implications of `xoi` are "how are you?" "I am good, you?", "I am +good", etc. If more detail is needed beyond this, then it can be supplied +instead of replying with `xoi`. + +"Goodbye" is said using `xei`. Like `xoi` it can be used as a reply to another +goodbye and can form a mini-conversation: + +``` + xei + xei + xei +``` + +## Emotion Words + +Feelings in L'ewa are marked with a family of particles called "UI". These can +also be modified with other particles. Here are the emotional markers: + +| L'ewa | English | +|-------|----------------| +| `a'a` | attentive | +| `a'e` | alertness | +| `ai` | intent | +| `a'i` | effort | +| `a'o` | hope | +| `au` | desire | +| `a'u` | interest | +| `e'a` | permission | +| `e'e` | competence | +| `ei` | obligation | +| `e'i` | constraint | +| `e'o` | request | +| `e'u` | suggestion | +| `ia` | belief | +| `i'a` | acceptance | +| `ie` | agreement | +| `i'e` | approval | +| `ii` | fear | +| `i'i` | togetherness | +| `io` | respect | +| `i'o` | appreciation | +| `iu` | love | +| `i'u` | familiarity | +| `o'a` | pride | +| `o'e` | closeness | +| `oi` | complaint/pain | +| `o'i` | caution | +| `o'o` | patience | +| `o'u` | relaxation | +| `ua` | discovery | +| `u'a` | gain | +| `ue` | surprise | +| `u'e` | wonder | +| `ui` | happiness | +| `u'i` | amusement | +| `uo` | completion | +| `u'o` | courage | +| `uu` | pity | +| `u'u` | repentant | + +If an emotion is unknown in a conversation, you can ask with `kei`: + +``` + xoi, so kei? + hi, what-verb what-feeling? + + madsa ui + eating :D +``` + +This system is wholesale stolen from [Lojban](https://lojban.github.io/cll/13/1/). + +## Connectives + +Connectives exist to link noun phrases and verbs together into larger +noun phrases and verbs. They can also be used to link together sentences. There +are four simple connectives: `fa` (OR), `fe` (AND), `fi` (connective question), +`fo` (if-and-only-if) and `fu` (whether-or-not). + +### OR + +``` +ro au madsa lo spalo fa lo hafto? +Do you want to eat an apple or an egg? +``` + +### AND + +``` +ro au madsa lo spalo fe lo hafto? +Do you want to eat an apple and an egg? +``` + +### If and Only If + +``` +ro 'amwo mi fo mi madsa hafto? +Do you love me if I eat eggs? +``` + +### Whether or Not + +``` +mi 'amwo ro. fu ro madsa hafto. +I love you, whether or not you eat eggs. +``` + +### Connective Question + +``` +ro au madsa lo spalo fi lo hafto? +Do you want to eat apples and/or eggs? +``` + +## Changes Being Made to L'ewa + +Early on, I mentioned that family terms were gendered. This also ended up with +me making some gendered terms for people. I have since refactored out all of the +gendered terms in favor of more universal terms. Here is a table of some of the +terms that have been replaced: + +| English | L'ewa term | L'ewa word | +|-------------------------|-------------|------------| +| brother/sister | sibling | xinga | +| mother/father | parent | pa'ma | +| grandfather/grandmother | grandparent | gra'u | +| aunt/uncle | parent | pa'ma | +| cousin | sibling | xinga | +| man/woman | Creator | kirta | +| man/woman | human | renma | + +In some senses, gender exists. In other senses, gender does not. With L'ewa I +want to explore what is possible with language. It would be interesting to +create a language where gender can be discussed as it is, not as the categories +that it has historically fit into. Consider colors. There are millions of +colors, all sightly different but many follow general patterns. No one or two +colors can be thought of as the "default" color, yet we can have long and +meaningful conversations about what color is and what separates colors from +eachother. + +I aim to have the same kind of granularity in L'ewa. As a goal of the language, +I should be able to point to any content word in the dictionary and be able to +say "that's my gender" in the same way I can describe color or music with that +tree. These will implicitly be metaphors (which does detract a bit from the +logical stance L'ewa normally takes) because gender is almost always a metaphor +in practice. L'ewa will not have binary gender. + +Issue [number two](https://tulpa.dev/cadey/lewa/issues/2) on the L'ewa repo will +help track the creation and implementation of a truly non-binary "gender" system +for L'ewa. + +--- + +I've been chugging through the Swaedish list more and more to build up more of +L'ewa's vocabulary in preparation for starting to translate sentences more +complicated than simple "I eat an apple" or "Do you like eating plants?". One of +the first things I want to translate is the classic [tower of babel +story][babel]. + +[babel]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel + +Be well.