The Language Diaries, Part 2 - Hu*eetp

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Childermas/Holy Innocents Day

Pledge of Allegiance Day

Card Playing Day

National Chocolate Day

 

 

The Language Bird Demonstrates Grammar (With A Little Help From Its Friends)

A-uwa ptk < kakuu!it sekkwo ai te*saao, > *tuu* tko tatuuta ptk < tp te*pa-a!a-a-a-ae-eoo >

 

Kiatù!ik ptk < sekkwo i aip*eet >

‘The bird is red.’

 

Kiatù!ik ptk < sekkwo suuit aiaip*ee-eet >

‘The birds were red.’

 

Kiatù!ik ptk <sekkwo i ai*tuup*eet >

‘The bird is not red.’

 

Ihwuuù ptk < sekkwo i te-e*aiaiwuu-uuha-ahwuu-uu >

‘The birds sing a song.’

 

Ihwuuù ptk < sekkwo ee-e te-e*aiaiwuu-uuha-ahwuu-uu >

‘The birds will sing a song.’

 

Other Sentences

 

What is your name?

!ituu aawoi < aawoi!it *ouu i tep*eeto >

 

My name is ___.

Kk ptk < ___   kkit *ouu i tep*eeto. >

 

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveller came along wrapped in a warm cloak.

Tektpita ptk < suuit hwuuss ùkkuu!p ! *uutapei ke*tka*o*o>, peppo haakpeaat *uu!it *tuu* paaùkit suu*eet ptk < suuit *asso >

 

 

Summary

 

A language for merpeople, with clicks and whistles and sounds that would be heard easily underwater.  (I invented a whole biology for them too, that would allow them to speak without exhaling and recycling oxygen.  In case you’re curious, they’re totally mammalian, and they’re hardly simply half-human, half-sea-mammal.  But that’s a whole other ballpark …)

 

This one needs work—I haven’t really written out a comprehensive syntax yet, so I have to keep looking back at my sample sentences to make sure everything is consistent.  The orthography also needs work; I decided to represent the large number of vowels with diphthongs, which may have been a mistake.  The hyphens are to separate the correct sounds—three e’s in a row without one would have three different possible pronunciations, but ee-e is easy enough to read as a long e and a short e sound.*  This also shows that some of those hideous words above with the tons of hyphens aren’t really made of a million syllables; if two of the same vowel sound are next to each other, that means that they’re lengthened.

 

Hu*eetp also employs tones—changing the tone of the predicate shows the person of the subject. This is my first use of tone, which I’m kinda scared of.

 

I’m a little amazed at how much of the lexicon I have; I seem to recall checking out a book on things found in the ocean and compiling a list of stuff merpeople need names for.  But the syntax is a little shaky.

 

 

*I’m not sure if Livejournal supports the IPA font, and it’s not like everybody understands those, anyway, so I’ll stick with this explanation.

Comments

[enigmania.livejournal.com]

"Are you okay? You're making funny noises" - my boyfriend.
What are the *? How does one pronounce ptk? Do < and > indicate tones?
I had fun learning Thai for an extended trip there a few years back. Memorable moment: "I'm Pui, and this is my sister, Pui" (with mid and rising tones, respectively).

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot to explain that! I was going to, but I got sidetracked ... * is a whistle, ! is a click; <> indicates falling tone, ?? (I didn't add this; should have) is a rising (for 2nd person), and no punctuation means a mid tone (for 1st person).

Generally I wind up dislodging my retainer when I try speaking this language and spitting it elegantly onto my keyboard. Darn these delphinic sounds.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Oh, and as for 'ptk,' which is a topic marker, it's pronounced just like it's spelled. ;) Another difficulty with speaking this language is the tendency to cluster a bunch of stops together and call it a word.

[gondolinchick01.livejournal.com]

Man, I've got to have you speak this for me sometime, because I have no idea how to pronounce any of this. It's like Hawaiian on crack or something (not that that's a bad thing.)