For questions about the sound systems of languages
1
vote
1answer
29 views
Adding entire musical concepts to expand vocabulary
I want my language, Syn, to be as precise, efficient, unambiguous, and aesthetic as humanely possible. To do that, I think even the texture, dynamics, rhythm, and the likes should be accounted for.
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5
votes
1answer
64 views
What are the reasons behind ROILA's phonology?
ROILA (RObot Interaction LAnguage), a constructed language for communication between robots and between robots and humans, comes with a 5 vowel system. the vowels are written a e i o u but their sound ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
What language uses the most amount of phonemes?
I'm constructing an auxlang/artlang (temporarily named Syn).
The Syn is (being) designed to interface with any known human language, with a wildly uniform set of simplistic, unambiguous symbols.
I ...
6
votes
3answers
97 views
What reasons would there be for not having a human conlang with only vowels?
All natlangs have both consonants and vowels, but it's not immediately obvious why a human language couldn't be made from only vowels.
Has anyone theorised about why natlangs always have consonants?
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5
votes
2answers
78 views
Designing a mildly weird phonology
I want to design a mildly weird phonology with the following features
Not particularly difficult to pronounce for speakers of average European languages
Feeling somewhat unnatural or weird
The ...
3
votes
2answers
54 views
What are sounds that I have to include in my phonology for it to be naturalistic?
Additionally, are there any such things as hierarchies, where if I want to include one sound, I should also include another?
9
votes
1answer
633 views
What do double consonants specify in Esperanto?
The Esperanto word for 'Finland' is Finnlando. What does the doubled consonant specify? The Esperanto alphabet is phonemic. Why are there two consonants? Is it gemination (which doesn't appear often ...
4
votes
4answers
135 views
Could a language with no voiced fricatives exist?
I am working on a language and I am trying to bring it down to seventeen consonants. One of the ways I am trying to do that is by removing all voiced fricatives. Is this even reasonable?
4
votes
3answers
205 views
Why do I have such a problem with my conlangs being ugly? [closed]
This is a perpetual problem I have and I find it quite annoying. Yes, I know its kinda subjective, but that doesn't change the fact that, to me at least, my conlangs are always hideous.
For a recent ...
11
votes
3answers
183 views
Consider an isolated, close-knit community; which characteristics is their language likely to have?
For the sake of concreteness, let's say my low-tech conculture is living in a few villages on a smallish island in the middle of the ocean (Pitcairn Islands comes to mind).
Basically, this would ...
10
votes
3answers
70 views
Can features in the physical environment meaningfully affect the development of a local language's phonology?
Imagine that I'm creating phonemic inventories for multiple conlangs, each of which is spoken by a people settled within (or roaming about) a very different physical environment from the others. ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
How do you pronounce the “:” in Wede:i?
Looking at the zompist page for Wede:i, I don't see any instructions on how to pronounce the ":" that we see in the name of the language and other places.
Am I missing something? How are you supposed ...
9
votes
2answers
90 views
What is an overview of sound changes?
One of my works-in-progress is a language called Proto-Oreadin. As the name suggests, it is a proto-language, which eventually I am hoping to expand into a family of languages. Currently I have a ...
5
votes
3answers
117 views
What is the key to realistic inventories [closed]
Shy of simply recreating or stitching together natural languages' phonological inventories, what is the solution for making a naturalistic conlangs' inventory naturalistic?
9
votes
1answer
147 views
How do tones disappear from a language?
There have been many good writeups on Tonogenesis, i.e. how language acquire tones. But never have I seen such a writeup on the opposite phenomenon, which one might call Tonoexodus. Obviously, one way ...
23
votes
5answers
346 views
Are there conlangs using constructed sounds?
Usually, constructed languages of all kind (naturalistic or not) draw their sounds from existing natural languages.
Are there conlangs with constructed sounds, i.e., sounds that do not occur in ...
14
votes
2answers
89 views
How could a syllabary be adapted for a language with a complex syllable structure?
By definition, a syllabary has separate glyphs for each possible syllable (and usually unrelated or at least not systematically related ones for similar syllables, unlike alphasyllabaries). This ...
10
votes
0answers
82 views
How can we define words? [closed]
Even though the question seems trivial, it's still a hotly debated topic (as far as I'm aware). For example, in the Oxford Handbook for Polysynthesis, Fernando Zúñiga says:
Recent literature (e.g. ...
