Introduction

I know, I know, I've been spamming this subreddit (and that other subreddit for ConLangs) with new ConLangs, but this one is only for the poems or other literature I'd create. It is situated in China, somewhere beside the Yellow River. It is (or tries to be) OSV 😭. It Is An Isolate 🥀

Text and Translation

Translation: I am the greatest among the greats.

Literal Structure: [Great] [of;among;by] [great] [I;me] [is]

Old: dʰaŋs xɯj dʰaŋs tʰaj dʒaj

蕩之蕩予在

況共予不有

"Yet I cannot own everything."

But;yet;and-also;except all;everything I no;not have;acquire;own

swʰaŋ ɣms tʰai dwurʔ ɮaj

將黮紫天回

"Even if the sky turns deep purple"

Even-if;even;(introduction of a fictional happening) deep;darker(color) purple;deep-blue sky turn;morphs;change(appearance)

zʲaŋ ðʌj tʃus ɣns xraj

共人氓不有

"A mortal can't own everything."

All;everything one mortal;human no/not have;acquire;own;

ɣms draj wʌŋs dwurʔ ɮaj

域人氓，恤求...

"As a mortal, I [only] seek nothing..."

As one mortal;man, nothing;null;no-use seek;find

wʌɣ draj wʌŋs, zdər ŋlaj...

越天之蕩眼

"By the great eyes of the heavens."

As-for;as;based-of;based-on(or by the judgement of) heaven of big eye

wət ɣns dʒət dʰaŋs ŋraj

旁予方神咲

"The gods above me laugh"

Above I;me specifically;"the" god laugh

pʰaŋt tʰaj pɯŋ ɣnts hraj

重予等極遂

Because of our obsession.

Because;for I;me [Pronoun pluralizer] very;too-much want;wish

dʰms tʰaj dʰat dərs zwaj

Activity

Try to translate atleast a few lines (or all of them) of the given poem in your ConLang. I'd love to hear and know how y'all conjugate and decline your verbs and nouns. Oh, and don't forget to put your ConLang's name;)

I wanna share you all this Abugida I just made:)

This script that I made came from Kawi script (from Java), the script where Baybayin is from and is used in the earlies document ever found in the Philippines (the Laguna Copperplate Inscription or LCI).

My Traditional* language is Mansaka, a minor, indigenous language. We call the language as "Minansaka".

Mansaka does not have its own indigenous writing system/script, which is what pushed me for this mini project.

The pen I used for the calligraphic style isn't exactly a calligraphy or quill or reed or bamboo pen, but a random bamboo strip that stuck out off our wall (from Amakan). Yes, that's the pen! I sharpened it, thinned it out, and cut the edge, leaving a thin, flat nib. I added a slit at the center to hold ink.

THE TEXT:

The text below says:

So la t mi na n sa ka, or "Sorat Minansaka", meaning, "Writing of Mansaka".

The question is... What do y'all think? 🤔

I sneaked into my brother's room and saw his notebook filled with Chinese Characters. I took some pictures of it and transcribed it digitally. I had invented a Chinese script myself, but his is different. I was able to identify the text line by line left to right. The page says the following:

卅 肉 木 南 鴨

麵 立 結 妳 八

脫 九 年 木 南

馬 鴨 納 結 局

月 黃 黃 年 黃

八 塔 五 嘛 八

月 焦 焦 久 硬 (kinda)

馬 萬 納 合 焦

肉 阿 月 妳 屋

I asked my brother what it says and told me to solve it, but I don't understand or can't read (without Pinyin) Chinese (any Chinese languages), I just know how to write or pronounce Chinese:/ For the Chinese experts, W.

The question is: What does it even mean? 😭

It just appears nonsensical if I translate it in Chinese (Mandarin) 🥀 I believe it's a cipher, for sure.

Halâ! (Hi)

I have a Proto-Indo-European ConLang (Proto-germanic) called "Herotheman" (I changed the name), and I got curious about how other people handle numbers.

For contribution:

Proto-Germanic - English - Ancient... - Old... - Middle... - Late Herotheman

*nainaz - nothing, empty, none, zero - nainah - nēna - 𐌽𐌴𐌽 - Nen

*ainaz - one, single - ainah - ēna - 𐌴𐌽𐌷 - En

*twai - two - twai - twē - 𐍄𐌷𐌰 - Ta

*þrīz - three - þrīs - þris - 𐌸𐍂𐌴𐌷(𐍃) - Þre

*fedwōr - four - fedōr - fedōr - 𐍅𐌴𐌳𐍉𐍂 - Wedor

*fimf - five - fimf - fīm - 𐍅𐌹𐌼 - Wim

*sehs - six - sehs - shes - 𐍃𐌷𐌹𐌷 - Sih

*sebun - seven - sebun - sábun - 𐍃𐌰𐌱𐍉𐌷 - Sabo

*ahtōu - eight - ahtū - ātū - 𐌰𐍄𐌷𐍉 - Ato

*newun - nine - newun - newon - 𐌽𐌰𐍅𐌰 - Nawa

*tehun - ten - tehun - tēwon - 𐍄𐌴𐍅𐍉𐌷 - Tewo

*ainalif - eleven - ainalif - ēnalif - 𐌴𐌽𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌷 - Enaleh

*twalif - twelve - twalif - twēlef - 𐍄𐍅𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌷 - Tweleh

Questions:

How do y'all handle numbers' evolution? Separate or Consistent? What's your language's major sound changes? Are your numbers' sound changes independent? (Trying to get inspirations for my future ConLangs) Thanks for answering:)) I'd also love to know your ConLang's name if you don't mind.

I wanna share my GermLang: Herotheman is my Germanic ConLang that I call the "Doric" of Germanic languages, as it preserves Proto-Germanic phonology and semantics just a bit higher than that of Gothic (the language spoken by the Goths). I suck at editing, so please forgive my editing skills 😭. Everyone's free to learn, suggest or ask questions below. I also need some help with Bishop Thaheroth's lore LOL.

Backstory

I once visited our ancestral mountains for 5 days and found clay, so I yanked out some and thought: What if Bisaya was written in Cuneiform? So I made a Conscript for it. I stayed with my father on our local gold mine and thought of listing some things, and then calculate what would the tax be (our gold mine did not have tax cuz we owned everything). I did not refined the clay cuz I'm lazy, plus, it received some trauma since the road is crazy bumpy, wet, steep and long 😭.

Explanation

Here's the Explanation:

a. It shows a pictograph of a container, and at its upper left shows two horizontal wedges for "2". Under it shows a pictograph of a dog, the signature of the gold mine (I made it up).

> "Duha ka Drum | iro" - "Two Drums/Barrels | dog"

b. The whole box (i dunno what to call it 🤧) shows a pictograph of a wheel with 4 teeth and a symbol for "5"

> "Lima ka ligid" - "Five wheels"

c. The whole box is written vertically, and the pictograph on it depicts a hammock and a symbol for the number "4"

> "Upat ka duyan" - "Four hammocks"

d. The whole box contains the pictograph for "pool" (composed of pictographs for "water " (above) and "pot, parge container" (below)) and the symbol for number "2" again.

> "Duha ka X" - "Two pools"

e. The whole box contains a pictograph for "human" or "man" (tao), and a pictograph for "animal" (hayop), each with their own quantities (7 and 5 respectively).

> "Pito ka tao | Lima ka [mga] hayop" - "Seven men | Five animals"

f. The whole box contains the pictographs "food container", composed of "food" (above) and "pot, large container" (below), and "thing, equipment". It also shows 6 stamps ("10"), a vertical line ("5") and 3 horizontal ones ("3"), which sums up to 68.

> "Saysenta'y utso ka gamit pang-pagkaon" - "68 food things"

g. It says "Baynte-kwatro ka gamit pang-bulawan wa'y labot sako ug pang-mina" - "24 things for gold except for sacks and mining."

h. It says "Isa ka bilingan" - "One panning plate"

i. It says "Ang buwis kay usa ka gatos ug kinse [ka plata]" - "The Tax is 115 silver coins"

j. It says "Duha ka payag" - "two huts"

Ik, I got lazy with g-j, but I'm in a hurry, so... what do y'all think? 🤔

What if...

What if Alexander the Great Guy conquered the Philippines (or survived his illness and conquered more, past India), specifically Cebu? (I should've used Older Cebuano, but, it's for fun so...>!I used Modern Cebuano (colloquial)!<)

Imagine finding these at Oxyrhynchus, it'd be so cool (super).

Try to understand the Text First.

Answer Key

The text says:

1. >!ΙΛΑΒΑΙ ΑΨ ΒΑCΥΡΑ · ΠΑΓΠΑΛΙΤ ΟΓ ΜΑΝΤΙΚΑΓ ΚΑΡΝΕΨ ΒΑΒΟΙ · ΑΙΑΥ CΑΓ ΚΑΛΙΜΟΤ ΠΑΚΑΟΝ CΑ ΑΝΑΙ (Ilabay ang basura, pagpalit og mantika'g karne'ng baboy. Ayaw sa'g kalimot pakaon sa anay.)!<

&gt; Throw the trash, buy cooking oil and pork meat. Also, don't forget to feed the sow.

2. >!ΗΑΡΙΝΑ - Γ’ ΚΓ, ΚΑΠΙ - Λ’, ΑCΥΚΑΡ - Α’ ΚΓ, CΥΨΑΙ CΑ ΒΑΚΑ - Α’ (Harina - Tres Kilos (3kg), Kapi - napulo [ka kilo] (10kg), Asukar - Isa ka kilo (1kg), Sungay sa baka - isa.)!<

&gt; Flour - 3kg, Kapi - 10kg, Sugar - 1kg, Cow Horn - 1pc.

Green: Involved in the language, I can pronounce.

Yellow: I can pronounce (so us our community) and is related to my secondary language, related to my native language.

Orange: Not everyone in our community can pronounce, though some can pronounce [q], [x], emphatic consonants, [ħ], [θ], [ð], and [ɣ] very easily because of their belief. I can pronounce them all with ease.

Red: I can't pronounce it easily (and we don't use them).

As a native (by blood) of Mansaka (an Austronesian Language), I can't believe it actually ment "lip" in Central Dusun (Austronesian). 😂

This is Inintsik, a writing system I designed for Tagalog. It’s a hybrid script—part logography (meaning-based characters) and part alpha-syllabary (sound-based symbols), functioning very much like Japanese Kanji and Kana. You may check the first post I made for more info here.

The Proverbs:

一 (una, first)

"Mas marunong ang mga makasalanan mabuhay, pero mas mabuti ang [maging] mapagkumbaba't totoo na mabuhay [lang] sa isang iglap."

&gt; "Sinners know better how to live, but it is better to be humble and true even if only for a fleeting moment."

二 (ikalawa, second)

"Pagkasala'y malilimutan, pagpapatay ay papalagi sa isipan."

&gt; "Sin may be forgotten, but killing will remain remembered."

三 (ikatatlo, third )

"Kamataya'y 'di gusto, pero sa bisyo'y palaging oo."

&gt; "Death is not desired, but to vice, it's always yes."

四 (ikaapat, fourth)

"Bihag ng kasalanan, pero ang kabutiha'y palaging kakalimutan."

&gt; "Captive of sin, yet goodness will always be forgotten."

(Forgive my English 😭)

Script Update:

I used a mix of traditional characters and my own semantic creations:

Main Problems Solved:

* Ka- -an (whole of/result of X (abstract)) (affix): An example of Ka- -an being used is Kamatayan and is written as 迉 (Patay, To kill) + 囚 (the Ka- -an character, Whole of/result of X) = 迉囚.

* Maka- -an: An example of Maka- -an being used is in Makasalanan written as 人 (maka-) which represents the ability or capability of doing such thing, then the noun ([尸+心] - sālà), and then the 囚 character, used phonetically for -an (locative / nominalizing suffix (what we're using it for)) in Ka- -an = 人[尸+心]囚.

Direct Loans: I use 一 for isa (one), 不 for hindi (not or no), and 人 for tao (man, person).

I'd love to hear (read) sum other suggestions to add or character designs (cuz I suck at it), would be HUMONGOUS-LY appreciated.