u/Nusskirer27

It's 3 a.m. and I couldn't sleep, so I invented a language. It's called Tuki Tiku (that literally means "language good" in the language itself). Inspired by toki pona, but even smaller.The basics: 7 sounds (u, i, t, p, m, l, k), 22 words, and a hand-drawn symbol for every word — all drawn by me tonight.Each word carries multiple meanings: tiku is good/funny/yellow, liku is liquid/flow/blue/sky, ili is nothing/empty/no/death/black. Only 2 pronouns: mi (I) and tu (you). Opposites share the same skeleton (tiku ↔ iki, lulu ↔ lili), and colors live inside the words instead of being separate.A few first sentences:Mi tumu lulu. — My house is big.

Li pili luku. — To learn. (literally "give head" — it wrote itself and now it's canon)

Mi li pili luku Tuki li tuki. — I know how to speak this language.

This is part 1 — just the words and symbols from one night. If there's interest, part 2 will cover the grammar and a short story written in the language.Would you use a 22-word language? What would break first?

List of words and their meanings:

Tuki = speak, say, language, write
Tumu = house, place, country, state, land
Tiku = good, funny, pleasant, yellow
Iki = bad, sadness, error, mistake, wrong
Muku = eat, food, fruit, bread, cereal, green
Mi = I/me, to have, to own, one
Ilu = thread, tool, power, possibility
Pulu = work, effort, to try
Li = this, that; dative particle; thing; nominalizer
Lulu = big, fast, spacious, extensive, hard, long
Lili = small, slow, soft, white
Pili = give, feeling, heart, love, respect, red
Milu = to want, to desire, to need
Liku = liquid, to flow, movement, blue, sky
Lu = to/toward, with; accusative particle; and, in
Uku = matter, object, solid, metal, stone, gray
Imu = father, person, God, creation, origin, being
Tuku = question (what, why, how, when); because, reason, then
Ili = nothing, empty, zero, no, death, black
Luku = body, hand, head, eye
Lipu = book, law, order, word, number, name
Tu = you, two, to divide

I suppose I'll be open to hearing some recommendations and some complaints about "another minimalist language" circulating in the city

I’ve been working on an intergermanic auxiliary language called “Germano”.

The goal is not realism or strict natural evolution, but intelligibility and familiarity between germanic speakers.

Instead of creating fully new roots, Germano tries to preserve recognizable germanic vocabulary while simplifying grammar heavily.

Some examples:

Ek en haus.

(I am home.)

De man vilen nan drinken bir.

(The man does not want to drink beer.)

Vi laiben as familia, bikos ðem donen af vi de sprak.

(We love our family because they gave us the language.)

Design ideas:

- minimal conjugation

- simplified syntax

- transparent roots

- flexible pronunciation

- optional regional accents

- partial mutual intelligibility over purity

One thing I’m especially curious about:

Do you think learning a simplified intergermanic language could improve passive understanding between speakers of Germanic languages themselves?

For example:

- Dutch ↔ Afrikaans

- German ↔ Scandinavian languages

- English speakers approaching continental Germanic languages

Not necessarily through direct use of Germano, but through increased recognition of cognates and patterns.

I’d genuinely like feedback on:

- intelligibility

- phonology

- orthography

- naturalness vs auxiliary simplicity

- how different germanic speakers perceive it

Thanks :)

Late-night conlang, part 1

De familiar sprak!