Tuesday, June 8, 2010

i.i.kuse: a toy conlang with postfix notation

I find constructed languages like Lojban and Ithkuil terribly interesting, but they are a bit too complex for me to actually pick up. So, being a programmer and a fan of FORTH, I decided to make a toy constructed language combining postfix notation and predicate logic.

The grammar here is very simple. There are two types of words: verbs and non-verbs. Verbs always start with a K, and non-verbs never start with a K. Verbs in general describe a relationship between the last non-verb said before the verb and the rest of the non-verbs. Verbs are of the form:

Argument count prefixkakukokike

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
root (ends with a vowel)
suffix (optional)
nsk
pastpresentfuture

Non-verbs include some pronouns:
  • i - it or itself
  • me - I/me/myself
  • vi - he/she/herself/himself

Some basic verb roots:
  • a - belongs to the set [last arg]
  • la - has attribute [last arg]
  • lo - group args together (in case something needs more than five args)
  • di - constitutes meaning of [last arg] (for defining)
  • sa - goes to [last arg]
  • so - comes from [last arg] or is caused by [last arg]
  • si - sees [last arg]
  • se - says [last arg]
  • du - makes [last arg]

Pronunciation guide:

ao in sOck
iee in sEE
oow in lOW
uew in dEW
eay in sAY
ll in Lamb
dd in Dog
ss in Saw
mm in Man
kk in Kick
vv in Voice

Note: doubled vowels and doubled consonants should be separated by a glottal stop, designated by a period.

Example sentences:
  • me i kusin - I saw it
  • vi i kuduk - s/he will make it
  • me vi i kudun kusis - I see that s/he made it
  • vi me vi i kudun kusis vi i kudun kudis kuses - s/he says that the fact that I saw that s/he made it means that s/he made it
  • me vi i.i.kuse kolos kases kalas koas - s/he and I belong to the set of i.i.kuse speakers.
  • me vi i.i.kuse kolos kasen kalas koas - s/he and I belong to the set of former i.i.kuse speakers.
  • me vi i.i.kuse kolos kases kalas koan - s/he and I used to belong to the set of i.i.kuse speakers.

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