Dume

Giving Knowledge

[bedume]

Mubeki

[mubeki]

Foot (Lit. Small They Two)

[bedume]

Bi

[bi]

Give (Lit. Give)

It means the action of the giving

[bedume]

Ksubidu

[ksu.bi.du]

See (lit. Large bad give knowledge)

The literal translation of the bases doesn’t work very well for this word. It is NOT loaned from “Scooby-Doo,” despite how it may sound.

[bedume]

Mu

[mu]

Small (Lit. Small)

Can also be used to refer to a short, or “small” amount of time. “That event was small” could mean there weren’t a lot of people, or that it didn’t last very long.

[bedume]

Minebi

[mi.ne.bi]

This (lit. One thing close)

Is used as a general pronoun, similar to “this” in English, but not entirely used for inanimate objects. Minebi can also be used for animate nouns, like humans and animals.

[bedume]

Phonology of Dume

[bedume]

Naming an of-age or new speaker of Dumes normally follows a system.

The prefix of their name starts with their gender, Fa, Va, or Sa. Next you generally give them some bases that match their personality. It is highly personal, and names are generally given by parents or close friends.

For naming children, they are generally given a name based on their given gender and some words from each of their parent’s names, which they keep until they are of age.

If a person is a Bedume, Bedume is said instead of a gender prefix.

[bedume]

Sidaa

[si.da:]

Cloud (lit. Sky White)

Nothing super special about it, it literally just means cloud.

[bedume]

Tidumiri

[ti.du.mi.ri]

N. Horn (lit. Hear one animal)

The literal translation doesn’t count for much sometimes. This is a case where the meanings have been heavily abstracted. Not only does it refer to animal horns, but also to tusks, like on Pigs and Elephants.

[bedume]

In Dume Africa, those convicted of crimes against the Bedume are outcast to Sub-Saharan Africa, a lawless and uncivilized place. It was eventually found that, below the forests, some old cities were still inhabited. The Bedume went down to see them, before Bedumebasua labeled them as savages and gave the order to burn down the cities.

One of the soldiers, Sadaribeksuve, wrote a small passage on his experience as he followed his orders.

“Ksubidus. Ksubiduv bes. Tiduv kabe des. Firibas fi kabe. Kifiraba des jikuv. Bedumebasuas bedumebiduv kabe firibajafi. Kabe firibajafi. Des firibajafi.”

“Screams. They scream. I hear them. Fire burns them. Fire I made. Bedumebasua gave orders to burn them. They burn. I burn.”

[bedume]

sukakabura

[su.ka.ka.bu.ra]

Loaned from the Spanish “Chupacabra,” used to refer to mutated wolves that migrated south from Siberia. They are much more aggressive, have effecient water storage like camels, and are mostly hairless. The following is a journal entry from when they were first found in Northern Africa.

“Sukakaburas beeri kaniviru betfi kubea fiv. Nadumisu fiv bes. Katafu furuufiv bes. Rafiv karivura bes. Su fiv bes.”

“Sukakabura is a species of wolf from Siberia. They are hairless. They retain water really well. They are carnivores. They are dangerous.”

[bedume]

Proposed writing system for Dume when Bedumebasuas was in power and called for their own writing system, instead of the “archaic” systems of the pre-apocalyptic society and a lack of standardization. (Until that point, most of Africa has been using either Arabic or the Latin Alphabet.) It was enjoyed by Bedumebasuas, but was eventually rejected due to its complexity with writing every single glyph.

[bedume]

Which parts of Arabic are you using for your conlang? Some of the words you've already posted look like they have triconsonantal roots, but the smaller words so far look syllabic? Also, would you be willing to share images of the writing systems you made? It's a relief to see I'm not the only one who has a habit of making several constructed scripts for a single conlang! 😜

It has the a, i, and u vowels from Arabic (along with the added “e” because I felt like 3 was too small for what I wanted to do), and the proto-language had a lot more in common with it in terms of consonants, though definitely simplified. I can post one of the writing systems I made. it isn’t very good and isn’t labeled at all, though, because of the software I made it in. If I were to redo it I’d do it on paper with a pencil.

[bedume]

Below the forests, below the Sahara, some old cities were still inhabited. The Bedume went down to see them, before Bedumebasua labeled them as savages and gave the order to burn down the cities.

One of the soldiers, Sadaribeksuve, wrote a small passage on his experience as he followed his orders.

“Ksubidus. Ksubiduv bes. Tiduv kabe des. Firibas fi kabe. Kifiraba des jikuv. Bedumebasuas bedumebiduv kabe firibajafi. Kabe firibajafi. Des firibajafi.”

“Screams. They scream. I hear them. Fire burns them. Fire I made. Bedumebasua gave orders to burn them. They burn. I burn.”

[bedume]

Kuna

[ku.na]

Mountain (lit. Big black or Big earth)

Not only in reference to mountains, but also to hills and volcanoes. An animal that lives in the mountains may be called “Kunari.”

[bedume]

Kuresine

[ku.re.si.ne]

Bark (Lit. Tree All-Thing)

This can refer not only to bark on trees, but spines on cacti as well. Over time it has evolved to mean any protective covering not used on a living thing. A layer of protective “bark” paint on a house, for example.

[bedume]

I’ve made a couple writing systems for this in the past, but nothing I’ve really liked. Should I try to make one again or wait until I have motivation?