Conlang Prompts

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[conlangprompts]

When in doubt, copy Indonesian.

[conlangprompts]

Think about how analogies, slang, similes and idioms in your conlang could somehow splinter off into a full dialect.

[conlangprompts]

To new followers:

1. The rick-roll was instigated by a former admin, not me. I'm not that clever.

2. Why is it being circulated so widely now? It usually happens around April Fool's day.

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

What did I miss?

[conlangprompts]

Have you not seen the Rickroll? It's this blog's most successful post by miles.

[conlangprompts]

To new followers:

1. The rick-roll was instigated by a former admin, not me. I'm not that clever.

2. Why is it being circulated so widely now? It usually happens around April Fool's day.

[conlangprompts]

Where do the verbs go?

[a-pair-of-jorts]

up my ass

[promptsblog]

Before I ever started this blog, I was already part of something that changed my life: volunteering with Puddle Jumpers. It’s an Australian charity that runs camps and activity days for children and young people who don’t live with their birth parents.

Thirteen years ago, I walked into my very first camp not knowing what to expect. I still remember the mix of nerves and excitement. What I found was a place filled with laughter, resilience, and connection; children who had been through more than most adults, suddenly free to just be kids. Over time, I kept coming back, and the camps became part of the rhythm of my life. Even in the early days of this blog, I used to queue up writing prompts before heading off to camp, because I knew the phone reception would be rubbish, but nothing was going to stop me from showing up for those weekends.

Puddle Jumpers is run entirely by volunteers and relies on donations to make the magic happen. Their work stretches far beyond “just camps”:

- Giving children and young people the chance to experience fun-filled weekends they might not otherwise get.

- Offering much-needed respite for carers who often carry heavy loads.

- Reuniting siblings who don’t live together, so they can share time in a relaxed setting.

- Pairing each child with a one-on-one buddy who ensures they feel safe, seen, and cared for the entire weekend. (There’s also a two-volunteer rule, so no child is ever left alone with just one adult. Child safety is paramount)

- Running a leadership program for young people who have outgrown the main camp program but aren’t quite ready to step into a volunteer role.

- Providing free food and other essential items to families and individuals in need.

This week, I’m stepping outside my comfort zone in a different way: I’ll be abseiling down the side of the Intercontinental Hotel in Adelaide to raise money for Puddle Jumpers. (Yes, you read that right, I’m going over the edge of a building for this cause!)

I’ve hesitated to bring this here, because Tumblr is usually where I share writing prompts and creative thoughts, not fundraising links. But I’ve also seen how powerful storytelling can be, and these kids deserve their stories to be heard. So I’m asking, if you can, please donate to my fundraising page. Every dollar helps us keep the camps running, the food hampers stocked, and the kids smiling. And if donating isn’t possible, simply reblogging or sharing this post makes a difference, too.

The donation page will stay open for a while after the event. Over the next week or so, I’ll be posting more about Puddle Jumpers, in between plenty of writing prompts, so this won’t take over the blog completely.

For thirteen years, I’ve had the privilege of watching kids arrive nervous, shy, or guarded, and leave brimming with confidence, giggles, and sometimes even a new sense of belonging. That’s why I’m willing to dangle off the side of a hotel. Because for them, it’s worth it.

DONATE

[conlangprompts]

Every word in your conlang (other than pronouns and most articles) rhymes with "orange".

[conlangprompts]

Think about specificity when it comes to vocabulary. Eg, you may have a word for "Wagon" but do you have a word for wagons of a certain size? Wagons made of a certain type of wood? Wagons that carry one particular thing?

Another example: You may have a word for "betrayal" but are different words used depending on if the betrayal is committed by a partner, friend or family member?

Do you have any interesting examples of specificity in your conlang?

[conlangprompts]

In your language, is there a distinction between what things are named and what they are called? If so, how is this expressed linguistically? For example, does your language use separate words for 'named' and 'called,' formality registers, or context-based distinctions? Something else?

[reijnders]

Let’s explore this concept with Twac̊in̊. For reference while reading, here’s a (VERY BRIEF) overview of the phonology¹:

Going from there, Twac̊in̊ doesn’t have this concept across all parts of the language, but instead in two very specific (and linked!) instances. These are as follows: when referring to several of the largest bodies of water near where the language first sprung up and spread from, and Also the days of the week. I’ll start with the bodies of water.

Water is very very very VERY important to the religion found across most Tewenic language(includes Twac̊in̊, Bemar, Seșǔ, and Hetema²) cultures, and so major bodies of water will have a name, and also have an association with a patron god. There are many, many lakes and rivers across the central parts of the continent, but the ones important to this image are in the chart below.

With the exception of the H̊iya sea itself, these are all lakes. Yes, Lake Hah̊anili is fuck off levels of massive and is an inland sea, but its my friend the lake nonetheless. The nature of Twac̊in̊ religion means that any given constructed space can actively be either certified or noncertified. There are many things that go into a place being certified, but the important thing is that people considered adults religiously(and thus in charge of their own spiritual wellbeing) do not cover their heads in certified spaces. The head covering is for protecting the water of the soul from the gods and is honestly a lot to get into (im trying SO hard to focus on the language stuff y’all). There is also the covering of certain terms, and this is where the named vs called comes in. When within a certified space, the above bodies of water are referred to strictly by the god associated with them. This is considered both respectful and just More Correct. Outside of certified spaces, and of course when outdoors, lakes are called by their names, to avoid drawing the attention of said gods. Now, you may be asking, why these bodies of water in particular? Why aren’t the rivers included, or lakes Twesi and Uatwes? This is because reverence of these lakes traces back to pre-Tewenic presences in the region, a looooong time ago. Nomadic groups would travel in a big circle, starting at the coast of the H̊iya, and heading south until reaching Duyuc, where they would then head west until they hit that Big Ass Bay on our friend Hah̊anili, and then follow her coast back up north until Hetwuals, where things would start all over again. Because much of the region in between these lakes is rainforest and savannah, the lakes would be Excellent landmarks, but to call upon the gods who personify those lakes is just Not a good idea, and multiply that by a billion grillion for the inland and Actual sea. While Twac̊in̊ gods are considered very powerful, they’re not seen as good or bad forces, and even when prayed to, grammatically it’s a command rather than an ask. Gods and forces of nature are often synonyms, and nature is dangerous as Fuck.

With the second instance of named versus called, these same gods are again invoked, albeit a little more indirectly(phew!). The nendiyi calendar (unfinished wiki page sorry gang) separates a week into six days, with each one having both a full name and a shortened name. Traditionally, a weekday would be called by the name of the related god when within a certified space on the day of, but that doesn’t happen much in modern speech. Shortened names are used in colloquial speech, regardless of location, while the full names are used when writing, in formal settings such as a job or school, and in religious ceremonies(which are within certified spaces usually, but not always).

Here are the days in image form, so I could include the writing system cus yayyyy writing

and some silly footnotes

1: im very brave to not even go over the phonotactics or dialects or nothing. please clap cus that would have been another 80 pages

2: imagine i started talking about these langs too. imagine.

[conlangprompts]

In your language, is there a distinction between what things are named and what they are called? If so, how is this expressed linguistically? For example, does your language use separate words for 'named' and 'called,' formality registers, or context-based distinctions? Something else?

[conlangprompts]

What role do props and sound effects play in your clown language?

[conlangprompts]

What are the top twenty words or phrases you would recommend a traveller learn in order to get by in the region where your language is spoken?

[conlangprompts]

A word or phrase for the feeling of disappointment upon discovering something you thought you came up with already exists .

[conlangprompts]

Imagine you are a language teacher with a classroom of students trying to learn your language. What would be the most common concept that would have you banging your head against the wall trying to get them to grasp?

[conlangprompts]

What is the dynamic between a people whose language was gifted by the Gods and a neighbouring people whose language arose naturally?

[ciltilladeltilla]

It's hard for them to grasp the existence of phenomena like contronymy & polysemy; they feel themselves to live in a crisper, more pregiven world. The neighbors gain a lot of outsider cred for the younger generation for being able to invent new words without seeking ratification from the pantheon, and because of this there's a lot of import over time - especially for things like curses, which are originally the smallest group of words.

The words for numbers are also very different; it's hard for them to be sure they're both even talking about the same thing, since the divinely-gifted have numerals only in base e and quantify by analogy; a month's bunch of apples, a pantheon of actors. This lends itself to a kind of numerology when the two cultures interact - twelve by itself, abstracted from any individual case, is like a minute sans some hourglass or minute-long process, a free-floating measurement with no instrument, and the thought that all twelves are the same twelve ignites furious religious debate.

[conlangprompts]

Welcome everyone who came here from the April fool's post. I post sporadically and have limited linguistic knowledge. I'm interested in conlangs from a creative standpoint and try to give little suggestions that might spark an idea or motivation. Any well-informed posts you see were written by former admins, including said April Fool's Day post. They're all gone now and it's just me.

[conlangprompts]

Prompt: a language where all sentences could be both interpreted at base meaning or be passive aggressive with no way to tell.

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