#conlang lesson

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

How Moonwingian Languages Talk About Trans People

It's the Trans Flag Day, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to explore how my fairy conlangs handle trans people. I'm curious what you think, because there's always space to improve.

Sadly, we won't be covering Old Moonwingian today. Rainbow people became visible in Moonwingian culture way later. The first LGBT person on the islands there's evidence of was Umi from Ampi E and he lived around the time literary East Moonwingian was beginning to form.

The concept of what a trans person is was first put into language in West Moonwing Island. And an interesting thing happened there. To understand it let's first remember the words for man and woman.

Anās - (noun, WM) Man

Nom. - Anās (sing.), Anāssejā (plur.)

Pos. - Anāssi (sing.), Anāssīā (plur.)

Obj. - Anās (sing.), Anāssejā (plur.)

Inst. - Anāsn (sing.), Anāssenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emanās (sing.), Manāssejā (plur.)

Voc. - Anāsseu (sing.), Anāssujā (plur.)

Milot - (noun, WM) Woman

Nom. - Milot (sing.), Milotejā (plur.)

Pos. - Miloti (sing.), Milotīā (plur.)

Obj. - Milot (sing.), Milotejā (plur.)

Inst. - Milotn (sing.), Milotenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emmilot (sing.), Mmilotejā (plur.)

Voc. - Miloteu (sing.), Milotujā (plur.)

Now, you all remember from the noun conjugation lesson that West Moonwingian has the transformative case? Yup, they turned it into the nominative for the idea that was just freshly solidifying itself in the language.

Emanās - (noun, WM) Transgender man

Nom. - Emanās (sing.), Manāssejā (plur.)

Pos. - Emanāsi (sing.), Manāssīā (plur.)

Obj. - Emanās (sing.), Manāssejā (plur.)

Inst. - Emanāsn (sing.), Manāssenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Ememanās (sing.), Emmanāssejā (plur.)

Voc. - Emanāsseu (sing.), Manāssujā (plur.)

Emmilot - (noun, WM) Transgender woman

Nom. - Emmilot (sing.), Mmilotejā (plur.)

Pos. - Emmiloti (sing.), Mmilotīā (plur.)

Obj. - Emmilot (sing.), Mmilotejā (plur.)

Inst. - Emmilotn (sing.), Mmilotenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Ememmilot (sing.), Emmilotejā (plur.)

Voc. - Emmiloteu (sing.), Mmilotujā (plur.)

Not the best treatment, but it wasn't the first time they did this.

Felli - (noun, WM) Fairy/Person

Nom. - Felli (sing.), Fīā (plur.)

Pos. - Felli (sing.), Fīā (plur.)

Obj. - Fel (sing.), Fejā (plur.)

Inst. - Fin (sing.), Fellienjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emfelli (sing.), Emfīā (plur.)

Voc. - Fiu (sing.), Felliujā (plur.)

Emfelli - (noun, WM) Fairykin

Nom. - Emfelli (sing.), Emfīā (plur.)

Pos. - Emfelli (sing.), Emfīā (plur.)

Obj. - Emfel (sing.), Emfejā (plur.)

Inst. - Emfin (sing.), Emfellienjā (plur.)

Trans. - Ememfelli (sing.), Ememfellīā (plur.)

Voc. - Emfiu (sing.), Emfelliujā (plur.)

As for the non-binary people, they didn't do anything cool like that. They just borrowed the word from English.

Enpi - (noun, WM) Non-binary person

Nom. - Enpi (sing.), Enpīā (plur.)

Pos. - Enpi (sing.), Enpīā (plur.)

Obj. - Enpe (sing.), Enpejā (plur.)

Inst. - Enpin (sing.), Enpinjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emenpi (sing.), Emenpīā (plur.)

Voc. - Enpiu (sing.), Enpiujā (plur.)

About that time more and more otherkins were discovering that transitioning into a fairy is as cheap as a passport and an apple. And as more and more trans people were moving to West Moonwing Island because of that, the language borrowed the trans prefix from English to be used in slang.

Tlansanās - (noun, WM) Transgender man (slang)

Nom. - Tlansanās (sing.), Tlansanāssejā (plur.)

Pos. - Tlansanāsi (sing.), Tlansanāssīā (plur.)

Obj. - Tlansanās (sing.), Tlansanāssejā (plur.)

Inst. - Tlansanāsn (sing.), Tlansanāssenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emtlansanās (sing.), Emtlansanāssejā (plur.)

Voc. - Tlansanāsseu (sing.), Tlansanāssujā (plur.)

Tlanilot - (noun, WM) Transgender woman (slang)

Nom. - Tlanilot (sing.), Tlanilotejā (plur.)

Pos. - Tlaniloti (sing.), Tlanilotīā (plur.)

Obj. - Tlanilot (sing.), Tlanilotejā (plur.)

Inst. - Tlanilotn (sing.), Tlanilotenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emtlanilot (sing.), Emtlanilotejā (plur.)

Voc. - Tlaniloteu (sing.), Tlanilotujā (plur.)

Seeing that the natives borrowed more, this time changing the word not from one noun case into another, but from an adjective into a noun.

Tlans - (noun, WM) Transgender person (slang)

Nom. - Tlans (sing.), Tlansjā (plur.)

Pos. - Tlins (sing.), Tlinsjā (plur.)

Obj. - Tlens (sing.), Tlensjā (plur.)

Inst. - Tlansn (sing.), Tlansenjā (plur.)

Trans. - Emans (sing.), Emansjā (plur.)

Voc. - Tlansu (sing.), Tlansujā (plur.)

When it comes to East Moonwingian, they just borrowed everything from the West.

Emaná - (noun, EM) Transgender man

Nom. - Emaná (sing.), Tememaná (dual), Manaseja (plur.)

Pos. - Emanasi (sing.), Tememanasi (dual), Manasija (plur.)

Obj. - Emaná (sing.), Tememaná (dual ), Manaseja (plur.)

Inst. - Emaná (sing.), Tememaná (dual), Manasenja (plur.)

Emilűd - (noun, EM) Transgender woman

Nom. - Emilűd (sing.), Tememilűd (dual), Milüteja (plur.)

Pos. - Emilüti (sing.), Tememilüti (dual), Milüteja (plur.)

Obj. - Emilűd (sing.), Tememilűd (dual), Milüteja (plur.)

Inst. - Emilűd (sing.), Tememilűd (dual), Milütenja (plur.)

Enpi - (noun, EM) Non-binary person

Nom. - Enpi (sing.), Enpija (plur.)

Pos. - Enpi (sing.), Enpija (plur.)

Obj. - Enpe (sing.), Enpeja (plur.)

Inst. - Enpin (sing.), Enpinja (plur.)

Emfelli - (noun, EM) Fairykin

Nom. - Emfeli (sing.), Emfelija (plur.)

Pos. - Emfeli (sing.), Emfelija (plur.)

Obj. - Emfel (sing.), Emfeleja (plur.)

Inst. - Emfin (sing.), Emfelienja (plur.)

That's all for today. Regular lessons on weekend!

Happy Trans Flag Day!

Tlinsjā Fisahi Ke hojtelunāk!

Manasia, Milüteja un Enpija Fisahi Ke hüjtelun!

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Friday (Saturday this time) with Old Moonwingian - Gender

Ameniši!

Wow, I'm a bit late, huh? Anyway, let's learn how gender works!

The gender system in Old Moonwingian is fairly simple. Luckily there's nothing the gender really affects aside from pronouns. However the system is deeply rooted in the Moonwingian mythology.

The fairies of Moonwing Islands believe that The Creator God played more active role in the creation of the world by combining The Five Elements while The Creator Goddess played more passive role by providing them. After that The Creator Goddess created the plants and The Creator God created the animals. Do you see where this is going?

Yup! We use the masculine gender for the animals and the feminine gender for the plants! And whatever else there is that isn't a person uses the neuter gender. Let's examine.

Sijaten - (noun, masc.) Butterfly

Nom. - Sijaten

Pos. - Sijatin

Obj. - Sijaten

Inst. - Sijatenen

Voc. - Sijatenu

Makam - (noun, fem.) Tree

Nom. - Makam

Pos. - Makim

Obj. - Makem

Inst. - Makemen

Voc. - Makemu

Salike - (noun, neut.) Island

Nom. - Salike

Pos. - Saliki

Obj. - Salike

Inst. - Saliken

Voc. - Salikeu

(Yup, this stuff has noun case. I'll explore them in two weeks, because next week I'd like to look into verbs.)

Watch out! There are two exceptions!

The Sun and the Moon are seen as the bodies through which The Creator God and The Creator Goddess watch the world through. So of course they take the gender of their respective deities.

Känna - (noun, masc.) Sun

Nom. - Känna

Pos. - Känni

Obj. - Känne

Inst. - Kännaen

Voc. - Kännau

Lämma - (noun, fem.) Moon

Nom. - Lämma

Pos. - Lämmi

Obj. - Lämme

Inst. - Lämmaen

Voc. - Lämmau

That will be all of Old Moonwingian for today! Next week verbs!

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Moonwingian Languages - Masterpost

I'm going to use this post to collect every lesson of my fairy conlangs.

Lore

Writing

Pronouns and the verb ta <Old/East/West>

Gender <Old/East/West>

Verbs <Old/East/West>

Noun conjugation and adjectives <Old/East/West>

Counting <Old/East/West>

Verb conjugation <Old/East/West>

That's gonna stay pinned for like a week.

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Saturday with East Moonwingian - Verbs

Amenisi!

This week we look at verbs. First let's look at the irregular verbs. We already know ta, but let's learn some more.

Sa - (verb) To do

1st pers. - Se

2nd pers. - Si

3rd pers./inf. - Sa

La - (verb) To be able to/To can

1st pers. - Le

2nd pers. - Li

3rd pers./inf. - La

Hinsa - (verb) To wish

1st pers. - Hin

2nd pers. - Hinsi

3rd pers./inf. - Hinsa

Amenisa - (verb) To greet/To welcome

1st pers. - Amení

2nd pers. - Amenisi

3rd pers./inf. - Amenisa

Remember! The infinitive is always the third person!

Also keep sa in mind. It serves as the postposition used to create the regular verbs.

Ukalja - (noun) Rest

Nom. - Ukalja (sing.), Timukaljá (dual), Ukaljaja (plur.)

Pos. - Ukalji (sing.), Timukaljí (dual), Ukaljija (plur.)

Obj. - Uká (sing.) Timukaljé (dual), Ukaljeja (plur.)

Inst. - Ukaljaen (sing.), Timukaljaén (dual), Ukaljaenja (plur.)

Ukalja sa - (verb) To rest

1st pers. - Ukalja se

2nd pers. - Ukalja si

3rd pers./inf. - Ukalja sa

That will be all for today. Tomorrow will be funny.

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Saturday with East Moonwingian - Pronouns and the verb Ta

Amenisi, felija atém!

Once again, let's see that first word.

Amenisi - (greeting) Welcome

This was supposed to be a Sunday thing, but there's some strike for Palestine tomorrow and I'd prefer not to disturb it. Anyway, let's see how the singular pronouns evolved.

1st pers. - Men

2nd pers. - Li

3rd pers. masculine - Kiu

3rd pers. feminine - Kia

3rd pers. neuter - Kiü

3rd pers. non-binary - Kau

Oof... The phonetic evolution really messed the third person up. Again, if you want to use neopronouns then construct some!

Oh, and I'll explain the orthography in another post once the strike is over. For now just remember that ü is pronounced the same way as u. Also, the dieresis can be omitted, but it should be used for learning. I'll explain next week.

Now for the plurals.

1st per. exclusive - Men

1st pers. inclusive - Menli

2nd pers. - Lili

3rd pers. masculine/neuter - Kiukiu

3rd pers. feminine - Kiakia

3rd pers. neuter - Kiükiü

3rd pers. mixed - Kiukia

Once again let's explore to more words of the week.

Ta - (verb) To be

1st pers. - Te

2nd pers. - Ti

3rd pers. - Ta

Me - (determiner) No

And once again, me can be used as a verb negator.

Men te Asli. Un lili?

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Friday with Old Moonwingian - Pronouns and the verb ta

Ameniši, felliu jä ateme!

Oh, we have our first word of the week!

Ameniši - (greeting) Welcome

How to say I am or my name is seems to be the first thing people learn in new languages. Maybe because it's something we can use right as we learn it.

Let's first discuss the singular number pronouns.

1st pers. - Men

2nd pers. - Li

3rd pers. masculine - Kiu

3rd pers. feminine - Kia

3rd pers. neuter - Kio

Next week I'll tell you how gender works, but remember that you can use whichever of the third person pronouns you'd like to describe yourself with. As for neopronouns... Creating them would be the in-universe equivalent of creating neopronouns for Latin, but it would be awesome if someone dared! (Same goes for Latin.)

Now the plural number.

1st pers. exclusive - Mennen

1st pers. inclusive - Menli

"Wowowowowow! What do exclusive and inclusive mean?" you may ask.

We use inclusive pronoun if the person we are speaking to is a part of that first person we're speaking about. And if they aren't we use exclusive.

Let's wrap the plural pronouns up.

2nd pers. - Lili

3rd pers. masculine - Kiukiu

3rd pers. feminine - Kiakia

3rd pers. neuter - Kiokio

3rd pers. mixed - Kiukia

Mixed gender is used for groups which members belong to more than one gender.

Now let's discuss the next word of the week.

Ta - (verb) To be

1st pers. - Te

2nd pers. - Ti

3rd pers. - Ta

Did you notice how the third person is the same as the infinitive? That's universal in the Moonwingian family.

One more word of the week.

Me - (determiner) No

While it functions as a no it also serves as a verb negator. So saying men me te would mean I am not.

That's all for today.

Men te Äšli. Un lili?