conglanger

she/her conlanger, worldbuilder, musician

[volapuke]

Introductions

I suppose this post will serve as a sort of temporary introduction to me and my work.

Hi! I'm Volapuke (a moniker derived from one of the first ever universal languages: Volapuk), and I've been conlanging/in the wider amateur linguistics sphere for well over five years at this point, but I've never really taken the effort to actually finish a project, despite my best efforts. As such, I will be attempting to work through Jessie Peterson/Quothalinguist's wonderful Conlang Year series, which I am attempting to update once every 2-ish weeks (although as I write this I'm three days late and over a week behind). The language itself is my take on Atlantean, and I'll post semi-regular updates on culture and stuff when I get the chance.

Additionally, whenever I start new projects, they will get posted here as well. As this is a sideblog I will likely not reblog much stuff here.

More info can and will be added as I see fit. I hope you have a wonderful day!

[volapuke]

It has come to my attention that i have made a critical error in my diction, the name of the language is Volapük not 'Volapuk'

[volapuke]

good morning

[volapuke]

in the mood to mutilate toki pona...

[volapuke]

Conlang Year Biweekly Update - II

And actually on schedule this time!

Days 17 and 18 - Solidifying Syllable Structures (alliteration!!!)

For Day 17 I came up with 22 nonce words between 1 and 4 syllables to test syllable structures:

Monosyllabic: a; at; kep; ɓak; tua; kiu; siat; ian; aur; srul; dli; kiat

Disyllabic: sibil; biziaz; ɗalaɗ; guaguak; ɗiikik; nuunua

Trisyllabic: azgiaɗaa; iauaii; ugaadii

Tetrasyllabic: ziiziigurun (the source of the name for the temple complex found in this story)

After I did that, I solidified my syllable structure as the following:

(C)(RV/V/VV)(C) max syllables, which means that a word can start with any consonant, the nucleus can consist of one vowel, a resonant and vowel, or two vowels.

One caveat to this is that an implosive cannot occur in a CRV scenario (or moreso if it does occur it will undergo a sound change to turn it into a non-implosive voiced stop)

And as for stress, it always occurs on the final syllable of a word.

Days 19-25 - Basic Terminology

These seven days were dedicated to forming roots, so I generated roots for many common objects brought to and found on the Atlantean continent.

The five body parts I came up with words for were the hands (miinikui); the feet (aakiin); the eyes (zaaɗuguan); the chest (nuuguu); and the face (piigii). Represented on this lovely diagram i made:

I also came up with terrain words

Mountain - niinaa

Valley - abɗuguam

River - liliti

Lagoon - uulkaiɓu

Ocean - ɓudaantai

Weather words:

Rain - zidtaaba

Thunder - aaguna

Flood - iaɗaazuior

Sun - kiiliuz

Fog - kurkuiz

Flora and fauna words:

Trees (especially the Atlantean Laurel - Laurus Atlantica, which has been selectively bred so the fruit is edible) - iilukan

Wheat - aakiiliir

Figs (also dates) - suutuuɓui

Olives - kiiliiion (yes that's three 'i's in a row)

Lentils - uukion

Dogs - uuzikau

Birds - baardutaɓi

Cats - miiriaau

Cattle - iikuuio

Fish - iiskuunia

And finally some verbs:

to hunt sth. - imikun

to eat sth. - riiktuun

to break sth. - asun

to mold/shape/bend sth. - iaktul

to burn sth. - miispatul

to run - laama

to swim - nuusti

to sail - uɗduun

to stand - aatik

to speak - iusmi

Days 26-28 - Sound Change Exploration

I already have a rudimentary idea of how I want the language to evolve. In terms of Assimilatory SCs, plosives will assimilate in voice and place with other plosives as in iaktul -> iattul, zidtaaba -> zittaaba, and uɗduun -> udduun. There's also a Grimm's law style cascade where implosives become voiced plosives become unvoiced plosives become fricatives, with s and z turning into affricates depending on palatalization. Exact specifics will be worked out later but my general plan is as follows:

As for other sound changes, I have plans to have diphthongs undergo a reanalyzation to liquid and vowel sequences. More will be determined over the next few weeks, and in the meantime, stay tuned!

[volapuke]

First iteration on a story (tw for natural disaster, violence, and suicide):

It has been almost seventeen years since the flooding began. The Emperor has long since left his coastal metropolis for a small town in the mountains known as Zizigoron. The town, while small in scale, holds two of the most important sites in all of Atlantis: ths Temple to Hestia amd the Temple to Pan. He has summoned the Council of the Elders of Atlantis, the advisory body to the Emperor and currently the only functioning government on the continent. They meet regularly in the larger Temple to Hestia while the Emperor and his court meet in the smaller Temple to Pan. The sea levels rise, however the decisive action of the Emperor and his Council have worked to minimize the damage for as long as possible, but the tide grows higher and the levees won't hold forever.

The Emperor rushes into the Temple to Hestia in a panic. He has completely lost his composure. His eyes are bagged and weary, as if he hasn't slept, and his usually tidy dress is askew. He frantically calls the Council to order. Nobody dares speak, they've all heard the news. Scarcely a week prior, over 120 thousand people gathered in a refugee camp in the vast plains of the northeast, awaiting transport to the highlands. The quays and dams had held for so long, they had presumed they would hold for longer, however, in the middle of the night, some small, unnoticed weakness revealed itself. Within the hour, the entire area, and all of the thousands of people, lay under ten feet of water.

The course of action was clear. The Emperor could not bear to continue to rule over an empire he had failed to protect. Once a quorum of councilors had been confirmed to be present, he proposed a motion he had drafted the previous night: to dissolve the Empire of Atlantis and all of its institutions. The Council, many of whom were from areas that had been permanently lost to the waves, confirmed his decision unanimously. Not a single member objected.

The King then concluded the meeting, dismissed the Council, and left the Temple to meet with hos court of close advisors in the nearby Temple to Pan. He couldn't bear to face them, instead opting to face the massive gilded statue of the goat-legged deity. Nobody ever told what was said in the Emperor's speech, but we do know he ended on his knees with an appeal to the god of the wild as he pulled out his ritual blade and disemboweled himself. Not half an hour had passed from the end of the Empire when the advisors left and announced the news of his passing. Three of them would do the same in the coming years.

The Emperor's son, barely nineteen, who was on the ground attempting to move as many people to highet ground as possible, heard of his father's passing and immediately mobilized a small band of charioteers and infantrymen to scope out the situation in Zizigoron, however the town fell with little issue. He proclaimed himself the rightful Emperor with a sacrifice to Pan, who was rapidly becoming the patron deity of the land. He would lead the Empire for fourty seven more years until his death at age sixty six.

[volapuke]

Conlang Year Biweekly Update - I

Here it is (only 11 days late :3)

Days 1 and 2 - Goals for the language and for Sharing

My goals for this language are fairly simple. I wanted a simple yet unique sound system (i have ideas about it but i don't know how to express them, but I'll touch on it eventually, once I get the details hammered out), a complex grammar with features I don't understand, and for the language to fit a conculture that I'm working on (and will likely post about in the future *wink * *wink*). As for my intentions to share, obviously I will be posting about it here, but I also plan on posting about it through various conlang games (such as relays) and through reference grammars, stories, poems, learning materials, the exact details are undetermined as of now.

Days 3-9 - Conworld, Conculture, Conspeakers

This language's world should be quite familiar as it is spoken on Earth. Specifically, on an alternate version of earth where Atlantis is real (yes really). I personally dislike a lot of preconceptions of Atlantis that stem from hyperdiffusion conspiracy theories (ie Atlantis is the best ur-civilization that taught previously 'uncivilized' [read non-white] people how to do things) so my Atlantis is very Mediterranean-focused. The flora and fauna are similar to the Mediterranean and to the Azores and Macaronesia.

My fictional Atlantis, at its peak, is a broad and flat island with two mountain ranges, one along the western and coasts, and one along the eastern coast. The tallest peak is 2714 meters in the far northwest. The two ranges encircle a large, flat, well irrigated plain that served as the empire's breadbasket until it's disgraceful plunge into the ocean.

Speaking of the great wetting of feet, it took place over the course of about a quarter millenium, over which the entire continent sank an entire kilometer, which did not completely sink it, but very nearly did. The empire quickly collapsed and the almost 5-million strong population quickly fell to under 10% of that. This event, which was indeed divinely caused (I'll talk about the religion of Atlantis in a separate post), left a major impact on the culture of the Atlanteans. However none of that is immediately relevant to this language, as I am simply constructing the Proto-Atlantean language as spoken around 5000 BCE.

I have more ideas but they'll be answered soon (if there's anything you're curious about feel free to send me an ask).

Days 10-16 - Phonology

I settled on a pretty small phonology of 14 consonants and three vowels, which are:

Nasals: m, n

Plosives: ɓ, b, p, ɗ, d, t, ɡ, k

Fricatives: s, z

Liquids: r, l

Vowels: a, i, u

Diphthongs: any combination of two vowels (long vowels are valid)

I have a fairly regularized syllable structure but that will be shown in day 18, stay tuned!

[volapuke]

Introductions

I suppose this post will serve as a sort of temporary introduction to me and my work.

Hi! I'm Volapuke (a moniker derived from one of the first ever universal languages: Volapuk), and I've been conlanging/in the wider amateur linguistics sphere for well over five years at this point, but I've never really taken the effort to actually finish a project, despite my best efforts. As such, I will be attempting to work through Jessie Peterson/Quothalinguist's wonderful Conlang Year series, which I am attempting to update once every 2-ish weeks (although as I write this I'm three days late and over a week behind). The language itself is my take on Atlantean, and I'll post semi-regular updates on culture and stuff when I get the chance.

Additionally, whenever I start new projects, they will get posted here as well. As this is a sideblog I will likely not reblog much stuff here.

More info can and will be added as I see fit. I hope you have a wonderful day!