change-linguistics

[change-linguistics]

Do you have some funny goblin headcannons? Bc I love the green cats (like a pet) they be the skrunkly ajajkekwjwsjjw they are absolute brainrot for me rn

Ettuaurzhdugdr6dgic 😭😭

Hello, honestly I don't know if my headcanons about the ToA goblins are funny or not but they are as follows;

They're totally capable of speaking trollish and english (and other languages) but simply chose not to out of spite because everyone is so shit to them.

Unionised.

They are the product of what happens when magic meets slimemould, which is how they stay together in A Shape despite not having any bones and basically being muppets filled with upsettingly viscous organic materials.

They reproduce asexually, you know that green gloopy mess they're seen in on the ceilings in the show? That's how they replenish their numbers every day, and why they look like clones of each other, because they essentially are. They hang onto the ceiling, liquefy, glorp around for a bit and divide each cell, regrouping into new bodies when they're done.

Note that little to none of this is canonical to the franchise, just a small group of theories about how they work based on my interpretation of how they're presented.

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Fiat Lingua (January 1st, 2024)

Today's Fiat Lingua is very, very special. Jessie Peterson (@quothalinguist) created a 795 page choose-your-own-adventure-style document that will allow the reader to create their own conlang (with grammar choices, sound changes, and vocabulary) simply by making choices at key points. The article is linked to above, and the accompanying .pdf is pre-linked, so you can jump between all the choices and see what kind of variety you get. It's a small number of choices, but the varying results are downright shocking! All the work has been done for you, but it's really wild to see just how different a language can end up looking and sounding with a very small number of changes.

This may be the best free conlanging resource a new conlanger can get. Check it out!

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Hii, i was wondering if you know how to speak the troll language blinky and aaarrrgh use? Sorry if you've already made a post about it

Hi there, I ended up making my own conlang because what was available in the show/extended material wasn't up to what I wanted to use it for. The fanlang I made years ago is not up to my current standard (not the changeling lang, the trollish) so I'd rather not share it in its current state.

However, if you're looking for official material I'm afraid none of that was made available public. There may be something in books but I don't have any of those so can't confirm it.

If you want to learn a version of trollish, your best bet is to make a fanlang of your own based on what can be learned from the episodes.

[change-linguistics]

In response to a couple questions on Ao3;

If I remember correctly (it's been a good few years since I've last used this lang, 2021?) I stuck with a largely 'English" word order to keep things simple and user friendly.

Which is to say, adjectives before nouns, prepositions rather than postpositions. (Refer to screenshots in above because it's been a while for me)

Possessives were done as '' + 'of' + ''.

Imperative mood just used the base form of verbs.

But most importantly, if you want to make this do something not included in the dictionary and screenshots, feel free to make up whatever you want. If you fudge corners only around 3 people in the world are going to come even close to noticing and I doubt anyone is going to say you're 'doing it wrong.' 👌

🤔 As for cussing and interjections, maybe think about what the goblins would consider taboo and/or profane? It might just be me but I love this aspect of worldbuilding, it's a fun little exercise and can tell a lot about where they're coming from.

I saw your mention of a goblin language and also came here from the credit on Fallout - I was wondering if you had posted it anywhere, or if it was meant to be kept private? I may be writing a fic that includes unpaired changeling nicknames for each other, and guessed the language they would speak while waiting in the darklands would either be goblin or gumm-gumm.

OH! Hi I wasn't expecting anyone to looking at this blog but sure! Let me scramble to find the link, it's from 2019 after all. 😂

To make the goblin lang I used Vulgarlang and exported it into a dictionary.pdf which I honestly don't mind if people use, as long as you credit this blog so they know where to look if they want to use it too.

The Goblin 2.0 Dictionary.

Be advised that the dictionary weirdly turned ĩ into i̤, but the only diacritic I used for this language is ~ for nasalisation. A quick copy and paste should fix that issue. Some random tables to help explain the spelling and phonology under the cut.

[change-linguistics]

WRONG BLOG WRONG BLOG 😂

[change-linguistics]

I saw your mention of a goblin language and also came here from the credit on Fallout - I was wondering if you had posted it anywhere, or if it was meant to be kept private? I may be writing a fic that includes unpaired changeling nicknames for each other, and guessed the language they would speak while waiting in the darklands would either be goblin or gumm-gumm.

OH! Hi I wasn't expecting anyone to looking at this blog but sure! Let me scramble to find the link, it's from 2019 after all. 😂

To make the goblin lang I used Vulgarlang and exported it into a dictionary.pdf which I honestly don't mind if people use, as long as you credit this blog so they know where to look if they want to use it too.

The Goblin 2.0 Dictionary.

Be advised that the dictionary weirdly turned ĩ into i̤, but the only diacritic I used for this language is ~ for nasalisation. A quick copy and paste should fix that issue. Some random tables to help explain the spelling and phonology under the cut.

[change-linguistics]

Under the Sun — Part One: The White Rabbit AN OTTOBIOGRAPHY

Fandom: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships/Characters: Otto Scaarbach/Original Character(s), Otto Scaarbach & Original Character(s) Theme: Historical Drama, Espionage, Assassination, The Janus Order is a Cult, Character Study Regarding Cognitive Dissonance and Self Policing

Chapter 03; Onwards to Siberia

After learning that the rogue changeling Velima is headed for a sanctuary she believes in hidden within Siberia, Scaarbach and the changeling assassin Kozlóv have no choice but to follow. On the way they discover just how desperate Velima has become and Scaarbach learns just what he’s capable of when under orders.

The cottage hadn’t long been abandoned. Kozlóv had kicked down the door which implied it had been barred or even locked from the inside. It was strange, Scaarbach mused, wondering if Velima had been the one to do it. He wandered around, trying to locate the reason for why he felt so on edge. There was a hushed, sharp sound, and Scaarbach spun on his heels, fumbling for his knife with bemittened hands. A small child stared up at him, holding a meat cleaver as he trembled violently. Scaarbach put his knife back away, and lunged forward, trying to disarm the frightened little boy. The boy shrunk back, his eyes wide. Scaarbach sighed.

“He told me his mother and grandfather were killed by a monster,” Kozlóv explained, entering the cottage, “A vicious demon with stone for skin.”

“Velima let the boy go?” Scaarbach wondered, “What was she thinking?”

“She didn’t know he was there. The boy hid. He’s been hiding for two weeks,” Kozlóv grunted, “He doesn’t know we’re not human.”

“Good,” Scaarbach nodded, “Two weeks is good. It means we’re gaining on her.”

— Life in the Janus Order isn’t easy, but becoming its Grand Commandant is even harder.

[change-linguistics]

Under the Sun — Part One: The White Rabbit AN OTTOBIOGRAPHY 

Fandom: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships/Characters: Otto Scaarbach/Original Character(s), Otto Scaarbach & Original Character(s) Theme: Historical Drama, Espionage, Assassination, The Janus Order is a Cult, Character Study Regarding Cognitive Dissonance and Self Policing

Chapter 01; Prologue & Chapter 02; The Silver Bear 

The year is 1798 and Scaarbach meets with the changeling assassin Kozlóv in St. Petersburg. The two head off in an attempt to track and take down a changeling who betrayed them all, but things get off to an icy start.

He was tall. That was the very first thing Scaarbach noted as they came face to face for the first time, or more accurately, face to coat buttons. Wölfin had mentioned in passing that Kozlóv was a venerable tower of a man, but Scaarbach had not truly understood what she meant by those words until that moment.   Scaarbach extended his hand, and then realising his error, removed a mitten and extended it again, “You’re Kozlóv, yes? Hello, I’m Scaarbach. I’ve been sent by the Strix to accompany you on your mission.”

The changeling looked him up and down, mostly down, “I am Kozlóv,” his voice was deep and gruff, and he seemed thoroughly unimpressed by what Scaarbach had to offer.

Scaarbach realised he wasn’t going to shake his hand and awkwardly put back on his mitten, “I wasn’t sure what to bring, sir, so I packed for winter and rough travel.” Kozlóv grunted, “You look soft.” Scaarbach bristled, “Don’t underestimate me Kozlóv sir, this isn’t my first mission.” “Then follow me and don’t get in my way,” Kozlóv turned around and walked out the door, his gait confident.

— Life in the Janus Order isn’t easy, but becoming its Grand Commandant is even harder.

[change-linguistics]

Progress Report: March 1, 2020

Summary: Good news! In almost exactly one week [March 7, 2020 - 10 am AEST] I will finally be publishing the first chapter of the fic this lang project was developed. Needless to say, I will be sharing a link here for the followers who are here for conlang stuff and couldn’t care less about the fandom aspect. If you are one of these followers I urge you to consider check this link out, if only to see how I’ve worked the conlang itself into the project and see if it’s something you’d want to use for your own projects.

Progress Made: THE WHITE RABBIT Ch; 1, 2 - I completed translating the dialogue for both the prologue and first chapter of the fic. The prologue itself is essentially a magical key limerick poem thing that uses both the version of Trollish that changelings spoke in the Darklands during earlier years, and the changeling language itself. It’s short and sweet and communicates the concept of the piece as well as illustrates how language is going to feature in fic. The first chapter is much longer, and continues approximately 100+ lines of dialogue.

Examples - I also finished translating Blinky’s ‘fear is but the precursor to valour’ quote into Changeling. Although I will refrain from sharing anything about that until I have finished the accompanying art.

Runes - After messing around of fontstruct, I added some spit and polish to the Changeling runes I have already shared. I won’t publish a second version of the typeface as the changes I made were subtle and probably only fixed things that were bugging me personally, but from this point on any Runes I share will be from the latest version. 

My Next Steps and Goals:

I very much still need to sit down and finish arting that fanart. It’s coming along but as arting takes so much out of me medically I can only do it in short well spaced bursts. As I am choosing to focus on completing the fic first, it’s my goal to publish ahead of translating and to go back and add them when I get up to them in my free time. For this reason, future progress updates will likely focus on announcing when another chapter has been quietly translated in the background. It’s still my intent to make little graphics and things for this blog, and I am considering asking for prompts for random things to translate (Toxic by Britney Spears for example) just for the fun of it. 

[change-linguistics]

This is a very small thing, but one of the things I did early on in the development of changeling lang was evolve some Proto-Germanic words, (the sound changes evolving in the direction of being roughly the crossover where English, Norwegian, and German meet.) For example, the Proto-Germanic word *rūnō (meaning: secret, mystery; rune) evolved into “rune,” and the Proto-Germanic word *stabaz (meaning: staff, stick) evolved into “stab,” which cognates with the English word ‘staff’ [due to a β > f/v sound change]. 

This is perfectly mundane stuff, except for the fact that rune sticks are a plot point in the fic this conlang project is for, and the Changeling word for ‘runestick’ is “runstab” which makes for a fun lil unintentional pun considering what the changelings are known for in canon. Idk it’s probably something no one else thinks is funny, but I can’t help giggling at myself all the same. 

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Comparative Changeling Grammar Table with both South-Eastern and North-Western Dialects - January 30 2020 (link to source 1) (link to source 2) [Image Description: A comparative table demonstrating basic Changeling grammar using Subject: You, Object: the Coat, Indirect Object: Me, and Verb: Give. These components are used to cycle through Present, Past, and Future Tense, Formal and Non-Formal, Statements, Imperative, and Interrogative versions of the phrase. To the left the South-Eastern Dialect is Blue, and the North-Western Dialect is on the right and Orange.]

I created this table largely as a grammar bible for myself to easily reference in the future without having to trawl through my various notes but it is hopefully easy enough for people who are not me to understand the little differences between the dialects. I have included a further explanation for those who are interested under the cut.

Keep reading

[change-linguistics]

Comparative Changeling Grammar Table with both South-Eastern and North-Western Dialects - January 30 2020 (link to source 1) (link to source 2) [Image Description: A comparative table demonstrating basic Changeling grammar using Subject: You, Object: the Coat, Indirect Object: Me, and Verb: Give. These components are used to cycle through Present, Past, and Future Tense, Formal and Non-Formal, Statements, Imperative, and Interrogative versions of the phrase. To the left the South-Eastern Dialect is Blue, and the North-Western Dialect is on the right and Orange.]

I created this table largely as a grammar bible for myself to easily reference in the future without having to trawl through my various notes but it is hopefully easy enough for people who are not me to understand the little differences between the dialects. I have included a further explanation for those who are interested under the cut.

Note: For consistency, the speaker in these examples is a lower ranking male changeling addressing a higher ranking female changeling.

South-Eastern Dialect

Word Choice: The word for ‘coat’ in the South-Eastern dialect is “mantel” which is a direct loan word from German. The verb used to mean ‘to give’ is “gebban” is which cognates with the English verb ‘give.’ 

Formality: Formality is a highly important aspect of the Changeling language and can change a great deal about how a sentence is phrased. Typically when a verb is used with high formality it takes the infinitive form. In the South-Eastern dialect, the adverb/particle “täk” by lower ranking changeling when addressing higher members of the Order to ‘soften’ the otherwise directness of the tone. 

Present Tense: Due to the strong influence of German, the South-Eastern dialect of Changeling defaults to using simple present tense. 

Imperative: In this dialect, imperatives include the addressee as the subject if they have a higher position of power than the addresser. In extreme cases, the dative form of the first person pronoun may be used as a further means to express respect. In this instance, the verb “reiçan” is used as in this dialect the verb has a softer, less permanent implication.

Past Tense: In the South-Eastern dialect, past tense is typically expressed using the past participle. Past participles are made with the “ge-” prefix on the infinitive version of a verb. It should be noted that this prefix is of Germanic origin and unrelated to the accusative definite article “ge” which is of Trollish origin. Past participles are normally paired with the auxiliary verb “habe” which is the present tense version of “haban.” Less commonly the past perfect form may be used to express past events. It is largely identical to the past participle form, but uses the past tense version “haban” which is “habed.” 

Future Tense: The auxiliary verb “wille” is typically used with the present tense form of a verb to express the future in the South-Eastern dialect. Less commonly the future perfect form may be used, which throws in the secondary auxiliary verb “haban” at the end. 

Interrogative: As one might expect, Changeling often uses verb first word order in order to turn a statement into a question, but sometimes a pitch rise at the end of the phrase will be considered sufficient. The South-Eastern dialect utilises the auxiliary verb “sahm” for requests, and is a verb of Trollish origin and means something like ‘can, be able, do.’ 

Cross-cultural Interpretation: Changelings who use the North-Western dialect consider the South-Eastern dialect to be somewhat affected, old fashioned and evasive due to its heightened formality, past participles, and use of Trollish words such as “sahm” and “täk.” 

North-Western Dialect

Word Choice: The word for ‘coat’ in this dialect is “kotte” which cognates with the English word ‘coat.’ The verb used to mean ‘to give’ is “reiçan” is which cognates with the English verb ‘reach.’

Formality:  Typically when a verb is used with high formality it takes the infinitive form. While the adverb/particle “täk” is used in the North-Western dialect, it has the opposite effect and is used as a slang word to increase the casualness of tone. 

Present Tense: Due to the strong of English (and Scots), the North-Western dialect of Changeling defaults to using present participles. Unlike in English, present participles are differentiated from gerunds, which use an “-en” or “-end” suffix, and an “-iŋ” suffix respectively. (In English both have an ‘-ing’ suffix.) Present participles are paired with an auxiliary verb, in this case “is” the second person form of “sein.” The simple present forms are used, but only really for hypothetical contexts.

Imperative: In this dialect, imperatives are more direct and drop the addressee entirely. This applies regardless of position of power.

Past Tense: Typically in the North-Western dialect, past tense is expressed using the preterite version of a verb, also known as simple past tense. These are normally made by adding a “-t,” “-et” or “-ed” suffix, although strong verbs may change vowels instead.

Future Tense: In the North-Western dialect, the future tense is normally expressed using the future perfect form, which is much like the South-Eastern version but differs with the placement of the auxiliary verb “haban.”

Interrogative: Unlike in the South-Eastern dialect, this dialect utilises the auxiliary verb “mahan” for requests, which cognates with the English verb ‘may.’ Alternatively the verb “šalle”  which cognates with the English verb ‘shall’ may be used, but this is less common.

Cross-cultural Interpretation: Changelings who use the South-Eastern dialect consider the North-Western dialect to be somewhat brash and emphatic due to  its less marked formality and use of present participles.

[change-linguistics]

Progress Report: February 1, 2020

Summary: On a personal front, I finally received a formal Crohn’s diagnosis a week ago and have begun proper medical treatment. It’s not something one might expect to find in a conlang progress log, but I can guarantee the severity of the disease has made working on this project far more difficult than it otherwise should have been. Less personally, I’ve been going over changeling fic and it’s nearly, so nearly ready for me to start publishing. 

Progress Made: Grammar - It took a bit of work but I was finally able to finish the Eng to De to Chg spreadsheet and now have a simple, but handy translator’s bible to refer back to and tweak going ahead on this project. I’ve only completed the South East dialect so far, as the first ten chapters of my fic are going to be in that exclusively, although I have made note where and how the two main dialects differ and agree. I also made a secondary translator’s bible for very simple sentences that does include both dialects which I will be sharing today. 

Examples - I’ve now turned my attention to translating Blinky’s ‘fear is but the precursor to valour’ quote into Changeling. After giving it some thought I decided I want to do an accompanying fanart to go with this translation, so this will take me some time to actually finish. In order for it to have a Changeling flavour, I also decided to not do a direct translation, and made some artistic choices with the wording so as to appeal to a changeling’s mindset. 

My Next Steps and Goals:

I still absolutely need to finish translating Blinky’s ‘fear is but the precursor to valour’ quote into Changeling (and maybe MBB) and actually sitting down and finish arting that fanart. After this point I will finally be ready to translate the dialogue of changeling fic and begin to publish it online. Technically I started translating the dialogue* first chapter yesterday but I only got a couple sentences in, so I’m putting it here with pending progress, rather that what I have already done. For the most part, all further development on the language will be added as I work my way through translations as needed.

This is entirely unnecessary but as I’ve improved my fontstruct skills working on other scripts, I want to polish the Changelings Runes I’ve already shared and possibly even composing a cursive version? Time will have to tell if I actually get around to making it, however.

*Don’t panic, I intend for translations to be included via <dfn> tags so it won’t be jarring and/or overwhelming for literally all readers. This project is supposed to be a neat lil easter egg not actual homework for Changeling School.

[change-linguistics]

Progress Report: January 1, 2020

Summary: Oh wow! It’s a new year, a new decade, and a fresh start. I don’t know how everyone’s 2019 went but personally, I had some wonderful highs and towards the end, some absolutely devastating lows. I learnt a great deal about so many things, myself included, and I’m so eager to leave the decade of bullshit behind. 

Progress Made: Vocabulary - I’ve been slowly importing Trollish Middle Branch B words into Changeling lang. They’ve started to take over the lang and have been shifting it away from being basically like weird German and I’m pretty happy with the results. It feels like a believable enough blend of the result of code-switching two very different language families and the solidification of a cultural identity over centuries. Pronouns - I did most of the hard word on importing MBB pronouns into changelings before the last progress report, however I have finalised how the MBB derived pronouns are used differently than the Germanic ones. Basically the MBB pronouns are for Trollish and formal Changeling contexts, and the Germanic ones are used for specific human or extreme informal changeling ones. The exact rules differ between dialects. Grammar - In order to figure out how changeling grammar works, I decided to essentially steal topics and sentences from my German Duolingo course and have made a Eng to De to Chg spreadsheet and translating thusly. For the Changeling phrases, I have been working under the context of a male changeling speaking to a female superior, this allows me to figure out formality and gender rules, and most accurately reflects the dynamic in the fic this project has been based around. As I come up with each new rule, I’ve been making note in the margins of the spreadsheet, which will be used as a grammar bible in the future. 

My Next Steps and Goals:

As of the moment my primary goal is to finish figuring changeling grammar. Vocabulary is going to be a work in progress for the remainder of this project, but I absolutely need to know how to write both basic and complex sentences and phrases in order to continue with the actual purpose of this project. 

I absolutely need to finish translating Blinky’s ‘fear is but the precursor to valour’ quote into Changeling (and maybe MBB) and turning it into a graphic. After this point I will finally be ready to translate the dialogue of changeling fic and begin to publish it online.

[change-linguistics]

Hey! Happy Holidays! If you're still taking promptals, consider: stricklake snuggles, for any verse that goes with that XD if I'm too late, then I'll just take that opportunity to thank you for the all the great fic you posted this year! *throws confetti*

thank YOU for reading!! and for such a welcome, relaxing prompt :v

this is set in the vague, near-ish future of in my sleep i dreamed of waking, after the second sequel i’ve currently got planned. no major spoilers, at least that i know of, though i…definitely let the word count get away from me. OTL

829 (!) words | it’s mf'in cozy time, lads (now ft. dumb romo conlang fluff)

It’s not that he's—ectothermic, now. Not strictly speaking.

“What you’re saying is ‘irregular endings,’ and ‘unique linguistic heritage.’ And I get that, I do.” Barbara’s voice, pitched almost convincingly to something bright and awake, is half-muffled from the voluminous cloud of their comforter. She’d hesitated a little, at first; but when she’d finally come around to the eiderdown, he’d been insufferable. “But what I’m hearing is: the fifth declension is garbage.”

Keep reading

[change-linguistics]

Special Announcement - November 29 2019

Those who have been following me for a while now may remember that the changeling lang and associated changeling fic went into something of a hiatus in July in order for me to finish writing Uhl fic. At the time I foolishly thought I had 3 chapters left to write, however I ended up needing to write 8 chapters (approx. 56k words) in order to fully wrap up the Whispers Within. But good news, today I just saved the very last chapter into my AO3 drafts!  🎊 🎊 🎊

As Uhl fic is now done, and I’m free to devote more time and energy to this project. I won’t be returning to work immediately as I have some unfortunate RL stuff that needs to be sorted, some medical, some personal, but when I do return I’ll make another announcement.

[change-linguistics]

Trollish Middle Branch B Abugida/Alphasyllabary - Version 1 - November 1 2019 (Slightly Clearer Version)

[Image Description: A table laying out the major characters in the Trollish Middle Branch B (or proto-Gumm-Gumm) Abugida/Alphasyllabary including numerals and punctuation.]

More Under the Cut

Orthography - I may post a phonetic inventory at some point, but the most important differences from regular changeling orthography is that “bh” stands for the IPA letter “β,” “rr” is “ʁ,” and “ž” is “ʒ.” 

Vowel System - This writing system considers all simple consonant + “a” as default and marks alternation accordingly. As such (Pa) is its own symbol, but (P) on its own is (Pa) with a line underneath, and (Po) is (Pa) with a diacritic for (o) on top. Long vowels, can a word like Paa would be written as (Pa)(a) but in some instances, such as a long word where the long vowel falls on the emphasised syllable, (Pa) is fine. In its purest form, the diacritics could be omitted for the most part without sacrificing legibility for common words. Shapes - The shapes I used are inspired by the canon script (see: example) but different in both form an relative meaning. This particular version is half way between serif and sans serif because I couldn’t make up my damn mind. Text Direction - In this writing system, sentences are written in a zig-zag pattern, typically right to left, left to right, etc, although the mirror is also valid. The symbols marked as > and < in the romanisation are used as helpful arrows to direct the reader. They are not compulsory elements of punctuation and the writer can opt not to use them for various reasons such as time and importance.  Numerical System - The Arabic numeral system has 10 unique numerals, 0 - 9, and from these we can construct any basic number we can think of. 1+0=10, 2+9+8+6=2986, etc. However, in the MBB numeral system, there are 17 unique numerals. Why? Because me, a dyscalculic fool, thought it’d be rad considering they have 4 fingers on each hand and would mostly have developed a different system because of it. In this writing system, the concept of zero is new and a new symbol based on the MBB first letter of word for “nothing” was invented. I may rework this because oh my god why would I do this to myself... what number do they have instead of a billion oh my god, but we shall see.