#A Posteriori

[sombra-conlangs]

Lexember 2024 day 25: Osrican

Text in the image transcribed below:

LEXEMBER 2024 ΑΥΣΡËΚΦΙΝ - OSRICAN

δαγχë 25

Ναταλëφεστ n. /nɐˈtɐ.lə.fest/ Christmas.

A compound of «Ναταλë» Nativity and «φεστ» celebration, holiday, festival, the former from Italian «Natale» and the latter from Middle High German «fëst». Synonym of «Jευλυφεστ» /ˈjeu̯.lʊ.fest/.

Sombra Glaze

[glossopoesis]

Velgaiɣa

Velgaiɣa is a primary Indo-European conlang (i.e. one not belonging to any existent branch within Indo-European), intended to be intermediate between Celtic (particularly Gaulish) and Germanic. It is geographically and temporarily positioned as if it could be the language of the Belgae at the time of Julius Caesar's invasion of Gaul.

In staying intermediate between Celtic and Germanic, Grimm's and Verner's Laws have been conceptualised as a push chain caused by the Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirate series becoming voiced fricatives in most positions (creating an extremely unbalanced system with many voiced fricatives with no voiceless counterparts), a shift shared with Italic (and possibly also Celtic). All affected branches then resolved this lack of balance in different ways.

In Germanic, the voiceless series became fricatives except following another obstruent (these fricatives were voiceless word-initially and after a stressed syllable, but otherwise merging into the voiced fricative series), the plain voiced stop series became voiceless, and the voiced fricatives *β and *ð became voiced stops /b/ & /d/ word-initially (the voiced fricative *ɣ also became a voiced stop /g/ word-initially outside Dutch).

In Celtic, the new voiced fricative series merged into the plain voiced stops. It's usually said that this merged series were stops in all positions in Proto-Celtic, but it has also been suggested that the lenition of voiced stops seen in Insular Celtic already existed on an allophonic level in Proto-Celtic, with the merged voiced series being voiced fricatives in leniting environments, and stops elsewhere. In this view, the development of voiceless fricatives (by lenition in Goidelic, or provection in Brythonic) being caused by the phonemicisation of the previously allophonic voiced fricatives.

In Italic, the voiced fricatives devoiced word-initially allowing the remaining voiced fricatives to be viewed as voiced allophones. Additionally, word-initial *ð (> *θ) merged into *f (comparable to the widespread th-fronting in the Southeast of England). In Sabellic, word-internal *ð also merges into *f, and in Latin most of the word-internal voiced fricatives fortited to stops.

So, in order to remain intermediate between Celtic and Germanic, we have lenited the voiced aspirates to voiced fricatives in most positions (including word-initially). In most instances, voiceless stops develop as in Germanic, but word-initially remain unlenited (as in Celtic). Again, as in Celtic, *p is still lenited, but only to /f/ (whereas there is no clear evidence for any labial feature still being present in the Proto-Celtic reflex of *p outside certain consonant clusters (particularly following *s and preceding a resonant).

Celtic preserves more vowel distinctions than Germanic, and Velgaiɣa is intermediate in that it retains those distinctions in initial stressed syllables, but not in unstressed or non-initial syllables (which are subject to varying levels of vowel reduction, at different stages, as a result of the shift to initial stress). In initial syllables, syllabic resonants broadly behave as in Celtic (albeit subject to the expected vowel reductions when unstressed), but in non-initial syllables, the expected vowel reductions lead to more Germanic-like outcomes. Stressed final syllables have similar outcomes to stressed initial syllables (with a small number of additional mergers/reductions), whilst unstressed final syllables are reduced almost as much as medial syllables, retaining only a few more distinctions.

Many of these historical changes have been obscured by analogy (e.g. the o-stem declension mostly retains the stressed allomorphs, despite being used for all o-stems, even those that etymologically have stressed stems, and so words may have both a stem and ending reflecting the expected stressed reflex).

There is also a regular process of syncope of short vowels in the second of two open syllables when not word-final, but when the vowel that would be expected to be syncopated is a derivational suffix (or part of the formation of an inflectional class of nouns or verbs), the vowel is often restored. This is because that vowel might be expected to lost after light stems, but would be retained after heavy stems, and so the vowel was restored to the light stems by analogy to the heavy stems.

More information on certain words and points can be found throughout the Lexember 2024 posts (although some of these may be a little outdated, as aspects of the language evolved over the course of the month):

1st: rīma "the numerals"

2nd: gānyom "the family"

3rd: gallū "to be able"

4th: klāsmarra "(hill)fort, oppidum"

5th: ɣimmēs "the lunar month containing the winter solstice, ~December"

6th: far-ɣusman "libation"

7th: troggī "nose"

8th: friyos "free"

9th: lustrom "value"

10th: wasū "to dress"

11th: lahtuðaɣa "morality"

12th: an-rīmas "countless, unnumbered"

13th: ɣlohom "glass"

14th: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

15th: ɣelas "green, blue"

16th: baryai "to die"

17th: skowwunū "to appear as if in a mirror, to show, to reflect"

18th: arguntum "silver"

19th: an-yahtī "illness"

20th: ɣōliryun "vegetable"

21st: ɣardwa "Midwinter, the Winter Solstice"

22nd: ɣostidūriyos "host", ɣostidustrī "hostess"

23rd: bargu "slow"

24th: moiþman "gift"

25th: gentī "birth"

26th: vir-fihtāɣī "hangover"

27th: sudyēs "holiday"

28th: stēr "star"

29th: ambruðai "to rain"

30th: vardūþom "bearded"

31st: neuyērundiwa "New Year's Day"

[sombraglaze]

Osrican, my Germanic conlang

I scheduled a post to go up on my conlang blog at the same time as this one, you should check it out!

I wrote a brief overview about my a posteriori language, you can look at the post ---

EDIT: that wordpress site is now basically abandoned so I removed the link, if you want to learn more about Osrican you can go to my new website.

A bit of info on the language below the cut

Osrican is an East Germanic language, it's the official language of a fictional nation called Osric, located between Greece, Albania and North Macedonia.

Its endonym (the native name for the language) is Αυσρëκφιν (Ausrëkfin) pronounced /ˈɐu̯.sɾək.fɪn/. The etymology has been lost to time, however it is believed to be some sort of geographical description since it seems to be related to the word for east: αυσρë (ausrë).

Some of the features that stand out is that it is written with a variation of the Greek alphabet, it has lots of loan words that come from the surrounding languages (certain types of words tend to be borrowed from different sources, showing the language's history) and it is not only Germanic, but it is an East Germanic language, none of which survived in the real world.

The grammar is roughly what you would expect from a Germanic language, it has some of the features you tend to find in the Balkan Sprachbund, and it follows some euroversals, however it has a few idiosyncrasies here and there.

I'm not a great conlanger, so perhaps the language and the setting aren't very realistic (though I am way more confident in my linguistics knowledge than I am in my history knowledge, so maybe the setting is completely implausible, but whatever). I had fun creating the language and it think it taught me some things about conlanging, so I like it.

I got the idea to make a Germanic conlang because I really like how they sound, they're just really beautiful to me, so the phonology was partially inspired by my own taste.

Anyway, if you have any questions or feedback you can let me know! feel free to send me an ask or even dm me (though I'm kinda busy and shy, so I may not reply super fast, but I will get to it eventually) so yeah, thanks for reading! ( ´ ▿ ` )

[omegaphilosophia]

Philosophy of A Priori and A Posteriori Knowledge

In epistemology, the terms a priori and a posteriori are used to distinguish between two different types of knowledge, justification, or reasoning. This distinction is central to debates about the nature of human understanding and how we acquire knowledge.

1. A Priori Knowledge:

Definition: A priori knowledge is knowledge that is gained independently of sensory experience. It is often described as "knowledge before experience" or "knowledge from reason."

Examples: Mathematical truths (e.g., 2 + 2 = 4), logical principles (e.g., "All bachelors are unmarried"), and certain metaphysical claims are often cited as examples of a priori knowledge. These truths can be known simply through rational reflection and do not require observation or empirical evidence.

Philosophical Significance:

Rationalism: Philosophers who emphasize the importance of a priori knowledge are often associated with rationalism, the view that reason is the primary source of knowledge. Thinkers like René Descartes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant argued that certain fundamental concepts or truths are innate or can be known independently of experience.

Necessity and Universality: A priori knowledge is typically regarded as necessary (it must be true in all possible situations) and universal (it applies to all cases). For example, the statement "all triangles have three sides" is true regardless of any specific empirical observation.

2. A Posteriori Knowledge:

Definition: A posteriori knowledge is knowledge that is acquired through sensory experience. It is also known as "empirical knowledge" or "knowledge after experience."

Examples: Knowledge of particular facts, such as "The sky is blue" or "Water boils at 100°C at sea level," is a posteriori knowledge because it is gained through observation and experience.

Philosophical Significance:

Empiricism: Philosophers who prioritize a posteriori knowledge are typically associated with empiricism, the view that experience is the main source of knowledge. Key empiricist philosophers include John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, who argued that all knowledge is ultimately derived from sensory experience.

Contingency: A posteriori knowledge is often contingent, meaning it could have been otherwise. For example, the fact that "water freezes at 0°C" is contingent on the specific physical properties of water and the conditions of the Earth’s atmosphere, but it is not necessarily true in all possible worlds.

3. Immanuel Kant’s Synthesis:

Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason: Immanuel Kant offered a revolutionary approach to the a priori/a posteriori distinction by arguing that certain kinds of knowledge, such as mathematics and the basic structure of experience, are both a priori (independent of experience) and synthetic (not merely tautological or analytical).

Synthetic A Priori Knowledge: Kant introduced the concept of synthetic a priori propositions, which are statements that are necessarily true and known independently of experience but also provide substantive information about the world. For example, Kant argued that our knowledge of the basic structure of space and time is synthetic a priori.

Key Debates:

Is A Priori Knowledge Possible? Some philosophers question whether genuine a priori knowledge exists, arguing that all knowledge is either directly or indirectly influenced by sensory experience.

Relationship to Empirical Science: Empiricists often argue that even apparently a priori knowledge, such as mathematics or logic, may ultimately derive from patterns we observe in the world. Rationalists, on the other hand, argue that there are truths we can know independently of any particular observation.

Role of Intuition: A priori knowledge is often linked to intuition, which raises questions about how reliable and objective such intuitions can be.

Summary:

A Priori Knowledge is independent of experience and rooted in reason, often linked with necessity and universality.

A Posteriori Knowledge depends on sensory experience and is usually contingent and specific to the observed world.

Philosophers debate the extent to which knowledge can be truly a priori or whether all knowledge is ultimately empirical. Kant’s work synthesizes elements of both traditions by proposing that some knowledge is both a priori and substantive.

[bocadosdefilosofia]

«El hombre es una máquina tan compleja que resulta imposible formarse primero una idea clara al respecto y luego definirla en consecuencia. Por eso todas las investigaciones que los más grandes filósofos han hecho a priori, es decir, queriendo servirse en cierta manera de las alas del espíritu, han sido vanas. Así, únicamente a posteriori o tratando de discernir el alma a través de los órganos del cuerpo, se puede, no digo descubrir con evidencia la naturaleza misma del hombre, pero sí alcanzar el mayor grado de probabilidad posible sobre este tema.»

Julien Offray de la Mettrie: El hombre máquina. Eudeba, pág. 35. Buenos Aires, 1963

TGO

@bocadosdefilosofia

@dies-irae-1

[sombra-conlangs]

This sounds fun to do for my a posteriori language! so I wrote a small Osrican phrasebook for people visiting the Republic of Osric: Αυσρëκφια Ρëπιυβλικ · (Ausrëkfia Rëpüblik) /ɐu̯s.ɾəkˈfi.ɐ rə.pʏˈblik/:

Greetings

hello or bye (casual) - κȷαυ · (chau) /t͡ʃɐu̯/ or τυγγ · (tung) /tuŋ/

how are you? (singular casual / polite) - γχȷfι πυȷισι; · (zhü puyisi?) /ʒy ˈpu.jɪ.sɪ/

how are you? (singular formal) - γχȷfι πυȷιτι; · (zhü puyiti?) /ʒy ˈpu.jɪ.tɪ/

how are you? (plural) - γχȷfι πυȷιδ; · (zhü puyid?) /ʒy ˈpu.jɪd/

I'm doing well - wελ πυȷυ · (vel puyu) /vel ˈpu.jʊ/

see you later (casual / polite) - υν βιυντȷιψι · (un bünchiti) /ʊn ˈbyn.t͡ʃɪ.tɪ/

goodbye - αδιυ · (adiu) /ɐˈdi.ʊ/

good morning or afternoon (as a greeting or goodbye) - ψιυψιχȷτ δαγχë · (diudisht dağë) /ˈdiu̯.dɪʃt ˈdɐ.ɰə/

Thanking people

thanks (very casual) - ψαγγκë · (dankë) /ˈdɐŋ.kə/

thank you (casual):

(singular) - ψεȷκ ψαγγκυ · (dech danku) /det͡ʃ ˈdɐŋ.kʊ/

(plural) - ιδwι ψαγγκυ · (idvi danku) /ˈid.vɪ ˈdɐŋ.kʊ/

thank you (polite):

(singular) - εȷκ ψαγγκυ ψεȷκ · (ech danku dech) /et͡ʃ ˈdɐŋ.kʊ det͡ʃ/

(plural) - εȷκ ψαγγκυ ιδwι · (ech danku idvi) /et͡ʃ ˈdɐŋ.kʊ ˈid.vɪ/

Asking someone's name

what's your name? (casual) - fου βιυσι γαχιτëν; · (woe büsi gakhitën?) /wɒe̯ ˈby.sɪ ˈɡɐ.xɪ.tən/

what's your name? (polite) - ψυ βιυσι fου γαχιτëν; · (du büsi woe gakhitën?) /dʊ ˈby.sɪ wɒe̯ ˈɡɐ.xɪ.tən/

my name is _ (casual) - _ βιυμι γαχιτëν · (_ bümi gakhitën) /_ ˈby.mɪ ˈɡɐ.xɪ.tən/

my name is _ (polite / formal) - εȷκ βιυμι _ γαχιτëν · (ech bümi _ gakhitën) /et͡ʃ ˈby.mɪ _ ˈɡɐ.xɪ.tən/

Asking someone's age

how old are you? (casual) - fου μαγγë ȷερυ βιυσι; · (woe mangë yeru büsi?) /wɒe̯ ˈmɐ.ŋə ˈje.rʊ ˈby.sɪ/

how old are you? (polite) - ψυ βιυσι fου μαγγë ȷερυ; · (su büsi woe mangë yeru?) /dʊ ˈby.sɪ wɒe̯ ˈmɐ.ŋə ˈje.rʊ/

I'm _ years old (casual) - _ ȷερυ βιυμι · (_ yeru bümi) /_ ˈje.rʊ ˈby.mɪ/

I'm _ years old (polite / formal) - εȷκ βιυμι _ ȷερυ · (ech bümi _ yeru) /et͡ʃ ˈby.mɪ _ ˈje.rʊ)

Asking where someone is from

where are you from? (casual) - α fαρ βιυσι; · (a war büsi?) /ɐ wɐr ˈby.sɪ/

where are you from? (polite) - ψυ βιυσι α fαρ; · (du büsi a war?) /dʊ ˈby.sɪ ɐ wɐr/

I'm from _ (casual) - α _ βιυμι · (a _ bümi) /ɐ _ ˈby.mɪ/

I'm from _ (polite) - εȷκ βιυμι α _ · (ech bümi a _) /et͡ʃ ˈby.mɪ ɐ _/

Miscellaneous

yes - ȷαι · (yai) /jɐi̯/

no - νε · (ne) /ne/

near - νεχȷfë (neshu) /ˈne.ʃu/

far, distant - wερι (veri) /ˈve.rɪ/

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?

[sombra-conlangs]

Lexember 2024 day 31: Osrican

Text in the image transcribed below:

LEXEMBER 2024 ΑΥΣΡËΚΦΙΝ - OSRICAN

δαγχë 31

Νευȷëν v. /ˈneu̯.jən/ to renew, make new again, make fresh, to repair, replenish, to restart, repeat.

From Proto-Germanic *niwjaną to make new, renew.

Sombra Glaze

[omarfor-orchestra]

Comunque agree movieplayer

Movieplayer ha proprio detto se solo non fosse stato rai e aveste messo della frociaggine....

[glossopoesis]

14th of Lexember

Today we've got a slightly longer sample text, including a few words not otherwise introduced, and illustrating some new points of syntax.

It's (the rather anachronistic for a language dating to the European Iron Age) Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

All Human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

subl-ai ɣam-nis fri-yumas eð all-ANM.NOM.pl human-NOM.pl free.MASC.DAT.pl and ka-līg-umas lustr-ī reht-am-pi alike-MASC.DAT.pl value-GEN.sg right-GEN.pl-CONJ gnāy-antai widriþ-ād give.birth-3p.pl.PAS.PRES logic-ABL.sg lahtuðaɣ-ās-pi was-antai eð conscience-ABL.sg-CONJ dress-3p.pl.PAS.PRES and amm-as vir-s-inti sē RECP-DAT.pl over-be-3p.pl.PRES as-if brāþ-ris s-īnt ðē-ri brother-NOM.pl be-3p.pl.PRES.SBJ do-INF.ACT.PRES

This more complex text illustrates a few points of syntax.

We have a clause-level conjunction eð, and a word-level conjunction -pi (which also trigger assibilation of a preceding d).

The basic sentence is SOV, but pro-drop and with the ability to move elements forwards for focus or emphasis.

In more complex sentences, the finite or auxiliary verb goes in second position, and the infinitive goes in final position. In this way we have somewhat of an intermediate stage between the conservative SOV seen in early Continental Celtic, and the V2 seen in Old Germanic.

The dative (which has taken on the uses of the locative) is used as an adverbial case for adjectives (seen in the declension of "free" and "alike"), and the ablative has taken on the use of the instrumental (as seen in the declension of "logic" and "conscience").

The semantic expansion of "dress" to encompass equiping or providing is clear from its use in the second sentence.

[punksalmon]

Tell us more about this Escape ending AU that you are completely normal about.

WELL, if you're asking

(i first received this ask in 28th of JUNE, but waited for my uni break so i could be as self-indulgent as possible)

the Escape AU is first and foremost my obsession with (1) epilogue-type stories as a way to deal with the conseguences of a plot (which is especially promising with funger's trauma bonanza) and (2) domestic gay people (which is ALSO especially promising with funger's trauma bonanza). i also like when the domestic couple are kind of freaks.

the background for the AU is mostly based with my number of playthroughs with the game, in particular that as soon as i had the girl and knew what exactly her ending was, i would go after literally any other ending just so she could live.

to say the summary of the dungeon-canon, ragnvaldr goes in the dungeon after le'garde to kill him and enki goes into the dungeon after the ritual of ascension, and they just join forces for survival; the girl only comes after, and because ragnvalr is partly in this whole quest because his child was murdered, he becomes somewhat protective of the girl, and then of enki, to the point of doubt about when does this affection and desire to protect is for them on their own, and when it's just comes as a second hand for the family ragnvaldr's lost. enki isn't arsed with any of it at first, but as a feral cat gaining the literal first modicum of care in its life, he starts to become less sure of how far he'd gone to obtain success when it puts this other people at risk, even without understanding (or accepting) any of it. and the girl is, verbatim, "unused to kindness of any kind" - she literally deserves the world.

the ending E, as exactly "underwhelming" as it is, is a reflection of this sense of care the characters develop: it doesn't matter what the dungeon does offer (and what really the characters do achieve in it; i personally like the idea of them facing Le'garde as the Yellow King in the dungeon, for the pathos of it all). the most important thing after the conga line of misery that funger is, is that for people that at that point had no reason to live, they suddenly get one. for it, they leave behind the dungeon and the promises within.

i still like to think that this sort of decision is not without unrest - i don't think enki would do well as a house wife, and this tension of "did i make a good choice? is this really what i want?" is interesting. i also thing ragvaldr has a little parasocial thing going because of his previous family, and i also think that idea is interesting.

as always, i like to see characters go through the ringer and then try to build a happy ending (or as happy as it can be) out of it. i feel that's a sort o theme anyone can find comfort in. and yes, i do like thinking of the funniest possible nuclear family unity Oldegård would ever see (pair of parents + one kid + a dog). (and i do like thinking about rag and enki doing it nasty. who said that.)

thank you for the ask and literally anyone who has the minimum interest about my brainworms… i loved thinking about them to write this. it also made me draw again (miraculous), so here's a little something.

first leaving the dungeons.

[skyeventide]

doomed by the narrative doesn't just mean "being in a narrative". it means that whatever the character is written to do, the narrative in question, the story, makes it so that the result of their actions will be the same, usually negative or unfair. either a conscious choice from the writer, where there is an overarching curse or theme (you know, like greek tragedy?) that puts that character on a set path from the beginning, sometimes before they were even born, and they cannot stray from it no matter how hard they try or how many chances they might have had to free themselves. or a subconscious choice, where you can see that there could have been such a good story to tell about getting away from that narrative, but the author was too set on their initial decisions, or frankly not that good at writing plot, to see it; so there's a story that forces a character into such a path, full on wasted potential, and we could have done without that. and sometimes there's a mix, where say an author is too stuck on their own religious morality or other types of prejudices and makes up a narrative that dooms a character no matter what. it's intentional, and not in the sense of a good story. in the sense that the author couldn't even think past what they would morally condemn. it's a trope that often uses foreshadowing and makes use of narrative devices. it's generally intentional.

[waitmyturtles]

[warriorviscera]

[officialpenisenvy]

three young guys on the train discussing the questionable dna evidence in the yara gambirasio murder