#conlang resources

[tepat-side]

Payne, Thomas E. “Toward a Balanced Grammatical Description”

Nice short read about writing a grammar. Discusses the various, sometimes conflicting considerations of writing a grammar of a language, such as technical accuracy vs. understandability, etc. Ends with an example table of contents for a linguistic grammar, including both a grammar organized by structure, and a grammar organized by function.

Another link if the first one dies:

Here's just the example table of contents:

[mandoxember]

Conlanger’s Thesaurus

by William S. Annis

A Conlanger’s Thesaurus is a basic wordlist which has been annotated with notes on common paths of grammaticalization, cross-linguistic polysemy and other information mostly from the work of lexical and semantic typologists. The collection itself isn’t innovative in any way, but rather collects this information in a convenient format. Its intended use is to act as a guard against relexing your native tongue in your conlang.

[amaiguri]

I also recommend Wrdz! It's very similar to Awkwords (rest in peace)

Desperate due to Awkwords being abandonware so I delved into some alternatives.

Scriboly Fake Language Generator Closer to a cryptolang than an actual conlang-generator. Through some testing determined that the site uses some internalized rules to decide how to translate words into encoded versions of themselves. The number of syllables (which are AWFULLY miscalled "phonemes" here) alters the results of the translation, and the translation is stable regardless of what the text is or tab session. Neat, keeping it for sure.

LanguaGen Might be the perfect fit actually. Though sadly, it is still in development, and aims to cover all the functionality of Awkwords (as said in the About), which is superb. Saving.

sca2 A Zompist sound change applier. Very fancy, will use for cryptolanging most probably.

[indictivity-mu]

some silly little tp resources

feel free to help me add more! replys (or rbs) w/ more info will be added to the list!

Lessons

lipu sona pona

twelve days of toki pona / toki pona lessons

lipu lili pona

toki pona cheat sheet

o pilin e toki pona

lipu sona mi pi toki pona

jan Kekan San

Main Writing Systems

Sitelen pona (1, 2,)

Sitelen Sitelen (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Dictionaries

lipu Linku

Wiktionary

The Other Website

lipu sona pona

Other

Wikipedia page

lipu Wikipesija

toki kala

nasin tempo pona

Translators

Toki Pona Interpreter

English / Toki Pona Translator

Other Resource Lists

Ankiweb

lipu sona pona

lipu sona mi pi toki pona

mun la

[jingerpi]

I should probably not be suprised when jan pi toki pona give me unsolicited toki pona advice but it still gets on my nerves. like, im willing enaging with the linguistics people and a constructed language i should expect people to be persnickety about it but that doesn't make it any less annoying @-@

[paizau]

this site is amazing, it has so much inforamtion on ancient indo-european languages from early vedic to old irish, on languages of the near east like kurdish, neo-aramaic and georgian, and a whole bunch of mayam languages. highly reccomend checking it out

[conlangcrab]

Vulgarlang for funzies generating conlangs and seeing how a conlang is formulated.

Conlang Critic for reviews on existing conlangs and funny stuff.

K Klein for curiosity diving into linguistics.

JasonTank WordGen for making structurally generated words for your dictionary.

Awkwords is another such generator for dictionary filling.

Agma Schwa - the Conlang Circle Jerk (affectionate).

@thecrazyneographist for conscript/neography inspiration (or borrowing, or commissioning).

Omniglot.com for a lot of language info and also the index of all writing systems on Earth today (excluding neographies not submitted by their authors).

Linguistics portal on Wikipedia.

IPA (you can also use Vulgarlang's ^^^ custom phonetic inventory redactor to hear how things sound).

I’ve reached a new low high in my writing procrastination:

I’ve started developing a conlang

Maybe I should do a linguistics degree because this shit is interesting at fuck. I was in a YouTube rabbit hole of rhoticity and velar fricatives for hours.

[ichayalovesyou]

Learning Modern Golic Vulcan (Vulkansu)

Primary Resources

Kir'Shara: Vulcan Language Page

Offers a Wayback Machine link to the Vulcan Language Dictionary and the basics of Vulcan word, tense, and grammatical structure.

*Vulcan Language Dictionary

Not the same as the VLD provided by Kir'Shara's Wayback Machine, rudimentary search engine to quickly find Vulkansu translations to english words and storehouses specific Vulcan cultural references that cannot be translated into an English word.

Vulcan Language Institute

A website in development by @yel-halansu among other contributors to composite a very large index of Vulcan languages (including dialects), words, and Vulcan stories in both English & Vulkansu.

The Vulcan Language PDF

A somewhat outdated but still useful Vulkansu dictionary, primarily helpful for the language lessons in the latter half.

Kor'saya: Vulkansu Script

Lore on the development of the ancient script, there are other fonts like “handwriting” and “Dzhaleyl” but AGV (Ancient Golic Vulcan) is the one which contains the letter-by-letter breakdown.

Vulcan Alphabet Song

A rudimentary children's song "ghost written" by Amanda Grayson on the absolute basics of the Vulcan alphabet from consonants, to vowels, punctuation, self-identification, to digits. (Hopefully I will be able to put it to music soon instead of just lyrics!)

Names

City Names

Monastery Names

Name Prefixes & Suffixes

Translations for the apostrophes and hyphens in Vulcan names.

Vulcan Name Repository

A glossary of Vulcan names and their meanings. Explanations for types of names in Vulcan culture:

Place of Origin ~ Ancestry ~ te-Vikram (the Deep Desert Tribe) ~ Childhood Names ~ Personality ~ Occupation ~ Survival ~ Mysticism

Anecdotes & Ancillary Material

Vulcan Alphabet Song

A rudimentary children's song "ghost written" by Amanda Grayson on the absolute basics of the Vulcan alphabet from consonants, to vowels, punctuation, self-identification, to digits. (Hopefully I will be able to put it to music soon instead of just lyrics!)

Vulcan Flashcards

Beautifully designed flashcards for the Vulkansu alphabet from A through T in the phonetic alphabet.

The Vulcan Accent

What does a Vulcan accent sound like in Federation Standard? Question posited by @sporkandpringles, answer provided by @nuclear-wessels!

The Origin of "Fool"

Anecdote provided by @porthos-stew and lore provided by @yel-halansu

Vulcan Colloquialisms

Though logical only in specific contexts, @makeallthingsyours has accrued a handful of common Vulcan expressions and translated them into Federation Standard

Click Here to Return to the Vulcan Masterpost (Coming Soon!)

[felix-lupin]

[ID: Five edited images of the "save me white girl" meme. 1: "nimi.li ... save me.. nimi.li. save me nimi.li." 2: "lipu Linku... save me.. lipu Linku. save me lipu Linku." 3: "telo misikeke pi toki pona... save me.. telo misikeke pi toki pona. save me telo misikeke pi toki pona." 4: "fairfax pona... save me.. fairfax pona. save me fairfax pona." 5: "nasin toki pona... save me.. nasin toki pona. save me nasin toki pona." End ID.]

nimi.li & lipu Linku - toki pona dictionaries

telo misikeke pi toki pona - a grammar checker

fairfax pona - a site to convert toki pona into sitelen pona

nasin toki pona - a grammar guide for toki pona that i personally found to be helpful

[translunaryanimus]

Salutations! I recently found your alien world and was instantly hooked by your Chenesht sophonts. The world is captivated - but your conlang truly hooked me. I don't i've EVER seen an alien conlang as fleashed out as yours, and as a nerd of biology (and not linguistics) I have no idea how to start incorporating such a intricate concept into my own world

My question is: what is this Chenesht like? could a human speak it? And most importantly how did you make it and what are your tips & tricks for someone starting their own conlang?

Oh man thank you! Funny enough this isn't even my most fleshed out conlang [that honor belongs to one I made ages ago that will never see the light of day] but I'm exceptionally glad you enjoy it!

Chenesht language is divided into 2 groups, regional and standardized. Regional is an umbrella term used for the several different dialects spoken across the supercontinent, whereas standardized is what's accepted as the 'proper form', ie. what you'd learn out of a textbook. Chenesht isn't 100% pronounceable by humans due to their Ejective Glottal Click consonant [usually romanized as 'CH']. Chenesht make it by exhaling quickly and opening/slamming closed a special set of flaps around their larynx that initially formed for their pre-language pre-sapience mating call. It ends up resonating in their chest/throat, and makes chenesht a shockingly loud spoken language. The closest humans can get is the hard 'k' or the ejective post-alveolar click of Xhosa [represented by q].

The rest of the sounds are nothing special though, and humans can and do easily pick it up!

In terms of overall sound, the closest languages I could point you to are Welsh [due to their 'sh' consonant being identical to the welsh 'll'] and Xhosa [due to the aforementioned clicks], but I'm not sure it resembles any one human language. These are also the human languages Chenesht have the easiest time picking up.

ADVICE SECTION - Making a conlang isn't easy necessarily, but it can be really fun. I always take myself through a small checklist whenever I start one.

1- What sounds could the speaker reasonably produce given their anatomy?

2- How developed does this need to be?

3- What is the 'vibe' of the language?

When I have all of those, I feel comfortable to start. For Chenesht, they can reasonably produce All human sounds + some extra, but I chose to limit myself to their current batch of sounds for the sake of ease. I decided I wanted it to be functional enough to eventually write a couple sentences in it + write dialogue for Chenesht characters if I want/need to. And I decided the 'vibe' was going to be loud and lilting. Vibe is a pretty nonspecific term to use here, but the way I think about it is the way that humans stereotype human languages. To an english speaker, languages like German and Russian may sound 'harsh' or 'scary' because of their rougher sounds, whereas french and spanish sound 'smooth' and 'romantic' due to softer consonants and longer vowel sounds.

After I had all that, I decided on my 'batch' of sounds, you can have as many or few of these as you want to. Chenesht have ~15 give or take borrowed sounds for loanwords. Then I just start smashing them together into words and adding grammar rules where I deem necessary. Chenesht is currently sorely lacking in grammar, but it is in the works. Currently i'm sort of just adding words when I need them and slowly building a dictionary in the process!

For specific resources i'd recommend

- LanguaGen lets you input different letter/sound combinations and will randomly generate 'words' from it following syntax patterns that you input. It also has a handy help page in case you get stuck

- Babelingua isn't educational per se but the channel is excellently fun and has some good videos that helped me understand conlangs, such as their Polysynthetic Languages video and their Upper Tanana series

- Bibliaridion has a Whole Series on Making Conlangs, a playlist of Conlang Showcases and a pretty excellent series for Speculative Biology as well

-Agma Schwa in general has a lot of conlang/conlang content and generally solid advice

Good luck with your conlang endeavors! And thank you for the kind words! [Also lovely bittern pfp, I love bitterns!]

[ualthum]

Friendly reminder that the newly edited version of the pronunciation guide is live on my YouTube page. Hear the runes in their clearest forms and feel the presence of Sul'voth.

[multiversetravelingjournalist]

Things to theme conlangs after

The planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, etc.).

Holidays (New Years, Easter, Halloween, etc.).

The Seven Sins (Pride, Lust, Gluttony, etc.).

The Four elements (Air, Water, Earth, Fire).

The Four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter).

[booklindworm]

Star Wars: Republic Commando Soundtrack (2005)

My best try at transcribing the songs into IPA. If you find mistakes, please tell me.

Vode An (Brothers All)

Kote! -> /kote/

Kandosii sa kaʻrta, Vode an. -> /kantosiː sa kaʔrota | vote an/ Coruscanta aʻden mhi, Vode an. -> /korusanta aʔden mi | vote an/ Bal kote, darasuum kote, -> /bal kote | darasuːm kote/ Jorsoʻran kando a tome. -> /ʝorsoʔran kanto a tome/

Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Aruetyc talyc runiʻla trattokʻo. -> /aru.etak talak runiʔla trattokʔo/ Sa kyrʻam nau tracyn kad, Vode an. -> /sa kyrʔam naʊ̯ tra.ʃyn kad | ˈvote an/

Kandosii sa kaʻrta, Vode an. -> /kantosiː sa kaʔrota | vote an/ Coruscanta aʻden mhi, Vode an. -> /korusanta aʔden mi | vote an/ Bal kote, darasuum kote, -> /bal kote | darasuːm kote/ Jorsoʻran kando a tome. -> /ʝorsoʔran kanto a tome/

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Aruetyc talyc runiʻla solus cet oʻr -> /aru.etak talak runiʔla solus set oʔor/

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Aruetyc talyc runiʻla trattokʻo. -> /aru.etak talak runiʔla trattokʔo/ Sa kyrʻam nau tracyn kad, Vode an. -> /sa kyrʔam naʊ̯ tra.ʃyn kad | ˈvote an/

[Prologue] [The Egg Room]

Graʻtua Cuun (Our Vengeance)

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Taung! -> /tɔːŋ/

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Aruetyc runiʻla solus cet oʻr prudii an -> /aru.etak runiʔla solus set oʔor prudiː an/

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Aruetyc talyc runiʻla solus cet oʻr -> /aru.etak talak runiʔla solus set oʔor/

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Aruetyc runiʻla trattokʻo. -> /aru.etak runiʔla trattokʔo/ Sa kyrʻam nau tracyn kad, Vode an. -> /sa kyrʔam naʊ̯ tra.ʃyn kad | ˈvote an/

Motir caʻtra nau tracinya. -> /motir kaʔtra naʊ̯ tra.sinʝa/ Graʻtua cuun hett su dralshyʻa. -> /graʔtua kun het su dralʃiʝa/ Taung! -> /tɔːŋ/

Bal kote, darasuum kote, -> /bal kote | darasuːm kote/ Jorsoʻran kando a tome. -> /ʝorsoʔran kanto a tome/ Sa kyrʻam nau tracyn kad, Vode an. -> /sa kyrʔam naʊ̯ tra.ʃyn kad | ˈvote an/

[Improvised Entry] [They Must Be Asleep] [The Ghost Ship]

Darasuum Kote (Glory forever)

Kote, darasuum kote. -> /kote | darasuːm kote/ Te racin kaʻra juaan kote. -> /te ra.sin kæʔra | ʝu.aːn kote/

Kaʻrta Tor (One Heart of Justice)

Kandosii sa kyrʻam ast, -> /kantosiː sa kyrʔam ast/ Troan teroch jetiise aʻden, -> /tro.an terot | ˈdʒɛtiːsi aʔden/ Duraan vi at araʻnov. -> /duraːn vi at araʔnov/ Vode an, kaʻrta tor. -> /ˈvote an | kaʔrota tor/ Kote. -> /kote/

[Com Interference] [The Jungle Floor] [RV Alpha] [Through The Canopy]

Dha Werda Verda (Rage Of The Shadow Warriors)

taung sa rang broka -> /taʊŋ sa raŋ broka/ jetiise ka'rta -> /dʒe|tiː|sika|rota/ dha werda verda'b a'den tratu -> /ta|ver|ta|ver|tab|aten|tratu/ Coruscanta kandosii adu. -> /ko|ru|santa|kan|to|siː|atu/ Duum motir ca'tra nau tracinya a -> /dumo|tir|ka|tra|naʊ|traʃinʝa/ gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a -> /gra|tu'a|kun|het|su|dralʃiʝa/

ka'rta tor -> /ka'ro'ta'toːr/ kom'rk tsad droten -> /komuː|urok|tsatuː|udroten/ troch nyn ures adenn -> /to|rok|nin|uriːsu|uː|aten/ dha werda verda'b a'den tratu -> /ta|ver|ta|ver|tab|aten|tratu/ Coruscanta kandosii adu. -> /ko|ru|santa|kan|to|siː|atu/ Duum motir ca'tra nau tracinya a -> /dumo|tir|ka|tra|naʊ|traʃinʝa/ gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a -> /gra|tu'a|kun|het|su|dralʃiʝa/

I used this youtube video as source.

[j-esbian]

frustrating how so many craft books have a section about "how to sell what you've made"

like on one hand i get it because the person writing the book has obviously made their craft a full-time job. and they might have some tips and tricks that might be useful, and there are people out there who might be trying to start a small business out of it

but on the other hand it's just exhausting and feels like another voice saying "what's the point of having a hobby if you're not going to monetize it"

[conlangcrab]

A treat for y'all, because I like to dwell there:

[cher-coconlangs]

A new conlang, dubbed Devil Speak, that I've been working on for The Living & the Dead. Looks a little disorganized because I am a disorganized person 😂

English text by @john-childerass 🥰