#sorkish conlang

[kelasian]

ok new fave thing. linguistic terms in conlangs. consonant is bonesound and vowel is bloodsound in sorkish because i have to drag their two gods into everything that comes in pairs. also because bone is the foundation and blood is what brings it to life. is this anything

[krakrac]

ok proper conlang showcase go

Ḥanár tónuq kóghrem éhri ḥa tawirázi Sorúq.

[ʕɐˈnɑr ˈtonɵq ˈk͡xoɣrɛm ˈœɦrɪ͜ ʕæ tæɰɪˈrɑzɪ sɞˈro̝q]

ḥanár tón-uq kógh-r-em éhr-i ḥa tawiráz-i Sor-úq

death.NOM only-GEN divide-3S>2P 2S-ACC and enemy-ACC Sorkish-GEN

"Only death divides you and [your] Sorkish enemy."

[krakrac]

quick shitty study feat. random sorkish translation

Tímghay árdeğenfad ët-kógab ázar. "The sun ate the darkness of the night."

[krakrac]

today i offer you yrsk in sorkish clothing doing a goofy pose and a conlang

[kelasian]

veeery quick guide to sorkish numerals ive just created which are very loosely based on some consonants from the sorkish script, stylized to have a more runic look to differentiate them from the script

[kelasian]

found the first awkward test version of the sorkish script, it looks kinda ass when the glyphs dont connect

here is the script now, unfortunately its not a perfect comparison since the original translation is lost to reworking the conlang (the only thing i know for sure is the same is the title "reyvárë")

Reyvárë Li ğáwes tawireház ḥa ğáwin, san tórvurmulbatan sanzókhi róghuq raróqqur.

[rɘjˈβɑrə lɪ ˈʁɑɰɛs tæɰɪrɜˈhɑz ʕæ ˈʁɑɰɪn sæn ˈtorβʊrmʊlbætæn sɐnˈzoxɪ ˈroɣɵq rɐˈrɒqʊr]

rey-várë li ğá-w-es tawir<eh>áz ḥa ğá-w-in san tórv-u-r-mul-ba-tan sanzókh-i rógh-uq raróq-qur

war-art if know-2S>3S enemy.ABS<2S.POSS> and know-2S>2S-REFL then fear-2S>3P-NEC-RFUT-NEG result-PL.ABS hundred-GEN battle-PL.GEN

"The Art of War If you know your enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

[krakrac]

Yağibderkhár ḥáqhraḥ im banqátë, far tonsakpásḥan súrdakhatinir. Tapayrsakpáysaḥ súrdakhatir ḥa viráqhev báni.

[jɐʁɪbɘrˈɣɑr ˈʕɑχrɐʕ ɪm͜ bɐɴˈɢɑtə ɸær͜ tɔnzɐˈk͡pɑsæn ˈsurdæxætɪnɪr | tæpæjrsɐˈk͡pɑjzɐʕ ˈsurdæxætɪr ʕæ͜ βɪˈrɑχɛβ ˈbɑnɪ]

knight-PL speak-3P about land-defence but only-care-3P>3P.OBJ nation-3.POSS.REFL-PL.ACC | never-care-1S>3P nation-3.POSS-PL.ACC and always land-ACC

"Knights speak of defending the land, but they care only for their nations. I care nothing for their nations and everything for the land."

[kelasian]

having visions about Sorka again, time for my favorite activity (combining worldbuilding and conlanging)

First, let me introduce you to the Sorkish religion (proper name pending). Sorkans believe in The Two Gods, in the god of blood (Raqághdaz; AUG-blood-AGN) and the god of bone (Rayerénaz; AUG-bone-AGN), roughly corresponding to the god of life and the god of death, respectively. However, these are only superficial, as they are both deeply intertwined, as there is bone in life and blood in death. The understanding of their relationship is difficult and not even the Holy Book of the World (Seqháner Ábven Suyáfuq) has a definite answer to that - as such, they can be twins, they can be lovers, they can be just acquaintances, but never one person of two faces.

Thinking of the gods as one singular god (together with opposing their genderless nature) is one of the highest offences one can commit that result in being exiled from the desert. The cults of this nature are always quickly exterminated (because who in their right mind wants to just more or less peacefully exile heretics right; and as if Sorkans weren't a nation of warriors).

(Side note because I love yapping about Sorka if you couldn't tell: Other offences that can get a person exiled is fratricide (general term for killing a member of one's clan) or romantic/sexual involvement with a member of one's clan (not quite incest; it doesn't matter if the involved people are related by blood), also general disapproval with The Two Gods and the canonical teachings.)

To get back to conlanging, less serious offences that won't get one exiled is speaking in a disrespectful way about The Two Gods. That can mean even seemingly insignificant things such as shortening the word for "bone", yerén, to just yén, which is acceptable only in compounds (e.g. yenkeréq "bone marrow", yenqátaz "bearded vulture"). Speaking about The Two Gods or their teachings (which includes the swordplay of kazvárë (lit. "art of moving") as well) in any language that isn't Sorkish is prohibited.

That finally gets me to what actually got me to write this post - the sacred birds, the bearded vulture and the oxpecker, to be exact.

Yenqátaz, the bearded vulture, literally translates to "bone warden". Sorkans lived alongside them for thousands of years and they soon found out that the birds' diet consist mainly of bones, which guaranteed them sanctity. People came up with many stories about the vultures - that they possess Rayerénaz's spirit, that they help Rayerénaz gain strength through the consumed bones, that they are the mediators between life and death and help dead creatures cross into the land of the dead.

Nowadays, Seqhanzat ("holy city") is not only de facto capital of Sorka, but also home to hundreds bearded vultures that never starve thanks to both residents of the city and visitors alike who leave bones for the birds. Monks at the Temple of Body (Borantógba) make sure that any Sorkans walking up to the temple are welcomed by yenqátaz looking down on them.

Getting back to the offences - it is technically not wrong to call the bearded vulture nézar, the general word for any vulture. But oh would you get weird looks from people, as it is very close to calling the bird an insult.

Qaghdqátaz, the oxpecker, literally "blood warden", is in a similar situation. People saw that the birds often draw blood while grazing for parasites in animals' fur or skin and thought about Raqághdaz who came to the mortal world to heal the beings they and Rayerénaz had created. Though oxpeckers do not particularly favor the desert, they often follow Sorkish clans travelling close to cities where they spend their life, as they learned that people feed them and offer water and blood.

And that is all for now:) Any questions about the conlang or Sorka are more than welcomed!

[kelasian]

conned the lang a little bit and i finally worked out possession, genitive and cases in general in sorkish yippee

so, genitive is no longer the possessive case and instead is only used for stuff like origin (Sórari Seqhanzátuq “[the] people of Seqhanzat”, róqari Suhaltánuq "[the] warriors of Suhaltan [clan]") and composition (yeğáhban suyáfuq “world map”, dákh beqárqur "group of women")

for possession itself, there is a special clitic ët-/at- that is attached to the possessed noun, which is the exact opposite noun marked by genitive. some examples (note that at- is used with monosyllabic nouns only): ët-turkhán Tarqáz "Tarqaz's clan", at-yóq Sorári "[the] language of Sorkans"

i also need to talk about the adverbial case (that i have stolen from georgian but slightly expanded what you can do with it) because i really like it. it doesnt distinguish between singular and plural (see example 2), however you can express time, means, manner, state of being and probably more that i havent thought about yet. the name of the language (Sórazver) is actually in this case!

it is also important to say that it is distinct from the adverbalizer suffix, compare qáhver "during the day (adverbial case)" x qáhev "daily (adverb)".

anyway, have a pair of example sentences:

---

Akhafelidkhítutal ziḥínver. [æxæɸɛlɪdˈɣitʊtæl zɪ̈ˈʕinβɛr]

akha-felid-khít-u-tal ziḥín-ver

HAB-often-cry-2S-PST.DIST child-ADV

"You used to cry often as a child."

---

Ğakhúrfad qahánver. [ʁɐˈxurβæd q͡χɐˈhɑnβɛr]

ğakhú-r-fad qahán-ver

arrive-1P-PST.PROX horse-ADV

"We arrived on horses."

[kelasian]

sorkish script finally has a name btw, Me̋pfët [ˈməp͡ɸət], according to the first four letters in the alphabetical order

[kelasian]

topic marking in sorkish anyone

Súmem gházir ḫáwayes. [ˈsumɛm ˈɣɑzɪr ˈħɑɰæjɛs]

súmem gházir ḫáwa-y-es

this boy like-1S>3S

"The boy, I like him." (Topic marking.)

Ḫáwayes gháziri. [ˈħɑɰæjɛs ˈɣɑzɪrɪ]

ḫáwa-y-es gházir-i

like-1S>3S boy-ACC

"I like a/the boy." (No topic marking.)

[kelasian]

i havent done proper conlanging in weeks (sigh) but today this random sorkish word came to me

kélir [ˈcelɪr] – on the surface, its just your basic interrogative particle that is most commonly seen as a -(e)lir clitic that behaves like a mood suffix in verbs, but watch out

on its own, it can be a backchanneling interjection, which means the speaker uses it in a conversation to show they are paying attention to what the other person is talking about, e.g. "is that so?" or "really?"

the above usage applies to a mostly neutral tone of voice. if a speaker shouted "KÉLIR?!", then it could convey shock, surprise, anger, etc. based on the exact tone of their voice and/or context. then, the translation could be anything from a simple "what??" to "you're kidding me??" among many others

i suppose it is common among the sorkish to joke about kélir being a word of all words; that you dont need the rest of the language when you have kélir; kids could be playing games where they only communicate by saying kélir in different tones, alternatively also using filler words and stuff to add to the fun

[krakrac]

fave thing about conlanging is connecting my conlangs

[kelasian]

wow i changed a few minor things about sorkish grammar and now probably all translations ive posted here are in some way incorrect (except the yesterday ones). im so happy about this information!!! /s

[kelasian]

Yétefad qáh Bóreğfad qér Romróqufad Yíreğsikh réy

Nerevmáwfad Bakhevmáwfad Nóyumul ëzdá Nóyumul ëzdá

Këráner e mayárih Këráner e mayárih Këráner e mayárih Këráner e mayárih

Mountain Hymn - Rhiannon Giddens (from RDR2 soundtrack) but translated into Sorkish because it fits certain OCs of mine who speak Sorkish

IPA

[ˈjetɛɸæd ˈq͡χɑh ˈborɜʁæd ˈq͡χer rɞmˈrɒqʊɸæd ˈjirɜʁɪx ˈrej]

[nɛrɘβˈmɑɰβæd bæxɘβˈmɑɰβæd ˈnojʊmʊl əzˈdɑ]

[k͡xəˈrɑnɛr e mɐˈjɑrɪ̈h]

GLOSS

end-3S-IM.PAST day come-3S-IM.PAST sand INTS~fight-2S-IM.PAST win-3S-PASS war

wrong-ADV-do-2S-IM.PAST good-ADV-do-2S-IM.PAST lie-2S-NEC now

burn-3S in eye-PL-2S.POSS

Translation notes:

I went with singable lyrics so I had to cut some stuff. Directly translating "[I] see the fire in your eyes" either ended up too long or too short depending on if I included "I see", so I resorted to "it's burning in your eyes". I also wanted to use intensifier (INTS) in the second verse (nepnerevmáwfad // bapbakhevmáwfad) but alas it was one syllable too long.

I also used "lie" instead of "rest". I could've avoided this since I didn't have these two words prior to translating but the latter ended up having two syllables so I couldn't fit it into the lyrics, but who am I to change words I've personally made up.

And last but not least, I used "sand" instead of "tide" in the second line since I wanted it to fit the Sorkish life and culture. I initially wanted to use "sandstorm" but again, too long, and "sand" is just enough and also a bit more poetic.

Now I'm also thinking that I probably could've gone for distant past suffix in the second verse but honestly it works in the context I have in mind.

So the literal translation ended up looking like this:

[The] day has ended [The] sand has come You've fought hard [The] war is won

You have done badly You have done well Now you should lie Now you should lie

It's burning in your eyes It's burning in your eyes It's burning in your eyes It's burning in your eyes

congrats if you've read through my yapping!!!

[kelasian]

a quadrilingual town sign that could potentially exist outside of Xinnisuxi, the capital of Sennia ("potentially" because im not sure about the design and how to approach road and town signs on Kélas)

explanations below!

so why quadrilingual? sennians are the majority here while the kalish are the most closely related to them both linguistically and culturally. sennia is under the rule of the southern empire, hence lynirosans (the lísic speaking group) living there, though they are a minority. and lastly, rasharians – they are also related to rasanians and since rasharia borders sennia, the two regions maintain good trade relations.

the rashari and rasanian script both come from the alteian script, while zelhølt is its own thing (even though its the rasanian script that stands out lmao). zelhølt is also the only one that distinguishes majuscule and miniscule

ough i would love to do more of this type of thing but i literally cannot think of anything beside town signs. the agony