As a person fascinated with linguistics, I completely agree with this idea. It would add some authenticity to the game. You have my total support. Heck, I might just throw some of my own languages in here as some suggestions. If you need any help on designing accents and so on I'd be happy to help.
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If yu kännat ried ðis, Ei fiell bäd for yu. Biekös ðis is whöt English wüld lük leik if wie häd held antu äur Germänik lingwistik ruts. Diel wiþ it.
1.Ehh, Villagers aren't mute anymore so this is basically useless.
2.Villager sounds annoy people to death.
3.This was bumped.
4.This would be a weird language.
5.No Support.
I would love to see this be implemented. The squidward noises are just insulting really. Also, I would love to see on roleplaying servers that entire civilazations use Minecraftian (or mostly). My only problem is though that new players aren't gonna understand a thing. Meaning that when there finally put the peices together, they might pronounce many of the things wrong. So if a villager was selling wood (example) and they say something along the lines of you'll need this to build your "sahposak" (wooden house), the player might think that "sah" may mean wood and "posak" may mean house. Or they may think that "sahposak" may just mean structure. Support
I love conlangs. Have you read the book "The Language Construction Kit" by Mark Rosenfelder by any chance? It is a wonderfully complete book.
Anyway, I was going to put up a link to a vocabulary creator I found in the book, but the link has rotted.
I would love to see this implemented. Especially in combination with another suggestion. (This one.)
I would suggest a few new words:
meko - cat
hat - wild
mekohat - occelot
Also, I noticed (or failed to notice, it happens and I'm sorry if it did) you didn't have a nominalization technique. I would suggest prefixing with [e]. So kek (to eat) becomes ekek (eater).
With that in mind I thought of this:
Ekeksarrakoko (Ekek-sarra-koko) - Our flesh eater: a zombie. Because it is so long, a mouthfull and probably a much used word, I would shorten it to Ekeksarroko.
Ekeksarrakoko (Ekek-sarra-koko) - Our flesh eater: a zombie. Because it is so long, a mouthfull and probably a much used word, I would shorten it to Ekeksarroko.
Alright, I went through this entire thread and created a mini-grammar of Minecraftian. I had to change a few things in the lexicon (sorry Coga), because they used sounds that Minecraftian doesn't have.
It is not complete, of course, but things can be added. I will repost it every so often (if the OP doesn't include it in the original post), adding things as we go. Please tell me if I've missed something.
Minecraftian Mini-grammar:
Sounds
Consonants: /p, t, k, f, s, x (written as [h]), m, n, l, r/
Vowels: /i, e, a, o/
Morphology
A syllable coda cannot be a stop (p, t, k) in voiceless environments. When adding suffixes to a word with a stop at the end (or when creating a compound word) and the word ends with a stop, the stop changes to a fricative: /p/ > /ϕ/, /t/ > /s/, /k/ > /x/. In voiced environments, such as between vowels or at the end or beginning of words, the stops do not change.
-am Creates the past tense
n(i)-verb-(i)n Circumfix to mark the verb as negative. The (i) is only necessary, if a consonant follows or precedes an n.
-i added to an adjective to mark it as a verb (in an “is <adjective>” construction)
-a replaces the –i to mark it as the past tense
-nin replaces –i in a verb-made-adjective to mark the negative instead of the n(i)-verb-(i)n circumfix.
-nan past tense of -nin
-tete this
-o- possessive (my)
pe- blue(thing)
ko- green(thing)
lo- yellow(thing)
mor- orange(thing)
po- brown(thing)
or- signifies (thing) is friendly/an ally
e- nominalizer
Syntax
Subject – verb – object
An adjective is written as a suffix of a noun (and possessive) if alone; if there are more adjectives, they are each a separate word.
Word order changes to subject – object – verb if the verb is e, with the first noun describing the second.
Singular is unmarked
1. Plural is marked by reduplicating the first syllable, minus the coda (if any).
Present tense is unmarked
Reduplication of the first syllable of a verb (minus the possible coda) changes it from a simple to a continuous aspect
Lexicon
sah house, shelter mekapi small, little sessan creeper tokko wolf, dog nor pig mop animal/monster nelan the nether mohe cow kek to eat fahi fun, entertaining posak wood O I/me Oko We (exclusive) i you (singular) Iko we (inclusive) sarra meat or flesh mofnelan nether monster sahtokko wolf shelter, doghouse pom explode, blow up e is nen isn’t nelki to like/enjoy ka day ko night pars month sish dirt kak fell nan in poko ocean seoos Wither heram gem ram thing, object pemon blue peheram diamond kosi green koheram emerald tranof Non hostile humanoid (player, villager) inlak village/city loneer yellow lahk crop yolahk wheat morlem orange morlahk carrots menor cooked/baked/grilled/heated polr brown polahk potato meko cat hat wild eksarko zombie
Full support. And an excellent idea. A nice way to add real depth. On the level of sound alone it adds flavor, should the player bother to learn the language it could also add usefulness though it would require improvements to Villager behavior.
Villagers trading with you can say what they want for what in addition to it being displayed in the gui. Then they can thank you afterwards. Or mutter insults behind your back when you refuse to trade.
The villager that trades eyes of ender might also literally tell you directions to the nearest stronghold.
(would require cardinal direction words, probably some indication of distance, do we have a word for block yet?)
Villager children could run around saying simple words or phrases in context with the world around them to give a sense that they too are learning this language.
A panicking villager at nightfall without a path to the inside of a building can scream "WHERE IS THE DOOR?" or "A ZOMBIE IS ATTACKING ME!"
A truly good use for this language (after it's made) would be if there were an actual method for the player to communicate with villagers. Perhaps the player could find pieces of a sort of "rosetta stone" hidden in structures that when held by the player would translate what they type to Minecraftian, either simple english commands or to literally transcribe the characters. This way the player could ask villagers for information, or if the villager likes the player enough, he can even give the villager commands like, "follow me," "wait here," or "this is your new home." This would allow a player to help build new villages in more convenient locations.
1.Ehh, Villagers aren't mute anymore so this is basically useless. I respectfully disagree.
2.Villager sounds annoy people to death. Part of the reason why is that they are mostly repetitive and meaningless noises. Like cows mooing. A language would be quickly recognized as noises with some meaning, or at least not be the same sound constantly. Plus there's no rule that Villagers HAVE to sound like Squidward.
3.This was bumped. Because it's a legitimately good idea that a bunch of people, including me, have only recently discovered.
4.This would be a weird language. So is English.
As for other vocab, these Testificates are still lacking some basic words of self-expression. Good, bad, and so-so are basic forms of being that could be added to conversational Minecraftian. We've got 'fahi' for fun, fa or fah could be 'good'. Since you've got 'n' and sometimes 'i' to negate a verb, 'ni' would be my logical choice for 'bad'.
It's an amalgamation of early forms of French and German, it has by a wide margin, more words than any other language. Which isn't a problem most of the time but it can be a barrier for those learning the language. Some of it's spelling rules have more exceptions than cases where the rules are followed the one "i before e except after c" comes to mind. Grammar is also pretty inconsistent at times. We tend to oftenly split infinitives like there's no tomorrow. Just to list a few quirks.
But ultimately any language is weird in some ways when compared to another. Being weird is not a bad thing.
Quite a lot. If you are a linguist, you notice that english differs from other european languages in quie a few funny and strange ways. Not that that's bad - it makes it interesting - and it is nearly impossible to notice if english is your only language.
Hats of to you, Malloon for contributing with this, but I'd like to suggest a change: Since "meko" means cat, and "hat" means wild and ocelot is "mekohat", why shouldn't "tokko" mean just dog, while "tokkohat" would translate into wolf? Just putting it out there.
Thank you! It took some time, putting everything together from the bits and pieces sprinkled over this topic, but I did it gladly.
As for tokko/tokohat, it was me who suggested meko/mekohat, and the op who added tokko, but I don't think he'd mind. I'll change it!
On a side note, anybody who wants to create new words should try to make ones that have a similar root look like each other. A table to do such a thing is described in the book I mentioned above, the "Language Construction Kit". It's used like this: You combine the root with each of the following concepts - person, place, collection, tool, adjective, causative and diminutive. For example, if the root is war, you could get : Soldier, battlefield, campaign, weapon, warlike, make war and fight. The book does say you needn't make everything out of this table; Languages are irregular, but to get most this may be a good idea.
Before I do another example, let me add a few new things: sik (to) cut, nor (a) room, poho food, -il creates the diminutive of words.
Root -meat or flesh sarra
Person - Butcher sarratranof
Place - Butcher shop sahsarra
Collection - Larder norpoho
Tool - Knife esikil (small cutter)
Adjective - Full of/tasting like meat, meatlike sarratete (I am assuming the OP meant -tete (this) created an adjective from a noun)
Causative - (to) butcher, (to) kill pesot
Diminutive - Medalion sarrail
And here is the updated list:
Minecraftian Mini-grammar:
Sounds
Consonants: /p, t, k, f, s, x (written as [h]), m, n, l, r/ Vowels: /i, e, a, o/
Morphology
A syllable coda cannot be a stop (p, t, k) in voiceless environments. When adding suffixes to a word with a stop at the end (or when creating a compound word) and the word ends with a stop, the stop changes to a fricative: /p/ > /ϕ/, /t/ > /s/, /k/ > /x/. In voiced environments, such as between vowels or at the end or beginning of words, the stops do not change.
-am Creates the past tense
n(i)-verb-(i)n Circumfix to mark the verb as negative. The (i) is only necessary, if a consonant follows or precedes an n.
-i added to an adjective to mark it as a verb (in an “is <adjective>” construction)
-a replaces the –i to mark it as the past tense
-nin replaces –i in a verb-made-adjective to mark the negative instead of the n(i)-verb-(i)n circumfix.
-nan past tense of -nin
-tete this
-o- possessive (my)
pe- blue(thing)
ko- green(thing)
lo- yellow(thing)
mor- orange(thing)
po- brown(thing)
or- signifies (thing) is friendly/an ally
e- nominalizer
-il Forms the diminutive
Syntax
Subject – verb – object
An adjective is written as a suffix of a noun (and possessive) if alone; if there are more adjectives, they are each a separate word.
Word order changes to subject – object – verb if the verb is e, with the first noun describing the second.
Singular is unmarked
1. Plural is marked by reduplicating the first syllable, minus the coda (if any).
Present tense is unmarked
Reduplication of the first syllable of a verb (minus the possible coda) changes it from a simple to a continuous aspect
Lexicon
sah house, shelter mekapi small, little sessan creeper tokko wolf, dog nor pig mop animal/monster nelan the nether mohe cow kek (to) eat fahi fun, entertaining posak wood O I/me Oko We (exclusive) i you (singular) Iko we (inclusive) sarra meat or flesh mofnelan nether monster sahtokko wolf shelter, doghouse pom explode, blow up e is nen isn’t nelki to like/enjoy ka day ko night pars month sish dirt kak fell nan in poko ocean seoos Wither heram gem ram thing, object pemon blue peheram diamond kosi green koheram emerald tranof Non hostile humanoid (player, villager) inlak village/city loneer yellow lahk crop yolahk wheat morlem orange morlahk carrots menor cooked/baked/grilled/heated polr brown polahk potato meko cat hat wild eksarko zombie sik (to) cut nor (a) room poho food sarratranof butcher sahsarra butcher shop norpoho larder, pantry esikil knife sarratete Full of/tasting of meat, meatlike pesot (to) butcher, (to) kill sarrail medallion (meat)
Great! Though tokko is still wolf/dog, but what ever. I have been inventing words for most of the equipment, tools and weapons, as well as for some mobs and some descriptive words. You'll have to see to that they fit and work.
Prepostitions
Om – Up, above
Im – Down, Below
Moh – Against, Towards
Foh – For, Away
Body parts
lohm – body
nep - foot
iena - head
Blocks
tok – stone/ore
tsot – wood
tsetunk– Chest (sfx for opening chest)
Mobs
Paa – sheep (sheep say baa)
Bakaa - chicken (chickens say bawkaw)
Lepp – fish (fish go blub, simplified for minecraftian)
Haehi – Bat (bats shriek)
Irae – Enderman (Endermen also shriek, yet differently)
Tsef – Blaze (sfx for blazes firing)
Great! Nice work! I have a few gripes, but most of them seem perfect!
I don't like the direct translation of shelter=protection. Sah seemed to describe a building in which you stay, more than a building which protects you. I would rather have a new word, say Osh, for "shelter", "protection" and "cover", but it wouldn't be used for your home unless that is the aspect you intend to describe.
The second thing is that I don't think prepositions are supposed to be used in compound words, and that "away" isn't one. I think you might meant "from".
The third is minor, but I think you need to expand the meaning of tsetunk to become "container", or we need to think of another word for that and rename the quiver. And because nouns combine into compound words words, "quiver" would acctually become tsetunkfohpatann.
I don't know how prepositions are supposed to be handled, but I don't think we need to incorporate them into compound words, or, when combined with the nouns, verbs and numerous affixes we already incorporate, we might get words like the one for quiver above.
I will add your new words to the lexicon (with my ideas. If you think they are wrong (I'm not perfect) please say so and we'll try to find a solution), but I'll leave out the ones with the preposition compound words (for now), because I have no idea how to best implement them.
Minecraftian Mini-grammar: Sounds
Consonants: /p, t, k, f, s, x (written as [h]), m, n, l, r/
Vowels: /i, e, a, o/ Morphology
A syllable coda cannot be a stop (p, t, k) in voiceless environments. When adding suffixes to a word with a stop at the end (or when creating a compound word) and the word ends with a stop, the stop changes to a fricative: /p/ > /ϕ/, /t/ > /s/, /k/ > /x/. In voiced environments, such as between vowels or at the end or beginning of words, the stops do not change.
-am Creates the past tense n(i)-verb-(i)n Circumfix to mark the verb as negative. The (i) is only necessary, if a consonant follows or precedes an n.
-i added to an adjective to mark it as a verb (in an “is <adjective>” construction)
-a replaces the –i to mark it as the past tense
-nin replaces –i in a verb-made-adjective to mark the negative instead of the n(i)-verb-(i)n circumfix.
-nan past tense of -nin
-tete this
-o- possessive (my) pe- blue(thing) ko- green(thing) lo- yellow(thing) mor- orange(thing) po- brown(thing) or- signifies (thing) is friendly/an ally e- nominalizer -il Forms the diminutive
Syntax
Subject – verb – object
An adjective is written as a suffix of a noun (and possessive) if alone; if there are more adjectives, they are each a separate word.
Word order changes to subject – object – verb if the verb is e, with the first noun describing the second.
Singular is unmarked
1. Plural is marked by reduplicating the first syllable, minus the coda (if any).
Present tense is unmarked
Reduplication of the first syllable of a verb (minus the possible coda) changes it from a simple to a continuous aspect
Lexicon sah house, shelter mekapi small, little sessan creeper tokko dog tokkohat wolf nor pig mop animal/monster nelan the nether mohe cow kek to eat fahi fun, entertaining posak wood O I/me Oko We (exclusive) i you (singular) Iko we (inclusive) sarra meat or flesh mofnelan nether monster sahtokko wolf shelter, doghouse pom explode, blow up e is nen isn’t nelki to like/enjoy ka day ko night pars month sish dirt kak fell nan in poko ocean seoos Wither heram gem ram thing, object pemon blue peheram diamond kosi green koheram emerald tranof Non hostile humanoid (player, villager) inlak village/city loneer yellow lahk crop yolahk wheat morlem orange morlahk carrots menor cooked/baked/grilled/heated polr brown polahk potato meko cat hat wild eksarko zombie sik (to) cut nor (a) room poho food sarratranof butcher sahsarra butcher shop norpoho larder, pantry esikil knife sarratete Full of/tasting of meat, meatlike pesot (to) butcher, (to) kill sarrail medallion (meat) om up, above im down, below moh against, towards foh for, from lohm body nep foot iena head int leg, bone tok stone/ore tsot wood tsetunk Chest paa sheep bakaa chicken lepp fish haehi Bat irae Enderman hroon Blaze sike Sword patann Bow oshlohm Armor oshielna Hat/Helmet oshnep Shoe/boot oshint Leggings/Pants
As much work as I can see you put into this, I don't think it's for minecraft. I think minecraft should be workless. It's just how it works. No support, sorry. And also, about what you said, I whipped up a language. I don't want to seem rude, but if you just whipped it up, then it probably isn't the best you can do. If you really want a good one, it can take a very long time to do. I like writing fantasy, so I can know.
As much work as I can see you put into this, I don't think it's for minecraft. I think minecraft should be workless. It's just how it works. No support, sorry. And also, about what you said, I whipped up a language. I don't want to seem rude, but if you just whipped it up, then it probably isn't the best you can do. If you really want a good one, it can take a very long time to do. I like writing fantasy, so I can know.
I may take a while for the OP to answer you, so I'll do it instead. You are right in thinking that a language needs some work, but what redstone1337 "whipped up" was just the basics. The idea was to develope the language right here, in the forums, with a multitude of players imputing ideas and work. I also like writing fantasy, and am developing a proto-language for it, and it is taking a hell of a long time, but I am patient.
Languages create a depth to a conworld that no amount of lore, ruins or legends can top. I don't know what you mean about Minecraft having to be workless; Tell that to the redstoners, tell that to the architects who build cities, tell that to the countless people who grind for materials day after day so they can make an awesome base. Yes, language would be an aspect not everybody would use, same with redstone, or lapis, or the nether and the end. But it would expand minecraft. Minecraft is about being borderless. The world is, but the gameplay isn't yet. You can see where the limit is, of what you can do, and Minecraftian is an addition that hopes to at least enlarge the realm of possibilities.
And yes, I am still the Master of Disaster.
2.Villager sounds annoy people to death.
3.This was bumped.
4.This would be a weird language.
5.No Support.
Anyway, I was going to put up a link to a vocabulary creator I found in the book, but the link has rotted.
I would love to see this implemented. Especially in combination with another suggestion. (This one.)
I would suggest a few new words:
meko - cat
hat - wild
mekohat - occelot
Also, I noticed (or failed to notice, it happens and I'm sorry if it did) you didn't have a nominalization technique. I would suggest prefixing with [e]. So kek (to eat) becomes ekek (eater).
With that in mind I thought of this:
Ekeksarrakoko (Ekek-sarra-koko) - Our flesh eater: a zombie. Because it is so long, a mouthfull and probably a much used word, I would shorten it to Ekeksarroko.
What do you think?
Or Eksarko?
Nice. That sounds vaguely threatening too. I think that should be the one.
It is not complete, of course, but things can be added. I will repost it every so often (if the OP doesn't include it in the original post), adding things as we go. Please tell me if I've missed something.
Minecraftian Mini-grammar:
Sounds
Consonants: /p, t, k, f, s, x (written as [h]), m, n, l, r/
Vowels: /i, e, a, o/
Morphology
A syllable coda cannot be a stop (p, t, k) in voiceless environments. When adding suffixes to a word with a stop at the end (or when creating a compound word) and the word ends with a stop, the stop changes to a fricative: /p/ > /ϕ/, /t/ > /s/, /k/ > /x/. In voiced environments, such as between vowels or at the end or beginning of words, the stops do not change.
-am Creates the past tense
n(i)-verb-(i)n Circumfix to mark the verb as negative. The (i) is only necessary, if a consonant follows or precedes an n.
-i added to an adjective to mark it as a verb (in an “is <adjective>” construction)
-a replaces the –i to mark it as the past tense
-nin replaces –i in a verb-made-adjective to mark the negative instead of the n(i)-verb-(i)n circumfix.
-nan past tense of -nin
-tete this
-o- possessive (my)
pe- blue(thing)
ko- green(thing)
lo- yellow(thing)
mor- orange(thing)
po- brown(thing)
or- signifies (thing) is friendly/an ally
e- nominalizer
Syntax
Subject – verb – object
An adjective is written as a suffix of a noun (and possessive) if alone; if there are more adjectives, they are each a separate word.
Word order changes to subject – object – verb if the verb is e, with the first noun describing the second.
Singular is unmarked
1. Plural is marked by reduplicating the first syllable, minus the coda (if any).
Present tense is unmarked
Reduplication of the first syllable of a verb (minus the possible coda) changes it from a simple to a continuous aspect
Lexicon
sah house, shelter
mekapi small, little
sessan creeper
tokko wolf, dog
nor pig
mop animal/monster
nelan the nether
mohe cow
kek to eat
fahi fun, entertaining
posak wood
O I/me
Oko We (exclusive)
i you (singular)
Iko we (inclusive)
sarra meat or flesh
mofnelan nether monster
sahtokko wolf shelter, doghouse
pom explode, blow up
e is
nen isn’t
nelki to like/enjoy
ka day
ko night
pars month
sish dirt
kak fell
nan in
poko ocean
seoos Wither
heram gem
ram thing, object
pemon blue
peheram diamond
kosi green
koheram emerald
tranof Non hostile humanoid (player, villager)
inlak village/city
loneer yellow
lahk crop
yolahk wheat
morlem orange
morlahk carrots
menor cooked/baked/grilled/heated
polr brown
polahk potato
meko cat
hat wild
eksarko zombie
Villagers trading with you can say what they want for what in addition to it being displayed in the gui. Then they can thank you afterwards. Or mutter insults behind your back when you refuse to trade.
The villager that trades eyes of ender might also literally tell you directions to the nearest stronghold.
(would require cardinal direction words, probably some indication of distance, do we have a word for block yet?)
Villager children could run around saying simple words or phrases in context with the world around them to give a sense that they too are learning this language.
A panicking villager at nightfall without a path to the inside of a building can scream "WHERE IS THE DOOR?" or "A ZOMBIE IS ATTACKING ME!"
A truly good use for this language (after it's made) would be if there were an actual method for the player to communicate with villagers. Perhaps the player could find pieces of a sort of "rosetta stone" hidden in structures that when held by the player would translate what they type to Minecraftian, either simple english commands or to literally transcribe the characters. This way the player could ask villagers for information, or if the villager likes the player enough, he can even give the villager commands like, "follow me," "wait here," or "this is your new home." This would allow a player to help build new villages in more convenient locations.
I very much support the
It's an amalgamation of early forms of French and German, it has by a wide margin, more words than any other language. Which isn't a problem most of the time but it can be a barrier for those learning the language. Some of it's spelling rules have more exceptions than cases where the rules are followed the one "i before e except after c" comes to mind. Grammar is also pretty inconsistent at times. We tend to oftenly split infinitives like there's no tomorrow. Just to list a few quirks.
But ultimately any language is weird in some ways when compared to another. Being weird is not a bad thing.
Quite a lot. If you are a linguist, you notice that english differs from other european languages in quie a few funny and strange ways. Not that that's bad - it makes it interesting - and it is nearly impossible to notice if english is your only language.
Thank you! It took some time, putting everything together from the bits and pieces sprinkled over this topic, but I did it gladly.
As for tokko/tokohat, it was me who suggested meko/mekohat, and the op who added tokko, but I don't think he'd mind. I'll change it!
On a side note, anybody who wants to create new words should try to make ones that have a similar root look like each other. A table to do such a thing is described in the book I mentioned above, the "Language Construction Kit". It's used like this: You combine the root with each of the following concepts - person, place, collection, tool, adjective, causative and diminutive. For example, if the root is war, you could get : Soldier, battlefield, campaign, weapon, warlike, make war and fight. The book does say you needn't make everything out of this table; Languages are irregular, but to get most this may be a good idea.
Before I do another example, let me add a few new things: sik (to) cut, nor (a) room, poho food, -il creates the diminutive of words.
Root - meat or flesh sarra
Person - Butcher sarratranof
Place - Butcher shop sahsarra
Collection - Larder norpoho
Tool - Knife esikil (small cutter)
Adjective - Full of/tasting like meat, meatlike sarratete (I am assuming the OP meant -tete (this) created an adjective from a noun)
Causative - (to) butcher, (to) kill pesot
Diminutive - Medalion sarrail
And here is the updated list:
Minecraftian Mini-grammar:
Sounds
Consonants: /p, t, k, f, s, x (written as [h]), m, n, l, r/
Vowels: /i, e, a, o/
Morphology
A syllable coda cannot be a stop (p, t, k) in voiceless environments. When adding suffixes to a word with a stop at the end (or when creating a compound word) and the word ends with a stop, the stop changes to a fricative: /p/ > /ϕ/, /t/ > /s/, /k/ > /x/. In voiced environments, such as between vowels or at the end or beginning of words, the stops do not change.
-am Creates the past tense
n(i)-verb-(i)n Circumfix to mark the verb as negative. The (i) is only necessary, if a consonant follows or precedes an n.
-i added to an adjective to mark it as a verb (in an “is <adjective>” construction)
-a replaces the –i to mark it as the past tense
-nin replaces –i in a verb-made-adjective to mark the negative instead of the n(i)-verb-(i)n circumfix.
-nan past tense of -nin
-tete this
-o- possessive (my)
pe- blue(thing)
ko- green(thing)
lo- yellow(thing)
mor- orange(thing)
po- brown(thing)
or- signifies (thing) is friendly/an ally
e- nominalizer
-il Forms the diminutive
Syntax
Subject – verb – object
An adjective is written as a suffix of a noun (and possessive) if alone; if there are more adjectives, they are each a separate word.
Word order changes to subject – object – verb if the verb is e, with the first noun describing the second.
Singular is unmarked
1. Plural is marked by reduplicating the first syllable, minus the coda (if any).
Present tense is unmarked
Reduplication of the first syllable of a verb (minus the possible coda) changes it from a simple to a continuous aspect
Lexicon
sah house, shelter
mekapi small, little
sessan creeper
tokko wolf, dog
nor pig
mop animal/monster
nelan the nether
mohe cow
kek (to) eat
fahi fun, entertaining
posak wood
O I/me
Oko We (exclusive)
i you (singular)
Iko we (inclusive)
sarra meat or flesh
mofnelan nether monster
sahtokko wolf shelter, doghouse
pom explode, blow up
e is
nen isn’t
nelki to like/enjoy
ka day
ko night
pars month
sish dirt
kak fell
nan in
poko ocean
seoos Wither
heram gem
ram thing, object
pemon blue
peheram diamond
kosi green
koheram emerald
tranof Non hostile humanoid (player, villager)
inlak village/city
loneer yellow
lahk crop
yolahk wheat
morlem orange
morlahk carrots
menor cooked/baked/grilled/heated
polr brown
polahk potato
meko cat
hat wild
eksarko zombie
sik (to) cut
nor (a) room
poho food
sarratranof butcher
sahsarra butcher shop
norpoho larder, pantry
esikil knife
sarratete Full of/tasting of meat, meatlike
pesot (to) butcher, (to) kill
sarrail medallion (meat)
"And so I go fast. Not because I want to, because no one else will."
-Sanic Hegehog
Great! Nice work! I have a few gripes, but most of them seem perfect!
I don't like the direct translation of shelter=protection. Sah seemed to describe a building in which you stay, more than a building which protects you. I would rather have a new word, say Osh, for "shelter", "protection" and "cover", but it wouldn't be used for your home unless that is the aspect you intend to describe.
The second thing is that I don't think prepositions are supposed to be used in compound words, and that "away" isn't one. I think you might meant "from".
The third is minor, but I think you need to expand the meaning of tsetunk to become "container", or we need to think of another word for that and rename the quiver. And because nouns combine into compound words words, "quiver" would acctually become tsetunkfohpatann.
I don't know how prepositions are supposed to be handled, but I don't think we need to incorporate them into compound words, or, when combined with the nouns, verbs and numerous affixes we already incorporate, we might get words like the one for quiver above.
I will add your new words to the lexicon (with my ideas. If you think they are wrong (I'm not perfect) please say so and we'll try to find a solution), but I'll leave out the ones with the preposition compound words (for now), because I have no idea how to best implement them.
Minecraftian Mini-grammar:
Sounds
Consonants: /p, t, k, f, s, x (written as [h]), m, n, l, r/
Vowels: /i, e, a, o/
Morphology
A syllable coda cannot be a stop (p, t, k) in voiceless environments. When adding suffixes to a word with a stop at the end (or when creating a compound word) and the word ends with a stop, the stop changes to a fricative: /p/ > /ϕ/, /t/ > /s/, /k/ > /x/. In voiced environments, such as between vowels or at the end or beginning of words, the stops do not change.
-am Creates the past tense
n(i)-verb-(i)n Circumfix to mark the verb as negative. The (i) is only necessary, if a consonant follows or precedes an n.
-i added to an adjective to mark it as a verb (in an “is <adjective>” construction)
-a replaces the –i to mark it as the past tense
-nin replaces –i in a verb-made-adjective to mark the negative instead of the n(i)-verb-(i)n circumfix.
-nan past tense of -nin
-tete this
-o- possessive (my)
pe- blue(thing)
ko- green(thing)
lo- yellow(thing)
mor- orange(thing)
po- brown(thing)
or- signifies (thing) is friendly/an ally
e- nominalizer
-il Forms the diminutive
Syntax
Subject – verb – object
An adjective is written as a suffix of a noun (and possessive) if alone; if there are more adjectives, they are each a separate word.
Word order changes to subject – object – verb if the verb is e, with the first noun describing the second.
Singular is unmarked
1. Plural is marked by reduplicating the first syllable, minus the coda (if any).
Present tense is unmarked
Reduplication of the first syllable of a verb (minus the possible coda) changes it from a simple to a continuous aspect
Lexicon
sah house, shelter
mekapi small, little
sessan creeper
tokko dog
tokkohat wolf
nor pig
mop animal/monster
nelan the nether
mohe cow
kek to eat
fahi fun, entertaining
posak wood
O I/me
Oko We (exclusive)
i you (singular)
Iko we (inclusive)
sarra meat or flesh
mofnelan nether monster
sahtokko wolf shelter, doghouse
pom explode, blow up
e is
nen isn’t
nelki to like/enjoy
ka day
ko night
pars month
sish dirt
kak fell
nan in
poko ocean
seoos Wither
heram gem
ram thing, object
pemon blue
peheram diamond
kosi green
koheram emerald
tranof Non hostile humanoid (player, villager)
inlak village/city
loneer yellow
lahk crop
yolahk wheat
morlem orange
morlahk carrots
menor cooked/baked/grilled/heated
polr brown
polahk potato
meko cat
hat wild
eksarko zombie
sik (to) cut
nor (a) room
poho food
sarratranof butcher
sahsarra butcher shop
norpoho larder, pantry
esikil knife
sarratete Full of/tasting of meat, meatlike
pesot (to) butcher, (to) kill
sarrail medallion (meat)
om up, above
im down, below
moh against, towards
foh for, from
lohm body
nep foot
iena head
int leg, bone
tok stone/ore
tsot wood
tsetunk Chest
paa sheep
bakaa chicken
lepp fish
haehi Bat
irae Enderman
hroon Blaze
sike Sword
patann Bow
oshlohm Armor
oshielna Hat/Helmet
oshnep Shoe/boot
oshint Leggings/Pants
Please read these two threads:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-discussion/suggestions/2572194-please-read-this-before-making-a-suggestion-v2-0
http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-discussion/suggestions/44180-for-the-critics-ftc
I may take a while for the OP to answer you, so I'll do it instead. You are right in thinking that a language needs some work, but what redstone1337 "whipped up" was just the basics. The idea was to develope the language right here, in the forums, with a multitude of players imputing ideas and work. I also like writing fantasy, and am developing a proto-language for it, and it is taking a hell of a long time, but I am patient.
Languages create a depth to a conworld that no amount of lore, ruins or legends can top. I don't know what you mean about Minecraft having to be workless; Tell that to the redstoners, tell that to the architects who build cities, tell that to the countless people who grind for materials day after day so they can make an awesome base. Yes, language would be an aspect not everybody would use, same with redstone, or lapis, or the nether and the end. But it would expand minecraft. Minecraft is about being borderless. The world is, but the gameplay isn't yet. You can see where the limit is, of what you can do, and Minecraftian is an addition that hopes to at least enlarge the realm of possibilities.