by Gary J. Shannon
Created: Dec. 13, 2004
Last Revision: Mar. 19, 2005
Phonology
Personally, I'm not much interested in phonology so this conlang does nothing out of the ordinary in this arena. Some pronunciations are noted as they might be described to an English-speaker, but one can think of the phonology as being flexible enough, or perhaps subject to enough different dialects and understandable "foreign" accents that pronunciation need only be "close enough". There are no IPA or other esoteric pronunciation notations on this page.
Word origins
For the most part, since I am more intersted in exploring the possibilities of this grammar, I am borrowing words from Tahzu, one of my former conlangs. The Tazhu lexicon can be found here. Tazhu, in turn, draws its words from a number of other natlangs including Latin, Greek, Turkish, German, English, Sanskrit, and a handful of others. In most cases the original natlang word was then mutated in some significant way to arrrive at the Tazhu root. Since Tazhu is infleced and Soaloa is not I usually pick the simplest form of the Tazhu word to adopt in Soaloa.
Clauses and Sentences
Sentences in Soaloa are made up of clauses.
A clause consists of exactly three words. These words are refered to by their position in the clause. These positions are called the S location, the O location and the A location. In every clause these three words will always appear in that order: SOA.
The simplest sentence in Soaloa consists of three words, eaching filling one position: SOA.
To create a longer sentence one may append another clause to the end of an existing clause or sentence optionally using a linking word of type L.
Examples of longer sentence patterns include: SOASOA, SOALSOA, SOALSOASOA, SOALSOALSOA, ... and so on.
When two clauses are connected, with or without an L word, if the A word at the end of the first clause refers to the same thing as the S word at the head of the second clause then the S word may be omitted. That allows such patterns as: SOAOA, SOALOA, SOALOAOA, SOALSOALOA, ... and so on.
Every allowable sentence in the language can be constructed in this manner.
Word Classes
Word that belong to class O end in the vowel "o" and may only occupy the O location in a clause.
Words that belong to class L end in the vowel "a" and may only be used between clauses to link two clauses together.
Words that belong to class SA end in the vowels "i", or "u" and may be used in either the S location or the A location in a clause.
Words that belong to class P end in the vowel "e" and may, like class SA words, be used in either the S or A locations in a clause.
Class SA: Words in class SA name, either abstractly or concretely, directly or indirectly, people ("John", "you"), places ("home", "India"), things ("tree", "liberty"), attributes ("red", "large"), or states of being ("falling", "broken").
CLASS P: Words in class P refer to another word or clause elsewhere in the same sentence, or to a word or clause in another sentence that either preceeds or follows this sentence. Their use will become clear when we examine some specific examples a little later.
CLASS O: Words in class O establish a relationship between the word in the S location and the word in the A location. Some times these act like verbs, but not always. An example in English would be "belongs-to". When we say "Book belongs-to John" we have established a relationship between the S-location thing called "book" and the A-location thing called "John". For every word of type O there exists a complementary word, also of type O. If U is the complement of V and X and Y are type SA words in the language then the clause "XUY" has a meaning identical with that of the clause "YVX". For example "John owns house" = "house belong-to John" where "own" is the complement of "belong to"
CLASS L: Words in class L establish a link between two (or more) clauses.
Clauses and Units of Meaning
A unit of meaning is a single relationship between two things. A sentence might consist of a single unit of meaning, but more commonly it will consist of two or more units of meaning. A clause conveys a single unit of meaning and we will use the terms "clause" and "unit of meaning" interchangeably. In the English sentence "I have a crayon." there is exactly one unit of meaning, which establishes my relationship with the crayon. This would be translated into a single three-word clause in Soaloa, the equivalent of "I have crayon."
Most sentences, however, have more than one unit of meaning, such as "I have a red crayon." In this case there are two units of meaning. The first establishes the relationship between me and the crayon in question, and the second establishes the color attribute of that crayon. How these units of meaning are used will be examined in more detail in the following sections.
Forming a Sentence
In many cases the single word in Soaloa must be expressed by more than one English word. For example the English "run away from" is a single word in this grammar (written "run-away-from" in these the examples). Whenever possible a single English word ("flee" for "run away from" or "enter" for "go into", for example) will be used to represent the concept. However, "run-away-from" is a single O-class word, "fueto" in Soaloa.
Since clauses may be strung together indefinitely there must be a way to mark the end of the sentence. In writing we can use the period, or full stop, but in spoken Soaloa the end of a sentence is marked by appending the letter "m" to the last word in the sentence. It is pronounce as a slightly prolonged "hum" at the end of the last word.
Now let's take the simple English sentence "I have a crayon." Except for the article 'a' this sentence is already in the required form.
S = I (ku)
O = have (poso)
A = crayon (seraku)
SENTENCE = I have crayon.
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Since every O word has a complement, this clause can also be written:
S = crayon (seraku)
O = belong (huro)
A = I (ku)
SENTENCE = Crayon belong I.
Soaloa = Seraku huro kum.
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(Later we will see some distinctions between "have" and "own" and see that different words are used to imply ownership as opposed to mere possession. When we cover those fine points we will see that "belong" is really the complement of "own" not of "have." But those details can wait for later.)
Linking Clauses
Now suppose we want to tell the listener that we have a red crayon. Clearly this cannot be expressed in a single three-word clause, because there are two separate facts that need to be imparted to the listener: 1) that I have a crayon and 2) that this crayon is red. This sentence will require two clauses held together by a link.
But before we can create clauses and link them together we need a way to refer back unambiguously to the Ss and As of previous clauses. Consider the English sentence:
"When I spoke with Tom and Ed he was giving him a hard time."
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Which person is "he" and which person is "him"? Pronoun assignments need to be free of ambiguity. Class P words will be used for this purpose.
Here are the first two P words: The word "same" (pronounced SAH-may) will be used to refer to the S of the immediate previous clause and the word "ite" (EE-tay) will be used to refer to the A of the immediate previous clause. For the moment we will write pronouns in upper case to set them apart from ordinary words.
Now we can build the two clauses we need to say "I have a red crayon." These two clauses are:
S = I (ku)
O = have (poso)
A = crayon (seraku)
and
S = IT (ITE) the A of the previous clause
O = is (simo) has-attribute
A = red (lozhu)
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In this case the link is the default or null link and the two clauses can simply be joined as in:
I have crayon IT is red. (SOASOA)
Ku poso seraku ITE simo lozhum.
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When it happens that the first word of a clause refers to the last word of the previous clause this duplication of intent can be removed giving us the more compact:
I have crayon is red. (SOAOA)
Ku poso seraku simo lozhum.
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Now suppose someone steps on my red crayon. We will need three clauses to express "My red crayon is broken." These clauses are:
S = I (ku)
O = have (poso)
A = crayon (seraku)
S = IT (ite)
O = that-is (esto)
A = red (lozhu)
S = SAME (SAME) (the S from the previous clause which is "IT" which is "crayon"))
O = is (simo)
A = broken (fraktiu)
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Notice the use of the O word "esto" ("that-is") rather than "simo" ("is"). In this clause we are not telling the listener that our crayon is red, instead we are using the red attribute incidentally to identify a particular crayon.
Now we can tack these clauses together into a complete sentence:
I have crayon IT that-is red SAME is broken.
Ku poso seraku ITE esto lozhu SAME simo fraktiu.
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And compressing out the superfluous "ITE" we get:
I have crayon that-is red SAME is broken.
Ku poso seraku esto lozhu same simo fraktiu.
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You might wonder why we couldn't have written:
*I have crayon that-is red IT is broken.
*Ku poso seraku esto lozhu ITE simo fraktiu.
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At first glance that seems to make sense. However, recalling that we can remove any superfluous "ITE", the alternate sentence collapses down to:
*I have crayon that-is red is broken.
*Ku poso seraku esto lozhu simo fraktiu.
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The problem is that under the strict grammatical rules set forth, "ITE" refers back to the A word of the prior clause, so that sentence is telling us that "red is broken". This is clearly not what we intend to convey.
Another pronoun is "URE" (OO-ray) which is used to refer back to one item in a collection of items that were the A of the previous clause. For example: "One of my crayons is red."
S = I (ku)
O = have (poso)
A = crayons (seraki) plural
S = ONE OF (ure)
O = is (simo)
A = red (lozhu)
I have crayons ONE is red.
Ku poso seraki ure simo lozhum.
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Be sure to use the form of the O word that puts the right word in the A position. If we used the complement O word "belong" the sentence:
*Crayons belong I ONE is red.
*Seraki huro ku ure simo lozhum.
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makes no sense because the A word refered to by "ONE OF" is "I", and is not plural. On the other hand,
Crayon belong us ONE is red.
Seraki huro ki ure simo lozhum.
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tells us that we jointly own a crayon and that one of us (the people, not the crayons) is red. Pay close attention to whether a given pronoun refers to the S or A of the prior clause.
A similar pronoun is "VERALE" (ver-AH-lay) ("some of") which selects an unspecified number of items from the previous plural A word. "Some of my crayons are green."
S = I (ku)
O = have (poso)
A = crayons (seraki)
S = SOME (verale)
O = is/are (simo)
A = green (ridisu)
I have crayons SOME are green.
Ku poso seraki verale simo ridisum.
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So far the P-class words have refered only to the S or A of the immediately prior clause. In some cases we wish to lock down the assignment of the P word for more than one subsequent clause. In order to do this some of the link words can be used to alter the normal order of evaluation of the P word. For example:
S = I (ku)
O = have (poso)
A = crayons (seraki)
S = SOME (verale)
O = are (simo)
A = red (lozhu)
L = AND (ena)
S = SOME (verale)
O = are (simo)
A = green (ridisu)
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By using the linking word "ENA" we extend the reach of the pronoun "verale" back to the clause before. Essentially, "ENA" tells us that the "verale" ("some") in both clauses refer to "seraki" ("crayons"). Without "ENA" the "verale" in the final clause would refer back to "lozhu" ("red") in the clause before.
The complete sentence is:
I have crayons SOME are red AND SOME are green.
Ku poso seraki verale simo lozhu ena verale simo ridisum.
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Forward Reference
In some cases it is necessary or desirable to refer to a word now and actually disclose that word later. The pronoun that refers to some S or A that has not yet been mentioned is "SAKE" (SAH-kay). The clause that will finally resolve this forward reference is linked by the linking word "TE" (TAY). For example, the somewhat poetically phrased: "It lies here broken, my crayon so red."
S = SUCH (Sake)
O = is (simo)
A = broken (fraktiu)
L = THIS (TE)
S = crayon (seraku)
O = belong (huro)
A = me (ku)
S = SAME (same)
O = that-is (esto)
A = red (lozhu)
SUCH is broken THIS crayon belong I SAME that-is red.
Sake simo fraktiu TE seraku huro ku SAME esto lozhum.
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NOTE: Not yet translated below this point
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The linking word "THIS" tells us that the next S mentioned is what was being refered to by the pronoun "SUCH" that was mentioned some number of clauses earlier.
The linking word "WHICH" works the same way but refers us to the A word of the next clause rather than the S word. For example:
SUCH is broken THIS crayon belong I. = SUCH is broken WHICH I own crayon.
SUCH is broken WHICH I own crayon IT that-is red.
SUCH is broken WHICH I own crayon that-is red.
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Refering to a non-concrete A word.
So far we have used pronouns to refer to prior A words only when those word were concrete things like "crayon". But we can also refer back to A words that do not represent concrete things like the words "red" or "old". For example: "My house is very old."
We already know how to write "My house is old.":
S = I
O = own
A = house
S = IT
O = is
A = old
I own house (IT) is old. (OR: House belong I same is old.)
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But how do we say "very old"? We do so by refering back to "old" in the following clause:
S = IT
O = is
A = extreme
I own house IT is old IT is extreme. -> I own house is old is extreme.
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"is extreme" refers back to "old" not to "house". This is not to be confused with
I own house is old SAME is extreme.
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which tells us that my house is both old and extreme. The presence (even if only implied) of "IT" rather than "SAME" tells us that "extreme" refers back to the A "old" and not all the way back to the S "house".
In practice the O word "is" has a synonym "in" which means the same thing but is often used in cases where S is not a concrete object. The use of "in" for "is" often clarifies the intent:
I own house is old in extreme.
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Bear in mind that any sentence given here as an example could also be written in a number of different ways.
I own house is old in extreme.
House belong I SAME is old in extreme.
SUCH is old in extreme THIS house belong I.
SUCH is old in extreme WHICH I own house.
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The Complement of Is
This is a good time to introduce the complement to "is". When we say "Crayon is red" we need also to be able to say "Red is crayon" except that "is" cannot be used in both cases since a word cannot be its own complement. Instead we use the word "be". We can use this word because "is" is never conjugated so "be" cannot otherwise occur.
Crayon is red.
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means the same thing as
Red be crayon.
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Now we are prepared to do a more accurate translation of our earlier poetic sentence: "It lies here broken, my crayon so red."
The word "lies", and the word "so", expressing degree of redness were conveniently ignored in the example above. Now we can write:
Broken be SUCH lay here THIS crayon belong I SAME that-is red in plenty.
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Even as complex a sentence as this can still be broken down into its component SOA clauses:
S = broken
O = be
A = SUCH
S = (IT) (refers to "SUCH")
O = lay
A = here
L = THIS
S = crayon
O = belong
A = I
S = SAME (refers to "crayon")
O = that-is
A = red
S = (IT)
O = in
A = plenty
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These Them and Those
Sometimes we need to say something like "This house is new, that house is old and the other one is ancient." Clearly "This house is new" contains two units of information and will require two clauses.
S = house
O = is
A = here
S = SAME
O = is
A = new
House is here SAME is new.
Or
S = here
O = be
A = house
S = (IT)
O = is
A = new
Here be house is new.
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Now we can write the above sentence:
Here be house is new, there be house is old, elsewhere be house is old in extreme.
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We use "house is old" + "(IT) in extreme" instead of "house is ancient" to avoid the danger of cheating by hiding grammar in the lexicon. Before allowing such "shortcut" words with built-in compound meaning, we need to be sure we can express each concept in its pure form.
Compound Attributes
"The ball is yellow and blue." seems to present a problem. How do we combine two attributes in the same clause. The link word "ENA" can only be used in the link position, not in the O position. When we need to combine two attributes we use the related O word "eno".
S = yellow
A = and (eno)
O = blue
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We also need the pronoun "THUS". This refers not to the S part or A part of the preceding clause, but to the whole clause in its entirety. We use this pronoun thusly:
S = yellow
O = with
A = blue
S = THUS
O = be
A = ball.
Yellow with blue THUS be ball.
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There is also a way to do this with forward reference. This uses the pronoun "SUCH" defined above:
S = SUCH
O = is
A = ball
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In this case neither link "WHICH", nor "THIS" will do what we need since each refers the forward reference pronoun to either the S word or the A word in the clause that follows. The link word "BOTH" performs the function of resolving the forward reference by pointing to the meaning of the entire clause rather than either of its parts.
L = BOTH
S = yellow
O = with
A = blue
SUCH is ball BOTH yellow with blue.
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Comparatives
There are a number of ways to do comparatives within the framework of this grammar. Let's look at "My marble is bigger than your marble."
S = SUCH
O = belong
A = you
L = THIS
S = marble
O = bigger
A = marble
S = IT
O = belong
A = I
SUCH belong you THIS marble bigger marble belong I.
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There is also the pronoun "OTHER" which stand for another instance of the same class. In the S position it refers to the S of the previous clause, and in the A position it refers to the S position of the same clause. Using "OTHER" we can write:
S = SUCH
O = belong
A = you
L = THIS
S = marble
O = bigger
A = OTHER
S = IT
O = belong
A = I
SUCH belong you THIS marble bigger OTHER belong I.
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Which is essentially the same.
In either case the entire comparison takes place in one clause: "marble bigger marble" and further identification or qualification to the two marbles takes place in the surrounding clauses.
Another way to do comparatives is with the O word "bigger-than", which give a more straightforward construction:
S = I
O = own
A = marble
S = (IT)
O = bigger-than
A = marble
S = (IT)
O = belong
A = you
I own marble bigger-than marble belong you.
A few other alternatives:
Marble belong I SAME bigger-than marble IT belong you.
SUCH is bigger-than marble belong you THIS marble belong me.
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Ongoing Processes
Ongoing processes are treated more like a static state of affairs than a single action.To convey "I am running" we use an operator O word that specifies that the subject S is in the state specified by the argument A.
S = I
O = is-in-state
A = running
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For convenience we will use the O word "ist" for "is-in-state". The sentence "I am running to the store." we link the running me by using the pronoun "THUS" which, as noted above, stands for the meaning of the entire previous clause.
S = I
O = ist (is-in-state)
A = running
S = THUS (i.e. the running me)
O = go-to
A = store
I ist running THUS go-to store.
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O words may also have forms that indicate past action as in: "I wast running THUS go-to store."
Bracketed Clauses
There are times when the subject of a clause needs to be a whole group of prior clauses. An example would be "I ran quickly to the corner." In this case it is me-running-quickly that is carried to the corner so the clause "X go-to corner" needs for trhe value of X to be the entire compound clause that expresses "me running quickly". For this we use the bracket link "SO" with the bracket pornoun "ENSO". It works like this:
SO (begin bracket of clauses)
S = I
O = ist (is-in-state)
A = running
S = IT (i.e. the running)
O = is
A = quick
S = ENSO (close the bracket and collect the whole meaning fo everything bracketed)
O = go-to
A = corner.
SO I ist running is quick ENSO go-to corner.
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Some random unorganized notes
These are random thoughts and ideas that have not yet been fully integrated into the design, or into the web page.
Are you suggesting that we just wait here until somebody finds us?
S = I (ku)
O = question (kwero)
A = THAT (de) (refers to the sum of everything that follows.)
S = truth (prevu)
O = be (eso)
A = THAT (de)
S = you (tu)
O = suggest (vervo)
A = THAT (de)
S = we (kwi)
O = remain (stato)
A = here (eru)
L = UNTIL (konda)
S = somebody (siandru)
O = find (desko)
A = we (kwi)
Ku kwero de prevu es de tu vervo de kwi stato eru konda siandru desko kwim.
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Andru poso eliantum. The man has a kite.
Andru poso elaintu eso lozhum. The man has a kite that is red.
Eliantu pilono andru same testo lozhu stato niatrim. The kite that belongs to the man, the same one that is red, it is lost.