Lili (2023)

(PAGE FORMATTING IS WORK IN PROGRESS, for now I'm just copying and pasting text from a txt file, lol)

Old version (it really sucks) https://conlang.fandom.com/wiki/Lili

New version text:

Introduction
Note: Lexicon is unstable, may change at any time. The grammar is the more important part.

Anyway, I'm creating this conlang mainly (but not only) based on the concepts of "logical conjunctions" and "logical disjunctions". I will explain better now.

"Logical disjunction" uses the formula: Sentence 1 OR Sentence 2 = New Sentence "Logical conjunction" uses the formula: Sentence 1 AND Sentence 2 = New Sentence

Logical disjunction is: "If Sentence 1 OR Sentence 2 is true, then New Sentence is true"

Logical conjunction is "If Sentence 1 AND Sentence 2 are both true, then New Sentence is true"

Basically, logical disjunction makes sentences more ambiguous (since they can mean one OR the other information) and logical conjunction makes sentences less ambiguous (since both one AND the other information must be true simultaneously). In my conlang's grammar, logical disjunctions are called "ambiguations" and logical conjunctions are called "disambiguations".

Example of an ambiguation:

Sentence 1 = My sister is smiling Sentence 2 = My brother is smiling New Sentence = My sibling is smiling

Formula: "My sister is smiling" OR "My brother is smiling" = "My sibling is smiling"

"My sibling is smiling" could mean "my sister is smiling" OR "my brother is smiling". If "my sister is smiling" OR "my brother is smiling" is true, then "my sibling is smiling" is true.

Example of a disambiguation:

Sentence 1 = I'm eating an apple

Sentence 2 (granted, it's more like a concept added on the first sentence than a stand-alone sentence, but it's still valid) = The apple (that is being talked about) is red

New Sentence = I'm eating a red apple

Formula: "I'm eating an apple" AND "The (that) apple is red" = "I'm eating a red apple"

"I'm eating a red apple" means that "I'm eating an apple" AND "the apple (that is being talked about) is red" are both true at the same time. Disambiguations usually either disambiguate a sentence, or simply add more information to it.

Since my conlang won't ever be fully developed (at least, not by me), but it will always stay as a mere idea or concept, the lexicon is arbitrary and I mostly just type random letters to make a new word. The important thing in my conlang is not the lexicon, but the "grammar" (i.e. the central idea of my conlang that is being shown... that's why the lexicon is not important).

Now I will talk about my conlang's grammar, which is mostly based on the relationship between "A" and "B". What are "A" and "B", then? I'll make a simple example in English. Consider the sentence "I like apples". If you translate it to my conlang, "A" would be "I" (the first person singular pronoun) and "B" would be "apples". But it's not all. "A" and "B" have a certain relationship with each other. What is this relationship? Of course it's "like". "A" and "B" are both called "operands", and they are connected with each other through something called "operator", which in this case is a word that means "like" but obviously in different sentences it will be a different word that means something else. Operands and operators are the only parts of speech in my conlang. There is no grammatical distinction between nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, particles, etc. There are only operands and operators. Every word is separated by "separators", which are not words, they are just letters that separate every word. The separators are the following:

Default separators: l/i

Open parentheses: r/a

Close parentheses: n/u

Therefore, the letters "l", "i", "r", "a", "n" and "u" cannot appear within the lexicon. As a consequence, there is no standard way to use spaces in my conlang. Consider the English sentence "your conlang is so weird". Imagine it could be freely written as "yourcon langisso we ird", "yo urcon langi sso weird", or ANY other combination of spaces and it will mean exactly the same thing with no chance of it meaning something else. My conlang is exactly like that! Another rule is that words in their basic form must always end with a vowel (we'll see why later).

Now I can give the first example (NOTE: the lexicon is arbitrary, and I just type random letters. I want to show the grammar, the lexicon is not important. It will never be a fully developed, speakable conlang anyway):

I eat an apple = cel voboti sote

ce: I (operand "A")

vobo(t): to eat (operator that connects "A" and "B")

sote: apple (operand "B")

As you can see, the words are separated by the default separators. Now you might be wondering why the operator ends with that additional consonant. Here are the suffixes that must go after every operator. They are mandatory. Also if you are wondering how everything is pronounced, don't worry, the phonology is explained later in this document, with IPA.

-t: default order, verbal sentence

-c: default order, nominalizes A

-p: default order, nominalizes B

-k: default order, nominalizes the operator

-ts: reverse order, verbal sentence

-s: reverse order, nominalizes A

-f: reverse order, nominalizes B

-x: reverse order, nominalizes the operator

Examples with the example given before, only changing the suffix.

-t suffix: default order, verbal sentence

cel voboti sote = I eat an apple

-c suffix: default order, nominalizes A

cel voboci sote = I (who is eating an apple)

It's impossible to translate this in English in a way that can be used in a colloquial, every-day conversation, but basically it's just "I" (the first person singular pronoun) with more information, i.e. that the speaker is eating an apple.

-p suffix: default order, nominalizes B

cel vobopi sote = The apple(s) that I eat

-k suffix: default order, nominalizes the operator

cel voboki sote = The act of me eating an apple

-ts suffix: reverse order, verbal sentence

cel vobotsi sote = An apple eats me/I'm eaten by an apple

-s suffix: reverse order, nominalizes A

cel vobosi sote

I (who am eaten by an apple)

-f suffix: reverse order, nominalizes B

cel vobofi sote = The apple that is eating me

-x suffix: reverse order, nominalizes the operator

cel voboxi sote = The act of an apple eating me

HIDDEN OPERANDS:

Hidden Operand A:

voboti sote = [Unspecified subject] eat(s) an apple

Hidden Operand B:

cel vobot = I eat

Both operands hidden

vobot = [Unspecified subject] eat(s) (i.e. there is an act of eating going on, but the subject and object are both unspecified)

Some other examples:

vobok = An act of eating

vobop = Something that is being eaten

voboc = Someone who is eating (roughly corresponds to an "eater", though it does not necessarily imply habitual action, unlike English)

voboki sote = An act of eating an apple

vobopi sote = An apple that is being eaten

voboci sote = Someone who is eating an apple

And so on... It's never possible to hide an operator, however.

Okay, I hope you understand the pattern. Now, phonology!

Phonology
Phonology (standard ortography on the left... IPA on the right. Obviously, lol. And yes, the numbers 8 and 16 are intentional, I'm kinda obsessed with powers of 2)

Vowels (8):

a: /a

e: /ɛ

ë: /e

i: /i

o: /ɔ

ö: /o

u: /u

ü: /y

Consonants (16):

b: /b

c: /ʃ

d: /d

f: /f

g: /g

j: /ʒ

k: /k

l: /l

n: /n (m as an allophone before "b" and "p")

p: /p

r: /r

s: /s

t: /t

v: /v

x: /x

z: /z

The sound "m" is only found as an allophone of "n" before "b" and "p" but is still written as "n" ortographically. I don't want to make "m" as a separate phoneme, because it could cause extreme ambiguity since "n" before "b" and "p" would be pronounced as "m", and "n" is a very important phoneme/morpheme/sememe in my conlang since it's one of the separators. The letter "r" is also a separator. There is no gemination at all in my conlang.

There is also a "letter" that is "summoned" by writing/typing the following three letters: "h", "q", "w" (which are not found in standard ortography) in any order. "hqw", "hwq", "qwh"... or whatever. It is a click consonant (the only click consonant that is ever used in) that is pronounced "kǀ" (IPA alphabet) and has a very precise function: to introduce words that are used in foreign languages. For example:

cel begëtiq wh Tekken

I like/love Tekken

ce: I (operand)

begë(t): to like/love (operator)

Tekken: Tekken (the fighting game) (operand)

Yes, separators (any separator... so, "i", "a", "u", "l", "r" and "n") are required before the opening "hqw" and after the closing "hqw". If the foreign word is the last word of the speech, there is no need to close the word with another "hqw" (although it is not wrong to do so). But if the foreign word is not the last word of the speech, then the closing "hqw" is required. For example:

ce: I (operand)

begë(t): to like/love (operator)

[open parenthesis]

je: you (operand)

de(p): (in this case since there is "-p" suffix it means it nominalizes B, so it acts like an English genitive, but if there was a "-t" suffix, so, a verbal sentence, then it would act like the verb "to have" in English) (operator)

[open parenthesis]

["hqw" thingy that introduces the word 'Ferrari' since it's a foreign word]

Ferrari (operand)

["hqw" thingy that closes the word 'Ferrari']

ge(c): (copula, or the verb 'to be'... well, in this case it connects the noun 'Ferrari' to an adjective that means "fast" and it nominalizes "Ferrari"... so it means "Fast Ferrari") (operator)

züdü: fast (operand)

cel begëta jeldepaq wh Ferrari qwhi geci züdü = I like your fast Ferrari

Note: the LONG "formula" for linking a noun with an adjective was A (noun) + ge (operator) + B (adjective), and then nominalize A. Like this:

vüxü = car

ge(c) = copula (nominalizes the car)

züdü = fast

vüxül geci züdü = fast car

However, this often makes things unnecessary long. There is a shorter way to use adjectives: when adjectives are operators, describe the noun A. B is an unused slot, but since it's possible to hide operands, it's fine. "ge" is grammatically valid, but unnecessary. Shorter version:

vüxü = car

züdü(c) = fast (it's an operator that describes A... with the -c suffix it nominalizes A)

vüxül züdüc = fast car

Much shorter! Also, you can put an "i" at the end, for euphonic purposes, it's not grammatically wrong to say "vüxül züdüci".

Other suffixes:

vüxül züdüt = a car is fast

vüxül züdük = the speed of a car (note: 'speed' here does not mean 'how fast or slow', in the sense of a measure of how fast or slow something is, but the property of being fast, like... 'fastness'... so it excludes the possibility of 'slowness', it's a bit complicated but I hope you get what I mean)

züdüfi vüxü = a fast car (note: when a reverse order suffix like -f is used, what is left of the operator is still A, and what is right of the operator is still B, it just changes the order of A and B within the meaning/definition of the operator, so vüxü (the car) is B, because it's to the right of the operator)

Other stuff
How to make longer sentences than just two or three words? It is fairly simple, actually. The default formula (i.e. if you don't use any parenthesis) is that everything before the last operator is considered as "A", the operator is... well, the operator, and the very last word is considered as "B". But this order can be changed using the parentheses. Example: "I want a red apple"

ce: I

gebo(t): to want

sote: apple

ge(c): (copula, in this case it nominalizes A since there is -c suffix)

odü: red

Now, if we don't use any parenthesis, and therefore we say: "cel geboti sotel geci odü", it probably won't mean what you want to say. Since "A" is everything before the last operator and "B" is the very last word, "A" will be "I want an apple" and "B" will be "red". Connected through an operator that is basically a copula (that nominalizes "I want an apple"), the sentence without parentheses will roughly mean something similar to "I want an apple (which is a red fact)". So we need to open a parenthesis.

The correct sentence is: "cel gebota sotel geci odü". If you forgot, "r/a" are the separators that open a parenthesis. So, now "A" is just "I" (the first person singular pronoun) and "B" is "a red apple". The two are connected with an operator that means "to want". So the sentence means "I (operand A) want (operator) a red apple (operand B)" and is therefore correct.

Since "ge" is unnecessary, "red apple" can just be:

sote: apple

odü(c): red (nominalizes "apple")

sotel odüc = red apple

odüfi sote = red apple (if you are more comfortable with "adjective + noun" order as it is in English)

Some more examples:

cel gebot = I want (something) (i.e. "I have a desire")

cel geboti sote = I want an apple

cel gebopi sote = the apple that I want

cel gebop = what I want (i.e. "the thing that I want"... a hidden B is nominalized)

cel gebota odüc = I want a red thing (not necessarily ANY red thing... just something red that is being unspecified)

cel gebopi sotel odüt = The apple that I want is red

cel gebopi odüt = the thing that I want is red

cel gebok = My desire

cel geboki sote = My desire for an apple

cel geboka sotel odüc = My desire for a red apple

cel geboka odüc = My desire for something red

geboka odüc = The desire for something red

Note: "geboki odüc" means "red desire", while "geboka odüc" means "desire for something red". Let's see the grammatical structure of both.

geboki odüc = red desire

gebo(k) = (operator, nominalized... so... "desire")

odü(c) = (operator, A is nominalized)

An operator is surrounded by the operands A and B. Even if the operands are hidden, this structure is still implied. So

A (hidden) + gebo(k) ("desire") + B (hidden) = "desire" (or, more technically, "the desire A feels for B"... but since both A and B are hidden, it could easily be translated as just "desire")

Now... remember the structure of the sentence without parentheses? This thing... A + operator + B, in the context of the second operator, is simply "A".

So... A ("desire") + odü(c) ("red", A is nominalized) + B (hidden/unusable operand).

The resulting meaning is therefore "a red desire".

Now, let's do "geboka odüc", which means "desire for something red".

gebo(k) = (operator, nominalized, so... "desire")

odü(c) = (operator, A is nominalized)

Now, as said earlier, the structure is this:

A (hidden) + gebo(k) ("desire") + B

What's the difference here? B has changed. It's no longer a hidden operand, but rather, B is whatever is inside the parentheses, since a parenthesis has been opened. What is the content of B now? Let's see.

odü(c) = (operator, A is nominalized)

Of course, since that is an operator, it implies that there are two hidden operands around it.

A (hidden operand) + odü(c) (operator, A is nominalized) + B (hidden/unusable operand)

So... odüc by itself just means "something red". Whatever is A is the red thing, but since A is hidden, it is not specified what is the thing that is red, so it just means "something red". If there is an operand behind it, then that word is A, and that thing is red, e.g. sotel odüc = a red apple.

So, the structure of the sentence "geboka odüc" ("desire for something red") is:

(note that "gebo" as an operator means A desires B)

A (hidden operand) + gebo(k) ("desire", nominalized) + B (odüc = "something red")

If the operator suffix was verbal, it would had been "gebota odüc" = "someone wants a red thing"), but since the desire here is what is being nominalized, "geboka odüc" means something like "the desire for a red thing". I hope it's not too complicated, I'm not too good at explaining, lmao.

And so on...

This is basically the idea behind my conlang. Mostly "ambiguation" and "disambiguation". And the relationship between A and B (the "operands"), connected through an "operator".

Example sentences, just to experiment around, haha!

cel voboti sote = I eat an apple

cel vobota sotel odüc = I eat a red apple

cel voboti züdüt = I eat fast

Actually... that last sentence needs more explanation, since it basically contains what in English would be called an "adverb". Alright. It may sound grammatically incorrect at first, but it's not. Here's why (let's analyze the structure):

"cel voboti züdüt" means "I eat fast". Not necessarily habitually like English would imply, though. It could also be "I'm eating fast". Structure analysis:

cel (A) + vobo(t) (operator) + (hidden B) means "I eat [something unspecified], basically "I eat/I'm eating".

Now, "züdüt" is an operator here, and guess what A is, since there are no parentheses? Right, whatever comes before it. So, "cel vobot" ("I'm eating") is A here.

A ("I'm eating") + züdüt (verbal sentence operator) + B (hidden/unusable operand)

So... "cel voboti züdüt" literally means: "I'm eating" is fast. Unlike in English, the same word can describe nouns and verbal sentences alike in my conlang. So, just like a car can be fast, so can "I'm eating". There's no grammatical distinction between adjectives and adverbs in my conlangs.

Funny variation: "cel vobota züdüc" = "I'm eating something fast".

Some other words (randomly typing the letters now, as I said before, lexicon is not important):

füso = hug

xüxö = sad/sadness

je = you

sëco = happy/happiness

dege = (default order) therefore, (reverse order) because

cel geboti vüxü = I want a car

cel sëcot = I'm happy

cel geboti füso = I want a hug

jel füsotice = you hug me

cel gebota jel füsotice = I want you to hug me

cel gebota jel füsoticen degetsa cel xüxöt = I want you to hug me because I'm sad

You may have noticed an "unusual" letter so far... the "n"... that means the parenthesis has been closed, let's analyze that last sentence.

cel gebota jel füsoticen degetsa cel xüxöt = I want you to hug me because I'm sad

A = ce = I

Operator = gebo(t) = want

B = since after "gebo(t)" the parenthesis has been opened (since there is an "a" after it rather than an "i"), then B is whatever is contained in that parenthesis, which is closed after that next "ce". The content of this B, then, is... "jel füsotice", which means "you hug me". So, this is what is being wanted by A (which is "ce" which means "I", the first person pronoun).

That "dege", since it's reverse order (due to the suffix -ts) means "because". So... A (cel gebota jel füsotice = "I want you to hug me") + operator ("dege(ts)" = "because") + B (cel xüxöt = I'm sad). So... "I want you to hug me because I'm sad". I hope my explanation is understandable, lol.

Anyway, more example sentences!

cel gebota vüxül züdüc = I want a fast car

geboki züdüc = a fast desire

geboka züdüc = a desire for something fast ("wish for speed", lmao)

cel sëcoti degetsi füso = I'm happy because of a hug

sëco = happiness (grammatically, this is an operand)

sëcok = happiness (grammatically, this is an operator)

cel sëcok = my happiness (note that grammatically, there is no possessive adjective in the conlang sentence here, it's the same sentence as "I'm happy", just that "happy" is being nominalized, so it's like... "the happiness that I feel")

sëcoki degesi füso = happiness due to a hug

sëcoki degesi vüxü = happiness due to a car

sëcoki degesa vüxül züdüc = happiness due to a fast car

cel gebota jel sëcot = I want you to be happy

cel gebota vüxül odüc = I want a red car

jel gebota cel sëcot = you want me to be happy

Etc I hope you understood, lol.

From an individual to a group
The operator "koze", when nominalized (with suffix -k, as we have seen), turns A (a noun) into something meaning "the collection of all [A]'s", or something like that. Like "human" to "humankind".

bote: human

botelkozek: humankind

Like
There are five ways to say "like" to compare something to something else: ske, skë, sko, skö, skü

"You smell like a goat"

je: you

efpo: to smell (in the sense of "emanate a smell", not in the sense of "perceiving a smell")

bükco = goat

Now, the operator "efpo" means "A smells like B" so the word "like" is not needed in this specific case.

jel efpoti bükco = you smell like a goat

But the word "like" can also be used.

ske = "like" in the sense of "also", not in the sense of "in the same manner/intensity". Like "you play basketball like my brother" in the sense of "you play basketball, and so does my brother", NOT in the sense of "you play basketball in the same way as my brother does"

jel efpoti sketi bükco = (something like) you emanate a smell, and goats emanate a smell too

skë = "like" in the sense of "in the same manner" AND/OR "with the same intensity", it's an ambiguation of the next three versions of "like".

jel efpoti skëti bükco = you smell like a goat (whether in the sense of "same smell" or "same intensity" is not specified)

sko = "like" in the sense of "same manner".

jel efpoti skoti bükco = you smell like a goat (in the sense of "you smell in the same manner as a goat" i.e. the smell is the same, though not necessarily the intensity)

skö = "like" in the sense of "same intensity"

jel efpoti sköti bükco = you smell like a goat (in th sense of "you smell with the same intensity as a goat" i.e. the intensity of the smell is the same, though not necessarily the smell itself)

skü = "like" in the sense of "same manner AND intensity"

jel efpoti sküti bükco = you smell like a goat (in the sense of "you smell in the same manner AND with the same intensity as a goat")

Expectations
"To expect" in English has two meanings: "to want", and "to think something will happen". They are translated as "cesü" and "keco" respectively. This "to want" is not the same as the normal one, because this is more like something you desire in a more demanding way, like... while desiring it, the speaker demands that thing from someone.

ce: I (operand)

cesü/keco: (operators)

fteü: answer (operand)

cel cesüti fteü = I expect (want/demand) an answer

cel kecoti fteü = I expect (think that will happen) an answer

Emotions and tones of voice
The operator "üto" means "A is said in an emotion/tone of voice B"

Example:

cel voboti sote = I'm eating an apple

cel voboti sotel ütoti sëco = I'm eating an apple (happy tone)

sëcol ütotsa cel voboti sote = I'm eating an apple (happy tone) (same sentence as before, but with a different word order)

cel voboti sotel ütoti xüxö = I'm eating an apple (sad tone)

ütoti sëco = (happy tone) (without saying anything) (it's therefore kinda like an exclamation of happiness)

sëcol ütots = (happy tone) (same thing as before, just with different order)

Meat
üjvü means "meat". As an operand, it just means "meat", as an operator, it means "meat of the animal A" (when nominalized).

For example, "zgego" means "chicken", so "zgegol üjvük" means "chicken meat". With the reverse order it would be "üjvüxi zgego".

Habitual aspect
bëtü as an operator is the habitual aspect. Added to a sentence (A), it indicates habituality.

cel voboti sote = I eat an apple (note: tense/aspect is actually unspecified here, the meaning may vary according to the context, and it can indeed be habitual as well)

cel voboti sotel bëtüt = I habitually eat apples

bëtütsa cel voboti sote = I habitually eat apples (same sentence as before, with different word order)

Topic marker
opto, as an operator, is a topic marker. It broadly means "A (as opposed to B)". For example (tëje means "orange"). In English, this meaning is usually achieved through tone/stress/emphasis, while the sentence stays the same.

cel vobota sotel optot = I eat an apple (as opposed to something else)

cel vobota optotsi sote = I eat an apple (as opposed to something else) (same sentence as before but with different order)

cel vobota sotel optoti tëje = I eat an apple (as opposed to an orange)

cel optoti voboti sote = I (as opposed to someone else) eat an apple

Vocative
"vo" is an operator that means "B is something that is said to A".

Examples ("tete" means "mom").

tetel vota cel sëcot = "Mom, I'm happy!"

cel sëcoti votsi tete = "I'm happy, mom!"

tetel vot = "Mom!"

votsi tete = "Mom!" (same as before, just with different order)

Syntax
Lili has a SVO word order, and the only exception is that SOV is allowed if and only if the object is a pronoun. Example:

cel füsoti je = I hug you (SVO order)

ce = A (operand) = I

füso(t) = (operator, verbal) = hug

je = B (operand) = you

The reason why SOV is allowed when the object is a pronoun is that personal pronouns, when operands, mean "A (subject) does B (verb) to the operator"

E.g.

cel jeti füso = I hug you (SOV order)

ce = A (operand) = I

je(t) = (operator, verbal) = you

füso = B (operand) = hug