Lady’s Gitweb - Langdev/blob - README.markdown

   1 # The Langdev Repository
   2
   3 This repository forms a monorepo of linguistic information and data
   4 pertaining to languages developed by [Lady][] under the cognomen of
   5 Project Langdev. An overview of these languages follows :—
   6
   7 ## Languages of Current Interest
   8
   9 ### The Jastu‐Sevensi Languages
  10
  11 **Language code:** `art-x-jsv` (use a more specific code if possible)
  12
  13 #### Preclassical Sevensi
  14
  15 **Language code:** `art-x-xjs`
  16
  17 Preclassical Sevensi is the earliest form of the Sevensi language,
  18 based upon the words and grammars of Pre–Jastu‐Sevensi (described
  19 below). Its vocabulary is limited and highly-productive, and its
  20 grammar is comparatively simple and straightforward. It exists as a
  21 basis for Classical Sevensi, and is not intended to be a complete and
  22 usable language in its own right.
  23
  24 #### Classical Sevensi
  25
  26 **Language code:** `art-x-osv`
  27
  28 Classical Sevensi is an early language intended to be fully usable for
  29 the creation of sophisticated works. Its phonology and grammar, while
  30 developed from Preclassical Sevensi, are significantly more complex.
  31
  32 #### Modern Sevensi
  33
  34 **Language code:** `art-x-svi`
  35
  36 Modern Sevensi is, to a significant extent, a simplification of
  37 Classical Sevensi aimed at being easy to learn and use.
  38
  39 ## Historical Language Efforts
  40
  41 These languages are considered “noncanonical”, meaning that they are
  42 not taken to comprise part of the fictional history of Langdev
  43 languages and should not be attested in new works.
  44
  45 ### The “7c” Languages
  46
  47 These languages were developed by [Lady][] while she was in high
  48 school. Work on these languages had probably begun by 2009 and
  49 definitely by 2010, and ceased sometime in 2012 in favour of the
  50 successor Jastugay language. Later, these languages were incorporated
  51 into the starting lexicon for Pre–Jastu‐Sevensi, which forms the basis
  52 of Preclassical Sevensi as described above.
  53
  54 The 7c languages share a common feature of being developed iteratively
  55 from an extremely small starting base. Each iteration was assigned a
  56 number; for Eho the numbers range from Ⅰ–ⅠⅤ, for Elrex from Ι–ⅤⅠ, and
  57 for Jastulae from Ι–ⅤⅠⅠⅠ. Project Langdev makes no claims as to whether
  58 this was a good or practical way to develop a language.
  59
  60 #### Eho
  61
  62 **Language code:** `art-x-eho`
  63
  64 The Eho language had the smallest starting lexicon of the 7c languages,
  65 with just two words. Only four iterations were completed, at which time
  66 the final lexis was still only 15 words.
  67
  68 The name “Eho” is derived from “East Hope”, an English exonym for the
  69 fictional location from which the language was thought to originate.
  70 The name was only used in supplemental materials; in actual language
  71 documentation the symbol <i lang="zxx">□</i> was used instead.
  72
  73 #### Elrex
  74
  75 **Language code:** `art-x-lrx`
  76
  77 The Elrex language was highly onomatopœic, with a large number of
  78 vowels and a lexicon which tended to deal in feelings or emotions. Five
  79 iterations were completed; the sixth was started but never finished.
  80
  81 The name “Elrex” derives from the pronunciation of “Lrex”, itself an
  82 abbreviated form of “Lendrex” ⟨< PIE <i lang="ine-x-proto">\*lendʰ</i>
  83 “land” + <i lang="ine-x-proto">\*h₃rḗǵs</i> “king”⟩, an exonym for the
  84 fictional location from which the language was thought to originate.
  85
  86 #### Jastulae
  87
  88 **Language code:** `art-x-jtl`
  89
  90 Jastulae is the most advanced of the 7c languages, developed through
  91 eight full iterations and, in its final form, consisting of a
  92 substantial lexis and rudimentary grammar. It is the only 7c language
  93 to have an endonym; the word <i lang="art-x-jtl-0008">jāsto͡olæ</i> in
  94 Jastulae ⅤⅠⅠⅠ means “speaking people”. Prior to the development of this
  95 word, the language was known vernacularly by the name <i>Trustian</i>,
  96 and in documentation by the symbol <i lang="zxx">⊻</i>.
  97
  98 ### Jastugay
  99
 100 **Language code:** `art-x-jst`; historically also `x-XX-jt`
 101
 102 Jastugay, natively written <i>Jästugā</i>, was a refinement and
 103 expansion of Jastulae ⅤⅠⅠⅠ (described above). The boundary between the
 104 two is somewhat fuzzy; Jastugay is distinguished by having a more
 105 refined grammatical system even as it shares much of the same
 106 vocabulary. Work on this language primarily occurred in 2012 and 2013.
 107
 108 Only one text in Jastugay was ever produced: a short snippet of story
 109 titled <cite lang="art-x-jst">Pə dätzē āʒo dāʒo</cite>. This text
 110 notably does not line up precisely with the language as documented and
 111 likely predates several innovations, placing it somewhere on the
 112 boundary between the Jastulae and Jastugay dialects.
 113
 114 ### Pre–Jastu‐Sevensi
 115
 116 **Language code:** `art-x-jsv-0009`
 117
 118 Pre–Jastu‐Sevensi forms the foundation for all of the Jastu‐Sevensi
 119 languages. It was developed starting in 2015 by refining Jastugay and
 120 incorporating aspects of the other 7c languages.
 121
 122 The version of this language which is actually “attested” is known as
 123 Preclassical Sevensi (see above); development on Pre–Jastu‐Sevensi is
 124 now frozen.
 125
 126 ## Rights & Licence
 127
 128 The contents of this repository are marked with [CC0 1.0](./COPYING)
 129 and released by their author into the public domain.
 130
 131 [Lady]: https://www.ladys.computer/about/#lady