I have an admission. I... am a conlanger. I have been for seven years, but no-one knows. Tolkein called conlanging "a secret vice", though as an historical linguist he should have had no reason to hide it. It's perceived that people who make up languages are either strange twins or just strange. Tolkein went on to write one of the most popular literary series in history which gave his hobby some respect, even though hardly anyone knows the books were written as a cultural backdrop for the languages.
My own impetus for conlanging came after joining NationStates and wishing to adopt the trappings of a genuine foreign country - which, most blatantly to me as an English speaker, would be a different language. The only foreign language I have the slightest education in is French, and unfortunately that education is very very slight. So it occurred to me that if I could not speak competently in French nor any other language, then I could cheat by creating my own. By building my own language from the ground up I would have to understand it. Of course, an English-speaking conlanger's first language is always an English cypher. As a grammatical clone of English but with a different vocabulary list, I didn't miss my first attempt much when my Aptiva died in 2004.
It wasn't until October 2006 that I got back into it delving much deeper into grammar, but by Summer 2008 I had decided to scrap it and restart a posteriori from Proto-Indo-European (PIE). That was a shortcut so I didn't have to generate a root list (though there are word generators online now), and I could concentrate on directing phonological and grammatical changes from PIE into a 'weird sister' daughter language. Straying outside the norms of Standard Average European (SAE) is also a good learning tool for concepts that are not common in the fairly bland languages of Europe. Ergativity is often the first step outside for a conlanger. As such, I've incorporated some anti-SAE features including semantic split-ergativity, lack of phonemic voicing distinction, pre-glottalised plosives (from Glottalic Theory), and a vertical vowel system (/a ə/). These would be areal features from languages in the (North) Caucuses, if not some of the less-traditional reconstructions of PIE. Whilst the sound changes progress through history, the reconstructed nominal and verbal morphologies have been a-historically levelled. Much of the information on these intricacies is hard to find (for free). As such, the morphology can drastically diverge from expected forms.
At some point yet to be (specifically) decided, the language and its speakers would migrate out of the Caucuses. To anchor it somewhere and soak up some different areal features, I decided to place it in the Northern Balkans either South of the Carpathians, or within a valley in the Carpathian Mountains. This allows me to name it, drawing on the PIE roots *sker (1) 'cut' or (2) 'turn/bend' and *n-dher 'under'; yielding the ethnonym 'Skerender' (Skerędr / Скерядр [ˈskəɾə̃dɹ]) meaning either 'deep in the cut' (ie, valley) or 'South of the Bend', and thus 'Tongue/Language of the Skerender' (Skrędrés Dągueh / Скрядре́с Дѫгуех [skɾə̃dˈɾəs ˈtãguəx]).
Because of the ephemeral nature of a conlang in development (no language ever stops changing) I rarely post samples and this one will probably be dated by the time I post it. Translations are extremely time consuming especially when you aren't a fluent speaker of your conlang - ironic, given what I said about necessarily understanding what only you know. However, I occasionally like to see it 'in print' and make the effort to bring it all together. So here's my shot at the traditional text Schleicher's Fable...
English:
(0) On a hill, a sheep that had no wool saw horses,
(1) one of them pulling a heavy wagon,
(2) one carrying a big load,
(3) and one carrying a man quickly.
(4) The sheep said to the horses:
(5) "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses".
(6) The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this:
(7) a man makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself.
(8) And the sheep has no wool".
(9) Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
Gloss:
(0) hill.LOC-SG / NEG wool.STAT.3PS-PASS sheep.ABS-SG see{DUR}.DERIV-AOR.3PS-PASS horse.DAT-PL
(1) one.ABS heavy.ACC-SG pull.PRES-ACT-PARTIC.ACC-SG pull{DUR}.PAST.3PS-ACT
(2) one.ABS load.ACC-SG big.ACC-SG carry{DUR}.PAST.3PS-ACT
(3) AND one.ABS man.ACC-SG quick.ADV carry{DUR}.PAST.3PS-ACT
(4) DEF-sheep.ABS-SG to say{AOR}.AOR.3PS-ACT DEF-horse.ACC-PL
(5) 1PS.GEN 1PS.ABS heart.ERG-SG pain{DUR}.PRES.3PS-PASS
see~know{AOR}.AOR.1PS-PASS man.ABS drive{DUR}.PRES.3PS-ACT horse.ACC-PL
(6) DEF-horse.ABS-PL speak{AOR}.AOR.3PS-ACT / listen.IMP sheep.VOC-SG /
1PP-GEN heart.ERG-PL 1PS.ABS pain{DUR}.PRES.3PP-PASS see~know.PRES-ACT-PARTIC that
(7) man.ABS-SG order{AOR}.CAUS.3PS-PASS sheep.GEN-SG wool.INS-SG warm{ADJ}-ACC-SG clothe.INST.ACC-SG REFL-DAT
(8) THEN wool{ADJ}.ABS-SG sheep.ABS-SG NOT is{DUR}.PAST.3PS-ACT
(9) hear.PRET-ACT-PARTIC this, DEF-sheep.ABS-SG flee{AOR}.AOR.3PS-ACT plain.DAT-SG
Traditional PIE (with levelled morphology):
(0) bhergh-éi / ne H2wlH1neH2-eH1-á H3éwi-0 de-derk-á H3H1ekéu-mei
(1) sem-0 gWérH2-n wegh-ant-n wégh-e
(2) sem-0 kélH2-n bhér-e
(3) de sem-0 H2nér-n gWei bhér-e
(4) a_H3éwi-0 H1ad wekW-e a_H3H1ekéu-in
(5) méme kérd-s me-0 kWejneH2-ár / weid-H2á H1ég-sei H3H1ekéu-in
(6) a_H3H1ekéu-t sekW-ne / kleu-dhéi H3èwi-0 / nsám kerd-H2 nes kWejneH2-jár weid-ánt sa
(7) H2nér-0 H2erH1-eje-á H3ewi-és H2wlH1neH2-es gWher-n wés-tra-n sWei
(8) H1e_H2wlH1neH2-0 H3ewi-0 ne H1és-e
(9) kleu-wát ta, a_H3ewi-0 bhéug-e plat-éi
After Sound Changes, Skerender Latin orthography:
(0) Berkei, n'ulęhea howy dêterga hogeuňe:
(1) są gorhę ukądę wek,
(2) są gelhę ber,
(3) de są nern goi ber.
(4) Ahowy at wegf ahogeuję:
(5) "mą gerrts me gyęhar, wŷtha êkše hogeuję."
(6) Ahoget seguę: glutei hòwy, ęsą gerrthe nes gyęhjar wŷtąt sa:
(7) "ner herria ujés welęhs gorn wesdrę soi
(8) e welęh howy ne es."
(9) Gluwat da, ahowy beûk beldei
Skerender IPA transcription:
(0) pəɾkˈkəi nə‿uɫə̃xəˈʔa ˈxʷəʋɨ təːttəɾˈka xʷəˈkəumɲə
(1) sã ˈkʷəɾxə̃ ʔəkˈkãtə̃ ˈʋəkk
(2) sã ˈkəɫxə̃ ˈpəɾ
(3) tə sã ˈnəɾn kʷəi ˈpəɾ
(4) ʔa‿ˈxʷəʋɨ ʔatt ʋəkʷ ʔa‿xʷəˈkəujə̃
(5) mã ˈkəɾɾtts mə kɥə̃ˈxaɾ ʋɨːttˈxa ˈʔəːkkʃə xʷəˈkəujə̃
(6) ˈʔa‿xʷəˈkətt ˈsəkʷə̃ klutˈtəi xʷə̆ʋɨ ə̃sã kəɾɾttxə nəs kɥə̃xˈjaɾ ʋɨːtˈtãtt sa
(7) nəɾ xəɾɾiˈʔá ʔəˈjəs ˈʋəɫə̃xs ˈkʷəɾn ˈʋəstɾə̃ sʷəi
(8) ʔə‿ˈʋəɫə̃x ˈxʷəʋɨ nə ˈʔəs
(9) kluˈʋatt ta, ʔa‿ˈxʷəʋɨ ˈpəuːkk pəɫˈtəi
Perhaps I should add an audio recording.
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