gin Hob basic info

[rodlox]

Just some basic information on a language called gin Hob, which might find its way into some fanfics, if I'm lucky.


Until I develop this further, the best name for these people and their language is gin Hob. I got the idea for how to handle the noun classes from an example of a nearly-extinct Australian language in the book "Spoken Here".

I got the Tagalog alphabet from a book teaching the language to non-Tagalog speakers.

My aim is to flesh this out enough to use it in a scene or two of a story, not for daily conversation between me and friends.

=====

Culture sheet:
society name: gin Hob
location: gin Hob mororap ("the gin Hop Three," for the three islands), central Pacific Ocean.
system of government: monarchy

principal languages: gin Hop, English, Japanese

CV(C)C + (V(C)C) - words
CV(C)C+(V(C)C) + V - words + number specifier.
CVC_ - noun classes
_CV - specifiers
VCV - verb
VCV(C(V)C)) - verb + modifier

gin Hob phones:
<. a e i o u .>
<. b k d g h l m n ng p r s t w y .>
/. a e i o u ./
/. b k d g h l m n N p r s t w y ./

Constraints:
No doubling of the same letter.
not word-initial:
n, t, y, b
not word-final:
ng, r, s, y, h
(note: these go out the window for a few borrowings, which will be mentioned)

consonant clusters:
{likely a borrowing}
/kst/ can also be /sk/ without changing the word's meaning.

false dipthongs:
= /a.i/ = =
= /a.i/ = =

Classes:
bel - goes from amorphous to solid {ie, mud bricks}, some fish
dow - most animals
gin - person
hes - solid
ken - liquid, some fish
par - perception
por - insubstantial {air, concepts, etc}
wim - cooked

Loans:
baka (rendered into an isolate: rather than "baka<>", it is "baka_wy_<>")
-> daka (variant)

Glossary:
desen = dead, death
-> dow desen = dead animal
-> dow desenrein = a dead animal strung up

deyendim = we give to

gin gestet = a wiser man {than I}

gowown = cave

hatasayt = flattish
-> bel hatasayt = ray, skate
-> par hatasayt = hard to see

gin heperin = foreigner
gin goyim heperin = foreigner

hopargin = communiality, kinship-feeling
-> hoparginrien = brother

howim = warmth

ken miyayhep = eel
wim miyayhep = cooked eel

naip = not, no

hes ngirorit = bullet {in someone}
-> hes ngoriritreif = the bullet is moving
-> par ngirorit = wants, moves for
-> por ngirorit = bullet {in flight}

ngunab -> dow ngnunab = tuna {word borrowing}

talsal - I could...
-> talsalnaip = I could not...

Changes For Foreign Words:
y- for vowel-initial words.
j- for consonant-initial masculine words.
w- for consonant-initial feminine words.

-----
some other translations:
agat birsi = tumbling-down stones
agatn birsi = rapidly-tumbling-down stones
ugar naw = water flowing downhill

one stone = birsu
handful of stones = birsi
many stones = birsa

Now, while birsa ge implies that the speaker will not count how many stones there are, birsa be implies that the speaker can not count how many stones there are.

Now, most (if not all) pronouns are tucked into verbs...ie,
ema = I
ematk = I did
emesk = I and they did
ematr = I do

I hit him.
hit . I do - against (-) him*
umet . ematp.pu

I punched him very hard.
umetik . ematp.pu
hit-very . I do against him

or...
umetik . ematp . pu
hit-very . I do against . him

* = not sure if "against him" is one word or a compound word of its own.

replying to a sig in a forum:
Ik irema padr-naip sos (ema).
Ik . irema . padr-naip . sos . (ema).
Very . she & my . steal/stole - not . milk . (my).
She didn't steal _my_ milk! {in reference to former PM Thatcher}

translating Goethe:
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." This gave me some trouble, so I split it in two:

Willing is not enough; we must do
Naidamat ikngey por hesyenbah***; ik wu-ematr ik.
Naidamat . ik.ngey . por_hesyenbah; ik . wu-ematr . ik.
insufficient . very-is . to be desiring; very . we do . very.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply
naidamat ik.ngey por liomngit; ik bel wu ematr ik.
naidamat* . ik.ngey . por_li.omngit; ik . bel_wu_ematr . ik.
insufficient . very-is . knowledge**; very . we do . very

now, is bel a good class for this? after all, it contains things going from liquid to solid, just as when one applies, it goes from concept to object.

on one hand, if I include bel, then wu can stay in place...if I omit bel, then wu needs to jump to the other side and become ematr_wu instead.

* = from naipamat, same meaning.
** = from li.omngit = to be knowing.
*** = from hesyenbah = to be desiring.

and, from Aleco:
Saueøyaeier
Owner of the island of the sheep
gownatm yseep gin daskam-a-padrit
gownatm . yseep . gin_daskam-a-padrit
island . of sheep . owner - holding sway.

...or...

gownatm myam nekstema-ot yseep gin dakstam
gownatm . myam_nekstema-ot . yseep . gin_dakstam
owner of the island enveloped (overrun) by sheep

-----
some other translations:
agat birsi = tumbling-down stones
agatn birsi = rapidly-tumbling-down stones
ugar naw = water flowing downhill