Thread: The ConLang Game

Okay, this is a "test" of Doomspeak, using semi-random syllables allowed within its phonology.

Formal word order is Subject, Object, Verb. However there exist grammatical cases which modify nouns and may free up word order in conversational speech. These cases are similar to adpositions, and in English (which does not use case except in personal pronouns) only exist as phrases dependant upon word order, i.e. "as a shark", "for the shark", "because of the shark".

The language is nominative-accusative. If you don't know what that means, it shouldn't be much of a problem, because most languages are nominative-accusative.

Rules of transliteration into Roman script:
Syllables are separated by apostraphes ('). Affixes are separated from the root word by hyphens.

There are no articles in the language.

Nouns:

Nouns may be modified with prefixes or clitics which mark the grammatical case to which it belongs. If no case is marked (as in informal speech), then word order governs, again in the form Subject, Object, Verb. The basic cases are as follows:

Nominative/subjective case: kal- (Marks the subject of a transitive or intransitive verb)
Accusative/objective case: vorg- (Marks the direct object of a transitive verb)
Dative/oblique case: zhae- (Marks the indirect object of a transitive verb)
Genitive case: kus- (Marks the noun as possessing an inherent or permanent quality, that quality being the noun preceeding that marked by this case)
Possessive case: guz- (Marks the noun as owning or possessing an object or temporary non-personal quality, that object/quality being the noun preceeding that marked by this case)
Locative case: kIr- (Marks the noun as being the location something is done at)
Inessive case: khorz- (Marks the noun as being what something is done inside of)
Subessive case: za- (Marks the noun as being what something is done below)
Superessive case: ta- (Marks the noun as being what something is done above)
Elative case: kag- (Marks the noun as being what something is done outside of or with motion outside of)
Lative case: ghork- (Marks the noun as being what something is done with motion into)
Casual case: lek- (Marks the noun as being the cause of something)

These aren't all of the cases present, but they suffice for this example.

book - ghul
groceries - ka'thak'shar
illness - a'dun'vek
library - rash'ghul

special temporal noun - dha*

*The temporal noun acts as a time marker (standing for 'now') for the clause and may be modified as a location would be.

To be 'at' now means to be in the immediate present.
To be 'below' now means to be in the past.
To be 'above' now means to be in the future.
To be 'out of' now means to be within the immediate future.
To be 'into' now means to be within the immediate past.

Nouns are made plural with a suffix of -ras.

Pronouns:
1st Person - kI
2nd Person - gI
3rd Person - lI

Adjectives:
Adjectives come immediately after the nouns they modify.
public - kau'dha'lan

Verbs:
Verbs are assumed to be in present simple tense, unless affixed with a temporal prefix

preterit - thae-
future - khan-

to be able - vok
to return - vel'na'ga
to shop - dzhak
to walk - rhuk

Syntax:

The particle kath opens a clause dependent upon the clause in which it is opened, gath closes the clause. Any open clauses end with the end of a sentence.
The opening particle thul indicates that the clause is in the negative.

Here is the text to be decoded:

kal-kI ghork-rash'ghul thae-rhuk kath vorg-ghul guz-Vel'ka thae-vel'na'ga. thul kal-lI lek-a'dun'vek guz-lI thae-vok. ta-dha kal-kI lek-ka'thak'shar-ras khan-dzhak.