Author Topic: A Fictional Language Introduction... (Read 8030 times)

K2 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 09, 2019, 09:56:36 AM »

Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM

Isn't this already true for English? Are you trying to differentiate your spelling? (Note that there is a big difference in doubled consonants in spelling vs. pronunciation: in spelling they mostly serve to indicate that the preceding vowel is short, which is an odd consequence of the history of English spelling.)

No and yes, hehe... I'm not 'trying' to differentiate my spelling, my goal here is to...

Here I must explain a little (what I'm trying to do). To aid everyone within the story to become fluent and literate in this new language, no matter their original language or level of education, words are pronounced and spelled as similarly as possible. Perhaps I'm using the term wrong, but might it be 'phonetically?' (using P-say spelling conventions).

English is not straight forward in that regard (like most other languages). It works, yet takes time to learn... The pastoral residents of CASE have not read or written anything in close to a decade (all the books/literature is gone, bluntly, eaten, burned or used to wipe their backside). The government has done all they can to continually dumb down the masses. They do not hear English except from those around them that speak it... and as discussed, as slang and intermingling of languages increases, proper English decreases. In the story, it's critical that the people find a common language to communicate, and that the written word is understood.

____________________

You continue with the point I suppose to some degree... "there is a big difference...in spelling vs. pronunciation." If a letter is not pronounced, generating a distinct sound, it is eliminated (in the P-say spelling). As an obvious example; 'e' at the end of the word makes the preceding vowel a long-vowel. In P-say, that designating 'e' is removed, and all long vowels are doubled (like the word 'seen') So, case = caas, same = saam, these = thees (though th is not used in P-say).

Back to identical double consonants, in P-say, if it is not pronounced, it is not written. So;

Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM

...in spelling they mostly serve to indicate that the preceding vowel is short, which is an odd consequence of the history of English spelling.

In P-say, the 'indicating consonant (double)' is eliminated. Typically = typicaly. Further, if the unstressed (short) vowel is not typically pronounced in lax/casual conversation, it would also be eliminated. Typically > typicaly > typicly... once into P-say pronunciation spellings: Tipiclee > may/may-not be further elided > tipclee.

Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM

Technically "elided" here would seem to refer to the whole word (=omitted), rather than, e.g. 'parts of the words are elided'. "The words undergo elision" is another way to phrase that, but not necessarily transparent for the reader. Something simpler like "some sounds are lost in the middle of words" would be fine of course.

Noted. I see what you're saying about my phrasing.
Perhaps something summed up as 'words are spelled as they are pronounced,' might work?

Since we're using it: spelled > speled > speld... Though speakers may/may-not use standard tense suffixes in conversation/orally (ed, er, ing, ly), when written, the word "spel (spe'l)" would likely be used, tense determined by context.

Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM

Why not just say that all unstressed vowels are eliminated? Is that correct?

That is more to the point, although at this point, I need to review my current vocabulary and determine if that is consistent in all cases, or, if it should be randomly applied (unstressed vowels I'm sensing is a 'gray range.' Meaning, just because it is unstressed, does not determine whether it is pronounced or not... though I don't state that as a fact, I'm still learning).

Thanks again!

K2

Daniel · « **Reply #16 on:** December 10, 2019, 12:58:31 AM »

Quote from: K2 on December 09, 2019, 09:56:36 AM

Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM
Isn't this already true for English? Are you trying to differentiate your spelling? (Note that there is a big difference in doubled consonants in spelling vs. pronunciation: in spelling they mostly serve to indicate that the preceding vowel is short, which is an odd consequence of the history of English spelling.)

No and yes, hehe... I'm not 'trying' to differentiate my spelling, my goal here is to...

To clarify, I meant that it seemed like you were describing/highlighting differences, but that your description also sounded similar to current English spelling, so I was suggesting clarification.

Quote

Here I must explain a little (what I'm trying to do). To aid everyone within the story to become fluent and literate in this new language, no matter their original language or level of education, words are pronounced and spelled as similarly as possible. Perhaps I'm using the term wrong, but might it be 'phonetically?' (using P-say spelling conventions).

Right, that makes sense. You could say the spelling system has 'lost irregular spellings' and been simplified. The key word from an analytical perspective would be regular (consistent) spelling, rather than lots of exceptions.
The phrase 'spelled phonetically' is widely used but somewhat misleading. Spelling is inherently arbitrary, so there's no inherent logical way to represent sounds as symbols. But English spelling is one more step removed: it's irregular/inconsistent. Generally a "phonetic" orthography is understood to be one that lacks ambiguity either for how to spell a word, or how to pronounce a spelling. The simplest scenario is a one-to-one mapping from sounds (phonemes) to letters. Few languages actually reach that level of simplicity. One example that comes close is Swahili, except for a few digraphs like "ch", but it's entirely consistent without any exceptions at all. It's easy to spell and easy to read. I can read Swahili out loud without any idea what I'm saying but still pronouncing everything correctly (or close enough with my learner's accent). Spanish and some other European languages are also close to this, but do have some minimal ambiguity like "b" vs. "v" or "ll" vs. "y" (and "z" vs. "c" in Latin America), as well as the silent letter "h". At the extreme of irregularity is English and a few other languages.
Now another problem with the assumption of "phonetic" spelling is that you're still basing the general principles on the English system. As a linguist, I'm trained to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent sounds (it's an ideal one-to-one mapping system, for all of the speech sounds of the world, obviously with many more than 26 letters!), and that seems like the obvious default to me now. It's essentially an expanded version of Latin (or general European) spelling, which differs from English especially in the vowels: e.g. the vowels of the alphabet "A E I O U" are pronounced in Spanish as "ah, eh, ee, oh, ooh". So in that sense, you're probably still using English principles for your spelling (rather than some abstract "phonetic" variant), and in fact you probably need to do that in order to not entirely lose your readers. (English speakers, in contrast to basically everyone else in the world, have the odd notion that "e" is pronounced "ee" instead of "eh"! -- only the few of us who end up studying linguistics find out just how weird this way of thinking is from a comparative perspective: the historical explanation is complicated, but goes back to a major pronunciation shift just before Shakespeare's time, called the Great Vowel Shift-- English vowels used to be 'normal' but then shifted a lot). Anyway, that's a long tangent, but gives some context to why this is a slightly complicated issue. Regardless, you should be able to explain it intuitively to your readers by talking about regularity/consistency. And, yes, if you want "phonetic" spelling since your readers will understand it that way even though it's a bit of a myth. Mostly you're just doing away with all of the quirks that make English spelling unique.

Quote

You continue with the point I suppose to some degree... "there is a big difference...in spelling vs. pronunciation." If a letter is not pronounced, generating a distinct sound, it is eliminated (in the P-say spelling). As an obvious example; 'e' at the end of the word makes the preceding vowel a long-vowel. In P-say, that designating 'e' is removed, and all long vowels are doubled (like the word 'seen') So, case = caas, same = saam, these = thees (though th is not used in P-say).

There's a complicated technical issue here, relating to the Great Vowel Shift that I mentioned in a tangent above. English does not have a true long/short distinction in vowels. We say that, but the situation is much messier than in other languages. In languages like Arabic or Finnish or even Italian, long vowels are just pronounced... longer. Some languages represented these as doubled vowels in the spelling, because that makes sense. English used to do this to some degree as well. Again, that makes sense. But that was before the Great Vowel Shift, which actually specifically only affected the long vowels. At that time, they were just longer. But now, they're different sounds (as well as longer). In other words, "bet" is pronounced today roughly like it would have been before the Great Vowel Shift. But "beet" is now pronounced like "biit" would have been pronounced before. Instead, "beet" would have originally been pronounced more like "bait" today. (If you know any other European languages, you'll have an intuitive sense of this mapping.)
So you're welcome to take some creative license as the author of the book and call these "long" and "short" vowels as we think of them in English today (we're just retaining that idea from before, even though they're now very different sounds!). But it doesn't seem that plausible to me that in the future English spelling would represent "long" vowels with these same symbols but doubled, because there's no sound-based correspondence between the single-vowel and double-vowel pronunciations then. In short, you'd be inheriting a weird quirk of English into a 'simplified' system where that wouldn't necessarily be intuitive. It's entirely possible some English speakers would be attached to the idea of "e" making an "eeee" sound and actually might suggest this, but at the very least it's not just simple doubling length and doubling spelling. Again, though, you might need to do this in order to avoid confusing your readers! This is tricky.

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Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM
Technically "elided" here would seem to refer to the whole word (=omitted), rather than, e.g. 'parts of the words are elided'. "The words undergo elision" is another way to phrase that, but not necessarily transparent for the reader. Something simpler like "some sounds are lost in the middle of words" would be fine of course.

Noted. I see what you're saying about my phrasing.
Perhaps something summed up as 'words are spelled as they are pronounced,' might work?

Yes, that's the simplest way to convey the idea to your readers. (Again the same issue as above for "phonetic" spelling applies, but it would be clear what you mean regardless.)

Quote

Quote from: Daniel on December 09, 2019, 08:29:37 AM
Why not just say that all unstressed vowels are eliminated? Is that correct?

That is more to the point, although at this point, I need to review my current vocabulary and determine if that is consistent in all cases, or, if it should be randomly applied (unstressed vowels I'm sensing is a 'gray range.' Meaning, just because it is unstressed, does not determine whether it is pronounced or not... though I don't state that as a fact, I'm still learning).

Yes, there is a range of variation. Vowel reduction is on a continuum from the stressed, "long" sounds, to the "lax" "short" sounds, to schwa, and then to loss of the vowel. (Note that sometimes we also add vowels, via a process known as 'epenthesis', thus epenthetic vowels, when words get hard to pronounce because of complex consonant clusters, so don't go too far with the "simplification" or it might become unnatural, at least to English ears. Some other languages out there like Berber languages or Georgian can have much more complex consonant clusters than English, practically to the point where some words don't seem to have vowels at all, or at least many syllables, but that isn't the effect you're going for I don't think.)

In the end, one of the most important points I can emphasize for you is that it was a major discovery in the study of historical linguistics (i.e. how languages change) that sound change is regular. When a particular sound changes in some way in one word, then it also should change the same way in another word. This is how we can work out how languages are related. For example, you'll find a correspondence between "p" in Latin (etc.) and "f" in German (etc.), so that for example English "fish" and Spanish "pes" are related. (Lots more can be learned by looking up Grimm's Law if you'd like, and by the way, yes, that Grimm, one of the brothers who wrote the fairy tales too.) That's all fairly technical, but the point is that sounds don't often shift randomly. The rules can be very specific, such as changing a sound one way at the beginning of a syllable and another way at the end, or even adding in whether it's a stressed syllable, and so forth, or what the neighboring sounds are. But in the end, these changes apply consistently. So when in doubt, try to apply the changes consistently across words.

However, there is a distinction to be made in the scenario you describe: abrupt change via complex mixing, rather than typical slow sound change transmitted all via uninterrupted generations of native speakers. So some inconsistency could fit in well with your story. There's also a trick you can use as the author, which is that you can spell words in a way that may seem more intuitive for the reader, even if that's inconsistent across words or even sentences/speakers/writers, all in the name of showing some inconsistency in usage/spelling, but then also as a bonus allowing for easier comprehension. What I mean then is that you could maintain some relatively transparent relationship with current English, never allowing any sentences in the book to be too hard to understand, even if in principle they should vary more than that. On the other hand, you've said the spelling should be clear and standard to allow for consistent communication. So it's up to you, but you have some options. (In principle, this could even be a plot point, with some more anarchist spellers leading an orthographic rebellion to express their identity. Something we haven't really gotten into in this discussion yet is the central role that language and especially variation play in presenting one's identity: this is a main reason why teenagers speak like their peers and why that way isn't the same as how adults speak. In intense political situations similar factors would apply, as well as the counter-force of some speakers trying to sound 'standard' or blend in so that the government (etc.) doesn't notice them. Do they want to stand out? Remain unnoticed? It can become a plot point if you want.)

K2 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 10, 2019, 08:31:16 AM »

Daniel, thank you for taking the time it must require to answer each of my inconsequential points (it is a fictional story after all) in such detail. Just as I already have your previous posts, and will do again, I'll be reading over this last post numerous times hoping to glean all I can from it.

I believe it is important to remember, and why I made it the lead point in my introduction, that P-say uses American English as the lexifier. That allows me to use English words and with a bit of simplification, integrate those words to even complete thoughts as a word into the language. I'm not trying to generate some vastly different or new language. I'm simply trying to present my 'best guess' as to how American English might change to accommodate many different language speakers' limitations.

Perhaps the most encouraging response I've had to it was through my alpha-readers as they read over the original story. Some stated they wanted easy access translations, others didn't preferring to work to understand it. All, however, laughed about "how I made them stupider." Stupider in that after a short while, they all began to understand what was being said in P-say and Sowfee-say passages.

In those passages of dialogue, there is a LOT of 'telegraphic speech, code-switching, and elided English words.' However, since the characters all speak English to some degree, conversational English clause/sentence phrasing 'order' is retained. Why change it? It wouldn't be true to the origins of the language. The only significant difference being... all question sentences begin with the word 'po.' Po, ya' yacha wut mi say'n?

In any case, your point regarding vowel naming conventions is exactly why in my appendix I've changed what particular vowel types are called. I don't want someone to apply preconceived notions as to how vowel/consonant sounds, orders, etc., should be applied. I aid that by using American English best guess pronunciations in the manuscript spellings (IOW, I want a reader to infer how the word sounds easily). Only later (if they wish) they can see how that translates into a P-say spelling... naturally, already having a direct example in the glossary:
Pessy – Pesee – pretty

As you might imagine, I'll be taking what I have learned here from you and apply it in a simplified fashion (mostly for myself) to the introduction, rules and ultimately the vocabulary. Fortunately, I do have a hedge for any subsequent criticism from readers to experts... This is a language just beginning its growth and evolution. It is expected to change, firm up, and formalize. Fortunately, that comes well after my 'Liberty Stumbled' series timeline is over.

Thank you again for your help! Once I've brought this appendix up to its beta-stage, I'll post it in this thread so you can see if I learned what you taught.

K2

K2 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 23, 2020, 11:05:45 AM »

Hi again all; after all your generous help, here is what I've come up with. It's rather involved, and I'm still working out the appendices chapter regarding P-bit, the pastoral alphabet, but due to your help this feels very good to me. Thanks again for your help (this is rather lengthy and involved, so you might wish to simply bypass the balance...glossary of words and definitions moved to a second post to fit the 20k word limit).

K2

A3. CASE Pastoral Pidgin Language and Primary Dialects
P-say : Peoples’ Language, Pastoral Pidgin
Sowfee-say : South Philadelphia (exclusive) Pastoral Dialect
CASE : Consolidated America Sanctuary East
RCFG : Restored Constitution Federal Government

Introduction: Pastoral Pidgin, colloquially ‘P-say,’ is a multicultural slang originating, evolving, and growing pidgin language, based on American English as the common lexifier. All ‘regional-specific CASE P-say dialects,’ derive from efforts to retain pre-Gathering regional or cultural slang and integrate it into P-say. Neither Pastoral Pidgin nor any of the regional CASE dialects make up a complete language vocabulary set.

The speaker’s native language remains the primary language for all users. Pastoral Pidgin and the varied slang dialects are spoken only if-or-when the speaker sees fit. Code-switching and telegraphic speech is typical—though inconsistent—among P-say users; but is in decline as the P-say language refines and grows. Within a single sentence, speakers may combine their native language, English (often elision modified), Pidgin English, P-say, and regional CASE dialects. Context, gesture, and personalized inflection are critical in conveying the implied meaning.

P-say and subsequently Sowfee-say, each originated in South Philadelphia’s, Sector-14. Once P-say took hold, pre-Gathering Philadelphia residents—residing in Sector-14—began integrating Philadelphian slang into P-say, to differentiate themselves from other residents, developing Sowfee-say. Other regional pastoral dialects followed suit.

Regional CASE P-say dialects include: Sowfee-say (South Philadelphia); V-tahk (New Venice (New York City)); Jeabe’ (New Jersey influenced areas); Bawlmar (Baltimore region); C-tahk/C-say/Chop/Carney (Homestead Capital (District of Columbia surrounding)); Smugs (various cultural or regional pre-Gathering dialects and slang still in use where a P-say direct replacement exists).

Regional-specific P-say dialects are all post-P-say variants. However, regional P-say dialect use is fading; gradually absorbed or replaced by universally accepted P-say as its vocabulary grows, the original population diminishes and dilutes through overwhelming diversity.

P-say and its varied regional-specific dialects became firmly entrenched in pastoral areas by G4. As pastoral residents’ exclusive use of English alloys with Pastoral Pidgin, their English vocabulary has rapidly declined, assisting the RCFG’s ‘Policy of Erasure’ efforts.

A3A. CASE Pastoral Pidgin to English Glossary (Introductory-G8)
P-say/Peep-say/Peep-speak/Pahksay : Peoples’ Language, Pastoral Pidgin

Notes (Reading Novel Dialogue/Speaking):
1. Shown P-say words are English spelling approximations (ESA) to aid pronunciation.
2. Shown dialogue punctuation follows English grammar rules (exceptions: see notes 6-8).
3. Context determines the specific word in translation.
4. English suffix modifiers (ESM) may be applied by the speaker and are used in the same manner (typically, ESM use is limited to novice P-say speakers).
4A. English suffix modifiers are discouraged when speaking P-say. Word compounding is preferred, with the modifying whole or partial word preceding the word modified. E.g.: bob = big, jumba = bigger, jumbob = biggest; up = height, bitty-up = low, bob-up = high; matya = mad, bitty-matya = little mad/upset.
5. An ‘s’ following a word (in ESA) makes the word plural or possessive in the same manner as English.
6. An apostrophe (when not used at the end of a word following a vowel) may denote a contraction or elision, soft-hyphen, phonic aid, or to differentiate one word from another (see’d = saw, not seed).
7. An apostrophe at the end of a word following a single vowel, softens the vowel (a’ = ah, e’ = eh, i’ = ih, o’ = oh (not oo/ew), u’ = uh) though is assumed, so rarely used except as noted.
8. The word ender of -ae’- is pronounced as a softened version of ‘ay’ or ‘ey.’ Hae’ = hey, not hay.
9. Compound words are used often and freely constructed by the speaker.
10. Numbers and numerals are verbalized the same as in English, or may be stated one digit at a time, or compounded. Ex.: three hundred seventy-nine = ko’jumba-ta’bob-to’; 3-7-9 = ko’-ta’-to’; 379 = ko’ta’to’.
11. Integrated non-P-say English words are often elided, typically using an apostrophe as a phonic aid or break point (elision).
12. Whole singular word or partial compound word exact reduplications are freely constructed as hyphenated compound words to denote emotional intensity. Context determines the implied meaning. E.g.: boda = please, boda-boda = begging please. Motya = mad, mot-motya = furious.
13. Telegraphic Speech (elimination of conjunctions and articles) is common and acceptable. Eg.: give me some food = feed mi bitty gese > give food = feed gese.

A3A. CASE Pastoral Pidgin to English Glossary (Advanced-G9)
P-say/Peep-say/Peep-speak/Pahksay : Peoples’ Language, Pastoral Pidgin

Notes (P-say Spelling and Punctuation, not used in Novel):
1. Pastoral residents write P-say only with P-bit. (see appendix: Liberty Stumbled-G10; A3B).
2. Regional-specific CASE P-say dialects are never written. When writing, a dialect user will always use P-say vocabulary replacements, rephrasing wording where required.
3. Capital and lowercase letter forms are not used in P-bit.
4. Words are compounded freely and may be written open, closed, or hyphenated at the writer’s discretion. Eg.: bab = big, bada = thank you, bab-bada = big thank you (thank you very much).
5. Whole or partial word exact reduplications are freely constructed as hyphenated compound words to denote emotional intensity. Context determines the implied meaning. The modifying reduplication will always precede the base word. E.g.: boda = please, boda-boda = begging please; Matya = mad, mat-matya = furious.
6. Suffix modifiers are limited and discouraged when writing P-say (exceptions: see rules C4 and C5). Hyphenated word compounding is preferred, with the modifying whole or partial word preceding the word modified. E.g.: bab = big, jumba = bigger, jumbab = biggest; up = height, bitee-up = low, bab-up = high.
7. Apostrophes are only used as a vowel type designator (VTD) (exception: see rule-8). In most writing, VTDs are not used, the word pronunciation known. However, VTD use is never discouraged as long as it is applied consistently throughout a written work.
8. When writing any language other than P-say in P-bit, that language’s spelling and grammar conventions are used (exceptions: see rule-9, only P-bit punctuation marks are used).
9. Code switching (using more than one language in a sentence) is permissible. Rule-8 is applied to only the non-P-say words. Sentence punctuation and grammar will abide by P-bit rules.

C1. Consonant use is simplified: C is only used preceding an H to generate the CH sound (change, witch), or as an initialism referring to CASE or Case City (C, CC); F replaces GH and PH (cough = couf, phone = fone); J replaces (D)GE (fudge = fudj); K replaces a hard-C and CK (cat = kat, back = bak); S replaces a soft-C (nice = nise); Z randomly replaces S when placed at the beginning or within a word and is enunciated as Z.
C2. H is only used after a ‘P-say soft-vowel’ for added emphasis, extending or drawing out the soft-vowel sound when spoken.
C3. Y is only used as a consonant and will only follow a vowel or a consonant as the start of a trailing compounded word.
C4. S placed at the end of (after) a whole word makes the word plural.
C5. Z placed at the end of (after) a whole word makes the word possessive.
C6. Identical double consonants are not used unless each is enunciated (rattid = rat-tid), or is a compound word (with identical end-start letters, respectively), or is a plural S, or possessive Z following a word ending in those letters. Integrated English words are elided to reflect that practice. Where there is a determining vowel it is often also eliminated (typically = typic’ly = tipclee).

Vowels: There are three vowel types in P-say: soft, hard, and special. Unlike English, all P-say spellings utilize direct vowels, vowel combinations, or vowel and consonant combinations to generate the desired phonic sound.
V1. Y is not used as a vowel.
V2. Soft vowels are the most common and expressed as: a, e, i, o, u. English pronunciation equivalents to P-say soft vowel sounds are: ah, eh, ih, oh, uh, respectively.
V2A. When written—whether contained within a word (flanked by consonants) or at its ends—soft vowels should always be assumed unless designated otherwise.
V2B. Numbers, sensory words, and certain short primary words with a soft vowel at their end use a trailing apostrophe to differentiate them from English pronunciations.
V3. Hard vowels are the same as English ‘long vowels,’ and are always expressed by adjacent identical vowels: aa, ee, ii, (oo-excluded), uu. The English long vowel sound of oo, is replaced by uu. An ‘e’ at the end of a word does not make the preceding vowel a long vowel as in English.
V4. Special vowels are carryover sounds from English and other languages and include three types: simple, associated vowel determining, and associated consonant determining. They are formally designated by an apostrophe preceding, separating, or following the vowel(s). In many cases—just as in English—the following letter determines the sound.
** Special vowels may be added when needed as the language grows.
V4A. Special-Simple: ‘a (cat, past, slap, rally).
V4B. Special-Vowel Determining (word ending): ae’ (hae’ = hey, softer than ay (aa)); ea’ (via, chia); ua’ (gargantua, noctua).
V4C. Special-Vowel Determining (word containing): ee’a (triage, media); o’u (mouth, pout); u’a (squab, squat).
V4D. Special-Consonant Determining: a’g (bag, rag); a’ng (hang, bang); ai’r (fair, hair); a’l (fall, maul); a’r (car, star); a’w (drawn, law); e’r (enter, over); ei’r (heir, their, softer than ai’r); i’ng/nk (sing, ink); o’r (north, storm); o’w (how, scowl); u’l (bull, wool).

Punctuation: is simplified whether using English or P-bit alphabets to accommodate the contrasting horizontal vs. vertical style of writing, respectively. P-say punctuation is as follows (exceptions: see spelling and punctuation rules 7-9).
P1. P-say punctuation marks are: an interpunct/middle-dot ( · or • ); an apostrophe ( ‘ ); a hyphen ( - ); an underscore ( _ ); row/column shifts (horizontal/vertical writing styles). No other punctuation is used.
P2. An interpucnt or middle-dot ( · or • ) is placed at the end of each whole word (in place of a space). Exceptions: interpuncts are not used: between closed compound words; or between a word and any other punctuation including VTDs and sentence ending underscores.
P3. Apostrophes are only used as a vowel type designator (VTD), or as noted in spelling and punctuation rule-8.
P4. Hyphens are only used within reduplications or hyphenated compound words.
P5. Underscores replace periods. They are only placed at the end of a sentence.
P6. Sentences are written until the column (P-bit) or row (English Alphabet) fills the available space, ending with a whole word, then shifts to the next column/row respectively.
P7. New paragraphs begin the next column/row regardless of how few words the previous column/row contains.
P8. Commas, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks, nor any other punctuation mark is used when writing P-say. Exceptions: see spelling and punctuation rule-8 for accent marks and apostrophes where a word from any other language is used. It is expected that non-P-say users will use forms of punctuation, style, and grammar they are accustomed to—and though incorrect—should not be corrected.

A3A. CASE Pastoral Pidgin to English Glossary (Expert-G10)
P-say/Peep-say/Peep-speak/Pahksay : Peoples’ Language, Pastoral Pidgin
Notes (Writing P-say with P-bit, not used in Novel):

K2 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 23, 2020, 11:09:33 AM »

(Sowfee-say dialect removed due to character count limit)

English Spelling Pronunciation : Formal P-say Spelling : Translation/Definition

Ot’ : At’ : 0
Ka’ : 1
Ke’ : 2
Ko’ : 3
Sa’ : 4
Se’ : 5
So’ : 6
Ta’ : 7
Te’ : 8
To’ : 9
Numeral+ bob : 10s
Numeral+ jumba : 100s
Numeral+ jumbob : 1,000s
Ba’ : sight, visible light, see
Be’ : hearing, sound, heard
Bi’ : touch, felt, feel
Bo’ : smell, scent, sniff
Bu’ : taste, eat, drink
-----------------
Agin : again
Am : ‘Am : is, are, aren’t
An : ‘An : and, also see ‘un’
Anaka’ : ‘Anaka’ : anyone
Anating : ‘Anati’ng anything
Azkan : ‘Azk‘an : asking
At : ‘At : it, also see ‘et’
Ats : ‘Atz : it is, it’s
Awroun : ‘Awro’un : around
Bada : thank you, thanks
Baha : laughing, teasing, taunting
Bai : Bii : good, light (color or weight)
Baiya : Biiya happy, contented
Bang : Ba’ng : shoot
Banger : Ba’nge’r : gun
Bees : Beez : bullets
Beech : bitch
Beroach : Beroch : command to ‘hide and be quiet’
Bida : an apology, sorry
Bint : been
Bitty : Bitee : little, few, small, slightly
Bittyup : Bitee-up : low
Bittyyacha : Biteeyacha : somewhat/vaguely understand
Blessin : Blesin : rain (when falling, when static see tormwada)
Bob : Bab : big, a lot, large, really (adds emphasis)
Bobknob : Babna’wb : big penis/cock
Bobup : Bab-up : high
Bobya’ : Babya’ : absolutely, without question
Bobyacha : Babyacha : absolutely understand/straight/clear
Boda : please
Boda-boda : begging-please
Boomer : Buume’r : bomb, grenade, mine
Boot : Buut : rear, bottom, backside, ass (anatomical or location)
Bote : Bot : both, all
Bout : Bo’ut : about
Bozo : the Mad Clown
Breeda : fertile zone resident
Brut : brought
Bumpers : rubber shoes worn by fertile zone residents
C : CASE, applied as a generic prefix to anything Case City related
CC/CeeCee : CC : CASE City
CG/Case-G/Fed-Gov/G/Feddy-G : Restored Constitution Federal Government officer/worker
Chach : female professional sex worker - prostitute
Chachia : Chachea’ : young female professional sex worker - prostitute
Chacho : Chacho : older female professional sex worker - prostitute
Charoach : Charoch : command to hide and be quiet
Charot : Charat : you’re dead, threat to kill
Choka : generic soft term for female genitalia, pussy, cunnie
Choka Kings : Pussy Kings, W-7-B/C gang, translates as “studs/skilled lovers”
Chop : Chap : cut off, remove from
Chote : Chot : (severe insult) diseased wore out cum-ditch that everyone uses just for sex
Chuse : Chuus : vaginal secretions
Chutes : Shuuts : wall ‘gates,’ always stated as plural
Circus : Se’rkus: Homestead Capital, formerly Washington, D.C.
Coom : Kuum : come
Cram : Kr‘am : sexual intercourse -or- fuck, damn, shit, bastard, etc. (general purpose expletive)
Crammer : Kr‘ame’r : fucker
Cramya : Kr‘amya : fuck you
Cuz : Kuz : because
Da : the, a, an
Dat : D‘at : that, also see ‘what’
Dance : D‘ans : use recreational drugs
Dancin’ : D‘ansin : intoxicated/high on recreational drugs,
Dano : don’t know
Dawg : Da’wg : government supplied fertile area food product resembling a hot dog
Dawgese : Da’wgees : government supplied fertile area food product resembling a cheese stick
Dimmy : Dimee : idiot, stupid
Donya : Danya : don’t you, don’t
Dreama : Dreema : drug dealer
Dumpster : salvage truck: re-purposed garbage trucks used for body collection
Dumpy-G : Dumpee-G : government planter
Dy : Dii : day (typically added as a suffix)
Eas : Ees : east
En : in
‘Ere : here
Et : it, also see ‘at’
Evaka’ : everyone
Evating : everything
Facin’ : Faasin : lying, telling a false tale
Fa’eva/eva : forever
Fallen Star : post-Gathering, United States (inclusive term for North America, the nation, government, and ‘all people’ that called it home)
Fancy : F‘ansee : fancy, nice, high quality, expensive
Feed : give, pay
Flat : Fl‘at : sure, firm, positive
Flippin’ : Flipin : have sex for money or food, prostitution
Flop : Flap : home, established place a person lives, also see ‘squat’
Fly : Flii : show
Fo : for
G’s : government, applied as a prefix or suffix to anything government related
G-skins : government supplied poly-paper coveralls in pastel yellow, pink, green or blue
G-tahk : G-tak : English language, also see ‘meircan’
G-time : G-tiim : government-time, year (associated without relevance)
Gambly : G‘amblee : fun, just playing
Gese : Gees : government supplied pastoral area nutrition block
Gese-box : Gees-bax : ATM-like, nutritional block dispensing station, credit band activated
Gimme : Gimee give me
Git : get
Go : ago, past
Gonna : Gunu : going to
Grinder : Griind‘er : addict
Grip : a common gesture of ‘gripping one’s chest, solar plexus, stomach or gut,’ due to a number of ailments caused by malnutrition, digestive issues, and heart failure.
Grip-rot : Griprat : alteration of ‘death grip,’ a position common to people that spontaneously expire, typically due to heart failure caused by malnutrition.
Gumpy : Gumpee : government gleaner
Gumpy-haular : Gumpee-ha’la’r : government stock truck
Gut : anus/anal/ass
Gutcram : Gutkr‘am : anal sex
Gutshot : Gutshat : administering drugs rectally
Gutya : bullshit
Haf : H‘af : have, has, got
Haular : Ha’la’r : enclosed government food delivery truck
Hep : help
Hoot : Huut : breast
Hooha : Huuha : large breast
Im : gender neutral he, him, her, she, more common than ‘Ma or Wa’
Imwut : he/she means (gender neutral)
Imswut : they mean
Is : am, are
Jaggle : J‘agu’l : command to move
Jes : just
Jesta : just-to
Jumba : larger, bigger, harder, more, etc.
Jumbob : Jumbab : largest, biggest, hardest, most, etc.
Knob : Na’wb : penis/cock
Knob-grinder : Na’wb-griinde’r : penis/cock addict, slut
Knobwa : Na’wbwa : extremely masculine female, dick-girl (figurative vs. obsolete slang for TG male to female)
Knockin’ : Nahkin : male masturbation
Ko’ta’to’ : 3-7-9, Reaper-379
Leef : leave, left
Ma : he, him
Macha : man
Machia : Machea’ : young man
Machach : male professional sex worker - prostitute
Machacha : young male professional sex worker - prostitute
Macho : older man
Machacho : older male professional sex worker - prostitute
Machote : Machot : (insult, male) old diseased pervert molester
Machuse : Machuus : semen, male ejaculate
Mae’ : we, us
Mahdfahnt : mud front, line of a storm
Malocha : gentleman
Mapip : boy, child
Marot : Marat : murderer
Mas : together, with, bound (deal, pact)
Mash : M‘ash : wreck, destroy, badly hurt
Mashar M‘asha’r : heavily armed and armored government vehicle
Matail : Mataal : male slave
Mawa : masculine female
Mawut: he means
Meircan : Mei’rkan : American - person, nation, North American Continent, English language
Member : Membe’r : remember
Mi : I, my, I’m
Miwut : I mean
Moo : Muu : move
Mot : Mat : bad, dark, heavy
Motya : Matya : angry, mad
Musabe : Musubee : must be
Mussal : Musa’l : force, make
Na’ : no
Nacare : Nakai’r : ‘do not care’
Naht : night (typically added as a suffix)
Nah’tin : nothing
Nak : N‘ak : skills, abilities, gift (aptitude)
Naka’ : no one
Namo : request to wait, stay, be still
Namoo : Namuu : order to not move, stay still
Naroach : Naroch : command to come out of hiding
Nasay : Nasaa : stop talking, don’t speak, shut-up (context and vigor determines meaning)
Nating : Nati’ng : nothing
Neva : never
Nilite : Niiliit : (night-light) the increased nighttime brightness caused by: skyglow (light pollution), diffused lunar back lighting of the thin translucent overcast, enhanced airglow, extended twilight and false sunrise/set, extended sun pillars, noctilucent clouds, etc.
Nono : stern warning
Nort : N‘ort : north
Nub : clitoris
Ova : over
Olee : only
P : peoples’, colloquially ‘peeps,’ prefix applied to anything pastoral area related
P-bit : peoples’ alphabet (pastoral)
P-say : peoples’ language (pastoral)
Pack : P‘ak : gang, group, brother/sisterhood
Pas : like, similar, same
Paste : Paast : government supplied productive area food product resembling meat paste in a tube
Path : P‘ath : direction, route, course
Pax : P‘ax : a firm deal, pact or treaty, an unbreakable promise
Peace : Pees : Pastoral citizen imposed mandatory truce during rain. Also see ‘truce.’
Peep : pastoral zone resident
Pes : or, maybe, if, but
Pessy : Pesee : pretty
Pip : child, any minor (under 18)
Pip-snaga : Pip-sna’ga : person who steals, buys or sells minors
Pip-snaga-G : Pip-sna’ga-G : government planter
Pip-squat : Pip-squ’at : resident designated neighborhoods, citizen enforced ‘no adult activity’ areas, only for families with children
Po’ : Precursor to a question (Po’, where is Tom?), or is used as ‘why, what, who, where, which, etc.’ (Po’ is Tom?)
Pop : Pap : orgasm, cum, ejaculate
Pos : Pas : possibly, perhaps, rhetorical question (rare)
Poyea : Poy‘a : ‘yes?’ Question seeking confirmation
Poyacha : ‘do you understand?’ Question seeking confirmation
Pushar : Pusha’r : government armored vehicle (typically with an audible warning)
Rabble : R‘abu’l : trouble-makers
Rally : R‘alee : let’s go
Rally-up : R‘alee-up : hurry
Randy : R‘andee : horny
Rat : R‘at : variable general expletive (will always be a prefix when compounded)
Rattid : R‘attid shit (good humored, as in an exaggerated ‘sheeet’)
Ratya : R‘atya : fuck off
Reepa : government reaper
Raspect : Raspekt : humble respect, submission, humility, admiration
Rit : digital dollar, credit
Rit-strap : Rit-str‘ap : black credit-band worn on wrist
Roach : Roch : command to cover up, don’t move and hide where you are
Romp : Ramp : sexual activity, having sex
Rot : Rat : dead, die, kill
Rotfall : Ratfal : dead-fall, warning that a building is collapsing
Rotim : Ratim : killed him/her
Rotims : Ratims : killed them (plural)
Rotya : Ratya : kill you
Rua’ka : Rokka-Kae, hero, societal savior, ‘the one’
Rumble : Rumbu’l : trouble, fight, riot
Safe : Saaf : save(d), rescue(d)
Say : Saa : language, said, say, speak, talk, tell, told, also see ‘tahk’
Scrape : Skraap : scar
Scratchin’ : Skr‘achin : brand, body carving
Scribble : Skribu’l : tattoo
Seeakow : See’ak‘ow : adjectives applied simultaneously: defender, protector, liberator, wrath of the people, hand of justice—tenacious, unyielding, ferocious, uncompromising, etc.
See’d : Seed : see/saw casually spoken
Seedy : Seedee : pronunciation of ‘city’
Sessy : Sesee : sexy
Shakin’ : Shaakin : scared, afraid
Shot : Shat : dose of drugs
Skins : clothes
Slap-footin : Sl‘ap-futin : running
Slap ya’ foot : Sl‘ap yafut : command to run
Slappin’ : Sl‘apin : female masturbation
Slaps : Sl‘aps : tire tread sandals, common footwear worn by pastoral citizens
Slash : Sl‘ash : cunt, twat, snatch, gash (vulgar)
Slacho : Sl‘acho : old vagina
Slashia : Sl‘ashea’ : tight young wet vagina
Slasho : Sl‘asho : older slashy, old ‘queen’
Slashote : Sl‘ashot : (insult) loose old dry vagina
Slashtail : Sl‘ashtaal : sex slave
Slashy : Sl‘ashee : third-gender/sexed, lady-boy, sissy-boy, sometimes a professional sex worker
Slick : Slik : new, fresh, clean
Slickup : Slikup : wash, to-clean
Slide : Sliid : aphrodisiac drug
Slob : Slab : sucking/slurping on something, washing it in your mouth
Slobbin : Slabin : sucking on something
Slobknob : Slabna’wb : fellatio, oral sex performed on a male
Slouch : Slo’uch : opiate like narcotic
Sluff : Sluf : sleep
Slufasho : Slufusho : dream
Slurp : Sle’rp : cunnilingus, oral sex performed on a female
Smash : Sm‘ash : rape
Smashcram : Sm‘ashkr‘am : rape
Smashote : Sm‘ashot rapist
Smoker : Smoke’r very attractive woman or man
Smudge : Smudj : non-permanent mark, (paint, chalk, ink, etc.)
Smuver : Smuve’r : any mouth+nose covering (breathing), surgical style face mask included with each government supplied coverall
Snag : Sna’g : steal, take without permission
Snaga : Sna’ga : thief
Snooter : Snuute’r : nasal inhaler for drugs
Snoots : Snuuts : inhaling drugs nasally
Soft : Saft : calm, gently, quietly
Sosa : slow
Soso : easy, take it easy, relax
Sout : So’ut : south
Sposed : Sposd : supposed
Spy : Spii : look, see
Squat : Squ’at : primary general-area/location a person lives or controls, turf, territory, also see ‘flop’
Steam : Steem : enhanced amphetamine, speed
Steel : bladed weapon
Sum : some
Sumhey : Sumhae’ : somehow
Sumpin : something
Sumting : Sumti’ng : something
Sweatin’ : Swetin : nervous, concerned, uneasy, edgy
Sweegese : Sweegees : government supplied productive area food product resembling white gese blocks with enhanced sweetening
Syco : Siiko : hallucinogens
Ta : Tu : to
Tahk : language, said, say, speak, talk, tell, told, also see ‘say’
Tail : Taal : slave
Tail-draga :Taaldra’gu pimp, sex slave owner
Tail-snaga : Taalsna’gu procurer, slaver
Thumpa : Thumpu : gang soldier or guard
Thumpa-G : Thumpu-G : government soldier or guard
Tink : Ti’nk : think
Tooke : Tuuk : little penis
Tookie-tooke : Tuukee-tuuk : tiny penis
Torm : To’rm : storm
Tormba’ : To’rmba’ : storm-light, lightning
Tormbe’ : To’rmbe’ : storm-sound, thunder
Tormbi’ : To’rmbi’ : storm-feel, wind
Tormfahnt : To’rmfant : storm-front, leading edge of a storm
Tormahd : To’rmad : storm-mud, mud front of a storm
Tormwada : To’rmwada : storm-water, rain water, when static (when falling, see blessin)
Tote : Tot : bag, pack, parcel
Truce : Truus : Pastoral citizen imposed mandatory truce when it is raining. Also see “peace.”
Twistie : Twistee : a lie
Uh : of
Uhlong : Ulang : along
Un : and, too
Up : in, on, vertical motion, or elevation (git-up = stand, bitee-up = low)
Up-mi : in my, on my
Up-ya’ : in your, on your
Utter : Ute’r : other
Vulcha : Vu’lcha : government salvage worker
Wa : her, she
Wa-ah : whoa, denotes surprise or concern
Wacha : woman
Wachia : Wachea’ : young woman
Wacho : older woman
Wacram : Wakr‘am : oh fuck, denotes negative surprise or concern
Wada : water
Walocha : lady
Wanna : Wanu : want
Wanta : Wantu : want-to
Wapip : girl, child
Watail : Wataal : female slave
Wa-uh : uh-oh, denotes realization of a problem
Wawut : she means
Waya : oh yeah
Wes : west
What : Wat : that, also see ‘dat’
Wid : with
Wohcram : Wokr‘am : holy fuck, denotes positive surprise or concern
Woo-Bar : Wuuba’r : mutual masturbation sex bar/club
Wut : what (softened)
Ya’ : you, yours
Yaba’ : you see/look, asking if someone sees something, or telling them to look
Yabe’ : you hear/listen, asking if someone hears something, or telling them to listen
Yabi’ : you feel/touch, asking if someone feels something, or telling them to touch
Yabo’ : you smell, asking if someone smells something, or telling them to sniff
Yabu’ : you taste/eat/drink, asking if someone tastes something, or telling them to taste/eat/drink
Yacha : understand
Yaha : hey! Greeting to get someone’s attention
Yam : Y‘am : you are/you’re
Yama : Yamu : yeah man, yah-mon
Yamoo : Yamuu : you move, order for someone to go (or go in a direction)
Yasay : Yasaa : you speak, telling someone to talk or stating ‘you said’
Yawut : you mean?
Yeah : Y‘a : yes
Yowlee : Yo’wlee : homestead/productive zone residents
Yum : fresh meat
Yum-chukar : Yum-chuka’r : government food truck with spreaders
Zombee : Zambee : a person who practices cannibalism

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