But it also has to be something in which every thought expressible in natlangs can be expressed. For example, how could people communicate in a conlang if the conlang didn't have a way to make orders/requests (no imperative, nor "Could you ______?")Larryrl wrote: ↑12 Aug 2021 21:41 I have the words would and may might could, I think I have should as well as could. It's not so much about the verb forms, as it is whether or not to place the word "WILL" before the present tense to make the future tense. I either remove the word "WILL" and keep all 200+ future tense verb words, or remove the 200+ future tense verb words in favor of using "WILL" in front of the present tense form. The same is true for "COULD". I either keep it to make the conditional mood by using only 1 word, or I get rid of it, and make either the "J" or the "H" words I already have to be conditional. If I do keep the words I already have, it just means more words in the language. However, at what cost to the learner. I want SHU to be easy to learn. I am autistic and it has to be something I and others can learn easy.
How would you express each of the following in Shu?
1. Hand me that towel.
2. I am going to cry.
3. Pam was going to walk the dog, but she had an emergency this morning.
4. Steve would call some friends later that day.
5. Jack would go to the convenience store every Friday
6. Paul was drinking a soda.
7. The dog had already torn up my homework.
8. Do you like pizza?
9. Mike was arrested by the cop.
10. Let's go drink a few beers.
11. I got my house painted.
12. Sharon got her hair wet.
13. Tom has his eyes closed.
14. May you live for 100 years!
If you don't have a way of expressing these fourteen sentences in Shu, then people will not be able to communicate the things they want to say in your conlang. It's the discussion we had about Testyal's comment: it is impossible to have a grammar that is truly simple in every way without sacrificing the speakers' ability to express and communicate in the language.
P.S. Also we have a number of Aspies on this board and many of them create detailed conlangs with complex grammars and/or orthographies. Look at the declension/conjugation paradigms of Ahzoh's Vrkhazhian or the huge number of Man in Space's Caber logograms, for instance.