Commonthroat: a language that only a dog could probably pronounce

[lurker]

-bfr

/short rising strengthening whine, chuff/

Suffix

Forms nouns with the meaning of a software program, algorithm, or online service characterized by the root.

Compare -cdr (a suffix forming a noun meaning a small tool)

Derivatives:

pr sf: to chat, prsfbfrg: instant messanger
pr rDB to discuss, prrDBbfrg: online forum
qJKq: bad, qJKqbfrg: malware
rdBq: to write, rdBqbfrg: word processor
qKJ: to order, command; qJKbfrg: command line interface, shell
qnpq: to count, qnpqbfrg: spreadsheet
qGr: to play, qGrbfrg video game
sg: to begin, sgbfrg: bootloader
sKHqg: a seed, sKHqbfrg: operating system kernel
GJ: to work, GJbfrg: operating system
rCFrg: ansible, rCFrbfrg: terminal software

rCFrbfrg deserves a bit more unpacking. The sort of media-rich experience we humans are used to with the modern internet is restricted to planet-wide slower than light internetworks. FTL communication, while having zero latency, is very low bandwidth. If you want to reach an interplanetary audience, you're stuck with text if you want to communicate in realtime.

The rCFrbfrg is like a terminal emulator. You log onto an ansible over the STL internetwork, and forward text (instant or asynchronous) over the FTL ansible network. Individual yinrih households do not own their own ansibles, much less individuals. You usually get a certain amount of time and/or data allotted to you by your STL internetwork service to use their ansibles, and you can supplement that limited time with a third party ansible provider.

[lurker]

Cdqg

/late rising weakening whine, huff, short low weak growl/

Noun

A fart

Derived terms

sdq Cdqg: To fart (literally "throw a fart" compare Spanish "tirar un pedo")

cDCdqmg: (derogatory/offensive) a Spacer (literally "fart breather" from the fact that the air on orbital colonies is recirculated)

Related terms

qcDrpLqg: "wind fruit", a fruit high in a particular sugar that gets fermented into alcohol in the yinrih's gut. One can get drunk simply by eating the fruit raw. Plenty of gas is a byproduct of this fermentation process, lending the fruit its colorful name.

This confirms that yinrih do indeed have gut flora.

[lurker]

OK, so <h> /short low strong growl/ is still officially the plural marker. It is no longer a quantitative adjective but a particle, joining the ranks of the possessive particle <g> /short low weak growl/ and the metaphorical particle <f> /short high strong whine/. Instead of being unmarked for number, Commonthroat nouns now default to a general number, and can be marked with the plural particle to denote the plurative number, which is essentially just the plural, but the Wikipedia article seems to think it deserves a special name when the unmarked form doesn't necessarily indicate the singular.

So <rGHg> can mean one mech or many mechs, but <h rGHg> means specifically more than one mech. If you want to specifically say one mech, you use the number one <rdr rGHg> Grammar Partisans will tell you that you're not supposed to use the plurative particle if a quantitative adjective already specifies the number of the noun, so <KJq rGHg>, three mechs, or <qgJr rGHg>, many mechs, not *<h KJq rGHg> or *<h qgJr rGHg> however, these constructions are starting to work their way into the informal speech of younger Commonthroat speakers.

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I'm probably going to tweak how Sunshine's name is rendered in Commonthroat. Right now its

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BCq-qMNr-sd
illuminate-sun-FN

Which, when expanded into a sentence, would mean "to illuminate the sun", which makes no sense. I have two candidates.

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qMNr-l-BCq-sd
sun-1-illuminate-FN
"I shine like the sun"

Keeping in mind that an inanimate object inflected in the first or second person is generally treated as metaphorical, or

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rLPq-qMNr-sd
light-sun-FN
"sunlight"

If I go with the first choice, it may be that the <-l> sandwiched in the middle of the name must match the inflection at the end of the word right after the female name suffix, so when being addressed, it would be <qMNr-qn-BCq-sd-qn> "You shine like the sun" etc. In any case, her English name will still be Sunshine, since "she shines like the sun" is clunky and "sunlight" doesn't quite have the same connotations of warmth and friendliness that her Commonthroat name suggests.

[lurker]

FrkqFDg

/long high strong whine, chuff, short high strong growl, huff, long high weakening whine, short low weak growl/

from Frkg (back) + qFD (bald, naked), "bald-back" from a healer's lack of fur

Noun

(informal, endearing) A healer. (cf human terms such as sawbones, shrink, etc.)

A similar term rprBFqmg "she who covers herself" is also used, from the fact that healers have to wear clothes to make up for their lack of fur.

[lurker]

rplNqbfrplrmg

from rp (reflexive coverb) + lNqbfrplr (to search via a search engine) + -m (customary verb suffix)

Noun

A vain or self-absorbed person. A close English translation might be "one who googles oneself".

[lurker]

I don't like my complementizers. I think I'm going to add a copula, either by repurposing the complementizer <F> or by expanding the semantic space of the verb <qF> (exist), and using that somehow to form relative clauses and the like.

[Visions1]

What would prsfGHbfrg be?

[lurker]

What would prsfGHbfrg be?

A slightly more wordy way of saying <prsfbrrg> (instant messenger).

prsfGHg would be "chatting" as an abstract concept.

prsfHGg would be "a chat" i.e. a specific conversation.

In programming terms, -GH denotes a class, and -HG denotes a specific object.

<prsfGHbfrg> would be "software for chatting", and <prsfHGbfrg> would be "software to have a chat", I suppose. The simple <prsfbfrg> is just "chat software".

[lurker]

More thinking out loud. A really rough sketch of how I'm thinking of handling recursive clauses:

<F> /long high strong whine/ I think will be a copula used only in dependent clauses, and is used a an auxiliary verb...

dog-3P bite-A man-3P
the dog bit the man

dog-3P bite-A man-3P is run-A
the dog bit the man who was running.

although you would normally say

dog-3P bite-A run-3P
the dog bit that person who was running.

[lurker]

qGHqg

/huff, long low strengthening growl, huff, short low weak growl/

Likely related to the verb qGH (to die)

Noun

A martyr, one who has lost his or her life in pursuit of the Great Commandment

One of the chief contributors to the yinrih's meteoric ascent of the tech tree--going from newly sapient to orbital flight in a mere 5000 years--is that their scientific community was a literal martyrdom culture. Countless Vulpithecine aeronauts, chemists, engineers, biologists, among many others, gladly and knowingly laid down their lives so their successors could step into the starry firmament.

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sGKqMr sG h scrp rj cbqp b h qGHqp qMp
sGKq-Mr sG h  scr-p   rj-0  cbq-p b  h  qGHq-p     qMp-0
road-3P to PL star-3D PAS-A blood of PL martyr-3D paint-A
The path to the stars is painted by the blood of martyrs.

[eldin raigmore]

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sGKqMr sG h scrp rj cbqp b h qGHqp qMp
sGKq-Mr sG h  scr-p   rj-0  cbq-p b  h  qGHq-p     qMp-0
road-3P to PL star-3D PAS-A blood of PL martyr-3D paint-A
The path to the stars is painted by the blood of martyrs.

David Drake wrote a series containing Hammer’s Slammers, in which everyone off Earth follows a subdenomination of “The Church of the Lord’s Universe” (ie Universalist Unitarianism) called Via Stellaris.
That universe of Drake’s is an all-human universe. Other than that it has several points of similarity with yours.

[lurker]

sKj

/yip, late high weakening growl/

Verb

To shake or jostle

rp sKj

Verb

To shake water or dust from one's fur

rpsKjHGg

Noun

"The Shakeoff", the ideological movement that resulted in the formation of the first Atavist and Neoshamanist groups in the lead-up to the dawn of the space age. After a long period filled with failed attempts at orbital flight that resulted in a rather high body count, many yinrih began questioning whether all this sacrifice and reckless effort was worth it, leading to groups of yinrih rejecting the Bright Way altogether. Many of these heretics assumed that spaceflight was simply impossible and Wayfarers were throwing their lives away for nothing. It's not known whether the term rpsKjHGg (or its equivalent in the languages of the era) was first used by the heretics or by Wayfarers. It could have referred either to non Wayfarers shaking off the Bright Way, or the Bright Way being rid of these naysayers after they migrated to virgin lands.

[lurker]

sJHg

/yip, long falling strengthening growl, short low weak growl/

Noun

A ring, rigid hollow circular object

As noted before, the word sgrg (planetary ring) has connotations of bows or arches rather than annular shapes. The St. Louis Arch, for example, might be described using sgrg. Objects described as h sJHg would be things like prayer rings and the pull rings that are designed to be gripped with the tail (as the backpack I posted in the LG megathread). The fashion accessories called tail rings may use this term as well, although as stated in the megathread tail rings are usually short flexible fabric tubes slipped over the tail rather than rigid rings.

[lurker]

qgk-

/huff, short rising strengthening growl/

From a reduced form of qgKqg (yinrih, man, fellow, person)

Prefix

forms nouns from verbs or adjectives, usually with the meaning of an occupation or job described by the root, especially a less than desirable one. Not as productive as the similar customary suffix -m. May also re-evolve whenever qgKqg fossilizes next to an adjective or verb. Compare m'n from Homestar Runner (wrestmelm'n, santam'n)

qgkNPqg

from qgk- + NPq (dirty, unclean)

1. an assistant to a healer or chef that performs duties that require one to get his or her paws dirty by walking around, so that the healer or chef may keep their own paws clean.
2. one who figuratively "does the dirty work" to maintain the positive appearance of their superiors
3. a scapegoat, fall guy, or patsy

[lurker]

I'm working on polishing the comprehensive grammar I posted some time ago. The big hurdle that I had to overcome was finding a way to auto-caption examples so that they would be numbered properly even if I inserted new examples in the middle. MS Word has an auto-caption function, as well as a way to cross-reference captions automatically, so I had to port the document from markdown to docx.

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So I have a new particle <m> /short low strong grunt/ that is placed after a preposition to make it an adverb.

P rGhqp b g sFsFl rfbr.
I walked into my friend's house.

P m rfbr.
I walked inside.
I walked inward.

DC HJqp qfdr
I stood under the tree.

DC m qfdr.
I stood underneath.


Thoughts?

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rnL DB fb rp lNqbfrplr.
rnL DB-0 fb-0 rp-0 lNqbfrplr-0.
not can-A stop-A RFLX-A google-A.

I can't stop googling myself.

[Visions1]

I'm also still working on the the grammar (should have the lookover done maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow).

I like the particle. I think that having multiple ways to express things is what makes a language naturalistic. I think however that for that to be the case, the previous rule for adverbs ought to stay.

[lurker]

I'm also still working on the the grammar (should have the lookover done maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow).

I like the particle. I think that having multiple ways to express things is what makes a language naturalistic. I think however that for that to be the case, the previous rule for adverbs ought to stay.

Indeed. I still have plain adverbs like "tomorrow" etc.

[lurker]

kgg

/short falling weakening growl, short low weak growl/

Noun

Praise, glory, recognition, fame


gkg

/short rising strengthening growl, short low weak growl/

Noun (uncountable)

Ammunition, bullets, inert solid projectiles fired from a kinetic weapon

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G rl rLPqp qcDr kgqN j G rl qgjml qcDr gkqN!
G   rl rLPq-p   qcDr-0 kg-qN     j   G   rl qgjm-l    qcDr-0 gk-qN
IMP to light-3D give-A praise-3M and IMP to soldier-1 give-A ammunition-3M

Or, if you will...

[lurker]

qcf

/huff, short rising strong whine/

Verb

(vulgar) to piss

The polite word is scBqplr (to water). or GJ scBrg (to make water).

Derived expression

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bc   rnq-qN rp-0   qcf-0
upon paw-3M RFLX-A piss-A 
To piss on one's paws

To do something out of desperation that may work in the short term but make things worse later.

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qcf-0 qNMr-0    qFr-g
piss-A quench-A fire-3I
To piss out a fire

To pee REALLY hard. A minced version, simply qNMr qFrg (to extinguish a fire) is frequently used in polite company.

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rlpg

/chuff, short rising strengthening grunt, short low weak growl/

Noun

A toilet or latrine.

Yinrih toilets are simple holes in the floor, often surrounded by a textured surface to warn the user, who must back into the stall to position the cloaca over the hole, not to step in the toilet with a rear paw. Hence an expression

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P rlp-qN     sMp-0
in toilet-3M step-A
To step in the toilet

meaning to make a mistake due to carelessness, especially despite prior warnings.

[Visions1]

Three guesses what's getting written.
Also, speaking of extinguishing fires, what are various civil positions called - firefighters, police, municipal construction workers, etc.?