Grawif (shortened from “ho’gral-wi-ofl”, “a logical language”) is my take at a loglang.
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Post alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ ʒ <c j> | x <ḱ> | h | |
| (Lat.) Approximant | w | l | j <y> | |||
| Affricates | t͡ʃ d͡ʒ <ć j́> |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Two consecutive vowels are allowed, however they are pronounced like a diphthong.
More than two consecutive vowels are not allowed.
Notation
- S - set
- Z - state
- T - statement
- V - Performance
- N - proper noun
Uppercase Greek letters for particles
- Ω - copula (more info later)
- Θ - if … then … (more info later)
- Γ - parameter (more info later)
- Δ - yes/no question particle
- Ξ - “or” question particle
- Σ - “what” question particle
Lowercase Greek letters for articles and other affixes
- α - One of
- β - More than one of
- ω - All of
- ψ - Variable marker
- σ - past
- μ - future
- λ - imperative (should)
- η - infinitive (to __)
- τ - converts state to set of people who preform a state
- δ - converts performance to set of people who perform a performance
- ξ - converts a set to a performance which means “for Γ~1~ to turn Γ~2~ into”
- χ - genitive
- ζ - dative
- φ - locative
- ι - proper nouns
- γ - converts performances and states into their other voice equivalents
+ is often used as shorthand for the logical binary AND operation
Terminology
A set is the same as in set theory.
Sets are groups of related objects.
A state is a type of set which is comprised of all things under some condition. States are used for all intransitive verbs.
A statement is some sequence of either sets with actions of sets with states which expresses some meaning. For an example, the sentence “The dog is happy” is a statement.
An performance is a transitive verb. It behaves similarly to a function in math and computer science.
Grammar
To construct a word (for an example “dog”) you must preform various operations on sets. For an example, you could do:
CANINES and DOMESTICATED
For now, we will denote this mathematically with CANINES as S~1~, and DOMESTICATED as S~2~. We could then define S~3~ (“dog”) as:
S~3~ = S~1~ + S~2~
Next, let us say we want to say the dog is running. We can do this with the RUN state (here represented as Z~1~):
S~3~ Ω Z~1~
‘Ω’ here is a particle which is used to specify a set to be a member of a state. It should be noted that a state is just a set for “the set of all thing in state X.” We now have a statement! However, it’s still ungrammatical. This is because it is not specified if S~3~ is singular, plural, or collective. “Collective” simply means “all members of set x.” We can use α for singular, β for plural, and ω for collective. In this case, we are reffering to one dog, so we’ll use the singular:
αS~3~ Ω Z~1~
You may define this as a statement like so:
T~1~ = αS~3~ Ω Z~1~
You can also use various other bitwise operators to construct a new set, for an example:
S~4~ v S~5~
(where S~4~ is chicken and S~5~ is beef)
translates to “a member of the set of chicken XOR beef”, or in regular English terms “chicken or beef.”
You can form if-then statements with the particle Θ, like so:
T~1~ Θ T~1~
“If the dog is running, the dog is running.”
Note that this is also used for when statements, as they are effectively the same as if statements.
Variables
Variables are used to define things in context, such that you don’t have to repeat an entire phrase every time you want to say something. You can define a variable with ψ with any number as it’s subscript. I’ll talk about how this works in the regular form later.
ψ~1~ = S~1~ + S~2~
Performances
A performance is basically a function. It is used for verbs with objects (direct and indirect). Performances use Γ (with subscripts) as parameters. For an example:
V~1~(Γ~1~: S~1~, Γ~2~: S~2~)
The value of the parameters can be anything, and thus you simply need to know the meaning of the word in advance.
Tense and Mood
Tense and mood can be expressed with:
- σ - past
- μ - future
- λ - imperative (should)
- η - infinitive (to __)
Note that if non of these is provided, present is assumed. If both mood and tense markers are present, mood markers must follow the tense markers. These can be applied to either states or performances. They must go before the verb itself.
You can also put γ before the verb. This will change the verb’s voice (ie. “to domesticate” becomes “to be domesticated (by)”).
Changing word-types
You generally do not need to change the type of sets to states and vice versa, as those are effectively the same. However, you may need to convert verbs in general to sets and vice versa. All performances are also states, but you may want to convert from a performance to a set of people who perform a performance or a state to a set of people who perform a state. The following particles can be used for this:
- τ - converts state to set of people who preform a state
- δ - converts performance to set of people who perform a performance
- ξ - converts a set to a performance which means “for Γ~1~ to turn Γ~2~ into”
These must follow the word they are changing the type of.
Prepositions
To create a prepositional phrase, use the following after the set your applying it on:
- χ - genitive
- ζ - dative
- φ - locative
Each one of these creates a new set as a result. For an example “S~x~ζ” means “the set of all things relating to x.” Then, you can AND these with another set.
Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are all prefixed with ι, and then followed by a adaptation of the name into this language. For an example:
ι(Kanada)
This is how you would write Canada. You may define this to a variable:
N~1~ = ι(Kanada)
Questions
To ask a yes/no question, use the particle Δ at the end of the statement. To ask a “or” question, first create a set with is comprised of everything you want to be able to select from. Then, add the regular number particle to the beginning. After, follow the set with Ξ, like so:
αS~3~vS~2~ Ξ
(“dog or domesticated animal?”)
For “what” questions, use the particle Σ as a placeholder for “what”, “which”, “why”, etc. You can AND it with another set to be more specific.
Regular Form
Up until now, we have described the conlang using a notation. Here, I will describe the pronounced are written forms of the language; rather than the notation.
- Ω - jo
- Θ - zo
- Δ - j́o
- Ξ - j́e
- Σ - j́a
- α - ho
- β - bo
- ω - lo
- ψ - ro
- σ - so
- μ - go
- λ - se
- η - ge
- τ - to
- δ - do
- ξ - co
- χ - ćo
- ζ - ce
- φ - će
- ι - ye
- γ - wo
- +/AND - wi
- ^/OR - we
- ~/NOT - wa
- v/XOR - wu
- = - yo
For the Γs in a performance, use the following format:
Γ~1~ ya Γ~2~ ya Γ~3~… ya [performance]
The North Wind and the Sun
note: I only translated the first sentence because I’m tired.
Translation
ro’ha yo evrl wi hestr’ćo. ro’ja yo ro’ha wu onrg. ro’ca yo ho’ro’ha ya ho’onrg ya bo’hlkaj’ćo wi ro’ja ya so’drlgaz. ro’jo yo ḱreflz wi oreḱ. ro’lo yo ho’ro’jo so’oreḱ. ro’ca zo ro’lo. ho’ro’jo ya ho’krjal ya so’zrac.
Gloss
ψ~1~ = S~evrl~ + S~hestr~χ
ψ~2~ = ψ~1~ xor S~onrg~
ψ~3~ = σV~drlgaz~(Γ~1~: αψ~1~, Γ~2~: αS~onrg~, Γ~3~: βS~hlkaj~χ + ψ~2~)
ψ~4~ = S~ḱreflz~ + Z~oreḱ~
ψ~5~ = αψ~4~ σZ~oreḱ~
ψ~3~ Θ ψ~5~
σV~zrac~(Γ~1~: αψ~4~, Γ~2~: αS~krjal~)
Original
The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak.
