selsimicu - an alien's IAL (a.k.a. a conlang from space? :3)

Workshop Conlanging
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SELSIMICU, an alien's IAL

selsimicu (selsi + micu, lit. "word smarts") is a semi-naturalistic alien conlang which is intended to tie in to a worldbuilding project of mine :3 in universe, selsimicu is the world language of the selsians (seelsijan), a communal alien race [fig. 1], as well as being spoken by the majority of jazrajoto [fig. 2] through trade.

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THE GOALS

  • just make a language i personally enjoy
  • make the language "alien" through semantic quirks, NOT grammatical or phonological.
  • characterize the aliens through their language, and the language through the aliens
  • make it adaptable to human use by putting yourself in the shoes of the aliens (for story purposes)
  • not making it particularly "naturalistic" (this language is just a passion project and frankly making protolangs scares me)

HOW'S IT GOING?

well, you can see for yourself! if the following interests you enough, you can come join the selsimicu discord server, where we talk about (or in) the creatures and their language! also check out the grammar document, updated whenever me or the group has a good idea :P

have any questions? let me know!

this thread will contain translations, discussions and just whatever i feel like sharing with you all! thank you and ñosaiko! zax za'o nitsan!

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Our search is over! We found the conlang from space! This concludes season 1 of conlangs, from space.

Beautiful stuff. I love the little guys. The language looks really cute. :heart:

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SELSIMICU UPDATE 2

ñoi! it's been a bit. hope everyone's doing well! happy new year, if you use the gregorian calendar

selsimicu's still going strong! here's some recent updates:

THE SEMANTIC SPACE DICTIONARY

i am currently working on a selsimicu semantic space dictionary for specific words and their derivations! if you're in the discord server, you can access these through the leisun eswoka bot (otherwise known as kose kata). the current ones written are:

  • ruzipa - find with "ruzipa", "ruzip", "ruzipaxe" & "ruzipoka"
  • jofoñ - find with "jofoñ", "jofon", "jōfojan" & "jofoka", as well as a toki pona taso versions of this same entry that describes all three only using toki pona (add "tp" to the end)
  • aikae - find with "aikae"
  • more coming soon...

MAJNKRAF PULA UM SELSIMICU

this is a project i've been attempting since the first ever version of selsimicu (for the record, this is technically version 3), but there will be a selsimicu minecraft translation! it is currently in production at about 30% completion, if i had to guess. it's definitely going to be a long project, but it's helped greatly with the "characterizing the aliens with their language". how would they see this? how would they see that? it's a wonderful thought experiment, and i've had lots of fun just booting up minecraft and playing it with the resource pack on. i'll be glad to let you all experience that too once it's done!! which will not be soon, minecraft has A LOT of things to translate. but that's what we're here for :3

MISCELLANEOUS

i've made a lot of smaller things for and around this project, so here's a bunch of them all at once!

(don't tell anyone, but there's also a secret third one if you join the discord server ;3)
  • my strawpage now has a section about selsimicu at the bottom! featuring most of the necessary links and example phrases never before seen (because i came up with them on the spot) !!! go check it out. mayhaps send me stuff if you wish :3 ask me about the language even! i'd be happy to answer! https://silviautism.straw.page/

that's all i've got for right now, so see you all! asa oto zax sua'uzi!

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Aww!! They’re adorable!

I like that you have a Toki Pona version because the Selsimicu orthography reminds me of Sitelen Pona.

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SELSIMICU UPDATE 3

wow, it's the end of april already? damn, time sure flies. i've been pretty busy with college, so i haven't had much time to do. anything basically :P

buuuut i do have enough to feel confident in writing another update! here's a quick rundown:

THE TOWER OF BABEL

the cliche of all conlang cliches, i have officially translated the tower of babel into selsimicu! to be completely honest, i had never read it in full prior to making this translation. it was actually a fun exercise! the full story is available in nol ta selsimicu, and in the "translations and sample texts" page of the language document, but here's some lines as a teaser:

no'o mos eswa nokao.
[zax wikix. jaki ōtonol leq sun. farixi remun nolpi zax mairuñ. pat nekon saiño zax ti]

LIT. they certainly continued speaking: "consider: we shall make a city. a slender house shall exist here. its head must touch the sky."

Talōr leipī eswa laxun.
[farixi pi toi caujan. nanata lejeswa sai icon lori omālx wañ temko. pi nokao akpiru watkenas nanata raj or]

LIT. Dalore said this at that moment: "this tower is too big. they are growing very powerful using only one language. if this continues, nothing will ever stop them."

THE BOWL OF SILENCE (a selsimicu story)

apart from the babel translation, i've also written my first small story entirely in selsimicu! it's called kaxu ta ompors, detailing the grief of the recently-widowed Qetsilja, and the strange trade encounter with a mysterious jazrajoto they find themselves in

and, for maximum fun, it's not officially translated! (it kinda is, i just haven't posted it). if you wanna take a stab at reading it and/or translating it back to english, i'd love that! if you post it in nol ta selsimicu, i'll even give you your own custom role with your preferred color!

THE LEARNER'S VIDEO

to wrap things up for now, i am (sorta) working on a Learn Selsimicu video series, that'll detail the first steps in learning to read, write and speak selsimicu! however, while the base draft is done, i'm not entirely sure how to proceed, as i haven't done anything like this before. if you have any experience with language teaching (and you have enough time on your hands to help me out a tad, i kinda need it :sweat_smile:), please reach out to me on discord (@silviautism) !!! you'd be a big help

that's all i've got for today! za'o az ōkapo! (may the sun be beautiful!)

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