#artlang

Here's the kinship terminology for the Ancestral language! Ancestral kinship is a modified version of Iroquois kinship, where the same gendered siblings of your parents/grandparents share the same term, while separate gendered siblings of your parents/grandparents have differing terms. Diluvians as a species are pretty sexually monomorphic, and biological sex isn't immediately apparent until a diluvian reaches sexual maturity. And in once you do, whether you have male or female sexual organs is largely irrelevant. Your sex is defined as being either homoecious (having both male and female organs), or monoecious (having either male OR female sexual organs, but able to switch when necessary). In Ancestral culture then, your gender isn't dictated by your sex , but by your parenting role; for Ancestral diluvians, the distinction is "mother" vs. "father" instead of "female" vs. "male". Since both homoecious and monoecious diluvians are capable of both gestation and fertilization, the roles are defined as which diluvian gestates (the mother) and which fertilizes (the father).

As the title suggests, this post will go into the basic features of Actual Alternian:tm:, the types of things that aren't likely to change among dialects or throughout the progression of this project.

1. Blood = Gender

Various languages have grammatical genders, notably Spanish, and Alternian is no different. However, their grammatical gender is based on blood color. Pronouns are based on blood color, and every noun also has grammatical blood color. The blood color of nouns are mostly based on their associated users, such as trash being rust and mansions being violet.

There is no "neutral" blood color term, so you need to assume if you don't know. If you're unsure, just guess. Keep in mind, it's likely that more progressive dialects might have a "neutral" blood color term, but it wouldn't be supported by the empire.

This post will set the rules (subject to change) for the blog, with an unspoken rule 0 that I will add creative flourishes occasionally.

1. Any time Trolls speak in homestuck, it's an english translation of alternian.

I'll assume that the translator is trying their best to translate the root words. Like if you translated Khülshrank (fridge in german) to cooling cupboard. Any time when translations conflict, I'll do whatever I think is most interesting.

I'll also assume we can tell things about the culture from the words. For example, thinkpan implies that trolls see minds as open containers of thought--- which is congruent with how prevalent mind control is among trolls.

Imatš’anni hakuimbalaap hakiinšari, ayaak tšiisakuvooqia innuunniim PHD kitš’ooqawupiyaapia nitsag, a’anannuunni ntiikiaq giilunniikaa yuyuntapaaniassii a’ararhaatu.

English

"I will play with you tomorrow. I have to go home."

Proto-Ancestral

1S 2S=with night=in 1=play | 1S home=in go 1=need

A maco lumiyi ahiki. A amirayi ku afouiga.

[ˈa ˈma.co ˈɭy.miˌji ˌaˈxi.ki | ˈa ˌaˈmi.raˌji ˈky ˌaˈɸo.yˌi.ŋa]

The reconstructed form of Ancestral. Affixes do not exist yet, but are in the early stages, affixing as clitics.

Old Ancestral

1S.ABS 2S.ERG night-LOC NPST.1-play-PV | 1S.ABS home-LAT go-INF NPST.1-need-PV

Ayā mayāt lumyi ahej. Ayā amirac cu afowiṅ.

[aˈjaː maˈjaːt ˈɬy.mji aˈxeɟ | aˈjaː aˈmi.rac ˈcy aˈɸo.wiŋ]

Clitics fully affix onto words. The Proto-Ancestral singular personal pronouns become the person agreement prefixes on verbs, so the plural person pronouns take their place, becoming singular in meaning.

Middle Ancestral

1S.ABS.[TOP] 2S.GEN make-IPFV.PV.PTCP CRAS.1-play-PV | 1S.ABS.[TOP] home-LAT go-INF NPST.1.SBJV.PFV.PV

Ñā mañāfə lolofə tlimyhejə. Ñā mīrīcə cu ainəpau.

[ˈɲæː mæˈɲæ.ɸə ˈlɔ.lɔ.ɸə t͡ɬɪmʲˈhɛ.ɟə | ˈɲæː ˈmɪː.rɪː.cə ˈcʊ ˈæɪ̯.nə.pæu̯]

Ergative loses its comitative meaning, and the imperfective patient voice participle form of the verb "to make" is used adverbially for the meaning of "with/using". The clitic "tomorrow" affixes onto the verb, forming the crastinal tense. The verb "to need" changes to mean "to have/hold". The auxiliary verb for the perfective aspect affixes onto the verb, forming a true perfective aspect. The subjunctive modal verb inflects into this perfective aspect, carrying the meaning of "to need, to have to, must", replacing the former verb "to need". Symmetrical voice begins being used.

Classical Ancestral

1S.ABS.[TOP] 2S.GEN with CRAS.1-play-PV | 1S.ABS.[TOP] home-LAT go-INF NPST.1.NEC.PV

Ñë mėñā lōla tliëx. Ñë ëumerrac cu āenabėu.

[ɲǽ mæ.ɲá lɔ́.la t͡ɬɪ̯̀ǽʝ | ɲǽ ǽù̯.mɛ.rac cʊ áɛ̯̀.na.bæu̯]

The former term for "home" becomes homophones with the term for "tree", and is replaced by the term "ëumarr".

Late Ancestral/Proto-Pushmari

1S.ABS.[TOP] 2S.GEN with CRAS.1-play-PV | 1S.ABS.[TOP] home-LAT go-INF NPST.1.NEC.PV

Ñë mėñā lōla tleīx. Ñë ōomerəc cu ëėnabė.

[ɲǽ mæ.ɲá lɔ́.la t͡ʃeː̌ʝ | ˈɲǽ ˈɔ̂ː.mɛ.ɾəc ˈcʊ ˈæ̂ː.na.bæ]

The adessive is lost, and the negative clitic affixes onto strong verbs. But this phrase lacks either, so most changes are phonological.

Old Pushmari

1S.ABS.[TOP] 2S.GEN with CRAS.1-play-PV | 1S.ABS.[TOP] home-LAT go-INF NPST.1.NEC.PV

Ñhe meñhė lholė jjeix. Ñhe hoomerə ju heenėmbe.

[ˈɲ̥ɛ mɛˈɲ̥a ˈl̥ɔ.la ˈd͡ʒeːʝ | ˈɲ̥ɛ ˈhɔː.mɛ.ɾə ˈɟʊ ˈhɛː.na.ᵐbɛ]

Very little grammatical changes occur here. Changes are mostly lexical/phonological in nature. Declension systems start to become genders.

Middle Pushmari

this.(a)-ABS 1S.ABS 2S.ABL=with morning-PERL=into FUT.1-play_on | this.(a)-ABS 1S.ABS home-PERL=to this.(a)-ABS go-INF PRE.1.NEC

O he mehenei’lhøl rhønøn’nonou jeieijen. O he xououmurun’jouou o ju xaanamb.

[ˈɔ ˈhɛ mɛˈhɛ.ne.ˌl̥al ˈr̥ɒ.nɒn.ˌnɔ.no ˈd͡ʒeː.d͡ʒɛn | ˈɔ ˈhɛ ˈxoː.mʊ.ɾʊnˌd͡ʒoː ˈɔ ˈd͡ʒʊ ˈxaː.naᵐb]

Symmetrical voice is lost. The proximal determinative "this" starts to be used as a definite article to help encode topics. Crastinal tense becomes the future tense, and the phrase "tomorrow (lit. into the morning)" is used to denote "tomorrow". The patient voice form of the verb "to play" is also lost, and is replaced with the locative voice form. Most noun cases are lost, the ablative and perlative replacing the genitive and all locative cases respectively. Former postpositions in Ancestral become clitics, attaching to the end of either the ablative or perlative form of the nouns they modify. Definite article is also precedes the infinitive form of verbs. Half of all languages in the Pushmari family stem from this stage, due to spread of Pushmari culture during Araucana's conquest.

Early Modern Pushmari

DEF.(a)-ABS 1S.ABS 2S.GEN=with tomorrow FUT.1-play_on | DEF.(a)-ABS 1S.ABS home-LAT=to DEF.(a)-ABS go-INF PRE.1.NEC

U hu muhunuu’wøw rhønøn’nunø injeenjin. U hu xøømondon’jøø u unjo xaanamba

[ˈu ˈhu muˈhu.nuːˌwɒw ˈr̥ɒ.nɒn.ˌnu.nɒ inˈd͡ʒeːn.d͡ʒin | ˈu ˈhu ˈxɒː.mon.donˌd͡ʒɒː ˈu unˈd͡ʒo ˈxaː.nam.ba]

Very little grammatical change, primarily lexical/phonological. Most dialects of Pushmari stem from this stage.

Modern Pushmari

DEF.(a)-ABS 1S.ABS 2S.GEN=with tomorrow FUT.1-play_on | DEF.(a)-ABS 1S.ABS home-LAT=to DEF.(a)-ABS go-INF PRE.1.NEC

U hu muhúnuu’wøw rhønøn’nunø injéénjir. U hu hǿǿmondon’jøø u unjó háánamba.

[ˈu ˈhu mu.ˈhu.nuː.ˌwɒw ˈr̥ɒ.nɒn.ˌnu.nɒ in.ˈd͡ʒeːn.d͡ʒiɾ | ˈu ˈhu ˈhɒː.mon.don.ˌd͡ʒɒː ˈu un.ˈd͡ʒo ˈhaː.nam.ba]

quick relay in Lorscript.

for those with screen readers or who cannot see the image:

Original script - “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”