Inkling Fan Language Sister Project: Octoling Language

[EclipseMT]

I am also thinking about making "nostalgia, old feeling" |nihyakugo|.

 

[theFIZZYnator]

In terms of |zonessë| and |amidhekku|, the former is used solely to refer to the military unit, and the latter is the native name of the species as a whole.

It's WMG at this point, but my assumption is that what we see in-game as octotroopers are naught but the severed tentacles of octolings that develop a primitive central intelligience (and other primitive organs, like a larynx, hence the reason why octotrooper speech is unintelligible).

Actual octolings reproduce sexually.

EDIT: Eventually, I would come up with translations and transliterations of the Octoling-written scrolls.

I theorize that the lower-ranking Octarians shapeshift into the form for philosophical reasons, namely the idea of lower-ranking soldiers being mere extensions, or tentacles, if you will, of the higher-ranked soldiers.

 

[theFIZZYnator]

I had a cool idea on a car ride (Seriously, what's with car rides and cool ideas?). I thought that Octolings would use octal (Base 8) in their language as opposed to decimal (base 10) as in Inkling and most human tongues. The rationale is that humans developed base 10 on the grounds that we have 5 fingers per hand × 2 hands = 10 fingers. Inklings are justified to have Base 10 since they have 10 tentacles with which to count with. But since octopodes have 8 tentacles, it feels justified to have them use octal. Also, octal numerals have a one-to-one correspondence to three bits of binary (0‹8› = 000‹2›; 3‹8› = 011‹8›; 30‹8› = 011000‹2›; etc.), which is advantageous when dealing with machinery, or at least one that uses binary like ours does.

As a result, the Octoling language will have words for 1, 8, 64, 512, etc. instead of one, ten, hundred, etc. Our 10 would be their 12; our 100 would be their 144. They might have two words for the numerals 8 and 9 to express Inkling numerals.

 

[EclipseMT]

I had a cool idea on a car ride (Seriously, what's with car rides and cool ideas?). I thought that Octolings would use octal (Base 8) in their language as opposed to decimal (base 10) as in Inkling and most human tongues. The rationale is that humans developed base 10 on the grounds that we have 5 fingers per hand × 2 hands = 10 fingers. Inklings are justified to have Base 10 since they have 10 tentacles with which to count with. But since octopodes have 8 tentacles, it feels justified to have them use octal. Also, octal numerals have a one-to-one correspondence to three bits of binary (0‹8› = 000‹2›; 3‹8› = 011‹8›; 30‹8› = 011000‹2›; etc.), which is advantageous when dealing with machinery, or at least one that uses binary like ours does.

As a result, the Octoling language will have words for 1, 8, 64, 512, etc. instead of one, ten, hundred, etc. Our 10 would be their 12; our 100 would be their 144. They might have two words for the numerals 8 and 9 to express Inkling numerals.

I'm gonna allocate the word for 9 to 64 and the word for 10 to 512.

EDIT: Once one gets to numbers above 8:
9 is written 8-1, 10 is 8-2, etc. 16 is written 2-8, then 2-8-1.

Think Japanese system set to base 8.

 

[EclipseMT]

How many digits does a inkling have in humanoid form, anyway?

Ditto for octolings.

EDIT: Also, octolings, internally, are familiar with reading base-10 due to standardization. But being conservative, their speech is base-8.

Some newer dialects morph into base-10 (primarily those who defected to the Highlanders).

Also, the words for "9" and 10 in this base-10 mode are exclusively for base-10.

The word for hundred is 64, and the word for 1000 is 512 (I forgot I even made them).

OTHER EDIT: Gonna create a word for "high," "land/area/region," and "person" in a while.

YET ANOTHER EDIT: Come up with the best xenophobic slur you can possibly could, and that is what "inkling" would be.

Also, |kharru| can be "to have an idea."

 

[theFIZZYnator]

I've created the Octoling font, and also exported it in webfont format. I will make it available soon.

Here's a nifty HTML5 & CSS3 tip for notating Inkling and Octoling text:

CSS:
@font-face {
/* import Inkling and Octoling webfont */
}
abbr {
font-family: "Inkling", monospace;
}
dfn {
font-family: "Octoling", monospace;
}

HTML:
<p>Normal text in English</p>
<p>"Train" in Inkling is <abbr title="deiša">`¡Õ</abbr>.</p>
<p>"Train" in Octoling is <dfn title="denša">DSht</abbr>.</p>
NOTE: `¡Õ is the code for typing deiša in Sunken Sans. DSht is the code for typing denša in my Octoling font. title="..." is the reading.

This results in smooth, inline Inkling/Octoling text with its reading provided on mouse over (albeit manually).

ASIDE: I'd like a short word for 256 and/or 1024 to be created, the first being the number of different values a byte can take, and the second being how many bytes in a kilobyte.

 

[theFIZZYnator]

Here it is, the Octoling font, or, the name that I have affectionately given it, Sucker Sans.

Here's the download link: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/q5ujrbkr4oqztfx,bmahnl855q7md2i/shared

 

[EclipseMT]

IASIDE: I'd like a short word for 256 and/or 1024 to be created, the first being the number of different values a byte can take, and the second being how many bytes in a kilobyte.

Computer colloquialisms?

They can be |baitë| and |kilo| (I already have a word for 1 thousand).

Side note: In regards to my idea that some dialects count in base-10 and others in base-8, standard uses base-8.

Base 10 was the result of mutation alongside Highlander communication in order to facilitate communication.

 

[theFIZZYnator]

Uh,

Here it is, the Octoling font, or, the name that I have affectionately given it, Sucker Sans.

Here's the download link: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/q5ujrbkr4oqztfx,bmahnl855q7md2i/shared

The font's done...

 

[EclipseMT]

Uh,

The font's done...

I know that, but I have a lot of other stuff going on to the point where I have to access this only on mobile.

EDIT: To give an idea, I am going to have to dig through the thread to retrieve the words.

Then I am going to need to construct more vocabulary to make it to par to any language guide that is starting out.

And then there's the PDF itself (fortunately Word can export).

Expect it to take at least two weeks.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that it's gonna take a while for me to get used to typing the font without a keymap.

 

[EclipseMT]

On a side note:

If we are to integrate the Japanese te form, how will we or how have we if we already have, how is it utilized?

EDIT: Also, can anyone provide a keymap before I map the characters on the PDF to the wrong glyph?

 

[theFIZZYnator]

On a side note:

If we are to integrate the Japanese te form, how will we or how have we if we already have, how is it utilized?

EDIT: Also, can anyone provide a keymap before I map the characters on the PDF to the wrong glyph?

What do you mean by "the te form"? Also, the keymap is basically Octo-betical order. I will make a typing chart soon.

By the way, "alphabet" could be {kipebëta} or {moği}.

 

[EclipseMT]

What do you mean by "the te form"? Also, the keymap is basically Octo-betical order. I will make a typing chart soon.

By the way, "alphabet" could be {kipebëta} or {moği}.

The te form: Something to link two verbs, like している

I just realized that we have the progressive conjugation for that, but I based that on the Japanese suffix 中.

What other uses are there of the verb form する to して (besides a polite imperative when combined with 下さい), and can you enlighten me about 中 in regards to the (noun) suffix?

AFAIKAC, 中 and している are interchangeable, but I have seen されている but not され中.

Also, |moji| can be "character." |kipebëta| can be "alphabet," so "Characters of the alphabet" is |kipebëtaya moji| (alphabet+GEN, character).

 

[theFIZZYnator]

What other uses are there of the verb form する to して (besides a polite imperative when combined with 下さい), and can you enlighten me about 中 in regards to the (noun) suffix?

して is used as a conjunctional form of する, as in 泳いで、撃つ oyoide, utsu "swim, and then shoot". I used native verbs 泳ぐ and 撃つ in this example, since nouns-turned verbs are just a noun followed by する suru, a native verb conjugated irregularly.
As for 中, it's only used as an adjective (participle) like 工事中 kōji·chū "under construction" or 接続中setsuzoku·chū "(now) connecting". している has a similar meaning, but it often corresponds to 中の, not 中; 工事中です = 工事をしています but 工事中の道 = 工事をしている道. There's no kanbun equivalent of されている in major use. The closest I can think of is 被 for passive tense, but that is never used with 中.

 

[EclipseMT]

して is used as a conjunctional form of する, as in 泳いで、撃つ oyoide, utsu "swim, and then shoot"....

And what about 「泳ぎ、撃つ」?

 

[theFIZZYnator]

And what about 「泳ぎ、撃つ」?

That means the same.

 

[theFIZZYnator]

The charmap of Sucker Sans is done. This may be extended or edited with spelling reforms.

 

[EclipseMT]

That means the same.

The one element that stumps Japanese language students: redundancy (relative to English, even though in Japanese, it indicates degree of formality). Averting it here is a huge priority.

The charmap of Sucker Sans is done. This may be extended or edited with spelling reforms.

Thank you for the charmap; I will get to work over the weekend. Gonna still need some more basic words for it to be up to par with any starting language guide.

ASIDE: Perhaps Octoling does not need a word for "to splat;" they prefer saying "to defeat." If they were to say "to splat," it would probably be "to throw hard a liquid."

 

[theFIZZYnator]

I have an idea on how Octoling grammar could be. Feel free to implement or reject any part of it.

Syllable structure:
CVEG
C: any consonant. (opt)
V: vowel. [i e ë a å o u ü]
E: syllable ending. [Vowel lengthener i u n] (opt)
G: gemination of following syllable's leading consonant. If next syllable has no leading consonant, will be rendered as glottal stop. (opt)
I'm also thinking of allowing some consonant custers like [kp][sšþlr], [sšþ][krpt], or [pbfþð]r.

Accents: penultimate. Exceptions may apply for lengthened vowels and should be indicated with acute accent when transcribing.

Main sentence structure: SV, SOV, SDIV (Japanese / German hybrid). OSV, SVO, or VSO are possible by using particles.

Example sentence structure:
[Subject] [Subject particle] [Object] [Object particle (optional/implied)] [Verb] [Question indicator (optional)]

Parts of speech
Nouns - word ending: anything other than [-u], [-na], or [-ni]; gerunds take form [-on]
Verbs - word ending: infinitive takes [-u]; conjugates by case but not person or number
Adjectives - word ending: [-na]; usually before the noun described.
Adverbs - word ending: [-ni]; usually before the verb or adjective described.
Articles - not used.
Particles - subject indicator, object indicator, predicate indicator/separator used when changing word order, question indicator. Question indicator may be rendered unnecessary by conjugation in full sentences (interrogative form [-ay]).

Miscellaneous
Infixes inserted before verb ending
[-as], [-usas], [-usasas], [-ususasas]: causation. First is direct causation, second is indirect 2-level causation, third is 3-level causation or deeper. fourth is 4-level but is optional.
[-er]: passive tense.
[-eb]: repeated or constant action.
[-ab]: verb intensifier.
[-ün]: conditional mood (as in "wäre, hätte, spräche")
[-nčën]: added after noun for diminuitive. Roughly German -chen, Spanish -ito/-ita, Japanese chan/kun

Borrowings should be from Japanese or German, or preferrably cognates with Inkling. e.g. "tentacle" can be [nežuzo] (<Inkling), [šokušü] (<Japanese) or [fangaamë] (<German), preferred in that order. Be sure to occasionally mutate with special non-Inkling/Japanese/German sounds when borrowing.

 

[EclipseMT]

A few things to note:

We already have a passive verb conjugation.

I might, however, move that into a transitive verb prefix.

We also have a question verb prefix and a conditional mood conjugation.

EDIT: The glottal stop.

I am considering to make it a stop following a consonant with no attached vowel.

I am also considering adopting a "strong/weak adjective" system or at least some other way to add another adjective ending (*i) just so I can add the word |derai| et.al. with that ending.

I just need to figure out how to make it work.