Azoth is a conlang (constructed language, like Klingon or Elvish or Esperanto) that I am developing solely for fun, without any intended use. It is very much a work in progress, but complete enough that paragraphs can be written (provided the lexicon allows for it)
After taking two semesters of latin, an impulse to construct a latin-adjacent language slowly swelled within the recesses of my psyche. I started to ask myself things like: What if latin had more cases, or different tenses? What if latin had only one declension, or each word has one principal part, and no gendered words? This impulse ultimately manifested in a few frenzic nights of working on the language. Then I shelved it for months. Eventually I took it off the shelf and brushed off the dust and tried translating a paragraph into the language. It wasn't too difficult, but it took longer than I would have expected. lol.
a e i o u w
sh zh ll h n ng v f k s d b r l m p t
special sounds: sh as in "shard", ng as in "singer", zh as in "measure", ll as it is in welsh, g is always hard, r is always a flap of the tongue or rolled. Otherwise everything else is as it is in English.
"ng" is a consonant and can be at the beginning of a word.
I am repurposing various alchemical symbols, some modified. insert image here when ready.
A case system is a system of noun inflection (modication of a stem word) in which a noun is inflected in a specific way depending on its role in the sentence (subject, direct object, and so forth). There are eight grammatical cases in Azoth: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, locative, and instrumental. Nominative is the inflection for the subject of the sentence; genitive is the inflection for a possessive noun; dative is the inflection for an indirect object; accusative is the inflection for a direct object; I am unsure how I want to do the ablatives; locative is the inflection for a location; instrumental is the inflection for the instrument by which an action is performed.
Each case has two forms; singular and plural. All plural cases end in "r".
| case | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | -a | -ar |
| genitive | -i | -ir |
| dative | -ie | -ier |
| accusative | -on | -onor |
| ablative | -w | -wr |
| locative | -oka | -okar |
| instrumental | -ill | -illor |
todo: expand this section later
Animate versus inanimate (living versus nonliving) is not required grammatically but can be added for greater specifics, by inclusion of an affix of -an- and -in- immediately before the case suffix
adjectives match the noun in number and case, follow the same declension rules, and are placed beside the noun they modify
syllables are consonent-vowel (CV)
the tenses are:
Present // actions currently happening: "I sing"Past // actions that have been completed, regardless of other factors: "I sang"
Future // actions that have not occurred but will take place: "I will sing"
Imperfect // actions that were happening or habitual in the past: I was singing
Future progressive // actions that will be ongoing: "I will be singing"
Suffixes are used for past tenses, prefixes are used for future tenses. If the verb has person and number, the suffix becomes an infix, and the person suffix comes after.
| tense | modifier |
|---|---|
| past | -ka(-) |
| imperfect | -ga(-) |
| present | n/a |
| future | gaa- |
| future progressive | daa- |
suffixes are used at the end of verbs to communicate person and number. if it is a tense other than present tense, the suffixes come after the tense suffixes; the tense suffixes become infixes.
the suffixes are:-
| person | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -a | -ara |
| 2nd person | -e | -era |
| 3rd person | -i | -ira |
"and" --> "et"
"in order to" --> "wt"
"neither/nor" --> "nec/neque"
"but" --> "sed"
"or" --> "au"
"yet" --> "iet"
todo: add more conjunctions as needed
In some languages, nouns possess a gender; sometimes nouns are inflected or declined such that they have gender. In Azoth, nouns do not have gender; however, a gender can be assigned to the noun with either the articles "fe" or "vi". For example: "Lwpws" means "wolf", and "fe lwpws" means female wolf. Easy enough.
The definite article has two forms. "w" is used before consonants, "wr" is used before vowels. It is not necessary but can be used.
The indefinite article has one form: "an". Also not necessary.
The verb "to be" is the same in singular and plural, and does not vary with tense, but instead has simply one form for each person in the singular.
| Word | Person |
|---|---|
| Sum | 1st |
| Es | 2nd |
| Est | 3rd |
"to be able" is simply the word "val" paired with the form of "to be". Val est - he/she/they are able.
A superlative, grammatically speaking, is a form of an adjective or adverb that expresses the highest degree of a quality. More simply -- if something is the "most" at something; the most big, the most bright, the most sharp, etcetera. the adjective is said to be the superlative. In Azoth, the superlative works the same as it does in latin -- the infix -issim- is added into the adjective.
A lexicon is a list of all words and their meanings. The lexicon for Azoth is in the form of a spreadsheet, and is very very very very very very very unfinished. "It's a work in progress."
Below is a paragraph I wrote both in Azoth and in English. Enjoy!
Shubunkin Goldfish are a single-tailed breed of goldfish known for their vibrant calico colors. Enthusiasts sometimes refer to them as "poor man's koi", because they closely resemble koi, but do not grow as large and can be in a much smaller tank or pond; they can even cross-breed with koi, but produce sterile offspring. (They also lack whiskers.) They are a variant of Comet Goldfish, which were cross-bred with calico veiltails to produce a calico fish with the streamlined body you would find in comet or common goldfish. It is believed that Shubunkin fish were first bred in Japan in the year 1900, so they've been around for a while. Goldfish as a whole are descendent of the Prussian Carp, including Shubunkins.
Shwbwnkinar Piskisar Aurwmir est kenuson piskisir aurwmir kum unu kawdwr, et swblimwr kalikwswr kolorwumwr notusi. Laellidar inderdwm "pawpiri koionor" nomeni, kwod est vastus simile koionor, sed non kreshundira ut maknus koionor est, et val est habitatira en simile vastwsw brevisw akwariumw au laikw; val est etiam propigatira kum koiwr, sed propigatira barinonor prazhunonor. (Etiam penurira barbonor.) Kenusonor komitwr piskiswr est, kwionor propikatikai kum kalikwsier veilier kawdaier ut propikatikai kalikwson piskison kum krakilw korpusw val fende en komitwr et vulkariswr piskiswr aurwmwr. Kredoi Shwbwnkonor piskisonor propikatikaira priusira en Zhapanoka est en annwsw 1900, thws koporkai diwternwson est. Piskisar aurwmir totusar prozhin Karp Prushiai est, komprehendo Shwbwnkinonor.