Samboka - Kupsala.netkupsala.net/risto/samboka/Samboka_FU_XII.pdf · A “conlang” is consciously...

Samboka

a constructed Uralic languagepresentation by Risto Kupsala

for XII International Congress for Finno-Ugric Studies

in Oulu, Finland 2015-08-18

18.08.2015 Risto Kupsala 2

Who am I?

● Born in Ruukki, not far from Oulu, Finland

● Education: M.Sc. in Computer Science (2008)

● Job: Senior Software Specialist

● Constructed language hobbyist since 2000


Contents

● What is a constructed language?● Types of a posteriori conlangs

– Onelang, kinlang, zonelang, worldlang

● Budinos, schematic Uralic kinlang● Samboka, naturalistic Uralic kinlang● References


What is a constructed language?

● A “conlang” is consciously created by people for a specific purpose

1. Created for artistic expression → “artlang”

2. Engineered for linguistic experimentation → “engelang”

3. To help in international communication → “auxlang”

● They may have everything a natural language has: phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, idioms, literature, speakers, evolution

– But in most cases their life ends shortly after their creator loses interest

● A priori conlangs are made from completely new elements

● A posteriori conlangs are made from elements of one or more natural languages

– Subtypes based on the number and distribution of source languages: onelang, kinlang, zonelang, worldlang


Onelang

● One predominant source language

● Usually the source language is important internationally

– Latin-based: Latino sine Flexione (by Giuseppe Peano)

– English-based: BASIC English (by C.K. Ogden)


Kinlang

● Based on several genetically related languages

– Romance-based: Lingua Franca Nova, Romanova

– Slavic-based: Slovio, Slovianski

– Finno-Ugric-based: Budinos, Samboka


Zonelang

● Based on several geographically related languages

– European: Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua

– African: Afrihili

– Indian: Indika


Worldlang

● Based on many unrelated languages from around the world

– Unish (by Institute for Universal Language, 2002)

– Lingwa de Planeta (by Ivanov et al., 2006)

– Pandunia (by Kupsala & Wilkinson, 2012)


Budinos

● Described in 2 books and in the internet

● Schematic structure (like Esperanto)

– Word classes have designated endings● Nouns end in -a: nejda (girl), pojka (boy), pua (tree),

tala (house), mora (song)● Verbs end in -i: tumti (to know), tuni (to learn),

mori (to sing)● Adjectives end in -o: paro (good), uso (new), vancho (old)● Adverbs end in -e: pare (well)● Cardinal numerals end in -e: ikte, kjakte, kolme, nelje...

● Verbs are conjugated for person and tense

● Nouns are declined for number (singular and plural) and case (15 cases)


Samboka

● Design goals

– Bring together words and expressions from different Uralic languages

– Sound and feel like a characteristically Uralic language

– Simple and regular → easier to learn than the natural Uralic languages

● However these are little more than ideas...

● Samboka is very incomplete language

– A little grammar and words

– No literature

– No speakers


Samboka's phonemes

● Alphabet: A Ä B C Č D E F G H I J K L M N O Ö P R S Š T U Ü V Z Ž

● Consonants P B T D K G F V S Z Š Ž H C Č M N L R J

● 8 vowels with vowel harmony


Example phrases

● Elava kala ujas ved ala.(A living fish swims in the water.)

● Par lona! (Good day!)

● Misa te elat? (Where do you live?)

● Men kodo oles ton mu pola. (My home is on the other side of the lake.)

● Min pola mei olemi? (Which side we are?)

● Ti oles lona pol. (This is the south side.)


Example words

ela = to live ← Hungarian: él, Finnish: elää, Estonian: elama, etc.

kala = fish ← Finnish/Estonian: kala, Hungarian: hal, Mokshen: кал

uja = to swim ← Mordvin: уемс, Udmurt: уяны, Hungarian: úszik, etc.

par = good ← Mokshen: паро, Mari: поро, Finnish: parempi (better)

lona = midday, south ← Estonian: lõuna (south), Komi: лун (day)

kodo = home, house ← Finnish: koto, Estonian: kodu,Mokshen: кудо, Hungarian: ház

to = lake ← Hungarian: tó, Udmurt: ты, Komi: ты

mu = other ← Finnish: muu, Hungarian: más

pol = side ← Estonian: pool, Finnish: puoli, Hungarian: fél, etc.


Some grammar

● Add -i to form plural nouns

– käd = a hand → kädi = hands

– kala = a fish → kalai = fishes● Person concord with verbs:

– Me elam = I live --- Mei elami = We live

– Te elat = You live --- Tei elati = You (pl.) live

– Se elas = He/she/it lives --- Sei elasi = They live● No possessive suffixes

– men kodosa = in my home (Finn. minun kodissa)

– kodosa men = in my home (Finn. kodissani)


Some more grammar

● Over 14 cases for nouns

● Some basic cases:

– Nominative: kala (pl. kalai)

– Accusative: kalat (pl. kalait)

– Genitive: kalan (pl. kalain)● Note: Add -e- to nouns that end with a consonant in

singular

– käd, kädet, käden

– pl. kädi, kädit, kädin


Some more grammar

● Threefold locative cases

– Illative: kalase (into the fish)

– Inessive: kalasa (in the fish)

– Elative: kalasto (from inside the fish)● Postpositions have the same threefold pattern

– ved ala = under the water

– ved ale = to under the water

– ved alto = from under the water


History and Future?

● First ideas about Samboka in 2010

– But I didn't know any other Uralic languages besides Finnish :(

– So I had to learn something about them, and by 2014 the conlang looked promising...

● But does anybody want a language like this for real?

● It's fun anyway!

– Learning a Uralic language (also Samboka) teaches you something about your own language too.

● Samboka could be used in a fantasy setting (f.ex. a novel or a comic book) to make the imaginary world to seem richer and more realistic


References

● Arzamazov, A.A. "Койнэ «Будинос» – общий язык финно-угров." Центр информационной поддержки молодежи Удмуртской Республики «Шаер». 2009.

● Ernits, Enn. "Soome-ugri plaankeel budinos: struktuur ja loomispõhimõtted." Small Languages In the Multilingual Society. Publications of Võro Institute 24 (2010): 90-112.

● Libert, Alan Reed. "The Representation of Uralic Languages in Artificial International Auxiliary Languages." Journal of Universal Language 14 (2013): 117-142.

● Samboka web pages http://www.kupsala.net/risto/samboka/

http://www.kupsala.net/risto/samboka/

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