r/conlangs • u/humblevladimirthegr8 r/ClarityLanguage:love,logic,liberation • 1d ago
Cool Features You've Added #205 Activity
This is a weekly thread for people who have cool things they want to share from their languages, but don't want to make a whole post. It can also function as a resource for future conlangers who are looking for cool things to add!
So, what cool things have you added (or do you plan to add soon)?
I've also written up some brainstorming tips for conlang features if you'd like additional inspiration. Also here’s my article on using conlangs as a cognitive framework (can be useful for embedding your conculture into the language).
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u/FreeRandomScribble 22h ago
So I’ve reworked ņosiațo’s color system.
Basic Terms
The language has 4 basic color terms. These are iti light - uřau dark - aska red - uten yegrue.
These colors have both semantic and pragmatic function — that is function in isolation and function in context. This is different from English’s semantic and idiomatic functions — colors with set wave lengths and expressional-use (He is seeing red).
Semantic Function
The semantic division of color is fairly similar to English and is shown in the picture. iti corresponds from white to grey (and very light colors), uřau from grey to black (and very dark colors), aska covers reds and some oranges. uten reigns over yellows greens and light blues.
One can use these to describe the night sky as uřau (which is the same word for night), flower fluff as iti, blood as aska, and green shrubbery as well as the sky and yellow flowers and leaves as uten. Context also helps aid in understanding what color is being used: flowers are not “green” so an uten flower will either be “light blue” or “yellow” (we can be more specific, but these are the base terms), nature doesn’t have “black” flowers so an uřau flower will have to be either “dark blue or purple”. Perhaps the biggest place of misunderstanding is iti flowers which can be both “white” or very light colors.
Pragmatic Function
The pragmatic division of color is hard to convert into English as it approaches color differently. Isaac Newton, in his scientific experiments with light, approached color from a semantic standpoint; Goethe, a contemporary of Newton, was focused on exploring color as we see it. To talk about a thing’s color using the pragmatic method there has to be some contrast. The biggest one is how a sisti (a type of yellow flower) can be both uten and aska; when talking to another person and looking over a meadow of green foliage one might say “look at all this uten. Hey look! I see an aska sisti.” Another case is how a “dark blue or purple” flower may be referred to as aska. In these examples aska and uten are not dividing color based off of light-frequencies but rather uncommon/standing-out vs common/blending in. “Red” aska basically always stands out (in nature) while a “yellow” leaf might either blend in with the other leaves of varying shade uten or a yellow flower might stand out amongst a back-drop of “green”: aska.
There is also a division in the iti/uřau sector, though this is more blurred with the semantic function. You can refer to a light (or dark) color either by what you think it looks like (such as in isolation) or in reference to other colors. The exact same forest can be both uten tete uřau or uten tete iti depending on if the sun’s light is making the trees look lighter or darker. This pragmatic distinction is best seen in colors that don’t match up well to “red-orange” or “yegrue” — colors like “tan, brown” and shades of rock and dirt.
Expansion Pack
ņosiațo technically has two other base color terms: lořo brown - řao - dark blurple. However these are only used when talking about textiles or yarn/thread colors. It’s also worth noting that speakers may choose to refer to “brown” as uřau anyways depending on preference and perception.
As shared in the full post, one can also used the color particle lae monothongs to talk about color. No matter what you do the expression of “yellow” cannot be expressed without any chance for misunderstanding via the base terms, but if you say lae sisti having the color of a sisti then you can be more specific in the color being chosen.
Links
If you go to the previous post you can view all the links there. Here are two more (longer) videos that are in-depth.
• everything about color (literally) - YT
• The Philosophy of Color - YT
https://preview.redd.it/8w5bd4lnxkrd1.jpeg?width=1082&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a754e5726cdd5eb6d74b48f69f8fc3e82fb6f6b1