Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

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jan Ape
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:44 pm

Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by jan Ape »

This language was deeply inspired by Japanese. I love how simple the Japanese sentences are, and how they leave out pronouns sometimes. I figured it would be great to have a minimalistic language without pronouns, since they rely on context anyway. Besides, if there absolutely needs to be less ambiguous, we can use names. Thanks to this, this gave much more space for adding words and I was able to construct the word list according to The Swadesh List. Not every word is in the word list but I kept compounding in mind...

The language is only 100 words and has so many different concepts.

Phonology
10 Letters (7 Consonants, 3 Vowels)
a - a, schwa
e - e, i
k - k, g
l - l, r
m
n
o - o, u
p - p, b, v, f
s - s, z, h, sh
t - t, d

[Consonant] - Vowel - Consonant - Vowel

* No capital letters
* Adjectives before nouns
* tenpo ______ po _____ = If _____ Then ______
* day one = sunday, one day = 1 day; month one = January, one month = 1 month
* All foreign names are spelled phonetically and are adapted as adjectives
* Accent falls on the last syllable of a word
* ke is only used as an adjective (example: what person?) or at start of sentence (example: what is it?)
* ka (question mark), doesn't have to be used in a "ke" sentence, but it is allowed if wanted
Word List
good, yes, moral, help, bless, blessing, worship, support, heal, fix, peace (hello/bye), enjoyable: pona
question particle (?): ka
what, which: ke
male, masculine, masculinity, masculinize: maso
female, feminine, femininity, feminize: peme
offspring, baby, child, new, young: kana
control, law, govern, government, rule: sanpo
people, nation, country, tribe (race), network, society, social, public: pope
polite word (please, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me, I apologize): o
stupid, drunk, crazy, weird, insult word (dumb ass!), annoyance word (damn it!): paka
say, talk, speak, speech, language, mouth, oral: pale
zero, no, not, none, nothing: no
one, single, alone, lonely, solitude: lo
two, pair, couple, double, in a relationship: to
three, triple: ta
many, much, very, a lot, more, quantity, number, count: mote
and, also, plus, in addition: mo
sun, solar, date, day: sola
moon, satellite, lunar, month: luna
circle, wheel, cycle, process, system, orbit, year, age: seko
time, period, season, moment, minute: tenpo
future, will (verb), next, then, after: po
past, did (verb), before, previous: pa
tool, machine, device, computer: tole
Earth, planet, ground, land, soil, dust, sand, clay: tela
room, place, location, area: loko
medicine, drug, vitamin, mineral: mete
need, want, goal, purpose, star, desire, wish, pray, lust: nesa
neck, swallow, consume, eat, drink, meal, food: kome
sleep, dream: sone
sex, have intercourse, sexual, gender, sexual organ (penis, vagina): sesa
smoke (verb), cook, burn, heat, temperature, hot, fire: poka
cost, price, value, money, cash, currency, financial: kosa
(credit) card, paper, ticket, leaf, page, website: leta
shop, store, market, week: poteka
bread, potato, paste, rice, noodles, cereal: pane
meat, body, flesh, physical, form, shape, figure: kane
milk, dairy, breast (milk-secreting glandular organ): late
vegetable, fruit, vegetation, plant (tree, grass, herb), hair: panta
salt, sodium, salinity: sale
sweet, sugar, sweets, candy: soka
water, rain, wash, clean liquid, fluid: laka
move, travel, journey, foot: mosa
can (able), talent, skill, technique, ability, enable, allow, accept: pote
different, other, another, edit, alter, change: ate
up, above, high, beyond, go upon (climb, move up), superior, formal, sky, heaven: sopa
speed, quick, fast, hurry, rush: lape
home, house, family, building: pamela
hold, carry, have, keep, maintain, to book (reserve), hand, pause, wait, halt: mase
front, ahead, face, head: kape
this, here, now, current, present, modern: ko
person, human, individual: mana
weather, air, wind, breeze, gas, fog, cloud: kase
big, main, important, major, grand, great: kopa
mountain, hill, bump, button, lump: monte
path, way, method, road, street, direction: paso
image, picture, drawing, symbol, character, draw, write, inscribe: poto
root, seed, semen, egg, nut, begin, start, source, primal: sato
animal, organism: tonko
skin, peel, mask, cloth, clothing, shell, bark: pele
bone, rock, stone, spike, thorn, spine: peta
fat, thick, heavy, weigh, mass: pesa
ear, hear, listen, obey, listening (music, melody, sound, tone): kote
eye, see, view, show (exhibition, TV program, video, movie), visual, watch, look at: oko
nose, lung, smell, scent, breathe, breath: naso
tongue, taste, flavor, pattern, style: sapo
belly, stomach, container, holder, box, cart, bag: sako
heart, feel, emotion: sente
suck, attract, take, pull, obtain, bring, capture: toma
detract (repel), explode (throw), waste (pollution), trash, release (free), send (give), to pee, to doodoo: lansa
brain, mind, think, thought, opinion, belief: pensa
know, logic, science, wisdom: sape
live, life, health, experience: sana
kill, dead, delete, destroy, erase, remove, get rid of, subtract: mata
fight, battle, conflict, argument, war, problem, trouble: sota
hit, attack, strike, beat, smash, mash, tap, press: pate
piece, part, cut, split, fraction, divide: kata
fun, play, game, amusement, entertainment: lota
white, light, color, bright, shine, day time: lome
all, every, each, full, total, complete (whole), entire, universe, universal: tota
straight, narrow, direct, exact, accurate, strict, line, linear, string, rope, thread, chord, wire: lena
at, to, for (in the direction of): na
in, inside, inner, internal, interior: ne
outside, foreign, alien, out, of, from: te
strong, strength, energy, power, force, spirit, encourage, inspire, charge (with energy): tama
opening, hole, orifice, door, gate, portal, window: pota
side, next to, beside, near, nearby, about (approximately): lato
do, make, act, behave, deed, work, labor, job, cause, create: pase
happen, news, effect (result): pasa
connect, join, marry, link, relationship, relate, mix, with, together: leka
true, real, exist, prove, make true, validate: e
love, care for: lama
some, plural: ma
name, title, concept, to name, idea: nome
because: sa
but, however: se
use, apply, utilize, usage, application: losa
or, nor, else, otherwise, or else: a
so, thus, therefore, that's why: so
rear-end, butt, bottom, buttocks, ass, anus, anal: ponta
Etymology
o - Japanese (o)
e - Latin (est)
ka - Japanese (ka)
ke - Latin (quid)
na - Portuguese (na)
ne - Japanese (ni)
te - Latin (de)
mo - Japanese (mo)
no - Latin (non)
lo - Italian (l'uno)
to - Latin (duo)
ta - French (trois)
so - English (so)
sa - Tagalog (sa)
se - Latin (sed)
ma - Tagalog (mga)
a - Albanian (a)
tonko - Mandarin (dong wu)
sato - Latin (satus)
mote - Latin (multi)
pona - Latin (bona)
maso - Spanish (macho)
peme - Spanish (feminine)
kana - Indonesian (kanak)
sanpo - Mandarin (zhengfu)
pope - Latin (populi)
pale - French (parler)
sola - English (solar)
luna - Latin (luna)
seko - Latin (circus)
tenpo - Latin (tempus)
ko - Japanese (kon)
po - Latin (post)
pa - English (past)
tole - English (tool)
tela - Latin (terra)
loko - Latin (locus)
mete - English (medi-)
nesa - English (nece-)
kome - Spanish (come)
sone - Latin (somni)
sesa - Latin (sexus)
poka - Romanian (foc)
kosa - Romanian (costa)
leta - English (letter)
poteka - Latin (apotheco)
pane - Latin (pane)
kane - Latin (carnis)
late - Italian (latte)
panta - Latin (planta)
sale - Latin (salio)
soka - Arabic (sukkar)
laka - Italian (l'acqua)
mosa - Italian (mossa)
pote - Latin (potens)
ate - Latin (alter)
sopa - Latin (super)
lape - English (rapid)
pamela - Latin (familia)
mase - Japanese (machi)
kape - Romanian (cap)
mana - Latin (humana)
kase - Japanese (kaze)
kopa - Swahili (kubwa)
monte - Latin (monte)
paso - Spanish (paso)
poto - English (photo)
pele - Latin (pellis)
peta - Latin (petra)
pesa - Spanish (pesado)
kote - Latin (ausculto)
oko - Latin (oculus)
naso - Latin (nasus)
sapo - Latin (sapor)
sako - Latin (saccus)
sente - Latin (sentire)
toma - Spanish (toma)
lansa - Romanian (lansa)
pensa - Spanish (pensar)
sape - Latin (saper)
sana - Spanish (sana)
mata - Spanish (matar)
sota - Finnish (sota)
pate - Italian (batte)
kata - English (cut)
lota - Latin (ludus)
lome - Latin (lumen)
tota - Latin (tota)
lena - Latin (linea)
tama - Japanese (tama)
pota - Latin (porta)
lato - Latin (latus)
pase - Latin (facere)
pasa - Spanish (pasar)
leka - Romanian (lega)
lama - Italian (l'amare)
nome - Latin (nomen)
losa - Spanish (usar)
paka - Japanese (baka)
ponta - Portuguese (bunda)
Example Sentences:

I wanted to go outside but rain (was pouring).
pa nesa mosa te se laka (pa e te).
did want move out but water (did be out).

I want to go outside.
nesa mosa te.
want go out

Do you want to go outside?
nesa mosa te ka.
want go out ?

Please, go outside.
o mosa te.
polite, go out.

Melissa
melesa mana
melesa person

Ms. Melissa
o melesa mana
polite melesa person

Look!
o oko [both of the o's are distinguished like "oh-oh-KO"]
polite look

I wish that you would be here by my side.
e ko na lato e nesa.
[you] be here at [my] side is [the] desire.

What do you want?
ke nesa.
what want.

how may I help you? (literally: What do you want? - but said in a polite way)
o ke nesa.
polite what want.

When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.
nesa e pase mana pona mana tenpo no kana.
want be make person good person time no young. (Time is also "when", so "mana tenpo" or "mana na tenpo" is good)

My fault! My bad!
no pona.
no good.

I apologize. please excuse me.
o no pona.
polite no good.

Thank You! You're Welcome!
o

I want to be a good person.
nesa e pona mana.

talk, language, speech
pale

this language, Pale
ko pale

this language (referring to something other than Pale)
ko (language) pale.

Anyway, What do you think?
Last edited by jan Ape on Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
janMato
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janMato »

Pronoun dropping seems like a logical choice for a simple language. Funny jargon: expletiveboth means "that pronoun you have to use even if it doesn't mean anything e.g. It rains" and "cuss words"

An interesting by product of using the Swadesh list is that we can calculate the number of years separating Pale and toki pona (if they were in a hypothetical world where one evolved to the other).

ln (%congnates)/.14 = # millenniums
ln(.13)/-.14 = 14,000 years.

Hmm. I know I did a pretty quick count and got about 13 cognates, so maybe my math is off, but I seem to be at least 13,990 years high, since toki pona has only been here 10 or so years.
janKipo
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janKipo »

Remarkably accurate for glottochronology, which made every known mistake and invented a few new ones (though I failed one part of my comps for saying so). Dropping first and second person usually makes sense -- though I would miss them -- but third, with the necessity to actually repeat a lot of the time, is less desirable, I think. Still, be nice to see how it works out. It might even give tp some pointers. Oh, several of the problems with glottochron were in the compiling of the list, which proved to be a less than universally applicable tool (to put it mildly -- it didn't work for the second pair of languages it was tried on).
jan Ape
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by jan Ape »

I've gotten around to doing a few translations.

Lord's Prayer (nesa na sopa no kana) - the desire toward sky parent

no kana na sopa - parent at sky
o nome e pona - oh [your] name is good.
pope o mosa na ko loko - [your] nation , please move toward this place.
o pase nesa na tela mo sopa - please do desire at earth and sky
o lansa pane ko - please release bread today
o lansa tela te no pona - please release [our] earth from evil
no ate na lansa te no pona te ate masa - not different to the releasing of evil of other people
o no toma na no pona nesa - do not take [us] to evil desire(s)
o toma te no pona. - take [us] from evil.
o - please, amen, thank you

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

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.

tota mana e toma na sana leka no sanpo mo no ate na sanpo te pope. mase sape mo pensa te sana mo nesa pase na ate mana leka tama te mana.

all human be taken to life with no control and no difference to the law of the people. [they] have knowledge and mind of life and desire do to other human(s) with power of human(ity).
janPeka
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janPeka »

This is really neat. Any updates on this?
i am no longer an active speaker of toki pona for two reasons:
life is not simple
the language appropriates words from the languages of colonized people
janKipo
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janKipo »

Not here, obviously, but nowhere else I know of either. Developing a language can be a real burden once the first flash of inspiration is done. I suspect that jan Ape just ran out of steam after the push of that one day 5 1/2 years ago. And no one picked it up (which is usually crucial for this sort of thing).
janPeka
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janPeka »

Oh well. I love the idea of no pronouns.
i am no longer an active speaker of toki pona for two reasons:
life is not simple
the language appropriates words from the languages of colonized people
janKipo
Posts: 3064
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:20 pm

Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janKipo »

The problem with no pronouns is that it makes for very wordy sentences, since you can't abbreviate as much as pronouns allow. And, if it means not only not anaphoric pronouns but also not first and second person ones it gets pretty long-winded indeed. But I see that those personal pronouns are just omitted, filled in by context. Still, I suspect there are problems since even languages that usually omit such words have them for when they are needed. (tp could do without quite a few occurrences but its strict word order requires subject and verb in every sentence -- though not every utterance, of course.
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jan_Lope
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by jan_Lope »

jan Ape wrote: The language is only 100 words and has so many different concepts.
OK, It is some month ago. But can you write more about the grammar please.

Thanks
Last edited by jan_Lope on Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pona!
jan Lope
https://jan-lope.github.io
(Lessons and the Toki Pona Parser - A tool for spelling, grammar check and ambiguity check of Toki Pona)

On my foe list are the sockpuppets janKipo and janSilipu because of permanent spamming.
janKipo
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Re: Pale (minimalistic language without pronouns)

Post by janKipo »

So, Lope missed the comments above and seems not to have noticed the original date, either.
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