Received: from localhost ([::1]:51310 helo=stodi.digitalkingdom.org) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtp (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1RtfOo-0003To-3U; Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:11:26 -0800 Received: from 173-13-139-235-sfba.hfc.comcastbusiness.net ([173.13.139.235]:55368 helo=jukni.digitalkingdom.org) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtps (TLSv1:AES256-SHA:256) (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1RtfOY-0003Ti-WF for wikichanges@lojban.org; Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:11:24 -0800 Received: from jukni.digitalkingdom.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by jukni.digitalkingdom.org (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id q14DB9TR002672 for ; Sat, 4 Feb 2012 05:11:09 -0800 Received: (from apache@localhost) by jukni.digitalkingdom.org (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) id q14DB82V002671; Sat, 4 Feb 2012 05:11:08 -0800 Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2012 05:11:08 -0800 X-Authentication-Warning: jukni.digitalkingdom.org: apache set sender to webmaster@lojban.org using -f To: wikichanges@lojban.org X-PHP-Originating-Script: 48:htmlMimeMail.php MIME-Version: 1.0 From: webmaster@lojban.org Message-ID: X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by jukni.digitalkingdom.org id q14DB9TR002672 X-Spam-Score: 1.0 (+) X-Spam_score: 1.0 X-Spam_score_int: 10 X-Spam_bar: + X-Spam-Report: Spam detection software, running on the system "stodi.digitalkingdom.org", has identified this incoming email as possible spam. The original message has been attached to this so you can view it (if it isn't spam) or label similar future email. If you have any questions, see the administrator of that system for details. Content preview: The page Voksigid was changed by najrut at 13:11 UTC You can view the page by following this link: http://www.lojban.org/tiki/Voksigid [...] Content analysis details: (1.0 points, 5.0 required) pts rule name description ---- ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------- 0.4 RDNS_DYNAMIC Delivered to internal network by host with dynamic-looking rDNS 0.6 TO_NO_BRKTS_DYNIP To: misformatted and dynamic rDNS Subject: [Wikichanges] Wiki page Voksigid changed by najrut X-BeenThere: wikichanges@lojban.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: webmaster@lojban.org List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============9082353984108230802==" Errors-To: wikichanges-bounces@lojban.org Content-Length: 66592 --===============9082353984108230802== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The page Voksigid was changed by najrut at 13:11 UTC You can view the page by following this link: =20 http://www.lojban.org/tiki/Voksigid You can view a diff back to the previous version by following this link:=20 http://www.lojban.org/tiki/tiki-pagehistory.php?page=3DVoksigid&compare=3D= 1&oldver=3D5&newver=3D6 *********************************************************** The changes in this version follow below, followed after by the current f= ull page text. *********************************************************** +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ @@ -Lines: 2-4 changed to +Lines: 2-1118 @@ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ [http://ViewsOfLanguage.host56.com/voksigid/index.html] +=20 + {HTML(wiki=3D"0")} + +=20 + +=20 + Bruce R. Gilson's Voksigid Page +=20 + +=20 + +=20 +

Voksigid

+=20 +

+=20 +

+=20 + Voksigid was an attempt to construct a predicate language of a differen= t +=20 + type from those which had gone before. The first predicate language +=20 + (Loglan, developed by James Coo= ke Brown),=20 +=20 + and its descendant Lojban, +=20 + developed by Robert LeChevalier, both used word order to mark +=20 + the various places in the predication. I felt that remembering which +=20 + position meant which role in the predication might be beyond easy +=20 + memorization for most people. In October 1991 I made a proposal to t= he Conlang group putting forward +=20 + some ideas for a language that I envisioned. I assembled a development = committee +=20 + following that post, and for several months we worked on the language, = which we +=20 + named Voksigid. The language has a syntax which +=20 + was (as mentioned in the proposal letter) somewhat influenced by Japanese (b= ut=20 +=20 + reversed; Japanese is verb-last and postpositional, Voksigid is verb-fi= rst +=20 + and prepositional), and a vocabulary based mostly on European +=20 + language roots. +=20 +

+=20 + After some time, I became aware that many of the ideas we were using in= the +=20 + construction of Voksigid resembled the theory of case grammar propounded by Charles J. Fillmore (See also=20 +=20 + this=20 +=20 + site for more about Fillmore. Note that he was also interested in J= apanese!). Had=20 +=20 + we been working longer on this project, perhaps there would have been m= ore use of=20 +=20 + Fillmore's ideas; if anyone would like to consider restoring the Voksig= id project, I=20 +=20 + would certainly recommend some study of those ideas.) +=20 +

+=20 +
+=20 + +=20 +
+=20 + +=20 +
+=20 + +=20 +

+=20 + The project was formally ended in a message I submitted as a final repo= rt to the Conlang group on July 23, 1992. +=20 + (Please note that all e-mail addresses shown are no longer valid!)

<= p> +=20 + Anyone who might wish to build upon the foundation of this project is w= elcome to communicate with me, but a= t my present e-mail address. +=20 +
+=20 +


+=20 + This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained unt= il 1998. +=20 + The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages= on Geocities +=20 + could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they w= ere, until +=20 + download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22= , 2009. +=20 +
+=20 + Please inform me of=20 +=20 + dead links and any other problems.
+=20 +


+=20 + Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 +=20 + (brg1942@gmail.com) June 24, 2009.
+=20 +

+=20 + =20 +=20 +
+=20 + Sign up for your own si= te +=20 +
+=20 + =08 Back to my home page

+=20 +

+=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + Voksigid: Orthography etc. +=20 + +=20 +

The Orthography, Phonology, and Phonotactics of Voksigid.

+=20 +
+=20 +

+=20 +

1. The alphabet consists of all the Roman letters except q and +=20 + x. +=20 +
+=20 + The letters l and r will never be used to distinguish two= words, +=20 + so that in a technical sense they will be considered the same phoneme. = In fact, +=20 + however, the official sounds of l and r will be as shown = below. +=20 + Because people whose native languages have only one sound similar to bo= th, as +=20 + Japanese and Korean, may use that sound for both letters, we will never= use them +=20 + to distinguish minimal pairs. A similar comment holds for s and = z; +=20 + Spanish, for example, has no /z/ while German tends to pronounce initia= l +=20 + s as [z] and Italian does the same with intervocalic s. +=20 +

+=20 +

2. The sounds of the letters are as follows: +=20 +

+=20 +

a (Eng. art, Fr. la) +=20 +
+=20 +
b (Eng. boy) +=20 +
+=20 +
c (Ital. cento =3D ch in Eng. chief, sh in Eng. shoe) +=20 +
+=20 +
d (Eng. dog) +=20 +
+=20 +
e (Eng. bed, Ger. Bett, beten) +=20 +
+=20 +
f (Eng. find) +=20 +
+=20 +
g (Eng. girl) +=20 +
+=20 +
h (Eng. have, Ger. Bach) -- the [x] sound is allowed fo= r the benefit +=20 + of such as Russian speakers who cannot pronounce [h]. +=20 +
+=20 +
i (Eng. in, machine) +=20 +
+=20 +
j (Eng. jam, Fr. journal) +=20 +
+=20 +
k (Eng. key) +=20 +
+=20 +
l (Eng. love, Ger. Liebe) +=20 +
+=20 +
m (Eng. man) +=20 +
+=20 +
n (Eng. sun; before k or g, as in Eng. su= ng) +=20 +
+=20 +
o (Brit. Eng. on, aw in Am. Eng. dawn, Ger. so) +=20 +
+=20 +
p (Eng. pin) +=20 +
+=20 +
r (Eng. red, Fr. rouge, Span. rojo)=20 +=20 +
+=20 +
s (Eng. sing) +=20 +
+=20 +
t (Eng. top) +=20 +
+=20 +
u (Eng. push, rude) +=20 +
+=20 +
v (Eng. very) +=20 +
+=20 +
w (Eng. wash) +=20 +
+=20 +
y (Eng. yet) +=20 +
+=20 +
z (Eng. zero) +=20 +

+=20 +

It should be noted that for the letters c e h i j n o u= , sounds are +=20 + included that are in some languages considered distinct phonemes; this = is +=20 + done to allow for ease in pronouncing by speakers of as many languages +=20 + as possible. +=20 +

+=20 + For items 3-5, the following terminology applies: +=20 +

+=20 +
+=20 +

Vowel =3D a e i o u, or any of the diphth= ongs listed. +=20 +
+=20 +
Diphthong =3D ai au oi.=20 +=20 +
+=20 +
Pure consonant =3D b c d f g h j k p s t v z. +=20 +
+=20 +
Liquid =3D l r. +=20 +
+=20 +
Nasal =3D m n. +=20 +
+=20 +
Glide =3D w y. +=20 +
+=20 +
Semivowel =3D any liquid, nasal, or glide, as defined +=20 + here. +=20 +
+=20 +
Consonant =3D any pure consonant or semivowel= , as defined +=20 + here. +=20 +
+=20 +
Voiced consonant =3D b d g j v z. +=20 +
+=20 +
Unvoiced consonant =3D c f h k p s t. +=20 +

+=20 +

3. A syllable consists of one to four phonemes, of the for= m [P] [S] V [C] +=20 + where bracketed elements are optional, P is any pure consonant, S any +=20 + semivowel, V any vowel, and C any consonant, except: +=20 +
+=20 +
a. The final consonant of a syllable may not be a glide or = h. +=20 +
+=20 +
b. The final consonant of one syllable, combined with the init= ial +=20 + consonant(s) of an immediately following syllable in a word, may not ma= ke any of +=20 + the combinations forbidden in 4. +=20 +

+=20 +

4. The following consonant combinations are forbidden: +=20 +
=20 +=20 +
a. Voiced + unvoiced consonant or vice versa. +=20 +
+=20 +
b. Nasal consonant + nonhomoorganic stop. This specifically fo= rbids the +=20 + combination of m + any of (c d g j k t) and the combinati= on +=20 + of n with (b p) +=20 +

+=20 +

5. If a word ends in a pure consonant and the following wo= rd does not begin +=20 + with a pure consonant, or if a word ends in a semivowel and the followi= ng word=20 +=20 + begins in a vowel, a distinct pause must be articulated at the word bou= ndary.=20 +=20 + In other cases, a pause may be made at a boundary, but need not = be. A word=20 +=20 + boundary is defined as anywhere where a blank space is written. +=20 +

+=20 +


+=20 + This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained unt= il 1998. +=20 + The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages= on Geocities +=20 + could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they w= ere, until +=20 + download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22= , 2009. +=20 +
+=20 + Please inform me of=20 +=20 + dead links and any other problems.
+=20 +


+=20 + Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 +=20 + (brg1942@gmail.com) June 13, 2009.
+=20 +

+=20 + =20 +=20 +
+=20 + Sign up for your own si= te +=20 +
+=20 + =08 Back to my home page
+=20 + =08 Back to the Voksigid top page


+=20 +

+=20 +
+=20 + +=20 + +=20 + Voksigid: Morphology +=20 + +=20 +

The Morphology of Voksigid.

+=20 +
+=20 + (Consult the document entitled "The Syntax of Voksigid" for +=20 + any terminology needed to understand this document.) +=20 +
+=20 +

+=20 + 1. Predicates will be constructed as two-syllable or longer words endin= g in a=20 +=20 + vowel; tags will be single-syllable words that both begin and end in +=20 + consonants; other particles will be single-syllable words that either b= egin or +=20 + end in a vowel or both.=20 +=20 +

+=20 + 2. Words which can be used as nouns or adjectives (the specific usage b= eing +=20 + governed by paragraph 4 of the syntax document) will be derived from ve= rbs by +=20 + nominalizing suffixes which are identical in form to the tag/prepositio= n words. +=20 + These can be resolved into predicate + suffix, because in all cases the= last +=20 + three letters (consonant + vowel + consonant) will be a nominalizing su= ffix. +=20 + As nouns, their meaning will be "noun with the relationship defined by = the tag +=20 + to the predication implied by the verb meaning of the word," e. g. a ta= g meaning +=20 + "indirect object" attached to the word for "give" means "recipient." As +=20 + adjectives, their meaning will be "having the relationship defined by t= he tag to +=20 + the predication implied by the verb meaning of the word," so that the s= ame word +=20 + means "receiving." +=20 +

+=20 + 3. Suffixes used to create predicates from tags, from other particles, = or from=20 +=20 + strings of particles, will be of the form consonant + diphthong. No sim= ple=20 +=20 + predicate will end in a diphthong, so that any predicate ending in a di= phthong=20 +=20 + consists of a particle or string of particles followed by a predicatizi= ng +=20 + suffix.=20 +=20 +

+=20 + 4. Gender will be expressed by the use of the prefix mas- (for m= asculine) +=20 + or fem- (for feminine). No assumption is to be made as to the se= x of the +=20 + referent in the absence of these prefixes. The prefix mas- is al= tered to +=20 + maz- before voiced sounds and fem- to fen- before = nonlabial +=20 + stop consonants to avoid prohibited clusters. +=20 +

+=20 +


+=20 + This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained unt= il 1998. +=20 + The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages= on Geocities +=20 + could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they w= ere, until +=20 + download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22= , 2009. +=20 +
+=20 + Please inform me of=20 +=20 + dead links and any other problems.
+=20 +


+=20 + Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 +=20 + (brg1942@gmail.com) June 13, 2009.
+=20 +

+=20 + =20 +=20 +
+=20 + Sign up for your own si= te +=20 +
+=20 + =08 Back to my home page
+=20 + =08 Back to the Voksigid top page


+=20 +

+=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + Voksigid: Syntax +=20 + +=20 +

The Syntax of Voksigid.

+=20 +
+=20 +

+=20 + 1. The parts of speech are predicates (verbs), tags (prepositions), and= other +=20 + particles. (the terms "predicate" and "verb" will be used interchangeab= ly, as +=20 + also "tag" and "preposition." The term "other particle" will include +=20 + conjunctions, modal/aspectual particles, ending markers, and such other= s as +=20 + become necessary to define the syntax. All content words will be unders= tood as +=20 + verbs. Those which represent primarily constructs that English uses nou= ns or +=20 + adjectives for will officially mean "to be X." Predicates can be used a= s nouns +=20 + or adjectives by the use of nominalizers as described tn the morphology +=20 + document. +=20 +

+=20 + 2. All sentences begin with a verb, possibly preceded by aspectual or m= odal +=20 + particles. All other elements of the predication are expressed by the u= se of=20 +=20 + prepositional phrases. These include the elements that would in English= be=20 +=20 + expressed by subject and direct and indirect object, as well as adverbi= al=20 +=20 + phrases. No distinction is made between these phrases, and if more than= one=20 +=20 + phrase is used, they may be placed in any order, depending on the speak= er/ +=20 + writer's desire to emphasize one or another. +=20 +

+=20 + 3. Clauses consist of a conjunction followed by the elements that compo= se a=20 +=20 + sentence according to the previous paragraph. No distinction between co= ordinate +=20 + and subordinate clauses will be made in structure. +=20 +

+=20 + 4. The same form defined in 1 as a noun can be used as an adjective by = being +=20 + placed after the noun which it modifies. Thus a nominalized verb which +=20 + immediately follows a preposition is a noun; one that follows another s= uch +=20 + is an adjective modifying the noun that precedes it. +=20 +

+=20 + 5. Neither definite nor indefinite articles will be necessary. Each pre= position +=20 + will delimit a noun phrase, since all prepositional phrases can be anal= yzed as +=20 + a preposition, an object-of-preposition noun, and zero or more nouns-us= ed-as- +=20 + adjectives.=20 +=20 +

+=20 + 6. Ending markers will comprise end-of-phrase, end-of-clause, and end-o= f- +=20 + adjective/adverb markers. The end-of-phrase marker is treated as a righ= t=20 +=20 + parenthesis with the nearest tag prior to it as the corresponding left=20 +=20 + parenthesis. It is only necessary if another modifier (nominalized-verb= -used- +=20 + as-adjective, clause, or tag/preposition + noun phrase) follows it. The= end-of- +=20 + clause marker is treated as a right parenthesis with the nearest conjun= ction=20 +=20 + prior to it as the corresponding left parenthesis. It is only necessary= if=20 +=20 + another modifier (nominalized-verb-used-as-adjective, clause, or tag/pr= eposition +=20 + + noun phrase) follows it. The end-of-adjective/adverb marker signifies= that the +=20 + word before it is an unmodified adjective or adverb, and is needed only= to +=20 + indicate that a following modifier is to be attached, not to the adject= ive/ +=20 + adverb in question, but to the word it modifies. The end of a sentence = terminates +=20 + all unclosed phrases and clauses. +=20 +

+=20 + 7. A relative clause is introduced by a special subordinating conjuncti= on +=20 + (su) and is constructed as in paragraph 3. It is inserted in the= sentence +=20 + after the word it modifies. The place in the relative clause where the = relative +=20 + relates to the clause is filled by the relative pronoun (lau). +=20 +

+=20 + 8. Another equivalent of a relative clause in other languages is a phra= se +=20 + constructed with a special case tag governing a nominalization of the v= erb which +=20 + was the clause main verb. The nominalization indicates which case the r= estricted +=20 + phrase is supposed to fit. When necessary (in the rare instances where = the +=20 + restricted phrase is not going to be an argument of the clause verb) or= desired=20 +=20 + for stylistic reasons, nominalize with cen (abstraction) and use +=20 + lau as a pronoun to represent the restricted phrase, with its pr= oper +=20 + case tag. This will be designated a quasi-relative phrase. +=20 +

+=20 +


+=20 + This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained unt= il 1998. +=20 + The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages= on Geocities +=20 + could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they w= ere, until +=20 + download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22= , 2009. +=20 +
+=20 + Please inform me of=20 +=20 + dead links and any other problems.
+=20 +


+=20 + Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 +=20 + (brg1942@gmail.com) June 13, 2009.
+=20 +

+=20 + =20 +=20 +
+=20 + Sign up for your own si= te +=20 +
+=20 + =08 Back to my home page
+=20 + =08 Back to the Voksigid top page


+=20 +

+=20 + +=20 + Voksigid final report +=20 + +=20 +

The Voksigid final report

+=20 +

+=20 + Originally posted on the Conlang mailing list, July 23, 1992. +=20 +

+=20 + Date: 23 Jul 92 09:09:00 EDT
+=20 + From: "61510::GILSON" <gilson%61510.decnet@cfe1.nrl.navy.mil>
+=20 + Subject: Final (I think) status report to Conlang group on the Voksigid= project

+=20 +

+=20 + This functions both as the apparent final progress report on the Voksig= id +=20 + project to the conlang group and the apparent final communication to th= e +=20 + Voksigid development group, a. k. a. the newlang group. If anyone, eith= er +=20 + by sending to the Voksigid group as a whole at newlang@buphy.bu.edu, or= by +=20 + emailing to me at brgilson@highlite.gotham.com, evinces an interest in +=20 + reviving the Voksigid project, the possibility of continuing the effort +=20 + still exists, but I am pessimistic about the chances. +=20 +

+=20 + My observations are that the demise of the effort was not due to any=20 +=20 + impracticality of implementing the concept that Voksigid represented. I= still=20 +=20 + feel that we might have, if a few non-linguistic happenings had been di= fferent, +=20 + come out with something better than Lojban at the things Lojban is best= at, +=20 + while being easier to learn. +=20 +

+=20 + Voksigid went through three phases: +=20 +

+=20 + 1. In a preliminary organization phase, we eliminated two people whose = ideas +=20 + were so far removed from what the rest oif us had in mind that compromi= se was +=20 + clearly impossible. One of them, I feel, could well have contributed a = lot of +=20 + useful ideas, but was so firmly wedded to an a priori vocabulary that w= e could=20 +=20 + not hold him. His loss was unfortunate because I think he knew a lot ab= out some +=20 + aspects of grammar that most of us did not know. The second of those wo= uld at +=20 + least have given us some input from a person whose native language was = not +=20 + English, but it was very clear from early on that there was no compromi= se that +=20 + could embrace both him and myself; on one occasion I went so far toward= his +=20 + proposal that it was making me ill to conceive of what was being done, = and yet +=20 + he was accusing me of being unwilling to compromise. With the departure= of those +=20 + two from the group, we were able to come up with some documents to defi= ne the +=20 + language, and at that point it looked as if we were making progress. +=20 +

+=20 + 2. At that point, we began filling in the details. We developed a vocab= ulary, +=20 + fleshed out a few grammatical details, and I thought we'd soon have a l= anguage +=20 + created. Then disaster struck. One of us, who had been the most prolifi= c source +=20 + of ideas in the first phase (and who, more than I, was the person whose= =20 +=20 + structure as first proposed turned out to be the one that the final Vok= sigid=20 +=20 + resembled most closely) had to leave to devote full time to his dissert= ation. +=20 + Another changed schools. I myself, for a while, was incommunicado becau= se I +=20 + lost the ability to receive e-mail at my work computer and needed to es= tablish +=20 + a new location. That led to phase 3: +=20 +

+=20 + 3. We got to a point where a proposal would be made, and nobody would r= espond. +=20 + It was clear that nothing more was going to happen. This is where we ar= e now. +=20 + I think we have to give Voksigid a decent burial. The defining document= s are +=20 + still, I assume, to remain on the PLS, and if someone sends a copy of D= ave=20 +=20 + West's final version of the lexicon to the PLS archives, they will have= a +=20 + basis on which to proceed if anyone wants to take the role that Ashby a= nd Clark +=20 + took to Hogben's Interglossa.=20 +=20 +

+=20 + Observations: +=20 +

+=20 + Apparently, for an experimental language, the only organization scheme = that=20 +=20 + works is something like what happened in Lojban. One person (in that ca= se, JCB) +=20 + developed a language, and a group was set up only much later, but the g= roup +=20 + was much larger than we had, so that dropping out by 1 or 2 or 3 did no= t leave +=20 + them so shorthanded that paralysis started whenever two people disagree= d. The +=20 + voting mechanisms I devised worked when we had 5 or 6 people; when we g= ot down +=20 + to 3 we were lost. They would have worked better if we had the 9 or 10 = I'd=20 +=20 + originally envisioned. Lojban had one unfortunate experience, the split= between +=20 + JCB and lojbab that required them to construct a totally new vocabulary= from +=20 + scratch -- they'd be a year or two further along, I think, if that hadn= 't happened.=20 +=20 + But (even though I can't read the language well enough to follow everyt= hing that goes=20 +=20 + on) I think the group works well. I'd hoped that we could do that kind = of thing=20 +=20 + eventually. The only problem is getting to that point. A committee such= as we had=20 +=20 + doesn't seem to work. I'm sorry it doesn't. John Ross and Jim Carter, a= t least, had=20 +=20 + useful ideas without which the language, if it had depended on me alone= , would never=20 +=20 + have been as good as the one we were on the threshold of developing. Ji= m, in=20 +=20 + particular, even though he has his own creation (guaspi) and is also an= active=20 +=20 + participant in the Lojban group as well, was able to grasp the spirit o= f Voksigid=20 +=20 + well enough that his suggestions were frequently right to the point, ev= en though they=20 +=20 + had to be different from the way guaspi or Lojban would handle the same= problem. I=20 +=20 + wish we had been able to get the same from the one person I mentioned e= arlier who +=20 + was the first to get off the boat. +=20 +

+=20 +             = ;   +=20 +             = ;   +=20 +             = ;   +=20 +             = ;   +=20 +             = ;   +=20 +      Bruce +=20 +
+=20 +


+=20 +

+=20 + Please inform me of=20 +=20 + dead links and any other problems.
+=20 +


+=20 + Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 +=20 + (brg1942@gmail.com) June 20, 2009.
+=20 +

+=20 + =20 +=20 +
+=20 + Sign up for your own si= te +=20 +
+=20 + =08 Back to the Voksigid main page<= /center>
+=20 + =08 Back to my home page
+=20 +

+=20 + +=20 + +=20 + [conlang_learners] More about Voksigid +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 + +=20 +

[conlang_learners] More about Voksigid

+=20 + Jim Henry=20 +=20 + jimhenry1973 at gmail.= com +=20 +
+=20 + Sun Jul 19 12:24:49 PDT 2009 +=20 +

+=20 +
=20 +=20 + 
Voksigid was an engelang created by Bruce Gilson, Jim Carter, John
+=20
+ Ross and others in 1991-1992.   It remained somewhat unfinished; the
+=20
+ vocabulary comprises 256 words and affixes, and the grammar pages,
+=20
+ though the syntax and morphology are described thoroughly at a high
+=20
+ level of abstraction, lack any example sentences.   The phonology is
+=20
+ clearly defined except for stress, though the presentation uses
+=20
+ multiple natlang examples for each phoneme and its allophones rather
+=20
+ than IPA.   It uses a purely ASCII phonetic orthography, with 24
+=20
+ letters representing 19 consonants and 5 vowels.  The vocabulary comes
+=20
+ from a variety of natlangs, mostly European.
+=20
+=20
+=20
+ Basically, Voksigid is a verb-initial active language with free
+=20
+ ordering of the phrases following the verb, each phrase consisting of
+=20
+ a preposition, a noun, and potentially one or more adjectives and/or
+=20
+ modifying particles.   Fairly specific case tags (prepositions) mark
+=20
+ the subject as well as the objects and complements.   Content roots
+=20
+ are always verbs (e.g., "katse" is defined as "to be a c=
at"); nouns
+=20
+ and adjectives are derived from root verbs with case tags used as
+=20
+ nominalizing suffixes.   I infer that  "katselen" would mean =
"a cat"
+=20
+ or "pertaining to (a) cat(s)" (depending on context), althoug=
h use of
+=20
+ specific nominalizers is not discussed.  ("len" is defined as=
 "subject
+=20
+ of a non-quantifiable statal predicate=A8 and seems to be the most
+=20
+ appropriate of the case tags for this kind of nominalization.  "to=
r"
+=20
+ is "active subject", i.e. agent I suppose, so "katsetor&=
quot; would seem to
+=20
+ mean "one who is deliberately being a cat".)
+=20
+=20
+=20
+ Some details of the grammar are underspecified and would have to be
+=20
+ (re)created based on the clues in the lexicon and grammar documents.
+=20
+ In particular, the definitions of the case tags aren=B4t always specifi=
c
+=20
+ enough to give the reader a clear idea of how they=B4re used.   However=
,
+=20
+ I think it would be quite possible for us to study the Voksigid
+=20
+ documents, discuss them, and come up with a more ample reference
+=20
+ grammar (with lots of example sentences) and lessons.   It would also
+=20
+ be necessary to coin more words based on the principles described in
+=20
+ the morphology document.  Voksigid was clearly not intended to be a
+=20
+ lexically minimalist language, given the kinds of concepts to which
+=20
+ root words are devoted in the extant lexicon; the small vocabulary is
+=20
+ due to the project having ended prematurely.
+=20
+=20
+=20
+ Figuring out the grammar from the terse documents on the Voksigid
+=20
+ website would take some time and effort, but once someone has done
+=20
+ that and written an expanded reference grammar and/or lessons, I think
+=20
+ Voksigid would be relatively easy to learn.  The hard part would be
+=20
+ getting used to the way case tags and nominalizers are used (and
+=20
+ perhaps the way relative clauses are formed); there=B4s no inflection,
+=20
+ much less irregularity thereof, and the phonology should be easy for
+=20
+ anyone who already speaks a European language (and many who don=B4t).
+=20
+=20
+=20
+ --=20
+=20
+ Jim Henry
+=20
+ http://www.pobox.com/~jimhe=
nry/
+=20
+
+=20 +
+=20 +

+=20 +
+=20 + More information about the conlang_learners +=20 + mailing list
+=20 + + {HTML} *********************************************************** The new page content follows below. *********************************************************** Voksigid created by an Internet working group led by Bruce R. Gilson, att= empts to construct a predicate language of a different type from those wh= ich had gone before. Its syntax was somewhat influenced by Japanese, and = its vocabulary was based mostly on European language roots. Loglan and Lo= jban both use word order to mark the various places in the predication, b= ut because remembering which position means which role in the predication= might be beyond easy memorization for most people, Voksigid was designed= in order to overcome this issue. It uses an extensive set of very semant= ically specific prepositions to mark the roles of verb arguments, instead= of positional order as in Loglan and Lojban. [http://ViewsOfLanguage.host56.com/voksigid/index.html] {HTML(wiki=3D"0")} Bruce R. Gilson's Voksigid Page

Voksigid

Voksigid was an attempt to construct a predicate language of a different type from those which had gone before. The first predicate language (Loglan, developed by James Cooke= Brown),=20 and its descendant Lojban, developed by Robert LeChevalier, both used word order to mark the various places in the predication. I felt that remembering which position meant which role in the predication might be beyond easy memorization for most people. In October 1991 I made a proposal to the= Conlang group putting forward some ideas for a language that I envisioned. I assembled a development co= mmittee following that post, and for several months we worked on the language, wh= ich we named Voksigid. The language has a syntax which was (as mentioned in the proposal letter) somewhat influenced by Japanese (but=20 reversed; Japanese is verb-last and postpositional, Voksigid is verb-firs= t and prepositional), and a vocabulary based mostly on European language roots.

After some time, I became aware that many of the ideas we were using in t= he construction of Voksigid resembled the theory of case grammar propounded by Charles J. Fillmore = (See also=20 this=20 site for more about Fillmore. Note that he was also interested in Jap= anese!). Had=20 we been working longer on this project, perhaps there would have been mor= e use of=20 Fillmore's ideas; if anyone would like to consider restoring the Voksigid= project, I=20 would certainly recommend some study of those ideas.)



The project was formally ended in a message I submitted as a final report= to the Conlang group on July 23, 1992. (Please note that all e-mail addresses shown are no longer valid!)

Anyone who might wish to build upon the foundation of this project is wel= come to communicate with me, but at = my present e-mail address.


This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained until= 1998. The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages o= n Geocities could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they wer= e, until download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22, = 2009.
Please inform me of=20 dead links and any other problems.



Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 (brg1942@gmail.com) June 24, 2009.


=20
Sign up for your own site=
=08 Back to my home page



 Voksigid: Orthography etc.

The Orthography, Phonology, and Phonotactics of Voksigid.

1. The alphabet consists of all the Roman letters except q= and x.
The letters l and r will never be used to distinguish two w= ords, so that in a technical sense they will be considered the same phoneme. In= fact, however, the official sounds of l and r will be as shown be= low. Because people whose native languages have only one sound similar to both= , as Japanese and Korean, may use that sound for both letters, we will never u= se them to distinguish minimal pairs. A similar comment holds for s and z; Spanish, for example, has no /z/ while German tends to pronounce initial s as [z] and Italian does the same with intervocalic s.

2. The sounds of the letters are as follows:

a (Eng. art, Fr. la)
b (Eng. boy)
c (Ital. cento =3D ch in Eng. chief, sh in Eng. shoe)
d (Eng. dog)
e (Eng. bed, Ger. Bett, beten)
f (Eng. find)
g (Eng. girl)
h (Eng. have, Ger. Bach) -- the [x] sound is allowed for = the benefit of such as Russian speakers who cannot pronounce [h].
i (Eng. in, machine)
j (Eng. jam, Fr. journal)
k (Eng. key)
l (Eng. love, Ger. Liebe)
m (Eng. man)
n (Eng. sun; before k or g, as in Eng. sung= )
o (Brit. Eng. on, aw in Am. Eng. dawn, Ger. so)
p (Eng. pin)
r (Eng. red, Fr. rouge, Span. rojo)=20
s (Eng. sing)
t (Eng. top)
u (Eng. push, rude)
v (Eng. very)
w (Eng. wash)
y (Eng. yet)
z (Eng. zero)

It should be noted that for the letters c e h i j n o u,<= /b> sounds are included that are in some languages considered distinct phonemes; this is done to allow for ease in pronouncing by speakers of as many languages as possible.

For items 3-5, the following terminology applies:


Vowel =3D a e i o u, or any of the diphthon= gs listed.
Diphthong =3D ai au oi.=20
Pure consonant =3D b c d f g h j k p s t v z.
Liquid =3D l r.
Nasal =3D m n.
Glide =3D w y.
Semivowel =3D any liquid, nasal, or glide, = as defined here.
Consonant =3D any pure consonant or semivowel,<= /i> as defined here.
Voiced consonant =3D b d g j v z.
Unvoiced consonant =3D c f h k p s t.

3. A syllable consists of one to four phonemes, of the form = [P] [S] V [C] where bracketed elements are optional, P is any pure consonant, S any semivowel, V any vowel, and C any consonant, except:
a. The final consonant of a syllable may not be a glide or h<= /b>.
b. The final consonant of one syllable, combined with the initia= l consonant(s) of an immediately following syllable in a word, may not make= any of the combinations forbidden in 4.

4. The following consonant combinations are forbidden:
=20
a. Voiced + unvoiced consonant or vice versa.
b. Nasal consonant + nonhomoorganic stop. This specifically forb= ids the combination of m + any of (c d g j k t) and the combination of n with (b p)

5. If a word ends in a pure consonant and the following word= does not begin with a pure consonant, or if a word ends in a semivowel and the following= word=20 begins in a vowel, a distinct pause must be articulated at the word bound= ary.=20 In other cases, a pause may be made at a boundary, but need not be= . A word=20 boundary is defined as anywhere where a blank space is written.



This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained until= 1998. The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages o= n Geocities could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they wer= e, until download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22, = 2009.
Please inform me of=20 dead links and any other problems.



Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 (brg1942@gmail.com) June 13, 2009.


=20
Sign up for your own site=
=08 Back to my home page
=08 Back to the Voksigid top page




Voksigid: Morphology

The Morphology of Voksigid.

(Consult the document entitled "The Syntax of Voksigid" for any terminology needed to understand this document.)

1. Predicates will be constructed as two-syllable or longer words ending = in a=20 vowel; tags will be single-syllable words that both begin and end in consonants; other particles will be single-syllable words that either beg= in or end in a vowel or both.=20

2. Words which can be used as nouns or adjectives (the specific usage bei= ng governed by paragraph 4 of the syntax document) will be derived from verb= s by nominalizing suffixes which are identical in form to the tag/preposition = words. These can be resolved into predicate + suffix, because in all cases the l= ast three letters (consonant + vowel + consonant) will be a nominalizing suff= ix. As nouns, their meaning will be "noun with the relationship defined by th= e tag to the predication implied by the verb meaning of the word," e. g. a tag = meaning "indirect object" attached to the word for "give" means "recipient." As adjectives, their meaning will be "having the relationship defined by the= tag to the predication implied by the verb meaning of the word," so that the sam= e word means "receiving."

3. Suffixes used to create predicates from tags, from other particles, or= from=20 strings of particles, will be of the form consonant + diphthong. No simpl= e=20 predicate will end in a diphthong, so that any predicate ending in a diph= thong=20 consists of a particle or string of particles followed by a predicatizing suffix.=20

4. Gender will be expressed by the use of the prefix mas- (for mas= culine) or fem- (for feminine). No assumption is to be made as to the sex = of the referent in the absence of these prefixes. The prefix mas- is alte= red to maz- before voiced sounds and fem- to fen- before no= nlabial stop consonants to avoid prohibited clusters.



This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained until= 1998. The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages o= n Geocities could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they wer= e, until download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22, = 2009.
Please inform me of=20 dead links and any other problems.



Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 (brg1942@gmail.com) June 13, 2009.


=20
Sign up for your own site=
=08 Back to my home page
=08 Back to the Voksigid top page




 Voksigid: Syntax

The Syntax of Voksigid.

1. The parts of speech are predicates (verbs), tags (prepositions), and o= ther particles. (the terms "predicate" and "verb" will be used interchangeably= , as also "tag" and "preposition." The term "other particle" will include conjunctions, modal/aspectual particles, ending markers, and such others = as become necessary to define the syntax. All content words will be understo= od as verbs. Those which represent primarily constructs that English uses nouns= or adjectives for will officially mean "to be X." Predicates can be used as = nouns or adjectives by the use of nominalizers as described tn the morphology document.

2. All sentences begin with a verb, possibly preceded by aspectual or mod= al particles. All other elements of the predication are expressed by the use= of=20 prepositional phrases. These include the elements that would in English b= e=20 expressed by subject and direct and indirect object, as well as adverbial= =20 phrases. No distinction is made between these phrases, and if more than o= ne=20 phrase is used, they may be placed in any order, depending on the speaker= / writer's desire to emphasize one or another.

3. Clauses consist of a conjunction followed by the elements that compose= a=20 sentence according to the previous paragraph. No distinction between coor= dinate and subordinate clauses will be made in structure.

4. The same form defined in 1 as a noun can be used as an adjective by be= ing placed after the noun which it modifies. Thus a nominalized verb which immediately follows a preposition is a noun; one that follows another suc= h is an adjective modifying the noun that precedes it.

5. Neither definite nor indefinite articles will be necessary. Each prepo= sition will delimit a noun phrase, since all prepositional phrases can be analyz= ed as a preposition, an object-of-preposition noun, and zero or more nouns-used= -as- adjectives.=20

6. Ending markers will comprise end-of-phrase, end-of-clause, and end-of- adjective/adverb markers. The end-of-phrase marker is treated as a right=20 parenthesis with the nearest tag prior to it as the corresponding left=20 parenthesis. It is only necessary if another modifier (nominalized-verb-u= sed- as-adjective, clause, or tag/preposition + noun phrase) follows it. The e= nd-of- clause marker is treated as a right parenthesis with the nearest conjunct= ion=20 prior to it as the corresponding left parenthesis. It is only necessary i= f=20 another modifier (nominalized-verb-used-as-adjective, clause, or tag/prep= osition + noun phrase) follows it. The end-of-adjective/adverb marker signifies t= hat the word before it is an unmodified adjective or adverb, and is needed only t= o indicate that a following modifier is to be attached, not to the adjectiv= e/ adverb in question, but to the word it modifies. The end of a sentence te= rminates all unclosed phrases and clauses.

7. A relative clause is introduced by a special subordinating conjunction (su) and is constructed as in paragraph 3. It is inserted in the s= entence after the word it modifies. The place in the relative clause where the re= lative relates to the clause is filled by the relative pronoun (lau).

8. Another equivalent of a relative clause in other languages is a phrase constructed with a special case tag governing a nominalization of the ver= b which was the clause main verb. The nominalization indicates which case the res= tricted phrase is supposed to fit. When necessary (in the rare instances where th= e restricted phrase is not going to be an argument of the clause verb) or d= esired=20 for stylistic reasons, nominalize with cen (abstraction) and use lau as a pronoun to represent the restricted phrase, with its prop= er case tag. This will be designated a quasi-relative phrase.



This page was originally a part of my site on Geocities, maintained until= 1998. The last edit on the Geocities page was made on May 24, 1997. The pages o= n Geocities could not be edited between 1998 and 2009, and were preserved as they wer= e, until download in preparation for migration to this site took place on May 22, = 2009.
Please inform me of=20 dead links and any other problems.



Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 (brg1942@gmail.com) June 13, 2009.


=20
Sign up for your own site=
=08 Back to my home page
=08 Back to the Voksigid top page




 Voksigid final report

The Voksigid final report



Originally posted on the Conlang mailing list, July 23, 1992.

Date: 23 Jul 92 09:09:00 EDT
From: "61510::GILSON" <gilson%61510.decnet@cfe1.nrl.navy.mil>
Subject: Final (I think) status report to Conlang group on the Voksigid p= roject



This functions both as the apparent final progress report on the Voksigid project to the conlang group and the apparent final communication to the Voksigid development group, a. k. a. the newlang group. If anyone, either by sending to the Voksigid group as a whole at newlang@buphy.bu.edu, or b= y emailing to me at brgilson@highlite.gotham.com, evinces an interest in reviving the Voksigid project, the possibility of continuing the effort still exists, but I am pessimistic about the chances.

My observations are that the demise of the effort was not due to any=20 impracticality of implementing the concept that Voksigid represented. I s= till=20 feel that we might have, if a few non-linguistic happenings had been diff= erent, come out with something better than Lojban at the things Lojban is best a= t, while being easier to learn.

Voksigid went through three phases:

1. In a preliminary organization phase, we eliminated two people whose id= eas were so far removed from what the rest oif us had in mind that compromise= was clearly impossible. One of them, I feel, could well have contributed a lo= t of useful ideas, but was so firmly wedded to an a priori vocabulary that we = could=20 not hold him. His loss was unfortunate because I think he knew a lot abou= t some aspects of grammar that most of us did not know. The second of those woul= d at least have given us some input from a person whose native language was no= t English, but it was very clear from early on that there was no compromise= that could embrace both him and myself; on one occasion I went so far toward h= is proposal that it was making me ill to conceive of what was being done, an= d yet he was accusing me of being unwilling to compromise. With the departure o= f those two from the group, we were able to come up with some documents to define= the language, and at that point it looked as if we were making progress.

2. At that point, we began filling in the details. We developed a vocabul= ary, fleshed out a few grammatical details, and I thought we'd soon have a lan= guage created. Then disaster struck. One of us, who had been the most prolific = source of ideas in the first phase (and who, more than I, was the person whose=20 structure as first proposed turned out to be the one that the final Voksi= gid=20 resembled most closely) had to leave to devote full time to his dissertat= ion. Another changed schools. I myself, for a while, was incommunicado because= I lost the ability to receive e-mail at my work computer and needed to esta= blish a new location. That led to phase 3:

3. We got to a point where a proposal would be made, and nobody would res= pond. It was clear that nothing more was going to happen. This is where we are = now. I think we have to give Voksigid a decent burial. The defining documents = are still, I assume, to remain on the PLS, and if someone sends a copy of Dav= e=20 West's final version of the lexicon to the PLS archives, they will have a basis on which to proceed if anyone wants to take the role that Ashby and= Clark took to Hogben's Interglossa.=20

Observations:

Apparently, for an experimental language, the only organization scheme th= at=20 works is something like what happened in Lojban. One person (in that case= , JCB) developed a language, and a group was set up only much later, but the gro= up was much larger than we had, so that dropping out by 1 or 2 or 3 did not = leave them so shorthanded that paralysis started whenever two people disagreed.= The voting mechanisms I devised worked when we had 5 or 6 people; when we got= down to 3 we were lost. They would have worked better if we had the 9 or 10 I'= d=20 originally envisioned. Lojban had one unfortunate experience, the split b= etween JCB and lojbab that required them to construct a totally new vocabulary f= rom scratch -- they'd be a year or two further along, I think, if that hadn't= happened.=20 But (even though I can't read the language well enough to follow everythi= ng that goes=20 on) I think the group works well. I'd hoped that we could do that kind of= thing=20 eventually. The only problem is getting to that point. A committee such a= s we had=20 doesn't seem to work. I'm sorry it doesn't. John Ross and Jim Carter, at = least, had=20 useful ideas without which the language, if it had depended on me alone, = would never=20 have been as good as the one we were on the threshold of developing. Jim,= in=20 particular, even though he has his own creation (guaspi) and is also an a= ctive=20 participant in the Lojban group as well, was able to grasp the spirit of = Voksigid=20 well enough that his suggestions were frequently right to the point, even= though they=20 had to be different from the way guaspi or Lojban would handle the same p= roblem. I=20 wish we had been able to get the same from the one person I mentioned ear= lier who was the first to get off the boat.

            &= nbsp;              &= nbsp;              &= nbsp;              &= nbsp;              &= nbsp;       Bruce




Please inform me of=20 dead links and any other problems.



Last modified by B. R. Gilson=20 (brg1942@gmail.com) June 20, 2009.


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[conlang_learners] More about Voksigid

[conlang_learners] More about Voksigid

Jim Henry=20 jimhenry1973 at gmail.co= m
Sun Jul 19 12:24:49 PDT 2009

=20 
Voksigid was an engelang created by Bruce Gilson, Jim Carter, John

Ross and others in 1991-1992.   It remained somewhat unfinished; the

vocabulary comprises 256 words and affixes, and the grammar pages,

though the syntax and morphology are described thoroughly at a high

level of abstraction, lack any example sentences.   The phonology is

clearly defined except for stress, though the presentation uses

multiple natlang examples for each phoneme and its allophones rather

than IPA.   It uses a purely ASCII phonetic orthography, with 24

letters representing 19 consonants and 5 vowels.  The vocabulary comes

from a variety of natlangs, mostly European.



Basically, Voksigid is a verb-initial active language with free

ordering of the phrases following the verb, each phrase consisting of

a preposition, a noun, and potentially one or more adjectives and/or

modifying particles.   Fairly specific case tags (prepositions) mark

the subject as well as the objects and complements.   Content roots

are always verbs (e.g., "katse" is defined as "to be a cat=
"); nouns

and adjectives are derived from root verbs with case tags used as

nominalizing suffixes.   I infer that  "katselen" would mean &q=
uot;a cat"

or "pertaining to (a) cat(s)" (depending on context), although =
use of

specific nominalizers is not discussed.  ("len" is defined as &=
quot;subject

of a non-quantifiable statal predicate=A8 and seems to be the most

appropriate of the case tags for this kind of nominalization.  "tor&=
quot;

is "active subject", i.e. agent I suppose, so "katsetor&qu=
ot; would seem to

mean "one who is deliberately being a cat".)



Some details of the grammar are underspecified and would have to be

(re)created based on the clues in the lexicon and grammar documents.

In particular, the definitions of the case tags aren=B4t always specific

enough to give the reader a clear idea of how they=B4re used.   However,

I think it would be quite possible for us to study the Voksigid

documents, discuss them, and come up with a more ample reference

grammar (with lots of example sentences) and lessons.   It would also

be necessary to coin more words based on the principles described in

the morphology document.  Voksigid was clearly not intended to be a

lexically minimalist language, given the kinds of concepts to which

root words are devoted in the extant lexicon; the small vocabulary is

due to the project having ended prematurely.



Figuring out the grammar from the terse documents on the Voksigid

website would take some time and effort, but once someone has done

that and written an expanded reference grammar and/or lessons, I think

Voksigid would be relatively easy to learn.  The hard part would be

getting used to the way case tags and nominalizers are used (and

perhaps the way relative clauses are formed); there=B4s no inflection,

much less irregularity thereof, and the phonology should be easy for

anyone who already speaks a European language (and many who don=B4t).



--=20

Jim Henry

http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenr=
y/

More information about the conlang_learners mailing list
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