For @AgmaSchwa Cursed Conlang Contest Video and Visual Assets provided by Pexels (www.pexels.com). Other images from wikimedia commons. Thumbnail background art by Raphael Lubke (www.artstation.com/raphaelluebke).
That’s exactly how I imagined it. Your vision tunneling in then you’re swept away by visions and the sounds of nature only to snap back to reality with the creature waiting patiently for your response
...Huh, alright. Language co-creator here. My character in the game this is from makes pretty heavy use of these elements as well, and if that's the case, I've been getting this wrong for the past year and a half of playing. If I'm not mistaken, lightning does fall under metal, and I guess I always assumed that lightning and air always go together. I think it's best to keep it this way for the language, though, because I have no idea how you'd fill out the metal articulation otherwise.
@@sniccups8390 Frankly, I don't see any reason that Fae would need to constrain themselves specifically to a Chinese way of looking at the world anyway. You could very simply just say that in the Fae view of things (and language), the primary categories are Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Wood instead (particularly since fae arguably wouldn't be likely to consider "metal" that highly as a thing anyway).
I really like this concept. One thing that struck me, though, is that because of the amount of time many sounds require to be identifiable, this would also obviously be a very _slow_ language to speak or listen to. It simply could not be spoken fast in most situations. While this actually might well be appropriate for a race of beings who often exist on a completely different time scale from humans anyway, it also seems like it might be limiting in some situations. If you're inclined to continue developing the idea further, I might suggest you could incorporate some of the aspects of Japanese and other languages, which have the ability to simply omit many words entirely, if they can be derived from context (so, for example, it is quite possible (and common) in Japanese for an entire sentence to only consist of a single verb and nothing else, because the subject, object, indirect object, etc, are all just implied). This both makes what needs to be said much shorter, and also fits in extremely well with the deliberate ambiguity aspects of Fae communication, because it gives the speaker much more control over exactly how precise or ambiguous they actually want to be in any particular situation.
Honestly, a good and proper fae might have a general aesthetic to their articulation of the sounds, but wouldn't have some singular list of what each sound would be that is consistent each time they speak the language. Rather, with each word, the sounds would be chosen again within their own personal aesthetic, rough water might be hailstones striking the roof in one word and two streams of water meeting chaotically for the first time as they form during a flash flood in the next, gentle metal might be wiind chimes in a slight wind storm in one conversation and the gentle ting of a musical triangle in another conversation. They flow from one aesthetic consideration, but, within that aesthetic, they have a lot of variation in their specific realization determined through context, availability, tone, etc. This both allows for more ambiguity, with gentle, neutral, and strong not fully defined, the precise one you're using isn't necessarily immediately apparent and you need to determine over the course of the conversation, for more flexibility, allowing for something or someone to speak the language in more contexts and more ways than they would with singular lists of sounds, and for things like tone and (emotional) mood to be conveyed through differences in sound. For example, a flickering candle surrounded by the stirring of rose petals conveys a seductive tone in a romantic mood for a gentle fire over a wood background. A seductive purr as cloth sheets rustle for gentle fire over wood background conveys the same seductive tone, but in a horny mood this time. On the other hand, burning a love letter while cloth clothes are being put on for gentle fire over wood background conveys the same romantic mood, but with an angry tone this time. This way of speaking is more poetical, more expressive, and more ambiguous all at the same time, which is precisely the sort of shit fairies love.
I could also see individuals choosing different sets of sounds depending on who they were talking to, or the particular situation. For example, they might have one aesthetic for formal contexts, a different one when talking to somebody they like or dislike, a different one for talking to strangers, etc... They might even mimic other people's aesthetics in some situations, for example when quoting someone (or when saying something that sounds like something they _could_ have said but actually didn't, etc), or to show deference/respect, etc. (The rules for when different individuals choose different aesthetics would, of course, likely be completely undefined and vary widely based on the person, so you could never really be entirely confident what, they actually indicate in a particular situation, but you would always know that they probably mean _something._ )
@@foogod4237 That or there are formalized rules, but they're extremely complex, hard to follow, and often contradictory, and it's hard to tell which rulezis actually being followed in any given situation.
Now maybe I am misunderstanding, but hypothetically depending on the specific speakers and their personal experiences is it correct (albeit reductive) to say any given sound could be allophonic with any other sound?
No, I think they would sound like the entire world is speaking to you, because the fae do not consider themselves to be something separate from the rest of the world the same way we do. The woods and the babbling brook and all the other parts of nature making their sounds are all constantly alive and talking too, to each other, and themselves, and to nothing in particular, and simply by existing you are inherently part of that conversation too. I suspect it would be rather like living in a world where you are constantly surrounded by poetry taken from different languages around the world, some of which you sort of understand, some you just get the feeling of, and some you don't really know at all but still like the sound of, etc. (Which, now that I think about it, actually might fit in well with the common theme of fae folk being oddly mercurial, and easily distracted, etc. If you've constantly got the entire world talking in your ear, it might understandably be a little hard to stay really focused on one thing for too long.)
The "spoken segment" genuinely feels like a dream or vision brought on by an extraplanar being, so I'd say mission accomplished on that front
the metal element of articulation when electric guitars get invented:
Now that's what I call a tonal language
That train is completely out of context, I love it
Note to self, turn off autoplay before falling asleep
dare I say that the most cursed thing in this video is the part where you used a video of a steam engine with audio of a diesel engine's horn.
I'd say it's blessed, I couldn't stop laughing whenever the horn sounded.
tis merely a fae trick!
The overlap between niche interests us astounding
I love it
I feel like fae wouldn't actually speak this language so much as just stream the experience of it directly into your consciousness.
That’s exactly how I imagined it. Your vision tunneling in then you’re swept away by visions and the sounds of nature only to snap back to reality with the creature waiting patiently for your response
just imagining someone opening their mouths and talking like this is funny to me
in 五行 Air doesn't go under Metal, it goes under Wood because trees moving causes wind.
Yeah I thought that was pretty strange, they even have a lot of wind phonemes in the earth PoA.
...Huh, alright. Language co-creator here. My character in the game this is from makes pretty heavy use of these elements as well, and if that's the case, I've been getting this wrong for the past year and a half of playing.
If I'm not mistaken, lightning does fall under metal, and I guess I always assumed that lightning and air always go together.
I think it's best to keep it this way for the language, though, because I have no idea how you'd fill out the metal articulation otherwise.
@@sniccups8390 Frankly, I don't see any reason that Fae would need to constrain themselves specifically to a Chinese way of looking at the world anyway. You could very simply just say that in the Fae view of things (and language), the primary categories are Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Wood instead (particularly since fae arguably wouldn't be likely to consider "metal" that highly as a thing anyway).
This is the funniest conlang ever.
CHOOOOOOOOO
Truly hilarious, I want to make a personal phenome list now.
such an asmr language
Except for the sudden train horn but I guess you don’t have to include that in your personal inventory
I really like this concept. One thing that struck me, though, is that because of the amount of time many sounds require to be identifiable, this would also obviously be a very _slow_ language to speak or listen to. It simply could not be spoken fast in most situations. While this actually might well be appropriate for a race of beings who often exist on a completely different time scale from humans anyway, it also seems like it might be limiting in some situations.
If you're inclined to continue developing the idea further, I might suggest you could incorporate some of the aspects of Japanese and other languages, which have the ability to simply omit many words entirely, if they can be derived from context (so, for example, it is quite possible (and common) in Japanese for an entire sentence to only consist of a single verb and nothing else, because the subject, object, indirect object, etc, are all just implied). This both makes what needs to be said much shorter, and also fits in extremely well with the deliberate ambiguity aspects of Fae communication, because it gives the speaker much more control over exactly how precise or ambiguous they actually want to be in any particular situation.
Replying to boost this
Nah, just do time dilation
Honestly, a good and proper fae might have a general aesthetic to their articulation of the sounds, but wouldn't have some singular list of what each sound would be that is consistent each time they speak the language. Rather, with each word, the sounds would be chosen again within their own personal aesthetic, rough water might be hailstones striking the roof in one word and two streams of water meeting chaotically for the first time as they form during a flash flood in the next, gentle metal might be wiind chimes in a slight wind storm in one conversation and the gentle ting of a musical triangle in another conversation.
They flow from one aesthetic consideration, but, within that aesthetic, they have a lot of variation in their specific realization determined through context, availability, tone, etc.
This both allows for more ambiguity, with gentle, neutral, and strong not fully defined, the precise one you're using isn't necessarily immediately apparent and you need to determine over the course of the conversation, for more flexibility, allowing for something or someone to speak the language in more contexts and more ways than they would with singular lists of sounds, and for things like tone and (emotional) mood to be conveyed through differences in sound.
For example, a flickering candle surrounded by the stirring of rose petals conveys a seductive tone in a romantic mood for a gentle fire over a wood background. A seductive purr as cloth sheets rustle for gentle fire over wood background conveys the same seductive tone, but in a horny mood this time. On the other hand, burning a love letter while cloth clothes are being put on for gentle fire over wood background conveys the same romantic mood, but with an angry tone this time.
This way of speaking is more poetical, more expressive, and more ambiguous all at the same time, which is precisely the sort of shit fairies love.
I could also see individuals choosing different sets of sounds depending on who they were talking to, or the particular situation. For example, they might have one aesthetic for formal contexts, a different one when talking to somebody they like or dislike, a different one for talking to strangers, etc... They might even mimic other people's aesthetics in some situations, for example when quoting someone (or when saying something that sounds like something they _could_ have said but actually didn't, etc), or to show deference/respect, etc.
(The rules for when different individuals choose different aesthetics would, of course, likely be completely undefined and vary widely based on the person, so you could never really be entirely confident what, they actually indicate in a particular situation, but you would always know that they probably mean _something._ )
@@foogod4237 That or there are formalized rules, but they're extremely complex, hard to follow, and often contradictory, and it's hard to tell which rulezis actually being followed in any given situation.
why was this so anxiety-inducing what
Now maybe I am misunderstanding, but hypothetically depending on the specific speakers and their personal experiences is it correct (albeit reductive) to say any given sound could be allophonic with any other sound?
I conceptualized it as phones are mathematically derived suprasegmentals.
Like... thematic audible ogham/khipu
Doesnt matter what you do, matters how
maybe this is how your brain speaks to you in your dreams 🤔🤔🤔
This is absolutely perfect; a brilliant concept executed incredibly. This is the canon Sylvan of all my dnd games going forward now
I dunno how I got here but please help I have fallen down a conlang rabbit hole
came here from Agma Schwa's video specifically to give yours a like because this is legit really fucking cool
I had always been taught there were 5 Greek elements, Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and Aether. Regardless, great video, definitely a contender to win.
Oh my god… I fucking love this,,, I fucking love YOU guys for making this!!! As a lover of Fae folklore and world-building, this is SO COOL!!!!
You failed in making a cursed language to me,,, THIS IS BLESSED!!!!
So I’m a faerie walking through a wood next to a babbling brook. All the various sounds of nature sound like other faeries speaking gibberish? 🤣
No, I think they would sound like the entire world is speaking to you, because the fae do not consider themselves to be something separate from the rest of the world the same way we do. The woods and the babbling brook and all the other parts of nature making their sounds are all constantly alive and talking too, to each other, and themselves, and to nothing in particular, and simply by existing you are inherently part of that conversation too.
I suspect it would be rather like living in a world where you are constantly surrounded by poetry taken from different languages around the world, some of which you sort of understand, some you just get the feeling of, and some you don't really know at all but still like the sound of, etc.
(Which, now that I think about it, actually might fit in well with the common theme of fae folk being oddly mercurial, and easily distracted, etc. If you've constantly got the entire world talking in your ear, it might understandably be a little hard to stay really focused on one thing for too long.)
No, it wouldnt be gibberish to you as a fairy, youd just hear and understand nature speaking literally
Oh I adore this.
Oh, this is absolutely one of my favorite entries so far, just for how *flavorful* it is. This is delightful!