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Thread Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Updates Log
2. Alphabet and Romanization
3. Phonetics and Speech
4. Sample Vocab and Morphology
5. Grammar/Syntax
6. Verbs and Chron. Conjugation
7. Extended Vocab (COMING SOON)
8. Culture and Background (COMING SOON)
9. Other Notes/Misc/To Do

1~~~INTRODUCTION

Danga is artificially descended from Anzer Pex. Think of Anzer Pex as Classical Latin, and Danga as French. Only, there's more of a Germanic flair to it all, if you ask me.

~Name~
There's no meaning to the name yet, but I'm NOT changing it. Romanized, the name should actually be deqgeh, but Danga is far easier for English speakers to read and remember. Note it's pronounced "dang-guh," and not "dang-uh" or "dong-ah."

~Inspiration~
Danga used to be my first attempt at a conlang, but it was scrapped in favor of Anzer Pex, which was better from the start. Now, Danga, is going to be my second attempt at a REAL conlang (with Anzer Pex as my first REAL conlang). I hope to put some decent effort into this.

~Philosophy~
Danga was originally meant to be super-simple, always regular, and very simple. Screw all that! This new Danga will be complex, complicated, confusing, and awkward looking.... Intentionally. I'm gonna have fun with this one in all the ways opposite of how Anzer Pex is a serious conlang.

~Sources~
Danga will take most of its vocab from Anzer Pex, but some of it will also come from other, currently nonexistent conlangs of mine. Natlang sources will be scarce, but I'm guessing French, German, and English primarily.

~Structure and Outlook~
Since Danga will be wild and fun, I should be able to get things done without too much stress over what's perfect and what still needs work.

Keep in mind, folks, if I decide to give up on the simplicity and ease in favor of complexity and greater depth, I'll probably merge what I've got here into my other conlang. That conlang is supposed to be deep, complicated, and somewhat difficult to allow for uninhibited expression. Yes, Danga is supposed to be flexible enough to allow a great deal of expression and accurate translation, but I don't want simplicity to get in the way of having fun while making a language. BAH HUMBUG to that! Danga is now all about style and fun! (But that doesn't mean it won't be speakable!)

~UPDATES~
Hold on to your lugnuts, it's tiiiiime for an overhaul! (If you get the quote without Googling it, well, props to you I guess~ I loved that movie when I was a kid sweatdrop )

You know that one language called ENGLISH? You know how the spelling is all weird, and most of the native speakers have lazy pronunciation habits? Oh, yeah, Danga's kinda like that, but on purpose. xd

NOTE: This isn't complete yet. I have almost all of it done, but there are still a few things I'd like to add or change. I want C, Z, H and J to have more purposes. I want more awkward looking spellings. Nothing too crazy, but the core is indeed present.


-- THE SOUNDS (AND THEIR BASIC ROMANIZED EQUIVALENTS) --

----Vowels
i = ai (Diphthong, rhymes with "eye")
a = ah (as in "ah ha!")
o = oh (rounding, like in English "oh!")
u = ugh (a kind of "oof" noise as in "could")
e = ey (Diphthong, rhymes with "hey")
w = oo (strong) (As in "who")
y = ee (strong) (As in "we")
---Consonants, Fricative
s = s
x = z
f = f
v = v
sz = sh
xz = zh
---Consonants, Plosive
p = p
b = b
t = t
d = d
k = k
g = g
---Consonants, Approximant
l = l
r = r
---Consonants, Nasal
n = n
m = m
q = ng
---Consonants, Other
c = *Special Function: Strong K - Replaces Weak K
z = *Special Function: Fricative Consonant Change
h = *Special Function: Vowel Change; Strong Aspiration
j = *Special Function: Plosive Consonant Change

For Loanwords and some Anzer Pex descenders retaining original sounds
tsz = ch
dxz = j
cs = ks (for X)

ei = ee
ow = ouh
ea = eh

i*h = ih
a*h = ae
e*h = uh
inn = ihn (in)
ann = aen (an)
enn = uhn (un)

ich = ick
ach = ack
eik = eek


-- MORPHOLOGICAL RULES / PRONUNCIATION CHANGES --

~Certain vowels followed by H will change their sound IF at the end of a word.
....Affected Letters: i, a, e
....Ex: de (day) -> deh (duh)

~Doubled nasal consonant changes the sound of the preceding vowel.
....Affected Letters: n, m, q
....Ex: fen (feign) -> fenn (fun)

~Single nasal consonant followed by an H allows strong aspiration without causing a vowel change.
....Affected Letters: n, m, q
....Ex: heqr(hanger) -> heqhr(hang her)

~Doubled nasal consonant followed by an H allows strong aspiration while retaining the vowel change.
....Affected Letters: n, m, q
....Ex: heqqr (hung-er) -> heqqhr (hung her)

~Non-nasal consonant followed by H changes the sound of preceding vowel.
....Affected Letters: p b t d k g
....NOTE: lik -> lich
....Ex: lid (lied) -> lidh (lid)

~Doubled non-nasal consonant causes aspiration without vowel change and
allows weak aspiration.
....Affected Letters: p b t d k g s z f v
....NOTE: k -> c (when doubled or H is involved)
....Ex: pabak (pahbock) -> pabbak (pahb hock)
....Ex: bakal (bah-call) -> baccal (bock hall)

~Doubled non-nasal consonant followed by an H retains the vowel change normally caused by the H and allows strong aspiration.
....Affected Letters: p b t d k g s z f v
....NOTE: k -> c (when doubled or H is involved)
....Ex: pabhak (paebock) -> pabbhak (paeb hock)
....Ex: bachak (backock) -> bacchak (back hock)

~S or X consonants followed by Z change the sound of the consonant. If there is a vowel change, it follows the SZ combination.
....Affected Letters: s x
....Ex: is (ice) -> isz (aish) (Without vowel change)
....Ex: ash (a**) -> aszh (ash) (With vowel change)


-- SOME EXAMPLES OF SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION --

NOTE: Not all of these are pronounced *exactly* like the English words (such as "full") but are close enough.
FORMAT: danga word (English word)

fech (********) facht (fact) salidh (solid) diphr (dipper) dipr (diaper) seik (seek)
sodeh (soda) izh (is) deiliszhesh (delicious) earikh (Eric)
kwich (quick) fasht (fast) slow (slow) slop (slope) fenn (fun) ful (full)
henngr/heqqgr (hunger) henngrei/heqqgrei (hungry) heqqgerhei (hungary?)
pik (pike) pich (pick) pak (pock) pach (pack) pek (pake?) pech (puck)
annxrpeacs (AnzerPex)

As with the verb system, I have not yet settled on a definite grammar and syntax.

I plan to stick with SVO, simply because I like it that way. Although I'm pretty sure most real languages are SOV or some other variant besides SVO, which may end up with this conlang not being THAT easy to learn, I probably wont change this. I might, though, if it gets in the way.

You may create a simple, vague sentence with just one verb and nothing else, but this is very minimal and some things must be assumed.
Example: INzhERPO.
--This will mean anything from "I know" to "Someone knows" to "It is known" (passive voice, I believe)

To be more clear, add a subject before any verb.
Example: DIA INzhERPO.
--This will mean "I know" and nothing else.

Let's make a full SVO sentence.
Example: DIA INzhERPO CIA.
--This will mean "I know you"

Turn it around... "CIA INzhERPO DIA" means "You know me"

There are no pronoun declensions (is that the right word?) to make obvious a pronouns grammatical use (ie subject, object, etc). So basically, if the noun comes before the verb, it's the subject; if it comes after the verb, it's the object.

The syntax does not change when making a simple question or exclamation. There is appropriate punctuation for this, and I'm considering terminal particles (a la Japanese).

NOTE: I have a second set of pronouns all worked out just in case this method is ineffective. It's got some declensions and all sorts of things.

More later!

7~~~EXTENDED VOCAB

~To Do~
Everything!

I need...
*Vocabulary
*Conscript
*Grammar
....*Tenses and Verb Conjugations
....*Cases and Noun Declensions (If Any)
*Finalize the Phonetics
*Some more kooky ideas
*Feedback and Comments

If you're looking for ideas on how to make a simple language that's easy to learn, you might be interested in looking at Sonja Elen Kisa's language Toki Pona, which is just about the most minimal language I've ever encountered.

http://www.tokipona.org

Its only shortcoming, in my opinion, is that it forces you to think in such simple terms that you can't properly express yourself, so things can get ambiguous. Its grammar is delightfully simple, though.

Short o is the same as "ah" or a, as in "bot", "wrought"

Long o is the o as in "boat", "wrote", etc.

Sou desu ne! xd

Yeah, English is weird like that. I think the name comes from the fact that (at least to English speakers), there's sort of a glutteral stop (somebody who knows IPA charts let me know if that's not the right word) at the end of the sound--usually written with an h, but not always--oh has a stop like that to keep it short, so in fact the written h changes the sound completely differently.

Annoying, yes?
Short
A >> ae [as in aesc, which I'm too lazy to charamap right now, or your a]
E >> eh
I >> ih
O >> ah
U >> uh

Long
A >> a / ay / ei
E >> ee / i
I >> ai / ei (if you're German, anyway)
O >> oh
U >> oo / u

I just realized I tend to lecture/rant. Sorry rolleyes