Basic Verbs | Worldbuilding For Mastodon | 1

In order to bring activity to my Mastodon feed, I decided that I would create a world unique to Mastodon. It was inspired by Mastodon and will have that Mastodonian flare to it. I mainly do this to make my social media account relevant, but also to experiment as indeed I have done for two decades.

What Is The Mastodonian Conlang?

It is called Degˠosktiyenk, which is the calque translation of “mastodon” or “breast-tooth.” It is a SVO agglutinative language.

Basic Verbs

The verbs I will start with are:

Inspirations

I draw direct inspiration for the Degˠosktiyenk conlang from Somali, Irish Gaelic, and Jèrriais languages–in that order. Since the Somali language directly inspires this conlang and since verbs are the most central component of any language, I will focus on how Somali makes use of its verbs; and to a less extent Irish Gaelic; to a lesser extent Jerriais.

They do not necessarily need to figure prominently in the conlang, rather they simply provide me with a nucleus to work from. Any conundrums I encounter I will include features that best fit the conlang or make the most sense. I find this method important, since real-world languages can get messy, convoluted, and inconsistent; so I shouldn’t worry too much about conlangs being the same.

As such, like Somali, Degˠosktiyenk will have five indicative moods:

• Past: Nˠabayasʲ [He told me]
• Past Continuous: Nˠabayu:xasʲ [He was telling me]
• Present: Nˠabatsasʲ [He tells me]
• Present Continuous: Nˠabatsu:xasʲ [He is telling me]
• Future: Nˠabajˠasʲ [He will tell me]

Preverbal Particles

When it comes to progressively more intricate sentences, the Degˠosktiyenk language will make use of the preverbal particles. They will be placed at the very front of the sentence.

• Negative Particle: To nˠachæsxasʲ [He was not seeing me]
• Interrogative Particle: Kwab nˠachæskwasʲ? [Will he see me?]
• Negative Interrogative Particle: Tokwab nˠachæskasʲ? [Does he not see me?]
• Questioner Interrogative Particle: Kwogˠ nˠachæsku:xasʲ? [Where is he seeing me?]

Ending Consonantal Conjugative Lenition

In order to differentiate between various verbal forms, I decided to incorporate the lenition of the ending consonants of the verbs from their infinitive forms.

It can be seen in sentences as such:

• Tokwab sˠa:leskmadˠu:xabʲ? [Are the rest of us not counting you?]
• Kwogˠ bˠa:gisu:xat? [Where were you bringing her?]

Sources

• Hughes, A.J. (2008). Leabhar Mór Bhriathra na Gaeilge – The Great Irish Verb Book (in Irish and English). Béal Feirste = Belfast: Clólann Bhean Mhadagáin = Ben Madigan Press.
• Nilsson, Morgan. Beginner’s Somali Grammar. University of Gothenburg. 2020.
• Wikipedia.
  • Irish conjugation.
  • Somali Grammar.