User:CosmicPython/gisi gisi
gisi gisi (meaning "language of expression" or "very communicative") is a tokiponido first created by namako Kolisin in March 2024, but later contributors also developed the language alongside her, such as jan Kali and soweli Noneko. The language was not made with a specific goal in mind, but namako Kolisin wanted to explore toki pona with different semantic spaces and slightly different grammar.
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Coronal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Plosive | p | k | ʔ | |
| Fricative | s | |||
| Lateral approximant | l |
/k/ can freely variate with [t ~ c ~ k].
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Low | æ | ɑ |
The vowel phonemes are an abstraction of their allowed ranges: /i/ allows for [e ~ ɪ ~ ɨ], /u/ allows [o ~ ʊ], /æ/ allows [a ~ ɛ ~ ə], and /ɑ/ allows [ɔ].
Phonotactics
The phonotactic structure is CV(m/n/g/s), where C is any consonant and V is any vowel. There are no syllabic restrictions akin to wuwojiti in gisi gisi.
Assimilation occurs at syllable boundaries with nasal codas. Some example nonsense words are in this table to help provide a better picture:
| Bilabial | Coronal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | ʻama | ʻana | ʻaga | |
| Plosive | ʻampa | ʻagka | ʻagʻa | |
| Fricative | ʻansa | |||
| Lateral approximant | ʻanla |
At a word boundary, all nasal codas convert to /n/ e.g. ʻan.
Writing systems
namunen Lakina
namunen Lakina is a romanization system for gisi gisi created by namako Kolisin, designed to be ISO compatible. Most glyphs try to line up with their IPA equivalents, but /ŋ ʔ ɑ æ/ are written instead as ⟨g ʻ a e⟩, respectively.
Grammar
The grammar of gisi gisi is similar to that of toki pona, but with some notable differences. Unlike toki pona, which utilizes an SVO word order, gisi gisi employs an SOV order instead.
ʻuge ʻi ʻalapa si namunen
I write on the glass.
ʻuge is the unmarked subject, ʻalapa is the object, marked with ʻi, and namunen is the verb, marked with si.
To ask questions, the word order will change, bringing the topic of the question to the start, and preceding the entire sentence with g.
g si paka pes kemu ʻi kales ʻuge
Did you move my vase?
Particle predicates can be dropped if contextually viable.
ʻuge ʻi sigkaʻi kemu si kusi ka ka ʻuge ʻi si kepa
When I used your tools, I arranged them.
Vocatives are formed by using ka gisi X and using pes for the subject.
ka gisi menu Kaʻi g si pes kemu
How are you, Kali?
Purpose and usage of ka
ka functions similarly to lo, where it can denote where a indirect object preposition starts. To form a preposition, ka needs exactly one content word after it; this content word describes the relationship the indirect object has to either the sentence or the predicate it succeeds.
sigkaʻi ka sesli keles silen si mukaski
The mold on the carrot is dark.
ʻaʻe ʻi sagke si kipa ka lasʻe kemu
He got rid of the blood because of you.
ka ka is a special construction that functions identically to la.
kemu si paka ka ka ʻuge si paka
When you go, I go.
Wordlist
The lexicon of gisi gisi originally started with the premise of making different semantic spaces than those found in toki pona, but over time developed a secondary goal of focusing on nature. The lexicon is also not complete, and new words are worked on often. Tthe "After ka" entries are just as fluid as other word combinations; the examples given are some more common interpretations.
| gisi | Semantic space | After ka | Etymology | Coiner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ʻaʻe | third-person pronoun, ignores animacy | illegal | Guaraní ha'e "they/he/she/it" | namako Kolisin |
| ʻalapa | glass, ice, ghost, transparent, unseen yet present/felt | TBD | Forest Nenets халапа "ice" | namako Kolisin |
| ʻi | direct object particle | illegal | Māori i "(accusative particle)" | namako Kolisin |
| ʻuge | first-person pronoun | illegal | Greenlandic uanga "I, me" | namako Kolisin |
| g | question (empathic) particle: huh? hm? what? | illegal | a priori | namako Kolisin |
| gisi | communication, speech, language, word, name, body language, gesture, inner monologue, expression, meaning, definition | vocative | Tagalog ngisi "grin" | namako Kolisin |
| ka | indirect object particle, used to form prepositions | follows a context phrase | Irish do "to, for" | namako Kolisin |
| kales | earth, clay, orange, dry, ceramics, red, yellow, powder, sand, arid, pottery, earthenware | TBD | Hebrew חרס "pottery, earthenware" | soweli Noneko |
| kanesu | moon, above, sky, celestial object, month, divine, sacred | above | Spanish conejo "rabbit" | soweli Noneko |
| ke | board game with pieces and/or tokens i.e. similar to chess, go, Monopoly, checkers, shogi, etc. | TBD | Vietnamese cờ "board game with pieces, flag, banner" | namako Kolisin |
| keles | root, tuber, lower part, down, foundation of a building | under, below | Indonesian/Malay talas and Hawaiian kalo "taro" | namako Kolisin |
| kemu | second-person pronoun | illegal | Indonesian/Malay kamu "you" | namako Kolisin |
| kepa | pattern, order, series, sequence, organized, decluttered, pattern of behavior | after, succeeding, following | a priori | namako Kolisin |
| kipa | nothing, absence, distance, false, (negative) | without, unrelated to | Greek τίποτα "nothing" | namako Kolisin |
| kusi | tool, instrument, machine, proxy, to use, useful, robot, use of something to achieve a goal easier than you could have by yourself | using, with (instrumental) | Armenian գործիք "tool, instrument" | namako Kolisin |
| lasʻe | egg, seed, zygote, origin, cause, reason, beginning, start | from, because | Basque arrautza "egg" | namako Kolisin |
| m | affirmative empathic particle: mhm! ah! oh! yeah! | illegal | a priori | namako Kolisin |
| magi | faded, faint, weak, closed, muted, inactive, static, off | TBD | Malayalam മങ്ങി "faded" | jan Kali |
| menu | human, person, sapient, anthropomorphic, manmade | TBD | Thai มนุษย์ "human being" | namako Kolisin |
| mukaski | night, purple, black, blue, darkness, maroon | TBD | Japanese 紫 "purple" | jan Kali |
| n | contemplative empathic particle: umm, err, hmm | illegal | toki pona n "umm" | namako Kolisin |
| namunen | scratch, writing, drawing, slight deformation or imperfection, mark, dimple, small bump, blemish, stain, wabi | TBD | Finnish naarmuinen "scratchy surface" | namako Kolisin |
| nesku | unspecified thing, object, example, similarity, something, anything, sample | related to, similar to, like, with (comitative) | Bulgarian не́що "thing, object" | namako Kolisin |
| paka | wind, flow, motion, speed, air, gas, action | (moving) towards | Avestan vāta "wind" | namako Kolisin |
| pes | subject particle (unmarked at start of a sentence) | illegal | various Turkic languages баш "head, boss" | namako Kolisin |
| pukis | cold-blooded animal, fish, reptile, amphibian | TBD | Latvian pūķis "dragon, household protective spirit" | jan Kali |
| s | negative empathic particle: sigh, oof, ugh, damn | illegal | a priori | namako Kolisin |
| sagke | blood, life force, animation, animating force, vitality | TBD | Spanish sangre "blood" | soweli Noneko |
| sesli | location, shelter, place, house, dwelling, domestic structure | in, at | Georgian სახლი "home, house, dwelling" | namako Kolisin |
| si | verb particle | illegal | Esperanto iĝi "to become" | namako Kolisin |
| sigkaʻi | moss, mold, growth, expansion, addition, microbe, bryophyte, slime mold, liverwort | TBD | Cantonese 蘚苔 "moss" | namako Kolisin |
| silen | stem, path, xylem, slender, tunnel, vein, road, cable | through, on | German Xylem "xylem" | soweli Noneko |
| sili | fermented, pickled, decomposed, matured, change as a result of aging, old, sabi | TBD | Glosbe toki pona dictionary tili "cheese" | jan Kali |