Cogtongue
Spoken In: Gnomish urban communities across Adamah's city-states
Evolved From: Glimmertongue (Ancient Gnomish)
Script: Angular-and-rounded glyphs from Glimmertongue, with F and J added. Alphabet, left-to-right.
Type: Fusional, SVO
Common Use: Daily speech, engineering, and trade; the lingua franca of urban gnomes.
Cogtongue is the daily language of urban gnomes across Adamah. It descended from Glimmertongue, the ancient gnomish tongue, and picked up two letters Glimmertongue never needed: F and J. Trade vocabulary demanded them. The grammar stayed fusional and SVO. Three noun cases, clipped verb paradigms, no articles in practice. It handles daily speech, engineering, and commerce.
"A 'dobbin gap' is what we call a new invention with no word yet. By the time anyone else names it, we've been using ours for a decade."
— Tessimer Quolt, patent clerk
Grammar
Noun Case. Paradigm: Lominn (gear).
Verb Paradigm. Root: jiffle- (to create).
| Case | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Lominn | /ˈlominː/ |
| Accusative | Lominna | /ˈlominːa/ |
| Genitive | Lominnzi | /ˈlominːzi/ |
| Tense | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Present | jiffle | /ˈdʒifːle/ |
| Past | jiffla | /ˈdʒifːla/ |
| Future | jifflezi | /ˈdʒifːlezi/ |
| Imperative | jiffle! | /ˈdʒifːle/ |
Pronouns.
| English | Cogtongue | IPA | English | Cogtongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | zi | /zi/ | We | zipo | /ˈzipo/ |
| You (sg) | zay | /zaj/ | You (pl) | zapo | /ˈzapo/ |
| He | ji | /dʒi/ | She | jia | /ˈdʒia/ |
| It | tek | /tek/ | They | jipo | /ˈdʒipo/ |
Numbers (0–10).
| Number | Cogtongue | IPA | Number | Cogtongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | vak | /vak/ | 6 | zos | /zos/ |
| 1 | awn | /awn/ | 7 | klav | /klav/ |
| 2 | bel | /bel/ | 8 | arn | /arn/ |
| 3 | trim | /trim/ | 9 | dra | /dra/ |
| 4 | kor | /kor/ | 10 | vol | /vol/ |
| 5 | hel | /hel/ |
Vocabulary
| English | Cogtongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Zibbly | /ˈzibːlɪ/ |
| Goodbye | Puffen | /ˈpufːen/ |
| Gear | Lominn | /ˈlominː/ |
| Machine | Mopfer | /ˈmopfer/ |
| Circuit | Zorbin | /ˈzorbin/ |
| Data | Graf | /ˈɡraf/ |
| Inventor | Dobbin | /ˈdobːin/ |
| Engineer | Jifflar | /ˈdʒifːlar/ |
| Light | Hol | /ˈhol/ |
| Wrench | Kranker | /ˈkranker/ |
| Create | Jiffle | /ˈdʒifːle/ |
| Spark | Fizzer | /ˈfizːer/ |
| Sky | Ceely | /ˈseːlɪ/ |
| Steam | Puffa | /ˈpufːa/ |
| Fire | Krazfa | /ˈkrazfa/ |
| Workshop | Grinner | /ˈɡrinːer/ |
Common Phrases
| English | Cogtongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| How are you? | Wip zay ez? | /wip zaj ez/ |
| I am fine | Zi bubber | /zi ˈbubːer/ |
| What's up? | Zippy? | /ˈzipːɪ/ |
| Let's go! | Lup zipo! | /lup ˈzipo/ |
| Thank you | Yubble | /ˈjubːle/ |
| Please help | Plink wip zi | /plink wip zi/ |
| I don't understand | Zi niff zay | /zi nifː zaj/ |
| That's amazing! | Fip kraz! | /fip kraz/ |
| I made a mistake. | Zi teltron | /zi ˈteltron/ |
| Everything's fine | Bubber. | /ˈbubːer/ |
| Watch out! | Telakzi! | /ˈtelakzi/ |
| I'm excited! | Zi zorbz! | /zi zorbz/ |
| It's junk. | Tek rak. | /tek rak/ |
| I need this | Zi brok. | /zi brok/ |
| You're clever. | Zay glim | /zaj ɡlim/ |
| Goodbye, see you soon | Puffen, lup zib. | /ˈpufːen lup zib/ |
Slang
| English | Cogtongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Impressive | Kraz'ak | /ˈkrazak/ |
| To hurry | Zib | /zib/ |
| Genius | Glim | /ɡlim/ |
| Excitement | Zorbz | /zorbz/ |
| Something fun | Hael'tik | /ˈhaeltik/ |
| Mistake | Teltron | /ˈteltron/ |
| Junk | Rak | /rak/ |
| Clever | Glin | /ɡlin/ |
| Energy | Zor | /zor/ |
| Peculiar | Kwop | /kwop/ |
| To hesitate | Wob | /wob/ |
| To drop | Plin | /plin/ |
| To laugh | Haka | /ˈhaka/ |
| Useless | Jibb | /dʒibː/ |
| To fail | Telak | /ˈtelak/ |
| Fumble | Flib | /flib/ |
Phonology & Prosody (Gnomish)
Consonants: /b tʃ d f ɡ h dʒ k l m n p r s ʃ t v w j z/ (F and J were added to Glimmertongue's set for trade vocabulary).
Vowels: /a e i o u/ plus /ɛ ɪ œ y ə/ (ä = /ɛ/, ï = /ɪ/, ö = /œ/, ü = /y/, ë = /ə/).
Fixed initial stress: every word is stressed on its first syllable (marked ˈ in the IPA), giving Cogtongue its brisk, clipped tinker-patter rhythm.
Gemination: doubled consonants are held long (Zibbly /ˈzibːlɪ/, Puffen /ˈpufːen/, Jiffle /ˈdʒifːle/), the staccato "clockwork ratchet" that flavors the language.
The rare letter C is a soft /s/ before front vowels (Ceely /ˈseːlɪ/, "sky"); elsewhere the /k/ sound is written K. The spelling is otherwise transparent (reads as written), fitting a practical engineering-and-trade vernacular.