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, V, 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 three letters Glimmertongue never needed: F, V, 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).
| Case | Form |
|---|---|
| Nominative | Lominn |
| Accusative | Lominna |
| Genitive | Lominnzi |
Verb Paradigm. Root: jiffle- (to create).
| Tense | Form |
|---|---|
| Present | jiffle |
| Past | jiffla |
| Future | jifflezi |
| Imperative | jiffle! |
Pronouns.
| English | Cogtongue | English | Cogtongue |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | zi | We | zipo |
| You (sg) | zay | You (pl) | zapo |
| He | ji | She | jia |
| It | tek | They | jipo |
Numbers (0–10).
| Number | Cogtongue | Number | Cogtongue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | vak | 6 | zos |
| 1 | awn | 7 | klav |
| 2 | bel | 8 | arn |
| 3 | trim | 9 | dra |
| 4 | kor | 10 | vol |
| 5 | hel |
Vocabulary
| English | Cogtongue | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Zibbly | ⰚⰂⰔⰔⰊⰘ |
| Goodbye | Puffen | ⰓⰄⰜⰜⰁⰌ |
| Gear | Lominn | ⰊⰃⰍⰂⰌⰌ |
| Machine | Mopfer | ⰍⰃⰓⰜⰁⰋ |
| Circuit | Zorbin | ⰚⰃⰋⰔⰂⰌ |
| Data | Graf | ⰑⰋⰀⰜ |
| Inventor | Dobbin | ⰒⰃⰔⰔⰂⰌ |
| Engineer | Jifflar | ⰝⰂⰜⰜⰊⰀⰋ |
| Light | Hol | ⰗⰃⰊ |
| Wrench | Kranker | ⰰⰻⰠⰼⰰⰱⰻ |
| Create | Jiffle | ⰝⰂⰜⰜⰊⰁ |
| Spark | Fizzer | ⰼⰢⱊⱊⰱⰻ |
| Sky | Ceely | ⰐⰁⰁⰊⰘ |
| Steam | Puffa | ⱃⰴⱌⱌⰰ |
| Fire | Krazfa | ⰐⰋⰀⰚⰜⰀ |
| Workshop | Grinner | ⱁⰻⰢⰼⰼⰱⰻ |
Slang
| English | Cogtongue |
|---|---|
| Impressive | Kraz'ak |
| To hurry | Zib |
| Genius | Glim |
| Excitement | Zorbz |
| Something fun | Hael'tik |
| Mistake | Teltron |
| Junk | Rak |
| Clever | Glin |
| Energy | Zor |
| Peculiar | Kwop |
| To hesitate | Wob |
| To drop | Plin |
| To laugh | Haka |
| Useless | Jibb |
| To fail | Telak |
| Fumble | Flib |
Common Phrases
| English | Cogtongue |
|---|---|
| How are you? | Wip zay ez? |
| I am fine | Zi bubber |
| What's up? | Zippy? |
| Let's go! | Lup zipo! |
| Thank you | Yubble |
| Please help | Plink wip zi |
| I don't understand | Zi niff zay |
| That's amazing! | Fip kraz! |
| I made a mistake. | Zi teltron |
| Everything's fine | Bubber. |
| Watch out! | Telakzi! |
| I'm excited! | Zi zorbz! |
| It's junk. | Tek rak. |
| I need this | Zi brok. |
| You're clever. | Zay glim |
| Goodbye, see you soon | Puffen, lup zib. |
Writing System
| Symbol | Sound |
|---|---|
| Ⰰ | A |
| Ⰵ | Ä |
| Ⱄ | B |
| Ⱆ | CH |
| Ⱂ | D |
| Ⰱ | E |
| Ⰶ | Ë |
| Ⱌ | F |
| Ⱁ | G |
| Ⱇ | H |
| Ⰲ | I |
| Ⰷ | Ï |
| Ⱍ | J |
| Ⱀ | K |
| Ⰺ | L |
| Ⰽ | M |
| Ⰼ | N |
| Ⰳ | O |
| Ⰸ | Ö |
| Ⱃ | P |
| Ⰻ | R |
| Ⰾ | S |
| Ⱅ | SH |
| Ⰿ | T |
| Ⰴ | U |
| Ⰹ | Ü |
| Ⱋ | V |
| Ⱉ | W |
| Ⱈ | Y |
| Ⱊ | Z |