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{{T|Ahoı íme súq Tóaqzu ka!|Welcome to Toaq!}}
'''This page is an active work-in-progress.'''


Welcome to Toaq!
Additionally, this course is intended for an audience with at least slight to moderate knowledge of linguistics. If you'd like a full beginner introduction to Toaq, check out [https://toaq.net/TwE/ Toaq with Ease].


== Introduction ==
== Introduction ==
Toaq is a constructed language—specifically a logical and artistic language—created by Hoemaı and developed and maintained by a community of speakers. It is tonal (meaning change in pitch results in change in meaning) and is meant to be fully unambiguous and parsable using predicate logic. If you don’t know what either of those words mean, don’t worry! Tones will be explained in the Phonology chapter, and you can learn Toaq without worrying about logic at all.
Toaq is a constructed logical human language (loglang) created by Hoemaı and developed and maintained by a passionate community. It is a [[Tone|tonal]] language, where changes in pitch of a word shifts the meaning of that word. Toaq is meant to have a fully unambiguous and parsable [[syntax]] using [[predicate logic]].  


Without further ado, let’s get started!
Intimate knowledge of [[predicate logic]] is not necessary to learn or speak Toaq, however it is helpful to know some basics. There are pages on this wiki which explain topics related to [[predicate logic]] that may interest you if you want to get into the details of how Toaq works at a fundamental level.


== Phonology ==
=== About this course ===
The latest version of Toaq is [[Toaq Delta]], released in December 2022, and this course is written for that version.


== Determiners ==
This course is intended to develop grammar and vocabulary of learners to accelerate their progress from absolute beginner to an approximate A1 level. Grammar is incredibly important in Toaq as it is essential to the language's design goals. As such, this course will focus mainly on grammar, with complementary flashcards associated with each section.


== Subclauses ==
With the current lack of a developed corpus for Toaq Delta, it is important to supplement this course with active speaking of Toaq—either over text or through voice—and writing in Toaq or translating texts to Toaq. It is also helpful to create flashcards for words you encounter using [https://github.com/mazziechai/toadua-anki Toadua Anki], a plugin for Anki to easily create cards through the collaborative dictionary [[Toadua]].


== Exercise: Comic ==
== Essentials ==


== Speech acts and questions ==
=== Sound inventory ===
Toaq’s sound inventory consists of 22 consonant sounds, 5 vowel sounds, 4 diphthongs from those vowel sounds, and 4 tones. Here is a table with all of Toaq’s sounds and tones:
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Consonants
!Letter
!Pronunciation (English approximation)
!Pronunciation (IPA)
!Audio
|-
|M/m
|the M in "milk"
|[m]
|
|-
|B/b
|the B in "ball"
|[b]
|
|-
|P/p
|the first P in "prep"
|[pʰ]
|
|-
|F/f
|the F in "flower"
|[f]
|
|-
|N/n
|the N in "north"
|[n]
|
|-
|D/d
|the D in "dark"
|[d]
|
|-
|Z/z
|the DS in "toads"
|[d͡z]
|
|-
|C/c
|the TS in "hats"
|[t͡sʰ]
|
|-
|S/s
|the S in "sandwich"
|[s]
|
|-
|R/r
|the TT in American "battery"
|[ɾ]
|
|-
|L/l
|the L in "like"
|[l]
|
|-
|Nh/nh
|the Ñ in "piñata"
|[ɲ ~ nj]
|
|-
|J/j
|the J in "jeans"
|[dʑ]
|
|-
|Ch/ch
|the CH in "cheese"
|[t͡ɕʰ]
|
|-
|Sh/sh
|the SH in "sheep"
|[ɕ]
|
|-
|Ꝡ/ꝡ
|the W in "walrus" ''or'' the Y in "yes"
|[w ~ j]
|
|-
|Q/q
|the NG in "thing"
|[ŋ]
|
|-
|G/g
|the G in "green"
|[g]
|
|-
|K/k
|the C in "creek"
|[kʰ]
|
|-
|'
|the stop in "uh-oh"
|[ʔ]
|
|-
|H/h
|the H in "hat"
|[h]
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Vowels
!Letter
!Pronunciation (English approximation)
!Pronunciation (IPA)
!Audio
|-
|A/a
|the A in "bra"
|[a]
|
|-
|U/u
|the OO in "boot"
|[u ~ ʊ]
|
|-
|I/ı
|the EE in "free"
|[i ~ ɪ]
|
|-
|O/o
|the AW in British "yawn"
|[o ~ ɔ]
|
|-
|E/e
|the E in "bed"
|[ɛ ~ e]
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Diphthongs
!Letter
!Pronunciation (English approximation)
!Pronunciation (IPA)
!Audio
|-
|Aı/aı
|the Y in “cry”
|[aɪ̯ ~ aj]
|
|-
|Ao/ao
|the OW in “wow”
|[aʊ̯ ~ aw ~ aː.o]
|
|-
|Oı/oı
|the OY in “toy”
|[ɔɪ̯ ~ ɔj]
|
|-
|Eı/eı
|the AY in “gray”
|[ɛɪ̯ ~ ɛj]
|
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Tones
!Diacritic
!Pronunciation (IPA)
!Audio
|-
|◌ (falling)
|[˥˩ ~ ˨˩]
|
|-
|◌́ (rising)
|[˧˥ ~ ˨˩]
|
|-
|◌̈ (glottal)
|[˨ʔ˩]
|
|-
|◌̂ (rising-falling)
|[˧˥.˥˧ ~ ˨˩.˩˥]
|
|}


== Tense, aspect, and negation ==
'''Ꝡ/ꝡ''' is pronounced [w] after '''E/e''' and '''I/ı''', and is pronounced [j] after '''U/u''' and '''O/o'''. These rules still apply even if the vowel is at the end of the previous word. After '''A/a''', '''Q/q''', '''M/m''', and at the beginning of an utterance, it can be pronounced in either way.


== Adjectives ==
Stress always falls at the beginning of a word. For example, the word {{t|ahoı}} is not pronounced like English “ahoy”, but rather with the stress on the first syllable: {{t|'''a'''hoı}}.


== Exercise: Fable and quoting ==
=== Orthography ===
Toaq’s writing system is based on the Latin alphabet, with some additions to reflect Toaq’s unique sounds. There is also a non-Latin writing system called [[Derani|Deranı]], which will not be taught in this course. The writing system was shown earlier in the table of sounds, and notes about it are here.


== Adverbs ==
* '''I/ı''' is always written without the dot, to distinguish it from '''Í/í''', '''Ï/ï''', and '''Î/î'''.
* '''Ꝡ/ꝡ''' can optionally be written '''V/v''' if the usual character is not available, though some people use '''W/w''' instead. This course will use the proper character, '''Ꝡ/ꝡ'''.
* Tone diacritics always go on the first vowel of the word carrying the tone. If this vowel is a diphthong, the diacritic attaches to the first vowel letter in the diphthong.


== Indirect questions ==
Punctuation consists of the comma ⟨ , ⟩, period ⟨ . ⟩, and question mark ⟨ ? ⟩. Periods end non-question sentences, while question marks end questions or rhetorical questions. Commas surround subclauses. As for capitalization, sentence-initial words, proper names, cultures, languages, and countries are capitalized. In informal settings, such as in the Toaq Discord server, the writer can choose to ignore these conventions.
 
== Relative clauses and the cleft verb ==
 
== Conjunctions ==
 
== Exercise: News article ==
 
== Focus ==
 
== Properties and serials ==
 
== Object incorporation ==
 
== Numbers ==

Latest revision as of 04:10, 17 July 2024

This page is an active work-in-progress.

Additionally, this course is intended for an audience with at least slight to moderate knowledge of linguistics. If you'd like a full beginner introduction to Toaq, check out Toaq with Ease.

Introduction

Toaq is a constructed logical human language (loglang) created by Hoemaı and developed and maintained by a passionate community. It is a tonal language, where changes in pitch of a word shifts the meaning of that word. Toaq is meant to have a fully unambiguous and parsable syntax using predicate logic.

Intimate knowledge of predicate logic is not necessary to learn or speak Toaq, however it is helpful to know some basics. There are pages on this wiki which explain topics related to predicate logic that may interest you if you want to get into the details of how Toaq works at a fundamental level.

About this course

The latest version of Toaq is Toaq Delta, released in December 2022, and this course is written for that version.

This course is intended to develop grammar and vocabulary of learners to accelerate their progress from absolute beginner to an approximate A1 level. Grammar is incredibly important in Toaq as it is essential to the language's design goals. As such, this course will focus mainly on grammar, with complementary flashcards associated with each section.

With the current lack of a developed corpus for Toaq Delta, it is important to supplement this course with active speaking of Toaq—either over text or through voice—and writing in Toaq or translating texts to Toaq. It is also helpful to create flashcards for words you encounter using Toadua Anki, a plugin for Anki to easily create cards through the collaborative dictionary Toadua.

Essentials

Sound inventory

Toaq’s sound inventory consists of 22 consonant sounds, 5 vowel sounds, 4 diphthongs from those vowel sounds, and 4 tones. Here is a table with all of Toaq’s sounds and tones:

Consonants
Letter Pronunciation (English approximation) Pronunciation (IPA) Audio
M/m the M in "milk" [m]
B/b the B in "ball" [b]
P/p the first P in "prep" [pʰ]
F/f the F in "flower" [f]
N/n the N in "north" [n]
D/d the D in "dark" [d]
Z/z the DS in "toads" [d͡z]
C/c the TS in "hats" [t͡sʰ]
S/s the S in "sandwich" [s]
R/r the TT in American "battery" [ɾ]
L/l the L in "like" [l]
Nh/nh the Ñ in "piñata" [ɲ ~ nj]
J/j the J in "jeans" [dʑ]
Ch/ch the CH in "cheese" [t͡ɕʰ]
Sh/sh the SH in "sheep" [ɕ]
Ꝡ/ꝡ the W in "walrus" or the Y in "yes" [w ~ j]
Q/q the NG in "thing" [ŋ]
G/g the G in "green" [g]
K/k the C in "creek" [kʰ]
' the stop in "uh-oh" [ʔ]
H/h the H in "hat" [h]
Vowels
Letter Pronunciation (English approximation) Pronunciation (IPA) Audio
A/a the A in "bra" [a]
U/u the OO in "boot" [u ~ ʊ]
I/ı the EE in "free" [i ~ ɪ]
O/o the AW in British "yawn" [o ~ ɔ]
E/e the E in "bed" [ɛ ~ e]
Diphthongs
Letter Pronunciation (English approximation) Pronunciation (IPA) Audio
Aı/aı the Y in “cry” [aɪ̯ ~ aj]
Ao/ao the OW in “wow” [aʊ̯ ~ aw ~ aː.o]
Oı/oı the OY in “toy” [ɔɪ̯ ~ ɔj]
Eı/eı the AY in “gray” [ɛɪ̯ ~ ɛj]
Tones
Diacritic Pronunciation (IPA) Audio
◌ (falling) [˥˩ ~ ˨˩]
◌́ (rising) [˧˥ ~ ˨˩]
◌̈ (glottal) [˨ʔ˩]
◌̂ (rising-falling) [˧˥.˥˧ ~ ˨˩.˩˥]

Ꝡ/ꝡ is pronounced [w] after E/e and I/ı, and is pronounced [j] after U/u and O/o. These rules still apply even if the vowel is at the end of the previous word. After A/a, Q/q, M/m, and at the beginning of an utterance, it can be pronounced in either way.

Stress always falls at the beginning of a word. For example, the word ahoı is not pronounced like English “ahoy”, but rather with the stress on the first syllable: ahoı.

Orthography

Toaq’s writing system is based on the Latin alphabet, with some additions to reflect Toaq’s unique sounds. There is also a non-Latin writing system called Deranı, which will not be taught in this course. The writing system was shown earlier in the table of sounds, and notes about it are here.

  • I/ı is always written without the dot, to distinguish it from Í/í, Ï/ï, and Î/î.
  • Ꝡ/ꝡ can optionally be written V/v if the usual character is not available, though some people use W/w instead. This course will use the proper character, Ꝡ/ꝡ.
  • Tone diacritics always go on the first vowel of the word carrying the tone. If this vowel is a diphthong, the diacritic attaches to the first vowel letter in the diphthong.

Punctuation consists of the comma ⟨ , ⟩, period ⟨ . ⟩, and question mark ⟨ ? ⟩. Periods end non-question sentences, while question marks end questions or rhetorical questions. Commas surround subclauses. As for capitalization, sentence-initial words, proper names, cultures, languages, and countries are capitalized. In informal settings, such as in the Toaq Discord server, the writer can choose to ignore these conventions.

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