Versions

Revision as of 22:23, 6 December 2022 by EEDNB (talk | contribs) (minor cleanup (still not finished))

There have been a few published versions of Toaq:

  • Toaq (Dzu) alpha, released in August 2013, documented here.
  • Toaq beta, released in September 2017 on “toaq.org”, documented here.
  • Toaq gamma, released in September 2021 on toaq.net, documented in the refgram.
  • Toaq delta, the current version, released 6 December 2022 on selpahi.de, documented here.

Beyond the grammar writeup, little is preserved of the alpha version. Toaq beta was a complete reboot.

Between the beta and gamma versions, there were gradual official changes in the language as spoken on Discord and elsewhere.

Comparison of versions

Alpha (2013) Beta (2017) Gamma (2021) Delta (2022)
Consonants /m n ŋ p t k b d ɡ f s ʃ h v z ʒ r l w j/ (20) /m n ŋ b d g t͡sʰ t͡ɕʰ d͡ʑ f s ɕ h ɾ l/ (18) Beta + /ɲ d͡z ʔ/ (21) Gamma + /w ~ j/ (22)
Vowels /a e i o u/ /a e i o u/ Beta + /ə/ Gamma - /ə/
Phonotactics There were glides (/gja/ "meet"),
long vowels (/daː/ "woman"),
consonant clusters (/sna/ "house").
At most CVVG. Good old CVVG remains. Well, there's a glottal stop onset now, which is kinda like (C)V(V)(G). (C)V(Q) or (C)F

C - onset consonant V - vowel F - falling diphthong Q - {/ŋ/, /m/}

Tones 8 + neutral: āáăảâàãạa[1] 7 + neutral:          6 + neutral:        
Tone is per-word, not per-syllable.
4:      (falling, rising, low glottal, rising-falling)
“You are very beautiful” Tōu dāe téq na. Jảq dẻ súq da. Jảq dẻ súq da. ...
“The John who met you is my friend” Pāı mí Djāq gyủ ca téq na góu na.[2] Pảı mí Jảq gěq hóa súq na jí da. Pảı mí Jảq gëq hóa súq cy jí da. ...
  1. There was seemingly no   equivalent. There were three   equivalents: one for arguments (peaking â) and one for clauses (low à), and a variant of the low tone that always has top scope (dipping ă).
  2. I have assumed that ca is ancient hóa. (It was probably pronounced /ʃa/.)