Láadan (/ˈlɑ˦ɑˈdɑn/) is a gynocentricconstructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis,[1] specifically to determine if development of a language aimed at expressing the views of women would shape a culture; a subsidiary hypothesis was that Western natural languages may be better suited for expressing the views of men than women. The language was included in her science fictionNative Tongue series. Láadan contains a number of words that are used to make unambiguous statements that include how one feels about what one is saying. According to Elgin, this is designed to counter male-centered language's limitations on women, who are forced to respond "I know I said that, but I meant this".
Láadan is a tonal language. It utilises two distinct tones:
lo – /lō/ or /lò/, a short, medium or low tone, represented by a single unmarked vowel
ló – /ló/, a short, high tone, represented by a single marked vowel
The word "Láadan" has three syllables: "lá-" with the short vowel /a/ plus high tone; "-a" with the short vowel /a/ and no tone; and "-dan".
Láadan doesn't allow any double [i.e. long] phonemes. Whenever two identical short vowels would occur side by side in a single morpheme, one of them has to be marked for high tone. When adding an affix would result in two identical vowels side by side, an epenthetic /h/ is inserted to prevent the forbidden sequence. The language will allow either "máa" or "maá," but not "maa". These combinations can be described as:
loó – /lǒː/, a long, low-rising tone, represented by a double vowel, the second of which is marked
lóo – /lôː/, a long, high-falling tone, represented by a double vowel, the first of which is marked
(Some people analyze these tone sequences as tonemic as well, for a total of four tones.)
Elgin preferred an analysis of the language as having no long vowels and a single tone, the high tone (distinguished from "neutral, baseline pitch"), but she acknowledged that linguists using other formalisms would be justified in saying that there are two tones, high and low (or unmarked or mid).[2]
Láadan lacks the consonants/p, t, k, ɡ, s, z, f, v/. However, it uses b, d, sh (/ʃ/), m, n, l, r, w, y (/j/), h with the same phonetic value as English. In addition to these, three digraphs require further explanation:
The speech-act particle – this occurs at the beginning of the sentence and marks it as either a statement (bíi), a question (báa), et cetera; in connected speech or writing, this particle is often omitted. They are:
Bíi
Indicates a declarative sentence (usually optional)
Báa
Indicates a question
Bó
Indicates a command; very rare, except to small children
Bóo
Indicates a request; this is the usual imperative/"command" form
Bé
Indicates a promise
Bée
Indicates a warning
The grammatical tense particle – this occurs second in the sentence and marks it as either present tense (ril), past tense (eril), future tense (aril) or hypothetical (wil); without the tense particle, the sentence is assumed to have the same tense as the previous sentence.
The evidence particle[3] – this occurs at the end of statements and indicates the trustworthiness of the statement. They are:
wa
Known to speaker because perceived by speaker, externally or internally
wi
Known to speaker because self-evident
we
Perceived by speaker in a dream
wáa
Assumed true by speaker because speaker trusts source
waá
Assumed false by speaker because speaker distrusts source; if evil intent by the source is also assumed, the form is "waálh"
wo
Imagined or invented by speaker, hypothetical
wóo
Used to indicate that the speaker states a total lack of knowledge as to the validity of the matter
Láadan is a verb–subject–object (VSO) language. Verbs and adjectives are interchangeable. There are no articles, and the object is marked by the -th or -ethsuffix. The plural number is shown only by the me- prefix to the verb. The particle ra following a verb makes it negative. Separate clauses are joined by the particle hé.
bíi eril dúusháad le wa: "I tried in vain to come"
ná-
progressive aspect
bíi eril dúunásháad le wa: "I was trying in vain to come"
-(e)tha
natural possessor
lalal betha: "her mother's milk"
-(e)tho
customary or legal possessor
ebahid letho: "my husband"
-(e)thi
possessor by chance
losh nethi: "your money (gambling winnings)"
-(e)the
possessor by unknown provenance
ana worulethe: "the cats' food"
-(h)id
denotes male (otherwise female or gender neutral)
thul: "mother/parent"; thulid: "father"
The speech-act particle, at the beginning of a sentence, can also carry several suffixes, which expand on the overall state of the sentence. For example, bíi begins a statement, but bíide begins a statement that is part of a narrative; bóoth begins a request made in pain; báada begins a question that is meant in jest.
Pronouns
Pronouns in Láadan are built up from a number of constituent parts. The consonant l marks the first person, n the second person and b the third person. Usually, these are followed by the vowel e. However, the vowel a is used to designate someone who is loved (lhe- is prefixed to describe someone who is despised). The suffix -zh is used to mark a plural pronoun for numbers up to four, and -n for numbers beyond that. Therefore, lazh means "we, several beloved", and lheben means "they, many despised".
láadan, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, relies, excessively, references, primary, sources, please, improve, this, article, adding, second. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Laadan news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Laadan news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Laadan ˈlɑ ɑˈdɑn is a gynocentric constructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir Whorf hypothesis 1 specifically to determine if development of a language aimed at expressing the views of women would shape a culture a subsidiary hypothesis was that Western natural languages may be better suited for expressing the views of men than women The language was included in her science fiction Native Tongue series Laadan contains a number of words that are used to make unambiguous statements that include how one feels about what one is saying According to Elgin this is designed to counter male centered language s limitations on women who are forced to respond I know I said that but I meant this LaadanCreated bySuzette Haden ElginDate1982Setting and usageexperiment in feminist linguistics and featured in Elgin s novel Native TonguePurposeConstructed language artistic and philosophical languagefictional languageLaadanSourcesa priori language with influences from Navajo and EnglishLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code ldn class extiw title iso639 3 ldn ldn a Linguist ListldnGlottologlaad1235This article contains IPA phonetic symbols Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of Unicode characters For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA Contents 1 Phonology 1 1 Tones 1 2 Vowels 1 3 Consonants 2 Grammar 2 1 Morphology 2 2 Pronouns 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksPhonology EditTones Edit Laadan is a tonal language It utilises two distinct tones lo lō or lo a short medium or low tone represented by a single unmarked vowel lo lo a short high tone represented by a single marked vowelThe word Laadan has three syllables la with the short vowel a plus high tone a with the short vowel a and no tone and dan Laadan doesn t allow any double i e long phonemes Whenever two identical short vowels would occur side by side in a single morpheme one of them has to be marked for high tone When adding an affix would result in two identical vowels side by side an epenthetic h is inserted to prevent the forbidden sequence The language will allow either maa or maa but not maa These combinations can be described as loo lǒː a long low rising tone represented by a double vowel the second of which is marked loo loː a long high falling tone represented by a double vowel the first of which is marked Some people analyze these tone sequences as tonemic as well for a total of four tones Elgin preferred an analysis of the language as having no long vowels and a single tone the high tone distinguished from neutral baseline pitch but she acknowledged that linguists using other formalisms would be justified in saying that there are two tones high and low or unmarked or mid 2 Vowels Edit Laadan has five vowels a ɑ an open back unrounded vowel as English calm e ɛ an open mid front unrounded vowel as English bell i ɪ a near close near front unrounded vowel as English bit o o a close mid back rounded vowel as English home u u a close back rounded vowel as English boon Consonants Edit Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Glottalcentral lateralNasal m m n n Plosive b b d d Fricative voiceless th 8 lh ɬ sh ʃ h h voiced zh ʒ Approximant w w r ɹ l l y j Laadan lacks the consonants p t k ɡ s z f v However it uses b d sh ʃ m n l r w y j h with the same phonetic value as English In addition to these three digraphs require further explanation th 8 a voiceless dental fricative always as in English think never as then zh ʒ a voiced postalveolar fricative as English pleasure lh ɬ a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative as Welsh llan Grammar EditMost Laadan sentences contain three particles The speech act particle this occurs at the beginning of the sentence and marks it as either a statement bii a question baa et cetera in connected speech or writing this particle is often omitted They are Bii Indicates a declarative sentence usually optional Baa Indicates a question Bo Indicates a command very rare except to small children Boo Indicates a request this is the usual imperative command form Be Indicates a promise Bee Indicates a warning The grammatical tense particle this occurs second in the sentence and marks it as either present tense ril past tense eril future tense aril or hypothetical wil without the tense particle the sentence is assumed to have the same tense as the previous sentence The evidence particle 3 this occurs at the end of statements and indicates the trustworthiness of the statement They are wa Known to speaker because perceived by speaker externally or internally wi Known to speaker because self evident we Perceived by speaker in a dream waa Assumed true by speaker because speaker trusts source waa Assumed false by speaker because speaker distrusts source if evil intent by the source is also assumed the form is waalh wo Imagined or invented by speaker hypothetical woo Used to indicate that the speaker states a total lack of knowledge as to the validity of the matterLaadan is a verb subject object VSO language Verbs and adjectives are interchangeable There are no articles and the object is marked by the th or eth suffix The plural number is shown only by the me prefix to the verb The particle ra following a verb makes it negative Separate clauses are joined by the particle he OBJ object REQ request ST Some basic sentences in Laadan biistatementrilPRSayabeautiful beautifymahinaflowerwaobserved truthbii ril aya mahina wastatement PRS beautiful beautify flower observed truthThe flower is beautifulbaaQerilPASTmeshaadPL go comewithwomanbaa eril meshaad withQ PAST PL go come womanDid the women go come biistatementrilPRSlamalastroke caresswithwomanrulethcat OBJwaobserved truthbii ril lamala with ruleth wastatement PRS stroke caress woman cat OBJ observed truthThe woman strokes the catbooREQwilHYPdispeak sayleInethyou OBJboo wil di le nethREQ HYP speak say I you OBJI would like to speak with you please biistatementarilFUTmeleyanPL be brownraNEGlanemiddogwaareceived truthbii aril meleyan ra lanemid waastatement FUT PL be brown NEG dog received truthI hear the dogs will not be brownbiistatementrilPRSleIanknowheembedded clause markererilPASTneyoubethudehacave atwaobserved truthbii ril le an he eril ne bethudeha wastatement PRS I know embedded clause marker PAST you cave at observed truthI know that you were at the caveMorphology Edit Laadan has an agglutinative morphology and uses a number of affixes to indicate various feelings and moods that many natural languages can only indicate by tone of voice body language or circumlocution Affix meaning example lh disgust or dislike hahodimi pleasantly bewildered hahodimilh unpleasantly bewildered du to try to bii eril dushaad le wa I tried to come duu to try in vain to bii eril duushaad le wa I tried in vain to come na progressive aspect bii eril duunashaad le wa I was trying in vain to come e tha natural possessor lalal betha her mother s milk e tho customary or legal possessor ebahid letho my husband e thi possessor by chance losh nethi your money gambling winnings e the possessor by unknown provenance ana worulethe the cats food h id denotes male otherwise female or gender neutral thul mother parent thulid father The speech act particle at the beginning of a sentence can also carry several suffixes which expand on the overall state of the sentence For example bii begins a statement but biide begins a statement that is part of a narrative booth begins a request made in pain baada begins a question that is meant in jest Pronouns Edit Pronouns in Laadan are built up from a number of constituent parts The consonant l marks the first person n the second person and b the third person Usually these are followed by the vowel e However the vowel a is used to designate someone who is loved lhe is prefixed to describe someone who is despised The suffix zh is used to mark a plural pronoun for numbers up to four and n for numbers beyond that Therefore lazh means we several beloved and lheben means they many despised See also EditLanguage and gender Muted group theoryReferences Edit Foer Joshua Thuras Dylan Morton Ella 20 September 2016 Atlas Obscura p 23 ISBN 9780761169086 Elgin s blog This is an Essay The Language and Legacy of Laadan Evidently Further reading EditElgin Suzette Haden amp Diane Martin A First Dictionary and Grammar of Laadan Madison Society for the Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction 1988 Jones Mari C and Ishtla Singh Exploring Language Change Routledge 2005 pp 169 182 External links Edit Laadan test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator Laadan at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Data from Wikidata Official website Elgin s Laadan introduction Lesson One of Laadan Made Easier A Laadan Sampler Elgin s critique of others analysis of Laadan Myths About Laadan Just One More Laadan Myth Laadan lessons moderately paced lessons in Laadan by A M J Amberwind Barnhart archived from prior URL Some Laadan PDF The text says that wo is a plural marker This is an error the plural marker is me while wo is a relativizer Laadan Working Group How to count in Laadan Conlang Critic on YouTube a critical video review of the basics of Laadan as an artlang Essays and guides about Laadan a group blog Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Laadan amp oldid 1130134521, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
