Expanding upon Newspeak
Newspeak is the language from 1984 where the oppressive government tried to control people’s thoughts by forcing them to use a simplified version of English. The idea for this language is intriguing, and I’d like to flesh it out further while taking inspiration from other simple and English based conlangs like, say, Toki Pona
Similar to Toki Pona, the language is very simplified with simple grammar and reduced vocab. unlike toki pona, some of the vocab is reduced further by having a handful of affixes. I’d like to explore this idea.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Stops | p | t | k “c” | |
| Fricatives | f | s | h |
Vowels:
/a/, /i/, and /u/
Phonotactics
(C)V(C)
Grammar
Part of Speech
To simplify speech and avoid particles, vowels have been simplified to be a 3 vowel system:
- /u/ “u” is used for affixes and conjunctions
- /a/ “a” is used for noun phrases
- /i/ “i” is used for verb phrases
This also eliminates the need for spaces, since all words are also monosyllabic.
Sentence Structure
SVO with direct object preposition.
Vocab
Affixes and Conjunctions
| Affix | Meaning |
| cut- | good |
| nu- | new |
| nut- | before |
| pus- | more |
| tu | denotes indirect object |
| u | or |
| ut | and |
| un- | not |
Nouns and Adjectives
| Noun | Meaning |
| hat | head |
| cat | good |
| man | person |
| nat | need/want |
| nam | animal |
| saf | safety/peace |
| sac | speech |
| tat | thing |
Common Compounds
| Word | Meaning |
| hatsac | thought |
| pusmantat | “many-person thing” – social gathering like party or market |
| pusmantattat | “‘many-person thing’ thing” – id, money, food, etc |
| tatnat | “thing want” – desire for material goods, slavery |
| uncat | bad |
| uncutcat | – Literally “not-good good,” – So loyal one accepts contradictions |
| uncutnam | non-cute animal; reptile |
| unnat | strength; literally “no wants” |
Examples
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
unsaftitsaf.untatnattittatnat.unhatnattitunnat.