X;TUH: The Documentation

by Ben Sussman, 1/2/92

X;tuh (pronounced c.hoitoosh) is a written and spoken language developed in the summer of 1991 (and still under development) by Karl Fogel and Ben Sussman. It is the result of a rather large linguistic experiment aimed at creating the most efficient language possible. By "efficiency", it was intended to make the language as monosyllabic as possible, condensing the most meaning into the fewest words. The result is a grammar that is amazingly compact and powerful. Like any language, it is unable to express certain English ideas and idioms completely, but has its own sort of subtlety and nuances. It has the capability to describe in two syllables what would take multiple sentences to describe in English. Finally, it should be mentioned that the grammar is loosely based on Chinese and Esperanto.

The written language uses the Latin alphabet, so that the language can be typed on a normal English keyboard (for the purposes of sending electronic mail.) The language is perfectly phoenetic.

To begin with, there are ten vowel (and dipthong) sounds, in a specific order:

1. u - oo as in "soup"

2. i - ee as in "keep"

3. a - ah as in "pop"

4. o - oh as in "dough"

5. y - ai as in "hi"

6. e - ei as in "say"

7. w - ou as in "cow"

8. ; - oi as in "toy"

9. q - eh as in "kept"

10. d - uh as in "drug"

Then there are fourteen consonants. The language groups voiced and unvoiced consonants together. For example, the sound "p" and "b" are identical except for the use of the voice, and is represented by one letter ("p"). A small letter means unvoiced, a capital letter means voiced. Hence "p" sounds like a p, while "P" sounds like a b.

11. p/P - p/b

12. t/T - t/d

13. k/K - k/g

14. j/J - ch/j

15. f/F - f/v

16. x - c.h (as in "Bach")

17. n - n

18. m - m

19. l - l

20. r - r

21. s/S - s/z

22. h/H - sh/zh

23. c/C - ts/tz (as in "pizza")

24. g - w (the authors are aware that this is really a vowel, but it works anyway)

All vocabulary words, in their raw forms, are nouns by default. By tacking a prefix onto the word, it can be converted into an adjective, adverb, or verb.

For example, the word "fa" means "ability" (a noun). If the prefix "pu" is attached, to create "pufa", it becomes a verb meaning "to be able to". Or, if the prefix "pi" is attached to create "pifa", it becomes an adjective meaning "able".

In addition, the choice of prefix has the ability to put the word into the present, future, and past tenses. "Pofa" means "was able" (past tense verb). "Pwfa" means "will be able" (future tense verb.)

1. The formula is as follows: take the letter "p", add a vowel from the chart below, then add the word.

By default, a word with no prefix is assumed to be a present-tense noun. The "a" vowel is reserved for more advanced grammatical usage (see below.) X;tuh makes no distinction between adjectives and adverbs, especially since nouns, adjectives, and verbs are so closely related already. In general, the adjectival form of the word is assumed to be active (see active/passive clauses below.) That is, the adjectival form of the word whose verb form is "carry" would mean "something which carries" as opposed to "something which is carried."

2. Subjects : If there is no subject before a predicate, the subject is assumed to be "tu" (I).

3. Nouns: Relationships between nouns are established by placing them next to each other in a sentence. For example, "my book" would be expressed by "book" followed by "I". A "house on the block" could be spoken as "house" followed by "block." The new compound noun would be written and spoken as one word.

4. Adjectives: Adjectives follow nouns. The prefix "pi" (or py or pe) denotes the beginning of a list of modifiers which describe the word immediately previous to "pi". In a compound (noun-modifiers) there would be no space, and no pause in spoken x;tuh, thusly: "the bright yellow dog" becomes "dog-pi-yellow-pi-bright". In this example, the "pi" before bright means that bright modifies yellow, and "pi-yellow" means yellow modifies dog. If both bright and yellow independently modify dog, we would say "dog-pi-yellow-bright." In this example, pi signifies the beginning of a list of adjectives to modify dog. In x;tuh, however, the hyphens are not necessary. Our examples would be more accurately as "dogpiyellowbright".

5. Using the letter "h" to begin prefixes (instead of "p") serves to negate the word. For example, while "pufa" means "to be able to", "hufa" means "to be unable." Placing the letter "h" at the end of any word serves to pluralize the word. A "flu" is a car, while "fluh" are more than one car.

6. To count, use the letter "n" + vowel. Use the vowel ordering. That is, counting to ten would be written "nu, ni, na, no, ny, ne, nw, n;, nq, nd." Like Chinese numbers, 20 would be said as "two ten". This area of grammar is still incomplete.

7. There is no verb "to be", and there are no articles. Ideas are expressed by stringing nouns, adjectives, and verbs into a logical order which signify different connections. For example, "I want you to go to the store" would be roughly spoken as "I want you go store." The idea is conveyed more efficiently. The sentence begins with the subject (and its clauses), is then followed by indirect objects, followed by the verb, and then the direct objects.

Here is an example: I want you a present give him. (I want you to give him a present.)

Once again, there are many criticisms to be made about this grammar, especially regarding the all-encompassing rule number one. Granted, there are many English phrases which cannot be directly translated into x;tuh, and there are many phrases whose meaning cannot be preserved. However, this is a common fact about many non-romance languages. X;tuh is incredibly consise. It has the ability to describe ideas completely foreign to English. For example, if "ska" is the word for "friend", think of all the meaning that fits into the single word "puska."

There is a third letter which can start a prefix: "c". This letter is used to create active and passive clauses. When a clause is passive, the word in question tends to serve as an adjective, and when a clause is active, a verb form is involved. Therefore, we offer the following examples:

the man gw

vision sa

to see pusa

the man sees gw pusa

the "seeing" man gwpisa (one word) Remember, adjectives are assumed to be active.

the man who sees gwcusa <-- an active clause, "sa" used as a verb, hence the vowel "u".

the man who is seen gwcisa <-- a passive clause, "sa" used as an adjective, hence the vowel "i"

the man who was seen gwcysa (passive)

the man who will see gwcwsa (active)

An independent definition is given to the prefix "ca", meaning "one who" or "something which" in general. For example, "cusa" is "one or something which sees".

The only other use of the present-tense noun vowel "a" is for stressing the "noun"-ness of a word. For example, examine the following examples.

xa desire

puxa to want (I want)

xq going/trip

puxa xq I want to go. <-- Notice "xe" becomes a verb implicitly

fu food (verb: to cook)

puxa fu I want to cook. <-- Fu becomes a verb.

puxa pafu I want food. <-- Fu remains a noun due to "pa".

Further uses of "a" are still under development.

The latest vocabulary list can be requested from Ben Sussman or Karl Fogel at the following e-mail addresses:

bms1@midway.uchicago.edu (Ben Sussman)