Oge
“Oh Oge, how do you just swim in ambiguity like that?” “Topic-irrealis.”
“A well-bonsai’d kitchen sink.” - The Carrot
Oge ['ɔɣɛ] (sometimes anglicized as Ogish or Ogese) is a language isolate which migrated into the ŋorld from the far weast in April of 2025. Little is known about its origins, and the recent rapid migration of its speaking population unfortunately left little in terms of in-world written documentation regarding Oge from prior to April of 2025. It is spoken as the primary official language in Wánade.
History
Proto-Oge's creation predates that of the original Nguhcraft server by several months, the first recorded instance being a non-IPA vocabulary list and a sticky note reading: "agglutinative?" dated May 17, 2020. It was originally created to be used as a (mostly relexed English) secret-lang with fancy grammar to provide extra security in journaling in a mono-linguistic substrate culture. Since 2020, it has shifted into a *slightly* more naturalistic artlang for personal use.
Nguhcraft and the Agama Shuya Discord server at large has provided Wáni linguists with a space to research the language while it went thru a period of growth due to increased use in places like Wánade and the irl swamps I practice speaking Oge in to make sure its still "pronouncable".
Today Oge is spoken as the dominant language in mainland Wánade. The most commonly uttered phrase in in-game-chat is gémyń wa, which translates into English as "gaming."
Phonology & Orthography
Consonants
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | |
| Plosive | /p/ | /b/ | /t̪/ ⟨t⟩ | /d̪/ ⟨d⟩ | /t/ | /d/ | /k/ | /g/ | ||||||
| Nasal | /m/ | /n̪/ ⟨n⟩ | /ɴ/ ⟨ń⟩ | |||||||||||
| Fricative | /β/ ⟨b⟩ | /θ/ ⟨t⟩ | /ð/ ⟨d⟩ | /s/ | /z/ | /ʃ/ ⟨c/j⟩ | /ʒ/ ⟨j⟩ | /x/ ⟨h⟩ | /ɣ/ ⟨h/g⟩ | /hʷ~ɸ̚/ ⟨f⟩ | ||||
| Affricate | /bβʰ/ ⟨bw⟩ | /tʃ/ ⟨c⟩ | /dʒ/ ⟨c⟩ | |||||||||||
| Approximant | /ɹ/ ⟨w⟩ | |||||||||||||
| Lateral Fricative | /ɬ/ ⟨ł⟩ | |||||||||||||
| Liquid | /l/ | /j/ ⟨y⟩ | /w/ ⟨u⟩ | |||||||||||
Labialized and Palatalized Consonants
Labialized and palatalized consonants primarily appear in onset position, though they see use as codas and even standalone syllables in many of Oge's borrowed terms and phrases. Both labialized and palatalized consonants are marked with an apostrophe in text, tho historically the digraphs gu, ku, and ty saw wide use.
| Labialized | Palatalized | |
|---|---|---|
| /k/ | /kʷ/ ⟨k'⟩ | |
| /g/ | /ɡʷ/ ⟨g'⟩ | |
| /t/ | /tʲ/ ⟨t'⟩ |
Vowels
The world's cutest 5-vowel inventory. All 5 vowels can be lengthened. Lengthening can but doesn't necessarily stress the syllable containing the lengthened vowel.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | /iʲ~ʝ/ ⟨y⟩ | /ɯ/ ⟨u⟩ |
| Open-mid | /ɛ/ ⟨e⟩ | /ɔ/ ⟨o⟩ |
| Open | /a/ ⟨a⟩ |
Stress
Stress tends to fall on syllables in this order:
- the penultimate syllable
- syllables containing lengthened vowels and/or coda consonants
- syllables containing ɔ
- syllables containing a, ɛ and i
- syllables containing 'ɛ which used to be ɘ' and vocalic consonants
There are more complex stress patterns to discuss but boy howdy am I too tired for that.
Morphology
Unfortunately, due to it being my first ever real conlang, very little actually exists in terms of documentation detailing the grammar and morphology of the Oge language. Word order can usually be interpreted as [Topic/Focus > Topic/Focus-marker > SVO], tho can be mistaken for [*OSV] due to it being heavily pro-drop.
Topic Marking
There are two primary topic marking particles used in Oge.
| Nańmo bo tez | |
|---|---|
| I want my nań | nań is possessed, so we can infer that it's the nań we already know about and use bo |
| Nań wa tez | |
|---|---|
| I want nań | nań is unmarked and and new to context, it could exist or it might not, wa marks it so |
The interrogative particle ða can be used as a topic marker when asking a question, but will often be dragged to the end of the phrase as is done with many reanalyzed conjunctions and grammatical particles (where applicable). It can also be used with topic-realis and topic-irrealis clauses for various syntactical purposes.
| He ða meká? | He meká ða? | He bo meká ða? | He wa meká ða? | ||
| Can I have that? | Can I have that? (permanently, or maybe its more of a demand) |
Can I be (definitely) having that? | Could I have that? (more of a request with verbal acknowledgement of an understanding that you might not give whatever that is to me) |
Can I (possibly) be having that that? | |
Tense Marking
Tense is marked with a free-floating tense morpheme which is either positioned at the start or reduplicated at the end of a phrase depending explicitly on how relevant the time is to the clause. If tense has not been detailed in speech yet it tends to show up at the start of the phrase, whereas when tense has already been stated it shows up at the end. Sometimes (particularly in spoken Oge) the tense morpheme will be dropped entirely once tense has been established in conversation.
Imperativity and interrogativity are also marked with tense marking, but the interrogative tense marker can only appear at the end of the phrase, and is only reduplicated to emphasize confusion or a strong desire to understand.
| future | past | imperative | extra-imperative | interrogative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| start of phrase | udu | nu | mu | bú | |
| /ˈudu/ | /nu/ | /mu/ | /bu:/ | ||
| end of phrase | udedu | nun | mumu | búbú | ða |
| /u'dɛðu/ | /'nun/ | /'mumu/ | /'bu:bu:/ | /ða/ |
Nouns
Nouns in Oge have a long and storied history (which we mustn't indulge ourselves of yet) of trying desperately not to be boring. As far back as May of 2020, documentation of Pre-Proto-Oge detailed my literal first attempts at making a clong. RIP. From 2021-2023, about half of Proto-Oge's nouns were just bouba-ed and kiki-ed into existence while the other half were loaned from whatever language google said any given concept was first talked about in. Eventually, borrowing words for new things and concepts slowed and kind of petered out in favor of stringing noun phrases into long compound words. This would become especially popular in poetry and songwriting of classical Oge, but became an uncommon practice in modern Oge. Ppl just loved infixing too much.
Infixing a modifying morpheme (usually an abbreviated form of an adverb or verb) has long been common practice in Oge because ppl just think it sounds cute. And gods be damned if the Ogenkos can't do something to speak more cutely.
| mahut | noń | nela | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + ade (wild, intense) | madahut | nadoń | nadéla | ||||
| + ekte (shared, outdoor) | |||||||
| + ke (small) | nońke | nékela | |||||
Oh but the infixing actually has nothing to do with
Tri-consonantal Roots
"And then there were TCRs, and the next day, there were BCRs. Just *pop* there they are. But I'm not complaining cause these nouns are SO much shorter :)))"
~ Nahia, circa April 2025
| Noun class → | fractal | instantaneous | animate | slow-animate | hollow | extensive | fluid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCR ↓ | 1a2ó3 | 1ý2a3a | 1e2ú3 | e1e2ú3 | u1u2ó3 | 1y2ý3 | 1y2y3á |
| befal (night sky) > BFL | bafól (universe) | býfala (meteor) | befúl (clock) | ebefúl (rotation) | ubufól (state of vacuum) | byfýl (outer space) | byfylá (spacetime) |
| kafüa* (coffee bean) > KFW | kafówa (coffee tree) | kýfawa (instant coffee) | kefúwe (smell of coffee) | ekefúwe (coffee bean) | ukufówu (decaffeinated / caffeine free) | kyfýwy (caffeine high) | kyfywá (coffee beverage) |
| atańora* (road) > TŃR | tańól (intersection) | týńala (electricity) | teńúl (road) | eteńúl (lifestyle) | utuńól (tunnel) | tyńýl (direction) | tyńyðá (choice) |
| Associated Pronoun: | ahó | ýhala | uh | ehel | uhuló | yhý | yhál |
Bi-consonantal Roots
| Noun class → | construct | material | extensive |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCR ↓ | a1á2 | 1e2é | 1ó2o |
| dÿn* (bowl) > DN | adán (bowl) | dené (indent/concave thing) | dóno (crater/caldera) |
| eskä* (wood) > *SK | azák (lumber) | zeké (wood) | sóko (deforestation/clearcut area/lumberyard) |
| g'ajo (plant) > GJ | agáj (plant ingredients) | gójo (greenery/vegetation) | |
| áruh (scale) > RH | aláh (hammer/mace) | ðehé (a weight) | ðóho (mass) |
| nul (rest) > NL | anál (induced unconsciousness) | nelé (sleep) | nólo (coma) |
| Associated Pronouns | ál | elé | yhý |
{-*} marks root nouns which were replaced with their TCR or BCR counterparts.
Number
Oge nouns do not specify plurality, but can be marked for singularitivity using the -ý suffix.
| Ø | lumber | azák |
|---|---|---|
| Plural | logs | azák |
| Singulative | a log | azáký |
Demonstratives
Demonstratives can either be their own independent morphemes (functioning similarly to pronouns) or suffixed onto the nouns they refer to, to infer definiteness as well as proximity.
| General Demonstrative/Pronouns: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| proximal | distal | extra-distal | special |
| ha / -ga | he / -ge | sek | ta |
| Pronoun | this is a bowl, that is a pot | ha adän, he uburök |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstrative | that cat way over there | haz sek |
| Class Demonstrative/Pronouns | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| construct | material | extensive | fractal | instantaneous | animate | slow-animate | hollow | fluid |
| äl | elé | yhý | ahó | ýhala | uh | ehel | uhuló | yhál |
| Demontrative | the hammer | aráhál |
|---|---|---|
| Pronoun | that is lightning | ýhala jýzaja |
Pronouns
| SG | PL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| reflexive | reflexive | |||
| 1st | uaye | + ua | yo (exclusive) / am (inclusive) | + ua |
| 2nd | fá | + ua | ||
| 3rd | faz | + ua | ||
| Indefinite | fú | + ua (proximal) + yany (distal) |
Adverbs
Because of the intrinsic copula in pronouns, adverbs describe characteristics of their pronouns; following the things they describe. Like demonstratives, they can be used as pronouns.
| light blue sky | batuya omo |
| the light green one over there | omo sek |
| you are funny | fú mýz |
Note that you are funny is more like "You are, funnily."
Phrasebook
| how are you? | balá ða na? |
| i’m good | lo wa na |
| thank you | saua |
| i’m sorry | wuna wa |
| yes | á |
| no | me |
| are you ok? | lo ða? |
| hi | uouo |
| sure | aðó |
| i’m tired | méłetmo wa nále |
| i’m sleepy | fomo wa |
| it’s hot | nal wa ta |
| it’s very hot | ńe nal wa ta |
| it’s cold | wele wa ta |
| it’s very cold | ńe wele wa ta |
| nice. | bn. |
| really? | týe ða? |
| good for you | uan g’al |
| just a little bit | wúkelo |
| don’t worry | kom seká |
| i understand | seuoj |
| i don’t understand | kom uoj |
| did you understand? | uoj ða? |
| wait | mu fyde |
| why? | habe ða? |
| me too | hégo wa uaye |
| let’s go | uan na |
| let’s go together | uan am na |
| what’s wrong? | set ða te? |
| what? | te ða? |
| and? | lala ða? |
| what do you think? | kawa fú ða te? |
| but.. | to.. |
| i see | ezá wa |
| i don’t remember | fé wa |
| i’m almost there | ðep wa |
| just kidding | xo wa |
| see you | notak |
| see you tomorrow | nokonala |
| see you next week | notalakayate |
| i’m running a little late | talakakámul wa |
Time of Day
| what time is it? | te góto | |
|---|---|---|
| dawn | met’om / batuya wána | |
| sunrise | él dazka | |
| morning | kelo | |
| noon | kúhu / nún | |
| solar noon | él de pejá | |
| afternoon | ketak | |
| golden hour | batuya nal | |
| (March-November DST) 19:00 | kámul | |
| sunset | él puj | |
| twilight | hyjoteń | |
| dusk | eltým / batuya tabej | |
| evening / night | wez | |
| (November-March DST) 18:00 | kámul | |
| midnight | kúmu | |
| 2:00-5:00 | oń |