SESE

A conlang by Jack Eisenmann

THE STORY

One of my life-long goals has been to create the simplest language possible which can express any idea. I have always wanted to break down the meaning of the universe into elemental parts.

The first minimalistic language I made was called "Assembly". It had roughly 11 words. However, it relied on a large number of word combinations with implicit meaning. For example, "opposite of force" implicitly meant "knowledge", and "time possesses 1 unit x-axis" meant "a time with a 1 in 2 change of occurring". I realized that these kinds of word combinations were funny-business. They reduce the number of words without decreasing the language's complexity.

For a while I considered languages with ZERO words which relied on pictures instead. It seemed that I could express any concept if I supplied enough pictures. However, I was still curious to know how simple a language could be WITHOUT using pictures.

My next minimalistic language was called "Zurafa". The grammar and lexicon were based on Pegakibo, one of my "normal" conlangs. While Pegakibo had over 1000 words, Zurafa had only 80. When making Zurafa I avoided implicit meanings like those of Assembly. However, Zurafa relied largely on scientific knowledge. For example, colors were expressed as frequences of electromagnetic radiation, and materials were expressed in terms of their atomic structure. This required the user to consult Wikipedia when speaking the language.

I created a new minimalistic language to resolve the caveats of my previous languages.

Presenting: Sese.

LANGUAGE GOALS

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

It is worth noting that while both Toki Pona and Sese have small lexicons, Sese has a significantly different design philosophy. Toki Pona encourages a Taoist simplification of thought. In contrast, Sese harbors complexity. Communication in Sese is often a "semantic explosion". If you enjoy a linguistic challenge, Sese is for you.

GRAMMAR

There are two parts of speech: noun and verb.

Verbs behave in a similar fashion to functions in mathematics or programming. To invoke a verb, place the verb before space separated arguments enclosed in brackets:

VERB[ARG1 ARG2 ARG3...]

A verb invocation returns either a noun or another verb. Verb invocations may be nested.

ALPHABET

Consonants:

Vowels:

Every word has the phonetic structure (consonant)(vowel)(consonant)(vowel), where both consonants are ALWAYS the same.

In writing, a word may be abbreviated by removing the second consonant.
IE: (consonant)(vowel)(vowel).

Furthermore, if both vowels are the same, the second vowel may be removed.
IE: (consonant)(vowel).

DICTIONARY

EXAMPLES

BIBE DODA PAPE DODU
BIBE[PAPE]
BIE[PAE]
Green[plant]
The plant is green.

ZAZA[PEPE PEPA]
ZA[PE PEA]
Is[person animal]
A person is an animal.

PA[BO KU[ZI ZO ZO ZI]]
Has[object quantity[one zero zero one]]
There are nine objects.

KO[KI PA[PE KA]]
Cause[I has[person knowledge]]
I cause the person to have knowledge.

KO[KI DA[ZI PA[PE KA]]]
Cause[I argument[one has[person knowledge]]]
I create the person who has knowledge.

KO[KI DA[KU[ZI ZO] PA[PE KA]]]
Cause[I argument[quantity[one zero] has[person knowledge]]]
I create the knowledge which the person has.

ZA[SO[ZI] GEO] GOA[SI[ZI]]
Is[unmentionedPronouns[one] line] Curved[mentionedPronoun[one]]
This is a line. This is curved.

SEMANTIC DETAILS

When a noun is invoked, it returns a single instance of the noun. The quantity of the noun may be modified after invocation.

For statements which involve subject and object arguments, every object receives the action of each subject. Example:

ZA[SO[ZO] DA[ZI PA[PE KU[ZI ZI]]]]
ZA[SO[ZI] DA[ZI PA[BO KU[ZI ZO ZO]]]]
KAI[SI[ZO] SI[ZI]]
Each of three people senses all of four objects.

LINKS

Etymology Plot

Vocabulary Quizlet

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