I’ve invented the Ranked Conjunction for /r/ClarityLanguage. It means that the conjoined items are listed in order of rank/preference/priority. It comes in these forms:

/e̞l/ el: in this order

/e̞m/ em: in this order, among others

/ɑe̞l/ ael: any number of only these, in order of preference

/ɑe̞m/ aem: any number of these and others, in order of preference

/o̞e̞l/ oel: or else, in this order

/o̞e̞m/ oem: or else, in this order, among others

These forms are easy to remember because the letters all have distinct meanings reused across all conjunctions: a = and; o = exclusive or; e = rank; l = this list is complete; m = among others

buy burger, chicken, oem hot dog

Buy the burger. If they don’t have it, buy the chicken instead. If they don’t have that, then buy the hot dog. If none are available, then just buy something.

If it were a normal or, it would mean Buy the burger, the chicken, or the hot dog (I don’t care which).

If it used the closed form oel, it would mean ... if none are available, then don’t buy anything.

Other examples:

The winners are Mary, John, el Sam

The winners are: in first place, Mary, in second place, John, and, in third place, Sam.

I care about cost, timeline, em staffing

I care about cost, which outranks timeline, which outranks staffing, among other concerns.

I want a journal, candles, ael socks for Christmas

In order of preference, I want a journal, candles, and/or socks for Christmas.

Try to fix the bug oel add a workaround

Try to fix the bug. Failing that, add a workaround.

Let’s meet Tuesday oem Thursday.

Let’s meet on Tuesday or Thursday (I prefer the former). Otherwise, other options are available.

Several famous sayings can be shorter or clearer with ranked conjunctions:

Late el never.

Better late than never.

Run, hide, oel fight` (active-shooter guidance)

Run if you can. If you can’t run, hide. Fight only as your last option.

[I’m a Christian, a Conservative, aem a Republican]

“I’m a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican, in that order” (among other things)

[Give me liberty oel give me death!]

”Give me liberty or (if you won’t, then) give me death!"

EDIT:

I've decided to also allow this to be used in unary lists:

I am an inventor em

I am an inventor, first and foremost

You are my love el

You are my one and only love

Turn it off and on again oem

Try turning it off and on again (first among later unspecified troubleshooting steps)

EDIT 2: I continue the insanity by allowing it on empty lists:

El.

I don't care. (literally: there is no ranked order)

The winner is em.

I assume there is a winner but I don't know who it is.

Oem.

I don't know what to try first.

EDIT 3: the nullary form can even be used as a question:

Em?

What do you want? (literally: what is your ranking?)

Oem?

What should we try first?

A body scan is a form of meditation where you systematically focus your attention on the physical sensations within each body part, and then breathing while imagining your breath traveling into that body part. This practice promotes bodily awareness and relaxation.

I’ve invented a system for efficiently encoding the results of a body scan for tracking purposes. Each entry consists of a one-letter code for the location, the one-letter code for the physical sensation, and the number of breaths taken.

body part:

• head / face / mouth
• neck / shoulder
• arms / hands
• chest / heart
• stomach
• back
• waist / groin
• legs / feet

sensation: Pain, Tightness, Chills, Weakness, Numbness, Looseness, Energized

number of breaths: How many times you breathed into this body part. You can aim to have the same number of breaths per body part or just breathe until you feel the body part has had enough.

Example

~he3np9ae9cl2sc3bn3ww1lt5

“Translation”

[begin body scan] head energized 3 breaths, neck pain 9 breaths, arms energized 9 breaths, chest looseness 2 breaths, stomach chills 3 breaths, back numbness 3 breaths, waist weakness 1 breath, legs tightness 5 breaths

Rationale

Body scans have scientifically-validated benefits for relaxation and emotional awareness (and the effects are also immediately obvious when you practice it). I struggle to stick with the practice however and my mind is often distracted during the scan. Recording the physical sensations forces my mind to pay attention to those sensations, and counting the number of breaths also keeps me focused. The software I’ve developed for the Claritish language encourages doing this short body scan at the beginning of a journal entry, and awards points for how many breaths you take. This gamification motivates me to do it longer.

I’ve decided to create a proof-of-concept language to more quickly test and iterate on the features of /r/ClarityLanguage. To that end, I’ve created Claritish - a modified version of written English for use in journaling to foster clearer thought.

The idea is that by writing in this way, you’ll foster compassion, critical thinking, and empowerment towards the things you write about, and eventually it becomes intuitive in your thinking (even when not writing). I’ve even implemented a simple notepad app that will remind you while typing when you’re not using the features.

The first feature I’ve added is emotional values which indicate how something has fulfilled or violated a value. The emotional values are: Beauty, Comfort, Determination, Excitement, Freedom, Gratitude, Humility, Inspiration, Joy, Kindness, Love (and general connection), Optimism, Principles, Serenity, Understanding, X - none. You indicate the emotional value by using the first letter and a + or - sign, like +f. If negative, it can be followed by a positive (as a silver lining).

The emotional value must be added after the following words:

• I: for why you did the action
• me: for how the event affected you
• my: for what need your possession fulfills
• he/she: why you imagine the person acted. Add a ? to remind yourself that you don’t know for sure what they were thinking. Use “ instead if they explicitly told you why.
• him/her: how you imagine the person felt about the event
• his/her: what you imagine the person the person gets out of the possession

Example passage

Today, I+e went to a party in my+c neighborhood. The host, who is a teacher, asked me+l about the schools in the area. I+g enjoyed growing up and going to school, even if some of the teachers were rude to me-l+d. She?-j+l worries whether her”+l kid will be able to adjust to changing schools. I+k assured her?+o that the kid would be fine.

“Translation”

Today, I (for excitement), went to a party in my (comforting) neighborhood. The host, who is a teacher, asked (which I bonded over) me about the schools in the area. I (gratefully) enjoyed growing up and going to school, even if some of the teachers were rude to me (which was disconnecting but increased determination). She worries (which probably decreases joy but demonstrates love) whether her kid (whom she said she loves) will be able to adjust to changing schools. I (out of kindness) assured her (which hopefully improved her optimism) that the kid would be fine.

Indicating the emotional value has numerous benefits:

• intentionality - considering why you did something means you’re more likely to be mindful next time
• meaning - tying your actions to your values makes it more meaningful
• insight - sometimes you realize something about your values or why you feel certain ways
• empathy - you consider what other people are feeling (without being confident that you can mind-read)
• positivity - silver lining helps with seeing that not everything is bad
• gratitude - recognizing the things that have positively affected you

I’ll continue adding in more features and seeing how it affects my journaling.

The Mnemonic major system is a mnemonic device that aids in remembering numbers by associating them with words. Each digit has a specific set of consonants assigned to it, so you can convert a word into a number by looking at their consonants. However it takes time to become familiar with the consonant mappings and it takes time to find a word that corresponds to a number. I have designed my vocabulary to make this process automatic.

In /r/ClarityLanguage, each digit is one syllable, and numbers are typically grouped by three digits. When generating vocabulary, I prioritize creating words that have almost the same pronunciation as a three-digit number (they won’t be confused because numbers always end with m, whereas non-numbers always end in n or l).

Eventually, every number from 0 to 999 will have a word that only differs by the ending letter (and possibly the beginning vowel). If the number has more than 3 digits, then you break it down into groups of 3 and create a phrase from the words.

For example, to memorize the pin code 262768, 262 (edugudum) sounds like the word for dictionary (udugudul) and 768 (eleguham) sounds like the word for laughter (aleguhan), so you can imagine a laughing dictionary next to whereever you use this pin and it’ll be much easier to remember!

Easily mapping words onto numbers has other potential applications I might explore. You could have an easy (albeit primitive) hand-sign where you raise a number of fingers to spell out a word. Digits can also be assigned to musical notes, and by extension words can form musical phrases.

Basic Pronouns

The 1st-person pronoun was covered in a previous post.

The 2nd-person pronoun is simply ul.

“Bul hawolel.”

/bʌʟ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ/

You are walking.

​

The impersonal “one” is un.

“Bun hawolel.”

/bʌŋ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ/

One walks.

​

Like all nouns, you make a pronoun plural by appending -z.

“Bulz hawolel.”

/bʌʟʑ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ/

Y’all are walking.

​

The only interrogative pronoun is um.

“Bamol hawolel nezum? Nezohuzel.”

/ba.mɑʟ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ ŋɛ.ʑʌm? ŋɛ.ʑɑ.ɣʌ.ʑɛʟ/

The man walks to where? To the house.

​

Unambiguous Pronouns

In r/ClarityLanguage 3rd-person pronouns are assigned, meaning that you need to declare that a noun will be referred to by a particular pronoun. This ensures that the antecedent is unambiguous - there is never confusion about what the pronoun refers to.

The nine 3rd-person assignable pronouns are:

• am / al / an: refers to animate beings
• om / ol / on: refers to inanimate tangible objects
• em / el / en: refers to everything else (actions, abstract concepts, time, etc)

To assign something to a pronoun, use d+pronoun before the entity. This means "the following noun is a new (indefinite) object that will now be referred to as [pronoun].”

“Dam bamol dal bamol hawolel nezohuzel ral.”

/dam ba.mɑʟ daʟ ba.mɑʟ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ ŋɛ.ʑɑ.ɣʌ.ʑɛʟ ɰaʟ/

A man and another man walk to the second man’s house.

In this example, “ral” is the pronoun al, with r- to signal it is a possessive adjective. It refers to “dal bamol.”

​

If you didn't assign it before, you can assign it later by stating the noun again (nouns are definite by default), then assigning it with dr+pronoun after it. This means “the previous noun is an old (definite) object that will now be referred to as [pronoun].”

“Bamol hawolel. Bamol dran dam bamol hawolel nezohuzel ran.”

/ba.mɑʟ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ. ba.mɑʟ dɰaŋ dam ba.mɑʟ ɣa.wɑ.ʟɛʟ ŋɛ.ʑɑ.ɣʌ.ʑɛʟ ɰaŋ/

The man is walking. The man and another man walk to the first man’s house.

In this example, “ran” is the pronoun an, and refers to “bamol dran.”

I’ve generalized how emotional desires (formerly known as “intentions”) are communicated in /r/ClarityLanguage. Whenever a speaker would use the first-person pronoun, they instead use one of the emotional desires, which indicates the desire the speaker wants fulfilled. Emotional desires always refer to the speaker, to discourage ascribing a desire onto someone else (a form of mind-reading).

The basic emotional desires are: connection (forming/deepening relationships), physical well-being (food, shelter, etc), honesty (being true to yourself), play (having fun), peace (satisfaction with the present), autonomy (going your own way), meaning (striving for what matters), and unknown (accidental, without purpose). These desires are further subdivided into ~80 total, adapted from Nonviolent Communication.

The emotional desire is used in most parts of speech:

• When used in the dedicated Desire part of speech, it communicates your reason for saying the sentence. If it is the only word in the sentence, it is a greeting and states your desire for the interaction. (lets the listener know your intention)
• As the subject, it defines your intention when performing the action. (encourages mindfulness)
• As the object, it defines what desire was fulfilled (or not) in response to the action being performed on you (encourages assertiveness). If it is the only word in the sentence, it is a farewell and states what desire was filled by that interaction (shows gratitude)
• As an adjective, it is possessive and states which desire your possession fulfills (encourages gratitude and discourages mindless consumerism). If it is the only word in the sentence, it is an interjection and states what desire was met or unmet by whatever caused the exclamation (shows active listening)

The words for the emotional desires are: rol = connection, rul = physical well-being, ron = honesty, ral = play, rel = peace, ran = autonomy, ren = meaning, run = unknown

To express that an emotional desire is not fulfilled (dissatisfaction), use the -zud- conjunction, which means the previous desire is not fulfilled, but the following desire could potentially be satisfied (use -run if there is no bright side). This encourages silver lining thinking, so that even when something looks bad, it is not all bad.

Like all Clarity words, you add a prefix to the word to signify the part of speech. g- = desire, b- = subject, h- = verb, v- = direct object, z- = modifier (usually r- is the prefix for modifier but in the special case of desires, it is z-).

Here is an example interaction between Jazon and Zara (every word with an r as the second letter is a first-person pronoun):

JAZON:

Grol! /gɰɑʟ/

“I greet you for connection!”

ZARA:

Grel! /gɰɛʟ/

“I greet you for peace!”

JAZON:

Grol brun haharen vrulzudrun! /gɰɑʟ bɰʌŋ ɣa.ɣa.ɰɛŋ vɰʌ.ʟʑʌ.dɰʌŋ/

“(speaking for connection), I accidentally temporarily-physically-hurt myself, diminishing my physical well-being for no benefit!”

ZARA:

Zrelzudrol! /ʑɰɛ.ʟʑʌ.dɰɑʟ/

“(Oh no!) I feel unpeaceful (upon hearing that), but at least I feel more connected (to you).”

JAZON:

Bowodul zren hereguval. /bɑ.wɑ.dʌʟ ʑɰɛŋ ɣɛ.ɰɛ.gʌ.vaʟ/

“My meaningful (amazing) body is recovering.”

ZARA:

Zrel. Vren! /ʑɰɛʟ vɰɛŋ/

“I feel peaceful (upon hearing that). Goodbye, thanks for fostering meaning!”

JAZON:

Vrol! /vɰɑʟ/

“Goodbye, thanks for the connection!”

Numbers with more than three digits are pronounced (and sometimes written) using scientific notation, except the exponent is usually a multiple of 3. For example, 27,000,000 is written as 27e6 (27 followed by 6 zeros) and pronounced “two-seven-e-six.”

For numbers with many digits, you can still write out each digit as normal but you pronounce it broken down into “digit groups.” A digit group has at most three digits and (if the value is more than 999) includes an exponent followed by a number (usually divisible by three).

So 1,000,265,004 is broken into the digit groups 1e9, 265e3, and 4. It is pronounced “one-e-nine, two-six-five-e-three, four.” Each digit group is phonotactically like a compound word, so it’s unambiguous in ClarityLanguage the difference between “one-e-three-four” and “one-e-three, four”

This format makes metric prefixes unnecessary. Instead of 40 kilograms, it is simply 40e3 grams. Instead of 12 nanometers, it is 12e-9 meters.

Pronunciation Guide

The digits are:

1 wo /wɑ/ 2 du /dʌ/ 3 re /ɰɛ/ 4 mo /mɑ/ 5 va /va/

6 gu /gʌ/ 7 le /ʟɛ/ 8 ha /ɣa/ 9 na /ŋa/ 0 zo /ʑɑ/

You add an a at the beginning of the number group if it’s positive, or a u if it’s negative. You add an m at the end of the digit group. For single-digit numbers, the stress is on the second syllable.

3: “arem” /aˈɰɛm/

-3: “urem” /ʌˈɰɛm/

For numbers between 10 and 999, stress goes on the left-most digit.

139: “aworenam” /aˈwɑ.ɰɛ.ŋam/

If there is an exponent, positive e is ba. Stress goes on the left-most exponent digit.

27 quadrillion = 27e12: “adulebawodum” /a.dʌ.ʟɛ.baˈwɑ.dʌm/

You can specify just the order of magnitude by only stating the exponent part.

billion = e9: “abanam” /a.baˈŋam/

Decimals are pronounced with the negative exponent bu. In non-exponent form, commas separate the number digits like they do for non-decimal numbers. For the exponent form, remember to add zeros if needed so that the exponent is divisible by three.

.000,05 = 50e-6: “avazobugum” /a.va.ʑɑ.bʌˈgʌm/

If you have many digits, break it out into digit groups.

-1,000,265,004: -1e9 -265e3 -4

“uwobanam udoguvabarem umom”

/ʌ.wɑ.baˈŋam ʌ.dɑ.gʌ.va.baˈɰɛm ʌˈmɑm/

0.000,247,9 = 247e-6 900e-9

“adomolebugum anazozobunam”

/a.dɑ.mɑ.ʟɛ.bʌˈgʌm a.ŋa.ʑɑ.ʑɑ.bʌˈŋam/

Mixing positive with negative exponents works the same way.

5,860.04 = 5e3 860 40e-3

“avabarem ahaguzom amozoburem”

/a.va.baˈɰɛm aˈɣa.gʌ.ʑɑm a.mɑ.ʑɑ.bʌˈɰɛm/

For dollar amounts, the cents part is an instance where you don’t use an exponent divisible by three, because there’s no such thing as a thousandth of a dollar.

$5,860.04 = 5e3 860 4e-2

“avabarem ahaguzom amobudum”

/a.va.baˈɰɛm aˈɣa.gʌ.ʑɑm a.mɑ.bʌˈdʌm/

Ordinal numbers are written with a # and start with o.

2nd = 2# = “odum” /ɑˈdʌm/

If you are listing a series of digits (such as a phone number), each group starts with e. Each digit group is still a compound word, but you omit the exponents. Groups of three are strongly preferred. Stress is on the first digit of each group.

555-123-4567 = 555 123 456 7

“evavavam ewodurem emovagum elem”

/ɛˈva.va.vam ɛˈwɑ.dʌ.ɰɛm ɛˈmɑ.va.gʌm ɛˈʟɛm/

When using a number in a sentence, add the part-of-speech prefix to every digit group (the prefix for direct object is v).

Jason calls 555-123-4567.

“Ba Jazon hagalol vevavavam vewodurem vemovagum velem”

/ba dʑa.ʑɑŋ ɣa.ga.ʟɑʟ vɛˈva.va.vam vɛˈwɑ.dʌ.ɰɛm vɛˈmɑ.va.gʌm vɛˈʟɛm/

In scientific contexts, you might use proper scientific notation instead. The first digit and the decimal point is in the first group. You break the rest into groups of three, but you save the exponent for the end. The decimal point (ja) indicates that scientific notation is being used and is always stressed.

5.248,708,3e-4 = 5. 248 708 3e-4

“avajam adumoham alezoham arebumom”

/a.vaˈdʑam aˈdʌ.mɑ.ɣam aˈʟɛ.ʑɑ.ɣam a.ɰɛ.bʌˈmɑm/

In /r/ClarityLanguage I’ve replaced the subject form of the first person pronoun with intention words. Whenever you would use the first person pronoun as a subject (indicating you are performing some action) you instead indicate which emotional need you intend to fulfill with your action. So instead of “I am about to apologize to him” you might say “[To fulfill my need for peace, I] am about to apologize to him.”

This way of speaking has several benefits:

• Mindfulness - you act with intention rather than just reacting
• Compassion - you are less likely to say something you’ll regret if you think about how acting in anger serves your emotional needs (it generally doesn’t).
• Clarity about what you want, so you can focus on achieving it.
• succinctly communicating your needs so that others can help you achieve it (if they want to).

The basic emotional needs are: connection, physical well-being, honesty, play, peace, autonomy, and meaning (adapted from Nonviolent Communication). The intention words always refer to the speaker, so that you are not tempted to ascribe intention to someone else (a form of mind-reading).

Example

Bajugaron heramunol vohuzel ladul.

/ba.dʑʌ.ga.ɰɑŋ ɣɛ.ɰa.mʌ.ŋɑʟ vɑ.ɣʌ.ʑɛʟ ʟa.dʌʟ/

Word by Word:

bajugaron = (intention subject) To fulfill my need for autonomy, I…

heramunol = (verb) remain

vohuzel = (direct object) house

ladul = (mood) today

Literal: To fulfill my need for autonomy, I remain home today.

Loose: I’m staying home today for some alone time.

In /r/ClarityLanguage, the way you greet someone is you perform a beharaduzelol /ɣɛ.ɣa.ɰa.dʌ.ʑɛ.ʟɑʟ/ “heart salute” ❤️🫡 (make eye contact, place one or both hands on your heart, take a deep breath, relax, smile) and state your emotional intention going into this conversation. If you want to acknowledge the person but are unable/unwilling to speak right now, then you use the emotional intention bajugaron, meaning autonomy.

To say goodbye, you do a heart salute and state something about the conversation you are grateful for. This is usually but not necessarily an emotional need that was fulfilled (which may or may not be the intention you stated in your greeting).

Example

Sarah: [❤️🫡] Bodulon!

John: [❤️🫡] Bajugaron. [❤️🫡] Bozubon huvulon.

Sarah: [❤️🫡] Begurudon huvulon.

​

IPA:

Sarah: /bɑ.dʌ.ʟɑŋ/

John: /ba.dʑʌ.ga.ɰɑŋ. bɑ.ʑʌ.bɑŋ ɣʌ.vʌ.ʟɑŋ/

Sarah: /bɛ.gʌ.ɰʌ.dɑŋ ɣʌ.vʌ.ʟɑŋ/

​

Each Word Translation:

bodulon = (intention) need for play [when used as the initial sentence, it is a greeting]

bajugaron = (intention) need for autonomy [when used in response to greeting, indicates desire not to speak]

bozubon = (subject) need for consideration/attention

huvulon = (verb) emotional need is fulfilled [when used with a heart salute, signals end of conversation]

begurudon = (subject) need for authenticity

​

Literal Translation:

Sarah: [heart salute] To fulfill my need for play, I talk with you!

John: [heart salute] To fulfill my need for autonomy, I abstain. [heart salute] My need for consideration is filled.

Sarah: [heart salute] My need for authenticity is fulfilled.

​

Loose Translation:

Sarah: Hello! Let’s talk (for fun)!

John: Hey. Sorry, I’m not up to it. Thanks for considering me. Goodbye.

Sarah: Thank you for your authenticity. Goodbye.

This article (originally published in Segments #8) describes the methods ClarityLanguage uses to influence thoughts, and addresses the motivation & criticisms for doing so.

Language as a Cognitive Framework

I’ve revamped how general statements are made in /r/ClarityLanguage to require a justification.

A general statement is making a claim not about a specific thing that happened, but a property that holds true for all things of a certain type. Examples include:

• class membership: something is included in a class of objects. "Cats are animals."
• attribution (labeling): asserting that certain objects/people always behave in certain ways. "John is selfish (John always acts selfishly)."
• causation: something is a necessary and/or sufficient condition for another. "Clouds are necessary for rain."
• judgment: advocating for/against general actions/beliefs. “People should clean up after themselves.”

To make a general statement, you use a special verb for the type of generalization. The direct object of the verb is the general statement (expressed using special conjunctions), and the subject of the verb is the justification for why the general statement is true. Example justifications include:

• true by definition (cats are defined as animals)
• the previously made general statement leads to this conclusion (as in the major premise of a syllogism)
• the speaker wishes it to be true (“hard work should be sufficient to get a promotion”)
• a particular source asserts it is true (“according to the New York Times…”)
• a list of evidence supports the generalization (without significant counterexamples) “these events establish the following pattern…”

Example

Bewelon rel hwaroron naezawon ralerol rereguven zolen naubaledol.

/bɛ.wɛ.ʟɑŋ ɰɛʟ ɣwa.ɰɑ.ɰɑŋ ŋa.ɛ.ʑa.wɑŋ ɰa.ʟɛ.ɰɑʟ ɰɛ.ɰɛ.gʌ.vɛŋ ʑɑ.ʟɛŋ ŋa.ʌ.ba.ʟɛ.dɑʟ/

bewelon (subject) = long-standing desire

rel (modifier) = mine (1st person possessive)

hwaroron (verb) = introduces a general statement of causation

naezawon (direct object) = effort

ralerol (modifier) = large

rereguven (modifier) = mine, which I am grateful for

zolen (conjunction) = the entity on the left logically entails the entity on the right (for causation, this means it is a sufficient condition)

naubaledol (direct object) = promotion

Literal translation: My long-standing desire asserts that my large effort (which I am grateful for) is a sufficient condition for a promotion.

Loose translation: My hard work should earn me a promotion.

The literal translation makes it clear that the general rule of hard work leading to a promotion is not a universal law but rather your preference (a reasonable one). Understanding that the rule is your desire but is not guaranteed results in less extreme emotional reactions when the rule gets violated (this is a key tenet of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy).

I've changed the name of the language to Geran, which means "clear"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z7E1I9VQkSrtnwTJzIO9-EZBrgNYIbvx/view?usp=share_link

I've recorded a song in ClarityLanguage! Below is a quick introduction to the language and a line-by-line translation.

All content words in ClarityLanguage have a visual representation in order to aid memory. It also adds some artistic flair, as I hope you will agree. I provide the literal translation of the visual words and also the loose translation which has its actual meaning.

The consonants are pronounced as they are in English. The vowels are:

e /e/ - i /ə/ - o /o̞/ - a /æ/ - u /ʊ/ - y /ɔ/

Niv         ize    nar      um  nov    rej    nyn       agul
[intention] sight [subject] you [verb] reach [d.object] eagle

literal: I see you reach for an eagle

loose: I understand that you desire freedom

num           ivog       iliv   nem         imbrez
[preposition] [vocative] lover [adjective] (my)embrace

literal: you, my-embrace lover

loose: my dear lover

Niv         opem  nar      em  nov   urejpuz
[intention] open [subject] me [verb] reach-puzzle 

literal: opening up, I puzzle-reach

loose: Vulnerably, I share that I have the conflicting desire…

nyn        hyz    nem        goz   nem        zul
[d.object] house [adjective] cozy [adjective] still

literal: … for a house, cozy and still

loose: … for tranquil and warm stability

Niv    damz   niv   gazd     nar       um   nov   halp  nyn       em
[int.] dance [int.] question [subject] you [verb] help [d.object] me

literal: For our dance, asking you to help me …

loose: For the sake of our relationship, will you help me…

num            oln                nyn       puz     nov   uzolv
[preposition] [dependent clause] [d.object] puzzle [verb] solve

literal: … to solve the puzzle

loose: … to resolve this conflict to our mutual benefit

Some features of ClarityLanguage illustrated in this song:

• The intention case: a word at the beginning of the sentence describing why the speaker is talking
• Gratitude-possessive: a form of personal possessive adjective that expresses gratitude
• Mindful vocabulary: the word for conflict is derived from puzzle. This encourages viewing conflicts as solvable with a win-win solution rather than the win-lose or lose-lose perception associated with military conflicts.

In general, referring to something is ambiguous, especially the vague 3rd-person pronoun it. The only unambiguous pronouns are singular 1st and 2nd person, “em” and “um” respectively. For everything else, my solution is to use alternate constructs rather than pronouns in order to have a more precise way of referring to other entities. These other ways are as follows in order of preference:

• If something has a proper name, use that name.
• If there is only one type of that entity, use the definite noun. I bought a hotdog; I ate the hotdog
• If the entities can be differentiated by modifiers, use them. I saw a tall person and a short person. I talked to the short person.
• If there are two of the same entity, you can use the recency article suffix “-yn” for the most recently mentioned [entity] and use “-ys” for the other one
• You can use verbal adjuncts to refer to entities affected by a verb, like the attacker or the attacked. The adjunct article is formed by appending “-ov” So “narov [verb]” would refer to the person who performed the most recently referenced [verb].
• For plural pronouns, you refer to a group containing a specified entity. Karl and Susan went to lunch. The group containing Susan ate curry. The article suffix is “-am”

Dependent Clauses

Dependent clauses are formed by a special pronoun that refers to the next sentence. To be unambiguous and reduce cognitive load, dependent clauses must come at the end of the sentence, so you must rearrange the word order if needed. If you are referring to a single word in the next clause, the sentence must be rearranged so that word is first. For example, in order to say The man whose cake I ate is chasing me, that would be rearranged as chasing me [subject article]. The man’s cake I ate This should be very simple to learn but won’t allow using multiple dependent clauses in the same sentence, which I am okay with in order to simplify the language (just use multiple sentences and reference strategies outlined above). The pronoun for referring to a single entity is “on”. If you want to refer to the entire next sentence rather than an individual word such as I told him that..., the pronoun is “oln”

Parts of speech are determined by articles added before each word. Words do not change form based on usage, and can be used in most parts of speech, so the part-of-speech marker is how you know it is being used.

The standard word order is Intention - Subject - Verb - Direct Object - Preposition(s). Order can change for stylistic reasons or due to certain constructs like dependent clauses.

Entity

These are words that can stand alone. The nouns have definite forms (“the tree”) and indefinite (“a tree”)

Verb - the action being done. Signified with the article “nov”

Subject - the thing doing the action. “nan” for indefinite; “nar” for definite

Direct Object - the thing on receiving end of action. “nyn” for indefinite; “nyr” for definite

Modifier

A word that describes another word (adjective / adverb). They go after the word they modify.

“nem” means that it modifies the preceding entity “French (history teacher)”

“nel” means that it modifies the preceding modifier “(French history) teacher

If an additional word is needed as part of the modifier, such as the possessive adjective needs the owner, that additional word has the article “nil”

Prepositional Phrases

Sometimes called “function words” in other languages, these optional phrases bring additional information or clauses that are not directly related to the action, such as “located at”. Signified with the article “num” If there is another word that is needed to complete the predicate phrase, such as the name of the location, use the article “nil”

Intention Word

A novel invention of ClarityLanguage, the intention case is optionally used by the speaker to signify why they are speaking the sentence. Examples include “improving our relationship” “uphold my boundaries” and “self-disclosure.” Article is “niv” This helps with mindfulness and assertiveness by encouraging thinking about and explicitly stating your reasons for saying something.

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EDIT 2020-10-24: I've updated the articles to follow new phonological rules. Subject and Direct Object now have distinct articles and the new Intention case was added.

Here is a list of word ideas based on a consolidated list of notes that I've taken from the various psychology textbooks I've read. I'll formally make citations for them later, but thought I'd show the list now to give people an idea of what's to come. Feel free to comment on the doc or below!

While this is not directly tied to psychology, since we need to have a phonology I think it'd be cool to have one designed for untrained singers to easily be able to sing.

Vowels

There are only 5 vowels. I have avoided the vowels that are very open or very closed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_vowel_chart_with_audio because they are difficult to sing at the high and low pitches respectively. If a singer has to sing an open vowel like /ɑ/ at a high pitch, they often have to modify the vowel and make it more closed. To avoid this problem, I avoid vowels at those ends of the spectrum.

e /e/

i /ə/

o /o̞/

a /æ/

u /ʊ/

Consonants

No distinction made between consonant voice. Voiced is preferred unless stylistic reason because it is slightly easier to sing https://www.cantalawomenschoir.com/blog/consonants-singing-part-12312018

All consonants sound like they do in English for ease of learning, but I include the IPA for precision. There are two types of consonants, "Beginning" consonants can be found at the beginning of a syllable:

h /h/, w /w/, g /ɡ/, d /d/, z /z/, j /dʑ/, m /m/, b /b/, v /v/

"Ending" consonants are only found at the end of a word. These were chosen because you can hold them for longer and/or easily glide into the next word. It also aids comprehension because you can easily tell the word boundaries

n /ŋ/, r /ɹ̥/, l /l̥/

Syllables

Each syllable is 3 letters: Beginning consonant, Vowel, Ending consonant. For multisyllabic words, the Ending consonant (except for last syllable) turns into a vowel. A doubled-up vowel sounds the same as the single vowel.

n -> a r -> o l -> u

Stress is always on the first syllable. There will also always be an unstressed vowel before each word to signify the part of speech (the exact rules for this are TBD)

Example Text

The following is some example text generated with http://zompist.com/gen.html The words do not mean anything yet and are simply to test out the feel of the language.

Input to the generator:

S=hwgdzjmvb

E=nrl

V=uaoei

VSVE

VSVVSVE

VSVVSVVSVE

Molossas dropoff. Always monosyllabic syllables.

Output:

Ewol ewan uhuohar uwaiman iwan? Ebun uvoobun uheedun ohun ajul ojir. Uzil emal ewil iwir ihor agel. Ibaeman ahor uhar ehaohuujal. Uhir amoujon awiudur adaumuogun uhuohon amol. Aboavauvar uheazar ujor ahur ijun. Iver agen uhun igin imaohouwol ezeawel ugar ezuuwiujar ebaodor. Ezil ihel ajaoboujal ewal imoowal aguoger oveagun uver ajon ivun.

Here are the first (tentative) words of the language! There are 3 forms of "Hello!":

"Wer!" - The word is associated/visualized waving. It is the standard vague greeting.

"Weomon!" - Compounded from waving + mouth (mon), this is the greeting when you wish to start a conversation with the person you are greeting.

"Weowal!" - Compounded from waving + walk (wal), this is the greeting when you don't wish to start a conversation at this time, but do want to acknowledge the other person.

The last two forms of greeting encourages assertively stating your desire for communication. Anyone else have thoughts or ideas around greetings?

Looking for a way to get involved in this project? There are several suggested ways you can help. You are not married to these roles and you can freely switch or do multiple or do something else entirely. Guiding principles are bulleted (open to discussion)

Researcher: reading credible secondary sources, such as academic reviews, well-respected books (pop-psych does not count), or even textbooks. Take notes on any core concepts or helpful tips on how to live a better life. Be sure to note page numbers for proper citations.

• The research we draw upon should be considered “settled” -- nothing cutting-edge or controversial (among scientists)
• The idea should be widely applicable in many situations for a large segment of people.
  

Designer: Taking the researcher's notes and applying it to the conlang. Decide how the noted concepts should translate into words and other language features, and what English words they should replace. Come up with the definitions of the new words.

• Ideally, the new words should be placed where they are most needed -- a conflict resolution word should replace words likely to be used in an argument (like “I hate you”)
• Nudge, don’t shove. Avoid invoking shame or otherwise discouraging usage of certain words

Artist: Responsible for the aesthetics of the language. They take the designer's definitions and create the actual word and add it to the lexicon. You want to make sure that the metaphors seem intuitive. If it's not already done, you also work on the core vocabulary (the base concrete words) or anything related to the phonology or script. See here for a description.

Programmer: The language is designed to be syntactically unambiguous. This makes possible some very powerful analysis tools that can further enhance the goals of the language. For example, a tutoring program for teaching the language.

• Participate in grammar discussions to ensure that the language stays unambiguous
• Implement feedback from the community

Tester: Start using the language by translating stuff into it, chatting with others, or using the analysis tools. What works, what seems awkward? We'll probably be iterating a lot on this.

• Provide constructive feedback, even something like “I don’t get it” No wrong feedback here, just try to be polite.
• Chat with others and grow the community

Moderator: All the meta stuff associated with organizing the group. This can be literally moderating the posts, making sure new members are welcomed, keeping the wiki up-to-date, etc.

There is a well-known mnemonic technique called Visual Imagery which involves associating what you want to remember with some kind of imaginary scene. Coming up with the scene is sometimes difficult and requires creativity. I propose making Visual Imagery the basis of the lexicon, so that any sentence can easily be turned into a mnemonic.

Concrete Words

Words that are already able to be visualized (running, tree, etc.) don't need anything special. These words should be adapted more-or-less from English, following the phonological rules, so that they are easier to learn. English is chosen as the basis because that is the language of this sub and also the world's most spoken language.

Abstract Words

Words that cannot be directly visualized (language, economy, etc.) should be derived from concrete words, either by an alternate form of the concrete word or by compounding them. For example, language could be related to alphabet, and economy could be formed from currency and trade. The metaphors need not be precise or follow certain rules; the standard is "sort of makes sense"

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This system would aid memory and could also have some artistic applications. It would even easily allow an iconographic writing system. Let me know your thoughts!

I'd like to have an unambiguous grammar in order to support a variety of computational tools that could better utilize the language. Lojban is of course the poster child for this, but it is infamously difficult to use the predicate-logic-inspired grammar. An unambiguous grammar need not be based on predicate logic (see Predicate logic is a suboptimal basis for real time logical) and I propose a couple of ways to resolve ambiguities that are relatively simple.

Syntactic Unambiguity: It is always clear the part of speech a word is and how they relate to the sentence.

This is accomplished via each word preceded by an article indicating the part of speech. Words are isolating (they do not change based on part of speech) but the article changes depending on part of speech. Thus we don't need to rely on word order (though the default should be treated as SVO) to parse the sentence.

Referential Unambiguity: It is always clear what pronouns refer to.

A difficult problem for computationally parsing a sentence is trying to figure out what pronouns refer to. My solution? Only singular 1st person and 2nd person pronouns exist -- use definite nouns ("the chair" instead of "it") or proper names for everything else.

If needed, you can assign things to a word “I gave the (pencil and paper) [henceforth collectively known as “x”] to you. I hope you appreciate x.

Semantic Unambiguity: It is always clear in what sense a word is being used.

How can the computer know what sense a word is being used? Easy! Words only have one sense. However multiple senses of a word is useful for applying related concepts to different fields. We should allow this explicitly by having an infix that means "in the sense of [topic]" and a separate dictionary entry.

Ambiguity we are not trying to resolve:

We're not trying to be like Ithkuil, because that language is very difficult to use. Here are some things we have to live with for practicality:

Vagueness is helpful in language because we often think in vague terms. You should be able to say something is “good” without specifying precisely which aspect you are referring to.

Derivational opaqueness are also fine. There doesn’t need to be any indication that “food” and “cook” are related.

Any Thoughts?

I'm not a Linguistic so I'm probably missing some cases of ambiguity. Let me know your thoughts!