Ok, I have an idea for a language system. Well, really, it’s not much of a language system, just a quirk that if done right could make one character feel like they’re from a different place/culture. Or…it could make them sound very childish or annoying. Regardless, here it is:
I work at the FHSS Writing Lab, and when we don’t have much going on (like now, as I write this), I sit around doing online grammar lessons. The one I was working on today had to do with irregular verbs, and their present, past, and “have” forms. For example:
- ring, rang, rung
as in, “I ring the doorbell,” “I rang the doorbell,” and “I have rung the doorbell.”
Well, what if you changed all these verbs to make them regular–or at least, to make groups of them regular? Could you use this principle to form a useful dialect in a fantastic world? Here are some ideas:
- ring, rang, rung
- think, thank, thunk
- weep, wept, wupt
- swing, swang, swung
- strike, strake, struck
- sting, stang, stung
- sting, stank, stunk
- bring, brang, brung
- teach, taych, tawch
- sweep, swept, swupt
- tell, tale, tole
- sleep, slept, slupt
- sit, sat, sut
Etc. Or you could try and do some other rule, like bring, brought, brought to run, rought, rought. But I’m finished working now, so I’m going to take off and leave that to you to figure out.
