Ictuk

Notice

This is a more technical sheet for Ictuk that can be used to reference certain rules and structures. If you are looking to learn more academically, I have created a Learner's Guide.

Interested in using this language with others? Add "selisine" on Discord to get into the server!

Sounds

p [p]	t [t]	k [k]	f [ɸ]

sh [ʃ]	zh [ʒ]	h [h]	u [u]

o [o]	a [ɑ]	ou [ɔ]	b [b]

ng [ɠ]	mb [ɓ]	q [kʼ]	[ʔ]

_{Audio sourced from Wikipedia's IPA Chart
and Capyschool}

IPA Charts

_{The first row has the locations for a human, and the 2nd row has the locations for an Ictuza.}

Consonants (Pulmonic & Non-Pulmonic)

	Alveolar	Velar	Bilabial			Velar		Glottal		Postalveolar
	Mandibular		Probosocial		Probo-Pharyngeal		Mandi-Pharyngeal	Pharyngeal		Thoraxal
Plosive	t	k	p	b	ɓ	ɠ	kʼ	h	ʔ
Fricative			ɸ							ʃ	ʒ

Vowels

Close	u
Close-mid	o
Open-mid	ɔ
Open	ɑ

Writing

Alphabet

There are a total of 15 letters in Ictuk.


p [p]	t [t]	k [k]	f [ɸ]	sh [ʃ]

zh [ʒ]	h [h]	u [u]	o [o]	a [ɑ]

ou [ɔ]	b [b]	ng [ɠ]	q [kʼ]	mb [ɓ]

Alphabetical Order

Ictuk's alphabetical order originates from how much the sound resonated with their head. The order goes as such:

Stacking

Stacking is an important part of speaking Ictuk. Stacking seperates words into groups, where each group is pronounced left to right, and each word in the group is pronounced top to bottom.
Below is an example of the phrase "I am good too".

Half height glyphs are special in that they both can be placed next to the upper or lower half of a full-height glyph, and because they can be stacked on top of each other relative to the word they are apart of. Both are stylistic choices that are up to the writer.

Primary Line

Because Ictuk phrases are multiple levels, an invisible reference line was established as the "center" of the word or phrase, known as the primary line. It's typically where a noun or pronoun is.
The primary line is where "kofa" ("be") and "tuf" ("I") is, because "tuf" is the pronoun in the phrase.

Overlap

Sometimes, words can overlap past the word they're stacking on or under. A spacer glyph can be added until the word is no longer overlapping. There is a short spacer glyph and a long spacer glyph.

Punctuation

Punctuation can be stacked on itself to amplify its meaning.
Period
The period can be placed wherever it fits best, as long as it remains on the primary line and doesn't obstruct other glyphs.
"I am good too."
"Kofafashtufta."

Question Mark
The question mark follows the same rules as the period.
"Are you good too?"
"Kofafashbuta?"

Exclamation Mark
The exclamation has to align with the center of the primary line.
"I am good too!"
"Kofafashtufta!"

Comma
The comma follows the same rules as the exclamation point.
"I am good, and you?"
"Kofafashtuf, aa but?"

Quotes
The starting quote is stacked above the first glyph in the quoted phrase, and the ending quote is stacked below the last glyph in the quoted phrase.
"'I am good', they said."
"'Kofafashtuf', ofazhpapfashoqposh"

Other Rules

Double Letters

If 2 of the same consonants are right next to each other, it becomes one consonant.
"You do"
"Zhoubbut" (WRONG)

"Zhoubut" (RIGHT)

This applies to stacked letters as well, except the consonants stay as they are, and only the pronunciation changes to one consonant.
If 2 vowels are right next to each other, the pronunciation changes, adding a glottal stop between the vowels.

"And"
"Aa"

New Lines

The most common spacing between phrases that aren't stacked is 1 line, or more technically 125 pixels of space.
"'How are you today?' I said.
'I'm good,' He said."
"'Nguuhop kofabut shou apa?' Ofazhpapfashoqtuf.
'Kofafashtuf,' Ofazhpapfashoqposh."

Numbers

Ictuza count in base 12, meaning every 12 numbers counted, it jumps one place. In English, we represent the 11 and 12 in Base 12 as A and B respectively.
Stacking Order
Numbers always stack above all other glyphs affecting the noun.
Select the range of numbers you want to see.

Base Numbers (0-B)


o (0)	u (1)	po (2)	ush (3)

ak (4)	mba (5)	mbu (6)	fo (7)

fu (8)	zho (9)	kap (A)	sh (B)

Tens

All tens are represented with a "q" before the ones place.

"14"
"qak"

For numbers above 1B, the number in the tens place gets put in front of q, represented by one of the base numbers. This applies to every following place above the ones place.
"55"
"mbaqmba"

Hundreds

All hundreds are reprented with "mbok" before the tens place.

"456"
"akmbokmbaqmbu"

Thousands

All thousands are represented with "pazh" before the hundreds place.

"2345"
"popazhushmbokakqmba"

Ten Thousands

All ten thousands are represented with "ngpa" before the thousands place.

"23456"
"pongpaushpazhakmbokmbaqmbu"

Hundred Thousands

All hundred thousands are represented with "ngshop" before the ten thousands place.

"234567"
"pongshopushngpaakpazhmbambokmbuqfa"

Ordinance

The order of a group is indicated with a number and fazh stacked below the number.
"He is in 1st, I am in 2nd, she is in 3rd."
"Kofaufazhposh, kofapofazhtuf, kofaushfazhposhozh."

Grammar

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that can describe nouns and pronouns. All adjectives stack on top of what they affect with no specific order.
"I am good."
"Kofafashtuf."

Determiners

Determiners in Ictuk describe a noun's relative quanity and definiteness. Both stack above and closest to the noun.
Articles
Articles describe whether a noun is singular (cat), plural (cats), indefinite (a cat), and definite (the cat). Articles precede all other determiners.

	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	u	uzh
Definite	tu	tuzh

"The teacher was boring."
"Tuonguhu ofazhkofanguhaposh."

Comparisons and Superlatives

Comparisons
All comparisons are built on stacking opapa, for "more", on top of the comparing adjective.
"I'm better (more good) than you."
"Kofaopapafashtuf shap but."

In a scenario that needs better comparisons than the original, more can be stacked on as many times as needed.
"I'm better (more good) than you, but he's even better (more more good) than me."
"Kofaopapafashtuf shap but, at kofaopapaopapafashposh shap tuf."

Superlatives
Superlatives show that something has an attribute at its most extreme. They are constructed the same way as comparisons, but instead use the word opapazh, for "most". There can't be more than one "most" stacked on an adjective.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify or affect verbs, and they stack below the verb they affect at the lowest level.
"Can I go too?"
"Fazhoukfazhatatuf?"

Nouns

Nouns are words that describe a person, place or thing.
"The teacher was boring."
"Tuonguhu ofazhkofanguhaposh."

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that replace nouns, usually used for something that has already been mentioned, or to mention a/the speaker(s).

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns address the actor of the sentence, and are what attach to verbs. There are 8 personal pronouns in Ictuk.

	Singular		Plural
Type	Person	Thing	Person	Thing
1st Person	Tuf		Tuzh
2nd Person	But		Buzh
3rd Person	Posh	Osh	Pozh	Ozh
4th Person	Poshozh	Oshozh	Pozhozh	Ozhozh

4th Person?
4th person, or 3rd person obviative, is very similar to 3rd person. It comes into play when talking about someone less central to the story, like "He (1) thought his (2) idea was good", where "his" is talking about someone in the 4th person. It's not inherently required, as context within the sentence can also indicate a difference, but sometimes it's better to be explicit about it.
"ofazhnguhoposh ukposhozhnguho ofazhkofafashosh"

Pronouns as Objects
Pronouns can also be used as objects in sentences when they're not the subject of the verb. They are the same words as personal pronouns, which can be seen in a phrase like "I am good, and you?".
"Kofafashtuf, aa but?"

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns address the speaker themselves, and stack a copy of the pronoun onto itself.
"I want to do it myself!"
"Akozhapofazhozhoubtuf osh tuftuf!"

	Singular		Plural
Type	Person	Thing	Person	Thing
1st Person	Tuftuf		Tuzhtuzh
2nd Person	Butbut		Buzhbuzh
3rd Person	Poshposh	Oshosh	Pozhpozh	Ozhozh
4th Person	Poshozhposhozh	Oshozhoshozh	Pozhozhpozhozh	Ozhozhozhozh

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to indicate the ownership of something or someone. In Ictuk, the word uk, for "hook" is added to the top of the pronoun, then the full pronoun is added to the top of what is being possessed.

	Singular		Plural
Type	Person	Thing	Person	Thing
1st Person	Uktuf		Uktuzh
2nd Person	Ukbut		Ukbuzh
3rd Person	Ukposh	Ukosh	Ukpozh	Ukozh
4th Person	Ukposhozh	Ukoshozh	Ukpozhozh	Ukozhozh

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point to or identify things that already have context in the sentence. Ictuk has 6 demonstrative pronouns.

	Singular	Plural
Near	Sho	Shozh
Far	Sha	Shazh
Abstract	Shou	Shouzh

Abstract? Abstract words in Ictuk are any intangible or conceptual object. Things like days, color, names, etc. would use shou or shouzh.

Prepositions

Prepositions help show the relationship between words in a sentence. They stack on the highest point of the 2nd word in the prepositional phrase.
"We went through it."
"ofazhazhouktuzh atshaosh."

Verbs

Verbs are synthesized in a particular way, as seen in this table.

Structure
Aspect	Negation
Tense	Root	Subject
	Modal

Aspect
Aspect is how a verb extends through time. There are 4 aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. In Ictuk, 3 of these 4 aspects have a preposition that represents them.

Simple is just the action, like "sleep", and has no preposition.
Progressive is a continuous action, like "sleeping", and is represented with "fazho", for "over".

Perfect is the relation between an earlier action and a later time, like "has slept", and is represented with "kou", for "at".

Perfect progressive is like perfect, but as an ongoing action, like "has been sleeping", and is represented with "fazhouk", for "go".

_{If there a visible aspect (i.e. not Simple) but no visible tense (i.e. Present),
the aspect falls where the tense would be.}
Tense
Tense is when a verb happened. There are 3 tenses: present, past, and future.

Present tense is a verb that is actively happening, like "sleeps", and has no additional word to represent it.
Past tense is a verb that has already happened, like "slept", and is represented with "ofazh".

Future tense is a verb that will happen, like "will sleep", and is represented with "fazh"

Negation
Negation is when a verb isn't being done, like "not sleeping", and is represented with "o".
Root
The root is the action itself. Unlike English, there are no infinitives in Ictuk (e.g. "to sleep"). The auxilliary gets formatted in simple aspect and added to the front of the phrase, and the root gets formatted as progressive aspect. For example, "I want to sleep" becomes "I want sleeping".

Modal
Modality is what conveys the mood of a sentence. There are 4 types in Ictuk: possibility/potential, ability, hypothetical, and obligation.

Possibility/potential, or "could/would" is "fazha", for "with"

Ability, or "be able to", is "atsha", for "through"

Hypothetical, or "were to", is "fazhku", for "toward"

Obligation, or "should", is "akozhoq", for "require"

_{Commands are formatted using the obligation modal (e.g. "Go!" becomes "You should go!")}
Subject
The subject is the actor of the verb, and is always a pronoun. When regular nouns are being used (e.g. "My computer is very good"), the noun stays seperate from the verb, but the subject word changes according to the noun.

Other Rules

Non-Present Time

Units of time can be modified to represent time that has passed or will pass, which uses the same structure as verb tenses: ofazh for the past and fazh for the future. The amount of time in this occurence is indicated by stacking a number on apa.

Fazhuapa ("1 day from now", or "tomorrow")
Fazhfuapao ("8 minutes from now")
Ushkoofazhuapa ("last year")

Approximator Stacking

Colloquially, fazh can be stacked on top of fazhuouk ("almost") to indicate how close or similar something is to its approximation. There's not really a definitive measurement with how many fazh's there are. The English equivalent to this is saying "really really really (however many "really"'s) close".
Ofazhkofafazhfazhfazhfazhuoukposh, ofazhkofaushafoposh uaofazhapa. ("They were almost there, just a second away.")

Because: Fazh and Fazhko

Ictuk has 2 words to indicate reasoning: fazh for the factual or natural occurence of something (e.g. Ofazhukoshposh fazh ofazhoashoposh ("They died because they didn't eat")),

and fazhko for the conceptual or abstract reasoning of something (e.g. Ngushoofashtuf fazhko ngushoofashbut ("I feel bad because you feel bad")).

Parser

Type Ictuk letters to convert them into glyphs. Here are some rules:

This is not a translator, and the phrases will look different to how they're pronounced and actually written.
Use spaces to seperate lines.
"0kofatuf. 1////fash -1////ta"
Numbers represent the line that the glyphs are on, relative to the primary line at 0. Everything below is negative, everything above is positive.
On the primary line, half-height glyphs automatically can stack. Any number can be put as a line, though, so manual height adjustment is possible.
"0kofatuf. .5////fash -1////ta"
/ and | are both considered glyph spaces. They are invisible in the render, but they space out other glyphs. This is important for glyphs on other lines, as if these spaces aren't used, all of the words outside of the primary line will be above the first word.
/ is a normal sized space, which means it will space all glyphs after it by the width of 1 normal sized glyph.
| is a thin sized space, which means it will space all glyphs after it by the width of 1 thin sized glyph.
- A thin sized glyph is 1/3 the size of a normal sized glyph. In Ictuk, Zh is the only visible thin sized glyph.
"0kofatuf. 1////fash -1////ta"
Normal and thin spacer glyphs are represented as S/ and S| respectively.
Colors are an optional feature with 2 default colors: highlighted and normal. I made this primarily for examples where I needed to highlight certain glyphs.
Normal is indicated with "#n", and highlighted is indicated with "#h". Like line numbers, the most recent color is what the glyphs will be colored.
"0#hkofa#ntuf. 1////fash"
Input is case sensitive; all glyph letters should be in lowercase.
All punctuation can be typed as they are in English, except for the quotation mark, which is represented with "Qu".
This is still a work in progress.

Dictionary

Enter an English or Ictuk word here. If the definition doesn't pop up, you may have to put a (1) or other number next to it, as it has multiple definitions that English can't represent.

Big Examples

Therapy from Tick, Tick, Boom!

Original Lyrics _{Work in progress. Words that haven't been invented yet will be in curly braces and italicized,
and in glyph form they will be a spacer glyph.} Format

[NAME]
(Romanized Ictuk)
(Glyphs)

Translation

[ZHAB]
ngushoofashtuf, sha ngushoofashbut
{about}tuf fazhongushoofashtuf, {about}but fazhongushoofashbut
{about}nguosh ofazhopunguhotuf, {about}nguosh ofazhopunguhobut
{about}tuf fazhokofaoatshatufazho{share} u{feeling}

[KAOUSHA]
{if} ofazhnguhotuf sha nguosh ofazhnguhobut
ofazhkofaosh sha kouofazhonguhotuf {about}fazho{share}tuf uktufngu
{then} uktuf{reaction}, {to}ukbut{reaction}, {to}uktuf{reaction}
kouofazhkofafazhaopapa{revealing}osh

[ZHAB]
ofazhkofaakozhtuf sha kofafazhaakozhbut
{if} ofazhopunguhotuf {to}but sha ofazhkofaakozhtuf uk{intimacy}
{if} ohapobut uofashosh fazhauktufofashosh
fashofash tuofashosh kofauosh {co-dependency}

[KAOUSHA]
fash, nguhoqtuf, sha shoufazh nguhoqbut
sha ofazhonguhoqtuf, sha ofazhonguhoqtuf
sha ngufazh ofazhopunguho, 'O', ofazh{mean}tuf, 'Fash, nguhoqtuf'
aa sha shoufazh nguhoqtuf sha ofazhnguhoqbut, sha ofazhnguhoqtuf ofazhpapshopaabut tuf

[ZHAB]
ofazhkofa{wrong}tuf fazhko

[KAOUSHA]
fazhoopunguhotuf ofazhkofa{wrong}but fazhko

[ZHAB]
fazhoopunguhotuf ofazhkofa{wrong}tuf {about}

[KAOUSHA]
fazhokofa{wrong}but

[ZHAB]
ngufazh ofazh{ring}butfazhoopunguho sha

[KAOUSHA]
tu{ring} kofaosh tu{wrong}osh fazho{bring}but

[ZHAB]
{if} ofazh{mean}tuf nguosh ofazhopunguhotuf
ngufazh ofazhopunguhotuf, '{ring} ofazh{bore}ozh tuf'

[ZHAB AA KAOUSHA]
okofa{mad}tuf sha ofazh{become}{mad}but ngufazh ofazh{become}{mad}tuf
ngufazh ofazhopunguhobut ukoshtufakozhoq

[ZHAB]
{if} kofafazhkutuf but aa kouofazhzhoubtuf nguosh kouofazhzhoubtuf
zhoubfazhatuf nguosh ofazhzhoubut
ngufazh ofazh{gave}but tu{ring}
fazhohapotuf ofazhopunguhotuf nguosh ofazhopunguhotuf