Hi everyone! I haven't posted a thread in about 3 years, so I thought it was time. Now I'm sure nobody is going to look here because the conlangery forum isn't being visited these days but I'm posting this anyway. I'd like to introduce anyone who is going against the flow by visiting here to my conlang, Aoireas. It's based on French, but I've fiddled with the spelling and phonology enough to make it sound sort of Celtic. Below is some sample text, which is actually an essay I wrote for French class. Can you see yet why I based it on French?
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Chèràe Foo-Foo, ça va bien?
J'ái à luáe Le visiteur du sàoir danàes 9e annéáe. C'est uneá histáoire dàe deáux garçons de 15 ans, Charles et Vincent, qui ont empruntàe la toile appeléàe Le visiteur du sàoir - c'est ça qui donne la titre - pour l'amenàer à un carnavál à leur àécoleà. Ils ont élaboràé un plan pour emprunter la toile, mais ils n'ont pas réussi parce que des autres volàeurs ont pris la toile avant le bal, qui était samedi soir. Les voleurs ont enlevàé Charles et lui demandé où étèait la toile. Quand Charles a dit que c'était chez Vincent, les voleurs ont téléphoné à Vincent à la salle de billeàrd et lui demandàe de laisser la toile dans uneá poubelláe pour qu'ils laissent Charles libre. Je veux dire beaucoup d'autre choseás, mais c'est uneá bonnáe livráe et peut-eátre tu veux láe liáràe. Mais l'idàe d'avoir un carnaval seulement pour donner un prix pour la meilleuràe chosàe qui àtaitàe volàe est un peu àtrangàe. Il y a un jury à le carnaval qui dàcidàe lequel est la meilleuràe prise et donne un verdict. L'àleàve avec làe meilleuràe prise recàoitàe làe trophàe Arsèane-Lupin et deáux ceanan deasan-seise dolleàrs. Je n'ai jamais entendu d'une àécoleà qui avaoit un carnavál pour ávaoir les àleàves apporter toutes sortes de choseàs qu'ils ont voleàs. Et toi non pluàs, je croiàs. C'est treàs eàtrangeàs, n'est càe peas? Si tu dàecideàs dàe liáràe càe livráe, prends-làe avec uneá gràeineà dàe seàl.
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(Translation in a bit.)
I know that's a really unfinished sample of the language - please excuse that. It still looks a lot like French too, which is really unfortunate but might help you understand it. The language isn't anywhere near being finished either. I don't have a vocabulary list, grammar rules, verb tenses, anything. But I do have a phonology (which some people hate seeing first, sorry) and a number system.
Here's the number system. Yes, I know the accompanying text is in French.
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Chiffre base dix | Chiffre base treize | Nom en Aoireas | Nom français pour comparaison
1 | 1 | uneá | un
2 | 2 | deáux | deux
3 | 3 | traoís | trois
4 | 4 | quatrae | quatre
5 | 5 | céinq | cinq
6 | 6 | seise | six
7 | 7 | septae | sept
8 | 8 | huitae | huit
9 | 9 | neauf | neuf
10 | a | deix | a (dix)
11 | b | onàe | bé (onze)
12 | c | deas | cé (douze)
13 | 10 | unean | dix (treize)
14 | 11 | unean uneá | onze (quatorze)
15 | 12 | unean deáux | douze (quinze)
25 | 1c | unean deas | dix-cé (vingt-cinq)
26 | 20 | vineat | vingt (vingt-six)
27 | 21 | vineat uneá | vingt et un (vingt-sept)
38 | 2c | vineat deas | vingt-cé (trente-huit)
39 | 30 | tràente | trente (trente-neuf)
52 | 40 | quaranae | quarante (cinquante-deux)
65 | 50 | céinquanae | cinquante (soixante-cinq)
78 | 60 | seisean | soixante (soixante-dix-huit)
91 | 70 | septean | soixante-dix (quatre-vingts-onze)
104 | 80 | huitean | quatre-vingts (cent quatre)
117 | 90 | neaufan | quatre-vingts-dix (cent dix-sept)
130 | a0 | deisean | cinq-vingts (cent trente)
143 | b0 | onàean | cinq-vingts-dix (cent quarante-trois)
156 | c0 | deasan | six-vingts (cent cinquante-six)
169 | 100 | ceanan | cent (cent soixante-neuf)
2197 | 1000 | milean | deux mille quatre-vingts-dix-sept
1,0,000 | deix milean
10,0,000 | ceanan milean
1,00,0,000 | milean milean
1,00,00,0,000 | milaeran
1,0,000,000,0,00,00,0,000 | bilean
1,000,0,00,00,0,000,000,0,00,00,0,000 | tréilàean
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As you can see, I've used base 13 for Aoireas. I never use base 10 - too boring for my taste and too universal already. Here's an attempt at showing the phonology of some vowel combinations (all I've worked out) in X-SAMPA. I say attempt because I may end up getting the symbols wrong.
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ae /@/
aé /aj/
aè /aj/
áe /&j/
áé /@/
áè /j&/
àe /aj/
àé /&/
àè /@/
ea /&/
eá /ja/
eà /Ej/
éa /ea/
éá /&/
éà /ej/
èa /E/
èá /a/
èà /&/
aoi /i/
oia /aj/
éi /E/
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I'm not totally sure "&" represents an a and e stuck together in the IPA, so I would appreciate it if someone could either confirm that it does or tell me what the appropriate symbol is. Of course, I understand totally if no one's willing or able, and in that case I will content myself with knowing that you all know what I'm trying to say.
All that said, I hope every nonexistent person who reads this finds enjoyment in it and not fault. I know, though, that Aoireas in its present state has many faults, so I am sure someone will be disappointed in it. In that case, I would prefer not to simply be told what I already know, but to be given ideas on what I can to to make things better. (Yes, there's a fine line here.) Such as: I'd like some ideas on how Celtic languages have their grammar and stuff so I can incorporate it here. I'm trying to make it not sound like French.
If you made it through my whole post without getting bored or mad at me, you get a round of virtual applause! Of course, the same goes if you've come by the Conlangery forum and shown some interest too.

Hello!

I am apparently nonexistent.

Anyway, the language is a little too similar to French in its current form. No doubt you're working on that but having the same word order and the same irregularities in verbs is slightly... what it is. About a week ago I was also working on a conlang-sort-of-thing based on French, but just a version with less irregularities and better spelling etc. I gave up because it was kind of stupid. I hope this thing doesn't just collapse like the one I wrote about above did.

Oh, hi Kshaard! Thank you so much for posting! I was getting a little worried there.
I know, it's way too similar to French. I just haven't changed enough of the words yet. Technically, Aoireas has next to no words, no verb tenses, no word order and a phonology that's about half empty. But I won't let that get in the way of writing text in it, so I just threw in a few screwy pronunciations and extra letters, and voilà, a conlang -- or so it would seem. Keep in mind, this actually started out as me trying to figure out how to get the right accents on the letters in my essay and failing miserably. By the time I called my teacher over to help, my essay was on the verge of being written in a totally different language.
Thanks, I hope this doesn't collapse too. Don't give up though, conlangs are rarely stupid. I was working on a different spelling for English at one point, but I know now that it would have been largely pointless to use a lot because it's based on my interpretation of my sub-dialect of my regional variety of English. Pretty narrow. It also used a lot of diacritics, and some people hate that. But none of those things stopped me from fully developing it and using it to write with.

So now then, let's see about this business of developing the vocabulary. You can see that I've formed plurals with -s, but that has to go because from what I hear Celtic languages use umlauting. I'm thinking of adding a circumflex over the initial vowel to signify pluralization. Also, Manx adds h after the initial consonant to form something or other, and I can't remember whether it was the genitive, plural or something else. Maybe someone out there can help me. Or maybe I should just dig up my Manx notes.

An attempt at a vocabulary list: (this is not alphabetical and I've left out the numbers)
Aoireas = English (Français)
danàes = in (dans)
annéáe (or áin) = year (année)
histáoire = story (histoire)
dàe = of (de)
amenàer = bring (amener)
carnavál = carnival (carnaval)
àécoleà = school (école)
billeàrd = pool (billiards)
poubelláe = trash can/wastebasket (poubelle)
choseá = thing (chose)
bonnáe = good (bon/bonne)
livráe = book (livre)
eátre = be (etre) (can't find the circumflex, my character palette is AWOL)
láe = definite masculine singular article (le)
idàe = idea (idee)
meilleuràe = best (meilleur(e))
àtrangàe = strange (étrange)
àleàve = student (éleve) (yeah, yeah, character palette)
trophàe = trophy (trophée)
ávaoir = have (avoir)
pluàs = more, plus (plus)
treàs = very (tres) (I know, I know!)
eàtrangeàs = strange (étrange)
càe = masculine article of some sort (ce)
peas = step (pas)
gràeineà = grain/seed (graine)
seàl = salt (sel)

This is an even closer look at just how similar Aoireas and French are. But I'll go over the sample text some more and insert circumflexes for plurals, and then we'll see where we go from there. You can see I have two words for "strange" -- that reflects another issue created when inserting random letters. If there's a multiple occurrence of the same word, you can end up making two words out of it. I'll be standardizing the vocabulary some more too, which should help.

Just a question: are you using a Mac or Windows (or Linux/Ubuntu etc.) computer?
Because if it's a Mac then you can use alt-i to get circumflex and alt-` to get grave accents. If not, then just ignore this.

Linux/Ubuntu. Thanks anyway. Actually, I found the character mapping thingy and have peppered my sample text with diacritics. Here it is! Please tell me if you still think it's too close to French.
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Áià luáe Le visiteur du soir je dàes neaufiem áin. Est uneá histáoire càe dàe deáux gârson dàe unean-deáux (12-13) áîn, Charles ŷn Vincent, qui ont empruntàe lá toile appeléàe >Le visiteur du soir< - càe est sà qui donne lá titre - pour làe amenàer à un carnavál à leur àécoleà. Ont élaboràé un plan îl pour emprunter lá toile, mais náe ont réussài îl parce que ont pris lá toile dàê âutre vôlàeur avant le bal, étàeit samídi saoír qui. Ont enlevàé Charles lê vôlàeur ŷn demandé où étèait lá toile lui. Quand a dit Charles que càe était chez Vincent, ont téléphoné à Vincent làê vôlàeur à lá salle dàe billeàrd ŷn demandàe lui dàe laisser lá toile dans uneá poubelláe pour que laissent Charles libre îl. Veux diàr je beaucoup dàe autre chôseá, mais est uneá bonnáe livráe càe ŷn peut-eátàr veux láe liár tu. Mais est un peu àtrangàe làe idàe dàe oivár un carnaval seulement pour donner un prix pour lá meilleuràe chosàe qui àtaitàe volàe. Est à làe carnavàl un jury qui dàcidàe lequel est lá meilleuràe prise ŷn donne un verdict. Recàoitàe làe trophàe Arsèane-Lûpin et deáux ceanan deasan-seise (2c6-13) dôlleàr làe àleàve avec làe meilleuràe prise. Áià náe jamais entendu je dàe une àécoleà qui avaoit un carnavál pour oivár làê àlêàve apporter tôute sôrte dàe chôseà que îl ont voleàs. Ŷn toi non pluàs, croiàs je. Est treàs àtrangàe càe, est càe náe? Si dàecideàs dàe liár càe livráe tu, prends làe avec uneá gràeineà dàe seàl.
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Still a lot of work to do, but I've changed -s plurals to circumflexed ones, partially standardized the vocabulary, replaced a word or two, corrected and changed some spellings, eliminated contractions and switched word order to VOS. The "-13" numbers in parentheses are the base 13 digits for clarification.

I looked up X-SAMPA on Wikipedia and it turns out that & is in IPA [ɶ]. { is in fact [æ] in X-SAMPA.

Just to let you know.

Thanks, that sounds right. Here's a better version of the phonology written with that in mind (/0/ = silent or undecided).
a /a/
b /b/
c /k/
d /d/
e /e, E/
f /f/
g /g, Z/
h /0/
i /i/
j /Z/
k /k/
l /l/
m /m/
n /n/
o /o/
p /p/
q /k/
r /r, 4/
s /s, z/
t /t/
u /u/
v /v/
w /0/
x /0/
y /I/
z /z/
ae /@/
aé /aj/
aè /aj/
aê /V/
áe /{j/
áé /@/
áè /j{/
áê /@:/
àe /aj/
àé /{/
àè /@/
àê /I/
âe /A/
âé /A:/
âè /y/
âê /i/
ea /{/
eá /ja/
eà /Ej/
eâ /E:/
éa /ea/
éá /{/
éà /ej/
éâ /e:/
èa /E/
èá /a/
èà /{/
èâ /{:/
êa /V:/
êá /@/
êà /e/
êâ /a:/
oi /i/
aoi /i/
oia /aj/
ai /E/
ái, ài, âi /ai/
éi /E/
â /A/
ê /@/
î /i_/
ô /O/
û /y/
ŷ /{/
The capital a is the alpha symbol and the i_ is an i with a bar through it. If they aren't I'll be back with the correct lettering.

And yet another version of the sample text:

Áià luáe Làe visitor dàe làe saoír nû dàes neaufiem áin. Set dái histáoire càe dàe deáux gârson dàe unean-deáux áîn, Charles ŷn Vincent, ci oivat empruntàe lá toile appeléà Làe visitor dàe làe saoír - set sà ci donne lá titre - pur làe amenàer à dòi carnavál à lor àécoleà. Oivat élaboràé dòi plan îl pur empruntar lá toile, mais náe oivat réussài îl parse que oivat pris lá toile dàê âutre vôlàor avan làe bail, etat samídi saoír ci. Oivat enlevàé Charles lê vôlàor ŷn demandé où étèait lá toile lui. Quand áiat dit Charles que etat càe chez Vincent, oivat téléphoné à Vincent làê vôlàor à lá salle dàe billeàrd ŷn demandàe lui dàe laisser lá toile dàes dái pubeláe pur que laissent Charles libre îl. Vox diàr nû beaucu dàe autre chôseá, mais set dái bonnáe livráe càe ŷn pot-téir vox láe liár tu. Mais set dòi po àtrangàe làe idàe dàe oivár dòi carnavál soleman pur donner dòi prix pur lá meioràe chosàe ci etat volàe. Set à làe carnavàl dòi jury ci dàcidàe làecel set lá meioràe prise ŷn donne dòi verdict. Recàoitàe làe trophàe Arsèane-Lûpin ŷn deáux ceanan deasan-seise dôleàr làe àleàve avec làe meioràe prise. Áià entendu náe jamais nû dàe dái àécoleà ci áiat dòi carnavál pur oivár làê àlêàve apporter tôute sôrte dàe chôseà que îl oivat voleàs. Ŷn toi nàe pluàs, croiàs nû. Set treàs àtrangàe càe, set càe náe? Si dàecideàs dàe liár càe livráe tu, prends làe avec dái gràeineà dàe seàl.

Still not great, but not exactly French either. Or Celtic looking. I'm not as good at this as I thought I'd be.

Perhaps you're going about it the wrong way?

Most likely. I may have said that. I don't really know exactly what I'm doing, but I'm slowly seeking out the information I need and putting it all together.