JKLMN...

Man, would this month just end? I'm seriously getting sick of September. With the beginning of this week I had another rush if allergies which left me no choice but to use the tablet that I've stopped taking for really long time; Zyrtec. Beside that, my car started to act funny again and kept on stopping on the road which calls for another visit to the garages. All of that just before I begin my vacation next Saturday. My last bet on my luck is that the fixes for this problem in the car right now would be simple and won't extend further. Knowing my luck, I doubt that would happen.

As you can see from the hectic schedule and conditions, I didn't really have the time to do any photography this week. Although, a friend of mine within the group promised to pick me up and see some place to do some panoramic trials in the course of some preparations for an upcoming exhibition. The exhibition is sponsored by some company for constructions and marbles and they sponsored the group before. I did visit their factory in one summer and the photographic conditions were not so appealing I have to say. According to my friend, this place under question is the family's (the family owning the company) residence or Diwan; a place to host guests or enquirers. From my friend's argument and talk on the phone, I've realized that they are in a desperate need for my services in this field, mainly because (as it seems) other members are not to be relied on, specially when it comes to architectural photography and abstract; needless to say, none is acquainted with panoramic photography at all. The art of panoramic photography is rarely seen here and everyone, almost, thinks it's some art done in Photoshop alone. Anyway, it was apparent from his tone that the situation is desperate. We arranged for a meeting and he was supposed to pass me by and pick me up and visit that place to get an idea of what to do, and how to do it. Yet, until the time of writing this down, he didn't call again nor passed me by, and with my car's problems I'm not sure how much time I do have in my pocket.

JKLMN

Probably you are wondering about the title of this post. Well, I've decided that since I'm not talking photography this week or posting any pictures, maybe I can talk a bit more about Geltani and how things are going on with this conlang.
The fact is, in the past few weeks I was working slowly with Geltani but I didn't post much about it here. I'm assigning phonetic values slowly to the rest of the alphabet and trying to make them more organized rather than random. Anyway, I think making a language, even a conlang, too organized is something abnormal after all. Actually, reading more into Turkish language inspired me to do a lot of adjustments specially when it comes to grammar and making up words. This would deviate the language from copying the original Arabic letter by letter.

-ÁY

One of the things that I've adjusted is the use of the suffix (-áy). In the beginning, I thought that I would use such suffix to make a noun out of a craft or a profession (e.g. carpenter, smith). However, probably for such venture I would use the previously discussed suffix (-árí) and (-ází) and leave the suffix of (-áy) to derive nouns of objects from other nouns, or maybe turn certain nouns into adjective form. One of the examples of this usage so far is the noun of "ruler", which would be derived from the noun of "line".

Line: L^PJ (initially pronounced as Leñj', where "ñ" is nasal and " ' " is a schwa).

Ruler: Leñjáy (i.e. the thing that makes lines).

This is just one example for the time being and I have to venture more into the Arabic wording and system. Of course, there would be words that would be converted to Geltani from Arabic letter by latter as they are. The main topic here is to try to deviate from a typical conversion and working letter by letter to something more of a systematized different language.

-ÚY

 Also, beside the (-áy) suffix which denotes a noun that does some work or job of a specific nature, I thought I might add another suffix to mark nouns that are derived from other nouns after applying work on them. You can think of it somehow in the sense of the past participle or the verbal adjective but a sense of a noun. This suffix is (-úy) and just an example:

Squeezing: R^NJ (initially pronounced as řoj', where "ř" is American "R" sound, and "o" almost sounds like "OW" in "row" and " ' " is a schwa).

Juice: řojúy (i.e. the thing derived from squeezing, fruit or something else).

However, I still need to do more testing for such suffixes and see how practical they would be, specially if the root noun ends with a vowel sound. In the process, I do think of how to explain such grammatical roles and rules if I'm to write down a page about Geltani! Grammatical terms are quite hard to digest from my side.

Beside all of that there are some trials to systematize the logograms (or logographs) as well, in terms of their shape in accordance to their appearance in the word. Explaining this would take pages I guess but just give an idea, suppose I'm going to convert an Arabic word into Geltani. Let this word contain the Arabic letter "R" [ر] (which corresponds to the initial phoneme of [J] as in Jacket). The strokes for this letter in Geltani would be different if it appears at the beginning of the word, its middle, or at the end. However, I'm mainly concerned about the shape of its ending form and hence each phoneme would bear 2 shapes each. This is the plan for now at least.

This is all to be concerned with the linear form (which is the basic form) of the script. As for the cursive form it would be merely a softer form of the original, supposedly. 

Currently, as well, I'm still thinking of a proper numerical system (in terms of logograms and pronunciation), as well as working with the rest of the phonetic values for the rest of the alphabet. The transliteration of the language is a concern as well since I'm trying to find a suitable way to represent some phonemes. The main concern in the transliteration process is to have an easy to reach system for typing with ease. In Ayvarith transliteration, for example, I had to change the system several times to make some easiness in the process - yet, it was not completely easy at the end. Ayvarith's transliteration system contained some Icelandic letters and a bunch from other languages. This type of system dragged my speed down in typing and I had to keep the Charmap application open all the time or make some short cuts when using Microsoft Word or any software like that. Anyway, I think I can't avoid this hassle. It's a must, specially with a conlang like Geltani with a widely varied phonetic system, merging the eastern and western realms of the real world into a fictional world.

One of the things that I've planned already for the process of the transliteration process is the use of a dot (.) to separate syllables within a single word. In other words, it acts as a glottal stop (just like the Arabic Hamza [ء]) and this is essential as I find it hard to compose diphthongs where two syllables merge (not all the time). This change makes me think of adjusting the punctuation marks as well and replace the dot (as a full-stop marker) with something else - and probably replace that something else with something else! It's a mess at the current time but hopefully it will sort out smoothly, soon.

Finale

I'm still reading my old book (again) and what I thought it would be a random reading, turned out to be a systematic reading all over again from cover to cover. It does feel indeed as if the book is new to me and I'm reading it for the first time. I'm trying to rejuvenate all these feelings and the meditative quality while I work with my camera via reading books like The Practice of Contemplative Photography. It is indeed hard as well to try to read and implement such qualities and such meditative practices while, on the other hand, so much life events and problems taking over your thoughts and power, like allergies and car problems and, taking care of the family. It does sound as an escape from stress, and to escape, you'd have to break the stress in the first place!
This is said, I'm waiting for the start of my vacation next Saturday, which seems it won't be a vacation as it is supposed to be with all these problems right now, beside taking care of Mom of course. Maybe, just maybe, I would have the time to relax, sleep more, do more photography and even visit Failaka island. I didn't visit the island at all this year. With such car problems I'm not sure I will be able to visit it. They say problems and hurdles in life helps you grow up and be stronger, but no one said it is an infinite uptake.