OGTRTA v0.4

(working draft)

OGTRTA (the One Grammar To Rule Them All) is a template for making constructed languages. The idea is that with a short wordlist and a few decisions about grammar, you can create a fully-functioning, self-consistent, complete, and unique conlang, suitable for further elaboration.

I created OGTRTA for my own use, because I suck at finishing conlang grammars. I wanted a way to create a conlang that was "complete" (if short on vocabulary) in a few minutes, so that most of the remaining work would be crafting the lexicon and tweaking the morphology.¹ Essentially, I wanted the walking skeleton pattern, but for conlangs instead of computer programs.

However, in order to arrive at a system that would work, the way I had to develop OGTRTA was to create several actual (half-finished) conlangs, peruse grammars of natural languages, and then figure out what framework could produce them all. OGTRTA is not some pie-in-the-sky idea I dreamed up. It's derived from observations of actual languages both natural and artificial.

In creating OGTRTA, I had to strike a balance between a maximally-comprehensible system and a maximally-flexible one. As a result, OGTRTA is not right for every language. For example, if you want a language with very free word order, tons of noun classes, and head-marking, OGTRTA is probably not a good choice — but then again, you don't need OGTRTA for a language like that, because the main problem OGTRTA solves is syntax. On the other hand, if you want a language with fairly fixed word order, which is either consistently head-initial or consistently head-final, OGTRTA might work well for you.

OGTRTA strives to be formal and logically consistent. As you peruse the list of naturalistic extensions, many of which hack around OGTRTA's underlying formality, you might wonder what the point of this formality is. If you want a naturalistic conlang, wouldn't it be better to start from something closer to traditional grammar?

The problem with informal rules is, they don't generalize. If you start from an informal foundation, your grammar will be riddled with exceptions and special cases, and it will very hard to know when you're "done," or whether the language you've described is actually the one you want. The purpose of OGTRTA's formality is not to restrict you. Rather, it is meant to give you confidence in the consistency of your results, and thus more freedom to make your language how you want it.

OGTRTA comprises two parts: a syntax, and a skeletal lexicon with about 100 morphemes. This document describes both parts, beginning with the syntax.