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Arcadia

Arcadia is a highly expressive conlang built on consistency and clarity, eliminating exceptions entirely.

Its innovative grammar and syntax, coupled with extreme expressiveness and precision, make the learning curve steep. However, because Arcadia is logical and predictable, with a simple orthography and phonology, a small vocabulary that expands through prefixes, mastery becomes easier once the fundamentals are learned.

How to Use This Guide

To gain a foundational understanding of Arcadia's syntax, follow this sequence:

  1. Read the Verbs Guide.
  2. Review the Nouns Guide.
  3. Explore the Articles Guide.

The Vocabulary Guide serves as a reference, but all other sections should be read in order as they appear in the navigation.

Syntax

Arcadia's syntax is designed to be intuitive and flexible. Its standard word order is Verb-Subject-Object (VSO), emphasizing action over actor. However, as a pro-drop language with case markings, word order may shift for emphasis.

Arcadia follows the Austronesian alignment, but not purely; it incorporates elements from other alignment systems as well.

Understanding Syntax through Diagrams

Traditional nominative-accusative languages follow an asymmetric structure. In active voice, the subject is the main actor, the verb conveys action, the direct object receives the action, and the indirect object is the recipient.

graph LR
  A([**Subject**<br/>_John_]) --> B@{ shape: circle, label: "**Action**<br/>_gives_" }
  subgraph objects
    direction TB
    C([**Direct Object**<br/>_the ball_]) --> D([**Indirect Object**<br/>_to Mary_])
  end
  B --> objects

In passive voice, the direct object can be promoted, but the syntax undergoes major changes:

graph LR
  A([**Subject**<br/>_The ball_]) --> B@{ shape: circle, label: "**Action**<br/>_is given_" }
  subgraph recipients
    direction TB
    C([**Agent**<br/>_by John_]) --> D([**Indirect Object**<br/>_to Mary_])
  end
  B --> recipients

Arcadia's Symmetric Syntax

Arcadia's syntax is symmetric, inspired by the Austronesian alignment.

graph LR
  B@{ shape: circle, label: "**Action**<br/>_gives_" }
  subgraph participants
    direction TB
    A([**Actor**<br/>_John_])
    C([**Patient**<br/>_the ball_])
    D([**Recipient**<br/>_to Mary_])
  end
  B --> A
  B --> C
  B --> D

The actor, patient, and recipient can all act as the focus.

Recipient

The recipient here refers to the receiver of the patient, not the action itself.

To fully understand Arcadia's case system, refer to the Noun Cases Guide. For verb transformations, see the Verb Generation Guide.

Subclauses

Arcadia allows an infinite number of nested subclauses, enabling highly expressive ideas.

  • Subclauses use the indicative mood, meaning they retain their own subjects.
  • Tense is always relative to the narrator's perspective, ensuring seamless narrative progression.

Development Roadmap: Arcádia

This roadmap outlines the major structural and functional goals for Arcádia, moving from the initial design concept to a fully usable language ready for community adoption and formal analysis.

Version Focus Core Goals Status
v0.2 Lexicon & Aesthetic Freeze Vocabulary Finalization: Translate sufficient passages to stress-test the current word choices, cementing the language's aesthetic (e.g., as an Eclectic IE Synthesis). Phonotactic Stabilization: Finalize the rules for sound combinations and acceptable word forms, including rules for clitics/prepositions. In Progress
v0.3 Structural Foundation Freeze Morphology & Grammar Definition: Finalize all inflectional and derivational rules (parts of speech, noun cases, verb tenses/aspects). Syntax Formalization: Define unambiguous rules for sentence structure, including the core principles for generating the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) of any Arcádian sentence. Planned
v1.0 Functional Usability Release Completion: Finalize all remaining moving parts and edge-case rules. Usability: The language is fully documented, consistent, and functionally usable for complex communication. Pronunciation Guidance: Begin gathering speaker input to refine pronunciation and suggest finishing touches. Planned
v2.0 Formal Analysis & Tooling Parser Development: The grammar is precise enough to allow for the creation of a formal language parser (based on the v0.3 AST). Allophony: Document the observed, natural allophonic variations and pronunciation accents adopted by the speaking community. Planned