Conlang Showcase -- The Secret Handshake

[@AgmaSchwa]

UPDATES: So there have actually been two updates to Secret Handshake since this video; this is the only alteration of existing content from what you see in this video, though. After talking with many people we decided that a negation particle conducted with the swipe of the hand across a surface, written as "#" (with no number attached to it), would make for the most efficient learning process. So, with the limited amount of possible words available, I decided to turn these newly-available patterns into genitive/dative pronouns. Other than that, everything in this showcase is accurate. (I might pin an explanation of this in the comments for those who are interested) Also, some entirely new content introduced is the "knock", written as "/0," which alters proximity and emphasis. You can see those on the document, too. It doesn't outdate any of the content in this video, though. When I have some time, I'll be making some "Secret Handshake 101" shorts that will explain everything piece by piece. For now, the Spreadsheet on nguh.org does a pretty good job explaining it.

[@ConnorQuimby]

you’re going to have your linguistics licence revoked for “fingeme”

[@kidyomu89]

ʩeme

[@wigwagstudios2474]

wave your fingersfhl;'kh; 'fghput ]jgh ":P{JtyurP{ :RTJHuk

[@the_linguist_ll]

I'd like to point out that Amazon listings for conlang related stuff is filled with those stupid "conlang journals" which are literally just blank notebooks with conlang slapped on the cover in an attempt to sell conlangers regular notebooks at a marked up price. Most are autogenerated by those t-shirt companies.

[@the_linguist_ll]

Though the auto-generated robot title of "Don't waste your time on therapy, waste it on conlang" got a laugh out of me

[@AgmaSchwa]

👀👀👀👀 thats wild

[@mimikal7548]

For such practical minilangs I think having a universal negation particle is important instead of having negative versions.

[@lilyofluck371]

I agree. I feel no/yes are more important imo

[@TheoEvian]

I personally would use reduplication for plural and the plural word for negative, it could work pretty well as a completely analytic language, imho.

[@AgmaSchwa]

It has been done, lol

[@mbg8733]

You invented a tactile sign conlang. Now deafblind people can enjoy ŋə. Also, because of the variety of letters, with about the same fingemes, you could make a relex of toki pona.

[@AgmaSchwa]

someone's actually already started making a toki pona - secret handshake relex! I'll show it off if they ever finish it.

[@killianobrien2007]

@@AgmaSchwa mi toki pona la mi sona ala e ni

[@Mrmoocows99]

I have never heard of conlangs, but have tried learning multiple languages, and am currently learning my second, and this is honestly so easy to learn, that in less than 10 minutes in I was forming my own sentences that were grammatically correct. With in like 4 or 5 watches over a week or so I am sure I could have this down, and properly start to articulate feelings and shit. This is fantastic, well done on how easy this is to digest.

[@Dolph1nVR]

A conlang is a constructed language

[@evfnyemisx2121]

That sounds like a really interesting on a variation of a non-verbal language, I might try something similar as well Ok here comes semi-verbal language made only with click sounds

[@sal6695]

Hey i know you!

[@novaace2474]

I use a method of clicks to talk with my dogs, and I’ve been thinking of turning it into a full company for a while

[@brongulus2617]

In principle this is a fantastic idea - and I say this as a slightly envious former conlanger - with the potential to be actually adoptable by interested nerds, at least at first, and later who knows. That said, looking at the lexicon, I'm not certain that this is quite ready for prime time... but it's a strong Version 1.0 of a good idea and I hope you continue to improve it.

[@AgmaSchwa]

Thanks! I agree; I've never made a language with such a limited range of vocabulary, so I'm open to change it and optimize it as time goes on. It is primarily for side conversations and supplemental communication, so thats why the vocab looks the way it does as of right now.

[@TheTwel]

Not sure if anyone has said this yet but there is a form of sign language used for deaf/blind people that is done in a similar fashion. It uses asl signs but they are done in a persons hand much the same way you're describing. Not sure if it would be fair to compare though as what you're describing involves new patterns and the existing tactile sign language I'm describing uses existing asl signs. Thought you might find it interesting at the very least.

[@kidyomu89]

Thank you so much ŋə, now i can conspire publicly with my evil friends

[@CountObvious]

Solresol has a tactile version where you tap someone's hands in 7 specific places. The inventor used it to impress people with his ability to communicate "telepathically" to his assistant just by holding their hand

[@mmcworldbuilding5994]

/1 //12 /345/1 this is one of the best videos ive watched its so good I love the language, and i love the example text at the end so creative and brilliant (and for some reason your nguhy music always gets stuck in my head too LMAO)

[@gaxamillion_]

He’s managed to outdo Gumsmaq. we should all be scared

[@LoganKearsley]

Gripping: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqWyZqqJoraNmqc Backtile: docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1jDoZRAFfVxLohOCqfiyWUqad_jZmCy2sn7KsE07UGpc/mobilebasic

[@AgmaSchwa]

👀👀I'll have to check these out

[@GG69BLIN]

This month I made a sign language alphabet which you can use with your hands and arms. The vowels you make only with your hands. Today I also created a alphabet based on featured alphabet and IPA. So for example, you have a plosive, that becomes a circle, a bilabial becomes a little v-shape. So a P is then a O with a v under it. Because a B is also a bilab. plos., the B gets an extra dot , so ʘ̬

[@WarrenPostma]

IPA beer?

[@Garomation]

Please do more videos teaching this language, How do you distinguish between "boredom" //345/5 and "they go left" /345 /345/5.

[@AgmaSchwa]

I plan on it! Also I'm making a course on Memrise for it right now. and in your example, //345/5 is two eight notes and a quarter note, while /345 /345/5 is three quarter notes.

[@nameless4637]

Very creative, not meny people make a sign conlang

[@haydend.maniac227]

I feel disturbed for horrors await *looks over that the giant future insects

[@babelingua]

I'm super excited for this!

[@pianogang2273]

👍✊🙌🤙🤞🖖☝️

[@benst6246]

How would you explain the grammar of The Secret Handshake in the Secret Handshake?

[@masicbemester]

Secret handshake language? Sounds promising.

[@Pagan_0210]

I was recently thinking about a conlang for a sci-fi post-post-apocalyptic setting where people used to use some sort of speech synthesizers with buttons and were so used to them that after the technology was gone they kept muscle memory for pressing the buttons on the synthesizers and started using those finger movements for communication, which became a universal form of communication in the new world that was passed down over generations. Not something I think I could actually ever make but I think it's funny I accidentally found this video like 2 days after coming up with that concept

[@little-wytch]

I had to bookmark this to really study later because I'm only about 3 mins in and already my mind is blown lol. but it's 0430 and I need to crash hard lol. I agree with another comment though, having a negation particle would probably be a lot easier and free up a number of those 242 possible words to be other words. In fact, you could maybe set aside a set of double taps to be used just for various particles which could allow the language to be a bit more complex. Not only that, but this sort of language could be very useful for people with various disabilities too. A blind person could learn the tactile side of it, and a deaf person could learn both the tactile and visual side of it as a replacement or supplement to sign language, especially if they for whatever reason have only one useable hand. The hardest part for me tho will be that I don't have great fine motor skills and I'm not a musician, I've got almost no sense of rhythm lol.

[@AgmaSchwa]

Glad you like it and see its potential uses! I actually have added several elements to it since this video, including the "swipe" as a negation particle, written just as an individual slash "/". Also there are now "knocks" written as /0, //0, /0/0 which are grammatical particles that operates as "this" "that," etc. You can read the full documentation on nguh.org/languages/secret-handshake, and I'm probably going to start a series of KZbin Shorts called "Secret Handshake 101" soon!

[@little-wytch]

​@@AgmaSchwa *head desks* why shorts? those are an abomination and their continued existence makes me hate YT a little more each day, especially since they are almost always in those vomit-inducing vertical formats. YT needs to stop trying to be crap-tok lol. PLEASE, for the love of Cthulu, not shorts lol.

[@livedandletdie]

I must say, it's a very inventive and interesting language. And /2 /4 //1/2

[@salumtheconlang2953]

Now we can Shakespear on our own hands

[@michaeldaconceicao1041]

Really neat . Awesome job !!!

[@ZetaPrime77]

This kinda reminds me of Chirolinguistics from the IDW Transformers comics

[@Amoritaz]

Any thoughts about how this would perfect for being “spoken” with pentatonic music?

[@AgmaSchwa]

this is a fascinating concept, it would probably be pretty cool, just a bunch of tones and chords with simple rhythyms

[@carb_8781]

this is so cool and ingenious!

[@LiamLimeLarm]

is anyone gonna talk about the lapis lazuli body pillow or...

[@aliceh5289]

I swear I've seen something like this years ago in a Ted talk or something

[@sevenrps]

I'm pretty sure that solresol can function similair to this

[@vomitingcat]

tf2 taunt conlang

[@janmusi]

note: //24/5 is both "agree" and "cold"

[@janmusi]

im going to adapt this to toki pona

[@alexfischer9213]

How do you play a 2 5 1 with your 1/2/3/4/&5 in the 1st person?

[@moonythespoonie9551]

6:57 - could you clear up that ambiguity by using, say, a full-hand tap or squeeze as a placeholder?

[@AgmaSchwa]

Yeah, whatever is most convenient to discern a "space!" Also, I've been experimenting with the "knock", I was thinking of making some shorts explaining some new elements of Secret Handshake. In the meantime I've got the rules written out on nguh.org on the SH page.

[@sethcarractuallygoesbylewisnow]

fiŋemes

[@LinguaPhiliax]

I have just one complaint: ^ahem^ " *_dactyleme_* "

[@AgmaSchwa]

and its counterpart, the mighty Allodactyl

[@LinguaPhiliax]

​@@AgmaSchwa A combination of fingers in variation with a different underlying combination? Or a metathesising of the tapping order?

[@janhokas8482]

Is it available for feet?

[@drivinmecoco1]

curious if it's actually easy to understand if smn was taping it on u. have u tried?🤔

[@mmtophat.]

/24/2 👍

[@GG69BLIN]

❤️❤️❤️

[@aimfulRenegade]

where is the lexicon?

[@gronkmanyee]

Piano regional dialect?

[@WilliametcCook]

_dacteme._

[@robdoghd]

😭❤️ fingemes

[@kidyomu89]

IN WHAT LANGUAGE DOES FINGEMES MEAN PRETEND KZbin please tell me

[@robdoghd]

@@kidyomu89 "fingeme" /'fiŋ,xe.me/ means kinda like "pretend to me" in spanish 🤔🤔

[@andrewpinedo1883]

Why are all of the entries for anti-pronouns in the Google Sheets dictionary not correct? According to that dictionary, /1/1 is 'mine', /12/12 is 'ours'. Why is this?

[@AgmaSchwa]

So there have actually been two updates to Secret Handshake since this video; this is the only alteration of existing content from what you see in this video, though. After talking with many people we decided that a negation particle conducted with the swipe of the hand across a surface, written as "#" (with no number attached to it), would make for the most efficient learning process. So, with the limited amount of possible words available, I decided to turn these newly-available patterns into genitive/dative pronouns. Other than that, everything in this showcase is accurate. (I might pin an explanation of this in the comments for those who are interested) Also, some entirely new content introduced is the "knock", written as "/0," which alters proximity and emphasis. You can see those on the document, too. It doesn't outdate any of the content in this video, though.

[@andrewpinedo1883]

@@AgmaSchwa Okay, that clears things up.

[@sby60118]

19:47

[@livedandletdie]

A language without the word no... Alexa play Careless Whispers by George Michael.

[@AgmaSchwa]

by popular demand I have added a colloquial hand swipe denoted by / that can operate as a “no” independent from the 3-position structure. But in normal SH speech, this is true🙌🙌🙌

[@sebbog]

sign languages exist

[@janmusi]

helen keller language

[@cameios]

kid named finger…

[@ianwirtanen7477]

Helen Keller

[@watching7650]

It's already got invented tens of thousands years ago and constantly gets reinvented as need arises. Only, all thses sign systems are of course not identical to yours. Also, they are not classified as conlangs but sign languages.