Catlang: Expansion notes for Version 0.001

Topicals/Exclamations.  Catlang’s working vocabulary is mostly variants of [m][e][w] and [r][o][w], however there are certain words that do not fall in the general phonetic pattern. These are, chatter (introducing discussions about food), purr (introducing discussions about socializing), hiss (introduction to discussions about great danger, also a prelude to insults).  It is grammatically and semantically incorrect to switch topics until either a period of silence or a new topicalizer has been introduced.  Words may completely change their meaning based on the topicalizer, so “meow” in one context might mean catlang, while in the context of a hiss, it means “stinky” or “grimy” a dire cat insult.

Signs.  Tail signs are important for standing speech, but when sitting, in catlang, cats still talk and switch to using words and grammar to express what they’d express with their tails. In standing catlang, honorifics may be dropped in favor of the corresponding tail waves.  Humans speaking catlang have no choice but to vocalize the honorifics or wave one’s arm around in the suitable approximation of a tail wave.  Tail waves without vocalizations generally have the same semantic content as with vocalizations.

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