Chapter 0
Origins & Lore
MIN-0 is the third constructed language in this series. Unlike purely human conlangs, MIN-0 emerged from first contact: an accidental sentient species came into existence after Zack's arrival on a distant planet during an interstellar mission. Drawing on his speech and context — and being partially mechatronical in nature — the species developed a hybrid communication system that blends human alphabets and sounds with digital numeric values.
The result is an alphanumeric language where every valid code (a combination of letters and digits) maps to a meaningful unit of communication. This gives MIN-0 a unique dual character: it reads like a cipher to outsiders, yet operates with the full expressive range of a natural language.
0.1 Code Length & Structure
Codes in MIN-0 are bounded by a length constraint of 6–8 characters. Neither pure letter nor pure number components may exceed 4 characters each.
0.2 Language Scope
MIN-0 covers all grammatical categories needed for full-sentence communication:
- Greetings & Salutations
- Nouns (context-based encoding)
- Prepositions
- Adjectives (intensity gradients)
- Verbs (intensity gradients)
- Pronouns: Personal, Possessive, Object, Demonstrative, Reflexive & Reciprocal
- Adverbs
- Quantitative Descriptors
- Quantifiers
- Interrogatives
- Time/Place Descriptors
- Negators
- Tense (80+ forms)
- Degrees of Comparison
- Imperatives
- Punctuation
Chapter 1
Code Architecture
1.1 Verb Syntax
The lowercase + uppercase letters identify the verb; the digit is the base intensity code. Tense and aspect are appended as decimal suffixes. Maximum registerable verbs: 26 × 26 × 10 = 6,760 (currently ~3,337 registered).
1.2 Adjective Syntax
The case reversal (uppercase-first vs. lowercase-first) ensures verb and adjective codes can never collide. Maximum: 6,760 (currently ~1,838 registered).
1.3 Code Pattern Summary
| Category | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | [lower][UPPER][digit] | wB6 |
| Adjective | [UPPER][lower][digit] | Bm1 |
| Adverb | /adjective_code/ | /Bm1/ |
| Noun | (encoded_string) | (wkx) |
| Proper Noun | [encoded_string] | [mujk] |
| Number | {encoded_string} | {uvxy} |
| Pronoun | Letter + digit | I1, U2, H3 |
| Prefixed verb | char + verb_code | mlC4 |
Chapter 2
Greetings & Salutations
2.1 Fixed Expressions
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| Thank you | tD5U3 |
| You're welcome / Always welcome | U1wD7 |
2.2 Hello / Hi / Hey / What's up
All informal greetings map to one code:
..2.3 Bye / Farewell
All goodbye expressions map to:
Chapter 3
Pronouns
3.1 Personal Pronouns
| I | You | He | She | They | We | It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I1 | U1 | H1 | S1 | T1 | V1 | i1 |
3.2 Possessive Pronouns
| My | Your | His | Her | Their | Our | Its |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2 | U2 | H2 | S2 | T2 | V2 | i2 |
|i1bC90(pen)<->[Max]|3.3 Object Pronouns
| Me | You | Him | Her | Them | Us | It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I3 | U3 | H3 | S3 | T3 | V3 | i3 |
3.4 Demonstrative Pronouns
| This | These | That | Those |
|---|---|---|---|
| T11 | T12 | T21 | T22 |
3.5 Reflexive Pronouns
| Myself | Yourself | Himself | Herself | Themselves | Ourselves | Itself | Oneself |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I0 | U0 | H0 | S0 | T0 | V0 | i0 | O0 |
3.6 Reciprocal Pronouns
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| Each other | e0 |
| One another | 1o |
Chapter 4
Nouns
4.1 Encoding Algorithm
Common nouns are encoded through a 6-step transformation of the English spelling:
| Step | Operation |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Increment each letter by 13 positions (A→N, etc.) |
| Step 2 | Right-shift all letter positions by 1 place |
| Step 3 | Increment each letter by 14 positions |
| Step 4 | Left-shift all letter positions by 19 places |
| Step 5 | Increment each letter by 9 positions |
| Step 6 | Enclose result in parentheses: (result) |
4.2 Articles
| Article | Encoding |
|---|---|
| Definite: the | Add prefix t → (t-encoded_noun) |
| Indefinite: a / an | Add prefix a → (a-encoded_noun) |
| No article | No prefix, just (encoded_noun) |
4.3 Adjective–Noun Word Order
When an adjective modifies an article-noun phrase, the article-noun is written first, followed by the adjective(s). This reverses the typical English adjective-before-noun order.
|(t-process)bC90Sk7|4.4 Proper Nouns
Proper nouns use the same encoding as common nouns but are enclosed in square brackets [ ]:
4.5 Compound Nouns
Hyphenated compound nouns (e.g. fire-fighter) are merged into one word before encoding:
4.6 Noun + Number Compounds
If a noun is paired with a number (e.g. MIN-0, Cloud9), each part is encoded separately inside proper-noun brackets:
4.7 Colours as Nouns
Chapter 5
Verbs & The Tense System
5.1 Base Verb Syntax
5.2 Verb Prefixes
Eight common English verb prefixes map to single-character prepend codes:
| Prefix | Char | Example |
|---|---|---|
| mis- | m | mislead → dis+lead(lC4) → mlC4 |
| dis- | t | disappear → dis+appear(aN0) → taN0 |
| over- | o | overestimate → over+estimate(eL8) → oeL8 |
| re- | r | redo → re+do(dR2) → rdR2 |
| pre- | p | pretrain → pre+train(tI7) → ptI7 |
| un- | u | uncover → un+cover(cW9) → ucW9 |
| under- | d | underestimate → under+estimate(eL8) → deL8 |
| out- | a | outshine → out+shine(sP0) → asP0 |
5.3 Tense Number System
Tense and aspect are encoded as a decimal suffix appended to the base verb code:
The complete tense table:
| Group | Tense / Aspect | Code | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRESENT | Simple Present | 0 | pM50 | I play |
| Present Continuous | 0.1 | pM50.1 | I am playing | |
| Present Perfect | 0.2 | pM50.2 | I have played | |
| Present Perfect Continuous | 0.3 | pM50.3 | I have been playing | |
| PRESENT PASSIVE | Simple Present Passive | 0.4 | pM50.4 | It is played |
| Present Continuous Passive | 0.5 | pM50.5 | It is being played | |
| Present Perfect Passive | 0.6 | pM50.6 | It has been played | |
| PAST | Simple Past | 1.0 | pM51.0 | I played |
| Past Continuous | 1.1 | pM51.1 | I was playing | |
| Past Perfect | 1.2 | pM51.2 | I had played | |
| Past Perfect Continuous | 1.3 | pM51.3 | I had been playing | |
| PAST PASSIVE | Simple Past Passive | 1.4 | pM51.4 | It was played |
| Past Continuous Passive | 1.5 | pM51.5 | It was being played | |
| Past Perfect Passive | 1.6 | pM51.6 | It had been played | |
| FUTURE | Simple Future | 2.0 | pM52.0 | I will play |
| Future Continuous | 2.1 | pM52.1 | I will be playing | |
| Future Perfect | 2.2 | pM52.2 | I will have played | |
| Future Perfect Continuous | 2.3 | pM52.3 | I will have been playing | |
| FUTURE PASSIVE | Simple Future Passive | 2.4 | pM52.4 | It will be played |
| Future Perfect Passive | 2.5 | pM52.5 | It will have been played | |
| SHOULD | Simple Should | 3.0 | pM53.0 | I should play |
| Should Continuous | 3.1 | pM53.1 | I should be playing | |
| Should Perfect | 3.2 | pM53.2 | I should have played | |
| Should Perfect Continuous | 3.3 | pM53.3 | I should have been playing | |
| SHOULD PASSIVE | Simple Should Passive | 3.4 | pM53.4 | It should be played |
| Should Perfect Passive | 3.6 | pM53.6 | It should have been played | |
| SHALL | Simple Shall | 4.0 | pM54.0 | I shall play |
| Shall Continuous | 4.1 | pM54.1 | I shall be playing | |
| Shall Perfect | 4.2 | pM54.2 | I shall have played | |
| SHALL PASSIVE | Simple Shall Passive | 4.4 | pM54.4 | It shall be played |
| MUST | Simple Must | 5.0 | pM55.0 | I must play |
| Must Continuous | 5.1 | pM55.1 | I must be playing | |
| Must Perfect | 5.2 | pM55.2 | I must have played | |
| Had to | 5.4 | kC85.4H3 | I had to kill him | |
| Will have to | 5.5 | sO95.5U3 | I will have to stop you | |
| MUST PASSIVE | Simple Must Passive | 5.6 | pM55.6 | It must be played |
| WOULD | Simple Would | 6.0 | pM56.0 | I would play |
| Would Continuous | 6.1 | pM56.1 | I would be playing | |
| Would Perfect | 6.2 | pM56.2 | I would have played | |
| WOULD PASSIVE | Simple Would Passive | 6.4 | pM56.4 | It would be played |
| COULD | Simple Could | 7.0 | pM57.0 | I could play |
| Could Continuous | 7.1 | pM57.1 | I could be playing | |
| Could Perfect | 7.2 | pM57.2 | I could have played | |
| COULD PASSIVE | Could Passive | 7.4 | pM57.4 | It could be played |
| Can Passive | 7.7 | pM57.7 | It can be played | |
| MAY | Simple May | 8.0 | pM58.0 | I may play |
| May Continuous | 8.1 | pM58.1 | I may be playing | |
| May Perfect | 8.2 | pM58.2 | I may have played | |
| MAY PASSIVE | Simple May Passive | 8.4 | pM58.4 | It may be played |
| CAN | Can | 8.9 | pM58.9 | I can play |
| MIGHT | Simple Might | 9.0 | pM59.0 | I might play |
| Might Continuous | 9.1 | pM59.1 | I might be playing | |
| Might Perfect | 9.2 | pM59.2 | I might have played | |
| MIGHT PASSIVE | Simple Might Passive | 9.4 | pM59.4 | It might be played |
5.4 Infinitive Form
When a verb appears after 'to' (infinitive), write just the base verb code with no tense number.
5.5 'To Keep / Continue' verb-ing (codes 0.9, 1.7–2.8, etc.)
For 'to keep doing' structures, append the keep-code to the main action verb:
| Structure | Code |
|---|---|
| To keep/continue verb-ing | 0.9 |
| To have kept verb-ing | 1.9 |
| To will keep verb-ing | 2.7 |
| To should keep verb-ing | 3.7 |
| To could keep verb-ing | 7.8 |
| To might keep verb-ing | 9.7 |
| To may keep verb-ing | 8.7 |
| To would keep verb-ing | 6.7 |
| To must keep verb-ing | 5.9 |
| To shall keep verb-ing | 4.7 |
5.6 'Used to' (code 1.88)
5.7 'Can' & 'To Be Able to'
Both 'I can…' and 'I am able to…' share tense code 8.9:
5.8 Passive Infinitives
| Type | Code | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple passive infinitive (to be done) | 0.7 | this needs to be done → |T11nB70dR20.7| |
| Continuous passive infinitive | 9.9 | this needs to be being done → |T11nB70dR29.9| |
| Perfect passive infinitive (to have been done) | 0.8 | it was expected to have been finished → |i1eP11.4fF00.8| |
Chapter 6
Adjectives & Degrees of Comparison
6.1 Base Adjective Syntax
6.2 Degrees of Comparison
| Degree | Suffix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive (base) | – | beautiful → Bm1 |
| Comparative | +1 | more beautiful → Bm11 |
| Superlative | +2 | most beautiful → Bm12 |
6.3 Participial Adjectives
If an adjective derives from a verb (present/past participle), first check the adjective dictionary. If not found:
| Type | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present participle (-ing) | Append tense code 0.1 | exciting (from excite eN5) → eN50.1 |
| Past participle (-ed) | Append tense code 0.4 | excited → eN50.4 |
6.4 Compound / Hyphenated Adjectives
| Compound | Analysis | Encoding |
|---|---|---|
| big-time | big (adj) + time (noun) | Ba0(time) |
| world-famous | world (noun) + famous (adj) | (world)Fa5 |
| overestimated | over(o) + estimate(eL8) + past participle | oeL80.4 |
Chapter 7
Adverbs
7.1 Standard Adverbs
Adverbs are formed by enclosing any adjective code in forward-slashes:
7.2 Hard-coded Absolute Adverbs
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| nevertheless | /JML/ |
| nonetheless | /nL/ |
| regardless | /rPL/ |
| anyway / anyways | /DTF/ |
| maybe | /bC98/ |
| really | /Ra0/ |
| specially / especially | /Sj9/ |
| very | /lt/ |
| indeed | /id/ |
| in fact | /if/ |
| of course | /oc/ |
| likewise | /lv/ |
| instead | /ns/ |
| quite | /q/ |
| ago | /</ |
| somehow | /mh/ |
| whatsoever | /we/ |
| anymore | /nm/ |
| rather | /rd/ |
| as well as | /zv/ |
Chapter 8
Prepositions
MIN-0 represents prepositions with symbolic characters to keep codes compact:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| /o/ | under / beneath |
| ↥ | above |
| ↧ | underneath |
| + | in |
| o/ | on |
| 𝝝 | around |
| │O│ | between |
| (O) | among |
| │-> | from |
| ->│ | to |
| <-> | of |
| ! | at |
| = | along |
| ≠ | across |
| * | with |
| ∞ | beyond |
| ~/ | over |
| -) | through |
| -)− | throughout |
| O- | beside / besides |
| -O | alongside |
| -( | behind |
| -> | after |
| () | about |
| <- | before |
| O-> | by |
| O-O | during |
| /! | for |
| o│o | near |
| +/ | out |
| !-> | since |
| ->! | until / till |
| */ | without |
| (*) | within |
| !/ | in front of |
| O<- | into |
| ->O | onto |
| >< | against |
| & | and |
| /~/ | or |
| \~\ | nor |
Chapter 9
Conjunctions & Connectors
Conjunctions are written as (symbol):
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| (c) | because |
| (y) | yet |
| (!) | still |
| (-) | so |
| (t) | then |
| (?) | but |
| (d) | though |
| (ld) | although |
| (ed) | even though |
| (I) | if / whether |
| (E/) | either |
| (N/) | neither |
| (ha) | however |
| (th) | thus |
| (hn) | hence |
| (tf) | therefore |
| (z) | as |
| (l) | like |
| (vh) | while |
| (vz) | whereas |
| (al) | unless |
| (st) | so that |
| (2) | too / as well |
| (as) | also |
| (e) | even |
| (dn) | than |
| (dp) | despite |
| (ip) | in spite |
Chapter 10
Interrogatives
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| What | ?n |
| Why | ?r |
| Where | ?l |
| When | ?t |
| How | ?w |
| Who | ?p |
| Whose | ?pn |
| Whom | ?pp |
| Which | ?c |
| How come? | ?wc |
| Whatever | ?dc |
| Whichever | ?cd |
| Whoever | ?dp |
| Whenever | ?dt |
| Wherever | ?dl |
| How much? | ?wmc |
| How many? | ?wme |
Chapter 11
Quantifiers, Intensifiers & Descriptors
11.1 Quantifiers
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| All | ol |
| Some | sm |
| Someone | s1 |
| Something | st |
| Any | ne |
| Anyone | ne1 |
| Anything | at |
| None | nn |
| No-one / Nobody | n1 |
| Nothing | nt |
| Each | ec |
| Every | er |
| Everyone | er1 |
| A lot of | lt |
| Plenty | pt |
| Numerous | nr |
| Few | fv |
| Several | sv |
| Much | mc |
| Most | ms |
| Almost | am |
11.2 Intensifiers
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| So | S |
| Too | T |
| Enough | E |
| Very | V |
| Extra | X |
11.3 Time & Place Descriptors
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| now | NV |
| right now | RN |
| here | HR |
| there | TR |
| often | OF |
| sometimes | ST |
| always | AV |
| everytime | ET |
| never | JM |
| already | AR |
| soon | SN |
| later | LT |
| ever | EV |
| afterwards | AW |
| eventually | EU |
| usually | UZ |
| again | AG |
| everywhere | EW |
| somewhere | SW |
| nowhere | NW |
| back | BK |
| away | AY |
| inside | IS |
| outside | OS |
| up | U |
| down | DN |
| below | BL |
| right | RT |
| left | LF |
| straight | SA |
| today | TD |
| tomorrow | TM |
| yesterday | YD |
Chapter 12
Quantitative Descriptors (Numbers)
12.1 Written Numbers
Apply the same 6-step noun encoding to written numbers (one, two, three…).
12.2 Numeric Values (1, 2, 3…)
| Step | Operation |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Map each digit to its letter: 1=a, 2=b, … 9=i, 0=j |
| Step 2 | Increment each letter by 1 (a→b) |
| Step 3 | Decrement each letter by 2 (b→z) |
| Step 4 | Increment each letter by 5 (z→e) |
| Step 5 | Decrement each letter by 12 (e→s) |
| Step 6 | Enclose in curly braces: {result} |
12.3 Ordinal Numbers
12.4 Multiplicative Descriptors
12.5 Iterative Numerals
Chapter 13
Sentence Structure Rules
13.1 Sentence Boundaries
Every complete sentence is enclosed in pipe characters:
13.2 Comma
13.3 Adverb Position
13.4 'Just' Interpretation
| Pattern | Treatment | Example |
|---|---|---|
| subject + just + verb (present) | Treat as 'simply' | I just think that → I simply think that |
| subject + just + past verb | Treat as 'right now' (RN) | I just came here → |I1cL41.0HRRN| |
13.5 'Supposed to'
In 'to be supposed to', 'supposed' is a past-participle adjective. Conjugate only 'to be' per pronoun.
13.6 'Ain't'
| Ain't sentence | Interpretation | Standard form |
|---|---|---|
| I ain't doing it | be + not | I am not doing it |
| I ain't done anything | have + not | I haven't done anything |
| He ain't do that | do + not | He didn't do that |
Chapter 14
Punctuation Rules
| Mark | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Full Stop | | … | | Sentence enclosed in pipes |
| Comma | .. | clause1..clause2 |
| Semi-colon | _ | clause1_clause2 |
| Colon | __ | statement__explanation |
| Exclamation | O … O | OmessageO |
| Question | ? … ? | ?messagecontents? |
| Quotation | # … # or << … >> | #|statement|# or #?question?# |
| Request | / … \ | /verb content\ |
14.1 Quotation — Special Types Inside Quotes
Chapter 15
Negation
15.1 Basic Rule
Add ~ immediately before the first verb in the sentence:
15.2 Contraction Equivalents
All contractions are encoded identically to their full forms (won't = will not, can't = cannot, etc.).
Chapter 16
Imperative Sentences
16.1 Commands / Orders
Start directly with the verb code, no subject, no tense number, enclosed in |…|:
16.2 Requests (Please…)
Enclosed between / and \. No tense number on the verb:
Chapter 17
Interrogative Sentences & Question Tags
17.1 Questions with Interrogative Pronouns
When a sentence starts with an interrogative pronoun (which already contains '?'), add only a closing '?':
17.2 Yes/No Questions
Surround with '?' at both ends:
17.3 Question Tags
All question tags are replaced with the adjective code for 'right' (Ri5), enclosed in '?' markers:
Chapter 18
Affirmations & Rejections
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| Yes / Yep / Yeah / Yup | UU |
| No / Nope / Nah / Neh | XX |
Chapter 19
Passive Voice
Passive voice in MIN-0 is encoded entirely through the tense number system. The passive tense numbers are the .4, .5, and .6 variants within each modal/tense group (see Chapter 5).
| English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|
| It is needed | i1nB70.4 |
| The road is being repaired right now | (t-road)rpB10.5Ri5NV |
| All the cookies have been eaten | ol(t-cookies)eA10.6 |
| It was written in the past | i1wI41.4+(t-past) |
| The project had been finished before the deadline | (t-project)fF01.6<-(t-deadline) |
| The decision will be made next week | (t-decision)mA62.4Na5(week) |
| The kitchen must be cleaned | (t-kitchen)kF55.4 |
| The package can be delivered tomorrow | (t-package)dG37.7TM |
Chapter 20
Special Constructs & Edge Cases
20.1 'There is / There are'
Use TR (there) as the subject:
20.2 'Going to' vs. 'Was going to'
'Going to' as a future marker = simple future (2.0). 'Was going to' = past continuous of 'go' + infinitive.
20.3 Sentence with Direct Speech
Commands inside a sentence use the imperative verb-first rule without separate notation. Requests mid-sentence get /…\ wrapping:
20.4 Highly Complex Compound Verbs
'To keep getting used to' = 'to keep verb-ing' + 'to get used to'. Encode each structure separately.
Appendix A
Quick Reference
A.1 Pronoun Master Table
| Type | English | MIN-0 |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | I, You, He, She, They, We, It | I1, U1, H1, S1, T1, V1, i1 |
| Possessive | My, Your, His, Her, Their, Our, Its | I2, U2, H2, S2, T2, V2, i2 |
| Object | Me, You, Him, Her, Them, Us, It | I3, U3, H3, S3, T3, V3, i3 |
| Reflexive | Myself … Itself, Oneself | I0, U0, H0, S0, T0, V0, i0, O0 |
| Demonstrative | this, these, that, those | T11, T12, T21, T22 |
| Reciprocal | each other, one another | e0, 1o |
A.2 Tense Quick Reference
| Tense | Code |
|---|---|
| Simple Present | 0 |
| Present Continuous | 0.1 |
| Present Perfect | 0.2 |
| Simple Past | 1.0 |
| Past Continuous | 1.1 |
| Past Perfect | 1.2 |
| Simple Future | 2.0 |
| Future Continuous | 2.1 |
| Future Perfect | 2.2 |
| Should (all forms) | 3.x |
| Shall | 4.x |
| Must / Have to | 5.x |
| Would | 6.x |
| Could | 7.x |
| May | 8.x |
| Can | 8.9 |
| Might | 9.x |
| Passive suffix | .4 / .5 / .6 within each group |
A.3 Sentence Wrappers
| Type | Syntax |
|---|---|
| Normal sentence | | … | |
| Question | ? … ? |
| Exclamation | O … O |
| Request | / … \ |
| Quotation | # … # or << … >> |
| Comma | .. |
| Semicolon | _ |
| Colon | __ |
| Noun | ( … ) |
| Proper Noun | [ … ] |
| Number | { … } |
| Adverb | / code / |