TONGUES.md

🕊️ Tongues — God Code in other languages

God Code began in English, but its heart was born in Botswana. A tongue lets you write the language's keywords in another language. The first tongue is Setswana (tn), spoken across Botswana. The second tongue is isiZulu (zu), spoken across South Africa and beyond. The third is Igbo (ig), spoken across south-eastern Nigeria, and the fourth is Nigerian Pidgin (pg, or the standard code pcm), the shared tongue of Nigeria and much of West Africa.

How it works

Put a pragma comment in your scroll, and the grammar crosses over:

# tongue: tn
SIMOLOLA TLHOLEGO
BOLELA leina JAAKA "Lefatshe"
SENOLA("Dumela, {leina}.")
FEDISA TLHOLEGO

Run it like any scroll: godcode run dumela.god. Every tool honours the pragma: check, lint, fmt, test, the debugger, the language server, the agent bridge, and the web playground.

Mixed scrolls are welcome. English keywords keep working beside tongue words in the same file, so you can cross over one word at a time.

The Setswana word table

English	Setswana	English	Setswana
BEGIN	SIMOLOLA	IF	FA
CREATION	TLHOLEGO	THEN	TLOGA
END	FEDISA	TRY	LEKA
DECLARE	BOLELA	CATCH	TSHWARA
AS	JAAKA	DEFINE	TLHALOSA
BREATHE	HEMA	RITE	TIRO
LIFE	BOTSHELO	INVOKE	BITSA
INTO	TENG	RETURN	BUSETSA
REVEAL	SENOLA	IMPORT	TSENYA
PROPHESY	POROFETA	IS	KE
ASCEND	TLHATLOGA	NOT	GA
REFLECT	AKANYA	AND	LE
BLESS	SEGOFATSA	OR	KGOTSA
ANOINT	TLOTSA	IN	MO
SEAL	TSWALA	DO	DIRA
TESTIFY	PAKA	TRUE	NNETE
BREAK	KGAOLA	FALSE	MAAKA
CONTINUE	TSWELELA	VOID	SEPE

Two closers are spoken as two words on one line: FEDISA FA closes an IF (ENDIF), and FEDISA LEKA closes a TRY (ENDTRY).

The isiZulu word table

Open a scroll with # tongue: zu and the same grammar speaks isiZulu:

# tongue: zu
QALA INDALO
MEMEZELA igama NJENGA "Umhlaba"
VEZA("Sawubona, {igama}.")
QEDA INDALO

English	isiZulu	English	isiZulu
BEGIN	QALA	IF	UMA
CREATION	INDALO	THEN	KHONA
END	QEDA	TRY	ZAMA
DECLARE	MEMEZELA	CATCH	BAMBA
AS	NJENGA	DEFINE	CHAZA
BREATHE	PHEFUMULA	RITE	ISIKO
LIFE	IMPILO	INVOKE	BIZA
INTO	PHAKATHI	RETURN	BUYISA
REVEAL	VEZA	IMPORT	NGENISA
PROPHESY	PROFETA	IS	NGU
ASCEND	ENYUKA	NOT	HHAYI
REFLECT	ZINDLA	AND	KANYE
BLESS	BUSISA	OR	NOMA
ANOINT	GCOBA	IN	KU
SEAL	VALA	DO	ENZA
TESTIFY	FAKAZA	TRUE	IQINISO
BREAK	PHULA	FALSE	AMANGA
CONTINUE	QHUBEKA	VOID	LUTHO

Two closers are spoken as two words on one line: QEDA UMA closes an IF (ENDIF), and QEDA ZAMA closes a TRY (ENDTRY). A worked example lives at examples/first_blessing_zu.god, and the playground boots a "Sawubona (isiZulu)" creation ready to run.

The Igbo word table

Open a scroll with # tongue: ig and the grammar speaks Igbo:

# tongue: ig
BIDO OKIKE
KWUSAA aha DỊKA "Ụwa"
GOSI("Ndewo, {aha}.")
NJEDEBE OKIKE

English	Igbo	English	Igbo
BEGIN	BIDO	IF	MA, or Ọ BỤRỤ
CREATION	OKIKE	THEN	MGBE, or MGBE AHỤ
END	NJEDEBE	TRY	NWAA
DECLARE	KWUSAA	CATCH	JIDE
AS	DỊKA	DEFINE	KỌWAA
BREATHE	KUO	RITE	EMUME
LIFE	NDỤ	INVOKE	KPỌỌ
INTO	BANYE	RETURN	WEGHACHI
REVEAL	GOSI	IMPORT	WEBATA
PROPHESY	AMỤMA	IS	BỤ
ASCEND	RỊGOO	NOT	MBA
REFLECT	TỤGHARỊA	AND	NA
BLESS	GỌZIE	OR	MAỌBỤ
ANOINT	TEE	IN	IME
SEAL	MECHIE	DO	MEE
TESTIFY	AKAEBE	TRUE	EZIOKWU
BREAK	KWỤSỊ	FALSE	ỤGHA
CONTINUE	GABA	VOID	EFU

Igbo is written with dotted vowels, but many keyboards cannot type them, so every word also works without its marks: DỊKA and DIKA both speak, as do Ọ BỤRỤ and O BURU. Four phrases are spoken as two words on one line: Ọ BỤRỤ opens an IF, MGBE AHỤ is its THEN, NJEDEBE MA closes the IF (ENDIF), and NJEDEBE NWAA closes a TRY (ENDTRY). A worked example lives at examples/first_blessing_ig.god, counting the four market days, Eke, Orie, Afọ, and Nkwọ.

The Nigerian Pidgin word table

Open a scroll with # tongue: pg (or # tongue: pcm) and the grammar speaks Naija:

# tongue: pg
OYA KREASHON
TALK name BE "my padi"
SHOW("How far, {name}?")
FINISH KREASHON

English	Pidgin	English	Pidgin
BEGIN	OYA	THEN	DEN
CREATION	KREASHON	CATCH	HOLD
END	FINISH	DEFINE	ARRANGE
DECLARE	TALK	RITE	JOB
AS	BE	INVOKE	CALL
BREATHE	BLOW	IMPORT	CARRY
INTO	INSIDE	IS	NA
REVEAL	SHOW	NOT	NO
ASCEND	COMOT	OR	ABI
REFLECT	REASON	VOID	NOTHING
ANOINT	ROB	BREAK	STOP
SEAL	LOCK	CONTINUE	MOVE
TESTIFY	WITNESS

Pidgin shares many words with English, and those simply stay as they are: IF, TRY, AND, IN, DO, BLESS, LIFE, TRUE, FALSE, RETURN, and PROPHESY. The closers read the way Naija speaks: FINISH IF closes an IF, FINISH TRY closes a TRY, and FINISH JOB closes a rite. IS NOT is spoken NA NO. A worked example lives at examples/first_blessing_pg.god.

Honest first-edition notes

A few words stay English in these first editions: ELSE, FOR, WHILE, ENDFOR, and ENDWHILE (Pidgin keeps a few more, the words it shares with English). They will cross over as speakers bless better words. The named tools (SHA256, UPPER, RANGE, and the rest) keep their names in every tongue, by design: the grammar speaks your language, the tools stay shared, and a scroll written in Setswana runs beside one written in isiZulu or English without translation.

Corrected 2026-10-04, against Matumo's Setswana-English-Setswana Dictionary: AS in Setswana is JAAKA (like, similar to). The first edition had written JAKA, which the dictionary knows only as a verb meaning "to sojourn". THEN is TLOGA (then, thereupon, as an auxiliary verb). The first edition had written GONE, which is not a Setswana word at all. And NOT crosses over at last as GA, the dictionary's negative form. Scrolls written with JAKA or GONE under # tongue: tn should cross over to JAAKA and TLOGA.

Corrected 2026-10-04, by a native speaker's eye: BEGIN in Setswana is SIMOLOLA (to begin, to start). The first edition had borrowed QALA, which is isiZulu, where it rightly remains. Scrolls written with QALA under # tongue: tn should cross over to SIMOLOLA.

godcode fmt always renders the canonical English tongue. Inside {...} interpolation, the tongue's keywords work too.

If you speak Setswana, isiZulu, Igbo, or Pidgin and a word here rings wrong, say so: open an issue on the repo. These tables are first editions, and native speakers are their rightful editors.

Added 2026-10-15, as first editions awaiting a native speaker's review: the Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin tables. Igbo marks negation with a suffix rather than a word, so MBA (no) stands in for NOT until speakers bless a better form. Pidgin has no settled spelling; these tables follow everyday written Naija, and KREASHON is the one coined spelling. A tongue word becomes a keyword only under its own pragma, so a Pidgin scroll cannot name a variable show or job, while an English scroll still can.

Checked 2026-10-15, word by word, against two sources. For Igbo, Williamson and Blench, Dictionary of Ònìchà Igbo (2nd edition, edited by Roger Blench, 2006). For Pidgin, Faraclas, Nigerian Pidgin (Routledge, 1996), through the example sentences quoted in APiCS Online. Naijalingo could not be reached. The Igbo dictionary is of Onitsha Igbo, where Standard Igbo r is often l (-tụghalị for tụgharị), and it lists verbs by root (-gọzi), so the table writes the command form or the Standard spelling. The check corrected five Igbo words, each now the dictionary's own: BIDO (-bi-do, begin) for MALITE, KWUSAA (-kwusà, proclaim; declare) for KWUPỤTA, GOSI (-go-si, show) for GOSIPỤTA, GỌZIE (-gọzi, bless) for GỌỌZIE, and GABA (-gaba, go on; continue) for NỌGIDE.

These words the sources do not settle. Native speakers decide them:

Tongue	Word	Keyword	Why it is open
Igbo	WEGHACHI	RETURN	Not in the dictionary; Standard Igbo for "bring back"
Igbo	WEBATA	IMPORT	Built from -wè (take) and -bàta (come in), not listed whole
Igbo	MAỌBỤ	OR	Not in the dictionary, which has no word for "or"
Igbo	MBA	NOT	The dictionary's mbà! is "no!"; Igbo negates with a suffix
Igbo	AKAEBE	TESTIFY	The dictionary writes aka ebē (witness) as two words
Pidgin	OYA, TALK, BLOW, INSIDE, SHOW, DEN, HOLD, ARRANGE, JOB, CALL, REASON, ROB, LOCK, WITNESS, NOTHING, STOP, MOVE		Not in the Faraclas sentences available; Naijalingo unreachable
Pidgin	KREASHON	CREATION	A coined spelling

Settled 2026-10-15 in the review of this edition. Three words the sources had left open were explained by the contributor, and the keeper accepted them as written:

Tongue	Word	Keyword	Settled
Igbo	MGBE, MGBE AHỤ	THEN	mgbe answers to time: it is both "then" and "when". The dictionary records the "when" sense
Igbo	RỊGOO	ASCEND	rịgoo is general Igbo. The dictionary's -rọgo is the Owerri form, and its -lịgo is the Onitsha one
Pidgin	ABI	OR	Without a question mark, abi is "or". With one, abi? is "right?", the question use Faraclas records

Confirmed in the sources: every other Igbo word, and the Pidgin COMOT (Faraclas kò̱mót, leave), CARRY (kari, carry), BE (bì), NA (Ìm nà ticha, s/he is a teacher), NO (negation), and FINISH, which Faraclas records as a completion marker (cho̱p dì nyam finish, eat the yams completely).

The editors speak the tongues too

The language server reads the pragma in the open scroll. When it sees # tongue: tn it offers the tongue's keywords beside the English ones (SENOLA (REVEAL), FEDISA FA (ENDIF)), plus block snippets that unfold in that tongue. # tongue: zu brings VEZA (REVEAL) and QEDA UMA (ENDIF) the same way, # tongue: ig brings GOSI (REVEAL) and NJEDEBE MA (ENDIF), and # tongue: pg brings SHOW (REVEAL) and FINISH IF (ENDIF). Hovering a tongue word shows the English keyword's own documentation, so SENOLA explains itself as REVEAL, VEZA explains itself as REVEAL, and SIMOLOLA TLHOLEGO opens the BEGIN CREATION notes. The VS Code extension paints Setswana and isiZulu keywords in their colors too (always on, so mixed scrolls glow in every tongue), and ships starter snippets for each: type simolola or fa for Setswana blocks, sawubona or uma for isiZulu ones, ndewo or oburu for Igbo, and howfar or ifden for Pidgin. The named tools stay English everywhere, and godcode fmt still renders the canonical English tongue.

For tongue builders

A tongue is one table in godcode/tongues.py: word-to-keyword aliases plus optional two-word phrases (either word may be an English keyword or a plain name, as in FINISH IF and Ọ BỤRỤ). To propose a new tongue, open an issue with the language name, its code, and a word table like the one above; keep builtins untranslated and leave any word you are unsure of in English. The playground, the docs, and the tests cross over with it.

Roadmap: more tongues by community proposal, and spoken-word audio for the learn page.