Conlang Year: Week 18
Another week in the language mines! Prompts are here.
Day 120 - Review and clean up dictionary entries
I took this day and copied my verb conjugation rules over from my language documentation into a tab in the dictionary as well. There's too many possible ways to conjugate each verb to list every one in its dictionary entry (currently 45 and I suspect that number will grow), so I thought this was the best way to keep track of it.
Day 121 - Explore options for word-formation strategies
I think word formation will likely work in much the same way as I've done noun class/case and verb tenses so far, treating compounds much as if they were the affixes that are currently part of that system. Derivation already involves affixation, so that fits right in - the causative I added last week is a good example for that. Looking at the Wikipedia article about compounds, it looks like there are also copulative and appositional compounds.
I think it's more interesting if compound words are formed before sound changes are applied, which will lead to words that don't always have immediately obvious sources. This won't always be the case - depending on when the compound formed it might enter at any point in the sound changes.
Day 122 - Create example compound words
Working on these, I've decided that compound words will use the unconjugated forms of nouns and verbs - because conjugation works entirely by affixes, it would get very confusing to have potentially three different conflicting sets of affixes on the same word. This is a little disappointing, as it's pretty similar to English, but I think I can forgive myself on this front.
Here's the forms before they go through sound changes:
fang - sma.Ʌθ.ɣy (mouth-weapon)
tooth - sma.ʎyp (mouth-tool)
niece/nephew - dwʌɢ.ʃʌɾ.aɪ (sibling-child)
sapient bird - βax.qɪð.wyŋ (bird-to speak)
sunset - wað.byn.pɾɛɪ (sun-to lie down)
to hunt - ɾuŋ.ʃɪ.θʌ.uz.uzð (to take-wolf)
to fully comprehened, to grok - nɪs.qa.xɛɪ.pʌ.ɛɪ (to know-to hold)
After they go through sound changes, they look like this:
fang - smaθ.ɣy
tooth - smaʎp
niece/nephew - dwʌɢ.ʃɾaɪ
sapient bird - βax.ðwøŋ
sunset - wað.bøn.pɾɛɪ
to hunt - ɾoŋ.ʃɪθ.usθ
to fully comprehened, to grok - nɪsq.xɛɪ.pɛɪ
Day 123 - Create example derivations
I'm going to need to grammaticalize some more words here to come up with affixes to derive words. Here's where I have to start with:
tas (to be) becomes ta, a particle which indicates that a verb has become a noun. It's affixed to the front of a verb.
pʃʌ (to make/to do) doesn't change as it's grammaticalized but it's used to indicate that a noun has become a verb. It's added to the end of the base form of the noun.
I'm going to stay away from zero-derivation for the time being.
Here's a few examples:
chair - ta.ɸɪθ (noun to sit)
container - ta.xɛɪ.pɛɪ (noun to hold)
watcher/watchman - tɛɪ.ʌŋʃ (noun to regard, to look at, to see)
scout - ta.ɾɛʃ.mɛ (noun to search, to look for)
to kick - Ʒðaɪ.pʃʌ (foot verb)
to shock (electrical) - ɸaɸ.ʃʌ (lightning verb)
to fish - uɢ.ɾuq.ʃʌ (fish verb)
to marry - ɣʒɪŋ.pʃʌ (spouse verb)
Portions of these affixes sometimes get reduced as per the sound changes.
Day 124 - Document compound and derivation forms
I updated my documentation as I went along, explaining how compounds are formed, what the proper word order was, and what sound changes might apply.
Day 125 - Update your dictionary
Similarly, I updated my dictionary with the fifteen new words I've created this week. I may eventually decide to simplify the dictionary and put derived forms in with the word they are derived from, but for now, they live on their own.
Day 126 - Write more sample sentences
"These people married in the morning."
3.a.pa.MARRY this person.nom in morning.dat - ʒɛx.ɣʒɪŋ.pʃʌ θyʃ xɪɾ.ɾa θy ɛɪɾ.ɸm.ɢaɪm
"The scout spots the watchman."
3.a.pr.REGARD scout.nom watchman.acc - ʒɛx.ɪ.βaθ ta.ɾɛʃ.mɛ.ɾa tɛɪ.ʌŋʃ.ɾaŋ
"My niece will make me hold her container."
ca.3.a.fu.HOLD niece.nom i.acc container.gen - bu.ʒɛʎ.aɪ.xɛɪ.pɛɪ dwʌɢ.ʃɾaɪ.ɾa ɛɪ.oŋ ta.xɛɪ.pɛɪ.ɢat
I am unsure how to indicate that the genitive form of the container belongs to the subject and not the object of the sentence in that last one. I'll have to think on that.
EDIT:: Unfortunately, thinking on this has left me with a further problem. I don't know how to properly indicate that the niece in question belongs to the speaker. I can't use the genitive case because the niece is the subject of the sentence. More to chew on, I suppose.