zompist bboard

Apparently, Melpa has a binary counting system.

One of my conlangs has productive metathesis. Plurals are formed by shifting the first vowel in a word one position to the left (this is the result of a pluralizing prefix that has since disappeared). Back unrounded and front rounded vowels split into two vowels, with the the first vowel retaining t...

Suppose that a cluster of plosives became a click with the last POA (and/or aspiration, or whatever else) of the final member. Plausible?

- If you're partial to Nostratic, Aharon Dolgopolsky's Nostratic Dictionary , brought to you by Cambridge University's DSpace service, includes both reconstructions of roots and phonemic correspondences with the protolanguages to which he believes Nostratic is related. - Historical outlines of Engli...

star > night sky > night > work at night (via verbing) > prostitute Next: pollute pollute > make an area unpleasant > annoy someone through talking or otherwise being loud > inform a crowd of news, as would a town crier > recite > memorize > think of, bring to mind > think up > have an idea Next. h...

campsite > fire pit > cinders, ashes > smoke > cloud > cotton ball > cotton > textiles > shirt

Next word: bureaucracy

I've seen <¢> more than a few times, mostly with respect to Mayan languages but once with regards to Siouan. Based on the latter, my first guess would be that it represents /θ/ or /ɬ/, but I am not sure…does anybody know what sound this actually represents?

Thanks very much for the updates! I'll fix them ASAP. Also, if your textbook really gives the "Southern Shift" as: * j → Ø / ɑ_ * ej → ɑj * i → iə̪ * ɪ ɛ æ → i ɪ ɛ * uw ow → {iw,y} {ɛo̯,œ} (NB: Due to the transcription in the book I'm not sure which of these outcomes are meant.) * ɔ → u * ɑ → ɔ It's...

Kvan wrote:next word bloated

blank > empty > spacious > wide > round > bloated > expanded > unabridged > complete > finite > closed (of integrals)

Next word: synthesizer

Rodlox wrote:next word: feathered

feathered > covered up, concealed > protected > fortified, beefed up > strong, resilient

Next word: roller skates

snake > sinuous > curved > crooked > hook > finger > digit(al) > number curved > arch(ing) > bridge > transition > crisis > change > evolution Next word: beast beast > violent, ferocious animal > violent, ferocious thing > public danger > something for which the risk is overstated > triviality, thi...

Lyhoko Leaci wrote:background > background radiation > radiation > radioactive > glowing > glow (n) > light (n) > sun > star

Next: star

spark > fire > that which gives off light or glows > star > object in the sky > bird > that which goes aloft > kite

Next: yellow

Bob Johnson wrote:Next: sit

sit > sleep > dream (v.) > imagine > hypothesize > formulate a scientific theory > experiment > do things just to see what happens > be chaotic

Next word: hairdresser

Ollock wrote:next word: robot

robot > emotionless individual > sociopath > crazy person > one who is eccentric > one who is dedicated to one's work > professional

Next word: cinemaplex

mountain > large hill > large outcropping of rock > castle > fortress > large building > group of buildings > city > population > voting base, constituency > vote (n.) > to vote

Next word: brain

joey wrote:Dream > trance > intoxication > beer

Next word: mucus

mucus > expectorate > "a worthless thing" > toy > model (e.g., scale model)

Next word: airplane

D'aww, thanks, guys! Since I really didn't feel like studying for my impending midterm exams today, I got off my tail and got together a few more sets of sound changes, the sources of which are a combination of sources I had on hand, Google (and Google Scholar, which is really quite intriguing) resu...

I think we have a good case for fair use. * We're not just copying and pasting the texts we are citing; we're summarizing the main findings (i.e., the sound changes, and often rewriting considerably due to different transcription methods in the sources, manners of presentation in the sources, extran...

All right, folks, here's a new batch of sound changes coming down the pipe to y'all. Please bear in mind two things though: A) I had to convert some weird markings into IPA, though I did have help on that end. B) The names are a bit anachronistic, I realize; the language name proper is modern but th...

OK, so over the past couple of days I've ported over to the TCL on the Wiki all of the sound change lists I could find that had been posted to the thread but not on the Wiki (save two, namely those Yinwum changes, which I did not access, and pharazon's Vulgar Latin → French changes list, due to the ...

I know the word is much overused of late, but I have to say that, in my opinion, this is epic. One question, though, about your sound change scheme. Initial and intervocalic /θ ð/ > /t d/ [. . .] Intervocalic /t d/ disappear when preceding an unstressed vowel Does your dialect have intervocalic alve...

Sorry to break in here about this, but I have a question RE: permissions of the TCL. Are we allowed to use these sound-change lists and the ones on KneeQuickie on for-profit projects? The wiki is licensed CC BY-NC-ND, but does that apply to the lists of sound-changes? If so, does that mean that if w...

Common Slavic > Polish My primary sources are Gramatyka historyczna języka polskiego by Klemensewicz et al. and GHJP (same title) by Dubisz and Długosz-Kurczabowa. link or maybe this will work you can ask me by PM about various details if it is still too chaotic for your particular needs, I don't h...

I suggest that "ovøyna" means "Sun" and "nrofu" means "North Wind" (with <at> being an enclitic suffix meaning "and"). These "words", or similar ones, crop up with some regularity throughout the text, but only "nrofu" shows up in the sentence before "kepau ikepau" (the way I see it, the first part o...

pi da gitavo ji njiva tɪve du gikisø. ɴɪ midʒatəvahɪhundʒa vyhihasentø. meha dy vydʒu mentapy. vy bɨ ma mɨ jœ. mu ka vyse bɨn. vyhahi nwanto. japa pe ðy. atikonpihɪtahyhi va atahivaki atyhi. jø me benyhœ gike ma dive unu. miti nakivahinasihœdɪpandʒy de maʙ. me nibi vyhœka. vynvadʒy bɨ dʒi dihu. vyna...