Lexicon Building

Substantial postings about constructed languages and constructed worlds in general. Good place to mention your own or evaluate someone else's. Put quick questions in C&C Quickies instead.
Christopher Schröder
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Post by Christopher Schröder »

That gives quite a lot, really...

Thee n.f. -- tea
Caffee n.f. -- coffee
Hallevesparleine n.f. -- hot chocolate (halleve "hot" + Parleine "chocolate")
Caffeesespirijt n.m. -- caffeine (Caffee "coffee" + Espirijt "spirit" or "alcohol")
Boisse n.f. -- drink
halleve(n) adj. -- hot
Hallevesboisse s.f. -- hot drink

Next word: flower, flour, both the kind that blooms and the kind used to bake things, since they have the same etymology in English.
Last edited by Christopher Schröder on Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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maıráí
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Post by maıráí »

Now providing in-depth coverage.

In Moiku:
na or nan or nana - all mean 'flower'; nana was the old word, and is used in most compounds, with nan sometimes appearing, esp. in new words; na is used mostly as a somewhat diminutive feminine suffix. Nana used in place of na is especially so.
This is one of the few characters with more than one pronunciation.
(Although na>nana may or may not have it written twice.)
nanako- field of flowers
nanko - (flower) garden
nansuás - flower perfume
denna - female doctor, 'doctorette', 'doctress'
dennana - a cute doctor

solsic - flour; sol white, sic dust or sand
solé sic if you want to be nit-picky or are complaining

next word(s): book, author, publisher, chapter

Do all or less, any number is fine.

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Post by finlay »

maacvànse: maac, wheat + vànse, powder = flour.
pleed = flower

next word: spider

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Post by maıráí »

lol... DENIED!

pukonuis - puko legs nuis insect
Moiku has a disproportionate population of daddy long-legs.
hatanuis - hata an old word for eight

next word(s): book, author, publisher, chapter

Now you have to do them all!

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Post by Izambri »

Hellesan:

m. marghi and nold "book".

m. careu "author", lit. "actor"; careve "author", lit. "actress". Etymology: from carur "to act".

m. samanteu or f. samanteve "publisher", for the person; but samantany lit. "publishing", for the business, which has a wider use. Etymology: rel. to samant "public", "communal".

m. arsení "chapter". Etymology: Sarden arsenineon "little head", from arson "head".


Next word: metamaterial
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

Christopher Schröder
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Post by Christopher Schröder »

That one makes for a mouthfull --

Eovremanneskijvrentangnag n.m. -- metamaterial, highly synthetic material (eovre "more than" + Mann "man" + kijvrern "make" + Angnag "processed material")

Next word: Software
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Post by Izambri »

Hellesan

m. arestarmi "software", literally "ensemble of instructions". Etymology: arestarm- "instruct-" + -i "all", "whole", "ensemble of", from arestarmaura "instruction", from arestarmar "to instruct", from ar- "towards" + estarm- "structure".


Next word: plasma
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

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Post by baraka »

brúith "plasma" from briu "flame" + uit "gas"

next word: isogloss

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Post by prickly pear »

Unfortunately, that's a concept that needs to be expressed in a Chatter phrase:

ma memo memo i ma otro otro di iyoma paisan
<tt>DEF same~ and DEF.PL other~ POSS language local</tt>
"The similarities and differences between dialects."

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Post by finlay »

It actually refers to the line that you draw on a map to show the differences between dialects, but fair enough. You are meant to give a new word though.

(but yours seems to be an earth-based language related to spanish, so you might as well just borrow the word isogloss...)

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Post by Ulan »

In Chuj
isogloss: ułokoluonn verin / uK.o.ko."lu.oN Be."Rin/
language.DIM.GEN fence
'little language's fence'

Though 'verin' could also mean a defensive hill or fort, heh...

Next Word: 'water spout'

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Post by Izambri »

Isogloss is an interesting one. Hellesan doesn't have a word for that, although it has tardelannes "facing glosses", but it refers to the glosses representing different dialects, not the border between them.

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Hellesan:

m. syoranell "waterspout", literally "little slurp". Etymology: deriv. from syorar "to sup", "to slurp".


Next word: torus
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

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Post by Ulan »

Chuj
torus: enneri puso
'Sweet-frybread shape'



Next word: Vacuum, the machine or "absence of matter"

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Post by Izambri »

Hellesan:

m. toi "vacuum", "empty". Etymology: from Peran touio "vaccum", "empty".


Next word: ceramic
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

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Post by Ulan »

Chuj
Ceramic: wintse, can also mean 'glass' or 'mirror'


Next word: Economy

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Post by prickly pear »

finlay wrote:It actually refers to the line that you draw on a map to show the differences between dialects, but fair enough. You are meant to give a new word though.

(but yours seems to be an earth-based language related to spanish, so you might as well just borrow the word isogloss...)
Oh snap! I know you're supposed to suggest a new word. I suggest two before! It just slipped my mind. Sorry.

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Post by Izambri »

Hellesan:

f. donecardie "economy", lit. "administration of the goods". Etymology: done- "good", "well", "bene-" + -cardie "administration", "care", "atenttion", from car- "(cor)rect" + ardari "to rule".


Next word: acronym
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

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Post by eodrakken »

Tirase:

pádagil f. acronym, abbreviation. (Kulae pátakaikuli "acrostic" (lit. syllabogram-poem). Sense evolution from acrostic poem that spells out a word/phrase, to the word/phrase to be spelled out, to any acronym.)


next: itch

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Post by Izambri »

Hellesan:

f. arransye "itch". Etymology: deformation of Ancient Hellesan arcanillança "itch" and variants of the same word, from arcanille "ant", from Sarden arkanikula "ant" (arkanek- "articul-" + -ikula (diminutive), lit. "little articulation" or "little articulated thing").


Next word: symmetry
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finlay
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Post by finlay »

why are you linking? people know what that means :|

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Post by Izambri »

finlay wrote:why are you linking? people know what that means :|
Because it has more than one accepted meaning:
Wikipedia wrote:Symmetry (from Greek: "συμμετρεῖν" = to measure together), generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance;[1][2] such that it reflects beauty or perfection. The second meaning is a precise and well-defined concept of balance or "patterned self-similarity" that can be demonstrated or proved according to the rules of a formal system: by geometry, through physics or otherwise.

[...]
And not all conlangs could have a single word for both meanings, or one of the meanings covered by a word.

That happens in Hellesan:

1) The word covering "relation of parts", "proportion", "agreement in dimensions" and, by extension, "correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or median plane or about a center or axis" is sangammie, from sam- "common" + gamme "measure".

2) The word covering "harmonic arrangement of parts", "aesthetic balance" is iselíria, from ise- "aesthetic", "beauty", "handsome" + -líria "balance" (from Sarden lirea "scales", "balance").
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maıráí
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Post by maıráí »

Symmetry, in the mirror-ish, look-alike meaning, is lurmelta in Moiku. Lur means group, but is written as two vertical lines, and is thus about as symmetrical as it gets. Melta means 'shape' or 'form'.

next word: dual, double, bi-, any shade of meaning regarding two.
(Unless Izo edits his posts to include/posts his own next word.)

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Post by Jetboy »

Bitel, bitēlin, two (literally dual form of phalanges, since the counting system goes by the 12 phalanges of a single hand)

Next word: overcast, as in the sky
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Post by Přemysl »

laque jasu- light overcast with little chance of rain, lit. watery sky
laque goresu- dark overcast with threatening clouds, lit. dark sky

Next word: mathematics

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Post by eodrakken »

Tirase:

nolólark m. mathematics. (noló-lark: noló "counting" fr. Kulae hínoel "count, reckon" fr. híno "finger", + lark "knowledge, lore" fr. K. láhilte "know".)


next: swallow

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