Re: Conlang words that happen to resemble real words
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2016 5:48 pm
A small number from proto-Lamu, a descendant of Khulls. There are only three vowels, the tones are gone, and labialized consonants are gone, but some new contrasts, such as gemination of consonants and true palatals, have opened up:
tulip "wheel"
haŋ "cloud" (read /ŋ/ as "ng")
kaśi "sword" (if "kashi" is considered a word)
hut "war"
kiŋ "urine"
tāki "palm wine" (taki is a variant spelling of a breed of horse, according to Wikt)
tutta "flower" (italian, not english)
rupis "sun" (if rupee is spelled rupi, this is the plural; it's also apparently a valid English word for "escarpments on another planet or a moon", which is interesting because I didnt know that Latin ever allowed -es --> -is plurals; we might have made it up looking at the Latin entry, however)
and possibly
rāmp "vagina" if I decide to allow the cluster /mp/ in final position
Speaking of which, ugina, vugina, and vagina are all acceptable variants (the initial syllable is a classifier prefix) of the Andanese word for rain. The -gina part of the word originally meant "snow", but the primordial word for rain was pushed out of the vocabulary by Andanese's extreme sound changes. Thus, the word for rain can be analyzed as "snow water"; however, the word for snow now also needs a classifier prefix, so their word for snow is gagina.
The word in Gala (a close relative of Andanese) for "pad" (anything soft and protective) is hugē. However, this word will probably need a classifier prefix such as ha-, which denotes items of clothing, or ni-, which denotes hygiene products, for proper usage.
repair "catfish" ... from Mumba, a distant ancestor of all of the above languages.
tulip "wheel"
haŋ "cloud" (read /ŋ/ as "ng")
kaśi "sword" (if "kashi" is considered a word)
hut "war"
kiŋ "urine"
tāki "palm wine" (taki is a variant spelling of a breed of horse, according to Wikt)
tutta "flower" (italian, not english)
rupis "sun" (if rupee is spelled rupi, this is the plural; it's also apparently a valid English word for "escarpments on another planet or a moon", which is interesting because I didnt know that Latin ever allowed -es --> -is plurals; we might have made it up looking at the Latin entry, however)
and possibly
rāmp "vagina" if I decide to allow the cluster /mp/ in final position
Speaking of which, ugina, vugina, and vagina are all acceptable variants (the initial syllable is a classifier prefix) of the Andanese word for rain. The -gina part of the word originally meant "snow", but the primordial word for rain was pushed out of the vocabulary by Andanese's extreme sound changes. Thus, the word for rain can be analyzed as "snow water"; however, the word for snow now also needs a classifier prefix, so their word for snow is gagina.
The word in Gala (a close relative of Andanese) for "pad" (anything soft and protective) is hugē. However, this word will probably need a classifier prefix such as ha-, which denotes items of clothing, or ni-, which denotes hygiene products, for proper usage.
repair "catfish" ... from Mumba, a distant ancestor of all of the above languages.