Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: lexicon

From:Roger Mills <romilly@...>
Date:Thursday, May 29, 2003, 21:22
Sally Caves wrote:
> My "theory" is that Real Language was created first for mystical reasons, > and secondly for communication. :) But then I'm weird. Teonaht was > originally apotropaic. It was uttered to ward off evil when I was about > fourteen.
Interesting!!
> > Teonaht has a host of synonyms, but I don't eradicate them. I try to
assign
> them subtle differences in meaning, and I find them useful in rhetorical > flourishes. But that gets me into trouble.
Yes on all counts. Technical writing (especially) in Indonesian can sound very repetitive, since there aren't always synonyms available.
> > I don't know why I have so many words meaning: "enemy / attacker /
aggressor
> / violence-doer"; so many words meaning "race / caste / class"; so many > words meaning "graceful / gracious," etc. And almost no words for > government. I guess I'm obsessed with intruders, upperclass, beauty, and > the home. Must work on words for government.
Surely it depends as much on the nature of the con-world as on the personality and interests of the inventor. I've been struck by this often, looking at various peoples' lexicons. Kash is guilty too-- the "war" area is very small, but then, they haven't known a real war in about 1000 years. (Other areas are still small simply because I'm either not interested or knowledgeable in them.)
>And what's the difference between a representative and an > ambassador? The latter seems to come (in English) from Celtic Latin > ambactus, "servant." I have omydivar, "messenger," for ambassador, but
that
> word can also just mean "messenger."
And why not? As a culture and its language become more complex, these distinctions sometimes have to be made. In some Indonesian languages, the word for rep/ambassardor/messenger/emissary etc. is based on "send"; Bahasa Indo. has borrowed Skt. duta. In one of my favorite regional langs. "government" is a compound verb "compel - press-down". Hah!!! So lots of synonyms, but also lots of
> double and triple duty words. Whatever possessed me to express "reader"
and
> "lawmaker" by the same word???
Oh, I can see that right away!