Re: Help for a new conlang

On Thursday 24 October 2002 03:30 am, Roberto Suarez Soto wrote:
> Hi,
>
>         I've been recently thinking on a new conlang. The idea behind it
> is, I think, semitic-like: words have a consonant-based root, and the
> class of word (noun, verb, adjective) is derived of that form using
> different vowels and particles.
>
>         By now, the only things I've got are (besides that crazy idea
> ;-)) two words that I want to relate, though I don't know how: "Urkun"
> and "Orkurdan". "Urkun" is supposed to be a river, and "Orkurdan" a
> mountain range that lies near. As I already have another word,
> "Korkal", which is also the name of a river, I thought that "-rk-" could
> be the root form for "river". It makes sense, then, that "Orkurdan" is
> something related to a river, because it has the "-rk-" root too.
> "River" as an adjective (let's say that it means "flowing [like a
> river]") or verb ("to flow [like a river]") could be derived from this
> too.
|urkun| - this could be |?rk| with a worn-down adjectival ending |-un|, simply
"the river".  Unless you wanted the definite article postposed, in which case
|-un| is the said definite article.  In which case it would be a combination
of the Arabic form we see in |?islam| from |salaam|, with the Aramaic/Syriac
postposed definite article.

|?orkurdan| would probably be a compound.  |?urdan| would be what?  |?ork|
could be adjectival, given that it is the name of a mountain range.

|korkal| I have no suggestions on - it involves both preposed and postposed
elements and my knowledge of the Semitic languages isn't that great.

Wesley Parish

>
>         But I've got no idea of how to do O:-) And I'd like to know how
> semitic languages (or whatever are similar to what I'm proposing; maybe
> I'm unknowningly referring to another kind of language) behave on this
> aspect. Any hints or URLs with information, any similar
> conlangs/natlangs? O:-)
>
>         Thanks on advance.
--
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