Re: my proposals for a philosophical language

"H. S. Teoh" wrote:
HST> ...Then add longer compounds instead of more
HST> vowels. I don't see the problem here.

Sure. Long compound words have more roots, so they
are more precise. On the other hand they sound awkward.

HST> I think you're focusing on the wrong problem.
HST> What you want is give your roots a *distinctive*
HST> shape, so that it will stand out no matter what
HST> it's embedded in.

AN> The prefix table *is* the philosophy of Ygyde.
AN> Those who make the compound words may invent
AN> taxonomical rules, but as you have pointed out,
AN> these rules result in very similar names of
AN> vegetables.

HST> Not just vegetables. *Everything* sounds too
HST> similar. Because of the way words are constructed.
HST> That's the problem.

It is true that 7 letters long Ygyde words lack the
phonemic diversity of the English language. Some of
them sound like a staccato. Most of the words of Ygyde
sentences are 3 letters long or 5 letters long. These
words sound nice. Now let us look at the other side
of the coin.

Your proposal is very similar to Ro and somewhat
similar to your mother tongue. We can only guess
why Ro failed. Perhaps it was too arbitrary. Precise
meaning of a Ro word cannot be guessed because some
of its letters are arbitrary. Ygyde is better in
this respect because its compound words are defined
more precisely. All our arguments about philosophical
languages are too academic and they matter little in
the real world. French language is rather popular
among women because it sounds nice. Ygyde has similar
quality: coining compound Ygyde words is so much fun
that it is addictive. If Ygyde ever becomes popular,
it will be disseminated by conlangers who are addicted
to making compound words. If you introduce random
letters into the Ygyde words, you will take all the
fun out of it. It will become a job for a computer,
not a conlanger.

HST> Also, IMHO, the prefix table is overly restrictive.
HST> You are basically excluding new prefixes from being
HST> created; as a result you have to construct new
HST> prefixes from existing, shorter prefixes...

HST> Let me illustrate what I mean: instead of having a
HST> prefix table, just create a basic vocabulary of more
HST> or less arbitrary words. Then let Ygyde speakers make
HST> up words that didn't exist before, and send them to you.
HST> After enough words are submitted, analyse them for
HST> common patterns. You may find common patterns, maybe
HST> common prefixes, or common infixes, among related words.
HST> Put *those* up as official morphemes for that category
HST> of words...

You have to read the prefix table to understand how it
works. The first letter of the word is its prefix. The
prefix determines what part of the speech it is and
which table the roots are taken from. The prefix table
is *very* restrictive in order to double the number of
root words. The relatively large number of the root words
makes it possible to make short compound words. Your idea
may be implemented into the prefix table as CVV
(consonant-vowel-vowel) root words. I mean liberal
CVV, for example: dla, keo, fan, bim, nai...

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