Re: Workin' on some stuff.

CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU writes:
>
>Then I decided to go back to the ancestor--I hadn't known about *that*
>method of language-generation when I started writing the thing--and it
>screwed up all my verb conjugations.  Thanks to people on this list,
>though, I ran a bunch of Aragis verbs through Mark Rosenfeld's sounds
>program and managed to massage everything into two conjugation classes,
>plus a bunch of interestingly weird irregularities.
Interesting. I'm not sure if i'm going to build up a culture around this
conlnag or not (still working on Saalangal. This one may just remain as
one for me to play around with, or not. Perhaps I can situate them in
another part of the world? :))
>
>
>BTW, is there a rule-of-thumb figure for how much of a language could be
>irregular?  I want it to be naturalistic but not a total pain in the butt
>to learn.  As I figure out patterns some of the "irregulars" may actually
>turn out to be special cases, but there are a few too many in a run of 20
>verb/nouns/adjectives for my liking.
I'd like some irregularities as well. As it is, ALL basic nouns have the
same pattern, CaCaCi - RTM - ratami, GNS - ganasi, TsRL - tsarali, etc.
Might make ease of learning simple though.
>
>
>> reflexive infinitive - CiCuCi - zimuri
>
>Neat.  :-)  I'm probably going to handle reflexives with a pronoun
>construction.
Thanks! I liked the thought of a reflexive infinitive, and kind of added
it at the spur of the moment.  The conjugations for it re:

past: zimuriam
pres: zimuriul
fut: zimuriad
pst. prticip: zimuriez
pres. prticip.: zimuriiv (two i's said separately)
conditional: zimuriiya
imperative: zimuriaz
>
>
>
>
>I like.  :-)  OC my verb system's sort of made-up (it uses evidentiality
>and a lot of aspects, and no future), but hey.  I use dynamic and static
>mainly because I saw the description in the LCK and thought, Neat!
Thanks again! There's still a lot of stuff to do for it of course. I'd
need to figure out how I want the grammar to be (probably just basic SOV
word order, not sure).

>
>I'm afraid most of the features I use are because I see 'em and think,
>Neat!  I wish I could be more methodical, but it's so fun....
No problem with that at all. I've done much the same with Saalangal (like
using a trigger system because I thought it was cool).
>
>
>Another thing that I'm finding really fun about using tri-consonantal
>roots is dividing semantic space in interesting cultural ways.
>
>basjaru (to meditate/dream) breaks down as:
>basjaíru (dreamy, dreamlike) [adjective]
>basra (enlightenment) [noun describing state]
>basrena (dreamer or monk) [noun describing actor or profession]
>besra (dream or koan) [noun describing tool]
>(plus a bunch of infinitive-aspect forms I haven't bothered including)
>
>nabaru (to guard/be located at)
>nabaíru (watchful)
>nabara (vigilance)
>nabrana (guard)
>nebara (fort)
>
>sjabamu (to darken/be dark)
>sjabaímu (dark)
>sjabema (darkness)
>sjabemana (night)
>sjebama (sunset, though more properly I might translate it as "nightrise,"
>  to parallel bajaru, to dawn/shine from sun, moon, star, natural sources)
>
Neat-o :). I like it a lot.

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This ain't a yes, this ain't a no, just do your thang, we'll see how it
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