Re: Hello all: I'm new...a quick question about vocabularies

On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, David Bush wrote:

>         My question is this: how do you people decide on the vocabularies
> of your conlangs?  I set my sights too high for Kesa with a goal to
> translate 15,000 English words.  I got up to 2,500.  I have a hard time
> limiting my vocabularies under 2,000 words.  What are your meathods?
>
        There are a lot of ways to do this.  Some people prefer to use
automatic word-generating tools.  While this is an easy way to get a lot
of words, many artlangers don't like it because the words rarely come
out 'right'.  Personally, I prefer the traditional "make up a word as you
need it" method, along with the "if you happen to have a good idea
for a word during school, write it down" method.  Of course, this means
that even after a few years of work, I only have about 700 words, but I've
learned to deal with it. :)
        However, I do agree with Nik Taylor -- you should have a
consistent way to derive new words before you get too far into making up
your vocabulary (something that I didn't have with Doraya, which is
causing me troubles now).  Also, translation is the very good way to go
about making new words.  Good luck with your current project!

--
Adam Parrish                   "A friend of mine once told me that the
myth@inquo.net                 best way to understand teenagers was to
http://www.inquo.net/~myth/    think of them as constantly on LSD.  It was
                               good advice." -- Mary Pipher