Re: Lexicons and Langauge Borrowing

> On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, FFlores wrote:
>
> > Borrowing words (lexicon) from natlangs is another thing. I wouldn't
> > judge anybody who does that (anybody in the list?). You might borrow
> > words if you are deriving a futuristic language based on an actual
> > language. I don't do that, and don't borrow words from any natlang,
> > at least at a conscious level.
Most of the vocabulary for Tokana is completely made up (like Sally,
I carry around a little book with me so that I can write down meanings
that need words attached to them, and occasionally words that need
meanings attached to them).  Occasionally, however, the odd unconscious
or semi-conscious borrowing sneaks in.  Some examples:

"san" = "blood"
   An obvious (but unconscious) borrowing from French "sang"

"aun" = "if"
   Apparently borrowed from Middle / Early Modern English "an" = "if".

"lalia" = "play"
"lalitsan, kilalitsan" = "plaything, toy"
   More-or-less conscious borrowing from Malagasy "milalao" = "play"

"toun" = "stone, rock"
   Influence from English "stone" (which has a very appropriate sound,
   in my opinion)

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  There are
no doubt others - including many that I'm not even aware of, I'm sure.

My general strategy for making up words is to decide on a meaning
that needs to be lexicalised, and then go from there.  Sometimes I make
do with a compound based on existing roots.  Other times - especially
if the meaning is a 'basic' one which should by rights have its own
root - I just let the proper combination of sounds 'come to me'.  As
a result, a lot of sound symbolism and onomatopoeia has crept into
Tokana.

Matt.