Re: Lexicons and Langauge Borrowing
From: | FFlores <fflores@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, March 16, 1999, 16:23 |
I wrote:
> I don't borrow words from any natlang,
> at least at a conscious level.
Now I remembered I had some unconscious loans or
similarities noted in an old text file. Here are some:
In Drasele'q:
Almost all the interrogative pronouns begin with /q/,
deriving from protolanguage words in /kw/, just like the
Latin pronouns!
The stem PARREN "fertile" looks similar to its English
opposite "barren".
The preposition _aus_ "out of" is practically the same
as German _aus_.
The negative prefix (h)u- looks suspiciously similar to
the Quenya negative prefix u'-.
The adverb _nef_ "far (away)" is practically the opposite of
Sindarin _nef_ /nev/ "on this side".
The stem GAL "gold" looks quite like Sindarin CAL, GAL "light,
brightness", or Quenya MAL "gold". I really like this combination
of sounds for bright beautiful things.
DIN "star, twinkling brightness" is practically identical to
Quenya TIN "twinkling"
The stem ANKWA "tooth", as in Drasele'q _an(a)q_ looks a lot like
Proto-Elvish ANAK, Quenya _anca_, "jaw"
The stem ORN "stone" looks similar to Quenya _ondo_
RAT(A) "highness, greatness" is very similar to Quenya ar-, tar-
as in _Aratar_.
The group plural suffix -hadh is obviously related to Sindarin
-ath, -(h)oth
And the most spectacular one: Drasele'q _sauran_ "shadow" *has* to
have any unconscious relationship with _Sauron_! (though the meanings
are completely different).
Have any of you notices such things in your own conlangs?
I think it's a very interesting phenomenon.
--Pablo Flores
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Stewart's Law of Retroaction:
It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.