Re: Classification of Abstract Words

Hi!

Leon Lin writes:
> I am trying to make a philosophical language and I am having trouble with
> abstract words like "justice", "love", or "communication". Perhaps I have
> not studied them hard enough, but I can't quite find equivalents in
> languages like Latejami or Ithkuil.
What exactly is your problem with them?

My Qþyn|gài also does not (yet) have them in the lexicon, but I see no
problem.

Here's how the words would be derived.  The lexicon entries of my
engelang are built from category consonants, of which there are 40.
From these categories, roots are derived by adding another consonant
(and optionally another syllable).  From the roots, stems of lexicon
entries are derived by adding a vowel.

First, we need to select the basic concept, which in Qþyn|gài must be
a state or entity (the two are handled alike).  Let's take 'love': I'd
use the category consonant for 'sentient' and derive (in two stems,
using or not using the root 'liking', which exists already) a stem
'love' from it.  If you want to express the abstract concept, you'd
compound this with the stem that makes abstract nouns (e.g. -ity or
sometimes -tion in English).

With 'justice' (from category 'value') and 'communication' (from
category 'communication'), I'd do pretty much the same, actually.

**Henrik

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