Re: Classification of Abstract Words

Leon Lin wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> 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.
>
> -Leon
Classification, as in putting words into categories according to their
meaning? Good luck! However you end up splitting the categories, there
are likely to be some words that can end up in more than one of them. Is
"communication" primarily a social activity or in the realm of
knowledge? It crosses over into different areas.

In other cases, like "justice" or "love", you might be dealing with
words that have a range of different meanings. Some meanings of
"justice" might fit into the general category of "government", while
other meanings would be better included in "feelings and emotions".
"Love" has a range of meanings that all might fit into a "feelings and
emotions" category, but some overlap with other categories such as "family".

The thing to keep in mind is that if you're starting with English
vocabulary out of context, you'll end up with a lot of words that won't
fit a radically different semantic system. Translation exercises might
be helpful; you have a specific context for the word to be translated,
which can help narrow down the meaning.