Re: Classification of Abstract Words

Leon Lin wrote:
>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.
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Never too late to answer a question (hopefully):

The Ithkuil word for “love” derives from the root /h/-/D/, which breaks down
into the following 18 stems, as per standard Ithkuil lexico-morphology rules
(see Chapters 2 and 10 at www.ithkuil.net).   (I will use X-SAMPA rather
than the normal Ithkuil romanization):

Form I
Holistic Stems:
   1 /haD/ -- affection, fondness, endearment; feel/display affection,
fondness, endearment
   2 /hUD/ -- familial/genetically-based bond of love/loyalty/”ties”;
feel/display familial/genetically-based bond of love/loyalty/”ties”
   3 /hID/ -- romantic love

Complementary Stems:

   1a /hED/, 2a /hOD/, 3a /hVD/:  same as the holistic stems but with focus
on the act(ion) or display thereof, as (potentially) observable by others
   1b /h{D/, 2b /h9D/, 3b /h}D/:  same as the holistic stems but with focus
on the emotion/feeling involved as affectively experienced by the person
him/herself

Form II
Holistic Stems:
   1 /hAD/ -- something valued as source of emotional joy or contentment +
the feeling/emotion experienced, e.g., “Skiing is his great love” or “I love
ice cream.”
   2 /huD/ -- love of a socially-derived institution (e.g., love of country,
race, heritage, etc.), = the institution loved + the emotion/feeling experienced
   3 /hiD/ -- love of abstract idea (e.g., freedom, wealth, life, etc.), =
the abstraction loved + the emotion/feeling experienced

Complementary Stems:

   1a /heD/, 2a /hoD/, 3a /hyD/:  same as the holistic stems but with focus
on the thing loved
   1b /haeD/, 2b /h2D/, 3b /hIwD/:  same as the holistic stems but with
focus on the emotion/feeling involved as affectively experienced by the
person him/herself

As for the word “justice”, the Ithkuil word is /”I.stI.ka_RF/ which is the
stem /stIk/ ‘weigh(ing)/ponder(ing) of choices or options / (perform)
pro-con analysis’ inflected for the COALESCENT Affiliation (which elevate
the stem to the level of a conceptual gestalt based on various associated
component elements/steps/processes), the NOMIC Perspective (which
essentially renders the stem as an abstract concept), and the AMALGAMATIVE
Context (which raises the contextual scope of the stem to a level impacting
society as a whole).  This holistic stem connotes and encompasses both the
decision-making aspects of justice and the result/outcome of the act, i.e.,
the “meting out” of justice.  The associated complementary stems would
separate these elements into individual stems.  Note that this word
/”I.stI.ka_RF/ refers to actual decisions/acts of justice [to be] carried
out.  If the word is meant to refer to justice as a hypothetical abstraction
only, then the stem would be further inflected into the REPRESENTATIVE
Essence, rendered as /”I.sto.Ik_RF/.  The underlying stem /stIk/ in turn
derives from the root /st/-/k/ 'COMPARISON/MEASURE(MENT)'

As for “communication”, Ithkuil does not have a dedicated root/stem
referring to this concept, as the concept is one that can be derived from
another Ithkuil concept: “[transfer(ence) of] information.”  If the
implication is 2-way reciprocal communication, then an additional morpheme
would be added to convey reciprocity, i.e., “exchange of information.”
After all, in Ithkuil’s way of seeing the world as operating by
complementary principles, no piece of information serves any real-world
practical value until it is a communicated (i.e., observed/read/interpreted)
piece of information.  Therefore the Ithkuil word for ‘information’ implies
(potential) communication as being inherent.

Note that Ithkuil DOES have two stems + derivatives which can be interpreted
to mean “communicate verbally” and “communicate in writing” respectively,
based on the roots for ‘VERBAL UTTERANCE’ and ‘WRITING/RECORD’.  The stems
in question would more literally mean ‘[interpret] verbal message’ and
‘[interpret] a writing/recorded message’.

-- John Quijada

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