Re: Word Construction for a New Conlang

On Wed, 7 Jul 1999, Ed Heil wrote:

> I'm finding myself in a state of throwing away all the beginnings of
> conlangs I've started and wanting to start over again.  And I'm just
> not sure how to start, so I turn to you (pl) for help...
--schnip--

>
> I'm curious how other people work, especially people who, like me, do
> not have a really hardcore linguistics background with exposure to a
> lot of natlangs and formal descriptions thereof.
>
> Ed Heil ------------------------------- edheil@postmark.net
> "Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything
>    that's even _remotely_ true!"           -- Homer Simpson
Actually, I rely an awful lot on my subconscious.  When I need a word I
think about the concept, and just let the word arise in my mind.  For
instance, I needed a word for "good", and "nehasa" came into mind.  It's a
perfect word for "good" (at least in Hatasoe).

Then, after getting a few dozen of these words, I look at their phonology
and analyze it.  I draw up a rough chart.  I make up some more words.
Usually a few of those violate the phonology.  I go back to the chart and
see *how* it's been violated (for instance, is there suddenly a voiced
/f/?  An initial cons. cluster?).  If the violation "makes sense" to me (I
can imagine that voiced /f/ arising, for instance) I include it.  If it
doesn't, I try to figure out how I'm mispronouncing the word.

The flaw with this system, of course, is a tendancy to include only
English sounds, but since I have a real fascination with weird noises, I
don't have much trouble with that.  *grins*

The strengths?

First, some sounds pop up more frequently than others.  /t/ is very common
in Hatasoe, but /d/ less so.  This isn't a matter of me saying, "ah, well,
/t/ will be ten times more common than /d/."  It just happens.

Second, after a short while, you can stop checking the chart, because you
*know* how to pronounce the words and "wrong words" just don't pop up
anymore.

Third, it's a little easier to learn the vocabulary, because it comes from
somewhere inside your own mind, not a computer screen.

I've tried computer generated vocabulary, several times, but we hates it,
yes we does, we hates it, my preciousss!  It's like -- ahem -- swimming in
a linguistic ocean with a raincoat on?

--Patrick