Re: Using word generators (was Re: Semitic root word list?)

Hallo!

On Tue, 9 Jan 2007 06:19:32 -0800, "David J. Peterson" wrote:

> Jörg wrote:
>
> <<
> Yes, it is the same to me.  Many ad-hoc words I created for relay texts
> and similar purposes don't survive long, and are eventually replaced by
> better thought-of words.  Some, however, survive.
>  >>
>
> The only problem I have found with this approach is that it can
> lead to an unbalanced phonology.
First, few natlangs have "balanced" phonologies - some phonemes occur
more frequently than others.  Second, you can easily avoid and correct
imbalances by looking at what you have already invented, and use the
underrepresented phonemes more frequently and the overrepresented ones
less frequently as you progress.

>       For example, especially with
> my language Njaama, the bilabial and palatal click (which, admittedly,
> were not in the phonology from the beginning) rarely make an
> appearance (this became glaringly apparent when I participated
> in the current relay with Njaama.  Throughout the entire relay
> text [which was very long for a relay--38 sentences], the bilabial
> and palatal click appeared once each [well, the palatal click occurred
> twice, but that was because when I noticed, I coined a word using
> it]).  Of course, when it comes to letter/phoneme frequency, some
> should appear more often than others, and there should be some
> rare phonemes, but they shouldn't be *that* rare.
There are some cases of extremely rare phonemes.  For example,
in Arabic the phoneme /5/ occurs, or so have I been told, in only
one single lexeme, namely the word for 'God'.

> As a result, if I haven't got a good idea how I want a word to
> sound, I tend to look around and see what phonemes are
> underrepresented, and make sure they pop up in the word I'm
> creating.  It's not perfect, but it does help to prevent the same
> phonemes from being used over and over again.
Yes.  You should regularly check what you have done so far, in order
to avoid excessive homonymy and phonemic imbalance.

... brought to you by the Weeping Elf

Replies